They had just won their match against Perfect Cascade and were stocking up on resources before they go off to look for the TM Caravan. Tenma and Aoi offered to refill their bottles, so they waited by a clearing in the forest.
"Tenma and Kinako got MixiMaxes, huh?" Nishiki grinned.
In the middle of their battle, Kinako got her MixiMax with Master Dragon after saving her from mind control. Afterwards, they pulled Tenma out of his self-doubting mindset and made him realize that he was, in fact, the best captain they could ever have, letting him MixiMax with King Arthur.
"Our team's gotta be the strongest eleven in history now, don't you think?"
"FOOL! How many times must I repeat myself?!" The stone floated to him. "One's strength of soccer doesn't come from the individual! The team's power is decided on the harmony that its players create together! Without all eleven pieces, the power of the strongest eleven in history won't come into effect!"
The ponytailed boy sweatdropped. "Alright..."
"Hm? Tsurugi, what're you doing?" Torb, sitting on a branch above him, asked.
"No, nothing..." Though it wasn't exactly 'nothing'. He was holding the sword he never had to use. All of the boys plus Kinako had one.
"What, you gonna try using it?" Kariya jabbed. "I guess that's fitting for you since you have Lancelot."
"Lancelot is one of King Arthur's knights in another story." Akane commented.
He sighed. "That's the kind of thing Kimiko would say..."
"Huh."
"Eh."
"Wha..."
"Tsurugi, you..." Fei was staring at him. "You were thinking about Kimiko this whole time?"
He didn't respond to that.
"You were the same in the dinosaur era." Kirino pointed out. "You said, 'Kimiko would enjoy it here', or something like that."
Kurama blinked up at him. "Are you seriously that bored without Kimiko around?"
"It's not like that." It was. He just didn't want to admit it. "Just... The fire from earlier got me thinking about her, that's all."
"The fire? The one we nearly got roasted from while on our way to the caves?" Midori asked.
"She'd probably be excited to experience nearly getting burned alive."
"Huh?!"
"It started when she said that Nobunaga's hobby was burning his enemies alive after he defeats them."
Shindou choked on air, but before he could say anything, the scenery around them changed. They, along with Tenma and Aoi, were teleported into a strange room. Their outfits were changed back to their tracksuits too.
"W-Where―"
Suddenly, the floor beneath them gave way into what appeared to be the void. Before they knew it, they were in a pile on metallic floor.
"Is everyone okay?!" Shindou was first to ask.
"Y-Yes!" Tenma's voice came from on top of the pile.
"What just happened...?" Nishiki said, getting up and rubbing the back of his head.
The room was much wider than the previous one. It appeared to be the receptionist lobby of a building. A very futuristic building.
"Where are we?" Shinsuke asked.
"It doesn't look like the world of King Arthur..." Aoi stated.
Out of nowhere, a bright light appeared behind them and from there...
"Eh?! Sangoku-senpai?!" Tenma exclaimed.
"Kurumada-san, Hamano, and the others are here too!" Kirino added.
Kurumada blinked at them. "You guys..."
"Why are you here?" Sangoku asked.
"I should ask the same of you..." Tenma replied.
"Well, we're not sure..." Hayami answer. "We were practicing when, all of a sudden, here we are."
And another light appeared on their side. This time, a certain hoodie-wearing girl kicked the air just as she materialized.
"Huh? Where did the pebble go?" She blinked before looking up, her eyes going wide. "Wha... Everyone...?"
"Kimiko's here now too!" Hikaru said.
She tilted her head in confusion. "Yeah, I... guess I am...?"
Tsurugi gave a small smile. "You look better."
"Yeah, I went to see Yuuichi-san and fell asleep there. I actually just woke up 20 minutes ago and was on my way back home... Or well, your home." She awkwardly glanced at the rest before bowing. "Sorry... about my outburst earlier..."
"Don't worry about it."
"As long as you're alright now."
"Glad to have you back, Kimiko."
She gave a smile before pointing at a sign behind them. "So, why are we at El Dorado?"
"Huh?!"
"Welcome to El Dorado." Just as they spotted the sign, two middle-aged men came in an joined them. One of them was in a black suit while the other was in blue.
"He's Perfect Cascade's coach!"
"Are they the ones who brought us here?"
Kimiko eyed her friend, who gestured at the one in a blue suit. That man also began to speak. "You are currently 200 years in the future, at El Dorado's headquarters located in Saint Elder City. And this man is the head of the highest decision-making body in the world, the Unified Parliament of El Dorado, Chairman Toudou."
"You?!"
"The very person trying to erase soccer!"
"What are you planning to do with us?!"
"I brought you here so we could have a discussion." The chairman said.
"There's nothing to discuss!" Shindou rejected.
"We'll take soccer back no matter what!" Tenma added.
"If that is all, there is no need to worry. I've returned soccer's history back in its place." The man snapped his fingers and a holographic screen appeared before them.
"The soccer building is back!" Shinsuke pointed out.
On it was the said building, the 'keep out' fences no longer surrounding it, but rather, on a pile next to it. They could even see students going around it, as if nothing was wrong.
"What's going on?" Shindou muttered.
"What is it you're up to now?" Tsurugi asked.
He gave an almost cruel smile. "I want you to cooperate with us from here on."
"Cooperate?"
"You are aware that El Dorado is fighting the Second Stage Children, correct? You will be allying with us."
"What makes you think we'll help you just 'cause you gave soccer back to us?" Kurumada asked.
"But you will."
"What?!"
"They have the Chrono Stone that Endou Mamoru is imprisoned in." The coach said. "If you wish to save him, you will need to beat them as well."
"That doesn't mean we'll help people like you!" Nishiki stated.
"We'll go save Coach Endou on our own!" Kirino declared. "We have no intentions of working together with evil like you!"
"What makes you say that we are evil?"
"What?!"
"Do you know the reason why we tried to erase soccer?" The chairman asked.
"That's because... by erasing soccer, you'll erase the Second Stage Children whose powers came from soccer." Fei spoke up.
"Exactly. And in doing so, we save the world."
"What do you mean?" Aoi asked.
"To understand that, you will first need to know what is happening right now in our time."
And here comes the monologue... She eyed her friend when she didn't hear his response, only to find him staring at her with a strange look. What?
... I hate to say it, but I kind of missed your stupidly unnecessary comments.
She smirked. Then, watch out, because you're once again stuck with me.
Oh joy.
"Second Stage Children are children who possess the SSC gene, a gene mutation. Their intelligence and physical skill surpass the most formidable of levels. There are even those among them who can use telepathy and telekinesis, powers that are out of reach for normal humans."
Hey, that's...
... starting to sound a lot like you, yeah.
"Originally, they lived under the radar in this world, without drawing attention to themselves... But one year ago, under the name of an organization called Feida, they proclaimed war against El Dorado. They attacked us by firing special ampules which contain their destructive aura. The malevolent force their aura unleashes rivals that of our own military weapons."
Feida... That name... sounds familiar too...
What's that supposed to mean?
"We worked out countermeasures, of course... But their self-defense abilities are so high that not even the police and public safety forces can hold them down. Many of our institutional buildings keep being destroyed in the process. They are a fearsome army who are only children in appearance."
Unconsciously, she held on to his sleeve.
"Unless something is done, they will take over the world. Not only that, they will destroy mankind. That is why we made our decision to erase soccer, as it is the source of their mutated genes, thereby erasing the time route from which they were born. We thought there was no other way."
Unconsciously, he moved in front of her.
"Now do you understand what I mean about saving the world?"
Shindou was first to recover from the dump of new information. "But why declare war? What is it they want?"
"They want to take over the world, so that they can make a world that belongs to them. It's an act of revenge against those who fear and reject them."
Reject and fear. That was what she thought her new friends felt just a few hours before.
"But a few days ago, they came to us and proposed Ragnarok."
"Ragnarok?"
"Ragnarok is a soccer match to decide who attains the position of ruling as decision-making body of the world. They chose soccer to determine the outcome of this war."
"They're using soccer for war?!"
"If we lose this match, they control the world."
Ragnarok... 'Doom of the Gods'... Assuming the 'Gods' here refer to El Dorado's management, it's pretty fitting name for that sort of tournament.
Since when do you know Norse stuff?
I went around Scandinavia once. I heard a few stories here and there.
"But I don't get it." Sangoku said. "Why would they come with this suggestion now? With those supernatural powers of theirs, won't they be able to take over the world one day if they just keep fighting?"
"Now that you mention it..." Shinsuke nodded as he muttered.
"They want to make us acknowledge their existence." The coach said. "Also, for them, time is running out. Second Stage Children possess abilities that are beyond that of humans, but in exchange, their lifespans are exceedingly short. In other words, they cannot become adults."
"A majority of them die before they reach the age of twenty." The chairman summed.
He no longer felt the hand on his sleeve. Behind him, both of his friend's arms had gone slack, and her eyes went wide.
"No way!"
"That's why they are in a hurry. They want to control the world while they are still alive. In that case, we must assemble all of the power we possess to defeat them."
"Defeat...?"
"We won't be killing them. We are going to display to them our power. They insist that their genes are meant to survive while we are meant to perish. If we make it known that they are not the only ones who are a cut above the rest, we will be able to change how they think. For that... We want you to fight them at Ragnarok as members of El Dorado!"
For a moment, none of them can speak. It was just a little too much to take in.
"What do you think, Shindou?" Kirino finally asked. His best friend was surprised by being called out to, but he had no reply.
"Let's do it!" Tenma suddenly said, earning surprised looks. "Our goal is to protect soccer, right? And the Second Stage Children are born from soccer's future... If they destroy the world, we won't have protected soccer! So, we should beat the Second Stage Children and keep soccer from being used for something bad in the future! I want to protect soccer!"
After a moment's thought, the ex-captain nodded. "Tenma is right... Everyone! We'll accept their challenge!"
"Alright! Then, it's decided!" Wondeba turned pink. "It's time, at long last, for this great Clark Wonderbot to show his skilled as coach!"
"So, what kind of match is that Ragnarok going to be?" Sangoku asked, ignoring the bear.
"Each side will be represented by three teams to hold three matches." The other coach said.
"Three matches in a row, huh?!"
"Whoever wins the most matches is the winner."
"That's all?!" They couldn't tell if Kariya was disappointed or pleased by how not complicated it was.
"The idea is very simple. But however simple it may be, this battle will determine the fate of the world." The chairman then stepped back, showing a strange, large, blue disk on the floor. "Let me introduce you to your other teammates. I believe you have already met."
And Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Rei Rukh teleported in.