Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

It was a fitful night.

Jay spent the hours tossing and turning, trying every position to find sleep: head tucked under wing, tail curled up between his legs, on his back, wings splaying out until Cole snapped at him and he drew them back in again.

Nothing worked. His mind refused to rest, churning over regrets and what-ifs, and Jay picked at his scales until his skin hurt.

He'd never been more glad to see the light of day. As soon as that first sliver of sunlight slipped through the entrance, Jay clambered to his feet. For as much as he wanted to wake the others, to get them moving, the sight of their sleeping faces stopped him. So instead he slipped out of the den, transforming into his human form once he was clear of it.

With the mess of leaves and thorns that made the dome of the refuge, it was tricky to judge just what time it was. But few dragons were out already, and Jay spotted Storm across the area.

The leaves stirred behind him. Jay turned. Kai was poking his head out of the den, blinking to adjust to the brighter outside. He grunted when he saw Jay. Jay waved back. He waited for Kai to change back, which the fire dragon did, after stretching out his wings.

"How'd you sleep?"

Kai shrugged, running his hand through his hair. "Fine."

Right. Kai was one of those lucky people who could knock himself out on command. "Cole was up late," Jay told him. "We went flying around the Island last night."

In a way it had been exhilarating, being able to fly freely without the fear of anyone catching them. The only sobering aspect was the reason why. Jay and Cole had flown together without talking, just moving, and once they'd snuck back into the den, Cole had finally passed out.

"I should have been there," Kai said.

"What? No, it's good you were able to sleep. Better than me and my stupid brain."

Kai studied him intensely, too intensely considering it was just the early morning. Jay fidgeted. "What? Did I leave sleep marks on my face with my wing again?"

"You know I don't actually think you're stupid, right?"

Jai startled. "Whuh?" Laughter came reflexively, and he smiled nervously at Kai. "Where's this coming from?"

Kai scowled. "Don't laugh. I'm being serious. I — look, I know I've been kind of focused on Lloyd recently.”

Jay nodded, because, "Sure, yeah, of course. The kid's been through hell and back."

"But — I shouldn't have fought with you yesterday. Not when you were scared, too."

Okay. The assertiveness was starting to set him on edge now. Jay laughed again, tighter. “Kai, it's okay. I'm not a kid.”

Kai shook his head. "Can you just listen for once, without trying to brush it off? Sure, you're not a kid, but you're still human. And still part of our team." His face screwed up. "No. Not just a team. This thing between all of us hasn't been 'just a team' since the moment we left the monastery. We're pack. We're family."

Jay’s nubs ached. "Don't you dare get sentimental on me," he accused. "Don't act like — like this is the end, because I — because —"

Kai gripped his shoulders, cutting him off. "I'm not," he asserted. "I'm not. I just wanted you to know that. Okay?" He bit his lip and his hands flexed, but he didn't look away. "You're important to — to me. All of you are."

Jay stared into his eyes, and Kai met his gaze squarely.

He didn't look afraid. He looked convinced.

Jay had to look away. "Yeah," he said lamely. "Well, you guys are important to me, too."

"What's this? Did I just hear Jay say we were important to him?"

Cole stood in the den entrance, a stupid, goofy smile on his face. Jay scowled, pulling away from Kai. "No. Absolutely not."

"Actually, I have it recorded right here."

"What kind of sneak attack is this?" Jay exclaimed, throwing up his hands. Zane, having emerged from behind Cole, merely smiled.

"I care about all of you, too," he said. "Although I would hope you knew that by now."

"Never hurts to say again," Cole said. "Play it again, Zane."

Zane obliged. Jay grumbled at his squeaky voice coming from his speakers, but undeniable fondness warmed him. "You guys are as bad as my parents," he griped.

Thinking of them made his hart ache. How were they doing? Were they safe? Were they far enough away from Ninjago City?

Kai was staring at him again. Jay made a face back, crossing his eyes. Doing so had him glancing to the side, and he caught sight of something past him. Someone.

Lloyd stood by the den the dragons had created for the humans. He watched them, and even though he was too far away for Jay to see his face clearly, the way he held onto his own arms felt —

Jay looked away. He didn't want to think about Lloyd right now, not when the sun was shining down on his face and the others were laughing around him.

'Everyone flying to Ninjago! Meet by the rocks!'

Jay turned. Storm prowled through the refuge, poking his head into dens and directing different dragons to their tasks.

Behind him, the last of Cole's laughter died. 'It's almost time.'

'What do we need to do to leave?' Kai asked.

'Go and find the others,' Cole told him. 'Get them ready.'

'What about the weapons?' asked Zane.

'Earth and the others have them,' Cole said. 'Once we're in Ninjago, and out of the Overlord's range, they'll bring them to us.' He turned to Jay. 'Jay, go check with the lightning dragons. See how many there are, and make sure they all know where we're going.'

'That's not how it works,' Jay said, but Cole was already walking away before he could explain again. Jay sighed. Picking at his nails, he went to find the lightning dragons.

His mission turned out easier than expected. The lightning dragons had already begun to gather in center of the refuge. Jay came up in between Storm and another one named Copper. He still wasn't sure if they understood human gestures, but he waved hello anyway.

'Morning,' said Storm. 'Ready to go?'

Jay mustered a smile. 'As ready as I'll ever be.'

'That's the spirit.' Storm clapped him on the back hard enough to make him stumble forward. 'Remember — we'll boost your power, but you're the one who knows where we're going. So don't start thinking about your mom or something.'

'You don't think about my mom,' Jay shot back, even if the thought sent a spark of fear through him. No. He couldn't think of his parents. They were too old to get involved in a mess like this.

'You're going to be… riding us, right?' asked Storm. His tailtip flicked in distaste.

Jay nodded. 'Yeah, unless you want the Overlord to descend on us like fresh meat when we have to change from dragon to human.'

Storm raised his wings. 'Point taken.' He gestured towards the rocks, and Jay saw a pile of roles and other tack lying there - the tack that they'd brought with them when they flew to the Island. 'Your stuff's over there.'

'Thanks.'

The other ninja's life-forces were drifting closer. Jay gathered the tack up. Several dragons came forward, and working together, Jay managed to get them suited up by the time the ninja arrived. He climbed up onto Copper's back and situated himself between his wings. Around the ring, the other ninja did the same. Jay tracked their life-forces, feeling them settle into place.

Cole met his eyes across the group. 'Ready?'

Jay squeezed the rope in his hands. 'Yeah,' he said. 'Ready.'

Storm's head crests flared. ‘In five.’

Lightning gathered in Jay’s bones. It burned through his veins and scorched his scales. The life-forces of the gathered lightning dragons crackled like sparklers, and a lightshow exploded in front of his eyes.

Jay squeezed them closed. Instead, he focused on drawing up another image. An old man, sitting on a rooftop and offering him tea — the shape that took form was Sensei Wu all those months ago, that fateful day that would change Jay's life.

'Think of Sensei!'

The pressure built, and built, and then in a thunderclap, the world dropped out from around him.

They were free-falling through the stars.

Jay screamed. Copper thrashed in the wind and he held on for dear life, squeezing his eyes closed and burying his face in his scales. The world spun like a gyroscope in his ears. Copper grunted, a jerk running through his whole body, and then he stilled as his wings finally caught the air.

With watery eyes, Jay finally risked lifting his head.

The black of a night sky greeted him.

Jay gawked. The stars shone brightly over his head, which was the only way he knew which was up, because the world below was shrouded in black. Darkness enveloped everything, swallowing even the starlight, so that looking down there was only a void.

If he were shifted, lightning would have been sparking in his throat. As a human, he could only dig his fingernails into Copper's scales until they went numb.

So much for arriving with the sun.

'Down here!' called Zane, and the image of a rooftop, outlined in blue, appeared in Jay's mind.

'Down where?' Jay balked, but the black smudge that carried Zane was already plunging into the void. Copper followed. Jay reached out and found all five remaining life-forces of their team. He held onto them as his heart pounded in his ears, as he stifled another scream when a building like a spike rose out of the darkness meters from his face.

Copper banked into a landing spiral. He dropped Jay off onto the roof of the building, and Jay jumped down onto solid footing as quickly as he could. Flying, when he was in control, was awesome. Flying through complete darkness, relying on someone else's reflexes? Yeah, no thanks.

This close to the ground, the darkness felt nearly physical. It clung like a second skin, like a layer of oil, nasty and foul and inescapable, and seemed to pull him down.

Jay cringed and thought of the hot baths back on the Bounty.

“Quick, hide,” ordered Cole. He pulled them into the shadows — not that there really were shadows around. Jay went with him anyway. Finally, shapes were beginning to take form; a stale breeze wafted through his hair as the dragons moved with them.

“Oh,” said Nya, “oh.” And then, with a hand twisting in the back of his shirt, “Wait, stay back from the edge!”

Jay froze in place. He toed one foot forward and hit into a wall, but when he put his arm out there was only empty air. Squinting, he took note of the short wall in front of him that continued down the line.

“Yikes,” he whisper-yelped, jumping away. Nya’s hold relaxed.

‘So this is Ninjago,’ said Storm. ‘Hm. It’s… darker than I imagined. Do you also have a dark season?’

‘No,’ said Cole, and his voice was faint. Jay used Cole’s life-force to find him; when he could make out his face, it was slack with horror. ‘It’s not supposed to be like this. It –’

‘We tried to prepare you,’ said Zane.

'It wasn't like this, though,' Jay said, with another nervous glance into the black.

Cole nodded, swallowing. For a moment, he stood at the edge of the roof and stared out at the city. Then, squaring his shoulders, he turned around again and faced their group. ‘Thank you for transporting us here,' he said, bowing his head to the lightning dragons. ‘Will you return?’

Storm’s crests fanned in affirmation. ‘It will take us time to recharge our powers. That could be several days. But yes, we will be back.’

"What are they saying?" Nya asked.

Jay relayed the conversation to her. Storm turned back to the other lightning dragons, and together, they rose into the sky. Jay tracked them until they disappeared into the darkness, and then in a flash like a firework, they were gone.

Jay reeled from the wave of energy. Zane's sharp eyes caught the way he staggered, and he turned to the other ninja. "That would have been another large use of energy. Perhaps we should move from this place.”

“Right,” said Cole, rousing himself. “Yeah. Good idea, Zane.”

“Move where?” asked Kai. "Where even are we?"

In synchrony, they all turned to look at Jay. Jay threw up his hands. “Hey, all I know is that we've got to be near Sensei. Zane's the one who brought us here. How am I supposed to know which random rooftop we're on?”

"Well, we can always move down." Cole turned halfway around, squinting in the dark. "Does anyone see a fire escape or something?"

"Over here," said Nya, shining a flashlight from her bracelet. "I think there's a door."

Kai was already over by where she indicated. “Yeah, you’re right! We can go down!”

“Okay,” said Cole. “Zane, do you sense anything?”

Zane didn’t respond immediately. Jay sought his life-force - the brightest of everyone on the roof - and found him to his left. He moved closer to him. Zane had his eyes closed, but he opened them as Jay approached.

“There are two individuals on the floor beneath us that I can see,” he reported, “in the shape and manner of the Warriors. I cannot see beyond.”

“Kai?”

But Kai shook his head. “Sorry, Cole,” he said, looking pained. “I don’t know how much of a help I can be here.”

All of them were carefully sidestepping the topic of Lloyd.

Jay raised his hand, stepping forward. “Hey, between me and Zane, we’ve got this. I can sense humans and he can sense Warriors. We can do this.”

Cole bit his lip. “All right. Lead the way.”

And so Jay did.

Opening the door found them inside a stairwell, dimly lit, but leagues brighter than the outside. They stole down the stairs, stepping off onto a landing that had a sensor-locked door at the end.

“I can break it down," said Cole, but Nya stopped him with a sharp breath.

"Wait a minute. I think I know where we are."

They backed up so she could press her wrist to the sensor. After an agonizing moment, the light turned green. An accepting beep echoed through the stairwell, and hand on the handle, Nya pulled the door open.

"After you," she said, bowing.

Jay stared at her, dumbfounded. "How did you do that?"

A small smile slipped across her face. "Like I said, I know this place."

"Where are we?" asked Cole.

Her smile disappeared. "The police station."

At the back of the crowd, Lee breathed out quiet words.

Cole's face settled like stone.

"Is he here?" Kai asked.

Jay felt out. Expanding his senses past the life-forces immediately surrounding him, he sent his consciousness exploring down the floors and hallways beneath them.

There — life. Faint, worrying so, but there.

Jay opened his eyes. "This way!" he shouted, and tore off.

Down the hallway, down another flight of stairs, around a corner — Jay skidded to a stop at the locked door that rose up in front of him. Nya's key didn't work on this sensor, so Cole kicked a hole into the wall. Tersely, Zane checked and informed them he saw no Warriors. They spilled through the opening, voices ringing through the chilly air.

"Sensei?"

"Wu!"

"Uncle?"

Faces came to the bars of the cells. Jay scanned each one, despair starting to pool in his stomach with each that he didn't recognize. Cole and Zane started questioning the inmates, but he plunged ahead, hand lit with a risky spark of lightning.

"Sensei! Are you in here?"

Silence greeted him. And then: “Jay?”

"Sensei!"

Jay threw himself against the cell. Stretching out his hand between bars, he cast light into it.

Sensei Wu sat hunched with his back against the cell wall. His beard was unkempt, and his face was gaunt and pale.

But he was alive —alive!—and a great weight lifted from Jay's shoulders.

"You're here," he gasped. "You're alive. Guys!" he shouted, turning back towards the front of the jail. "Guys! He's down here!"

The other ninja came rushing down to him.

“Sensei!” gasped Cole, and the cellbars creaked under his hands. "Holy — okay, just hang on. We're going to get you out of there."

He motioned for the rest of them to back up, and with a grunt, he tore the bars away. They crashed to the ground as Cole flew into the cell. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

He and Nya helped Sensei Wu to stand. "I am all right," he said, voice dry enough to make Jay wince in sympathy. "But Lloyd, what about him? Is he here, too? Is he all right?"

Jay glanced to the back of the group. So did everyone else. Lloyd looked unmoored for a second. Then, visibly, he took a breath and set his shoulders. "Hi, Uncle. I'm here."

Sensei Wu crossed the distance between them. "You're awake," he wondered. His face softened with relief. "Then they did it? They found the Dark Island?"

"We did," Cole said, still on his right. "We really did, Sensei."

Sensei Wu turned his face to Cole again. "Incredible," he said quietly. "It is good to see you again, Cole. Kai."

Kai was standing off to the side, arms crossed. At Sensei Wu's address, his posture tightened. "Hi, Sensei."

Sensei Wu opened his mouth. Whatever he was going to say was cut off as Kai beat him to the punch. "I'm not sorry I didn't tell you," he blurted. "I still don't think that they should have."

"Hey," Jay exclaimed, defensive. This again? "It's not like we had much of a choice!"

Kai glared at him. Undeterred, Jay glared back. Kai could glare all he wanted. The guy just confessed his undying love for him, or whatever. Nothing he did now could undo the sappiness of that. "We were under attack, or did you forget that, too?"

"There's no way that was your only option. You —"

"Stop, please," said Sensei Wu, and guiltily, Jay shut his trap. Kai did the same with another sullen look at Jay.

"I'm not sorry for not telling you," he muttered. "But I wish that it had happened a different way."

Sensei Wu considered him for a long moment, long enough to even make Jay start to sweat. "I understand," he said, and his voice was kind. "I understand far more than you could know, Kai. It is all right."

"So you're not still mad?" Jay blurted.

"I was never mad," Sensei Wu said, eyes turning to him. "I was upset, and I don't think I was unjustified in that upset. But," he continued, "I've had much time to sit with it, and I don't need to hold on to it any longer." He smiled. "I want you to be able to do the same. The past is in the past. The only thing that matters is the future."

Kai swallowed.

"Still," said Cole, "for what it's worth, I am sorry."

"Then learn from your sorrow," said Sensei Wu, easing more weight onto his own legs. "And let it guide you as you move forward. As for me," he said, "I would rather like to move out of this cell."

Jay startled into movement. "Oh, yeah! Of course!"

He looked back towards the doorway, only to find their numbers had grown. "You let criminals out?"

"They might be other prisoners of the Overlord," Cole said, though he also looked like he was warring with his decision.

"They could be murderers!"

"If they were, they'd be in Kryptarium, not here," Nya said. "It's fine."

"Then why are they closing in on us?"

Jay took a nervous step back as a man with glasses came closer. The man's hands shook, and with wide eyes, he looked from Jay to Cole to Kai and back again.

"That's them, right? Those are their faces?"

Oh, yeah, and this is why Jay never doubted his gut instincts. "Faces?" he said out loud, laughing nervously.

"Have you seen us before?" asked Zane. The man's eyes flew to him, as if noticing him for the first time, and widened further.

"That voice promised to leave us alone if we got rid of you."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Kai. "What voice?" He had his hand out to summon the Flameblade, and Jay could see the way that Cole's eyes darted down to it and back to the inmates again. "What's going on?"

In a moment, Jay saw what was about to happen. Before he could process it, Zane's screamed "Get back!" and his body, trained under stress, obeyed without question.

"Get them!" screeched the man, and fifteen inmates flooded forward.

Jay screamed. He reached for the Stormblade, but a man barreled into him before it could appear. Jay tripped just out of the way and fell backwards as another inmate tried to grab his hands.

'What's happening?'

"Cole!"

Across the room, Cole grappled with a man his own size as Nya pulled Sensei Wu further back into the cell. Kai was there in an instant, cursing and kicking at two of his own pursuers. A man loomed up over Jay. Jay sent a shock of lightning through him on instinct, and he yelped and fell backward.

Up. Up. Jay fought to his feet. He summoned the Stormblade this time, and the men around him backed up warily. "Stop! Stop attacking us! We're the good guys!"

"Good guys," spat the man with glasses. "You destroyed my business, my cars, my life!"

"I —" No way. Jay would remember doing something like that. How could one guy even do all of that?

Unless —

"Jay! Put down your Blade, it's going to give us away!"

Jay stared at the man, horror mounting in his gut. "You —"

The man leered at him. "Bye-bye, dragon."

With a scream, he rushed forward.

Good morning, people of Ninjago.'

The Overlord's voice boomed through Jay's head like a bowling ball. The Stormblade slipped from his suddenly loose grip and clattered to the floor, vanishing in a shower of sparks. Jay cursed and looked quickly back towards the inmates, but they weren't paying him any attention anymore.

'As the new day dawns, let me remind you once again of our agreement.'

Images flashed through Jay's mind like fireworks. His own face appeared in his mind's eye, then Kai's, then Cole and Zane. Their expressions twisted into dragons, and they lunged forward with fangs bared. Jay threw his up hands in front of his face, and the images dissolved around him.

'Turn these imposters over to me, and we shall have no quarrel.'

'What the hell?' whispered Cole. 'What the hell?'

A low moan. Jay's eyes flashed to the side. The man with glasses was doubled over, hands clutching his head. The other inmates were all in the same condition, some on the floor, others braced against the walls. Jay yanked on Cole's sleeve. 'Cole! They're incapacitated!'

Cole followed his finger. 'Right, you're right.' Stumbling back into the cell, he took Nya, who had her eyes squeezed closed and her hands balled into fists. Catching on, Zane helped Lee up and Lloyd ducked into the cell with Kai to brace Sensei Wu.

Jay sent his senses out. More life-forces scattered the streets outside, frozen in place, but he worried not for long.

"Run!" shouted Cole, and as quick as they could, they hobbled out of the room.

Nya had never been in a comic shop before this.

Between the lingering sweat scent baked into the room, the stale, poorly-ventilated air, and the hundreds of eyes staring at her from the covers, she didn't think she'd been missing out on much.

She sat somewhere between the ninja and the others, feeling a bit like a liaison between them. The head-splitting headaches from the Overlord speaking directly into her brain had faded to a dull ache, but in terms of her actual health, she was lucky. Sensei Wu fared much worse. He was still worryingly frail, and Lee had taken it upon herself to tend to him, encouraging him to drink and pick at the rationed supplies they had. Lloyd had watched both of them for a moment, expression unreadable, and looked to the ninja with the same blank eyes. He'd muttered something to Nya and disappeared into the bookshelves before she could say otherwise.

Nya glanced towards the shelves now, biting her lip. Worry for him made her uneasy, and she resolved to talk to him and try to figure out how he was doing once she could.

Right now, unfortunately, deciding their next steps took precedence.

They'd run from the inmates onto the street before, but it had been another harrowing half an hour before they'd pulled the door shut on the comic book shop and Nya had pressed her ear to the wood, listening for their pursuers. No one had come for them since then, so they could only assume they'd escaped.

Several hours later and they were still holed up here, arguing in circles over their next moves.

"We've just got to get out of the city," Kai was saying.

"You keep saying that," Cole, scrubbing down his face. "But we need something more concrete than that."

"We can survive in the wild, though!"

"Not as humans, not well," said Zane. His eyes turned towards Nya and the others. "We'd need to shift to hunt, and then that exposes us."

"Well, what about that old couple out in the middle of the Sea of Sand?"

"We're not bringing my parents into this," Jay said adamantly. "Also, they're not old!"

Kai threw up his hands. "Well, I don't see you guys with any suggestions!"

"My Father's Monastery still stands," Wu said.

He'd been too quiet for the ninja to hear, but Nya did. She turned towards him again, but Lee had beaten her already, and she had her hand on his arm.

Nya had long suspected something was going on between the two, and moments like this just confirmed it for her.

Another thing to think about, though, for another time.

"Going there would bring it directly to the enemy's notice," Lee said. "Are you sure about that?"

Sensei Wu laughed softly. "As if it wasn't already? No. The Monastery of the First Spinjitzu Master is in danger by the very fact of its existence. At least there, the walls are fortified, and we have access to the cultivated fields along those mountains."

"I don't know how well fortified walls will help," Nya said. "But — it's not like any other place we've thrown out there has anything better."

She turned back to the ninja's group to offer Sensei Wu's proposal.

EEE-EEE-EEE!

Nya nearly jumped out of her skin. Lee banged her head against a bookshelf, and Jay fell into a display case. Hand snapping to her hip for a chakram that wasn't there, she spun, searching for the sound.

Lloyd stood by an arcade machine, frozen in place, hands still hovering over the controls. On the screen, 8-bit characters danced up and down, audio distorted by a broken speaker.

"Move!"

Cole's foot planted directly in the middle of the display, and the machine folded in on itself like an accordion. With a dying electronic wheeze, the lights flickered out.

"What the hell, Lloyd!" Kai snapped.

Lloyd crossed his arms tightly across his chest. "I just wanted to see if the arcade cabinet worked!" he defended, weakly, as his eyes were wide with horror. Like this, he looked closer to his true age.

"Why were you even —"

Banging at the door.

All of them froze.

Nya held her hand over her mouth. Jay stayed crouched close to the ground, half-risen from his fall. Lee's eyes were white in the darkness.

The glass of the windows was blocked out by large posters, something that had drawn them to this building initially, but through them there was the silhouette of a person by the door.

"Hello? I saw the lights! Is anyone in there?"

Nya winced. So did Kai.

"That's going to draw attention," he hissed. "Someone answer it!"

"But what if it's the Overlord?" asked Jay.

"It can't be," Lloyd said, but he sounded less sure than he probably wanted to. "He promised not to hurt us."

"But not you," Zane said solemnly. "And sending someone else might be the exact loophole he built into his vow."

The knocking came again, and they all flinched.

Enough was enough. "I'll go," Nya said, standing up. "He didn't show my face."

Kai's face twisted like he was thinking about stopping her. Then his mouth pressed into a grim smile. "His mistake."

Nya smiled wryly back.

Earlier she'd reached for her chakram, forgetting that she'd lost them on the Dark Island. Now, her hand went to the container of water kept at her side. She didn't have the same instinct to use it as her physical weapons, both from its newness and from weeks of stopping herself from using it against the Warriors, but the voice from the door was human. Uncapping the water, she streamed a ribbon of it to her side.

She ripped the door open and raised her hand.

A boy on the other side, hardly older than thirteen, stumbled back, hand still raised to knock. Wide eyes darted between her face and her hand holding the water, and inexplicably, his expression melted in relief. Spinning away from Nya, he put his hands to his mouth and shouted down the street.

"Mr. Brookstone? They're over here!"

Brookstone?

"Brookstone?" said Cole, appearing behind her. The boy turned back, and Cole made a confused sound. "Wait, Charlie?"

"Cole?"

The mists stirred and then parted around a figure coming out of them. Nya didn't recognize him, but by the way he choked, Cole did. He pushed past her out onto the road, voice cracking.

"Dad?"

"Cole!"

Cole ran. He caught the man in the middle of the street with a sob, and the other man squeezed him tightly. They bent their heads together, voices flying, but too far away for Nya to make out anything clearly.

"Dad?" came Jay's voice. He peeked out of the doorway beside her. "That's Cole's dad?"

"Yeah, it is," said Kai with a low whistle. "I met him when we were in Cole's town for the Fangblade."

"Why's Cole hugging him? Doesn't he hate dragons?"

"No," Kai said. "Cole told me that he talked to him. That's how he got his boost."

Cole and his father pulled apart. Cole held out his hand, and the two of them cam back towards the comic book shop. Kai and Jay tripped over each other trying to get out of the way. Nya held the door open for them, and once they were both inside, along with the kid that Cole's father had brought, she closed it behind them and redid their barricade. She sent her water back into its container.

"Guys," said Cole, gesturing, "this is my dad. Dad, this is Kai, Jay, Lloyd, Zane, Sensei Wu, Professor Lee, and Nya."

Cole's father took them all in from beneath thick eyebrows. "Hello, folks," he said. "My Cole said that you need a place to stay?"

Crossing back in his hometown a second time in a year, when before he'd sworn never to do so, was something of a surreal experience.

Going from complete darkness to sudden daylight was even more so.

Cole blinked harshly. Looking through the car's rear-view window showed the black of night behind them, but then, like hitting an invisible wall, it stopped and was replaced with bright sunlight.

"Freaky," Jay muttered beside him.

Cole was inclined to agree with him on that.

The car parked and the others started climbing out. Cole heard his dad talking to the others, heard Sensei Wu's voice, but he didn't move to follow them, not yet. Worries like a hurricane threatened to overwhelm him. How were they supposed to avoid both people and Warriors? How were they supposed to get close to the Overlord without him sensing them? How were they supposed to defeat something that even the First Spinjitzu Master could not?

Cole thought about none of that. Instead, he trailed his fingers across the cracking interior of the car seat. At his touch, memories tugging free from the fabric. Laughter, and peanut butter smears, and bumpy trips along worn-out roads.

Cole sat still there for a long moment. He breathed. Then, exiting the car, he went to join the others.

Cole's dad stood at the head of the group. "Over this way," he was saying, gesturing for them to go inside his house. "There's a bedroom upstairs where you can put the old man. Good to see you again, Kai."

"Uh, good to see you, too, sir."

That had a small smile on Cole's lip.

He crossed the walkway, but before he reached his dad, Jay grabbed him by the elbow. "There's a lot of people in there," he hissed. "Like, a lot a lot."

A lot? "How many?"

"Like fifty."

Cole's eyes flew towards his father. "Fifty?" he hissed back. "He just said he helped a few people out of the city!"

Jay shrugged. "I don't know. He seems pretty persuasive." He grinned. "Guess that's where you get that from."

Cole rolled his eyes. Moving past Jay, he jogged up to the door. The hallway was empty, and so was the kitchen, but when he peeked through the door into the practice room, his eyes widened.

"They started coming here as soon as that spooky voice talked to all of us."

Cole twisted. His dad stood beside him, one hand braced on his cane. The other rested in his slacks pocket.

"Holy shit."

His dad's mouth twisted before he visibly decided to let go of his language. "I told you," he said instead. "I've gathered some new friends."

"It's only been a day!"

"This is only a few people! I'll tell you, back in my heyday, the Royal Blacksmiths would sell out concerts five times the size of this lot." He smiled. "Your old man's made a bit of a name for himself when it comes to dragons, son."

Dazed, Cole nodded. "Yeah, I know. I saw you on TV."

His dad's eyebrows lifted. "You did?"

"Yeah. You were incredible." Cole peeked into the practice room again. "This is incredible."

His dad's chest was definitely puffed out now. "What can I say?" he said, grinning. "I get things done."

Cole sobered a little. "Get things done," he echoed, thoughts starting to swim again. "Yeah."

His dad was quiet for a long moment. He fiddled with his cane, out of character. "Does it have to be you, Cole?"

Did it have to? Cole thought. He thought about Earth, bowing his head before the Dark Island clan. He thought of the way the other ninja looked to him, how they relied on him to lead them. He thought of reaching the top of a mountain, only to find a man waiting for him there.

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, it's gotta be me."

His dad exhaled. "That's what I feared."

Cole looked away. Being around his father always confused his emotions, and this time was no different. "Well, anyway. I've got to go talk to the others."

"Cole, wait. I have something for you."

Cole turned. His father had pulled out the hand he was keeping in his pocket. In it, he held something orange. Something familiar.

Cole swallowed. "Is this?"

"Yes," his dad said, smiling sadly, looking down at the sash. "This was your mother's."

It was the same scrap of fabric Cole had found in his dresser all those months ago. He looked at it and looked back towards his dad's eyes. "Can I —"

"It's for you, son."

Reverently, Cole reached out and took it. When his skin touched the fabric, a thousand memories lapped over his skin like the tide in a pool. Climbing. Dancing. Battling. Singing.

Being folded neatly and set in a drawer, Lilly with something small tucked to her hip.

Being taken out and pressed like tissue paper into a small box, darkness claiming the rest of its existence until Cole's own face appeared above it twisted with joy, and with anger, and with pain.

Cole came back to himself and found himself crying.

There was a warm hand on his back. Cole raised his head. His father's smile was still sad, but something burned brighter behind his eyes. "You're so much like her," he said. "You have her same spirit to fight against cruelty."

"I promised," Cole said.

His dad squeezed his shoulder. "You did." Dropping his hand, he stepped back again. "You've got this, tiger."

Wiping his eyes, Cole went to find the other ninja.

They were gathered, along with Nya, around the island in the kitchen. Jay sat on the countertop, but the others had pulled up chairs around it. Cole took one of the empty ones, steepling his fingers as he collected his thoughts.

"Are your powers back?" he asked Kai.

Kai's eyes pinched. "No."

Cole nodded, swallowing his disappointment. No use agonizing over what he didn't have. "Let me know when they are."

"What's the plan, Cole?" asked Jay. "Are we gonna keep hiding?"

"The probability of everyone sheltering here knowing our faces is… high," Zane admitted. "I do not know how long we can feasibly avoid them."

Cole sighed. "That's what I thought. No. We've got to address this on our own terms." Earth's words from before echoed in his head: you will have a difficult enough time convincing yours.

He looked back to Zane. "How's Sensei?"

Zane's eyes pinched. "Better, now that he is in a proper bed. Professor Lee has him."

"When the dragons get here, we need to set up some sort of wall or guard," Nya said. "Maybe the Overlord hasn't attacked here yet, but who knows when he will?"

"Should we send people away?" asked Lloyd.

"Maybe," Cole said. The problem was to where, but he didn't voice it. "Okay. Kai, I want you with me when I go talk to everyone. Nya, you and Zane go talk to my dad." He listed off some of the neighboring towns. "See if any of them can take refugees."

"Actually," Nya said, "does this place have a garage? I've got to fix up my suit."

"Oh, yeah. Go down the road and into the market area. There's a shop on the right."

"I can go with Zane," Jay offered.

"No. I want you and Lloyd to go around town and see what the needs are and where we might need defenses if the Warriors come. There's the old road that goes down near the creek, for example. Come back and let me know."

It pained Cole to assign off tasks, but there was too much to get done and it would be impossible for one person to do it all. He didn't miss the way that Jay's eyes flickered to Lloyd or the way that Lloyd met his gaze squarely back, but the tension between them couldn't go on, and quite frankly Cole didn't have the time to mediate between them either. He'd just have to trust that they'd be able to hash it out.

"Okay?" he asked.

"Okay," Jay mumbled. Lloyd nodded.

Cole looked around the island, wracking his brain for anything else he was forgetting. "Stay in contact," he said finally. "We're going to win this."

"Ninja go," said Kai, leaning forward with the utmost seriousness.

It was stupid. But it surprised Cole into a smile. "Ninja go," he agreed, and drove his fist into the air. It set off a twang in his shoulder, and he hid his wince, but not before Jay caught it.

"Wait, wait, wait. Cole, can I —"

His fingers wrapped around Cole’s upper arm. For a moment, nothing happened. Then Jay frowned, and the slightest tingling feeling, like putting on a cream, spread through Cole’s shoulder and neck. Jay dropped his hand, looking pleased.

"That worked, right? That worked!"

"It worked," Cole confirmed, rotating his shoulder. "Good job, Jay."

Jay preened. "Thanks! I’ve been trying to figure that out for weeks.”

"What happened?" Lloyd asked. "I thought I — I healed you before."

"You did. This was after." Thinking about the memory again alarmed him, and he clenched his fists. "Back in the refuge, my powers started failing again."

"Again?" yelped Jay. "I thought that was from Lloyd's powers!" His eyes blew wide. "Wait. Do you think the Overlord —"

Dread sank in Cole's stomach. The others looked similarly terrified. "No," protested Lloyd. "He can't do that."

His protest sounded like he didn't quite believe himself.

Cole squeezed his own hands. "We'll ask Energy when he gets here," he said decidedly. "He should know."

"Right," said Lloyd. "Yeah. He'll know."

The other ninja still looked like they wanted to press. Cole firmed his lips, and they settled.

"When are the spirit dragons coming?" Kai asked.

"After I talk with the civilians," Cole said, standing. "Which is my cue to get in there." He turned back to the group. "Thanks, everyone. Let me know what you find out."

He left the kitchen, and Kai followed.

The walk to the practice room was too short. Cole clenched his hands in the fabric of his pants, rubbing his fingers together. He set his hand on the door, but before he could push it open, Kai's hand landed on his.

'Hey, Cole. Look at me.'

Cole did. Kai looked back, and the corner of his mouth tipped up into a smirk. 'Listen. You convinced a billion strange dragons to help you on the Dark Island. These are just a bunch of stupid people. You've got this.'

He'd stood in front of an entire clan of dragons before and presented his case. Cole breathed out. Kai was right. I can do this.

Squeezing Kai's hand back, he stepped through the door.

He wasn't noticed immediately. The people within the practice room sat grouped together, parents and children, siblings and friends. They were absorbed in their own families, and he had made it halfway around the room before a mother happened to glance his way and do a double-take. Face draining of color, she flung herself away from him.

"The — the dragon's here!"

Panic seized the room. Some people froze in place, while others scrambled for the doors, only to sceam and back away when they caught sight of Kai.

"Those are those dragon people!" someone howled.

"I thought I'd be safe out here!"

He needed to get a handle on the situation, and quick. Cole sprinted for the front of the room and jumped up onto one of the benches dragged there. "No, wait! Please listen to me!" His eyes darted over the room. "It's me, Cole!" Scanning the crowd, a familiar face popped out at him. "Mr. Joe, I've known you all my life!" He caught sight of another. "And, Mrs. Grayson, I've babysat for your dogs!"

The crowd had quieted during his words. Cole saw neighbors murmuring together, nodding their heads. Hope stirred in him. Did they actually trust him, just like that?

"Please," he said again. "You know me, and even if you don't, trust the people in this room!" He sought out individual people, made eye contact with each of them. "I'm your neighbor," he pleaded. "Your student. Your friend."

Mrs. Grayson raised her glasses in front of her eyes. "So you're not a dragon?" she croaked.

Cole winced. He looked back at Kai, and Kai grimaced, too. 'It's going to come out no matter what.'

Unfortunately, Cole agreed. "No," he said, biting his lip. "No. That part of what the Overlord told you is right."

Outrage. People began shouting again. Cole stood his ground, holding up his hands. "But not everything! We are not your enemy here. He is."

He jabbed his hand towards Ninjago City. "That cloud of darkness over the city? That's his doing. The Warriors that attacked you a month ago? They're under his control!" He lowered his hand, staring out into the crowd. "We're not your enemy here. We're the only ones who have any chance of stopping him."

"But he promised, if we got rid of you…"

Cole looked at the woman who spoke incredulously. "And you'd trust him? Look what he's done to your homes!"

'Cole,' warned Kai. 'They're scared.'

Right. Cole reigned himself in. "Please," he said. "I know you're scared. So am I. I — I'm freaking terrified." He looked for those familiar faces again. "But please, just let us stay here. You know me. You know my dad, and how he's felt about dragons before! He vouches for us, too. We won't hurt you or your families. We just want to help.

"Don't attack us. Don't call the Overlord here."

"And after?"

Cole looked. A man near the front of the room held his gaze, even as he shoved shaking hands under his arms. "If you do fight that that thing, what happens after?"

Cole glanced at Kai. Kai looked back, eyes wide. 'Mean what you say,' he said. 'But, Cole —'

"After," Cole said, meeting the man's eyes, "you can do whatever you want to me."

Kai breathed in softly.

The man at the front swallowed and nodded. Cole swallowed, too. "Please," he said, a final plea.

No one else said anything. But no one followed them as they left the room, and Cole tried to feel optimistic about it.

"You did good, Cole," Kai said, as they walked back down the hallway. "Now whatever happens is on them."

Did he? Anxiety ate at Cole's stomach, but he tried to believe Kai. All the what-ifs bounced around in his head, but he had to ignore them. He'd made his pitch. What else could he do?

'Guys,' he said, reaching out across their group tele-link, 'come back to the house. I'm going to call the dragons here.'

It took nearly a half-hour for everyone to reconvene. In that time, Cole went to visit Sensei Wu and check up on Professor Lee. Sensei Wu was sleeping, but he cracked open his eyes when Cole entered.

"That belt," he said, watching as Cole puttered around the room. "I —"

Cole looked down to where his mother's sash hung around his waist. "Yeah," he said softly. 'It's pretty, huh?"

Sensei Wu's eyes crinkled. "Yes," he agreed. "Very."

'Hey, Cole?'

Cole lifted his head. The ninja were back.

"Get some rest," he said, touching him on the shoulder. "I'll talk to you later, Sensei."

Heading downstairs, Cole slipped outside. There he found everyone, sans Nya, sitting on the porch. They looked up when he exited.

"How'd it go?" asked Jay.

"Good," Kai said, in a tone that suggested it wasn't the first time he was saying so.

Cole bit his lip. "It'll have to do." He stepped off the porch. "Come on. Let's move away from the house. I'm going to call for Earth."

"Go ahead," said Lloyd, standing. "I'm going to go talk to Uncle."

Cole let him go. Kai's eyes pinched, but he didn't say anything either.

They went out into the street. Cole had them fan out so they weren't on top of each other. Then, closing his eyes, he concentrated on the bond between him and his mentor.

'Earth?'

No verbal answer came. But warmth spread down the bondlink, and when Cole opened his eyes, Earth was standing there.

'Cole.'

Gasps and muttering — Cole snuck a glance behind him and saw people peeking out of the door and windows of his house. They ducked back inside when they saw him looking, and he turned back around and told himself to ignore them. 'We're safe for now. This is my dad's den.'

Earth's crests flared. Around him, the other spirit dragons were appearing, too. 'That is well,' he said. 'Then it is time for you to take up the Weapons again.'

He glowed brighter. Light came from his body, springing out and taking shape. It formed into a familiar curve.

The Scythe of Quakes was back in Ninjago.

Cole reached out. When he placed his hand on the metal, memories played before his eyes - himself standing on the red rocks of the Caves of Despair, the rushing view of a Stone Warrior charging towards him, a crowd of dragons encircling and watching him with distrust. They faded, and the scythe was left in his hands.

He raised it.  Around him, the other ninja were also claiming their individual weapons.  By them were their respective mentors, and when Cole caught sight of Energy, the conversation from earlier sprung to his mind.

'Energy!' he called. 'Can I ask you a question?'

Energy lifted his head. 'Sure! Fire away.'

The other ninja glanced their way. 'Right!' exclaimed Jay, coming closer. 'Our powers! They're acting all weird again.'

'The last time this happened, we theorized it was because of Lloyd,' Zane said. 'But now…'

Energy's crests fanned. 'Right.'

He lowered his head close to Cole. Cole tried not to flinch as those golden eyes seemed to stare straight through him. Energy didn't blink. Finally, he lifted his head with a distinctively sheepish air.

'Well, uh, nothing looks wrong to me?'

'Nothing wrong?' protested Kai. 'Our powers are on the fritz again! What do you mean, nothing's wrong?'

Energy flared out his wings. 'I'm just saying what I see! Sorry!'

Cole bit his lip. For all that Energy sounded unsure, he was the only energy dragon they had. They'd have to trust his judgement, as nervous as that made him feel. 'Thanks for looking,' he said.

Energy bowed his head. 'On a different but related note,' he said, and something about his voice had Cole jumping to pay attention. 'You should know: there is a way to get Lloyd his powers back.'

'What?' blurted Jay.

'Really?' asked Zane.

'What is it?' demanded Kai.

Energy looked at the other spirit dragons. They fanned their crests back at him.

'Go ahead,' Earth said.

'It must be,' said Fire, but she looked away when Kai looked questioningly at her.

Energy turned back to Cole. 'The vow that Lloyd made was contingent, and the Overlord made a vow in return, too. You have to make him break his vow.'

Breaking his vow. That meant —

"You want the Overlord to kill us?"

'No!' exclaimed Blue. 'Master, no, bluebird. Goldie just means that you've got to let him attack you.'

'You said the words used were "not to harm,"' Energy said. 'But I think that if he attempts to attack you, that will be enough to violate the spirit of the vow.'

'Harm, kill, what's the difference when it's that thing we're talking about?'

'You think?' asked Zane, cutting off Jay's rant.

Energy's crests pinned back. 'Yeah. I'm sorry I can't tell you more.'

Kai muttered something about energy dragons under his breath. He didn't sound truly angry, not at Energy, at least, and Cole tuned him out.

Purposefully allowing themselves to be attacked by the Overlord. Just the thought made Cole tremble. But if that's what it took…

'Okay,' he said, and everyone's eyes turned to him. 'Then that's what we'll just have to do.'