3.10. Frozen Images

Y/N's brain was going at a million miles an hour. Noa was the best striker in the world. Sure, if he won, it didn't mean he was immediately the best. But it would mean he was pretty good, right? On their level, or around it?

The one advantage he had, was that pretty much all of Noa's moves had been documented and recorded over the years of him playing. Everything from the way he dribbled to the way he shot had been seen before. Nothing he did would be a surprise. On the other hand, Y/N had a few months of training footage, and only a few matches of actual games. Though, Noa was probably too arrogant to even watch them.

He was unknown. That was his biggest advantage. Unknown, and unpredictable. Y/N just had to make sure that he was able to exploit that.

"The score is one to one! Who'll take the lead in this game?"

"It honestly could go either way! Manshine City is bringing on the 'Perfect Hero', Chris Prince, alongside our very own domestic superstar, Y/N L/N! On the other side, the World's Number 1 is taking the stage, as a defender!"

"I was looking forward to seeing them all clash, but it looks like Prince is also taking a defensive position! The main battle will be between Y/N, and Noa!"

"In any case, the game level has just risen significantly! Who will win? One of the superstars? Or a dark horse? Let's find out, right now!"

The game restarted, with Bastard Munchen.

Ness took the ball. Kaiser immediately began sprinting up the pitch like always. Y/N's eyes flickered between the two, taking in everything and anything he could. First, Ness will pass. He always does. Then, Kaiser will pass back, because when he's pressed, his dribbling isn't very good. He always relies on his team to dribble for him.

He was absolutely right. The events played out in exactly the fashion he'd thought. Ness span as Agi tried to tackle him, keeping hold of the ball and sending it right back to Kaiser.

Y/N glanced over his shoulder. He threw out a hand to his defensive players, locking eyes with Prince. "I'll press! Cut off his passing options!"

The players were in motion before he could finish talking. Y/N grinned, accelerating up the field right towards Kaiser. The most 'logical' option for the other man was to pass, letting his team continue the attack without being slowed down. But he didn't look like he wanted to pass at all, making a beeline right for Y/N with teeth clenched.

"Someone's mad, huh?" Y/N teased, flashing Kaiser a cheeky smile. "That expression isn't very regal, is it?" He sped up even more, the two strikers on course to run right into each other. Game of chicken? Sure.

Y/N waited. He kept running forwards, waiting until he was close enough to see the different shades of blue in Kaiser's eyes, until they were literally a metre apart. Kaiser didn't show any sign of slowing down. This bitch, is he tryna get us both in hospital?

Changing direction in an instant, Y/N shot past Kaiser on the side. He extended a leg, angling his foot to hook the ball from in between Kaiser's legs. What is he doing? He's not thinking at all. Kaiser spun. But Y/N was already past him, continuing right down the field without a backwards look.

Okay, okay... He'd already pushed Kaiser out of his head. Not bad so far... On all sides, Bastard Munchen defenders were closing in. Kaiser, Ness, and Isagi were too far up the field to be able to help. That just left only eight people.

Chigiri powered up the flank. Reo behind him was ready to support. Agi tried to keep pace with him, but quickly fell behind as Y/N left his entire team in the dust. Instead of taking it slow, playing with his team, Y/N was sprinting forwards without a care for them. He'd essentially turned the field from a 11v11, into an 8v1.

Bastard Munchen must have noticed that too, because their players began to press forwards onto Y/N.

"It's just one guy!"

"We take the ball, we can counter!"

"Noa, help push with us!"

Yukimiya and Kurona came for him first, one on either side. Y/N didn't slow down, running straight at Yukimiya. A little bit of this... He copied what he'd seen Lavinho do, running to Yukimiya's side so the boy formed a wall between him and Kurona.

As Kurona sort of ran into Yukimiya's back, Y/N took advantage. He sped up, running right around the pair. Eyes flickered around himself. Everything felt sped up. His breathing was sped up. Heart rate sped up. Even the game sped up, everyone moving in blurs of colour around him.

And at the same time, he was taking in everything. He could hear the breathing of players on all sides. He could hear their footsteps. Two behind him, five in front of him, one way back in Bastard Munchen's goal. He was hyper aware of every single little thing happening around him - and he loved it.

He cut right between them.

Keeping the ball close to his feet, he threaded the tiniest of paths right through the defenders. One came at him low, and he lifted the ball into the air. A quick jump carried him right over the slide tackle. A second stuck out a leg, attempting to either steal the ball, or trip him up. Y/N ran straight into it, barely managing to keep hold of the ball and nearly stumbling to the ground in the process.

More defenders. Eyes spinning, head spinning, body spinning - Y/N tore through them, not slowed down at all as he rushed for the goal. The sheer amount of bodies actually helped him, as the defender collided with each other, got in each others' way, and prevented each other from performing proper tackles.

He was lightning fast. A fake step here, a chop dribble there, he destroyed Bastard Munchen's defence in an instant. Not a single defender could predict what he was trying to do. They could only react, try to match whatever he did and fail miserably against his insane speed.

The cameras were focused right on him. In those few seconds, he didn't just look like a prodigy. He looked beyond that, an untouchable god as he solo ran right through the middle of the team.

Eventually though, he broke out of the cluster of defenders. The goal was pretty close, definitely within shooting distance. Y/N drew back a leg, finding a free moment to shoot. It was all he needed, his body tilting, foot swinging forwards at incredible speed.

Noel Noa flung a leg out just as Y/N's foot came into contact with the ball. The ball was blocked. It bounced away.

"Shit!" Y/N swore, panting with exertion. He glanced across at Noa. "I didn't know you were a defender."

"I don't have to be one to put you in your place." Noa quietly replied. "Egoist."

He was about to respond, before a yell from one of his teammates caught his attention. "Y/N!"

The small boy took off before Noa could even begin to move. Y/N immediately spotted Chigiri, who'd managed to catch the ball before it rolled off the edge of the pitch. "Chigiri!"

The pass was instant. It came hurtling at ground level, towards a spot a small distance away from the goal. Y/N sprinted for it, trapping the ball with one foot and spinning so he faced the goal.

Before he could react, Noa was in his face, already reaching out an arm to try and barge him off the ball. So fast?! Y/N awkwardly staggered back, keeping the ball close to his feet as Noa pressed forwards. The man didn't give him a second to breathe.

Y/N took a good few steps back, putting distance between himself and Noa. The man was laser focused on him, both yellow eyes staring right at him. Y/N's entire body pulsed with adrenaline. He didn't hesitate. He didn't pass. He ran straight forwards, challenging the best player in the entire world to a one-on-one.

To casual watchers, it was an amazing duel. Y/N attacked, Noa defended. Y/N went left, Noa followed. The entire field seemed to stop, nobody else even attempting to get between them. They were incredibly fast, both of them fighting for control over every inch of ground.

To a more experienced viewer, it was incredible. Y/N's movements looked inhuman, changing directions, handling the ball, stopping and starting at such a speed that people would question if he himself even knew what he was doing. The two of them went back and forth, Y/N trying to break past and being repelled, Noa trying to steal and having to draw back.

Neither of them held a clear advantage. If one of them committed to a big attack, they would leave the ball open. So they just had to test the waters, trying to find ways to overcome the other.

To the rest of the people on the field, it was both a terrifying and beautiful duel at the same time. They both attacked and defended at such a speed, with such precision, that it was impossible for anyone else to try to barge in. Even Kaiser and Prince held back, one of them with an annoyed expression, the other with a proud one.

But to Y/N, it was heaven. He'd never felt more alive than he had in those moments, going up against a player just as good, if not better than him. It wasn't the same as playing Loki. Y/N had the speed advantage, but Noa had experience, size, and 'rationality' on his side. He couldn't perfectly predict Y/N, but he could guess well enough so that reacting was easy.

He loved it.

He was happy.

He felt alive.

Until...?

Noel Noa shot forwards. He took a huge risk, catching Y/N completely off guard as he threw everything into an all or nothing attack. Y/N tried to dance away, but was just a few milliseconds too slow. Noa's leg extended, scraping the ball and nudging it just slightly out of Y/N's possession.

From there, it went from bad to worse. Y/N didn't pass, even though he was on the back foot. He tried to regain control of the ball. Noa didn't let him. The man continued to try and steal the ball, the sheer strength, speed, and technique with his attack completely overwhelming Y/N.

The next few seconds, Y/N dimly registered through a series of frozen images. His head clouded, vision blurred, and hands shook.

The first: Glancing down at his feet, seeing the ball just behind the heel of his right foot.

The second: Noa's foot, on the outside of his right foot. Toes angled in, centimetres from the ball.

The third: The ball disappearing, stuck in midair a few metres to Y/N's side. Noa was already on the move, stepping towards it.

The fourth: Noa firmly in possession of the ball, beginning his dribble up the field.

The fifth, and final: Noa's dull yellow eyes, locking onto his as the man threw a look over his shoulder. Something along the lines of arrogance shone in them.

Y/N took off down the field at a sprint. He couldn't get close to Noa, though. As soon as the man had gone on the attack, he'd been absolutely unstoppable. The machine dribble he'd shown against Barcha was back, ripping through Manshine City with frightening efficiency.

He got in front of Noa. But Noa just changed directions, placing Manshine City players between them so he had to constantly get around his own teammates. There wasn't an inch of wasted space. Even though Y/N was faster, Noa perfectly manipulated the field, using his strength, size, and other players to nullify that advantage.

He ran right through the forwards, without a single fancy trick. He didn't need to lift the ball into the air, or do spins, or pass. Noa just ran, dribbling exactly how Y/N envisioned an AI would. Faking to the right, he brushed past Nagi on the right. Faking right, then faking left, then going right, he caused Reo to nearly trip over. He simply ran past Agi, the man overthinking it too much and freezing up.

Y/N slowed, chest heaving with breaths. He could run. But what was the point? Noa would just shrug him off, like he'd done before. Y/N was no defender.

Instead, all he did was stand there and watch. He didn't exert himself anymore, not even trying to stop Noa as the man barrelled towards the goal. Calm eyes watched intently, resting on Prince as the world's two best players faced off against each other.

Prince laughed as Noa came towards him. "I didn't expect to have to play against you! Y/N couldn't beat you?"

They were far away, but Y/N could still pick the reply up. "Don't tell me you actually thought he would."

"Hey, a man can hope!" Prince shrugged. "It would've been nice to see."

"Idiot."

"Robot."

Before he reached Prince, Noa's eyes flickered to one side. He passed, eliciting a yell of indignation from his opponent. "Hey! Aren't you gonna fight me like a man?! One on one?!"

"Why would I?"

The ball rolled along the ground, going to none other than Michael Kaiser. Despite his constantly inflated ego, and powerful weapon, he wasn't aiming for his own goal. No, he was supporting Noa, moving into a better position to pass back to the world's best striker. "When I could score instead?"

"That's boring." Prince petulantly shook his head. "You're a coward, Noa!"

"I'm just focusing on what actually matters. The goal."

"What matters is our glorious battle!"

"Maybe to you."

Without the ball at his feet, Noa was able to speed up. He barely managed to get past Prince, the man's incredible speed and strength making it way more difficult than it should've been. But he was able to draw just a step or two ahead of the English player, and that was all he needed.

Of course, Kaiser knew that. He passed the ball into the space where Noa would be, allowing the master striker to keep his momentum as he shot towards the goal. Both of Noa's yellow eyes were locked onto it, measuring distances, calculating trajectories, and estimating times all in a fraction of a second.

Prince managed to catch up. He appeared on Noa's right side, a smirk on his face as he barged roughly into his shoulder. It was a move that would've completely knocked over any other player - but Noa remained standing. Still, with Prince there, it made it impossible for him to shoot with his right foot.

So he just swapped it.

He tapped the ball carefully forwards and to the left, in just the right spot for him to shoot. Then, as he used his right shoulder to push Prince away, he slammed his left foot into the ball.

If it were an anime, a shockwave would've erupted from the point of contact. It would've blown the grass away, forming a ring around him, and the ball would've gained some special glowy effects as it shot forwards at insane speed. It didn't spin, it didn't curve, but flew straight and hard.

It speared into the top corner of the net.

"Two-one, to Bastard Munchen!"