"So she's on team Trick…" Fuchsia remarked as the crowd got silent; Bianca had on a skin tight Orange Team Trick shirt with the classic Black shorts and some white track cleats on.
"Ready…Set…GO!"
All 8 sprinters burst out the starting line and begin their dash, changing into squid forms, and swimming into their ink. Ink flies everywhere as the competitors flop in and out through a round of the chain barriers-Bianca leads them by 3 body lengths. Bianca reaches her first wall, swimming up the wall with swiftness as the rest arrive at the bottom. Bianca quickly leaps over the tops and resumes her swimming, leaving the others to have to swim up.
"Is she serious!?"-Gasped Callie with joy, shaking Marie-"She's on pace to beat her own record! After a near two year absence, Bianca returns to center stage and is showing us once again why she is the fastest of her era.
"The world record is 56.04, a record she set back at the World Tours in her freshman year at Squid Academy. Now she's chasing her own shadow, given she was eye wateringly fast." Marie added, getting up and out of her seat as she too began to feel the nostalgia.
Sky looks satisfied as the surrounding audience cheers loudly; they all are out of their seats rooting for 'the Bolting Bianca' as reflected in their loud voices. Bianca hits her final turn, jumping through the chain barriers with absolute ease as she stretches her lead to 10 seconds ahead of second place. She finally reaches the next two obstacles that crippled her previous attempt from her first year: the 4th wall and the Black ink.
"She's about to do it! She's heading to the final stretch!" Callie yelled, hopping around as her favorite athlete made way to her Achilles heel.
"But, one has to wonder if she'll have the nerves to get past this last test, this is the same two obstacles that allowed Machi to defeat her back then…" Marie added, keeping her tone as indifferent as usual.
This is it! I'll wipe you out and head to the finals! Bianca thought as she swam at full speed into her final wall, swimming up at a ridiculous speed; the crowd roars as she reaches the Black ink. She splashes into the Black ink, her speed decreasing rapidly as the rest of competition tries in a futile effort to close the gap. It's way stickier than last time…! What the heck!?Bianca thought as she struggled through the Black ink, it was as sticky as tar.
"Due to such an incredible run, Bianca is not only so far ahead that she can struggle with much time remaining with 100 meters to go, but she's also still on pace to beat her own record!" Callie commentated with more enthusiasm as Bianca ripped through the Black ink.
Bianca finally breaks through, crossing the finish line with a flooding of cheers to welcome her; the stadium feels like it's erupting just from the loud praise alone. "She just did it! She's back and better than ever! Bolting Bianca has returned to us is prime form! She shatters her record by over 10 seconds; a new time of 46.03 is now the world record!" Callie cheered, clapping her hands rapidly at the joy of having Bianca on her team.
Over in the audience, Squidcom sat speechless as they witnessed a legendary performance. Sky stands up and calls out to Bianca, giving her a thumbs-up as she looked her way. Reice makes eye contact with her, his mouth wide open in shock from her amazing run; she receives his speechless response as a positive as she returns to the locker room to prepare for the final tonight.
Bianca enters the locker room to the massive amount praise from her fellow competitors, looking over to the bench where sally was sitting, seeing that another girl was sitting next to her, her rival. Bianca hesitated as she got closer, seeing the disturbing similarities between Sally and her rival, like how they bother were wearing Purple shirts to represent team Treat and their Pink tentacles.
"Machi…" mumbled Bianca as she averted eye contact with her; Machi was busy talking to Sally.
"Oh Bianca..! How are you doing? Congrats on advancing to the final." Said Machi, getting up; she had very long Cotton Candy Pink tentacles with Baby Blue tinges , taking out an Purple hair band to wrap her two long flowing tentacles back.
"You two know each other?" Sally said, butting in.
"Of course, we've been racing one another since we were little brats!"-Turning to Bianca-"but someone decided to step out last year…"
"Machi…you shouldn't be mad. Because of that day, you've held the world title for two years in a ro-"
"Don't give me that crap!" yelled Machi; The mood got serious as the two stars began to have a falling out.
"Machi…"- she looks down at her feet with some regret-"I'm sorry if I haven't been a competitor like one time, but I have a job with the force now, I can't simply abandon my job for the sake of just trying to win some contest!" she yells; Machi's expression turned red with anger.
"Then why are you here!?" retorted Machi, throwing her hands up in frustration, silencing Bianca. "Look, I'm glad that you became a police officer. Because of that, you've become a high ranked officer and you're working your way up to the top to be a chief…but don't lie to me and say that you can't leave that all behind for this moment! You belong on the track more than I do!"-Pointing her thumb at herself-"There's no way you would come back here unless you really felt like you had to
Both girls stare at each other, breathing heavily as Sally stares at them with full engagement. The girls sigh, as the next heat is called; Machi's heat is next. Machi places her hand on Bianca's shoulder, leaning in and in a very low tone, "Bianca the police officer may sound good, but Bianca the fastest inkling in the world sounds better!"
Machi leaves as Bianca stood frozen, hearing her words on repeat; Sally comes up next to her, snapping her out of her trance. Both girls went over to the TV in the locker room to watch Machi's match. Bianca crossed her arms as she heard Machi's name announced.
"Seems you and Machi have some history…"
"Oh well…yes, we're childhood rivals. For most of our childhood, I'd always beat Machi at everything, not allowing her to finish first in anything against me. But one day, I noticed her growth as she began to catch up on me very slowly. The more I observed, the bigger of a reality it became…I realized that I wasn't the same anymore. I realized that all those years of being ahead, I never tried to improve myself, as a result, I allowed Machi to not only catch up to me…but surpass me."
"So exactly why did you come back?"
"Because this is my last chance to correct my error from two years ago, after tonight, I will retire once again-permanently."
"But why..? You're still capable…"
"It's not that. I know I can get in the Inklympics if I tried-probably without trying too. But I genuinely enjoy being a cop, I have my own reason for joining the force specifically, but after seeing the new recruit…his determination…his resolve…It's solidified my decision to stay on the force and become his mentor."
"Sounds like a cool guy…" Sally shrugged; unaware that the boy she was talking about was her brother, Reice.
The competitors in the 3rd heat blast off as Machi burns past them all on the first turn, gunning straight for complete domination of the lead. She works her way around the track, passing through obstacles at a slightly faster rate than Bianca. Marie rises as Machi makes her way down to the first wall, her graceful transition and easy climb puts the audience in awe as she takes the big leap to further her lead; she has a full 15 second lead on second place!
"S-she's fast!" Azule yelled in surprise, leaning over and into the people in front.
Machi powers through the course likes it's nothing! She rips through all the barriers and walls with ease, increasing her lead to 25 seconds. Her phenomenal run forces the crowd to chant her name as she enters the final stretch of the 4th wall and Black ink. She climbs over the wall very quickly and dashes through the Black ink, passing the finish line; the crowd silences as they read her time, 31.42. Marie and the crowd erupt!
"She shattered it!? She shattered Bianca's record right away, she broke Bianca's record! What have we just witnessed!?" Marie's jumping out her seat, taunting Callie and throwing up a fist pump.
How was that Bianca? Did you enjoy that?
In the locker room, Bianca's game face was on as she stared long and hard at the new world record. Sally though, was inspired by the two amazing performances that she'd just witnessed from the fastest of all time and the current champion in speed. Sally looked at her hands, and began think how… how she did that… How can I pull off an incredible run like that? I'd have to run near perfect to contend against these two monsters…
Bianca rested her hand on Sally's shoulder, "don't worry about breaking records. Focus on trying to win your heat; you can worry about records when you reach the final. So go out there and have fun!"
Sally receives the advice well, the weight lifted off her shoulders, ready for her heat to be called next. The intercom comes on, calling for those competing in the 4th heat. This is it! Now's my turn to show everyone here what I'm made of!
Sally exits the tunnel to the big track, seeing the huge crowd of people in the stands encircling her, the sunny light beating down on her skin as she heads to her lane, hearing the loud cheers of support from her friends, and lastly, her beating heart that thumped faster as she began to take position. The entire nation is watching her, possibly the entire world! This is her chance to put herself on the map.
Sally…good luck! Azule thought as he saw her take her lane.
Azule's getting nervous himself! He finally gets to see Sally up close in and event other than turf wars, and it was also the first time in a while that he'd see anyone from Squidcom participate in person. Azule began to remember the video he watched with them when he first returned to his dorm, but what they didn't know, was that Azule had studied the video intently-studying their mannerisms and emotional reaction to certain events, trying to figure out how they must have felt during his absence. When Azule truly did see the pain and suffering they'd endured during his absence, and how desperately they needed him when they had to battle in consecutive 3-on-4 battles, it tore him apart. Azule's heart begins to ache as he thinks about it, the guilt from not being able to help-to lead like a true captain. He clutches his chest-giving a faint cough, "I'm going to out for a bit…"-shuffling to the side as he exits the row.
The others look at him with wonder, unaware of his current condition since it was the only thing he never told them; but Sky knew immediately once she spotted him holding his chest. She tightened her bobble hat and looked at Reice and Parker, "Can you two follow him? Make sure he's ok…"
Both boys had, in a way, felt the same concern as Sky. Everyone within the circle was aware that something was wrong with Azule; even though he looked like a special prodigy, for some reason, the word fragile and helpless seemed to ring a bell when describing Azule, both boys knew he must have been hiding something, since it was his nature as a leader to put others before himself-even his health.
The boys followed Azule, who had teetered to the men's restroom. Azule hunches over the sink, coughing up blood as his heart ached more. He looks in the mirror, seeing his pale, lifeless reflection. His blue eyes piercing at him as his heart throbbed with pain. Why…I thought I had moved past this. Does this mean I haven't somehow let those traumatic experiences go? I thought I did…I thought I moved on…Is this maybe something else?
Reice and Parker entered, seeing Azule wobble as he looked about ready to pass out. They grab him quickly, resting him on the counter for him to sit up; Azule has an epiphany as he may have figured out the trigger for the heart pain, if he no longer had any issues with his past, then there was only one thing that must have still troubled his heart. Azule motions for them to come closer, which they do. He whispers in their ear of what is happening to him, of his death sentence, all in the hopes that maybe this was the last thing that lingered and pained his heart, guilt.