The next morning, they all gathered in the soccer building once again to think of their next plan of action.
"We beat Zanark Domain, but they weren't an official team from El Dorado." Fei explained.
"That's why neither Coach Endou nor soccer were given back to us." Tenma said, looking down.
Midori caught her own fist. "What a waste of time!"
Tsurugi turned to the two from the future. "What do we do now then?"
"Our only choice now will be to take down El Dorado itself, to render the changes in history invalid."
"For that, we'll need power that goes above and beyond that of El Dorado's strongest team."
"Strongest team?" Shinsuke frowned. "You mean they're even stronger than who we've been facing until now?"
"Yeah." Fei nodded. "Their strongest team is far stronger than even Protocol Omega and Zanark Domain."
"Their name is―"
"Perfect Cascade." Professor Aruno suddenly appeared, cutting Wondeba off.
"Professor Aruno!"
"There he is again!"
"Fei, I have bad news." He said. "Perfect Cascade is making their entry at last. Your victory over Zanark Domain has increased El Dorado's vigilance. The interruption on the soccer bank has been given to Perfect Cascade for guarding."
"So in other words, we have no choice but to bring them down now, to get soccer back."
"Is Perfect Cascade that strong?" Tenma asked.
Fei's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, considerably."
"In the opposite light, if we win against that team, we get soccer back. Is that it?" Shindou said, earning a nod from the professor.
"But they're way different from the others we've faced." Wondeba stated. "They're a unit that is perfect in every aspect, led by a skilled commander named Sakamaki Togurou."
"What sort of people are they like? Professor Aruno―!" Tenma cut himself short when he saw no one was behind him. "Huh?"
"He disappeared again..." Aoi sweatdropped.
So the brunette turned to his friend instead. "Fei!"
"Neither I nor Wondeba know much about them either. But if they're involved, that means things will only get tougher from here on."
"No way..."
"I've heard the news!" Daisuke said, floating above them all. "If we're going up against strong opponents, then it's time we got serious!"
Midori shot the stone a look. "You mean we weren't serious before?"
He ignored her comment. "Now, I will announce our next targets for the strongest eleven in history. Power number seven! A flying defender who controls the skies and makes the best use of his mastery with the air."
"A flying defender..."
"And power number eight! A dynamic midfielder who wields the power of ancient times and can split the ocean apart with his fangs."
"A dynamic midfielder..."
"Yes! For instance... Dinosaurs!"
"Dinosaurs?!"
"By dinosaurs, you mean... those dinosaurs?! The ones that roar and stuff?" Tenma's hands mimicked the movements of dinosaur claws as he asked in bewilderment.
Kurama sweatdropped. "The strongest eleven aren't human?"
"Well, they seem pretty strong, so I guess it's okay?" Hamano asked, leaning back on his seat.
Hayami frowned. "Are you sure you should be giving in that easily?"
"MixiMax with a dinosaur! That's so cool!" Shinsuke ran up to the stone. "What dinosaur do you have in mind?! Spinosaurus? Iguanodon? Pteranodon would be nice too!"
Aoi chuckled slightly. "Shinsuke's getting excited."
"Boys sure love dinosaurs."
Shinsuke turned to glare at his redheaded senior. "They're dinosaurs! They're hands-down awesome!"
"R-Really...?"
"Fine then! I'll explain to you just how incredible dinosaurs are!" He cleared his throat and began. "Dinosaurs first appeared on this planet 230 million years ago. This is during the Triassic Period of the Mesozoic Era. Through much evolution, they grew able to inhabit land, sea, and sky. And they're said to have ruled the Earth for as close as 160 million years, but at the end of the Cretaceous Period 65 million years ago, the dinosaurs suddenly vanished. Some say it was due to a comet or volcanic eruption. There are a lot of theories, but many mysteries about them remain uncovered."
"You sure know a lot about them, Shinsuke!"
"Isn't the most popular theory the one about a large meteor crashing, causing a global-scale shockwave that wiped half of them out and causing natural disasters to wipe the rest of them out?" Kimiko pointed out. "I think it's the same space rock that ended up becoming our moon too, but I could be wrong about that."
"That's what most movies show, but no one really knows for sure." The little goalkeeper replied. "It did happen long before humans came around after all."
"That's true."
"But if it's dinosaur auras you want, Fei already has Tyrannosaurus." Tenma said.
"It's not enough. The enemy's power is already beyond Fei's ability." Daisuke said, making the green haired boy look down. He knew he was right. "I want an aura that's even more ferocious and powerful than T-Rex's."
"Is there a dinosaur like that?" Shinsuke asked.
"Well... I don't know!"
"EHHH?!"
"That's so irresponsible!" Hayami scolded.
"No, it's not!" The stone shot back. "There are many dinosaurs that we have yet to know! There most definitely is a dinosaur that is stronger than a T-Rex out there!"
"Then, maybe I'll get to MixiMax this time!" Kinako exclaimed happily.
"But it's a dinosaur." Aoi reminded.
"You might grow fangs." Akane warned.
Kinako hummed as she closed her eyes to imagine it. Then she smiled. "I'm okay with that!"
"O-Oh, really..."
Daisuke then floated to another table, and only then did they notice that it had a large bone sitting on top of it. "Our artifact for this trip is a dinosaur fossil! Now, I will announce the members. Shindou, Kirino, Shinsuke, Taiyou, Nishiki, Tsurugi, Tenma, Nanobana, Fei, Kariya, Hayami. That is all."
"Eh? You aren't taking Shinsuke out?" Hayami suddenly whined. "Before when I said I was a Three Kingdoms fan, you took me off because going there as a fanboy was a bad thing."
"Shinsuke's knowledge of dinosaurs might come in handy, so he's good."
"And he does have his MixiMax with Liu Bei." Kimiko added.
"Eh..."
"Then, let's all prepare for the trip." Aoi called, earning nods from the other managers.
But just before Kimiko could head for the door, the collar of her hoodie was tugged back. Looking back, she found Tsurugi giving her a look. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Huh? To help prepare, of course."
"And what makes you think you're coming this time?"
Her eyes widened. "You're gonna leave me behind?!"
"That was the deal. Didn't you read the group chat?"
"What?!"
Midori chuckled slightly. "Sorry, Kimiko. But this is for your own good."
"That's right. You still need to rest after everything that happened." Aoi added.
"B-But I'm fine now! I can move my everything like normal! Nothing hurts anymore!"
Suddenly, she felt a slap on her back. "Ow!" Her friend caught her before she could fall, but she glared up at him anyway.
He rolled his eyes in response. "Yeah, you're an awful liar. If something like that is enough to get you to your knees, then I can't see you surviving in a dinosaur world."
"And in those times, there wouldn't be a proper place to rest." Aoi added. "We don't know how long we could take, and if you have to sleep on the rough ground for several days in a row, it might make your condition worsen."
She grumbled curses under her breath before eventually giving in, staring up at her friend. "Fine... But I'm telling Yuuichi-san on you."
"Go right ahead." He smirked. "He's the one who wanted you to stay back and rest in the first place."
"I'll tell him you slapped me."
"A small price to pay for the greater good."
"Ugh...!"
~~~~~
After they watched their friends take off in the flying caravan, the seniors that stayed behind asked if she wanted to watch them practice. With little else to do, she agreed.
"Naminori Piero! Kurama!"
"No you don't! Dash Train!"
"Alright! I got through! Sidewinder! Kageyama, make a shoot chain!"
"Right! Extend Zone!"
"I won't let you! Atlantis Wall!"
"Oh no!"
"Close one!"
Sangoku walked over to the bench with a smile as he watched them. "Raimon's in capable hands next year."
Kimiko nodded. "Yeah. But the third-years are also working really hard. I'm just sorry Daisuke-san never asked you guys to come with us to time travel and such..."
Unexpectedly, he gave a thumbs up. "No worries, we have our own job here."
"Job?"
"Actually, Daisuke-san wanted me to focus on mastering a new hissatsu. Those who stayed behind are always helping me to get closer and closer to achieving that."
"Oh, I see. What hissatsu is it?"
He smiled.