Chapter 7

Lost Outpost…Mei's POV

We jumped from the boat to what looked like an unfinished building. The Egg basket appeared. Beth had a Charger, Otis had Dualies, Arnold had an Explosher, and I had a Splatling.

The Salmonids were coming from the front. Wow, that grate floor looks dangerous. I'll have to keep in mind not to transform on top of it. I turned my head to see the boss was a Scrapper. I readied my Splatling.

"Wait!" Beth yelled. "Wait for it to get closer, then shoot it from the side."

I waited for it to get to the ramp to the main area, and then shot at it from the side. It turned to face me. Arnold came in from behind it and splatted the Salmonid inside. Three Golden Eggs landed. Otis kept the other Salmonids at bay with his Dualies while we took the eggs to the basket.

More Chums, some Smallfries, and a few Cohocks were coming in from the front and the right side.

"Steelhead!" Beth shouted.

Sure enough, a Steelhead was coming from the right.

Then a Steel Eel came from the left.

Beth aimed her charger at the Steelhead's bomb and splatted it. I went for the high ground and aimed at the Steel Eel's pilot while Otis was leading it away while making silly faces at it. I chuckled and then splatted the pilot.

We got as many eggs as we could before two Scrappers rolled in while a Drizzler made it rain.

"Mei, find that Drizzler!" Beth shouted. "Arnold, stop one of the Scrappers. Otis, you do the same!"

"I'm trying to do crowd control!" Otis shouted back while splatting a bunch of Chums and Cohocks.

Arnold then threw a barrage of bombs down. Several Salmonids got splatted, the Scrappers were halted, and I took that opportunity to find the Drizzler. Just as I was going past the wall, I saw a fishing bobber pass me. I turned to see it went for Arnold, who had his back turned. Arnold then stopped throwing bombs for a second and looked down.

"Aw shell." He said as he threw one final bomb downwards as the Maws jumped up and splatted him. The bomb he threw splatted the Maws too.

I turned to find the Drizzler in the distance. I charged up my Splatling and as soon as it fired its weapon, I sent ink flying in its face and in a couple seconds, it splatted. I grabbed an egg, but there were three Chums and a Cohock surrounding me. I let out a small whimper before getting splatted.

I was just a ghost in a life-preserver now. I still had the egg, so I maneuvered my way towards the basket. Arnold saw me and quickly brought me back. I then put the egg in the basket.

I saw Beth yelling at Otis to grab some eggs. He ignored her and went for a boss Salmonid in the distance. She turned to see me and motioned us to grab the eggs. Arnold and I grabbed eggs as quickly as we could before the timer ran out. Otis then came back right after the wave ended.

"I told you to grab the eggs!" Beth scolded him. "If Mei hadn't come back, we wouldn't have made our quota. We would've lost on the first round!"

"Hey, first off, who put you in charge?" Arnold got angry at her. "Second, I went over there because there were two Fly fish over there! You wouldn't've gotten the eggs anyway if you were splatted!"

They continued to bicker until the next round started. I had the Charger, Arnold had the Dualies, Otis had the Explosher, and Beth had the Splatling.

The lights dimmed. I wondered how though…Did the Salmonids or Grizzco have control over the sun itself? I couldn't think for too long as it was a boss round.

"Grillers!" Mr Grizz shouted.

"What's a Griller?" I asked. "Mr. Grizz never mentioned them in training."

"Long story short, they suck." Otis groaned.

"Try not to get us all splatted." Beth sighed.

"What makes you think I'll get everyone splatted?" He glared at Beth.

"Becau-"

"Uh, guys…" I pointed out that there was a laser aimed at my forehead.

Otis quickly inked a nearby wall.

"Swim up that wall and don't stop swimming up!" He shouted.

I quickly did as he said. I could see the Griller with a bunch of Smallfries in tow. It seemed to operate similarly to a Flooder back home. From where I was, the Griller couldn't splat me. The Smallfries were jumping up and occasionally hitting me, but they all got splatted along with the Griller.

"See?" Otis bragged. "Get the Griller stuck and it's an easy splat."

"Only you would think of swimming up a wall as a good strategy." Beth said. "But regardless, it worked."

"I didn't think of it." Otis told her. "I saw it online."

"Where?!" Beth couldn't get an answer as there was a red light on her head.

Arnold had one too.

Despite degrading Otis's strategy, she did exactly that when the two Grillers got close. Arnold followed suit. Otis laughed loudly as we took aim at the Grillers' tails. It took longer since our weapons didn't fire a continuous stream and weren't great for the Smallfry crowd control. As we were getting the eggs, another Griller went for Otis. One went for me again.

We did the same tactic until a third Griller came for Arnold. Beth was struggling to help him as well as manage the Smallfries. Otis then jumped out and used his Inkjet to strike the tail enough to stun the Griller that went after Arnold. He turned and fired at the others, but it wasn't long until his Inkjet ran out, sending him flying into a Griller that had me pinned to the wall.

Beth and Arnold quickly splatted said Griller and I came down to grab eggs, reviving Otis in the process. When the wave ended, we somehow managed to pass the quota. I could see a look of surprise on Beth and Otis's faces.

"Well, it looks like my dumb strategy worked." Otis bragged. "I guess someone owes me an apology."

"Apologize for that losing streak two years ago, and maybe I'll consider it." Beth quipped.

"Oh course…" Otis rolled his eyes.

Arnold sighed.

I was just confused.

Third Wave. Beth had the Explosher, Arnold had the Splatling, Otis had the Charger, and I had the Dualies.

It was foggy. We both split up to find the Salmonids. I went right. Beth called out that she found the Salmonids on the far left of the map. I turned around to go over there, but the Boss Salmonid horn blew again and more Salmonids came from my side.

It was a Steel Eel. I retreated back, but the way I came from was hard to traverse through as it was covered by Drizzler rain. The Steel Eel was gaining, so I made my way to the back of the stage, but a Goldie cut me off. I aimed my Dualies and Splatted it. Ten eggs fell. Wow…

I swam up the wall to the back entrance, but a Cohock was waiting at the top. I got smacked back. The Steel Eel was right in my face, I backed away, but more Salmonids came from the top. I backed away, but slipped and fell into the water.

Carp.

Well, my equipment should splat me and put me in the life-preserver…right now…now!

What's going on?! Is my equipment malfunctioning?!

I couldn't breathe. I flailed my limbs, trying to see if I could swim up, but to no avail.

My vision was getting blurry…

The last thing I saw before blacking out was a strange figure getting eerily close…