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A gamble with only right and wrong, left or right.
Vivian made his choice, believed in his destiny that would lead him to victory against Yoichi. Destiny was always right, so it couldn't fail, and neither could he, for he was the one trusting in it more than anyone else, becoming destiny's chosen one. Failure was impossible for him because destiny was never wrong, always right.
Yet, Yoichi didn't care, ignoring his preordained destiny. It was unsuitable in Vivian's eyes, so there was no way he could lose, not against someone like him.
But he did, his destiny not enough to conquer Yoichi's hunger and ego.
Yochi won, and Vivian lost. Such was the result of their one-on-one, the result Vivian couldn't deny, no matter how much he wanted to.
He was forced to watch, to become an observer with his philosophy trampled and crushed beneath the sole of Yoichi's foot. The same foot kicked the ball and would have scored, if not for one final interference. Vivian knew that much before his metavision came to a stop, unable to work anymore or rather refusing to. It stuttered and malfunctioned, and he already knew why, but he refused to acknowledge it, denying the possibility of being wrong that overtook his mind.
The shot fired but missed and hit the goalpost instead, morphing into a loose ball. And by sheer luck, not destiny, the ball fell to Loki, who saw the opportunity and charged ahead.
Vivian followed but only half-heartedly, moving not because he was led by the strings of destiny but due to muscle memory alone. Moments ago, all the strings moving his body had been cut, torn apart when his destiny was devoured by Yoichi's ego.
Vivian was lost now, the compass that had led him so reliably spinning round and round with no aim anymore in sight.
The speakers blared up, announcing France the winner. Loki showed the mannerisms of a suitable number one moments later, using words only the strong could say.
Vivian listened, but stayed silent for too long before he answered in agreement, the pregnant pause before his reply telling another story than the lies spilling from his lips, an attempt to convince himself that he was right even if he wasn't.
"So long, Blue Lock. You were cogs in my destiny, and we won't meet again."
He tried to believe those words, wanted to believe in them, clung to them as they were his last ray of hope that all of this was only a bad fever dream that had spiralled too far, so far that even Vivian couldn't stop it anymore.
His silent pleas remained unanswered for only the sharp tongue dripping from the blood of his destiny heard him, the feral creature baring his fangs at him again.
"So long, my ass," the creature snarled, his tone mocking and humbling.
"My luck obliterated your precious theory, and you know it, too," the creature continued mercilessly, forcing Vivian's legs to a stop. The compass needle stopped spinning, too, pointing at the source.
Turning his head, Vivian perceived the creature, the man who was responsible for everything. His eyes that spoke of logic since the day he was born were dark now, darker than ever before. There was no sign of logic in his eyes anymore, the dark swirls now speaking of chaos and uncertainty.
Behind the lost gaze inside the realm where logic was once supreme, flames burned brightly. Oil tanks exploded in violent bursts, spraying the black liquid onto the attached machinery that was set on fire almost instantly. It resulted in more explosions that soon consumed the entire realm as it fell victim to complete and utter destruction, gears and cogs of metal crumbling down as they fell apart with dying screeches.
The man...no... Yoichi continued, saying that what Vivian already knew, had already realised and understood.
"...your suitable destiny theory is full of shit, too," Yoichi said and Vivian, as much as he hated it, agreed. His destiny, the theory he had believed in so much, had failed him the moment it lost to Yoichi. So when Blue Lock was shit, so was his belief in destiny.
"But you talk about humanity's legends or winning the World Cup four times?"
"When you can't even beat me?" Yoichi added, but it was spoken silently with no words carrying its weight. There was no need to because Yoichi and Vivian both knew they could hold this conversation without a single word spoken between them.
Yoichi lifted two fingers, then, assuming a posture Vivian knew all too well. Like that, he spoke again, his eyes wild and his ego burning, not looking like someone who had just lost because he didn't. Yoichi hadn't lost, and both knew it.
"Don't run from your destiny."
Vivian couldn't even if he wanted to. Running away from Yoichi was impossible now because his destiny, the one he had believed in for his whole life, was inside Yoichi's belly, nourishment for this egoist to digest. That was all Vivian's destiny amounted to, to be devoured by Yoichi and then fuel his ego, the ego that crushed him.
"You lost to me, you second-best bastard!"
Yes, he did. Yoichi won, and he had lost. That was the simple and undeniable truth, the proof that his theory about destiny was not good enough.
"You're a real pain," Vivian finally responded, unable to say more. He didn't have to because his lips were curving skywards, telling more than words ever could, while his fingers synced up with Yoichi's, both the mirror to one another.
You're a real pain because you crushed me.
You're a real pain because my destiny lost to your ego.
You're a real pain because you're right and I'm not.
You're a real pain because I have to start from scratch now.
You're a real pain because...
Yoichi was a real pain in Vivian's world for so many reasons that he couldn't count them all. Yet...none of those reasons were bad because Yoichi had shown him something new, a world that existed beyond the confines of his destiny. It was uncharted territory, defying his past beliefs with its mere existence because it existed not within the boundaries of destiny.
Vivian should feel angry about it, but all he felt inside himself was excitement and exhilaration about this new challenge, one that went beyond creating a human legend or winning the World Cup four times.
And that was why...
"Until Next Time, Egotist."
...this wasn't the ending for Yoichi and him. It was merely the beginning of something new, something bigger... something that went beyond ego and destiny and had the potential to upturn the entire world.