Something was definitely wrong. First Kai went MIA, now Jay wasn't responding either. The whole situation gave Cole a sinking feeling in his stomach.
And he just couldn't seem to move fast enough, even when skipping down the stairs two at a time.
"I need backup!" he hissed into his earpiece. "Kai's not responding and I lost Jay."
"I'm on it," Nya answered.
"Zane," Lloyd began, kicking back into leader mode, "I need you to stay out here and cover our tails. Make sure no one goes in or out."
"Affirmative."
"Nya, I want you to keep an eye on the ambassador while the rest of us search the building."
"Babysitting? Sorry, Lloyd, but I'm going to find Jay."
Cole heard the Green Ninja sigh. Lloyd knew better than to argue with a worried girlfriend. "Fine, then I'll watch the ambassador. I'll keep a lookout on the first floor, too. Let me know if you find anything. Cole, did you notice any suspicious activity earlier?"
He shook his head, already pushing his way through the crowd, trying to draw as little attention to himself as possible. "We heard Jay talking to someone, but I didn't see anything."
"What about Kai?"
"Well, he's not at his post, that's for sure."
"Where is he?"
"If I knew that we wouldn't be having this conversation." Sucking in a breath, Cole reined in his temper. Just because things were going downhill didn't mean his friends deserved to be snapped at. "Sorry, just—"
"I'll watch the ambassador," Lloyd repeated, his tone the essence of calm understanding. "You guys go find Jay and Kai."
Right.
Cole felt his resolve tighten. Whatever was going on, they were going to get to the bottom of it.
"I've got the west side of the building," Nya said and Cole couldn't help but chuckle.
"Way to make it overly complicated. I'll take the right side."
With that, Cole began making his way through the crowd, trying to see if Jay had left any clues behind while remaining inconspicuous.
The crowd seemed thicker than before; more suffocating. Maybe that was just his worry closing in on him, or maybe more people had arrived since he'd last been down there.
Yeah. Probably the first one…
Peering into every open doorway and snooping around the hallways proved to be an effective method of search because he found Jay. It was almost too easy.
His heart jump-started at the sight of his friend lying limp on a couch in some random lounge at the end of the hall.
Drugged. Cole's stomach did a very unnecessary flip that had him wishing he would just be sick and get it over with. The rising nausea was almost too much as he knelt beside his brother.
That's when he noticed the alcohol on Jay's breath. What the—?
Despite the way he'd always joked about taste-testing Cole's beer for him, Jay had never willingly consumed alcohol—waiting patiently until his 21st birthday came around like the good little boy his parents had raised.
So, what the—?
And then, it hit him.
The punch. Cole nails dug into his skin as he fought to release the tension in his fist. Not drugged. Spiked.
Someone had spiked Jay's punch, then dumped him here.
It all made sense now. Jay not feeling good, the weird conversation from earlier…
And yet, Cole was still as confused about the whole thing as ever.
"Jay!" With a few quick shakes, he jostled his friend awake. "Come on, Jay!"
"Cole…?" Jay groaned, struggling to keep his eyes open. "Cole… he… he messed up my hair. See…?"
"It's okay, Jay. How many times have I told you? Your curls look amazing. You don't have to flatten them."
"They look…" Running a lazy hand through his hair, Jay shook his head. "They… They stick out all over the place, y'know? They're… They're… Cole, I don' feel so good…"
"I know, buddy. It's okay, just stay with me. Who brought you in here?"
"Y'know…"
"No, I don't. Come on, Jay, we're running out of time."
"Time for what…? Just let me sleep…"
"Oh, no you don't!" Cole gave Jay a gentle shake. "Who brought you here, Jay?"
"That…" Jay's eyes fluttered, finally meeting Cole's. "That man… y'know? The… The one with all the punch… He took my earpiece… I wan'it back."
"Did he say anything? Why he brought you here? Why he—?"
Though Jay's eyes widened, they still managed to retain their sleepy sloop. "Cole!"
Whipping around in time to see the door handle turn did nothing to help their predicament, and stumbling to the closed door only took him further from Jay.
Locked. Still, he yanked on the handle, jerking it until he was sure it would pop out of its socket.
No such luck; the knob remained firmly intact.
"This is Cole, can anyone hear me?" As he turned up his earpiece, he scanned the room in a frantic search for a way out. "Nya? Lloyd?"
"Cole—"
"Lloyd! Listen, I found Jay, but someone locked us in a lounge down the hall from the main room. I repeat: I need back up on level one—"
"Cole!" The stern panic in Lloyd's voice shut Cole up instantly, sending his heart into a hammered frenzy. "They got Nya."
"They? Who's they?"
"I don't know, but the only explanation is that this is all an elaborate plan to get to the ambassador."
Things were too messed up for Lloyd to be exaggerating—and there's no way Cole was going to accuse him of being paranoid. Not when Jay was lying half-conscious on a couch back there.
"What about Zane?"
As if on cue, the nindroid's voice filled his ear. "I've alerted the police and we're working on extracting the ambassador now."
"We'll find a way out of here and join you as soon as we can." Even as he said it, Cole had a sinking feeling they were just about to run out of time.
Slamming his shoulder against the door was a brilliant tactic he'd picked up from the movies. Too bad it doesn't work, idiot. Come on, I thought you were supposed to be strong.
Though rare, there were some days Cole wished he was still a ghost. Back then, walls and locked doors were no problem.
"There has to be a key around here somewhere, right?" A glance back at Jay was less than helpful as his brother's eyes had slipped closed once more.
And that posed another problem. If Cole somehow broke the door down, what would he do with Jay?
You can't just leave him here.
Yeah, but I can't carry him around, either.
Maybe the team would have the situation under control by then. What's left of the team, anyway.
Maybe…
The idea didn't sound promising, yet Cole turned his attention back to their jailbreak.
Come on…
Come on!
Not more than a few slams in, his shoulder reminded him that if he kept hitting it against the door, it might just pop out of its socket entirely.
Yeah… Don't need that.
Slamming the door once more for good measure did nothing, even when he charged at it from across the room.
It only made his shoulder hurt like a flaming inferno of death. Or something like that.
Sitting down on the floor beside Jay's couch, Cole fought to catch his breath, ignoring the searing pain as best he could.
You seriously can't break down a thin little door? You're the freaking Master of Earth! Where's your super strength?
He washed a hand over his face.
Nonexistent, apparently.
A groan from Jay pulled him out of his dark thoughts and he turned toward his friend.
It seemed to be taking every ounce of strength Jay possessed to keep his eyes open.
"Are they here yet…?"
"Who?"
"Th'team."
Oh.
Sucking in a breath, Cole shook his head. "No one's coming, Jay. They're busy protecting the ambassador. We have to get out of here ourselves."
"Can't you jus' break down th'door?"
Cole pursed his lips, glaring at the object in question. "I tried. It's pretty solid wood."
"Maybe we can set it on fire…" came Jay's sleepy suggestion, his eyes fluttering closed once more. "Wake me up when we're free…"
He couldn't tell if Jay had actually passed out again because the younger ninja's lashes continued to flutter, twitching as if trying to break free of whatever spell had befallen them.
Spiked…
He shivered. Nothing that should ever have happened to Jay.
You shouldn't have let that happen. Some friend you are.
Cole cracked his knuckles, a renewed determination filling his bones.
They had to protect the ambassador, sure, but more than anything, he wanted to find whoever had done this to his brother.
And make them pay one, way or another.
I promise.
I'll get us out of here.
Shoving his shoulder against the door again would only be a waste of time, so Cole scanned the room for another way out. Maybe something he could use as a battering ram…
The lounge was filled to the brim with books, books, and more books, none of which looked to be very useful for anything, really, except reading. Even then, Cole had never found reading to be very useful, anyway.
If only Nya was here. She'd had some sort of hairpin that might be able to pick the lock—
With a jolt, Cole's fingers flew to his belt. Maybe one of the pins on the buckles could…
Yanking it off, he didn't even take the time to mourn the loss of fashion—that was something Kai would do. He pricked his fingers more times than he'd ever care to admit trying to bend it into the right shape.
The right shape. He scoffed, gently probing around the lock with his makeshift key. There's no right way about this.
Just survival.
And, he hated to admit, a touch of revenge.
I promise, Jay.
I'll get you out of here.
I promise…
