Thanks again for all the reviews! You guys are great!
Muffin'sBack has given me the awesome suggestion to write a chapter from Ebony's POV and as unpopular as it may make me, that's what I'm gonna do for this one! Thanks so much Muffin'sBack ! This chapter is dedicated to you!
The theme song of this chappie is "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga...XD..."caught in a bad romance" and such...
He had deceived her...taken total advantage of her sudden emotions...and to add insult to injury, added a pretty good pun there too.
"Oh yeah? Well I think you should play for the Xenons because...b-because..."
"Why, Ebony? Do you feel... the ...Heat?"
"I get it, the Xenon's flux is called "the Heat"...oh ha-ha-ha...," she thought, coldly and somewhat bitterly. But it wasn't like she hadn't felt something, at all.
Right now, as the blonde haired footballer stared blankly out the window of her room on to the sparse, black, desolate landscape of planet Shadow, all she was feeling were the usual cravings in the pit of her stomach.
It was an hour after morning training, her body still damp beneath her bathrobe from the shower, and her body was screaming for the smog again.
Ebony had been trying to ignore the urges for that burning in her lungs for just about ten minutes now. She lay back on the bed, pressing her damp ringlets further into the pillow and gritting her teeth behind gloss-coated lips.
"Come on...be strong...you don't need it, you don't need it, you don't need it...screw it, I need it!"
She sat up frantically, sucking air through her cemented bite and rifling in her bedside locker for the new canister she had managed to acquire. Ebony ripped the seal open, almost wildly, not even bothering to read the label.
She knew what it said: "Metholine: Artificial Flux Substitute, Sedative and Pain-killer _do not excessively use or exceed recommended dose. Prescription drug. Highly Addictive..."
Whatever.
She slapped two pills straight down, feeling them coursing, pulsing down her throat. The girl always wondered why people thought the smog was so cold and evil when it could feel so good inside of her...
It was only misunderstood.
Like other things... other people...
She cursed herself for such thoughts and scorned the redness in her face that she could see in the mirror. Ebony smoothed her hair back from her face and wiped back the excess mascara with a handful of tissue, making a mental note to buy water-proof next time: it didn't run as easily with a little bit of "emotional moisture."
The newest Shadow's player slowly dissected her mind as a shaky hand, obsessively applied another layer of make-up. Appearance meant everything in this industry and she had to survive in it.
Her father was always quick to remind her of that.
She glanced nervously over at the holo-phone on her desk; he was late to call today. It was all probably to do with his latest business ventures with Technoid- it didn't have anything to do with the fact that he was coming to the match today: Ebony convinced herself of that.
But it still didn't stop her getting even more anxious.
"It isn't like Papa stalks me or anything...he just cares about me," she told herself furtively, as she painted her lips a glossier pink. "And he gets me to call him all the time because he's working and never gets to see me in person...see? That's logic."
She smiled haughtily at her reflection in the mirror for a moment, practicing as always, before wandering back over to the bed and her open holo-magazine.
The latest story was all about the rumours that Warren, Mr Galactik Football himself, was getting an application for rehab because of his affiliations to a "dangerous un-named sport". Part of her wondered if that had any connection with her sparring partner's beloved "Netherball." If that was the case, then maybe there was a little evil to it.
The idea of rehab seemed even more evil to her, though.
Ebony's father had suggested a week there before, but she had turned it sharply down.
"I don't need any help...I'm not insane or anything...it's just a condition."
Besides, so what if she needed a little chemical pick-me-up every time she felt the need to use the smog? That came second to being the best she could be in all that she was good at- those things mainly being football and being noticed.
"I have to do well this time...no more screwing up..."
From her window on Shadow, there wasn't much to see; everything on Planet Shadow was underground, deep in the bowels of the planet. The upper layer was just shiny black cliffs, massive daggers of tar-coloured rock and erratic obsidian stones stretching out over the infertile surface for miles on end.
Still, she was thankful that the Shadow's training compound, (or at least some of it), was located where it could find the sunlight.
Ebony could still remember those days when she was a child and the night seemed endless.
"Papa, I don't like all the dark! When will the light come back in?!"
"Ebony! Stop being so perfectly childish! You know that we are underground...now stop whining like a baby and get dressed- Mr Taruja will be here soon."
Her father had employed a tutor to come see her each day, probably out of kindness more than anything. She knew even at that age that she didn't look like anyone else on the planet. She could use the smog like them. She didn't mind the cold like them. Her skin was pale like theirs and her body was nice and thin like theirs.
But she wasn't like them because her mother had been an outsider from a foreign planet.
The other children at school would still tease her for her "yellow, twisty hair" and "bright, watery eyes." So she learned from the home until she had grown up enough not to care.
Her wonderful little sister of course, was a different story. Violet (or Viola, her proper Shadowarian name, Papa always insisted on calling her) was born looking like her father. Her facial structure vaguely resembled that of an Akillian girl, but her pretty red-flecked eyes and white hair and curve-less body made her perfectly eligible to feel totally at home in a normal school on Planet Shadow.
And she was really smart too, finishing off her own education in a Grammar School in the heart of the underground city. The perfect child.
"She looks up to you, Ebony," someone had once told her.
"What's there to look up to?" she thought cynically.
But maybe they were right. Violet had sent her an e-card after her first match with the Wambas loaded with childish, pettish praise and overflowing with her shy little sibling's affections.
"Hey Ebony! You were brilliant in your match! Wait until I tell everyone that my sister is a famous football player..."
How sweet...but it was hardly going to help her get any better on the pitch in any way. That was her own her burden- to push herself as hard as possible to keep up with the amazing skills of the other Shadows players.
It wasn't the same as playing one on one with her mother on the garden patio- not half as gentle or even as fun. Those memories...learning those first few moves...tackling her mother, laughing...telling her beloved mom how she was going to be "just like you" when she grew up...
Ebony slammed her forehead against the pillow, trying to blot out those memories and the stinging in her eyes. Another pill was forced down her throat.
"No," she told herself, shaking a little as she undid the bathrobe and started to dress. "I am not like you, mom...I'm not trying to be the nicest lady in the whole galaxy...I'm not running off on my problems like you did...I'm not now, nor will I ever be some bloke's toy like you were to dad...I'm no small-time footballer either. I'm a star now..."
The media had certainly lapped up the story of the high-society girl becoming a football player with zeal. The coverage was giving her the status she needed to keep her father impressed and the thirst of her pride quenched. Her image was already printed on the cover of GalactikGirl magazine, suited up in her number twelve jersey and smirking primly from beneath her curtain of curls.
"The first of many," she primly reminded herself, striking another pose in front of the mirror. She loved this particular outfit from the way the shirt clung to her expertly flattened stomach and the way the skirt hugged her hips. It certainly turned heads too...but maybe not the jet-black head of hair that she wanted to turn...
She bit her lip and banished the idea from her mind.
Fame had certainly brought some "advantages". But that wasn't to say that it hadn't brought some nasty little surprises too.
A hundred and one rumours about her had already begun to circulate, including one particularly ugly suggestion that her and the moody striker that she played beside, had been playing their own little "games" off the pitch...and between the sheets.
"Well, what did you expect?" Nilhis had commented after weathering Ebony's violent reaction upon seeing the article. "You two are pretty close..."
Ebony could only stare at her incredulously.
"It's true!" she went on. "You two are pretty damn close. But look, no one reads this trash anyway and I've had way worse printed about me, so..."
"CLOSE!" Ebony shrieked. "How can you say that!? Me and that...that...that! Don't make me laugh; no, don't make me vomit."
Nilhis gave a soft snort of laughter. "You two are, though. You're always chatting away to him in training and picking fights with him and tackling each other on the pitch...and hanging around in each other's rooms between practice sessions. Come on, at least admit that you're friends..."
The striker glowered at the mid-fielder, forehead wrinkling in frustration. "No we are not. The idiot...entertains me."
It was true though. The two had been spending a lot of time together since the incident in the holo-trainer.
Yesterday she had been upstairs with him, while he showed her his newest magna-board.
"It's a piece of plastic..."
"State of the art. Expertly balanced for an expert."
"It's a really long piece of plastic..."
"Yeah, maybe to someone who's never seen me shred snow with it! I wouldn't expect a prissy little girl like you to understand the power in this. But like I said, I'll show you. I'll show you why I'm the best..."
Just last night she had sat in front of him while Artegor made the team take notes on their plays.
It was pretty boring but Ebony knew that she couldn't afford to lose any of Nexus' valuable coaching and did her utmost to take down every single diagram exactly as he displayed them on the holo-screen.
Of course, this was rather hard to do when her seat was being kicked and her neck, prodded by the deviously smirking striker behind her.
Ebony was just as guilty. Every single time Artegor turned his back, she swung straight around and tossed a crumpled paper wad straight into his face that he tried to block with the air of a league-experienced goalie.
"Missed again! And the crowd goes wild!"
"Just you wait...I'll get you in your sleep! "
She stuck her tongue out. He leaned forward.
"Come get me right now!" he taunted, playful smirk that almost masked the aggression in his eyes.
"EBONY! SINEDD! Pay attention!"
Artegor's sharp, annoyed complaints were becoming less and less severe as the childish teasing of his two human players became more and more common.
However, as irritating and headache inducing as it was, it certainly made the long sessions in the briefing room a little less boring. Made it all a little more bearable.
She unzipped her gear back and did a last check, face growing hot as she looked at the crease where she had lain in her pillow last night.
All she could think about was all about their battle in the holo-trainer.
The heat.
Their closeness.
His breath on her lips.
His heart beating against hers.
It wasn't like she hadn't imagined it sometimes, when she stared at those broad shoulders and those jet black spikes. Her heart began to pound and her cheeks ran into a flush.
It persisted to a point in which her own vulnerability disgusted her. Ebony would throw her head back and remind herself of how successful, beautiful...powerful she believed herself to be.
But all it took was the brief memory of his hands on her shoulders or his grin just centimetres from her throat to set her off trembling again.
She hated battling with her own emotions and desires. Nothing could come before her pursuit of fame and no one could come before herself.
Ebony slugged off another pill down her throat, relishing the automatic high it brought her to and how it seemed to vaporise all her worries. She tucked the canister back into the pocket of her bag and closed her eyes as the usual wave of artificial smog rippled down her trachea.
Ah...how relaxing...
She flinched in shock as the holo-phone behind her glinted to life. Not wanting to keep her father waiting, she hurried over to the key-board to accept the call...only it wasn't a call.
It was a message. Ebony opened it cautiously.
Ebony-
This is your father. I cannot make my usual check-in as I have an important board meeting to attend. Your sister and I will be attending today's match. I am sure that you will do well.
Do not allow my presence to distract you.
Diplomat: T.L. Appex
(aka. Father)
P.S.- Remember, you must stay focused at all times and concentrate on your goals. Not just the ones that you will score today.
"Whatever, Papa."
She deleted the message, feeling both dejected and oddly relieved. Whichever this feeling really was just enough to set Ebony's fidgeting off again and wake the ache in the pit of her stomach.
She fumbled in her pocket for the desired canister. Her blurring vision traced the label as the desire for more toxic fluids started to torment her again. It was useless to say "no" to the cravings; there was a warning on the container against exceeding a daily dose but what damage could just one more do?
Ebony swallowed another small, dry capsule. Her body rejoiced at the sweet adrenaline, the numbing of her senses, the feeling of superiority that the smog always brought her...
She took in one last glance at herself in the mirror, shrugging her training bag up on to her shoulder.
Her cheeks were flushing a peony pink, looking like doll-spots against her sickly white skin and her eyes were a little wider than usual, blue and framed by a ring of smoky black eyeliner.
Her appearance normally made her feel confident, but not this time.
Maybe it was something to do with the upcoming match and the fact that her father would be there, watching her like a bird of prey. Her father, the journalists, the press, her coach, her team-mates...
She turned away from the mirror, just about recognising the familiar sigh of false contentment that slipped through her.
It was about being the best. It always was. Nothing more.
From their changing rooms deep in the glossy black rocks of the Shadow's compound, the home team could hear the crowd- screaming like wild animals for the football gods that they longed to worship.
Fulmugus and Sinedd hadn't had the time this morning to pull off their usual pranks of intimidation on the visiting team. Like messing with the benches and lockers in their changing rooms and scrawling graffiti on their door.
"Like we actually need to bother psyching those losers out," Sinedd sneered, snapping his shin-guards on. "We're practically guaranteed a win. We're miles better than them...especially with me at the front."
Ebony rolled her eyes as she stretched, silently hating how his irritating cockiness made her want to giggle like a school-girl and slap him across the face at the same time.
Like a hunter going back to check the catch in his snare, the dark young man swivelled back around to her flexing form. "Nervous, Ebony?"
"Should I be?" she retaliated carelessly. "I'm ready for this."
Her curls flicked back over her shoulders as she straightened up; she could feel his gaze on her again. It felt intense...but his tone beneath the chatter of the other players didn't exactly reflect that.
"It's only your third match, newbie!" he teased, sauntering over to her. "There's still plenty of time to screw up."
He bent over so their faces were level, pretending to warm up too. Then he smirked playfully and tugged on one of her ringlets, snapping it back into her head like a flossy yellow coiled spring.
Ebony jerked back up and let out a squeal. "Hey! Stop it! Don't touch me!"
Sinedd laughed. "You're such a little cry baby," he said in a way that was more offhandedly factual than insulting. "But your fake confidence is almost cute. Won't do you any good on the pitch, but it's still cute how you think you're so good..."
Ebony put her hands on her hips and smiled icily before reaching forward, seizing one of Sinedd's gelled spikes and giving it an equally hard pull. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, hot-shot."
The door slid open and Artegor strode in. "Alright, all of you, gather around." The coach spoke through his teeth as always, sharply pronouncing each word with a bullet like edge. "Some of you may not view this as a challenge but this is our opening match and impressions must be made."
The players flocked around their coach for the usual briefing.
"The Cyclops are by necessity, a joke of a team, but their defensive skills are difficult to compete with..."
Ebony tried to envision herself on the pitch, charging against them. There would be (presumably) no cheating this time, so the team couldn't rely on that to bail them out if they were failing after half-time, Artegor was pointing out.
She was trying to pay attention but she could feel Sinedd's body at her back. It was warm and almost "whole-feeling" in comparison to the other, cold, ghastly forms around her. Sinedd hadn't given much reaction to the little rumours that had sprung up about them. When a laughing Fulmugus had showed him the article, his only reaction (she recalled) was a raised eyebrow, miming being sick and muttering: "She wishes."
Apparently he had dealt with worse.
Her shoulder brushed against his chest every now and then. The first time, he responded with an indignant grunt and a subtle nudge of his collar bone. But every other time, he remained stationary. It felt kind of...comforting to feel that kind of human body-warmth that she hadn't felt in a while. It was also bizarre how he didn't seem to move beneath her.
That was, until Artegor dismissed them to the loading bay.
Sinedd gave her a sharp pinch in the back of the neck. "Come on, loser. Let's kick it."
She threw a punch into his arm, which he swiftly dodged with a snigger of: "Save it for the pitch, girlie" in his usual pitchy, sneering tone of voice.
The players lined up behind white-haired Fulmugus, standing in their usual "V" formation on the platform. The crowd was roaring above their heads, an acute rumbling signifying the arrival of their opponents to the pitch.
"Here we go," Ebony thought as the hatch opened above them, screams reaching sound-barrier breaking levels as the platform began to rise.
She adjusted the ear piece beneath her hair, a little deaf to their coach's final words from the booth thanks to the glow of the pitch above them that slowly came into view.
The stands were loaded, packed with a million faceless fans, whose individual shouts had seemed to blend together into one deafening roar. Their rabid voices blared out from the hazy crowds of red, black and green that surrounded the underground pitch. Planet Shadow was ready for one hell of a match.
Callie was already overflowing with her usual commentary, Barry and Nork at her sides to add their own views and opinions.
"Just think, in less than three minutes, we will witness the incredible opening of the Blitz tournament, kicked off right here on Planet Shadow by a Shadows versus Cyclops match! I will remind you, football fans, that due to strict policies of the Shadows Stadium Commission, we will be watching the match from up here in the studio...Barry, have you any predictions for the upcoming match?"
"Well Callie, the Shadows are clearly a favourite to win however that doesn't mean that the Cyclops won't be a formidable force to deal with."
"Look Callie! Here come the Shadows!"
The platform was raised to full height, its dull clicking sound barely heard over the shrieks of the crowd and the buzz of the scoreboard in the vermillion heavens above.
Fulmugus gave a nod, signalling the players into their stance.
The little war-dance that they did was never much of a bother to Ebony- she was used to dancing and even more used to following instructions, copying the one before her, so to speak.
"Squat...punch left, right, change...tilt head...stand up..."
The arrogant trollish aliens before them were already goofing around, guffawing stupidly to one and other and mocking the Shadow's dramatic stance, their wide orange eyes rolling around above their stocky green bodies.
"Cross hands across chest....out to the sides...back across chest....out straight to the sides...smog..."
A black, toxic cyclone of hazy flux swirled into the air above them- the Shadow's signature finale. One player below could feel the aching pulse in his temples begin, while another could feel the burning cravings in her throat flare up.
Neither was prepared to let those feelings dampen their urge to win. They were both prepared to use the weapon to its fullest.
"Assume your positions," Artegor commanded and the players dispersed across the field, dotting the red glass with their single phantom-like black figures.
A sharp contrast to the bulky red and green ones that shuffled around them in bunches.
Ebony raised her eyes to span the crowd. A quiver ran through her when her gaze travelled over the VIP box, where she knew her father would be watching.
In that brief moment, the Cyclops had never looked so strong and well-built. She wondered what their flux would feel like. Would it hurt to meet the Brainwave? And what about their powerful group tackles that could knock someone off their feet?
This was her first time playing a home match; she couldn't let her father down.
Ebony squeezed her eyes shut, stomach hurting, suddenly not wanting to be there...
"Yo Ebony!" Sinedd grabbed her shoulder as he strode confidently forward to take the jump shot. "Matches are normally easier to play with your eyes open..."
She snorted and tossed her hair back over her shoulder. "Oooh...funny..."
He shrugged, spreading his hands. "Just trying to help the "inferior" players...don't embarrass yourself."
"Don't worry about me," she sneered back. "I won't."
Her eyes didn't leave the neon green number eleven on the back of Sinedd's jersey as she walked back into place. One of the Cyclops defenders was already eyeing her up and down with his giant googling iris and chuckling away about something to his accomplice.
She ignored them and crouched into position, but she could still feel her face reddening a little.
The Cyclops attackers had already managed to stack themselves into a wobbly tower, their captain Akamook adorning the top and waving at the crowd like some kind of freaky-looking cheerleader.
The Shadows striker crouched beneath, clearly unfazed. His thin face was clenched in anticipation yet his eyes were relaxed and confident beneath his soft black fringe. He had done this before. He was a superstar who could beat anyone...or at least that was what his body-language said.
And Ebony envied him for it.
"Come on, Sinedd," she murmured under her breath as silence descended over the crowd.
There was an acute whistling sound and the coveted green orb rocketed out from mid-field, shooting upwards into the air as every player's eyes locked on to it.
The first match of the Blitz Tournament had begun!
So yeah, that's one from Ebony's POV. Thanks a million for reading and I hope you liked it! The usual stuff: comment, criticise and suggest ideas if you want to! :D
Thank you once more for reading! You guys rock!
(Btw- Sorry about the delay and the shortness of the chapter! (^_^') I am seriously busy with school stuff!)