WARNING: Prepare for feels!

Chapter 3: To Battle

Kai stared at the poem on his phone. Two women? That could only mean Nya and Dessie. And that part about the ronin…

He leaped up from the little spot he loved, and ran to his bike. He jammed the helmet on his head and started the motorcycle's engine.

He knew where they were. And he would save them. Who cared if he was now ronin.

Nya and Dessie were ten times more valuable than his honor.

Adrenalin pumped through his veins as he sped back into Ninjago City. The wind made his eyes water, but he only accelerated. He was a ninja on a mission - a warrior with a purpose. Made ronin by a lie, he was ready to avenge his honor. With a fire roaring in his soul, he accelerated again, and sped to the downtown area.

There were many back alleys that would lead to where he was going. The hospital was on the northeastern tip of the city, and shortcuts might be the key to saving time.

"Kai!" cried a familiar voice. Kai slammed on the brakes and spun around to face Jay, who was riding his own motorcycle. It was naturally blue, and the ninja riding it wore a black and electric blue helmet to match.

"I didn't know you owned a bike," commented Kai, his voice low. He wasn't sure how he felt about meeting up with Jay after everything that had happened.

"Look, I'm sorry," said Jay. "I shouldn't have doubted you. I know it was all a lie. We got a text that Dessie and Nya have been kidnapped, and we think we know where they are."

"They are at New Ninjago Emergency center," said Kai. "Otherwise known as the Hospital of the Dead."

They both got quiet. The hospital had been a new addition to Ninjago City, but when everyone in it died of carbon monoxide poisoning, it had been abandoned. Everyone living stayed away from it, and there were rumors that a shadow hung over the plot of land it stood on.

Jay laughed nervously. "Oh. You got the text too, huh?"

"Yeah. I'm going there now. And you can come if you want." He paused. "I forgive you."

Jay breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks man. Let's go!"

They rode their bikes down the alley way and around a sharp corner. They could see the hospital in the distance, and with a glance at each other, they accelerated. Time was ticking.

Cole and Zane were waiting for them by the hospital's main entrance. Cole acknowledged Kai's presence by raising an eyebrow, then turned to Zane.

"Do we trust him?"

Kai bit back a sharp retort. They didn't have time to waste arguing.

"Cole," implored Jay. "It was all a trick! Remember the text?!"

"Cole, please," said Zane. "We must focus on the problem at hand. We can speak of this later."

Cole grunted, then eyed the tall building. "It's four floors," he said, and for a moment Kai felt an odd familiar feeling. Cole was laying down a plan, and they would all follow it - just like normal. But there was nothing normal about this scenario.

"Zane, you take the first floor. Be thorough." Zane nodded.

"Jay, you take the second. Leave no room unchecked, and listen carefully. You might hear our enemy, or the girls. I'll take the third floor, and Kai - you take the fourth."

He wants me to stay away from the others, Kai realized, gritting his teeth. So. Jay believed him to be innocent, and Zane seemed to be pretty neutral. I guess I'll have to prove myself.

"Ready?" asked Cole. They all nodded. "Ninja-GO!"

()

Zane searched, quietly seeking out any signs of life. The first floor was dark, and his robot eyes naturally adjusted to the darkness. He reached out with his senses and felt with his emotions.

This place was unhealthy. Filled with chaos, the aura here was… confused. Tormented, even.

A place meant for healing. A place that instead, killed hundreds of people because of a carbon monoxide leak.

Zane took a deep breath and kept looking for signs of Nya and Dessie. He wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.

()

Cole watched as Kai leaped up the stairs two at a time and lunged through the entrance to the fourth floor. With a grunt of disgust, he shook his head and opened the door to the third floor hallway.

The hallway was dark, and as he felt his way around, Cole felt something wet soaking the cloth ninja shoes he was wearing. Could it be blood? He thought, feeling his heart rate speed up. He felt for a light switch, and felt relieved when he flipped it, and the hallway was filled with white light.

He was standing near the entry door, next to the light switch on the wall. The hallway stretched out before him, and the doorways to hospital rooms were all hanging open. The floor shone in the light, and Cole realized that the floor was covered (more like flooded) with sitting water.

"Jay is probably wishing that he had an umbrella," He murmured to himself with a chuckle, despite the present circumstances.

"Cole?"

The whisper had been soft and trembled slightly. Cole quickly made his way to the nurse's desk - the whisper had come from somewhere over here.

"Nya?" he asked. He peered over the large counter, and beheld a very wet, exhausted Nya.

"Oh Cole!" she exclaimed, getting up on wobbly legs. "It was so scary!" She began to cry buckets of tears, and Cole awkwardly tried to comfort her. "They came up behind me, and dragged me away in a burlap sack! They have Dessie too, and they made us use our powers!"

"Slow down," he said gently, sitting her down in a nearby chair. "We know they have Dessie, and we are going to find her. Now, what was that about your powers?"

"We were kidnapped," began Nya, trying to dry her eyes but crying some more. "They knew Skylor Chen, and said that this was payback time. They strapped collars on us and told us that they were going to make us into weapons. They were convinced that I had powers, and so they put a collar with a little box on it on my neck and pushed a button on a remote." She began to cry harder. "I didn't think anything would happen, but csuddenly water was gushing out of my hands! They laughed and said that I must be a water elemental, and that I must not have ever discovered it."

And with that, Nya was lost in a sea of tears.

"That's awful," Cole said gently, laying a hand on her shoulder. "But I don't understand; are you upset that you have powers?"

"I…I…" Nya choked out, "I can't…be in love with Jay anymore!" And the sobs grew louder.

"Why not?" asked Cole.

"I am a water elemental," she wailed. "How can lightning and water mix? We'd kill each other by just touching!"

Cole stared. He'd never thought of that.

"And how can I tell him?" she sobbed out. "How can we ever recover from this? He's the most important thing in my life - how can I live with myself after this?"

"You need to talk to him," said Cole. "Or maybe Zane. I bet Zane would know how to help."

"I'm water," she cried. "He's lightning! How can this be fixed?!"

Suddenly they heard the door open. "Cole?" came Jay's voice. "Cole, are you here?"

"NO!" screamed Nya, shoving herself away from the desk. "Jay, stay away!"

"Nya!" cried Jay, totally ignoring her words and rushing over to them. His face looked worried, and he gripped the nurse's desk with his gloved hands intensely. "Nya, are you okay?"

"Jay," she sobbed, slowly sinking to the ground. "Jay, I…I…" she trailed off, crying.

"What's wrong?" he asked, nearly beside himself with worry. "Baby, what's wrong?"

"She's a water elemental," said Cole. "She thinks you can't be a couple, because you may inadvertently kill each other."

Jay stared, face growing pale. "What?! I…I…" he began, then stopped. "We need Zane. Zane should be able to help us."

"Jay, I don't know if this can be fixed," whispered Nya, sniffling defeatedly.

"Oh no you don't," said Jay, shaking his head violently. "I am not losing you without a fight. If we can never ever touch ever again, I am still all yours. We aren't ending like this!"

And with that, he ran off to find Zane.

"Nya, I know that you've been through a lot today," said Cole gently. "But don't give up on hope. Jay is going to go to the ends of the earth for you. I mean, he went into the scariest place in Ninjago City to save you! He'll find a way."

She laughed in spite of her tears. "I know he will. He's good like that."

"Nya!" cried Jay, rushing back in. "I've got Zane! He says he know whats to do! I mean, he KNOWS WHAT to do!"

Cole helped her stand up, and walked her over to Zane. The tall nindroid looked her over carefully with his sharp, frosty-blue eyes, and nodded. "She is unhurt," he said. "And she will be back to her normal, chipper self by tomorrow."

"But…but Zane," said Nya, surprised. "How can I and Jay be a couple if I'm - "

"A water elemental and a lightning elemental can't harm each other," said Zane. "According to your DNA, your mother had this same power. And your father was a fire elemental. To be completely honest, you are very mistaken in believing that being in close proximity to Jay or even touching him may hurt you. Elementals cannot hurt one another unless they decide to. And you and Jay would never make this decision. Quite frankly," said Zane, grinning, "there is nothing to cry about in this scenario."

Jay whisked her off her feet and kissed her squarely on the lips. "There ain't nothing in this world that can separate us," he promised.

Suddenly they heard gunfire. Nya gasped and clung to Jay, who ducked unconsciously.

Cole and Zane looked at each other quickly. "Kai," Zane breathed, and they all rushed to the stairs. Suddenly an explosive sound shook the building to it's foundations, and they all lost their balance for a moment. Then the gun shots started again. Cole scrambled to his feet and was on the stairs when there was another loud sound, as if something huge was falling apart, and then a loud scream. But it faded away quickly, and then a horrible silence fell over the entire hospital.

"Please," he whispered, throwing open the fourth floor entrance. "Let us not be too late."

()

Kai lunged into the room, sword drawn, mask pulled down over his face. He was ready to face the evil in the room. His eyes searched in the darkness, slowly becoming accustomed to the lack of light. He listened, and heard the sound of soft breathing.

He held up his hand, and slowly lit the room with his own flames. It was still very dark before him, but now he could see the light switch, and so he turned on the lights.

With a click, lights flickered, then flooded the room with a pale light. Kai stared at the torn, burned walls. The blackened, sooty floor. The smoldering doors that once led to the patients rooms. And at the end of the hall sat a chair with it's back to him. Sitting in the chair, dark brown hair matted and tangled about her shoulders, arms painfully bound behind the back of the chair, feet tied to the legs, barely supported by the chair itself, was Dessie. She wasn't quite sitting; she looked as though if she were untied, she would fall to the floor in a heap.

Then Kai noticed the blood on the floor beneath her. With rage and horror he rushed to her, yanking the mask from his face and kneeling before her.

"Dessie," he whispered. "Dessie, can you hear me?!"

She didn't move. Head bowed, shoulders bent, he couldn't see her face. Gently, he lifted her face so he could look at her.

Her face was flushed, and her closed eyes were swollen, but not blackened by any blows. Her nose had experienced a serious nosebleed, and Kai quickly surmised that it must be the reason there was blood on the floor. Her mouth fell open a little, and he felt her warm breath on his face. She's alive! He rejoiced inside, quickly cutting her bonds. She fell into his arms, unconscious.

Kai pulled her close, gently feeling her limbs to be sure there were no broken bones. Her veins were unusually visible, and he wondered what the kidnappers had put her through. He breathed another sigh of relief as he came to the conclusion that she wasn't seriously hurt.

"Dessie," he murmured in her ear, pulling her into a gentle hug. "Dessie, can you hear me? Please wake up." He gently stroked her hair, trying to rouse her. As he did, he noticed that there was an odd little collar on her neck. He glared at it, and quickly cut it off, throwing it across the hall in contempt. His gaze returned to his only love, limp in his arms. "Please, Dessie. I need you."

She gave a shuddering intake of breath, then raised a trembling hand and gripped his shirt. He looked into her face, and saw that her swollen eyes had opened slightly. She winced in pain, and clung to him tighter.

"Who…who are you?" she asked hoarsely, rubbing her eyes with her free hand. "I…can't see in this darkness."

She's blind.

"Dessie, it's me. I've come to save you," said Kai gently, voice trembling a little. "You…you can't see anything?"

"Oh Kai!' She breathed, relaxing in his arms. "N…no. It's too dark. Can you make some light?" She hugged him tighter, then fought to keep her eyes open. "I'm never letting go of you again." Her voice was hoarse, and it sounded far away. "I'm so sorry. I doubted you. I betrayed you by thinking the worst about you. If you can ever find it in your heart to forgive me, know that I will always be your girl."

"I forgave you before I found you here," he said gently. "And sweetheart, you're blind. The lights are on. We need to get you to Ms. Take; she can heal you at her place."

He lifted her gently, and her head rested on his shoulder. Kai felt a pang of worry; Dessie needed Ms. Take, and fast. As he turned, however, he saw that they had not been alone.

Standing there, silent as a shadow, was a man that Kai had never seen before in his life. The man was tall - taller that Kai, but not taller than Cole. His face was young, but his eyes were old and filled with confidence. His pale skin was contrasted with dark features, and his eyes were dark gray. He smiled at Kai, and took a few steps toward him. His long black overcoat swished lazily about his legs, and his big boots made surprisingly little sound on the floor. Grinning wickedly, he reached inside the coat and drew two handguns, cocking them and pointed them straight at Kai.

"You think I'll just let you walk away with something I worked so hard to steal?" he asked in a raspy voice. "I didn't let you in here just so you could take her away. I wanted to bait you, and it worked. But if you want her to live, then you have to cooperate."

Kai stood there, silently assessing the situation. His sword could easily deflect any bullets, but his arms were full of Dessie. He couldn't pull a signature Kai-moment. He slowly looked from the kidnapper to Dessie, who was weakly holding on to him.

She's fading fast, he thought to himself. She's pretty much out of commission.

"Can I set her down?"

The man raised an eyebrow. "Sure."

Kai gently laid her down on the floor. "It's okay," he said as she panicked and refused to let go of his shirt. "I'm going to work things out with this vampire, 'k?"

She reluctantly let go, then slipped into unconsciousness again. Kai hated seeing her just laying on the floor, so he took off his jacket and wrapped it around her.

"Aww," mocked the kidnapper with a sneer. "You loved her more than I thought."

"That's because you're a no good sleaze ball with a heart of malice!" snarled Kai, drawing his sword. The kidnapper took a shot at him, but it was easily deflected by Kai's sword. "You know nothing about love!"

"Hah! I know enough!" laughed the man. "My name is Shadow. And I was at the Tournament of Elements!"

Kai raised an eyebrow. "Meaning you are a crook and a coward!"

"Hardly!" snapped Shadow, taking another shot. Kai sidestepped it. "I was engaged to Skylor Chen!"

"HA! No kidding!" sneered Kai. "She was flirting with me!"

"Only to trap you!" shouted Shadow. He and Kai began to circle one another warily, watching the other like the well-trained fighters that they were. "I was told to leave and come back with friends from Ninjago City to help take back the island," continued Shadow. "But then you made your move! Skylor was taken away, deep down into the prisons under the city!"

"She made her choice!" declared Kai, eyes blazing. "She didn't have to break a bazillion laws, but she did! She chose the path she walked, and so did you! You didn't have to hurt Dessie, but you did! And now I am going to defeat you and take my Dessie home!"

"I made her into a weapon!" snarled Shadow, taking another shot. "You can't ignore the destruction around you! Who do you think did all this?" He gestured to the blackened walls. "She has more power than all of you ninja combined," he sneered. "That collar you took off could make her do whatever I wanted her to do. She could have blasted all of you into nothingness."

He glared. "But you got here faster than I thought you would. She wasn't conscious when you arrived, and so I couldn't activate the box."

"I don't know what you are talking about," said Kai. "And I don't care. You hurt her, and I'm taking you out!"

And then the gunfire exploded from Shadow. Kai ducked and deflected with amazing grace and agility, making sure no bullets got near Dessie as she lay, blissfully unaware of what was going on. Kai wreathed himself in flames, glaring at Shadow from behind tongues of fire.

Shadow grinned. "You don't frighten me," he said. "I've seen what your precious girlfriend can do, and quite frankly you ought to be afraid of her."

"And you are a liar!" shouted Kai, attacking viciously. His sword knocked a gun from Shadow's hand and he spun to slice the evil man in two.

CLANG! His sword bounced off a plasma shield that Shadow had quickly activated from a strange device on his forearm. "Haha!" the sneaky man laughed. "Try a little harder and you might stand a chance!"

BANG! BANG! The bullets whizzed past Kai's head, and one actually trimmed a lock of hair by his ear. Kai rolled to the floor and lunged, but only managed to grab at thin air.

"Rocket boosters?!" he exclaimed, staring as Shadow hovered above him, smirking. His boots were equipped with rocket boosters that even Jay would have admired. "You seem to know how to escape with speed," noted Kai.

"The name's Shadow, isn't it?" laughed Shadow. "Try to get me now."

He's playing with me, thought Kai disgustedly. He thinks this will be easy, and he's enjoying himself. Well, playtime is over.

Kai slowly got to his feet. As Shadow watched, he walked over to Dessie and gently lifted her into his arms. He turned his back on the hovering man, and walked to the door.

Click!

"Where are you going?"

Kai stopped. He knew that the gun was aimed at his head. Stupid. I have you now, he thought.

Laying Dessie by the door, he turned again to face Shadow. Still hovering in the air, the evil man was grinning, holding a cocked handgun. "You can't leave until I say you can," he smirked. "I hold all the cards."

"It's a good thing I snuck one up my sleeve," hissed Kai, and unleashed a fireball into Shadow's face. Flames exploded from the red ninja's hands and entire being, filling the hallway before him. Shadow was engulfed before he even knew what was happening.

But he wasn't completely incompetent either. As he felt his flesh burning, he acted quickly. With an enraged roar, he rushed at Kai, rocket boosters still intact. Kai stared, surprised, as Shadow advanced with amazing speed through the fire and seized the red ninja in his grip. Kai's eyes grew wide as he realized his mistake. Shadow was even more driven than he was.

The evil, burning man was going down. But he wasn't one to go alone.

With strong grip, flesh melting from his body, screaming in rage and gruesome pain, Shadow leaned back and somehow put his rocket boosters into fourth gear. Kai struggled against him, and unleashed hotter flames, but it didn't seem to phase Shadow. They were rushing down the hallway, locked together by Shadow's viselike grip. In the few seconds their flight lasted, Kai looked over Shadow's shoulder and saw what the man was planning to do in his last moments. They were rushing straight into the wall.

We'll break right through it! He realized. He's gonna die from the fire, but I'll die from the four stories fall!

But it was already too late. At the last nanosecond, Shadow spun and used Kai to break through the wall. They broke through the wall with a loud crash, and Kai saw stars for a moment. Then the frosty night air was in his hair, and he felt his stomach lurch as they began to fall. He screamed as they fell, faster and faster, struggling to come out on top. And then they hit the ground, and he was plunged into darkness.

()

Cole threw open the doorway separating him from the fourth floor. He stood there, shocked. Laying on the floor before him was Dessie, unconscious but safe. Beyond her were smoldering walls and blackened floor. And straight ahead, there was a burning hole in the wall; evidence of an epic battle.

Cole swept Dessie into his arms. "Dessie," he whispered, tears of relief on his face. "Oh Dessie!" She didn't stir, but just the knowledge that she was alive made his heart soar.

Zane entered behind him, and quickly examined the young woman in his arms. "She will not have any long term damage," he said. "And she will be temporarily blind, and thus need some of Ms. Take's medical attention, but most of all she needs large amounts of rest." Zane quickly took in the scene before him, then ran to the gaping hole in the wall. He gasped, "KAI!" and promptly jumped out the window, using his ice powers to slow his decent and safely land on the ground next to the fallen red ninja.

They all rushed outside to him. Cole holding Dessie tightly, and Jay, hand on Nya's shoulder as she knelt by her brother, crying. Zane was trying to stop the blood, and they all grew very somber as he began to frantically tear his own garments and bandage the red ninja.

Kai lay, his leg stretched out in a funny angle, blood oozing from a large wound on the back of his head. His eyes were closed, and his face looked ashen white. "Jay, get Ms. Take," said Zane, fear in his eyes. "Jay, get her now!"