At Mugil Arena where thousands are crammed for the highly anticipated nighttime duel between the spectacular 6th ranked Bluerings and the red-hot giant slayers Squid Academy, so much attention was brought towards the game that even Sultan Ruhtab himself announced he would be watching the match from his palace with his cast celebrity guests invited to view the match, sparking interest from those who had ignored the initial hype because they underestimated Squid Academy. There were a bountiful amount of players in attendance wearing their team gear, all of them curious about seeing how the group of death would conclude with this match serving as one of the deciding battles for the day. A hot matchup between two teams with very different stories, the question on everyone's minds was whether the underdog giant slayers could pull off yet another upset and punch a ticket to the knockout stage. With Kalebrough and Crystal Coast clinching the top two spots in the group of death, the final pair of open spots were up for grabs between four teams: the Bluerings, Titans, Baiji, and Squid Academy. So far the Bluerings sat in the third spot and could safely lock it up as long as the Titans lost their match today but the true tension was surrounding that final spot. In the fourth and final spot clinging on for dear life sat the Titans, who needed a win against Fujiro Industrial today or a Baiji defeat if they wanted to retain their position. Baiji and Squid Academy are in a predicament however as they needed to win their games and needed their rival teams to lose in order for them to grab the last spot, so in Baiji's case they needed a win and a Titans and Squid Academy loss to safely clinch the final spot and Squid Academy needed a win and a pair of losses from Baiji and the Titans to clinch the final spot.
A tedious scenario unfolding within the group of death as the climax approaches for the most entertaining group in the tournament, the chatter in the arena grew once the teams were ready to make their entrance. Support booms for both teams once they finally reveal themselves in their entrances, soaking in the cheers from their supporters as they head to the sidelines. Tense faces are worn on the players as they absorb their surroundings realizing this the biggest match of their tournament lives thus far. A harmonic song sung by the Squid Academy fanbase as they don their pink and blue, the supporters do chant led by Bianca and get rowdy. Pastelle follows up to their intensity by doing a rhythmic clap to their voices and hypes up the team to join in. Rocking their pink uniforms with blue trims once again, they prepare for their final group stage battle. The Bluerings supporters are also vocal about supporting their team, showing their confidence in their side by echoing C.C.'s prediction about inevitably winning four games with increasing noise. The Bluerings donning their Navy blue and yellow outfits with navy blue ink, they look raring to go as their mindset isn't worried about missing out on the knockouts but rather if they can get a good opponent for the next round. With the match almost ready to begin, many spectators were still filing into their seats for the prime time battle.
"We made it just in time, Canary!" Marigold said holding Canary's hand wearing the brightest look on her face searching for her brother down below; "I can't believe how many people are here!"
"This really is something…" Joseph said, leading the rest of the Galloway family.
Madelyn takes a look at the massive attendance and listens to the chants from the supporters of Squid Academy, "Reice was playing in this environment!? I heard on the way here that he's been playing great too!"
"Yeah, he's been a breakout star for them in this tournament. I've been watching all the games on the way here to get an idea for what they'll be going up against and it looks like he'll be a key player today too."
"Heheh, he's our little brother after all."
"Ah, there's our seats." Canary said after finding the designated seats for the family; in attendance to root on their son and brother, the Galloways are going to give their fullest attention to seeing what Reice and his teammates can do.
The game mode for the first round is clam blitz. The players are shaking off their nerves and doing whatever they can to keep focus and tune out the noise. Some of the Squid Academy players are jogging in place and bobbing their head in rhythm to the team fight songs playing, some of the Bluerings players are shadowboxing and doing their stretches. C.C. sat isolated wearing his headphones. Pastelle is dancing with the team. Frazzy boxes in a corner. Sky holds her weapon in her arms and immerses herself in the atmosphere. The last match of the group stage, all of the heavy hitters in this match are aware that this is the fight for their tournament lives. The stage set and the pressure built, the starting lineups are revealed on the big screen to overwhelming cheers. For the Bluerings, captain C.C. will carry with him to battle Frazzy, Polo, Evan, Ray, and Floyd. For Squid Academy, Pastelle will lead Sky, Violet, Reice, Aaron, and Todd as the starting lineup. The pulsing beat in their hearts thumping throughout their bodies like a drum as they make their way to spawn, it all comes to a halt the moment the audience dies down in anticipation of the whistle.
A cold sweat breaking, their reflexes are triggered once the whistle rings in their ears loudly.
The match has begun! Every player jumps to action escaping spawn with all of them taking different approaches for clam blitz. The Bluerings split up in priority of the clams while Squid Academy played a spread formation of three covering the zone of their goal and the other trio focused on attacking the enemy goal. A show that both teams did their homework on one another with how cautious they approached each other, it all came to a head once the attacking trio of Squid Academy encountered the Bluerings. Pastelle, Sky, and Reice pulled up and unleashed their sub weapons to blind the encroaching Bluerings. Polo, Evan, and Floyd were their opponents right now while the other trio were nowhere to be seen; right away Pastelle and Sky knew what the Bluerings were up to. Since it was early, more than likely they weren't going to bite on the tempting offer of advantageous numbers since they were aware that Sky and Pastelle could turn the tide of battle in an instant. The guns firing off decorating the surroundings in blue and pink, Polo and Evan pick up the pace nearing the enemy trio.
"Get to scrapping!" Polo shouts, sharply throwing a burst bomb that tags Reice a little bit.
Reice wears a fierce glare as he clutches his handle tightly and brings down his roller with a slam. Polo cuts to the left, aware that if he went backwards he would've been splatted; Reice's technique was so polished with a roller that he figured out a way to allow ink to travel further with a horizontal slam than the usual vertical flick-all coming down to the grip used. Polo noticed that change in grip at the last moment and made the necessary move, but he was far from being out of the clear as immediately following his slip out of Reice's attack led him right into Sky's range. His foot marked by the master markswoman, he warned the others nearby of her location just before she could get on the move. The Bluerings make the necessary adjustments and proceed with caution once they hear another thundering shot fire, all eyes scanning for where the gun fired from. A sight similar to what was on the battlefield, the tension builds as the Bluerings juggle between their objective and avoiding unnecessary casualties while elsewhere on the turf the battle heats up. Defending their goal with some few clams collected early on, Violet, Todd, and Aaron go into a triangle formation with Violet near the goal while Todd and Aaron cover some areas ahead but still kept within her line of sight so she could support them. A silent setting despite the noise of the audience, the trio are on their guard as they anticipate an enemy attack.
The battle already started with Pastelle and the others, so chances are they'll come at us looking to take an early lead as expected. We'll follow the strategy of keeping pressure on them but we can't simply hand them the lead. Time to see if they're worth their salt. Violet scans her surroundings with gun firing strays to mark paths of escape in case they ever rush; Here they come!
"Seven o'clock!" Todd shouts, jumping to action as a splat bomb arrives at his feet from six o'clock, spotting a shadow looking to enter from a different place.
"Diversion! Here they come!" Aaron warned, hearing additions guns set in.
A bomb rush with a blush, the trio of C.C., Frazzy, and Ray initiate combat wearing looks of hunger at the favorable situation presented. Aaron and Todd go on the defense while Violet works on creating as much mobility for the duo as possible, occasionally raising her reticle to take aim at the trio. The Bluerings trio proved to be slippery targets with how well they dodge, their movements were like shadows escaping the light in favor of darkness. C.C. heads for the goal where Violet stood with a power clam in possession, Frazzy took on Aaron, and Ray faced Todd. The audience reacts with roars of encouragement as the match gains its first casualties with both teams taking a hit early on. An exciting start to the match that had great implications on the group, the Bluerings got the first punch in the match with C.C. opening up the score with his power clam followed by a few thrown in for good measure from Ray while Frazzy got taken down in his battle. The lead swinging in favor of the Bluerings, Squid Academy went on damage control to protect the exposed goal. Reice pulls towards the goal ignoring the danger of Ray and heads straight for C.C. while Aaron keeps him busy. C.C. chucks a few more clams in the goal to widen the lead aware of Reice approaching like a freight train. Reice knew that no matter what, he couldn't allow the Bluerings to escape early on or else the strategy would be worthless. Putting up a fight to save themselves from falling into a deep hole, Squid Academy's reinforcements arrived-and so did the reinforcements for the Bluerings to make it an all-out team battle. Though the Bluerings had the better firepower, the experience of Sky and Pastelle kept the squad together and after a difficult few seconds of defending, were able to successfully protect the score gap from widening. Their efforts however wouldn't last long as immediately following the goal closing, a power clam from Polo burst the goal once more and widened the lead in an instant. A pair of emphatic strikes with the force of a blast, the Bluerings built a considerable lead in the opening minute and had Squid Academy reeling. The reaction from the audience full of energy as neutrals and Squid Academy fans try to rally the inklings in pink while the fans of the Bluerings sing and shout donning their royal blue and yellow attire in support of their team extending the lead, the battle on the turf rages on as the teams rotate between isolated and team duels with the Bluerings looking to go for the knockout while Squid Academy played active but held to a more conservative approach. A few moments passing since they conceded back to back in the opening minute, Squid Academy finally creates a spark to uplift their side following the heroics of Todd and Aaron, who launched their pair of power clams to squash the lead in a single attempt with help from Violet's extra clams.
At the moment, Pastelle and the rest of Squid Academy are locked in a team battle near the Bluerings goal thanks to the recent push made by the squids in pink. The duration of the first round is at the halfway mark but the score is still in Bluerings favor. Pastelle, Aaron, and Violet are currently battling it out in a team battle against Ray, Floyd, and Evan. Nearby in a scrap of their own were Reice and Frazzy, whose personalities clashed after seeing what the other was capable of early on, and the final battle-perhaps the most important was one that brought everyone out of their seats as they finally met in a one on one battle: C.C. and Sky. Cannon-like strikes fire from the barrel of Sky's charger only to be smoothly dodged by the shuffling C.C. who didn't even bother to transition into Squid form or hide in the ink, simply jumping and dodging at the right moment and firing in between the openings. Sky wasn't afraid to meet him however, closing the gap as well ready for a skirmish. In a matter of seconds, the duel begins with splashes and bursts of blue and pink splattering everywhere to hide the pair. The audience goes wild. The shadows of the blasting ink loom over the pair as the concept of time is removed upon encounter, the two of them able to hear the other's heartbeat and breathe in this very moment, the tension gets sucked out of the air as they aim at one another. Shots fired simultaneously behind the dual waves that crash in an instant, the very next moment has both of them drenched in the other's ink and at critical damage. Like an exchange between a pair of gunslingers at the strike of high noon, Sky and C.C. welcomed the other with a deadshot. The damage is too much for either to stay alive and they subsequently bow out immediately to their spawn points.
That's one of the top 5 players in the world huh? Sky thought returning to spawn.
I understand why there's so much hype around her. C.C. thought returning to his spawn point.
This should be good. Their thoughts sync, interested in facing the other once more.
Their selfish desires would have to wait however as the first round proved to be a heavy team battle oriented contest as whoever took advantage with numbers in the team battles subsequently scored right afterwards and at the moment the Bluerings still hold the lead comfortably by at least two possessions although Squid Academy's defending has gotten better with time. The current scenario has Squid Academy looking to light a spark with a comeback but the Bluerings are piling on the pressure with their blitz rush and stack of clams ready to breath goal once more, having nearly enough firepower to grab a knockout if they stay alive. From an observer's perspective it was clear that the Bluerings were in control and far from danger with how well they've been playing and the coordination in their attacks despite how well Squid Academy adapted to their offensive schemes. The main problem for the inklings in pink was generating a counterattack to make a comeback, finding themselves always having to act on the defense with little time to create a run of their own. A back and forth contest detailed by the tenacious efforts of Pastelle and Sky doing their utmost to keep Squid Academy in the mix, the next moments lead to the moment everyone was waiting for: the critical play. Up to this point, Reice did well to anchor the defense with the help of Violet and on the offense, the trio of Pastelle, Todd, and Aaron challenged the Bluerings with their team attacks; Sky on the other hand took on the responsibility of causing a commotion and went on tears taking on the entire Bluerings squad and managing to always drag a couple down with her to tilt the numbers in her team's favor, but C.C. made sure to return the favor by matching the kills. A competitive turnout between the two stars, their teammates got caught in the crossfire as well. Down a single possession with a couple power clams on their side, Pastelle knew now was the right time to make their attack after noticing a pattern the entire round. Since they were in the lead the entire time and had the comfort of multiple possession leads, they always took their foot off the gas pedal at certain instances and in her team's case, they always seemed to be a beat off sync from hitting the sweet spot and stunning them. But with a fair amount of time remaining she knew that this wasn't a team to gamble with in overtime, deciding that now was the best time to attack whether there was an opening or not. The four in front of them nearby the goal are Floyd, C.C., Frazzy, and Polo while the other pair weren't anywhere to be seen. A chance to break through the core and possibly make a comeback wasn't without its problems however as Floyd's defensive presence was arguably the best on the team, Frazzy and Polo had tremendous balance that allowed them to always stay on their toes, and C.C. was a freak of nature that even Pastelle had trouble dealing with on her own. To combat this troublesome squad, Pastelle, Todd, Reice, and Violet were there to bring the attack with a load of power clams they built up for this very moment and as the two teams neared with the Bluerings goal just in sight, the objective for Squid Academy was to survive and light the spark for the big turnaround. The two teams engaging in battle, everyone holds their breath in anticipation of seeing how the next few moments will unfold. Pink jerseys move erratically in response to the attacks unloaded by those in blue, all of them careful not to leave themselves exposed but too far out of range to ruffle the feather of the Bluerings.
Attack after attack, it felt like striking a saber against a wall expecting to make a dent with only lunges. No matter what they tried to do on the offensive with their dive attacks, the Bluerings had an answer and forced them to prioritize their safety than the recklessly attempt to score-aware that Squid Academy's options are running thin. With the time winding down inevitably, Pastelle is forced to make a decision as captain as right now the squad she has are the only ones that can make a difference with Sky and Aaron out further behind to keep tabs on their goal. A last gasp attempt for a breakthrough, Pastelle throws caution to the wind and readies to make a sacrifice knowing that it'll be unlikely all four of them can stay alive; after crunching the numbers she knew with at least the couple power clams from Reice and Todd they were sure to take down the bonus and erase the lead, but it'd be all up to the nine clams Violet possessed that'd make the difference and with the power clam she's holding that she'll likely lose in the sacrifice, one of the others can retrieve it and turn everything around. Once she saw that slither of a path to victory, she knew she had to take a gamble. An extra hop in her step and a sharpness in her glare, she darts into the blue crossfire. As long as she can reduce the enemy numbers, she trusts her juniors to clutch it out. A dodge to the left and then to the right, Pastelle counts the bodies in front of her and maps out how she'll take them down to ease the burden for the others. The nearest one Frazzy rushes over to intercept her but soon realizes that she was waiting for him to make that terrible error. Splatting him in an instant, Pastelle follows up by sliding under the fire of Floyd and splatting him on the recovery, instantly turning to her immediate right to tag Polo as well for a triple splat in a matter of a couple seconds. The crowd roaring as they just witnessed possibly the play of the game, Pastelle turns her sights to C.C. who was already in transition to track her. Glad to see that the prideful captain of the Bluerings even had his moments of carelessness, she caught a glimpse of Todd and Reice out the corner of her peripheral and knew that at the speed they're moving they can take the goal once C.C. commits to her. But a wide grin from C.C. and a halt in his step and Pastelle realized in a split second that her plan just hit a roadblock: he knew what she was planning. An after-image left behind, Pastelle's jaw drops once she saw him splat the pair in a moment's notice.
Did he…!? A look of bewilderment present as she saw her thread of hope snipped, it all gets worse as she notices the signatures of Aaron and Sky disappear on the map followed by the announcement that their goal had been breached.
Her legs getting heavy as a dozen thoughts rush through her mind on what to do: retaliate, regroup, concede, or go all in for a desperate attack; she hears the worst possible notification imaginable. The whistle blew. The knockout arriving a few moments after getting broken, the elimination of the Sky and Aaron on the sweep was just what Ray and Evan were looking for to seal the deal and end the round before Squid Academy caught wind and stirred up the nest more than they already had. An overwhelming cheer for the Bluerings from their supporters as they win the first round as expected, the answer from Bianca and the boisterous Squid Academy side was full of defiance knowing this was a long match far from over-they won't yield when they're so close to tasting a spot in the knockouts. With one round in the books, how the teams adjust for the rest of the match laid in the hands of their respective coaching staff. For Fuchsia, Kosami, Cobalt, Tangie, and the rest of the Squid Academy coaching staff, their fight begins now as they must find an answer to C.C. and the Bluerings.
