(Warning. This chapter contains death and suggestion of slurs).

———

In the end, only Jay, Lloyd, Nya and Cole went along with Sensei. Zane needed to head off to Borg Industries to do some work, and Kai was of course uninterested.

They parked the Bounty just outside the city, and Zane walked along with them until their paths split ways and he left them to go to his job.

After Zane left, surprisingly, the group managed to keep up conversation.

Lloyd and Nya were considering how odd the request was. Surely if police professionals couldn't get any information from the criminals? Why would a few ninja?

Cole theorised it was because they were desperate and out of options.

Though not verbally, Jay agreed with him.

"What are they even expecting us to do? We're ninja, not psychics." Lloyd sighed.

"Maybe they're expecting Jay to shock them into submission." Cole joked.

"Hey! That's torture! That's unethical!" Jay finally chimed in, speaking for the first time across their trip.

"To be fair though... they're murderers. Is torture really all that unethical if it's done to them?"

"Sensei is right next to you." Nya spoke.

Cole flushed with embarrassment, remembering that indeed, their mentor was walking along with them.

"A-Ah uhm... that was a... joke? S-Sorry Sensei...!"

Sensei Wu just laughed, and pretended that nothing had happened.

"How far is the police station again?"

"Lloyd... you've lived in this city before, and we've lived right next to it for ages and ages."

"Hey! I'm tired, gimme a break!"

Jay couldn't force himself to join in with their playful chatter. He felt uneasy, and almost scared. To be face to face with these...murderers. Terrorists. Disgusting bigots who deserved to be locked up forever...

It wasn't exactly enjoyable to anticipate.

When they reached the station, they were welcomed inside straight away, and taken deep into the building. What were once offices turned into cells as they passed through security gates and doors alike.

They eventually reached a door with no windows, that was clearly very heavily guarded.

The police officer who had been escorting them stopped just outside, to explain a few things.

"... through this door is what we believe is the leader of the attack last week. We think it will be best if you start with him. Well... not that there are many other options." She said.

"What do you mean? Weren't there a number of them?" Lloyd asked, puzzled.

"... ah. There are only five left."

"What? How?"

"Most of them, soon after we caught them and brought them here, died."

"... suicide?" Jay spoke, the dreaded word rolling off his tongue like a drop of poison.

"To be perfectly honest, we don't know. They all just... died. Dropped dead without any sign of struggle or injury. Their labs are currently being processed, to see if they ingested anything dangerous. It doesn't seem that way though."

A shiver went down Jay's spine. That was dodgy, and suspicious. Really, really suspicious.

"Well, would you all like to go in at once, or one at a time."

Lloyd didn't hesitate to give a strict answer.

"We're going in together."

No explanation, just a firm and simple statement. Nobody dared question it, and neither did they want to.

The officer unlocked the door, using some sort of biometrical system, and stepped aside so that the ninja could enter. It was an observation section, with a sheet of glass showing through to where the criminal was held. Passing through a second security door, the group was finally in the same enclosed space, as the one man they came to see.

The room was dark, except for a single light suspended above a table, where he sat, a disgusting smirk of glee on his face. He was tightly chained to the table with shackles that clearly weren't coming of anytime soon, so they all knew they were safe.

However... they all felt the unease and tenseness it the air. It wasn't pleasant.

There was only a single chair on the other side, so they all made a mutual yet silent decision to stay standing, in a group. They felt safer that way.

He looked up to them, grinning maniacally.

"... ooooh, visitors! I didn't think we were allowed those..."

"... we're not here to visit you. We want answers." Lloyd swiftly replied, gritting his teeth.

"Hmmm... but the police couldn't get one out of me, what makes you think you can?"

"We're different to the police."

He let out a shriek of laughter that bore into all their ears, painfully.

"How so?! You're all just a bunch of do-gooders, acting like everybody else's business is your own... maybe you have elemental powers... but deep down, you're exactly the same..."

There was silence, before he broke it again.

"I'm not going to tell you anything, you know. Not anything of use to you, at least. Dei Noctis himself has bestowed me with this task... I will not fail it for the sake of some petty conversation... especially with that in the room." He spat, looking over to Cole with his piercing eyes.

"... Cole is a person, not an object. Refer to him as such." Nya piped in, clearly distasteful about the situation.

The man then let loose a string of words, in which contained a racial slur so awful that Cole had to stick out a hand to stop Jay from punching him.

"He's trying to antagonise us... I've heard worse ok? I'm used to it." He said softly, placing his hand on Jay's shoulder after stopping him from darting forward.

"... you shouldn't be used to it."

"I know, but I am. It's ok. Calm down."

Jay stepped back, taking deep breaths. He needed to calm down, especially if that was what Cole wanted.

"... are you even going to tell us your name?" Nya asked.

"No."

His eyes darted around, silently evaluating each and every one of them. He stayed virtually emotionless for most, showed immense disgust when his eyes passed over Cole... but... when he focussed in on Jay, revolting interest sparked across his newfound expression.

"Ah ah... I recognise you, Mr. Blue Ninja. You tried to question me at the mall! Haha, didn't get much out of me though... you... you're one of the sick as well... aren't you..." he extended a finger as far as the chains would allow, pointing directly at him.

Jay bit his lip, then stepped forward, sliding carefully into the chair. The man withdrew his hand in an instant, and seemed to shuffle away.

"... what... are you, scared of me?"

"... no..."

He noticed the telltale signs, and Jay smirked slightly.

"You're lying. You're scared of me."

"... I do not want to catch your revolting infection. Get away from me."

"No. I want answers."

"I said I wasn't going to tell you-"

"Then I guess I'm just going to sit here then."

There was silence once more, and filled with newfound confidence, Jay started to talk.

"... how did you know about me being trans."

It wasn't a question, it was a demand.

"... I can feel it. We can all feel it. It spills off you like filth..."

"How."

"... a ritual... it gives you higher perception... now get away from me!"

"No! I want more answers!" Jay replied, vicious, leaning further forward.

"... why do you hate people like me. People like Cole."

"... because... you're revolting... you're wrong... you shouldn't exist, and you're dirtying the beautiful world of Dei Noctis... that is why all the pure will be saved when the rapture comes... it has become too dirty here for us..."

"... why did you attack the mall."

"The sick were there... we have a duty to destroy as many of them as possible...

"... but I thought Dei Noctis was going to save you 'pure' ones though... so what's the point of spending extra effort killing us before the rapture, hmm?"

The man grimaced, hating how this 'pitiful, dirty, sick' individual was outsmarting him.

"... we have been ordered to by our God, and God's word is absolute."

"It seems like your God is being a bit counterproductive, buddy."

He growled and clenched his fists in the shackles.

"How dare you question the word of God!"

"I don't think that your God exists, so I'll question him all I want! I have no respect for anybody - God or not - who thinks I deserve to die for just being who I am!"

Jay leaned forward yet again, and moved his hand so that it was almost touching the terrorist in front of him.

"... how do you get told what to do?"

"... I won't tell you."

Jay could tell he wasn't going to talk on that point, so decided to move on instead of wasting time.

"... fine. Well then, do you have any other plans to attack places?"

"... of course we do... but you'll never find out."

"Oh, I think we will. You're going to tell me."

"Or what?"

"I'll touch you, and you don't want to catch anything, do you?"

The man looked down, hiding his face, but then started laughing and laughing and laughing in a deep, maniacal manner.

He flipped his head up again, staring at the ceiling with wide eyes and an expression so strained it looked like his skin was about to burst open.

"You're fAR TOO LATE!"

"W-What? What do you me-"

"I'M JOINING GOD, I'M GOING TO SEE HIM IN ALL OF HIS MAJESTY, YOU'LL ALL DIE IN THE RAPTURE, FILTH! YOU'LL ALL DIE!" He shrieked, eyes rolling back.

He suddenly choked, eyes rolling back, then collapsed directly into the table. Dead.

A couple of police officers rushed into the room, and desperately tried to resuscitate him, to no avail.

Jay stared in absolute horror. Despite how horrible they were in life... having anybody die right in front of your eyes was incredibly jarring.

"... I... I didn't do anything..." Jay whispered to the woman next to him, who had given up trying to bring a dead man back to life.

"I know. We were watching. You didn't do anything wrong."

Cole placed a supportive hand on his shoulder.

"Hey. Let's go."

Jay nodded numbly. All his brief newfound confidence had disappeared in a flash, and now he felt to anxious to talk.

With Cole's support and help, he managed to stand up and walk out. He and Cole stayed at the back of the group, and he had an arm around his shoulders.

Nobody talked on the way back. The atmosphere was too dense to speak.

———

Kai was also coming back from an outing when they arrived back at the Bounty.

Nobody questioned him, nobody really cared, and he could tell that asking how their own trip went would achieve nothing but sour looks.

Jay went back to bed, Cole went to look for something to eat, and Lloyd went with Sensei to talk things over.

Nya though... Nya waited around, until she and her brother were alone.

"... I know where you were Kai." She spoke suddenly, and he tensed up, looking around to her.

"What?"

"You went to the hospital again, didn't you. To see him."

"... no I wasn't."

Nya crossed her arms, frustrated.

"There's something you're not telling me Kai. There's something you're hiding."

"... no, there isn't. Just... give me a break Nya. I just went out for a walk."

He hurried away, turning a corner and falling out of sight.

She watched after him, and sighed. Why couldn't he just tell her? She wasn't stupid... she knew when her own brother was hiding something.

Not only were the ninja losing trust in the world, they were losing trust in each other.

At the worst possible time.