Twisted Wonderland

The Exhibition Rally

   "Hey, Headmage!" Grim puts his paws on his hips. "We caught your guy! You know what that means... Time to cough up the reward you promised!"

   "What? Oh, I did promise you that, didn't I?" Crowley looks to you and Grim. "But it's far too late. The tournament brackets have already been announced. What to do?"

   "WHAAAAAAAT?" Grim glares at the Headmage. "You wretched, backstabbin' swindler! I am gonna make it rain fire, you liar!"

   "Stop, please! Retrain yourself for a moment! I will come up with something." Crowley puts a hand to his chin in thought. "Uh... Ah! I've got it! What would you say to playing in a special exhibition match? If it were held before the tournament itself, it wouldn't interfere with anything. And the eyes of the world would be squarely on you!"

   At this, Grim calms down. "On me?"

   "But of course!" Crowley stammers.

   "Well, so long as I'm the center of attention, I guess that will do." Grim raises his paws in the air. "This'll be great! After the scouts see me kickin' tail on TV, they'll be swarmin' all over me!"

   "But Spelldrive teams need seven players." You add. "How do you plan to fill out our team?"

   "The other players... Ah, right. And we'll need an opposing team as well." Crowley looks around in thought. "Perhaps we could cobble one together out of faculty members."

   "Myah!" Grim folds his arms. "You haven't given this any thought at all!"

   Ace wraps an arm around your shoulder. "Hey, so, couldn't help overhearing..."

   "If you need some teammates, we could help you out." Deuce says cheerfully as he steps beside you.

   "What are you doing?" Riddle asks. "You're members of Heartslabyul!"

   Ace shrugs. "There's no tournament rule that says we can't play for another dorm's team."

   Trey laughs. "He's right! I guess no one thought that would ever happen, so no one ever wrote it down."

   "Ooh, now this sounds totes fun!" Cater steps beside you. "I wanna be on Y/N's team too!"

   Riddle stammers. "B-but you're an actual member of our team!"

   Cater's shoulders slump. "Oh poo."

   Ace smirks at the Headmage. "I didn't go through all that just to sit back 'n cheer for you guys. If I'm getting the chance, I wanna play!"

   Deuce holds up his hands. "I'm not like him, okay? I just want to have my friends' backs."

   You smile to the two boys. "Thanks guys."

   Jack steps forward. "If you need someone to play against, Savanaclaw will be happy to help."

   Grim's ears perk up. "Myah? You will?"

   "Of course. Playing against the faculty would be no fun." Jack grins. "We'll give you a proper match."

   Ace fist pumps. "Sa-weeet! Guess you ain't such a jerk after all."

   "Don't get the wrong idea, this is just payback! I don't want that debt hanging over my head." Jack turns to Ruggie and Leona. "You don't got a problem with it, right?"

   Ruggie let's out a long sigh. "Yeah, sure, what's one more game when we're already at the brink of exhaustion? You're a monster, Jack."

   Leona scoffs. "I don't even care anymore. Come and take your best shot, herbivores. It may be an exhibition match, but we ain't gonna be playin' footsies here. You better be ready for us."