First, I'm going to say sorry, but this isn't the Grand Festival chapter. It was meant to be, but this was longer than I expected it to be, so I decided to split it into two chapters. Not just because of the length of the chapter, but it also feels weird with what I was planning on writing as if it was two separate ideas anyway, so it just feels like it'd be better for them to be separate chapters rather than string them together into one.

Along with that, because of that, it means the "Splatoon 3" story would end on Chapter 50 too, which would be a fun, clean number for it. No, that doesn't mean I'm ending the story or that I'm going to stop, I'm going to continue as normal after it. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Marina POV

It was the night before the Grand Festival. The seven performers were going to be arriving at the Grand Festival Grounds together on the tour bus that had the Now or Never Seven's picture on the side of it.

Due to this, Pearl offered to let them all stay at her house that night, which expanded to include the usual suspects of Liz, Eva, (Y/N), and Veronica.

Currently, Marina was looking over the bag of items Veronica brought with her that she'd need for the three-day Grand Fest event.

Marina: Toothbrush?

Eight: Check.

Eight said, showing the toothbrush she packed.

Marina: Spare clothes?

Eight: Check.

Eight said, displaying the clothes in the suitcase.

Marina: Backup spare clothes?

Eight: Check.

Eight said, displaying the extra set of clothes beneath them.

Marina smiled.

Marina: You've got the most important thing too, don't you?

Eight was a little confused by what Marina was referring to exactly.

Eight: A fire in my heart!

Eight said while making a pumped expression of determination.

Marina giggled.

Marina: That's good to have too, but no, I was talking about your Splatfest tee. You're going to need it to represent your team after all.

Eight: Oh! Yes, I have got that too!

Eight said as she pulled out her Team Future T-shirt, displaying it for Marina to see.

Marina was still a little bummed out over Eight not being on her team for the Grand Fest, but she was still happy to be able to spend the special event with her regardless.

Eva: Don't look so down, I'm on your team at least!

Eva said, happily butting in, showing off the Team Present T-shirt she was already wearing.

Marina: Thanks, Eva. You should probably wait to wear the shirt until tomorrow though, so you don't get it dirty. The white shirt does stain the easiest.

Eva: Don't worry 'bout me, I'll be okay.

Eva said, brushing off the warning before walking away, tripping out of the room, causing Eight to giggle as she watched it.

Eight: You're not upset I didn't choose your team, are you?

Marina: Of course not, Eight. You shouldn't choose your team for me. You should always choose for yourself. If the Future is what you care about most, that's perfectly understandable.

Eight: But is it really important that I have the T-shirt right now? If I lost it, I could get another there, correct?

Marina: Yes, but you'd have to get a fresh one with no gear abilities.

Marina giggled.

Eight: I was just making sure. (Y/N) still hasn't chosen a team, so he'll need to pick one there.

Marina: Don't worry, he'll be fine. They have a Splatfest kiosk right in the middle of the Grand Fest Grounds. But he's really struggling to think of a team choice, isn't he?

Eight nodded.

Eight: He is very undecided about it. He kept telling me that they all seemed like good options, so he could not decide on a team yet.

Marina: He won't be able to play any Grand Fest matches until he chooses one anyway. So, he'll definitely have a team sometime tomorrow.

Eight relaxed at Marina's reassurance.

Marina: Well, you seem to have everything you need in here.

Marina said, patting the top of the suitcase as she shut it for Eight to zip it up.

Marina: So, speaking of (Y/N), do you know where he is right now? I had something I wanted to speak to him about.

Eight shook her head.

Eight: I think he went off to talk with Marie last I saw.

Marina nodded.

Marina: Thanks, Eight. Why don't you go talk to Liz about the sleeping arrangements you four will have in the tent?

Eight: Okay!

Eight scampered off excitedly at the mention of the tent.

Eight: Tent tent tent tent te-!

Marina shook her head with a smile as she walked off to find Marie and (Y/N).

Marina noticed Pearl walking past her.

Marina: Oh! Pearlie, have you seen where Marie and (Y/N) are?

Pearl: Whatcha lookin' for those two for?

Marina: I needed to talk to (Y/N) about something. Eight said he was with Marie.

Pearl: No, but he wasn't talking with Marie when I found him he was talking with Callie.

Marina: Oh, then do you know where Callie is?

Pearl: Yeah, but he's not talking with her either right now. I pulled him away from her, yo. It was like tryin' to rip a yarn ball out of Judd's paws.

Marina: Then where is (Y/N) now?

Pearl shrugged.

Pearl: Frye snatched him away from me. They went off in that direction last I saw as they were walking away.

Marina nodded.

Marina: Thanks, Pearlie.

Pearl: No prob. Don't get too distracted though and forget to check your things. I know how you get when you get distracted, and we ain't turnin' the bus around tomorrow.

Marina: I already checked over everything seven times, but I should probably check over it all one more time. Thanks for the suggestion, Pearl!

Pearl waved her off as Marina happily went checking in the direction that Pearl directed her toward.

Marina checked the halls and a couple of rooms even though she was sure she'd be able to hear Frye if Marina went within a fifty-meter distance of her location.

Eventually, Marina heard Frye and Shiver's laughs from around a corner, to which she looked around it and approached the two, not seeing (Y/N) in sight.

Shiver: Oh? Come to ask us some tips the night before on how to be as perfect as us for the Grand Festival?

Marina: No, but I'd be happy to accept any. I was told (Y/N) was with Frye. Where is he?

Shiver looked away, a bit bored.

Frye: Yeah, he was here a little bit ago.

Shiver: He went off with Big Man just a minute or so ago. Somewhere that way.

Shiver said, directing half-heartedly with her closed fan.

Marina nodded appreciatively.

Marina: Thank you, you two.

Marina said as she walked in the directed direction before Shiver yelled out to her.

Shiver: And if you do want those tips, we charge!

Marina nervously continued on her way with a half-hearted chuckle at the exclamation.

Upon continuing her arduous journey to find (Y/N), she walked a bit longer throughout Pearl's ridiculously-sized mansion, she heard the sounds of a certain Manta Ray's "Ay's" along with (Y/N)'s voice.

She perked up at the sound of it as she gained sightlines on (Y/N) and approached him.

Marina: (Y/N)! There you are. I've been looking for you for a while now. Hello, Big Man.

Big Man: Ay. :D (Hello. :D )

(Y/N): My bad. What's up?

Marina: I finished going over all of Eight's things, she's good to go. I just wanted to talk with you for a bit.

(Y/N): Sure. You don't mind, do you, Big Man?

Big Man: Ay. Ayy. Ay. (No, it's okay. I said what I needed to already. I'll talk to you later.)

(Y/N): Cool, thanks, Big Man.

(Y/N) said as he and Marina walked away to be by themselves.

(Y/N): What did you want to talk about?

Marina: Not much, but Eight did mention to me that you were still undecided on your Splatfest team choice.

(Y/N): Yeah...

He said, nervously rubbing his neck.

(Y/N): I'll pick a team by tomorrow, I promise.

Marina: That's what I told Eight.

Marina chuckled.

(Y/N): Are you ready for tomorrow though? It's going to be three days for this Grand Festival.

Marina: We'll have plenty of breaks, I can do this!

Marina said confidently.

Marina: I'm looking forward to when I'll get to explore the Grand Festival itself though. All the merchandise, food stands, everything.

(Y/N): And the sea of fans you'll have to swim through?

Marina: Yeah, there's that too, but that's just another thing to be excited about! I hope I'll have enough time to catch those Squid Sisters and Deep Cut performances.

(Y/N): I'll make sure to save a good seat for you at them then.

Marina: At this big of a venue? That might be a little difficult.

(Y/N): I'll fight them off who try and take your place.

Marina: And turn it into a mosh pit?

(Y/N): Of course, then it can really be considered a festival.

Marina and (Y/N) laughed at his joke.

Marina: Well, if you want to spend more time together at the Grand Festival that badly, I do have a suggestion to tell you.

(Y/N) looked over at her questioningly.

(Y/N): What is it?

Marina: I wanted to ask you if maybe you'd want to take the tour bus there with the Now or Never Seven.

(Y/N): Have you asked the others about this?

Marina: Not exactly, no... but I was thinking, since there are seven of us on the tour bus, that means there's actually one extra bed on the bus. They don't really make them with an odd number, so you could just get up earlier with us and stay in there without the others noticing and cover that bed with the curtain.

Marina looked nervous as she smiled and suggested the idea with a slight blush.

(Y/N) had a questioning look hearing the idea.

Marina: It's just, it's going to be a bit of a drive, and it might be tough to spend much time during the Grand Festival, so maybe we could at least be able to hang out together on the ride.

(Y/N) was silent as he thought about what she was saying.

Marina: Besides, how often will you get the chance to experience a tour bus as cool as this? Pearl and I didn't get to bring you along last time, so why not now..?

Marina said, attempting to entice him further with the prospect of such a rare opportunity as if to make up for the previous time.

(Y/N) sighed.

(Y/N): All right...

Marina giddily squealed.

Marina: Thank you, (Y/N)! I promise it'll be really fun! Just, uh, try not to make too much noise so the others don't notice. It's a bit hard to get private time with eight people.

(Y/N): Yeah, I got it.

Marina: Thank you. Now, if you don't mind, I've got to go do an eighth check over all of my things.

(Y/N): Are you sure you wouldn't have noticed something wrong the previous seven times?

(Y/N) chuckled.

Marina shrugged.

Marina: You know what they say, eighth time's the charm.

Marina said as she left (Y/N) there by himself.

(Y/N) sighed.

(Y/N): This isn't going to end well... but the tour bus really is too cool to say no to.

(Y/N) said as he walked away to find something else to do.

~~~

The seven idols were all enjoying the ride on the tour bus together, excited for the Grand Festival.

Marina was getting water for herself when the bus hit a little bump in the road, causing a bit of a groan from the bed that (Y/N) was hiding in, causing one or two others to look around questionably before Marina did a fake cough as if she choked on the water.

Callie: Are you okay, Marina?

Marina: Yeah, I'm fine, no worries.

Marina said with a smile.

Callie nodded before turning back to who she was talking to.

Marina scouted the bus around her and made sure no one was looking before she hopped in the bed, shutting the curtain behind her.

Marina: Careful, you almost gave away you were stowing away on the bus.

Marina whispered to (Y/N).

(Y/N): Sorry, I fell asleep. The bumps in the road wake me back up though. Not too much else to do in such a cramped bed.

(Y/N) said, pointing out the almost claustrophobic size of the bed, making Marina realize how small the area the two were squeezed into together.

Marina blushed at how close the two felt all of a sudden.

Marina: M-My bad. Maybe I should've thought this through more...

(Y/N): No, it's fine.

He reassured Marina.

(Y/N): I'm still getting to enjoy what it's like on a tour bus. And since I had to wake up earlier to come with all of you, I'm kind of glad you chose the bed for me to hide in at least.

He said, getting more comfortable in the bed.

Marina: That's good. But what did you tell Liz, Eva, and Eight? Won't they be confused why you're gone too once they've woken up?

(Y/N): I left a note for them, telling them I left to go to the Grand Festival early.

He said while letting out a yawn.

Marina raised an eyebrow, questioning his statement.

Marina: And did the note make it clear?

(Y/N) looked over to her.

(Y/N): Why do you ask?

Marina: You tend to make your notes very limiting on the word count.

(Y/N): I made sure everything was all right. Look, Veronica even already texted me after she woke up.

Marina looked at the phone he was holding up to show her the message from Veronica telling him that she'd see him there.

(Y/N): I even got one from the others too.

He said, changing to Liz's messages from her telling him not to do anything stupid, and then Eva's message telling him to do something stupid.

Marina: Okay, I'm just making sure.

She said reassuringly.

Marina: I promise you can enjoy the rest of the tour bus later, okay?

(Y/N): Fine by me.

He said, snuggling back into the bed while Marina enjoyed once again how close the two were in the tight area before she peeked out of the curtain and hopped out undetected.

Marina proceeded to approach Pearl, catching Pearl's attention.

Pearl: Oh, there you are, 'Rina. I was lookin' for you, yo.

Marina: I was just taking a breather real quick.

Marina said, making an excuse.

Pearl: It's fine. But yo, I wanted to talk to you about our performances for the Grand Festival.

Pearl and Marina discussed their plans while the other five idols were also having fun talking about the Grand Festival.

However, the friendly chats would soon end as the bus hit another bump, this one a bit bigger. The bump was big enough to cause an Inkling who was hiding in a bed to fall out into the center of the bus for all seven of the idols to see.

(Y/N) shook his head as he looked up to see the seven figures' wide eyes looking down at him.

(Y/N): Uh... hi?

Marina looked nervous as she realized that what she had done was going to be discovered by the rest.

Marie: You couldn't help yourself but sneak on board, huh?

(Y/N) gave a small, nervous laugh.

(Y/N): Ye-

He was cut off quickly.

Shiver: No, it's clear that this had to have been an inside job.

Marina had a nervous sweat to her as she heard this.

Shiver: He's too much of a goody-two-shoes to do this on his own. Clearly, someone here among us is responsible for sneaking him on board.

Shiver said with a glare that looked at all of the other six idols as she pointed her fan around at them all.

Shiver: Does anyone want to come forward and admit it was them?

Shiver asked with her arms crossed.

Marina stayed silent, too afraid to admit it was her. Marina was surprised that her plan had been figured out so easily too.

Shiver: No one wants to admit it?

Marie: How do we know it wasn't your idea and you're just trying to shift the blame?

Marie said casually while Shiver gave an over-dramatic insulted face.

Shiver: What sort of hooligan do you take me for?

Marie just stared at Shiver without saying a word.

(Y/N): I-

Shiver: -Don't try it. I know you'll just try and defuse the situation and take all the blame yourself.

She said, cutting him off quickly.

Shiver: I'm going to be doing some questioning now. And I promise I'll get to the truth of the matter. Frye, you help me out.

Frye happily runs up beside Shiver.

Pearl: Why does Frye get a pass?

Marie: And why are you doing the questioning?

Shiver: Because not only do I trust that Frye wouldn't go behind my back for anything like this, but she was also with me last night, so I know it couldn't have been her.

Frye and Shiver both looked confidently up with their detective skills.

Shiver: All right, so who spoke with (Y/N) last night?

Everyone was quiet for a moment.

Marie: We all did.

Marie answered casually once again, unamused by the whole interrogation going on currently.

Shiver: Boss Marie, you seem pretty unenthusiastic about getting to the bottom of this. We'll start the questioning with you.

Marie just sat there, uncaring for what was going on with her arms and legs crossed.

Callie: Just go along with it, Marie.

Callie pleaded with Marie, causing Marie to sigh.

Marie: Fine.

Marie stood up and walked to the back of the bus with Shiver and Frye, out of earshot of the others.

Marina was now nervous that this had gone this far, she couldn't say anything.

Pearl: Yo, don't sweat it, Marina.

Pearl said, reassuring Marina.

Pearl: They're just going to put on some good cop, bad cop show back there. They're blowing this whole thing up more than they need to. They ain't gonna find nothin'.

Marina: Thanks, Pearlie.

(Y/N) was still now just sitting around all the idols left behind.

(Y/N): So, this bus is pretty cool.

He said, attempting to break the ice with them all.

~~~

Shiver and Frye had interrogated Marie, Callie, and Pearl so far. Marina was sure she'd probably be next, but luckily for her, Big Man offered to go next since he saw how nervous Marina looked, to which she thanked him.

Marina: What was it like in there, Pearlie? Did they bring the law down on you?

Pearl: Those two are more likely to get brought down by the law than to bring the law down on anyone. I told you, just dumb, random questions. Simple good cop, bad cop shtick, yo.

Marina was waiting for her turn but was surprised when they all heard a loud clash, surprising the five out there.

Frye rushed out.

Frye: It was Big Man! It was another Big Betrayal all along!

Marina was as shocked as the rest of them, but probably more so. She knew it was herself who was the culprit, so she knew it wasn't actually Big Man.

Big Man stood in the center of the six girls.

Shiver: Manta Tarou Kizaemon Munekiyo, you stand accused of committing a Big Betrayal, and lying about it to cover yourself. How do you plead?

Big Man: Ay! (Not guilty!)

Shiver: Guilty! I thought so!

Shiver said as she turned to the rest.

Pearl: All right, let's punish him!

Marina: Girls, maybe we should just let it go?

Marina felt guilty over knowing the truth, but not being able to speak up and tell the truth about it.

Shiver: All right, Big Man. You know what has to happen. Punishment befitting a Big Betrayal!

Frye: Big Betrayal!

All of the girls besides Marina started chanting "Big Betrayal" which caught Marina off guard that they were all just accepting it.

Marina could stop this, but she felt terrible for letting it go this far. She had to stop this now.

Marina: Wai-... Wait...

Marina pleaded quietly.

Marie: Wait. Stop. Stop it!

All the girls stopped and looked at Marie, including Marina.

Marie: I can't let Big Man be punished for a Big Betrayal, no matter how funny it would be...

Pearl: He snuck (Y/N) on board without us knowing and lied about it!

Marie: Big Man didn't sneak (Y/N) on board, all right?! It was me...

Marina's face was just one of complete confusion.

Marina: What?

Marie: I was the one. I was too afraid to say anything because I'm usually the cool, nonchalant one who doesn't do this kind of thing. But I can't let Big Man be punished for a Big Betrayal that isn't his fault.

Callie: Why are you saying that, Marie?

Callie looked upset.

Callie: You can't be the one who snuck (Y/N) on board. Because I was the one who did it. You're just trying to make me feel bad because you figured out I was trying to hog him to myself, didn't you?

Marina's face was just holding her confused look as if she had gotten lost in the plot.

Marina: Wait a- Wait a minute. What?

Shiver: Oh, I get it. This is some kind of big trick on me.

Shiver pointed at Marie.

Shiver: You've known Frye and I were the ones who snuck him onboard all along, huh?

Callie: You snuck him on board?

Shiver: Of course! Why do you think I went through this elaborate investigation to frame Big Man?

(Y/N): You all came up with the same idea.

All seven of the idols looked over to (Y/N), sitting in the booth, looking like he didn't care to just come out with it at this point.

(Y/N): Every single one of you. You girls and Big Man. You all told me the exact same idea to me last night. I thought you were all messing with me, even. You all saw the extra bed on the bus and all came to the same conclusion.

All the girls looked at each other.

Pearl: Yo, I thought I was the only one!

Frye: Me too!

Shiver: But that means...

Shiver looked toward the ground as if she was thinking of something.

Shiver: That means Big Man was lying!

Shiver grew her angry expression once again.

Shiver: Big Betrayal!

Callie: Big Betrayal!

Marie: Yeah!

All the girls besides Marina rounded on Big Man once again.

Marina: There's just one last thing I don't get.

Marina turned to (Y/N).

Marina: What did Big Man invite you on the tour bus for?

(Y/N): Everyone else on the tour bus was a girl. Can't he just want a guy friend to hang out with? We them boys.

He said while making a peace symbol with his hands and smiling as if it was obvious.

3578 Words

November 4, 2024 - 2:00 P.M.