Van Buren

Chapter 1: The Newcomer

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Disclaimer: I don't own Bully or any of the characters from the game. I also don't own any series referenced herein.

A/N: This is my first Bully fic, since I liked the game so much that I just had to write something for it. This story is definitely a continuation fic, chronicling a hypothetical scenario taking place in the fall after the events of the game. At the same time, there will be female prefects and clique-leaders, though, in the case of the latter, not at Bullworth since I'll be using the canon leaders for that.

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He stepped off the bus into the rain, his hood over his head, taking comfort in the fact that he was far from home and somewhere safe, or at least safer than where he was from. He doubted anywhere was truly safe, especially since the place he was now walking into was Bullworth, once said to be the worst school in the nation.

That was until something happened that pushed it out of the top ten. He wasn't sure what, but he was bound to find out.

He made his way into the school and past the prefects, ignoring their yelling at him for breaking curfew. It was past midnight anyway, so he was amazed that the school's gates were still opened. As soon as he entered into the dorms, he checked the sheet of paper in his hands to see what room he was assigned and headed toward it. He snuck in, careful not to wake his roommate and trying not to pay attention to the pungent odor coming from him. He didn't want that relationship to get off to a bad start.

He took off his hoodie, revealing his blond hair and hefty build before hitting the sack, drifting off into an uneasy sleep just before starting his first day at Bullworth.

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When Jimmy Hopkins woke up, he immediately went over and changed into his school uniform before heading over to the dining area in the dorm to pour himself some cereal, something which he had been buying lately to avoid the lunch-lady's food, which sickened him to no end. He was still the same, short and stocky, though his hair was slightly longer than it used to be.

He barely noticed the heavier blond raiding the fridge as he finished his cereal and left. He thought the guy was probably just another freshman.

His first class was English II with Mr. Galloway, who had been sober for several months after Mr. Hattrick got fired thanks to Jimmy's help. He was definitely far less stressed after that whole incident and had settled into a happy married life with Ms. Phillips. The class wasn't easy the previous year, but Jimmy at least had ways to get past the difficult projects and managed to ace the class in the meantime.

He looked forward to the year, especially with everything he had to do the previous year to get to the point of being the king of the school. Pete was still the head boy and the leader of the student council, but Jimmy had control over the cliques, something which had to be maintained lest the school descend into chaos again under Pete's weak rule, something absolutely nobody wanted to happen. Still, Jimmy turned to him for advice, something he wished he would have done a little more the previous year.

"Now, class, before we do any assignments, there is a new student that will be joining us this year… Come on in!" Mr. Galloway announced and a blond and slightly rotund boy walked into the room, slightly awkward-feeling.

"Hi… nice to meet you all. The name's Connor," he said uneasily before sitting down next to Jimmy. The king of the school could tell he was fresh meat if he didn't do anything about it.

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After school, Jimmy got his homework done as quickly as possible since he had a date that night. He had finally decided to continue going out with Zoe instead of the other girls at the school, something which caused him many slaps, but she wanted him to be monogamous, so what was he going to do?

So, now here he was, going on his first date with her since getting back from summer vacation. There was a new movie out that Zoe desperately wanted to see and, surprisingly enough to Jimmy, it was an action movie. He was glad it wasn't a chick flick like half the movies he had to see with his previous girlfriends, so he went with her, ready for two hours of nonstop fights between the hero and a mysterious global conspiracy while traveling across Europe.

"So, anything new?" the taller brunette asked her boyfriend as they waited in line.

"Not much other than the occasional new kids," he replied. "Today I had English and History but tomorrow I have Math and PE. To be honest, I'm actually looking forward to Wednesday when I have Spanish and Programming."

"Programming, huh? I didn't think you'd be the type to take that class. I hear it's a new elective for this year," she told him.

"Yeah, I just thought I'd try it. Who knows, maybe I'll like it," he responded with a smile just before they reached the ticket window. He remembered that time he had to help a prep girl be first in line by making out with Eunice and stealing someone's bike. He chuckled at the thought.

He looked forward to the movie and, after paying for the tickets, walked in with Zoe while holding her hand.

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Connor made his way into his room, searching for his stash of extra spending money. After seeing what the lunch lady was like earlier and tasting food that he swore had some spit in it, he swore never again to step into that cafeteria, instead opting to find a sandwich place where he could find something cheap to nibble on. Maybe one of the local supermarkets would have a good deli in it. There was always the dollar menu at a local fast food joint if he wasn't in the mood for that.

So far, he had not made any friends with anyone there at the school, largely because of his quiet nature. It takes a bit of work for him to talk to others unless he's talked to himself.

He took a deep breath as his door opened and his roommate walked in. "Salutations!" Connor looked at his new roommate and realized that he wasn't the only fat kid in the room.

"Uh, hi, the name's Connor. Sorry, I got here a little late last night," he replied with a bit of a grin. The kid that he was talking to was definitely a nerd, though Connor questioned how much more nerdy the kid could have been that him. "What's your name?"

"My name's Francois, but everybody just calls me Fatty," the redhead responded, shaking Connor's hand and smiling.

"Good to meet you," Connor replied with a smile while trying not to think of how much the kid in front of him smelled. "Hey, listen, I was going to go grab a sandwich. You want to come along?"

"Uh, sure. I'm supposed to meet with my friends to go play Grottos and Gremlins later on, but I can go with you before then," Fatty informed him before the two walked out of the room. On their way to the deli, they found they had a surprising amount in common including their nerdy interests. The main difference between the two was that Connor wasn't quite as nerdy-acting though he was sure that his group of friends at his old school was the equivalent to the nerds at this school.

On his way into the sandwich shop, he thought he saw someone walk by that he knew from his old school, sporting a Mohawk. The sighting made Connor pause for a second before Fatty got his attention back. "So, did you play Tamriel's Gate or what?"

The newer student shook for a second. "Oh, sorry, yeah, I got that on my laptop. I even made a mod for it," Connor replied. Too bad I don't have it with me, he thought.

He felt himself shiver as he walked inside. "Are you alright, bud?" the red-head asked, concerned about his new acquaintance. "You look like you saw a ghost."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Connor answered before giving his order. It was only later on while they were waiting for their orders when the newcomer realized that there was a squad of Mohawk-sporting punks in the far corner, all of whom were eyeing him. "Crap…" he cursed under his breath, looking away.

"What's going on?" Fatty inquired, looking concerned before glancing in the direction that Connor had looked in. "Oh, punks? I didn't know we had that many."

"Don't look at them. Just stay here until we can leave without them noticing," Connor ordered before quickly glancing at the clique. He saw that its leader, a girl of about sixteen with a gorgeous figure marred by a purple Mohawk and thick eye shadow.

It was her alright. Ellone Sanchez, leader of the Punks from his old school. He had no idea how they knew he was there. He hadn't even told anybody where he had moved, not even his old friends. The only one he told was his uncle, who actually suggested that he go to Bullworth in the first place.

Unless they followed me here or something... But if that was the case, then they'd know where… Oh crap, this is bad. He wanted to just run away, but he realized that he would be safer where he was at as long as there were other customers in the deli. He glanced over at the movie theater across the street real quick for some reason and then at the server who brought him his sandwich.

"Listen, we eat and then we get out of here," Connor told Fatty. "We need to get to the safest place you know before those punks get to us."

"Why are they after you?" the red-haired boy questioned, confused.

Connor didn't say a thing. Instead, he tore into his sandwich voraciously, hoping to get it eaten before all the other customers cleared out of the place. He needed to leave. He needed to get somewhere safe.

"We can go to the comic-book store," Fatty suggested him, shaking a little bit because of the punks. He didn't like them or the looks they had been giving him.

Unfortunately, it was at about that time that he felt the sudden urge to go to the bathroom. "Let me go real quick and then we can leave, okay?" he requested before heading straight into the deli's bathroom, hoping that the punks didn't go after him.

They didn't. Connor was the one they were after.

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When the movie was over, Zoe and Jimmy walked out of the theater, holding hands. "That was an awesome movie. It was a little light on plot, but, wow, it was exciting!" she commented, smiling at her boyfriend.

"Yeah, no kidding," Jimmy said, chuckling. "Then again, I don't pay that much attention to movie plots anyway."

"So, how was your summer?" she asked him.

"It was fun. I mean, I had to deal with my mom and stepdad and all, but other than that I liked it. Of course, all I did was play Omega Scrolls XVI and shoot pigeons with my slingshot, but it was nice and calm," he responded. The truth was that Jimmy was the happiest he had been in years, despite some of his problems. Here he was, ruler of the cliques, king of the school and making it a better place to be.

It was then that Zoe asked him a question that he wasn't prepared to answer. "Hey, so what about your dad?"

His eyes widened at the inquiry. "Uh, I don't really know him. I haven't even seen him since I was a little kid."

Zoe nodded. "That must suck. At least I have both of my parents."

"What about when you were expelled from Bullworth?" he asked.

That was a sore spot for her as well. "Well, when that happened, they basically disowned me, not believing me about Mr. Burton." She shook her head, thinking it was ridiculous that the sided with the teacher on that. "But when I was reinstated, they took me back and apologized." After a brief silence, she asked another question. "Have you ever been curious about your dad or what he's been up to all this time?"

"I try not to think about it," he responded. He just wanted to be happy and that was in the past. There was no need for him to think about his father at a time like this. Maybe he would visit him in the future, but now he couldn't since his mother had full custody over him.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sight of Fatty and that new kid running out of the nearby deli, followed by a trio of Mohawk-sporting punks.

He didn't recognize them. Since they were students he didn't recognize from school and they didn't look like they were up to anything good, he knew he had to do something. "Zoe, are you with me?"

"Huh?" the taller brunette asked, confused by her boyfriend's question.

"There were a group of punks going after this new kid from school. You want to come with me to deal with these guys?" he asked before walking toward the group.

The brunette nodded, cracking her knuckles. "Sure, let's show those punks what we think of them picking on Bullworth students," she responded with a smile and followed Jimmy to his moped.

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Connor just ran as quickly as he could, using the downhill incline to his advantage. Unfortunately, Fatty couldn't catch up so he fell behind. Thankfully the trio of punks that was after him simply ignored the fatter kid and aimed for the transfer student instead, ready to strike.

They were definitely faster than he was, despite all the exercise he did back home to try and lose weight. Unfortunately, all he managed to do was replace some of the fat with muscle and increase his endurance, but other than that he was still too stocky and too slow to outrun the three punks.

He knew his end was there when one of them jumped on him, turned him over and started punching.

Then the unexpected happened and he heard a moped coming straight for the punks. "What the-? This guy crazy?!" one of them yelled as he quickly got out of the way.

And off jumped a muscular boy and a tall girl, both wearing school uniforms. The muscular boy instantly pulled out his slingshot and aimed for one of the punks who received a hit from the weapon in the chest, keeling over from the shot. Jimmy immediately aimed at the second punk, a far heavier one who had far more endurance than the first and took several strikes before the brunette girl moved in and struck the obese punk in the face. This caused the third punk that was on top of Connor to get off of him and charge the girl. This guy was actually pretty muscular, but the girl knew where to hit him, causing him to fall over in agony as he clutched his lower regions.

Connor got up shakily, dumbfounded at the mysterious, strawberry-blond-haired boy. "Hey, you alright?" he asked.

The truth was that the heavy boy was in pain in several areas in his upper body and head. "Uh, yeah," he responded before wincing. "Ow, that hurt!"

"The name's Jimmy, by the way," he said.

"Connor, good to meet ya!" he said, introducing himself. "Thanks for the save. I'm not much of a fighter."

Jimmy knew something was going on. "What are these losers doing here, anyway?" he asked before glancing at the punks.

Connor just shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I must have ticked them off somehow at my old school and they somehow followed me here," he responded, not willing to tell the whole truth. "I have to go check on my roommate." He ran up the sidewalk to where the fatter kid was.

Jimmy raised an eyebrow, not knowing what to think of the new kid, before turning to one of the punks on the ground, the short and skinny one that he took out first. Pulling him by the collar, he interrogated him. "What are you after Connor for?" he asked.

The punk looked frightened at Jimmy and spilled what little beans he had nervously. "I don't know. Our boss just sent us after him, that's all. Really!"

Jimmy just dropped the punk back down. "Tell your stupid boss that if he comes here or sends any more of you punks after us, I'll go after him myself! I'm the King of the School, okay? Ruler of the cliques!"

The punks just got up and scurried away, dealing with whatever injuries they had and limping while they did so.

"So, what do you think the new guy did?" Zoe asked.

"Probably just ticked off the wrong person, that's all. Doesn't seem like the kind of guy to do anything else," Jimmy responded before glancing over at Connor who was helping Fatty up. The new guy definitely had a black eye and a bit of a bloody nose. "But if those guys come back and I'm not around, this guy won't be able to hold them off unless I teach him how to defend himself."

Zoe didn't know what to think of that, since it would cut into her dates with Jimmy, but maybe it would all work out. Who knew? Since neither her nor Jimmy had their own clique, maybe they could have Connor join them too, although it looked like he was on his way to joining the nerds in the first place. She wondered if he would actually fit in there, since it seemed like he actually had more social skills than the others.

Only time would tell.

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Ellone walked into the wooden clubhouse for the punks along with the others. She had heard what had transpired when they found the target, but she didn't like it one bit. "So, he has allies now?" she asked her second-in-command.

"It seems like it," he responded in a hoarse voice, scratching his green Mohawk. "I don't know how we're going to deal with them if he put an ultimatum on us punks. Should we tell…?"

"No! We're the only ones that know where he is and I intend to keep it that way. If any of the other cliques found out, then the results would be disastrous." She made her position clear with her tone.

"But if the others find out that we've been going to Bullworth, then they might go after him," the second-in-command told her. She realized that he had a valid point.

"Fine, then we'll only send a couple of us after him at a time. I realize that this Jimmy kid may have his school under his control, but that will only last for so long," she said. "Butch, we'll need to plan this carefully so that we don't get caught."

Butch nodded. "Alright, we'll get started as soon as possible. Tomorrow we should have a club meeting to share ideas."

Ellone smiled at her second-in-command. She could always count on him for suggestions.

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"So, what do you know about the cliques here at the school?" Jimmy asked Connor as they walked into the dorms.

"Not much, just know Fatty a little," he responded. He had decided earlier to opt out of the Grottos and Gremlins game to talk to Jimmy for a little bit, figuring that he needed to at least have the king of the school on his side before getting in with the nerds. "There are cliques here too, but they're a bit different from the ones at my school."

"Yeah?" Jimmy asked as he walked into his room and sat on his bed. "How come?"

"Well, so far I haven't noticed any punks or goths. I guess there are other things that are different too," Connor responded, nervous. He didn't know what to think of Jimmy, just that he was a potential ally. "Seems a bit more peaceful than my school, though."

"That's because I've been cleaning up house," his new friend responded as Connor sat down. "So, what do you think you did to tick all these guys off?" Jimmy asked, hoping to get a more concrete answer out of the newcomer.

"To be honest, you don't want to know. A lot of crap went down at the end of last year so that my parents decided to transfer me. My uncle suggested this school for some reason, not sure why," Connor responded. He didn't want anyone to know what had happened in case they didn't like him because of it.

"Oh, okay, I know the feeling. I got plenty of skeletons in my closet too," Jimmy responded. "At least you haven't been expelled multiple times."

Connor gave Jimmy a look of fear. "What…?"

"Ask some of the other kids around the school. They've heard rumors."

The heavy kid's eyes were still wide and he felt some sweat coming down his back. "Uh, okay, whatever. As long as you're a good guy now, I guess… Excuse me, I've got to go do some more homework…" Connor immediately got up.

"Hey, Connor, what are you doing tomorrow?" Jimmy asked him.

"Uh, don't have any plans," Jimmy noticed that his new acquaintance was starting to stutter a little bit. "You have anything in mind that doesn't involve blowing up the school?"

"Don't worry, nothing I do involves blowing up the school," Jimmy assured him. "I was just thinking of giving you a little training. You good with a slingshot?"

"Never used one," Connor admitted, scratching his back nervously.

"Alright, here's my old one. It's not as good as my current one but everybody's got to start someplace," Jimmy told him as he ran to his dresser and pulled out his first slingshot ever since he came to that school. He then handed the weapon to the heavy blond who took it with a bit of hesitation.

You're probably going to have to learn how to fight a little if you expect to take on the cliques that are after you, he told himself as he reluctantly took the slingshot. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. We'll just do some target practice tomorrow, if you want," Jimmy told him. "I know just the place."

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Connor immediately got back to his bedroom and fell onto the bed, glancing at the slingshot in his hands. He had no idea what he was getting into with this school or what his uncle was thinking when he suggested this place.

Still, he had friends there now and maybe he could take advantage of those friendships, just not in a bad way. He hated what happened at his old school at the end of the year when everything fell apart.

But now he felt safe for once. He smiled.

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A/N: Yeah, so for the purposes of this story, the boy's dorm is two-story. They were originally going to make it that way in the game, but they didn't for some reason, though apparently if you approach it from a certain direction, it appears as a two-story building until you come close to it. Also, there are showers in it, like the girl's dorm.

And as for the female head of the punks, you'll see how Jimmy deals with her. And the title's relevant. Plus, there are far more cliques than the Punks and Goths. There are a bunch. This story will take an arc-based approach.

And one last note: I'm actually in the process of trying to make this into a fangame, though I've only made a handful of maps for it and it's going to be awhile. Finding tilesets for modern tiles is far from easy, unfortunately. I'll let everyone know if I ever release it. Maybe I should have attempted to go the 3-D route and use Unity… Heh.

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