Rod Remington immediately placed a massive smile on his face as they began the countdown till when he would be live, this would be his first time commentating on the national stage, and his stock had already risen dramatically, and he was certain that after this his agent would be inundated with calls and offers for him. It was a career resurgence that he had never thought possible, while he wouldn't be donning his cape again, he would be able to make money as a host of reality television programming or an analyst or a broadcast announcer, all of which were jobs which would pay him more than the dinky little station he had been apart of.

"3-2-1 and we're live!"

""Welcome to the 33rd National Inter-High!" Rod announced his voice booming showing how jovial he felt. He turns to look at the panel that would be joining him. "We've got so much information to unpack, so I would like to thank you for joining us to analyze the opening ceremony. Let's meet the rest of our panel. I mean I honestly can't believe that I'm sitting here, with one of the Four Horsewomen. Sasha Banks. The Blueprint. She sets the blue standard of what a hero is supposed to be."

Sasha Banks waved and leaned back in her chair, she couldn't believe that she had been booted from the ESPN panel for Charlotte. As far as she was concerned it would been better for them to both be on the panel, but she understood why they were doing this. "I'm so happy to be here, Rod. I'm so excited to see the future heroes and I hear that this Nationals is like nothing we've ever seen before."

Rod laughed, "I've heard those same rumors, and I'm sure you remember your Inter-high Sasha, you never took home the crown, but that is where you met the rest of the 4 horsewomen right? You were the only freshmen MVP if I remember correctly."

"Something that still pisses Charlotte and Becky off," Sasha says with an amused smile.

"Do you have any advice for the youngsters? Words of wisdom?" Rod pressed, knowing that he did need to talk up his other guests, but Sasha Banks was a star, and she was a current hero who seemed to be familiar with Charlie. An interview had eluded him, but perhaps he could get a few questions in. Charlie didn't do interviews, she answered a few questions, or simply informed the press what she thought.

"Trust your training, trust your instincts and stay incredibly sharp out there. I don't think there has been a more difficult year, and I don't want to see any career ending injuries out there today." Sasha said, her tone sufficiently sombre. The commission had outdone themselves this year, and she was certain that even some pro heroes would have trouble with what the commission had planned and she really didn't want to see careers ended before they even began.

"Of course, and there are so many promising talents out there, but let's introduce you to the last member of today's panel, we have a homegrown legend in the house with Ohio's own April Rhodes," Rod introduced April with a bit of gusto. "Do you think we're going to have any surprises this year, April?"

"Surprises? There is a new powerhouse in the midwest, and quite frankly it's their competition to lose. I mean if they do lose that would be the story wouldn't it? We'll be analyzing what went wrong for years," April said.

"You are of course referring to the McKinley Titans. What a year it has been for them, they have shattered records, they have dominated their competition with relative ease this year, and quite honestly they have quite a few recruits talking," Rod informed the audience catching them up. "But they aren't the only story coming out of the midwest, Vocal Adrenaline has poached some muscle from McKinley. Lauren Zizes the former enforcer for the Titans has given Vocal Adrenaline well a completely new and dangerous offense, and they've definitely improved their defense."

"If the rumors are to be believed then I have to wonder if Carmel High has thought things through. We saw Lauren Zizes at regionals and we saw how reckless and dangerous she was. We also know from court filings that there was an incident between Lauren and Charlie, which ended badly for Lauren. She has a lot riding on this and I hope that she can show us a more mature and dangerous version of herself," April offered.

Sasha nodded agreeing with the assessment, Lauren had been a massive disappointment, and there had been plenty of attention on her. "That is true, but you know that Coach Shelby Corcoran has managed to keep egos and tempers in check for years. Assuming that Lauren can keep it together, I expect to see Lauren looking to exact some type of revenge on her former team. Which personally I don't think is a good idea, and it would definitely show the recruiters and the various firms that you can't be a team player."

"That would be a red flag," Rod nodded, "But let's step away from Charlie Fabray for a moment. Let's talk about the Combine. This year instead of being a part of nationals, the students who impress during nationals will be invited to a training camp, they will be training at a top of the line facility with top heroes and some of the best coaches, nutritionists as they seek to hone their skills. Who are some of the students we should watch out for? Who do you think is going to make their mark today?"

Sasha smirked, "I think every last one of them is thinking how do I make my mark today. How do I get that invite, how do I show myself to the recruiters, the firms and the agents. For some this is their only opportunity, and some of them might have another chance. But we need to keep it real because I can't be the only person who saw what happened in the Midwest Sectional Inter-High. The McKinley Titans have made it loud and clear that this nationals is merely a formality."

"I have to agree with Sasha. We've seen overwhelming force from Charlie twice now, force that most professional heroes don't have, certainly no one at this table. And she was injured during sectionals, and we saw how that went for every other team. Are we going to see that same level of power during nationals? She didn't even break a sweat."

Before Rod could jump in, music begins to play through the stadium's PA signifying the beginning of the opening ceremony. It would be the first time that many of these teams would come face to face, and for the schools involved it was a recruiting platform. Each school showed off in hopes to entice future heroes to their school. Every school wanted to have famous alumni, successful alumni. Especially the private schools which generally dominated these events. He was personally excited to see what every school brought to the table.

~ O ~

"You are not going to be carried in on a throne Charlie." Santana hissed at her, feeling the familiar sensation of a headache coming on. This wasn't exactly Charlie's fault that they didn't have some grand entrance planned. Beiste had never mentioned it to them and it seemed like they were caught unaware.

"Well, I have zero ideas then." Charlie said with a shrug. As far as she was concerned this whole thing was stupid. This wasn't the Olympics, and she had zero idea why they needed to sell the school.

Santana rolled her eyes and turned to Blaine, "Anything?"

"No. I mean at least we aren't first. Can you, I don't know, change the color of your flames and do something like that? Maybe Rachel can sing, and Artie can draw something really cool, the rest of us don't exactly have abilities that are super flashy like you."

Santana shot Blaine a dry look, "No Blaine, I can't make my flames multi-colors."

"It was just a suggestion," Blaine sighed and rubbed his face, and he turned to the support team who have started to whisper amongst themselves. "Do you have any ideas?"

"I mean—with Ryder's abilities and Santana's we could get some colored flames. It's really basic chemistry," Marley pointed out. She glanced at Charlie, "I'm surprised you didn't suggest it."

"I think this whole thing is stupid," Charlie reminded Marley as she played with her phone.

Santana rolled her eyes, Charlie wasn't going to help unless she was properly motivated, "Quinn is in New York with the rest of your family right?"

"Probably?" Charlie frowned and looked up at Santana.

"Marley, call Quinn and see if she can do some ice work or maybe make some cool constructs."

"I can make constructs Santana," Charlie insists, raising her hand and focusing. It took far too much concentration to make a construct but it wasn't as if she couldn't do it. She grins when a small figure appears in her hand, and she smiles smugly. "See!"

Santana stared at Charlie's hand, and the weird lumpy stick-figure that Charlie seemed to consider was amazing. She immediately turns to look at Marley, "Yeah. Call Quinn."

Charlie huffed and rolled her eyes, "I don't know why we need to bother with this, I mean we should basically get some really cool music, and just walk out through one of Frannie's portal's. I mean if the whole point is to sell the school then why don't we show what we have that no other school does. And call it a day. We're not here to play games. Nationals is only a formality at this point, we're going to be the winners, I'm going to be the MVP. And here's a spoiler for you, I'm going to beat Charlotte Flair."

Santana pinched the bridge of her nose, ready to snap at Charlie to stop attempting to help when she pauses and smirks. "You're right this is a coronation. So let's make this a coronation."

"Won't that piss off the other schools?" Tina asked. She wasn't sure that pissing everyone off was the smart thing to do."

"Who cares, if they have a problem they can try and stop us," Artie says, crossing his arms over his chest. They had busted their asses, and he knew he had improved. There were murmurs of agreement from the team.

Charlie looked over at Santana, "And you said I don't inspire the team."

~ O ~

"While I understand that Vocal Adrenaline is one of the flashier schools, I certainly wasn't expecting a concert from them. Though I have to admit that was a hell of a concert that they put on for us," Rod admitted, turning to look at the rest of his panel.

"I love a good show, Rod, and that was a good show. It did seem like this was an attempt to put Jesse St. James back on the radars of various recruiters. His stock has dropped, and I'm not quite sure what this hopes to accomplish."

"Perhaps a career in entertainment?" Sasha suggests, smirking slightly as she glanced over at April Rhodes.. There were quite a few rejected heroes, who attempted to break into Hollywood. Many failed, but if Jesse St. James was smart he could leverage former interest into a promising career, but she doubted he would make it in the hero business. "It's McKinley's turn right?"

"That's right Sasha, as the team that got the most points in sectionals McKinley earned the right to go last. This is McKinley's first year at nationals, prior to this year, McKinley never made it out of regionals, if anything they came very close to last, if my memory serves me right. So they have some pretty big shoes to—" Rod stopped talking as the arena was suddenly plunged into darkness. When he feels Sasha Banks getting up he follows her lead, getting his abilities ready. The stadium roof was open and it was supposed to be a sunny but cool day. "I'm not quite sure what's going on folks but—"

Before anyone can do anything at all, the sky suddenly shifts and everyone is taken aback by how many stars there are in the sky, as there is a loud bang that echoes across the silent stadium, as fourteen portals open up and the sound of marching is heard.

"It seems like McKinley is making a statement!" April whispers leaning forward to get a better look. "Are those the school mascots that are coming out of the portals? Who's controlling them?"

Sasha Banks looked at the sky as far as she knew there was no one on the team that could simply replace the sky. Which meant that another level 5 was helping them. This didn't seem to be in Quinn's wheelhouse either, which meant that Charlie had tapped her family to help. A display of raw power, like this, would inevitably turn some heads. McKinley's opening salvo had barely even begun and they had already won the competition for who had the best opening. She imagined they'd be analyzing this for weeks. "It has to be Charlie right?"

Before anyone can say anything most of McKinley appears dressed in white, with both Santana and Blaine leading the charge. It takes a moment for anything to happen and the image of McKinley against an army of mascots, which are all decked in their respective team colors stands against them. Santana's face morphs into a manic grin as she ignites. It's not a subtle ignition either as her flames turn a brilliant golden hue and wrap around her body tightly before quickly expanding outwards illuminating all of McKinley and giving the audience in the arena an excellent light show as she raises her hand and sets off fireworks in the sky watching them explode, and light up the night sky.

"McKinley." Santana says firmly, "Take them out."

The words are simple and to the point but there was a loud cheer from McKinley as multiple abilities fire up and Sam suddenly shoots forward cannonballing into the PVA Eagle mascot, knocking several of the automatons to the ground as he bounces into the air and raises his hand which had his support brace on it and creates a small chain of explosions, it doesn't take much to knock down the automatons, that Artie had created, but he manages to twist out of the way as one of them attempts to tackle him to the ground.

Finn intervenes immediately, dropping his shoulder as he hardens his skin, it's not as hard as he can go. But there is a satisfying crunch as his hardened skin hits metal and leaves a massive dent in it. He hardens the skin on his hands and brings his hands down destroying the head of the automaton. This time he's taken out by Three of Mystic Falls Timberwolves. A scream erupts from Rachel's lips, knocking the automaton's off Finn and sending them tumbling to the ground.

Her scream is enough to send the rest of the team into action as Blaine springs into action throwing punches and kicks, the moves he starts to pull off look straight out of an action as Santana takes to the air and starts raining down fire on the other teams. It's pure chaos, with abilities flying everywhere and automatons exploding in rather colorful colors.

"This is actually kind of fun, did you just see that takedown by Matt Rutherford?" Rod let out a whistle as he checked the name on the notes in front of him.

"He's definitely one to watch out for," April mused. "But I only count 9, I mean Tina Cohen-Chang is probably invisible, but is Artie the one controlling these mascots?"

"Who knows, but I just—oh wow, did you see that hook kick," Sasha flinched that had looked absolutely brutal. She hadn't given much thought to Blaine, but he was clearly an integral part of McKinley's offense and for good reason it seemed.

Before anyone can get used to the absolute carnage and what it represents, another portal opens up and this time four metal horses slowly exit the portal carrying their four riders.

Sasha blinked, it was certainly obvious which one was which, and she's amused that Charlie had made sure that out of all four of them that she really looked the most like her. She could only imagine how irritated Becky and Bayley were about the obvious favoritism, but Charlie had also taken great care to make sure that everyone knew which one was Charlotte. She was the only wearing a crown and she had a sneaking suspicion she knew where this was going. Which would be amusing, if she didn't suspect that Charlotte would take the slight personally and try to teach Charlie a lesson. It would be a lie to say that teasing Charlie hadn't been fun. She was going to miss her.

~ O ~

"Firefly I'm certain that's your cue," Artemis stated, turning to look at her granddaughter who was sitting on a bench. Artemis frowns ever so slightly when Charlie doesn't immediately hop to her feet.

Charlie scratched her head, "Santana said that I need to make an entrance that makes me look cool, but she didn't tell me what she wanted me to do! What am I supposed to do?"

Brittany bit her lip to keep from laughing, and nudges Frannie who looks slightly irritated that she's been reduced to doing parlor tricks. "I told you."

"Anyone with eyes can see it," Frannie groused before turning to Charlie. "My patience is running thin Charlie, I actually have a job to do, and this little stunt of yours has taken enough of my time. Next time your team should practice their opening like everyone else."

Charlie turned to Quinn for a moment, "What do I do? This is like my debut Quinn, and I need to look like I can hang with people like Charlotte Flair!"

Quinn rolled her eyes, she had no idea why Charlie was suddenly panicking, "Well at least Santana's managed to convince you that you're not some secret badass." When Charlie shoots her an annoyed look she shrugs, "I mean I would come in on ice. Magnetism isn't exactly flashy or anything so why don't you come in riding a lightning bolt."

"What, is she a witch now?" Frannie asked, rolling her eyes. "Stop overthinking this and just get out there and do your thing so I can get back to work. USC wants me to recruit the best talent." She imagined they thought that she could convince Charlie to come to their school. She didn't have any plans to make USC her home, but she did want to raise her profile and she was looking at a position at K2.

Charlie stares at her family, none of this was helpful in the slightest. "I'll figure it out, and if Santana gets upset with me I'm going to tell her it was all your fault for being incredibly unhelpful," Charlie muttered under her breath, she doubted that Santana would go for that but it was something. She slips her headphones which had been hanging around her neck and puts them on, as she reaches into her pocket and pulls out her phone and turns up the music. She bobs her head along with the music for a moment, and inhales deeply closing her eyes, when the bass drops on her song she opens her eyes and lets out a breath. Almost immediately arcs of lightning appear and flicker around her, and there is an immense pressure emanating from her.

Charlie slowly shifts her body slightly as Frannie opens up a portal she would need to go through two portals to get to the center stage and she knew that all attention would be on her, but it wasn't the time to let her anxiety get to her. She needed to let the world kno, to let them see that her back was strong enough to carry the weight of being a hero. She needed to show the world that she would save everyone that she could, and her goal was to make sure that no one felt that painful loss ever again, whether it be from a monster attack, a terrorist attack, aliens, it didn't matter what it was, she was ready.

Before anyone can say anything Charlie moves and disappears in a blinding light as sparks of electricity dissipate after a second. Quinn is the first one to find her voice after, "When did she figure out how to control that much power, she was struggling with it at regionals."

Frannie starts closing portals and flicks her attention back to her family, "Brittany you really need to stop—"

"It's not me, all she does is train. I can maybe give her a bit of a boost, but that won't help her control and we both know what Charlie spends most of her day training even if it doesn't look like she's doing anything. The only thing I did was make her body a bit more efficient, but I've done that for like all of you so really, none of this is my fault."

Artemis smiled, she suspected that Charlie would go through a breakthrough, even though she said that she had run into a wall when it came to her training, she had started to focus on horizontal growth, training the tools she already had instead of collecting more tools. And to think that Lawrence had been worried that the Inter-High wouldn't be good for her. "Don't experiment on your sister's Bubbles, we've talked about this."

"You said not to do it without permission, you never actually told me it was wrong," Brittany sniffs, turning her attention back to the screen as Charlie lands onto the field knocking away all the mascots and staring down the automaton stand-ins of the four horsewomen.

~ O ~

Santana opened her eyes, when she had asked Charlie to make an entrance that didn't make her look like a dork, she hadn't expected that Charlie would actually shatter her expectations which had already been high. There was an overwhelming pressure emanating from Charlie, it felt like Regionals but this feeling was far more oppressive making it almost difficult to breathe. This wasn't just Charlie messing around, she was giving the entire world a preview of her fight with Charlotte Flair, and she can't help but shiver at what she was witnessing. It would be so easy to simply let Charlie handle it, to step back and simply let Charlie show the world what she could do.

But as Charlie takes a step towards the 4 horsewomen, it suddenly clicks. The original plan had been for Charlie to take out the 4 horsewomen one by one like a boss level fight, but she remembered what it felt like to be in Charlie's shoes. Before the twins had arrived she'd been far more powerful than most other kids her age, she had the flashy power she could fly, she had trained but nothing like what Charlie did, and in these moments the entire team would simply step aside and let her do her thing. And the one thing she did remember from that experience was that it sucked. If she did well then everyone would praise her, if she failed then she took the brunt of all the criticism. It didn't matter that her teammates had stopped fighting and expected her to clean it up. Being at the top sucked, and while she knew that Charlie of all people understood and fully expected to shoulder all of that, it didn't mean that she should or had to do it alone.

"Blaine," Santana said, not taking her eyes of Charlie who was rolling her shoulders as she steadily closed the distance between her and the four horsewomen, all four automatons had gotten off their horses at this point.

"Right." Blaine agreed, hoping that their actions would spur on the rest of McKinley to act, and take out the third threat.

"Charlie!" Santana calls out as she once again ignites fully, she watches as Charlie turns to look at her confusion on her face. "Focus on the Queen, we can handle the rest." It's the smile that Charlie hits her with that causes Santana's heart to skip a beat, and it's in that moment she realizes that she might actually have feelings for Charlie.

~ O ~

"Look, all I'm saying is that every few years I have to go through this. There's always some young hot shot hero that wants to usurp my throne. Charlie Fabray is certainly younger than everyone else who had the courage to take aim at my throne, but she is young and she is immature and inexperienced. She's naive about what it means to be a hero. Look I have to give McKinley and Charlie they're due here, they're producing rather fantastic content, and Charlie is a star in the making, but she's not there yet. She is nothing more than a dumb teenager who thinks she's hot shit because of who her family is and that she's stronger than every other kid in her age group and even stronger than some professional heroes who are active today." Charlotte Flair explained as she watched McKinley's performance. Charlie had yet to make her entrance yet and everyone was on pins on needles. Waiting for that moment.

"So, you're not worried about Charlie?"

"Of course not Stephen, she's a teenager. She doesn't get to live rent free in my head. Can you imagine!" Charlotte lets out a laugh and freezes when there is a loud boom and Charlie hits the ground in front of the team. It's certainly an entrance and Charlotte can't help but shift in her seat, she can feel the pressure even from where she was sitting and it prickled at her skin.

"Now that's an entrance," Stephen Smith whistled. "I mean I kind of feel bad for the other schools, how do you even defend against overwhelming strength like that?"

"Well that's what all the agents and the various hero firms are looking at. Charlie is like a natural disaster, she is an overwhelming force right now, and she's shown time and time again that she has far more in the tank than any of us realize. She was gravely injured at sectionals, if the leaked medical reports are to be believed, she shouldn't have competed, but she did and she showed everyone that there is nothing that they can do to stop her if she doesn't want to be stopped. So now we literally have a situation where we can see what these teens are made of. Are they going to engage with Charlie, I mean if I was in their shoes I'd try and figure out what they can do to circumvent Charlie, though I imagine some will try and go through her. I don't personally recommend doing that, but that's what they need to figure out."

Before Charlotte can say anything she continues to watch though she already knows what's going to happen the rest of McKinley suddenly leaps into action behind Charlie allowing her to focus on the automaton that was supposed to represent her. And it's pure chaos for a second with abilities flying as all of McKinley attacks the four horsewomen.

But just like that it's over, as Charlie strikes in a blinding display of her abilities, it looks like a thunderbolt had hit her automaton in the chest and all the action stops as the Charlotte Flair automaton falls to her knees in front of Charlie. The imagery as far as Charlotte is concerned is an open-handed slap in the face and she immediately forces a very strained smile on her face. She was going to have to make an example out of Charlie, she had planned to give her a fighting shot, but such disrespect wouldn't fly.

~ O ~

As the end of the battle ends the final portal opens up and a throne lands in the spot that McKinley is supposed to stand in, and Charlie blinks and immediately turns to look at Santana. "Why do you look so surprised, as you said it's a coronation. I imagine that Charlotte Flair is going to murder you though, so it's completely—"

Charlie turns and looks at the throne, the whole thing was pretentious and she hadn't exactly been serious when she had said she wanted a throne, it had been a joke. But she can't hesitate now, and she strides towards the smooth metal throne, she was glad that Artie had chosen to do something sleek, instead of going for gaudy, and she takes a seat and looks at the rest of her team. It's Blaine who drops to a knee first, and slowly and one by one every member of McKinley falls in line and drops to a knee causing Charlie to visibly cringe and she shoots a pleading look at Santana who is the last one standing.

Santana glances at the rest of the team, before walking over to the broken Charlotte automaton and grabbing the ice crown that Quinn had created and walks over to Charlie, "The team's finally behind you, they have faith you'll lead us to a national championship."

Charlie glanced at the team and then back at Santana, "And you?"

"I mean we both know I'm basically going to be doing all the work, while you watch cartoons," Santana places the ice crown on top of Charlie's head. "This is just to get under the skin of Charlotte Flair, we're trying to help in our own way so just go with it. I'm still not bowing."

Charlie let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding and she turns to look at the rest of the team. "Please don't ever look at me the way they do." Her words are low and directed at Santana.

Santana rolled her eyes and turned to look at the rest of the team. "Titans! Fall in line."

Immediately the rest of the team get up, Blaine immediately takes Charlie's left hand side and they form three rows of four, as another portal opens up and the rest of the support team marches and stands beside the rest of the team. They were also in new uniforms and were joined by Kurt, who looked extremely pleased that he had made the cut. It had been the uniforms, and Marley had been the one to ask for his help with the aesthetic of their designs.

Charlie finishes dismantling the chair and turns and stands tall crossing her arms over her chair and gives a small almost imperceptible nod, and the portal that was above the arena disappears completely causing the sun to shine in the stadium and illuminating the carnage of the broken automatons.

Santana glanced down the line to where PVA was standing and she locked eyes with Dani Harper and winked at her before returning her attention back to the master of ceremonies that was returning. "I'm still not inviting you to fight club."