Today is game day, the day of the finals for the rank wars. The match that the entire school had been waiting a whole month for, the match of its 3rd meeting in the final, the personal rivalry between the members of both teams, the hidden meaning for both of them behind the match and of course, the battle that awaits them afterwards.
The audience roars as both teams enter the battlefield, the match of matches was about to begin. The audience wore team colors to represent which team they were representing: Kidvel fans wore Red, while Elites fans wore Tie dyed Bluish Purple; this rivalry was the pride of SAHS, it's been that way for two consecutive years, and now three consecutive rank war finals. Two may enter, but only one will win.
Pastelle waits with her team at the spawn gate, remembering her defeats. She's ready for the revenge that they always wanted; they missed their opportunity at the past two finals, where they played their hearts out and still failed. For Kidvel, the Elites were the goal for them, the golden team that always grabbed the hearts of the school, and the team that always represented them in the big tournaments.
It was last year when Pastelle arrived at SAHS; she was the immediate talk of the school since she marched on campus as the prettiest girl in the school, rivaling the-then prettiest girl, Sky; There was so many similarities between the two of them.
Pastelle had grown to dislike Sky; Pastelle hated being compared to anyone, especially someone who was an equal like her in every aspect: Beauty, Athleticism and Intelligence. But the root of her anger towards Sky was how much she bragged and talked about her little brother. It was painful for Pastelle, since she lost her little brother in a car accident the year prior; Pastelle fueled that anger more when she decided to enter the rank wars and suffer defeat. Now, after seeing that same little brother she despised, the same one she heard so much about, the one that raised her envy, the one that had the striking resemblance to her little brother, the same innocent and gentle smile, the same optimism. She too, wanted to win for his sake, for the illusion that he provided.
On the other side, Sky is fully focused and ready for everything that will happen. The image of Azule covered in bandages at the hospital still haunts her thoughts, but her resolve doesn't waver, knowing this match is bigger than just representing the school, it's a personal message. No matter what happens; I will always give everything I have. Show no regrets!
The whistle blows as both teams leap out the gate to the cheers of the audience. It's a race to the main area as Red and Bluish Purple ink cover the floor and walls. Sky immediately takes to the high ground to begin her sniping, but when she looks across, Pastelle has her scope ready to splat her.
"Don't expect this to be like the other two!" warned Pastelle, discharging the red ink at an alarming speed; Sky barely avoids it, forced to retreat.
What the heck? Since when did she get so pumped up? her quickness to get there and the speed at which the ink fired…she must have done some serious preparation for this… thought Sky, making her escape, I'll have to find another spot, I'll be in a pinch if I engage in a 1-on-1 with her so early on.
Over at the hospital, Violet helped evacuate everyone and transfer all the patients to a different hospital; she had warned the hospital of what was about to happen. Sally waited in the empty lobby with Reice-both of them armed with their modified weapons, Violet patrolled all the hallways, and Cameron stood guard in Azule's room. Cobalt sat in front of the hospital folding his arms with his eyes closed, listening to his surroundings.
Tangie sneaks behind him with two cans of soda, "Here, I got you one…"-handing him the orange soda-"You've been in deep thought lately, is everything ok?"
Cobalt looks at her, admiring her concern, "Why do you always worry about me?"-Smiling just a little-"Am I really that important to you..?"
Tangie drops down next to him, closing into his personal space, "what kind of question is that? Of course I worry about you…you never tell me anything that's going on! I know you're out doing dangerous stuff…"
"Tangie, you know I have to protect you…"
"Cobalt, I can handle myself. I'm the daughter of an army lieutenant, I know the ropes."
"But Tangie, you know that's the past…you've been inactive for years…"
Tangie looks away from him, burying in her face in her arms, "Cobalt, please, tell me what's been going on…it feels like you're going to continue to hide stuff …weren't we planning to, y'know…do that?"
Cobalt hesitates on his answer, realizing the things he'd done for her, the promise he made with her. "Sorry Tangie, I can't tell you my current situation. It's best if you don't know…"
Tangie smirks, showing some frustration in her body language. They sit there awkwardly, for a little bit, as Cameron peers down on them from Azule's window. He looks up at the sky, seeing the bright sun shed its light.
"Its high noon…" he muttered in a western tone, looking at Azule in the reflection.
Resuming the match, Aaron leads the charge for the Elites, inking the turf and swimming on the walls to avoid enemy ink. Parker cuts his path off, ready to slat him; Pearl comes to Aaron's rescue, splatting him from a distance before he could splat Aaron. Nelson squares off against Austin, the two rollers splat each other, spreading their ink further across the surface. The match continues to reach its peak as both teams keep it a close match, with the Elites leading 53-47. Sky targets Parker and Austin, looking for the double splat, but is met once again by Pastelle, who applies the pressure to her and forces her to move yet again.
One minute is left on the clock as crunch time becomes reality. Kidvel need to rally a comeback if they want to change the impending result. The Elites get into the triangle formation, the same as Kidvel's triangle formation as Squidcom. Kidvel stand frozen at the Elites bold attempt, unsuspecting them of being the kind of team to try new things like that; the Elites were a team that always followed their own formula to victory, watching them switch formation was mind shattering.
"Hey! That's our formation…" panted Parker, trying to avoid being splatted.
"Then let's show them why it's our formation!" charged Pastelle with ferocity in her eyes.
"We'll only get one chance to make a comeback…we'll have to make the push now!" notified Taylor.
Kidvel make the final push for their revenge, it's finally time for the moment everyone had been waiting for, and the last 30 seconds were here, a winner was about to be crowned. Kidvel collides with the Elites, both sides engage in all out turf war, inking everything in their paths with Red ink sloshing around with the Bluish Purple. Pastelle and Sky take to the high grounds; Nelson and Parker butt heads with Austin- Pearl covers him from above, and Taylor and Austin exchange ink with each other; the stadium erupts as the time dwindles down.
This team…we've seen our opportunity squashed twice…this time I want us to go to the prelims! I want to go with these guys! Pastelle thought, looking around at her teammates. Her vision begins to blur as ink splatters everywhere, all she can hear is the indistinct cheering of the crowd and the sound of the other weapons releasing ink.
The time expires; Pastelle looks up at the scoreboard, anxious to see the result. Did we win..? Will it finally happen? Our breakthrough..? Pastelle gets a good look at the scoreboard, immediately falling to the ground, holding back tears; the other members of Kidvel drop to the floor as well, understanding all the hard work they did, the sweet revenge they wanted…denied yet again.
The audience roars with applause for both teams as they receive their trophies, for the 5th consecutive time in rank war history, the Elites were winners of the season. Winning every rank wars event they have competed in. Pastelle can't hold her tears back any longer as she watches the Elites receive that gold trophy yet again and earn the representation of SAHS at the fall prelims.
Sky walks over to Pastelle and gives her a hug, "You played awesome, you guys forced us to play much harder than ever before…please, show no tears."
Pastelle wipes away her tears, "Next time for sure! Next time we'll beat you!"
Sky giggles, "Sure."
Both teams exchange their show of respect, concluding the rank wars. The next battle awaits them. Both teams exit the school gym knowing that the next battle will be a test of resolve. Will they protect a comrade or let him die?
