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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rivalcoverart.png]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:Bound By Honor, United By Fate]]
3->"''In a time when the minds of youth should be happy and free, a war is about to explode! High school students have become the victims of random attacks and kidnappings. With police proving to be no match for the villains, the students themselves now rise to take matters into their own hands!''"
4-->--'''The opening quotes''' from the arcade intro of ''Rival Schools: United by Fate''
5
6''Rival Schools'', known as ''Justice Gakuen'' (lit. "Justice Academy") in Japan, was one of Creator/{{Capcom}}'s attempts to make a [=3D=] FightingGame. The result was a TwoAndAHalfD fighter which was fought on a 2D plane but spun the camera around to give the illusion of 3D, particularly when someone got catapulted into the air. The original used [[SpritePolygonMix flat (though animated) backgrounds]] whereas the sequel went polygonal in that regard. The games are slightly tongue-in-cheek and take place in a world where ghosts exist, [[ElaborateUniversityHigh high schools can afford their own superdomes]], the best academy is run by [[RetiredBadass a retired ninja]], [[WorldOfHam students (and teachers!) brawl at the drop of a hat]], and most never change out of their [[SchoolUniformsAreTheNewBlack school attire]].
7
8----
9
10The first game, ''Rival Schools: United By Fate'', was released in [[UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame arcades]] in 1997 and for the Sony Platform/PlayStation the following year. Students from all over Aoharu City have been mysteriously disappearing, and teams of JapaneseDelinquents unite to identify the mastermind behind it: Hyo Imawano, a [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]] clone with a knack for [[{{Brainwashed}} brainwashing]] people over to his cause--including his uncle Raizo, the juiced-up principal of his school.
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12Players form teams of two: teammates can tag-in between rounds or deliver an extra punch or health/energy boost, depending on the character. This setup was borrowed from ''[[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomClashOfSuperHeroes Marvel vs. Capcom 1]]'' and later made its way into a few ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters King of Fighters]]'' games.
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14The [=PlayStation=] port added several {{Mini Game}}s , as well as a character creation mode based on a DatingSim. Due to the daunting task of translating it into other languages, the latter [[NoExportForYou never made it outside Japan]]. Fortunately, all of the other home version extras made it in. In Japan, the game was re-released with a revamped character creation mode, along with two new fighters (who also show up in the sequel). In 2012, the [=PlayStation=] port of ''United By Fate'' [[http://andriasang.com/con02g/rival_schools_psn/ was re-released as part of Sony's PSN Classics]] program in Japan.
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16----
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18It was followed by ''Project Justice'', released in arcades in 2000 and for the Platform/{{Dreamcast}} the following year. An imposter Batsu (the hot-headed {{shotoclone}} advertised in both games) is running around [[LetsYouAndHimFight sowing the seeds of tension and distrust]] among the gangs, which threatens to spark another war between the schools. The culprit, who happens to be an incognito ninja assassin named Kurow, conspires to punish Raizo's family for [[ResignationsNotAccepted leaving their clan]]. Kurow winds up [[HijackedByGanon being dethroned by Hyo]], who has supposedly turned over a new leaf--but is still haunted by the malevolent ghost of his late father Mugen.
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20The same students and teachers, plus Kurow's [[AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil "Darkside Student Congress"]] and some [[SuperPoweredEvilSide demon-possessed]] regulars, are included in the roster. Gameplay-wise, teams are upped to three characters per side, which adds an additional 2-person Team-Up move, along with 3-character combos à la ''[=MvC=]''. Once again, the Japanese version had a character creation mode, this time in the form of board games (in the vein of ''VideoGame/MarioParty'') which were all the rage at the time.
21
22----
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24The games are pretty obscure and, due to legal issues, a follow-up isn't likely anytime soon. Capcom doesn't seem to have forgotten about it, though: Kyosuke is playable in ''[[VideoGame/CapcomVsSNK2MarkOfTheMillennium Capcom vs. SNK 2]]'' (with Batsu and Hinata making a [[TheCameo cameo appearance]] in one of his [[DesperationAttack super moves]]) and other characters have either cameoed or made playable appearances in ''VideoGame/NamcoXCapcom'' (Hideo and Kyoko), ''VideoGame/TatsunokoVsCapcom'' (Batsu, Hinata, Kyosuke, and Raizo), ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone'' (Batsu), and ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'' (Hinata, Tiffany, Daigo, Edge, Gan, and Akira, the latter of whom would eventually become PromotedToPlayable); WordOfGod stated via Twitter that ''Rival Schools'' and ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' [[CanonWelding share the same universe.]]
25
26----
27!!This series provides examples of:
28* AllThereInTheManual: Zig zagged; the games clearly explain the story and most characters' motivations, but if you want to know more about the characters, you have play through the character creation modes only available in the Japanese versions.
29* AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield: "Illusional Space" (Hyo's stage) in the first game.
30* AmazonBrigade: The Seijyun High team of Akira, [[ElegantClassicalMusician Yurika]] and [[JapaneseDelinquents Zaki]] in ''Project Justice''. Zaki's all-female gang, the Ladies Team, also might count, but not all of them fit the trope's requirement of being attractive.
31* AnimatedActors: One of the animated endings in the [=PlayStation=] version has the characters portrayed as actors filming a movie, with Raizo as the director of the production. Rivalries aside, their actor personas are still surprisingly in-character.
32* AnimeThemeSong: "Atsuki Kodou", the intro theme for the [=PlayStation=] version of ''United By Fate''.
33* BattleAmongstTheFlames: The climax of ''Project Justice''. The heroes reunite on the steps of Justice High, which Demon Hyo has set aflame.
34* BattleAura: Hyo gets a permanent BattleAura when he gets possessed by his dead father Mugen at the end of the second game and becomes "Demon Hyo."
35* BattleInTheRain: The penultimate fight in ''Project Justice'' takes place in a rain-soaked quarry.
36* BeautyBrainsAndBrawn ''and'' BlondeBrunetteRedhead: The Seijyun High team, with Yurika, Akira and Zaki fulfilling each role in both tropes in that order.
37* BootstrappedTheme: Long after the games' releases, the themes for "Classroom of Taiyo High" became the Leitmotif of the games themselves. Batsu tends to use "On the Rooftop of Taiyo High" when he appears in crossover games.
38* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Daigo (twice) and Raizo. Also in terms of the in-game story Kyoko, Hideo, Roy, Boman, Tiffany and Shoma also fall victim to this. However...
39** It's not just them. Ultimately it's the whole basis of the plot (especially for the first game) and depending on who you do NOT choose to be your partner from the three characters from each school ALL the major characters can theoretically fall victim to this trope just before the end of the game. After the other two characters fight said character they snap out of the brainwashing by ThePowerOfFriendship.
40* CanonImmigrant: Much like Karin and Evil Ryu in ''Franchise/StreetFighter'', Hayato Nekketsu was an original character in a manga spin-off (a short for a mook, ''Shiritsu Justice Gakuen Gaiden'') who got added to the games. But unlike those two, he is not owned by Capcom, making him partly a GuestFighter. He appears in at least one other work by his creator, Kazuhiko Shimamoto.
41* CharacterCustomization: Both games have this feature but neither of them [[NoExportForYou made it outside of Japan]], due to the sheer volume of text that would have to be translated from the simulation mode. The US versions of the games simply omitted this mode altogether, but the Evolution disc of the first game and Project Justice made up for it by including over a dozen pre-made custom characters to unlock.
42* {{Cloneopoly}}: ''Rival Schools'' received a kind of {{interquel}} only for Platform/PlayStation (and [[NoExportForYou only for Japan too]]) called ''Shiritsu Justice Gakuen Nekketsu Seisyun Nikki 2'' (aka ''Rival Schools 2'') which is mostly an updated version of the first game than a real sequel as it was ''Project Justice''. This version included [[EarlyBirdCameo Ran Hibiki and Nagare Namikawa as fighters]] before their official appearance in ''PJ'' as well various minigames, included a Monopoly-like game where you get rewards to be used as power-up for your characters in the game.
43* CombinationAttack: Each character has a specific attack you can use when calling them for a Team-Up. Most deal damage, and some restore health or fill up your Burning Vigor gauge. In the sequel, it's possible to get all ''three'' characters in for a Party-Up attack to pile on even more damage. Team-Ups depend on who you call in, but Party-Ups depend on who you're playing as.
44* {{Crossover}}: There are numerous references to ''Street Fighter'' in ''Rival Schools'', most notably Sakura's inclusion in the first game. However there are also a few inconsistencies (like Sakura's blood type) that prevents ''Rival Schools'' from fitting neatly into the ''Street Fighter'' continuity. Nevertheless Hinata and Tiffany would appear in the background of a stage in ''Street Fighter V'', and Akira would become a GuestFighter in the same game, confirming that they both exist in a {{Shared Universe}}.
45* DeathCryEcho
46* DoNotCallMePaul: Edge hates being called by his real name, Eiji Yamada. Likewise, the masked gang leader Zaki does not answer to Aoi Himezaki (due to the "Hime" part of her name, which translates to "Princess").
47* DustbinSchool: [[MeaningfulName Gedo High]], school for Juvenile Delinquents and other undesirables.
48* {{Eagleland}}: Whatever version of America the Pacific High kids hail from. Tiffany even has [[WearingAFlagOnYourHead the stars-and-stripes motif]] on her P1 costume (think Stars and Stripes meets gratuitous {{Fanservice}}).
49* EmpathicEnvironment: It's {{always night}} at Justice High, with a perpetual thunderstorm over the building.
50* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The ClassRepresentative of Taiyo High is never given a name, and she prefers to be called Iincho (Chairperson in the English translations).
51* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin
52* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: In both games, the Story Mode has one of the {{final boss}}es as mid-bosses (Raizo Imawano in ''RS: United by Fate'' and Kurow Kirishima in ''Project Justice'') with a lot of energy and power, leaving the player with DeathIsTheOnlyOption. The characters have to suffer the consequences of being defeated, which are already part of the main story (mostly one of your team been kidnapped by the bad guys).
53* FastballSpecial: Raizo does this to his partner in his team-up move, and Gedo High's Party-Up in ''Project Justice'' has the attacker and his victim thrown into each other by the attacker's partners.
54* FlawlessVictory: Acknowledged during the characters' win pose, with a "VICTORY!" from the announcer instead of the typical "WINNER!"
55* ForeignExchangeStudent: Roy, Tiffany, and Boman are a team of foreign exchange students from America.
56** In fact, Pacific High seems to be made up of them, since all the premade characters from there also fit the category.
57* GameplayAndStorySegregation: The Nekketsu Seishun Nikki (Hot-Blooded Youth Diary) mode in the first game (as well as the UpdatedRerelease), being a straight-up school life simulator, makes little to no reference to the war between high schools. You can choose to befriend any of the characters in that mode, and the game may even offer options to pursue friendly relationships with the {{Big Bad}}s of the game, Raizo and Hyo.
58* [[MobWar Gang War]]: A war is brewing amongst Gedo and Seijyun High Schools' respective gangs. The whole mess turns out to have been orchestrated by Kurow.
59* GangOfHats: Some of the members of the Ladies Team, Zaki's gang, wear surgical masks, a cliché of all-female gangs in anime.
60* GrappleMove: in addition to normal grabs, crouch, and back grabs. there's {{Combination Attack}}s, which are initiated by a telegraphed, blockable attack and then cuts into a sequence of attack (just like a normal grab move) unique to your partner character. some of these can heal or increase your ManaMeter.
61* GratuitousEnglish: Roy (as noted above) and Tiffany both exhibit this at times. Their fellow countryman Boman avoids it by speaking Japanese all the time (though his DeathCryEcho is "Amen", which kinda fits as he is a religious (Christian) character).
62* GrievousHarmWithABody: Some of the team-up attacks: Raizo throws his partner at the enemy. Zaki grabs her partner and swing-slams them into her opponent after her initial stomping. Wild Daigo punches and throws his opponent right at ''his own partner'' them beats the both of them down. Kurow's party-up involves his two partners whaling on the opponent on both sides, then Kurow impales both his own partners and repeatedly hammers them on the opponent. HARSH.
63* GuestFighter: Sakura Kasugano from ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' shows up in the first game. She doesn't figure into the main storyline very much, but she is said to be good friends with Hinata and Natsu.
64** Hilariously, this game, outright, explains that the reason she can get away with being in VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha's sequels is that several schools in her area of Japan practice similar attitudes to the actions of their school clubs as [[Manga/RanmaOneHalf Ranma Saotome]].
65* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Kyosuke]], [[spoiler:Raizo]] and [[spoiler:Hyo]] in ''United By Fate''.
66** HighHeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Yurika]] and (arguably) [[spoiler:Momo]] in ''Project Justice''.
67* HilariousOuttakes: For the Playstation version of the first game, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y22wxouciGk here]].
68* HopelessBossFight: Can be subverted -- most of the Stage 3 battles in ''Rival Schools'' are designed to be impossible to win (due to AI damage and health increases), but if you can manage to win, you get to skip straight ahead to the final boss.
69** In the sequel's story mode for Taiyo High, you might have a chance to solo battle Kurow. You only have a single round and just one ally for assistance, and he has a lot of health. It's almost impossible to beat him, but the story continues if you lose.
70* HotBlooded: Batsu...all the way. So much that he turns into Burning Batsu.
71** Don't forget Hayato. He's the model of HotBlooded PE teacher that ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'''s Might Guy could have been molded after him. That's even his ''surname'' for God's sake! ("Nekketsu" means literally "hot blood".)
72* HugeGirlTinyGuy: The tall, awkward Natsu and short, angry Shoma.
73* IKnowMaddenKombat: Pretty much the shtick of the Gorin High characters. At least the ball sports (baseball - Shoma, volleyball - Natsu, football - Roberto, tennis - Momo) make sense, but taken to very ridiculous levels with a character (Nagare) who fights with ''swimming'' moves!
74* IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight: If you play as Kyoko and Hideo in the Arcade version of the first game, you get brainwashed after losing the Hopeless Stage 3 battle. After awhile, one of the two snaps out of it and tries to convince the other to do so by fighting him/her.
75** In the sequel's story mode for Gedo or Seijyun High, they have to convince a BrainwashedAndCrazy Daigo to calm down. Failing to do so leads to a BadEnd.
76* JapaneseDelinquents: Daigo, Edge and Gan. Hell, Gedo High is nothing ''but'' a school of delinquents. Zaki and her gang in ''Project Justice'' throw female delinquents into the mix.
77* {{Jerkass}}: Roy is very condescending of the Japanese and has a huge superiority complex when it comes to the respective countries. This was toned down a LOT in the western translation which makes it rather odd for gamers who can understand Japanese since only the translation is different. The dialogue is still the same as the original making it somewhat strange to read one thing and listen to something completely different. It should be noted that towards the end of the game Roy has changed his outlook on Japan considerably and seems to view the country with a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold lot more respect]].
78* JokeCharacter: Chairperson, with the [[LethalJokeCharacter glaring exception of her assist]]. This is probably because she uses Dan Hibiki's own Saikyo style... and learned it from weekend correspondence courses, meaning she isn't as skillful at it as him...
79* KiManipulation: Every single character in the game, thanks to Batsu's and Hayato's assists.
80* LeftHanging: The end of ''Project Justice''. Yes, Kurow's plan has been foiled but he's escaped custody and Kyosuke disappeared from school [[spoiler:after the death of Hyo]] as well. And what of the Darkside Society that both Kurow and Yurika defected from?
81* LetsYouAndHimFight: ''EVERYBODY'' from the different high schools, without exception. It isn't until the last stage of the game that the characters find the real culprits.
82* LookWhatICanDoNow: In the Taiyo storyline in ''Project Justice'', if Batsu loses in the second battle, he leaves the party for a while, but returns a few battles later as "Burning Batsu", complete with powered-up attacks and a BattleAura.
83* LoveTriangle: Hideo and Kyoko are engaged; Hayato, who once had a crush on Kyoko, is simply content to step back [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy for Kyoko's happiness]] and play a slight ShipperOnDeck to the couple.
84* LukeIAmYourFather: Raizo is Batsu's father, and by extension, Hyo and Kyosuke's uncle (the latter two are twins).
85* TheManBehindTheMan: The summary of the first ''Rival Schools''' plot.
86* TheMasochismTango: Natsu and Shoma's relationship in a nutshell.
87* MeaningfulName: The town where the games are set, Aoharu, has it by way of AlternateCharacterReading: it can also be read as "seishun" (youth).
88* MindControlEyes: [[RedEyesTakeWarning Red eyes]] indicate in ''United By Fate'' who's under the sway of the villain.
89* MultipleEndings: One "bad" ending in ''United By Fate'', and two in ''Project Justice''.
90* OddlyNamedSequel: One usually would not have guessed ''Project Justice'' is the real sequel to ''United By Fate'' unless they lived in Japan or a PAL territory. ''[[UpdatedRerelease Nekketsu Seisyun Nikki 2]]'' didn't help matters.
91* OneGenderSchool: Gedo High is all-male, while Seijyun High is all-female.
92* OneSteveLimit: Sound-alike variant, with Ran Hibiki and Gan Isurugi.
93* ThePowerOfFriendship: The {{Aesop}} of most of the games' stories; almost always the characters triumph over loner villains through their friendship with others.
94* PowerTrio: Every school had one. Seijyun Girls School had an [[AmazonBrigade all-female]] PowerTrio in Akira, Zaki, and Yurika.
95** This point is hammered home with ''Project Justice'' 's very fighting system, which consists of 3-on-3 battles.
96* ProductPlacement: The [=PlayStation=] version of the first game had a couple of ads placed in the backgrounds, such as the magazine Famitsu or the Gamers store chain. There's even an ad for Capcom's own ''[[VideoGame/StarGladiator Plasma Sword]]''
97* RealLifeWritesThePlot[=/=]TheCharacterDiedWithHim: The [[Creator/KanetoShiozawa voice actor]] for Hyo Imawano died several months before the release of ''Project Justice'', and so Hyo winds up getting KilledOffForReal.
98* TheRival: Roy and Batsu. Initially this is very aggressive on Roy's part but towards the end of the game it does shift towards a more friendly rivalry.
99* SchoolOfHardKnocks: Students and faculty from five high schools (with a sixth added in ''Project Justice'') [[LetsYouAndHimFight fight each other]] to find out who's behind the kidnappings and attacks.
100* {{Shotoclone}}: The Taiyou trio (especially Hinata, moveset-wise) and Hideo, with Hideo being the most blatant (Batsu even compares Ryu's moves to Hideo's in ''VideoGame/TatsunokoVsCapcom''). Also, Sakura from ''Street Fighter'' in the first game.
101* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: Roy and Tiffany. Depending on how you look at it, Batsu and Hinata either play this trope straight or invert it.
102* ShoutOut: The game itself is an homage to old-fashioned fighting high school mangas. Plenty of other references abound, mostly also to older mangas.
103** Natsu's surname, Ayuhara, is from Kozue Ayuhara, the protagonist of ''Manga/AttackNumberOne'' (volleyball being the sport Natsu practices).
104** Shoma's absurd baseball moves come from the manga ''[[Creator/IkkiKajiwara Samurai Giants]]''.
105** Akira Kazama gets her name and love of motorcycles from a character in ''Manga/{{Kenji}}''. Being a kung fu manga, it is also why she fights in that style.
106** Gan is basically Gorilla-Imo from ''Manga/DokonjoGaeru'' crossed with a friend of Akira's from ''Manga/{{Kenji}}''.
107** Tiffany's hairdo and [[{{Engrish}} manner of speech]] are very similar to Swan White's in ''Anime/GaoGaiGar''. Supposedly, the creators were big on the show, which is also why Batsu and Hinata have [[Creator/NobuyukiHiyama Guy]] and [[Creator/TomoeHanba Mikoto]]'s voices.
108** Helmetless Akira's team-up attack in the original game is copied from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'''s infamous episode "Both of You, Dance Like You Want to Win!" (you know, the one where Shinji and Asuka take learning teamwork so far that he even dresses up as her).
109** Boman's team-up attack, the Double Power Buster, is basically the same move as the [[Manga/{{Kinnikuman}} Double Kinniku Buster]].
110** Roberto seems like Ken Wakashimazu from ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'' with his haircut and being a goalkeeper like him, but also seems based on Tsubasa's teacher, Roberto Hongo, who's also half-Brazilian as Roberto.
111** Also one within Capcom itself: one of Hinata's win poses is the little dance [[VideoGame/MegaManLegends Data]] does.
112** The soccer stadium stage in Project Justice shows promotion for ''[[VideoGame/PowerStone Power Stone 2]]'', ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha Street Fighter Alpha 3]]'', and ''VideoGame/CapcomVsSNK2MarkOfTheMillennium'' in the large digital billboards. Funny that Kyosuke appeared in ''Capcom Vs SNK 2'' and now [[Franchise/TheKingOfFighters Kyo Kusanagi]] appears in a small cameo in Rival Schools.
113* InconsistentSpelling: Shoma was spelled as "Syoma" in the arcade version of the first ''Rival Schools''.
114** The "B"/"V" confusion is apparently lampshaded with [[spoiler:Kurow's identity as]] Batsu's doppelganger being named "Vatsu".
115* SuperMovePortraitAttack: In ''Project Justice'', connecting with a Party-Up flashes close-ups of the faces of the attacking team's members before showing the three-person beatdown.
116* TakeOverTheWorld: He who controls the school board, controls the universe!
117* TitleScream: ''United By Fate'' does this for both the English and Japanese titles. ''Project Justice'' does this with only the Japanese title.
118* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Natsu and Hinata; disregarding the fact that they are from different schools, they've been friends since childhood. Akira and Yurika is another example, though they've only known each other for a short time prior to the events of ''Project Justice''.
119* TrainingFromHell: Hayato's aforementioned push-up super.
120* TwoTeacherSchool: Most of the schools in the series. In the case of Gedo, Pacific and Seijyun, they're all ''No'' Teacher Schools as far as the players are aware.
121* UpdatedRerelease:
122** The Platform/PlayStation port of the first game featured two discs - the Regular and the Evolution discs. The Regular disc is essentially the arcade port (topped with additional voice acting on the cutscenes). The Evolution disc not only contained the ones with minigames (as well as the character creation stuff found in Japan only), but also had character tweaks. For instance, they removed the Rival Launcher super moves and instead replaced them with a new super move which has then become a standard for the characters.
123** ''Shiritsu Justice Gakuen: Nekketsu Seisyun Nikki 2'', a update of the first ''Rival Schools'', for the [=PlayStation=]. Unfortunately, a lot of people mistake it for a sequel.
124* WithholdingTheirName: [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Chairperson]] refuses to reveal her real name and would rather prefer other characters refer to her by her title.
125* WoundedGazelleGambit: Momo is an ''expert''.
126* WrestlerInAllOfUs: Boman actually does a [[Manga/{{Kinnikuman}} Kinniku Buster]] in his Team-Up Attack. That aside, most grapples are wrestling-inspired; even little Momo can bust out a piledriver!
127* YamatoNadeshiko: Seijyun Girls Academy trains its students to become this. However it's also home to an all-female [[JapaneseDelinquents gang]] led by Aoi "Zaki" Himezaki. Ironically, the girl who suits the archetype the most [[spoiler:is Yurika, TheMole from the Darkside Student Council]].

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