He stood at the entrance of a temple that belonged to him one; not too long ago, in fact. It, along with his father's life, was ripped from Shen's life by one man. Shen wasn't one to pursue petty revenge; he acted upon no impulses or emotions unless it had a direct impact on righting the balance of the world. This temple was clouded in shadow when it should not be so.

Shen would right this wrong.

It was the dead of night, a time when ninja of shadow would have nothing but petty moonlight to cast their malicious shadows. The double doors to the temple were guarded by a large gate that was half torn down, lying in ruin in front of the elegant architecture. He helped his father erect this gate. Shen worked hard to still his furious heartbeat as he bypassed the ruin without a sound. His footsteps were effortless, his armor never swaying out of place to mistakenly clink together and give him away.

Shen could feel eyes on him, but knew there was no one outside. He made his way to a second floor window, perched on a plain outcropping of ancient wood. The eyes belonged to one, but he felt many upon him. He crept to a familiar window; the Master's bedchamber. The eyes never blinked. Shen put a gloved hand on the window, pressing against the glass intermittently for its weak point. There was a point on the glass that would pop it out of the frame in one piece; it helped Shen escape his Master's wrath many times as a child.

Sure enough there was a soundless pop when he touched near the bottom of the glass and, pushing the lower half of it forward and reinforcing the top with his other hand, the glass fell easily into his hands.

The air in the room was stagnant, but filled with the acrid odor of death and darkness. Something burned Shen's eyes. He stood up from his crouch and surveyed the room slowly, eyes landing on the bed. Empty. Eyes were still on him. With silent feet he made it to his Master's weapon closet, but found it locked down securely. He couldn't open it without creating noise. Damn.

"You're on a dead fool's errand."

A muffled voice from the darkness. Shen didn't turn around; he didn't need to to know who it was. The man who defiled this temple and murdered his Master- his father.

"You didn't alert your cult to my presence." It wasn't a question, just a plain statement of fact. Shen's hands clenched.

"I do not need an army to take care of a lonely rat."

Shen ducked, and half a second later a shuriken plugged into the cabinet where his head would have been. Another whirred towards his leg and he immediately shifted to the side, turning as he did so. Zed was gone.

The Eye of Twilight was blinded by the onslaught of shadows around him. They ripped from the walls in the mirror image of his nemesis. He struck them down as quickly as he could, but the more he killed the more resilient they got. One Ki strike grew to two. Three. And they wouldn't stop coming. He struck a ghostly projectile out of the air, turning on his heel to slice the head off of another shadow.

Then a very real shuriken ripped through the shadows, snagging Shen by the shoulder and nearly pinning him against the wall he was backed up against. Another struck the wall, pinning the spare fabric of his pant leg against the wood.

"You. You of such balance cannot fight the shadows." He said balance with such disgust, he bore the word as an insult. It made Shen's heartbeat quicken with anger.

"No power. No strength." The shadows melted away into nothing and Zed finally showed himself again, calmly striding towards the exhausted Shen.

"Nothing to keep you fighting." Zed pressed the shuriken further into Shen's arm, securing him against the wall and hoping for a cry of pain. Shen didn't even flinch. His eyes glowed with a rare anger that was almost never seen within a member of the Kinkou order. Shen was free of anger, happiness, sadness- free of emotion, free of prejudice. But not in this moment. In this moment he felt only anger and the desire for justice.

Zed was close, dangerously close; Shen could feel his breath through the slats in his mask. With a swift kick his leg was free from the wall and crashing into Zed's ribcage. He ripped the shuriken out of his shoulder while Zed was reeling and let it clatter to the ground.

"Until all of your wrongs have been righted, I will not stop fighting."

A roar of anger ripped from Zed's mask and he dashed at Shen, who sidestepped while drawing one of his blades. With one fluid motion he stepped, turned, and his blade struck out at Zed's back. As the steel connected with flesh Zed vanished into a wisp of black smoke. He reappeared behind Shen, arm blade firmly against Shen's throat.

"I will break you." He growled, pulling the blade away and delivering a swift knee into the small of Shen's back. Shen stumbled forward, finding the wall for support to keep from falling on the ground. Zed grabbed his breastplate and in one grand display of strength ripped it from Shen's body.

"I will degrade you," the tabard around his waist was torn away just as easily. Shen was out of breath as he turned to face Zed; he was met with a hand around his throat. "The always high and mighty Shen. Turned to nothing at my hands."

Two shadows emerged halfway from the wall on either side of Shen, just enough to restrain his arms with their own. Now no matter which direction he turned his head, all he could see was that hideous masked face.

"How...delightful." He laughed and grabbed Shen's loose pants and tore the waist and groin away, leaving tattered remains desperately clinging to his shins. Shen squirmed and tried to break from the shadow's grip, but it was too strong. He winced when, after a small pause and rustling of fabric, Zed grabbed his waist and lifted his lower body up.

Shen's entire body stiffened when he realized what Zed was doing. "Don't." He hissed in defiance, resuming his squirming. He was set still by Zed digging his sharp nails into the sensitive flesh on his hips.

"You are in no position to even speak." Zed said with a smile in his voice. With no warning he thrust into Shen completely, burying himself in down to the hilt. Shen let out a hoarse cry, biting on the inside of his mouth immediately afterwards to keep silent. His breathing became much more labored, his body tense around the foreign presence inside of him.

One of Zed's hands released his waist and drifted upwards. The two blades on his arm came dangerously close to his own flaccid cock. The tips of the blades came to a halt pressed against his balls. Shen couldn't help but let a small noise escape him; a combination of a whimper and a groan that he refused to believe came from his mouth.

"I could kill you now, so easily, in such a humiliating way..." the blades brushed against his shaft, dancing against the head for a split second before heading further upwards. Zed's hand was pressed firmly on Shen's abdomen, slowly sliding up towards his collarbone.

"I could own your body in life," He pulled halfway out of Shen before slamming back in again, earning a rough grunt from him. The blades were pressed firmly against his throat. "And in death."

"Even you would not sink that low." Shen growled; the shadows holding his arms tightened their grip and Zed slammed into him yet again.

"You would be surprised." Zed chuckled, and on the inside Shen cringed.

Zed pulled his hand away and placed it firmly on Shen's ass cheek, gripping the soft skin tightly as he began pumping more and more into Shen. Shen tried his hardest to keep his body and mind relaxed, knowing the pain wouldn't be as bad if he were lax. But every time Zed's cock brushed against his prostate his body would seize up in a horrid mix of pain and pleasure, a pleasure that made him sick. He wished it were just more pain.

"Scream, Shen. I know you want to. I know this hurts you." Zed grunted in between thrusts. Shen was silent. Angered, Zed grabbed Shen's cock and squeezed, the cold folds of metal on his gauntlets pinching at sensitive skin. Shen tensed, but did not make a sound. The squeezing let up and turned into furious pumping, Zed's hand matching his hip movements.

Shen had to fight every urge to scream. The pressure of the hand stimulating him and the cock against his prostate were threatening to drive him over the edge into orgasm, something he desperately didn't want. Zed wanted him to come, so he wouldn't. Zed wanted him to scream, so he wouldn't.

Cold blades raked against his abdomen as Zed jerked him off, small beads of blood coming to surface against his skin. Zed angled his hand so the steel would cut deeper but he could still keep pumping. Shen clenched his abdomen and grit his teeth. It was hard to breathe through his mask. His vision was getting cloudy around the edges.

"Let it out."

Shen buried his head into his shoulder, breathing becoming even more muffled. He was close. It was too much. No, fuck, no. Shen mentally yelled at himself to hang on, to wait until Zed got bored of him. But the mounting pressure was too much, too fast.

It wasn't a scream; more of a long, muffled groan that Shen was obviously fighting to hold back as he came. His hips bucked upward as Zed's hand kept pumping the ultra-sensitive organ, and he groaned again. His stomach heaved with each large breath, the semen that splattered against his skin moving with it. He stayed silent and let his head lay limp against his shoulder as Zed took his hand away and latched onto his waist again, thrusting for a good minute more before slamming in one last time with orgasm. There was a small grunt and a warm, empty sensation inside of Shen that let him know Zed was done.

When he next woke, there was a familiar pale-purple ceiling above him. A single crystal hung over the bed he was lying in, illuminating the room in a pale light that made the walls seem to glow. Shen sat up and immediately a sharp pain struck his spine and spread downwards like a lightning bolt. He grunted, straightening his back and closing his eyes. So it was real.

"Lay back down, Shen." A calm voice spoke from his bedside. He turned to see a small, frail woman in a bright purple robe sitting on a stool next to the bed. Though her eyes were obscured, there were lines around her small mouth betraying her age.

"Maohan, I...How did I arrive back here?"

The summoner Maohan smiled and waved her hand in the air. "We are connected, Shen. Mind to mind. I saw you escape to go after your petty revenge. You are better than that."

"No. Summoner, you do not understand. Zed is upsetting the balance by-"

"I'm sure he is, but sneaking into his temple and getting torn up will not restore the balance of anything."

Shen was silent. Maohan shifted her long sleeves so they pooled in her lap below her hands. "I sensed your pain. You blacked out and I managed to pull you out and into the Summoning Chamber before Zed could cause any more damage.

"He wounded me while I was unconscious?"

"Yes. Along here," Maohan laid her fingertips on Shen's back, where it was apparent that a two-blades weapon had slashed at the flesh repeatedly. The wounds had not even begun to crust over. There were similar marks along his left shoulder, down his collarbone and snaking up to his neck, which was covered by his mask, which remained on. "He is an angry, horrible man."

"I know. I know." Shen muttered to himself, reaching over to touch the fresh claw marks on his shoulder. It felt like he had been mauled by a cougar.

"Your wounds will take time to heal."

"I will call upon my allies. They can help me recover faster."

Maohan nodded, standing up. "Would you like me to send them to you?"

"Yes."

She turned and headed towards the door, pausing before she exited. "Be careful with whatever you decide to do next. I cannot help you again."

Shen nodded, moving to stand up as well. "Whatever I do next will be in the name of justice, in a place of justice."