INTER-ORDER COMPETITION MATCHDAY 1
Hunter had fought a lot of ghosts and darklings throughout most of his life and yet he had never felt as nervous as he did.
He never thought he'd be so invested in the sprite's success when he registered but the last two weeks made him care. The fact that Ms. Gibbs-White gave a passionate speech about the competition earlier only made him feel the stakes were higher than he initially thought.
Hunter tapped his foot on the floor incessantly as he looked up from the bench to see his team's first-round lineup: Meghan, Ollie, and Petra. He wasn't even part of the challenge and yet he felt this way, he wondered how does who were part of it felt.
Lauren, who was their coach, nudged him with her shoulder, "have faith," she said.
Hunter sighed, she was right, their team's first lineup was solid and he had seen them give their all in the last 14 days, he had no doubts, they were going to win.
*14 DAYS AGO (TRAINING DAY 1)*
Hunter was just leaving his classroom after a lesson when a poster on the notice board caught his eye. He stopped to get a good look at it, '40th Annual inter order competition' was written boldly at the top.
"Are you going to be registering?" A voice suddenly asks, catching him off guard.
"Jeez man ..." He said placing his hand on his chest as he turned around to see a young man with yellow eyes and a vertical scar on his left eyebrow. He had spiky dark red hair with short bangs.
The man extends his hand to Hunter, he was wearing a black shirt with a symbol of a dolphin jumping out of water on the left chest area, green trousers, and a headband around his left wrist.
"Alexander Lewis of the Sprite Guardians"
"If this is about joining your club, I'm not interested,"
Alexander shoots a smile, seemingly indifferent to the rejection of the invitation he hadn't even conveyed. "Sprite Guardians aren't a measly school club, we are an official mystical organization recognized by the Bureau"
Hunter smiled surprised, "good for you"
"..."
"..."
"Wanna join?"
"Nope."
"It's fine, you just need a little convincing"
"I promise you that's not the issue here"
"We'll see," Alexander bobs his head towards the poster, "are you signing up?"
"What's it about?"
"You're gonna love it!" Alexander claimed, pulling him away from the corridors, "you see, every year, when the mid-semester is upon us, we have an inter-order competition --"
"Yeah, no, I got that part from the poster --"
"Shh," Alexander shushed, "you see what happens is different orders in the school compete for the top spot in the Metropolitan School of mysticism"
"Oh, any prizes?"
"Uh ... There's a trophy ... And bragging rights ..."
"No money?"
Alexander frowns, "You do know we aren't charged for attending this school right?"
"I do." Alexander pursed his lips waiting for Hunter to figure out what he meant
"I see your point"
Alexander smiles, revealing his perfect white teeth, "come," he says throwing his hand over Hunter's shoulders, "I'll show you where to sign up"
"I never said I wanted t --"
"Shh"
.
.
.
After registering for the competition, the two of them head to the training ground to meet with the other sprites and practice for the upcoming tournament.
"You're gonna love it here, I promise!" Alexander stated
"Alex, you found a volunteer?" Another student queried, Hunter recognized her from one of his classes, her name was Petra.
"Yeah, a good one too," Alexander replies
"Wait I'm confused, were you trying to get me to sign up for the competition or join your organization?" Hunter asked
"Two stones, one bird," he replied
"I think you got that backward"
Alex shrugs, "same difference."
"That's not--"
'Should I quit?'
[No, this would be a good way to bolster your abilities]
'If you say so'
"How about some quick introductions," Alex says throwing his hand over Hunter's shoulders, "that's Ollie, a Grade D sprite and a year 2 student. Next to him is Meghan, she is the same grade and year as Ollie," he said, pointing to a guy with a pink crew cut hair and a lady with green hair next to him.
Alexander turned to the other side of the ground, "see the Asian over there," he said pointing to a fairly tall lady with flowing scarlet hair that reaches down to her shoulder blades with bangs covering her left eye. She had lots of feline features, having yellow eyes with vertically slitted pupils and pronounced, cat-like teeth, "that's Yui, most believe she has the potential to become the greatest Sprite in history"
"Woah," Hunter said amused, "what's her grade?"
"A, she's supposed to be a year 1 student but was moved up to year 3 cause she's so much better than her peers."
"Cool"
Alex points to a big, buff dude with tattoos, a shaved head, and a serious scowl, "that's Thomas, year 4 and grade A, captained the sprites to our only quarterfinals last year, the best in the team."
Lauren suddenly appeared with Zoe just two feet behind her, "Gather around, kids," she instructed as she got on a podium
Hunter and Alexander moved forward, "Lauren's a sprite?" He asked surprised
"Yeah, although the one behind ain't," said Alex
"I know, she's a fiend," Hunter said, "what is she doing here?"
"Lauren is the only teacher that's a sprite and Zoe is training to be a teacher in this school. Since there are no fiends in this school they must have assigned her as Lauren's assistant," Alex explained.
"Zoe's training to be a teacher?"
"Pretty cool right?"
"Yeah, right, she would make one fine teacher."
Lauren cleared her throat before she began to speak, "As you all know," she began but is suddenly interrupted by the buzzing of her phone. She took out her phone and brought it up to her ear before speaking in a low tone.
Once she was done with her call, she looked at the crowd of sprites apologetically, "I'm sorry guys something came up, but don't worry Zoe would take over, you're in good hands," she stated before climbing down from the podium.
Once Lauren was out of earshot, Zoe began to speak, "listen closely cowards, before coming here today I did a little research and I found that this team is nothing but a group of pathetic losers who are yet to make it past the quarter-finals."
The crowd looked at each other confused, "What is she talking about?" Someone whispered
"She does know that some of us just registered today right?" Another sprite added
"Lucky for you," Zoe continued, "it so happens that it falls on to me to train you into the best sprites you can be. I want you all to forget whatever training or moves you have as that has done nothing but brought failures to your team and pay attention as I mold you all into a winning team."
'Yeah, we're so not gonna make it far'
*PRESENT DAY*
Zoe plops down on the seat next to Hunter, she was wearing a light blue tracksuit with white stripes, like every other sprite present there. "You're nervous?" She asked
Hunter nods his head, "a bit ... You know, I'm still surprised you're capable of putting a sentence together without being condescending"
"My tone depends on how much respect I have for an individual," she replied
"Well first of all, ouch. Second of all, does this mean you now have respect for me?"
Zoe turned to the stage as the light suddenly dimmed and the spotlight focused on the announcer as he made his way to the middle of the stage.
"Only a teeny bit," says Zoe, the seriousness of her tone and her unwavering expression making it clear she wasn't joking.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to day one of the Metropolitan School of mysticism 40th inter-order competition," the announcer said energetically, "And our match right now, Sprites vs Mages."
"For all those who are unfamiliar with the tournament rules, allow me to explain it to you," he continued, "The competition is split into three parts: Individual Challenge, Group Challenge, and Team Challenge.
"During the individual challenge, three competitors from each team face off in a 1-on-1 situation in the order they are seated. Each victory in this challenge is worth 1 point. In this challenge, each match would have a five-minute time limit and competitors can be eliminated via forfeiting, knockouts, or when thrown out of the arena. If there is no winner at the end of the five minutes, our esteemed judges would declare one.
"The group challenge pits three different competitors from each team into a similar situation as the Individual Challenge, but the competitor that falls is replaced with another competitor from their team that comes after them. When a competitor is knocked out, the one standing is awarded a point. When a team's members are all defeated the standing team is handed an additional point.
"The team challenge however is a 4-on-4 battle with a fifth substitute competitor on each team. Unlike the previous stages, this stage relies on the cooperation of the team as a whole. When a single competitor is eliminated, the fifth competitor would then be able to come on the field. The team left standing, in the end, wins 5 points from this round. Here competitors can only be eliminated through knockouts or if they forfeit
"Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, give it up for our judges," the announcer says and the audience erupts into thunderous applause and cheers.
Three men emerge from backstage, walking majestically to their seats, "From the right, it's yours truly, Zyair! In the middle, he is your favorite teacher, Daniel! And finally, you know him as the portly, jolly man, Santa Claus!"
The crowd cheer even louder as Santa appears, waving with a huge smile on his face.
"Ugh, he wasn't so jolly when he was trying to turn the mystic world against me," Hunter muttered
"You called him an old man, Santa hates being called an old man," Lauren says
"Why though?"
"He isn't that old though," Lauren says, "Santa is a fairy that was born sometime in the 16th century. By fay standards, he's still pretty young,"
"Oh."
The judges take their seats while the competitors climb onto the arena.
Meghan was the first sprite to enter the arena against a female mage.
A bell is rung and Meghan rushes the mage, blue energy surrounding her fist. She throws a quick punch that catches the mage in the face, throwing her out of the arena.
The mage's feet hover just over the ground, before floating back into the arena.
"Wait, isn't she eliminated? she was thrown out of the arena," says Hunter
"It doesn't count unless the legs touch the floor," Lauren explains
The mage raised her staff high, shooting Meghan with an energy beam that throws her out of the arena.
[Well that was fast]
'That was just luck, we have this in the bag'
They didn't. Ollie fell next then Petra and during the group challenge, the sprites fielded a lineup of Meghan, John, a year 2 sprite, and Alexander. Meghan and John both failed to defeat the first competitor of the mages while Alexander knocked him and the one after him out but was eliminated soon after.
The team challenge began with Thomas, Yui, Alexander, and Petra representing the sprites while chasing the game 6 - 2
They were in a different location from the first two challenges, however, everyone could still see them thanks to the large screens.
Hunter looked on from the bench, his heart racing as the match begins.
Thomas and Yui were quickly separated and isolated from the rest of their teammates while the others were eliminated.
The assistant referee approached the bench, "it's time for the substitute to enter the match,"
Lauren turned to Hunter, "You're up."
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