R: Ultra Evolution
Book 10: Dormant Danger
At the base, Rio along with the newly-christened Varsity Club were on a video call, with Declan Akaba on the other end. 'Thank you all for your time. First of all, I would like to talk personally about how exciting seeing Blair and Astrid as a team will be, this is a highly unique situation I am aware, but it is also a unique opportunity.' Slightly humble, Astrid replied with 'Yeah, it's not something I was exactly expecting.' While she pushed her long hair back, she was directly addressed by Declan.
'Now I have spoken to the WDC's Board of Directors, and with their permission, I have arranged for you to duel at our next LFD event in Stockholm, it's called LFD: Poison, and your opponent will be Maddy.' Astrid gulped at the thought of having to face off with her friend, but quickly got a grip of herself. 'Right.' 'We agreed that both titles will be on the line. I trust that you will be in attendance too Blair?' She nodded politely. 'I have arranged for an opponent for you, being Nash Kastle.'
This appeared to please her, but Astrid then had a sudden announcement of her own. 'We want Black Rose Inc. Tag rules. We'll do our 1-1 duels as well.' Declan responded well to this, but had a different idea. 'I can do 3-3: the two of you and Caprice vs. Akiza, Lukas, and Belle. That is what I can arrange right now.' The two girls looked at each other, and nodded. 'We'll do it.' 'I will let Caprice know. Remember: this is an opportunity to stake a claim, and an opportunity to get what you're after. I will help how I can within my powers.'
Outside the Condo, Toronto
Akiza had just left the Condo, when Belle walked up to Rhydian, who was alone in the Kitchen, with Maddy cleaning the bedrooms, and in paranoid tones, stated 'I heard Akiza, she's having meetings with Claude.' 'First I know about it' Rhydian replied calmly, but soon, curiosity got the better of him. 'What kind of meetings?' 'I don't know, but they sound urgent. And Akiza's hiding things on her phone, she's out for herself.' Starting to get paranoid, Rhydian hatched a plan.
'I'm going to catch her in the act, or should I say, you're going to catch her.' 'What would you like me to do' she responded, promising absolute loyalty. 'I'm going to create a situation where she has free reign to meet up with him. Except you're going to follow them, and you're going to listen in to their conversation.' 'Whatever it is you desire' came the reply, as Rhydian plotted a course for her. 'When all this is done, I'm going to let you stay with Maddy, you can be a maid and serve her like you wanted.' 'However I can be of assistance' was her affirmation.
At the base
Freja was quietly reading through Belle's diary when Lydia walked in with two cups of coffee. 'Look, I know you're still hurt' 'You don't know though, because it doesn't affect you. You're not the one who's lost the only people close to them, you really couldn't care less honestly. You just care about the fact that you can swoop in and pretend to be the good guy, say "told you so" and everyone tell you you're a genius. I… just know this isn't the person she is, she wouldn't have done this without a reason. Why does everyone always leave me?'
Unable to answer this, Lydia gave Freja her drink and then left the room. But rather than going to spend time with everyone else, she instead started looking up Belle's criminal case. 'There must be something more to this, people don't just leave like that for no reason. Something must have happened.' She then started noting aspects of it down. 'So January 2012 this happens, says that she "pushed" her during a drunken argument and that's what caused the "accident". But it seems so… specific. She just pushed her in the exact right place, and she was fine, but then suddenly died hours later for no reason. Something's not right here.'
Meanwhile, Ally was helping Denny with one of his video games. 'So you just push the red block three to the left instead of one up, and then you come around the back of the hole with the other red.' 'Oh… never saw that… thanks' came the grateful reply from the Kiwi, as Blair walked over to them. 'Hey Denny, sorry to disturb what you're doing, but Rio sort of asked if she could borrow you and Dakota for a minute?' 'She can have me, I don't know where Dakota is, probably with Lydia, they spend too much time together.'
As he left for the office, bumping into Dakota on the way in, Blair sat down with Ally, who immediately expected the worst. 'You're going to tell me I shouldn't have been anywhere near' 'Not at all, you didn't do anything wrong Al.' 'But… I thought you were mad at me?' Blair smiled and shook her head. 'I'm not mad at you, not in any kind of way. Although I did want to talk to you about what happened.'
'I told you, she wouldn't do it.' 'And I believe you' Blair announced, surprising the pre-teen. 'What Emma said, it reminded me that you don't lie to me. Not like that. I was coming to tell you how brave you were there, how you stood your ground, and how you fought your corner. It's because of you that we've got all the hope we have right now. Because you were so brave, you found an answer to a huge question. You proved to us that she's still in there. Which means' 'We can get her back?'
'Exactly. But we're going to need you to be there.' 'So you're not stopping me coming?' 'Far from it, we'd love you to. Because you brought us some really good luck, and we need more of that. If you want to come, obviously.' She enthusiastically nodded. 'Well we're off to Sweden in a few days, so you need to be really good until then. So why don't you go and get that school work done?' 'Ok.'
As she ran off, Kelly came up behind Blair. 'You're doing a great job with that one, she's a handful for anybody.' 'Thanks, I'm not sure I am though. I didn't trust her even though I know she wouldn't lie to me like that.' 'Because she's a kid, and because you are allowed to get things wrong.' Blair then turned around, clearly distressed at the situation. 'I shouldn't be though, everyone needs me here.' 'Everyone needs each other here. You can't be superwoman, doing everything for everyone. We won't all stop if you get something wrong. So just calm yourself down. Tell you what, take the day off club duties, just concentrate on yourself.' With that offer, Blair left the base.
Meanwhile, Dakota and Denny were patiently waiting in the office when Kris finally turned up, sweating profusely and struggling to catch his breath. 'Guys, the next time Astrid invites me on one of her "stressbusting" runs, remind me to tell her that I'm busy doing… anything, I'm about to keel over, she's not even starting to tire. You know what the last thing she said to me when we finished was? She's going to make it 8 miles next time. 5 wa' As he tried to recover, Rio walked in, and didn't seem entirely impressed about them waiting inside the office.
'You realise you can wait outside for me, I know I'm only Interim but that doesn't mean I can't be shown a little bit of respect please.' After Denny politely apologised, Rio presented an interesting idea to them. 'Right, you know those entrance videos they have for the WDC?' Kris replied with 'Yeah, I'm still waiting for a new one. Then again they've got no interest in letting me duel, so why would they?'
'Yeah… if you've got an issue with that, I'm maybe not the person to talk to. I was talking to Astrid earlier' 'Yeah, tip on that, don't let her invite you on a run.' 'Kris, would it kill you to take this seriously?' Realising his mistake, he quietly and respectfully backed off. 'As I was trying to say, we want a new one for the Renegades, and I wanted the three of you to do it.' This is when Dakota revealed that she'd been asked before.
'Me and Den were in talks to do it for Maddy ages ago, we've got the plans and everything.' 'What happened then?' 'We had a little bit of an argument, she wasn't happy that we wouldn't do it unless we had total anonymity.' Denny then expanded 'I was happy to do it but you insisted on not doing.' 'Well I'm sorry that I don't fancy my face being splashed all around like that.' 'You want to be a pro duellist, what's the issue?' Experienced in sibling squabbles, Rio broke it up by returning to the core subject.
'If you want to be anon, then I'll happily let you use hoodies as long as you're supplying them yourselves, because lord knows we're paying for enough at the moment.' Kris then held his hand up. 'I don't have any hoodies.' 'Try Belle's bedroom, I know you're a little taller than her but should still be fine, she always wears a size up. Just maybe avoid Freja while you're doing that.' The three of them then looked at each other, and Kris confirmed 'We'll do it.'
Delighted, Rio provided details. 'Right, I'm presuming the plans are the same ones that Astrid told me about, so are you all available tomorrow at around 8am? Just want to find a time where the streets are quiet.' The three of them had another look around, and agreed again. 'Brilliant, I've already spoken with Jana, she's got some photography equipment at home so she'll bring it over later.'
Segolia's lab, Canada
Rhydian had left Maddy in the trust of Akiza while he went to talk to Kincade. As he walked in, he was approached by a lab assistant. 'Mr. Morris, it's nice to see you.' 'Yeah, thanks. You wouldn't happen to know where Alex is would you?' 'Mr. Kincade? I'll go and get him, he should have come out of a meeting just a couple of minutes ago.' As the surprisingly busty assistant ran off, Rhydian started looking around at various artifacts in the lab, ranging from an atom arrangement model to a taxidermied wolf head. This was when Kincade walked into the room.
'Mr. Morris, glad you could come.' 'Look, I'm not being funny, but what's all this?' 'Well we are a scientific organisation, so atom arrangements are commonplace, especially with what we study.' 'I was more meaning the weird severed wolf head' he responded sassily. 'Oh that? That's just a little artifact I brought in recently. See, we're investigating many things about her kind here, not just how she's possible, but also what sets that kind apart. There are so many unsolved mysteries.'
Continuing to hide the fact that he was also a Wolfblood, Rhydian played along. 'So this one a recent kill?' 'No, a few months ago. This one didn't seem to belong to a pack strangely though; rather they seemed to operate alone, a lone wolf if you will. Truly a fascinating specimen.' Trying to steer away from this controversial and dangerous subject, he turned the topic around to the reason he was there. 'We need to talk about this little serum you injected.' 'Certainly, we can talk in my office.'
Having made their way to the pokey office, they sat down opposite from each other. 'I received your email, would you like to tell me the issue?' 'The screaming is so much worse than you warned me, you told me it would be "a bit" of it, not that it would be constant and crippling. I don't want to listen to that.' 'With respect, this is the price that you have to pay for what you want, if we're systematically scrubbing her brain, then this is something you're going to have to deal with.'
'Well is there nothing we can do about it?' 'There is, which is why I wanted to meet you down here. Firstly, we do have more of the numbing serum.' 'And as I told you over the phone and through an email, that serum isn't working anymore, at least not properly, it's needing reapplication every other hour, not lasting the 18-24 that you told me it would.' 'And you've been using the correct amount - 7g?' 'I used 15 the other day and it didn't make it last more than two hours. Trust me, I've been using the correct amount.'
Trying to figure out the issue, the Segolia executive started looking through some data online. 'It's strange, all our previous tests are suggesting that it should be working. She might just be even more interesting than we thought she was.' Still suspicious, Rhydian pushed him for further answers. 'So what is in there?' 'Honestly I wouldn't be able to tell you why it's not working. None of the data has flagged anything up. But, I do have something that might resolve all of your issues.'
Kincade then left the office briefly, before returning with a tube full of a murky green and brown substance. 'Which abandoned forest did you pull that out of? It literally looks like you pulled this shit out of some dark forest and left it to fester for six weeks. The hell is that even?' Once Rhydian was done insulting Kincade's creation, the answer was revealed.
'This is a special concoction of various hallucinogens and herbs, with a touch of spice to touch. Just 30g of this, so this tube, and she will be under your command forever, she won't be able to think for herself, her world view would be so distorted that she wouldn't recognise freedom if you even gave her the chance, the process would be completed within a day. And you wouldn't have to put up with that screaming.'
Desperate but not entirely convinced at the scientist's efficacy, Rhydian decided to go along with the idea. 'I've got a little scouting mission going with the new girl later, so I'll bring Maddy over then and we can discuss this further.' 'I'm sure you'll come to the right decision' Kincade stated smugly, before the Junction 7 messiah quickly turned to leave. 'I'll be over about 2:30.' 'And I will be waiting for you when you are.'
After he'd left, Kincade looked at the tube he was holding, as one of his assistants brought another lab report to him. 'Her resistance is through the roof, I thought this was supposed to be impossible.' 'It is, she's extremely powerful. So much so that she's a wild animal, an accident waiting to happen. With this, we remove that wild animal from within her, and then neutralise the danger. That entire race must be exterminated before they ruin humanity.'
In the base
Lydia was continuing to dig up information on Belle, and was deep into her personal details at this point. 'So her mother's Liz, a farmer from near Leeds, and her father's Cain, who has a criminal record like nothing I've ever seen, living up to the name apparently. Well, like father like daughter I suppose, time to see what she's really been up to. But first, I need more coffee, investigating's thirsty work.'
Deciding this, she made her way down the stairs, but as she did so, she saw Astrid stood near the war room, on her phone. 'That's odd, Astrid never even has her phone with her.' So she decided to move closer, and heard the Norwegian saying 'I'll be over there later. Please, just don't tell anybody, we're going to get into so much trouble if people know we're doing this and not telling anybody the truth. Ok, we'll meet up later. Thank you again.'
With the call over, Astrid entered the war room, while Lydia went back to make her coffee. As she did, she wrote down her suspicions. 'So Astrid clearly knows what's going on, and she's going to meet up with Belle later. That is, unless I confront her directly about it.' Having decided that something was being hidden, Lydia went back up to her bedroom to continue investigating her suspicions.
In the war room
Astrid walked in to find Phil deep in discussions with Rio. 'So your suspicions are correct, they were the conditions you'd need.' They then noticed the blonde who had just arrived. 'Astrid, I did say 11, not 11:30.' 'I know, but I had to take care of a couple of things.' 'Like?' 'Just making some arrangements for things. What were you talking about anyway, I think I missed something important.'
'We were just discussing Maddy's spell.' Phil then expanded, sharing his knowledge. 'Faustians require several things to work: they require an extreme power to be desired, they require a sacrifice of worth, they need two parties to consent in one form or another, and they require a religious symbol to represent the sacrifice of spiritual values over the desire for power. In Maddy's case, the extreme power is that of total domination over somebody who is usually immune, the sacrifice of worth was Akiza's blood, she got the consent through torture and a pre-installed trance if you will, and the religious symbol was a Rose Cross.'
'What the hell is a Rose Cross?' Astrid asked, leading to Phil telling the story. 'I didn't know this, but Hannah does, she was raised far more religiously. The Rose Cross comes from ancient christianity, and is said to have been the symbol of a man named "Rosenkreuz".' 'Hey, I've heard of him' she suddenly realised. 'Isn't he the guy who tried to make the Philosopher's Stone?'
'Many people have. He was an alchemist who thought that the stone would be found in the centre of the earth. He used the Rose Cross as his symbol, attempting to spread the message that his alchemic beliefs were steeped in Christian tradition and truth. It's become a popular symbol for those with similar alchemic beliefs and those who want to dabble in the occult. I have no doubt Akiza is fully aware of all of this and in fact it was deliberately planned.'
'So now we know there's a Faustian involved, what do we do?' 'We can plan to reverse it, but we need to get her back here first. You'd normally burn the contract, but Tee mentioned that there's no paper contract.' 'So how do you even break it then?' 'All I can say right now is that it depends on how exactly the Faustian was agreed. So was it signed anywhere, who was there, what mental state she was in, anything like that.'
As he detailed this, Tee arrived just in time for Phil to clarify the exact details. 'So with the Faustian, we need to know how exactly it happened.' 'I mean… I've told you what I know, what exactly is it you need help with?' 'We need to know how the Faustian was sealed.' As he got frustrated, Rio mediated the situation. 'Tee, please could you go through what happened around the time Maddy drunk the blood. So start us before she agreed if you could.' After glancing a dirty look at the much less polite Phil, Tee explained.
'So we were in the church I told you about, it's just us, being myself, Lukas and Akiza, Akiza walked into the room and she was saying she wondered what went through Maddy's head sometimes, and she wished she'd awaken. That's when Maddy said she'd drink, so me and Lukas got these brown robes on, long hoods and a rose cross on them.' 'Right.' 'And then she drunk an entire cup's worth. And it's after that she was untied and all that happened.'
This gave Phil an idea, as he quickly jotted some notes down. 'Any ideas?' He turned to Tee in response. 'Did she make any kind of enchantment after the drinking of the blood?' 'Erm yeah, she said something like "May god hear me as I claim her soul, make her life mine to rule, she accepted my blood to bind us as one, now the Faustian takes place with her consent" or something a bit like that. I remember the bit about her soul and ruling her life.'
'Right, so it sounds like Akiza used Maddy's soul as the payment for the contract, in exchange for providing power when she's fully under control. With Faustians, you have a rule of equivalent exchange, so to break the contract, you have to sacrifice something that is of equal value.' 'How do you determine that?' 'Unfortunately the only way is eye for an eye. If Akiza is using the spell to gain power for Maddy eventually, the only way to breach the contract will be to sacrifice power. But Maddy would have to do that herself, and she can only do it when she's freed from the rose's clutch. Do we have any update on that yet?'
After looking through her notes, Rio responded in the negative. 'Nothing of note unfortunately.' Astrid then had an interesting idea. 'I know this is a long shot, but did Kincade have any more of the serum?' This sparked some more memories in the teenage Tee. 'Yeah, I reckon he had at least two more doses, because he was talking about wanting to use other wolfbloods for experiments, and Rhydian said he was going to, but I don't think he's got any intention of actually doing that, he doesn't trust anybody.'
This was all the confirmation Astrid needed to declare 'Well what are we waiting for, let's go to war on Segolia.' Surprisingly, Rio agreed. 'We'll start planning later. Before then, I need to work out the practi… practi…' As she thumped the table in frustration, Astrid responded 'Don't worry, Phil can't say "practicalities" either. So it's hardly just you.' As the Interim president attempted to calm herself down, Astrid walked out of the meeting.
As she did, she was immediately confronted by Lydia. 'You're hiding something and I know it, I heard you earlier. What's Belle done before coming here that you need to cover up with her?' This left Astrid almightily confused. 'Sorry, I don't understand.' 'I heard you on the phone earlier' 'And that is why I don't use it.' 'You were talking about getting into so much trouble if people know what you're doing.' This left Astrid in a situation where she felt like she had to tell Lydia the truth.
'If you really must know, I was on the phone to Jana, She's…' Astrid then took a breath to hold herself together. 'She's taking me down to Dan's grave tomorrow, I said about getting in trouble because I promised Blair we'd practise together today but I won't be able to now. I just need to do this.' 'So… it wasn't about Belle's past?' Angry, she responded 'What would I know about her past, I barely know my own past never mind anybody else's! You probably know more than I do. Now get out of my way.' She pushed past, and stormed off.
As she did, she passed Brooke, who was phoning Hassleberry. 'Look, you don't need to injure yourself to help us.' Laughing came from the other end of the phone. 'Sometimes I just can't help it, you take risks and sometimes it hurts. All I know is that I'm going to keep puttin' this body on the line to help you get your Commander-in-Chief back, because that's what I believe in, and us is what I believe in.' 'You know I owe you a kiss now.' 'I might just cash that in the next time I see you.'
In the war room
Rio was starting to write ideas for getting back at Segolia when Jaden walked in, having recently come back from an extended trip to Missouri. 'Any way I can help?' 'Not really unfortunately.' 'Look, I know I can't duel, and I'm sorry.' 'Honestly, the best way you can help is being around in the arena for everyone to sharpen their skills. You just can't come to events, because if you do… well, you know.'
'Maddy.' 'Akiza will probably know that you're under Maddy's power, and therefore she could turn you and make the situation 10x worse. That's why the club needs to change, that's why we need to be better than we are. We can't keep relying on the same old tricks forever, because what are we proving then? Other than the fact that people don't believe in us. We need to show them we're right, not force them to believe. If we learn anything from it, it's that we have to be better. Rhydian's held up a mirror and made me realise where we were wrong.'
In the Condo, the next day
Maddy walked down the stairs, having once again been up all night. As she did, Rhydian walked up to her, and stroked the top of her head, the hair on top being almost completely blonde by now. 'Hello my Stage 3 girl, how does it feel knowing the process is coming towards a conclusion?' 'I only feel love and obedience for you my king' she responded in apparent admiration, as he grinned.
He then tested Akiza. 'Me and Maddy are going out to see Kincade later, we're going to be out for most of the day, so whatever you need to do, you've got the Condo to yourself all day. Well apart from Belle and Lukas, but neither of them are going to cause you any issues.' As Akiza put Maddy's hair into two back buns for him, she teased the truth. 'I've got a couple of plans, but I might invite some friends around, and Belle can serve us drinks and nibbles.'
As Rhydian went out with his queen and servant, Akiza took Belle's plait out, and started redoing her hair. As she did, Belle started to sew seeds of doubt in Akiza. 'Rhydian was talking yesterday, saying that he's going to take all control of Maddy away from you. He said to her "When we've got the potion from Alex, we're going to kick Akiza out and move away just the three of us".'
This annoyed Akiza, but she was impressed at Belle's obedience. 'So why are you telling me this?' 'Because Maddy is better with you. Once she is with you, I want you to hypnotise me so I can best be a servant to you and Maddy, I can do what I came here to.' Her pride still hurting, this soothed Akiza's damaged ego. 'Well I'm glad to hear that, you're going to be an absolutely excellent little slave. But we need to time it, because first we have to be rid of him.'
Akiza then got her phone out. 'Claude, come over to the Condo in about an hour, we need to talk about a certain situation. Don't worry, he's out, I've just got a couple of obedient slaves here, we can talk about whatever we like. Don't worry, I've got some more pictures for you as well, we just need to meet up and I can pass them on. I've got some really good ones for you this time, including the lingerie that you really wanted her in. Ok, I'll see you later.'
In the war room
Astrid and Rio were sat together, discussing the Norwegian's earlier idea. 'You wanted to see me?' 'I did. You know what you were saying about attacking Segolia earlier?' 'I'm sorry, I'm just really frustrated with the whole situation, I just… sorry, it doesn't matter about me, I'm sorry.' 'I was going to say you're right.' This shocked her. 'You… were?' 'If we're going to get her back properly, we need to have the serum so we can reverse it. But before we discuss this, I need to make something clear.' 'Anything.'
Rio then announced her plan. 'I want you involved. You're the key to all of this, I've seen the way you fight, I need you there.' 'I promise, I'll be front and centre. Whatever we end up doing, I'll be there, I'll do whatever you need.' Rio smiled hearing this. 'I'm glad to hear it. So my thought is, we plan a raid on them, we'll do it probably late at night or a dawn time raid, bust in there, wreck shit, take whatever we can find, and then leave.'
'Sounds good to me, if anyone's there then we take them out, and then make sure we escape before security arrive.' 'Who's going with you then?' 'Well for a start I think having Jana would be good.' 'Jana's absolutely going, I spoke with her earlier and she insisted that she'd be best going because she's familiar with them. How about Dakota, just in case you need to get out of trouble.' Astrid was clearly not overly fond of Dakota, so she had an alternative. 'Denny? He's supposed to have the same kind of power as his sister, but I know for a fact that he gets on well with Jana and me.'
'Yeah, we can have Denny, put a pin in Dakota because we've not seen Denny in action.' 'Sounds good.' 'I'm going to invite some of the wild pack probably.' This gave Astrid an idea. 'If you are, ask for Aran, he's really close with Jana and he was mega close with Maddy until recently.' 'Aran did you say?' 'Yeah, and Alric will probably come as well.' 'Jana's Dad? I thought he didn't like us?.' 'He's had his issues, but here's the kicker - he really hates Rhydian. They've had issues for a couple of years at least. So he'll do whatever it takes to stop him.' This conversation would continue for over half an hour, as they continued bouncing ideas off each other.
At Segolia's lab, Toronto
The staff at the lab were hard at work, when Rhydian and Maddy walked in, with her wearing an all pink getup of a strapless glitter-bedazzled dress, tutu and ballet shoes, double buns tight in. 'So you brought her then?' 'We did.' Maddy then stepped forward to him, gaze as blank as anything. 'You know why you're here Maddy?' 'I have one mission, and that is to destroy the Renegades for my Master, to serve him is the ultimate gift. To do that I am ready to become a weapon of Segolia.'
'Are you willing to betray your wolfblood kind?' 'As long as I am doing as I am told, that is my only role. I have no loyalty to anybody other than to my messiah, and they told me to become your weapon.' 'Good girl' he stated while admiring her increasingly blonde locks. Rhydian though, was losing patience. 'Look, I didn't come here for a long time, I came here for a good time, so why don't we administer this stupid bog peat that you found.'
'Rhydian, you should know me better than this by now, this isn't some random peat I found in the woods, this is an incredibly powerful substance that took months of testing.' The Segolia managing director then looked back. 'Donna, could you get the glass vial from my desk please?' 'Certainly sir' came the empty reply. As he did this, Maddy stayed silent, her mind completely devoid of thought still. Around five minutes later, Donna walked in, eyes blank, with her blonde hair spreading from the bottom, and already ⅓ of the way up, as she was firmly in Stage 2 at this point.
Impatiently, Rhydian went to grab the vial only for Kincaid to pull it back. 'Here is the deal I propose, because I refuse to give you this without payment. I get to run our experiments on your empty little cub twice a week for £1000 a week. In return, you get this remedy for free. Because I know the truth about your little Faustian. Maddy is under the control of the hive mind, all your little ducks in a row. But that hive mind is fragile, and all it takes is one little' Kincaid then flicked the top of Maddy's head, making her scream in agony due to the power of the rose. 'And the hive mind could break.'
Shaking his head, Rhydian wouldn't let himself. 'You know what, I'm getting sick of all of this. I don't need you, I don't need this, Maddy is mine and only mine. And I can do whatever I want to her without you, and without all of your "help". So no deal, if you want me to take that then you're going to have to accept our original deal.' Frustrated at his deal slipping through his hands, Kincade tried to argue back.
'I am simply pointing out that you are yet to perform your end of the bargain.' 'Yeah, apparently catching them isn't so easy. This one took months, and that was with her falling into my arms. So how about you have a bit of patience, and accept that I can't just perform miracles.' 'I don't care if you can't perform miracles' a hugely annoyed Kincade snapped back. 'All I care about is that you deliver these stupid creatures to me so I can remove the scourge of them.' 'Well it's not happening. If you've got a better deal, contact me. Maddy, we're going.' 'Yes Master' she replied as she was pulled away.
Meanwhile, Kincade shook his head, but then saw Donna stood there. 'It's a good job he's already given me an obedient lab assistant. Do you remember your job?' 'We are exterminating all of Wolfblood kind, they are dangerous creatures who we are curing for the sake of humanity' she stated without so much as blinking. 'Good. I'm going to defang that sex object no matter what. Even if it means breaking a few alliances first.'
In the President's office
Lydia arrived for the chat she had requested with Rio regarding Astrid's supposedly evasive behaviour. But as she knocked on the door, there was no answer. She tried again, and then noticed that the door was ajar, so she invited herself into the office, and sat down, waiting, and she waited, and waited, and waited for over 20 minutes, but there was no answer with Rio still in the war room planning.
That's when Lydia took the opportunity to walk around the office, and then start rooting through all of the draws uninvited. And it didn't take long for her to find a piece of paper labelled "Outward members". Listen on there were several names - "Mollie: In Switzerland permanently", "Jaden: On holiday until 18th May", "Maddy: Captured by enemy". But it was the bottom name that caught her interest the most, as it read "Belle: On assignment".
Dumbstruck by this, Lydia read it again. 'So Maddy's been captured but Belle's just on assignment? Clearly she wants to hide something.' Hearing footsteps, she took the opportunity to take a picture of the paperwork, and then slid the papers back. As she left the office though, she continued questioning this revelation. 'Unless… Rio's protecting her, in which case she and Astrid might have been discussing it earlier. One thing's for certain - I'm going to find out.'
Newcastle Cemetery
Having made her way down to the cemetery, Astrid arrived carrying a large bunch of monkeyflowers and lilies. After some searching, she found herself lost, but saw a local nearby, so dragging her boots through the swampy ground, she approached them gently. 'Excuse me, I'm looking for Plot M66. Would you know where that is?' The bearded man looked at her, and then smiled. 'Down to the water fountain, then turn right, and it's just near the war memorial pet.' 'Thank you, I hope you have a nice day.' 'And you, thank you.'
After some more searching and following the instructions, she finally found the small wooden cross that marked Plot M66. And on it, read the name "Daniel Smith". So she knelt down on the boggy ground, and laid her flowers out, making sure they were evenly distributed on each side of the cross, and righting the dirty and sodden Newcastle United flag that had fallen over on the ground in front of it, pinning it to the bottom of the cross.
With that back upright, she put her hands together, closed her eyes and said a quiet, solemn prayer, as Jana and Emma watched on silently. 'I pray to God that your soul is at peace now, that you will never feel sadness nor pain again, and that you will be admitted in through the gates. There I do see our mothers, our fathers, and our brothers and sisters, they bid me take my place within the halls of Valhalla, where the brave will live forever.'
She then spoke to him directly. 'I'm sorry, I almost had her. I almost managed to get her and bring her home.' She then cried as she had flashbacks to Italy, and to when she leapt for Maddy's ankle, only to just miss it. And she replayed this in her head time and again, thinking what she could have done differently, how she was so close, and most of all, how she had failed Maddy and failed Dan.
'I promise you that we're trying everything to free her, and I promise you, this… this beast that took your life, it wasn't Maddy, it was… I don't even know, some shell, some miasma that looks like Maddy, but it really absolutely isn't her, in fact it couldn't be further away. But we're putting everything into getting her back. I just wish I was strong enough, fast, smart, powerful enough to help. I'm just a total failure and my Mama should be ashamed.'
Watching her, Emma and Jana reflected. 'I'm glad Maddy's found someone like her.' 'I am, I don't always agree with her, and lord knows that when we have issues they're huge, but she couldn't be a better friend to Maddy, she reminds her of how special she is, how special her talents are.' 'I just hope she can learn to forgive herself.' 'Astrid will bounce back, she's an absolute warrior, she was born to battle. She's brave enough that she can truly put her life on the line, and that's what makes her so special.'
In the Condo
'Would you like a drink' Belle asked Claude, having been tasked with serving drinks to the eight guests there. He responded by taking one of the champagne flutes, and downing the alcoholic beverage in one gulp, before casually throwing the glass behind him, and letting it smash on the floor. He then signalled her to it. 'You dropped one, you might want to pick that up.' 'Certainly, I will get a brush.'
She then took a dustpan out, and obediently started to sweep the shattered glass up. As she did, she heard Claude and Akiza's conversation. 'So when are you doing it?' 'Her spell's due to finish her in a couple of weeks, so I'm going to do it on the 30th, that's three days before she's going to be completed, but she's going to be so blank and empty by that point that she'll be powerless to stop us.'
'You want me round here?' 'Well of course, you're the one who's going to take Rhydian out. You come around as my guest, bring some of your friends as well, I'll take the blank body while you beat him to a pulp. Don't kill him, just' 'Rough him up?' 'A bit more than that, I'm thinking you do enough for him to spend a few days in hospital. By the time he comes out, he's not going to be able to find her. Eventually I'll bring her back out, but of course by that time she'll be completely consumed, she'll be my Wolfblood Witch.'
'And we'll get what we want in return?' 'The money will have to come in instalments, but you can have all the power you like over her. I honestly can say with total certainty, I don't care what you do to her, you can destroy her little body, as long as you leave enough for her to be a weapon for me to use. A blunt atomic bomb is all I need, I don't mind if the casing is damaged, that's what I mean. But the important thing is taking Rhydian out sooner rather than later, because he's gaining power and more importantly he's gaining money, meaning he's closer to abandoning here.'
Having heard this, Belle hastened in cleaning up the glass, but as she went to put it in the bin, one of the more drunk party goers started groping her, feeling right up her bum, inserting his hand through the crack, and then felt up and down her legs. Uncomfortable, she hid the desire to turn around and punch him in the mouth for long enough to look at Akiza, who gave her orders to her. 'Let him do what he likes, unless he tries to take you to bed, you're not doing that until the party's died down.'
As the wasted man in his 40s continued to feel all over Belle's body, Akiza continued the conversation with Claude. 'What do you think of her then?' 'What - the Leeds kid?' 'Yeah.' 'Bit of alright, I like the uptight ones sometimes, could make her nice and loose. Why, she on offer?' 'Look, if you help me be rid of that annoying little rat, I'm open to anything. Imagine her, Maddy and Blair, all lay there for you.' 'That would be worth good money. You do anything about the personality?' 'Absolutely.'
She then looked behind her out of the window, and in the twilight hours, saw Rhydian walking back up to the apartments. 'We'll have to talk about that later, he's back now.' 'I'll go back to my place then.' Claude got up, taking another champagne with him as he did so. Seconds after he'd left, Rhydian walked in, with Maddy by his side, huge bags under her eyes but still totally obedient and silent. He didn't so much as acknowledge Akiza though, instead walking straight to the kitchen where Belle was.
'So what have you heard?' 'They're plotting against you, Akiza said that she wants to be rid of you as soon as she can be. They're plotting to turn on you at the end of the month, Claude's going to bring some friends around and attack you to put you in hospital while Akiza takes Maddy and runs away.' 'Where to?' 'She didn't say, she just suggested it was away from here and where you'd never find her.'
Rhydian was instantly suspicious of Belle reporting this information, so he devised a test. 'Belle, if you are truly loyal to me and telling the truth, take your shirt off.' Without even considering the consequences of disobeying, Belle whipped the shirt straight off, and handed it to Rhydian. 'My full loyalty is to you and to Maddy, you are the best place for her and as such my place is also with you.' 'Do you hold personal loyalty to me?' 'I hold personal loyalty to you because if you are Maddy's messiah then you are also my messiah.'
Convinced at her consistent reasoning, Rhydian accepted her advice, but it was clear that his paranoia was only increasing. 'Right, we need to get out of this apartment. Tomorrow, me and Maddy are moving to a different apartment. Once I no longer need Akiza, the three of us will be moving again, this time to a different country, somewhere nice and warm and isolated where nobody will ever find us. That way we can throw off any intruders.' Belle nodded in response, but after Rhydian gave her the shirt back and walked away, she hid in a bedroom under the pretence of straightening the pillowcases, and texted Blair with the recently-garnered information.
Meanwhile, at Long Sands Beach, North Shields
Astrid was sat by the ocean, watching the world go by, and talking to the sky. 'I can see why you love this beach so much, it's just quiet and chill, everything you could ever want to spend a day. I just want you to know that I… we all miss you. And we just want to get you home safe. And I'm so sorry that I missed my shot, I missed the opportunity to get you home. And I'm never going to stop regretting that. This is all my fault.'
As she felt the gentle tears rolling down her cheeks, she then felt something much less gentle - a flying Ally crashing into her, almost knocking her off the bench. Jana then came running up behind her, shaking her head. 'I dunno how you do it, I swear I've been running after this one all morning, and she's still not slowing down. I'm absolutely exhausted. You must be made of miracles or something.'
Ally meanwhile, has seen the tears on Astrid's face. 'You're crying, why you crying?' Wiping her eyes dry, Astrid pulled the 10 year old onto her knee. 'I'm fine, I'm just missing Maddy about now, and I just feel like a really rubbish friend because I can't help her.' Ally responded by hugging her neck, and telling her 'You're the best friend in the world though. Because you're always there. And you care.' 'I wish I was always there.'
This is when Jana decided to fire her up. 'You need to get the hell over yourself Astrid because you're not helping Maddy right now.' 'How the hell am I supposed to help her though? I missed my opportunity.' 'Who says that was your opportunity? I saw it, that was an opportunity that wasn't supposed to be there. All you have to do is go into battle, and go in there believing in yourself, telling yourself that you were born for this.'
'But' 'No buts Astrid, it's your destiny to be involved in Maddy's freedom. The legends told us about this situation, and they also tell us that Maddy's closest ally and defender will be the one who is responsible for the situation, it's been foretold for generations that the Alpha will be in a trap, and when they're there, they need that one person who will never stop fighting for them. You're that person.'
'You really think the Legends were talking about me?' 'The Alpha's purest ally, the one who will always fight. They talk about this outsider who was born in combat, sharpened by the fires of desire but with the heart and will to fight only for those causes that they truly believe in. The one who can be a lover and a fighter, who can balance their fierce skill with weapons in combat with the compassion and intelligence to understand the enemy and the situation. Do you not get it? It was ALWAYS talking about you, even before you knew the legends. How about we go back to the HQ, and I'll show you what I'm talking about.' Still emotional, Astrid agreed, and the three left to return to the base.
As they returned, they made a beeline for the library, and Jana grabbed the book of legends, before skimming through the pages at top speed, concerning Astrid. 'Careful, you're going to damage the book.' 'It's fine, I know what I'm doing, I did work experience in a library so I know how to handle books. They're not as fragile as you think they are, and this seems to be particularly sturdy. Aha, found it!' The three of them then read the chapter together.
Alpharic Legends Chapter 9
"As the storm raged on, and the Alpha grew increasingly distant, all hope seemed to grow further and further away with each passing step, each passing day, each rise and fall of the moon she once worshipped. The only thing she was able to worship by this point was a false god with even falser promises. But as certain as night returns to day, the Alpha always had one person fighting for them."
"For they had one key ally. A soldier of fortune, born in combat, bred in battle, a princess with the heart of a warrior. She may not have known her past nor her future, but she knew that she had a true friend who would stand by her always. And she would repay this love and warmth shown to her, for after the pack welcomed her in, she would become their finest warrior, taking on all comers at the cost of her own body."
"She would become the pack's secret weapon, sharpened by desire, the scourge of their enemies. She would choose her battles where she felt strongly as that was where she fought with everything she had, never going into battles with any lack of effort nor commitment. When her Alpha needed her the most, she would be there. But there was more than one battle going on, and she fought a secret battle with herself."
"Secretly she couldn't believe that she was the one who would be able to pierce the veil to her heart. And when she entered the battle, she would continue to harbour misgivings, seeing missed opportunities wherever she walked, seemingly coming within striking distance of their target. But the truth was, they were seeing false dawns, opportunities that were not there, deceptive situations."
"But they learned from another that their faith was far from misguided. She would go back to the start, consulting all the scriptures of the old world, and embracing the tools of the new world. She saw false dawns but she also knew that the time would be right eventually, and when the time was near, she would know, and for a unique kind of war, she would need to use unique tools, unlikely weapons that only she could wield and would speak to her Alpha more than any other. Her day of reckoning was coming, and her opportunity to become the hero she could never have expected."
This left Astrid very confused. 'What does that mean - "unique weapons" for a "unique war"?' 'I think it's trying to tell you to look at what you and Maddy have in common, what have you bonded over the most, and then try using that. I don't really know other than that. But I hope you can see now, this is your time, this is your destiny, you're the one who was born to do this. From the start, you were meant to help her.'
In the Condo
Having had his paranoia increased the previous day, Rhydian (with the help of Akiza's money) was moving himself and Maddy to a separate apartment, with Akiza questioning the necessity. 'Nobody's out to get you.' 'I don't care if you think that, I'm taking the precautions that I need to. Nobody is taking my girl away from me, and I mean nobody, not you, not some random guy on the streets, not that new Renegades supergroup, nobody. We're staying in Apartment 13 until she's complete, and then we'll come back.'
As he walked away, forcing Maddy to carry his belongings, Akiza looked on suspiciously, shaking her head. 'I know you're not coming back to this apartment, you're just going to hide in there and then take my puppet away from me. Well, I'm not as stupid as you clearly take me for Rhydian Morris. I knew you were going to try this from the start, and this would only be a temporary agreement. That's why I gave Claude a key to your apartment.'
In the new apartment, Rhydian stored his bag in a cupboard and locked it, before staring into Maddy's cloudy eyes. 'Soon, you're going to be complete, and all the pain will be over. I'm just going to a stupid disciplinary appointment for attacking that wanker Bolton, but just in case it's a trap, I'm going to lock you in here. You can go to the shrine I've set up, and worship me until my return.' 'Whatever you desire my messiah' she replied, still blinded by his power and the increasingly hungry rose. He watched Maddy start to worship, and then left, locking the door as he did.
In the base
As Astrid still sat in the library trying to understand her apparent destiny, Blair walked in, surprising her new tag partner. 'Sorry about missing our training session.' 'It's fine, Jana told me everything, you could have just told me that you were going to his grave, and I would have totally understood. I'm more annoyed that you tried lying to me - have you not known me long enough to know that I'm the worst person for cancelling things at the last minute?'
'I suppose I just didn't want you thinking I was bailing on you. Also you're not the only person who would have got suspicious, Lydia's all but accused me of hiding something from Belle's past.' 'She's totally unhinged that one, I'm getting fed-up of her and I'm one of the people who likes her still. If you ever need to cancel on me though, just let me know, Rio will always drop me a text to let me know. But that's not why I came down here.'
'Phew' Astrid jokingly replied. 'I thought you'd come down here to read the riot act.' 'Tempting, but I wanted to talk strategy with you, because we need to start equalising the numbers game.' 'I'd say we go after Kieran first, he's been the one by Rhydian's side from Day 1 pretty much, so if we take him out, then he's going to get even more unhinged, he's clearly cracking up already.' Taking Astrid's advice, Blair made a plan. 'So I'll go after Kieran, and make sure that he never even makes it to our duel.'
In the Condo
Around half an hour after Rhydian left, Maddy heard the key turn in the door. But it wasn't her king that walked in, but Claude, dressed in a leather shirt and trousers, walked straight in, before turning and locking the door. 'Did Master Rhydian let you in?' she asked, but before any response was given, the towering Dane picked her up and dragged her by her hair onto the bed, where he chained her to the bed, and peeled her clothes off, as she tried to resist, knowing Rhydian wouldn't approve.
Despite the resistance, he wouldn't stop, and forced her trousers and underwear down, before he mounted her. As she continued to resist though, he unleashed a single, devastating punch to the cheek which knocked her out entirely. With no more struggling, he took his time to get into position, and for the next 20 minutes, he brutally raped her, leaving scars on her private area from how rough he was with her body.
The only thing that would interrupt his pounding away was his phone ringing - it was Akiza. 'I'm in the middle of something.' 'Well you can stop being in the middle of it, he's going to be back in 20 minutes, and I've got to program her to not say anything yet. There will be plenty more opportunity after we get rid of him.' Heeding her warning, he dressed her again, as well as himself, and then removed her binds, before leaving. He passed Akiza on the staircase, and handed her the key, as well as handing her a small bundle of Canadian dollars, before he left.
Mere minutes later, Rhydian returned, and came straight up to the apartment to find Maddy worshipping like she had been before he left. Stood behind her was Akiza, who was taking photos of the back of her head. 'You were back quick, I was just about to send you some pictures, she's been here the entire time. How did the hearing go?' 'Month's suspension, put off for a year. Bolton's been suspended pending an investigation into his actions. You can go now.' Akiza did so quietly, but she was aware of what had already happened that day. She looked at the cash in her pocket, and muttered 'First of many', before leaving the Condo altogether.
Next time: The Varsity Club make their debut, Astrid and Maddy face off in a bitter battle, and Freja puts Rhydian on notice. R: Ultra Evolution Book 11: Venomous Varsity
