The Second half was about to start. D'Jok wasnt sure he would be allowed playing time at all, since he was still a bit weak, but it did not take a genius to see that all the snow kids was struggling. They were so used to playing hard and with their flux that doing the oposite felt very unnatural to them. And they had struggled all the first half to even get into rythm. It did not help that The Pulsars was running circles around them. And their sonic pulse seeemed impossible to get past. The snow kids were trying, but they were stopped again and again when they ran into it. The Pulsars appeared no affected by resonance today. They did not even break a sweat and did not seem affected by the resonance at all. But he could have sworn he had seen them somewhere before, if only he could remember where... There..D'Jok felt like a pounding headache attacked him head on, as if a memory of something he was not supposed to know, came to the surface. The very nightmare he had told his father and Corso about when on Shiloh. This distorted image of what looked like The akillian Mountains, Mount Tustra to be exact. Now it was like he got a clearer image of it all. It wasnt Mount Tustra, this place had a different topography. But still icy and cold. Where could that place be, he had never been here before. D'Jok tried to focus, to let it all go, but it seemed to hold him in a firm grip. Like he was floating, being brought here by unknown forces. D'Jok used a breathing technique Corso had thought him, to calm himself. As Rocket continued his speech, D'Jok smiled.
His father had been right. The memory would resurface in the right time. And that time proved to be now. Who cared if they won the semi finals or not. They had won three times in a row. what more did they have to prove, nothin to themselves, nor to the galaxy. Maybe their lesson now was to loose, to be stars no matter what came after, even a loss. But he had to speak to hisfather. He had just discovered Lord Phoenix, Magnus Blades true identity, and The Pulsars single weakness. The galaxy would never fall into the hands of such a mean species.
Rocket noticed D'Joks grin.
"Are you feeling up for a second half on the pitch D'Jok? The Snow kids could do with a moral boost" Rocket said.
D'Jok smiled. He was all ready to put in his last drop of energy for The snow kids surely exit from the galactik football cup. This would not be their tournament. For the final, they would be cheering on The pirates, motivating them to give it their all. This was their year.
"I am ready Rocket. If this is the end team, lets give our fans a show worth remembering" he said.
As the team made ready to go back on the pitch, Sinedd smiled.
"Go Snow,Go"..
Clearly, the snow kids had a pep talk during half time break, and D'Jok seemed ready to make the second half one that was on fire.
Sonny had to admire his son, whom rushed forwards. But what surprised him, was to see that D'Jok seemed to know of a weakness The Pulsars had. This was a weakness the pulsars covered up with their game play. To someone not knowing, they would look damn near unbeatable. But how could D'Jok know this. Sonny realised he couldnt know, unless he had seen it with his own eyes. And it dawned on him. The landscape D'Jok had described to him and Corso while under hypnosis...it wasnt Akillian, nor was it Mount Tustra. He had never been to this place.
It was the Pulsars home planet, a planet to the east of Akillian, but not icy as the result of a catastrophe,this planet was naturally this way due to its location far from the sun. And now the pieces of what D'Jok explained started to fall into place for Sonny. Despite their efforts, the snow kids did not seem focused on winning. It didnt take too long to realise that this was the champions putting on one last show for their fans, as they had no plan to win this time. And when The pulsars found the net behind Ahito, it was almost as if you could feel a sigh of relief from the snow kids. When the match was over, The snow kids would follow the same suit as the lightnings, The pirates,all the other former great champions. They would greet their fans as the stars that they were. Corso looked at Sonny as they made ready to leave.
"Is it just me, or did you get the impression they lost on purpose?"he asked Sonny.
Sonny nodded. It was an emotional moment for him as a father to see his sons team loose and take the loss as real stars.
"They lost on purpose Corso. The snow kids knew, after the first half, they did not want to play in the finals this time. They wanted their winning streak to end at three. Pawing way for someone new to pick up their mantle. And in doing so, they passed this on to us, The pirates" Sonny said.
Corso nodded. It made sense. The pirates was the only team he could see being strong enough to take the pulsars on.
"Have you got a strategy ready for the final, now that we know who we are facing?" he asked.
Sonnyn nodded slowly. he had also made a call he knew Corso would not at all. It was a conciderable risk, to himself more than anyone, but he needed to get the upper hand. And the best way, was for him to choose the arena to draw Magnus too. If it came to a physical fight, The pitch of Genesis stadium was their best bet.
"Corso, player X will be captain for the finals match"he said.
"What? Are you out of your mind? You plan to turn yourself over to Duke Maddox giftwrapped too? Genesis stadium will be crawling with Technoid droids for this match, and you plan to serve yourself on a platter?"Corso growled, clearly looking for ways to opose this plan.
"It is the best way to draw Magnus out of hiding" Sonny tried, but Corso wasnt hearing it.
"Forget it, this is insanity" he said.
Sonny shook his head.
"Its the only way to draw him out" he said.
Corso sighed.
"Fine, but in one condition Sonny. I will train you for battle against a member of the pulsars. So far, he has used human methods, but this time, he may resort to tricks he thinks we know nothing about. The pulsars are not about strength, not even weapons. They use their flux, against the flux societys rules, because they found a way to mask the use. But they did not count on an ex military soldier from the chissian elite forces to know this. For now, that is our secret weapon. But you will need a special armour under the uniform. Once we get back to the Black Manta, I will start fabricating it. Till its time, you will wear it day in and day out, to get comfortable with it. We will beat the pulsars, and this time, the cup will be filled with the pirates seed. It will be one glorious sight, I guess you got a plan ready for how to escape the stadium afterwards" he said.
Sonny nodded. As they reached the private astro hangar where The Black Manta was docked, Sonny had started the mental preparation for his inevitable fight with Magnus Blade...
The snow kids was not letting their heads hang down over the loss. It had to happen one day. And with the ongoing resonance, it was a good thing to just be done. Dame Simbai and Clamp was not all sure how they would handle the loss, but found that unlike on Paradisia, The snow kids had grown, and could handle the loss with would have been proud of them. Now they were all gathered in the locker room after officially exiting the cup. They needed to prepare for the press conferance. This was never their favourite thing, but came with the territory. As soon as they lined up, they were bombarded with questions about the loss. Clamp had to ask them to calm down. Callie had a question for them.
"Now that you are all out of the tournament, with the pulsars advancing to meet The pirates, a former underdog team with no flux of their own, whom now seem to have a flux, whom would the snow kids, the three times galactik champions, support in the finals?"she asked.
Rocket took a step forwards.
"I will handle this one on behalf of the team. We have actually talked about this possibility coming to pass. And although we may not always agree within the team, this is a matter we all agreed on. The snow kids will give their full support to The Shiloh Pirates. We have had the pleasure of playing a friendly match against them, and also been on a training boot camp that was held in secretsy, with them. The pirates are more than oponents to us, they are friends. For the observant viewer, you may have seen we have focused a lot more on team play this season. We had to find a new way to reinvent ourselves, and it turned out,team play was the solution" Rocket said.
Another journalist had a question about the pirates trainer, had the snow kids met him?
This time, D'Jok took to the microphone.
"The snow kids knows who the pirates trainer is, but we are sworn to secretsy on the matter. But I can tell you that he is an amazing man, with humour and kindness, when he does not want to act like a drill instructor"he said, to laughs from the present journalists.
"This season has been dominated by a strange phenomenon that it seemed most teams picked up at Paradisa and the ill fated tournament held there. Are The snow kids dealing with this weakness, or have you just burned all your reserves?"came from another journalist.
Tia felt called to answer.
"We feel this phenomenon, wich has a name, resonance, just like all other teams. We got no known way to treat this, but we know what caused it. At this point, we are in contact with the pirates about this. Their leader, Sonny Blackbones, knows his stuff in science. He is helping develop a cure for this. But it may take some time before medical trials can take place. Remember, Sonny Blackbones is also a wanted man,we know Technoid would want him arrested. But for the time being, Sonny has to remain free, to find a cure.I am confident he will do it. He did once help my parents, the obia moon ambassadors. Sonny is not all as bad as he is made out to be. That I guarantee" she said.
After a few more questions, the press conference ended. Now, the journalists had a real job before them. None of the two teams that would play this years finals was listed with a hotel to be found in. The race was on to get an interview with a member of the pulsars or the pirates...
The pirates were panting, the drills was even more extreme than normally. Maybe it was an element of excitement to be in the final, to finally have a chance to really show whom the pirates were, no one knew for sure, but Sonny was pushing them hard. Clearly, their boss felt the weight of this match. On top of that, the streets were not a safe place either. Callie Mystic had her informants out, looking for the pirates to give an interview before the final. So far, both finalists had avoided it, and Sonny and Clamp had continued to push for a way to reverse or completely restore a player from severe resonance. Since the pirates knew the hide and seek game like the back of their hands, and their oponents seemed to play at the same game, Sonny had stayed with Clamp and managed to mix a concoction that could boost the players striken with resonance some. With D'Jok, it had been a success it seemed. After D'Jok, the other snow kids was also given a dose to boost them. Again it seemed that with Rocket, it was another story. Clearly, the sphere had been an enviroment that drew too much flux from him. None of the other players had been drained to the point he had. Even tje boost he got was at a very minimum level. Sonny had to hide his disappointment. It seemed his long time nemesis was still wreaking havoc on the galaxy, this time, targeting the footballers. He had often wondered why he targeted the footballers, and not military nations. But as he learned more, he came to realise what a dangerous weapon flux really was if misused. He was well aware of how it led the galaxy to division before, and why the current rules were as stricht as they were. If it wasnt for the catastrophe that glaciated Akillian, he himself and Clamp would have been in trouble with the flux society as well. There was no way Technoid or Bleylock would claim responsibility, That never happened back in his days working for them, and by the looks of things, not even now. Good thing they were under surveillance constantly from the pirates. Especially the research group. To place the equipment there in the lab at Technoid Base had been a dangerous undertaking, but it had paid off. Technoid could now do nothing in regards to research without him knowing of it. Too bad he didnt have the current surveillance system in place when Bleylock was still around. If he had, maybe he could have figured him out sooner, and they would have been able to stop things before it got to this point. Maybe Rockets case could have been reversed too. But Rocket himself knew why he benefited the least from Sonnys boost. It was the amount of exposure he had, and the fact that he played very hard that was the culprit behind his situation. And he had to take his share of the blame for his current condition.
"There should have been a limit to how long a player could stay in the sphere. Not just till he or she was defeated. We see Warren has it, but not as bad as me, no one else has it as bad as me, maybe, except Kernor. Before me, she was the queen of the sphere. I became the king, but at a price that is far too high. I wish I knew who was behind the cursed thing"he said, clearly disappointed at his results.
Sinedd looked down in shame.
"I would think you can blame Technoid, and a guy called Harris for that. I only played once, and I did not have it as bad as you"he said.
Sonny nodded as he recalled the interview with Kernor and Woo Wam Boo at The sharky show. Both carried signs of resonance even then, but Kernor was clearly more fatigued that Woo Wam Boo. Because she spent more time in the sphere.
"Sinedd, how many players spent more than one match in the sphere? I have noticed that the players that play exceptionally hard seem to have this worse than others. Are there more than Kernor and Rocket that we need to look at?"Sonny asked.
Sinedd looked at Sonny.
"Those two are the only ones Sonny. Most players didnt last through the ten minute matches. It was rough play, and many injuries that would need to be explained away. I only took it on because Harris acted as a representative of Technoid. Had I known Bleylock was behind him, I would have choked the good for nothing double crosser" he said with clenched fists.
Sonny and Clamp exchanged looks. This was validation of Sonnys suspicions against Harris, that he had tricked Bleylock. But Harris was just Bleylocks pawn when it came to the flux and its use. Bleylock himself had a more sinister plan behind him stealing and mixing flux. A new doomsday weapon somehow, Harris had decided to foil his plan at the very end. And now it was time to reveal the real truth behind matters.
"You are part right Sinedd,but Harris was just the middle man, there was someone above him as well,someone that never cares about human life. It always was an acceptable loss to him" said Clamp.
Now all eyes were on Clamp. Sonny nodded to Corso, whom pulled up a hologram from when he had seen Bleylock attack Sonny in the alley.
"Who is that dude?He really needs to change his looks"Micro Ice tried to joke.
Sonny looked at his sons best friend.
"He is the one that is truly responsible for Rockets condition. I wish I could hand him to you on a silver platter, the pirates and I got a lot on this man, but he is dead now. And he was also the reason for why the pitch on Genesis had to be rebuilt and why the paradisian tournament could even take place, wich led to a galactik resonance for all football teams. Formerly, he was a general with Technoid, he and I have been enemies for a long time, it even predates D'Jok. I shielded Clamp, because he was already a very dangerous enemy to have. When we both worked for Technoid, this man was our superior, we reported to him, and I was also a friend to this general, until I discovered the truth about how he mistreated others. This abuse of trust led to me having a fall out, with him. Due to the safety of the galaxy and all involved, I was made a wanted man. I swore to correct what I had done wrong"Sonny said, clenching his fists.
Even now, after all this time, the bare thought of that past, made him boil with anger, for the ones he could not help, those doomed to always search for answers that could not be found.
D'Jok seemed to get whom he was speaking of.
"You mean...that monster is General Bleylock? The same General Bleylock that planned to kill you if I didnt loose the first final we ever played?"he said.
Sonny nodded.
"The one and only D'Jok. Somehow he survived a nasty fall, and I only realised he was alive right before the second final. I had my suspicions, but no concrete proof. When he surfaced, it became a matter of life and death again. If not for Harris setting him up, how, I dont know, Bleylock would have detroyed Genesis and killed everyone on it. The pirates really thought it was over, that we would forget all about him after that. But the monster keeps returning" Sonny said.
Corso had been silent till now.
"True. Sonnys not scared of anything normally, but when it comes to this monster, that is the only thing that will make him wake up screaming, bathing in sweat, because his mind reminded him of something. Harris was childsplay in comparison. It seems Bleylock may be behind several players problems now" he said.
"There is one thing I dont get in all this" said Thran.
That made everyone look at him,
"How come no one in Technoid ever tried to stop him, I mean, they must have known"he said.
Dame Simbai stepped forth.
"That is a long and complicated story"she tried.
But now, Tia rose from her seat.
"Well, we are out of the tournament,we got time to spare, and I think someone owes us some answers about why we are in this situation, all of us"she said.
The adults in the room nodded.
That was a fair ask.
"Then remain seated, Clamp and I will tell you all you need to know about one of the most dangerous men that ever walked this galaxy, and why our discoveries back then could have started a new war if we did not take precautions and steps to prevent it" Sonny said as they made ready to start explaining..
Corso looked at Sonny as he prepared for the training session wearing the armour he had custom made for him. He couldnt stop Sonny from participating in the finals match. He would be wearing the captains armband, Stevens did not feel good about being the captain out there, knowing Sonny would also be playing. This training session however, was not about football. That was why Dame Simbai also was present. This was a training session for Sonny, tailor made to train him in how to use his flux and flux only, to defend himself against Magnus. Despite all searches, it was impossible to locate Magnus for now, but Sonny felt confident he would show before the final.
Corso looked at Sonny whom was ready inside the holo trainer. The way the trainer was built shielded against outside interference and allowed for Sonny to use his flux. Clamp had felt the hologram of Magnus intimidating, but he was not the one faced with him. Sonny was.
And they had set the stage for Genesis stadium. Clamp fed the hologram of the stadium into the trainer, and watched as Sonny, dressed in his team uniform, looked around, to see if he could spot Magnus. His flux was already activated in his hands, ready to put up a shield.
"This time, your flux is your only protection. The only thing between you and him is an energetic shield. You need to be alert and present all the time Sonny"said Dame Simbai.
Sonny nodded as he looked around.
This hologram version of Genesis stadium looked bigger than he was used to. But then again, he never set foot on the pitch like he did now. Corso was right, doing this was risky, but he was left with no real choice. Magnus had manipulated it all into this. This was his chosen arena, where one of them would be at the mercy of Technoid, and the other the winning team. A sound made him move towards the middle. There, the hologram of Magnus looked very real. Sonny had to remind himself of his real appearance. It was nothing like the one he saw here. Not with his genetic heritage from The pulsars. Sonny had seen them play The snow kids. Magnus really had to have issues with many things to create an image that deviated that much from his true identity.
"Time to say your last prayer Sonny. This is one time you wont win" snarled the hologram.
Sonny clenched his teeth.
"We will see about that Magnus. You got a lot to answer for. And I am not stepping down. It was a legal voting, the pirates made the call, not you, not me. They chose me because they wanted the same as I sought, freedom,truth and a sense of closure to the past. If you had given them that, you would still be the leader. You became greedy, lusting for money, power. A true pirate is better than that" Sonny shot back.
"Control the anger you feel, and relax your hands, let the flux flow. The way you act now, you will loose control" Dame Simbai cautioned him.
Corso looked at the screen too.
"Here we go" he said, as the hologram of Magnus launched towards a well prepared Sonny...
The big night was here. In the studio, Noork and Barry were talking with Callie Mystic. This was a truly unexpected outcome of the finale. But then again, this had also been a most unusual cup.
All teams struggled with an unexplainable condition, wich was only getting evident in the final sixteen. They had made calls around to the teams not present at Genesis stadium for the finals, where the reports sounded the same everywhere they asked. The player felt fatigued, and could not for the life of them explain the loss of flux or energy that had happened on the pitch. All they knew was, they had never felt this tired ever before. Technoid was allegedly working on a cure.
There was also speculation if the pirates had done something, since they still seemed strong and were for the first time ever one of two finalists.
As a result, there was a heavy Technoid presence at the stadium tonight. On the pitch and in the locker room, the pirates had immunity, and could not be touched. But when they left, that immunity was gone.
There was also wide spread speculation on wheter the coaches pod was a place covered by the immunity. The galaxy hoped to get a glimpse of the infamous pirate chief as well. Surely, with an event like this, he would be present to cheer his team on. But the coaches pod for the Shiloh pirates remained empty. It seemed the pirates took their precautions before this event as well.
Then, there was the talk about the lack of interviews before the finals match. None of the finalists had said a word, the same way Team paradisia had responded during their final against the snow kids.
Callie had tried all she could to find them, but no luck. Not even a phone call to Corso had helped. She had been told the pirates were focusing on preparing and had no comment to offer.
"Here they come, the two unknown finalists of this years galactik football cup. The pulsars, an unknown team from the distant east of the galaxy, and the underdogs, The shiloh pirates, a team thought to be without flux, but whom proved the galaxy wrong. And both teams look very determined as they step of their landing pods"said Barry.
Callie pressed the microphone to her ear, she had just received an update, from the shiloh pirates.
"Dear Holo viewers, I just received an update. Normally, Stevens would be the captain of the shiloh pirates, but today, there is another and new to us, player, filling this position. There is no name listed for this player. I have only been given a jersey number. We will call him player X. He plays with the number 11 on his jersey. It seems Sonny Blackbones men are full of surprises, even at such a serious time"she cheered.
At the bleachers, The snow kids sat together as one united team. Their ultra vip seats allowed them some privacy.
"They sure look determined, I will give them that" said Rocket.
D'Jok agreed.
"This match, it is probably the most important match ever played on this pitch, and the galaxy is not even aware of the looming danger" he said.
Mei nodded as she took his hand. She looked at her teammates.
"Lets all join hands at kick off" she suggested.
The snow kids agreed.
They now knew this match could make the difference of how they saw the galaxy they lived in. It would either remain, or all would be lost. And D'Jok felt the burden heavily on his shoulders. If all went downhill now, he risked seeing his father either arrested, or worse, getting killed. They knew how intensely the pirates had trained. They had even helped them with drills and nutrition. They deserved credit from the galaxy for the risk they took on.
As the teams lined up on the pitch, the snowkids all put their hands on top of each other. There was a feeling of worry, as they did this. This could be their last moments, in the galaxy that was at peace.
"Go Pirates Go!" they yelled as the ball was put in play...
Next chapter will conclude this story. I am well on the way here with it. I hope you have all enjoyed the story. You will see that it has strings to other stories I have written in here as well. And I have started a new story. I look forwards to sharing it with you once the first chapter has been beta read. I have once again, from the very start this time, joined forces with Paranoid girl, whom I feel knows the charracters perhaps even better than me. I wont promise any romance stories, that isnt my thing, but I do promise answers. Till then, enjoy this chapter.