Chapter 3 Splatoon: Sploon Squad

Sadly, after an hour of searching, the three young Inklings could not find anyone willing to spend a minute of their time on simple Turf War. In fact, no-one wanted to spend a minute explaining why they wouldn't do it. They all simply said no. "AHHGG! That stinking tournament is ruining all the fun," Toughie blurted out. His two friends all looked down, walking along, hoping that luck would be nice to them. But an hour of rejection will take its toll. Even the bright sky darkened with the moods of the Inklings. Toughie's face was filled with pent up frustration and stress, while Sunny's long face grew even longer. Even Beanie's cheerful attitude started to crack under the negativity.

"I'M SO LOST!" Beanie blurted out, "What are we supposed to do? We're not going to Turf War without a fourth teammate!"

"You're right, Beanie," Sunny suddenly shouted out. His two friends looked up to him in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Toughie asked, "You need to be elaborate."

"We won't go in missing a teammate, but we won't go and find some random from the street!" Sunny exclaimed. "We're going to show them what a team that plays for fun is like!" Sunny yelled out, pumping a fist towards the sky. His two friends looked at Sunny, before smiling. "You guys ready!" Sunny firmly asked.

"You bet, Sunny!" Toughie confirmed.

"Yeah, let's show them!" Beanie yelled out. The three Inklings then super jumped to find their new teammate. And this time, they will only accept the best, and 'no' is not an option.

Our young Inklings have landed back at Inkopolis Plaza, and they all immediately searched for a worthy teammate. They were not messing around this time. They eyed a girl with headphones, listening to exciting music, two boys wearing matching hoodies and sunglasses that covered their eyes, no doubt intentionally, and another girl wearing glasses, doing what appeared to be some type of work. All of them looked like they were in too leisure of a mood to enter a tense battle of Turf War. So our Inklings continued to search. They waltzed through the plaza, searching the entire area, yet they found no-one good enough.

"Holy carp. All the good players are all out practicing for that stupid tournament," Toughie blurted out.

"What should we do?" Beanie worriedly asked.

"We'll keep looking!" Sunny shouted. "We're going to find a fourth teammate!"

"Look, I know that you want to have a full team, I get it, it's just more fun that way. But it's starting to get late, maybe we should..." Toughie was cut off by Sunny's firm voice.

"No, we will find someone, and we will convince them to join us," Sunny declared.

"Uhh, Sunny?" Beanie quietly asked.

"You found someone?" Sunny asked, his eyes now lit up with excitement. Beanie didn't turn his head, but he didn't need to for Sunny to know that good news was coming up.

"I didn't just find anyone, I found one of the best around!" Beanie exclaimed.

It seems that it is time to introduce another Inkling, a rather popular and rather talented Inkling. An Inkling that answers to the name of Rider. He wore a White Inky Rider, 18K Aviators and is not the same Rider as in the one from the official manga. And he acts like, you know what, I'll let you make your judgment on him as the story progresses.

"Hey, Rider!" Sunny called out. The call was loud, but that wasn't what caught the attention of Rider, it was the tone of the voice. It was similar to that of a greeting, a greeting that one would give to an old friend. Rider turned his head in confusion, only to see three very excited looking Inklings. "Hey, over here, Rider!" Sunny yelled out. Rider simply sighed as he eyed the three of them. Before simply turning away and walking the other direction. But the yelling didn't stop there. "RIDER! COME BACK HERE!" Sunny yelled. The sudden shift in volume jolted Rider, turning him around to eye the same, three, loud Inklings. Rider sighed once more, but this time, he headed straight towards them.

"All right, what is it that is so important for you to call me out so urgently, especially on a day like this?" Rider sternly demanded.

"Well, we want YOU to join our team for a special onetime offer!" Sunny shouted out like a crazy salesman. "With us, you get nothing but fun, fun, and more FUN!" Despite the rather straight forward approach, Rider couldn't be more confused than he was now.

"Wait, wait, wait, slow down, kid." Rider said, "You lost me at the 'offer'." This didn't stop Sunny, Beanie, and Toughie from smiling gleefully. Sunny then started to speak again.

"Well, let us be more clear about our offer." Sunny said, losing the crazy shouting from before.

"Well then stop stalling and start talking." Rider said.

"Very well." Sunny said, "Beanie, take over for me, please."

"With pleasure." Beanie happily declared. "Anyway, what our onetime offer holds is fun, and by fun, we mean fun. And ixnay on any toxic behavior. That's it."

"No substitutions, exchanges, or refunds." Toughie quickly added. Rider simply rubbed his eyes in confusion, and shook his head.

"Is this a joke?" Rider then blurted out, much to the confusion of the three Inklings. "Alright, who did it? Oree? Gingee?" Rider shouted out, completely ignoring the three Inklings in front of him. "Let me just say, if it is one of you, this joke is far below the bar you set." Rider than seemed to have a random realization. "Oh no, please don't let it be Grape, she never knows when to end a joke." Rider groaned.

"Uh, Rider, this isn't a joke." Sunny said. "We really want you to come with us for some Turf War." Rider was silent for a short moment, but then let out a burst of laughter. Sunny was slightly taken back, Beanie was hopelessly confused, and Toughie was frowning heavily. Not that Rider noticed or even cared. Eventually, Rider's lungs could no longer continue laughing. And when he stopped, he turned to face the three Inklings, smirking. "Wow, that's a good, no a great joke, you should go for broke in the comedy business!" Rider roared, before laughing again. Toughie was having none of Rider's words.

"How 'bout you stop that laughter and join our team, before one of your lung's pop." Toughie said, coldly. "I'm not spending another hour looking for another Inkling."

"Oh, sure. But first, You need to show me something." Rider said. "I need to see if you can keep up with me and my skills. 'cause from what I'm seeing, I can beat you with my Hero-shot and Hero-shot along." Arrogance and pride oozed from Rider's body like a sponge in the sun. And it was starting to annoy Sunny.

"Alright." Sunny exclaimed, "If you're so confident about your skills, then we challenge you to a battle, 3 to 1! If we give up, you win. But if you use anything other than your Hero-shot, we win."

"Well, I'll be happy to oblige to your request with those terms." Rider said. "Now, what's your favorite map?" Rider asked. This time, it was Toughie that spoke up.

"Meet us at Blackbelly Skatepark." Toughie answered. Rider smirked at the three of them before speaking up again.

"Well, see you then. I hope you bring your best, not that it actually mattered."

"WHAT!" Toughie roared in response to Rider's insult. He then raised his fist, and would have sent it straight towards Rider's face, if not for the interference of Beanie and Sunny. Eventually, Toughie dropped his fist, and calmed down. Sunny then walked up to Rider, staring at him, eye to eye.

"Meet us in an hour." Sunny said. You better bring your best effort. Or we will know."

"Trust me, you should worry about yourself before worrying about me." Rider retorted. And with that, all the Inklings turned around and walked away, preparing. Whatever the next hour will bring, one thing's for sure, this battle will be far from simple fun, it will be a battle to remember!