Blood ran across the floor, seeping down slowly and slowly until it reached Dawn, who was on her knees, processing the aftermath...her body was shaking and her mind went completely blank, being surrounded by nothing but dead Octarians, enemy ink, and flames from the battle.

In front of her laid an Inkling girl, facing away from her, being the main source of the blood on the floor. Her yellow tentacles were very pale and lifeless, her hero shot laid within the pool of blood beside her, her arm was severed and a hole was pierced through her body, being covered from head to toe in enemy ink.

Dawn:......Four?.........

???: congratulations.....

Dawn heard footsteps slowly approaching her, making her look up and see a cephalopod holding an Octo shot. The cephalopod wore a mask that covered their face completely, and they had suction cups on the inside and outside of their tentacles. The cephalopod had claws like an octoling, yet their ears were pointy like an Inkling's.

???: the second time....this is the second time we've met....you actually joined the squidbeak Splatoon.....was it just for revenge?.....

The cephalopod kneeled down in front of Dawn, then gently placed their hand on her cheek, seeing her shake in fear and go blank completely.

???:....agent 3, isn't it, Dawn? Your hero name?.....

Dawn heard nothing but ringing erupt from her ears. Everything went blurry....the touch of the cephalopod.....it scared her......she couldn't move.....she couldn't blink....she forgot to breathe because of the ruinous being in front of her.

???:.......pathetic.......

~~~~

Dawn's eyes shot open and her head quickly lifted from her pillow, letting out a very long gasp of fear while grasping tightly onto her chest, feeling the sweat flow down her forehead and her heart beating rapidly from fear.

Dawn: *pant, pant, pant, pant*.....That same......dream again.........

Dawn looked over to her window that was right next to her bed, seeing the cephalopods super jumping out of flounder heights to start on their day. It was Saturday, the second day of the splatfest, yet everyone had to wait until night to actually participate, so at the moment, the splatfest was dimmed down and ranked battles were back up and running as the sun stood high in the sky.

Dawn:.....*sigh*....it's a Splatfest weekend....So luckily the Café is closed and I don't have to work.....

Dawn shifted to get out of her bed, but then stopped when she felt something gently wrap around her waist a bit tighter. Dawn, with her hostile agent instincts, quickly pulled the blankets from off of herself to see Rose hugging onto her and sleeping soundly, confusing the living hell out of her.

Dawn:....I told you to stay on the damn couch.....

Dawn saw Rose snuggle her face into her waist, which only made the Inkling feel even more uncomfortable than before. After some quick thinking, Dawn slowly turned into her squid form, sliding out of Rose's grip and flipping onto the floor, turning back into her inkling form and standing up, looking over to see the Octo now hugging herself for comfort, which only slightly concerned her, but she quickly shrugged it off and walked out of the room to start her weekend.

Dawn:......maybe letting her stay the night was a....bad idea....

Dawn opened her fridge and grabbed some milk before grabbing a box of Fizzy Fruit swirls from off the top of the refrigerator. She placed down a bowl and poured in her cereal, then her milk, grabbing her breakfast and walking over to her living room couch, sitting down and pressing on the remote to turn on the Tv as she leaned back a little and used her spoon to much on her meal.

*Tv*

Pearl: good morning squids and Octos alike!

Marina: we hope your splatfest went well yesterday night, so now we are currently in the moment of our sunshine moderation of our splatfest, so while the day passes on by, use this time to buy some fresh new gear, weapons, or a meal from crusty Sean.

Pearl: ranked battles are back up and running, but if you don't want to participate in much today, feel free to stay indoors and relax so you can definitely splat up the competition when the sun finally sets.

Marina: Indeed. Do we have any amazing clips to show from last night's splatfest, Pearlie?

Pearl: hell yeah we do! Last night, an Inkling girl actually managed to splat Scarlett last night!

Marina: but hasn't it been over 3 years since she's been splatted by anyone?

Pearl: yup, but someone finally put an end to her streak.

Marina: do you mind introducing this Inkling gir-

Pearl: *shakes her head*

Marina: o-oh....well um...we all hope you have an amazing day!

*Off*

Dawn rolled her eyes as she changed the channel to a more action packed form of entertainment, seeing a match of Tower control being currently played  on Skipper pavilion with the fierce beasts squad and the mystery magic squad.

The Fierce beasts squad consisted of many damaging weapons such as a Dynamo, Forge Splattershot pro, .52 gal, and a normal Splattershot, while the mystery magic squad was mainly known for their trickery and usage of ninja squid to surprise their opponents, and their team consisted of a Splash-o-matic, Dapple dualies, Octobrush, and splat charger.

Even though Dawn could care less about which team won, she would basically root for the team that seems less annoying to fight against, and since she uses a splattershot, dealing with a Splattershot pro and Dynamo is absolute hell. From being in the canyon for so long, Dawn has become pretty skilled at maneuvering and dodging a charger's shots, mainly just because of the Octosnipers down below, so chargers never seem like a threat to her for their range.

She munched more and more on her cereal, seeing the Dapple Dualies get absolutely obliterated by the Dynamo's aggressive swings while standing on top of the tower, pushing it to 50 and actually getting the Fierce beasts squad the lead against the mystery magic squad.

She saw the Dapple spawn back in and stomp her foot in annoyance after losing the lead, which she could only agree to considering that they only had 30 seconds to try and take the lead back. Losing a lead when you're so deep into a game is very stressful and aggravating to deal with for most cephalopods.

Dawn pulled out her phone and went onto an app known as the "splatterboards"an app that showcased many strong cephalopods in the rankings, along with your own account and stats. Dawn went onto her account and saw her own stats and weapon usage, making her raise her eyebrow slightly at herself.

—
//Name: Dawn//

//Most Used Weapon: Splattershot//

//Ranks//

//SplatZones: X//

//Tower Control:X//

//Rainmaker: X//

//Clam Blitz: X//

//Current Fresh Level: 346//

Your stats alone can truly tell people on your skill, and can even get you very rare and exclusive gear due to your strength, but even though Dawn had the skill of an X Rank player, she still wasn't on the leaderboards for one of the most "talented" cephalopods, because many squids and Octos are in X rank, so she's just a speck in the giant heard of Inkopolis Rank battle culture.

As the Tv played and Dawn scrolled on her phone, she heard footsteps coming from the hallway. Dawn looked up from her phone to see Rose rubbing her eye and letting out a very tired whimper.

Dawn: I told you to stay on the couch last night...

Rose:.....*points up*

Dawn looked upwards and saw a vent that was directly above the couch she was sitting on, blowing down cold air towards her, which made her look back at Rose and not really care about it, only letting out a tiny shrug at her.

Dawn: I like my apartment cold. I gave you blankets last night anyway.

Rose:....

Dawn: welp, you're well rested and awake, so you can head home now. *crunch*

Rose: *shakes her head*

Dawn: the hell do you mean no? I want to enjoy my day alone before I have to turf with you again later tonight during the splatfest continuation.

Rose reached in her pocket once more and pulled out her trusty notepad, scribbling it it and handing a page to Dawn.

Dawn:....this shit again?...."You promised to let me get to know you more"....

Rose: *nods*....

Dawn:....fuck, I forgot about that....Ugh..

Dawn crumpled up the paper and tossed it to the side, placing down her now empty bowl and relaxing herself by leaning back on the couch while looking straight at Rose.

Dawn: alright....what do you wanna know?......

Rose: *scribble*

Dawn:..."take me to your favorite spot to relax"....

Rose: *tiny shrug*

Dawn:....well.....alright....I guess. It's not like I have a choice anyway....

Dawn stood up from the couch and stretched before grabbing her empty bowl and walking towards the kitchen, passing by Rose and paying her no mind. She placed the bowl in the sink and noticed that Rose was still standing stiff like a weirdo, which only made her uncomfortable.

Dawn: go put your shoes on....you're creeping me out....

Rose snapped herself out of her trance and shook her head at Dawn, walking over to the front door and sliding her shoes on her feet as Dawn walked into her room without even washing her bowl. Rose grabbed her jacket from off of Dawn's coat hook on the wall, then put it on as she heard Dawn's footsteps emerging from her room rather quickly.

Rose turned around and saw Dawn walking towards her while wearing a black hoodie that faded into a beautiful light green. The clothing wasn't surprising to Rose, yet something actually caught her off guard completely. Within Dawn's hand, she saw a skateboard that was decorated with purple and black respective colors.

While wearing some skater shoes and yawning one last time, Dawn walked past the Octo and opened up the front door.

Dawn: c'mon....

Rose walked outside of the apartment and Dawn locked the door behind her, standing out on a wide balcony. Rose saw Dawn point left and look back at her, making sure that she was paying attention.

Dawn: this way.

Dawn saw Rose give her a nod, then turned into her squid form, making Rose prompt to do the same and turn into her Octopus form. The two super jumped away and soared through the sky next to each other, and when she turned back into her Octoling form, she looked over and saw Dawn simply soaring next to her, watching her black tentacles sway like crazy.

She looked down and saw BlackBelly skatepark near them, seeing barely any cephalopods actually in the area. Dawn landed on her feet in front of the skatepark as Rose landed next to her and stumbled a little. Dawn walked into the skatepark and rolled her eyes, presenting the park to Rose.

Dawn: BlackBelly...yes....the turf map that nobody likes except for me.....

Rose:.....

Dawn:....*looks away*...it's my favorite map actually.....anyway, as you expected, I come here to skate, duh.

Rose: *tilts her head*

Dawn: yes, I can skate. I do it sometimes to relieve stress and think to myself.

Rose: *points to the board*

Dawn: you want to try?

Rose: *nod nod*

Dawn: have you ever rode a skateboard before?

Rose:...........*point*

Dawn looked over to where Rose was pointing and saw an Inkling boy doing tricks on a bike and letting out a loud "Ngyes" in the process, which made Dawn look at Rose as if she was stupid.

Dawn: a Bike and Skateboard are two completely different things.

Rose: *point point*

Dawn: you really think that you can ride a-.....fuck it...here. Bust your ass.

Dawn handed Rose her skateboard and Rose placed it down on the ground near a ramp. Dawn crossed her arms as she watched the Octo stare at the board before sitting on it and pushing herself forward with her feet as if she was on a tricycle.

Dawn: t-that's not how you ride a skateboard!!

Rose soared down the ramp and let out a nice cute octo noise as she glided on the slick skating grounds and Dawn simply watched the Octo get further and further until she saw Rose slap straight into a wall and fall off of the board, holding her face in pain, yet all Dawn did was roll her eyes and quickly super jump towards her and picked up her board.

Dawn: I don't understand why you thought to put your ass on the skateboard, but alright then.

Rose: *whimpers*

Dawn:....

Dawn watched Rose rub her head, which made her sigh and offer her hand out to the Octo, waiting for her to accept the helping offer she was giving to her.

Dawn: stop whining, you big baby. I busted my ass much harder than that many times, you just simply slapped yourself into a wall.....

Rose:.....*points at the skateboard*

Dawn: you're not trying again.

Rose: *shakes her head*

Rose accepted Dawn's hand and was pulled up from the ground, still holding in her whimpers while pointing at Dawn, then pointing over to a railing pipe near them.

Dawn:....do you want me to grind the rail or something?

Rose: *nod nod*

Dawn:.....alright.....I guess....

Dawn placed her skateboard down and properly stood on it while skating away from Rose, approaching the grind rail. Dawn kick flipped her board up and grinded on the rail, leaving Rose completely shocked as she flipped her board once more, landing without a single scratch.

Rose: *clap clap*

Dawn: shut it....it took a lot of practice.

Rose: *tilts her head*

Dawn: around a year or so......Do you not do anything related to skating? Like, bikes and shit? You pointed to a bike earlier.

Rose: *shakes her head*....

Dawn:....do you know how to ride a bike?.....

Rose:.......*looks away*.....

Dawn:......I'm not even gonna ask anymore....

Dawn sighed at Rose, then placed down her board and began to skate towards Rose, doing a kick flip before looking in the distance to see more cephalopods skating around together.

Dawn:......

Rose: *tugs her shirt*

Dawn stumbled for a second on her skateboard before quickly stopping herself and turning around to see Rose looking down at her board.

Dawn: what?

Rose placed her foot on the skateboard, and Dawn saw her leg shaking slightly, making her roll her eyes at the Octo and step off of the skateboard herself. She felt Rose grasp onto her shoulders for support before stepping onto the board completely, standing in front of her.

Dawn: ok....

Rose:.....

Dawn: go ahead. what do you do now?

Rose:....*squat*...

Dawn: no....push.

Rose: *quickly shakes her head*

Dawn: stop being a baby....

Dawn slowly stepped away from Rose, making her whimper as she slipped away from her grasp, leaving her on the board with no form of support. Dawn went behind Rose and pointed down at her leg while placing her hand on her shoulder.

Dawn: just breathe....push off with this foot....

Rose looked down and slowly moved her foot down, shaking rapidly, and when her foot touched the floor, her whole body slipped back and fell backwards, but it was enough time for Dawn to quickly catch her before she fell on her ass, but wasn't fast enough to stop her board from launching forward and rolling away from the two.

Rose:.......

Dawn: it's fine.....like I said....

Dawn pulled Rose up, then slid her hands in her own pockets while walking towards her board that was far in the distance.

Dawn: it takes practice....

Rose stood still for a second, seeing Dawn far off in the distance, picking up her skateboard, then walking back towards her. As Rose waited for Dawn, she sat down on the ground and looked up at the sky to see the clouds rolling by, slowly getting caught in the trance of them.

???: Yo! Watch out!!!

Rose quickly looked forward from the sky and saw a skateboard flying straight for her face, but she lucky moved her face out of the way just in time for the board to fly past her and hit the wall behind her, completely freezing her in place from fear.

Rose heard footsteps heading towards her, then looked over to see a tall girl with pointy hair and orange skin, giving her an apologetic smile as she picked up her board.

???: sorry about that, little Octo. You alright? I almost chopped off your head with that.

Rose:........

Dawn:....*sigh* alright Rose, maybe we shoul-....Uh!...Al!!?

Alina: oh shit. what's up, Dipstick?

Rose looked over at Dawn to see her shocked and embarrassed expression after seeing the urchin girl. Rose shifted her eyes to the urchin herself, watching her chuckle slightly and offer a hand out towards her without breaking her eye contact with Dawn. Rose hesitated, but then grabbed Alina's hand and was pulled up by her.

Dawn: w-what the hell are you doing here!?

Alina: *shrugs* just skating around. what about you?

Dawn:......uh....

Alina saw Dawn look away in embarrassment, then looked over at Rose, seeing her shake in fear from just her glance alone until she jumped in realization and pointed at the Octo, which only made Rose tense up more.

Alina: oh shit! It's that Octo girl you were tell-

Dawn: Yes! I know!!

Alina: what's your name again? Rose, right? Dude, I saw your fight against Scarlett! You guys slayed that match!

Rose:......

Dawn: *sigh*.....

Alina: *smirks* never thought you'd be hanging with Rose like this, Dipstick.

Dawn: can you just....fucking hell...you wouldn't understand....

Alina: understand what? I'm honestly as confused as the Octo here.

Dawn: we have something...going on right now....

Alina: y'all on a date or something?

Dawn: No!! She just wants to-.....whatever....splatfest shit....

Alina:...mm...*shrugs*....alright then, I'll just leave you two.

Alina turned around and waved at the two while walking away just as Rose looked back at her while Dawn grabbed her arm and pulled her away.

Alina: see ya, Dipstick.

Dawn:......

Rose:...*looks at Dawn*...

Dawn: don't ask.......

Dawn stopped dragging Rose once Alina was out of sight and mind. She leaned against the wall and pinched the bridge of her nose while sliding down on the wall, sitting down and placing her skateboard next to her.

Dawn:....kill me please.....

Rose:....*tiny poke*...

Dawn:...not now...fuck off.....

Dawn covered her face in annoyance and embarrassment, hearing Rose's footsteps walk away from her, giving her a moment to think to herself.

Dawn let out a long sigh just as she heard the placement of a skateboard down on the ground, which made her peek one eye from out of her dungeon of darkness and see Rose, who took her skateboard and was now staring down at it, hesitating, but placing her foot on top of it while shaking.

Dawn saw the girl eventually place her second foot on top of the board, then stand still on top of it. Rose used her leg gently and pushed herself only a short distance before falling off the board and busting her ass in the process, which made her whimper in pain before quickly standing up and running to grab the board once more.

Dawn:........

Dawn only simply thought deeper to herself about the Octo as she saw Rose get back up on the board once more, but this time holding onto a railing to support herself as she pushed herself forward. Rose let go to the rail and shook greatly, then slipped off of the board again, but caught herself on the rail once again before falling down on the ground.

The board rolled along the ground, and Dawn let out a tiny sigh and stood up from her closed off state, reaching down and grabbing the board that rolled towards her, shocking Rose.

Dawn:.....You never gave me an answer yesterday......

Rose:.......

Dawn:....you looked like you were gonna answer at least.....

Rose: *tilts her head*

Dawn: why don't you participate in splatfests? You never said why.

Rose:........*looks away*.....

Dawn: do you not wanna answer now? It's fine if you don't.

Rose stood still for a second, shaking a little as if she was scared to answer. Her hands rapidly fidgeted as she reached into her pockets to grab her notebook and pen, and just as Rose began to scribble very slowly, Dawn noticed a large shadow near the girl's feet, making her look up and for her eyes to widen in shock.

Dawn: ROSE!!

???: LOOK OUT, LOOK OUT, LOOK OUT!!!! ABOVE!!!

Rose quickly shifted her head up to see an Inkling girl soaring right above her while wearing roller blades, and the two made deep eye contact as their faces were only inches apart. Dawn tried to rush in and push Rose out the way, but she was too late and the Inkling crashed straight into Rose, knocking them both down onto the ground into a very rough landing.

Dawn: Rose! Get off of her, dammit!

Dawn aggressively grabbed the girl and threw her off of Rose, seeing the Octoling letting out a grunt in pain, seeing a slight stream of blood from her head, which only made Dawn glare at the girl.

Dawn: What the hell is wrong with you!!?

???: I'm sorry!! It was an accident!!

Dawn heard chuckling in the distance, then shifted her head over to see a group of Inklings snickering at Rose and giving the Inkling girl a thumbs up, while some others were clapping.

Inkling boy: Nice one, Nina! You definitely got that Pit Dweller good!!

Dawn:......

Dawn slowly turned her head back to the Inkling girl, who was known as Nina, seeing her shaking in fear while pushing herself back while veins popped out of the former agent's head.

Dawn: are those your friends?........

Nina:...I-I...they.........

Inkling boy: yeah! She's our friend! c'mon guys, let's get out of here.....Let's go, Nina!!

Dawn looked back at the group to see them super jumping off and away, which only pissed her off more before seeing Nina nervously wine and quickly run away from her before turning into her squid form.

Dawn: HEY!!

Dawn dashed straight at Nina with great speed, reaching out to the girl and just almost grabbing onto her tentacle from her squid form, but before she had the chance, Nina shot ink straight in Dawn's face and super jumped away just in time, leaving Dawn to stand within the half pipe of BlackBelly, completely furious.

Dawn:......mother fucker......

—————

*Extra Story Art*

Former Agent 3 herself U-U