9. Dreamcatcher
THE BABY'S FOOT wedged deeper into Nya's womb, causing her to gasp awake suddenly, bolting upwards in a cold sweat. The room was dark, shadows crawling like spiders across her comforter. She clutched the rounded purse of her swollen belly, trying to drown out her aches with her hand touching the spot where she could feel something touching her from the inside out. Breathing heavily, Nya kicked off her covers, unsure of why her baby wouldn't stop pushing so hard against her. It forced her body temperature to rise lethally. The sweat overlapping her forehead started to trail down her nose. Nya doubled over in pain to hold fast to the stomach caressing the child that was now using its own against her. Her lips couldn't contain the harsh cry escaping from her lungs. What was happening to her? Was it really this gruesome to carry a child inside of her? She gave a sharper cry under the persistency of the baby's pounding feet. It wanted out—and it wanted out immediately. Second after second passing was more adding to the total sum of her pain. She gasped again with no breath to return. This—this baby—what was happening to Nya? It shoved against her stomach so hard she could pick out and count each individual fingertip from observation. Oh, God, this creature—this thing—it was killing her—
"Nya?"
Jay's soothing voice startled her out of her nightmare, shooting her upwards like a rocket propelled from a cannon. Sweat drenched her as though she were dunked in a tank full of it, sticking her clothing and hair to her skin. Slick, Nya trembled so forcibly, her whole cot shaking with the tension of human fear. Had it only been a dream? She looked forward to try and calm her thoughts, rubbing her hand over her stomach, where it remained unpierced by any supernatural baby claws threatening to escape. Her heart started to slow as Nya came to sorts with the idea it had only been a nightmare. A stupid, scary, horrific nightmare.
She turned to him, a pale form in the adjacent bed to hers, heaved upwards in a cocked position. He rested against the comfort of his six million different pillows that almost swallowed him whole. Despite the shroud of darkness parting them, she could see the clear gleam of worry and fear in his eyes. Nya turned away to dig the heels of her dry hands at her eyes so he wouldn't be able to see the tears strolling down her face with his excellent vision. Or…did Jay have good vision? Nya thought about it. She felt like it was Jay, but for some reason didn't think that it was him who had the good vision. Nya swept it aside under the argument that she was absolutely exhausted, afraid, and hyper all at the same time, a walking balloon of diffidence just waiting to be popped.
Her heart finally returned to normal, but the adrenaline levels fluctuated. Jay leaned forward despite the stitchings in his stomach. "Nya? Baby, what's the matter? Hey, don't cry, sweetheart, don't cry…what's wrong?"
Nya swallowed the lump in her throat, shaking her head vigorously. Dang her for being so emotional. Hadn't she cried enough tonight at the sight of her brother? Shouldn't she be sucked dry of her tears by now? After all, nothing could quite compete with the sight of your lost adopted brother returning from the dead to yank your tears out your sockets. Nya had never been able to get enough of Kai. On initial discovery, she hadn't let him go for what felt like an eternity. It had been hard to grasp that he was actually there, beneath her beating heart, kissing her face repeatedly the way he was. She couldn't believe she was actually holding him, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt, smelling that sweet scent that Kai always seemed to carry of defiance, rain, and soap. Kai picked her up, twirled her around, held her face in his hands, and laughed and cried at simultaneous moments when looking at her. He'd laid his forehead on hers and let his happy tears drench his cheeks. "God," he'd kept whispering. "Nya."
Nya groped the sheets now in replacement of her empty hands. She was scared that when she got up in the morning, he wouldn't be there at all. The dream she experienced now had felt so real—who was to say that Kai's reincarnation wouldn't be just as well? She glanced at the separate bed where Jay stared at her in concern.
"Nya?" He whispered again. He held out his arm, beckoning for her to come to him. She gladly kicked off the covers of her terrifying bed and propelled herself into him, pressing her face hard into his chest, where the sobs actually bore now. That dream had been too much for her. The pain had felt all too real for her taste. Nya clung to Jay with the idea that if she held tighter, every invaluable speck of discomfort she fondled would fade away into ash. Jay pressed his lips into her hair. There, he leaned back, pulling Nya into a laying position in his company, moving the covers so that she could join him underneath their warmth. Jay stroked her cheeks with his thumbs to smack away offending tears.
"Baby," he whispered, pressing his lips to the stray tear wandering down her nose. Nya sniffled, "what's the matter? Are you hurt?"
Nya took in a handful of his shirt. His heart beat slowly against hers, a steady pace. She enjoyed the sensation that the bare skin beneath the material gave her: security. The warmth of his abdomen reminded her that blood still flew, though it was a little stained by his knitted flesh, covered by white bandage so it didn't snag on his shirts. Nya touched the soft curve of where Jay's neck met his shoulder with a satisfied feel. Absentmindedly, she shook her head, denying it yet knowing deep inside she actually did hurt. Nya was torn between few things. One being the fact that this baby would be a new start for her, that this was an excellent chance to propel her life forward, and that she actually did want this pink embryo growing within her. But somehow there was also a fear that she didn't want it. What would she do with it? How could she give birth when she was only seventeen, and still caught in between a war of good and evil? Nya buried her face into the hollow at the base of Jay's throat.
Jay was excited to be a father. He wanted this. He wanted this baby. They'd discussed it a couple of times though they usually avoided talking about it; they were teenagers who loved each other so much but didn't know how to handle a baby. Did she really think bringing a baby into this world was the best idea right now, especially since that would require Nya's undivided attention, something she couldn't do without leaving everything behind, which she wouldn't do anyway? She felt like now would be the perfect time to discuss it, but knew that doing so wouldn't keep her attention or focus very well through her exhaustion.
"I had a nightmare," she admitted quietly. Jay tucked his arms securely around her waist. He stroked her cheek with his nose, sending sparks through her nerves, animating them to life. Nya's hands curled into his hair. They were growing up too fast, but it was at just the right pace that they matured. Jay was becoming more of a man every second that she spent wrapped in his arms. His previous childishness was beginning to fade away from him like the cocoon of a butterfly's transformation. It was beautiful.
Nonetheless, Nya didn't feel very mature. She felt sickly, childish, and underdeveloped. Her, thinking that with him, she could have a baby! Pah! Silly!
But proof was now growing inside of her at the second in which she spoke. Nya curled her hands around Jay's biceps. He was getting stronger, too—strong enough to fend off all evils. He pulled her tightly to him with a dim chuckle. "A nightmare, huh?" He pressed his mouth to her forehead. "Then let me be your dreamcatcher."
He pulled her lips to his. Every fear melted away from her, leaving her raw with love so intense, there was nothing stopping her from knowing that however scared she was, having this baby with him was exactly what she was supposed to do.
KAI
Okay, instantaneous conclusion: That bed sucked.
Kai stepped into the bright morning sunlight, stretching away his sleeping muscles. Zane looked up at him from his bend over the stove, wielding a spatula to his frying pan like the old days. The kitchen on this remake looked so exactly like the elder one, it was creepy. He had the overwhelming scent of pancakes and three thousand other foodly scents attack him like a slap in the face. Kai roamed inwards in his T-shirt over his sweatpants, feeling like a really, really lazy teenager for once.
Zane smiled pleasantly at him. He was dressed just fine for the day, in jeans and a white shirt, but there was something completely gaping missing from his outfit. Kai gasped in mock horror. "Your apron!" he cried. "It's missing! Oh, man, will your cooking be as good now without your trusty pink protective gear?"
Zane rolled his eyes while Kai laughed. "Chortle all you want, brother," Zane flipped an egg into the form of an omelet in the breast of his pan, sprinkling some green fluff from a bowl at the stoveside atop its yellow glory. Kai ruffled the serious dude's hair as he passed to snag a piece of bacon from the plate prepared on the counter. "But it kept me clean."
Kai chuckled. "I know, buddy," he said, "and that's why I love you best."
"Love who?" Blonde Dani appeared in the doorway with a box of processed batter fluff in her hands. She tucked a golden strand out of her sparkling eyes. Kai didn't know her well, but he knew her enough to understand that she irritated the crap out of Caroline, according to their little verbal contradictory arguments last night. Personally, he liked that, because although he also didn't know Caroline, she gave off an uptight vibe to her. It was kind of really stupid, so Kai just didn't tolerate it. Dani gave him a smile while frolicking into the kitchen in a pair of ripped up jeans and a baggy sweatshirt. Very ballsy of her to do, to wear such unattractive robes amongst men. He purposefully gave her a long look to agitate her, which earned him a mocking, pointed glare. Kai winked at her knowing that she was a female activist (this was something they'd had a conversation about last night) and hated anything that involved indiscretions due to sex. She punched him hard.
"Zane," he announced loudly in reply. Dani blinked an eye at him. Zane continued to roll his eyes at Kai's cheerful idiocy. He enthused jokingly, "He's my lover. We're extremely close." He twisted his middle and forefinger around each other to indicate their inseparable bond. Then he hooked his arm around Zane's shoulders and waggled his eyebrows at Dani. She frowned.
Zane smacked him away. "That is not happening in any form of any future of mine," he countered. He flipped another omelet with that greasy spatula of his. Come to think of it, Kai missed a close call with having that thing come to contact with his face just now. "But if that is what you wish to do with your love life, then be my guest."
Dani laughed so hard she snorted. Kai was taken aback at the discovery of a nindroid being capable of snorting. He actually didn't even loop those kind of inhumane, weird actions with programmed peoples, but it was nice to see humanity. She grabbed something out of a cupboard Kai had once known to hold multiple spices which now had…a random jar of peanut butter in it. She plucked out the full tub and grabbed a spoon from the drawer beneath. Kai raised a dark brow. "Yum," he said, but it sounded like a question.
"It's not for me, you dunderhead," she waved the kitchen utensil at him like a sword. Kai stepped back with a laugh and held up his palms to show his defenselessness. "It's for Nya. She's not feeling well today, so I treat her with the exaggerated ways of peanut butter's charms."
"Why peanut butter? She hates peanut butter." Kai leaned his waist against the counter. Zane passed him a knife and a can of jelly, which he was now supposed to use to decorate the toast preparing to pop out of the heated bread maker. He stabbed the purple substance with the butter knife and began to work.
Dani paused in the kitchen doorway. "Peanut butter is what she requested," she said to Kai. "And plus, peanut butter solves everyone's problems."
"I thought that was chocolate."
"Did you know two in every four people is obese because of excessive chocolate consumption?" Dani stared at him with half-lidded eyes. Kai cocked his head while working on spreading jelly across his current bread piece's surface. "That sounds to me like it's creating more problems than it is deleting them."
"Well she's going to get fat anyway. Why not live it up?" Zane smacked his arm in response. Kai shrugged defensively. "What? It's not my fault she got pregnant."
Just saying it sent weird shivers up his spine. Nya being pregnant was one of the weirdest things he'd ever even thought of. He'd never looked at her as being a girl who would want to have a baby so soon in her life, to take on such a huge responsibility—especially with danger lurking at every corner. But Kai had vowed since his rebirth that it was Nya's choice, and he wouldn't prowl through her business anymore, regardless of what choices she made. Unless it resulted in something that could potentially end fatally or badly, like over consumption of canned air-pressure goods. He decided to lay off of his loveable sister and Jay with no intention of close monitoring them. Believe him, it was extremely difficult, but gratifying to know he wasn't destroying a love. If Nya wanted to get pregnant, he'd support her with a smile the whole journey down the tedious road. He wouldn't stop her from living her life. Not anymore would he be so constricting.
"Tell Jay to come for breakfast, please, Dani," Zane politely requested, turning off the stove. He revolved towards his stack of pancakes and pile of omelets, log cabins of bacon, and the toast that Kai was in the process of making. Dani gave a militaristic solute with her hand.
"Oh, and get Cole!" Kai called to her on her journey down the hall. After Dani hollered back a muffled noise of acknowledgement, Zane turned to Kai with a ponderable inquisition.
"Would Cole still technically need human food to survive?" He asked. "Or would that just be something he can consume without actually needing to?"
Whoa. Good question. "Ask him," Kai responded, setting down another piece of toast for Zane to intricately fold and stack. Cole hadn't made a sound when Kai left the room this morning to brush his teeth and shower away every last vengeful memory of death he had left to scrub down. It had almost been like he wasn't even there. He finished off the last of the toasting and helped Zane set the table; today, he had an agenda planned for himself, and he wasn't about to let anything ruin his good mood.
Kai premeditated the basic notion on telling his brothers and other friends about what he and Zane knew, which also included the fact that Lloyd was stuck in hell with no means of escape. That was his top priority today, over venturing outwards of the Bounty 2's worn wooden walls to observe the small town of the Fireman's Circle to see if there was any news of Eloquim in any part of Ninjago. He had a plan to speak privately with Garmadon and Wu about, but for now, he'd have to settle for patience instead. Sensei Wu was meditating, according to Dani, the apparent eyes and ears of the ship's showbiz. Garmadon was off doing whatever it was that retired evil Lords did. Everyone else was strangely absent. Oh, well…
There was the sound of Jay's crutches before anyone saw him limp his way into the kitchen. The wound on his stomach was pretty bad. He was fully clothed and treated to a shower—this Kai knew because of his wet hair—but still seemed to have some kind of heaviness involved in his shoulders. Kai gave him an encouraging smile and pulled out a bench for Jay to sit on. The Ninja of Lightning gratefully took a seat. "Thanks," he said quietly. Kai dared to give him a pat on the back but was admittedly surprised when he was caught with a jolt of electricity upon touching him. He leaped back with a yelp. He wasn't expecting it! You can't make fun of him for being caught a little off guard.
Jay continued to laugh. That's where, in his gleaming eyes, Kai saw the old Jay seep in—not fully, but he was there, just out of reach. The playful joker still was somewhere within him, resting peacefully in the crook of personality. Kai was never going to force him to bring out that past self, because right now, really all they needed was to be mature and sane. But every once in a while, Kai felt younger, back to his hotheaded past. So much had happened to him that he felt like he was older than dirt now. Kai had practically seen every nook and cranny of existence: All of Ninjago, plus "Heaven", or some would say the Elemental Realm. What more was there to see?
Hell.
And he would, if he was going to get Lloyd back. He'd stop at nothing to retrieve him. No matter what he had to do, Kai was determined to get him from whatever cell there was to confine him, and torture whomever had put him there. He'd cut out their tongues and force him to recite their ABC's with blood in their mouth. He'd have dogs eat off their fingers and tell them that if they so much as screamed, more hell would come to pay. He'd tie them to a cross and stab their wrists to have them bleed. He would beat them till not a sliver of pink skin was left on their body. He would—
Kai took in a deep breath. There was that part of him that was just like his father, that really knew he was the Prince of Darkness, and that now he existed again, there would be no telling what would happen. The Great Battle would someday ignite between him and Lloyd. And Kai never, ever wanted Lloyd to have to fight him. The poor thing had already taken so many emotional beatings that what good would it do to destroy him more? If they had to battle, it would ruin Lloyd forever. Kai wished that he could somehow tell Lloyd he was okay, and alive, to give the Green Ninja some hope back. If Kai ever had to fight Lloyd in order to fulfill their destinies…he would let Lloyd win. Willingly.
Jay tried to stop his chuckles, oblivious to the torment inside of Kai's mind. "Was that such a shock to where you have to stare into space, all brooding and mysterious?" Zane started laughing after that, too. Kai rolled his eyes.
He waved them off with the return of a smile. There's my boy, he thought of his best friend, whom he felt closer to than either Cole or even Zane. There was a connection between the two—maybe it was a mutual love for Nya, or something, but that would imply that Cole was in the equation somewhere too. And to be honest, Kai was still reeling from Cole's deep affections for Nya. It was definitely something no one expected. Very…ironic.
Still on the subject of Cole, (at least to Kai) Jay glanced around the empty dining room. "Is Cole sleeping in or what?" Jay asked. "Where is he?"
Zane shrugged. "He had a rough day yesterday," he covered for his friend and his extreme use of power to erase memories from two living individuals. Kai nodded. "It drained him—thankfully this is his time to refuel for today."
Jay frowned. "I guess I wouldn't know anything about it," he stated, "but I didn't know he did stuff yesterday. That's strange." He puckered his lips, tending to a stray string of his long-sleeve before engaging in any more conversation. He rubbed his face. "You guys, can I…can I tell you something? Something kind of…personal?"
At the same time, Kai and Zane responded. "Yes," Zane said encouragingly.
"Nooo," Kai shook his head. It was meant as sarcasm, but still Zane slapped him in the arm with the spatula. Yeesh, somebody's into physical abuse! He rubbed the puckering red mark on his arms, nursing it back to health with a grim cast to his glare. He turned back to Jay with a friendly wink. "Go ahead, Sparky."
Jay looked nervous. He cracked his knuckles out of nervous habit, then avoided their eyes, instead looking at the floor rather than at whom he was speaking to. "Well, I…" He scuffed his socked foot to the wood beneath his feet, rubbing his knee. Kai waited patiently. "I think that…um…I think Nya doesn't…"
"Doesn't what?" Zane asked. "You can tell us, Jay."
Funny. They said the same thing to Cole last night. Kai decided to join his best friend on the bench of the dining table, crossing his arms over his chest. He nodded hearteningly for Jay to continue his personal speech.
But the Ninja of Lightning blushed. "I think that um…" He cleared his throat. His next words came out in a rush that Kai had to repeat in his head before he quite understood what Jay had said. "IthinkNyadoesn'twannahaveababy."
There was a pause. Jay heaved out his jailed breath and hung his head, placing it in his hands, elbows on his knees. Zane and Kai exchanged a glance. "Why wouldn't she?" Zane stepped forward inquisitively. Jay's shoulders pointed downwards.
"I…" he took a deep breath. "Last night, she had a nightmare," he said softly. "About…you know, the baby. She was talking in her sleep and crying, and she woke me up with it. When I finally got her to wake up, she looked so…Goodness, she looked so scared. So she came to lay next to me…." He blushed, "and I started to talk to her about it…the nightmare, I mean. It took her a while to actually want to say anything about it. But she said the baby was….hurting her?" The last part of it came out on a higher note. As Jay's head hung again, Kai was slapped with the realization that he was trying not to cry. "And then," he continued after a moment of gathering his breath, "she was saying how terrible it will be to do it. The pain, the suffering, and having to deal with this for five more months, knowing it gets worse. She started crying more than once. I know she's scared, and I want her to know that I'm always going to be there for her when she needed me, no matter what—which I did tell her—but I don't think it helped. I think she made up her mind, guys. I think she doesn't want to have our baby."
Kai was taken aback. Last night, Nya had rested her hand in a motherly fashion over her bulging, pregnant stomach. She'd seemed pretty content with lugging that thing around for another five months, but had he misread that? He'd always thought that Nya wanted to. But then he realized she was only seventeen to his eighteen. She was still a young girl, not yet a woman. Oh, Nya…He was definitely going to visit her in the infirmary today, definitely going to talk to her about it. But right now, he was talking to Jay.
He examined the way Jay looked so forlorn, so ripped apart by the idea, that it made his eyes glisten. Oh, my goodness, Kai thought seriously after a moment as comprehension set in. He'd always believed Jay was going to be a little weary of having a child, willing to back out of it. But the broken look on his face told Kai that "You really want to have the baby, don't you?" He asked.
Jay nodded. "I do," he admitted in a whisper. Zane gave him a sad smile. "I really, really do. I don't want her to kill it with an abortion." The thought of it made Kai shiver. "I mean, you guys…I'm going to be a father. And—and it's weird, but I really want to, you know? I wanna hold my son or daughter in my arms and feel whatever it is that parents feel, and I want to teach my kid how to ride a bike, and how to make sand castles, and the alphabet, and I want to be there for them when they need advice, and hold them when they cry after their first day at school and kiss them on the head and walk them into the doctor's office, and I want to be so proud when they don't cry when they get their shots, and when they win an award for being the best oboe player I want to be the one in the crowd standing up and shouting for them with extremely loud clapping. I want to do that for them. I don't want to wait for the next five years. But if it's hurting Nya right now…I have no choice but to wait."
Zane laid a hand on Jay's sagging shoulder. "Brother," he said softly, "I am certain that you will be the best of fathers."
"You'll make a great dad," Kai added helpfully.
"And I know what will tear you apart if she doesn't want to go through with this. But at the same time, it is Nya, whom is stronger than any of us. Perhaps maybe you are misreading her nightmare as something she really feels and not just a fear that all to-be mothers come packaged with. I think talking to her about it will do you good. I don't see Nya chickening out."
"Maybe you're also having second guesses. Maybe you're thinking that's what she feels, like any father would, but possibly that's not the case." Kai offered, trying to catch Jay's stationary eye, trained on the floor. "I can't see Nya wanting to get rid of her baby. She's Nya, for crying out loud, I mean she is way tougher than all of us combined. You just need to talk to her about it and clear any misconceptions."
"But what if she says she doesn't?" Jay asked. He squeezed his eyes shut. "What if Nya says specifically that she doesn't want to have this baby?"
"Then you hogtie her and take her to a rural area where there's no hospitals so she won't be tempted," said a voice. Kai glanced up to see his sister standing in the doorway, one hand on her hip and other caressing the sweet curve of her belly. Jay turned bright red. Zane also looked startled, since he couldn't sense people to appear anymore.
"H-how long have you been standing there?" Jay asked warily. Nya walked across the dining room, unanswering, to grab his hand and tug him to a standing position. She wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest, squeezing him tightly without intention of releasing him. Jay looked confuzzled, but hugged her back, landing a kiss on the top of her low head. Kai smiled.
"I heard your speech," she said softly, tilting her head back to look him in the eye. Jay blushed. "And I thought it was beautiful."
Kai didn't think he could get any redder. He leaned back against the table, poising his hands behind his head, observing the scene with his trademark half smile on his face. Zane, also, looked pleasantly attentive, but moved to give them space.
"I want to have this baby," Nya said quietly, brushing Jay's hair from his eyes with a tender hand which caressed his cheek after the action was done. "No matter what, I want all that too."
"Really?" Jay whispered. A new light was dawning on his face.
"Of course," she whispered back, and Kai felt like he was intruding by staring. He looked elsewhere. "I love you, Jay Walker."
"Nya, I—"
"Nope," she whispered. "I just love you. No more than that."
There was a pause, and a sigh of relief. "Then that's all a man could ever need. I love you too, Nya Smith."
Kai felt really awkward. He stood up and, grabbing Zane's shirt, tugged him out of the kitchen where Jay and Nya kissed. For once in forever, he felt no anger at Jay having his hands all over his sister. Instead he was happy for them. Zane and Kai walked down the hallway with the ghosts of smiles on their faces.
"They're happy," Kai concluded obviously.
"It's a miracle, too. Especially with all this emotional stuff happening."
"Lloyd," Kai moaned yearningly. "Poor kid! Zane, I have a plan, but it's risky." He nudged the former nindroid, staring at the floor in vain. The hallways still sucked with their lighting consistencies.
"What have you got?" Zane asked. He glanced Kai in the eye, meeting the dark brown of mischief with the cool ice of his white blues. Kai opened his mouth to tell him of what he wanted to speak with Garmadon and Wu about, but there was a much more urgent thing to tend to. There was a loud crash from somewhere in front of them, like glass shattering and wood breaking. The ninja exchanged a glance before taking off down the hallway at the uneasy sound.
Their journeys led them to the balcony which peered over the main deck of the Bounty 2. The mast, curled up, overshadowed the darkness that had arrived on the boat. Dani came hurdling out of the downstairs with Sensei Wu and Misako on her heels. They paused atop the main deck as they watched in bewilderment what had happened, a mockery of exactly what Kai and Zane experienced now.
Darreth appeared at their side. "What's the hubaloo?" He asked. Then he saw. "Oh. My."
Zane nodded. "Oh my, indeed."
COLE
"GET. OFF. ME!" He howled with a snarl. Kiko continued to clutch tight onto his shirt and pound his shoulders into the ground like a little child would in a tantrum. Her bloody hair fell over her face, shielding him from the sun, as she bore her pointy teeth at him in anger.
"I created you," she said for the millionth time. "You are loyal to me."
"No!" Cole managed to break free—though he had no freaking clue how—and launch at incredible speeds across the ground. He swerved around the Bounty 2's mast to try and avoid being smacked by another whip of her power. She had followed him here, and really it was Cole's fault for leading her towards everyone, but Cole couldn't do this alone. No matter how strong a vampire he was, Kiko would always be stronger. She was the first vampire ever created. And as she had stated repeatedly over the course of these few couple hours, she wouldn't be the last.
"A vampire can only create one other vampire in their lifetime!" She yelled at him. She chased him around the mast in a game of high-speed, blurry vampire tag. He felt like a little kid, but if she got her hands on him again, he didn't know that he could keep himself from going insane. "I created you! The only way I'll ever have anything is if I have a child. And you. Will. Give. One. To. Me!"
"YOU'RE CRAZY!" Cole yelled. He ripped a chunk out of the boat's railing and smacked her with it. Kiko's orange robes flew across the deck. No way he was going to do anything with Kiko the Crazy. He dove to the side as she regained her balance. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kai and Zane leap over the staircase to assist their brother in war. He took the makeshift stake out of the Bounty's railing and swiped Kiko across the head with it. As the Original Vampire, she couldn't be killed with a stake. How lovely.
Kiko howled. She hooked her sharp claws like talons. "You will give me a child!" She yelled. It was starting to freak Cole out. He ran to Kai's side as he threw the wooden piece at her, but Kiko ducked, and it flew over the top of her head. With the force behind the object's propulsion, it shattered the glass of the mechanics room window. The noise rang throughout the air like a scream.
"Go. AWAY!" Cole shouted at her. Kiko grinned at him.
"Never," she whispered. "I've found you now, and I'm never giving you up again." She stood in front of them at an angle to watch both the crowd gathered at the staircase and the Ninja at the same time. "You and I are the only vampires, Cole. You've wasted your Turn. All we can do now is procreate! Don't you see? This is the only way to help Him move on the world into its better days!"
"He who?" asked Kai. He clenched his fists at Cole's side.
"Eloquim the Deadly," Kiko hissed of her accomplice. Cole crouched down defensively, giving her a snarl that she enjoyed listening to. "This is the way to start the hell that needs to come. Oh, Cole," she held out her hands. God, those disgusting hands in which had clenched life from his mother! He snarled again. "Don't you get it? Don't you want to have a child?"
"Not with you," he growled. He didn't enjoy the subject of children. He stared into her black eyes with a grim hate. "You need to leave and quit wasting your time, Kiko. It's pointless."
Kiko's face turned into a grimace. She clenched her fists. "What was her name again?" She growled lowly. Her body shook with anger. Since Kiko had become a vampire when she was young, she had never quite aged properly. Cole was just glad that he was able to mature better than this creepy woman. "The girl you love, I mean."
She was using it. When they kissed, (something Cole regretted more than anything right now) she had tapped into his thoughts, and she knew everything about him now. Every thought, every action—every day she'd missed with him, Kiko now gained back with her scary powers, like she'd been there all along. She witnessed every battle, every kiss with Nya, every fight with Jay, every plan he'd made. She knew everything. Cole growled defensively. No one was going to hurt Nya.
"Oh, yeah, that's right." Kiko smiled. She raised her eyes to a point above Cole's head. "She doesn't love you back. Oh, how sad." Kiko's gaze fixated on whatever was so interesting to look at. He didn't know what, but if he tore his eyes from her devil for one second, he knew she'd do something fatal and stupid. Kai made a noise.
"Keep your disgusting eyes off my sister!" He yelled. Cole felt a jolt in his heart. Nya? Oh, man. That meant that she was seeing… All that power he'd used yesterday just went down the drain if she was seeing Kiko reveal everything to the world what he'd made her forget. Then it hit him: That was Kiko's plan.
"You bitch!" Cole hurled himself towards Kiko, knocking her over by surprise. She gave a squeal as she hit the ground, where Cole pressed his weight down on her, trying to force her to comply. He bore his teeth at her, pressing his arm against her throat to cut off her breath. Kiko merely smiled at him. "You keep her out of this," he spat in her face. Kiko swallowed.
"Then you come with me," she gasped. "You ditch your Ninja friend, I'll ditch Eloquim, and we'll live happily ever after under the radar."
"Never."
Kiko smiled like that's what she knew he'd say. "Oh, Nya!" She called. Cole froze. "Nya, I think—"
He shoved his arm into her throat, cutting off her voice. Kiko glanced at him amusedly. "Don't you dare." What would he do then if Nya witnessed more than just Cole's vampirism? Oh, man, this was bad. This was really, really bad.
"Then come away with me," Kiko whispered. "Or I kill every last person here—because I know now what the all look, smell, taste, and sound like, and I could track them down forever. Your choice."
Leave the Ninja to save Nya? Kiko was unkillable, courtesy of the witch who turned her into a vampire in the first place. He couldn't stake her and walk away with no issues to burden him after her death. He had nowhere to lock her up. He had nothing except a choice to make: the whole way here Kiko had chased him, knocking him over, trying to get him to agree to come with him. But now the effects of her reality were slowly sinking in: Now that Kiko knew everything about him, she wouldn't stop until she got her way. She would continue to torture Cole, stay aboard this ship, walk amongst them. She'd hurt someone here that he loved more than anything. She would do that without any kind of pain, because she was Kiko. Kiko didn't care about anything but getting her way. She would tear out Kai's eyes if it got Cole to comply. And he knew she'd do just that, too, if he didn't respond properly.
Kai appeared at his side with a sword in hand. He pointed it down towards her head. "You freak," he growled at her. "What happens if I stab you in the head? Do you become stupid then?"
Cole snarled at her. Kiko only smiled and shook her head. "No," she concluded. Kai curled his lip.
"Let's give it a try," he thought aloud. He drug the tip of the blade across Kiko's forehead, drawing a line of blood in her skin. Kiko only blinked but gave a loud laugh.
"That's gonna hurt," she said, almost absentmindedly.
"It'll hurt more when I put this through your face."
"You do that," Kiko laughed, "but it won't be me you'll be hurting."
"Oh yeah?" Kai humored with a scowl. "Who will it hurt then?"
Kiko smiled. She looked like she was enjoying winning. "Easy. Seiko."
SEIKO
"YOU'RE GOING TO break your face before you break that door, Goldy Locks," Seiko countered into the darkness, wrapping her arms around her pained torso one more time before expressing her sorrowful shivers. The nighttime of the cell was cool, black, and horrendously bottomless. The reverberational pounding of Lloyd's fists and/or helpless attacks of power were doing nothing to that door, judging by the lack of weeping from the metal. Lloyd panted hard into the air. Seiko could sense the vibrations coming from his steps, tearing through the ground, before floating into her skin. It was weird. She could sense him coming, feeling his footsteps pounding into the ground closer than she could actually hear him. But whatever. Seiko itched her arm. This, she decided, was stupid.
"I'm not using my face to hit it," he countered. Seiko rolled her eyes.
"That's the point, dummy," she grumbled. "You'll break your face, which YOU'RE NOT EVEN USING, before you get that door down."
"OKAY," Lloyd responded with equal emphasis. His boots dragged across the floor, stirring stationary chunks of bone and dirt into movement. Even the slightest granule's offset, and Seiko could sense the vibration. She hugged her knees to her small chest. She was bored, starving, thirsty, and dying, but mostly bored. There weren't any kind of Sudoku's or Jenga's to entertain herself with, not that building log cabins out of wooden blocks was any fun. Seiko wished she could stand to her feet.
There was a whoosh of heat. It stirred her hair back from her face, but she remained unfazed. "Whatcha doin', Twinkies?" She asked, picking at an unseen fray on her sleeve. The floor vibrated with another elemental based attack.
"I'm trying to burn down the door."
"How's that going for ya?" Seiko's bangs hovered over her face—she could feel the ends tickling her nose. She wiggled it uncomfortably. She blinked into the black. She sniffed. She sighed. She sneezed.
GOD, she was so bored, she was narrating herself.
Lloyd made a noise of what was almost irritation, but didn't quite make it to emotional. "Awesome," he muttered. His footsteps made sensual tremors in the floor's surface. Seiko pressed her palms flat to the ground to feel more of it—it provided her with a mental picture of where Lloyd was. It also told her how long, wide, and empty their ludicrous cell was, how tall the door stood, how many bullets rested in its iron grip. She was startled to find she had a relatively clear picture. It was definitely strange, but she had to admit, pretty handy. Seiko took a huge chunk of animal carcass in her hands, avoiding the grossness of it, and tested with this mental picture. She used the sight of her mind to tell her exactly what position Lloyd fell to when his next attack (which she could not visualize) so she could hurl the dead mouse through the open space. Cole had always told her she was a pretty good thrower. There was the soft stir of air with her weak toss, followed by a satisfactory smack, and a responsive squeak from Lloyd as the mouse hit him in the side of the face. He made a disgusted noise as he wiped his cheek with his gloved palm. Whoa, Seiko thought proudly. She'd used the mental picture from the vibrations in the air to see where Lloyd was! How cool was that?
"UGH," Lloyd spluttered. He coughed with following noises of antipathy. "GROSS! This random dead thing just totally hit me in the—you threw that, didn't you?"
Seiko giggled. "Mayyybeee," she tried to contain her laughter, but it boiled out her mouth in a tinkling laugh. Her laughter echoed throughout the cave's small, bouncy walls, and it made Lloyd start to laugh too, despite the fact that she totally just chucked a dead animal at him. Seiko felt her mood brighten at the sound of him laughing with her. It gave her something to do other than sit here and stare at the darkness for another gazillion hours.
But her laughter quickly turned to pain. Her forehead felt like it was burning. She gave a sharp noise that alerted Lloyd that something was dangerously wrong. She lifted her hand to touch the cool skin of her forehead, and it was warm, and sticky, and wet. She pulled her hand away to reveal a trickle running down her nose and into her unseeing eyes. She gasped. Upon smelling the substance on her fingertips, Seiko realized that it was blood.
"Seiko?" Lloyd's footsteps vibrated him towards her, and soon he was there in front of her—or so her senses told her, as did his grip when he pulled her to her feet. "Seiko! You're bleeding! What did you do?"
He pressed his glove to her forehead, trying to stop the bleeding through the application of pressure. Seiko's forehead pounded. She didn't deal well with blood when she wasn't in her destructive moods, and she found herself getting queasy. Oh, heaven, help her now! She held on tight to Lloyd's waist in controlling her breathing. "Lloyd, what's happening? I laughed! Oh, this is what I get for being happy!"
"That's a long cut," he told her, pressing his heel further into her forehead. It felt funny against the trickle of her own blood down her face.
"How do you know?"
"I can see it."
"You can see it?" Seiko gasped. How could he see? "How can you see, Twinkies?" Seiko spoke her thoughts. "I've been robbed!"
"Seiko," he said in a careful tone of voice, "Don't freak out, but I think there's something wrong with your eyes."
"Don't blame me for having bad eyesight!" She gasped, almost to hysterics. She held onto him tightly. Wow, who knew random forehead cuts hurt so badly? She tried to think of what caused it but came through empty handed.
"No, Seiko," Lloyd's free arm wrapped around her waist. She felt her heart quicken at his touch, and that he'd just pulled her closer to him. Not that she cared, or anything. Seiko Mitsuhide didn't care about anything but survival. She braced her hands against his chest to try and push him away, but found that her hands refused to do so. She didn't want to be pushed away from him. Her mind screamed at her to move, but her body wanted to stay. It was so conflicting. "I mean that I don't think your eyes want to, um, see anymore."
"How do you know?" She spat defensively. She was rethinking pushing him away now.
"Because," his voice was soft, soothing; he was comforting her with his voice. She felt calmed, for some really stupid reason, by his voice. Her heart thundered. "My hand right now is glowing and you're not seeing any of it."
COLE
"LEAVE SEIKO THE hell alone!" Cole grabbed Kiko and threw her, chucking her into the air with his strength. Kiko enjoyed being airborne, and landed neatly on her feet a good distance away from them. She poised her hands to her hips.
"Why would I?" She drummed her fingers against her lips. "She's so much fun to mess with, it would be a shame to stop playing—unless you're suggesting that you're going to give up and come with me?" Kiko pursed her lips playfully, giving him a sympathetic look. "Come on, Cole. To save your sister and your friends, give it up."
Cole clenched his fists. He was so angry he couldn't bear to even think straight. He glared roughly at Kiko, his eyes digging cold slices into her with the whips of power he released. Kiko seemed unfazed at his attempts to hurt her using supernatural abilities. She poised her slippered feet against the floor with a smile that told Cole that she knew just how to mess with him. "I promised you that night that I wouldn't ever touch your sister," she foretold, raising her chin. Cole felt his anger bubbling up within him, about to broil over. "And I never did. But I telepathically connected us so that whatever harm came to me also came to her. I was preparing for this day, love," Kiko used her hands to motion to the magnificence of this day. "Because I knew it would come. Everything that happened to me also happened to her."
The connections were slowly combining in his mind. Everything that happened to Kiko also happened to Seiko. He thought about the beautiful, charismatic young girl that Seiko used to be before Kiko had interfered with their life. She'd been happy, loving, a sparkling little girl. But when Kiko appeared it made Seiko start to change. She was no longer that girl anymore. She had become…insane.
"YOU!" Cole screamed, and he hurled himself at Kiko. He bowled her over, his back hitting the ground as they rolled, jaws snapping, snarling, and venom flying. Kiko dug her nails into his shoulders, but he pinned her against the deck again, snarling into her face. His fangs extended, his face cracking into his vampiric self. Cole dug his nails into her arms—but then he remembered that in the process, he was hurting Seiko. I'm so sorry, he thought, and retracted his digging nails, but kept his fangs out to scare Kiko. "You did that to her," he gasped into Kiko's face.
And she smiled. "I did," she admitted without remorse, knowing exactly what he was talking about. His anger broiled over.
"I'm going to kill you," he snarled angrily, and dove for her throat.
But he never made it there. Kai appeared and grabbed his shoulders, yanking him backwards. Zane latched Cole's arms behind his back so Cole wouldn't be able to attack, but he continued to struggle, promising he'd kill Kiko no matter what it took. Kai stepped in front of his brother and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Cole!" he shouted over Cole's animalistic noises. "COLE! Calm. DOWN!" Cole snarled a real snarl at Kiko over Kai's shoulder. She stood to her feet, dusting off her long orange dress, with a content smile on her face. That insane bitch!
"Cole!" Zane yelled in Cole's ear. "Remember she's attached to Seiko, your sister! If you kill her, you will kill Seiko!"
Cole froze. Seiko, his joy. He felt the fires within him begin to die. His fangs slowly retracted, the veins in his face began to fade from visibility. Oh, Seiko…
Kiko apprehended him through slit eyes. She could have purred. Kai tapped him in the cheek to gain his attention. "Look at me," he commanded. Cole glanced into Kai's reassuring brown eyes. "Hey, hey, at me," he added when Cole looked back at Kiko. He averted his eyes again. Kai held Cole's face in his hands to help him regain control. "Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Let's think rationally. You're okay. Calm down."
Something about Kai's speech made Cole realize that he was right. But there was still a war going on, still a choice to make. If Cole didn't follow Kiko into their abandonment, then she would attack his loved ones. And he didn't know if he could suffer that.
Kiko knew this was going on in his mind. She waited patiently against the railing for his verdict, but Cole didn't know what to do. He felt a hand on his shoulder that didn't belong to Kai, or Zane, but to a familiar old man with a long white beard and clear blue eyes. Kai stepped back to allow Sensei Wu into view. Zane wasn't prepared to release Cole just yet—he didn't know if he could stop himself if he was let go—but Sensei Wu touched Cole's shoulder. There was wisdom in the old man's eyes. "My student," he said lightly, "there are many choices we must make in life. Many of them revolve around our loved ones. Some of them are for our better person. There are tough ones, and three are easy ones. But no matter what happens, know we will always be with you."
Cole shivered. "What do I do, Sensei?" he whispered, seeking guidance from the old man.
Wu leaned forward, placing his hand on Cole's shoulder. Warmth vibrated from his false skin through Cole's shirt. The wrinkles on his face were so precise, so fine, so realistic, that there was hardly a difference from the dead man to the robot recreation standing in front of him. Cole was surprised with Julien's intricacy.
Sensei looked empathetic of his torn student. He blinked solemnly. "If it were me, Cole," he said softly, "I would do just as you perhaps wouldn't."
"What does that mean?" he whispered.
"It means," Sensei gave him a happy smile, "I would tell her to take a hike."
If you were Cole, what would YOU do? Risk the safety of your friends instead of hanging for eternity with a crazy Original Vampire, or would you go with her so they would never get hurt under your hand?