Splatoon: Number's Game
Chapter 17
Callie sighed unhappily as she walked away from the little caravan Marie and Callie were hanging out at past the edge of the city. She carried in her hands a can of food. She approached the enclosed bowl holding the octarian the food was for.
"About time you bring me grub. I'm starving." He said as Callie approached his bowl.
"Oh, it sucks being held against your will, doesn't it, Octavio?" Callie said sarcastically, opening the can up for him.
"You were never imprisoned, Callie. I showed you the octarian point of view."
"Yeah, well I don't see a whole lot of difference between the two. Especially when I had to be under mind control just to agree with you!" She argued, forcefully shoving the food in through the tube that went into the bowl.
"You bring up this argument all the time, Callie. Again and again," He chuckled. "But let's be real. You hate because deep down you know you liked what we were puttin' down."
"What?" Callie made a face at him.
"You know what I mean. The crowds, the energy, the bangers we were making. Something about it drew you in. You even came back for an encore." Octavio pointed out. Callie growled at him.
"You keep your slimy mouth shut, Octavio!" She pointed threateningly at him, standing up.
"You're the one that's always bringing it up," Octavio laughed. "Why, you want a round three with DJ Octavio? I betcha we could make some more hits together."
Callie, aggravated with Octavio's taunts, slapped her hand against the glass and pushed the bowl. Octavio flinched in panic as it tottered back and forth. However, Marie called to Callie before she could do anything else.
"Callie! Stop it!" Marie shouted firmly. Callie pointed threateningly at Octavio before walking away from him.
"Yeah, Callie, let's not get too wild." He chuckled.
"You gotta stop letting him rile you up like that, Callie." Marie said as she and Callie entered into the caravan again. Callie folded her arms self-consciously.
"But you didn't hear what he said to me, Marie! The nerve!"
"He always says something to you, Callie," Marie pointed out. "Why do you keep talking to him? You keep letting him get to you. I don't understand."
"Because he humiliated me! He made me look stupid!" Callie shouted, gesturing in Octavio's direction. Marie's eyebrows furrowed worriedly.
"I know I've teased you about it before, but I know it wasn't your fault. It was an accident both times." Marie acknowledged. Callie huffed and sighed.
"He makes me feel like it wasn't a mistake. Those mind control glasses made me feel like that was where I wanted to be. It feels so wrong now, and yet I can't get it out of my head." Callie expressed her feelings. Marie put a hand on her shoulder.
"Callie… Do you think maybe you should talk to someone; get some help?" She asked.
"I don't know… I just don't want to think about it right now." Callie shook her head.
"I understand, but you can't push it off. You have to confront whatever you're feeling and… Hold on, do you hear that?" Marie trailed off. Her ears perked at the distant sound of something whirring intensely. Callie's head raised up.
"I hear it too…" Callie said, grabbing her Splat Roller and stepping out of the caravan.
Callie looked up and saw what appeared to be a helicopter flying into the area. As it got closer, the whirring got louder. It was a helicopter! And it was full of octolings…mind-controlled octolings!
"Callie! Come out here, we got company!" Callie shouted urgently.
Loud shots making unfamiliar popping sounds rang out through the air. Callie quickly threw an ink path for herself and swam out of the way. The shots ripped holes through the caravan. Callie sprang up and looked over.
"Marie!" She shouted.
Her attention turned back to the octolings. They began to repel down from the helicopter, surrounding Octavio's bowl. They broke it open with the handles of their guns. He began to grab onto the octolings so they could lift him into the helicopter.
"No!" Callie shouted, grabbing an ink bomb and throwing it at them. The octolings quickly lifted up to avoid being splatted by it. Only one of them went down in the blast. This caused Octavio to stumble, but the other three octolings managed to hold onto him and get him in the helicopter.
"Stop!" Callie shouted again, throwing an ink trail to swim to the edge. She desperately tried to throw more paint at the helicopter as it began to fly away, but it was already too far for her to hit it.
"Not on my watch!" Marie shouted. Callie turned around and saw Marie pull out her special weapon: a Sting Ray.
Marie quickly fired up her Sting Ray and fired it at the helicopter. It twisted and turned to avoid her blast. However, Marie was persistent and managed to lead her shot, her beam cutting ink through the front of the helicopter.
As the pilots of the helicopter were splatted, it quickly went into a downward spiral. The remaining octolings quickly grabbed onto the nearest available handle. Octavio, determined to make his escape, jumped into the pilot's chair.
"I'm not going back into a bowl!" He declared, using his tentacles to grab onto the controls. He pulled up as hard as he could and raised the elevation up. Marie, running out of ink in her Sting Ray, rushed next to Callie and watched the helicopter disappear behind a hill…
And then it came back up. Octavio retook control of it, and the two of them watched as the helicopter flew away. Callie threw her hat down on the ground and growled angrily.
"He got away! We gotta go after them!" She shouted. Marie, however, shook her head.
"We don't have the tools to chase a helicopter. We need to call the others and regroup." She said.
"We're letting them win?!"
"I'd rather them win a battle than win the war, Callie. We need to find somewhere safe so we can make contact." She determined. Callie groaned, clearly upset. She seemed like she was almost ready to cry.
"Fine… Are you okay?" She asked.
"I'm fine, Callie. Our caravan's busted though." She said sadly, looking back at it. It had been riddled with holes, woodchip pieces scattered everywhere.
"We should call Alex." Callie decided.
"Good idea," Marie nodded in agreement. She reached into her pocket and pulled her phone out, dialing Alex's number. After a few rings, he answered the phone.
"Alex, we have a situation. Our hideout's been attacked… Are you at your apartment? Why not? …What?! Are you okay?! …Okay, we're on our way."
"What?! What happened?!" Callie asked worriedly.
"Alex was attacked too; he was ambushed on the train. He's okay, but he's been shot in the arm. We're heading to 3's apartment right now." Marie said, grabbing Callie's hand…