AN: Alright ladies and gents, the disclaimer is the same as always. I only own my OC's and any deviations from the original plot. Please read the notes at the end for new events about the story. Enjoy.

Chapter 13: Jacky's plan, the girl's conviction.

Ling and Cecilia refused to look at one another while they sat in the nurse's office. Both equally bandaged and bruised. They had just received news that there IS units were to damaged to compete in the upcoming tournament, and what made the news worse was that this year there were 2 tournaments; one open to all students, and one for those with personnel IS units. Miss Yamada had told them that Jackson and Laura were the first to volunteer for the personnel tournament. But since their match no one had seen Jackson, and this allowed the girls to reflect on him.

For all girls, from Bella to Chifuyu, this was the first time they witnessed Jackson fight so relentlessly. For those that new his past, they saw what he tried to hide. A bloodthirsty beast born for battle of the most savage kind. Chifuyu could see he wanted to destroy Laura in his eyes, while the others could tell from his stance. After he returned to his normal self, he left without talking to anyone. Since then no one could find him.

The door sliding open broke the two girls out of their thoughts, both hoping it was the man they had grown to have deep feelings for. But in walked their "rivals" for Jackson's affection, with Chifuyu closing the door as Charles and a girl with short blue hair that looked familiar entered too.

"So could you find him?" Ling asked with some hope in her voice, only to be met with disappointing shaking heads.

"He's not at any of the gyms or dojos," spoke Houki.

"Nor was he at the dormitory or cafeteria," Charles said keeping her cover up.

"No one has seen him running around the campus," Bella said leaning on the wall.

"None of the clubs have seen him," the blue haired girl said taking a seat on a stool.

"And he's not at any of the garages," Chifuyu said with sadness.

"Then can I ask why my dear Jackson acted so aggressively towards that fiend," Cecilia asked making all but Bella and Tatenashi go silent as they tried to think of something. It was Ling that broke the growing silence.

"Cecilia," her tone was one filled with sadness, "Jacky has had a shit life. I don't know what you know about him but I'm going to clue you in on somethings."

"Ling I don't think he wants other to know," Houki said.

"I'm not giving away his entire story, but enough to fill the princess here on who Jackson is. To start he's an orphan, no parents, no family, hell he's not even sure if Jackson is his real name or if he even has one. He didn't grow up in any legal orphanage, if he tells you his story his first memory is being 3 years old trying to find food out of a dumpster," this made the girls sick, "he got the name Jackson from an oversized jersey he wore when his teacher found him. The man who taught him Silate; this man taught him to read, write, fight, and discovered that he had knack for breaking apart and fixing things. The sad truth happens years later. This was around the time my family moved to Baltimore, my dad opening a restaurant. Problem was the crime in the area was horrible, the Italian mob owned most of Baltimore and therefore most the crime was them. My dad had to pay protection money as did most owners of various shops. The man that took Jacky in was one of them, and one month he couldn't pay. After a fight between them and Jacky, they took him. Kidnapping of orphans was on the rise because it was later discovered they organized an underground fighting show with these kids. And for years Jacky was their star attraction," her voice now breaking, "but he was a great repairman, and one day our cash register broke. That's how I met him. He was quiet, timid, and looked very scared. I tried to become his friend, but it took a while. And when our friendship was just at its highest, something bad happen. Something that until a few months ago I blamed and hated him for years, never trying to think of why."

"But why was he so vicious?" Bella asked with tears streaming down her face.

"Because for years Jackson had to fight almost every weekend to make sure nothing worse," the word dripping in venom, "happened to him. So he fought like an animal, only the pure instinct to survive. That's how the legend of The Beast of Baltimore was born," she almost spat the words out like poison.

That was when it clicked with Cecilia, all the times he had flinched when she said words like beast or dog. Those scum must have called him that. She instantly hated herself.

"He later helped the FBI to break the ring and put some of the scumbags in prison, but I know he still hates himself for what he was forced to do. He doesn't want anyone to know what he used to be, but I guess this bitch is bringing it out unintentionally. My guess is that Jacky is still remorseful for his action, but in order for him to survive he had to strip his humanity when he entered a ring."

The room silent once again as all the girls tried to process the story. While everyone was in deep thought a cell phone began to ring, and Chifuyu pulled it out of her pocket to answer it.

"Orimura," she said answering it, "YOU FOUND HIM? WHERE IS HE?!"

All the girls were out of breath as they reached the IS maintenance bay. A small group students and Miss Yamada stood outside of one the repair rooms.

"Miss Orimura," Maya said as the group got closer, "he completely locked himself in. we've tried for a while but we can't get through."

Chifuyu walked up to the door to unlock it, but found all her codes did not unlock the door. Considering that the doors were designed to handle a worst case scenario of an IS exploding, there was no getting through. Only if Jackson opened the door or…

"I need to make a phone call," she groaned in defeat as she knew who she had to contact and pulled her phone out. She waited patiently, barely tolerating the annoying ring back tone.

"Hellooooooooo," a playful feminine voice answered, "how can the great Tabane assist you today Chi-chan?"

"Knowing you, you already know," she groaned in annoyance.

"Oh you mean about the local stud muffin showing up your last protégé, and has locked himself in an IS repair bay," the tone made Chifuyu's eyebrow's twitch in anger, "your silence tells me. 'That's right oh great and ever knowing Tabane, won't you please help me," Chifuyu was about to slam the phone to the ground in furry, "I would love to but he seems have pulled the network controls, so I have to do it in person."

"So when are you getting here?" her ability to tolerate her friend being pushed to the limit.

"I'm here!" the voice came as a tall woman with long pink hair, a curvy figure under a blue dress, and two mechanical bunny like ears on top of her head. She had a happy childlike smile on her face as she skipped forward, leaving everyone in shock as she hugged Houki.

"Oh baby sister how I missed you," she said swinging her around before letting her go to try and hug Chifuyu only to be met with a book hitting her, "you're so mean Chi-chan," she said with a pout.

"I'll skip the why are you here part until after you get this door open."

Before anyone could blink she already had the panel off the screen. Going through different menus.

"Oh he's good but not in the hacker way," she said aloud, "he manually disabled the program files from the door. But I am," there one click, "the greatest," she posed as she walked into the room closing and locking the door.

"Tabane. What the hell?!" Chifuyu shouted through the door.

"Sorry Chi-chan but I want to talk to him first," she shouted as she turned.

The first thing she noticed was loud, angry sounding music. The sound of the drums was very fast. Then she saw parts from old Gen 1 IS units laying around. Then in the repair station was Knock Down, but its back thruster unit was missing. Then, amongst the music, the sound of power tools on metal started to fill the room. She peeked her head around the frame holder to see the young man in a white t shirt almost skin tight. He was removing one of the many thrusters from the back unit, and next to him was a blue print titled Knock Down MK. II. This made her more curious. She looked and flipped through the designs to see that this upgrade had no back unit, but instead had small thrusters mounted throughout his body; such as the shoulders, hips, side of the shins, elbows.

"Hmmmm this is different," she said forgetting for a second why she was there.

"The mysterious Dr. Shinonono," Jackson said after removing another thruster, "how can I help you?"

"You can start by telling about this," she point the blue prints.

"Knock Down is not fast enough, at least not fast enough for me to realize its full potential."

"Oh are you some engineer?" She asked in a teasing manner.

"No," he points to a stack of books by his bag, "but I'm trying to show I'm more than my past."

"Well this is very ambitious, but the stress would be too much for the human body."

"Then call me test subject one," he said taking a soldering iron and a thruster.

"You're almost the perfect mix," she leaning over him as he worked with a giggle.

"Of what?' he asked to humor her.

"Of Chi-chan and me, strong and smart."

"I'm more of the opposite of you two. After all you two have capitalized on your success and your dreams, as for me I don't know what to dream of."

"Oh so what does the might Jackson want to do with his life?" she said sitting next to trying to figure this puzzle.

"To be honest I want to end it," her silence to his response was what he expected, "I know of your skills so I know you've found everything you could about me. From me being a child slave fighting for the perverse pleasure of the mob to being a 'repairman' for the Yakuza. These last few months have been the happiest moments of my life. Each of those women outside that door is destined for greatness, and me all I'm destined for is to be the fodder for some criminal organization. I know once I graduate here both the mob and Yakuza and any other criminal organization will try to grab me and use me. If they do, well I guess I'll just go to hell in a blaze of glory," he said in an honest yet emotionless tone, "it hurts knowing that in the end all I ever good at is causing pain on to other. From the kids I was forced to fight, to rival thugs as a Yakuza, and now I'm going to be the cause of those girl's pain," he looked at the scars on his wrist for a second, "it's why when I came to the school I said no more fighting. Maybe it could be the start of something better, but now me and Knock Down are the rising stars of the first year class. I've gotten letters from companies and countries trying to recruit me. But I'm not going to run from it, it will hurt but those girls are going to see the real me soon. The Beast of Baltimore, the dog designed for destruction. Once they see the real me, I'll go back being alone, hated, feared, and wanted only for my fist. Now Dr. Shinonono you are free to use and modify my design for future models, I honestly hope my body breaks to pieces in my next fight because I don't care anymore. You'll have to do a thorough go over of the number. Math is not my strong suit."

Tabane, no longer acting childish could feel his soul break into the smallest shards.

"Jackson let me help you," she tried to grab a tool, but was halted when he grabbed her wrist.

"No this time it's going to be me alone. If you really want to help me, then finish Houki's IS because she deserves to be the next Champion for Japan. Now if you'll please leave and tell the others I'm fine and I'll be busy till the tournament."

He didn't seemed phased by anything he said. Tabane stood there, dumfounded. This young man was working on his own demise, for the sake of hopelessness. That was it, he saw the hope in others to be better, but with him all he saw was nothing. She started to walk towards the door, but stopped as he put another thruster on the right leg.

"Jackson why tell me all this?" she asked with sadden seriousness.

"One, it's easy admitting the truth to someone you don't know. Two, you'll either tell them the truth of everything I just said or not tell them and just say that I'm working on the tournament, which is not a lie. And three, call it the ground to start building a strong relationship with your sister."

He heard the door open and close before anyone else could in. That's when he felt the tear slide his face. He was glad to finally admit what he tried to deny. A sad smile grew as he installed another thruster.

"You said no more running," he said to his IS, "but I'm going down swinging at some point."

Tabane and Chifuyu sat in her private office. When Tabane first walked out she put on a mask saying everything was fine, he was just doing maintenance to his IS. But Chifuyu saw right through her childish mask. Now that they were alone Tabane had broken down, and told Chifuyu everything. Soon Chifuyu joined her in crying, and from his perspective it did make since and that's what hurt. He was not acting like some broody teen, but as someone who was tired and broken.

"Chi-chan how can we stop him?" Tabane asked through her tears

"We're going to need a lot of help. Even those that are not worthy," she mumbled thinking of a certain blue haired teen, "we need to find a drive for him. He doesn't want to operate IS when he leaves here fine, but we have to find something."

Tabane and Chifuyu both dried their eyes, each showing a new passion.

"We need to gather the girls and Charles. We all need to be on the same page," Chifuyu said sending the message out.

"I'm worried about his new design," Tabane said thinking back, "while it will make him faster, it will also do great damage on his body."

Now came the moment that Chifuyu had dreaded. In front of her were all the girls that Jackson direct interactions, even Tatenashi sat in a chair almost in the corner and Charles in another seat. Now was when all the cards hand to played, if it meant saving the man that had wormed his way into their hearts.

"Now I called you all here make sure we are all on the same page. Everyone in this room has some connection to towards Jackson, even if they did more harm than good," she looked at Tatenashi with a glare, "and Charles it's time to come clean," she said making Charles start to sweat.

"What do you mean?" she asked nervously.

"Your IS tells me everything," Tabane said with her child like smile.

"What's going on?" Houki asked.

"My…my real names is Charlotte," she said quietly.

"Wait you're a girl, and you've been living with JACKY?!" Houki ended in a scream, "why were you

pretending to be guy?!"

"My father wanted me to learn why Jackson could use an IS, and work on trying to recruit him to his

company. But now I want to help Jacky?"

"Good, and I'm assuming that how the rest of you feel as well?" Chifuyu's answer was a nod from all the girls, "then it's time for all the truths to come out. Tabane tell them what really happened."

Tabane retold the events as they happed between her and Jackson. All the girls could not control their tears.

"GOD DAMMIT," Ling screamed as she punched the wall and collapsed to her knees, "he's broken now, truly broken."

"This is all your fault," Houki said almost venomously towards Cecilia.

"How is it my fault?"

"You're the one who could not stand the idea of him being an IS pilot. You belittled him as if you were better, and then pushed him to fight you. Had you not challenged him, he would have refused to be the Class Leader and he might have been working to do something other than fighting."

"HOUKI! That's enough of the blame game and now we have to be the ones to fix him and show him there is more to life," Chifuyu said trying to the strongest one.

"How?" Tatenashi asked, "how can we fix him when he doesn't want to be fixed. If what she said is true, then Jackson is right, all anyone outside this room will see him as is a tool for battle and show."

"What about dreams or goals," Tabane spoke up, "he has to have something."

"All he ever wanted was to be free," Ling said thinking about when tried to kill himself, "and what's more free than death? He's never been given the chance to try and think for anything other than that. He never talked about being famous, making money, or even being happy. All he ever wanted was freedom. So tell me Chifuyu how do we take a man that willing welcomes death and make him become selfish?"

The room was silent, no one could answer that. How do you make a person create a goal, a passion, a drive to move forward in life? Then Chifuyu had a small flashback to when Jackson first talked her. He said he always loved fixing things, but he loved cars.

"We need to find his favorite car," Chifuyu said with determination.

"A car?" Houki said confused, "I don't think a car is going to be a saving grace."

"It is if he has to fix it," she said with sly smile that Ling caught up with.

"You sly fox," Ling said.

"Ok I'm confused," Bella said speaking the mind of some of the girls.

"If Jacky gets a hold of a car and fixes it, it will be beyond car show worthy. Jacky would love to do nothing but work on cars all day. We get one project car and use that as way to show him he doesn't have to only fight."

"That would explain why I've seen him watch an old show called 'Top Gear'."

"Step 1 we need to find out what his favorite car is, and for added motivation I'll allow the winner to stay with him in the same room."

Out of nowhere all the girls had a fire to their eyes.

"Now when the tournament is over we will start, but until then no matter how he acts in the arena we have to show him we care. Everyone get it?"

Her answer was a nod from all the girls.

AN: ok back to the emotional past, before the tournament. But now I want to hear from everyone in the reviews some ideas for cars now. Along with that, a new poll will be up to determine who will win their little competition. Also still looking for any submissions for the Cover art. Again the best submission will be rewarded with a character in the story. HD popping smoke.