A calm morning welcomes Inkopolis on the opening day of the playoffs with breezy weather accompanied by a partly cloudy sky, at least that's what it looks like to Sally when she woke up and took a look outside. Shortly after waking up, she's greeted by her beloved Hatsunika who once again made room to come and visit, sacrificing important meet and greets and events for the sake of being her support, much to her manager's dismay although Leor encouraged her to go and that she'd handle her duties. It was a good call on Mika's part to show up today because Sally received her results from her blood test, and it wasn't anything like she expected. Sitting in her bed with her knees brought up to her face, Sally buries her face in the white cotton blankets with a whimper in her tone as her body gives a sharp tremble of fear; the doctor had just left, and though she had Mika as comfort by her side, the painful news stung too much for her to comprehend the raw emotion jabbing at her chest and swelling her head the more she thought about it.
"What do you mean I'll never be able to play again?" A confounded Sally shouted as she sat up, her eyes widened as though she'd been pierced by a giant needle. "Blood clotting?" her tone as audacious as ever as her bold glare sized up the doctor.
The doctor kept a straight face and nodded, "You've been experiencing strange fatigue lately, and when lined up with the blood test we've done we found that the results match our concerns. You have severe clotting in your arms and legs, but specifically there is a higher concentration in your legs. I fear that as you are, it'll be a miracle if you're able to walk again."
Sally's mouth drops with disgust as she gets taken back by the news, then after a few seconds of letting the information settle in, water starts to appear in her eyes as she glares downwards, clenching her sheets once the realization hits with the penetrating punch to the gut of her new reality materializing; her body failed her in the worst way. Denial fills her heart as her mind rushes to find a counter-anything, to disrupt the placement of defeat that left her body weighing heavier than a ton as her heart sinks with despair. As the news rocks Sally's very core, Hatsunika too shares the same stunned expression, though she only keeps her composure through holding Sally's hand.
"I-I might not walk again? It doesn't make sense! I-I mean, I'm young! I'm healthy!" Sally forced as her last words turn to a whispering breath, feeling all the energy in her head drain.
"Even if you think that, the results don't lie. Likely this is a result of overworking your body past its capabilities and yourself and never giving yourself the proper rest deserved to a point that it's created clotting. In the event that you're able to even walk-which is but an unlikely outcome, running and any sort of physical exercise outside of that would be a miracle to accomplish. Your body is at risk since it appears they're commonly in your leg and arms, but our fear is they could spread further to the lungs. Please, understand that this isn't easy to tell you."
"What the…"
"Doctor, can she walk again?" Hatsunika's tone changed with a more business-like sound to her rather than her usual endearing voice.
"It's a possibility, albeit a very unlikely one."
"But, she can, right?"
The doctor nods, "It comes down to her rehabilitation. But from past experience I can speak that the road to walking again will be no simple task. To apply any sort of pressure, even standing, could be dangerous."
Sally turned pale, "I promised my team, doctor. I have to recover."
"No, your health is what matters. I'm aware that you'd like to participate, but I can't let you leave when you're in no condition."
For someone who'd always had close encounters with death in the last few months, it felt completely unfair that when she felt at her most powerful, at the peak of her physical prowess, her body rejected it. The pain she'd been feeling in her legs all this time that she shrugged off as just a burn from working too much turned out to be a possibly grave scenario. As she tried to hold back tears clenching her blanket her immediate thoughts went to how she'd explain this to her friends who're counting on her. All she ever wanted to accomplish was her personal goal of winning nationals with Squidcom and begin a musical career with Hatsunika. So, why now? Why did everything need to be robbed now of all times when she felt like she was on top of the world? As the recollection from the early morning ended, Sally showed her teary face to Hatsunika who looked so serious that it was hard to tell this was the same pop star that had a permanent smile of innocence. Hatsunika hands her a tissue for her to blow her nose, looking out the window behind her.
"Sally, I can't imagine how you must feel right now, but I need you to listen to me."
Sally blows her nose and looks over at Mika, "What?"
"When we are at our lowest of moments is when we find our greatest strengths."
Sally chuckles, "That's an unusual thing for you to say."
"I'm not really well at handling heavy stuff like this, but in the time I've spent with you have I realized how much of a blessing you are. You're always optimistic and energetic, and you can be stubborn at times, but more than anything you always shine the brightest at your own accord. For something like this to come and hinder you, it feels like-"
"My own trials?"
"...Yes. Given the track record you and the others seem to have it seems like this a mission that only you can accomplish."
"I figured so, but I didn't want to accept that. I found it weird how life worked, you know? I'm the daughter of pro athletes and granddaughter to a billionaire. I have irreplaceable talent in various things and it's like I'm a master at them. I came across amazing friends with unique stories of their own and got involved in the craziest of adventures, and even got a pop idol to fall for me. To cap it off, I'm not even old enough for college." She shakes her head; "So why is this my trial? Why is it that mine puts my entire life at risk? I know I throw caution to the wind, but this is insane! How am I supposed to explain this to the others..."
The stage is set. Eight teams enter, but only one will win. The difficult but swift journey to representing the school in the Spring is finally reaching the important climax of the campaign as the playoffs open on a sunny afternoon. Classes were canceled for the week to devote all attention for the playoffs. The teams competing arrived early to calm their nerves finding it difficult to just sit around and wait for the scheduled time to arrive; the Inkopolis square was suffocating because of this with many people going out their way to play games with some of the team members who were waiting anxiously for kickoff. An overwhelming support from Squid Academy came through for the pregame hype, but there was a majority of students who weren't at the square because they were busy making the journey to the venues where the games were being held with some making their stop to New Albacore Hotel while most chose to travel to Wahoo World, but Flounder Heights was a little too far away to make the trip but luckily the tenants and locals there would probably enjoy the game live.
Squidcom's gathered together for their last team meeting before a grueling gauntlet of a playoffs that saw them having to play their hearts out today, potentially tomorrow in a longer session of games, and finally a nerve racking final on Saturday. Azule, Reice, Violet, and Jory were in their team uniforms waiting outside the battle hub with soda cups and sandwiches in their hands going over any last minute preparations; with them are Fuchsia, Kosami, Marigold and Canary, who were there to support their big brother and planning to visit Sally later that day, uneasy to know if she was doing fine. Though they were there quite early, they weren't the only team waiting for the playoffs to start as other teams were waiting at tables and against walls for the event to start. From a popular team like Kidvel to the unknown like Meta, everyone was ready for the playoffs and off in their little cliques.
Azule's laughing and smiling along with his teammates at one of Reice's jokes before his face goes totally sour from catching the sight of an approaching Todd in his team gear; Todd doesn't keeps his consistency of being unfriendly towards Azule as he scowls at him "What do you want?" Azule asked abruptly, shooing him away as he came closer.
"I just wanted to wish you the best of luck in your match." Todd answers reluctantly with a shrug of the shoulders, further behind him are the rest of his squad all waving with beaming smiles on their faces, simply happy to be there. "On their behalf too." he motions with a little embarrassment.
"Wow, even a one dimensional ripoff like yourself can get redemption. Who would've thought?" Azule sneered with a smug face, happy to see Todd making a positive change.
"Yeah, whatever. I'll save my talk after I beat you in the semi finals. Anyways, beat the Warriors. I want you in the next round."
"Heh, don't act like you have a cakewalk of a battle yourself. Make sure to sock Vince in the mouth for me." Azule holds up a fist, welcoming a bitter friend; Todd, stares at Azule's fist, then connects.
"I'll bury Zaneki. Keep your end and I'll handle my mine."
"Right."
Todd turns around and holds up a hand, "See you-"
"-In the next round." Azule nods.
After pregame introductions concluded, the first game is set to begin; the rooftop of New Albacore hotel is packed with many students observing the games indoors while the jellyfish enjoy the pools and music by the bars. A welcoming crowd expecting four exciting matches, this wasn't the only map filled with adoring spectators as over in Wahoo World saw double the audience of New Albacore where most of students chose to enjoy the amusement park while waiting for the games to start. Both teams arrive at their spawns and already the intensity felt heavier than the regular season with both sides sensing that their moment approaches; in only a matter of seconds, they'll be on the turf slugging it out. Squidcom are in Blue and Pink gear with pink ink while the Warriors are in purple and green with green ink. The first game gets underway as both teams have the same objective in mind with haste fueling their pursuit for the awaiting Rainmaker in the middle of the map. Shots fire first from the clustered Warriors who decide the best course of action is to swarm the Rainmaker; Squidcom spreads out to a zone style with Violet taking the upper platform on the right side over near the water and scoping in to lock her targets, Reice going down the far left path to try a pincer attack and Azule and Jory taking different routes to go down the middle with Azule veering right bottom and Jory going the left middle changing forms to get a better lift on his hop to the middle ground. Carol grabs the Rainmaker and fires a straight path for Quinn to swim ahead and be her first attack while Greg and Leo stay close behind to cover her from the rear attack by Reice. Jory and Azule flank their right, and the first skirmish unfolds as green and pink ink fly across the map. A thunderous shot spooks the Warriors as the cold blooded sniper Violet takes down Greg in a second, immediately scoping in on Carol; Carol's Rainmaker takes down Azule who gets caught in the crossfire of Quinn and Jory's battle only to be focused by both Quinn and Carol. Reice swims around and with quick precision, strikes down both Quinn and Carol and releases the Rainmaker from her grasp-only Leo remains for the Warriors and he senses that this numbers game isn't in his favor, but he can't leave the Rainmaker.
"Who'll it be?" Sally said under her breath as she watches the game from her bed in the hospital with Hatsunika by her side holding her hand still; all the tension and gloom from earlier nonexistent as the pink inkling had fire in her eyes rooting her team on.
Leo decides to retreat, but he has something up his sleeve because though he concedes the ground to Squidcom, he fires at the Rainmaker barrier as much as he can to disrupt Squidcom from easily claiming the item. Squidcom picks up on this as they notice that as much as they fire at the barrier to blow it up, it just won't go. Leo manages to keep the game in his favor by holding out until his team can rally to his position, but it changes in the blink of an eye as another thunderous shot fires in his direction, hitting him square in the face. Her eyes were sharp like a killer's and cold as ice as she pulled the trigger. Vintage Violet came to play as she enforces her presence early.
"Attack!" Many supporting Squidcom shout, realizing Violet just opened up the opportunity for Squidcom to put points on the board.
Jory and Reice blow up the barrier, Azule snags the Rainmaker, and they make their push with Violet behind them covering the floor; the score is 98-90 with the Warriors in the lead but Squidcom in possession of the Rainmaker. The audience goes insane as Captain Azule leads the way with the rainmaker showing no hesitation on moving for a knockout with the rest of Squidcom operating on automatic, protecting him at all costs. After overtaking the lead with ease and having a smooth swim for a dozen seconds, the trio from before return and look to intercept the Rainmaker, but after a double splat from Violet followed by a stylish finish by Reice, Squidcom continue marching to victory with the score 63-90. With plenty of spectators, some were of those who failed to make the playoffs, such as Elise Knightly, captain of Icejaws who only missed out on the tie breaker and were one of the teams fighting for the final spot. Watching with fury in her eyes, she wanted to see the best team possible win this competition, but that didn't mean she was without bias. Losing out to the Warriors, there was part of her that wanted them to do more than waste that spot away, while on the other hand she had too much respect for Squidcom and their captain to simply dismiss them. She believed that whoever won this game would win the Rank Wars altogether. She wasn't the only one as many others alike watching the game believed that if Squidcom could survive a trap game like this one, they could handle the troublesome foes in the future, and likewise, should the Warriors upset Squidcom, they'll have beaten the best team in the competition, a testament to their drive. But, before any more evidence could be seen about the Warrior's conviction.
"GAME FINISHED! Squidcom's winning this on knockout!" the commentator shouts as the whistle blows with Squidcom surrounding the goal with Azule at the top, bringing down the weapon with authority.
"WHAAAAAAT!" the jellyfish echo, their eyes popping out their sockets as their lounging in the water instantly got disrupted by the swift game, meaning they'd have to wait for the next game to be over for another live game to come on.
"ALREADY?" Shouted Elise, her hands print on the windows.
"They're the real deal! That was fast!" some guy in the crowd declared to his buddy.
"Warriors don't stand a chance!" a lady shouted.
The audience at New Albacore Hotel buzz in hot reaction to the sizzling performance of Squidcom in a game that lasted only 45 seconds on the dot. Already with the series in favor of Squidcom, the light at the end of the Warrior's path seemed to grow smaller by the second as their chance to reach the end descended further into the dark. Arriving at Wahoo World to a thundering applause by the many students watching it live at every possible location available, the pressure dials up to a new level for the Warriors, who now have to find a way to turn the tables against an unbeatable opponent like Squidcom in front of a crowd like this. His teammates looked a little spooked by the way Squidcom handled them in the previous game, but captain Leo knew those feelings had to be masked soon if they wanted any chance to survive. The second game is Splat Zones, a mode surely to produce some good fighting spirit and even create a comeback, that's what Leo thought as he led his team through the huddle. However, they were sorely mistaken…
"Watch your left! Sniper on the left!" Leo shouts as he loses ground to the attacking Jory pressuring the front.
"They're not letting up their attack!" Carol winced as she gets hit by a solid attack from Violet, who just narrowly missed a critical splat.
"Azule and Reice incoming!" Greg braced for impact as two monsters storm the rear to surround struggling Warriors from capturing the zone.
It was difficult to track the movements of everyone as the whirls of ink soaring through the air blinded spectators from seeing what was happening, having to rely on the calls from the commentators to tell the match for them, but every so often, they heard a thunderous shot that belonged to none other than Violet; some quaked with fear or with anticipation of the air cracking shot, while the Warriors struggled to keep their eardrums from bursting under the powerful air pressure the inkling's shots echoed. After a minute of defending an open zone, the Warriors were forced to retreat after a double splat from Violet sinks Carol and Quinn.
"Th-this is amazing…" Parker awed with astonishment by the machine-like performance of Squidcom, watching them closely looking to track their movements as a precaution.
"It's like they're on a mission. I've never seen them so aggressive." Taylor added, mesmerized by the change in the team's attitude from the one seen in the regular season.
Pastelle's eyes are glued to Violet, the biggest impact on the turf right now as she commands the match from her high points, locking in on anyone within her grasp. "Looks like they're evolving as the match goes on."
"Evolving?" Nelson echoes.
"Yeah. I thought our biggest concerns would be dealing with Midnight Azule now that Sally seems to be out indiscriminately, but I didn't account for the newbie nor Violet's emergence. Not to mention Reice is playing as solid as always. At this rate, I think we'll need to take them as serious as we took Sky and the Elites. This team is different from the squad seen with Sally." Pastelle narrows her eyes finding a disturbance in the flow on their movements.
"Wh-wait…"
"Hold on Pastelle, you think they're at that level? They're only first ye-"
"We were first years last year weren't we? The Elites took over their school in their first year together. See the pattern? I'm saying that there's something ominous about the relationship of first years at Squid Academy. I'm not favoring them because Azule's a former protege, nor because he's Sky's little sister. It's just objectively from what I see, Azule is nearing Sky in the way that he is capable of producing golden moments. You remember what her biggest flaw was?"
"She never took things serious."
"Right. From what I'm seeing, they won't make that error."
Over at the hospital, Sally's hunched over in her bed watching the game while Hatsunika is away getting her something to drink. By the time Mika's back, Sally roars feeling psyched about how well her team's doing, momentarily scaring Hatsunika."They've got a different fire than when they played with me…" Sally said as she widens her grin with a burning desire to be there in person, the sight of her teammates giving their all serving as inspiration. Right now she felt like a proud mother watching her children and couldn't help but cheer at the top of her lungs, though she's been receiving noise complaints.
"Flank from below, they have the sides covered too well!" Leo orders after swooping in to take the zone, catching a blind splat on Violet and opening the floor for an attack on the zone.
"Roger!" his team responded while rushing in.
Squidcom's lead is favorable with the score at 22-81, though the clock ticks quickly for the Warriors on their comeback as they claim the zone. The battle hasn't been close, but with this chance to regroup on the zone with everyone present does it seem like the Warriors have a chance to recover and make some noise, but before they can blink, the hairs on their necks stand up as chills run through their bones; A threat approaches quickly with murderous intent. They ready themselves with each taking a glance at the score before this enemy's attack, frustrated that they hadn't cleared the bonus yet. Reice has two huge tenta missiles in possession with a murderous smile on his face as he pulls the triggers to release, soon followed by Jory and Azule does Squidcom step in to stop the Warriors in their tracks. Greg rushes for Reice, Carol and Quinn stick to the zones, and Leo confronts the attacking Azule and Jory. The goal of this defense wasn't too sensible to a common onlooker, but to those familiar with Squidcom it was a smart defense strategy to combat against them since their favorite tactic was the 2-1-1 formation of two attackers at the front with one in the middle and one to the rear; Leo's plan wasn't to overpower Squidcom, just contain them enough to edge out and have luck play a factor. Such was the case in stand-off games where both sides gun for control that after a while it comes down less to skill and chemistry and more so on resiliency the further a stand-off lasts. Earlier in the battle Violet and Jory proved to be enough in holding hold back the Warriors every time they applied pressure from the sides by answering with a squeeze on the Warriors that led to them almost always losing their control on the zone. But as Leo keeps his guard up and retreats to the safety of Quinn and Carol, they're met by the Foil Flingza Roller of Reice who brings it down like a hammer eyeing a triple splat; everyone survives the dangerous attack but instead get met by the worst possible duo of attackers: Azule and Jory. There's a moment of realization that left a bleak feeling of misery in their hearts as they understood that they weren't ready for this stage, for this opponent-all was for naught. Greg's the first to snap out of it as he feels the cold pink ink catch his legs and desperately tries to survive for the sake of the team, seeing that the others were still under the cloud of despair; Azule looks more irritated as he gets closer to bagging a splat on the rest of the team. The time and score trickles out of reach, but not far enough for the rest of the Warriors to recover from the state of giving up. They stand their ground and cast their fears aside with remembrance of their journey to the playoffs and of surviving the mid tables in order to represent those that couldn't make it. They make their rush at Squidcom. All hell breaks loose as the battle gets grittier with bodies exploding and ink scattering across the zone; Violet's back in action forcing the Warriors to dance to her aim as she fires warning shots to remind them that she's always watching them. Some seconds go by and Leo makes the first meaningful defense of the Warriors special by handing a splat to Reice, but Reice managed to down Greg before his loss and send the advantage over to Squidcom's way as Violet nets Coral with her precise aim. Two Warriors remain to the trio of Squidcom, but Azule's already at the center of the zone as he watches the remaining two retreat to below, quickly following behind them with the intent of not letting them survive; Violet changes her angle and prepares for the right opening of the rotating platform to catch the Warriors in trap. Azule Splats Quinn and then corners Leo, tripping up the captain and aiming his gun on him and instilling a strong intimidation to Leo to not try and fight back. Darkness covers them as the platform rotates with Azule approaching Leo, who scoots backwards until he reaches the moving wall. The way Azule towered over Leo as the barrel of his dualies lined against his forehead left the Warrior's captain feeling true fear and the sense of defeat returning as all options seemed to be useless. This match is as good as over as Jory secures the zone from atop on the bridge with Violet's radar on the area where she last saw Azule and Leo along with her murderous aura being enough for Leo to know to back down; one bad move and he's toast. Since the bottom left them in darkness, it was difficult to see Azule's face but even then Leo could tell the blue daggers peering at him were of an experienced player who'd been in this situation before.
"Captain of the Warriors, before I splat you and end this. I ask… Why are you here?"
"Are you serious right now? We're in the middle of th-"
Azule squats and presses the dualies more with the intensity in his glare increasing, "Answer. Earlier I could sense the doubt in your heart. You gave up!" He yelled, sounding enraged that his opponent lost the will to fight so far into battle.
"Azule, the rest are super jumping to his coordinate!" Jory shouts.
"Splat him before the cover exposes him and leaves you in danger!" Reice shouts while super jumping to Jory's spot.
Leo grinned, "You should listen to your teammates. Get too cocky and we ju-"
Azule fires without hesitation, going a few steps back and throwing out his splat bombs in the spots where the rest of the Warriors are about to land as the upper platform rotates to expose the sunlight; The bomb detonates as they land, and though Quinn was able to eat the attack, a ferocious splat from Violet sends him out as quickly as he returned. With none of the Warriors there to contest Squidcom's lead, they won on knockout. A deciding victory from the start, Squidcom sweeps the Warriors to advance to the next round. The audience is dumbfounded at first at how the game ends, but after witnessing the brilliant performance of substitute Jory and the overall team, they couldn't help but give a standing ovation for the first seed team who were missing their sharpest weapon in Sally, just like how last season they missed their captain.
The animosity of Squidcom's victory transferred over to the battles between Kidvel and Mayhem where it's much closer than expected as Kidvel secured the first game at New Albacore Hotel, looking to sweep Mayhem at Wahoo World with a favorable lead as they take the zone. Throughout the first match, Mayhem lived up to their name and made it a nightmarish start for Kidvel as they snagged the Rainmaker and went all over the place, looking to bait the side by battling over by the edge near the water and make risky jumps, expecting Kidvel to either play too cautious and slow down or become so hasty that they trip over their own mistakes and lead to an easy victory; neither happened however after Pastelle took them down as they gained ground on their initial possession by out maneuvering the members of Mayhem with her effective plan of rotating between the barrier and the individuals. The rest of Kidvel played solid as they kept to their assignments and made sure to prioritize the Rainmaker over everything and leave the ruthless attacking to their trusty captain. After minutes of back and forth clashing with both sides on the attack as soon as the other managed to grab the Rainmaker, Kidvel went on an impressive run after reclaiming the Rainmaker with 1:56 left and earned the knockout victory, obtaining it by swarming the goal after a team wipe at the hands of Pastelle and scoring just before Mayhem has enough time to recover and defend with Taylor having possession of the Rainmaker.
At the boardwalk watching the game displayed on one of the monitors overhead at a shop were Kosami and Fuchsia with Marigold by their side, who felt lonely after Bianca and Canary chose to go somewhere else to watch. For some reason, Marigold didn't take too kindly to Bianca lately, but Canary began warming up to her all the more ever since keeping contact after the Beacon Hills incident; in a roundabout way, Bianca was sort of a guardian for the girls by always checking in on them in her free time. In fact, part of the reason why the sisters hadn't spent more time with Reice was because they were with Bianca most of the time.
"That was close! If Evelyn just held onto the Rainmaker on that last possession they could've won! Amazing how swift Kidvel works. Just in the beginning did it seem like Mayhem had a chance, but the moment that Pastelle took one of them down, she went on a roll! I think she had 21 kills?"
"Well Kosami, it goes back to weapon choice. Kidvel wanted to run a rotation where they can get up close and deal heavy damage rather than rely on distance. This helps them immensely since all four members of Kidvel are speedsters in their own ways and can handle opponents well with sharpshooters like Pastelle and Parker. Furthermore, while Evelyn is a skilled player on her own, she's biting off more than she can chew by trying to challenge an entire team while alone. I commend her for her courage, but she's only hurting her team."
"She's determined." Marigold said; "She's a lot like that dumb brother of mine. Always pushing past her limits. That Evelyn girl knows she's not on the same level as Kidvel, and yet she's pushing forward. It's stupid."
"That might be so, but she's on a mission…" another voice joins from the behind, her plain tone sounding a bit lively.
"Violet!" Marigold squealed giving a hug.
"She said she'll meet me in the finals knowing well that the odds would be improbable that she'd face us since we were an undefeated team slated to finish first. If anyone is capable of an upset, it's her. That said, she's seems to have adopted a scenario similar to Todd."
"But against Pastelle and Kidvel?"
"Not saying she will do it or that she can do it. Like luck, and how we all need it. In her case, she'd have to play her best game, her team would have to play their best game, and hope that the stars align perfectly enough for the opportunities to fall in place for them to seize it; otherwise, this game is a waste of time."
"You don't mince your words, huh Violet?" Marigold stares.
Violet's eyes lower to Marigold, "You've known me long enough…"
The second game gets underway as Evelyn looks to make an adjustment giving the orders of what she wants the team to do, opting to lead the way as their central attacker. Her approach boiled down to having someone take the lower central route, the other two taking the upper routes while she takes the upper middle and holds the zone, defending it from Kidvel. But Kidvel didn't let that faze them, repeatedly hacking away at Evelyn's defenses, the attacking power of Pastelle and Taylor drove home the nails to Mayhem's coffin while Nelson gave them the sucker punch. Every time Mayhem thought they recaptured the lead, a member of Kidvel was there to disrupt the complacency and force them to be on their toes at all times. Evelyn catches her breath refilling her tank and peers behind a corner spotting the cluster of Kidvel players about to launch an aggressive push to hold her team in spawn. If she's going to give her team a chance to put up a contest, she'd need to handle the punches of Pastelle, who's uppercutting them from left to right with authority.
"They can't catch a break…" Kosami muttered with discouragement, feeling a little inspired by Mayhem's performance in the first game to a point that she was hoping for a third game based on how hard they were trying.
"Seems stupid to me that she wants to compete with you, Violet. Her team's struggling pretty badly."
"Most teams would falter and waver on their attacks against Kidvel. The fact that she's headstrong about taking them down is enough for me to acknowledge her bid for a rivalry."
Violet was right. Kidvel played a style that involved plenty of fear tactics and psychological warfare, but that wasn't all that defined Kidvel. They were the closest thing to the Elites in terms of their style, leadership, and Experience; since having the most experience in the field gave them an advantage, times like now were great examples of their might as they forced the map layout to their advantage. From the proper management by Parker to the great performances of Taylor and Nelson, and to the dominant pressure of Pastelle, they cornered Mayhem to a point that there was no way to even leave spawn, having sniffed out Evelyn and splatting her. Containing them like prey in a trap, Kidvel assured everyone watching that this game was as good as done as they eliminated everyone whether they come out one at a time or all at once. An aggressive zone tactic working in their favor, it was clear to those familiar with Kidvel that this team was rising to the challenge presented by Squidcom in the previous match with the seniors feeling the fire from their juniors. Even if Evelyn fought with all her strength to make anything happen whether it be trying to lower the attacking numbers of Kidvel stalking them at spawn or by sneaking around to capture the zone, the inescapable outcome would come: her team weren't any match for Kidvel as they are, and for her, she wasn't anywhere near Violet's level. The match comes to a close as Kidvel sweeps Mayhem with the pair of wins and advance to the semifinals with the roaring cheers of their loyal fans expecting this season to finally be their opportunity to represent the school; though their game was crushed by the strength of Kidvel, their spirit wasn't as Evelyn and her team kept their head held high knowing that this simply wasn't their year-they arrived at a stage a year earlier than they anticipated and learned through this defeat that they can only get better with age with the vow to make it to the Semifinals and even face Kidvel in a revenge game during the playoffs. Evelyn looks out into the crowd of spectators on the boardwalk knowing that somewhere there stood Violet watching with critique, only hoping that she at least earned her respect after her valiant effort in standing up to Kidvel, one of the best teams in the competition capable of going up against the best teams in the country.
Unlike the first two matches that saw the favorites win their games in convincing fashion, the third match between Meta (3.) and Legion (6.) was as close as splitting hairs with both sides exchanging possession of the Rainmaker with Legion catching Meta by surprise with a slight lead. The hotel rooftop feels like a mini stadium as the jellyfish get rowdy along with the windows from the rooms containing the inklings start to fog from the constant conversations of the spectators; everyone's thoughts run amok the further the game continues, proving to be the longest match in the playoffs thus far. A late rally by Legion surges them to victory as they catch Meta on their heels and steal the first game by the skin of their teeth, even if it's still a knockout; both sides were under 5 with the next few steps winning it for either side, in this case it was Legion who pulled through. In the following game at Wahoo World, it picked up right where the first one left off with both sides gunning at eat other's throats with a focus on eliminating the other before prioritizing the turf for security. Meta captured the zone first and defended it well until they got to 79 when Legion finally broke through their defenses and wiped them out. Legion then began a solid run of their own and managed to tie up the game, eventually taking the lead as they had Meta right where they wanted them: Panicking. To hold weight as one of the top trio of seeds, it'd be embarrassing for Meta to get upset in a sweep by Legion, but that much seem to look true as Legion stretched their lead to 79-46 with no sign of the lead letting up. Mhiki looked to be on the verge of bursting a blood vessel from the rage of allowing this series to slip from his grasps, but as he thought about the road they took to get there, and the people they had to step over and ruin, he realized that the words he uttered prior to the playoffs had weight, and he couldn't give up. Setting the spark for the comeback, Mhiki went out in a blaze of glory and took down Legion by himself, managing to eliminate everyone before getting splatted by Mason. A complete turnaround. Meta captures the zone to a rowdy audience amazed by the captain's efforts and the stakes raised once again as many who weren't before were now on their feet with anticipation of a bigger surprise than before.
"Roosey, go further ahead and scout. Only use your sub weapon for attack to try and slow them down, but don't engage in combat. If it gets hectic, retreat. Fzonli, tail Roosey a fair distance and observe the field through a different plane; Mhiki will probably jump to my route so there's no worry for an ambush on the zone." Delly commands.
"Right." the energetic duo respond fulfilling their order.
A mission to defend the zone, Meta covers the amusement park with their life and make it their mission to pick everyone off one by one before they can respawn much like Kidvel did. Though not close as the first game, the weight still holds the same, and after a Meta knockout victory in game 2, everyone is treated to the first game 3 of the playoffs with both teams going to Flounder Heights. After two aggressive showings from both sides, the third one looked like an actual war zone as both sides traded ink battling for the tower. Meta claims the tower, then Legion claims the tower, and finally Meta recaptures. Every time it seems like someone grabs the tower, they can only hold on for it long enough to start moving before getting splatted by the enemy and losing it; an insane outcome as possession changed a dozen times in under a minute as there was constant killing and tactical retreats that left brief openings for the teams to capture the tower. But after what seemed like an unimportant capture for Meta as they take the tower, they never look back steamrolling Legion like a pancake and ending the game in a knockout.
Three games entertained the crowd plentifully with victories from Squidcom, Kidvel, and Meta; now the ball rests in Todd's court as his number is called next to lead his Sealions to victory. Of the four playoff games today, this was perceived to be the main event with both teams having practically the same level of talent and narratives for reaching this point. The Rebels (5.) were considered the most solid team in the competition with their well balanced offense and defense led by their captain Vince. On the other side awaiting them is the Sealions (4.) who are considered to be the team with the most growing potential thanks to the leadership of prodigy captain Todd. The narrative that had everyone buzzing about this game was dubbed "The Revenge Series" by some due to the history between the captain of the Sealions and the Rebels. As it's become known, The Rebels replaced Todd with Vince as their new captain, leaving him out to dry and effectively excommunicating him as a friend. Left without anyone as his side since he didn't make many real friends-only those who feared him, he was forced to rethink his outlook on life, gaining some advice from a bitter rival. A road to redemption that started with becoming the captain of an unlikely squad, Todd's brilliance as a leader led to forging new friendships with this team of oddballs that managed to warm his cold heart, becoming more likable by fellow peers and even earning some respect from seniors that initially didn't accept him because of his personality.
"All right, everyone! This is it. We're getting another crack at the Rebels. You remember what I said last time?" Todd's got a positive glow about him.
Audrey raises her hand, "Something about licking our fangs and sharpening wounds!"
Todd's eyebrows twitch, "Cl-ose…"
"Oh, give me break..." Sandra snickered.
"Isn't it weird for us to be so calm before the game, Todd?"
Todd shakes his head, "Nah not at all. If anything, I say it's because we have peace with ourselves that we can think so calmly. I'm confident that the same result won't repeat itself. We got this!"
"Right!"
The match itself was a rollercoaster of a ride as both teams didn't pull punches from the get-go with each side ruthlessly attacking the other before even capturing the Rainmaker; it took an entire minute of nonstop battle before the barrier was broken, only to then re-bubble after both sides took each other out. The story of the first game was the emergence of the Rebels and the brilliance of Vince, who made the initiative to take possession of the Rainmaker and move whenever possible, inching closer to victory as his team pulled out all the defensive stops to contain the Sealions and keep them to a minimal threat by always being in the lead. After time expired with neither team allowing the other to get to the goal thanks to gritty determination of both sides; though they fought a losing battle for a majority of the game, the Sealions were on the rally for a comeback in the latter half of the game, even going on a final run to win in a comeback, but alas it was deja vu as the Rebels held them in place and prevented the completion of what would've been an incredible comeback. In game 2, it was a complete shuffle from the first game as this time the Sealions were the ones on the impressive run by dominating the splat zones with the emergence of Sandra proving to be the X factor by giving Todd much needed support while Audrey and Hannah stuck to fulfilling their roles in the best way they can. What comes as the end result is a less entertaining but still effective victory for the Sealions, who prove that no matter how ugly the game gets, they'll do whatever necessary to get the win. Which leads us to the final game, the one to decide this match at Flounder Heights…
The familiar setting of the white apartment complexes and rooftops, the playgrounds, and the audience of tenants watching from indoors brings back a mellow nostalgia as Flounder Heights welcomes the Sealions and Rebels. A tied series that saw the Rebels spark a war winning the Rainmaker game to the Sealions retaliating in the Splat Zone game, these teams lived up to the narrative before them of a revenge series. The atmosphere of Flounder Heights seemed intense, the antithesis of what the map was about which was to give a mellow and picturesque setting, seemed all the most fitting for a high stakes battle. No words were uttered by either team during their breaks, the boiling blood and heavy drum beating hearts doing all the talk as both teams poured sweat waiting for one last fight: the winner earning the opportunity to face Azule and Squidcom in the Semi Finals. The games start and with a rush of speed the captains lead the ways for their sides, battle ensuing immediately as the Sealions meet the Rebels; Burst bombs, ink mines, splat bombs, Splash walls, everything is thrown on instinct to slow the other side down. Capturing the tower meant taking a risk as Hannah gets splatted by the tower after trying to take possession, but her death isn't in vain as her suspect Cory rushes to the tower only to get shut down by Sandra. Sandra takes the tower, and before she can look ahead shifting from squid to humanoid, she's met by Dustin. Audrey flanks from the right with Todd and obliterate him immediately to save Sandra and the tower gets moving. Phillip is on the left waiting for a sneak attack, but gets sniffed out by Todd and Audrey only to be ended by Sandra herself; The tower stops a moment later with the entire vehicle covered in the enemy ink of the Rebels. A shocked Todd doesn't hesitate to get to the tower once he recalls who yet has been splatted and none other than Vince arrives on the tower to move it in the opposite direction.
"This is war!" Vince shouts with a sneering grin afterwards; Todd's smelling blood in the water as he rushes for Vince, instinctively dodging the incoming attacks with his sights set on the enemy captain.
Todd leaps forward and with a roaring cry like a lion, splats Vince. But this isn't without a price as Todd takes heavy damage from the close range hits of Vince, then landing in the enemy ink on the tower and getting splatted on impact and vaporizing. It happened in an instant but only Audrey was left alive. Quickly grabbing the tower she widens the lead for the Sealions to carry it over close into the Rebel's territory and just when it seemed like the dangerous move with all four Rebels coming for the tower, she's met with reinforcements from her super jumping partners in Sandra and Hannah.
"Give them Hell!" Todd shouts with thundering emphasis in his words, returning to the battlefield at lightning.
The Sealions intercept the rallying attack of the Rebels, this time ready for whatever Vince has up his sleeve with Todd as their main response-the best way to cancel out the presence of captains. In the hearts of the other members of the Sealions, they remembered that frustration from the first meeting, that feeling of guilt that they let their captain down even though he praised them for fighting so valiantly. They knew their performance last time wasn't enough. It was because of that defeat, that hollow sensation that something was missing from their performance, that the other Sealions finally awakened to the potential that Todd was awaiting. Finally, his team grew out of their shell, and it was all thanks to the trust he put in them, believing in them to be more than just some oddballs who couldn't be taken seriously.
"Push forward and suffocate them! Captain put his trust in us and now it's time we showed him why!" Sandra commanded with fire in her eyes leading the trio.
"Yes!" the other pair shout, and all three rush for the other members of the Rebels in an attempt to drive them back while Todd and Vince battled on the tower.
It was the first time that anyone saw a battle like the one on the tower between the two captains as Todd moved to an acrobatic style dodging Vince's attacks using his free hand as leverage and mobility while his armed hand fired automatically. Todd swings around the pole of the tower, and into the direction of Vince-getting up close and personal by forcing the Rebel's captain off balance by the surprise; Vince didn't let that stop him as he falls to his back and shoots on recovery to force Todd away. Todd seizes the tower and throws out a splat bomb to drive him away, but Vince isn't letting him the chance to extend the lead any further.
"I'm tired of your shadow you dumb faker!" Vince shouts, storming for Todd; Todd smirks, knowing he's got his prey right where he wants him.
"You call me a faker but fail to realize something crucial…" Todd hops off the tower trying to spray him down; "You're just as much of a counterfeit as I am." he concludes with a widened stance mocking Vince to come at him.
"Hell are you talking about?"
"You're not the true captain of the Rebels. Just like how I'm nothing like my rival that I've tried so hard to imitate for the sake of my team, you're not the captain of the Rebels. You'll never live up to my name, you pathetic third rate excuse of a captain."
Vince's blood boils as his face darkens, "Bold words there…" he rushes at Todd, but this time Todd isn't running and instead meets him for battle.
A fight near the tower with whoever coming out victorious having bragging rights for the head to head battle, the two clash as both side trade ink and submerge themselves into their ink, popping up and lining the other with their sub-weapon. Todd goes right, Vince goes the opposite with a hop to give himself a little advantage as Todd skips over Vince's shots and returns fire of his own. Even though this was a high stakes match with all pressure riding on this personal fight, Todd was at ease with his nerves as his sixth sense is triggered by Vince. Vince was a tough opponent, but in comparison to Azule, he was just a pushover. Remembering that the real challenge awaits him in the next round, Todd smirks and does a feint. Vince bites the feint with his eyes locked on Todd's jumping figure, but after he unloads and runs out of ink, appearing behind him in sliding motion is Todd. "Your biggest flaw that you'll need to work on is that you focus too much on what's in front of you…" Todd said as he unleashes everything; Vince is horrified by the sudden appearance of Todd from behind, and without getting the chance to utter even a word, he's splatted. The audience goes insane with a deafening cheer as many rooting for the Sealions started bobbing on the boardwalk. Sandra, Audrey, and Hannah knew that this reaction meant Todd finally took down Vince, meaning that it was up to them to clear the way. Todd secures the tower, but the Sealions weren't done yet as Audrey stepped up got a double, followed by Hannah's solo. A team wipe-out, all the Sealions returned to the tower and set up on point for what would be a problematic attack by the Rebels. A few seconds pass by, and incoming are the Rebels with steam led by Vince. A last ditch effort to stop the suffocating advantage of the Sealions, Vince looks to use all power concentrated on running them off the tower and stopping it in place long enough for someone to reclaim it so things get turned around, but instead, he's met by a massive storm cloud…
"FIRE!" Todd yells, to a point that he nearly lost his voice.
Following suit was a bubble storm, a wave of curling bombs, and to cap it off a splashdown by Todd himself. Rattled by the incoming specials, Vince froze as defeat looms overhead with his season flashing before his eyes with regret setting in as the words Todd spoke earlier ringing true. He wasn't the true leader of the Rebels, nor was he capable of taking down Todd on his own. Once again he allowed his ego to be a foil to the solid teamwork of the Rebels, something he knew he couldn't make up for to Cory, Phillip, or Dustin. The trust they showed in him was displaced, that much he concluded as they're wiped out. Todd and the Sealions have a free lane to the goal and come out victorious with the knockout winning the series 2-1; their opponents for the next round is Squidcom, and before the Sealions can celebrate, he can already feel the ravenous gaze of Azule, who he knows was watching that game somewhere with anticipation for the next part. Todd may have overcome "The Revenge Series" with the emergence of his Sealions into a proper squad capable of winning the finals, now what awaited him was the battle for the future as the two first year captains would square off in the Semifinals. Some people felt their body rushing with adrenaline from the hype of that last game, feeling the intensity between the two teams looking to settle the score. With Todd and his Sealions victorious, many turned their eyes to the preview of a game months in the making. Sitting together watching the games were some of the captains and players that didn't make the playoffs offering their input on what they thought about the games.
"This was the first day of the playoffs...what a heavy setting." Elise spoke feeling the weight of the matches after the first day is over, seeing what the aftermath of the games looked like; "None of today's winners seemed in the least bit jubilant about winning, and then those defeated looked like it was the end of the world. I've never seen such despair over a sport."
"Well, this is the nature of the Rank Wars. It's an eat or be eaten competition where only the strongest survive together, only to kill each other in a last man standing war known as the playoffs. No one here saw victory, only survival." Okabe nods.
"No wonder the Elites always seemed on edge, they must've felt the pressure of everyone putting a target on them-and that's only in school!" Valerie adds.
"But after seeing the first day I'm convinced."
Elise narrows her eyes, "Convinced that what, Soza?"
"That Sky Royale really was a generational talent that we took for granted. Pastelle, Azule, Sally, Todd, and even that Mhiki of Meta, all of them possess qualities similar to Sky, but none of them could stand a chance against her. Sky was a master of the cheat codes that we never utilized; she knew this, and rarely got serious. But when she did, she was unstoppable."
"None of them are worthy of being her successor, that much is known. However, it doesn't change the fact they're all talented in their own right: Pastelle is the wisest, Azule is the most promising, Todd is the most qualified among the first years, and Mhiki is the wild card- a shame that Sally isn't here since I consider her to be the best player in Squid Academy and even capable of going up against the new big four."
"Right, since Sky and Shiva are gone those vacancies…"
Evening came as the skies shifted from a peaceful light blue to a mellow yellow with the light clouds darkening and growing larger overhead blanketing the skyline of Inkopolis. At the hospital sits a patient Sally awaiting everyone's arrival having a sneaky feeling that her teammates were going to surprise her with a late night visit. Earlier in the day while she was watching the playoffs with Hatsunika she tired herself out after burning out her energy rooting for Squidcom with all her might, even catching the attention of some fellow patients passing by who were checking out; unfortunately she fell asleep soon afterwards and missed out on the rest of the games and even Hatsunika's exit, waking up to a note left by Hatsunika and a little bento box that she prepared for her for when she woke up. She takes the pair of chopsticks left and opens up the box to see the well balanced meal and quickly she gobbles away.
"Sooo good! Man, I really don't deserve someone as kind as her!" Sally savors the flavors of of the noodles, her mouth filled to the brim with food as she hums a pleasant tune using her chopsticks as drumsticks.
"Even in your hospital bed you still find a way to play music…" A familiar voice called from the entrance; Sally's eyes filled with life as her ears twitch recognizing that annoying voice anywhere.
"Reiiiiiiiccccceeee!" She called like a long lost sister with flooding tears; "zhis fwood ish delihscwous!" She declared holding up her chopsticks with victory.
"Don't talk with your mouth full!" Reice barked.
"Whweresh the awders?" she munched holding the box closer to her head looking to finish before the others come.
"They're right behind me. Hey, you followed the game earlier?"
Sally gives a nod and swallows the chunk of food, "I saw you pummel the Warriors. Nice job!" she said giving a thumbs up; "Now do it again!"
Reice chuckles, "Gladly."
"Sally!" Fuchsia calls, stepping in followed by the rest of Squidcom; Azule and Jory looked exhausted from their game earlier but in good spirits because they managed to get the victory.
"Ahhh my team!" Sally beams with a hearty smile so wide she had to shut her eyes, forming a heart with her hands; "Kept me waiting long enough for me to fall asleep, eh? I just woke up and wolfed down Mika's cooking. If she keeps this up I might have to marry her!"
"And to think the other day you were so embarrassed to admit your relationship with her, oh how the tables turn." Kosami snickered, happy to see Sally showing radiance in her attitude.
"What can I say? I just woke up and her food was so amazing that I can't control the words spewing out my mouth! If she heard this she'd probably freak out and never leave me alone haha!"
Azule laughed, "I'm liking this energy from you! An attitude like that will do wonders at times."
Some odd minutes go by of everyone catching up and going through their thoughts on the game with Sally being able to relax a bit more and settle down; she was impressed by Jory's playoff debut and praised him for his relentless attacking and pursuit, keeping true to Sally's mold of never allowing the opponents to recover well. She also praised the silent Violet over by the window for her performance as well, making her blush by saying she expected nothing less from her favorite sniper. Trying her best to create as comfortable of an atmosphere as possible, Sally knew it'd be time for the heavier conversation to take priority now that the small conversations were fading; they're in a hospital after all, and if she knew Squidcom as well as she did, it was that they wouldn't bring up anything more about her situation unless she wanted to go that route. If she's going to move forward, she needed to have the resolve to give bad news in the same way she seamlessly gave good news. After an enjoyable laugh shared with everyone, Sally's smile fades with her downcast gaze indicating what she wanted to speak about next might not be easy.
She clutches her sheets, "E-everyone…?" she hides her face with her sheets in a more timid tone; "I've got the results back on my blood test." The light air that seemed to swirl around the room like a dazzling aroma of sweets now turned heavy like a cloud of smoke damaging the lungs with Sally finding it difficult to transfer her thoughts into words, still processing various answers in her mind to the many looming questions she expected to follow.
Reice poked over crossing his arms with a serious reaction sensing her behavior more unusual, "How'd it go?"
Sally takes a deep breath and then clutches the sheets yet again. She bites her lip to hold back the tears, but her trembling brings forth emotions faster than she can prevent its escape; Everyone gets the idea that this wasn't good news. "I'm sorry…" she whimpered shutting her eyes looking away. Everyone gave her as long as she needed to catch herself having enough respect to let her control the situation instead of anyone asking questions. "I can't play with you guys…" A brief moment of silence passes. The stunned faces of everyone burning into her memory as she transfers their reactions as disappointment. She's hesitant to continue, but feels the urge to continue knowing that she needs to explain it more; "It's more serious than I thought. The doctor said I have severe blood clotting that affects my entire body, and with heavy concentration on my arms and legs, he declared it'd be a miracle if I recover well enough to walk again-much less play."
"Oh no…"
"Sally…"
Sally shakes her head stiffly, "I didn't think it was anything so serious, you know? I thought it was my body simply readjusting to the workouts and training but I never expected it to have such an effect. Thinking about it just makes me wonder what to do next?"
Azule's eyes narrow with sorrow, "You've been fighting the pain the entire time…?"
Sally nods reluctantly, "I'm sorry…" her voice shakes, feeling the pressure weigh heavy on her conscious.
Jory holds up his hands and shakes, "You don't need to apologize. It's the way your body works. It's a freaky outcome but it isn't your fault by any means."
"I let all of you down, though…" she whispered with her strength fading as streams of tears fall; "I got your hopes up for nothing…"
"Do you really think that?" Reice responds with a questionable tone, a mixture of confusion and surprise; "Do you really think that we'd expect you back so soon? Get real!"
"Reice!" Fuchsia scowled.
Reice holds his hand up, "Someone has to say it-best person being me since I know you the best out of everyone here, right sis?" Sally averts her gaze, feeling the emotion from his glare; "It's not like you to speak in such a defeated tone, to have such dull eyes filled with bleakness as though there's no destination ahead. This isn't the Sally I know!"
Sally looks up-analyzing the message with surprise, "Reice…"
"If you're letting this get to you, then what's the point? Playing...really? Your life is in danger, and you may never walk again and that's what's worrying you? Think about what you've done up until now. You're a stubborn, tactless prodigy who always thrives under pressure. Things that a normal person finds difficult or even impossible you can do by simply flipping the switch in your head. You're a classy talent, Sally! Act more like it."
Everyone's stunned. From Azule's raised eyebrows to Kosami's removal of glasses, to hear such words from Reice meant this was truly a different situation
Azule gives a thumbs up, "You'll make the comeback-guaranteed."
Fuchsia nods in agreement, "You've got our support. We know you can do it."
Sally's confused by the sudden encouragement from everyone, "But I-"
"If anyone is able to overcome adversity like this, it'd be our ace, wouldn't it?" Jory adds.
"Everyone-"
"We know we're being selfish for asking this but, don't give up!" Kosami said bringing her hands together with a loud clap.
"K-Kosami?"
Violet gives an arrogant grin, "You have a plan already, don't you?"
"W-well yeah, but…"
"Then you got this. No pressure in feeling like you're not supporting us because you're sidelined, you've done more than enough to motivate us."
"WHERE DO I BEGIN?"
Everyone goes silent.
"I'm stuck to this bed for who knows how long. I'd have to start trying to walk again, and then there's running, then fundamentals for playing. By then, the playoffs would be over and preparations for Spring would be in full effect, even Nationals might pass and I'm still in this bed. How do I get up from that? This process could take months-even years. So why?" she wipes away her streaks of tears angrily; "Why do you all have so much faith in me?"
Violet approaches her and takes her hand, "If it wasn't for you, we'd never get this far. In the last Rank Wars it was your undying will to see things through to the end that led us to the team we are. We're not a normal team Sally and you know that. So, take the lesson learned from the past and use that same incredible resilience of yours to overcome this trial."
"What makes us special is the crazy bonds we share forged by the most unique of circumstances." Kosami smirks.
"...And it's because of those circumstances that even unlikely friends can feel like family." Jory adds.
"You're more important than you realize!" Fuchsia winks.
Reice crosses his arms again, "Or at least, more important than just the ace of the team. You're the foundation of this core. If it wasn't for that day when you and I teamed up with Azule that we wouldn't be here."
"You're a lot like my sister, so there's that." Azule laughs.
"Overall Sally, we have faith in you because it isn't misplaced. We trust you. We believe in you." Violet concludes with a reassuring smile.
"...So, believe in yourself." Reice smugly grins, knowing if anything would annoy Sally it'd be when he's right.
Sally was speechless. To see everyone pour their hearts out with such optimism and sincerity that even she couldn't think of anything negative in her mind to null their praises left her in such an empty frame of mind that she couldn't think of what to say next. Hesitating for a moment trying to find the next words to say, she gives a genuine bow of gratitude clenching her sheets holding back tears, promising to not let them down. She'll keep marching forward and fight until she can walk again. Noticing it's getting late, everyone decides it's time to leave making sure to give Sally a hug with all their warmth and love before doing so. With the lively aura dying out as the nighttime takes effect and visiting hours coming to a close, Sally turns her gaze to the night sky with her thoughts and emotions aplenty like the stars above. The faces of her teammates, friends, family even, were enough fuel for her to pick up pieces of her broken spirit and repair it. She chuckles at the thought of Reice actually becoming a serious person, and Violet showing a more delicate and caring side, it was then that she understood where she stood with them. She's their ace, their voice, she's their big sister of the team.
"What kind of person would I be to let them down?" she thinks aloud with a radiant smile hugging her sheets.
