Chapter #6 - Prove Yourself

- Lucas, Lucas, Lucas! – A figure said while shaking the dizzy young man due to the blow he had taken.

- Rafa...she – Lucas slowly regained his senses, and his first words were the name of the young woman due to the occurrences.

There were three soldiers near Lucas while the doorman and Lourdes assisted the young man; the soldiers were assessing the situation.

- So, it was those three again, right, José? – The soldier near the doorman asked.

- The doorman reported what he could see, and based on the descriptions, it matches the profile of those three, man.

- What a mess, let's start tomorrow then – the soldier asked again. Suddenly, a couple appeared, and the man in his fine suit shouted at the soldiers.

- Tomorrow? My daughter could be God knows where, and you're only going to start looking tomorrow? DO YOUR JOB!! – The man said angrily.

Lucas was getting up with Lourdes' help when the woman approached him and grabbed him by the shirt collar, threatening him.

- Where did you put our daughter, you little piece of shit? What have you done with our little princess? - The woman shook Lucas, who was still dizzy. Lourdes then grabbed the woman's right wrist and made her release Lucas.

- I demand that you be arrested until they find my daughter, and after that, I want you never to see her again, and I will make sure you never get anything in your shitty life...

- Listen here, rich spoiled lady! Clean your mouth to talk about my kid. – Lourdes slapped the woman's face, who thought about retaliating, but Lucas stepped between them to separate the argument.

- Don't worry, Mom, check your heart! – Lucas said, slowly turning to look at Rafaela's mother with the most terrifying face he could make at that moment.

"This kid... What kind of pressure is this?"

The terrified woman backed away, screaming for help. The soldiers, who had seen everything, approached and checked if the woman was okay, and she demanded that they arrest Lucas. They were about to do so when Rafaela's father approached and cursed at his wife:

- This is why I said we should move; look at the kind of trash friends she has in these places... Lucas didn't want and didn't accept the situation, but the guards exerted force, and Lucas was yielding until Demétrio appeared behind him.

- Release my young apprentice, soldiers. – They recognized him, but they were reluctant – NOW!!!

They let go of Lucas, who stood by Demétrio's side.

- Who are you two? – Demétrio asked, pointing to Rafaela's parents. The man didn't like Demétrio's tone and approached him, putting his finger in Demétrio's face, replied:

- I don't owe you any explanation!

Demétrio slowly leaned forward and, in a low tone, said:

- My shadow usually likes to get rid of people who irritate me, do you want to be one more for my statistics? – Demétrio was serious, and even Lucas was scared.

The man retreated in fear. Demétrio touched Lucas's shoulder and pointed in the direction of Lourdes, and Lucas interpreted that he should stay close to her, so he did. A few minutes of low words, argument, and a crime scene report later, the parents got into a car and left.

"I honestly understand now why Rafaela finds several things to avoid staying at home."

Demétrio approached Lucas, who was thinking, and nudged him.

- Young Lucas, do you know anything about the Triple D?

- Only the names, I know they have shadows and do whatever they want in this area. – Lucas replied quickly.

- What do you think might happen to her if we take too long to find her? – Demétrio asked.

- They are very libertine men. I'm afraid they might abuse her. Demétrio saw Lucas's concern on his face, but he knew what could happen if the New Force followed standard protocols.

- Do you have any idea where to find them?

- No, sir! I just know that before they knocked me out, they went down that street. – Lucas said, pointing to the mentioned street.

- Miguel and his deduction would help a lot now; what a pain in the ass this situation... – Demétrio exclaimed. Lucas then proposed going together and starting the search quickly, but Demétrio didn't like the idea.

- I will investigate with my squad now, but unofficially, keep total secrecy. Here, take this. In Lucas's hands was a communicator with four direct contacts: Matheus, Luíza, Demétrio, and Hiroshi - It's natural for us to have this, so I'll keep you informed.

- But sir... – Lucas questioned, but was interrupted by a concerned Demétrio.

- No more, Lucas! Lucas nodded and joined Lourdes with a lot of anger, sadness, and negative thoughts due to the possibilities of what could happen to Rafaela.

10 minutes later...

Demétrio was in front of the building when a couple arrived in a car, a woman and a man with glasses. Demétrio greeted them, and both left quickly.

"That must be his squad. Maybe that's why Matheus and Luíza, they are my squad! Wait, that's it...Luíza has Rafaela's number, and if I can quickly hack into the location system Lore uses on Rafaela, I can find her."

Lourdes saw Lucas running away from home but couldn't prevent the escape. Through the streets, Lucas called Matheus and Luíza, after several attempts, Matheus answered.

- Lucas? – Matheus said with a sleepy voice!

- Hi! Yes, it's me. Can you help me? Rafaela was kidnapped by a local gang, and she's in danger, can you...

- Hellooooo... – Luíza connected. Lucas repeated the situation to her, and she passed the number to Lucas, who, while running to the house of a programmer he knew was awake at that hour, passed the address to his two colleagues.

- JP! Lucas here, man, I need a favor, can you open the door? The programmer opened it; it was a small but welcoming house.

- Hey Lucas, what's up, bro? – JP asked.

- Can you lend me a laptop to hack into a system real quick? JP made a face, laughed, and pointed to a machine.

Lucas quickly went to work on his plan. In a few moments, Lucas received a signal and pointed to a tenement 15 minutes away. He grabbed a jacket from his friend to cover the recruit shirt, thanked him, and hurriedly left. At the door, Lucas saw Matheus and Luíza arriving together in a luxury car.

He joined them, and they showed the address to the driver, who followed the indicated route.

- What's the plan, kid? – Luíza asked.

- First, don't call me that. Second, we can't get there with this car, at least not too close.

- Sebastian, drop us off in a strategic location, please. – Matheus requested – Luíza is right, man, we're already in trouble just by coming here without telling anyone!

- Luíza, I plan to get close and confirm the position, then inform them. If you need to, you can unleash your shadows, and I can't even do that, so I'll focus on getting both of them out of there as quickly as possible.

Matheus scratched his head, showing total discomfort with Lucas's idea.

- Lucas, let's do the following: we can try to cut the power, throw a stone at the window, something to disrupt and distract to gain time. We can't just cause trouble to save someone!

Lucas noticed Luíza's coldness and thought she didn't seem like the same person he had met earlier.

- Luíza, I know, but if we do nothing, she might be violated or even worse. – Lucas said, expressing his concern.

Matheus looked at Luíza and gestured as if to say to trust Lucas.

The car stopped, and the three young people got out of the car, which turned off its headlights and slowly retreated to a nearby corner.

- Sebastian, pretend you're not there, but start the car immediately when we leave.

The driver nodded, and the three young people began to walk, another 20 meters until they reached the location. The lighting was not very good, and Matheus noticed this, signaling to his friends to be careful with the noise, as it could attract Zeks in the area.

Matheus pointed to a back entrance, and Lucas immediately ran crouched to the door. Luíza followed, but more slowly, and Matheus stayed outside, observing the perimeter while circling the building.

Inside, the smell was of nicotine, drugs, and alcoholic beverages. Luíza was close to Lucas, and in one of the rooms, Lucas saw Lore's hat hanging on a door. With a wrong move, Lucas almost lost his balance and fell to the ground if it weren't for Luíza helping him.

Luíza took the lead and with her gentle hands opened a crack in the door. She could see Lore and Rafaela tied to two beds, side by side. There was a door in the right corner of the room, and Luíza whispered that she believed it to be the bathroom, meaning nothing had happened to the young woman and her driver.

- Demétrio? Demétrio? – Lucas tried to communicate with his teacher, still without success, until about two minutes later, he answered.

- Lucas, calm down. I still don't have information. Clues pointed to a place in the neighboring neighborhood, and that's where a man resembling one of the Triple D members was seen.

- And where are you now? – Lucas asked.

- About 40 minutes from your house, why the question? Don't plan on doing anything irresponsible, right?

- No, sir! I'll wait...

Lucas, astonished, looked at Luíza, who showed that she had heard too. Matheus, still outside, asked the two what would be done then. Lucas knew what needed to be done, but he also knew that it wasn't the right thing to do because it would put the lives of both of them and his friends at risk.

- We'll have to rescue them without help and avoiding combat as much as possible. We only know that one of them is here taking a shower. Any suggestions? – Lucas asked.

Luíza looked around and seemed to have an idea. With a few movements, she opened the main door of the place.

- Matheus, is there any Zek you can lead here? – Luíza asked.

- Come on... I was at peace at home, and now I'm bait for you guys? – Matheus grumbled.

- Matheus! – Luíza said in an authoritative tone.

- Give me a few quick minutes, and I'll show up with someone! – Matheus replied. Lucas looked at

Luíza, who signaled to start walking and go upstairs to get closer to the door. Lucas and Luíza heard a voice from the room where Rafaela was, and steps approaching the door Luíza had opened a crack with her shadow. Lucas thought he would be discovered there, but suddenly Luíza knocked loudly on the adjacent door just as the man came out of Rafaela's room.

The door Luíza hit opened at the same time as the man left Rafaela's room; they both found the situation strange, exchanged greetings, and closed their doors.

"The time is running out, what do I do? What do I do? What do I do?"

Lucas was scattered, and Luíza noticed, so she nudged her colleague, and he asked what to do.

- What's the shadow of the person inside the room?

- From the voice, it's Alex, it's a Horse, his shadow. But the voice of the person next door was the one who knocked me out; it's a Leopard. Luíza took a deep breath, stood up, fixed her hair, and headed towards the room next door.

- Matheus?

Breathless, Matheus replied that he would arrive in 2 minutes.

- Lucas, you and I just have to hold this time; let's kick the doors and go down quickly. It will be the right time for the Zek to arrive. In the confusion, take the other staircase and rescue them while Matheus and I cover you. Lucas agreed and positioned himself in front of the door of the room.

- 1, 2... 3!

Lucas and Luíza kicked the doors, which opened quickly, and Alex saw Lucas, cursed, and ran towards him. While Luíza dodged a leopard's attack that flew downstairs just as a dog-like Tezek appeared, breaking everything, Lucas faced Alex.

- Aren't you the little brat from earlier? – Alex asked, already manifesting a horse shadow, advancing towards Lucas, who jumped to the side to dodge the attack but miscalculated, falling where the shadow and Tezek were fighting below.

He ended up falling downstairs amidst the two predators, who stopped and stared at him. Lucas quickly got up but was hit by the Tezek's fist when he tried to move.

- Lucas! – Matheus exclaimed, manifesting his bow and shooting arrows at the wounded Tezek, which turned and attacked Matheus. However, Luíza intervened, manifesting a shield in front of him.

- Matheus, step back! – Luíza said, fighting against the henchman who had knocked out Lucas earlier.

Lucas ran upstairs, where Alex stood at the door, rushing towards Lucas. With a jump followed by a crossed hammer blow, Alex attempted to hit Lucas, who just ducked and passed straight into the room.

Lucas ran fast enough to reach Rafaela and removed the cloth tied to the young girl's mouth, who was desperate.

- I'll save you! I promise. – Lucas said to the girl, whose eyes were teary.

A hand pulled Lucas backward, and as he fell to the ground, a banging noise was heard. Lucas looked at his hand; it was the broken bracelet.

"Now it's all or nothing. Let my sword appear!"

Lucas manifested his sword, but Alex didn't seem surprised. He opened a cupboard and pulled out a sharp sword.

"Really? The guy took out a Katana from a cupboard?"

Alex, wielding his katana, charged towards Lucas with a upward strike aimed at Lucas's neck. On reflex, Lucas placed his sword horizontally in front of him.

- Oh... So, you know how to play? – Alex said, now seeming interested in the fight.

Lucas was pushed back and lost his balance a bit due to fatigue from training at the Academy. He was then surprised by a direct kick to the face, managing to only put his forearm in front to mitigate the impact.

Now, downstairs, Matheus was assisting Luíza in the fight against Ricardo and his leopard.

- Wake up, Fábio! – Ricardo shouted.

Matheus and Luíza looked at each other, finding the opportunity to attack. When Matheus shot an arrow towards Ricardo, Luíza advanced. Suddenly, a gorilla broke in and tossed Luíza out of the building, but she enveloped herself in a shield to defend against the impact, and the damage was minimal.

Moments after Luíza dropped her shield, she could see the situation, and it was not a good scenario for them. It was 3 against 3, the building didn't seem to be in good condition due to the gorilla's attack, and people were running out of the tenement.

- This noise isn't good! – Matheus said.

- Lucas, we can't delay. Tezeks might show up here. – Luíza spoke.

Lucas got distracted by all the commotion for a moment, and if it weren't for his reflex to jump backward, Alex would have made Lucas bleed from shoulder to waist with a diagonal blow.

- Hey, kid! – Alex shouted to Lucas.

Lucas quickly focused on attacking him with a diagonal descending strike, but Alex defended himself and quickly countered. Lucas forcefully blocked the attack, and the clash of swords began.

Alex didn't seem to be exerting himself, unlike Lucas, who was compensating for his lack of combat experience with speed. However, Lucas's body seemed unable to maintain that pace for much longer.

On the right, Matheus was advancing to shorten the distance between him and Ricardo. However, the leopard was manifested so quickly that Matheus couldn't prepare an arrow and took a paw strike. Still, he quickly got up and launched another attack, but with preparation, he shot an arrow at Ricardo, who narrowly dodged it.

- This kid is good... – Ricardo thought, and his shadow dissipated.

Suddenly, Matheus was in front of him in the air, giving him a kick from below. Ricardo was thrown upwards, and with Matheus falling to the ground quickly, he aimed at his opponent's legs and released two arrows, but in another well-timed move, the leopard was manifested and used as a shield.

Luíza was already showing signs of her manifestations fading, fatigue was evident. Fábio took advantage of this to attack along with his gorilla.

A low kick, Luíza jumped to evade, but a brutal straight punch followed, and she manifested a shield in front of her, but it was broken, and she received the impact, being thrown far away.

The boys looked at their friend and tried to run towards her but were blocked by their adversaries.

Lucas then turned and remembered how Miguel used to fight.

"Speed, speed, and lots of speed, Lucas."

Lucas shot forward with a clear mind towards Alex, who was surprised by such speed in Lucas's brute charge. Alex's horse appeared, but Lucas spun to the left and maintained his constant speed. Now, with a short distance, Lucas, who seemed to be in a trance, began to unleash blows, alternating the directions and angles, leaving Alex on the defensive.

"Suddenly, this kid learned to fight?" 

- What's your deal, kid? – Alex asked, but Lucas didn't respond.

Between Matheus and Ricardo, the scenario was different. While Ricardo advanced, aware of the deficit his opponent had, Matheus made arrows and, with acrobatics, dodged the leopard and its master, who demonstrated innate mastery of martial techniques.

"If I keep this up, I'll get tired, but if I shorten it, I'll have to go fist to fist. Can I bring just the arrows? Let's go..." 

Matheus executed a side flip, evading a leopard attack attempting to strike him with its front paws. Closing the distance, Matheus delivered a sequence of punches, while Ricardo either dodged or defended, but Matheus kept up a ferocious sequence.

"Jab, Straight, Right hook and left hook, repeat, Jab, Straight, Right hook and left hook."

The leopard leaped over Matheus, who crouched down and manifested arrows, plunging them like daggers into the dissipating shadow. Quickly, using his punch sequence, Matheus took the lead and set the pace, but nothing seemed to have an effect since Ricardo was physically superior.

Meanwhile, Luíza was still cornered. Despite the numerous manifestations Protectors could use, she was exhausted. Fábio and his gorilla were relentless and well-coordinated. Luíza couldn't keep up with their aggressive combat style as her training didn't cover this more intense form of fighting.

Luíza slipped under the gorilla in a gap she noticed and, with a perfect sequence of "Rolê," typical Capoeira moves, Luíza unbalanced the Tamer. Still mid-motion, she managed to turn, manifesting a small shield in a disc shape and hurled it at the gorilla's head, causing it to dissipate after being decapitated.

Fábio looked and realized that neither he nor Luíza was in good condition to manifest, so they engaged in an intense exchange of blows. Despite Luíza's speed, Fábio countered each strike with solid body defense.

Returning to the left, there was Lucas who took two superficial X-shaped cuts on his chest. For a moment, Lucas seemed to be ahead in the fight; both he and Alex knew it. However, it appeared that Lucas had already returned from that trance state, and his body felt even heavier.

With a harsher clash of swords, Alex knocked Lucas down, and his sword was dissipated.

- You dueled well, kid! – Alex said, about to deliver a finishing blow to the young man.

Luíza, catching a glimpse of her friend's situation, performed a sequence of three aerial kicks, sending herself backward and manifesting a shield over Lucas at the right moment. This provided an opportunity for Lucas to sweep Alex's legs and stand up again.

However, Luíza, in turn, found herself in trouble and collapsed from exhaustion. As Fábio was about to strike her, a figure in a white overcoat appeared between them, blocking the blow and delivering a punch back to Fábio, who evaded and distanced himself.

Luíza saw a woman with long, straight black hair in front of her, manifesting a spear almost her own size.

- Leave it to me now, young one! – The woman exclaimed, rushing toward Fábio, who quickly manifested his shadow by his side.

At the same time, a New Force soldier appeared between Matheus and Ricardo, manifesting eight daggers between his fingers. His gaze seemed cold and calculating.

- The kid, step back; I'll finish this scum now. – The soldier ordered.

Lucas and Alex continued their sword duel with speed until Lucas lost the stability of his shadow and was about to take a cut. However, a Claymore sword appeared between them. Demétrio had arrived to help, and Lucas could see Demétrio's face expression, which conveyed only one thing, "DEATH."

- Young Lucas, retreat, join your friends, and get the hostages upstairs. – Demétrio ordered.

- Sir, I apologize... – Lucas began.

- I won't repeat the orders! – Demétrio shouted.

Lucas immediately complied and joined Matheus and Luíza. Both were injured and didn't seem to be in good shape.

- We have to get Rafaela and Lore now. – Matheus said.

- Demétrio just told me the same. – Lucas replied.

- Then let's go! I don't know how much longer I can stand. – Luíza grumbled.

With difficulties, they circumvented the three intense duels that were exploding and entered the tenement again. Due to the noises, no one had seen the two tied-up women there. Rafaela, who was crying a lot, looked at Lucas untying her and noticed that he was injured and bleeding due to various cuts from Alex.

- Ready... It's over, Rafaela. – Lucas said, sitting exhausted beside the bed. – We need to escape from here quickly.

Rafaela jumped off the bed and, disregarding everything around her, grabbed Lucas and enveloped him in a hug. Lucas could feel every part of his body hurting.

- I thought that... I thought that... – Rafaela sobbed and cried in Lucas's arms.

Lucas was stunned, as he had never experienced something like that before. Matheus and Luíza untied Lore, who had a wound on her head, and both helped the driver stand up.

- Let's go! – Luíza ordered.

Lucas and Rafaela got up and nodded in agreement with the order, following the trio. In the middle of the escape, Rafaela held Lucas's hands, leaving him completely embarrassed, but it was not the time for that.

When they got outside, it was visible how fiercely the battles between the soldiers and the Triple D were escalating. Demétrio, with his shadow and brute strength, dominated Alex in the duel, but Alex managed to keep up with the soldier's speed, even being on the defensive. The soldier with daggers had already immobilized his opponent and now delivered a strong punch to knock out his adversary.

In the midst of it all, the spearwoman cleaved the gorilla in half, causing it to dissipate. Its Tamer was exhausted, but even so, he rushed at the soldier who interposed the long spear handle in front of the attack, defending herself. In the corner of the battle, the five tried to escape, but Alex saw them and manifested his horse toward them. They began trying to run.

 - Lucas? – Matheus asked.

- I can't manifest. – Lucas affirmed. – Luíza?

- Neither can I!

It was a desperate situation; the weakened youths ran, and the horse approached. As it was about to get close enough to attack, a car appeared and ran over the shadow, which quickly dissipated. It was Sebastian, who arrived at the exact moment.

- I love you, Sebastian! – Matheus exclaimed happily.

- Hihihihihiihi. – Smiled the already elderly driver. – Where to, sir?

- To West Academy, and as fast as possible, Sebastian! – Matheus ordered.

So, they began to get into the car, but Lucas saw something that frightened him. Demétrio had also won his duel and didn't show any signs of exhaustion.

But the fight between Fábio and the female soldier had taken a different turn. Despite one of Fábio's ears being torn off, the soldier was now more on the defensive. It was when Demétrio and the other soldier came to help that Fábio's gorilla slammed hard on the ground, causing the construction debris, now collapsing, to raise dust.

There was so much dust that Lucas couldn't see what had happened. He had entered the car, and it swiftly started with a rapid engine rev. Still on the battlefield, Demétrio made some spinning movements to disperse the dust. The soldier, Lavínia, could see and imitated Demétrio. He noticed her and asked:

- Lavínia, are you okay?

- Yes, sir, but he escaped. 

- Igor? - Demétrio inquired - Are you okay?

A voice from the background responded: 

- YES, SIR!

Demétrio was relieved by the well-being of his squad but had dissatisfaction with two points in this whole story – Lucas and the Triple D's escape.

"He disobeyed me! Punishment, but he wanted to protect his friend. Even breaking rules, he did what I would have done in his place. I need to appear impartial." 

A FEW MOMENTS LATER...

The dust had settled, and people crowded around the soldiers present as reinforcements arrived. Many were outraged, while others were just afraid.

"It's in this world that I wish he hadn't entered, but now with this, I know they will hunt this boy until they get revenge. I need to prepare him for what's to come."

Joining his squad, Demétrio, in a car, headed to the Academy. After a few minutes, he arrived at the location and saw the car carrying Matheus, deducing there were wounded. He was about to check on them when he was interrupted along the way.

It was Felipe, the guy who informed Demétrio about missions, investigations, and other matters.

- Tell me, Felipe, but be quick! - Said Lavínia, who was beside Demétrio.

- Yes, ma'am! - Exclaimed Felipe, fearful - The facility received information about Miguel!

- Tell me then! - Demétrio requested - Is he okay?

Felipe's face suddenly turned sad, and his words left Demétrio extremely concerned about his former apprentice.

- What do you mean, maybe he was captured? – Demetrius exclaimed.

- He left for an operation in one of the points indicated as potential places of refuge and until then neither he nor his squad returned a message.

Lavinia and Igor hadn't understood, but Demétrio did, as he knew Miguel as a child and accompanied him from the beginning of his journey and he was the one who took care of Miguel's family's case.

- Lúcio murdered Miguel's parents and now that same Lúcio has the now grown child of an unfinished crime as a hostage. I need to act soon, before it's too late for him.

Demétrio was not one to express his concerns, but at that time the size of his concern was obvious, as he knew that Lúcio was dangerous and even more so than anyone in Triple D, as he alone had already killed more than 50 people in just 3 years. .

- I'll talk to the young people first and we'll start the investigations.

A few hallways later...

In the infirmary, the 5 were being attended to by nurses when Demétrio entered the room showing total dissatisfaction with what had happened.

- In position! – Shouted the soldier.

Matheus and Luíza soon got in front of Demétrio and Lucas soon after as well, as it took a while to assimilate what was to be done.

- Whose idea was it? – Demetrius questioned.

- It's my fault, sir! – Lucas responded quickly.

- Do you have the slightest idea of what could have happened to you and all of them here in this room if my squad and I hadn't arrived in time?

- I have sir...

- IT DOES NOT SEEM! – Demetrio shouted – There would be no rescue! There would be no nurse! Do you know why? You would be DEAD!

Matheus and Luíza looked at Lucas, even though they had helped him, they didn't want to hear the scolding.

- Lucas, I know very well that your attitude wasn't bad, you wanted to save the one you love.

Lucas was downcast, not because he was sad or embarrassed by the situation, but because he thought he did the right thing.

- Sir...

- Say Matheus.

- Lucas didn't have that initiative. He wasn't able to sleep due to worry, so I tried to help him with something by locating her.

At this moment Lucas, surprised, looked at Matheus.

- So I created a plan to locate the suspects and call you. – Said Luíza, completing her friend's speech – But a Tezek appeared and caused a mess and they ended up recognizing Lucas, which ended up taking us to that scene where you found it.

Demétrio stared at the 3 of them there and when he was about to speak, he was once again interrupted by Rafaela.

- Sir, I don't know if they acted right or wrong, but they saved us. Neither Lore nor I would be here if it weren't for them. – Rafaela said while she shed some tears – I don't know what could have happened to me, please don't be harsh with those who risked their lives for me.

Demetrius took a deep breath and began to speak:

- I understand...This attitude cannot be repeated, you hear? I cannot let this irresponsibility go unnoticed. – Demetrius patted each one on the head and said – Train so that next time you will be the ones to save another squad.

Matheus, Luíza were relieved, Rafaela was happy, Lucas, but he still remained quiet.

- I'm going on an important mission, don't kill each other while I'm gone and Lucas... You did well for the first mission!

Demétrio left the room and Matheus came to talk to Lucas so he wouldn't get upset and Lucas explained that he was worried about the 3 who ran away and how this could harm Lourdes.

- You look like you carry the world on your shoulders, Lucas, you know that? – Rafaela said as she hugged Lucas from behind – You and your friends were heroes.

Suddenly Rafaela's parents enter the room, who have already entered insulting Lucas, but between them Rafaela remains, on one side Lucas and on the other the words of a snobbish couple.

- Daughter, let's go now! – Said the father.

- No! What do you think Lucas did? Did you mistreat me? Did he curse me? – Rafaela said – He saved me, he put his own life at risk for a person he only met a short time ago.

- Don't you understand, daughter, that you can't be part of this type of friendship circle? What will our business partners think? – Complained the mother.

- Serious? That's what matters? The company's image needs to stay well in print, but my daughter, let it chip away! That it was a beggar who saved me, I just wanted to be saved, I just wanted to get out of that place, that man was going to mistreat me and do you care about the company?

Rafaela was crying and her parents tried to approach the young girl, but were stopped by Luíza.

- Mr. Sol, it would be very sad if I had to talk to my favorite uncle and tell him the story I'm seeing here, I think your sector 37 in the southeast region would lose too many supplies, don't you think?

Astonished, Rafaela's father showed that he knew Luíza, Lucas looked at the situation while helping Rafaela to recover.

- Mr. Lucas... We ask for excuses for the facts.

Lucas still with a dead look nodded his head.

- Daughter, can we talk a little alone, outside or here? – Mom asked.

Rafaela asked Lucas, Luíza and Matheus for a few minutes and leaving the room Lucas saw Demétrio talking something to his squad and they seemed worried about something...