Inverse System

"Are you kidding me? You get out in the first round we play, and we're supposed to be the top team? Give me a break," Sho dropped his head in shame.

"What are you waiting for then? Let's finish the match so we can move on," Rein pointed.

"Oh? And how the hell do you suggest I do that?! Just how am I going to get her out might you explain?!" Sho raised his voice angrily, Rein subconsciously laughing at his comedic rage, enjoying toying with him.

"Huh? Didn't you hear the teacher explain the rules? Just hit her with the ball, pretty simple," Rein's eyes widened as he explained this simple fact to his teammate.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT YOU—"

As the two argued, Sho sensed a ball coming in his direction, swiftly dodging by moving his head backward as it whizzed past him. Sho turned his head to the direction the ball came from, seeing Stacey in a throwing motion.

"Hahaha, you guys were just talking so I thought I could get you there… Turns out you never let your guard down, do you?" She rubbed the back of her head out of uncertainty.

"Hmph, that was a good attempt. Maybe if you threw it harder it would've hit me," he spoke, stopping the ball rolling back to her with his foot, two other balls in hand.

All 4 balls were on Sho's side now as he stood there, pondering his next move. He couldn't throw the ball head-on, otherwise, it would just be deflected back down to him from above. As he thought more and more, he began to realize the minimal information he had on his enemy's Spring, which helped him decide his next move.

"Alright then, let's test this out," Sho uttered as he wound his arm up once more.

"Hm? So he's going to throw it again? Interesting…" Rein thought as he continued analyzing the match.

Again, Sho released the ball in a fiery fury, sending it flying towards his opponent. Suddenly, he began running around his side of the arena as the ball went through the wormhole, suddenly coming flying back down at the point where it was released from Sho's hand, in a downwards motion that made smoke arise as it impacted with the ground.

"I see… I think I've got this thing figured out…" Sho thought as he suddenly heard the loud tapping of glass above him, the teacher standing directly above them, looking down.

"Hurry your asses up. Everyone else is already done their matches," she hastened.

"My apologies Miss Zophia. Please watch my next move, I need you to referee this," he requested of her, his ask piquing her interest as she sat down to watch.

Sho once again wound his arm up in a baseball pitch, making his opponent preemptively get ready with her Spring, summoning a lightless wormhole that transported objects through space. He once again threw it with all of his power, but this time, it wasn't flaming. Sho's strength was average at best when his Spring wasn't activated, so his throw wasn't particularly impressive, certainly slow enough to catch.

However, his opponent did not notice that fact and continued holding up her Spring in defense, the ball going through her black hole as Sho planned. He raised his arm and opened his hand to the sky, the ball suddenly appearing above him, propelling downwards straight into his open hand.

His opponent noticed what just happened, then put her hands on her head in panic.

"Oh no!! Wait, that doesn't count as—"

"It does. It was your Spring who touched it last, meaning that it was technically your throw I just caught. And catching a throw means the person who threw it is out, isn't that right, Miss Zophia?" He looked up at his unamused teacher, cigarette in mouth as she puffed it out.

"Yeah, whatever. Sho wins," she muttered as she held the cigarette between her fingers, Stacey dropping down to her knees out of nerves, laughing at her own carelessness.

"I didn't expect that! Clever, you used my own Spring against me," she complimented.

"It was nothing. After I figured out the gimmick, I just looked to the rules as my teammate over there told me to," Sho spoke as he set the balls back in the middle of the room, pointing to Rein with his thumb.

"Good job man. I knew you could do it!" Rein patted him on the back, which irritated him even more.

"Damn, you guys destroyed us. Fair play, put it there," Reggie outstretched his hand for a handshake to Sho, who then took it, scoffing a smile.

"I hope we can shake hands now. I swear it's clean by the way," Rein, once again, tried shaking hands with Stacey, incredibly curious as to what the inverse of her Spring would be.

"Haha, it looks clean, so I believe you. Good game!" She shook his hand, Rein activating his System as soon as the two made contact.

He received a notification on his System, a new entry in the Spring history.

[New Spring!]

User: Stacey George

Original Effect: Allows the user to rip a hole through space, sending them in the perpendicular direction relative to where the acceleration began.

Inverted Effect: Allows the user to rip a hole through time, sending any non-living object back in time depending on the speed at which it entered the hole.

Rein's eyes lit up when he felt the Spring manifest, ideas beginning to flow into his mind, then quickly putting them at the back of his mind as he returned back into reality. He let go of her hand and turned around to face the door, the teacher beginning her announcement of the end of the second round.

"Alright, winners, go on through the door. Losers, you can go up those stairs that just appeared and join me on the roof. If I see any of you monkeying around up here though, I'm pushing you off myself," she threatened, the losers reluctantly going up the stairs to the roof.

Rein and Sho stepped through to the next arena, this room's shape being circular instead of square. He saw their next opponents walking through the door into the semi-final match room, a blonde-haired girl with a blue-haired boy. It was Chloe and Core.

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