Chapter Text
The drive was silent, but the mixed emotions were a good enough excuse for it. The door to the tavern was still knocked down when they arrived, so they ran in blindly.
Alone, the Boss Man was at the bar, hunched over with a familiar drink in his hand. A Red Shogun. He swirled it around, and poured it down his throat in one swig. He took a deep breath of the cigar in his other hand, and breathed out a puff of smoke. He almost turned around to see what the ruckus was, but Cole tackled him to the floor using all his weight.
A petal, red-ish in the centre underneath the blood, shot out from his mouth under the force. "Whatthefuck-" He wheezed, then grabbed the petal as it floated slowly down.
"aaaAAAAAA-" Jay yelled as he pinned down both of his arms. Zane followed suit, grabbing the legs. Lloyd ran up to them and opened the Boss Man's clenched right fist.
The green ninja tore off the water ring and passed it to Nya as the Boss Man closed his fist and turned it into immovable steel. The water ninja was quick to move though, as she trapped the Boss Man’s head in a bubble and raised him off the ground. “How’d you like that, asshole?!”
Air bubbles rose to the surface of the water around him as he tried to speak. His face almost became blue, but he sent a jolt of electricity down the stream that shocked Nya. The Boss Man fell, and he laughed hysterically. “What are you doing except trying to stop me from breathing?”
“We’re avenging Kai!” Lloyd yelled at him. “You either killed him, have him hostage or lied about knowing where he is! Whatever you did, you made a mockery of his legacy, and I certainly won’t stand for it!”
“Then sit, dear Lloyd!” He swiftly grabbed a chair, put it beside the ninja and pushed him onto it, all within 5 seconds using the element of speed. He laughed more. “You remember the gravestone? The one with all that graffiti on it? Well I did that! I’m proud of myself, it’s almost like the first time I’d written something with spray paint-”
“Stop laughing!” Cole exclaimed, getting Lloyd off the chair then throwing the furniture at the villain. “It’s about time you took a seat!”
“Please, please, I insist,” The Boss Man used the momentum to hurl it back. “Okay, fine, I have an offer you all won’t be able to resist. I’ll tell you where Kai is, as long as you leave me alone to be sad, drink and smoke all I want.”
The five ninja all shared a look of confirmation. Zane took it upon himself to speak on behalf of them. “As long as you don’t terrorise people with your elements, it’s a deal.”
“Perfect!” The Boss Man stood silently, smiling.
"....Well?" Jay gritted his teeth. "We haven't got all day, mister."
"What can I say? He crawled out of a hole and I'm there so I've got his fire, y'know. I… don't actually know where he is." The words rolled off his tongue like he'd practised them time and time again. "It's a pity," He breathed out a tongue of fire for effect. "That fire can only burn for so long."
"Excuse me?" Nya stepped closer, almost snarling. "You promised us that you'd tell us where he is."
"Uhh… I said was! Definitely." He hid his sheepish smile behind a false cough. "It doesn't matter, kill me, do whatever, but you'll never get the answers from within."
"Just tell us where he really is!" The ninja shot a ball of water rapidly that knocked over the foe.
"Nya, dear Nya, I never wanted to hurt you… so I won't. But you three scum…" He pointed at the black white and blue trio at the side. "I've been waiting for so long to have a showdown with you three."
"Rude!" Jay huffed. "Why?"
"My motives shouldn't be spilled, unlike Kai's blood!" The Boss Man hissed. He waved a hand to his side and froze Nya and Lloyd against the wall, quickly taking back his ring. "Now, the rules. You see the four rings on my left hand? Take one each for this game, and I'll fight with the last one. Three against one, fair?"
“I’ll take the grey one.” Cole pointed at his ring finger and it got tossed to him. He felt his body toughen up as he felt like the absence of weight was repaired again. Silvers sparkled across his skin as steel reflected his smirk. “Nice!”
Jay snatched a pale yellow ring, curious as to what it did. He placed it on his own finger, and he vanished suddenly. He held up what he thought was his hand and it displayed a bright white. “Aw, seriously? Cole gets a cool one?”
“I’ll take…” Zane’s eyes moved from the purple to the neon green rings, thinking which element either held. “I’ll take the green one.” The Boss Man tossed it to him, and nothing really changed. He exhaled green gas and quickly swatted it away. "Poison."
“That's right! Cole with metal, the thing that lies in the very earth you once had. Jay, light, but I’d never say you were ever a bright person. And last but not least, Zane with poison. What can’t hurt you will in turn hurt others.” The Boss Man frowned. “How unfortunate. I’m left with form. I hope you have fun hunting me in the dark.” The lights went out and a thick fog filled the room.
“Cole! Grab my hand!” Jay yelled. His voice turned to a whisper as he turned to his boyfriend. “I’ll use light to find Nya and Lloyd. You thaw them out, and we’ll make a group attack against him.”
“Nice thinking, glow worm.” Cole nodded. The two wandered around the arena, grabbing Zane on the way. Nya managed to get their attention and was soon freed, Lloyd after.
“Jay, use as much light as you can to reveal his location. Cole, grab him from behind. Nya, Lloyd, you’ll grab his arms.” Zane frowned. “I’ll tackle him head on.”
They nodded as they got into their positions. The blinding light shone down on the figure that was rendered still. The flash faded away and… in the centre of the suddenly illuminated room was Kai. He squinted, then took in his surroundings. Lloyd beside him to his right, and Nya at his left. His eyes started to water, and he closed his eyes.
Cole’s skin reverted to its natural brown, but he retained his hold around the man’s waist. “Kai?”
Kai nodded as Nya and Lloyd moved to hug him. They shared tears and smiles and even more tears for a few seconds, but Zane stayed back. He looked closer at Kai, and the way his shirt was torn to basically just a tank top. His eyes widened, and he stepped closer.
Jay was in front of him, about to join the group hug, but his nindroid boyfriend stopped him. He was pushed out of the way and Zane stood tall in front of the lot. “Cole?”
“Yeah?” He responded from behind the red ninja.
“Step away..” Zane reeled his fist back and decked Kai right in the nose.
Lloyd looked appalled.
Nya looked appalled.
Jay looked appalled.
Cole looked appalled.
Zane wiped his fist of the blood.
"What the fuck?!" Nya yelled. "He's back, and you decide to punch him?!"
"Heheheh…"
"As suspected." Zane stared down at the man on the floor.
"What's with you bashing my face in?! You're made of metal and it fucking hurts! But yes, you really are smart, huh Zane?" The Boss Man shifted out of his Kai form. "What gave it away?"
"You don't have as much as a scar on your arm." The titanium ninja stared coldly. "I think I'd remember Kai's gunshot wound."
"Kai was shot?!" Lloyd interrupted the moment with a gasp.
"We had to move his body, Lloyd. We were sleeping, then we ran to the room he was resting in… he was covered in roots all of a sudden-" Cole said gravely but the Boss Man didn't let him finish.
"Liar!" He pointed as he rose into the air. "You liars! I remember what happened!"
Jay stopped moving closer. "How?! Us three, and Master Wu, were the only ones in the monastery at the time, and Wu was sleeping or… doing whatever he does at 5am."
Using speed, the Boss Man snatched his rings back and they sat comfortably on his hand again. "I saw the whole thing! Everything! Until he died that useless death anyway."
"His death was not useless!" Nya snapped at him. "He was a hero!"
"He saved me!" The green ninja bowed his head. "He saved me so many times it doesn't matter how he died. It only matters that he lived."
"He is alive!" The villain facepalmed. "How many times do I have to tell you?! Kai Smith was dragged down from the departed realm back to ninjago by an unknown force and unfortunately stumbled into me. I got rid of him, putting him in his place."
Cole glared sharply. "You couldn't possibly have been there! You weren't in the room when he died… right?"
"You taunted him! You teased him! You laughed and sneered and sounded like discord as his heart sank and thorns poured from his eyes like the endless tears he shed! They tore him open through the chest and mouth and it killed him almost instantly! After that all I heard was laughing! You hurt were hurt?! BULLSHIT! YOU HURT ME!"
The Boss Man suddenly recovered from the rage he let out as he realised what he said. "Fuck, fuck, fuck! Why am I like this?!"
"What… what do you mean?" Jay's voice wobbled. "We never hurt you-"
"Jay." Zane put a hand on his boyfriend's shoulder. "It is what you think."
The Boss Man sighed deeply. "Right again, Zane. Let me show you something."
The Boss Man removed the ring of form and his skin started to flicker. His tank top, now red rags across his torso, and his pants were torn in several areas. His hair became silky brown and lost its black sheen. A familiar body was in front of them, and the Boss Man removed the band from his right arm. A round scar was there, and a slight dip in his skin showed too. He used water to wipe the makeup off his face, revealing scars all across his face, each one originating from his eyes. Tearing a hole in his already ripped shirt, he showed the scarring around the centre of his chest. Then they noticed; the prominent scar across his right eye.
"Well, well, well… how has it been?" He said with a twisted smile, separating each syllable to put venom into his words.
Silence filled the room as the situation finally made sense. Nya was the first to speak. “You aren’t- you can’t be! What happened to your element?”
He took out his tongue piercing and crushed it in his hand of steel. The red wisps moved over to the man, and he only laughed.
Lloyd was visibly shaking as he spoke. “It can’t be…”
“But it is!” He smiled… Kai smiled. His face was bursting at the seams with raw emotion, so he had to work through them one at a time. “Nya, Lloyd, please understand that I have nothing against you two. I love the both of you.”
“I love you too Kai… but what the hell are you doing?!” Nya yelled. “Why are you doing this?!”
“It’s finally me!” Kai snapped. “I’m finally the one with the most power! The one with the most importance! And you now see how I was, in the shadow feeling helpless and useless without any power.”
“But that doesn't explain everything!” Jay pointed at him. “Listen to yourself! We’ve been grieving over you for so long and we find you here, hating us?”
“Don’t be so oblivious Jay! And you too, Cole, Zane. You’re awful liars, I remember everything you said to me. And it doesn’t even matter! Because for so long I’ve been planning my return and here I am, finally in the spotlight!” He descended to the floor and stomped on the floor, sending vines to wrap around the legs of the three. “Who cares if I’m ‘corrupted’ by all the elements. I haven’t felt this good in a long time! I haven't felt this powerful ever! I’m finally worthy of being the green ninja! Worthy of facing the First Spinjitzu Master himself! I’m finally back and I’m the greatest being alive! And I only speak what I truly feel.”
“Guys!” Lloyd cried out as Zane, Cole and Jay were tied to the ground by roots.
“Stay out of this, Lloyd!” He commanded. “You’ve done nothing wrong but these three… they’re the reason I died! The reason I’m here now…”
“Whatever you believe isn’t true, Kai!” The black ninja’s voice was hoarse, as he started coughing. Jay did too, and Zane surprisingly covered his mouth with his free hand. “What are you doing to us?!”
Then soon, on the floor in front of them, were three flowers, two covered in blood, and one covered in neon blue liquid. The flowers, beneath the added layers, were wavy red petals with yellow outlines. They couldn't stop coughing, and more and more petals fell from their mouths as Nya and Lloyd watched in horror.
Through the pain, Zane opened his eyes and between coughs, he muttered, “Gloriosa superba, also known as the fire lily. You’ve… you've given us hanahaki.”
“Correct! And it’s my favourite flower too!” Kai grinned. “Feel the pain I felt… but just a warning, if you chew any of the petals, it’s poisonous. I’m doing so much… you’re not disappointed in me now, huh?”
“We were never disappointed! We’ve always loved you for the way you are!” Jay pleaded. “Let us go and we can clear up confusion!”
Kai put a hand to his throat and rubbed it, wondering why it suddenly started to itch. Then a long lost feeling arose as coloured petals emerged from his mouth. “What’s… what’s happening?! Why is nature not responding?!”
Nya breathed quickly as she held the green bracelet in her hand. The fire elemental saw it sparkle in the corner of his eye, and he ran to grab it with the element of speed. When he neared her, she pulled her arm behind her back. Enraged, Kai reached forward and, with a metal fist…
..Crushed the bracelet. The pieces of chrono-steel fell to the floor, and Kai fell to his knees.
“No… no, no, no! What will I… what will…”
Nya frowned in front of him, and she stepped backwards to give him space. “You’ve gotta stop it, you’re scaring us, Kai.”
“NO!” He pounded his fist against the floor as multicoloured petals rolled off his tongue. “I’m gonna die again, I’m gonna die again, I’m gonna die again and see the First Master again and then I’ll be sentenced to the cursed realm and I’ll never be forgiven I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry-”
“Kai!” Zane’s voice echoed in his mind, and around him.
He whipped his head around to see Cole, Zane and Jay coughing up clumps of blood as well at thorns and stems. He bowed his head. “Zane, you were right, I am pathetic. Cole, you were right, you’ve certainly got higher standards than a lowlife like me. And Jay, I really do have no talent, no control over my life and no rationality…. I’ll see you in the departed realm.”
“K-Kai.” The nindroid stuttered as his body started to malfunction. “Plea-ease…. W-watch this-s.”
His eyes projected a blue tinted screen; an old memory started to play.
“Cole, Jay, it’s Kai!” The cameraman grabbed them urgently. “He’s bleeding, I need immediate help!” The earth elemental jumped up and lifted the blue ninja out of bed as they rushed out of the room. Halfway there, Jay got out of Cole’s arms and started running. They got to the kitchen but on the table lay Kai’s bloodied corpse. Jay gasped, then let out a sob. “Kai!!”
Cole’s breath wavered as he looked at the man on the table in front of him. “Zane what happened to him?!”
“It wasn’t this bad.. it..” And the point of view looked at the body, his own frozen in place. “It was hanahaki.”
Kai’s eyes widened as they filled with tears. “I’ve been living my second life… a lie?!”
“We don’t know… *cough* what you saw but it sure as hell wasn’t what happened.” Cole held his hand over his chest, squinting his eyes in pain.
“Kai… we’ve loved you since the start, and I know I’ll love you until the end, which is… probably soon.” Jay crawled closer to him and eventually kissed his scarred face. Then Kai shuffled backwards, and pulled a clump of roots out of his throat that grew a blue rose on it. Jay gasped, and he pulled out his own root system.
“Same here, Kai. You’ve never disappointed me, and you never will. I love you, Kai.” Cole smiled gingerly and watched the fire elemental throw up the last marigolds. He coughed, and pulled out the fire lily from his throat.
Zane was seriously overloading, body hardly obeying him and words not even being said correctly. He was overheating and freezing inside at the same time, yet against all odds, he hadn’t fully shut down. Kai hobbled over to the nindroid and knelt in front of him. “Zane. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done to help me, and I am sorry in so many ways that I can’t even begin to describe. I shouldn't have done this to you, to anyone, but I was scared of death again. I’m so, so sorry. I love you, Zane.”
The fire elemental hugged Zane tightly, tears flowing freely from his empty eye sockets. A white hibiscus fell from his mouth, and a second later, a fire lily ended up next to it, and Zane hugged back. “I love you too, Kai.” They felt Cole and Jay join their little group hug. Kai broke down, sobbing and gripping onto the nindroid’s shoulders as he emotionally crumbled in front of them.
All these years, all this build up, and everything Kai believed was a lie.
"I don't expect you to forgive me."
"But we will, Kai." Cole brushed over the fire elemental's back gingerly. "You're amazing, have we ever told you that?
"No, and I don’t deserve it. I hurt you all, and it’s all I do. Hurt people in blind rage?”
Jay tucked his head into Kai’s neck. “You are amazing, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
“I’m the one telling me otherwise, and it’s true. I have so much guilt it feels like the world is against me.”
“Kai.”
Zane’s powerful voice finally made him turn his head. A pair of blue glowing eyes looked to see empty eye sockets. Despite the lack of eyes, Kai’s face showed great emotional pain. “Yes, Zane?” He felt a warm hand caress his cheek. “This almost feels like a stranger’s hand, Zane.”
“You’re perfect in the way that you are, I want to see you smile and be happy.”
“This feels all too familiar…” Kai leaned into the touch.
“Your smile is worth its weight in gold, Kai. Don’t change yourself for anyone.”
The words echoed in the fire elemental’s mind, a memory of the day before he died. Kai’s face glowed as his shiny, pointed canines were revealed in a toothy grin. The memory led on, but he chose to ignore the past. He leaned forward and planted his lips on the nindroid's. Strangely warm, they both melted into the kiss. They parted, and Kai was certainly happier than he had been previously.
“You idiot…” The youngest ninja’s voice came from behind the four. “Get up so I can give you a hug!”
Kai stood and ran to Lloyd, dragging Nya closer and enveloping them all into a hug. Nya and Lloyd cried in the arms of their brother as they squeezed each other tightly.
“I’ve missed you, big bro!” The green ninja chuckled, wiping his face with his sleeve. “I’m so glad you’re back.”
“You’ll have to catch up when we’re back home. For now, let’s get you out of this place.” Nya gave him a gentle look.
“You gotta give back the elements too.” Lloyd nodded. “Just break or destroy the chrono steel?”
“I’ve got an idea.” Kai stood back, removed all his piercings and placed them in the palm of his hand that started to burn. The chrono steel melted quickly under the intense heat. Multicoloured wisps rose into the air as the elements dispersed to the locations of their true owners. “I… don’t know how I’ll function without the element of sound… it was the only thing keeping me on track and helping me know where I am.”
“You’ve got us, Kai.” Jay linked their arms, and the other two joined. “We’ll get you home safe, we promise.”
The lot of them walked out of the Tavern. A kindred soul awkwardly stepped into sight. “Boss Man?”
“Juda, it’s okay, you can call me Kai. They know.”
Yang- Juda’s eyes widened. “I’m glad, sir.”
“Here.” Kai held a pair of keys forward and when Juda grabbed them, he spoke again. “I’m done here. Run this place without me.”
“I- I can’t thank you enough sir!” Juda bowed his head and headed inside.
“Well, I’m tired.” Kai stretched his back, popping the bones along it. “Again, I’m sorry, but… thank you for being here for me.” He nuzzled into Cole’s neck in the back of the car, and Jay rested on their laps. Zane, at the wheel, smiled, finally at peace.
"Get some rest, Kai. Love you." The nindroid started the car and drove towards their home.
There was a burning desire to ask Kai, 'what have you been doing all these years?' but the man in question was asleep. They shrugged it off as red clouds settled overhead.
The gentle sunrise that morning marked a new inner era of peace.