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OK! I got my SPIRAL DVD back from Ruriko Matsunai! Now I can write the rest of the series. I needed the time to recharge my batteries too, but now I'm ready! So get ready for some new episodes!!!

i cant wait! it feels like forever since the last chapter was up!

oooooooo!!! i cant wait!!!! blaugh

Code SPIRAL - 11 - Escalation

School resumed. Aelita and Jeremy's ruse, of revealing all the false information to his father, seemed to have worked. Xana had not attacked over the break, and Jeremy transferred the "guardian status" back to Aelita.
"Well... that's one less thing to worry about." Aelita sighed with relief once it was over. "Now we've just got to deal with the blade children and Xana."
"Maybe just Xana. The blade children did say they were going to leave us alone. But then again... there's also... the hunters." Jeremy replied. "They may be after the blade children, but we're caught in the crossfire.
"Interestingly enough, I had my own run-in with them over break. One of those hunters showed up and tried to kill Eyes Rutherford on Christmas eve during his benefit concert. I was hoping I could find something out by helping them stop the sniper... but I was wrong again." Ayumu summed up his adventure.
"So there are more of these hunters." Jeremy muttered with dismay. "Aelita... I want you to try and stay near one of us at all times. They may target you again."
"Alright..." Aelita quickly agreed.
"I'm going to go do a little more research. I've deduced a few clues from that shooting that may lead us to information about the hunters. If we find out the truth about them..." Ayumu said.
"...then maybe we'll find the truth about the blade children." Jeremy finished.
"Exactly." Ayumu stepped out the door. "Later."

Eyes shut the lid on his suitcase.
"You're leaving?" Asked Kosuke with surprise.
"Relax. I'll only be gone for a few days." Eyes told him as he grabbed the suitcase. "Stay with Rio at all times. Protect eachother if you are hunted." He ordered.
"But why are you leaving? And who's going to protect you?" Kosuke asked.
"I'm supposed to be doing a private gig in America. However... I falsely created that performance to deceive my agent. I'm actually going to be taking an unannounced visit to Japan."
"Japan? Why do you need to go to Japan?" Kosuke asked him.
"I told you before. We must all stand together against the hunters. I'm brining HER back." Eyes stepped into the elevator as the door shut. Kosuke remained frozen.
"Ryoko..."

A day and a half later... on the other side of the world, a girls track team was having it's weekly practice. The starting gun fired on the 100 meter dash. After a few seconds, one girl burst from the rest of the pack. Her eyes were tightly shut, here short, light brown hair shooting about wildly. She ran with the skill and form of a professional, and was covering ground nearly twice as fast as the others. She blasted past the finish line as a second girl who was standing there stopped a stopwatch. The girl was wearing all black, with medium length black hair. It was Yumi.

"Wow, Ryoko." Yumi exclaimed. "10.6 seconds... that's your fastest yet." She said as she walked over to the girl. She was doubled over panting, and reached for a water bottle at her feets as the rest of the girls crossed the line.
"Alright! That's enough for today! Dismissed!" A female coach shouted to them. Ryoko downed what was left of her water with a sigh of relief as she walked off the track with Yumi.
"You know... if you get any faster, you could definately qualify for the olympics." Yumi said with some awe.
"Thanks... but I'm not that good." Ryoko said with a soft, but mature voice. They were making their way back to Yumi's house, where they often hung out. Their conversation became irrelevant... but as they passed a small cafe, a voice called out to them.
"It's seems you've become quite the young track star, Ryoko Takeyami." A british voice said from behind a newspaper. He was sitting in the cafe's outdoor portion, his feet propped up on the table.
"Huh?" Yumi stopped along with Ryoko. "But your name's Ryoko Akashi..."
"Ye-yeah." Ryoko stuttered slightly. She stepped slowly towards the person. "Is that..."
"Yeah." Eyes dropped the newspaper down. "It's me." Ryoko froze, surprised that he was there. Before she could react, Yumi grabbed her arm and pulled her aside.
"Is this that boyfriend you were talking about?!?!" She asked excitedly.
"Wha- no!" Ryoko cried out in protest as she broke free. "Yumi. Can you leave us alone for a little while. I need to talk to him on my own."
"Ha! He is your boyfriend!" Yumi snickered.
"Now!" Ryoko stepped towards her menacingly.
"Alright, fine." Yumi stepped away and headed around the corner. But she stopped right there, and tried to listen to them.

"Eyes... what are you doing here? I thought I told you I never wanted to see your face again." Ryoko demanded to know. They both sat at Eyes' table, a glass of water sitting next to each of them.
"The situation has changed..."
"I'm tired of your "situations"! I'm not one of you anymore, you understand me?!"
"You cannot deny who you really are. The hunters certainly won't."
"The hunters would have never found me here. But if they are tailing you, maybe they will now. Thanks a lot." Ryoko shot with scathing sarcasam. Eyes looked at her annoyed.
"Who was the girl?" Eyes asked.
"She's my friend. Of course, you don't know much about friends, now do you?" Ryoko glared at him. "I'm not coming back. I'm not one of the blade children anymore."
"For not being one of the blade children, you don't seem to shy about using your eyes in track and field events..."
"Take that back!" Ryoko stood up and shouted, pounding her fist on the table.
"I can see why Kosuke's so attracted to you. You both have the same flaring temper." Eyes replied calmly. Ryoko immediately froze.
"Eyes... you know I can't forgive you for what you did..." Ryoko said as her fist shook. "You turned him into a murderer."
"All of the blade children live with blood soaked hands. It is our destiny. And no matter how fast you are... your legs can't help you run from that." She said nothing for a few moments, and then spoke again. "Why are you really here Rutherford? I doubt you came all this way just to visit."
"Right... back to bussiness." Eyes closed his eyes. "I'll be blunt. The hunters have come back." In response he heard shattering glass. Ryoko had staggered, and knocked her glass off the table by accident. Many people turned to look at them.
"It's alright everyone! My bad!" Ryoko shouted as she regained her composure and gestured for one of the employees. A minute or so passed as the glass was cleaned up and attetion diverted away form them again. "How do you know this..."
"Konone warned me about a month ago. And already, three hunters have appeared. Rio succeded in killing the first... the second nearly succeed in killing, Aelita Hopper, but Kosuke managed to kill him. The third tried to kill me at Christmas, and he's still at large."

Yumi had been listening to all of this from around the corner. This was really suspicious. She didn't really know too much about Ryoko. When Yumi had moved back to Japan with her family, she started to attend another private school in the town. That was when she had met Ryoko, who was already a border at the school. They had become friends, but she had never told her much about her life. And this all seemed so strange. But she could never have been prepared for what was going to happen next.

"And worst of all..." Eyes continued. "Someone started Xana back up as well." Yumi nearly yelped with surprise, like a dog who's tail had been stepped on.
"You've got to be kidding me." Ryoko sighed and threw back her head.
"But... we have made contact with Narumi. We may yet get him on our side." Ryoko pondered this as she sat back in her chair, rocking slightly on it's hind legs. After almost a minute of dead silence, she finally exclaimed.
"I don't care. I came here to get away from all of this."
"We need your abilities. We need all of the children to survive."
"Well than I guess you won't be surviving."
"You won't last long on your own either. It's only a matter of time. The hunters have always known about the rib. Plus, if you keep up this rate in your sports, one of them will surely recognize the eyes."
"Then I'll give up all the sports. I don't care. I'm not coming back with you." Ryoko said definitevely as she closed her eyes.
"To be perfectly honest. I'm not going to give you a choice." Eyes said firmly. Ryoko's eyes snapped open, her eyes actiavted.
"Are you trying to start something?" She said threateningly.
"In fact, I am." Eyes said calmly, but made no move to activate his eyes. "You know how we settle these things. A game." Ryoko calmed slightly as she shut her eyes off.
"Fine... but I'll pick the game. And... it won't be a mental game. Why would I fight a battle I would surely lose?"
"You can make the game as physical as you want." Eyes replied. "If you win... I'll go back to France and leave you be. But if I win... you come back with me."
"Agreed." Ryoko stood up and walked away. "Meet me at the school at sunset." Yumi scrambled to avoid being seen by her.
"Xana? Do they mean "the xana", or does it mean something else..." Yumi muttered to herself. This was too mysterious to pass up. She tailed Ryoko.

Around sunset, Ryoko returned to the school, with Yumi following her closely. Eyes sat on a bench in the school yard, waiting. Ryoko carried three small, yellow rubber balls in her hand. Each was about the size of a ping-pong ball.
"So... what's your game?" Eyes asked her.
"It's a game we play a lot around here." Ryoko handed him the balls. "It's simple. You get these three balls. We both stand about twenty feet apart. The object is for you to hit me with one of the balls." Ryoko took a few paces away. "The ball has to hit me before it hits the ground of it's no good."

Yumi watched this transpire from around the corner. She had seen this before. Ryoko always used this game to knock the male jocks down a few pegs. The common perception was that game was based on speed and muscle power. The speed and agility to dodge the balls, or the strength and accuracy needed to throw them. However, Ryoko had explained to her the game's true nature. The reason that the player was given three balls... wasn't just so they simply got three chances. The object was to use the first two balls to distract, disorient, and manuever the dodger into a situation where they couldn't dodge the third ball. The balls were light and hollow, so throwing them in any fancy way, like a fastball or curveball was impossible. However, most people couldn't comprehend the game's real strategy, and that was why Ryoko always managed to win, wether she was playing the thrower or the dodger.

"It's such a simple game... No, that's what makes it so interesting." Eyes muttered.
"It's definately not a game for piano player's like you with delicate little fingers. Just so you know, I'm undefeated at this game. Not even the star pitcher for the baseball team has ever hit me."
"He probably doesn't understand the true nature of this contest." Eyes replied.
"And you think you do?"
"This is not a simple game of throwing and dodging as you'd like me to believe. It's like a game of chess, requiring precise strategy and timing." Eyes explained. Ryoko gritted her teeth as her eyes activated. "I'm not much for school yard games, but I do know how to set up a checkmate."

"You hit the bullseye every time, Konone." Eyes' flashback began. He had said that when he was only 8, standing in the backyard of Konone's home in England. Konone was 10. Konone has just thrown a third knife into a wooden bullseye on a nearby tree.
"That's because it's a fixed target. With enough practice, I could do it blindfolded." Konone replied in his usual southern drawl.
"Then how hard is it to his moving targets?"
"Terribly difficult. When dealing with moving targets, everything's different. The way you aim, the way you throw... it's hard for even the world's best snipers with high powered scopes to hit." Konone said as he walked over and pulled one of the knives out. "Kiyotaka took me rabbit hunting before... even if you get five yards away, it's still easy for it to escape. And forget about ever hitting a bird." Konone turned back to him. "Remember these words Eyes, you can never stop a moving target simply because you've had the most practice or have the best equipment. You must read the target's thoughts and lay a trap. Strategy is key... like in chess. To put it another way, you can still hit a moving target, even if you lack the skills or equipment." Kiyotaka threw the knife towards Eyes, who did not move. It whizzed past him, nearly clipping into his hair. It hit the tree behind him, a pair of leaves that had been skewered in mid-air pierced by the blade. "Of course... practice doesn't hurt.

"Konone... you tought me so much, so long ago. My strategy against this moving target will not fail." Eyes thought.
"You can use your eyes if you want, but I'm faster without my eyes than you are with yours. Come on Eyes, I'm ready for you." Ryoko taunted.
"Allow me to say something first. I will not resort to simply assaulting your composure by throwing you off balance with the first two balls only to finish you off with the third. Rather... I predict this first ball will be the one to hit you." He said as he held up one ball seperate from the others.
"He's bluffing. It's a psyche out." Ryoko thought.
"Shall we begin?" Eyes asked.
"He's got nerves of steel. I have to stay focused." Ryoko thought again. "If I let him get to me, it's all over. Just stay calm and watch his every move. He said he'll get me with the first ball, but that's impossible. What's he up to? I wonder... that's it!" Ryoko shouted out loud. "I'm on to your game, Rutherford!" She ran through his plan in her head. He would throw the first ball straight up into the air to distract her, and then hit her with the remaining balls while she was focused on the first one. The first ball would act as both a decoy and a weapon. He will take me down the first ball he throws AT me. But he'll have to time it perfectly and throw it hard... I don't think he can do it. Even if he's ambidextrious from playing the piano, it's no good. He still can't hit me." "Bring it on Rutherford! I can take anything you can dish out."
"Can you now?" Eyes asked. "Your lucks run out." He tightened his grip on the ball in his left hand and threw it high into the air above him. Ryoko intentionally avoided looking at the ball, instead staying focused on Eyes.
"Just like I thought, a decoy!" Ryoko exclaimed. Eyes stood there and made no effort to throw his other balls.
"Very good. You stayed perfectly focused and didn't let it distract you."
"You underestimate me, Eyes. I could see right through your little trick."
"No... you underestimate me." Eyes said with a very small grin as he pointed at her. "By the way, that's checkmate Ryoko." A ball struck her shoulder. Ryoko froze in shock. "Just as I predicted... the first ball I threw got you."
"You didn't throw it straight up! You threw it at an angle so it would come down and hit me." Ryoko became angry. "There's no way you could have thrown it that well! You're not an athlete, you're a musician! You've never even played this game before!"
"I knew you wouldn't join forces with me... and I figured you'd pick this as our game. I've been watching you for the last day or so, so I've seen you play before. I watched the way you played so I knew exactly how to manipulate you. I changed you from a moving target to a fixed one, so it was easy to hit you." Ryoko sat down on the ground and sighed.
"Fine... a deals a deal." She said. "Let me pack my things, and I'll come with you." Eyes extended his hand and helped her up. "But let me make one thing clear... I may be with you again, but I absolutely refuse to kill anyone for you." Eyes said nothing. "I will not kill, even if it is a hunter. I'd choose being killed over killing someone else!"
"I know... and that's precisely why we need you." Eyes replied. "I'm counting on you, Ryoko." The two walked towards the dorm building. "Don't worry... as of tomorrow, things will change for the better for you. I've arranged for your transfer to Catic Academy..."

Yumi watched as the two of them entered the airport. Ryoko hadn't told any of her friends or teachers that she was leaving, or why. She had simply packed up the pair essentials from her room, and then left. She knew something was very, very wrong. She took out her mobile and placed a long distance call to Jeremy.

"WHAT?!?!?!" Jeremy exclaimed when Yumi called. "What do you mean Eyes was in Japan?"
"So you know this guy "Eyes"? He just showed up and started talking to my friend Ryoko. At first it seemed like he was black-mailing her or something... but then he mentioned Xana. And Ryoko seemed to know about it."
"Did he say anything else?" Jeremy asked.
"I didn't understand very much. Something about "the eyes", "blade children", "hunters", "rib"."
"Oh yeah... that was definetely Eyes."
"Who is he? Why did he come here, and what did he want from Ryoko?"
"If I'd have to guess... I'd say Ryoko must have been one of the "blade children". You see... just recently, a third side has emerged in the war with Xana... their called the blade children, and we still don't understand who or what they are, or who's side they're on. There's also a 4th side, called the hunters... but we know even less about them."
"Sounds like things have started to fall apart for you and Aelita."
"We've added a new member, named Ayumu. But we could seriously use the help."
"I don't know if it'll work... but I'll contact Odd and Ulrich and see if there's anyway we can get back to Catic... even if it's just for a little while."
"I'd appreciate it... just try not to be too conspicuous about it." Jeremy finished. "Goodbye."

Code SPIRAL 11 - escalation... end.

aw... that chapter seemed so short! sad

anyway, it was great and i cant wait for the next one!

#####!!!!!!i have no time to read it yet... grr... i'll read it, we got the modem's driver, but i need to install it....


DO NOT PLAY SIM CITY 2000, IT IS THE MOST ADDICTIVE COMPUTER GAME, TRUST ME

Episodes 12 and 13 are done. Now, all that remains is for me to make my way to the public library so that I can upload them. Gah... I really need to stop using that old computer with Floppy Disc only. gonk

Anyways... episode 14 is the LAST EPISODE that is ripped directly from the Spiral storyline. After that, it's all original content.

Also... I've chosen to start making a running list of the known hunters...

Jim Morales - (deceased) - became a hunter while possessed by Xana. Killed by Kosuke, massive impact trauma.

Imazato Shiridan - (deceased) - posed as a gym teacher at Catic after Jim's death, and tried to pass information to Ayumu to use against the blade children. Killed by Rio, carbon dioxide poisioning.

Yamato - (deceased) - kidnapped Aelita and attempted to kill her, but she was rescued by Kosuke. Killed by Kosuke, shot through the skull.

Unknown Male - (active) - attempted to kill Eyes with a sniper attack on Christmas eve. Ayumu and Kosuke managed to catch him, but he got away. He is currently on the run.

Other Hunters

Franz Hopper - (unknown) - The discussion amongst the blade children seems to frequently reveal that Hopper is involved with, or is one of, the hunters. He may even be their leader. Kosuke mentioned that he's the one who ordered the extermination of the blade children, which the hunters appear to be carrying out.

Unknown Female - (active) - Appears in Episode 13. (Information to be updated)

Man in Tan Trenchcoat - (active) - Appears in Episode 13. (Information to be updated)

"new" computers usb drive is on the back of the thing but i have an extension cable so i don't have to tip the computer every time. i found a love for takeing pictures of computer insides.