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The world is awash in fire.
He's not sure why. He didn't call them forth, he didn't beckon them out from the shadows to purify the land.
Nonetheless, they're there, bathing the world in brilliant oranges and dazzling golds, even some white flickers at the core of their flames.
And the heat. Even as the master of fire, it's nearly unbearable.
He can still see them.
In the flicker of each tongue of fire, a face is reflected, laughing, taunting, sneering or snickering. Their features are distorted in an ugly reflection of their bitter souls.
That's when Kai starts to fuel the flames. His anger is reaching a tipping point, it's max, and the flames grow larger, hotter than before.
But those faces…
The faces of the men that killed his family.
Just seeing them makes him sick to his stomach. With rage or shame, he's not entirely sure. All he knows is every person who had a hand in the death of his family were now brought to justice.
But…
Lloyd.
Every reservation, every ounce of shame could be tied to one name, one face in history, one collection of memories.
Lloyd would have hated this. The kind green ninja would have hated to see so many souls perish needlessly. Put them in jail, make them rot for their sins in this life, sure. But to kill…
It was just unnecessary. They were heroes, allied with the law. They were better than lowlifes because they would never stoop so low as to have no other option.
Kai supposed that was the difference, in this case. He'd stooped lower. Because he still had options.
He just chose this.
They crossed the line. They never should have treaded so close, much less crossed it, they should have known better, the arrogant fools, now not even their bones will breathe to see another day-
"Kai?"
Kai spun on heel, peering through the flames, squinting through the heat. That- That was-
Them.
All of them.
Standing in the midst of the flames, staring at him, eyes wide in…in…
Disgust? Horror? Fear?
All of the above?
His family, bathed in the flickering orange light of his flames, stood there, unmoving.
But…but they were gone.
He saw them killed.
He saw their empty eyes, felt their cooling skin even as the flow of their hot blood started to slow beneath the pressure his hands provided.
Then the flames caught, and they'd been lost to the fire just like everyone else. But now…
They're back.
"Guys," his voice choked, his eyes misting. Who cared about the how or the why. They were back.
They didn't answer, didn't even move.
The flames did.
One by one, their expressions morphed to fear and pain as the flames around them exploded, enveloping them, swallowing their screams in the roar of fire.
"No!"
He tried to step forward, to pull on the spark within, to master and quench the flames.
It didn't work.
"NO!"
First Nya, then Cole and Zane and Jay.
Gone.
And Lloyd…
His little brother's green eyes flickered, finding Kai. Burning Kai, like the kid thought he was the reason for this, for all of it. Like he- he was some kind of monster.
Maybe Kai was.
He should be stronger than this. His element was his own to master. Nothing the fire did could be anything but what Kai truly felt like doing. It didn't have the ability to go rogue. It didn't have a mind or a will of its own. All it had was a desperate desire to consume, but Kai had mastered that long ago.
Maybe this has been a long time coming. Maybe he's always been a monster, deep down inside.
His family… they were there, by his side, then these fools killed them, and Kai thought he was stronger than this. When he saw Nya, Jay, Zane, Cole, and Lloyd all laying there, eyes open but unseeing, their blood dyeing the ground a sickening shade of red, something clicked. He didn't have anything left to fight for.
His fight was over.
But it wasn't.
It's like he stepped on a twig. For one, brief, hopeful second, he thought he could do it, that he could grin and bear it, that he could fight through it. That he could move on. That he was strong enough.
Then he snapped.
The world bathed itself in his flames and he'd been content with his revenge, until Lloyd… that look…
A nauseating horror churned in Kai's gut, building on his panic until he was lurching forward through the fire, trying to quench, beat, kill the flames that had been so loyal to him.
Not Lloyd, not his family, not his sister, no, not them, anyone but them, no, no, nononono-
"NO!"
The tongues lashed higher, whipping around Lloyd's pale, terrified face. They flared, and then… then…
Lloyd was gone, too.
And Kai's world faded to ash…
"Kai?"
Kai jackknifed upright, his eyes flying open, his gaze flying around the room-
Lloyd's room.
And everything fell back into place.
Kai was in the kid's room. He'd been worried. Zane had said the green bean would be okay, the concussion was minor, his ribs were only cracked and his throat would heal without complications.
But it was too close.
Too dang close.
Kai couldn't get the sight of that monster of a man strangling his little brother out of his head. Those meaty fists curled in an iron grip around Lloyd's throat, the green ninja's face turning shades of red, the sneer on that monster's face-
"Kai?"
It was whispery soft and so hoarse that Kai couldn't help but wince in sympathy.
Lloyd was awake, blinking owlishly up at him.
"Morning, Lloyd," Kai tried for a grin. Whether it was morning or not, Kai didn't really care. "How are you feeling? You need anything?"
Lloyd frowned, blinking like he was trying to remember what he wanted to say.
"You were dreaming."
Kai's brow rose.
"Yeah? So? That's kind of what happens when you fall asleep."
Lloyd's jaw worked, his brows furrowing in a grimace.
"You… you…" he swallowed hard, wincing. He was struggling to get the words out, to form them in his head and force them through his abused throat, so he picked one that summed up a sentence.
"Nightmare."
Kai shrugged, ignoring the infuriated fire curling in his chest, the disgust churning in his gut, the- the shame-
"We're heroes, Lloyd. We have close calls, we see things. Bad dreams come with the territory."
There wasn't any point in trying to deny it. Lloyd would see through that in a heartbeat. One of the perks of the kid growing up in a school full of chronic liars.
So, down playing it it is.
Lloyd shifted restlessly. He clearly wanted to say more, but the movement caused him to gasp in pain, his grimace deepening.
"Hey," Kai splayed a hand gently on the kid's chest, pinning him in place. "Don't move. You aren't doing yourself any favors. And Zane said you weren't supposed to talk for a while."
Lloyd opened his mouth to retort, but where there was supposed to be some smart aleck remark there was a painful sounding wheeze.
"Nope, no talking," Kai said. There were questions in the kid's eyes, easy to read, and Kai sighed, giving him a break. "Listen to me; everyone's okay. I'm okay. You'll be okay, got it? So stop worrying." He glanced at the table next to Lloyd, spying the glass of water there. "Do you want some water? Just nod or shake your head, don't even think about saying anything."
Lloyd gave a tiny, annoyed huff, but nodded.
Kai smiled and busied himself with situating the water glass and the straw.
He tried to keep it upbeat, a smile on his face, his cool arrogance nothing but a facade. He joked with Lloyd, offered the kid some tea, then scrolled on his phone until the green ninja faded back into sleep.
Then the mask melted off, leaving Kai exhausted.
He could do this. He could care for Lloyd, protect his family, offer them support in any and every way.
But it doesn't change anything.
He killed a man.
He killed someone, and he doesn't regret it. If he was put in the same position again, he would do it again, without hesitation.
He would do anything to protect his family.
But Kai was a killer. He'd killed a man, and now he'd started down a path he couldn't turn back from, his flames licking hungrily for- for more. For vengeance. For some screwed up version of justice. He feels so… ashamed. Hollow. Dirty.
In every scenario, he was glad to be the one instead of his siblings in this position, but that doesn't keep him from being any less disgusted with himself.
If he looks down and stares at his hands, the red stain clinging to them isn't just from the shade of his flames anymore. No matter how hard he scrubs at it, wishes he could just get rid of it…
That kind of stain doesn't wash off.
mOnStEr