Foreword: Yo, just a quick author's disclaimer before starting the story, but this is going to be a very OC-centric story, mainly using the setting of Splatoon 3. Important to note that as of the time of writing, Splatoon 3 is at version 1.2.1, which will affect the way lore, gear, weapons and other such attributes are presented, hopefully not in any major capacity.

As far as lore and the world of Splatoon is concerned, there will definitely be an effort to stick closely to canon material, be it material from the games themselves or from translated interviews/artbooks. Of course, a lot of Splatoon's lore, its societal structures and other such topics are either vague or completely up to interpretation, so there will definitely be some personal headcanons and interpretations as the story progresses.

There's also going to be a few nods to popular pieces of fandom media, because well, I'm just a sucker for that. That said, enjoy the story!

Chapter 1

It was hot. It was dry. It was dusty. Everywhere one looked, it was nothing but an expanse of swirling yellowish dust and baking hot sunshine as far as the eye could see.
In other words, it was another day in the Splatlands. And having spent hours out in the open sun with little more than a cloak, a facemask and a visor, a pair of Octolings were more than happy to be looking out at the endless desert from the shade.

"Why do you think they built it?" The Octoling with pink tentatwist hair asked.

There was almost no one around to hear her question. The station she was waiting at was hardly anything more than a platform with a few benches and a roof that had too many missing panels, but there was that other Octoling, and a few bags of scraps picked up from a day of desert scavenging.

Not that the lanky, darker skinned, masculine Octoling gave much hint to his own presence, his golden eyes fixated on his phone's screen. He hadn't been very talkative earlier, and he still wasn't making a sound.

With her own bags in her hands, the Octoling girl spun in place, swinging her bags in place to pass the time. "It's all just desert out here, why'd a city be built in the middle of it?" She continued asking, hoping to start some kind of conversation while waiting indefinitely for the train back home.

"Dunno." The boy finally responded, still not looking up.

The girl stopped spinning and nearly fell over in the process. He'd actually said something, that was a start.

"You don't ever stop to think of it?" She continued asking. "You moved there not long back, right?"

The boy raised his head and sighed, the motions making the large emerald-coloured afro atop his head wobble ever so slightly, the girl thinking it looked like a giant chewy snack when it did.

"Are you looking forward to this weekend?" He asked.

It was a diversion. Part of the girl realized it was meant to make her do the talking instead of him, and the other part of her was falling for it hook line and sinker.

"Of course!" She replied excitedly. "I can't wait to try out the new stuff I've learnt, and we'll finally be reunited as a team of four for the qualifiers! With your rolls and the rest of our team, we'll do great I'm sure!"

She only then realized she was getting animated in ways other than vocally. She was already in a battle pose, on the balls of her feet, fists clenched and practically bouncing in excitement at the prospect of an upcoming tournament. She stopped that and cleared her throat.

"Of course, we need to qualify first, and we won't be able to if the train doesn't show up."

As if on cue, an ancient, snaking row of box-shaped train cars lumbered slowly into view, tooting a long and low horn as it crawled to a stop at the platform, where the Octolings had already picked up their bags and stood at the edge of the platform, the girl practically bouncing in place in anticipation. She was grateful the sun was on the other side of the train, because the stainless-steel exterior could have probably reflected some blinding rays, even with the cluttered layers of graffiti along its sides.

The doors swung open and the wisps of cool, conditioned air spilt out, giving the two waiting passengers all the more reason to climb aboard.

"Leaving for Splatsville!" Called the driver, an elderly troutperson in a pair of weathered conductor overalls. "All boarding passengers please present identification before being seated!"

The Octolings produced their cards and received an affirming nod from the driver, grabbing a pair of empty seats on the unoccupied benches. The train was practically empty, and the Octoling girl could not blame it, who'd want to be this far out of the city in a baking hot day?

She plonked down and stared at her ID, suspiciously chewed on in one corner as it was:

Name: Adelaide Eightweight

Species: Octoling

Gender: Female(-leaning)

Eye Colour: Red

Status: Splatsville Citizen

Height: 5'3"

This card hereby certifies that carrier is 16 or older.

Next to all the important information was a grainy mugshot of herself on her 16th birthday, her twists unravelled, her mouth twisted in a beaming grin, and her teeth clamped around some random piece of plastic. She'd long since forgotten what it was, but it added to the wild energy of the picture, fondly reminding her of why others labelled her as 'a problem'.

"You think the other two will be impressed with what we found today, Rome?" She asked. "It could help a lot going forward, that's what Dallas said, right?"

She looked up only to see the Octoling boy's eyes were shut and his slimmed headphones were in, the faint sound of Off The Hook leaking out into the air.
He probably wasn't asleep yet, but it was clear he wasn't going to be talking once again.

"Ah." Adelaide muttered, lowering her gaze to her feet while they idly swung in the air. She clamped her ID card between her teeth and looked behind her, out the window onto endless desert vistas.

Conversation could wait.

Most folks who rode with Adelaide would assume she'd have a hard time sitting still on a train for such a long trip back to the city. But once she'd turned to look out the window, she had no trouble keeping herself occupied.

As arid and lifeless as the Splatlands looked, there was a beauty to it. Vibrant blue skies, endless swathes of desert that were flat as a stingray for almost as far as the eye could see.

There was also that funny crater and what looked like a giant, uprooted iron tower of some sort, half buried in the dirt like some gigantic javelin. Creatures from outside of the Splatlands loved to flock to that thing.

It was relaxing, watching the landscape whizz by. The train was old and rickety, hardly drowned out by the tinny sound system that was playing music from their destination, but once it got a head of speed it could cover ground quickly. Before long, the skyline of Splatsville, in all of its cramped glory, loomed into view.

It was a city that just started and stopped abruptly. One second Adelaide saw nothing but desert, the next the train entered a short tunnel and came out rumbling through a labyrinth of overpasses, canals, billboards, giant screens, skyscrapers and apartment blocks that seemed to have no rhyme or reason in their placement, with creatures of all aquatic origins bustling about on any footpaths that existed, grounded, elevated or underground.

In other words, it was home.

"Now approaching: Splatsville WestNorth Station!" The driver announced over a busted intercom. "Those looking to transfer to the Splatsville Metro System, please prepare to disembark!"

Adelaide hopped to her feet and was ready to tug at Rome's ear to wake him up, but like the punctual Octoling he was, he'd already woken up the moment the announcement came on, bags in hand. The train trundled to a stop at a platform and the doors creaked open once again, the two Octolings stepping out to the stuffy city air and all the noise swimming around in it. The station had two tracks, separated by a wide but sparsely populated platform, with the station walls draped with brightly coloured banners that proudly read 'Welcome to Splatsville, the City of Chaos!'.

Adelaide always stopped to read it when returning from the city, and always nodded in agreement. There was always something going on, something new, and something to do. Like catch up with friends on the other side of town.

Slinging one of her clunky and weighty bags over her back, she grabbed Rome's wrist with a free hand and pulled him along to their next platform, a sprint that took them through crowds of sea creatures, down two flights of stairs, and past a food stand that smelled so good she wanted to steal a sample from for the road.

Boarding onto a sleeker, more modern train, the two Octolings passed stop after stop, watching as the train rose over bridges and plunged into more tunnels, seeing the chaotic cityscape flash by right outside.

Adelaide had spent so much time on the metro she picked up so many landmarks that reminded her where she was without relying on the automated intercom. There was the giant park that fell right into a culvert, there were apartment blocks all crammed together with paint patterns that reminded her of a contested area in Tableturf Battles, there was a station that was just its own complex and twisty turfing site, there was that plaza filled with shops that lead to the Battle Tower lobby that all the kids her age loved to hang around at.

But her trains took her past all that. After three transfers, an entire hour and many stops to boo-yah back at kids that boo-yahed at her, the last train finally pulled into her last stop, and she hopped off just in time for latest news announcement.

"Listen up! It's going down..." A familiar voice echoed through the train platform. Adelaide turned up to the giant screen mounted on a tower to her left, spotting a familiar trio in a familiar studio room, just in time for a daily segment known all over the city.

"Repping the Splatlands, we are DEEP CUT!" Announced a reserved, pale, blue-haired Octoling.

"Anarchy Splatcast, we are live!" Cheered an energetic, yellow-haired inkling almost as dark skinned as Rome.

"Ay!" Agreed a Manta Ray who was in a great mood, as he always was. Adelaide liked him especially, especially since "Ay!" could mean anything from 'Hello!' to 'Adelaide, despite my looks, I cannot, in fact, fly!'

"You lip-synch, we drip ink!" The Octoling continued, stylishly waving that hand fan in that typically subtle way of theirs.

"Ay! Ay! Ay!" The manta ray hyped up, which meant he was referring to the trio: 'Shiver! Frye! And Big Man!'

Adelaide turned around to look for Rome, who was standing just behind her. For a tall fella with a distinctive afro, he had a real way of feeling invisible by virtue of being so quiet.

"Before we reveal the upcoming stages, we'd like to remind everyone: Registration for the 3rd Anarchy Youth Tournament of the year closes tomorrow!" Shiver announced.

"Luck smile upon those braving the open qualifiers!" Frye shouted encouragingly, pointing at the camera.

"Ay!" Big Man affirmed, like just saying 'Aye!".

Adelaide elbowed Rome in the side as the Splatcast then switched back to normal announcements, talking about stage rotations and other related topics.

"You ready for this weekend?" She asked. "I feel good about our chances this time!"

Rome shrugged, then headed for the nearest staircase, looking at the big screen the whole time.

"Oh come on, Rome!" Adelaide insisted, scrambling after him. "I've been practicing a lot more, we'll do great!"

The wide staircase was broken up into two segments and as Adelaide rambled about all the improvements she had been making, the two Octolings stepped out right next to a busy street clogged with rush hour traffic, a patchwork of shops and outlets all crammed together haphazardly on the other side. About five storeys tall, the fourth floor was the one she immediately looked up to, with it's weird L-Shaped layout jutting out over the street like some kind of elevated platform. The giant neon bowling ball atop the protrusion told her she was in the right place, as did the two friends on the other side of the street who she called to and saw wave back.

Both were Inklings, a boy with an uneven yellow haircut, round glasses and pasty skin so pale it made Shiver looked tanned, and a girl whose orange braid and most of her face were hidden under a custom-made Squidvader cap that had a funny looking spaceman embroidered onto it. Adelaide still didn't know what or who it was, but it made her giggle every time.

The boy seemed to raise an objection, to which the girl grabbed him by the ear and hauled him across the street through standstill traffic, much to his vocal protesting.

"Dallas! Geneva!" Adelaide greeted as her, Rome and the two Inklings now stood altogether. The gang was finally all here after a big day, at least for a little while.

The boy waved back sheepishly, still rubbing where his ear had been tugged, while the girl nodded, her face still locked in that perpetually serious frown of hers.

"Sup?" She responded.

Adelaide reached down for the bags she had pulled from the Splatlands, only to realize they weren't there. A brief moment of panic ensured, before Rome cleared his throat and produced the goods, both hers and his.

"We found so much stuff today!" She gestured to the four bags her fellow Octoling was holding, trying to act like the reveal was planned and not because she had forgot her bags at the station. She made a quiet note to thank Rome, not for the first or even 79th time.

The girl took a bag and opened it up, examining the first thing she could pull out of it.

"What do you think, Dallas?" She said, holding up an odd, handle shaped piece of metal to the other Inkling.

The Inkling Boy pushed up his glasses and took a close inspection of the part. Whenever he got into thought, Adelaide could only think about what kind of long topics he'd gone on about in the past, from all the books he'd read to his passion for bowling and odd weapons. Dallas was one of the smartest creatures she knew, after all.

"Looks solid enough, a bit on the well-used side but it's an authentic Flingza handle." He replied observantly. "If everything else you found is in as good a nick, it'll save us a lot on parts and maintenance fees."

"They are." Rome assured, giving Adelaide a pat on the back. More than the prospect of a successful run or the upcoming qualifiers, that made her giddy.

"Yeah! We just found a ton of stuff out there."

Dallas paused for thought, then continued rummaging through the bags. "Must've been refuse from the Scorch Gorge that got blown out during one of the desert storms. Some folks abandon perfectly good weapons right after something breaks. A lot of this stuff is intact too, weapon repair should be as easy as swapping parts out, I think."

"You're the expert." Geneva reminded him, flashing a quick thumbs up in Adelaide's direction. The young Octoling was now practically bouncing in place with delight.

"We'll do great!" She cheered. "We've got a S+3 ranked squid on our team and-"

"It's S+6." Geneva cut her off abruptly, shifting just as quickly to a dead serious tone and scowl. "Put some respect on my rank."

"Right, sorry." Adelaide raised her hands sheepishly and tried for an apologetic smile. That was a touchy subject for her Inkling friend. "But you're an expert too on the arena! They don't stand a chance against you!"

That seemed to make it up to Geneva, whose scowl softened back into her regular frown.

"Just do your part, Adelaide. It would be nice to qualify this time." She replied.

Adelaide nodded. Her friend might come off as rude and scary at times, but that was just the competitive side of Geneva doing the talking. She'd been practicing a ton to take some of her friend's workload, and she had done a great job on the day's fetch quest. Her team was happy, and that would only get everyone more motivated for the weekend's match. It was all in all a good day.

And then she heard laughter. But it wasn't jolly like her own, it wasn't even a little snarky like Geneva's. It was mean and mocking, like a group of bullies had walked onto the scene.

She turned to her right and her giddiness started to waver. That was exactly what had happened.