Chapter 14
Battle day:
Kai was polishing and sharpening his golden sword. Testing it out on dummies Jay fixed up for him.
Nya had taken Kai's job, blacksmithing swords and tools and weapons of all sorts.
She sighed heavily whenever she saw Kai dressing to get ready for the battle.
Jay was trying out his nun chucks while Zane was practicing to use his ninja stars. Pixal stood by the side, careful not to get in the way.
Lloyd swiped up his sword and joined his uncle at the door. "You sure you're ready for this?" He asked Wu. The old man nodded.
He opened the door and stepped outside. "Be careful Uncle." Wu stopped and signaled for Lloyd to be quiet.
"You hear that?" Lloyd shook his head.
Suddenly, Wu was strangling Lloyd hard enough that he would've died. Lloyd gasped for air. "O - Okay... That's... Enougggghf." Wu released his hold on his nephew and stared.
Lloyd breathed for air. "That's great to know."
Wu smirked. "Never judge a book by its cover." He bonked Lloyd on the head with the staff he was holding.
Once they reached Kai's, the blacksmith tossed Wu his sword. Wu handed it back to Kai.
"What? You said you needed it!"
"Now, you're mind is sharper then before." He said and slammed his staff to the ground. "Come! We must find Jay and Zane."
Kai winced then turned to Nya. "Stay here. And stay out of trouble. Just work normally..."
"Work normally? Pfh, isn't that what we used to do until Cole came into our lives?"
Kai motioned for her to zip her mouth shut.
When they finally reached Jay's stall, they found the front empty. "Zane?" Lloyd called into it.
"Maybe they backed out." Kai stooped his head in.
"They couldn't have."
Kai shrugged, "Jay would've. He wouldn't want to fight Cole. After all, they are friends."
Lloyd gritted his teeth together. "Well, if he did back out, then he needs to snap out of it. This is for the sake of the village and us. Plus, we could probably get Cole back," he paused, "I just don't know how."
"Maybe we could show Cole that he isn't him... To be exact, it is Dust who placed the influence on Cole."
Kai, Lloyd, and Wu turned. "Zane!" Kai yelled with relief. Lloyd hugged the droid.
"I wouldn't miss the fight. And it's just as you said Kai, Jay won't go."
"Well, tell him we need him. Maybe he could knock some sense into Cole," Kai snapped.
"I hear ya," Jay said softly, coming out from behind Zane. "What's he after anyway?"
Lloyd shot Kai a glare.
"You haven't told them yet?"
Kai stepped up, "a powerful artifact crafted by Lloyd's great grandfather. The Eye of the Dragon's."
"The hawaba-wa?" Jay asked, shaking his head.
"The Dragon's Eye," Lloyd corrected. "My father doesn't know whether he wants it for himself, or whether Dust is using Cole to get it for him. We also don't know when Cole will strike."
Jay rubbed his arm. "Doesn't that mean we should be at your house actually defending it?"
Lloyd's eyes widened. "By golly you're right! I was so blind! We have to hurry, my parents won't be able to hold Cole back long enough!"
Garmadon stood by his bed, swords of all sorts hanging on the walls.
"Garmadon, dear, don't you think you should get out a little? You've been in here for quite a while now."
"I would, but Lloyd hasn't came back. You remember that "assistant" you told me he had? Well, that assistant is after the Dragon's Eye. We must protect it."
Misako's eyes grew wide. She joined her husband's side. "Where is Lloyd anyway?"
"None of that matters now, give me the Dragon's Eye," a cold voice snapped. The couple turned their attention to the door.
"Cole," Garmadon said through gritted teeth. "If you want it, you'll have to get through me first.
Misako snatched a sword of the wall. "He means us."
Cole let out a low chuckle. "You're all so gullible." He raised an arm and aimed at Misako, he swung his arm to the side causing Misako to go the same way. Garmadon furrowed his brows and picked up Misako's sword.
"No one does that to her," he growled and began to charge at Cole. Cole smirked and tossed Garmadon to the side. He began to walk towards the bed.
"There must be a reason you two were standing by the bed." He checked under the covers. Nothing. He looked under the bed itself. Cole grinned. "This all seemed to easy," he said softly to himself. "Where is Lloyd?"
Garmadon dusted of his arms and stood up. "You will not lay a finger on my son!"
Cole bit his lower lip. Looks like his plan had altered a bit. But getting rid of the gang was still important. They could come to stop him any minute.
"Step away from my parents," he heard Lloyd say, a small hint of fear in his voice.
"I got what I needed. I could just leave right now. But where's the fun in that?" Lloyd looked at Kai, then Jay.
Cole slowly turned around. Suddenly, he raised a brow, "Who is that?"
Wu stepped out from the middle. "The correct question is, who are you?"
Cole kept his brow arched high. What was that suppose to mean? He looked at their hands. Lloyd and Kai both were holding swords. Jay had himself a pair of gold nun chucks and Zane held a pair of golden shurikanes. "You think you can defeat me with those?"
Jay took a step back.
Cole's eyes searched the group. There was no sign of Nya and Pixal. He sighed, the plan wasn't going as planned.
Kai pushed Jay forward. "Go," he whispered to Jay.
"Cole," he began.
"What's this supposed to be? Some sort of diversion?" Cole scoffed and began to walk towards them.
Kai kept his eyes on Cole.
"Cole. Just listen," Jay tried again.
Cole clenched his teeth. With a snap of his fingers the whole room shook. Everyone flew to the walls; they were stuck, glued to them. Then, Cole snapped his fingers again sending a signal to Zane.
Jay opened his mouth but Cole raised his arm. Jay began to rise higher, suddenly, a board appeared beneath him. It looked death-defying, its spikes ready to pierce Jay any minute. Then he realized what was happening. Cole was going to trap Jay against the ceiling and crush him with the spikes. He wasn't going to die this way.
Sucking in a deep breath, he spoke loudly, "Look at yourself, Cole! Look at what you're doing! Can't you see Dust has what he wants now? I'm you friend! You're my friend! You promised to be there when I needed help, and right now, I do need help. But the one person who so kindly made that promise isn't here, because he isn't the same person as he was before! Look around you..."
Cole glanced around the room. It was all true. He looked back at Jay, the spikes were just inches away from his body. Cole balled his fists and pulled his arm down. The spikes disappeared and everyone fell off the walls.
"I...I'm sorry..." Cole dropped the orb and began to flee the room. Jay stared. Kai elbowed him.
"Go get him!"
Jay blinked and dropped his nun chucks, running after Cole.
"Cole! Wait!" He cried, running after him. "Cole!"
Cole shut his eyes and kept running. Just don't look back, he told himself.
Jay hesitated. Beginning to speed up, he tackled Cole to the ground, pinning him down.
"What's wrong with you?!" Cole shouted, kicking Jay off. "You'll get hurt!"
Jay stood still. "No I won't, and you know that." He sensed the others coming up behind him.
"Not much of a fight if you ask me," Kai laughed, laying a hand on Jay's shoulder. Lloyd came up holding the Dragon's Eye.
The inventor kept his eyes on Cole. "Yeah..." Cole took a step back.
Wu stepped forward. "It's okay, Cole," He started, "come. Lloyd and I will take care of you for now."
Cole nodded and walked up to Wu. Jay gripped Zane's wrist and pulled him away.
"Here... You can sleep in my room for now. I'll sleep with my Uncle," Lloyd motioned for Cole to head in.
Cole shook his head. "I couldn't. It's yours, I'll find somewhere else."
Lloyd stared at Cole with worry. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Lloyd sprinted to get it, but his uncle beat him to it.
"Jay, what brings you here?" Wu asked.
Jay rubbed the back of his neck. "I was just wondering... Maybe Cole would feel more comfortable if he stayed over at my place. After all, he does know Zane and I more better."
Wu stroked his beard. Lloyd turned to face Cole. "He does have a point." Cole bit his lower lip and looked at Lloyd's room.
"Sure, and take your bed, Lloyd." Cole smiled and took one last glance at the single table by the couch. There sat the Dragon's Eye.
Cole stared curiously at it. What type of power did it hold? To be honest, he wasn't entirely sure... The thought just came to him when he wasn't in his right state of mind.
A hand waved in front of his face. "You ready to go?" Lloyd asked Cole. Cole nodded.
Jay waited by the door, and surprisingly Zane was there too. "I'll stop by tomorrow to make sure everything's fine," Lloyd told Jay as they began to leave.
Jay let Cole sleep in an extra room he had. He had Pixal provide Cole with the right necessities and Jay himself would check up from time to time.
It wasn't usually him, but ever since Cole came, he felt partly changed.
"I have a drink to hand Cole," Pixal told Jay from behind. Jay stepped out of her way.
He watched as Pixal came up to Cole and handed him the drink.
It felt weird having someone stay at your booth, someone you don't normally hang with.
His eyes widened when he saw Cole nearly choking back tears. He could hear him whisper to stay strong.
Pixal was sitting next to him.
It must've been about Dust.
"I just hope I didn't hurt anyone," Cole said softly.
Zane wasn't sure what came over him, but every time he saw Jay he felt the urge to strike him just at that moment.
Robots... Or in this case droids, were set with targets, and they wouldn't stop until their mission was finished. But for some unknowing reason, he felt as if his mission had included Jay only. And this didn't lead up to anything good.
Every time he saw Jay and anything sharp, Zane felt his hands reaching out to them.
Snapping back to reality, he trotted over to Pixal.
"Are you feeling okay?"
Zane nodded.
"Something just came over me." His eyes lit up, "We are... Compatible?"
Pixal smiled. "We are."
Update! Yay! I'm already really close to finishing this story... And I'm glad... Because its a really good one. And remember this is an AU. There'll also be a surprise around Chapter 16 I think. It'll shock you - it shocked me.
Funny moment: on the day I bought the airjitzu Jay and my brother bought airjitzu Zane, he made these horrible puns... Gah, believe me. They were awful.
And I sent the news out to AwesomeAuthor13 already, but if you all remember I did a sorta Ninjago MLP thingy, WELL I'm bringing it back! YAY!
Questions: you on summer vacation? Some people have summer vacation at different times, that's why
