The morning fog covers the city like a mist to the woods and marshlands as the vision from above is nothing but a thick blanket of swirling Grey. Likewise for the members of Squidcom the conditions outside mirrored their hazy minds as they faced the morning after sleeping on the realization that Sally's life was in jeopardy; this issue with blood clotting was bigger than just sports with Sally at risk to never walk again in her life. Reice struggled to close his eyes as he thought about how much mental agony Sally must be in to know that she's being robbed of her right to walk, run, and play with the team she loved the most. A gut wrenching feeling that made him sick to his stomach, he sits at the kitchen counter in deep thought with his phone in his grasp pondering what to do next. Over at the hospital, Sally awakes to seeing Hatsunika asleep in her lap, and gently she strokes the sleeping idol's hair with care. Her face is as rosy as a bouquet of flowers, thankful to have such a loyal companion by her side, and to her left out the window she catches a glimpse of the gloomy setting that reminded her too well of her situation. Even though she'd been told that she might never walk again, she's quickly found her peace with her mind transitioning to the next objective thanks to the overwhelming support of her friends. In the way that Sally found her new path ahead of her with one that didn't involve being an athlete or musician, but fighting for the chance to walk again, Squidcom found a new resolve to see this chapter to the end and begin the next one ahead. Today is the day of the Semifinals where Squidcom and the Sealions will start off with just a few minutes left before the game begins. Watching the previews and commentators analyze both squads, Sally sends a good luck text to her teammates knowing they'll soon be on stage for what could be their toughest test yet. Enjoying the coverage her team receives on live television, she brings her gaze down to the sleeping idol in her lap, then to the door after hearing several odd footsteps approach loudly. After some indistinct chatter from nurses guiding the group of people, she's met by several pairs of concerned faces who try their best to hold a smile; she freezes as her eyes meet them.

"Sally!" Marigold and Canary called together frantically rushing over to her bedside ignoring the sleeping Hatsunika; Sally hugs them, but her eyes are still glued to the figures at the entrance with awe filling her mind, bewildered by the pleasant surprise.

At the door stood a man and woman who Sally had a spitting resemblance to sharing features from both them. Marveling at their arrival, Sally's lips quivered; "Mom…? Dad…? What are you doing here?"

Sally's mother, Hanna, covered her mouth as she tried to hold back tears; Carson, Sally's father, took off his cap-the worrisome looks from both of them telling the story that they were notified of Sally's condition. Whether it be guilt or genuine anguish her parents felt from the sight of her in a hospital was something trivial to her, for this was the first time in almost a year that they made a visit to her. Sally's genuine confusion turned to appreciation knowing that only one person would go out their way to make this happen: a certain dumb brother of hers.

"Mom...please don't cry…"

Hanna rushes over, "Don't tell me what to do!" she cried, hugging her daughter so tight she can feel her eyes about to burst.

Carson lifts the brim of his cap, "We heard from Reice…"

"We wanted to come visit as soon as possible!" Marigold said.

"But Reice already called mom and dad so we decided to come with them." Canary added.

Sally's doing her best to contain her emotions and stay true to her personality, but to see her parents after so long was too much for even her to handle. A smile weakened by her face muscles wanting to elicit another emotional expression, she grabs her mother's hand and leans in to get a better view of her face, "Mom, you're really here. You too, dad. You both actually came all the way here...and Marigold, Canary. You all came here. The feelings I'm experiencing are beyond words!"

"Of course we would!" Marigold scolds, "I've been worried sick! I kept bothering Bianca to bring us but she insisted we wait for Reice. Gosh, that woman upsets me."

Sally laughs, "I see you're growing up a little. Learning to rely on more than just me and Reice, huh?"

"S-stop that! It's not that at all."

Canary tugs on Sally's bed sheets by her leg, "Bianca wanted to swing by but wasn't sure if she should overstep boundaries since she's never formally joined Squidcom and doesn't have any strong connections to any members."

"Really? I think she's one of us. Hey, invite her over next time she's free."

"Right." Canary nods.

Carson leans against the wall, "I'm glad you're not letting this rock your boat. I was quite concerned when I heard what happened."

Sally looks at Hatsunika, "To be honest, I couldn't have gotten through this without this one right here…" she motions to Hatsunika, smiling so wide her eyes close as her teeth sparkle.

Hanna looks over at the teal haired inkling asleep on her daughter's lap, "Hm? Who is this?" she points.

"This is Hatsunika. Hatusnika Mika!" She introduces enthusiastically, opposite to the snoring idol.

"Hatsunika?" her parents echo jointly with no recognition.

"HATSUNIKA?" Marigold and Canary shout in surprise; Mika springs up on reflex, fully awake.

"That's THE Hatsunika Mika asleep on your lap!"

Sally laughs, "I KNOW RIGHT?"

"Wh-what? Who? Where? Who called me!" Hatsunika wakes up, her knee jerking and hitting the side of the bed, jamming her patella; "YOWCH! Ow ow owwwww."

Marigold hops and claps her hands, "It's her! It's really her!"

Hatsunika looks up to see Marigold and Canary and immediately ignores the pain, "Oh? You must be her sisters…" She looks up to Carson and Hanna, and then realizes what's going on; "Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-you're Sally's parents! N-n-n-nice to meet you!" she bows nervously, trying to fix her appearance.

"You're a flustered one aren't you?" Hanna jokes, lightly picking up on the situation between the two; Carson's still clueless but nonetheless greets her with respect.

"Th-thank you for being Sally's parents, er-uh… I mean, if it wasn't for you two she wouldn't be here...hahaha…" Mika gives a nervous laugh, tensing up from the surprise visit of the Walleyes. She always figured the day would come when she'd meet the parents, but at such a surprise left her out of her element and the refined idol for the firs time in her life felt the immediate pressure that comes with such encounters.

"Mika!" Sally scowls with a hissing tone, already disapproving of her sudden joke; Carson and Hanna look perturbed by the sudden comment but neither take it too literal and understand what she meant, they hope.

"I-I mean, Sally is really awesome! I can't imagine my life being the same if she wasn't there...that's what I mean."

Sally blushes heavily, "Mika, you can relax my parents ar-"

"MAY I HAVE YOUR DAUGHTER'S HAND IN MARRIAGE?" Hatsunika bows, her head swelling like a balloon about to explode with steam escaping her ears.

"MARRIAGE?" they echo in shock.

"Ehhhhhhh?"

"Mika will be part of the family?"

While the newfound couple had trouble explaining their situation to Sally's parents, the Semifinals of the playoffs were beginning soon. Some rivalries are defined by history that leads up to it, forged from the pages of time enforcing a new chapter to be written in its storied legacy. Others are created through the proximity of each other with the settings holding the weight of the rivalry where two teams from the same backyard settle the score, and then there's the new rivalry of Azule and Todd. A feud that started with a mere exchanging of hostility that bore fruit to a fight for the future. A destiny built upon the legacy of their predecessor with Azule being Sky's little brother, and Todd being at Squid Academy because of Sky. Azule, the unique story filled with twists and turns at every corner who started out as an enemy of the people and soon became their biggest star, and Todd, the prodigal talent who always kept under the radar and even experienced a journey to becoming humble and finding redemption in himself. Captains on both sides, they've arrived to this point overcoming various obstacles for a dream match that surely would catch the eyes of everyone; Shiore, Siot, Royce, Sylvester, and many others, all have their eyes on the match widely regarded as "The fight for the future" since both teams were all first years.

An old map that's seen better days at a time where the turf war scene seemed more simplistic and had soul, the home to game 1 of the Semifinals is Hammerhead Bridge. From the bright noon sky above with a few scattered clouds to the gulls squawking at brisk pace, to the cityscape in the backdrop with the horizon next to it being as far as the eye can spot as the sea extends to infinity. Both teams are at their spawns dressed in their team colors accompanied by the calm waters below and the gentle breeze, feeling their hearts race as the moment that's kept both sides up for the entire night will finally come. In Blue and White jerseys with black pants is Squidcom, who're using navy blue ink today as the home team. In Maroon and Black, it's the Sealions. Starting with the fierce captains, both sides looked impressive from their victories in the previous round; Squidcom's sweep showcased that they're still as dominant like in the regular season despite the late change in players-boasting a more aggressive approach to their games as Violet emerges as the newest threat to the field, offering a max skill set for a charger user, especially a sniper. On the other side with the Sealions, it's the emergence of the other Sealions to support Todd. From their new attitude towards the latter half of the season to overcoming Vince and the Rebels with the help of Todd's leadership, the rest of the Sealions, especially Sandra, seems to be trending upwards as they build a hot streak. Whoever won this series would go to the finals, facing the winner of the Kidvel/Meta series. No physical bodies were present for this game since the location was a little dangerous, so instead most spectators were at the Square, on campus, or at the other venues hosting the games or broadcasting such as the previous venues from the Quarterfinals and the Museum D'Alfonsino. In attendance for this game sit the Elites, who're watching together as a unit together as the Square, looking at the jumbo monitor surrounded by whispers from those around who recognized them. Among the Elites who were all serious about how this game would go, Sky looked the most intense as her fiery aura engulfs the atmosphere around her-psyched up to see her brother reach a stage that he'd been robbed last season.

"We're here, everyone. Just another series right?" Azule grinned giving a thumbs up.

"Bold of you to look ahead to downplay our opponents." Reice opens one eye crossing his arms.

"Nah, not underestimating Todd and his crew. It's just that...games like these…" His eyes tremble with excitement; "Opponents like these are what I live for!"

Jory joins the duo while inspecting his weapon, "Fuchsia's plan was to blitz them with the Blitzka formation…"

"Keep it in mind. However, we're doing none-least for the opening minute."

"Huh? You got seaweed in your head?"

"No planned formation? How come?" Violet poked her head in after hearing that'd be no plan.

"Think about it, Todd's a prodigy. He's more than just muscles and physical talent. He's a thinker. The more he evolves, the sharper his mind. He'll anticipate us to play a game of trickery, but we'll take a good uncoordinated fight instead!"

"You're the captain…" Violet shrugs.

"Alright. Since it's a Splat Zone, I think we should prioritize taking the zone immediately, right?"

"Reice, we're not going with a plan."

"But the objective-"

"We're letting the flow of the game dictate our actions. Once the game starts, we won't have time…"

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see…"

A race to the zone led by their starving captains to land the first punch in a heavily anticipated battle, it felt like a burst of air cracked through the map as Azule and Todd finally met each other face to face with both sides smiling a demonic look knowing this was the first encounter of many for this war. Midnight mode is unleashed right away, his glowing hair burning so brightly he resembled a djinn with the way his sparks match his movement, but Todd isn't fazed one bit as he beats Azule to the zone and kept his attention completely on the Squidcom captain. Violet's got her sights locked on Todd and about to pull the trigger when Sandra interrupts her concentration; she tries to retreat, but meets the ambush of Audrey and Hannah who're there as support. An attempt to neutralize Squidcom's most dangerous asset early on, Violet does her best to avoid their ink after getting hit in the eye and having to rely on her hearing to guide her from harm. Sandra takes a hop forward ready to splat her when Reice slams her down with his roller, forcing Audrey and Hannah to retreat to the zones and support Todd, who battles Azule and Jory. A showing of pure chaos, no one's claiming the zone as the focus of both sides is to utterly destroy the other. It's only after a minute and a half passes that the zone finally gets taken over by Squidcom with Midnight Azule still leading the charge. A punch in the mouth that left the Sealions bleeding, they had yet to recover from the initial strike where Midnight Azule took down Todd in those seconds that felt like an hour.

"He's a monster, but we're scary ourselves!" Todd yells as he fires from above on the grated rails.

Audrey rushes for the point looking to flank from the right with support from Sandra and Hannah. Todd shifts a little bit over to catch the blind side of Squidcom, but is forced to carefully maneuver as Violet has him on her radar again. Reice and Azule dominate the zone locking it down from both sides with Jory alternating with Azule. 74-100 in favor of Squidcom, there's plenty of time left in the game with enough to be done, but that's not what's concerning. What catches the eyes of the audience was the duration of Midnight Azule, an almost mystical zone of concentration that acts like a power-up and amplifies the ability of its user. Here, Azule's been playing at max power right out the gate without ever leaving that zone. The marveling question was if he could keep it up since even his sister didn't go into that mode too much due to how much of a strain it puts on the body. Azule leaves the zone to track down the Sealions taking cover nearby, preferring to end them there than give them an opportunity to make a plan and retaliate swiftly. Todd and his Sealions take the bite and try to jump Azule with a staggering 4 on 1 attack, only to be picked off by Violet consecutively. The first game had no more life left in it after that with the Sealions struggling to ever wrestle the lead away from Squidcom thanks to the looming presence of Violet reminding the Sealions that if they're willing to fight for the zone, they can expect to lose half their team or worse. The first game ends in a knockout for Squidcom and Squidcom takes the series lead of 1-0. Even if they couldn't hear the noise of the spectators, Todd could tell that already things were looking bad if every game went the way that one did.

"Don't worry everyone, that's just the first game. We'll just need to get the next one." Todd claps his hands together to wake them out of the jaded state, doing his best to keep their morale up as they wait in their spawn at Saltspray Rig for game 2; a Tower Control game welcomes them.

"I appreciate your optimism but how should we approach game 2?"

"Well Sandra, let's think about our situation first. As it is, we've seen what Squidcom is capable of-their intentions are what we're expecting: Very aggressive offense with an impact from their sniper and the utilizing of Midnight Azule. Honestly, I didn't think he'd use that so early on but what else can be expected from a wild card captain like him."

"Their sniper is cold blooded…" Hannah whined; "She took me down more times than I can imagine and it felt so discouraging every time I saw her nearby."

"It happens. What I'm more concerned about is their new guy. He's playing really solid and if it wasn't for being overshadowed by his captain and sniper, he'd be the main story."

"Indeed Audrey, Jory is a problem in his own way. He's accurate and has shot power paired with his impressive mobility that's proven to be a slippery target. We'll need to keep tabs on him for the rest of the series." He claps his hands to capture their focus, confidence still present in his posture and his expression-a smile masking a fighting aura ready to throw down in game 2; "We've got a good idea of how they're going to play, so for this next game we'll give them a taste of their own medicine."

Hannah and Audrey pick up on the plan, "AH! We're doing that?"

"Yeah. We'll execute this plan on my go, so do your best to minimize deaths and refrain from biting onto their bait, since that's what caught us in the previous game. For this round I want someone dedicating their role to capturing the tower. Who here feels up to it?"

Hannah raises her hand with resolve, "I'll do it!"

"Okay! Just make sure to remember that the key is to stay alive as long as you can. If it ever looks like you might get overwhelmed by their pressure, there's no shame in backing out. Our goal is to set them up perfectly for our plan. This will be a sucker punch that should swing momentum in our favor."

Saltspray Rig, the map filled with salty sea air so abundant that it can burn the lungs rather than be refreshing. The gulls fill in for the absent spectators as they crowd the high places

The clean map soon turns messy as the match starts with both sides focusing on getting to the tower first; on Squidcom's side, Azule, Jory, and Reice take the lower route from the left side with Violet taking to the top left furthermost route, while the Sealions rushed from the far right together looking to boost their speed with the amount of ink shot at once. As planned by the Sealions, Hannah bursts ahead and takes the tower with her team supporting from behind covering her as Squidcom attack the tower. It takes a couple of seconds but already the first splat is in the game with Audrey landing a culmination of shots on Reice who got caught in the crossfire. A favorable advantage, the plan changes with the Sealions taking the number advantage in which Todd goes on the complete attack after Azule and Jory, issuing orders to keep an eye on Violet who lurked on the high platforms looking to pick them off one by one. The tower is in the Sealions' possession but doesn't move much since Hannah is forced to retreat from the tower is over second to avoid the danger of crossfire; The lead is 100-93 to the Sealions.

"Get prepared for this push! Audrey's super jumping to our position so defend her landing spot, Sandra!"

"Roger that!"

Over on Squidcom's side, not much changed. Midnight Azule still kept a strong presence although moving a lot slower-gassed from the earlier usage. Reice isn't playing as solid as the previous games which is a factor in why the Sealions have had the lead since he's been the weak link. Frustrated by his consistent underrated attention, there's nothing more Reice hates than being overlooked-especially now that Sally was out. The weight of living up to her expectations as well as his pride were on the line. Watching the game together as a family on the TV monitor in the room, Sally's family were all bought some chairs to take a seat and watch Reice put on a performance and soon found themselves rooting for him with pride. Time's running out as Squidcom applies pressure with Reice and Jory on the tower handling business with Azule just a little further ahead facing Sandra and Todd by himself; Violet's still lurking a little further off picking off the Sealions from flanking positions. A triple attack with productivity from all members, this too was a specified formation that Fuchsia devised-an attack specifically meant for tower control that allowed two players to prioritize the objective of the tower while the other two have the duties of applying pressure from opposing sides which in this case would be Azule and Violet. Known as the Spearhead formation based on the spear being an incredible weapon for attack with the specialty of piercing the opponent to a possible death-an effective weapon for those with tunnel vision. In the case of tower control, since there was a fixed route to the goal, this was the best time to use such a formation. Hannah shifts to to right and throws out a suction bomb to run the duo off the tower, but Jory drops a splash wall to restrict the attack.

"Audrey go left and enforce more pressure-Sandra cut to the right. I got Azule!"

"Right!"

"Roger!"

Both girls follow their assignments and leave Todd to Midnight Azule, who ignores them knowing the best way to take the team down was to cut off the head of their Sealion, Todd. Todd gives a knowing smirk taking a leap backwards baiting Azule to the bottom of the map where they can have their duel in piece. Azule's eyes shine with blood lust as his feet kick an extra gear gaining on Todd; Though no one is present to see this match in person in person, this would be one of those moments where everyone rose to their feet to watch two of the best go head to head. Azule does a double roll forward and hops left to some ink he fired ahead of time in anticipation for Todd's response, but Todd goes the opposite way and hides; both parties are refilling their ink-the first one to make a move would have the big advantage of getting a jump on the other.

"Don't think I'll let you off easy!" Azule shouts appearing from the other side of cover after hearing Todd fire shots, his focus entirely on trapping Todd, but there was no figure no movements in the ink. "Huh? Wh-"

"Too bad I have the high ground!" A voice called from Azule's left.

"To-"

Firing like a berserker with a mini-gun, Todd held nothing back as he tries to claim Azule, who quickly darts for cover like before, but this time Todd isn't letting him recover. Azule's in trouble with his ink running at half and an aggressive Todd on his heels. If he slips up here, Todd will take control of this game with the momentum of already beating Azule and have enough confidence to wipe out the rest. Azule turns around feeling the overwhelming aura of Todd, but as he braces himself, there's no one. A shadow looms from above-an attack on the way; instead of tailing behind Azule, Todd climbed over and chose this time to catch Azule by surprise, and based on the confused look of Azule, it worked perfectly. Azule lifts his dualies with a composed expression replacing the confused look immediately.

Was this on purpose!? Todd thought as his body comes crashing to Azule, feeling the ink of Azule's dualies pierce him painfully.

Though he managed to splat Azule with his falling ink, he too got caught by Azule's attack. A trade-off with both captains splatted, now it came down to the remaining side fighting for the tower. Occupied by Reice and supported by Violet with Jory just a little further behind playing catch up, Squidocm were doing their best to keep the game under their control and bring the tower back to them after Sealions managed to bring it far away from the center and closer to the goal. An attack led by Sandra, the objective was to simply take back the tower and hold on for as long as possible-a knockout unnecessary. To play conservatively had its pros and cons for every situation, but in the mind of Sandra, she felt that going to the aggressive route for victory was an unwise decision since there are two more games guaranteed after this one; if they use up their strength now, they'll fall to ruin at the end she thought. But in the same breath she knew that Todd wouldn't want a defensive mindset in a series where they're losing.

"This is difficult!"

"We're getting pushed back! At this rate, we might lose on knockout with the way they countered us. Todd won't be back for a few seconds, how should we approach this?"

Sandra has to crunch the time and come up with a solution soon given the way Squidcom's starting to make a comeback; A critical point, it's up to her to take control at this moment and piece together a plan that'll work effective enough for them to stay in the fight. Every second counts. Following the flow of Squidcom's attacking movements, she finds a solution-thinking back to words drilled into her head from practice. "Todd would say that it's pointless to defend a losing game. So, we'll take this point back and go for broke! Abandon defense, we're going all in!"

"Aim for KO?"

"Yes!"

"Alright!"

"Audrey and I will support you, Hannah. Dive in and get the tower."

Without a hesitation in her step, a switch flips on for Hannah as she lowers her head like a bull and charges in, running in short sprinted zig zags to mess up Violet's aim-she succeeds enough to confuse Violet, who finds the annoying strikes of Sandra effective enough that she has to switch objectives and take down the troublesome Sandra instead; this affects Squidcom majorly as Reice is slow to turn his focus the speeding Hannah after having spent his ink firing at Audrey and keeping them back. Hannah breaks through and quickly catches Reice on her way to taking the tower, getting a close encounter with the hidden Jory who seizes the moment to ambush her on the tower. Time went from a rapid pace zooming through the games to slow motion capture of a disaster right before it's about to happen. A happenstance plan that replicated the same intensity as their captain's plan, Sandra's efforts were vaporizing before her eyes as Jory has Hannah in his sights for a critical hit. Hannah's splat meant they'd lose all control and have to wrestle the lead away from a team who'd have their captain back in time to keep them at bay-even if they could counterattack with Todd, it meant nothing if they had to do it from scratch. When all seemed but finished for the Sealions, a shadow races through the sky...

"Thank you Hannah! You've given me the perfect chance…"

In the blink of an eye, it felt like everything changed. What felt like the end soon turned into a perfect storm. Thanks to a stubborn performance by the Sealions, Sandra and Audrey were able to charge their specials just enough to drive away Violet, Todd was able to land on the tower and take down Jory, and Hannah was able to claim the tower. A narrow escape from the clutches of defeat turned into a last gasp attempt to end the second game of what seems like an iron man series. Gathered together on the tower, Todd races for Violet to splat her before she can link up with others-effectively handling the team on his own as he fires his sub weapon and does his best to lock down anyone attempting to escape with the assistance of Sandra. A victory that would have nearly been a defeat, the series is tied at 1. Tied thanks to the teamwork of the Sealions, Squidcom's not feeling too much pressure yet since they expected Todd and his teammates to power through with great chemistry-nevertheless they didn't like to lose a game, especially a close one that seemed all but theirs. Sitting together at the spawn of Bluefin Depot taking a few minutes of rest while scanning the zone for recon, Reice couldn't help but think back on what happened at Saltspray Rig, appalled by the effective teamwork of the Sealions. To him, he found this sudden change in Todd to have already been someone impressive since he lived with the guy, but to see him be able to change others left him feeling like he was staring at a clone of Azule. Glancing over at his glowing captain whose eyes were peering at the Sealions' spawn staring down Todd, he could tell that Azule sensed it too; finally, Todd's potential as a team leader was coming to fruition. No longer was he a talented player that was also a captain of experienced prodigies, but instead a leader who was growing along with his team. If anyone is going to be a threat to the mighty Midnight Azule, it may not be a monster like Pastelle, but a first year captain cut from the same cloth who was finally learning the same principles in Todd.

Azule narrows his eyes, "What are you planning, Todd?" he mumbles as Todd gives a fiery smirk to match his intense gaze; Azule knew that if Todd won this game, he'd be on his heels having to eat the consecutive jabs that'd get thrown his way. His game had to go in their favor by all means if they wanted a chance in the series, he figured.

A Rainmaker battle at Bluefin Depot with both sides having a win off their belt, the start of the match seems nothing unusual as both teams get off to quick starts with Audrey and Jory being the active players for both sides to grab the Rainmaker; the Sealions are the first ones to grab the Rainmaker after breaking the barrier, taking an unorthodox around the bush strategy of going all around the map to avoid immediate confrontation with Squidcom-able to shave some time off holding onto the weapon and effectively picking Squidocm apart one by one-arriving at the score of 68 before getting splatted by an irritated Violet who clicked her tongue like a Mafioso after getting an expected. Squidcom's run wasn't as effective as the Sealions as Jory's speed got countered by the heavy weapon, having to rely on Midnight Azule and Reice to pave the way as he took a more supportive role covering for them as they took the hits for him, but that didn't last long thanks to the flank by Todd and Sandra that steamrolls Squidcom. For the first time, the Sealions looked like the completely better side as they square off against Violet, who went up another gear in her efforts to slow down the Sealions for as long as she could. This proves to work as the Sealions don't to burst the barrier nor challenge Violet knowing she'll destroy them if they get close thanks to her range and mastery of the obstacles to splat them on site if they left themselves exposed trying to out think her. Azule and the rest respawn in time to support her, but then is where it all changes as Jory rushes in to take the barrier that's remained unbroken since the splat. Azule breaks down the situation rapidly like a puzzle trying to piece together as to why the Sealions haven't made a definitive move. At the very least he thought they would've made a move when most of the team was gone but here they were waiting for the entire team to come up; he found that strange given who it is he's up against. The barrier pops seamlessly all of sudden as the Sealions swarm it with Jory and Reice retreating once the warning showed that it was about to burst in the enemy's favor. Sandra grabs the Rainmaker with Todd and Hannah right behind her; she quickly halts to let her teammates overtake her. War ensues as the Sealions take the fight to Squidcom with Jory answering their call and returning to fight fire with fire, but Azule is still hesitant to make an attack thanks to his Midnight ability affecting his thinking.

Wait a second. When the attack started, it was only Todd, Sandra, and Hannah that emerged behind the barrier. So that means… Azule's eyes widen as he realizes the critical error behind Jory's bite; "Jory get back, quick!"

Even though Sandra has the rainmaker, Audrey synced herself with Sandra well enough that the others couldn't tell she was there, using the opportunity to splat down the best weapon of Squidcom for this game: their blazing octoling phenom Jory. It was instantaneous but felt like eternity as Jory quickly saw the game flashed before his eyes with the silhouette of Audrey raining on him. Violet tries to save him in time, but her distance was just out of reach to catch Audrey in mid air.

"Oh no you don't!" Reice shouts, intercepting the attack; The other Sealions are stunned, seeing a foil to their plan.

A double splat of Reice and Audrey evens up the floor, but the rainmaker still belongs to Sandra, who capitalizes on the dazed Squidcom. She rushes past the shocked team and leaves the dirty work to Todd and Hannah who make sure to cover her back as she climbs the right side up the walls with the goal in sight. Time isn't on her side as Reice is due to respawn soon, but all hope isn't lost since the rest of the team was still behind; she just needed to be quicker than Reice. She cuts to the right quickly and heads up the path with the goal just in sight when she hears a pair of teammates crying in pain before getting splatted followed by a wave of super jumps; despair settling quickly as streams of ink soar through the sky to spawn.

"Oh no!"

All four of them race for the slow Sandra who just had a little more to go as she fires the rainmaker to cover the goal; all she had left to do was to swim to there. Her heart races as her pupils dilate, her palms sweaty as her body aches with a nervous sensation-pressure mounting on her shoulders as she had to quickly decide to between two things: make the push and go for goal or retreat and stay alive. If she retreats then the game prolongs with Squidcom having a chance to make comeback, but if she goes forward and gambles on beating them to the goal, she could end the game right there or risk betting splatted and easily handing the rainmaker over to a Squidcom team who'll have the head start to break the barrier and to form an ironclad formation to counter any tactics of the Sealions.

"NO TIME FOR THINKING!" Audrey shouts angrily flying through the air prepared to support Sandra; Sandra snaps out of it and pushes forward, gambling on the play right here being their chance.

Flashbacks roll through her mind as she recalls all the events that led to this moment. A girl who only did this for fun to play with her lunatic friends and experience fun memories, that all changed when Todd arrived; everything changed when she met him. From his leadership as a captain to the slow process of becoming friends, Sandra watched Todd go from an awkward aloof captain who showed no interest in anything other than competition to someone willing to take everyone out for food and a day of hanging out. Whether it was because he was hanging out with a team full of girls rather than rowdy boys, he matured. Calm and positive, Sandra couldn't help but admire the growth he underwent since becoming the leader, and if anyone could make her fight like this, it'd be him. A young warrior still learning who she was on the battlefield, Sandra took her first steps to the same path as Todd, who she could feel was at arm's reach before her.

"Bring it!" Sandra shouts, jumping on top of the goal ready to slam the goal down; Squidcom's right before her ready to splat her and shut her down.

Ink flies everywhere…

A decisive move. It's over, as the Sealions hold on to defeat Squidcom. The rainmaker is on the goal, but Sandra is nowhere to be seen. Getting splatted as soon as she slammed the rainmaker down, she took one last hit for the team-though it was worth it. Climbing ahead of Squidcom to take a 1-2 lead series, the Sealions have control. Everyone watching the game looked like statues stunned by the emergence of yet another talent in this series as Sandra joins the company of Azule, Todd, Violet, and Jory as special players for the future. Over at a table occupied by the Elites, Sky and the others sit together in silence digesting the results of game 3. Her arms are crossed and her eyes are cold, but everyone could tell on the inside was brimming with satisfaction to see so many young first years show up on a big stage like this; it's almost disappointing that all of them couldn't represent the school yet.

Aaron takes a sip from his can, "I didn't think that after three games it'd be the Sealions who're on top."

"Todd's really come far as a captain. He only became their captain at the start of the season and here he is leading in semifinals against a historic Squidcom team. Perhaps we're witnessing the birth of the new champions?"

Sky's eyes sharpen, "Squidcom aren't losing this series."

Whether it was her pride as Azule's big sister or because she genuinely believed that the winner had been decided with Squidcom, the other knew enough that Sky wasn't the type of person to get worked up over a game she was watching. However it was understandable to see Sky on edge given what they had to go through to get to this point. Anything could happen, and even if nothing dire occurred, the chances of an upset seemed higher than predicted. Surely Sky would rather hand over her crown to her beloved little brother rather than the prodigy who had everything handed to him on his way to the top. To her, this felt like a classic battle between Jin and herself: a battle of conquers.

Aaron brings his can up to his lips, "I'm a bit concerned by Azule's usage of Midnight. This is the most he's been using it…"

Austin nods, "Yeah, a trio of consecutive games is a lot. I don't think he'll have enough gas to get to the fifth game if he keeps it at this pace."

"Maybe we should take a second to step back and review some things shall we?" Apollo explained briefly that what was occurring wasn't an uncommon thing in a best of 7 series. A series where every game counted, he explained that in a tied series there will always be a team who has to win, and since it's early, nothing is set in stone. Being down 1-2 in Squidcom's case was much better than being down 2-3 or worse, 1-3. "Point is, we still got a lot of game left, and I doubt it's going to end early like five games. This has all the makings of a tough one, so I say this goes at least six. This next game will tell me what to expect."

Cannola digests the information, "So what you're saying is that if Squidcom wins this game and ties up the series-"

"We'll be back to square one and our opinions will shift to the team with the hot hand, which in this case is Squidcom. So, give it a rest on the predictions?" Apollo suggests, wanting to avoid irritating Sky and put more faith in Squidcom.

Ollie snickers, "Meh, look at you, dissecting these games."

"Happens when you spend your time watching a great team play up close right?"

It's game 4 at Museum D'Alfonsino and the mode for this map is also Rainmaker just like in game 3. A difficult loss to accept, Squidcom knew they needed to keep this series in their grasp or else it could get ugly which meant they needed to win this game by all means. Even though they were undefeated overall, Squidcom had to overcome some losses in single games that allowed them to adapt to being in circumstances where they were behind in a series, but in a case where a team had to lose four games to be eliminated, the pressure felt more intense as the understanding that losing three games meant that the following game had all the weight on it. If Squidcom fall here, they might be looking at elimination in the 5th game. Without any interruptions, game 4 started. Both sides played similar to the previous game fighting for the rainmaker but there's an urgency with Squidcom's strategy as they fight to get more possession of the rainmaker. Even if it was little by little, every chance to claim the rainmaker meant Squidcom had the chance to extend their lead further; their only simply being to prevent the Sealions from ever taking the rainmaker. After some time passes by, this becomes apparent to the many knowledgeable spectators noticing the defensive play of Squidcom, and even Fuchsia looked nervous watching the way they executed.

"To sacrifice an aggressive approach for the sake of time management and assurance that they don't move any further than eighty, there really isn't a better option…"

Kosami goes into a thinker's pose, "I agree that the previous game was a surprise and they don't want to leave themselves open again, but why go this route? We're not a conservative defense that favors waiting out the clock. Last we'd want is overtime!"

"Maybe Azule has something planned?"

"Let's see for ourselves, shall we?"

With the score 57-83 in Squidcom's favor, describing the game was nothing short of boring as many watching the game found their attention turning to anything but the game. With neither side able to get far, it was clear that Squidcom didn't want to push their luck and rather keep the Sealions at bay than risk an explosive run that could spell doom; the problem however was that by dedicating their efforts to slowing down the Sealions, they dulled their own attack, which left the game at an impasse. Even though they had the lead, the moment the Sealions got a solid bite, they'd be released from their leash and wreak havoc. It's slowly falling out of their favor as Todd continues to bark commands with the others following swiftly to splat Reice, who's got the Rainmaker. Reice halts and launches a quick strike-taking down a pair of Sealions in Sandra and Audrey, and without another second passing by, Midnight Azule is on the march; having been present since the start of the match, the fatigue was finally starting to show on Azule and yet he kept up his form, choosing to break his body with max power than ease up and risk never being able to bring such intensity again. A now or never attack, Azule races for the dropped rainmaker and with the help of Jory and Violet breaking the barrier, manages to secure it and make the run as Todd and Hannah get caught in the fire of the barrier's ink.

"Disperse!" Azule shouts frantically racing to the goal with Jory moving out behind him and Violet veering away; for the first time, some action was being introduced in this game, and though it was late, this was the best time to wake everyone up as it looked like Squidcom were on the move. A swift climb up ahead, Violet scouts and warns Azule of the respawning Audrey and Sandra. A clean victory that ends without another attempt to stop its climax-just like it was for most of the match, Squidcom found a way to win even in ugly fashion. Although it offered less flair and finesse as the previous game, plenty of important minor details were shown throughout the match that pointed to this battle just being a lapse in the sequence of events. From Todd finally thinking he was on even footing to Azule and playing with more confidence looking to rattle Azule psychologically, to Violet erupting into a complete defensive tank with Reice, to Jory's speed proving useful in misdirecting the Sealions, Squidcom in their own way got inside the heads of the Sealions much like they allowed Todd and his team to get in their head in game 3.

"It's a tied series now…"

"The next game should be Clam Blitz if we go by the process of elimination with one of these game modes already getting multiple uses in the series."

"Clam Blitz on Wahoo World? That doesn't sound fun…"

"There's two things that stand out to me in this match: Midnight Azule and the knockout victories. These sides have won by knockout in each game and both play with the same intensity since the first game. Midnight Azule is insane! The way he's been able to keep that up is nothing short of impressive."

"At this rate I'd say we're probably witnessing the birth of our next successor right here."

"Really? There's still Pastelle and Kidvel and also Meta."

"No what I mean is that we've found the true successor to Sky Royale among the first years. Pastelle was good in her first year but we can all agree that the level of Azule and Todd surpasses what she was at in her first year, even if she was good enough to make it to the finals."

"Bold statement."

2:01 is left on the clock in game 5 of the first semifinals with the Sealions looking to make a rally on attack after the goal closes of Squidcom who're just finally scoring for the first time in the game. Taking a page out of their book from the previous game, Todd and his Sealions slowly scratched away at Squidcom enough that with the score as it is, they could capture a knockout victory with just another score. Squidcom's reeling as they readjust to the attack, having made the error in allowing everyone to come forward and thus jeopardizing Violet's position as she found herself in a squeeze rushing back to contain Hannah, who's got the power clam. Hannah gets splatted by Violet, who finds a small window to aim and catch Hannah before she can shake off the sniper's aim; Audrey swoops in and scoops up the power clam without a miss in her step with her back to the dangerous Squidcom tailing her. Jory rushes over and fires indiscriminately hoping to trap Audrey, but thanks to the tip she learned from Todd to always run zig-zag to mess up the attacker's aim-which works effectively as Jory struggles to even keep up as he's forces to dive in for ink and just tail her. Reice is already at the goal awaiting Audrey with Violet separating from Jory and Audrey to meet Reice in hopes to close her down right at the goal. Sandra's nearby collecting some clams in anticipation of Audrey scoring with the power clam, but before she can collect enough that'll suffice for ending the game, she's met by the barrel of Azule's dualies as he splats her right after doing a roll behind her; Todd meets Azule head-on after Sandra's elimination.

"Showing up a little bit late, no?" Azule smirks doing a backwards roll with Todd blocking the way before him to Audrey and the goal; "Planning on settling the score here?"

"I just need enough time to hold you off. I got faith in Audrey to deliver the game winning blow."

"Not gonna lie...I like the new you way more than the other. For once I can admire you and not feel like hurling!"

"That's rich coming from someone that hurls their guts on a daily basis." based on Azule's reaction, he knew that struck a nerve.

The two captains race at each other and conceal their battle in barriers of ink that clash; Audrey's at the goal of Squidcom, but there's Reice and Violet in her way with Jory closing in from behind with a pincer attack. Without a moment's hesitation, she heaves the power clam at the goal, but it falls just short! Failing to land the crucial jaw breaking punch, Squidcom are still in the fight with Audrey getting surrounded. Desperately looking for a way to survive, her only option is to take one of them out at the very least, but what she never accounted for was an interference in her favor as Hannah returns with a super jump and splats Jory. Over on the other side where Azule and Todd are still throwing everything at one another, Todd's the mobile one as he bounces around the turf scooping up any clams lying on the floor while avoiding Azule's relentless attacks.

"I see you're finding a second wind with Midnight, huh?" He said dodging another round of ink from Azule, refilling right afterwards to toss another bomb.

"I'm...not...in my...second wind! I can still fight!"

Charging for Todd again, he blows up. Shocked by the surprise elimination, Todd's met by Sandra. Explaining that they don't have time to continue entertaining Azule, they rush to the goal where Audrey's reclaimed the fallen power clam but now struggles against Reice after Hannah eliminated Violet off the surprise attack. Though they could attack now and potentially end it, Audrey wouldn't fire unless she was sure the game would end after she threw the power calm knowing that they'd need more clams to put the clams to rest. Here comes Todd and Sandra with the remaining clams! An open goal. This victory had an emphatic reaction as once again the Sealions showed they weren't capable of just out thinking Squidcom, but that as the series went on so did the Sealions' aptitude of how to handle Squidcom. Seeing the writing on the wall, Squidcom's back is up against the wall as the next game they face is an elimination game; if they lose game 6, it's all over.

Falling to complete silence, Sally's face turns pale as her mouth dropped with her hands trembling, a mixture of fear and frustration infecting her mind as she thinks that at a time like this when her team needed her the most, she couldn't be there. Her role as the ace, and the big sister felt like a spear impaling her chest as she watched with anxiety. Hatsunika and the Walleye family knew the best thing to do was to keep silent and let the sounds of the game fill the room and hope that the spirit of competition would extend to her and quell those fears, knowing that if any team could bring out such emotion it'd be Squidcom-and they wouldn't let her down under any circumstances. Over in the Inkopolis square at the table filled with the Elites, no one had anything left to say as their darkened expressions told the story. None of them thought that the Sealions would play spoilers and manage to force an elimination game on Squidcom. From the fatigued Azule to the schooling of Jory and Reice with Violet losing her sharpness, it felt like all momentum shifted to the Sealions as they smelled blood in the water and were prepared to end this in the next game. A lights-out performance from Todd and his team, Azule and his team stand together in spawn at Flounder Heights in a huddle with no quarreling or bickering, but no encouraging words either with only dead silence being present. The fiery but dulled eyes of Azule told the others just how tired he was-another move and he might collapse from exhaustion. That didn't mean anything at this stage however since they expected as much.

Game 6 arrives at Flounder Heights with the mode being Splat Zones, a mode Squidcom have great history with. The noise at Flounder Heights is buzzing as many people who were watching the game on TV now found themselves seeing it live. A sudden treat for the tenants, it seemed like a nightmare for Squidcom as the game started. Right off the marks, the Sealions went to work and captured the zone before Squidcom even got to the zone. A frustrating sight to watch for Squidcom supporters, the game became a showcase of Squidcom's meltdowns as it felt like everything they crafted up until this point was for nothing. Their undefeated run seemed like a waste as the Sealions showed superiority, their promise to Sally looked broken as she watched the team she knew and love slowly get battered and bruised without putting up a good enough fight, and the spirit of Squidcom looked all but destroyed as countless attempts to seize the tower fail miserably with Todd and the Sealions shutting them down before they can ever capture the zone. Todd and Sandra shine brightly like lanterns in the evening blinding the dim Azule and Violet with their aggressive defense and peak performance, forcing Squidcom into a figurative corner as their options are exhausted. Even if it was only through the factor of playing a five game series, the Sealions were exposing the weakness of Squidcom in their durability. A sluggish Azule finds himself struggling to keep his Midnight mode activated as his mental fortress crumbles with every failure, however, Violet and the others still have fire in their eyes inheriting the fighting spirit of their captain and ace. Halfway through the game's end with the Sealions reaching closer to a knockout and upset elimination of Squidcom in just five games, Violet realizes that after a team splat at the hands of stacked specials meant they needed to readjust.

Calling forth everyone, she huddles them together-their backs drenched as she grabs the back of their shirt; "We need a plan." She declares taking a glance at the others before returning her gaze to the scoreboard ahead; time is against them, and the longer they sit here and wait, the longer they allow the Sealions to formulate an impenetrable defense.

"The problem is that they've outplayed us, it's as simple as that. They're conserving their strength by not even looking to finish us off outside the zone and instead play it safe and wait for us ot foolishly rush in again and get a meaningless death. Just when we think we got them in the previous games, they one-up us!"

"Calm...down...Reice…" Azule puffed trying to collect enough air.

"Huh? You telling me to calm down when the look you're giving me is more vicious than I could ever replicate?"

Jory holds his hand up with concern, "Azule you should take it easy yourself…"

"I-I'm fine…!"

Reice narrows his eyes with a scowl, "Not with those buckling knees..."

Violet gives an irritated sigh, "...And this is what I meant. Up until now we've followed everything in Azule's orders with the insurance that his Midnight mode could bail us out. Now that he's exhausted himself, it's up to us to carry the burden for him."

"What do you suggest?" Jory asked openly for a new plan in hopes that whatever they come up with come ease the strain for Azule.

Violet goes silent pondering over the options available and allows the time to tick away; over at the splat zone sit the Sealions on guard as they make mental notes on the actions that occurred so far in the match. Even though the Squidcom team they're facing now wasn't playing at their most energetic, Todd warned that it was the moments like these that defined why Squidcom were a terrifying opponent-anticipating them to come up with a crazy plan that just might work. The other Sealions however felt more confidence with each second going by, feeling the stage before them become smaller with their sights set on the finals-an unbelievable goal about to come true. Even though their eyes were long set ahead at the door behind Squidcom, they were still vigilant and prepared for any counterattack from Squidcom.

"Someone's coming! Get ready everyone!" Hannah yells, sensing danger approach; Todd snaps out of it and tenses his muscles, prepared for yet another battle, and based on the remaining time on the clock, possibly the last one.

After Hannah's warning comes no attack, but why? She wouldn't lie about it nor would she ever make a joke at such a critical time. Todd felt disturbed that Squidcom didn't seem to have any intention of attacking after their cover got blown-a cowardly move in his mind. But suddenly, an air cracking shot rips through the air above them with a long streak of blue ink following as the entrance to the zone is intruded by the ink; the Sealions go on the defensive and immediately cover the blue ink in case anyone was hiding there, but already firing their weapons and dispelling ink, they left themselves open. Audrey and Hannah show confusion as a figure jumps down right to their position followed by another powerful thunder like shot with another figure appearing but this time from the ink. Azule and Jory are the attackers who make their entrance into the zone and war breaks out as the sole possession quickly is loss with the Sealions losing their zone; Azule and Jory retreat to their ink, but the test comes on whether the Sealions will reclaim the zone or leave it be.

"They're up to something…" Todd whispered; a cold shiver runs down his spine as he feels a sharp sensation of blood lust approaches him quickly, turning around to catch a glimpse of Reice and his roller raining down from above.

The attack is on. Azule, Jory, and Reice infiltrate the zone and keep the Sealions scrambling as the advantage shifts towards them claiming the zone, but that wouldn't be enough to close out the Sealions. Trying his best to rally a stronghold on the zone and prevent Squidcom from succeeding on the ambush, Todd marveled at how such a basic plan could work so flawlessly after they'd already thwarted Squidcom's clever tactics earlier. A common attack where the enemy rushes simultaneously to confuse them, Todd was aware of what was happening, and yet struggles to stop the chaos.

"Sandra...!" Audrey calls as her teammate gets splatted by Reice, having to switch between surviving Jory and capitalizing on the Reice who looked like he might've run out and needed refilling.

How could this happen!? Todd thought after he was sure those shots from earlier were from Violet. Why is she not here?

Marveled to see his defense crumble so easily, he knew this was more than just a lapse in concentration on his team's part and that instead, someone from Squidcom read them so well-like a book. None other than the bookworm sniper of Squidcom could predict this occurring and as such went forward with a plan that'd catch them off guard such as a simple yet effective one. Time begins to slow down with calamity approaching and Todd can only repeat the question desperately in his mind of how this came to be-how such a simple attack had such a devastating effect even after all the great teamwork done until now...

"We'll crush them." Violet slams her fist into her palms for emphasis on the plan presented; the others look dumbfounded but soon come to an understanding of where she's coming from based on how she kept her gaze on the scoreboard and the clock.

"Because they managed to shut us down and keep us at bay, they've dug their own grave?"

"Precisely. Think about it: They've got the momentum on their side and must be feeling comfortable about their position right now because of it being an elimination game, and at the same time still being paranoid about us making another run since there's still time left in the game. This time we can catch them unlike previously."

"At first I felt like you were just saying we should strike simultaneously from different angles to get them, and I disagreed with that approach since we haven't been successful at all in this match. But taking into account all these external factors, it makes sense."

"Good. If you understand the plan, we'll attack on my strike. I'll send the first warning shot to spook them into alertness: this should give us the edge in them having to be on guard but wrestle the anxiety which will throw their senses off."

A flashback to the winning plan, time flows again as the stunned Sealions watch their defeat before their eyes as the fiery Squidcom do the impossible. A plan built on psychology, Violet's goal with the stray shot was to alert them, preferring to alarm them and let the fear consume her prey rather than surprise them and lose to the automatic response of the Sealions' teamwork. The simultaneous attack done by Azule, Reice, and Jory was all just a decoy to set up the true attack of Violet, who had mastered her weapon so well to the point that she could manipulate the functions of the weapon through "hacks" of sorts. Allowing the decoy to confuse the Sealions with their presence, she'd finish them off and claim the tower, and from there is where the plan would be tested yet again. The first test was the Sealions' reaction and if they'd fall into her trap, while the second would be claiming the zone. On the principle that the score ticks faster later on when the score between the teams is too great, the execution of the plan gets put to the test as Squidcom watches time indeed flow faster; Violet targeted such a critical moment for the attack because she knew that the Sealions would react hastily and try to retaliate and thus took the precaution of handling that herself, proceeding forward to torment them as they tried to counter, keeping them out of arm's reach long enough by stalling them-splatting at will. The game was over in a heartbeat after that.

"ALLLLRIIIIIIIIIIGHT! LET'S GO GUYS!" Sally shouted with intense hype in her tone, nearly yelling so loud that she lost her voice as her fists clenched so tight that her veins protrude with her eyes shut holding back streams of tears; Her mother wacks her on the head telling her to mind her voice since they're still in a hospital, but Sally can't help it. A roller coaster of a match that send her heart rate through the roof, relief settled in as she catches a glimpse of her teammates faces while they flash on screen, noticing that they all have the same look in their eyes that told her it wasn't over yet-just the beginning.

After 6 brutal battles storied by the aggressive victories of both sides winning by knockout, the brilliance of Todd, the appearance of Midnight Azule for every game until the sixth, and the emergence of Sandra into the breakout category with Violet and Jory, the final game approaches. Known in the world of sports as the most famous words to ever utter in competition, game 7 arrives with both sides reaching their physical and mental limits. From the exhausted Azule struggling to maintain his midnight glow with his hair flashing violently between his natural royal blue to the midnight blue, to a wheezing Todd holding his chest with his lungs on fire taking in as much as possible, both sides were at their wit's end. The final game mode to decide the fate of this war: Rainmaker. For the third time, a Rainmaker mode would decide the fate of a game in this series. A fitting way to end the series with a game mode that both sides managed to grab a victory, this will be the battle of endurance.

In Inkopolis square it was as lively as new years eve with hundreds of inklings, jellyfish, and many others cramming the streets to watch the game on the big monitor; there's nothing more that anyone in inkopolis enjoyed than bonafide drama, and this game had every bit of it to the ounce. Even the teams of Squid Academy couldn't help but rise to their feet as the final game approaches with everyone's eyes glued to the two teams about to trade blows for the last time-crazy to believe there was another game after this!

"So it seems it'll all come down to this…"

"Game 7…"

Reice looks over at Violet, "Any bright ideas on how we'll beat the Sealions?"

Violet stands beside Azule and gives a worried glance from the side, "We were able to overcome them in game 6, but I can't assure you a plan from me will work again. Can you handle going into Midnight one last time?"

Azule staggers and holds his chest with a fired up grin appearing as his eyes twitch savagely, "One more time…? I'll end up like my sister at this rate!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Heh...even when I make a joke you take it too seriously. Don't worry, I can muster up another game, but I'm not sure how long I can hold it for."

"Then we'll get one shot to break them with Midnight. We should choose our strike wisely…"

Jory raises his hand, "If I may..." "I have an idea on how we can win this game with Midnight without playing it too close."

"We're listening-you have the floor…"

Game 7's venue of New Albacore Hotel welcomes both sides to a standing ovation as the pools were filled with jellyfish lounging around with inklings also present to watch the game live, many out of breath once they heard it could go to 7 games with the Rainmaker returning for both teams in the final. Welcomed to adoring team chants, both sides could feel the tension in the air as the pressure to be the winning side weighs heavy on their shoulders; only now were they feeling the expectations that their seniors were able to face. Interest renewed thanks to going a full 7 games, many spectators felt the rush of excitement that awaits them, hungry to see how this series will end. For the many watching around the continent like Siot, Shiore and others, their question had yet to be answered on Azule Royale and his team, but now they knew to watch out for another team of first years. For Sky and the Elites, they're proud to see that they're leaving the future of the school in good hands. Sally's nervousness from before vanished after witnessing their comeback in game 6; she has all the confidence in the world that her team will pull through. Only a few seconds left until the final game starts. Both sides could feel a cold sweat emerging as they swallow lumps realizing this is the end of the road for one of them: every moment counts. Azule, Violet, Reice, and Jory of Squidcom are in Blue and Todd, Sandra, Audrey, and Hannah of the Sealions are in Maroon for this final game on the rooftop. Will this moment be too big for them?

Ba-dump…

The Sealions exchange fist bumps and smiles with energy still left to burn, looking to shake off with the nervous tension with the optimism that's gotten them this far.

Ba-dump…

Squidcom's the opposite with everyone wearing a serious expression knowing that there are expectations they must live up to, a precious friend who has all her wishes on them to achieve victory.

Ba-dump…

"GO!"

The game begins. With the fatigue from the previous six games taking an effect now, both teams take a cautious approach to the Rainmaker with the knowledge that too much haste can make waste unless there's a proper strategy. For the Sealions, they're overly cautious after learning their lesson from the last game, and likewise did Squidcom in knowing better to rush in blindly for a fight. With each confrontation and skirmish between the teams, it felt like no team had yet grabbed a hold of lead with both sides splatting each other before the other could make an impact with the score nearly tied 85-89 in favor of Squidcom. After exchanging the Rainmaker a dozen times for small possessions, there's a break in the pattern as Squidcom's pace shifts. Azule's leading the pack on the attack of Sandra and the Rainmaker, effectively getting the Rainmaker after splatting her; Audrey and Todd were splatted beforehand and here comes Hannah as the last Sealion to make a defense. Azule, stops immediately and lets the others take over as he fires from afar to extend the lane he'll take. The crowd roars to life as finally there's a break in the deadlock with Squidcom on their way to extending the lead; the Sealions are reeling from that punch in the mouth as Squidcom widens the lead. Todd doesn't hesitate to get back to defense and hold them-his teammates doing likewise by following suit. Even though Squidcom was taking the fight to the Sealions, that didn't mean it was without effort as the attack dulled the longer the Sealions dragged out the game, prioritizing keeping Azule away from any openings where he'd use the distraction to gain more ground.

"Don't let them get any farther! Stand your ground!" Todd shouts furiously as Audrey gets hit heavily, but saved by the splash wall of Sandra.

"There's plenty of time…!"

Jory drops from above with a splashdown and gets a triple, but the attack doesn't work in favor since they took damages of their own with Azule getting splatted by the crossfire of Todd and Sandra, and Reice taking too much damage before he can recover. A chance opportunity for Todd, he bites on it and takes the chance-breaking the barrier swiftly and seizing the Rainmaker before Violet or Jory can. A stare down of high intensity, all three of them watch the other's movements: Todd's got his Rainmaker on Jory-locked and loaded, Violet's got her E-liter locked on Todd, and Jory's prepared to call Todd's bluff; a tense situation where one misstep could throw momentum in the opposite direction, the tedious move for Todd was to decide on how he'd survive the duo without wasting any more time than he already had. At this rate he could tell Squidcom wanted this the stare down to last long enough for Azule and Reice to come back and wrestle it away from him, but he also knew he had an advantage of his own in that he could surely splat Jory and possibly avoid Violet's deadly fire if he timed it right.

Everyone watches intently with silence quelling the frenzied crowd as they started to pick up on the critical moment occurring before them. Time is ticking ever so peacefully and yet some brutal violence was about to occur in the next moment….

Todd moves right. Jory moves forward. Violet fires. All three miss their mark as Todd narrowly escapes the leg shot of Violet and the attempt by Jory to trap him in enemy ink, managing to escape and quick fire to hop along and grab what little of turf he can before an inevitable splat by Jory approaches. Jory throws out a burst bomb and manages to catch the back of Todd, but that doesn't slow down the Sealions captain since he knew if he could just continue a little further he'd take the lead away from Squidcom. Violet's hot on his trial as well and based on the crushing pressure he felt, she wasn't going to miss her next shot.

Only a few more…

Todd extends his body forward and dives, avoiding another deadly shot from Violet, but this time his legs got hit in the aftermath of her explosive shot; A purposeful shot to slow him down, Violet showed her true sniper instincts and left the rest to Jory in anticipation of Sealions reinforcements coming.

"Captain!" Hannah screamed; Jory stops and notices the distraction, getting crushed from behind by Audrey with a roller.

Violet's stunned by the sudden turn of events, but has no time to think as Sandra's before her with all the force in her ink as she fires at her. A convincing message sent, Violet is splatted and Sandra capitalizes on the elimination of Squidcom's dangerous sniper. Todd fights back to his feet and gains support from Hannah and Audrey, who protect him as he shakes off the ink, then get joined by Sandra. They make their push now that everyone was taken down and manage get really far, taking the lead and extending all the way until 25 left until the goal. Squidcom returns and defends to make it difficult to push, but the resiliency of the Sealions prove stronger as they push through and wrestle all the way until they break 10 and reach 6; the score is 49-6 in the Sealions' favor. Squidcom doesn't let this dictate their pace however and comeback to bring the score to within a manageable battle, only to drop the Rainmaker on accident in the pool and reset. Under a minute remains in the game with the score 12-6 with the Sealions still leading. The Rainmaker barrier has reformed and both sides are desperate to claim it as they bring their full forces-4 on 4 about to occur in what will be a final battle of wills. There's no more fatigue and adrenaline courses through their veins with bloodshot eyes hungry for victory, at this stage in the game not single player felt the fear of defeat, only the hope for victory. Hannah reaches the Rainmaker for the Sealions while Jory reaches first for Squidcom, both firing at the barrier furiously to get the edge on the other; Audrey and Reice race past each other and look to attack the teams, Violet covers Jory while Azule takes on Audrey and likewise Reice battles Todd and Sandra. A showdown that lasts only a few seconds, it felt like an hour long fight as everyone moved at their maximum pace without a break in their continuous flow of movement. The maroon barrier explodes, and in an instant all three Squidcom members are wiped out with only Azule remaining. Once again it seemed like everything was falling apart as the Sealions somehow managed to out muscle Squidcom and break the barrier over them, but that left them all out of ink and in need to refill; lucky for Azule that he still had a relatively full tank.

It all comes down to this…

The plan that he constructed finally reached it critical moment as the opening he seeks landed right before him with his hair glowing midnight blue for the last time. The game on the on the line, their season riding on this moment, Azule unleashes Midnight mode at full blast once again. Immediately he feels his calves and thighs tighten up in extreme pain as he darts for the open Rainmaker; Todd and the others are stunned silent as they realized this was the last attack they'd see from Azule-one where he'll come at them with everything imaginable.

"The Rainmaker!"

"Get-"

Azule snatches the Rainmaker, his eyes sharpening as he raises his head and scans the area to the Sealions spread apart to surround him in a zone defense-these few seconds meaning everything as time ticked; if Azule held on, he could force overtime and win with numbers, but with the way his body was reacting, he knew there wasn't any time left for such a safe option. A page from the book of Sky and Sally, Azule throws caution to the wind and puts his body on the line-his resolve fortified to see this to the end and deliver a Finals appearance for his team: If anyone is going to send Squidcom to the Finals, it'll be their captain. From the people watching live to those at home or anywhere else, everyone were on their feet to witness greatness as the classic series approaches a climatic end. The Sealions are hesitant to meet Azule head on but know if they waste any time it'll be much worse with the others returning, and in an act of desperation and fear: they attack. Hannah's first, rushing at Azule with a cry of bravery and fear knowing this will hurt and correct she is as a massive ball of blue ink explodes from her position without warning. Immediately Todd realizes Azule charged up the Rainmaker and anticipated Hannah's speed and launched perfectly. He warns the others, but it's worthless. Azule's before Audrey and does a quickfire, catching her off guard until she stumbles into the pool behind her and falls over to her death. Sandra and Todd are spooked by Azule's possessed glare as he looks like a monster operating off his instincts.

"Todd, get back…" Sandra warns, looking back at him with a smile, knowing that she'll only be in his way if they try to defend him together. Instead she jumps in front of him and readies herself for the impact to give Todd time to run to the goal where he'll have to defend that goal with his life.

25 seconds remain on the game clock as the moment of truth finally arrives: Azule vs Todd. Todd stands before the goal with fire in his eyes knowing that his team went this far for his sake, knowing that more than anything he wanted to meet Azule on even grounds; Azule wanted to redeem the failure of last season by punching the ticket to uncharted territory for Squidcom. Which one of these proud captains would reach their goal?

"Amazing to think you still this much left, and now with both our teams gone this seems like the final moment…" Only a few meters stand between Azule and the goal guarded by Todd, and even where he is, he could try to settle for finishing just ahead of the Sealions, but Azule knew that wasn't enough-a knockout or nothing!

"You're amazing, Todd…"

"Waiting until we get to this point to say that is kind of lame don't you think?"

"I don't mean it that way. I meant that I find it amazing that there was someone who'd force me to push my body to this type of limit in a damn semifinal!"

"The feeling is mutual I guess…"

10 seconds left…

Azule's head jerks forward and his body follows, stopping with a slide and aiming his Rainmaker at Todd. Todd reads the direction and spots Azule's intention: Force him out the way and swim straight to the goal in hopes that he'd move out the way and clear a path. Todd however knew the fatal flaw in such a pathetic linear approach was that he'd leave himself open for a splat. Todd dodges the attack and goes left, immediately aiming for the path to the goal knowing Azule would have to swim in the ink to move fast enough to take the goal. But as he cuts off the goal and searches desperately for Azule to pop up as time is close to expiring, he's met by the unpleasant sight of a body launching in the air about to slam the Rainmaker on the goal.

"IT'S A KNOCKOUT!" someone shouts in the crowd, a whistle blowing right afterwards; Todd's stunned to the point that he falls to the ground and covers his mouth with genuine shock.

Azule towers from the top of the goal, then collapsing into the arms of his teammates. Finally, after months of hard training and overcoming different trials that pushed them to a different level of maturity, Squidcom managed to break the ceiling of their previous campaign and reach the finals at last. A welcoming cheer for Squidcom, everyone gives the Sealions a standing ovation with full respect to the efforts of the team that came up just short. Todd's helped up by Audrey and Hannah and immediately he brings them in for a hug and catches them by surprise, thanking them for their hard work until the bitter end. A moment later Sandra arrives and gets the same treatment. Over on Squidcom's end, it's all smiles as everyone's huddled together laughing together knowing the first hurdle was cleared. Todd and his Sealions approach and they break their huddle immediately to show their opponents respect.

Todd stops before Azule and they share a long stare. Todd gives him a nod, "You're the better one-for today."

"Anytime, anywhere. I'll beat you in every battle!" Azule winks.

"You were all terrific. It's been a pleasure to play against you." Sandra smiles.

"Good luck in the finals!"

"Make sure to win for us, too!"

Reice and Jory nod, Violet gives a sincere look of appreciation, and Azule beams with the promise that they'll win the finals. What started off as a battle of wills between two rivals turns into the blossoming of a new friendship. However, while friends were being made in the first semifinal, the second one told a different story as Kidvel prepares for Meta. Both sides are fired up in their own way after seeing the conclusion of the first match, and for Meta, they couldn't resist but try to disrupt their opponent's psyche. Finding the table where Kidvel were sitting, Mhiki leads his boy over to them in the hopes to get into their heads and throw them off their game, but as they reach the table, they notice the mood at the table was far more heavier than initially with Pastelle raring to go.

Mhiki thought this to be perfect, "Hey Kidvel, prepared for a stomping?"

"Leave." Nelson demanded in rough tone.

"You're wasting your breath by coming over here. Leave us alone?" Taylor added.

Mhiki eyebrows raise with a smug grin forming, "Huh? Why so passive? Scared we'll ruffle your feathers?"

Pastelle gives a devilish grin as she lowers her chin and sharpens her glare on Mhiki, "Oh? Got a lot of mouth for someone who'll be chum in a few moments."

Mhiki leans forward and raises his chin, "For someone who's always in Sky's shadow you got a lot of mouth now that she's gone. What's wrong? Think you're big enough to take out small fry when you yourself couldn't measure up?"

The other members of Kidvel rise, but Parker's the first one in Mhiki's face-the reflection in his glasses gone and replaced with deathly eyes, "I think you should turn around and get ready for the game…" he said in a deep tone, his expression matching perfectly as no nonsense would be tolerated by him.

Mhiki senses they weren't kidding, "Whatever! We're up next, boys. We'll show them what we're made of."

With game 2 upon us, Squidcom will await the fate of their opponents for the finals. Would it be their seniors? Kidvel, the other top team considered favorites to win it all. Or could Meta pull off the upset from third seed, winning under the radar to come this far. The answer lies in battle for the second semifinals of the playoffs!