Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Splatoon Arcs

1. Splatoon prequel 
2. Splatoon 1 Arc 
3. Rebuilding the Splatoon Arc2016
4. Adoption Arc 
5. Amiibo Arc
6. Final Fest Arc
7. Marina Origin Arc2017
8. Hunt for Octavio Arc
9. Splatoon 2 Prequel Arc  
10. Splatoon 2 
11. Octo expansion 
12.  Recovery Arc2018
13. Kamaboko Investigation Arc
14. Refugee Arc
15. Surume Family Arc
16. Pearlina Arc2019
17. Vacation Arc
18. Dating Arc
19. Chaos vs Order Arc
20. Dark Four Arc2020
21. PDA Arc
22. Lieutenants Exam Arc 
23. Four Injury Arc (may cut this)
24. Salmonid Attack Recovery Arc2021
25. Free spot
26. Free spot 
27. Grizzco Investigation
28. Proposal Arc2022
29. World tour Arc
30. Wedding Arc
31. Moving Arc
32. Splatoon 32023
33. Big Run Arc
34. Deep Cut Integration 
35. Four Beat Down Arc 
36.  Welcome Home Arc2024
37. Side Order Arc
38. Cover Up Arc
39.  Grandfest Prequel Arc 
40. Grandfest Arc2025
41. Callie Dating Arc

Chapter Text

“Stay Fresh”

“Stay Fresh”

“And cut! Great work everyone,” the director said, as crew members flooded the stage.

“That was great Marie,” Callie said.

“Yeah sure,” Marie said, stretching lower back from all the posing she’d done.

The pair thanked the crew as they made their way back to their dressing room. “So what do you plan on doing this weekend?" Callie asked.

“Sleep,” Marie said, reaching for her phone.

“Marie! You can’t be serious, we should do something. I wanna adventure,” Callie said.

Marie’s body went still as she looked over the notification. “Yeah, well looks like luck’s on your side, it seems like someone broke into our apartment.”

“Someone broke into our apartment!” Callie said.

Marie let out a sigh, some fan or whatever must have thought to break into their home for collectables or some squit. “Looks like we’ll be changing our locks and complaining to the super about this.”

Callie let out a groan. “When I said I wanted an adventure this isn’t what I had in mind.”

The green inkling just shrugged, “Next time be more specific.”

“What’cha do’n?” Callie asked Marie as they rode in their private car. 

Marie didn’t bother to look up from her phone. “Hacking the security cameras to find whoever broke into our house.”

“Don’t you think that’s a bit extreme,” Callie asked.

“Some bottom feeder broke into our house, extreme would be hunting them down and beating them myself instead of calling the cops,” Marie said.

“Well at least you’re putting those hacking lessons to use,” Callie said.

Marie looked up from her phone smiling at her cousin. “Gottem, wanna see what they look like.”

The Squid Sisters huddled together watching the video of their home invader. An inkling in a weird uniform carrying a box walked up to their apartment, picked the look and entered their apartment; not five minutes later the stranger left without the box.

“Mr. Driver, change of plans we need you to drop us off at the back of Decca Tower, please,” Callie said.

“Bomb?”

“Hopefully a wild animal or some kind of prank,” Callie said. “Either way we’re going to need to borrow one of Shelldon’s drones. Did you call the building manager?”

“Yeah,” Marie said. 

“You should probably te-

BOOOOOOOM

A loud explosion rang through the air Callie and Marie pulled down their windows to see what had once been their apartment was now a flaming hole in the side of a building.

“Oh my Cod Ms. Pondsworth!!!” Callie yelled.

“Driver, we need to go to Ammo Knights ASAP!” Marie said forcefully.

“Marie, our apartment exploded!” Callie yelled.

“I’m well aware of that Callie. Think about Gramps though,” Marie said.

The ink in Callie turned cold, their grandfather had been begging them to go on patrol, he said the octos were planning something and they ignored him. Callie grabbed Marie’s phone from off the ground and began looking at the delivery person. It was hard to tell, but Callie was able to make out that they had four tentacles not six. 

The octos were back.

As soon as the car pulled over the pair rushed to Ammo Knights’ back entrance. A pair of strangers were standing in the back alley. They had the same worker uniform as the one that dropped off the package. Without hesitation Callie leapt into the air and delivered a punch to one of the individuals. 

“Two tentacles in the front and two in the back, suckers on the outside,” Marie said, rushing the octoling. 

Marie wasn’t amazing at hand to hand, but she knew her stuff. All that didn’t mean much to the octoling as he kept blocking all of her punches. 

Callie wasn’t much better. Outside of the one hit she’d gotten on the octo she did her best to keep this an even fight.

Callie’s punch smashed through the wall of the other building, scaring the octoling who’s head had once been there. 

“Callie less wide swings you’re telegraphing your attacks,” Marie said.

“I know, sorry I’m a little rusty,” Callie said, switching to jabs and hocks.

Callie and Marie gave as good as they got from the octolings every punch was met with one in retaliation. The fighters were barely able to move in the alleyway as garbage and their partners kept the fighters confined to boxing. They kept swinging at each other trading vicious blow after vicious blow.

Callie was the first to win, grabbing her octoling by the arms. The octo realized her mistake and shouted for her partner’s help, but he was too busy with Marie. The octoling tried to break free of Callie’s grip as the pink inkling used her monstrous strength to pick her up and slam her into the ground.

“Nooo!” her partner yelled as Marie tackled him and wrapped her fingers around his neck.

Once the dead was done Callie and Marie looked at each other. The pair had minor cuts and bruises, but overall thought it was the worst they looked like in years.

“Shelly open up, it’s us,” Callie said. As she slumped against the brick wall. Callie looked at Marie and said the thing they both knew. “They were not good fighters.”

“I know.”

“They were going after someone who couldn’t fight,” Callie said. “Which means they weren’t the best the octos have.”

“I know.”

“Which means we are way out of practice.”

“ I know.” 

“Well, do you know how we’re going to fight the Octarians?” Callie asked, crossing her arms.

“Shut up.”

The door to Ammo Knights opened as Shelldon rushed to help the idols to their feet. “You guys look terrible!”

“And this is why you don’t have a girlfriend, Shelldon,” Marie said. 

“Thanks Shelly, we know we look bad, we just dealt with two octos who showed up at your backdoor.”

“Wait what? You killed people at my door? Who were they? Why were they here? When did that ha- 

“Sheldon, you’re going to need to pack up your stuff and come with us. Callie, go load up, we’re going to need to be armed. If the octos are going after the N.S.S we need to be ready,” Marie said. “First order of business is to make contact with everyone, we need to get our ducks in a row, then we need to train up. We obviously can’t fight like we used to. Once everything is settled we’ll have to take the fight to the octolings.”

The trio moved in silence to get their tasks done. Today was the prelude to what very well could be the first day of the Second Great Turf War.

Chapter Text

One two, one two, one two. 

A young inkling said to herself as she kept jogging through the streets of Inkopolis. Inkfish stared at the odd girl moving through the city at a pace rarely seen from the other citizenry. Kaori made her way past the doors of the Turf War lobby, heading straight for the counter. The clerk glanced at her and handed the sign-in card scanner. Some of the inklings around her stared at them. She didn’t say anything. Instead, she pulled out her blaster (hey, it’s not her fault that there wasn’t a place to warm up before matches). 

“Solo or team?” The clerk said while adjusting her glasses. 

“Solo” Kaori said. On one hand, this old lady probably sees hundreds of squids a day signing up for turf, but on the other hand, a lone inkling cueing up should make it pretty obvious that she’s a solo act. 

A few minutes later, she’s placed on a team. Kaori ignored the names, focusing on the gear. Charger, Roller and Aerospray. Charger was going to stay back obviously, Roller would cover whatever spot she didn’t go down and Aerospray would get killed in the first twenty seconds.

Kaori had a plan in mind; turf a path for the Charger to get in position, wait 10 seconds for Aerospray to die, go down the path she did and get whoever killed her. It wasn’t the most well thought out plan, but then again it worked a lot of the time. 

When the match started and after the calm of inking the base, Kaori got to work. The battle was a blur. Enemy Roller incoming, just keep moving back a splat from a distance. Charger firing, look for another route and splat that sucker from behind. Splattershot vs Blaster hit them before they hit you. This cycle of fighting continued in an orange onslaught, until the one of the enemy said something, I F****ing hate that demon!

Demon

It was a nickname the regulars were using for her whether friend or foe. Apparently getting an eighty percent win ratio in Turf Wars regularly was enough to get you branded a demon. Then again, beating teams back to their spawn and keeping them there probably didn’t help their case. 

The Roller let out one last f-bomb before he was splatted. It didn’t bother her that people could get angry at her during a match, but glaring at her like it was her fault she was better at the game was just stupid.

What’s the point in playing if you can’t handle losing?

The sun set as Kaori made her way out of the building. Kaori smiled with cash in hand, rent was covered and she was finally going to...

“Hey Sango!”

She turned around just in time to see Roller running after her, with Aerospray and Charger following behind him. “Hey, wait up!” An awkward smile met a blank face. 

...

...

...

“So Aqua, Deca and I were going to grab some grub, want in? There’s a restaurant nearby,” he said. 

“No thank you,” with that conversation swiftly murdered.  

“Thanks for the help today, you were awesome, this was the most fun I had,” Roller said as Kaori departed, not really listening.

It wasn’t that she hated others, it’s just that other squids asked questions. Questions that she didn’t want answered. Kaori ordered her usual and sat watching the city. 

Crazy Steve was an old squid that kept yelling about the Octarians. The poor old guy was out here day-in-day-out trying to get people to pay attention to him. Judging by the dozens of patches on his clothes and how scrawny he was, it was clear he was either homeless, or cosplaying as such. 

Kaori didn’t know much about history, but she knew that the Octarians were just a myth. They were a bunch of radicals during the war that didn’t surrender and were forced underground. Everyone knew that the octolings were sent west to the Splatlands after the Great Turf War. 

The Octarians living underground was a stupid story meant to keep hatchlings in line. She still remembered the rumors other kids would say about them. How octoling fingertips are more pointed so they can claw into you, or the reason they have those big rounded ears is to hear children’s pain more clearly.

Kaori shook her head, tired of Crazy Steve’s ramblings. With her meal done, the inkling made her way back to her home, ready to play video games and sleep.   

Are you squidding me?

Kaori kept shaking the handle of the door, hoping by some miracle it would open. After her third attempt, the young inkling looked at the red piece of paper on the door. 

Turf Wars closed until further notice. 

Sorry for your inconvenience.

Turning away from the closed doors, Kaori had to hold back a string of curses. The only good thing was she’d gotten enough to cover her rent for the month. She was ready to call this whole day a wash when she saw Crazy Steve being shoved down an alleyway by two inklings with weird hair.

The young squid knew that this city was garbage, especially for the homeless, but she wasn’t going to let some bottom feeders think messing with the old squid was a good idea.

Kaori rushed after Steve, turning the corner as the two were heading to a van. “Hey you two, let the old man go!”

The women wasted no time opening fire on her. If it hadn’t been for them having to turn around and aim at her, she’d surely be splatted.

The young squid leapt for cover, as she saw the spot where she’d been standing. There were holes in the wall from their attack.

What the shell. 

Kaori’s mind was racing. These weren’t thieves. These were… mobsters or assassins or… or some sort of professionals! They were using stronger stuff than her Blaster. Stuff that could actually kill her (really kill her, not that phoney respawn killing)!

Kaori inked the wall trying to use the debris in the alley as cover. One of the inklings kept firing, while the other was closing in. Kaori needed a plan and quick. The old squid was screaming for her to run and forget about him. He yelled at the two that Octavio wanted him and to leave the squid out of it. 

Just as one of the women was closing in on her. Crazy Steve leapt onto the back of one of the attackers and shoved her arm in the direction of her partner. 

One enemy down and one to go. The woman screamed out for her partner before knocking Steve to the ground.  Before she could fire, Kaori took her shot, knocking the woman unconscious. 

Kaori’s hearts were racing; she didn’t think things could get crazier until Steve picked up the weapon of the woman and put two headshots into her and her partner.

“You handled yourself alright out there, squido,” Steve said, giving her smile.

Kaori dropped her weapon and put her hands up in the air. “W-woah woah woah, easy there, I don't want any trouble.”

“What in tarnations are you doin’,” Steve said, lowering his weapon. “Look bucko, I need help, and yur the only one I can turn to. You clearly have a big heart and fightin’ spirit. Whadda say, wanna join the New Squidbeak Splatoon?”

Kaori stood there with her mouth open. 

“The Great Zapfish that powers Inkopolis has been squidnapped! Nobody believes me, but it's the work of the Octarians! I just know it! They want revenge for the Great Turf War of 100 years ago! I've been keepin' an eye on them this whole time, of course, but they stole the Great Zapfish right out from under my nose! Please! You gotta help me rescue the Great Zapfish!”

“Octarians?” she muttered.

“Yeah, the Octarians. I’ve been yellin’ at the brass for months about them, but nobody listened. If we don’t get the Great Zapfish back, Inkopolis is doomed,” Steve said, waving his arms throughout the whole speech. 

Kaori’s mind was racing. She didn’t know what to believe, so she gathered as many facts as possible. The Great Zapfish was gone. Crazy Steve was attacked by inkfish with lethal weapons and unorthodox hairstyling tastes. Finally, there was a city wide black out. 

“Why me? W-why not the military?”

“Bah, the military will take too long. What we need is a covert unit to sneak into the domes and rescue the Zapfish,” Steve said.

“And if I say no,” Kaori asked, hoping he’d let her go.

“Then I’m going to have to find someone else.” Steve turned away to leave. “Look, I could use the help, the Zapfish is gone, the government is useless, and I haven’t been able to get in contact with either of mah grandsquids, they…”

...

...

...

“…they might be dead.”

Steve looked like they were going to break down even more at any moment, if that were even possible.

“…I know it’s a lot to ask, but I need you. You’re our only hope of preventing a war.”

Looking into the old man’s sad tired eyes gnawed at Kaori. A part of her knew Crazy Steve wasn’t so crazy after all. Kaori let out a sigh and shook her head. “L-look, I’m sorry, but I’m just a kid. I don’t know if I can give you the kind of help you need.” 

Steve looked to be holding back tears, his voice cracking saying, “Fair enough. I can’t ask you for more than you’ve done for me. But if you change your mind, take the service pipe next to Deca Tower to its furthest point. There you will see the truth.”

The orange inkling went home to think about what happened. That old guy killed two fish in front of her. He could very well be wanted for murder, or she could possibly be connected to this then if events as well. All throughout the night, she kept wondering what was going to happen and what she should do. 

A part of her thought about calling the Police, but the moment the word Police entered her mind, she’d killed the idea faster than Steve killed those two inkfish. Crazy Steve might have killed someone, but she wasn’t a snitch.

In the end, Kaori did what she always did when crazy squit happened around her. She shut off her DS and went to bed, knowing that she’d just act like she’d never seen anything happen.

Kaori glared into her warm fridge as the few scraps of food slowly spoiling greeted her. 

What’s the point of this shitty apartment if we keep getting black outs? 

Kaori took out a trash bag and began emptying the food. On one hand, losing her fridge was a big downer. On the other hand, it wasn’t a lot of food to begin with. 

Kaori took her trash to the bin out back and made her way to Inkopolis Square. Hopefully, she could sign into Turf War and then get a shower (not necessarily in that order). 

That hope she had died when she remembered that the Deca Tower was closed.

The orange inkling fiddled around with the radio app on her phone. The annoying bottom feeders they had reading the stage announcements were giving some important news.

“Hold your tentacles,” Callie said.

“It’s Inkopolis News time,” Marie said.

“News Flash! News Flash!” Callie said in a fake overly dramatic way.

“What is it? What is it?” Marie asked as if she didn’t already know.

“The Great Zapfish has a tummy ache!” Callie said, as if it were the end of the world (just give the Zapfish some Tums and be done with it).

“Wait, seriously?”

“Yuh huh, our precious hatchling’s been feeling under the weather. Until he’s back up and running, we won’t be getting as much power as we used to,” Callie said in an annoying baby voice.

“Oh, poor little guy. We’ve been informed that we’ll be having targeted blackouts to reduce the strain on the Great Zapfish. Until then we ask for your patience and understand-

Kaori cut off the broadcast, the Zapfish was sick(?) and the city was going to be under powered. 

A normal squid would move on, maybe try to get some gigwork, but a thought entered her mind about what Crazy Steve had said: that the Zapfish was squidnapped. Sure, she’d noticed the giant fish was missing, but that didn’t mean that Steve was right. Just like him getting attacked… those were just some punks. Nothing pointed to Octarians being real.

The fourteen-year-old girl wanted to pretend like the things Steve was saying were crazy, but the more time passed during the day, it became harder to unsee. As she passed Deca Tower, she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d been right. If she went down that pipe, maybe she’d find the truth.

Every cell in her body told her this was all some made up squit from a crazy drug addict like back home, but she knew the difference between a guy high off his bass spouting nonsense and someone begging for help.

Kaori let out a sigh.

One look couldn’t kill me.