Chapter 12

This chapter islong, but if you have seen episode 122 and 123, then there is no point in reading this chapter.

The whistle blew, and the match began. Little Gigant was fast, much faster than anyone could have predicted, and it wasn't long before the ball had been stolen from Someoka. But, of course, Kidou intercepted it, bringing it forwards to Someoka and Gouenji. Passing the ball quickly to Sakuma, then to Gouenji was the easy part. They then had the chance for a shoot.

"True Bakunetsu Screw!" The ball went soaring towards the goal, and almost guaranteed goal for a normal mach. But this wasn't a normal mach.

"God Hand, X!" There was no chance of getting it in. The ball was stopped dead in Rococo's hand. He smiled, watching their stunned faces. God Hand had always been Endou's move. It had been taken, and improved. They were at loss for words. Still, Rococo thought, they should feel privileged. They were the only team he had to use a Hissatsu technique against. Still smiling, he dropped the ball, gently tapping it with his foot. It soared towards Inazuma's goal at great speed; no one had a chance to do anything about it. Only just getting his hands up in time, Endou managed to stop the ball, getting pushed back a few metres while doing so. The team were in shock; a direct shoot from the goal was allowed, but never happened because of the distance. Yet, here was a person, who had just tapped the ball from the goal, and had almost got it in.

"This is...a challenge from Rococo" Endou whispered to himself. He clenched the ball even tighter, until his knuckles where white. "I accept" He growled softly, too softly for anyone but himself to hear.

"Attack, guys" he cried, throwing the ball straight to Kidou. But Little Gigant was fast to act, marking everyone. Kidou was at loss at what to do, he couldn't pass to anyone. How could they...

"Kidou! The sky!" The coach's voice rang through him.

"The sky..." Kidou thought desperately."I see! Let's go guys!" Leaping into the air, he shot the ball towards where Sakuma had now also leapt up. "Rout of sky!" They had quickly passed the ball forwards, from Sakuma, to Hiroto, to Kazemaru, all of them making mid air passes. Little Gigant had no chance of getting the ball. Kazemaru passed the ball to Someoka, who then passed it to Gouenji. But that was when Little Gigant made their move, stealing the pass from Someoka to Gouenji by jumping in front of Gouenji. The ball landed at Kidou's feet, who was determined to try it again. But before he had any chance to move forwards, he was stopped by Little Gigant, who formed a tight circle, surrounding Kidou. Moving fast they ran around him, throwing him into a tornado.

"Circle Play Drive." Kidou was forced backwards; the wind was far too great to break through. He tried desperately to keep a hold of the ball, but in the end, he ended up standing in the Inazuma box. He had been forced back all the way to in front of the goal. That was when all eight players surrounding him attacked, stealing the ball with ease. The one with the ball, Drago, announced who he was, Little Gigant's score king. And shot.

"Double Jaw" he cried out, aiming directly for Inazuma's goal. The lack of defenders meant that Endou was the only one that stood between Little Gigant and a goal.

"I won't let you" he growled, hands clenched into angry fists. "God Catch." The move that he had only heard about two days before, but it was still worth a try. After all, he had managed to complete it the day before, hadn't he? Obviously not, he thought, as the ball powered through God Catch, hitting him squarely in the face. Pain shot through him, but it was nothing, not compared to what he had felt before. He forced himself up, preparing for anything else to come his way. Anger filled him as he clenched his fists even tighter than they already were. "I won't let them score any more"

The match resumed with Someoka heading up, quickly being outrun by Drago. Someoka passed to Hiroto, who continued the attack from the side. Passing it to Kazemaru, they made it to the goal, dodging past the defenders. The ball was passed back to Someoka, who used Dragon Slayer V3, thinking that, not even Rococo could stop Dragon Slayer. It was a great shoot, with power so great, it was in league with Goenji's shoots, maybe even better.

"God Hand, X." Rococo used that move again, stopping the ball with ease for a second time. Someoka was angry now. How could he have stopped his best shoot so easily! Rococo threw the ball out again, but Kazemaru intercepted the throw. Inazuma had the ball, and were continuing with their attack. Little Gigant tried to stop Kazemaru, running forwards in order to steal it off him. But Kazemaru was prepared for that.

"Dance Of The Wind God, Remastered." A tornado whirled around the defenceless defender as he tried to keep track of Kazemaru. But Kazemaru was far too fast for him, and he was thrown back by the tornado whirling around him. Kazemaru quickly passed on the ball to Hiroto, who had a clear shot at the goal.

"Ryuusei Blade, V3" he cried, his most powerful shot. That shot had stopped Endou in his tracks, had knocked out Fubuki, and had to score this goal. Kicking the ball with the power of the universe in it, he shot for the goal.

"God Hand, X." The ball was stopped dead again. Apparently, not even the power of the universe can score a goal against Rococo. The team were getting desperate, and Endou was getting angry. Little Gigant went for a counter attack, zooming towards the Inazuma goal. Tobitaka was there, waiting for their attack.

"Shikuuma, V3." Tobitaka stole the ball straight from Little Gigant, using his famous move. He passed it straight to the front to Sakuma, who passed it to Gouenji. He had a straight shot at the goal, and he took it.

"True Bakunetsu Screw!" The shot had even more power than last time, and the shot went straight for the goal, filled with fire.

"God Hand, X." There it was again, the unbreakable defence move. None of their shots could break through. It was turning out to be a one sided match. Little Gigant went for a counter attack again, running straight towards the goal. Even Kidou couldn't stop them, they were too fast. They went straight through Tsunami and Fubuki without stopping, until Drago had a clear shot at the goal.

"Double Jaw" The ball came straight for the goal, heading right for Endou.

"God Catch" Endou struggled. He could feel the power coming from the ball. He had to stop it. His anger was rising. He had to stop the ball! He could feel himself get pushed back. He HAD to stop the ball! But he couldn't. So he did the next best thing. Launching himself towards the goal post, he used it to block the ball. Pain shot through his body again, more than last time, and he fell to the floor. Gasping for breath, he heard the faint voices of his team mates shouting his name, calming the anger that threatened to take over his body. He forced himself up. He couldn't let another ball in.

Little Gigant took the corner kick. It was passed straight to the two strikers. They went straight for the goal, using Dual Strike. The ball was once again sent soaring towards the goal.

"God Catch" Once again, it failed, and the ball was launched out of Endou's hands, and straight towards the corner of the goal. That was when Kabeyama jumped in, protecting the ball with his body, and sending it safely away from the goal. The two dragged themselves up again, more determined than ever to protect the goal.

It was another corner kick to Little Gigant, but with everyone on defence, there was no way to get the ball. Tsunami headed it away to Fubuki, who cleared the loose ball. But Drago snatched the cleared ball, using double jaw again to score their second goal. But Endou's concentration was wavering, getting lost in anger, and he couldn't perform God Catch. So Someoka ran between the ball and his captain, using his body to block the ball. He cleared the ball, but collapsed to the ground in pain. Someoka tried to get up, but the pain was just too much, and he fell, unconscious.

"Someoka!" The team were worried now. Their determined forward, who would make sure he was the one to score, was now injured and unable to carry on.

"Toramaru" coach said.

"Yes, sir" Toramaru replied.

"Switch in"

"Yes, sir!" Someoka was replaced by Toramaru, the dragon by the tiger. But the coach had also ordered them to change formation, to create a circle round the goal. The corner kick was taken, with Endou and Tsunami only just clearing the ball. But Drago got to the ball, and headed up to the goal, dodging Toramaru's efforts to steal it, as he leaped over his slide tackle. But Kidou and Kazemaru were prepared, and stole the ball of him while he was venerable, clearing it again. Little Gigant picked up the ball again, but Gouenji was ready, and he cleared the ball again from them with the help of Hiroto. Little Gigant went for the attack again, but every shoot that they made was blocked, all eleven players acting as defence. Little Gigant kept on attacking, but they couldn't break through. Inazuma Japan was getting beaten and bruised, but kept on getting up. But Drago managed to break through, using fakes and teamwork, until he was, once again, face to face with Endou.

"Eat this! Double Jaw!" The ball came rocketing towards the goal once again. But none of that mattered to Endou at that moment.

"Everyone, they all came back, they surrounded me. They protected me." But the anger that was filling him blocked out any feeling of friendship that could have come out of him. "I DON'T NEED PROTECTING!" The anger was let out, and the ball was stopped in its tracks. But looking at their smiling faces, Endou could have guessed what he had done. Their cheers and chants meant that he had mastered it, God Catch. Happiness pierced the anger inside of him, making his famous grin reappear on his face, lighting up his features.

"You did it, Endou" Gouenji's voice dragged him out of his daydream. "You're always so late."

"Gouenji..." Endou couldn't take it. It had been a year, but he still couldn't look Gouenji straight on. Avoiding his gaze, he looked round at the rest of the team. "Sorry I had you waiting, guys! This time, we attack together!"

The ball was passed form the goal, straight to Kabeyama, who, along with everyone else dribbled it up towards the goal. Endou felt anger rising again. A whole year he had spent not playing soccer, sitting on the sidelines, and yet still, he was forced to watch as his friends took the ball up together, leaving him behind.

The ball was stolen off Kabeyama, but was quickly picked up again by Kidou, who skilfully dodged around Drago, and passed it straight to Tsunami, who passed it to Tobitaka. Tobitaka was tackled down, but managed to pull himself quickly up and resume the dribble towards the goal. He passed the ball towards Fubuki, who made his way through two defenders in quick succession. The ball was then passed to Kazemaru, and then to Toramaru, who centred it to Gouenji. Gouenji dribbled it forwards, before getting blocked by two players. He passed it back to Kidou, who passed it to Sakuma. They were passing it between themselves, and Little Gigant couldn't even lay a finger on them. Hiroto had a straight line to the goal, but was interrupted by Drago as he rushed forwards. Drago managed to clear the ball, but there was no one there to pick it up from either team.

Endou couldn't bare this, watching everyone else just forget about him made his heart boil up with anger. He couldn't just stand still. So when the ball was cleared by Drago, Endou rushed forwards himself to grab the ball, shooting it high in the air for a goal kick. Hiroto took this chance, matching the height of the ball with a massive jump.

"Tenkuu Otoshi!" This really was the power of the universe in a ball, one of Aliea Academy's most powerful moves. Not even Rococo's God Hand X could stop it. The ball went powering into the net, scoring their first point of the match in style. The half time whistle blew. The first half ended in a tie.