Jesus Christ… 10,000 hits already! Man, this story's doing well… and still plenty left!

Also, I've decided on a little challenge: Can anyone try and guess what Weyland-Yutani is planning?

Sorry if this chapter's not quite up to scratch- I caught the sun a bit much yesterday, but I'm uploading this chapter to celebrate hitting 10,000 hits!

Predator and all related characters and trademarks are © 20th Century Fox.

SNAPPED

"What the hell is that?" Adam yelled as everyone ducked under the tables. After a few seconds, the hail of bullets finally stopped as Drake glanced up.

"Assault rifle," Drake answered as he looked round the room. "Jesus Christ…"

"I don't hear him…" The teacher gasped, "Maybe he's gone…"

Drake closed his eyes, listening out into the room… accelerated heartbeats… sharp breaths… the smell of adrenaline… footsteps… a gun being loaded…

"He's still there."

"What?"

"Trust me. He is."

The sound of another hail of gunfire suddenly erupted down the corridor.

"No screams," Drake commented quietly. "He's not hitting anyone, just… just firing randomly."

"Shut up!" Danny suddenly yelled from across the room, "You don't know shit!"

"I know more than you, fatass," Drake snapped, before another hail of bullets sliced through the window, finally stopping a few seconds later.

"He's reloading," Drake thought out loud. "And he must be running out of bullets by now…"

"Don't," Rebecca mouthed to him from under her desk. "Don't even think about it…"

They're all terrified… Drake realised. They think they're going to die… No. I'm not going to let them go to school and think they're going to die…

In a split second, Drake suddenly leapt up, ran toward the door and kicked it down, bursting through and hitting the hooded figure, hurling him down the corridor as the gun went off, firing randomly at the ceiling.

The figure stood up shakily. By the looks of things, it was no-one overly impressive… his movements were shaky, and standing up looked like a struggle… Drake's little manoeuvre had taken it out of him. But he seemed so…

Afraid…

The figure, panicking, lifted the gun. Without thinking, Drake darted forward, flipping back and kicking the gun out of his hand, before finally punching him in the face.

The figure fell back, hitting the floor hard with a dull thud.

Drake knelt down and grabbed him by the collar, hoisting him up as fire raged in his eyes.

"Get up!" He yelled angrily through gritted teeth as he slammed the figure into the wall. "What the hell is wrong with you? What in God's name do you think you're doing…"

Drake suddenly stopped when he saw the face under the mask, with familiar pale, blotchy skin and scraggly blonde hair, and those thick-rimmed glasses.

"…Jimmy?"

"It's not fair…" Jimmy suddenly sobbed, "They just keep beating me up… I just can't take it any more… I just can't…"

Shocked, Drake dropped Jimmy to the floor and staggered back as Jimmy collapsed and sobbed.

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Drake watched without a word, as Jimmy was loaded into the police car. He listened to a few people's whispered conversations about what had happened… apparently Jimmy's father was in the Police force, that was how he got the gun.

"You OK?" Rebecca asked from beside him.

Drake shook his head. "This never should have happened."

"It's not because of you," Rebecca answered. "Hell, you had nothing to do with it happening… just Danny."

"And nothing happened to him," Drake spat. "He's the damn reason this happened."

"I guess the guy just snapped," Rebecca sighed. "Just… couldn't take it, I guess. Just a good thing you were there…"

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The police car suddenly came to a stop, next to an alley, as Jimmy looked out the window.

"Relax, son," The driver suddenly said to him. In an instant, he suddenly struck the other officer, knocking him unconscious.

He stepped out of the car and opened the door. As Jimmy cautiously stepped out, he saw that the officer was a man in his 40's, with a few grey hairs and grizzled featured.

"Don't worry," He reassured him. "We've helped quite a few people in your situation… my name is Mr. Keyes. Just follow me."

He started walking Jimmy towards a large, white truck…

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"It's just…" Drake sighed. "My whole life, I never lived among humans. Half the time I was on other planets… fighting monsters and beasts and… God, I saw some unbelievable things all those years ago… but when I see things like this… it just makes me want to go back out there."

"Then why don't you?"

"I have my reasons to stay," Drake smiled at her.

"So… now what? I mean… the whole class saw what you managed to do…"

"You're right," Drake realised. "Shit, now what…"

"Hey, 's it true?" A kid with ginger hair asked from behind him. "You beat Jimmy when he had that gun?"

"Yeah!" Adam interrupted, "In nothing flat!"

"Look…" Drake started, before about 200 students suddenly started cheering.

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"Another soldier," Yutani mused. "Good."

"What about him, sir?" The researcher asked.

"The Hybrid? Well, by the looks of things, he certainly seems to be on top form…"

"So is it time, sir?"

"Yes." Yutani answered decisively. "The time has finally come to accelerate our plans."

"But, sir, the Monster Squad… and what use could we have for the girl?"

"You'll see," Yutani answered.

"But I saw in the file…"

"The file?"

"Yes, sir. The source of the Monster Squad soldiers…"

"I see… Keyes?"

A tranquilliser dart suddenly flew through the air and struck the researcher in the back of the head. He was unconscious before he even hit the ground.

"Take him for conversion," Yutani ordered. Finally, he leaned back in his chair and looked out the window at the evening sky.

"Let it begin…"

It may interest you to know what this chapter, namely Jimmy, was inspired by real-life events that happened to my friend. No, he didn't take a gun into school, but eventually he did have to move Schools. Bullying is a serious issue!

Lecture's over. How was the chapter?

Coming Soon: The final saga begins…