Thanks everyone for the comments . Sorry I haven't been available on here lately to update the story. School holidays limit down my free time on here to do stuff. But don't worry. I shall finish it off as soon as I have the time.

Sorry for the long wait but it's finally here! The next chapter to the story!

Chapter 8

"Dagan. This is Slam. He is going to be your step-brother from now on."

I stared at the Tasmanian devil with a blank face. I didn't really know how to react to him.
One the one hand, I felt that I should embrace him, finally having someone my age to share my empathies with. He and I were both seven years old. My parents did give me a little attention, but most of the time they just told me to leave them alone because they were busy. I assumed that all adults were too busy to spend time with their children because work kept them busy. So for me to have someone else who is similar to me to be with was like getting a brand new toy for Christmas.
But saying that, he was a Tasmanian devil. He looked big and muscular for his age. In fact, I felt that I had to approach him carefully in case he was big enough to knock me out.
But both of us just stared at each other, not knowing what the other one was thinking. My mother and father looked down on me as if urging me to do something.

"Go on Dagan." They encouraged me. "Say 'hello'."

I took a step forward just to close the distance between me and the stranger so my parents thought I wasn't being rude. Again, we didn't say anything until I opened my mouth.

"H-Hello." I stammered.

The Tasmanian devil just gazed at me at bit more before the carer that stood behind him gave a broad grin.

"Well I hope that all of you will have a positive future waiting ahead of you." She said as her hands slipped off Slam's shoulders and turned away to walk towards her navy blue car.

We waved her goodbye as she drove off and disappeared around the corner. By the time when we thought we were finally left to our own devices, my parents casted their eyes on me.

"Why don't you show your step-brother around our home and show him where he will stay." My mother instructed me as my father picked up Slam's luggage and carried it towards our big house.

I turned my head around to see the Tasmanian devil still giving me the blank stare. I gave a sigh and grabbed his fat wrist.

"Come on Slam. I'll show you where to go."

With that, I pulled him towards our house. He went along with me only because he had no choice but to know what to do at least around where I live. I knew he came from a completely different world to me, but now that he is living with me, I knew that he had to settle down with the rules of our house.

It took him a while to get used to the ways that our family lead their lives. But eventually he knew the basics. When school came, I was probably more nervous than he was. Slam obviously moved school to where I go, but I was going to be the one looking after him and showing him around, making sure that he doesn't get into trouble by anyone.

We set off from our house and down the road. Along the way, I was explaining to Slam about what goes on.

"Our school is really strict" I warned him. "So you got to be careful at all times."

"Why?" The Tasmanian devil asked.

"Because the other kids get more of a chance to do bad stuff to you if you're not careful." I answered him. "All the energy that they want to dispose of gets built up inside of them. But they can't get rid of the energy because they can't in lesson time. So when they are given the chance to release it, their ways of getting rid of it are brutal."

It wasn't until we finally stopped at the school gates that I took a deep breath.

"It starts here." I stated emotionless.

"What starts?" Slam questioned me.

"If I were you, I'd stay by my side." I cautioned him. "You don't want to get hurt."

Slam followed me through the tall gates and walked across the concrete path. As I kept my head down, he was looking around at the new sights while trying to absorb the unfamiliar atmosphere around him. Groups of kids were bunched up into their friendship groups and chattered amongst themselves. Other kids were chasing each other around the groups while laughing at the thrill of it all. Slam didn't know this, but I felt sick inside. I felt like something was rotting within me. Not only that, but I was waiting. For it all to begin.

"Look! It's dog boy! And he's got a friend with him too!"

There it was. Four older boys in the same white shirts and sandy brown shorts as me and Slam approached us menacingly. Slam felt uneasy as they blocked our path. All of them beared their evil grins as a boy with dark brown hair stepped forward.

"So who's your new friend then?" He sneered. "Is he your pet?"

"You know you're not supposed to bring animals into school." Another boy with blonde hair mocked.

"Then both of them should leave here then!" A red haired boy provided the punch-lline as all of the boys collasped laughing.

I just ignored the comments and walked past them. Slam quickly followed me like a sheep once more. As we both advanced towards the doors, we could still hear the taunts from the gang until we managed to get inside the building.

I still kept walking while Slam stopped to look back upon the doors.

"Why were they being to mean to you?" He asked me.

I stopped because I thought I walked too far from him. But I didn't turn around to face him. I hesitated to answer because there were so many reasons why they picked on me.So I could only come up with a simple explanation.

"Because we're different and they don't like it." I replied as I continued up the corridor. "Come on. Lets get to class. You don't want to get lost here."

I could hear the echoes of the footsteps coming closer to me until I knew Slam was strolling right beside me. While doing so, I kept thinking of how naive he was being. He knows nothing. Poor thing. He has so much to learn about the cruelty that happens within places.

END OF CHAPTER 8.    

It's not like he wanted to be nice to him. You know what some parents are like. They expect the two of them to get along. So that's what he's doing right that moment. To tell you the truth, I don't think I'm very pleased with this chapter. But that's just my opinion.

Poor Dagan and Slam, being picked on like that.

Chapter 9

After we were registered in our classroom, Slam got a cold introduction from the class while the teacher enthusiastically introduced him to everyone. They all gave him unwelcoming glares. But I suppose, every new kid got that on their first day of school. When a complete stranger enters the class, it was like an intruder crossing over into someone else's territory. It can't be helped. But at least I was there to guide him.

But in recess, all the kids were scattered around in groups, or just chasing each other just for fun. Personally, I didn't see any point to any of that. So I just sat under a tree away from everyone else. In a sense, I felt that I had this superiority over the other kids cos I can just watch what they were doing while they ignored me as though I was invisable.  But then I almost forgot that Slam came into my life, so for the first time ever I wasn't sitting under the tree by myself. We both watched all the other children playing their own games. Slam then turned to me while I was watching in deep thought.

"You said that they can get brutal because of the energy they got inside them." The Tasmanian devil commented. "They don't seem to be brutal to each other. It looks like they're just playing."

"It looks like it." I said. "But it will happen soon."

"What?" He asked me.

As soon as he asked that question, the same gang we met before approached us again. And once again, they gave us the same uninviting grins.

"What did we tell you this morning?" A black haired boy spat at us. "No animals in school!"

Here it goes again. The same thing every recess. A battle that I take part in everytime they come and start on me. If I didn't stand up for myself, then I'd be dead. But for now, I could only use words to try and escape lightly.

"We have as much right as you do to come here you know?" I replied back in a relaxed tone.

"Animal rights you do." The red haired boy snorted. "But not human rights."

"Well if I'm not human, what are you?" I said casually. "You seem to be a gang of bullies who have nothing better to do than to pick on someone who is different and more vulnerable than you are."

"Well you're weak anyway." The blonde kid stated. "Why don't you go back to where you came from? The zoo!"

At that point, all the boys burst out laughing. They didn't notice me and Slam leaving them to their so called joke.

"Lets leave 'PeeWee Pants' and his little tag alongs to enjoy their little charade." I said loudly.

That was when moments later I felt the scruff of my neck being grabbed as I was dragged back a little bit. I gave a little yelp before I was turned around to see the brown haired boy with rage in his eyes.

"What did you just say!?" He growled.

"I'll repeat that one more time." I slowly spoke. "Lets leave 'PeeWee Pants' and his little tag alongs to enjoy their little charade."

At that point, I felt a fist punch into my stomach. I collapsed into a pile, with my arms wrapped across my waist. I recieved more sharp kicks and hard punches before I was left winded on the ground. I opened one eye to find a foot about to swing into my face. I tightened my eyes to bear the worst. But then I heard a voice cry out.

"Stop it! Don't hurt him!"

I waited for that pain to come. It didn't. In fact when I opened my eyes, I saw Slam's figure standing right in from of me. I guessed he was trying to protect me from getting anymore hurt than I was. All the boys however just laughed in response to the Tasmanian devil's plea.

"How pathetic!" The ginger kid hooted.

"The dog is getting his pet to fight for him!" The black haired boy jeered.

Suddenly, the school beel rang. There was a moment of stillness before the gang moved off from us before one of them kicked some dust into me.

"And let that be a lesson to you mangy mutt!" They taunted me as they disappeared from our view.

Slam immediately knelt down beside me as I sat up, rubbing under my nose. As I took my hand away from my face, I saw a stain of red blood on my orange fur.

"Dagan! Your nose is bleeding!" Slam exclaimed.

"I'll be okay." I murmured. "I'll just go to the nurse's office."

I staggered to my feet and limped across the playground. I held my nose and kept my head down like lots of people had told me to do when you have a nose bleed. Slam then ran after me and put my right arm across his shoulder. I felt a little bit uncomfortable by this.

"What are you doing?" I inquired.

"Helping you across." He replied. "You weren't walking very well. So I'm helping you get across to the nurse's office."

"I'm fine! I don't need any help!" I snapped as I pulled away from the Tasmanian devil.

I hobbled forward a bit more before Slam strolled beside me.

"Then at least let me walk beside you."

I hesitated to respond because no-one had ever offered to help me when I was injured. I gave a reluctant sigh.

"Alright. But don't touch me."

Slam nodded his head as we slowly reached the doors into the school.

After a while, we finally managed to reach the nurse's office. I sat down on a chair while Slam sat beside me. At this stage, it felt a bit embarrassing.

"You don't have to be here you know?" I told him. "You have class to go to."

The devil shook his head.

"I'm not leaving you until you're better."

I sighed once more in annoyance as a friendly woman finally entered the room. She pulled her face as if to say; "Oh no. Not again". She placed her hands on her hips and tutted.

"Dagan Dingo. Your first day back and you're already in casualty." She said. "What's happened to you this time?"

Slam was about to open his mouth when I just spoke right before he managed to say anything.

"I fell out of the tree while I was climbing it." I lied. "I fell face down onto the ground and that's how I got the nose bleed."

"Oh dear." The nurse shook her head in empathy. "We better stop the bleeding then haven't we?"

And with that, the nurse opened her cupboard and rummaged through it to find some tissues. While she did so, Slam's face drew closer to mine.

"Why did you lie about what happened to you?" He whispered to me. "Why didn't you tell her the truth?"

"There's no point." I quietly said back. "No matter what they do to stop the bullies, they just keep picking on people. You just have to live with it."

Slam's face turned into a sad expression as the nurse finally bought the tissues to me.

"Here. Put these up your nose but keep your head down." She advised me.

Then she turned to Slam.

"I appreciate you bringing him here. But you better get to class now."

Slam looked at me. But I just frowned at him back to tell him to obey the nurse. He nodded his head but then he grabbed her wrist and led her out of the door. This was then I realised what he was going to do.

"Slam no! Don't do it!" I ordered him.

I tried to get out from my chair but the nurse told me to sit down and keep still. As the tasmanian devil led her outside the room, I imagined everything just crashing down in my mind, feeling that nothing can get worse than what was happening now.

END OF CHAPTER 9.    

I legitimately have no idea what Slam is going to do to the nurse. I doubt Dagan will Columbine the school, though.

Anyway, at first the sudden shift from third person omniscient to first person was a bit disconcerting, but reading this it seems to have been the most appropriate thing to do. Plus, you get a really good idea of what Dagan went through with the first person, since you can clearly hear his tone. As far as the tone goes, it sort of represents him as thinking he's superior to all of the others, yet still self-conscious. Rather a perfect profile for a guy like Dagan.

ANYWAY this is really good. Keep it up!

Chapter 10

The next day after I was taken into the nurse's office, I was knocked down by the same gang of boys at recess. As I smashed down onto the ground, I tilted my head up to see all four of them glaring down at me with fire circling inside their irises.

"You tattle-tale!" One boy shouted at me. "You squeeled on us!"

I was going to deny their accusassion when I felt a foot hammer into my stomach. I gave a groan as I curled up into a ball to protect it from anymore damage. But the boys just carried on beating me black and blue. I put my hands on top of my head next to protect it. I tightened my eyes to shut out the pain all over me. It only worked a little bit though. They still continued to kick me all over my body and each one getting more painful to me. But then I heard the same voice cry out like before.

"Leave him alone!"

The kicking stopped and then I heard a scrape and finally a thud. I relaxed my body a little bit to see why the violence on me stopped. I looked up to find the brown haired boy sat onto the floor looking up at a huge being in horror. My eyes widened too. Slam! He was trying to protect me again! It was then that I realised what he did to stop the violence. The blonde haired boy prodded a threatning hand near his shoulder.

"What did you push him for you stupid bastard!?" He questioned him in an enraged tone.

"You're trying to threaten us are you!?" Snapped another.

At this point, they were gathering around Slam. His face changed into a face of fear. I had to do something before they start beating him. Suddenly I hear an authoritive voice call from behind me.

"What on earth is going on here!?"

The boys turned to find a man in a pin-striped suit with a bushy moustache above his lips. He frowned as everything froze just for a moment. He then pointed an accusing finger at the gang that tried to beat us.

"You four! My office now!" He ordered as the gang of boys followed each other off us while grumbling amongst themselves.

The man then gave a sincere look at Slam.

"You better take this young man to the nurse's office again." He instructed the Tasmanian devil.

As he walked away from us, I laid on the ground dazed about the whole event that happened. I felt like I didn't know where I was during the beating. It was like coming out of a hypnotic trance and not knowing what happened during that time. It only took me several minutes later to recollect about why I had bruises all over my body.
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A few days later, Slam was taken out during a P.E. lesson by the headmaster. It wasn't until the end of P.E. that I found out from him that the boy he pushed over had a broken shoulder. He was in tears when he told me. At first I didn't know why Slam was crying over it.

But the next day, my parents got a call from the police saying they want to interrogate me and Slam on the events that happened to lead to the breakage of the boy's shoulder. When we got to the police station, everyone seemed nervous. Especially Slam. As we waited to be summoned into the room, I could tell from the Tasmanian devil's face that he was going to break at anytime. It then got me thinking about paying him back for standing up for me. He did stand by me when I was being bullied and beaten. And nobody else done anything like he did for me. No-one even cared for me before he came along. But on the other hand... no. There was no other hand. I can't keep the secret hidden anymore. I had to tell the police the truth.

By the time Slam's interview was finished, I jumped at the chance to answer every question that the officers could fire at me. And within each answer, I made sure that it sounded sincere, honest and truthful. But in the end, Slam just got a warning not to push anyone over again. The gang of boys that tried to beat us got permantley excluded for the rest of the school term.

Life was calmer after everything that happened. For once I didn't seem so pessimistic about school. We both gained a little bit of popularity because some of the other kids who were also picked on by them felt more at ease than before. But me and Slam still sat under the tree every recess. This time without a care in the world. To tell you the truth, I wasn't used to being this happy. And it was all thanks to Slam. If he hadn't have arrived in my life, I probably would have done something a lot worse I don't know what.

So I thought to myself and vowed to make him feel more like part of our family. To make him feel more like a real brother. To be there for him when he needs me. If anyone tries to threaten him, I'll make sure they'll pay. That was my secret vow. That was my secret promise to him.

END OF CHAPTER 10.    

*runs into room, panicking* HOW COULD I HAVE MISSED ALL THIS AWESOMELY AMAZING STUFF?!

Cassidy: *knocks me out with a pillow* Sorry, but I had to do that. the fate of he world depended on it. No joke.

WOW!! So Slam and Dagan are BROTHERS! Adopted brothers but still BROTHERS!!

So far it's heard to understand why they where enimes.

Up date SOON!!! Pleas!!

Akira_Cat wrote:

---

Techfan: Actually in the Columbine massacre, they were really bright people but all the people like jocks and popular people picked on them. They specifically targeted them because of that. I learnt it in general studies. No offence.

---

I think you should talk to Angela (Dragon_wing), as she told me their only real goal was to make as much carnage as possible.

The wikipedia article also mentions nothing about bullying, but more about harris making death-threats on his blog.

 

This chapter explained a WHOLE lot, and showed Dagans even more of a nut-case.

You follow my stories, I follow yours.

Remember to give me 10s for the contest, by the way. Kidding.

-- Edited by techfan979 at 09:41, 2008-04-14

See thats a big factor alot of people fail to realize.

Getting ripped out of their home and put in a straight jacket might actuelly make insane peoples condition ALOT worse.

But why did they institutionalize him without even a pyschological analysis first? Thats not fair.

Chapter 13

"Don't let me go! Let me stay! Let me stay!" Dagan screamed with his ears still clasped by his hands.

His face had become drenched since his eyes poured out lots of tears. He continued to wail until heard a bang. The dingo jumped in reaction to the sound and looked at the damaged door lying on the floor. He looked up to see the six Loonatics standing in the doorway glaring at him. But before they could react, Dagan leapt from the floor and wrapped his arms around Slam's neck and collapsed into a heap. The rest of the Loonatics feared he might try to hurt their comrade.

"Slam!" Ace shot out as he was going to pull the dingo off him.

"Ace! Stop! He's not gonna hurt me!" Slam quickly said. "Look."

The rabbit halted his actions as they all watched Dagan weeping into Slam's chest. The Loonatic's faces watched blankly as the dingo whimpered quietly.

"D-Don't let me go... P-Please... don't send me away..."

The Tasmanian devil's face softened it's sad expression as he slowly coiled his arms around Dagan. Neither the Loonatics or anyone could move away from the endearing scene in front of them. Nor could they say anything that could move the time on from the paused state of the scene.

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Lexi stood at the window of the HQ staring into the horizon of the sunset landscape of the silver city. She was in very deep thought of what happened earlier on with Dagan. Of course she knew in her mind that she was right about him. But at the same time she could not help but feel sorry for the estranged dingo. She wondered what he must have gone through to become psychologically unfortunate. She thought something so traumatic must have made him so mad. Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice speaking from behind her.

"You were right about Dagan you know Lexi?"

The rabbit turned around to see the team leader approaching her. Ace finally stopped at the side of her and also stared out of the window.

"I just thought that maybe we could finally turn someone from a villain into someone who's learnt their lesson and uses those teachings for the good of mankind." He explained. His head then looked down ontot the floor. "But you were right. You can't change a bad person into a good person."

Lexi also gazed down onto the floor with a sad expression on her face.

"It's not that he was bad," She started. "I guess he just wanted some love. Love that he never got from his childhood."

"But still, what Dagan did was wrong." Ace continued. "He should have never done those things."

"Things that I was worried he was going to do to hurt Slam, and everyone else all over again Ace." Lexi murmured. "I'm sorry if I was harsh on him and everyone else for welcoming into the team, but I did not want the whole team to get hurt again."

Ace sighed and looked at her face.

"Then I'm sorry," He apologised. "For giving you a hard time, and for hurting the whole team."

Lexi held onto Ace's arm and rested her head onto it.

"Wasn't it ironic that the villain who could have turned Dagan into a mental patient was called Scar?" She commented.

Ace nodded in agreement.

"Physical and emotional scars." He said. "That's what makes what we are what we are."

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Footsteps echoed down a clean white corridor as two doctors in white jackets strolled down the blue and grey tiled floor. A female doctor with a blonde pony-tail, carried a clipboard with some papers on it. The other male doctor's head had only a little bits of grey hair on his head while a pair of black glasses sat on his nose. Silence hung between them until they finally reached the door with the numbers 201 written across. They could immediately hear someone crying from within the room.

Inside the grey room, sat the orange dingo against a wall with his head buried in his hands. His crying was muffled because his head rested on top of his knees. He continued to cry in his own sorrow while still curled up into a ball against the wall.

"Please don't let them take me away. Please let me stay with you. Please..."

THE END. 

Wow. what an ending. Chills up the spine, man.

I was kinda half-hoping Dagan would be back to normal, cause I'm a sucker for happy endings. But I guess it kinda wasn't meant to be. I mean, after all that happened to him, it's almost impossible. But, this ending also leaves a bit of suspense, cause we don't know if Dagan's gonna reapear!

Cassidy: Are you feeling okay?

Me: Yes, why do you ask?

Cassidy: Do you want more cheese?

Me: YES!

Cassidy: *sighs in relief* She's okay, then.

Techfan: I'm intending for him stay in there now. I don't want to just keep making him reappear just for the sake of making him more appealing to other people even though I love him dearly like a mother does with her child. So the answer to the question is yes. He's staying in there for good.

Cassidy Coyote: Well I'm not intending for Dagan to reappear for now. I feel as though he has served his purpose but is too sick to go on. So like giving permission for a person or an animal to be put down, I let him go too. Not that he's gonna die but I just want to finally end his suffering. And to think I'm talking about him as though he is real. I guess that's love for you.

Siamese: Yes, it is pretty depressing. And it all started from Slam pushing the bullies away. I noticed the ending was similar to "Sypher's Touch"; where Sypher says that he wanted to be loved by people and then turns to the reader as though he's asking them to hug him. But yeah, he's back where he truly belongs. And I hope he can be a little more better there than what he was before.

Thanks for reading this guys. Much appreciated . 

The ending was strikingly disheartening and sad. But I love that it was. It makes the cruel face of psychological sickness really become evident, him having to face such a tragic end such as that. Really life ain't a great place for people such as Dagan, and you reflect this sentiment brilliantly.

I think the absolute best part of all of this was Dagan's narration. You pretty much NAIL the profile of a guy such as Dagan the entire way through. If this were in a show/movie format, that would be the haunting, a little touching but ultimately distressing part where my eyes are glued to the screen the entire time. The tension that builds throughout the whole narration in the middle of Dagan's entire operation is just perfect. And it makes the ending all the more striking.

Anyway, props for this! =D

I think if there was anything that could improve this, it'd be implementing a little more subtlety.

This is what I mean by that. For example, the bullies were pretty much all out, rawr-we-come-to-make-your-lives-miserable, to the point where they seemed slightly stereotypical. If they were, for example, a little less outright in their intentions, but still just as a cruel in a subtle way, it'd be much more believable and striking.

Just things like that in general. Just be a little more subtle in describing the characteristics/motivations/intentions of the characters, and build on those ideas throughout the story. It actually helps a lot.

That's really all I can think of.