Team Sprite

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT DAY IT IS TODAY?!" Hunter shouted as he walked into the Sprites' locker room.

"Friday?" Alex replies.

"Wait, today isn't Thursday?" Petra asked surprised.

"It's Friday!" Yui stated.

"You sure? I feel like it's Sunday," Meghan chipped.

Hunter frowns, "What made you think today is Sunday?" He asks, "I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be here if it was Sunday," he added.

"I don't know," Meghan shrugs, "I just have this feeling that somewhere out there, in another universe; today is Sunday."

"Huh?!"

"What does that even mean?" Alex said confused.

Meghan raises an eyebrow, "Seriously guys? We can form energy around our hands but the existence of a multiverse is where you draw the line?"

"I'm with Meghan here," says John

"So am I," Oliver said, "I think there's a universe out there where today is in fact Sunday!"

"There's no such thing as a multiverse, you guys watch too many movies," Thomas stated.

"Thank you!" Yui agreed, "if there was a multiverse I think we'd have at the very least, an idea about it."

"But what if there is and the higher-ups in the mystic world just don't want us to know about it?" Oliver suggested, "ms. Gibbs-White, Zoe, help us out here!"

"Well ..." Lauren started

"Wait ... No! Stop!" Hunter shouted, "I don't care if it is Friday or Sunday or whatever, can we just leave it?"

"... But you're the one who asks what today is!" Petra pointed out.

"I mean ... No! You guys steered me off course. You guys were supposed to say 'what day is today' and I'd be like: 'today is the day we reach the final, but you ruined it!" Hunter stated.

"Oh," Alexander exclaimed, "that would have been so fun! Wanna go again?"

"Forget it!" Hunter walked over and sat down on a bench next to Zoe. "Hey," he said, nodding at her, "we can still call off the bet if you want," he said, his voice low, almost a whisper.

"Getting cold feet?" She asked

"I wear socks," he replies. Zoe glances at his feet before looking back at him, "that's not true," she stated.

"That was a joke ... I feel like no one appreciates my humor --"

"Shut up and no, I'd like it if the bet stayed on," she replied.

"As you wish but remember this moment when I make you do the most embarrassing thing," he stated.

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes. "Good luck out there," she says. Hunter raises an eyebrow, "you sure you'd like that?" He asks but Zoe only shrugs.

"Alright," Lauren said loudly, drawing the attention of all present, "our lineup for the individual challenge would be Hunter, John, and Meghan. While for the Group challenge, we'd have Petra, Oliver, and Alexander. In the Team challenge, we'd start with Thomas, Yui, Hunter, and Meghan with Alexander as the substitute," she stated.

"Sounds great!" Alexander stated, "Now bring it in for the team huddle!"

"Nope," Zoe said almost immediately. "Come on Zoe, just this once?" Hunter requested. She sighs before stepping closer to the others, standing between Hunter and Lauren. They all link their arms, forming a circle before leaning in their head as Alex began to speak, "I just wanted to say well done to everyone, we gave it our all in the past rounds and I have no doubt we'd give it our here today in the penultimate stage, and that's all that matters - giving it our all. Even if we get beat today, it's no problem, the most important thing is to go out there and give our all ..."

"... Go team Sprites!"

"Yeah!"

They file out of the locker room and head to their bench where Hunter shakes their hands and head to the arena, waiting for his opponent. The lineups for the werewolves are revealed and Sydney is the first one.

"Ladies and gentlemen the first match of the day between the Werewolves and the Sprites is Hunter Heffernan vs Sydney Swan.

Sydney steps into the arena while Hunter shakes his head, "Oh boy."

*10 DAYS AGO (TRAINING DAY 11)*

"For the past 10 days," Zoe began, "I have been evaluating you idiots' strengths and weaknesses but today would be something different. I'll be testing your capability to work in a team. So, I'll be pairing you up into groups of two to compete with each other." She looked up at the small crowd of sprites before pointing at Hunter, "you," she said, "... And you," she points at Thomas, "in the same group."

Zoe turns and points to Alex and Yui, "the two of you would be facing them," she stated.

"Begin!" Zoe instructed.

"How do you suggest we go about this?" Hunter asked his partner.

"You know how my powers work?" Thomas asks.

"Yup!" Hunter nodded, "I am fully aware after the ass-whooping you gave me a few days back," he stated.

"Oh come," Tom laughs, "that was a draw and you know it"

'See?!'

[Bah, you lost that match]

'He just said I didn't!'

"Anyways, I want you to always attack no matter what, I'll handle the rest."

"You got it!"

*PRESENT DAY*

INTER-ORDER COMPETITION SEMIFINAL

"Are you ready?" The referee asked Hunter who answers with a small nod. He turns to Sydney, "Are you ready?" He asks her, she too nods in response. The referee turns to the timekeeper's area, signaling for the bell to be rung before he jumps out of the arena.

"Bet you didn't see this coming?" She says.

"Everyone saw this coming," Hunter stated, "although I expected our meeting to be in the team challenge," he added.

"Same ..."

"Have you thought of your perfect comeback yet?"

"Ugh, no," she pouts, "I thought about it all day yesterday and couldn't come up with one," she said, "I decided it would be better if I let my fighting do the talking for me instead," she added.

"That's too bad; I don't think your fighting would do any talking for you either, 'cause the only thing you'd be spitting is sand when I beat you to the ground!"

"Damn!" Sydney exclaimed while Hunter laughs. "We should start fighting though, it must be getting annoying for the crowd watching," he stated.

"Sure, yeah," she agreed, " ... Just to be clear, we're still friends after this, right?"

"Of course," he smiles, "and I expect you to give this your all!"

Sydney's claws emerge and she lunges forward, throwing herself at Hunter, causing dust to rise and she goes crashing into the ground. The dust settles and Sydney finds herself on all fours with Hunter sitting on her back with his legs crossed, "you call this giving it your all?"

Sydney's eyebrows furrowed as she rises with a loud growl, forcing Hunter to jump off her back while she turns, swinging her claws toward him.

Hunter pushes his hand towards hers, interlocking their fingers together before twisting and throwing her to the ground. Sydney gets up again almost immediately, rushing forward. She jumps and turns midair before attempting a roundhouse kick, Hunter easily moves out of the range of attack.

She stands up and runs towards him but Hunter simply turns, allowing her to pass while he stands back to back with her. Hunter leans his head backward, "come on Syd, stop holding yourself back," he whispers to her.

Sydney spins at 360° with her right arm raised but Hunter ducks, spinning with her such that when she comes to a stop, he is still standing behind her. He turns, grabs her right forearm, and turns again before flinging her away.

Sydney turned and twisted, regaining balance and landing on her feet, 'he's incredibly fast,' she noted.

"No, that's not it ..." her wolf stated.

Hunter turns and points his clenched fist at her, the ground between them cracks and Sydney felt a wave send her flying backward but she rolls in the air and falls to her feet. "I knew it," she said with a smile, "you sorcerers are on a whole 'nother level!" She picks up a large boulder with her right hand and charges forward before jumping and hurling the boulder at Hunter.

The boulder meets, and the ground cracks with dust rising. "... But you're still no match for me!" She boasted.

Everyone on the bench and in the stands looked on holding their breath, the dust clears and Hunter is standing with not even a scratch on his body drawing a huge pop from the crowd.

A smirk appears on his face as he got into his fighting stance, "that's it! Now we can get started".

The both of them charge at full speed toward each other but the bell is rung again, bringing the match to an end. "Ladies and gentlemen, time is now up. " The announcer revealed. "Our judges would now declare a winner! Would it be Hunter ... Or did Sydney do enough to take the win? Stay tuned to find out!" He shouted into his microphone.

There is a small break as the judges are given time to reach a unanimous decision. Sometime later, the announcer returned to the front of the audience.

"The judges have decided," the announcer stated, "And the winner is ... Sydney!"

The audience burst into cheers and applause, while the two competitors shake hands, "Good match," he said, "thanks," she replied, "I'll see you in the team challenge?"

"You know you would."

They leave the battleground and headed back to their respective benches. "Good job, Hunter," Alex said to him as he takes his seat next to Zoe. "You were holding back," she stated, her eyes fixed on the battleground, "Even the judges could tell, that was why they gave her the win". Hunter doesn't say anything, sighing as he takes out a bottle of water and takes a sip from it.

Up next for the Sprites were John and Meghan. The two end up winning theirs, making the score 2-1 to the Sprites going into the group challenge.

The group challenge began with a win for the Sprites but was followed by two quick losses. Their final fighter in the challenge was Alexander who won his first but fell in the next. The Werewolves won the group challenge, 2 - 4 while also taking the lead in the overall score; 4 - 5.

... And then it was time for the Team Challenge.

As usual, the referee opens a portal and the eight of them walk into it and appear in a new location; a snowy space with high mountains.

Thomas turned to Yui, " get on one of those mountains," he said pointing to the mountain not too far away from them. "Hunter, you're with me, Meghan, you're our support," he stated. They all nod before Yui goes a separate way while the others go in search of their opponents.

Three of the Werewolves appeared initially, Benson and the two others, the same two he was with the first time Hunter saw him.

They charge forward, uncoordinated, each doing whatever they wish. Thomas waited until they were close enough before snapping his fingers using his mastered transmission ability that teleports himself and his teammates close to him away from the line of attack.

The Sprites appear behind the Werewolves and each sprite takes on a werewolf; one on one. Pink energy forms around Hunter's hands as he throws a right jab at Benson. The beta wolf ducks but Hunter quickly tries a downward kick that catches his opponent in the shoulder, taking him to the ground.

Benson stands quickly with an uppercut but Hunter suddenly disappears and in his place is Thomas, who hits Benson with a thunderous left hook, sending him crashing into the ground.

Meanwhile, Hunter reappears in front of the werewolf Thomas was fighting, leaving the werewolf bewildered while Hunter knocks him out with a spinning elbow strike.

"Hunter look out!" Hunter heard Meghan warn him, his eyes moving sideways to see Sydney so close to him with her hands in the air as she drives her claws toward him. Thomas sees this and quickly snaps his fingers, swapping places with Hunter.

Sydney's eyes widen, she had watched every single match the Sprites were in but never saw them do anything like that before. Thomas slaps her hand aside before hitting her with a kick to the gut.

Hunter appeared next to Meghan and he quickly joins her assault on the third werewolf. Their double attack seems to have cut him off guard as he had no idea what to do nor the speed to block them both, only blocking Meghan's attacks while receiving heavy punches from Hunter.

Thomas snaps his fingers again just as Meghan and Hunter were about to throw a punch and the duo swap places with him, their punch landing on Sydney while he appears and hit the wolf with a red attack that knocks him out.

The werewolf substitute finally arrives and Benson rises back up again. The three remaining werewolves stand side by side against the sprites.

Thomas smiles, "... Should be time now," he suddenly says. A rune appears under the Werewolves' feet and green energy blasts out from underneath sending the wolves flying everywhere.

'That's like a mage ...' Hunter thought, '... Yui!' He turned, looking up at the mountain Tom had pointed to earlier to see Yui waving at them, all this time she was trying to climb the mountain.

Their surrounding suddenly disappears and they are back in the arena where the audience cheers them on; they've won, they've reached the final.

"5 additional points for the Sprites, they have done it!" The announcer stated, "the Sprites would face the Elementals in the final. The Elementals are a team filled with only Grade A fighters and an S-Grade captain. Would they be able to win? On Sunday we would find out!"

Hunter looks for Sydney but sees some Werewolves around her talking to her, it didn't look like a nice chat.

Hunter takes a step forward to go see what was happening but some officials arrive and separate them. He watched as Sydney angrily stormed out of the arena.

...

Lauren and the other Sprites put their hands together for the winning team, their team. Hunter felt his phone vibrate in his pockets, he brought it out to see a new message from Jade; 'waiting outside'. He heads for the exit as his team celebrates the win.

"Hunter," Lauren called, "You're going to be around come Sunday right?" She asked.

"I'll have to convince my supervisor but I'm sure she'd let me."

Lauren nods, "good, till on Sunday then."

"Right," he smiled before heading out of the arena.

[You don't seem happy about the win]

Hunter sighs, 'I'm just tired is all'. A rolls-royce phantom pulls up ahead of him and the windows roll down. Jade pokes her head out, "Get in," she says while Leah waves at him from the other seat.

[This is new]

"Hey guys," he greeted as he slide into the back seat of the car, they were some files on the seat next to him that included some photos he had seen before. "Is this Adina Forest?" He asked.

"Yes," Jade replied, "we're investigating what went wrong during your study tour," she stated.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well," Leah started, "a pure demon showing up at the forest when a large number of mystical students are also going is not normal, talk less of a black magic one."

"So you're saying --"

"Yes, Jade and I don't think this was a random attack, we believe the pure demon wanted something, something to do with a student at the Metropolitan School of mysticism," she explained.

"Like I needed more things to keep me up at night," Hunter muttered, setting the file back on the seat. "Are we going to Alastair's?" He asked.

"Not today," Jade replied, "the address you gave me turned out to be very useful, it belonged to a hybrid that was once arrested by an organization under the Bureau, spent thirteen years locked up, he was released six months ago, almost around the same time the soul snatching began," said Jade.

"So we're going to the house then, 141 Phoenix street?"

"No, Leah and I already did that four days ago, he ran off before we could even question him. He came up on our radar a few hours ago, he was walking into a hotel." Jade turned back to look at him, "I hope you have a Visa, 'cause we're going to The Northland."

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