R: Ultra Evolution

Book 34: AMaze of Memories

The last day at her flat, and Jade was busying herself making preparations. One by one, she would pick up a blanket, stare at it for a moment, and then bring the corners together, ensuring they were properly aligned to each other, before folding it over, and gently placing them in a cardboard box. As each box was filled, she would place them carefully on the floor, pushing her long and straggled, loose green hair away from her face.

As she put all of the blankets away, she stood staring at the boxes, and mused to herself 'I can't believe we're leaving this place behind. So much has happened here, it almost feels like this place is my life.' She briefly sat down on the table where she had been folding, and looked around at the white walls adorned with pictures of she, Blair, Rio and Ally together, and a large canvas of a random cat, which was there purely to annoy Rio.

She then turned around, and saw Blair quickly folding clothes without a significant deal of care, and without hesitation, she dashed over and picked up a shirt her girlfriend had just folded, undoing it before making a demonstration of it. 'Don't just scrunch it up, bring the arms out, wrists together, across like a beauty sash, and fold once, and then twice. That's how you do it' she explained while pushing her hair back again. Uninterested though, Blair murmured 'Why does it even matter?'

'Because everything has to be neat. I don't want us getting to a lovely new house with everything being like a showhome, and then we turn up with creased clothes looking like we're homeless.' 'Yeah, we'll totally look like movie stars if we spend three minutes folding every shirt. Also if you keep tossing your hair around, you might want to tie it up.' 'Coming from the girl who never doesn't have it tied up.'

Before the squabbling could continue, Rio stood between them. 'Right guys, just remember while you're arguing that we have to get everything packed up in one day, because we've already sent our beds over to the new place, and me and Ally don't intend on sleeping on the floor, isn't that right?' Ally added to the pressure by popping up on Rio's shoulder, and telling them both 'We'll stay in a hotel overnight, but you're not coming', making everyone giggle at her attitude.

They then went back to packing, and before long, Rio found something special. 'How it all began…' she wistfully stated while holding up an old, beat-up denim jacket that had clearly seen much better days. As Blair and Jade looked over, she held the jacket up, and stated 'Hey B, you've seen this one before.' 'I mean… it looks sort of familiar.' 'It's the jacket that… hang on, do Jade and Ally know the story of the the day you first left Michigan?'

Responding in the affirmative, Blair asked Ally 'And what did we say about what I did?' 'That it was awesome?' Blair stood with her hand firmly on her hip, staring at her now adoptive daughter until she cracked. 'Fine, you said you only did it because you were desperate, and that you should never go stealing from anybody, regardless of whether they can afford it.' Softening again, Blair responded 'Close enough, I actually said regardless of who they are, but same difference. Hey Ri, why did you even keep that thing, it looked rough at the time.'

Smiling at the jacket, Rio responded 'It's a keepsake, because I feel like it's responsible for us meeting.' Jade then sat next to Blair and told her 'You know, I don't think I've ever heard the full story. I mean I've heard bits of it obviously, but never about what exactly happened.' 'What, like you want me to tell you the story?' 'I mean kinda, yeah. It would just be really cool to know.' Thinking back to that day, Blair reflected on what happened.

'I was at Detroit Airport, this was… almost a year ago now, because it… I'll tell you when it was, because I was talking with Maddy about it a while back, ironically it was the exact same day that she joined the Renegades. I had almost enough money for the plane tickets, but because America kept leeching more and more from my account, I was, I don't know, like $50 short. So I was in the airport, wondering what to do, and that's when I saw Rio sat in the airport, obviously I'd never met her, and I just saw a Franklin in her pocket.' 'Strictly speaking, it was poking out of my purse.'

'So when I saw it, it was almost this split-second decision, I just… in my head, all that mattered was that whatever happened, I had to make it to the UK. I had to be on that flight that day, no matter what. I felt scummy when I was doing it, but that almost didn't matter, I just walked over, and swiped it out of her pocket, before pretending to fall over her chair leg so I didn't look suspicious. By the time anybody noticed anything, I was long gone. Something's always been bugging me about that day though Rio - why were you in Detroit?'

Realising she'd never discussed it before, Rio responded 'I was supposed to be flying from Twin Falls to England via Salt Lake City, but there was a refuelling problem there, so we had to land at Detroit for some more, and I didn't want to be stuck on the plane for another hour, so I spoke to the cabin crew, they agreed I could go and get a coffee in the airport. Funny thing is, I knew what had happened when you took the money, but I figured that if you were doing that in plain sight, you must have been super desperate.'

Clearly regretting her actions, Blair looked to apologise, but seeing her friend's pain, Rio immediately smoothed the situation over. 'Look, I'm more than cool with it now, it didn't annoy me that much at the time. Plus, I got to meet you. So I'm going to keep this jacket until the day I die, hopefully a very long time from now, because this reminds me of who I've become since I joined the Renegades.' Rio then folded the jacket, and placed it at the bottom of a box. 'Make sure you don't go anywhere.'

While they continued on, Jade had a query. 'Blair, you might know this, because you've been with the Renegades for ages.' 'Go on.' 'Who's been there the longest? I know you and Rio are up there.' Thinking for a moment, she responded 'Jodi was the first recruit, she's been there longer than Hannah even. It was Jodi, then Allyx, but obviously she left and came back, then Lyds and Fre, then the next one who's still here is Maddy, and then I joined a couple of weeks later, and Rio joined like a few days after me.'

Rio then added 'Technically we were both "made" into full members at the same time' 'Yeah, but I'm listed before you because I was with them longer before then.' 'Only because you were tagging with Maddy.' 'Still counts. There were apparently a few recruits between Freja and Maddy, like I think Tee was, and there was this girl Amber, she was, but I think she was kicked out for doing drugs.'

Ally then asked 'What about Auntie Astrid?' 'Kind of a complicated story with her, she was associating with us for ages, but Hannah refused to let her join because of a grudge with Finn. But when Hannah was shot, Maddy took over, that's after Akiza was president for like 48 hours, and she brought Astrid in because Astrid chose us over Finn. You realise you were Maddy's first recruit, right Jade?'

This surprised the Amer-Iranian greatly. 'I thought that Hannah brought me in.' 'She started the process, but Maddy signed it all off. As soon as she found out we were possibly seeing each other, even when she was trying to get over the fact that she… we all, thought Hannah had died, she made sure to get your registration sorted super quick.' 'That's the person she is though, she understands that we all have personal lives.'

While they were still discussing Maddy, Blair was clearing out a drawer in their living room when she found an old familiar. 'Hey guys, just found my old deck.' 'We know you found your Crystals, you used them just last week in the arena, I still think you could have taken it a little easier on Kenz though.' 'She wants to learn from the best, I just provided her with the opportunity.' 'What - the opportunity to lose to your 4th best deck despite a 4k start?' Smiling, Blair remarked 'I told her it should have been 8k. No, I was talking about the Gem-Knights. Just reminds me of when I was still trying to find my place'

Before she could finish though, Jade eagerly asked 'Now are you going to tell me the story of how you first met Maddy? I've been asking for a while, and I did let you be on top in bed last night.' 'Jade, not in front of the children!' Blair exclaimed while gesturing not at Ally, but Rio. 'So me and Maddy meeting, it was actually the day of the World Qualifiers last year, I was in town a few days early because I… just love watching to be honest.'

10 Months Earlier (Howl to Duel)

'So I was just looking for the place where the qualifiers were being held, and Phil and Maddy were just driving into Stockport town centre, around five minutes away from the venue. So I flagged them down, was wearing this white kabuki mask with what looked to be lobster claws painted onto the top of it, I don't remember what they were supposed to look like but it wasn't that.'

'Anyway, so immediately, Maddy wound the window down and just asked. "Can we help you?" "Yeah- I'm looking for the Civic centre. Where the duelling qualifiers are being held?" "Sure- go down to the end of the road, turn left, walk down that road, and it's your second turning on your left. You competing there?" "'Something like that". 'I then paused, and looked at Phil, he told me it was suspicious-looking, but he thinks everybody looks suspicious. I had to do a double take because obviously I was his fan before it was cool.'

"Hang on- is that you Phil?" "Depends who's asking?" 'That was when I took my face-mask off. and he clearly recognised me. But I was really jumpy at seeing him, so I just said to Maddy "I'll see you around. By the way, what's your name girl?" 'Maddy, and don't call me girl.", 'You know, in that classic Maddy attitude. So I think I just nodded and smiled, and told her she was looking good, and thanks for your help. If you're with him, I'll see you at Worlds. I ran off, and started giggling like a little girl.'

'Yeah, some people say that you never stopped being that way with Phil.' 'I just can't help it sometimes, it's just so mad still that my idol is also one of my best friends.' 'I totally get that, and I do think it's kind of nice that he has somebody who doesn't answer back to him' Rio admitted somewhat self-shamedly, unaware of the response she would receive. Oh I do answer back, I just don't argue with him like you do. With us, it's more of a … constructive conversation. We discuss things, we disagree on them sometimes, but I usually just try both ways and see what I prefer.' 'That would explain why you're never out of the arena.'

'But no, it's still just wicked that I get to be around him so much, and then finding out that we're actually cousins, I mean I knew I was adopted from a reasonably young age.' Ally then stuttered 'You're adopted?' 'Yep. You know Phil, right?' 'Yeah.' 'Well his Auntie, gave birth to me, but then gave me up when I was a baby.' Quickly, Jade asked 'How old even were you? Or do you not know?' 'I don't know, other than I must have been incredibly young. From things Phil's said about his childhood, I wasn't older than a few months. No idea how I ended up in Michigan, but it explains why I feel at home in England.'

'But going back to that day, from the moment I met Maddy, I can't explain it but there was just this… something about her, I don't know what it was, but I knew that she was going to turn out to be really special.' Rio then whispered to Ally 'That's a fancy way of saying she liked Maddy because she's pretty and looked a little dorky back then', earning her a hearty slap on the back from Blair. 'What was that for?' 'I'm not allowed to do it to your head' was the rather swift and curt response, as Jade had a thought.

'Have you ever duelled Maddy? Like 1-1?' Surprisingly, the response was both confident and immediate. 'Professionally, no. I've duelled her twice at local events, and a handful of times after the arena was constructed, but she's got WAY better since then. Like leagues better. There are only really three duels on my bucket list right now - I'd like to duel Phil 1-1 again, because I totally butchered it against him at Worlds last year, I'd love to duel Yusei at some point but he's long since retired, and I want to duel Maddy in front of a big crowd. Because nobody gets a crowd going like Maddy, no offence Ri' 'None taken, I agree. And I hope you don't take offence when I say that Maddy is one of the only people I'd fancy to beat you.'

'Yeah, not surprised at that' Blair laughed 'She's really good, and she doesn't know when she's done. I mean that duel she had with Freja in Vegas, Freja was like 10 levels higher than normal, she duelled out of her skin, and Maddy was mega done, but still found something, she doesn't know when to quit.' Blair's continual musings though were quickly interrupted as a car horn honked loudly outside their front door, before a hefty knock on the door.

As Jade answered it, two burly men walked in. 'Are you Blair?' 'No, Blair's my girlfriend, are you coming to move our furniture?' 'Yep, moving house?' 'That's right, leaving the old place behind, it's not quite big enough for the four of us anymore.' As they made their way into the living room, Jade directed them, telling them 'If you can take the two good ones at the side, you can leave the scratty one because that was here when I moved in. Also there's the table in the kitchen, but please be careful, it's an antique.'

While everything large was being evacuated from the house, Rio wondered 'How did the guy you're renting from react when you told him you were moving out?' 'Oh he was totally cool, if anything I think he's actually quite happy, he's apparently been wanting to put the place on the market for months but couldn't evict me because I've always paid my rent on time. He told me to take whatever I liked from here, because the moment we're gone, he's getting the place professionally steam cleaned and then it's going on the open market.'

At Ashworth

With Skylar fast asleep, and Phil and Hannah both visiting Emma for the afternoon, Astrid and Belle had the chance to just talk 1-1. 'So how did you find last night? Your first ever dance for him wasn't it?' 'Yeah, it's weird, because I know I shouldn't feel good about it, I know I'm doing it for the "wrong reasons", but it's making everything just kind of manageable, and it just really feels like it's taking the edge off. And when he's playing with you the way he does, it just makes you feel so pretty.'

'I totally get the last bit, it really does make you feel like you're worth something, however you're feeling, it's a real sense of accomplishment that you're enough for him. As for the pain, Maddy is going to be back.' 'But you heard Jana, she's talking about staying there for six months.' 'Yeah, and the other day in that letter she was talking about being back in a few weeks. She will be back, and we just need to know that she'll have the support when she's back.'

While they were discussing this, Freja walked in, carrying a green and yellow leather one piece outfit. 'This is what I got for our next show for Phil, what do you think?' Immediately, Astrid got up, and inspected it, before asking 'Can you get one about two sizes larger for me?' Showing concern at this, Freja reminded her 'You know it's totally optional, right?' 'Yeah I know, but if I'm insisting on being treated the same, then I'm going to do the same for him.'

Satisfied enough, Freja agreed. 'Ok, I'll try and sort that for you. Belle?' 'I'll just wear the same pink tank top that I wore for him last night.' While Freja was sorting this out though, Astrid had a question. 'Fre, do you ever… ok, what I'm trying to ask, is would I be permitted to do a solo performance for him?' Surprised, Freja responded 'I mean I don't have an issue with it, but it's between you and him.'

In Washington

While continuing to pack up their belongings, Ally found something else specia, which she quickly showed Rio. 'It looks like a ticket stub from Nightmare in New York.' Immediately, Blair started laughing, confusing everyone, with Rio asking 'Did I say something?' 'Oh no sorry, it's just when I think of New York, all I can think off is Maddy spending the entire time asking me how much the art pencils and sketchpad I bought her cost, like I was oging to tell her how much I spent on her birthday present.'

'So… how much did they cost?' 'I dunno, like £20? She wouldn't stop pestering me trying to find out where I got them from, I think she was a little jealous that she'd been looking for months, but I was the one who ended up finding a good deal. And then Maddy still ended up pretty much carrying us to victory there, not bad for someone who was half an hour from being replaced with Lukas.'

Rio though, had a different memory that stuck with her. 'Honestly, I'd forgotten all about that. What sticks in my mind is you carrying my shopping bags half an hour to MSG' 'Which I've still not entirely forgiven you for, my shoulders were murder for weeks afterwards. Hey, you might be able to help on this one Ri - didn't Hannah change for running order at the last moment?' Trying to remember, she had at least hazy memories of it.

'Yeah, I think Phil said something to us about that being the day he knew Hannah was retiring, because she put herself at the end in the hopes she wouldn't have to duel. Yeah, because he pawned his World Championship trophy to allow her to retire, and then Maddy used her winnings from Worlds a couple of months before to buy it back for him the next week. Hey Ally, where did you get the stub from anyway, didn't know you were there?'

'I wasn't' she cheerily replied. 'One of Alex's friends was at the event, they gave her the stub because she really wanted to go but couldn't. I remember them telling Alex that "Blair looked great and the crowd lost their minds for her", but I don't know if they found their minds afterwards.' Trying not to be embarrassed by reliving the crowd's reaction for her, Blair just ruffled Ally's head, only to be interrupted by another knock on the door.

As they answered it, a young girl, around Ally's age, with brunette hair tucked into a ponytail down to the top of her back was stood in a light blue tracksuit jacket, looking sad, with Blair immediately recognising her. 'Hey Isla, what's up?' 'I heard you were moving so I wanted to say goodbye and help you pack up.' As Ally hugged her and told her 'I'm gonna miss you so much', Rio pointed out 'You realise we're only moving about 20 minutes down the road? Blair, since you took a notepad on your first date'

'I told you, that was a joke. But yes, I do have a notepad, always keep it at the front door.' While Blair jotted down their new address, Rio invited Isla in, and she immediately made the obvious comment of 'It's really empty in here.' 'Probably because most of our furniture is at our new place.' 'Hey, why's there a picture of a cat on the wall? I didn't know you had a cat.' Rolling her eyes, Rio responded 'We don't. But I'm scared of cats, and Jade thought she was being really funny.' 'But why are you scared of cats?' Shrugging, Rio told her 'Dunno, I just am. It's like Jade being scared of wasps and Blair being scared of anyone who's nice to her.'

Walking back in with the address, Blair replied 'I don't know why you think I'm scared of people being nice to me, I just… I don't know, it makes me feel a bit weird when people overload me with compliments. I'm not used to it.' 'It's not overloading though, the other day you went red because the guy delivering the mail said your clothes looked good.' 'Yeah, because I was in my pyjamas and because this guy's mid 20s and real hot. And before you say anything'

'I know, you're Bi so you get to say these things.' While they argued, Blair passed the note to Isla, who seemed surprised. 'I know there, it's like three streets from my Grandma's house, perfect excuse to stay there at weekends.' 'Isn't that the Grandma you called "Senile" last week?' Ally asked, to which Isla responded 'Yeah, but I can take care of myself, I can cook eggs and bacon and I don't usually stick my fingers in the toaster. Plus I know where she keeps the teabags, which is useful because she doesn't.'

At Ashworth

With Astrid having a shower, Belle and Freja took the opportunity to discuss the situation. 'Do you ever get the feeling you've really fucked up?' Sighing, Belle told her 'If you're talking about Astrid, you've not, I don't think anybody could have expected the way she's reacted to it.' 'I'm really getting worried, it's almost like she's addicted to being hypnotised, earlier she asked me to hypnotise her into uploading a public video on how she plaits her hair. I mean if she really wants me to I'd do it.'

Sitting down with a coffee, Freja concurred. 'Yeah, I spoke to Phil yesterday because I think this has gone totally pants up, I agree she's gone a bit mental, and she's beyond addicted to being hypnotised, trust me I've been there. I never thought either of you would start joining in with the dancing.' 'Well I'm not surprised I have, anything's better than young offenders, but I don't get it with Astrid. 'How did you get out of that addiction anyway?' 'Because I had some purpose, spending time with you, the fact I felt like people believed in me, and wanting to prove I could be something.'

'So we just need to find some purpose for her, and then' 'Hopefully she'll snap out of it. It's better than my suggestion anyway.' 'Why, what was that?' 'Sending her a fake letter from Maddy.' Shocked, Belle told her 'Respectfully, that's a terrible idea.' 'I know, it was the only one I had though. Hang on, we want to give her some responsibility, right?' 'That's what you just mentioned.'

'Well why don't you get her to proof-read your book?' 'I mean I could, problem is it's nowhere close to being written yet, I've only just started writing about my time in Young Offenders and what it did to me. Plus I don't want want her getting even more depressed.' Trying to convince her, Freja suggested 'Well it has a happy ending at least.' 'I'll ask her, but there's not really anything to proof-read at the moment. It was a good idea of yours to write it though, I really feel like I'm improving mentally with it. But I'll speak to her anyway.'

In Washington

As the time to move out drew ever nearer, Jade was sorting out a bag of her belongings from before she moved to England, and found some pictures of herself from her time as a dancer, as well as a calling card. Shocked, she quickly made efforts to cover them up in various pieces of paper, and attempted to sneak them out, only for Isla to suddenly tell her 'I know what strippers are, I'm not stupid, and I don't know why you're trying to hide it.'

Shocked, Jade sat down on a table, and told her guest 'I'm not hiding it from you, I'm hiding it from myself. Because I'm so embarrassed that I used to have to do that, take my clothes off for pervy guys, rub myself on them, dance on a flipping pole, all to survive. It's somewhere that I never want to go back to, and I wish I didn't have to keep these.' 'Well why are you keeping them then?' 'Because I wrote my number on the back of it and gave it to Blair, it reminds me that some good came out of it. Still remember it like it was yesterday.'

Five months previously (Rivers of Jade)

'I remember that the house really was rocking that night, and this girl, we just called her "The Latina", she was the house MC, she was responsible for getting everybody really going. I remember being ready to go on, and she does this whole schtick of "Ladies, this is the moment you have all been waiting for. Prepare to meet the one whose skin remains untouched by any dirty, despicable males. Ladies, please welcome our hottest current act, the Jade Emerald."

The moment she said that, I was on, I had these… look I really don't want to talk about this in front of the kids' 'Jade, she's already seen some of the pictures, you might as well.' 'Ok, I was wearing these breast plates which were actually really uncomfortable, and some mini-shorts.' Isla then surprisingly asked 'Did they ever try and make you wear the lacy stuff my Mum gets from Ann Summers?'

Stumbling over a reply, Jade responded 'I mean they tried, but it was a compromise to wear mini-shorts, I didn't want to wear anything more revealing, and they didn't want to push me because I kept the crowds coming in. But you know, I was dancing there, doing my thing, I had these two shards of green fabric which I'd just wave around, I'd whip them around my body and around my hips, I'd sometimes get on their level and start talking to them in Arabic, because nobody would know that I was actually telling them to get their disgusting hands off me.'

'Did you ever swear at them? In Arabic?' 'Oh yeah, all the time.' Smiling, she then asked 'Can you teach me any swears in that?' 'No chance. Right, so where was I?' 'You were just talking about pervy guys touching you up.' 'Thanks Ally. So I was just there, doing my thing, and in one of the front rows, I just saw Blair, and I can't explain it, but there was this instant attraction, so I went up to her, I don't normally do 1-1 but this time I just really felt like I wanted to do that for her, my heart was just skipping beats like crazy.'

'So because I wanted to impress her, and I mean really impress her, I just spun around, did a proper 180, and flipped backwards, with my leg going over my head. I've never done that before and I've never done it since.' 'Could you do it though?' 'Only if she has crash mats' Blair replied, putting her foot down. 'So I did that, but I slipped slightly, and Rio just happened to be sat next to her' 'Because she forced me to go.'

'I did not force you!' an aghast Rio responded in shock. 'I suggested going to the lesbian strip club and you agreed.' 'I'm pretty sure I was also drunk.' 'You weren't that drunk. Put it this way, you weren't drunk enough to stop you snogging her' Jade then interjected, and told her 'Spoiler alert, I've not finished yet.' Starting to get frustrated at being interrupted, Jade tried for a 3rd time to finish explaining.

'So Rio just happened to be sat next to Blair, and the moment we caught each other's eyes, I just knew who she was. I tried to continue, but my mind was just so scrambled that I freaked out and ended my performance half an hour early. I still can't believe the way that I just totally freaked out when I saw her, but' 'We thought each other were dead for over 10 years, I freaked out as well, it was like everything I knew had completely changed.'

Shocked at this, Isla asked 'You thought each other were dead? What happened?' Instinctually, Rio responded 'My bastard brother', before realising who she said it in front of when she saw Ally and Isla's jaws drop. 'Sorry, I really didn't mean to use that language in front of you.' To cheer her up, Isla mentioned 'It's fine, my Grandad's said worse when he's drunk.' 'To be fair, Donny's said worse when he's sober.'

Blair then sneaked behind Rio, and whispered 'And despite that, you like him…' 'Get off!' Rio responded in shock. 'Rio likes Donny, Rio likes Donny.' 'Seriously, shut up.' 'Ok, I'll stop' Blair smiled 'But only if you admit it' 'Fine, I might have… possibly… developed a small crush on Donny just a small one though, it's no big deal.' Ally then stared at Jade with big eyes, and Jade handed over a £20 note.

'Hang on, have you two been betting on whether I like Donny or not?' 'No, don't be daft, we'd never do that' Jade responded in complete honesty. 'No, we placed bets on whether you'd admit it. Oh, and now we can get to your spoiler, because I met up with them outside, may have had a pop at them for getting me sacked, and then me and Blair kissed.' 'And we never looked back.' 'And I've never stopped having to watch them make eyes at each other' Rio added while rolling her eyes.

Shortly after, while searching for the shoes Blair wore on her first date with Jade, Rio uncovered something else - a tattered and torn, bloody black headband, which Jade recognised immediately. 'Didn't know you still had that.' As Blair walked back in, she saw the item, and immediately just stopped in her tracks. 'That's the actual one?' she asked Rio, who looked up embarrassed, and just nodded. 'Yep. The day I tried to end my own life.'

As Isla and Ally listened on in shock, Jade explained 'I'll tell them what happened, obviously you won't know the aftermath of it Rio, and Blair, you were in Michigan at the time, weren't you?' It wasn't Blair that responded though, but a tearful Rio, who told them 'Because I was so selfish that I tried to kill myself on the same day that my best friend's great-grandmother died.' 'It wasn't selfish' Blair tried to reassure her, but Rio was by this point extremely angry with herself, and started shaking, only for Blair to give her a full body hug. 'Come on Ri, you know that this isn't good for your health.' While she tried to calm Rio down, Jade reflected on that day, using information Rio had told her previously for context.

'So Rio thought that Hannah was dead, and she blamed herself because James attacked her, and she thought Hannah was shot helping her. I'd been with her at her hospital bed, but she sent me away because the tap water in that hospital was absolutely horrendous. And what I didn't notice, was that the doctors had left a load of stuff on her table, including some medical items. So she wrote this note on some paper on the table, and you could tell she had been crying while doing it, because the paper was proper wet in places.'

'Now just to check Isla, are you squeamish?' 'Does that mean I freak out at blood?' 'Basically.' Concerned, she responded 'Not unless it's my own blood.' Taking her word at face value, Jade continued. 'So what Rio did, she' Rio then tapped her on the shoulder, and gestured that she wanted to explain, having started to simmer. 'So I took… this scal… scalpel that was on the table, no idea why it was there, and I just…' Crying again, she explained 'I just spoke to my Mum and Dad, told them that I was joining them in heaven, and sliced across my midsection. Then Jade ran in a few minutes later.'

'It's all a real blur because of the whole situation, but I walked in and I just saw this massive pool of blood by the side of her bed, so I think I just shouted that she was bleeding, and Maddy, without questioning, just took off this headband that I think she'd had since she was about four or five years old, and just tied it super tight around me, which totally plugged the bleed. I have no idea if she knew that it was a cotton and wool blend or if she knew that it would soak up the bleed, but it was her fast thinking that saved Rio's life. And thing is, she didn't even want credit, she just waited to know she'd be ok, and then walked away like it was nothing.'

After recovering from the shock of this revelation, Isla nervously asked 'But why would you try and do that?' Almost incoherently, Rio tried answering, but was losing control of her emotions. 'Because I.. I… I knew that something was rug, I just noo something was rog, I… I..' Frightened, Isla screamed 'I think she's having a stroke!' Before she could ring 999 though, Ally ran over, and stopped her. 'Auntie Rio's got this… condition.'

Realising she had to explain it fully, Rio turned to Jade and asked 'Do you remember where we put those scans?' 'Err… I'm pretty sure I've put it with my visa documents and Blair's birth certificate. Just give me a minute, I think I know where they are.' Jade then dashed off, and after some quite considerable looking, she located the file that she was looking for, buried deep in the bottom of an innocuous-looking shopping bag, and whipped out the scan photos for Rio, while she was telling the story of what happened to her.

'So Isla, I don't know if you're familiar with someone called James Birchall' 'He was in the news recently, he was that guy who had his appeal rejected because the judge called it 'Ludicrous'. Why, did he attack you?' 'Yeah, he shot me in the back of the head, by rights I shouldn't be here now, but I am. But I knew… something wasn't right, I kept having issues with my balance and memory, and my sight was going a bit funny at times, so I had a scan at the GP, and they asked for me to come back in.'

Five months previously (Life in Perspective)

'So I sat in this office, really white and sort of clinical, and the doctor just gave me this cold stare, like he was trying to stop himself being passionate about the situation at all. I just told him to tell me what was going on, and he pulled out all of these sheets, these are copies of the ones they have there. He told me that I had some "abnormalities" in my brain, and because the guy I was talking to is a trained neurosurgeon, no idea how I just said that, and he said that I had something called "Corticobasal Degeneration".'

'So basically, when I was shot, the bullet entered my brain, but it's not actually left again, it's stuck.' 'Can they not just pull it out' Isla asked, but that was when Rio showed them the scans. 'The problem is that you can see the bullet here, and it's pressing on a blood vessel. They think that it's actually just made a tiny cut in the vessel, but it's acting as a plug, so no blood's leaking out. And the moment they try and move it' 'All the blood comes out' Ally responded, concerned.

'Exactly. So I've got this brain condition, and it's going to get worse over time, it makes the cells in my brain start to die off. It's going to get to the point where I can't swallow, can't speak, can't move, I'll basically be completely dependent on Blair. And the thought still terrifies me, but they can't treat it, so it's just do everything I can to make the most of every day. He told me straight up that one day I'm going to need a carer who does everything for me.'

Still shocked, the normally cheeky and vibrant young girls were totally silent. Eventually, Ally plucked up the courage to ask 'How long do you have?' 'I don't know. It could be a couple of years, it could be 20 years, I could live way into old age. We'll know when it's coming, it's not likely to be an overnight thing, although that thought's the one that still scares me more than anything. But it's taught me to make the most of every day, it's taught me to chase my dreams, and it taught me to live every day like it's your last.'

Seeing how upset the kids were though, Rio tried to turn it around. 'But the thing is, I'm here now. And that's what matters, because as long as I'm here, I get to spend time with you guys, I get to have fun, and when I'm gone, you'll be able to look back on all the cool things that we did together, and say that we might not have had a long time, but we had the best time. That's why when we can let you come to events Ally, we do, because we… I want you to experience what the world has to offer.'

At Ashworth

Astrid was ringing out the fresh shower water from her hair when there was a knock on the door to her bedroom. 'Come in.' Belle did just that, carrying a letter. 'Maddy's sent another letter, but this one's addressed specifically to you. It even says not to be read by anybody else.' Surprised, Astrid nodded, and took the letter off Belle, who paused for a moment, but decided not to approach her about Freja's proposal.

Opening the letter eagerly, Astrid read it top to bottom. 'To Astrid. This is just a quick letter to tell you that I know what is going on with you at the moment, and I want to tell you to just take a step back. When I did what I did (I don't want to mention his name for fear of giving him clout), I felt like I had no way out. But there is always another way out, there is always a better way that will not harm you.'

'So this is a short message just to ask you to not make the same mistakes that I did. Be yourself, and trust yourself. You can get through anything heavy, you don't need to be told how to do it. Please look after yourself, you mean so much more to the entire world than you could ever know, and mean so much more to me than I could ever tell you. With love, Maddy.' Closing the letter, Astrid smiled. 'She knows I've got this. She wants me to keep doing what I'm doing, because Phil's always got my best interests at heart.'

In Washington

Having spent time reflecting on the improvements in Rio's medical condition, as well as some light-hearted jokes about Blair and Jade's first date, the last drawers were being emptied, with Blair taking extra care to keep the costume jewellery she had inherited safe. 'B, how much bubble wrap did you buy?' 'Enough to make sure that this is safe. You know that I don't trust the roads around here.'

'It wouldn't be so bad, but it's not even going with the delivery drivers, I don't know why you're even packing it away when you're going to be keeping it with you when Phil is driving us there tomorrow.' 'Because I don't want it falling off my lap. Wilma entrusted this to me, the last thing I want is for any of it to get damaged.' Understanding the duty she felt, Rio decided to support her. 'Well you might want to get some tape on that as well. And don't forget to put it on top of cushions. Hey, do you remember when I got glassed at the will reading?'

'Remember?' Blair exclaimed, before stating 'I'm still paranoid it's done more damage to you.' 'You know I went to the doctor's as soon as we got back to England, they did scans and the only change they found was that I had a few cuts and bruises. Nothing else. They also said that my condition seemed better than when they last saw me, so I'm winning there.' Putting her arm around Rio, Blair admitted 'It doesn't stop me worrying though.' Isla then asked 'What happened?'

4 Months previously (Will and Testament)

'So after the funeral of Blair's Great-Grandma, we were at the wake and will reading. America, she's Blair's idiot sister by the way, she was, like proper proper angry at not being in the will, but Blair got this jewellery which is worth a lot. So she gets real angry, starts ranting at her like (putting on a faux Californian voice) "Why didn't she pay me respect by giving me all her money?", and Blair stands up to her, calls her a bitch, slaps her' 'This is the abridged version by the way, this went on for a good half hour' Blair added, before Rio got to the climax.

'So America grabs this glass as Blair turns to sit back down, and I see her grab the glass, she runs at Blair, trying to smash her in the back of the head with it. I pushed Blair to the ground, because obviously I'm completely out of my mind' 'And you were quite drunk by that point' 'And I was a lil' drunk at that point because there isn't a bar in Michigan that does White Wine Spritzers well, and I end up getting a glass in the face.'

Laughing at this point, Blair added 'And this absolute legend, this absolute badass walks up to America with blood pouring from her head, and threatens her having filmed her ranting, and tells her "If you ever contact Blair again or a bunch of other stuff, I'm going to shop you to the feds", that stopped her double quick.' Enjoying the story, Isla showed her support for Rio's actions, telling her 'You showed her alright!', as everyone laughed looking back at the situation.

It was nearly 6pm by the time that they finished packing, having been at it all day. Tired, Blair taped up the last box, using her teeth to rip off the last piece of double sided tape as Rio watched on, shaking her head and muttering 'And I thought cavemen were primitive.' As the box was finished, Blair picked it up effortlessly, and carried it out to the front door, stacking it with the rest of the boxes ready for the removals van to arrive back.

While they were on their way out, Ally passed their near-empty bookcase, and a certain book caught her eye. So running off, she grabbed it, before bringing it back to them. 'What did you just get?' Jade inquired, as Ally showed off her prize - a book on the history of the Italian Mafia. 'Maddy gave this book to me as a present when I started living here, she told me it got her through her surgery.'

'What surgery?' Isla asked, trying to learn more about everyone. So Rio explained 'She had an issue in her gut and she got really sick while she was on holiday, that led to her needing a new kidney. And Blair gave her one of hers because they happened to be the same blood type.' 'But does she not need hers?' 'It's fine, you can live with only one kidney. The second one's kind of like a backup.'

While Ally was talking Rio and Isla through the contents of her book, Blair and Jade were musing on the previous era of the Renegades. 'I know that Maddy was in a terrible place mentally and everything, and how it all ended, but' Blair admitted slightly nervously 'That was the most fun the Renegades have ever been. We felt like this band of revolutionaries, just taking what we wanted, making the world better by force.'

3 months previously (Renegades: Reloaded)

'I just remember how angry Maddy was when she was cutting that address, the way that she just went off on people. ''For weeks, months even, people wanted to know "what happened to Maddy", "is Maddy ok", and most of all, "does Maddy's absence mean the Renegades are dead?". The answer is no by the way, no - Maddy wasn't ok. Because Maddy survived life-threatening peritonitis, I had to have a kidney transplant, I NEARLY DIED! And what do I get in return? Nothing.'

Maddy then smiled to herself, but it wasn't out of joy, rather of rage. "Actually no, that's a lie. That's a lie, because you see, I got LESS THAN NOTHING! They tried to strip me of my title, but they didn't even have the rocks to tell me. Instead they send a snotty letter to me pregnant Mam, telling her they were gonna send some stooge round to take my title. It's a pity none of 'em tried to do that actually, I could have done with the workout."

'Oh, and on the subject of them, I heard them, talkin', plottin', going on about how they want to use me as the advertisement for this company but for one little thing, one little inconvenience. They want to split me away from "those circus freaks". Well guess what? I heard you loud and clear, I know your wishes. But I'm not about to be some billboard for you. I made my decision and I chose the freaks. Because these circus freaks, this bunch of misfit toys, they are my family! And they chose me, of everybody they chose ME, to be the head of this revolution. So I'm gonna look after them and lead by example. Cause the biggest freak of them all is me!"

Smiling, Jade mentioned 'The moment that she said that, it just hit me right here (in the heart), I felt like this was real, we were the bunch of misfit toys, but we were her freaks, and we were freaks who were being organised to do something really special.' 'I just remember the way the crowd went off for her, like getting that reaction in the Tokyo Dome, that is, just, the ultimate dream of anybody, and she got it effortlessly.'

As the crowd cheered her on rapturously, she raised her voice a bit more, her anger being translated into boundless energy. "So come on, send whoever you want after me. Send Kalin, send Caprice, hell, send Rhydian when he's done rotting in the cell I put him in! Because I'm a fighting champion and I will fight anybody, and I mean anybody. We're the Renegades, and we have a mission - destroy the rotting core of the WDC, and make it a place for people who don't fit in. People like us. Misfit toys. Undesirables. Freaks. Renegades or die." She then looked around, and every member of the club had a focused look, as if to agree with her sentiment. 'If you're with us, raise your Red Right Hand." As she declared this, every Renegade in attendance did so, along with around two thirds of the crowd, as her music played once more.

'That was just such a special day, that whole idea of we were reborn almost, we'd gone back to basics and finally we had an aim, we had direction, we had a single purpose.' While they discussed this, Isla's Dad had arrived home from work, and started to load the boxes alongside Isla, while Rio passed on a second note of their address to him. 'This is our new address, it's only 20 minutes down the road, so if Isla ever wants to come over and spend time with Ally, that's fine.' 'Thanks, her Grandma lives near there so we'll probably work something out.'

After around 10 minutes, they finished loading the removal van, and Jade looked back at the flat, shaking her head. 'I'm so thankful that when I came over, I had such a lovely place to spend my time.' 'I'm glad you liked it' said the owner of the flat as he turned up, ready to receive the keys back. As Blair and Rio handed their keys over, Jade handed them all over, telling him 'I know you only gave me two keys, but I had the third one cut when Rio moved in.'

'That's fine, the estate agent can have all three keys. Anything else I need to know about?' 'Only that we left some of the less good-looking furniture.' 'That's fine, I can get all that recycled' he mentioned in a broad Geordie accent. 'I just hope that someone else can make their own memories here like we did. Thank you so much.' 'Thank you for being a great tenant, I couldn't ask for more - no fuss, all rent on time.' As he entered the property, Jade brought Rio and Blair close, and declared it was 'A new dawn for our family beckoning', as Ally and Isla sneaked away, with Ally complaining 'They are so cringe sometimes.'

Next time: Michael faces the music at his disciplinary panel, leading to a surprising replacement. Meanwhile, Blair tries to duel some independence into Astrid in a clash that has to be seen to be believed. R: Ultra Evolution Book 35: Consequences Greed