A deadly silence settles on the battlefield as students and referees anxiously spectate the showdown between Bell and Buttercup.
Boomer suddenly feels Bubbles' hand, since her hand was already intertwine within his, dampen from nervousness. He gently squeezes her hand to reassure her that Buttercup is going to win the battle.
"So who is going to strike first?" Midori hastily poses the question of the hour as all eyes were obediently hone in on the two.
'What is this thick tension?' Serena nervously considers once she feels the hairs on the back of her neck stand on edge.
'I thought this was just some fun festival to distract students from work...not a war game!' She inwardly assumes as her eyes remain lock in on Bell, Buttercup and Butch.
On the other hand, General Malone displays the utmost confidence that his daughter will be the victor. 'You got this daughter. I've trained you very well.'
At the same time, Butch feels Buttercup firmly tightens her grip on his shoulders as if to rid herself of unnecessary thoughts.
'You really are a big scaredy cat.' He coyly revels as a smirk stretches across his face before he focuses his attention on to the showdown at hand.
"What are you waiting for?" Bell curiously poses to the raven haired girl prior to her signal for Flash to be ready to attack.
'Oh how I've waited for this moment…' Flash happily thinks while outwardly his face remains stoic during these thoughts.
"Get ready…" Butch mutters to his classmates as the two in the back purposely reinforce their hold on each other.
"Here we go…" Buttercup eagerly yells once her horse promptly advances closer to her silver haired opponent and her horse.
"Go Flash…" Bell gives the blonde the signal to go ahead when she feels the horse shifts forward as she searches for her opponent's weak points.
"Buttercup!" Flash screams as he leads his group toward Buttercup and her horse.
Time unexpectedly slows down around the pair as the two riders exude sheer determination with no fear present in their eyes.
The spectators unknowingly held their breath as they watched the confrontation occur when the sound of a whistle and a bell signaled the end of the Chariot Race.
"Is it over?" A Freshman teacher inquisitively wonders once they emerge from inside of the school building.
"What just happened?" One of the sophomores asks upon the sight of the two now on the opposite side from each other.
"Oh my god," One of the girls dramatically exasperates at the outcome of the battle.
"Flash…" Bell speaks up as her voice captures his attention before the sudden sight of her body enters in his line of vision.
"Bell…" He voices as he quickly twists his body to cushion her fall when her hair suddenly blocks his vision.
'Wait…something isn't right.' Flash deems while he runs his fingers through her hair only to discover that her headband was no longer around her head.
He quickly peers upward to see that Buttercup still wears her orange headband tightly around her head when he utters, "We…lost."
Yet the sight in front of the blonde leaves him in complete total shock when he overhears a familiar feminine voice recites, "If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them."
"No way," The blonde male mutters in disbelief before the female finishes the quote, "Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected."
Blossom casually rotates her head away from him while her group stand over Bell's now collapse horse. They eventually maneuver over to the direction of her sister.
Buttercup eases her grip from around Butch's shoulders and straightens up to her original height.
"Geesh, you were about to break my shoulders." Butch quips before the student referee approaches them.
"The game has ended. You can dismount now." The Student Referee politely announces to the raven haired duo.
The light green eyed young woman eventually removes herself from her horse's arms and gracefully lands on the ground. The sudden sight of her orange haired sister abruptly appears in her line of vision.
"We won!" The pink eyed young woman cheerfully states the obvious once she returns to the ground.
"For a moment, I thought I was going to lose…" Buttercup honestly whispers between the two, which causes Blossom to display an odd expression on her face.
"…but I trusted your plan and once again it did not fail." She honestly admits when she suddenly feels her sister grabs her hand, pries it open, and hands her an item.
The raven haired girl leisurely peers down at the white headband that was now present in the palm of her hand.
"Thank you for trusting me." The orange haired girl genuinely thanks her sister before she removes her hand from over her sister's hand.
Butch and Brick simply execute their handshake and congratulate each other for a job well done.
Buttercup crushes the headband in her hand when she directs her sights toward her class to see them erupt in a huge rambunctious celebration.
She feels warmth over her hand once again only to see that it belongs to Butch Shaw. "Let's go celebrate our victory."
The raven haired girl nods her head before the pair trails behind the rest of the other players when she thinks, 'I guess it wouldn't hurt to be nice.'
Meanwhile,
Serena felt the excitement that radiated from the class, who she assumed secured victory in the Chariot Race.
A smile materializes on her face at the sight of the rowdy school children when she considers, 'That was really fun.'
'To think that Buttercup would merely serve as the decoy for Blossom to attack Bell…simply ingenious planning,' The auburn haired woman enthusiastically notes while she shuts the radio down and gathers the equipment.
The brown eyed woman peers upward to see General Malone's disposition completely changes once he realizes that his daughter might be hurt.
'I'm surprise he could even show those kinds of emotions.' Serena judges once she finishes up with her cleanup process.
4444
Drake drives inside of the Pokey Oaks high school student parking lot and manages to locate an empty parking space.
A "heh" escapes his mouth after he cuts his engine, steps out of the car, closes the door, and sets the alarm on his car.
"I never thought ever in my life that I would actually hear complete absolute silence on a high school campus." The brunette haired quips as he slides his hands inside of his pants pocket.
'I guess anyone can just walk right in Pokey Oaks.' The green eyed male assumes once he checks out the front door and did not see any security present.
Drake casually strolls inside of the school with the air that he is a student that attend Pokey Oaks. 'Man, this place is really nice.'
He briefly peeks over his shoulder when he senses something or rather someone behind him. "Excuse me young man,"
A coy smirk materializes on the brunette's face when he composes himself, rotates toward the person and hears, "All students, except Freshmen, are required to report to the gym a few minutes ago."
"I just came from the restroom." The green eyed male skillfully lies to the man in front of him, who seems to accept it as the truth.
"Hurry up and get to the gym before they start." The man sternly instructs as Drake listens to his gut on what direction to head in.
He assumes he heads in the right direction or the man would have said something along the line, "The gym is this way."
'I think I could get use to Pokey Oaks.' The brunette concludes as he ambles in the direction of where he assumes the gymnasium is.
4444
The gymnasium was jammed packed full of rowdy students', whose chatter reverberates throughout the building until Principal Zeal casually strides across the court with a microphone in his hand.
"I see that you all are still on pins and needles from the Chariot Race." He speaks in to the microphone in an authoritative tone.
"Well you students have definitely made this Sports Festival Week by far the best one in my five years of being principal here." Alma expresses his honest opinion about this year's Sports Fest outcome.
"So thank you for your cooperation and participation." The purple haired man honestly thanks his schoolchildren for their excellent behavior throughout the week.
'Alma is pretty good at public speaking and exciting a crowd.' Serena mentally concludes about the charcoal grey eyes man's ability to work a crowd.
"I guess I should stop talking, start handing out awards, and announcing the overall winner for each grade level, eh?" Mr. Zeal teasingly revels.
A rousing "yeah" was emitting from the horde of students before the secretary was handing him three levels with "Seniors Results", "Juniors Results", and "Sophomores Results".
"As per tradition, I will announce the results in the order of seniors, juniors and then the sophomores." He runs down how he will broadcast the outcomes.
"So he's making us wait?" Butch irritably complains after a "huh" escapes his mouth.
"During the Sports Fest, since it's the seniors last year the principal grants them to do everything first." Blossom explains the reason behind the order.
"Oh that's just great…" He irritably grumbles as he stretches out his tense muscles before he stifles a yawn with his left hand.
"You can't change this school's tradition." Bubbles mockingly states as she mimics an administrator's tone.
"Look at it this way…he saved the best for last." Buttercup chimes in with the simple shrug of her shoulders.
Brick unexpectedly peeked up only to see the doors of the gym open and close, which meant that someone just arrived or departed from the area.
'It must've been my imagination.' He downplays as his focus returns to the purple haired male, who reads the results from the card.
At the same time, Drake stealthily slips inside of the gym where numerous students sit either on the floor of the court or in the bleachers.
'That man said all of the students were in here.' He recalled what that male administrator told him from earlier.
His green eyes closely scan through the mass of schoolchildren until he eventually locates the group of people that he searches for.
'Bingo…' The brunette derms as he maneuvers through the students to reach his destination.
"Wake me when it is our turn." The raven haired teen says as his eyelids drowsingly droop to a close until the sound of a familiar voice rouses him out of his sleep. "I should've known that you would be sleep on the job, Butchie boy."
Drake erupts in to a fit of laughter at their reaction before he comments, "The expression on y'all faces is absolutely priceless."
"What are you doing here, Drake?" Midori inquisitively wonders since she was the first to recover from shock.
"I'm here to enjoy the festivities like you all are." He provides a simple answer with a smile present on his face.
"You're a little too late for that but you are welcome to stay and watch the Awards Ceremony." The light green eyed young woman consents before she adds "…with Midori of course."
"Buttercup," She immediately snaps at her raven haired friend when she overhears another voice adds, "Oh my, my, my is our little Midori blushing from embarrassment or is it love?"
"Bubbles," The ginger haired girl grumbles as she now directs her attention on to the blonde girl this time.
Midori quickly rotates her head away from the others to hide her blush as her bangs shield her eyes from the brunette.
She suddenly feels warmth against her cheek, which guides her face in a certain direction only to come face to face with the green eyed brunette.
"A beautiful girl should never hold her head down." Drake genuinely conveys as he lovingly stares her in her eyes.
"Oh my gosh!" Bubbles happily gushes at the sight in front of her with her hands on both sides of her cheeks as she dreamily shakes her head left and right.
"So sweet," Blossom chimes in with a smile on her face while Buttercup quips "Get a room you two."
"Still the lady charmer," Butch jokingly comments before Brick mentions, "Someone hasn't lost their touch" along with a nod of his head.
One of their classmates catches their attention when she discloses, "Hey guys…it's finally the Sophomores turn."
"The first place winner of Swimming is Mr. Matura's and Ms. Omiya's class."
"The first place winner of Field Hockey is Mr. Matura's class."
"The first place winner of Dodgeball is Mr. Matura's boys and Ms. Omiya's girls."
"The first place winner for the Chariot Race is Mr. Matura's class."
"The overall winner for the Sophomores with a whooping total of 151 points is...Mr. Matura's class!"
Mr. Matura excitingly approaches the trophy table, except this time he signals for his class to join him on the court.
"It is only right if my class stands alongside with me. It was because of their sheer determination and resilience against adversity that we won. We can't wait till next year." He speaks in to the microphone while his students huddle around him.
"It is our defining moment." Mr. Matura utters to them once he faces them with the trophy within his grasp.
The brunette watches in amusement as they raise the trophy up in the air along with constant jeers of "Hip, Hip, Hooray!"
'Pokey Oaks really do promote competiveness but it also encourages cooperation as well.' The green eyed young man concluded with the thumbs up sign flashed at the group.
Midori notices his sign of cheer when she mimics his pose as a means to say "thank you" for the show of his support.
Drake's smile slightly falters when he inwardly desires, 'I wish Cram would do something like this for its students.'
"And at the sounding of the bell, I officially declare the conclusion for this year's Sports Festival." Principal Zeal declares while Mr. Matura class continues to cheer on for their victory.
'Eh…then again, someone might end up in the hospital or even in the grave.' He ultimately assumes with a solemn expression on his face.
4444
Author's Note:
04.05.17 Major editing revisions