CHPT37

Wow, this turd of a chapter caused some problems. Got me a new laptop, so I managed to get this done and dusted with several cups of coffee and heaps of shortbread. It's past 3am here, so like a normal person, I'm gonna go sleep. Happy New Year to all of you guys! x

'Hello, dear holo-viewers. This is Callie Mystic reporting to you live from Genesis Stadium, which is buzzing with activity in anticipation for the Galactik Football Cup Final, which will take place in just a matter of hours! I'm here with Artegor Nexus, assistant coach of the Snowkids, who will compete with the Xenons for the most treasured possession in the world of the GFC. Artegor, what are your predictions for the match?'

'The Snowkids have been training hard, and have shown great potential in training. We'll see what happens on the field; however, Aarch and I are both rather confident that they will take the cup,' he drawled, trying to block out the journalist's chirpy voice.

'And the Xenons?'

'The Xenons are a magnificent team, I must admit; however, these kids are champions, and they will fight to keep their title.'

'What about the health of your players?'

'There were a few... mishaps during training, but all of our players have been given the go-ahead, and they will all be on the field today.'

'There you have it, dear viewers; Artegor Nexus on today's match! We'll be chatting to the fans after a message from our sponsor.'

Micro-Ice stretched his arms above his head with a small grunt, throwing his head back to look at D'Jok.

'Think we can take 'em?'

'We'll pummel them into the ground,' the redhead smirked, adjusting his shin guards.

'If you say so, captain,' the smaller striker chuckled.

D'Jok rolled his eyes and stood up straight, ruffling his little brother's hair and laughing at the childish pout he was given.

They were interrupted by a figure looming over them, which caused both teenagers to look up with a yelp. Above them stood D'Jok's father, who was unsuccessfully attempting to hold back a snicker.

'Oh, hi Dad,' D'Jok said, trying to act as nonchalant as possible, 'what brings you here?'

'Just doing a quick patrol. Remember what I told you, boys.'

'Dad, we're fine.'

Sonny raised an eyebrow, folding his arms across his chest, as if saying we'll see about that. He looked up as Corso peeked his head in through the door after ensuring all of the players were decent. The second-in-command walked towards the trio with a grim expression on his face.

'Bennett and Artie have identified a large reading of flux somewhere in the stadium.'

Sonny narrowed his eyes, mentally drawing out escape routes should something happen that would risk the lives of those who had come to watch the match. He demanded that Corso take him to his fellow Pirates, leaving the two strikers to contemplate what had just happened.

Mana-Ice handed Zain a party hat, which adorned the Snowkids' logo. He grudgingly put it on and returned his attention to the party streamers he was assigned to put up. Mei's father had taken on a purple tinge from blowing up so many balloons, while his wife unsympathetically scolded him for not going fast enough or giving it the wrong quantity of air. Standing on her tiptoes, Shiloh assisted D'Jok's adoptive mother in putting up the large congratulations banner.

'Hey Mana, what happens if they lose?'

The mother in question turned to glare at the teenager, and Shiloh could have sworn that she heard an inhuman growl coming from her. Zain waved his hands frantically, which acted as a non-verbal warning to take that back.

'They won't lose.'

'Well, what if they did? Hypothetically of course,' she tried, hopeful that she would at least live to see the final.

'Then we run like all Hell back here and take everything down.'

Shiloh nodded, turning away from the banner to admire her handiwork. Maya leaned in close to her ear as she was walking past.

'Sleep with your eyes open tonight.'

The teenage girl looked curious at the medium, who gave her a grim look that said I know what happens; I'm psychic, remember? She nodded, picking up a nearby box labelled flags and passed it to the twins' mother, who accepted it and in return asked her to help Keira set out the cutlery.

Duke Maddox watched as the transportation devices descended onto the thick glass field, stopping to allow both teams to hop off. The Snowkids, he noted, leapt off the pad with far less grace than the Xenons; a reminder that they were still kids.

'Harris,' he grunted, looking towards the assistant on his right, 'is everything ready to go?'

'Yes, Your Excellency.'

The former leader of Technoid nodded briefly, turning back to the game.

'Hey Micro-Ice?'

'Hm?'

'What was Sonny talking about earlier in the locker room? Is there a problem? He looked kind of... Off.'

'I don't really know, Mei,' he admitted, 'something to do with a large flux reading in the stadium, but he left right after that.'

Mei considered this for a moment, looking at her team mate sceptically.

'It's the Galactik Football Final, nearly every player in the galaxy is here right now either watching or playing; isn't that normal?'

'I'm not sure. Maybe.'

There was a tense silence among the team as they took their positions, measuring themselves compared to their reptile counterparts. D'Jok glared at the star player, Luur, as he hopped up and down on his tip toes. The buzzer sounded moments later, indicating that the match had begun. The stadium erupted into a roar of excitement as the two captains launched themselves into the air. D'Jok watched in horror as Luur shot the ball towards Ahito from his current position, still afloat with the aid of his flux.

'Ahito, look alive!'

Said goalkeeper registered the striker's scream as the ball came hurtling towards him, smacking him full force on the head and ricocheting off, only to be stopped by Mei and passed to Tia. Thran sprinted towards his little brother, who looked a little dizzy.

'You okay, little brother? Are you hurt?'

'Ahito, are you okay?' Aarch's concerned voice demanded from the keeper's earpiece.

'Gah!' he exclaimed, trying to regain his composure, which took a few minutes, by which time Rocket was trying to dribble past one of the large opponents, 'I'm fine.'

'Good, now stay focused! Thran, get back in position!'

The older twin give his brother a thumbs up before jogging back to where Mei stood, waiting anxiously for their next attack on the goal post.

'Where is it, Bennett?' Sonny requested, coming to stand behind the blonde Pirate to look at his screen, immediately identifying a blinking red dot which confirmed the presence of a large concentration of flux.

'This way,' he exclaimed, pointing down a wide corridor before the four men took off running.

Artie looked at his watch, dismayed that he was, yet again, missing the GFC final to foil Technoid's plans for Galactic Domination, which all seemed to take place during the final. And they had the nerve to call themselves football lovers.

'It should be just around this corner, Sonny.'

The foursome stopped in their tracks as they came to an abandoned part of the stadium. Corso immediately slammed the door open, coming face to face with a large machine glowing with a muted hue.

'What d'ya think it is, Sonny?' Artie asked in awe, approaching the large container.

'I'm not sure,' he admitted, shaking his head, 'but it can't be anything good.'

Artie touched the device with the palm of his hand, recoiling with a pained hiss.

'Holy Smog, that thing's hot!' the youngest Pirate growled, shaking his hand aroung madly.

'Grow up, Artie. It's just a little burn.'

'Oh yeah? Then you touch it, Corso.'

'No. I'm not a moron.'

Sonny walked towards a large control panel attached to the mysterious machine. He scrutinised every detail, from the tiniest blinking lights to the giant red button in the middle. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion; if this was what they thought it was, the galaxy was in serious trouble.

'Bennett, I need you to run an analysis on this thing. I'm going back to the locker room; there's no telling when or where they'll strike.'

'Block him; don't let him through!'

The two defenders sprinted towards the oncoming striker for the umpteenth time today, preparing to tackle the Xenon with everything they had in them. Time seemed to slow as the ball stormed through the defence, narrowly missed Ahito's waiting hands and hit the back of the net. D'Jok gritted his teeth in annoyance, glaring at the smug Xenon, who had just smiled tauntingly at his girlfriend. Micro-Ice appeared to notice this, as he jogged towards his friend.

'It's okay, D'Jok. We'll get the next one; it's only the end of the first half.'

'I'm not so sure,' the captain sighed, looking at his feet, 'they're a strong team.'

'So are we, dude,' the younger smirked, reaching up to tap his friend's shoulder, 'you're starting to sound like some melodramatic chic.'

The obnoxious buzzer sounded for half time, allowing the defenders to take a breather; they had been blocking, tackling and running around like headless chickens for over half an hour. Sore and solemn, the team boarded the pod and were carried towards the changing room, where Sonny was waiting.

Mana-Ice huffed as the first half finished, as did several of the parents. Zain slumped in his seat as he threw a chip into his mouth.

'Well, at least it's only one-nil. It could be worse,' the politician tried, turning to the teenager on his left for encouragement.

'Err... Yeah. They only need two goals in a half hour, right?'

Mei's mother grunted in reply, a sour expression plastered on her face. Her husband slowly scooted away from her, afraid that she was about to spontaneously combust.

'Sir?'

Zain turned around to see a young usher standing in the entrance to the parents' pod, looking slightly intimidated. He smiled reassuringly at the man to let him know that he wasn't going to rip his heart out and feed it to the steaming demon that was Mei's mother a few seats behind him.

'Yes?'

'You're needed in the Snowkids' locker room; apparently it's urgent.'

The president stretched and stood up, passing his chips to the confused mother beside him before following the young man out the door.

Artegor looked at the glum teenagers; they had given it their all, but the Xenons appeared to be purposely trying to throw the young players off their game, and it was working. Aarch had gone to speak with the parents of the two strikers on an important issue, leaving him to sort out this mess. Something neither the team nor the assistant coach were happy about.

'Okay, Snowkids. It's time for a new strategy. D'Jok?'

The captain perked up at the mention of his name, looking up to meet the face of Artegor, who was awaiting an answer. He looked down as he started to formulate a new plan of action.

'Well, we definitely need to strengthen our defence; me and Micro-Ice are just waiting around for something to happen up there. We should all play more defensive,' he explained, not looking up from his position on the bench as he affectionately massaged Mei's shoulders, hoping to ease some of her tension.

'We can't just be defensive; we need goals, D'Jok,' Rocket intervened with his arms crossed over his chest, determined to lead the team in the right direction despite no longer being the captain.

'I know; but we need possession to score. That's why we should concentrate on getting the ball away from them. Then, we strike.'

Artegor nodded in approval, pleased to see that the thick air of tension in the room had not affected the negotiation of strategies between the two.

'Wouldn't they be expecting that?' Tia asked, finding an obvious weakness in their plan.

'Perhaps,' Artegor responded, 'however, what they would not be expecting is for you all to use your flux at the same time.'

The Snowkids excitedly agreed, cherishing the idea of using the Breath as one and combining their energy to defeat one of their strongest opponents yet. Micro-Ice lazily raised his hand.

'One small problem with your plan; I can't use it. Sonny's orders,' he shrugged.

'Exactly. The Xenons will not consider you a threat. Therefore, they'll be busy marking your team mates, leaving you wide open.'

A devious smile came to Micro-Ice's face at the idea, 'I like it.'

The three men entered the room which housed the mysterious machine; the walk there consisted of Aarch demanding what was so important that he had to be led away from his team and Sonny responding with a vague you'll see. Zain remained silent as they gave the device a once-over.

'What is it?' Zain asked, stepping closer with his son's coach in tow, 'a bomb?'

'No, it's tested negative for every kind of bomb; but we're not quite sure what it is.'

Aarch looked to the Pirate who had just spoken; Bennett, he believed his name was.

'It's got a timer though,' Artie pitched in, fiddling with a few buttons on a small device that was connected to the container by a short cable.

'When is it set to go off?'

'The middle of the second half. Go figure.'

Zain looked at Corso in confusion, who just sighed.

'These things always happen in the second half of a cup final.'

'What time is it now?'

Artie looked at his watch and gulped. He chanced a look at his leader, who had on his best poker face, but still had some tell-tale signs of concern in his features.

'It's... Set to go off in three minutes.'

Sonny saw red.