Ken's POV
After leaving the concrete room, I found myself in a long, tall hallway lined with pipes and fluorescent lights. As soon as I stepped out of the room, the door closed and made a locking noise behind me. I guess there's no turning back - not that I could even if I had a choice, I thought dejectedly as I looked over my shoulder at the door. I still don't even know where I am!

The dusty footprints of all the children who had been forced to play this "game" continued down the hall in front of me. Others have gone through this, I reminded myself. They may have been children, but maybe some of them knew what they were doing. If I follow the footprints, maybe I'll get somewhere.

So I continued down the hall, albeit at a slight jogging pace, especially as I passed other doors. I hadn't met the mysterious woman who'd brought me here face to face, but I didn't trust her enough to not pop out of a doorway or shadow and grab me. Some of the children footprints went to the doors and supposedly went beyond, but I didn't want to risk checking to see if they went somewhere.

As I continued down the hall, the electric pop music got louder, and so did my hope for finding an exit. Sure enough, I soon saw the end of the hall and another door, although this one was curiously painted a deep black. The ominous color made me slow down, yet the music seemed to be coming from the other side of the door. Curiosity overpowered my apprehensiveness, and I crept up to the door and slowly pushed it open with shaking hands. My eyes darted around the first few inches beyond the frame to check if someone was laying in wait for me. When I didn't see any poorly concealed feet or weapons, I opened the door wide enough for me to slip through, hopefully, without causing any disturbance.

Almost immediately, my eyes struggled to adjust to the dim lighting. Compared to the harsh fluorescent lights of the hallway, the new room was lit by numerous neon signs lining the curved walls, bringing life to the black paint. The signs depicted random fun-bringing items: a slice of pizza here, a row of music notes there, and large star signs dotted the wall at a regular interval.

The only signs that weren't repeated were four different animal characters with what I guessed was their names spelled in more neon signs beneath them. There was a bear with a cheery demeanor called Freddy Fazbear; a wolf with fiery eyes named Roxanne Wolf; a chill looking alligator who went by Montgomery Gator; and a preppy chicken that proudly boasted the name Glamrock Chica. Underneath the neon characters and their names were large windows that looked into equally large rooms. They almost looked like living quarters, complete with couches and vanity mirrors.

Though strangely, the window that looked into Montgomery Gator's room was covered.

Then there was the pizza smell. There was no escaping it - it was literally coming from the walls. That, coupled with the continuing pop music playing over the loudspeaker and the neon signs shaped like pizza slices lining the walls, made it clear that I was in some sort of restaurant where pizza was the main dish.

But... this seemed a little big for your garden-variety kiddie pizza place.

I took a longer look at the animal mascot signs, realizing that they looked familiar. With a jolt, I suddenly knew exactly where I was - for some reason, I had been brought to the Freddy Fazbear Pizzaplex, a new pizzeria that had opened downtown. I had never been here myself, but I'd seen the ads on TV and heard kids in school bragging about their trips here. The newspaper reviews couldn't stop raving about how it was "practically a mall with pizza and fun as the main focal points".

The fact that it had been compared to a mall didn't exactly raise my hopes of getting out of here.

I had never been here, but other people had. They had to have posted pictures about the different places here; even if they hadn't, a place this famous had to have a website with a map. Almost giddily, I reached into my pocket for my phone - and came up empty.

Then I remembered: my phone, along with Keru, Besu, and the collapsible headset I'd used to send the SOS signal, were lying back in the alley.

My head was spinning at this revelation, yet somehow a faint whirring sound got past the pounding in my ears. Jerking my head up, I saw the glint of a security camera up on the wall, not far from me.

And the lens was pointed right at me.

My breathing hitched and my natural instinct to find shelter kicked in. Looking around, I felt a surge of relief - there were several potted fronds and circular benches lining the corridor. With my stealth training under PIXAL, I could find several places to hide!

Without checking to see if the camera was still watching me, I ran away from the door that lead to the horrible hallway and ducked behind one of the circular benches. I crouched on the linoleum floors for a few seconds to get my breathing under control, then ventured a cautious look at the camera. It was no longer pointed at me and was instead turning up and down the corridor. My hopes lifted... and then fell once more when I realized that there dozens of cameras just like it up and down the walls.

I remembered that the woman who'd brought me here had spoken to me using the intercom - that meant that she'd used the security room. If that was the case, that meant she had to be a security guard - or literally anyone in the building that had access to the security system. That also meant that whoever it was knew where every camera was, had a complete knowledge of the layout of the pizzeria... and had the tools to watch my every step.

In short... I couldn't trust anyone in this place.

And I might as well run around in circles to compensate for my lack of knowledge about this place.

I vaguely realized that I was whimpering, but I couldn't bring myself to feel embarrassed or stop. I had never felt so alone in my life - and that was coming from a guy that had switched schools too many times to count. At least when I moved, there were helpful and kind people all around me; here, any person I came across may be a psycho wanting to hurt me.

Frustrated, I clenched my eyes shut and dug my hands into my hair, once again feeling the loss of my puppets. I understood why the kidnapper had thrown out my phone, my backpack, and my collapsible headset - no way for me to contact the others, no way for them to track me. But why did they have to throw out Keru and Besu? My puppets didn't have GPS trackers sewn into them, for Pete's sake - at the very least, the only way they'd help me was offer me comforting words. The words technically would have come out of my mouth, but it would be nice to see them come out of someone else's mouth.

And I really needed to hear some comforting words right about now.

Or any person that I knew as a friend, really.

I was debating simply holding my hand in front of my face and doing Besu's voice to see if that made much of a difference when the sound of a door opening rang through the corridor. Remembering my vow not to trust anyone in this place, I ducked down and scurried further behind the bench. Keeping my head down didn't keep the conversation of two men from reaching my ears; additional loud squeaks told me that they were wheeling something heavy.

"Can you believe the nerve of this hunk of junk?" One man grouched to the other; the strain in his voice let me know that he was the one mainly wheeling the heavy object. "It has one job - sing for the kids so they go home happy. And what does it decide to do instead? Glitch and collapse on the stage right in the middle of a song? Packed house of kids on a birthday-sugar high, and this thing probably just scarred them for life!"

"Yeah, we're probably going to have complaints from mommies about their kids crying flooding in all night," The other man muttered spitefully. "The next thing you know, management will be breathing down our necks for not 'performing a thorough inspection of its systems before the show'."

"I know, right - it's not fair! I mean, we're just maintenance workers, for crying out loud! It's not like we have any idea how these things actually work!"

Once again, my curiosity got the better of me, and I found myself peeking over the top of the bench to see what they were talking about. To my surprise, I saw two men in Pizzaplex uniforms wheeling what appeared to be Freddy Fazbear himself - one of the main animatronic mascots of the pizzeria. It wasn't the fact that I was looking at a literal childhood superstar that had me staring - it was his size that caught me off guard. He had to be at least two yards tall standing up, so the cart he was strapped to had to be extra large to support his height; the maintenance worker that was wheeling Freddy had to walk on his toes in order to peer over the bear's massive shoulders.

I was also caught off guard by the state the large animatronic was in. From the numerous ads and TV commercials I'd seen of the Pizzaplex, Freddy Fazbear was always at the front of the stage with his trademark smile and bombastic singing voice, playing up huge crowds of screaming kids. But now, he was stiff and lifeless as the two men wheeled him over to his room - from what I saw of his eyes, there wasn't a spark of light in them.

Seeing an animatronic who's soul purpose is to be energetic for children so comatose... was honestly disturbing.

Question was... what happened to him?

Apparently one of the maintenance workers had the same question in mind, which he asked as they turned the corner to Freddy's room: "So what exactly do you think happened to this guy?"

The worker that had been pushing Freddy replied with a slightly less strained voice, indicating that he'd stopped, "I don't know - maybe the recharge cycle didn't complete properly, and its battery gave out. Either way, let's just hook it up to the Recharge Station and leave it alone for the rest of the night; maybe in the morning, it'll decide to actually do its job." At that, the conjoined sound of both workers cruelly laughing made its way around the corner.

Irritated, I was partly tempted to rush around the corner and tell the two workers off. Coming from a family of puppeteers and ventriloquists, I understood how hard the entertainment business was, especially if you're entertaining children; these men were laughing like it's something you just do. I knew Freddy was an animatronic built for children entertainment, sure, but it seemed mean to just assume things about him.

But my ears caught on something else they said - leave it alone for the rest of the night. That meant that whatever personnel that was left in the building would turn a blind eye to Freddy's room. Considering if Freddy had cameras in his room or not, of course.

Which would make it the perfect hiding place.

Hopeful at the prospect of a better hiding place, I crept out from my spot behind the bench, mindful of the dozens of watchful eyes on the walls. I made my way over to the corner where the workers had disappeared with Freddy, mostly crawling on my hands and balls of my feet to keep myself under the radar.

Peering around the corner, I saw what looked like a red-painted waiting area for kids that wanted to meet Freddy, complete with a tiny maze of red ropes to control the line. The two workers had sidestepped the line, which would not have gone over easy if there were children present, and had gone up to an orange door with a blue star and Freddy's silhouette marking the top. One pulled out a laminated slip of paper on a blue lanyard and held it up to a glowing blue panel embedded in the door. A small beep and a clicking sound reached my ears, and the door slid open in the time it took me to blink.

The worker who had been wheeling Freddy sucked in a breath, then picked up the handles of the cart once again and wheeled the animatronic into his room, grumbling all the while about "purposely making mascots heavier than horses". Worried that the door would immediately close behind them, I sent a little prayer to the First Spinjitzu Master and sprinted to the opening. PIXAL's training kicked in, and I pulled my body away from the workers as I entered the room, effectively masking my presence from them.

Just in time, too. Like I thought, the door slid shut behind me.

Well, here's to hoping that this room really is a safe haven.

While the workers' backs were still turned, I ducked into the closest hiding spot I could find, which turned out to be under what seemed to be a vanity table.

Wait, I thought incredulously to myself while I crouched. How does an animatronic get a vanity table while I have to share the bathroom with my parents before every show?

I pondered the unfairness of the situation while the workers continued with Freddy. Combining their strengths, they hefted Freddy's cart up onto a small stage opposite of the window that looked back into the hallway. The same worker that had opened the door to the room disappeared from my line of sight; soon after, the sound of another door opening reached my ears.

There must be a second door out of Freddy's room at the back of the stage, I realized. I vaguely remembered seeing one such door when I was in the hallway - and then I realized that if they were taking Freddy there, then that's the place that the Pizzaplex personnel would be turning a blind eye to, not Freddy's room. Panicking slightly, I left my place under the vanity table and raced for the door, worried that it would close behind the workers as well and leave me in the room.

I slipped into the back room as efficiently as I'd slipped into the main room. Immediately, my eyes struggled to adjust. While the main room had been bright and happy, the back room was dark and dingy. Fortunately, there were also boxes and shelves everywhere, so I had no problem finding a hiding spot.

I cautiously peeked out from behind a pile of boxes to watch the workers go to work on Freddy. They wheeled the bear mascot over to a large red cylinder with glowing blue cords going in and out of the sides, and a matching lightning bolt symbol marking the front. The worker who'd unlocked both doors went up to the cylinder and pressed a panel along the side, causing the front to slide open as easily as the doors. Then, combining their strength, the two workers hefted Freddy into the surprisingly bright and wide space, turning him around so that he faced the outside; he was miraculously stiff enough in his stasis to remain upright during the entire ordeal. Once inside, the workers made a show of brushing imaginary dust off of their hands and letting out large gusts of air.

Unfortunately, from both ends...

The fumes made my eyes water, though I was still able to see the same worker press the panel once more to close the cylinder. A few more taps to the panel, then he finally stepped away. "Alright, the Recharge Cycle has been started - let's get back to the workshop, put together our report, then blow out of this joint," He told the other worker with much gusto.

"Done and done," His colleague agreed, holding his forearms and looking uncomfortable. "I don't want to be here any longer than I have to; this place gets creepy after closing."

My heart plummeted to my feet. After the workers left and the door closed, I popped up from behind the boxes and sighed. "This place is creepy enough with a crazed psychopath looking for me," I grouched into the silence, resting my arms on the boxes and placing my chin in my hands. "Now it's going to get even creepier? Great..."

For a few seconds, I wallowed in the stifling quiet of the back room, punctuated only by the low humming of the Recharge Station. I dribbled my fingers against the cardboard, trying to come up with a plan to deal with my entire situation - so far, the most I could come up with was hiding in this concrete room with Freddy until morning. It sounded solid, but after the Pizzaplex closes and the rules of this "game" become even more lenient, I didn't put it past my predator to search every square inch of the building.

Including the supposed "restricted" sections.

Like the one I was in right now.

Absently, my gaze drifted up from the gray floor to lock on Freddy, who was still visible in the Recharge Station through a bulbous window. When I'd seen him outside the red cylinder, his orange exterior with red and blue highlights had seemed so cheerful - jaunty, even, with his shiny top hat and bow tie. But now, through the window, his colors were now all in mysterious blue palette.

Just like the rest of the Pizzaplex, I realized. Shrouded in mystery.

Groaning slightly, I pushed away from the boxes and approached the cylinder, keeping my eyes on Freddy. "In the ads and commercials, you're always the one hyping up the kids with your music and motivational catch phrases," I told him in a low voice. "I wonder what you would tell a kid like me in my situation."

It was silly, considering the fact that he couldn't possibly respond to me in there. But I was freaking out, and he was the closest thing I had for company.

I was so focused on the low humming of the Recharge Station that I didn't pay attention to any of the other noises. Then slightly louder noises than the humming demanded my attention - an argument, happening right outside the door:

"Dude, how could you drop your phone and not notice - we gotta get out of here!"

"Hey, you try paying attention to a thin piece of metal when you're lugging around a thirty pound piece of metal!"

"Fine, just find it and grab it so we can leave before closing. That's when all the 'incidents' supposedly happen."

"Well, it's not in this room, so it must be in the back room."

My heart skipped a beat. They were coming to the back room. That meant they would open the door and see me. Put in a report to the main office that they'd found a kid hiding in the main mascot's room. Who knew what kind of people would see that report? I still had no idea who my mysterious kidnapper was, or who else was involved.

In short - my safe haven was compromised!

My mind went into overdrive. I eyed my previous hiding spot behind the boxes, but my panicked brain didn't think I could make in time. Instead I turned to the next nearest hiding place:

The Recharge Station.

Numbly, I fingered the panel that the worker had used to operate the cylinder. Somehow with my shaking fingers, I was able to pause the Recharge Cycle and open the door. It took me two seconds to admire Freddy in his full glory, then use the panel to close the door and slip inside before it shut.

It took me another nanosecond to realize that I forgot to restart the Recharge Cycle.

It was too late, though. As soon as I realized that, the telltale sound of a door opening filled the cylinder, and I ducked down so the workers couldn't see me through the window. I ended up uncomfortably smushed between Freddy's large leg and the wall, listening to the workers as they continued to bicker.

"Are you sure you left it in here, man? I'm still not seeing it."

"It wasn't out there, so it must be in here somewhere."

So they were still looking for the one worker's elusive phone. I wondered what it looked like and if I had seen it - what color it was, what brand it was, if it was rectangular with rounded edges...

Like the foreign object pressed against my backside.

Realization flashed through my body just as the worker said, "Maybe I dropped in the Recharge Station."

Horror shot like Valt's lightning through my body, hot and cold at the same time. In a panic, I blindly threw my limbs everywhere in an attempt to move further into the cylinder to hide. By accident, my wrist made contact with Freddy's stomach, and I felt the metal give way under my touch. Surprised, I looked over and saw that the metal had slightly separated into two parts, revealing the "inside" of Freddy.

That's right, I remembered. Freddy has a stomach hatch that he uses to store birthday cakes and piñatas. In the ads, the kids always look so surprised when Freddy places their birthday sweets in front of them.

I wonder if a human can fit inside it.

Before I could fully think through what I was doing, I was on my knees in front of Freddy, grabbing both ends of his stomach hatch and forcing it to open wide enough for me to slip through. It wasn't a comfortable space, I had to completely turn my body around to totally fit, and the sides of his endoskeleton pressed into my body painfully, but all that mattered was that the hatch closed soundly behind me. I was completely hidden.

In the end, my failure to restart the Recharge Cycle had saved my life. While I was struggling with the hatch, I overheard the workers talking about it:

"Wait, wha...? Shit - it's a good thing we came back, because it looks like the Recharge Station glitched after we left. The Recharge Cycle has been paused."

"Aw, man... I was kinda counting on the Cycle to charge my phone while it was in there."

"Yeah, too bad, so sad - just grab it and let's go."

"Bossy..."

I heard the door to the Recharge Station open and I held my breath. My worried mind betrayed me and I imagined the workers looking over Freddy, checking for any disturbances, noticing a gap in his stomach hatch, opening it, finding me, yanking me out, reporting me to the main office...

Fortunately, that didn't happen. Instead, the worker simply said, "Ah - there it is!" There was the screech of metal against metal as the phone was retrieved, then the door closed once more.

I allowed myself a breath, but my relief was short lived. As soon as the door closed, a low humming filled the confined space and I felt my muscles contract. The Recharge Cycle had been restarted, and it was painfully vibrating every part of me. I had been shocked by Valt on accident a few times; this was like a prolonged version of that.

I grit my teeth, but even they were shaking as hundreds of bolts of electricity were pumped into my body. My mind filled with the need to get out, to get away. On instinct, I kicked out to reopen Freddy's stomach hatch-

And something else happened. My vision was suddenly flooded with electric lights as the Recharge Cycle miraculously stopped. I found myself somehow looking outside, at the inside of the Recharge Station, while my sight was lined with orange and blue highlights.

A new sound reached my ears - was that someone yawning?

The door to the cylinder opened by some electric command, and I braced myself to see the surprised looks on the workers' faces as I - we? - walked out. Luckily, the workers were nowhere to be seen. My vision changed from the Recharge Station to the back room, and the back room to the door to the back room. The door opened and I found myself in the main room once more, with the two workers still nowhere in sight. My line of sight moved once more, and I saw the vanity table with its large rockstar-style mirror.

And instead of seeing me in the mirror, I saw Freddy.

Only instead of being in his comatose state, his eyes were alight with life.

"Showtime already?" Freddy's mouth moved, sounding confused. "I am experiencing a malfunction... the Recharge Cycle is not complete."

His deep voice shook me even more than the Recharge Station had, and I was terrified that the workers were still in earshot, therefore could hear him and come investigate him. I had to get him to speak quieter, or we could both get in a lot of trouble. I spoke up tentatively, not sure if he could hear me inside his stomach hatch, "Um... Mr. Fazbear, sir? D-do you mind speaking a little lower?"

Freddy's eyes widened and his head went swiveling, moving my line of sight with him. "Who said that?" He asked, not lowering his voice in the slightest.

"I-I'm down here," I replied softly, a little motion sick from all the swiveling he was doing.

"Down where?" Freddy implied, giving me a full view of the floor as he continued to look for me. "I still do not see you."

"Uh-uh," I stuttered, contemplating how ridiculous what I was about to say sounded. "Y-you were asleep, so I sort of - accidentally - climbed into your stomach hatch."

Freddy's gaze finally went back to the mirror, though his line of sight locked on his stomach. "My... stomach hatch?" He asked, sounding even more confused. His tone turned scolding, "That place is reserved for oversized birthday cakes and piñatas! It is not a safe play area!"

Tell me about it, I thought ruefully, mostly focused on the pain in my lower back.

He turned away from the mirror, and the light faded from my eyes, bringing back the darkness of his endoskeleton. The stomach hatch opened in front of me, revealing the bright light of the main room, and I took that as my cue to leave. Gratefully, I untangled myself from Freddy's inner workings and swung my legs down to meet the teal carpet. Before I landed, however, two large metal arms seized my arms and spun me around. I gasped slightly, finding myself face to face with none other than Freddy Fazbear himself, the main animatronic mascot of the Pizzaplex.

"There you are!" He told me, sounding relieved. His gaze was gentle yet probing as his eyes turned white, scanning my features. When he was done, he hummed thoughtfully. "Scanning complete," He announced, letting me down gently. Strangely, I didn't feel the need to run from him. "How odd. Your guest profile is unknown to me. Who are you?"

I blinked at him for a moment, taking in his colorful face - a face that had brought joy to so many children. I glanced around the room, seeing his face everywhere - on the walls, as balloons in the corner, even as plushies littered around the room.

I was not safe here, I had to remind myself. My mysterious kidnapper was still looking for me in the pizzeria, and it was only a matter of time before she found me here. I was not safe.

But I got the feeling that I was no longer alone.

"I-I'm... Ken. Ken Midori," I told Freddy.

—————

Monastery of Spinjitzu
No One's POV
The boys were taking a brief breathing period before their lessons started, hanging out and stretching in the courtyard while PIXAL got herself ready. They mostly talked about events in the blading world, how everyone's respective bey clubs were doing, arguing about whose bey was the strongest.

But Valt and Jin were the main source of attention. Being the only two out of their group of twenty who had awakened their Elements, the two were like mini celebrities, with everyone crowding them and asking for favors.

Though they were mostly asked how it felt, having something that powerful inside of them.

"I don't know if I can really explain it," Jin was telling Cuza, who'd asked one such question. He clutched one of his whips in one hand while holding his clenched hand in front of him, eyeing it curiously. "Most times, like right now, it feels like there's something sleeping in my chest - almost like I can prod it and wake it up. Then sometimes it feels like having a raging beast inside me, ready to bust out and do serious damage at a moment's notice."

"Yeah!" Valt butted in. "And then when you let it loose, it's like... BAM!! KA-POW!! CRITICAL HIT!!" He raised his arms above his head for emphasis, though everyone breathed a sigh of relief when no lightning escaped his limbs.

"WOW!" Cuza told them, his fists clutched tightly beneath his wide smile and shining eyes. "I wish I could deliver fatal damage like that!" He looked at his own hands with disapproval, as if mentally asking his Element why it was taking so long to wake up.

Valt laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "It'll wake up eventually - just give it time!" He assured the acrobat.

Kit was up next. "Hey, Valt?" He asked his older brother figure, fixing his face into an angelic expression and holding his BeyPad out. "I forgot to charge my BeyPad last night, and I hate to miss important developments in the blading world - do you mind charging it for me?"

Shu, who was next to Valt, frowned. "Can't you just make a note to charge your BeyPad at night?" He asked the small blader, who blanched.

Valt, however, placed a hand on Shu's arm. "It's fine, Shu - it's just a little charge," He told his boyfriend. Looking back at Kit, he waved his fingers dramatically, allowing a small spark to jump between his fingertips. He straightened his hand into a point at the BeyPad, and the spark lengthened into a small bolt of lightning, leaving his palm and zapping the device. Blue stars appeared around the item of metal and electricity, and the sound of a freshly charged device reached everyone's ears. Everyone clapped at Valt's display of electrical prowess and he grinned, bowing theatrically.

"Great," Kit said tightly. He'd been holding the device when Valt had zapped it, and his orange hair stood comically on end. "Next time, wait for me to put it down, though."

Valt giggled, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, I'm still working on focusing my lightning to just affect one thing - sorry!" He apologized sheepishly.

As Kit furiously shook his head to flatten his new hairdo, Jin sighed. "Seriously? Charging a BeyPad? So cliché..." He muttered, though even his mouth was curling with mirth. Then the sound of someone yelling filled the courtyard, and everyone turned to see Honcho pouring his water bottle on Wakiya's head.

"DUDE!! WHAT THE HELL?!" Wakiya screamed where he was dripping.

"I was checking to see if my theory about you wearing makeup and hair dye was true," Honcho replied calmly, partly crouching and squinting up into the rich boy's flushed face. After a few seconds, he turned back to the others with a fake serious expression. "Theory: DEBUNKED," He announced.

Everyone rolled their eyes at the show, but no one told Honcho off. The antics between the two had become routine by that point.

"Hold on, Wakiya," Jin spoke up from his place on the porch steps, laughing slightly. He held up his hand and allowed a small gust of wind to escape his palm. The rushed air traveled across the courtyard until it reached Wakiya, where it then sped around the blonde's head until all signs of moisture were gone.

"Nice work, Jin," Wakiya commended him, feeling around his new blown-out hair with a disgusted expression. "Though your control still needs a little work."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Honcho told him, trying and failing to hold in his laughter. "From where I'm standing, it looks like Jin has perfect control."

Wakiya flushed an even deeper red. "OF COURSE YOU WOULD THINK THAT, YOU BLEACHED-HAIR MENACE!!" He yelled, reaching for Honcho's throat.

While Xander took the liberty of breaking the two up, and the others continued laughing at Wakiya's new hairstyle, Daigo casted a worried look at the still-open doors to the courtyard. "Where do you think Ken is?" He asked the boys. "He's usually here by now."

Ukyo followed his gaze and shrugged. "Meh, he probably just had a puppet show he couldn't get out of," He told the emo boy. "He's probably fine."

But the sound of the door to the Monastery opening caused all noise in the courtyard to cease. Twenty pairs of eyes shifted to witness PIXAL stride quickly across the front porch towards them. She was dressed in her usual training clothing, but it was clear that training was the furthest thing from her mind. Her white fists were clenched tightly against her sides and her brow was drawn tight over her green eyes; if her chrome face was regular flesh, it would probably be pale as a sheet.

All of the boys immediately stood at attention. "Pix, what's wrong?" Valt felt the need to ask, having never seen the Nindroid in such a state of distress.

PIXAL's agitated gaze swung up to lock on him. "I just got an SOS signal," She informed him heatedly.

That certainly got everyone's attention. "SOS signal?" Shu asked, dread settling into his stomach. "From who?"

PIXAL took a breath. "From Ken."

—————

5753 words.