A/N: Hey guys guess what I'm not keeping track of where in the episodes anything is happening anymore yAy so I'm basically writing free-form YaY

I'm also not keeping track of time lapses between chapters and time-skips so hey this is gonna be a fustercluck

***

Stiix. Eerie, quiet, deserted Stiix. It...it's Stiix but...where are all the people? The ghosts? The boys. Nothing. No one is here.

Except...

The hairs on the back of my neck rose and I tensed, turning slowly to face whomever was standing behind me. My breathing hitched and I was torn between standing still in distress, and charging straight towards him to run either my Aeroblade or my katana right through his chest. "Morro."

But it wasn't just Morro. He was still Lloyd. An evil shell of Lloyd, but Lloyd nonetheless. Blond hair turned oil black, skin ghastly pale. Voice deeper, laugh darker. He chuckled, his lips quirking up at one corner, "Hey, beautiful."

His entire vibe set me more on edge and I took a half step back, "Don't call me that. What did you do to the town?" I motioned with one hand at our deserted surroundings. Everything was getting a ghostly green glow to it, reflecting off the misty water.

He started laughing harder, "Do you not remember?"

"No, you idiot," I snapped, reaching my right hand back to pull free my Aeroblade.

My hand closed around nothing.

"I stole you from your team," he sneered, "The Master of Water. Your powers were returning with the return of your precious brother, and I couldn't have you ruining my fun."

A shudder ripped up my spine and I cringed. That's right we're, "In my head..." so technically I could manipulate my surroundings all I want. Add more people if I decided that's what I wanted.

Hopefully he couldn't manipulate stuff either.

But as much as I tried to think up a weapon for my hand, or another person to fight alongside me it just wasn't working. I stood and watched him start pacing, back and forth like a lion on the prowl, "I can feel that, you know. Feel you trying to think up a sword. And hear you thinking, too. You're right, though; I can't manipulate the surroundings just as you can't, either. Downside of having a split mind, I suppose."

"I'll still fight you," I huffed out, "I'll fight you and win."

"Fight?" his laugh was like ice, "Fight? You think you stand a chance against me?"

"Victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting," I started forward, regaining my confidence, "And I'll be dead before I'll stop fighting you."

"Yes, but will your team be dead before they stop fighting you?" his words stopped me in my tracks and he quirked an eyebrow, "Ooo...hit a nerve, have I? We both know you're the fastest out of all of you. Surprising for a girl. You're supposed to be slower than us boys.

"You're not the smartest though. Far from it, really. Smart about books, smart about people but not about fighting. Never, ever about fighting."

I snarled, my fingers curling, itching for a fight, "How would you know anything about me?"

"Darling, I'm in your head," he stressed, "And I saw how you fight through Lloyd's eyes. You're reckless and bullheaded. You fight like a moose when you need to fight like a Ninja!"

I hadn't even noticed he was getting closer until it was too late and I was sent flying backwards from a kick to the chest. I hit the wooden dock with a thump and slid a few feet before jumping up.

By that time he was gone, his voice floating to me through the night, "So young...so naivë. I could show you things Wu would never show you."

Just his voice terrified me. Dark, nasty, slimy. Inhuman. That's just what he was; inhuman. A ghost. Nothing more than a voice in my head but then why-- why was his mere presence sending ice through my veins and preventing me from thinking clearly, from fighting back with all I had?

"Because you have nothing." was the jeering reply, "Your team abandons you, leaves you under my possession and continues to fight without you by their side. You're the expendable one."

My breathing hitched and I grit my teeth, "I am not."

"Oh, aren't you though?" the disembodied voice wafted my way from a totally different spot than before, coming from somewhere far behind me, making me jump around. There was no one there, but the voice still spoke, "Last to join. What? Four years too late? They've all bonded, they've all trained together, worked together. You're the extra. The unneeded one. Wu has been trying to shove a circle through a square hole this entire time; you'll ever fit in."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. He's in your thoughts. I reminded myself. He's just voicing everything you've feared this whole endeavour.

When I opened my eyes, Morro was right in front of me, taking up my entire field of vision and ergo frightening me. The shock sent me stumbling backwards until I was flat on my arse, "We both know you think the same thing, know the same thing. You're just in denial about it."

"I am not," I spat, pulling myself to my feet. I didn't feel convinced, though, and Morro's smug expression told me he knew it, too.

He watched me closely as I began backing up, "Scared?"

I shook my head. After all, he was, essentially, just a figment of my imagination, "Not anymore, really, no." but still, I continued my slow steps away from him.

"Then what are you--" he cut off when I turned and bolted, "HEY!"

Come chase me.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

I'm leaning against the wall of a shady looking building, in the back alley behind the storefront. The entire town is shady looking though, but I can't be more specific or he'll find me.

I wouldn't really care but I'm trying to take this time to see what's going on on the outside of my brain and let me tell you...it's not a pretty sight. We're in Stiix -- the real city of Stiix. It looks like it does in here, in my head. Green and ghostly, like the entire town has been possessed by...something. The real city, however, is teeming with activity, both living and dead.

The activity is, sadly, nothing short of absolutely terrified.

Wherever Morro was hiding out, this... building, the windows were showing me that ghosts were terrorizing the living. Rage burned in the back of my chest. How could he let them do that? What kind of person has been so demoralized that they let innocent lives be wrecked? To tear lives, tear families apart simply for the sport of it is--

The rage worsened when I realized my feet wouldn't move. My arms wouldn't follow my command. My mind was barely holding onto my command, and I could do nothing to stop it from slipping away. He had full control over my body and I hated it.

I was watching my life go by through my own eyes like a horrible movie, and I was helpless to do anything to fix it.

Enjoying the show?

Morro. I kept my eyes closed, keeping watch out in the real world, instead, as to not give away my position in the fake world I've conjured up in m head. No, I'm not enjoying the show. Where do you get off on this, hmm? Where exactly is the joy in this for you?

Feeling you suffer. Feeling your self control continue to wither away as you fight my possession. Like a worm on a hook.

My body -- my actual body -- moved around in the shack he had us hiding in. Something was heavy in my right hand, but I couldn't move my head to see what it was, no matter how hard I tried. The room spun, and when it stopped I was looking at my own reflection in a cracked mirror on the wall.

The startling image was enough to jerk my own eyes open and I left out a horrified gasp, hyperventilating like I'd just sprinted a quarter mile. I was...she... that was not me. My long hair was oil black, a dark green stripe down the left side. My brown eyes had turned black, and my skin was a sick looking ashen colour.

But the look. The look that my usual soft eyes held was something right out of a nightmare; lethal and terrifying. It sent shivers through my entire body and made my chest physically ache. And the fact it wasn't a complete reflection, only fractals of one reflected back from each piece of a shattered mirror, made it all the more terrifying to look at.

Found you.

Shove it, Morro.

I began walking again, careful not to focus on anything in particular for long periods of time. If I did, he would find me. I could have just closed my eyes again, but that would mean I'd be reminded of the monster I've been unwillingly turned into.

Not a monster. If anything, you're the best version of you there is.

Look, buddy. I've been a Serpentine and I've been a Ninja. I did not sign up for being a bloody ghost, too. Go pick on someone your own age and leave me the hell alone.

See, I would do that but...where would the fun be? I get to feel how uncomfortable this makes you, feel how angry you get thinking about the fact you can't control your own body, can barely even control your own mind.

Like it's any difference to me? I've never been in control of anything in my life. Not who my family was, not what I was... what I could become, what I can do. Someone is always deciding for me. First it was mom, deciding I should go to Darkley's with Lloyd so she could go gallivanting off to who knows where. Then it was Ronin, deciding I shouldn't be there anymore, and luring me off.

I was okay with the Serpentine. They never made decisions for me, always allowing me to be whomever I wished.

I thank them for that.

But then... then the Ninja decided I should come with them, revoke my life as a Serpentine adoptee. Then they decide I should become a Ninja, be an Elemental Master. They make my training hell so I have no time to go see my friends at the other Monastery; another decision I am, apparently, unable to make myself.

Who I am, where to go, who to befriend-- it's always been decided for me. What difference does it make if it's a bloodthirsty ghost doing the damage instead of my own flesh and blood?

A/N: whoops