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Kai blinked, raising himself out of bed. Where the hell was he, why was his body so sore. Panic slipped in almost as soon as he opened his eyes. He felt… strange. Like there was a fire burning under his skin, itching to get out. He pulled himself out of bed and looked around. It appeared to be early in the morning. There were two other boys sleeping in what looked like a 5 person bedroom. One of the boys was wearing blue pajamas and had brown hair. The one iIn the bunk below him, directly across from where Kai woke up, had black hair and was wearing black pajamas. Kai stood there for a moment, before tentatively stepping out into the hallway. It wasn’t a long hallway and he heard voices coming from the opposite end. Across the hall was a bathroom, A BATHROOM. Kai practically tipped over himself to get into it, if he could just see what he looked like-
…
That’s not him. Last he knew he was 10 years old, and had just tucked his younger sister into bed. Now he looked to be an adult, his body littered with scars. Making eye contact with the strange man standing in the mirror, he paused. Was that really him?
“Kai are you up?” Came a robotic voice from the other side of the door, “Breakfast is ready, are Jay and Cole still asleep?” Jay and Cole? Were those the boys he had seen sleeping? It doesn't matter. All he knows is he has no clue what is happening, but it’s best to go along until he does. That’s what he normally does as to not scare his sister. Memory blanks were common for him. He would wake up and days had gone by, sometimes weeks. Never years. But he can’t deny what’s happening to him.
“Uhh yeah they're still asleep, I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Okay” The robotic voice responded after a second. Almost as if the voice had to pause, to question Kai. God he can’t risk these strange people figuring out that he was confused, he doesn’t know how he knew them, but they would most definitely take advantage of his memory loss. He can’t have that happen, he has to protect his sister- …. Where is his sister?
Filled with a new sense of urgency, Kai opened the door and returned to the hallway, where a robot (or a really elaborate cosplayer, but that seemed unlikely) was standing.
“Why?” was all he could say, unable to mask the shock in his voice.
“I wanted to make sure you were okay.” The robot said, his blue eyes examining Kai.
“I’m fine.” Kai tried to reiterate, he really wasn’t fine. But this tin can wasn’t going to make him break that easily.
Kai followed the robot out into what looked like a kitchen. A blonde-haired boy smiled at their arrival.
“Morning Kai!’ He greeted.
“Mornin’, what’s for breakfast?” Kai responded as nonchalantly as possible. More strange people? Just great. He made his way to the table and sat across from the blonde boy. He was wearing a green t-shirt, some ripped jeans, and a gray flannel. The robot was dressed in similarly casual attire, Kai now felt awkward in his pjs.
“Didn’t get dressed huh?” The guy across from him asked, seemingly reading Kai’s mind. He gave a tentative nod, the green wearing boy seemed uncontent with. Damnnit, the boy could tell something was up. He looked like he wanted to say something, but the robot shook his head at him, shutting the blonde one up. Kai shuffled uncomfortably.
“But-” The blonde started to protest
“I’ll talk to you later, Lloyd.” The robot said. The blonde one, Lloyd, gave up. Turning to Kai, he smiled warily and went back to his food. Curious. They knew something was up, but they weren’t pushing, why? It didn’t make sense. Why would they not take advantage of his weakness? They can clearly sense he has an issue, why not exploit it? It was odd. Furthermore, it disturbed him that they had an idea of what was happening. Why did they know more about him then he did?
“What’s going on here?” A familiar voice asked as she entered the room.
“Nya?” Kai exclaimed, confused. That was undoubtedly his sister, but she was so old. Her hair was long and tied up in a messy bun. The same eyes blue marking her pale face. She was wearing a leather jacket over a black and white striped shirt with black ripped jeans. She looked at Kai quizzically, sensing something was off almost instantly. The robot shook his head at Nya, signaling her to hold her questions.
“I’m going to wake up Jay and Cole, their breakfast is getting cold.”
“Bye Zane,” Lloyd said between bites. Kai shuffled, he needed to get out of here. He just lost YEARS of his memory. He could ask the robot, Zane, he seemed to know what was going on. But Kai refused to show that weakness. So he ate quickly, and shortly after the 3 boys came for breakfast, he excused himself to get dressed.
Dressing quickly, he snuck off the ship. He had no clue why he was on a ship, but he had to get out of here. He couldn’t face those strange men, he couldn’t face his sister. They knew that something was wrong, and Zane seemed to know what was wrong, and he couldn’t bear the thought that someone knew what was wrong with him without him knowing.
He wandered over to the city the ship was parked on the edge of. He pulled up the hood of the jacket he was wearing, some part of him knew he couldn't be seen. Kai felt that something bad would happen if anyone saw him. He snuck through the city streets, keeping out of sight. He turned down an ally, leading to a dead end. Then, when he reached the back, he sat down and pulled out his phone. He didn’t know what his plan was, but he attempted to log in, shit. He didn’t know the password. He let out a sigh. He had no clue what he thought would happen, maybe he thought that he would just know? Stupid.
Just as he was about to close his phone and put it away, he got a phone call. Someone named Pixal? Against his better judgment, he answered.
“Hello Kai.” The voice was similar to Zanes in that it sounded robotic. Though it did sound female.
“He Pixal,” He said, trying to sound casual.
“We are still meeting later, correct?”
“Uhhh,” He had no clue. A moment passed.
“I am talking to Kai, correct?”
“Of course! Who else would it be? Yeah we, uhm, we are still meeting later.” Kai chuckled. What kind of a question was that? Of course he was Kai.”
“Hmm” pause “Ok, see you it 10.”
“See you!” She hung up. Shit. 10 minutes?? Would Pixal go to the ship expecting him?? What was he going to do?.
- - - - - -
Pixel knew that that was not Kai, but who was it? Most of the members in Kai’s system were comfortable enough to tell her that they weren’t Kai. She called up the bounty.
“Hey Pixal” Nya answered, clearly stressed.
“I think there is something wrong with Kai” She replied, clearly stressed.
“Oh we know!” Jay piped in, death glaring Zane.
“In my defense, I didn't think he’d leave” The robot responded.
“He isn’t at the bounty?” Pixel asked.
“No, I’m tracking his phone as we speak, I’ll go get him.” Nya huffed.
“I’m already flying over the city, I can get him if you’d like.” Pixel suggested.
The water ninja sighed. “No, he knew who I was and I’m his sister, I’ll do it.”
“Affirmative, I’ll be at the bounty soon.”
- - - - - -
Nya made her way through the city on her motorbike. Kai seemed to be staying in one place, an ally a couple minutes away from the city edge. She stopped right outside the allies entrance. Taking off her helmet, she looked to the back of the ally. There was Kai. He was hunched over, head in his hands. He was just staring at the ground.
Nya approached her brother slowly, still, he looked up. Upon seeing it was her both panic and relief flashed in his eyes.
Inhale, “Look, I know you're really confused,” She said as she sat down by him, “But why don’t you tell me what's the last thing you remember before today. I think I know what happened but I want to be sure.” The fire ninja stayed silent. “Please?”
He sighed, “I was like 10, or something, I had tucked you into bed.”
“Okay, uhm. This is going to sound really weird but I just need you to listen to me.”
Kai listened dumbstruck as his sister explained what was going on. He shared a body with multiple people? He wasn’t actually Kai?? He had been dormant??? Nya looked at him sympathetically when she finished, letting him take a moment.
“Well if I’m not Kai, who am I?” Was all he could ask.
“You share a body with Kai, Red, Leah, Nyx, and Tommy. You could be any name you want to you don’t have to just be Kai 2. But if you want to be Kai 2, that works too.” She smiled.
“Well then, call me-” He paused, unsure. Then it hit him.
“Damian, call me Damian.”