Survivor

Disclaimer: I do not own Galactik Football (or any of the dialogue from the show that I quoted in this fic) and I make no money from this fanfiction.

For PGirl; hope you enjoy it!

He had always had a tendency to sweat profusely when he was nervous. As a kid, it was the things about himself the most, no matter how hard he would try to keep his cool he'd always find himself cowering in the presence of bullies; they were just big, dumb jocks but he still couldn't cross them despite knowing he was smarter than everyone in his class combined.

In the end, one of the bullies had figured that out and had offered him protection from the others in return for Harris doing all of his assignments. He'd taken the deal without hesitating; other kids might have objected out some sense of morality but he knew there was no room for idealism on the playground.

It was survival of the fittest.

The idea that he might sabotage the grades of his 'protector' had crossed his mind many times. He'd consider all the scenarios, how he would do it and when: he'd decided it would have to be the final coursework essays, the ones that you only got the grades for after you had already left school, that way he would be long gone by the time his tormentor realised. He used to laugh to himself as he imagined all the stupid things he would write in those essays; fantasising about it had gotten him through his entire final year.

At the end of the year he wrote a set of perfect essays (two sets in fact if you counted the set he wrote for himself) and handed them over as usual.

Even years later, he'd think about it and obsess over why he hadn't gone through with it. He'd always known why though; he was afraid.

There hadn't been any bullies to contend with at University, he could always just escape to the library, or his room, or the lab when he didn't have lectures. He'd just worked hard, didn't bother with most the drunken escapades that occurred in his accommodation; in the end he graduated top of his class but the real prize was the placement he was offered with Technoid - he'd sucked up to his Professors enough that he'd gotten excellent references to match his academic results.

He worked in the computer labs, for years, slowly climbing the ranks by putting in more hours than he was actually paid for. He watched other employees came and went, unable to deal with the over the top demands of Duke Maddox and the other execs, but he stayed. He attended the mandatory Technoid socials, like a good employee – once he saw Professor I'son (before the name change) in intense conversation with General Bleylock. He looked uncomfortable to be there even back then. Bleylock had always been a figure of some fascination for many Technoid employees, his standing in the company rivalled than of Duke Maddox and there were many rumours floating around that he was working on some type of secret project.

Harris had noticed that it never paid off to be too openly interested in the secret projects of Technoid.

He was caught off guard when he got the job 'offer' (like everything with Technoid, it was an order only thinly disguised as a choice) to become Duke Maddox's. He'd gotten a message that day saying that he should come up to the Duke's office (something that had never happened before) and he had been so sure that he was fired.

He'd walked into the office like a man going to his execution; beads of sweat were already forming on his forehead and his hands were shaking – it only made him more nervous when he tried to tell himself that it would probably only make him look more guilty of whatever infraction he had apparently committed.

So when he was told that he was to be the assistant to the head of the entire corporation all he could manage was to stare up at Duke Maddox in a manner he imagined was much akin to a startled deer.

"I would of course be honoured to be your assistant," he finally found himself saying after he managed to collect himself slightly.

"Good because you start right now."

It was then that it actually hit him how in over his head he was.

Despite the fact hadn't felt prepared all for this he ended up lasting longer than any other assistant Duke Maddox had. Probably because he did almost exactly what he was told in a manner that even the Duke had to admit was 'semi-competent.' He supposed the fact that he didn't seem ambitious enough to be threatening didn't hurt either (no-one took a man in a hot pink coat altogether seriously it seemed).

Even when he found flaws in the Duke's thinking he knew better than to bring it up (he'd just ignore the order, do what he knew was best – he was happy enough to pretend, when everything worked out, that it was Duke Maddox's idea all along).

He'd been plotting against the Duke even before he ever met Bleylock, although it was much in the same way that he had plotted against the bullies at school – a purely intellectual enterprise, just a way to blow off steam. He liked to think that with the secrets that he knew, he could pretty much bring down the entire Technoid corporation – but of course, he'd be bringing himself down along with them and he'd never bought into the ridiculous crusade fought by the Pirates (if Sonny had been smart he would have stuck with Technoid to destroy it from the inside, rather than wasting time simply stealing stuff – as that were any more than a petty annoyance).

Still, he couldn't say he felt much remorse for working with Bleylock (sworn enemy of his other boss) either. Bleylock hadn't given Harris any choice but to work for him (no-one else knew he was alive and there was no way he'd let him walk away knowing that if he wasn't on side) but Harris could see the advantages of doing it anyways; as long as the arm of Technoid was, Maddox seemed more interested in making money (and making himself look good of course) than in holding true power and there was only so long Harris could stand to be the assistant to such a demanding yet incompetent man.

Bleylock promised true power, the likes of which the galaxy had never seen.

Harris switched the monitor in the underground hideout over Arcadia Sports; Netherball hadn't started yet so there was nothing to monitor and it always paid to keep up to date with what was happening in the world. You never knew when a piece of trivia might end up being important.

Artegor Nexus was on the show, being interviewed by Callie Mystic, looking more cheerful than a man in his position ought to be – a fact that was only made sense once Artegor started talking about his work with the Snow Kids.

A hand grasped his shoulder, tightly. "Thinking about the destructive power of my flux devices?" Harris felt his spine straighten a little in shock - he hadn't even heard Bleylock come in.

"Yes, General, it seems that the explosion is still managing to block the Smog." He hadn't been thinking that at all but it was always a good idea to tell Bleylock only exactly what he wanted to hear. He'd actually been thinking about Artegor Nexus; the man had mouthed off to anyone who would listen about defeating Aarch, and getting his revenge, not to mention winning the Galactik Football cup. But just like that he dropped it all and went crawling back, perfectly happy to be Aarch's assistant now that they'd made up. It seemed kind of pathetic (though Harris knew he wasn't in any position to judge).

If he had still had visible mouth, Bleylock probably would have been grinning maniacally. "And that was just a test; just imagine the full power of the flux devices."

"Yes, General," he said; he said it so often that the words came out automatically. He didn't especially like saying them but nothing made Bleylock happier – except the prospect of hurting Sonny Blackbones.

"Power; it's all about gaining ultimate power," Bleylock often liked to mutter to himself (he also liked announcing it to Harris in a dramatic fashion, like Harris hadn't already heard it a million times before). The man had an ego bigger than Technoid's profit margins (he'd seen the picture Bleylock used to have of himself in his office - before Duke Maddox had it incinerated that was) but he had no sense of self-awareness.

Already Harris was starting to see the beginnings of the General's downfall.

It hadn't been until Bleylock had made clear his final plan that he knew for sure that he was actually going to go through with his plans. "I suggest that you go very far from Genesis Stadium; the finals match is sure to be explosive."

He'd responded in his customary manner but already the cogs were turning in his head. The plan was ludicrous – the General wanted to destroy Genesis Stadium and for what? Just so that he could kill the son of Sonny Blackbones. Bleylock might claim to want ultimate power but he wanted revenge even more.

Bleylock hadn't even created any kind of follow up plan; for all his title of General, he had no military forces at his command – the flux devices were his trump card and he was going to waste them on destroying Genesis. And where did that leave Harris?

With no choice but to actually go through with a plan – the only problem was that this would have to be more final than any other take-down he had ever even imagined. Bleylock wasn't going to go away, there'd be no way he'd just let Harris go if he messed up his plan – just look what he was doing to Sonny for defying him all those years ago.

Killing Bleylock was the only option.

The only problem with that option was the carrying it out would be difficult – if he couldn't fight a couple of bullies at school, there was no way he could best someone with military training. His natural instinct was to turn to poison but Harris had never even seen him touch so much as a drop of water (with a machine in place of a mouth who even knew how he ate).

In the end, Bleylock handed him the solution on a plate.

The thought that his meek and anxious assistant would ever betray him had clearly never crossed Bleylock's mind; he was all too concerned with chasing after the Pirate.

It only made it more the sweeter as he watched the screen indicate that Bleylock's ship had exploded. He was gone.

"Great power can never be shared; goodbye, General."

Finally, he'd won.

That's it for this fic; I hope I characterised Harris properly, I went back to watch some bits of episodes with him in to try and get the characterisation right but I'm always a little nervous writing characters that I don't usually write. Please leave a review; I love getting feedback of any kind!