Extra time had begun.

The players barely had a chance to breathe before the Rift Strikers surged forward. They didn't jog. They didn't build up play. They attacked like a pack that had smelled blood at last. Their aura signatures flared across the pitch in streaks of silver and teal, heat mirages twisting under the stadium lights.

Aya felt the weight almost instantly. Her legs burned, her lungs were tight, and every inhale tasted like metal, but she pushed up the field anyway, desperate to keep control. Scarlet swung wide, hands on her knees for a second longer than she should have. Anastasia wiped sweat from her eyes, tying her hair tighter even though her fingers shook.

Lionel clapped twice, steel in his voice.

"Hold shape! Don't give them the opening they're waiting for!"

The Rift Strikers didn't wait.

Their captain, Damon Cold, appeared out of nowhere. One second he was jogging casually near the halfway line, and the next he blurred forward with that chilling Void Dash of his. The air around him twisted, cracking slightly as space folded in tiny distortions.

Diego cursed under his breath. "Here he comes....!"

Damon didn't even take a touch. He let the long pass skip once, then hammered it with the outside of his boot. The ball tore forward like a compressed meteor.

It smashed into the corner of the net before Grimm could even raise a hand.

The stadium detonated in sound.

Rift Striker 2 — Titans 1.

Three minutes into extra time.

Blaze froze. His heartbeat stumbled, then kicked into a sprint. Damon didn't celebrate much. He just pointed at Blaze, cold smile on his face.

"You're not the only miracle on this pitch."

Blaze inhaled sharply, heat rushing up his spine. Aya touched his arm.

"Don't lose your head. This isn't on you."

But he wasn't listening. The fire was already stirring, hunger rising, pain sewing itself behind his ribs.

He walked to the center circle in silence.

The Titans Fight Back

The game restarted with a different kind of energy. It wasn't hope. It wasn't panic either. It was something rawer, stubbornness, pride, a refusal to let a century of failure define them again.

Aya took control instantly, directing traffic with exhausted but precise signals. Anastasia sprinted down the flank even though her legs screamed. Scarlet wrestled the ball back from two defenders, teeth clenched, sweat streaking down her jaw.

And Blaze…

Blaze burned.

His steps weren't even. His breathing wasn't steady. But every movement he made carried purpose, desperation, and a kind of painful beauty. The Aura Flame flickered around him in dim pulses. Not wild, not roaring but alive.

Jason shouted from the sideline, voice cracking,

"Tempo! Keep the tempo! You break them with rhythm!"

Aya delivered a perfect through-ball. Blaze didn't even take a touch; he lifted it lightly with his heel, letting momentum roll it forward. Scarlet darted in, weaving between two defenders like she'd suddenly gotten a second wind.

The Rift keeper rushed out.....

Scarlet chipped it over him with a gentle flick.

The ball hit the back of the net.

The Titans fans exploded. People were crying, hitting railings, hugging strangers, screaming Blaze's name even though he hadn't touched the finish.

Titans Reach 2 — Rift Striker 2.

Scarlet fell to her knees after scoring. Aya dragged her up, both of them trembling.

Anastasia jogged past Blaze, bumping her shoulder softly into his.

"Don't disappear on us. We're not done."

His throat tightened. "I'm here."

Even if the fire inside him was starting to feel heavier than his own bones.

By the second half of extra time, every player on the pitch was running on fumes, Sweat soaked through jerseys. Cramping legs fought to stay upright. The stadium buzzed with this strange electricity, like everyone knew something was about to break.

Damon kept glancing at Blaze, measuring him, waiting.

He could see it.

Blaze wasn't collapsing…

but he was dimming.

Aya noticed too. She forced herself to his side, whispering breathlessly,

"Stay with me. Don't let it take over. We finish this together."

He nodded, swallowing the heat rising in his chest.

The game dragged into the 116th minute. Titans were holding on, defending with every last drop of strength.

Then it happened.

A sloppy clearance.

A unlucky rebound.

And Damon, standing at the edge of the box, waiting like a shadow patient enough to ruin everything.

He didn't blast it.

He didn't try anything fancy.

He just placed it.

A calm, cruel, beautiful strike that curled away from Lionel's reach and kissed the inside of the far post.

The net rippled.

The stadium went silent for a half-second.

Then the world broke open.

Rift Striker 3 — Titans Reach 2.

Four minutes left.

Blaze didn't scream.

He didn't punch the ground.

He just closed his eyes.

And for the first time since he joined the Titans…

he felt small.

Really small.

Four Minutes of War

Jason's voice cracked through the silence.

"Four minutes! FOUR! I don't care how tired you are, move!"

Aya sprinted even though her legs shook violently. Scarlet pushed through cramps. Anastasia forced her aura to flare even though her vision blurred.

Blaze moved like a machine fighting its own rust.

The Titans pressed.

They clawed for every ball.

They threw themselves into tackles.

They shot whenever they found an inch.

But Rift Striker were too experienced.

Too disciplined.

Too cruel.

Every attack broke. Every pass was intercepted. Every second ticked away like someone tightening a rope around their hopes.

119:12

119:48

120:00

120:31

The referee lifted the whistle to his mouth.

Blaze charged one last time, aura flickering desperately. He struck the ball from thirty yards, putting every last spark in the shot....

It curved beautifully.

It bent just inside the top corner.

The Rift keeper stretched....

Finger.

Barely.

Just enough.

He touched it wide.

And that was it.

The whistle blew.

The final ended.

The dream slipped through their fingers.

Rift Striker 3 — Titans Reach 2.

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