Chapter Text
When marbles asked Blink why she decided to sign up for the MSFL, an up and coming league for competitive marble professionals, she was never able to give a proper response.
“Just cause”, she would say.
“I just felt like it”, to those who would pester her.
“Why not? Seems like it would be fun”, a nonchalant response she gave to brush others off when they bugged her.
In all honesty, Blink was never the sort of marble that aspired for great things. She was, to put it simply, a laidback marble. One who didn’t really know what they wanted to do, one who followed wherever “fate” led them. Blink knew of marble racing, it was the one sport where if you asked anyone you passed by, they could instantly explain what it was. Her hometown was no different, with kids competing versus each other, laughter in the air, rolling and tumbling through the blades of grass, dirtying themselves on the daily.
Blink would play with others when she was younger as well. And although she wasn’t the competitive type at first, she ended up doing surprisingly well whenever she was invited, which brought on a sense of achievement and satisfaction whenever she claimed victory from the grasps of others. The shouts of laughter and joy could be heard throughout the whole neighborhood whenever someone wanted to play race, marbles coming around to compete and best the other marbles who wanted to play.
There were multiple types of ways to play marble racing, and a culmination of the different types would be shown in professional competition. But in Blink’s town of Laethai, speed racing was by far the most popular kind. In her childhood, Blink was often invited or challenged by other marbles to compete versus them, and with some reluctance, Blink begrudgingly accepted.
However, to the dismay of the other young marbles, Blink had a natural gift and talent for speed racing. An insurmountable wall to the other marbles, Blink gradually became more and more ostracized from the marbles who used to invite her to play. They didn’t want to lose after all, as they were competitive in nature, and none wanted to constantly be humiliated and thrashed by Blink in a race.
Blink always played to have fun, she never thought of it as a serious competition, and she wasn’t ignorant. She had realized that other marbles weren’t inviting her as much anymore, if not at all. And while she did continue to talk to some of them for some time, eventually, they drifted apart as a whole. The tips young marbles gave to each other about not challenging Blink, eventually morphed into the idea that Blink was not someone to interact with. If one decided to interact with her, it would not end well for them.
Although, there was one marble who didn’t really care. She was never interested in the speed racing that the other young marbles would always play, as it never fancied her. Sarai would constantly deny any and all invitations for speed racing, as she was much more intrigued by the team play events that were shown on television. Compared to the individualistic style of competition that the other youngsters loved to play, she was fascinated by the coordination and strategy that went into the team events, and while the individual events produced some hype moments, highlighting the prowess of singular marbles, the team events showed the work and cohesion of a team leading to success, something that was much harder to achieve at such levels of competition.
On one fateful day, Blink was laying in the undergrowth of some trees. Her choice of location was near the town, but far enough out where no one tended to stray so far and disturb her. As energetic as she could be, Blink needed her peace and quiet at times as well. However, it didn’t seem like she would have the quiet she sought for. Midway through her meditation, Blink heard a sharp inhale and a loud gasp directly behind her. Blink tensed up so quickly that she fell over from atop the strangely comfortable rock she was laying on.
“Omigash, hello?! You look so pretty! Oh! You aren’t playing with the others, want to play with me?” Blink turned around only to find the most entrancing spheres of swirling stars in the night sky staring directly at her. Blink tended to be a witty person who could dish out retorts as quickly as she received any, but at this moment, she could only think of one thing. Ah… pretty.
Trying to think of something to say, her thoughts were interrupted by the little girl again. “Ah! Am I too close? The name’s Sarai!” She stepped back, and at the same time, Blink finally managed to collect herself. “You want to race?”
“Ah… no no no, nothing like that, I want to do other things! You don’t mind, right?” Exclaimed the girl, now with the name Sarai. Blink found herself completely relaxing from the positive energy of the girl. Sarai had taken the wind out of her and pushed the energy into her. She felt herself grinning in stupor, the positive energy of the girl infectious.
“Well… I’ll take your silence and your gigantic grin as a yes! Come with me! There’s a reason why I came all the way out here!” Sarai said, a bit jittery from the very obvious excitement. With a defeated smile, Blink followed the girl who didn’t even look back to make sure she was there.
After wading through the forest and through the denser vegetation, they finally came across a small clearing. The sun at this time of day hit the center just right, shining on what looked like to be a make-shift balance beam made out of a fallen tree. “Isn’t it beautiful?” Sarai piped up, after what felt like an eternity of silent walking. “I discovered this place when I was wandering around one day, and now it’s my perfect training spot.”
“It looks amazing, what are we doing here?” Inquired Blink, a bit dumbfounded by how Sarai managed to find this clearing in such a large forest. “Oh! Here, watch me.” Already climbing atop a rock holding one edge of the fallen tree, Sarai calmly inhaled the open forest air and exhaled to calm her body. Before, Blink saw Sarai constantly shifting around, never being still for a single moment. But here, standing on top of the rock, her face morphed into stern determination, Blink could hardly believe what she saw. Sarai was completely and entirely concentrated on what was in front of her.
Then, something completely unpredictable happened. The fallen tree log, which looked like any other, suddenly began rolling. Not in any particular direction, but it was turning counter-clockwise in place, between the 2 rocks. Blink looked at this, astounded, and then looked back to Sarai. As she glanced back over, Sarai was looking at her, and winked.
In the blink of an eye, she had already begun traversing across the rolling log. It was by no means an easy feat, with the rough grooves creating constant friction against the body, trying in its best effort to throw the challenger off itself. With the constantly turning tree log, it was a miracle that Sarai was able to stay on top of it, let alone move.
But contrary to what many would think when seeing such a contraption for the first time, Sarai was showing little signs of difficulty. As she moved across, Blink couldn’t help but feel a little dumbfounded at the sight of such confident and graceful movement. By the time Sarai made it across, Blink was standing in complete and utter awe at what she had witnessed. “So! Whaddya think? Are you in shock from my amazing and spectacular performance? Impressive, right?” Sarai exclaimed with barely contained glee, a gigantic grin plastered on her face with round eyes that looked like they might pop out. Even she didn’t think she’d be able to put on such a performance.
After a moment, Blink managed to find some words in her mouth. “That was… amazing. How did you do that?” Trying to wrap her head around how the log managed to rotate, let alone the fact that Sarai managed to make it across with ease. “With lots, lots, and lots of practice! Here, you try it as well! I’ll catch you if you fall~” Sarai quipped back.
Blink stared at her for a moment, hesitation shown on her face. Sarai stared right back, and after a moment, she jumped down from atop the rock and started gently pushing Blink towards the edge of the mossy rock. Again, with no warning, the tree log which had stopped a moment ago, began spinning again. As Blink climbed on top of the rock, she realized how daunting of a challenge this was. From a distance, the log looked quite small, but now, standing in front of the rock, peering over to the other side, the log looked longer and bigger than the make-shift race courses Blink used to race on.
However, she was never one to back down on a challenge. And with a deep breath, she made her attempt. Compared to Sarai’s elegant and skillful movement, hers looked like a newborn attempting to move for the first time. Almost falling off immediately, and panicking in the process. Miraculously, she didn’t fall off immediately… until she tried to move forwards. Blink had been used to rough terrain, especially since the make-shift courses were not well made, or well kept either. As such, the distance she managed to cover in the first moment she moved was quite impressive. For a moment in time, Blink thought it was actually doable. Until the sideways momentum from the spinning log threw her off the beam.
As she tried to recuperate herself, she heard a certain someone trying their best effort to suppress their giggles, which ended in vain as Sarai went into a full blown fit of laughter, at Blink’s expense. Although she herself was the target of this laughter, Blink couldn’t help but feel herself cracking a smile. She had experienced many different things in her short life thus far, but getting thrown by a tree log into a face full of grass was not on that list of accomplished tasks.
“Oh… my god…” Sarai tried to say in between her bursts of laughter, the shouts so loud it had certainly disturbed the nearby wildlife. “I’m sorry for laughing but… that was… hilarious.” Just like Blink, she had also fallen on her back, but not because of a log that threw her off. As Sarai was recollecting herself, Blink found herself blurting out her desire to try again on the log, even though the impact was everything but soft.
“I’d love to! But the sun’s definitely not staying for long, and if we stay for too long, I don’t think I’ll be able to navigate us through the forest. You certainly don’t know the way this far…” Exclaimed Sarai, the setting sun evident by the hues of orange glowing through the tree canopy.
“That’s sad… do you want to come back here tomorrow?” Asked Blink, hopeful to have another go at this new and exciting challenge that was thrown at her, both literally and figuratively.
“Of course! Let’s meet up at the edge of the forest, yeah?” Responded Sarai, having already gotten up after calming down. As the two made their way once again through the forest green, Blink felt some strange sensations she had never really felt before. After all, she had tried many things before with others, but there was not much that had excited her as much as this aside from racing, and nothing compared when it came to the difficulty. Experiencing such a wonder for the first time was bound to arise some emotions dwelling inside Blink that she had never felt before, and the most important of them all was a bit of determination. Determination to go all the way, to make it across the log, and to beat the challenge that was set before her.
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“What are we doing today?” Having grown and developed both physically and mentally since she was younger, Blink was now almost at the age of being legally allowed to get a job. Sarai, while being a couple years younger than her, was Blink’s closest confidante as well as best friend, growing up with her every step of the way.
The two of them had hung out practically every day for a good part of 2 years. And while the other young marbles had also matured a bit, becoming a bit more friendly with Blink again after the childish rumors had been forgotten in the wind, she still found herself preferring to hang out with Sarai every day.
Last year, Blink had decided to join a rookie youth team by the name of the Retinas. Created by a marble from another town nearby, they had invited Blink after hearing about her numerous feats… and defeats from the marbles who dared to challenge her. They met on a bi-weekly basis, and worked together to play versus other youth teams in friendly bouts.
As off road racing was the most accessible choice of competition in the general area, as it was something the marbles were able to make by themselves, that was what Blink had trained the most often in. She had enjoyed competing against other towns and marbles. With each and every win that she had achieved, she proudly bragged to Sarai, a smug grin on her face each and every time. With permission from Blink, Sarai would post these victories of Blink and the Retina on social media, as Blink herself did not use technology often.
Today however, although it was a day like any other, was important to Sarai, who had her own agenda for today specifically. It was a rare day where Blink had no studies, nor did she have a youth team meet to attend. A rare day nowadays where it was just the 2 of them alone, unbothered by others.
“Let’s time your log today, I want to see how much you’ve improved.” Said Sarai. One thing they’ve been doing over the course of these past 2 years was tracking the rapid growth of Blink as a hyper-mobile marble. For someone who was naturally gifted with a great body at birth, she was almost cheat-like in just how quickly she was able to improve in such a short timespan. Her speed had greatly improved, much to the dismay of any challenger of her within the past 2 years, and her skills in maneuvering through the rough and uneven terrain was matched by none in Laethai. She could now find her way through the forest and into the great clearing on her own, which had now become hers and Sarai’s safe haven.
The once small but majestic clearing from when Blink had first taken sight of it had now transformed into a larger, still majestic, but a more intricately designed area, filled to the brim with various works across every corner of the eye. Throughout the years, with constant improvement from Blink and Sarai, the tree log that once laid bare had now been drastically altered. With large branches embedded into the log and etched carvings or marks on the surface, it had now turned into a complete course that was guaranteed to throw off first time challengers and experienced veterans alike.
Although, while the log had definitely been the most complicated to improve, they had also built, or attempted to build, other challenges and games to do. The most notable was a trail through the forest that led to their special clearing. It wasn’t perfect, but it had made the trek to and back much easier. Navigating in between and around the trees, avoiding any obstacles that were made by the wildlife, Blink absolutely adored running along the trail. Sarai, on the other hand, did not enjoy it as much. While Blink was always the one to be challenged by other young marbles in her life, she, for the first time ever, challenged Sarai to a race. Through the trail, from the outskirts of town on the edge of the forest, all the way to the clearing. Sarai had begrudgingly accepted at the time, and received the most crushing defeat one could have. As a result of this experience, she had held a grudge against the trail for a long period of time, until the daily walks had grown on her, and was now tolerable in her eyes.
On the other hand, the trail quickly became Blink’s favorite activity. On days where they agreed to meet up at the clearing instead of walking through the forest together, she would try to blitz through the trail as fast as possible, no matter how dangerous it was to her wellbeing. To Blink, the danger of going at such high speeds without supervision didn’t phase her, which ended up biting her in the ass on multiple occasions. She liked to call it ‘battle scars’, but Sarai always called it ‘moron moves’ whenever she found out about Blink’s injuries.
Today, they were walking together along the trail, and momentarily arrived at the clearing. “You have any plans?” Asked Sarai, peering back to Blink, who was trailing behind her. Blink thought the question was a little vague, and so she asked what Sarai meant. “Whaddya mean?” “Like, career plans, you doofus.” Sarai quipped back, a faint smile tugging at her lips. “No, not really. Why, what’s up?” “Ah, nothing, don’t worry about it,” Sarai said nonchalantly. The whole train of events that was occurring today was a bit suspicious for Blink, but she didn’t feel like investigating it further.
With a confident smile, Blink climbed up on top of the rock. They had considered adding a ramp, but after Blink’s unusual excitement from adding one, Sarai quickly discovered why. She wanted to use the ramp as a wind up, a maneuver that Sarai knew would only bring harm, and so, the ramp idea was quickly discarded. Around a year ago, they had discovered the mechanism that turned on the log and made it spin. It was activated through presumably a heat sensor below the rock, or some sort of mechanism that detected whenever a marble was standing on top. Where it connected to, they had yet to figure out, but it seemed to run on an endless supply of power.
Watching the tree log beginning to spin was always an intimidating experience for Blink, the addition of branches and a deeper pit only made it more nerve wracking if she were to be hit, as the impact was greater. They had made sure to make the branches as soft as possible with moss and dried sap, in order to ensure a soft hit and no worrisome injuries, but it was by no means professional standard.
Her ability to not fall off the log had drastically improved ever since her very first attempt, but it was still nowhere near Sarai’s level. What she lacked in stability, she made up for it in the pace she moved across the log. While Sarai used her stable and grounded movements to reach across the log, Blink used her momentum and lightning fast speed to dodge the obstacles and make it across. One looked many times more graceful than the other when doing so, but to Blink, she was more focused on making it to the other side as quickly as possible, rather than how elegantly she looked while doing so.
Hearing a loud cheer from below her, her signal to begin, she immediately pounced into action. While she still struggled a slight bit, it was clear to anyone who had been watching that she had made immense amounts of progress. Blink no longer faltered at the start, and was weaving through the onslaught of branches. To anyone else, they may have been shocked by how quickly Blink was moving across, but to Sarai, she knew that Blink was nothing but reckless in her movement. She was lightly grazed in the final stretch by a branch behind her, but she had managed to make it across.
“...time?” Asked Blink, wide eyed and panting from the burst in speed she had to exert.
“12.17 seconds” responded Sarai, holding a stopwatch that kept track of the time passed.
Hearing this, Blink let out a loud yelp, a new personal best for her. “Woo! New PB, can you believe it?!” She was expecting Sarai to be just as excited as her, since she was the one who wanted Blink to improve her time in the first place, after all. But Sarai only let out a small noise of acknowledgement, and while she didn’t look mad, Blink was still concerned for her best friend.
She jumped down, and rushed over to Sarai, who was staring back at her. “Hey hey, what’s wrong? Did you find a matter baby?”
Hearing this, Sarai cracked a smile, instantly knowing the response to their ongoing inside joke. “What’s a matter baby?” She retorted.
“Nothing much, what’s the matter with you?” Blink said, grinning along with her.
“Nothing’s wrong, promise, just thinking is all,” Sarai explained, straightening her posture. She had grown a tendency to stare into Blink’s eyes whenever they were conversing like this, as it always fascinated her, and as she herself claimed, was impossible to look away from.
She knew what was about to come out of Blink’s mouth next, and to no one’s surprise, Blink asked her “thinking about what?” Sarai was contemplating on asking her for a while, but she figured if not now, then she would never be able to ask her. Sarai loved talking on online forums about all things related to the professional marble leagues broadcasted on television. As such, she would often learn about new and interesting tidbits of information. One of the topics she noticed springing up recently was about a new and upcoming league, the MSFL, short for the Marble Simulation Franchise League. While Sarai didn’t think the name was very elegant, she had recognized a familiar name. The Commissioner of the league, going by the name of Hadus, was once previously a manager of a league she watched growing up. The league had been disbanded a long time ago, allegedly due to budget concerns and lack of staff, much to Sarai’s dismay. This new league however, hosted by previous manager turned commissioner Hadus, was extremely exciting for Sarai. She had been longing for a league of this kind before, and the MSFL was debuting with an extremely promising stadium. While that was extremely exciting news for Sarai, another piece of information that came with it had caught her eye.
The MSFL is currently looking for marbles to join the Commencement Draft!
When her eyes glanced over this information, only one thing came to mind. Blink. Blink was nearing the age where she would legally be allowed to work most jobs, and more importantly to Sarai; be able to compete in professional marble leagues. To Sarai, who grew up with Blink for almost 3 years now, she thought this was an amazing opportunity for Blink. She knew that Blink was looking for new things to do, as it was very obvious whenever Blink was getting bored, evident by the ever changing and “upgraded” clearing, as Blink herself liked to call it. Recently, it was clear that Blink had felt it getting a bit stale, and this completely new environment would be an extremely exciting opportunity for new challenges and enjoyment for Blink while making a living.
The question remained still, of if Blink would willingly accept moving to a completely new location on Marblearth, leaving her hometown, separating from Sarai and the small but comfortable clearing they had built together, and most important of them all, if Blink would want to compete against other marbles with actual stakes on the line. The career of a marble professional was a dangerous one, as the game was ever changing, and a bad season could spell doom for a marble’s longevity.
Nonetheless, Sarai had been desperately longing for a moment where she could pop the question to Blink. She knew Blink had the capability, being with her for such a long time and her tendencies to hyper analyze the marbles on screen. Plus, this was an opportunity for her to see her best friend on the big screen, broadcasted to the world.
“Hello~, Marblearth to Sarai~?” When she finally got out of her head, she realized Blink had been circling around her, trying to poke and prod the marble to come back to reality.
“Blink, question.” Sarai finally decided on popping the question now, eyes tracking Blink’s movement.
“What’s up?” Blink said, who perked up after having finally gotten a reaction out of Sarai. After a while of messing around, Sarai still had no reaction to Blink’s antics, much to her dismay.
“I was just thinking…” Sarai trailed off, wondering how to phrase the question.
While Blink was wearing a smile on her face, deep down, she was concerned for her friend, who was being weird the entire day. And so, she tried to crack a joke, lighten the mood for her friend, who clearly had something on her mind which was keeping her occupied. “Thinking, yeah? You’ve been thinking a lot, Sarai.”
Unbeknownst to her, the target of her thinking was Blink herself. Sarai finally managed to formulate her words, asking the long awaited question. “What do you think of playing in a marble league?”
“Like, the ones you obsess over? That kind? Where they compete for glory… or something?” Said Blink, her face scrunched up in trying to comprehend what Sarai was getting at.
“Yeah! You can play in a bunch of fun events, it’d be fun! I’m sure you’d enjoy it!” Sarai said. After asking the question, she had visibly relaxed, finally getting into the flow of the conversation, excited to talk to Blink about her fascination.
“Those are professionals, right? Like, marbles who’s entire job is to be athletic?” Inquired Blink, emphasizing the fact that they were professionals while she was a random marble who liked to play.
“Yep! You know it!” Sarai enthusiastically exclaimed, unaware as to what Blink was thinking of. “You could definitely succeed, I just know you can!” She added on after a moment, finally clicking as to what Blink was staring at her for.
“...you sure…?” Blink said, doubt and uncertainty clearly heard in her inflection.
“Yep!” Sarai said, confident in both her analysis of Blink, as well as Blink as a marble.
“...alright, I’m down.” Blink relented after pondering for a moment. “Where do I start?”
Sarai was now smiling from ear to ear after hearing Blink accept her offer, and she began to excitedly ramble about the upcoming league she was hyped about on the online forums. “Ok, so, there’s this new marble league, and they’re currently looking for marbles to join! All you have to do is apply, quickly, as spots are limited. And then they will fly you out to compete against other marbles! I am so excited, this league looks super promising. Oh! And the pay is great, or so I’ve heard. So you don’t need to worry about expenses, trust. Me. I genuinely think this is an amazing opportunity for you, and, oh my gosh, I can’t wait to see you on television!”
Blink was nodding along during all of this, trying to process the large amount of information being spewed at her. She did know one thing however, and that was the fact that Sarai’s enthusiasm was making her feel giddy inside as well.
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“You ready?” A pair of black spheres were making direct eye contact with Blink as she was held in a tight embrace. In the past 2 months, a lot had changed. Blink’s previous life of studying, hanging out with Sarai, or sometimes even competing with the other marbles who had now yet again warmed up to Blink was put to a complete halt.
After their application to join the MSFL, a process which confused Blink, but thankfully had Sarai next to her as assistance, they were put on the waiting list. As it turns out, the amount of draft applicants had turned out to be much greater than the league was expecting, largely thanks to the huge blow up on the internet about the announcement of the league’s creation. Marbles from all around Marblearth had their interest piqued by the announcement of the new league.
However, the budget of the MSFL was not grand, and they were not able to justify an expansion so soon to the investors and sponsors. As such, the opening season only had the budget for 9 teams. 9 teams that would be competing for the first trophy. In a 6 round snake draft, 54 marbles would be drafted for the first season. With 56 of the 60 available slots already filled by known marbles in the scene or up and coming marbles who were previously rumored, the competition for the last 4 slots was tough.
Unbeknownst to Blink at the time, the MSFL were specifically looking for 4 marbles, ready to shake the competitive world, to develop and shine at the MSFL in their very own competitive debuts. As such, all who were over 1 whole year of being legally allowed to compete were automatically cut from the application process.
Even with this development, the number of applicants for the last 4 spots were still large in amount. While Blink’s town was not grand, nor populous, nor rich, and quite frankly lacked the qualities of a town that marbles aspired to live in, it was still her home. And even though this made it quite difficult for the hirers to recognize the name of the town Laethai, it might have been a stroke of good luck for Blink.
In the competitive marble world, marble’s are labeled with an age based on how long they have been legally playing for. Marbles who debut for their very first time are labeled with an age of 1, and so on so forth. For the hiring manager, Blink’s creativity that was showcased in her application through the majestic clearing made by Blink and Sarai collectively had left a deep impression on his heart as one that may be loved by the fans. The idea of a young marble coming from extremely humble beginnings, using the natural environment and resources to play and compete versus other teams from small towns, compared to the cities with government sponsored training courses, debuting in the MSFL? He looked up the name of Blink’s youth team, the Retinas, and found out about Sarai’s social media posts, which had received an uptick in engagement in the recent months. The hiring manager almost foamed at the thought of such an exciting prospect who could certainly become the next big star with her creative endeavors and potential.
And so, when Blink and Sarai received the news that Blink had been accepted to join the commencement draft of the MSFL, they were extremely elated, hugging each other with their victory. But next came the preparation, and in those 2 months between Blink’s acceptance into the draft and her flight, she was busier than she had ever been before.
Her school was extremely congratulatory about the news, and when broadcasted on the intercom, her peers followed with excitement and happiness. Blink would be representing their small town in the competitive leagues, broadcasted to the world. The hometown passion was extremely strong, and for those who had heard about the MSFL, were absolutely dumbfounded at the news. Her teammates over at the Retinas were delighted at the news, that one of their own youth members would be moving up to the big leagues. Her parents, Ray and Shadow, were extremely happy and supportive when she broke the news to them. They were surprised that Blink had taken such a big step in her life, but were glad to know that her choice was reasonable and secure upon further investigation about what the ‘MSFL’ was.
But of course, none congratulated her more than Sarai, her partner in crime who had convinced her to apply for the MSFL, and was with her through the whole process. In the next 2 months, receiving support from adults, peers, parents, and friends alike, Blink had thoroughly prepared herself for the draft. Upping the training individually, working with her fellow peers in preparation for playing alongside a team of fellow camaraderie, and mentally preparing herself for the challenges to come, Blink had never felt more confident.
That is, until she was about to depart on her flight. Her parents had driven her and Sarai to the airport in a nearby city. Embraced in the hug with Sarai, she felt her confidence shattering into a million pieces. It was dawning on her how unfamiliar this whole experience was, separated from the hometown she had never left before, representing her hometown to the whole world, traveling across the globe. Okay, maybe not across the globe, but Blink felt like being dramatic in the moment.
Sarai took notice of Blink’s silence, and tried her best at comforting her. “Hey, hey, you got this, alright? I believe in you.” She pulled back from the embrace, and stared directly into Blink’s soul, ensuring that she received and understood the final part.
“...thanks”, Blink had whispered, so faint that only Sarai was able to hear it, Blink’s parents sitting down in the distance. They slowly let go of each other, and Blink didn’t utter another word. Her parents, Ray and Shadow, and Sarai, watched as she boarded the plane. It’s not like they had lost contact, though, because as Blink boarded the plane, she received 1 singular text message.
Sarai
♡
: good luck!!!
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When Blink arrived on Los Marbeles soil, many things happened at once. So many things happened at the same time that it had overwhelmed Blink. Her flight for starters, took an egregiously long time to deboard the passengers, as an alleged VIM (Very Important Marble) had just arrived at the airport a couple of minutes earlier, causing Blink’s flight to delay the deboarding of the plane until the VIM had left the airport.
Afterwards, as it turns out, Blink was not good at navigating areas with a large amount of people on her lonesome. The challenges of getting a taxi took her on a whole nother adventure of navigating the airport security and trying to be overly respectful towards any strangers she walked past. The MSFL league had prepared a hotel for the draft prospects to reside in until their teams had made accommadations, and the distance was not too far from the airport. Although the cab itself was not in its most pristine condition, and there was a slight smell of rubber coming from inside the car, the ride to the hotel was rather enjoyable as Blink managed to catch sight of the buildings towering over the visible skyline. A first for her, seeing such tall and grandeur buildings, not to mention the traffic, which had shocked Blink in the beginning. Many firsts occurred for Blink when she entered a city for the first time. At first, seeing various new sights was enjoyable, but as the traffic lulled on, the sights became increasingly dull.
As Blink checked into the hotel, the receptionist gave her a small but encouraging smile. It was clear to the receptionist that Blink was tense, with no one accompanying her during her check in. The lobby itself was plated with more colors and decoration than most of the buildings Blink had entered in her life, and while this was something she was expecting, she couldn’t help but stare at the flowing fountain, built out of marbled material with intricate designs etched into the side.
On the door of her room, there was a notice. As much as Blink had mentally prepared to move to a city, the entire journey had exhausted her. Even with the new and beautiful sights that awaited her, she found herself barely being able to think straight after the whole ordeal, and she was eagerly awaiting this moment to simply rest. However, the notice was very clearly something intended to be read, taped onto the doors of every room down the hallway as well.
What Blink had thought to be a welcoming notice at first, quickly realized it was an important announcement. In 2 days from now, she was to be present in the lobby, mandatory for all MSFL athletes. The rest of the notice was simply just information regarding the hotel accommodations, as well as important dates to look out for.
When Blink walked into her room, there was nothing much of note at first glance. A small bathroom, closed curtains and a window that gave the only source of natural light in the room, a queen sized bed, and a television. As she peered out the window, Blink saw that the view was rather nice, the hotel clearly being in a good location. In the distance, she spotted a large dome-like building, which Blink identified to most likely be the stadium she would be playing in. Below her, a bustling city, full of marbles moving about, and above her, the gleaming sun shining directly upon her.
She had planned on relaxing on her bed just about immediately, but out of the corner of her eye, noticed a neatly placed sheet of paper on the edge of a counter. As Blink went over to check what it was and scanned the paper, she realized what it entailed. The important dates, information, and details about the MSFL and what she needed to know. But most importantly of them all, at the bottom of the page, was the WiFi password.
And so, Blink immediately hopped in her bed and opened her phone for the first time since she had boarded the plane. The mattress was extremely comfortable, almost putting her to sleep immediately with how soft it was, nothing like what she had back at home. She noticed that she had many notifications, but before she could respond, she had already drifted off to sleep, exhausted by the events that had occurred.
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2 days had passed, and she barely managed to get out of bed in time for the arranged meeting down at the lobby. As it turns out, the extremely soft bed, turned out to be Blink’s favorite “accommodation” of the hotel. She had tried seeing what else the hotel had to offer, but was quickly drawn back to the comfortable bed she had grown to love. As a result of this, she had not moved around much for the better part of 5 days, from traveling and relaxing in the hotel. Blink had also developed quite a bad sleep schedule due to failing to adjust from the time changes when traveling, and never quite sleeping at the right times. She had seen other marbles from time to time, but never quite interacted with anyone for a long period of time. The most her movement consisted of was moving to and from the buffet, a majority of her time was spent on familiarizing herself with marble leagues on the television in her room.
This was clearly something important, if it was something everyone was told to arrive for in the morning, and was mandatory to attend. Many marbles were chatting, and from what Blink could overhear, it was mainly about the upcoming draft. As the remaining marbles trickled in, the last one stood on top of a hastily placed pedestal. When the marbles noticed this, the chatter had quickly died down, everyone's eyes laid on the marble standing above them.
“Hello,” they introduced themselves, a warm and friendly smile on their face. “I will be overseeing the draft process, and today, we must do the assessments. To most of you, I’m sure you are confused as to what I mean by an assessment. To be precise, this will be an analysis of your individual abilities, given to the managers of the new MSFL teams. They will receive numbered stats of your capabilities as well as recordings of your assessment in order to decide their selections for the upcoming draft. I sincerely encourage you to try your best on these, as it will have implications on your ability to compete in the MSFL as well as your future career implications, both monetarily and choices.”
As the draft overseer finished talking, murmurs grew again about this unfamiliar system. An ‘assessment’ was something most marbles had never even heard of before, assessing marbles before the draft for their individual capabilities. To Blink however, who stood there silently, she had thought this could potentially spell doom for her. The idea that the managers, those who controlled the ones who went drafted and undrafted, would be able to see her abilities and max capabilities beforehand.
However, there wasn’t much time to dwell on the thought, as in an instant, the 60 marbles were being led and transported to the MSFL stadium by bus. As they marched into the stadium 1 by 1 in a single file line, Blink couldn’t help but marvel at how large and wide the stadium looked from up close. From her sky high view in the hotel, it didn’t look that impressive, but when she was standing up close, she could tell just how massive it was. She didn’t really have any other stadiums to compare it to, but she felt as though this one would likely be on the bigger side in terms of stadiums.
When they entered the stadium, there was a large waiting room. As the last marble filed in, the staff members started organizing the marbles into numbers. Blink was given the number 2. In which she was instructed to wear until her turn. As it turns out, the numbers given to the athletes was the order in which they would be assessed.
Once everyone had received their numbers by the staff, a process that took over 30 minutes due to the chaotic and crowded waiting room, clearly repurposed from something else for this day only. As the staff shuffled out of a room, a loud intercom could be heard from a corner of the room, and above the doors which led inwards of the stadium, a name flashed up on the screen. Magnum. The first challenger of this assessment, not by choice, but the first to do so regardless. Strangely, everyone had been holding their breaths, until one marble stepped up. As they moved towards the door, they simply said “I’m Magnum.” And the doors were opened. To the other 59 marbles, this was their only chance to look inside the stadium, as there were no open windows that allowed them to look inside.
The stadium appeared to have many various types of boxes, separated by a few feet each. From a glance, Blink identified some water, as well as what looked to be a cannon. Many of the boxes however, were completely sealed off, the only access to the outside being a door.
Just as quickly as the doors opened, when Magnum walked through, the doors closed again, leaving the rest speculating as to what was happening beyond that door.
After about a 5 minute wait, the next name was called up by the intercom. It was Blink’s turn to take the ‘assessment’. Once again, everyone’s eyes were searching around the room, trying to figure out who out of the 59 remaining marbles had the name of “Blink”. At this point, when Blink started to shuffle through the marbles towards the doors which led into the stadium, she had never felt so many gazes on her until this moment. When each marble turned around and stared at her, Blink felt as if a ghost hand was slowly slithering down her body, bringing everyone’s attention onto her as the sole focus.
With the eyes of the other competitors, which Blink thought was quite intimidating, even if it wasn’t with malicious intent, she was relieved to have finally shuffled her way towards the front. Unsure of whether to say anything, her dilemma was shortly answered when the doors opened before her, without any verbal statement of her identity. As the doors cracked a view into the stadium yet again, Blink heard some noise, chatter, and even a solid collision from behind her, presumably from others trying to gain insight on this so-called ‘assessment’.
As Blink walked through the doors inwards to the open sky stadium, she felt the wind blow behind her, followed by the sounds of a loud slam, the doors slammed shut for those who were residing in the waiting room. Following afterwards, an attendant came up beside her. “Greetings! I will be your examiner for today, so please follow my instructions. For now, just follow me.” After she finished her sentence, Blink gave a curt nod as acknowledgement, and the examiner graciously smiled as she turned around and walked with a slightly faster pace than before.
When they finally arrived at the center of the stadium, directly in the middle of what Blink counted to be 10 separate squared areas, they made a sharp right. As they walked towards the end of the row, cardboard walls on both sides of the path, the examiner then began explaining the objective for Blink. “On your right, you will find a racing track. We will be timing you from start to finish. You have 30 seconds to prepare, then we will begin a 5 second countdown.”
Wordless through everything that had happened so far, Blink yet again gave a nod of understanding. The end of the track clearly marked with a checkered flag towering over a white line, and the starting line clearly showing the word START hastily painted into the ground. As she readied herself, the count ticking down, an audible beep heard with each passing second, and finally, a blow horn in replacement of the 5th beep.
In the flash of an eye, Blink had started her run. The smooth terrain was unusual for her, as she was much more used to the coarse terrain back in her hometown, with lumpy soil and grainy ground, Blink had not yet adjusted to running on such even grounds. With no walls entrapping this section of the elevated stadium grounds, Blink felt the winds blowing with her, a nice breeze stimulating her run. As she crossed the finish line, Blink had felt pretty successful with her attempt.
When she turned around though, it was clear that the examiner was not as impressed with her run as she was, marking something down on her notepad. As much as Blink would have loved to be unphased by this, the repetitive use of the word ‘assessment’ had made her want to do well on this so-called ‘assessment’, and the mute reaction of the examiner was far from what she hoped for.
The 2 of them proceeded along the remaining sections of boxes, with other marbles trickling in periodically after a marble finished the first test of skill. Following up after the race was a block of stone, in which her goal was to push it as far into the resistant slot as possible. Immediately going into a test of how long Blink was able to run around a track, keeping a certain pace set by the examiner, cannons which shot out flying foam balls, the balance beam Blink had saw earlier, a race in the pool of water, and a challenge to strike a block precisely in the center with her body.
Out of all the tasks she had to complete, Blink’s favorite was the one she felt the closest to home to; navigating through a sand trail, littered with obstacles, and ending up on the other side. Her favorite of them all, and the only one which managed to get a reaction out of her examiner. She had felt a bit of pride after seeing the examiner raise her eyebrows, and after finishing the final box, she was led into another room, across the stadium from the waiting room she had previously left prior.
As she entered the rather spacious room, she saw one other marble. The first to leave the waiting room, and the only one who went before her for the ‘assessment’. After finishing the exam, or so Blink had thought, she had felt exhausted. Especially since she was not warmed up at all, after 2 days of relaxation with 2 days of traveling prior, her fitness levels were not at the peak of what it could’ve been, and Blink had felt rather fatigued. The next hour or 2 was a blur for her, with other marbles trickling into the room, some with better looks on their faces than others.
Unlike the previous marbles, when the 12th marble entered the room, they were followed by what looked like an examiner, based on the attire they were donning, indicated with the MSFL staff name tag. As it turns out, there was still one more examination to complete, which was a team effort in order to assess their cooperation. Once briefed, 2 marbles had taken charge of 5 marbles each, the 2 in charge decided by a group vote held by both sides. On Blinks' side, a marble by the name of Ironclad had taken charge, and the 4 other marbles to finish first; Magnum, Zeta, Foxtrot, and Raven.
The marbles were instructed to play a game of freeze tag with each other, a game where if you touched an enemy, they would be frozen until ‘freed’ or tagged back in by their teammate. The first team to tag the other team, would win. Blink did not find much success in working with her teammates, as she was not used to such a game that required a cohesive effort from multiple marbles. She was much more used to the individual play, occasionally supported by her team the Retinas. So when Ironclad took charge of her side, as held by a vote, and Core for the enemies, the room dissolved into chaos. After 4 minutes of intense skirmishes and frantic voices, the team led by Ironclad, which included Blink, came out on top. However, Blink herself knew that she did not contribute much to the team's victory, successfully freezing others, but failing in cooperating with the team. At this point however, she didn’t really care, as she was genuinely too exhausted to think, let alone move properly.
Thankfully, it seemed as though this was the final part of the ‘assessment’, as once they finished celebrating their victory, another attendant directed them towards a shuttle bus, where the 12 of them were transported back to the MSFL sponsored hotel. On the bus intercom, an announcement was made, congratulating them on their successful completion of the ‘assessment’, as well as details of the next date. At the mention of the upcoming draft, the attention of everyone on board was pulled towards the intercom, which stated that the draft would begin in 2 days, broadcasted to the world as the official debut of the MSFL.
At last however, Blink made it back to her room. The announcement from earlier had made her feel conflicted, jittery inside at the thought of being able to play new and interesting things, and play versus other competitors with genuine and real prizes on the line. Her gut however was twisting at the thought of not being drafted onto a team. After all, there were 60 marbles entering the draft, and only 54 would be drafted. The chances of her being drafted, she thought was low, as she came from both an unknown background as well as receiving no proper training, her only real experience coming from a rookie youth team that only competed in their very remote area, with no official achievements of the sort, only a bit of social media recognition due to Sarai’s efforts. Little did she know at the time that her doubts and insecurities would unfold right before her eyes.
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Not during the drafting process, but rather, the day before. Realizing how unfit she was during the assessment, she vowed to at least train a bit using the hotel equipment. Everyone else also seemed to have the same idea, as when Blink entered the training center, a multitude of other marbles were hard at work. Seeing how intensely they were training, added on with the impressive rates at which they were training, baffled Blink. In each and every corner of the room, there were marbles going at it with various machines, all of which Blink did not recognize. The idea of training so hard was a concept Blink knew about, but never really understood, as she had spent the majority of her time hanging out with Sarai or playing in friendly races.
So when she walked up to an open machine, a rather intimidating one up close, she had no idea what to do. She attempted to climb up the machine, but didn’t understand what the point of the tiny spinning bars were. Although, there were other marbles using the exact machine, so when she mimicked their actions, she found herself rolling. Not forwards, but in place. It became clear to Blink that this was meant to help with her speed. Or so she thought, as when she tried to go faster, all it resulted was her being tired out faster from the overexertion of energy. As she would later on find out, it was a machine to help build endurance and stamina.
But for Blink at the time, who was already winded after 1 go at a machine, decided that it wasn’t worth the effort, and explored the other opportunities in the training center. After careful observation of others and skittering around, she finally found an activity that she thought was preferable. The training center had a massive sand pit, with a clearly defined path that cut through the sand, similar to the one she encountered during the ‘assessment’, but with less obstacles, she thought that it was a perfect opportunity to warm up for the upcoming draft which would occur tomorrow. She spent the remainder of her time during the training center trying to complete the sand pit path in the quickest time possible, tracked by herself mentally. Due to the excess use of speed, some of the sand wound up flying outside of the pit, but thankfully there were none nearby, as the pit was located in a rather remote area of the training center with none of the fancy machinery and technology that others had been privileged with.
Before, in her hometown, she had experienced more dirt and grass than other rough material. So the feel of warm sand below her was a rather pleasant experience compared to the cold, hard, and sometimes mushy dirt that she was used to in the past. Another excellent attribute of sand as Blink found out, was that it came off easily. And for Blink, this pleasure and joy was the best experience she had since arriving in Los Marbeles.
Finally, the fated day had arrived. Today was the day that Blink would enter the draft, be broadcasted to the entire world, and just maybe, potentially, be signed for a legitimate professional competitive team for the world famous marble leagues that everyone around the globe knew and loved.
Sarai had been keeping her updated on everything that had been posted on social media. Of note was the official announcement of the 9 competing teams in the very first season of the MSFL, occasional news released by the MSFL social media team highlighting some featured marbles in the draft, and the draft lottery.
The MSFL Commencement Draft would be done in a snake style draft, where the last team to draft a marble in a round would become the first in the subsequent round. The 9 MSFL teams had been given their starting pick order based on the draft lottery, resulting in The Moonwalkers taking the first overall pick, a team with a previous manager from the SML, the league which the Commissioner of the MSFL had competed in. Second overall would be the Physics Fanatics, managed by a business guru who decided to expand their expenditures into the marble leagues, RCD. The third pick was given to Infestation, managed by . Another ex-SML manager by the name of AMM had brought the franchise name Night Raid for the fourth overall pick, followed by fellow ex-SML manager Fire, who managed a team named after them; Team Fire. Someone who used to be a huge fan, now turned manager, by the name of Ohrsa, would be taking the helm of the Super Wisps for pick number 6. A friend of the Commissioner, personally invited to manage a team for the league, Skylight would be managing the Starry Sky’s for the seventh overall pick of the draft. For the eighth pick of the draft, Coco, a popular manager known for his previous experience in team management, was now hired to manage the Space Pirates. To finish the first round of the draft, the Shadow Hunters managed by the completely unknown manager Why would end the first round of the draft with the ninth overall pick, and start the second.
Something that had caught Blink completely off guard, was on the day that she went to the training center, as it turns out, she had been highlighted in the official MSFL social media news as an upcoming “prospect”. As it turns out, the MSFL scouting and drafting team had delved deep into the social media posts by Sarai, and reviewed the videos of her victories and celebrations as official footage of Blink’s personality. As such, she was described as one that was “known for their uber-competitive personality” as well as being “a hothead at times, but has seemed to display great work ethic with the Retinas”. Blink was also praised in the spotlight article for having “earned her name with displays of blazing speed”, presumably taken from her highlight reels edited by Sarai, who attended Blink’s remote competitions with a camera and a stopwatch. The article even included a statement that Blink had hastily written in her online application, a question asking why she wanted to join the MSFL. Blink had responded by saying that “this opportunity is once in a lifetime and I’m not about to miss it.” Which she personally felt was a bit excessive, but Sarai promised was necessary to catch the eyes of the recruiters.
The news which highlighted her as an up and coming prospect had caused her phone to blow up with text messages from Sarai, out of pure excitemen and joy for Blink. This was Blink’s first introduction to the world. When she first saw the news article, she felt a bit dumbfounded, as to why the MSFL would talk about such an unimportant marble, not realizing that the staff behind the written article had purposely done so, as they thought Blink was a marble who could potentially upset the competitive marble world and become a new striking hot superstar. This was their first go at selling Blink to the MSFL teams, and to the world.
As Blink was chunneled down to the hotel lobby by elevator, the clamor and chatter of the other marbles was loud. Many marbles were familiar with each other, having played in leagues with and against each other for years on end, being personally invited to join the MSFL as their previous contracts had expired. For Blink, who had known no one here, there was no one for her to chat with, not that she particularly minded, as her priority was first and foremost getting situated within Los Marbeles, making bonds came second.
Sure enough, 5 minutes after the scheduled wake-up call, waking up any late or heavy sleepers, everyone had arrived. Once again they were all being directed towards a large shuttle bus, with the destination being the one and only: MSFL Stadium. Once everyone had boarded the bus, a marble standing at the very front, while also being broadcasted on the tv screens on the bus, began talking into their speakerphone.
“Hello! Once again, I would like to congratulate you all on your acceptance into the MSFL league. As I’m sure all of you are aware by now, today is the day of the Commencement Draft! The 9 teams competing in MSFL will be taking turns drafting each and every one of you over the course of 6 rounds. This will also be the first broadcast of the MSFL league for the world, and while there won’t be fans in the stadium, all eyes will be on you today. We will shortly direct you towards the event grounds, where each of you will remain seated until called up. Once we enter the stadium, please understand that you acknowledge and accept being broadcasted on live television. Please be mindful of the policies and rules in the handbook everyone had received on their first day in the MSFL sponsored hotel. Last but not least, I wish each and everyone of you the best of luck. Thank you.”
Once the MSFL staffer had finished their small induction speech, the bus came to life with applause and celebration. The long awaited day for all was at their doorstep, and the only thing left to do would be to enter the MSFL stadium, ready to be drafted and contracted for a MSFL team. As the bus drove into the parking lot on the outskirts of the stadium, the marbles quickly formed a line as they were shuffled into the stadium. Blink recognized the marble in front of her as Core, the leader of the enemy team during their freeze tag aspect of the ‘assessment’. While Blink’s eyes were darting around everywhere, nervous and jittery as any marble in her position would be during this situation, she noticed Core walking strides with confidence. Not one to refuse inspiration, she took the confident approach of the marble in front of her and relaxed her nerves, entering the MSFL Stadium.
The first thing that struck Blink when she entered was the amount of color surrounding the stadium. Unlike a couple days ago, where the outer walls of the stadium were pure white, the only thing of note being the trial boxes in the center, it had completely changed. The outer walls were painted the colors of the 9 teams, with their logo’s big and center of the inner walls, facing directly towards the playing grounds. The playing grounds themselves, which previously had cardboard boxes and sectioned off areas, had now completely changed. 5 rows of chairs, with designated marble names on the front, but the important highlight was the 9 individual podiums. On top of each podium, was a marble who wore a suit. The podiums themselves had logos- presumably the team logos- with a pedastal on top in which the marbles in suits were standing on.
Above the playing grounds, on the north side of the stadium, was the Commissioner Hadus, which Blink was only able to recognize due to the gigantic televisions on top of the 4 sides of the stadium, cameras directed to the Commissioner in the casting box, who she had recognized from pictures sent to her by Sarai previously. The booming speakers made it clear as to what the Commissioner was saying, as well.
“...ese 60 marbles will be drafted today to our beloved MSFL teams. They are walking into the stadium now, try and see if you can spot any familiar faces.” He said, with the most exaggerated wink Blink had ever seen before. “Once they have all settled down, the drafting phase will begin momentarily. Enjoy the process, and best of luck to our MSFL teams!” Ending off the introduction as ads began to roll on television.
Blink had found her seat, which turned out to be in the very first row, next to 2 of her freeze tag teammates Magnum and Zeta. To her right was her 3 other teammates from the ‘assessment’, and the entire row consisting of the enemies from her tag game as well. As the remaining marbles found their spots within the rows, the ads on television had finished, and the Commissioner had yet again begun talking.
“...nd as the remaining athletes get seated, I would like to give a heartfelt thank you to the staff, sponsors, managers, and most importantly, you, the fans, for making this a reality. I see our last marble has found their seat, so without making you, the viewers, wait too long, I shall begin the countdown.” As he finished the sentence, the speakers started blaring a pre-recorded countdown, almost like one you would hear during new years.
“10.”
“9.”
“8.”
“7.”
“6.”
“5.”
“4.”
“3…”
“2…”
“...1…”
“And without further ado,” the Commissioner said, “let the MSFL Commencement draft begin! The Moonwalkers
, you are on the clock!”
If you asked Blink before the draft began, what she thought would happen, she would have responded with a very simple answer. The 6th round of the draft, or if she was lucky, the 5th round instead, or if someone was out of their mind when drafting, the 4th round. While she had not interacted much with the other athletes, she knew that most of their backgrounds had come from places with legitimate rigorous training, and from when she went to the training center, where there were many marbles, she was thoroughly impressed with their training. Furthermore, she was aware of the fact that many marbles had come from other professional leagues, so the chances of someone drafting a random marble like her early on, was impossible in her eyes.
Not even a minute later, The Moonwalkers had locked in their pick. Defiant. With a confident stride, similar to Core who was sitting a couple chairs down from her, but in a more calmly fashion. The marble had stood up from the 4th row of marbles, and walked up to the only podium with more than 1 marble standing on top, the co-managers Child and Shep. From her seat, Blink had gotten a great view of the managers, who had a warm smile as Defiant climbed up the podium stairs, and came to a stop behind the 2 managers who stood on the pedestal. Blink overheard the Commissioner explaining the pick. “Defiant, a marble who was previously captain on their previous teams, is officially the first MSFL draft pick! I personally look forward to their leadership capabilities and how they will take charge on the team The Moonwalkers, a team led by Child and Shep, who once previously managed a team in the SML, as some of you may be familiar with. They in particular have been known for their prowess in every single team event they have participated in, not missing or disappointing their fans in the slightest each time they take the stage. Next up, Physics Fanatics, you are on the clock!”
Just like The Moonwalkers, the Physics Fanatics barely took any time in deciding their pick. And sure enough, a marble from her row had stood up. In fact, it was a marble from her freeze tag team. Even more so, it was the marble her team had collectively agreed on being the leader of their team. Ironclad. Who walked up to the pink colored podium with an atom logo plastered front and center. The manager of the Physics Fanatics, gave a nod of acknowledgement and a small smile as Ironclad stood up in front of them.
This was how the next couple of picks went on, with teams quickly making their picks, a marble standing up from the rows of seats, and the Commissioner Hadus giving a brief overview of the marble’s history. It was no wonder that teams had quickly chosen proven and experienced marbles to form the foundation and base of their teams. Third in line was Infestation, who chose Ant, a marble infamous for their amazing ability at creating team chemistry and cohesion. Fourth was Core, a rather popular marble who many fans had enjoyed making puns based off of their name. Fifth in the draft, one that many fans held higher expectations for over the other marbles coming into the draft was Alfa, selected by Team Fire.
When it came down to the Super Wisps to draft their marble for the sixth overall pick of the draft, the time they took to decide was long. While each team had 5 minutes to decide their pick, no team had spent more than a minute thus far. As the 4th minute was closing in, the Super Wisps had finally decided on a pick. Icon, a marble that was regarded as the fan favorite. Highlighted in Hadus’s explanation, Icon was an individual marble who quickly rose to fame for their explosive debut, and became quite literally, an Icon in the scene. By the sounds of it to Blink, Icon was one of the biggest if not the biggest profile marble of the draft. While she didn’t understand the nuances of drafting, she was surprised that such a popular marble was one that took so long to decide on, let alone the fact that Icon had fallen to sixth in the draft.
As it finally rolled around to the Starry Sky’s pick, they had surpassed even the Super Wisps in time taken for their pick. Blink was familiar with Starry Sky, largely due to Sarai, who would constantly obsess over the manager, partly because the manager had seemed super likeable due to their carefree attitude in interviews, but mainly due to the fact that the manager was an unknown individual. A personal invite by the Commissioner of the league Hadus himself, someone with no managerial experience in the past, nor did they have any internet presence, the entire world had no clue who this manager was to receive a personal invite. By the name of Skylight, they had taken the reins of the light blue shaded team Starry Sky. A logo donning a 3 color gradient of various shades of blue, with sparkling stars scattered around, the manager was simply standing still.
Crossing the 4 minute mark, Starry Sky had officially taken the longest time to decide their pick, during the first round as well, which the Commissioner was commentating on. Such a long thought process, during the first round, where each team should have clear priority marbles based on scouting and ideology. Perhaps the manager had come unprepared, and was stalling out the time to think. With the Commissioner taking this time to highlight some of the 54 remaining marbles, the Starry Sky manager had finally made their pick. 4 minutes and 58 seconds in, with only 2 seconds remaining, the pick was locked in.
When Sarai had asked her what she thought about the upcoming draft, Blink was curious as to where Sarai thought Blink would be drafted. After all, Sarai was the one who knew Blink the best, and had far more experience and knowledge about competitive leagues compared to Blink, who understood the basics, but none of the complexities. Sarai said she had complete confidence Blink would be drafted round 2 or 3, as she had a sure feeling that Blink would be valued highly, and would quickly rise with that team.
At last, the Commissioner joking about the amount of time they had to wait for the decision, the Starry Sky 1st round pick had finally been finalized and submitted, and as it was announced to the athletes, the teams, the Commissioner, and the live television broadcast to the world, the Starry Sky manager, Skylight, twitched their mouth upwards into a small smirk.
“With the 7th pick in the MSFL Commencement Draft, Starry Sky select…”
Blink.