First of all, I am soo sorry about the later-than-usual update, but lack of inspiration and time can be a real killer. Anyway, enjoy the chappie :3


Artegor moodily dabbed his swollen lip with a wet cloth, glaring at Aarch.

'This is all your fault,' he spat at the white-haired coach.

'Please, explain to me how this is all my fault, Artegor. I didn't throw the first punch,' he sighed; he had gotten used to having to defend himself when it came to Artegor's rants.

'It was your player who threw the first punch.'

'Only because Sinedd pulled his hair; you know how Mark gets about that thing on his head. He's almost as bad as-'

'Don't you dare, Aarch!'

'… You.'

'I can't believe you're comparing me to Mark, of all of your pathetic players!'

'Well, who would you like me to compare you to?'

'If you were going to compare me and my hair to any of your Snowkids, I'd prefer to be compared to that nephew of yours; he has nice hair,' he babbled on, stroking his own black locks.

Aarch looked over to his nephew, who was being held down by D'Jok and Thran while Norata tried to untangle his dreadlock that had been caught in the ceiling fan. His golden eyes were narrowed as he watched Tia talk to Stevens, who just nodded along to whatever she was saying; he had gotten a bit possessive since the Netherball incident.

'You'd look ridiculous in those dreadlocks, Artegor.'

'Oh, and you'd look any better?'

'I'm his uncle, of course I would.'

'Well, we'll just have to see, won't we?'


Luur strolled off the stage clutching the roses that had been thrown on to the stage by his adoring fans.

'Let's see you top that, pretty boy,' he smirked at Rocket, who was waiting behind the curtain with his group, snarling at the lizard.

'And now, before we are graced with any more aspiring poets, allow me to introduce to you, the cast of Cinderella!'

The Shadow playing Cinderella took to the stage, sinking to the floor and pretending to scrub.

'What happened to your hair, Rocket?' Yuki whispered to him, noticing that one of his dreadlocks seemed a bit frayed.

'Your little boyfriend ended up stealing Sinedd's ceiling fan.'

'How does that answer my question?'

'It was attached to my hair,' he mumbled, taking the damaged piece of hair in his hand; this was going to need quite a bit of Grumble Hair Conditioner.

'That's why you had it?'

'That would be the reason.'

'That's… interesting.'

'Oh, I wish I could go to the ball!'

Rocket looked on to the stage to see Cinderella sobbing.

'Well Yuki, that's your cue.'


'Artegor, I feel ridiculous!'

'That's because you don't suit this hairstyle.'

'This whole thing is ridiculous. Let's just go back to the theatre.'

Artegor handed the cashier enough to cover the expense of their purchases and they left the store.

'Oh, we will, Aarch. As soon as we put these on,' he said, handing Aarch a Rocket wig.

'I don't understand why they sell these things anyway,' Aarch mumbled, taking the wig and studying the questionable costume store behind them closely.

'You're just annoyed because they haven't sold a jersey with your number in years.'

'You seem to be taking it rather well though.'

'In case you've forgotten, Sinedd is wearing my old jersey number; and it's a best seller.'

Aarch stopped dead in his tracks, wondering if he should recruit a new Snowkid with his old jersey number; that would teach Artegor a lesson.

'What do you think?' Artegor asked as he spun around, his dreadlocks dancing in the air.

'You look utterly ridiculous,' he moaned, putting his own wig on, watching Artegor scrutinise his new look, 'well?'

'It looks stupid on your tiny head with those huge shoulders.'

'Why you-'

'Oh my gosh! It's Tangela from Pokémon!'

The two men looked around in horror to see several people running towards them.

'See Aarch? I told you.'

'I'm sure they were talking about you.'

As the youths began to edge closer, the two coaches decided it was in their best interest to head back to the theatre.


Thran pouted; they were on next and Ahito showed no signs of waking up. Not that it mattered to the women of his group; one little yawn and they were all over him like a swarm of flies. They were identical twins, how was he so easily overlooked while Ahito could, quite literally, make fan girls scream in his sleep?

'What's up with you?' Micro-Ice wheezed from the bench, not daring to stand up in case the dreaded corset killed him from the inside.

'I have no fans,' the defender frowned.

'Hey, at least your fan-base isn't made up of 9-year-old girls.'

'At least you have a fan base! Anytime I get close to getting a Thran girl, Ahito falls asleep and steals her right out from under me!'

'I really hope that was metaphorical.'

'Micro-Ice!'

'Okay, look. All you have to do is make sure Sleepy Gonzalez over there stays awake,' he said as he pointed to the sleeping goalie in the corner.

'Sleepy Gonzalez?'

'Yeah, all you guys have nicknames.'

'What's mine?'

'I forgot to give you one,' he said sheepishly, realising that he had overlooked the footballer who was upset about having no fans.

'Great, I'm being overlooked by the munchkin over here!'

'Hey!'

'Sorry,' he muttered unconvincingly, 'did you want to say something?'

'No.'

Thran sighed as the little striker crossed his arms, stuck out his bottom lip and looked away. He was used to Micro-Ice huffing and knew how to handle this. He walked towards the door and came back minutes later holding a chocolate muffin. Thran watched Micro-Ice snatch the small cake from him and take a bite.

'Well?' Thran asked, knowing that Micro-Ice had completely forgiven him.

'All you have to do is give Ahito coffee so he doesn't fall asleep and steal your thunder.'

'But… Coffee's a drug,' he responded nervously, 'what if it makes him relapse?'

The raven haired boy flicked his taller friend in between the eyes, 'he won't relapse if he drinks one cup of coffee!'

'How do you know?' Thran asked as he rubbed the attacked area.

'Dude, it's coffee.'

'It's full of caffeine!'

'Oh great; over protective Thran's back. Come on, he's had it before-'

'He's what?!'

Micro-Ice could swear that there was fire burning in those dark eyes; they weren't supposed to tell Thran that they had given Ahito coffee right before the first final; it worked until half-time, and he didn't even get sick.


'What about you? Tell me your name,' Rocket said, drowning out the sounds of his mother weeping in the front row.

'My name is Cinderella, my fair prince.'

'Please try on this shoe,' he responded, holding up a transparent shoe, 'I must know if you are my fair princess!'

'Of course, my Prince.'

Rocket couldn't help but think how stupid this story was; he would never ask Tia to wear a glass slipper and risk cutting the feet off her. Not that this was a real glass slipper; this was more of a plastic slipper, something you would find in the Disney Store. He found it hard to keep insulting the cartoon in his mind as his mother's weeping grew louder. Rocket could feel his eye twitching, but didn't let his mother's blubbering faze him.

'So… Grown up!'

'It's okay Keira…'

'He's so handsome, Norata! And that's our son!'

'Yes, I-'

'Oh, Rocket. My baby's all grown up!'


'I'm telling you; I wear these dreadlocks better than you!'

'No you don't!'

'I do, Aarch; it's just another victory over you.'

Aarch growled and pushed open the door, forgetting that he and his friend were clad in matching Rocket wigs.

'This isn't a victory, Artegor.'

'Then what is it?' Mei asked.

The two older men spun around to meet the confused gazes of everyone in the room.

'So…' Micro-Ice began, a slight smirk coming to his face.

'It's… different,' Ahito winced.

'What is wrong with you?' Sinedd snarled, taking out his phone and quickly snapping a photo of the dumbfounded coaches.

'I would have thought you'd like this, Sinedd,' D'Jok chuckled, 'after all, two Rockets are better than one, right?'

The Shadow's star striker glared at him before slipping the device back in his pocket.

'Uncle Aarch, what's going on?'

'Oh great,' Aarch moaned, he would never hear the end of this, he turned to the door to see a very confused looking Rocket, eating an ice-cream, while an equally confused looking Tia was eating a carrot, 'I can explain everything!'

'Are you doing a Tarzan show?' Rocket asked, tilting his head to one side.

'No, I think they're cosplaying,' Mei said out loud.

'I was thinking that they were just going incognito; Artegor's doing a better job if you ask me, what, with those shades,' Micro-Ice piped up.

Aarch and Artegor listened to the various theories as to why they would wear dreadlocked wigs; they didn't know why they were either to be honest. At that moment, Keira walked in dabbing her eyes, but once she caught sight of the two men in front of her, she abruptly left the room, blubbering something about Rocket being so handsome that he influenced another generation. They never recalled Rocket getting this grief from his teammates; damn kids.