CHPT13

'Micro-Ice! Micro-Ice! Answer me!' D'Jok screamed as he frantically searched the corridors. His father was never wrong when it came to these things, and now he couldn't find his best friend; he feared the worst.

'Micro-Ice! Please!'

Something at the end of a small corridor caught his eye; it was a pure white hallway, yet he could have sworn he caught a glimpse of something dark red on the floor. As he approached, his suspicions were confirmed; now was a pretty good time to panic.

Blood.

Micro-Ice slowly opened his eyes.

Eugh, what happened?

The captive sat up slowly; his head was throbbing. Clutching his head in his hands, he let out a quiet groan. Looking around him, he noticed that he was in a dimly lit room, from what he could tell, it looked like an old cell; a bare mattress sat on a steel bed frame, apart from a few boxes scattered across the room, there wasn't much else. When the situation registered in his brain, Micro-Ice mentally kicked himself.

How did I get caught off guard like that?

One moment of weakness and the whole galaxy had to suffer.

Sitting on the cold floor, he began mentally planning his escape.

Alright, Micro-Ice, think like a Pirate.

What would a Pirate do?

Come on, Micro-Ice; you must have learned something! You lived with the Pirates for two days for crying out loud.

Stupid memory-erasing device!

The frustration grew within the young athlete, he couldn't think of anything. The young footballer froze as the door slowly opened.

Sonny and Corso followed D'Jok's directions; the distressed teenager had called his father and told him that he couldn't find Micro-Ice, but that he had also found some blood in an isolated corridor. The Pirates had turned in to the corridor to see D'Jok sitting against the wall, his fingers were gripping his bright red hair; the teenager was obviously angry. Sonny ran to his son and brought him in to a tight hug.

'It's alright, D'Jok,' he spoke softly, his son was clearly distraught.

Corso inspected the blood; there wasn't an awful lot of it, maybe enough to be from a bad nose bleed. The second-in-command turned to see his good friend comfort his son. Corso hated to see Sonny like this; they were like brothers. He knew that the leader wouldn't back down; he would fight until the end. Technoid had better watch their back.

Micro-Ice looked up at his captor; he could have sworn he'd heard of someone who matched his description.

'Well, look who's up,' the figure sneered, 'did you have a nice sleep?'

'You know, actually, I didn't. The floor isn't that comfortable.'

'I'd advise you to save the humour,' he warned as he brought his face down to the boy's level, asserting his dominance.

Micro-Ice didn't want to admit it, not even to himself; but at this precise moment-in-time, he was terrified. He felt the green eyes of his captor piercing his soul; they were truly terrifying. A metallic hand grabbed his chin and turned it to the right, allowing the man to get a better look.

'Oh, you are definitely Zain's son.'

He released the boy's chin and let out a sinister laugh.

'We won't have any problems getting what we want from your father.'

D'Jok slowly made his way back to the team to break the news. Sonny had come along too; he knew that his son needed support. They reached the door of the locker room and walked in.

Mei looked up and saw immediately that something was wrong. Amidst the excitement of her teammates, she studied D'Jok's face, trying to figure out what had happened. When his father, the infamous Sonny Blackbones followed him through the door, she knew it was something serious.

'Guys?' D'Jok spoke over the excitement of his teammates, once he was sure he had their attention, he continued.

'There's something you need to know.'

Mana-Ice and Shiloh expressed their excitement to each other as they hurried down the corridor to set up the Snowkid's victory party. Their high spirits were interrupted when Zain ran frantically towards them.

'Mana!'

'Zain?' his ex-wife froze in her tracks, 'what are you doing here?'

'Mana, tell me you've seen Micro-Ice,' the frantic father pleaded, completely ignoring her question.

'Zain, what are you talking about? We just left the booth.'

'Mana-Ice, who is this?' Shiloh questioned the woman beside her; she seemed to know this crazy man who had just ran up to them and demanded to know the location of her son.

Mana-Ice ignored her son's girlfriend when she saw the distressed look on her former husband's face.

'Zain, tell me our son's okay.'

D'Jok had just broken the news to his teammates; Micro-Ice was missing, almost certainly kidnapped. He could be dead. He could be hurt. D'Jok didn't know.

'Are you absolutely certain?' Rocket spoke up, recovering from his initial shock.

'If you knew what I knew, you'd be pretty sure too,' the captain sighed, looking at his feet.

Mei tightened her grip on D'Jok's hand, 'D'Jok, none of this is your fault.'

'I could have prevented it though, Mei.'

Mei didn't say anything; there was nothing she could say. When he was in this mood, words wouldn't help. The brunette rested her head on D'Jok's arm, all she could do now was comfort him. She tried to imagine how it would feel if Tia were to go missing; she couldn't bear the feeling.

A pair of emerald eyes watched the scene unfold. Tia let out a deep sigh, drifting in to deep thought. Could this have something to do with his father?

Sonny studied the distressed faces of the young players in front of him. He had yet to break the news to the president, but after bolting out of the booth so suddenly, he was sure to be suspicious. He needed to get this rescue mission underway. The sooner, the better.

Micro-Ice was still slumped against the wall. The man with the glowing green eyes had left a little while ago; he hadn't said much, nothing at all really. The appearance of his abductor was enough to send shivers down his spine; just looking at him made the boy feel like a vulnerable child, made him want to crawl up in to a ball until summer once again arrived in Akillian. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even hear the door open until a beam of light spread across the floor. When he saw the intruder, his blood boiled.

'Well, if it isn't Judas himself,' the teenager scowled.

'Oh, come now, Micro-Ice, that's a little mean,' the traitor sneered.

'I've got some other words in mind, but I'm pretty sure you won't like them.'

Benson rolled his eyes. Could he be any more like Zain? He had his hair, his eyes, his stubbornness; everything. It was almost as if he had Zain himself at his mercy.

'I noticed you haven't begged me to let you go,' he stated with a disturbing look in his eye.

Micro-Ice shot him a threatening glare, 'you don't expect me to believe that'll change anything, do you?'

The older man narrowed his eyes, 'didn't anyone tell you that a bad attitude gets you nowhere?'

'My attitude isn't my main concern now.'

Benson simply sighed before turning towards the door.

'He's all yours now, General.'

Micro-Ice went pale.

General?

Metal hand?

Glowing green eyes?

Galactic domination?

Bleylock.