Zero
Disclaimer: I do not own Galactik Football and I make no money from this fanfiction.
Artegor had never had a friend before Aarch. He'd always seemed too aloof, too arrogant, for people to feel that they could approach him.
They were right.
There was never anyone he could respect, that he could consider an equal; it made him sick to see so many people who just settled, who didn't fight for what they wanted.
He'd never been afraid of the dark (in fact he welcomed it) or anything that normal children were afraid of but he'd always been terrified of mediocrity; the thought that he might not achieve his ambitions was absolutely chilling.
Meeting Aarch's eyes across the pitch, on that first day of practice, had shaken him to the core. He'd recognised a passion burning within Aarch that was equal to his own, something that he had thought impossible.
That Aarch was not only equally ambitious, but of equal talent, had also not gone unnoticed by Artegor.
To begin with he'd felt challenged, defensive; they were on the same team but at the same time, Aarch was his competition. He'd desperately spend practices trying to out-do Aarch and then Aarch would go and out-do him right back. It was frustrating and enthralling all at the same time, he was always anticipating his next manoeuvre, the next beautiful goal to prove his supremacy over Aarch. Sometimes it was all he could think about.
It never came though; they were always referred to as a pair- as Akillian's star striker team.
And somewhere along the line, without realising it, they'd begun to think of themselves like that too; they'd become friends, best friends.
And somehow Artegor had fallen in love. Even in his emotions he had to push everything to the furthest extreme, had to feel on the most intense level, had to love to the point of complete obsession.
It had to be all or nothing and for a while, it had looked like he was going to take it all.
Their relationship had begun just like their friendship, completely out of nowhere, and yet, completely inevitable. He could feel Aarch's strength every time their lips smashed up against each other and Aarch would grip firmly the hair on the back of Artegor's head.
He couldn't frighten Aarch and that frightened him in a way that was thrilling.
They'd made the decision together to run away to the Shadows.
The Smog had allowed them to reach such heights, brought them so close to winning everything, winning together.
Then it had all gone horribly wrong.
With the benefit of hindsight, it was as inevitable as that had ever happened to the two of them; it was a car crash waiting to happen.
Aarch had taken his talent, taken his passion, and ran in the other complete other direction, leaving Artegor alone.
Leaving him with nothing but the thought of what he had lost; the thought that, if Aarch wasn't his ally, then he was his enemy. If he couldn't have Aarch, then he had to defeat him instead.
After years of hatred, of Artegor trying desperately to crush Aarch into dust, they'd somehow come full circle and found themselves friends again. Smog poisoning cured; he found it hard to remember why it was he had hated Aarch so much.
Then the affair started again, the passions of the two men getting the better of them like the teenagers they had been; their enmity returned once they got to Paradisia.
And it was never going to end, ever, they were too evenly matched.
The resultant force was zero- they were trapped.
That's it for this fic, I don't think it's the best thing I've ever written, but I hope it's okay. Review please!