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.

14. The Honeycombed Mind

R: Ultra Evolution

Book 14: The Honeycombed Mind

In the office

Lydia was sat, being given an almighty grilling from Rio and Jade. 'So what the hell gives you the idea that you should be betraying the club like that?' 'Why's Jade even here?' Lydia responded, clearly avoiding the question. 'Because it's my rules and I said she could be. Now if you don't answer my question in the next minute, I'm going to let Jana in here, and then she can get the answers for me.'

With this threat ringing in her ears, the elder twin gave her response. 'Because Belle is the worst kind of bad news, she's a killer from a dodgy family out the back arse of Yorkshire, and she's causing so much pain to Freja, if she goes, everything will be ok again.' 'Well that isn't your decision to make is it? What gives you the idea that you're suddenly in charge of who stays and who goes?'

Fighting her corner, she turned it back on Rio. 'Because you're a weak president who isn't strong enough to replace Maddy' 'Because I'm not replacing her! What do you think the word "Interim" means? I didn't want this fucking job, but I'm the one lumped with it, so I'm the one telling you that I'm in charge, and it isn't up to you or anybody else to decide who is or isn't in the Renegades!'

There was then a knock on the door, and as Rio invited them in, it was revealed as Jana, carrying a familiar phone with a sparkly purple case. 'Found this in Lydia's bedroom.' 'Thanks Jana.' This led to another confrontation. 'Would you care to explain what Blair's phone is doing in your bedroom?' Lydia was keeping schtum, so Rio looked through it. 'Before you say anything, me and Blair have permission to use each other's phones.'

Within seconds, she found the evidence she was after. 'Three phone calls to Belle, and messages addressed only to "R".' At this point, Lydia began to get concerned. 'You're not… kicking me out are you? Because I'm only trying to protect us, protect Freja. She doesn't know what she's getting involved in with, she won't allow herself to see what's happening.' This pleading gave Rio the chance to consider her fate.

'You're lucky, you're not being suspended.' 'Thank you so much, it means so much to be able to' 'Shut up, I'm not finished' she sternly told the in-trouble redhead. 'I said you're not being suspended, not you're off the hook. Firstly you're on your final warning, it's only because Freja took full responsibility for keeping quiet about the tarot reading that you're not being suspended. And quite honestly, I don't think you can be trusted with being suspended, so I've got the next best thing. Hand over your ID card.'

As Lydia did this, incredibly confused, Rio placed it in the previously-raided draw, and locked it. 'You're under house arrest. You're not allowed to leave the base at any point unless it's for medical reasons, you're going to be watched over by somebody at all times, and you're going to have your phone confiscated. Jana, if you could please take any phone from her bedroom, Jade, if you could please give her a full search.'

Jade responded by rolling her eyes. 'Yeah, get the lesbian to do the full body search, good one.' 'Jade, I asked for you to do something, not for attitude. It's not because you're a lesbian, it's because you won't die if you get punched in the face. So if you'd do that, I'd be appreciative, and if you don't, you'll be joining your girlfriend on a first warning.' This surprised Lydia. 'What did Blair get warned for?' 'Saying we should bring Belle back in, it's not up to anyone other than me. I'll leave the office while you're searched.'

As Rio departed the office, Jana handed her Lydia's phone. 'It's unlocked.' 'Thanks.' She immediately got to work, blocking the numbers for every member of Junction 7, as well as for Belle, before dropping the phone in her pocket. 'I'll lock this in the drawer later. Thanks for your help.' 'No problem, I'll be around if you need any help administering the cure later.' 'We need to work it out first.'

In the condo, Toronto

Maddy was sat silently, the indicating highlights throughout her entire hair apart from sparse strands. Her eyes were faded and slightly closed, as her spell had reached the 4th and final stage. By now the last of her mind was eroding, and she had lost all sense of identity, as the vicious brainwashing strangled the life out of her. She didn't remember anything about anything, aside from Rhydian being her master. She existed almost purely for him.

Meanwhile, Rhydian was still incredibly stressed, and was calling Kincade, only for no answer to come. 'I swear I'm going to smack his arse all the way back here when he gets back to me, because our deal is off, I don't need him, I don't need anyone! Tell them Maddy!' Slowly and entranced, she replied 'Master Rhydian doesn't need anybody.' 'And what are you?' 'Your faithful slave' she responded, almost half asleep sounding, as she barely had enough of her mind left to respond, as she continued to fade, minute by minute, no longer strong enough to stop the ravenous rose.

On the street, near the base

Blair was walking up towards the base, when Kris ran up to her. 'Hey, you wanted to talk about the info you got?' 'Yeah, Kincade gave us plenty, although you might wanna kind of keep an eye on Astrid, she was very keen on setting him on fire.' As Kris grimaced at the grim thought, Blair detailed what they had learned. 'So firstly, the serum was made up of 2.5 ounces of Dragon Bud, .5 of a pound of Meadowrock, an ounce of Ebony, and then thinned with water.'

'I'll take this to Jana, see if she recognises any of the stuff in there. In the meantime, you get back to the base, we need to work out how we're curing Donna, because the longer we wait to try, the more damage is done. By the way, he also said something about needing to break the Faustian as well.' 'We should try and get her home, and then work on the Faustian after.' 'We don't have much time to do that though.'

As they walked into the base together, Blair immediately split to run up to the war room, where Rio and Astrid were deep in conversation. 'So we just need to wait for Blair to arrive, and then' At that exact moment, Rio saw her run into the room. 'B, please will you just set your alarm 20 minutes early next time?' 'I was just updating Kris with what we found the other day from Kincade.'

'Yeah, Astrid's just been telling me. We need to work out what to do with Kincade, because sending him back to Rhydian isn't an option.' 'Why not?' Blair shrugged, getting her evil looks in response. 'Because either he kills him and we have blood on our hands, or they regroup and start working together again, and we know how badly that's gone this time. Ideally we need an option that keeps him alive and well, but stops him using what he has.'

That was when Astrid made a pitch. 'I don't know how possible this is, but could we wipe all his memory and then send him out into the world?' Rio nodded, and responded 'We could do that, obviously we'd need to leave him something to make sure he survived to find somewhere, but if we clean out his identity, then we stop him being a threat. We have to wait until Maddy's home though, just in case Rhydian gets ahold of him.'

As they agreed this, Blair left the room again, but Astrid remained, looking increasingly distressed, which Rio noticed. 'Missing her? I mean of course you are, that's not what I meant, it's just… is there anything else?' 'I missed my chances, when we were at the convention, I could have just slipped in there, the legends told about knowing when the time was right, and I know it, that was the time. It's so obvious looking back.'

'I don't think it was an opportunity, you saw how quick Akiza and Lukas got in there, you would just have been destroyed, and that would have been your chance gone.' 'She was literally in our backyard, and we still couldn't do anything. I… just don't think I can do this anymore. I keep fighting for her but she never gets any closer, my neck's a trainwreck, I just can't do it, I'm sorry, I let everyone down again.' She walked out as Rio shook her head. 'We need you Astrid. Remember who you are.'

In the basement, Donna was tied tightly to a medical bed, and struggling. 'Let me go! They need to be cured!' 'No they don't' Sakura responded, while Kris and Brooke were trying to create the anti-serum, while getting information from Tee, who was still attempting to help, and Caprice, who wasn't, as she was busy on the phone. 'I already told you Sara, she's all good, she's insisting on helping them out though. Look, I agree with you, but it's what she wants so it's what she's going to get. We've already got an agreement with them to totally split afterwards.'

As she said this, Rio walked into the basement, clearly still stressed from her meeting with Astrid earlier. 'Hey Rio, we had an agreement to let Tee go after she's helped you didn't we?' 'Make it sound like we're keeping her hostage why don't you? This was her idea helping us, and I don't expect her to stay, she's chosen to.' Caprice then returned to her phone call. 'Sorry, she's a bit of a grump, I think her brain's hurting again.' This comment caused Rio to storm out again without asking for the update she arrived for.

Meanwhile Tee was directing traffic for the anti-serum. 'The rose should be exactly the same, and I know what Kincade said about the Faustian, but that won't stop the cure from working, it will just make totally freeing her more complicated.' 'But it should be the same rose?' 'Yeah, there's only one serum that I know of, I can't imagine there's anything else that would have the same effect, he did say that he'd been working on it for weeks.'

As Brooke groaned at the thought, Sakura tried to boost the mood. 'To be fair, we've got an advantage over him - he was starting from scratch. We know a bunch of things he was using and know the original recipe, so we're in a good position to reverse engineer it. How's it coming along?' 'Just tryin' to thin it down' Kris responded while funnelling in the contents of a water bottle. 'Can see why they call that thing Mudroot, I've seen brighter swamps than this.'

They continued to create the new concoction, as Tee talked to Sakura. 'So you were saying earlier about the roses being connected?' 'Oh totally, they're like satellites, I heard Akiza calling it the "hive mind", Donna and Maddy are both a part of it, I would have been but' 'We got the rose out before it could start growing significantly.' 'It basically forces them to think the exact same way, move in the exact same way, it's as if they're totally connected and synched up.'

This gave Sakura a concern. 'So does that mean Maddy wants to be cured? I mean as in defanged?' 'Honestly she's lost so much of her identity that she won't even identify as a Wolfblood, she has no kind of opinion on herself or anything like that. She wouldn't even know if she was being. That's why we need to get to her as soon as we can, because getting Kincade here only buys us so long.'

After several frustrating minutes of thinning, the cure was ready. 'That looks like the perfect consistency' Sakura mused, before taking a syringe full of it, before running her finger across the side of Donna's head, confusing everyone. 'What are you doing now?' the heckler Caprice questioned sassily while clearly doing her level best to antagonise, but Sakura took it all in her stride. 'I'm trying to find the exact place where she was injected so I can focus the cure in the best location.'

And before long, she felt something. 'There, that's where. Injecting left.' She emptied the entire contents of the syringe into the exact point she had identified, before reloading her instrument and locating the area on her right, and doing the same there. She then stepped back, and waited for Donna to stop flailing. 'How long do we wait?' 'I'd give it about five minutes, let the substance work its way through.'

After five minutes though, there was very little change. So Sakura carefully walked over to the card alchemist, and gently touched her. 'You ok Donna?' Immediately, she screamed 'They all need to be cured! They're a danger to humanity, they need to be defanged.' With the cure having clearly not worked, she stepped away, and returned to the drawing board. 'Right, what can we try next…'

In Toronto

With Rhydian distracted with Maddy and Akiza and Lukas away, Belle was quietly on the phone to Jodi. 'Lydia's been trying to turn you in again, she's been phoning Rhydian and sending him messages.' 'I know, he didn't believe her though, he's convinced I'm totally his.' 'Rio's talking about pulling you out' 'You can't do that, not yet. I'm making him more and more paranoid by the day, he's already said he's not going to use the ultimate cure because he doesn't trust Kincade. Also don't tell Freja anything yet, she'll only rush in.' 'Gotcha.'

Belle then noticed Lukas walking towards her location, and in a split second decision, decided to frame the situation. 'I'm telling you, this is best for her.' 'Best for who?' a confused Jodi asked after the sudden twist in the conversation. 'Just trust me, I'm right, everything will be better this way. I'm going now, don't ring this number again Lydia, I made my choice and you're not changing it.'

As she came off the phone, Lukas slammed the door open and loomed threateningly over Belle, but she managed to keep her calm in the scary situation. 'Lydia keeps phoning me, she wants to take my place here but it's only so she can split Maddy away from everyone. That's why she's been making these stories about me, she wants Rhydian to get rid of me and take her in my place. She should just accept that this is the way it has to be, Maddy needs to be changed.'

Lukas gave her a suspicious look, and then stamped over to her, before getting right into her face and stating through gritted teeth 'If I find out you're lying' 'You won't do.' 'If I do, then I don't care what anybody says, I'm going to kill you.' He then walked off, and Belle took a moment to steady her racing heart, before taking some breaths. 'I can't believe I just said that, makes me sick, she never needed changing. Not like this anyway.'

She then got her phone back out, and tapped out a message to Blair, which simply read "Lukas not under Akiza's control, not much at least, we need to hurry.' As she hid her phone away again, she started to leave the room, but got passed by Maddy, who was still practically zombified. But this wasn't what Belle noticed; rather, it was the shiny engagement ring that adorned her finger.

At Ashworth

Astrid was sat in her bedroom, quietly crying and regretting the past, when Freja and Hannah walked in, with the mother carrying a tray with four rashers of fresh bacon from the farm shop and two slices of freshly baked bloomer. 'Look, I know you're still blaming yourself for everything, but if you stop eating, then you're not going to be able to look after Maddy when we get her back, you're already losing enough weight from worrying.'

Forced through tears, she bemoaned 'But we're not going to get her back, I missed the chance again. I tried praying, I tried throwing myself into the situation, I tried everything, but I keep missing her, I keep messing up, I'm just…' She then looked at them both with fear in her eyes, a look they had never seen from the warrior princess before. 'I'm just lost without her' she mumbled before completely breaking down. 'I'm nothing without her.'

Immediately Freja and Hannah united in putting their arms around her, and tried to reassure the broken Scandinavian. 'You've not missed your opportunity, you've just not seen it yet.' 'I have though' she shouted through a stuffy and gunky nose, her voice distorting from crying. 'I have seen it, I was inches away from her, and then I didn't even try when she was right there for me at the convention. The legends were wrong, I'm not her truest ally, and I'm not capable of helping her.'

'You are though' Freja insisted. 'That just wasn't the chance it was referring to. We've not lost yet, we've still got the time to do this. They're working on the cure as we speak in the base, we've still got the chance to bring her home, and when we do, because we will, because we have to, we're going to bring her back properly. And do you know why we have that cure that we're going to have? It's because you led us into battle, you took the most dangerous place in the most dangerous job, and didn't even bat an eyelid about it. Because deep down, you know that it's not that you "can" do it, it's that you're the best person for the job.'

'Yeah, that's why I keep sucking at it.' 'You don't, you're putting everything into this.' That's when Freja decided to make a point. 'Hey Hannah, do you know why Astrid's neck is causing issues again?' 'No, but I'm going to guess there's a good reason.' 'Yeah, it's because when they were getting out of the lab, Kincade confronted them, and Astrid torpedoed herself into him head-first.' This shocked Hannah… and Astrid, who hadn't spoken about that to Freja.

'How did you know that?' 'Denny told me what you did, he said it was the most selfless thing he's ever seen, you could have rebroken your neck just to make sure he wasn't a threat anymore. That's what you're bringing to us, you were willing to paralyse yourself just to get that serum to give us a chance. Nobody else has done that.' Hannah then provided more reassurance. 'The legends say that when the time is right, you will take your chance. You need to shoot your shot, so you have to wait until you know in your heart that it's the correct moment. Anyway, we'll leave you to your food, I'm just downstairs if you need anything.' 'Thank you.'

As they were leaving the room though, Astrid raised her voice. 'Freja.' The twin turned around, almost elbowing Hannah in the shoulder as she did. 'Sorry, didn't mean to catch you.' 'It's fine.' 'What's up 'trid?' 'Can I… speak to you alone for a couple of minutes?' Surprised, she agreed. 'Yeah, of course you can. I'll catch you downstairs in a few minutes.' 'Ok, if you need anything then let me know.' 'Sure thing.'

As Freja sat back down on the bed, Astrid let her hair down, and then asked a surprising question. 'I… don't really know how to ask you this, but…' After thinking for a moment, Astrid got frustrated at struggling to find the words. So she took a breath, and then started again, as Freja kindly pointed out 'You can ask me anything, I won't get funny about it.' This put her mind at ease, and she found the words. 'How does it feel, you know, when you're… how do I put this… "in service" to Phil?'

'What - like obeying him?' a slightly confused Freja responded. 'Yeah, you know, just being this object almost, not that I see you that way obviously, you're way more than that, but just being this object for him, what's it like just doing that, and doing what he says, and being with him all the time, I want to know what it's like.' Surprised at the question, Freja hesitated for a moment, putting the wind up her friend.

'I didn't just offend you did I?' 'No no, not at all, I'm just… I'm trying to find the way to put it, because I love it, but I know I'm not everyone. There's a certain buzz that you get from just doing whatever someone like that wants, someone who will always treat you well, everything's totally consensual, knowing that if it's too much at any time you can not just pull out but you can talk to him about your concerns, and he'll totally understand and even try to help you.'

'Does he make you… do stuff?' Understanding where she was going with that question, the response was immediate. 'No, he doesn't do that, and everything's way above board anyway. Why, are you thinking of' 'I don't know. I just want the pain to end. I just want to have something that I'm successful at and something to be proud of, because I can't cope with all this anymore, I failed Maddy, I can't fail anybody else.'

Sympathising, Freja recognised that Astrid's feeling bore more than a few similarities to how she felt at times, and knowing how much she had benefited from being within Phil's sphere of influence, she felt it might be right to make a recommendation. 'I think you should be talking to him about it, and maybe trying it, seeing how you feel about things afterwards. Because he won't agree unless you know what you're getting into.' Freja then passed her phone over, and Astrid rang him.

In the HQ's basement

As Donna was stapped to the bed again, Sakura turned around and looked at the smashed vials and all the discarded anti-serums that they had been through, and Tee marked another notch as far as she could reach on the whiteboard. 'That's 42 combinations that don't work, that was what again?' 'Mudroot, Double Ebony and Moonlight Cheer.' As she wrote this latest failed concoction onto the board, Jana walked in, shocked at the mess. So she immediately tied her hair up, and then confidently stated 'Right, let me have a look.'

She stood in front of the board, and inspected it for several minutes, making a mental note of every single combination they had utilised, as well as the exact amounts they had used, and then considered what else they could have done. After standing still for nearly 12 minutes, the answer came to her. 'I've thought of something, it's an old Wolfblood recipe that my Mam told me, it might just be an old wives' tale, but she told me that it had cleansing properties, maybe it will flush this out of her system.'

Sakura looked at the others, and declared 'It's worth a go. What you got?' Jana then started writing the recipe down, as Kris and Brooke followed her instructions. 'So you put 15 grams of Mudroot and two leaves of Dragonbud into a pestle and mortar, and grind them until the Dragonbud turns a murky green rather than its usual yellowy-green colour.' As Kris put his muscles to use here, she waited until it was the perfect consistency and then stopped him. 'We just want the leaves semi-intact. Now add 20ml of ice cold water, no more than 5 degrees.'

As Brooke checked the temperature, she seemed unsure. '4.8.' 'Sakura, could you just get some cold tap water?' 'Of course.' As she did, Jana started rejudging the initial work. 'Might need to just do a touch more grinding' she stated, as Kris and Brooke both held back laughter at the unfortunate comment. She made sure that the two substances were combined to make sure that both of the leaves were tinged with the muddy helper, from top to bottom, and on both sides the same.

When Sakura returned, they measured the temperature of the water again. '2.2, perfect. So we'll add that, and then pestle again until the leaves start to go more glossy. Then we need three sprinkles of ground arrowroot.' 'But I thought that was poisonous to Wolfbloods' Sakura replied, having learned a significant amount of Wolfblood medicine from Rio, who had studied it extensively in the previous months.

'It is, but only in more significant amounts. It takes about 10-20 grams to cause huge issues, in small amounts it's sometimes used for treating various disorders. So sprinkle that in, and then add another 5ml of water, before grinding it once again until all the arrowroot has been absorbed by the leaves.' While they did that, she went through the next part. 'Now we need to get a blender, and mix four grams of dogwood with four grams of hammerstone, mixing them until they're a rough paste.'

As she added the ingredients to a tiny handheld blender, Kris asked the gripping question of 'Why is it called "hammerstone" if there isn't any stones in it?' Jana, ever witty, responded with the equally gripping answer of 'Ask the person who named it.' As this was finished, she continued the process. 'Now add the two mixtures together in the blender, and if it's thicker than a mousse texture, add water until the texture is right, if it's thinner then add a sprinkle of ground Meadow Rock, which can also be used as a thickening agent.' 'And that's it?' 'Yep.'

They continued, and eventually the serum was ready; a muddy brown colour, with an odd texture that was both mousse-like and slightly grainy under the top. 'That's how it should be, so let's try it. I've got some other ideas if it doesn't work.' With a steady hand and a calm nerve, Sakura took the syringe, and sucked the grainy mousse into the medical item, before walking over to the restrained Donna, and injecting it into the mark on her head, before doing the same on the other side.

As the latest attempt entered, Donna thrashed around for several minutes, screaming that Wolfbloods "need to be cured for the safety of the superior race", before something remarkable happened, as the dead and haunted look in her eyes slowly started to fade to a more normal look, and she fell asleep. 'Has it… worked?' Jana looked at Sakura, smiling, and stated 'I think it might have done.'

In the condo

Rhydian was confiding in Belle, who was the only person left for him that he felt he could talk to, aside from his almost drained love. 'We just need to get through this last period, and then we can start eternity together. We're getting married in three weeks' time today.' Belle wanted to ask him where, but aware of the situation, she stayed loyal. 'Where will we be moving?' she enquired, using the information that she already had. And surprisingly, he was happy to be open.

'We're getting married in a little ceremony in Las Vegas, and then we're going totally off the grid, moving to an island somewhere in the caribbean. Our own little tropical paradise. I've got the dress picked out for her, she's got her ring, we're going to do our own proposal video when she's pure. It would have been sooner, but for some stupid reason none of the churches in the whole of Canada would accept us before then.'

Rhydian then smiled at Belle as she walked away, to do the washing for him. But as she walked into the kitchen at the far end of the condo, she found Lukas beating Maddy to a pulp, smashing her in the mouth over and over, having already visibly broken her jaw, and systematically making her bleed heavily from her mouth. There was no let-up either, as he continued to punch her in the stomach, causing severe vomit.

Helplessly, Belle watched on, before in a momentary decision, filming the attack happening, for over three torturous minutes until Lukas looked over at her. The moment he did, she ran away, but instead of finding Rhydian immediately, she hid in the bathroom while Lukas looked for her, and it was only after Lukas went back to Akiza's condo that she snuck out, only to find Rhydian had momentarily gone down as well.

So she returned to Maddy, and after logging the injuries, tried to clean her up. 'This is why I'm still here, I can't leave you with him until he knows what Lukas is doing and stops it happening again. If I clean you up, hopefully he'll see it as me looking after you like it is, and nothing else.' After wiping off the blood from her face and body, Belle checked over Maddy's stomach, and noted a small amount of swelling, which she put down to the beating on her already injured ribs, before tying her ponytail again, with it having been loosened by the beating.

At Ashworth

Hannah walked into Astrid's bedroom to check on her, only to find her sat on Phil's knee in an almost catatonic state, with her hair in two back plaits, and Phil playing with her hair, rubbing his hands through it, stroking it, and twisting the bottom tails of the plaits. With them was Freja, who had her own hair plaited, and was sat, smiling at the sight. Hannah seemed incredibly unimpressed, until Astrid explained the situation calmly.

'It's ok, I'm at peace now. I've signed up to be Phil's slave, he's agreed to put me in a trance next week. It's kind of nice actually, this way I don't have to be like this anymore.' As she then turned her gaze to Phil, he explained 'She phoned me, she asked if she could see what it was like, we had a conversation for about half an hour about it, she still wanted to do it.' Resigned, Astrid then sighed 'I clearly can't save Maddy like I'm supposed to, so I might as well make myself useful to someone.'

Annoyed, Hannah started to berate her. 'While you're busy giving up and agreeing to do something you would never have agreed to if you had any expectations of yourself still, at the base they've been so busy that they think they've found the antiserum, but that doesn't really matter, because you've decided that it's over just because you didn't take an opportunity that wasn't there at a convention.'

This wasn't the bit that opened Astrid's eyes though. 'You just said they found it?' 'They think so, the signs are good but they have to wait for Donna to wake up in order to be absolutely certain.' Phil then tapped her on the shoulder. 'You know what you need to do, get over there and see for yourself.' Embarrassed at the situation, she went to apologise to him, but he just told her 'We'll talk about it later. But don't apologise.'

As she rushed off, Hannah signalled for Freja to turn around so they could talk. 'Before you have a go, I was only doing what she asked' 'Hold your horses missus, I was going to say thank you.' Confused, she responded 'For what?' 'Looking after Astrid, trying to be supportive of her, being a friend when you're hurting so much yourself. Whatever anyone says to you, you're much more.' Freja held back tears hearing this, before making an admission.

'When people say those things, it still hurts, I know who I used to be, and I'm not proud of it, but I did what I felt like I had to.' 'We get it, anyone worth a damn gets it.' 'That's not the point though, the point is that nobody trusts me still. I'm just the kid still, I'm just Lydia's sister, I'm just the one who used to be Belle's friend, I'm just the one who was a dominatrix, all these things but I'm never just me. It's got to the point where I don't even know what the real me is.'

Hannah though, had an alternative take. 'What if that is you though? Astrid and Maddy both say the same thing about you - you're the wildcard, because friend or foe, nobody knows which side of you they're going to see. You might be the stone cold killer version, you might be the psychotic version, you might be the dominatrix version, you might be the model version, what if that is your identity?'

'What - my identity is I don't have one?' 'Total opposite' Hannah smiled in response. 'Maybe your identity is that just like your morphing, there are infinite different versions of you. Your greatest strength is that anything can be your strength, your greatest tool is nobody knows what to expect. You see the world differently, embrace it. You get the job done in ways nobody else would ever dream of, because you are Freja, and nobody will ever be able to replicate that. Oh, and try not to worry about the Belle situation, everything will be as it should be.' Hannah left the room, leaving Freja confused still.

In the HQ's basement

After waiting for over four hours, Jana was present when Donna finally started to wake up, looking very confused. 'Where am I?' 'You're in the Renegades' base. Do you remember anything?' 'I remember being attacked by… I'll get her name for you… I can't remember. But I… I just don't know where I am.' She then fell unconscious again, as Jana left the basement to update Rio, who was headed for the war room again. 'It looks like the anti-serum's worked.' This made her eyes light up. 'That's incredible.'

She then walked over. 'She was conscious briefly, seemed very hazy. The recipe we ended up coming up with… well I came up with… was used as an antidote to some mystical poisons in ancient times that our clans never understood. It seems like the powers Akiza has been wielding are similar to those used by our opposers in those ancient days, which if true, would revolutionise Wolfblood medicine.' 'You've done brilliantly Jana, thank you.' 'Anything for Maddy' she replied with calm and focus.

At the condo

Rhydian returned up to his apartment, to find Belle waiting for him. 'Where's Maddy?' 'Lukas attacked her, I filmed it.' Before he could even question why she was filming, Belle turned her phone screen to him, and he watched in horror as he witnessed what Lukas had done to his beloved. He just stood, witnessing the sheer decimation, and knowing full well that it was his own programming that stopped her fighting back.

After the video ended, he hailed Belle with him, and then rampaged down the stairs in absolute blind fury, confronting Akiza with the video. 'Is THIS what you wanted Maddy for? Huh? Was this part of your masterplan? Having her being obliterated, turned into a fine pulp by your little rat of a hitman?' Instead of accepting the criticism and apologising, Akiza decided to fight back against him.

'It wouldn't surprise me if you set all of this up, you put Maddy there and told Lukas to beat her, because I want the little slut as healthy as you do.' 'Call her that again and I don't care that you're a woman, I'm going to smack you right round your deceptive face.' 'She's not some wife you can make, she's an empty little bitch, and we should be making the most of that, we should be making all the money we can from her. That way you can move away sooner.'

Akiza's logic didn't go down well with Rhydian, who was still furious, and pushed her to the ground. 'If you think you're touching me or my girlfriend every again or even coming near us' Belle then tapped him on the shoulder, and he swung around to see Maddy standing, eyes still approaching half shut, awaiting more orders from her master and fiance, and the sight of her standing there brought some calmness to him, as if her pureness was starting to rub off on him.

After some thinking, he shook his head. 'I can't believe I've been stupid enough to trust you all this time. I don't care what's gone before, I don't want either of you anywhere near us. I'm going back to my apartment with Maddy, and first thing tomorrow I'm having the locks changed so you can't get in. I don't trust any of you anymore, and never will.' He then looked up to his condo. 'Belle!' Quickly, she rushed down, and stood in front of him. 'Yes?'

He stared at her for a moment, and patted her on the head. 'Who does your loyalty lie with, me or Akiza?' Sticking to her plan, she calmly came back to him immediately. 'My loyalty lies with Maddy and where she is. If you are the right place for her to be, then my loyalty is with you, and if following your orders helps me to serve her needs, then that is exactly what I will do.' Satisfied at her obedience, Rhydian gave her a priceless opportunity, giving her CA$500. 'I'm trusting you to go down to the travel agent's, and book plane tickets to (whispers down her ear while looking over his shoulder) Grenada, for three weeks today. The day after we get married, we're on our way to our new lives.' She nodded to him, and then walked away, while Rhydian took Maddy back to the apartment.

In the war room

Blair, Phil and Rio were in the office, discussing the situation regarding Belle. 'I can't believe Lydia stole my phone just to do that, I swear I'm always wearing the leggings with zip pockets from now on.' 'You realise none of this is your fault, right?' 'Oh don't worry, I'm not blaming me, she's fucking lucky that she's under house arrest, because otherwise she'd be under hospital arrest for messing all of this up.' As Phil tried to calm her down, Rio addressed the agenda.

'Right, I want to know what everyone else thinks, because I think we need to pull her out of there.' 'That feels extreme' Phil responded, but his confidence in Belle's abilities were tempered by Blair's own concerns. 'Lydia's just made the situation so unstable that she's not going to be safe there, Rhydian could turn on a dime and then we'd have no way of helping her, she could be turned against us, they could just kill her, we have no idea.'

Suddenly, Blair's spare phone rang. 'It's Belle. Hello?' 'I've only got a few minutes, Rhydian sent me to the travel agent's, he and Maddy are moving to Grenada in three weeks' time, and they're engaged.' 'Doesn't surprise me' Blair responded, before quickly moving on to their point of discussion. 'We've been discussing the situation, and Rio's decided that it's best to pull you out of there, we can't risk your safety anymore.'

Belle however, severely objected. 'Not a chance, I've not helped Maddy yet, she still needs me, just today Lukas beat her halfway to hell. I'm not going anywhere.' 'Belle, if you get hurt, if he turns on you' 'He thinks I'm the furthest thing from turning on him, I've convinced him every single time. As far as he's concerned I've accepted from the moment I arrived that he's where's best for her, and that's why I'm here. I've followed his every move, I proved to him that Maddy was being attacked, everything. So no, I'm sorry but I'm putting my foot down here.'

As Blair shook her head in frustration, Rio had a word with Belle. 'What can we do to convince you to call this off? Because you can't help Maddy if you're dead or evil.' After some tense consideration, Belle made a deal with them. 'At the next event, we'll do it then. Just long enough for me to make sure that Rhydian's not going to let Lukas near her again. If you can wait until then, we'll do it right there, because I can see you're not going to let me stay.'

Reluctantly, Rio accepted this. 'That's fine. I'm sorry, I just don't want you getting hurt.' 'I can only do what you'll let me do. But before I go, I'm going to make sure that she's safe, and I bring anything I can home. How's the progress there?' Delighted, Rio informed her 'Anti-serum's ready.' 'Fantastic. I have to go now, he'll get suspicious if I'm late back.' 'Stay safe' Blair told her, and she nodded before logging off.

In the library

Astrid was sat quietly, reading through the legends book again, and shaking her head, with Blair sat next to her for moral support. 'It doesn't even suggest it is me, this could be literally anybody, what if I missed the chance because I'm not the one who's meant to help her?' As she read through them though, she saw more and more similarities to herself - "Warrior from a distant land", "born in combat", "Princess with the heart of a warrior". 'I mean Ally likes saying I look like a princess, but I'm the furthest thing, I'm just a mess.'

She then looked up from the book, and saw Phil sat right in front of her, reading a crime thriller. 'How long have you been there?' 'A few minutes, why?' 'I… I just want to apologise for' 'Don't even bother apologising, you don't need to.' 'I hope Freja didn't get in any trouble for my issues.' 'Not at all.' 'I don't know how she's being so strong.' 'Same way you are - you're good actresses. We all know how difficult this has been for you both in particular, no offence Blair.' 'None taken, I agree, however much we all hate it, it's a totally different situation for you.'

'That's not fair, it's been horrid for everyone. Still is. I'm just trying to find any way, any reason for it to not be my responsibility, why someone else should be saving her, but everything just comes straight back to me, it's all my responsibility, all the pressure's on me. And I want to be able to live up to what everyone's expecting from me, but I just can't, I'm just not the person people think I am.'

He calmly picked up her hand, and while rubbing it with his thumb, tried to encourage her. 'I know that all your life you've been presenting this facade of the fearless warrior, unfazed by anything, because that's what Finn taught you, that's what you were conditioned to believe made someone strong, and that you always had to look strong. Well let me tell you something, right now you're stronger than ever.'

'How? I'm a total mess.' 'Because you're a total mess, but you're still going. You're still trying, you're still working. No matter how you're feeling, you've been on the frontline the entire way. You led this club that I created into one of the most dangerous situations it's ever been in, and you came out not just alive, but more successful than anyone could have asked or expected. You put your health on the line just to make sure we came out with everything we needed, that antiserum they seem to have created, that was you. It couldn't have been created without you.'

'I'll let you into a little secret: I have looked up to you for years.' This was a mindblowing revelation for Astrid, who took a moment to digest this. 'So this is one of the greatest duellists of all time if not the greatest, telling some kid from the Arctic wastelands that he looks up to her?' He looked around, and then stated 'Yes.' As she continued shaking her head in utter disbelief, he explained why he looked up to her.

'I've admired your tenacity inside and outside of the zone, I admire the fact that you have this unbreakable attitude, I admire you worshipping your gods and refusing to change, I admire your commitment to always being yourself and never compromising that. And most of all, I admire the fact that you have never once let your emotions get in the way of whatever it is you need to do. Because when you're not able to help, that's when you fall apart, but when it's go time, you're always right there.'

'I mean thank you obviously, hearing something like that from you means the absolute world, but I still just feel like the legends must be wrong.' 'You know your problem?' he replied somewhat hostiley. 'You always think that you've underperformed. Every single time, you see something that didn't go perfectly, and every single time you blame yourself and only yourself. You're ignoring the impossible obstacles in your way.'

'I've missed two opportunities' 'You've missed two times that you saw as opportunities, because you expect impossible things from yourself. You see everything as an opportunity, because that's what soldiers born in battle do, they chase shadows. Because the one time you don't, that's the time you miss out. You've been raised that way, you were always taught to be "the strongest".'

Astrid then started to reflect herself on her childhood. 'I suppose I just always got told that I was weak. Whenever I failed, I was weak, I was a failure.' 'This Finn?' 'Finn, his mates, everyone really. If I ever didn't win, or I showed emotion, I was a weak girl. So I built up this wall, this image, because then nobody would ever see me as weak or helpless, I'd be able to bring respect to the Hofferson name. I changed my name when I turned pro because I didn't want to lose under the name.'

'You've never been weak, that is the perception of the weak. You're strong because you only ever use your emotions to power you. The legends have never been wrong yet, and I don't think they're starting now - your time is yet to come.' Thinking about these words, Astrid made a realisation of what they had to do. 'Can you still pull strings with the board?' 'I can certainly try, they should be on my side.' 'I think we need a tag title shot. To force the situation where it's just us and Maddy.'

Seeing her point, he nodded, and got his phone out, walking away to discuss it quietly with the board. While he did, Astrid continued reading the legends. "When the opportunity is near, the faithful warrior and her oldest enemies will unite their forces against their foes, and will meet them on the battlefield where neither has the advantage, and only then will the strength be found. The fog will descend, the sun will rise, and for a moment, the Alpha will open her eyes."

As she read this section, Phil returned. 'And?' 'They refused to give you a title shot, but they've agree to a Top Contender's duel at Destruction. You and Blair against Kari and Radley, winners get the shot at No Mercy.' 'That'll do.' 'They also told me that they're talking about making the title duel be under Lockdown Rules for security reasons.' That made Astrid wonder. 'A battlefield where neither has the advantage…'

Before she could think any more about this though, Jana ran in. 'What's up?' 'The anti-serum's worked, she's awake and starting to be coherent. We've found it. I need to get on with writing this down.' As she did, Astrid read the legends again. 'Just maybe… we can do this.'

Next time: Kari and Radley stand in the way of the Varsity Club and their destiny, Declan faces an increasingly lost Maddy, and the Regiment finally explodes. R: Ultra Evolution Book 15: The Ravaging Rose