Sky exhales with a cool blow of wind from her lips as she tilts her head back slowly and rests against the brick wall of the locker room. Her eyes opened wide and pained as if she'd taken a shot to the arm with a needle. She rests her hand on her chest as she feels the rapid rate of her heart, looking at her forearms and seeing the bullet-sized sweat that resided. She knew it was true: Anxiety was setting in. She knew this match would have to happen in this tournament ever since she saw the matchups in the bracket, but now it was finally a reality, and it didn't help that her career was on the line. Special Forces were the best team in the nation of Inkopolis-and even a top contender in the continent; facing a giant like them was a nightmare for most teams. She closes her eyes as she thinks back to one of the conversations she had with Shiva a while ago.

That day it was during a cool summer in the seaside coast of Inkopolis in one of the many coastal towns that didn't receive as much recognition as popular hubs like Arowana. Sky and Fuchsia were sitting at a little hut nearby the seaside eating some local food; the reason behind why they were there was just a spontaneous adventure that happened after Sky contacted Shiva about something. The two spent hours there were filled with laughs and smiles until a certain subject got mentioned: Jin Ika and Special Forces.

Shiva's face turned from her usual tan-ish orange complexion to a pale one once the image of Jin entered her mind, her skin looked cold as the fear that Jin brought reminded her just how ferocious of an opponent he was to battle against. Shiva's eyebrows trembled as she turned to her best friend, "Why…?"-she shook her head while staring into Sky's eyes- "why would you ask me such a question?"

Sky looked at the table with the tropical drink in her left hand, "I'm curious about him. I've heard rumors that he's a special talent and since I've got the sa-"

"You guys aren't the same." Shiva interrupted coldly, shocking Sky who'd never seen Shiva with an expression like that.

"What do you mean we aren't the same?" Sky said in a confused tone but slightly offended by the opinion; Shiva shook her head as her body trembled with laughter.

"Sky, you guys aren't the same. He's...horrible."

Sky's left eyebrow raised with intrigue as the image of the smiling super squid entered her visual thoughts, "But, I thought he was a good person? Isn't he well beloved by every and unanimously known as the "Future Hero of Inkopolis" that we need?"

Shiva's irises dulled as she smiled with a whimper, "You haven't met that monster in competition..."-she calls for a second drink and tips the bartender- "Everything about him is a farce that your government set up. He's a false hero. His intentions are the same-no, worse than Gin's when it comes to competition. Facing Jin is like facing the final boss in a video game, but instead of some giant monster or really overpowered villain...it's an enemy who can tear you apart psychologically and slowly torment you as he rips away your hopes and dreams..."-she gulps down the drink, her throat motioning along with her gulping sound and then lets out a suggestive moan of satisfaction with a sweet smile on her face as she tilts her head towards Sky; looking to lighten the mood and change the subject-"That tasted delicious...just like you!"

"Don't say things like that. I'm pure and would like to not be a part of your weird jokes." Sky said swiftly.

"We both know that's a lie." Shiva said with a wink; Sky closed her eyes and gave a big sigh as she shook her head.

"So Jin's bad, huh?"

Shiva nodded, "I won't go into too much details about him since we're out in public and albeit I'm treated like a regular person in this country, I'm still royalty for a hated race. Cthulhu knows when someone might try to attack me."

Sky crossed her arms and slouched on the bar table, "That won't happen though since you're with me..."

Shiva's face turned smug as she leaned closer to Sky, "Oh? and what's that supposed to mean?"

Sky's face turned red as she sat erect and pushed Shiva back, "P-personal space!? I thought we discussed this a while back."

Shiva's smugness intensified, "Even if we did, it's is so clear that you want me back."

"Preposterous!" Sky yelled, her tone cracking halfway through; she covers her mouth with embarrassment by the sudden crack and looks away as her face turns a brightened red hue, her eyes staring at the table widely.

Shiva chuckles and gets up and starts playing with the fluff on Sky's hat, "This wasn't the only thing my fingers would play with~" she whispered in a seductive tone, making Sky shrink as Shiva placed her hand on Sky's shoulder, licking her neck slowly as she went all the way down to her shoulder.

"S-stop…!" Sky said in a whimper; Shiva giggled and then halted, calling her cute and then departing afterwards.

Sky pounds the table with her fist-still blushing in embarrassment even after Shiva had left, "Why does she always need to bring that up!? I thought we agreed to move on..."

Sky's eyebrows twitch furiously as the memory concludes of that day, she shakes her head in irritation at the thought of Shiva and her antics. "She never seems to learn when to grow up…"-She gets up to stretch before meeting up with the rest of the team- "She better beat Beacon Hills so I can pummel her in the finals. Stupid Octoling princess holding onto the past…"-a memory flashes in her mind, one of two hands that were interlocked together as the two persons stood before a sunset, she smiles- "You better not let me down, and I won't let you down." she said, leaving the room.

Elsewhere Shiva sneezes while surrounded by her teammates who were having a team meeting; Shiva grabs a tissue and blows her nose furiously while Ciri went over strategies. While the four teams prepared for their matches, A few minutes passed by as the stages got ready for rotation for the next pair of matches. In the meantime, many spectators took advantage of the intermission to grab snacks or head to the restroom. For Azule and the others, the only conversation to be had was on why Azule's father showed up.

"It's...complicated if I try to explain. My dad isn't someone I'm very fond of." Azule said as he grabbed the side of his arm and pressed it against his body; his expression made it clear he'd prefer to take the attention away from there.

"Understood. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Cobalt said with a smile, although his seriousness remained visible.

"Well I'm glad you're back since Fuchsia was getting concerned!" Tangie teased; Fuchsia blushed as she shook her head in denial.

Cobalt frowned as he looked around, "Well Azule, I still have one thing to ask: Where's Pastelle? You guys left together, right?"

Azule felt the pressure tighten in his chest as he tried to figure out a lie, "Uh...um, about Pastelle…"

"She's right here." A voice said from afar; as the others turned to follow the distinct voice they see Pastelle coming down the steps with a welcoming smile.

"Pastelle…" Cobalt muttered under his breath.

"You were looking for me?"

"Indeed. I was curious as to why you weren't present with Azule." Cobalt said firmly.

"Simple, I had to use the restroom and I couldn't make Azule wait for me." She said casually with a shrug of the shoulders; Cobalt seemed confused.

"Why? Wouldn't it be simple to just wait by her side?" Cobalt said with naivety to the obvious lie.

Azule rubbed the side of his neck and laughed, "I mean, I wanted to stay but she insisted that I leave."

"Yeah, he needs to give me some space sometimes." She said as she elbowed Azule with a wink.

Cobalt narrowed his eyes, "Riiiiight. I'll believe that for now."

Pastelle placed her hands at her hips as she looked at the board, "So they're going up against Jin and the Special Forces. This is undoubtedly going to be the biggest match Sky and the Elites have ever had."

The others were interested to hear about the past of the Elites since not much was ever explained about what happened prior to the first year's arrival-all that was known was that there was a quartet of the four best teams in the country that'd been known to dominate the competitions: Special Forces, Beacon Hills, Octo Valley, and Squidops. Now, the Elites were a team that was in the murky area below the four giants as one of the many talented teams that just were unfortunate to have to compete against those four towards the ends of major tournaments. However, for the Elites, there were two players that stood out and captured the attention of the nation whenever they played: Sky and Aaron. Aaron was ranked among the top 10 best players in the country at number 7, and had earned his reputation by being the leader of the dark horse Elites unit and the crucial leader behind them getting to deep runs in all the major tournaments. Sky was ranked at number 9 in the country, being known as one of the best snipers alive-just like her mother. Sky was known nationally as one of the few prodigal talents that had that special something to be able to change the tide of a match or completely take over, but the problem was that she was thought of as a glass cannon: someone who when on her best day was unbeatable, but had one major flaw that ruined her credibility, which was that she rarely ever took matches seriously enough to have those impact games. She'd show glimpses of when she was serious, doing things that no one would dare do in a competitive match and somehow succeed.

"The Elites are a team that have historically done very well in the major tournaments. When it comes to the Winter tournament, Spring invitational, Rivalry week, Nationals, and the Grand slams, they always finished as one of the top 8 teams and made it at least to the Quarter Finals each time…"-she lowered head as she recalled the disappointing defeats she witnessed-"Unfortunately, each time they made a deep run and got to the Quarters or even Semis, we'd run into one of them."-a pained look appeared as she remembered some defeats-"Beacon...Ops...and most certainly, Special Forces. one of those three always eliminated us before we could achieve silverware."

"We...? Aren't you rivals with Sky?" Tangie asked.

Pastelle nodded, "While I am rivals with Sky, when it comes to these events-it becomes more than about our personal feud. We both are from the same school after all, so she's representing everyone that's ever dedicated time to turf wars while at Squid Academy."

"I didn't know these events could get that personal…" Kosami said, breaking her silence for the first time for the day; everyone was in awe by her sudden comment.

"Ko...you just spoke…!" Tangie said with a bubbly smile as she leaned over.

"Well, I didn't find a reason to start speaking until now. But after hearing about all of this, I felt it necessary."

"Have you been enjoying the matches so far?" Pastelle asked.

"Yes…"-she nodded in satisfaction- "All the matches so far have been entertaining, but I feel a little worried after seeing who Sky and her team will be facing. That Special Forces team looks really dominating."

Azule guffawed, "None of these guys will be ready for my sis! I know Sky will win this competition, since I have a brother's intuition that she'll do well…"-his smile disappeared as he thought on what his father said earlier about who'd win the tournament- "She must win. There's so much at stake."

Pastelle glanced at Azule and clapped her hands, "Take notes Azule, this is the talent you'll hopefully be facing if you win the next Rank Wars. Although you'll still have to go through me and Kidvel." she said with one eye open as she tilted her head away from Azule with a smile.

Azule nodded, focusing on the board that'd make the announcements. On the board, it read: Urgent Rotation, venue switch! The commentators who'd already done a sloppy job of covering the games (seemed as though this was their first big chance) began to explain what the urgent rotation was about. Whenever an urgent rotation was to occur, it meant that the original venues were cancelled for play and the teams would have to switch to a new venue. In this short time, the committee in charge of the event had to decide where to book the next matches, but for some reason-none were being displayed at what might be the potential venues for the semifinal matches.

"You don't think the committee is thinking about doing that, are they?" one commentator said to the other.

"Why not? this place is big enough and has the technology to pull it off, so this wouldn't be a surprise. Although, I was thinking this was reserved for only the finals." the other responded.

As the new venue was displayed, many spectators were surprised to see that the new venue for the semifinal matches had now become the very arena they were in; the venue for the final had now become the venue for the semis as well. As the captains of their four teams looked at the monitors in their respective rooms, all of them had the same mindset that someone was behind this, and someone with a lot of power. The Elites and Special Forces exited their rooms and headed to the arena floor to meet the other and prepare for the warm ups and introductions-a pregame ritual usually reserved for the finals in these tournaments. In the luxury box where Cap'n Cuttlefish and the future Prime Minister were, a giant grin appears on the Minister's face as he puts the phone away from his ear and hangs up. Cap'n Cuttlefish had an irritated look on his face as tried to figure out why the Prime Minister made such a call; At this point, most of the Prime Minister's body guards were guarding every part of the room.

"Take a seat Cap'n, I'll explain." Saint Henry said as he sat down with a sly smile; the Cap'n hesitates at first before eventually sitting down. "Well Cap'n, I noticed that as exciting as it was to have the matches in their respective locations-we'd need a changeup in how things need to be done. As the first major tournament for the season, it's crucial that we get off to a proper start-especially with my inauguration coming in just a matter of a few weeks."

"What does this have to do with your election? These kids are just trying to enjoy their fun, bring home silverware to their schools, earn popularity, or just enjoy the thrill of competition. There is no need for adults like you to be getting involved." Cap'n Cuttlefish said with heavy spite.

"I'm just looking at what is best for the nation. Surely you are aware that in recent years, many of the other power nations are rising in the ranks of turf wars, and even the smaller nations are beginning to show their fangs."

"What does that matter?"

Saint Henry leaned over the coffee table and into Cap'n Cuttlefish with ravenous eyes, "These children are nothing more than tools to be used by their government and military. As the premier nation in economics, military, culture, and sports, I'd like to keep our iron tight hold on the rest of this continent."

"Get out of my face." Cap'n Cuttlefish said in a deep and intimidating voice, but Saint Henry just laughed as he sat back down.

Saint Henry leans back in the comfy sofa and feels the leathery texture of the cream and white cushions, "You should watch your tone...I'll have you executed for attempted assault."

Cap'n Cuttlefish sharpened as he peered at the former priest, "Why the hell are you really here? you could have just gone straight to the capital and relaxed in the fanciest of hotels like you'd enjoy."

The priest tilted his head to the left, "I was interested in seeing how these kids could play. Not to mention, there's a certain prospect I'm interested in meeting-I think she'd make an excellent warrior when she gets older."

Cap'n Cuttlefish immediately felt the pressure of the despicable intentions that Saint Henry might have, "Who do you mean?"

Saint Henry laughed, "If I told you, it would spoil the surprise! Let's just say I'd like to test her durability against the most powerful of opponents in the military. I believe she has that type of talent."

Cap'n Cuttlefish narrowed his eyes as he analyzed everything Saint Henry had said prior and wondered what Saint Henry might be up to. Meanwhile, Sky walked through the long tunnel that led to the entrance of the field of the arena, blocking the beam of light and shined on the floor before her as she got closer were the black silhouettes of her teammates who were all staring at that same light; Pearl had her arms crossed, Austin had his behind his back, and Aaron had his hands at his hips. As Sky reaches them, they all look at one another and analyzed each other's outfits. They were wearing their alternate jerseys which consisted of the main color being white with the design being yellow with a purple trim on the outline; the design was of tentacles that resembled flames that ascended from the bottom and nearly covered most of the torso. Sky put on some wrist bands and adjusted them as she nodded at them, they nodded back as the momentary silence between the four would be broken as soon as they left the tunnel.

As Sky stared into the eyes of each of her comrades, she saw an emotion that was told just from their irises alone. In Pearl's eyes there was conviction, Austin's were calm, and Aaron's-the one who she loved dearly-were filled with nothing but hunger for victory. Sky smirks as she takes off her bobble hat and stares at its design with a growing smile, "It seems like there isn't much to be said, huh?"

Aaron smiled and gathered everyone to huddle, "We all know what's at stake, know that the opponent before us is undoubtedly one of the toughest we'll have ever faced, but even so-we will win this match. We all know it's our jobs as the seniors of Squid Academy to bring this one home. We need to do this for our student body that placed their hopes in us…"-glancing at Pearl and then turning to Austin-"Instill hope in the future students that'll carry the torch…"-intensifying his gaze as he kept his eyes on Sky-"And of course, show our gratitude to a certain principal that gave us this opportunity…"-the three of them tug on the backs of the other as they feel the rush of emotion overcome them as the image of the person referenced enters their mind-"It's time we show our true colors, right here and now. We put our past defeats behind us, those heartbreaks disappear for these next two games. Stay strong and let's win this." he said as his face returned to the usual stone-faced expression he bore.

Sky tossed Aaron her bobble hat as she took a hair band from under her wristband and proceeded to tie her hair back into a messy bun; indeed, her hair grew longer and messier than expected. "If we're going all out, then do I have permission to go all-out?" she said as she shot a sharp look at her boyfriend while finishing her bun, her blue eyes were cold like an assassin as she lowered her chin.

"If that means you'll show that 'Midnight' side of yours, then let loose baby." he said in a smooth tone handing her back hat; Sky laughed a little bit, Austin shook his head with a smile, and Pearl facepalmed.

Glad that we haven't changed even after all these matches… Sky thought as her smiling expression slowly turned to a poker face; they entered the light to the deafening cheers from supporters and neutral fans alike. In the tunnel on the opposite side of the arena stood the Special Forces-their jerseys were a shiny like real gold with a gold and navy-blue mixture in design with a white trim. Jin smiles as he crossed his arms, his eyes covered by some some gold aviator shades and his teeth pearly white like the uniform he was wearing. Jin turns around to see three inklings approach him wearing the same uniform, although with different accessories.

"Ah, you guys finally arrived…" Jin said with smug look.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Captain Ika." one of the inklings said in a timid tone, wearing a visor cap of matching colors. The boy appeared and had a matching appearance to his timid tone, with his eyes downcast, clutching his hands together and a mild shiver-though that could be from the fact that is was cold outside the arena.

"I thought we've discussed this before, 12? Just call me Jin, Captain is reserved for those who act like one-I'm just like you guys!" Jin said cheerfully; another gold inkling appeared from behind the timid 12.

"With all due respect, you're nothing like us." the inkling said in a serious tone with a glare, he too was wearing a visor cap-except backwards.

"Ah, 18. Please elaborate, would you?"

18 lifted his chin, "For starters, you're the top ranked player in the country. You're a third-year senior with a personality that clashes with your achievements. We're just some new recruits that the senior team dumped on you to babysit for while they train for Nationals and the Grand Slams."

Jin laughed with a wagging finger, "Although that latter part is true, the former is false. You guys were selected to represent us here because you're the future of Special Forces. 18, 12, and Kary-the three of you guys are only first years and already worked your way past many of the second-year students on the team. Let this tournament and the next serve as lessons for what you'll be going up against in the future."

The third inkling appears, she was wearing a navy-blue hairclip and smacking bubblegum aggressively. "What good does it do if most of the giants are leaving after this season?"

Jin chuckled, "Don't count out the top 25, Kary. While it is true that the 4 giants of Special Forces, Beacon Hills, Octo Valley, and Squidops will be seeing some of their best units retire after this campaign, please remember that other teams are bulking up...especially in other nations."- his smile fades away- "I'm aware that our second years aren't meeting the standards that we and previous starting rosters have lived up to, but that's why you guys are important. You're the bearers who'll carry the torch-our successors. Don't you believe me?"

The three underclassmen shrug their shoulders as they still doubt the idea of possessing such talent, Jin shakes his head with disappointment that no matter how much positivity he tries to exert, this bunch is negative. He looks out into the light at the end of the tunnel and thinks back to the day when he was assigned to mentor them…