Chapter 24-Broken And Mended

When Cole shuddered back into existence, he felt absolutely disoriented.

He stood at the edge of the town, and it took him a couple of minutes to remember the awkward trip through the jungle, until he ultimately felt himself fading away.

But now, he was back.

He had no way of knowing how long he'd been gone. The sun was setting against the horizon now, so maybe only a couple of hours had gone by. Or maybe, it had been days. There was no way to know.

Reassuringly enough, he was still a ghost. Which meant none of the others had made a wish yet. So Jay was still alive.

Or the Djinn had wiped everyone off the map, before they were able to fight back.

Cole chose to ignore that second possibility, walking further into the town. The ground beneath his feet felt more solid than before, and he wasn't quite sinking into it any longer. Whatever strength he'd lost when he'd been tossed into the water while in Jay's body, he was beginning to gain it back. Maybe now he wouldn't keep losing consciousness.

Although he'd spent the past ten years of his life away from Ninjago, he could still remember the location of everything. He could still remember where his home had been, and it was very tempting to detour towards it. But everything in the town was in shambles, it wouldn't be a good idea to see what had become of it. Cole had to remained focused. He had to be right by Jay's side, when the wish against Nadakhan was made.

Once it was all said and done, there would be no miraculous cure to heal Jay's wound. No cleaver, well thought wish to stitch everything back together, without negative consequences. In fact, there was only one thing that had any possibility of success. A thing that Cole had become far too familiar with, throughout his years as a pirate.

Brute force.

Instinctively, Cole's hand flew to his side, to his empty, ghostly scabbard. He would have to find a weapon. One that would hopefully be sharp enough to do the job.

Cole continued to move forward, heading towards the Admiral's grand mansion, begging the universe to allow him to reach Jay's side in time.

Kai didn't hear the Djinn's words, but he did see the effect of them.

Thick, brown vines grew from the ground within seconds, with large thorns emerging from them. They surrounded the mansion completely, growing too fast for them to sneak inside. Kai skidded to a stop, pulling Zane back by his clothes before he could ram straight into them.

Kai stomped his foot against the ground, anger flushing his skin. "Well that's playing fair, isn't it!"

"Jay would have hopefulluy made it inside." Zane pointed out. "He could get to Nya."

"And so what Zane? We have the stupid poison! What good could Jay do by himself? He's going to get himself, Nya, and the kid killed!"

"Well shouting isn't really going to help us, is it?" Zane pointed out, and Kai shut his mouth quickly, preventing any more words from escaping. "There is always a way to do things. All we need to do is find it."

Kai ran his hands through his hair, trying to reel in the unpleasant anger rattling through him. Once he felt calm enough, he looked back at Zane, but his eyes shifted to the side, to something behind him. Something that was far more troublesome than the thorns surrounding the mansion.

"Looks like he didn't only make one wish." Kai tried to laugh, but he couldn't help but take a step back.

Zane turned, following Kai's backward stumble.

Before them, stood a creature that held absolutely no resemblance to anything they had ever seen before. It stood on two, scale-coated legs. Its feet were large, ending in three curved claws, which appeared to be sharp enough to slice through anything. Thin arms emerged from the creature's torso, with three long fingers at the end of each.

It towered above them by a significant amount. To Kai, the creature's head resembled that of a fish, with two blue glowing eyes on either side of its face, and a long mouth, stretching a bit too far back. Sharp teeth were stuck to both the bottom and the top of the creature's mouth, crooked enough to prevent it from closing its mouth properly.

As if realizing its presence had finally been acknowledged, the creature growled.

"Well Zane, if there's a always a way to do things, how do we deal with that!?" Kai asked, his voice once again rising to a higher volume.

The creature ran at them, its head tilted awkwardly to allow one of its eyes to focus. Kai tensed, ready to run, but when he Zane stood his ground, Kai found himself unable to leave him. "What are you doing!?"

When the creature was close enough, Zane slashed the sword forward, aiming at the creature's belly. It remained unharmed, as if Zane had done nothing more than swat at it with a feeble straw. With another, softer growl, the creature slashed one of its arms forward. Kai jumped back, avoiding the impact by mere inches.

Zane, however, wasn't quite as lucky.

Still startled at the lack of damage, he was in no position to react. The creatures arm hit him full force, sending his body flying through the air, directly towards the wall of thorns.

Kai's eyes widened. "Zane!"

". . .Jay, Jay! Jay. . . JAY!"

Jay's mind was startled awake by the persistent shouts against his ears. Lloyd hung over him, his green eyes wide and worried. ". . .Hi."

"You're awake!" Lloyd smiled, moving back to allow Jay enough room to sit up. "About time too. We need to get out of here. That Nya friend of yours locked the door through. I tried to keep her from throwing us in here but wow she is strong. I've never been hit so hard in my life!"

Lloyd's face was covered in a wide smile, as he pointed to his lip, which was covered in dried blood. "See? I did manage to scratch her but I think that only made her more upset than anything."

"You're way too excited about this," Jay groaned, realzing that his body felt more dead than alive. There was a persistent pulse in his head, and his left eye was swollen shut, making the world around him seem slightly out of focus. "You do realize this isn't a game right? And now the Djinn could by an all-powerful entity?"

The smile vanished, and Lloyd looked down, crossing his arms defensively. "Yes, I know, okay?"

"Sorry," Jay said quickly. "I'm just a little freaked out. This wasn't supposed to happen. We should have been out of here by now, with Nya. And now we're locked in a stupid room, and who knows what's even going on out there."

"Don't worry," Lloyd hopped to his feet, then reached down to offer Jay a hand. "Kai and Zane will do their part, you'll see! Plus, this isn't any room. It's the library!"

"Whopee. We can read something until our ultimate demise." Jay sighed, accepting Lloyd's help. Once on his feet, Jay struggled to gain his balance, his legs feeling weak and heavy. "Better than being stuck with nothing to do, I guess."

"Stop being such a ninny." Lloyd rolled his eyes and Jay's persistent pessimism. The guy's moods were bizarre. He hopped from annoyingly optimistic comments, to persistently negative ones. "I spent a lot of time here, remember? I know a way out. There's a secret room which connects back to the hall. Not even my mom knew about it, so I'm pretty sure we can sneak out through there."

"Oh. Well. That's not bad."

Lloyd nodded, then beckoned Jay to follow him. He led the way to a large, aging chair, which smelled slightly of mildew and old age. The chair itself looked to be extremely heavy, with a thick, gold-colored frame. To Jay's surprise, however, Lloyd pushed it aside with ease. The kid then moved down to his hands and knees, then, with a bit of effort, slid a section of the wall open. Jay knelt beside him, and frowned.

"That," Jay pointed at the passage, which was small and very, very dark. "Looks like something I do not want any part of."

"You want to save Ninjago, or not?" Lloyd said, before crawling into the darkness with admirable determination.

Jay sighed. "I guess I do."

Still struggling to ignore the pounding on his head, Jay followed Lloyd. He had absolutely no idea how long the path was, and he also had no way to know how long he'd been out. As far as he knew, it could already be far, far too late.

But still. Jay fed off Lloyd's stubborn purposefulness, and allowed himself to have hope. While crawling forward in the darkness, he prayed over and over that they would reach Nya and the Djinn in time.

Zane's body was roughly impaled by the thorns.

Kai felt his stomach twist, and he ran forward, hoping to reach the man in time, but knowing it would be too late. There would be nothing he could do.

"Zane. . ." Kai's voice was shaky and out of breath. He looked upon his companion, and instantly stumbled back in confusion. "Zane?"

There was no blood. No open wounds. And Zane's eyes remained as alert as ever.

Kai grimaced as he watched the man pull himself out of the tangle of thorns, with a nonchalant attitude that only added to Kai's confusion. The holes that the impact had created seemed to be filled with strange, colored strings that Kai simply couldn't make any sense of.

"What. . ."

Instead of answering, Zane pushed Kai to the side roughly, moving him out of the path of the creature's claws. "Maybe we can talk after this is dealt with?"

Forcing away the questions that plagued his mind, Kai nodded.

The creature bent its head forward, jaws widening in an attempt to take a sizable bit off of Kai's body. Kai stumbled backward, the creature's mouth snapping inches away from him. He chest suddenly convulsed in a violent fit of coughing, the stench of the creature's mouth blowing around him.

He was aware of Zane's voice somewhere around him, but the overpowering smell made his head feel dizzy and unfocused. He watched as the creature lifted one of its arms, but he couldn't make himself move fast enough to avoid it. The claws slashed three perfectly parallel gashes onto Kai's chest, before flinging him to the side.

Zane ran to his side, then began to drag him back, away from the creature. Kai watched as the monstrosity struggled momentarily, as the arm it had used to attack Kai had become lodged against the wall of thorns.

With one last cough, Kai shook his head, trying to bring his focus back. The pain emerging from his chest helped his mind sharpen, adrenaline spreading to every part of his body. "We need to trick it."

"Trick it?" Zane echoed.

"Yes," Kai nodded, then began to move back from the wall of thorns. The creature finally succeeded in freeing its limb, and was once again wholly determined to bring its prey down. "If we can make it crash into the wall, it'll be stuck. Maybe not for long, but hopefully it'll be enough time for us to use its body to climb over to the other side."

Zane thought about Kai's words, mapping out the situation in his head. ". . . Yes, it could work. But we would have to move fairly fast."

"I think we can pull it off," Kai said, although his words were sluggish, having to be forced out of his mouth with more effort than he was used to.

"I do not think we have a choice," Zane pointed out, as the creature once again barreled towards them. Zane easily lunged out of the way, and Kai moved to the opposite side, his movements a bit slower.

After giving each other a small nod, they both ran together, back towards the wall of thorns. The creature roared in frustration, before turning around, claws digging deep into the ground. Kai willed himself to keep up with Zane's pace, but he could feel the world swimming in and out of focus before him. His movements slowed, and he hoped that at least, Jay had gotten his sister our of the way safely.

Before he could crumple, however, he felt Zane pull him forward, half-carrying him to the edge of the wall. "Stay focused Kai."

Kai tried to nod, but found that he couldn't. He leaned heavily against Zane, trusting his friend to keep him away from danger. Zane stood his ground, his gaze made of steel as he stared down the approaching creature. His mind calculated everything at incredible speed, letting him know exactly when he should move out of the way.

The ground trembled slightly beneath him, but Zane stayed still, waiting, until. . .

Now!

He jumped to the side, dragging Kai's weight alongside him. The creature ran past, its body lodging itself against the thorns in a painful manner. Without slowing down his movements, Zane moved Kai against his back, tightly holding onto his arms to keep him from sliding off.

Zane began to climb the creature's back, using the spikes and roughened scales to keep pushing himself back. The creature rattled its body endlessly, attempting to break free. Zane managed to reach the creature's head before it could do so, and he threw himself and Kai over the thick wall, landing with a dull thud against the grass.

Kai groaned, clutching his chest and pulling himself up into a sitting position. "I think I'd better stay here. Don't think I'll do much more than slow you down."

"Are you . . . sure?" Zane frowned, feeling uncomfortable at the thought of being separated.

"I'm in no position to fight the Djinn anyway. And I'll be fine." Kai waved Zane away, scooting back to lean against the walls of the mansion. "Just hurry. That . . . thing isn't occupied with us anymore, I don't want to know what'll happen if it wanders off towards the others."

Zane opened his mouth to protest, then nodded. Pulling the small canteen away from his belt, he coated his sword in a bit of poison, making sure to leave at least some behind, just in case. With another look back at Kai, he headed inside.

Kai watched him leave, wishing he could go along, but knowing it would be best for him to stay. Once Zane was inside, he shut his eyes, hoping and praying that Zane would get there in time to stop everything.

Unfortunately, Time was not on their side.

Neither Zane nor Jay managed to reach the Djinn before the vows were said, trying Nadakhan and Dilara together as one, and fueling the Djinn's power over wishes.

Jay and Lloyd were only a couple of seconds too late. They reached the main dining room through a small door in the back, which kept them out of sight as they peeked inside, watching as a strange light entwined itself around the body of the Djinn, before disappearing beneath his skin.

Zane, on the other hand, was in a hurry. He knew how many things were depending on him stopping everything in time, and when he reached the dining room, he burst inside through the main doors, hoping to shout out his wish for battle before anyone had any time to react.

"I wish for you to-"

The words couldn't have moved fast enough. A strong, roughened hand was instantly pressed against his lips, while another held him in place, although Zane struggled, he couldn't break free.

From his hidden point of view, Lloyd gave a small gasp, and Jay quickly pressed his own hand against the kid's mouth, to prevent him from shouting out. They watched in silence as the muscular woman that held Zane carried him towards the Djinn.

"You wish? You wish?" Nadakhan gave a small chuckle. "No, young man. I will no longer be granting anyone's wishes but my own."

He nodded at one of the other pirates. Jay watched as a man with a thick, rather impressive mustache stepped forward, stripping Zane of his weapon, and pulling the poison filled canteen out of his belt.

Nadakhan studied the blade and the poison. Anger and fear made him tense, and he quickly dropped both items against the table, scooting back the chair he'd been sitting on, to increase the distance between himself and the poison.

"Who told you about this?" Nadakhan hissed, before remembered that Zane's mouth was being forcefully covered. He shook his head before the woman could remove her hand. "Forget it. It doesn't matter. You've failed."

Lloyd turned away from everything, looking up at Jay, who seemed to be locked up with fear and nerves. "We need to get the poison."

Jay looked down at Lloyd, just as the kid shoved the small dagger into his hands. "What. . . ?"

"We still have a chance to stop him," Lloyd repeated. "We need to get the poison."

Jay began to shake his head, but before he could speak, their attention was diverted back towards Zane.

"Since you had such awful plans for me, I should return the favor to you." The Djinn spat his words, each filled with the hatred had continuously grown within him for years. "I wish. . . I wish for you to be nothing more than a statue made out of stone."

Worry filled Zane's eyes for a brief second, then the expression froze, his body made out of nothing but rock.

Jay's legs shook, and he had to lean heavily against the wall, to prevent himself from toppling over.

Lloyd, on the other hand, felt a strong wave of anger rippled through him. "We have to stop him. I'll get you the poison. Then you can fight him."

"No, wait, Lloyd. We can't, I can't." Jay shook his head frantically.

The child took Jay's hand on his own, forcing Jay's grip on the dagger to tighten. "I trust you."

"Lloyd-" Jay hissed, but it was too late. Lloyd had shot forward into the dining room, dodging the two pirates that reached out to stop him, before jumping onto the table, before the Djinn.

Nadakhan looked at the child, his eyes filled more with amusement than anything. "Ah. You again."

"Give me my dad back!" Lloyd growled, kicking the canteen off the table as hard as he could. It flew back, landing a couple of feet away from the door Jay was hiding behind. Knowing he had to keep the attention on himself, Lloyd shouted again, unleashed all the tangled feelings he'd kept within him from the day everything had fallen apart. "You ruined everything!"

Still fueled only by the array of feelings, Lloyd swung a punch forward, catching Nadakhan by surprise. Lloyd almost laughed. He swung again, adrenaline making the weight of his punches stronger than they would have been otherwise. It felt so good.

Before the he could strike for a third time, Nadakhan grabbed Lloyd's arms, before throwing him back. "You are quite foolish, you know? Didn't you see what I did to your friend over there?"

Lloyd didn't turn to look at Zane. He kept his gaze on the Djinn, a smirk tugging at the side of his lips.

Nadakhan rolled his eyes. "So, you truly believe you can convince me to return your father to you? Maybe you even believe you can defeat me. I'm sorry to say young boy, determination is nothing compared to true power."

"Oh, I'm not trying to defeat you." Lloyd responded, holding back a bit of laughter. Dilara frowned at his words. If the kid had gotten out of the library. . .

"Nadakhan there's-"Dilara reached out in order to get the Djinn's attention, but her words were moments too late.

"I WISH TO D-DUEL THE DJINN."

The shout echoed throughout the room, Jay's voice shaky, fearful and yet. . .powerful. Nadakhan turned his head, running his eyes over the skinny, auburn haired man. In his shaking hands he held a small dagger awkwardly, as if he'd never used a weapon before in his life.

Nadakhan felt the weight of the words against his body, and he was forcefully brought to his feet by his own power.

"A duel?" The Djinn smiled, holding his hand out towards on of his men, one whose face was painted into a permanent smile with thick, colorful make-up. The man took the hint quickly, handing over his own sword to Nadakhan. The sword was long and sharp, and extremely intimidating when compared to Jay's insignificant weapon. "Ah well. . . Your wish is yours to keep."

"Be careful. Please." Dilara whispered, giving Nadakhan's arm a small squeeze.

In response, the Djinn scowled. "Come on my love. Look at him. Does he really look like a threat?"

"You can't underestimate him." Dilara pleaded, but she knew Nadakhan was not listening. His eyes were drowning in arrogance. He was too far for her too reach.

Gently, Nadakhan moved Dilara away from him, moving towards Jay, who hadn't stopped shaking since he'd made the wish.

Jay couldn't believe he'd done it. Couldn't believe that everything rested on his shoulders. It was too much. He was going to be sick.

It's okay. It's okay. Jay repeated those two words over and over, grasping as much comfort as he could from the empty letters. You just have to cut him once. Once.

Nadakhan lunged forward, and Jay was too slow to react. The sword sliced at his forearm. Jay yelped moving back, tears swelling in his eyes. The pain was far more than what he'd expected. It made him sheepish again, and he continued to move back, regretting every decision that had put him in the position he was now in.

"I'm so sorry, but it seems you made an awful mistake with your wish." Nadakhan swung his sword again. Jay jumped back, holding the dagger in front of him protectively.

I know, Jay wanted to say, to shout. But his throat felt swollen, and he couldn't get any of his words out.

He should have never gotten involved.

What good had he done?

Another swing. This time, Jay's poisoned dagger classed with the sword, out of pure luck. The impact of it was almost as rattling as a cut itself, however, and he found no pleasure in having blocked the attack.

His eyes shifted, finding Lloyd in the background of everything.

Mistake number one. Pulling Lloyd into all of this.

One of Nadakhan's arms pushed Jay back roughly. He fell back, the landing sending a shock down his back.

Mistake number two. Failing Nya.

"Well, this was much quicker than I hoped." Nadakhan said. "You didn't try very hard did you?"

Jay began to get up, but stopped. Why should he? He couldn't do this. Cole should have been here. Cole would have overpowered the Djinn. Cole would have won. Cole wouldn't have been a shaking, worthless mess.

And that was Jay's final mistake. Not protecting Cole. Dooming everyone by staying alive, when Cole would have done far better in his place.

No

Jay was startled by the voice. It was his own, but at the same time, it wasn't.

No It repeated Don't give up

Suddenly, Jay was filled with strength.

His strange, sudden thoughts were right. He couldn't give up. Yes, he'd made mistakes. Yes, maybe he'd ruined everything, but so what! He could fix it. He could fix everything. And oh, he was definitely strong enough to do so.

Jay looked up at the Djinn. The magical creature looked down at him, sword raised, eyes mocking. He didn't see Jay as a threat.

But Jay definitely was.

With a loud roar, Jay pushed himself forward, ramming the dagger deep into the Djinn's chest.

Nadakhan froze. The venom worked almost instantly. He felt every part of his body weaken. The sword slipped from his hand, clattering against the marble floor. Then the Djinn himself fell.

"Don't let him wish!" Dilara shouted, shaking off the shock quicker than the others.

Nadakhan's companions were slow to react. And Jay? Well, Jay had never felt more ready for anything in his life.

"I wish for every wish since Garmadon's to lose their power,"

Nadakhan tried to think, struggled for a way to twist the words. There was always a way. But his mind felt woozy, and he had absolutely no control over himself. The magic inside him worked on its own.

One by one, Nadakhan's companions disappeared.

Dilara opened her mouth to scream in denial, but in a flash, she had gone, leaving only a slightly confused Nya behind.

Zane shuddered back to life.

Out in the mansion's grand garden, the mind of every soldier was returned.

And Jay. Jay was gifted with a new set of memories.

He had saved Cole.

And now, he didn't have much time before the poison from Soto's sword killed him, as it should have.

Jay felt a burning sensation in his hand, but he ignored the pain, willing himself to stay focused.

"And I wish. . . I wish for you to be imprisoned in the teapot again, now and forever."

Nadakhan wanted to scream. To refuse. He tried to stubbornly cling to his power, but of course, once the wish had been spoken, there was no going back.

Jay smiled with pride. He knew he didn't have much time, but it didn't matter.

He had done it.

The burning in his hand stopped. Then, all at once, Jay was hit by the worst pain imaginable. It shook his body, his mind panicked as it tried to make sense of it all. Jay felt his mouth opening in an attempt to scream, but a thick darkness had quickly began to cloud his vision.

As he fell back, Jay felt someone stop him. He never reached the ground, and was instead welcomed by a warm embrace.

I'm really dying then, huh Jay thought, as his senses began to shut down, one by one.

Before he completely lost his grasp in reality, he could have sworn he heard Cole, repeatedly calling out his name.