I would like to thank skorpina18 and Little wolf of snow for their encouraging reviews that made me upload faster. This one is for you guys. Enjoy!

When he came to, Micro Ice was alone in the room. He looked around and on the bed on left he saw rumpled blankets, which meant someone else slept in this room yesterday besides him. And yet worse, the team was going to train early in the morning, how could he forget it?! If the team (D´Jok especially) see him using Smog instead of Breath, then it´s over... Wait a sec. Aarch said something about plan B... If they can pull it off, then they don´t have to say the truth. The short footballer exhaled with relief. He´s not even out of bed yet and he´s worried already. Micro Ice, just act normally, like you always do and no one will suspect a thing.

Micro Ice swung out of bed and headed towards his old room. He really needed a shower, urgently.

He was startled when he saw D´Jok sitting in their old room, looking at Arcadia Sports. He wasn´t prepared yet to meet his team. Yesterday´s drama about exchanged Fluxes wasn´t on his to talk about list. Plus, he was a very bad liar, so someone was bound to find out that something isn´t quite right. Micro Ice gulped down and put on his usual smile. "Hey, D´Jok! Fancy seeing you here so early. Where is everyone else?"

D´Jok gazed at him, sceptically. "I could say the same for you, Micro Ice. Where have you been? Your mother has been sick with worry, because you never made it home, so she phoned my mother if you stayed over, and you didn´t pick up your phone. "

Micro Ice giggled, trying to hide his impending nervousness. "Oh, I wasn´t feeling well, so I stopped by Dame Simbai and she set me up with some medicine. And I stayed over the night. I should call my mother after training that I´m fine. Right now, I´m going to hit the shower. See you at the training!" And he bolted inside bathroom, not waiting around for D´Jok´s response.

D´Jok left after some minutes with the news putting on commercials. He turned off the holo TV. Micro Ice listened in the whole time and when he heard the door closing, he sighed. He barely escaped this time. He dreaded the fact that he´s lying to his best friend, brother even. Micro Ice punched the wall and his mirror image outright horrified him. The Smog was dispersing around him. Dame Simbai said it reacts to anger... now he understood what she meant. It was a strange feeling. Like this anger wasn´t even his own. He closed his eyes and tried to supress it, taking in deep breaths. After a few second, he looked up and the Smog was gone. Good. He can maintain it. It´s a Flux, just like Breath. The short teen turned on the water, shed off his clothes and hopped under the running water. This was going to be a long day.

The shower was refreshing and it made him forget for a bit about his situation. How exactly is he going to lie to everyone for god knows how long? What if their Fluxes cannot be returned? The thought send chills down his back. There better be a cure. He doesn´t want to be stuck with Smog for the rest of his life.

He got a message from Clamp to come ASAP to Aarch´s office. This smelled of trouble, but he had to go. Maybe they found out something to help them. He changed his clothes and headed for coach´s office. Thankfully, he didn´t meet anyone of the way there. He stood before the door and knocked. A reply from his coach came from the other side, so he entered. He was greeted with three gazes locked on him. Aarch, Clamp and Sinedd. "Oh, everyone is gathered. So I take it you have some good news for us, Clamp?" Micro Ice questioned, turning to Clamp.

"I am afraid I have nothing. It´s as if it never happened. The exchange wasn´t detected on any of my Flux detection devices. And as you all may know, they are accurate. Someone or something is disturbing, blocking the crucial information we need. It may take a while to figure out what´s the problem here. Also, we have to wait for Sonny. He´s on his way to Flux Society to ask if they found a disturbance on Akillian or Shadow Archipelago. Until then, we have to pretend you two underwent an experiment. "

Now both footballers tensed up. "What exactly do you mean?" Sinedd spoke.

"We will tell Snowkids that you secretly trained so that you could test out Breath during the friendly match and you, Micro Ice volunteered to do the same, so that you could obtain Smog only for that match. Adium will vouch for us, so that you two can trade places in that match, so we won´t arouse any suspicion. We will say that it´s all for strenghtening bonds between our two teams and sports spirit. That´s our only solution. We have to lie or panic will create havoc in the public."

"That´s insane! No one will believe us!" Sinedd exclaimed and Micro Ice had to agree. Aarch who was listening the whole time stood up and looked at the two teens, narrowing his brow. "Oh yes, they wil. You will play your roles in this charade, although I wish there was no need for this. We can only hope we´ll find a solution before the match."

"Coach, might I ask something?" The shorter footballer asked, warily.

"Yes, Micro Ice?"

"Why not just cancel the whole friendly match? Then we can just wait without lying to everyone. Isn´t that for the best? Honestly, this whole deception will never work. Sooner or later someone from the team will find us out."

"Micro Ice. Tell me one thing; why did you become a footballer?"

Micro Ice blinked. "I... love Galactik Football. Ever since I was a kid."

Aarch nodded. "See. That is why we cannot cancel something like that. Fans want to see that match, the whole world wants to see it. So what if two players play for opposing teams? It adds even more to the suspension – who will win? Who will score the decisive goal against their own team?"

Micro Ice didn´t like where this was going. "Coach, the Snowkids will hate me for that! You cannot force me to play against my teammates, my friends!"

"I know it´s hard for you, Micro Ice. But we have no other options. Either this or risk unleashing hysteria worldwide. If anyone knew that your Fluxes changed on their own randomly, then no one would play Galacktik Football at all, fearing the same could happen to them. Do you see my point? We cannot reveal the truth. "

The utter defeat was crashing his reality and this was slowly turning into a whole sized nightmare. Clamp put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Cheer up, Micro Ice. There is no guarantee you will play against Snowkids. I am sure Sonny will return with some news."

Then a thought popped up in his mind. "Don´t tell me I have to go to Shadow planet... and train with Shadows?!"

That´s when Aarch smiled. "No, you won´t have to. Since we put Adium in the picture, we had to add Artegor, too. They know of your unfortunate switch and agreed to help us with the match, if your conditions aren´t reversed until then. To answer your question, Micro Ice, the coach of Shadows Artegor Nexus will come to Akillian with his team to train here and they will stay in Aarch Academy. "

Sinedd ´s eyes widened. "My team and coach will come here? Do my teammates know?"

Clamp replied ahead of Aarch. "No, they don´t. They probably won´t take it easily and I think Snowkids won´t take it easy, too. You two must do your best to avoid suspicion. Please, think about world peace. It is only maintained through Galactik Football. It´s already fragile so don´t break it completely."

What other choice did they have but to agree to the bizzare play in which they were the main actors. "Now you will go to training and meet up with Snowkids who should be in simulator right now. Artegor should have arrived by now, so let´s make an official announcement to both teams."

Both footballers exited Aarch´s office with slumped backs. Micro Ice didn´t feel like going to the training. "Hey, shorty. What do you say we ditch everything and leave?"

Micro Ice looked up at the taller dark haired teen. "What?" It was a rhetorical question, really.

"What I am saying is- wanna elope with me?"

E- elope? As in run away and get married and live happily ever after? Micro Ice stared at him, dazed. " I think the Breath is making you crazy, Sinedd. And answer is no."

Surprisingly, Sinedd smirked. "Shorty, what will I do with you? You say no, but mean yes. "

Micro Ice decided it was best to ignore him and not let himself be aggravated further. Soon they were joined by Aarch and Clamp so they stayed quiet for the rest of the way.

Before the simulation room they met up with Artegor and Shadows. To Sinedd´s and Micro Ice´s big amazement, their coaches smiled, really smiled at each other and embraced like the two best friends they used to be. "Aarch, it´s so good to see you again." Artegor said when he let go of his friend. Needless to say, both footballers exchanges looks and stared wide eyed at them. Aarch´s hand ended up on Artegor´s shoulder. "My friend, it has been a long time since we went inside a training room together. But let´s not make everyone wait longer. Shall we?" And the two went ahead with Clamp behind them. Meanwhile Sinedd´s teammates glanced at their teammate curiously. Sinedd only shrugged as he and Micro Ice walked in after the Shadows.

"Stay sharp shorty. We have to look convincing." Sinedd whispered.

Micro Ice nodded. They have to pull it off, somehow.

The simulation was already underway as the Snowkids duked it out with Wambas inside the simulator. Dame Simbai heard them come in and a soft smile settled on her features, her eyes stopping for a few seconds on both Micro Ice and Sinedd, then her gaze turned towards the two coaches. "Aarch, Artegor. You´re early. They have just started. "

"It doesn´t matter. Pull them out, Simbai. They have to hear it, too." Dame Simbai reseted the program and the Wambas disappeared and so did the virtual pitch. The Snowkids appeared before the little group.

" Right before I was gonna score... Whoa! What´s Artegor Nexus doing here? And the Shadows?" D´Jok asked. However, Mei´s eyes were glued on two people. "Micro Ice? Sinedd?"

Thran elbowed his brother. "I must be dreaming. Micro Ice switched to Shadows. Someone pinch me." Ahito pinched him. "Ouch! It´s an expression!"

Tia and Rocket didn´t comment, only observed. It was Aarch who stopped all the wild speculations. "Everyone please listen. We have an urgent announcement. As you know, the friendly match between Shadows and Snowkids will take place in one week. Artegor, my long time friend agreed to lend us one of his players for that match exclusively. Sinedd has the Breath of Akillian and will play as striker for Snowkids. "

"Who said we´re going to play with him? Micro Ice is a striker, too!" D´Jok protested and rest of the team nodded, except Mei. "Micro Ice, say something! They cannot take you out of that match!"

Micro Ice didn´t dare look into D´Jok eyes as he said what he had say. "I will play for the Shadows in that match. I switched with Sinedd, I have obtained the Smog only for that. I will play as striker, too." Gasps from both teams and unbelieving looks traveled from Sinedd to Micro Ice. Both their teams were waiting for them to deny it. They didn´t.

"You... betrayed us, Micro Ice? How... could you?" D´Jok said, hurt. Mei decided to side with her boyfriend´s best friend. He would never betray them, she just knew it. "D´Jok. Get a hold of yourself and listen to his reasons before you label him like that." The twins, Rocket and Tia were in agreement and so were the Shadows. "Let´s hear their reasons." Tia said. As expected curiosity got the better of them, so Artegor stepped in. "The reason is simple; sports spirit and strenghtening bonds between our teams. Don´t worry, each player will go back to their respective teams after the match. They agreed to this experiment without your consent out of fear for your reactions. That´s why it was all kept a secret until now. Did I answer everyone satisfactorily?"

There were no further complaints, so Aarch clapped. "Good. Maybe now we can proceed with actual training?"

Sinedd and Micro Ice approached the Snowkids, who were standing in the middle, hesitating. When Sinedd came close, D´Jok grabbed him by his coat. "You! You brainwashed Micro Ice yesterday! He was fine until he left the bar!" The dark haired teen shook him off. "Your friend has his own free will and I didn´t force him to trade with me. Someone from your team had to do it and he volunteered. Maybe you´re afraid that he´ll stay with Shadows when he scores against your team?" Sinedd said, dragging out each syllable in a provocative tone. D´Jok raised his fists in a fit of rage and before he could strike, he was stopped by Micro Ice who stood before the taller footballer. "Stop. Both of you. Just stop." He was pleading them to stop behaving like little children. D´Jok glared at Sinedd, but then turned on his heel. "I don´t feel like training today anymore." He stomped in the directions of changing room. Tia, Rocket, Thran, Ahito and Mei stayed. Micro Ice turned to face the coach, who facepalmed and sighed. "Fine. I see this is pointless. To make things a bit more interesting, Sinedd and Micro Ice will not train with neither team. They will train together, trying out their new Fluxes with both me and Artegor present to look after them."

Shocking development after another made Snowkids and Shadows freeze on the spot. However, Aarch wasn´t done. "As of today, the Shadows and their coach will stay here in my Academy, so let´s show some hospitality and make them feel at home. I do not want to hear about any fights or arguments. They are our guests."

Thran shook off his shock and spoke up as first. "As you say, coach. It´s better if we relay the message to D´Jok."

The Snowkids went for the changing room, all but Mei. Artegor turned to his team. "You heard Aarch. We will train tomorrow. For now, let´s get accommodated and then you´re free until tomorrow. " Artegor Nexus and Shadows exited the room. Now only Clamp, Dame Simbai, Sinedd, Micro Ice and Aarch were present. Aarch knew they would encounter problems, but not so soon, so he had no choice but to make this alternation to plan B. They have a lot of work to do... "Clamp, Simbai. I need to discuss with you over some things. Come to my office when you have the time."

Aarch left, followed by his trusted friends. Now Mei finally got a time alone with the two. She opened her mouth only to be shut down by Micro Ice. "I don´t want to hear your apologies, Mei. You and he..." Micro Ice pointed to the man he defended not so long ago, "plotted against my back, you won my trust as I foolishly told you about my secret no one knew about and now you have the audacity to ask for forgiveness?" Micro Ice said, accusingly.

"Shorty..." Sinedd started, but the look he received from Micro Ice terminated his attempt to protect Mei from harsh words. "Keep out of this, Sinedd! It´s between me and her! So tell me Mei, why did you agree to help him in the first place? For all you knew, he could have lied and only wanted to bully me with blackmailing or something like that!" Sinedd snorted, but otherwise remained silent.

Mei fidgeted, her gaze skipping from one to another. "Micro Ice, I know what I saw that day."

The short footballer didn´t catch on. "What day? I don´t understand what you mean." Mei rolled her eyes. "Oh, please! The day we played against Shadows and you came back from pirates. Sinedd and one of his teammates came to our changing room and he picked a bone with you. That´s when I saw it and it was all crystal clear to me; the old good bully who has a crush on his victim, but doesn´t know how to express his feeling but by making fun of him in public or in private. You catch my drift, slowpoke?"

Something in him snapped as he laughed out. "What an observation. So you decided to help the poor little helpless me out and you thought that me and Sinedd would kiss and hook up?"

Mei looked at Sinedd. "You didn´t get together? But why?"

"The shorty here is a tough nut to crack, but I´ll manage. Before the friendly match, he will be mine." He said, full of himself. Micro Ice ignored his comment. Why encourage him? Instead he focused on Mei.

"Stop putting your nose in other peoples affairs, Mei. I will overlook it this time because of our friendship." Finally, his attention was on the taller teen. "You. Meet me in five minutes outside." Micro Ice stormed off, a dark aura radiating around him.

"Was that the Smog?"

"Uhn. Lover boy was quite angry with you giving me information on him. He let you off the hook, so you should be thankful. As for me, I am grateful for your help, but I will take it from here. You´ve been very... resourceful. I knew you were the right person to contact."

Mei grinned from ear to ear. "Happy to help, really. Micro Ice needs some love and who better than you?"

Sinedd chuckled. "Exactly. See you later, Mei. I don´t want your boyfriend to get jealous, so you go first. I have an appointment with fate."

The dark haired teen waited two more minutes before he set to seek out shorty.

Meanwhile at the Flux Society Headquarters...

Sonny Blackbones and his right hand man Corso arrived with a handfull of pirates at the Flux Society, where they hid their ship as best as they could. Old habits die out hard. Sonny gave out orders to his men and headed to the HQ with Corso, where maybe they´ll receive some answers. "Corso, be on your guard. We have immunity, but let´s be prepared for the worst. Maybe this was all a Technoid trap. "

"You worry too much, Sonny. Bleylock is dead as far as we know. We never found his body. To survive a fall from that height was impossible."

"I hope you´re right, Corso..."

They got in easily, since no guards were posted around the building, which was a bit strange. The were stopped by one member of Society, dressed in their order´s robe. "Who are you and what do you want here? Master Simbra is a very busy man."

"I am Sonny Blackbones and this is my right hand man, Corso. We have some news that we must discuss with him."

The man nodded after a while. "Very well. Come with me."

He led them inside a large round great hall with a stage. Brim Simbra, the master of Flux Society was in a deep meditation. The man bowed before him. "Master. I brought Sonny Blackbones as you predicted." The man left them alone. Brim Simbra gazed down upon them. "Sonny, I have awaited you. I know why you´ve come to me. I´ve never seen anything like that happen before. Two Fluxes so different in nature exchanged. The order is currently investigating Shadows Archipelago and we´re sure there was some sort of disturbance in the planet´s core at the time it happened. We´re however not sure how the two players affected are connected into this. Do you know anything about them, Sonny? Anything?"

"Well... Only what I´ve heard. Sinedd is an orphan, his parents are believed to be dead. Micro Ice was raised alone by his mother, father unknown. My son, D´Jok is friends with Micro Ice. Maybe he could learn more about what happened when their Fluxes exchanged."

"No, no other players should know about it. Imagine how players would stop playing Galactik Football out of fear it could happen to them. It´s for the best that way. I got a word from Adium, president of League that the two players in question will exchange places in their upcoming match. I had no choice but to approve. Until then, we all have to work together and find a cure, or at least the cause. Do you have some leads, Sonny?"

"I do. But it´s all baseless. He has no Metaflux, or at least we don´t know about it. Plus, he´s rumored to be dead, but we didn´t find a body. Master Simbra, I am talking about General Bleylock. Only he would pull something like this off."

Brim Simbra silently pondered. "I see. We cannot frame someone who is dead. But then who could do such a thing? Metaflux is a danger to our whole galaxy. Whoever did it must be stopped. I am counting on you and your men to find them, Sonny. Stay in contact with Dame Simbai, I´ll inform her as as soon as we have more data on Shadow Archipelago. And don´t tell anyone about what has been said."

"My lips are sealed." Sonny said. "Mine too." Corso added.

"Good. I pray we meet under better circumstances next time, Sonny Blackbones."

Sonny and Corso excused themselves and headed back to their ship. But Corso was a bit intrigued. "Sonny, might I ask something?

"Of course, Corso. It´s not about the situation?"

"No... I am just curious... I never spoke with Micro Ice or his mother... do you think we could go to Akillian and visit them?"

Sonny gave him quite a strange look. "Corso... are you hiding something? Why so interested all of sudden?"

Corso looked away. "I am sorry for my selfish request, Sonny. But I have to confirm something. " His friend was troubled with something, but Sonny wasn´t one to pry. "Alright. We have to go back to Akillian anyway. I´ll drop you off as soon as we arrive."

The two pirates arrived back at their ship and Sonny set course back to Akillian.

They still had no word back from the party investigating Shadow planet.

~TO BE CONTINUED~

AN – I fear this will turn into a multi chapter story. I have a devious mind sometimes... So hooray for another chapter! Go snow go! P.S. - if there are typos or mistakes in general, point them out and will fix them.