Roy's PoV

Roy pulled up to the curb and stepped out of his car. He looked up at the stadium he arrived at. Goby Arena? Why would they be here? He supposed the only way to find out was to go in. As he got deeper inside, the stadium got darker, and he noticed some cutouts of basking sharks and balls on the walls. A party! Finally! People barely acknowledged it all day, but he knew his friends wouldn't let him down.

He noticed something else, though. Or rather, heard. A feminine voice was singing deep inside the arena, probably at the centermost court, if he had to guess. The song she was singing sounded very familiar. No… could it be?

Rainbow spots danced across the empty seats, and there were red, black, and white balloons all over the place—his favorite colors. However, it wasn't these that garnered the most of his attention. That award belonged to the jumbotron, where a fair-skinned inkling wearing a black-and-green dress danced. He knew this inkling—he had seen her on the giant screen back in Inkopolis Plaza many, many times.

"Marie?! Of the Squid Sisters?!" he exclaimed, shocked at her appearance at the arena. His red eyes searched the crowd, just to find the Rainbow Squids seated in the frontmost row on this side of the stadium. Near them were two tables, one of them having a cake with white frosting on the top of it. His friends had turned around to look at him upon his exclamation. Perry was smiling as he patted the empty seat next to him. Roy joined his friends and watched as Marie finished his song.

Once she was done singing, all of his friends exclaimed, "Happy birthday Roy!"

"Yes, happy birthday, Roy!" Marie added after they were done.

The entire time, the red-haired inkling had a huge smile plastered on his face. "Thank you!" he exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement. "Thank you, thank you!" He gave a playful punch to the shoulder of each of the boys and shook the hands of the girls excitedly. "I love it!"

"Glad you do," Perry said after Roy gave his thanks. "It cost a fortune to get both the stadium and Marie, and that's coming out of my mouth."

"I don't care! This is even better than I expected!" the tan-skinned inkling beamed. A few tears formed at the corners of his eyes thanks to the overwhelming happiness consuming him. "When you all told me to come to the stadium, I knew something was up, but not something on this scale."

"You did say you wanted a party," Bon-Bon mused.

"So, we gave you the best party for our favorite baskfishball player," Yuri continued.

"But, really, thank you!" Roy concluded.

"No prob," the pale-skinned boy said, giving a thumbs-up. "Now, let's eat."

"Cake?" the red-eyed inkling guessed.

Perry nodded. "Cake."

"I'll eat some cake, too," Marie added.

Roy smiled. I still can't believe this is happening… Everyone gathered around the tables the cake rested on and sang happy birthday to him. After he blew out the colorful candles, Inigo unsheathed the knife next to it and started to cut it. He distributed the cake—with Roy getting the very first piece—and everyone started to eat.

"Aw, you squids know me too well," the tanned inkling commented as he ate his red velvet cake. "Which bakery did you go to?"

"The one down the street," Alexis chimed in. "They have a lot of cakes there."

"Okay." Everyone continued to eat their cakes, having rather pleasant chatter. Marie, however, looked rather worried as she ate, not saying a single word.

"Is something wrong?" Bonnie asked after a while, looking over at the idol.

"…I'm just thinking about Callie," she admitted. "We have the best squids looking for her, but I still can't help but be worried."

"I hope she comes back soon," Inigo added. "It's been, what, a month now?"

"The Great Zapfish's still gone, too," Octavia continued. "But it has to come back soon, right? It only took, what, a month? The first time around for it to come back."

Marie, still frowning, remained silent and continued to eat her cake. Once everyone finished eating, everyone got up from their seats, though they just awkwardly stood there, awaiting a decision.

"…Did you bring me presents?" Roy asked.

Perry's face fell, and then he cried, "We forgot the presents!"

Via cursed and added, "I knew I was forgetting something!"

"Oh well," Marie said, shrugging. "I still have a concert here, you know. I can just… sing."

"You aren't just gonna sing Tide Goes Out?" the red-haired inkling muttered.

"Well, yeah. I have other singles, too," the grey-haired inkling pointed out.

"Then so be it," Inigo mused. "We can still have a good time either way, right? Just us, sitting in the stands, watching the concert."

"Especially when that singer's Marie of the Squid Sisters," Bon-Bon added.

"What are we waiting for, then?" Roy asked. "Let's get right back to it!"

Everyone returned to where they were sitting, while Marie returned to the stage. She continued to sing her songs, and for some songs, the Rainbow Squids even sang along to them. In the end, it was clear to Roy that this was a party he would not forget for a long, long time.

A/N: Hello! I apologize for this chapter being on the shorter side, I had a little trouble deciding where to take this. There just wasn't much to say. In the end, though, it's short and sweet. The schedule will go back to normal after this, with chapters resuming posts on Sundays! Branchwing, out!