A few grueling months later into their senior year, the Auradon High gym continuously erupted with cheers from the first half of the Tourney grudge match between the Auradon Knights and the Sherwood Falcons. With this being the championship game, everyone sat at the edge of their seats, anticipating the outcome.

The cheerleaders for both Tourney teams lead the audience in cheers for their respective side. Jane Paxton, who managed to become cheer captain at the start of the school year, did a marvelous job keeping her fellow classmates excited to cheer for their team.

But on the field, the players didn't pay attention to any of the background sounds.

All they could hear was the sound of their own breathing and the occasional grunt from blocking shots, rebound, and racing through the Kill Zone.

In the midst of all the chaos, Auradon Knights' captain, Ben Adams, took a deep breath to calm his nerves and his growing temper. Pushing the hair out of his eyes—or at least, the best he could while wearing a helmet—Ben spared a moment to glance at the scoreboard.

Twenty-four for the Auradon Knights . . . and thirty-seven for the Sherwood Falcons.

Only a few seconds left of the quarter. Maybe he could stall long enough to—

Swoop!

Someone stole the ball from him! Before Ben could have the chance to process what just happened, the player managed to hurl the ball across the field, scoring yet another goal—

Just as the buzzer rang, signaling the end of the first half of the game.

As the team members piled into the locker room, they refused to look at Head Coach Adams—Ben's father—already knowing his face would be a raging purplish-red from witnessing the 'poor playing' he warned about earlier. Several players took a seat on the benches, slumped over with exhaustion. Others leaned on their lockers, trying their hardest not to look discouraged.

Every players' eyes turned to look at Ben. With his back against his own locker, Ben carefully removed his shoe, having twisted his ankle twice during the beginning of the first quarter. Beast refused to pull him out, so Ben had to go the entire first half of the game with a throbbing ankle, limping as he ran. Grabbing the bandages he kept hidden in his locker, Ben quickly wrapped his ankle before his father could catch him.

Wincing in pain as he shoved his swollen foot back in his shoe, Ben shared a look with his co-captain, Jay Arabia, both knowing whatever the coach had to say won't be good. The two other seniors, Gil Playfair and Carlos Rose, looked glum about the verbal lashing everyone would receive, and one of the two hadn't had a chance to play on the field yet.

A few moments later, Coach Adams entered the room with Assistant Coach Gaston Playfair, Gil's father, trailing close behind him.

Back before Dragon Hall was disbanded, Gaston used to coach Jay, Carlos, andGil when they were in middle school. At the beginning of this school year, Gaston applied for the coaching position so he could spend more time with his son before he would graduate. With the two being childhood friends, Mr. Adams's put in a good word with the principal, which allowed Gaston to get the coaching job.

It was thanks to Coach Gaston that Tourney felt less tense and stressful that school year since he could talk the 'Beast' down from any of his anger fits while coaching.

Coach Adams angrily tossed his clipboard to the side, causing some of the players to flinch. "Forget the scoreboard," he demanded, his face only a light shade of pink at the moment. "Sixteen minutes left in the game, in the season. For the seniors on the squad, sixteen minutes left to impress the college scouts watching the game."

"Then let all the seniors play," Jay snapped in irritation. He knew he should have kept his opinion to himself, but he was too tired to care at the moment. "Carlos has worked his ass off the entire season. He shouldn't have to let it all go to waste. You have never given him a chance to prove himself because you never put him in a game. Put him in this one and see what he can do."

Glaring at the teenager with his cheeks returning to their dark red color from before, Coach Adams declared, "As long as I have a say, de Vil—"

"Rose," Ben interrupted forcefully, locking eyes with his father. "His name is Rose, not de Vil. How many times do we have to tell you that?"

"He," Beast decided, his way of establishing his authority, "won't get the chance to ruin the team's chances of winning the championship."

The coach stormed out a moment later, believing doing so would prevent any protests about the situation.

Sighing softly, Coach Gaston turned to look at his players, hoping he could try to raise their spirits. "I will see what I can do to change his mind," he reassured the group. "But the next sixteen minutes are going to stay with all of you for a long time after you leave Auradon High. Don't end the night regretting anything that you did or didn't do."

Surprisingly, Carlos chuckled as a thought came to mind. "There is only one thing I want to do tonight," he claimed. "And that is seeing Chad Charming's face after we win."

His teammates smiled at the idea. Chad Charming had transferred to Sherwood that year and obnoxiously bragged before the game started that his school would beat the Auradon Knights. If they could win, seeing Chad's angered expression would be worth more than any championship trophy.

"That's the spirit," Coach Gaston joked, before reminding once more, "Sixteen minutes to show everyone what I know you are capable of. Now, what team?"

The players' grin grew even wider. The assistant coach started a new tradition all of them liked, except for Coach Adams because it made them seem like a bunch of barbarians—

Which is why they liked it even more.

"Auradon Knights!" they yelled back in unison.

Gaston stepped forward as he held out his right hand, shouting even louder than before, "What team!"

Ten hands joined his in the middle of a circle, shouting so loudly it rattled the roof, "AURADON KNIGHTS!"

Their hands flew into the air. Then, the teammates burst out of the locker room, down the Hallway of Champions, and back into the gym with the assistant coach following. After Coach Gaston's reassuring pep talk and rousing cheer, they were more than fired up.

The Auradon Knights knew one thing as the second half of the game started: if they wanted to win, they had to go full throttle. From the moment they hit the field, that's exactly what they did.

Ben was everywhere on the field, motioning his teammates to follow the plays they had practiced for months. The game raged on with the Auradon Knights piling up points. Coach Adams paced on the sidelines, matched step for step by the Sherwood Falcon coach. Coach Gaston sat next to the players on the bench, shouting words of encouragement to those who played.

As the scoreboard counted down the last few minutes of the game with the score now tied, the action got even more heated. As Ben had the ball passed in to him, an opposing player came behind him without him knowing. Using their Tourney stick, the player swung at Ben's feet, knocking him to the ground. Caught off guard by the sudden impact, Ben had no chance to catch himself as he plummeted to the ground, banging his head against the field—

Hard.

Ben couldn't hear the referee blowing his whistles or the wave of gasps that overtook the audience. He could barely comprehend that someone was dragging him toward the sideline, when they really shouldn't have moved him. He could make out a few people talking above him, jerking away when someone tried to remove his helmet. He didn't want anyone touching him. He just wanted his—

"Mal!" Coach Gaston shouted.

On the Auradon High's side of the audience, all eyes turned to a beautiful purple haired girl with striking green eyes. As soon as the assistant coach motioned for her, Mal ran as fast and as safely as she could down the bleachers, the skirt of her purple dress swaying as she hurried down the steps.

Back in middle school, Mal used to be the 'medic' of the Tourney team because Dragon Hall couldn't afford to hire a nurse for the school. She could diagnose and patch up any simple injuries from a scrap to a sprained ankle to even a small concussion.

Once she made it to the sidelines, Mal sat cross-legged on the ground, placing Ben's head in her lap. Carefully, she removed his helmet, revealing his blue-green eyes, which brightened upon seeing her.

"My Mal . . ." Ben mumbled softly. "Can't you give me True Love's Kiss to make me better?"

Giggling at his abnormal behavior, Mal cooed, "I'm sorry, but True Love's Kiss isn't going to fix this."

"Worth a shot," he grumbled.

Shaking her head in amusement, the girlfriend ran her fingers through his hair, looking for—

There!

"He needs ice," Mal instructed to the huddled players and coaches around the couple. "He has a bump on the side of his head by his forehead that's growing bigger by the second. He'll need some medicine to get rid of the headache and help stop his ankle from hurting after he loses all his adrenaline."

After a couple freshmen went and returned with the requested items, Coach Adams stepped forward, wondering, "How long until he can get back on the field?"

The group around him shot the coach varying expressions of surprise and anger at the question. "Your son can't play," Jay insisted gruffly, trying his best to contain his annoyance. "He shouldn't have been put in with him limping like he was. I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did."

"He has to play," Coach Beast stubbornly demanded. "He will play, or else we will lose the championship, and there is no way I will allow that to happen."

"You know, I am glad this is the last game I'll ever play at Auradon High," Jay claimed bitterly. "Because that means I am done dealing with your bullshit coaching and done watching you work your son past exhaustion day and night. I can't wait until I get my degree so I can come back to this school to replace you, because you are an asshole that only cares about his reputation and not his players, which you abuse with how hard you make us train, but not as hard as you train your son."

Predictably, Coach Adams's face grew a dark shade of red at the accusations. Before he could have an opportunity to retort, someone placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Mr. Adams," began Principal Yen Sid. "I believe you and I need to speak for a moment." The school administrator spared a glance at the assistant coach. "Mr. Playfair, why don't you take over for the rest of the game?"

With a brisk nod, Gaston waited until the principal and coach were by the locker room doors before he adverted his attention to his team. "I have one last play for you seniors," he announced, "and that is Isle Rush."

Most of the teammates scrunched their faces up at the name while a certain trio perked up, remembering the particular play all too well. After all, it was the same one they used to prove that girls could be just as good as them in Tourney.

"Gil, you'll be the launcher. Jay, you'll be the ready man. Carlos," Coach Gaston paused a moment to smile, which allowed Gil time to grab a shield from someone. "You will be the batter."

"Coach, I don't mind being the launcher," Carlos reassured, though inwardly excited that he would get the chance to play. "I can handle Gil's or Jay's weight."

"You are the fastest player on this team," Gaston reminded, his smile growing confidant. "For this to work, we need someone to come out of nowhere to deliver the final blow. That someone is you."

Filling up with pride, Carlos clumsily placed on his helmet before running onto the field, his teammates following behind him.

With thirty seconds left of the game, the referee blew his whistle, signaling the final countdown.

The long ball was passed to Jay, who leaped in the air, catching the ball and running with it down the field. Jay did his famous hurdling maneuver midfield and ran until he was in the clear.

"Jay!" called Gil, who stood near the opposing team's goal. "I'm ready!"

Whipping the ball his way, the ball bounced off Gil's shield, flying high up in the sky. Gil crouched down so Jay could jump over him, positioning his shield like a ramp. Jay tumbled over the guard, kneeling just high enough that his back could be an extension of the ramp.

Running as fast as his leg could carry him, Carlos sped through the field, stepping onto the makeshift ramp. Using the momentum to jump as high as possible, Carlos swung the ball toward the goal as hard as he could. The ball flew into the corner of the net, where the goalie was unable to stop it just as the final buzzer sounded.

The Auradon Knights won!

Fans poured onto the Tourney field, cheering and giving each other high fives in celebration. Ben's teammates hurried to his side, helping him to his feet as the championship trophy was passed to him. They succeeded in the first ever back-to-back championship win! Nothing could top their year!

Or . . . at least, that's what they thought.