Renegades: A New Dawn

by Primal WolfBlood

In Part 3 of The Renegade Chronicles, follow the Renegades as they try and recover from the shocking end to The Renegade Revolution, and continue their lives with more action and suspense than ever before, as they learn who the true enemies are, and finally confront Segolia once and for all, to end their clash with each other.

45. Don of a New Era

Renegades: A New Dawn

Chapter XLV: Don of a New Era

"So let me pose it to you, the paying public in the beautiful city of San Juan, Puerto Rico, who would you rather have as your WDC Young-Gun Champion - the greatest young talent in the history of the WDC, the Player - Justin Pipe, or plain old Maddy, the girl who waltzed in because she got adopted by someone on the board of directors, and got her title shot through nepotism? Who do you think would be the better champion, the better representative of this illustrious company?"

Maddy watched the entire show on television. And she found this segment just before Phil and Declan's duel particularly interesting. As the show ended, she put her tub of ice cream back in the freezer, switched the television off, and then turned in for the night, taking her painkillers with her. Shortly afterwards, the upstairs bathroom sink was heard whirring, lasting for several minutes, before it was turned off and her bedroom door slammed shut.

The next morning, 8:11am

It was another standard day for Maddy. As her alarm blared, she groaned, having little motivation to leave her bedroom. As she wiped the tiredness from her eyes, she prepared for another day of fitness tests, constant pain, and staying sheltered indoors. Entering the bathroom, she looked up at the sink, and caught her tired reflection in the mirror. Not wanting to dwell on the sorry sight, she washed her face, and switched the shower on, looking wistfully at it for a second, as the pain in her ribs was exasperated by climbing into the cubicle.

Having feigned a 10 minute shower (and run some water through her hair as part of the ruse), she left the bathroom, took a trio of painkillers from her bedroom, and downed them with a large glass of water before coming down the stairs. Having spent most of the rest of the morning moping around with little to do, she prepared some toasted sandwiches for lunch. After plating them up, she sat back in front of the television watching only the peak of mid 2000s Children's TV.

Finishing her lunch around 20 minutes later, she got up, and started to wash the plate along with everyone's breakfast crockery. As she did, Blair walked past carrying two large pots of orange paint. 'Thanks for sorting that Maddy, I did tell people about washing their own sh*t but nobody listens around here.' 'I don't mind doing it, it's not like I'm allowed to do much else around here.' As she walked past, Blair muttered 'Day 19 of that comment, let's see if we can make it a full month.'

Maddy then stopped her for a moment. 'Blair?' 'Yes?' 'Why are you carrying two massive pots of paint?' 'Oh, we're painting Ally's room because she's coming over in a couple of weeks.' She then put the paint down and walked over to the sink. 'Listen, we're keeping this pretty quiet, at least until everything is finalized, but we're kind of having Ally over as a trial, because me and Jade are hoping to adopt her.'

Hearing this, Maddy smiled. 'That's amazing, and I hope the trial goes well, because you'd be a great Mum and… well… Mum to her.' 'Yeah, we haven't decided if we're sticking with Auntie Blair and Auntie Jade yet.' 'When's she coming over?' 'Couple of days after the trial, we're getting her room ready now.' 'I don't blame you, get it ready early.' As Blair walked off, Maddy finished the washing up, and placed everything in the drying rack.

After this, her usual afternoon routine continued. Around 2pm she had a 20 minute fitness session with Sakura, after this she had just enough time for a second round of painkillers before monitoring the arena for the afternoon. It was a Tuesday, which meant half an hour of watching Blair smash everyone in sight in her 60 card Highlander Invitational. As she chalked up a 17th straight week of winning the invitational, Maddy could only watch on wistfully, wondering when she was going to be able to compete like Blair again.

When this finished, she spent some time talking to some of the defeated duellists, before Blair unexpectedly announced a second Highlander event for that Saturday, for reasons that she refused to divulge. She then stayed on in the arena to monitor some of the locals competing against each other in minor money duels. She found out during this that many of them would be competing at the local event she was due to be at later in the week, the prospect of which excited her, even if she wasn't certain if she would even be there herself.

The arena closed for business at 6pm, and after spending around 20 minutes counting the cash that had come in from people paying to use the arena, and writing out the list of bookings for the next day, she left the arena, switching the lights off and locking the door as she did. On the table by the arena door, she found a bottle of Cherryade (her favourite drink now that supermarket lager was out of the question), along with a note which simply read "Kept your seat warm Wolfie, signed Rio".

Taking the bottle, she went up to the office to say thank you, only to find that Rio had already moved all of her belongings out of there already. After placing the bottle down on the desk, she decided to leave the paperwork, and instead find her substitute, initially to no avail. That was, until she stopped, and listened, and was able to hear the noise of a wheeled suitcase rumbling across the floor.

It wasn't until she reached the hallway that she saw Rio, scanning herself out of the door, with a large suitcase in tow. 'Hey Rio!' The shouting was enough to startle the Idahoan, who looked around. 'Hey, what's up?' 'It's just the way that you left the note saying about the office, and the way you cleared everything out, it's like you're leaving. And then the suitcase…'

Rio responded by laughing. 'Well something's happening, but it's not that dramatic. I'm going back to Idaho for a few days next week after the Baltic Championships, and when I get back I'm moving in with Blair and Jade.' 'If you don't mind me saying, three adults and a kid in a two bed flat doesn't sound like much.' 'It's fine, Blair and Jade share a room, and there's a proper big sofa bed downstairs. I thought it might be nice for Ally to have a proper big sister when she arrives.'

'I'm sure she'll love it, as long as you're sure about this.' 'Listen Maddy, I've been through this with Blair earlier, I'm certain. I can always move back in in a few weeks if it doesn't work out.' As Rio got through the doors, Denzil took the case off her. 'What brings you here?' He just looked up and smiled. 'Blair said she'll give me free entry into her highlander tournament on Saturday if I helped Rio with her stuff.' Maddy just smiled to herself briefly before turning away.

Following her evening meal of chicken and rice, the evening was spent following a gentle yoga regime thought up by Sakura. Around 9pm, she and Astrid sat down to watch an astronomy show on the television, which was followed by Astrid going to bed shortly after. Maddy stayed up watching television until midnight, by which time she was so incredibly tired that she could no longer resist going to bed.

The next morning, 8:10am

As she woke up, Maddy groaned, having little motivation to leave her bedroom. As she wiped the tiredness from her eyes, she prepared for another day of fitness tests, constant pain and staying sheltered indoors. But on this day, something changed. As she went to the bathroom, she looked up, and caught her tired reflection in the mirror, like she would most days. But today, she stopped. And stared. And she started to consider the words she had heard the previous night.

After a few minutes, she looked at her hair, looked at her face, and then, had a brainwave. So she ran back to her bedroom, and grabbed her phone, before rapidly beating out a text. When she was done, it was sent through the network, and she quickly tied her hair up, before going for a morning run (which she had just been cleared to do by Sakura).

In the Renegades HQ

Over breakfast, the conversation between Rio, Blair and Jade was all around the tag title duel in San Juan. 'Like, I get wanting to keep the titles, but it just ain't on stalling like that' Jade protested with a mouth full of falafel. Blair didn't seem as concerned though. 'I hate it as much as you, but doesn't change a fuckin' thing, apparently the rematch is going to have no time limit. And you know me, I'll happily duel for 6 hours if it means getting those belts back.'

'Hey, you're not duelling for one hour with that elbow, never mind six. Did Sakura say anything after your scan?' 'Yeah, it's fractured but it's not as bad as she expected, apparently their knowledge might be good but their aim is sh*t. Just need to have it strapped up for a few weeks. And to think I was just getting used to my arm not having tape on it.'

As they continued to chew the fat over a healthy Middle Eastern inspired breakfast, Blair's phone started buzzing. 'When are you going to get a ringtone?' 'When you stop pestering me about it. It's better than the ringtone you put on it anyway, it was making everyone think that I had some sort of bowel condition.' As Rio and Jade giggled like children, Blair read the text. And then re-read it. And then read it a third time, due to how unbelievable the message was.

Eventually, Rio got nosey. 'So, who was it?' 'It's Maddy.' 'She never texts you though.' 'Ri, she texted me three times just while we were in Puerto Rico.' 'So… what does she want?' 'She wants me to meet her at home tomorrow, apparently she wants a hair and makeup makeover.' Jade and Rio both appeared confused by this. 'Same Maddy we're talking about, right?' 'Yep, and I'm as confused as you.' 'You doing it?' She just looked at her friend. 'If she needs me, I'm sure as hell there.'

There was more though. 'Also says there's a club meeting at 11, and EVERYONE is to attend.' 'Gee B, why so aggressive with the "everyone"?' 'That's how you pronounce caps lock innit?' 'I swear you're sounding more and more English by the day.' 'Good, I love it here.' 'So you're telling me that there's nothing you miss about Detroit or Shelby?' 'Well… I kinda miss having Alex and Ally around.'

'Well Ally's coming here in… how long is it again?' Blair responded not with words, but by banging her head on the table repeatedly. 'In three weeks, two days after James' trial. Like I told you three times yesterday.' 'Well maybe if you had it written down somewhere.' 'What - like the calender in my bedroom? Or the one on the refrigerator door? Maybe even the note on her bedroom door saying she arrives on the 25th.'

Still somewhat confused, Rio took breakfast crockery away, leaving Blair and Jade to discuss her condition. 'I swear she's getting worse. Then again, I suppose that we should be thankful that all the bullet took away from her was her short-term memory. Even her speech is better than it has been in months.' 'I know, I just wish she was more like my friend from childhood, sometimes feels like she's only kind of there.'

'Yeah, I get that. She has good days and bad I suppose. She's having more good at the moment though.' 'Does she have any scans coming up?' 'She's got one in about two weeks, it was due to be the day the Baltic Championships finish but she's had it put back. Honestly I'm hoping they put her on some different meds, these are doing nothing for her.' After their morning chat, Jade went to get dressed while Blair washed the dishes for her.

Meeting

As everyone waited, Maddy walked out of her office and sat on one of the stone thrones, her hair slicked right back and wearing a touch of eyeliner. 'This is a call to arms. I've seen members of this club be pushed around and held back for long enough. So there's going to be a change, when I return we will truly stand up for what we believe in. We're going to make them regret ever pushing us "freaks" around. Jade, if you're here, I want you to step forward.'

As she did, nervously, Maddy held out a Renegades jacket. 'You have just graduated to a full member of the Renegades. Brooke, you too.' As Brooke also stepped forward, they were both given updated jackets. 'You have both proven to be great allies and clearly care greatly about our continued successes. This is a mere acknowledgement of your support.' That was not the only announcement though.

'Blair, could you come forward?' She did, and knelt to Maddy. 'You don't need to kneel to me, I'm not any better than any of you.' She then produced a smaller version of the updated jacket. 'If you don't mind me saying, that looks a little small.' 'It's not for you. It's for Ally.' Confused, Blair started to stumble over her words. 'All… Ally is a…' 'I want her to become the first member of the Renegades Cubs. She will have the same rights as a member of the club, and will get the opportunity to join officially on her sixteenth birthday. But if you don't want her involved, I understand and she will still be welcome here.'

Blair looked around at the rest of the club, and then smiled. 'I'll ask her, but I think it's more than ok. Thank you so much.' 'If she is family to you, she's family to the rest of us. When you're part of the Renegades family, you're never short of allies. If she wants to join, she can officially do so when she comes over next.' With that order of business attended to, there was just one more to go.

'Now we need to address the presidency itself. As I am now well enough, I am returning to the role of President. And of course, a President needs a Vice President. With that, I want Rio to step up.' Rio confidently strode towards Maddy, and stood straight. 'While I have been recovering, you were acting as Interim President, and from every account, you did a great job.' 'Thank you, it means a lot to hear.' 'Now I know you have your own health issues, so I want to officially ask you - if I renominated you as VP, would you be willing to name an official deputy for a situation where you aren't available?'

Rio smiled, and looked around. 'I nominate Astrid.' Everyone seemed shocked, except for Maddy, who seemed to understand completely. 'Show of hands - all in favour of Rio reprising her role as second in command, raise your red right hand.' Every member in the room raised their hand, Maddy included. 'We as the people collective here, have given our approval for your continued leadership of our cause.' Rio just smiled politely. 'Thank you.'

As Rio returned to the crowd, Maddy laid out her opinions. 'You probably noticed that I voted there as well. That's because I see myself as one of you. I'm not some overlord, I'm not some tyrant, I'm only leading this revolution because you let me. Because you believed in me. I'm not a tyrant, I'm not some kind of god, I'm one of you. And just like the rest of you, I have a role to play.'

'Speaking of which, the roles we play are going to be set out firmly. There will be an announcement in the coming days regarding the role we all have, and EVERYBODY will have a role. Any questions?' The only question was from Brooke. 'How do we know we're in the right role for us?' 'I will be spending the next few days looking over everyone's profiles, and you will all be invited into the office to talk about where you see yourselves. If anybody is then unhappy at their role, they can book a meeting with me.' With no other questions, everyone went to leave, but not everyone would. 'Lydia, Freja, a word in the office please.'

Five minutes later, in the office

Lydia was sat quietly, nervous about what they had been called in for, with her red hair down and a large black bracelet on her left wrist. Freja meanwhile had her hair in the same low ponytail as in Puerto Rico, a vacant and almost dreamy look in her eyes. Maddy then walked in, and looked at both of them out of the corner of her eye, before sitting down herself. After noting down something on a sketchpad, she spoke.

'Any idea why you're here?' Lydia shook her head, while Freja continued to just smile away. 'Freja, if you could return to this planet please that would be lovely.' As she didn't listen, Maddy pulled out a leather strap from one of the drawers, and sharply whipped the elder twin across the top of the head with it, snapping her out of her trance. 'F*ck, that really hurt!' 'Well maybe now you'll pay some attention to what I'm saying.'

'Sorry, I was just' 'In a trance? I know, I can tell.' 'So erm… why are we in here?' 'I heard that you two have been having some… issues recently.' They both acknowledged this with a nod. Before Maddy could speak again though, Lydia nervously asked a question. 'We're… not in trouble, are we?' The response was somewhat chilling. 'It depends what answers I get from you. And how honest they are. So with that said, I want an account from each of you. Freja, what are the issues between you both right now?'

Freja didn't say anything initially, before making a statement. 'Lydia can't accept self-identity. Because she's never done anything even slightly controversial in her life, she can't accept that people might want to do what they're good at, even if it isn't the "christian thing" or some shit like that. At the end of the day, if I'm doing my thing, what's it to her?' Lydia went to respond, only for Maddy to stop her.

'Continue.' 'You know, I decided to go back to serving him because I wanted to, because that's the one thing I've always been great at, the one job where I never let anybody down. And I enjoy it, I can't explain it but there's a certain rush I get doin' it. I get it if she doesn't wanna do it, I mean she's wayyy too uptight, but why should that mean that I can't do it? We don't have to do all the same shit, she's just being totally controlling.'

Having heard enough, Maddy signalled for Freja to stop. 'Lydia, what's going on between you?' 'I am not being controlling, I am trying to protect you' Before she could finish, Maddy cut her off. 'Arguing can wait. Lydia, I asked you a question, please will you answer it?' 'What's going on between us is that she's wasting her entire life just because some of us aren't totally reckless with the power we've got. Some of us actually have responsibility and can't just default to being a stripper for a married man.'

This comment lead to Freja standing up, and the sisters nearly came to blows, before Maddy raised her voice for the first time. 'Sit down. NOW.' As they did, she signalled to Lydia. 'You done?' 'Yep.' Maddy made some notes, pushed her hair back, and then tried to come to some sort of conclusion. Nearly 10 minutes later, she had something.

'Do you want my honest opinion?' As they nodded, she gave it. 'Honestly, I think you're being a pair of children. Lydia, Freja is 20, she is capable of making her own decisions, however bizarre. The agreement that Phil and Hannah have with Freja, which I might add Hannah came up with, is none of your business unless she decides to make it your business. You're her sister, not her babysitter.'

Freja stuck her tongue out at her sister hearing this, but Maddy wasn't finished. 'As for you Freja, I have no doubt that your immature attitude towards responsibility isn't helping the situation. I wanted a word with you anyway because you haven't turned up for scouting duty once while I've been off. Everyone else has at least a 90% attendance rate, but you simply haven't bothered coming.'

Lydia seemed shocked listening to this, and Freja's attitude didn't help. 'Well it's not my fault, blame Rio - she's awful at arranging this sh*t, and keeps arranging it for the wrong day, she knows I have modelling appointments on a Wednesday.' Maddy then turned to Lydia. 'Could you step outside for a couple of minutes? I'll call you back in when we're done.' 'But' 'Now.' Seeing that the president was serious, Lydia stepped out.

With the door shut, Maddy took her jacket off, and ripped into Freja. 'Rio has been dealing with a lot, she has had weekly hospital appointments while also trying to run this entire club because I've been off ill, and she very kindly agreed to look after everything. Now what is the 2nd rule in the Rulebook?' 'Dunno, haven't read it.' Maddy responded by getting a copy out from one of the drawers, and slamming it onto the table. 'Read it.' 'Pardon?' 'Section 1, Rule 2.1, read it.'

'Why?' 'Because if you don't, you're suspended for six months for disobeying a direct order from the president and for wilfully ignoring the club rules. Of course, if you'd got to Section 4, Rule 1.2, you would know that. Now READ IT.' Reluctantly, she did. 'Section 1, Rule 2.1: As a member of the Renegades, you agree that the Renegades and its members are your greatest priority. If you are called up to official club duties, then you are expected to cancel any prior non-club engagements. If you cannot, or there is a very good alternate reason why you cannot attend, you are to inform the President, and await their approval.'

'Rule 2.1b: If you fail to do as above specified, then you are liable to action from the president including (but not limited to) suspension or rescindment of official club benefits, demotion to Level 1, or in serious cases, suspension for up to 90 days. Repeat offenders may receive an indefinitely long suspension, or termination from the club.' It was at this moment that Freja realised how much trouble she was actually in.

'So… am I free to go?' 'No. What's your defence for the offence?' 'I did tell Jodi that I wasn't available on Wednesdays, and I kept being put in on Wednesdays despite that. I thought it was all cleared.' Maddy just nodded. 'I accept that there was no intent to deceive or shirk duties. Therefore your punishment is that you are stripped of your free access to Renegades facilities, and demoted to Level 1, the former punishment lasting for 30 days, and the latter for 10 days.'

Freja nodded politely, eager not to anger her friend and superior further, but then realised that she had a very important question. 'If you don't mind me asking, what is "Level 1" exactly?' 'Cleaning duty. You will be at the kitchen at 9am sharp in the morning to receive further instruction on what needs doing that morning, and again at 7pm in the evening to clear up anything that needs to be from that day. As for the former, you will still be able to use the Arena without booking, however you will be expected to pay.'

With this punishment determined, Lydia was allowed back into the room. 'Right, I have dealt with Freja's attendance issues, and whether she discusses that is up to her. In the meantime, I am giving you both an official warning - do not let your personal issues jeopardise what it is we are trying to achieve here. We cannot achieve if we're not working together'

'Now I have a little test for you both. At the WDC Anniversary Show, Johnny McGregor has been invited to the show and I have been asked to nominate a challenger for his title. And I decided that in order to bring the title to us, I would nominated both of you.' 'You can do that?' 'I'm the president of the Renegades Lydia - I can do what I damn well like. I trust I can rely on you to make sure the title comes back here.' They both nodded. 'Lydia, you can go now. Freja, with me please, I have a little job for you.'

The three of them left the office, and Freja and Maddy went down to the "holding room" in the basement. As they got there, DJ Tanner was tied to the wall, with a gag over her mouth. As they walked in, she started struggling, and Maddy walked straight up to her, before ripping the gag away. 'What are you doing! I haven't said anything bad about you I promise, just please, let me go.'

Maddy laughed at the very thought. 'I have no doubt about that. But we needed to make a statement, and we need a… guinea pig.' She then picked up from her pocket a small pendulum, and started to swing it. 'Watch the pendulum swing back and forth, back and forth. Lose yourself in the motion, and you start to feel very sleepy. Very sleepy. Very sleepy. When I click my fingers, you will be deep in a hypnotic trance, only able to listen to my voice.' As she clicked her fingers, DJ was entranced.

She was then sat down on a chair, and bound to it, whereby a wooden shelf was placed above her, with water being gradually poured onto it. At random intervals, the shelf would tip, and rain down drops of water onto DJ. As this was set up, Maddy turned to Freja. 'I need you to record a message for DJ in the most hypnotic voice you know.' 'Why me?' 'Well, it's about time you did something around here. Also your "hypno" voice is the best I know.'

As Freja prepared to start the recording, she noticed Maddy leaving. 'Where are you going?' 'I have to start talking to people about their roles here. What to say is written down for you, when you've done it put the earphones on her and play it through those' 'And?' 'That's it. You can go after that if you like, she's going nowhere.'

In the arena

Kris was busy working on his deck balance when Astrid walked in, smiling. 'Not getting complacent then?' 'Well you know, it was one win. Even then they could probably have beaten us.' 'That was my fault, not yours.' 'Yeah, well I still want to make sure the deck's good.' As he continued to practise his combos, Astrid watched him, and then started talking about his future.

'So, what's next now you're back?' 'Well I was hoping I'd get that shot at Johnny, but Maddy apparently went with Lydia and Freja instead.' 'Hope she's better at making them get on than other people are.' 'I'm definitely looking at moving to LFD, put it that way. There's no room in our WDC line-up, you're in the middle of a WDC Championship series, it's clear that she only really wants Blair and Rio challenging for the doubles, and if I thought I could beat Maddy I'd probably need putting in an institution. In the WDC at best I'm on cleanup duty.'

'Can't say I blame you not wanting to be in the WDC, it's going downhill rapidly with management.' 'What was that thing between you and Bolton anyway?' Astrid just sighed. 'I guess my anger gets the better of me sometimes.' 'How's your neck holding up?' She just looked up, and he could see in her eyes that it wasn't going to be a positive response. 'It's

frustrating, because it's not the pain, that's quite bad at times but I can deal with that. It's the nerve issue that causes problems.'

'Nerve issue?' 'Yeah, when I suffered the injury, a bit of bone chipped off and is stuck on a nerve, so I suffer complete numbness in my right arm, probably about four or five times a day.' ' 'You spoken to Sakura about it?' 'Yeah, she's given me some kind of Lavender oil, apparently it's good for relieving pain.' 'And the nerve issue?' 'She's still working on something for that. In the meantime I've just got to work through it as best I can. It would be worse if I wasn't just as good with my left hand.'

She then stood up, and pulled her deck out of her pocket. 'Do you… always walk around with that in your pocket?' 'No, but I was hoping you were in here. Fancy a quick duel?' 'Not sure it'll be quick, but sure.' Astrid grabbed one of the Renegades' standard duel disks from the back of the arena, and then slid it onto her right arm. 'Going lefty for this one?' 'I'm due a spasm in my right so it's just safer.'

In the president's office, that afternoon

Maddy was talking to every single member about their potential jobs, starting with Blair. 'So, you know why you're here. I'll be honest with you Blair, the only reason I don't have you in any kind of… shall we say "senior" role here, is because you absolutely didn't want it.' The Michigan native just laughed at this. 'Yeah, sorry, it's just that… I'm not exactly great at ordering people about.' 'Unless it's exactly Rio.' 'Ironic I know.'

'Listen, I totally get it. I know that you're not the most confident person here.' 'It just feels really awkward thinking of myself as above anybody.' 'So, what do you want to do?' 'Well, I was thinking, and I sort of wondered if there was any kind of pastoral role available? You know, sort of like, well not quite a counseller, but' 'Sort of an agony aunt?' 'I guess? To be honest I don't really know what I want.'

'Well why don't we go through what you're good at? You're intelligent' 'Thanks.' 'You're welcome. Anyway, you're intelligent, you're level headed, you're kind. Anything else?' 'Not sure I would have listed that much, but I'm organised I guess.' 'Yeah, should have thought of that as well. So you have no idea what you want to do?' 'Not really, I'll just go wherever you need me.' 'Well, I appreciate you being so open and helpful.' 'Thanks, I'm looking forward to seeing what you work out.' As she left, Maddy muttered 'So am I…'

Next up was Lydia, and she had a much firmer idea of what she wanted to do. 'So Lydia, back here for more positive reasons this time.' 'Couldn't be less positive.' 'True, but nevertheless it's nice to see you here again. Firstly, do you have any idea what you want to do?' 'Yeah, totally.' Maddy seemed surprised to hear this. 'Go on then.' 'I want to be part of the security team.' 'Right… I'm listening.'

'I think I'm perfect for it. I'm cautious, I'm sensible, and I can hold my morphing much better than Fre can, which makes me great for intelligence. Seriously, I think I'd be brilliant.' 'You realise that Security is more than just spying on people, right?' 'Sure.' 'You also have to have good judgement to know when somebody is a threat, you need to be able to negotiate and communicate with non-threats, and you need to be able to fight if it means defending the club.'

Without even taking the information in, Lydia agreed. 'Yeah, of course, totally get it.' Maddy nodded, and scribbled some more information down. 'So is there anything else that you'd like to tell me?' 'Not really. Oh, apart from one thing.' 'Go on.' 'Don't put Kris in the security team, he's totally not ready physically yet.' 'With respect Lydia, don't tell me how to do my job, ok?' 'Yeah sorry, I just wanted to try and help you out.' 'I appreciate that.' As Lydia left, Maddy underlined something she had written. By the end of the meetings, she had something written down for everyone:

Blair - Wants "pastoral" role, would probably be better at this job than me, look at organisational roles?

Lydia - Wants to be part of security team, doesn't have discipline, wasn't listening throughout, clearly hiding something

Astrid - Wants to do "something interesting", needed in security, won't forgive me for it

Brooke - Just starting, look at commercial arm

Jade - Just starting, well travelled, scouting/outreach sounds reasonable, have to consider personal matters

Freja - Doesn't have any particular want, don't trust her as long as current "job" is going on

Kris - Wants to be close to Astrid if possible, outreach is also appealing

Sakura - Needed in med department, would like to "leave the base once in a while"

As Maddy was coming out of her office from the last meeting, Rio suddenly came back in, looking flush. 'Hey Rio, didn't expect you back so soon.' 'Erm yeah, am I late for my meeting?' 'Oh, you didn't need one, since you're VP and all.' 'Yeah, I kinda wanted one, I really need to discuss some sh*t with you.' Knowing that Rio wasn't one for reckless swearing, Maddy realised that she was being deadly serious. 'If you don't mind me eating during our meeting, I've got a slot in about an hour.' 'Yeah, that works out great, thanks. Don't mind if I bring my lunch in with me do you?' 'Feel free.'

Spare Bedroom

Blair was sat quietly in the spare bedroom, reading a magazine on children's bedroom design ideas when Freja walked in, smiling. 'Got a hair appointment?' 'Yeah, just give me a minute.' 'Thanks for this.' 'I think you're forgetting something though.' 'What's that?'' 'Money first.' 'Why though? You're so awkward.' The response was incredibly stern. 'Because you still haven't paid me for the last time I did your ends. Or the time before, or the time before that.'

'So, how much is it?' 'Call it £30.' 'For my ends?' 'Technically you owe me £45 but mates' rates.' 'Do you have to talk like that, it's totally cringeworthy.' Blair just smiled, plotting against Freja. 'For that you now owe me £35.' Freja then reached into her pocket, and produced £20. 'I've probably got more in my bedroom, I'll give it to you later.' 'If you don't I'll be sending Jade to shake you upside down.'

While she was having her ends chopped and neatened, Freja couldn't help but start talking about her current role. 'You know, what I love about being obedient for them is just that feeling of accomplishment, to think that I've never achieved anything in my life, and then I can not only be chosen as a pet for them, but be able to please them, it just makes everything worth it. And when he touches me, it's like I'm being touched by god himself.'

'That's nice' Blair muttered feigning interest. 'Honestly you just don't know the feeling, and when he entrances you it just… you feel so free and weightless, there's just no pressure on you because you know that whatever it is they want you to do, you'll do it, your body's just on autopilot, and your heart is just so fulfilled knowing that you're serving this greater purpose, this better cause, I just wish I could do even more for them.'

As Freja continued to ramble, Brooke walked past the room, and Blair looked out, threatening to strangle Freja, causing the Welsh girl to walk past laughing. As Blair was finishing her work, she was made a proposal. 'You know, I'm there tonight and they'd love it if you came and did your thing for them.' Still not listening, Blair brushed her off. 'That's great I'm sure.' 'So you'll do it?' She then woke up.

'Do what again?' 'Come and perform with me for them tonight.' Not thinking she was serious, Blair just laughed. 'I don't think you're serious' 'I am.' 'Well I'll make the answer simple - no.' 'Come on, I'll even pay you for it.' 'No, that would make me a hooker.' 'Yeah… isn't that what your girlfriend did for years? In fact she worked in a strip club, so wouldn't that make her more of a slut?' Hearing this was enough for Blair. 'Finished.'

As Freja looked at her straight and newly shortened hair in the mirror, she was delighted. 'Thanks Blair, love ya.' By this time though, she had already left the room, annoyed at what Freja had said. So she just shrugged, and quickly went up to her room, picking out a further £20 before running back down the stairs, where she ran into Rio, who was just carrying some home-made sausage rolls for her lunch towards Maddy's office.

'Hey, you almost ran into me.' 'Didn't know you were bringing Maddy her lunch now.' 'I'm not, these are mine, and I've not eaten all day, so I kind of have somewhere to be.' 'Before you do, could you give this to Blair?' Being handed the money, Rio immediately understood. 'What've you done?' 'I'm just paying back the money I owe her.' She wasn't buying it however. 'It's funny, because I just saw Blair with steam coming out of her ears outside, and now you're suddenly paying her back three months late.'

'Ok, you're right, it's a peace offering, me and Blair were talking while she was doing my ends, and I may or may not have accidentally called Jade a slut.' Hearing this made Rio's demeanour change entirely, and she snatched the two banknotes out of Freja's hand, cutting the elder twin's finger in the process. 'I mean I didn't mean it, it was just when Blair refused to strip for Phil and Hannah tonight, she sorta said if I paid her she'd be a hooker, and' She didn't even get chance to finish, because Rio had put her plate down on a nearby table, and rung Phil.

'Rio, can this wait a few, I'm literally just getting into the house.' 'It can wait when you've told me why you're setting your little puppy on Blair.' 'Right, I haven't the slightest clue what you're on about.' 'Freja - you sent her to try and get Blair to strip for you tonight.' Still entirely confused, Phil rebuffed this idea. 'No I didn't, I know Blair won't, and I really don't know anything about this. Has Freja been'

'Yep, and even called Jade a slut.' Silence followed for a moment, before he coughed. 'I'll be having words.' 'It's your trance causing this, I don't know why you just don't' 'She isn't in a trance.' 'But' 'I put her in when she arrives, not before. I'll have a word with her, and when you see Blair, give her my apologies for Freja's behaviour, it's just not acceptable.' 'Thanks, sorry about the misunderstanding.' 'It's fine, you didn't know.'

With that, the Idahoan walked into the office, where Maddy was just finishing a toasted sandwich. 'Oh hey, come in.' 'Sorry I'm a little late, I was dealing with Freja.' 'What's she done this time?' 'This time?' 'Yeah, gave her a warning this morning about not turning up for scouting duties.' 'She told me that you'd given her an exemption due to her modelling. There should be a note in the top of the filing cabinet about it.'

Maddy rooted through the cabinet, and after several minutes, found it, stuck to the side of the drawer. The note was tattered and torn, but otherwise completely readable. 'Yeah, this is from months ago, she's ripped off the date from the bottom.' 'I had no idea.' 'You wouldn't unless you were looking for it. So what's she done this time?' 'Called Jade a slut right in front of Blair.' 'I swear she's going to be the death of me. I'll pull her in tomorrow. So, you wanted a meeting?'

'Yeah, I wanted to talk about these roles, because I know that I'm deputy, and I really like doing it, and I'm totally honoured that you chose me' 'Technically everyone chose you, I have one vote.' 'But I've been thinking, and I'm not sure that this is so me, in the long term that is.' 'Ok, we can talk about it. What is "you" then?' 'I was thinking of trying to train as a medic under Sakura.' Maddy seemed surprised at this, but let Rio continue.

'I've always enjoyed looking after everyone, and I've always been interested in medical stuff, when I was growing up I always wanted to be a doctor, but I didn't think I'd be able to cope with seeing patients die. But now I'm dying' 'I'll have none of that talk here.' 'Well I am, it's just a fact, I'm not going to be living a "normal" life. And now I'm going through that, I'd be better prepared because I'm going through it myself. I really just want to be able to do this.'

Maddy wasn't so certain however. 'I have no doubt that you'd be a fantastic medic, honestly. But I'm just not sure about this, it's incredibly demanding, and I'm concerned about your health.' 'I get it, but I think this would be good for me, you know, have a new experience and something to focus on that isn't just duelling. I'm not even saying I don't want the VP job, I can just train under Sak casually.'

Seeing how much Rio wanted this caused Maddy to rethink her stance slightly. After noting a couple of pieces of info down, she gave a verdict. 'I will speak to Sakura about this later, and I'll consider it. No guarantees, but you have my word that I'll look into it for you.' 'Thank you.' 'I want everyone to be in the right role for them, ok?' 'I want you to know how much I appreciate it.' 'I know.'

As Rio went to leave the office, she paused for a moment, and then looked back at the seat she had been inhabiting for several weeks. 'You know, it's nice to have you back.' 'Thanks. Not sure everyone agrees right now, but they're gonna have to deal with it.' 'Exactly. You're the best person for the job, and everyone knows it, whether they want to admit it or not.'

Ashworth Brook Farm, Norden

As Hannah was settling down for the afternoon with a hot mug of cocoa and some biscuits, there was a knock on the door. As she got up, she felt a sharp pain in her stomach, but thought nothing more of it. She answered the door, and Frances was there, dressed in a sharp suit jacket and white blouse and black trousers. 'Hi Frances, this is… unexpected.' 'Can I come in? I know this is probably bad timing but we need to talk.'

Presuming that this was about Birchall's trial, she obliged. 'Sorry about the state of the place, I was having a lazy afternoon and Phil's just popped out to the supermarket for a few little bits. By all means take a seat, do you want a coffee?' 'I'm ok thanks, I'm not going to be here too long. Listen, you might need to take a seat for this.' As Hannah sat down, she asked the question. 'Is there an issue with James' trial?'

Frances responded with a smile. 'No, he tried to get the trial put back a few weeks ago but his request was rejected. No, this is about… I sort of shudder to call him this, but this is about your father.' 'Damien?' 'Yes. I've come to let you know that I heard from a colleague earlier that he's been arrested.' 'Seriously?' 'He's been arrested in Bendigo.' A frightening thought then passed through Hannah's mind.

'Hang on, Bendigo? That's where Megan lives… oh my god' 'He was arrested on the 9th, so a few days ago, apparently a girl called Meghan Matthews was the victim.' 'Yeah, she uses the surname Matthews sometimes, what's going on exactly? Is she ok?' 'She's absolutely fine, I promise. He was arrested after she reported him for breaching a restraining order that she filed against him a few months ago. I don't have too many details, but I do have a phone number for where she's staying at the moment, she's being kept in some safe accommodation in Melbourne until'

'Until what?' This was where the real news came in. 'Until he's deported from Australia, he's being sent back to England so that he can stand trial for killing your mother.' At this moment, Hannah stopped, just as Phil walked back in with two large shopping bags. 'Sweetie, I'm home. Oh hi Frances, nice to see you.' 'Phil, I was just talking to Hannah. I'm sure you remember Damien?'

'Damien as in the scumbag of a "father"?' 'The same.' Hannah then looked up at him, white as a sheet. 'He's been arrested in Australia and is being extradited to stand trial for the crash.' Hearing this made him drop the bags, smashing a jar of pasta sauce inside. 'As I say, Megan is staying in some safe accommodation just until he's sent over here, they need to fill in the papers first but we're probably talking days.' Hannah, not wasting any time, snatched the paper, and dialled the number like mad.

633 Davis Avenue, Melbourne

Megan was washing some bowls, when the phone rang. 'Could someone get that, my hands are wet.' One of the boys in the house, a mixed race teenager with black curly hair jogged over, and grabbed the phone. 'Hello, this is Davis Avenue Safe House, how can I help?' After hearing the response, he looked over at Megan. 'Meg, it's for you.' 'Probably him again.' 'It's your big sister, think she said her name was Hannah?'

Hearing this, Megan dried her hands in record time and ran over. 'Hannah, is it you?' 'Megan, you don't know how thankful I am to hear your voice!' 'So you found out about him?' 'Yeah, Frances, our lawyer just came round to tell us. What happened, did he just turn up or something? How did he even get into Australia?' 'One question at a time sis, I can't deal with all this.'

'Sorry. What happened?' 'I was just at home and the door went, and when I opened it he barged his way in, started spouting some weird sh*t about wanting me to come with him to New York so we could start a new life with you when you came to your senses, and some other stuff, I couldn't understand him, I think he'd been drinking.' 'So…' 'I invited him in and called the police, told them about the restraining order, and when they came around they arrested him. I was told afterwards by them that he'd swapped his first and middle names around when he got into the country.'

'But you're safe.' 'Yeah, they put me in this safe house just until he's sent back to the UK. Listen, I'm thinking of maybe moving back home, I just want to be closer to you.' 'Well if you find somewhere, we'll pay for it.' Phil then started signalling to Hannah, and they had a quick and quiet conversation. 'Phil's just said that if you find somewhere, he'll help you move all your stuff in.' 'Yeah, there isn't going to be too much. I'll get looking in the next couple of days, hopefully move over before summer.' 'Finish college first, then look at moving, ok?' 'I'll try and find somewhere to move to for when I've finished.'

'Well I'm just glad that you're safe.' 'So am I, I just want all this to be over with.' 'So do I kiddo, so do I' Hannah sighed, just thankful that her sister was unharmed in the ordeal. But there was one more slight surprise from the youngest sibling. 'Can I speak to Phil a minute?' 'Sure. Phil, Megan wants a word.' 'If she likes.' The phone was then passed on for a cordial chat.

'So you wanted to talk?' 'Not really talk, I guess I just wanted to thank you for always being there for Hannah, and for not holding our past issues against me. I know I wasn't exactly… nice to you, but' 'Trust me, there were times when I didn't deserve you being nice to me.' 'I guess I just wanted to say… I'm sorry. For everything.' 'It's fine, you want the same thing I do, I understand you were trying to protect your sister. Besides, I sort of did brainwash her at one point, and I did almost turn her against you in some ways'

'Past is the past?' 'Let's settle on that.' 'By the way, I just wanted to say, you're going to be an amazing Dad.' This compliment was enough to break the waterworks, and Phil started to cry. 'Thank you, I'm going to pass you back to Hannah now.' As Megan was passed back, she seemed concerned. 'Is he… ok?' 'Yeah, I don't know what you said to him, but I think you just made his day.' 'Nothing much really, I just told him that he'll be an amazing father.' Hannah smiled, and put her arm around her husband. 'He really will be. Just like you're going to be the best aunt.' 'I'll try.' The call then ended, with Hannah finally exhaling.

In the medical office, the next morning

As Sakura was setting out her equipment for the morning, Rio stormed past, kicking the door as she did. So the medic, aware of Rio's wishes around training, popped her head around the door. 'You know, you could just knock next time.' 'Sorry, I just' 'How about you tell me in here with a hot drink and some shortbread?' Rio nodded, and turned around, walking into the medical office.

As she sat down, she almost immediately started ranting. 'So what's happened?' 'Just Jade and Blair making fun of my memory again, like I get it, I forget shit, it's funny, he he ha ha, but it really isn't. People keep talking to me like I don't know what my own brain's doing or not doing, and yeah, I know that they don't know how it feels, but I do. And I don't like it when people are poking fun at what is my… my reality.'

Seeing an opportunity to explore the condition, Sakura decided to invite an explanation. 'So how does it feel?' 'Terrifying. It's like living with a bomb in your head, except it's got no timer, and there's no indication of how it's going to go off. I'm trying to live but I also have to prepare for the end, because that end is coming and I have no idea when in the future it is. Honestly, I sometimes wish that I'd succeeded when I tried to end it all, just so that I don't have to live with the tension.'

'But nobody knows this.' 'People don't realise what it's like living with this kind of thing. They don't know that feeling of powerlessness. They like to poke fun at my issues, and the best thing is, they don't even know the half of it. They know about the memory issues, they know that I can't even risk banging my head or something, but they don't know the rest of it.' 'The rest of it? Like?' 'Like the days where I can barely remember my own name, or the mood swings, or the blackouts, I blacked out for about two minutes during the tag title duel last week, and nobody noticed a thing.'

'You actually blacked out?' 'Literally, I was out on my feet, I don't know how I stayed upright even. But because I seem fine 90% of the time, people just poke fun at the issues, they turn the times when I forget when Jade's birthday is or what day Ally's arriving into some kind of pantomime. It's less funny because when I can't think of that shit, I probably wouldn't be able to tell you how old I was. All I know is I could wake up tomorrow and be mentally retarded, instead of getting on with her life Blair could spend the next 20 years wheeling me around feeding me through a straw. I don't want that to happen to me, but it could. It's more than just a joke, this is my life. But I guess I'm Riana Kastle, the cocky one, so I'm just going to put on a big smile and talk trash back to people when all I want to do is cry.'

Sakura, concerned, reached out and placed her hand on Rio's knee. 'You'll be fine, I've seen your file, I've met you, you're going nowhere.' 'Yeah, it's easy to say that when you're not experiencing it. You try having to smoke cannabis just because it's the only thing that stops your hand tremors, you try being stuck in a CT scan every two weeks not knowing if this is the time that they tell you you're going to die in a few weeks.' 'Trust me, it isn't easy to say you're getting better. If I was telling you this and I didn't believe it, I wouldn't be doing my job. I know what you're going through looks scary, and it is, I just want to assure you that you're going to be here, if not as long as you would have been, still for a long time to come. How's your memory and speech been recently?'

Still shaking like a leaf, Rio started to stumble over her words slightly. 'Me… me… memory's still a bit shit, but I've felt more confident with my speech, people keep telling me it's way better but I'm not sure I'm that far on.' 'Well if it helps, I've been taking notes on how you've been doing since you came out of hospital, and I actually think you've improved significantly. Now if you were going anywhere anytime soon, or if your brain degeneration was accelerating, we wouldn't be seeing these improvements. Quite honestly your recovery has been nothing short of a miracle, you would have no idea if we didn't already know that you had a brain condition. So chin up, and just do what you're doing, enjoy being able to experience everything.'

Slightly cheered up, Rio finally cracked a smile. 'Thanks, you just don't know what it's like until you've been there.' 'I get it, and you've coped a ton better than I would.' 'Really?' Sakura then started to giggle. 'It sounds stupid, what with me being a field medic, but I'm actually terrible with pain, I broke my toe once and spent about an hour crying.' After some more laughter, the Idahoan stood up. 'Thanks for this Sak, I just needed a quiet chat with someone.' 'Always here.' Little did Rio know that her chat wasn't private. Because Sakura had secretly pressed Record on her phone, and Maddy was listening into it all. And making notes.

Two hours later

As Blair walked across the base for Maddy's appointment, she felt a strange dig in her ribs. Turning around, Freja was stood there, smiling. 'I'm not interested.' She walked on, until there was another dig in the ribs. 'Right, what do you want?' 'Did you get the rest of that money?' 'Yes. Can I go now?' 'Listen, I wanna apologise for yesterday.' 'Which bit, the bit where you tried to get me to strip for my cousin or the bit where you called my girlfriend a stripper? Sorry, that's not the word you used, was it?'

'I know I get it, I fucked up.' 'Can say that again.' 'Why won't you just accept that I said a stupid thing, I do that.' Blair then turned around sharply. 'That's the bit you don't get Freja - it's more than just a "stupid thing". It's the fact that you won't let her forget about it. Every time you see her there's some comment or some question about what she did, why she did it, who she danced for, hell last week you asked her if she had a phone number for the guy in Belarus she worked for. You know, the one who's in his 90s and in prison for trying to sell her as a prostitute. Problem is, you say these things but then you feign stupidity, oh look it's Freja, she's just being ditzy and cute, but these things stick with people, and you know exactly what you're doing. Ally's coming to live with us in a couple of weeks, and I don't want her finding out that my girlfriend used to be an exotic dancer for some old perverts with more money than morals because she was trying to make something of herself.'

This really got Freja's back up, and she responded in an increased tone of voice, a rarity for her. 'Well how do you want me to greet her? She just turns up here, all I know about her is she's Rio's mate and she likes clit not dick, but you're expecting me to hold some kind of conversation with her.' 'No I'm not, just a few words, hell Hello would be a start.' At this point, Freja saw herself an opportunity to negotiate. 'Tell you what, I'll find stuff to talk to Jade about, quality stuff… if you come down to Phil and Hannah's tonight.' Sadly for Freja, Blair wasn't quite the negotiating type.

'I'm not doing it, there's no chance, I spoke to Phil this morning, he's frankly embarrassed that you're even asking me. Which one of us is the "slut" now?' 'This is the difference between us Blair, I'm fun, outgoing and try to make conversation, while you'd rather just walk the other way.' Blair then responded, poking Freja in the chest repeatedly as she did. 'You got one thing right, this is the difference between us. The difference though is that I'm an adult, you're just a barely overgrown girl.'

With tensions rising, Blair decided to leave, and Freja went to follow her, only to be held back by Astrid. 'What are you doing?' 'Saving you from packing your bags.' 'Maddy told you then?' 'No, Lydia did. In fact, she asked me to keep an eye on you, make sure that you're not going to do something stupid again. And then I come in here and you're doing something stupid again. Don't get in a fight with Blair, she's got more than a foot on you and used to be in the armed forces.'

'Yeah I get it, everyone thinks I'm just the small and weak one.' 'Weak? My shin's still sore three weeks after you kicked it.' 'It was an accident.' 'I know, but you're not weak. Doesn't mean you should pick a fight with a Marine, you're asking for trouble there.' This got Freja thinking, and her devious mind came up with a plan. 'You're right, I'll just try and keep my nose clean.' 'Good. Now I'm going back to the arena to train Taylor, you behave.' 'I'll try.' As Astrid left, Freja got on the phone. 'Hey sis, fancy cutting a deal?'

20 minutes later

The sisters who had been fighting earlier were now found themselves in negotiations. 'I told you, I'm not doing it.' 'Yeah, I get it. Thing is, I helped to brainwash DJ earlier and I sort of got the taste for it.' 'Don't even try it.' 'That's what I wanted to negotiate about. If you help me hypnotise Blair into doing it, I'll leave you alone.' 'Not doing it Fre.' 'Seriously?' 'Seriously. She's a Marine, she's massive, and if I do, literally everyone is going to hate me.'

'Come on, it's only for the night.' 'Like that changes anything.' 'You do realise I could just get you right now.' Smartly, Lydia decided to call her sister's bluff. 'If you did, you would have done it by now, and you wouldn't need my help.' Frustrated, Freja resigned herself, and walked off in a huff. 'I'll just have to show you exactly what I can do then…'

In the President's office

Blair walked into the office, and found Maddy, waiting, having cleared her desk of all paperwork. 'Hey, I got your text yesterday, you know that if you need your ends doing you don't need to book an appointment.' 'Yeah, I know. I booked because I wanted more than that doing. See, I was watching the event the other day' 'If it's what Justin said, he's demented, ignore him.' 'Thing is, he's right. Every day when I look in the mirror, all I see is plain old boring Maddy, sweet but ultimately completely forgettable. I want more than that, I want to be interesting.'

'You kidding? You're one of the most interesting people I know' 'Sure I am.' 'But, if you want to be transformed, meet me in the basement in about 20 minutes, and I'll see what I can do.' '20 minutes?' '20 minutes not a second later.' Knowing that when Blair said "not a second later" she meant it, Maddy smiled. 'See you in 20.' They then both left the office, Maddy to get some fresh air having been in the base all day, and Blair to get the basement set up.

19 minutes later

Maddy entered the basement, finding Blair organising a large, light blue bag full of equipment. 'Hey, take a seat, I'll be with you in a minute.' Finishing the job, she brought over a glass mixing bowl filled with warm water, and started to wash Maddy's hair. 'How did you get perfectly warm water down here?' 'Had to improvise - thermos flask, ice cubes, and only two burned fingers.' 'Yer fingers ok?' 'Well they've not fallen off yet, so I think they'll recover.'

'So you wanted something different doing?' 'Yeah.' 'How different are we talking?' 'Totally different, like transformed different, make an impact different.' Hearing this appeared to make Blair quite excited. 'I'm going to make you a total knockout.' After washing her hair for nearly 10 minutes, the hairdresser split Maddy's hair in half, and started to brush out each side. 'Wouldn't it be easier to use straighteners?'

'Yeah, I don't like using them, feel like they ruin the finish. Besides, hairbrushes had to be invented for a reason.' 'So you know what you're doing?' 'I… have an idea or two, you could say.' 'Care to share?' 'That would be telling. But, I will say you're going to like it.' 'Well, I'm looking forward to the result.' With Maddy's hair brushed, Blair squeezed some of the moisture from it, before starting to apply some brunette hair dye.

'Have you actually worked as a hairdresser?' 'Not over here, I did an internship at a hair salon just outside Detroit for a couple of months before moving over here, just to get a visa.' 'So you over here permanently?' 'Sorta, I've got a work visa, but I've been in the process of getting a permanent visa, apparently it should be easy because I've got British parents by birth.' 'Don't see why it'd be an issue, you were born in the UK, and let's face it, Dad's your cousin.' 'It's just so much paperwork, that's the thing.'

With the brunette applied, Blair produced some crimson red hair dye, and started to apply that to the sides of Maddy's hair. As she did, Maddy started to open slightly. 'You know I'm going to be at Locals on Thursday?' 'Really? That's awesome, I just love how aggressively you duel.' 'It's totally natural I promise. I can't explain it, but duelling just gives me some kind of visceral rush that I can't replicate with anything else. I really shouldn't be returning, I should have stayed off for six to seven months with my injuries, but I just need to feel something, anything again.'

'I totally get it. I can tell you that you're going to have a decent workout at the Locals, a lot of my regular practice group are going to be there, and some of them are pretty great. There's one, Jordanne Peterson, who reached the Semi-Pro semis last year, and she's going to be there, I swear she's nearly as quick and aggressive as you are. Honestly I think she's at about the level you were at Worlds, just not quite as tenacious.'

'I'm looking forward to duelling her, hopefully I'll see a few of your class there.' 'I'm hoping you will, it will do them a hella lotta good to face you. How's the pain in your ribs?' 'Not great to be honest, I've been feeling pretty awful honestly. But I have to do this, I just want to feel like me again, I just need to do something.' Hearing this, Blair suddenly had an idea, as she started applying some sapphire blue dye.

'Listen, I know this is a long shot, especially with your ribs and everything, but if you want to get back in better shape before you properly return, us Knights are looking for a new winger, Jess has done her ankle ligaments and won't be returning before she moves to Dublin.' 'Listen, I appreciate the thought, but I've never really been a football kinda person.' 'I wouldn't be asking, but we don't really have many options.'

While Blair was saying this, Maddy started to reconsider her decision. 'You got a training sess on Friday?' 'Yeah, just a short one, hour and a half.' 'I want to earn my place, so if you can talk to the coach, I'll see how it goes and play on Saturday (if) they think I'm good enough.' Her hairdresser's face lit up as she said this. 'I want to give you a hug so bad right now.' 'Could it wait until my hair's dry?' 'Yeah, of course.'

With her work almost done, Blair finished off by cutting around half an inch off the bottom of Maddy's hair, and running a brush through it one more time. She then put everything back in the bag, and took out a small handheld mirror. 'You ready to see?' 'Am I?' she asked rhetorically, causing Blair to giggle. 'Sorry, just love the sarcasm.' 'Yeah I get it, you're a dirty stinking yank, you're not used to sarcasm.' 'At least I'm not an uncultured beer-swilling limey. You remember when I first said that to you?'

'Yeah, think it was the time you tried to kiss me in Australia.' 'Erm yeah… sorry about that.' 'You were confused, you were emotional, and you must have been roasting.' 'To be fair though, you are kinda attractive. I'm allowed to say that now, I've got a girlfriend. Talking of, we're going shopping for stuff for Ally's room later, that'll be a blast, Jade could stay in shops for weeks if I let her. Oh yeah, meant to give you the mirror.'

As Maddy finally got to see her new hairstyle, she smiled. 'I hope you like it.' 'You kidding? It's fantastic, thank you.' 'You're welcome. Now just to warn you, it might drip a little bit for a few hours, just while the dye dries. I dyed your hair brunette first, just to give it some volume and impact.' Maddy then stood up, and passed Blair an envelope. 'What's this?' 'Payment, see you later.' As she left, Blair opened up the envelope, which contained £600 and a little note, reading "Knew you'd make me feel human again. Thank you."

Two hours later

Just as Blair was getting her denim jacket on, ready to head out of the doors, an alert went off in the base. As it did, she got her phone out and dialled Jade's number. 'Hey jewel, how's it going?' 'Yeah decent, slight change of plan.' 'You're not having an antisocial day are you?' 'Kinda, but that's not the change of plan. Club meeting in 10 minutes.' 'I can be there in 20.' 'I'll let her know.'

As Jade arrived at the base, she quickly dropped her bag in the foyer and sneaked in to the main hall, where everyone else was stood. Reaching her girlfriend, she started whispering. 'Got here as quick as I could.' Before Blair could respond, Maddy walked out, having sensed Jade's arrival. And she walked out with a large parchment, ready to designate roles.

'Thank you everyone, this was short notice but I decided you might want to know about the roles we discussed. I took everyone's opinions on their strengths and weaknesses into account, as well as what I thought their best roles may be. I trust that everyone will be at least somewhat satisfied by these roles. They will be up for reconsideration in the future if circumstances were to change.'

'I will read out the roles now, and they will be pinned up by the office at all times. If you have any questions, you can ask me afterwards. So without further ado, I will remain the President, and I will now have dual Vice Presidents. So may I ask Rio Kastle and Kris Travis to step forward.' As they did, many members of the club appeared shocked. 'Rio and Kris will be my first port of call when it comes to advice on disciplinary issues within the club, and they will be your first port of call if you have any complaints. Additionally, if I am ever unable to fulfil my duties, one or both of them will take over for me, either until I can return or in a worst case scenario, an election can be held.'

'Now for the Security team. The Head of Security will be Astrid Hofferson, and she will be assisted by Kris Travis and Jana Vilkas. Jana has not been officially welcomed as a member as of yet, but she will be when she is back in the country next week. The role of the security team is not simply to defend the club in times of strife, but to gather intelligence on potential enemies, deal with them in the most efficient way, and to ensure that the base has sufficient defences to deal with situations which may arise. The Security team are our first line of defence in situations and they accept the burden that this brings.'

'The head of the Medical department will be our Chief Medic, Sakura Haruno. She will be assisted by our new Trainee Medic, Rio Kastle.' Rio seemed to be incredibly surprised to hear this, but there was no time to ask anything. 'If you have any medical or otherwise health-related issues, the medical department is where to go, and they will either administer a treatment or advise you on what to do next. If your issue is not urgent to the point where it is physically causing significant barriers to assisting with club duties, please do book an appointment. And if you want a specific member of the medical department, please do get over yourselves, we don't have time for fickle morons.'

'Hannah Cummings will continue to be the Renegades Arena manager, so if there is anything you need to know about the Arena in terms of fees or any events going on, you need to contact her about it. DO NOT contact Hannah regarding bookings in the arena, our Secretaries, Belle Draper and Jodi Allen, will advise you on those. If you owe money for anything in the arena, you need to go to the Arena office. If there is nobody in the office, then you need to go to a Secretary, explain that there is nobody in the office, and they will see to it that your account is updated.'

'Now an update on the Arena. The Arena opens to the public at 9am, and bookings for that time can and will be made. However, the Arena is open from 7:30am exclusively for Renegades members. If you want to take advantage of this, you MUST inform Hannah by 6pm the day before. It will cost you £10 to access the arena early, and you will be given a key to the door. If you are leaving the Arena and it is empty, please lock the door behind you, even if you are coming back.'

'If you owe money for the arena, then you have 45 days from the date of debt to pay it off. Running up further debts will not extend this date, rather each individual debt will be noted on the day that you start to owe it. If you fail to pay back 100% of the debt by the 45th day, you will be barred from the arena until payment is accepted.'

'Finally, Blair Flannigan will be the Pastoral Care Manager. If you are feeling low or depressed, or having other emotional difficulties, or if you have a medical issue which is minor enough to not require a medical appointment, then please book a meeting with Blair, and she will look after you. Thank you everybody for attending.' As everybody dispersed, Lydia walked up to Maddy with purpose.

'Is this urgent? I have somewhere to be.' 'I really thought I'd be great for the security team, but you chose Kris over me?' 'I will be honest with you, it wasn't Kris over you because you were never in consideration. Security requires people to have a certain kind of mindset, a focus on keeping the club safe and seeing the signs of trouble even when other people don't. Astrid and Kris convinced me the best that they would be able to handle the responsibility.'

'So, what do I do?' 'Anyone not named in the parchment is in General Assistance, you don't have a department.' 'So I'm a dogsbody?' 'I wouldn't put it that way, rather you are available to assist in any division in which you are needed.' 'But that isn't fair.' Maddy then flashed her eyes menacingly. 'I will tell you what is fair. I have said it before and will say it again - NOBODY tells me how to do my job. I don't care if it's you, if it's Astrid, if it's some god, I am in charge and will run things how I see fit.'

On the road to South Shields

Blair, Rio and Jade were on a little bit of a road trip, to start shopping for Ally moving in. 'So we need a nice little desk and chair for her to do her schoolwork, because she's going to end up a hunchback doing it all on the table in the lounge, we need a bed for you Rio and a decent mattress to go with it because you aren't sleeping on a sofabed for the next however many years, I need a new lamp because I broke the old one at 4am the other morning, and you wanted a new air fryer Jade.'

Rio had other questions though. 'Erm B, are you actually allowed to drive? And more to the point, where did you get this car from?' 'Oh the car? I stole it from some rando that Taylor controlled ages ago. You know what they say - when in rome.' 'Yeah, pretty sure the second half of that isn't "steal a Ford Mustang".' 'Well it was months ago and the guy hasn't found me yet.' Jade then sounded concerned. 'Yeah, but someone else has found us.'

As Blair looked over her shoulder, a Police car was flashing her over. So being the law abiding citizen she was, Blair duly pulled over where it was safe. As she did, an officer got out of the car and walked over. 'Excuse me miss.' 'Yes?' 'This car is showing up as stolen on our official computer. Do you happen to have the insurance documents with you?' 'Yeah, sure.' 'What's your name?' Getting a sense of vengeance, she thought quick. 'My name is Freja McKinna.'

'Ok Ms. McKinna, I'll be wanting to see your licence as well.' 'Of course officer.' After a minute of fumbling through her bag, Blair pulled out a card, and gave it to the officer. His face briefly lit up red, and then he stopped, and just started staring at the card. Blair put her foot down, and drove off, leaving her friends very confused.

'Ok, what just happened?' 'I just gave him a copy of Icaron's Force. Should be enough to keep him paralysed for hours, and when he comes to, he won't remember a thing. So where was I? Oh yeah, I was thinking we could get proper English Fish and Chips while we're out here, Phil keeps insisting that you've not had it until you've been into a proper English Chippy.' 'Yeah, that's just because he's a nationalist.' 'To be fair, I am kinda hungry.'

Back with the officer, one of his colleagues happened to be driving past when he noticed the officer (whose police car had been stolen by an opportunistic thief at this point) stood still, staring at something in his hands. As the 2nd officer came to investigate, they saw him holding a copy of Icaron's Force, and immediately exhaled loudly. 'That bloody lot again! That's the 3rd officer this week.' A realisation then came. 'They've stolen his damn car!'

Back at the base

Maddy went back down to the basement, and uncovered her head, before walking over to DJ, who was a complete mess with tired eyes, and a pained expression. She took the headphones off her prey, and then proceeded to reprogram her. For minute after minute, she read out instructions, turning DJ from an innocent announcer to a savage and twisted Renegade, the symbol of the new identity of the club.

That night, 11:05pm

Having stayed late at the base to help Maddy with some paperwork, Blair was just about to leave the base, when she was ambushed from behind. She was just able to turn over and see their face, before she had a pair of headphones placed onto her, and was dragged outside, where Jade was stood, with her hair down, also with headphones on. Freja then came running round the corner, and the figure took their hood down, revealing Lydia. 'Her scrunchies are in her pocket' Lydia stated, before receiving a bundle of cash, and disappearing back into the base.

Freja then quickly tied Blair's hair into pigtails, while she was being entranced, and tapped Jade on the shoulder. 'Jade, take us to Ashworth Brook Farm, we're going to put on a show for Phil and Hannah.' 'Yes mistress' she said, having already been captured by Lydia. Lydia and Freja had made an agreement where in exchange for Freja not trying to force her to striptease (and a significant amount of money), Lydia would capture Blair for Freja. As Primal Eolas was used, the three of them vanished.

The next morning

Maddy was just starting to organise the paperwork from the previous night, when Rio knocked on the office door. 'Come in.' 'I don't need to, just need to warn you that Freja was up to her tricks again last night. Jade and Blair will be here in about 10 minutes, and it is going to kick off MEGA.' She showed Maddy a text from Jade, which read "Freja forced us to "dance" last night, suggest she isn't near the base for her own safety", and the President responded by getting on the tannoy. 'This is an Amber Alert, all Security to the foyer immediately. I repeat, all Security to the foyer immediately.'

Jade and Blair arrived just over five minutes later, both with their hair down, Jade carrying a large whip. As they walked in, they were stopped in the foyer by Kris. 'We know. Don't do something stupid, it will be dealt with.' 'Yeah, because I'm going to deal with it. Where are they?' 'Honestly, I've not seen Lydia all day, Freja sneaked out of the base about half an hour ago.' Suddenly, Lydia walked past the foyer, and looked down towards the door, only to lock eyes with Blair. She had just enough time to murmur 'Oh shit!' before running away, as Blair pushed Kris into Jade and ran after her.

The chase continued for some time, with Lydia hiding under a kitchen unit, and dashing right behind Blair, who immediately noticed. As the younger twin made her way upstairs, she was confronted by Jade. 'How did you get up here?' 'Learned in Belarus how to climb out of open air prisons quickly. That is when I wasn't being a slut.' 'I didn't even say that!' 'I don't care, I'll happily take either of you.'

Blair then appeared on the other side. 'Don't think you're escaping us, you're going to pay for what you did to me!' As they both approached, Lydia went to jump onto the bannister, only for Jade to catch her, and throw her to Blair, who locked her in a bulldog choke, and Jade lashed her in the face with the whip, before scratching her with razor-sharp nails. This only last for a few seconds however, before Astrid restrained Jade and Kris wrested Lydia from Blair's vice-like grasp.

Maddy then came running out, enraged at what she was seeing. 'All three of you, my office, NOW!' Jade came voluntarily, while Blair and Lydia had to be separated by the security team, and the three were taken directly to the office. When there, Maddy looked up. 'Astrid, Kris, thank you for your efforts, I will talk to you both afterwards. Could you please vacate my office?' As they did, Lydia tried to leave as well. 'Not you.'

'Right, what was going on out there was quite honestly disgraceful. It's like watching three children fighting.' Blair tried to defend herself, but she was immediately shut down. 'I will tell you when I want you to speak. Lydia, I want to hear the account from you - what went on last night and what went on this morning? Please note that I want to hear the truth.' Lydia had no idea that Maddy was already aware, but quickly realised that she would see right through any lie.

'Freja came up to me yesterday, told me that she wanted to get Blair to perform for Phil and Hannah, and Blair wouldn't agree, so she wanted me to force her. I told her that there was no chance because she's about a foot taller than me and would absolutely have me in a fight, so she threatened to make me do it, so I kind of reluctantly agreed. I had no idea she was roping Jade into it until I got out there with Blair.' 'And where is Freja now?' 'Probably on her way down to Ashworth, all I know is that she said we were in this together and then did a runner. So I dunno.'

Maddy then turned to Jade and Blair. 'Anything for either of you to add?' Blair had nothing, but Jade did. 'Other than trespass?' 'That will be dealt with separately.' Trying to follow a new path of dealing with issues, Maddy decided to let the girls deal with it themselves. 'Jade, I know that this has clearly been pretty traumatic for you. So, with your ok, please could you explain why this was so traumatic?'

Getting the hint, Jade smiled, and agreed. 'Yeah, I was an exotic dancer when I was a teenager, I did it in a few countries even. Not because I wanted to, but because I did what I had to in order to survive. I was a 17 year old girl in a country thousands of miles from home, I had no money, I got maybe $5 a day plus tips, I had to use whatever I had in order to survive. And what I had was that I was a thin, attractive Middle-Eastern girl who spoke good English. I saved virtually every cent I earned, I'd eat one meal a day plus whatever junk was left over from customers.'

'And believe me, I'm not proud of some of the stuff I did, I had to be the most ruthless, cold bitch going. Because I was one of 30 or 40 girls fighting to get the customers, get the tips, I did some of the worst shit imaginable, and I hate myself for it to this day. I came here thinking I could have a fresh start, but you'll never let me escape my past. I don't exactly go around publicising what I did.'

'Yeah, I get that helps, and I'm sorry that you went through the terrible shit that you did Jade, but I don't see why I need to be told, I didn't even do anything to her.' 'It's important for you to understand. If you understand just a snapshot of what each other have been through, it puts everything about them in a different context. A running joke suddenly looks like digging up skeletons. An innocent comment looks like bullying.'

'So to summarise Lydia, you've broken Rule 3.4, which prohibits official control tools from being used for personal gain without advance and clear permission from the President, and Rule 4.2, wilfully causing physical or mental distress or harm to another club member without good reason or previous provocation. The maximum punishment your offences can permit is suspension of all club benefits for a period of six months, however in light of your relatively clean disciplinary record and the fact that you were clearly put in a difficult position, I am suspending benefits for a period of fourteen days, and giving you a verbal warning.'

'Blair, Jade, you would normally also be in breach of Rule 4.2. However on this occasion, I have decided that you had reasonable provocation to be upset to such a degree, even if the use of force was excessive. Therefore I won't discipline either of you, but I do want to warn you both about using such force over a matter like this. If Lydia had not admitted to causing the issues, I would have had no problem giving you both a verbal warning. Next time, keep the use of force to a minimum where you can. Jade, I also point you to Rule 8.3, which states that no offensive weapons are to be brought onto the premises without permission. Consider this a warning, if you want to bring something like that with you, ask me first. Jade, Blair, you can go, Lydia, medical office to get your face cleaned up.'

When Lydia arrived at the med station with a lacerated and swollen face, Rio immediately had an instinct as to how she had ended up that way. As Sakura walked over to the injured twin, Rio stopped her. 'Leave this one to me, if I'm here I should be useful.' As she picked out an ice pack to reduce the swelling, and some antiseptic wipes for the cuts, she tried to make conversation. 'Jade do this?'

'You guessed it first time, I'm waiting for the smug "told you so".' 'Well you're not getting it from me, because if I cared about who I had to mend, I wouldn't be doing my job. Just to say that I thought she would at least have saved that for Freja.' 'I don't think she cared who she laid into.' 'Well it's a good job I'm here to fix you up then.' As she started cleaning out the wounds, Lydia grimaced, leading to a slight dig from Rio. 'Professional tip - if it hurts, then next time don't get yourself cut up, I won't have to do this then. I'm being gentle.'

She then passed Lydia an ice pack. 'Get this on the side of your face, stop the swelling.' After a few minutes of treatment, Rio left Lydia to speak to Sakura. 'Hey have you got any surgical glue, a couple of these cuts are quite deep.' 'Sure.' She went back to Lydia, who seemed concerned. 'What the hell is that?' 'Surgical glue, unless you want to be walking around with large cuts all over your face.' 'Ok, but be gentle.' 'I've been being gentle the entire time.'

After glueing up the wounds, she looked at Lydia's face again. 'The swelling's going down already. My advice is to keep the ice pack on your face for another half an hour, and then see how it goes, ok?' 'Thanks, I guess. You know you don't need to be this nice to me after what I did to Blair.' 'I'm a medic, it's my job. I've got opinions on what you did, they ain't positive, but they're also irrelevant.'

Saturday

As Blair opened up the arena for her Highlander Invitational, she noticed numbers were looking significantly sparser than usual. She didn't think much of it initially, she was aware of a crash on the motorway and knowing that a number of the regulars travelled down from Scotland, she decided to pause the 10am start time for half an hour to try and allow people to arrive. When that time had passed, and still many regulars had failed to turn up, she decided to begin.

'Morning everyone, thanks for dragging yourselves out of bed on a Saturday morning for this. Gee, we're pretty short on numbers today, did everyone get stuck in that horrible crash on the Western Bypass?' Eventually, one of the regulars who had appeared told her the issue. 'No, they were at Locals on Thursday,' 'Oh, I hope they did well, I know Maddy was making a comeback there.'

'Yeah, and she totally slaughtered everybody. Her new deck and style is absolutely terrifying, she faced Jordanne in the final and beat her in less than two minutes.' 'I didn't know she had a new deck.' 'Yeah, apparently it was so bad that Josh Davis is going back to working in retail after that, and Mikey Massey ran away and hasn't been heard from since.' Someone else then piped up.

'I saw Jordanne after the duel, she was in a total state, said something about it being like facing down a monster, Jordanne builds this amazing board, and then gets savaged for 26,000 points of damage. Apparently she attacked 14 times, and now Jordanne's considering if she's ever going to be good enough to turn pro.' 'She was talking about applying for a tour card last week.' 'Yeah, that's what Maddy did to her.' 'I'll try and get in touch with Jordanne later.'

Meanwhile, in the main base

Maddy was just finishing the paperwork from the earlier incident, noting down exactly what had happened. She then took Freja's file out of the cabinet, having received word that Hannah was driving her back down to the base having gotten wind of what was going on. With time before they arrived, she went to the bathroom to freshen up, and saw her new hairstyle in a full size mirror for the first time. She looked at it, smiled, and declared 'Plain old Maddy is dead. Long live the Don.'

Next time: The Baltic Championships Super 8s begin, as Rio and Astrid stake their claims to become the best in Renegades: A New Dawn Chapter XLVI: One or Eight, Part 1