Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry for the long delay! I'm going to be honest, the only reason I haven't kept this story updating is because I hate fighting FFN on the formatting. I tried to fix things up, hopefully nothing slipped through the cracks! But if you want the most refined (and most up-to-date version) of this story, check it out on AO3. My username there is Raven6229 if you want to look for me. Chapter 9 even has art that I won't be able to embed here. Anyway, enjoy! I'll have the next chapter up really soon.
Third Quarter
Kai was a moron. A bona-fide, absolute, grade-a moron. The dumbest damn idiot to ever curse Ninjago with his presence.
Sadly, Steep Wisdom lacked a training course. So he had to improvise. This is what led to another one of his moments of brilliance- assuming he could climb a rocky wall without the guidance of the Master of Earth. Which, in turn, led to him taking a pretty unpleasant fall from one of the large cliffs in the valley behind the tea shop.
He hit the dirt hard, knocking the wind out of him. He staggered back up to his feet as he willed his lungs to take in oxygen again.
Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid.
He groaned and tried to find a handhold- for some reason, even though he had managed to climb an overhang with winter clothes on, his usual gloves were proving too thick. With a growl of frustration and only a few inches off the ground, he used his teeth to take his gloves off, then he shoved them under his belt.
That more or less helped with his grip, making it way easier to ascend to where he had fallen last time. Unfortunately, even then, he was sluggish at best. He forced his knee above his chest onto a tiny ledge to leverage himself. His body creaked from the effort.
And now, with the awkward position he was in, he couldn't quite see his other foot, leading to him blindly feeling around for a foothold. "C'mon…" he growled.
Someone called up to him. "A little to the right, and a bit higher!"
Jay. Great. Not who he wanted to see. Granted, just about the only people he wanted to see right now was Lloyd and Morro. So he could save the former and deck the latter. Still, Kai was able to use the directions to find a spot for his toes to perch.
He pulled himself over the top with a noise somewhat between a groan and a yell.
"Cyclon-do!" Jay yelled from below, because he was determined to make that a thing. Jay was beside him in a few seconds, and Kai had to brush his hair out of his face from the wind the Airjitzu created.
"What do you want, Jay?"
He was expecting some annoying joke. Instead, the Master of Lightning just shrugged. "Came to get some practice in."
"You?" Kai asked with a skeptical tone. Jay was hardly the type to go out of his way to train when he didn't have to. "Weren't you supposed to be helping with defenses?"
Jay winced. "I think Cole was the only one that's still voting for those after your old 'water bucket on the door' chestnut."
He rolled his eyes and ran his hand along the next wall of the hill for him to climb, feeling for a good start. "Figures." Even nearly dying to another one of Kai's signature screw ups wasn't enough to deter Cole from unnecessary risks.
"Figures," Jay agreed.
Jay watched in awkward silence as he began to climb a slightly overhung part of the hill. Thank the First Master for the callouses he still had from his blacksmithing days, or else his hands would probably be scraped raw.
Kai spoke between heavy, lugging moves. "What do you actually want?"
Jay kicked at the dirt, but actually took to climbing himself, a few feet to the side of Kai. "I'm going stir-crazy waiting for them to-" he yelped as he lost his grip early on and ended up falling flat on his back somehow. "-figure out where we're going."
"Don't you want to go bug my sister or something?" He groaned and jammed his knee between two rocks to rest his arms. "Usually you're her shadow."
He looked down at Jay, who was making another attempt at catching up to Kai. "Cole is helping her train right now," he said, as if that were sufficient explanation.
"So?"
Jay winced. "So? The three of us together? It's a bit awkward right now, okay?"
Right, that whole romance disaster. Kai pulled himself over the final ledge of that particular overhang then looked back down at Jay, who was struggling just about as bad as Kai had been. "Dude, I'm pretty sure that shit is the last thing either of them are thinking about."
"You don't know that." Jay slipped again, barely managing to catch himself with what looked to be an unpleasant scrape of his knees and hands. Sandpapering. That's what Cole had called it. A descriptive name.
"Nya just learned she has elemental powers that could be the key to stopping Morro. Cole died last week. Your dumb fight is old news."
Jay grumbled. "Spoken like someone that's never had an ex." He grunted and did the same thing as Kai, biting the glove off one of his hands. Only one, though. For some reason. Except, unlike with Kai, it really didn't seem to help much, because the extra effort it took him to remove the glove cost him his hold on the wall. He slipped off.
Instead of falling, however, he kicked himself away and used a sudden burst of Airjitzu to right himself and carry himself up to the top of the ledge.
"You know, it doesn't count as climbing unless you actually climb it."
"Whatever, I'm practicing Airjitzu, then."
Kai rolled his eyes. "That doesn't require bothering me though."
He was expecting a retort. Instead, Jay's shoulders sagged. "I- uh, yeah, you're probably right. Sorry."
Wait, what? Kai shook his head and grabbed Jay's wrist as he crouched, about to start another Airjitzu cyclone. "Wait, c'mon, man. You know I don't mean it."
Jay didn't resist, but he didn't turn back to Kai, either. "Sorry," he repeated.
Inwardly, Kai sighed. Clearly, Jay was dealing with his own stuff, but Kai was like, probably the last person worth coming to for stuff like that. Best he could do was offer a nice distraction for both of them.
Jay yelped as Kai suddenly threw him over his shoulder and away from the ledge. He barely managed to right himself and make a clumsy, stumbling landing. "What the heck, Kai!?"
"Practice, c'mon. I need someone to punch until we can find Morro. Cole is too ghosty to make for a good punching bag, and I nearly broke my hand last time I sparred with Zane."
The Master of Lightning stared at him, bewildered for a moment before finally shifting into his preferred defensive stance with a somewhat bothered expression. Kai charged.
Fighting Jay was always a blast- their skills weren't quite even- objectively, Kai was the better one-on-one fighter. However, Jay made up for that by being good at avoiding fights- by weaving around, ducking and dodging, and putting distance between him and his opponent.
It made fighting him both challenging and exhausting. Which was, frankly, exactly what Kai needed to help get his mind off nearly killing Cole for the second time in two days. It was almost like a game of tag. If, instead of tagging one another, they punched, kicked, threw, or otherwise attacked one another. It always left them both completely drained.
And seeing as Jay cracked a smile before using Spinjitzu to push away from Kai and towards the cliff, he had a feeling his brother appreciated their game just as much.
By the time they were both thoroughly bruised and exhausted, the sun was beginning to set. It was as good a way as any to kill time before heading off to the tomb. Kai sat against a rock with Jay on the opposite side.
"Dang, I forgot what a pain you are to fight," Jay said as he panted to catch his breath. Kai gave a breathy laugh.
"Hah! Same to you. Forgot you had it in you."
Jay grumbled. "Hey, c'mon, I'm not that much worse than you at fighting!"
"Clearly," Kai said as he rotated his shoulder. "You got some good licks in."
"Now we just gotta nail Morro instead of each other, and we'll be golden."
Kai laughed. "Yeah, easy. It's more of a plan than we've had for some of our fights."
"Assuming we can get there at least." Jay turned to him with a smirk. "You gonna be good to even get to the tomb? It's underwater."
Kai cringed. "Aren't you claustrophobic or whatever? I think Zane and Nya are the only ones that won't have an awful time on the trip there."
Jay waved him off. "I can deal with it for the purposes of making you look like a wuss."
"Hah hah." Kai crossed his arms and laid his head back against the rock. "I'm so ready for this nightmare to be over."
Will it ever be over? asked a small voice inside of him. Lloyd looked awful. And then there's Cole…
"Ugh, don't say that!" he replied in a frantic voice. "That's like, the thing you say right before stuff gets worse! And I think the Cloud Kingdom is already mad enough at us! Don't give them an excuse to make things worse!"
Kai rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. Then uh, let the nightmare continue, I guess?"
Jay reached around the rock and punched him in the shoulder. "No! Don't say that either!"
"Well, what can I say?!" Kai demanded with indignance.
Jay thought for a moment. "Hmm… that Jay's the best?"
"Sorry, Master Wu taught us to never lie," Kai said in a saccharine tone.
Jay stuck out his tongue. "You're the worst."
"Thanks, I try."
"You know, it'd be a lot easier for me to focus if you weren't scaring me half to death!" Nya yelled at Cole through cupped hands, even though he could probably hear her fine.
Cole, meanwhile, was balancing atop one of the rocks in the river behind Steep Wisdom. He just grinned. "Hey, give me some credit here! I've jumped across rocks in pits of lava! This isn't any different!" He bounced from one foot to balancing on the other as the thin waterfall crashed into the river a little ways behind them.
Nya pinched the bridge of her nose. "Except that you had to go to that volcano! There's no reason for you to be doing this right now though! What if I hit you?"
"Then I'll dodge out of the way with my awesome ninja moves. Now come on, give it another shot!"
"You nearly got killed by a bucket on the door. And you want to tempt fate more?"
"I've nearly been killed more times than I can track. That doesn't count for anything. I've only actually been killed, like, once. Kind of. Which like, so has Zane, so it hardly even counts! Besides, the Cloud Kingdom said it themselves that they can't touch me! So who cares!?" Cole beamed at her and was absolutely at least somewhat aware of how absurd he was being.
"I can't even begin to dissect that essay's worth of very concerning content you just flung in my direction."
"Then focus on practicing instead! You almost had it last time!"
Nya groaned but did as Cole said- she jumped from her spot on the river bed onto one of the rocks near him. It was slick with water, but she was getting better at avoiding making a sopping wet fool of herself. Cole nodded in approval. "Why does the 'key' to Spinjitzu have to be so vague, anyway? Building a Samurai mech suit should not be more straightforward than learning how to spin really fast!"
Cole laughed and took a backwards jump onto another rock, where he waited for Nya to catch up. "Trust me, we all thought the same. You get used to it."
A little warning in advance would have been nice. Maybe starting training a bit earlier. Or maybe, and bear with me, not waiting until you need convenient water powers to reveal that my mom was the Master of Water. I know, crazy thought.
She must have been making a weird face, because Cole frowned. "Hey, don't sweat it too much. You're doing great."
"Says the ghost that's hopping backwards, over his equivalent of acid while shouting instructions at the Master of Water that can't even manage Spinjitzu when surrounded by what's supposed to be her element," she snapped, only for her balance to falter, leaving her flailing for a moment to right herself.
Nya felt a pang of guilt when she saw Cole deflate a bit. She tried to scramble to recover. "Look, nevermind, I didn't- ugh…!"
He held out a hand for her to clasp- she did so, and he helped guide her to the next rock. The water nearby didn't seem to bother him at all.
"I don't get you," she sighed. "How are you so calm right now? I can barely think straight with everything going on. But even after yesterday, you-" she paused when she saw him wince.
She didn't know what reaction she expected Cole to settle on- still, she could firmly say that a smile was not it. "Honestly? Stuff like this helps me." He crouched on the rock and held his hand way too close to the water. The green mist around his body seemed to recoil from the river's spray. "The water terrifies me, but I don't want to let it stop me, you know? Especially if the tomb is in the ocean of all places. It's the same reason Wu found me when I was climbing a mountain. I want to push my limits." He looked behind him, as though someone may have been eavesdropping. "To tell you the truth, I think my issues with staying… solid… or whatever… have something to do with fear. So maybe if I can overcome that, then I can get a little more control over my body."
It was… a very Cole answer for him to give.
"You're amazing," Nya said in a single, whooshing breath. "You know that? You're absolutely amazing."
Cole's expression fully lit up. "Hey! So are you! You've picked this stuff up faster than any of us did! You've already started tapping into your Elemental Powers! We haven't managed that! Not without Lloyd's power helping us out."
She looked down at her hand- it looked pretty normal. A bit scarred up from little mishaps with her equipment, but normal. Not like the hands of a great Master of Water. "I think you give me too much credit."
At that, the Master of Earth scoffed. "C'mon, none of that humility stuff. You could do with a bit of an ego. Take some of Kai's, maybe." His expression sobered. "And hey, there's no rushing this stuff. You'll get it, but don't stress too much about it. You'll just mess yourself up if you push yourself too hard."
Nya gave him a deadpan expression. "Pot meet kettle, ghost."
Cole looked down at the tiny rock he was balancing on, and at the water rushing around it. He smiled, this time sheepishly. "Yeah, point taken. But I enjoy pushing myself, so don't worry about me."
"Cole, I mean this in the least offensive, most supportive way possible, but you nearly melted into the fuel tank yesterday, and now you want me to not worry when you're dancing over a river?"
It was a low blow, and Nya knew that, but like, it was also true. When she had reached the common room, Cole had been hanging off his own scythe with bleeding hands, trembling in a way Nya had never imagined Cole would. And he had always been one to bounce back from stuff like that quickly, but there was such a thing as too quick, if you asked her.
He seemed to get the message, but also seemed determined to not keep the mood down. "I… alright, if it'll make you feel better." He bounced from his stone back onto the river bed, and turned back to her. "Then come on. You're not getting out of practice that easily. We can use the walls surrounding the building."
Nya rolled her eyes, but allowed herself an exhale of relief- Cole really had been driving her up the wall with that little stunt of his. "You're worse than Master Wu." They began the walk back to Steep Wisdom, taking a slight detour along the outer wall.
That wasn't true, actually. Where Master Wu was just some constant source of pressure, training with Cole just felt like spending time with a friend, even if she was pretty sure normal friends didn't constantly have to discuss all this heavy weird superpower stuff. Even with all that, even with the ghost thing looming over every one of Cole's echo-y words, he was easy to be around.
Now, Cole looked like he was about to reply. Unfortunately, things just had to get harder for all of them.
"Is that R.E.X.?" Cole asked abruptly, as he glanced down the main path to Steep Wisdom- it was sandwiched between two cliffs and didn't get a lot of traffic, so Ronin's small but bright red airship stuck out like a sore thumb.
Nya narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, it is." She ran over to the ship, and Cole was following close behind. It was empty, no Ronin to be seen. "I thought he was doing maintenance on her. Why is she parked here?"
She and Cole exchanged a look.
What is he up to?
Cole let himself climb into the front seat, where he was staring at the screen. "It's turned on." Nya joined him a moment later- he was right. She could feel the thrum of the engine.
"Ronin wouldn't just get ready to leave yet. Not when we still owe him."
Suddenly, R.E.X. roared to life. Nya yelped as the ship ascended and lurched to the side, flinging her from the seat and onto the dirt. The ship hovered back towards Steep Wisdom, where she saw Ronin, standing on the roof of the building.
He was holding the Sword of Sanctuary that should have been with Misako.
He's betraying us.
Figures.
Nya's mind started racing. Zane, Pixal, Misako, and Wu were doing their work on the Bounty. Misako had been finalizing the location of the Tomb of the First Master. Somehow, Ronin had managed to sneak out with the Sword. And she knew it was sneaking, because Wu and Zane would have kicked his ass if they knew he had stolen from them.
"Ronin! What the hell are you doing?"
He had the gall to look sad as he yelled back at her. "Sorry, kid! I got a debt to pay!" R.E.X. flew right up to him- he jumped into the pilot's seat and set the Sword of Sanctuary beside him.
Nya was running before she could think too much about it- she couldn't really use Airjitzu, but she was able to get enough of a boost to get to the ceiling of Steep Wisdom, even if Ronin was too high in the air for her to catch him. "No! You don't have to pay that debt! We'll stop Morro!"
He shook his head. "Sorry, Nya, but a splash of water or some accidental rain isn't going to be enough to stop Morro. I prefer not to make losing bets."
Nya held a hand out- her fist began to glow an unstable, flickering blue. "It's not a losing bet! We are going to win!"
He barked a single, bitter laugh. "Then prove it! Blast me with water strong enough to kill a ghost, and I'll give you the Sword of Sanctuary!" He even lowered R.E.X. a few feet, as if to taunt her.
Nya growled and tried to create water- she knew she could. Zane, Cole, Kai, Jay- they had all created their element from their hands before. Kai did it all the time. And yet, as she held her hands up, desperately yelling for some water to help her, nothing came.
Ronin then had the absolute nerve to look disappointed. "Look, maybe one day you'll be strong enough! But I ain't going to the Cursed Realm in the meantime!"
"No! Stop! We're going to stop Morro! You'll pay for this! Agh! Come on! Come on!"
She clenched her fists, trying to feel for something, but all she was met with was a boiling anger in her gut- Morro took Lloyd, and Ronin was helping Morro- Lloyd could depend on this, Lloyd could die because of this- but try as she might- no water came to save the day this time.
Nya screamed, but no water came. Ronin wasn't even looking at her, and he was getting away! Nya crouched, and tried to use Airjitzu, but she couldn't even use Spinjitzu, much less this- she flung herself a few feet in the air then crashed back down, landing flat on her back.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" she yelled, trying to get back up to her feet. She radioed the Bounty. "Pixal! Ronin is stealing the Sword of Sanctuary! He's leaving through the valley! Get the Bounty ready! Cole and I-"
She froze, and looked around.
Pixal spoke through her comm. "Nya? Ronin sabotaged an engine to slow us down. Zane is repairing it now, but we could use your help. Where are you and Cole?"
She spun on her heel.
"Cole- I don't- he's gone. I think he… I think he followed Ronin!"
Ronin scowled and silenced the paranormal activity alert on R.E.X.. A lot of good that feature did him- here he was, still stuck doing the Soul Archer's dirty work while leftover ghost residue or whatever from Cole left pointless alarms blaring in his ear. Damn ghost nosing around his ship.
This would have been so much easier if he could have just gotten in and out. Unfortunately, Nya and Cole had just happened to cross paths with him. Just some plain bad luck. But if anyone had to catch him, the ghost that could barely control his body and a green Elemental Master was probably the better of the possibilities.
Well, "better," he mused as he set R.E.X. to autopilot and sat back in his ship. It was almost a shame they couldn't catch him. It wasn't like he wanted to give the Sword of Sanctuary to the Soul Archer. But also, their little crime-fighting vigilante superhero group had been on the back foot from the start of this whole ghost fiasco.
I get the feeling I'm not getting paid for my earlier services.
Which was probably for the best. He wasn't dumb, he knew they were grasping at straws for money as it was. And taking money from the broke national heroes didn't exactly feel good on his cold dead excuse for a conscience.
Then again, neither did taking the Sword of Sanctuary necessary to save the great and powerful Green Ninja. Not like a conscience stopped him from doing that, so whatever.
He decided that was where he'd stop worrying about logic. It was a long flight back to Stiix, and he really didn't need to be alone with his thoughts for all of that time.
"What a goddamn mess…" he mumbled under his breath as he pulled his hat down over his face.
He startled awake when the ghost sensor on R.E.X. beeped again. He had been in and out the entire ride back to his shop, but the radar going off really just confirmed that the Soul Archer's message had, in fact, not just been some nightmare.
So it was probably the right call to bring them the Sword. That's what he decided to tell himself, at least. He parked R.E.X. by his shop and hopped out with all the vigor someone of his age could manage. (Not counting Wu. He was entirely too spry for an old man, dark magic had to be involved there somehow.)
He took a shuddering breath and ignored the way his heart was beating in his chest. There were entirely too many ways this could go wrong, but it wasn't like he had much of a choice. Ronin took the Sword of Sanctuary and made his way into his own shop that those damn ghosts had the nerve to stake out in.
Now, the first thing he noticed was, of course, the four ghosts in his shop. Morro and the Soul Archer were waiting for him, with Ghoultar and Bansha hovering above the joists of his shop's ceiling. God only knows how Morro managed to summon them from the Cursed Realm this time. Their neon glow lit his entire store. It really was in stark contrast to Cole's almost gentle light.
The second thing he noticed was the Green Ninja staring at him with wide eyes. He was currently tied up and bound in the corner- the skin around his bindings was swollen and bruised. His eyes were sunken in, almost enough to resemble the anchor marks around the other ghosts' eyes. He was entirely too thin, and he seemed to be shivering uncontrollably. He looked frustratingly childlike.
"Welcome, welcome," Morro said in a merry voice imitating that of a shopkeep. "What can I do for you?"
Ronin rolled his eyes and set the Sword of Sanctuary on the countertop, though he kept his hand clasped around the hilt. "I'm only here to get my debt canceled, and to get you lot out of my store, so let's make this fast."
Morro glanced at the Soul Archer. Ronin resisted the urge to recoil as the Soul Archer's warped and withered face got uncomfortably close to his own. Then, he bristled when he felt the claws of the ghost reach through his chest.
All at once, he felt a pressure in his chest release- a weight he had gotten entirely too used to carrying. The curse binding him evaporated, leaving him feeling oddly weightless.
He exhaled a shuddering breath. "Pleasure doing business with you," he mumbled, releasing the Sword.
He figured it couldn't have been that easy. "Speaking of business," Morro said in a disinterested voice. Ronin stopped short with a foot midair. "What say we make another deal?"
Ronin narrowed his eyes as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. "I ain't got nothing else to offer you."
"You spent all that time with the ninja, and you can't tell me anything about what they're doing?"
The Green Ninja spoke up, voice shaky yet firm. "He's just a two-bit con man. I doubt they told him anything."
Ronin gave him an exasperated look. "A bit harsh of you. I'm just a businessman." Still, as he rolled his eyes, he was grateful for the cover. The Green Ninja really was too nice for his own good.
Still, Morro looked unconvinced. "Really now? Nothing about where the tomb is? Or even how their unanchored ghost is doing?"
He nearly phased into the ocean, why do you care?
"They didn't like me much. Can't imagine why."
Morro stared into the Sword of Sanctuary. "Right. And you didn't snoop around at all."
"Maybe we have to make the deal more enticing," the Soul Archer cooed. Aw. Yeah. There it was. He heard the archer's bowstring be pulled back from behind him. Ronin sighed and turned around.
"I don't know what you want from me. The Black Ninja is doing about as well as an unanchored ghost can be doing. He's stubborn as hell though, let me tell ya. I'm pretty sure he hasn't figured out what that means for him."
"What does it mean?" the Green Ninja asked in a quivering voice with eyes wide. Morro beamed and gestured to Lloyd for Ronin to answer.
Ronin cringed. "It means he doesn't have long before the Cursed Realm can wrap her tendrils around him. Unless they can find something else to anchor him to." Ronin didn't dare look at Lloyd as he laid a bit of bait. "But it shouldn't matter, because she's not here."
Morro laughed, and took the bait happily. "Cute, that you think she needs to be here. I bet she's been whispering to him from the beginning. It won't be long until he winds up anchored, one way or another."
That pretty much confirmed it, then. Dammit.
"So he's pretty much screwed, then?"
"You sound almost like you care," the Soul Archer taunted. Lloyd was watching with wide eyes.
"Believe whatever you want. I'm just wondering-" he glanced at the cursed arrow still pointed at him- "why you're pointing that thing at me when you've got a much stronger cursed ghost practically on express order."
"Oh, you know, to save the Mother the hassle of cursing someone as sorry as you when she crosses over."
Ronin felt his blood run cold as it all clicked.
Multiple things, that is.
First of which being what exactly the ghosts were planning- to use the artifact from the Tomb to summon the Cursed Realm to Ninjago. Needless to say, that would be very very bad.
Second was that Ronin probably should have made the losing bet instead of aiding in that. Ghosts liked revenge. That he knew. What he didn't know was that they had such apocalyptic ambitions. In hindsight, he shouldn't have been surprised.
The third was that they were telling him this. So they had no intention of letting him go.
"Run!" Lloyd hissed through clenched teeth as he strained against his bindings.
He took one step before the whistling of the arrow stopped him dead, burying itself in the wood beside him. Ghoultar and Bansha cackled from above.
He realized then, with perfect clarity, just how badly he had screwed himself.
Cole had dragged himself out of R.E.X. once Ronin was safely in his shop, talking with the other ghosts. Honestly, he didn't know what his plan had been. There wasn't one, really.
Maybe get the Sword back? Maybe save Lloyd? Maybe punch Ronin in the face? All of the above in a perfect world. All Cole knew for certain though was that he wasn't living in a perfect world. He wouldn't be a ghost in a perfect world.
"It means he doesn't have long before the Cursed Realm can wrap her tendrils around him. Unless they can find something else to anchor him to," came Ronin's voice from inside the pawn shop. "But it shouldn't matter, because she's not here."
He heard Morro's voice. "Cute, that you think she needs to be here. I bet she's been whispering to him from the beginning. It won't be long until he winds up anchored, one way or another."
Cole felt the numbness inside him prickle a little more. The implications of the statement leave him spiraling.
"So he's pretty much screwed, then?"
Next was the Soul Archer. "You sound almost like you care."
"Screwed," Ronin had said. What… what did that mean? In what way was he "screwed?" Something about anchors… he had some ideas, and they were all terrifying. Figures that the world wouldn't be done with him.
"Believe whatever you want. I'm just wondering why you're pointing that thing at me when you've got a much stronger cursed ghost practically on express order."
"Oh, you know, to save the Mother the hassle of cursing someone as sorry as you when she crosses over."
Cole felt his attention shift as he dared a peek through the shop's window. Indeed, the Soul Archer was pointing his bow right at Ronin, who had his back turned to the ghost but looked no less tense.
He heard Lloyd's feeble voice from inside- "run!" he had said, and then the whistling of the Soul Archer's arrow. Ronin fell to the ground, and Cole rounded the corner of the store to stay out of sight as he fumbled backwards.
"Hang on, this wasn't the deal! Look, I'll get out of your hair, and you can go on starting the apocalypse or whatever! Win win!" Cole watched him scramble backwards as the Soul Archer floated closer.
Morro barked a sadistic laugh from inside the store. "But who are we to prolong the inevitable?"
The Soul Archer released an arrow, and Ronin screamed.
It had pierced his foot, the cursed arrow. The arrows that could turn anyone into a ghost. Slowly, painfully, translucent green started creeping its way up Ronin's foot, to his ankle. He heard one of the ghosts inside laugh. He could hear Lloyd yelling.
Y̶o̸ŭ̵ c̶̓o̴͗u̷͐l̸̅d̷͝ ̵̑l̶̋e̶t̶̔ h̴i̵̎m̶̌ ̶͐d̶̉i̴ē̸.̶́ H̷͠e̴ ̵b̴e̵͒t̸ra̵ý̶e̷d̷ ̷ÿ̵o̵̿u̶,̷̛ a̶͛f̴t̸ë̵́r a̷l̷l̸.̴
The thought was sickly and alluring- some cheap revenge on Ronin for his slight against them.
Cole sucked in an unhelpful breath.
"I'm not listening to you," he scowled.
Then he saw Morro- he put a hand on Ronin's chin, who had closed his eyes in something akin to a horrible resignation.
"I'm not listening to you!" he hissed again. Morro was out of Lloyd's body, which meant-
Cole didn't have his weapon. But he- he concentrated, and deep in his gut, he could feel it- the slightest hint of a power that had been blocked from him. He was an Element of Creation, so he would create.
There was a sharp piece of stone in his hand. It and his strength would have to be enough.
"Ninja go!" he shouted, more to himself than to anyone else. Ronin's eyes snapped open, and even Morro looked surprised.
Cole knew he had to move fast- within his Spinjitzu cyclone, he did several things. He scooped up Ronin and deposited him on R.E.X.. Then, he pressed the buttons he'd seen Ronin press to set her to autopilot. They didn't seem to be the right buttons, but it got her moving anyway, and it got the doors closing.
Then, he bit the inside of his cheek, and looked at Ronin's ankle- the ghostly aura was quickly creeping up, and was nearly halfway up his shin now.
"Just do it," Ronin hissed, looking away.
Cole nodded. He used the piece of rock in his hand like an axe. Coupled with his strength, Ronin's leg didn't stand a chance. He screamed, visceral and shrill and absolutely awful. Cole clenched his teeth as Ronin's blood pooled on the floor of the ship, cutting through him like any other liquid.
The limb he'd just severed disappeared in a bright green poof.
"Okay, okay, one thing done… Oh First Master, what next…"
Somehow, Ronin was still cognizant. "Take her into the water…! And give me some cloth!"
Cole did those in reverse order. He ripped a sleeve off his gi and handed it to Ronin, who was quickly paling. Then, he pressed a few buttons pretty blindly to switch R.E.X. into submarine mode. She did so with a shuddering whirr of machine parts before falling inelegantly into the water. The last thing he saw of the shop before submerging was Morro and his sadistic smirk.
Cole felt himself tense up as he tried to keep from phasing through the ship as they submerged. Ronin let out a pitiful yelp. "Yeah don't be… too gentle with her…!"
"You can be quiet and treat yourself," Cole grunted as he tried his damndest to fiddle with the controls.
"Get me… get me over there… I'll link us through… to the Bounty."
Credit where it was due, Ronin had some crazy pain tolerance. Cole was useless with technology, so he picked Ronin up bridal style from the cramped back of R.E.X. and deposited him in the driver's seat. He sucked in a breath as blood from Ronin's makeshift tourniquet smeared across his arm.
First Master, there was so much blood. Cole felt dizzy just looking at it all pooling on the floor of the ship.
Still, Ronin didn't let that stop him. He pressed a few buttons, and Nya appeared on the screen.
"You've got some nerve calling us with a distress signal, Ronin…! What do you want?"
Ronin leaned his head back against the seat, taking deep breaths. He gestured in Cole's direction.
"Nya!" he called.
"Cole!? Oh First Master, you did follow him!"
"Ronin's in bad shape, but I can't fly this thing. Can you route us to a rendezvous point? Ronin needs a hospital. Bad."
"How bad?"
"He's missing a leg."
Even over the monitor, he could see Nya pale. "Okay, that's pretty bad. Give me remote-" she stopped as Ronin pressed a few buttons on the console. "-Access… okay, we'll meet at a hospital about half an hour out from Stiix! Emergency services will be there to meet him! Can you hang on that long, Ronin?"
He laughed breathlessly. "Yeah, thanks to this moron… Ugh… You shoulda gone for the Green Ninja… not for me…"
Nya didn't comment on that, but Cole could feel her eyes on him. He didn't respond. Instead, he ripped off his other sleeve and gestured for Ronin to turn to him. He worked on tying it on top of the old one, which was already completely soaked with blood.
"And look… send one of your ninja for fuel for R.E.X.. I got money in the hold… you'll need it…"
"Why's that?" Nya scowled. "You're certainly not going to be running off anytime soon."
"Yeah, no shit… but you kids gotta get to the Tomb as soon… as soon as possible…"
"Why?" Nya asked.
"Morro… it's worse than I thought. He wants to summon… the Cursed Realm to Ninjago…"
Nya went silent for a moment. Cole didn't look up. She spoke up after a slow, deep breath. "Okay… Cole, just focus on keeping him alive. I'm going to brief the others. Radio me if anything changes."
"Yeah," he said. "No problem." Thankfully, she hung up just before he yelped in pain from more blood coming in contact with his hands. It was like touching boiling water. He bit the inside of his cheek and sucked it up, even as his hands started smoking in protest.
"You shoulda gott'n the Green Ninja…" Ronin slurred, tipping his head back.
"Stay awake," Cole said with a wince. Because honestly, Ronin wasn't saying anything he hadn't already thought.
Y̶o̸u̴ p̸i̷c̸k̵ t̷h̶e̷͛ t̷̃h̴i̶e̶̽f o̸v̶̀er̸ t̶ḧ̷e̴ b̵͠r̷ő̷th̴͂e̴r̷̎?̶ H̴o̸̚w̸ c̷̾o̷l̵͝d̶̓.
"Shut up…!" he hissed. "I'm not listening to you!"
Ronin watched him with a dazed look in his eyes. "She's talk'n to ya'aint she?"
Cole put all his focus into staying solid as the water rushed past them. "You said I'm screwed."
Ronin laid his head against the window, only to go tense as Cole pulled the second cloth taut. "Hnngh! Ugh… yeah, you kinda are."
"How long do I have until she takes me to the Cursed Realm?"
"I dunno, Kid. 'm Sorry. Misako… she's lookin' into ways to anchor ya… dunno how she's plannin' on that…"
"Don't go to sleep," Cole repeated as he jostled Ronin awake. He felt a cavity in his chest. This just wasn't fair. How did it get to this point? Cole, a ghost, having to amputate a thief's leg when, by all rights, he should have gone for his brother instead. And now he was underwater, surrounded by blood. and-
Y̶o̸u̵ ̵w̷i̸ll̷̕ b̶e̶ m̶͌i̷n̵e̶, li̸t̴t̸l̶e̷ D̵̛i̴̛a̸̅m̴̏ó̵n̵͝d̷́.̸͑
And now Hell itself was gunning for him.
He took a deep, u̵s̷e̸̿le̸̋s̵̕s̷͋ breath.
It was okay. He just needed to hold out long enough to save Lloyd. Then it'd be okay, no matter how things went. And he'd talk with Misako. And maybe even Yang. He'd figure something out. They always did.
When they reached the hospital, Cole would hide long enough for the paramedics to take Ronin. From there, he'd meet with the others, and they'd go to the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master.
He could hold out that long. Even with her whispering in his ear.
He had to.
