A wall separated him from Nellie, a wall of teenage evil and tarnished morals. Somehow he had to shatter the circle surrounding her long enough for her to escape. To do that, he would have to pull the Croparazzi away, capture their attention, and force them to focus on him. Blake needed to elevate the situation to a threat level that demanded his adversaries' undivided attention…no matter the cost.

'Time to start the show,' he thought.

Blake needed to play the role of aggressor, if he was to see Nellie free, and to do that, Charlie needed to fear him…and fear him he would. Reaching over his head, Blake grabbed the back of his t-shirt and pulled it over his head, displaying the scrapes on his back and shoulders that he had acquired squeezing through his truck's back window but, more importantly, he revealed to the Croparazzi the chiseled muscles beneath those fresh wounds. Like a gladiator freeing his sword from its scabbard, the action challenged the horde he faced, and hopefully drew more of their attention away from Nellie.

Seven in all, they had a definite tactical superiority, but what Blake was counting on was that the Croparazzi's commitment to the current scenario did not rise to the same level of fanaticism as their leader's. They might 'fear' Charlie; hell, they might even 'like' him, but were they ready, willing, and able to take the proverbial 'bullet' for him…were they willing to get in Blake's way. Under no conceivable scenario would he back down, regardless of how vastly outnumbered he was, so it would take a presentation of the obvious to the Croparazzi, one that conveyed exactly what would happen to those that stood between him and Charlie.

Blake's wet t-shirt slapped against Charlie's chest, the gauntlet cast.

'How do you think this is going to go, Ryan?' Charlie stated simply, as he plucked free the wet garment and dropped it to the ground, 'You come at me, we kick your ass, and I tell Figgins that you are a 'dangerous element' in the McKinley community. What do you think happens then?'

Despite the power of the rainstorm, Blake never blinked, never broke his stare with Charlie, and in answer to his question, he simply shrugged, 'I'm not really thinking about what 'will' happen, but I do have some thoughts on the present.'

Charlie rolled his eyes again, 'Please do enlighten us. I mean I can't think of a better way to weather a thunderstorm than listening to some idiot wax philosophic. So please, before I change my status to 'Bored-to-death', let me hear your observations.'

Blake smiled, 'You've never had your ass kicked, have you Charlie?'

'Threats!?', Charlie laughed, 'Here I actually thought you might come up with something clever.'

'I'll take that as a 'no',' Blake continued, his cold grin still worn, 'The way I figure it, with the way you act, the only possible conclusion is that somehow: maybe hiding behind this group, money, or your family, you avoided getting the ass-beating that might have straightened you out. A black-eye or a busted lip delivered a few years back might've made you think twice before humiliating someone.'

'Are you going to kick all of our asses, Blake?', Charlie stated smugly.

'No,' Ryan shot his words at Booth like an archer, 'just yours.'

The largest of the hooded Croparazzi stepped forward between the two and barked at Blake, 'You want to throw down, pretty boy!? Why that's just my kind of fun.'

Lowering his own hood, TD sneered at Blake and rolled his shoulders, readying for combat, but Ryan ignored the brute, looking just over the fiend's shoulder to the spot his bulk had recently occupied. With TD's advance, the Croparazzi's circle had been broken, and for the first time since their meeting yesterday, Blake saw Nellie.

Charlie Booth, the Croparazzi, the storm, all disappeared, and all that remained was the girl. From behind the others, Nellie met his gaze with the same anxious hope that had intoxicated him the day prior, but there was something more to it now. A longing, normally found in the eyes of someone too long on the journey and too removed from the destination, met his, and there while the thunder raged and his enemies swarmed, Blake Ryan knew that he hadn't fooled himself. He and the girl were cast from the same mold; both looking for the same thing…hope.

And they had found each other, and Blake would be damned, if he let some high-school caesar take her from him.

With a speed that surprised the gathering, Blake sprinted at TD, but instead of tackling him, like everyone expected, he pivoted away from the giant, shot between the grabbing hands of the other Croparazzi, and rushed toward Nellie. However, instead of stopping at her side, Ryan flashed passed Nellie and leveled the cloaked figure behind her.

As the Croparazzi went flying, Blake turned, held out his hand and screamed, 'Come on!'

Nellie leapt through the hole he had made and grabbed his hand. With the touch, their first, a lifetime of emotions passed between them, and before either knew it, tears bled from their eyes.

But the future was not now, and for any chance to experience the other, they had to escape the 'here and now'.

'RUN!', Nellie screamed, and together they sped away, running parallel to McKinley. But like the animals they were, the Croparazzi gave chase.

Hand-in-hand they ran, hoping against hope to make it to the main entrance and the safety of the front office just beyond it. Reinvigorated by the tense scene, the lightning crackled with a clearer sense of purpose, bringing the medieval to their flight. Like characters victimized by the Brothers Grimm, Nellie and Blake rushed to outrun the big bad wolves, nipping at their heels, but the pack was closing the gap.

Chancing a glance behind them, Blake's breath caught in his throat, when he saw just how close TD was to catching them. Barely over an arm's length away, the hulk would grab one of them any second, and then the rest of the Croparazzi would be on them with the next flash of lightning.

Looking over at Nellie, Blake screamed, 'Go on ahead! Go on ahead!'

She opened her mouth to argue, but before she could, Blake let go of her hand, spun, and launched himself at TD. With barbaric roars emanating from each of their throats, the two large boys crashed together and created a peel of thunder every bit as powerful as anything brewed by Mother Nature.

Nellie ran a few more steps before she too turned.

TD and Blake fought like two titans, rolling and squeezing each other in an effort to gain advantage, but, too quickly, the rest of the Croparazzi, Charlie in the lead, arrived on the scene. Several of his hooded henchmen grabbed Blake, pinning his arms to his side, and allowed TD the opening he needed to land a vicious punch to Ryan's stomach. Enraged by the cheap-shot, Blake produced a primal scream, threw off one of the Croparazzi and landed a brutal strike to TD's jaw. However, the victory was fleeting, and Blake quickly found himself overwhelmed by their numbers.

Charlie looked from Blake to where Nellie stood and smiled, when he saw her ball her hands into fists.

'You still think you've got an army in your pocket, Penelope?' Charlie laughed at the girl, as she readied to charge.

But the cackle died in his throat a beat later, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

Just as Nellie started to run toward him, another figure, or figures rather, emerged from the darkness behind her.

Pushed by Blaine Anderson and Sam Evans, Artie Abrams rocketed passed Nellie, wearing both his old football helmet and a wild look in his glasses-free gaze.

'RAMMING SPEED!,' Artie bellowed, just before he struck the Croparazzi like a wrecking ball.

(Author's Note: Had a great question about the other members of the GP2, and 'yes' several of them will appear. Even though Charlie, Nellie, Blake and Michael will remain the principals, along with the existing cast members, I have very specific plans for the others ;) Again, thank you so much for the great words!)