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Inazuma Japan is practicing."Nathan!""Pass it here!""Hurley!""Kevin, take it!"He heads towards Darren and kicks the ball."Dragon Slayer!"But then Shawn stops the ball with a simple kick, wearing a huge smirk."You called that a shoot? If it were me, I can score a point with my eyes closed!"Everyone rolls their eyes. He's been acting like this for quite some time now and they still don't know why."Are you trying to say that you can do better?" Kevin asks, annoyed."Of course," the silver haired boy answers. "Compared to all of you, I am the best in both offense and defense. Don't act like you're my equal. If I wasn't injured on the match against Fire Dragon, you wouldn't be here. Now that I think about it...I was injured because Fire Dragon seen me as a threat. That shows that I'm the most talented player on this team.""That's it! I have enough with your attitude!" Kevin exclaims, not hiding the anger in his voice. He's about to clobber him until Mark intervenes and goes between them."Kevin! Shawn! Stop this! Violence is never the solution. And Shawn, Kevin's right. This attitude has to stop! It's driving the team down."A long silence fills the air as someone waits for something to break it.An evil chuckle breaks the silence."Then why don't we settle this?" Shawn darkly says, his grey eyes gleaming with blood lust.Everyone is startled by this. "What do you mean?" Mark asks.Shawn then points at Kevin as he says:"You seem very confident with your striker skills. You think that you could stand at my level or even slightly above it. How 'bout we test that belief through a show down. If you win, then I'll admit that my skills still have a long way to go. When I win, you have to admit that you're a loser and my skills are far more superior than yours. Sounds fair, don't you agree?""When you win? Whatever Mr. Braggy, I accept your challenge!" Kevin answers, pumped and determined."Looking forward to it."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Everyone is now in the sidelines with Willy as the referee and Celia videoing the match.Shawn and Kevin stands in the middle of the field. In front of them are the goal post, guarded by Mark and some of the members of Inazuma Japan in their positions. The cheerful captain can't help but be worried about those two.
~~~
"Let's make this a bit more interesting. Just
shooting
the ball into an empty net is awfully boring," Shawn said, emphasizing it with a yawn.
"What do you have in mind?" Kevin asked, getting ready for it.
"The skills of a striker is determined not just by how many goals he scored. It's also determined by how fast and effective he makes his way to
the
goal."
"So?"
"Let's make our captain guard the net. Not only that, some of our teammates will help him stop us. Whoever scores the first goal in five minutes wins."
No one expected this. Then again, with Shawn's new personality...
"Fine. I'll agree on those terms. Just make sure you follow the bet."
"I expect the same thing from you too."
~~~
"I hope everything will go alright in the end," Camellia says."GO KEVIN! BEAT HIM! SHOW HIM WHO'S BOSS!" "YEAH YOU CAN DO IT!""Put your bets in here!""Scotty!""Hehehe...""In terms of skill, I think Shawn will win.""But he's a jerk! Kevin should win.""It's not that I support his new ego. I'm just saying that Shawn's skills shouldn't be underestimated.""If he was able to pulverize us during practice, imagine that in just five minutes.""Oh no...""Dude! Kevin works just as hard as Shawn does. I don't like this as much as you do but we shouldn't think like that."The team starts to bicker about it more."Isn't this match supposed to help us get along?" Darren asks."Who cares? Finally something entertaining to watch," Caleb says, showing no concern whatsoever."I hope that this will not drive everyone apart," Mark says.
Willy blows the whistle and the game begins.Kevin quickly gets the ball as he swiftly goes to the midfield."TAKE THIS!" He then kicks the ball."It's so fast!" Austin comments."Kevin must be practicing," Thor mentions.Jude analyzes the situation as he says, "Heads up Archer! It's coming towards you!"Archer nods as he lifts his leg and says:"Shinkuuma (Hollow Demon)!"The black hole weakens the shoot as Archer catches it with ease."Damn it," Kevin says."Nice defense, guys! Keep it up!" Mark says.Archer kicks the ball—The ball disappears."What the?"It reappears in a blink of an eye.Mark handles the sudden ball as he feels his hands still shaking from its power."H-How...""And that's...how to kick the ball.""Shawn?""How did he past through us so easily?" Nathan asks."Isn't it obvious? I'm also a defender so of course I know how the defense think. And I'm amazing. Nice shoot Dragonfly, but it's not enough to surpass me."Kevin grits his teeth."But anyway, let's have some fun."The challenge is a bit harder than expected. The competitors have to steal the ball from the defense. Especially from Jude, the game maker. A minute pass as Kevin finally takes the ball from Nathan."Dragon Crash!"Shawn appears out of nowhere and hits the ball strongly."Legendary Wolf!""He turned it into a chain shot!" Nathan says."Unbelievable!" Thor says."The Mountain!""AAAHHHHHHHH!"The defenders are pushed back. Ready to defend the goal, Mark says:"Ijigen the Hand!"The two moves clash against each other. The ball then rolls as it's been shot off field. No goal."What power..." Mark says."Shawn's clever," Jude remarks. "He waited for the right moment to make sure his shoot's power will increase and break the defense. If he had strengthen the power of his kick and aim at a different angle, he would've scored."Kevin punches his fist into the ground."DAMN IT!""Looks like this contest is already decided. You should practice your loser speech if I were you," Shawn suggests to Kevin mockingly."Kevin..." Mark says, worried.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Kevin is having a hard time.
"You should practice your loser speech if I were
you
."
Yeah
right
.
I'll
beat
you
and
wipe
that
smirk
off
your
face
.
He now has the ball when─Shawn steals the ball again!"Kevin looks like in big trouble," Silvia says."There are two minutes left in the game. He will lose at this rate," Axel says.Meanwhile, Shawn is taking the ball at every opportunity. He keeps making close calls. Every shoot he makes is close to earning a point.Mark blocks all of the continuous shots, but he's getting tired.Kevin keeps trying to get the ball without avail. He tries to steal it from Shawn but the silver-haired boy's defensive stance is almost impenetrable.Shawn then escapes as he passes through the defense easily and shoots the ball.Mark stops it."I don't understand," Nathan says. "Shawn is controlling the game yet he's been stopped by Mark in the end so easily. Why is that? He was wiping the floor with us during practice.""He wants to overwhelm Kevin," Jude answers."What do you mean?" Thor asks."Shawn knew that he could end this contest instantly but decided to slow down a bit. He wants to show Kevin that he can beat him no matter what. He purposely make his shoots miss to make Kevin panic and can't think straight.""They're running out of time," Archer says. "Shawn will probably strike at the last minute. That will probably tick Kevin off.""I don't like this, but Shawn just might win," Jack says.Meanwhile, Kevin tries to take the ball from Shawn."Stop resisting Dragonfly! Give up. You're going to lose," Shawn taunts with a smirk.The silver-haired boy takes the ball as he says, "Hmmm...one minute and twenty seconds left. Looks like I will win this battle between us."He runs across the field as Kevin watches in horror.
Damn it! What am I supposed to do? I'll lose at this rate. Should I even bother trying?
"Oh no! Kevin's not moving!" Celia says, seeing him looking at the ground."Hmph. Looks like he finally accepts defeat," Shawn remarks with his evil grin."KEVIN!""Huh?"Everyone then notices Mark. He's shouting at the top of his lungs as he continues."DON'T GIVE UP! THIS MATCH ISN'T OVER YET! NO MATTER HOW DIFFICULT THE CHALLENGE IS, THERE'S ALWAYS A SOLUTION! IT'S NOT SOCCER IF YOU QUIT!"Kevin then looks up to Mark.
He's right. I shouldn't give up. Sure that I'm at a disadvantage but that doesn't give me the excuse to run away. I will face the challenge head on!
Meanwhile, Shawn continues to run towards the goal."Who cares if captain said some encouraging words. It doesn't change the fact that I will win!""Defense! Stop him!" Jude commands as he, Nathan, and Archer circle around him."You have no where to run," Nathan remarks.Shawn just smirks at them as he suddenly kicks the ball upwards."What the?"He then jumps even higher as he says, "LEGENDARY WOLF!"The ball zooms above them as Jack and Thor try to stop it."THE WA─""SUPER SUMO STO─"The ball goes through without being interfered. "It's so fast!" Tori says.Mark's hand then glows yellow as he says:"IJIGEN THE HAN─"It passed through...................................."Not on my watch!""What?" Shawn rages out.Everyone is surprise to see the turn of events. Kevin is found with the ball under his foot as he gives a face of determination."Kevin!'Kevin then points to the irritated Shawn and says:"If you think that you'll beat me, then you're mistaken! This match will be mine!""Bring it!"Only one minute left as the two boys fight head on. Kevin's moves start to improve as he can now catch up with Shawn's plays. "Wow! He's blocking his every move," Silvia reacts."It's amazing how he improved in just five minutes," Camellia says.Shawn is having a hard time. "How is this happening?" He asks. "I'm supposed to be better than you!""Sorry to disappoint you but you'll lose with an attitude like that. And I admit, you're skilled but that doesn't mean I'll run away from a challenge. You hear me? I'll never quit!"Kevin finally gets past him as he heads for the goal."GO KEVIN!""We're not going easy on you!" Nathan says as he and Jude are closing in.Kevin then protects the ball and passes through. He then takes his shoot."Dragon Slayer!""Ijigen the Hand!"
...
...
...
Mark stops the ball."Nice shoot Kevin!" He comments with his wide smile.The whistle blows."Huh?""Times up!" Willy says. "No one scored within the five minute range. It's a tie!""A tie, huh? Looks like neither of us is going to get what we want from the bet," Kevin remarks."Tch. You're just lucky that I'm not showing my true power. Otherwise...you'll be greatly humiliated!"And with that, Shawn leaves the field.