Work Text:
The first thing he feels after returning to consciousness is a familiar chill.
It seeps into him. Curling around his ribs and pouring into his lungs. It suffocates him, smothering his attempts for air.
It races through his veins, freezing cold, like Zane’s abilities years back when they all struggled with their newfound powers. Cole had to nurse an arm out of frostbite once, with the ice elemental silently berating himself for weeks.
And it hurts, too, in a small, dull ache behind the skin. It runs beneath his muscles, a cold discomfort that makes one want to rip out the offending parts.
Cole’s eyes slowly crack open, head swimming as he peers up at the dark fog drifting in the sky. It forms different shapes, curling like tendrils, breathing like it’s alive. Cole is mesmerized by it.
He isn’t sure where he is or what happened. Everything just… floats, for a bit. He stares at the clouds, watching them twirl and contort, teasing as they reach toward him, then skitter back. He doesn’t even feel aware of the ache in his bones or the chill in his veins. He just sits and watches for what feels like eternity.
But then something, maybe him, maybe the earth, maybe who knows what hiding in the darkness, makes a noise and snaps him out of his stupor.
And as he grounds himself, the memories come flooding back.
He remembers the distress call. The civilians gathered, terrified, on top of the building as the darkness crept closer. How his family looked at each other and knew they had to go in. How the odds were stacked against them. How they still tried.
He remembered corralling the last of them out and hurried after Jay onto the ropes, but the Bounty took off too soon.
Cole’s back seared in pain, and he remembered slamming into the generators and vents on the roof. He probably was concussed from that.
He had tried to pull himself up, head spinning and vision doubling as he grasped the rope and tried to climb.
But the rope frayed.
Then it broke.
His fingers had splayed out, grasping thin air. Jay’s eyes locked with his. He reaches for his dragon, but the panic seizing him prevents him from summoning it.
The fall feels slow, like time itself has slowed down as he reaches for a hand that’s not there, for a way out that he can’t find.
Helpless, he’s helpless. Cole’s chest had tightened as suddenly time righted itself and he was hurtling to the ground, Jay’s horrified face going out of sight.
The view of the Bounty gets swallowed up, and Cole begs for the earth to catch him as everything goes dark.
And now he’s here.
He feels dizzy. He feels sick. He feels agonizing pain.
But it’s all so muted, like he’s in another room experiencing it. If he focuses on it, he pulls himself back into the sensation. Everything’s sluggish; he feels frozen. He can barely move his eyes.
Is he paralyzed?
He tries to curl his fingers, fixed on starting small. They don’t obey. He can’t feel any resistance or pain from attempting to move them, so he assumes they’re stuck where they are.
He sighs, trying each limb to no avail. That means he probably has a spinal injury. For a normal person, a death sentence without intervention. But elementals have accelerated healing, so he hopes that he can hold out a few hours.
The earth shudders underneath him, and he watches the purple and black clouds swirl above him menacingly.
His head throbs from what is probably the worst concussion he’s had in his lifetime, but no sound or light makes it worse. The silence is nice, only interrupted by the not-breathing of the tendrils of smoke.
Maybe it would be good to stay like this, he considers. Wait it out until the Ninja finds him. He could bury himself down into a bunker with small holes for air. Nobody would even notice him. He could feel his powers still within reach, the thrumming of the earth bending to his will. He could do it. He would be safe, cradled in the arms of his element. The deeper into the earth, the more his body would heal, so there could be a chance of him reaching tolerable levels of brokenness to get up and walk.
He contemplates it for a bit, wincing as his mind grows fuzzier. He tries to ground himself, snap out of the dissociation by biting his lip.
But, unsurprisingly, his mouth refuses to work.
The bunker idea is becoming increasingly smart, he thinks. But he also doesn’t want to leave the nice, almost-darkness for pitch-darkness. He doubts he could light his arms if he can’t even move his lips. He wasn’t afraid of the dark, but it certainly wasn’t a nice thought to be stuck in it.
He might space out and forget his reason for being down there in the first place. The thought of forgetting and being forgotten crawls across his skin like spiders.
What would you do if the others were here? He thinks, mulling it over. He pictures Jay being an idiot and diving off to join him. Cole pushes the earth up to capture him, bringing him to safety.
Jay can walk in this hypothetical. Cole doesn’t know what he’d do if Jay were also stuck. And he hates small spaces, so maybe not the bunker. Besides, Cole should do his best to find the others as soon as possible; his chances of them coming down here in corrupted, weird fog are slim. So maybe getting up should be his plan?
Getting medical attention as soon as possible should be his first priority, he realizes, and decides hiding out underground, where he could bleed out and die, wouldn’t be ideal.
Pain seeps through his skull, and he realizes the concussion is probably way worse than he initially thought. He’s usually a lot better at these plans. He’s usually the problem-solving guy. Zane was good at hypotheticals, and Nya was great with tactics, but everyone knew Cole was their planner. He could account for the variables Zane couldn’t, and the experience Nya didn’t have. And he was better at thinking on the fly than Lloyd, no matter how much the younger tried his best to live up to the “Green Ninja” title. Cole decided to keep those duties to himself. And Cole could handle the responsibility better. He had to handle the responsibility better.
He pulled himself out of the tangent. He needed to keep himself focused. His brain was swarming with more fog than the visible fog around him. It was stuck in mud or thickening cement. Staying on track for long was impossible, but he concentrated on trying to escape.
Cole tried to move his body, but it once again felt solid. He was stuck in a single position and would not budge despite all the effort.
Okay. So that wouldn’t work. But perhaps if he used his powers? Put himself in a giant boulder and rolled out. The thought was extremely amusing.
He pictured that for a while until the earth rumbled with the sound of danger.
He can feel the footsteps, the pressure too heavy to be human. It’s practically the only thing he can feel, but it’s a comfort to know what his body can’t do, his element can accommodate for.
He grasps at the ground, pulling up the dirt and stone to prop himself into a sitting position. It obeys easily, dirt pressing into his back and shifting him upwards. He almost feels delighted, attempting to let out a relieved laugh that his powers are still in reach and he might escape this after all.
The silence is broken as he watches his mangled body slump forward, and the pain and paralysis vanishes.
Oh.
He stares blankly for what feels like an hour.
He can see the back of… himself. His gi is shredded into pieces, glass shards cutting into his skin. Blood oozes from it, and his back is turning purple from the pooling. Bits of what looked like brain matter on his head, skull pieces dangling. It looks… crushed, for lack of a better word. And that makes sense. He fell from who knows how far up. Any normal citizen would be a splattering of viscera.
Out of his peripheral vision, he can see the earth staggering up to the sky in attempts to catch him and keep him from reaching terminal velocity. He remembers crashing through the roof of one of the skyscrapers. He must have fallen off, or perhaps he tried to crawl out and slipped. He was on the ground level now, considering the strength of his powers. And from the looks of it, at least eighty stories down.
He was never a math guy, that was always Zane. Math was really his worst subject back in school. But he knew he was too far down to survive that fall.
The cold in his veins runs thicker, the sludge in his brain bigger, and he chokes with lungs that don’t work as familiar feelings--or, lack of—arise.
This isn’t just dissociation. He wouldn’t be able to see this. He can’t see this clearly through the stone. It seems to leave only one option.
One option he thought he had escaped.
One option he never wanted to go through again.
One option that was the worst year of his life.
One option that he almost never came back from.
Cole twitches a finger. It doesn’t feel trapped. He slowly, slowly wills his hand into a line of sight.
A pale, sickly green hand greets him, and if Cole still had a stomach, he’d throw up.
Jay climbs onto the deck of the Bounty, teeth chattering and hair on end. Static dances across his skin as the others wait for what feels like hours. Zane is the first to approach him, meeting him with a gaze that makes bile rise in Jay’s throat. Only moments after their eyes avert does Jay feel searing heat on his skin as Kai barrels towards him.
“What happened? What happened? ” Kai shrieked in his ears. He grabs Jay’s shoulders, only momentarily flinching at the shock before shaking him. Jay lets his head go through the whiplash, partially hoping it would help him make sense of what just happened.
He slowly pulls himself out of Kai’s vice grip, staring at blazing eyes filled with anger. Towards him, Jay realizes, and his gut only churns more.
“I…” Jay tries, wetting his lips. “I’m sorry.”
“I don’t care!” Kai snaps. “Why didn’t you go after him?”
Zane’s hands immediately clamp down on Kai’s gi, frost as his fingertips trying to calm the fire elemental down. “Kai,” he pleads, and it sends a knife of pain in Jay’s chest. It’s a broken, defeated sound. One that never, never comes from him. Jay's face drains of any color left.
Kai screams, “he could still be down there! Scared, afraid, hurt, because you didn’t fucking do anything! ” Jay flinches away from him, closing his eyes. He’s spent enough years knowing Kai won’t physically hurt him, but the anger is never easier to quell.
Luckily, Zane’s hold is steadfast. “Kai, you know how much strength summoning our dragons requires. We can’t use airjitzu, Jay couldn’t have done anything,” he whispers, seemingly regretting his words.
“Oh screw that!” He says, trying to bolt for the side again. “I’ll gamble with Edo magic if it means keeping Cole alive!” He feels the air circling them, whispers of dark magic as Kai fervently pulls on the abilities Sensei Yang warned them against using further.
But no matter how much he thrashes, he can’t escape the other’s grip to form the air vortex. Jay watched as Kai’s legs kick in the air helplessly, trying and failing against the nindroid’s strength. “Let me GO!” he yells at Zane, who only shakes his head. Jay watches Kai twist and thrash like a wild animal, desperate to jump off the ledge despite the risks. If it wasn't for the shock, Jay might have joined him. Kai lets out a blood-curdling scream, a blaze of heat that Zane has to subdue with his ice.
“The darkness will petrify you, and you will be no help to us. I cannot lose another brother.”
The words strike Jay in the chest. His lip trembles, and he feels tears gathering in his eyes. His lightning curls in his veins, sensing the emotions and poised to strike. He feels seconds from overloading, skin uncomfortably static. He breathes through his nose, and the reality feels like getting hit by a thunderbolt.
Cole is dead.
There’s no way he could survive that fall.
Cole is dead, and it’s all his fault.
Kai collapses with a sob. Zane holds onto him as Nya grips the wheel tighter. For all their lack of common sense before, the civilians don’t try to get close to the smoking fire ninja.
Zane’s eyes meet Jay’s as he cradles Kai, filled with pity and sadness. It almost feels worse than the anger.
His legs shake, and he finds himself sitting on the ground, legs curled to his chest and staring into nowhere. He can't move, can't think, as his thoughts spiral and he shuts down. Everything seems out of reach, voices distort as he remembers Cole's scream after the clouds swallow him whole. He could have done something. Kai was right, despite the cost of airjitzu he could've gone down. It would only take seconds. If only he didn't freeze up.
He could’ve saved Cole.
It’s his fault.
Numbly, he sees Nya set the autopilot on out of the corner of his eye, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder. He doesn't even register it. Her hands are still curled as if at the wheel, eyes devoid of any emotion. Her walk towards the news staff is methodical and dissociated. She guides the citizens below, down to the dining room, away from them so they can have privacy. Her stoicism doesn’t hold, however, as the second she comes back up she doubles over against the wall, struggling to quell tears.
Kai’s sobs quieted eventually, holding tightly to Zane’s sleeve as he chokes on coughs. The nindroid carefully untangled him and brought Kai to his feet.
Jay’s fingers twitch anxiously, watching as Kai heaves a breath and turns to the lightning ninja.
The heat surrounds him again, but this time, it's soft, warming away the chill in the air. Kai tightly wraps his arms around Jay, burying his face into Jay’s neck. “I’m sorry,” he mumbles into the fabric. He doesn’t let go, and Jay holds him for what feels like an eternity.
I’m sorry, he says in the back of his mind, but the words won’t come out.
Nya returns, embracing her brother as she shakes. Jay reaches a careful hand to her cheek, and she leans into it for a moment. She pulls away, gritting her teeth. Her voice trembles as she looks towards all of them.
“We need to get these people to safety, we can't stay here much longer,” she says, clenching and unclenching her fists. In better times, he’d admire how resilient she is, but now is not that better time.
Zane nods thoughtfully, and Jay recognizes the flat monotone of his emotions switched off. It was a rare occurrence to see, but Jay figured the direness of the situation called for it. “We will regroup with Lloyd, Pixal, and Garmadon, and then find somewhere safe where we can form a plan.”
Kai’s eyes look hollow as he finally removes himself from Jay’s hold. “Yeah,” he agrees, barely audible. “We need to go back for Lloyd.”
Jay’s gut twists uncomfortably once more, and he can only hope Lloyd and Pixal are okay.
It takes him what feels like hours to drag himself away from his corpse where he fell.
He wills himself not to look back at it, not look for what was left of his mangled face. It takes every ounce of strength, but he finally stands and walks away without a glance behind. With a flick of the wrist, he buries it under the ground, refusing to give himself a chance to change his mind.
Compartmentalize, Cole, he tells himself. You’ve done this before. Your family is in trouble and they need you. Everything else is irrelevant.
It’s not as easy. Before his family was there. Before he had (some) time to process and grieve. Before, it was just a curse, with a possible way out. Before there was hope.
He blinks, sensing an oncoming group. Heavy footsteps, heavier than even Zane’s. He moves away from them.
Definitely not human. He hides behind some rubble, observing the mist. It’s… brighter now. As he knew it would be. Gh— He had better night vision now. But it still couldn’t pierce through the artificial darkness.
He watched as large shapes started forming, crawling out from the mist. Huge, dark creatures with horns protruding from their heads.
Cole shivered—the Oni.
Garmadon was one thing. At least his form looked somewhat human.
These beings towered over him, hulking behemoths with tusks as long as his hand and glowing red eyes that pierced through the dark.
The oni in the lead was barking orders to the rest in a language Cole didn’t know. They marched onward, right past him.
He held his breath.
Slowly, one of the oni turned.
The tension in the air grew tense as it watched, searching.
Cole curled into himself, trying to be as small as possible to avoid detection.
The oni’s blazing red eyes narrowed before returning to the rest and continuing onward.
Cole released the breath, choking on it as the lungs he no longer had— no. Not thinking about that. Cole shook his head. He waited for the group to exit his sight before turning on his toes and running the other direction without a sound.
The darkness messed up his geography. He knew Ninjago City like the back of his hand. He could navigate these streets blind; it was even part of Wu’s training. But the rubble from crashed cars and the darkness disoriented him.
He pulled debris out of his way, shoved concrete slabs aside, and tried not to think when his hands slipped through.
He should’ve grabbed his comm, he realizes. Attempted to get through to the others. But it probably wasn’t intact. Pixal created it to withstand a lot, but an eighty-story fall was perhaps crossing the line.
Now he’s stuck out here, lost, with no way to contact the ninja.
He pulls for his dragon again, channeling his element.
But, just as Wu had warned, the energy surge was too much, too stressful on a body already brimming with power; the power pulled from the earth overwhelmed him, mist dissipating for a second before he reoriented himself. They had had to choose long ago which path to take, and now Cole was paying the price.
Cole collapsed with a groan. His gut twisted, a thick miasma of pure elemental force rippling out as his body tried to regulate the overflow. The ground crackled below him.
So that wasn’t an option. And he couldn’t summon his driller. That meant his only option was walking and hoping he was going the right way.
Cole picked himself up, setting his jaw and continuing forward.
“Where’s Cole?” Lloyd asks, brows knit together as he stands up from the crashed Samurai X mech. “Somebody say something! Where’s Cole?”
Kai makes a muffled noise, gripping his sister’s arm tightly. The others stare at him, eyes hollow. He stumbles, Pixal catches him before he trips. Her hand squeezes his shoulder as she surveys the scene.
“Lloyd,” Zane says, reaching his hands out. The name almost seems to catch in his throat. “He’s… he’s gone.”
“What do you mean gone? ” Lloyd asks, eyes watering. His chest twists uncomfortably, aching like he was hit in the sternum. He doesn't remember the oni hitting there. A gentle press finds no bruise, and Lloyd sucks in a breath.
“He fell,” Kai chokes out, “into the clouds.” Nya doubles over in her brother’s embrace, gritting her teeth as she forces herself not to sob.
“I’m so sorry. It was my fault,” she says, gasping for a breath that won’t come to her. Kai makes a sound of protest. “I pulled the thrust lever the wrong way, and—”
Jay shushes her. “It wasn’t your fault,” he says, “it was an accident.”
Kai pulls her tight, holding his little sister like she would fall apart if he let go, or maybe he would. “It could’ve happened to anyone,” he murmurs into her hair. “It’s okay.” Lloyd's throat goes tight, tears springing to his eyes as he watches his family on the verge of breaking. Jay gently reaches for him, and Lloyd accepts the hold without complaint.
“It was an accident,” Zane says firmly. “We were all about to get overtaken by the fog. Adrenaline clouds judgment. You cannot blame yourself for trying to save lives.”
Hypocrite, Lloyd thinks briefly, as he knows Zane is running scenario after scenario of what he could have done in his mind.
Da— Garmadon humphs, and Lloyd has half a mind to twist around and clock him in the face right there.
A weight in his chest settles, heavy and suffocating. The grief hits him like a freight. He tries to battle through his thoughts spiraling out of control. Cole is gone. Cole is gone, and they need to continue. They don't have time to grieve. Cole is gone. They have to save Ninjago. People are depending on them. Cole is gone. Jay grips his palm, squeezing his hand. Lloyd’s breath rattles out of him. It feels like Zane all over again.
“Okay, let's get going.”
The weight turns into searing fire, and Jay yelps and grabs Lloyd’s sleeves as the other lets out a scream, energy sizzling across his body. The world grows muffled. Someone's calling for him, maybe Kai, maybe Zane. But Lloyd couldn't care less.
He can feel it, he can feel it. Lightning, Ice, Fire, running through his veins. The Earth was missing, a gaping hole in his powers destabilizing him.
He can feel that Cole is dead.
“Do you mind? ” He screams, his hair standing on end and his blood boiling. Green plasma crackles across his knuckles, and Jay has to let him go. The energy ripples across his body; he can feel something dark and dangerous pressing against his mind, and he has half a mind to let it out.
The others sense the impending overload, Zane reaches out to draw away the energy, tamper off the massive explosion impending, but Lloyd bats him away. Garmadon merely tilts his head, either ignorant of the consequences about to come or uncaring of it, no one can tell.
“Yes, I do,” he sneers, "we are wasting valuable time.”
"Fuck that,” Lloyd screeches, “Cole was our family! But you don’t understand that, do you? Because you don’t care about anyone but yourself!”
“Every moment you delay risks our survival!”
The sound of cracking bones is deafening. Jay gasps, stumbling back. Zane tenses, Pixal throwing a hand in front of him as a shield. Kai immediately twists Nya away, sheltering her with his body on instinct. The smell of burnt hair and ozone permeates the air as the burst of energy starts to dissipate.
Garmadon holds his jaw, face fixed in surprise and anger.
Lloyd snarls at him, and if one were to look close enough, red began to color his eyes. “There’s more to life than surviving,” he spits, venom dripping from his words. “You knew that once.” He clenches his teeth, turning away and storming off.
The Bounty is quiet after that.
Cole sets his path to the Monastery, or at least, where he hopes the Monastery is. It has to be where the others are, at least Wu is there. It’s the highest point in the area; it would give the survivors time to regroup. He does his best to pick up his pace, sprinting as much as he can without adjustment to his new form. He stumbles a few times, falling to the ground. It seems one small grace, the earth is still solid under him, he couldn't imagine falling through it. The thought is horrifying. To be swallowed up by his element, struggling to grasp hold of it and return to the surface. Could he fall through the earth? Where would he end up?
Master Wu's voice suddenly cuts through his head. During the "Last Incident" Wu had warned him that ghosts could lose time. They could dissociate off and let hours pass. He had to stay grounded and focus on the present. Cole digs his nails into his hand. There's no pain, there never was, but the gentle pressure was enough as long as he wasn't too lost.
He had stopped moving. That wasn't good. He sets up a pace again, grateful he now has near infinite stamina. He could probably run all the way to the Monastery. But it didn't seem fast enough. It would still take hours to get there, and Cole didn't really learn to fly last time. He could manage an unsteady float, but that would be slower than his run. Even using the earth as a spring only got him so far, as he had to focus on his form and not go through buildings.
He had to figure out a way to reach the others faster. He doesn’t have his earth driller, or really any car—
Cole stops immediately, heaving out useless breaths. He turns to one of the parked cars on the side of the street.
It's a small but hardy pickup truck. Maybe he could take over it with a little bit of luck and pulling on his memory.
A shiver runs down his spine. Possessing something again makes him queasy, but he doesn’t have time for that. He needs to get to the others; they could be fighting the Oni as he’s sitting here dawdling. His gut twists, his mind protests, but he ignores both. He doesn’t have the time to question his morals or feelings. He has to do this. He has to get faster, and this is his only option.
Cole grits his teeth, running a hand along the side of the truck. It slips through easily, pins and needles scattering under his hand. The discomfort is nearly unbearable, but he pushes forward.
He sinks into the truck, feeling the engine thrum to life as he separates his essence into it. It's easier than he thought it would be, perhaps not unlike riding a bike, he thinks bemusedly.
It’s not like his elemental power. He pulls on the memory of gathering the snow and reaching inside the mech. He can’t ask it to do what he wants. He has to do it and force it to do what he needs. He curls his essence and moves.
The truck’s wheels spin as it screeches, and Cole nearly tumbles out of it as it speeds toward the Monastery.
A thousand feet above the ground, Nya often finds peace. Being on the Bounty has always given her time to separate from the rest of the world and think. Watching the low-hanging clouds beneath her feet brought her a sense of tranquility among the storm of emotions her family was caught up in.
Regret and blame still curdle in her stomach, but the precipitation against her skin soaks it up, the sunlight filling the void in her bones. Wu mentioned once that her powers were different than the others, and she thinks this may be part of it. The elements of creation were tied together in inexplicable ways, but hers were free. She leans her head back, letting the wind and water seep into her and wash away the worst of the pain, letting her breathe and think again. She tries to still the tears, the hitching of her chest. It seems her body doesn't want to let go, no matter the attempts of her mind. But she tries anyway, breathing in and out and flexing her hands.
Her peace is interrupted by the creaking of a door sliding open and familiar footsteps.
"Hey," Kai says, in a very not-Kai tone.
Nya exhales, rubbing her face to avoid looking suspicious at the edge of the Bounty before him. "Hey, you." She cranes her neck towards him, before gesturing to him a seat. "Don't worry, I won't swan dive like a certain hothead."
He makes a face at her, scrunching up his nose in silent mockery. He shakes his head. "Are you okay?" he asks, and Nya can see him mentally kick himself for asking it.
She still answers honestly, staring back out at the sun slowly ebbing downward to the horizon. "No."
Kai leans against the railing, lacing his fingers that shook ever so slightly, but noticeable to a ninja with years of spatial awareness. "Me neither," he confesses, and it comes as a shock to Nya. He never admits vulnerability, at least not in front of her. It's some older sibling thing Nya has learned to accept over the years. But here he was, saying it without Nya trying to drag it out of him. If it were a better time, she'd accuse him of being possessed or some sort of clone again.
Clouds cross her fingertips, she pulls the water from them into little bubbles. "I should've checked I was pulling the lever the right way. That's something I can't take back." The words hang in the air, heavy and hard. It's the truth, and Nya has to accept it. She rolls the water across the pads of her fingers, threading them through her hands to ground herself.
A gentle gush of air alerts her that Kai swings himself over the rails to sit next to her, arm behind her back as the other wipes her still-watering eyes. "Hey, it was an accident," Kai presses. We had to get out of there, or else we'd all be goners. Cole would've wanted us to get out even if it meant leaving him behind."
Nya frowned. "You're right about that." She leans against him, letting her brother fret over her, tucking her hair behind her ear and wiping off the tears from her face. Years ago, she'd push him away, desperate to prove her worth as more than just a little sister. But now she's here, fighting alongside him and saving his behind from doing stupid things. She could accept a bit of doting.
He pulls away once he's satisfied enough, and Nya forces a bitter smile. "What do we do now?" she asks, and he hums.
"You're the brains here," he says, waving his hand, "always building stuff and making plans. Well, you and Zane. And Zane's not much help at the moment. So what do we do?"
And he's right. Nya cracks her neck, weaving the water through her fingers as she thinks. She needs to get the rest of them to safety.
"We need to head to the Monastery," she decides eventually. "There's a forge there, we can melt down the Golden Armor back into the Weapons of Spinjitzu to fight the Oni."
Kai's eyebrows draw in confusion. "A forge? Where are we going to get a blacksmith—no… oh no." His hands splay out. "You know I'm shitty at it. I could barely manage a straight sword. I'd probably make all the weapons useless."
Nya tilts her head. "Well, we don't quite have a choice, do we? Unless you can find another non-petrified blacksmith in the next hour or so."
Her brother sighs, "Alright, I'll try—but no promises. Hopefully, golden curly sticks will work just fine." He grumbles, already making a plan in his mind as he makes his way back inside the ship.
Nya stays outside, watching as he disappears. A gentle splatter of rain falls onto her face, clouds bumping against each other above the Bounty. The droplets of water pull away from her skin, circling into shapes mindlessly. She lets it drop into the dark clouds below before turning back to the ship.
She reties her hair, pulling the stray pieces back and out of her face. Her jaw clenches tightly, and she makes her way back to the wheel to set their course.
She isn't going to lose anyone else today, no matter what.
“Fuck,” Cole nearly yelps as the vehicle almost rips itself apart. He hears the engine crackle and sputter, but it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t need it to be fully functional. He condenses himself into it and throws the headlights on as he dodges groups of oni that make guttural growls and try to chase him.
He maxes out the odometer within minutes, the car sizzling and sparking as Cole forces it to stay together. His driller could go faster, but he can’t go back for that now. The car contorts around him, the pressure a small comfort as he barrels down the roads. An oni manages to slice a tire on his way, and Cole reforms it, pressing the rubber outward enough to hold on for a few more minutes.
A particularly bold oni fires off an arrow at him, he attempts to swerve around it, but grossly miscalculating as the truck stumbles over on its side. A few oni gather around it, weapons barred and ready to attack whoever was inside. He holds still for a moment, watching them come closer.
The wheels spin in the air as Cole gathers the weight on the top side to try and bring it back down. The oni chatter to each other, weapons brandished.
He flies past landmarks that finally seem recognizable, and to his relief, the edge of the darkness cloud becomes visible.
The truck screeches as it breaks out of the thick fog surrounding it like a membrane, and Cole can feel the heat building up in the truck. He doesn’t have much longer in this before it completely breaks, and small tendrils trail out of the mist like snakes.
The entrance to the mountain path is just up ahead. He’s there—he’s almost there. He can get to his family before the Oni, he can protect them, and fine.
The truck shuddered up the steps, the earth rippling under him to facilitate his ascent. Tendrils curled behind him, and he could sense the tremors of footsteps ahead.
It wasn’t long before he saw the tail end of the army, marching up the mountain.
Cole does the best he can think of. He pulls the earth in front of the bender as a last minute shield and barrels through them.
The sound is not pleasant. Cole tries to shut out the sickening crunch of bones beneath the wheels and the pained screeches. He’d really like to be less violent, but at this point in world domination by creatures turning beings to stone with no knowledge of whether it's permanent or not, Master Wu would have no problems with lethal force.
The oni do their best to attack him or get out of his way, but the rumbling ground throws them off—some quite literally falling off the mountain. There’s only so much they can do against Cole's impromptu tank. A lucky spear sinks into the engine, and Cole can feel the impending explosion as the heat turns scalding hot.
He reaches out to the ground once more, testing its stability. He exhales a useless breath before throwing himself out of the truck and watching it combust into the army's heart.
Kai wipes his brow as he cools down the nunchucks, placing them to the side and collapsing his forearms on the anvil. After painstaking hours of work, he finally finished them.
“Is it just me or does the sword look a bit curled?”
He rolls his eyes. “Ha ha, very funny. I actually redid it three times so it better not be.”
Nya grins, staring at the shining metal. “You did a good job with them, really,” she says, letting out a sigh.
“Do you have the plan laid out with the others?” Kai asks, pulling off his gloves and plucking out the cooled nun-chucks.
“As much of it as we can,” she replied. "Jay's still shaken up. Zane's trying to keep him focused. Lloyd's bottling his feelings, as usual."
Kai grits his teeth. He flexes his hand, watching fire crackle across his palm. It feels unsteady, unstable. He closes his eyes and focuses, soothing the flames. Nya reaches out a hand, squeezing his and looking at him worriedly.
She looks horrible, Kai realizes, the longer he stares at his sister. Her face is tear stained, her eyes puffy. She looks exhausted, like she's spent the last few hours crying. She probably did. The others probably did too. He told them to leave him to the forge, Nya lending a wordless hand for a few minutes or so before letting him go. He had needed time, time away from the others before he blew up at them, before the pain in his chest combusted into a raging inferno. It's damn near close.
He brushes a strand of hair out of her eye, and she smiles bitterly. She echoes his words from the Bounty. "It's not your fault either, you know," she says firmly, "I know you're trying to find ways to blame yourself. Runs in our blood."
"Yeah," Kai replies, all too unconvincing. "Right now I just feel like I could explode at any moment."
Nya nods gently. "Zane suspects that even though you've grown past Lloyd's boost at the Temple, your powers are still connected. Working together, having the Blades at the same time, he theorized there's some overlap. It makes sense that because he's.." Nya swallowed, blinking harshly, "it causes you all to lose some control."
"Well then, Master of Water, seems we'll be counting on you to keep us in line," Kai jokes, but it falls flat. He wrings his hands. “C’mon, let’s gather the others, okay?”
Nya opens her mouth to respond with something, but decides to close it and rush to the Monastery.
It isn’t long before Zane and Jay come in, Lloyd trailing behind them fixated on the ground. They all look horrible, Kai notes. Their faces are pale, eyes bloodshot and hollow.
They must feel it too, the horrible, sickening sensation like a lost limb. Their full powers dimmed and out of reach, shaky like a bridge with one of its support beams smashed. It draws a knot in his chest that he reaches for automatically, and sees Jay nursing a similar area.
Lloyd looks the worst, and Kai nearly drops his blade to catch him as he teeters precariously. His eyes are sunken in, face devoid of color and burst vessels around his face, hunching over and clutching his abdomen. Lloyd fuels them, and they in turn fuel him. Kai can’t fathom how he’d fight in these conditions.
The Green Ninja straightens himself as if hearing Kai’s thoughts. He sets his jaw, pulling himself together and ignoring his bodily limits. “Are you ready?” He asks, and his tone is wavering.
Kai blinks, fumbling with the blade. The Sword of Fire is a comforting warmth that seeps through Kai, almost quelling the chill, but not quite. It fits in his hands like a familiar friend. Pulsing in a language Kai can almost understand.
He sheathes it on his back before he can get too lost in the feeling. He turns to the nunchucks, gripping Jay's hand tightly before handing them over. Jay holds his gaze for a moment too long before turning to his weapons. He watched the lightning flicker to life, connecting the two pieces and stabilizing. He tests the weight, and Kai can't help but notice how his eyes light up for a moment.
He pulls out the shurikens next. Zane takes them gently, his hands frosting over the second he touches them. They spin on his finger perfectly balanced, and Kai feels proud that he was able to restore them to their original state. The tiniest smile crosses Zane's lips before it turns back into a firm line.
Only the scythe remained, propped up against the anvil. Kai picks it up slowly, running a hand along the snath. It weighs heavier than any of the other weapons, awkward in Kai’s hands. He holds it out to Nya, whose breath catches.
“Kai…” she says, and he smiles bitterly.
“He’d want you to be the one to wield it. Besides. We need all four out there.”
A quiet, tiny tear slips down Nya’s cheek before she nods firmly and takes it. It's different from her spear, but Kai knows she'd be the best at adapting to it out of all of them. Her face contorts, moving the scythe and testing it. It takes a few awkward moments before she finds her footing.
She doesn't get much time before a bell starts ringing and the sounds of the Oni marching to their door through the Monastery.
Zane watches as his family prepares for battle. Their stance is uncoordinated and unbalanced. Zane attempts to compensate, shifting his position ever so slightly in front of Kai. Cole is-was-their defense, standing in front ready to shield as the others would use their long-ranged attacks before they were inevitably forced into melee. The ground in front of him frosts over, crystalline structures lacing the ground in warning.
He reads the heartbeats of his family—tiny implanted monitors connected to his HUD— watching as they stutter from rapid fear into the meditated state of preparedness Wu had taught them years ago. Lloyd’s takes longer, and Zane sets aside all the worry building. Their youngest fought the Overlord with a broken leg; he’ll be fine. Zane had to trust him.
Horns began to peek over the steps to the monastery, and he picked up the telltale sign of arrows being nocked. Zane slid his foot, summoning a wall of ice to reinforce the monastery’s walls.
It only took seconds before the oni’s face drew into a sickened smile, and Zane felt a burst of fire from his left.
They fight alongside each other like a choreographed dance, and Zane feels at ease as he goes through the motions. Nya sends a torrent of water that he flash freezes to push a group away from them. He feels Jay's presence behind him to stave off an anterior attack. He continues to monitor their vitals, sensors at their peak as he takes a hit for Kai. The sword gleans off his metal arm harmlessly, and Kai shows his thanks by burning the oni who attacked him.
Faith takes care not to get close, bringing her sword down on straggling oni that try to break off from the main group. Garmadon leaps further down, intent on the leader, and Wu shapes the stairs to throw as many off at a time.
They stave off the attacks for precisely eighteen minutes and forty-two seconds. It's enough to give the others hope. Zane, on the other hand, watches as they are overwhelmed quickly.
Nya struggles with the scythe he notices. It is literally and figuratively out of her element. He sends a few of the oni surrounding her and Lloyd off the cliff face. They're both breathing hard, heartrates elevated. All of the ninja's vitals are elevated. Zane knows logically, they will not be able to hold on much longer.
It is then that they hear it. A large explosion shakes the mountain. Nya catches Lloyd, who falls off balance from it.
"Are they trying to bomb the Monastery?" Jay screeches.
Zane clears a path, forcing the oni back as he moves to peer over the edge. There is a sizable chunk of stairs damaged, a sizzling vehicle burned to a crisp, and what appears to be burnt bodies of oni around it. "Whatever it is, it must have backfired on them," he calls back. "It has taken out a few dozen warriors."
"Well good for us, but how about the thousand left-ack!" Jay says, holding his face as an oni slammed a fist in. "Owww, come on I think you broke my nose!"
Zane jumps back as a sword aims for his midsection, racing back to sink his shurikens in the offending attacker, watching it slump to the group and peering at Jay's face. "Definitely broken," he affirms, and Jay huffs before electrocuting another enemy.
They are encircled rather quickly, and Zane backs against Jay, pulling at his powers and nearly overwhelming his system to send out a large ice attack. "They just keep coming!" Jay cries, using the lightning between his nunchucks as a garrote to fell a rather large oni and creating a chain electrocution between ten others.
Zane's HUD flashes, the heart rates of his family members going up significantly as the ceaseless attacks continue.
They won't win like this.
Nya is struggling with the scythe; it's hindering her more than helping. The others have become surrounded, and Garmadon lets out a below of pain as the lead oni sinks a staff weapon between his armor.
"Fall back, we need to fall back!" Lloyd yells, grabbing his father and pulling him towards the Monastery.
"Copy that!" Nya replies, flooding the floor as a distraction to let the others reach the inside.
The door shuts as Zane dives through it, turning and helping Jay and Kai with a heavy wooden beam.
They're all breathing heavily, oxygen levels low as their hearts try and steady out.
"What do we do?" Jay asks, head swinging between Lloyd and Sensei Wu.
Lloyd looks around desperately. "I… I.."
Zane forms pillars of ice to lean against the door, hopefully giving them more time. He hopes it will. His system has shut off excess power to calculations and simulations to draw reserves towards elemental energy. He's running on guessing now, and at a better time, he'd admire how human of him it was.
His heartsource skitters, pushing electricity weakly through his wires, and he forces himself to calm. He will protect his family and all the others taking residence here. He will not let them down.
He steps, once again, towards the danger, ready to output as much elemental energy as possible. Perhaps he can ice enough of the stairs to knock nearly all off, even if he doesn't have enough stamina left. But it's something, something that could maybe save his family.
Just as he's about to make his way up the gate, a greenish something slips through it.
Cole yanks himself out of the burning truck, surveying the carnage around him. He's been able to take a sizable chunk of the army down; many are still stunned as well.
The earth rumbles under his will as he shapes a kunai from stones, slicing through everything he can reach. The stairs continue to ripple and twist, making it impossible for everyone but him to get through. He watches as oni sheathed in ice and burns fall with a small grin, the worry in his chest being soothed.
He was almost there, almost to the Monastery. He threw his kunai into an oni's neck before yanking it back out and slamming past them. Only a few more steps, and then..
His legs faltered for a moment as he climbs. It's only just around the bend, and he'll see the Monastery. His family is there, alive and safe.
But they'll see him.
They'll see him dead.
An oni phases through him in an attempt to attack, and he shivers at the feeling.
He clenches his fists, foot shaking as he goes up another step. No, he can't lose his composure. He needs to focus. He'll deal with this later; they'll all deal with this later. He won't think about this until they're all safe, until the oni are gone and the world is saved.
Cole's legs shake as he finishes the climb, gripping his kunai tight enough that it would make his knuckles white if he were alive. The Monastery's doors are shut, the oni banging on them. He frowns, leg slamming down as a crack splits in the earth, swallowing them up.
He sinks through the wood of the door easily, forcing a smile on his face as he sees his family's shock turn to abject horror.
"Hey guys, just couldn't wait for me, could ya?"
Gasps arise from the group, and Cole forces himself to look across them. They're all injured. Blood races down Lloyd's forehead, Kai is nursing his arm, Jay's nose is obviously broken. Zane has chips and dents all over him, and Nya…
"Hey, is that my old scythe?" He says, quirking up an eyebrow. His hands reach out in a grabby motion for them, but Nya grips it closer.
"Cole, you…" Lloyd starts, but Cole raises his hand.
"I know," he says, forcing the words out. "I don't wanna talk about it right now." As almost an afterthought, he tacks it on. "Please."
Jay's face has gone pale. "What do you mean 'don't talk about it' you jerk? Are you crazy? Cole look at you, you're-"
"Wasting valuable time talking as those oni are breaking down the door!" He snaps back. The venom in his words sneaks out, and he clamps his mouth closed.
Zane's eyes shift over him, taking in every irregularity with an unreadable look. "Nya, hand him the Scythe of Quakes," he says gently.
Nya turns, spinning it around so the handle faces him. He takes it, gripping it firmly as it flares to life, glowing brightly before settling down. "Alright! Just like old times," he says, spinning it expertly. "You guys have a plan, right?
"Uh… go out will a bang?" Kai offers, shrugging his shoulders. Nya whacks him on the head.
Cole rolls his eyes. "I just did that. Do not be in a truck that's actively exploding, it's not fun."
Jay gapes. "That was you?"
Cole offers a small jazz hand. "You know theatrics is kinda my thing. Anyway, something that doesn't include all of you also dying?"
Nya makes a small noise and Cole winces at his slip-up. Lloyd, however, has his eyes caught on something else. Cole turns towards the wall murals, following his gaze. He gasps. "You're not actually thinking of-"
"The Tornado of Creation," Lloyd affirms, hands gripped tightly. "It's the opposite of destruction, and the Weapons already have such an effect…" he groans. "I don't know. It's a long shot…"
"What if we have everyone this time?" Cole says, turning. "Nya, Sensei, Garm-"
"No," the man huffs, "I am not one of you."
Kai shakes his head. "It's a crazy idea, I'm in." The others slowly nod.
Cole reaches his hand out to Lloyd, trying to ignore the fact he cannot grip Lloyd's shoulder properly. "I believe in you. We can do this. Trust me."
The green ninja's eyes are watery, reaching to try and grip Cole's hand. Cole focuses, jaw clenches as he tries to materialize enough. After a few tries, it works, and Lloyd gasps as he finally latches on. Elemental energy ripples between them, and the pained look in Lloyd's face seems to slightly settle. Kai comes closer, followed by Jay and Zane as they connect back together.
The coldness that radiates through Cole's body feels slightly warmed, and Lloyd lifts his chin.
"Alright. Let's do this," he says, pulling his hood over his head and his mask up.
Cole follows, as the other ninja, and the door finally caves under the attacks.
Quickly, Cole spins, pulling on spinjitzu with ease. He watches the others form their own tornadoes, and after a few moments, Garamdon reluctantly joins.
He feels their powers seep into his, merging into an inexplicable strength and then everything goes fuzzy. In the last moments, he sees the terror of the onis' faces as their bodies disintegrate from the power.
Well, at least he can die knowing he saved the world again.
"Cole, hey, wake up. C'mon dummy, get up."
A snapping sound makes him wake, eyes squinting against the bright sky. Kai is in his face, way too close to him, eyes filled with worry.
"Agh, Kai, personally space buddy," he groans, flailing his arms in Kai's face. Kai breaks out in a grin, backing up so that Cole can sit up.
He rubs his face, blinking again. "What the hell happened?" Everything feels groggy, and he heaves in a breath. It's too easy, and he doesn't feel his lungs.
Reality crashes back into him, and he does his best not to acknowledge it.
Kai shrugs. "I don't know, but we made it." He turns around, and Cole gets a glimpse of the rest of his family sprawled across the courtyard. Zane is assessing Nya, who is holding her head,before making his way over to them.
"Where is Lloyd?" He asks, and Cole scans the courtyard.
Oh.
Oh hell no.
He jumps up, brushing past Kai towards the broken pieces of the gate. He throws them aside like pieces of paper, leaving Lloyd lying underneath. The others are at his side in an instant, and Zane suddenly reaches down, fingertips against Lloyd's neck. He freezes for a moment and suddenly begins compressions on Lloyd's chest.
"Lloyd!" Kai screeches out, kneeling down by his head. Jay lets out a muffled scream, and Nya moves to grab the first aid kit. Kai tilts the green ninja's head back, breathing into his mouth. "Lloyd, wake up buddy," he begs as he comes back up for air.
Jay raises his hands, electricity sparking, but Zane shakes his head, continuing compressions.
"Where's Sensei?" Cole chokes out, head swiveling around for him. Wu finally appears, settling on the other side and reaching for his nephew.
"You can do something, right? Right?" Jay begs, and Wu shakes his head. It's a gut punch to them, watching as Zane and Kai continue fruitlessly to resuscitate Lloyd. Cole stands, feeling helpless as he watches.
Nya returns with the kit, preparing an epinephrine shot. She waits, hands shaking. It's a last resort; they had to be careful with it. Zane doesn't take it yet, starting another round, and Kai looks more and more desperate.
"Damnit Lloyd," Cole says under his breath. His hands reach, slipping into Lloyd's chest. He makes eye contact with Zane, who stares at him at a moment before understanding.
Cole breathes. He's never possessed a person before. He's been adamant about never doing it. But if he can get in there, before Lloyd departs, force him to stay. He refuses to let someone else die today.
He's just about fully in, the warmth of Lloyd's body seeping into him when-
"He has a pulse!" Zane cries with relief. Cole snaps back away from Lloyd, condensing back into his form.
Jay sags against Nya, breathing heavily. After a few moments, Zane pulls Kai back. "He's breathing, too," Zane says, eyes growing teary. Kai crumbles into Zane's chest with a large smile. The tension erases, everyone waiting and watching with baited breath as Zane begins to administer care.
Lloyd's eyes flutter open, and he chokes on a breath. Nya lets out a cheer, and the others are soon to follow.
Zane and Nya begin to attend to Lloyd, cautiously examining him for broken ribs and internal bleeding. Zane mutters something about the unusualness of his awakening, but it's cut off shortly by Lloyd's questioning.
"Where am I? What happened?"
Kai hums. "You had us worried there for a second."
Lloyd's eyes flicker between them. "But, the First Spinjitzu Master…"
Cole lets out a laugh. "You must've hit your head pretty hard, buddy."
Suddenly, Lloyd's face sours. "Cole, you're still…" the word shapes on his lips, but he can't seem to say it.
All eyes are on him for a moment, and he shrinks under the gaze.
"It's alright, guys. Better me than anyone else. I can deal with round too. Besides, I never really got to learn to fly the first time. Maybe I can train on that." The words are hollow, and everyone knows it. But Cole still tries. He lifts himself off the ground, pulling his body inward. "You've got aerial recon now, and you know I'll spy better than any of you."
"Cole, you don't have to convince us you're okay," Zane says. Those few words made the grief hit him like a train.
"We have managed to save Ninjago once again," Sensei Wu interrupts. "Let us remind ourselves of that. In the end, we are all still here, in one form or another."
It's easier said than done, though, as a gentle breeze passes through Cole to ruffle the rest of them.
In the end, he's still dead.