Hey everyone, happy Friday. I really don't have much to say about this chapter since I left you all wondering what's gonna happen to Cole and Betty since the attack the university. So enjoy then.

Chapter 19: A Date in the Rain

"Oh what are we going to do now?" Laurie asked while leaning against the counter by the large computer and running her fingers through her fiery red hair. She watched as Zane sat on the table in the bridge with Jay behind him, fixing him. The high sound waves short circuited the nindroid's ability to hear and was now deaf. But thanks to Jay's skills in mechanics, he'll have him hearing again. "Cole is out there, still angry, and may have the forces after him."

"We're not sure." said Kai. "We're all worried for Cole right now, but we need to wait till the heat is down. Then we can begin our search for the two." He turned to away to look at Zane's wondering eyes. "How do you feel, buddy?" he asked and slammed his palm to his face as he realized he was deaf.

"I'm doing fine, brother." the ice ninja replied and twitched a little as Jay probably zapped something. "I may be not able to hear voices or sounds, but I can understand lip movements really well."

Jay gently used the tweezers in his steady hands and attached a new wire to the circuit board in his head. He carefully examined it and closed the small panel on the back of his head. He then used his knees to scoot himself back off the table and stood in front of Zane. "Probably because you're programmed to do it." he simply said. "I think that's everything to help you." He looked at Lloyd as he sat between his sister and cousin. "I can use some of your help, Pipsqueak." he chuckled. "Give him a little spark. Ha-ha."

The boy in green nodded and hopped off the counter and walked up to Zane's head. He raised his hands to his ears and concentrated on his lightning element. He felt energy course through his small body, to his arms, and to his fingertips to see faint blue sparks emit from them to Zane's ear canals. He saw the white ninja twitch a little. "Did it work?" he asked.

Zane smiled at him as he heard his voice and nodded. He heard something snapping near his ears and looked up as Nya was snapping her fingers and could feel his ears twitch to the sound. "Reflexes to sounds are normal in both ears." she said. "You're good now."

"Thank you, Jay, for fixing my hearing components." the Ninja of Ice said and stood up to stretch and throw his white jacket back on. "And thank you, Lloyd, for reactivating my ears. If it wasn't for you two, I would've ended up as a Serpentine. I now know what it's like with the Sacred Flutes on them. Unbearable pain."

"You're welcome." both the blue and green ninja said.

Lucas smiled to the three and pushed himself off the counter to turn around and stare at the map. He was stumped. "I agree with Laurie." he sighed. "Cole is out there in his Hulk form and is out there. He can be anywhere in Ninjago. The Forces would be after him from today's defeat."

"I doubt it." the fire ninja doubted. "There's no way they'll come after still angry. We saw the way he fought. What Blolasky done and how he destroyed those jeeps. That's not the Cole we know that can do it in under an hour."

"It is as if he becomes stronger when being angered." Zane added. "I did a hypothesis test on him today and concluded to this." He slid his sleeve up to open the panel on his arm up to show a hologram of Cole in the university field. Everyone watched the earth ninja changing in the overpass all the way to where he destroyed the helicopter and escaping with Betty. They could see how angry he was when the Forces were attacking him. "The angrier he gets, the stronger he becomes. Cole is uncontrollable when changed." and closed the panel on his arm.

Everyone sighed and looked at the map; to ponder on the earth ninja's whereabouts. But nothing came to mind. It'll be a wild goose chase now. "So now what?" Lloyd asked.

...

"How is he?" Ross asked the medicated doctor of the new located base.

The doctor, in his fifties with salt and pepper hair and dark eyes, lead the general to a curtain and moved it aside. Ross looked down without blinking to see his top soldier lying on the bed with a neck brace keeping his head supported and bandages wrapped around. His skin was red and dark purple with his hands and fingers suspended by wires. The general couldn't believe it he lost to the Hulk. Even after that fight. "He's a lucky one." the doctor announced while looking at his clipboard. "Most people would be dead with most of our bones shattered like that, but he's breathing. May take forever to heal though. Right now, he's out cold for the next couple of days."

Ross looked down to his lieutenant to sigh. But he was glad that he was alive still. Healing may be awhile due to the Nanomeds in him. But will he be ready again? Out there was the target that has his daughter and has the thing he wants as a weapon. But where though?

The general looked at his soldier one last time and walked away to ponder. Unbeknownst to him, the unconscious man's fingers twitched until they clenched into a fist and one of his eyes snapped open.

...

Thunder crashed with hot flashes of lightning in the sky. Heavy rain poured down in buckets. But heavy footfalls could be heard through the storm. Something was coming. But what? A small puddle was rippled as drops crashed down without stopping until something heavy broke its surface to splash as it ran.

Cole ran through the rain and dark with Betty, unconscious, in his arms. He was still in his Hulk form as he ran through the forest, but he had no idea where to hide. But he had to get Betty to some shelter so she wouldn't get cold from the weather and rain. The earth ninja kept following a trail up to the side of a mountain until he came to an opening of a shelter underneath a cliff and walked in. Surprisingly it was large enough for him to fit.

The Ninja of Earth found out the cave was dry and carefully laid Betty down on the ground. He watched the youngest scientist sleep as the adrenaline rush from the helicopter crash must've surprised her to cause her to pass out. But he was glad to see she was breathing still. He saw her move and leaned closer to her. Betty slowly stirred and slowly opened her eyes to stare straight at a green face. "AH!" she screamed and quickly sat up, scared. The scream jolted Cole to smack his head to the cave ceiling to groan while holding his head and thunder clapped loudly behind him to make him turn on his heels to run out of the cave to shout at the sky.

Betty felt her heart crease down as it was only Cole and looked around her surroundings. She found herself no longer at the university grounds, but in a cave in the wilderness. She felt her skin was cold to see she was soaked to the bone as she was completely soaked from the rain. Did Cole carry me here? she wondered. She heard Cole shout again and pulled her soggy coat tightly around her and stepped to the cave entrance to see Cole grab onto a boulder and threw it to the forest below them. She could see that any trigger can set him off. Cole shouted to the thunder and slowly calmed down to sit back in the shelter and watched the storm brew in the night sky.

Betty saw the chance to be near him without shouting and sat next to him. Cole looked down to his right to see the raven-haired girl next to him and felt her lean closer to him and felt more relaxed as she was with him. He brushed his wet bangs from his eyes to sigh deeply. "It'll be alright." Betty said, fixing her wet hair to a ponytail and pulled her coat closer to her. "No one is gonna harm us." Cole looked down to smile internally and looked at the brewing storm in front of them with the forest below them with her. "It'll be alright." she said soothingly again and a small rumble of thunder roared with little lightning flashing.