He was floating in never-ending blackness, but it wasn't oppressive, quite the opposite, it was warm and comforting. For the life of him, he couldn't remember how he got where he was nor how long he had been there, time seemed not to exist. It didn't matter anyway, he didn't care. There had never been anything else in his life. As far as he knew, there were no memories except these noir surroundings, he didn't even know his own name. Then the peaceful ignorance was ripped away in a blast of sound and light.
A dam seemed to break and all his memories came flooding back. With vigor, Cole began to fight his way out of the suddenly suffocating gloom. Opening his eyes, Cole noticed that the tunnel he was in wasn't that much lighter than his mind. The only light came from a torch, very far away. In the center of the corridor was a tall man whose features were hidden by shadows. He held open a locket and stared expectantly at a large steel door. Directly across from Cole sat Kai, confusion evident on his face. His hands were chained behind his back and a gag placed in his mouth.
A sweet melody filled the passageway, but Cole could not locate the source. It echoed of the walls, sounded like it came from them. It was this that had brought Cole out of the deep recesses of his mind. Cole tried to get the man's attention, hoping that he would explain exactly what was going on. The man looked over and then back to the locket in his hand. Reluctantly it seemed, he closed it and the music stopped.
The man walked towards Cole, but made no move to release him. The light, however, showed his features a bit better. A mask covered most of his face, but he soon removed that. Underneath was a broad chin and dark blue eyes. The man then lowered his hood to reveal messy, brown hair. It was then obvious that he wasn't so much a man as a young adult; Cole would have put him around twenty. Altogether, he could have been considered quite handsome, if it weren't for the ugly grimace he wore. It was almost as if he was trying to be nice and seem friendly, but was so displeased that he couldn't stand smiling. Cole didn't know what to make of him.
The man took the gag out of Cole's mouth, yet did not untie his hands.
"My name is Andrew. Who are you?" he asked.
Cole cleared his throat before answering, "Cole, Black ninja."
The last part wasn't normally necessary and Cole did not often introduce himself that way, but he wanted to impress upon the guy, Andrew, how important it was that Cole and Kai were released. They had to defeat the Serpentine now that they were out again, and stronger.
"And why are you tied up?" Andrew asked, apparently clueless.
"I don't…" Cole tried to remember, but the last thing that he did remember was fighting the Serpentine. That, and the endless field of black.
Andrew nodded thoughtfully and then went over to Kai. He did the same thing as with Cole and Kai answered in basically the same way.
"Now will you untie us?" Kai demanded angrily.
"No," Andrew answered.
The two ninja did not need to ask why, as a few Serpentine came with food and set the bowls in front of them. They then force fed the ninja the food. It wasn't particularly good food and only made the two hungrier. Kai spit his last mouthful at the Serpentine feeding him. The imprisoned ninja didn't notice that the food was spiked with sedatives until their worlds started to go black.
Nya paced the deck in agitation. They now had a general idea about where her brother and Cole were being held, but nothing was being done. She wasn't used to feeling helpless and didn't like it at all. She wanted to do something, but ever since Willow had shown up, it seemed that nothing would go right for anyone but the girl. As though her very presence had sown seeds of discord.
Jay came up on deck to see Nya pacing and walked over to her.
"Hey Nya. What are you doing up this early?" he asked.
It was indeed early. Around 6 in the morning to be exact. The sun was low in the sky, but nobody was looking at it.
"I was having trouble sleeping," she answered.
Jay nodded his head while hoping that he knew why she's upset. Sometimes things confuse him, but he was pretty sure that it had to do with Kai missing. Especially because they had a general idea where he was.
Jay watched as Nya continued pacing. Her agitated foot falls seemed to wear a groove in the deck. It was unlike her to not do anything. After becoming Samurai, she was much more active than before. It was as if something had changed everything, Jay thought. He didn't like the way things were changing.
"We could do some scouting," Jay suggested.
Nya stopped her pacing and looked at him. Heartened by this he continued.
"Not do a two person rescue mission, because that would be dangerous, obviously. I mean, unless they were in a lot of danger and it would be necessary. I just think that we could find out where they are."
Nya pretended to think it over; although she already knew that she would agree to anything that was at least slightly productive.
"Alright, let's go," she started to walk down the ramp.
Jay, although still in his pajamas, followed. Neither of them saw Lloyd, who was also feeling fairly useless himself, behind them. Although, when they did, nobody said anything. It wasn't until late morning that anybody noticed the three missing.
Kai, had trouble staying focused after he woke up. The room insisted on spinning, but he tried to make out the features of it. He couldn't focus on anything. He was lucky to see his own hands.
Andrew was standing in front of a rack of dangerous looking instruments. His hands held a large, and empty, syringe. Two men sat, slumped, in the far corner, unconscious and beaten. But, of course, Kai knew none of this. The first thing that he truly noticed was his body burning.