Chapter Eighteen: Crazy Heroic
Kai groaned, rolling over on to his right side and rubbing the incapacitating sleep from his eyes. The familiar windows and furniture of his house greeted him, shrouded in the darkness of the drawn curtains. It was all just a terrible dream, he thought, relief overwhelming his entire body. The whole ordeal had been in his head. Stress could really mess with him when it wanted to. Sitting up slowly and throwing the thick blanket off of his body, the blacksmith felt his face fall.
Cole sighed loudly, his face concealed by Kai's blanket. He yanked it off before staring daggers back at his companion. "Really, Kai? I'm trying to sleep here. Dying and being brought back to life isn't very restful you know."
"Sorry," the brunet apologized sincerely, taking the blanket and quickly getting to his feet. Everything was really happening. The world was being thrown into chaos. He was a fugitive. His life was in danger. Why couldn't it all just have been a dream though? Tossing the blanket over the back of a single wooden chair, the blacksmith made his way towards the rickety staircase.
Every plank creaked underneath his body wait, announcing his presence to the entirety of the house. Kai glanced back over his shoulder to see Lloyd sitting up groggily and Zane on his feet, scanning the room with a sense of purpose. "Chill out," he smirked, especially amused at the android's perplexed expression. "Everything is cool. It's just me. No one's attacking or anything." The quiet sound of conversation floated down from the floor above, capturing Kai's complete attention. He turned back towards the stairs and finished the climb.
"It's been pretty hard, I'm not gonna lie, but I know we can do it if we all stick together!"
There was a pause and Kai crept along the short hallways that led to the single bedroom in the house. "You're all really brave for doing this," came Nya's voice. "I just don't want anything bad to happen to my brother...or you for that matter."
A sudden wave of rage overcame the blacksmith as he decoded the situation that was happening. He was afraid of what he would find behind the door. Oh, I swear that he is so dead...
Inside the room, Jay and Nya sat on the bed, leaning against each other. Both of their eyes hung low with exhaustion after having stayed up all night. A small, innocent conversation had wound up to be so much more. Jay was able to spill all of his fears, concerns, dreams, and wishes to Kai's sister. She was able to do the same. Both of them felt a thousand times better than they ever had.
That was, until Kai burst into the room.
Both Nya and Jay jumped, Nya moving into a sitting position while Jay and his tired body lost balance and fell off the bed itself. The puppeteer chuckled, aiming to wipe away a bit of the tension that had suddenly erupted all throughout the room. "Hey Kai. Good...uh...good morning?"
"This is Nya's room. What are you doing in here?" Kai hissed before shaking his head. "Actually, I don't...I don't want to know. Just...did you even sleep, you moron? Both of you look terrible!"
"We were talking, Kai," Nya sighed, helping Jay back to his feet. "Time just slipped by I guess."
"Jay, we have to go get another staff today. You know what that means? More Serpentine, more danger, and more chances of getting murdered. We needed rest. That was the only reason we stopped here." Kai turned away, heading back towards the door. "You're going to get yourself killed today."
The puppeteer scoffed lightly, crossing his arms over his chest, but promptly giving Nya a kind smile for coming to his aid. "I'm gonna be fine, Kai," he rebutted as an uncomfortable yawn erupted from his mouth. Trying to stifle the sound was all in vain as Jay found his friend shooting him an icy glare. "I-I've stayed up all night before, traveling and stuff. Felt fine then too. Today will be no different, you'll see."
"Idiot..." the blacksmith just muttered under his breath, turning on his heel and storming out of the room. The sound of his heavy footfall on the stairs startled his friends down below and their focus was purely on him as he strode across the floor and pulled out a wooden chair. "Jay is gonna freaking get us all killed," Kai spat, straddling the chair and resting his arms across the back. "Didn't even get a wink of sleep last night."
Cole blinked, his gaze slightly unfocused. "You're kidding, right?"
"No," Zane interrupted, quietly pacing with his hands clasped behind his back. "It seems that Kai is being quite serious."
Jay slowly trotted down the stairs, followed by Nya. His body felt light and his head felt heavy. The consequences of not getting any sleep were beginning to show. He continued to smile, however, determined to prove Kai wrong. He wasn't going to get anyone killed. He was going ti show them all how awesome he really was. Besides, he could control lightning, couldn't he? His elemental powers were all about raw energy. He wasn't going to give in just because he had lost a couple of hours of sleep.
"So, what's the plan today, guys?" Lloyd piped up, attempting to alleviate the palpable blanket of anxiety and tension. "Are we just breaking into the next castle and stealing the staff, or what?"
Kai shook his head swiftly. "Well, we're going to find a way into the castle and you're going to stay here with Nya where it's much safer." The mix of both shock and anger that was plastered upon the Golden Master's face was obvious. Holding up a hand to quell the argument before it started, Kai kept a stern face. "There's no fighting about this, Lloyd. You need to be out of harm's way."
"Aw, I thought I could actually come with you and try to help," Nya sighed. "I mean, you're all trying to take down the political power of Ninjago. You could probably use all the help you can get."
His muscles stiffened at his sister's words. "Absolutely not," the blacksmith argued, feeling his stomach almost flip. "If something happened to you...I don't know what I'd do." Kai's voice trailed off at the very thought of losing the only family he had left. Would he even be able to go on if Nya was gone? Pushing the morbid thoughts from his mind, he stuck firm to his statement. "Besides, you will be helping, Nya. This kid here, he's the Golden Master. Keeping him alive is our top priority and we're entrusting him to you."
"He...he's the Golden Master?" Nya's voice was heavy with disappointment as she turned to look at the young boy. He was lightly muscled, but still far too skinny. He couldn't have been older than fifteen. There was no way someone like this would be able to save them all. This kid should be outside, hanging out with friends, and laughing away all of his worries. Instead, he was here, the fate of the world hanging on his small shoulder. "Are you sure?"
Lloyd shrank into himself, feeling shame and anger at the same time. The girl was right. He didn't exactly look like someone who could taken down the threat of the Serpentine, but at least he was going to give it a shot. What have you done, huh? Lloyd wanted to yell, but his voice was stuck in his throat.
"Yes. We met a man at the Temple of Light and he put us in charge of keeping the pipsqueak safe. You know, since he is destined to save the world and all..." Kai shrugged, trying to hide the feelings of jealousy that nagged at him each time he was reminded that the Golden Master was not him.
"He's going to be great," Cole said, stepping forward to pat Lloyd on the back. The merchant could see how much the words were affecting Lloyd and Cole didn't want the young boy to lose confidence in himself. That kind of fear could be as harmful as the poison that had coated the Fangpyre's blade. "Until then though, we need to keep him safe. So you're staying, alright, Lloyd?"
The blonde boy nodded, a sigh escaping his lips.
Nya felt the slightest twinge of remorse for her previous words. It was obvious now that Lloyd, or at least that was what she had heard the other man call him, had not chosen to be so important. Sometimes destiny was cruel. "Don't worry," she said, forcing a small smile, "we'll keep each other company, Lloyd. Time will fly by quickly and you won't even notice that they're gone." The annoyance on his face was still apparent, but she chose to ignore it. Neither of them had a say in the matter and they just had to deal with it. "You guys need to be careful though," Nya continued, her brown eyes bouncing between each and every person in the room. "Do what you have to do and then come back as quickly as you can." I just want everyone to be safe...
"Don't worry about us," Jay grinned, causing the small bags underneath of his eyes to crease dramatically. "Like you said, we'll be back so fast you won't even have time to miss me...I-I mean us. Miss us. That was what I meant, of course." The puppeteer glanced over towards Kai who still held an expression of contempt. Whether it was towards Jay's all-nighter or his flirting, the auburn haired man could not tell. All he knew was that his friend was mad and he would be walking on proverbial eggshells for who knew how long. "So, the, I guess we should start heading out."
Zane gave the group a curt nod and headed towards the back door, peeking out to make sure that the coast was clear before gesturing for his friends to follow. Kai took one last look back at Nya before making his way towards Zane. The four elemental fighters lightly tread across the dirt, finding refuge in an abandoned alleyway not far from Kai's home. "Now I can plan a safe route to our location like I did previously," the android stated. "From there, I am not sure what course of action to take."
"We can figure it out as we go," Cole replied, feeling far better than the day before. His muscles weren't in pain anymore and, once again, his mind was able to focus on the world around him. "I want to get this over with as quickly as possible. I don't like the idea of leaving Lloyd behind with your sister."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Both Kai and Jay said, one with a hiss and the other with a yawn.
Cole trotted forward, doing his best to keep up with Zane's strange twists and turns through the village. "It means she isn't exactly a fighter. If anything happens and Lloyd gets hurt...I wouldn't want to know what that would mean for the future of Ninjago."
"Oh, and what happens to my sister wouldn't matter?"
"To you, yes," the merchant responded, lowering his voice in hopes that the blacksmith would follow his lead and do the same, "but to the people of Ninjago, no. I know it's hard, Kai, but we need to see the bigger picture here. We're doing this for everyone, not just for those we love."
Kai scowled, refraining from responding. If anything came out of his lips now, it would be loud enough to raise and alarm.
Walking quietly behind the rest of the group, Jay mulled over his friend's words. What if the person that you loved was your everything, your everyone? He had no siblings and he could not remember the last time he had seen either of his parents. Nya though, she really did mean a lot to him. Jay could not place a finger on why he felt so drawn to her. She was just sweet and radiated some kind of greatness. It felt like they were meant to be together, but he still did not know why. An unsettling vision of her lifeless body on the floor of the house invaded the puppeteer's mind, impossible to shake away.
Jay. The voice came from nowhere, a whisper on the still air. Jay. No matter how hard he tried, he could not push the image in his mind away. It was like he was trapped within it. JAY!
He blinked hard, seeing the blurry world around him with his blue eyes. Cole was staring straight at him, his unsavory expression becoming more apparent as Jay's vision slowly cleared up. "You were dozing off and mumbling," the merchant whispered, though frustration was woven through every word. "You're going to ruin this whole thing if you can't keep your mind focused and your eyes open." With that, Cole turned and started walking once more.
"He's right though," Kai chimed in, much to Jay's chagrin, still sounding bitter about the Nya situation. "Like I said, you'll get us all killed."
Jay dug his fingernails into his palms, willing himself to stay awake. He wasn't going to get them killed. He was good. He could do anything. He was lightning. No one could stop lightning.
The puppeteer continued to follow the others, keeping up as best as he could. He felt a bit disoriented at time, but he was fine. He was fine. He was fine. Jay kept repeating those three words to himself, giving himself the confidence boost he needed to do something crazy. And he needed to do something crazy. Crazy heroic. Like...like defeating the Venomari on his own. If he did that, the others would never again dare to doubt him.
If they won't believe in me, Jay thought, sneaking away from the others as they arrived at the edge of the towering castle, I'll just believe in myself. Just like that, the puppeteer ran off, bursting through an open entrance and heading deeper into the castle, ignoring the warning bells that ran throughout his head.
As always, luck was on Jay's side. He took the right amount of right turns and the right amount of left turns that would protect him from the guards that were patrolling through the halls. He ran fast enough to leave the others behind, but slow enough as to not be heard. Most of all, Jay was lucky enough to reach the throne room instead of being lost in the endless maze of never-ending hallways.
Jay just had to hope that his luck was never-ending too.
The puppeteer pushed the door open, an action that turned out to be harder than what he'd expected, and stepped inside. The throne room was large and painted green. Everything. Everything was green. The curtains were a dark green, thick and blocking most of the sunlight. The carpet was a bright green, but not exactly pleasant. If anything, it looked like puke. The candles that were all around emitted a greenish glow as well, giving the room the appearance of a gigantic swamp.
"Hellooooooooo?" Jay shouted at the top of his lungs, wishing to get this all over with. He didn't know how much longer he could stay awake. His eyelids felt as if two people were pulling down on them relentlessly, making it increasingly difficult to keep them open.
An impatient hiss echoed throughout the room, causing Jay to glance around his surroundings. He appeared to be utterly alone, though he was positive he was not. Walls did not just hiss. As the oddly colored flames danced from the candles perched atop small alcoves in the walls around him, he noticed something he had not before. The silhouette of someone he had not seen. They separated themselves from the darkened corner of the room, four eyes narrowed in aggravation. "Foolisssh human," the serpent said, continuing to slither forward, "sssetting foot in a place of power without permissssion isss prohibited."
He could feel it now, the welcomed adrenaline flooding his body. Jay's eyelids grew lighter and he blinked furiously, just making sure he could better keep them open. "Haven't always been one for following the rules," he shrugged nonchalantly, clasping his hands behind his back. While doing this, the puppeteer felt his heart sink. He had not brought any sort of weapon with him. It did not matter. The only thing that he could do now was improvise and make the best of it. Feeling a tad bit braver, Jay took a few steps across the carpet and closer towards the Serpentine before him.
Just as the human stepped into the sight of the dancing light from the flames, the Venomari halted his progression. The man before him had tousled auburn hair and a slightly ragged blue shirt, similar to a description that Pythor had tried to spread out across the kingdom. "I know of you," the serpent scoffed, still unable to fully quell the nerves that were now settling in his cold-blooded body. "The Fangpyre kingdom fell to a group of humansss that ssstole their king's staff." There was just this one though. Briefly, the serpent let his yellow eyes glide around the room. "It appearsss that you are alone though. Abandoned by your teammatesss I sssee."
"Nu uh," Jay argued childishly. "They probably don't even know where I went. I'm here all by myself." As soon as the words left his mouth, he instantly regretted saying them. It was not smart to let the enemy know that there was no back up. If anything, it was better to try and convince the enemy that they were outnumbered. Whoops...
The serpent chuckled. "Alone and weak. It ssshould not be too difficult to take care of you by myssself then." No need to waste guards for something as simple as disposing of an insignificant human. Even if they were after the symbol of his power. Closing the space that remained between himself and Jay, the Venomari gave a fanged grin. "You will rot in prissson for the ressst of your life," he mused before promptly spitting.
Jay hit the floor before he even had time to fully process what was happening. Now he recalled exactly what the Venomari were known for. With his face contorted by disgust, the puppeteer flipped himself around and managed to send a well placed kick to the trunk of his enemy's body. Though he had, in fact, intended to trip the snake, Jay just nodded as the Serpentine glared down at him. "R-Right," the auburn haired man chuckled to himself. "No feet..."
Bringing his tail around quickly, the serpent smacked Jay hard, causing him to roll across the floor. He anticipated for his opponent to immediately get to his feet and fight back, but that did not happen. Jay lay on the ground, his eyes barely open as the Venomari advanced upon him. "Tired?" the creature mocked. "I can help you with that. Though, inssstead of sssweet dreamsss, you'd have only nightmaresss."
You're going to get yourself killed today. Kai's earlier words echoed in his mind and Jay, struggling hard, managed to open his eyes wide enough the see exactly what was happening. The condescending snake opened his mouth and sent another stream of venom careening outwards. Jay planted his hands on the ground and managed to roll backwards, away from it all. Yet again, new adrenaline flooded his body, now making him feel slightly jumpy.
Yet, also invincible.
He could take down this serpent. There was absolutely nothing to it. Besides, he was beginning to remember minute details about the current enemy he was fighting. Venomari spat hallucinatory venom, that much was true, but their supply was not unlimited. His thoughts drifted back to when he had first met Kai and the daring escape they had made from their pursuers. Those serpents had been stocked up with pouches of extra venom, like warriors normally were. This one did not appear to have any extra venom on his person. Jay decided he could use this to his advantage.
"Well I'd like to see you try," the puppeteer mocked, the corner of his mouth pulling up into a smirk. "The only nightmare I'd have would be of your ugly, scaly face."
The anger flowed steadily like a river, beginning to overtake the Serpentine. How dare this human address him so? It was time for him to learn his place. As the Venomari slithered towards his opponent, he became aware of the lack of defense Jay presented. "Giving up? Sssmart decisssion," he hissed, preparing to attack with his venom once more. The instant that his ammo had sailed through the air, the serpent stopped and watched it all land in a sickly puddle that blended perfectly with the floor beneath it. "What? But...he wasss right there."
His jaw exploded with pain as Jay's fist made contact with it. The snake stumbled backwards, trying to recompose himself. "I was there," Jay smiled, taking a few steps back from his opponent. "You're not gonna give up now though, are you? I mean, you have to teach me rules and stuff, right? Well, teach away." Much to the serpent's disgust, Jay knelt down on the ground, his eyes focused ahead. "Go on then, Greenie, teach me a lesson."
Never had he been talked down to be a lowly human. The growing rage was overwhelming. Without even a retort, the Venomari spit towards his opponent once more, only to see the venom fall to the ground yet again. "No, no, I'm over here," came the voice of the human. Spinning around, the snake gave a gargled hiss and spit again. "Not over there. Over here." He spun around again, finding the blue clad man waving at him, a large grin spread across his face. The snake spat again and missed. Again and again. His enemy was unbelievably quick, especially for someone who had seemed so close to being incapacitated a short while prior.
Trying to keep calm, the serpent feinted spitting and quickly spun around, lashing at his tail. He felt the body of his opponent hit it and crash to the floor. Feeling victorious now, the Venomari hurried towards Jay's weakened form and picked him up by the collar of shirt, forcefully pinning him against one of the walls. The man squirmed in his grip, blue eyes full of hatred and anxiety. "Time for that lesssson then," he said, opening his mouth one final time.
Nothing happened.
Jay could not stifle the chuckle that had grown in his throat. "Great lesson. Now I have one for you," the puppeteer replied, grabbing onto one of the serpent's arms and concentrating as hard as he could. The familiar tingling sensation started in his chest and traveled outwards along his arm, then palm, and fingertips. He watched as the snake's eyes widened and quickly shut as the electricity coursed through his body. The seconds ticked by slowly as the Venomari released Jay and collapsed to the ground, winded and barely conscious. "Always keep yourself stocked up on your venom."
He had done it, just like he had wanted to. Completely accomplished, the puppeteer strode over to the throne in the back of the room and wrapped his hand around the golden staff that sat propped up against the intricately decorated chair. "Now, you're all mine," he smiled to himself, hearing the doors to the room suddenly burst open. Whipping around as fast as he could, Jay saw three familiar faces staring straight at him. "You missed the party," he continued, stumbling forward across the carpet. All of the adrenaline in his body was dissipating and the encroaching exhaustion had begun to return. Jay's eyelids were weighed down with sleep once more and he tried to fight it as best he could, but this was one fight he could no longer win.
With a smile on his face and his prize still tight in his grip, Jay collapsed to the ground and fell into a well-deserved slumber.