The first match for Starlight was intense and becoming more even as the hour passed. After Cheveyo’s one-sided win, Heidi took to the stage to overcome her opponent. Sadly, it wasn’t enough due to her feeling sluggish upon the stage transformation. She eventually lost the match causing Mammoth Institute to go 2-1. It was then time for Deveron; his game occurred during a break period where Alexia and Cheveyo brought back drinks for the team only to realize Deveron had decimated his opponent's competition, causing the score to be tied back up 2-2. The tiebreaker match was about to begin with Alexia and a star player from Mammoth, whose sponsors kept their eyes on similar to Deveron.
“It’s a tie...Final match.” Cheveyo looked at the screen, standing next to Alexia with a soda in his right hand. Alexia could only be amazed that she was the last anchor for the team; this would either be the end of her journey from the get-go or a new step forward.
“Yeah, I’ll do my best and win,” Alexia replied, looking back at Cheveyo. He merely smiled, knowing she had it in her, then Deveron’s voice could be heard from behind them.
“Just don’t go, causing us to lose. This is very important. It would be a blemish on my record if you caused us to lose here.” His words were sharp as ever.
“She’ll surprise you. No need to worry.” Reynolds had stood up from his seat and walked towards the three. “Just have faith in your teammate. If you don’t, her opponent will have more strength.”
“That’s right, Mammoth Institute’s star player or one of them. I heard his singularity grows stronger with each cheer or noticeable faith in his abilities. How does that even work in the actual match?” Cheveyo asked, curious about Alexia’s opponent.
“Beat’s me. All of your powers are as mysterious to me as your opponents. Still, it shouldn’t be an issue for Alexia if she plays her cards right. Go get 'em ~!” Reynolds gave a thumbs up while Deveron merely brushed past him without a care, only yawning from his match being over.
Seconds later, the intercom rang out, calling for those in the captain’s slot to head to the staging rooms. Reynolds glanced back at Alexia one more time. Since her joining the team, he had confidence in Alexia; he had been preparing her as his secret weapon for the nation to see. Perhaps even the world. There was no doubt in his mind that she’d win this match. The only question in his mind continually buzzing around would be, how far would she go in this match? Would it prepare her for future opponents?
Alexia turned around, tightening her gloves onto her hands, heading towards the staging room. As she made her way down the hall, she noticed the media waiting for her, it seemed. It was a bit embarrassing she wasn’t used to this type of attention on her in this way. At one point, she began to stumble from merely walking. Heidi and Roy, back in the viewing room, could only hope for the best.
“Heh… You think she’ll be okay?” Roy asked.
“I sure do hope.” Heidi looked back at Roy only with a slight sensation of worry for Alexia.
“And we’re in the captain’s match for this wonderous early day bracket! Who will move on, Starlight Academy or Mammoth Institute!” Joel continued his announcement from the press box. Next to him still was Pearl. Who now, at this point, was eating a plate of spaghetti beside him. A bit of a glutton she was.
“Mmm…” Pearl swallowed her food and looked at the screen to see Alexia. “Last time, I didn’t get a chance to fight you due to my over-exhaustion. I apologize… Hopefully, you’ve changed.” Pearl thought to herself before going back to eating. When she was finished, Milton took her plate away and handed her a napkin.
Pearl proceeded to wipe her face with it, then began to commentate with Joel. “Starlight’s Anchor is a newcomer to these matches.”
“Indeed, Alexandria Winchester, she’s a senior at Starlight. So this seems to be her one and only chance of participating. Let’s hope she can give us a good match! But, sadly, her opponent is no pushover! Mammoth Institute's own shining captain! Casey Knight!” Joel shouted, aiming at the screen, showcasing Casey, who just entered the fighting room. Casey stood at almost 6ft tall, an average built dude with a smile that could melt many hearts. A calm sense of confidence was always present around him; his face was handsome to most that would see him. When it came to things, a genuine pretty boy even wore a cape around his shoulders, which had his school emblem on it. That of a woolly mammoth encased in golden fire.
Casey gave a courteous bow towards the media recording him. “Thank you~! Thank you! I look forward to my match! To all those who support me, I ask that you place your faith in me! 110%!” His voice was a bit loud and overzealous. Wearing a similar uniform to Billy, he’d wave goodbye to the media and approach the same woman inspecting the other fights before him.
Alexia finally made her way to the room, entering through the opposite end of Casey, still a bit flustered about her falling down. A little sigh leaving her vocal cords before she was stopped by a hand up against her chest. Glancing upward, it would be the very same woman as before.
“Alexandria Winchester?” The woman asked.
“Yes, that is me.”
“Do you have any weapons on you?” The woman asked before Alexia showed her the gloves she received. Upon closer inspection, the inspecting woman would be a bit surprised by the gloves' quality but simply nodded, making a note of it, and pointed towards the singularity machine. “Stand on the staging platform.”
Alexia walked over towards the machine but stopped short by Casey, who held out his hand to show good sportsmanship.
“Nice to meetcha’. Let’s have a good match?” Casey gave a dazzling smile. Alexia shook his hand, not really sensing anything odd coming from him. Over the past month or so from her training, she had grown keen on detecting oddities in a person.
“Yes, let’s have fun,” Alexia replied, smiling. Casey let go and moved to his side of the machine, standing on the staging platform with Alexia moving to the opposite end. The same monotone voice made itself known from the machine.
“Fighters at the ready! Stage set! Preparing for transfer!” It rang out as the singularity machine began to activate, with blue particles enveloping Alexia and Casey's bodies as they proceeded to be transferred into the fighting stage.
Alexia appeared in a long, vast hallway with a column of pillars raised 10ft tall and stained-glass on top of the ceiling lined up in a row side by side going endless down the hall. The walls and pillars were made of smooth marble. Only the light coming from the stained glass could fill these halls with light, for before her, there stood Casey ready to go. Before Alexia could even brace herself, Casey made a long dash down the aisle, picking up speed as he made his way towards her.
Lunging his right fist forward, Casey was met with Alexia’s arms held up in a guard. The force from his fist caused Alexia to slide back, still standing upwards. Casey looked surprised, beginning to even test the waters of this fight.
“Not bad, but let’s try this.” With the same cheery smile on his face, Casey began to start punching the air in front of Alexia repeatedly. Alexia, now catching her bearings, saw this, only clueless to what he was doing. Faintly, however, there was a golden hue of energy enveloping his body.
Suddenly, the wind started picking up as a gust flung itself past Alexia. Instinctively, Alexia punched in front. Her fist brushed up against a blast of air, pushing her back once more, sliding along the floor.
“HAAA!” Casey shouted as his fist was brought forward, his golden energy now making itself present. The energy enveloping his body proceeded to move towards his arms before it all came funneling outward from his fist. The golden energy combined with the wind as it hurtled towards Alexia. She jumped! Leaping over the funnel of energy while Casey brought his left arm outward, the same golden energy enveloping his body this time at a rapid pace. Once more, flinging it through his fist, another funnel of energy hurtling at Alexia mid-air.
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This second one caught her by surprise as she was hit by the force of air mixed with Casey’s energy as it sent her flying across the hall, landing hard on her back.
“Argh! What in the world…” Alexia sat up, rubbing her back before noticing two more gusts of wind coming at her at the same time the energy no longer mixed with them. Rolling to her left, Alexia avoided the gusts of winds her body pulled up against one of the pillars. She had to recuperate, quickly getting up on her feet. She shifted attention towards the direction of Casey, who once more charged at her.
He did the same maneuver as before, only this time, he was getting stronger as it continued. A gust of wind brushed past Alexia’s face as she dipped her head down, ducking once the second blast of wind hit over her. The wind itself upon the impact of the pillar caused it to crack, beginning to collapse. “Now!” Alexia thought to herself, quickly rushing towards Casey as the support collapsed behind, picking up dust from its ruins. Casey only obliged, preparing to take Alexia head-on. He leaped forward with his legs pulled back before delivering a powerful kick to Alexia’s chest. This caused Alexia to get knocked over, crashing into the floor as small cracks formed in the ground. Casey landed on his back, quickly getting up and dusting himself off.
“Sorry!” He still apologized despite this being a serious fight. “Can you feel it~? The people are cheering me on!” With all his might, Casey raised both of his hands into the sky. The light piercing from the stained-glass on the ceiling beaming down on him in just the right spot.
Alexia slowly got up, placing her hand over her chest, gently pressing down on it; it was already hurting. That kick upon impact had knocked the breath out of her for a brief moment.
“Ah…. Cheers? Don’t… Be foolish. We can’t hear any of them.” Alexia huffed, catching her breath before taking on her boxing stance. Arms slightly up and at the ready.
“I can hear it! My fans and my team are cheering me on! It just feels me with amazing power!” The same golden energy overcame Casey once more, enveloping his body this time. It was much more extensive and radiating with intensity.
Back in the press box, Joel and Pearl could hear the crowd going wild from Casey’s display of energy. The entire building was going crazy, in fact, over the matches going on for the whole day. Still, captain matches were a bit of a rarity among tournaments—especially state ones. A team had to be evenly balanced among their players to be taken to the Captains.
“Looks like Casey is preparing to win it all here and now! You know the motto, folks! Give him your power!” Joel shouted!
“Halt! It’s not over yet… That’s a silly motto too. We’re not supposed to cheer for one side.” Pearl informed, noticing Alexia had yet to even show her singularity while Casey had been going at it from the start.
“Right, you’re. It appears I got ahead of myself, folks! Regardless, This could be it!”
Pearl leaned back a bit in her seat, watching Alexia recalling her conversation with Reynolds over the phone. This was the star he’s placing his faith into? It was hard to gauge, especially when her health bar was in the yellow area. Though the health bar’s in elimination matches were never accurate, Pearl herself knew that first-hand.
“I have a student of mine that I'm sure you’d love to meet. You don’t have to fight her, but I’d love your observation.” Reynolds said.
“Stan, I’m happy you endorsed me. But, looking after kids isn’t my cup of tea.” Pearl answered.
“You’re endorsing your own fighter, I heard, so help me out just this once. I know you get exhausted from fights, but you don’t have to fight her. Just observe.”
“What’s she like?” Pearl asked
“That’s a bit of a hard one since I just met her not long ago. But, she shows promise.”
“That’s what you said about the one before this one. Deveron was his name? I’ll take a look at him, but this one, I'll think about it. Look… Sorry for asking again. But, I thought you quit this crazy business?” Pearl’s words hint at the deeper parts of the problem.
“I wasn’t intending on being an instructor, you know this. But trust me. Just keep an eye on Alexia. She’ll show you some amazing things.”
Pearl let out a sigh; her memories of that conversation a few months ago still hazy. “He changed subjects.”
“I’m sorry?” Joel looked at Pearl, confused.
“Nothing, my dear. Just thinking to myself.” Pearl mentioned, now fixating herself on the fight. Casey’s energy began to climb; Alexia could see it and sense it happening. She braced herself, clenching her fists tightly. “Wait for the moment…” She thought to herself. Casey punched the air twice in front of him, unleashing not a gust of wind but balls of energy the size of his hand at Alexia.
Immediately she dashed towards the balls of energy, her movements rapidly increasing as she managed to dodge both energy attacks. Casey tossed out a flurry of punches, gusts of wind beginning to brush past Alexia. Her actions became more refined as she quickly made her way to Casey. Left. Right. Left and Right. Dodging in rapid succession to Casey’s attacks, Alexia closed the distance delivering a jab to Casey’s left side. Then his right, before finally one good punch towards his chest, causing him to stumble backwards.
“Ergh! …Nice moves!” Casey caught himself before completely collapsing, moving back from Alexia. His energy once more began to expand outward. “Here goes!” Casey clenched his fists, proceeding to throw our two more energy balls.
Alexia quickly braced herself, jumping over both balls of energy. “Gotcha!” Shouted Casey in the heat of the moment, thrusting both of his arms forward, launching a giant ball of energy at Alexia, who was mid-air.
“Now!” Once she clenched her right fist, Alexia’s words rang in her mind, sudden discharge of particles manifesting around her fist. These particles were like shining stars in the sky far apart from each other, twinkling. Casey sensed something off glancing up towards his ball of energy, which instantaneously dissipated. Gusts of wind blowing fiercely from where it formerly was.
“Ngh!” Casey gritted his teeth, planting his feet against the floor, holding his ground. But, his face was only met with the grinding of Alexia’s fist connecting against the side of his mouth. The force of wind propelled Alexia towards Casey at an insane speed. The collision of her fist was more substantial than anything he could diss-out at that moment. The particles from her fist being sent into Casey’s face as his entire body flung to the side, colliding with a pillar breaking it in half, then through the wall.
“Ring out! Fighter 1 detected outside boundaries! Ejecting!” Just like before, a machine-like voice echoed across the stage as the singularity machine ejected both fighters immediately. Casey was flung out of the device and onto the floor. Alexia collided with the panel's face first. Both of their injuries and bruises from the fight no longer apparent.
“Winner! Alexandria Winchester! Starlight moves on!” The same woman as before that inspected the fighters' weapons announced. She was the Overseer. The one that moderated the fights from up close. They were tasked with interfering if the machines malfunctioned. Highly skilled individuals tasked with a remarkable job to uphold.
Alexia glanced upon hearing of her victory. Only a smile could be seen before she stood up and made her way off the machine. Casey got up as well and quickly walked over to Alexia.
“Starlight! N-No! Alexia! Congratulations! You have my undying support! May my power guide you!” Casey grasped Alexia’s hand, trying his hardest to share his energy. But to no avail.
“W-What?” Alexia merely stood there, starting to slowly shake Casey’s hand despite him trying to do something else. “G-Good match?”
“An excellent match! Alas, It seems we weren’t meant for victory this year. Best of luck in your remaining matches.” Casey released Alexia’s hand and gave her a thumbs-up.
“Yeah. I’ll try my best.” Alexia turned around, trying to quickly return to her team. Such an interaction was already awkward enough.
Pearl looked a bit dumb-struck at what she saw. “Maybe I should have taken her offer back then… Huh?” Pearl gave a soft smile looking at Alexia on the screen.
“A-Amazing! Starlight’s captain forced an out-of-bounds!” Joel could only be in awe at the way it was achieved.
“Congratulations, o’ Starlight! They moveth on to the next bracket!” Pearl announced as rooms around the building stood up in cheers for the match. Back in the viewing rooms, Alexia’s team would be in awe at her fantastic win.
“Well, I’ll be damned. She actually won.” Deveron made mention rubbing his chin before he was elbowed in the side by Heidi.
“Oi. You shouldn’t doubt us.” Heidi annoyingly looked at Deveron.
“Yeah. You’re right. I’ll doubt only you two till you win.” Deveron had an annoyed look on his face as well, glaring at Heidi and Roy.
“Hey. Don’t worry. Next bracket, I’ll win us for sure!” Roy shouted.
“Just don’t lose horribly like you did earlier.” Deveron began to smirk.
“I’m impressed with her ability to move like that. She’s been training well, or she’s learned something we haven’t.” Cheveyo turned to look at Reynolds, who merely looked unsurprised at her victory.
“Yeah. Well, I’m not sure about the last part, but she has been training over the past few months.” Reynolds knew Alexia was growing in strength but not using anything special, and just her fists were rather insane. “Well, enough of that. I want you guys to bring your A-game from now on. Our journey is to the finals.”
All of them nodded towards Reynolds, knowing what they needed to do to make it to the finals. Mammoth Institute was one of the sponsor schools. Schools that receive ample funding from the Foundation along with other media sponsors. While not every school is sponsored, those that stand out in personality, power, and sportsmanship end up being the Foundation’s top sponsor in the States. Sponsored Schools in the states have a showcase match to determine who will be the state's sponsor come time for the nationals. Even if the selected school doesn’t win its state championship, they will get exclusive privileges when it's time for the nationals to arrive. Though, this is not only for America. Europe also has a similar system for picking their top sponsored school.