Alex overhand serves the ball. Jazz reaches forward and receives it.
"Wrong way! Sorry!" Kurai smirks.
"Don't worry!" Kurai rushes to the back left corner of the court and overhand setting it to Jaden who spikes it without blockers. Alex smirking.
"You're… Incredible, Kurai Vlast!" The score bumps up WCC 20-21 OPU.
Jaden tosses the ball and bolts forward. Slightly missing the ball as it lands in front of the net. Jaden landing and rubbing his neck.
"Sorry, Kurai" Kurai chuckles.
"Don't worry about it… we got a point out of it wither way" the score bumps up WCC 20-22 OPU.
"We're nearing the end of the second set, after OPU took the first set, now if they win this second set, they go to nationals!!"
Jaden thinks to himself. 'We really made it here… didn't we?' Jaden tosses the ball, and jump serves it over the net. Zane brings it up and Alex underhand sets the ball to Jason. Kurai and Owen rush over to block and jump. Jason flies into the air and spikes the ball at a sharp angle, placing it just in front of the 3-meter line.
"And insane cut spike from Jason!"
"The score is now 21-22, still in favor of OPU"
"And here comes Miya Thompson for the serve"
Miya takes a deep breath. Slightly tossing the ball, slamming his fist into it from underneath.
"A ceiling serve!?" Kurai squints his eyes to see in front of the lights but can't as the ball rolls of his hands and hits the court. WCC 22-22 OPU.
"The score is tied again after an impressive ceiling serve!"
Everyone takes a breath as Miya prepares another ceiling serve.
Miya hears the whistle and tosses the ball slightly, slamming his fist into the bottom of the ball. The ball flying into the rafters before slowly floating down. Carlos jumps forward and seal dives to bring the ball up. Kurai side steps.
"Give it here!!" Kurai runs p to the net as to spike. The blockers instantly appear in front of Kurai as he last second sets the ball to the middle of the court. Jazz jumps up to spike as the blockers react and instantly appear. 'These guys are in the zone! They're super-fast!" Jazz swings his hand and misses, Jaden appearing behind him. Slamming the ball over the blockers. Landing and thrusting his fist.
"TAKE THAT!" the score bumps up. WCC 22-23 OPU.
Coach Haruki sits on the bench, rubbing her chin.
"Kurai's smarter than I gave him credit for… He called the ball to trick the blockers, then Suprise set it to the middle for a Suprise pipe attack! A 2 layered deception!"
The announcers scream. "What a play by Kurai Vlast!"
"They call him the Emperor of the Court for a reason! He's not just dragging around his opponents but relying on his teammates to do so as well for a multi-layered deception!"
"Kurai Vlast's a Monster!"
"Jazz King is now up to serve"
Jazz takes a deep breath and tosses the ball. Kurai shocked. Jazz thinks to himself as the ball floats in front of the lights. Sweat rolling down his face. 'Justlike how Kurai taught me..' Jazz slams the ball over the net, bouncing it off of Zane's shoulder and out of bounds. WCC 22-24 OPU: Match Point.
Jazz tosses the ball high. Running forward and jumping. Slamming the ball over the net. Zane reaches forward and receives it, hitting the ground afterword. Alex runs forward and underhand setter dumps the ball. Kurai reaches forward and hits the ball before it hits gthe ground.
"I GOT IT!" Carlos suddenly appears and pancakes the ball seconds before hitting the ground. Kurai steps forward, falling on his knee and quick setting the ball to Jaden.
"Three blockers!" Jaden slams the ball on the block as Carlos appears and brings it up again. The crowd goes crazy as cheers fill the arena. Jazz quickly runs up and spiking the ball out of mid-air with no blockers. Zane holds his breath as he brings the ball up.
"This rally keeps going!"
Alex steps forward and underhand setting the ball just a bit too low. Riley jumps up and hits the ball pas Kurai and Owen. Carlos perfectly receives it as Kurai runs forward. Kurai underhand setting it to Jaden. Jaden runs forward and jumping high into the air as a wall appears. Jaden swings his hand as memories of his brothers promise and eventual demise echo through his head. The decrepit state of the team when he arrived, Kurai's arrival, and now the final Rally that'll decide the fate of this team.
Jaden warps the ball around his hand, carving through a hole in the block and hitting the court. Two ominous whistles echo as Jaden lands on the ground.
[OPU 25-19 WCC / WCC 22-25 OPU / 2-0 sets: OPU wins]
There was an ominous silence as Jaden lifts his fist into the air. A suddenly roar fills the arena.
"There it is folks! OPU is going to Nationals!!!"
Alex looks at the court from the net. Standing there breathing heavily.
"Hey" Alex jumps a bit, turning around to see Kurai staring from above. His hand outstretched under the net.
"Good game… thanks for the help, too" Alex raises and eyebrow and shakes Kurai's hand.
"I don't know what you mean by that… but thanks anyway… I've wanted to play you my whole life…" Kurai breaks the handshakes as Alex continues.
"Well… I've always been a hospital baby… I have fragile and brittle bones… and the fact I can't gain weight means it's even easier for my bones to break… so I've almost never not been in the hospital… I-" Kurai exhales.
"I get it… if it's a touchy topic, you don't have to tell me… but because of your unique playing style, I was snapped out of a mindset that almost destroyed me" Alex's eyes lighten up with sparkles.
"N-No… there's no way a measly kid like me managed to help someone from the Monster Generation… None the less The Emperor of the Court himself" Kurai chuckles.
"Well… when this game began, I found myself trying to make every set go exactly where I wanted it too… and I was messing up… but then i saw how you played… all you did was set the ball and let the spikers decide how to spike it… I took inspiration and changed how I played to be a little more freeform" Alex smiles brightly.
"I'm glad I could a helped… d good at Nationals for me" His voice was obviously hiding his hidden fanboy. Kurai nods.
"You too, keep striving to be better… you can do all things through Christ who strengthen you" Kurai turns around and walks away. Steam escapes Alex's mouth.
"He's so cool…" Jadon sighs and grabs Alex, dragging him back to the bench.
"Get it together"