As he crossed into a still-powered section of the city, Jay made sure to keep projecting strength and power with his deliberate walk despite the crawling sense it stirred in his gut. There was no one around, yet he decided not to risk appearing weak just in case someone still watched him from afar.

The idea of sitting down and curling up sang to him, but he pushed the notion away.

His plan had worked. A second portion of the city's power glittering off of his being had been enough to strike Kai dumbfounded at the sight of him. Kai had seen his power. He'd been horrified. Surely that was enough to deter him from trying to ambush Jay. The lightning ninja was safer now; his plan had worked even better than expected. That should amuse him.

A weak chuckle escaped Jay's lips, but as much as he wished he could attribute the supposedly triumphant response to his clever victory, no warmth carried the sound out. It withered in the cold where it remained unheard.

Jay mentally scolded himself for his own lackluster response. He'd performed splendidly, a performance strong enough to make Kai's eyes go wide and his jaw drop, strong enough to make him stumble back in fear.

Fear.

That was what Jay wanted.

That was what Jay wanted.

It would be worth it. If the team really had learned to leave him alone, then the second portion of the city's power would be the last Jay would have to take. Jay sure hoped so; it proved exhausting with just one segment of the city's power coursing through him. With two, he should hypothetically feel only twice as bad, but the effect on his body multiplied tenfold.

Relentless energy pricking his every nerve exhausted his senses. Overstimulation sent his mind jumping between every lane of a highway to nowhere, and the electricity in his cells taunted him with the inability to truly rest.

He felt like an insomniac who'd been trudging on for days, and when it came time to sleep again, he imagined an insomniac was exactly what he'd turn into.

Jay had endless power coursing through him, yet the expense of each and every bolt of lightning weighed on him. It was like his elemental powers had expanded too rapidly to accommodate the amount of electricity he held, and now they deteriorated with every watt of it he used despite him never being accustomed to that amount of energy in the first place. He was in a constant limbo of hyperactivity and numbness, of overstimulation and its monotonous drone. He was sleepwalking.

Jay let himself fall out of his confident gait, posture slumping with a sigh that let out the tension he'd built up to puff out his chest.

"It'll be worth it…" He muttered aloud. "It'll be worth it."

Metallic clattering behind Jay made him jump. He whipped around to see an empty can clattering across the street and dove behind a garbage can before he could even really process it.

He found himself glad that his instincts had acted before his mind when a certain three ninjas and a samurai raced across the street and disappeared around the corner.

Jay's heart pounded in his ears. They were chasing him.

All he'd done, and they were still chasing him!

His mind caught up with his panic, and he shook his head.

No, his ex-team had flown down the intersecting street, not the one he'd been traveling on. They hadn't been behind him, chasing him, though wherever they were going, they sure seemed to be in a hurry.

Jay hummed. Maybe if he was careful enough, he could listen in on them. It would give him a good gauge as to whether or not he'd spooked them enough to deter them from their pursuit.

As if to urge him, his shoulder started throbbing again.

Jay hissed, putting pressure on the wound.

It would be nice to know if he could risk going into some stores and getting some medical supplies— food, too for that matter. Some melatonin wouldn't hurt, either.

Jay grimaced. He really did need supplies. The constant bursts of electricity around him wouldn't help his stealth skills, though, and he couldn't risk showing up and handing himself over on a silver platter, either.

He wondered if he could keep the electricity from escaping his form.

Jay balled his hands into fists and focused on drawing the energy inward.

The electricity branching off from him died out, replaced by pins and needles shooting through his ribcage.

Jay sputtered and let the electricity course around him again.

Okay, so he could keep it from showing.

It just felt really, really bad.

He considered for another moment.

Jay could do it, he decided. He would listen in for only a minute, and it would be risky and painful, but if he found the right information, it would all be worth it.

Mind made up, Jay leapt from his hiding spot and raced after the others.

He entered the street just in time to see them duck into an alley far ahead. It took him a minute to jog until he'd closed the gap between him and the alleyway, and he slowed as he heard their voices.

"What the heck was that?" Cole burst as Jay scaled the opposite side of the small building the team had stopped behind. "I thought the cables were supposed to connect the city's power, not burn it out!"

Jay crept across the roof and got down on his chest as he neared the edge, holding his power in as he crawled to the ledge and peered over.

"It wasn't the cables that caused the outage," Nya explained, her form reduced to a blob of blue by the strange angle and distance of Jay's vantage point.

"Then what was?" the green blob asked.

Pixal's robotic voice responded, "The outage occurred before we had a chance to confirm the connection between the wires. It had to have been caused by an outside source. And… I have my suspicions."

The team exchanged glances.

"You don't really think Jay would have taken more power?" Cole asked. "I mean, how much immunity to lightning does his power really grant him? It has to cap out at some point… if he kept taking more power— if he keeps taking more power— it won't be long before it really hurts him."

Jay's heart had to agree with that statement, and not figuratively speaking. His heart pounded in his chest in protest of the restrained electricity surging around it. Still, he held onto the power. If he let it flow around him now, he'd be discovered for sure.

"What now?" Lloyd asked. "We keep getting further and further from being able to power up the machine."

Jay frowned. Maybe he should hide out a little longer. Even if he'd scared them, they might start getting desperate for a solution.

"I… am not sure. I will have to think about it," Pixal responded.

Nya groaned. "I hope Kai is doing better than us. Hopefully his party went well."

Jay blinked and tilted his head. It was just Kai at the party? Alone?

"Ah," Cole said, "So he's really doing his part in calming down the citizens?"

"Yeah, I heard he went all-out with a special guest. I think I heard the guest made a dramatic appearance."

"Any idea who?"

Nya made a noncommittal noise. "Probably whoever he could book last-minute. Likely some fame-hungry celebrity like Clutch Powers or something."

Jay suppressed a gasp.

"It's a good thing he's keeping everyone's faith in us strong," Lloyd said. "If we can't find a new source fast, we might have to call an evacuation. The storm's only, what? Two, three days away?"

Jay mouthed bits of incomplete phrases that rushed through his mind, trying to sort out the puzzle pieces before they fled from his brain.

The ninjas really didn't know what went down at the party.

Sparks bit at the lightning ninja's ribs, and he shuffled backward before climbing off the roof and checking that he had a clear exit into the street. Upon seeing that the coast was clear, he wasted no time in backtracking a few streets back and ducking down another lane.

The moment he knew he was safe from the ninjas' detection, the suppressed power clawed out of Jay's control. The air around him glowed blue, then quickly turned into a blinding white, and his energy blanketed his being.

It shocked him.

It actually shocked him.

It was like he'd never developed any immunity to electricity in the first place, like when he was a kid experimenting with machines and tampered with old wires that weren't quite dead— but worse. He convulsed and fell to the ground, muscles twitching uncontrollably.

The bit of Jay's mind that wasn't occupied with panic or a blunt daze wondered if this was what it felt like to get struck by lightning without elemental powers.

He tried to cry out but could hardly control even his voice, and it came out weak and garbled.

Then it was done. He lay on the sidewalk, twitching and panting, faintly registering the odor of something burnt. White spots dotted his vision. A shiver went up his spine, cold and feverish all at once.

"Okay…" rasped the feeble remainder of his voice. "Let's not do that again unless we absolutely have to."

Jay sat up slowly as the white dots began to clear, gulping mouthfuls of air. His mind floated above him like a feather, slowly descending back towards him.

He grounded himself by taking in his surroundings. This particular street was oddly familiar, but he couldn't quite grasp why.

There was an ice cream shop behind him; he could tell by the sign hanging over the street corner. A red and white swirling pole across the street signaled a barbershop, and to its left, a display showcased televisions of all sizes, each showing an interviewer sitting in a comfy armchair across from a matching one that Kai occupied.

He blinked when the feather finally landed back on his head.

It was the same electronics store he'd been walking by when he'd heard about Kai's party, though the broadcast playing now wasn't the same one. The setting was different, and Kai appeared much more collected.

Jay tested his balance on his feet, then stumbled across the street to listen.

"I hear the lightning ninja's appearance was quite the show," the interviewer said.

Kai chuckled. "Yeah, our Jay has a flair for the dramatic— even had his own game show once."

Jay's head fell forward and thudded against the glass.

"I must say, this party has generated quite a bit of interest. Have you considered repeating a similar event in the future?"

"Yeah, actually." Kai looked out towards the camera. "I'm sure Ninjago will be excited to hear that Jay and I will be appearing all over the city every night this week."

Jay furrowed his brow.

The interviewer grinned. "Oh, how exciting! Where are these events taking place?"

Kai paused, then continued in a voice Jay identified as unsteady, "Well, I wouldn't want to give away all the fun! The citizens of Ninjago will figure it out every night as the time gets closer."

"Fascinating! What a clever way to keep the citizens engaged!"

Kai laughed. "Uh-huh! Totally keeping everyone engaged out here!"

Jay hummed. So Kai hadn't planned far enough ahead to find venues— Jay had known him long enough to deduce that much from his wavering tone. It was a last-minute effort, and Kai was trying his best to make it seem intentional. If Nya or Pixal or even Lloyd had been a part of his planning process, Kai would have been much more prepared.

Jay's eyebrows raised. Everything he was hearing pointed to one thing.

Kai hadn't planned any of the parties with the rest of the team.

The lightning ninja pursed his lips. Did Kai really intend on taking Jay down by himself? Was the party yesterday a setup so that Kai could catch him off-guard and take him down?

Jay shook his head. Something about that idea was off.

Kai was more… simple. And Jay didn't think that was a bad thing, Kai was straightforward in a comforting way. He was constant. Dependable. If Kai wanted to fight Jay, he would have found Jay and challenged him to a fight, simple as that.

Kai wasn't the type to come up with an intricate plan with bells and whistles; he got straight to the point. Why would he promise Jay's appearance in a social setting if he'd expected a fight to break out and endanger the partygoers as soon as Jay arrived?

From the constant muddle in Jay's mind, one thought broke through.

Maybe Kai didn't want to fight him.

Jay knew the thought was too hopeful. He tried to stomp out the thought's candle flame as soon as it appeared, but before he did, it managed to set fire to the other thoughts racing through his brain.

The mess in his brain burned away, giving way to the few thoughts the fire chose to illuminate.

Kai didn't want to fight him, the fire told him. It made sense.

The ashes of any thoughts that contradicted the idea fluttered in Jay's head.

"But then why does he want me there?" Jay pondered aloud.

His muddled mind churned but refused to hand him a coherent answer.

Jay tried to steer himself away from the idea. It was dangerous. Kai wanted to fight him. Kai hated him. Kai would let him die at the hands of the machine. Kai…

Kai had hardly given him any reason to believe those things.

Someone expendable. Like Jay.

The words rang in his ears as clear as Kai was right next to him speaking them.

The words stung. They burned. They burned even when Kai was fighting alongside him and not against him, when his jabs at Jay's expense paled in comparison to the amount of times he'd saved Jay's life in battle or when he played games with Jay when they were supposed to be training or when he laughed with him about whatever subject they could poke fun of together.

He'd said worse things about Nya, and yet he loved her and protected her and helped her be the best version of herself.

Kai wasn't being malicious. He was being a brother.

Maybe Kai wasn't on board with the rest of the team. Maybe he still cared about Jay.

Jay tried to push thought away, but the fire had caught and it refused to extinguish until it had burned out all its fuel.

After several minutes of fighting what Jay already knew would be a losing battle in his own mind, he gave in and let himself start planning ahead on this new train of thought.

He looked to the sky, knowing full well how stupid it was to give in, and prayed that this fire would not burn him.