Chapter 45: Reuniting

Jack smiled out the window as he saw the view of Inkopolis from above, the city growing closer as the plane started to descend. He looked at Cici, who still clung onto him.

"We're almost there. Look, Inkopolis Tower!" He pointed out the window excitedly as they flew over Inkopolis Plaza. "Wh-where's the Great Zapfish?"

She was quietly snoring on his head.

He gently picked her up and held her close. "You gotta fasten your seatbelt, Cici. But I can hold you instead." He kept looking out the window, breathing a sigh of relief as he saw the zapfish wrapped around another tower in the distance.

Cici snuggled up to him.

He held her close as the plane landed, jerking Jack a bit in his seat as it slowed down quickly. He kept Cici close and waited for a complete stop before placing her in the seat next to him. "You okay?"

"Hm?" She looked at him and stuck a suction cup onto his cheek.

"Yeah, you're fine." He smiled and patted her mantle. "We're here."

"Oh, okay," She swam up him and rested on his head.

Jack smiled and gently petted her, undoing his seatbelt and grabbing their luggage from the overhead compartment. They quickly got off as the wait from first class wasn't very long and started on their way out of the airport.

"So...you think the others are here already? Or are we going to have to wait for them?" He asked the squid on his head as he waited at the baggage carousel. "Should we give them a call?"

"Hehe. Hello, police squid" Cici was being carried by a policeman.

"What the-? Hey!" Jack ran up to him. "What's the issue, officer?"

"Here you go kid. Please, keep a better eye on her."

"I swear, she was on top of my head a few seconds ago. What did she do?" Jack asked with concern.

"She was on top of the conveyor belt…"

"Of course she was…" He sighed and looked at Cici. "What is wrong with you sometimes?"

"It looks like fun!" Cici flopped up and down.

"I know it does, but it's dangerous." He picked her up and hugged her. "Come on, let's get our luggage and give Callie and Marie a call, okay?"

"Security shark" She pointed to a shark.

"Yep. I see them." He smiled nervously at the shark before noticing their luggage on the conveyor.

"Tiny" One of the bigger sharklings walked up to him.

"Hello? Can I help you?" Jack asked him as he grabbed their luggage.

"Sharkie" Cici flopped.

He picked Cici up and petted her, "Missed you. Welcome back."

Jack stood there with wide eyes and both a fearful and confused expression. "Um...who are you?"

"Don. I am her bodyguard..."

"Bodyguard? Cici has one?"

"Many years ago, yeah. Just came by to welcome her back. And to say thanks for helping me and the gang."

"I'm so confused." Jack looked at Cici then back at Don. "What did she need a bodyguard for?"

"I beat the shit outta anyone who dared to bother her or the Squid Sisters."

"Oh. Yeah, she was and still kind of is their tailor. But I didn't realize people would bother her." He shrugged and held his hand up. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Don."

"Likewise. Good luck out there buddy. Give me a call if there's trouble."

"Thanks. Cici and I have to make a call and figure out where we are going to be staying if the tour bus isn't here yet. And we will give you a call. Er, well Cici will. If she has your number in her phone. Do you, Cici?" Jack looked at her.

"How that thing work?" Cici asked.

"I'll show you." He smiled and hugged her.

"Hmm" She started nibbling on it.

"That's not what it's for." He pulled the phone from her mouth and placed it in her hand. "This is going to be a hassle." He chuckled and looked at Don. "Yeah, gonna need a lot of luck."

"Yeah, you have it hard…." Don chuckled.

"Yep." Jack sighed and pointed at a button. "Press that, Cici." He waved to the sharkling. "See you around, Don!"

"Bye, let's roll, boys." He walked back to his friends and left.

"Hello?" A voice came out of Cici's phone. She instinctively tossed it.

"What the-?" Jack caught it and looked at it. "You figured out how to call someone with this already? Nicely done, Cici."

"Hello?" Callie asked again, "Who is this?"

"You called Callie!? Perfect!" He put the phone on face cam. "Hi, Callie. It's us." He pulled Cici close and smiled.

"Evil" Cici pointed to the phone.

"It's not evil, cutey. It's a phone." He chuckled and looked at Callie. "Chives gave her a cell phone."

"Oh! Chives did? That's great!... If she doesn't throw it away."

"I won't let her. So what are you guys doing?"

"Watching Arisara and Adstrum arguing about her playing games."

"Go to the left! There's a secret!" Adstrum's voice was heard in the background.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to play? I can still have food, right?" Arisara's voice asked.

"Of course you can play! And...wait, what?"

"Um, I wasn't allowed to eat if I didn't do my work."

"Of course you can have food. Are you hungry now? Go get a snack or something." Adstrum's shocked voice said.

"I can?" Arisara's voice seemed to lighten up.

"Yes."

"Sounds like you guys are having fun on the bus." Jack chuckled. "Um, you are still on the bus, right?"

"Yeah, maybe just a few more minutes since I can see the tower. So where are you guys?" Callie asked.

"Um...leaving the airport. I was going to take Cici somewhere for lunch, but I guess we gotta meet up with you guys, huh?" He laughed nervously.

Cici was staring at a lit up sign and waddle into it.

"Cici!" Jack ran after her. "Gotta keep an eye on her." He smiled at Callie.

"Really?"

Cici was carried away by a weird guy.

"HEY! Put her down!"

He freaked and ran away, dropping Cici in the process. She seemed confused.

"That's why I gotta keep an eye on you, Cici."

"He say we were going to play at his house" Cici replied standing up.

"No. No." He took her hand and led her away. "Where do you guys plan on stopping?" He asked Callie.

"We are headed to our old studio." She answered gleefully.

"Alright. Guess we'll meet you guys in Inkopolis Plaza. Not sure where you'll park considering there was never an entrance for a vehicle." He blinked. "Wait, how did they get those trucks into the plaza during the Splatfests?"

"I've been asking that for years!" Adstrum's voice rang from the background.

"Oh we'll be walking there from the street. The trucks? They can fly."

"Okay. Wait, they can?" Jack blinked.

"I wanna fly!" Cici super jumped through the glass ceiling.

"CICI!" Jack shook his head and caught her when she came back down. "Are you okay?"

"Hehe."

He checked her for any scratches or bleeding, sighing in relief when she appeared okay. "Please don't do that again." He held her hand as they exited the airport and headed for the tram station.

Cici was excitedly running around looking at everything. She started chasing a butterfly.

"Jeez, you are excited." He smiled at Cici. "Well, see you later, Callie."

"Okay, stay fresh!" Callie hung up the phone.

"Come on, Cici. Let's get on the tram." He smiled at her.

"Okay!" She ran back and took his hand.

He blushed and hugged her as they stepped onto the tram. "Hey, does this still go to Inkopolis Plaza?" He looked at the driver.

"Yup, it's like the last stop."

"Okay. Well, guess we'll be sitting here for a bit, huh?" He sat down with Cici.

"Yeah, but that's okay. I can design you more clothes while we are here."

"Um...okay, do what you want." Jack patted her head as the tram started moving.


Adstrum was looking out the window at the buildings of Inkopolis. "Haven't been here in forever."

"Yeah, huh?" Callie glanced around at the buildings.

"I like some of the decorations." He smiled and pointed to a few graffiti paintings of Callie. "I wonder who drew those."

Marie was watching Arisara cuddle her squid plushie.

"There's a couple Marie graffiti. A couple of Off the Hook ones." Adstrum said aloud as he pointed them out.

"Me? Huh I thought I wasn't relevant anymore" Marie looked at her graffiti.

"Well, some people still like you a lot." Adstrum said.

"Maybe as an object…"

"No, look. That graffiti post says 'Miss them a lot' and it's you and Callie." He pointed it out.

"Sure. Isn't Off the Hook top charts now?"

"Yeah… they are" Arisara replied.

"Ugh. I don't really care for their music." Adstrum shrugged. "I much prefer your guys's music."

"They are actually pretty good… I think I listened to a couple of them." Marie sighed, "They actually enjoy their time in the spotlight... And work well together ..."

"Personal opinion of mine." He replied as they turned onto an empty street. "Hm, emptier than I thought it would be."

"Oh, you guys are in the plaza?" Arisara climbed onto the ledge so she could see.

"No, we're headed there, though. Or at least we're going to park nearby and walk there. It just seems too quiet for some reason."

"Oh, that's because everyone moved to the square."

"But it just seems weird...You'd expect at least one or two people walking around this street." His eyes widened as they turned onto the next street. "Oh, that's why."

Up and down the street was a bunch of people cheering the tour bus as it slowly drove past, with some people holding 'welcome back' signs.

"Kill me," Marie sighed, "I forgot to actually put on makeup…"

"Oh, well, if it makes you feel better, we aren't stopping until we get near the plaza. We aren't visiting the square yet." Callie smiled.

"Umm… where have I seen those?" Arisara looked at a colorful wave of papers as it rained down on people, "Oh! Confetti!"

"Heh. Guess people here still really care about you guys." Adstrum said as he put his arms over Callie and Marie's shoulders.

"Yeah! I'm so happy they are here to welcome us!"

"You mean you. I was here up until like a year ago," Marie patted Callie's head.

"No, there's some 'Missed you most, Marie' signs being held up by some people." Adstrum pointed a few out.

"Funny. I was performing for almost two years after you decided to disappear. Guess I was never good enough by myself."

Callie sighed and rubbed her arm, looking down in shame.

"Hey… Look at the bright side. You are back!" Arisara smiled at her.

"Yeah, I guess" Marie sighed she looked at the crowd blankly.

'Marie will be happy again someday. Even if it's not by my hand.' Callie thought to herself.

"Hmmm, is that someone climbing the tower?" Marie muttered.

"Which tower?" Adstrum asked.

"The one without the zapfish… there's a tiny pink girl. There's an orange guy freaking out at the bottom… it's kinda funny from afar…"

"Cici's climbing Inkopolis tower?" Adstrum chuckled and sighed. "Dammit, that cute little squid is trouble." He looked back at the large crowd of Squid Sister fans as the bus drove away and toward the plaza.

"Cici!" Callie panicked and ran to the front of the bus. "Jim, hurry!"

"I am now that the crowd is gone!" The urchin said as he sped the bus up.

"How are you sure that's her? She's wearing clothes… like normal clothes" Marie asked.

"Name another pink squid that gets herself into weird situations when no one is looking." Adstrum said.

Marie thought about it and pointed at Callie.

Adstrum smiled and let out a chuckle. "I was hoping you would say that. Heh. But Callie's not the one on the tower, is she?"

"Hey! FOCUS!" Callie shook him.

"I-I-I-I f-f-feel nauseous! Yay!"

The pink squid made it to the very top. She sat down on the edge.

The bus pulled into an empty parking lot and Callie immediately jumped off, going into a full sprint toward the tower, having to run across the tram tracks and climb over a fence. Adstrum ran after her with Marie not far behind. Arisara and Shelly hopped off and started following them.

"CICI!" The orange squid at the bottom of the tower yelled as loud as he could. "GET BACK DOWN HERE!"

"It's pretty up here!" She shouted back.

"At least back away from the edge!" Jack sighed. "She's going to end up giving me another heart attack." He exaggerated.

"Jack!" Callie ran up to him.

"Whoa, so that was Cici… " Marie looked up at the tiny dot on the tower.

"What are you doing up there, you mini maniac!?" Adstrum laughed.

"Scaring me half to death." Jack replied.

"I wanted to see all of Inkopolis!"

"How did you get up there!?" Adstrmm yelled.

"I don't know. We arrived about five minutes ago and I looked away for one second." Jack sighed and tried to superjump up to her, only reaching 2/3rds of the way.

She watched him.

"A little help, guys?" Jack asked.

"Hold on. Callie, come here." Adstrum took her hand. "I have an idea. I superjump with you on top of me, then you superjump off me to get the rest of the height."

"Will that even work?"

"Won't know until we try, right? Unless you guys have a better idea?"

"Cici jump down!" Marie called out to her.

"Okay!" Cici yelled back.

"Oh, fine. If you want to do it the boring way." Adstrum chuckled as Callie hit his side. "Heheheh. I'm kidding."

"Wow, you guys look like ants! It's kinda making me dizzy looking down."

"AAAHHH!" Jack yelled and started frantically running around with his arms above his head. "I'll catch you! I'll catch you!"

"She's exhausted, isn't she?" Arisara pinched her forehead.

"Is she going to come down or do we have to go get her?" Adstrum asked. "I'm confused now."

"Well… I don't know."

Another person jumped down holding Cici in his arms.

"I'm dizzy…" Cici seemed dazed.

The person seemed annoyed and put her down.

"THANK YOU!" Jack said to them before grabbing Cici and pulling her into a tight embrace.

"Hello, Jack" Cici stuck one of her tentacles onto his cheek.

"I should just get a leash at this point." He said, still holding her close.

"Nooo..." Cici whined.

"Then stop doing things that make me panic." He whined, still hugging her tightly.

"Hey, thank you." Arisara walked up to the boy who got Cici down.

He looked at her with intrigue. He bowed his head in response.

"Hmm… you know, he kinda looks like you. I thought he was you," Cici replied, "Like a blue, serious you."

"Hm?" Jack looked up at the mysterious stranger.

"He has your agent gear… and a weird cape. A burned one."

"Woah…" Jack stood up and looked at the stranger in the eyes. "Who are you?"

"..." The person looked back at him. His serious expression did not change.

"Hm...I wonder…" Adstrum muttered before looking at the soldier in the eyes. "Name and rank, soldier."

He narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

"Don't give me that look. I was just curious if that would have worked." He looked back with a slight frown.

"Blue. I guess I'm an agent…"

"Cool, it worked." Adstrum smiled again. "Nice to meet you, Blue."

"Marina told me to get her down before she caused problems."

"Thank you so much." Jack sighed in relief again and pulled Cici into another hug.

"Let Marina know we are so thankful." Callie smiled.

"I was supposed to be a surprise for you, Eight…"

"...Huh?" Arisara seemed lost.

"I dunno either. Pearl kept snickering about it…"

"In any case, thank you for helping Cici, Blue" Arisara bowed.

"It was nothing…" Blue blushed a bit.

"Yes! Thank you!" Callie smiled at him.

"You mentioned Marina and Pearl, right? Aren't we supposed to meet with them later?" Adstrum asked.

"Yeah, at the studio. No rush though."

"Good. We want to do some sightseeing before we meet up with them." He replied. "Thanks for getting Cici down. She's a bit of a pain."

"I was told to… um, escort you all. So if you need anything, let me know."

"Escort?"

"Show you around. Since you guys were gone for a while a lot of stuff has been changed."

"Oh, okay. Thank you."

"No problem."

"Well, we should start with checking out the plaza, right? It's definitely changed." Adstrum suggested.

Cici turned into her squid form and climbed up onto Jack's head. He smiled and gently pet her mantle.

Author's Note: A day late, but I'm preparing for a trip so I'm kind of busy. That, and my summer final was yesterday. I'm terrified of what my final grade will be. But you're here to read a new chapter.

Thank you Lilikeith, The Bowser Monster, Super lol 72, Pink Hedgie 74, and Nintendo 46 for leaving reviews. I appreciate them a lot guys.

Yeah, that was funny, Super. I liked it too.

Don't worry, Pink Hedgie and Nintendo 46. Marie will get better later.

Thanks for reading and I will see you all in the next chapter! Expect it in two weeks.