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Mirii, Hun, Greta and Bars were all standing on the orange pad, watching her opponents standing over the blue-covered pad.
"... ah!" Mirii looked over Greta, while lowering her eyebrows. "Your weapons!"
"Hmm?!" Greta frowned as well.
"I don't remember if I told the staff to add a Splattershot and a Splat Roller in our team..." Mirii's sight was already hunting outside her pad, seeing soft neon lignts and her rivals.
"You did!" Enrick nodded, as he smiled. "Hun is the only Squid who doesn't have a weapon."
"Hmm..." Nick looked up, as his arms folded. "Should we start naming him with a nickname, again...?"
The others' heads aimed over the incoming Inkling man, who was wearing a white shirt, a black bow on its top and long-sleeved pants.
His hands lifted, showing the white gloves he was wearing.
"Before you dive in, I would like to announce that I'm the referee of this match." The man smiled.
"EH?!" Everyone except Hun shouted towards him!
"I know, I know..." The man rose his eyebrows. "I'm as desolated as you are... but unfortunately, Judd cannot assist this match." He brought his hands behind his back, as he downturned his mouth too.
"Why?!" Nick roared, raising his fists.
"You can't have a Turf War match without his sharp eyes!" Ana bended forward, scowling a lot.
"... even if he was assisting the match as he always does..." A sweat drop appeared on Mirii's right side of her head. "He would risk his own life, due to the unpredictable nature of those despicable Stingrays..."
"This match is already a bogus!" Nick looked over each of his friends. "Let's get out of here"
"Nick, people are waiting for us!" Enrick stared at him, as he folded his arms. "If we leave, the audience would have nothing in return... they would feel betrayed."
"Don't you think that the people will still feel betrayed, if they know that Judd is not the referee of this match?!" The boy gritted his teeth.
"I would feel so sad..." Zira downturned her mouth, while still keeping her eyes shut. "It's like I'm using another hat and not mine..."
"We can't back away!" Enrick aimed his right hand over the other squad. "Our friends wanted to start this fight for so long...!"
Greta stood silent... before looking over the man.
"Why Judd is not here?!" She bended towards him.
"He is in another location that cannot be revealed." The man's eyes closed. "He was brought away due to the growing danger perceived in our beloved city."
The younger Squids stood silent for a while...
"... the Stingrays are still around, huh..." Nick lowered his head. "Will ever they give up...?"
"I'm not sure those Stingrays would give any care about Judd..." Ana leaned her right hand over her right side. "... unless the Stingrays love knowing how much ground they can cover with their ink."
"They don't have any ink." Mirii rose her head. "They operate through a goo system."
"Bah!" Ana shook her head. "In any case, Judd has no use for them."
"He could be injured or even kidnapped due to his importance for the city..." The man took a deep breath. "It's an important icon for us all... I-I can't possibly imagine how the community will react, if we all know that our favorite referee is risking his life..."
"... I would rather know that Judd is definitively safe and sound, instead of him moving on thin ice... at least for this match." Greta brought her hands behind her neck, as she thrusted her mouth forward. "He will surely be our beloved referee for the next matches."
"His return is yet to be scheduled." The man lowered his head.
"Turf that!" Nick rose his right fist. "Who's gonna participate in the next matches without his presence?!"
"... this could be positive..." Mirii opened her mouth a bit. "Inklings would refuse to participate in matched who don't have Judd as the referee... and thus, Project Neo would not have unaware cavies for their experiments...!"
"We are trying to involve him..." The man stared over Nick. "He too doesn't seem fond on the idea..."
"Wonderful!" Mirii smiled. "I don't think that"
"But we have a solution." The man brought his hands behind his back.
"Curses!" Mirii exposed her white teeth.
"Thanks to the use of sophisticated machines, as well as the intervening of profreshionals, it's possible to monitoring any match with almost perfect accuracy." The man bowed once. "We will prove our worth with this Global Testfire... if it's a success, the audience will comprehend to accept the alternative and thus, they will participate in the next Turf War matches...!"
"If they also receive a large amount of money behind their matches, then they would definitively not hesitate into participate more matches..." Mirii snorted. "Those fools...!"
"Now..." The man stared over each team. "Are you ready to fight?"
Silence fell in for a moment...
"... I am." Enrick rose his head.
His allies look over him.
"... me too." Greta grasped her sides.
Her friends also stared back at her.
"I can't refuse..." Mirii grabbed her right tentacle, petting it. "... I'm ready." Her eyes closed.
"Me too!" Hun shook his fists.
"... like, count me in." Carlson grinned back over the new referee.
"... tee hee hee!" Zira spun on herself. "I can't leave Enrick behind... so I am all in!" She ended her spin with a small grin.
Ana watched Nick, whose face was a bit darker than usual...
"... do you want to stay here...?" Ana moved closer to Nick, whispering near his ears.
The boy stood silent... before he shouted "I'm in!".
Ana smiled visibly, as her hands clapped once before pressing against each other.
"I'm ready too!" She giggled.
"Enter inside the pad, then." The man bowed down. "Once the three minutes expire, you will be transported back to your starting points before I start judging the terrain."
The whole Temanga members turned into Squids, diving inside the pads. Soon, the Inkinators would do the same... the diving Squids swam through an orange-coloured sea, as they soon see the surface.
The Inkinators emerged! Mirii was already grasping her trusted Splatterscope, while Greta and Carlson were holding a Splattershot and a Splat Roller respectively. Hun was holding nothing, as he focused his attention over Mirii.
"How did you get your weapons?!" His mouth opened a bit.
"During our travel towards Arowana Mall." Mirii smiled towards him. "We also gained our Ink Tank, just like you."
Hun's hands went over his Ink Tank's straps, while his mouth was still open and his eyes glued onto hers.
"Hunry, do you know the rules?"
He watched Greta who was cocking her weapon.
"... no." He shook his head.
"Like, we have to ink the surface and keep it as long as possible." Carlson lifted his weapon.
"The team who possesses the largest portion of the arena wins." Mirii's head rose. "Make sure you don't move too far away from me."
"Why?" His head tilted-
Suddenly, a gunshot was heard from above the sky. Everyone's ears rose, as Greta and Carlson already moved away from the pad.
"You will see!" Mirii thrusted her right arm forward. "Move forward, Hunley!" She frowned. "While Greta and Carlson ink the floor, you must reach the tallest hill you see and then defend it from the incoming foes!"
"Ok!" Hun turned into a Squid, as he slid off the pad and swam inside the orange ink.
"I will use another way!" Mirii also dived inside the orange ink. "With Hunley as the striker and me as the support..."
Mirii, as a Squid, took the left road who had a large, continuing ink stain on its path.
"... we will be unstoppable!"