Ego's face suddenly appeared on the big Screen on top of the Wall on the Left and we all turned to meet him. "Hello there, Diamonds in the rough. Have you finished changing? That's good. Now, if you all would please look around at each and everyone present in that room, think of everyone gathered here as both your Roommates and your Rivals. If you would also look at the number on your right sleeve," we all turned to our right arms to check the numbers written on it, mine said '294'. "Woah, I'm number 294? Is that low?", I asked Kunigami to which he shrugged. Ego continued, "Those numbers represent your current rankings among the 300 participants in Bluelock and those rankings were based on my biased and arbitrary decision making according to the level of your Skills. Be advised though, this ranking is not set in stone. It can change based on your Performance in training or Matches here in Bluelock. Also, the top 5 at the end of this Project will play in a very important Tournament in about 6 month's time. Those top 5 will also have the honour of representing Japan as registerd Forwards in the Japanese U-20 World Cup."
The caused a wave of gasps from almost everyone present as we all but salivated at the idea of any of us representing Japan in the U-20 World Cup. That meant that it was only a matter of time before we were registered as Strikers for Japan on the biggest stage Football has to offer, the World Cup. Although, Ego's next words was like a Bucket of Ice-cold water on our stoked Fire. He said, "On the other hand, if you lose here at Bluelock, you will forever forfeit the right to represent Japan."
Our eyes flew wide open and any day-dreams we were having evaporated in an instant. Sensing our shock, he continued, "Only those with the biggest Egos will survive here at Bluelock. Now, I'm going to measure that Ego by administering a little test. Who's up for a little game of Tag?"
In his office, he pressed a button and a sharp alarm rang out, a tile opened from the ceiling and out of it dropped a clean, standard issue Football. Ego finally explained, "You have 136 seconds. Whoever the ball touches becomes 'It' and whoever is 'It' when the timer runs out will be locked off. Your time starts now." His face disappeared and the Monitor showed a crude face-card and name of the person who would kick off this game of 'Tag', Igaguri Gurimu. He stepped up and placed a foot on the ball saying, "So because I'm the lowest ranked player here, I'm 'It' first, huh? Alright, let"s do this. No hard feelings, okay?" Seeing that he was serious, we all scattered, running around the room as Igaguri fired shot after shot anyone he could find but he missed every single one. This continued until there was only 1 minute, he fired a hard shot at a bunched up group which they all jumped out of the way of. Before I knew it, the ball was barreling towards me, my chest to be exact. I barely managed to fall out of the way, watching the ball bounce off the wall and away from me. I was safe for now. The rebounded ball rolled towards a player on the ground who was...…asleep? 'How the hell can someone fall asleep in this kind of situation...…..unless...it's bait!!', I thought to myself and I was right. As Igaguri was ready to fire the ball at the sleeping player, he suddenly flew into a handstand and fired his foot straight into Igaguri's face, sending him stumbling back and holding his bleeding Nose in pain.
My Jaw fell to the floor at such a display. In a normal match, that was an instant Red Card and multiple Match bans too. Possibly a Fine too, just for good measure.
Angrily walking up to him, Kunigami grabbed our resident Martial Artist's shoulder and chided him, "Hey, I'm not a fan of playing dirty. I want a fair fight where no one can regret anything at the end, got it?", to which the other guy flippantly replied, "Aye aye, Mr. Strait-laced. What are you, a UFC Referee?".
"I'm more of WWE fan myself but I can see the appeal in UFC, I guess.", I added to the little banter until the ball landed flush on Kunigami's face. That shocked us back to reality and we all turned to look at Igaguri who still had his leg stretched out from the kick and he jubilantly said, "HA!! Left yourself wide open!! Amen!". He even flashed a Peace sign. I quickly stepped away from Kunigami and the other guy just to avoid any unfortunate ricochets.
Kunigami, absolutely incensed, steadied himself and sscreamed out, "Igaguri!! You're dead!!!" and fired an absolute thunderbolt of a shot, the sound of his left foot hitting the ball resounded around the whole room and every single person was frozen in shock but not Igaguri. He, thinking quickly, pulled an off-guard player and placed him in the way of the shot. Before he could even think of protesting, the ball, moving at damn near Lightspeed, slammed into his Chest, forcing every molecule of Oxygen out of his Lungs, leaving him on his knees, gasping for air and grimacing in pain. Kunigami, ever the softie, immediately started apologising but I'm pretty sure the guy couldn't hear a thing, apart from his ringing ears, that is. The name for who was 'It' on the screen changed to reveal his name, Yoichi Isagi. Gingerly standing up with a face full of determination and a hint of desperation, he started firing shots at anyone and everyone. I managed to dodge another close shot again and quickly moved to a position where he wouldn't be able to aim for me so easily.
20 seconds left on the clock and Isagi still hadn't hit anyone yet. He was getting desperate and we all knew it. Somewhere, Kunigami was struggling with someone squirming all over his back, while he struggled to get the guy off him, Isagi paused for a bit. The weirdo on Kunigami was laughing as he maneuvred easily around Kunigami's grasp. Igaguri, urging Isagi to fire at Kunigami said, "What are you waiting for, man? Take the shot. You don't want to get locked off, do you? Shoot!". But it was too late, with an enraged shout, "GET OFF ME, YOU LITTLE SHIT!! WHEN I SAID I WANTED A FAIR GAME, I MEANT IT!!!!!", Kunigami grabbed him by the hair and sent him flying across the room and crashing into Igaguri. Quickly getting off him, Isagi moved the ball closer to Igaguri, Isagi was poised to strike. One shot. That's all it took. One shot and Igaguri was done. Isagi would survive and if time ran out, Igaguri was gone. Igaguri, knowing this, begged profusely but Isagi's mind was not there.
Suddenly, he stopped his foot just centimeters away from the ball and said, "No. Not like this. I came to Bluelock to turn things around. I came to Bluelock to become the Best Striker in the World. If I take the easy way out everytime, that's not gonna happen. NOT IN A MILLION YEARS!!!!". With a burning fire in his eyes, he turned around and headed towards Weirdo who smiled happily and pointed at him saying, "I like you. If you're gonna beat someone…", he ran ahead and took the ball away from the incoming Isagi. Up on the screen, his name was finally revealed, Meguru Bachira. "…..its's gotta be the strongest!!". Taking the ball, Bachira ran towards Ryosuke Kira who was surprised at that decision but still maneuvered to dodge. Bachira fired a shot at him which Kira managed to jump over only to look up and see Bachira already in the air and sending a high Kick towards his head. He managed to duck under it and ran away from Bachira who, still on the floor, got into a handstand and fired a lobbed pass into the air and over Kira's head. Surprisingly, Isagi beside me, ran towards the dropping ball and whispered, "He was right. Beat the strongest." and fired a picture perfect Volley, straight into Kira's face, knocking him over and flat on the floor.
3...2...1…..BUZZ!!!
Time was up. Kira was 'It' when the time expired so, he was disqualified.
Ego's face reappeared on the Monitor. "And that is time. Ryosuke Kira, you were 'It' when Time ran out and are hereby disqualified. LOCK OFF, LOSER!!!!"
Kira was distraught, mind spinning at maximum Speed, desperately trying to deny what just happened. He stumbled to his feet and screamed in outrage, "This is bullshit!!! Complete Bullshit!! So you mean to tell me that Isagi or freaking Igaguri, the lowest ranked player in the entirety of this stupid place is better than me?!!! My Career is over? Lying in tatters? Over a dumbass game of freaking TAG?!!! I'm the Jewel in the Crown of Japanese Football, goddamnit!!!! There's no way I was eliminated over a game of Tag!!! What does this stupid game even have to do with Football anyway?!!".
Ego sneered at him and calmly replied, "Everything you do at Bluelock has something to do with the Sport so look around you, Mr. Mediocre-elite. Notice the dimension of the room you're currently standing in? It's the exact same as that of a standard Penalty Area. Roughly 75% of goals scored are born within this confine and if you can't do your job in this space, what right do you have to call yourself a Striker? Oh and if you're about to complain about what Tag has to do with Football, shut your filthy mouth, I was about to get to that. You see, if you're the one running away from the ball, your movements off the ball must be quick and decisive but if you're the one WITH the ball, your dribbling must be to-notch and the Quality of your kicks must be high, which makes this an excellent training drill, you absolute dunce."
Kira, desperate and grasping at straws at this point, argued back, "But....but Isagi…..I…..I didn't see him coming...wha…..this was supposed to be every man for himself, right? Why should teamwork be allowed? Clearly they teamed up to eliminate me, right?!!!".
The look of disgust on Ego's face was palpable at this point but he managed to calm himself, "And that is the exact reason you were locked off. Think back on it, you fool. Isagi had a chance to eliminate the downed Igaguri but he chose not to. Why? It's simple. He knew what he came here to do. He came here to find and grow his Ego and that's exactly what Bluelock is all about. He followed his Ego and went after Bachira. Bachira, also following his Ego, stole the ball from Isagi and came at you, the highest ranked player in this room, the strongest. That kind of selfish Obsession is exactly what I'm looking for in a Striker. You lost because you ran away from it. Let me ask you this, Kira. Were it you in Isagi's shoes, one on one with the downed Igaguri, would you have taken the shot? Of course, you would have. It's the logical choice, right? But, you see, the Ego I'm looking to build defies Logic. It defies the Norm and goes for what fans the flame for Goals. That is what Japan needs. You called yourself the 'Jewel in the Crown of Japanese Football'? Ridiculous. From what I know, real Crowns are not adorned with fakes."
Shut down by Ego again, Kira was drained and could only weakly say, "But I only had a few seconds left. What was I supposed to do with-". Ego, slowly losing his Patience, interrupted him. "Care to guess the average amount of time spent on the ball by a Forward in a 90-minute game? 136 seconds. I gave you that much time and you couldn't do anything worthwhile with it. It's like in the dying seconds of a Match when you're in the Box and your teammate's shot hit you on its way to the Goal. You already gave up on the chance and accepted Defeat. What you didn't know was that you could have turned that into a chance. You could have achieved victory if you just stretched out your leg. When Isagi's shot hit you, there was still 3 seconds left on the clock. You could have recovered quickly and fired a shot a the immobile Igaguri and you could have survived. Failing to realise this means you've failed as a Striker and Bluelock doesn't tolerate Failures. Ryosuke Kira!! LOCK THE HELL OFF!!!!".
Those dreaded words, like a Death Bell, signalled the end of Kira's time here at Bluelock and his chance of representing Japan had just gone up in smoke. Heartbroken can't even begin to describe the indescribable despair that gripped his Heart in a death grip, his breaths came in short, sharp bursts and we all watched him sway on his feet before eventually losing consciousness and collapsing in a heap.
"Good God Almighty, is this what awaits us if we lose at Bluelock? The dude just fainted.....what the hell did we just sign ourselves up for?", I questioned in Disbelief. Igaguri, sitting on the floor and nursing his right leg concurred with my train of thought, "This is ridiculous. This is hell."
Ego smiled down at us and remarked, "Ridiculous, you say? You should expect more challenges like that here in Bluelock. How do you feel, my Diamonds in the rough? Are you thrilled? Excited? Are you perhaps thinking 'YES!! I survived! I did it!!'. That thrilling sensation, THAT is the feeling of Victory. Etch that feeling into your Minds. That is the feeling of your Ego blooming. Chase that feeling with everything you've got!!!"
In that moment, we knew what we had to do. No matter what, we must not lose. It was win or die. Is this what it feels like in those Animes big Sis used to watch? Where they have metal chains and collars around their necks and limbs? Because I'm really starting to understand that feeling. Its suffocating. Its painful. But the only way to ease this feeling...…..is by winning.
Another of Ego's maniacal smile sent a shudder up my Spine. "Congratulations to all 11 of you.
Iemon Okuhito
Imamura Yuda
Igaguri Gurimu
Chigiri Hyoma
Gagamaru Gin
Raichi Jingo
Naruhaya Asahi
Takumi Kaido
Bachira Meguru
Kunigami Rensuke
Isagi Yoichi
All of are officially Bluelock's TEAM Z."