Sky crouched down on the floor, holding her hands together as she stared at the floor as if in a deep trance; she had on her Elites gear, wearing her bobble hat that had the team button pin on the front to represent the team, a nice white long sleeve shirt that bared the team logo of the Elites tilted sixty degrees on the front. Ever since they left and came to Barby springs-the venue for the group stage of the tournament-Sky had been feeling homesick, although it was more that she missed Azule. Pearl rests a hand on her shoulder; Sky looks up and their eyes meet. The two exchanged a conversation in their stares, nodding their heads together and exiting the locker room-focused. Aaron and Austin were waiting for them outside in the hallway with their arms crossed, anxious to begin their next match; they were going to be heading to Kelpwood in Kelp City-preparing to go to the Kelp Dome for their match. The fall preliminaries were being held in three locations for the knockouts: Kelp Dome, Bluefin Depot, and Saltspray Rig; after a heavy demand from both the competition committee and the schools. At the fall preliminaries, a total of sixteen teams would participate after drawing their groups; but since the drawing that was supposed to take place at Mahi Mahi resort got interrupted, they rescheduled. Once teams drew their groups of four, they would play a total of three games-the top two advance; the elimination rounds would determine the seeds for the winter championship. The top seeds would face the secondary seeds in the first round of the elimination rounds, and those eliminated in this first round would be placed in the lower seeds of the winter championship; the knockouts were formatted as such: Group A winner vs Group D runner up, Group B winner vs Group C runner up, Group C winner vs Group B runner up, and Group D winner vs Group A runner up. In the winter championship, it would be the first seed vs eighth seed, and the fourth seed vs fifth on one side of the bracket; the second seed vs seventh seed along with the third seed vs sixth seed are on the other side of the bracket.

"Right now, we've won our group and are set to face the Squid Ops in the quarterfinals. If we can win, then we can really make some noise the winter championship!" Pearl said with enthusiasm, wearing a purple headband that had "the Elites" stitched in.

"As it stands, we've got to aim for the finals to realistically have an advantage in the winter championship; it can make all the difference for the winter tournament if we're a higher seed." Austin said while Aaron and Sky looked at the match schedule; They were the winners of Group C, along with Beacon Hills, Octo Valley, and the Special Forces-all the respective winners of their groups.

"So we'll be playing Squidops…" Sky noted; making a face as she saw the teams that'd be playing each other.

Pearl snatched the list from Sky with concern, "Squidops…aren't they ranked number four in the nation; the team with the all black uniform right?"

A sweatdrop fell down Sky's cheek, "Yeah, that team…"

"Known as the Squids in Black…"-Aaron goes into deep thought-"They're a very successful team, winning a total of ten titles in fifteen finals appearances in all competitions." Aaron said as he recalled the information that he gathered on them in anticipation of possibly facing them.

Pearl looked at her colorful nails- "Hey, when was the last time they won a title…?"

"Their last title in any competition was the 37th annual National championship three years ago, but it wasn't the only thing they won that year. They also won the 17th annual spring invitational…and they also had back to back national titles with the 36th and 37th. They've remained one of the most powerful competitors for years." Aaron answered with seriousness.

Sky shrugs her shoulders, "Squid Academy hasn't won anything in eight years…so this should be fun." she responded; Austin nodded in agreement.

Aaron crossed his arms and closed his eyes, "No matter the team, we must beat them if we want to keep our promise…"

"Yeah, we'll be the first team to bring silverware back to SAHS."

Squid Academy had a history of being a very competitive school in turf wars, always hanging in with the powerhouses. Unfortunately, their history was rather blank compared to rivals like Beacon Hills and Special forces-winning only one title (21st winter championship). But for the Elites, winning was something that all four of them craved, and the fact that they hadn't won anything for Squid Academy tortured them-especially since they were regarded as the best team Squid Academy had since the talented team that won their only silverware nearly a decade ago.

The four of them took a taxi from the hotel to the Kelp Dome, and when they got there, a massive crowd was already in attendance watching a match. Tournament decorations from banners to posters were set up at the entrance as many people were still filing in line to watch from the bleachers outside the dome, and many others even watched from their cars since they had huge TV's set up around the dome for viewing. The Elites arrive with their gear in-hand, ready to set up and prepare for their match-Aaron said that they would be the second match right after Octo Valley and Reef-number three vs number nine in the nation-wrapped up their current match; the other two matches would be played at Bluefin depot while the final would be played at Saltspray Rig. The Elites enter an area that appears to be for the teams and staff members, greeting some of the employees before entering a little waiting room.

"Hey…they have catering!" Pearl pointed, diving into the food and pigging out while Austin tried to restrain her from eating everything.

Sky stared at the TV, seeing her good friend Shiva on the screen performing-"So more than likely if we can advance, we'll face either Reef again or Octo Valley…"

Aaron clicked his tongue, "I'd rather not face that sex obsessed woman. She's terrifying enough as a person, so her talent as a player is even more terrifying to go against."

Sky raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms with a perturbed expression, "Exactly why is she your one Achilles heel among single players?"

Aaron gets cold feet trying to respond as Sky's scary glare shot through him-seeing a frightening red aura with ill-intent emerging and surrounding her body, "W-well…she's a very unconventional girl; I've never met a personality like her."

Sky peers at him while her two teammates can only try their best to bear through the awkwardness. "What's the situation in the match?" Austin asked, hoping to shift the attention.

Sky looks at the score, checking the tracker at the bottom that displayed in real-time how the scores were based on their performance. She glances at the turf, seeing Magenta ink dominate the surface and not a splat of Powder blue. "Octo Valley's winning…by a mile."

Aaron studied the movements of the Octarians; it was always fascinating to watch them play the sport. The way she graciously swims in the ink…the disturbing precision in her shots…the amazing ability to completely dominate a match against a fellow top rank player…these Octoling girls truly do send shivers up my spine with their incredible execution. While it was well known that Octarians were hated by Inklings, and while Octolings were able to slightly receive a pass from their beauty, there were other reasons as to why Inklings were fascinated by their enemy race. Their unnatural skill in an Inkling-dominant sport completely intrigued Inklings once Octolings got involved, seeing just how different the two races truly were. A major difference that was noticed was in the play styles between the two: Inklings played more logically, looking at tactics and schemes-while Octolings, simply wanted to aggressively attack and dominate the match; traits very reflective on the individuals.

Pearl immediately remembered something important, "Hey, do we have Gileslie doing the film for us again?"

"Yeah, she said that the AV club wasn't busy so she'd be here." Aaron answered.

Sky giggled, "She's like our biggest fan, isn't she?"

Austin waved a hand, "More like our lucky charm…we never lose whenever she is in attendance."

The match on the TV ended, and both teams appeared to put all their effort into clinching a higher seed-unfortunately only one team would be victorious. It wasn't any surprise to see who the victor was, judging by the silence of the crowd; Octo Valley was the winner, winning the match in convincing fashion-72 to 27. The Elites marveled since they didn't expect to see such a dominant win just like that, and especially when just a minute ago it was a close game. Shiva and her teammates bow her head to show respect to their opponents, afterwards, Shiva winks at the camera and blows a kiss as she leaves.

"I guess we're up next then…" Austin said with reluctance.

Aaron's body tensed up, his expression turned solid as stone and he held a fist in the air, "Let's go out there and send a message to everyone, our friends, family, enemies, everyone…show them all why we are the elites of the elite!"

The others are fired up as they match their captain's intensity, leaving the room with enthusiasm and confidence. They were just a few steps from officially beginning the new campaign, the new journey, the new mission to capture the elusive title that has ever so slipped from their grasps on so many occasions.