R:Ultra Evolution

by Primal WolfBlood

Follow the Renegades as they continue their quest for fixing the world, taking on all comers, including fellow revolutionaries Junction 7 led by their unhinged leader Rhydian, and the sinister Style Council, led by the devilish Caprice. To survive in this cut-throat world, they will have to evolve their power even further beyond. It's a battle for success and survival.

3. A Sprig of Poison

R: Ultra Evolution

Book 3: A Sprig of Poison

After the revelation at the end of the event, the Renegades were flying back from Chicago, tired, defeated, and silent. Not a soul dared to speak, even for a second, in case it started more woes. With them was Rio, who had been released from hospital, the diagnosis little more than a broken nose, being protected by two plasters. Even Jack, the friendly and flamboyant captain, was as subdued as could be, understanding the seriousness of the situation.

Two days later

The entire club was still a deathly silent, as people tried to come to terms with just what they had seen and heard and experienced, with the idea of their alpha, their great, powerful and most beloved leader, now being not only in the hands of the enemy but under their snare as well, and now being turned against them, used as a weapon, a tool, a mere item. Every time someone tried to speak on the subject, the words just never came, as if hiding from the horrific truth that none could have imagined.

Sat in a quiet corner, Rio, the former Vice-President who had notably come to blows with her superior in the build-up to the Witchhunt show, was full of regret for their stormy exchange. 'This is all my fault, if I'd just have kept my stupid mouth shut, she wouldn't have felt alone, and she would have told us what was going on.' Blair, on the other hand, was understanding of both sides, and comforted her best friend. 'You know as well as I do that you're just trying to find someone to blame.'

Crying and angry, she responded saying 'Can you tell me why then?' 'Yeah, because that's Maddy all over, she has to do everything herself, it's her revolution, it's her vs. the world, all about Maddy being centre stage. We're stronger together until the strongest decided they didn't want any help anymore. THAT's what happened, not you being ungrateful or anything like that, you were totally reasonable in everything you said and you know that, it's why you said it.'

'Yeah, I don't think I do know that kid.' 'Less of the kid, I'm only a few months younger. Look, all we can do right now is concentrate on getting our heads together, focus on ourselves, and then regroup and work out what we're doing to get her back.' Still struggling, Rio looked over at her friend, and asked 'How are you so calm?' 'Learning to suppress emotions is something I've always had to have. Let's just take it day by day, minute by minute for now eh?'

As this conversation was going on, there was also speculation regarding another absent member of their group, as there were murmurings. 'Hey has anyone seen Astrid these past few days?' 'You'd think she'd be at the front of the efforts.' 'What's the point of us doing everything when she's not even here making an effort?' 'I heard that she's moved back to Norway, she's just run away from it all.' 'I heard she's locked herself in her bedroom, she doesn't come out even to eat or anything, you only know she's alive because of the cries and screams.'

While they speculated, Jana silently listened, arms folded, shaking her head like mad, until eventually, like a pressure cooker, she'd had enough, and exploded on them. 'Can you even hear yourselves? She's supposed to be your friend, someone you care about, and all you can do to support her is spread ghost stories like she's some kind of special attraction? The whole point of the Renegades is that we're not freaks, we're all just people. So how about you lot start working on ways to help, instead of having your little halloween slumber party?'

At Ashworth Brook Farm

Astrid was still crying in her bedroom, staring at a picture of her and Maddy together, when there was a gentle knock on the door. 'GO AWAY, I DON'T WANT TO TALK!' she screamed through her upset, but it wasn't an aggressive reply, but an understanding one. 'Astrid, I'd like to come in. If you don't want to talk, you don't have to, but you can't isolate yourself forever.' 'You'll just hate me!' she responded, which Hannah rubbished. 'The total opposite is true. Just let me in please.'

Over three minutes passed with no response, and Hannah turned to walk back down the stairs, only for the door knob to turn, and the door itself to slowly creak open. It wasn't much, barely an inch, but it was enough to make the message loud and clear. So she crept in, and saw Astrid sat on her bed, the floral duvet cover absolutely sodden with tears, the only dry part containing the beach-set picture. Seeing the setting, Hannah just stood with her head resting on the door frame for a moment, before closing the door and sitting next to her.

'People don't understand, the moment I knew she was up against Akiza, I should have been there protecting her, I shouldn't even have let her go out there. And now she's gone and we've got no way of getting her back, I promised when she allowed me into all of this that I would protect her all the way, I'd be her warrior, the head of her army. And then the last time we spoke, I turned my back on her, I left her alone, and there's nothing I can do about it.' Angered, Astrid went to punch herself in the face, only for Hannah to catch her fist, shocking Astrid.

'Oh my god I am so sorry, I didn't mean to hit you' 'Astrid, I've got a two month old downstairs, I'm pretty sure it's not the first or last time I'm going to be assaulted. I'm just concerned about you. Listen here, what has happened has absolutely NOTHING to do with you at all, you weren't even allowed in the building, it is absolutely not your fault. But what I do know is one way or another, you're going to be a part of the solution. I don't know how, but you will. I promise you that we will fix the situation. In fact, Phil's already on it.'

Hannah then switched the Duelling Network on on her phone, and Phil was holding a press conference in the dining room, across a bare walnut table, with a single clear glass vase holding a bunch of lilies in it, with the champion sat in a polished dining chair with while wearing a full suit in preparation for a meeting later on that day. After shuffling his notes several times, he stared into the heart of the camera as he threw them onto the floor.

'Rhydian Morris, I need to ask a question - do you really think I've forgotten about you? Do you really think I didn't expect you to show back up at some point? I always expected this; from the moment I won the WDC Championship, you were never far from my thoughts, because I knew you'd come back, and I knew you'd come back for this title that you "never lost". Now I will admit that catching Maddy in whatever honey trap you've created is something that did catch me a little bit off guard, but I don't think you know the kind of power that you're truly messing with. Maddy is stronger than you could ever know, than anybody could ever know, so if you're wise, you'll let go of her immediately. The consequences for not doing so will be dire not simply for you, but potentially, for everybody.'

'As for what you're really after, my title, or should I say, the title that you've stolen. If you wanted a title shot against me, you could very easily have earned one just by asking me, but no, you had to go the extra mile and kidnap my daughter. So congratulations, you got my attention, and you just made me angry. And making me angry is not something which I would heartily recommend. You see, when you annoy me, I'm not a very nice man.' He started issuing warnings, as finally, his voice started to raise. I'm the meanest, most vicious and dangerous son of a gun that you have ever met! You have never experienced anything until you have experienced doing the dance with yours truly, and while you might have done so once, that wasn't even a fraction of what either of us are capable of.'

Lowering his voice again, he issued a challenge. 'So you can have your title shot, but let me remind you that when you're dealing with the Dynasty, nothing comes for free. So you can have your shot, but you've got to bring MY title which you stole, you've got to come with Maddy, and walk into the mouth of hell. Walk into the Manchester Arena, walk into my home town, we'll have a red carpet rolled out for you, I guarantee your safety… to begin with, and you can walk into enemy territory and face me down man to man at LFD Madchester Mayhem. If you want to earn that title, you have to face the King of Manchester in his kingdom, and if I let you, you might even survive. At Madchester Mayhem, it's gonna be showtime, and for you, it's going to be the LAST TIME.' He held up the symbol of excellence as the feed didn't cut off, rather slowly fading to black.

Having watched this, Astrid looked concerned. 'He's going to get destroyed isn't he?' 'Phil knows what he's doing, and this isn't just anywhere that Rhydian's walking into, this is Manchester. To duelling fans over there, me and Phil are like fucking gods amongst men, the fans would do anything to be near us. If Rhydian thinks he's just going to get off the train and walk into there like nobody's business, especially after what he's done to Maddy, he's going to get a really rude awakening.' 'So he's luring him into a trap?' 'Whether Rhydian gets trapped is his own choice. Either way, he's going to have a very bad night.'

At the base

Dakota was still ruminating about the loss of Maddy while washing up alongside Denny. 'I just don't get how it's all come to this, people aren't even wanting to eat because of the situation, I just wish that Maddy had left something behind for us, or given us some kind of hint as to what was going on in her mind. What do you think Den?' Quietly and without making eye contact, he responded with 'If she knew she'll have left something. Someone just needs to find it.'

While they were talking, Blair walked in and started tidying the kitchen up. 'Blair, just sit down, you've not stopped moving all morning, and you haven't even eaten.' 'I'm fine, I'm better when I don't stop to think anyway.' 'And eating?' 'Not hungry.' 'It's like, 2pm.' 'When I was in the Marines I used to be able to go 24 hours without eating. Couldn't do it now mind you.' Denny then suddenly said 'Do you think Maddy left something as a clue?'

Caught totally off guard, Blair responded by asking 'What do you mean?' Dakota then spoke up for him. 'Oh we were just talking about why Maddy didn't tell us anything, you know seeing as we're all supposed to be so close and everything, but' Unimpressed, Blair responded with 'Denny, you can talk to me.' 'We talked about the situation, and I just said if she knew what was going on, she'd have left something behind with someone she trusted.' This was when Blair had a brainwave. 'Dakota, spread the word, meeting five minutes.' 'Uhh ok?'

She then ran out of the kitchen, almost knocking Rio over in the process. 'B, you look like you've seen a ghost or something.' 'No time to talk Rio, meeting in five minutes.' Immediately understanding, Rio dashed over to the office, and unlocked the door before surging in, and immediately getting on the tannoy. 'This is an announcement, full club meeting in four minutes. That's four minutes until a club meeting.'

As everyone gathered in the hall, Blair wheeled a television out, and held up a DVD in a clear wallet. 'On the day she went missing, Maddy gave me this DVD. She told me to play it should anything happen to her, or to burn it otherwise.' She then looked over at Denny, who was quietly standing near the back to avoid the crowd. 'You can thank Denny for reminding me about this. So if everyone could just be quiet while I put this on please.' After the DVD draw clicked shut, the picture came on with Maddy leaning in front of the camera, before she sat down, wiping visible tears from her red raw eyes.

'Right, for anyone who doesn't know who I am, my name is Maddy Robinson-Cummings, and I am… was… the queen of my empire. The alpha of the Renegades. And I fought with everything I had. But I let power overtake me, and I failed to heed the warnings of the old world. That book of legends we worshipped, wasn't sent to me by accident, my forefathers and mothers sent it to warn me about a future that they foresaw. I was THE ALPHA, and this is how I ruined everything.'

'I promised when I became president that I would take any enemy of the Renegades on with all my passion and all of my energies. But I let that get in the way of common sense and the need to protect the revolution. I went after a target whose ambitions were bigger than I ever could have imagined. Because all this time, I was wrong about Akiza Izinski. She never wanted to destroy the Renegades, that was never her intention. She wanted me to destroy the Renegades.'

'Earlier this week as I record this, three very brave members of the Renegades; Jodi Allen, Freja McKinna, and Belle Draper, travelled to where we knew Akiza to be based to spy on her, and managed to record some of her conversations. And from those conversations, I found out that she's working with someone incredibly dangerous - Rhydian Morris. For anyone who isn't aware, Rhydian is my ex-boyfriend, and we didn't break up in the nicest way, and he wants me back. And I don't know how, but Akiza's trying to make me do it.'

'She might have already succeeded, so down to the point: I might have been turned against you by now, I probably don't recognise you, or recognise anybody. If this is the case, I have one request: DO NOT try and rescue me. It is far too dangerous, and the last thing we need… you need, is anybody getting hurt or worse because you're trying to get me back. The revolution is more important than any one of us, what the revolution stands for is the most important thing of all.' Holding back more tears, she pleaded 'I repeat, please, DO NOT come after me.'

'Now there remains the question of what happens in terms of my duties to the club. As listed in the rulebook, as I am unable to conduct the duties, the Vice President will take over as President, but is encouraged to seek the approval of everybody else. In the meantime, please continue like normal. I am aware that at the time you are watching this, Astrid Hofferson is probably not with you, and to that, I simply say this: give her time. Those who are the most hurt come back the strongest. I love you all, and I'm so sorry for what happened next. It's all my fault, I ruined everything, all that happens now, it's all down to me. I'm Maddy Smith, and I destroyed the Renegades.'

As the recording ended, there was a mixture of shock, concern, and from Belle, tears, being comforted by Freja, while Lydia conspicuously kept her distance, as Lydia asked 'So who's actually in charge? If it's not VP then it goes by service length doesn't it?' 'I don't know who told you that, but it's not in the rulebook, trust me I've probably read it more than anybody. As for who the VP is, I'll search Maddy's office until I find the answer, and if I can't find one, we will hold an election. Thank you for your time everyone.'

As Blair and Jodi entered the office, Lydia pulled Kris to one side. 'Look, I'm not saying that she's working with Akiza or anyone, but like, am I the only one who finds it weird that Belle left Witchhunt early and then wasn't in the next event?' 'I dunno, but there's nothing to be suspicious of. She, Freja and Phil all left early.' 'Yeah, but they were both in Chicago.' 'Yeah, because they didn't get turned away at the border due to dodgy paperwork. I know what you're trying to say Lydia, but this is me saying just leave it out, you're only making yourself look worse.'

At Ashworth Brook Farm

As Astrid continued to mourn in her room, she picked up the flask of blackcurrant juice that was sat on her bedside table, and behind it, she found a purple post-it-note, and glancing at it, she saw Maddy's signature at the bottom, and desperately grasped it, ripping the corner as she did, before reading it out loud to herself.

'To Astrid. By the time you read this there has probably been a video played at the base explaining things, and when you're ready, somebody will fill you in on the details. I am incredibly sorry for what's happened, and maybe one day, we will talk again, but in the meantime, I have one request: Look after Diesel. I know it's not something you're comfortable doing, but I promise, you can do it. I believe in you Astrid. Signed, Maddy.'

As she was reading it, Hannah walked in, carrying a tray containing an omelette and a glass of orange juice. 'I know you're not exactly the biggest eater at the best of times, but I figured you should have something.' She then briefly sat down on the bed next to the Norwegian. 'I know I need to do it, but I… just can't.' 'Maddy told me that you got bitten by a snake when you were young' 'I was 4, I've been terrified of them since. All Reptiles really.'

'But you still like me?' That made her giggle as she wiped away tears from her face. 'She says so in the note, she understands, you're not comfortable with it. So how about I do it until you're ready?' 'You'd do that?' 'I wouldn't exactly say I'm comfortable either, but if I can't do it, I can't expect you to.' 'I just… don't know how I'm going to get through this without her, she's been there for me from the start.' Hannah ran her fingers through Astrid's hair as she stated 'Use the fire. Focus on what you need to do, and use it to motivate you. Timing is everything.' She just nodded, understanding.

At the base

Sticking to her guns that something was amiss, Lydia continued to spread rumours about Belle's potential involvement in Maddy's conversion, and as the rumour reached Dakota, she immediately confronted Belle directly. 'So where were you when everyone else was in Chicago?' 'You already know that, I got turned away at the border and Jack flew me back home.' 'So let me get this one straight, you were able to get into Canada with your criminal record, but suddenly Chi-town is a step too far?'

'Look, I don't know what you're suggesting' 'That you're the reason why Maddy's gone.' She then turned to everyone else, and expressed Lydia's theory as her own. 'Think about it guys, she conveniently left early in Toronto, wasn't there when everyone got locked in, then she just so happens to be turned away at the border for the next event where Maddy reappears, and she's got previous for lying.'

As this set the club off in intense discussions, Freja walked back into the hall, Phil stood behind her in a suit and tie. 'Right, I hope this is quick because I've got an hour to get to the Scottish border.' Immediately, Lydia walked up to him confidently. 'We're just discussing how Belle's responsible for Maddy being taken.' His response was 'That's a load of twaddle, and you know it. She got turned away in Chicago because of spelling errors in the paperwork, and because the border force were feeling particularly picky.'

Sensing the situation immediately boiling over, Freja rushed between them, separating them. 'This doesn't need to go any further, we remember what happened last time don't we?' Still not content, Lydia shouted her down. 'Just admit that Belle's responsible and that you can't pick friends.' 'No, because the dodgy papers weren't written by him, they were written by me!' This just angered Lydia more, and she shoved him right above Freja's head. 'Why's she doing your job for you?' 'She asked for the experience' he responded, before a heated Lydia made a revelation. 'What gave you the idea that this should be done by her?' 'Why, you think she's stupid?' 'No, it's because she's dyslexic!'

Flashback: Four weeks earlier

Phil was hard at work filling in the paperwork for Toronto and Chicago when Freja walked into the room, hair down and wearing a light blue gym top. 'What you doing?' 'Filling in all the visa forms for Toronto and Chicago's events.' 'Anything I can help with?' 'Not really, just got to fill in extra paperwork because of Belle's criminal record.' 'Oh yeah, she won't be allowed into Canada will she?' 'Well… I've spent half the morning on the phone to Canadian immigration, I've explained the situation, and because of the nature of the trip, they've agreed to let her in.'

Wanting to learn more, Freja sat down next to him. 'So I talked to them, I explained that she's an ex-convict, but she served her time in Youth Offenders, she complied with parole, she's off that now, and she's since posed no danger to anybody else, so they've agreed that she can have a visa for 24 hours, as in 24 hours after she arrives in Toronto she HAS to be boarding a plane back. If she complies with that, she'll probably be more welcomed in future years. Emphasis on probably, because I don't trust the Canadian authorities with much at the moment after their lazy-arse help they've given us.'

'It's so stupid that she's still being punished' 'Preach to the converted kid, I did make that argument but they weren't especially interested. So all I can do is get on the phone when I think we're going to have an issue, plead our case and hope that it helps.' 'Do you need me to ask her to do it?' 'It's better coming from her agent, because I can provide impartial information apparently. Don't know how that works but apparently it does' he muttered to himself.

'So how do you fill these things in anyway? I want to learn so I can help.' Understanding her curiosity, he showed her a form and passed a pen over. 'Best way to learn is try filling one in yourself. So this is Belle's form for Chicago, I would give you a dummy form, but because I didn't know you wanted to learn these things, I didn't print extra off.' 'I'm sure it'll be fine' Freja encouraged him, while still hiding her dyslexia from him.

'First you want to put her full name' 'Including middle name?' 'Not unless it's on all her ID which it wouldn't normally be. I mean it makes no real difference if you do, but you can just put Tinkerbelle Draper.' 'At what point is she getting new ID so check-in staff stop laughing at the airport?' 'You'll have to ask her on that one, albeit I agree with your sentiment. So once you've put her name, it's date of birth, then for address we use the safe house's address because if we used here then I wouldn't be allowed to be impartial about her on the phone, and if we use the base's address then she won't be allowed in because ex-convict in a hostel doesn't exactly look good.'

As she wrote this down, struggling with the spelling, she distracted herself by continuing to talk. 'So you know when you say that Maddy is more powerful than anyone could ever know?' 'Yep.' 'What exactly do you mean by that? Surely she knows at least.' This would take some explaining, so Phil got Freja writing the purpose of the visit on the form while he tried to explain it in comprehensible terms.

'So Maddy's primal powers that we talk about, these are powers that we think Wolfbloods wielded in ancient times, capabilities they had long long ago, that have gradually been locked away and diluted over time. The problem with that is we don't exactly know what they are, or what they're capable of. We know she's extremely powerful, and we know that what she did to Shannon that time was almost certainly a fraction of her power, maybe 30-40%, but honestly, we can't tell what unlocking more than that would do.'

'And this mental block you put on her?' Nonchalantly, he responded with 'Oh that? That was a lie, me and Hannah agreed on it so Maddy doesn't have to worry about how much she's expending, and focus on controlling what she normally wields. That way, if she ever unlocks more, she's more confident in harnessing it in a controlled way.' 'I thought you didn't like liars' she probed as a response, putting him in an awkward situation.

'I don't normally, but there's such a thing as the greater good, and it's for her greater good at least. You got that section done yet?' 'You're trying to shift the focus' she joked, making him laugh. 'I don't know what more to say on that.' 'Could she hurt herself with her power?' 'We don't know is the honest truth. 'And I'd rather not find out. She's been grumpy enough lately without being in more pain.'

'Her ribs still?' 'Ribs and she's starting with an issue in her left knee, I think she's got the start of some inflammation there, bursitis maybe. So that's causing her issues, the fact that she went to the doctor's the other week and they still won't clear her to run again due to her ribs, she's going to end up needing surgery on them because they just aren't repairing like they should, and even when she does try and run, she's still not fully recovered from her transplant so she's way short on fitness.'

'Which is an issue if you basically live for the outdoors.' 'Exactly. Now you just need to put my name, tick "other", and write that I'm Belle's agent.' After she filled these details in, she slid it back to Phil, who quickly glanced through the form, and then put his signature at the bottom. 'And that's how you do it.' 'Did I do it right?' 'Looks like it, a couple of minor spelling mistakes but that's hardly unheard of. I'll get these scanned and sent off immediately. Thanks for the help.' 'You're welcome, you might actually get to spend some time with Sky now.' 'Chance would be a fine thing' he quipped as he left to scan the paperwork.

Meanwhile, In the office

As they searched high and low for something, anything left by Maddy as regards the presidency, they were trying to understand how she could have been corrupted. 'I think we just all took for granted that Maddy couldn't be turned.' 'I mean she's that strong, can only presume Rhydian and Akiza broke her will' Jodi commented with her head in a cupboard. 'I can't even imagine how scared she must have been being alone and all that, or what kind of shit's in her head right now. But you know, we've still gotta rescue her.'

'Despite what she said?' Blair turned around, looking at her pointedly. 'What, you think we're just leaving her in there? She's done so much for all of us, this is the least we can do for her. Since Maddy is so strong, Rhydian must have had some kind of work-around plan, and if we can find out what that plan was, then we can knock it out of her and free her mind.' 'Well we could always watch the event duel back to see if there was any warning.' This sparked some inspiration in Blair. 'I know exactly who to ask for that, we have the best observer in the world.'

With this inspiration, she took one of Maddy's post-it-notes, and scrawled a hastily written note onto it, before popping her head out of the office door, locating Denny. 'Denny, a word.' As he walked, she passed the note over to him. 'Could you pass this on to Rio please?' As he looked down, the note read "Need duel watching back, get A to help, P.S. don't forget choc ice cream". 'I'll find her.' 'Thanks Denny, you're incredible.' 'Thank you' he said quietly before walking away.

In Toronto

Rhydian was lounging casually on a sofa, responding to Phil's challenge. Behind him, Maddy stood silently, head titled and dead eyes with her ponytail slicker than silk, not moving nor blinking. 'You're an even bigger idiot than I thought you were. Not just accepting a challenge but actually having the gall to challenge me? What gives you the right to start issuing out the orders, I'm holding all the cards here.'

He reached out of shot for a moment, and returned with the WDC title belt, which looked slightly grubbier than normal. 'You see, I've had my eyes out for months, even when I was locked away in a dark cell, I still had updates constantly, and I knew what was happening. You could even say that I engineered a situation or two. Because all this time, you thought you've been in control, but behind the scenes where you couldn't see, I was the puppet master, I played all the pieces and put them on the board just where I needed them.'

'You might be thinking that the title is all I was after, but far from it.' The camera then panned up to Maddy, who didn't react, as if her mind was someplace else. 'This is the real prize I was after. See, I knew when she stood up in that court opposite me that she wanted to be with me, but she couldn't because of the negative influence she was under. So I sent Akiza out with one specific job, draw Maddy in, and then bring her home and let her see the truth. And I will do whatever I have to in order to make her see, even if it hurts so, so much.'

'Because they destroyed her, they destroyed the real Maddy, and I can never get her back, so I knew exactly what I had to do - I had to make her pure, I had to bring her back, and… perfect her. So what you see now, this is the cocoon, while she's about to emerge. And believe me when I say, she's never going back to you, she's never going to want to. She is now my perfect creation, and I'm never giving her back. YOU HEAR ME? SHE IS NEVER GOING BACK TO YOU!'

'So you want me to come into the "mouth of hell"? Fine, I accept, I'll bring this title and I'll bring MY girlfriend to that hellhole that you call a home, I'll destroy you, take away everything that you hold dear, then I'm going to come around to your pretty idyllic little farm, and I'm going to burn it to the ground, because once upon a time, you took everything that ever mattered from me, and now, I'm going to return the favour!'

Akiza then swung the camera around to herself, with Shannon in the background, still wearing Maddy's hoodie. 'It's ironic that the event was called Witchhunt, because at the end of the day, it was the hunter who was always being hunted. The little wolf walked into my lair, and got surprised when they were caught up in my web. We won't stop until the Renegades are destroyed once and for all, and all of you bow down to your new King and Queen. Junction 7 up' She then laughed to herself, as she snarled 'And the Renegades down!'

As they shut the camera down, Rhydian beckoned Maddy, who silently sat down on his knee, her normal attire exchanged for a shirt, black on the bottom and white on top, sleeves stretching all the way down her arms; with a black pleated skirt sitting above a pair of thick black tights below, white and black hair ties threaded through each other like intertwining needles, holding her hair solidly in a tail which was as tight to the back of her head as imaginable and as unmoving as the trees which she once worshipped.

As she stared straight ahead, Rhydian started fondling all over her private area, taking advantage to feel all over his brainwashed babe, and enjoying what he felt. 'You don't need to be in pain now, you don't need to suffer, you don't need to feel anything. You can just be all mine, pure and beautiful. The short-term pain you'll have to go through will be nothing for your long term benefit, you never need to worry again, you just leave everything to me from now on. Because our plans involve so much more than just that stupid company. Once we have control of the entire Renegades, we will take whoever we want, and then move away, we never need to be seen again.' 'Yes Master Rhydian' came the empty response.

Akiza then walked back into the room, behind her Tee, staring totally blankly. 'Her re-conversion is completed. She's been entirely emptied and rebuilt. All the issues with Lukas were her fault, now she's not able to resist him, he'll be much better.' Rhydian then walked up to the teenager, and twirled a strand of her ponytail around his finger, while thinking to himself. 'What to do with you now… what to do. Obviously Lukas later, we did promise him after all, but first of all, I have a little job for you.'

'What would you like me to do Master Rhydian?' He removed an envelope from the table he had previously been using for his feet, and placed it in her unblinking hand. 'Take this to Alexander Kincaid, and inform him that I'm going to see him in two hours, and that I want everything ready for Maddy for when I arrive.' 'Whatever you desire Master Rhydian.' He held out his hand, and she licked it, like she had been programmed to do, before Akiza took her away to deliver a message to Segolia.

In Washington

Ally and Jade were sat together playing cards when Rio arrived back carrying a large tub of chocolate ice cream. 'Hey Rio, how are things?' 'I'll talk to you in a couple.' She then knelt down to Ally. 'You know how Auntie Maddy's gone?' 'Yeah, she was taken by Rhydian.' 'Well how would you feel to helping get her back?' 'Yeah!' the youngster enthusiastically responded. 'Well, I might just be able to let you do that. Something happened when Maddy was facing Akiza and we don't know what. So we need you to watch it really closely, and find out what happened for us.'

She then revealed the tub of ice cream. 'Would you like some of this as a payment?' As she giddily nodded her head, Rio smiled, and took a USB stick out of her pocket, before plugging it into the living room's television, as Jade watched her while holding a mixing bowl full of herbs and spices. 'Where'd you get that?' 'The arena, Phil records every event on this so he can go through anything notable with us.' As she pressed play, Ally sat in front of the television, and watched intently.

In the President's office

Jodi and Blair were still looking for anything. 'You still not eaten Blair?' 'Nope.' 'You realise it's nearly 6pm?' 'Can't say I'd really noticed. You found anything?' 'Yeah, if you're a fan of awful writing and detailed reports on scouting. Tell you something, she took all that seriously, we could do with things like that still…' 'Jodi, you're talking like she's dead, she's just…' 'Dead to us? Or rather, we're dead to her.' 'She's just temporarily napping is the way I'm looking at it. We just need to wake her up.'

Having searched everywhere else, Jodi came to a small innocuous safe in the corner of the office. 'You know the code for this thing?' 'Not a clue, Maddy's not told anyone as far as I'm aware. Was there not anything with the code on in the drawers or anything?' 'Not as far as I'm aware.' 'Try 1810, her birthday.' 'It's 6 numbers.' '181098 then?' Jodi tried tapping in the numbers, but nothing happened. 'Nope. I'll try putting them in backwards.' As she did this, Blair continued to try and rack her brains, only to get no further ideas.

Frustrated, Jodi continued trying numbers. 'When's Hannah's birthday?' '19th Feburary, you should really know that.' 'I take it you know everyone's birthday?' 'No, but Rio's got them written down in a book somewhere.' 'Is that book here?' 'No, but I can tell you Astrid's birthday if you need me to - it's the 29th December.' Trying those numbers, there was still no entry. Just as Blair was starting to show her frustration, there was a surprising breakthrough, as Freja knocked on the door.

'Oh hey Fre, what's up?' 'Just seeing if I can help.' 'I don't think so, unless you know what the code to this safe is.' Freja walked up to the door of the container, and calmly tapped in six numbers, and the next thing the three heard was the latch click open, and the door unlocked. 'What was it?' '170517 - Sky's birthday. She takes being a big sister more seriously than life itself.'

She then stared at the other two with a fire never seen before. 'That's why we need to get her back - Sky needs her more than we need her.' 'Well if you want to help, we're trying to find if there's anything regarding who's in line to become President.' 'I'll have a look in the spare bedroom, I know she used to store some bits in there because it was quiet and nobody would ever touch anything in there.'

As she walked off, Jodi and Blair looked at each other. 'Well that was unexpected…' Blair murmured, but the Boltonian next to her was far less surprised. 'I told you, she's changed.' 'It's almost like Phil's made her an adult.' 'It's not Phil, I mean he's helped, but I think it's actually Belle, having to fight her corner has made Freja tougher mentally. I know she's done some really shitty stuff before, but we've all done stupid things and grown haven't we?'

'I guess you're right, I've just never seen her like this before.' 'We're all going to change as a result of this. Whether that's a good or a bad thing, I don't know, but we're all going to change regardless.' 'I just hope that by the time Maddy comes home the club's still standing.' 'Which it won't be if Lydia has her way at this rate.' 'I don't know what's up with her, I really don't.' 'She's still jealous probably, if she just tried being nice to Freja once in a while things might improve.'

While this conversation was going on, Jodi found a notebook simply parked "Private" in scrawled, spiky block capitals. And as she flicked through the book, she found something, three back pages from the end. 'Blair, can you read this for me, my reading isn't great.' 'I get it.' 'Not easy when you're blind in one eye.' As she came over, the Michiganer read it out loud. "Rio tried 2 quit today, not happnng, we had plan, head of momnt don't change that".

After taking a moment, Blair sighed to herself. 'So we have an answer?' 'Seems that way, but she isn't going to like it.' 'Who's going to break the news?' She looked around at Jodi, and stood up. 'I'll do it, she'll take it better from me than anybody else.' She then got her phone out, and texted Rio, stating "Get back 2 base ASAP, WE NEED F2F TALK NOW!", and left the office to wait, as Jodi started to tidy things back up, but kept the now less than private notebook at the top of the drawer it was in.

In the spare bedroom

Freja was still searching for anything helpful when Phil walked in, and shut the door. 'Haven't you got a meeting to be at?' 'I've told them I'm stuck in traffic, they've put it back by an hour. You ok?' 'It shouldn't have ever come out like that, it wasn't her secret to tell and she knows it, I don't know why she wants to hurt me so much.' Unusually coming down on Lydia's side, Phil tried to find a defence. 'She doesn't want to hurt you, she wants to protect you, and she thought that I was setting you up for failure. At least that's how I see it.'

'I wasn't ready to tell anybody, I wanted to prove I could do that first.' 'And you can.' 'Only by messing it up.' 'You're not the one who messed up, it was me. I should be checking every single part of each form, even if I know everything on it, I should be making sure there aren't any issues on them. I've sent forms with spelling mistakes on in the past and they've been fine, but I shouldn't be taking the chance. I just wish you'd have told me so' 'So I didn't mess it up.'

His idea was different though. 'No, so we can help you. Now we know, we can help you. We can work through your dyslexia now I know about it.' 'I should probably stay away from those forms though huh?' 'On the contrary, I think you should do them more. Practice writing and spelling, it's just like anything else, you find your own way to do it.' 'I mean that does sound really good.' 'We'll get you sorted, ok?'

Trying to calm herself down, she then looked at him, and inquired 'You got some time now to work on things?' He smiled, and withdrew a folded stack of papers from his jacket pocket. 'Have you got a pen?' As he asked, she smiled, and they left the room, walking to the meeting room. As they did, Lydia approached, and Phil politely stepped back to let the sisters attempt to talk things out.

'Look, I'm really sorry I blurted that out, I honestly didn't mean to, I just don't want you being taken advantage of.' 'Lyds, I understand, but please, stop treating me like a baby, I can look after myself. I don't need you constantly supervising me, trying to intervene on my behalf, I can fight my own battles, and in fact I need to fight my own battles. So next time, please just don't make yourself part of the situation, trust me instead.'

'I'm trying, but after so long, I'm struggling. I just don't understand how you've gone from blackmailing me into helping you make people striptease into this… I don't even know what you are now, it's kind of like you've grown up, but at the same time you're still making all these ridiculous and stupid decisions that you know are wrong, and I just don't get it, I mean why are you still hanging around' Before she could even finish the sentence, Lydia was silenced by her sister.

'I don't want to hear it, because I know Belle, and I know that she didn't have anything to do with what happened to Maddy as much as I know that she didn't murder that girl, accidents happen and I fully believe it was just that - an accident. Belle might not be my sister, but she's my friend, and I trust her, so you're going to have to get over the fact that she's a part of my life now, and if you want to be part of my life, then she's part of yours, that's just how it goes. So if you are sorry, I accept your apology, but if you're not, then don't speak to me.'

In Washington

Almost an hour and a half after leaving Ally, Rio returned to find her sat watching cartoons with chocolate ice cream smeared all over her face. 'Look at the mess you've made of yourself lil' miss Ally.' She just looked at the adult, and grinned a cheesy grin. 'So, did you find anything interesting?' She nodded, as Jade walked into the room. 'She had a real find, I think we should sit down and talk about it. She'll be ok with cartoons for a bit, won't you Al?' She looked around, and leant on the back of the sofa, sticking two thumbs up and grinning.

As they sat down together, Jade presented the situation. 'Right, so we didn't find anything notable in the duel apart from one slight thing: it looked like Maddy was entranced at the end of the duel.' 'It would make sense as to why she suddenly went to Akiza.' 'But, we did find something really important just before the duel. Akiza was talking, and… you know what, it's better you just see it for yourself.'

As Jade presented the video on her phone, Rio watched quietly, and initially she didn't appear to see much. 'I mean it's just Akiza being super creepy.' 'That's what I thought, but there's something that Ally saw which I didn't, the camera only held on it for a couple of seconds.' After rewinding a second at a time, eventually Rio shouted out. 'I just saw it! That picture with Maddy and the coin, right?' 'Bingo.' 'So that's how she entranced Maddy at the end of the duel and lured her in.' After taking a screenshot of the scene, Rio rushed off to try and find Blair, putting her denim jacket back on as she walked.

Segolia Scientific Research and Development, Toronto

Alex Kincade was quietly waiting when Rhydian arrived with Maddy on his arm. As she stood to attention, they got straight down to business. 'Right, I wanted to discuss our arrangements' 'Before we discuss anything, I want you to show me that you've brought what we agreed. You show me, then we can discuss, and then you hold up your end of the bargain.' 'I see you've done a good job with her' Kincade murmured, but Rhydian was keen on not wasting time. 'Show me, or I'll find someone else who can do the job.'

This prompted the Segolia employee to remove the requested items from his bag, placing them on a nearby table; a brown glass flask containing some kind of thick serum-like fluid, a clear glass bottle with a yellow liquid in it, and a syringe with an especially long needle, no less than 30mm in length. 'As you can see, I brought everything. For what you're doing, you shouldn't expect any less than what I promised. Now about our arrangements.'

'I got your email. And there are a few things that aren't happening.' 'Such as?' 'Taking my girl's wolf away. That isn't happening, I'm not going to let you. Now while she's converting, I'm happy to donate her to you for experiments from time to time, you can run whatever tests and such that you need to with her. But you're not harming her, and you're not taking her wolf away.' 'We had an agreement.'

'Yes, and there's another one you've had a run in with, I believe you know her as Jana?' 'As yeah, her.' 'We're going to catch her and then I'll immediately sell her to you for an extremely modest fee.' 'As I communicated to you, we need these results to be able to continue financially' 'I'll pay you the £15,000 we agreed for your work today, and then I'll sell Jana to you, for… let's say £1000. Your business gets a little cash injection, and then you can continue your experiments.' 'You're a very generous man.' 'I'm a very generous man who doesn't have a lot of patience.' 'Well everything is ready if you would have your little miss sit down.'

As Kincade wheeled over a chair, Rhydian ordered Maddy. 'Sit on the chair, and let Alexander convert you.' 'Yes Master Rhydian' she blankly replied, still unable to think for herself. As she sat down on the chair, the scientist replaced the syringe's needle with a tube, sucking up 100ml of the serum, before putting the needle back on the front, and issued a stark warning to everyone else. 'Cover your ears, this will hurt.'

As they did, he inserted the needle directly into the side of Maddy's head, and she screamed in sheer agony, screeching and crying for several minutes, a screech which only escalated in pitch and ferocity when he walked around the other side, and after stroking her head, injected her in an identical spot on that side as well. This terrifying wailing continued for nearly 10 minutes, until eventually, she just stopped, and dropped into a silent slumber.

This led to a very tense conversation with Rhydian after. 'What do you think you're playing at?' 'Pardon?' 'You told me about side effects, sure, but you never warned me about that.' 'I am injecting her brain directly, it will hurt' Kincade stated in full confidence. Aware that this was his best way of keeping Maddy however, Rhydian played the situation calmly. 'Right, I want you to explain exactly how this serum works.'

'The serum has now germinated the seed in her brain.' 'Metaphorically.' 'Literally, a seed has been planted, Akiza manifested it with her psychic powers long ago. That is now embedded into her mind, and over a period of time, that seed will do what all seeds do - grow. Over time it's going to grow into a rose, just as requested by your friend Akiza.' 'She's not my… we'll worry about her later. Slight question though, if it's growing into an actual rose, how does it grow? There's not exactly a ton of room is there?' 'Nor is there any food for it, I understand the confusion.'

'See, the way this has been developed, it implants its roots firmly into the brain. That way it doesn't need much room to grow because it grows from under the top of the brain. As for the way it grows, it feeds off her brain. Every memory, thought, emotion, feeling, they all get sucked up by it. By the end of the process, she's basically nothing but this blank piece of paper, ready for you to write your orders onto it.'

'And this is 100% guaranteed to keep her under the spell?' 'It's better than keeping her under the spell, it is the spell. As it's growing and draining, the rose acts like an antenna, it receives the signals from your voice, and then forces her to obey. She'll be tighter under your thrall than you could ever imagine. And if you will let me, I have one more tool for you. See, while we developed this, we also developed a signal system.'

As Rhydian watched, Kincade left to pick up the yellow fluid off his table. 'What's this?' 'This is what resembles blonde highlights. In reality, this is how you will tell that she is under control. As I put them on, just a couple of strands will turn blonde. But as the rose grows, so this will slowly spread across her hair. By the time it reaches the tips of this beautiful ponytail, she will be completely consumed. You can take this with you as a complimentary part of the package.'

Almost ready to leave after taking the fluid and putting it in his pocket, Rhydian had just one more request. 'Oh, you said you had a guide for me?' His co-conspirator responded by passing Rhydian a booklet. 'You'll find that this has everything which you need on it, I prepared it myself.' 'This tells me how the rose works?' 'How it works, and how long each stage of the growth takes, as well as what it represents.' As Maddy started to wake, Rhydian read out the stages.

Stage 1: Personality is drained. In this stage, likes, dislikes, and other personality aspects are deleted or suppressed. After this stage, the individual does not have any defining identity. (24-48 hours)

Stage 2: Memories are drained. In this stage, all memories of anybody other than the controller of the spell and Associates are suppressed. It will be like they never met anybody else, nor did anything. At this point they can have their memories remodelled slowly. (48 hours-2 weeks)

Stage 3: Self is drained. In this stage, all sense of self and Independence is slowly drained away. They will be totally dependent on their controller to inform them of their identity, and will have no ability to make decisions for themselves. (2-4 weeks)

Stage 4: Mind: A full mind drain. By this point all that the individual has ever known and learned has been drained away. This leaves them an empty shell, to be fully reprogrammed. By the end of Week 6, the individual's mind will be completely empty.

As he finished reading this out, he turned to Maddy. 'You'll do whatever I say Maddy, won't you?' 'Yes Master Rhydian, I am all yours.' He laughed, and then pulled her hair ties out, letting her long, straightened hair down, stretching down her bruised and battered back to the top of her buttocks, before placing them on her wrist. 'When we get home, you're having these highlights put in, and then we're going to do the deed, if you know what I'm saying.' As he led her away, he shouted back at Kincade. 'If anyone tries to get in our way, give them a lethal injection!'

As he arrived home around an hour later, he found Akiza standing near the door. 'So what did he say?' 'This seed you planted' 'I had to make sure of that security' 'Yeah I'm not complaining, it's actually really handy, because now it's going to bloom in her mind. He said he's germinated it with this fluid, so it's going to start draining her mind bit by bit. We've got a special blonde highlight for her that helps to track it as well. I was going to ask you to put it in.' 'Even better, Tee can. She's totally brainwashed so nothing's going to distract her from the task.' Rhydian smiled, and nodded. 'You want her as well tonight?' 'Not just yet. Oh, you'll need to put that ponytail in again.' 'Of course.'

As Akiza went to tie Maddy's hair back up, Rhydian walked upstairs to find Tee stood to attention. And seeing her there, he had an idea. 'Akiza, you know those guys you were talking about?' 'What - the guys who wanted to rent Maddy?' 'Yeah. Shoot them Tee's details over, she can go out with them tonight.' Akiza laughed, and stated 'Whatever you desire.' Rhydian then carefully led the teen down the stairs, and into the living room, just in time to see Maddy's ponytail be completed again. 'That's what I like to see, and slowly but surely, she's going to be completely rebuilt just how I like. And you'll then get what you want Akiza - your group will be expanded also.'

Akiza then passed Tee the highlight bottle. 'Tee, I want you to place a drop of this fluid on Maddy's hair.' She then went up to the slave, and pulled out a couple of thick sprigs of hair, nodding to Tee. 'Just here.' 'Yes mistress.' She walked up, and placed a single drop on one sprig. Immediately, they all coloured in, and Maddy started growling. 'That's my girl, that's my slave!' Rhydian cried out, before speaking to her. 'Hail me.' 'Master Rhydian, I am completely yours, please make me obey you so I can serve.' 'Tonight, you're going to have sex with me.' 'Whatever you desire' she stated, clearly far from in control of her own thoughts or actions.

In the base

Rio came dashing into the base, only to run into Blair, who was in turn, trying to find her. Before Blair could say anything though, Rio was the first one who got their words out. 'Ally's found how Akiza beat Maddy, Maddy was hypnotised during the duel.' 'What!?' the disbelieving reply came. 'How did she do that without anyone seeing?' 'Because she'd done the setup before. And judging by the decor of the meeting room, that was a while ago.'

As Blair saw the image, she just shook her head. 'How did nobody see this?' 'I don't know, but this must be how she got into Maddy's head. Why she didn't do anything sooner I'm not sure, but we at least know.' 'It's the 1st step towards cracking this code. I'll take this information to Jodi, but stay there, because I've got something that I need to show you.' 'Well I was going to talk to Phil about what we'd found' She then saw the look on her friend's face. 'Rio, I mean it - I need to talk to you.'

Sensing the tension, Rio signalled towards the meeting room, to which Blair nodded. As she went there, Blair delivered the screenshots and information to Jodi. 'Guess what Ally's found.' Showing Jodi, she too, was shocked. 'So she made Maddy hypnotise herself? That's actually super clever. Don't know how Maddy fell for it, but I'm sure there was some kind of way.' 'So now we know how this started, we'll have to see if we can snap it.' 'Hopefully. You spoken to Rio yet?' 'Just going to now.'

Blair then ran to the meeting room, and locked the door. 'So what did you need to show me?' 'I checked again in the rulebook, it's still the VP that takes over. So I really need to show you this note.' She got the picture up on her phone, and then slid it over towards Rio, who read it, and then just stopped, staring at the note, and staring at the ground, clearly incredibly uncomfortable with a truth that was now becoming clear as day.

After almost 15 minutes had passed, Rio took a huge breath, and Blair plucked up the courage to ask. 'What do you think Rio?' In a quiet and nervous voice, the Idahoan, who had been through so much already, responded with a shocking realisation. 'I'm Rio Kastle, and I'm the President of the Renegades…'

Next time: Rhydian walks into enemy territory, but can he take the title off Phil in a heated clash? Meanwhile will Rio be able to bring herself to oppose her Alpha on the battlefield? And as the situation gets more dangerous, all hell breaks loose! R: Ultra Evolution Chapter 4: Wilting Leaves