A/N: Sorry about yet another late update. But I have a perfectly logical explanation this time as to why I haven't updated... I forgot to.

Jay sat up, observing his surroundings. The area around him was almost completely desolate; a few pieces of lumber littered the ground.

"Hello? Anybody there?" He called out. Only silence greeted him. Pushing himself off the ground, Jay set off to explore the new territory. The quantity of lumber increased as he walked on, along with a sudden appearance of beer bottles. Jay wrinkled his nose as the stench of alcohol filled the air. The stench aside, he was probably getting close to civilization by now.

"Can anyone hear me?" Jay yelled. He was once again met with silence. Sighing, he sat himself down on a stack of wood. How was he going to get out of this place? For that matter, how did he get here in the first place? What was the last thing he did before he got here? A faint buzzing noise sang in his ear when he tried to think.

"Jay, is that you?"

Jay snapped his head up in surprise. In front of him, with an equal amount of awe on his face, stood Zane. He ignored his irritation as the buzzing grew louder.

"Zane?" He gasped, "Oh man, am I glad to see you!" He threw his arms around his nindroid teammate. He was, too say the least, rather surprised when Zane pushed him away.

"Stop, don't touch me," Zane slowly back away, giving him a cautious glare. Jay stared back in hurt confusion.

"Zane, what you talking about?" Jay stepped forward, reaching out to his friend. The buzzing seemed to grow louder, with a solid thumping sound joining in. Jay rubbed his ears in annoyance. Shaking it off, he walking closer and placed a hand on Zane's shoulder. Jay heard was an ear splitting howl and watched as Zane crumpled into a heap on the ground.

He watched in horror as Zane's body slowly began to dent. His chest panel crumpled inwards, the edges curling up. The synthetic flesh on his torso and face were stripping themselves away.

And that awful noise...

Jay covered his ears, the noise was blasting at full clarity now. The roar of power drills and hammers filled his ears.

"Quiet!"

Jay shot up with a jolt. He clutched his chest in alarm, panting heavily.

It was just a dream. The pain in his chest began to fade as he sighed in relief. He peered over to lower, adjacent bunk where Zane lay quietly under the sheets. Against his better judgement Jay quietly climbed out of his bed, careful not to wake the rooms other occupants. He tiptoed across the room, coming to a stop to hover over the nindroid's bed.

"Now what?" He thought. What was he planning on doing anyway? Was he just going to wake Zane up, ask if he wasn't dead yet, and then just go back to bed? Jay was at a loss for words.

That seemed to be happening a lot lately.

Jay's hand lingered over Zane's shoulder hesitantly. He slowly creeped his trembling hand closer, his fingertips barely brushing the pajama cloth. A horrifying scream erupted in his ears and he quickly recoiled. The pained shriek seemed to ring in his inner ear, despite the fact that no one had actually screamed.

"It was just a dream," he chided himself. Jay exhaled and stepped out of the ninja's shared bedroom. The floorboards creaked slightly as he walked down the hallway and into to the kitchen. The blue ninja fumbled though the pitch blackness, looking for a glass in the cupboard.

The floorboards creaked behind him.

He spun around, squinting to make out the surprise guest in the darkness.

"Fate?" He guessed.

"We need to talk," it was a male voice, definitely not Fate.

Jay's eye's widened in realization, "You're that psycho from the other night!"

In the darkness the man seemed to cringe, "Don't call me-" His complaint was quickly interrupted by a glass cup to the face. It shattered on contact... The cup not his face. The man buried his face in his hands, cradling the gashes and forming bruise. A string of muffled curses flew from his mouth.

Jay threw himself forward before the man had time to recover. He aimed a punch to the man's stomach, estimating its location in the dark. The resounding crack of the man's ribs told him that his aim was a little off.

Not that it mattered.

The man doubled over in agony, putting him in perfect position for a knee to the sternum.

"Stay. Away. From. Zane," Jay snarled through grinding teeth. Each word was punctuated with a new bruise on the cloaked man's body. The man tried stand but his efforts were quelled by a foot to the back of his skull.

Jay's heart raced and his hands trembled. The horrifying screams of his nightmare echoed in his ear. The mental image of Zane crushed and mutilated had been emblazoned in his mind's eye. His body shook with rage and terror.

He couldn't let that happen.

Jay's arm felt around almost thoughtlessly across the kitchen counter before finally grasping its target. He squinted at object in his hand.

A carving fork.

Not really what he was aiming for, but it would work. Jay briskly walking back over to the wheezing, broken man. He raised the carving fork over his head, hands trembling more than ever. He could hear his own blood rushing under his skin.

A hand, not his own, wrapped itself around his wrist.

"Don't do anything you might regret, Jay," Fate's steady tone broke the torturous silence. She held a firm grasp on his wrist and opposed to her other hand, which was place comfortingly on his shoulder.

Jay's heartbeat steadily began to slow. His shoulders slackened and the carving fork clattered to the floor.

He could almost hear her smile, "Good, just relax." Fate's voice was warm and soothing, despite what had just occurred. Or was it because of what just occurred?

Jay lurched forward when he saw the man scrambling up to escaped, but he was pulled back into a confining hug. He let out an incoherent hiss of protest.

"Let this go for today," Fate whispered, "Don't worry, everything will be okay." She held him tightly as the man ran from sight.

"I promise."

A/N: Sorry you guys had to wait so long for this chapter. Hopefully I made it up to you guys with Jay beating the utter crap out of Zane's murderer. But don't worry, I'm quite excite about the next chapter so it will be up a lot quicker. I'm finally revealing the villain's identity in the next one, so hold on to your socks!