Episode 57: The Burdens we carry
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Saturday night was a good night at Kadic, there was no school the next day and classes ended early that day, Dallas had taken this time to finally get around to that arrangement he had with Abbie, he found a Thailand themed bar that was run by native Thai's, so Dallas appreciated it more, he and Abbie sat at the bar, whilst Abbie had a nice cup of cola, Dallas had cream soda,
"I can't believe you like that stuff" she said laughing, Dallas smiled and put down his cup, "after living with my dad's cooking for 14 years I was lucky to be able to still taste anything" he said before joining in on the laughter, "yeah luckily for me, my dad can cook" said Abbie as she managed to stop laughing, "so whats your life like outside of Kadic" asked Dallas, Abbie smiled and thought for a second, "it's not too bad, since by Dad is a big shot lawyer, we live in a nice apartment, I've grown up with the best education, he doesn't care about my grades except for English, math, and science, just get a B in the important ones and I'm fine anything else is a bonus" she said, Dallas shrugged his shoulders at the idea, "what about you" she asked, Dallas was caught off guard but remembered he'd never told her, "my pa, he's… well he's been dead for just under two years" said Dallas, Abbie was shocked she knew he was a border but didn't know why, "I'm sorry" she said rubbing his arm, "it's fine" said Dallas as he took another gulp of his drink, "you got a poor taste by the way" said Dallas as he signalled for a refill, "a poor taste in what" she asked, Dallas was handed his refill, "in men, you're hanging out with me" said Dallas but Abbie punched him in the arm, "you're one of few blokes I know that haven't tried getting in my pants before getting to know me" she said as she finished her drink, Dallas smiled as he said "believe me I'm not…" he stopped as someone barged into him, Dallas rolled it off as someone being drunk, even though his jumper was soaked slightly, "you need a bib" said the man, Dallas caught his reflection, he was Japanese and had thin hair and was clearly not drunk, "You need some manners" said Dallas as he finished what was left of his drink, "what" asked the man, Dallas didn't respond as he put down his glass, he heard someone say "show this fool a lesson", he pin pointed it to a table more less behind him and Abbie, "what" asked the man again, Dallas signalled for the barman to walk over, he whispered "sorry" the barman was confussed and asked "for what" but he got is answer as the man swung at Dallas but in his slightly intoxicated state, the man went for a wide swing Dallas ducked and the man's arm collided with the post, the man screamed, everyone from his table noticed the failed altercation and looked up, the man then with his left arm threw a punch at Dallas, but before it could get anywhere near close to him Dallas grabbed his arm and pushed it away before slapping it downwards, the force moved the man towards him slightly but Dallas punched him in the head, before grabbing and smacking his head into the bar stand, "that" said Dallas to the bartender, Abbie was shocked at the violence but was amazed at how calm Dallas was, the aforementioned noticed that one of the people from the man's table was getting up holding a bottle, he then threw the man towards them, everyone who was at the table moved as he smashed through the table, they quickly moved towards Dallas who stepped away from Abbie, however unlike what Dallas usually dealt with these people were uncoordinated and didn't know any advanced fighting styles, the first came at him with a punch but Dallas grabbed his arm and twisted it back causing the man to scream before he kicked him towards the man's date knocking them both over, "watch out" said Abbie as the last of the people came at Dallas from behind in a rugby tackle, they struck him on the back but Dallas crouched and grabbed the man by the neck in a head locked and flipped him over onto his back, before kneeling down ready to punch him and knock him out, suddenly Dallas recognized the man, he was one of the suburbs, one of the ones who'd shot him and was responsible for the death of Liam, Dallas punched him with more force than was nessecery for a knock out leaving a massive gash below the eye, he stood up with Abbie looking at him scared, "I'm sorry" he said before handing the Bartender a thousand Euro and walking out, he rubbed his face as he moved into the alley way.
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Back at Kadic things were more calm and relaxed, Jeremie had agreed to get some sleep for once and the others were in Aelita's and Yumi's room,
"You settling in okay then Yumi" asked Odd as he looked at her side of the room, it was basic and had a few books scattered about, "living here isn't difficult, it's why I'm living here that's difficult" said Yumi, Odd looked down slightly knowing she blamed herself, "I mean if me and Ulrich didn't conceive this child, I might not be here, but by father wouldn't be a criminal" she said almost crying but Aelita handed her a few tissues, "It's the better of two bads I suppose, I mean I'm happy we have this child on the way, it means I'm not losing the woman I love" said Ulrich as he hugged her tighter, "I'll never understand love" said Aelita as she sat against the wall, "that's because Jeremie's practically a machine" said Odd which only served to get him a disappointed look from Ulrich and Yumi, and a blushing Aelita who couldn't look at him, "seriously Odd stop teasing her" said Yumi, Odd expected to be hated for a while for the remark and felt bad, but then suddenly Aelita threw one of her socks in his face and said "all is forgiven" laughing, as he began to cough from the smell, "Christ Aelita" he said as he struggled to get his breath.
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Dallas was steal seated in the ally way, he couldn't help but think back to what happened in Detroit,
"Are you okay" said a voice, Dallas looked up to see Abbie standing there looking down at him, "I'd be lying if I said I was" said Dallas as he didn't even look at her, "whats wrong" she asked as she sat down next to him, "I don't like to talk about what happened in Detroit, but my brother's death and what lead to my fathers is because of a bad call I made" said Dallas which caused him to break down into tears, after having held it to himself and Jeremie for nearly two years he wasn't any better for getting it off his chest, "I doubt that's the case" she said as she placed his arm around him, "I made the call to burn down the construction site, they retaliated and had Liam killed, and then we moved to France and my Dad was killed because of the circumstances" said Dallas unable to stop crying, Abbie felt bad knowing this was what he held back from everyone, "what happened is in the past, you can't let yourself be carried by the guilt" she said, Dallas looked up at her, "with it being my fault, seeing one of them it hurts" he said, but Abbie knew what he was feeling, "it'll be fine" she said as she stroked his hair, he looked up at her and he moved in, and the two began kissing, Dallas pulled away and said "no that's wrong I'm pitying you into this" he stood up and helped her to her feet, "it's best I took you home" he said unable to stop thinking about Detroit.
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Jeremie woke up moving from his bed and stretching his arms, he'd managed to get a few hours of sleep and felt rejuvenated because of it, he moved towards his door and made sure it was locked, he smiled as he was unable to open it, he quickly moved across the room to his computer and clicked his fingers,
"Now hopefully I can get some work done" he said then he turned on the screen and looked at where he left off before he carried on typing, then he heard a knocking on the door, he didn't answer, and the knocking ended, he quickly began typing again, "can't people leave me alone even when I'm asleep" he said sarcastically, he flicked the coffee pot and began heating it up, and carried on typing, he suddenly sat back in his chair as an email from his parents came up.
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Two years ago a young Jeremie walked through his high school; he was shorter than most people as they looked down on him, he hadn't been moved up a year, he'd just not grown as much as them, he moved towards his locker dodging between people, he quickly opened his locker to find once again it'd been broken into, luckily he'd learned and kept nothing but his books inside it,
"Belpois" said a voice, Jeremie hated hearing that voice, "what do you want" he said as he turned around "oh is that a way to treat a friend" said the man as he placed his arm around his neck, he was far from Jeremie's friend, he was just a bit taller than Jeremie and was more built than him, "yeah jez, is that how you treat a friend" said a girl, she was taller than Jeremie as well but barely, she had obviously fake nails, a shirt that exposed a lot of cleavage, and had clearly fake tan, she moved to Jeremie and pinned him to the locker, Jeremie was nervous and scared, "you're not backing out are you" she said in a sarcastic flirting tone brush the side of his face, "ye… yes" said Jeremie trying to stand up for himself, "oh Jake, he's being defiant" said the girl, Jake quickly punched Jeremie and knocked him to his knees, "you know, me and Mercedes need those grades improved, and for the shall we say, mistakes removed" said Jake as he knelt down to Jeremie, "study then" said Jeremie, Mercedes was angered by this comment and kicked Jeremie, "listen if you don't do what we say, things will get very bad for you" said Jake as he moved away and, Jeremie tried crawling away but found himself unable to.
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He suddenly heard a knocking on his door again awakening him from his day dream he quickly closed the email and moved towards the door and listened to who was outside,
"Jeremie" said Odd as he knocked again, "Jeremie are you okay" he said as he knocked again, Jeremie opened the door and said "what is it Odd, I'm trying to sleep", Odd smiled and said "right, I was just checking on you, and wondered if you wanted to get a drink with the others", Jeremie quickly looked back at his computer and thought back to his memory, "yeah I need to clear my head" said Jeremie, Odd realised that Jeremie wasn't saying something, but decided against asking him.
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Dallas pulled his motorcycle up to the Main building where Abbie and her father lived; he hadn't said anything throughout the trip, he turned off the engine and kicked out the stand, Abbie stepped off and stood next to him,
"are you going to be okay" she asked him, Dallas looked towards her with his eyes only, "yeah… listen I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I think it's best we don't see each other in this capacity anymore" he said, she was caught off guard, "I saw how you reacted when I turned feral, it's best you never see that again" he added, but Abbie in defiance grabbed him and kissed him he returned it, but pulled away as she said "please, one time and one incident doesn't mean anything", Dallas looked away knowing she was right, but he'd lost his calm in front of her, "I'm sorry" he said as he revved the engine before shooting off down the street, Abbie was hurt by his cold behaviour all of a sudden, she entered the building but as she did she didn't know someone was watching her, "the Intel checks out she's here" said the person as he moved back into the shadows.
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Jeremie hobbled along the numerous lockers in the corridor, no one was around as they'd all gone home, and no one liked to hang around for any longer than they had to, and no one not even the staff wanted to be there, Jeremie made his way to the teachers door but found it locked, so he kept hobbling along until he was at the nurses offices, the door had been spray painted on saying "FUCK OFF I'M BUSY" which the nurse never removed because she liked it, Jeremie kept hobbling until he was outside,
"How'd I get myself into this mess" he said to himself, "earth to Jeremie" said a voice, "what" he said as he found himself back in the cafeteria, "god you are spacing out again aren't you" said Ulrich as he patted him on the back, "yeah sorry" replied Jeremie as he grabbed his cup of coffee, Jeremie decided to change the subject, "so any idea what you're gonna call the baby" he said almost instantly he regretted asking, but neither Ulrich nor Yumi noticed the obvious change, "well we have no idea" said Yumi, Ulrich thought for a second, "we've both made a choice to not find out the babies gender" said Ulrich as he pulled Yumi closer to him, "so you'd prefer the surprise of not knowing" asked Aelita intrigued at the concept, "yeah lots of people do that, they prefer the element of surprise" said Odd, Jeremie couldn't help but think, why was he remembering that now, "I'm gonna go work on the Anti-Virus" said Jeremie as he stood up, "come on Jeremie stay a bit longer" said Aelita as she patted on the seat next to her, but Jeremie ignored her.
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Jeremie flicked on his light switch to see Dallas doing press up with his feet on his bed, he had his torso bare except for his tags and his boots were too the side,
"What're you doing" asked Jeremie as he stood over him and sat down in his chair, "aren't you meant to be on a date" asked Jeremie, Dallas didn't look at him as he said "I snapped and lost control" as he sped up his push ups, "I saw one of them" he added, Jeremie looked back at him, "I thought you said…" started Jeremie, but Dallas cut him off violently "I know what I said, but one of them was in a bar" he said as he moved off the bed, "one out of twelve, Dallas you're fine" said Jeremie, Dallas was unconvinced, then Jeremie pointed to a long bag on the ground, "that came for you whilst you were out" said Jeremie, Dallas looked at the brown bag, that was old and looked like it was a military bag, he picked it up and heard a rattling, he opened the top and looked in, he looked up before closing it again and moving towards his bed, "what is it" asked Jeremie, Dallas looked back and said "nothing" as he lifted his mattress and placed it underneath it.
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Odd left his and Ulrich's room and walked down the corridor and towards the stairs being nervous about his plan, he quickly descended to the girls floor and walked along towards Aelita's and Yumi's room, he took a breath and knocked on the door, Aelita opened it and said
"Odd, it's a bit late", Odd looked around before saying "can we talk quickly", Aelita was confussed but stepped out quietly so as to not awaken the sleeping Yumi, "what is it" she asked, Odd looked around again, "it's Jeremie something's been bugging him since earlier" said Odd, Aelita was both confussed and concerned "what can we do" she asked, Odd looked down knowing what he was gonna ask was crazy, "I think you should ask him, I know I've joked about it but I think you can get him to talk more than the rest of us, even Dallas" said Odd, Aelita blushed slightly but knew what he meant, "you think I can help him" she asked Odd smiled and nodded saying "I know you can".
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Jeremie hobbled into his home, his house was a nice one story building, his parents whilst not rich weren't exactly middle class more of an in-between, Jeremie opened his door and entered his room, he lay down on his bed feeling his bruises, he quickly pulled his jumper from over his head, his near stick figure frame had numerous black and purple marks all over from where he was regularly beaten up either for lunch money or so he'd help someone,
"when will it end" he said to himself as he grabbed a shirt and moved towards his computer, he turned it on and went to his emails, there was only one email, it was from Jake it simply read
"don't forget what we've told you, or things will only get worse for you", Jeremie sank into his chair, he was being forced to hack and change grades, he looked at his computer, suddenly he felt a falling sensation, and he shot forward, he looked around seeing Dallas asleep in his bed, Jeremie panted heavily from the nightmare, he moved out of his bed and opened a window letting some air in, "why did they have to remind me" said Jeremie to himself.
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The woods were silent at Night, no one would usually enter them during this time of year, Adam and Evelyn however weren't most people, Adam had a torch in his hand and was shining it around,
"XANA's lost the plot this time" said Evelyn as she looked up at the star filled sky, "you know the plan, with one part of the timeline secured we can force the next part" said Adam as he looked around, "so why are we bringing in outside help" asked Evelyn, Adam grinned as he stepped forward saying "insurance", then they heard a twig break Adam turned and pulled his revolver, "glad you could make it" said Adam as he lowered it and placed it behind his jacket, "I hope you know who you and this fine ass bitch there are dealing with" said the obvious leader of the group, each of them was a nastier piece of work than the last, the leader was short no more than 5 foot tall he had a scar across his forehead and dressed to impress, but it'd impress no one, his right hand man had more in height and weight, more chubby and hair that resembled an old school gangster, behind him someone not much taller than the leader, but looked worse off he barely had any hair, but still managed to have a tiny pony tail atop of his head, the largest of the group sat on a tree stump, his hair was short but his teeth visibly rancid, the tallest of the group was barely much better, he had short black hair but a full badly kept beard it was clear he'd smoked some substances, next to him was a female, she was clearly someone who'd slept around, her hair was obviously bleached and looked terrible because of it, one defining feature that kept the others around her, she was short and had a large chest, one that was way too big for someone who was about 4 foot 9 inches, next to her was the last of the group, possibly the worst of them, he was 5 foot 2 and looked a mess, his hair was greasy and barely washed, he had a massive gap between his two front teeth and smelled terrible almost reminiscent of cabbage, "clearly I was the lucky one" said Adam as he smiled, "tell me did the information check out" he added as he crossed his arms, Evelyn looked at him nervously, although she would kill anyone at a moment's notice she was made uncomfortable by the group, "you wouldn't ask if you didn't know it would" said the right hand man, but the leader raised his arm, "calm it Dayne, the bitches been useful so far" said the leader, Dayne looked down at him and huffed, "what is it you want" asked the taller one as he looked at Evelyn which continued to make her uncomfortable, "ever heard the saying the enemy of my enemy is my friend" said Adam grinning, the leader looked back at the others "what do you think Cabbage" he said angering the greasy haired one, "fuck you Daniel, but we might need more proof" said Cabbage, Daniel turned back to face Adam and Evelyn, "what proof do you have that we can trust you" he said, Evelyn stepped forward saying "we know what you did, attempted murder, murder and 5 of you are in jail, the only witness Dallas Marshal", the girl stepped forward and said "so the slut speaks", Evelyn raised an eyebrow confussed as to how she was the slut, "That's my sister, now what more do you want" said Adam as he folded his arms, the larger one stepped off the tree, "so you know our crimes, but how does that help us" he asked, but Daniel looked at him and said "Reece speak only when asked", Reece backed towards a tree, "we can give you the location of Dallas Marshal, do what you want with him, but we're only here to offer our assistance" said Evelyn, the taller one spoke up, "so I could hack the web and find him why do we need your help" he said as he laughed boasting his apparent hacking skills, "because he's got a master hacker on his side, who can mask his signature faster than you could ever hope to break it" said Adam, Daniel looked at the pony tailed member of the group as he spoke up, "say we agree, how can you help us" he said, Daniel smiled as he said "Conor raises a point, how can you help us", Adam smiled and said "Like this" he then unscrewed the cap off the torch and suddenly XANA's black slime jumped at the group, they fell to the ground in pain, their faces should pain and screaming but there was no sound, suddenly they stood up, XANA hadn't taken full control only partial control and was working with them, "the power, the Power" said Daniel as he laughed manically, "what is it you want us to do" asked the tall one, "kill Dallas Marshal" said Adam.
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Abbie heard her front door open and she stepped out of her room to see her dad standing exhausted he removed his tie and kicked off his shoes,
"Hey dad" she said, Clarke was taken aback by this, "you're home early, I thought you were on a date" he said smiling, "Dad" said Abbie embarrassed about it, "well" he said as he sat down in the living room, "well he fell under the weather and decided to call it a night" said Abbie, Clarke smiled knowing the stress that Dallas was under, "well as long as you can had a good time and he didn't hurt you" said Clarke as he began to doze off, Abbie retreated to her room, she was infact hurt, Dallas's mood had suddenly changed after seeing one person, she was concerned for him.
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The next morning came and The Mood within the warriors was grim, a school trip was only just announced that morning for the day, but half of the warriors couldn't go, Dallas was vetoed because of his chest despite his insistence he was fine, Aelita had no parent to sign a form to say she could go, and Yumi's pregnancy ruled her out because the school wasn't insured for her medical condition,
"this is such bullshit" said Odd as he drank a cup of coco, Dallas looked at him as he downed his 2nd cup of coffee, "I don't blame them, I'm just annoyed they're doing this" said Dallas, Ulrich was annoyed because he didn't want to be away from Yumi, "I just don't want to be away just in case anything bad happens" said Ulrich as he gripped her hand, "I'll be fine with Dallas around nothings likely to touch me" replied Yumi as she kissed him on the cheek, "personally I'm more concerned about Jeremie" said Aelita, despite Odd not mentioning it to anyone else they all knew something was up, "me and Ulrich can keep an eye on him" said Odd smiling and throwing away a cup, "you all can" said Jeremie over hearing them, "what do you mean" asked Dallas as he crushed his paper cup, "well you see, Ulrich can't go because of Yumi, he is bound to stay here considering he's half responsible, Odd's grades exclude him" said Jeremie as he showed him the laptop with the notes, "figures" said Odd as he laughed, with the others chuckling, "what about you" asked Aelita, everyone suddenly became curious to his excuse, "constant fatigue" he said, everyone seemed to believe the excuse but in actuality Jeremie had told Delmas that he was struggling with mental health issues which he was, "so we're all staying here then" asked Aelita excited about the development, "yep" said Jeremie, Aelita then in a spur of the moment hugged him tightly causing him to blush.
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"Are you sure you want to do this, I mean go this way about it" asked Yumi as she was slightly concerned about Aelita's idea, "I'm with her" said Dallas becoming slightly confussed about the idea, "I need Jeremie to talk about his problems" she said, Odd was regretting asking her, "yes but are you sure this is the way to go about it" asked Ulrich, Aelita had applied some faint lipstick and was wearing some clothing that was more revealing than usual, by that it just had shorter sleeves and was lacking the hood, the overalls remained, "this is probably the worst idea I've ever known" said Dallas, Aelita smiled knowing it was the only way, "wish me luck" she said as she opened her door and walked out, "she's gonna need it" said Odd.
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Aelita knocked on Jeremie's door, inside Jeremie didn't want to answer but he did anyway,
"ye…" he started as he noticed Aelita, he was surprised by her attire, "can we talk" she said, Jeremie stepped away as she stepped in, and he shut the door, Aelita sat down crossing her legs, Jeremie sat down in his chair at the computer, "Jeremie sit next to me" she said, Jeremie looked towards her as she patted next to her and saying "please" in a soft tone, Jeremie gave in and sat next to her, she pushed him against the wall and placing her head on his shoulder, "whats wrong" she said, Jeremie didn't want to saying anything, "please tell me" she said as she stroked his chin, "it's a long story" he said, Aelita looked at him in the eyes and said "I've got time", Jeremie took a deep breath and said "it was two years ago"
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Saturday and school was closed, Jeremie walked up barely having been able to due to the beating he'd received the day before,
"So the little shit decided to show up" said Jake as he extinguished what was clearly not a smoke, Mercedes laughed as she moved towards them, "what exactly do you need me to do" said Jeremie, Mercedes stroked his hair, but he nudged away feeling uncomfortable, "come with me" said Jake as he led Jeremie around the back of the school building towards the teachers office, he quickly smashed the window, the noise made Jeremie flinched, "open sesame" said Jake sarcastically, he then climbed into the window and then grabbed Jeremie and pulled him through the window, "get to work" said Jake as he helped Mercedes in through the window, Jeremie quickly opened the computer and began hacking into the system, he quickly loaded the grades for Jakes class, "okay so just increase your grades" said Jeremie but Jake grabbed his hand and stopped him, "no I want mine and Mercedes grades increased, and I want everyone's in my classes grades dropped" said Jake, Jeremie looked up at him "no you said to increase your grades" said Jeremie, but Jake grabbed him by the neck, "you will do as I say or I will kill you and your family" said Jake, Jeremie knew he wasn't joking as he had been cautioned for having plans that he laughed off as a joke before, hence Jake had been held back a few years, "No" said Jeremie, Jake then tightened his grip as Mercedes came over and quickly punched Jeremie in the balls and then in the face, Jake dropped him to the floor and Jeremie began to pass out.
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"STAY DOWN" shouted a voice, Jeremie was barely able to open his eyes, as he heard shouting and police sirens, "whats going on" said Jeremie barely able to speak, "STAY DOWN" shouted a police officer as he hand cuffed Jeremie, this was the last thing Jeremie remembered as he awoke in a police holding cell, "where am I" he asked as he stood up, someone walked in a plain clothes officer, "Jeremie Belpois" he asked Jeremie sat down on the bed and nodded, "do you know the charges against you" said the man, Jeremie was confussed and becoming increasingly scared, "that's how it happened" said Jeremie, Aelita was shocked, "Jake and Mercedes had a gun and opened fire at the police and both were shot and killed, they assumed I was an accomplice and I was arrested and charged with hacking into my school grade" added Jeremie beginning to cry, "it's okay" said Aelita, Jeremie wiped his eyes, "the charges were dropped but the principal had me expelled as he said I was responsible for the death of his daughter who apparently could do no wrong" said Jeremie, Aelita then realised that he was carrying guilt that wasn't his fault, "I got an email telling me that it'd been cleared off a police record so I haven't got one, but it reminded me that if I had off told someone…" he tried to say but found himself crying even more, Aelita just hugged him as he cried into her shoulder, "it's okay" she said as she stroked his hair.
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"EVERYONE SETTLE DOWN" shouted Jim to all the students on the bus; the students were all a bit hyper being that the trip was UN planned, Abbie moved over towards Gareth, she patted him on the shoulder, he looked at her and removed his head phones,
"Abbie right" he said having never talked to her properly, "yeah you hang around with Dallas don't you" she asked as she sat down next to him, "Yeah, I'm one of his corner men at in school brawls, but he's a decent lad, has some issues he struggles to deal with" said Gareth, Abbie knew about that, "he's mentioned you a few times during training" said Gareth, Abbie was happy about that, "I'm worried about him" she said, Gareth smiled "I've seen him go through hell, even put him through it myself once, but he pulls through" he said, suddenly the bus suddenly crashed, no one was hurt suddenly the door was ripped off as Daniel and Dayne stepped onto the bus, everyone was scared as Daniel shouted "OKAY EVERYONE OF YOU LOW LIFE FUCKS STAY THE FUCK DOWN", everyone screamed as he moved through them, Conor came through the emergency door causing people to scream even more, "he's not here" said Conor as they looked around suddenly the tall one walked onto the bus, "we can lure Dallas out" he said, Daniel looked at him and said "how so Josh" asked Daniel, Josh then grabbed Abbie causing her to scream "using this bitch" said Josh before laughing, Daniel grinned and said "good, good" they quickly departed as Jim shouted "IS EVERYONE OKAY" back down the bus, Gareth watched out the window as Abbie was kicking and screaming, he quickly grabbed his phone and made a call, "Dallas it's XANA he's possessed some people" he said before coughing from the crash, "they've got that friend of yours Abbie, they're after you" he added as he panted from the sudden adrenaline rush.
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Dallas hung up his phone; he took a deep breath,
"Who was that" asked Yumi, Dallas looked back at her, "Gareth, XANA's attacking" said Dallas, the warriors stood up, "lets grab Jeremie and Aelita, I'd rather have this tower deactivated long before XANA can cause any damage" said Ulrich as they rushed out and up the stairs, Dallas quickly knocked on his door, "EINSTEIN" shouted Odd, Jeremie opened the door wondering what the confusion was about, "whats going on" he asked, Yumi quickly said "XANA's attacking" Jeremie quickly rushed out followed by Aelita, but Dallas looked away from his phone, "come on" said Aelita, but Dallas didn't move, "I'm staying" he said, Jeremie looked at the others before saying "we'll catch up", he walked back to Dallas, "come on we can deactivate the tower and we'll be done with this" said Jeremie, Dallas looked away "I've gotta stay, they've got Abbie and they'll kill her if I don't show" said Dallas, Jeremie grabbed his arm, "you're in no state, that chest wound makes you no better than me" he said angrily, Dallas pulled away, "Don't you think I don't know that, I've gotta do this, it's them Jeremie, I have to do this, I ain't gotta choice" said Dallas as he stepped into his room handing Jeremie his crossbow, "give that to Ulrich, he knows how to use it" said Dallas, Jeremie looked down but reluctantly agreed as he walked away.
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Jeremie quickly made his way into the sewers as he caught up with the others as they waited inside by their transport,
"Where's Dallas" asked Yumi, Jeremie handed Ulrich the crossbow "he's staying" said Jeremie as he hoped on his scooter and shot off down the tunnel, Aelita and Odd followed Ulrich looked at Yumi, "you mother him sometimes" he said, Yumi shook her head, "I'm making sure he's okay, I just hope he uses the package I gave him" she said as Ulrich grabbed her by the back of the neck before yelling "super sprint" and shooting off down the tunnel, whilst in his room Dallas moved his mattress and pulled out the bag and opened it, he laid the contents out on the floor in front of him, he sat cross-legged as he grabbed the blade and a cloth and cleaned it down and assembling the Japanese sword back together he looked at the blade as it read "Zettai ni shinde shimatta, kesshite oita, kesshite hakai sa renakatta", Dallas smiled at the meaning, before he sheathed the weapon and placed it on his bed, he opened the floor board and grabbed his G17 and holster, he quickly placed it around his leg before loading and holstering the gun.
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The hatch at the factory bridge opened as the warriors stepped out, they had no troubles in the tunnel and as such quickly moved into the factory, they moved to the factory floor and into the elevator
"You guys head to the scanner room and wait for me to find the tower" said Jeremie as she stepped out into the computer room, he sat in the chair and moved to the screen, "Is he feeling better" Asked Odd, Aelita looked at him and said "he spoke about it so maybe", the door opened and they quickly stepped out into the scanner room, Jeremie activated the super scan, "thank you Aelita" he said under his breath, then the tower was located "Okay guys the tower is in the Mountain sector get ready" said Jeremie as he loaded the program, each of the warriors stepped into a scanner each "Scanner Yumi, Scanner Aelita, Scanner Odd, Scanner Ulrich" said Jeremie as he selected their ID cards, the scanners shut, "Transfer Yumi, Transfer Aelita, Transfer Odd, Transfer Ulrich" he added as they began to spin and rise, "Virtualization" said Jeremie as they felt the blast of air sending them to Lyoko, they looked around, "the tower is due east guys" said Jeremie, then the Over-Board, the Over-Wing and the Over-Bike appeared and they mounted their vehicles with Aelita getting behind Yumi, "be careful XANA could be using the real world as a reason to trap Aelita" said Jeremie as he monitored the radar and map.
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Only half an hour passed, Dallas sat in his room cross legged, he was trying to remain calm having snapped the previous night he knew he couldn't do it again, then he heard a shouting
"MARSHAL" he turned and looked at the window before moving out of the door, outside the group that Adam had contacted were standing with Abbie on her knees, she was scared at the super human strength they'd shown, Dallas stepped out of the building he had no weapons in hand, "I swear to fuck, if you've hurt her" said Dallas but then he was grabbed from behind by Reece, and Conor grabbed his gun from the holster as he was moved closer towards the others, "what was that" asked Daniel as he walked towards Dallas, he then punched him in the nose but Dallas didn't flinch, "if you've hurt her I swear to god" said Dallas, Daniel Laughed and grabbed the gun from Conor, "I haven't hurt her, I doubt I will, I just wanted to see an old friend" he said, Dallas however wasn't too happy to see them, "you've got me, let her go" said Dallas, Daniel laughed and turned back saying "making requests now are we" and laughing, "I'm what you wanted just take me and let her go" said Dallas "NO" screamed Abbie before the girl grabbed her mouth and covered it, "thank you Cece" said Daniel as Reece let go Dallas, "you see we didn't come here to take you, we came here for something else" said Daniel, Dallas looked at Abbie, "I'm asking please don't hurt her" he said as he raised his hands in an attempt to lower the tension, "oh I won't" said Daniel as he turned and in a flash pulled the trigger shooting Dallas in the head, he was knocked off his feet by the force and Abbie screamed as his body hit the floor, "NOOOOOOO" she screamed crying, "Josh, Conor grab his body" said Daniel as he began to walk away, Josh and Conor picked up Dallas and held him up suddenly they heard a strange noise as they noticed the bullet on the ground, "what the" said Josh, but suddenly he felt his head get grabbed as he and Conor were flipped onto the floor, followed by Dallas crouching "next time you shoot me, best pray I'm dead" he said, during the shock of the others Abbie broke free and ran, Daniel turned and was ready to fire at her, but Dallas jumped and grabbed his arm twisting it around and causing him to drop the gun, suddenly there was a snapping noise as Daniels shoulder was broken, Dallas was no longer holding back, Cabbage moved in from behind, but Dallas raised his leg kicking him in the stomach and throwing the injured Daniel at him, "GET HIM" shouted Daniel, but Dallas jumped and curled before kicking out at Cece, she was knocked backwards as she felt his boot strike her chest, Conor got up and pulled a knife running at Dallas and swinging it at him, but Dallas engaged head on he extended his left blade and collided them, he quickly stepped back as Conor's speed became unnatural thanks to XANA, Dallas quickly dropped and span his leg out before back flipping and kicked outwards, kicking the falling Conor in the back, Dallas realised he was out gunned and quickly ran towards the wall of the dorm and began climbing, "get the weapons and get after him" said Dayne as the few that could move ran towards a truck and each grabbed an AK-47 assault rifle into the building and up the stairs, Dallas smashed his window with his hook blade and entered the building, breath heavily as he felt himself snapping again.
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Jeremie looked at the radar as no monsters were showing up, he was more put off by this than if they had shown up,
"Okay guys the take the next left and head straight from there" said Jeremie, the warriors turned, Ulrich was bringing up the rear with Yumi and Aelita in the middle, Odd was at the front, suddenly they heard an engine roar, "heads up XANA's agents coming your way" said Jeremie, then Adam moved from a lower platform rocketing towards Aelita on his bike, but Yumi hit the brakes on the Over-Wing leaving Adam Empty handed, she quickly sped up again, "Jeremie I'm gonna need something faster" said Ulrich, Jeremie knew what he meant, "oh he's gonna be pissed" he replied as he began typing, the Baton appeared on his belt, he then sped up to Yumi and Aelita, "Yumi, do you know how to drive this thing" he asked as they moved side by side, "yeah but barely" said Yumi, Ulrich looked as Adam circled around, "It'll have to do" he said, Odd quickly fired numerous laser arrows at Adam, but he was moving too fast, he quickly turned away, leaving them confussed "that's unlike him" said Odd as he lowered his arm, suddenly there was another roar as Evelyn split the make shift convoy, grabbing Aelita causing her to scream before shooting off, "AELITA" shouted Yumi as Odd shot forward on the overboard but he was slowly losing ground on Evelyn, Ulrich and Yumi had switched Vehicles, "take care of Adam, I'll go after Aelita" said Ulrich, Odd looked back and asked "how", Ulrich then dived from the Over-Wing and extended the Baton, the Over-Rider materialized below him and he shot forward at a speed that was outmatching Adam's and Evelyn's bikes, Adam was caught off guard as he turned to purse but he was struck by a laser arrow in the arm, "son of a bitch" he said as he looked at Odd circling around and mocking him, "Come and get me" he said, Adam fell for the baiting and started to follow him, Odd knew that Adam was faster and as he got closer Odd dived on the board and laid flat as Adam flew over him, "Bastard" said Adam as he looked back but then he screamed and lost control of his bike temporally as during his distraction, Yumi had thrown her fan and it sliced throw Adam's wrist, severing his hand, "yes" said Yumi as she moved forward on the Over-Bike, Adam was only made angrier by this and slowly turned around as Yumi and Odd moved off to help Ulrich.
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"search every room" said Conor as he kicked open one door to find it empty, Dallas was hearing this and knew that they close, he grabbed the Katanna and using the sling he holstered it on his back, he moved towards the door, he closed his eyes as he heard the footsteps stop, "here" said Cece, Conor and Josh moved towards the Door and were ready to open fire into the room, Dallas opened his eyes and Kicked the door down, and despite it open into the room he managed to kick it off the hinges, Josh was knocked down as the door collapsed on him, Dallas span his left leg backwards as he jumped out the door, Conor moved as Dallas's left leg missed but was caught off guard as the later extended his leg outwards colliding his boot into his face, both hit the floor but Dallas bounced back upwards and drew his Katanna, Cece aimed her gun but Dallas swung the sword and sliced her hand, the front section fell off causing her to scream as she dropped the weapon, Dallas then kicked her down as Josh tried moving from underneath the door, Unlike when XANA possessed one person and took full control he'd have full control and the possessed person would be almost immune, but when a group of people were possessed they were more vulnerable, Dallas Knew this and as he kicked the door off Josh, the later raised his riffle at Dallas but before he could pull the trigger he felt his arm cut off at the elbow as kicked the weapon down before swinging and amputating the limb, Dallas moved away but felt his shoulder as a bullet rocketed throw, Dallas turned back and noticed Cabbage running towards him, he swung with the Riffle, but Dallas was quick to dodge and having sheathed the Katanna he grabbed the riffle and pulled it forward snapping Cabbages finger and causing him to drop it, Dallas then grabbed him by the arm and smacked him into the wall face first, he then pulled back on his arm causing a loud cracking noise, Cabbage screamed and pushed back but Dallas grabbed Cabbages other arm as he raised it, Dallas locked his hand and then pressing against his shoulder pushing forward he violently jerked back his arm, his shoulder was torn from the socket and broken simultaneously, Cabbage fell his knees, Dallas then kicked him over, he then grabbed Cece and moved out of the corridor, Reece and Dayne were moving up the stairs and towards the Corridor, but as they were about to move through the Doors Dallas threw Cece threw the doors, she collided with Dayne with such force that both were knocked through the barrier and fell two stories down the stair well, Dallas then followed through the doors with a drop kick into Reece's gut and the two fell down the stairs in a tumble, but Dallas came out on top but was still hurt in the fall, he stood up and moved towards the bottom of the stair well, "worthless pieces of trash" he spat at the defeated members of the suburb groups, he walked out of the building, suddenly he saw Daniel with his broken arm wrapped around Abbie's neck with his G17 to his head, "whats the move you're gonna make bitch" said Daniel as Dallas sheathed the Katanna, "let her go" said Dallas as he raised his arms, "why should I, the scum whose below me is making requests" said Daniel as Dallas moved towards him, "one more step and I'll blow her brains out" said Daniel, Dallas looked at the panic in her eyes, "tell me Danny boy, how's that ankle" said Dallas, Abbie then realised what she needed to do then using her boots she kicked into Daniels ankle, he screamed and let go, Dallas moved towards him and knocked him down to his knees, "any last words" asked Dallas as he drew his Katanna, "XANA told me you wouldn't dare kill" said Daniel as he spat at Dallas, then he felt the Katanna to the back of his neck, "you're gonna get quite a shock then" said Dallas, Daniel suddenly panicked "NO… NOOOOOOOOOOOOO" then Dallas swung and decapitated Daniel, his head rolled and still moved due to XANA's possession, "that's for Liam you bastard" said Dallas smiling at the vengeance.
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Back On Lyoko Evelyn stopped and grabbed the squirming Aelita and moved her towards the Scyphozoa,
"let go of me" said Aelita trying to break free, "stop squirming bitch" as she pushed her into the creatures tentacles, her screaming stopped as it started to consume her memory's, suddenly she heard a roaring, "took Adam long enough" said Evelyn then she noticed it wasn't Adam, but Ulrich as he moved towards her, he drew his Katana, Evelyn smiled and raised her arm and fired a shot of lightning towards the ground causing a small explosion, the Over-Rider was caught in the blast and destroyed as Ulrich was thrown forward, he quickly adjusted himself as he was ready to slice the tentacles draining Aelita's memory but Evelyn grabbed him and pulled him to the ground and started to beat his head in, "you won't win, we've got what we want" she said Manically, then she felt something strike her in the back, she flinched as she looked up to see Yumi who yelled and kicked her backwards off Ulrich, "that's my boyfriend you bitch" as she threw her other fan which penetrated Evelyn and Devirtulized her, Odd quickly parked the over board and raised his Arm shouting "LASER ARROW" and fired numerous arrows at the Scyphozoa, causing it to drop Aelita and move back, "Aelita are you okay" asked Jeremie, Aelita stood up holding her head, "yeah I'm fine Jeremie" she said then they heard the roar of Adam's bike move towards them, he was wobbling heavily, but he jumped off his bike as it collided with a wall, he placed his stump under his arm and pointed his Musket at the warriors, "Right you fucks" he said as he motioned for Aelita to move towards the Scypozoa, but she kneelt down "MOVE" shouted Adam but then there was a bang, "NOOOOOOOOOOOO" screamed Jeremie thinking Adam had fired at Aelita, but Adam looked down and devirtulized, the warriors turned and looked at Aelita, she had picked up Evelyn's musket which she'd dropped when she was knocked away by Yumi, "what" she said as she threw the empty gun away, "such primitive weapons" she said as she moved towards the Over-Board, "we have a tower to deactivate don't we" said Aelita, the others were just wide mouthed at what had happened, "she's…" started Jeremie coughing for a second, "she's right guys, better get moving" said Jeremie.
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Abbie looked at the decapitated Daniel; she couldn't look at his still moving head due to the grim nature, Dallas stumbled towards her and dropped the Katanna before dropping on his knees and hugging her,
"You okay" he said exhausted and nearly crying, "I'm fine" she said returning the hug, Dallas smiled, "You've caused me a lot of stress today, but I never want to lose you, it's for the best you're away but I don't want that" said Dallas tightening his hug on her, "that's a bit negative isn't it" said Abbie almost crying from the experience, "well it's been one of those days" he said before moving away and pulling her forward kissing her, she returned the kiss, Dallas pulled away looking at the blinding light of the return to the past and smiling… .
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The previous afternoon Dallas quickly used Jeremie's computer and breaking into a police database looked up the people who'd attacked him and Abbie, they'd been arrested on gun charges, but Daniel had been founded dead, heart failure was the cause of death, Dallas knew he'd killed someone, but considering the type of man Daniel was, he felt less guilt than he should have, Liam had been avenged,
"Rest in Piece Brother" he said as he closed down the window and the computer, "I know you're there" he said knowing Jeremie was behind him, "I also know you're gonna say about what I did was wrong" said Dallas, Jeremie opened one of the cupboards and handed Dallas a can of Cider, "at this point we've both done things we're not proud off, that's the point of living learning from our mistakes" said Jeremie as he grabbed one and opened it, he took a massive gulp before coughing, Dallas smiled and said "yeah maybe now I can sleep easy at nights", Jeremie put down his can, "it's the burdens we carry, those are what shape us" said Jeremie, Dallas stood up and looked out the window, he turned back and said "I've gotta carry more than most, but in the end if it's to protect the people I call family, nothing better cross my path".
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The Author does not condone the usage of any of the MMA moves that are described in this Chapter, any usage should be performed by trained professionals only, any attempt to replicate these actions can cause serious harm.
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Authors Note
so yeah another original I'd say this isn't my best original but I love it none the same, I got to have a heavy mix at what I'm good at complex writing and one of my favourite pass times MMA, so hope you enjoyed it please leave a review, or if you've any questions just leave in the review and I'll answer as soon as possible.