To those who are somehow still reading this. . . Thank you for holding out so long on my unpredictable timetables. Speaking of which, I will be going on hiatus for maybe 1-3 months, due to my chaotic life right now. School is starting in less than two weeks, and my friends and I are getting into airsoft, so I don't have much time left to write. Again, to those who still read this, even those who don't review, thank you.
Also, all points of view will be in third person.
Chapter 14: Jailbreak
Cole P.O.V., 3 days, 14 hours, following "Motive"; 10:30 A.M.
"–right, all we have to do is infiltrate the base and grab Jay and Nya and get out, right Zane?"
"Well, it is not that simple, but that is the plan at its simplest form, yes."
"Gotch–Cole? Cole? Cole?!"
Cole snapped his eyes open, startled to find Lloyd attempting to shake him awake.
"Huh, what?" He responded, still in a sleep induced delirium.
"We were going over the plan, and you just dozed off!"
"Oh."
"Oh? Jay and Nya are possibly being tortured by the Nindroids, and your only response is 'oh'? Their lives are in danger, Cole, danger!" Lloyd lashed out, unable to control the surge of emotions.
"Lloyd, please, calm yourself. Pointless arguments will not help us rescue Nya and Jay." Zane attempted to calm the energy elemental, but the effort proved fruitless.
"Pointless? Zane, you were the reason why those two are in danger right now, not to mention the facts that Kai is on an I.V. drip right now!" Zane flinched, obviously hurt by the green ninja's harsh words.
Poor guy, he's been through so much, only to be snapped at by his own little brother.
"Seriously? My sister and Jay are stuck in the Overlord's compound, having who know what happen to them, and you guys are here bitching over how they got into the position they're in?" Kai wheeled himself in, leaning against the wall in an unusually casual manner.
The room fell silent.
Zane finally spoke up, a small voice of reason. "Kai is right, the more time we spend arguing, the less time we have to rescue Jay and Nya."
We all murmured our agreement. As we all stood, Zane approached Kai, whispering something into his ear. Kai took a moment to process what he has said, then nodded his head. As the two began to chat, Zane wheeled Kai back into the infirmary, likely to get rest.
Lloyd then approached Cole, a guilty look on his face. "Hey, I just wanna say that I'm sorry for lashing out at you earlier, I was just mad and felt horri–"
"Hey, if there's anyone you want to apologize to, it's Zane. You straight up chewed him out. Keep in mind that it wasn't really him though, he was hacked." Cole interrupted Lloyd's speech, not allowing him to finish.
The son of Garmadon pondered Cole's statement, taking his words into thought. Finally, he sighed. "You're right. I really should go say sorry. It's just that things have been so stressful, and I feel like I can't help in anyway at all."
"Hey, now don't say that! We were the ones who sent one away! If you had stayed, the Overlord would've captured you too, and probably drained you of your elemental powers, or something. . ."
"Maybe, but I still feel so, helpless. Half my family is either crippled or captured, and I feel like I've just failed, not only as their leader, but as their brother!"
"It's alright. Just keep in mind that we are going to break Jay and Nya out tonight." Cole smiled, a twinkle in his eye.
Lloyd returned the smile, walking away as he did. "Yeah. See you later, Cole."
"See ya!"
Jay P.O.V., 3 days, 14 hours, 45 minutes following "Motive"; 11:15 A.M.
The door leading into Jay's cell violently swung open, startling the sleeping ninja. A man with an eyepatch swiftly strode in, stretching his hand out to the blue ninja, gesturing for him to take it. With hesitance, he took the hand, allowing the man to lift him to his feet. The man whistled, and two men immediately walked in, carrying a table and chairs with them. As they set it down, the man signaled for Jay to sit. Taking the man's appearance into noticed, he spotted a katana strapped to his back.
"Good morning, Jay Walker. How did you sleep?" The man finally spoke, his voice smooth and charismatic.
The question took Jay by surprise. He hadn't expected to be asked such a question, especially not in such a genuine tone. "Well, not so great if I'm being honest. My back kinda hurts from sleeping on a cement floor without any padding."
The man hummed thoughtfully. "Alright. I'll have a bed here for you by tonight."
Yet another turn of events. Why was the man being so generous? He has to want something from me!
"Okay, what do you want from me? DNA? Blood?"
The man looked shocked. "No, you misunderstand. My name is Kenshi. I'm the current CEO of Atlas. We were hired by the Overlord, yes, but we still have hearts, you know. Many of us, including myself, pity you and your girlfriend, so we're just trying to help you out, maybe make things a little easier."
"My–my girlfriend?!" Jay sputtered.
Kenshi tilted his head. "Wait. You guys aren't, you know, dating?"
"N–no! We're just good friends, that's all!"
Kenshi shrugged. "Alright. Whatever you say."
Deciding to change the subject, Jay asked Kenshi a question for a change. "So what's the story behind the eyepatch? Is it just to make you look cooler?"
A sad smile graced Kenshi's face. "No, it is not to make me look cooler. It's a long story, but we have time, so I suppose I could tell you."
"I was a part of an elite team called the Devil Dogs. We did all the jobs the government thought was too dirty for them. Assassination? We handled that. Torture and blackmail? We did that too. We did pretty much all the odd jobs, the ones that required ghosts; nobody could know what had happened until after we struck, and by then, everyone was dead."
"That still doesn't explain the reason why you wear the eyepatch."
"Patience, I'm getting there. One particular mission, a pretty cookie-cutter one at that, we were betrayed. Our mission was to eliminate some terrorists, get rid of their weapons and explosives, the usual, but once we cleared the compound of terrorists, our own brother, Ghost, turned and shot Phantom, our second in command. We thought he was the only one, so we focused fire on him. However, another one of our own, Jax, fired on me. One of the bullets, punctured my left lung. Another bullet broke though, and a piece of shrapnel pierced my eye. The doctors tried to save my eye, but it was my eye or my lung, so naturally they chose my lung. If Cryptor had been any pater to save me, I would've been long gone, and I would've never gotten to see Shuchin and Takeda again. . ." He shook his head. "Nobody survived the attack but me and Justin. We decided to start our own company after, Atlas, so that we could honor our brothers and to at least try to end terrorism, but in the end, we were just men, whose brothers betrayed us."
"Wait. Cryptor? As in the crazy bot that ordered my hand getting chopped off, my brother kidnapping my family? He's the founder of Atlas?!"
Kenshi sighed. "Afraid so. He's not the man I once knew, even though he still possess some aspects of the Justin I remember."
"Oh. I–I'm sorry. I didn't know."
Kenshi chuckled. "Why are you sorry? You never knew what had happened, nor did you cause it. I assure you, you have nothing to apologize for."
"Oh, alright."
Kenshi began to stand, preparing to leave.
"Wait!" Jay called out before he closed the door. "Th–thank you. For everything."
Kenshi smiled. "No problem. It's not everyday you meet a ninja."
Hullo mates! I believe this is out earlier than normal, but eh, whatever. For a full story on what how Kenshi lost his left eye and the story of the end of the Devil Dogs, check out my second story, Origins of Evil: Cryptor. It currently has two chapters, and updates are (ironically) slightly more frequent than here. I know it's kinda self-advertisement, but hey, a story's a story.
Also, before I forget, please please review. They give me the drive to keep writing these chapters. Even you, silent reader, I encourage you to voice your thoughts about this story.
Have a good day,
~The Titan's Shadow