Ready Player One: The Adventures of Jack
Chapter Twelve
GoldDragonZ: I think this is almost finished. Thanks for reading.
Jack stood alone on the bridge of Tensa Zangetsu. Everything was back to normal, although he now had the abilities that were bestowed upon him as he had won the Easter eggs. He looked outside the viewpoint to the rest of the OASIS. There were different maps that he could go to. He decided that there was one map he needed to play on. It was a jungle map. People would use the terrain to hide from enemies. They would hide behind trees or huge boulders. They would use small rivers and lakes to hide and then spring into action. Jack had the ability to apply active camouflage. He had to wear a special helmet for his whole body to hide in the jungle. There was a time limit to this ability. He used a drop pod to get down on the map from his ship, and disembarked. He activated the active camouflage and took to the trees.
He saw a few players encounter each other. They began fighting each other. Jack dropped a grenade, which wounded the players as well as surprised them. He had fixed his sword from Avatar: The Last Airbender. He dropped from the trees. He disengaged his active camouflage and began fighting the enemies with his sword. He threw the sword at one enemy, and it went right through them. Coins began falling out of the wound. Jack pulled out one Desert Eagle pistol and fired it at the other enemy. In the meantime, the other player applied a health pack and collected some of the coins that had fallen out of his wound. He used Jack's own sword against him. Jack used his black and red Batman Gauntlets and blocked the black blade. He took out his knife from his left boot and started fighting the players. The one with Jack's sword pulled out a gold rifle and he dropped Jack's sword. Jack somersaulted before the enemy could fire. He picked up his sword and slashed the player from the groin to the head, spilling coins out of the body. He grabbed the gold weapon and used it to fire at the other enemy.
The enemy burst into coins. Jack dropped the weapon as it started to disappear, and went back into the trees. He moved swiftly through the trees, and used his different senses as well as a radar that he had created. He found a player dressed in Jedi robes fighting a white gorilla. The Jedi was wielding a blue lightsaber. The gorilla was using a huge hammer to try and bash in the Jedi's skull. The Jedi was nimble and easily dodged the gorilla's attacks. Jack wasted no time and used his two Desert Eagles to fire at the Jedi. The Jedi threw down a bubble shield. Jack kept firing, and took on the gorilla. The gorilla charged at Jack, who used a grapnel launcher and propelled up to the branches in a tree. The gorilla roared and began smashing its fists into the tree that Jack was perched on. Jack pulled out a specialty item. It was a tube with a blue crystal inside it. He dropped it on the ground below. The tube smashed open and the crystal turned to liquid and spread out over the ground, turning everything into ice. The gorilla turned into ice as did the Jedi. Jack waited until the effects wore off on the ground. He dropped down and smashed into the body of the gorilla and picked up the coins that were left behind. He did the same to the Jedi.
Jack took off sprinting. He activated his active camouflage and ran into a clearing. There was a woman using a bow and arrow with explosive tips. She was facing a dinosaur of some sort. Her arrows exploded against the skin of the beast. It roared as the player swore. The woman continued firing her arrows at the dinosaur as it advanced on her. Jack waited to see what would happen. It seemed that the dinosaur had the upper hand as its skin was like armor. The other player continued shooting arrows, until they ran out. The dinosaur growled, extending its fingers as it advanced, mouth open and watering. Jack leapt into action. He disengaged his active camouflage. He stood in front of the woman who now seemed to not have any more weapons. He pulled out his black sword and his knife from the sheathe on his left boot. He held the sword in his right hand, and held the knife upside down in his left hand. He pointed the sword at the dinosaur. The dinosaur growled.
"Fresh meat." The player said. "Do you think that your sword will be a match to my upgraded scales?"
"We'll see." Jack said, and then he sprang into action.
He swung his sword with his right arm as hard as he could. The dinosaur caught it with its hands and opened its mouth. Its mouth clamped down on Jack's head. He pulled his head out of the helmet and backed away. He pulled out a remote control and pressed a red button. The helmet's eyes turned green and the helmet exploded. The dinosaur's head was no more, and the player turned into coins. The player he saved use the moment that Jack was preoccupied and pointed a pistol at his head. Jack stabbed behind him with the knife, and cut into her side. He spun around and smacked the gun from her hand. He grabbed her by the neck and sliced her neck with his knife. Coins came out of the wound and her avatar disappeared, losing a life.
"I didn't want things to go that way." Jack whispered softly.
Killing the woman left a bad taste in Jack's mouth. He left the map and went back to the Tensa Zangetsu. He opened a vault and put all his coins there. Next, he signed off and turned off the console…
The High Five held a meeting with the top programmers. They were tasked with monitoring Tridosk and Lynx behavior on the OASIS. So far, they were playing as normal players would. They would enter free for all types of games and defeat enemies using a variety of weapons. Lynx was actively purchasing items instead of stealing them. He would see an item and find out where they were being sold. He would use actual coins and spend them on the item unless he could not afford them. He continued defeating enemies, and it seemed that he was doing things that were legal, although people did not have a clue that he was immortal now on the OASIS. He was still using War Machine as his avatar. It appeared that he liked the character. They saw that Tridosk was following Lynx around and they were participating in similar matches. They just wanted to kill other players online. They did not do anything other than battle other players. The programmers were fixing all the damaged maps that Lynx had affected with his nuclear bombs. Soon, they were all fixed.
Meanwhile, Mark, or Jack_100292402 would look for gear, clothing, and participate in other games besides free for all types of games. He would also dance with Princess May from time to time. They would get together and watch movies online. They would talk to each other in some of the more romantic settings. They would touch each other as other couples did. It seemed that the OASIS was getting back to normal, although Jack/Mark and Amira/Princess May's lives were changing.
Several weeks passed. Mark and Amira would get together and study at each other's houses. They met each other's parents and siblings. They refrained from doing anything that might upset their family members. They studied for finals. Soon, they did their exams and Mark pulled off stellar grades. He applied for a college that was in the same region as his house. Amira, on the other hand chose a university in the main city which was Toronto. Mark made it onto the honor roll, as did Justin, David, Krystle, Tyler, Jessica and Amira. Soon, they had their graduation ceremony; Mrs. Patel had done Mark's hair once again. Nick Harvey was there to support both Amira and Mark. He was with his wife and their son. The school gave Mark two certificates, one was his high school diploma, and the other one was to acknowledge that he got on the honor roll. His parents were overjoyed. His siblings and parents took a few pictures of him, Amira, and his friends. John had a get together at his house after the ceremony. Mark and Amira went there, and they celebrated by playing music, and eating good food. John had prepared food especially for Amira because she was Muslim and did not eat meat.
Unfortunately, Tom did not graduate as he was missing a few credits. However, his friends invited him over so that he did not miss out. They spent time with each other until the day ended and everyone went home. Mark's parents were willing to pay for his college however they could not pay for him to rent an apartment or live on campus. He would have to take the bus to and from school. The school although it was in the same region, was still forty minutes away by car; it was about one hour away by bus. Amira on the other hand could afford to live on campus.
The summer went by, and Mark and Amira chose to spend most of the time together, mostly in person. There were only a few times that they decided to go on the OASIS. They would dance together, go to Jessica's cabin by the lake, and they would spend time with each other's families as well. Amira was a good person, and Mark's parents liked her. Jack_100292402 was not spending much time on the OASIS anymore. In the real world, Mark hung out with his friends, studied music, practiced piano, went to piano and martial arts lessons, and was with Amira; he had little time to use the OASIS as he once did.
Meanwhile, on the OASIS, many people had won the Easter eggs that the High Five made available. Crates were also introduced which had different gear, clothing, accessories, weapons, and other downloadable content. New maps were created, and old ones were adapted with better graphics. People were winning the Skulls as well. In the real world, the High Five used the money that they made to purchase a warehouse worth of servers, and several vehicles that they needed to get around with to different buildings. They hired interns who were interested in working on the OASIS. Other people had a dream and the High Five let people's dreams become part of the OASIS. The universe was expanding.
Lynx was observing what was happening. Lynx felt cheated. More people were winning than ever before making the items he did win useless, except for the immortality. Only Jack/Mark, Art3mis/Samantha and Lynx/Vladislav had it. No one else knew about that. Lynx searched for Jack's ship, the Tensa Zangetsu. He had programmed a tracking code to be placed on the ship so that he knew when it was uploaded from Jack/Mark's console. Unfortunately for Lynx, the High Five had made sure that he could not track Jack's ship's whereabouts anymore. They had been thorough when they undid the hacking that Lynx had performed on Jack. The only thing he could do was see when Jack logged on as players often chose to find each other to hang out or play against each other. It was legal for him to do this, but it looked like he as having bad luck. He tried finding Princess May, but could not find her either. They were offline. Perhaps Lynx had scared them off. There was no way that he knew what they were doing in their personal lives as they never let him know about it. He was their enemy of course. Princess May/ Amira never even played with Lynx to begin with.
And then, something came to Lynx's mind. Just like the High Five, other players could organize announcements when they wanted to do something. So, he did it. He organized a meeting between all players. He messaged those at the OASIS headquarters what he wanted to say. A few days later, after he requested time to talk to all players, he was given access to a channel so that he could talk to everyone.
"Hello," He said. "No doubt, most of you know me as Lynx, and I did have a bounty on my head. I am now offering you something. I want to play against the best of the best in a spaceship battle. No holds barred. All types of spaceships, airplanes, or any flying vehicle can be used. They must have weapons attached to them. This is not a race. For one hour, we will face each other. You will be allowed to respawn every time you die. The event will take place Saturday at 6:30 pm Eastern Standard Time."
Hundreds of players acknowledged that they heard what Lynx had announced. Word got to Mark through his friends about the space battle. No doubt Lynx and Tridosk would be there. Righteous anger pulsed through Mark's veins. He played the piano and did martial arts to calm himself down, however it was not working. He needed to face his enemies as they were mocking him. They kidnapped Amira for Lynx, who had been attacking everyone since the beginning so that he could get access to the OASIS again. Mark waited and logged into the OASIS at 6:00 pm on the Saturday in question. He fired up the Tensa Zangetsu. Tom, Justin, and John were with him as well. They decided upon a strategy to try. They would be their own clan. Amira and her friends chose to watch, although Tyler and Alan were going to participate as well. The High Five decided to sit this out and watch as well. The ship Jack would be piloting his Black and Yellow X-wing. Tom would be piloting a Colonial Viper from Battlestar Galactica with a snake painting all over its side. John/Gadanza would be piloting a red and gold F41 Broadsword from the Halo franchise. And Justin/Arathorn would be piloting a blue and black Jedi Starfighter/eta-2 Actis-class Interceptor from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.
The Tensa Zangetsu would hang back, only engaging if enemies got too close. The Mac cannons were powered up to 100%. The missiles were primed and ready to be fired. Every turret was online as well. Every hangar was closed so no one could come into the ship. Lastly, the deflector shields were up to maximum as well. Jack entered his ship, as did his three friends. Gadanza explained the game to Arathorn, who had a little bit of practice with battling ships. The friends got into their ships. Mark typed commands into his console and the hangar doors opened to allow the four ships to leave.
"How should we do this?" Arathorn asked the other three comrades. "Should we break off into pairs?"
"For now, we should look and see what everyone else is doing." Jack said. "We should have as one unit. I will take the lead, and Arathorn, you take the rear. Open up your shields to maximum, and I will do the same."
They made the formation: Jack was in front, Gadanza and Tom were side by side, and Arathorn brought up the rear. Their shields were up and their weapons were primed and ready.
"If you guys lose ammunition, please go back to the Tensa Zangetsu to get more." Jack said. "There should be more than enough."
"What's our target?" Gadanza asked.
"Everyone else is fair game, but I want to find Tridosk." Jack said. "He kidnapped Amira's avatar and held her hostage. I want to make that guy pay for what he's done. I'm going to take his coins away from him."
The four friends flew for a little bit, and then more and more players appeared on the map, piloting different vehicles that could fly. A clan was piloting the police hovercrafts from The Fifth Element. Five hundred players emerged out of hyperspace. They were the Star Wars clans. Mark knew about them because he had beaten them to gain access to the X-wing that he was now piloting. Some were copiloting ships, and there were even several Millennium Falcons. There were ships from the different Star Wars video games, movies, comics, and novels. There were droid Starfighters. There were bombers. There were much more than Jack had ever known. And then, something incredible happened; the flagship of the Star Wars universe, the ship that had belonged to Supreme Leader Snoke, in Star Wars Episode 8 arrived. There were hundreds of players in the ship, making sure the shields were up and weapons were being primed. They took positions at the different turrets that were there. Several Star Destroyers arrived as well. It was a massive fleet. Jack looked at his radar. There were several other players online as well. There were literally thousands of people playing now. This would be the biggest battle ever to happen on the OASIS. There were no Easter eggs, just bragging rights.
"Jack to The Tensa Zangetsu." Jack communicated with his ship. "Advance on the flagship's position. When in range, fire all missiles, and follow up with the two Mac cannons. When that is done, launch all Robot Interceptors."
The ship lurched forward, and with the advanced speed in its engines thanks to Jack's Easter egg, it made its way to the massive fleet.
"Jack," Tom said. "What are we doing?"
"I'm just having a bit of fun before Lynx and Tridosk get here." Jack said.
"Should we join the Interceptors as they take on that massive bastard?" Gadanza asked.
"No, let the Tensa Zangetsu do its work." Jack said, and then he noticed something.
Another Star Destroyer had arrived. This time it arrived from the opposite direction that the Star Wars fleet had arrived in.
"They are here." Jack said. "Form up on me."
They took off towards the Star Destroyer. Only two enemies emerged. One was a spaceship from Independence Day, which was piloted by Lynx, and the other enemy was the TIE Interceptor, being piloted by Tridosk.
Guys, take on Tridosk." Jack told them. "He's the enemy in the TIE Interceptor, and I will take on the other person, Lynx."
Jack looked up and saw that his friends had agreed as they broke formation. This time, Arathorn was in front, while the other two were slightly behind him, but to the sides. They all started firing their primary weapons at Tridosk when they got in range. Mark's X-wing was too fast, so Lynx could not help his friend as Jack took him on. Their ships collided. Thanks to the Easter eggs, nothing happened, they just bounced off each other. Lynx opened the hatch to his ship. He came out and aimed a revolver at Jack's ship. He fired it. The bullet melted as soon as it touched Jack's shield. Lynx could hardly believe what just happened. His special coding that took away Jack's abilities did not work this time. Jack pressed a red button on his dashboard and something shot out from the Tensa Zangetsu. Jack opened his hatch and got out of his ship, which turned into a miniature version of itself. Jack put his ship in a compartment inside his utility belt. The gold streak flew forward, and Jack once again transformed into his Gold Dragon State. This time, he had a jetpack on his back, and could now wield his broad sword with both hands as it now had a long hilt and guard. It had golden letters all along the blade as well. The form that Jack had taken no longer had a cape. It seemed that this suit of armor had been made to fly in space.
"Vlad!" Tridosk/Lewis yelled. "I'm being hounded by these guys. They won't stop. I need your help."
"I'll be there in a second." Lynx said, and then he turned to Jack. "Call off your guys. I may not be able to hurt you, but they will pay with their online lives unless you don't stop them now."
"Fine." Jack said as he opened a channel to his three friends. "Guys, leave Tridosk alone. Fight other players."
While all of that was going on, more and more players were coming to do battle. It seemed that the Star Wars fleet was the hugest, while a few Star Trek ships arrived. There were some ships from Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, and a few from several different Anime shows arrived as well. Gundam Wing machines arrived and the battle started getting intense as bombs, lasers, bullets, and missiles were fired at the different players. Jack's friends stayed together and took out several players. They started attacking bigger ships using their missiles, lasers and bullets. As for the Tensa Zangetsu, it had taken a run at the massive ship called the Supremacy, which was Snoke's ship in Star Wars Episode Eight: The Last Jedi. It had fired all its missiles, and started firing using lasers to attack it. So far, the Supremacy's shield was holding. The Tensa Zangetsu still had its Mac Rounds. The Tensa Zangetsu was a smaller vessel than the Supremacy. To put it in scope, The Tensa Zangetsu could probably hold three Star Destroyers in its hold, minus the vaults, weapons and vehicles that Jack had in there. The robots that Jack employed were now outfitted with weapons in case hackers somehow got in. Jack's Sentinel program was online as well to make sure hackers stayed out. Jack was not fooling around.
Jack looked at Lynx as he put away his ship in the same manner that Jack had done. He pulled out Tridosk's axe, Spawn's Agony.
"This will not be like last time." Lynx said. "This time, I used a special code on Tridosk's axe. It now has the power to do what you did to me last time, but I will still be able to use the OASIS as I see fit."
"I don't know if the High Five took away the power I had to defeat you last time." Jack said. "I am not alone in this fight. Someone will defeat you, whether it be me or someone else."
"I doubt that." Lynx said, and then he launched himself forward using his repulsors on his boots.
He brought the axe up and slammed it down as hard as he could. Jack used his sword and swung it upwards. Their weapons slammed into each other, creating sparks. Jack and Lynx used both arms when swinging. Jack suddenly got an idea. He knew how to fight people in the real world. The same techniques he learned could be used in this instance. He thrust his sword forward, right to the midsection of Lynx, who blocked with the axe. Jack let Lynx move his sword, and did not fight it. He followed up by roundhouse kicking Lynx's side. Jack opened his right palm and slammed it into Lynx's face. Lynx fell back, and Jack pressed the advantage. He fought with different techniques that he had learned. Lynx was not skilled in martial arts so did not know how to counter it. Lynx brought out his proton cannon and fired a huge purple beam at Jack. The armor on Jack's left arm transformed into a shield, and it blocked the beam from doing any damage. Jack sheathed his sword on his back and whispered a spell into the palm of his right hand. He flung a blue ball of energy at Lynx when he was done firing his weapon. The ball of energy collided with the proton cannon.
"No!" Lynx screamed as his proton cannon disintegrated into nothing.
He tried different commands to try and bring it back. It would not come back no matter how hard he tried.
"You asshole!" Lynx screamed, and then fired up his missile launcher and minigun.
He fired every weapon he had at Jack, who stood his ground. Jack's left fist transformed into a cannon. The dragon's mouth opened and he fired at Lynx with a blue beam. Lynx was slammed and fell back. He pulled out his special revolver. He had not made any duplicate bullets and only had four left. He fired one. It went right through Jack; however, it was not really Jack. Jack had foreseen the event happening, so as soon as Lynx prepared to fire, he activated active camouflage and left an afterimage of himself instead.
"What?" Lynx said is disbelief.
A hand in the shape of a leopard's paw slammed into Lynx's fist and he let go of the revolver. Jack appeared and grabbed the weapon. Without hesitating, he pointed it at Lynx's head and fired. He fired until the gun was empty, and then he destroyed it by crushing it. Lynx was no longer immortal, had limited ammunition and his vehicles reduced their speed. Lynx tried flying away. Jack fired his cannon once more and it blew off Lynx's legs. Coins erupted form Lynx, which Jack gladly absorbed. He flew towards Lynx and sliced up his body into smaller pieces. These pieces disappeared, leaving behind coins. Jack looked at Lynx's Star Destroyer and flew to it. He opened his inventory and produced a nuclear bomb. He flew into the main hangar and saw no one there to stop him. He walked into middle of the ship and dropped off the nuclear bomb. He bored through the ship and left it with a gaping hole. He pressed a button on a detonator. The bomb exploded and it destroyed Lynx's ship. Next, Jack looked and found Tridosk, who was using his TIE Interceptor to fight against other players. Jack flew using a golden jet pack. He aimed his left arm, and it turned into the cannon once again. This time, a missile flew out of it. It locked onto Tridosk's signal and flew after him. He tried his best to make it crash into other players, but it was a smart missile. Jack flew after him as well. He used active camouflage so that his enemy would not see him coming.
"This is for Amira!" Jack screamed.
His sword slammed into the wing of the ship. He left a miniature nuclear bomb in the ship where he had cut and flew away. The ship exploded, leaving nothing but pieces and coins of the enemy. Jack flew to the Tensa Zangetsu, which was still doing battle with The Supremacy. He put his Gold Dragon armor away in his vault and went to the bridge. His ship's shields were still up.
"Interceptors, Tom, Gadanza, Arathorn, stop attacking the Supremacy." He ordered his robotic minions and friends. "All hands, brace yourselves. Fire both Mac Cannons on my mark."
Jack allowed several minutes to go by for his robots and friends to get out of the way.
"Mark!" He yelled into his headset.
The ship shuddered as the two Mac rounds were fired. The first one brought down the shields and did a little bit of damage. The second round pierced the armor of the massive ship. Jack fired all missiles and lasers as soon as he could at the holes caused by his Mac cannons.
"Reload!" Jack yelled to the robots in his ship to power up the Mac cannons with more rounds. "All interceptors, attack the wound with whatever torpedoes you have left. All others without torpedoes, return to the ship to be reloaded."
Jack then had an idea. He went down to the vault and took out his Gold Dragon armor. He went to the nearest exit and flew out of his ship. He stood on top of it with his boots using magnets to stick on the hull. He brought his hands together and the transformed into one massive cannon. Even his jet pack came together with his arms. He looked to his Heads Up Display and saw that his armor would need to recharge shortly as he only had 35% left inside it. Yes, he had unlimited power when his weapons were concerned, but his jetpacks and shield absorbed most of the energy. He prepared to fire and waited.
"What do you want us to do, Jack?" Arathorn asked. "We're ready to go into battle."
"I have one last thing to try." Jack said. "Just wait for it, and then you can do what you have planned."
Jack ordered his interceptors to fall back once more. He then fired with everything in his arsenal on board his ship and in his Gold Dragon armor. The armor depowered and Jack could no longer remain in it. He used a grapnel hook and pulled himself into his ship. He put his armor away to charge, and plugged it into the nuclear core of the ship. He gave his friends and interceptors permission to do their best in defeating this behemoth. Several of its turrets were still online. Jack ordered his robots to continue to monitor the radars. No doubt, Lynx and Tridosk were still out there somewhere, plotting their next move…
Vladislav tore off his headset. He could not believe it. He had been beaten once again. He grabbed his headset and started slamming it on the concrete wall that made up his basement. He kept slamming it again and again, and sparks started to fly as the circuitry fried. He dashed it onto the floor.
"Stupid lagging, piece of shit!" He swore as he eyed his console.
He tore out away from his server and pushed everything down. He started stomping his foot down on it and broke it. He took one of his keyboards and destroyed it by using it as a club against the other machinery in his basement. Lynx was no more. From this day forward, he would no longer go onto the OASIS. There was nothing there for him. His greatest foe had defeated him without using hacking. He may have used devious means, but Vlad had plans to use those means as well. He tore out his hair, and just had a meltdown. He wanted to be the one. He wanted to be more important. Now, he was nothing. He was beaten by someone who was beneath him. Suddenly, his cellphone started ringing. It was Lewis. Vladislav decided to ignore the call. There was no way he could talk to someone at that moment.
Jack decided that with the destruction of Lynx, Tridosk, and the Supremacy, he had won a very big victory. He decided to pull out, and let other players go at it, including his friends. He sighed as he watched from a distance. Other players would assume that he had used all his weapons, power, and ammunition. They did not know him and his ship were invincible and the ammunition was unlimited. His friends were winning. They died a few times, but respawned on board the Tensa Zangetsu. Jack's friends used The Tensa Zangetsu as their own mechanic shop to fix their ships as well. The robots examined the ships each time they needed their ships to be fixed. So far, there was no trace of Lynx or Tridosk again. They could come back, like how other players came back. It looked like they had taken this defeat bitterly. It looked like everyone was having fun. Several neutral ships came in to fix ships that had broken down as well. Jack looked to the horizon and sighed. His enemies were destroyed. His love had been avenged. The future seemed to have greater things.
Five months passed. Mark started College, and maintained good grades. He continued doing martial arts and chose to only practice piano songs he wanted to play. His mom got a raise in pay. His father was close to retiring. Amira would call Mark every night. Mark would speak to her, and sometimes they would find each other online on the OASIS. Mark chose not to join the High Five, because he believed that they would be too powerful. He continued to help people on the OASIS fix things, but he was not online all that much anymore. He needed to study. He decided that he would get into computers and become a technician. He remained in contact with his friends Tom Calcio, John Matthews, and Justin Rihaz. On the weekend, Amira would come home. Mark would see her Saturday nights, and they would have a date night each week. They enjoyed spending time together and they would complain about school, tell each other about new friends, and just have a nice time with each other. Mark was changing. He was no longer quiet. The martial arts were giving him more confidence. He was finding new friends, and even joined the Campus Church Group which met every Wednesday during the day.
He never saw Lynx again. Tridosk was on the OASIS sometimes, but Mark/Jack decided to leave him alone. His new friends found out about the Tensa Zangetsu and were in awe of the size of it and all that Jack owned. He let them borrow certain things. He never let them see that he had the Easter eggs yet, though.
As for his brother, he went into Grade Eleven, and was taking University Ranked classes. His sister went into Grade six. He had made his parents proud and continued to strive to make himself better. He was jogging every day except Sundays. He was doing pushups and practiced martial arts. He was feeling better about himself. He started to speak to people more, and was likeable, unlike what people thought about him in high school. He had changed for the better, and Amira was glad for him. Mark would occasionally speak to Nick Harvey sometimes, and often would seek advice from the older man. No one should be able to tell him what to do. It was all in Mark's hands. He just needed to be smart about how he treated life in general.
GoldDragonZ: Thanks so much for reading this story. It was dear to me as it had to do with how my life could have been. I wish I had a mentor like Nick. I wish I had a group of friends like Tom, John, and Justin. Above all, I wish I had a girl like Amira who believed she could help me and wanted to see me do better. I wish there was someone there that I could rely on. If you want me to continue the story, please tell me. If you think it was garbage, please tell me that as well. Have a good one guys!
