Wednesday update? Huh? Well I have finals coming up around the end of January which means it's almost the end of the semester too, so this month especially is going to be pretty booked! This means update schedules for this AU may be a bit funny - but hey, new chapter?! *whispers* There's a lot more action in this part.

Enjoy!

Cole opened his eyes to black.

There was nothing around him but a dark emptiness. A flash of red sparked beneath him and he gazed down to see his metal arm tainted with red lights instead of blue. Cole screamed and staggered back, holding his arm out in front of him with his eyes wide with terror. Crumpling to the ground, he squeezed his eyes closed tightly while he gripped his metal arm firm.

"Blue… blue. You're supposed to be blue, dammit." The eighteen year old continued to repeat said words with an uncertainty in his voice. "Blue. Blue… Bluebell…"

He gasped softly when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. Then came another hand to touch his other shoulder and Cole shuddered some more. Whoever it was, they began to rock him back and forth, calling his name over and over.

But Cole couldn't see them. Or at least not yet. He hastily shut both eyes again before opening them once more, allowing the darkness to flee.

"Cole-"

A voice said. Lloyd's voice. To him it sounded echoey and far away and it made his head feel dizzy but the green-eyed boy kept repeating his name.

Cole raised a hand to his head and squinted at Lloyd until his vision was focused.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Lloyd asked him as his hands fell from Cole's arms.

There was a moment of silence as Cole tried to process the current event. His eyes wandered behind Lloyd and he spied Jay standing by the door with a look of concern drawn all over his freckled face.

"Trauma." He stated bluntly.

Lloyd cocked a brow. "Are you, are you sure?"

Cole ignored Lloyd's question and asked, "Are you going to see your dad today?"

"I wasn't planning to. Why?"

"I want to talk to him. It shouldn't be too long."

Kai made a sound of discomfort when he was thrown back into the boxed, sort of glass, room. Just as he made it to the opening, the man shut it with a snap of his fingers and Kai was closed in once more.

"So what, you're just going to keep me locked in here?!" Kai slammed his fist against the thick glass.

"Yes, that's the point."

Kai curled his fingers, his eyes following as the man walked to the other end of the room. Purple. That seemed to be a favorable color around here since the Overlord himself had a purple highlight in his dark black hair, and Pythor's head was covered with neatly combed back purple hair. He slumped down in the only object in the box - a chair with a cushion, to make him comfortable at the very least.

Pythor picked up a tea cup and poured some steaming tea into it. He grinned at Kai slyly as he raised the cup to his lips.

"Can I get some of that?" He asked.

The cup was set back on the table with a soft clink. "Why yes, of course." He came forward to Kai's box with another full cup of tea in his hands.

"Funny," Kai began, laughing a bit, "I thought you were going to say 'no'."

"It's just tea, my boy."

Carelessly shrugging, Kai drank from it as he saw a shadow approaching. Pythor turned around to get a better look at what Kai was looking at.

It was the Overlord. The same pendant Kai had seen when he first met the man hanging loosely around his neck.

"Guess last night was a total bust, huh?" Kai sneered.

The Overlord locked eyes with him. "Last night was merely just to gather and test a few things."

Kai's brows drew nearer.

"I picked up a few more details on who Cole is associated with right now and who's on your case."

Kai looked away. "You mean your case. It's not mine."

"Yes but to get to me, they're going to need you. You're a part of this too." Kai held his breath when the Overlord caressed the pendant.

The Overlord had used him again last night for the party. He had some control over it, like several other times, but the whole plan to enter the party in the first place was the Overlord's idea. And when Kai noticed the unusually dark shade of red from Cole's arm, he was surprised. It meant either one of two things - that the arm had developed a new function, or that the Overlord got what he came for.

He began to wonder if Nya had gotten the paper he left for her in her bag. Every part of him was mad at himself for making a deal with the Overlord. Every part of him knew he had allowed the Overlord to use him to save his own skin. Every part of him was praying that his sister understood the danger he was in and that he needed help.

From the corner of his eyes, the Overlord spotted Acronix passing by, fiddling with a tablet.

"Acronix!" He snapped, startling the other.

"Uh, yes, Sir?"

"Be ready with the van when Flintlock calls in."

Cole wiggled his way inside the office and carefully closed the door behind him. "Chief G, I need to -" He stopped mid sentence when he noticed the concern etched all over Garmadon's face. "Chief?"

With a heavy sigh, Garmadon leaned forward some more and put the papers to the side. "Apparently Pythor escaped."

"Today?"

"No. Several days ago, actually."

"What? How?"

"We haven't found anything yet. Just that he isn't there in his cell." He waved a hand and sighed once more. "Anyways, um, what was it you wanted, Cole?"

"It's about last night at the party."

"I thought Borg and I already briefed over your encounter with Kai."

"You did, but… there's something about last night I didn't tell you."

The Chief was befuddled. He thought he had heard everything he needed to that night when he specifically told Cole not to leave any details out. He cleared his throat abruptly and nodded to Cole.

"My arm turned red last night. The lights, they weren't blue, they were red."

"It changed colors?" The Chief looked out the window of his office. "Is that even possible?" He asked.

"I thought you would know something about it."

Garmadon sensed the disappointment in his voice.

"Can you make it change right now?"

Cole shook his head slowly. "I don't even have a clue what caused it to turn red."

"That's quite alright, Cole." Garmadon sighed. "I'm sorry I couldn't give you any answers. By any means, you know I will certainly talk to Borg about it." He walked Cole to the door. "If it -"

The ground beneath them rumbled and Cole looked to Garmadon quickly. "What was that?" The Chief didn't answer but instead swiped a walkie-talkie off the table and started for the front of the building.

"Can anyone tell me what is going on outside?"

Someone buzzed in. "Chief, there was an explosion several buildings down!"

"An explosion?" Garmadon and Cole shared a look of dread. "You mean like a bomb?"

"Yeah, like a bomb!" There was a cough and Garmadon opened the door, urging Cole to go out first. "Chief… your son is in there."

At those words, Garmadon skidded to a stop and held the walkie-talkie with a shaking fist. His eyes met Cole's as he felt his heart skip a beat.

Cole's eyes grew undoubtedly huge. "That must mean…"

The two of them sped to the scene where fire trucks and ambulances had arrived. A line of policemen were surrounding the front of the building, guns lines up to their shoulders. Garmadon spun one of them around so that he was forced to face the Chief.

"Lloyd is in there?" The man nodded.

Cole came between them, "Is it just him?" The officer shook his head. Jay. If Lloyd was in there then that meant Jay was likely inside too. Cole looked the officer in the eyes. "Then who else is in there with him?!"

"Jay! Toss me the gun!" Lloyd shouted to his partner, one arm outstretched to catch the weapon.

"Roger!" As asked, Jay threw the gun at Lloyd and soon after pulled out his own weapon - a silver staff. Jay twirled it before the man, making karate noises with his mouth.

"Who are you?" Lloyd demanded.

The man hid his hands behind his back, a sly smile on his face as his eyes switched between Jay and Lloyd.

"The name's Flintlock, and I believe you boys have something that my Captain needs."

"Captain?" Jay snorted. "We're in the future, dude - this isn't some pirate fantasy."

Lloyd elbowed Jay's side. "It doesn't matter. Captain, or whatever you want to call him - who is he?"

"And why should I tell you?"

"Because, pal, we have the right to know who you're working for." To answer that question, Flintlock did so as to lift the folded part of his vest, revealing the symbol of a twisted dragon. The symbol of the Golden Master. Lloyd's eyes narrowed more on Flintlock. "What do you know about Kai?"

Jay gasped. "Lloyd, what the heck, man? This isn't the time to be asking about Kai-"

Flintlock chuckled. "That boy got himself into a mess that he can't walk out of that easily. Now where's Cole Brookstone?"

Jay raised his staff and an eyebrow simultaneously in question. "What do you want with Cole?"

"Just answer the question, boy."

Jay opened his mouth to speak but before he could, Lloyd hissed next to him, "He's not here."

"Oh, I have a feeling that ain't true, Garmadon."

"He's not here, Flintlock."

With a shrug, Flintlock took one large step closer. "I guess I'll just have to stall a bit longer." The man whipped out his own gun and fired at Jay. The bullet bounced off the metal stick and Jay laughed awry. He zoomed past Lloyd, drawing the staff back and slamming it into Flintlock's side. Before the staff could land a blow, the criminal did a flip backwards as Jay stooped to the ground. "Careful there, boy," he teased.

Jay's staff hit the ground and he looked up at Flintlock, hesitantly lunging to the side when the gun was fired once more. Jay threw his head back over his shoulder and panted. "Man, this guy has good aim!" He jumped back again. "Why does it have to be a gun?! Guns are scary!"

Lloyd simply nodded and rolled between Jay and Flintlock, getting low close to the floor and thrusted his leg out. The foot came in contact with Flintlock's lower stomach and he doubled over. As the man collected himself, a piece of the building fell from above between them, sending dust in the air. Lloyd stumbled back with a loud cough and waved his hand in front of him in an attempt to clear the dust away. His eyes spotted Jay in a more clearer area.

"Where is he?"

Jay held his stick out in front of him and walked closer to Lloyd with caution. "I don't -" He yelped when the staff was shot out of his hands. "Know…"

The dust still hadn't cleared away and Lloyd couldn't see Flintlock anywhere. "Jay, get back." Maybe if he squinted hard enough he could see better. So Lloyd did so and just as suspected, he saw Flintlock creeping closer to them, his gun by his side.

Just as Lloyd raised his gun at eye level, Flintlock fired at where Lloyd's hand was, knocking exactly just the gun out of range. Lloyd let out a breath of relief when he noticed that his hand hadn't got shot. He fell back into a fist-to-fist fighting stance and swung his leg at the other. Flintlock pulled the trigger and a bullet shot out of the barrel burying itself deep in Lloyd's thigh. The young man inhaled sharply and tried to ignore the pain as he charged for the criminal. The man kicked a loose board up and held it in front of him right as Lloyd's hand punched through it.

As the fight commenced between the two, Jay's eyes fell upon Lloyd's fallen weapon and he raced to it, staying out of the boundaries of their fight. The minute he looked back up, he saw Lloyd take a blow and he catapulted back into the rubble. With a loud thud, he hit the debri and crumpled to the ground like a toy.

"Lloyd!" The brunette dashed over to Lloyd and let his eyes fall upon the wound in Lloyd's thigh. "I can't do this alone, buddy- Gah! Oh no, oh no. It's bleeding-"

Lloyd coughed deliberately, hoisting himself up on one elbow. "You think a wound from a gun wouldn't bleed?"

"Quick. Uh, I need something to wrap it in." Jay dropped the gun and searched the ground for anything good enough to be used for a gauze.

Lloyd shifted to his right, groaning.

"Where did you two go?" Flintlock's voice bellowed.

"Jay, can you move a bit faster?"

The brunette was still searching for some cloth.

Lloyd sat up straighter when he heard Flintlock's footsteps growing louder. "Jay!"

Accepting that there was nothing in the building around to help, he unraveled the grey kerchief around his neck. "Just a few more seconds…" He tied it tightly around the wound in Lloyd's thigh and patted it nicely.

"Found ya."

Jay's heart stopped and his breathing became more rapid. Drowned in fear, he turned around. He suddenly found himself scared to death. He felt like the air around him had thinned, making it harder and harder to breathe. The man pressed the barrel of the gun harder against his forehead.

"Surprise, surprise. Hello, boys." Flintlock said to them with a smirk and the gun clicked.

Jay gulped, his hand clutching tightly onto Lloyd with fear coursing through him.

"One shot from this baby and hah, it'll kill you both just like that." The building fell eerily quiet and all Jay could hear was the uneven pants from Lloyd, the thumping of his own heart, and the gun shifting in Flintlock's hand. Jay's eyes were locked on the gun. "If Brookstone ain't here, then where is he?"

"Right here."

Without removing the gun from Jay's head, Flintlock turned around to find Cole standing just several feet away from him with a gun in his hands.

"Brookstone. I was wondering when you'd show up." He whistled, pulling out another gun and aiming it for Cole. "I'd watch my step if I were you."

Cole's hand tightened around the handle. "Who are you?"

"Ah, it's Flintlock and you better drop the gun, boy."

"The only way I'll only drop it is if you let them go."

The man chuckled a bit and tilted his head to the side, raising the gun aimed for Cole higher. "That, my boy, is not going to happen."

Cole licked his lips.

"Alright then, Flintlock. How about a challenge? Me against you, but you spare them."

Within a second, Flintlock drew his arm away from Jay and swung the gun towards Cole, firing. On the plus side, Cole had jumped out of the way with his feet still on the ground. "Ooh, I do love a challenge."

Cole fired at the ceiling where a loose piece of debri was hanging. The board dropped onto Flintlock, but it wasn't nearly as heavy as he thought it would be.

While Flintlock was picking himself up from the rubble, the dark haired teenager looked to Jay. "Get Lloyd out of here, now!"

Jay's eyes filled with worry. "But he's after you! We can't just leave you here…"

The gun Cole had stolen from the police department had one bullet left, and since he had already used it there was no more ammo left for him to use. He tossed his gun to the side and readied his fists in battle position. "Listen, don't talk, Bluebell. You need to get him to safety! Lloyd is hurt and -" The teenager flew against the wall, groaning. Flintlock was back on his feet.

Jay shot straight to his feet. "Cole!"

Lloyd shook Jay gently by the bottom of his pants. "Jay, I need to get outside." The brunette followed his friend's eyes to the clothed part of his thigh. With a huff, Jay slung one of Lloyd's arms around his neck and hoisted him up, limping to the exit.

Swiftly, Cole's metallic hand had landed a successful punch on Flintlock's stomach, which was followed by another swing of his fist. At the same time, Flintlock's fingers uncurled and the gun in his hands fell to the ground. Cole grinned with satisfaction and bent down to reach for it until Flintlock grabbed Cole by the shoulders and kicked him back against the wall again. Cole stumbled right and left, coughing deliberately. Seeing as Cole's guard was down, Flintlock used this as an advantage and spied Jay's staff and picked it up with a gleam in his eyes. The moment Cole had regained him stance, the staff was pulled up before his neck, Flintlock standing behind him.

"Where are ya friends now when you need them, huh?"

Cole smirked, "Are you forgetting that I have these things called arms and legs?" He heaved his leg up to strike Flintlock down below. But it was no use when the man spun around to the other side, the staff forcing Cole's head forward. He struck both of Cole's feet, rendering them weak. Before Cole could make another move, Flintlock spun back around, this time dropping the staff and quickly seizing Cole's wrists and linking them behind him.

"Shouldn't have asked them to leave, huh? Are you regretting it all now?"

Cole gazed out the partially dirt covered window and he saw Lloyd being lifted into an ambulance car. Several feet away from him, Jay was talking to the Chief, and he looked like he was shouting, repeatedly pointing in Cole's direction. Cole drew his brows together and tried to stand. "They're safe now. That's all that matters."

Flintlock clicked his tongue. "Cole Brookstone, I could never really tell which side you were on." The young man ground his teeth together in frustration. "First you were just a little boy, wanting to help the world, and then you run away and commit to crime and now what?"

"It doesn't matter, does it?"

Flintlock fixed his eyes on the situation outside. "No, it doesn't… but this does."

Before Cole could process anything, Flintlock slammed the back of his gun against Cole's head, just hard enough to knock him out. Satisfied with his work, he put the gun away as the teenager fell limp to the floor. Raising his watched wrist to chin level, he asked, "Tell me you're almost here. I have the boy and outside does not look too pretty."

"Almost there, Flintlock. My brother was just giving me a hard time on the technology these days." He heard a disgruntled laugh. "Can you believe it? He admires the old days but I say that technology made things much simpler!"

Flintlock groaned. "They don't call you two the Time Twins for nothing. Now hurry on up!" He shut off his wrist communicator and settled his eyes upon Cole's figure. He bent down and ran a hand over the bionic limb, filled with curiosity. Just several seconds ago it was blinking abnormally, hurting his eyes whenever he looked at it, but now it was back to its default. Flintlock wrinkled his nose. "Huh, what did the Overlord say about this arm again?"

Gathering all his strength, he lifted Cole into an upright position. He then muttered something under his breath and looked around the broken down room. "Looks like I'm gonna have to take you out the back."

Dragging Cole towards the back of the building was a cinch and luckily for him there wasn't a whole lot of debri piled up around. He lifted his head and searched for the getaway van that he had called in. "Acronix, where are ya?"

"I almost got caught, Flintlock. You're on your own." Flintlock cursed under his breath and proceeded to haul Cole outside. How was he going to take Cole back? He didn't know, but if he was able to get far enough from the defensive part of the city, he could call in some more help.

"Drop him, Flintlock." A high voice said.

Tilting his chin up, his eyes fixed on Jay. "You think I'm scared of you?" He rolled his eyes. "I know you wouldn't shoot - Oh!" He looked down at the ground and saw a small hole. "You missed."

"I didn't miss." Jay twirled the gun in his hands and slipped it back into the pocket on his belt. "I knew what I was doing, you mustached jerk."

Within seconds, Flintlock was surrounded, cops flanking either side of him.

"Hands up where we can see them! And drop all your weapons!"

No matter. So he was caught. The Overlord would find a way to bust him out. "I blame Acronix for this," he muttered and let go of Cole. Next, he emptied each of his pockets and gun holders, tossing them on the concrete beside Cole.

An officer marched up to him and locked his hands in cuffs. "You're coming with us, tough shooter."

As Flintlock was being carried away by the cops, Jay's first instinct was to drop his gun as he ran to Cole's limp figure on the ground. "Cole?" Jay gulped. His eyes studied Cole for any injuries and he bit the inside of his cheek when he saw some. Great. "More blood…" A sigh left him and he hunched over some more. Garmadon crouched down across from him and put a hand over Cole's forehead.

"He's out cold…" While the cops were leading Flintlock out, Garmadon asked Jay to help him carry Cole outside. Outside, Garmadon hoisted Cole into the back of his car while Jay hopped into the passenger's seat. "I'm taking you two home. After, I'm going to check on Lloyd and all the others at the hospital. Clean up some of the blood and make sure he gets rested, would you?"

Jay nodded silently.

"Well that's just great! We just lost one of our best sharpshooters!" Krux paced the room with his fists clenched.

"Hey, I almost got caught too!"

Krux shook his head with annoyance. "I wouldn't have cared if they caught you, brother." He walked closer to the chair where their leader sat, looking questionable. "What are we going to do now? We were this close to getting Brookstone and now it feels like we went all the way back to square one."

Acronix bounced on his toes when an idea came into mind and he rushed to the other side of the chair. "Hey, you know, once we're done using the arm for whatever it is you need it for, then maybe we could get Cole to join our side! Then it'd be even harder for Garmadon and his son to stop us!"

His brother hissed and growled, poking Acronix in the stomach. "No, you idiot! Shut up!"

The man in the chair clasped his hands together in thought and closed his eyes for a brief moment. The pendant around his neck illuminated a vibrant purple, matching his eyes when they opened. His eyes slowly drifted to the young man in the other room.

"Actually, that's not a bad idea." He raised his hand and Kai stood up. "We'll have him bring Cole to us."

Gosh I feel like I'm typing a Bucky Barnes fic or something lol.

Man, check out all those villains, huh? Their gang isn't made up of all the antagonists from the series, obviously. There'll only be certain ones I chose to star in here X3

Gah! It's 2018! I can't wait for Sons of Garmadon to come out AHHHH!