"Do you think you can make it happen?" Cassandra asked as she stood beside Allie who was sitting down in front of a series of screens and computers.

"As long as you're able to get that amount of chosynophal, it should be possible." Allie, sans Valley Girl accent, told her typing at a frantic pace and looking at a series of data on the screen.

"I need a guarantee here, not a maybe." Cassandra sneered and Allie scowled back at her.

"Look, I made the collars and you're basically asking me to remove the collar from the situation. A serum only lasts so long and I can do the math and science all you want, but I won't know for sure unless we test it out." Allie explained when Joseph walked in.

"Still working on your weird mind control juice?" He asked and Allie glared at him.

"You know very damn well that's not what it is!" She shouted and Joseph shrugged his shoulders.

"It's what it does. So I don't know why you're getting all butt hurt about what I call it." He murmured and she just glared at him before turning back to her computers.

"Joseph," Cassandra said turning her head to face him. "I want you to find a lab rat we can test Allie's serum on." She told him and he nodded. "Better yet, get two." She grinned. Joseph left the warehouse where their operations were held and got into his car before heading to the mall. Little did he know that he was being watched.

A white and gold hedgehog was perched on a building parallel to the one that Cassandra was using for her devious plans. He had red stripes that ran along his arms and legs with fiery red eyes that watched Joseph carefully. He was wearing a navy NY baseball cap on his head that hid most of his face and had on a white t-shirt with a dark blue hoodie thrown over it. His jeans were black and he was wearing some white and black Nike SB's on his feet. He had a green pendant hanging from his neck with a black rope attached to it. He sighed and flicked the lid of his hat up before bringing a phone to his face.

"Seems to me that they're testing out that little control thing of theirs. Allie said something about Cassandra not wanting to use collars anymore. So that makes me think that she's trying to make a toxin or something." The hedgehog spoke into his phone and paced the length of the building he was standing on.

"I think it's time you try to join their operation, Cheka." A female voice spoke through the phone and Cheka scowled.

"I was told that I was only meant for reconnaissance, not undercover agent mierda." He spat into the phone.

"Listen, this is the closest we're getting to it and we're not going to be able to stop them unless we have someone on the inside." The woman spoke.

"Can't you get Gabe to do it?" Cheka asked.

"Gabe is in New York right now on a separate initiative." She told him.

"Then get Erica to do it! Hell, get Devin for all I care. I'm not trying to be friends with these lowlifes." Cheka ranted and the woman on the other side of the line sighed. "I didn't sign up for this, Arianna." He told her.

"Devin is gone already." Arianna told him softly and Cheka inhaled sharply at the news and fought the ache in his chest. "Cheka, we're the only ones left. Our days are numbered and you very well know that I can't send the rest of us in there to handle this. You and Erica are our best fighters and Erica is with her right now." Arianna explained evenly and Cheka frowned. "Their dumb plan is just one small thing to set everything off. If it succeeds than the next couple of years are going to be harder on us than need be. Look what happened to Rosa." She told him and Cheka clenched his fist.

"Chíngate! Don't talk about her to me like you know!" Cheka growled and Arianna sighed.

"Look, I know, okay? Jeremy is the one ordering this and it was either send you to sabotage their mission or talk to the group now and explain everything—which you very well know that it's not the time for that yet." Arianna explained and Cheka ran his hand over his face exhaling heavily.

"Fine, tell me what I got to do." He said. In New York, Renegade was on his own having just explored Julliard. He was considering applying there and working on music composition. It seems like a good option for him. Suddenly Renegade was pulled into an alley by the collar of his shirt and pushed up against a wall. He reached out to grab his assailant, but stopped when he saw a familiar figure in front of him.

"Nice to see you again, Gabe." Renegade frowned. Gabe was a brown and white ocelot with black stripes around his body and face. He was wearing a heather gray t-shirt with a black leather jacket over it and black jeans. He had on black Converse and a teal pedant hanging from his neck, similar to the one Cheka had. He had piercing greenish-yellow eyes that were currently glaring at Renegade. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" Renegade drawled sarcastically.

"Cut the shit, Renegade. You know exactly why I'm here." Gabe told him and Renegade rolled his eyes.

"I'm doing my job, aren't I?" He muttered and Gabe narrowed his eyes towards him. "So I took some creative liberty." He shrugged.

"This is not what you're supposed to be doing and you know that. You're setting yourself up for heartbreak and failure." Gabe told him pointing a finger at him.

"I know the consequences. No need to lecture me." Renegade scowled. Gabe sighed and dragged his hands over his face tiredly.

"Renegade, you know what's going to happen. I don't know why you're setting yourself up for pain and everybody else too." Gabe said and Renegade sighed.

"You guys asked a lot of me. There were bound to be some steps being taken outside of the line." Renegade told him and Gabe threw his arms in the air, clearly frustrated.

"This is leaps and bounds outside of the line, Renegade! What do I have to do to knock some sense into you?" Gabe asked and Renegade sighed.

"Look, things are fine right now. No one is hurt and you're still around. I don't see the problem." Renegade said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Because you're in denial of the fate that has been put on you. On all of us! Look what's happening now. It's not normal. We're being taken out and we're trying to take their legs out from underneath them before they can take us all out. We're buying time and you're not helping by fucking up your objective!" Gabe yelled at him and Renegade glared at him.

"I know what I'm doing." Renegade said and Gabe glared at him.

"No, you don't. You're not listening to any of us. Who do you think was the one who sent me here?" Gabe asked and Renegade frowned.

"I'll deal with the consequences when the time comes. I'm still doing my job." Renegade argued and Gabe sighed shaking his head. "Are we done here?" Renegade asked. Gabe didn't say anything and Renegade took that as his cue to leave.

"Don't say I didn't warn you, Renegade. You say you'll deal with the consequences and I'm hoping you do." Gabe told him as Renegade left the alley with a frown on his face. Renegade walked a couple of blocks with the conversation weighing on his mind before he saw Alana outside her brother's apartment near West Point.

"Hi, I thought we could use some time to ourselves so I told Elliott to beat it." Alana told him holding her arms out to him. Renegade smiled and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her, and holding her close. He took a deep breath, smelling the familiar scent of Alana, and felt calm again. "You okay?" She asked looking up at him.

"I'm fine." He smiled at her. Back at the warehouse, Cassandra fiddled with the ring on her finger waiting for Joseph to arrive, when one of the doors was kicked open revealing Cheka on the other side. He had a giant smile on his face and his pendant was now out of sight from the rest of the group.

"What the fuck?" Jared exclaimed while Razor got onto his feet and whipped out his blades.

"Excuse me, may I ask what the hell are you doing here?" Cassandra asked crossing her arms.

"You guys are the ones planning to fuck with Shade and the rest of his shitty friends, right?" Cheka asked and Cassandra narrowed her eyes while Damian walked up to stand next to her.

"What do you know?" Damian asked.

"Not much. Ran into some guy named John or Jacob something and he told me how you guys are trying to put an end to them or whatever. I want in." Cheka explained casually.

"We don't just let anyone walk in here. Why the hell would we include you?" Will asked and Cheka tilted his head.

"Well, I have a score to settle with Shade and I have a pretty strong power that you'd want on your side." Cheka explained with a shrug of his shoulders. "But I guess since you're so exclusive…" He hummed turning on his heel.

"Wait," Cassandra said and Cheka whipped back around with a smile on his face. "What's your power exactly?" She asked.

"I'm an illusionist. I can make anyone see what I want them to see." Cheka grinned and Cassandra's interest piqued just like he knew it would.

"Tell me, could you do this power on a grand scheme?" She asked walking closer to him.

"Not really, but I can make it last as long as I want it to and transfer it to other things." Cheka explained.

"We're trying to create a serum that works in a similar fashion as your power does, do you think you could assist to make it happen?" Cassandra asked and Cheka smiled.

"Sure thing. Not the greatest scientist, but I can transfer the effects of my power to something like that. I'm sure it'll work." Cheka said and Cassandra smiled.

"You're in. Go work with Allie over there." Cassandra said pointing towards Allie and Cheka quickly walked over to her. Damian stared at his sister with a frown on his face, but Cassandra ignored him and went back to her desk. Cheka worked with her for another hour and they did figure out how to combine chosynophal and his power to make the serum work without the collar and without the effects wearing off quickly. Just in time to see Joseph drag in two girls who looked positively terrified.

"She can turn a person's mind into goop and she can emit a toxin gas from her hands." Joseph said pointing at each girl who looked around the room confused and scared. Cheka frowned, hating that he was a part of this sick display, but he had to fit in, in order for the plan to work.

"Inject them." Cassandra ordered and Allie walked over with two syringes. She stabbed both girls and injected them as they cried out in pain. Both girls grabbed their heads in pain and screamed before whipping their heads up with glowing red eyes. They looked at each other and Cheka knew he had to do something to prevent these girls from killing each other. Lucky for him this serum—more like toxin—used his power so he knew how to manipulate them so they wouldn't completely hurt each other. The girls both used their powers on the other simultaneously and both fell to the ground choking and seizing. They both soon passed out and Joseph walked over and checked their pulses.

"Dead." Joseph said and Cassandra smiled gleefully.

"Good work, you two." Cassandra said turning towards Allie and Cheka. Allie smiled happily, obviously enjoying the praise for her little ring-leader, and Cheka just smiled cheerily and gave her a thumbs up. "Get rid of these two." Cassandra said flicking her hand dismissively towards the girls' bodies.

"I'll do it. Gotta earn my place as the new guy, right?" Cheka joked and the rest of the group ignored him clearly not caring what he does. Cheka carried both girls out of the warehouse and about a block away before putting them down in an alley. His hands became surrounded by a gold color and he waved them over the girls, both waking up groggily.

"What happened?" One of the girls asked.

"You got mixed up with the wrong people. I used your friend's little power to knock you guys out and let the rest of them see what they wanted to see." Cheka explained and they just stared at him confused. "Get out of here and forget what you've seen." He told them waving his hand over them again, wiping them of their memories, and running away. Cheka sighed heavily before pulling out his phone and dialing Arianna.

"Did you get in?" She asked.

"I did and they're using my power as one of the main sources for their little plan. Gives me an easy way to sabotage them and keep everyone safe." Cheka explained.

"Good. Keep me updated." She told him and they both quickly said their goodbyes. Cheka looked back up at the warehouse in front of him and sighed. He knew this was all for a reason, he just hopes he's doing right by Rosa.

(A/N): All right, all right, if you were a fan of the story beforehand and remember what exactly happened this chapter (you know, the whole bad guy recruit thing) then this is obviously very different from that. I just wanted to insert a chapter that set up for "College Life" a little bit, and if you read that already, than you already know where I'm going with this. However, if you haven't, I highly recommend waiting till I revise that story before reading it because I have to change a lot of things with it. But, I hope you are enjoying the subtle changes I've made to the story so far, the changes are going to be a little more drastic as I continue, but I promise it's all for the better. The better being a more concise and clear story plot. Thank you!

Translations (Note: I do not speak Spanish so this is the best I could do with what the Internet provided me):

"Mierda"—"Shit"

"Chíngate"—"Fuck you"