Sit down on the chair - the floor might be hollow or dirty or infested - and follow my instructions.
Put on the clothes I set out - black trousers that will hang loosely from your body, a black shirt for you to tuck in, black trainers, black socks and a black balaclava - and don't question the choice of clothing. You'll need it.
Put on the gloves, leather and black.
There are bags in the kitchen, take them and take all the food, drinks and anything else you can find after you close the curtains. Turn off the lights too, make it seem like no one is ever coming home - this house is abandoned and we want it to seem like such.
There's a car outside. There's a gun, sword and shield in there. I guarantee someone will see you, so you better think fast and kill them. Don't bother hiding them, don't touch them, take the weapon. Kill them with the sword.
You'll find me at this address, kid.
I told you not to call me that.
I know what you'll say, and have you looked in the mirror?
You look ten. Lucky you, unable to remember a thing other than your Element.
It's an Element?
Questions later. Answers even later. Right now, you need to get driving. You're young, but at this time in the morning, or night, no one will be driving.
That's why you have the balaclava - best you wear the sunglasses in the car, since your eyes are differently coloured and more easy to recognise.
Smartass.
I suffer from a large ego. Hurry up.
fucKer you'll never know my nAme. don't ask bItch.
You're not very subtle, are you?
Gone so soon?
I liked him.
Shut the fuck up.
He entered the building, gun hidden and sword and shield wielded. No one, not even drunks, pranced around so he could slip in quietly.
No one.
Good?
Bad?
He crept down to the next floor, replacing the sword and shield with his gun, and opened the door.
"Boo." His employer whispered from the darkness, making him jump and fly back, gun jumping out of his grasp and onto his chest.
He only sent him a glare before getting up and sitting on the stairs.
"Get the food."
He nodded and took the bag inside, his employer turning on the lights. He squeaked at the sudden light, blinking and almost dropping the bag.
He also got a look at his employer.
Syrup brown hair spiking up, red amber eyes burning brightly and fair skin. However, his left eye was of a robot's and his left cheek, ear and some of that side of his neck were metal.
His mind screamed he should know this guy, but all that came to mind was the letter he'd left, the shadow who'd spoken to him and this image.
Heck, he didn't even know his own name.
"Set the food on the table." A table? Where'd that come from? He did so despite the burning questions and admired the food.
His employer immediately grabbed a piece of bread, the tub of butter and sliced some cheese, putting each one atop each other and eating it. "Hungry?"
Despite the aching hunger, he shook his head. He didn't need to eat...
"Kid, you'd better eat."
"I'm not a kid."
"So you remembered how to speak."
"Funny. Very funny."
"So, kid, what do you remember?"
"My Element... my appearance... Nothing else."
His employer hummed in thought. "Well, I know you."
"I know, sir, but-"
"No, I know you." He poked his chest. "I know your life."
"You do?!"
"I'll start with a proper introduction. I am Kai Smith. I am fifteen, older than you, and I am a former Ninja."
"Former?"
A bitter expression destroyed the facial features of his emplo- Kai - and he decided not to press further.
"Little less than a month ago, the city fell to ruins. See the metal on my face? Got more on my body. People had to be upgraded to survive and, at first, it was working. But then... someone took over. People who'd had a lot of themselves upgraded were taken control of and now it's people like us who have to stop them. That man you stabbed back then? He was going to be one of them."
"And you know that how?"
"I just do, okay?!" Kai snapped at him. He jumped in fear and his emplo- KAI! - sighed. "All right. I'll give you some basic information about yourself. Your name is Neuro. You're fourteen, the second youngest of the Elemental Masters. I grew up with you as a best friend and you had dreams to become a scientist until your mother was shot dead by one of them. You never knew your father. You are presumably an only child since I never met a sibling."
Neuro. Fourteen. Cool.
"Now - eat. You're allergic to peanuts." Kai handed him a cheese and tomato sandwich. "And you hate cucumber but love gherkins which are basically pickled cucumber."
He raised a brow at him and bit into the sandwich, flavours flooding into his mouth and down his throat.
One day, he'd been awake, then everything was black for three seconds and he woke without any memories other than his Element and being awake and the darkness.
He looked up at Kai and warmly smiled. Kai didn't smile back though, and he turned away and began sorting through his weapons, scratching his neck constantly. His right side of the neck though.
"Sun's about to rise Kai," He spoke to break the silence which had dragged on for less than two hours. "What do we do?"
Kai looked up, twitching a little. "What we do, little man. We hunt."
"Go!" Their leader had yelled, and he remembered the thrill of the chase and the pain in his legs. He collapsed with a cry, and reached out to another one of his team, who pulled him off the ground and helped him move.
"Stop!" They all halted immediately, wondering what the problem was.
"What's up?" He'd asked, not him but the one helping him, and, aside from a mumble, there was no response. "What's going on?"
"I think they've trapped us."
And the bloodbath began.
Kai awoke, eyes shooting open and body in a cold sweat. He didn't sit up, instead gazing at the ceiling, shaking and gasping.
"Kai!" There was that voice, sweet and innocent - well, more innocent than he or anyone else in this harsh reality could ever be. He grunted in response and got himself dressed, grumbling about the... early wake-up.
It was fucking five in the fucking morning.
What was Neuro playing at? He went into the other room - the building was theirs, you entered at the top floor and everything like the kitchen or dining room or bathroom was underneath the ground, the top floor being an 'abandoned' shop.
There were quotations around 'abandoned' because Kai had learnt the hard way that abandoned buildings weren't quite empty.
It was like an upside down flat, you could say.
He entered the room Neuro had called from, the kitchen, and he saw him putting together a sandwich with one in his mouth like a puppy held his toy. He'd clearly made a cheese sandwich, and while that wasn't his favourite (but how was Neuro supposed to know that?), he appreciated the gesture.
"For you!" Neuro handed him the sandwich, not bothering to remove the one from his mouth, eyes smiling for him.
Kai took it and nodded a thanks, eating it slowly as he watched his young employee take the sandwich out of his mouth and eat. The bread was crumbly and as a result bread crumbs fell into their laps, but, let's be honest, it wasn't as if either of them were about to care.
"So, kid, ready for your first hunt?"
"I don't see why you didn't let me go on yesterday's."
"Too many for a newbie, and you were as hungry as fuck. You needed to eat and the enemy could use your hunger against you." Kai explained with a roll of his eyes. "But you've eaten a lot now, and since it's near morning, you can go on a hunt with me."
"Kai?"
"Hm?"
"Did I fight any battles before I... you know."
"I can't recall. You're not the only one with a bit of lost memory."
"I'm not?"
"No. You're one of the survivors who have amnesia, and the only Elemental Master. It may be natural, like trauma or you hitting your head or the like, but a couple of amnesiacs had them," He meant the enemy and Neuro knew it. "Store their memories in a chip and set them free. It's meant to be bait - family and friends would come to find them and then-" Kai froze.
He could still hear the screaming.
"And then what?" Neuro asked.
"The family and friends and amnesiac are either slaughtered or they become one of them."
"..."
"We started realising what they were doing so we stopped rescuing them. They sent ransom notes, threatened their lives but we had stopped caring." His voice was cracking now. "We didn't expect them to perform their death threats. We tried to attack them, but... We'd gone in with a plan and came out with half of us left and the other half mindless drones chasing us. So we stopped planning."
Neuro looked at his palms. "Was I one of those amnesiacs? One of the traps?"
"Doubt it."
He frowned. "Why?"
Kai smiled and ruffled his hair a little. "You're alive and have your mind."
"Go!" Kai ran out into battle, guns blazing and swords unsheathed. He shot one drone and stabbed another and deflected a hit.
Neuro was at his back, refusing to leave him to fight these drones, and protecting his back.
"I said GO!"
"You can't protect yourself and you know it! Where do you want me to go?! If I go back to where we're staying, they'll follow me!"
Kai gave a hum before lifting him up (pretty easy actually) after putting his weapons away. He held him on a shoulder and ran for his life, Neuro yelling profanities and furious screams. "Shut up, midge."
"I'm not a midge!"
"One of these days I swear I'm going to hand you over to the drones."
"Funny." Neuro muttered. "THEY'RE STILL AFTER US!"
"Then shoot them! Jeez, kid, use your head."
"THESE ONES ARE FULL METAL!"
"What?"
"THEY HAVE NO FLESH!"
"So they're making robots too."
"What do I do?"
"Use your Element!"
"Okay. Uhhh..."
"Don't tell me you've forgotten how to use it."
"Sorry."
"Don't be sorry." He dropped Neuro on the floor carelessly. "Slice anything that comes behind me. I'll deal with the Metal Men."
"How?!"
"You'll see." And then his hands caught on fire. Neuro's eyes widened, the dark grey eyes with icy blue flecks reflecting the flames.
"You're an Elemental Master too?"
"Bingo. Slice them!"
He leapt at the robots, as if he had years of training, the flames melting the robots at anytime they met with it. He kicked and punched and leapt and Neuro was transfixed on the sight.
Of course he could do this - Kai had been a Ninja.
"NEURO!"
The yell brought him crashing down to reality and he attacked anything that tried to harm Kai or himself.
There was soon nothing but pools of metal, robots' insides and cyborg corpses, excluding the two who'd done this.
Neuro looked at Kai, who was groaning in pain. "It's been too long since I've done that."
"You gonna be okay?"
"Let's go back."
"How's he doing?"
"He's fine, sir."
"What about the other one?"
"He's fine too, sir."
A pair of thin lips parted to release a sigh. Slender fingers tightened on a sword handle.
"Is everyone fine in the world?"
"..."
"Well?!"
"No sir. The drones are dying and even the robots have weaknesses we missed."
Those thin lips barely parted to release a growl. "Well. We'll have to fix that." The owner of the thin lips and slender fingers stood, taking gloves into his hand and putting them on slowly and menacingly.
"Sir? What are you doing?"
He paced toward the informant slowly.
"Sir?"
His lips came an inch away from the informant's. "What's been coming a long time." He pulled the informant into a deep and sensual kiss.
And killed him.
"Neuro!" Kai rolled his eyes as his new student stuffed his mouth with the spaghetti the surprisingly good cook (Kai) had made, speaking as he ate (something about how it 'tasted familiar' - perhaps something from his past?). "Don't eat so fast - it'll last longer and you'll feel like you ate more."
"But it's SO GOOD." Neuro, muffled of course since his face was still half stuffed with spaghetti and meatballs, protested, tomato sauce and short strings of spaghetti flying out.
Unamused, Kai tentatively wiped his right cheek with his middle finger, both to wipe off the tomato sauce that had landed on it and to give the telepath a clear message.
They heard a voice yelling from outside, "OPEN UP KAI!" They both froze, Neuro chewing the food in his mouth and swallowing it quickly, Kai rolling his eyes at the actions and waiting. "I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"
"That voice... why's it so familar?" Kai mumbled as he grabbed his gun and Neuro grabbed his sword and gun. "Let's go."
They crept up the stairs and BANG! Kai shot at the door, which was like a window in a door frame with a handle, leaving a considerably large crack in it, the person outside jumping back. Kai ran up the door and swung it open, both he and Neuro aiming their guns at the caller.
Kai's eyes widened, he lowered the gun and whispered a single name.
"Lloyd?"
Neuro frowned slightly, staring at the caller. Male, light blonde hair, emerald green eyes and fair, paler than Kai's and wearing green casual clothing, consisting of a T-shirt, jeans, trainers and a jacket. His chest showed off a little metal, so it probably meant he'd had some of what Kai had had done.
Neuro didn't lower the gun, but instead put his finger on the trigger, not so much of a tremble running through his body, his eyes narrowed and disbelieving.
"Neuro? Neuro, what are you doing? Put the gun down." Kai frowned but the telepath refused to listen, grip tightening on the handle.
"NEURO! LOWER THE DAMN GUN!"
"I tried to read your mind, Lloyd." Neuro stated, voice shaking just that little bit.
"What for? My maker didn't store their plans in me. Not even their gender."
Neuro chuckled. "Robots don't have minds." He dropped the gun, picking up the sword he'd brought with him and attempted to attack the imposter.
Kai lit his hands on fire, knowing guns were useless against the metal that... that someone who had caused the chaos had built the robot with.
"How dare he!" Kai screamed, burning the clothes the robot wore, eyes blazing with a rage indescribable, and continued to attack the robot with his pyrokinesis, it soon a goner and the fifteen year old was left panting and exhausted.
Neuro frowned.
"What's wrong, kiddo?"
Neuro didn't even notice the hated nickname being said. "Kai."
"What?"
"How do you know that robot's creator's gender?"
He awoke, chained to a table, looking at the person who'd started the whole apocalypse and built the robots and had done the surgery on those with metal parts. He struggled, his captor laughing at his struggles and placing their hands on his arms and kneeling on his legs.
"I've really missed you, you know."
"GET OFF ME! LET ME GO!"
"Uh, uh, uh. Not yet." Their voice was gentle and striking, but it was all a trick.
He would not fall under the spell.
"What do you want with me?"
"I can give you the one thing you want."
"Which is..."
The captor chucked and stroked his cheek.
"Her."
Kai sipped as his coffee, holding it with both hands, as it hurt his hands only slightly. He ignored the glare Neuro was currently giving him and drank.
"Kai, I want answers."
Kai looked up, eyes showing faked confusion and disguised pain. "Answers to what, kid?"
Neuro growled slightly and stood. "I can easily read your mind, Kai, I'll find out all your secrets and you won't be able to stop me. So cut the crap and tell me how you know that the person who took over and stripped people of their memories and might have caused the trauma or cause that took my memories! You're supposed to be my friend and you're hiding things from me!"
Kai narrowed his eyes, almost throwing down the coffee mug. "One - I know you Neuro and your threats are always empty! Two - I am not your friend, but your acquaintance and employer! Three - there are some things you shouldn't know, Neuro, and my secrets are either harmful to others or private!"
"One - you know the OLD me! You know the one with the memories! I am a new person who might as well start anew! Two - you're the only one I can trust! Three - I don't need protecting! I can look after myself!"
Kai growled. He slapped the telepath. "Fuck's sake, Neuro! You're too young to understand!"
"I'm fourteen!"
"You might as well be ten because not only do you look like one but you seem to have the ideas and mental age of one too! The world isn't fucking sunshine and roses, and it never was! Some of our friends could be dead and I know one of them is a robot! One of us might not make it out alive!"
"I..."
"This isn't a story, Neuro! It probably won't have a happy ending and you can't get to grips with that!"
The kid looked at his hands, which shook, and fought back the tears at the imaginary sight of Kai or himself dying. He then imagined being younger and watching his mother - whatever she looked like - die by the hands of scientists.
Death happened. People bled. People slept. Death occured.
And the thought that Kai might die or he might die was worse than being impaled.
He burst into tears, and longed for Kai to fall from his bout of anger and hold him and apologise and hug him.
Nothing. He looked up to see Kai clenching his fists and glaring down.
"This is exactly what I mean."
"So you want me to not care about you or myself or anyone else we may meet?! You want me to be like you - selfish and simple-minded and not care about others dying?!"
"I do care! I am not selfish or simple-minded!" Kai retorted. "Neuro, I live with the fact that death is inevitable and that it may be lurking around the corner! That's why I'm not going to tell you, Neuro. If he finds out either of us know, our chances of survival will lessen and the amounts of deaths will shoot up through the roof, through the atomsphere, shoot past the stars and hit the First Spinjitzu Master in the penis."
Neuro frowned in confusion at the weird wording but understood the basics. He nodded slightly.
Then came the hug that Neuro had yearned for.
"Neuro, I do care. I lost all my friends and family, either to death, possibly to evil or they ran. I'm not going to lose you as well. You're my last hope."
Neuro nodded and softly smiled. "Kai?"
"Hm?"
"You're my last hope too."
"That's cheesy as fuck." Kai smirked and pulled away, ruffling Neuro's hair. He looked at his watch. "2am. Best we go to bed."
"Carry me."
"What?" Kai carried an amused smirk. "What do you mean?"
"I'm lazy. Carry me."
Kai frowned. "I'm lazier."
"Kai carry m-"
"No!"
The yell was sudden and adrupt and even Kai flinched at it. Neuro began to stand up, understanding that this was not the time for joking, before Kai sighed and picked him up.
"Come on, lazy boy. Bedtime."
Neuro smiled and nuzzled his chest into Kai's warm chest.
Kai chuckled and jokingly said, "You lazy fucking sod."
"7pm. Best you go to bed."
"Carry me."
"What?" Kai carried an amused smirk as his little sister reached up to him. "What do you mean?"
"I'm lazy. Carry me." Nya protested, holding her arms to him with a little grin.
Kai frowned jokingly and teased. "I'm lazier."
"Kai carry me!"
"No."
"Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiii."
"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiineeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee."
The leader was breathing heavily, Kai held tears in his eyes.
"7pm. Heh. Time I went to sleep."
"No..."
"Kai carry me."
"What?" Kai carried an confused and tearful frown as his leader reached up to him. "What do you mean? This isn't the time."
"I'm lazy. Carry me." The leader protested, holding their arms to him with a weak, little smile. "Carry me to the memorial..."
Kai cried quietly as the leader bled out, a gaping hole in their chest. "
"Kai... carry me."
"But... What if you die before we make it?"
"Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiii."
Sobbing audibly now, Kai picked the leader up and nodded. "Fine."
He ran to the memorial, desperately wanting to grant his leader's dying wish, whispering to them to stay awake.
He laid the dying soul at the statue. The leader chuckled, smiled up at the statue and then going still.
Eyes white as snow.
Kai sat in thought as he watched Neuro sleep, not really watching as it blurred into the background as he... thought.
He could not sleep - after the memories that plagued him in the rest, he'd given up - and he noticed Neuro looked somewhat... sweet when he slept.
He was hugging his chest, knees to his chest and a smile graced his features. Despite the situation Kai'd dragged him into two months ago, the boy had still the capability to smile and laugh and be happy with ease.
Kai didn't have the capability to do that easily anymore.
He smiled absent-mindedly as dawn cracked over the skies. He usually would shake Neuro awake but today he'd be nice and let him sleep for a few hours longer.
Neuro's eyes fluttered open and he wearily looked up at Kai. "Kai? Were you watching me sleep?"
"Uh..."
Neuro tiredly chuckled and sat up. "I don't really care, Kai. Can you go make breakfast? I'm hungry."
"Sure, kiddo." He ruffled Neuro's hair, the telepath giving a tired murmur before flopping back to sleep. "Never mind."
He chuckled as Neuro lay like a crooked starfish in his sleep, wondering how such a messy position could turn into a neat and tidy one.
He ran a hand through Neuro's hair gently, careful not to wake him.
Maybe Neuro wasn't family, maybe he wasn't like his brothers or sister.
But Kai supposed he'd do.
A/N: So yeah. Some feels, angst and several other stuff.
The bit with the amounts of deaths thing shooting up is from a conversation my best friend and I had as a joke. "It'll shoot through the roof, through space, through the stars and hit God in the dick." I mean no offence when I say that, it's just an inside joke.
This was going to be a one-shot but I decided I wanted a bigger plot with little side-plots.
The reason I'm refraining from saying 'he' or 'she' when I'm referring to the leader is because I want to keep the identity a secret. If I used pronouns, it would become too obvious.
I know I haven't updated to the Ninjago fanfiction but I have reasons! I got into other fandoms (Gravity Falls and RWBY to name a few), I fangirled over them, I wrote fanfiction for them, I got my best friend into them and didn't have inspiration for a Ninjago fic until now!
So yeah.
I hope you enjoyed!
See ya next chapter!