Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy! I, myself, can't even process the whirlwind that 2020 has been. Welp. I hope this chapter helps pass the time. Thank you for reading!
CHAPTER THREE- The Sound of Ticking Clocks
AFTER
His job was to protect you.
Jay felt dizzy. His throat clenched up, and he tipped forward. Nya caught him, steadily setting him back on his feet. Her lips moved, but Jay couldn't find the sound. The only thing Jay could hear, was his own panicked monologue.
Did he die because of me? Was he only doing his job? Me, him, was any of it real?
What about me is worth protecting?
"What do . . . you mean?" Jay mumbled the words. He really felt like he was going to be sick.
"It's uh- well, complicated. Maybe we could talk about this, somewhere else? People are uh- starting to gather." Dareth glanced at the burst window behind them. Sure enough, more than one passerby had stopped to stare at the half-destroyed dojo. "Plus, I'm not too keen on waiting here form more snake golems."
Jay wasn't sure if he'd nodded or not. The world was moving at a weird pace. One moment, he was still inside the dojo. The next, he was inside a large black car, speeding down the tight streets of Ninjago city.
"Are you trying to say there's things like that all over the city?" Nya was leaning forward, slipping her head in between the driver and passenger seats in order to be closer to Dareth. The man was frowning at the road, as if expecting it to do something unexpected. "Seriously?"
"Well. Those tiny snakes are a first. But I've seen other things. Big snakes. Remember those earthquakes a few years back? That was a giant snake, eating away at everything beneath the city. We were the ones that stopped it." Dareth beamed, although Jay had a feeling the man was more likely to stand at the sidelines than join a fight. "You didn't really think Ninjago was all that safe, did you?"
"Well, I thought it was, you know, as safe as any." Nya said. "How did you wind up working for Garmadon? Is there some sort of . . . audition process? I know how to fight. And I'm good at mechanics. Very good."
"Garmadon chooses who he chooses. I'm not all that sure how he goes about it." Dareth shrugged. "He's never made a wrong choice. Even when you think someone isn't fit for the job . . . sooner or later it becomes obvious that Garmadon had a very good reason for asking them to join."
Nya scoffed. "Boo. I'd be useful. There's really nothing I can do?"
"Well, seeing as to how we'll see him soon, maybe you can ask."
With a shake of his head, Jay tried to regain the thread of the conversations. It was more challenging than it should have been. His mind looped Dareth's word (To protect you. To protect you.) and the electricity had left him with too much adrenaline. It ran through him completely unchecked, running his body down into anxious tatters.
It made it really hard to focus. It felt as if the world around him was made out of nothing more than feeble static.
"You're awfully quiet little spark boy," Dareth's voice cut into Jay's mind. One quick look out the windows let him know he'd zoned out for a good chunk of time. Again.
"Don't . . . Just Jay is fine." Jay blinked. He couldn't recognize the roads. They were on an end of the city he hadn't yet been to. He sank back into his seat, hating the weight of Nya's and Dareth's glances.
"Well, you were just so eager for explanations. And now you're out of questions?" Dareth shook his head, then turned the car to the left far too quickly. Jay slid on his seat. "I mean come on. Not even one? Not even a Wow, Dareth! Doing what you do sounds awfully heroic!"
"Okay." Jay said. "Why did Cole need to protect me?"
"Garmadon thought he was the best for the job. I mean, you're young, he was young, it's not too difficult to see-"
"Not that." Jay grimaced. "I mean, why me?"
"You shoot lightning from your hands then ask why you need to be protected?"
"I mean, yeah. If I can do all that, doesn't it stand to reason I can protect myself?" Jay's hands sparked. His brain felt like it was on fire. "Cole's death was my fault, wasn't it? If I wasn't some stupid freak them maybe he-"
"No, Jay. Don't think like that." Nya pressed her own hands against his, firmly keeping him from spiraling down the wrong path.
He pulled away. The last thing he wanted was to hurt someone else.
"Most of the stuff concerning you is on a Need-To-Know basis. All I was really told was that you were very, very dangerous. In the wrong hands at least." Dareth explained.
"You talk like I'm some sort of weapon. I'm just me." Jay said the words, but he didn't really believe them. Not after what he'd seen himself do. "So what now, then? Whose death will I be responsible for next?"
Nya frowned at him. There was both concern and annoyance in her dark eyes.
"Not mine, that's for sure. I'm just taking you to HQ. Garmadon will handle it. Plus, he'll want to see the flash drive. Have you seen what's in it? If Cole hid it, it's got to be important. Maybe some other mission he was working on."
"It needed a password. So, no." Jay said. Maybe some other mission. The words felt like a punch. Had he been nothing more than a task? No. No, he couldn't believe that. There had been sincerity in everything Cole did. There had to have been. If everything had been a lie then-
No. No.
"Aw. That's disappointing. They never let me in on the big stuff. I was hoping to prove myself, you know? Like maybe that little flash drive there has evidence of a spy in our organization," Dareth's eyes became dangerously dreamy, for someone whose main focus should have been the road. "Then, then we'd go catch them red-handed! Maybe you and the little miss would end up captured. Nothing against you, just, you know, the lack of experience.
"Then I'd barge in, save you both, and defeat whoever had been double timing us. After that, Garmadon would have to admit that I-"
"Watch it!"
Nya's shout. The screech of breaks. Jay clung to his seat as the world spun around him. In a moment of odd clarity, his eyes connected with those of the other driver.
A wave of familiarity rattled him. But before he could put a name to the face, a heavy smack to the side of his head tossed him into darkness.
BEFORE
"Wow!"
Jay could think of no other word. He laughed, spinning on his heels before falling back against the sand. He stared deep into the sky, beaming up at the stars. They each winked down at him, equally enthusiastic.
In Ninjago City, it was impossible to see the stars. Too much light pollution. Streetlights, billboards, cars from those who never slept . . . it all shrouded the night in shadow. The small town Jay had grown up in was any better. Every once in a while, a few stars would adorn the night. But nothing like this.
Jay was dizzy with awe. He'd known, of course, that earth was only a miniscule speck in the vastness of space. But now, now he felt it.
"Yeah. Wow." Cole dropped down to sit beside him, tilting his head up to watch the stars. "Bet you'd never thought of driving out into the desert just to stargaze."
"Not at all," Jay chuckled, running his hands over the cool sand as he sat up. "You're just full of surprises, aren't you?"
"No kidding." Cole said. Jay couldn't help but notice his tone was a little bit heavy.
"Well, that just means I'll never get tired of you."
"I sure hope so."
Jay studied Cole's features. Sometimes, an odd sadness would creep into his boyfriend's voice. Jay wished he could probe, but he was too afraid of saying the wrong thing. But there was one thing he wasn't too scared to do.
He slid his hand into Cole's. Finger by finger, Jay tightened his grip. Gentle still, but firm enough to convey a message. I'm here.
Cole looked over at him, a warm smile chasing away the sadness. "I'm really lucky to have met you, you know?"
"Definitely." Jay chuckled. "Not to brag, but I am a delight."
"I feel lied to though. I thought you were a cute, shy, anxious nerd. Turns out you've got an ego bigger than the Mountain of a Million Steps."
"It's not ego if you've got the personality to back it up." Jay winked.
"Oh, I know." Cole winked back. "But I stand by my statement."
"You are incredibly rude." Jay scoffed, pulling his hand away to punch Cole's shoulder. Instead of causing damage, Jay's knuckles were the ones that suffered the most. "Jumping ninjas, Cole. Are you made of bricks?"
Cole laughed. Jay did too. "Muscles, Jay. Ever heard of them?"
"Can't say I have, no. Is it a meal? Or more of a dessert? Or, maybe a type of sauce?"
"You really think you're funny, don't you freckles?" Cole's laugh softened into a chuckle. He ran his hand over Jay's hair, brushing away some of the sand that had clung to it. "I really, really like you. I mean it, Jay. You make me feel like I exist."
Jay's heart skipped a beat. His mind dipped into Cole's eyes, and he felt a wave of pleasant dizziness. "I really, really like you too."
With the shinning stars above and a hesitant kiss, Jay and Cole managed to get lost within their own little universe.
AFTER
Krux hated the sound of clocks.
Each second only served to further remind him of all his failures. Tick. One second away from what could have been. Tock. Another weight on his aging bones.
He slammed his fist against the clock that hung before him. Hard. It shattered under his fingers. He did not yet know who had brought it into his office. But he would find out. And once he did, they would pay.
The sound stayed in his mind. It always did, for a while. Tick. Knowledge he'd once had, burying itself further in his mind. Tock. Another moment without his brother.
A knock resounded on his door. It was feeble, but it echoed. This was because Krux's office was mostly empty. He did not need decorations, or useless technological Knick knacks. Large bookshelves lined the walls, filled with stolen research. A majestic wooden desk sat at the center of it all. All around, the walls were empty.
Except for the broken clock.
Upon entering, one would instantly notice the lack of windows. It was a suffocating feature, serving to unnerve anyone Krux invited inside. This, however, was not the main reason for Krux's design.
Ninjago City had leaped into the future all too quickly. Krux was tired of looking upon its bright lights, and useless, fast moving toys.
The knock came again, and Krux growled under his breath. "Yes?"
"Um. Hi, Cap'n." A young snake peeked in. His scales were a bright shade of green. His canines were unusually sharp, fitting in his mouth with effort. His name was Clancee, and he was one of the many mistakes Krux had made while trying to rescue his brother from time's stubborn clutches. "There is- There's- Ah, you see the lad you are trying to get, Cap'n. Our crew found him."
Crew. Captain. Lad. The boy came from the past, and he did not bother to hide it. Even his clothes were something from another century. This was the one thing Krux appreciated about him.
"Then, is he here?" Krux tried not to show too much emotion. But his hands tingled. That woman's son. The final piece of the puzzle. Without him, things would only continue to end in mistakes.
"Ah, well, no Cap'n. He . . . he defeated our poor mates." Clancee bowed his head. As if out of respect for the brainless snake-filled guards. Krux rolled his eyes. "But hear this, the lad was in an accident as he ran away! He's in one of Ninjago's hospitals, he is."
Krux's eyes glowed. Hospital, hmm? Then the boy would be defenseless. He'd just have to get to him before Wu did. Or worse still, Garmadon.
"We'll get him then, Clancee." Krux smiled, his long thin beard tilting along with his lips. "We'll just need to come up with something better than the Vermillion Warriors, won't we?"
"Aye, Cap'n." Clancee bowed again, enthusiastically. "Is we heading down to the vault, then?"
"Yes." Krux nodded. His eyes quickly glazed over the broken clock. Twenty years of waiting. Twenty years, of watching the world make a mockery of everything. It ended now.
Krux turned away from the clock, pushing past Clancee to step into the hall.
He had almost gotten to Gordon's little brat, once. The kid himself had applied to join OverCorp, completely ignorant of what that would do to his fate. Krux couldn't believe his luck, when he had seen Jay's name staring back up at him from that flimsy piece of paper.
For years, he'd searched, he'd sent others to do the searching for him, but he had always come up empty handed. It was like the boy was being kept away from him, in a little pocket just outside of existence.
Even with OverCorp's seemingly unlimited reach, Krux had tasted nothing but failure.
"What were you thinking, Cap'n?" Clancee asked, his steps quick and loud.
"Well," Krux stopped before an elevator. They both stepped inside as the doors slid open. "We'll need something the boy cannot break apart so easily. A different type of warrior, you understand?"
Clancee nodded eagerly. Krux doubted the snake had enough brain power to truly understand, but he kept himself from commenting.
Krux slipped a small key from a hidden pocket in his robes. He twisted into a lock in the elevator, which then allowed him to travel into the depths of the building. Straight into The Vault.
It was a dramatic name, but Krux had always believed that things should be given the respect they deserved. Even if it was only an underground floor of his mistakes. Skeletons, Serpentine, Ghosts, and even ill-tempered Djinns. Krux had found many useful things, in his struggles against time's flow.
Many would even dare to consider everything Krux had done a success. He had traveled not only to the past and to the future, but to different timelines altogether. Timelines in which he'd found out Jay was very, very good at making enemies.
Problem was, he had no control over where in time he would end up. Problem was, he did not have his brother.
But with Jay in his grasp . . .
The elevator gave a cheerful ding! As it came to a stop. Krux stepped out into a vast room, dark enough to give the eerie sensation of standing upon a void of nothing. "Clancee. The lights."
Clancee scuttled forward, navigating the dark with expert prowess. With a quick flick of a switch, the lights turned on one by one, slowly illuminating rows and rows of large glass boxes.
Time was a tricky thing. It was very picky, when it came to holding things it was not supposed to hold. Krux's little failures had to be kept in very specific environments, lest every one of their cells was ripped apart by time's strict laws.
Krux had quickly found that this was a good motivator. Do what I want you to do, or I'll let time do what it wants to do.
Clancee seemed to be uncomfortably reminded of this fact. He fiddled with a small bracelet around his scaly wrist. The only thing keeping him from bursting into a cloud of atoms. "S-So what's the plan then, eh Cap'n?"
"We'll set something on the boy's tail. Something he won't be able to outrun."