The day had finally come for the state championship, the early morning dew glistening over the plants. It was precisely six in the morning with all Starlight Academy’s singularity club members situated in front of Reynolds van. Most of them were still dazed and tired from waking up early in the morning just to get to the state capital. It wasn’t a long drive away, but primarily 30 minutes or an hour depending on traffic by vehicle. Alexia still had bed hair from waking up so early, but they were all situated neatly into their uniforms. Heidi took out a brush from inside her uniform pocket and began to gently brush Alexia’s hair to be neat and straight. Roy was half-asleep, the cold breeze of the morning being the only thing waking him up. Deveron merely leaned up against the van. He was used to waking up early in the mornings; he didn’t have such a tired expression like the rest, but he was still there. As for Cheveyo, he looked excellent and full of energy on his hand. There would be a tattoo of a deer faintly glowing green before it sank into his skin and disappeared. Everyone was too busy waking up to notice. A sudden sound of hands clasping together alerted the club members as they all turned their attention to Reynolds stepping out of the academy.
“Alright, Team Starlight! I want you to give it your all over the next few days!” He was brimming with more energy than Cheveyo. Perhaps this was purely for his excitement or goal overall with the team to see fruition.
“Ah... You guys don’t seem excited.”
“It’s cold,” Roy muttered.
“Yeah, Colder than usual.” Heidi nodded her head, agreeing with Roy continuing to straighten Alexia’s hair.
“It’ll be warm when we get there. Hop on board.” Reynolds proceeded to head to the van and open it up.
“Wait! What about classes? I'm a senior now, and if I miss out on things, won’t it be a problem?” Alexia questioned.
“We’re exempt from classes while we’re in the tournaments. Basically, a free pass for no work. But, we have to study hard once it’s over with.” Deveron began to get into the van.
“Yeah, no worries besides, I'm here also the school knows. Now let’s get this show on the road.” Reynolds began to turn the van on. Alexia yawned, squeezing into the truck with everyone else. It was a bit cramped inside, but they all managed to fit. The team would drive off heading to Boise, Idaho, with many teams from around the state preparing to claim as the state champion and head to the nationals.
Within the halls of the tournament building, people would be flocking in and out of the area. It was starting to get crowded as if it was a yearly convention with all sorts of people attending. When Starlight arrived at the event, they had to park in a reserved parking lot within the building's back. It would be exactly eight in the morning when they arrived a bit late due to traffic along the way but nonetheless arrived. Alexia took a step out of the van realizing this ‘reserved’ parking space was literally the trash area. Heidi was trying to wake up Roy in the back seat, gently slapping his face.
“So much for going through the front.” Deveron glanced around at the tournament building. Upon closer inspection, it was three stories high, with some windows on the top levels. It was the exact location Reynolds and Cheveyo went to register, but that section of registration was primarily located in the building's front.
Reynolds let out a soft whistle getting out of the van. “Boy. What an annoying ride.” He began to stretch his body and only became stiff during that drive. “Alright, guys, let’s get going. We’ll warm up inside.” Reynolds began to move over to one of the back doors. A staff member had it open, waiting for them to enter.
Heidi quickly dragged Roy out of the van. He was not up and ready. But only for brief moments at a time.
“I’m up! I’m up!” He replied.
“Good, now come on!” Heidi began to move him effortlessly towards the door. Cheveyo exited the vehicle, closing all the doors.
“This place looks a bit bigger than last time. Unless this is just a new location entirely.” Cheveyo commented, which caught Alexia’s attention.
“Was it being worked on when you guys went a month ago?” Alexia walked up beside him before both of them began to head in together with the others.
“Not that I’ve seen. Only a few rooms closed off to us in the halls.” Cheveyo walked through the door after Alexia, the staff closing it behind them as the team made their way down the hall. The team was on their way to their room to view the event, only to be met by other staff members.
“Sorry. This area is off-limits and is meant only for the schools during the semifinals and finals.” One of the staff was informed.
“Ah. So what we saw is for the teams that make it, huh?” Reynolds added.
“If you’d like, we can show you the way to the viewing rooms.” The other staff member offered help and began to walk down a different section of the building. The team would follow them to a room with double doors. It looked like a screening room in a movie theater with a total of thirty seats lined up against each other in ascending and descending order. There would be a few people inside, some merely here to watch the tournament and others looking for seats. There would be five more rooms down the hall with the same layout. Most of the audience would be in the stands outside watching the tournament close up.
“Whoa! Are we watching a movie?!” Heidi shouted with excitement, knowingly playing around. The staff member and Reynolds merely chuckled at that.
“Nah, think of this like V.I.P. Seats. But, people can come in and watch the matches. It’s all indoors anyway. Just the stands around the machine are for most of the public.” Reynolds mentioned before, looking around, realizing Alexia wasn’t with them. Where on earth did she go?
“Where's Alexia?”
“She said she needed to find the restroom and walked off a minute ago,” Cheveyo informed.
“Oh… It shouldn’t be that far. Heidi, mind getting her just in case?” Reynolds looked to Heidi, who was now starting to get her energy going.
“Of course~!” With the simple raise of her hand, Heidi began to walk off while the others went inside to take front row seats.
Within the building's confines, Alexia exited the restroom, a few people walking around preparing to watch the matches that would go on for today. Glancing down each end of the hall, she seemed to have forgotten which way she came from beginning to walk down to the right side. The halls were neatly clean, even with people walking around the end of the right hallway led down two paths, one to the left and the other right again. Alexia stopped looking once more down both ends. The one to the left had a staircase going down, so she opted to head in that direction, hoping it would take her to the others.
Surely, she didn’t get lost already? The interior and exterior of the building were big, but not that big. As Alexia headed towards the staircase, four individuals wearing the same uniform would be heading her way, chatting with each other. Daniel from East Bridge High the rest were all wearing their school jersey, only this time Daniel had a white cape with red trimmings to go with his looks. The other three included two adolescent males and one female. All of them had a similar well-defined body, just like Daniel and Gabby’s. The female carried an instrument case strapped to her back; it was rectangular in shape but only accompanied half her well-toned body. She had her hair tied into a ponytail that reached the ends of her neck. Her hair color was that of beige with cyan highlights on the backs of it.
“Tom, I’ll tell you straight up! It wasn’t supposed to be like that.” Daniel replied to the male on his left, a boy of smaller height than both the girl and him included, but as with the rest of the team, well-built in terms of muscles. He had short blonde hair, green eyes, fair skin, and in regards to Gabby, he also had bandages wrapped around his arms.
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“You say that, but we know Caitlin wanted to take the spot,” Tom replied softly, speaking. He didn’t have any sort of cape or case on him, merely walking with the others.
“Well, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that. It’s a neat position, mainly because you don’t have to overwork yourself. But, we have to pull our weight this time around.” Caitlin’s hand tightened around the strap, which held the case on her back. Her voice was silvery and sweet; she even looked to be judging her teammates as they walked.
“Don’t be like that; Gabby’s gonna get at us if Dan doesn’t pull through. Us as well.” This voice came from the right. It was modulated yet backed up by a deep-sounding voice. The one to her right was a light-skinned male with brown hair that fitted with his well-toned body just like the rest.
“You know Gabby isn’t going to punish us, Vincent.” Caitlin’s eyes darted over to him. A sense of seriousness and annoyance coming from the gaze alone. To which Vincent slightly looked away from.
“It’s fine! We just have to show our team pride!” Daniel shouted before flexing his muscles. It was precisely the team spirit he had in mind.
“Don’t be like that now. We still need to show the other states that we’re a powerhouse. After all, the sponsors are watching.” Tom reached into his pocket, taking out a notebook it had a list of schools from the other states jotted down on it.
“Haha! There it is!” Daniel gave a hearty smile hearing the word sponsors.
“Sponsors, I swear they’re only looking at Ga-” Caitlin froze! Her words no longer came out of her mouth. Along with the other three, a sense of urgency swept over them. It alerted them all upon passing a particular individual in the hall. The passing was brief, but at that moment, the four of them could sense harsh energy coming from Alexia. The sensation of their bones being brittle with a chill; The tingling of their skin that made them shiver. The jolt of energy they felt surprised them so much they all stopped in place. When East Bridge turned to look at Alexia, they could no longer feel such power coming from her. On the other hand, Alexia continued walking, not reacting at all to either of them before reaching the staircase and going downward.
“Who was that?” Vincent asked, his attention merely fixated on the location of where Alexia was.
“Why does that uniform seem so familiar?” Daniel began to ponder, trying to recollect his thoughts.
“That energy felt like Gabby’s.” Caitin’s hand was shaking momentarily, continually gripping the case strap.
Tom was more shaken than the others. He could hear his own heartbeat due to the sudden shock. “A-Are we sure that wasn’t just our imaginations?” He questioned.
“Oh! I remember!” Balling his hand into a fist and opening his other to slam it down on, Daniel finally clicked. He continued to have a hearty smile as he recalled the uniform from a month ago. “That there is Starlight! A new school participating!”
“Starlight? You mean the one Deveron is attending?” Vincent rubbed his chin.
“Exactly~!”
“That didn’t look like a Deveron to me,” Caitlin muttered.
“Yeah, that was too cute to be a guy…“ Tom mentioned before being elbowed in the side by Caitlin.
“Ack! Sorry, just sayin’.”
“Mmm! This is gonna be an amazing tournament!” Daniel began to march onward in acting in a triumphant state. Out of all the members so far, he was the one the least shaken up about it. The rest began to follow him down the hall, making a note of Starlight in the back of their heads.
As Alexia made it down the staircase, she’d glance around, still a bit lost before seeing Heidi approaching her.
“Alexia. I’m here to pick you up~.” Heidi gave a warm smile approaching her way to Alexia.
“Sorry. Got lost.”
“We know.”
“Haha… Yeah, this place is pretty big. Not used to places like this.”
“Yeah, it's like a convention, huh? Come along, try not to get lost in the crowd again. We’re soon to go up.” Heidi began to turn around, motioning for Alexia to follow her to the others.
“I’m not going to get lost, Heidi. Relax, you should have more faith in me.”
“I do. You know this, but you seem to have a bad sense of direction when not doing anything training-related. I find it cute like a puppy~.”
“That’s creepy, Heidi.”
“Sorry, Sorry~. Getting ahead of myself again. Come on! The others are waiting. Let’s speed it up!” Heidi began to dash down the hall brushing past a few people. As per usual, full of energy as always.
“Hey! You’re gonna make me get lost again!” Alexia dashed after her, easily keeping up. Not long after speeding through the halls, they arrived back at the viewing room. More people were beginning to pile in. Luckily, the others saved them two front-row seats side-by-side.
“Oh. Alexia, Heidi over here. The first round of matches is about to start. We’ll be up after; come watch.” Reynolds waved his hand over for them, with both of them taking a seat seconds later.
The first matches were underway, with the first round of schools tackling each other in the first brackets. Events for these would start at 8:45 and last until noon, Starlight was positioned for the first quarter, and the second quarter went from noon to 4 in the afternoon. On the large viewing screen, two announcers would be giving a debrief on the schools attending their high hopes and wishes for the matches. One of the announcers, in particular, was familiar to all around. It was Pearl in her usual getup.
Although she did not have her parasol in hand, she still had her iconic gothic lolita look, a blend of looks that keeped her popularity in ranking up for how unique it was compared to other pro-fighters. The other commentator began to speak as her eyes darted towards this male speaker.
“Pro-Schneider, Tell us this is the biggest tournament in the state's history of singularity. Do you have a particular school you’re interested in? Fans around the nation have heard your interest in East Bridge High!” The male commentator looked over at Pearl, the broadcasts still rolling.
Pearl reached for a sheet of paper at their desk. On it had a list of all the schools participating. Pearl, with confidence, proceeded to speak with a mere quick glance at the sheet then up towards the cameras.
“East bridge is everyone's favorite since their stellar victory last year. But, I’m interested in Saint Mary’s Academy.”
“Saint Mary?”
“Of course, the saints blissfully play at the gates of heaven.” Pearl's words didn’t reach the commentator nor the people recording.
“Um. Indeed, Saint Mary was on the road to a five-year winning streak until last year's East Bridge arrived. They have solid players, but I must ask. Do you think they will win this year's tournament and head to the nationals?”
“Hard to say. If the brackets are right then, I’ll give it my one-hundred percent vote.” Pearl skimmed through the list before coming across Starlight towards the end. “Actually, I’ll correct myself. Another dark horse is roaming the field.” Pearl would say no more on other schools' comments, not even revealing the dark horse to the viewers watching.
“Hmph. She better have meant us.” Deveron sat in his seat, arms crossed, continuing to watch the broadcast. He still wanted to finish the score with Pearl when he had the chance, but that would come later.
“Probably, I wouldn’t put it past her to ignore us like all the rest. Though, I never had a chance to fight her. Nor did Alexia.” Cheveyo mentioned glancing over at Deveron next to him. “Because someone kept constantly fighting her while she was at the academy.”
“Listen, not many people get the chance to take on a pro. Especially when said pro gets defeated on the final streak.” Deveron smirks once more, consolidating his firm belief in defeating Pearl in the final match they had before she gave up.
“Stop showing off your ego! Because when this first day is over. Everyone will be shouting my name~!” Roy boasted with confidence as per the norm before Heidi interjected.
“Now, now! We have to remember we’re a team in this. Let’s just do our best.” Heidi tried to boost team support for the moment before, all of them were interrupted by the intercom.
From the intercoms, a monotone voice similar to the one heard from the singularity machine spoke. “All Vanguard fighters, please head to your designated fighting rooms.” This sentence would be repeated another five times.
“Hehe! Alright!” Roy stood up from his seat, beginning to hype himself up.
“Good luck, go get 'em.” Reynolds nodded to Roy.
“Go, Roy!” Heidi shouted, supporting her friend.
“If you lose, we’ll trade spots!” Devron smirked, knowing Roy wouldn’t want to give up his Vanguard spot.
“As if! Anyway, I’m off!” With that, Roy exited the viewing room and headed towards his designated area. Upon arrival, he noticed it wasn’t a large stadium; it didn’t even lead into the building's center. No, in fact, this was a smaller room with two double doors. A similar singularity machine to the one within the building's center was stationed inside, only it was much smaller within the room. Instead of having four large hexagonal platforms, it would just have two small ones fit for one person each. Inside the room, there would be a female attendant with a clipboard in hand. This attendant was in a black and white business suit and began to mark down names on the clipboard.
“Roy Brooks of Starlight Academy?” She asked.
“Right here!” He stepped into the room, confident in his abilities.
“To the platform.” She pointed towards one of the hexes. To which he complied, heading over to step on. He wondered who his opponent was. Not long after, the double doors would open up as his opponent stepped in.
“Billy Kaur of Mammoth Institute?” The attendant asked.
“Here!” His voice rang out through the room. Physically, Billy was in pretty good shape, about average-height with olive skin, red hair, and blue eyes. He was in Mammoth Institutes uniform colors, which were primarily black and white. A suppressor tightened to his wrist like everyone else. In his right hand, he had a metal bat that he gave to the attendant. She carefully examined it, then gave it back within a few seconds.
“Stand on the other side of your opponent.” She instructed, to which Billy nodded, making his way to the platform.
The lights in the room began to dim with the machine proceeding to start up. Once more, the same monotonic voice rang out from it.
“Fighters at the ready! The stage is set! Beginning transfer!” The two fighters began to dematerialize from the machine, their suppressors breaking apart and landing on the floor.
Starlight Academy’s debut match was just beginning.