A week passes by after the surprise Rank wars match that happened on Tuesday, the school atmosphere was an elated one with everyone around the school excited to begin its rank wars season. Squidcom still received hisses and booing wherever they went, from the library to the cafeteria and even when they walked to their dorms. Today was Thursday, today's next rank war matches were happening. Azule and Squidcom sat out in front of the field before their match observing the other competitor's match; the second match also took place. Azule and the others got ready for their next match, their opponents are SSK. Today they faced an opportunity climb up 2-0 and begin the season on the right foot. Squidcom spent the whole week practicing at Inkopolis Plaza, with good results.

"We can really put ourselves in a good spot if we win back to back." Reice said, tying his Race yellow tentacles in a tighter ponytail before they switched to a Salmon pink; they all stood at the spawn point ready to begin.

"Luckily we have a good understanding of the map; I think we can pull of an easy victory if we stick to our plan." Added Sally, inspecting her gun to make sure all preparations are complete.

The bell rings to start the match; Squidcom jumps out and inks the turf in Salmon pink. Their opponent, SSK, inks their turf in Ivory ink and secures the middle turf. Azule and Sally push forward, inking the sides and alley ways as Reice takes the middle instead of his standard defense, Violet continues her support from higher ground but she kept mobile, making sure to avoid any direct hits; Squidcom's new tactics varied greatly from their previous, it's way more aggressive.

Azule encounters Tyson, the Shooter user of SSK with a .52 Gal shooter, in the left alley way, and they quickly begin tactical warfare. Tyson throws out a Splash Wall, pushing Azule back and continuing forward; Azule throws out his sprinkler and gets some ink on Tyson. Tyson quickly destroys the Sprinkler but is met by Azule, who splats him ferociously. Sally charges forward, giving Squidcom the lead with her phenomenal inking as she had previously splattedZack and Rudy of SSK. Zack, user of the charger weapon known as the Classic Squiffer, blindly charged at Sally and got splatted before he could even ink any turf. Rudy, user of the Carbon Roller, held his own against her for 20 seconds, exchanging ink with her constantly before she bulled through; The only Inkling that stood in her way was Fasha, team captain of SSK. Sally avoids an upfront attack against her given her golden range with the E-liter 3K and her pinpoint accuracy. Sally knew she had to take down Fasha if Squidcom were going to stand a chance at victory; Sally inked the nearby turf, swimming over to the area in Fasha's range.

Fasha immediately inks the turf right front of Sally, nearly splatting her. Sally responded with the splash wall, charging up her Heavy Splatling right behind the wall. But before she could finish charging, Fasha was already next to her and splats her; swimming back up to high ground. Sally respawned back the starting point, "Didn't see that one coming." She said, shaking her head in frustration.

Reice was locked in a tight square off with Rudy, both of them splatted each other with their rollers; 20 seconds remaining. Violet performs a double KO, splatting Zack and Tyson, who were giving Azule some trouble. Sally rushes forward and splats the turf quickly as the opposing members respawn with Azule and Reice behind her to give support and Violet in the distance on her right offering support too; Fasha returns again and Splats Sally dead on, but Sally smiles as she gets splatted. Fasha looks up and realizes Violet is right across from her with the scope on her; Violet returns the favor, splatting Fasha as the time expired.

They won; they were now 2-0 with a spot in the top 4, among the best in the school. The booing was less imposing, in fact, there wasn't as much booing as before and there were some select cheers in the audience. Squidcom joins up with Cobalt and the others, who were waiting for them at the stadium entrance.

"Good win guys, you're 2-0!" cheered Tangie giving them all a high five.

"You played impressively, Violet, covering the whole team as you did and securing the match at the end." Complimented Cobalt; Fuchsia stood closer to them than previously, like she wanted to engage with them all more.

"Good job everyone…" Murmured Fuchsia, looking at the ground; Sally wraps her arm around and brings her closer to the group.

"Well, we're off to a good start. But the real challenge begins next week when we face the Squidforce." Azule says, leading the bunch to the bus; they all had a serious face once they heard that name.

Reice, putting his hands in his pockets, "Squidforce, they finished 3rd last year in the season and are undefeated just like us. Surely they will be our biggest test yet…"

"We'll need to be on our game if we're looking to win." flexed Sally.

For the next week, Squidcom turned their attention to the very team known as the flying squids, the direct students that'll serve the Squid Force in the military after graduation. Azule and the others only heard rumors about them; none ever had any interaction with their players.

"They have a strong defensive team, ranked 1st in the school." Informs Sky, who was sitting at the lunch table with her squad mates. When Azule came over to ask for information about them; one of the members of Squidforce walks over wearing the Squidforce tee.

"Cameron…" glared Sky, grasping Aaron's hand tightly; an intense mood befell, as if there was some history between the three.

"Ah, lovely Sky... I see you're still stuck with jock head over there." taunts Cameron, walking over to Sky and Aaron with bad intentions, "I hope you haven't missed me since that day? You know jock head here can't replace me…" grabbing her hand; Azule immediately steps in and pushes him away from her.

"Don't touch my sister!" he hissed, gritting his teeth and squaring up, ready for a fight; Cameron approaches him quickly, getting in his face and butting heads, staring him down.

"You got a problem, pipsqueak?" taunted Cameron.

"I have no problem of teaching you a lesson in front the whole school." Responds Azule, staring at him viciously; everyone in the cafeteria had their eyes on them chanting "FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!"

Reice and Cobalt quickly came over and separated Azule from him, knowing Azule would show no restraint. Cameron guffawed, "If you care so much about your sister, then let's make a wager!" he offered; Sky and Aaron immediately realized what he might be up to.

"I'm listening!" yelled Azule from across the room, still being restrained by his teammates.

"If I win, I can do whatever I want regarding your sister! Knowing her boyfriend over there won't offer any resistance against me." He proposed, turning toward Sky and Aaron with devilish grin, "But if you somehow manage to win, I'll never harass her again." he stipulates with the devil grin still present; Sky turns to Azule, hoping he wouldn't accept the obvious trap.

"You're on!" yells Azule.

The talk around the school became of one thing: Squidcom vs Squidforce. It was going to be a heated battle between the rowdy newcomers, Squidcom, facing off against the veterans, Squidforce. The night before the big match, Sally, Violet, Brittany and Friya sat together in the living room having another one of their daily evening discussion.

"Hey Friya, ready to get destroyed by Sally and Violet's team?" teased Brittany, who has a long standing rivalry with Friya.

"Well, I'm looking forward to competing against them." turning to Sally and Violet, "I won't hold back anything tomorrow, so be prepared." Challenging them; they both already looked fired up after what happened at lunch earlier.

Today was the day for the bloodbath of a battle between two unbeaten teams; only one would walk away perfect. Aaron and Sky approached Azule right before the match.

"Azule, whatever you do, don't lose your cool. Cameron is a guy who feeds off his opponents' feelings, please don't become a victim to his traps." She pleads, grabbing him by the shoulders and staring into his eyes directly.

"Don't worry Azule, regardless of the result; your sister will be safe in my care." Says Aaron holding out his fist, "Go all out and show that idiot what you're made of."

The match began with a bang, Violet Splats Friya from the opening, securing the lead for Squidcom as they inked the turf and had well over half of the turf. Paul and Corin, the shooter and charger of the team with a .96 gal deco and Splatterscope as their weapons, marched forward recovering back some of the turf as Reice and Sally backed. Violet continued targeting Friya, the second roller on the team with a splat roller, preventing her from aiding her teammates that were struggling in a deadlock with Squidcom.

Azule and Cameron battle it out in a area farther from the main action; all eyes turned toward them. Azule shoots at Cameron with frustration but can get a single hit on him; Cameron has his distance and readies his custom black splat roller, throwing out a suction bomb to create more space. Azule avoids the Suction bomb but gets caught in the enemies' Black ink. Cameron approaches closer, rolling with a giant grin on his face as Azule stood there helpless; Azule gets splatted. His friends and teammates are in shock as he respawns; that was too quick! Azule doesn't get splatted! They all thought at the same time, their jaws dropping at the plan that Cameron used to capture Azule.Violet begins to get discouraged after seeing how helpless he was on the replay. Squidforce swiftly turn the game around and crush Squidcom shortly after, claiming victory 80-20 and delivering Squidcom their first loss; Sky and Aaron showed disappointment on their faces at the result, Pastelle shook her head with disappointment, "That's not the Azule I saw last week." She thought to herself, preparing for her match.

After the match, everyone was silent. Squidcom all look frustrated with themselves, Reice was upset that he couldn't defend their turf in time, Violet was ashamed of her moment of weakness allowing Friya to slip by and give aid, and Sally was Frustrated with getting triple teamed during the body of the match. But, Azule sat away from them all, covering his face with his hat.

"Switch gears everyone!" clapped Tangie, trying to get their attention off the loss, "The next match you have is against the Rebels, Todd's team! We can't let this loss bother us too much!"

At the dorm, Azule and the boys were still in a dreadful state; Todd approaches them still reading his book.

"Quit feeling sorry for yourselves, everyone loses."-Turning a page-"I won't enjoy beating you if you're in such a gloomy mood." showing a little more emotion; they all kept quiet as he walks off.

The weekend was a quiet one, no one talked to one another; everyone was still hung over on the crushing loss. Azule was walking in the hallway when he ran into Cameron.

"You have terrible timing." Glared Azule; Cameron had a smug look.

"Hey now, don't be so hostile. You never know who you'd be making an enemy out of." He laughed; Azule brushes past him, but Cameron has a devilish grin again as he laughs to himself.

The day before their match, Tangie decides to take everyone out for dinner at UJUMP after school, hoping to lighten up the mood. Everyone sat together, eating silently until Fuchsia belched unmannerly; everyone laughed together with her as she covered her face with embarrassment. The team finally came back to their normal-carefree glow. On the way home from UJUMP, they all walk together in a group. They're close by Moray Towers, the setting for their match tomorrow; Azule looks uneasy as they walked, as if something bothered him.

"Azule, is something bothering you?" tugged Violet on his sleeve, his thinking expression softened as he turned back to look at her

"Oh... I'm simply not feeling well about some things right now..." Hiding something from his friends, perhaps it's the same secret that Sky worried about? maybe something else? could it be his heart aches again/

"Azule, thanks for being an awesome captain to us. We'll definitely win tomorrow to get bragging rights over the Rebels!" declared Sally with a fist pump; Azule tips his army cap with his signature smile.

"You're the best team…you guys are the best team a captain could ever ask for…I'm glad that I've had the privilege to meet you all. Tomorrow, we'll start off on the right foot and claim another victory! We'll beat Todd's team and cement ourselves as playoff contenders!" leading the big hurrah as everyone feels the chemistry growing.

They continue walking with Tangie humming the theme "Splattack" and bopping while doing so. Azule's looks up at one of the building and recognizes a man with a gun, his expression turns sharp as he saw the shot fired a millisecond later; a gunshot rips through the air. Azule pushes Violet out of the way quickly, taking a bullet to the head and falling to floor immediately with a pool of blood surrounding him instantly, leaking from his head. The girls shriek in horror, Reice stands frozen and Cobalt's assassin instincts kick in.

"AZULE!" screamed Sally holding Azule in her arms weeping helplessly as he loses more and more blood, Reice calls an ambulance, Cobalt sprints in the direction that the shot fired from-grasping his bag that had the sword and Violet, Fuchsia and Tangie still horrified, fall to the ground with stunned looks; all of them are broken, knowing that the impossible may have just happened. Their captain, their best friend, was now at a cross roads of life and death.