Chapter 3: Old Friends, New Places
About an hour passed before the town of Quilden came into view. Callie smiled and ran toward her and Adstrum's room. "We're arriving! Oh, this is so exciting!"
"You seem hyper, Callie." Adstrum smiled as he closed his laptop and stood up, catching Cici in his hand as she fell off his head. "Hello, sleepy."
"..." She hugged his thumb and used it as a pillow.
"Heh. Cute." He walked over to the bus exit and decided to wait for everyone.
"We're here already?" Jack asked as he came down the stairs.
"So… There is a lot of time… before the concert… go nuts…" Cici muttered and swam into a box.
"I kind of want to go and explore this town. See what there is." Adstrum said as he looked out the window.
"ME TOO!" Callie yelled as she came back dragging Marie by the arm. Both were wearing casual outfits.
"Huh? Aren't you going with Adstrum? Just go, I'll check up on the set."
"Okay, Marie. Have fun." She let her cousin's arm go and grabbed Adstrum's. "C'mon, let's go!" She practically ran off the bus dragging him.
"Later…" Marie walked off.
Cici jumped on Marie's hat. "...better…"
"Hehe… Let's go Cici"
"Can I come?" Jack asked as he walked after both of them.
"Sure. let's head over" They all walked together.
"So, what do you want to do first?" Callie asked as she walked down the sidewalk dragging Adstrum.
"Um...I don't know." He looked around the town at the multiple different inklings. "I only passed through this town once. I don't really know what there is to find here."
"Well, maybe we can ask someone." Callie suggested.
"YO! SICK JACKET! WHERE'D YA GET IT?!" An excited inkling ran up to Adstrum.
"And hello to you too." Adstrum nervously smiled. "Um, I don't know. I got it as a gift one day and kept it since."
"Aww… I wanted some fresh clothes…." He sighed, "Ah well. Hey I'm Surge"
"Maybe you can find one online somewhere." Callie suggested. "And nice to meet you, Surge. I'm Callie."
"You are Callie?! NO WAY!" He jumped up and down fangirling, " CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH?!"
"Heh, nice to meet an excited fan." Callie smiled widely. "Sure." She pulled a pen out of her pocket.
"Umm…" He seemed to have nothing to get sign, "... this can't be happening…THIS IS A NIGHTMARE!"
"Calm down, buddy." Adstrum said. "It's not the end of the world. There will be autographs before and after the concert." He turned to Callie. "Why not just sign his forehead?"
"Oh, um, you okay with that, Surge?" Callie smiled.
"YES!" He looked like he could explode at any second.
Callie giggled and signed his forehead. "There you go."
"WEEEEEEE! I CAN DIE HAPPY NOW!" He ran off at the speed of sound.
"Well, it's a good thing I've met Inklings like that before." Callie laughed.
"Heh. Yeah. That was interesting. I wonder who else we might meet." Adstrum smirked.
As if on cue, a purple-haired inkling wearing goggles, boots, and a pale sweater appeared from within the crowd, a wide smile on her face.
"Hey, Adstrum! Long time no see, what brings you here?" She approached him with a curious gaze. "And you brought a friend! Who might this be?" She asked, raising a brow.
"Huh?" Adstrum looked at the inkling with a confused look before noticing the inkling's bed head. "Nids?! HEY! How ya been?!" He walked over to her and gave her a hug. "It's nice to see you again. Didn't think I'd see you here."
"Who's this?" Callie asked curiously.
"Oh, Callie, this is my old friend, Nids. We used to do turf wars together back in Inkopolis." Adstrum replied.
Nids's golden eyes sparkled hearing Callie's name mentioned. "Oh, Callie! I thought I recognized you! And yeah, Adstrum and I go way back, we were both forces to be reckoned with! Well, mostly Adstrum, he was like a shark out there!" Nids laughed as she reminisced.
"Especially on Hammerhead Bridge. That bottom area was MY shark tank." He chomped the air a few times.
"Definitely, even I was scared of you sometimes! But that's in the past, what brings you two way out here, anyway?" She inquired, tilting her head.
"Callie's on a Squid Sisters tour with Marie and I'm coming along with her." He replied with a smile.
"Yeah, I'm excited to see the world more and am glad he could come along." Callie smiled widely.
"Oh, no way! That's really great, Callie! The world is a beautiful place, and I'd even be happy to show you some of it! Well, some of this town, at least. What do you guys say?" She offered with a friendly smile.
"Oh, you moved here?" Adstrum asked.
"We'd love to be shown around, Nids." Callie smiled back. "Thank you."
"I've been moving around a lot since the last time we saw each other, that's all! So, are you guys hungry? Thirsty? I know lots of places for that. We also have lots of cool shops I'm sure you'd appreciate, Callie. Plenty of stuff for everyone!" She started going off, getting a bit excited at the thought of spending time with her old friend and the famous inkling.
"THE CUTE TINY THING IS ATTACKING!" Surge ran around in circles as a tiny green squid bit his tentacles. "OOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"
"CICI!" Jack yelled as he ran after them.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Adstrum burst into laughter. "Attack of the sleepy squid!"
"Oh my, is that guy alright?" Nids said, worried as she saw the chaos ensue.
"He'll be fine. Cici's harmless...mostly." Callie laughed.
"I'M BLEEEDDING!"
"Maybe we should help him?" Nids suggested, although a small chuckle did escape her.
"If you want." Adstrum shrugged and reached into his jacket.
"IT'S TINY AND RIPPING MY TENTACLE! Still cute though…. OWW! I'M SORRY!"
"Ink wheel...Ink Claws...Roller...Splattershot…" Adstrum muttered as he searched through his jacket. "Aha!"
"OWOWOOWOWOOWOOWOWO! YOU DON'T KNOW MY PAINS! MERCY! UNCLE!"
Adstrum pulled out a bag of cookies and held them up in the air. "Cici, let him go!" He opened it up and held it toward her.
"..." She jumped into the bag of cookies, "Yay…"
"And the beast was calmed by her weakness. The cookie." Adstrum said.
"...Ah… My tentacle…." Surge cried.
"Wow, that was kind of crazy! So you know this cute lil thing?" Nids asked, gazing sweetly at the small squid as it ate the cookies.
"...cookies…" she fell asleep again.
"She's Callie and Marie's manager." Adstrum answered.
"And she's a good friend. She used to be our outfit designer. Or is she still?" Callie wondered.
"I do… When you want it…" Cici muttered in her sleep.
"Oh, well, nice to meet you then, miss Cici!" Nids said, adjusting the goggles on her head shyly. "I didn't think I'd be meeting so many important people today!"
"...you nice… I like you…"
"Cecilia? The squid sister's… taylor?... Can I get your autograph?" Surge asked.
"...I can stitch it... into your hide..."
"This guy is easily excited." Adstrum whispered to Nids and Callie.
"You don't say," Nids agreed, giggling. "He has Callie's name on his forehead, after all."
"What? He asked for an autograph." Callie put on an innocent face.
"REALLY?!" She nipped him again. He yelled and ran off again.
"Agh!" Jack yelled. "Cici, come on!" He ran after them.
"Well, that was fun." Adstrum turned to Nids and Callie. "Either of you hungry? I could go for some food."
Nids looked over at a large, standing clock in the distance. "Huh, yeah, guess it has been a while since the last time I ate. Hmm...where to go…" she tapped her foot for a few seconds, deep in thought. Then, she snapped. "Oh, perfect! We can head over to the mall and decide there, there are soooo many restaurants in that place. You guys down?" She said excitedly, already seeming to lead the way.
"I am." Callie smiled. "Lead the way, Nids!" She took Adstrum's hand and pulled him along.
The three were sitting down at a booth in a restaurant called Plate Palette. Adstrum had, of course, gotten chicken tenders and fries with a root beer. Callie got a Catfish burger with fries and a Strawberry Printa. Nids had ordered a Fill-O-Fish, with a side of fries and an iced tea.
"Yes. Please enjoy" The host walked away.
"Thank you!" Callie replied and threw a fry into her mouth.
"So, you guys said you had a show coming up or something?" NIds asked before taking a small bite of her fish sandwich. "I actually didn't know that the Squid Sisters had gotten back together!"
"Yeah. It took a while, but Marie and I talked it out." Callie replied.
"More like you talked and Marie listened for once." Adstrum muttered.
Nids beamed. "Well, I'm glad you guys were able to work it out! Everyone missed you, Callie!" Nids sipped her tea. "And I'm glad Marie finally heard you out. I know she could be a bit prickly towards you at times," she said with a sympathetic frown.
"Yeah. I'm glad I came back. Marie seemed intent on quitting even when I said I was coming back. But apparently all she needed was to hear the words from my mouth." Callie nodded. "And she was a pain, but I think she won't be mean anymore."
"Her stubbornness was ticking me off during that time. But it did give me a reason to slap her upside the head. Man, that felt good!" Adstrum smiled widely.
"Sorry to intrude, but… have you no sympathy?" A hooded person with green eyes asked, "I been to all of Marie's shows when you left… She was hurting pretty bad."
"Serves her right." Adstrum replied.
"Adstrum…" Callie gave him a glare before turning to the hooded inkling. "I saw she was hurt and I felt so guilty. I apologized not long after we got back together. But I hope to spend some time with her during this trip." She took a bite of her burger.
"... Wonder why she didn't… If everyone she cares about treats her this way… She never looked so broken… I wanna see her again. Maybe one day without my hood on..."
"Oh, I'm sure you'll see her someday!" Nids said hopefully to the stranger, a bit perplexed at their seemingly random appearance.
"Maybe… Sorry, just overheard you talking… Kinda not surprised Callie looked down on her cousin… what a cruel world..."
"I swear if this is one of those Marie Elitists…" Adstrum muttered. "Marie looked down on Callie. It was apparently only when Callie left did Marie realize how insignificant she was without her."
"Adstrum!' Callie nudged him. "Don't say that. She's a great singer and I'd say equal to me."
"Nah, I like you both… but the way you act has shifted that."
"Hey now, don't be so unfair! There are always two sides to every argument, Callie had her reasons for doing what she did!" Nids interjected.
"What's so wrong about quitting when your partner's hit the road? That's pretty hypocritical…"
"Look, I know what I said and I regret it. I panicked and wasn't thinking right." Callie replied.
"She still hurts… You guys won't last… It's sad, but true."
"I plan to talk and hang with her during this trip. I want to make up with her." Callie sighed.
"If you say so. I don't believe you though."
Adstrum turned and glared at the hooded individual. "I'm going to need you to stop talking before I make you. We don't want to talk about this right now."
"Okay. Whatever." She rolled her eyes and moved a tentacle out of her face.
Adstrum reached into his jacket and started to pull out the Ink Claws but Callie pulled him back and made him sit back down.
"Don't. It's fine." She hugged him and he took a few deep breaths.
"Fighting in an unspecified area is against the law… It's you, that's tearing them apart by the way." The stranger stood up and left.
"Okay, now even she's starting to tick me off." Callie muttered.
"Who do you guys think that even was…? She seemed really upset...I hope she doesn't come back to haunt us or something," Nids said worriedly.
"Someone I'm going to punch next time I meet." Adstrum muttered.
"That's Arisara… She's normally nice… but I guess something ticked her off." The host replied.
"Oh, that's...unfortunate...I really hope she's okay, then. Still, was rude of her to listen in on us and pick a fight like that," Nids said sadly, looking down at her plate.
"It was." Callie nodded in agreement. "Let's change the subject though." She took a bite out of her burger. "So, Nids. You are the second person I've met that Adstrum was friends with back in Inkopolis. I'm glad to be meeting more of his old Inkopolis friends." She smiled.
"I'm happy to meet you too! Well, face-to-face, that is...Of course, you were on the news all the time back then, that feels like so long ago! I never dreamt we'd meet. And I'm also a bit surprised that you're with Adstrum here, how did you two even meet? Must have been a crazy story!" Nids said, chuckling.
"It was...kind of weird. We met at a restaurant in Carti Ridge owned by a friend of his." Callie started.
"Somehow I knew Chase would end up being the reason I met you face to face. Even if you were hiding your identity. How did we meet again? Nice to meet you, 'Jewel.' My name's Adstrum." He smiled at Callie.
Nids laughed. "Good to know you're still hangin around with Chase, what a guy! You guys have to tell me the full story sometime, it sounds like a wild ride!" She took a few fries into her hand and chomped them down.
"Maybe we can after the concert if there is time." Callie pointed out.
"Oh, right!" Nids said, almost in a panic. "When does that start, anyway? I didn't even know it was happening, or else I would have bought a ticket…" she sighed. "Maybe some will still be on sale, hopefully not for too much…"
"Not for a few more hours." Callie answered. "And if you want I could get you a backstage pass."
The purple-haired inkling gasped, but recollected herself. "Oh, I don't wanna be any trouble!" she said shyly, looking off to the side.
"You won't be. I insist." Callie smiled. "Anything for one of Adstrum's friends.
"W-well, alright, if you insist!" Nids agreed, still a bit shyly. "If I can ever repay you, let me know! I'd be happy to do you guys a favor!" she smiled brightly.
"I might take you up on that offer." Callie smiled. "Well, Adstrum and I should go get ready for the concert now. I need to get ready and Adstrum needs to prepare for the security gig. He's the only thing between me and a bunch of screaming fans."
"Definitely! Adstrum is pretty strong, I bet he does a great job! Well, don't let me keep you! It was just really nice to catch up!" She said with a wave as she finished off her iced tea.
"Alright. See ya later, Nids." Adstrum smiled and waved as he walked toward the exit.
"See ya at the concert, Nids." Callie handed her a backstage pass. "Hope you'll have fun." She stood up and walked toward the exit as well.
"I'm sure I will! See you guys on the flipside!" she called after them as they walked out the door.
Author's note: Sorry for the long wait again, guys. I still have class work to do and I made the fatal mistake of playing LET IT DIE again. Haven't touched that game in almost two years and the second I get back on it I am addicted again. Help please...
Thank you The Bowser Monster, boogfish72, and Guest for leaving reviews. I greatly appreciate them.
Well, guest, hopefully I can update this fic more often. But classwork and work are getting in the way...as well as video games.
Now, you might be curious why I have this Nids character show up. Well...that is actually my good friend InvaderNids, who I invited to write this chapter and the next one with us. She's a good friend and is the one who drew my profile avatar. She is a great artist and I thank her for the drawing and for writing with us.
Thank you all for reading and I will see you all next time. I'll try to be quicker. But no promises.
