Chapter 48: On Air

Back on the tour bus Jack was sitting in front of the television waiting for the news to come on. Adstrum was sitting at the dining booth attaching a gas canister to a nozzle. Cici was watching TV quietly. She seemed to have dozed off. Blue leaned against a nearby wall with Arisara in his arms. After a few minutes the screen changed to show the logo for Inkopolis News before it revealed Pearl sitting in her chair and Marina standing behind a DJ mixer.

"Hey y'all! Do you know what time it is?" Pearl raised her fist up into the air.

"It's Inkopolis News time!" Marina answered.

"We have breaking news. Besides the splatfest announcement incoming. We have VERY. SPECIAL. GUESTS!" Pearl looked off stage.

A slight giggle could be heard offscreen.

"I can hardly contain my excitement. Give it up for the ONE." Marina squealed.

"AND ONLY."

"SQUID SISTERS!" They both cheered as confetti popped and rained down.

The camera panned over to a couch where Callie and Marie were sitting. Callie happily stood up and waved both her arms at the camera. Marie just smiled and waved at the camera.

"Hello again, Inkopolis!" Callie smiled widely.

"Long time no see… Feels like a reaaalllly long time" Marie shrugged.

"Thanks for having us, you guys." Callie looked toward Pearl and Marina.

"Of course. What better way to tell everyone the two biggest news in Inkopolis history?" Pearl smiled.

"Pearlie, the splatfest announcements happen every month…" Marina rubbed the back of her head.

"I know that! It just sounded more exciting that way… ANYWAYS! What about the other news? Like why Squid Sisters are in da house?"

"OH! We are all going to be performing for the Splatfest!"

"You want us to perform with you guys?" Callie asked while pointing to her and Marie.

"YEAH!" Marina and Pearl beamed.

"I would love to! What about you, Marie?"

"Of course, unless you want me to sit this one out" Marie playfully stuck out her tongue.

"No, I don't." Callie stuck her tongue out back at her.

"So last thing, let's announce the theme when it gets here..." Marina looked at the machine, "Nope, nothing yet..."

"Alright kids, the maps for turf are…"

"Nothing yet, hm? I wonder what the theme is going to be." Callie looked at her cousin.

"It usually takes a while."

"What do you think the theme will be, Cici?" Jack turned his attention away from the screen to look at her.

She was spacing out and bubbling.

"Oh, yeah. That's right." He gently patted her head and looked over at Adstrum. "What about you? You got any ideas?"

She snapped out of it and nuzzled into him.

"Don't know. Don't care." Adstrum was trying to light a lighter in front of the nozzle of the weapon he was working on.

Cici seemed curious. She walked over and watched Adstrum.

He got the lighter to work and smiled a bit before looking at Cici.

She stared at the tiny flame before running around in a panic. She seemed terrified.

"CICI!" Jack ran after her. "You okay?"

Adstrum blinked and blew out the lighter. "What's going on?"

Blue poked Arisara awake.

"Huh?" Arisara looked at Cici cower in fear in a box, "Did I miss something?"

"I don't know what happened. She ran from Adstrum for seemingly no reason. What's wrong, Cici?" Jack gently stroked her mantle.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing. I'm just trying to test something." Adstrum tried to start the lighter again.

"Oh… She's terrified of fire. She had a bad experience once."

"Oh...my bad." Adstrum put the lighter away and instead started hooking an ink tank up to the gas canister.

"Cici why not keep your eyes closed okay? Jack will tell you when it's okay."

Cici nodded and kept her eyes closed. She clung to Jack.

"That should fix that. Sorry about that Adstrum" Arisara smiled at him.

"Thanks. I'll try again in a bit." He got the tank to hook up to the canister and he smiled.

After the map announcements the machine beeped and started printing.

"It's time! Ready?" Pearl held the paper.

"I'm too nervous! You do it!" Marina could hardly contain herself

"Oh, I'm excited. Are you, Marie?" Callie smiled at her cousin.

"Yeah, yeah it's hear it!" Marie smiled back.

"Fine, the theme is!" Pearl looked at the paper and her smile was wiped clean from her face, "...this is a joke right?"

"Pearlie? What's wrong" Marina took a look at the paper and looked shocked.

The screen behind them showed a picture of Callie vs Marie 2. Off the Hook looked speechless and greatly concerned.

The camera panned back to Callie and Marie. Callie had her mouth open and her eyes were wide.

Marie's smile disappeared along with her confidence as she sunk into her seat.

After a long moment of silence Callie's hands balled into fists and her face twisted into one of anger. "WHAAAAT IN THE FFFFUU-!"

The camera cut out before a 'technical difficulties' message was displayed.

"Yeah, WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!" Pearl seemed outraged.

"I thought it was supposed to be something stupid. This ruined so many people's lives!" Marina pulled her own tentacles

"Who the hell thought this was a good idea for a splatfest?! Who gives you guys your themes?!" Callie was screaming.

"I was sure it said Chaos VS Order… I'm so sorry…. We can change it right?"

"Oh, I'm saving that one for the true final fest." A voice said from the hidden doorway.

Everyone's attention was turned to the new face. Callie clenched her fists again at who it was. "Tom…"

"Hello, Callie and Marie. Nice to see you two agai-." The moray eel was cut off as a lamp was thrown at him, forcing him to duck.

"Hey what's the big idea?! The final splatfest said Chaos VS Order! I got the paper from the ancient machine myself!" Marina growled, "I gave it to you to set it up"

"Well, I got a call that the Squid Sisters were going to make a return, so I thought of a good way to help increase profits for both you and them." Tom smirked.

"Yo this is SOO wrong!" Pearl yelled at him, "Have you no shame?!"

"I saw an opportunity. And I took it." He chuckled.

"We aren't doing this! We aren't going to rip people apart!"

"Um, you two are under contract, remember?" Tom glared at them before he heard a growl come from the couch.

"Yeah? And? We won't perform if it means making them go through that again!" Marina glared at him.

"Don't you guys know how much of a profit this is going to make?" He heard the growl again and turned to see Callie charging at him. He quickly ran down the hall with her chasing him.

"Yo man… I don't think that's a good idea… He's gonna sue…." Pearl watched them run.

"GET BACK HERE YOU GREEDY BASTARD!" Callie continued to chase him.

"... Oh man… that was on air too… if it wasn't we could have just redo it…" Marina pulled up her laptop trying to find a solution.

A loud crash was heard followed by Tom yelling in pain.

Marie laughed, "Wow… I never thought I would be trapped in an endless cycle. I should have just jumped that day..." Marie walked out of the studio with a blank and drained expression on her face.

The idols followed the source of the sound and found Callie holding Tom's arms behind his back. "CHANGE THE THEME! We are not doing this again!"

"Callie let the slimy asshole go… He's not really the problem… the problem was that was broadcasted… Hurting him will only bring lawsuits…. Lots of them" Pearl put a hand on her shoulder.

Callie had tears in her eyes. "I can't do this theme again. Marie definitely can't. This theme hurt us both. We aren't doing this."

"Yeah she walked out not too long ago."

"Where did she go?" She let go of Tom's arms and he fell face first to the floor.

Pearl and Marina shrugged.

Callie ran out the door, leaving Tom as he slowly got back up.

"We quit you asswipe" Pearl kicked him back down.

"Yeah you tell him Pearlie!" Marina high fived her.

"Hold on! Hold on! Let me explain." He held his stomach.

"Peace! Off the Hook is outta er! So wanna grab some tempera?" They ignored him and walked away from him.

"Pearlie we should check on them first!"

"I was talking about later"

"You two aren't going anywhere!" Tom stood up clutching his stomach. "I still have you two under contract and can take everything from you if you try to quit."

"Ya barking up the wrong tree there bub. I have muns hun" Pearl put her hand on her hip.

"Oh, but I know something about your partner here." He looked over at Marina.

"You… wouldn't…" Marina's voice crackled, "this would ruin us both! You would be just as ruined."

"I would. And that's a risk I am willing to take. It's a perfect reason to kick you out of Inkopolis forever. Now go get Callie and Marie back here. We got business to discuss." He started walking down the hall toward his office.

"You sleezba-" Marina stopped Pearl, "Rina?"

"I'm… really sorry… I have no choice… I-I can't go back." Marina quietly walked away and Pearl slowly followed her.

"MARIE!" Callie ran up to her cousin and wrapped her arms around her.

"It's all a neverending nightmare…" Marie kept muttering that over and over again.

"Ignore what just happened. Please." She turned her cousin around and looked her in the eyes. "Marie. Look at me. Marie." She shook her a bit.

She blinked and looked at her, "Are you real?"

"Yes, I am real."

"I know how Cici feels now. It can be hard to tell reality from nightmares…"

"Look, don't worry. We are going to leave now. We aren't going to do this. Let's go back to the bus, okay?" Callie patted her cousin's back.

"Hey… I can't let you guys leave.." Marina looked super very upset with herself.

They both turned around and Callie raised an eyebrow. "What? Why? Hey, what's wrong?"

"Tom's twistin our wrists…" Pearl looked down.

"What did he tell you?" Callie glared.

"You know exactly who I am, don't you?" Marina looked at Callie and Marie, "So what if you reported that to authorities? I would be forced back to Octo Valley… and probably get killed."

"That bastard eel!" Callie placed her hands over her face. "That son of a bitch!"

"Ah, so it is a nightmare…" Marie fell onto her butt.

"What do we do?" Callie looked at the inkling and octoling pair.

"We have to go through with this stupid splatfest… We can't force you to cooperate… and we won't force you to…"

"Yeah…. This is rigged. And fucked up enough. I'm just worried what Tom will do to Rina" Pearl kicked a pebble.

Callie sighed and looked at her cousin. "What do you think, Marie? I don't want Marina to be sent back."

"I don't know about that… I don't know if I can do it again…" Marie sat down.

"I don't want to do it either. But...I know that I won't leave again no matter the outcome." Callie sat down next to her and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm not doing it. I won't go through it again."

Callie patted Marie's back and looked up at Pearl and Marina.

"That's what I thought… I'm really sorry. Don't worry I'll figure something out." Marina put her hand on Marie's shoulder.

"What did Tom tell you?" Callie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Basically to go get you guys to discuss something. Oh I wonder if you need your manager too… He didn't say about that"

"Okay. Well, maybe we can discuss this with him. How about we go get Shelly and then go talk to Tom? Let's get this sorted out." Callie looked her cousin in the eyes.

"I guess" Marie stared at the floor.

"Hey, don't worry. We'll figure something out. Come on." She helped her cousin off the ground and walked with her toward the bus. On the way she pulled out her phone and dialed Jack's number. When he answered Callie heard heavy breathing. "Um, hello?"

"Callie!? What happened? Where are you?" Jack sounded panicked.

"We're on our way back to the bus. We are going to discuss some things with our old manager and get him to take back this Splatfest theme. You guys okay?"

"I don't like this…" Cici's voice sounded far and she was scared.

"Please hurry back, Callie. You need to get your pet psycho under control." An engine was heard. "ADSTRUM! Put the Ink Wheel away!"

"Will you just chill?!" Blue sounded like he was struggling.

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME!"

"... You should probably deal with that… I'll wait here. I wanna be alone for a bit anyways.." Marie stood outside the bus.

Callie groaned and hugged her cousin once again before running onto the bus. There she found Jack holding onto Adstrum's arm, which had the Ink Wheel on it, and was struggling to keep him from swinging it wildly.

Blue seemed hurt from trying to stop him.

"ADSTRUM TENEBRIS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Callie yelled.

Said inkling looked at her with his right eye twitching and his face contorted between rage and confusion. He tossed Jack aside along with the Ink Wheel and charged at Callie. The idol noticed this and crouched down before sprinting and tackling him onto the ground. She pinned his arms and glared at him.

"Blue! Are you okay?" Arisara ran up to him.

"Geez… the fuck is his deal?"

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Callie screeched before slapping him.

Adstrum blinked a few times and shook his head, his face going from angry to confused to terrified in a few seconds. "Callie…..what...I…" His eyes widened and he shook her off, quickly sitting up and shaking. "I'm...I'm sorry...I…"

"He fucking scared her off. I lost track of her when she whipped those waves at everyone…"

"Cici?" Jack was looking around for her. "It's okay now. You need a hug?"

Adstrum backed up against the wall and looked at his shaking hands. "I...I saw that theme and...I don't know what came over me…I'm sorry..."

"We'll talk about this later. Go to your room!" Callie yelled at him. He flinched and slowly made his way to the room.

"I'll carry you." Arisara pinched Blue and forced him into a squid.

"Ow… what? How?"

"Shut up"

Blue gurgled in defeat.

"Cici?" Jack opened a cupboard and saw a shaking pink squid. "You okay?"

She whipped out slices that nearly cut his tentacles.

"Hey. Cici, calm down. It's Jack." He turned into a squid as well and crawled into the cupboard with her, staying back a bit to give her space.

She calmed down after she smelled him and cuddled him still shaken up.

"I'm here for you. Don't worry. I'll keep you safe." He cuddled her in return, gently patting her back.

"Oh you found her thank goodness" Arisara gently examined her head, "That's gonna be swollen for a while…. OW!"

Cici bit her hand.

"I've got her. I'll get her an ice pack in a bit. I'm just comforting her right now." Jack pulled her into a hug again.

"He probably didn't mean to hit her, but she was the closest one to him."

"Can someone tell me what happened?" Callie asked, still steaming mad.

"Well, when that theme was announced Adstrum got up, pulled out his Ink Sledge, and started walking to the exit. I stood in his way to stop him as I saw the rage in his eyes, but he swung it at me. Blue and I were able to take it from him, but then he pulled out the wheel." Jack began.

"During the struggle, tiny over there, tried to calm him but got smacked on one of his back swings and whipped up sharp waves at everyone. It sliced through most of the furniture. She dashed away after." Blue replied

"I know he didn't mean to hit her, but I kind of went into a rage at that and punched Adstrum in the head. Then you called and...well…" Jack sighed.

Callie shook her head. "I'll go talk to him in a bit. Are you guys okay?"

"I'll live I endured worst" Blue replied.

"Cici just has a large bump, but she'll be fine. Once she comes back to her normal self"

"I've been hit by Octavio's metal fist, so I think I'll be fine. I'm just glad Cici came out with only a bump." Jack changed back to humanoid form and gently kissed the smaller squid.

Cici turned back into her humanoid form. She was bright white from fear, but her skin was still rosy. She stayed close to his side.

"You held him even tighter when you saw her come closer."

Jack hugged Cici again and started walking with her toward the stairs. "Let's go relax for a bit, okay? And get some ice for your head." He gently kissed the bump on her head.

She bit him for touching her bump.

"Heh, looks like it still stings." Arisara sighed.

"Sorry." Jack kissed her cheek this time.

Cici turned into a squid and swam onto his head.

He smiled and grabbed an ice packet before heading upstairs.

Callie sighed again and looked around. "Hey, has anyone seen Shelly?"

"She went to check out something after lunch."

"Okay. Good to know. I'll give her a call in a bit." She walked over to the door and looked outside for Marie.

Marie was just sitting on a bench staring at the sky.

"How are you feeling?" Callie asked with concern in her voice.

"Well, calm, and nothing else. I got used to it I guess"

Callie let out a small whine and pulled out her phone, dialing Shelly's number. "We need to get this sorted out."

"Hello Shellshocker how may I help you?" Shelly answered

"Hey, Shelly. Nice answer. Where are you?"

"Oh hello Callie, just checking out the electronics in the swapmeet. Did something happen?"

"Well, we need you to meet with out old manager and discuss some things with him."

"Why isn't Cecilia going?" Shelly seemed puzzled.

"Didn't she make you our new manager?"

"Temporary. She is back and fired up from what she tells me"

"Oh. Well, I don't know how she'd handle discussing things with Tom...and getting him to agree to what we want…" Callie sighed. "Plus Cici needs to lie down for a bit."

"Hmmm I can hack his files for you guys… for search the dark web"

"...You know what, go ahead and hack his files if you can. See if you can get anything we can use against him."

"Of course I'll be back in a second and work on that. In the meantime way not just relax? Oh unless you have to meet with him now"

"I'll call Pearl and Marina and tell them we can meet with Tom at a later time. Maybe tomorrow or later tonight."

"Alright I should get the stuff on him tonight. Just don't interrupt me while I work"

"Thank you so much. Good luck."

"So is Shelly coming back now?" Marie asked

"No, because Cici is still our manager. And she needs to rest for a bit. But I'm going to call Pearl and Marina right now and tell them we can meet with Tom later. Either tonight or tomorrow. Depending on Cici. But we will get this figured out. And we are NOT going to be doing that Splatfest. I can promise you that." Callie gave her cousin a nod and a smile.

"I hope so" Marie gave her a small smile back.

She nodded and dialed another number on her phone.

"Wait what if I made holograms?! They wouldn't have to actually be there!" Marina sounded like she was pleading with Tom.

"Yo… this is Pearl… This is-"

"Hey, Pearl. Can you tell Tom we can meet with him later. Either tonight or tomorrow. Our manager needs to rest up a bit before we can discuss some things."

"Wait, ya serious? Look, we don't wanna force ya or nothin'…"

"I promise we'll get this sorted out. But we are not going to have that theme happen. We'll figure out how to get Tom to agree to our demands. Trust me."

"Oh um okay! Hey slippery slope!" Pearl shouted at Tom, "Catch"

The moray eel looked away from Marina and toward Pearl.

She threw her phone at him.

He caught it and held it to the side of his head. "Hello?"

"Tom. Marie and I will meet with you later to discuss some things. Our manager just needs time to relax before she's ready to meet and talk. She...had a slight injury. Nothing major, just a bump on the head."

"I don't really care why she needs to lay down or whatever. But fine. I can wait to talk this out. You have until tomorrow to tell me when we should meet." Tom looked over at Pearl and Marina.

Marina was shocked and wiped her wet face. Pearl glared at him.

"I'll go check on her" Marie walked into the bus.

"Thank you." Callie looked at her before talking into the phone again. "Alright. I'll call back later when we figure out a time. Now give the phone back to Pearl."

"OW!" The phone made a clicky clang, before Pearl answered, "I'm back… are you sure? Like you guys really don't have to..

"I didn't tell him to throw it… He's such a dick…" Callie pinched the bridge of her nose. "And don't worry, Pearl. I have a plan."

"A'ight… If you say so… We trust you. See you later then."

After they hung up, Marie walked back to Callie.

"Cici's back to normal. I think. She's peacefully sleeping beside Jack."

"That's good. We'll give her a few more hours of rest and then talk to her."

"I don't think you have to wait long. Arisara's cooking dinner so maybe ask her after dinner"

"Okay, sounds like a plan." Callie put her hand on Marie's shoulder. "Thanks."

Marie smiled and the two walked back into the bus.

"Now...I gotta go have a talk with someone…" Callie looked toward her room with a frown.

Author's Note: I have some explaining to do. Why did I not update this two days ago? Well, blame laziness and my new Ark game I got for Christmas. I'm sorry, guys. But here is the next chapter. Now, I did not take the time to edit this chapter like I did all the others, so if you see mistakes please tell me where and I will fix them.

Thank you The Bowser Monster for leaving a review. I appreciate it, buddy.

Alright, now I don't know when the next chapter will be ready. I need to take time to think about it. And as for why THAT specific splatfest theme was chosen, well, the original idea for this fic was that was going to be the theme of the fest, but I've had some second thoughts and am planning to change it a bit. Now some different events will play out from what I originally planned. So look forward to the next chapter, whenever that will get finished. Hope you all have a wonderful time and I will see you all later!