A/N: Eh, it'll be ready for Tuesday reading. By the way, I used a joke in one of the last two chapters about "standard question" after asking if Kina was okay. That is not my joke. It was used in Danny Phantom, which is an epic show that deserves to be watched (and didn't deserve to be ended so soon).

Disclaimer: FusionFall is not owned by me.

"What's the matter, Lightsworn?" Kael asked, a mocking tone in his voice. "Didn't you say you'd kill me the next time you saw me?"

Tal remained silent, walking next to the captured fusion. Kael's arms were tied behind his back. Ben paced down the hall on his other side, green eyes locked on his former comrade. Edd walked a few paces behind, following the escort of Urban Rangers closely, while Dexter strode alongside him. Despite not putting up a fight when they'd taken him into the Cul-de-Sac, Kael had regained his bravado when they'd entered Edd's house.

His eyes flashed red. "What, are you scared, Lightsworn? Not man enough to do me in?"

Tal snapped his hand out and shoved Kael into the wall. He hit with a sickening thud but remained standing, eyes fixed on the boy in front of him. Tal slammed his hands against the wall on either side of him and drew in close, rage burning deep in his eyes.

"That's it, boy. Kill me," Kael hissed. "That's what you're meant to do, isn't it?"

All at once, the anger drained out of Tal's face. He blinked and moved back, taking on a calm, resolute expression. Slowly, he shook his head and took his hands away from the wall.

"Come on," he said, voice flat. "Let's get him to interrogation."

Kael narrowed his eyes, leaning back slightly against the wall, shoulders rounded forward. "Coward!" he spat in a last ditch attempt.

Tal whirled around and fixed him with a long, sad gaze. Kael's eyes widened, the red hue draining away, leaving only a pleading look in their depths.

"Who's the real coward?" Tal asked, pity clear in his voice. "Me, or you, begging to be killed?"

"I..."

"Kael, just stop. I know. I know you're trying to make amends, but your death won't do anything." Tal stepped forward and placed one hand against Kael's chest, pressing him back against the wall. "The fact that you're trying to do something means you're different from other fusions, so tell us why." He pressed a little harder. "Plus, making amends means suffering. Death would be way too quick. Living means suffering, so live. Help us."

Mute, Kael swallowed and nodded.

Kina hugged the little nano tighter and squeezed her eyes shut, lowering her head. "Kes, please," she whispered. "I can't..."

"You can't what?" Her voice was coarse and cold. Kina looked up at her, eyes widening.

The younger girl was looking up at the corner of the room, hands on her hips. "What can't you do, Kina? Deal with everything? Sure, he betrayed you. He betrayed all of us. Get over it."

"That's not what I mean."

The girl glanced down, eyebrows raised, a serious expression on her usually jovial face. "Try me, then. What's got you all worked up again?"

Unconsciously, Kina brought her hand to her throat. Remembering the loss of her locket, she sighed and dropped her hand onto the nano's head. "Fusion Numbuh Five wasn't destroyed."

"I know."

"She's the one who killed my sister."

Kes's eyes widened. "Tal left that part out," she muttered, but Kina shook her head.

"He probably doesn't know... It was when I was down in her lair. She..." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The little nano put his hand on one of her fingers and patted it gently, staring up at her with wide eyes. "She wasn't right in the head."

"Well, no duh. She's a fusion."

"That's not it. Kes, she... She took pleasure in telling me that. She enjoyed seeing me in pain. It's like... It's like she was pure evil."

Kestrel remained silent, dropping to the floor and sitting cross-legged in front of Kina. "Okay," she said, reaching over and giving the nano a little stroke on the head. "Tell me about it. I'll listen."

"What do you want to know?"

Kael sat across the table from the four boys, eyes lowered. His hands were still behind his back, now secured to the chair he was sitting in. Edd sat in one of the remaining chairs, Dexter next to him, while Tal and Ben stood behind them. The escort waited outside the dining room.

"Everything," Dexter said, eyes glinting.

Tal shook his head. "Ignore the science geek for a minute."

"Hey!"

"Tell us about you, for now," Edd interjected, hands on the table in front of him. "For example, how you were created. What your purpose was."

"How much information you leaked," Ben added coldly.

Kael winced and squirmed in his seat. "I..." He closed his eyes for a second and shook his head. "I don't even know how to begin."

"Well, we know Kael Solarsal lived in Downtown up until half a month after the Invasion. He was to be part of one of the evacuated groups, but the group went missing before they left town. Kael reappeared about a month later. I assume that was actually you?" Dexter crossed his arms and gave the other boys a condescending look. "Yes, I do my homework before interviewing a subject."

"Yes, that was me," Kael answered once the genius was done gloating. "Fuse had seen that some of his fusions were mistaken for the original, so he wanted to see how far he could go, see if he could someone to spy for him in your ranks. He had a group of monsters attack the group and take them hostage. They were kept prisoner in bad conditions for quite some time while he...experimented."

"How?"

"He tried to combine humans with Spawns. No mimicry about it, just straight...fusion. Except it didn't work," he said, looking up to meet their horrified stares. "It didn't work. They all died right away, or turned into mindless zombies, or, in a few cases, the human took over and rebelled against Fuse. Those ones were destroyed."

"And what about you?"

"I... Kael was his last chance, but..." He grimaced and looked away, eyes closed, and sighed. "Kael died in captivity. Fuse took a chance and combined a Spawn...me...with the corpse. And...it worked."

"Okay, ew," Ben said, a look of repugnance clear on his face. Tal, too, screwed up his face in disgust, while Edd tried in vain to keep the revulsion he felt out of sight. Only Dexter remained calm, staring intently at Kael.

"I see," he mused. "A literal fusion. Interesting. Please continue."

Kael gave him a long, searching look before sliding his gaze up to the others. "Are you sure this kid's human?" he asked.

"We think so. Go on," Tal urged.

Kael sighed. "You know what comes next. I arrived at the Treehouse and skulked around there, gathering information for my master. I was placed under Fusion Numbuh Five's direct control. Literally. Anything she ordered me to do, I had to. I could barely think for myself, only enough to pass myself off as human."

"And this has changed?" Edd asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Yes. When I met Kina... No, even before then. Seeing the kids that had been hurt, both inside and out, watching everything that was going on, I started to feel...guilty." He shook his head. "Fusions shouldn't feel that when they look at what their master has wrought. At most, they should feel vicious pride. Rage. Hatred. But not guilt."

"And not love." Tal crossed his arms and met Kael's startled gaze. Slowly, Kael lowered his eyes, staring at the wooden table.

"No. Not love," he whispered. "But then I met Kina. It started out as...obsession, if you will. Fixation. And then I realized that when I was around her, I felt even more emotions. Happiness. Guilt, of course. Comfort. And, yes, love, eventually."

"And then?"

Kael closed his eyes and turned away. "And then I overheard you discussing what you and Kes had seen, Tal. You'd seen my Lady's troops getting ready to attack, and I was under direct orders to inform her of any information you had as to her plans. So..."

"You reported to Fusion Numbuh Five and 39 kids lost their lives," Ben said, fists clenching. "Bastard."

"I had no choice!" Kael shouted, still looking away. Tears leaked from behind his closed lids. "I had no choice! I didn't want to do it! At that point, I knew that something was different, because I didn't want to tell her, but I had to!"

A touch fell on his shoulder. He stopped and stared. Edd had stood and reached across the table, laying his hand gently on Kael's shoulder. His eyes were bright with tears, but they shone with sympathy. "It's okay, Kael," he said. "We understand."

"You might," Ben muttered under his breath, but waved one hand before crossing his arms. "Whatever. Keep going."

"When you nearly destroyed Fusion Numbuh Five, you somehow cut her off from Fuse. I don't know," he said in response to Dexter's excited look. "I don't know why or how, but it cut her off. She went...insane...and started to obsess over Kina."

"In the same way you did?"

"I guess so, but she didn't start to love her. Just...obsess. So much so that she wanted to become Kina, the same way I became Kael. The order she gave me to bring Kina to her...it was too strong. I couldn't disobey. I opened Devon's door found him awake, staring at his brother's Nanocom. I didn't even have to say anything. He bolted, and I knew Kina would chase after him."

"So you brought her Kina. What happened then?"

"Then? When she saw Kina, she lost it even more. I was partly free of her influence. I managed to lie about my creation, told her I didn't remember it, so...she settled for becoming a Fusion Kina. She calls herself Nika Darkstream."

"How original," Ben said, rolling his eyes.

"But... she mentioned something interesting," Kael continued, ignoring him. "She said that she can't hear Fuse's voice that well anymore. And she's showing more emotions, like she did while she was insane. I mean, she's more sane now, but..."

"Hold on. Can't hear Fuse? As in free?" Tal asked, standing up straighter.

"Almost. She said his voice was quieter. And I managed to lie to her twice, and disobey some of her orders. It's like..." He stopped, eyes wide. "It's like I'm free, now, too."

A/N: So now we know what happened with Kael. And the lampshading mentioned a couple chapters ago? Ye-eah, that's actually in this chapter. Have fun finding it. OH REVELATIONS, I ADORE THEE. !Buena suerte en tu vida, y hasta luego!