CHPT10

The Snowkids had been in Genesis for about a week; so far nothing to do with the uprising had popped up. Everything was normal; they had been training hard, been to several press conferences and signed various jerseys, pictures, D'Jok had even signed a fan girl's arm so she could go and get it tattooed on. They were all at the astroport waiting to greet their loved ones. The announcement confirmed that the flight from Akillian had landed, and, just minutes later, the passengers started to emerge.

'Maya!'

'Mei, my darling!'

'Thran, Ahito!'

'Tia, my sweetheart!'

'Stella!'

'Rocket!'

Everyone greeted their loved ones with hugs and excited chatter. Artegor had also decided to come, after quitting the coaching job of the Shadows, he would be Aarch's assistant coach. Micro-Ice looked up to see his mother leaving the shuttle.

'Mom!' he shrieked as he jumped in to her open arms.

She returned the hug, 'I've missed you, son,' she whispered gently, tightening the hug. Then gestured behind her.

'Hey, Icy. Don't I get a hug?'

Micro-Ice looked behind his mother to see a pair of golden eyes looking mischievously at him.

'Shi!'

The teenage girl ran into his arms and buried her face in his coat.

'I thought you weren't coming 'til the final?'

She pulled away so she was facing him, 'who said you were getting to the final?'

'Ahem, last year we won the GFC, or did you forget?'

'How could I forget, you don't shut up about it,' she joked.

'Well, let's see you win it and keep quiet,' he chuckled.

She responded with a light punch before he pulled her on to his back.

'Where's luggage?' she yelled over the whole astroport, making all of the parents turn to stare.

Micro-Ice looked up at the girl resting on his shoulders and smiled; she would help to take his mind off this whole uprising business.

Zain and Benson were sitting in the Presidential Shuttle drinking champagne. They were on their way to Genesis Stadium; Mana-Ice had just told Zain they had arrived at the astroport and no attacks had been launched on their son. The powerful man breathed a sigh of relief.

'Is everything okay, Sir?'

'It's this uprising, Benson. What if they do try to hurt Micro-Ice?' he questioned his trusted advisor as he gazed out of the porthole.

Benson sneered, 'he's not a child anymore, Zain. I'm sure he can look after himself.'

'He's still in danger, Benson,' he sighed.

'If you're that worried about the boy, I have an idea concerning security for him.'

The young players were settling their families in to the hotel and helping them unpack. Aarch decided to help Artegor unpack his priceless sunglasses collection, but was shouted at for getting finger prints all over the lenses; he was thrown out of the room after around 10 minutes. D'Jok was helping Maya set up her crystal ball; she would never go too far without it. Thran was helping his mother unpack while Ahito and their father decided that having a nap was helping. Mei's father was doing all the work as her mother lectured her about new modelling contracts, all the while shouting at her husband for not being careful enough with the towels. Rocket was helping his father unload his Akillian Orchids; apparently no one else on Akillian could be trusted to care for the flowers properly, so instead Norata decided to book adjoining rooms to care for his plants. Tia stood in horror as Stella showed her the dresses her parents had sent; pink, purple, green, knee-length, strapless, halter dresses; it was worse than being shop-napped by Mei. Micro-Ice and Shiloh had helped Mana-Ice unpack her 'Snowkids Support Kit' which consisted of posters, banners and flags for the parents to hold during the matches. There were also disposable cups, napkins, plates and utensils with the Snowkids' logo on them for the after-party; it freaked the team out a bit, but they appreciated the support.

Once everyone was settled in, the parents were invited to watch the young team train. As they disappeared in to the holo-trainer, Aarch gave the order for Clamp to put in the Rykers. Mei's mother went in to a huff when her daughter took her position on defence.

The Snowkids had commenced playing and were doing quite well, until Rocket lost the ball; that's when the trouble started. Shekmut's clone stormed through the defence and took the shot, only to have it saved by Ahito.

'Eye on the ball, Mei!' Aarch shouted to the screen.

'She would do much better in attack!' Mei's mother retaliated.

'Calm down, dear,' Mei's father pleaded.

'Are you blind? She's far too talented for defence!'

'What's that supposed to mean?' The twins' mother piped up, 'defence is just as important as any other position!'

Artegor snorted, 'everyone knows that offence is the most important position, without them, who would score?'

'My son on midfield, that's who!' Norata hit back, 'without him; this team would be nothing!'

'Without my Tia, there'd be no team!'

'I think you're forgetting how my Micro-Ice brought this team to Genesis!' Mana-Ice stated as she stood up.

'Oh, please! My Mei's the best player on that team, much better than the current strikers!' Mei's mother bellowed.

'I predict a black eye in your future,' Maya barked.

Despite Aarch's best efforts, the group would not stop bickering; with a sigh he turned his attention to the screen.

'Snowkids get out of the holo-trainer and sort out your parents.'

The team sighed in union; the parents usually got along well with each other, but when it came to the run-up to an important match, it wasn't pretty. The holo-trainer vanished and the young players sprung in to action; it had gotten physical. Mei's mother was being held back by her husband so she didn't attack Thran and Ahito's mother who was hurling insults at her in Chinese, Norata and Artegor had begun scratching each other's faces and screaming how their former positions were more important than the others, Maya and Mana-Ice were being pulled away from Stella by Shiloh and Dame Simbai, they had been pulling each other's hair out for the simple reason that there was no one else to brawl with.

'Parents! Stop!'Rocket shrieked as he threw himself between Norata and Artegor.

Mei ran to assist her father in restraining her mother, Micro-Ice and D'Jok rushed to help Dame Simbai and Shiloh while Tia tried to calm her nanny down, and Thran was busy trying to shut his mother's mouth.

From a distance, two pairs of eyes were watching the scene unfold before them.

'Do you think we should interfere, Sonny?'

'Let them sort out their differences, Corso,' the Pirate chief stated while lowering the binoculars, 'we're not here to fight, we're not here to fight.'

'Can I ask why we are here, Sonny?'

'Technoid's been pretty quiet lately, Corso. I just wanted to make sure D'Jok's safe.'

'Why do you think they've been so quiet?'

'There hasn't been a raid on Pirate territory for a while now; they're obviously planning something, Corso.'

The Snowkids had accompanied their parents back to their rooms, fuming that they had to miss practice because their parents were behaving like children. Rocket had been lecturing Norata on the importance of training for an hour; the rest of the team pitied the former defender.

Micro-Ice was walking back from the medical room; he had sustained a black eye from restraining his mother in the holo-training room. As he walked along the corridor, mumbling to himself about how ridiculous the situation was, he bumped in to someone going the opposite direction.

'Benson? What are you doing here?'

'Master Micro-Ice, your father assigned me to keep an eye on you.'