Chapter 17: Jump

"Stop! I need to go back! I need to get him! Let me go!" I struggled to get out of the grips of Zane.

"We can't go back. Not now. If you go out there you'll die." Zane continued to hold me down.

"What about you? You aren't human!"

"The gas will fry my circuits. I'll wait for it to settle then I'll go out."

"There's no time for waiting! We need to save him!" I stopped struggling and just looked up at Zane with tears streaming down my cheeks.

Zane let go of his grip and pulled back my hood, revealing my saddened face. "I'm sorry. There's nothing else we can do." He stood up and backed away from me knowing I wouldn't go anywhere now.

I wiped my nose with my arm and sniffled. I then wiped my tears. I just watched my brother die. I had known him only for a short time, but I felt so connected to him. "If only I hadn't come after him," I shook my head.

"You coming or not coming would not have made a difference. The bombs would have still come and destroyed our ship. Lloyd would have-"

"Stop. Just-...just don't." I cut Zane off. My sorrow turned into rage. "I'll kill that son of a bitch, you'll see. As soon as I get my hands on him. He's dead." This Borg guy was about to be history.

"I understand your anger. I would like to have hope that Lloyd is still alive. But rationally, I do not believe he made it out. Maya, you still need to hold onto that hope. Don't throw it away so quickly." Zane put his hand on my shoulder.

"Hope? You call this...hope?" I pointed out the window that revealed that massive destruction of Ninjago City.

"The city does not make it Ninjago City. The people do. From what we know, Borg wanted them to all escape before his mad plan. So we cannot assume he wanted us dead as well."

"Really? If he's so power hungry he wants us dead. We would've gotten all the credit for saving the city. We were the ones to draw them out to safety and we would have led the snakes back into their temples. Not Borg." I snapped.

"Your argument has potential," Zane laughed. "But again, we cannot assume without further evidence."

"How the hell are you laughing? I thought you were a robot. Maybe you just have a twisted sense of humor." I rested my elbows on the window sill and laid my head down.

"My sense of humor is intact. You are just the one who has made me laugh." Zane said sitting down.

"I wasn't even trying to be funny." I scoffed.

"Which is what made it humorous. You know, never mind, I see you are getting too heated over this conversation."

"H-heated? Okay, you're officially the most thorn-in-your-side ninja out of all of them. And that's saying a lot considering Kai is also at the top of the list."

"Then I am honored." Zane smiled.

"Both of you, stop. You are not making this situation-ah...any better." Misako came in the room wincing in pain.

"Misako! I thought you were analyzing the damage." Zane jumped up.

"I already did," Misako walked closer to Zane and I holding her side with on of her hands. "I've placed a shield over the Bounty but Zane and I ran tests on the gas. It has a form of metal eating organisms inside. We have about 15 minutes left before we're toast."

"Could this day get any worse." I whispered.

"Your brother and my son are gone. But I would like to believe that he is still alive. I know him. He wouldn't-Ah!" The Bounty began to rock back and forth causing us to lose our balance. Zane held Misako since she was evidently injured and I braced myself the best I could.

"What the hell just happened?" I asked.

"Zane go check out the infrastructures. I would but I need to sit." Misako said still grasping her side.

"Affirmative. Maya stay here and watch her." Zane said.

I watched as Misako sat down trying to catch her breath. She looked like she was in a lot of pain. I felt bad. I hobbled over to her on my one good leg and sat down next to her. "What happened to you?"

"Oh it's nothing really, I just think I might've cracked some ribs is all." She sighed.

"That's not nothing, that could be dangerous, I mean, you don't know if one of your ribs punctured your lung or-" As I talked I watched her face turn ghost white. "Sorry," I giggled.

"Looks like you got banged up too. You sure that is holding pressure? Your bandage is stained red." Misako said pointing to my leg.

I didn't realize how much worse my leg had gotten. I lifted my leg over my knee to examine the bandage, but when I did, blood seeped out from underneath the gauze. "Holy shit um," I put my hands over the wet bandage and held pressure. I must have cut it a lot worse when I fell on it.

"Here," Misako grabbed a cloth belt that fell out of a bin and tied it above my knee. "This makes a tourniquet, it'll stop blood flow until we can get you back. These are known to be painful though. Just a warning."

"I know, I've used one before." I sighed.

"What do you mean?" Misako looked up at me.

"I had a friend. He was that one friend that you can always go to for anything and everything. His name was Henry. We did everything together. When the Great Devourer came, It crushed a parking garage that him and I were in together. A piece of cement fell from the ceiling and cut an artery in his arm. There was blood everywhere. I tied a tourniquet right on his shoulder and he said the pain from it was worse than his injury. Another collapse happened and we got separated. Once the Devourer was gone, there was a search party for all missing persons. They found Henry's body underneath all the rubble." Thinking of Henry reminded me of Lloyd. They were so similar in so many ways. Henry will always be considered my brother, as well as Lloyd.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize he was one of the four that died that day."

"Five actually. I asked them not to broadcast his death. I was the closest he had to family. They recorded it but the news didn't get to it." I shrugged. Misako just nodded and continued to tie the cloth.

"This should do it." Misako finished.

"Yeah that's definitely tight." I winced. It hurt to move. It felt like something was trying to pop my leg off.

"I need to find Lloyd." Misako stood up.

"Wait what? We can't. At least not yet." I stood up as well.

"I know he's alive. I know it."

An alarm began to blare across the coms. Zane spoke with panic in his voice. "Our shields are going down. We are currently hanging on the edge of the building. We need to get out of here fast. Maya our only way out is to form our dragons while jumping off the roof. We won't be able to get out any other way. I'm on my way. Maya flip your hood on. Misako there should be a mask under the desk in a drawer. Hurry!"

"Oh...shit. Okay. Um...fuck, Maya...what are you supposed to do?" I said out loud to myself.

"I'm staying. I don't care. I'll wear the gas mask inside but I need to find Lloyd." Misako turned on the computers.

"We need to jump." I turned towards her. I had to take her with me or we would both die.

"No! There's still time...we...we can figure something out."

"Misako, it's not worth it. We need to go before we're poisoned."

"Maya, listen to me,"

"No. You listen to me. Lloyd would have wanted us to save ourselves. Why should three people have to-"

"Don't you finish that sentence. He's alive. I know it. We just need to find him. Lloyd's smart. He must've hid underground where the snakes hide. That is unless the gas reached him."

"The walls and windows aren't enough. Look, it's saying the protective layer is at 5%. I know you want to save Lloyd. I know. But we can't save him when we're dead. Put your mask on. I'm leaving now. With or without you."

"I'm sorry." Misako looked at me. "I can't go."

"I'm sorry too." I ripped off one of my gloves and blinded Misako with a ball of light. I made it bright enough to where she didn't even realize I had picked her up. I met up with Zane who was running down a hallway. "She's fine. I just...needed to blind her for a second."

"That doesn't matter right now. We need to go. This way." Zane took Misako from me considering I could barely walk with my own two feet. I flipped on my hood once we both stopped in front of a hatch. I opened the hatch as quickly as I could, making sure I wouldn't slip and fall down to my sudden death in the process.

"I'll go first. You come after as soon as you see Renaissance transform."

I looked at Zane confused.

"My dragon." Zane tilted his head.

"Oh oh right. Gotcha." I nodded feeling stupid.

"Ninja-go!" Zane jumped out of the hatch with Misako over his shoulder. Almost immediately, his dragon formed.

"Guess it's my turn. Should I really try saying ninja-go? Isn't that just Ninjago but separate ninja and go? You know what never mind. Ninja-GO!" I free-falled out of the hatch. I closed my eyes and imagined my dragon reappearing. I was imagining it, but it wasn't happening. I opened my eyes and fear filled my mind. I started screaming and yelling out for Zane. All I could see was the ground getting closer and closer. Then out of nowhere, I was laying on top of something cold. I looked up to see that Renaissance had caught me.

"I thought you unlocked your dragon?" Zane yelled.

I held onto the ice spikes of the dragon. "I did!" I yelled. "Why couldn't I do it?" I whispered to myself.

Almost immediately, Zane landed on the ground behind a line of destroyed cars. "What happened back there?" Zane hopped off the dragon and walked towards me. I slid off the tail.

"I...I don't know. I've done it before I don't understand why..." I shook my head.

"The only thing that keeps you from connecting to your dragon is-"

"Fear. I know. But I wasn't afraid until I realized after the fact my dragon never formed." I interrupted Zane.

"Are you sure? That's nearly an impossible explanation. Normally its fear as you are trying to summon."

"I'm 100% sure." I said. I remember it clear as day. I was so calm as I jumped, but as soon as I saw the ground coming closer to me, I freaked out. Could that have really prevented me from forming my dragon?

"Zane," Misako grunted as she slid off the dragon. "What...what happened? All I remember was the Bounty shaking and now we're on the ground." She rubbed her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Misako. I had to blind you with my light. The force might have been too much and knocked you out. It was the only way to get you out of there." I kicked the ground.

"Wait, but," Misako looked up towards the Bounty that leaned over the edge. "Lloyd. He...why did you leave him?" Her voice raised with anger.

"There was nothing we could've done. Between the gas and the toxins inside of it we-"

"Zane!" Misako grabbed Zane's shoulders. "He is my son. Your friend. Your brother. How could you leave him like that?! Both of you!" She turned her head towards me.

"I..I.." I stuttered.

"We'll go back later. I promised Maya I would." Zane looked at me and I nodded back to him.

"Oh, god," Misako sunk to the ground grabbing her ribs. She took off her mask and began to softly sob. Zane didn't know how to react. I walked over to Misako and sat on the ground beside her.

"We'll get him." I put my arm around her shoulder. "If I've learned anything within this past month, it's that this family you have here doesn't give up so easily. When they set their mind to something, they do it. We will find Lloyd. Alive. I know it."

Misako looked at me with tears in her eyes. "Maya," She pulled my hood back and placed her hand across my cheek. "How have I been so lucky to have you back into my life?" She asked looking at me with deep sincerity. I put my hand over hers and leaned my head further into her hand. "I've missed you for so...so many years. I should have never left you, child." She said with a gasping voice.

"Dad was in trouble. You had no choice." I sniffled.

"That may be so, but you didn't deserve the life you had growing up. You didn't deserve to grow up in such a dark, cruel world. You needed your mother and I wasn't there for you." Misako wiped her tears. "I am so, so eternally sorry for every ounce of pain I have ever caused you. I truly don't deserve you."

I closed my eyes and nodded my head slowly. I felt that I just took the biggest leap over the biggest obstacle in my life. I had finally felt room for forgiveness in my heart. My fear of the future was not only controlled, but it was gone now. I'm starting over. Without saying anything, I wrapped my arms around Misako's shoulders and nested my head by her collarbone.

I whispered with a raspy voice: "I forgive you."