Chapter 16: Signing up

As the Squid Sister bus pulled into the city of Pencilvania Jack was in the middle of eating breakfast. He watched as multiple buildings went by before they stopped outside an outdoor stage. He finished off the last of his cereal before going and knocking on Marie's door and Callie and Adstrum's door. "Guys, we're here!" He turned around to see Cici opening a window. "Cici, what are you-?"

She leaped out the bus's window and jumped onto a person's face, "Feed me!"

The motorist screeched to a stop and fell over to the side, "My heart… are you crazy?!."

"CICI!" Jack ran off the bus and up to the motorist. "I am so sorry! I don't know what's wrong with h-" He noticed the person's face. "Arisara?"

"Ari, feed me!"

"... Maybe after you tell me if you are hurt." Arisara gently pulled Cici off her helmet.

"Are both of you okay?" Jack held his hand toward Ari. "Need a hand?"

"Thanks, well any reason for her wanting food?" Arisara stood up with his help.

"Um...she...wants to...participate in this...tournament...that's happening here." He smiled nervously. "And she wants to be prepared for it. Have enough energy, I guess."

"Turf war?"

"No...Something else...Um...the…Gauntlet." Jack replied.

"...You are pulling my tentacles right?"

"I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn't budge." He put his hands up.

"Feed me!" Cici jumped up and down on Arisara's head.

"At least she's eating, right?" He smiled nervously.

"...Ah… well then. What do you wanna eat then?"

"I need energy so sugar?" Cici turned back into her humanoid form.

"No, sugar only lasts temporarily. Maybe something healthier." Jack suggested. "Maybe a breakfast item." He hopped back on the bus.

"He has a point. Let's go to the market, okay? We can pick out everything you may need" Arisara took her hand.

"Yay!"

Jack smiled as they walked off and he headed into the kitchen. He found Callie, Adstrum, and Marie there eating various breakfasts. Adstrum had a triple decker peanut butter and jelly, Callie had a plate of eggs and french toast, and Marie had some oatmeal.

"Hi Jack. Where's Cici?" Callie asked as she bit into her toast.

"She's with Arisara, who she jumped out the window of the bus to tackle as she came by on her motorcycle…" He facepalmed.

"WHAT?!" Marie nearly choked, "Is everyone okay?!"

"They seemed to be." Jack shrugged. "They went to the market to get Cici some food."

"Ah, I see… So she's serious about this?"

"Apparently." Jack sighed.

"Well, she'll get no mercy from me." Adstrum finished off his sandwich and stood up. "Alright. You eat, Jack?"

"Yeah."

"Well, then let's go sign up." Adstrum headed toward the door.

"You go, I'll wait for Cici to get back." Jack sat down.

"Oh, I think there was a note about the concert. It's being delayed"

"Oh, seriously?" Callie whined.

"Apparently the gauntlet is a big deal."

There was a knock at the door.

"Well, since I'm already here." Adstrum opened the bus door. "Hello?"

""H-hiya… so she ate all the food... the bad news is she ate all MY food too…" the hooded person held the sleeping squid in her arms.

"Wow, you guys got back fast." Jack walked over.

Adstrum looked down into Arisara's arms to find a brightly glittering, pink squid in her arms. "That's Cici?"

"Yeah. I am surprised too"

Jack came up to the door to take a look as well. "Wow."

"To see her this healthy and happy is… actually very nice..."

"It is." Jack smiled brightly. "Did she get bigger too? She looks a bit bigger."

"She's is probably your height now thanks to some of the vitamins I had to add to her food."

"That's great!"

"Who's this kid, Arisara?" Marie asked when she noticed.

"Your long lost child" Arisara handed Cici over to her.

Marie stood there not understanding.

"Is that Cici?!" Callie asked loudly as she held out her hands. "May I see her?"

"Y-yeah, here" Marie passed her to Callie.

"Wow." Callie's eyes sparkled. "She's so pretty. Look at her glitter."

"When did I become a hot potato?" Cici opened her eyes

"Hi, Cici." Callie smiled widely and hugged her. "You look great."

She smiled a bit.

"Well, I don't know about you guys but I'm going to go sign up." Adstrum headed out the door.

"I'll race you there!" Cici jumped out of Callie's arms.

"What the-?" Adstrum smirked and pulled out his Ink Wheel, placing it on the ground and revving the engine, letting the wheel drag him toward the building the Gauntlet would be held in.

Cici ran after him.

"Oh jeez." Jack ran upstairs real quick and came back down in his hero gear. He jumped off the bus and turned into a squid, superjumping after them.

"So…" Callie clapped her hands. "You two want to do anything?"

"Ah… no plans except make a bag of instant noodles last a week" Arisara sighed.

"We can go shopping for food for you!" Callie took her hands and jumped up and down. "Shopping in a new city! Yay! Let's go!" She let go and jumped off the bus. "Where's the market?"

"Let's see…" Arisara took out her phone.

"We will need bags!" Marie walked out with shopping bags


As Adstrum walked up to the Gauntlet building he noticed a bunch of other inklings standing around with various weapons and gear. He smirked and pulled out his Ink Sledge. "This will be fun." As he walked up to the sign up station he heard Cici run up behind him. "What took ya, slowpoke?"

"You cheated…" She jumped onto his back and pouted.

"You are more fun when you are active." He finished signing up and turned around. "Alright, sign up."

"No way. This pip squeak hobo is gonna sign up?" An inkling asked when he saw Cici fill out the form.

"Pip squeak?" Adstrum raised an eyebrow. "What are you now? 5'? 4'10"?"

"I dunno" Cici shrugged.

As she finished signing an orange squid came falling from the sky next to them. "Made it."

"Yay! I finished"

"Congratulations Cici." Jack smiled as he signed up.

She didn't seem to pay attention to him as she climbed on bigger squids and octolings.

"Hey! Who's this hobo child?! Get er off me!"

"Cici, stop!" Jack tried to grab her. "Sorry about her."

Cici jumped on top of a tree.

"Alright, you." A Pelican Eel came up and pointed to Adstrum.

"Yeah?" Adstrum asked. "What?"

"Come with me. You need to register the weapon and gear you will be using."

"This is my weapon." He held his Ink Sledge. "And what I'm wearing is my gear."

"Alright. A modified hammer, a jacket, jeans, black shoes, and a red t-shirt." The eel used its tail to write on a clipboard. "Alright, come with me. Let's take you to your starting point."

"Alright." Adstrum shrugged and followed.

The eels couldn't take Cici seriously when she came to register her gear and weapon.

"Okay, so a cloth, and two paper fans?... You sure? Maybe sign this waiver"

"Good luck… I guess"

As Jack finished getting his weapon and gear registered one eel spoke up above the rest. "Alright, listen up! You might have already read the rules of The Gauntlet, but we need to go over a few more right now." The eel pulled out a tablet and used its tongue to scroll it. "All players will start in different areas in groups. One group will be in one area of the building while other groups will be in other areas. In order to advance to the next floor you'll need to find the escalator. However, the escalator will be blocked by bars until enough players have been eliminated, in which case all remaining players may go up to the next floor."

"Hope that hobo is in my group. Easy kill" Someone replied.

Jack glared in the direction that voice came from before turning back to pay attention.

"This will continue until there are only two players left in the whole building, one on each side. At the top the two remaining players will battle in a one on one Turf War, and will be allowed to use any weapons and gear they've collected on the way."

"Maybe if I go easy on her she'll go out with me…. She's not bad at all…." Another person muttered.

Jack growled after hearing that.

"Players are allowed to pick up other people's weapons and gear if they defeat them, but all items will be returned to their owners at the end. This will be to your advantage if you find a piece of gear better than yours."

"If you are traumatized you may forfeit by going back down a floor. Do not go back down floors unless you wish to forfeit"

"Any questions?" The eel looked around.

"Will it be dark?" Cici asked.

"Only in certain areas, but there are a lot of areas lit up."

"Ah… I see" She seemed a bit nervous.

"Aww… She's scared of the dark…"

"Hey, shut up, asshole!" Jack yelled toward the voice.

Everyone stopped and stared at him.

He turned red. "What? He was being a jerk."

"Well, if there is nothing else players may head to the point where their colored elevator matches their bracelets. Removal of bracelets will cause you to explode and you will get DQ'ed."

Jack looked down at his wrist and found a green bracelet on his wrist. "When did that get there?" He looked around and saw an eel slithering through the crowd of players, slipping bracelets on their wrists.

Cici watched the eel try to jump to put it on her.

"Alright players! Head to your elevators!" The eel yelled before slithering off.

Cici jumped down and the tired eel slapped the bracelet on her. She followed it to the blue elevator.

Jack watched Cici walk off and bit his fingernails. "Oh, I have to find her as soon as possible." He felt his neck with two fingers as the elevator door closed, taking him down into the basement area.

Author's Note: Hello again! Back with another chapter!

Okay, thank you The Bowser Monster, Agent 8, Devil Dude 42, Nintendo 46, Fuzzy Hedge 48, GajeSteel, and Noodle Doodle for leaving reviews.

Yes. That is my name. And your name is Devil Dude 42. We all have names.

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Yes! New chapter, Noodle Doodle. NEW CHAPTER!

Hope you all enjoy this new chapter I have. Next one will be here next week. Have a good day, everyone!