Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was morning. At least, he believed it was morning. He woke up to the sounds of the city yelling at him from a crack in the window. The sun greeted him brightly as it shined in through the barely curtained window. He groaned with annoyance and flipped over. He pressed his face into the pillow and closed his eyes again with hopes of falling back asleep. He quite enjoyed the dream he had been having. It was a warm feeling, a nice break from the night terrors he had been dealing with. He smiled into his pillow faintly as the warm and familiar feeling came back. It felt as if someone's arms wrapped around him and held him close. He almost thought he was dreaming again...but it was ruined just as quickly.

Someone began knocking on the door.

"Karl! Karl, wake up, man!" A man called out to him. Karl sighed and finally sat up. Before he could answer, the door was rumbled with another knock. "Come on, it's almost noon."

"I'm up. Come in if you want." Karl responded groggily, stretching his arms over his head with a satisfied sign. The door opened and a guy walked in. He wore a hoodie that hid the shirt he wore, but had matching dark blue jeans to fit the whole "darker clothes" aesthetic. A blue, notable "LAFD" beanie rested on his head and kept his hair nearly completely hidden. He walked over to the window and completely closed it.

"Were you out late again?" The man asked calmly, opening the curtains to bring more sun into the room so Karl would wake up completely.

"Yeah. You know how work is," Karl responded. He moved the sheets off of him finally and rubbed his eyes. "When did you get home, Q?"

"Well," Q, or just Quackity, started, "I was home early, I guess." He shrugged it off and walked back towards the door. "I'm heading out though. Just wanted to wake you up so you didn't sleep the day away." He smiled over at him.

"Thanks..." Karl trailed off slightly with a slight nod. Quackity's smile faded slowly and a curious look came onto his face.

"Something wrong?" He asked. Karl just sat there for a moment. He knew what the truth was and the truth was that he was fine. He was fine and was just curious about something. In his dream, he had experience something he wanted to experience again. It was such a familiar feeling though. What was it? Or maybe, who was it? He then finally snapped out of his thinking state and shook his head.

"I'm good. Just trying to wake up." Karl smiled at him brightly. Quackity's smile came back and he nodded.

"Well, alright. I'll see you later, man." He waved and walked out. Karl waited till he heard the footsteps disappear down the stairs and then the sound of the front door closing. He then laid back and groaned again. He decided that maybe a few more minutes in bed would be fine.

Karl laid in his bed, scrolling on Twitter for awhile before he realized he should start getting ready. He got up and stretched again before making his way to his closet. He opened the door and started to look through the clothes. He eventually chose a nice outfit, at least one he always considered nice. He changed and looked into the mirror. He wore a nice, deep blue sweater over a collared shirt. The collar settled over the collar of the sweater. He paired it with regular jeans. He smiled at himself, gave himself finger guns, and headed out of his room.

He and Quackity lived together and had been living together for a little over a year now. They lived in a nice, yet large, townhouse that was in the nice part of the city. Karl loved the place they lived in. It was big enough for them to have friends over, but also the two had enough room so they wouldn't feel so lonely if they were alone or if they were both sitting somewhere. It was the perfect place. Karl headed down the stairs and quickly went to kitchen. He opened the fridge and grabbed the white can Monster that was basically waiting for him. He opened the drink and took a large gulp as he headed around to the living room to grab his backpack.

Karl didn't have any work that day, luckily. It was the first time in awhile he didn't have to work and he planned to enjoy it and savor every single moment of it. The sun was shining, though the winters in Kinoko had always been decently cold. They were lucky not to have any snow that day, just a slight chill. Karl's clothes would have kept him warm enough and with his plans, he would be fine for the most part.

Before leaving the house, he grabbed a black mask and his skateboard. He checked the bottom of the board and smiled at the vibrant colors that were painted over the board. He had his own name painted onto the board, but he had his friends' names marked on the board with bold black, gold, and silver ink. A soft smile spread onto his face. He looped the black mask over his ears and placed his earbuds in before he started the happy, upbeat music.

Karl headed out the door, smiling at his surroundings. He took in the scene of the city street. He was surprised to see that the street wasn't roaming with cars and people, but a part of him knew why. He didn't think too much on it and kept on down the steps of the townhouse. Once he was on the ground, he took off in one direction and hopped onto the board.

He glided down the wide sidewalk with ease, his music fighting off the city sounds. He couldn't help but to swerve from left to right on the board. He went at the beat of the music. His leans were strictly choreography that he had made himself after years of skateboarding. He had perfected it. He dodged the normal passerby, yelling back a somewhat apology over his shoulder if they had yelled at him. He lifted a hand and hit the branch he always did. He waved at the nice lady that worked at the flower shop and would occasionally give him one of her award winning roses for free of charge just because "he was always so nice to her." Yes. This was exactly how he wanted to spend his day.

Karl eventually came to the place he wanted to be: The Skate Park. The place was...empty? Empty on a Friday? Of all days? While he really didn't mind the emptiness, he was just confused. Was it the same reason the streets were a little empty? He thought about these questions before pushing it to the back of his mind where he put the stuff he usually didn't want to think about. Then he tended to forget about it, then it never got answered. Karl quickly shook his head before heading into the skate park and did his usual routine.

Yes. A skateboard routine. He always had one. It usually just consisted of him going over the ramps, going from smallest to largest in the span of an hour. After that, he would occasionally go off and do his usual tricks. That was if he felt up to it. Today, he didn't feel up to it. For some reason, the emptiness of the park didn't make him feel like it was worth it. Not that he wanted the attention like an attention whore, but he wanted to feel like he was doing something worth watching. He also appreciated the criticism he always got from the experts that sometimes stopped by the park. But now there was no one, and he didn't feel like the tricks were worth it.

When he made his decision on the tricks, he got off his board and picked it up. He ran up one of the tallest ramps and pulled himself onto the platform. He took a seat, dangling his legs over the edge of it. He pulled out his phone and checked the time. 2:35pm. Karl sighed and laid back against the cold concrete. He shivered and put his backpack under his head, elevating it to something more comfortable. He took out his phone and started scrolling through Twitter.

First time Karl checked the time, it was 2:57pm.

Second time Karl checked the time, it was 3:34pm.

Third time Karl checked the time, it was 4:29pm.

Time kept on flying by and he eventually find himself watching the sun go down instead of being on his phone. He found it interesting on how much he enjoyed the silence and the loneliness. He didn't know what it was in particular that he enjoyed, but he just couldn't help to feel calm. He sat up and gazed off at the distant, his phone buzzing constantly in the background. He kept pressing ignore and eventually just turned on the "Do Not Disturb" button so he didn't have to deal with it. But as the sun finally started to disappear behind the buildings, he heard a familiar voice call to him from the entrance of the park.

A voice that brought a smile to his face.

"Karl! Hey!" The man at the front of the skate park called at him. He heard the clicks as the skateboard hit the pavement and grew louder and louder till he was faced with a man who had the kindest smile he had ever seen. The man wore a white hoodie and black joggers, a black cap tucking in his hair.

"Hey, Sapnap." Karl finally spoke with a sigh of relief and smiled behind the black mask, pulling it off to reveal his caring and excited smile.

Sapnap.

Sapnap had been best friends with Karl for the longest time. Karl knew him almost as long as he had known Quackity. It was how they met in the first place. Past the fogginess of Karl's memories, he can remember Quackity asking if it was okay if a few of his friends joined their Discord call so they could play a game with them. Karl had always been so hesitant about letting people into his life, even for a split moment. The weariness he dealt with was just a response from issues he had in the past. But even that first meeting with Sapnap had happen, he knew then that they were going to be great friends.

Breaking Karl out of his trance, the man ran up the ramp and joined him on the edge of the platform. Sapnap took his hat off and ran his hand through his thick, black hair. He chuckled softly before nudging his friend gently.

"Whatcha doing here all alone, dude?" He asked.

"I got here and no one was around." Karl shrugged and kicked his feet a little bit.

"Why didn't you call me? I could have came so you didn't have to be alone."

"Oh, well," Karl started. He briefly thought about his words so he wouldn't make anything sound bad. "Today was my first day off in awhile and I guess I just wanted to spend it alone..." His voice trailed and he glanced at Sapnap. There was only a brief moment of silence before he spoke again. "I-If that's alright!" He added before going quiet.

"Yea, of course that's alright!" Sapnap wound his arm over his shoulder and tugged him closer to him. Karl allowed his to with a gentle smile. "Take the time you need. I can leave you alone if-"

"No!" Karl quickly interjected, cutting him off. Sapnap blinked at his friend in shock. "I-I mean, I'm glad you're here now. It was getting a bit too lonely." He awkwardly laughed a bit, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Alright...Are you okay, Karl? You seem a little out of it." Sapnap said softly, concern flowing from his words and tone. Karl debated telling him the truth that he had debated telling Quackity when he had talked to him earlier. He was okay, that was the issue. He was just bothered. Bothered by his dream he had. But should he tell him about it? He didn't think Sapnap of all people would understand the dream. He would just give a supportive quote. But at the same time, there was a possibility he could help. Karl looked into Sapnap's eyes before sighing.

"I had a..strange dream. It's been bothering me." Karl mumbled, his words nervous yet truthful for once that day.

"Oh?" Sapnap made a curious noise and raised an eyebrow. "Wanna talk about it?"

"Is that okay?" Karl's voice was timid, not the powerful and excited voice he usually had with and around Sapnap.

"Of course. I'm all ears." The black haired man replied, leaning back on the platform. Karl followed in suit and laid beside him, sighing out before speaking again.

"It wasn't really a dream..It felt like a memory, maybe." He started.

"What makes you say that?"

"It felt all too familiar," he started again and stared blankly at the orange and black sky. "It felt like I had experienced it before. The person even sounded familiar. It was just all so strange."

"Well, what happened in the dream?" Sapnap asked, turning onto his side to look at his friend. What did happen in the dream? It had been so long since it happened that he could barely remember parts of it. He thought for a moment, scrapping up any memory he had of it, before nodding to himself in assurance and narrowing his eyes at the sky.

"I was on a couch," He began, "And I think I was just watching a movie. The house was kinda foggy all around so I didn't see what it looked like that much. But it looked like my place. Then I remember standing up then a pair of arms wrapped around me from behind and someone grabbed my hand. The person said 'stay for a little longer' then I woke up. I woke up with the familiar warm feeling."

The two sat in silence for a few moments. Karl was scared to look at his friend in fear that he was looking at him weirdly or about to laugh. Karl then piped up to fill what he felt like was awkward silence.

"I-It's crazy, I know!" He laughed pathetically and sat up. "It was probably just a dream and-" He was quickly cut off by arms winding around him from behind and..

What was this?

This can't be it?

He would have..

Why was he..?

He would have remembered what being hugged by his friend was like, right? When Sapnap hugged him, that warm feeling returned. The one from his dream. The one he had been thinking about all day. The thing that bothered him and honestly made him ache now because...

Why did he forget about Sapnap?

Karl sat there and tears burned his eyes. He was thankful that Sapnap was behind him and unable to see him. Karl quickly made an excuse for it. Maybe it was just because the dream confused him and made him confused. Right? That was it?

He broke out of his fitful thoughts by Sapnap finally speaking.

"You're alright, okay? Don't think it's stupid. If it's bothering you, then it's bothering me. I hate to see you upset about it." He spoke calmly, and Karl relaxed a bit. He leaned back against him and sighed out a shaky breath. "You're okay, I promise," he ended with a reassuring tone.

"Thanks.." Karl mumbled softly. He had already pushed back the painful thoughts he had been thinking earlier. Now, now he felt better. He didn't feel stressed or worried..he felt warm. They stayed in the silence for a moment to think about everything. Karl eventually tapped Sapnap's arm and he released him. Karl turned and smiled at him. "Let's skate, what do you think?"

"There's the Karl I know and love," Sapnap chuckled and got up. He helped pulled Karl onto his feet and the two got their skateboards and continued to do what they always do when they were out.

For the next hour, the two of them skated around the park like they always did. Karl found that tricks were worth it then and began doing his usual ones. Flipping the board, skating over the rails, the whole bit. Sapnap cheered him on the whole time and when he did his own tricks, Karl did the same. The two kept laughing and joking around and it was like nothing had even happen. The dream had never happened. The forgetfulness hadn't happened. They were happy again. Karl was happy again. This is how he wanted to spend his day off. But after the hour, Sapnap got a call.

With a groan in annoyance, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at it. The annoyed look disappeared and he walked away from Karl a bit, trying to be out of earshot of him. Karl could have not listened in to the conversation, but the way that Sapnap looked concerned made him anxious and curious. He sat down on a slightly nearby ramp and pretended to work on the board. He went dead quiet when Sapnap started speaking.

"Hey, Dream, what's up?" He said, a slight tone of weariness to his strong voice. He kept his voice down as he continued. He was quiet as Dream talked on the other end. "What? Okay- I'm with Karl right now.." Karl felt Sapnap's eyes land on him for a moment before looking away. "Okay. I"ll..um..I'll head over then." He pulled the phone away and hung up. He headed back over to Karl, who looked up at him and smiled.

"Everything alright?" Karl asked.

"Yeah. The TV broke at the apartment and Dream wants it fixed." He said with a reassuring smile that masked the worry he had moments before. Dream was another friend he had met through Quackity. He had been apart of the group he had met Sapnap in. He was decently close with him, but not as much as the others.

"Can't he wait a little bit? We were having fun!" Karl laughed it off a bit, clearly joking a bit.

"Yeah, he could, but he's pretty annoyed. And it's getting late. With all the attacks recently, maybe it would be good to head home." Sapnap insisted. How could Karl forget? All the attacks. The Syndicate.

"Yeah..Yeah I guess you're right," Karl nodded and stood up. "I'll see you later then?"

"Yeah of course! And about earlier," Sapnap placed a gentle, calming hand on arm, "Don't be afraid to call or text, alright? I don't want you to feel like you have to deal with everything alone." Karl smiled happily and nodded. Sapnap smiled back at his friend. "Alright. See ya later, dude!" He turned and headed off on his board.

"See ya!" Karl called after him and waved at his friend, who waved back before disappearing behind a building. Karl sighed at the loneliness he now felt. He pulled out his phone and realized he had never turned off the "Do Not Disturb" button. He reluctantly turned it off and his eyes widened at the string of messages and calls he had. But one message stood out. He had gotten it only a few minutes ago.

The screen read:

New Message from Zephyrus:

Eastside. Backup Required. Hurry.

Chapter Text

In Kinoko, the city was always on the hunt for new heroes, as the world they lived in a world that was full of villains of all kinds.

In Kinoko, the people feared The Syndicate. Its ideals. Its beliefs. Most importantly, they feared the people in The Syndicate.

Kairo was one of them.

Although Kairo had just recently joined the notorious villain group, he had already made his mark as a psychotic criminal. His laugh was crazier than The Dealer's and his fighting was close to The Blade's skill, but what they truly feared was his unpredictability.

He was able to go through time a second ahead, but you never knew when it was going to happen or if it happened already. He caught every hero off guard and has yet to have someone take him down properly when his powers were in affect. That's what scared the heroes the most. And that's what pushed the war between the two sides into a bigger deal. The ever growing and powerful group was starting to worry the Hero League.

That night, Kairo stood on a building in front of the location Zephyrus had sent him after his initial message. "Eastside, The Dockside Warehouse" was in large, bold letters in the front of the building. The water calmly hit the sides of the rocks, the calmest they had ever been. He didn't bother to go inside the building just yet. If he heard commotion, that would be his cue to enter. For now, he was just going to take a seat and enjoy the view.

Sporting black cargo pants with a chain suspended at the waist and a pitch black shirt, he enjoyed and was grateful for the cool air that night that didn't make him burn up in his outfit. His mask also sat snugly over his mouth and one of his eyes, leaving one eye completely exposed. While most people would be panicking over the exposed detail, he didn't have worry. Where a colored iris should be, there was a clock. The clock was casually ticking and he acted as if it was nothing.

He kicked his legs over the edge of the building and stared at the dazzling sky above him. It was strange to him how quiet it was. He almost wanted to leave. In fact, he was going to leave. He had started the process of getting up and thought of a million reasons on why he got the message. Maybe a false alarm? Or maybe the issue had been fixed before he got there? Or did he get the location wrong?

But his thoughts were quickly blown away. He felt the ground beneath his feet shake a bit at the same time he heard a loud crash. He looked down at the building and saw a mass fall to the ground from the top window. Kairo stared ahead at the person on the ground, who got up and shrugged his shoulders to push back the pain. As if sensing him, the person looked at Kairo. He wore a pig mask with sharp looking tusks. His hair was long and pink, braided perfectly behind him. He tilted his head up in what people would think was a "Hello" gesture. But Kairos knew otherwise.

He moved up onto the ledge of the building and turned around so that his gaze was on the roof. A large cloud of black smoke was forming in front of him. There was a slight breeze before a figure with large white wings emerged and lunged at him to grab him. Kairo smiled behind his mask and waved before he fell backwards off the roof. The figure gasped and flew straight off the roof, hovering away from the edge as it watched him fall towards the ground.

Quicker and Quicker, his body got closer to the ground. He groaned in annoyance.

"This is annoying! Catch me already!" His distorted voice yelled out. His body then came to a complete halt. The white winged creature blinked in confusion. A woman then quickly ran up to Kairo, staying quiet and calm. He was slowly laid down on the ground where he only stayed a second before hopping up.

"I could have just let you hit the ground," she said sharply, her voice a high-pitched distortion.

"But ya didn't." She didn't have to see under his mask to tell that he had a large grin plastered on his face.

"Whatever. Help Zephyrus and Hecate. They're inside." The woman, who was dressed in an all crimson and had a pitch black mask that covered the entirety of her face, nodded at the building. Kairo nodded and ran off towards the building, ignoring the sounds of fighting that was happening behind him.

He hurried inside the building before he came to a stop inside to analyze the scene. Two people immediately caught his eye. One man flew high above the ground, dodging arrows made of sharp thorns. The arrows were being shot by a woman in a pink and red outfit with vines wrapping around her legs and arms. The veil that covered his face prevented Kairos to read his possible expressions or any sign of command. He quickly turned his attention away from him and to a lady dressed in black who seemed to be struggling a bit.

She had a hand extended towards someone. It was a guy dressed in blues and white, glasses covering his identity. He struggled against some sort of invisible restraints. Kairo could sense a satisfied smile behind her veil. However, the satisfaction wasn't going to last long. A figure in white was rushing at her from behind, brandishing a sword from his sheath. Kairo felt himself heat up and before he knew it, he was gone.

When Kairo appeared, he was behind the lady in black. The man had his arm raised above him as he was about to attack her, but he hadn't been like that a second ago. Kairo managed to grab his wrist, shocking the man.

"Wh-What-" The man was frozen in place.

"Aw what's wrong, Midas? Not used to being in a fight with the big ones?" Kairos laughed and pulled out the other sword Midas hadn't pulled from its sheath. Midas snapped himself away quickly and took a few steps back, holding the sword in front of him.

"Damnit, it's you," Midas said almost shakily.

"Damnit, it's me." Kairo shrugged and swung the sword in front of him in a figure eight motion. "Do you like dancing?" He looked at him.

"What- Yeah, I guess-" He started but Kairo cut him off before he could answer again.

"Then let's dance, bitch." Kairo lunged at him quickly and Midas blocked his swing just in time. And that was just the start of the fight.

Kairo did circles around Midas. He kept blipping right before he could hit him and always caught him off guard. Before he knew it, Midas was on the ground with a sword to his chest. Kairo laughed and he could see Midas tense up at his distorted laughter. Kairo briefly looked up to see the man in blues and white watching them, no longer struggling against the woman's invisible restraints. He seemed...worried.

Kairo knew Midas couldn't defend himself all that well. He was the weapons maker. He didn't know how to fight, especially if it was against him. He looked at the man who flew above them, but he didn't seem to notice. Same for the woman in black. Kairo looked back down at Midas and raised the sword. Midas shrunk away, thinking this would be the last thing he saw.

The side of his head was met with a painful impact as the flat side of the blade hit him. The top and other side of his head were met with the same fate. The blunt edge of the sword was pressed against his throat as Kairos kneeled down in front of him.

"You're a bad dancer, ya know?" He said to Midas with a dull tone. "No fun either." He pressed the sword more against him.

"Midas!" The vine-wrapped woman yelled out to him, stopping her attack against the man in the air. She began running towards the two but the man landed in between them.

"I don't think so, Ivy." The man said coldly. She snarled and raised a hand, vines abruptly breaking through the concrete. They wrapped around his wings and legs tightly. His wings kept breaking through and he attempted to fly upwards only to be dragged back down. The woman in black gasped and threw her hand to the side. The hero she had been holding down was sent flying towards the concrete wall. She sprouted wings of her own and flew to them. She quickly knocked down Ivy with a single hit of her wings, which gave the man a moment of time to break free.

"Kairo, come on! We got what we wanted!" The man yelled out to him. Kairo nodded and stood up. Midas let out a shaky breath and looked at him.

"Be careful who you mess with, Midas," Kairo said. His words were like a hot knife through Mitos's head. Kairo looked at the sword before shrugging. "Think I'll be keeping this." He laughed as he walked over to the two.

"Come on," the woman said tiredly. The man took her hand gently before picking her up.

"No more flying for you, Hecate." The man said before flapping his wings a few times to get them in the air.

"I can handle myself, Zephyrus.." Her voice trailed off. The man said nothing else before flying off quickly. Kairo hurried out of the building. The street was trashed with bits of debris from the fighting that had occurred outside. It was empty save for the man who had been thrown out the window. He turned to Kairo and nodded.

"Thank you for coming." He said in a low, monotone voice.

"Just doing my job," Kairo answered, tossing the guy the sword, "Tell me Blade. Is it worth it to keep?" He tilted his head to the side.

"I suppose so." Blade spun the sword once in his hand, slashing it in front of him. "Let Lethe make a few touch ups on it. Then you'll have yourself a good weapon." He handed it back to him.

"Where are we going now?"

"No where, now. We'll have a meeting tomorrow." Blade turned away from him. He took a glance around and dropped his voice to a slight whisper. "Stay safe, Karl."

"Yeah, you to." He nodded in response. The Blade walked to the alley and disappeared. And like that, Kairo was free to go.

----------------------------------------------------

Karl opened the front door to the house. He set his stuff down with a quiet sigh of relief. He looked around the almost completely dark space. There was a light on in the kitchen with some soft and distant humming coming from it. He raised an eyebrow in curiosity and walked to the kitchen slowly. He was met by the face of his best friend and roommate, Quackity.

He had his back to Karl, pouring into two glasses some kind of dark liquid he presumed to be coffee or some dark tea. There was an unopened container on the counter waiting on the counter. He could smell the Thai food through the vents of the lid. He sighed out happily and came over to the counter.

"It's your favorite," Quackity finally said quietly, turning to face his friend with the two mugs. He set the mug down in front of him with his food. "Kinda late don't you think?"

"Yeah, I was busy." Karl's words were muffled as he started to chow down on his food.

"With what?" Quackity questioned, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

"Stuff."

"Karl." Quackity's voice turned stern. Karl looked up at his friend, mouth full of food. He slowly finished chewing and swallowed. He let out a satisfied sigh.

"Zephyrus needed me." Karl finally said.

"Why didn't you just say so?" The man relaxed finally and Karl just grinned.

"Annoying you is fun." Karl said with a slight chuckle.

"You're annoying."

"Thanks!" Karl answered brightly. Quackity smiled and patted his shoulder.

"How did you spend your day?"

"Skating," Karl sipped his drink, which he found out to be a dark tea. "Sapnap joined me after awhile. We had fun."

"He didn't see you, did he?" Quackity lifted an eyebrow.

"No, he left before I got the message."

"Good," he nodded. Karl looked down at his food and picked at it.

"I-" Karl began.

"No, Karl." Quackity interrupted, his voice stern and tough. Karl flinched just slightly at hearing his fun loving friend turn sour. Quackity's features softened as he noticed his movement. He sighed and continued, "Karl, it's not safe."

"He's our best friend! He would never give us up!" Karl tried to argue.

"And what if he lets it slip?"

"What?"

"What if he lets it slip that Karl Jacobs is Kairos? Or that he at least knows Kairos? What if a hero finds that out? Karl, that puts you in danger. That puts me in danger. That puts The Syndicate in danger. That'll put him in danger." And finally, Quackity struck a nerve with the guy. Karl sighed and looked back down.

"Okay," Karl finally gave in. "I won't tell him."

"Good, good." Quackity nodded. Karl didn't say anything as he pushed his food away. Not wanting to even speak a goodnight, Karl walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs slowly. He went into his dark room.

He didn't bother to even kick his clothes off, just collapsed onto the bed. He was tired. Tired of a lot of things. Tired of the fighting almost daily, tired of lying to his friend, tired of arguing with his roommate about said friend. It was painful at this point, mentally and physically. He felt drained. Karl so desperately wanted to feel at peace for a day. But this is what he got. This is what he chose.

He was Kairo.

He was the monster of The Syndicate.

Nothing was going to change that.