Today marks the first day of the first week leading up to Nationals, with teams everywhere beginning their preparation for the big tournament of the summer. The regimen for teams varied with some teams already training, whereas others were creating and running several schemes and formations to decide what proves effective at the big dance and in some cases, teams were also studying their previous games seeking improvement in areas they were lacking, and some were instead studying opposing teams on their radar as a potential threat. There isn't a dull moment for any of the teams as they eagerly await the grand event. In the case of the Inkopolis teams, some members were also at work even on a school day. Gin of Beacon Hills was out doing his usual run, but this time at the crack of dawn in hopes to get back in time for a shower and head to his classes. An intense session, he's running himself ragged by pushing his stamina to the limit with every step-at the crack of dawn when the sun splits the dark sky, he'd have to find his way home. Around that same morning elsewhere, Jin is also in the middle of a morning run, both brothers using the morning run as motivation. For Gin, he saw this upcoming tournament as a chance to cement his legacy after an underwhelming performance in the spring; if he could erase their failures with a successful campaign, then all would be forgiven. In a similar line of thought, Jin was more concerned about himself than anything else, seeing these solitary moments as a way to reflect on his mistakes and find ways to mature and ascend to a higher level. One brother seeks validation, and the other seeks ascension to the next level; it was that type of drive that separates those who have the talent to reach greatness, and those who actually achieve greatness.
Speaking of greatness, over in Squid Academy a little later that day…
It starts with a groan from Fuchsia after she made great progress on completing a grand list of suitable players for recruiting. Somehow she managed to multitask her work in class while also shrinking the list of potential players, doing so with such concentration that when the time for lunch, she hastily wrote down the names on a sheet of paper. What is on this list, one might wonder? Well, the names were all some of the best players in the school and were all teams that made late runs in the Rank War playoffs and left quite the impression on her. When she brought up the list to Cobalt and Tangie, she had such a gleam that they weren't sure what she was thinking with some of the players on the list and could only be supportive in her judgment as the team's coach. Indeed, it made sense to include teams like Kidvel and the Sealions, who gave Squidcom some of their toughest battles ever, but other names really had them raising an eyebrow in disbelief at how she could ever consider them as an option; the captains of Legion, Mayhem, and the Rebels were all chosen by Fuchsia as potential players worthy of recruitment. After tallying up the names she found that after adding these players along with the rest on the list, they met just the bare minimum of having a roster of 16 players. Surprisingly, this is the easiest part. The difficult part came down to how they could get them to join their side; after all, these were rival teams that might hold grudges against the team of first years for their accomplishment. A discussion held together out on the rooftop with the lovely skyline as the backdrop for them to view while they munch on their meals, Fuchsia gives her trio of staff a rundown of the plan. Cobalt and Tangie listened carefully while Kosami jotted down some notes, hanging onto every word spoken. Fuchsia made it imperative that this information doesn't leak since if word got out, a plethora of unnecessary scrutiny would occur from everyone trying to join the club to mild panic from the fans as well as red flags raised for other teams scouting them for intel-an absolute mess just to imagine! In addition, Fuchsia also wanted to know how to split up their forces for tackling the tasks since they were limited in hands and wanted to their best avoid bothering the others who were focused on training at the Inkopolis square. A discussion follows with everyone nabbing at the popular names on the list like Pastelle and Parker, and then there's also Todd, who despite his prickly nature was such an appetizing addition that none of them wanted to pass up on expending their efforts to grab him quickly. However, this recruiting wouldn't be easy under the pretext Fuchsia established-it had to be lowkey and in secret, which might prove troublesome with class scheduling conflicts. Azule and Violet chime in with their input after being busy with their own tasks; Azule was busy with his scouting on enemy teams and Violet was also doing scouting-more so on team composition and tactics of select teams that caught her eye as a player whereas Azule dedicated his attention to picking apart every single team in the competition, dedicating all his mental strength to finding exploits and setting up counterattacks-frankly looking like a possessed spirit with his unbreakable concentration. As the lead sniper of the team, Violet's personal objective was to become a master of all charger weapons and carry the load left behind by Sally. Not only did she want to strike fear in her opponents through insane skill behind the reticle, but she wanted variety to such a degree that when the tournament rolls around, she can punch her opponents in the mouth and leave them reeling. This yearn for adaptability also stems from what she heard about a certain talented captain of school called Dango High that misssed the top 25 narrowly. They were ranked up high and had a great record to show for but just came up short towards the end, but their talent is fierce. Their top quartet consists of three charger users who each had a talent that set them apart from others in their weapon class, and then there was the captain, whose a user of every class but master of none-a true jack of all trades. She found it unbelievable that a team of such a composition went as far as they did but saw that they more than just a mindless group acting on their own, and rather, operated under such precision and efficiency that it was an insult to simply call them good. It placed into perspective just how difficult the road ahead would be for her as she'll be expected to step it up further than what she showed in recent memory and become the elusive second option to support her captain in Sally's absence. Further engrossed in picking apart the team, Violet's thrown off her concentration as someone announces their presence with a bang-quite literally.
The door to the rooftop burst open as a certain blonde inkling shouts from the top of her lungs, "Heya Squidcom! Whatcha up to?" Bianca asks entering the picture with a boisterous laugh and the company of Reice and Jory, still feeding off the exciting atmosphere.
"Oh, it's Bianca! Just the right person I wanted to speak to." Fuchsia said clapping her hands and hurrying over to Bianca; it was already noisy before, but now it was a little too much for Violet as she could barely hear herself think, not that it was too much a bad thing, enjoying the extra company and the light environment.
"Really? That's wild!" Bianca responds after being told the situation at hand; "Are you sure you want me on board?"
"You're one of us, remember?" Reice elbowed, followed by Jory nodding.
"W-well, if you say so…" she chuckles; "But how am I supposed to help the staff? I'm not the best for turf wars."
"Right now we're recruiting some more members for the team, but we're figuring out how to approach them. We can't really just walk up to them with witnesses around. If word gets out about our predicament, it'll only strain everything."
"I understand. I'm guessing you'd like someone who knows the ins and outs of the campus and who might know a mutual?"
"I'd greatly appreciate it!" she said clapping her hands together with a nod.
Right away she agrees, officially joining Squidcom on their hunt to build a team for Nationals. The plan for recruiting continued with everyone selecting which player they thought they could do their best to convince, and even Azule and Violet joined in the discussion to make a pitch for who they believed they could persuade to join the team. Thus far, Azule felt confident that he could get Todd to join since they were rivals-though the others found his reasoning to be quite far off the mark; Violet was confident she could recruit Mason and Evelyn, which left the rest of the field open. Pastelle was on the table, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen so far, which meant the next best option was Parker, which Azule knew was a perfect target to persuade since his addition meant the entirety of Kidvel would likely follow and that'd be a huge help.
"Then to the arcades we go! Hey Jory, you wanna tag along?" Azule said pointing to the octoling.
"Sure! But why me?"
"Nothing particular, I just thought it'd be cool to catch up on the way there. I feel like we don't interact as much, you know?"
"Go along with him." Fuchsia joins, pointing to her list; "A certain someone usually visits a certain arcade at a certain time. If there is a happenstance where the two of you just so cross them, there is a chance we could have them join our team. Wink wink?"
"Because if two fellow players go, it'll be easier to convince them?" Jory said, almost catching her drift.
"Most certainly." Azule adds.
"Stop that." Jory replied in an annoyed tone.
Fuchsia flashes a smile, "Reice is too clumsy for negotiating and Violet already has her hands full. Can I count on you?"
"Clumsy?" Reice's murmured, replaying her comment in her head with a disturbed look.
"My hands are indeed preoccupied." Violet nods.
"H-hey! I'm not clum-"
"Can you do this for me, Jory?" Fuchsia asks, cutting Reice off.
"Alrighty, I'll do it."
A sound plan, the pair go to the arcade after school in hopes of recruiting their first ever non-Squidcom teammate. Luckily for them the arcade they were hitting up wasn't too far from Inkopolis Square nor was it a frequent spot for students since the hotspot arcade was available in the underground mall of the Inkopolis square, which meant they didn't have to worry about any witnesses. Before heading in they grabbed a quick bite at a local food truck and discussed a lot on the way there to keep things from getting too awkward; even though they are friends within the group, there are instances where certain friends speak to another quite less, which was them in this case since Jory mostly spoke with Fuchsia and Violet. Lately, Jory had been learning more about his style and wanted some pointers from Azule, admiring him for his dedication to improve. After playing a bigger role in the spring, Jory felt much more comfortable as Squidcom's role player-committed to fulfilling any role the team needed on any given day. On a roster that includes a master charger user, a defensive specialist, a super captain, and a generational talent for an ace, he initially found it unnerving that there wasn't much he could contribute to make him stand out with his repertoire. That process of thinking changed in the tournament however, where he shined his brightest in many situations, even easing the burden off the others by becoming a threat that opponents became weary of. He wanted to take that to the next level as a player who could bluff the entire time and still keep their opponent on their toes, he knew he was capable of it thanks to how unpredictable he played when paired with the others, but now he wanted to become a star of his own. Azule liked that mentality, appreciating Jory's drive to find something that he can truly call his own. As a captain, he was a fine listener in absorbing everything Jory said, rather letting him bounce his thoughts and formulate his own opinions rather than give input of his own that might conflict with what he already decided. Ending the conversation on a high note with Jory arriving at his answer and focus for training, the two arrive at the arcade and lo and behold, the target is sighted. His reddish orange head is impossible to miss with its blazing brightness, belonging to none other than Parker of Kidvel. As of this moment, he's playing some fighting game, mashing the buttons automatically with his face glued to the screen-his concentration is impeccable as not even the noisy background hinders him. They watch him win the first found followed by utter domination in the second round where he lands a T.O.D. from the beginning after the opponent landed a couple strikes. The moment the fight ends and they see the tension burn away from his body as he shifts to a cooldown, they make their move. First looking at each other with a nod, they wear surprised looks and call his name.
"Azule!" Parker's face brightens with a surprised smile, waving to the pair before pointing a finger at the octoling with a confused look; " And-uh…?"
"It's Jory, nice to meet you."
"Likewise, I'm not too great with names so I apologize if we've met."
"It's fine." Jory shakes his head, still maintaining a beaming look.
Parker looks over to Azule, "Weird seeing you at this spot."
"Really? I love games! Wanna go a couple rounds?" he elbows the senior second year wiggling his eyebrows, hoping to persuade him.
Parker shakes his head, "Oh no, I just meant I haven't seen you at this particular arcade. I kind of make it my personal little getaway whenever I'm not with Pastelle-is all, I'm not used to seeing people from school come here since there are other places."
"I feel that. We all like our own little getaway. And hey, speaking of getaways…" Azule wraps his arm around his shoulders; "About Nationals…"
"Oh yeah! Congratulations on that! When I saw the reveal I was so elated, I forgot to even send you a message." He beams, shaking the captain's hand with gratitude and continuing on about how much fun it was to face them in the last competition and watch them bloom into something special during the spring tournament.
"About that…" Azule mumbled, getting cold feet after getting put on a pedestal by his senior.
"About what?" he responds swiftly, oblivious to the nervousness of Azule, who struggled to put his thoughts into words.
Jory steps in, "At Nationals, we need a roster of at least sixteen players. It's a requirement, you see."
"We know you're a member of Kidvel, but we'd like to formally ask for your participation as part of Squid Academy's team." Azule adds, finally able to continue thanks to Jory breaking the wall.
"Oh…" Parker's voice deflates.
Azule can already see what his answer might be based on how his face looked, but it's now or never. "We really need a team for this tournament or else our spot will be given away. It might seem pompous of us to ask someone who we defeated to feel like they're just tagging along, but I think this is a sign of something bigger! It means that destiny has it that whoever made it far enough still needed the help of the others-I mean, we all attend the same school and have the same goal in mind, so it shouldn't matter which side goes as long as it means one of us makes it."
Parker's deflated look turns to a smirk finding amusement in his attempt to avoid mincing his words, "You're a blunt one huh, Royale?" he laughs, signaling them to follow him away from the main room where people could eavesdrop; still a vigilant player despite his easy going personality, he led them to the upper floors where barely anyone ventured, mostly for comics and board games. After sitting them down, his happy look turns to that of disappointment. "I'm thankful for the offer, but I can't jump the gun. I can't make a decision without Pastelle's permission since she's the team captain. She's been away for a while now, and while I do believe everyone would be on board with joining, we can't just move without hearing what she might have to say."
"Ah, I understand." Azule answered with a lowered head, accepting the stinging rejection; "We won't press on it, it's just that we need a decision before the week ends since that's the deadline."
Parker crosses his arms with an uncomfortable look in response, "That's tough. Though I'd love to make a run at Nationals, principle comes first."
An unsuccessful attempt at recruiting quite the talented Parker, Azule and Jory accept it as a pending decision and return to the campus; informing the others on their failure through the group chat, the pair head their separate ways to start fresh on the next day. Even though it is temporary, the pressure is dialed up a notch as an entire day passes without any new additions, and as such they are stuck with their initial roster of five members and a need for eleven more. Azule drags his feet after parting ways with Jory, his mind turning heavy now that he had some solitude in his walk back to the dorms. Stepping foot inside, he senses a familiar presence as he spots an individual wearing a bobble hat sitting down in the lounge looking from left to right as if expecting someone. Before he could even utter her name or even think, his body moved on its own. As she gets up to look around after checking her watch, she spots him out the corner of her eye and flashes a blinding smile with open arms; in an instant, he's wrapped in her warmth and once again the siblings reunite-though it's been a little under a month since the last time they saw each other. Neither of them said a word and rather let the tightness of grasp on the other do the work; they both had been through a lot, and it was at times like this that they remembered just how irreplaceable they were to one another; luckily the lounge was empty since most students were in their rooms already, or else this heartwarming moment might become embarrassing.
"Thank goodness." Azule whispered.
"Zule?" Sky lets him go with a curious look.
"You had me worried!"
Sky blushes and chuckles, "Really? Perhaps I should do this more often-"
"Just kidding, who'd miss you?" Azule smirks deviously.
"Oh, got some talk for me, eh? Take this!"
Sky puts him in an abdominal stretch and applies more pressure; Azule taps out immediately. An attempt to lighten the mood, Sky knew to expect plenty of catching up to do in the coming days, but before she could put her thoughts together, Azule had something on his mind he wanted to share with her. Instead of going to his dorm where the others were, the siblings went for a walk around the campus and stayed vigilant to avoid eavesdroppers. Sky looks her brother sideways before starting to tear up a little bit as she remembered Hatu's final words, thanks to him, she understood the gift of life and to cherish every moment with the people she loves. Azule started by sharing his experience in Ravia and of everything that went down from the ordeal at the conference to the deaths of Spyke and Annie; Sky gave her condolences and in turn told him about the progress of Octaria and the coronation of Shiva as the next ruler of Octaria, also mentioning that she lost many comrades, and telling him everything about Hatu, who she wished he could have met. After a few moments of silence, the pair segway from that topic to avoid reopening the wounds. Azule filled her in on the big news, and from her stunned expression, it looked like no one informed her about much to his surprise. Initially overjoyed to learn her little brother could compete at Nationals, her smile disappears once he mentions the stipulation behind it.
"That's some hill you have to climb!"
"I know right? We can't just raise an entire team out of nowhere, but hey, if that's the price for going to Nationals, I'll take it."
"Hm. That octoling man also put his job on the line-quite the trust he's placing in a gremlin like you."
"You and your jokes…"
"Come on, you know I do it out of love."
After a brief moment, Azule finally breaks the silence. "You know, I never forgot about the Winter championship final."
Sky's face relaxed, remembering the traumatic defeat. "That makes two of us; was it a good learning experience?"
"It opened my eyes, sis. Before that tournament, I thought lightly of everything. I dismissed the sport as just something to do for fun and was arrogant for no reason. When I saw that even you and your carefree nature fought with so much desperation, I felt inspired. The way you pushed beyond your limits in that final-the ferocity in your eyes as you clashed with Beacon Hills, just thinking about it gives me chills. I felt like I was watching an instant classic." Sky didn't know what to say at that moment, since she remembered the sensation of that day, how her body felt, how cold the air and environment were, and how relentless Gin and his squad were in taking her down; "It was because of that day that I found my drive, my goal, my purpose. I wanted vengeance for what Beacon Hills did, I wanted to return the favor and break their hearts the same way they crushed your spirit. I wanted to make them feel raw defeat ever since they hoisted that championship-"
"-And you did, Zule. You beat them." she smiled, proud to see how far he's come.
"But still, that wasn't enough. I learned in that tournament that it takes more than simply going all-out. If one wants to achieve greatness, to reach the top, they need to dedicate more than just time and effort-their whole soul has to get into their craft. So, I vow to build a team for Nationals, for a chance to rewrite everything: the drought in this school, your failures, and mine. I'll make this a tournament to remember. I know it won't be easy, and I'll probably get hurt in the end, but it'll all be worth it. I guess what I'm trying to say is...please watch me, sis. I'm going to do great things!"
She's perplexed by the words coming out of his mouth, feeling as though she was speaking to another person with the aura he possesses. He wasn't the naive little brother she knew anymore, but instead speaking like a true captain that had conviction and the experience to accompany. His tone is so calm that it's difficult to dismiss his claims as baseless, and it based on how relaxed he looked, she found it contagious. At that moment, Sky felt an incredible jolt through her body as she hid a frown. She wanted to feel proud and be in awe of the greatness of brother's rise but instead she felt guilt, regret, and a bitterness that could only be described as jealousy. What her brother is doing is what she should've been doing, the growth of his game-that discipline, it's what she should've done in the years she had with the team. Instead, she foolishly gambled her career away and thought being serious at the last moment would mean something to an opponent that worked far harder than her to reach that level. A little agitated by his words, Sky understood what she felt in her heart. "Well, I should get going." she says abruptly to end the conversation, preferring to head home and sort out her feelings.
"Yeah, thanks for coming by. I appreciate it, really." he beams, giving her another hug.
"You're my little brother! I'll always be there for you, no matter what." she said with conviction, the final words of Hatu ringing in her mind.
She lets him go and makes her exit, the warm expression disappearing as she walks away and instead replaced by a cold and thoughtful one. She'll need to process everything from her thoughts to her raw emotions and think about what comes next. For Azule, he recalled that winter day and felt that sensations flash in his body yet again. The braves of the winter, the heat from the tension of battle, the desperation for victory; he'd face something similar in the blazing heat of the summer where the rays sap away one's energy and the teams can break someone if they aren't well prepared. Now that everything is in the past, he turns his gaze forward and prepares for the brutal summer ahead.
