Sorry to take forever uploading a new chapter, just school and exams got in the way and I didn't have time to write down anything, plus I had a major (AND I MEAN MAJOR) writers block. Hope you like the chapter. :)
LAST TIME ON GALACTIK FOOTBALL
"So what are we going to do?"
"See my good friend, I told you she would come back, she's the best!"
"Tia's been kidnap..."
"You don't understand anything!"
"Do you understand now?"
DISCOVERY
Another training session without Tia and nothing had changed with Rocket, well excepted from the fact that he was playing worse. He playing on the field was below poorly, in fact it didn't seem he was bothering to play at all and nothing could seem to get through to him. Aarch didn't know what to do; it wasn't like he could take his nephew off the team, especially with the next cup just in two days. There was no way they could find someone to replace him in time. The other bad news was that Dame Simbai had just informed Aarch that Ahito was too weak to play at the moment and would have to miss the first match. Aarch wondered if he should try talking to Rocket again but shook the idea from his head because he had a feeling that he would get a similar reaction to last night. He considered his best option to get one of the Snow Kids or all of them to talk to his nephew. Then he thought if he wouldn't talk to him then why would he talk to his teammates. Still it was better than nothing; they were all friends after all. He waited for the training session to finish before he made up some excuse to hold D'jok back. Waiting for the rest of the Snow Kids and the rest of the staff to disappear first before he turned his attention back to D'jok
"D'jok, I need you to try and talk to Rocket, he won't listen to me." Aarch asked the young lad that stood in front of him. D'jok had no idea why he had been picked, he was probably one of the last people Rocket wanted to talk to but he agreed anyway. He had to at least try for the sake of the team. Thinking it would be better if he got the whole team to comfort him instead of just going alone. As soon as he left his uncles presence he gathered up the team together, then they made their way over to Rockets room.
"Do you think this will work D'jok?" Micro-Ice asked his best friend nervously. No one but Micro-Ice, Yuki and Thran knew what the meeting had been like between Rocket and his uncle. They hadn't meant to eavesdrop on the conversation but Thran had left his jumper in the training room and they had turned back to collect it when they heard the argument. Honestly, all three of them were a little scared to confront Rocket but they knew they had to for the sake of the team and for Rockets own good.
"I don't know Micro-Ice but we have to at least give it a try." D'jok answered his small friend with a determined expression in his face. When they approach Rocket's room all of the Snow Kids held their breath when D'jok knocked on the door.
She stared at the bare grey walls around her. The voices that used to always ask questions about what she was doing here began to slowly disappear and be replace by one thing; Netherball. It was the only thing that made her feel good. When she was here in her room or getting a health check by one of those silly doctors that kept asking her the same questions and trying out the same things, she felt sick and weak but when she played Netherball she felt alive and powerful. A sharp pain hit her hard in the stomach. Damn it! The girl thought, it was the third time today that happen, the only thing that made the pain ago away was when she was playing Netherball. Swiping the sweat off her head (despite the fact that the room was freezing) it was horrible to wait around for the next match. She couldn't wait to play Netherball tonight. She wondered who she was going to play against; hopefully he or she would be a tougher opponent, so she could truly show how good she was.
Artie was at a total loss. He wanted to be out there, helping the pirates search for Tia, who had become like the sister he had always wanted. They had kept in touch over the years after Tia joined the pirates for a short time to save her parents from a Technoid prison. To be honest he blamed himself for being stuck here, cleaning dishes in this stupid cafe instead of helping the pirates search for Tia. He had gotten into trouble a few weeks ago with Corso so this was his punishment. Sometimes he missed the old pirate's life, the adventure and the excitement; it was the only thing Artie had known ever since he was a kid, not cleaning dishes it a little cafe. Sighing to himself, he shook his head to get rid of his silly thoughts. This was his new life now, besides it wasn't that bad but it would have been a whole lot better if...
"Artie! Hurry up; you were supposed to be finished with them half an hour ago!" The robot shouted through the curtain in the wall that link the kitchen and the front of the cafe together.
"Since when was a person giving a specific time to finish washing dishes." Artie snapped back, he really hated that robot. He honestly didn't know who would employ that robot to work in a cafe or anywhere that was food related; seriously that robot was a menace to society because no matter how good the taste buds are on that piece of tin, the food was the most disgusting stuff you would ever taste.
"Since I am your boss and I'll make sure Corso keeps you here for the rest of your life." The robot argued back before disappearing again. An icy chill went down Artie's spine at the very thought of working here for the rest of his life. Finishing off the dish he was washing he quickly followed the robot out of the kitchen. Artie grabbed and tray and began going around the tables to collected the empty dishes and plates on the tables. He quickly looked up to the crowd of people sitting around the stage and laughing at the comedian robot that was telling a few jokes that Artie didn't really find funny. He sighed to himself as he shifted in and out of the tabled to collect the rubbish and empty cups on them; he was just doing the last table when he heard muttering behind him.
"I told you she's the greatest!" A ex-Wamba's player yelled happily at his friend and stuff another burger in his mouth (the Wamba kind not the normal kind) while his friend just sat opposite him with his arms cross and his face in a frown.
"Yeah, well we'll see how well she handles tonight." His skinny friend replied. Artie was only partly paying attention, since he was trying to get out of his Pirate ways.
"Well I bet you twenty credits that Tia's going to kick whoever's butt tonight." The fat Wamba shouted out, turning Artie's full Pirate senses on alert. The skinny Wamba launched across the table and slapped his hand over his friend's mouth.
"Keep quiet will you, we don't want anyone to overhear." He hissed at his friend and sent an evil glare towards Artie, who pretended not to take interest and continued to clean tables. Could they possibly mean the Tia I know? Artie wondered to himself. No, it couldn't be. Tia had been kidnapped, why would two random Wamba's be talking about her like she was competing in something. Maybe they didn't know that Tia had disappeared from the Snow Kids but they were talking about seeing her tonight. He wasn't sure but his gut feeling told him to go with his line of thoughts for now; until he was sure that it wasn't really Tia he knew that the two Wamba's were talking about. He took another glimpse at the two Wamba's that were now talking quietly, he was sure that he recognised those two Wamba's from somewhere before but he couldn't put his finger on it. Artie walked away from the two Wamba's and placed his stuff on the counter but his eyes never left the two to ex-football players that still sat at the table. When it was nearly midnight the two Wamba's finally got up and left but what they didn't know was that Artie was following them close behind in the shadows.
Rocket sat on his bed surrounded by the whole team. They had just spent the last five minutes trying to convince Rocket to pull his act together for the cup. He couldn't believe it, Tia was gone and all they could think about was the cup. First his uncle now their friends, what's next her own parents?
"So what am I suppose to do? Just sit back while Tia's still out there somewhere." He demanded from his teammates quite loudly, all of the Snow Kids looked at each other for an answer to Rockets question but no one seemed to know what to say until Mei stepped forward.
"This hasn't been easier for any of us Rocket." Mei stated firmly towards Rocket with a stubborn stare that could match Rockets father's stubbornness any day. "Do you think it was easy for Tia when you left, thinking the worst of what happened to you. But she stayed strong for us and had faith that you would return." All of the Snow Kids nodded in agreement with Mei, even though Tia hadn't started off well herself when Rocket first disappeared, she pulled herself together in the end. What Mei said hit Rocket hard. Hearing what Mei said he finally understood how Tia felt when he had disappeared. Now Rocket felt even guiltier not only for letting Tia down but his uncle and friends down to.
"You're right, I'm sorry." Rocket muttered, after a while of thinking. The tension in the room seemed to decrease dramatically. It seemed through everything bad that was going on at the moment, it was slowly (painfully slowly) getting better again. The whole team surrounded Rocket and gave him pats on the back for encouragement and mumble stuff like he was only human and we all make mistakes.
She was still lying in her bed and staring at the wall, since she didn't really have anything better to do when bright light entered the room.
"Time to play Netherball again my dear." Harris announced with his young assistant next to him. A huge smile spread across her face. Finally! She thought to herself, as she jumped off of the bed and followed the two men to the Netherball stadium that lay just at the end of the hall. The place seemed to be tormenting her, since the hall seemed to be going on forever until she saw the light up ahead. Walking through it she saw that the crowd had grown larger and the echo of thundering voices roared louder through the room. Her smile grew into a large grin as she made her way towards the Sphere in the centre of the room. When she walked to the robot referee and saw no one was waiting for her. She couldn't bear to stand here and face no opponent, so she decided to enter the sphere and stay in there for a bit.
The two ex-Wamba's players enter the stadium and made their way to their usual spot on the upper level, so they had a good look at the screens, not noticing that Artie had slipped in behind them and hid behind one of the pillars. When he first entered the place his felt his jaw hit the floor. He couldn't believe it; he thought this place had been destroyed four years ago when Rocket lost to Tia and a big fight had erupted through the area, destroying everything. He looked up at the screens to see no one was in them yet. He hated waiting, especially in this place, it gave him the creeps. Suddenly, the crowd's cheers grew louder. He turned to see a small figure walking towards the centre of the room but couldn't make out who it was, until they entered the sphere.
"Tia!" Artie cried out, forgetting where he was and that he was meant to be silent, even though it probably didn't matter since it was too noise to hear anything at the moment with the crowd chanting Tia's name. He couldn't believe it. His gut instinct had told him to follow the two Wamba's down here just to eliminate the possibility of where to find her but he was not expecting this. Tia was playing in the Sphere. Something didn't feel right. Artie watched the screens with Tia walking around the Sphere, the way she was walking wasn't her usual shy, calm walk, it was tense and aggressive. His stomach turned upside down when the screen got a close up of her face, so he could see it better. She looked sick; really sick. Her usually creamy complexion was a pale with bags hanging from her eyes. She also looked like she hadn't eaten in days, since he thought he could see some of the bones in her face. Despite her appearance, no one but him seemed to care that she looked like she was ready to die any second. "Tia what the hell happened to you?" Artie whispered to himself, as he watched.
Where the hell was her opponent? She thought angrily to herself. She was pumped, she was excited and she was ready to draw blood. The tension of waiting to play was starting to get to her. She wanted to play so bad; it was the only thing that made her feel good. Anger burned through her body at whoever she was suppose to be waiting for tonight. Why couldn't they hurry up? She didn't want to be sent back to her room again and be forced to wait another day. She wanted to play now. Her wish came true when the door to the Sphere opened and a huge metal figure walked into the room. About time! She thought, as the two players took the positions.
"I'm going to finish you." The Rykers player smirked. An evil grin appeared on her face at that moment. We'll see who's the one getting finish, she smiled inwardly to herself, as the ball appeared between both of them.
