Chapter 6: Confrontation
"Can't handle the heat? Get out the frying pan."
After discovering a rather debilitating fact, Sal was quick to hasten the retrieval process of this mission.
With Samantha behind the wheel, they arrived at Mr. Wale's hideout in no time. Unfortunately, the new guards made it slightly difficult for them to get through. It didn't help that Sal's already agitated mood seemed to be getting worse by the minute. Luckily, thanks to Samantha and Samuel—as well as Cal's smooth talking—the group was able to get in before Sal did anything rash.
The whole way there, Cal tried to speak to Sal, asking him why he was so angry. Of course, Sal didn't say a thing. He simply stewed in his rising anger, planning on unleashing it on a single person.
Once he spotted his target, Sal marched right up to Mr. Wale with the whole group following close behind. "What is this?" he interrupted whatever conversation Mr. Wale was in, holding up a file. The whale shark turned, about to give another one of his joyous greetings, but after seeing Sal's face, he paused and stared at the piece of paper.
"A sheet of paper, clearly." He responded casually.
"Don't." Sal seethed through gritted teeth, holding back the fury rising within.
"Don't what? Give you an answer? You asked the question."
"STOP PLAYING DUMB!" Sal demanded, stepping closer to Mr. Wale and waving the file up high. "You had us raid that warehouse for a reason. Is this why?!"
Mr. Wale raised his hands defensively, a poor attempt to calm the angry octo. "Whoa, now. I don't think I told you to go through those crates, but if you looked, do I really gotta explain myself? You've seen the weapons they were packin'."
"Do I look like an inkling to you? DO I?!" Sal's rising voice quieted the pub. All conversations ceased, and all eyes were now on him.
In response, Cal came up to his side, attempting to quell his anger. "Sal, what are you—" Cal gently grabbed Sal's shoulder, only for him to yank away. His gaze never once left Mr. Wale.
"You could've had us raid any Oct. Co warehouse! ANY! But you chose this one! And it just so happened to have files like this! You know something," Sal accused.
Instead of responding in his humorous tone, Mr. Wale simply crossed his arms. "So, what if I do?" His eyes stared intently at Sal, but the octoling didn't buckle.
"Maria Octopoda." He started, only for Cal's eyebrows to raise in surprise. Even Samantha and Samuel looked at each other, shocked. "Does that name ring any bells to you?"
"Should it?" Mr. Wale replied coldly.
"You damn right it should! Her name is in this file! A file you wanted us to get for you." Sal lowered the file, clenching his other fist in anger. "Why did you want it? Huh?"
"That's not something I gotta tell you."
"No, it is. And you will tell me." Sal yelled, stepping up closer to the whale shark.
"And if I don't?"
Mr. Wale definitely tested Sal's patience. So much so, he couldn't stop himself from whipping out a splat bomb. The second he did, he heard multiple shuffles everywhere.
He glanced around, seeing every thug that had been sitting now stood to attention. Even the ones transporting items stopped what they were doing and pulled out their own weapons. This made Pacifica alert as she took a crouched defensive stance.
"You sure this a fight you want?" Mr. Wale questioned, looming over the group with crossed arms.
Sal breathed heavily, taking angry, ragged breaths. His vision blurred, and his body felt broiling hot. A strange tightness formed in his chest, and his body started trembling. The only thing he could hear was the rapid beating of his hearts.
A single thought crossed Sal's mind, and with it, he raised his splat bomb, only for Cal to step in front of him. "Sal." His words reeled Sal back to reality.
As his senses returned to normal, he saw Cal staring at him. He didn't say anything more. All he did was nod, then took a step back, staring at Mr. Wale.
Even with his shades on, Sal knew the look well. It was Cal's way of saying he'd have his back, no matter what happened.
Sal's breathing slowed, and he turned to see Samuel and Samantha looking at him. The expressions on their faces were unreadable, but their hands looked ready to grab their weapons, telling him all he needed to know.
With one last breath, Sal turned back to Mr. Wale, lowering the splat bomb. Mr. Wale smirked. "That's what I thought."
Just when it looked like he was about to put the splat bomb away, he chucked it right at Mr. Wale's face. It exploded on impact, making the whale shark stumble back with closed eyes.
There was a long moment of silence as he just stood there with his face covered in yellow ink. Just when Sal thought about throwing another, Mr. Wale finally wiped the ink away from his eyes. He opened them slowly, his gaze fixated on Sal. "You shouldn't have done that." Suddenly, the whole area turned into a battlefield.
The enemy cephalopods immediately opened fire on the group. Pacifica reacted quickly by jumping to a nearby table, knocking it down and using it as cover. From there, she would fire at inklings and octolings with precise, fully charged shots, splatting them instantly. Judging by how careless they were being, there must've been a respawn point somewhere in the building.
The sharks nearby would whip out melee weapons of sorts, as they weren't particularly ranged fighters. They'd attempt to rush Pacifica's cover, but were stopped by the Sam twins.
Samuel would lock blows with the first few to make it and parry their attacks while Samantha provided cover fire, splashing them with her bucket. They couldn't be splatted like the inklings and octolings, but the ink still hurt them all the same.
As for Sal, he simply charged Mr. Wale, about to give him the what for. The large whale shark reared a fist back, but before he could strike, Cal doused him in a torrent of ink, forcing him to shield his face. The sheer volume of ink being ejected was enough to push him back.
With a grunt, Mr. Wale snatched Sal up when he was close, giving him little time to react. He'd then lob the octoling right at Cal, subsequently blocking the ink projectiles.
Cal dropped his hydra splatlings and caught Sal, emitting a wet smack as he collided into him hard. The ground rumbled violently as Mr. Wale charged the duo, not giving Cal the chance to pick up his weapons.
Cal smirked before tossing Sal up in the air. When he got close, Mr. Wale swung, and Cal swung back. Their fists met in the middle, resulting in a small shockwave. Despite the size difference between them, it seemed Cal was physically just as strong, or even stronger than Mr. Wale.
The whale shark heaved as he raised his other fist. That's when Sal plummeted onto his head like a meteor, delivering a nasty kick to his head before bouncing off him. Mr. Wale jerked downward with a yelp, followed by Cal uppercutting him to oblivion.
Mr. Wale rolled backward across the room, huffing with frustration. Sal wasted no time in charging the downed shark. Cal didn't even waste time picking up his weapons and just ran with him.
Mr. Wale looked over at a nearby table, grabbing it by its legs before tossing it at the approaching octolings. Sal jumped and changed into his swim form, dodging the table effortlessly before shifting back into his humanoid form.
Instead of dodging, Cal caught the table outright, sliding a short distance backward. With a quick spin, he threw the table like a frisbee; without looking back, Sal back-flipped onto the table as it passed by, riding it all the way to Mr. Wale—somehow without getting dizzy.
Sal jumped right before it smashed into Mr. Wale, who had just gotten up. He crashed right back down, shaking the ground with a hard thump. While he was down, Sal planted his feet hard into the whale shark's chest, standing right over him with a splat bomb primed and ready.
For as good as a mob boss Mr. Wale was, being a fighter wasn't exactly his specialty. He seemed to realize this and switched to what he was best at—negotiating. "So... I can see this got a little out of fin..."
Sal furrowed his brows at Mr. Wale, fully prepared to kill him. "Unless you want a bomb for dinner, I suggest you start talking!" He threatened, grabbing him by the collar of his expensive-looking suit.
When the cephalopods saw Mr. Wale pinned to the ground, some of the charger users tried to assist by sniping Sal off of him. However, to their dismay, the ink shot didn't do squat to him. The other sharks were about to step in, but Cal smashed his fists together, showing he was more than willing to get in their way.
When they realized they had no way of saving their boss, the thugs stood down, bringing in a silent cease-fire to the battle. That didn't stop Sal from making good on his threat, though. "Well? Start flapping those clam-shaped lips, you bitch!"
Mr. Wale raised his hands slowly, signaling for Sal to calm down. "Alright, alright."
"Maria Octopoda. What do you know about her?"
"Nothing."
Sal's grip on Mr. Wale's shirt tightened. "Don't toy with me, Sark."
"Look, you already got a bomb primed, and you look about ready to shove it down my gullet. I got no reason to lie to you."
"Yet you still are!"
Mr. Wale sighed tiredly. "You asked me why I wanted you to get those crates. Well, I'll tell you why. It's 'cause Oct. Co Facilities ain't what they claim to be."
Sal couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes. "Tell me something I don't know."
"Something bad is coming from Oct. Co Facilities. Something real bad."
Sal wanted to believe Mr. Wale was just saying whatever to appease him, but the genuinely scared look in his big eyes told him otherwise.
Mr. Wale was by no means an easy shark to scare, let alone intimidate. For him to show such fear and worry on his face... it frightened Sal a tiny bit.
"I wanted what was in those crates partly for the weapons, but mainly for the information in them. Now listen, I ain't an employee or anything like that. So I got no clue who this Maria gal is. I don't even know what that list is. You want answers? Go to the source."
Sal was afraid he'd say that. The whole reason he even confronted Mr. Wale was because he knew getting to someone like Urus Hydro was practically impossible. Still, if Mr. Wale truly knew nothing, then all he was doing was wasting his time.
Sal's face eased up, and his grip on Mr. Wale loosened.
"There ya go." Mr. Wale groaned, still not daring to make any sudden moves. "Tell you what, that file you got? Keep it." Sal raised a skeptical brow. "Don't give me that look. I'm being serious. Besides, why fret over one little egg when I've got a whole basket to look forward to?"
Sal supposed that made sense. No longer sensing any usefulness out of Mr. Wale, he put his bomb away and hopped off the whale shark.
"And since you did your end of the deal, I'll consider the Sam twins' debt paid."
"Of course you will. After all, you're a shark of your word, right?" Sal said sarcastically, not sure why Mr. Wale had mentioned such an obvious fact. Even if he was in his feelings and chose to keep the twins longer, he knew he would've gotten one shell of a fight from Sal and Cal.
Sal looked at his brother, then at the others, giving them a subtle nod. There was nothing left for them to do, so they could leave peacefully. That didn't stop Pacifica from keeping her guard up, though.
Mr. Wale didn't speak again until they were right at the exit. "Little cephalopods?" He called out, earning everyone's attention. Sal simply looked over his shoulder, seeing he had yet to get up from that beat down he and Cal gave him. "A little word of advice... I wouldn't stay in Inkopolis for much longer if I were you."
Cal fully turned, facing Mr. Wale. "Why not?"
The shark chuckled. "Let's just say... There's a storm brewing."
His warning was as vague as it was ominous, but Sal wouldn't waste another second talking. He just turned and walked out. Everyone else followed suit.