(Griffin's POV, Karloff's Flat/Monastery/Hospital, Present Tense)

We got Neuro to the hospital after he told us, so we could get his arms bandaged up. The doctors checked the rest of his body for cuts, discovering some on his legs dangerously near veins and somehow on his back. So his arms, legs and back are bandaged. He's gone back to T-shirts without jackets now, so I can keep an eye on him.

After Karloff and Shadow were discharged, Shadow was arrested. I can still hear his protests and screams of "IT WASN'T ME! I DIDN'T DO IT!" Karloff just hugged Neuro and me, thankful that that criminal was gone.

"Kai… He's gone now. You're safe. He can't hurt you or do anything to any of us…" Zane assures the Fire Ninja. With Shadow gone and our wounds all healed, we could all return home and continue what we were doing. Karloff's spaghetti we were meant to have that night is gone (of course Zane had come before and made sure we wouldn't be homeless).

I thought I'd be excited to be back home, where all my cards and all my video games and everything I owned was, but I just feel… empty. It's strange, Shadow being gone. I ruffle Neuro's hair. "Glad to be back?"

I have to keep smiling. Don't want Neuro to self-harm more.

"Hm." He nods and runs a hand across the dust wall, a loose bandage trailing down his hand and presumably tickling him.

"Karloff start cleaning flat up." The Master of Metal leaves.

I wrap an arm around the Mind Master and pull him into my hip, smirking as he looks up. "Cheer up buddy – you wanna play a video game?"

He seems to force a smile, but doesn't seem to notice, and shakes his head. "No thank you. I'm going to draw. And no, I'm not going to stab myself with the pencil."

I pretend to stab myself with a pencil, making him laugh, something I haven't heard for a while now, and grin dumbly. "Okey dokey." I watch him leave into the room.

"Miss Shadow." Karloff sighs, wringing out a wet dish cleaner to use on the shelves. Pulling down a video game from one of the shelves, I turn to him.

"Same… Why'd you think he do it?" I ask, taking out the disc and making sure it's clean.

"Karloff not know. But it must be for reason. Kai still traumatised."

I sigh a cloud on the disc and clean it off on my shirt, then gently place it in the console. Sitting back on the couch, I take the somewhat heavy controller into my hands and play the game. "Hm. Yo, can you get me a drink? Coke would be nice."

Karloff rolled his eyes – I don't understand why, but he's a Pepsi fan. I'm a Coke man, and Neuro and… Shadow are indifferent. Like Shadow with pizza, Neuro cares very little for brands, preferring to pop down to the nearest Lidl and grabbing its own brand.

I half expect Shadow to start moaning about how bad the game is – Shadow had, I mean has, an eye for flaws. But I remember he's gone, he's a criminal, a bad person, and continue. But something in my head screams at me that we've got it all wrong. That Shadow isn't the criminal.

I ignore it. Shadow's been arrested.

But was it him?

(Kai's POV, Monastery, Present Tense)

I pick up the game, kneeling, waiting for the others. I glance at the bottom of it. Drop it.

Like a ghost, he stands. Standing still, water from where his eyes would be flowing down his mask, wearing a T-Shirt and jagged shorts, bleeding cuts and scars all over him, but otherwise emotionless. He isn't doing anything, just standing there. I drop it in fear and surprise, screaming. The disk falls back, and his silhouette disappears. I scramble backwards, hitting the couch, and then look up to see Cole run in. Since his gi is black, my vision deceives me and makes me see the silhouette. He leans over, trying to calm me down, but I thrash around, screaming again. I'm in complete panic, and nothing else. No sadness, no anger, just panic.

"K… i… K…i… Ka… ai… Kai!" I hear Nya, I think, cry out, arms wrapping around me. I'm suddenly sat on her legs as she hugs and rocks me in her arms. She wraps my arms around her and continues hugging me. "…I thought you'd be better…"

I know what she means, the thought bringing tears to my eyes as I suddenly cling onto her as if my experiences were going to drag me away from safety.

"They took Nya…" Kai sadly mused.

"I told you," The old man hit my head with his bamboo stick. "Useless."

I was furious to say the least. "Argh! You could have done something! You could have used your… Twistjitzu or your-"

The old man huffed and corrected me. "Spinjitzu!"

I fall back against her and she whispers my name.

"Spinjitzu…" I murmur, remembering the word.

Jay learned it first…

"Jay…"

We learnt it before we could use it.

"Cryptic…"

"Kai?"

I look up at her but don't see her, I'm lost in my thoughts and I'm not seeing anything.

"Kai?"

I break out my thoughts and look up at her. She frowns down at me, runs a hand through my flattened hair without a sound, the only sound leaving her is her heavy breaths.

And before I know it, she's breaking down, crying, clinging onto me as if I were her world and nothing else mattered. She grips me tightly, her tears rolling down her cheeks and tapping my shoulders.

I hug her back silently, rubbing her back. It seems so natural, as if I've done it a million times.

"Nya!" … Nya… younger sister… "… Protect her…" Nya is your younger sister.

"K-Kai?"

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry…"

Silence as I close my eyes and rest my chin on her shoulder. "For what…?" I quietly reply, not moving. She holds me even tighter.

"Not being there…"

I stay silent.

"I'm glad he's gone though. Now we know no one can hurt you."

"Hm."

"You hear me Kai? No one can hurt you."

I heard her. I just didn't believe it.

(Shadow's POV, Cell, Present Tense)

I swear to the Spinjitzu Master, I didn't do it! I didn't hurt Kai, I didn't torture him! Heck, I didn't see him for ages!

Why can't they understand that?

"I didn't do it for fuck's sake!" I yell at the guards as they walk past. Like usual, they ignore me.

I've been in this shitty cell for a week now, and they've given up telling me to shut up, thinking I'm just asking for attention. I'm not though, I'm telling the truth!

Like Mother told me to.

Can't believe she's dead…

But that's not the point! It wasn't me, I swear to God!

I heard what Neuro was doing though. Was he told it was me? Did something happen so he thought it was me, just like Invizable? Whatever it was, he shouldn't have started self-harming. If they hadn't found out in time, he might be six feet under.

I'd hate to be driven to self-harm or want to die – I wonder if he's okay now. I mean, I wouldn't dare to self-harm, but he's like my sweet but evil little nugget brother (he'd hate me if he knew I called him that. Shush…) and I'm really worried.

I'm two years and two months older than him – it's natural to want a little sibling to be safe, or so Griff says; he grew up with, like, twenty odd something. Probably exaggerating, but eh. Not like anyone's gonna give a fuck about whether my bro has twenty brothers in this goddamn fucking cell! I hit the wall angrily, hissing in pain at the impact. I hear a couple of chuckles, which I ignore, from prisoners and guards alike.

I mutter angrily to myself about how they're all jackasses. What? They are!

It's really quiet, without Griffin yelling in my ear or Neuro arguing with either of us or Karloff trying to make us happy. I mean, there's the odd yell, but it's full of cussing, and the usual arguments we had were really childish, like these:

"KARLOFF! SHADOW TOOK MY PENCIL!" – Griffin.

"KARLOFF! GRIFFIN HIT ME!" – Neuro.

"KARLOFF! NEURO SLAPPED ME FOR CALLING HIM AN EVIL NUGGET WHICH HE IS! OW!" – Yours truly. Heh.

"KARLOFF! GRIFFIN CALLED ME EMO BOY!" – Yet again, me. I am not an emo.

"KARLOFF! SHADOW KEEPS CALLING ME AN EVIL NUGGET!" – Neuro. I simply told him that if he could fit into a cardboard box without any pain or it falling apart, he was a nugget, and that he was evil. This then led onto me yelling that he slapped me because of it. Worth it.

"KARLOFF! NEURO STOLE A CARD FROM MY PACK!" – Griffin.

Although, sometimes they can be a little serious…

"KARLOFFSHADOWLOCKEDMEINTHECLOSETANDNOWI'MFREAKINGOUT!" – Griffin.

"KARLOFF, GRIFFIN'S STOLEN MY CLOTHES FOR TODAY!" – Neuro.

"KARLOFF, NEURO GOT ANGRY AND TRIED TO BURN MY FACE OFF!" – Me. That was NOT fun, or worth it. Neuro getting grounded and told to stay with Karloff for the next day was though.

"KARLOFF I'M STUCK IN THE CUPBOARD BECAUSE SHADOW LOCKED ME IN IT!" – Neuro. Even better, it was the highest cupboard in the kitchen. He was freaking out so much.

"KARLOFF, NEURO'S TRAPPED IN THE CUPBOARD IN THE KITCHEN!" – Griffin. The little snitch.

"KARLOFF, IT WASN'T ME!" – Guess.

Karloff never seems to lose his cool though. When he got Neuro out the cupboard (having to lift him down carefully) and Griff out the closet, he calmed them down before making me apologise. I had no real reason to lock Neuro in the cupboard, but Griffin had woken me up by slamming all the notes on the keyboard down. I was having a really good dream too!

Getting off track. I just miss them – the big brother, the annoying but cool little one and the evil little nugget brother.

It wasn't me, swear to Spinjitzu. They have to realise that! I'm Shadow; I wouldn't do anything to Kai. Okaaaay, maybe I wooould, but nothing that extreme! Maybe just lock him in a room of gingerbread men, or push him into a really deep pool and watch him freak out (and laugh), but I would let him live. Most probably. Maybe. No. Nah, just kidding, I'd let him live.

Anyway, and I'm not too sure who did it. You know, maybe Invizable told Neuro it was me, and then proceeded to tell him why it was. Maybe Invizable did it… Nah, I mean, Kai said he had black hair, and NO ONE knows what Invizable looks like.

… Maybe it was the other way around…

No, no, Neuro wouldn't. He's just an evil little nugget.

… Right?

SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/

I didn't even bother to try to stop my tears as I stared down at the ground, silent, mouth open as the tears slid in.

'Even though I'm the sacrifice,'

Tears really do taste salty… Look up.

'You won't try for me, not now.'

He came in, dagger in hand. The dagger used to hurt both of us, I realised.

'Though I'd die to know you love me,'

He cut my shoulder, set my clothes – which were no more than red rags – on fire, made me hurt badly. He was apologetic in his eyes, but not in his words.

'I'm all alone.'

I'm sorry for your loss Fire-Boy… But this is what made this happen.

'Isn't someone missing me?'

What?

SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/

(Karloff's POV, Flat, Present Tense)

I sit beside Neuro and Griffin on the couch, both on either side, my arms around their shoulders. Neuro leans on my shoulder and hugs him. I smile weakly and ruffle his hair, sighing as he doesn't move. Griffin, unlike the fourteen year old, pulls away and slouches.

I consider ordering pizza, but dismiss it, remembering it was no secret Shadow hated most pizza. So I didn't.

"… Want order Chinese?" I ask my two little brothers; one nods, the other shrugs.

"Sure."

"Guess so."

I stand up, taking their orders and ordering it.

"I don't think I'll be able to look another pizza in the face again, nugget." I hear Griffin sigh, turning back to them as he turns to Neuro. "You know, you really gave us a scare there, buddy. If we hadn't got there in time, you might not be here."

Neuro stays silent, looking over at him.

"Don't give me that look, baby bro. You know the consequences of what could have happened."

"Yeah…" Neuro seems to be biting his lip; I can't tell from over here. "Sorry…"

Silence reigns over us as Griffin turns the television off, staring at the black screen almost wistfully. Longing for Shadow? I presume so.

"What wrong?" I ask, walking over. Neuro stands, mumbling something about drawing, and walks into his room, letting the door swing open and shut by itself. I sigh and turn to Griffin. "What wrong?"

"I miss Shadow…" Griffin throws himself onto me (A/N: … O.O SEXUAL VERSION SETTING IN –0– Pretend it's shut eyes) and hugs me. I wrap my arms around him tightly and pull him onto my lap as he starts crying. I rub his back gently.

"It okay… going to be okay…" I whisper in his ear, thanking the Spinjitzu Master I was tall. "Karloff promise." I hug Griffin tighter until he relaxes in my hold. Realising he is asleep; I take him to his and Neuro's room, where the Mind Master is too busy drawing to notice my coming in. I lay Griffin in his bed, glancing over at Neuro. He's sat down on the chair, pencil in hand, drawing like he said. I check if his bandages are loosely tied, for they sometimes come undone and he tries to wrap them again. Do you know how hard that is to do on your own body?

Seeing they are, I quickly check to see if there's any more cuts – none. He's scowling now but quietly lets me. I finish and check his legs and back as well – I take precautions. He's scowling and blushing now. "I'm not a toddler…"

"Karloff know that. Just taking precautions."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He huffs, getting back to his drawing.

"Karloff see?" I ask quietly.

"No." He doesn't move though, as if hoping I'll just leave – but how wrong he is. I peer over his shoulder to see him drawing a room. It's no bigger than a typical living room; this was obviously a basement, with no beds, a desk and chair, a cupboard, a cabinet and a closet.

On the desk, which is against a longer wall, is a pile of unorganised objects (which seem to be no more than silhouettes of what they are), some highlighted (paper, paperweights, glasses, ornaments) while some fade into the wall. The desk is lightly shaded using crosshatching with brown pencil. There's a silver-ish handle on it that's attached to a drawer; the drawer is open to reveal a series of weapons (whips, knives, etc.), which seems to shock me.

The chair is a wooden chair with poles on the back, the chair a dark brown colour like dark chocolate, and seems to be unstable. It's shaded very accurately.

The closet is a couple of shades lighter than the chair, and is leaning – literally, it's leaning – against a shorter wall, with one of the doors missing, showing it to be empty except for a discarded teddy bear and glassy picture frames. Some of the picture frames had cracks in. The remaining door had branch-like shapes carved into it with a bronze coloured handle. It would have reached the ceiling, the ceiling not being too high, had it stood straight.

The cupboard was beside the closet, halfway up the side, a few shades lighter, and the door was hanging open, showing off the cracked plates, cups and other culinary items and the family of spiders that lived on the bottom shelf. One of the spiders seemed to stare at the camera. Creepy as hell.

And finally, the cabinet. It was a light shade of brown and had clear glass to show off all the weapons in it. Knives, swords, whips, chains, etc. It was on the right side of the desk, easily in reach.

But what alarmed me was the figure chained to the short wall nearest the door. Chained up to the wall was-

"I said no!" Neuro scowled, pulling the drawing under his arm and looking angrily up at me.

"Neuro…"

"Yeah?"

"Why you drawing where Kai held?"

(Wu's POV, Monastery, Present Tense)

I walk past the boys' room, which is empty aside the beds and their possessions, and into the game room, where Jay, Cole and Lloyd are playing video games, Zane is reading with, well almost to, Kai, voice soft and quiet, and Nya and Misako are watching the boys quietly. I sit beside Kai and Zane, next to Kai to be exact, and they look up, smile and go back to their book.

I turn to the three boys, but grow bored quickly, turning back to Kai and Zane.

"Zane?" I ask quietly, not to disturb the gamers. Both the Ice and Fire Master turn to look at me. "Can I speak to you? And just you."

Zane nodded, stood up and followed me out the room; Kai carried on reading. "Yes Sensei?"

"I fear that, despite, Shadow's," I hiss the word as if it were boiling venom on my tongue; my fists clench. "Arrest, Kai is still in danger."

Zane stays silent, as if he already knows what I mean but questions his answer. "What do you mean?"

"Kai's thoughts endanger him. If he is unable to let it go, he will forever be a shadow of the great Fire Master he was. Or, in this case, a dying flame. We must not only train him to retain his memories and become a better ninja, we must train him to let go of the past." My voice becomes nothing more than a whisper, low and regretful, as if it believes it was its fault that Kai had been tortured. He was like another nephew, perhaps a son, just like the other Ninja. I'm sure that if Nya became a ninja, with her Water Element (A/N: It's before the ghost season, but Wu and Misako obviously knew of her Element prior the season), that she would be the same, except a niece or a daughter. She already is, I suppose.

I feel regret and mentally tortured from what happened. What kind of Sensei, what kind of teacher, what kind of guardian, am I if I fail to protect one from the dangers of what he had gone through? A failure.

"… Sensei?" Zane asks quietly, laying a hand on my shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"Yes."

No.

(No One's POV, Monastery, Past Tense)

It was around midnight, perhaps later, that the Ninja, Nya and their guardians decided to call it a day and go to sleep. It was a restless night which ended with Kai crawling into bed with Zane (the nightmares that plagued him being too much to take) and Lloyd staying up all night and watching television (until his mother told him to get into bed and he slept for two hours).

Jay slept in, Cole contrasting this by waking up super early, and Zane, Lloyd and Kai woke up at the normal time, more or less. Sensei Wu and Misako woke at their normal time, a little later than when Cole woke up.

Lloyd wanted to cook, but Kai decided to take it on his shoulders, with Zane watching him.

"Be careful with that knife!"

"I know Zane…"

"Don't hold it so near your fingers!"

"Sorry…" Kai gritted his teeth and held back a growl, chopping the potatoes quicker and harder.

"Are you sure you don't want me to put in the oven?"

"I'm sure, Zane." Kai snarled, biting back a snarky yell, emphasis on the 'sure'. "I'll be fin- OWW!" He screamed, dropping the chopped potatoes into the oven as his wrist hit the rack above. "OWW!"

"Kai!" Zane rushed him to the sink, turned on the tap, pulled his hand under the cold water and held it there firmly. "I told you to be careful."

Kai sulked.

"Now hold your arm there, and I will finish up the dinner, okay?"

"Fine, fine."

"Don't get like that with me, Kai." He tutted, getting on with the dinner. Kai only mocked him with the unburnt hand. "I can see you." Kai merely scowled.

Ten minutes passed. Kai retracted his now numb wrist from the freezing water. "Can I take over now?"

"It's done already."

"Can I serve it?"

"Of course." Zane stepped back to allow Kai to grab two of the plates, Cole and Wu's to be exact. He then let Kai grab Misako and Lloyd's. It was then Jay and his own plate, and then Kai brought in his and Nya's. They waited, the others thanked Kai and Zane for the meal and they began digging into the meal.

Jay was blabbering on and on with Nya about some invention while Wu and Misako were whispering to each other. There would be jagged conversation between Cole, Lloyd and Zane, the last one also trying to get Kai to join in.

Despite being more like his old self, Kai was still the quiet bookworm. He'd outgrown his shyness, but avoided conversation, even with the Ninja (especially Jay). He had become somewhat of a hot-headed Zane – he listened to others, scarcely butting into the conversation unless necessary or asked to. Not that Zane was completely like that.

"Don't you think it's great that Shadow's gone?" Lloyd quickly said, unable to stop it before it came out of his mouth. After the comment, his face held an expression of regret; all eyes darted to the Master of Fire, who seemed to have frozen, knife and fork poised above the sausage (A/N: I have no idea. Don't judge meh.), smiling, but obviously full of pain; his eyes showed that. Tears gathered there, the smile dropped as did the cutlery he held and his hands fell to his sides. He stared at his food for a moment before standing up, and he walked away without a word. "I'm… sorry."

"I do not think it is your fault, Lloyd. Kai is still traumatised from the experience." Wu voiced quietly. They heard trembling sobs from the other room, screams of rage, vases being smashed and pillows thumping against the wall or floor. Cole stood, eyes wide.

"He could hurt himself."

Silence. The dining room paused, before hearing loud sobs and an even louder thump. Zane stood up, pushing away his plate, and walked to the other room.

Kai lay near the couch, clothes (he didn't wear his gi – he wasn't really a ninja. He now wore a red shirt, jeans and red and black trainers) torn, skin bleeding slowly (mostly his hands), curled up.

"Kai…?" Zane whispered, the glass crunch beneath his trainer clad metal feet.

"I…" Interrupted by Zane pulling him into a hug, he loosened up, sobbing into the metal chest. Zane was wary of short-circuiting, but nonetheless he cradled Kai in his metal arms, shushing him and allowing Kai to bury his head into his chest. He held him tight, as if to reassure Kai he'd never let him go, and Kai returned the favour, squeezing Zane tightly as if never wanting to leave.

As if Zane would let him leave.

SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/

I paused for a second, looking up at him. Fear was caught in his eyes, yet he smiled happily.

'Take me high and I'll sing.'

He hummed a song, slow and quiet, and it was a song I knew.

'Oh you make everything,'

It wasn't a happy song, oh no, but it wasn't a sad song.

'Okay, okay, okay,'

He hummed louder and louder with each new line, his forced smile getting smaller and smaller.

'Kay, okay, okay.'

I backed away from him as he advanced.

'We are one in the same.'

Don't go, Fire-Boy… Don't look so scared…

'Oh you take all of the pain,'

Please, Fire-Boy… Don't let me be alone…

'Away, away, away.'

Not again, never again.

'Way, away, away.'

… I was silent, taking in it in.

'Save me if I become,'

What did he mean?

'My demons.'

… Why was he doing this?

SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/

(Neuro's POV, Flat, Present Tense)

I stay quiet, wanting to avoid the question. I'd seen it before, when… when we were captured and tortured by the fake captor. Yeah. That was when I saw it.

"Why?" Karloff murmurs, pulling the drawing out from under my arms, inspecting it further.

"… I don't know…" I mumble, refusing to look at him as he mutters to himself. "It was the only thing that came into mind…"

I feel him stare at my forehead, I don't turn to look at him though, and he frowns – I can feel it.

The drawing is put back on the desk, I look up at it but not at him, and I hear him trudge away. The door slams shut, and Griffin mumbles in his sleep. I look back at the drawing, look at Griffin, scowl and shove the damn thing on the shelf with the rest of my creations. I'm tempted to remove the bandages and dig around for knives or lighters, but it seems Karloff had pretty much baby-proofed the whole flat, hiding the knives and lighters (and other potential objects that I could use to self-harm) somewhere.

Instead I go and lie in bed, curling up and snuggling under the covers, only everything above my nose being seen.

Griffin wakes up and turns to look at me, chuckling as I look at him. Stands up. Walks over. Ruffles my hair so it's scruffy, making me scowl, and walks away, smirking.

I yawn and close my eyes, hoping to get SOME sleep. But no. My eyes open immediately, refusing to shut. Suppressing a groan, I fall onto my back and stare up at the ceiling, kicking off the covers.

I sigh again, quietly. Curl up, hug my knees, burrow under the covers. My body burns because it's so hot, but I ignore it. I pull a pillow under and rest my head on it.

Why can't my mind just let me sleep?

(Cole's POV, Monastery, Present Tense)

I hear the soft notes of a piano being played – Lloyd bought a keyboard a while back (before the Overlord) and he just found it again. But Lloyd's sat next to me.

Zane's in the kitchen, making lunch, and I think Jay's out with Nya, he wanted to tell her something.

Kai?

"My legs are dangling off the edge. The bottom of the bottle is my only friend. I think I'll slit my wrists again and I'm gone, gone, gone, gone."

We stay silent as we hear the somewhat soft yet sharp voice resonates throughout the monastery, killing the silence.

"My legs are dangling off the edge. A stomach full of pills didn't work again; I'll put a bullet in my head and I'm gone, gone, gone, gone."

Lloyd shuts his eyes, bobs his head to the piano, a grim expression on his face. This song seems to explain everything… Such a happy beat…

Kai starts rapping slowly. "Gone too far and yeah, I'm gone again. It's gone on too long, tell you how it ends. I'm sitting on the edge with my two best friends, one's a bottle of pills, one's a bottle of gin. I'm 20 stories up, yeah; I'm up at the top. I'll polish off this bottle, now it's pushing me off. Asphalt to me has never looked so soft. I bet my mamma found my letter, now she's calling the cops. I gotta take this opportunity before I miss it, because now I hear the sirens and they're off in the distance. Believe me when I tell you that I've been persistent, cause I'm more scarred, more scarred than my wrist is. I've been trying too long; with too dull of a knife, but tonight I made sure that I sharpened it twice. I never bought a suit before in my life, but when you go to meet God, you know you wanna look nice."

It's a pretty happy song, you can tell that even from the piano, but the lyrics are so depressing.

He's gone back to singing. "So if I survive, then I'll see you tomorrow, yeah, I'll see you tomorrow."

I close my eyes as well, listening to the song.

"My legs are dangling off the edge. The bottom of the bottle is my only friend. I think I'll slit my wrists again and I'm gone, gone, gone, gone. My legs are dangling off the edge. A stomach full of pills didn't work again. I'll put a bullet in my head and I'm gone, gone, gone, gone."

I open them, Lloyd does too, and I stand. The Green Ninja gives me a look, which I ignore. I walk out the room, Jay and Nya returning.

Kai's rapping again. "We hit the sky, there goes the light, no more sun, why's it always night? When you can't sleep, well, you can't dream, when you can't dream, well, what's life mean? We feel a little pity, but don't empathize. The old are getting older, watch a young man die. A mother and a son and someone you know, smile at each other and realize you don't, you don't know what happened to that kid you raised. What happened to the Father, who swore he'd stay? I didn't know because you didn't say. Now Mamma feels guilt, yeah, Mamma feels pain. When you were young, you never thought you'd die, found that you could but too scared to try. You looked in the mirror and you said goodbye. Climbed to the roof to see if you could fly."

He sings again. "So if I survive, then I'll see you tomorrow, yeah, I'll see you tomorrow."

I leave the room, head toward the room where the song is coming from.

"My legs are dangling off the edge. The bottom of the bottle is my only friend. I think I'll slit my wrists again and I'm gone, gone, gone, gone. My legs are dangling off the edge. A stomach full of pills didn't work again. I'll put a bullet in my head and I'm gone, gone, gone, gone."

I walk silently; I hear three other pairs of feet follow. I stop them, not knowing why myself.

His voice is cracking, breaking, just like he had been before Shadow's arrest. He sings, clearly choking down tears. "I wish that I could fly, way up in the sky, like a bird so high. Oh I might just try. I wish that I could fly, way up in the sky, like a bird so high. Oh I might just try. Oh I might just try…"

I slowly clap, he flinches, turns around. He rubs away the tears, turns away from the keyboard. Kai blushes and looks to the floor. "Did that song have any meaning?"

"It's the song my captor sang once. I learnt the lyrics and how to play it…" He murmurs, not looking up.

I smile a reassuring smile at him, rest my index and middle finger underneath his chin, lift his head to look at me, and whisper, "You played it very well."

He blushes even more.

"You got any other songs?" He shakes his head, I sigh in response. "Just don't let Sensei hear you. He might lock you up in our room and feed you anti-depressants." I joke – but by the look on his face he doesn't get it; he looks terrified. "Just joking, buddy." He blinks.

"That wasn't funny."

"Sorry." I pull him into a hug, burying my head in his shoulder, since I'm shorter than him. He used to have this smell, like strawberry jam, probably due to the gel in his hair. Now he doesn't, and the jam smell is replaced with the smell of blood. Yeah, blood. We don't know why. It's a sickening smell, makes me want to throw up – one time it did.

If you didn't know, you probably didn't to be fair, it's been half a month since Shadow was arrested, and a few days less than that since the other Elementals left. We still hear from them, just to make sure Shadow hasn't escaped somehow and they aren't dead. What? Is one not allowed to worry?

Kai hugs me back, rubbing my back, as if I'M the one who faced torture and abuse.

We shouldn't mention it so often, but Kai can't let it go. He still wakes up scared shitless, sometimes to the point where he's wet himself, and the nights he doesn't are either because he didn't sleep or because he didn't dream at all.

I squeeze him tightly, a bit tighter than I mean, as he coughs. "Sorry."

"It's cool dude." He whispers. I see Wu smirk from the doorframe. I know what he's thinking.

That's my hothead.

(Garmadon's POV, Cursed Realm, Present Tense)

Hello.

I believe you know who I am – Lord Garmadon, Sensei Garmadon, Garmie, Storm-bather, whatever you want to call me.

Surprised that I am more than mentioned? If so, understandable.

Although I am not in the world of my brother, my wife, my son and, if one wishes, my 'other sons' and 'daughter', I am still amongst them, watching over them as if I were my deceased father. I know what has happened, why it happened and who caused it. I wish I could tell you who it was but, I assure you, you shall find out later. And also the author doesn't want me to. How're you doing SW23?

Anyway, that's not why I'm the one talking. I'm here to tell you something important.

I can tell you one thing. Come closer; we don't want the author to find out. Closer. Closer! Come on, don't be shy! Closer! Okay, perfect.

It wasn't Shadow. Shadow was framed. But by who? Hm…

Oh no, the author's coming! Go, shoo! Run for your lives, don't let her catch you!

… She's gone. Come back. Okay, so, it wasn't Shadow. I mean, you should have got that from the memories! Kai mentioned that his captor self-harmed; Shadow said he'd hate to be in the position of self-harmers, implying that he doesn't. So it wasn't him.

She's coming back. GO!

(Misako's POV, Monastery, Present Tense)

I hug myself as I walk in the wintery winds, body buried in my big fluffy grey jumper. Stones crunch underneath my feet, and more stones crunch under someone else's feet.

I speed up, the person behind me does as well, I break into a run, they run. I wonder why I'd decided to visit Skylor when the streets of Ninjago were quiet and empty.

I run, my voice caught in my throat. I glance back, they're holding a knife. Where'd they get that from?!

I'm panicking, my breath quickens, I can't scream. He's going to get me. No! He won't get me! He can't get me!

Keep running, Misako, keep running…

I'm too old for this, for Spinjitzu's sake! Everything aches, especially my back. I'm panting, but I have to run.

I turn to look at him, to describe him if, WHEN, I get back. My eyes widen, and I fall to the floor on my back.

He advances on me; he chuckles as well, as I look up at him in fear.

Something screams about him that he's the one who tortured Kai and killed Dareth. Now he's going to kill me.

He closes his eyes, as if he regrets what he's about to do, as he brings the knife down on my chest where my heart is. I gasp.

I hope they catch him.

That's my last thought as I bleed out and die.

SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/

Look at me, Fire-Boy. I'm SMILING.

'Oh, yo, yo,'

Isn't that a nice change? (He'd smiled at me, hurting in his eyes)

'There's a demon inside.'

Y-Yeah… (I'd stammered quietly, averting my gaze)

'Oh, yo, yo,'

What's wrong Fire-Boy? You don't seem happy yourself. (He'd gotten angry; he wanted me to be happy) WHY AREN'T YOU HAPPY?!

'Just like Jekyll and Hyde.'

I am! Really! (I had to fake a smile, I wanted him to heal)

'Oh, yo, yo,'

(He'd begun to choke down tears)

'All this anger inside.'

W-Why do you lie to me? (Tears stained his mask)

'Oh, yo, yo,'

I… I'm sorry… (How could he expect me to be happy in this situation? I wanted him to be okay, but…)

'I feel like Jekyll and Hyde.'

(He'd crumpled onto the floor, crying, and I was left to comfort him)

SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/

(Shadow's POV, Monastery, Present Tense)

I don't know what it was that blew up the wall, but I'm not going to waste another second in this shithole! I run out the cell (thanking the Spinjitzu Master that the blast was where my cell was, and that I was in no way hurt), ignoring the orders from the guards.

No way am I going back there, no way Jose! Not back to the stale bread and warm water – Griffin cooks better than that! Okay… I admit that I may be exaggerating just a little… A lot… Yeah, nothing's worse than Griffin's cooking. At least you can swallow Cole's.

I don't remember a lot over the few days of my escape (what, did you really think it'd take a day for me to get to the monastery?). I remember getting to Stiix (I got a train, I think) and hiding out in this guy's shop (Ronin? Yeah, Ronin) until he was able to get a different outfit for me, which I needed so bad.

I'd been wearing a black hoodie with a grey shirt, black jeans and grey and white trainers. He gave me a red jacket with a white shirt, ripped blue jeans and red and white Nike trainers. I was told to put my hood up (for reasons :P) and be on my way. I caught a train to Ignacia, which was as close to the monastery I could get, before continuing my journey on foot. I was actually offered a lift by someone who was bringing in Chen's noodles from the factory (Ignacia was now used as a harbour as well), so I quickly accepted and called her a gift from the First Spinjitzu Master, to which she blushed.

I ended up hiding behind the many, many boxes of noodles in case I got recognised by anyone on the road. She had to make a few stops, but to make up for that, she let me eat some of the noodles for free. Nice gal.

I then had to hide out in Chen's Noodle House, where Skylor was. She had seen the news, didn't trust me so much, but I begged for her to let me stay. She said yeah, but I had to leave within a week.

So that's where we are now. I usually hide out in the basement – with the spiders. Nice people – until closing time. We watch the news together a little, I hide if people come banging on the windows or doors.

Misako Garmadon is dead, or murdered. It's presumed Shadow, the torturer of Kai Smith and killer of Dareth Mojo. (A/N: I tried. I needed a last name for Dareth.)

"You didn't, did you?" Skylor shoots me a look.

"Yeah, I made a clone of myself last night and murdered Misako for no reason!" I sarcastically reply, rolling my eyes at the redhead.

"No need to be snarky." She sighs and rolls her eyes back at me. "You best go down in the basement, Shady, cause I'm going home. Night."

"See ya." She leaves the lights on for me to turn off myself, leaves the building and locks it shut. I sigh, look back up to the television and frown.

There's a picture of Misako, alive and well, smiling. Then they replace it with her bloody corpse. I shudder. She must have seen them, her murderer, because the stab mark is right in her chest and doesn't impale her. It's kind of depressing. Why do they show much death and pain and shit? Would it kill them to tell a happy story? Or are they allergic to happiness?

Sighing again, I turn off the television and lights before retreating downstairs to the basement.

Tomorrow, I'd continue my journey.

…

Boy, tomorrow sure came quick! I was half awake at 5am before Skylor slapped me awake. Sheesh, that girl and her wake up calls.

"You're leaving?" She almost seemed sad about it. I nodded.

"Got no choice, buttercup. If I'm going to get to the monastery and plead my innocence, I gotta do it quick."

"Says the teen that spent five days here."

"Shuddup."

"No thanks." I roll my eyes once again before grabbing a bowl of noodles.

"To go please."

She gave a knowing smirk and piled the noodles into the takeaway box. "Get out of here before the streets pile up."

"Nice to see you too." She unlocked the door and watched me leave before switching the sign from 'Closed' to 'Open'. Aw, she opened up early just for me. She does have a heart.

As I chow down on the noodles, I trudge down the streets of the city, the way the monastery is. I pass the block of flats where Karloff's is – I see Griffin looking out. I can't help but stare up as he stares down. I look away sharpish and continue to walk away.

What does he think of me?

A rapist? A murderer? Dangerous? Of course he does, we humans believe anything on the news.

I just want to be proved innocent – I didn't do it. I must have been framed.

By who though?

(Kai's POV, Monastery, Present Tense)

I think I'm okay now. I mean, it's been ages – I don't dream of him that much anymore, I don't see him anymore.

I'm fine. Right?

I feel normal as well; I'm joking around; I'm determined to win. I feel like Kai – the one before this – and the others say I am more like the Fire Ninja I used to be.

If we had missions, I'm sure I'd go too now. It's pretty boring sitting around reading.

I've started to gel my hair again – although I had to get out of the shower, get dressed and ask Nya to help me. She simply took my hands into hers and gelled my hair with my hands. This continued for a while until I remembered the movements. According to Jay, I looked fabulous. Somehow I managed to get my hair exactly like the one in the pictures (cause you know, I'm so anime).

There's just one thing missing.

Some of my memories.

I can't remember much before I became a ninja. I have images – me blacksmithing, skeletons, a water tank… Nothing else.

I just want to be normal.

I just want to be fully Kai!

…

Ugh… Mornings… I hate morning… Ow, the sun's in my eyes! Ugh…

Damn, it's Monday. Is it? I dunno, I'm not good with calendars. Wait, there isn't a calendar. Ugh…

Sorry, I'm a little… confused in the morning. But aren't we all?

I sit up, I swear I see a shadow, but it disappears quickly. I shrug it off and get out of bed, pulling a plain white T-shirt on with rugged jeans and red trainers. I yawn, trudge to the kitchen and make myself a coffee. I forgot the coffee machine – like Cole says, it makes crap coffee. And I love coffee.

See another shadow – must be going insane – and this one lingers until Zane enters.

"Good morning Kai. I see you rested well."

"Yeah… Now I need coffee…"

Zane gives a small chuckle before beginning to make our breakfast (bacon never looked so good). "It is good to have you back, Kai."

"Good to be back." He gives a quick smile to me before going back to the bacon.

Something feels wrong. It just does.

I walk into the game room; the hairs on the back of my neck stick up as I feel warm air hit it. I cringe for a second, shuddering as well, before sitting down on the couch and picking up a controller – the same one I used before. It fits my hand shape perfectly, as if moulded. I look up to the screen. That's when I see it.

Someone's standing behind me.

I spin around, spin too fast and fall to the floor – there he is! Shadow!

Wait… his arms… He reaches out, mouth opened as if to speak.

My brothers run in, weapons unsheathed, worried and concerned looks turn into angered and confused looks.

"Shadow! Why aren't you in your cell awaiting trial?!" Zane scowls – it doesn't look right on his gentle facial features – as he points his shurikens at the supposed rapist.

"I have to tell you something!" He yells, only to get a shuriken beside his face. Where an uncaring expression is usually placed, there's fear and pleading. My brothers don't pick it up at all.

Jay scowls – why does he have to ruin his face with that expression?! – and swings his nunchucks at him. "We don't wanna hear it! Why trust a liar and murderer?!"

"Just hear me out!"

"NO!"

My brothers leap forward, dropping their weapons, about to blast him into the Dark Island with their powers.

"STOP!" I scream, running forward.

They stop themselves inches before hitting me, I flinch, and they stare at me.

"He's the one who hurt you, Kai! He fucked you without your permission!"

"No he isn't!" I gasp out, remembering every time I'd seen my captor do it.

"… How do you know that?"

"Because my captor self-harmed!"

Silence graces the room, only our breathing audible.

"Kai…? What do you mean?"

"He tried to kill himself back then – I convinced him not to, and he stabbed me! But he cut himself! He hated, hates, himself! He cut his arms!" As they stare at me in disbelief, I grab Shadow's arm and tug him forward. "… Look at Shadow's arms."

They do. Shadow's arms are cut-less, scar-less, clean. Nothing.

"Shadow didn't do it."

"No…" Lloyd repeated in a whisper, stroking Shadow's arm before realising what he was doing and drawing it back. "He didn't."

(No One's POV, Streets of Ninjago, Past Tense)

"Where are we going?!" Jay asked as he, his brothers and Shadow ran down the streets of Ninjago, panting all the way.

"I know who really did it!"

Shadow paused, realisation sinking in. As the others ran ahead, he shook his head. "No… It can't be…"

Running feet echoed behind him, and before he even realised was going on, he was running. They followed.

No longer where they running to the culprit, they were running from the culprit.

Lloyd did not want to end up like his mother.

Kai did not want to die after all he'd survived.

Run, run, run…

How long had it been, how long had they been running, how much longer could they last without falling?

Not too long, Cole guessed, for his legs were already weakening.

Jay fell, but bounced up and continued running – he had to.

Run or die time, Walker.

A blood-curdling scream echoed through the air, the Ninja froze.

Shadow's shoulder was impaled, he bled so much, and he stumbled. Zane and Lloyd caught him.

Karloff and Griffin ran down the road, grabbed the stabber.

Kai looked at the masked face. He knew who it was. He didn't need them to pull down the mask.

"Care to do the honours, Fire-Boy?" The voice must have meant to be threatening, but sounded scared and broken.

"No." I whispered angrily. "I don't want to unmask you, I don't even need to! I know who you are; I've seen your face a million times. I could have easily told them, had I remembered your name. Now I remember it, and I know why you did it. But if you think I am going to spare you from doing it, think again buddy. Because I am Kai, and I am back." I paused, glaring at him. "You know what to do, right?"

He was silent under the mask.

"Do it. Take off the mask. Let us know your true identity. Don't be 'the captor' or 'Kai's captor' or whatever else we call you. Let us know who you are."

He gulped as he placed a shaking hand on his mask.

He pulled it off.

Neuro.

SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/

He crumpled to the floor, crying before me. I couldn't sympathise for him; he'd beat me numb.

'What if I can't forget you?'

He didn't want it anything, and it wasn't as if he deserved it.

'I'll burn your name into my throat.'

He'd done too much to me today.

'I'll be the fire that'll catch you.'

I'd been burnt, I'd been stabbed, I'd been raped, I'd been used, I'd been abused, I'd been hated, I'd been…

'What's so good about picking up the pieces?'

He did one good thing to me today.

'None of the colours ever light up anymore in this hole.'

He'd loved me.

SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/

What?

… Why was he doing this?

He'd crumpled onto the floor, crying, and I was left to comfort him.

He'd loved me.

SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/SICK/

A/N:

Oh my Garmadon guys. I've completed it – the chapter anyway.

Holy shit. WHOO! This was so fun to write.

Heh. I truly am a horrible person, aren't I?

So what did ya think? What part was your favourite?

I'm just going to say it now – there WILL be a sequel of this. I could be nice and say what happens in it but… I'm not gonna.

So please leave reviews on this, and I can already say I have two replacement fanfictions for when this project is completed:

Crystal Kids (A Steven Universe Fanfiction)

Blue Silence (An Amazing World of Gumball Fanfiction)

Thank you for reading this!

Songs used:

First Memory with Kai's Captor: Missing by Evanescence

Second Memory with Kai's Captor: My Demons by Starset

Kai's Song: Bullet by Hollywood Undead

Third Memory with Kai's Captor: Jekyll and Hyde by Five Finger Death Punch

Fourth Memory with Kai's Captor: Caraphernelia by Pierce the Veil