Jay threw open the door to the mobile home. The lights were on. If his parents were off on an errand or something, they would have turned it off. "Mom! Dad!" He yelled. Nothing.
"Jay, over here!" Zane called. Him and the others were looking at a rusty old refrigerator.
Jay ran over. Muffled noises were coming from behind the fridge door. He yanked it open.
Everybody but Jay took a step back in shock. Two lime green serpentine tumbled out, wearing the tattered remains of Ed and Edna's clothes.
Jay's heart leapt into his throat. "M-mom? Dad?"
Their only reply was a lot of hissing as they struggled against the ropes holding them down. Jay felt tears form in his eyes. He reached out a hand to touch his father's shoulder.
Jay felt a yank back from behind just as Ed snapped at his hand. Sensei Wu stepped in front of him and barred his way with his staff. "Jay, I'm sorry. Those aren't your parents any more."
"No!" Jay fought against the bamboo staff, but Sensei Wu kept his ground. Jay sobbed. "Please. There has to be a way to turn them back!"
Sensei Wu shook his head. "Once the transformation is complete, there's nothing we can do."
Jay's legs felt weak. If he had come a little sooner, they could have done something. But now...
The serpentine suddenly lurched towards the group, hissing and snarling. Kai pulled out his sword.
"No! Please, don't hurt them!" Jay burst.
Kai turned to look at him. "Then what are we supposed to do? Keep them as pets?"
Ed kicked Kai in the chest, sending him flying backwards into a pile of junk. A small landslide burrows him momentarily.
Cole ran back to help him up. "Yikes Jay, your parents are strong!"
"The transformation has increased their strength," Sensei Wu said, pushing Jay back a few steps. "I'm sorry Jay, but if we don't do something they're going to hurt people."
Before Jay could protest, the ground began to shake. He turned to see a large green and scaly bulldozer zooming their way.
Everybody scattered. Sensei pulled Jay out of the way as the Bulldozer barreled past. Then, tons of serpentine started revealing themselves, climbing to the top of junk heaps and driving up in new vehicles.
"It was a trap!" Sensei let go of Jay and pulled out his flute. "Avoid getting bitten at all costs!"
The others charged into the fray, but Jay was frozen where he stood, watching what used to be his dear parents. "Please, I know you're still in there somewhere." Slowly, he walked towards them and undid the ropes.
The two leapt up towards Jay instantly, snapping at his face with wild craze. Jay yelped and backed away, but the two were fast and kept coming. He pulled out his nun-chucks and held them tight against their necks, almost like Sensei had held Jay back with his staff. They pressed against it, straining Jay's arms. He could feel their hot breath on his face. With them so close, he could see every detail of the scales on their skin. And their eyes- even their eyes were different.
Jay squeezed his eyes shut, then sent a pulse of electricity through the weapon. His heart skipped a beat as he heard their yelps of pain. The shock sent them reeling back.
Then he could feel the ground begin to shake again. His eyes flew open. The two serpentine were on the ground, still dazed from the shock, right in the path of the huge bulldozer that was coming their way.
Jay ran forward. "No, look out! Get-"
He he closed his eyes at the last second as the monster barreled past, creating a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. There was no way they could have survived it.
Jay wasn't sure how long he stayed frozen there, but he finally opened his eyes. He couldn't remember having so much anger burn through him. "Nobody hurts my parents and gets away with it!"
Jay leapt towards the nearest serpentine and whacked it around the head with his nun-chucks, sending out enough energy to kill. A crane swung its wrecking ball toward him, but he fluidly transitioned into a slide underneath it. Then he slammed against the side of the machine, releasing another jolt that made the lights in the cockpit flicker before shutting down with a trail of smoke coming out of the engine.
By now the serpentine had realized how much of a threat Jay had become. Some surrounded him, but he sent a wave of electricity outwards, hitting them all at once. More waves came. They fell by the dozens. Jay grinned at every charred scale.
"Jay!" Nya yelped.
Jay froze right before striking her. For a moment, he stood there in shock, weary and breathing hard. Then he collapsed into her arms and cried.
Cole came over and, after a moment of hesitation, wrapped his arms around them. Then the others came and did the same. They stayed there, arms around each other, for a long time.
Jay rolled over to face the wall. He was tired, so tired he could barely stand up. But every time he closed his eyes he would sink into a nightmare.
A knock came to his door. He considered how he was feeling, then sighed. "Go ahead." His voice had lost its previous bright and cheery pitch.
He continued to stare at the wall, but he could tell from the footsteps it was Cole. He felt his friend sit down at the edge of his bed. "Hey Jay, how are you doing?"
Jay let his bitterness pour out. "Well, let's see. My parents are dead, and it's all my fault. I'm being haunted by nightmares, and that's if I manage to fall asleep in the first place. So I guess in the end I'm not doing the best, to put it lightly."
Cole was silent for a moment or two. "Well- please don't take this the wrong way, but..." Cole sighed. "You made me realize how much the people we love matter, even if we don't think we actually love them. I haven't seen my dad in a couple years. We haven't had the best relationship in the past. Anyways, I've decided I'm going to go visit him and I was wondering if you'd like to come along."
Jay grunted. "No."
"Ok, I can understand that." Cole was silent for a little longer. "Is there any way I can help you? Anything you want?"
Jay sat up so fast, Cole fell off the bed. "I need revenge!" Jay clutched his forehead and started shaking. "These nightmares, they won't go away! I need to stop them. I need to kill all of those stupid cowardly snakes where they stand! I want to sleep in peace!"
Cole got up and backed away, putting his hand on the door handle, but Jay barely noticed. "Jay, I- calm down buddy, ok?"
Jay tore at his hair. "How can I calm down when my parents are dead? Tell me Cole, tell me how!" He screamed, then began sobbing.
Cole left the room and shut the door behind him.
It took Jay a while to calm down. He went to the door and jiggled the knob to discover it had been locked. He didn't care.
Jay went back to the bed and sat down. They wouldn't starve him to death. Someone would walk in with food eventually.
He sat there for a long time, staring at the door without blinking. Finally, he heard footsteps coming nearer, then the sound of the latch being unlocked.
Zane walked in and shut the door behind him, carrying a slice of fresh steaming apple pie. He hesitated before coming closer and placing the plate on Jay's lap. He then backed away.
Jay considered the pie for a moment, picking up the fork and twirling it around so all the light flashed off it.
"You do know what a fork is, I hope?" Zane asked.
Jay scoffed. "Of course I do." He chucked it with all his might at the wall, and the prongs imbedded themselves in the wall with a high ringing sound. "It's a weapon." He then lifted the plate up to his face and tore at the pie ravenously.
Zane lifted his eyebrows and watched in silence.
Jay licked the remains off the plate, then wiped his lips with his sleeve. "So, you're concerned about my well-being too?"
"Yes." Zane stood a little straighter.
"And yet you keep me locked in here like a caged animal?"
"We don't want you to hurt yourself," Zane said.
Jay laughed. "Please, if I wanted to do that there's thousands of ways I could do it in this very room."
Zane frowned. "Cole said you had changed, but this is extreme. Are you sure you're ok?"
Jay waved off the question. "You're lucky you don't remember your past, I hope you know that. I'd kill to forget what has happened."
Zane took a step back. "I- this conversation is making me uncomfortable. Good bye." He left and locked the door behind him.
Jay shrugged and began to mess with the screws holding the bed together.
Kai came in next, a few days later. He cracked the door a bit, then threw it wide open. "Holy bologna, what are you doing?"
Jay looked down at him from the top of his structure. "I'm not sure. The bed had gotten boring and I can't sleep anyways so I decided to build a... Thing. I bet it's a weapon."
Kai continued to stare up at Jay with his mouth hanging open. Finally, he shook his head out of it. "Listen Jay, the others asked me to come talk to you about grief. I've struggled with it in the past too, and I'm sure you can get through this just like I did."
Jay twisted another screw in, ignoring his raw and bleeding hands from doing it so much. "You completely fell apart when your parents died, right? Nya's hinted at it a couple times. She had to take care of you, even though you're the big brother. Pitiful."
Kai's face darkened. "Well you're being pretty pitiful right now, too."
Jay shrugged. "This is different. Your parents died far away from your reach. It's all my fault Ed and Edna died. I'm not even sure if this is grief."
"It isn't your fault they died."
"Oh really? They came here to visit, but I was embarrassed and sent them home early. If I hadn't, they wouldn't have ran into the snakes. Then they asked me to visit them at the junk yard some time soon. If I had come sooner, we could have turned them back to normal in time. Then I untied them when they were safer being tied up and out of the way. And then- and then- and then I shoved them into a bulldozer-" the beam of wood in Jay's arms cracked, making splinters peel across the edge and bristle up.
"Jay..." Kai's voice was soft, softer than usual. "If you want to play the blame game, it doesn't fall on you. It was Lloyd who released the snakes in the first place, but-"
Jay gasped and jumped down from the structure, splintered wood in hand. "You're right! If anyone should pay for their death, it's Lloyd! I'm going to kill that little brat, and then I'll finally be able to sleep!"
Kai put out his hands. "No, wait-"
Jay didn't take time to listen. He raced out the door and towards the deck, where, surprisingly, he found Lloyd reading a comic book. It was strange, but very convenient.
When Lloyd noticed Jay coming towards him, he yelped and started to back away. Jay followed him, stalking his prey. Soon, Lloyd's shoulders bumped against a corner. After realizing he was trapped, he sank down to the floor and began to sob.
Jay grinned and raised the splintered stick above his head.
Somebody grabbed his waist from behind and tugged him back from his prize. Anger sprouted up in Jay's chest, and he spun around and whacked the figure about the head. Kai released his grip and collapsed to the ground, screaming and clutching his eye. Cole, Nya, and Zane raced into the room and stared in shock at the scene in front of them. Jay didn't care. He turned back around to deal Lloyd the final blow, then suddenly became incased in ice from the neck down.
Jay stayed trapped in the ice for a couple hours, growling and snapping with drool running down his chin. Zane and Cole comforted Lloyd, who was still shaking with fright, while Nya bandaged Kai's head.
She sighed. "I'm sorry Kai, but I think the damage in your eye is permanent."
Kai glanced at Jay with a glare filled with deep anger.
Cole shook his head at Jay. "Lloyd is a good kid now, and he has apologized. What you did was uncalled for."
"The death of Ed and Edna was uncalled for!" Jay hissed.
Zane walked up closer to Jay. "I'm sorry, but we've made a decision that will be the best for all of us. We are removing you from the ninja team, and taking you to a good hospital in Ninjago City."
Jay's heart dropped. "No!"
Nya wiped at her eyes. "Jay, this is hard for all of us. We want you to be ok. That isn't something we can provide here."
"No!" Jay gritted his teeth as he struggled against the ice. Then he felt a huge amount of energy building up inside him. The display screen across the room started beeping. It had detected a huge mass of serpentine in Ninjago City. Maybe all of the serpentine in the world gathered at one spot. A grin spread across Jay's face. "Don't worry Lloyd, I'll spare you for now. I want you to be the final victory, and that means there are others I have to take care of first!" Jay released all of the energy he had stored up at once, the ice shattered and sent shards flying everywhere. For a moment he staggered as stars danced in his eyes. Then he righted himself and took off towards the exit as the others recovered.
Jay raced into the underground serpentine lair without even taking a moment to see what they were doing. All of the snakes turned their heads to look at him. Every eyeball made him burn with rage.
"Who is your leader?" Jay roared.
The snakes were silent for a moment, then parted to reveal the biggest snake Jay had ever seen.
"I'm Pythor, king of the Serpentine!" He announced, raising his staff above his head. The crowd of snakes cheered.
Jay released another huge stream of energy, pointing it all at Pythor. It sent him flying though the air until he rolled across the ground, steaming and completely still.
The crowd stopped cheering. There was complete silence as Jay collapsed to his knees, weak once again from expelling so much energy.
As he tried to recover, Skales slithered to the front. "Well, don't just stand there, avenge the king!"
"Avenge the king!" The snakes roared.
The crowd became a stampede. Jay zapped fatal lightning at every moment he could, but there was just too many. They swarmed around him, biting at his flesh, squeezing around his limbs, scratching at his clothes. He screamed in agony and fought against it, but more kept coming.
Nya, Cole, and Zane raced into the room. Nya put her hands over her mouth, while the other two just stood there, stunned. Jay screamed for help, even though he knew it was too late.
Jay expelled one last wave of pure energy, killing all the snakes around him. As the light faded, he realized that the fight had stopped. He was laying on the cobble floor, surrounded by dead Serpentine. Not a live one remained. He had killed them all.
Nya appeared over him, tears streaming down her face. "Jay, oh no. Please, stay with me!"
Jay tried to breath, but every gasp burned. Any attempt at movement reignited the fresh wounds covering him from head to toe. "This- this did not go as planned."
Nya shook her head slowly. "You thought you could take them on all by yourself?"
Jay had never felt so worn out in his entire life. "I just wanted to avenge Ed and Edna."
Nya took what was left of his hands in hers. "But if you hadn't, you would still be ok. We could be happy, but you let it take over.
Tears formed in Jay's eyes as he realized what could have been. He regretted everything, but it was too late to change. "Please forgive me. And... And tell Lloyd I forgive him."
Nya squeezed her eyes shut. "Yes, I forgive you."
Jay sighed deeply and closed his eyes.
He could finally sleep in peace.