4 years, 6 months and a week post SSundee's 'death'
[Song: Linkin Park; With You]

Deadlox's POV
"Argh, it still gets to me! Here we are, trying tirelessly to track down this psycho, and meanwhile, he's slaughtering entire villages and we can't do anything to stop him!" Sky went to say something, then decided to say something else. "Look, don't blame yourself..." I scowled at him and his buttery eyes widened. "I know you're under pressure, but-" I sighed. "I know Sky. I'm sorry, it's just...yeah, the stress...it's getting to me." Sky rested his hand on my arm. "It'll be ok Ty. You'll get them." "I hope so. This suspense is killing me." We both jumped as someone pounded on the door in anguish. I got up and opened it, revealing a trembling man. His brown hair was plastered to his forehead and his headphones were askew. He wore a green T-Shirt with a giant white T on the front. "Y-your name is D-Deadlox right?" I nodded. "General Deadlox of the MPDoM." The man wiped the sweat off his forehead. "T-Toby Turner; Tobuscus." "What brings you to our door?" Tobuscus gave me a grave expression. "The murderer you're looking for; he's in my village. I'm sure of it." I drew my iron sword from it's scabbard and without hesitation, said: "Take me there."

***

SSundee's POV
Iaaaaaaan. Iaaaaaaaaaaaan. I shivered, cold sweat breaking out on my forehead. "N-no. L-leave me alone." Iaaaan. Where aaaare yooou? My eyes widened and I trembled as I backed up into the shadows of my mind. "Sh-shut up!" A shadowy figure appeared a few paces away from me. It tilted its head to one side and a twisted grin glimmered in the half-light. A whimper of fear escaped me as they took a step forward towards me. "N-no-" There you are. "Leave me alone!" They laughed cruelly; a strangled, hoarse sound that took my insides in a cold fist and crushed them. It was the sound of death. Don't be afraid of me Ian. Remember; you can't be scared of yourself. I shook in anger. "I'm me! I'm not like you!" My voice cracked towards the end of the sentence and he stepped forward again, taking advantage of the brief moment I'd let my guard down. You're an animal Ian. We all are; humans are all animals. We all have a part of us that kills for fun. You more than most. Admit it, you enjoy it too; their screams, their blood on your skin- I covered my ears, blocking out his terrifying voice. "NO! Shut up!" I shut my eyes tight but I could still feel his hot breath on me as I trembled in fear; he was so close. Don't fight it. I yelped and my eyes snapped open as he grabbed my wrists and forced them back against the wall. I stared at him in terror as he grinned crazily, his deranged crooked eyes glowering at me as he savoured my petrified expression. Don't. Lie to me. I stifled a sob of fear as he neared his face to mine, filling my vision with his demented grin and bloodlust filled eyes. I felt something tug inside, a primeval part of me howling for the same things Derp wanted.

He backed away, giggling and covering his face with his hands, then suddenly stopped dead, slowly and soundlessly raising his head back towards me. His eyes were soulless and empty, devoid of the normal hate that lingered there. His face was expressionless and he seemed frozen in time. Then, something started started to flicker in the depths of him. I felt it too; hate; pain; loneliness; loss. Then bloodlust; a creepy obsession to murder and spread devastation. Suddenly, Derp turned his body fully and advanced towards me, a menacing glare in his eyes. "D-Derp?" No reaction. "Crap." I tried to run but it was too late. His mouth curled back in a snarl. His face contorted in anger. He went to say something. This made no sense this made no sense-
Raised his hands as if to throttle me. His eyes...always filled with so much anger. He lunged forward. I yelled, felt his hands round my throat. My heart pounding like a caged animal. My mind screaming at me-

WAKE UP

I shot upright in bed, chest heaving and eyes wide in fright. I realised my own hands were round my throat; I pried them away and gasped for breath, taking great lungfuls of air. My shoulders shook as sobs of shock racked my cold body. I should be used to this by now. Every night I would awake from dreams such as the one I'd just experienced. Every time they stopped at the same bit. Only, because Derp had more control over my mind at night as my body was tireder and weaker than during the day, he could infiltrate my dreams easier and dominate them. I drew my knees to my chest and listened to my racing heartbeat. Suddenly, I heard a loud, urgent knock at my door. I froze, my head snapping up and my crooked eyes widening. "Open up! We just wanna talk!" I swore loudly and leapt out of bed, pulling my shirt on and my jacket before picking up Derp's sword and sheathing it in the scabbard always hanging at my belt. I made a sharp intake of breath before kicking at a loose wooden block in the wall I was closest to; my secret escape route. I crawled through the small opening made and moved the block back into place once I'd left the house. I stood up and took a moment to figure out where I was going from here. Suddenly, a hand grabbed my shoulder. "Gotcha!" I yelped and on instinct grabbed the man's shoulders and pulled him towards me, kneeing him in the stomach. "Hey-! We just wanna-" He gasped for air as I grabbed his neck and put him in a headlock, strangling him until he fell limp. I dropped his unconscious body to the ground and started running. My breathing came short and quick, my heart pounding in my chest. Many months of simply running had put my physical abilities to the test, but I knew I could run for at least an hour non-stop by now.

An arrow whizzed past me and I knew I had to find a place to hide now they'd discovered I was gone, and found their buddy unconscious. I wasn't in trouble before, but now I had provoked them. Idiot. Someone was running beside me now, I could see their blurred form out of the corner of my eye. I drew my sword at the same time they did and skidded to a halt, swinging it round to clash upon theirs. Their brow was furrowed in concentration, their teeth gritted and eyes wide as they stared at my sunglasses. "What-?" I raised my eyebrow. "What-?" His sword jammed itself between my ribs and I went down on my knees, gasping in pain. Should've seen that coming; he momentarily distracted me with his comment while he attacked. A rush of numbness went over me and Derp took the reins, standing up and ripping the blade out of his side, throwing it to the ground in disdain. The man stumbled backwards in shock and fell, his headphones slipping off his forehead and into the dirt. Derp narrowed his eyes, teeth gritted in anger and pain as the wound healed. "Did you attack me with a death wish in mind or something?" Thank god he had had the sense to disguise his voice, lowering it and trying to smother out the hoarser tones. He picked the man up by the throat and was about to throw him against the nearest house with enough force to break his neck when a painfully familiar voice stopped him in his tracks. "Stop right there!" Derp turned around to face the voice, and grinned, seeing the terrified look in the man's brown eyes, transform his face, as he took in the sight of a true killer standing before him. "Well, Commander Deadlox, you should know, as a police general, that it takes a lot to kill a killer." With credit to my old friend, instead of reacting to this unsettling line, he only narrowed his eyes at this, steeling himself and baring his teeth.

"Put Tobuscus down and face us you coward."

Anger flared inside of Derp and I wanted desperately to tell Ty to run while he still had a chance. "You dare call me a coward?" Derp dropped Tobuscus in the dirt and spun on his heel, glaring ferociously at Ty. He snarled and the few warriors assembled round Ty jumped. Ty's glare sharpened his hazel eyes and he drew his iron sword from it's scabbard, eyeing the diamond one in Derp's hand.

Derp smiled. Without warning, I felt feeling rush back into me. My knees buckled and I hit the ground, swallowing hard and gasping for breath. Ty stood over me, his shadow dark. "Get up, criminal." I took a deep breath and looked up at him. There was no hint of recognition on my former friends' face as he growled, "If you're going to fight, get it over with."

I couldn't take it anymore. I just couldn't.

My voice was hoarse and full of agony, as I whispered,"4 and a half years, Ty."

Ty blinked. "What?" I swallowed my fear, standing up, stumbling with fatigue, speaking so only he could hear me. "I've been in hiding for nearly 4 and a half years. I've been alone for nearly 1,643 days. I've gone nigh insane from solitude. Now my friends wouldn't even recognise me, my own family wouldn't." Ty's eyes nearly popped out of his head, and I've seen that happen for real more times than I would like. "I-Ian...?" Tears welled up behind my shades, in the crooked eyes I despised so, as I backed away. "I don't want to hurt you.", I whimper, my voice cracking at the end of the sentence.

Run away Ian, like you always do. Run away.

So I did, ignoring Ty's shellshocked expression as he eventually faded away into the distance. No one followed me, because he didn't give the order.

He let me go.