Short stories 3

III 11.ยบ 3

Short Story Title Theme Setting - Description of where and when the story takes place and also the background Characters Identify the main character(s) Identify the other characters Characters' description: Physical Traits; Psychological Traits Characters' relationships Plot - The sequence of events that make up the story (Summary) You can give emphasis to the conflict/rising action that is usually the heart of the short story; the climax that is the point of greatest tension or intensity; any turning point that is a change in the conflict and the solution/resolution that is the end of the story.

Instead of a solution you can finish your story with an open ending, asking the listeners to wonder what might happen; or you can finish it with a surprise ending, not fulfilling the listeners' expectations.

In your story you can add flashbacks, going back into the past to describe a scene that is relevant to the plot.

It is important to create an atmosphere - feeling or mood.

You can add images and music.

Teacher Graรงa

Lost in Control

Constança, Daniela, Daníria e Íris - 11.º 3

Pierre As soon as the new “Control Z” game came out, I ran out of my house and immediately bought it. With the recent advances in technology, using a special helmet, players can now be fully submerged in the game, as if it was their reality. So, I grabbed my helmet, laid down in bed, and prepared myself for the ride ahead.

When I opened my eyes, it was as if I was in a completely different world. The game was set during a medieval time, so everything around me was new and strange. There were long streets dedicated to trading and little shops with flowers and banners decorating them. The surrounding atmosphere was serene and relaxing, almost as if I was in a dream. I decided to go around and explore a bit and, after a few hours, I could say I was familiar with my surroundings.

I discovered a few other places, with the most notable being a few little hotels, where players could sleep and live with friends. Deciding I had had enough for one day, I decided to go back to spawn and exit the game. As soon as I got there I overheard a strange conversation: -Hey, can you log off? I think something is wrong. When I try to leave, nothing happens. – Said a small Asian girl. Concerned about this new information, I clicked the logging off option a few times. Nothing happened.

-This is so strange, I have to get back! My parents are waiting for me to have dinner. - Replied the boy next to her. Wanting to know more information, I tried to approach them, but a tall, muscular boy got there first.

-I’ve been trying to leave for hours, but to no avail. I think we’re stuck here.

– That couldn’t be true right? I decided to voice my feelings.

-That’s not possible. I mean, we obviously have to leave. There’s no way we can live inside a game forever.- After arguing for a few minutes we decided to head back to the hotel and talk more calmly there. When we got to the entrance, a bubbly girl approached us.

-Hey, I’m Cat! I think I’m late to the party, I mean everyone already formed their groups and I don’t want to be alone. You guys seem cool so, mind if I join you? – Yuna, the small girl, immediately responded.

-Sure! We were just heading to our rooms so, you can come with us if you want.

– Ethan, the athletic boy, and Chris agreed. And, just like that, our new friendship began.

Ethan Two months have passed since that day, and we have developed a steady routine. Every day, when we wake up, Yuna and I go to the forest to train, since we’re both fighters. Cat, being a mage, goes to town to buy books and trains her spells. Since Pierre is a healer and Chris is a strategist, they both stay at home or close to it. During this time we’ve realized a couple of things.

Although we’re stuck here, it doesn’t mean we can’t live our regular lives. A lot of people have decided to try and make the most out of this situation and have gotten jobs at the local stores, run by NPCs. Our group, however, has decided to try and investigate why we’re here. We were not the only ones with this idea, however, as time went on, we noticed a lot of the other groups just disappeared after going on raids or other fighting activities. Chris, being the smartest of our group, came to the conclusion that we must take damage in real life from our in game fights. Even though we have no way of confirming that theory, we have been trying to be more careful after that. That’s why, after a long day of fighting, we’re all huddled together near a bonfire, something we do every once in a while. Having gotten close to all of them, especially Yuna and Chris, I feel like I should tell them about my past. So, I take this opportunity and reluctantly say: -Hey, I feel like I should tell you guys something. – I feel Chris shift next to me, and I take a deep breath. – When I was young I was really close to my mom.

And I mean really, really close. She was everything to me. – I feel tears threatening to come out so I close my eyes. – One day, I decided to be a dumb kid and I went out to play, even though she warned me not to. I didn’t listen to her and I hurt myself horribly and started crying so, obviously, my mom came to me right away. And that was her mistake. She didn’t pay attention to her surroundings and, when a car came out of nowhere, she couldn’t move. She died. Right in front of my eyes. Because of me.

-Ethan, don’t say that. It’s obviously not your fault, she was just trying to help you. – I hear Yuna say.

-But that’s the thing. It was my fault. Because she was trying to help me, and that cost her everything. And I’m not the only one who shares this opinion. My father agrees with me. After her death he… became distant, and started drinking a lot. I won’t get into detail about him but, let’s just say he’s not a nice man. I just wanted you guys to know that I’m not perfect. I know I’m always smiling but, we all have bad days.

-You know what, I get you. I doubt everyone here has the perfect life. My parents are super strict and don’t respect my sexuality at all. – I see Pierre press her thigh to Yuna’s. – They tried to force me into a marriage, despite me only being 17. After that I shut them out completely and I turned to games as my coping mechanism. – Seeing Yuna showing us her more vulnerable side and knowing I’m not the only one with issues makes me feel better and I tell them that.

-My parents are nowhere near as bad as that, but they still make me feel awful sometimes. They think I’m useless because, according to them, I’m wasting my life away by playing games. They completely ignore that I have perfect grades and only focus on the bad things. It can get really frustrating sometimes. – I hear Chris confessing quietly. Suddenly, the mood around us shift.

-Everyone has issues, you just need to find a way to cope with them. I usually just choose not to care. I’m a chubby girl, and people have problems with that, and they don’t hesitate telling me. I love myself and honestly I couldn’t care less about those people. – Cat says. Hearing her strength makes me want to be a better person.

-Honestly I can’t say my parents are bad. I love them and they love me. They have never hurt me and I am very grateful for that. For a long time I felt like I didn’t know myself. That I was a complete stranger in my own body. But recently… – I see Pierre glancing at Yuna and quickly looking away. – I’ve been happier than ever. I think I’m finally being my true self.

After eating and noticing how exhausted we all were, we decided to head back home. I’ve never felt lighter in my entire life.

Pierre After that night a couple of weeks ago we’ve all been a lot closer to each other. However, our daily routine can’t stop, and that’s how I find myself picking some flowers and plants for my healing potions while Chris lays down on the grass. I see a few pretty flowers next to a shop and think about picking them up and giving them to Yuna. I quickly shut that down and try not to panic.

After a few minutes of debating with myself I suck it up and go over to the pink roses. I try to pick one up but it just won’t move. I try with another one and the same thing happens.

-Chris! Come here! – Chris lazily runs over.

-Do you need my help? Oh, those flowers are pretty. Are you finally going to give them to Yuna? – He snickers and I look away.

-Shut up. I was trying to but something weird keeps happening. It’s like they’re glued to the floor.

-Wait, let me try. – I watch as Chris tries, and remarkably fails at trying to pick the flowers up. – Hm, that’s strange. I think it’s a bug or something. – As soon as he said that the store owner, a friendly NPC came out.

-Oh hey! We were just about to leave, just having a little problem here. – Andrew, the NPC, usually chatty, didn’t say anything. He had a blank and cold look on his face. Out of the corner of my eye I see him lunging towards me and Chris’ shocked face, before everything turned dark.

Cat Today was definitely the worst day to come and train with Ethan and Yuna.

When we got back the house was empty, which was strange, because Chris and Pierre should have come back by now. Suddenly, we hear Chris yell and we run to the little park near the town. When we got there, Chris was struggling with Andrew on top of him, while Pierre was unconscious on the ground, blood covering half of her face and her torso. Before I could even react, Yuna was running towards Pierre and Ethan threw a knife at the shop owner, which made him fall back. Using this opportunity I used an immobility spell on him while Ethan finished him off. I run to Chris to make sure he’s okay.

-Chris, what’s happening here? Why did Andrew suddenly became violent? NPCs aren’t supposed to react like that.

-I have no idea. He just attacked Pierre out of the blue. I tried stopping him but I wasn’t fast enough.

I see Yuna carrying Pierre and I realize that we have no way of healing her, since none of us are trained in that field.

-What are we going to do? We have to go to the local infirmary. She’s losing a lot of blood. – I say.

-I’ll carry her there. Can you teleport me there? Please – Yuna asks, desperation clear on her face. I do as she says and watch them disappear.

Yuna As soon as I enter the infirmary, everyone’s attention turns to me. People here are not used to this kind of injury, so the process of starting her treatment

was a little hectic. When she stabilized, I was allowed into her room to be with her. The state she was in scared me. The usual Pierre I know and love was looked pale and sick. I sit down next to her and start stroking her hair.

-You’re so dumb. You scared me so much. Don’t ever do that again. – I say to a sleeping Pierre. She started moving and I grabbed her hand.

-Pierre? Are you awake? – She murmured some incoherent words and finally opened her eyes.

-Yuna… What happened?

-Andrew attacked you out of the blue. We have no idea why, but Chris is working on it.

-Oh. – Still kind of dazed because of her medication, she said – You know, I was trying to pick some flowers to give you. I thought you’d like them. They were so pretty, just like you. – Yuna stilled at her confession. Did this mean Pierre liked her? She leaned in and asked, barely audible: -Can I kiss you?

-Yes. – Pierre breathed out. So I grabbed her face like it was the only thing keeping me sane and kissed her like the world was melting. Time slipped seamlessly between us, until all I knew were Pierre’s hands on my waist a nd the skin burning beneath my hand. When we finally parted, we were both breathless and too stunned to talk. So I stayed by her side until she fell asleep again.

Chris A week has passed and things have calmed down again. Except, I can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t have an explanation for what happened and it’s killing me. With that in mind I decide to go out and explore a bit to see if I find anything out of the ordinary. For a couple of days I couldn’t find anything, until today. I had always thought the game was and infinite world, but apparently not. As I was walking without a real destination, I came across barrier, indicating the end of the world. However, the barrier was broken, with a crack down the middle. I peeked inside and what I found shocked me. It was completely black, like the void, with some kind of code written all over it. I recognized this as the game code, but something was wrong. There was a part that didn’t make sense. And then it clicked. It was a virus. It had to be. I ran back home and tell everyone about what I found out.

-But… What does that mean? What are we going to do now? – Not wanting to lie to them, I told the truth.

-I have no idea.

Cat After a month of no complications, everyone was on edge. Something bad was bound to happen. I mean, was this virus supposed to attack us and then leave?

It didn’t make sense. As I was blowing of some steam by training, I saw something move in the corner of my eye. Immediately focused, I used a spell to stop them from moving. When I went to check what it was, I was caught by surprised. In front of me was a little fairy, no bigger than my hand. Not knowing if she was dangerous, I started off carefully: -Who are you? And what are you doing here?

-My name is Pixie. I’m an NPC. – As soon as she said that I backed away. – No, don’t be scared. I can explain everything to you. I know your friend has been digging around trying to figure out what’s wrong. I can help you -And how am I supposed to believe you? You could be lying. – I felt a little bad being so mean to a defenseless fairy, but I sucked it up.

-If I wanted to hurt you, don’t you think I would have done it by now? – Well, she had a point.

-Fine. Come with me and I’ll introduce you to the others.

When I entered the house, I was immediately bombarded with questions.

-Guys, calm down. I found her in the woods while I was training. She’s not dangerous. I think. She said she could help us.

-Well, why don’t you start by saying us what you know? – Said Yuna.

-As you all know, you’re stuck here. I don’t know why, but I can help you escape. The cause of all of this is a virus in the game code, as you already know. It was supposed to harm most NPCs, but in my case, it gave me a personality. So, now I can think and feel like a human being.

-So, you’re basically a person now. – Pixie nodded. – Do you know what happened to everyone that has disappeared over the months?

-Yes. Unfortunately, when you suffer an injury in game you also suffer it in real life. So, if you suffer a fatal wound… You know what happens. – Hearing Chris’ theory confirmed shocked everyone. They should have been more careful. Pierre could have died that day.

-I’d like to talk with you more. You’re welcome to stay here with us. – Chris said. Everyone reluctantly agreed. Chris and Pixie walked out of the room, while the rest of us just watched.

Chris Ever since that day, I’ve been trying to come up with a plan with the help of Pixie. We eventually came to a conclusion. There is no set plan. We just have to wait and check the code every day until the virus shows some kind of weakness. That day came a few weeks later. I was laying down in my bed while Pixie was on my computer, and she gasped.

-What? – I said.

-Chris, quickly, look at this! – I ran over to her and what I saw filled me with hope. There was a new opening in the code. A weakness we could exploit.

-Move over, let me try something. – I typed messily for a few minutes, maybe hours, trying to get my plan to work. Suddenly, I clicked something and the whole screen turned red. I hear a big crash and when I look out the window, my mind stops working. In front of me was a huge monster, with a scary face and even scarier teeth. It moved towards our house and something clicked. I must have activated some kind of defense mechanism the virus had. And these were the consequences. I messed up, and now I had to fix it.

Yuna As soon as we heard the big noise, Ethan and I ran out of the door. The monster instantly attacked us, as if it could sense our presence. I barely dodge his attack when I look over to the door and I see Pierre and Cat, looking terrified and worried.

-Go back inside! It’s not safe! – I yell. They did the complete opposite and came running to us.

-You need help. I can stay behind but I’m not leaving you! If you’re injured I’m the only one who can help! – Pierre pleaded. Realizing I wasn’t going to be able to convince her to stay back, I nodded. Cat immediately tried using immobilizing spells, but it wasn’t working.

-Yuna! We have to get close to it and do physical damage or else this thing won’t give up! – With practiced ease we try and do every attack we know of, but nothing works. It feels like hours have passed when suddenly I feel

something on my side. Pain shoots up my leg and I fall down, doubled over screaming.

-No! – I hear Pierre scream and next thing I know she’s by my side. – I’m going to heal you. But this is too much blood. I don’t know what to do. – I grabbed her hand and she relaxed. I can’t afford her to be nervous. I have to get back or Ethan’s going to get hurt. Suddenly a huge there was a huge flash of light, making me close my eyes. When I open them, I see the monster inside a cage, a new spell Cat had been working on.

-Cat! Are you okay? – I hear Ethan ask.

-Yeah, just a little tired. I can’t believe this worked. Something must have changed! – As if on cue, Chris comes running out of the house, with a desperate look on his face.

-That thing isn’t going to move anymore. I have something to tell you guys. I figured out a way to end the virus for good.

-Well, let’s do it! What are you waiting for? – Pierre said.

-There’s a catch. Whoever presses the enter button has to become a part of the game. You can never leave. You’ll live here for eternity. – At his confession everyone stilled. They had been doing all of this so they could leave, and now someone had to be left behind?

-I’ll do it. – Said Ethan with a genuine smile. – I have nothing to get back to.

I’m miserable with my father. These past couple of months have been the best of my life, even with all this mess. So, I’ll spare you guys and do it. – The next couple of moments passed by in slow motion. Ethan ran to the computer while everyone tried to stop him. I heard Cat try some spells but it was too late.

Ethan had pressed the button. And suddenly everything changed. The monster disappeared and confused NPCs came out of their shops, looking like their regular selves again. The sky seemed bluer and the sun shone bright on them.

A portal appeared in where the initial barrier crack had been.

-I can’t believe this! – I said with tears in my eyes. – I’m not leaving you! I’m not! You can’t do this to us! We’ll find a way, we always do.

-Yuna, it’s okay. I’m happier here. You’ll learn to accept my decision. – Accept? How could I ever accept leaving my friend behind? It didn’t make sense. I feel Pierre come stand by my side and drag me by my waist.

-Yuna, come with us. You have to come now, babe. – She said with tears falling down her face. I grabbed my hand, looked at Ethan with a sad smile and crossed the portal. When I opened my eyes again, I was in my room.

Epilogue Five years have passed. Yuna and Pierre moved in together, while both Ethan and Chris moved out of their parents’ house. Cat also bought her own apartment. The aftermath of what they went through was not pretty. They had nightmares in the beginning, but with each other’s help they moved on. However, they needed closure. They had to see how he was doing. That’s why they decided to join the game one last time. The developers decided they would keep the servers open, but not for long, so they had to do it now. When they joined, it was as if they had traveled back in time. Everything was the same. The houses, the little shops, even the atmosphere. They spotted Ethan and watched him in the distance. He hadn’t noticed them yet. He was near a tree, with Pixie by his side. He was talking happily with her, laughing and making gestures with his hands. He looked the same as five years ago. Except brighter. They finally accepted that this is what Ethan wanted, and what was best for him. As if sensing their thoughts, Ethan turned around and smiled at them. It was the biggest, brightest smile any of them had seen. After all this time, they had finally gained back control.

Nothing is what it seems

Aléxia, Daniel, Sara, Vitória; Mariana 11.º

Theme: Drama Setting: This story takes place at Conrado’s mansion, who is part of a well-known family responsible for the number one military technology company, that helps protecting governments officials, which makes them not only millionaires but also people with a lot of influence. It happens during the summer, the prime time for rich people to demonstrate their wealth in the most narcissistic way, but of course always with a little of elegance to keep up with the image they hold, being elite members of the society.

Main characters: •

Emma (Sara)

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Mary ( Vitória)

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Jackson (Daniel)

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Conrado (Mariana)

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Rachel ( Aléxia)

Others characters: •

Lucy

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Conrado’s parents

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Rachel’s mom

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Emma and Jackson’ parents

Characters description: •

Emma:Smart, skilled, young adult.

•

Mary: obnoxious, self centered, lazy.

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Jackson: athlete,intelligent, goofy.

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Conrado: dumb,rich, funny.

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Rachel: still in her teens,strong personality,quick witted.

Character's relationships: •

Mary and Conrado are dating

•

Emma and Jackson are siblings

In the summer of 2016, Conrado decided to have a charity fundraising party for people who are part of the elite society of New York. Like almost everything in life, the fundraising was only a decoy for Conrado and his associates to try and form new connection with government officials and other military companies. At the fundraising Conrado also invited his closest friends Emma, Mary, and Jackson, who have been with him since his high school days. Despite being together for so long, they don't all have the same level of wealth. Mary is actually Conrado's girlfriend, she is the daughter of one Conrado' family associates, so they met at a very young age. Emma and Jackson are siblings and went to the same high school as Conrado and Mary, that's where they met, but they got in their high school through scholarship. Jackson is a national athlete he plays basketball and Emma is extremely intelligent. Their parents work at top security company, so even though they have a good financial situation they are not exactly at Conrado and Mary's level of richness.

During the summer, the four of them always spent time together, usually at Conrado's mansion, they didn't really socialize with people outside their circle of thrust, that consist of only them. Although Conrado had a lot of maids and people who work only for him, there was one especial maid that they all knew every well. Her name was Rachel she is the daughter of the head housemaid who has been with the family before Conrado was even born. She is currently in her last year of high school, Conrado's family offered her a scholarship to go to the same school as the other four and she accepted it. Even though Rachel is black and a maid's daughter she was never mistreated by the four of them or other people, in fact Conrado would often ask her for advice since she couldn't easily be fooled, a very different reality when compared to Conrado since he can easily be tricked by anyone. Just because she was born poor doesn't mean that she was going to die one, she knew who she was and what she is capable of doing, or at least she thought.

In the last few weeks of summer Conrado was told by his parents to make a charity fundraising party, of course it wasn't really to help people but a test to see if he's capable of making new connections to help the company. He invited everyone that he knew who was well-off and could possibly become new investors. He also invited his friends and his girlfriend and they all decided that the party should be at the mansion.

It was late August and at the beginning of the night the guest started to arrive. If you were an outsider it would seem that the MET gala was happening , but that wasn't the case, it was just the elite of New York all gathered in one place. Government officials were also there. Being one of the maids Rachel was also there, not as guest but as worker.

The fundraising had been a success and despite not being the main goal they were able receive a lot of money for the organisation that they were doing the fundraising for. Conrado was also able to achieve his goal and was actually able to find new investors for his family company. The night felt like the perfect summer night and no one would have ever guessed that it would hide such a dark secret.

The next day Conrado woke up a little dizzy after being blacked out because of the after party. Besides him was Mary still sleeping. Conrado was still hangover and decided to take a shower, he reeked of alcohol and the smell was making him nauseous.

When taking the shower he saw a faded line of blood coming out of him and though that he must have a wild night, but he wasn't really sure since he couldn't remember anything.

While eating breakfast Emma and Jackson decided to join him, they complimented him about his great work but something felt odd. He asked them about the after party since he couldn't remember anything but Emma and Jackson said that they also couldn't remember anything and were very evasive so he decided to drop the subject and asked where Rachel was, since they usually eat breakfast together, but that only made things stranger.

A week had already passed and Conrado still hadn't heard of Rachel and he was starting to get worried but most of all suspicious of why he was the only one that was worried and not even his own girlfriend would agree with him.

He started to have this weird dreams where Rachel was crying and a mysterious woman would be choking her and saying her to keep quiet. After that he would always wake up covered in sweat and smelling blood. He decided to talk about this with Mary, Emma and Jackson but something about their reaction was wrong. They kept telling him that she probably was just trying have a little bit of fun before the summer ends but he knew that she wouldn't just take off and not say anything like that.

It had passed almost a month and school was right around the corner but still nothing from Rachel, so he decided to go against all his friends’ advice and started to make questions to other people. The first person that he asked was Rachel's mom but she only told him that Rachel told her that she was spending the summer with them after the fundraising and the last time she heard of her was a couple days ago when she sent a text message saying that she was ok and that she would make sure that things stay that way. He was relieved that she was alive but now everything looked even more suspicious. Why would she lie to her mother ? Where is she ? Why was she going to make sure that everything stayed ok? Why hasn't she called him? So many questions and not one answer.

Conrado decided to inform his friends and girlfriend what he knew but once again he didn't like their reactions. Knowing that Emma and Jackson parents work for a security company he asked them if they could try to locate her phone but to his surprise, their answer was that they weren't going to hack a maid’s phone just to know where she is.

Conrado got angry and went to his office to think better and try to figure out why were this things happening. He was trying to remember his last memories with Rachel before he got so drunk but all the he remembered was her smiling while serving food to his associates. After looking at his ceiling for so long,it finally came to him that he had cameras all over the mansion and that he could easily retrace Rachel's last steps.

After analysing the security cameras he started crying, he couldn't believe that the people that he trusted the most would do such a horrific thing. In the video he could clearly see the woman who was appearing in his dreams,her name was Lucy and she was one of the executive directors in their company based in LA. She was trying to make moves at Rachel the whole night despite Rachel's efforts to keep her distance.

But that wasn't even the worst part, as what follows next would change his life forever.

He saw Lucy drugging Rachel and them forcing her to have a sexual relation with her.

He couldn't believe that one of the closest persons to him was being raped in his own house, under his nose and he didn't do anything. After crying for hours he decided to continue watching the security footage and what he saw destroyed him eve more.

Marry, Emma and Jackson were all aware of this and even concealed it so that he wouldn't find out.

Conrado was in anger, he wanted revenge, he wanted blood, so only one thing came to his mind and he decide to execute that thought that same night. He ran to his basement and grabbed the first gun that he found, being military parents had his advantages after all. He drove to Lucy office because he knew she would still be in town but when he got there she was already dead, her clothes were all torn apart and she was naked. There was message written on blood saying " I will make sure that things stay ok" it also had pictures of Marry, Emma and Jackson and at the moment he knew that Rachel's vengeance had just started and his life would never be the same.

Duarte Fonseca, Miguel Nunes, Joรฃo Antunes, Filipe Rebelo, Rafael Sousa 11.ยบ 3

-The Story begins in Bronx -A neighborhood in New York City -Where the hip-hop movement began -And with it a new mentality -The city saw the biggest names rise -The oldest ones you can see -Are Tupac, Jay Z and BIG -The three combined -Changes the life of millions of people -With their rap songs -Spreading love and denying the evil -But the hip-hop isn't just music -It brings a whole new mentality -It has dances, graffitis and new styles -That changed the entire city -But times were bad -And the three rappers -Decided to go to Portugal -And that made them very sad -They decided to go to this country -And build families in Portugal -They continued the hip-hop movement -And found a community very loyal -They had children -And they taught them their culture

-So that they could be part of this new adventure -Their children's names were Boss AC, Sam the kid and Valete -Later they wanted to help the rap -So, they started to put music on the Internet -They followed their parents' legacy -By making music about the social reality -Although they wanted to bring melody - criticizing society was their specialty -Each one of them had a kid -And they wanted them to follow their lead -But the times change and the mentalities too -So, these new rappers had to change their view -These new rappers are Plutรณnio, Profjam and G-son -And with this name -Our story is done