The lid of the container opened, and the shadows that lived inside Momotaro escaped. An immeasurable pressure tied the young man to his mistakes, with his mindset on the past he couldn't live in the present.

Even if he managed to free himself from regret, the deep voice inside reminded him of every little error he made. Everything led to a spiral of darkness and the more time he let it take control the more he lost his conscience.

During the previous days, Titan followed Momotaro everywhere. He showed more attachment than usual, it didn't matter the place or the time, a part of the dog's body was always touching his owner's leg. Still, not even the company of his best friend decreased Momo's sorrow.

People started to notice his change of attitude. He could see the other members getting out of his way, and avoiding eye contact with him, as he walked in the direction of the new training room.

Tired of the awkward environment, Momotaro lowered his gaze to the ground. For an instant, he would have sworn that his shadow looked bigger than usual. Still, he dismissed the idea using the size of the light bulb as an excuse, the hallways near the training room had better illumination so his body was probably directly receiving the light.

"Perfectly on time, as always," said Gellert once Momo and Titan made it to his destination.

"It's part of my charm, and also part of my anxiety," answered the young man.

The new training room was an exact replica of the one they had at the previous headquarters. Stefan explained to Momotaro that he was aiming for familiarity, and according to him it'll help to increase the spirit.

"Are you okay? You seem a little off lately." The older man asked, he tried to get closer to them to pet Titan but the dog began growling. "I see you're not the only one in a bad mood today."

"Titan, sit," Momotaro ordered the Pit Bull who obeyed without hesitation. "Sorry, I don't know what's happening to him, he's more sensitive. I'm good, don't worry about me."

"Are you sure? I can take care of the job if you need to rest."

"I don't need your help, I can handle my problems."

"So, we're accepting that there's a problem?"

"Even if I had a problem I don't have the obligation to tell you about it." Hissed Momotaro, the darkness was escaping through his words.

"What the hell is going on with you? You know what? I won't ask you how you're anymore. Let's finish these plans." Gellert spat back.

"Maybe we should divide the job. You take care of the power usage training, and I'll prepare them for physical combat. Lorcan and Bertram can take the new people. We each make a plan and then we talk about it or something like that."

"Okay, I'm only accepting it because I don't have enough energy to put up with your shitty mood," said the firefighter. "But we're talking about the plans in detail tomorrow."

Momotaro's eyes found the gaze of the man, instead of looking at the usual blue sky he encountered on a stormy night. The youngest's mind advised him to be prudent, it's never a smart choice to face a sudden storm, so he left, without saying a word, escaping as a coward.

The young man's loud steps reverberated through the hallways as he crossed the building in the direction of the exit. Titan had to run to keep up with his owner's strides. Momo didn't know what he was going to do, however, one thing was clear:  the place he was going to.

Casimir's face kept circling around his thoughts the entire trip to the barn. The fault of his misery fell into the hand of the traitor, that's what the voice said to him. He needed to cut the root of his problems to reach a solution.

Yet, luck refused to be in his favor.

The barn was on fire and the member on guard lay dead on the ground. The smell of burning flesh pierced his nose and the sound of curses came to his ears.

Lead by the anger that burned his soul, Momotaro stepped into the battleground. The last one of the guards fought against an unknown villager using his arms that he turned into spikes. The traitor was nowhere in sight.

"Casimir escaped through there," screamed the member of the Protectors to Momo, signaling a hole in the wall. "I'll take care of this one, you go looking for him."

It didn't mean a complication for the young man to locate the fugitive, his power resulted more than practical for the situation.

Momotaro ran with his gaze focused on his prey. An electric current pushed his body, making him feel stronger than ever. This was the moment he expected the most, he could already taste the sweet flavor of his revenge between his lips.

Inside the right pocket of his jeans he carried his automatic pistol. The culprit of the unusual weight keeps calling for him. Momo always preferred knives over other types of weapons, but that morning the voice of the shadow suggested he should take the pistol, and he listened.

In a quick movement he took the gun and ceased running, Titan stopped next to him. The young man pointed the gun at Casimir's right leg and fired. As expected the bullet impacted in the exact place Momotaro wanted to, making the traitor fall.

"Do you really think you can escape from me?" Screamed the member of the Protectors as his enemy stood up.

"I don't think so, I'm certain I can do it," answered the blonde, a smirk already forming on his face. "Now I'm stronger than you, weeks ago I would have been afraid but you let the darkness weaken you."

The tattooed young man took three steps forward and raised his pistol.

"I wouldn't be so brave," he said. "I would love to see if you're this cocky when my knives cut your skin slowly."

"Throw that gun away and then don't move," ordered Casimir.

The voice of the traitor sounded entrancing to Momo who did what he asked immediately. The member of the Protectors lost control over his actions, and the need to obey the other young man clouded his mind.

"Look at you, doing exactly what I said as the obedient puppy you're." The blonde mocked Momotaro. He lowered the distance between them, limping as a result of the bullet embedded in his right leg, a small hissed left his mouth as he moved. He had to stop once Titan growled.

"Be quiet, I won't hurt your owner for now. I warned you about the shadows, you're so focused on your anger that you forgot about my power. I'm disappointed my dear friend, you have a lot of potential and yet you choose to throw it away. I'll let you go today, not because I'm compassionate but because I want you to see the fall of your precious family. I'll be there, seeing you suffer when they die one by one."

"I'm gonna rip you apart!" Momo screamed, letting out his frustrations.

Casimir burst into laughter as he walked away. The other young man, still a victim of the persuasion, didn't have another option than seeing him slip from his reach. What seemed like his moment of glory became his greatest embarrassment.

For each step the enemy gave towards the car at the other side of the hills, a new level of wrath arose in his heart. By the time Casimir got inside the vehicle, Momotaro already accepted his new feelings.