"What the hell Bo, I thought you wanted a sword fight", I said angrily. My legs had still been tangled by his weapon. I tore and pulled at the string but It did nothing, and I knew that. Bo laid there in his Equalist uniform. He had changed, somehow when I was gone on that courier's assignment. He had gotten darker. He didn't say anything, as I was attempt to rid myself of the ropes, he slowly got up and starred at me. It was weird, it seemed somehow everyone I last met before I left had gotten darker ever since I met Porter.

He fully stood up now, as I still sat on the moist grass. "You want to become stronger, embrace the power that is given to you", he said with no expression on his face. I looked at him like he was insane, he was insane, he had gone completely mad. What had happened after I left? "What wrong with you? Your completely psychotic and what power!", I said. At this point I had stopped attempting to remove the strings and just starred at him. It seemed like his whole face got darker, his eyes pierced through mine.

"Power? What the hell did you think this was a joke? Some training exercise?", I yelled to him. He chuckled, he was about to answer my question until something was caught in his eye. It was the dagger I had knocked out of him earlier. He walked over to it, it sat lying their in the grass, with the blade stuck into the ground, he slowly pulled it out. I started to struggle again with the ropes. "Tell me Khai, have you ever been in a situation where you felt hopeless? Lost, beyond all recognition of being saved and somehow you felt a brief rush of energy and you feel invincible?", he said walking back to me.

When he said this I couldn't help but remember back at that ally way with Ruan. That one sand bender, Kenten attempted to kill us but Ruan blinded him and somehow out of the protection of my best friend, I found some extra power, the extra push needed to take down Kenten. I didn't say anything, I didn't need to he already knew that I have felt it. He knelt down and pointed the knife at my black eye, I was uneasy at first but then he said, "It's called hatred, and by the look of that black eye, it seems like you have already sued it to your advantage", he said smiling.

I looked down for a bit, I felt like a coward but I hated using "hatred" as a means of extra power. I'd rather use my own skill then blood rage to defeat my enemies. "Yea so what gave you the idea to attack me, you could have seriously hurt me man?", I said. I couldn't find right words to counter his, for once he seemed to outsmart me without the use of insults. Bo lowered his knife to my entangled legs, "Your weak", Bo said starring at me.

With one swift movement of his arm the knife had cut straight through the cords that bonded my legs. We both got to our feet, I struggled to get to my feet first but Bo had calmly beaten me. Bo sheathed his knife under his torso piece. I backed up until my back hit the too shed. It hadn't been anything special just a bunch of gardening tools my mom had, but she still like to keep it locked up. Bo walked closer to and grinned, almost an evil grin. I hadn't expected for Bo to have get this dark over a short while, he had definitely changed.

His fist slammed against my stomach, I hunched over taking in a big breath of air but his hand caught my face and he wrapped his hand around my neck. I choked and gasped for breath, what the hell is he crazy? I wrapped my hand at his fist trying to pry it off, and when I got close to it, he would just hit my stomach again. I was eighteen and still couldn't defend myself from him, I felt weak. I had usually had to advantage over him verbally, but since my absence he had gotten a lot more corrupt and evil. he had had the advantage over me, physically and verbally.

"You disrespect dad, if you aren't willing to learn from him, then maybe I can convince you to, any means necessary", Bo said. That last part made him smile manically. "Fuck...you", I managed to sputter out. It wasn't my best or wisest idea to insult him, especially with the position I was in, but what did I have to lose? Bo had no emotion, he slammed his fist into my stomach again, realizing his grasp around my throat he proceeded with a hammer fist to the side of my head knocking my to the ground. I tried to get up but he had kicked me in the abdomen. I grunted as I rolled on the ground clutching my abdomen in pain.

At that point I felt what he had been talking about, I felt the hatred course throughout my body. I had to admit the rush felt good, felt intense but I didn't like using it. It was an immoral and dishonorable way of fighting. Then again I had to think, was what Bo doing any more dishonorable then an extra rush. "Spineless fool!", Bo said swing his foot, that when it really kicked in. The kick had shot a quick pain through my hand once I caught it but it was ignored. Pulling it higher I followed up by spinning my body around knocking Bo's foot off the ground that had been stabilizing him.

Bo hit the ground hard with a loud grunt, I tried to scramble to my feet, which had been my greatest mistake. By then my rush had ended and Bo's had begun, on the ground he slammed his heel into my rib cage sending me rolling onto my back. He laughed as he got up without struggle. I had no more energy to carry on, I had wasted it on that last move. "You had it but then you lost it! Like I said Khai your weak, your spineless, and you don't have enough damn hate!", he said, almost in a psychotic tone, or at least that wasn't what it sounded like. He walked over to me and looked down starring into me. Sweat dripped from my brow, my whole body cooked from the inside and I could tell that he was burning up to.

He lifted up his foot and pressed his combat shoe against the side of my face, the moisture and mud combined rubbed onto the side of my face as he pressed down slowly. "You know what, you never will!", Bo said finishing off his sentence. He lifted his shoes up residue fell he wasn't letting me go he was preparing to drive his foot into the side of my face, which he would have been successful in giving me a broken noes or a fractured jaw if he continued but we had been interrupted. I heard the sliding glass door open from the front porch and with it a shout of fury. "Bo what are you doing! Stop this madness and help up your brother now!", it had been my mom...coming to my rescue.

She raced over and knelt down to me but at that time I had already begun to get up. Bao had done the exact opposite, he took his time and by closing the glass door and then approached Bo. "I'm fine mom, just let me get up", I said. She looked nervous and worried, and the sight of my black eye did not make it any better for her. I noticed that dad had walked over to Bo pushing him against the wall, Bo didn't resist. "What the hell happened Bo?", said Bao. I could tell his was somewhat upset for all the bruises on me. Bo had explained everything and added something of his own, "All I was trying to do was make him more like me, more like us. I couldn't have let him disrespect you at dinner last night so I decided to toughen him up if he was going to be an Equalist", Bo said calmly.

Bo and Bao walked completely behind the shed, they spoke quietly so I couldn't make out anything they said. Jade reached for my face to see the damage. "Khai your eye!, she said shockingly. I looked down, I was both angry and embarrassed, as much as I respected my mother I didn't want her to fight my battles. "Forget it mom, just leave me alone..", I said. I really didn't want to say that, she was the only one in the family who never shouted anything about the Equalist party. We both got to our feet, I brushed off the dirt off my clothes and mud off my face.

"Khai..", Jade started to say but it seemed like she couldn't find the right words. She was stressed, and I didn't blame her. Being with these two die hard Equalist, could put anybody in pain, I just couldn't bare to see my own mother this way. It was quiet, we didn't speak, I wanted to say something encouraging but just like her I didn't have the right words. "I did this for you and to make our family stronger", said Bo as he and Bao came around the corner. "It's over now, complaining now would just be more of an annoyance to me", Bao said.

Bo had gone and picked up his mask, fitting it together like a puzzle, it had been cracked from my heel drop onto his face. He had walked back into the house that's when Bao had walked over to me. I couldn't help but get a little nervous as he walked towards me, he didn't look to angry but I bet he had a long night and just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. However, it felt weird being afraid of your own father, It wasn't weird at all, it was just sick and wrong! "Khai, get to your room, you have school in the morning, no questions this is the last I will hear of this", Bao said with a stern voice. I couldn't do much now. "Yes sir", I said with much grief.

I walked back to the house, and couldn't hep overhearing my parents talking. "Do you think that was to harsh?", said jade. "Not at all jade, Khai is to weak, Bo was doing him good by fighting him", Bao replied. The rest, I blocked out of my mind and walked into the house. I heard Bo curse when I walked passed his room which was on the ground floor. I cracked open the door and looked inside. He was trying to fix his mask, the crack couldn't have been more perfectly diagonal but it didn't reach all the way across the crack started about 5cm inwards on the mask and left it the same way.

Serves him right, I continued towards the front and and immediately turned upstairs, entering my room. My room hadn't been much but it had the things essential for me. It had a dresser, a bed, a closet, the Equalist flag hung above my bed and I didn't dare to take it down. I also had a window with a beautiful view of the brick wall that surrounded my house. I jumped into my bed and starred at the ceiling. I didn't know when i would see porter again but I had a feeling there was more to him then I had known from our encounter in the... wherever I had been, since Shana had knocked me out, they dropped me off in the park along with Ruan. I had School tomorrow at the college of Kyoshi and I "couldn't wait" to get back since I've been on vacation.

My eyes got very heavy all of a sudden, and fell asleep.