Once all the ninja's emotions had calmed down a bit from the high levels of stress they had been at, Kai finally placed a hand on the Earth ninja's shoulder. The black ninja had been holding the small form of Destiny for some time now, and if it wasn't for the heavy rain and whipping winds then the red ninja wouldn't have interfered. However, it was at Zane's recommendation that they all finally move back below deck so none of them risked getting sick.
Cole looked up at the rest of his family with tired eyes, they were all emotionally exhausted now. The Master of Earth seemed to understand what the rest of them were trying to communicate to him though, and without hesitation he gently picked up the now sleeping brunette girl. As all of them went below deck they were informed by their Sensei that he would be the first to speak to Destiny once she woke up in the morning. The ninja all nodded, acknowledging Master Wu. All except the Master of Earth who hesitated, but eventually nodded his head as well albeit reluctantly.
Master Wu followed Cole as the black ninja laid Destiny in bed, and after Nya and Misako changed the sleeping girl out of her soaked clothing (without any of the boys present in the room of course) everyone left the spare bedroom save for their Sensei. Wu insisted on keeping watch over the young girl, just in case she awoke in the middle of the night. As the rest of the group headed to their respective rooms to change out of their drenched garments Zane suddenly became much more alert.
"Zane? What is it? Is something wrong?" The green ninja questioned, more anxious sounding than he normally would be. The sudden comment caught the attention of the rest of the boys that were in the room, concern contorting their faces as well.
"Pixal has just informed me that several members of the 'Shapeshifters' gang are heading this way, and they appear to be armed with harpoons of some sort." The nindroid answered.
"What?! Harpoons? C'mon, can't we catch a break?!" Jay complained, the Master of Lightning had been ready to shut his mind off for the night.
"You don't think they're going to try and board the Bounty do you?" Kai asked, his query targeted towards the white ninja.
"That appears to be their plan." Zane responded, quickly moving over to his dresser to grab a new suit.
"How did they even manage to find us? We've been staying above the clouds pretty much since the moment you guys brought Destiny back here the first time." Jay stated, not really to anyone in particular.
"Does it really matter Jay?" Cole fired back, more irritated than he'd meant to sound.
"Hey guys, it doesn't matter how they found us. What matters is that we stop them before they even have a chance to board the Bounty. If we can stop them before that then we can bring them back here for questioning, and try to find out more information on Yuraggi." Lloyd interrupts his bickering ninja siblings before turning back to Zane.
"Zane, can you go get Nya and tell her we're getting ready to go? We'll need all hands on deck." The now re-dressed nindroid nodded his head in understanding before running out of the room and down the hall to the Master of Water's room.
Once all the ninja were changed into clean gi they deboarded the ship and landed onto a nearby rooftop. Lloyd gave the order to spread out so they could cover more ground, and after any of them located the intruding gang members they were to radio the rest of them so they could ambush the 'Shapeshifters' together.
The Master of Earth had been ordered to take the rooftops to the south, so here he was, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, keeping an eye out for any shadowy subjects. His mind almost seemed to be running faster than his feet though, and he nearly missed Zane's voice speaking through his earpiece.
"Cole?" The robotic voice of his nindroid brother called to him again.
"Sorry Zane, I'm here." Cole finally responded, not stopping his scan of the alley way below his perch as he answered.
"Anything from your post yet?" Lloyd's voice came through next.
"No. Nothing yet." Cole answered again.
"Okay then. We should probably meet up at the rendezvous point and try to come up with another plan." The green ninja suggested.
"What? We can't just give up!" The black ninja growled, sounding harsher than he had intended to.
"Hey Cole, chill out buddy." Jay's voice spoke up.
"Lloyd is not suggesting we give up Cole." The nindroid of the team informed his fellow ninja, trying his best to clear up any possible misconceptions the Master of Earth had.
"I for one also think we need a different plan. We've been looking for these 'Shapeshifter' guys for a while now." Kai interjected, his voice tired sounding.
"Yeah, if we stay out much longer we'll all risk getting sick again." Nya added, her tone sounding just as exasperated as her brother.
"Fine. If you guys wanna go and come up with another plan then go ahead, be my guests. I, on the other hand, am going to keep looking for Yuraggi's oafs." Cole informed the others frustratedly before turning his comm-link off.
The black ninja clenched his jaw in anger, he didn't understand how they had lost Yuraggi's goons. Pixal had had a visual on them when they had all been on the Bounty, but as the groups' search grew longer Cole began to question whether or not the AI had made a mistake. It was rather dark tonight with any possible light from the moon being blocked out by the thick rain clouds that were still showering the concrete jungle.
Mistake or not though the Master of Earth refused to allow himself to rest. If Pixal had been correct then Cole wouldn't dare risk anyone associated with Yuraggi to come within 100 miles of Destiny. The 'Shapeshifters' group had already caused the girl and her family so much pain, and the raven haired boy would rather sacrifice himself than witness the yellow clad girl suffer any more than she already had.
The Earth ninja then felt his eyes sting as images of events that took place earlier in the night flashed by quickly in his mind. Although Destiny was safe for the time being Cole still felt guilty. He and Kai had caught her. They had saved her, physically. However, Cole felt that he let his new friend down in every other way possible. She was still struggling, and the mere thought caused his whole body to sink with sadness, almost as if someone had tied his heart to a heavy stone before throwing it into one of the many canals that littered the city.
The thought running through the Master of Earth's mind now? To stop his friends' suffering at the source. Like pulling out a weed by its roots, Cole felt the only way to help Destiny now would be to take down Yuraggi. It made sense to the black ninja. Once Yuraggi and her gang no longer loomed over the heads of all of them, once the threat was finally extinguished, only then would Destiny be able to rest peacefully. A new page would be turned, and he would be there to help Destiny write in it as he stood by her side down her path to healing.
"Let me go! Please!" The voice of a woman shouting pierced through the veil of the Earth ninjas' thoughts. Suddenly more alert, Cole began sprinting to the source of the shouting. As he arrived Cole saw the 'Shapeshifter' goons that he assumed Pixal had been warning them about, and just as Zane had said they had several harpoon guns with them.
"Hey! I said zip it! If you make another sound then we'll have no other choice but to deny you rooftop access." One of the male goons responded in an attempt to terrorize the civilian who the black ninja had heard shouting for help.
They were all situated on a rooftop just across from him, and Cole could feel his blood begin to boil at the sight of Yuraggi's parasites threatening the innocent woman's life. Not wasting another second the black ninja jumped onto the lower rooftop, crouching as he landed, not noticing the way the concrete cracked beneath his feet.
"I'm not going to repeat myself twice so you better listen." The Master of Earth warned, gaining the attention of everyone in front of him. "You're going to let the girl go, and then, you're going to answer my questions."
"I-It's one of the ninja!" One of the goons pointed out, the tone in their voice sounding frightened. The goon who had threatened the hostage woman before though merely laughed at their lackeys' observation.
"Don't sound so scared you oaf." The man continued as he gave his fellow gang member a rather forceful punch to the arm, before staring down at Cole. "There's five of us, and only one of him. Take him down."
With the order out, 4 of the 5 goons immediately began running at Cole. Cole remained undeterred though, and simply stood up straight as his attackers closed the distance between themselves and him.
As the first person got up to the Master of Earth they attempted to hit him with a right hook to his jaw, Cole easily dodged the sloppy form of the goon though and quickly crouched down as a second fist came flying towards his face. From his new position Cole had dodged his second attacker as well, and proceeded to stick out one of his legs, tripping the first goon and making them fall forwards off of the rooftop and into a dumpster in the alleyway below.
While Cole stood back up the 3 remaining goons simultaneously lunged at him, bracing himself the black ninja held up his arms in a cross in front of him. Something unexpected happened though as Cole awaited the fists to make contact with his body. His arms suddenly began to glow a bright orange, and a violent shockwave was sent through the air, knocking everyone onto their backs.
"The boss never said anything about glowing ninja! I'm sorry, I can't do it, I'm outta here!" One of the goons shouted fearfully as they sat up, before running off the roof and escaping down a nearby fire escape. The other two goons that had just attempted to attack Cole followed, leaving only the black ninja and the leader of the now disbanded group.
"Fools!" The angered leader yelled at the disappearing figures.
"You have 3 seconds to surrender before I really get mad." The black ninja warned as he began approaching the leader, punching a fist into his palm as he got closer, his arms still glowing.
"Stop right there!" The remaining 'Shapeshifter' shouted as he grabbed one of the discarded harpoon guns and pointed at the Earth ninja. "Take another step and I won't hesitate to let this baby fly."
Cole stayed silent as he continued to walk towards the cornered goon.
"I'm warning you!" The 'Shapeshifter' shouted again, the harpoon gun held out at arms length, and pointed straight at Cole.
When Cole ignored the goon again the man followed through on his word and pulled the trigger. Cole was ready though, and summoned a wall of earth from the concrete beneath him to block the projectile. The black ninjas' plan worked, and the harpoon was stopped in place, pierced right into the slab of concrete he had built up.
What happened next though Cole was not prepared for. The goon threw the now empty harpoon gun to the floor, and harshly grabbed the trapped civilian before pushing her off the edge of the roof. Cole felt his stomach drop as he came out from behind his makeshift wall just in time to see the woman disappear from his sight, the glow vanishing from his body. Now he had a split second to decide. Would he save the defenseless woman, or would he stop the 'Shapeshifters' from escaping?
Although the Master of Earth was hell-bent on uprooting Yuraggi's organization that didn't mean he would lose himself in the process. Earlier in the night Master Wu had warned him and the others not to lose themselves to their anger, and anger is what got him into this situation. Cole had created this mess, and he would not let an innocent pay the price for his mistake.
The Master of Earth quickly jumped off the roof of the building after the hostage woman who was now freefalling towards the ground. He used his elemental powers to boost himself forward though, and almost instantly he was caught up with her. Acting immediately Cole grabbed hold of her, hugging her body to his chest as he bounced from wall to wall until he landed them safely on the ground.
Cole stayed crouched for a moment, allowing the shaking woman in his arms to regain her bearings. Once she realized she was okay she finally removed her face from the crook of the black ninjas' neck, and looked around them. She then moved to stand up, and Cole helped her stay balanced as he stood up as well.
"T-Thank you so much. You, you saved my life." The woman thanked Cole as she looked up at him. Her eyes were watery, and she was soaked, her expression however showed nothing but gratitude.
"No." The black ninja shook his head in refusal. "Please don't thank me. It's my fault you were put in danger like that."
"Even if I believed that the fact of the matter still stands; you saved me. Now please, don't stand here apologizing to me. You have bad guys to stop." The woman smiled as she motioned for Cole to leave.
The black ninja felt himself smile behind his mask, and nodded at the woman before climbing back onto the roof. As Cole reached the rooftop once again he heard several thuds ahead of him, and looked up as he hoisted himself over the ledge. It was the rest of the ninja, boy was he not ready to face them yet. He had just barely begun scolding himself, he hadn't had enough time yet to prepare an apology for his behavior.
"Cole!" Jay shouted, running over to the black ninja.
"Cole, are you okay?" Nya questioned as she ran over as well, helping Jay as the two of them assisted the Earth ninja back onto the roof.
"Yeah, I'm okay." Cole answered quietly, he was ashamed of himself for abandoning his team.
"What happened Cole?" Zane asked as Cole and the water and lightning duo walked over to join the rest of them. The black ninja rubbed the back of his neck with one of his hands nervously as he built up the courage to answer the nindroids question.
"I ran into the 'Shapeshifter' goons that Pixal warned us about." Cole admitted, before any of the other ninja could respond though the raven continued. "I'm sorry I ran off on my own, and I'm sorry I didn't contact you guys. I-... I didn't listen to Master Wu, and I let anger guide my actions."
"Cole-" Jay started to speak, and the black ninja knew his best friend was going to tell him it was okay. It wasn't though.
"No Jay. I need to apologize. I really am sorry. I just want it all to stop. I want to get rid of these guys already. It's been so frustrating, and after everything that happened earlier… I just want Destiny to be happy." Cole looked up at the rest of his team with sad eyes. "I just want everyone to be happy."
The other ninja remained silent for some time, and the Master of Earth began to worry that he had said something wrong. Before Cole could say anything else though he was suddenly enveloped in a pair of arms.
"Cole, you big dummy." Cole looked down to see the blue clad ninja hugging his waist. Jay was soon followed by the others, and the action left Cole speechless. He hadn't been anticipating this reaction from his fellow ninja.
"We all want the same thing Cole." Kai spoke up.
"Indeed." Zane agreed.
"Yeah, so don't go out there pulling another Kai." Nya joked with a tired giggle.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" The red ninja questioned with a chuckle, the others ignored his inquiry though.
"I promise Yuraggi will be stopped Cole, but we'll stand a better chance doing it as a team." Lloyd added with a smile as he looked up as his older ninja brother. Cole smiled as he hugged his family back.
"Thank you guys, I mean it. I promise, no more solo act stunts." Cole promised as he let out a chuckle. With their peace said the ninja disbanded from their hug. As they all began walking to the far side of the rooftop Kai slowed his pace so he could walk beside the Earth ninja in private.
"Hey, it's been a long night for everyone. So don't go blaming yourself for anything too long. Okay boulder brain?" The Master of Fire spoke up, standing on his tippy toes to ruffle Cole's hair beneath his mask hood a bit. Cole laughed a little before smiling.
"Yeah, okay hotshot." Cole responded, nudging the red ninja.
"It is a shame that we were unable to apprehend any of the 'Shapeshifter' members for questioning." Zane stated after a bit of silence passed between the group.
Suddenly the loud sounds of glass bottles clanking together and metal hitting metal caught the ninja's attention. Cole then remembered how he had sent the first goon that attacked him stumbling over the edge of the roof and into an alleyway dumpster, and quickly ran over to the ledge to find the same goon struggling to get himself free.
"I wouldn't speak so soon." Cole said as he felt a smirk creep across his face.
