I stared out of my bedroom window as night spread like a bruise across the sky. The sounds of kids laughing and stepping on crunchy leaves came from outside. I watched the Trick-or-Treaters as they went from house to house, each followed by a posse of parents. The adults whispered amongst themselves, but they kept looking in every direction as if expecting something to jump out at them from the bushes. One guy was so nervous he was carrying a baseball bat.

“Okay, honey, this is the last house,” one dad said.

“But we’ve only gone two blocks!” a girl dressed as a pumpkin replied. She couldn’t have been much older than six years old.

“I know, but we can’t stay out late this year. It’s not safe.”

“Because of the terrorists? You said before we left home that we were going out to show that we weren’t afraid of them! What kind of message are we sending if we only stay out five minutes?”

The concerned dad got down to his kid’s eye level. From across the street and on the second floor of my house with the window shut, a normal human wouldn’t be able to hear what they were saying but I heard every word just fine.

“Yeah and we came out and we didn’t let them ruin the holiday for us, but that doesn’t mean we forget trying to be as safe as we can,” the dad said. “Look, there’s a lot less people out now that it’s getting dark. Everyone else is going home, too.”

“But we’re not safe at home. I heard what they all say. The terrorists follow you home and they watch you in your sleep and Taylor said—”

“Daniel! Hannah! Dinner is here!” my mom yelled from downstairs. The aroma of pizza had already started to tease my nose.

I ran downstairs as my stomach gurgled in desperation. My mom was in the kitchen plopping two slices down on a plate for herself before going back to her chair in the living room. The theme song of the nightly news played as I went into the kitchen.

“Tonight, cities across the world are being plagued by people wearing terrifying masks. Is it a cruel joke or is this something to be concerned about?” the TV announced.

I opened one of the pizza boxes and frowned. “I thought I told you to order one with no cheese?” I said.

“Shh, hang on,” my mom said as she turned up the volume on the TV.

“The reports continue to flood in of people seeming to appear out of nowhere in the dead of night wearing chilling masks. Everyone who has had the misfortune of encountering these individuals reports a similar story,” a fancy reporter sitting behind a desk said.

The news channel cut to a shot of a tranquil looking neighborhood. Another make-up caked reporter stepped up to the camera. “It could happen to anyone, anywhere. Amanda Garcia was at home watching a movie with her daughter on the night of October twentieth when she spotted a shadowy figure standing outside of the house.”

A frightened woman appeared on the screen. “The first thing I saw was that mask. It just hits you, it’s so scary. It’s not like those fake rubbery masks you see at the stores. This was different. Way different. They wore all black like police looking clothes with all of the pockets. I could see rows of knives on their belt and they were carrying a baseball bat with nails hammered through it. I just knew in my heart that this person was out to do something awful.”

The reporter by the houses returned to the screen. “Amanda notified the police right away, but when they arrived, the stranger outside had disappeared. Unfortunately, the authorities were unable to help her as they have with all of the victims who reported sightings. Once the police left, Amanda noticed that the masked figure returned and they stayed there until the morning but, she managed to capture this photo on her cellphone.”

The picture they showed looked like a snap shot from a horror movie. A dark figure hovered by the window, wearing a pale gray mask that had a warped face so it looked like a person screaming in pain. The eye slits and mouth opening were pitch black as if the person had no face underneath.

The sight hit me like a category five hurricane. My first instinct was to snatch the kitchen knife and take a fighting stance. My heart thundered in my chest. Every time I saw a mask like that, I had to fight for my life.

“Amanda’s case is one of millions.” The news showed countless pictures and videos of people being followed down empty sidewalks, watched through their bedroom windows, and garage doors that had been spray painted to say: CHAOS IS COMING.

“What’s wrong with the world that we have these crazy people running around frightening people? Isn’t the world scary enough with all the bombings and shootings every other day?” my mom said as she rubbed her forehead.

As freaked out as my mom probably was, what she’d seen on the news was only the tip of the iceberg.

I used to be as clueless as her until a year ago when I joined the world’s most powerful and secretive organization the world has ever known, the ninja. It was now my job to make sure humanity wasn’t annihilated by themselves, super powered beings, monsters, and on a few awful occasions, aliens.

But the ninja’s main enemy were the masked people showing up all over the news. We called them the Betrayals because they were former ninja, but instead of vowing to protect the world they left to do whatever they wanted. Which usually involved a lot of killing and creating mayhem.

My mom also had no idea that Betrayals usually acted alone and they rarely united. So the fact so many were doing the same thing around the globe had all of the ninja worried. Even worse was that the ninja weren’t able to keep this whole thing under wraps.

Normally, the evidence of our world was destroyed and witnesses’ memories were wiped so that the average Jane and Joe could live their lives in peace. When an organization that predated civilization, had access to every camera on the face of the Earth, and pulled the strings of all of the government officials could not control something—that meant things were really bad.

The last time a large group of Betrayals was spotted was when they were after me. They wanted me to join them like my dad had, but I told them no which led to me getting the crap beaten out of me and nearly dying. We scared them off though and their leader, a Betrayal only identifiable by her blonde hair, was dead. Things had gone relatively quiet after that. Only a lone Betrayal would pop up every now and then.

Until three months ago when the sightings started. Ever since then they’ve become more and more frequent. The commanders from every squad had been called out for dozens of solo missions to find out what’s going on. So far, they haven’t found a thing. No hidden lairs. No clues as to what the Betrayals are really up to. Even my commander, Katherine, one of the best in our legion couldn’t turn up anything.

Another odd thing I noticed was that the more the Betrayals were spotted and people became afraid, the less and less there was for me to do. Ever since I became a ninja, I had been hopping from one crises to another without a second to catch my breath in between. I’d gone on numerous missions and could no longer count all of the people I’d rescued. My phone would be buzzing with assignments at all hours of the day. Now it was as silent as a tomb.

It’s not like crime had suddenly stopped. People were still getting robbed, storms were ravaging cities, and wars were devastating distant deserts, but I hadn’t even been told to go out patrolling. It was like the ninja were waiting for something terrible and they wanted all of their soldiers to be ready at a moment’s notice.

“What were you saying about the cheese?” my mom asked.

“They put it on my pizza.” I shrugged. “Again.”

“Really? I’m sorry. It’s probably not a request they get a lot, sweetheart. I think you still have some frozen burritos in the fridge though or you could eat a salad,” she said. I stuck out my tongue and made a puking noise.

Despite what my mother seemed to think, vegans did not want to survive on salad all of the time. Usually, I went to Katherine’s place to eat but I didn’t want to raid her fridge while she was out. Even though I knew she had a pile of mouthwatering stuffed peppers left over from the other night sitting there…begging to be eaten.

Suddenly, it sounded like a horse rolled down the stairs but it was just the sound of my sister. Hannah was decked out like a futuristic soldier. She had glowing armor and laser guns strapped to every inch of her body. Her head was hidden underneath a huge helmet. She yanked it off and looked at me like something was wrong.

“Where is your costume?! My friends are gonna to be here in like five minutes,” she said.

“Don’t worry, I got it,” I said.

“You know, I really don’t like the idea of you guys going out this year. Hannah don’t you think you’re too old to be trick-or-tricking? We can all stay home and watch movies or something,” our mom said with big pleading eyes.

“Oh my gawd don’t be so lame. I’m thirteen, I have a third degree black belt, and my blaster has a hidden Taser in it, Daniel will be fine,” Hannah said.

“Hey, hang on a minute. I’m going out to keep you safe,” I said. They both looked at me with arched eyebrows and forced smiles. Hannah patted my shoulder with fake encouragement.

“Yeah, of course you are.”

“I know self-defense, too!” I said as Hannah walked away.

“Mmm-hmm.”

I had to stop myself from blurting out that I’d taken on enemies neither of them could even fathom, but I had to bite my tongue. As far as they knew, I was still the easily frightened geek that thought running away counted as self-defense. They didn’t know I could punch through solid stone or chuck a semi-truck like a football and they couldn’t know. It was forbidden to divulge that information, but I was really tempted in that moment.

The doorbell rang. Hannah bolted to the door. She was greeted by a bunch of screaming girls. Most of them were from her field hockey team. They were all impressed with her costume. Theirs all seemed to be homemade, but it was simple stuff like pirates and witches.

“Hurry up and change!” Hannah hissed back at me and went outside to wait with her friends.

When my mom wasn’t looking, I took a flimsy black cloth out of my pocket. The moment it touched my face, it molded to it and the fibers spread out to cover my body in a ninja uniform. For once, it was nice to be able to put it on without having to hide.

I opened the closet by the front door and hidden behind the pile of winter pants and boots, was an ancient looking katana in a red scabbard. The red silk wrapped around the handle was so faded now it was brown. Chinks covered the cross guard from other weapons battering into it so often.

My sword was old because it was a hand-me-down from my grandfather, Master Pyralis. Apparently, he was famous and the ninja felt like I should follow in his footsteps. While that sounded nice on paper, the reality was I was wrecking one of the ninja’s most prized possessions. I still wished they’d just given me a new sword like the rest of my teammates.

I pulled the strap over my shoulder to let the sword hang on my back. I went outside to join the others. Everyone turned back to wave goodbye to our mother who was pressed up against the window by the front door like a toddler being left behind while their parents went out to have fun.

“Bye Ms. Haley!” some of the girls said while they waved.

Hannah led the way while I stayed behind everyone and kept a sharp eye out for any trouble. The second we turned the corner and were out of our mother’s sight, Hannah stopped. She whipped around and shoved her candy bag at me.

“Okay, so we’re going to a friend’s party. You can do whatever you want, but meet me back here before midnight so mom thinks we were out together,” Hannah said.

“Hang on a sec, what kind of party?”

“Relax, no one’s going to be drinking or anything like that. It’s a murder mystery party, but its girls only so you can’t come,” Hannah said.

“Fine, but won’t mom get suspicious if you come back empty handed?” I shook her candy bag.

“Go buy a bag of candy and stick it in there,” she said.

“If this party was so innocent then why are you keeping it from mom?” I asked.

“Because the second you mention the word party to mom, she freaks out and starts going off about birth control and babies and periods—just a bunch of nonsense. And you know she doesn’t trust us,” Hannah said. I crossed my arms as I felt a squirming feeling in my stomach.

“I don’t know…”

“Come on, Daniel. It’s me we’re talking about here. Have I ever made a bad decision in my life?” she asked.

“Uh, yeah. That time you illegally bought a box of C4 from a stranger off the street and the time you ran away for three days to test your survival skills in the woods—”

“Okay, have I ever made a bad decision that is not related to prepping?”

I sighed. “No.”

“I need you to trust me the same way you want me to trust you when you run off in the middle of the night,” she said.

“I told you, I have a sleep walking problem.”

“Bologna.”

“Fine. I’ll trust you, but if you mess up tonight I’m never trusting you on your own again. Got it?” I offered my hand. Hannah shook it.

“Deal.”

I waited until they disappeared onto another street to follow them. I raced from shadow to shadow so fast I would only appear as a blur if anyone spotted me. At least my little sister didn’t lie about where she was going. Her friends went into a house full of costumed kids and decorated like a scene out of Sherlock Holmes.

So now I had to find something to keep myself occupied until it was time to meet up again. I wandered around the neighborhood, thinking that I could at least keep an eye out for the few brave souls trying to collect candy. Except the sidewalks were already cleared out and porch lights turned off. The Betrayal sightings were really getting to people.

Eventually, I ran into one of the many parks in the neighborhood. It wasn’t much more than a patch of grass with one of those modern jungle gyms that looked more like a sculpture than something to play on. I sat down on the bench and took my phone out.

I downloaded a game called Apple Crush. The whole point was to tap the apples on the screen until they exploded in a satisfying juicy mess before they piled up to the top of the screen. With each level they would fall faster and faster. It wasn’t something that would expand my mind, but it would keep me from getting bored.

I was in the middle of a streak on level three when my phone started acting up. It looked like it was having glitches. Then the screen froze and went black. “Hey!” I tapped the screen, hoping it would come back on and I didn’t have to start my game over.

The screen lit back up with static. A hazy outline of a woman appeared in the electronic garble. Had I downloaded a virus of some kind? When the image cleared up, I could see the mask hiding her face. I swear the more Betrayal masks I saw the more horrifying they seemed to get. This one had a sinister smile with hundreds of spikey looking teeth.

“Can you see us?” the voice sounded filtered and strange, but what startled me was that I could hear it echoing around me. I looked back and forth, trying to figure out where the echoing was coming from. Only a handful of houses had their blinds open where I could see into their living rooms. Of those few, the same image played on every TV. “Can you hear us?”

What the heck? I thought. Hacking into the TV’s was one thing, but my phone wasn’t on a public network. Whoever was broadcasting had to have hacked into the ninja’s network. The only way to do that would be to infiltrate the base, Harukan, which would be a feat all on its own considering it was on a different planet.

“We’ve followed you home. We’ve watched you. We’ve stolen your sense of comfort and security, but let me be clear that is only the first stage of what is to come. The fun and games are over. Tonight will be the first night of a series of attacks. People are going to start dying now. If that makes you afraid…” the woman laughed and the sound sent icy spikes down my spine. “…then you’re not going to handle the next phases well. This is it humanity. The end of your world and there is nothing to prevent it from coming.”

The video stopped. Before I could try to figure out what was even happening or what I was supposed to do, the tornado sirens started wailing. Everyone in their homes peeked out of their windows, their eyes wide with terror. I could hear the emergency broadcast playing on their TV’s now, warning people to seek shelter.

My phone seemed to return to normal. The pretty wallpaper of mountains with my app symbols reappeared before the phone started vibrating frantically. A message flashed red across the screen. Big bold letters read: RED ALERT. ALL ACTIVE GENIN STAND READY.

That was not good. What were the Betrayals going to do? Start raining bombs out of the sky? I didn’t know where I was supposed to be or what to look for, but I had to make sure my family was safe.

I sprinted down the street to the house Hannah had gone into. The murder mystery party was definitely ruined. Most of the kids were crying and calling their parents. Hannah ran outside when she saw me.

“Did you see it, too?!” she said. “We need to get out of here! The cities are probably the first places they’ll—”

BOOM!!! A shockwave tore through the air and a wave of intense heat swept passed us. I turned around and saw a huge cloud of fire rising into the sky. Everyone came out of their houses to see the pillar of orange. A few people screamed, others rushed to call for help.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! House after house in all different directions blew up. Debris rained down from above. Everyone watching went into a panic. Some of them scurried back inside, some ran for their cars, and the rest lost all common sense as they ran around in circles screaming. One person got hit by a fleeing car, their head splattered against the pavement.

I cringed as another row of houses exploded. I couldn’t see anything in the sky that could’ve been causing the explosions. I couldn’t see any Betrayals jumping across the rooftops, either. Where were they?

Hannah snatched my hand and pulled me down the street. “We have to get mom!” she said.

Together we dashed for the house. Explosions continued to tear the neighborhood to pieces. Cars were speeding down the roads to only collide violently at the intersections when they ignored the stop signs. Glass sprayed everywhere. The air filled with the pops of gunshots. We ducked as a house right next to us blew up.

“Watch out!” I threw myself in front of Hannah to shield her from the blast. The air was kicked out of my lungs. A wave of fire wrapped around us. I tried to cover Hannah as much as I could. The fire felt like a warm hug to me, but it would’ve burned her to a crisp. Once the wave passed, I pulled her back onto her feet.

“Help me! Help me!” A man yelled. I turned back to see him covered in flames. His skin was melting away like hot butter in a microwave. Without thinking about it, I reached out for him. I pulled the flames into my body until they were gone. The man flopped over, smoking as bad as burnt popcorn.

“How’d you do that?!” Hannah asked.

“No, time. We have to move!” I pushed her forward.

“I want to know how you made the fire move like that! How come you weren’t burned?!” Hannah said. Even though we were sprinting at her top speed, she didn’t seem to be winded at all.

We turned the corner onto our street. Relief washed over me. Our street didn’t have any blown up homes, but people were going nuts left and right. The cat lady across the street was chasing her pets as they fled in every direction. Parents were throwing their kids into cars like sacks. Dogs were barking and howling.

Our mom rushed out of the house, crying and yelling so much I couldn’t understand her. She’d barely gone four steps from the front porch when the house ruptured into a thousand flaming bits. I lost sight of my mom as a monstrous cloud of fire swallowed her whole.

“Mom!” Hannah and I said in unison.

I held Hannah back. “Call for an ambulance!” She nodded and fumbled to find her phone.

I raced into the flames. I could hear a faint shriek, as much of a scream as someone’s throat could make while it was melting. I’d heard it before, but this time it was worse. It wasn’t some stranger in agony, it was my mom. I commanded the flames to move and die out. They evaporated instantly, leaving nothing but the ruins of my house behind. All I could see were smashed walls scattered across the ground. I couldn’t see my mom.

My heart rattled in my chest. I’d seen the devastation of a bomb before, but it hit so much harder when the place was my own home. My childhood memories lay obliterated all around me. Even though I was warned that no place on Earth was truly safe, I never took it to heart. Home always seemed impenetrable and safe.

Tears stung my eyes as I climbed over the debris. Please be alive, please be alive, I thought. I moved planks of wood and ceiling beams out of the way. A sob escaped me as I saw a limp foot sticking out of the mess. Moving as fast as I could I tossed the wreckage aside, unable to help but notice it was wet with fresh blood. My mother’s blood.

I quivered as I finally uncovered my mom. She lay in a fragile heap, broken and helpless. Her face was burnt, I could see the pearly white bones on her face. I fought to hold myself together as I crouched down to feel for a pulse. Her skin was hot from the fire. I waited for a heartbeat. I waited…and waited.

“Please, no,” I choked out. All I wanted was to be close to her, as if that would make her stay alive. I cradled her body close to me. It couldn’t end like this. My mom couldn’t be gone. At last, I heard a strained inhale and I felt a weak pulse. “Mom?” Her eyes flickered open for a half second. “Mom! Stay with me!”

I carried her away from the rubble. Hannah started running towards us as I heard a familiar whistling sound. Before I could look around to see where it was coming from, an arrow tore straight through my sister and detonated on the ground. Her body was flung back and landed on the road in a lifeless heap.

I yelled in shock, afraid that I’d just seen my sister die right before my eyes. Trying not to jumble my mom, I moved towards Hannah as fast as I could. I set my mom down on the ground and rolled my sister over. Hannah was wheezing and struggling to breathe. Fear filled her eyes as she started choking up blood. I rolled her onto her side to help her breathe easier. Her trembling fingers grasped my hand the same way she did when she was little and she was too scared to sleep in her room alone. With whatever strength my mom had in her, she clung to my other hand before passing out as if she was trying to say she loved me one more time.

The reality of losing them hit me like a relentless tsunami. The same way I never worried about the sun not rising, I thought of them as things that were always going to be in my life no matter what. They were as fixed as the stars, but really they weren’t. They were as breakable as twigs.

I squeezed their hands as hot tears blurred my vision. “Stay with me…” I croaked. I heard the ambulance sirens getting closer. I waited for the flashing lights to appear. It felt like a lifetime before they rounded the corner. People and voices rushed towards me, but my brain couldn’t function enough to respond to them. They hauled my mother and Hannah onto stretchers.

I got to my feet as they carried them away. I knew I needed to follow. I had to make sure they were okay, but I stopped in my tracks as I heard a sickening sound. Someone was laughing hysterically.

“We have to go right now!” the paramedic yelled. I waved at them to go and they shut the doors. The tires squealed as they sped away.

The laughing grew louder and more ridiculous. It wasn’t a genuine belly laugh like when someone heard a good joke. It was more like the way a bully laughed in victory when they knew they’d humiliated their victim. I turned around and noticed a Betrayal standing on a rooftop, snickering and pointing at me.

Anger pounded through me. My family was racing towards the hospital, fighting for their lives. My home was destroyed…and my enemy had the audacity to laugh at me?

I couldn’t understand how a person got to the point where they find terrorizing other people entertaining, when seeing others in pain becomes funny, and they can justify blowing up stuff because that’s what they felt like doing that day. I was sick and tired of them blowing holes through everything I cared about. I didn’t want to live in a world where such stupid, selfishness lived. So, I decided not to. I was going to kill every last Betrayal I could get my hands on. I could not stomach seeing that mask for another minute.

My fury calcified into pure hatred.

I reached back and tore my sword free. Hot blue flames erupted across the black blade.

“Oh, he’s mad. You gonna come after me little crybaby?” the Betrayal said. “Come on, come get me!” He turned around and wagged his butt at me.

I growled and launched myself towards the house, leaping a good thirty feet up into the air. I soared straight for him. He moved out of the way as I landed hard on the rooftop. The shingles crunched underneath my feet.

He tried to punch my face. I snatched his hand and crushed the bones in my grip. I wanted him to wail so I could laugh at his pain, give him a taste of own medicine, but instead he howled with laughter. I wanted him to stop laughing and realize this wasn’t a joke. I kicked his face with all of my strength. He went soaring through the sky like a missile. He broke through the roof of a house far off into the distance.

I bolted across the rooftops as he climbed out of the wreckage. I stabbed at the air and a surge of flames sprayed outwards towards the Betrayal. I stopped feeding the flames and watched them consume the house on their own. The Betrayal jumped out of the fire, flames eating away at his arms and legs, yet still he chuckled like this was the most fun he’d ever had.

He ran out onto the road. I landed on the pavement to chase after him. He turned back a few times to throw a knife at me. I ducked and knocked another away with my sword. I swung at the air and a dozen fireballs flew towards him. He dodged each one. I threw a wall of fire his way, but he hid behind a parked car.

I snatched the car and tossed it aside. The Betrayal sprang at me. His fists turned to blurs as he struck my face at least a hundred times. My nose stung from being crushed. Frustration boiled up out of me. I was blinded by a golden light as jets of fire shot out from my irises. He was forced to move back.

When the fire cleared from my eyes, I saw the Betrayal running out of the neighborhood and into the more crowded cityscape. He landed on top of a delivery truck and turned around to watch me catch up.

I hopped onto the street lights and jumped from pole to pole. I was at least trying stay somewhat to hidden from the pedestrians. Although, I wasn’t succeeding.

“You know, I was just out looking for a perfect target when I saw you walk out of your house, leaving poor little mommy behind.” He snickered. I caught up to the truck and jumped for it. I belly flopped onto its cold, hard surface. “If I hadn’t seen you, I probably would’ve kept going. But I knew I had to blow up your home. What better way to start the war than by destroying something your enemy loves?!” My body stung from the metal body slap, but I fought through it to get to my feet. “So, you see? It’s really your fault that your family is dead.”

“They’re not dead!” I said through my teeth. I sent a blast of fire at the Betrayal. I thought it would be a controlled, hot stream as usual, but it was way bigger than I expected. The majority of the road was swallowed by the flames.

I spotted the Betrayal soaring up towards a billboard. Not a lick of fire had gotten him. I sent another blast of fire his way. It looked like a solar flare. It caused all of the nearby windows to melt. Anything flammable went up as if it was doused in oil. Still, the Betrayal dodged it as he leapt onto a rooftop. His laughter echoed off of the buildings around us.

I ripped up a street light and aimed very carefully before throwing it like a gigantic spear. It snagged his leg and pinned him to the side of a building. I shot towards him as if I’d been fired from a cannon. I knocked into him and we went straight through the wall.

We slid across the bright glossy floors of a Target, knocking over several shelves of movies, toys, and TV displays. The Betrayal got his foot in between us and kicked me back. I struck a shelf so hard that when it fell it had a domino effect on all of the shelves behind it. He ran to the shopping carts by the front doors and started throwing them at me. I kicked them aside and fired another pillar of flames at him. He scurried behind a row of registers. The fire alarm went off and the sprinklers turned on.

I kicked the nearest register stand so it fell onto its side and knocked into all of the rest. I had hoped to crush the Betrayal in between, but he dashed out before that. I sent more fireballs his way, but he zigzagged and dodged all of them.

Why couldn’t I hit him? After everything I’d gone through, I still couldn’t take out an enemy in under five minutes. I gave up trying to throw fire at him. I just needed to end this as fast as I could.

I raced across the store, pushing aside the people he tried to shove in my way and evading the random items he threw at me. He kicked down a fire escape door and ran outside. I grabbed the broken door and sent it towards the Betrayal like a metal Frisbee.

“Oh so close!” he said as it swept past his shoulder.

My legs burned as I fought to gain speed. We were running down the road faster than sound. Everything around us appeared frozen in time. I gained inch after inch. Then at last my fingers brushed against the hood on his sweater. I pulled it back so he rammed into my knee. The sound of it striking his back was like two freight ships crashing together.

The Betrayal flew like a ragdoll into an office building next to us. I heard the sound of columns snapping and walls breaking. A huge hole cut straight through not only the office building, but the three others behind it.

I turned to a blur and came up beside the Betrayal before he had a chance to get up. I pinned him to the ground. He giggled even as blood leaked from numerous wounds all over his body. Unable to control myself, I started battering him with my fists. Punch after punch his bones broke and his organs were turning to pulp, still he laughed.

“Shut up!” I said as I bashed his head against the ground. “I’m tired of you people coming after my family!”

The Betrayal stopped laughing only because he was choking on his blood. He gurgled as he tried to say something. His life was hanging by a mere thread. One more hit and he would be dead.

“Th-this is only the beginning. We won’t stop until everything you hold dear is gone. Your friends, your pretty commander, and every last ninja. It is all going up in flames!” His laugh was nothing more than a wheeze. I raised my fist to deliver the final blow, but I was jerked back.

My arms were yanked behind me and something cold clenched my wrists. I looked back to see two ninja, but I didn’t recognize their eyes. “What’re you doing?!” I asked.

“You’re under arrest,” a ninja dressed in a gray uniform said as he came out from behind the two holding me in place. Seeing him made my stomach sink. He went by the name Helios. He wasn’t fond of me because of the enormous messes I left behind, but it wasn’t my fault that in the middle of doing my job a lot of stuff was wrecked.

“What are you trying to arrest me for now?” I said.

“For that.” He pointed to the dozens of fires, damaged buildings, and debris forming a line from where we stood all the way back to my neighborhood. “Reckless endangerment of over three hundred people. Half of them severely burned, the others sustaining multiple fractures, and not to mention massive traumatization.” He shook his head slowly. “You’ve really done it this time, Kaine. You’ve run out of warnings. You’re going to be banned for this.”