Jack's eyelids fluttered open for a second, catching a blur of green before they fell shut. Again, he tried to force his lids to rise, and again he saw green for a moment.

"Where am I?" he wondered as he tried to focus all of his energy into his eyelids. He managed to blink a few times, fighting the urge to just close his eyes and go back to sleep. Slowly, his surroundings came into focus.

The green blur he previously saw sharpened into individual blades of grass. Grass which he was sprawled in. Beyond the grass, there were trees, which didn't provide him any protection from the chill in the air. As he fully came around, he realized just how cold it was, and just how much pain he was in.

"A forest?" He muttered to himself as he tried to lift his face out of the dirt. His head felt three times heavier than normal, and the world seemed to tilt sideways as he lifted it. "Shit…" he grabbed a fistful of grass to steady himself, but still felt as though he was able to feel the earth's rotation as he lay there on the ground.

"Focus." He took a breath and got his right hand under him. "Mind over matter…" he tried to bring his left arm up to match his right, but a jolt of pain ran from his fingers to his shoulder as soon as he pressed his hand into the ground. He cried out and pulled his arm to his chest. His fingers wouldn't move. His mind jumped back to China when Kai's friends had broken his hand. It was the same sensation.

"It's fine." Jack took a few deep breaths to calm himself. "You can get up with one hand." He told himself, but screamed in pain once more when he tried to pull his left leg under him. "Fuck." he buried his face into his good arm, surprised at the lack of tears. "WHAT THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?" He roared into the ground. Big mistake.

The yell sent him into the most painful coughing fit of his life. His ribs felt like they were being hit with a sledgehammer. His head spun and a knife twisted in his brain. His throat was being torn to shreds with shards of glass. His broken limbs sent lightning through his body with each twitch.

When he finally got his lungs under control, Jack was panting hard. His mouth tasted like metal, and he looked down to see blood splattered on his arm and the grass in front of him. "Ow…" he croaked out and let his head fall back to the ground.

"I give up." He breathed, barely able to hear himself. He felt his shivering grow stronger as he let his eyes slip shut again. "I give up…."

"A Wasabi Warrior never gives up." Jack's eyes shot open at the voice.

"Grandpa?" Jack raised his head just enough to see his grandfather standing a few feet ahead of him.

"Jack, I taught you better than that." His grandfather shook his head.

"But Grandpa… I can't move half my body." Jack pointed out and another jolt of pain shot through him.

"But you can move the other half."

"I really don't think this is the time for a glass half full lecture."

"Jack." His grandfather warned. "Recite the Wasabi Code."

"What does the Wasabi Code have to do with-?"

"Recite it!"

Jack took a breath to steady himself. "We swear by the light of the dragon's eye to be loyal, and honest, and never…" He choked on his words as he realized what his grandpa was getting at.

"Never…?"

"Never… say die…" he looked back up at his grandpa and was surprised to see a smile.

"Never say die." His grandpa nodded.

"I'm sorry, grandpa, but I really don't know if I can do this…" Jack could already feel his head lowering back to the ground as the strength left his neck.

"That doesn't sound like you." Jack's head snapped back up and he met his father's eyes.

"Dad?"

"Hey, Jack-Attack." His dad smiled.

"Dad, what are you doing here?"

"Reminding you that the Jack I know and love isn't a quitter."

"But, I don't even know where I am."

"And you never will if you don't start moving."

"Dad I'm sorry but I-"

"Don't do it for you. Do it for the people who love you." Those words hit jack like a train. "Think of your mom. And your sensei. And your friends."

"They think I'm dead…"

"All the more reason to fight!" His grandfather was speaking the same way he did when they would train. Encouraging, firm, and absolutely no room to disagree. "Jack, fight." With that, his grandpa turned and walked away.

"Wait!" Jack called. "Don't leave me!"

"I'm sorry, buddy." His dad smiled sadly before turning to follow his grandpa. "You have to handle this one on your own."

"Dad! Grandpa!" he reached out for the figures, but they were already too far away. "Screw it." Jack grit his teeth, reached forward with his right arm, dug the toes of his right foot into the ground behind him, and dragged himself forward a couple of inches. His entire body was screaming, but he ignored it. "We swear by the light of the dragon's eye…" he grunted as he dragged himself forward again. "To be loyal," his left foot caught on a tree branch and he hissed, but kept moving forward, "and honest," slowly but surely he was making progress, "and never say die."

He repeated the mantra of his life through clenched teeth as he dragged himself across the forest floor. Every nerve in his body was on fire. All he wanted was to lay down and fall asleep. But when Jack Brewer started something, he finished it.

"I swear by the light of the dragon's eye to be loyal, and honest, and never… say… die!" Jack's arm gave out and his head collapsed to the ground, sweat pouring, lungs burning, body screaming. He couldn't move another inch. "I'm sorry…" he whispered through hyperventilated breaths. "Dad… Grandpa… I'm sorry…"

"Well, done, Jack." He opened his eyes to see his grandpa standing above him. And behind his grandpa… a highway. A highway with cars speeding past.

"There's my Jack-Attack." His dad appeared, grinning from ear to ear.

"How…?" was all Jack could manage.

"You fought." His grandpa nodded.

"The hardest part is over." His dad assured.

"What…?" Jack tried to swallow, but his mouth may as well have been made of sandpaper. "What do I do now?"

"You've done what you can." His father's expression was grim. "Somebody else will have to take it from here."

"Jack." His grandfather kneeled a few inches away. "I've never been more proud of anybody in my life."

"That goes double for me." His dad knelt as well. "You are such a champion. I love you. So much."

"I love you too." Jack was fighting with everything he had to keep his eyes open. "Thank you, both of you." He lost his fight momentarily and his eyes shut for a second. When he opened them, his dad and grandpa were gone.