A/N: I bet you are wondering why a new story was posted so fast? Well I can tell you! Skip Dip 514 wrote this, not me. All I did was edit it a little and post it. He/She has not finished it yet, but I decided to be mean and leave it at a cliffhanger, those hateful things! I am so evil, aren't I? Come one you can say it.
Another A/N: Happy New Years Eve! Well Skip Dip 514 finally wrote her next chapter, but sadly it ends with another cliffhanger.
Title: Strange Times
Summery: What started out as a normal day ends up in chaos, something strange is abroad. Can the ninja figure it out before it is to late?
Genre: Mystery
Charaters: Kai, Jay, Cole, Zane, Nya and Lloyd
Rating: K+-T for blood
Answering Reviews:
ninjago1019: Saldy we have to wait longer.
coolboi12: I will try, but I am not that good at writing OCs.
OMG123abc: Wow, that is awesome, I love cawinkeydinks :P (coincidences). How did you figure out that she was a friend from school? I really want to know what the something BIG is and what deserves the *evil grin and malicious look*
Skip Dip 514: There, I did what you asked! I am so proud of myself ~u~ *makes a dumb face, then get whaked in the head by my sister mummbling 'how am I realated to this idiot'*. I hope that you don't mind that I am editing it, do you?
Strange Times
Prologue
-Kai's POV-
It was a pretty normal winter evening at the monastery. Well, except for the fact Jay and I were fighting over who should take the trash out for the 'dumpster guy' to pick it up. "I don't want to take the freakin' trash out! Kai, you do it!" Jay protested.
I put my hands up in mock surrender."That's something only a helpless looser would do! Oh wait... Don't YOU usually take out the trash?!"I shot back at him. Jay looked outraged.
But before another word could be spoken between us, we were pushed aside by two strong hands. "OH FOR GOODNESS SAKE! I'LL TAKE OUT THE FREAKIN' GARBAGE!" Cole suddenly exclaimed, storming out of the room. His sudden outburst caused even Zane break his meditation to stare at Cole as he walked out the door. This is so unlike Cole...but I suppose if you'd been hearing two maniacs screaming their heads off at eachother, I'd go crazy too.
"Nice going, Ace!" Jay snorted at me.
I growled and launched myself onto him, he let out a surprised squeak as I barreled into him. Jay ended up lying on his back, the breath knocked out of him. I sat on too of him. My hand drew back and formed a fist, I was about to bring it down on Jay's face when someone dragged me off of him.
"Kai, you know better," I heard Zane's voice.
I stood up and dusted myself off. "Whatever," I sniffed disdainfully, leaving the room.
-Jay's POV-
Zane helped me to my feet after Kai left. I felt light-headed and winded. Who knew Kai could have so much power? I could tell Zane was looking really concerned and horror-struck.
"Are you okay?"I asked him, my voice sounding wheezy.
Zane looked at me his own voice didn't sound too good either. It cracked slightly as he replied in a hasty tone,"I fear something bad is going to happen."
That made me mentally face-palm. When does anything not go bad? It seemed like Zane knew what I was thinkning, "Worse than anything that's ever happened," he added.
At that moment, we heard a strangled cry coming from outside. Zane and me shared a glance before racing out the door; there, lying at the entrance of the open monastery gates, was Cole.
Tears streamed down his face. The snow around him was stained a deep red. Kai was at Cole's side, the fire ninja looking slightly shaken. I looked down at what was in his hands. There, in Kai's hands, was the Sword of Fire, which was covered in blood. Not Kai's own blood, but the blood of Cole.
Chapter 1
-Jay's POV-
I stood there, horrified. Why would Kai do such a thing?! Before anyone could say a word, Kai dropped his sword and held up his hands, "I didn't do it!" He exclaimed, looking at us with big green eyes.
I took a step back in disgust. My throat was too caught to say anything. Zane kept studying Kai and Cole, he looked pretty deep in thought.
Kai scrambled up to his feet, "seriously! I didn't do it! I would never even THINK of doing something like this!" Kai added shakily.
I finally found my voice, "then why is your freakin' sword covered in blood?! Murderer!" With each word, my voice became louder until it was a shout.
Kai looked pained, "I swear, I didn't-" his words were cut short with a sudden cry. I looked even more horrified when I saw a sword go through Kai's stomach, as if it were being pushed in from behind. The sword disappeared a moment after, Kai crumpled to the ground.
Like Cole, his blood stained the snow around him. I looked around, shaking fearfully. Who had done this to them? That's when I realized Zane was missing, I looked around frantically. What was happening?!
-Cole's POV-
The pain...it hurts so much. With every breath I took, it felt like someone was burning my insides. I looked over at Kai, I noticed he was losing a lot more blood than I was. His breaths were faster and every few minutes he let out a gurgled cry of pain. I glanced over at Jay, he was looking around frantically.
But where was Zane? He was here just a second ago, wasn't he? I shook my thoughts off and looked at Kai, he probably needed more medical attention than I did. I shifted a bit before getting up into a kneeling position. It hurt, but I could bear the pain. I scooped Kai up into my arms, he let out another cry of pain, his eyes were tightly shut, although; I could clearly see he was crying. I struggled to my feet, I have to do this, for Kai.
Suddenly, there was a whooshing sound and a gasp. I looked over to see Jay grit his teeth, on his cheek I noticed there was a fresh cut. I started walking toward him, every step sent pain shooting through me, yet I could cope.
Just then, Zane and Nya came running up, Lloyd trailed behind them. Zane took Kai out of my arms and carried him away. I could see Jay, Nya, and Lloyd swarm around me, trying to say something. But I couldn't hear. My ears were ringing, I noticed I was swaying a bit. The pain was too much, before I knew it, I was falling down, my vision blurring.
-Jay's POV-
Cole passed out right into my arms. I exchanged a glance with Nya before we both carried him away. Lloyd followed us worriedly. We could still hear Kai wailing. We followed that until we entered a room I never thought was there.
It was set up like an infirmary. We laid Cole down on one of the empty beds and quickly got some things out to treat his wounds. Zane was already tending to Kai, but the fire ninja wouldn't keep still. Seeing that Nya was doing well with Cole, I walked over to help Zane.
Zane instructed me to try and calm Kai down. I looked down at Kai, he was pale, sweating, and his breathing was uneven. I tried to soothe him, but he just kept panicking, which made it worse for him.
Chapter 2
-Cole's POV-
Four days after the incident, mostly everything went back to normal. Notice how I said MOSTLY. Some things were still weird, expecially at the dinner table.
As I sit at the dinner table, Zane serves us food and we start eating. I notice everybody shooting glances at Kai and Jay. Kai was just nibbling at his food, Jay wasn't eating at all. It had been this way for the past few days. Now that I think of it, Jay looked as pale as a ghost.
"Are you okay, Jay?" I asked him. Jay just groaned in response and continuously banged his head on the table.
Zane stopped eating, walked over to Jay, and propped up the blue ninja's chin. Jay's eyes were cloudy and dull. Zane felt his forehead, frowning. "He's got a fever, but it might be more than that," the ice ninja announced, he added to Jay,"how are you feeling? Tell me everything you feel."
Everyone had either finished eating or pushed their food away to watch. Jay groaned again. "I feel...really really cold, and my stomach hurts really bad. I have a headache, too, which causes my vision to be blurry," the blue ninja replied with a wince.
Zane's frown deepened, he politely asked Jay to stand up. Once Jay was on his feet, Zane gently pulled off the gauze covering the wound on Jay's face. Everyone, including me, gasped at the sight.
-Kai's POV-
I had the same symptoms of Jay. Except for I wasn't really THAT cold, and I didn't have blurry vision and my headache was faint. I watched Zane unravel the gauze that wrapped Jay's cheek up. Once it was gone, I gasped. Everyone else did too.
Jay's cut had turned a sickly purpley color, "just as I thought: poison," Zane stated.
Everyone gasped again, Jay just groaned and sat back down, "I feel light-headed," he said, his voice cracking.
Next thing I knew, the dinner table was a hustling, bustling mess. Zane and Nya were ushering Cole and I out the door along with Jay.
"Come on. We need to check you two out, too." Nya said quietly to Cole and I. I'm surprised Jay didn't make a stupid comment. The blue ninja was unusually quiet the whole walk. We were led to the infirmary, Zane confirmed that Cole and I were fine, as far as he knew. Yet he couldn't say the same for Jay.
-Jay's POV-
I laid down in one of the infirmary beds, I could hear everyone rushing around the room, but I couldn't see. My eyes were shut really tightly. My stomach felt like it was eating itself, I groaned in pain, I flipped onto my side to see if the pain would lessen.
Almost immediately, I felt as if everyone was swarming around me. I heard their voices, soft but sort of frightened.
"Drink this," I heard Nya say. I felt the lip of a cup touch my mouth, I opened my eyes slightly to see the cup. I hesitated a bit, but then took a sip. It tasted bitter with an overpowering tangy edge to it.
I instantly pulled away. That stuff is gross! I must've showed my disgust because Kai and Lloyd both snickered. Cole and Nya gave them a hard glare, which shut them up. Zane sighed, his eyes moved up to stare at the ceiling, "now we can only hope that the medicine and some sleep will heal him."
Chapter 3
-Cole's POV-
Zane and I were waiting on the Bounty's deck, a lot had happened since Jay's little epidemic. For instance, the monastery burnt down and we found the Bounty.
I impatiently tapped my foot, my arms crossed, while Zane sat in some sort of meditation position on the upper deck right next to/above/behind me. Training was about to start soon and we were waiting for Kai, Jay was still in the infirmary recovering from his epidemic a week ago, so he wasn't able to come.
'Be patient, Cole,' a voice broke through my thoughts, startling me.
I looked to my right to see Zane still meditating, deep in his own thoughts, I frowned, clearly confused, 'I wonder who said that,' I thought to myself. Just then, Kai ran onto the deck.
"I'm here!" He exclaimed, sounding out of breath, Zane got out of his position and hopped down next to us.
"Finally!" I grumbled with a snort. We got the training course running and started taking turns running through it.
When it was Kai's turn, I asked Zane the question that had been on my mind the last couple of days: "Is it just me, or does Kai look really pale and worn-out?"
Zane thought for a moment before replying,"Yes, he does."
"Maybe he's just got a cold?" I suggested.
Zane never got a chance to reply, because just then, a sharp cry sliced through the air, I looked over at Kai to see him crumple to the ground. The weird thing was, he wasn't even near the training course, so he couldn't have gotten hit. My eyes widened and I ran over to his side, Zane following.
"Kai? Kai?! What's wrong?!" I practically shouted. Kai's breathing became short gasps, he looked as if he was trying to respond, but no words came. His eyes suddenly drooped and threatened to close. I laid my hands on his mid-section, about to shake him and tell him to stay awake, but I stopped when another cry escaped his lips. His eyes shot open and he clutched his stomach in pain, I immediately lifted my hands.
That's when I felt it; some sort of warm, sticky substance on my right hand, I flipped it over to stare in horror at the sight of Kai's blood on my hands. Then it hit me: his wound, it had somehow reopened! I looked up at Zane, who had been standing behind me the whole time. He quickly stepped around me, carefully picked Kai up, and raced away.
I got up and ran after him, fear crawling in the pit of my stomach.
-Kai's POV-
I tried to stay awake, but it was so hard, the pain was worse than when I first got the wound. I couldn't stay still in Zane's arms; I kept writhing because the pain was unbearable. Soon it became hard to breathe, and it was a struggle to take even the shortest of breaths.
In no time, I felt myself being lowered onto a bed. Although, I couldn't see, for my vision was blurred, I could tell who's who because of their clothing colors. For just a split second, my vision cleared and I could see some things, I could see Cole's worried expression, my blood stained on Zane's shirt, Jay staring confusedly at me from his own bed in the infirmary.
Then my vision went blurry again, I don't know if I can stay awake for much longer...it just hurts so badly! Panic started to rise inside of me as I felt my heartbeats get slower and slower. My breathing started to slow, too. Fear joined the panic that flared inside me. I took one last ragged breath before letting the exhaustion catch up to me.
'"Kai? Kai! Wake up, man!" Distant shouting filled my ears.
I cracked my eyes open a bit to see Jay, Cole, and Zane looking down at me. Sitting up, I looked around. The setting had changed to some sort of burnt-looking landscape.
"Where...where am I?" I asked, confused, my voice slightly cracking.
Jay was the first to speak, bewilderment clear in is face and voice, "dude, we just defeated the Overlord!"
My jaw dropped, 'What is going on here?!'
See? What did I tell you, a cliffhanger!
Well I am almost done will the next story, a 'What-if?' on Cole.
I have a question: What is a Mary-Sue?