D1 was a young woman only a year or two Albert's senior who entered the deepest metros three years ago. She had a very specific goal in mind as she wandered the rails, blasting any sanitized Octarians that got in her way, passing trial after trial as she approached her goal.

But her mission became more complicated when she heard the sound of rattling on the train. She suspected some sanitized goons had gotten on to try to dispose of her. She grabbed her Splatroller, covered in pink ink, and readied herself for battle against the seemingly undead foe.

However, to her shock, when the doors to her car opened there wasn't any enemy, just a scared Octarian man, trembling, holding a broken Inkbrush.

She lowered her weapon, and the two stood there for a moment or two, baffled at the other's existence in this hostile, train-filled Hell.

She reached out to him, but he swung his broken brush at her, splattering the car with blue ink.

"Easy easy!" She insisted, "I'm a friend! I'm not going to hurt you."

She reached out to him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, but didn't pull away. He felt an ease in this moment, the comfort of companionship. Something he had not felt in a long time.

"See?" The Octoling smiled, "Friend. You know Octarian right?"

The man nodded, "I'm... Albert."

D1 offered him a seat beside her, which he hesitantly accepted. She asked him, jokingly, "Heh, why so tense? Never been friends with a famous DJ before?"

"Not exactly a lot of music around here," Albert shook his head, "Haven't heard any at least."

"How long have you been down here?" D1 asked.

"As long as I can remember," Albert shrugged, "You're the first one I've met that's still... well... not one of those poor souls.

D1 looked at Albert in shock, "Wait so you've never heard music?"

Albert shook his head.

D1 placed a pair of headphones on Albert's head, "Here! This is a track I'm working on. I call it #0! I don't have the name finished but the song's good to go!"

Albert began to listen and instantly got lost in the music.

"What do you think Albert?" D1 inquired. Albert was too lost in the music to reply.

"Albert?" She asked. "Albert. Albert!"

"Albert, wake up!" Terry called snapping Albert out from his dream of the past.

"Wuh?" Albert groaned rubbing his eyes, "What time is it?"

"It's like noon man!" Cara called, "Why were you sleeping on the roof? We were looking all over for you."

"I like the stars," Albert gave an answer that was technically true but wasn't why he was there.

"Well we're grabbing some pizza," Terry added, "Come on!"

Albert jumped down and began to walk towards a pizza stand. Terry inquired to the other two, "Do you guys have any hobbies?"

"I like to eat at various places and write up reviews," Cara replied, "Part of why I appreciate that Mr. Grizz pays well. You?"

"I've always been a big movie guy," Terry replied, "Which reminds me, that fisherman movie we watched last night was technically a remake that overhauled the original. The new one is better thematically but the old one is worth watching. You see in the original..."

Terry rambled on about the old film until they began to eat, finishing, "...and that's why you don't stick your hand in a blender!"

Albert chuckled, "Sounds crazy. We should watch it sometime!"

"Hey what about you," Terry inquired, "You got any hobbies?"

Albert shook his head, "I was only really into Rainmaker."

"Weren't you listening to music when we fought the Ruby Runners?" Cara inquired.

"Oh that's an anxiety thing," Albert explained.

"You have anxiety?" Terry inquired, "But you seem so level headed on the battlefield!"

Albert shook his head, "It's a long story. Anyways, I guess I did start to follow the careers of other famous folks who partook of Splatfests and stuff, was a huge fan of Agent 8 for a while before she betrayed us, siding with chaos."

"Wait Agent 8 was on team order," Terry retorted.

"What?" Albert asked, baffled.

"Yeah I was confused by that yesterday," Cara elaborated, "What was that about?"

Embarrassed Albert admitted looking down at his pizza, "I just... assumed if they fought for order we would have won honestly. Sorry."

Terry chuckled and nudged Albert with his elbow, "It's all good man."

Cara took a bite of her pizza, she savored it, examined the texture of the crust, the blend of the cheeses, and took out a notepad, "Yeah this is a nice cheese blend. Crust could do with being a smidge crisper though."

"You're serious about that food review stuff," Albert pointed out, "You run a blog or something?"

Cara nodded, "Sure do! It's fun to see people recommend places! You learn about some really underrated spots that way, then I bring them to light for others to enjoy. I guess it's my way of helping people."

"Nice," Albert high fived her.

"Oh hey," Terry added, "We got you a little something."

He handed Albert a pair of blue headphones.

"Oh my God this is top of the line Off the Hook signature," Albert took them in his hands, "Thank you... you didn't have to."

"Consider it a symbol of our friendship," Cara smiled, "Besides if you really have some sorta anxiety thing you'll need them. They can even covert into speakers and pick up radio!"

Albert put them on the table, flipping them outward, setting them to speaker mods and fiddled with the radio signal until he picked up a signal, one that shocked him, "Hey hey! It's your girl Pearl coming at you from the radio tower on the east side!"

"Pearl..." Albert growled.

The one who had taken Rainmaker, the only thing he had, his peace and security, from him.

"Some crazy stuff has happened!" Pearl continued, "You all remember Albert? The Torrential Tyrant of the battlefield as some called him back in the day? He's lead some sort of faction and refugee camp, a way out of the city for any who wanna escape? These, as many are calling them, Downpour Defenders, are being led by the guy! And they took out the Ruby Runners at the docks yesterday aligning themselves with Grizzco!"

Pearl chuckled in a taunting fashion, "Hey! Albert! This stuff is entertaining to me! Tell you what, take enough turf to take my tower, and we can face off! You and me! If you hate chaos so much, strike it down yourself! At least it'll be fun! All these small gangs have gotten boring! Come and get me rain boy!"

Albert turned off the radio and declared, "That's our next target."

The two looked at Albert with worry he was overworking himself, but he was quick to adjust, "...Starting tomorrow. Relax I can take a hint. She said the east side. If we take that part of the city we can clear a path to the Great Zapfish from there. There's just a few stronger gangs in the way."

"Why not just ignore Pearl?" Cara asked, "The radio tower doesn't seem like a particularly strategic spot."

"As a fort no," Albert replied, "But propaganda is a powerful tool. We take out Pearl, it sends a message, instills hope, and we can then control the information flow. Make us sound more dangerous than we are, scaring weaker gangs into submission."

"This sounds... morally dubious at best," Terry pointed out. "The hope part is fine but, propaganda? Albert what are you implying?"

Albert chuckled, "We. Take. Over. That's always been the plan. You know that."

"I don't think you're going in a good direction with your rule," Cara pointed out.

"Oh I'm a terrible leader," Albert admitted, "And I don't wanna lead honestly! I just have no choice. I'm not gonna trust anyone else too."

"Fair enough," Terry sighed, "But, when the time comes, we need to decide how we're going to rule."

Albert nodded in agreement, "But... not today. You guys said today was a day to chill right? Let's chill."

Cara smiled and nodded, "Yeah. How about a friendly 1 v 1 v 1..."

The rest of the day was much the same, the three friends bonding and having fun, and for Albert it was arguably the best day of his life. He felt a deep connection with Terry and Cara, and one he had to protect.

He wouldn't lose them too...