Page 94 - RKJ 2019 Online Flip Version

forward, slamming her shoulder into Basik; seconds remaining. Giera readies himself for
who despite his toughness was forced to
release the ball from the immense force of the
L’cie.
To their dismay, Giera grabs the loose ball,
darting towards the goal. To the crowd's
amazement, Zidane storms past him and into a
defensive position. However Giera is ready
and jumps up and shoots. Cecil reacts but
suddenly the ball curves, heading into the
opposite corner.
"There's no way we can come back from 3-
0 down" remarks Zidane, annoyed he couldn't
defend it. Amazingly, Cecil kicks off the post
and heads to the opposite corner. Everybody
takes a deep breath as he stretches every
sinew of his body towards the ball and in the
last second, diverts the ball away from goal.
The crowd erupts. Lightning grabs the ball and
launches it upfield to Squall. Just as the
defense arrives, he passes the ball perfectly to
an oncoming Tidus, who, already in the middle
of his shooting motion, makes a perfect
connection with the ball. It flies in, giving
Nimrook no chance. 2-1.
By now the Enix 6 are co-ordinating
flawlessly while the Spira Stars are desperately
trying to keep up with their play. Squall in the
middle throwing precise passes between the
defenses they put up. Tidus gets open, spins
and shoots. The crowd gasp as the ball heads
towards the post.
Tidus smiles. Perfect. The ball bounces off
the post, straight to an expectant Zidane. He
kicks the ball directly below to Squall, who
places his shot first time under Nimrook, tying
the score.
Final minute and Graav passes to Giera.
He gets by a tired Squall with ease; Zidane in
hot pursuit. Despite his increased speed in the
second half, he could not catch up. Giera was
going faster.
Giera then meets Cloud and Cecil, who
crash into the wiry framed Guado. Stunningly,
he breaks the tackles and keeps going. 20
his signature Nap Shot. Cecil tracks the ball
flying into the top left. This time it wasn't
curving. He moves rapidly but he won’t reach.
Despair grips his heart as the ball inches
towards the goal past his reach. He has let
them down.
Suddenly he hears a roar from the crowd
as Tidus heroically emerges from behind him,
driving his foot into the ball as hard as he can.
Tidus grunts, the nap effect hitting him hard
causing him to tremble. The crowd leap to their
feet as the ball flies away from the goal. Zidane
catches the ball and drives forward.
“Time to show you MY speed,” he roars as
he flies past their entire team—with one
exception. Giera appears before him out of
nowhere. Zidane simply smiles, and while
shrugging his shoulders he spins the ball
around himself before lobbing the ball out the
field. Tidus bursts out the top, upside down,
readying his Sphere Shot.
'This one's for you… dad.' Tidus slams the
ball as hard as he can. Three seconds remain
as the ball approached the goal. Nimrook,
focusing all of his energy, dives up and with an
outstretched arm, gets his hand behind the
ball. But the ball keeps powering on and as the
legendary keeper grinds his teeth and resists
with every fiber of his being, the ball breaks
through his hand into the goal. The buzzer
sounds for the final time as the score changes
to 3-2. The crowd go from deafening silence to
pure ecstasy as the Enix 6 are greeted with
thundering applause and cheers. It was over.
An hour later Tidus lies back, Gazing at the
stars. He had finally achieved something no
one else had. He was the greatest Blitz Player
in any dimension.