Tyler walked along the concrete footpath that wound its way through the park. He bit down on the granny smith apple he was carrying and cast his eyes around for his brother. With a soccer ball under his other arm he strode on down the path to where Aaron was sitting at a bench, tapping away on his laptop, facing the waves of the ocean.
Tyler sat down next to him but he didn't stop his typing. So Tyler looked around at all the people that were here at the park along the beach front. There were all sorts about. People sitting down studying, others out for a stroll, some doing that yoga thing everyone was crazed about, a few throwing a Frisbee about and yet more kicking a soccer ball around. These last must be the where his new team mate was going to be coming from.
He stood up and went to walk over to them, but Aaron's hand snaked out to grab him on the shoulder and his firm grip pulled Tyler back down onto the seat. He may spend all his time studying now, but Aaron had lost none of his strength. But as Aaron had pointed out during the night, there was much that Tyler didn't know about his brother.
It was nearly three years since they had left high school, and since then things had changed quite drastically.
“Just sit down and wait.”
“I was just going over to the guys playing soccer. See which one you wanted to join my team.”
“They would be a waste of your time, Ty,” he looked up from his laptop and glanced in their direction, “they are not why I brought you here.”
“Then who is?”
“All in good time. They won't be here for some time yet. I want to explain a few things before I point them out to you.”
“Oh, so they are already here? Fine then, tell me what you have to say then.”
“Right now I need you to shut-up, pay attention to me, and watch the screen,” he twisted his laptop so that Tyler could see the screen a bit easier, “as you can see here I have the list of the teams you will be coming up against. This is the final ten. As they were being broadcast live over the internet, quite a few people have been watching them. And then there's all the people who came to see the games played. Your turn-outs were poor at best. Some of these teams played to crowds squashed like sardines.
And with so many people watching them, betting sites have opened up. I made a little bit betting on you for the first few rounds. But have a look at the odds here, next to your names. This is the likelihood of you winning the tournament based on performances so far. I didn't come up with these odds, so don't go getting angry with me.
I tend to agree with them though. You don't have what it takes to play street soccer. Or more to the point, you don't know how to use your abilities to play it. You could be a great player, but at the moment you're not. Neither is David, Dennis nor Gavin. Scotty has the skills, but that's probably because he's a goalie first and player second.
But David is out of action for quite a while now. And you need a new player. You wanted to get a player from your soccer team? But that's just the problem. You play field soccer. You are used to heaps of space, being able to run a lot, dribbling the ball, crossing it, and even having time to think about what you’re doing. Street soccer is different. Street soccer is about reflexes, split second decisions, technique and skill. Strength and speed do play a role too, and that's why you could be good. But you don't have the rest.
And you don't know how to show-boat your skills either.”
Tyler put his hands out in front of him, “Wait, what's show boating got to do with anything?”
“Kicking a ball won't score you goals. You need your own individual styles, your own special techniques. That's one reason I brought you here today. The person I think would be good for your team has two special techniques which are quite worthwhile.”
“OK then, so why are we put at a thousand to one to win the tournament?”
“Because you don't have the skills I was talking about. See these three teams? Everyone predicts so far it will be a battle between them. I had a look at them and their games. The first is called Heaven Sent. They knocked out the grade A indoor soccer champions of last season. Take a look at this shot from their last game,” he tapped the space bar and short video started to play.
There were a bunch of girls on the screen, playing at some location unknown to Tyler. They got the ball at the back and the three others all started zigzagging back and forth in front of the goal. The one with the ball fired it straight at the goals, where it was intercepted by the other three. Tyler couldn't keep his eyes on the ball, it flickered like light between the other three as they kept running in their strange pattern. All of a sudden the ball was in the back of the net.
“That's their Many Headed Serpent Strike. Takes a great goalie to keep up with the ball. And yes, they are a bunch of girls, probably a year or so older than us. Stop ogling them and listen up. The next highest ranked team is called Shadow System. They are just as interesting as the girls,” he hit the space bar again and the next video showed.
A player had the ball in his half, it was quick and simple, he pulled his foot back and struck the ball squarely. As it made its way to the first defender the ball seemed to vanish from sight. The camera moved around erratically for a moment, then it settled as the ball reappeared just in front of the goals. The goalie didn't have any time to react. Tyler blinked.
“The Shadow Ball. Almost invisible. But I slowed the image down and you can see it moving. It's fast. But the team you're going to have to watch out for mostly just calls themselves Light. You'll have to watch this next clip closely,” he started the third clip.
There was a shot taken on the goals, it flew hard and fast but a foot appeared in mid-air and caught it, holding it dead in the air. Then it moved backwards, the ball staying with the foot instead of falling off. Tyler knew there was no way he could do that. Then the leg rotated itself so that it threw the ball high in the air, where another player was already waiting. He did a back flip and brought both his feet down on the ball. It flew to the right, then curved back to the left, then all of a sudden curved back to the right again. The goalie grabbed it. He held it for a moment and then the ball seemed to dissolve into light. Another ball was in the back of the net, bouncing.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“That's one I can’t figure out yet. But I will. And as you can now see, you don't stand a chance as you currently are.”
“That was some amazing shooting, there's no way I could replicate that. I didn't even think there was any way to do that.”
“Hence why they are three top ranked teams. There's two you have a good chance to beat. And the rest you can beat if you get the right players. You will struggle with those three though. I don't think there is any way for you to beat them. But your next game is what matters. You need a fifth player by Wednesday night. That gives you this afternoon, tomorrow and Wednesday itself to get them on your team.”
“OK, ok, ok, who the hell is it?” his head flicked around again trying to figure out who it might be.
“I'm glad you brought your ball. She's right behind us. And the ball will give her an opportunity to prove she has what it takes.”
Tyler looked at Aaron with shock, “SHE??”
“Yes, Tyler, girls are just as good as guys, didn't you see that first clip I showed you?”
“Yes, you just took me by surprise, now which one is she? There's so many behind us. Is it the one sitting by the tree studying?”
“Turn your head right.”
“Not one of those blonde girls sitting in a circle chatting.”
“No, further right again.”
“One of those doing yoga in the group?”
“You went too far, back to your left. She's alone, not in a group.”
“You seriously mean that little girl doing the very slow martial arts.”
“She's only little because she's Asian. And she's doing Tai-Chi. Now, her name is Yu Chang. Or Chang Yu in Chinese. Just call her Yu though. Now, get your ball and throw it at her, try and hit her.”
Tyler stood, then looked down at Aaron, still sitting on the bench and looking out at the ocean.
“No way. I won’t hit a girl.”
Aaron gave a little laugh. He put the laptop off to his side and span around in his seat, flicking his foot out to knock the ball out of Tyler's hands and onto the ground behind the bench.
“Fine, if you’re too scared, watch this. But you've got to get her to join your team, I'm not helping you there.”
He leapt over the back of the bench and in two short steps had rocketed the ball directly at Yu. She didn't seem to have noticed, but as it came closer her head dropped and she twisted, slowly lifting one foot into the air while the other remained steadfast on the ground. The ball touched the back of her head and then rolled onto her back. All the force seemed to have come out of it, but it was still moving at speed.
Her foot rose faster this time, until it was starting to go vertical, she twisted and turned her body and the ball curled itself around her left leg and then up on top of her foot, where it sat there spinning. Her leg was now directly vertical, with her other foot on the ground, doing the splits.
Tyler stood amazed. He was seeing something similar to those video clips of Aaron's but live. Aaron was smiling as if he had seen this before and Tyler looked at him.
“She comes here a few times a week. And sometimes those guys kick their ball towards her so she will do something funky for them. She calls this move the Dragon Twister. You might want to step back a bit, this one is mine. I want her to do her other move too, so I'll need to do something special for her.”
She twisted her body, her legs not moving, her black hair spraying out wide like a windmill. Tyler could now clearly see a golden Chinese dragon tattooed around her shoulder and right arm. Her body then unwound itself and her right foot flew from under the ball and her left foot flew from the ground, rotating on the spot. Her right foot landed in the exact spot where the left had gone from and the outside of the left foot connected with the still spinning ball.
It flew off wide out to Tyler's left, but it arced sharply and was soon heading straight back for them. Tyler took another step backwards. Aaron wasn't even watching the ball though, his feet moved a little, but he was busy watching as Yu started her slow moving Tai-Chi again.
“Now or never Ty.”
The ball came straight to his feet. His right foot flicked out and then hooked it behind him, taking most of the heat from it and popping it up just beside his left leg. His right foot then came back around the front and he twisted and flicked the ball to his right. He turned the twist into a full blown spin, legs tucked together, arms closed on his chest. Suddenly his left foot planted itself on the ground again, his arms spread wide for balance and his right foot came in a wide arc to connect with the ball.
It flattened as the force was transferred into it, then it took off, flying just above the ground, skimming the top of the grass. Tyler stood amazed at what his brother had just done. He knew his brother was good, but not a show off. The ball kept travelling low until at the very end it seemed to kick itself up into the air, without ever touching the ground.
But again Yu seemed blissfully unaware of the ball. As it lifted into the air though her right leg flicked forward, allowing it to run up it. Her left leg then came around, catching the ball between her thigh and calf. Her right knee then knocked the ball above her head and forward a bit. He leaned forward, placing her hand on the ground and brought both her feet above her head. She moved fast, almost like a break dancer, hitting the ball with a foot then springing both feet back onto the ground.
The ball travelled high and then seemed to drop quite quickly, picking up speed as it went. Aaron simply just placed his foot on the ball as it hit the ground before him. It span, dirt flying up everywhere, trying to get away, but he held it firm.
“That's the Diving Dragon. Quite difficult to stop, the topspin on it is quite amazing considering she uses the bottom of her shoes. The rest is up to you now Tyler.”
Aaron took his foot from the ball, picked up his laptop and left. Leaving Tyler to stand beside his ball, looking at it stuck halfway into the ground. He tried to dislodge it, but couldn't. Then he looked up at Yu, who was back doing her Tai-Chi, not a worse for wear or even acknowledging what had happened.