Dynasty Awakening: Building My Own Football Empire-Chapter 237: Mirror in the Locker Room

Michael Sterling stood in the center of the room.

This was not the same team that had scraped survival two years ago. This was a collection of the strangest and most talented players in the world.

Lorenzo Ricci the Italian right back was standing in front of his locker. He had installed a portable LED mirror. He was combing his hair with a comb made of tortoise shell.

"Lorenzo," Michael said. "The game starts in twenty minutes. Is your hair ready?"

"My hair is always ready Boss," Lorenzo said smoothly. "It is aerodynamic. It helps me run fast."

"You do not run fast," Kaito Tanaka chirped from the bench. The Japanese sprinter was bouncing his leg up and down. "You run like a swan. I run like a cheetah. Zoom zoom!"

"Swans are elegant," Lorenzo replied without looking away from the mirror. "Cheetahs are sweaty."

In the corner Vladimir Petrovic sat on a reinforced bench. The Serbian giant was staring at a picture of Erling Haaland taped to the wall.

"He is big," Vladimir rumbled. "He looks like a tractor."

"He is a robot," Diego Nunez said sitting next to him. "He runs on batteries. We have to take his batteries out."

"I will hug him," Vladimir promised. "A big Serbian hug. He will not like it."

Arthur Milton was pacing around the room. He was wearing a new purple suit that was slightly too shiny. He held a bag of gummy bears.

"I am nervous Boss," Arthur whispered. "It is the Community Shield. It is the curtain raiser. If we lose everyone will say the Misfits are a one hit wonder."

"We are not a one hit wonder Arthur," Michael said calmly. "We are the whole album."

Michael clapped his hands. The sound echoed off the walls.

"Listen up!"

The players stopped what they were doing. Lorenzo put down his comb. Vladimir stopped staring at the wall. Diego stopped trying to steal gummy bears from Arthur.

Michael pointed to the tactical board.

"Manchester City are the best team in the world. Pep Guardiola is a genius. He expects us to sit deep. He expects us to defend and counter attack like we did in the FA Cup."

Michael wiped the board clean.

He drew a new shape. It was not a 4 4 2. It was not a 4 3 3.

It looked like a jagged arrow.

"Today we play something new," Michael announced. "We call this The Chameleon."

"The lizard?" Diego asked. "I like lizards. They have sticky tongues."

"The Chameleon changes color," Michael explained. "When we defend we are a blue wall. Vladimir and Diego. You lock the door."

"But when we get the ball..."

Michael drew three lines shooting forward.

"We turn into red fire. Mateo. You are the painter. You paint the picture. Kaito and Amara. You are the wings. You fly."

"And Lorenzo," Michael looked at the Italian.

"Yes Boss?"

"You do not overlap. You underlap. You come into the midfield. Confuse them. Make them wonder why the model is in the center circle."

"I like the center," Lorenzo smiled. "The lighting is better there."

"Good," Michael said. "City want control. We give them chaos. Beautiful organized chaos."

He looked at each of them.

"They have the trophy we want. The Premier League trophy. It is sitting in their cabinet. Today we show them that we are coming to take it."

"FOR THE GOLD!" Diego roared.

"FOR THE GLORY!" the team shouted.

They walked into the tunnel.

The Manchester City players were already there. They looked like champions. They stood tall. They stood silent.

Erling Haaland was at the front. The Norwegian striker looked massive.

Vladimir Petrovic walked up to him. Vladimir was one inch taller and two inches wider.

Vladimir stood very close to Haaland. He smelled him.

"You smell like oil," Vladimir said in his deep voice.

Haaland looked confused. He blinked.

"I smell like roses," Vladimir informed him. "Prepare for the thorns."

Pep Guardiola looked at Michael Sterling. The City manager smiled a polite shark smile.

"Hello Michael," Pep said. "Your team looks... colorful."

"We like color Pep," Michael smiled back. "Grey is boring."

The referee blew the whistle.

They walked out onto the Wembley turf. The noise was deafening. Half the stadium was blue. Half was purple.

BARNSLEY vs MANCHESTER CITY

THE COMMUNITY SHIELD

City tried to dominate immediately. Rodri passed to De Bruyne. De Bruyne passed to Foden.

Pass. Pass. Pass.

But Barnsley did not sit back.

Minute 5

Foden tried to dribble past Lorenzo Ricci.

Lorenzo did not tackle. He just stepped in the way with elegance. He took the ball with the outside of his boot.

"Excuse me," Lorenzo seemed to say.

He looked up. He saw Mateo Vega.

Lorenzo played a pass that curved along the ground.

Mateo The Painter received it. He was surrounded by three City players.

Mateo did not panic. He did a drag back. Then a nutmeg on Rodri.

The crowd gasped.

"Ole!" Diego shouted from defense.

Mateo saw Kaito Tanaka running.

"Go!" Mateo whispered.

He chipped the ball.

Kaito The Jet engaged his engines.

"ZOOM ZOOM!" Kaito shouted.

He was fast. He was faster than Kyle Walker. Which was scientifically impossible but Kaito did not care about science.

He reached the ball. He was in the box.

He crossed it.

Victor Osimhen was there. He jumped.

Ruben Dias jumped with him.

The ball hit Osimhen head. It flew towards the corner.

Ederson the City goalkeeper made a miracle save. He tipped it onto the post.

CLANG.

"So close!" Arthur screamed jumping off the bench. "The post hates us! It is the same post from last season!"

Minute 15

City woke up. They were angry.

De Bruyne got the ball. He looked for the robot.

He saw Haaland making a run.

De Bruyne played the perfect pass. Haaland was through. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

He was one on one with Jan Visser.

But suddenly a shadow fell over the pitch.

Vladimir Petrovic had arrived.

The Bear did not slide tackle. That was inefficient.

He simply ran shoulder to shoulder with Haaland.

It was like two planets colliding.

The sound of the impact echoed around the stadium.

Haaland stumbled. He lost his balance. He fell to the grass.

Vladimir stayed standing. He took the ball. He turned calmly.

He looked down at the best striker in the world.

"The tractor is broken," Vladimir rumbled.

He passed the ball to Lukas Weber.

"Simple," Vladimir said.

The Barnsley fans went wild.

"VLA-DI-MIR! VLA-DI-MIR!"

Diego Nunez ran over and high fived Vladimir.

"You crushed him!" Diego shouted. "You are strong like a building!"

THE CITY STRIKE

Minute 30

But you cannot keep City quiet forever. They were too good.

Jack Grealish dribbled down the left. He waited. He waited.

Lorenzo Ricci was holding his position well but Grealish was tricky.

Grealish cut inside. He passed to Bernardo Silva.

Silva shot.

Jan Visser saved it.

But the rebound fell to Phil Foden.

Foden smashed it into the roof of the net.

GOAL.

Manchester City 1. Barnsley 0.

Pep Guardiola punched the air. He looked relieved.

Michael Sterling stood still on the touchline. He did not look worried.

He looked at Arthur.

"Now," Michael said.

"Now what Boss?"

"Now we activate the Chameleon," Michael said. "Phase Two."

THE CHAMELEON SHIFT

Minute 35

City thought Barnsley would panic. They thought the Misfits would rush.

But Michael whistled. He made a hand signal. A triangle shape.

On the pitch everything changed.

Lukas Weber dropped deep to become a third center back.

Lorenzo Ricci moved into the center of midfield next to Leo Stone.

And Mateo Vega moved to the very front next to Osimhen.

City were confused.

"Who are we marking?" Rodri shouted. "Why is the right back standing next to me?"

Minute 40

Lukas Weber had the ball in defense.

"Calculating trajectory," Lukas muttered.

He saw Lorenzo in the middle.

Lukas passed.

Lorenzo controlled it with his chest. He looked like he was posing for a photo.

He did not pass sideways. He turned and ran through the middle.

City defenders backed off. They expected him to pass wide.

Lorenzo kept running. He looked elegant.

He saw Mateo Vega making a run behind the defense.

Lorenzo played a no look pass. It was beautiful.

Mateo collected it. He was in the box.

Stones tried to tackle him.

Mateo stopped dead. Stones slid past him into the advertising boards.

Mateo looked up.

He saw Diego Nunez.

The Bull had run forward for a corner and stayed up.

"DIEGO!" Mateo shouted.

He chipped the ball to the back post.

Diego Nunez was there. He jumped. He flapped his arms like a giant bird.

"I AM FLYING!" Diego screamed.

He headed the ball.

He did not head it into the goal. He headed it down across the goal.

Victor Osimhen was waiting.

The Masked Assassin did a volley.

The ball hit the net so hard the water bottle on top of it fell off.

GOAL.

Barnsley 1. Manchester City 1.

THE CELEBRATION

The purple end of Wembley exploded.

Victor Osimhen ran to the corner. He did a backflip.

Diego Nunez tried to do a backflip. He only got halfway round and landed on his back.

"I meant to do that!" Diego shouted lying on the grass. "It is the turtle celebration!"

Mateo Vega ran over. He pretended to paint a picture of Diego on the grass.

Lorenzo Ricci walked over calmly. He checked his reflection in the camera lens.

"We look good," Lorenzo said.

Michael Sterling punched the air.

"It works Arthur!" Michael shouted. "The Chameleon works!"

"They are confused Boss!" Arthur laughed eating a celebratory gummy bear. "Pep is scratching his head! He does not know what is happening!"

THE HALFTIME WHISTLE

The referee blew the whistle for halftime.

1 - 1.

The game was balanced on a knife edge.

But Barnsley were not just surviving. They were playing football.

They walked off the pitch with their heads high.

Vladimir Petrovic walked past Haaland again.

"Good battle robot," Vladimir said. "Round two coming soon."

Haaland looked at the giant Serb. For the first time in a long time the robot looked human. He looked annoyed.

Michael waited by the tunnel.

He high fived Kaito. "Good speed."

He nodded at Lukas. "Good logic."

He patted Diego on the back. "Good turtle."

They went into the dressing room.

The first half of the new season was over. And the Misfits had proved one thing.

They were not afraid of the champions.

"Sit down," Michael said closing the door. "Drink water. Fix your hair Lorenzo."

"Already done Boss," Lorenzo said holding his mirror.

"Good," Michael smiled. His eyes burned with blue fire.