The Future is Ours

Eighteen

As soon as they were away from prying ears, Ernesto released what he had been holding back for so long.

"I don't like this. I'm a revolutionary! A man of the people! What do they take me for? Trying to butter me up with some fancy title when in reality they're asking me to go against everything I stand for! I won't take it, my Chi Chi, no I won't! I will not be complacent whilst they try and destroy our freedoms! I will not have Kimmy and Alfonso growing up in a world where they can't speak up against their oppressors!"

Holly nodded her head in agreement. "You're not going to like this suggestion, Ern, but I think you should as your dad for help. He's had expedience with this kind of thing."

Ernesto debated for a while, his mind going back to the First Teen War.

**********

"Ernesto! Jeremy! Marco! Move!" Rat commanded as the 3 teenage boys jumped up and over their barricades, further into the mayhem in front of them. It was a sea of of their red berets and Kylie's purple armbands.

The teen parents had been in their dimension for 2 months now. And it had been 2 months of war. Fizzy, the previous dictator, was struggling to hold onto power. Cracks in his system of terror were starting to show. He was becoming weak, and the children were taking advantage. It was only a matter of time before he was overthrown.

Upon the return of the teen parents, the Revolution Party had disbanded. With Ernesto no longer having a party to lead, he joined the Resistance, a militant group determined on bringing Fizzy down. It was led by his teen dad, Rat (although, at the time, neither of them knew this). The Resistance wanted to lead the country into a new age of peace and equality, where no child was discriminated against and everyone was treated fairly. To do this, they needed to become rulers of the country and prevent anyone from overthrowing their government. But, as was the Resistance's way, this would be done peacefully.

They weren't the only ones wanting to come to power, though. Their main opposition was Kylie, a teen parent with the ability to bewitch all she met and manipulate them into following her commands. Already she had great power; most of the teen parents supported her and her fight. She spread anti-Sparticle propaganda, convincing people that they were the reason they had been transported from the 80's to the 21st century. That they were the enemy, that they should be feared. And to prevent anymore damage, she promised that she would lock up the tribe and throw away the keys if she was to become Queen. It was horrid, and yet it seemed that people agreed with her.

Ernesto wouldn't, though. He would never let his Chi Chi be captured. And if that meant risking his life to prevent her coming to power, then so be it.

He rolled down a muddy hill, using a bin as cover whilst he peered around a corner. He could hear screams in the distance as Kylie's loyal henchmen went about attacking their opposition. He looked over next to him where Jeremy crouched, gesturing for him to move forward so they could ambush the soldiers in front of them. He nodded, and they both crawled out, remaining undetected before they pounced!

"Kylie will never win!" Jeremy shouted as they went about attempting to restrain and tie them up. But they wouldn't hurt them; that wasn't the Resistance way.

"ERNESTO!" A voice screamed in his direction.

He could recognise that voice anywhere - Holly. He looked up from where he stood with his arms wrapped around one of Kylie's men, all thoughts of the revolution gone from his head. There she stood, being dragged kicking and screaming into the back of a police van along with the rest of the Sparticles.

"MY CHI CHI!" He yelled, letting his captive go as he sprinted across the battlefield, desperate to get back to his love, to rescue her from imprisonment.

She managed to free herself for a moment, taking a few strides towards him before a big, burly man was wrapping his arms around her waist, picking her up and dragging her away.

"RUN, ERN!" She screamed to him, desperation in her voice, as the police van door was shut on her face and the van sped off.

He stopped in his tracks, realising only now how vulnerable he was to the attacks of Kylie's troopers. He looked around, watching as many of the Resistance retreated, their peaceful revolution being defeated.

"And I announce that, on this day, the right honourable troops of Kylie have defeated Fizzy's government and now take power over the whole of the United Kingdom. Furthermore, I crown myself Queen Kylie the First!" Kylie's voice boomed down a megaphone, voice bellowing across the battlefield. "BOW DOWN BEFORE YOUR QUEEN!"

Ernesto took the opportunity to run back to their escape car along with the rest of his team. Being associated with the Sparticles, he knew he had a target on his back. Kylie had won; they had to come up with a new game plan before they continued their attack. As the car pulled away, he watched as Fizzy was restrained by some soldiers, his face red from a mixture of anger, blood, and bruises.

"Who was that girl, Ern?" Marco asked, passing him an ice pack. He gratefully accepted, putting it against his face - he could already feel the black eye forming.

His heart sunk as he pictured Holly's frightened face, the guilt eating him up that he hadn't been able to protect her, protect any of his tribe.

"She's the girl I love." He replied, regretting that he had never been able to tell her that.

Rat stood up to talk to his team mates. "Guys, we tried. And we will continue to try. Kylie may have won this battle, but we will never give up the revolution! We put up a good fight, and I'm proud of each and every single one of you. Do NOT let this dishearten you. We ARE the Resistance. We are the HOPE this country needs. And we WILL beat Kylie!"

His speech was met with cheers from everyone. Rat was a great leader, and they couldn't ask for anyone better to help guide them through this battle. They knew that he was the one who would lead them to victory.

**********

Ernesto took Kimmy's hand in his own, knowing he would never let Holly or his daughter be put into harms way.

"You're right." He admitted. "We need my dad. He helped us defeat Kylie back in the teen wars. And now he can help us stop the government from messing up our country once more."