A boy sat on the sidelines with a regular black t-shirt and red and black pajamas, playing with his fingers as he spoke with Ray. "I bet 50 dollars that the new recruit won't score 2 goals." Ray turned to look at the lazy eyed boy. "Deal." As they shook hands the teams were picked—Yoichi and me on one side. As we lined up, I pulled on my gloves. The coach blows the whistle. The match begins.
Yoichi passed to me. Without hesitation, I started slamming my foot onto the ball. My vision only focuses on the goal and ignores everything else. But something felt off. The defenders aren't pushing back. Too loose. Too easy. A trap?
Suddenly Jaylon rammed into my side and stole the ball, his smirk glowing brighter than his golden eyes. Wherever he moves, the field turns to treasure. He passes to his teammates, elevating them with a single touch. He doesn't command. He blesses. That's how kings move. I rushed to recover on defense but suddenly my balance got disrupted. I turn my hand to look at a short figure, hair as black as ink and eyes empty like a void. Its eyes sliced through me as I suddenly fell to my feet. My eyes gravitated to the sky but before I collided with the ground I looked to see what that thing was, but in that very moment it had vanished. The imaginary crowd laughed in sync, as everything went according to the script. A play that gave me the role of a fool.
The boy started clapping his hands as he pointed at me. "Look Ray, look. He's already on the ground. To be honest…I don't understand the hype." Ray didn't respond and continued to look at the field, so the boy went silent and went back to lazily watching. "Still gonna give me that 50." The boy whispered.
I slammed my foot into the ground and launched myself forward. Yoichi suddenly crashed into Jaylon's side and added it with a grin. "How about some improv?" He said. But Jaylon didn't waver, he pushed back. Yoichi reached his foot out for the tackle, Jaylon scanned the field thinking of a possible counterattack. But I quickly slammed into him. "Try to score now, King." I said. Jaylon laughed and his golden chains wrapped my neck forcing me to look up. Yoichi quickly interrupts Jaylon by touching the ball just enough for it to go in the air. Now it was a gamble, either me or Yoichi got it. It all depended on vertical and height. But suddenly Jaylon slammed his hands against me and Yoichi's chest. He twisted himself back and lifted himself into the air, spinning mid air he kicked the ball full force. The ball crashed into the ground and bolted into the back of the net.
He doesn't just want Earth. He wants Heaven. Jaylon landed on my chest. "Aw, the peasant wants to be my throne? How bold." He chuckled. I shoved him off and stared at him, frustration leaking through every pore on my body. The boy stopped looking lazily at the filled and covered his mouth with his right hand. "I get that we're running a counterattack formation while Agnes is injured but why do we have two forwards all the way in the other team's box?" The boy said. "The point of a counterattack is the attack not the defense." Ray said. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."
The whistle blew again and kickoff began. Yoichi passed to me, but suddenly the shadowy figure appeared again. "Hey," he said with a wide smile. "My name's Michael. What's yours?" I didn't answer. I feinted left and cut right, and as soon as he opened his legs I kicked the ball between them and dashed past him. Michael turned to stop me but I stole a page from Jaylon's book. I held him off with a stiff arm, then flicked the ball up. Jaylon stepped forward to intercept smiling. I'll wipe that smile off of your face. I slammed my feet on the ball. You're nothing. An amateur. Just an overconfident striker. I kicked the ball between his legs too. Suddenly three defenders stood in front of me.
I passed the ball to Yoichi who was running full speed toward me. He dashed in front of me and winded his foot back. All of the defenders dashed toward him to block his shot, even Michael slid in order to get the ball away from Yoichi. But there was nothing there, suddenly I emerged from Yoichi's shadow still hiding my foot from the goalkeeper.
It's been so long…yet I can feel it. Where the ball wants me to hit. My lips twitched with hunger, ready to devour the world. I struck the ball with my outer foot, creating a devastating curve that hit right into the top right corner of the goal. I couldn't hold it in. Passion ran through my entire body. I gripped my shirt like a madman and roared into the sky. A fiery challenge to the gods who tried to bury me.
I looked at Jaylon who stared at me with fire in his eye too. The boy stood up and screamed on the top of his lungs. "PAUSE!!!!" He yelled out. "I can't lose my money. Wait! Wait!" He ran to the locker room and came out with a practice jersey on. He tapped on the coach and pointed at Jaylon's team. He ran over to a random person and grabbed onto his jersey and pointed at the bench. "I didn't even get the time to stretch so this should be relatively easy for you guys.
Kickoff began and Jaylon received the ball. I stood before him. Reaper vs King, we stared at each other for a moment. No time. No place. Only this moment. Jaylon flicked the ball and shoulder trapped it. I lunged forward and he quickly jumped up and kicked the ball away. Michael emerged from the shadowed and threaded between the defense like silk. Jaylon, who was ready for the shot, prepared but I crashed into him. I gripped my jersey and stared at the ball with intensity. He swung his foot full force but Yoichi quickly snatched the ball away at the speed of light. I ran forward and Yoichi passed it back to me. I drive through the defenders, this time more cautious. But the play was already written, Jaylon crashed into my ribs. Just enough to cause me to stumble. The crowd began to laugh as Michael swooped in to steal the ball. "You play your role pretty well." Michael giggled. I stared breathless, burning. I watched the field as fire flickered in my lungs, my legs, my soul. I wiped my face. The fire reignited. I remember…