Chapter 4

It was time for the final match. After Mr Rex's short speech, the two teams came to the field from opposite sides. They had changed outfits too. Team Vine now wore gold jerseys and black shorts while the Cobras were attired in peach jerseys and dark blue shorts. One was a team with 5 points already gotten from their first match (and even if they lost the five points would still remain) while the other had none! 

The two captains walked to each other.

"Bro, be careful you don't lose," Tyrion said to Phoenix in arrogance.

"You should pray I'm merciful." Phoenix sneered.

"Scoring that goal was your luck," Tyrion said with a smiling face.

"We'll see if it was, shortie." 

"You're only a few inches taller than I am. Who're you calling a shortie?" said Tyrion unhappily.

"Did I refer to you? There are many shorties around." Phoenix scoffed before they flipped the coin.

Team Vine got the head which made Tyrion laugh. "Be sure to call me father when we win."

"Don't worry about that. It's not apparent who'll say that yet. If it turns out to be you... hehe, you won't just call me father, you'll become my mate's footstool." Phoenix said with arms folded.

Hearing this, Tyrion's eyes widened. "Oh, your mate's here?" he looked around and then back at Phoenix. "Where is she? I will definitely make her see how much of a loser you are. She'll ditch you, man."

"You've earned a raise, Tyrion. When you lose, I will have you do a toe stand for 5 hours. If you succeed, I will let you off but if you don't..."

"Wow! A weakling dares to threaten me. I so look forward to the result of the match." Tyrion chuckled.

"Like I earlier said, pray I'll be merciful." Phoenix looked at him like he was dead meat while the latter shook his head in pity, clearly holding himself back from laughing. 

'Is there even a need for this match?' he thought. Team Vine should just be given the five points since they're gonna win anyway. Since the match can't be skipped, then, of course, his team will thrash those weak Cobras, especially this smug Phoenix. He wasn't even that handsome or strong, to begin with. With his display on the field plus a few smooth words, he's sure he can get Phoenix's mate to ditch him. After all which she-wolf wants a weakling for a husband?

Phoenix shook hands with the smug Tyrion before they parted and joined their teammates. Soon the referee blew the whistle and the game started with a Vine player kicking the ball to his teammates.

...

30 mins into the game and Team Cobra had shockingly not scored even 1 goal while the other team had scored 20 goals, 13 of which were scored by Team Vine's captain. From the previous performance of these two teams, the majority of those betting chose Team Vine because their captain was a scoring machine. The two teams had met in this final match and it was clear that it was impossible for Team Cobra to win against them. 

The first half of the game was over after 15 minutes. Team Vine was in the lead with scores of 30 goals while the other party managed to score one by chance. Phoenix was tripped several times during the first match and whenever the ball was in his possession, he couldn't pass it on successfully to the next team member. Many were glad they chose Team Vine in the bet or it'll be an embarrassing loss for them. This captain of Team Cobra was a total disgrace. There were 10 minutes of rest time allotted to the two teams. Tyrion walked over to Phoenix.

"You guys are so pathetic. Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!" 

"You shouldn't be worried about that. Our team is doing great." Phoenix replied with a smug face.

"Still so conceited. You guys are far behind by so much. I bet even your ancestors are ready to jump out of their graves and rip your head off."

"Shortie, if you don't have anything useful to say, please get lost." Phoenix pointed ahead of him. "Go back to your teammates, Tyrion."

"Just admit defeat. You're all gonna be thrashed by me in the second half if you don't surrender." Tyrion made a funny face at him before joining his teammates who were drinking water. He took a bottle from the carton and finished its content in one go. Then he picked another one.

Seeing this, Phoenix scoffed and faced his teammates.

"Captain. I just don't understand." Kelvin said to Phoenix as he handed him a plastic water bottle.

"What don't you understand?" Phoenix asked.

"You did even worse in this first half than the last game. And you had the chance to pass the ball to me, you weren't even tripped by the other team's player at the time, but still, you didn't."

"Well, don't worry. Didn't we make up for it in the second half of our last match? Come on. You can show your prowess in the other half of this match."

"Captain, it's clear that you're not serious. You just wanna drag us down. You're not fit to be captain." Kelvin spat.

"Oh?" Phoenix raised an eyebrow. "It's now you realize? I pleaded for someone to take this armband. I didn't want it but what did you say? Rules were rules. I'm already recognized as Team Cobra's captain."

"You don't deserve it, Phoenix. Hand it over to someone better." Fabian, another player said.

"So you want me to give up this armband? It's easy. If anyone can tell me my middle name, I'll easily hand it over."

"You... Just say you don't wanna hand it over, Phoenix." Kelvin said with gritted teeth.

"Took you this long to realize." Phoenix picked his nose.

"The second half will soon start. It's best we use this chance to really rest." Phoenix said as he removed the lid of the plastic water bottle and drank. When he was done, he gave the empty bottle to Kelvin. "I'm going to pee. You guys wait for me." Phoenix said before walking away from the field.

"We're so unlucky. I'm gonna beat that guy when the match is done." Kelvin swore after he returned from disposing the can.

"Hey, brother Kelvin," Stephen called.

"What?" Kelvin asked in annoyance.

"Don't entertain the thought of beating him. In fact, none of you should. When he comes back, let's beg him to be serious." Stephen suggested.

"Can you listen to yourself, Stephen?" Kelvin walked to where the plump youth sat on the designated bench. His injury had healed already.

"You are healed. Great! Now be my substitute. I have no desire to play and then lose this damn match." Kelvin made Stephen stand up. "Fattie, go and join your beloved captain." Kelvin sat on the bench while Stephen shook his head.

"What if we win?" Stephen asked. "And why are you putting all the blame on the captain? If you're so good, why didn't you score a goal in the first half? You're afraid of that scoring machine!"

"You know what? I quit. I'm no longer a player. I can't be a part of the embarrassing defeat that awaits this team. Good luck licking a loser's boots." Kelvin took off the jersey and threw it at Stephen.

"Bro, it hasn't gotten to that." the youth tried to run after him.

"I should have done this since the first match," Kelvin said as he walked out of the field, heading to the costume centre.

The players in Team Vine found it amusing.

"Ha! It's not even time for the second half but they've already lost one player. Oh, look! two more players have left. That's three. Wow! Two more have left. Hahaha! Heaven's on our side. You guys should just surrender already. " Tyrion laughed.

The 4 players who had joined Kelvin in leaving the team were Fabian Norrill, Quinn Adamson, Benson Vanderwood and Ralf Dartnell.

Stephen stopped going after the players who left and returned to sit on the bench with a sigh. Now their team had 11 left with no substitutes. The other team had all members intact. He sighed again.