Splatoon: Unnamed [AU]

Chapter Five

Rain's expression turned into one of twisted horror, "Oh.. Oh no." He said softly.

Captain Three got up and walked over to the edge of the concrete slab, "Why'd you let her get away?!" She questioned, turning to face Rain again.

Rain struggled to answer, "I-I had to save you! You would've gotten a concussion if I had let you fall!" He reasoned.

Captain Three shook her head, "Y-you should have let me! Inkopolis is at stake, a little head injury is nothing!" She scolded, "But now she's gone! What do you suppose we do now?" She questioned.

Rain began to feel guilty. Should he have let her fall and made sure Riot was still with them? Maybe he'd just never be good enough for the captain. She certainly made him feel that way.

Rain looked out to the sea, "Grizz." He said blankly, his eyes wide open.

Captain Three narrowed her eyes, "What?" She hissed.

Rain pointed out to the bay, "He's here!" He said, suddenly excited. There was a medium sized white boat approaching the cay, recognizable as the Grizzco Industries boat.

Captain Three sighed as she saw it, "We'll finish this later." She grumbled, standing on the edge of the slab at the boat.

A net came down from the boat, as if Mr. Grizz knew where Riot was. Rain saw Riot get caught in the nets and get dragged onto the boat, where Mr. Grizz was waiting to cut her free and grab her by the shoulders. He glared at her and held her up, the two seemed to lock eyes. Was Riot too terrified to move..? It would make sense, Grizz would kill her without a second thought in normal circumstances. The boat came to the shore, and came to a stop.

Grizz jumped down with Riot in his arms, "You called?" He said confidently.

Rain's eyes lit up, "Mr. Grizz! You showed up!" He said excitedly.

Mr. Grizz nodded, handing Riot to Rain, "I got your message about this nasty little egg thief.." He said, glaring at Riot, "So I had no choice." he said. Mr. Grizz looked Rain up and down, "..I didn't expect to see you here, Rain." He said.

Riot snapped at him, "I think YOU smell nastier.." She growled,

Mr. Grizz patted her on the head, "Yes, whatever you want to believe.." He grumbled, "So, you need my intel? Yes?" He asked.

Captain Three cleared her throat, "Yes, we seek a way to drive the salmonids back into the ocean before they do any more damage to the city." She explained, "And out of anyone, you'd know the most about them." She said.

Mr. Grizz gave her a small nod, "I see, ask away, but make it quick. I have a salmon run starting in.. Thirty minutes." He said, checking his watch.

Rain interrupted suddenly, "Wait wait!! More shifts?! What about all the people that went missing?!" He interjected.

Mr. Grizz was quiet, his blank covered face told him nothing of his reaction. He finally responded, "..I'm sorry, there were too many salmonids for me to save them." He said, "They were gone when I arrived." Mr. Grizz said.

Rain frowned, "My entire team? Bigfin, Axel, and Akira? All.. gone without a trace?" He questioned hopelessly.

Mr. Grizz responded with a small, "Yes." and an equally small, "I'm sorry." In a low tone.

Riot suddenly spoke, "H-he's telling the truth, me and my team-" She gasped and suddenly stopped, covering her mouth.

Captain Three narrowed her eyes at the salmonling, "Drop her." She ordered Rain. Rain obliged and dropped her.

Riot fell to the ground with a small, "Aah!" And winced as she hit the stone floor, looking up at the three surrounding her. She looked terrified, staring up at Mr. Grizz. Even through his dark glasses, Mr. Grizz seemed to be glaring at Riot intensely. Riot shuffled backwards until she hit Rain's legs, "I-I'm not talking!" She said with a shaky voice.

Captain Three picked her up by the sweater, "Talk! Or I'll make sushi out of you." She threatened.

Mr. Grizz looked to Three with a suddenly caring voice, "Now now, there's no need for such.. Violent threats." He said, grabbing Riot from Captain Three and putting his face inches away from hers, "Talk, tell us what you know, fish." He said calmly.

Riot looked utterly terrified, "A-alright, alright! P-please just put me down!" She squeaked. Rain found it somewhat amusing how terrified she was of Grizz.

Mr. Grizz gently put Riot down on the floor, "Go on then, speak." He said.

Riot stammered for a few moments, "Th-There- We- I-" She finally got her words straight, "After we captured them, we.. We sort of maybe hid them in places Grizz couldn't get too?" She said meekly, "We wanted less Grizzco workers to bother us! We didn't know what else to do!" Riot exclaimed.

Captain Three asked, "Where did you take them?" in a stern tone.

Riot paused, "I-I can't tell you, b-but you shouldn't go looking! They're heavily guarded AND in the middle of nowhere." Riot argued fearfully.

Captain Three's expression softened now that Riot had finally elaborated, "Hmm.. We'll find them." Her expression turned sour again, "And you'll lead us there." She ordered.

Riot decided to be stubborn again, "Not a chance!" She upturned her nose. All it took was one more glare from Grizz and she caved, "O-okay, maybe there's a LITTLE chance, just maybe a tiny one." She put her thumb and index finger almost together, "About this much." She added.

Captain Three rolled her eyes, "Whatever, fish." She said.

Captain Three looked up at Grizz suddenly, "And about that whole "Thirty minutes" bull carp, you're going to stay here and tell us what you know." She demanded.

Mr. Grizz glared at Three, "Or what?" He asked calmly.

Captain Three scowled, "Or I'll rat you out to the police, not ONLY for causing multiple people to go missing.." She was interrupted.

Mr. Grizz cleared his throat, "Article Three, paragraph 5, of the contract all Grizzco Industries employees are required to sign before going into employment, states that you are aware of any and all harm that may come to you on a Grizzco Industries salmon run shift, be it injury, death, or disappearance, meaning that therefore, ratting me out to the police will only waste your time and will not interfere with my business in any way." He said smugly, crossing his arms.

Captain Three rolled her eyes, and Eight suddenly came up beside the group, "We could tell the police that you're doing power egg collection with a phony license." Eight sneered.

Mr. Grizz looked alarmed, "What?! My license isn't fraud! It is completely legitimate and I had to go through rigorous testing and training on how to handle salmonids!" He exclaimed.

Eight pulled out their phone, "Says here your license expired Three years ago." Eight shrugged, "Or, hey, how about how your power egg collection company collects golden eggs and smuggles them to an unknown source? You know how suspicious that is, right?" They added, "Or how about all the violations your facilities and workplaces should reasonably obtain? OSHA and workers unions are in place for a reason, y'know.." Eight pointed out.

Mr. Grizz looked stunned, "..You know what? You've twisted my arm. Fine, I will help you." Mr. Grizz grumbled, "Perhaps I can get the eggs we lost back too while you're on the case.." He mumbled.

Captain Three smiled at Eight and patted their head, before turning to face Grizz again. She took a deep breath, "Good, we're happy to be working with you." She said

Rain was ecstatic! He was going to be working with Mr. Grizz more closely and more personally than he'd ever had before! This was great! Plus, he'd get to save his crewmates and maybe some other hostages too, it'd be so amazing.

Clearly, Riot didn't find it amazing. She crawled away from the group and slunk into the trashcan again, curling around herself and looking down at the ground sadly. Rain hardly noticed her.

He looked at Captain Three, "When do we start?" He asked.

Captain Three gave him a serious look, "Right now."