After school, Kenny comes home, like he does on any of his day off. With his mother at work, he drops his backpack on the sofa. Kenny enters his bedroom and strips off his jacket, letting it drop to the floor, too tired to put it up. He slips off his shoes, falls face first onto his bed and places his cell phone resemble Transformer onto the corner of the dresser, which is in arm reach.
Kenny closes his eyes, looking forward to count some sheep, when he hears a familiar ring. He opens his eyes to find the source of the ringing: his Transformer. Kenny picks it up, rolls onto his back and answers his Transformer.
�Hello?�
�Kenny,� Samantha�s voice is heard. �You need to hurry over to the bookstore.�
�Okay, I�m on my way,� Kenny tells her.
Kenny closes his Transformer, as he fires off a small moan at another demon attack.
It doesn�t take him long to get over to BookZ. Kenny enters the bookstore to find the lights are off and while the backroom door is open, the lights in the backroom are also off.
�Must already been in the back,� Kenny places his jacket on the coat rack. Kenny enters into the backroom, as he having trouble seeing what�s in front of him. �Hello, anyone here?�
Suddenly, the lights rush on, and to his surprise, Kenny finds Samantha, David, Holly, and Henry standing behind the table with a birthday cake that has sixteen candles and �Happy Birthday Kenny� spelled out in frostings.
�Happy Birthday, Kenny!� each of Kenny�s friends shouts.
Kenny smiles at his friends� surprise, as the party go underway. Kenny blows out the candles, making the same wish he did last year and the year before, that Samantha likes him as more then a friend. Kenny receives presents from his friends that include a watch with a built-in compass from Samantha, the first volume of Nora: the Last Chronicle of Devildom from Holly, Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals from David, and Brisingr from Henry. The friends then cut the cake and enjoy their slices as they talk, seating at the table in the backroom.
�So I guess it isn�t long till you get your driver�s license,� Samantha says to Kenny.
�Yeah and I�m planning on helping him,� Holly interjects. �Then maybe he can drive me to the mall sometime.�
�Sure someone helps him, who didn�t fail their test the first time out,� David mentions.
�I told you, the guy I drove with was out to get me,� Holly explains.
�Maybe that because he was a woman,� David tells her.
�Well, she�s too butch.�
�I still have to remember that the driver�s side is on the left side of the car in this country,� Henry says, between taking bites.
While everyone else was laughing, Kenny has trouble keeping his eyes open.
�Kenny, are we boring you?� Holly mocks.
�Huh, oh, no,� Kenny tries to explain. �It just between work, school, chores, and demons, I hadn�t been getting much sleep.�
�Well, you got the day off, so why don�t you go home and get some sleep,� Henry tells him.
�I think I will,� Kenny says, start to get up. �Hum, thanks for the party and presents guys. Enjoy the cake.�
Kenny�s friends watch as he leaves with his presents.
�Do you think Kenny is going to be okay?� Samantha asks her remaining friends.
�Sure, he�s just tire,� David takes another bite of cake.
Meanwhile outside of the city, Death is waving a hand over the orb in the center of the Horsemen�s cave, with Famine, Conquest, and War behind him.
�We don�t have time for this, Death,� Famine tries to tell him.
�We only have till the end of 2009 to create big enough destruction and chaos to allow for Hades� escape,� War reminds him.
�Then sends a demon to the city,� Death tells them. �I�m busy.�
�Death, the last time you try to destroy the Battle Defenders, you almost ran out of energy and gets pull into the Underworld,� Conquest reminds him.
�That why I�m not leaving the confines of the cave,� Death tells them. �Ah, I found it!� Death looks deeply into the orb.
�Found what?� War asks.
�Battle Violet�s brainwaves patterns,� Death tells them. �And once I had tapped into them when he entered the REM stage, I can kill him in his sleep.�
Back at Kenny�s house, he wastes no time to put his presents on his dresser, slipped off his shoes and jacket, put down his Transformer, and falls back into bed. In no time at all, Kenny slips into a deep sleep, as the world around him seemly disappears.
Suddenly, Kenny finds himself walking through a deep fog; he looks around confused and puzzled.
�Where am I?� Kenny turns around and then just as suddenly as he appears in the fog, he appears in his full armor. �What the? How did I end up in my armor?�
�Well, well, isn�t it my old friend.�
Kenny looks around for the source of the familiar voice, and to his shock he sees Sucidial.
�It can�t be, I destroyed you!� Kenny yells.
�It can and it is,� Sucidial turns into a flaming ball and rolls into Kenny, knocking him off his feet.
�Fine, I�ll destroy you again,� Kenny presses the �2� button on his Battle Gauntlet. �Battle Saber, Battle Ready!� But nothing happen. �What, it didn�t work!�
�Of course not!�
Kenny looks up to see Fearor jumps toward him. Moving too quickly for Kenny to dodge or counter, Fearor double punches Kenny in the chest, sending him flying backward.
�Now Fearor,� Kenny says, getting to his feet. �What is going on?�
�The Good guys will lose.�
Kenny turns to Angra wielding his staff. Angra rushes Kenny, striking Kenny with his staff before launching a downward strike, knocking Kenny backward.
Kenny, still on the ground, looks up to see Sucidial, Angra, and Fearor standing before him. He then sees his friends, in their armors, rushing toward.
�Guys, you�re here,� Kenny manages to get up, happy that his friends are here.
Sucidial turns into a flaming ball and rolls through the three Battle Defenders, knocking them off their feet. Fearor then shoots green energy from his hands at the Battle Defenders, blasting them off their feet once again.
�No, stop!!� Kenny screams.
�Sucidial and Fearor each put one hand on Angra�s shoulders, electric then runs from their hands into Angra then into his spear as he holds it high before delivering a large downward strike at the three Battle Defenders, causing large explosions.
�No!! Samantha! Holly! David!� Kenny yells in fear, as his friends fall down in large explosions. �NO!!�
Kenny falls to his knees as the three demons disappear.
�You failed us,� Samantha�s voice echoes.
�Because of you, we�ll die,� David�s voice echoes.
�It is all of your fault,� Holly�s voice echoes.
�No, no, no,� Kenny says.
�Kenny,� Samantha�s voice is heard once again.
Kenny looks up to see Samantha, David, and Holly standing before him, unharmed and out of their armor.
�You guys, you�re okay?� Kenny confuses.
�Of course we are,� Samantha says, like she�s think Kenny is been silly.
�I-I must�ve be seeing things,� Kenny returns to his feet. �I thought I saw you been killed.�
�That would never happen with you around,� Samantha says, with a smile.
Suddenly, a sword rips through Samantha�s abdomen from her back.
�NO!!� Kenny screams, as he tries to run forward but his stopped by two Dustoids holding him by his arms. Kenny then is forces to watch as three Dustoids strike at his defenseless friends with their swords. �NO! Stop! Please stop! STOP!!�
Meanwhile Samantha and Holly are walking down the streets, with Holly holding container with leftover birthday cake in it.
�For a second I thought that Henry would eat the entire thing,� Holly says.
�The man loves his cake,� Samantha says. �Hum, Holly, do you know why Kenny�s so shy.�
�Well, no, he just is,� Holly tells her. �Why you ask?�
�Well, since we became Battle Defenders, Kenny and I became closer friends, but there are still a lot I don�t know about him,� Samantha says. �I gave him a watch for his birthday, while you guys give him a manga, a video game, and a book. Hell, I didn�t even know today is his birthday till you mention it two days ago.�
�Well, Kenny likes your gift,� Holly tells her.
�Still, not very personal,� Samantha says. �There just so much about him I don�t know.�
�Do you want to know more about him?�
�We�re friends, but I know so little about him, it�s like we�re complete strangers,� Samantha explains, depress.
�Well, what do you know about Kenny?�
�Just, he�s a nice guy. He�s like to help people and don�t like to see people in pain or hurt.�
�That Kenny to a tee,� Holly tells her. �There�s not much else. Besides the fact that he�s became a real superhero.�
�A real superhero?�
�His mother once told me, in confidence of course, that when he�s a little kid, he uses to run around the house with a red blanket tied around his neck like a cape.�
�Really?� Samantha tries to fight back a chuckle.
�She has pictures,� Holly tells her, as the two friends laugh as they approach Kenny�s house.
The two walks up to the front and ring the bell. With no response, Samantha tries to knock on the door.
�No answer,� Samantha states the obvious.
�He was pretty tired,� Holly reminds her. �Let�s let him sleep.�
The two walk away from the house. As Samantha passes a window into Kenny�s bedroom, she sees Kenny is shaking in his bed with his face covers in sweats.
�Holly!� Samantha yells, catching her friend�s attention.
Holly looks into the window to see her friend�s having a terrible nightmare, �Oh my god.�
Holly rushes over to the garden in front of the porch, she picks up one of the rocks, revealing its hollow with a key inside it. Holly hurries to unlock the door and the two girls rush inside with Samantha following Holly to Kenny�s bedroom.
Holly seats next to Kenny, as she rubs his shoulders trying to wake him up, �Kenny, Kenny, wake up.�
�What�s wrong with him?� Samantha asks.
�I don�t know, I-� Holly touches Kenny�s forehead. �Oh my god, he�s burning.� Holly starts to panic, as she grabs both of his shoulders and shakes him slightly. �Kenny, wake up! Wake up!�
�Why won�t he wake up?� Samantha worries.
�I don�t know,� Holly says, also worries for her friend.
The two friends proceed to call Henry, who reverses the tele-transportation system the Battle Defenders use to reach their Mechadum to bring Kenny to the secret lab behind the bookstore�s backroom.
Kenny is lying on the table, with his friends surrounded him, as Henry is monitoring Kenny�s brainwaves.
�What wrong with him?� David asks Henry.
�I�m not sure, I�m studying his brainwaves activity,� Henry starts. �And it would appear that he is dying.�
�But how?� Samantha asks.
�I don�t know,� Henry tries to explain. �It would seem he�s having a nightmare, so bad, that it is destroying him.�
�And I give you four guesses on who is behind it,� David says.
�What can we do,� Holly asks Henry. �I mean, we can�t enter his subconscious.�
�I don�t know,� Henry tries to think. �The Organization never has any information on something like this. But it is his subconscious in danger, so maybe he can hear us.�
�You thinks we can talk to him, and help him come out of it?� Holly asks, hopeful.
�It the only thing we can do, I�m afraid,� Henry explains.
�Kenny, I-I don�t know if you can hear me, but please you have to wake up,� Samantha says to her unconscious friend.
�C�mon man, you have faced worse then this,� David acts cheery.
�We really need you,� Holly says, worries. �Please wake up, Kenny, please.�
But his friends� voices fall on deaf ears, as Kenny, still in his armor, is on his knees and hands, now completely alone.
�Are crying, baby?�
Kenny turns to see Death, standing behind him with his scythe in hand.
�Death, why are you doing this to me?� Kenny asks as he returns to his feet.
�Because I can,� Death rushes Kenny, and strikes him with his scythe.
Kenny falls down, and then tries to get back up, when Death hits him with his scythe again. Kenny manages to get back to his feet, when he is hit in the back. Kenny drops to his knees, and then Death presses the blade of his scythe around his chest from behind.
�Now watch,� Death tells him. �Watch as everything you loves fall apart.�
Kenny is then forces to watch as David, Samantha, and Holly, in their armors, stand before a shadowy figure.
�H-Hades,� Kenny says, weaken.
�Yes, you fail to stop Hades from escaping,� Death says. �And now your friends will pay the price for your failure.�
The shadowy figure holds out one hand and fires a burst of fire at the three Battle Defenders. Kenny watches helplessly, as his friends� armors break apart, as they scream in pain and agony.
�NO!!�
�Watch again,� Death mocks him. �Watch again, and again.�
Kenny watches as the same screen plays again and again, with each times, Kenny screams, unable to save his friends. Still everything disappears and becomes pure dark. Kenny falls down on his hands, as his armor disappears and a destroyed city appears around him.
�This is what happens,� Death�s voice echoes. �Hades escapes; he murdered your friends, and destroyed the city you loved.�
Kenny looks ahead, to see Crestview Heights in ruin and the dead bodies of Samantha, David, and Holly.
�No, no, no�� Kenny whimpers as sweats speed off his face.
�You failed and everyone paid the price.�
Back in the Battle Defenders� headquarters, Kenny�s brainwave activities on the large computer had increased to dangerous levels.
�Oh my god,� Henry says. �This not good, there no way Kenny can take anymore. His entire mind will shut down. He�s going to die.�
�No,� tears swell up in Holly�s eyes, with Holly quickly turns to face her best friend. �Kenny, you got to wake up,� Holly grabs Kenny�s hand as everyone else look worried. �Please, you can�t die. You�re my best friend, I still need you. Kenny, please wake up. Wake up!�
�Holly,� Kenny, still trapped in a nightmare world, hears his friend�s cries. �Holly.� Kenny returns to his feet.
�You can�t escape; you are doomed to die here!� Death�s voice echoes louder.
�No, I�m not,� Kenny says, as his armor appears once again. �I�m Battle Violet, leader of the Battle Defenders, and I won�t die here!�
�I won�t die here,� Kenny says, wimpy, as his friends remain around him.
Back in his nightmare world, Kenny says, confident, �Death, I got a message for you and yours Horsemen. We gonna take you down.�
Suddenly, Kenny opens his eyes to see his friends over him.
�Kenny, you awake,� Holly says, still with tears in her eyes.
�Thanks to you,� Kenny smiles.
Later, Kenny, Samantha, David, and Holly are leaving the backroom.
�So are you going back to sleep?� David asks.
�I have enough of sleeping for awhile,� Kenny tells him.
�Is someone wrong?� Holly notices something about her friend.
�Yeah, I am afraid,� Kenny starts. �I�m afraid, I won�t be able to keep any of you safe or stop Hades from escaping. I�m afraid, I will let everyone down.�
�Kenny, you won�t let us down,� Samantha tries to comfort him.
�Samantha�s right,� Holly agrees. �Beside, we�re in this together. And together, we can keep each other safe and together we can stop Hades from escaping.�
�Together we stand,� Kenny says.
�Divided we fall,� Samantha finishes, putting a smile on Kenny�s face. Samantha then notices Kenny is wearing the watch she gave him, and she smiles.
Next time on Battle Defenders:
Samantha�s friends think she�s just stressful, when she claims she been seeing a ghost.
Is Samantha really seeing things, or is she been haunted?
On the next Battle Defenders.