Rain fell constantly and hard over a large mansion that was known to hold prisoners. Morgan Bandicoot and his sister, Ray, had been in that mansion many times as unwilling guests. It was a very horrible place. Torture was written all over it for the Bandicoot family. No one from that family dared enter the mansion or go near the owners that lived within. The owners were cold people that didn't have a care in the world. They didn't care if they took a life away, and they were always out for revenge. Ah, sweet revenge felt great. Seeing good, innocent people get hurt was a great feeling to them and made them feel like they had the upper hand. Both even felt that the law would never catch up any time soon. As far as they knew, the law was too worried about other low-life people to even worry about them.

On the second floor in a dreary, dark room, Luke Jakyl sat at his desk with a beating headache. For hours he had thought about how to get back at that blasted bandicoot, Morgan. There were many ways he could make the boy pay, but he wanted something more. He wanted something that could harm Morgan more than harming anyone else. One time, he had used Ray as bait just to get the boy's attention. Still, that betrayer, Jim, freed Ray. Jim was the youngest one that worked along side Luke, and when Luke gave him a command to hold Ray hostage, the teen didn't listen. He simply fell in love with the younger girl and freed her from her prison. That made Luke more upset than he already was. He'd have to save room for Jim another time, though. Right now, he wanted Morgan. Just two years ago, Luke himself had murdered Morgan's father, Charlie, by sending three bullets right into the father's chest. He also felt as if Charlie had betrayed him. While in school, the two were your normal, average, best friends. That was until Charlie started to date Avril Bandicoot. Luke always had his eyes on the beautiful girl, but when he saw that his best friend was dating her, it made him angry. The friends started to separate by then with Luke heading into other crowds that did bad things. Charlie was worried for his friend on how he was acting, but he still kept his distance. Next thing Luke knew after a few years down the road, Charlie was married to Avril and having kids. It was now too late to make her love him. Now, Morgan was eleven and still felt like he had witnessed his father's murder only seconds ago.

Then, a soft, feminine voice interrupted the thinking man, "Luke? Are you okay?"

He turned to see Jesse Flion standing there in front of his desk with her multi-colored hair wrapped up into a ponytail. She could see that he was tired in those blue eyes, and that angered expression remained on his face like always. He gave up the frown, though, and replaced it with a weak smile. Her face hadn't changed one bit over the years at all. She seemed just like the young girl that he had found wondering the streets a couple years back. Lost and confused, he had taken her in and gave her the shelter and love she needed. Luke opened his mouth in reply, "Yeah . . . Everything's fine. I'm just tired out."

"Why don't you rest for a while? You've been up all night."

"No, I gotta find out how to make that bandicoot suffer . . ."

"Can't you do that another day? That's all you ever do. Take a break and forget about him for a while."

"I'll rest when I've come up with something. Right now, I just need to think . . ."

"Who's that other guy? You know? The scientist? Maybe he can help you . . . . ?"

Luke stopped to think more. That wasn't such a bad idea. Doctor Monroe was the scientist that she meant. He had always been after Morgan for the longest time because of his weird gifts. No one really knew how Morgan received a tail, a pair of wings, and claws. Monroe was always after the boy to experiment on him, too. That's it! Experimenting on him was a good torture and a good way to enslave him. The boy would be trapped in a facility full of scientists with nowhere to go! Luke got out of his chair with excitement running throughout him. "That's it! Jesse, you're a genius! I shall call Monroe and tell him where Morgan lives and his daily schedule, and see what the scientist can do . . . ."
Jesse didn't speak. She knew that he had more talking to do over his plans. He always seemed to go right back into talking like no one else was around. Luke's smile got wicked as his eyes narrowed. "That bandicoot will never see it coming . . . . Jesse! Go get the phone and call Monroe. I want to have a word with him . . . . . . ."

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The next day, Ray made her way towards the Green Isle Middle School to pick up her younger brother. On school days once she was out of school, she was to pick Morgan up and take him home, for her mother was busy with other things. Her small, blue car came to a halt in front of the middle school, waiting for Morgan to come on out. It was never a long wait at all. Usually the moment she got into the parking lot, everyone was dismissed to leave. Once he was in the car, he set his backpack and books in the back and buckled up. Putting the car in reverse, Ray checked all sides before coming out of her place. "Have a good day at school?"

His voice was muffled as he spoke, "Yeah . . . It was alright."

She hardly noticed the bruises and the black and blue eye until she was back on the normal road and driving back home. Shock and surprise ran throughout herself while she looked back and forth at both the road and his new marks. "Morgan, what happened? Who did this to you?"

The younger sibling simply began to sink lower in his seat. "Nothing . . ."

"Something apparently happened. Where did you get all of those bruises?"

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

She pulled into a random parking lot, parked her car, and then put her full attention on to her brother. "Morgan, please. What happened?"

He sighed, keeping his eyes glued to the carpet with his ears down in sadness. "It's these boys at school . . . . They call me a freak . ."

"What did the teacher do?"

"He didn't do anything, Ray! He told me that I should be like everyone else and be a good student!"

Ray cocked an eyebrow, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"That's what I asked him!"

"Alright," she turned her car back on and began to drive again. "How long has this abuse been going on?"

His voice was lower than ever as he faced away from her and glared out the window. "Since Dad died . . ."

It didn't take long for Ray to raise her voice. This even scared Morgan more. "Two years?! Why haven't you told me or Mom about this?! I'm going to talk to that teacher and the principal . . ."

Morgan felt a little afraid, but kept the fear hidden. Instead, he tried to ignore it by looking into the side mirror on the car. In the mirror, he could see another car behind them. It seemed to be an expensive one at that and was a gleaming black. His eyes searched it for a while as Ray mumbled about. Then, when the car was a little closer, he was able to see the driver. Morgan's hairs shot up and a cold shiver followed his spine. Ray noticed this, staring at her brother with confusion. "Morgan? What's wrong?"

He took his eyes away from the mirror, sinking lower into his seat. "It's him . . . ."

She took a glimpse in her mirror to see the driver behind them. "Who's that?"

"Monroe . . . . . ."

Ray then glared at him with astonishment, "The scientist . . ?"

He nodded slowly, not really wanting to remember the horrible man as a scientist. All of a sudden, Monroe picked up speed and bumped into their car. A gasp escaped Ray's mouth, beginning to feel scared just like her brother. Morgan closed his eyes and placed his head in his hands, "He knows I'm in here! How did he know where I'd be?!"

Ray began to pick up speed, trying hard to ignore her brother's pleas. Even at twenty more miles above the speed limit, Monroe was still hot on her tail! He was giving her no choice but to race dangerously in the streets! She wasn't going to let this man have her brother again, though. He'd never touch him again! As soon as she turned a corner at cunning speed, a cop's lights flared up and a wailing siren followed close behind. How was this to end? Then, her eyes grew wide once seeing the red light up ahead. Morgan's posture grew stiff, and he looked at his sister with frightened eyes. She stepped on the pedal a little more for a response. "Hang on, Morgan!"

The pursuing enemy began to slow, seeing what they were headed into. The cop even saw what was coming. The moment they were out in the middle of the intersection, an ear-piercing horn sounded. The horn came from a large, eighteen-wheeler truck . . . . . .

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The impact from the truck slammed the car off the road to where it spun a couple times until crashing in the grassy, steep ditch. Monroe was simply ignored by the cop, seeing his chance of escaping the scene. However, Morgan and Ray weren't in a good condition. They were left unconscious by the impact, hanging upside-down with their seatbelts being the only things holding them up. Shattered glass from the windows had pierced flesh as blood filled in the wounds.

- - - - - - - - - - -

In the busy offices of the police station, Eric Bandicoot played around with profiles on the computer. He had been working on a case for many, hard hours, and it was boring him. His office was just like anyone else's: a small cubicle containing only a desk and two chairs. His eyes were tired as he searched up suspects to the case he was on. When the phone rang, he practically jumped from the alarming sound, but he recovered to answer it. "Hello?"

"Detective Eric Bandicoot?" came the woman's voice on the other line. He sat back in his chair to relax a bit, "Yes, ma'am. This is he."

"Your kids were in an accident . . ."

"What?!" he jumped out of his seat. "What happened?!"

"They were speeding through a red light when a truck hit them . . They're headed to the hospital as we speak . . ."

His heart had stopped. His kids were in a collision? They were speeding? Why, though? He knew it involved Ray and Morgan, too, since he knew the schedule they went by.

"Are they okay?"

"I honestly don't know how they are going to be. I'm sorry."

"Thanks for telling me this . . ." he thanked slowly, hanging up. the phone was soon back in his hands again, though, dialing the home phone number. It rang a couple times until a light, feminine voice came on, "Hello?"

"Hey, Avril . . . Can you meet me at the hospital . . ?"

"Why? Is everything alright?"

"I'll explain later . ."

"Should I leave behind a note for-"

"No, that won't be necessary . ."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Avril ended up finding herself rushing into the hospital room filled with many doctors and nurses. In the center of the flood of people, a motionless Morgan remained on a bed without a single movement. "Morgan!"

Some doctors and nurses tried hard to rush her out, but she fought back. Her mind was racing as she demanded to see her son. She just couldn't lose him like she lost her husband. "No! You have to let me see my son! I want to see my son! Morgan!"
It was no use. They forced her out, closing the door behind them to make sure she wouldn't go back in. The she-bandicoot slammed her fists against the door, crying in a heartbeat while Eric caught her in the act. He held her close and dearly, trying to comfort her. When the two had arrived at the hospital, he had told her everything that he knew about what had happened, but it clearly wasn't enough. He didn't have all of the information. He only knew that Ray was speeding and that a truck hit her when she went through a red light. A lot of the needed info was hidden and unknown to him. If only he picked both kids up from school instead of Ray always driving that little car of hers. The outcome might've been better if it was he driving them instead of her driving Morgan. Ray's hospital room was right next door to Morgan's, still tightly shut as doctors rushed around in a hurry inside. How were the kids to be when the doctors and nurses were finished with them? Eric felt scared, but tried to hide it from his crying wife.