The 3 ninja were still talking to each other when they heard noise coming from one of the nearby tunnels, Cole motioned his brothers to be quiet, they didn't want any unwanted attention from the serpentine, so they hushed their voices. Within 2 minutes an unconscious Jay was dragged out of the tunnel with his legs trailing behind him. He was fastened to the spare set of shackles in the middle of the room and left there.
10 minutes had passed before Jay had the strength to open his eyes, he could hear mumbled voices, familiar voices trying to rouse him. He lifted his head and squinted his eyes to regain focus on where he was. Ah great another room another psycho torture session...he chuckled to himself weakly.
"Jay! Jay over here bro, you ok?" Kai asked.
Jay was in a standing position with his arms and legs apart, he was shackled to a low lying pipe in vengestone cuffs, his legs shaking and struggling to hold him up from weakness but the pain from the shackles on his wrists made him stand even though his body protested…"What is it with stress positions huh!" Jay said as he craned his neck to see his brothers all shackled against the opposite wall.
His brothers seemed to be in a similar predicament except for the fact that they weren't injured just restrained in vengestone to prevent them from using their elements to escape.
Jay had been at the supposed facility for 3 hours prior to being brought here….where ever here was. He had nothing left, his energy was all but gone and his strength was non-existent...his reserve and perseverance still there.
Zane had remained on the Bounty with Nya and they were enroute to the ninja's last known location thanks to the trackers that some of the ninja were wearing.
Right on cue the serpentine general Pythor and the snake king Skales slithered into the large room where the ninja were being held. They were happy to see their all of their captors awake. Pythor walked over to his electrical system and switched a button on the console, suddenly a light replaced the semi darkness of the cave as Jay's stolen element was being used to power Pythor's lair.
The serpentine approached the shackled blue ninja and smiled, Pythor and Skales had some sort of sick fascination with this ninja, they finally had him and the blood lust in their eyes wasn't about to disappear. They each took it in turns to punch him viciously in his chest, the sound of bone covered knuckles hitting flesh made Lloyd's stomach turn. Pythor stopped beating Jay abruptly when he hurt his hand.
"Gahh," Pythor spat, "this ninja hurt my hand".
"Well that's w-what happens w-when you take t-things that d-don't belong to y-you" Jay said weakly as he fought the effects of being winded again, he watched as Pythor scowled at him.
"Hey Cole, h-how come I'm g-getting all the s-special treatment" Jay quizzed trying to be funny.
"STOP IT….can't you see you're hurting him" Kai shouted.
"That's the plan you ssstupid ninja…your bond as brothers is legendary so they say….besides if you hurt one you hurt them all."
"I swear to god, if you hurt him anymore I'll kill you myself" Cole yelled.
"So…...what if I do this then?" Skales hissed and raised his eye mockingly testing the boundaries of what Cole had just said.
Skales punched Jay in the jaw mercilessly which startled the blue ninja and sent his head flying to the side, blood started seeping out of his mouth, Jay groaned when he felt a loose tooth.
"Is that all you got?" Jay said with vitriol as he spat the blood in his mouth at Skales.
"Oh….you'll regret that" said Skales as he wiped the disgusting blood off his face and followed with a backhanded slap across Jay's face, he grinned when he noticed that he had just broken Jay's lip.
"What is it w-with m-my face you don't l-like" Jay coughed "C-cos you keep t-touching it" he added with a pained laugh.
Skales was getting tired with the annoying blue ninja, he just wouldn't quit…he needed silencing and he knew just how to do it. He approached Jay looked him in the eyes and finished off with an impressive roundhouse kick to Jay's head which knocked him out cold. A laceration appeared on Jay's temple where the kick had landed and a stream of blood was steadily making its way down his face and neck to settle on the floor.
"Ahh that's better, he's quiet …no more wisecracks" Pythor said with glee.
"YOU BASTARD, how dare you" Cole boomed angrily, tears stinging his eyes as he glared at the 2 snakes in font of Jay.
"Jay?…. JAY!, buddy, can you hear me?" Cole shouted across the large room.
"Now…now, language Cole, would you prefer this treatment instead of your beloved blue ninja scum?" Skales asked as he quickly moved to Cole's side, he stood mere inches away from him. "How strong are you anyway? master of earth, I bet you don't have the stamina to even work our manual generator" ….he whispered into Cole's ear before pulling back and delivering a sucker punch to Cole's face. The action of this caused his face to hit the wall at his side leaving a cut where his face had scraped the cave.
"I WILL KILL YOU ….I will hunt you down and kill you" Cole said quietly to Skales.
"Maybe, but not today as you see we have a special treat for you" he whispered into Cole's ear so that only he could hear.
Skales approached Kai "ah yes, the loud mouth, the opinionated one, the hothead I assume?" as he looked in Pythors' direction for clarification…..I guess we could always have you fuel our ovens we could always use more heat down here. He whispered into Kai's ear as his eyes focussed on the blade in his hand, he brought the kunai blade up to Kai's face and pressed the tip onto his cheek cutting into it until a bead of blood gently trickled down his face...Skales smiled as he walked towards Lloyd.
"And of course we couldn't forget the little green ninja" Skales spat.
"You stay away from him Skales" Kai shouted trying to protect his youngest ninja friend and brother from the evil incarnate that was Skales.
He stood in front of Lloyd the kunai blade still firmly in his grasp, "get away from me, leave us all alone, you sick freaks" Lloyd yelled just as Skales pushed the kunai into his thigh, he let out a pained yelp as he felt the blade cut through muscle, the pain coming in pulses as the blade remained in place.
"Pathetic just as I thought" as Skales turned his back on them.
Skales had finished talking to his captive audience and joined Pythor for the finale.
Pythors' voice boomed across the cavernous room "And for the finale we give you…..the blue ninja of lightning, hahahahaha…..but wait there's more he has no lightning left" "hahahahahahaha…..ah well never mind we may as well revive him, after all he won't want to miss his own funeral".
"Ah I crack myself up with my own wit" Pythor said to himself out loud.
Pythor threw a cold bucket of water over Jay to revive him, as soon as Jay was conscious again he punched Jay in the side, making him groan and shout out in pain as he felt his rib break.
"Unghhh…..C…Cole, h-help me" Jay whispered in pain.
"JAY, Jay, we're right here buddy" Cole shouted trying to keep Jay's hopes alive but fearing what was about to happen….a finale never sounded good when people were being held captive.
"Ah you pathetic ninja….is it painful? You don't know the meaning of the word pain", Pythor hissed as he closed in on Jay again, taking out his prized Tanto blade.
He slithered up to Jay and quickly unsheathed the beautiful golden blade before roughly stabbing it cleanly through the chest of the blue ninja until it came out of his back. Pythor took his time and looked up to his side at the 3 restrained ninja's who just gasped in shock at what Pythor had done. Cole squeezed his eyes closed and turned his head away trying to imagine it was a dream until Jay shrieked in pain as Pythor was pulling the blade out. The feeling of release was so close when the blade had been removed, a deep internal pressure was building slowly and yet Jay felt oddly calm, he was feeling cold as his warm blood spilled out onto the floor and began to pool around his feet. Pythor whispered to Jay before sinking the blade in again to the same wound "Hopefully this time you'll die".
"What have you done Pythor? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Cole shouted.
Jay's breathing was quickly becoming laboured and almost non existant. His head rose slowly as he watched Pythor walk away and then coughed weakly as a large amount of frothy red blood spilled out of his mouth leading a trail of blood down his body to accumulate on the floor.
"H…..h..eyy….g-guys, l…I….could use a little h-help h-here" Jay managed to say as his breath hitched which sent shivers through his body, his blood continuing to pool at his feet.
The 3 captured ninja all looked on in shock as their blue ninja was beaten almost to death but somehow was still managing to hang on. Was this his last spark of energy? or his soul holding on a little longer until he was ready to let go? Cole's mouth hung open he was shocked and amazed that Jay was still able to talk.
"What did he ever do to you, you sick fucks" Kai cried in anger before Pythor left.
"Oh this useless ninja got in the way too many times…not his fault I guess maybe the leader is to blame" as Pythor eyed Lloyd and Cole from afar, "besides we've had our fun with him now" he shouted as he turned away.
"We'll leave you to all to watch him die, he's as good as dead anyway and we've got other things to do" Pythor said.
As they walked out of the underground tomb into their respective lairs, Skales junior was watching with terror in his eyes, he had watched the whole thing. He had spoken to the ninja before and even bought them into his lair to introduce them to his mother when his father wasn't acting like a psychopathic snake.
He waited patiently until both the General and Snake king had left the room before he made his appearance at the 3 shackled ninja's sides. He hastily undid their bonds and looked apologetically at them before he disappeared without saying a word, tears evidently coming down his small serpentine framed face.
Cole nodded and then ran as fast as he could to get to Jay's side, Kai followed in quick pursuit and took Jay's shackles off while Cole eased Jay onto the floor. The sight up close of Jay with this blade sticking out of his chest was enough to make all 3 ninja pass out.
"We've gotta remove it...he can't breathe, he's drowning in his own blood!" Kai screeched.
"No...Kai, it needs to stay in until we can get him to the hospital! He could bleed to death if we attempt it again" Cole argued.
"Well what do we do now?" Lloyd asked
"Lloyd have you got details of Zane's whereabouts or where the Bounty is right at this moment?" Cole said as he asked Lloyd to check his tracking device, which was secretly affixed to his ninja gi.
"We need to get out of here NOW" Cole hissed "Jay…..come on…. Hold on, don't close your eyes, stay with me buddy…come on open those eyes….JAY!"
Cole shouted a little too loud to attempt to rouse him, relief flooded over Cole as Jay fluttered his eyes open briefly. A tear escaped down his bloodied face as he looked up into Cole's brown eyes and smiled.
"W…what took ya….. so l…long?" ,Jay gasped and attempted a laugh but in its place came more frothy red blood and a breathless cough which left Jay grimacing in excruciating pain.
"Jay…..please stay with me bro…come on open your eyes…Jay! JAY!"
"W-wow Cole reign it….in w-would ya" Jay said in a barely audible voice.
"Try not to talk buddy, I'm here for ya, just try to stay awake" Cole soothed.
"The Bounty is 500 feet in that direction" Lloyd stated as he pointed to the rough direction they needed to go. They all assisted Jay, his arms were draped over Kai and Cole as they carried him out of the empty room down through a network of tunnels. They used Lloyds tracking device to work out the correct route with Lloyd leading the way with a visible limp. Within a few minutes they had escaped the snake tunnels and were on the outskirts of New Ninjago city sewerage system.
"This way guys, just up here" Lloyd whispered.
"What we have to go up the ladder? Jay can't climb and we can't carry him fireman style because of this" as he pointed to the weapon still residing in Jay's chest. Kai sounded flustered and emotional staring at himself and Cole who were both covered in blood a mixture of their own and Jays , Lloyd wasn't faring too well being that he had a leg wound, he had removed the blade himself before they left the tomb and created a makeshift tourniquet to stop it from bleeding excessively, he was tired, exhaustion and injury was making the ninja team panic.
Suddenly the man hole cover opened and Zane was appearing above them, he had thought to contact the paramedics in case someone had been hurt and he had been correct in doing so.
"Hello brothers, glad to see you wearing your tracking devices…..Jay was right to….." Zane cut off as he saw one of his closest friends hanging limply in Cole and Kai's grasp.
"Zane, Jay's seriously hurt have you got a stretcher that you can lower down this hole?"
"Yes, I believe we do, they are just preparing it now" he said, as he assisted with the attachment of the restraining straps onto the stretcher and gently lowered it down to them. It was a 20 foot ladder so the stretcher had to be able to lay completely flat on the floor of the tunnel in order for Jay to be secured to it before they could even attempt to hoist him out.
The stretcher was placed on the floor where Jay was gently laid onto it, the straps were tightened to prevent him from falling out on the upwards ascent to the streets above. The paramedics stood and waited by Zane who was powerful enough to lift his fallen brother up the access pipe alone. He knew time was of the essence so he acted quickly once the stretcher came to the surface. Zane scanned Jay immediately and noted the tanto blade protruding from his chest, the first incision had caused damage to the artery and the second was slowly drowning him in his own blood.
"The nearest hospital is only 5 minutes away in that direction, Ninjago Memorial" Zane stated quickly.
"Oh, well we are planning on taking him to Ninjago General, that's where they'll be expecting him" The paramedics replied.
Zane looked up momentarily from his scan of Jay, the paramedics obviously didn't understand the extensive damage that he could see. He knew Jay wouldn't last 40 minutes in an ambulance, he needed help and fast.
"I do not for one moment think that Ninjago General will help him anymore than Memorial will, however he is quickly deteriorating…..and he will more than likely not make the journey"
Zane was getting frustrated and further stated "This is wasting valuable time! You must implore reason, it is in his best interests to be sent to the closest trauma hospital, I assure you they are not as busy as Ninjago General according to my sources, noted to himself that Ninjago General was extremely busy owing to a large road traffic accident involving at least 20 people.
"His injuries are too severe and extensive and he needs immediate attention."
"Ok, ok fine we'll take him there instead!"
"Despatch, notify Ninjago Memorial we'll be there in 3 minutes, they'll need to prep the emergency surgery suite, this patient has a stab wound, the weapon is still intact and located in his thoracic cavity" The paramedic said to the despatch receiver at Ninjago emergency services. They both packed Jay into the back of the ambulance, one of the paramedics jumped into the driving seat whilst the other administered an oxygen mask over Jay's mouth and nose. Zane hopped in to the ambulance to keep a close eye on him, he was one of the only other people apart from the paramedic who could help Jay.
Once the other ninja had emerged wearily from the access tunnel they saw the ambulance whizzing off at a fast pace down the road, they knew Zane was with him but that didn't stop Kai and Cole wanting to race off after them.
"Are you coming Lloyd" Cole shouted, Lloyd didn't answer he retreated up the ladder onto the Bounty and just went straight to his room, he didn't even register Nya or Misako standing on the deck wanting answers.
"Come on Cole, let's just go….we don't have time for this!" Kai hissed as he ushered Cole away.
They both summoned their respective elemental dragons and were quickly catching up with the ambulance.
"I miss our elemental vehicles" Kai shouted across to Cole as they were flying through the air trying to cut through the tension they were both feeling. "I had a great car and motorbike, used to be super-fast" He sighed
"Yeah, I do to bro! but my tread assault vehicle was kinda bumpy" he laughed.
"Trust Garmadon and his quest for the golden weapons! they were pretty awesome" Cole added.
"Hey it looks like they're headed to Ninjago Memorial! We've not been here before hehe" Kai smiled as they lowered their flying altitude ready to stop. The ambulance came to a complete stop outside of the emergency room ambulance bay. Zane was the first out looking extremely tense and worried, Jay's stats had been rapidly dropping in those few minutes he was on the stretcher. His oxygen was dangerously low, he wasn't breathing on his own anymore so the paramedic had to do it with the ambubag while Zane was monitoring his pulse.
Zane handed over the basic details of the incident to the staff at Ninjago Memorial, he told them what his scan had shown and hoped they would take him at his word.
"This is Jay Walker, he is 20 years old. He has severe and major trauma to his cardiothoracic area" Zane motioned towards the golden blade, "I believe this has punctured his lung because of the appearance of hemoptysis or frothy red blood, he also appears to have a broken rib and a laceration to his temple. His main issues are blood loss and a lack of oxygen" Zane finished and with a nod of heads they took him away promptly. Please help him he thought as he turned around and sighed deeply.
Edited to add...spelling corrections...damn it...my biggest bugbear