Inverse System

"Alright, the round's over. Winners, get ready for the finals. Losers, get up to the roof ASAP," Zophia announced.

Rein walked over to Chloe and outstretched a hand to help her up. She took his hand and smiled at him, standing up and dusting herself off.

"Well, at least we got top 4. Good luck in the finals you two!" She waved as she stepped up the stairs to the roof, Core walking past them without saying a word.

Rein stared at the two as they ascended the stairs, Sho snapping him out of his trance as he called his name, telling him that the door to the next room had opened.

The two entered through the door into the largest room they had entered yet. It was the central room of the building, a vast, spacious room that had 2 doors coming into it. As they looked up, they could see the entire class spectating, with the teacher sitting down in the middle.

Rein instantly noticed who was missing from the roof. He looked back down at the other door that lead into the room, seeing a black-haired man with a hazel-haired girl enter. It was team number two, who entered the building through the door right next to them, yet somehow ended up on the other side of the bracket.

"Of course it's you two," Xenia sighed as she saw them.

"I told you it would be, did I not? You really thought they would be beaten?" Clyde laughed as Xenia pouted.

"Well, I wanted to make myself believe that someone beat them. Isn't a little bit of bliss good sometimes?" She playfully scolded as Clyde laughed, then turning his head to his two opponents.

"Good luck you two. You're going to need it in this match," Clyde remarked as he and Xenia walked over to their side.

"Haha, I don't doubt that. Though I always welcome a challenge," Rein retorted as he and Sho got to their own sides of the room, the teacher coughing to get everyone's attention.

"Finally, we can get this shit done with. You'd better not take long, or I'll come down there myself. Sho and Rein vs Clyde and Xenia begins in 3, 2, 1, start," she unenthusiastically announced.

As the countdown ended, it wasn't even a fraction of a millisecond before Xenia made it to the center of the room to retrieve the dodge balls, kicking 2 back to her teammate and holding 2 in her own hands.

"What incredible speed. Is it possible to be that fast?" Sho hesitated as he took a step forward, before he could even make it through his step, he stopped at the sight that he witnessed.

"She's not actually as fast as you think. It's her teammate who can slow all other time, so it made her look faster than she actually is. Watch out, you're going to need to go full power if you want to keep up," Rein advised as Sho listened attentively, nervously sweating as he smiled at his opponents, activating his Spring to enhance his speed.

"Heh, I haven't gotten out throughout this entire tournament. Hopefully, I can keep it that way," he fired himself up as the inferno burned an outline around his body.

10 seconds passed of pacing back and forth, as Rein waited for Clyde's Spring to refresh. When he felt that it was the time, he and Sho both put their guards to the maximum as they suddenly felt Xenia's movements quicken, winding up and releasing her throw at unimaginable speed. There was quite literally no room to react to her throw, the two had to dodge in a direction and pray that it wasn't the direction she threw it in. All 4 balls were launched as Clyde supplied her with the others, all of them bouncing off of the back wall and instantly going back to Xenia.

"Impressive, you managed to dodge them all. As expected from the favorites to win!" Xenia complemented as the two took deep breaths after the lightspeed bullets that pierced space missed them.

"Well damn, we can't keep up like this. At this rate, every bounce will just go back to them and we'll keep dodging until we're hit," Sho complained.

"You're right… I have a plan though. You might think it's stupid, and I wouldn't blame you if you don't accept. Just listen though, I only have 10 seconds to explain," Rein got closer to Sho and whispered his plan, as Clyde walked up to Xenia, who was standing at the frontlines while he was in the back.

"Aim for Sho first. Throw a ball at him without my Spring active so that he dodges, and as soon as he does, I will activate my Spring. He appears to be a slight bit slower than Rein, and once he is out, eliminating Rein should become slightly simpler," Clyde whispered, to which she slightly blushed.

"O-okay, will do captain!" She stuttered as she saw her opponents conferring, then breaking away from each other, Sho wearing a slightly irritated expression.

She thought it strange but ignored it as Clyde's Spring refreshed. Xenia took a deep breath, then threw the ball before Clyde activated his Spring, to which Sho dodged to the right with his searing flames burning in front of him as he looked to the side. Xenia was perplexed by his unorthodox dodge, but thought nothing of it as Clyde activated his Spring, Sho being in a vulnerable position. She unloaded all of her balls at him as she saw the ball she threw first rolling back at her, allowing her to unload one more ball before Clyde's Spring ran out.

Their plan worked. Both Clyde's and Reins. Sho was hit directly with all 4 of the balls, causing jubilation to spark in the eyes of Xenia and Clyde. However, as they impacted him, they did not bounce back as intended. Instead, Sho's forward-facing flames, at the cost of his in-game life, allowed him to redirect the ball's trajectory so that it hit one of the sidewalls on his and Rein's side of the arena, making all 4 of the balls end up on their side.

"Sho's out," Zophia announced as Clyde and Xenia's faces were in awe, Rein smiling, and Sho wearing a nervous frown.

As he walked to the wall to sit down, he said something to Rein.

"You'd better know what you're doing," he said as he sat down.

"Don't worry," he picked up 2 of the balls, the other 2 on the floor under his feet.

"I've got this."

It was now a 2 vs 1 situation against Rein, however, he controlled all 4 of the balls. Why was he so willing to sacrifice his teammate for possession of the balls? The thought crossed the minds of everyone who was watching. Yet, their curiosity grew as they pondered the situation.

"Well, I've got no time to waste. Better start while you're on cooldown," Rein stretched his arm backward in throwing motion as Xenia backed up slightly, getting in line with Clyde's position.

"Shit, I need 5 more seconds. But even then… He controls all of the balls, and he could simply sit out the time slow. If only there was another way..." Clyde racked his brain, thinking back to all of the rules of the game, sifting through them in his head until he came to a revelation.

"I know…"