Go to Chapter 1 for the disclaimer and my policies on using my character.
Also, the titular song and summary are indeed copyrighted to Kelly Clarkson as they are references to her song "Addicted" which partly inspired this fic.

Huge thanks go out to reviewers LoveMyEnemy, FemaleSpock and Turkmen. You guys are great.
Now on to chapter 3....

(A song for this chapter? Stay Home by Self. )

It had been a week of non-stop training, set to build nerves and muscle and shatter spirits and backbones.
And she was still with them too.

If there was one thing Sinedd hated about her, it was her goddamn stubbornness.

Another thing Sinedd hated about her?
Her flirting.

Not with him, of course, whom she avoided like the plague, (either out of fear or just plain arrogance), but every other male player on the team. She would innocently "trip" over one of the obstacle cones on the pitch, falling on to her knees, feign a few tears and allow herself to be helped up by a few gentleman-ly fellow players.
She would bat her eyes like some demented little Lolita and gush out gratitude like the spoiled coquette she was.

"Oh thanks, guys! Seriously, it's ok, I'm fine! Man, I am such a klutz!"

"Such a slut, more like," Sinedd muttered at her back, glad that Artegor never bothered to turn on the head-sets when they were just doing dribbling practice. "It's pathetic...faking injuries just to..."

He paused, thinking for a moment, reconsidering. "Well, at least I never did it just to get attention..."

"Did you say something?" Fulmugus asked Sinedd, slinking over after offering Ebony some assistance.
Sinedd glowered at him. "That's sick man. How can you stand to be around that?"
He gestured over to the girl, face emaciated into a scowl.

Fulmugus gave a deep hearty chuckle and playfully rolled the ball around beneath his foot. "Aw, come on. She's not that bad...the others have gotten used to her..."

Sinedd snorted and felt his muscles slacken with relief when the training whistle blew, even if his mind was screaming to continue with their fierce practice.
He wiped the thoughts from his mind and let himself go blank again, switching off until its next feed of raw adrenaline, (and smog).

His black hair ran smooth and glacial beneath the nozzle of an icy shower. He teased his fringe back with his fingers and rolled his shoulders around a few times to soften the goosebumps that has started to dot his skin.
Sinedd's mind drifted numbly ahead to their next match.
Another chance to show...no, not show- remind... the galaxy who the best striker in all of football was.

The training had toughened up, but he was ready for it. Enduring it easily.

Then again, she was a glaring dent in his perfect agenda. Sheirk, her predecessor, had been cool and willing to hang back and let him take the spotlight, respecting his boundaries.
Ebony on the other hand, was more than willing to dive in front of Sinedd to steal his passes and play practically on his ankles.
He groaned thinking about their disastrous last session as he pulled his usual hoodie over his head.

"Stay off MY side of the pitch! We've been over this before!!!"
"I could have taken that pass miles better than you and you know it!"
"Heh! Yeah, whatever..."

The fact that she could use the smog with no (visible) side-effects didn't help either. He needed Artegor's good side, not his pity...
He remembered the hundred and one attacks of flux-poisoning he had had during his first week.
Sinedd could still recall his own reflection in the man's violet glasses as an awkward smile crept across his coach's face.

"Look Sinedd, you'll get through this...you're stronger than that."

Artegor could sympathise with the young man, having been through the same lust for power with a price. Having to understand that in order to be the strongest and the best, sacrifices must be made.
And he had been his coach's protégé since that very evening after the Red Tigers match, when he looked up out of the snow to see him smiling...smiling and then dangling the keys to his future as a Galactik god in front of his face.

But Sinedd knew he owed him nothing. He was just pointing out the obvious.
Sinedd belonged to nobody.
No attachments.
No loyalties and no needless protection or sentiments.

He fastened the khaki pants loosely around his waist and took one last look at his glowing reflection in his bathroom mirror, staring intensely back at him.
"Yeah," he thought. "That's the exact look I'm gonna give D'jok next time I see him on the pitch."

With that cleared up, he sauntered off to the common room. It was soundless as it always was late into the afternoon. The other players had normally cleared off home to their parents or were gone out to hang around the city.
It wasn't like they had never invited him or anything... it was just that Sinedd preferred to stay in...And away from those piranhas, commonly referred to as photographers.
He valued his fame. However he also valued his personal space.

He strolled in through the automatic doors, ready to fling himself out across the couch and take in the deafening silence that he would never get, had he stayed with the Snow Kids....

Then his peace was shattered by a sharp, shrill, painfully familiar sound coming from across the room.
She's not gone. Typical...
Sinedd stopped in his tracks, glaring across the room, only to see that Ebony had comfortably positioned herself on top of a cabinet, her knee perched on Artegor's stack of holo-magazines, as she delicately applied another layer of mascara to her already-sooty lashes.
She was humming a tuneless little melody between her over-glossed lips too that made Sinedd want to drive his head into a wall, (repeatedly).

Her hair was a little fluffier than usual.
Sinedd could vaguely recall something Fulmugus said about her being attacked by the paparazzi- all pining for a shot of her after Artegor had announced the identity of his "mysterious new striker."

He just couldn't wait for that tiny bit of fame to dissolve when Arcadia Sports got a load of how much she sucked on the pitch in comparison to him.

He strolled over, searching for the TV. remote and mouth burning with the sting of his despising of the girl.
"You're going to need a lot more make-up than that, honey. I can still see the rest of your face."

She ignored him and went on brushing, tentatively coating each eyelash in shimmery, black powder.
She went on humming too. Her voice was falsetto- high and pitchy like a canary.

"So what's wrong with your bathroom mirror that you have to turn the common room into your own salon? Did it crack when it heard your singing?"
Ebony smiled sweetly. "No Sinedd, dearest. Just when it saw your face! Besides, the lighting out here is better any way."

He scowled, taking a step towards her so that his reflection rose above hers in the mirror.
"Look," he said, voice growing dangerously low. "We play our first friendly of the season in a week. I don't know what the hell Artegor sees in you but you had better stay out of my way and I mean it this time..."

"So the last eight times didn't count then?"

Her tone was driving him insane.
"You may have all the others wrapped around your little finger, princess but I don't care how many times you bat your eyelashes, swing your hips or how rich your daddy happens to be. You don't deserve to be here and if you do anything to ruin my place in the spot-light, I will make you regret it, you little hybrid..."

Maybe bringing her racial background into it was uncalled for, but then again, as far as Sinedd was concerned, someone needed to put her where she belonged.

Ebony looked at him coolly, screwing the cap back on to the mascara and taking a breath.
"So is that just a thing with you then? You know, threatening little girls who get to you? Or is it just because you can't have them?"
Sinedd stared at her in numb disbelief, not knowing what exactly she was getting at.

She went on.
"I remember going to see this one match you guys had against the Snow Kids. You spent half your time harassing that defender...what's-her-name...Mei, because she wouldn't stay out of your way. So tell me, Sinedd, was it just that you were pissed off because you were getting your ass beat by a girl...or was it because you fancied her ass but knew that she was already with that D'jok guy? Heh, another thing he has that you don't...maybe he's just better than you..."

"SHUT UP!"
Sinedd's fist flew out and buried into Ebony's shoulder, causing the girl to stumble backwards, her eyes dilated in shock.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you never to hit a lady!?" she wheezed.
"You're no fucking lady..."

"WHAT IS GOING ON!?"

Artegor was standing in the door way, fists clenched beneath his red sleeves and face contorted in rage. "The two of you, in my office, now!" he breathed, agitated beyond belief.

The two players looked at each other.
"Now look what you've gotten us into..."

Artegor Nexus stood at his desk, glowering down at the girl and boy who sat before him.
"Let's get this straight, both of you. I don't know what kind of problem you have with each other and frankly I couldn't give a damn. But I expect you both to put your petty differences aside and stop this pathetic fighting and arguing because all it's going to do is impair the team for this tournament!"

He stopped for a moment to take a breath and then whipped around to his first victim.
"Sinedd! You have been on this team for a long time now and I expect a lot more maturity and professionalism from one of my best players! And save your bloody aggression for the other team, not your team-mates!"

Then he rounded on his next.
"Ebony! You are new to this team and I expect you to respect the players who are more experienced than you and for flux sake, stop all these horrible insults and save your mouth for the press-conferences AFTER we've won the tournament. Your father will be spoken to otherwise..."

The man stopped for a moment to breathe again before sitting down slowly and saying: "Now both of you, shake hands and say sorry..."

The two of the gawped at him for a second, not knowing whether to take him seriously or not.
"If you two are going to act like children," he proclaimed. "Then I will treat you like children. Now, shake hands and say sorry."

Reluctantly and somewhat hesitantly, Sinedd turned to Ebony and offered her a very tense handshake. She accepted, manicured nails wrapping tightly around fingerless gloves. The two squeezed down for a moment, surely visualising the crushing the other's hand into dust..., (what else could they have been thinking...?)

"Now say sorry."
Ebony groaned and muttered a careless sounding: "Sorry."
"Sorry," Sinedd echoed in the same monotone, not meaning it in the slightest and whether he was fooled or not, this seemed to be satisfactory for Artegor.
"That's good team-mates," he commented, smirking. "Now leave and if I hear about you two fighting again, consider yourselves bench-warmers for the duration of the season. We have our first friendly against the Wambas next week..."

Both knew Artegor couldn't really afford to suspend them both but both knew that he would find some way to make them suffer.
"Like making us room together...ugh," Sinedd thought with a shudder.

And with that in mind, they were gone, without a word to each other and off in separate directions.

Artegor waited until the door had closed behindthem to turn to his holo-phone and stab in his coveted one-way call number for Akillian. The screen illuminated, answered by a huge, hulking man with kind eyes and ivory hair. A familiar window with snow-topped mountain scenery back-dropped him from behind.
"Hello, Artegor? Is that you, old friend?"
He smiled weakly. "Hello there Aarch, it's nice to see you."
And he meant it. The two had once been deadly enemies and rivals but Aarch had helped him through a tough time, even giving him medical attention and a job. New understandings had eradicated old feuds and now the two men were back to being the same friendly comrades they had been when they both played for the Shadows, so many years before.

"So how are things with the Kids?" he asked cordially, for the sake of politeness. "How are my old friends Mark and Yuki doing? And my old pal D'jok?"

Artegor still liked to reminisce back on the time he had become an assistant coach for the Snow Kids.
"Good, good," Aarch smiled. "Business as usual and Mark and Yuki are settling in nicely- really becoming part of the pack and D'jok? Well D'jok is the same whirlwind he's always been." He chuckled. "What about your team, how are the Shadows? I heard you have a new player?"

Artegor sighed. "Indeed. Ebony is her name. She's not exactly a native, however she is talented. But all the same, things have been less than productive with her."
"Oh?" Aarch raised an eyebrow. "Not problems with the smog I hope?" He shivered, thinking back on the things he had heard about Sinedd's attacks and even more so, the kind of torture he had experienced with the toxic flux back when he had played for the Shadows.

"No, no," Artegor said, shaking his black, gelled curls. "Her mother is from Akillian but her father is native to this planet- a politician, actually- so she can use the smog fairly well..."
"Akillian, eh?" Aarch commented with interest. "She and Sinedd must be getting on like a house on fire."

Artegor rubbed his forehead. "You would think..." He gave an exasperated sigh. "To be honest, that's the problem. The two are constantly fighting, biting at each other for attention and getting them to co-operate is like pulling teeth...painful and more complicated than it should be. They're just so different yet alike...they hate each other."

Aarch frowned. "Hmmm, that is quite a problem. And she's playing near him, yes?"
"Right opposite him actually. They're my two strikers and I have considered swapping their positions JUST to keep them out of each other's hair but then..." He sighed again. "That's hardly practical with Blitz right around the corner..."

"I wish there was something I could do to help," came Aarch's deep voice, so friendly despite the fact that Artegor was still a rival coach. "Conflict between players can be a tough thing to deal with, trust me, I know. Just be thankful none of yours have run off yet!"

The two couldn't help but share a small laugh, Artegor nodding approvingly at first but then dropping his head again.
"Ugh...teenagers and their attitudes..."
"Tell me about it."

Aarch smiled thoughtfully. "Well, the only advice I can give you, Artegor, is to leave them alone for a bit. You'd be surprised. These kids have a way of sorting these things out for themselves! And with Sinedd and Ebony, who knows...maybe in time they'll...find a common ground?"

"I hope you're right Aarch, I really hope you're right."

"Sir, the Technoid representative is here."
"Send him in."

"Good morning to you sir."
"And same to you, Mr-?"

"Harris, sir."
"Ah right and you've come as a chairman for Technoid from Duke Maddox?"

"Indeed..."
" According to your file here, Duke Maddox thinks highly of you, Harris. I'm pleased to have you as a representative here on Shadows. But don't you mind spending so much time on a foreign planet?"

"No, sir...heh, I don't have much family to leave behind I'm afraid. What about you? Does the esteemed Shadows diplomat have a family?"

"Yes, actually. Two daughters. Viola is at school and Ebony has just become the new striker on our planet's national football team."

"Oh how interesting! Are you a fan of football, sir?"
"Not exactly, but I'm happy she's finally doing something productive, (like her sister), for once...and you?"

"I quite enjoy a good match every now and then. It must be exciting to have your council fund the team too...being able to visit the pitch every now and then, watch the team train..."

"Hmm...that reminds me, I promised Artegor Nexus I'd drop by tomorrow to check up on our planet's best investment..."
"...and to watch your daughter, sir?"

"Yes, that too. I don't suppose you would mind coming down with me, have a look at the new barriers your company has just sent us? Maybe bring a few of your Techno-droid friends out there? You know what photographers are like..."

"Yes sir, it would be my honour...you have no idea how valuable an opportunity this will be for me..."

The tall Shadowarian man's red eyes never fell upon the eerily satisfied grin that came across Harris' face as he turned to leave.

So yeah! Thanks for reading. Hope you've enjoyed.
Read, review, comment and criticise as you see fitting. ^^