9:

The second GoGo got her hands around Hiro's skinny little chicken neck she was going to strangle the life from him then she'd have to revive him so when they rescued Tadashi he wouldn't freak out like she was quick to learn he was prone to doing whenever his younger brother was involved.

Stupid overprotective older brothers with no sense of danger. The idiot had allowed himself to get caught, leaving them to either rescue his sorry hide or wait for him to escape himself- and she wasn't known for her patience.

Maybe she'll just wait till they rescue the older brother before strangling Hiro. Either way, she was leaving this with Hamada blood on her hands because they were both incredibly dumb for a pair of geniuses. It was frustrating and not even Fred was this careless.

"Uh… GoGo?" said boy asked suddenly and she actually growled at him, spinning to glare and he stepped back with both his hands raised in a defensive position.

It was the first time she got a good luck at him, surprised at what she actually saw. He looked drained, slight bags starting underneath his eyes and his skin is paler than normal. He also looked older somehow, like worrying between Hiro and Tadashi aged him.

"Don't kill me," he protested instead, usual liveliness in his voice as he squinted his eyes and twisted his head to the side, "It's just me, your old buddy Freddie."

If she hadn't been so exceedingly worried about the Hamada brothers then she might have found it somewhere deep inside her to smile. Not laugh because then she'd never get a break from Fred's relentlessness but she could spare a smile. Sometimes she secretly considered it worth it, to see the way Fred grinned like he just accomplished the impossible. To him, she suspects he believes that he had.

"I'm not going to kill you, bonehead," she informed him, relaxing her shoulders and though he seemed to follow her she knew he was still prepared to dive away from any of her fists and he could be quick when he wanted to.

"Really?" he asked in shock before he beamed, "Cool."

She sighed, bowing her head and pinching the bridge of her nose as she demanded, "Have you found him yet?"

She didn't need to clarify on who she was talking about, at the moment there was only one person they were all searching for, and it amazed her how a scrawny little kid could cause such a panic. For the longest time, guards lined every street and every corner as they combed the entire city looking for him.

It should've been impossible to avoid them, and she knew the guards should've found Hiro hours ago. It was one of the reasons the four of them had been all panicked when they returned to find the alley empty. Hiro hadn't been caught, though, and she was determined on finding out how he managed that.

"No," Fred replied, his shoulders slouching slightly as he admitted, "I'm worried for the little guy. What if something bad happened to him?"

"Nothing bad happened to him," GoGo sapped a little too quickly and she closed her eyes, forcing herself to relax; she'd be no good to the brothers all tense and worried.

Fred didn't seem to notice or rather if he did he was smart enough to not call her out. She would've probably placed money on the latter, knowing that before everything else he was a loyal friend. It was one of the reasons she cared so much for him- something she'll never admit out loud, ever.

"Do you think the others had better luck?" he asked instead, wringing his hands like he did only when he was really nervous or worried about something.

She glanced down at his hands before back to him, a slight frown already crossing her features but she ever got the chance to reply before Honey Lemon suddenly sprinted up, face red from exertion. Her blond hair dangled over her shoulders in wild wisps but she was grinning, green eyes bright with something that loosened GoGo's chest.

"Did you find him?" Fred asked and there was a hint of hope in his voice as he gazed at her with wide blue eyes.

She nodded, swallowing rapidly as she seemed to try and find her voice before she practically exclaimed, "He's in the alley we left him in. Wasabi and Baymax are there with him now. Come on."

She beckoned with her hand, already taking back off and they didn't hesitate before following her down the many winding roads. They came to a stop at the alley, Baymax's white figure standing amongst all the dark shadows. He was holding something and GoGo narrowed her gaze.

"Is that Mochi?" Fred asked suddenly excited as he bounced over to them, stopping only when he realized that Hiro didn't seem to be all the way there.

His eyes were glossed over, a trail of dried blood running from his nose. He looked dazed and confused, more so than someone who would've just woken up.

"Hiro?" Fred asked, voice worried against as he stepped closer.

Hiro flinched then closed his eyes as he shook his head and swallowed. It didn't matter, though, Fred already took upon the look of someone who had just been burned, which Hiro would've been capable of doing anyways.

"Fred," Hiro whispered reaching shaky hands up to run through his hair as he seemed to will himself to calm down, "I'm sorry. I just… saw something."

"You had a nightmare," Wasabi explained and it didn't sound like the first time he told the boy that as he hunched his large figure closer to the youth as he soothed, "It's over now. It won't be able to hurt you here."

"I'm not afraid of it hurting me," Hiro snapped before he scrubbed his face, smearing the blood before he gazed at all of them and added, "I'm afraid of them hurting Tadashi. I'm afraid of them hurting my brother."

"They won't-" Fred started but GoGo elbowed him in the ribs.

No empty promises.

Even if they were going to try their hardest breaking out Hiro's older brother, an impossible feat because it was the Empire and the only Benders that ever escape are the ones they want to.

"Tadashi is currently not scheduled for any executions," Baymax suddenly spoke up, causing GoGo's head to jerk because how could a walking and talking marshmallow possibly know that?

Hiro glanced back at his friend, brow furrowed though he didn't even look half as surprised as the rest of them. He almost seemed to have been waiting for it, and GoGo wondered what kind of messed up robot her friend's kid brother had managed to stumble upon.

"How does he know that?" Honey Lemon asked instead, brain probably going through every possible way on how the robot would have come to that conclusion- especially if he had been built from scraps like everything else Hiro had constructed.

Unless Hiro hadn't built him, and he hadn't been made by scraps.

That would mean that it had been the Empire, and her heart stopped as she forgot how to breathe as momentarily as it was.

Baymax was property of the Empire.

Hiro had stolen an Empire's robot.

"Hiro, explain," she snapped getting straight to the point as she crossed her arms, unimpressed, because if what she was thinking was right (and it usually was) then they needed to ditch Baymax as soon as possible. Anything that belonged to the Empire was bad.

"The Empire shut Baymax down and left him in an alley," Hiro explained turning to look at her with one of surprise, "I fixed him up."

Silence.

GoGo was tempted to strike at Hiro, blood on his face or not.

"Hiro, you know why that's a bad idea right?" Wasabi asked and though his voice was gentle his eyes were not.

They were furious, just not at Hiro.

He was glaring at the robot like it was his fault anything bad had happened at all. Something that might not be as ridiculous as she wanted to think it was- Tadashi hadn't been captured until after Hiro found Baymax after all.

"What? You're not blaming him, are you?" Hiro demanded and his voice sounded small as he gazed up at each of them before recognition filtered in and he glared.

"Look little guy-" Fred tried but Hiro cut him off.

"I don't want to hear it," Hiro snapped and his voice sounded angry- angrier than GoGo ever thought was possible- as he glowered angrily at each of them, "The Empire ditched Baymax to die in the alley. What would you have liked me to do?"

"Hiro, he could be spying on us right now," Honey Lemon reasoned and her voice was kind and gentle as she tried to get him to understand the obvious.

"He's not," Hiro sputtered before turning to look up at Baymax and back to them as he added, "I trust him."

"What're you saying?" GoGo demanded, arms crossed over her chest as she pointed an annoyed look at him.

"I'm saying," Hiro sighed exasperated as he turned to focus on her, "that I don't care what you might think or say, Baymax isn't a traitor."

"But Hiro, you can't possibly ask us to trust him," Wasabi protested as he turned dark eyes on Hiro.

Hiro turned away from her, focusing on Wasabi as he nodded once and concluded, "You're right. I could never ask that from any of you."

"Then what are you asking?" GoGo demanded as she dropped her arms, a sickening feeling starting in her stomach.

There was a reason he seemed to always get what he wants, after all.

He focused back on her as he said simply, "I'm asking you to trust me."

They came for him like Tadashi predicated that they would, which was good because he had run out of things to occupy his time with. It was kind of hard when all of your limbs had long since gone numb and the only entertainment in the entire cell was counting cobwebs.

Pathetic.

Tadashi knew he was, but he didn't care.

As long as Hiro had gotten away, he was fine- better than fine. He was killer which made him wince at first but he was starting to appreciate the pun. It was another thing he could giggle at.

He thought back to that night and the creepy feeling he suddenly felt. It was almost as if he had no longer been alone but when he looked around he had been. The room was as empty as it was before he managed to drift off to sleep, and he tried to convince himself that it had just been his nerves.

He wasn't so sure though. He knew he felt something unnatural and it disturbed him on how he couldn't figure out what it was.

The door opened, surprising him when it made no noise.

He looked up from his spot still on the floor, surprised when two Imperial guards strolled in carrying a ring of keys. He was even more surprised when they spoke to him, addressing him directly despite the tone they used.

"You're in luck," one of them mocked while the other freed the older brother's cuffs from the chains and jerk him to numb legs, "The Emperor himself wishes to speak with you."

"And I suppose I don't get a choice in the matter," Tadashi muttered, feeling weak from being locked in a cell with no food or water all night.

The guard shoved him towards the door and it was only from willpower alone that kept his feet underneath him. That didn't stop them from chuckling, though and he straightened his back as they gripped his arms and lead him out into the hall.

"No need to act so superior," the one on his left laughed as he shoved a little harder against his shoulder, purposely trying to trip him, "You're not schedule for an execution any time soon. It seems the Emperor himself has much bigger plans for you."

Tadashi didn't say anything because he knew the Emperor did; he also knew that those plans involved his brother and he'd rather die a hundred times before allowing his brother to fall into the maniac's hands. The thought alone made his vision blur in anger, tinting everything with a slight red color.

"Here we are," the one on his right- Tadashi's personal favorite- informed suddenly as they jerked him to a stop.

By then most of the feeling had returned to his legs, which he was thankful for. They still prickled slightly, almost like needles had started to circulate with his blood but he didn't mind. As long as they were no longer numb.

The guard on his right unlocked the door before ushering him inside.

It was another cell, this one furnished with a single chair he was forced in. His cuffs were removed, both his wrists strapped to the arms of the chairs both they repeated the motion with his ankles. He shivered, the cold striking him then as feeling started to return to him as slow as it was.

"How's that?" one of the guards demanded as they stepped away from him, observing their work with indifferent eyes.

"Tight," Tadashi replied, jerking his wrists for show as he stared up at the pair and added, "Cold."

"Yeah. Well. We wouldn't want you bending, would we?" the other one replied with a malicious smirk, "You know what they say about fire benders, don't you?"

No.

In fact Tadashi had no idea what they said about fire benders. He's lived most of his life sheltered from the Empire, whatever was left he spent sheltering Hiro from the Empire.

"They're all crazy," the guard continued, seemingly taking Tadashi's blank look as a cue to keep talking, "They were once a feared nation with only one goal: find the Avatar."

"Seems to be the pattern," Tadashi said even though he knew he really shouldn't have; they just said the word Avatar and his body started to cry out to make them bleed.

"What're you saying?" the guard demanded, no longer smiling like a fool as his eyes turned to stone and he seemed tense. Defensive.

"Nothing," Tadashi shrugged as he relished in whatever little power he had at the moment, "Except anyone is incapable of anything without the Avatar and your little Emperor is the same way."

He went too far.

He knew that the second he said it, and he didn't care in the slightest.

The guard did, however, and his partner didn't bother trying to stop him until he already stepped forward and nearly broke his nose. Even then, it had only been for show.

"You better watch your mouth," the guard that had struck him hissed in anger as he curled his hands into fists at his side.

Tadashi didn't push. Hiro would've but Tadashi's always been smarter than his brother in that regard. He knew when to not go too far.

Luckily, he was saved when an old looking man appeared in the doorway. His face was aged and his brown hair had already started greying but there was a certain edge that didn't seem to belong there. And he was short, or at least, not an impressive height.

"Who are you?" Tadashi asked before he could stop himself because he wasn't dressed like a guard and he seemed stockier than the rest of the guards he's seen.

"Watch it," the sensible guard warned eyes flickering nervously between Tadashi and the new arrival as he explained, "You're in the current presence of Emperor Robot Callaghan."

Scratch that. He was not saved but possibly doomed even more than he had been before.

"I'm sure I'm honored," Tadashi informed as he kept his focus on the dark orbs that served as the man's eyes, "Sorry I can't shake your hand. I'm a little tied up."

As if to emphasize his last point he jerked on the bounds keeping him tethered to the chair. The Emperor's expression didn't change, not even a flicker. It was unnerving ad Tadashi's brain didn't help when it supplied that the man would probably be his downfall.

"Leave us," he finally commanded after a long pause and the guards didn't bother to argue.

They passed the Emperor with skittish movements, like they were afraid of him, before the door clanged leaving Tadashi alone with the one guy who probably wanted him dead the most. He wasn't, though, because he wanted his brother dead more which just seemed unfair.

They've never done anything to anyone. They lived their lives and people just kept trying to screw it all up, almost as if they were trying to destroy everything Tadashi's carefully crafted.

"Fire bender huh?" Emperor Callaghan asked as he stepped forward to observe the older brother with an act of indifference.

Tadashi nodded before narrowed his gaze and demanded, "What did they do to you to make you hate them so much?"

"Who? Benders?"

Tadashi nodded again, gaze unmoving as he watched Callaghan slowly close in on him. He stopped several feet away, eyes still hard with hatred.

"Nothing," the man finally answered in a bored sort of tone, "I just hate them."

"That doesn't make any sense," Tadashi tried but was interrupted when the man struck his cheek, causing his head to jerk to the side violently.

"Shut up," Callaghan spat suddenly as his face seemed to morph slightly with his anger, "I'm tired of how mistakes like you pretend that you're anything other than killers."

"You're the one who's been killing us," Tadashi reminded before he was struck again, this time on the other side and he felt something loosen in his skull.

He might be old but he could hit.

"I've been cleansing the world from you," Callaghan corrected and he sounded like he believed himself, "No one complains when the body kills harmful viruses."

"That's not-"

Another strike and he blinked as he barely made out Callaghan's words, "-all I'm doing. You're the virus and the world is the body. I'll be the one ridding you from everything."

"You won't though," Tadashi denied as he shook his head, "You won't be able to get everyone. They'll always be more, no matter how many you kill."

To his surprise, he wasn't struck for his defiance. Instead, Callaghan seemed to observe him closer dark eyes taking in all of his details with a hard glare before he pulled away again.

"Perhaps," he agreed with a dip of his head, "but that's what you're here for."

Tadashi laughed then, shaking his head as he replied, "You think anybody will care about me? I'm just another Bender you're going to have executed."

"You? Perhaps," Callaghan said and there was an edge to his voice that made Tadashi uneasy, "The Avatar though. They always seemed like a beacon of peace, won't you agree?"

Tadashi jerked, the straps being the only thing keeping him in the chair as his face changed very quickly. He was no longer smiling, eyes burning with rage as his fingers went numb from how tightly he curled them into a fist.

"That received quite a reaction from you," Callaghan noted as he smirked and added, "I hope he cares for you half as much as you clearly do for him. That'll make everything so much easier for me."

"You won't get him," Tadashi denied, as he forced himself to calm down enough to stop from spitting the words at the man, "He's too smart to get caught from the likes of you."

"Perhaps," Callaghan agreed and he reached out to gently stroke the still sore spot he had struck earlier, "but you're his family and people tend to get a little dumb when family is involved."

"You don't know my brother," Tadashi continued as he glared up at the man.

"No. I don't," Callaghan nodded as he straightened back up, glaring in Tadashi's steady gaze, "but you're his last family member alive. Sad, isn't it? You weren't strong enough to save your parents, you couldn't save your aunt and now you're going to be the very thing that gives me your brother."

Tadashi jerked again.

Several feet away, Callaghan smirked as he turned to exit the cell.

"Good bye Tadashi Hamada," he called without turning to look at his prisoner, "I'm sure we'll see each other soon enough."

Hiro was freezing by the time they finally reached Fred's home, having run out of places to stay and the older boy had offered almost immediately. Hiro had just never expected for him to take them through one of the richest neighborhoods in the entire city.

GoGo was less than amused, glaring at her friend when he walked up a well-groomed house to ring the doorbell.

Hiro had to admit, if it was a joke he didn't find it very funny.

"Look idiot," GoGo growled and she looked seconds away from hitting the lanky teen as she glared, "We don't have time for this so quit wasting our time before I-"

She never got a chance to finish.

The door opened and a lanky man dressed in a nice suit answered, face expressionless as he greeted, "Welcome home Master Fredrick. Cutting it kind of close today."

"Uh… yeah. Sorry about that," Fred apologized as he turned to the rest of them and added, "I brought my friends along today."

"I'll prepare the extra rooms," the butler- because that's all he could be, Hiro reasoned somewhere in his dumb shock- nodded with a slight bow before gestured for them to all enter.

They did, silent as it still seemed to sink in that Fred was rich and lived in a practical mansion. That also meant that his parents were one of the highest delegates living in the city, beaten only by the Emperor himself yet Hiro kept flashing back to Fred telling him that his parents despised the Empire.

Wrong.

All of it seemed so wrong.

Fred didn't seem to notice, though, as he led them through the winding halls and stopped at a door Hiro assumed was his. He didn't seem uncomfortable, and his house was so much better than the shelters that Hiro wondered how he managed to convince himself it was okay to choose that over this.

Fred tossed open the door the same time Hiro shivered again, the temperature in the mansion several degrees colder than the humid air outside but he still felt drained from bending as long as he had at one time. At least Baymax was the only one who seemed to notice, still holding Mochi as he waddled closer to the teen.

"This is my room," Fred exclaimed as he walked inside, revealing walls lined with comic books and pictures that cost a fortune nowadays; his parents must really love him, spoiling Fred sweet.

Wasabi whistled as he spun in a slow circle, eyes wide as he marveled, "And you never bothered to mention any of this?"

Fred shrugged casually as he reminded, "None of you wanted to see it, remember? That's why I always walked to the shelter."

"Yeah but-" GoGo reasoned and her voice was angry but Hiro suspected it was no longer directed towards her friend, "you didn't tell us you were rich."

"I didn't think it was a big deal," Fred explained and he looked confused, "People always got weird when they found out, and I never wanted that to happen so I figured if you didn't want to know then I wouldn't push."

He's afraid of losing the only friends he's ever had, Hiro realized as his eyes widened in alarm, Baymax uncomfortably close now.

"Fred, we wouldn't have thought any different of you," Honey Lemon explained gently evidently thinking along the same lines as Hiro.

"I know. Duh," Fred agreed with a shrug though his eyes didn't convey the same sort of confidence.

"Hiro, your body temperature is low," Baymax suddenly spoke up and all eyes swiveled so they were staring at him now, "I suggest immediate treatment."

He waddled over, closing the last couple feet and embracing him in a tight hug before there was a slight humming and a steady heat emitted from him. It was relaxing, Hiro hated to admit, and if he could've he probably would've chose to stay there all night.

He couldn't, though.

Not with Tadashi still out there.

"Baymax," Hiro grunted instead wrestling himself free as he asked, "Has Tadashi's name appeared on the execution roster?"

"Checking," Baymax informed as his eyes seemed to get distant before refocusing back on him as he supplied, "No though they have moved him."

"Why though?" Wasabi asked as he came to stare at the robot with a cautious sort of awe, "They have him so why not kill him?"

Hiro flinched and GoGo elbowed her larger friend in the ribs as she growled something that sounded like 'Not cool.'

"Ow," Wasabi complained before his eyes narrowed on Hiro and his expression humbled as he apologized, "Sorry little man."

"No. Its fine," Hiro reassured as he added, "You're right anyways. What are they waiting for?"

"I could make a guess," Honey Lemon piped in, green eyes furrowed in thought, "and say that they're using him for bait to draw Hiro out."

Hiro felt his blood freeze at the thought, realizing that she was probably right and the only reason Tadashi hadn't been executed is because they were waiting for Hiro to go and rescue him. He also realized that knowing that changed nothing- he would do anything to rescue his brother. Luckily, he wasn't the only one who thought as much.

"We can't just leave him in their hands though," Wasabi protested and he sounded sincerely concerned, warming Hiro's chest considerably.

"You're right," GoGo agreed, eyes hard as she seemed to dare anyone to protest but a quick glance around revealed the same conviction in the other teens' eyes, "Tadashi Hamada is our friend."

Hiro beamed at them, thankful that he wasn't alone. He also knew that as everybody were at the moment they wouldn't be enough to stop the Empire, especially if they lose the element of surprise.

"Thanks guys," he told them and he meant it as he glanced between each of them before his eyes landed on Baymax's large figure and he added with a slight frown, "Baymax is going to need some upgrades first."

"How long will that take?" Honey Lemon asked as she shuffled, seemingly ready to jump into action and attack the Empire.

"Not long," Hiro murmured as he turned to face them again when his eyes caught something off to the side.

He frowned, moving over to a large glass case where Fred had placed several action figures impossible to find unless you are born from noble blood. That wasn't what really caught his attention, though as he squinted and realized each of his friends' reflection seemed to glow from the case.

"Hiro?"

"If we're going to do this," he said after a long pause, reaching up to lay his palm against the glass delicately, "we're going to do it right. I'm going to need to upgrade all of you."

"Like as in superpowers?" Wasabi asked and he sounded skeptical; beside him Fred was practically vibrating with barely concealed glee.

"And superheroes?" he inquired almost immediately.

Hiro smirked at his two friends, apparently that being enough because Fred was jumping up and down now, clutching onto Wasabi's arm like a hyperactive child.

"Guys, do you know what this means?" he demanded and his eyes were wide, "This could be our origin story."

Alistair Krei knew many things.

He knew that the world has faced many challenges, many wars, because of Benders. It was strange and seemingly unfair that only some people were born with the ability and others weren't, causing strife and pain.

So much pain.

He also knew that they were capable of living in peace, and that Benders could benefit society but they were different. People were scared of different. Terrified even and if he was honest then he would admit that he had always been wary of it in the past.

Different wasn't always bad, though, and he knew that too. Just like how he knew that all the wars and strife and pain had always been stopped by the Avatar. They acted as a mediator and once they disappeared off the grid then chaos wasn't far behind.

That was why some people- Robert Callaghan- resented them. They weren't so much as scared as bitter and they'd fight and claw and destroy so much to see the Avatar dead, which was unfortunate for them since the Avatar didn't die easy.

Krei knew all of this but his mind kept going to one specific truth he holds above all else: Robert Callaghan was crazy. Mental. Cracked beyond repair.

At one time Krei would've argued that he wasn't broken. A little splintered, perhaps, a hairline fracture the size of his fingernail and if suppressed long enough then it would fix itself out. Unfortunately, he didn't put in account that the longer a fracture goes untreated the larger it grows.

In this case, Callaghan shattered and there wasn't a more dangerous man then a shattered one. After all, they no longer had anything to lose.

Krei still never considered it a problem. There were plenty of broken souls in society and nature had a funny way of working itself out, cycling through the lost and broken and replacing them with strapping new ones.

That is, until Callaghan became Emperor.

Krei still wasn't sure how that had happened.

Nature must've broken the same time Callaghan had and now all that remained was a lot of broken things. Destroyed under one man's hand and it never seized to amaze Krei that the work of hundreds of men succumbed so easily under just one.

Still not a problem though.

At least, it wasn't Krei's.

He was rich. Stinky filthy rich with enough money to supply nice homes to hundreds of the poor cramped in the shelters and orphanages and still have enough to spare. Not a lot but enough and he often wondered if nature hadn't broken but instead turned against all of them for not helping more.

Callaghan's new reign quickly turned into Krei's problem when he ordered his arrest, tossing him in one of the many cells to rot. That had been it. No trial. No jury. No witnesses. Krei had been condemned by one man's rage.

That should've been the end of it.

After all, Krei was the reason Callaghan had broke. He wasn't too proud to deny that, not a day passes when he doesn't think about how he screwed up. Even before he had been arrested and locked where no soul had any hopes of finding him he knew.

Callaghan might be crazy, but Krei was the reason.

He made him that way and now the rest of the world will suffer.

And suffer it has.

The one thing he hasn't managed to figure out through his long years of imprisonment was why the Benders? Why the Avatar? Why did Callaghan seem so angry and resentful towards them? After all, Krei was neither a Bender nor the Avatar.

So why?

He estimated that they just seemed like an easy target. Narrow on the slight differences of people and turn the rest of the populace against them. Weed them out, destroy them and make them hurt like Krei had hurt him.

That was just a guess, though, and it wasn't like he ever got a chance to ask the man himself. Sometimes he wonders if Callaghan forgot about him completely, left him to suffer his fate and leave it at that.

He knows Callaghan though. Or at least, he knew him at one point and he knows that Callaghan would never forget because forgetting meant forgiving and he'll never forgive Krei. He'll remember for years, build an entire Empire so generations to come with remember and they'll all learn to resent him nearly as much as Callaghan does.

At first, Krei found pity for himself.

He was once a great man with a great life and lived beyond everyone else, somewhere in the clouds he liked to tell himself. Untouchable from everyone and now he was reduced to a life no better than a beetle. Weak and powerless. Dependent and only a shell of the man he used to be.

Then he remembered Callaghan had once been a great man too.

Poorer and more humble than Krei could ever dream of being but still capable of so much. That had been why his father insisted they get to know each other, to work together and he managed to convince both of them that they were capable of changing the world.

Technically, he hadn't been wrong.

He had just always imagined them changing the world for the better, improving it instead of dragging it down, but then Callaghan had fallen in love and got married and was everything Krei wasn't.

And now he was nothing.

Krei sighed, drawing his knees to his head as he propped his elbows up and ran shaking hands through his now too long hair. Across from him was the wall he scratched careful lines into with jagged pieces of whatever Callaghan used to build his prison. Outside it was silent.

Sometimes it wasn't.

Sometimes it was loud with people- Benders- begging to be free and he'd just sit there and listen to them beg for someone to show them compassion. After all, they hadn't done anything wrong. They'd just been born unlucky, and he'd sit there and wish for the silence again.

He wasn't like them, he knew.

They were better.

He hadn't been born unlucky. He'd been born ridiculously lucky, in a high class family with perhaps a shady business to the side no one spoke about. He'd been born smart and confident and raised for greatness but screwed it all up on a single mistake that's haunted him ever since.

Sometimes he thinks he can still hear her, his ghost. His angel. His devil. His everything.

She accuses him most of the time, for ruining all those people's lives and taking hers and at first he tried reasoning. It hadn't been his fault; he hadn't known; it had been a mistake.

His mistake.

Callaghan's downfall.

Everything.

And it was all his fault because he was too slow. He hadn't been born the Avatar and everything just sort of happened and everything seemed so broken and wrong and it was all his fault.

Today she's oddly silent, still, and he wondered if she was preparing for her next attack. He already felt so weak, so many days having passed since he was locked away and he felt so weak and broken and he wondered if this was how Callaghan felt.

"You still alive in there?" a guard demanded, clanging against the door aggressively and he jumped as he swiveled his head towards the direction of the door.

"I'm still here," Krei replied instantly, knowing the consequences for not answering wasn't pleasant. He still had the scars running along his spine from where they beat him relentlessly.

"Bummer," the guard murmured and he sounded disappointed- the only emotion he figured they could feel.

"What's the news?" Krei asked instead, ignoring his tone as he inched closer to the doorway.

The guards might hate him but they were awful gossips. It was the only way he was capable of piecing together what his old friend had managed to do, of how far he sunk in the ever growing abyss he was creating.

He knew Callaghan was gone just like he knew he was too weak to accept it.

"They caught a fire bender," the guard explained after only a slight hesitation and Krei frowned because guards had stopped telling him every time they brought a fire bender in.

"Why's this one important?" Krei prodded when the guard didn't make any motion of explaining it to him.

"Not sure," the guard admitted, "He was a tough sucker, though. The electric prods didn't work. They even seemed to empower him even more and he nearly fried the others. They had to beat him into unconsciousness."

That was knew but still not worth pointless gossip.

"When's he scheduled?" Krei asked knowing all Benders were scheduled for execution because of him and it just seemed cruel that he never had been.

"He's not."

Krei blinked because he must have misheard or something.

They were all scheduled.

"Apparently the Emperor himself has plans for him. Plans involving the Avatar," the guard continued and Krei's legs went weak under himself.

If Callaghan got his hands on the Avatar then it was all over for everyone. They'd be no more hope or light or secret hideaways that manage to start grand businesses for themselves. They would be nothing because Callaghan would ensure that there was nothing.

Nothing but pain and despair and a world lit with flames.