First off: Thanks for all the reviews! Thank you Gerkyhen. Thank you GFSista. Thank you ArabianNinja. Thank you smalltowngal. Thank you Muffin'sback. Thank you FemaleSpock.
Also, a huge thank you to Turkmen; thank you for that adorable sketch of Ebony you drew and I can't wait to see the full picture! (Also, good luck in your exam sessions!)
So...yeah, random, but that's just something I wanted to say (^_^') I believe that it's important to show gratitude...even though the fic is nowhere near over! LOL

ANYWAY, here is chapter nine!
The theme song of this particular chapter would be "Hot n Cold" by Katy Perry...and maybe "London Bridge" by Fergie towards the end...you'll see why ...XD

The Shadow's ship was gliding neatly and swiftly towards the Akillian atmosphere and the common room was heavy with the anticipation of the players. They couldn't wait to tear up the pitch with their old rivals again.
And one player in particular was particularly eager to get out on the pitch, to show his old-team mates how leaving their pathetic team was the best choice he'd ever made.

That player was sitting at the window, gazing out into the azure heavens around them. It had been a while since Sinedd had seen a sky as bright or as blue as this; the sky that could be seen from Planet Shadow never really changed from day to night and all the cities were underground, in the planet's dark strata of rock.
The other players weren't really as moved by the sight of a brightened sky, so they gave Sinedd his space, preferring to relax by the television and stereo. But Sinedd was far from his usual blissfully lonely state thanks to Ebony's overbearing presence at his side.
Sure, she was an annoying little bitch, but she was good for conversation...or argument...either way, it was a break from sitting alone.

"So what are spoiled princesses into these days?"
"Excuse me?"
"What- are- you- into?" he said, speaking slowly as if to someone of a lesser intelligence. "Other than drugs, cigarettes, make up and getting on my nerves?"

"I like music...I used to dance quite a bit..."
"Oh...you danced?" wheedled Sinedd, laughing at the possibility of his original assumptions about Ebony's past as a pole dancer being true. "And is that another thing daddy didn't know about?"
"He's the one who got me into it," Ebony retorted blankly.

Sinedd could only stare at her for a moment, his mouth slightly hanging open. "Your dad...?"

"Enrolled me into ballet classes, twit. I gave it up though."
"Oh right, ballet," muttered Sinedd, taking a minute to cleanse his thoughts. "Why'd you give it up?"

Ebony shrugged. "It was pissing me off and the teacher thought I had a bad attitude. Ugh, sometimes I just don't get where people get these ideas from."
"I don't know," Sinedd smirked thoughtfully. "That sounds pretty accurate to me."
She frowned. "You're one to talk. So what are you into then? Or are just all about football 24/7?"

"Well I was always a pro at football, even when I was a kid...and I was always pretty into snow sports and shit. Hey, when you lived on Akillian, did you ever magna board?"

"No."

"What?"
Sinedd had barely raised an eyebrow the fact that Ebony was the hybrid child of an Akillian woman and a Shadowarian man and had gotten over the idea his new team-mate may be an addict in denial pretty darn easily. But for the first time, something had come out of her mouth that genuinely shocked him. "You have never been magna boarding before?"

"No, I haven't. What's so bad about that?"
"It's only like the best sport in the galaxy, next to football!"
"And I suppose you're a "pro" at that too?"
"You bet I am. I have a pretty sweet board too, back at the room on Shadow. I can't exactly use it though."
"To be honest, I've never felt the urge to try sliding down a snowy cliff on a piece of metal...it looks kind of stupid...and dangerous..."

"Only if you do it wrong," asked Sinedd, propping his elbow up on the window ledge. "It takes skill, you know. I could show you sometime," he added offhandedly.

"You mean show off for me?"

"Show you how good I am! And who knows, you might learn something too...like I could teach you. You'll probably suck at it but I'm such a good person, I'm willing to teach you anyway and who knows, watching you fall flat on your face in the snow could be fun."

The ship caught a roll of turbulence as it took its first icy skim along the Akillian stratosphere. The crew of the ship took up the speed, looking out of the windows at the white-dotted air that foreshadowed blizzards ahead.
"Fun for you maybe...I guess I could have a go, if we get a chance," Ebony replied finally, with a half-smile slowly materialising on her lips. "With my natural talent and co-ordination, I'll probably be better than you."

"Whatever! Keep dreaming, loser," he laughed. "So do you play video games?"
Now it was Ebony's turn to laugh. "Not a chance! Childish, much? I like to read in my spare time, like magazines. What about you, do you read?"
"Read!? No way in hell! Not unless it's the Arcadia Sports reviews of my latest scores, that is...or my new edition card. Have you ever played with football cards?"
"Once again, what a lot of childish crap!"
"Geez, you are one boring bitch, Ebony."

"And you are one immature jerk, Sinedd," Ebony sneered back, crossing her legs up on the sofa. "Oh look! You can see the ground now!"
The players were all, already looking out the windows with watery interest. The ground was a sheet of gleaming white, Sinedd could see from behind the glass. A few sprigs of green foliage littered the snowy earth, patches of jade forest spread out around the craggy grey mountains and silvery, blue paint stains of lakes and rivers were inked out on to the pale, picturesque landscape.

Sinedd pressed his head further in against the glass as buildings slowly began to appear, rising in chrome and tiled out of the swirling green and white. He flinched at the sight of the thimble of a stadium, camouflaged in a white powder and sprayed with ashen shadows.
Familiar sights and images flooded his brain, some which seemed to be nothing more than distant dreams, rather than memories.
Aarch Academy...Planet Akillian Café...the Town Centre...the estate where he used to live with his parents...
The striker squeezed his eyes shut trying to blot out the memories, his forehead aching against the cold glass.

Ebony folded her knees up to her chest, legs and thigh-high socks discreetly covering the open slit in her skirt. "Kinda feels weird, doesn't it? Being back here. If feels like...like..."

Sinedd swallowed. "Like you're at home but not really at home? Like an outsider? Yeah, I've felt that before."
"I've been feeling like a kind of traitor for a while now," the girl murmured quietly...quietly enough for Sinedd to pretend to not have heard her if he didn't want to. "How do you cope with it? The feeling that an entire planet that you once called home, kind of hates you now?"

The ground began to get nearer, their heads becoming lighter and the floor vibrating beneath their feet as the ship prepared to land.
The door of the main terminal slid open and Artegor walked in, pulling a coat on. "Alright, all of you to the loading bay- we're about to land. I want all of you to be on your best behaviour when we reach Aarch's school."

The players stood up; they were already chanting, chattering and growling to each other in preparation for the upcoming match. Sinedd shrugged his jacket up around his shoulders and smoothed the white sleeves against his arms.
"Harden up."
Ebony spun around, pressing her lips together to ensure that they were still sufficiently glossy. "Did you say something, Sinedd?"

"You asked me how I cope with the feeling that I don't belong. Maybe I haven't been living with it my whole life like you must have been, but I harden up and don't show I care. Why should I?" His tone was firm, gruff and pitiless. "So harden the fuck up."

Ebony only raised an eyebrow in reply and made a move to follow Artegor out the door, but Sinedd's arm shot out to bar her exit.
"Trust me."
"What?"
"Toughen up and don't let things get to you as easily as that. Trust me, it'll do you more good than harm."

"Since when did you get so philosophical?"
"I have to win that match today and if we do badly, I'm personally prepared to hold you and your pathetic mood-swings responsible. So toughen up."
Ebony's face was indifferent as she pulled the tube canister from her pocket, unscrewed the lid and helped herself to two little white pills. Then she smiled and lightly said: "Don't worry, I will."

He warily walked behind the head of smooth, blonde curls for a moment as they filed off into the loading bay after their coach. For that brief moment, the sight of a powdered cheek made him recall the smooth, make-up free skin he had seen the night before and how vulnerable the girl had looked.
The sudden attention didn't go unnoticed though.
"What are you staring at?"
"I was just thinking," he said, icily. "You had better not throw up on me during this match."
The streets outside were (thankfully) quite empty and their ride to the stadium was quiet, Fulmugus being the only one allowed to speak and that was only to review plays. Sinedd looked at the gelled black curls belonging to the coach who sat in front of him.
"Does it feel awkward, Artegor," he wanted to say. "Returning to the team that you left us for? Do you feel like a traitor too?"
The air darkened in the ominous shadow of the stadium that loomed ahead, glistening white and blue even with no sunlight to illuminate it.
"You should feel like a traitor...because you are."

The weather outside on Akillian was as bitterly, poisonously cold as it had been the day Sinedd had left its surface forever.
The sky was packed with thousands of glass wool clouds that seemed to shiver when the wind passed over them- just like the Shadows players who stood beneath.
Planet Shadow was cold but not freezing and most of the players had become grouchy and irritable as they were sorely unused to the sub-zero temperatures.
And their moods were not helped by the fact that they were being forced to smile and stand in the same room as their opponents, the Snow Kids.

It was bizarre that Aarch and Artegor were friends now. Bizarre and emphatically awkward for their players who were so used to an atmosphere of sharp and sour rivalry and bitterness whenever the two were in the same room.
"Welcome, Artegor," boomed Aarch, welcoming them into the foyer of the stadium. "It's nice to see you again!"
"And many happy returns, Aarch," the coach of the Shadows smiled back, accepting the embrace of his happy host. "It is quite nice for all of our players to be together like this."

Together?
Sinedd wanted to burst out laughing at this. The moment the Shadows walked through the door, every voice in the room had dropped to whispering level. The Snow Kids took on the false smiles and niceties with an air of "do we have to do this, Coach? Couldn't you just make us run laps?"
And as for his own beloved coach's observations of "unity", the two teams treated each other as if the other had some kind of deadly disease, the Snow Kids sticking to one side of the room and the Shadows taking the other...both already letting it rip with the insulting comments and the snide side-glances that the all-too-overjoyed coaches chose to overlook.

"So, those are your former team-mates, Sinedd," Ebony whispered, nodding over.
He gave a sombre nod and a grimace, replying: "Don't remind me that I ever associated with those losers."
"They won the cup twice," smirked the girl, who had to stand on tiptoe in order to whisper to her rather tall companion. "Some losers..."
Sinedd rolled his eyes. "I don't mean on the pitch. They're all idiots, really."
"Wanna get me up to speed on just how "idiotic" they are?" she asked. "Like not how they play, but what they're like?"

Sinedd gave a soft laugh. "You just love to get bitchy, don't you? Alright, well Mr Strong and Silent over there with the dread-locks is Rocket. At one stage I actually thought he had some potential but he's just as soft as the rest of them and an arrogant two-faced jerk when he wants to be too. I've seen that guy do things that would make even the skin of his perfect little parents and girlfriend crawl."
Ebony nodded. "And his "perfect little girlfriend" is the short kid under his arm, Tia, right?"
"Yeah. Tia's as distant as he is and never puts that damn camera away..."
"I know. I knew Tia when we were kids...her parents are the Obian Moon Ambassadors and my dad used to have meetings with them. She was one weird kid. The sleeping guy is the goalie, isn't he?"
"Yeah that's Ahito. If you want a "weird kid" he's like a prime specimen," Sinedd went on. "And that's his brother Thran, the computer nerd. I never really knew their cousin Yuki-she's the one on left- but she sucks on goal. Then there's Mei...she's probably as much of a bitch as you are..."
Ebony smirked again. "But you had a crush on her right?"
Sinedd smirked back at her. "Does that make you jealous, little girl?"
"Ugh, you wish. It just means you have awful taste; I'm miles prettier than that. So what about them?" she continued, promptly changing the subject.

Sinedd gritted his teeth. "I've known Mark, Micro-Ice and D'Jok since we were kids. Mark's a total wannabe who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut. Micro-Ice is probably the biggest idiot you'll ever meet- and he's terrified of me too." He stopped to give a short laugh. "And D'Jok...D'Jok is a second rate, whiny, big-headed loser who doesn't deserve half what he has."

"Oh yeah, the red-head who with the cocky smile?"
"That sounds about right. You forgot about his massive, swollen ego that's about as big as his head."
"Oh well, I'll get a better look at it now...'cos he's coming over."

Sinedd swung around and D'Jok was indeed there, striding over with Micro-Ice and the rest of the team in his wake.
"It's nice to see you again, Sinedd," he began coolly.
"Wish I could say the same, loser and you can save your friendly-crap for the cameras," Sinedd spat back.
D'Jok reeled backwards in mock-surprise. "Hey! So much for trying to be friendly! You can try saving the "competitive spirit" for the pitch!"
"Oh, just wait until I get out on the pitch D'Jok and I'll remind you just how much "competitive spirit" I can have," Sinedd growled back. "Someone has to show you how to really play after all."
The Snow Kids star-striker let out a shout of laughter. "Wow Sinedd. You're really eager to bite the dust again aren't you? If history stands, we're the ones who have always been the best."
Sinedd's eyes narrowed, glinting with malice. "That's about to change..."

Ebony cut across them both. "Be nice to your old team-mates Sinedd! Play nice now."
But a rather cruel smirk had grown across her face and her own eyes mirroring Sinedd's own dark gleam. She leaned over, looking behind D'Jok. "Hello Tia, nice to see you again."
Tia's eyes widened. "Ebony! I...er, didn't...well, I didn't know that you...that you played football."
"Well, I guess even the dimmest of us can learn something new every day," Ebony replied, smiling sweetly and winking at Micro-Ice, (much to Yuki's distaste). "Ah so you must be the famous D'Jok then? Wow...I can't say I'm not impressed..."

Sinedd's jaw slackened. Where was she taking this?!
"...Sinedd's right; your head is pretty damn big in person..."

Before D'Jok's face could turn about as red as his hair, the two coaches called their teams from across the room.
"Come on, time to suit up! Can't keep that crowd waiting!"
"Fulmugus! Gather your team-mates and report to the changing rooms now."

"See you all on the field!" Ebony squeaked over her shoulder as they turned, voice coated in mocking false-sweetness.
"Yeah, check you later, losers," smirked Sinedd following his team-mates down an all too familiar hallway to the locker rooms.

"You know that girl?" Rocket asked his pretty little green eyed girlfriend, as the Snow Kids also turned to go.
Tia nodded. "I knew her when we were younger. Her dad's a diplomat like my parents."
"Oh...she seems very...outspoken...," commented Thran.
"She seems horrible," said Yuki, folding her arms.
" She's just plain bad news," murmured Tia. "Like really bad news. You wouldn't believe half of the things I've seen her do behind her father's back..."
"The she should feel right at home with the Shadows!" laughed Micro-Ice.

The pitch was glacial- icy and cold- but that didn't stop crowds from packing into the stands, their screaming voices filling the thin air. The volume shot up, ten-fold, the moment the players stepped out on to the field.
Tiny fragments of snow had already begun to cascade down from the silver sky when D'Jok and Sinedd faced each other on the mid-field line.
Callie's commentary had already started up, buzzing out over the intercom and the usual hush descended over the crowd as D'Jok and Sinedd prepared for the opening jump. The circular chute at their feet opened as the crouched, green eyes blazing into violet.
"Well, Sinedd," D'Jok smiled. "I'm almost happy for you..."
"What are you talking about, idiot?" Sinedd hissed.
"As if you don't know," the other striker had just whispered as the ball shot up into the air.

"And play has begun!" announced Callie as the two icons soared into the air with tails of gleaming black and glittering blue wisp rolling from their skin. Their feet seemed to hold the ball, floating there in mid-air, with the sheer power of the kick delivered.
The desired orb plummeted back down to earth, falling into the possession of Nilhis but it wasn't long before Tia and Rocket's graceful yet fierce pas de deux stole it from her.
The ball leapt, or seemed to leap, from Rocket's possession to that of their captain's. Sinedd could feel the fire igniting in his chest. He sprinted forward, fuelled by the smog and the desperation to win.
D'Jok was too far ahead though, used to the blistering wind and icy playing field. He battled with the Shadows defence for a moment, dribbling backwards and sideways between soft explosions of the black flux.
Then on the wings of the breath, he was in the air, staring down at Kai from between the netting. The ball seemed to take on a mind of its own as it spiralled down to the goal.

"Goal, Snow Kids! Oh, what an exciting way to begin a match, football fans!"

"Shit!" swore Sinedd, watching the number one materialise beneath the Snow Kid's logo. "That can't happen again."
Kai's throw sent the ball flying straight into the Snow Kids' defending end. Thran took it against his chest but Sinedd's burning aggression (and smog) ripped it from Akillian possession in a matter of seconds. Fulmugus was open for a pass, Nilhis trapped behind Micro-Ice's block, but Sinedd ploughed past them both, slicing across the pitch to get a good shot at the goal.
Yuki was in goal- easy prey as far as Sinedd was concerned- but he still had to beware of Mei and Thran coming in at his back.
With one flash of the smog, he was on the touch-line. With a second, he was into the air. With one final blast and a powerful, kick the ball was soaring down towards the goal.
The sprightly, red-haired goal keeper sent the ball flying back with a lithe-armed punch. But Sinedd had anticipated this and with a flash of the smog, he was back behind the ball, on a perfect line to the net.
"Goal, Shadows!"

Sinedd landed and punched the air in triumph, letting the air flood back into his lungs.
"Yeah..."

Harris could hear the television from the next room and although curiosity tempted him to watch the replay of the Snow Kid's second "outstanding goal", but determination drove him into further into his work. He needed to take care of this personally.
He knew better than to hire someone to do it for him- people let you down. He also certainly knew better than to let one of those tin-cans called serving robots at it.

The completion of this device had to be perfect...and virtually untraceable. The vital ammunition of course was still missing but it would be arriving soon.
A drowning applause and Callie and Nork's shouting sounded out from the television set. The Shadows had scored once again. Harris smiled a little to himself, wondering if the Shadow's second goal was also attributed to his old friend Sinedd.
His tele-watch began to vibrate. His heart thumped when he saw the caller ID and standing up, he shakily switched it on.

"Duke Maddox. How are you, your highness?"
"Ah have no time fer niceties, Harris. Have you taken up yer new position with Mr Appex?"
"Yes sir, I have."
"And has the Council of Shade agreed to support Technoid's new campaign?"
"It's still pending, sir."
"Oh well...ah see no point in rushin' those Shadow stiffs anyway...we've already got most o' the galaxy on our side at the moment. Stick to yer post fer now an' keep me updated."
"Sir, may I ask you, will my working patterns allow me to attend the first matches of the Blitz Tournament."
"Harris, ah never pegged y'all as a football fan but...ah suppose if y'wanna see our V4 boys in action then ah see know reason why you can't attend the next match with Mr Appex and his daughter. With they're permission o'course."
"Thank you, Sir."
"Goodbye Harris, I'll be checkin' in on you tomorrow and I'm still expectin' monthly updates of yer progress."

Harris switched off the watch, turning back to his work. His thoughts were racing with the idea that his plan was in action, fast coming to the crunch. However although he was bound to the Shadow's Planet for now, his scheme was still stationary until the start of the tournament- and if the Shadows did badly in that then things were going to become a lot more difficult.
He placed another wire into the socket, solidifying the next capsule's launch valve. More screams on the screen announced a third goal for the Shadows.

The Blitz Tournament would become the stage for his production of a plan and the players would be his actors...and he had one particular player in mind for the lead role...

Half time had begun and the score was three to two- the Shadows winning.
Sinedd's skin started to crawl and shrivel against his bones in the cold. He juggled the ball against his legs and swept it out of Mark's reach once again.
"Pass forward Sinedd!" roared Artegor. "Pass up and follow, like in training!"

Reluctantly Sinedd relinquished power over the ball, sending a flying pass up to the number twelve player: Ebony. She dribbled upward, ferocity splaying across her face and determination in her eyes. It was the same glittering determination that all newer players had.

She slid around Thran in a shawl of black smog and flitted forward to the goal. Ahito was now in position, squatting and ready for her with his usual half-lidded eyes that masked an intelligent quick witted goal keeper. It was just her luck that they had switched.
Ebony skittered around the ball, waiting for a clear path and prepared for a kick...with the kind of fierce power she had been practicing.
WHAM.
Mei had gracefully looped around her side and pushed the ball out from between her feet with a teasing kind of indifference. The sharpness of the experienced defender's movements sent Ebony stumbling sideways, drunkenly.
Her eyes narrowed at the back of the brunette's head. "Alright, sweetie..."
Ebony sprinted after Mei, wrath tainting each of her actions. She dropped to the frozen ground of a pitch and one blow to the shins sent the pretty Snow Kids defender slapping hard into the pitch.
Mei looked dizzily up at a smirking, sneering Ebony who was already rolling the ball beneath her foot, happy with her prize.
"I never did think that Gumble Shampoo did that much for my hair anyway..."
"Wha-?"

But the referee-bot was more sympathetic to a now glaring, fiercely angry Mei. The Snow Kids were awarded a free kick.
"Who does that bitch think she is!?"
"How does she get the nerve to say that to me!?"
Upon going up to accept it, Mei's arm had to be grabbed by D'Jok to prevent her from paying Ebony back for their little tumble- Ebony in turn being restrained by a sniggering Sinedd.
"Down, girl. Let's not give them two penalties now. Play nice."

"Woah, major cat-fight about to break out!" laughed Micro-Ice as Mei lined up for her shot.
She scored and they were at a draw. 3 all and with only seven minutes of play left.
Kai blocked Tia's shot and sent the ball back into a flurry of players, black and glowing blue zig-zagging across the pitch in a thrilling game of high-speed pinball.
"We need that last goal!" hissed Artegor. "Come on! Push yourselves!"

Fulmugus took a shot but it bounced off side. Sinedd watched the Snow Kids disperse and re-position themselves, ready for Ahito's throw-out.
Sinedd grabbed Ebony's shoulder. "I know this play..."
"Good for you!" she whispered back. "So do I! We've been practicing this for what, three weeks?"
"No, dopey! I know the Snow Kids' play, they used to use it when I was still with them. D'Jok is going to take the shot...Mark and Tia are gonna move in as fall-backs...Micro-Ice is gonna mark you."

Ebony wrinkled her nose. "The short guy? No problem for me."
"He knows this one though and he and his boyfriend's beloved "team work" always manages to get a ball into the back of the net...even I block D'Jok, Micro-Ice will still..." Sinedd's eyes widened and his lips curled into a smile. "I have an idea..."
"Enlightening," muttered Ebony. "Now can I get into place?"
Sinedd lowered his lips to her ear. "When Micro-Ice comes near you, I want you to..."

Ahito sent the ball rocketing out from the top bar and it was quickly taken in by Mark. He cut past Nilhis and Fulmugus and passed it forward to D'Jok .
"Ok...," thought Sinedd, watching his adversary battle through the Shadows' defence.
He dove through past Tia and Mei, eyes locked D'Jok's every move. The breath that materialised around his feet foreshadowed a powerful kick.
Micro-Ice was already running up the side, darting in front of the second Shadows striker to prevent her from assisting her team-mates.

Sinedd watched as his premonition became a reality.
D'Jok leapt into the air- a glowing, neon blue nymph and the ball was celestial at his knee. His leg swung backwards, his mouth stretching open in a silent scream of adrenaline. Below him, Kai braced himself in the netting.
"Oh no, D'Jok," breathed Sinedd. "Not this time."

The dark striker vanished in a smoky haze and re-appeared at the Snow Kid's chest. After a violent clash in mid-air, the two players fell back to earth, D'Jok flinging the ball back to Micro-Ice.
However before the plucky little striker could jump to receive the masterful pass, Ebony leaned down to his shoulder in an abrasive "tackle" and whispered: "Hey cutie..."

Micro-Ice reeled backwards as if he had just received an electric shock- letting the ball fly past his shoulder. Ebony caught it against her chest and sent it straight to Sinedd.
"GO!"

He was already there, smog veiling his feral, pale face and the intensity in his stare as he neared the goal.
20 seconds left...
He battled around the Snow Kids mid-field forces, evaporated past their defence. The Shadows' prince cemented his glare on the back of the net, watching Ahito's every move as the goal-posts became larger and larger, coming closer into view.
The clock continued to race down as he entered the penalty area.
"Come on Sinedd!" shouted Artegor. "You can do this!"

Sinedd shot the ball into the stadium's roof, spiralling after it in a shower of obsidian haze. For a split second, he seemed to hover in the icy air. The crowd watched, dumbfounded, as his flux grew and completely masked his long slender body as he leaned back into his final shot...

Four...three...two...one...

A siren went off, signalling the end of the match. Sinedd landed, smog clearing and curling away with the fragments of snow that sprinkled down. For a moment, there was such a silence in the stadium that you could practically hear these flakes fall... and then...

"GOAL, SHADOWS! That's it everybody! The Shadows have won!"

Sinedd felt himself being punched by Fulmugus, pushed by Nilhis and Artegor was already voicing his appreciation on the mike system.
"We won! Yeah!"
"Yeah! We beat 'em, we-"

Sinedd and Ebony spun towards each other arms outstretched for an embrace, but sharply retracting them again, as if merely stretching or flexing. Sinedd held up a hand with a smirk, offering a high five instead.
"Oops! Too slow!" he sneered pulling it away. Ebony rolled her eyes.
"Typical."
She was about to turn away, but Sinedd grabbed her wrist and pulled her palm into a firm handshake against his.

This time they had to shout to be heard over the crowd.
"What's gotten into you, Snow-balls?!"
"That's for your little game with Micro-Ice...the look on his face was priceless!"

And he left it at that before jogging down the pitch to a very well deserved gloating session with D'Jok...

One of the things that Sinedd loved about being with the Shadows was that seeing as the majority of the team were legal, Artegor had no problem with letting his team celebrate their wins with a little drink.
Or a lot of drinks.

Sinedd leaned in on the bar-stool, taking another sip of tequila. He let out a cheer with the team-mates both beside him and on the dance floor as they played another epic replay of the star striker's final shot. Back on Planet Shadow, their favourite bar "Vortex" loved football and just loved to display all of their favourite re-runs all over the plasma screens whenever they had the chance.
"Promotion in return for celebrity endorsement," chuckled Kai, ordering another drink. "Where's coach?"
"Artegor just wanted to sleep!" laughed Fulmugus. "Said that we had a tough week ahead of us so we'd all better not wake up tomorrow with too much of a hangover."

The pumping music sent ripples glittering through the surface of Sinedd's drink, creasing his reflections. Blurry memories of the match raced through his mind. For a moment there, on the pitch on Akillian, when the crowd cheered...he'd almost felt...like he was back home again...for real...

"Hey honeys!" giggled Ebony, strutting over with a face as pink as the drink she was holding. "How are my f-favourite boys!"
She promptly took the empty stretch of bar between Fulmugus and Sinedd. She looked up at the striker through her eyelashes, blowing a fluffy blonde ringlet from her face. "How you doin' Snow-Balls?"
Sinedd laughed. "Can you still stand? Fuck, Ebony, between the smoking, the drugs and now the alcohol...how else do you get high?"
The half-drunk striker giggled again. "I'll have you know, Sinedd, that young ladies do not "get high"!"

"Yes, but you, Ebony, are no lady!"
He was half expecting a hard punch in the arm but instead she just went on laughing and took another gulp of her drink. "Well, can't argue with you there!"

Another loud rock number began to blast from the speakers; Ebony's eyes widened. "Oh I love this song!" She grabbed Sinedd's wrist. "Come on, Sinedd, dance with me."

Fulmugus exploded with laughter.
"No, Ebony," said Sinedd withdrawing his hand. "I think you're just that bit too drunk to know what you're saying and...I don't dance."
She pouted like a toddler. "Oh come on, Sinedd!" She ran her hand back through her hair and dropped her voice down to a seductive purr, swinging her hips from side to side. "Don't make me beg..."
"Yeah, Sinedd!" laughed Kai. "Don't make her beg now!"

He reluctantly let himself be dragged on to the dance floor. It really wasn't that he couldn't dance, he just didn't particularly like to do it in front of all his team-mates (who had consumed a lot of alcohol) and with a half-drunk partner whom he wasn't particularly that fond of, (even in that very appealing black cut-dress).

"Wow, you're actually kind of good at this Sinedd," Ebony smirked as the two of them swayed to the music.
"But you can only dance when you're not sober, right, blondie?" he laughed back.
She gave him a thump in the arm but then playfully ground her hips against his. "Hey, what did we say about calling me that? And I think I can dance pretty well..."
"Yeah, you would. Are you always this sociable when you're drunk?"

Ebony smirked and draped an arm around his neck. "You're never normally this fun when you're sober?"
"Well, maybe not around you," Sinedd smirked back, tucking an arm around her waist.

"Smile for the camera!" shouted Fulmugus, snapping a quick photo of them.
They sprang apart, enraged and red faced and then looked at each other for a moment.

"I'll hold him steady..."
"And I'll break that damn camera..."

Yeah...probably not the best chapter but all the same, I hope you enjoyed.