I can't believe it's been so long since I posted the first chapter! I mean, Dragons Rising wasn't even out yet! Gosh, well, I'm hoping to have a bit more frequent updates as I have officially completed the entire first draft of the story, but we'll see what rabbit trails editing takes me down lol
I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago.
Chapter II: City Ablaze
The Bounty had arrived at the monastery about an hour ago and it had been much easier to get around ever since. The crowds had been moved to the multiple guest and bedrooms along with the courtyard; with the ninja's emergency stash of stuff, they had almost enough sleeping bags for everyone. As for the food, there was no doubt about it they would be able to feed their guests for at least a week, but what about after that?
Since the people had taken over the monastery, the ninja had decided to stay in their cabin in the Bounty for the night, but before anyone could go to sleep, they had to cater to the people's needs. Kai and Jay somehow ended up as the honorary doctors.
"Do we even have half of these medicines?" Kai asked, frustrated, as he read the list Master Wu had given him.
"I think so. Zane likes to keep everything close since he's usually our only doctor," Jay laughed a little nervously after that.
"Yeah, I know," Kai sighed, annoyed. "But I can't pronounce any of this-this...crap!"
Jay watched cautiously as Kai grabbed a stool from the cabinet and placed it, rather roughly, on the floor. He then stepped up and grabbed the basket of medicine from the highest cabinet and placed it on the counter to look through.
After a few moments, at least eight of the medicine bottles had been placed aside. A few more moments passed and none of the other bottles were taken out. As the fire ninja kept looking through the basket, he became exceedingly more frustrated.
After about ten minutes of being forced to listen to Kai's grunting and groaning, Jay finally asked, "You need any help?"
"No! I can find it on my own," Kai responded.
"What are you looking for?" Jay asked as he picked up the list. The only thing that hadn't been marked off yet was Ninjaprofen. "We didn't run out, did we?"
"We better not have! We have, like, 20 people who need this."
As Nya was passing by on her way from the Hangar Bay, Jay asked, "Nya, do you know if we have any more Ninjaprofen?"
The water ninja stopped right in her tracks and turned to the boys, cheeks turning a slight red. "We don't," she admitted. "I had to use the last pill for my migraine last week."
They both groaned.
"Why? What's going on?" she continued as she stepped forward and placed a hand on the counter.
"Wu gave us a list of medicines the people need," Jay replied, partially cheerful by the task he and his brother had been entrusted with.
"Oh, um...well do we have any other pain medicine that can help?" she asked.
"Well some of the same people who need Ninjaprofen also said Spinidol could work," Kai responded.
"Do we have that?" Jay asked hopefully.
"No," Kai sighed. "Don't you remember training last Monday?"
Jay did, and oh boy, was it bad. Pixal wanted to try out her new training course as a bit more of a challenge for the ninja. While it was definitely more challenging, it was a little too challenging. No one could get out of bed the next day due to how sore they were.
"Ladoxen?" Kai asked.
"Took it on our camping trip two weeks ago," Nya replied.
The ninja actually had to leave everything they had brought that night after being chased out of the woods by a bear. When Cole finally went back to get their stuff, the only thing he could recover was Jay's neck pillow, although it was incredibly wet from the rain.
"Aspadon?"
"Lloyd's fever."
Kai face palmed.
"Do we have any pain relievers?" he asked.
"Um..." Jay replied as he started looking in the basket again. "We have Dragadol."
The three looked at each other awkwardly for a moment.
"I doubt it's that extreme," Nya rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.
"Maybe they can just ride it out?" Kai suggested.
"Yeah, but how long is that gonna last?" Nya didn't seem to like this option at all.
"Until we defeat Flint," Kai answered, his confidence beginning to show.
"And when will that be?"
"I'll go now."
"What?! You can't do that! We need to at least tell the others, come up with a plan!"
"Fine, fine. I'll tell Master Wu and then I'll go."
Jay and Nya were just left to watch, helpless as Kai strolled casually out of the kitchen.
"Absolutely not!" Wu exclaimed when Kai told him his plan. "I'm not letting you go on your own. Flint is far too dangerous!"
"Which is why he needs to be taken care of. Quickly! We've already let him take over the city; what's to stop him from going to Ignacia or other cities?"
"Kai," Wu held a tone of warning in his voice. "I know you are worried about your parents. They have already been notified of what is going on in the city, and they are evacuating people as we speak, getting as far away from there as possible."
"But that's not a permanent solution. What we have here is barely lasting a few hours. We don't have what the people need. We have to go get supplies!"
"Kai, you are part of a team. Do any of your teammates know of your plan?"
"Don't you think it's a little unfair to ask for their help? They didn't cause this."
"Neither did you, my student. My friend. This is merely a case of lost people doing evil things as we have seen many times before. Which is why you will need everyone's help."
"Yes, Master," Kai scowled. He couldn't help it. How could he do this? Let this go on? They had to stop Flint now, not tomorrow! Not next week when Zane finally makes the proper calculations or whatever! If he asked them, they'd only say how little they know about Flint and his plan, how stupid it was to go headfirst into battle. How they didn't even have the proper supplies!
But that gave Kai an idea.
He burst into the kitchen where Nya and Jay were still looking for pain meds, into the game room where Cole was just finishing up a bedtime story for the kids (and some teenagers), the med bay where Zane and Pixal were cleaning up, and to Wu's library where Lloyd and Skylor were studying the elements.
"Meeting in the Hangar Bay!" he had said to his friends, and soon, they were all gathered in the Hangar Bay; Kai up front as if he was a teacher giving a lecture to his dutiful students.
"Okay, we all know that Flint took my element and is now using it to burn the city, but what exactly are we doing about this? We have to take action before he moves on to other villages and towns and landmarks! All of Ninjago is at stake here!"
"So what do you want us to do?" Cole asked.
"We aren't doing anything. I'm going to sneak into the city, like the great ninja that I am, and get us some supplies. Once we have that, we can take care of the people and use those supplies to defeat Flint. Simple!" Kai explained.
"By yourself?!" Nya exclaimed. "No way!"
"Yeah, that's crazy!" Jay yelled.
"We're going as a team or you're not going at all!" added Cole.
"Kai," Skylor's tone held warning that sent a slight chill down the fire ninja's spine.
"I do agree that this plan seems unsafe," Zane put in.
Pixal nodded in agreement while Lloyd merely stayed silent.
His silence spoke volume, though. He didn't want to disagree with Kai because he didn't want to make him angry. The irony of that was, it only made it worse. The fire ninja's baby brother was scared to disagree. He didn't trust him!
"It's not crazy!" Kai replied, heat radiating off his body. "We need medicine and clothes and weapons! Like, now!"
"Yeah, but you don't have to go by yourself," Lloyd started carefully.
"Really? Because last I heard we need all hands on deck to help the people."
"So why do you get to go on this mini mission?" Skylor asked.
"It's better to have only one go instead of the whole group. Besides, I'll be back by morning," Kai shrugged, annoyed.
The Hangar Bay remained silent as no one really knew what to say. Kai was right, they did need supplies, and they did need everyone at the monastery, but Kai didn't have his immunity to fire anymore. And if Flint found him, surely, it would be the end for their red clad brother.
"Jay," Lloyd addressed his brother in blue.
The lightning ninja looked over questioningly as Kai felt like he was about to lose it. Once again, they were wasting time.
"You and Kai are the only ones who have that list memorized. You guys will go into the city, get everything you can, and come right back. Got it?" the green ninja smiled.
"Great," Kai rolled his eyes. "Now I have to find the supplies and protect Jay, at the same time! Thanks a lot, Lloyd!"
"Hey! I'm a ninja too, y'know! I have just as much training as you do!" Jay defended.
Kai could feel his body temperature rising steadily, but he quickly put it right back down at its comfortable level before scoffing and leaving the room to pack.
The master of fire grabbed everything he could possibly fit into his little fireproof pack. Boot knives, fruit snacks, an extra pair of fireproof gloves and socks, and finally, his water filled canteen. Less than five minutes and he was already ready to go. Yet another perk of going alone. He didn't have to sit around and wait for Cole to pack everything he had ever owned or Nya and Jay to finish their long and boring conversations about whatever it was they talked about half the time. Maybe one day he could go solo, but for now, he still had to wait for the one who took the longest to pack! Why was Jay so annoying?
With a frustrated sigh, Kai stood up and clasped his pack onto his belt. Then, he opened the door and let out a yelp.
"Skylor!" Kai exclaimed. "You startled me."
"Sorry," Skylor replied. "Just wanted to ask you something."
"Sure, whatever you want," Kai smiled, letting the redhead in before shutting the door behind him.
She walked over to the bed and sat down, looking to Kai as if she was angry about something. "Is there a reason I wasn't invited to your little excursion?" she asked.
"Relax, I don't want anyone with me," Kai responded, tone still holding bits and pieces of his annoyance as he sat down beside her.
"Look, I know you like to be the one to save the day and everything, but you're just going to get supplies. Having someone else with you can't be that bad."
"I couldn't care less about who saves the day, just as long as it happens. Why can't anybody understand this?" were the words he so desperately wanted to scream out, let the whole world know, but he didn't. Instead, he looked her dead in the eyes and said, "Of course it's that bad! Have you met Jay? He gets nervous and freezes and complains! It'll be too risky with him out there."
"You're ninja. They shouldn't find you," Skylor responded. "It'll be fine."
Kai let out a frustrated roar as he buried his head in his hands and began to curl up into a ball.
"You don't understand," he said, sounding unnaturally calm.
Skylor placed a comforting hand on her boyfriend's shoulder as realization hit her.
"You weren't going down to get supplies, were you?" she said.
He shook his head.
"Well...maybe this is a good thing then. Because there's no chance I was going to let you do that on your own anyway."
Then, after a quick peck on the cheek, she left.
Once everyone was next to the secret exit in the Hangar Bay, Pixal, with a sly smile, asked, "What vehicle are you taking?"
"None of them. Our only vehicle that wouldn't explode the second we go in was left in the city!" Jay exclaimed in his own Jay way.
"Not the only one," Pixal responded. She turned around to face her MiniPix and said, "Seven, would you please remove the tarp for me?"
Seven nodded happily before hovering over to a large tarp covering something big and pulled it away to reveal a four-wheeler that looked like some sort of cross between a motorcycle and a humongous race car. It was equipped with at least twenty golden swords plus cannons and had a large golden "K" etched across the hood.
"I call it The Fire Eater. I thought you would like the name, Kai. It's temperature on both the inside and outside can be fully controlled to your liking, despite any environmental changes, is completely made of steel, and is fully electrical."
"Noice!" Jay exclaimed as he ran over to the vehicle and jumped into the passenger seat, right behind the driver's seat.
"Thanks, Pix," Kai laughed as he moved to the driver's seat.
He revved the engine a few times to get a feel for his new ride, but right before he could leave, Pixal added, "Aren't you forgetting something?"
The boys looked to her, confused, as she gestured towards the trunk of the vehicle. After Kai popped it open from the inside, they jumped out to get a closer look, and what they saw overwhelmed them with excitement because inside that trunk were two brand new suits. One red and one blue, clothed on the inside with steel armor and cooling devices. There were visors over the eyes to protect them from the smoke and oxygen masks connected inside the hood. Finally, they had belts all around the legs and torso so they could keep their packs, canteens, and weapons separated.
"Awesome!" they both exclaimed as they grabbed their suits and ran back for their rooms.
The city looked like one of those dystopian movies Jay hated. The skyscrapers and apartments weren't even half as tall as they used to be, leaning over dangerously or just plain missing floors, trees had turned to ash, the streets were empty. It was absolutely terrifying to even look at.
Jay seemed to notice the look of guilt that crossed his brother's face. He placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and said, "This isn't your fault, you know."
The fire ninja scoffed at the comment. If he was going to try to be comforting, could he at least move away from the cliché crap?
"Let's just get the stuff," Kai replied.
"Right," Jay nodded.
From the looks of it, Flint's only way of protecting Borg Tower, which he had made into his fortress, was the fire surrounding it, and since the ninja found a way to protect themselves from that fire, taking back the city would be a piece of cake.
Kai voiced this to his slightly younger brother, who responded by saying, "Yeah, but what if there's something more inside?"
"Like what?"
"I don't know, like monsters or something. Bigger than us! With fire powers!"
"Jay, I couldn't even make something like that. And Flint only took a portion of my power."
Jay sighed. "You're right. Let's just get the supplies and go. This place is giving me the heebie jeebies."
"Ugh!" Kai rolled his eyes.
They drove all over the city until they finally made it to a general store near the outskirts of the city, the only part of the city that hadn't been completely destroyed.
"Do you remember everything?" Kai asked as they started walked through the doors that were pretty much falling apart.
"Aspadon, Ninjaprofen, Spinidol, and Ladoxen" Jay listed off.
"Okay cool. What about clothes?"
"We don't need clothes."
"Jay, we have no idea how long it'll be until Flint's defeated. We might need more clothes a month down the line and the stores around here will be long gone by then."
The lightning ninja still appeared skeptical.
"Just let me go grab some stuff at the clothing store next door. It's better to have them than not anyway, right?"
Finally, Jay relented.
"Fine. We'll meet back at the Fire Eater in an hour, at most!"
"Sounds good!"
The two waved to each other before running into their decided stores. There was a small window that connected the two in case people shopping at one store wanted to get something at the next, and through this window, Kai could see Jay beginning to wander about, not even paying attention to what his older brother could be doing. Perfect! Seeing this, Kai immediately ran back out the door and started making his way to Borg Tower.
Despite the fact that he was clothed in a fireproof ninja gi, he was still affected by the flames surrounding Borg Tower. The severe heat caused the fire ninja to start sweating buckets while the flames themselves nearly started burning through his gloves. It was much more severe than anything they were made to withstand. Nevertheless, he was able to run through the flames and survive, his garments intact too.
After managing to shove the automatic doors open, he went for the staircase.
"I'll bet almost anything that he's on the 100th floor," Kai muttered to himself.
He ran and ran and ran. Second floor, fifth, tenth! Progress, at least, but the fire ninja was beginning to run out of breath. Fifteenth, twentieth, thirtieth! Almost a third of the way there. That wasn't too bad. But once Kai reached the halfway point, he felt like his legs were about to fall off.
Leaning against the wall, he pressed his oxygen mask closer to his face, trying to get something, anything! But it felt like his diaphragm was about to explode!
"No more running up staircases," he would've said if he could. "Just crawl."
Yes, his mom would've freaked out if she saw him go on all fours in a public place, but she wasn't here right now. Besides, he was a ninja! It didn't matter if the work environment was a little unsanitary.
After crawling up seven full flights of stairs, he was beginning to hear some noises by the door. It almost sounded like...a person.
"Jay?" Kai asked to himself.
After standing back up on his own two legs, he pushed open the door to the fifty-seventh floor. After unsheathing his katanas to be safe he continued through and looked around. After a moment of silence, he was greeted with a sigh.
"I knew you would come back," Flint told his adversary. "I just didn't think it would be so soon."
Kai spun around, holding his katanas up threateningly. Flint, who was unarmed, had no reaction. Instead, he just continued talking as if his life wasn't in immediate danger.
"I only took over the city..." he paused as he checked his watch, "five hours ago. What's the rush?"
"Innocent people lost their lives and homes in those five hours!" Kai growled.
"At least you didn't have to watch it happen. My dear Ember's house burned before my very eyes. You didn't care much about that."
"If I knew what had happened, I promise that I would've been there."
Kai could barely finish his sentence before a huge beam of fire was thrown directly into his chest and slammed him against a nearby wall. With a snap, Flint put this fire out to prevent his halls from being ruined before he pressed his knee against the fire ninja's leg using Cole's earth power. Kai was stuck.
"You are a liar, fire ninja. And liars are weak. Would you like to see what someone who doesn't lie to himself is capable of?" Flint asked.
Kai's breath became shaky as he frantically tried to pry Flint's leg off of him.
"Let me show you why you are nothing without your power against me," Flint's expression was bland as he lit a small spark in his finger. He allowed this to grow bigger and bigger in his hand until it rose all the way up to the ceiling. Then, he created another small spark in his other hand and let it grow in a similar manner. He mashed these two balls of flames together and rose his arms high above his head, causing the fire to shoot through the ceiling and all the way up above Borg Tower, demolishing the building. Then, he began creating shapes, morphing what Kai thought to be legs.
The fire ninja's eyes widened as he realized what was happening. He was tapping into the creation element of fire.
Finally, Flint produced a bright red flame, almost like the color of blood, and shot it up into the chest of the figure. A tense moment passed, and Kai almost let himself breathe a sigh of relief when nothing appeared to be happening. Almost.
As soon as he seemed to be in the clear, the figure opened his eyes and let out a loud and painful roar.
"Very good," Flint started, still emotionless. He then began to pick apart the monster, duplicating it into much smaller beings until he had a whole army of fire monsters, as tall as the floor to what used to be the ceiling, filling the entire hallway. He had to have at least three hundred monsters!
"You really took this power for granted," Flint said, staring absently into yet another flame he had created in his hand.
Kai remained speechless as his entire body went cold with fear.
The appointed meeting time for the two ninja had passed nearly fifteen minutes ago. Jay had already looked through the entire clothing department for his red clad brother as well as the hair salon, competing general store and the general store he had looked through only moments ago. Still no Kai.
The lightning ninja had already thought up countless scenarios for what could've happened to his brother. He got tired of waiting for Jay and decided to walk home, went to get his old bike, was looking in a different store, decided to take a walk and suffocated somewhere because his oxygen mask wasn't working. That seemed to be the one his brain wanted to believe.
"He's probably in an alley somewhere, barely clinging to life! He doesn't where I am, I mean having that little oxygen can make you go a little crazy, what if he's lost? Or looking for Nya? Or being eaten by vultures! The Serpentine probably took his body to a sewer somewhere and-Agh!" Jay couldn't help but shout as a quick shock in the ground sent him toppling over. He stayed right where he was for a moment, unmoving, as he was afraid of another shock, but instead, there was something much worse.
A loud, long roar sounded in his ears, forcing him to look up and see what it was. It was terrifying! A huge monster, made completely of fire! It had two long teeth that pointed upwards and glowing orange eyes. The center of its chest held a dark, red flame and it looked like it could squash him or Kai like an ant.
"Kai," Jay gasped.
Flint had ordered his monsters to various tasks around Borg Tower, there was at least 20 doing something on each floor, except for floor number fifty-seven. Here, there were only three monsters and no Flint. All coming for a weakened Kai.
Nothing he had done seemed to work. In fact, everything he had done only caused him more pain. When he punched them, he'd burn himself; when he tried to use his power, it only strengthened them. But Kai had one more trick up his sleeve.
Quickly, he took the canteen off his belt. The monsters were coming closer by the second, but Kai was confident in his ability to daze the monsters. He unscrewed the lid and threw the water at them. They were completely unfazed, not even a scratch. They didn't even seem confused!
"Of course," Kai sighed.
Just then, Jay burst through the door, sweat ridden and out of breath, gaining the monsters' attention.
"How about...it'll...be between...us...okay?" Jay asked the monsters in between breaths.
The monsters decided to leave Kai alone for a moment and run at the lightning ninja, who did a double back flip over them and punched the one in the middle, only for his fist to go right through and he fell to the ground in pain. As the monsters turned around and wound-up strong punches for the lightning ninja, his body entered fight or flight and a shock of electricity overtook all three of the monsters. That fazed them!
They bent over for a moment, waiting for the electricity to pass while Jay ran for his brother. He grabbed his hand and yelled, "Let's go!"
Kai was about to take the hand offered him, but he suddenly saw something behind Jay that made his eyes go wide.
"Look out!" he yelled.
Jay turned his head in confusion, but that was the last thing he did before he was punched square in the jaw and sent right back down on Kai. Hard.
"They're-they're indestructible!" Kai exclaimed as he pushed Jay off of him, but that seemed to be a huge mistake as his little brother looked like he could barely move. His suit was torn and burnt from the exposure and soot covered his once protected face. His hood was gone! After a quick check for it, Kai found it being held by one of the monsters as it was turned to nothing but ash.
Breath left Kai's body as panic threatened to set in. His brother...he was going to suffocate! Unless he did something, but what was he going to do? There was no time to think. The monsters' attention was stuck on the defenseless lightning ninja, filling Kai with fury.
"Leave him alone!" Kai screamed as he ran for his little brother.
Using his newfound adrenaline, he picked him up over his shoulders and ran. Down the stairs and out of Borg Tower, the two went, the fire monsters chasing after them in hot pursuit.
They chased the ninja through the streets, down alleyways, everywhere Kai could think of. He had to find a way to get these monsters off his tail before the smoke got in Jay's lungs. His breathing was already shallow enough, and he wouldn't stop coughing.
Kai turned a sharp corner and ran into a nearby building. The monsters were too big to fit through the door so, naturally, they tried to burn it down. Just as the fire ninja thought.
He ran upstairs where the fire would take a little longer to spread, but he could already feel the wooden floorboards underneath beginning to give way. With this new knowledge in mind, Kai jumped out the nearest window and kept on running, the building collapsing not too far behind.
Finally, the ninja made it to the outside of the city. Kai buckled Jay up in the passenger seat before administering his own oxygen mask to the lightning ninja. He then drove off the closest safe place he could think of.
It had been hours since the two ninja had left and Nya was waiting in the Hangar Bay for them to contact the monastery. She had almost given up numerous times, deciding to go to sleep and say hi to them come morning, but something deep in her gut told her that she had to stay and watch. So that's what she did. And boy was she glad that she listened.
As a light beeping sound began to play across the large monitor, a wave of panic entered into Nya's heart.
"I need everybody to come to the Hangar Bay, now!" she said over the monastery's speaker system.
All the ninja, plus Pixal and Skylor, came as soon as humanely possible and gasped when they saw what was on the screen.
Jay's SOS.
"It's coming from the Glacier Barrens!" Cole exclaimed.
"Where?" Skylor asked.
"A snowy area where I found the Hypnobrai Tomb," Lloyd replied.
"What are they doing all the way out there?" Nya asked.
"It doesn't matter!" Skylor said, grabbing a nearby sai blade. "We have to go help them!"
"Are you sure you want to come, Skylor?" Lloyd asked. "You're not a ninja."
"So? My friends are in trouble! I'm not going to wait around and do nothing!"
"Okay," Lloyd nodded, a huge grin spreading across his face. "Then let's go save out friends!"
I just spent a ridiculous amount of time making up fake medicine names with my sister XD It was pretty fun, but I am so tired now. What do you think will happen in the next chapter? Let me know!
Have a great day/night!
#God'sNotDead
