United As The Ten- Part One Of The Conclusion To The United Series

Chapter Twenty Six

Max's POV:

"I want to help the Garde," Remo tells us and I shake my head at him.

"No. No you don't," I manage to say. Nine takes one look at my face and automatically knows that there's something wrong. He looks back up at Remo, now glaring at him.

"I think you should go now, Remo," Nine says but it's more of an order. Remo shakes his head, looking confused. Fake. He knows exactly what's going on.

"But I do want to help. Really," he replies and if I didn't know who he was, I would've believed him. He sounds so sure and convincing. But I know that he doesn't want that. He doesn't want to help us. All he wants is to be able to get closer to me so he can continue what he did before.

Nine glances at me again and shakes his head at Remo. "We don't want your help," Nine tells him and Remo shrugs.

"Alright, that's fine," Remo responds and Nine looks slightly confused, but I know Remo. He's sly and cunning. He gets into people's heads and makes them want to trust him. It's the same thing he did to me when he resurrected me for the first time.

"Max, you know him?" Nine asks me. I mutely nod my head and Remo smiles at me warmly. I feel my breath catch in my throat. He'd give me that smile right after he tortured or experimented on me, right before he'd kill me again.

"Hello, Two." Remo smiles at me again, in a comforting way. "Don't worry, we're on the same side."

That's all it takes for me to finally snap. All my fear melts into anger and a terrifying thirst for revenge. I lunge at Remo, tackling him and punching him in the face repeatedly. Remo shouts in pain as I continuously lift my hand and bring it down onto his face again.

Nine grabs my arms and drags me away from Remo. Tears of fear and anger and frustration stream down my face as Nine holds me back while I wildly try to get another hit at Remo. My vision's blurry with tears and there's a ringing in my ears. Remo jumps back to his feet, a fake look of confusion and shock on his face, but he knows what he did to deserve this. He remembers it clearly, just like I do.

"Max, stop!" Nine exclaims at me, utter shock in his voice. I look at him and his eyes widen at the look on my face. I don't know what I look like, but if I look as angry as I feel, I'm not surprised Nine would look at me like that.

"It was him, Nine! He's the Mogadorian with legacies! With resurrection!" I shout, more tears falling down my face. Nine freezes and thinks this over, then turns back to Remo with a look of pure rage on his face.

"You tortured her? Experimented on her? Killed her and brought her back?" Nine asks Remo, his voice filled with fury. Remo shrugs his shoulders, still having that innocent, confused look on his face.

"It was no big deal," Remo replies and Nine freezes for a few moments before letting go of my shoulders. I know what he wants me to do.

I don't hesitate. I start towards Remo again, balling my hands into fists, but I can't take another step forward. I remember now- Remo also has Dreynen and telekinesis. He holds his arms out towards me and stops me where I am, holding me in place with telekinesis.

"Nine, do me a favor and leave right now. I'll give you a free pass," Remo tells Nine, who just shakes his head and points the tip of his Mog sword at Remo. Remo shakes his head and drags me towards him with telekinesis then turns me around so I'm facing Nine again and unsheathes his Mogadorian sword, resting the blade on my throat. Nine automatically drops his sword and puts his hands up in surrender. I start to shake, the memories of Remo torturing and experimenting on me flooding back like a tsunami, one I can't control.

Remo holds me tighter, trying to be comforting as I shake, which makes me want to punch him even more. Everyday he'd try to gain my trust in his own sick, twisted way. I was only twelve, I didn't know what he meant, and I trusted him. He asked me to do something and I'd do it, and I kept on going every time he'd kill me and resurrect me. No matter what he did to me, I kept on trusting him. He twisted my mind so badly I felt like he was a brother to me, that I deserved to be tortured and experimented on. I accepted what he did to me until I saw him do it to another Mogadorian, testing a new machine he created for a new experiment. That night, I snuck into his bunk and killed him in his sleep. I felt so awful about it, I cried about it the whole night. By the time I got over it, the Mogs found me. They killed me again, but I knew that I deserved it.

Now, the memories come flooding back and every inch of guilt, depression, and hopelessness I felt when I was in the base hit me all at once.

"Don't worry, Nine, I'm not going to hurt her. I just want to...talk to her...for a bit," Remo tells Nine as he backs out of the pilot's room, dragging me along with him. I look back at Nine, who looks extremely worried and concerned. I nod my head at him, signaling that I'll be fine. He nods back, biting his lip as Remo softly pulls me into a different room, empty and dark. He takes his sword off my throat and sheathes it again. He tenderly turns me around and lets my back rest on the wall behind me. I cry and shake but Remo gently rubs my arms, which are covered by the sleeves of the black leather jacket that used to belong to him, the one he gave to me.

"Hey, come on, don't cry, Maggie," Remo says and more tears fall at my old name. Remo wipes away all my tears with his hands but I don't look at him. I can't.

"Maggie," Remo calls to me, his voice cracking. "Please look at me."

Shaking, I look back up at him- at his calm, comforting expression. The face I forced myself to learn to love. He makes coal black eyes look warm.

"Don't you trust me?" Remo asks me, placing his hands on my shoulders. I shake my head no furiously, looking down again. He lifts my chin up to look at him and he looks hurt and guilty.

"I'm sorry if I was rough on you, Maggie, but please, I love you. You're like my little sister, you know you are. I don't want to lose you," Remo tells me, placing one of his hands on my cheeks. I can feel myself losing already.

"But Maggie, why'd you betray me? Why did you kill me? You stabbed me while I was asleep. Why?" Remo asks me, his voice shaking with hurt and betrayal. I start sobbing, sliding my back down the wall until my knees hit the floor. Remo sits down in front of me, wiping my tears away again.

"It's okay. I forgive you," Remo continues. I look back up at him again and I can feel myself breaking.

"Come on, I need you. I love you. Don't you love me, too?" Remo asks, his voice soft and warm. I don't answer him. I just stare into his ink black eyes.

And he hugs me. He wraps his arms around me in a loving, protective embrace. I shake more but he holds me like a real brother would.

"It's okay, Maggie. I'm not going to hurt you, you can hug me back," Remo says but my arms stay limp. "Come on. If you love me, hug me."

I hate myself for this. I despise myself for it. But I can't take it anymore, I just can't. I hug him.

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