Barnsley versus Sheffield United.

Sheffield United were third in the league. They were big. They were rich. They were angry that a little club like Barnsley was sitting right behind them in fourth place.

Michael stood in the tunnel. The air smelled of wintergreen heat rub and nervous sweat.

Arthur Milton stood next to him. The old scout had replaced his usual flat cap with a lucky red beanie hat that looked ridiculous but kept his ears warm.

"They are big, Boss," Arthur shouted over the noise of the crowd. "Look at them. They feed them bricks."

Michael looked at the Sheffield United team lined up in the tunnel. Arthur was right. Their center backs looked like nightclub bouncers. Their striker was a beard with legs. They were staring straight ahead, chewing gum aggressively.

But then Michael looked at his own team.

The Misfits.

Shaun Higgins was staring back at the Sheffield giants with a look of pure love. The Butcher enjoyed big opponents. It meant he didn't have to bend down to hit them.

Isaiah King was bouncing on his toes. He looked tiny next to the Sheffield captain. But Isaiah was grinning. He was whispering something to Kai Sora.

Kai was leaning against the tunnel wall. He looked bored. He yawned.

"Ready?" Michael asked.

Kai shrugged. "It is cold. Let us finish this so I can go back to the lounge. I paused my game."

Michael smiled. "Let's go."

KICKOFF.

The game started at a million miles an hour.

Sheffield United did not want to play football. They wanted to play war.

Within the first ten seconds, the ball went high into the air. The Sheffield striker jumped. He led with his elbow.

THUD.

He crashed into Higgins.

It was like two planets colliding.

The crowd gasped.

Higgins landed on his feet. The striker landed on his back. Higgins offered him a hand up.

"Soft," Higgins grunted.

The stadium roared. The tone was set.

But Sheffield United were good. They were not just physical. They were organized. They pressed high. They didn't give Kai any time on the ball. Every time Kai touched it, two players were on him like wasps at a picnic.

Minute 15.

Barnsley could not get out of their own half. The pressure was suffocating.

A Sheffield winger crossed the ball. It was a wicked, curling ball into the box.

Sam Jones came out to punch it. He screamed, "KEEPER!"

But the Sheffield striker was there. He headed it before Sam could reach it.

The ball floated toward the empty net.

"NO!" Michael yelled.

Mateo, the Magic Bean, threw himself at the ball. He tried to hook it off the line.

He missed by an inch.

The ball nestled into the corner.

GOAL.

0 to 1.

The away end erupted. Three thousand Sheffield fans were jumping up and down, singing about how Barnsley was a small town in their shadow.

Michael felt a stone in his stomach. He looked at his Dad's empty seat.

"Calm down," Michael whispered to himself. "We have a plan."

He walked to the edge of the technical area. He didn't shout. He just pointed at the ground.

The new pitch.

The System Upgrade. The Hybrid Grass Elite Surface.

It was perfect. It was flat. It was fast.

"USE THE FLOOR!" Michael screamed. "PLAY OUR GAME!"

Kai Sora looked over. He nodded.

The game restarted.

Sheffield United tried to press again. They chased Kai.

But this time, Kai didn't hold the ball.

He touched it once. Then he pinged it.

ZIP.

The ball skidded across the perfect new surface. It moved faster than it ever had on the old mud.

It found Isaiah King on the wing.

Isaiah didn't wait. He flicked it first time to Danny Fletcher.

Danny flicked it back.

One touch. Two touch.

The Sheffield defenders were big. But big things take time to turn. The ball was moving too fast for them.

"That is it!" Arthur yelled, waving his cane. "Make them dance!"

Minute 35.

The momentum was shifting. Barnsley were playing pinball.

Kai Sora was the bumper. He was standing in the middle, just pinging passes left and right. He wasn't running much, but the ball was doing the work.

He saw Isaiah King making a run.

The Sheffield left back, a giant man, stepped up to block him.

Isaiah didn't slow down. He ran straight at the giant.

"Pass it!" the crowd screamed.

Isaiah didn't pass. He did a step over. Then another. Then a third.

The defender got dizzy. His feet got tangled.

Isaiah pushed the ball past him and disappeared.

He was in the box.

He looked up. He saw Jamie Weston screaming at the back post.

Isaiah squared it.

Jamie slid in.

THWACK.

The ball hit the net.

GOAL!

1 to 1.

The Fortress exploded. The noise was deafening. Jamie Weston ran to the corner flag and did a backflip. It was a terrible, messy backflip, but nobody cared.

Isaiah jumped into Michael's arms on the sideline.

"I told you!" Isaiah shouted. "They are too slow! They are tractors!"

"Keep going!" Michael laughed, spinning the kid around. "Run them into the ground!"

HALFTIME.

1 to 1.

The locker room was buzzing. The players were sweaty, bruised, but confident.

"They are heavy," Higgins said, drinking a protein shake in one gulp. "They are breathing hard. I can hear their lungs whistling."

"The pitch is fast," Kai noted, sitting down. "I like it. The ball listens to me."

"Keep moving it," Michael said. "They are tired. They chased us for forty five minutes. Now we kill them with speed."

He looked at Finn Riley.

"Finn. Warm up."

Finn's eyes lit up. "Me? But who am I coming on for?"

"Mateo," Michael said. "Mateo played well, but he is on a yellow card. And I want chaos. I want you and Isaiah on the wings. Two speedsters. Make their fullbacks cry."

SECOND HALF.

The fog started to roll in again. It swirled around the floodlights, giving the game a mystical feel.

Sheffield United came out angry. They tried to slow the game down. They fouled. They kicked. They wasted time.

But Barnsley were relentless.

Minute 70.

The game was stretched. Players were tired.

Except for one man.

Isaiah King.

The kid from London seemed to run on batteries that never ran out. He was everywhere. He was annoying. He was chirping at the Sheffield players.

"You are slow!" Isaiah yelled at a defender who missed a tackle. "My grandma is faster!"

The defender growled and tried to grab him. Isaiah just laughed and sprinted away.

It was psychological warfare. And Barnsley were winning it.

Minute 80.

It was still 1 to 1.

A draw was a good result. But Michael didn't want a draw. He wanted the scalp.

"Push up!" Michael yelled. "Higher!"

Higgins stepped up to the halfway line. He won a header.

The ball fell to Kai.

Kai looked up. He saw the Sheffield defense was flat. They were exhausted.

He saw Finn Riley making a run on the right.

Kai swung his leg.

WHOOSH.

A sixty yard diagonal pass. It was art. It landed right on Finn's toe.

Finn didn't control it. He just hit it. A first time cross into the box.

Danny Fletcher was there.

But the Sheffield goalkeeper was huge. He came out and punched the ball.

It flew out to the edge of the box.

It was falling.

Who was there?

It wasn't a striker. It wasn't a midfielder.

It was Kai Sora.

He had actually run forward. He had left the center circle.

"SHOOT!" the crowd screamed.

Kai watched the ball drop.

He could have taken a touch. He could have passed.

But Kai had evolved.

He leaned back. He lifted his leg.

VOLLEY.

He hit it on the full.

The ball didn't spin. It didn't curve. It was a knuckleball. It wobbled through the air like a drunk ghost.

The goalkeeper didn't know where it was going. He moved left. The ball moved right.

SMASH.

It hit the top corner.

The net nearly ripped off.

GOAL.

2 to 1.

The stadium went silent for exactly one second as everyone processed what they had just seen.

Then... Bedlam.

Michael fell to his knees. Arthur dropped his lucky beanie hat.

On the pitch, Kai Sora stood there. He didn't run. He didn't jump.

He just slowly raised both hands to his ears.

He cupped them.

I can't hear you.

The celebration was colder than the liquid nitrogen in the Cryo Chamber.

Then he was mobbed. The whole team piled on top of him. Even Sam Jones ran from the goal.

"HE RAN!" Jamie Weston was screaming. "THE LAZY BOY RAN!"

Michael watched the pile of red shirts. Tears pricked his eyes.

They weren't misfits anymore. They were giants.

Minute 90+5.

Sheffield United threw everything forward. The goalkeeper came up for a corner.

The ball came in.

Higgins rose. The Butcher. The King of the Air.

He headed it clear.

The referee put the whistle to his lips.

PHWEEEEEEET!

Game over.

Barnsley 2 - 1 Sheffield United.

The Fortress had held.

Michael walked onto the pitch. The noise was incredible. "Glory Glory Barnsley" was playing, but you couldn't hear it over the fans.

He found Kai Sora.

"You ran," Michael said, grinning.

Kai shrugged. "The ball came to me. It was asking to be hit. It would have been rude not to."

"You are special, kid," Michael said, hugging him.

He saw Isaiah King dancing with the fans behind the goal. He saw Higgins lifting Arthur into the air.

He looked at the big screen.

The league table updated.

1. Leicester City - 38 pts

2. Southampton - 36 pts

3. Barnsley - 33 pts

4. Sheffield United - 32 pts

Third.

They were third in the Championship.

Michael felt a vibration in his pocket. He pulled out his phone.

It wasn't a text. It was the System.

[MATCH WINNER REWARD]

[POINTS: +300]

[NEW ACHIEVEMENT: KING OF THE NORTH]

[DYNASTY STATUS: ESTABLISHED]

Michael looked up at the Director's Box. He imagined his Dad there, raising a glass.

"We are coming for the top, Dad," Michael whispered.

He walked toward the tunnel, his arm around Danny Fletcher.

"Boss," Danny said, breathless. "That pitch. It is magic."

"It is not magic, Danny," Michael smiled. "It is just the foundation. Now go get in the ice bath. We have another game on Tuesday."

Danny groaned. "You are a tyrant, Boss."

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