Perry's PoV
On this day, September 12th, it was Roy's birthday. He made sure everyone heard about it, wearing a shirt that read 'It's my birthday!' to school today. Per Perry's suggestion, he even started to put up posters declaring the special occasion. All they garnered were a few odd looks, deflating his ego. However, after school, the rest of the Rainbow Squids had something else in mind.
"I'm surprised at how much money you managed to pull together to rent out the baskfishball stadium," Bon-Bon commented, looking at a receipt the purple-haired inkling had given her. Roy himself was at baskfishball practice, though the others were at their usual place in Inkopolis Square.
"I got Marie to come, too," Perry added. "Took a lot of money and bribing, but I managed it."
"That's amazing!" Yuri marveled.
"Doesn't he like Callie better, though?" Inigo pointed out.
"Callie's missing, remember?" Alexis rebutted. "She can't come. At all."
"We know," the blue-haired inkling snapped. The young inkling opened her mouth as if to say something, but no words came out of her mouth. She sighed and leaned back in the chair. "But, I think we should all be heading over to the stadium now."
"Yeah, Marie could already be there!" Yuri agreed.
"Then, let's go," Octavia said, getting off of her chair. "And either way, we still need to make sure all the decorations are there before Roy comes. It would be a lackluster party otherwise!"
The rest of the inklings agreed and soon followed suit, and they began to walk to the stadium. It was not too terribly long of a walk there, and soon, they were at Goby Arena.
"Perry… this is a basketball stadium, not a baskfishball one," Bonnie pointed out once they got there.
"Hey, it's also used for baskfishball," Perry argued. "Besides, they're almost the same sport, except one uses hoops and the other uses volunteer basking sharks."
"Let's just get inside," Inigo said.
Goby Arena wasn't too terribly big of a stadium, with the actual court being rather small. However, it had a huge amount of seats, complete with two entrances to accommodate for all the people that can fit in it. The jumbotron overhead was turned off, showing nothing on the black screens. Sponsors were all over the place, which made sense given the popularity of it. It really is fresh!
Perry had also made sure to rent out the VIP section of the seats to ensure the best view of Marie. Nearby were two white tables he had brought the day before, and of course, they were left untouched. In the central court, a few workers were setting up a stage for the idol, complete with a poster featuring her face. Suddenly, the jumbotron flickered to life, displaying flashing colors before settling on the court.
"Hey, she's not here yet," Alexis commented.
"And we still need decorations!" Via added. "There should be lights everywhere—preferably red ones. Oh, and we should get those cutouts depicting the basking sharks and the balls and hang them up everywhere. And red balloons! They'd match Roy perfectly!"
"What about a disco ball?" Bonnie suggested. "We could hang it up somewhere."
"We already have the jumbotron," Inigo pointed out. "And, since we're all sitting in one place, only one side of it should be showing Marie."
"…And the other sides could be red and flashy!" the orange-haired inkling exclaimed. "Great idea!"
"We'd still need other decorations, though," the blue-haired inkling then pointed out.
"Yeah, I know," Octavia said. "There should be a party store near here, so who wants to go with me?"
"I'll go," the indigo-haired inkling replied.
"Me too," replied Bon-Bon.
"Any of you three going?" she then asked the others.
"I kinda have to stay here," Perry responded. "Greetin' Marie, stuff like that. I am the squid to fund this whole thing."
"I'm not going," Yuri replied. "Stores are kinda boring."
"I just don't wanna go," Alexis said.
"Do ya have money?" the purple-haired inkling asked the group.
"Yeah." The orange-haired inkling got out her wallet and pulled out 2,500G. "This should be enough, right?"
"I dunno, that isn't a lot of money," Perry pointed out.
"Party decorations aren't that expensive," Inigo argued. "We'll be fine."
"Oh, alright. But don't say I didn't warn ya if ya run out of money."
"Alright, then we'll be on our way," Octavia announced. She, Inigo, and Bonnie began to walk out of the stadium, with Via shouting, "We'll be back in a bit!"
"See you soon!" the dark-skinned inkling called as they left. Once they were gone, he turned to face Perry and Alexis and asked, "So, what now? We get a cake?"
"Cake!" the pale-skinned inkling cried. "I forgot about that!"
"I can go buy a cake," Alexis offered.
"OK." Perry got out his wallet and pulled out 10,000G. "This should be enough for a nice one," he explained as he gave it to the young inkling. "Roy's favorite is red velvet, so try to get one in that flavor if you can."
"…And if the bakery doesn't have any?" Alexis asked.
"Chocolate is the way to go!" Yuri exclaimed.
"Alright." The bronze-skinned inkling put the cash in her pocket and gave a thumbs-up. "I'll be back as soon as I can." With that, she left the stadium, leaving only Perry and Yuri alone.
The purple-haired inkling sighed and plopped down onto the chair next to where Roy would be sitting. What now? All they could do now was wait for someone to come. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and started to scroll through Squidsagram. Of course, Roy had made several posts announcing his birthday. The most recent one was with his fellow baskfishball players. Perry smiled. At least he got his wish.
After several minutes passed, he heard footsteps coming closer and closer to him. Soon, a shadow lingered over him, and he looked up to see a fair-skinned inkling with pale grey hair and starry yellow eyes. She was wearing a black-and-green dress. On the other side of him was Yuri, with his headphones resting around his neck. He gave a wink, and Perry's purple eyes then drifted over to Marie.
"You're Perry Sculpin, right?" the idol asked.
Perry put his phone back into his pocket and rose to his feet. "Right," he confirmed and extended a hand. "Nice to see you."
"And, nice to meet you." The two inklings shook heads, and Marie dipped her head. "I should be warming up, now," she said. "I'll be seeing you later." Before leaving, the grey-haired inkling did her signature pose—waving her hands around while standing on one leg. "And stay fresh!"
Even later, another voice spoke up. "Hey, guys." Perry and Yuri, who were just on their phones, looked up to see Alexis holding a big, circular cake with white frosting. It was decorated with red four-pointed stars, and on the top of it were lettering that read, 'Happy Birthday Roy!'. "Where should I put this?" the bronze-skinned inkling asked.
"The table," Yuri replied.
"Where's the box?" Perry suddenly asked.
"On the table," Alexis responded. "So, should I put it on the other table, or the one the box is on?"
"It doesn't matter. We got a cake, that's all that matters."
"OK." The pale-skinned inkling watched as the young inkling set down the cake on the open table. She then took a box of red candles out of the cake box and asked, "What about these?"
"Don't put 'em in now. Gotta let Roy look at that cake in all its glory."
"OK." Alexis put the box of candles down on the table before walking over to the seats the Rainbow Squids were designated to sit in. She sat behind Perry and leaned back in her seat, hopping onto her phone like the older inklings were doing.
More time passed, and Octavia announced, "We're back!" All three squids turned around to look at the group of newcomers. Of course, Via was holding the most bags, and they were filled with party decorations. "It ended up being more money than I thought," the wavy-haired inkling admitted. "So, everyone pitched in to pay for it."
I told ya! Perry boasted silently, a smirk coming across his face. "We got everything, so let's start hangin' them."
"Yeah. Roy should be done with baskfishball practice soon," Inigo agreed.
"Has Marie come yet?" Bonnie asked.
"She's here," Yuri replied. "She said she was gonna warm up, though."
"The main attraction is here. Good," mused Octavia. "Now, let's get this party ready!"
"Yeah!" exclaimed everyone else.
The Rainbow Squids took the time to hang up decorations all across Goby Arena. Each of them split up, taking at least one decoration to themselves. Of course, when one of them finished early, they came to someone else's aid, or when one of them needed help, someone else came to their aid. In the end, the arena matched Octavia's vision rather well. Cutouts of balls and basking sharks were strung up around the walls of the stadium, and they even lined the tables, which were now covered in a red, plastic tablecloth depicting white cartoon squids. Balloons colored red, black, and white floated around the stadium, with many hung down by weights covered in red tinfoil. All sides of the jumbotron except the front began to flash a variety of colors, illuminating the darkened stadium in a rainbow.
"Looks fresh," Yuri commented once they were all done. He turned to face the wavy-haired inkling and said, "I knew we could count on ya," giving a fist bump to her in the process.
"What about me?" Perry grumbled. "I'm the one who rented out the stadium in the first place. And got Marie to come."
"Don't worry." The dark-skinned inkling winked. "You did great, too."
"Look!" Bonnie gasped. "Marie's coming out!"
Indeed, the idol did. Marie strutted onto the stage, waving to the Rainbow Squids. She took the microphone and commented, "Well, this audience is much smaller than normal." She gave an awkward smile. "But, I still have to give you a show."
"Are you gonna wait until Roy's here?" Inigo shouted after she finished.
"Well, I could, but wouldn't it be more exciting if he came while I was singing?" Marie argued.
The indigo-haired inkling paused for a moment, and then nodded. "…I guess you have a point."
"We don't know when he's coming, though," Via then pointed out.
"Roy texted me," Inigo added. He pulled up his phone screen, showing the exchange between the two friends. "He said he's on his way."
"Oh." The orange-haired inkling returned her attention to the idol. "Start singing, then."
"Alright. Now, this one's my most popular solo—Tide Goes Out."
Marie began singing, and Perry relaxed in his seat. Everything was going smoothly. Now, the only question was if Roy will like it.
A/N: Happy in-universe birthday to Roy! You'll see the conclusion of this birthday party next chapter, which will showcase Roy's reaction to everything. Again, the next chapter will be released next Monday instead of next Sunday. Branchwing, out!