Chapter 4: Learning the Past

Author's Note: Putting this at the beginning for reasons. Disclaimer: I do not own Splatoon. But I do own Adstrum. Nids belongs to my friend InvaderNids.

Thank you The Bowser Monster, boogfish72, and SpikedFruitPunch for reviewing. I greatly appreciate it guys. Sorry for the long wait.

Still finding it hard to get inspired, but since Callie is back I am happier. YAY! So hopefully I can get another chapter out quicker, but no promises as games are distracting.

A few hours had passed and Callie was on the bus getting herself ready for the first concert of many on this trip. She was finishing up her makeup and doing a quick voice exercise to get herself ready to sing.

"Blushing faces cloaked in pink, rushing-" She sang before a knock on the door interrupted her. "Come in!"

"Hey Callie." Adstrum smiled as he walked in. "How ya feeling?"

"A bit nervous, but mostly excited!" She replied with a big smile.

"Nice. Just remember to have fun." He gave her a thumbs up.

"I always do. Oh, um, you might want to wear your headphones and listen to something else. I think Marie and I are going to sing 'City of Color' at some point during the concert." Callie gave him a nervous smile.

"The Splatfest song…" Adstrum's eye twitched. "Thanks for the warning. Good luck with the concert." He walked out the door and into the small hallway, passing Marie on the way. "Sup, Salt Queen?"

Marie just rolled her eyes and walked toward Callie's door before knocking on it.

"Come in!"

"Hey… How was the town?"

"It was nice."

"I ordered some food for everyone so you can eat before the show"

"Oh, thanks! I could go for a quick snack so I don't get hungry on stage." Callie smiled as she got up and walked toward the door. "You ready for tonight?"

"Yeah a bit nervous" She admitted.

"Me too, but I'm glad to be doing this again with you." Callie pulled her cousin into a hug.

"Heh, me too" Marie hugged her back.

Callie patted Marie's back and let go of the hug. "Guess we should get going. Gotta be ready."

"Yeah let's give everyone what they came for"

Both Squid Sisters walked off the bus, Callie grabbing a handful of chips on her way. "So…*crunch* I met an old friend of Adstrum's today."

Marie cringed a bit, "I see.. That's nice."

"She was very nice. I offered her a backstage pass if she wanted to come say hi after the concert. She seems like a very nice girl." Callie threw another chip into her mouth. "I think you'd like her."

"I hope so…. I really do…." She muttered the last part.

"So what song should we sing first?" Callie asked as they got to the outdoor stage, a bunch of fans waiting in front as they headed around to the back.

"Hmm… Why not the usual line up?"

"Okay. Sounds good to me." She threw the rest of the chips she had left as they walked up to the backstage entrance. Callie got excited as she saw Adstrum talking with Nids. "Oh, hey, speaking of…" She started running up to them.

"...I'll see you on stage then…" Marie quickly left

"Marie, no, wait!" Callie ran after her but stopped at the backstage entrance. "What's her problem?"

"Me." Adstrum answered before turning back to Nids. "So that's what you've been up to lately, huh?"

"Yeah! Once I left Inkopolis, I had to find something to do, you know?" Nids nodded, glancing off in the direction Marie had left. "Too bad, I was hoping to meet her. I guess that's alright, though," she sighed.

"I'm sure you will. You do have a backstage pass. And I don't think Callie will want to leave without introducing you to her." Adstrum answered.

"That would be nice! What do you say, Callie, you alright with that?" Nids asked, a bit shyly. "I know you two are very busy with this tour."

"He's right. I do plan to introduce you to Marie. And we aren't that busy. Cici's handling most of the scheduling...somehow." Callie shrugged.

"How does she do anything?" Adstrum wondered.

"Heh, that Cici sure is a lifesaver, isn't she?" Nids chuckled.

A box swam by everyone's foot.

"Speak of the sleepy and she shall appear! HAHAHAHAHA!" Adstrum burst into laughter.

She swam away to the stage.

"Okay, bye Cici!" Callie waved to the box before turning back to Nids. "Say, would it be okay if we talked after the concert?"

Nids gazed curiously at Callie. "Well, I don't see why not!" she agreed. "Is the show about to start? I wouldn't wanna miss it!" she said excitedly.

"We'll start in a few minutes. Me and Marie just gotta get into position. Quick! Go find a seat!" Callie exclaimed.

"Roger that!" Nids called back, already jogging off to find a good spot.

"See ya, Nids!" Adstrum waved before pulling out his headphones and putting them on.

Callie smiled and turned around.

"Zzz…" Cici's snores filled the air quieting the audience.

An orange tentacled inkling walked onto the stage and picked up the box, pulling the mic out of it. "Sorry everyone. She's rather sleepy." His eyes went wide as he looked at the microphone.

Cici was hugging the mic. She then wrapped her tentacles on his face.

"Heh, without further ado please welcome the Squid Sisters, Callie and Marie!" He walked off as the curtains rose, Callie and Marie standing there with their hands on their hips before the music to Calamari Inkantation started playing. When the beat dropped they both broke out in dance as they moved their body to the rhythm of the music.

The lights switched colors and pulsed to the beat. As the song came to an end, their movements slowed until the end. The audience cheered and Callie and Marie took a moment to bow and catch their breath before the next song started to play, City of Color.

As they sang and danced Callie took a moment during Marie's solo to look toward Adstrum, who was guarding the backstage entrance but still slightly in view. She saw his eye twitch and a look of annoyed anger on his face before he messed with his phone, apparently turning the volume up on his headphones. She thought for a moment and looked at the crowd, catching sight of Nids in the audience and nodding her head as she thought of something. She didn't seem to notice the hooded person from earlier was also there. She quickly joined back in the dancing as Marie's solo came to an end.

As the night went on the concert came to a slow end. More of the audience had begun to leave as Callie and Marie performed the last song of the night, Maritime Memory. When it ended they took a bow and thanked the audience for coming out as the curtain came down in front of them. Just before it closed Callie looked toward Nids and signaled her to meet her backstage.

Something was thrown at Marie. She caught it. It was a flower.

"Oh! It's her… Thank you!" Marie waved to one of her fans.

"Her?" Callie looked at her cousin.

"Oh catch yours"

"Huh?" Another flower was tossed at Callie, who caught it just in time. "Oh, how nice! Thank you!" She smelled it and looked at her cousin. "That was nice of them."

"She visited every concert… even though you were gone. She threw you flowers back then too."

"That's so sweet…" Callie shed a tear. "How nice."

"She always wears a hood... She's a bit weird, but oh well."

"Yeah." Callie nodded as she opened the backstage entrance. She nodded at seeing Adstrum still sitting listening to his music, noticing him smiling and waving his head back and forth. She was happy to see Nids walking up to her. "Hey, come on back here."

"A-ah…" Marie was about to quickly leave.

"Marie…" Callie didn't look back at her cousin. "Stay. Please."

She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She seemed very unsure.

Callie turned to her cousin with a big smile on her face. "Thank you!" She turned back to Nids and gestured her to come inside. "Come on in."

Nids wasted no time coming in, an excited look on her face as she did so. "You guys were both so great! It was amazing seeing you two perform after so long! Thank you so much again, for inviting me!" she beamed, hardly able to contain herself.

"O-oh, thank you" Marie seemed surprised, but smiled.

"What's wrong, cousin? Did you expect another Adstrum?" Callie giggled.

"Yes…" She answered honestly, "A reason to kick myself out…"

Nids frowned, but she understood. "I take it you and him didn't hit it off too well...sorry to hear that! But knowing him, it makes sense. He's a good guy, really, he just has a bit of a temper on him," she tried to explain in his defense.

"He did, like, slap me across my face when we first met…."

A distant laugh could be heard outside.

The purple-haired inkling winced as she imagined the troublesome first meeting they must have had. "Aww man, I'm sorry...probably not the best first impression he could have made," she laughed sheepishly, trying to alleviate some of the tension.

"Well, Marie was being stubborn about quitting." Callie said in Adstrum's defence. "But maybe slapping you was going a bit far." She pointed out.

"It's… you what… nevermind…" Marie rubbed her arm, "It's nothing…."

"Should I scold him, Marie?" Callie asked.

"It's pretty much too late for that… Don't worry about it."

"True. Okay!" She smiled. "Well, anyway. Marie, this is Nids. Nids, this is Marie. But you already knew that."

"Of course! How couldn't I? It's a pleasure to meet you, Marie!" Nids said, smiling warmly at her.

"Likewise," Marie smiled, "It's wonderful to meet you too"

"You could shake hands, you know? Or hug!" Callie giggled.

Nids blushed a bit in embarrassment and fidgeted with her hands. "Oh, of course, I just didn't wanna bother anyone-" she said in a rush.

"It's no bother. I like making fans happy" Marie hugged her.

Nids was surprised, but she returned the hug happily. "Well, thank you, then!"

"Yay! Group hug!" Callie joined in, wrapping her arms around Marie and Nids.

"Hehe" Marie seemed very happy.

After a few moments, Nids pulled back from the group hug and turned to Callie. "So, you seemed like you really wanted to talk about something during the show, what was that all about?" she asked, thinking back to when Callie signaled for her during the show.

"Yes, actually. It's about Adstrum." She noticed Marie roll her eyes.

"I'm gonna go help clean up then" Marie excused herself.

"That's probably a good idea. I'll come join you in a bit!" Callie nodded before turning back to Nids. "So yeah, about Adstrum…"

"What about him?" Nids asked, worried. "Is he doing okay?" she questioned further, the concern growing in her eyes.

"He's fine, but I was curious about his past. Anything you can tell me?"

"Oh, there's so much I remember from when we used to enter in turf wars all the time," Nids said, relieved. "We used to hang out a lot, so you're probably going to have to be more specific if you wanna know anything, or we'll be here all day!" she joked.

"Well, I'm mostly curious about him and Splatfests…" Callie rubbed her arm. "I already know he doesn't like them...despises them even...and I saw his house after he fought a training robot while the Splatfest battle theme played. Quite a 'tantrum' as I think Chase called it."

Sadness swept over Nids's face as she remembered. "Oh, yeah, Adstrum was never really...too into Splatfests. It was weird, you know? In normal turf wars, he was good, but I was never truly afraid of his skills until I faced him in a Splafest battle...there was just something that changed in him whenever one was announced," she recollected.

"How bad was he before they started?" Callie bit her finger. "And how mean was he during Splatfest battles? I hope you weren't on the receiving end…"

"Well, in the week leading up to them, there was always constant fighting between the teams, everyone would always say that their team was better. He never liked how people got when they fought over seemingly simple topics like splatfest teams."

Callie nodded in agreement, remembering most Splatfests were about arguments she and Marie had.

"But once they started, it was no joke...he would crush everything in his path, and I was lucky enough to be on the same team as him for most of them!" she laughed, but then her laugh faded away and her eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment. "There was one time, though, when we did have to fight...and, well, let's just say that I didn't come out of it unscathed!" she explained. "I still consider him a great friend, of course, that never changed. Splatfests are just too competitive, and he doesn't like to lose! Classic Adstrum," she smiled.

"Really? Huh, nice." Callie smiled lightly. "Was he any nicer after Splatfests?"

"Oh, of course he went back to normal, sometimes it took a couple of days, but I always enjoyed his company," Nids said. "And to be fair, everyone would get a little on edge, Splatfest battles were a lot more important than regular turf wars battles. If you were on the losing team, you'd never hear the end of it," she sighed. "Neither of us really liked that part of it, all the gloating that the winning team would do sometimes. Inklings can be really brutal, sometimes!" she shook her head, remembering all of the losses she had to endure.

"You still never hear the end of the first one's results." Callie shook her head as well. "And then there was the last one. Adstrum said he never recovered from that loss. It apparently left him broken."

Nids chuckled softly, hiding a look of pain in her eyes. "Yeah...we both fought really hard for team Callie, but...well, it was close, but we didn't pull through. And I think it affected him really badly because, well...he's a really big fan of yours, to put it lightly," she said with a grin.

"I know he's a big fan." Callie placed her hand on Nids's shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah, it's just...it really makes me sad to remember that day, seeing one of your closest friends so crushed isn't easy," she explained. "He seems happier now, though, and it's really nice to be able to see him like this again!" she said, the sadness in her eyes fading.

"Well, he still has a few nightmares. I've woken up to his screaming a few times. Sometimes found him weeping in his sleep. But he seems to calm down when he hears me talk to him." Callie smiled.

"I'm glad he has you, then!" Nids said happily. "I know he must appreciate you a lot," she added.

"I guess he does." Callie nodded. "I know I appreciate him. He helped me get back to performing again."

"That's awesome!" Nids cheered. She glanced over at her friend, who was still guarding. "You guys are great together, I'm glad I was able to meet both of you here." she smiled. "So what now? Is the show over?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah, it's over. We're gonna help clean up before getting on the bus and heading off to the next town."

"Oh, alright! Well, I had a really great time, I'll have to try and catch your next show on television or something!" Nids said excitedly.

"Maybe we'll run into each other again someday." Callie smiled and waved.

"I sure hope so! Don't be a stranger!" Nids smiled back before turning around and waving. "It's been great!"

"It has. Thanks for talking to me!" Callie replied happily before turning and running toward where Marie went.

As Nids walked outside Adstrum stood up and took his headphones off. "So you have a good time?" He asked.

"You know it! Thank you so much for introducing me, Adstrum! I'm really happy that we happened to meet here, it's been great catching up. You're probably going to go on tour with them, right?" she asked.

"You're welcome, Nids. And it has been great. Hopefully we'll meet each other again in the future." He smiled. "And yeah, gotta stick with them. Well, anyway, so good to see you again." He held his arms out for a hug.

Nids smiled and went for the hug. "Anytime, man! Now you know where to find me," she said, pulling away from the hug. "Feel free to drop by anytime," she offered.

"I will. See ya later, Nids!" He patted her back and headed toward the Squid Sisters bus.

"It's nice to see you again… I gotta ask how do you keep going to all these concerts?" Marie asked the hooded girl from before.

"I have my ways… I plan on going to all of your concerts. You guys were great, I'm glad you two haven't changed much…. But that's not why I waited to see you alone. I wanted to know... are you okay?"

"Huh? Are you worried about me?"

"A bit… I mean you don't seem too happy, and I guess I kinda know why now…"

"Oh… you confronted him…"

"Yeah… I'm sorry if I was trouble… I just… can't stand jerks, you know?"

"Oh you didn't have to… I didn't want him to hate you too…"

"Ah, people can hate me. As long as my friends are happy with me. If you ever decide to run let me know. I will do my best to help."

"Oh boy… you never change do you? I'll keep you posted."

"Alright I better scoot before that guy takes a bite of me."

"Bye Arisara… See you soon"

"You bet! See ya!"

Author's Note

Darkstar248: Welp, this has been an interesting two chapters. Everyone, thank my friend Nids for coming in and writing with Apikachua and I. Thanks for writing with us, Nids.

Apikachua: Hmmmm…. Why does that sound wrong? It's proper grammar, but still….

Darkstar248: Should I have said "Everyone, thank my friend Nids for coming in and writing with me and Apikachua."?

Apikachua: Screw grammar. Thank you for writing with us it was fun.

Nids: The pleasure was all mine! I've always like your guys' stories, it was fun to be a part of this one! Thanks for having me!

Darkstar248: If you want we could try to bring you back again for a future chapter. If we find a reason to. Like a different OC or something. But it's up to you.

Nids: If you'd like! I wouldn't wanna overstay my welcome, of course!

Apikachua: Nonsense every friend is welcomed to help out.

Darkstar248: Yep.

Apikachua: I want cookies...

Darkstar248: Of course you do. Cookies are good.

Nids: I sure could go for some cookies right about now!

Darkstar248: The only ones we have are peanut butter cookies...I only like chocolate chip. I am picky.

Apikachua: Ditto. Anyways… Outro?

Darkstar248: Um...Final thoughts, Nids?

Nids: I thought it was a fun chapter to help write, and I hope that everyone who reads it likes it too!

Apikachua: Like, favorite, and subscribe!

Darkstar248: This ain't youtube...or is it?

Apikachua: nope.

Darkstar248: We have fun here while writing this fic. Yay!

Apikachua: Thanks for reading!