Vibrations rang in Deveron's ear — His eyes having a hard time adjusting to the sun above him, yet this wasn’t the tournament field. He was playing on a different one. One more compact and weak. Yes, a training field back in his schools' building.

The sound of a parasol unfolding caught his attention as a familiar face loomed before him — Starlight’s favorite Gothic Lolita, Pearl. The time would be a month before the official tournaments even kicked off, while Alexia and the others were off training with Pearl’s future successor, Adelle. Deveron had the pro-fighter all to himself, and sad to say, each time he moved in to strike, Pearl had the grace and finesse to simply avoid all of his punches, throws, kicks. After all, that was her specialty in fighting, a very defensive and highly evasive pro-fighter. Fitting since her partner in the leagues could simply draw anything to life, she was the shield, and Paige was the sword.

“Thou is slow, lacking in both power and grace.”

“Yeah, Yeah. Keep talkin’ I’ll show you what happens when I hold out!”

“Hm..” Pearl held up her parasol, taking a moment to observe Deveron. The boy had so many weaknesses and openings that it was hard to believe he was a top contender and a fan favorite. Not only that, there were three on his team that could hard-counter him, yet despite that, his singularity was undoubtedly a dangerous one. Seemingly lacking no singularity at first, but as he took more damage and lasted longer, it started to show.

“Alright…Doth wants to test himself. So, you shall receive my high praise. Thy should remember, my singularity, yes?”

“Yeah..” Deveron realized he bled from the mouth, taking a moment to wipe it away. “I can already hear it…”

“Good. This will be mine strongest — Know now that there are others with similar properties to thine own singularity. Alas, the winds carry similarities…But, mine is the most unique.”

“Don’t worry, Harsh Havoc can take it.” Deveron braced himself.

“Harsh Destruction? Cruel Furocity…An interesting nickname for a singularity… But, useless if thy can’t survive.”

The same purple aura manifested around Pearl, a familiar atmosphere back when they first met. Didn’t she use this against Heidi? Deveron’s thoughts started to race as he braced himself. Before long, this aura began to shift from Pearl’s own body and into her parasol. With a single motion down, the ends of the parasol tapped the ground sending out a humongous wave of vibrations that shattered the earth, uplifting the tectonic plates disrupting Deveron's stance. He was then hit by a euphoric sensation; his mind started to shift — His body halting all motor functions. The ringing in his ear only accelerated more and more while a cursed smile lay upon his face. Pearl’s singularity was tampering with his brain and killing him on the inside; even the environment around him seemed ready to drop him into an endless pit.

“Fu Fu Fu~.” A burst of unique laughter emitted from Pearl, jumping off a rising pillar and slowly descending to Deveron’s position with her parasol open like a Mary Poppin.

“You wanted this…So tell me…When the birds flock upon thee, in your final moments. Wilt this warrior kneel or strike.”

Her words made it through his ringing ear, yet all that he could remember afterward was nothingness. When he came to his senses, the mountains lay past him to the south while he stood in an open field, paths branching off, yet they all lead into a small town in the distance. The sky was cloudy primarily with sunlight beaming through, and his status bar showed itself in his eyes, both bottom right and top left.

Recalling that weird training battle before he even stepped in to fight. That’s one way for his brain to fuck with him. Deveron let out a breath of air, balling his hand into a fist.

“Well, no time reminiscing…Let’s just kick this off before the others do.”

Holding up his singularity suppressor, he’d tap in a few numbers then press one of the 4 portraits with 1 being blacked out. In an instant — Cheveyo materialized right beside him.

“Good to see ya, Chev. Welcome to the vice-captains match!”

“H-Huh?! Wait...Oh right, the rule. I completely forgot.”

“Yeah, so did the other teams, but knowing them, they were likely waiting for this match specifically to jump in and take the point. Can’t let that happen now, can we?”

“This just became a double match on each side then? You know you could have saved it for Alexia. We only get the one.”

“Like the little sun needs it….” Deveron thought for a moment on Alexia; despite the two having their issues here and there, he had to admit that she picked up the slack for most of the team in the end. Reynolds perfect little anchor.

“Besides, I don’t think she’d want anyone aiding her in the end….” Deveron continued.

“Why’s that?”

“And here I thought you could also see that or ask your spirits. Little star’s something crazy…As much as I’d love to take her spotlight, I don’t wanna get hit by any of her stars again. Now enough about that. Come on, we’re gonna throw these fools a bone. Gimme a spirit that knows how to hide things.”

Deveron started walking down one of the paths to the little town. Cheveyo wanted to speak more on the conversation — But them winning proceeded first. Knowing the other teams, they’d likely send in their strongest from the first three matches. His eyes turned to face the back, those mountains… The same ones where Roy fought on — All the zones they fought were part of one gigantic field? Upon turning around to face Deveron, he could see a city past the horizon. None of the zones they fought on had a large city yet.

“Right. Give me a moment…” Cheveyo couldn’t get used to just suddenly being in the team's room, then appearing smack into a match. He didn’t think anyone could, but he’d comply with Deveron and summon an owl, holding out his right arm for it to sit upon.

“An owl? You’re pretty funny, man…But, whatever.”

Cheveyo shook his head, allowing the Owl to fly off somewhere into the countryside.

“It’s…Likely my strongest spirit. Don’t worry. You’ll be protected so long as you don’t do anything crazy. But, knowing you.”

“Heh, you know me, well, buddy. Alright.” Deveron stopped before starting to stretch before listening to the wind blowing, then he sniffed the air.

“Let’s see…I think..We’ll go…To the center of town and hi-”

Words fell short as Cheveyo watched Deveron get kicked in the head by Elsie being flung into a nearby crop field. The strumming of a guitar rang in his ear — Mason moved out from a nearby bush to stand next to Elsie.

“Don’t fall asleep this time, okay?”

An annoyed expression bloomed across Elsie, only for the girl to punch Mason in the side.

“Not happening!”

Bunny ears popped out on top of her head as they proceeded to hop up and down, ready to intercept Cheveyo. Elsie adjusted her footing listening to the light strums from Mason, then they lunged forth! An eastward wind blew, catching her attention only for Elsie to receive a face full of knee from Deveron!

The force threw her back farther than she kicked him across the fields. Mason watched on and let out a sigh.

“Oh right, that power of his….” The guitarist was ready to pull a string, feeling the breeze of the wind calm his mind, slowly lifting his guitar up. His eyes watched Deveron mimic Elsie’s fighting style down to the hops, and of course, he watched Cheveyo. Those spirits were starting to awaken a troubling sign.

Just as he prepared to strum his guitar, a number appeared above his head and the rest.

[+40] for him, [+7] for Cheveyo, and [-5] for Deveron.

Mason noticed the numbers above his head earlier. Was this the work of that Korean girl from Georgia? Finally, he started to play his guitar; an extreme sound vibration moved across the countryside, knocking over nearby trees and blowing away both of Starlight’s fighters. Mason was taken back by how strong his power had become from such light pulls.

Retaking a glance above his head, the number changed again.

[-13]

“What’s going on here.”

Mason returned his gaze back to starlight only to see the sight of a deer radiating a mystic green charge at him. Pulling another string on his guitar, sound vibrations flung out. This time, the vibration wave was weaker than before and merely bounced off the deer. The deer knocked him over, rushing off towards the town!

Elsie popped her head out from a nearby ditch with the number [+8] above her.

“Don’t pass out on me now, Mason!”

“Shut up, I’m fine…Ah...I think?” Despite being run over by a deer, his body wasn’t injured but certainly bruised. His left hand, in particular, seemed to have taken the most damage. “Of all things…Come on!” Mason glanced above his head one more time, yet the number was no longer there. They wondered about the numbers but rushed off, heading towards the small town.

The deer approached the town only to evaporate into green mist; from the mist, Deveron rolled onto the ground, whereas Cheveyo managed to slide across the now stone-tiled path.

“I thought I said give us a spirit that could help!” Deveron swatted away the mist.

“The owl…Takes a bit to get going, but I assure you it will aid us. In the meantime…I will try my best to knock out the other fighters.” Deer antlers sprouted onto Cheveyo’s head, his tattoos emitting an emerald glow.

Both walked into the town, looking at the empty streets and buildings. Wind speeds kicked up, and the clouds overhead passing through the sun continually beat down upon them as they marched on. Cheveyo halted — His eyes looming to the sides then to the rooftops. In the distance, a house was set on fire, smoke piling into the air. From the smoke, two fireballs hurtled towards them.

Deveron took one of the balls of fire face-first, being knocked down the street, whereas Cheveyo slashed the one aimed at him, forcing it to disperse.

“Guess we weren’t the first ones here.” Cheveyo looked at an incoming figure moving down from the sky only to land in front of him, cracking the roads. Millennium High’s Triston Baker arrived with flames flickering off his uniform. Another figure on a nearby rooftop spotted by Cheveyo made their presence known. Taylor Burns, winner of the Sargents match.

In her combat form, hair no longer brown but emerald green and metallic plating covering her body, Taylor observed the two fighters only to input information on her tablet.

“Oh…It’s the spirit warrior…And the fan-favorite.” Taylor jumped off the nearby rooftop and hovered over towards Triston to give him one of her drone devices, granting him a durable shield.

Deveron arose to flames similarly flickering off him like Triston.

“You know, Chev. I didn’t think she’d be a cutie up close.”

“Stop fooling around, man.”

Triston rubbed the back of his head. Something didn’t sit right with him.

“How the hell did you survive that?”

Taylor shook her head only to gently push up their glasses.

“This is why I told you to read up on your opponents before a match.”

“That’s no fun. The real fun is figuring it out; Mahdri would agree with me.”

“Mahdri is a special case, unlike you….”

“Hey! I’ll have you know I’m far fr-” Heat intensified as Triston was hit by a fireball. This time ramped up, even more, the impact breaking the shield Taylor provided and knocking him into a coffee shop.

“See! This is what I meant.” Taylor looked in the direction of Deveron. What a troublesome singularity…

Circular devices started to rotate around her, a familiar attack pattern to Cheveyo. Just as Taylor was about to strike, the number [-17] manifested over her head. She immediately stopped her attack, backing away to survey the area.

“She’s backing off?” Cheveyo couldn’t believe his eyes; it was hard to see Taylor back away from an opportunity to attack. She handled herself well against multiple opponents before, then he noticed the number above his head.

[+78]

“Hey! We need to find the source of this number!”

“Easier said than done, Chev. But I might have a hunch. For now, let’s go!”

Deveron zoomed past his friend lunging forth and drop-kicking Taylor through three buildings. The barrier protecting her cracked in several places only to shatter when the girl hit the ground.

“That’s how you do it!”

[+20]

The number loomed above Deveron's head, his senses kicked in — the direction of the wind changed from eastward to westward. His gaze shifted to the west only to feel the kinetic impact of a fist pressed up against his chest. Before him, all he saw was a number and the Korean 1st-year student of Georgia’s team. The scenery around him started to dilute the buildings were collapsing into goo.

[+100]

A smile showcased across Tae’s face as her fist sent Deveron soaring through the streets. The girl stretched her arms out, realizing that the environment began to change, buildings collapsing into goo, and the background color started to shift into a variety of colors. Cheveyo looked at Tae, but his vision started to blur, not recollecting her figure — Hazy in nature and the aura she gave off fluctuate the colors of a rainbow.

Another figure was seen walking towards Tae; it was Xavion.

“One-hundred this time? Talk about lucky.” He scratched his chin only to stand next to Tae, ready to intercept any attack.

“It’s not luck!” A quick outburst from Tae caused Xavions own number to shift from [-64] to [+2].

After a few seconds, her own number altered from 100 to [+11]. A breath of air left Cheveyo’s body. He could sense the team they intercepted first, now entering the town, and Deveron just got punted hard.

“Come on, you owl…”

The vice-captains match had only just begun and was already heating up to be a crowd favorite, the cheers rumbling throughout the stadium. Yet in a private cafe somewhere in the states, Pearl watched on as the match continued. Next to her seated was Adelle drinking tea, whereas Pearl had her usual coffee to stay awake.

“Who came up with these rules? It’s like they want Starlight to lose.” Adelle seemed frustrated.

Pearl set down the coffee; she wasn’t going to comment on the rules. The professional league also had its dosage of weird rules thrown in during a tournament. But, this exciting duo matchup certainly is what provided these tournaments even more popularity.

“Alas, thy are caste against the woven flames of fate….” Pearl placed her head against the table. “But, this should not stop them…Especially that Deveron.” Her speech pattern returned to normal.

“Oh? The fan-favorite from that state? Shouldn’t it be Alexia?” Adelle looked to her teacher and started to twirl a pierce of Pearl’s hair.

“No…That star doesn’t shine bright like him, which in the long run…Works for her….He’s another story. Burning brighter the more he gets hit…I wonder…Did thee ever learn properly from me?”

Pearl swatted away Adelle’s hand to think Reynolds would make her a teacher in the long run, not only to his 2nd generation but also start her own. Alas, A smile blossomed onto Pearl as she sat up to continue watching. The sound of a door opening made her turn to the left. Walking into the room was a familiar woman.

A halo was situated above their head, which changed from yellow to pink upon spotting pearl.

“You’re late… One of your favorites is fighting.” Pearl turned their attention back to the screen; how on earth was this match going to end, and would Reynolds prodigy student shine in the end over the rest. These thoughts continued to collect in Pearl’s mind, but her job in training them was over, and the results had to speak for themselves.