(A.N.): I need to be more consistent about where I write these things. Anyways, next chapter of TIWTW, finally! This is literally the perfect day to release a chapter, I think. I know it seems like I'm slacking on this big-time, but I promise I'm not! I've been trying to work stuff out a lot, and it's gotten to the point where it's taken over my daydream space entirely. Haven't actually thought this hard over fanfic in ages, yeesh.
Huge, huge shoutout to my friend artcanary, who's kind of my beta reader, idea-suggestor, and ear-for-me-to-yell-ideas-at all rolled into one! I know for a fact that were it not for their help, I wouldn't have gotten as far as I currently am.
Jay's neck whipped around at his name being called, his backpack nearly hitting the bookshelf he was standing right next to. He almost dropped something he was holding (a book?) but quickly solidified his grip on it before it happened.
"Wh— … Zane!"
"And finally I've found you, as well," Zane said, relief that everyone was accounted for setting in. He took a quick glance at the library around him — shelves upon shelves of books surrounded the both of them, with a mezzanine housing even more shelves; all were a deep brown. Scanning the books, he saw some of them carried familiar titles— like with the art gallery, it was an impressive collection. (Oh, if only there were time to absorb all the information they held.) From the ceiling hung a small but grandiose chandelier, now deformed, with several of its glass pieces broken or fallen off. Several once fanciful lamps on stands stood scattered around the room, lace and satin lampshades tattered and moth-eaten over time. A small table stood on top of the faded, worn red carpet, with a little mantle clock sitting on top of it, and nearby stood an old globe of Ninjago, in surprisingly good condition.
"Is this where you've been hiding the entire time?"
Blue eyes turned towards the mahogany floor shamefully. " … Yeah." Then they turned back up, bashfully meeting his gaze. "I'm sorry for running off, Zane. I just ... I freaked out when I saw that huge spirit thing, whatever it was, and I was already super nervous once we found out powers didn't work! So I wasn't really thinking straight, and I just kinda ... panicked."
After a moment of silence, Zane sighed. "Cole and Kai may be frustrated with you for a little while yet, but it's understandable. I'm happy that you're not hurt, at least."
"Yeah," Jay said, breathing a nervous laugh. "I booked straight out of there, and uh … it didn't follow. It didn't hurt you, did it? I hope not. Ohhh, don't tell me it did—"
"Kai's arm is rather badly injured at the moment. I actually have yet to stitch it — but now that I've found you, I can properly attend to it."
Jay deflated a little, a soft "oh" leaving his mouth.
"B-but don't worry!" Zane went on quickly, sensing a drop in mood and determined not to let Jay feel too bad. "Once it's stitched, Kai will be fine. And Cole simply needs a little time to regain his composure."
The amount of reassurance he saw on Jay's face gave Zane little comfort. The more he examined Jay, he saw that the freckles on his face were sharp against the pallid skin underneath, his eyes seemed dark and hazy, and his breathing, while mostly under control, was actually slightly unsteady and still ragged. Perhaps from the running …
He had the impression it was more than just that, however. Perhaps Jay was more perturbed than he was letting on. But it didn't make much sense, because out of all of them, Jay was the most open with his response to stress. Kai became snippish and lashed out, or closed himself off; Cole would become assertive to a fault and channel insecurity into action, or try to comfort himself; it was always Jay who openly complained and tried to communicate how he felt in a stressful situation. Rarely did he hide it. So why would now be any different?
Abruptly, his scrutiny was brought to a halt, with Jay's voice cutting into his reverie.
"Hey Zane, you're kinda quiet. You alright?"
"Oh, yes. I'm alright. I was just …" He scrambled for something to say. "Thinking of what to do from here. Considering one of us is injured and we may start running low on bandages, it would be wise to leave and then quickly regroup before we came back and properly attempted to find Shade. Speaking of which, it's rather odd that we have been on at least three floors, and there is still no sign of him. I hope that nothing too terrible has happened to him …"
Another breathy laugh from Jay. "Y-yeah, me too. Do we know if we can get out?"
Zane pondered the question for a moment. And what Jay meant by it. "To be fair, we have yet to check the door. We were a bit … preoccupied."
"Don't you know anything about the horror genre, Zane? We've shown you enough classics! Remember the one where —"
"I really do not understand the point of you bringing this up, Jay—"
"Point is, the door's already shut. It'll probably be locked, too; that's always how it goes. There's something weird going on here, I'm telling you! Our elemental powers aren't working at all and there's something bad in the air, so tell me that it's a big reach to assume the door's locked!"
It was not an assumption Zane would have made, actually. Certainly the door had slammed shut behind them, yes, but there wouldn't be any reason for it to be immovably shut. "We should still check, just in case. And we never know; there could be other exits. But later, of course. We need to meet back up with Kai and Cole first."
Jay let out an almost imperceivable huff through his nose. "Fine. But if I'm right about the door, you really gotta start listening to me. You promise?"
Zane blinked. Jay sounded … quite serious on the whole matter. But there was no harm in agreeing.
"I promise." Zane paused for a moment. "What are you holding, by the way?"
"Oh, this? It's nothing. I was trying to hide from the spirit and I was getting nervous sitting around waiting for things to be safe, so I grabbed a book to read."
"Hmm." He wasn't sure how he felt about that answer, but he said no more. "Let us get going, then."
"Um! Give me a moment, Zane." At the confused glance he got, Jay went on. "I just need a moment to check my backpack. I think I knocked it into something. Wait outside for me or something."
"Very well." And then, after a second, Zane did something he had considered but had not even anticipated going through with — he hugged Jay, who started and then tightly hugged him back. Suddenly feeling even more self-conscious, he stepped back after a few seconds.
"I … just thought it would be good. It is an appropriate time for hugs, when you've reunited with someone, isn't it?"
"Uh … y-yeah. Thanks." Jay looked flustered by the unexpected hug, which was understandable (if a little worrying, because if anything, Jay was usually one of the most affectionate members of their team.) He had better let Jay have some time to himself, because whatever was troubling him, he certainly needed to regain a little composure. And besides that, something gave him the feeling that pushing matters would not help.
(He blinked as he realized he was quite tense. But there was no immediate danger … )
Zane turned towards the exit, his footsteps echoing on the wood, and the door clicked shut behind him. Jay stared after him for a few seconds, clutching the backpack to his chest. Then, he stubbornly rubbed at his eyes with his sleeve, stuffed the faded book he'd been holding into his backpack with trembling fingers, and went back outside.
"So they were a floor under me, the whole time, and I never noticed — uh, Zaaane —"
"I see it," Zane responded quietly. "What was that you had said about it not following you?"
"You think it came up here looking for me?"
"Who knows. Either way, we'll have to try to make our way down the rest of these stairs as quietly as possible."
"And then what?" Jay dropped his voice to a fearful whisper. "These steps feel hollow; maybe we can hide in the space underneath them until it leaves ... "
Zane said nothing in response, opting instead to nod and quietly pick his way down the steps, one carefully-placed foot after the other. Jay followed closely behind, his steps light and quick, and apprehensively his gaze darted between the stairs and the door to the gallery. The spirit had returned, grotesque, so colossal its head was only a few inches short of the ceiling, and barely humanoid, with extra eyes, arms, legs, mouths; looking only just cohesive enough to stay put together and dripping parts of itself onto the floor. (And somehow it was not shrinking in size at all.)
Cautiously, they both touched onto the red carpet of the second floor, and then, watching to ensure that the spirit hadn't spotted them, darted behind the stairs. Currently, it looked more focused on something else … the nearby door.
"Eww, cobwebs," Jay moaned, shaking thick, sticky strands of spider silk off of his hands. The space below the boards of the stairs cast a cold shadow over their faces, and Zane's eyes glowed in the dark. "It's all dusty in here, I might just sneeze and it'll know where we are —"
"Quiet, Jay," Zane murmured. "It would catch us either way if it heard you talking."
"Sorry…" Jay dropped his voice even lower, nervously glancing back towards the door. It was still standing near it, almost meandering around it, but never making a move to go inside. Nor did it seem that it had spotted them yet.
"I don't think it will leave anytime soon," Zane spoke up after a few moments. "Kai and Cole are in that room. And that door is not locked."
"Oh …" A beat. Jay shifted where he was standing. "So that's where they are. I don't like how this looks."
"We may have to drive it off."
"Are you serious? Fight that!? It looks like the black sheep of the clown family walked through a dumpster before being thrown into a blender and coming out with extra parts!"
"Quiet."
"Sorry …"
"It doesn't appear as if we have any other choice." ("Aww, come on.") "We will have to be careful; without our elemental power, we are more vulnerable. Take care to avoid its arms — its claws gave Kai quite the scratch." Zane poked his head out ever so slightly outside the ledge keeping them hidden. The spirit was uneasily close to the door. If they were to act, it would have to be now.
"I'm fast; I could run up to its front and attack it while you get it from behind," Jay offered, reaching for his nunchaku and readying them for an attack. Zane considered it, then nodded.
"On three." He reached for a shuriken. "One, two … three."
Then they charged.
The first two shuriken both lodged themselves in the spirit's back and exploded, sending it reeling. Jay didn't disappoint, following up with a rapid strike and hurriedly retreating out of its range, just in case it were to swipe at him.
The noise that it emitted as it recoiled was a thoroughly ugly one that enveloped the length of the hall — a wave of something unpleasant passed through Zane, and he saw Jay shudder out of the corner of his eye. They had a solid start, but they needed to keep going. From inside the door, he could hear noise, and something in him dropped in worry.
"Wh— who's there? Are you fighting it?" That was Cole. His voice sounded dangerously close to the door. If it broke in …
"Don't come out!," he yelled, coming around to its front and throwing an explosive shuriken where Jay had hit it. They couldn't come out now, or they would be attacked again. It was too risky.
"Hey, guys! You okay? Whoop—" Jay had grabbed a vase off of a nearby stand and hurled it up at the back of the spirit's head. Now, he narrowly avoided the claws, and the— ohhh it had a lot of teeth. Multiple sets of them snapped shut around the air where Jay's head had been a second ago. It screeched again.
"Jay!? You found him!" Behind Cole's shouted answers, Zane could make out Kai's confused voice if he strained his hearing.
"Hey! What's up, sorry I ran off, but I'm here, gang's all reunited!" A solid leap, another strong flick of his wrist. Jay's nunchaku slammed into the translucent "skin" (if it could even be called that) of the spirit.
"We can talk once this is over! For now, remain where you are. We cannot risk it hurting you or Kai!" Zane hurtled backwards trying to get out of the way of any counterattack the spirit could throw at him; he'd overexerted himself trying to get his unusually sluggish reflexes and movement to speed up, and control over his body was increasingly more difficult.
Something was wrong. It had to be. Curse whatever obscure gear was locking up and impeding him.
Before he could finish his attack, Jay cried out. His back slammed into the wall, and the hand that wasn't holding his nunchaku grabbed at his chest.
Oh no.
"Jay!"
Three, four, five shuriken.
As they went up in a burst of sound and smoke, Zane attempted to draw all the power he could spare into his chest. Electric shocks were reserved for last-ditch efforts, and usually PIXAL was the one who handled things like the redirecting of energy. But worryingly, he hadn't heard from her once since they'd stepped foot in the mansion.
His attempt was blocked.
A familiar voice spoke.
"I am afraid you cannot afford to redirect your full power to an electric shock."
"P… PIXAL?" A relieved pang. "I was worried about you."
"I am sorry, Zane, but there's no time to explain right now! Focus on Jay."
"Very well." The spirit creeping towards towards Jay again, shaking off the explosions and growling menacingly. Zane desperately hurled another shuriken, trying to buy time. It could not be allowed to reach him. "Redirect as much power to my chest as you can, then. I have to keep it away from him."
"On it." A familiar crackle of power built up in his chest.
The spirit did something very strange next — it hesitated. Zane could have sworn he saw the very shadows themselves shift in that moment. But there was no time to wonder — the second's hesitation was enough for him to attack.
The shock struck the arms pulled in towards its torso, the tendrils of electricity carrying themselves through the translucent form. The spirit let out an especially angry cry that rumbled unnervingly against the walls and the floor, stunned and trying to shake off the shocks. Not quite as loud was Jay's cry of alarm — he had been too dazed to see it coming, probably.
"Jay! Did it hurt you too badly?"
Jay grabbed the hand Zane was offering him, and let himself be hoisted up.
"Nah, it's fine. I'm fine. It just smacked me really hard. Oww … but I don't think it actually did anything."
"I'm glad. I was very concerned for a moment …."
When he looked back at Jay, there was a spark in the other's eyes.
"I've got an idea."
"What—"
"Distract it for me!," Jay cried, sprinting towards the stairs. "Bring it this way."
Stairs? It looked like he was going to use them to increase altitude and use that to attack it with more force on its head, where there were no arms to block. While he was a little concerned about a fall from that height, it was a relatively sound plan. Coupled with the shock he'd just inflicted and another blow, they could potentially chase it off.
He dashed in a semi-circle around the beast, tossing shuriken, daring it to get ever closer to him. It took the bait, pursuing him, bumping into the wall multiple times, attempting to finish him.
He never let it. One shuriken after another, aiming for the vulnerable eyes all over its face (or faces, he couldn't quite be sure). Pull back hastily while it cried out and tried to recover. Wince every time its disjointed voice (voices?) elevated from its perpetual moan to a deranged scream.
A shadow flickered on the floor.
With a triumphant-sounding cry, Jay leapt from the banister and twisted into Airjitzu, kicking his feet down into his target when he landed and swinging his nunchaku forcefully.
They almost went through the spirit's head with a faint purple fog, but the deep 'crack' of a double impact still disturbed the chilly air of the hallway, only a little muffled by the carpeting. With a pained yell, the spirit lashed out, clouting Jay slightly above his chest.
Jay yelped and flailed, trying in vain to grab something to stop his fall. Immediately, Zane rushed towards him, messily managing to catch him, and helping him to his feet.
Almost as soon as his feet hit the floor again, Jay thrust his arm out, and to Zane's shock, his fingertips crackled with electricity that shot right into its face.
With a final shriek, it … disappeared.
"We … we did it. Haha! Zane, we did it!"
"Did … what?"
"You know … beat it!"
"Oh! Yes. … But it disappeared. How do we know —"
"Come on, Zane. We just beat it! Live a little."
"Well. I suppose you're right." A small smile creeped up his face. "... But how were you able to use lightning? Before, all of us were completely unable to use any of our elemental power."
Jay's face twisted in perplexion. "Oh, yeaah. Weird! I'm not sure, actually. I just kinda stuck my arm out on instinct, and it … actually worked." Jay turned his hand palm out, and moved his fingers experimentally. Sure enough, small sparks of lightning slinked around his fingertips, illuminating his hand.
Jay wordlessly met Zane's surprised gaze, wide-eyed, before bursting into a grin.
"Aaand finished," Zane declared, packing away the needle and string once the last stitch had been sewn. Kai, who'd been tense from repeatedly being poked in the arm with a needle, loosened up a little bit, and let loose the breath that he hadn't quite realized he was holding. "Those should hold until we can leave and find more thorough treatment."
The entire time, Zane had been quietly listening to PIXAL's explanations of what she knew (much to Kai's chagrin — how did one stitch up an injury and converse at the same time!), and now, he called everyone else's attention. Cole had explained a little earlier that he and Kai had moved back out to the gallery because of a strange smell in the space behind the wall, as well as its complete darkness. Jay, presumably because of his squeamishness towards blood and severe wounds, had moved off to a side and tried to text Nya about their situation while he cooled off and waited for Zane to finish.
"Bad news, guys," he sighed, walking up and showing them his screen. "Nothing's going through, no matter how many times I try."
"What!? Lemme try." Kai, who'd finished rebandaging his arm, whipped out his own phone, only to find that it was completely drained of charge. "Aww, shoot."
"Did you try your communicator? We still have those." Cole pointed out, powering up his own.
"Already did," Jay sighed. "No luck, and I can't figure out what's wrong with it."
Cole shook his head. "Mine's isn't working, either. Kai?"
"Nothing," Kai confirmed glumly, his screen glitching out in the same fashion as the rest of them.
"I'm afraid I'm unable to send anything through either device, as well," Zane murmured. "And even worse … no connection to my falcon!"
"Ohh. Man. I'm sure the falcon'll be okay," Cole tried to comfort him.
"Jay, you texted my sister before we got here, right?"
"Yeah, that went through just fine," Jay mused. "So I don't get what happened."
"Lovely, we can't even get the word out if anything happens," Cole said, groaning.
"This place is so creepy."
"No kidding," Kai chimed in. "Next thing you know, there'll be a vampire around the corner waiting to suck your blood." He paused for a moment, grimacing. "Or mine. I certainly lost enough today."
"Eugh. Don't jinx it, Kai, the weird creepy spirit or whatever we're calling it is bad enough!"
"Please. No vampires," Cole sighed.
"Alright, but really," Kai said, sobering up. "No powers has happened before, but Spinjitzu has never done … that. That thing's out there trying to fight us, and we've got no way of contacting anyone to tell them about it. This place is seriously messed up."
"Whoa, hold on. What's this about Spinjitzu?" Jay turned to Kai, dismayed.
Oh, right. He'd fled before they could make that discovery. And Zane had forgotten to mention it to him earlier. Oops.
"Kai tried it earlier and as soon as he smacked into that spirit, it dropped him. Except … our ability to do Spinjitzu isn't linked to our powers …"
"And I was able to do Airjitzu earlier!" Jay pointed out.
"What!? What gives?" Kai groaned.
"Heh. Guess that one is actually just you."
"Kai, what did it feel like when you attempted Spinjitzu?" Zane asked, hoping to find a clue in the answer.
"I felt really …" Kai trailed off, looking for a word. "Weighted down? When I started the spin. And then when I kept trying, my legs gave out."
"So, according to what you are saying, the instability of your Spinjitzu is more physical than anything."
"Are you calling me a weakling?"
"Of course not, I was merely suggesting that —"
"Heyyy, Zane, you never mentioned!" Deciding to nip this development in the bud before it could escalate, Jay stood up and demonstrated. What he'd pulled off earlier hadn't been a fluke; once again, little currents of lightning danced on his fingers as Cole and Kai, who hadn't witnessed the fight, looked on.
"So we do have our powers?" A small flame ignited on the tip of Kai's finger, and instead of going out, it stayed. "Yes! Alright!" He laughed giddily. A moment after the euphoria passed, Kai's expression changed from delighted to confused. "Okay, hold on. So why is it that they weren't working earlier? What changed?"
"Jay, when did you start being able to do that again?" Cole questioned him.
"I … I dunno. I couldn't do it before we fought that thing, I know that much … but we were fighting it, and I got a hit in on its head, and I just kinda stuck my hand out — I don't really know why, to be honest, maybe it was just instinct — but it actually worked! I can actually feel the power a little bit now. But it still doesn't feel normal and I can't do much more than that. Maybe that means we didn't actually get all of it back." Jay had gotten excited at first, but lost steam towards the end. Cole, finding that he could do little more than create a small ball of earth in his hands, looked disheartened right with him.
Kai, meanwhile, hadn't been fully listening, instead playing with the flame and trying to coax more from it. The rest of them were momentarily startled by Kai shaking off an explosive burst of life from fire from his hand and yelping. The dim room, only lit by weak rays of sun filtering through barred windows, briefly erupted in a flash of hot light before the flame died out immediately afterwards.
"Okay, you have got to be kidding me." With an annoyed groan, Kai shook his hand and then lit another flame, small enough to maintain this time. Cole chuckled and then sighed.
"Well, I guess that proves your theory, Jay. … Anyway, gimme the details. You hit it on the head?"
Their antics brought a soft smile to Zane's face. But he couldn't allow the conversation on their situation to be derailed any further, so he spoke up and forced the other three to tune back in. "Jay is correct — my apologies for forgetting to bring that fact up."
"Does it change anything that we kinda have our powers back? Do we even know for sure that that thing with the Spinjitzu was just Kai?" Jay asked.
"Only way to find out is if someone tries," Cole ventured, twisting into a spin. Unlike with Kai, the earthy tornado didn't fizzle out, instead stopping with a breathless Cole.
"So it works for you?"
"Yeah, it does," he confirmed, panting. "But it's a lot more exhausting than usual. Heavy, like he said."
Kai tried Spinjitzu, and once again, it stayed until Kai stopped, his forehead also slick with sweat.
"So it's working. But not like usual," Jay stated.
"Just like our powers," Kai murmured, irritated. "Great."
PIXAL spoke up then. "There are extremely high concentrations of highly anomalous magic all over this mansion. I cannot fully discern its effects, but so far it seems to be interfering with electrical impulses and normal bodily functions, as well as any other form of magic, such as elemental powers. This may explain their abnormal physical weakness and inability to fully wield the maximum power of their respective elements." Zane relayed the information and watched the dismay settle in.
"Hold on." Kai interjected. "So what PIXAL's trying to tell us is … we're too weak to even pull off our normal moves. Because of magic?"
"It would seem that way," Zane answered. It was concerning that in addition to lacking most of their powers' capacity, they were also physically weakened. Perhaps his and Jay's latest battle had been closer than they'd realized.
"So all of this is because of magic. Magic!" Cole sighed. Jay chuckled sympathetically.
"Me too, Cole. Me too. … Hold on, did she say 'interfering with electrical impulses'?" Jay asked. Slowly it dawned on them.
"So that's why our stuff isn't working, huh?"
"That's it, we have to leave," Kai said, looking restless. "We're in trouble if we can't reach any of the others."
"That, and it seems our watches aren't working, either." Zane sighed. They looked down towards their watches, only confirming what Zane said — all of them had ground to a halt, and between noon, 4 am, and 7 in the evening, it was rather difficult to tell which one was the actual time. Even his internal clock seemed to be scrambled …
"Well. It really was about time we left, ya know?" Jay said, an odd expression on his face. He received a groan from Cole and a lazy smack from Kai.
"But wait," Kai spoke up. "If everything electrical's being affected …"
"Oh, he's right," Jay whispered, eyes widening in dismay. "What about you, Zane? You're a nindroid; anything happening to you?"
"They are correct to worry about interference," PIXAL confirmed. "Energy usage is much more inefficient, internal functions are sluggish, and your power source is draining much more quickly than it is recharging itself."
That explained why his feet had felt more like lead than titanium during the recent fight. It must have been his body struggling to shrug off what was apparently a magical disadvantage.
"That is where I was, this whole time," PIXAL explained, starting to sound distressed. "I was attempting to streamline internal functions to at least somewhat of their usual functioning, but this strange magic is so strong, I just can't fully —"
"It's alright, PIXAL," Zane reassured her. "Thank you; I appreciate it. … How much power do I have left?"
"Approximately enough to last slightly more than 24 hours, at the current rate of drainage."
"What? PIXAL, how can that be plausible?"
"What? What's not plausible? What is it, Zane?" Cole asked. At Zane's outburst, all of them looked a little surprised.
"I apparently only have roughly 24 hours of energy before I completely power down," he explained, dejected. "And — what? …. And I can only recharge with enough energy for the next day by doing a complete shutdown, instead of my usual sleep mode."
"Great.," Kai hissed. "So we can't get any outside help, we're barely strong enough to fight our way out, and Zane's power is all messed up! Thanks for running off, Jay," he added, rounding on the aforementioned ninja, who winced and stepped back. "That was real helpful of you."
Oh no. The stress was starting to seep between the cracks, and Kai was in a foul mood, not helped by his arm. And both these things were beginning to rear their ugly heads.
… He wasn't very sure he appreciated being used as an excuse to pick a fight, either.
"I …" Jay was quiet for a moment, looking afraid. He didn't even bother defending himself when he spoke up again. "Who said we'd have to fight our way out?"
"Use your head," Kai said snidely. "You really think whatever's haunting this place will just, what, let us stroll out? Someone's got a bad case of wishful thinking."
Zane moved to calm his flashing temper, but Cole got there first, squeezing himself in-between the two.
"Kai, cool it!" he said, voice hardening. "And Jay, I'm not exactly happy you just left us to fend for ourselves, but I get it. I really do. Just … try to stick with us from now on? Please?"
"Yeah, definitely." Jay's smile was twitchy and more nervous-looking than anything. "Look, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. It won't happen again."
"Good," Cole sighed. "It's just the four of us, for now, and there's no Lloyd or anyone else. We can't really afford for you to start bickering now." Kai shot him a 'look who's talking' glance, but didn't say anything else, aggressive body language loosening back into guarded alertness.
That seemed to settle the issue effectively … but something Cole said brought up another concern.
"Speaking of Lloyd …" Kai murmured.
"Yes," Zane chimed in, "where is he? And his group, for that matter. We were supposed to meet them here, yet we've been on three floors and there hasn't yet been a single sign that any one of them is present."
There was a troubled silence as each one of them considered the implications.
"... They wouldn't hang us out to dry, would they?" Jay posed the question, voice somewhere between worried and doubtful.
"Are you kidding?," Kai scoffed. "Lloyd was the most determined to do this in the first place. Besides, those three? They would never." Zane could almost hear the unspoken "unlike you"directed at Jay. Judging by Jay's face, so could he. He held back a sigh.
"Yeah, Lloyd's not the kinda kid to do that," Cole agreed. "He's got way too much integrity. But Zane's right; they haven't showed at all. It's weird."
"... What if—"
"I'm gonna stop you right there, Jay," Kai interrupted harshly, distressed once he realized what Jay was about to suggest. "There's no way."
"But how do we know it didn't bump into them first? They could be hurt and we might not even know it. And-and Shade! We haven't seen him, either, and I've been on three floors by now! What happened to him, huh?" Jay's voice rose a little as he went on. Cole and Kai exchanged a glance.
"We don't know yet. And that is okay." Jay turned to look at Zane's face, his own expression suddenly unreadable. "We might not have immediately found what we wanted to, but defeating that spirit bought us time. I can't imagine it'll spring back quickly."
"And last time we lost our powers, it was because Lloyd was possessed … but we have them back now. Kinda. So us losing them can't have been because something happened to him! He's fine," Kai rationalized. Whether he was saying it more to reassure them or himself, it wasn't quite clear, but he had a good point.
"They're both right," Cole added. "And until we find any other signs of life around here, we've got other priorities. Like finding out how to get out of here. We can do that and keep an eye out for Shade and Lloyd's group at the same time."
"Wow, wouldn't it be so convenient if we just found some kinda escape hatch right around now?" Kai said.
"Let's hope we find something. One whole day of that spirit is bad enough; being stuck in here for another would just be pushing it."
"Totally," agreed Jay. "... Although you've really gotta love its reasoning here. Maybe having so many facial features messes with its brain."
"Brain?" Kai scoffed. "What brain?"
"He has a point, though," Cole said. "Lock us up in here and keep us from escaping, then get mad at us for trespassing. A+ logic."
"Honestly," Kai sighed. "You'd think it would figure out 'hey, maybe if I want these weird color-coded fight people gone, I should … let them out …'. But nope, we got stuck with the world's dumbest vengeful spirit instead."
"Vengeful spirit? Is that what you think it is?"
"Why else would it be so insistent on doing us in?"
"I dunno, maybe it ate all the animals around here for lunch and we make a nice dinner." At the disturbed stares sent his way, Cole went "What? It sure feels that way."
"Great, watch that turn out to be true. Thanks, Cole." Jay looked a little queasy.
"First vampires, now this," Zane remarked. "Your conclusion-drawing skills are very … interesting."
"I said no vampires!" Cole cried.
"Also, is no one going to point out 'weird color-coded fight people'? Seriously, Kai?"
"Yeesh, I was just looking for an insult that wasn't 'pajama men', okay?"
All four of them were laughing by now.