"Lloyd! Jay!" Kai shouted. Lloyd was still blindfolded so he couldn't see where Kai was. Clouse tightened his grip on Lloyd's wrists as Lydia chained Jay up to the wall. Then Cole realised there were labels all around the room, each an element. Jay was shackled underneath the Elemental Symbol for lightning, Kai was under fire, etcetera. Jay groaned again and slowly opened his eyes. "K-Kai?" He croaked.
"Are you two okay?" Zane asked. Jay weakly shook his head.
"What have you done to him? He should not be like this! You heartless bitch!" Kai yelled at Lydia and she used the element of speed to appear right in front of him, her dagger resting under his chin. "You say another word, I will pierce your voicebox so you will no longer to speak a word again." Kai held his breath so he wouldn't cut his throat as the cold metal pressed against his skin.
"Kai? Where are you? Let me go!" Lloyd shouted, wriggling in Clouse's strong grip. They dragged him back outside and into the scorching hot sun. "What are you doing? Where are you taking me?"
Clouse ignored the shouts of the others and pushed him. He tied him to one of the ribs of the skeleton, his back facing them. Cole didn't know what to do. Were they going to whip him? They stuffed a gag into his mouth and ripped the back of his shirt. He grunted and tried to move, but the ropes holding him down were really thick. Cole had to do something!
Lydia approached Lloyd, dagger tucked away at her belt. She bent down to him, and placed a finger onto his back. Lloyd was obviously in pain, but Cole couldn't hear anything but his muffled cries and wicked laughter of Clouse. Cole wondered why he was in so much pain, then saw that Lydia was using the element of fire.
Her finger wasn't on fire or anything, but he could see steam rise as she heated up her index finger. She started tracing patterns onto his back, and Cole couldn't take any more. He ran back into the cave and grabbed the keys off the table. He ran into the back room and closed the door. The Elemental Masters looked up as Cole made himself visible. "Cole! How did you get here?" Zane asked.
"I followed them here. Now, let's get all of you out of here." Cole started to freed them of their chains and they all tested out their powers. Griffin started running around the room, laughing, and Kai formed a ball of flame in his hand. "I'm going to call the others to come over." Cole took out his phone. "Then we can stop Lydia and Clouse! For now, we have to save Lloyd. He's outside."
Cole led the others outside. Cole expected them to be as they were when he left, but was surprised to come outside to find Lloyd lying on the floor, free of his restraints with no signs of Lydia or Clouse. "Lloyd!" Kai rushed straight to his side, and Cole spotted an Elemental Dragon flying away. "We have to go get them!" Cole shouted.
"No!" Kai countered. "We need to help Lloyd first." He turned him over, revealing a symbol burned onto his back. Cole recognised it as the Elemental Symbol for Amber. They took Lloyd inside and treated his burns until the others arrived. "Why is she doing this to Lloyd?" Cole asked.
"Not just LLoyd, Cole. She did it to all of us." Kai turned around to show his burn on his back, and so did some of the others. "But how did she know we were coming outside? She should've still been torturing Lloyd when we came out."
"She used mind," Neuro said. "She used my power and saw us coming. But why did she leave?" Zane mumbled something under his breath.
"What was that?" Camille asked.
"The hospital. Skylor is still there." Kai freaked out at this. "We need to go save her! Her shoulder is still injured! She can't defend herself against them!"
Kai tried to form his dragon by forming a ball of fire in his hands, but it quickly shrunk. "Argh! Why won't my stupid dragon appear?!"
"Kai! You aren't focused! Calm down!" Zane yelled.
"I can't calm down, Zane!" Kai shouted, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. "She is in danger! We need to go save her NOW! You don't know what it feels like to lose the one you love! You've always had Pixal there in your head. The last time I saw Skylor she was bleeding out on the floor with a knife in her back! You weren't there! You don't know what it was like!"
"Yes I do Kai! I was there for her in her hospital bed! I sat with her every day and cared for her. I talked to her. I comforted her. I made her laugh. I looked after her. I was caught trying to protect her. I spotted Lydia and Clouse outside the hospital, and knew who they were there for. I drove them away and gave myself in. And now they are going to the hospital to hurt her, or worse! You need to calm down so we can leave and save her! Why are you always so stupid!?"
"Why do you care about her so much? Why would you sacrifice yourself to save her like that?"
"Is it not obvious, Kai? It's because I'm in love with her! Don't you get it? I fell in love with her and now she is in danger! So calm your ass down and we can leave to save her!"
Kai stared at his nindroid brother, mouth open in shock. "You... you love her? B-but I thought you loved Pixal-"
"I still love Pixal. It's just..." Zane turned away from the others, summoning his dragon. He flew off without a word, not even bothering to look back as salty tears formed in the corners of his eyes. He didn't even look back when Cole started shouting his name. He only murmered 2 words under his breath as he flew further away.
"I'm sorry."
I would be lying if I said I didn't get a little bit emotional writing that last part. Also, I'm really sorry for the long wait. I just didn't have to motivation to carry on writing. So I hope I will update this story every week-ish, and I have another idea for a story I could start writing when I finish the two I'm already writing. I haven't thought of a name for it yet, but it's about Kai getting a job as a policeman/ detective, Zane is his boss, Cole is a thief and Jay is a boy who should be missing. I don't want to spoil too much of it, and I might change some of my ideas later. But feel free to suggest names for this story and I would also appreciate it if you left your feedback about this chapter.
