Whumptopia

Tilting his head, Kade looked at the snacks.  He knew that Killian was a sucker for spicy chocolate, which always confused him, but the guy liked it.  Riley on the other hand couldn't handle anything spicy, he liked sour stuff.  So Kade took one of the sour bean packets.  Beck on the other hand liked cookies, any type, but more precisely chocolate and peanut. 

And then Bella.  He had no idea what to get her.  She’ll probably like flowers, but buying her that, would just make him feel weird.  He’ll just have to think of something else.

Kade sighed as he grabbed a box of mini  peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies, throwing it in the shot basket as well.  There was a specific spicy chocolate that Killian loved, but he didn't see it at the moment.

He went to pay for it, not really paying attention to anything around him.  Throwing the stuff into a bag, he hooked it over his arm and started hobbling towards the door.  

Tisking annoyed, he started down the street.  There was another shop that he knew sold it, but it was quite a walk to get there.  With a sigh he started limping towards the other shop.  A slight smile formed on his face, before he shook his head.  

They will probably freak out if he gave it to them, way too happy for him to handle.  

At least they will be happy.  

Damn idiots. 

Well… they were his idiot friends, since he couldn’t understand why they even tried to be friends with him. 

Again… Damn idiots. 

It took him a while before he reached the second store.  It was small and hidden away.  Quickly he grabbed the chocolate, something for Bella as well before paying for it.  

Outside, he stopped in the sunlight for a moment, wincing.  It was so bright.

And now he had to walk all the way back to the dorms.  This might not have been such a good idea.  

Letting out a breath, he pulled his hood over his head and started limping again.  He did not even notice the car slowly following after him.  After a few more blocks, the care pulled closer to Kade.  

One guy got out of the car, following behind Kade.  

The man moved quickly, he caught the injured teen from behind, hand going over his mouth and a gleaming white knife against his throat.  

“Move… and I slit your throat” the man growled in the teen’s ear.  

Kade stopped, tilting his head slightly so he could see the man.  

“What do you want?” he asked coldly.  

“You’re one of the academy’s students,” the man said and Kade sighed.

“What about it?” 

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” the man said.  He pulled back hitting Kade on the side of his head, knocking him out.  

Kade struggled against the guy, as the darkness started pulling him under.  He wanted to fight, but did not have the energy nor the willpower to keep going.  

And it hurt too much to keep on fighting.  

Why did they choose him?  Or was he just that unlucky this time.  Hopefully that was it.  Cause he can’t think of anyone he made mad in the few months.

His thoughts did not want to stop turning, nor clear up.  

Somewhere along the line, he knew that he was being moved.  Not that it mattered much.  He couldn’t focus enough to figure out what’s going on. 

When the moving stopped, Kade grunted.  He was all but being thrown around in the back of whatever it was they dumped him in.  Hand grabbed him and hulled him out.  

Kade’s eyes flickered open for a moment and all he could make out was strange colours above him.  

The light stung his eyes, making the pain in his head even worse.   It made him want to throw up.  Everything hurts. 

The people holding him, dragged him forward.  He wanted to resist them, but his body just did not want to move.

Everything was hazy and confused and hurt.  

They dumped him on the ground and he just lay there, trying to get his mind to work and his body to respond.  

A shiver ran through his body.  He could hear the people around him talking.  Their voices just jumbled together.  After a few minutes of not being able to do anything, his vision started clearing up.  

He couldn’t make anything out around him.  Everything was dark.  There weren’t even any sounds around anymore.  

So the people left.  

Clenching his jaw, Kade slowly tried to sit up.  

Pain tore through his chest, making him curl up on his side, gasping through the pain.  Each breath wheezed through his chest.  When the pain started to fade, he let his body relax a bit.  

This time he moved slower than before.  He managed to sit up.  It took a moment before his eyes focused.  

Winching, he looked around. 

It looked like he was in a small room, with nothing in it.  Grey wall, bare cement floor and chains hanging from the ceiling.  

Everything hurt worse than before.  

Carefully, he patted his pockets to see if they took his phone.  He couldn’t remember if they did.  

The phone wasn’t there.

Kade sighed, carefully slumping back against the wall.  Great.  Now he had to get a new one.  He did not have the money for that at the moment.  So he’ll probably have to go without one for now.  

Right…  now was not the time to think about that stuff.  He needed to figure out what happened, and how to get out. 

Kade tried to reach for his shadows, but immediately it felt like a bomb went off in his head, making him curl up in pain.  

What did they do to him?  Why couldn’t he reach his shadows?  If he couldn’t reach them…. He wouldn’t be able to teleport either.  This was just getting worse and worse. 

He waited for the pain to calm down, before looking around in the room again.  

There really wasn’t much.  

Kade resigned to sitting against the wall, not moving.  It was the only thing that did not cause him any pain.  

Time slowly ticked by.  He had no idea how long he had been in that room.  Somewhere along the line he must have fallen asleep, because keys turning in the lock woke him up.  

Wincing at the pain the movement caused, he slowly sat up.  

The door opened and four men stepped inside.  

Kade looked up at them.  “What the hell do you want?” he asked, eyes narrowing.  

“You are of one the academy’s students” one of the men said walking over to Kade “But it seems like they don’t really care if we give you back….  So you are pretty much useless to us”

“Bad luck for you” Kade muttered, slowly getting to his feet, so he could look the man in the eye “If you asked, I would have told you from the start.  It would have spare all of us a lot of trouble”

“You brat….” the man growled, grabbing Kade by the front of his shirt.  

Kade smirked at the man through the pain in his body.  “What’re you gonna do?” he asked “Maybe if you… Kill me the academy will pay you for it”

“Do you really want to die that badly?” one of the other men snapped.  

Tilting his head, so he could look at the other man.  “... You will do everyone a favour” he said.

“You….” one of the guys said, looking shocked “You’re him….  You are fucking NightShade!”

“Surprise!” Kade said sarcastically.

The man holding Tyler up, threw him against the wall.  “Now this…. Should be interesting” he said “You are one of those bastards that think you can just become a good guy….after everything you did”

Kade’s knees buckled and he sank to the ground.  His legs hurt.  It hurt so badly, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to get up.  

The pain must have shown on his face, because the people started laughing.  

“Looks like someone beat us to it, giving you a proper thrashing” the fist guy said, aiming a kick at Kade.  

Kade blocked the kick with his injured arm, immediately feeling the pain shooting up into his head.  

“If you want to do this….  Do it… properly” he snarled, moving as if to stand up.

Immediately the man grabbed him, slamming him into the wall.  

Kade’s vision blurred and he felt himself slipping.  If only he could use his power.  His shadows stayed just out of his reach.  They were starting to get anxious.  Which was never good.

“You better keep your mouth shut… before we decide to kill you” the second guy said “Which is what you deserve after everything you’ve done”

Even through his blurred vision, Kade sneered at the man, lifting his good hand and flipping the man off. 

Immediately something drove the air from his chest and his vision blacked out completely.  

***

As he slowly started waking up again, Kade, tried not to move.  His body pulse with pain.  He was pretty sure they must have kicked or threw him around while he was out.  

Slowly he opened his eyes.  

In a car.  

He was in a car again.  

“Look… the little reformed villain is waking up again” a voice said.  It was loud and bouncing around in his head.  

Kade let out a sigh, squinting at the guy that spoke.  

“..Damn…  you’re still alive…  Was hoping you’d trip and shoot yourself” he said.

A fist made him taste blood and his vision blurred, almost blacking out again. 

“Keep on running your mouth and you will meet your end much sooner”

Kade coughed lifting his head.  He could feel the zip ties around his wrists digging into his skin.  His arm hurt so badly that there was no way he’d be able to break them.

“Why don’t you do everyone a favour and just shoot me?” Kade asked, looking at the guy that spoke.  He smirked before spitting blood into the man’s face. 

Again the man punched him.  This time he did black out for a few seconds.  

“Ouch….” Kade groaned “I think that one hurt….”

“You fucking mouthy brat” another guy snapped.

“Told you to tape his mouth shut” the first guy said. 

“Yeah…. You should have done that” Kade said “It almost looks like this is your first kidnapping….  I can always give you some tips on how to do it better”

“Shut the hell up!” the first guy snarled.  

“Don’t want to,” Kade said, already bracing for the next hit “You are terrible kidnappers….”

He barely finished the sentence before the hit landed.  

Kade started coughing, wincing at the pain in his chest and face.  His eyes did not want to focus on anything.  This was problematic.

“... morons…” he mumbled.  

“He’s getting more and more annoying” one of the guys said. 

“...Screw all of you” Kade grunted “You suck….”

It was getting very hot inside the car.  He started feeling worse.  The heat made it harder to breathe.  

“Suddenly quiet” one of the guys said “Finally”

Clenching his jaw, Kade glared at the man.  “Why don’t you turn the heat up a bit more” he said “I don’t think it’s warm enough in here”

The car came to a sudden stop.  

Kade grunted as he got thrown against the door, every muscle in his body complaining.  

Two of the guys got out of the car, opened the back door and roughly pulled Kade out.  They dropped him to the ground.  Immediately the third guy kicked Kade a few times.  

For a second it felt like something ripped in his abdominal.  Another kick to the head, made everything go dark for a moment.  

“Why don’t you just stay here and die, like the trash you are” a voice snapped in his ears “If you’re lucky enough to survive…  Maybe drop the good guy act”

Kade couldn’t say anything.  The pain had made his mind go numb.  He tasted blood.  Somewhere through all the pain he could hear the car starting again and pulling away.  

It took a while before he realized he couldn’t hear the car anymore.  Clenching his jaw, he slowly uncurled from where he lay on the ground.  

His body trembled.  The sun beat down on him.  It made him feel sick and weak.  His shadows hissed at him, growling softly as they finally managed to reach him.  

They wrapped around him, slowly covering his body.  

He was in the middle of nowhere, outside the city.  

Immediately the heat from the sun became less.  His shadows became more upset as the sun burned down on him. 

He needed to get up.  

He needed to leave.  

Go back to the dorms.

Oh hell…. He’s going to be in so much trouble.

Kade slowly sat up, his arms wrapped around his middle.  It hurt so much that he just wanted to stay curled up on the ground.  

Looking down at the ground, he noticed the blood.  

A frown formed on his face.  

Was he really bleeding that badly?  He wasn’t sure where the blood was coming from.  

With the heat and the pain, he didn’t want to move.  

Slowly he tried getting to his feet.  The world turned and he just crumbled back down to the ground with a whimper, gasping for breath.  

His body did not want to listen to him anymore.  

The heat drained his strength.  

A shiver ran through his body.  He pressed his hand against his side, feeling heat beneath his palm.   

It felt like he was getting weaker with every second that passed.  If someone didn’t find him, he was going to bleed to death there on the side of the road.  Slowly he gathered his strength again.  

He reached for his teleportation.  

The moment he tried to teleport, it felt like electricity ran through his veins, making him smother a scream.  

Taking a deep breath, he slowly started getting up again.  His body trembled, threatening to give in beneath him.  With every move that he made, his body screamed at him.  

The moment he put any weight on his cast leg, pain ripped through his leg.  

They probably made his injury worse than before. 

With every step he took, he dragged his leg after him.  With every step he just pressed his hand against his body, trying to stop the bleeding.  

Slowly his mind started to fade, becoming more and more foggy as the time went by.  He had no idea how far out of the city he was.  Only that he was away from people, somewhere that he did not know and he doubted anyone would look for him. 

He did not even notice himself fading.  

Pain tore through his body as he hit the ground.  He didn’t have the energy to try and get up again.

Kade slowly curled up, weakly gasping for breath.  

***

Half-Light and Lycan quickly made their way through the city.  

“You have his scent?” Half-Light asked, looking worried.  

Lycan nodded.  “Yeah… he was in that shop we just passed and went down this street” he said “That kid’s shadows has a very strong and unique scent”

Half-Light chuckled.  “Kade’s pretty much one of a kind” he said, shaking his head as he looked around “What was he doing in this part of the city anyways?”

Lycan snorted.  “Buying sweets” he said “Which his friends would probably not allow him to eat”

Confused, Half-Light looked at Lycan.

“He can get really hyper on sugar” Lycan said “I’ve seen it once…  It’s very funny, everyone is terrified of him when it happens”

Before Half-Light could say anything, Lycan stopped dead in his tracks, looking down at a discarded shopping bag on the floor.  He picked it up, sniffing the bag.  

“He was carrying this…” he said, holding the bag out to Half-Light, smelling the air “We need to move…  I think someone took the kid”

Half-Light nodded.  “Let’s move then” he said

Immediately Lycan started moving.  It almost looked like they were heading out of the city.  

“Did you call Mirage and the other two?” Half-Light asked, thinking back on how worried that group was when they came over.  

Lycan shook his head.  “We find him and then we can let them know” he said, picking up speed.  

Without a word, the two started moving again.  

“Shit….  There!” Lycan said, pointing to a figure on the side of the road.  

Immediately the two shot forward.  They moved quickly towards the figure.  Before they reached the figure, it just crumbled to the ground.  

Swearing Lycan went down on his knees next to the limp figure.  

Kade lay motionless on the ground, blood slowly pooling beneath him.  His brown hair was dirty, blood dripped down his nose, while bruises were forming over his cheek, jaw and eye.  

“Shit kid…” Lycan muttered as he started checking Kade for injuries.  

“I’m calling for some help” Half-Light said, clenching his jaw.  

“I don’t know who the hell did this…  but they just left him here to bleed to death” Lycan growned.  

Half-Light glared down the road.  “And no one stopped to help him” he said, feeling the anger rising in his chest, as he turned to talk on the phone.  

Lycan tisked, as he pressed his hand down against the growing blood stain on Kade’s shirt.  “Dammit… we just got you back onto your feet” he muttered, making sure the teen didn’t have any other injuries.  

To his surprise, Half-Light cussed as he threw his phone down onto the ground in anger.  

“What’s wrong?” 

“They bloody knew” Half-Light snapped, a slight glow forming around him as his emotions started taking over his power “They were called and told that they had Kade… and they said they didn’t care”

Lycan clenched his jaw.  “Bastards” he growled “They really want him to die…  call a cab or an uber or something….  We can’t carry him back like this”

Half-Light looked down at his broken phone.  

“Take mine” Lycan said with a sigh “You really need to stop breaking your phone when you get mad”

Half-Light sighed.  “I know….” he said taking Lycan’s phone “Not a good example now am I”

Lycan nodded.  He turned his focus back to Kade.  Gently he slapped Kade’s cheek trying to wake him.  

“Come on kid” he said softly “Open your eyes…  We’ve got you…  we’re going home now…  Just open your eyes”

Kade let out a whimper.  

Lycan nodded.  “Alright…. Come on…  open your eyes” he said quietly.  

“A lift is coming,” Half-Light said, kneeling next to Kade and Lycan.  

“Good this kid needs help” Lycan said “He’s bleeding out…I don’t know how long he’s going to last”

Half-Light cussed.  “I can sear it close” he said “But…. the kid is already in enough pain”

“I know…” Lycan said, just as a car pulled up next to them.  

Titania got out of the car.  “What the hell happened?” she asked, eyes going wide when she saw Kade on the floor.  

Lycan shook his head.  “I don’t know….  This is how we found him” he said “He’s losing a lot of blood”

Titania nodded.  “Get him in the car” she said.  

“Light…  Press on the wound” Lycan said, as he slowly took his hands away.  Immediately Half-Light pressed his hands against the wound, making Kade whimper again.  Taking a deep breath, Lycan carefully picked Kade up and carried him to the car.  

It didn’t take long before they got back to the campus grounds.  

Lycan quickly carried Kade into the infirmary.  “Get me a damn doctor!” he yelled, putting Kade down on the closest bed.  

The teen let out a whimper, but did not wake up.  

“What’s going on?” one of the nurses asked as they came over.  

“One of our student got injured while outside the campus” Half-Light said “Please treat him quickly…  He’s been bleeding very badly”

The woman nodded and walked over.  Her eyes widened when she noticed Kade on the bed.  “Oh…” was all she said.

After a few seconds she shook her head.  “Alright…  quickly bring him over here” she said “I will call the doctor”

***

It took Kade a few minutes before he realized what was going on.  After passing out next to the road, he could have sworn he heard Half-Light and Lycan….  Even Titania at one point.  Then everything became a blur of pain.  He was moving and not moving.  The heat disappeared and he became cold.  

And then the pain started to dim and the darkness completely took over.  

Slowly he opened his eyes.  There was a ceiling above him.  Dim lights cast shadows against the wall.  

He tried to turn his head, but everything moved with him when he did.  Something in his stomach pulled painfully and he groaned.  He couldn’t feel his injuries from the sparring accident.  

There were no sounds but that of a monitor.  He closed his eyes, trying to figure out what happened.  He couldn’t remember how he got there.  

There, being what he assumed was a hospital room or something.  

It was hot…  The heat was gone.  

What heat?  Why was he outside?  He doesn’t like the heat, so why would he go outside?

Voices came closer and Kade opened his eyes again.

Did he close his eyes?

Two figures came into the room, followed by two more.  It took him a few seconds before he recognized three of the people. 

Lycan….  He was in front, with a very worried look on his face.  

Half-Light…  he looked the same as the day of the training accident.  Why would he look so worried and stressed?

Titania…  His vision faded as he looked at her, so he couldn’t make out her expression.  Why was she here?  She did not have any classes to teach this week.

“Kaden?” Lycan asked as he reached the teen “Hey… can you hear me?”

Kade closed his eyes for a moment before looking at Lycan again.  “...yes…” he groaned “...what… happened?”

Half-Light breathed out.  “Good… you’re awake” he said “We were hoping you can tell us what happened”

Slowly Kade looked over at Half-Light.  

“I… can’t… remember” he said.  

“You two” Titania said “Don’t question him yet.  The poor kid just woke up.  Give him some time”

Kade gave her a thankful look, before closing his eyes again. 

“You were stabbed” Titania said gently, sitting down next to the bed “And beaten….  Your arm is broken again and your leg as well.  Did you taunt them?”

A slight smile formed on Kade’s face.  “Yes…” he muttered, remembering something like that.  His head hurt too much to think more about it.  

“Alright…. Just take it easy” Half-Light said.  

“Your friends are here” Lycan said “Brought you something they are very excited about”

Kade sighed softly.  

“Alright…  let them in” he said “just… don’t let them stay for long…  I’m… tired”

Half-Light smirked before holding out a bag to Kade.  “Here…  You dropped this” he said.  

Slowly Kade reached out with his good hand and took the bag.  “How…. did you…” he started before winching.

“Lycan got a good nose” Half-Light said.  

Lycan patted Kade gently on the shoulder.  “Alright…  take it easy and get some rest” he said.

Titania took Kade’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.  “Don’t scare everyone like this again” she said softly.  

“Sorry…” Kade muttered.  

With that the three heroes left.  

After a few more minutes, the door opened again.  Killian looked inside, immediately the worried expression on his face changed into a big grin.  

Kade closed his eyes for a second, before slowly sitting up.  He pressed his hand against the wound in his side, but did not say anything.  

Killian quickly stepped into the room, followed by Riley, Beck and Bella.  

“Kay” Bella said as she saw him, looking relieved.  

“Hey” he said looking at the four.  

“You look terrible” Riley said “Seriously….  I’m not sure how they even let you out in the first place”

Kade rolled his eyes.  “Shut up” he said “I don’t want to hear it…. From your… pasty ass…”

“Damn… you even sound terrible” Beck said.

“Stop it, you two” Bella warned.

Killian quickly walked over to the bed.  “Dammit man…. You really scared us” he said “I told you to be careful”

Kade nodded slightly, before looking away.  

“Well… We’re just glad you’re alright now” Killian said, holding out a small package towards Kade.

“What’s that?” Kade asked, looking at it with a frown.

“A small holiday tradition we have…  you missed it so we thought we’d give it to you now” Killian said.  

Hesitantly Kade took the package.  He motioned to the bag that Half-Light left.

“Half-Light left that here” he said “You guys can have it”

“Oh…” Riley said as he took the bag.  

“First you have to open you gift” Bella said with a smile “We worked very hard on it”

With one hand Kade opened the roughly wrapped package.  Inside was the ugliest sweater he’d ever seen in his life.  

He looked down at it before looking at the other four.  There were grins on their faces.  They looked very proud.  So he just sighed and looked back at the sweater.  

“This… is….” he started, before hesitating and looking at them again “...I… it’s….”

Riley started chuckling, followed by Beck.  

Bella pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh.  While Killian just looked very excited.  

“It’s fucking ugly” Kade said.  

Everyone burst out laughing.  

“We know” Riley said “We all have one…  and now you have one as well”

Kade looked confused.  “Why?” he asked.

“Cause it’s a tradition” Beck said.

“You.. it….  I’m…” Kade almost stuttered, almost looking flustered, before giving up “What the hell am I supposed to do with this?”

“You wear it” Killian laughed.  

“No” Kade said.

Riley snorted as he opened the bag he picked up.  “Hey…  there’s sour bombs in here!” he said excited and quickly took them out “And here's some… spicy chocolate…” he pulled a face and handed it over to Killian “That’s for you…  No one else eats weird stuff like that”

Killian blinked as he took it.  “Oh….  I’ve been looking for these….” he said.

“Bee…  look at this!” Riley said pulling out a small packet of peanuts and chocolate cookies.

Beck’s eyes widened, snatching the cookies out of Riley’s hand.  “Oh damn… these are the good ones…” he said, looking very excited.  

Kade smiled slightly before he looked down at the ugly sweater.  At least they guys liked their stuff.  He glanced at Bella.  

She was watching everyone with a gentle smile, looking happy.  

“Bella” Riley said, pulling on her jacket’s sleeve.

Bella blinked before looking at him.  

“Here…  I think you’ll like this” Riley said, handing a small packet of cake pops.

“Oh…” She said softly, taking them.  They were plain while with small stars on them.  “I haven’t had one of these in a very long time” she looked at Kade “Thank you, Kay”

Kade just looked away, not saying anything.  

At least they liked everything.  

When I was choosing which part of Kakashi's life I wanted to paint for this zine, I knew the exact moment I wanted to catch. That second of stillness after he opens Obito's eye for the first time.

The moment just before he pulls his father's tanto for the last time.

To kill a man.

Work in progress 🌱

In print ❤️