He struggled, trying to escape. Trying to get out of fighting. He didn't even know who he would be fighting. He was shoved into an arena and the doors slid shut behind he. Him spun around, trying to pry them back open. He had no luck, then found himself under a spotlight.

"Welcome to the Dark zone Arena!" an announcer boomed over the speaker. "On the left, fighting for his freedom is the black ninja!"

An eery silence filled the stadium. He knew this wasn't good. Whoever he was fighting, wouldn't be an easy opponent.

"And on the right, reigning champion and yet to be defeated!" the announcer cheered.

The crowd went insane. he panicked. I'm done for. I'm not winning this.

"He's strong! He's powerful! He's even a dragon human hybrid!" the announcer cheered, barely audible over the crowd.

He saw him. His wings, bright white with red and blue streaks on them. His wings flapping hard as he lifted off the ground. His tail streaked with streaks of red and blue, with a black tip. He looked at he, fierce and ferocious. He backed against the wall, terrified.

"Zack!"

The crowd went crazy. He watched the dragon soar around the arena, performing tricks in the air. Then he dove straight towards him. He jumped out of the way, tucking into a ball and tumbling out of the way. He sprung to his feet as the dragon roared at him.

"Zack! It's me!" he cried. "It's Cole! Snap out of it!"

The dragon shook his head, looking at the black ninja.

"Cole?" he questioned.

Then he turned back to his human form. His hair, a light, shaggy brown with a singular red streak above his eyes. He ran to Cole, the small child hugging him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was you," Zack said, muffled in Cole's shirt.

"It's OK," Cole said. "I'm just happy you realized before you killed me."

"No! No! No!" a voice yelled. "This isn't how it's suppose to go!"

A cage fell on them.

"Plan B it is, then," he said.

Zack pulled close to Cole as the man walked closer. He shook his head, a smirk on his face.

"There was so much potential in you, Zack," he said. "You and I could have done so much. But no, you have to come to your senses."

I saw them. Those same creatures who attacked the Cursed Realm when Dash was there. Those same creatures that caused Zack to die. He clung to me tightly, and I looked at their leader. The leader of the Death Shadows. His cloak covered his face and his eyes glowed a purple from under it.

"Look," Cole said. "You and I have some stuff to cover, but leave Zack out of it. He had nothing to do with this."

"Oh, he's done a lot more than you think," the Leader said. "Much more than you think."

"I only protected my family," Zack whispered, just loud enough for me to here.

"You killed me!" the man cried.

"Look, let Zack go and you can do whatever you want with me," Cole told him. "Just leave him out of this. He's only a kid."

"I'm more than a kid!" Zack snapped.

"Shut it, kid," Cole muttered. "Or do you not want to get out of here alive."

Zack silenced himself, not speaking again after that. Cole looked back to their Leader, waiting for a response.

"Alright," he said. "Let dragon boy go. Bring him with me."

The cage slowly lifted off them, and Cole quickly turned to Zack.

"Find the others," he whispered. "Warn them. Tell them what's happening and get help. Hurry."

Zack nodded, running off. He turned into a dragon and flew through a portal, which closed behind him. Cole was alone, unaware to what was about to happen. He was grabbed from behind and dragged through the base. He was tied to a chair, unable to move in it.

"Time for revenge," their Leader said. "And the fun I will have with this. The misery I will cause."

"What is your plan?" Cole asked.

"Simple," he smirked. "But, I'm just going to let you find out."

Cole flinched as something touched the ghost scar on his forehead.

"Ghost essence achieved," someone said.

"Good, say goodnight, Cole," the leader smirked.

Then a wave of tiredness passed over Cole. He then fell into the abyss of nothingness called sleep.

Everyone ran outside them Temple as commotion became loud.

"Get him off me!" Kai shrieked.

A large, white, blue and red dragon lifted a paw off of Kai, then picked him up in his jaw by the back of Kai's gi. Kai backed away quickly, eyes wide with fear.

"Why is there a dragon here?" Jay asked.

"Dash!" he cried.

Everyone turned, seeing Dash light up in the doorway of the Temple. She ran to the dragon, who by the time everyone looked back, was plain old, human, Zack.

"You're…...you're alive!" Lloyd cried.

"How!?" June cried.

"We all saw you die!" Kai cried.

"It's a long story," Zack said, rushed. "But there's not time. Cole's in trouble. He's back in the Realm I died in."

"How?" Ali asked.

"The portal from the Cursed Realm was never closed," Zack said. "They revived me, but forced me to stay until Cole came and talked them into releasing me for him. Now he's stuck there and we need to rescue him."

"What are we waiting for?!" Dash said. "We need to save him and we need to go now!"

"No, you're staying," Ali said, sternly.

"Why?!" Dash cried, tears sparkling in her eyes.

"Isn't it clear, Dash," Kai said. "The reason they caught him last time was because he was protecting you. They must still want you, so they are going after you."

"But I can still help," Dash insisted.

"No, you will remain here," Ali said. "June, Tylor, Stan and Zack will stay here with you and Mai."

"Why am I staying here?" Mai asked, confused.

"Because Zack might need someone to help him," Ali pointed to the small boy.

Zack was covered in scrapes, bruises and large gashes. Mai nodded.

"Alright, good luck," she said.

"No, I won't stay," Dash said.

"I'm not asking you to," Ali said. "I'm ordering you to. So either stay here willingly or I will force you to. Understand."

Dash backed away, looking down. She nodded, a small smirk hidden on her face.

"Good," Ali said. "Lloyd, Kai, Nicki, Roy, Nya, Zane and Jay, we're going. Come on."

Ali walked through a portal with the large group, and everyone turned to see Dash run towards the ledge of the island.

"Dash! Where are you going?!" June cried.

"I'm not waiting around for them!" Dash shouted over her shoulder. "I'm taking action! Whether you like it or not!"

Then Dash disappeared over the edge. Everyone ran, seeing no sign of their friend.

"She's gone!" Zack cried.

"She's changed Realms," June said. "How did she manage that?"

"That girl has secrets no one knows about," Tylor shook his head.

"And most of those should remain that way," Zack said. "No one, and I mean no one, knows her past beyond when I met her. I don't know what she went through before that, but whatever happened wasn't good. Now, all she wants to do, is protect her loved ones."

"Maybe she lost someone at a young age and doesn't want to experience it again," Stan suggested.

"Either way, we have to tell Ali," Mai said. "If she follows them and they don't know, who knows what might happen."

"Mai's right, but how do we tell them?" June asked.

Heads up! There's only going to be a couple more chapters in this, and then it will join into the next story in the series. I'm still coming up with a name, but it will be Cole's story. Everything will slowly lead to another, and this is going to be so exciting. I hope you enjoy!