"D-did the young princess just say that…!?" an Octarian man in the stands marveled after hearing Fuchsia, recognizing the girl who was standing up and shouting at the top of her lungs towards her sister.

"A-amazing...she never seemed to be so patriotic about Octo Valley. I just assumed she didn't care about us as much as Princess Magenta." another said as he scratched his head in confusion. To the Octarian community, Fuchsia was an Octoling by blood but not by spirit. She never tried to make an effort regarding anything involving supporting her people and for a long while, she gave the impression that Octo Valley was a burden to her, not being seen by the public for weeks or even months. At times, the only person she'd ever communicate with was her sister and Pastelle, an inkling that octo Valley had their suspicions about due to Shiva's relationship with Sky.

Fuchsia held up her fist as tears came rushing down chanting something in her native language. Her voice echoed through the arena, and the reception was overly positive from fellow Octarians, who all joined her in the native chant once they heard the emotion exerted in her tone. She meant everything she said, and from the bottom of her heart. maeni susumitsukuzenasai! They chanted repeatedly as though they were banging the drum of war with their young princess leading the war chant.

Pastelle could only smirk, gratified she was able to witness her longtime friend finally reach her stage of maturation. Gin and the Beacon Hills squad pay no mind to the outside noise, only focusing on driving the nail in the coffin and stamping their ticket into the final round. Shiva swims through her ink at a remarkable pace, feeding off of the momentum gained from the rallying chant and understanding that the tide of the match hanged in the balance of whether she could be effective enough to make the necessary impact.

I was a fool for thinking that reusing the same tactic with half-assed efforts would work! Beacon Hills are a team assembled by thinkers with thinkers equipped for battle. All four of them are tactical minded and easily saw through my lazy efforts. For that, I got taken down easily and my teammates have to carry the load. Luckily, they made good use of the "priority method" to stay in the match, but if I don't get there sooner, we'll be in trouble…

The method she was referencing to was known as the "Priority Method" which was a military-adopted tactic that was used back in the Great Turf Wars for capturing territory. The way it worked in the domestic and continental competitions were that to be most effective, one must prioritize numbers over sheer objective-choosing to have more bodies active in capturing the point or objective instead of focusing on solely grabbing the lead hastily, which in consequence could lose to the loss of control and potentially losing complete momentum.

Shiva reaches the objective where the Rainmaker was supposed to be only to discover that the entire area was drenched in silver ink. A triple splat occurred as ink dripped from Gin's weapon. Behind him was Silvia-current possessor of the Rainmaker, and behind her on opposite sides were Alumia and Platinum. A bead sweat drops down Shiva's face as she retreats, realizing the unfavorable situation would only get worse if she stayed there. Silvia fires the Rainmaker and aims for Shiva while Gin chases after her, Platinum and Alumia provide support in covering up any remaining Octoling ink.

This isn't good…

Shiva rushes away with her back to the attacking Beacon Hills squad, trying her best to stall them without giving them too much ground to extend the lead by firing blindly behind her. She does her best to slow them down with the combination of her sub weapon and her main weapon as she does a spin, utilizing her special in the timeliest of situations. She creates a smokescreen with her ink to give herself a moment to breathe and recover, but she could hear the predatorial guns firing in the background and hearing them grow louder as they approach. She tries to figure out a plan to contain the enemy and somehow capture the Rainmaker. If anything, she must make them lose control of the Rainmaker before her teammates come since the time it'd take for the Rainmaker to be available again was precisely 5 seconds. But her mind was blank with no ideas, she couldn't think of a possible scheme to cover on her own due to how frantic the situation was. The pressure and formation of Beacon Hills seemed impregnable and to make matters worse, their lead was growing. As she heard the echoes and felt the vibrations of the weapons nearing her, three silhouettes entered her sight. Her team was right before her, but their gazes were looking forward-however.

"Thank you, Shiva!" Ciri expressed in a tone of gratitude as she zoomed past Shiva with her two teammates following closely behind her, all three of them had determination written on their faces as they left their captain speechless. They somehow managed to make it back in time, but how could they pull that off after getting taken down not too long ago? Shiva scrambled for a solution but couldn't wrap her head around it until she realized, they maximized the use of their limbs and applied all the pressure to their tentacles when they swam to boost their speed-pushing their bodies to their maximum limit if they kept going at this rate.

The Octoling trio swarm at Gin and Beacon Hills, taking different sides to try and penetrate the defense. An all-out battle unfolds as both teams disperse loads of ink at one another with a couple yells and grunts being heard; the two most athletic of the big giants in the nation of Inkopolis were flexing their muscles in this contest. The audience oohed at the speed of Reluna and awed at the durability of Silvia, cheering emphatically when Gin appeared to make an impact and gasp when Shiva got into the mix.

After a half a minute passed by, both sides understood that to continue going at this rate would be pointless as neither side gave an advantage at snagging a splat from the other. For Beacon Hills, though they were in the lead, it seemed pointless to only be ahead by a margin that was very much possible to overcome given the talent of the opposition. They wanted to end it all with a knockout. However, Octo Valley just wanted the opportunity to take the Rainmaker. If they could obtain possession, they'd never look back. That was their mentality as they went on the offensive in trying to pry the Rainmaker from the grasp of Beacon Hills. Vaairie slips behind the backs of Beacon Hills, utilizing her quickness and splatting the back of Platinum, who turned around too late to attack. However, Vaairie wasn't in the clear since her splat ended up attracting the attention of Gin and Silvia who immediately turned around with Gin splatting Vaairie in return. This was the crucial moment Octo Valley was looking for. Vaairie gave the signal as she got splatted and left the rest to her two eager teammates-Ciri and Reluna-to handle the situation.

"Shiva, we're going in for the kill. Make sure you're the one who takes possession of the Rainmaker!" Ciri yelled to Shiva before locking on the target of Silvia; both girls fire at Silvia, splatting Gin and Alumia in the process from the recoil of the barrier being broken.

Fuchsia was up and out of her seat cheering her sister on, her emotions on her sleeve and her voice nearly lost from all the shouting and yelling she produced while showing her Octarian pride. Her fist pumps in the air in response to the team splat of Beacon Hills, "Take the Rainmaker and end this in a knockout!" she yelled emotionally, again at the top of her lungs.

Shiva raced to the Rainmaker and snatched it away like a thief would after an expensive jewel during a heist. She drops into the ink like a blob and darts through the turf inked by her teammates. As a couple seconds pass by, Shiva showcases just how talented one of the top 5 best players in the country could be, zipping through the turf and immediately snatching the lead from Beacon Hills and adding onto the lead; the score is 76-72!

"All right! Give them hell!" Sky yelled lifting her arm in the air, wincing in pain afterwards as the sensation pierced her intensely-still recovering from the powerful blows she suffered in her match. She was in the locker room watching the match and being attended to by Aaron, who was disinfecting the cuts and wrapping bandages around her bruises and cuts. Aaron gave a weak smile glancing at her and seeing her focused expression, smiling enough for his cheeks to pull back a bit as he continued helping her. He was relieved to see the one he loved so dearly tough it out through even the most humiliating and excruciating of pain, for what he witnessed in his match against Jin Ika was something he'd never witnessed in his campaign as a player. The pain he saw Sky endure and the aftermath-leaving her body covered in bruises and scratches, an eye was swollen, and her overall spirit seeming to dissipate-yet she still powered through and delivered them to the final round. Jin delivered those attacks not as a player, but as a soldier and warrior. When Aaron thought about it, he couldn't be prouder than he already was of her, especially seeing her worry about others even when she was in no condition to.

"You really want to face them in finals, huh?"

Sky kept her eyes on the TV monitor and nodded, "We've always wanted to play each other in a final. And we both have our own personal reasons for wanting to win some silverware. But, I'm worried about Octo Valley."

Aaron halted as his eyes rolled up to Sky's face, "You noticed it too, then."

"Yeah...Shiva isn't playing with her usual intensity." Sky narrowed her eyes. "I'm not sure what it is, but I know this isn't the Shiva I'm used to watching."

Shiva doesn't hesitate in keeping on the linear path and leaps out the ink firing the Rainmaker in mid jump, sensing Beacon Hills lurking ahead of her. As expected, Beacon Hills bite on the bait and are drawn out from behind the cars. Gin leads the way of the assault, firing bullishly and retreating when necessary to avoid get tagged with enemy ink. Platinum covered him from behind to sure him he could go into his dangerous tactics without any hesitation. Alumia sweeps around to the left of the Octo Valley squad to serve as the decoy and draw some pressure to her. Reluna and Ciri keep their stance strong though, refusing to allow the enemies to get any closer within firing range of Shiva. Gin reads the formation of Octo Valley as Vaairie shifts position form Shiva's left and shuffles to the front to allow Shiva to retreat behind her.

By going backwards, she plans to use the range of the Rainmaker to her advantage since she knows she can cover her open spot on the her right. Her teammates have her securely guarded on her left and has the last one taking the critical hits for her. This team, despite not having the same sharp fangs as last time are playing a lot smarter than before. Have they sacrificed that intensity for refinery…?

Gin knew every moment mattered, and with the score at 76-48 Gin also knew that time was running out for his team. They'll need to force another change of possession and strike immediately after, knowing Octo Valley weren't going to shoot for the knockout and instead were looking to drag out the match and settle for a well-deserved victory by close contest. Gin smirked, as the image of his brother returned into his mind the moment afterwards and just like that, a switch turned on…

"Don't insult my team with your half-hearted effort! Either you throw all the chips on the table or don't throw any down at all!" Gin yelled in an agitated tone as he broke away from his team to single out his favorite target: Shiva.

Shiva felt her blood run cold as the words from Gin echoed in her ears. The tone, the expression, and the body language. Shiva sensed that the worst was still to come in this match, and although her and Octo Valley were determined to grab the victory, being hasty was their only choice left if they wanted a chance to win. Any longer, and Beacon Hills would win. Shiva felt life go in slow motion as the hungry enemy bared his fangs-ready to strike. She turns her attention to Gin, unable to use her sub weapon since she manned the Rainmaker and instead pointed the weapon downwards and fired a shot at the ground below her; Gin recognized her move and halted, instead making a break to double team Vaairie along with Alumia-the girl managing to switch between pressuring Reluna and Ciri with the help of Platinum and Silvia while also handling Vaairie. The Rainmaker fires at the ground and creates enough space for Shiva to make her move.

We'll win this match...We'll win this match...We'll win this match…

Shiva's nerves were at their limit. The pressures had finally overtaken her after repressing for so long. Her nation's future was on the line yet again, along with the wall they had to break through being the same opponents that left her in tears after the previous defeat to them a year prior. Her sister had declared herself as an Octarian, going all in on supporting Octo Valley, and most of all, Sky was waiting for her in the finals. A flurry of emotions swirl through Shiva's head as she uses the move she made to make a break for it-darting for the goal by herself in desperation. Shiva couldn't handle it anymore.

We can't lose again. We won't lose again…

She repeated in her mind frantically swimming and inking turf trying to make it to the goal; Beacon Hills tried to make a break for her but got held up by Octo Valley, who realized their captain was making her final move in the match. If she didn't succeed here, this match would be over. Gin noticed the desperate move and realized that Shiva had finally done the impossible: Panic and take the match into her own hands, becoming selfish and act on her own without signaling the others-allowing Gin's words to eat her alive: All or Nothing.

Sky got up from the table she was lying on and screamed at the TV, "Shiva, what in the Great Zapfish name are you doing!?" A bewildered expression on her face as she watched Shiva race to the goal with Gin closing in behind her; Sky never saw Shiva do this in a match, and as the drops of sweat began to run down her face, the flashbacks and stories of the experiences of the past that Sky had witnessed from Shiva were beginning to return. She was witnessing the self-destruction of her best friend yet again.


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