Chapter 2: The perfect day gone bad
Cole had his back to them, and seemed to be very interested in something outside the window. Nya was sitting next to Jay on the couch, her face wet from crying. Jay looked like he'd been told the world was ending. Zane didn't look much happier - he was pacing back and forth like a man trying to work out a horribly hard problem in his mind.
When Kai and Dessie ran in, they stopped short. Kai stared at everyone, wondering what type of news could cause everyone to look like this. Nay looked up at him, and then burst into tears.
"Nya!" cried Kai, rushing to her side. "What is it? What's wrong!?"
"Don't touch her!" yelled Jay, wrapping his arms around Nya protectively. Kai stopped dead in his tracks, shocked into silence.
"Wh…why not?" demanded Dessie, eyes wide in surprise. "Is something wrong?"
"And why on earth can't I comfort my own sister?!" yelled Kai, furious.
"Because," said Jay, not missing a beat, "people want their problems to stay away!"
"Excuse me?! Are you implying that I am her problem?!" bellowed Kai, drawing himself up to his full height. "Say that again! Say it to my face!"
"STOP!" roared Cole. Everyone stilled. He turned from the window and walked over to Kai, towering over him. "Sit down."
Kai stared for a moment, shocked by the look on Cole's face. He'd never seen Cole so disgusted and angry in his entire life. In fact, Cole had never used that tone on any of his fellow ninja before either.
"I said sit," he snarled in Kai's face.
Kai promptly sat, staring up at Cole in confusion. "What the heck is going on?" he demanded. "Why are you all acting so…so weird?"
"I'd say this is pretty normal, all things considered," muttered Jay.
"Kai, where were you last night?" asked Cole sternly. "Tell me in clear detail exactly where you were."
Kai looked quickly at Dessie, then back at Cole. "Cole, what -?"
"Just answer the question," rumbled Cole.
"I was at work," said Kai, puzzled. "I always work late on Thursdays. I have the day off on Fridays."
"Do you have an alibi?" asked Zane softly. "Proof that you were, in fact, at work?"
Kai stared at Zane. The nindroid had stopped pacing and was watching Kai, eyes hopeful.
"You could call my boss," said Kai slowly. "I closed up the smithy myself though. I was alone for most of it."
"Did anyone see you at 11:20 PM last night?" asked Cole, his intense gaze burning into Kai.
Kai looked at him, confused. "Are you guys interrogating me?" he asked, surprised. "Am I seriously being cross-examined right now?"
"JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION!" shouted Cole. "Do you have any proof that you were at work at 11:20 PM last night?!"
"NO!" Kai shouted back. "EVERYONE HAD GONE HOME!"
Zane turned away, hanging his head. Nya sobbed into Jay's shoulder, and Cole turned away slowly, shoulders drooping.
Dessie stamped her foot. "For heaven's sake!" she exclaimed. "What is going on?!"
"I was walking home last night from my work," said Cole slowly. "I was walking down Harbey Lane, by the bar. I heard a familiar voice, and I turned to see him - " he pointed an accusing finger at Kai, who's jaw dropped in shock - " coming out of the bar, drunk."
"Wh…WHAT?!" cried Kai. "I took the oath! We all did! I was NOT at the bar last night, dude! How dare you accuse me of such an - "
"I'm not accusing you," said Cole in a low voice. "I'm convicting you. I walked up and asked him who he was. That drunken jerk told me he was Kai Tefuto, and that I was Cole Renaro, king of horrible cooking." He glared. "He also wasn't alone. A sleazy blonde was hanging all over this, Kai Tefuto," Cole spat the name like it tasted bitter. "I've never thought you could ever be so vulgar," he continued, "but nothing has ever turned my stomach as much as seeing you and that blonde, making out and drinking like worthless trash. You've cheapened yourself and your promises."
Kai's mouth was hanging open. He just stared, dumbfounded. "W…what did I ever do to you!?" He cried, horrified. "Why are you lying about me like this?!"
"I'm NOT lying!" yelled Cole.
"Where is your proof?!" demanded Kai. "How do we know you weren't the drunk one?"
Cole turned on him. "Don't make this harder than it has to be," he snarled, eyes blazing with a fury Kai had never seen in them. They were hard as granite, and as sharp as flint. "I would never just accuse you - I would have defended your honor to the end. But I have evidence that even Zane can't ignore."
"Cole," whispered Dessie. Kai and Cole looked at her. Dessie's eyes were wide with fear, and her face was pale. Tears were welling up in her eyes as she whispered, "Cole, what evidence?"
Cole walked to her and handed her his phone. He looked into her eyes and whispered, "I'm sorry. If I had known, I would have stopped your relationship with him a long time ago." He unlocked his phone and loaded a video. "Watch it. Dessie," he added softly, face sad, "I'm sorry. I know you loved him."
Kai stared. Of all the nightmare's he'd had, this one topped them all.
Dessie looked at Kai, uncertain, then began playing the video. Kai could hear the audio, and he raised his eyebrows. It sounded just like him. Like, JUST like him. He could hear the raucous laughter from the person who sounded like him, and Cole questioning his identity.
"I'm Kai Tefuto," slurred the voice. "And…and you are Cole, the King of Horrible Cooking." The voice laughed, then added a stinging remark that Cole had left out. "Hey, keep this under your hat, okay? I wouldn't want Dessie to figure this out."
Kai's eyes bugged, and the color drained from his face. Not only did this person sound like him - but they had known everyone's names?! This person could be a serious threat!
He looked at Dessie, knowing she would set them straight. He could practically hear her now, yelling out "It doesn't look like him! How could you all doubt him like that?"
But no such speech came. He looked at her quickly, and felt his heart shatter.
She was staring at him. Her eyes were huge, and a large tear trickled down her cheek. Her expression told him exactly what she thought of this video.
He had betrayed her.
"Dessie," he said quickly. "Dessie, you know me. I would never - "
"Never what?!" demanded Cole. "Never lie? Never hide anything from us?! Never make out with some random person at the bar?!" He paced like a caged animal. "We trusted you! We protected you! We fought by your side, and we took an oath with you! We decided to abstain from alcohol, because we could be disarmed easily if under the influence!" Cole whirled on Kai, rage evident on his face. "And what did you do? You betrayed every one of us. How long were you leading Dessie on? How far were you going to take her before you dumped her into the garbage like a disposable rag?!"
Dessie began to cry. "He…he showed me where he wanted to build a house…" she sobbed. "He…told me he loved me…"
"Dessie," cried Kai. "Don't believe him! This is a lie! I still love you! I still want to spend my life with you!"
"ENOUGH!" roared Cole. "Stop torturing her! Leave her alone!"
"No," yelled Kai. "You leave me alone! Can't I defend myself?! Zane, tell them I am innocent! Tell them I didn't do it!"
Zane hid his face in his hands. "I can't," he moaned.
"What?!" cried Kai. "I thought you could sense the truth - "
"You both are telling the truth!" cried Zane. "It doesn't make any sense, but if you were extremely intoxicated, then you might not remember, thus believing that you are in fact telling the truth!"
"Nya," begged Kai, turning to his little sister. "I would never betray you guys like this. Please, hear me out - "
"We've heard enough," said Cole quietly. "And we're done."
Kai froze. Done? What did 'done' mean?
Dessie was standing there, crying softly. Kai felt his heart throb with pain, knowing what she believed about him. He turned to her, eyes begging her to understand. "Dessie," he whispered. "Please."
Her face crumpled like a wilted flower, and she ran from the room, sobbing. "Dessie!" cried Kai after her, but then squeaked as Cole lifted him from his chair by the collar of his shirt.
"You are hereby banished from the Destiny's Bounty," he said, dragging the red ninja by the collar to the door.
"COLE!" thundered Kai, clawing at the Master of Earth. "Let me go!"
"As in accordance with the vow you took," snarled Cole, "since you have now broken it, you now face the consequences."
"Cole, I can walk myself!" shouted Kai. "LET ME GO!"
Cole threw him down the on-ramp of the Bounty. Kai rolled to a stop at the bottom, then got to his feet and brushed off his jacket angrily. "Cole, why are you doing this?!"
"Because you are now an outlaw!" said Cole, glaring darkly. "You aren't one of us anymore!"
Kai stared. "And why am I not one of you?!" he demanded. "I am still a ninja!"
"You are a ninja with no honor!" screamed Cole. "You are a warrior who sold his worth! You know what the rules are! You know what I have to do!"
Kai opened his mouth, then stopped. The words of Sensei Wu echoed in his mind as he realized what Cole meant.
"When a ninja falls away from what honorable, and betrays the ways of the ninja, then he must be outlawed; forever cursed to wander separated from those he fought beside. The leader of the ninja must banish him from his comrades presence, and he must be forever labeled as a ronin; a traitor."
"You don't mean…" began Kai, then trailed off. "You do, don't you."
"Why did you do it?" asked Cole, eyes sad. "Why did you have to betray everything we love by doing the one thing that would kick you out?"
"I didn't," said Kai. "Somebody else did."
Cole sighed. "Have it your way." He turned away, the paused. He looked over his shoulder at Kai, expression stone cold. "Ronin."
Ronin.
Kai cried fresh tears as he sat in the spot he had showed Dessie just an hour ago. His motorcycle was parked just a few feet away, with only one helmet on the seat. The skies above seemed oblivious to his sorrow, and the sun showed despite the grayness he felt inside. The birds sang, untouched by the shadow that hung over his heart.
"I…I'm all alone now," he said aloud, voice cracking with tears. "No one wants me anymore."
He couldn't really be angry with Dessie. Sure, he wished that she hadn't believed the lies. But she was just…afraid, maybe. Cole had seemed so certain; and even Nya had turned her back on him. Why would she doubt the veracity of the video?
He hung his head. Everything was just…gone. Everything he had held in his life - gone.
Dessie had run to her room, sobbing for all she was worth. I'm never going to love again! she vowed. She burst into her room, then slammed the door shut. She stood there, hand still on the door handle, crying softly. She could still see him, cornered by Cole, silently abandoned by the others, looking at her, his soft brown eyes pleading as he said, "Dessie…please."
She slumped against the door, sobbing. Why did this hurt so badly? Seeing Kai as a slobbering drunk had hurt her deeply, but seeing the equally drunk blonde receiving his love had put a fire in her belly. Even now, she wanted to scream and break everything fragile in the room.
He betrayed me.
He used me.
He was never what I thought he was.
I'm lucky he's gone.
I'm fortunate he'll forget about me.
I'll be better off this way.
These thoughts slowly faded as she stared at her hands. She paused, staring at her soft, white hands in wonder. How many times had she longed to hold him? She turned and faced her mirror, looking at her puffy red eyes. How many times had she wanted him to notice their color? She looked at her lips, trembling tearfully. How many times had she wanted to kiss him? To speak plainly, and tell him she was the luckiest girl in the world, because she loved him?
And all of that changed…because of a video?
No! Because of what was ON the video! cried the hurt voice inside her. Because of who he really is! How do you know he ever loved you?!
"But would a loyal girl take back her love so quickly?" she whispered aloud. "Would he have done that to me, if our roles were reversed?"
"I guess you'll have to ask him," said a familiar voice.
"KAI?!" She gasped, whirling to face him. He was sitting on her bed in the corner, legs crossed, grinning at her.
"Hi there," he said with an innocent laugh. "But I'm not just Kai."
And with that, the person before her began to shimmer into another shape. She squeaked in surprise as Cole appeared and waved with that familiar smile. Then they shimmered again, and Zane appeared, with his falcon on his shoulder. And again and again, this person showed her the people she knew and loved, changing from one to the other.
"Y…YOU!" she gasped. "I know who you are! You were Skylor's friend! You tried to help her, but then you ran away when I scared you!"
The person momentarily froze in Nya's shape, then shimmered back into Kai's. "Yeah, I am," they said. It was unnerving to hear Kai's voice with the knowledge that it wasn't really him. "And I still don't have to show you what I really look like," they added, smirking.
The video, Dessie suddenly realized. It was all a fake. This person staged the whole thing - they were trying to get Kai out of the picture! She looked at them, silently putting together the pieces. But why try to split up the ninja? They must be trying to do something evil - or take revenge. If Chen is connected to this - and without finishing her thought, she opened her mouth to scream. Cole would come running, and this imposter would be stopped!
But the scream never came. Suddenly fingers from behind closed around her throat, choking the scream before it could be heard. Her eyes widened in fear and horror, and she struggled against the strong hand that was trying to strangle her. "Well well," sneered a low voice in her ear. "Seems you have a fire in your chest. I know what to do with that."
There had been two people in the room. The shape-shifter had distracted her.
"Ack…" Dessie choked out. She struggled and tried to fling her body forward. But the attacker's other arm wrapped around her waist, pinning her to himself. "Not so fast," he said, voice low and smooth. "Stop struggling, darling. You'll hurt worse when you wake up if you keep this up."
She jerked, trying to break free. But she was beginning to see little dots everywhere, and she felt her limbs weaken from lack of air. "Good night," chuckled the shapeshifter, and the world faded into darkness.
"What did your dad say?" asked Jay. He was sitting on the couch, wishing Nya was with him. She had decided to go to bed early, and so Jay and Zane had been left to sit in silence alone as Cole left to call his father. Cole had just returned, face sad.
"He says he won't believe it until he sees the video. I guess Kai asked if he could marry Dessie, and Dad says that he gave Kai his blessing." He sighed. "Dad just can't see Kai doing something like this."
"Heck," said Jay. "I didn't believe until I saw the video either."
"I'm gonna go check on Dessie," said Cole. He sighed, and the other two could see that he hadn't enjoyed throwing Kai out. "Who knew, right? Who knew it would ever come to this. After all we've been through, too."
Jay rubbed his eyes wearily. "I think I'll go check on Nya, too," he said, rising from his seat. Cole nodded, then walked slowly to Dessie's room down the hall. He didn't look forward to talking to Dessie. He knew she was probably crying her eyes out, throwing away all the little tokens of love Kai had ever given her, and desperate to escape the heartbreak they were all feeling.
"Dessie?" he asked, knocking gently on the door. "Dessie, it's Cole. Can I come in?"
No answer. That's funny, he thought. Normally she would have answered me; even if she was feeling emotionally horrible.
He opened the door a little. "Dessie?"
The room was a mess. Pots and discarded plants were everywhere. Her bed was torn apart, and her mirror was shattered on the floor.
Dessie wasn't there.
"Dessie?! Dessie, where are you?!" He yelled, throwing the door open all the way. He could barely walk into the room - the place looked like a failed spinjitzu attempt in a grocery store.
Suddenly a loud scream broke the silence of the Bounty.
"Nya is GONE!"
Cole ran back to the main living room. "Has anyone seen Dessie?!" he asked.
"Has anyone seen Nya?!" cried Jay, running into the room, terror on his face.
Zane looked at both of them. "N…no," he said, unsure of what was an appropriate response in a moment like this. "I have not. I take it they are not in their rooms."
"Her room was a mess," Jay and Cole said at the same time, then blinked in surprise at each other. "It was?" asked Jay. "Dessie is typically very clean."
"Something bad has happened," said Cole. "Search the whole Bounty! We have to find them."
They scurried all over their flying ship, but to no avail. Dessie and Nya were simply not on board.
"They couldn't have gotten far," said Zane. "I will send my falcon to look for them."
"Do it," said Cole.
"Hey, here's their phones," said Jay suddenly. Zane and Cole turned in surprise to see that the blue ninja was right - Dessie and Nya's phones were lying face up on the coffee table.
"These weren't here a minute ago," said Cole.
"I agree," said Zane. "This is very peculiar."
Suddenly, both phones received a text simultaneously.
The ninja looked at each other, disturbed.
"Do we check it?" asked Jay.
"Maybe it's the kidnapper," said Zane, unlocking both phones and holding them up for the other two to see.
The text was from a number that said "Unknown". "That is never good," pointed out Jay.
"Just read the text," said Cole.
Two young women
stolen away
Taken by
the shadow to play
abandoned in the hallways
left there to die
in the hospital of mourning
ronin come and say good bye
You were like a child, tricked
the game likewise was false
come and wander cocky ones
in the lightless halls
the city is in shadow
the day has turned to night
stay at home and quake
in fear
or in the darkness fight
"NYA'S IN DANGER!" shrieked Jay. "LET'S GO!"
"But we don't know where they are," protested Cole. "We need to think carefully. This is probably a trap. Zane, what do you think?"
"I know where they are," said Zane. "And we will need Kai's help if we want to save them both."