* The Wanted – I’m Glad you came *

***

Looking around, Draven couldn’t but smile slightly at this nostalgic feeling.

‘Getting rid of the trigger is always a good way of stopping a volatile reaction, *sigh* I’m glad I’ve gotten rid of Lady Luck. Even though I’ve done for Maya, I feel at ease now, to some degree…’

Thousands of eyes were set on him, watching his every move.

Yet, he only cared for two pairs of eyes.

The wind was brewing a good cool breeze that made his royal blue hair flutter lazily under the golden rays of the sun.

Looking at Mike with the ball at his feet, he nodded that he’s ready to kick a*s.

Seeing that, Sam and Dan, two of the Vikings, chuckled while looking at eachother.

They both had the same thought, ‘ they’re already 7 points behind us, to think they’re so arrogant… hahaha this should be fun’.

Both were unaware of the fact that their captain has been acting weirdly the moment number 11 showed up.

Only the goalkeeper noticed that since he’s got to keep a watchful eye over the players, because he’s mostly resting at the back of the field.

Also, the goalie wasn’t the only one who’s anxious about the second half, the crowd was quiet, as if they’re expecting a storm break the moment they breath loudly.

The talent seekers especially, were so focused on the game that it seemed they were trying to take pictures with their widened pupils.

Whistle~ The referee announced the start of the second half.

Since the Vikings had scored last, it was natural that the ball would start with the Black Knights.

Instantly after the whistle was heard, Mike passed the ball to Draven who ran through the first line of defence almost instantly, followed by two of his team forwards behind him and Mike to his left.

Seeing that number 11 had passed the first two offence players almost instantly, the Vikings started to feel anxious.

But they were ready.

A defender was already waiting for Draven, blocking his path with his huge body, while two others were scattered around to prevent any tricky plays.

Seeing how they were too focused on him, Draven couldn’t help but chuckle, ‘you forget that the king is just a shield to protect his subjects’.

He didn’t even stop to observe where his teammates were.

No, he’s already memorised their positions, plus he knew the way most of them played.

Going for a feint, he swiftly kicked the bottom of the ball, so that it rests on the top of his right foot.

Doing a quick backflip, the ball was launched backwards where one of the two ‘knights’ was waiting.

The ball was passed from the first knight to the other, almost instantly, confusing the crowd and the Vikings.

‘How? They were so bad just a second ago!’ they all thought.

Unbeknownst to them, they weren’t bad at the game, they were just put in positions that they’re bad at.

Among all of the Knights, only Mike and Draven were the shooters, that’s why the rest had missed too many shots.

Also, the fact that they were playing shooters with Mike rather than midline supporters was bad in its own.

But with their king back, they can exert a hundred percent of their potential.

In a matter of seconds, the ball reached Mike who had already sneaked near the opponent’s central defensive line.

But with the goalie and close players so focused on him, he knew better than shoot the ball.

Passing it back to Draven who had already passed the three players that were blocking his way and was now closer to the Vikings’ captain, player number 10, Joey.

With Joey being so overwhelmed by the fact that he’s at the presence of the ‘prince’, his moves were a bit sluggish.

Draven was an expert in evading and passing players, so Joey was just too slow for him.

“Focus, damn it!” shouted the goalie to the players who were too flabbergasted at how their captain could do nothing to stop number 11.

Reaching the defensive line, Draven pondered for a moment whether he wanted to shoot it himself or let others do it, ‘Both would raise morale so…’

Seeing that Mike was now near him, he passed him the ball while running through the two defenders coming his way.

Trying to avoid two players at the same time was hard for Mike, ‘damn you make it look easy!’ he thought while observing Draven.

But he was confident in his abilities, or rather, Draven’s judgment.

Since he’d passed him the ball, it means he was expecting him to be able to handle them.

Almost a second before passing it back to Draven, he hesitated because he saw one of the Knights close by, to his left.

‘Well f*ck, change in plans, please don’t mess up!’ he thought to himself as he kicked the ball at the last moment.

Seeing the knight receive the ball made him relax for a second before realising he still had to support their king.

The knight, Mark, number 7, didn’t wait for the ball to get near, but ran towards it and kicked it midair towards another knight, Loki, number 8, who tried to buy a few seconds while toying with the defender in front of him.

They only reason Mark didn’t pass it to Draven was to give time for Mike to get closer to him.

The moment Mike was in place, Draven patted his head using two fingers.

It was a mark for Loki who shot the ball towards him.

Throwing a meaningful look at Mike, who nodded, Draven ran towards the ball and gave it a strong headbutt, sending to Mike.

Joey who was ready to intercept the ball didn’t think they’d headbutt the ball and was thrown off guard, giving just enough time for Mike to headbutt it himself and score a 90.

‘Well, f*ck me sideways!’ the goalie cursed the situation he was thrown in.

‘To my right there was number 6, and to my left was number 11. The f*ck was I supposed to do?’ he thought while gritting his teeth.

Whistle~

WOOHOOOO!!!

Cheers erupted almost before the ball hit the net, making Mike flinch a little bit, only to give a toothy grin shortly after.

Looking up at the scoreboard, he saw the new score: 9 – 3.

“LET’S GO BLACK KNIGHTS!” he couldn’t help but jump and exclaim.

“LET’S GOOO!!” the rest of the team chanted happily.

The crowd, players and coaches where astonished by what happened.

‘Merely a few seconds into the game and their team scores, huh? So it wasn’t just all talk, he’s got talents’ the S ranker and many other talent seekers thought.

The Vikings’ coach was about to call for a time off, but realising it’s been less that a minute since they resumed the game, he decided to observe for now.

‘The second half should start soon enough, till then, I’ll think of a plan to have the advantage’ he thought, with his chin resting on his right hand.

Yet, he still had to yell at someone… (RIP backup players)

Smiling at the nostalgia of the situation, Draven headed back to the center of the field.

While of course returning the high-fives he received.

Before reaching his position, he noticed the captain of the Vikings glancing towards him, so he waved, “Yo, smile a little bit. It won’t kill you”, he said with a wink, and almost everyone who knew him had the same thought; ‘ f*ck off, you of all people can’t say that!’

“I’m expecting a good game from your team that’s scored a 9 on mine” he smiled and headed back.

Hearing that from the ‘prince’, Joey realised that he has to put up a good fight to prove himself.

“We gave you a free goal as a small welcome gift, don’t get used to it!” he smiled and said Draven, “now, it’s about time we opened the big gifts, and let me tell you, none of them is yours”

Hearing that, the players on either side were flaring with a competitive aura, frowns were turned upside down, and anxiety faded away bringing up excitement instead.

Feeling the change, the crowd cheered even louder.

‘With less than four minutes for the second half, it was bound to get sweaty!’ they thought with excitement.

Whistle~

This time, the ball started with the Vikings, as the Black Knights scored last.

Sam passed the ball to Joey who, in turn, passed it to Dan.

Seeing their play, Draven cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted to his teammates, “they want you to think they’re stalling for time. But keep your guard up, they’ll wait for the right moment to strike!”

‘That’s what I’d do,’ he thought.

The black Knights nodded.

“Don’t worry, king, we’ve got this!” added the goalie, Henry, number 1.

Joey couldn’t help but chuckle after hearing Draven, ‘wouldn’t expect less from you, your majesty’.

However, what happened next shock everyone.

Seeing that his opponent was off guard, Draven ran faster than anyone could’ve imagined.

Passing through Joey’s guard and stealing the ball took but a moment.

‘Hehe, call me dirty…’ if his opponent was smart, all he had to do was outsmart them.

He ran, passing by the Vikings, one by one, never two at a time, as not to take unnecessary risks

He managed to get past their defensive line before the two huge defenders tried to block him.

But he wasn’t fazed, ‘well I guess I’ll take this risk’.

Kicking the bottom of the ball with his right foot, he did a backflip, “It’s the same trick he used earlier, it’s a pass to one of the players behind him!” Sam shouted.

As soon as the defenders were about to lock on any supporter who was supposed to get the ball, they realised it’s a feint.

They saw Draven with the ball on his knee.

As they were caught off guard again, it was easy to bypass them.

Kneeing the ball, Draven allowed to roll for a second before blocking its path with his right heel, kicking it towards the bottom of his left foot that was facing the sky, only to kick it up above the huge off balanced defenders.

“Hehe, always follow the ball!” Draven grinned as he passed through their defence.

As soon as he had a clear shot, he kicked the ball slightly up with his right foot, then slammed it down to let it bounce even higher.

The moment his right hit the ground, he applied all of his weight, as he did a spiral kick around his body to increase the momentum of his left foot.

And BOOM!

The sound was loud enough that some spectators flinched, mostly because they weren’t expecting it.

Whistle~

It was a score!

Yet, no one cheered, everyone was still trying to recover from the shock, except for two specific girls who already knew their brother was not to be underestimated.

“”Go Draven!!”” they cheered happily, they couldn’t care less about how others were looking at them.

Feeling quite embarrassed yet happy, Draven just wave his hand and smiled at them.

The moment he looked around, he noticed that almost every set of eyes was staring at the scoreboard.

More precisely, underneath the score itself, where the “Ability Detector” screen was located.

Since humans had started developing powers, there were obviously doubts about people using powers in sports, contests, and the likes.

This specific detector worked as a connector between the four energy detecting poles around the big soccer field, one at each corner, and the scoreboard.

If it happens and someone uses an ability on the field, they were bound to be found out.

Yet, the detector was still displaying the peaceful green light it had been projecting since the beginning of the game.

“You’re telling me that was natural?!” a random talent seeker exclaimed, while the crowd nodded in unison.

“Hehe…” Draven couldn’t help but chuckle and scratch the back of his head.

It was indeed natural, he didn’t use any type of power.

His self training as an assassin has improved his body quite a bit, making him stronger and way faster than the average person.

Although, he’s got a small frame compared to others, he was muscular.

Not the huge type of muscle, but rather the dense type, so it wasn’t as clear compared to others.

Still though, it didn’t change the fact that no powers were involved.

WHOOHOOOO~ “LET’S GOOO BLACK KNIGHTS!!”

“Dude, Mike sure is the enthusiastic type…” Draven could feel his smile twitching.

WHOOHOOOO~

Soon after, the whole stadium was cheering.

————————–

*25 minutes before the end of the second half*

*Maria’s POV*

WOOHOO LET’S GOOOOOO

And another one!

“Ohou~ seems like one player can actually make a difference” I say to little Maya that’s sitting besides me.

“Uhm” she nods, “but not just any player, only big bro…” she smiled softly while looking at the scoreboard.

‘Whoua, they’ve almost caught up, the score now is 9 – 8 with the Vikings on top. But I think Draven is just trying to let his teammates score, rather than showing off, what a gent’

“Oi Maya!”

“Yea?”

“You didn’t tell me… how was it?” I say while inching closer to her face, with a smug smile covering my entire face.

“Wh- What do you mean?!” Maya stuttered, turning beet red.

“Oi, look at you, your practically a red Christmas tree. Wanna tell me you didn’t understand my question…”

“Oh- Umm- It was alright-” she said looking away.

“Hou~ is that so? Maybe I should try-”

“No!”

“Whoops sorry lil Lady, but you don’t get to tell me what to do, hehe. You might be his sister but I’m his mother!”

“Can you hear yourself? That’s just so wrong!”

“Ah~ and you’re saying that to me..? hahaha!”

“It’s different! I-”

“Shhh” I cut her off while placing my index on her small red lips, “well, to be frank, we’re not blood related, so why not?”

“You can’t though”, she kept nagging.

“Why though? You know I’ve already-”

“YES! I know!”

I get close to her face and whisper, “Ah then maybe the three of us can-”

“But he think of us as-”

Before she could finish her sentence, a weird deep shadow covered us, no, not just us, but the whole field.

“What the…”, it was sunny just a second ago, I’m pretty sure it’s not raining today.

HEEEIHHKK!!

Suddenly, screams can be heard…

“Huh? What the f*ck is that?!” Maya yelled while pointing up.

As I look up, I’m greeted with a black sky, ‘ the f*ck, it’s not night-time yet! Hold up though, how is the sky black while we can still see just fine without any lights, damn it’s getting chilly too’

After close inspection, I realize what we’re seeing isn’t the sky, ” It’s a huge magic circle!”

A huge magical circle is now covering almost the entirety of the block, soccer field and the large buildings near it.

“It’s a portal!” Someone else shouts, as others start pointing at weird figures emerging from the portal.

The figures are like something that’s taken from a horror movie, with their dark skin, unrecognisable faces, and long sickles for arms.

Their body is lean and slim, yet power radiates from their every fiber.

“Big sis, stay close, I’ll protect you!” Maya’s little frame jumped in front of me while holding up the black dagger and silver revolver I gave her a while ago.

“Awwww! lil Maya’s so adorable, can mama here pinch your cheeks-”

Before I could even hear Maya’s embarrassed voice, one of these dark figures landed a few meters away from us.

‘Did it just crash down..?’

Looking at it, both me and Maya turn serious, as I stand besides her.

“Yo, I don’t know who the f*ck gave you a pan for a face, but I’ll make sure nothing’s left once I’m done. Call me a benefactor!” Maya’s usually warm and ‘fluffy’ face was now cold and menacing.

“Ah, say lil sis, I was thinking we might play some cosmetic surgery games with it. Its hands are too long for example…” I feel a sadistic grin forming over my face, while I unsheath the sword I retrieved from my ‘Dimensional ring’.

“Sounds fun, I’m in!” smiles Maya ‘warmly’.

Then she raises an eyebrow and looks at me, “By the way, we need to discuss you calling yourself my ‘mama’, then proceeding to call me ‘lil sis’… We have to have some consistency!”

“Well, I’m kinda both, ain’t I?” I say with a shrug.

“Sur-”

GGRRRAAAAHHHH

Growls the weird thing in front of us cutting us off.

“Oi we were having a convo over here!” Maya’s irritated voice could be heard, yet she was already shooting her revolver at the mess of a life.

GGRAAUAAAAUHH

It growls again, but this time it charges towards us, well it doesn’t sound happy about us making fun of it…

‘Maybe the bullets were too ‘sharp’ for it? Want some lemon with it, buddy?’

Well, one thing is for sure, poor b*stard runs fast!

“”F*CK, RUN!!””