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Chapter Text

Jay's had his fair share of bad days since he's become a ninja. But this day is definitely close to taking the cake.

Over a series of bad decisions made by him and the repercussions that consequently followed, he and the others are now running from a giant Tiger Widow spider.

Luckily, Jay successfully managed to snag the venom, but the giant spider had followed him when he hightailed it out of there, and they just couldn't shake it. So now all of them are screaming while they run for their lives. Oh, and Nadakhan and his pirates are here, too. That just tops off this perfect day.

They make it back to the old rickety bridge they'd crossed to get here and just before they can get across, it snaps. Lloyd barely has time to grab the pole holding one of the bridge ties before it collapses. All four of their screams echo in the ravine below before they form a dangling chain with Lloyd holding onto the end of the bridge, Nya holding onto him, Cole holding onto Nya, and Jay holding onto the canteen, with the venom in it, which Cole's holding. He flails his legs, still screaming, and now the giant spider's at his feet.

"Ugh! Haven't I suffered enough!?" He yells desperately. He hates to admit he's not completely joking.

"Getting closer." Nya answers, the worry evident in her voice.

"Oh, you don't say?!"

Nadakhan suddenly appears out of nowhere next to Jay, startling them all, sipping something from... is that a teacup?

"You seem to be in a precarious position." He mocks condescendingly. "Time is running out. But you have one wish left. You can wish it all aw—" Jay cuts him off.

"Blah blah blah. You think I'm thick enough to fall for that trick?" He's already screwed up enough and he's not about to go and make it worse. "No way! I'd rather be eaten by a spider than listen to your beguiling voice." Nadakhan's not going to trick him again. Jay got them into this mess, and somehow, he's going to get them out.

"Fine, then have it your way!" Nadakhan brandishes a knife and cuts the lid off the canteen Jay's holding on to. The canteen falls several yards down, along with Jay, whose screaming the whole way.

"Jay!"

Nadakhan reappears next to him just before he hits the ground and grabs his arm. Jay can feel his shoulder popping out of its socket.

"Now, say good bye to the only thing that can stop me." Nadakhan takes the canteen from Jay and turns it upside down, dumping the venom out as he smiles mockingly.

"No! No no no!" Jay shouts frantically, trying to grab the canteen, but Nadakhan holds it out of his reach.

There was no way they could stop him now! The venom was way too hard to get to try again. Jay's sure the only way he'd gotten it the first time was with a mixture of adrenaline, extreme luck, and good karma.

Nadakhan's grip on his arm tightens. "And say good bye to your friends!" That part doesn't click in Jay's head right away, but by the time it does, it's too late.

There's a hissing noise and then the Tiger Widow's right above them, but before it can get any closer, Nadakhan poofs away, with Jay in tow. They reappear next to the same ship the Sky Pirates came in.

Before Jay has a moment to even comprehend what just happened, Nadakhan shoves him to the ground and his first mate, Jay hears the name Flintlocke, ties his hands behind his back. He knots the ropes way too tight, and grabs a roll of duct tape from the ship.

Had they planned on taking him?!

"Whoa wait wai—!" He tapes Jay's mouth shut before he can get another word out. Jay shoots a glare at the pirate djinn, squirming to test the ropes, as he stalks over. Nadakhan grabs his upper arm, Jay not having much of a choice, is hauled to his feet.

"Head back to Misfortune's Keep, board the Sky Shark, but stop in front of the other ninja." Nadakhan orders. He grabs Jay's chin, forcing him to look at him. "After all, this is the last they'll see of you."

Jay just glares. He does not need this right now. He doesn't know why exactly Nadakhan is taking him, but he's willing to bet it's 'cause he hasn't made his last wish yet. Without warning, Flintlocke shoves him into the ship and gets into the pilot's chair. Nadakhan boards as well, followed by the rest of the crew, and holds Jay still by the arms. The ship takes off and flies the short distance to where the others are and descends enough so Cole, Nya, and Lloyd, who are just pulling themselves up from the bridge, can see.

The hatch opens and Nadakhan laughs before he shouts at the others. "I'll be back for the rest of you," Jay gruffly shakes his head at that, Nadakhan can't take them too! He has to tell them where he's being taken. Give them a clue. Something! He yanks and pulls on the ropes, but Nadakhan squeezes painfully on his arms as a warning to stop, and his shouting is muffled by the tape. "And since you can't get off the island, I'll know exactly where to find you." Nadakhan laughs again proudly as the hatch closes.

Jay watches over his shoulder as the island gets farther and farther out of sight. He's just gonna have to figure a way out of this himself or hope the guys will come and rescue him. But he has serious doubts about that last one. Heck, they probably think he deserves this. They didn't exactly try and hide how furious they were with him and rightfully so.

He lied, kept secrets, stupidly made two wishes, and those were only a few on the list of mistakes he'd made. And all for what?! Some stupid reflection of him and Nya in the future, which probably won't ever happen, especially now.

"You got quiet all of a sudden, little canary." Nadakhan teases.

What did he just call him!?

Jay grumbles through the tape at that nickname.

"You don't like that, do you?" The djinn chuckles. "Adorable."

Jay gives a muffled hmph and keeps his head down.

"Oh, come on, little canary. Give up already? I thought ninja never quit." He sneers mockingly and the crew members aboard laugh.

Jay just has to ignore him.

Yeah, that's it.

Just ignore it.

If he could ignore bullies then he can ignore Nadakhan.

They aren't all that different, right?

Well, except for the small fact that Nadakhan's a dangerous criminal and the bullies Jay had dealt with in the past we're capable of name-calling and punching at best.

So maybe a bit of a difference.

But it's fine, he can do this. He just has to be strong. Despite the fact he feels anything but right now.

When the ship arrives at the Misfortune's Keep a good ten minutes later, the crew seemingly goes about their normal routine and some pirate pokes Jay in the back with a sword, pushing him to walk forward.

Jay looks around nervously at all the pirates on the ship as he walks. They're all staring at him and snickering like he's some kind of animal being led to the circus ring. It makes him really uncomfortable and he unconsciously curls in on himself just a little. He's lead to the main deck where Nadakhan's waiting and he rips the tape off his mouth without warning.

"Ow! Was that necessary!? Man, that hurt." Nadakhan ignores Jay's remark and grabs his dislocated shoulder in a crushing grip. Jay tries his best to hide the hiss of pain as the djinn pulls him in a little too close for comfort.

"I will get that wish out of you, ninja. Eventually, you'll beg for it all to go away, and I'll make sure it happens sooner than later. I want this floor scrubbed spotless. Put him to work, Flintlocke!"

He roughly releases Jay's shoulder, making him fall backwards. And unfortunately for Jay, he realizes a little too late that he has no hands to brace himself and falls onto his dislocated shoulder. It takes everything he has not to scream and he bites his lip so hard he can taste blood. He hears several pirates laugh around him.

Nadakhan simply scoffs and floats away.

"Aye aye Cap'n."

Jay pushes himself up as best he can.

Does Nadakhan seriously mean he's gonna have to clean until he makes his wish? As much as Jay hates cleaning, it's gonna take a lot more than that to break him.

That's actually a pretty good confidence booster.

He can definitely do this.

Flintlocke walks over bringing Jay back to the present, dragging with him a ball and chain.

Before he can even try to move, the weight is latched onto his ankle. Jay recognizes the Vengestone right away because he can immediately feel the horrible sensation of his element being suppressed.

That's a feeling he's always hated and will never get used to.

Okay, this might be slightly more difficult than he originally thought, but not having his power isn't anything new. The whole team had been able to hold their own without powers before on multiple occasions. Chen's Island and Morro's possession are just a few instances.

Flintlocke cuts the rope around Jay's wrists and he gingerly gets to his feet. As he rubs his sore wrists he pulls down the sleeve of his gi to see his shoulder already turning a shade of purple. It's also bent at an odd angle. That's probably not good.

"Let me see your shoulder." Flintlocke's gruff voice gets his attention. "You can't just leave it like that," he says approaching him.

"You're gonna help me?" Jay wonders out loud.

"I'm not helping you." He snaps. "You can't mop floors when your shoulder is bent like that. You might wanna brace yourself, kid, 'cause this is gonna hurt."

Jay does what he's told, this isn't the first time he's popped something out of place, and shuts his eyes tightly. And he's positive Flintlocke is not going to be as gently as Cole or Zane. Even knowing that, he can't help the gasp of pain when it pops back into place.

"There. You're fixed. Now get to work!" Flintlocke roughly shoves a mop and bucket into Jay's hands. He rubs his shoulder gingerly trying to ease the pain and gets to cleaning.

—

Nightfall comes sooner than expected and Jay isn't allowed to rest. He didn't necessarily expect a five star resort, he's a prisoner after all, but a little sleep would've been nice. He tries not to think about the earlier events of the day because his stomach ends up all tied in knots. He's made a lot of bad decisions today.

He just hopes Lloyd, Nya, and Cole are okay.

The rest of the evening hadn't gone so smoothly for him either. He's already tripped over the chain attached to his ankle countless times now, still not used to it, and he'd have to be blind to miss the crew's not-so-discreet taunts and jabs at an "all powerful protector of Ninjago" mopping floors as a prisoner on an old pirate ship. The crew is definitely having their fun "accidentally" shoving and bumping into him since he was put to work.

He's just so exhausted from all that's happened in the past twenty-four hours. But he has to ignore the feeling of sleepiness creeping over and focus on mopping the dirty floor. The next day comes a lot slower than he thought it would and by the time the sun rises, Jay's sure he could fall over from lack of sleep.

It isn't too long after sun-rise, when Nadakhan floats over, sword in hand, and knocks his mop bucket over, spilling the dirty water on the freshly cleaned floor.

"Looks like you missed a spot." He mocks.

Jay sighs, too tired and already knowing what's coming. If Nadakhan thinks he's gonna be easy to crack, he's got another thing coming. He's been told he can be annoyingly stubborn sometimes, and he's finally gonna put that skill to use. "I'm not gonna say it."

"Say what? That you can wish it all away?" He asks rhetorically. "Well you can! You've already made your first two wishes. You have one left." Jay's seriously getting tired of hearing this.

"My friends will come for me!" He yells it with way more confidence than he feels right now, really more to convince himself than Nadakhan. But hey, 'fake it till you make it!' Right?

"I hope so." The sword is dangerously close to Jay's neck. "The more of you my Djinn Blade collects, the stronger I become. Creating a world from scratch takes a lot of hard work. Djinnjago would get done a lot sooner if everyone pitches in. If you know what I mean."

He throws the sword at the ground, missing Jay's foot by less than an inch. His stomach clenches when he hears the souls of the others in the blade from where he's standing and it sends shivers down his spine.

"Care to say hello to your friends?" He smiles nastily, coming up behind Jay and whispering in his ear. "Wish it. Wish it all away and join them. Wish it, and you'll never have to pick up another scrub brush again."

Jay scowls and distances himself from the hot breath on his neck. "If I didn't have this Vengestone ball and chain, I'd zap you clean off this ship!" Jay turns away, hoping he'll be left alone now.

But Nadakhan moves in closer and whispers in Jay's ear. It makes Jay shiver again.

"Hm, I can see why she once liked you. You're stronger than you appear. But I know it's all an act. Deep down you're scared, you know your weak. You make jokes to mask that you're afraid. That's why you didn't do anything when she fell for your friend. Why you can't do anything when she falls for me. Believe me, aboard my ship you will break! I will make sure of it, and when that time comes, I will be there so you can wish it away."

Jay resists the urge to yell at him to shut up and keeps quiet while he talks. Nadakhan wants a rise out of him and Jay can't give him that.

Jay also wants to ignore it so badly because it's all true.

He is scared. And he is weak.

A ninja is supposed to be brave and strong and fierce. He gets way too scared to be considered any of those things. Hiding the fact that he's terrified with a joke and a smile has always just been his go-to method.

And then there's Nya.

When she started having doubts about their relationship and took interest in Cole after the perfect match machine, despite outwardly blaming his best friend, Jay had no one to blame but himself.

He wasn't good enough for her. He's just some pathetic junkyard kid. He didn't have anything to offer her.

But despite knowing all that, he couldn't let her go when they broke up.

He just didn't want to lose her.

Nya had been a staple in his life for about two years back then, a constant reassurance that he was wanted by someone. That he was worth something. And when they broke up, Zane sacrificed himself soon after, and they all split apart. And Jay didn't have that anymore.

Nya was, and still is, the best thing that's ever happened to him. She made him feel like he was worth something.

Like he could be himself.

Like he didn't have to wear a mask to make people happy.

Like he didn't have to be afraid of getting hurt.

Like he wasn't worthless.

But he guesses it wasn't the same way for her. He knew deep down he was being selfish.

He'll never forget those words she said to him those years ago on their first date, "You are the best you." She helped him unlock his True Potential.

He wanted so badly to keep feeling like he was worth something, so he kept chasing after her, but that only made the situation worse. That's what inevitably caused him to lose her.

But Jay can't let himself get mopey now. He can't let Nadakhan know he'd gotten under his skin. He can wallow in pity later.

"Still not gonna say it!" He doesn't think Nadakhan notices any difference in his composure. He just has to keep this mask of bravery up until he can get out of here.

Nadakhan makes a disproving face and glances over his shoulder to where Flintlocke's standing, "When he's done swabbing the deck make sure he swabs the entire hull."

"The bottom of the ship, Cap'n?" Flintlocke asks, surprised.

"You heard me." Flintlocke looks a little bewildered but salutes at the order.

Jay doesn't even realize what his task is until they reach the edge of the ship.

Jay balks.

They're really expecting him to clean the bottom of the ship?

Flintlocke pushes Jay toward the edge. Jay gulps nervously and slowly lowers himself down. His grip on the side the only thing keeping him from falling and drowning in the ocean below, and the ball and chain's just adding extra weight. He grabs the brush from Flintlocke and starts scrubbing.

After a while the strain on his legs from balancing the weight becomes too much and the weight ball slips. He yells when it falls, almost taking him with it.

"You aren't afraid are you, funny-man?" Nadakhan asks smiling and leaning over the edge.

"I love it!" Jay retorts angrily. He should learn when to hold his tongue considering he's dangling over a vast ocean hundreds of feet in the air, but Nadakhan storming away in heated frustration is worth it. Jay chuckles into himself. The fact that he can irritate Nadakhan with his stubbornness is pretty hilarious. He knew that annoying character trait would come in handy one day.

—

After a long, and Jay does mean long, day of endless cleaning, several pirates lead him to a cell —which is a hole in the ship by the way— and Jay's allowed to sleep that night. The cell is cold and dark and the walls are way too close for comfort, but Jay's not gonna complain at the chance to rest. His hands are aching and bleeding from hanging off the ship for so long and he's starting to get sore all over.

With nothing to do by himself but think, Jay's mind does what it does best and starts to spiral into an endless stream of thoughts.

First thing being, this is all his fault.

He's the stupid one who made two wishes and didn't tell the others, and it's his stupidity that caused them to lose Wu, Misako, Kai, and Zane.

And what did making wishes accomplish in the process?

Getting his friends stranded on an island, and getting himself held captive in a cell on a pirate ship. Not to mention probably betraying every ounce of trust the others had in him.

Nice going, Jay.

He honestly has no idea whether the others would come for him or not.

He certainly doesn't deserve it.

As long as they stop Nadakhan.

That's what's important, not him.

It's not like he makes a big contribution to the team anyway.

But the least he can do is not make another wish.

He can do that much.

And if the others rescue him?

Great.

If they don't?

He won't be surprised.

Jay falls into a fitful, dreamless sleep that night.

—

Jay's given a rude awakening the next morning as someone bangs on the cell door just as the suns barely peaking over the horizon.

"Wake up ninja. You have floors to clean."

The cell door unlocks and a rope ladder is thrown down for Jay to climb up. Flintlocke roughly hands him a bucket and a sponge and leads him to the part of the ship he's suppose to clean.

Jay had been cleaning for about twenty minutes or so before a Serpentine crew member, someone called Clancee, comes over to clean as well.

He keeps going on about something but Jay's not listening. He's focused on Flintlocke talking with another crew member, Doubloon he thinks is his name, about blueprints for a ship. From where he is, Jay can see a quill on the table they're standing at.

"If only I could get a message out to my friends." Jay thinks to himself as he keeps scrubbing.

Flintlocke and Doubloon walk away and Jay gets an idea.

"Ow! Oh my back! Ah that's it, if only I could wish this pain away!" Jay yells dramatically as he falls down on all fours.

"Er what did you say?" Clancee asks, surprised.

"I've finally reached my breaking point." He falls down on all fours, trying to hide his smirk.

"W-wou-ould you j-just hold on. Cap'n! Cap'n, you new to come 'ere, we broke him, we finally broke 'im!" Clancee goes off yelling for Nadakhan and Jay quickly runs to the table, the weight catches on the floorboards almost making Jay fall, so he picks it up so he doesn't have to drag it around. He grabs the quill and starts writing.

Friends, if you find this, I am doing fine. Don't worry about me, worry about stopping Nadakhan.

Your Friend,

Jay.

Jay sincerely means every word. He isn't important. Stopping Nadakhan matters much much more. He very obviously overuses the word "friends" because maybe he's already lost his friends. And he's just holding onto false hope.

"I told you not to take you eyes off him!" Nadakhan's voice booms from across the ship.

Jay takes that as his cue and puts the message in the bottle and grabs the ball and chain.

He slides down the side of the deck and lands on the next floor when Monkey Wrench and Dogshank, if he remembers correctly, the other two high-ranking crew members, start coming after him. Jay throws things at them like tools, boxes, and anything he can possibly find in his reach. He comes to the edge of the deck and jumps off on to another ship flying by just before the crew can reach him.

"Haha! Bye-bye!" Jay yells confidently as the ship takes off.

"What are you waiting for?! Get him!" Nadakhan yells angrily and pushes Clancee onto the ship Jay landed on.

Clancee regains his composure and swings his mop at Jay but he ducks just in time and flips over him, which Jay will add, is pretty difficult with a ball and chain attached to his ankle, when suddenly the ship speeds up and hits a piece of floating land. The impact knocks them both off and Jay falls onto a cord connecting an island. Clancee falls too and catches Jay's ball and chain before he falls too far down.

Doubloon jumps off from the chunk of land and onto the chord, making Clancee and Jay fall off and land on another piece below.

Jay yells as he falls and grunts from the impact, knocking the wind out of him. He quickly gets up, grimacing, but Doubloon's already on his tails. Jay grabs the ball and chain and slides across another cord to another piece of land as Doubloon catches up.

Jay keeps running until he runs out of land. He sees a black thing floating next to the island he's on and thinking it's another chunk of land, jumps on it.

Jay laughs in victory only to turn around and see Doubloon smirking. He raises an eyebrow in confusion and then the Misfortune's Keep appears in front of him. The whole crew is pointing and laughing.

"You seem to have landed on a sky mine!" Nadakhan announces, still chuckling. "One shot from Flintlocke, and kaboom!"

Jay looks down nervously at the apparent bomb he's standing on, then at the bottled message in his hand, and then down at the ocean. He drops the bottle into the ocean behind his back and drops the ball and chain. To cover it up, he throws his hands up in the air.

"Alright. I-I surrender!"

Doubloon throes a rope that latches onto the sky mine and pulls Jay in closer. When he gets close enough to the ship, Flintlocke grabs Jay and wrenches his hands behind his back, forcing him to look at the angry Djinn.

"I trust you'll make better decisions in the future. Get him back to work!" Flintlocke roughly pushes him to the ground and throws him a sponge. Jay grunts as the crew laughs and gets back to work.

—

The rest of the day is mostly uneventful. Other than the constant taunts from the crew, shoving and tripping him when they're bored and get the chance.

Late that night, Jay's still scrubbing the deck when he's approached by Flintlocke.

"You hungry?" He asks.

"Does it matter?" Jay groans wearily. He's worn out. From both the constant cleaning and his little escape attempt earlier.

"Cap'n would like to see you fer dinner." He answers, unlocking Jay's ball and chain.

Jay briefly thinks about using his powers but that thought is shut down quickly as soon as Flintlocke pulls out two guns and points them at him. "Ain't a request, it's an order."

Not having much of a choice, Jay begrudgingly goes with him. When they enter Nadakhan's quarters, Flintlocke roughly pushes Jay forward. The first thing he sees is a table with lit candles and fancy looking food. Nadakhan sits behind the table, giving Jay a smile that makes his stomach churn.

"Please, please. Eat something. You must be famished. But I must warn you, don't try anything foolish." Nadakhan motions for Flintlocke to leave as Jay warily walks over to the table and sits down. "I am to have manners at the dinner table."

Jay scowls, "Don't think you can butter me up like a bread roll and expect me to make my last wish." He knows Nadakhan is planning something.

"No no no no, I would never dream. Please eat, I simply want your company." He says with his mouth full.

Jay hasn't eaten since before he and the others arrived at Tiger Widow Island, and the food looks so good. So he starts stuffing his face with the delicious-looking food.

In hindsight, he knows he shouldn't have done it, but he's so hungry, he doesn't give it a second thought.

"Though we are from different worlds, we have something in common, an affinity for a special someone, hmm?" Nadakhan says as Jay continues to stuff his face, not paying the djinn much attention. He's far too focused on the food in front of him.

"Sorry pal, I don't know who this lost love of yours is, but she ain't Nya. She's too good for the both of us. And she makes up her own mind." It's true. Jay knows he doesn't deserve Nya, and Nadakhan definitely doesn't either.

"Hmm, maybe, but I have made up my mind." Nadakhan gets up and moves over to the window. He picks up a pitcher and pours a suspiciously-alcoholic-looking drink in Jay's flask. Jay's not willing to risk any chance at getting drunk, especially not here and now, so he doesn't touch the questionable beverage.

"All my life I've been blessed with the ability to grant wishes for others, but cursed to have none of my own. Though born unto a king, everything that is mine I had to work for." He floats back to the window. "The food, this ship, this crew-"

"That accent." Jay jabs at him just for the sake of it.

Nadakhan grumbles sarcastically and continues his monologue. "Truth be told, I don't care about any world, nor winning Nya's heart."

"Then why are you doing all of this?" Jay's been trying to get his lightning charged strong enough ever since the ball and chain was taken off and he needs to keep Nadakhan distracted.

"I don't need her heart, I only need her hand. In marriage." Jay raises a wary eyebrow, "Because when a Djinn prince becomes king on Djinn land, he is bestowed the greatest gift of all!"

"Love?" Jay asks, joking, again, trying to cover up his fear.

Nadakhan chuckles evilly. "No. Infinite wishes!"

Jay's eyes are blown wide in shock, "You never loved Dilara! You only loved what she could give you!"

"And after I take your friends, and take your home, Nya will be mine. I will be more powerful than anyone can ever imagine!" Nadakhan turns his back toward Jay. Now's his chance.

Jay creates a fistful of lighting and throws it straight at Nadakhan, but he's too fast and he poofs out of the way before the lightning even has a chance of hitting him. He reappears behind Jay in the blink of an eye and grabs his arm in a bruising grip.

"Too slow. Junkyard boy!" Jay hangs his head in frustration and groans as Nadakhan wrangles him to a standing position. "You really shouldn't have done that, boy. You've just made things a lot worse for yourself." Jay squeezes his eyes shut and whimpers when Nadakhan twists his arm behind him. He calls for Flintlocke who comes in seconds later. "Take him back to the hole and make sure he can't try to escape again."

Flintlocke nods as he grabs Jay and pushes him to walk to the main deck.

As they approach his cell, Jay can make out Dogshank in the dark. She's holding a ball and chain, except this one is much bigger than the one he's been stuck to these past two days. It's locked around Jay's ankle and he feels disconnection from his element again. She clicks the latch tighter until it's skin tight and literally cutting off circulation.

Flintlocke pulls out his pistols and motions for Jay to move. He starts forward but almost trips when his chained foot won't budge. He looks down and picks up his foot attached to the weight experimentally and frowns. "How am I suppose to walk? I can barely move this thing!"

"That's the point." Flintlocke retorts, smirking. "Two tries at freedom already, we need to take precautions." He chuckles and Jay grimaces sheepishly, but he somehow manages to drag it, not without great difficulty.

They finally reach Jay's cell and he's suddenly pushed in, followed by the familiar clinking of keys locking the top. Once he recovers from the fall, he gingerly leans up against the wall, grimacing and breathing heavily. Jay falls asleep that night thinking about what Nadakhan said, junkyard boy. They hurt more than Jay should let them. Those words bring back too many memories of bullies in elementary school.

It's not like the words are a lie, they basically sum up his entire life.

Some pathetic, worthless kid who grew up in a junkyard. In the middle of the desert. It was just him and his parents. Well, adoptive parents. Apparently his birth parents didn't even want anything to do with him. He just wishes he knew more to that story. Jay shakes his head and huffs an almost hysterical laugh at remembering the new information presented to him only a few days ago, but quickly pushes the flood of emotions away and forces himself to sleep.

—

Jay gets woken up to banging on the cell door just like the two days before and is up cleaning the deck. Again.

He is finally given some water, but it's only half a bottle that someone throws at his head at some point that morning. He ends up cleaning until late afternoon and the heat's definitely starting to get to him. The scorching sun has been beating down on the ship all day, and his ankle is starting to hurt real bad from the tight latch and the constant weight of the ball and chain.

'H-h-hello!" A cheery voice comes from behind Jay and gets his attention. Jay wearily turns his head around to see a smiling Serpentine crew mate, Clancee, waving at him enthusiastically.

Jay raises an eyebrow skeptically, "Uh, hi?" Jay's learned to question everything and everyone on this stupid ship, especially gestures of so-called kindness.

"Mind i-i-if I-I join y-you?" He pulls out a mop from behind his back and smiles.

"Um, sure, I guess. Not like I can stop you." Jay turns back around, not intending to pay the Serpentine anymore attention.

"You're quite the positive one, a-a-aren'tcha?"

Jay scoffs, almost amused, "Would you be if you were me?"

Clancee chuckles, "No, I g-g-guess yer right."

Jay looks down awkwardly while the two clean, maybe Clancee was just trying to be nice? He is the only pirate who hasn't tried to pick on him or hurt him so far, and he does seem far too innocent to be a part of this crew.

"Yer name's J-J-Jay, right?"

Jay stops mopping, startled by the question. "Uh, yeah. How did you know that?"

"H-h-heard yer friends calling out f-f-for you back on the island."

Jay's stomach churns at that, the snake says it as casually as if he's talking about the weather. "Do um," he gulps uncomfortably, "does everyone else here, know my name?"

The snake nods nonchalantly, "Yep."

That makes Jay feel a lot more uncomfortable that it probably should.

"A-anyways, I-I know yer p-probably not happy bein' 'ere, b-b-but jus know I ain't gonna hurt ya if I don't have to!"

Jay stares at the Serpentine, mouth slightly ajar in shock at what he'd just been told. He guesses that's comforting? Clancee apparently doesn't want Jay to be hurt, and he's acting like he feels sorry for him. But, Jay hasn't really been hurt here. Inconvenienced? Definitely. But other than that, he's just exhausted. Is Clancee trying to tell him he's going to get hurt?

Whatever the case, Jay takes it with a grain of salt and smiles slightly.

"Thanks. I guess?"

Clancee smiles enthusiastically and continues talking about a bunch of different things. Jay can't help but mind and decides to quietly listen while he cleans. It's better than anything else he's gonna get.

—

Later in the evening after a very long day, sometime after Clancee leaves, Jay overhears Flintlocke settle some dispute between crew members, and when he gets close enough to him, Jay gets an idea. Maybe if he can pick the first mate's brain about what he learned last night at dinner, maybe he can get some crew members on his side.

So Jay starts doing what Jay does best. Talking.

"The crew listens to you."

"Nadakhan is a good cap'n. My job is to just make sure his ship runs smoothly." Flintlocke responds.

"But how do you make sure everything runs smoothly when your captain doesn't tell you everything you need to know?"

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"It's nice of you all to help him make this world-" Flintlocke interrupts.

"Djinnjago is for all of us."

"Maybe," He continues, "but how long do you think he'll keep you around when he gets infinite wishes?"

"Everybody knows Nadakhan don't get no wishes and ain't nobody can wish fer that."

"That's not what he told me. After a Djinn prince marries on Djinn land, he gets it all. And I've seen how he looks at Nya, reminding him of his Dilara. But what do I know? I'm just the low man on the totem pole. You've helped him build so much, I'm sure he'll need you around when he can wish for, anything."

Flintlocke strokes his mustache in thought and Jay takes that as his cue to keep going. "But listen to me, the crew listens to you. If you're gonna stage a mutiny, now's the time, before he's all powerful. Don't let him take advantage."

All of a sudden, Nadakhan appears behind Jay, making him jump in surprise. "What lies is our little canary whistling now, hm?"

There's that stupid nickname again.

"Perhaps another ploy to escape?"

"It's true!" Jay shouts, throwing down his mop and putting his hands on Flintlocke's shoulders. "He's the one that's lying! He told me everything at dinner!"

"Right," He shoves Jay's hands away, "and I have trouble shooting water in an ocean." Flintlocke says sarcastically and he and Nadakhan laugh hysterically.

There goes his chance. Flintlocke doesn't believe him. So much for than plan. Jay scowls angrily, picking up the mop and returning to clean.

"Oh we're being too hard on our guest. Perhaps it's time we involve him in some of our... on-ship entertainment." Nadakhan turns to Flintlocke.

Jay has a horrible, sinking feeling this isn't gonna be good.

"You don't mean Scrap n' Tap, do ya?" Flintlocke asks sarcastically and they both laugh again.

"Uh, what's Scrap n' Tap?" Jay asks nervously.

"Trust me, kid. You're about to find out." Flintlocke smiles and Jay gulps.

As if on cue, several pirates surround him from all angles. Jay looks around nervously, at Nadakhan whose smirking. Then two or three pirates grab his arms and drag him backwards. Jay kicks and screams and squirms against them, but they don't budge.

"H-hey! Let me go! Stop, that hurts!" But his pleas are ignored.

He's dragged to the main deck as what looks like the rest of the crew crowds around in an arena-like circle. Jay's thrown to the ground in the middle and the pirates start cheering. Jay's stomach lurches.

This is definitely not going to be good.

He looks around nervously as Nadakhan floats over behind him. Monkey Wrench enters the ring and Jay breathes a breath of relief until the monkey jumps at him, and Jay responds by jumping back in fear.

"The rules are simple," Nadakhan instructs. "May the best one win!" He sneers at Jay. "Let the scrap begin!"

The cheering gets louder.

Jay's stomach drops for the millionth time that day. They're expecting him to fight!? "Take this thing off and let's make this a fair fight." He gestures to the ball and chain. He can barely even walk with this thing, let alone fight with it on.

"Fair?" He laughs, "We're pirates!"

Jay's heart sinks.

And that's all the warning he gets before Monkey Wrench jumps up and kicks Jay square in the stomach.

Hard.

The ball and chain makes its presence painfully known when it catches on the floor and yanks Jay back from the strong kick. Jay lands hard on his back and his ribs pulse with pain. But he isn't giving up that easily. He quickly stands up and grabs the chain around his ankle and tries to drag the stupid thing but it's really heavy. The monkey chases him around the ring until the weight gets caught on the floor. Jay pulls on it a little too hard and falls backwards into some pirates. He laughs sheepishly until they push him back into the ring, almost making him fall over.

Before Jay can get his balance, Monkey Wrench jumps on his head and starts yanking on his hair. Jay runs around —or shuffles— trying to get him off. When he finally does yank his opponent off, the monkey sweeps his tail under Jay's feet and Jay hits the ground hard. The ball and chain follows suit, landing painfully on Jay's stomach.

Spots dance in and out of his vision as he struggles to open his eyes. He's totally willing to bet that some ribs are broken now.

Once Monkey Wrench realizes his opponent isn't going to fight back anymore, he cheers and the crowd does too.

Jay gingerly pushes the ball and chain off himself, crying in pain, and, with much difficulty, stands up painfully. "A-alright, ugh, you had your fun, ow. I'm tapping out. Who's next?"

Jay tries to push his way out of the crowd, he'd much rather go back to cleaning, but they won't let him through. Nadakhan floats over, pushing Jay back to the center of the ring.

"Oh no, the loser doesn't tap out," He laughs. "Only the winner does! You have to stay in until someone else loses. Who's next?!"

Jay's face pales.

How long is he gonna have to fight for?!

He has to win this next fight. He's a ninja for First Spinjitzu Master's sake! He can take on a few pirates. The others definitely wouldn't have a problem beating a couple of pirates.

Besides, once he wins, he can go back to his cell and sleep off these cracked ribs.

Doubloon high-fives Monkey Wrench and steps into the ring with a staff, which is unfair, but, well, this whole thing isn't suppose to be fair for him, but still.

Doubloon takes a swing with his staff but Jay catches it, another swing and he gets a hit, but Jay recovers. Jay then tackles him and it sends Doubloon to the ground. He stands back up with Monkey Wrench's help, again, not fair. The pirate continues swinging and Jay continues dodging until Doubloon sweeps his staff at Jay's feet and catches the chain making him fall.

This stupid thing really isn't doing him any favors.

Once Jay gets up, Doubloon hits his shoulder again, harder though. Jay hunches back from the hit, and before he can recover, Doubloon smacks Jay hard in the side and sends him to the floor on the other side of the ring with a sharp crack of Jay's ribs.

The crowd cheers again.

Everything's fuzzy for a minute. Jay blinks back tears of pain as he bites his lip to keep from screaming. He can't give them that satisfaction. He forces himself not curl into a ball. His ribs are pulsing. If they weren't broken before, they definitely are now. Jay tries to sit up, but his arm buckles and his head hits the floor.

Nadakhan floats over and pulls Jay up by his hair. He whispers in his ear, "This may go on all day. Unless you want to wish it all away, heh heh. Just say the words and it will all be over."

Jay isn't going to give in, not now, not ever. And despite his screaming ribs, he manages to stand up, although he's still slumped over. He yelps from the pain. "B-bring it on."

He can hear Nadakhan growl, "Next!" He says it so nonchalantly it makes Jay shiver.

Suddenly, Jay feels a giant thump and the cheering increases. He sheepishly turns around to see Dogshank enter the ring pounding her fists. Cue the stomach lurching again and Jay backs away nervously as far as he can before someone stops him and pushes him forwards. She raises her fist and the next thing he knows, it collides with his face and he hits the opposite wall of the ship. This time he can't stop the scream that tears from him. He slides down the wall and even before he can get up, a fist comes down on his back.

The crowd roars as he's beaten. He can't tell how long it goes on for, but it's long enough. Her last punch is another to the face, right in his left eye. He's so disoriented but he can register being on the ground and it's apparent he isn't getting up.

He tries.

First Spinjitzu Master he tries, but everything hurts too much.

He doesn't remember much after that, other than two more pirates entering the ring at the same time and pinning him down while he struggles. One of them has a knife. Jay's so out of it and close to passing out, he can't even tell where the pain's coming from.

He thinks there's a cut to his eye, he can already feel it swelling shut, Jay doesn't think he'll be able to see out of it.

He does remember being dragged back to his cell where he spends the rest of the night.

Once the dizziness clears what has to of been hours later, Jay tries to take inventory of all the injuries. A couple ribs are definitely broken, left eye is swollen shut, and everything hurts. He then hears a clanking and looks up to see Clancee holding a tray of food.

"W-w-well you have to eat!"

Jay groans and his stomach lurches at the mention of food. "Ugghh, I'm not hungry." He winces at the slur in his voice. He definitely has a concussion.

"Y-you fought really well. Y-you held your own, l-like a r-real pirate. You should have this, to look the part." He drops the tray of food down as well as something else, locks the cage back up, and leaves.

Jay grunts as he gingerly crawls over to whatever Clancee dropped down. He has no intention of eating the food, not only does it look disgusting, he's sure if he tries to eat, he'll throw up.

"An eyepatch?" Jay's a little confused, but nevertheless places it over his swollen eye. Better than covering it himself. He catches a glimpse of his reflection in the food tray. He immediately remembers his future reflection.

"Just like what I saw in my future, it's all coming true." Not exactly how he'd envisioned it but he guesses he didn't completely think through the "losing an eye part" and he really hopes it won't come to that any time soon. At least that part of the reflection is true. Him ending up with Nya is never gonna happen. Especially now.

"Psst," Jay suddenly hears a noise from above. He looks up to see Flintlocke, "you always talk to yerself?"

Jay sighs and climbs on top of a barrel in the cell so he can get closer. "Only when I thought I was by myself. What do you want now?" This guy just stood there and laughed while he was being beaten. Jay doesn't really feel like talking to him.

"Maybe you're right. Maybe he doesn't need us after all this. But the only way we're gonna stage a mutiny, is if we can get his sword away from him. You think you can handle that?"

That's not exactly what Jay had expected to hear but he scoffs at Flintlocke's request. Although it sounds hoarse and disoriented. "What am I suppose to do? I'm the one locked up down here!"

Flintlocke pulls a set of keys from his belt and drops them into the cell. "Wait till he's asleep to make yer move. We'll be right behind you." And with that he walks off like he was never there. Jay still has questions and calls out the pirate's name, but he was already gone. Jay picks up the keys and smiles.

Finally.

First he unlocks the ball and chain and that's such a relief.

Making sure all the nearby pirates are asleep, Jay carefully reaches his hand through the bars and unlocks the top. He quietly climbs out using the stacked barrels in the cell and quietly makes his way across the deck to Nadakhan's quarters, careful to sneak past all the sleeping pirates and ignoring his aching ribs.

Once he makes it up to the top deck, he gently lifts the glass door to Nadakhan's room and tiptoes inside. He can make out he sword's shape next to Nadakhan's bed from the entrance. Jay looks around nervously as he walks past the sleeping Djinn and sighs as he grabs the sword.

But the sigh of relief turns into a gasp as soon as he picks it up, he notices his mistake right away.

The lights flash on and he shields his eyes from the sudden brightness. He's met with the entire crew standing in front of him, laughing. Jay immediately drops the mop he thought was the sword and stares blankly in shock.

"I told ya we'd be right behind ya'" Flintlocke mocks and the laughing roars. Nadakhan's voice suddenly rings out above the rest.

He laughs, "Well, I was wrong, he did fall for it!" The Nadakhan Jay thought was sleeping, he sees now, is actually a manakin, and the real one pops up behind Jay, making him jump back.

"Even I'm not that pin-headed!" He can hear Clancee laugh as the rest of the crew makes sounds of agreement.

Jay honestly can't believe he fell for it.

To think, he's so naive to believe that anyone on this ship would show him kindness. He really is stupid.

Jay makes an embarrassed noise as he tries to turn his head away.

"If were all up, I guess we have time for another round of Scrap N' Tap!" The pirates cheer as soon as he makes the suggestion. The cheering gets louder when the horrified look appears on Jay's face.

He has to go through that again?!

"That is unless you want to wish it all away. Huh?" Jay can feel Nadakhan's smirk as his cold metal hook lifts his cheek up painfully. "Go ahead, Make your wish!"

Jay takes a breath and pulls himself together, shoving Nadakhan away. He matches Nadakhan's glare instantly. "No. Hurt me all you want, but I'm not gonna make another wish!"

Nadakhan scowls and stalks closer. All the color instantly drains from Jay's face, and he instinctively backs up until he's grabbed by Dogshank.

"Very well. Let's try it your way, then."

Jay's roughly dragged back to the Scrap N' Tap ring and it all goes downhill from there.

—

The next few moments are hard to process. He's chained back up to the weight ball. He can't tell how many more rounds he goes through that night. But he does know it goes on for hours.

Beating after beating. Knives enter the picture at some point.

It never seems to stop.

He's vaguely aware he's crying after a couple rounds. He can't help it. Everything hurts so much and he can't get enough of a break to fight back.

It all finally stops when the sun rises.

He's told to make a wish.

Against his better judgment he refuses.

Someone hits him, but he doesn't know who.

Everything's a blur. His ears ring. He can taste blood. He can't see through his tears. Tear tracks stain only one side of his face. He's pulled to a standing position. But he won't — can't stand on his own.

They force him upright regardless and he's handed a mop.

He can't believe they expect him to clean after that.

Somehow he manages. For a solid fifteen minutes.

And then he passes out.

—

He wakes up in his cell and it's dark outside.

Every injury fires up with a new vengeance.

He can't hold the tears that spill over. He allows himself to cry.

Maybe it makes him weak.

Maybe it makes him a coward.

He doesn't care.

He just wants to go home.

But he doesn't get to complain. This is his fault after all. He deserves this. He made the mistakes, now he's receiving the consequences.

He cries for hours. It just makes it harder to breath but he can't stop. He gets to a point where he runs out of tears. He just chokes on sobs and coughs hysterically. But he can't stop.

He's so stupid. No one's coming. He can't get out of here on his own. He tried and failed, he failed so miserably. Over and over.

That's all he seems to do. Screw up.

He cries himself back to sleep.

—

When he wakes up it's morning, but no one comes to get him.

It's the same thing for the next two days.

No food. No water. No Scrap N' Tap. No cleaning.

He just sits there alone in his cell. For three days, he's alone.

He's hungry. He's thirsty. But no matter how much he begs for food or water, he gets the same answer.

He either gets silence, or another demand for a wish.

He doesn't give in.

He can't.

Because if he does, Nadakhan will have a straighter shot to Nya. And he can't let that happen. He would never forgive himself.

He just has to hold out. Even if no one's coming.

He cries himself to sleep that night too. He does most nights now.

—

He awakes to a banging on the cell and a yell for him to wake up.

The crew finally pulls him out of the brig. Jay's too weak to do so by himself.

By now he's significantly skinnier. He's pale and his face is flushed with fever. Dried blood is stained all over his gi. Said gi is ripped and frayed. His ankle is numb from loss of circulation.

His voice is back. Jay hasn't heard that voice in a while. He hasn't missed it.

He demands Jay wish. Jay stays silent. That's all he capable of at the moment.

He gets thrown into Scrap N' Tap.

He only lasts two rounds this time.

A female pirate with orange hair hits him in the back of the head with a bat. He falls, his ankle, the one attached to the weight, twists and he hears a crack and his screams echo throughout the ship.

Everyone cheers. They always do when he gets hurt. The louder the screams, the louder the shouting

He gets thrown back into his cell after refusing to wish again.

—

Another day passes.

He finally gets water. No food though.

They need him alive, not comfortable, they say.

He's cleaning the ship again.

How long has he been here? Long enough.

He's lost all hope of getting out.

—

The next day he's woken up, no one says anything as they pull him out.

He knows where he's going.

Fear and anxiety well up in his chest.

Panic overtakes him.

He can't breathe.

He knows what's coming. He knows.

He lasts five rounds this time. He doesn't know how but he does.

He doesn't win. Oh FSM, no, he doesn't win.

But the pirates have to get bored with him eventually.

He's gasping for air on his knees. He can barely draw in a breath when he's thrown a mop. He doesn't know why he's surprised.

He's free meat during the day. Meaning he's at the crews disposal. They punch him around all day as he works. Sometimes they come in groups, and sometimes it's just one.

It's always bad.

One rips the sleeve of his gi. Half of his right sleeve rips off with a sickening tear.

He holds back the onslaught of tears he'd normally let free by now.

He earned this gi, for learning Airjitzu. Now it's ruined.

It's already ripped in several places sure, and his blood already stains a good fifty percent of it. But now, a whole piece is missing. It reveals sickening cuts and bruises that litter his arm. Old and new. Some already infected.

The pirate only laughs and kicks him to the floor.

He's forced to continue cleaning.

—

He can't tell how much time has passed since he's been captured. But he knows he looks horrible. Skinny and gaunt. Covered in bruises and cuts of every kind.

One day he's taken to Nadakan's quarters.

Nadakhan isn't happy about him refusing to give in. Jay can't even comprehend half of what he says. His ears are ringing again.

He does register Nadakhan's smirk as someone tackles him and ties his arms behind his back.

He's being taken back to the Scrap N' Tap ring. Now he really can't fight back. Even if he tried.

He just has to lie there while he's beaten, cut, bruised.

He knows he's crying. He knows it's pathetic. But he doesn't care about his pride anymore. He just cries as the crowd cheers and yells once more.

He cries when it finally ends, who knows how much later.

He can't even form words of denial through his tears as he's told to wish again.

No matter what they do, he will never give in.

The simple thought of Nya gives him strength.

He's not giving up.

But he can't stop crying.

They untie him. But he's still in the ring. One more person enters for the day.

It's Dogshank again and he doesn't even remember that fight.

But he does remember his laugh as he's lying on the floor boards, struggling to sit up. He remembers those words he absolutely despises.

"Just wish it all away."

Of course he refuses.

He's thrown in his cell again.

Literally.

He doesn't even have the strength to cry. He just drifts off into a nightmare filled slumber, and dreads what tomorrow brings.

Chapter Text

This is the fourth time they've thrown him in the ring today. He's not even surprised anymore. It's just normal routine now.

The last person finishes with him and he's on the floor curled in a fetal position, trying to block out everything around him.

Pain is every wear and all over.

He's crying.

But that’s not a surprise anymore.

Blood is dripping down his shoulder from a fresh cut. His lip is busted. The chain cutting into his ankle clinks as he curls in on himself even more. It feels like it keeps getting tighter.

A wispy orange figure sneers down at him, laughing. "Well, that was certainly a rough round." Jay whimpers and tucks his head further into his arms until someone grabs his hair, forcing his head up, and Nadakhan is there smiling. "Perhaps it changed your mind about your wish? Hm?"

Jay hates himself for even thinking about it.

"Certainly you don't want the pain to continue? So go on, my little canary , make your wish." It goes quiet as the crew waits for his answer.

Jay’s wheezing falls into quiet sobs and he softly murmurs, "N-no, I-I... no."

He can't give in.

He can't, he can't, he can't.

He has to keep fighting. No matter how much he wants to give in. No matter how much he wants to wish it away, he can't .

He has to keep fighting for his team. For Nya. Because as soon as Nadakhan gets what he wants from him, he's going to go after Cole, Lloyd, and then Nya, and Jay won't— can't —let that happen.

Even if the others want nothing to do with him, he's still going to protect them.

That's a promise. And Jay intends to keep it.

Nadakhan growls and slams Jay's head back down on the floor boards.

"Flintlocke!"

Jay wearily picks his head up and then there's a stinging pinch in his arm. Before he can register what's going on, his world starts spinning, his mind becomes foggy, and he's out before his head hits the ground.

He wakes up and he can't move his arms. He glances up to see them tied together above his head, the other end of the rope is tied to the top of the cage bars, keeping him from moving. He yanks weakly with the little bit of strength he has left, but it does no good. His arms already ache.

It takes him a minute to realize there's also a rag tied around his mouth, but when he does he starts panicking. His muffled noises catch a passing pirate's attention.

"Hey, kid! You's finally awake!" The pirate crouches near the cell door and peers down at Jay through the bars. "Hope ye comfy down there, cuz' you's gonna spend some time like that. Tying you up was what the Cap'n ordered, but me an' most of the crew voted on shuttin' you's up for a while. Ye can't blame us, yer crying sure gets annoyin'. And the Cap'n agreed! He thinks if ye forced to be quiet for a couple days, you'll wanna talk."

Jay chokes on a muffled sob.

"Have fun, kid!"

—

He doesn't know when they come back, it had to of been several days later. But his breathing is shallow from the gag, combined with hyperventilating too much, and he's barely conscious when he feels his arms being lowered to his lap, but they don’t untie him.

He hears a pirate say something about four days. They never gave him any water and still no food. His throat hurts from screaming and dry from lack of water. He can barely breathe, the air is already musty down here. He can’t count how many times he’d passed out.

Nadakhan asks the inevitable question, then someone roughly yanks the rag from his mouth.

"I-I..." That's all he gets out before promptly breaking into a coughing fit. His throat is dry and his voice sounds terrible.

The djinn grabs Jay's hair to pull his head up and hits him across the face. "Well? We don't have all day."

Jay bites back the sting in his cheek and keeps his eye open long enough to hold a glare. "N-n-no."

Nadakhan yells angrily, and slams Jay's head against the wall he's slumped on. Jay's vision goes black for a second. "Then enjoy the fun , you insolent brat! "

In the blink of an eye, Jay's grabbed by two pirates and forced to stand, almost fainting from the sudden wave of vertigo. A smirking pirate grabs the rag from around his neck, “N-no, no n-n, wai—“ and shoves it in Jay’s mouth. He kicks and screams and fights the whole way to the ring.

The pirates make sure he regrets it because he doesn't remember anything after that.

He wakes up with new cuts and a sprained wrist the next morning.

—

They keep him tied up most of the time now, when he fights, cleans the ship, sleeps (though he doesn’t get much of that anymore), gets knocked around, more often then not. The ropes are leaving deep abrasions on his wrists.

The ball and chain has been digging into his ankle ever since he tried to steal Nadakhan's sword. The Vengestone's kept his element dormant so long it starts to leave a throbbing ache where the calming pulse of his lightning normally resides. Just adding to all the pain.

Pain.

That's the one thing he constantly feels.

There's no relief.

He's been thrown into Scrap N' Tap too many times to count. Always more than once a day now.

He wants to be strong, FSM, he tries so hard, but no matter how hard he tries to keep his mask up, they successfully chip a piece off every time they try. His empty promises to show no weakness are futile.

He isn't strong.

He's broken.

So very broken.

—

“You sure got some great friends, kid.”

Jay’s tied up, sitting on the floor of Nadakhan’s room, waiting to have a talk with the djinn, and the pirate that’s in charge of him at the moment is apparently feeling chatty.

“They haven’t even tried to rescue you! Didn’t seem too frantic when we took you, either. Are you sure they’re coming at all?”

Jay doesn’t answer. Not like he can anyways, there’s a rag shoved in his mouth again, but Jay’s already asked himself that question. Many times in fact.

He’s decided they probably aren’t coming. He wouldn’t come for him either after what he did.

“C’mon think about it, kid! How long have you been ‘ere?!”

Jay wishes he could answer but he honestly has no idea. It’s hard to keep track of time.

“Man, that sucks, kid. You’re all alone.”

Jay grimaces and keeps his head down.

He is, isn’t he.   

“All alone.”

Nadakhan never shows up, but Jay figures out why pretty quickly.

He’s all alone.

—

He's back in Scrap N' Tap, today.

He's managed to stay on his feet this time but he doesn't know how, that hasn’t happened in a while.

He's fighting a girl with bright orange hair and a nose ring, (she’s the one that messed up his ankle).

She doesn't look much older than he is, maybe nineteen or early twenties, but she's way taller and definitely a lot stronger than him. She looks familiar, and Jay swears he’s seen her before, but Jay's also not in the right state of mind at the moment, so he might just be imagining it. He's dazed and his vision is blurry, he's been hit in the head so many times.

He holds his fists up in a fighting stance, trying to blink away the pain and exhaustion, and takes a swing at her, but she dodges too quickly, and he trips over his chain, tweaking his messed-up ankle and falling with a scream.

She smirks down at the trembling ninja on the floor breathing shakily. "Pft, little brat can't even throw a punch."

Jay lifts his head from where he's wheezing on his hands and knees, trying to will away the pain. The girl is bowing to the cheering of the crowd.

He wants to prove her wrong, prove them all wrong.

Wants to prove he can do more than just cry .

He's gotta fight back. Gotta give them something .

He shakily stands up, fighting the screaming pain of his ankle. Some pirates make snide remarks but he ignores them. He takes his fighting stance, raises his fists... and punches the girl right in the face with a pained grunt as she turns to face him.

She didn’t even see it coming!

Jay lets out a breathless laugh and smirks.

Finally .

But his excitement is very short-lived.

"Ha! Look at that! Kid can actually throw a punch."

"The brat's finally biting back. 'Bout time."

"Poor kid's about to get it."

"Ooo, betcha Chamille's gonna beat his ass now!"

Jay looks nervously at the pirate he’d just decked across the face, Chamille, ( her name sounds familiar too ) as she gets up from the ground, wiping the blood from her bleeding nose and fixes a glare at Jay who suddenly feels a lot smaller than before.

"You. Little. Brat ! You're really gonna regret that, kid.”

Jay's face loses every ounce of color. He turns on his heels to run. To where? He doesn't know, anywhere but here.

He doesn’t get far.

He trips on the chain again and his scream sounds so horrible because his voice is so hoarse.

The pirate lifts him up the by collar of his gi. "Shoulda stayed down the first time, brat."

Jay squeezes his eye shut and prepares for the inevitable pain, then a fist collides with his very-broken ribs. All the air is knocked right out of him and the pain is overwhelming and he can't breathe.

He can't breathe .

Chamille laughs and Jay’s carelessly dropped to the ground, hugging his pounding stomach, curling his face towards himself. She hits him again. And again. And again. Over and over, and now she’s kicking.

His wrist snaps.

He hears it.

She still won't stop.

He's barely hanging onto consciousness by a thread when someone yells, "Knock it off, we need the kid alive."

"Geez, Cam, leave some for the rest of us."

He's lying on his back now, arms and legs splayed, keeping his eye shut on purpose, taking short, wheezy breaths.

Chamille lifts Jay by the front of his collar again and brings him close to her face, holding a knife to his neck. He gulps and lets out a whine when his ribs are jostled.

"Don't ever do anything like that again, brat. Unless you want round two. Understand? "

Jay doesn't respond, he looks away, instead. Even if he wants to give her more satisfaction by agreeing, which he doesn't, he's barely conscious at the moment, and if he's being completely honest, he's not entirely sure what she just asked.

Chamille growls again and forces Jay to look at her, the knife dangerously close to his bad eye. Jay can't stop himself from whimpering. He tries to push away from her but she holds him still. She rips his eyepatch off and throws it aside.

"Oh, that's disgusting! Guess we've really done a number on this kid!"

Jay squeezes both his eyes shut, not that he can see out of the one. Chamille shakes him to get his attention back. "Do I need to cut this eye out for you to get it?! Cause I just got my nails done, and I'd rather not make a mess."

Jay's heart stops and he forgets how to breathe. He understands her clearly this time.

Did... did she really just say what he thinks she said?

" W-what?! " His voice trembles and he's completely taken over by fear.

"Do I?!"

"N-no! No! J-just, just leave me alone!”

Jay’s pretty positive every pirate laughs when he says that.

"Aww how cute. He thinks he has a voice."

"Sorry, kid," Chamille chuckles. "That sure ain't happening."

Jay chokes on a sob.

"So am I clear, hun? We're not gonna have anymore problems with you, huh?"

Jay swallows his pride, too terrified to object, and nods.

"Glad to hear it, kid." She strokes Jay's cheek with the blade as he trembles, coming way too close to his eye. "It's a shame you're a little young," she turns his cheek, examining his bruised face, "you're kinda cute."

Jay's heart seizes and he looks at her with pleading eyes.

"Eh, who's counting? I may just pop by your cell, you're real entertaining." She smiles sweetly at the ninja cowering in her grasp and she blows him a kiss as she nonchalantly drops him on the floor like a sack of potatoes.

As she turns her head, Jay swears he sees her hair color change from orange to purple but his eyesight can't be trusted right now. He hears her scoff as she walks away, sheathing her knife.

"This kid is one of the ninja protecting the city? Ha! Coulda fooled me."

Jay resists the urge to argue, afraid of what’ll happen to him if he does, clenching his fists instead.

He's not a child, he’s sixteen, and he is a ninja!

He wants to wipe every smug grin off of each and every pirate’s face.

But he's too weak to stand. He too weak to even move right now. His fight deflates in an instant.

He is so weak .

"Alright, boys, we're done for the night. Lock the kid up."

Two pirates grab his arms and drag him back to his cell. He's dropped in and one of them throws his eyepatch at him.

"Cover that thing up, will ya?! It's disgusting!"

Jay obeys and carefully slips the eyepatch back over his damaged eye. He wraps his arms around himself, leans into the corner, and forces himself to fall sleep.

—

“Feisty today, aren’t we?” A pirate with a thick mustache and goatee sneers as he pins a squirming Jay against a wall. One hand covers Jay’s mouth and the other holds his wrists. “Well, we just can’t have that?”

Jay decided to call this pirate “Mustache” awhile ago because, well, his mustache, and Jay absolutely hates him.

He’s the pirate that goes hardest on him during fights, goes out of his way to hurt him during the day, gave him a stupid nickname (hey hey, yer name’s like that bird and yer blue, imma call you birdie!) , waves water in front of his face just out of reach, is way too handsy, (and definitely slipped something into his food once).

Jay hates him. Mustache never seems to leave him alone.

Exhibit A; being he’s currently pinning Jay against a wall.

Jay keeps his eye shut, turning his head away as far as he can, but Mustache’s hand over his mouth keeps him from moving too much. Jay’s whimpers are muffled as he squirms.

“You’ve got some nerve actin’ all brave now after sobbin’ on the floor las’ night.”

Jay grimaces, but he keeps his eye closed.

“Aww, c’mon, kid! Let me see those pretty blues, or should I say, the one pretty blue,” he chuckles. He removes his hand from Jay’s mouth and moves it down to Jay’s side.

“S-stop,” Jay whimpers. Mustache doesn’t listen. “Leave me alone!”

“I think we both know that ain’t happenin,’ birdie. Besides, yer real fun to mess with!” Jay groans and lets out a tiny sob. Why does he hear that all the time?! “C’mon, tears already? I ain’t even started yet!”

His hand starts to trail lower and Jay knows what’s gonna happen and it’s getting really hard to breathe, but then a group of pirates pass by behind them. One of them with a red turban stops and laughs. “Really, Al? Flint’ already dosed the kid twice, and he fought the big lady today. Give ‘im a break and let ‘im clean. Floor actually needs it this time.”

Jay hears zero of what the other pirate says. He can’t breathe and he’s too focused on the hand that keeps trailing lower and lower, but he’s forever grateful for whatever the other pirate does say because Mustache loosens his grip and Jay wriggles free, putting as much distance between himself and the pirate as he can.

Mustache smirks at him, “Aight, I’ll let you have a rest. But I’ll be back, birdie . I promise,” he laughs loudly with red turban pirate and they both leave Jay by himself.

Jay picks up the discarded mop he’d been using before Mustache grabbed him and continues mopping with tears in his eyes.

He really wants to go home.

—

"I-I-I'm j-just sayin', do w-we r-r-really hafta be so h-hard on 'im?"

Jay wakes up groggily to an argument outside his cell. He can vaguely tell Clancee is involved. The snake's voice is hard to miss.

"Why ya bringing this up, Clance? You goin' soft? I mean, you's the only one who hasn't taken a swing at the brat in Scrap N' Tap. Even Flintlocke floored 'im! And ‘e never likes to get his hands dirty."

"N-no, o-of course not! Y'know i-i-it's just, I-I know he's a ninja, b-b-but he is just a kid."

Just a kid?! Really?

"Listen, snake." Jay hears someone get shoved and Clancee grunts, landing on top of Jay's cell, startling him.

"Kid or no kid, that brat is in the way of the boss' plan. Cap'n told us he needs the ninja to break and make his wish, so he can move on to the next one. He did say do whatever it takes, as long as we don't kill him."

"B-b-but...”

"And if you's gotta problem with that, take it up with the Cap'n!"

Clancee doesn’t say anything else and the other pirate storms off. The snake looks down through the bars and meets Jay's eyes, the blue ninja gives him a small smile.

Clancee proceeds to unlock Jay's cell and hauls him up, handing him a mop. He guesses Clancee's in charge of him today, and he’s more than grateful because the Sepentine never goes out of his way to hurt him. He even helps steady Jay once he's on his feet.

"Thanks." Jay says gratefully.

Clancee smiles a quick smile and leads Jay to the lower deck where he ends up spending the whole day. "S-s-sorry." The snake says before leaving.

Jay can't help but smile to himself.

Maybe not everyone on this ship is so cruel.

—

He goes back to his cell after only a couple hours of cleaning. The sun hasn’t even gone down yet.

And he doesn’t go to Scrap N’ Tap.

He doesn’t dare ask questions because he might make them change their minds.

He finds out why later that night.

A couple pirates wake him up long after the sun’s gone down and yank him out of his cell. He sleepily asks where they're taking him but he doesn't get an answer. He's led to Nadakhan's room where he's forced to kneel and his hands are tied in front of him.

He doesn't even try to fight back.

For one, he's still trying to wake up, and two, he knows struggling will get him nowhere. He tries to ignore the pirates as a few of them jostle him around and mess with him. He gives them a sleepy glare anytime they get too close to his face. There's no point in trying to be defiant, Jay and the pirates know that.

Everyone here has seen Jay at his very lowest, but that doesn't mean he can't plaster on his mask.

It looks like there's gonna be an audience for whatever's about to happen to him, because there's at least ten pirates here, including the top dogs.

He wiggles his wrists uncomfortably, the ropes bound tight around them are already rubbing his skin. Jay bites his cheek and tugs frustratingly at the ropes but they don't budge.

He’s so focused on his hands he doesn’t notice Nadakhan in front of him until his chin is forced up with a knife. Doubloon and Monkey Wrench are at either of the Djinn's sides.

Doubloon is holding...

No.

They can't be serious right now.

"I hope you don't mind, little canary, we are going to try something new." Nadakhan sneers down at the trembling blue figure on the floor.

Jay can't help it. He starts sobbing. All his previous thoughts about resisting this time go down the drain. He curls in on himself again, bringing his bound hands close to his chest.

The thing Doubloon is holding unravels into Jay's field of vision.

The thing that looks deathly like a whip.

" No! No no no... " Jay pleads over and over, in hopes that the pirates listen.

They don't.

They only laugh and then the first strike hits, a sharp crack and Jay's scream rings throughout the ship.

Blood runs down Jay's arm.

Pain clouds his mind.

He's still sobbing.

" S-stop ... it." He can barely get the words out. He's gasping for air.

Another strike cracks across his arm.

"Stop!"

"Make your wish?"

"No!"

Then another on his back.

And the last on his shoulder.

His own crying is the only thing he can hear, and he falls unconscious before he can find out what happens next.

—

Jay wakes up screaming in his cell.

His hands aren’t tied this time but the pain of the whip is the only thing he can focus on.

He's never experienced any pain like that before.

The blood has clotted by now but it still burns.

His gi is really ruined now.

There's blood all over him.

Staining the floor and the walls of his cell, the ball and chain around his ankle, his gi, his face, his hands... it's everywhere .

His throat is raw from screaming.

Someone knocks on his cell and he looks up with tear-blurred vision to see some pirate waving around a water bottle.

"Hey, kid! Y'know all ya hafta do is..."

Jay stops listening after that and chokes on a sob.

"Suit yourself!"

The pirate walks away, but Jay can’t stop sobbing. He’s careful to keep quiet so he doesn’t attract any more attention to himself. Fortunately, for the first time in a while, he doesn't fall into a nightmare-filled sleep, but he's stuck awake for the nightmare he's living right now.

He doesn't sleep for over a day.

His mind won't shut up and give in even as his body wants nothing more.

He doesn't want to sleep.

No one bothers him thankfully.

But he's left alone with his thoughts.

That's when his broken mind gets to run wild.

He doesn't deserve to sleep.

He doesn't deserve food or water.

He doesn't deserve to be saved.

He doesn't deserve to be happy again.

'Cause he's absolutely positive he'll never be even close to okay again.

'Positive thinking' his foot.

When he does eventually fall asleep who knows how many days later, there's one last thought that slips through his mind without his permission...

Maybe Flintlocke should just pull the trigger next time he threatens to...

—

The next time Jay wakes up he can't move.

Not only because his fresh injuries still burn, but he's sitting in a chair and his wrists are stuck to the arms with duct tape, and his mouth is taped shut.

He's getting really tired of waking up this way.

(He swears if he ever gets outta here, he’s never touching duct tape ever again.)

He's in a room, a very small room—a glorified closet at best—he doesn't recognize. It's musty, making it more difficult to breathe than it already is, and dark save for one light bulb illuminating some of the room. He can't see much.

He squirms and twists his wrists, testing the tape.

It’s tight.

Really tight.

He tugs the tape harder, tears already forming without his permission.

He's stuck.

He can't move.

He groans and then he hears hauntingly familiar laughter.

His head darts around in all directions until his eye lands on two pirates standing in the far corner of the room. His stomach churns and his face loses every ounce of color when he sees Chamille and Mustache.

The two stalk dangerously close to Jay with sadistic smiles. He tries to look defiant, even with tears in his eyes.

Chamille walks behind him and places her hands near Jay's neck. He freezes up and instinctively flinches away.

"Been lon' time since we had some one on one now hasn' it, birdie?" Mustache circles Jay like a bird stalking its prey. His accent is thick and heavy, and Chamille's breath is hot on Jay's neck.

Her hands trail around Jay's shoulders and chest. "Hey, honey. Told you I'd come visit you later for some fun." She laughs when Jay flinches.

"Now, don't go tellin' the boss," Mustache starts. "But, no one else knows you in 'ere."

"So, that means," Chamille continues, "you're gonna be alone with us for a while. Isn't that great?!"

Both of them laugh at the look on Jay’s face, and Chamille's hands trail up to stroke his blood-matted hair, then Mustache stops in front of him, leaning in and whispering in Jay’s ear.

"Told you I’d be back."

Jay starts crying, and then there's pain in the side of his head. The vision in his one working eye goes in and out. He feels a trail of blood leak down his temple and vaguely sees Mustache holding a bat in front of him, laughing. He has to force himself to stay conscious.

Something hits the side of the chair, knocking it and Jay to the floor.

There's more ringing in his ears, talking he can barely comprehend. He hears a pocketknife open, he feels pain in his arm, he hears muffled whimpering, it takes him a while to realize he’s the one making the noise. His digs his fingernails into the arms of the chair. They lift the chair up and Jay's head slumps down weakly.

He's fully aware of the tears staining his cheeks. He's fully aware of the two pirates taunting him. He's fully aware it's becoming hard to breathe with his mouth taped shut.

And Jay's no Zane or Nya, but he's still sorta smart. He can figure things out.

He's knows they're touching him.

Touching his shoulders, his neck, his arms, his thighs. And he knows what they want to do.

That's why they brought him to an empty room.

This isn't about him making a wish anymore, at least not to these two.

This is a game for them.

They don't care if he makes his wish or not.

They only want to hurt him. Make him suffer.

Humiliate him. No wish necessary.

This is all about torturing some poor little child who wound up on their ship.

And Jay wants to fight back.

He wants to kick, scream, fight, do anything besides just sitting there and taking it.

But he can't .

He’s too weak to move, even if he wasn’t tied up.

What would the others think? What would his parents think?

And then Chamille is practically on top of him and the walls are closing in, when did the room get smaller, and he can't breathe and everything is closing in on him and his chest hurts and now she's caressing his face and untying the straps of his gi...

And Jay sobs .

He screams.

He doesn't have the strength to do more than that. He tugs uselessly at the tape keeping his  wrists still. He tries to shove her off of him. He doesn't like this, he doesn't want this.

He wants to go home .

He wants to go home.

First Spinjitzu Master, he wants home.

Where he's safe in his Ma's arms.

Where his Pa's workshop smells of Ma's crumb cake and motor oil.

Where he knows Cole will always have his back.

Where Kai teases him about anything and everything.

Where Zane cooks amazing food.

Where Lloyd looks up to him.

Where he and Nya are still great friends and they happily work in the workshop together.

Where he's safe.

He can faintly hear panicked whispers and shushes he's sure are directed at him. The two pirates look scared and Mustache quickly puts a hand over Jay's mouth, as if to somehow silence his already muffled sobs.

Jay didn't even realize he was still sobbing so hard.

Suddenly the door bursts open and light floods the room. Jay's cries don't stop but he hears shouting. Voices that sound eerily like Flintlocke and Dogshank. He wearily opens his eye long enough to see Flintlocke run out the two frightened pirates. He then turns to Jay and gives him a look that could almost be taken as sympathy.

Almost.

"Alright, alright, calm down, kid. No need to overreact."

Overreact?

Overreact?!

He was... he was almost...

Overreact?!

"Kid, seriously, people are sleepin,’ you've gotta stop." The first mate nudges Jay's shoulder and he violently flinches away. "I'll untie ya and take you back to yer cell, but only if you quit the cryin'."

Jay looks up and meets Flintlocke's eyes. He nods weakly and hums in agreement. Flintlocke rips the tape off Jay's mouth none too gently and cuts his wrists free from the chair. Once his hands are loose, Jay quickly readjusts his gi from where it loosely hangs on his shoulders revealing the horrible bruises and cuts peaking out from his chest.

Flintlocke pulls a pistol and nudges Jay forward. "Alright, kid, get a move on."

Just pull the trigger.

Jay bites his lip as the tears flow again and he takes a wobbly step forward, immediately tripping over the chain on his ankle, causing the pain to flare. He's so woozy right now. The walls are moving. He lets out a pained cry, falling to his knees. It's getting really hard to breathe. He hears Dogshank say something and next thing he knows, he's being roughly dragged back to his cell. Dogshank pushes Jay in and he lands with a grunt and Flintlocke leans over the edge.

"Just know, kid, I only ran 'em off 'cause it’s the middle a’ the night, and yer bein’ way too loud." Flintlocke simply shrugs and he leaves Jay alone. As soon as he hears the cage lock and the footsteps get farther and farther away, he's crying again.

Sobbing.

Wailing.

Choking.

It’s gonna happen again...

Jay doesn't stop sobbing until his lungs can't take anymore and he passes out.

—

Jay is up before sun-rise cleaning the deck.

The crew, for the most part, leaves him alone. He's thankful, it gives him relief of more pain than he's already in.

He cleans absentmindedly until the late morning. Maybe just before noon, based on the sun, he sees a faint glow of green in the distance, making its way across the deck. He limps closer to the figure to get a better look.

But when Jay realizes what, or who, it is, he can't believe what he sees.

His heart almost leaps out of his chest.

Standing right before him is... Cole.

It's Cole.

He... he's really here!

Jay's finally getting rescued?

He believed he'd never get off this ship.

"Cole!"

Jay drops his mop and runs to his best friend, who's here! He's actually here! He thought a rescue wasn't coming but it did!

Jay stops in front of Cole, who's attention is now turned to him.

But...

He doesn't seem happy. He isn't smiling, he's almost... glaring. He's got a disgusted, hateful look in his eyes.

Jay frowns. "Cole? What's wrong? It's me. Jay!"

"Yeah, and?" His tone is cold and harsh.

Jay steps back, taken by surprise at Cole's response. "Cole, are, are you okay?"

Cole scoffs, "Of course not, I ran into you."

"W-what do you mean?" Jay hesitates.

Cole looks down at Jay like he's stupid. "I was supposed to get in, take care of Nadakhan, and get out. Hoping I didn’t run into you, so this situation wouldn't happen. Now that it has, you're stupid enough, as expected, not to connect the dots!"

Jay furrows his eyebrows, a sickening feeling grows in the bottom of his stomach, "You, you mean," he gets it now, "you were... gonna... leave me here?"

"Uhh, duh? What did you expect? Did you really think we were going to come for you after all you did? Are you that delusional?!"

Tears blur Jay's vision. "Well, not... I-I just t-thought-" Cole cuts him off.

"Well, you thought wrong. You lied," he starts listing things off on his fingers, "you kept secrets from us, you caused us to lose Kai, Zane, Misako, and Sensei Wu, you deliberately didn't trust us, you stupidly made two wishes all for your own selfish gain, making Nadakhan to target you, leading him straight to us, stranding us on the island, and after all of that , you honestly expected us to come for you?!"

Jay doesn't answer.

He can’t form words.

He hangs his head instead.

He knew this would happen.

This is exactly what he kept telling himself the whole time, but to hear it actually said? And to come from Cole, his brother , his best friend .

"Huh, looks like you got what you deserved." His eyes float over Jay's battered body. "You look disgusting."

Jay doesn't even try to keep the tears at bay. "C-Cole, I... I—" He's cut off by a different voice.

"He's right, and leaving you here does seem like a pretty good punishment." Jay turns to see Nya standing behind him, arms crossed and sporting the same disgusted look as Cole.

"Nya? How did, what do you-"

"Boy, am I glad we decided not to go after you when you were captured. You screwed up big time."

"N-Nya, no, you don't mean—"

"I can’t believe I called you family." Jay turns again, this time to his left to see Lloyd glaring at him. "After all you did? You're no ninja, you don't deserve the honor of the title, you're a disgrace!"

"L-Lloyd? Buddy? No... no I..." Nya cuts in before he can get anymore words out.

"Why are you still fighting? You're not doing anyone any favors here. You were never gonna save me anyway. Your resistance on this ship, your so-called 'bravery'," she makes air quotes, "was for nothing. You only got what you deserved. Just make your wish already."

"I can't believe I ever called you my best friend. A screw up like you doesn't deserve friends. Might as well just make your wish."

A new voice joins the cacophony of already ear-pounding noise, and then Kai stands to Jay's right. "You know I blame you for all of this. If you would've just told us about Nadakhan, Zane and I would still be here! And you put my sister in danger!"

“Kai, I-I’m sorr-“

"It's all your fault, Jay." Zane's voice joins the mixture of shouts. "Your foolishness is the reason we’re in this mess. We would still be here if it weren't for you. It would be best for everyone if you just wished it all to go away."

“N-no, n-no, guys, please...”

This, this isn't adding up.

This doesn't make any sense.

He knows he's out of it, but this? He has to be dreaming... Right?

"Zane, Kai?" Jay's head darts back and forth between the two. "How are you here? You, you were in the s-sword!" Jay doesn't get an answer.

This isn't right.

How can Zane and Kai be here?

None of this is making any sense.

The world seems to slow down for a brief moment. Jay has no more words. All he can do is stare blankly as the shouting increases. It all muffles together for the most part, but he can distinctly hear several words that sting more than others.

"Failure!" That's Lloyd's voice.

"Joke!" Then Kai.

"Liar!" Nya's voice.

"Idiot!" Cole.

"Weak!" And Zane.

He squeezes his eye shut and falls to his knees with his hands painfully clenching his head.

The world spins.

Everything’s too loud.

Just shut up!

Shut up!

Shut up!

He can't think.

He can't draw in a breath.

He can feel the panic attack coming on.

"Stop!"

It doesn't stop, it gets louder.

When Jay opens his eyes he's back in the Scrap N' Tap arena. Crowds are cheering.

His friends are in the crowd.

He sees Cole, Nya, Zane, Kai, Lloyd...

His team. His family.

They're all watching, smiling.

Pirates enter the ring.

No.

No.

No no no!

It's starting.

And his frien— teammat— the others are watching.

They can’t watch this!

They're gonna see how weak he really is.

And then comes the first hit.

The fights go on and on and on and it never stops.

But he can't feel any of the punches or the kicks or the grabs or anything.

He can't even hear Nadakhan or the pirates.

All he can hear are the sounds of the others, laughing as he's beaten and humiliated.

And that hurts so much more than anything Nadakhan can ever do to him.

Now they're leaving. Just getting up and walking out. Laughing. He turns his head to see his friends (not anymore, he's lost them) walk away towards the edge of the ship.

They're leaving him.

They don't even look back.

They summon their dragons and take off, one by one, without even giving him a second glance.

He's knocked on his back and several pirates pin down his arms and legs. Jay struggles against them but he can't move. He starts sobbing again.

"Cole! Nya, anyone, guys, please! S-stop, come back!"

They're gone in an instant, like they were never there in the first place. Jay squeezes his eyes shut as tears pour down his face, trying not to believe what just happened.

This isn't real.

It can't be real.

He doesn't understand.

"P-Please," Jay whimpers, barely above a whisper, "don't l-leave me here." He cries and cries and he won’t be able to stop anytime soon. "Please, don't leave me."

He had been right all along.

He doesn't have any friends anymore.

He's lost them all.

He messed up big time.

He's alone.

All alone.

Chamille stands over him, holding a really big knife.

Next thing he knows, the knife is hovering over his eye.

"I warned ya, honey."

No no no!

He squirms and cries and wails but she only laughs.

He hears Nadakhan's laugh.

"Just wish it all away!"

The knife comes down into Jay's eye and he shrieks.

—

Jay wakes up screaming and gasping for air, bolting upright from the ground in a puddle of sweat. He looks around his cell frantically. His breathing is ragged and labored.

What happened?

What happened?!

His hand shoots up to his eye, wincing when he bumps it too hard.

Still there.

Covered by the eyepatch, but still there.

It takes him a few minutes to register the whole thing was just a dream, and after a while he eventually gets his breathing under control.

"Hey!" Jay looks up to see an angry pirate banging on the cell door. "Would'ya shut up! People are trying ta sleep 'ere!"

Jay takes deep breaths as the pirate storms off. Trying to calm himself completely before he gives into panic.

Just a dream. That's it.

A very scary, could-possibly-become-reality dream. But just a dream, nonetheless.

"You're okay. Just a dream. Nothing..." he pauses.

Oh, who's he kidding.

He can't even convince himself that his dream won't come true.

Jay sighs, "I don't know anymore."

He scoots backwards, leaning up against the wall of the cell. He brings his knees up to his chest and wraps his arms around them, wincing at the bruises and cuts that strain. He wants to cry. He just hugs his knees tighter and buries his head in his arms. He stays like that for a long time. He can't even decide if it's even worth crying right now or not, but he eventually decides not because it doesn't take so much energy. He just sits there, numb, alone with his thoughts.

There's no point in going back to sleep, not if he just ends up having another nightmare like that again.

At least the dizziness is mostly gone. He can tell what's what and isn't so disoriented. And at least for right now, everything's toned down to a dull, albeit throbbing, but still dull ache.

He's got so many cuts and bruises, he can't even begin to count them all. He just knows they’re all over him, it's hard to find a spot left untouched. His ankle's a dark shade of purple and black. And it’s really swollen, the chain cutting into his skin is creating an angry, bruising ring, his wrist is a mess too. He doesn't even want to think about how bad his ribs are right now.

Jay lifts his head out of his knees and grabs the chain angrily. He's had enough of it.

He yanks and pulls on it with all the strength he has left. He hates it, he hates it so much he just wants to scream.

But it won't budge, he can't get it off.

Frustrated tears are already forming.

The clanking and clinging of the chain echoes in his cell.

It's the stupid noise that makes sure he knows he's trapped here. The noise that mockingly reminds him he's a prisoner and that he can't escape, no matter how hard he tries. There is no escape from here, he learned that lesson a long time ago.

He kicks the weight with his other foot and lets out a growl of anger, annoyance, and a whirlwind of other emotions he feels at the moment. The weight yanks on Jay's ankle as it jolts forward by the kick and he can't stop himself from screaming as pain shoots through his foot and up his leg. He puts a hand over his mouth in an effort to stifle his scream when he remembers there are sleeping pirates above who don't like to be woken up. He pulls his leg in towards himself and cradles his ankle, gingerly rubbing it, trying to sooth the blinding pain throbbing in his foot.

His breathing is shaky.

The pain is too much.

Jay winces as the same pirate from before bangs on his cell again, making his ears ring. "I tol' you to shut up! Or I'll come down there and shut you up myself!"

Jay doesn't doubt the pirate's threat and likes the fact he can talk right now so he tries his best to quiet down. He straightens out his leg again once the pain subsides just the tiniest bit.

He needs the ball and chain off . It hurts .

He hates the feeling of his element being pent up inside. He absolutely hates it.

Jay doesn’t know any elemental master who likes the feeling, having a core part of you forcibly suppressed is not pleasant, but for Jay, the master of lightning , the elemental embodiment of unpredictability and speed and mobility and noise and ambitiousness...

Vengestone doesn't do, and has never done, well with Jay.

He can just feel his element screaming to be let out. It's like a poking and prodding inside his gut.

His lightning, that's his spirit, his soul, his strength, his source of energy.

It’s... him.

It’s who he is.

And right now, it feels like it's being held it a cage.

He honestly can’t believe he spent almost thirteen years of his life not even knowing he had powers.

Wu's warned them time and time again about how dangerous Vengestone can be. He's told them stories of elementals nearly losing their element to Vengestone, how their power got significantly weaker. He knows the metal can leave scars, weaken elementals, and be very painful.

Jay's never been exposed to Vengestone for this long before. He doesn't think any of the others have either.

Jay's willing to bet the excessive pain, swelling, and bruising on his ankle has something to do with the Vengestone.

He really needs this stupid thing off .

He hates being locked up.

Jay's never been one to stay put. He's constantly moving, fidgeting, always doing something . When he was little, it was hard for his Ma to get him to sit still for more than a few seconds, and after he found out about the certain elemental power flowing through his veins, he finally knew why.

Always moving, running, talking, being loud, it's who he is. And for how ever long he's been here, he hasn't been able to do much of any of that.

They've kept him restrained most of the time, shut him up when they got tired of his crying, kept his element suppressed to make sure he was weak, kept him locked in a cell, forced him to fight, forced him to clean, denied him food and water, taunted him, beat him over and over and over and over.

Tried to...

They'd broken him a long time ago. He just hasn't made his wish yet and he doesn't plan on it.

But the pirates aren't exactly helping. They always laugh at him, call him weak during Scrap N' Tap. They make it so much worse than it already is.

He still can't believe that.

They laugh .

They laugh like it's funny watching him get beaten and bruised and burned and broken and cut and humiliated. It's all a game to them.

The pirates are awful. They pick on him during the day, kick him around, punch him, push him, trip him.

He’s even been dangled over the edge of the ship.

Maybe two days ago? He can't really remember.

He'd been mopping the lower deck and some pirate had tauntingly asked if he thought his friends were coming for him, but he wouldn't answer. Next thing he knew, Dogshank had grabbed his arm and dangled him over the edge of the ship. And even though he knew they wouldn't actually drop him because Nadakhan needed him alive, he was still terrified.

All he could do was flail his arms around, crying, trying to grab onto anything he could. They didn't put him down until he answered their question.

"Ha, what, are ya scared, little ninja? Scared you're gonna fall? I thought ninja were supposed to be brave, ninja aren't supposed to cry, 'cause that's all you seem to do. Oh, that's right, you're just a little kid. Are you afraid your friends left you behind? Do you really think they're comin' back for ya?"

He didn't even realize he answered no until after they put him down.

Sometimes he could fight back, well, not really fight, more like stand his ground, but most days, all he could do was just sit there and cry.

Every part of this ship is a nightmare. A never-ending nightmare.

How long has he been here anyway?

He lost track at some point.

Days blurred together ever since he was manipulated by the crew.

When he fell for that stupid trick.

It's all been downhill from there.

Jay does know he hasn't eaten in a long time.

He doesn't know how long ago though. Long enough to make his stomach cramp at the thought of food.

Last time he'd eaten, it was only two slices of bread someone had thrown down, after a really bad fight. He can’t really remember any other specific instance he was given food, except after his first ever round of Scrap N' Tap, but he didn't even eat it.

Why they thought he'd be able to eat after going through that, and for the first time, blind in one eye and barely able to comprehend his surroundings, he had no idea.

It was probably just part of the sick joke.

He knows he got water two days ago, but it’s always only half a bottle or less. Never any more than that. He knows it’s just because they need him alive.

He also knows he's gotten skinny.

Really. Skinny.

He's always been small and short (the others constantly pick on him for it), but now he can see his ribs. Not eating since who knows when and limited water will do that to you he guesses. Just the thought of food makes his stomach growl. Even though he's starving, he doesn't think he'd be able to stomach anything, between being constantly beaten and working in the scorching sun all day. The pirates probably know that too.

First Master , he wants to go home.

He wants to hug his Ma and Pa and tell them that he loves them so, so much, and to hear it in return. He doesn't care about the adopted thing or about Cliff Gordon being his birth father and whoever his mother is. Ed and Edna, his Ma and Pa, are always going to be his real parents.

He wants to sleep in a real bed. His cell is hard and cold and his dried blood is staining the floor and walls.

He realized pretty quickly that the days here in the upper atmosphere are scorching, and the nights freezing. He doesn't have a blanket so he just curls himself into a ball to try and stay warm.

He wants to sleep. He hasn't had a real goodnight's sleep in so long. He's constantly fatigued and exhausted.

He wants the others to be safe. Zane, Kai, Sensei, Misako, he wants them back and out of that sword. And he wants Cole, Lloyd, and Nya out of danger.

He sincerely hopes they're okay. He has no way of knowing if they're still on the island or if they found a way back to Ninjago. He would never forgive himself if his friends got hurt or... or worse because he screwed up. It is his fault they're stranded there in the first place. He wonders if they ever got his message in the bottle?

He wants to eat, he wants to sit around the table in the common room of the Bounty, surrounded by all his friends, and eat Zane's amazing chicken casserole. To joke around with each other and just have fun being a family, like normal.

He wants water. First Master, he's so thirsty. His throat's dry and his voice hoarse. And it hurts .

He wants the pain to stop. Everything hurts so bad. He’s forced into Scrap N' Tap so much, getting more and more hurt. And he never goes a round without the pirates' commentary, just adding insult to injury. His bruises' bruises probably have bruises by now.

He tries to fight back, he really does, but they never give him much of an opportunity to breathe, let alone land a punch.

All just so he can break and wish it away.

He hates thinking about how sick it is for the pirates to just watch and laugh .

They’ve made him painfully aware that they know he’s a kid, calling him one all the time, but some part of him wonders if they know they're torturing a teenager.

Despite the fact he feels anything but right now, Jay's a ninja. He’s constantly thrown into dangerous, life-threatening situations, protecting people at any and all cost, but he’s still a minor.

He can’t drink, can’t rent a car, and he technically doesn’t have a driver’s license but that’s besides the point.

He may be on the younger side of the team, but the others are in the same boat.

They were so young when Wu recruited them. He had been thirteen, a year younger than Cole and Kai. Fourteen when they beat the Great Devourer, and fifteen when Zane sacrificed himself.

He doesn’t even want to think about Lloyd. He's (technically) fifteen, and already been through so much more than anyone should ever have to experience in their entire life.

Cole’s the oldest at seventeen, and he’s is a ghost, he's died . Jay's barely sixteen, himself.

If they had never become ninja, they'd be sitting in school, living normal lives, their biggest worry a test grade, not having the fate of Ninjago resting on their shoulders.

The sick, twisted part of him wonders why he became a ninja in the first place.

It's only lead him up to this point.

And this point sucks.

If he'd declined Wu's offer to become a ninja several years ago, he'd be sitting in his parents junkyard right now, homeschooled and finishing his sophomore year of high school.

Not getting tortured, manipulated, and exploited on a...

Jay physically recoils when he catches himself.

What is he even thinking?!

He loves being a ninja. It's the most amazing experience he could ever ask for.

Ever since he was little, he's always wanted to do something more than just be stuck in the junkyard. He's always wanted to make a name for himself, change the world and help people, and becoming a ninja, fulfilling his destiny, has given him that opportunity.

He wouldn't trade this life for anything.

And if they hadn't become ninja, if they never trained with Wu? There’s no way their lives would've ever been normal in anyway.

Kai and Nya are orphans. They'd've had to run their parents' shop just to provide for each other, Cole would've been forced to finish school at Marty's, following the career his dad wanted, Zane would've been stuck wandering Ninjago, having no idea who he was or where he came from, and Lloyd...

Lloyd would still be all alone, possibly following the evil path of his father.

Jay would just be a poor kid with no future, stuck working at his parents' junkyard.

Their elements, the elements of creation, passed down from generation to generation, would’ve been lost forever.

Becoming ninja, meeting each other, finding their true potentials, it’s all of their destinies. In a way, becoming ninja saved their lives. It's what they were born to do. Gifted with elemental powers, like their ancestors, from the First Spinjitzu Master himself, to protect the world they live in.

It's the best decision he's ever made. He’d never regret his choice. He hates that the question even crossed his mind. (He's just gonna blame it on the concussion.)

Jay loves helping people. It gives him a sense of purpose. He's made so many friends, the best of friends, that he now considers his family. He's made so many amazing memories. He's saved lives, became the hope for people who had none. FSM, he even became famous.

Who knew you could lose everything with just two little wishes.

Why did he even make those wishes in the first place? To get the future he wanted so badly but knew he'd never have with Nya? To lose his head over some girl?

But that's the thing, Nya isn't just some girl .

She's so much more than that. She means the world to him. She's the best thing that's ever happened to him. She's strong and so beautiful and brave and confident and loyal and resilient and a great friend.

He never deserved her in the first place.

He just really wis- wants Nadakhan to just, just! Just go away. It sounds childish but he doesn’t care.

He regrets making those wishes so much.

He just wants to go home.

But this is just a part of a ninja's job description. They fight evil. They protect others. They put themselves in harm's way just to keep the people of Ninjago and each other safe. They'd all read the fine print when they signed up for this. They knew what they were getting into.

They've all been kidnapped, captured, hurt, all the trauma, etc. You name it, it’s probably happened to them. This is nothing new.

But he doesn’t think anyone’s been tortured dur— Agh! No, stop!

There he goes complaining again!

He. Doesn't. Get. To. Complain.

He needs to realize he deserves this.

He messed up and now he's receiving the consequences.

He doesn't deserve to be rescued.

Why would his friends even want to come after him? Are they even still friends? Their angry voices are still playing on repeat in his head.

"You've seen Nadakhan and haven't told us?!"

"How could you be so stupid to make a wish?!"

"It was Nadakhan, but don't ask me how I know, ask Jay."

"What is he talking about, Jay?”

Nya's judging gaze.

Cole's disgusted glare.

"The only reason he's here and the others aren't, is because Jay never made his third wish. Maybe if Zane knew that, he'd still be here!"

Lloyd's confused expression contorting into an angry one in a split second.

"W-why didn't you tell us?!"

"Well I know who just nominated themselves to extract the Tiger Widow's venom!"

Nya's icy cold stare was filled with so much anger and hatred as she shoved passed him and stormed off.

He'd made them so angry .

He's never seen Nya so mad at him, not even when he and Cole were fighting over her.

Honestly, the others are probably glad he got taken. He wouldn’t blame them. He's out of their way now.

At least it was him that got captured, he'd much rather it be him in this situation than anyone else. In reality, him getting captured was probably a good thing. Even though he really wants to go home, he won't blame them if they just skip on past. He'd more than willingly spend the rest of his life on this horrible, nightmarish pirate ship if it meant his friends and family were safe in Ninjago.

A few unwelcome tears form in Jay's eyes but he quickly wipes them away. He's already cried enough, no more. He already feels weak, and crying won't help his case.

He feels worthless.

He feels like a failure.

Oh, who's he kidding?

He is weak.

He is worthless.

And he is a failure.

He's failed so, so many times.

He isn't fooling anyone.

The clanking of keys on his cell door snaps him out of his thoughts. He'd gotten so lost in thought, he didn't even notice the sun was now peaking over the horizon. Two pirates yank him out of the cell, they hold his arms and they push him forward.

And when he isn't handed a sponge or a mop, he instantly knows where they're leading him.

He already knows .

His breathing picks up.

His pulse starts racing.

His heart pounds in his chest.

Every injury flares up at once.

He starts panicking.

So much for not crying anymore.

It doesn't matter how many times he plays this stupid game, it scares him every time because he never knows what the pirates will do to him.

It's never the same.

He starts hyperventilating, "No, no. No m-more fighting." He whimpers and struggles against the two pirates escorting him, but their grips only tighten on his arms.

Flintlocke laughs at him.

"Are you gonna make yer wish?”

Jay shakes his head. "N-no, b-but it h-hurts. I-I don't, no I-I..." He’s so scared he can't even piece together a coherent sentence.

Flintlocke laughs again. "Then that's yer fault, kid. You know what ya have to do to stop all this. You've heard your conditions lots of times. It's yer choice. If you don't make your wish, it's back to Scrap N' Tap you go."

"N-no, I-I don't, s-stop!" He can't do anything as he's forced to the ground in the middle of the ring. He's crying before he even hits the floor boards.

He really is weak.

Someone he doesn't see comes from behind him and slams a fist down on his head, making his skull explode with pain and his vision blur.

That's what starts the worst round of Scrap N' Tap he's ever been through.

The worst part isn't the duration of the fights, which are ridiculously long this time round.

It isn't the increasing laughter of the crew.

It isn't the fact that much bigger knives and bats enter the picture, making deeper cuts and darker bruises on his already abused skin.

It isn't even the fact that Nadakhan is either smiling sadistically in amusement from the side lines or whispering wish  into his ear the entire time.

It's the fact that a part of him is actually considering wishing.

It's the fact that the words I wish  almost escape his mouth.

It's the fact that please   does escape his mouth without his permission.

He'd promised himself, when things started to get bad, that he would never beg.

"S-stop, please." It's a pathetic whimper, barely above a whisper, but they still hear it.

They hear it loud and clear.

So much for convincing them he isn't broken.

Idiot!

He shakily lifts himself to his feet to see everyone pointing and laughing. Nadakhan makes it all the more worse. He floats up behind Jay and places his two upper hands on Jay's shoulders.

Jay wants to move, run away, get as far away from there as possible, but his body won’t listen.

He's just made a very stupid mistake.

Nadakhan's hands trail dangerously close to Jay's neck and Jay swallows thickly.

"One step closer, Jay ." Hearing Nadakhan say his name for the first time is beyond unsettling. It sends a shiver down Jay's spine. "All I need now is just a few little words. You know the ones. I already got you to beg. And... don't worry about Nya, you’d be doing her a favor."

Jay chokes on a sob. He just wants it to end.

"Then make your wish already!" He realizes he must've said that last part out loud.

"It will all stop as soon as you wish it all away!"

Another punch from behind sends him back to the ground.

Jay doesn't count how many more rounds he goes through but he's very careful not to slip up and say anything else.

He stays focused on keeping his mouth shut.

He's not wishing.

Some pirate grabs his broken wrist and twists it behind Jay’s back, pulling him in so he can whisper in his ear. “Aww what? Now you don’t wanna talk?”

Jay keeps his mouth shut. He’s positive if he opens his mouth he’s only gonna scream because the pirate keeps squeezing his wrist.

“You were really chatty all those times we gagged you. I can do that for you if you want?” Jay whimpers and he weakly shakes his head. “C’mon, birdie, you begged for Al? Give me something here?”

“ S-stop!”

The pirate clicks his tongue and there’s more laughter. “Ooo, ‘fraid I can’t do that, kid.”

That’s Jay’s only warning before the pirate squeezes his broken wrist, and he can feel his bones crack.

Jay screams .

The pirate chuckles in his ear. “That’s more like it! Guess I don’t have to gag you after all?”

Then he drops Jay to the floor.

Jay clutches his wrist gently, rocking back and forth on the ground. He’s still screaming and crying.

He's wheezing.

He can't breathe.

But the pirates aren’t done with him yet.

Healing cuts are reopened. Dark bruises get darker. New cuts are made. New bruises form. Blood leaks from several wounds and drips onto the floorboards, staining them red.

He’s curled into a ball by the time they do finish.

He hears Nadakhan's voice but doesn't catch what he says. Before Jay can do anything, someone forces him to stand. His arms are pulled behind him and he's pushed to walk forward. He yelps when they grab his wrist.

He can't even walk straight.

He's stumbling and tripping over his feet the whole way.

They reach Nadakhan's quarters and Jay's practically thrown to the ground. He struggles to sit up, his arms feel like jelly.

His body's just getting weaker and weaker by the moment. His mental state isn't much better.

He haphazardly manages to pick himself up into a sitting/kneeling position, and it's right then he sees Nadakhan staring down at him, with Dogshank standing in the corner, pounding her fists.

Jay has to force himself to keep from crying.

He glares instead and keeps his gaze averted, trying to hide the fresh tears stains on his face. At least until Nadakhan's cold hook forces his chin up. Jay doesn't even have it in him to pull away.

"Listen, Jay ," his name is a warning, "you've spent quite a great deal of time resisting, hmm? I think it's time you made your wish, don't you? After all, you can only take so much. You've lasted long, I'll give you that. But, come now, let's hear it. Make your wish."

Jay's tempted, and he hates himself for even thinking about it, but he jerks his head away from Nadakhan's hook.

"No." Jay states it plain and simple and keeps his head down, cradling his mangled wrist and nursing the new deep cut on his arm still oozing with fresh blood.

Nadakhan growls, "What was that?"

"I said no." He doesn't waste his energy on a snarky response. At this point he'd much rather go back to cleaning or his cell than be here.

"Fine." Nadakhan scowls down at Jay. "But whatever happens next is all your fault." Nadakhan disappears and Dogshank stomps towards Jay.

The color drains from his face.

Jay can't even move before she grabs his arm and lifts him in the air. He yelps, his injuries igniting, the ball and chain still weighing down painfully on his ankle.

“ P-please don’t, just leave me alone...” Jay looks at her with pleading eyes and swears he sees a hint of remorse in her's, but it's only there for a split second, if ever there at all.

"Sorry, kid. Nothing personal, just doing what needs to be done."

More pain than he's ever known takes over him next as her fist collides with his stomach and sends him flying into the opposite wall of Nadakhan's quarters.

Jay wails .

His head makes a sickening crack against the wall, mimicking the crack of his ribs, and his vision goes out.

It hurts. So. Much. Every time he thinks he's felt the worst pain imaginable, he's proven wrong.

She grabs him by the arm and flips him over her head, sending Jay smashing back down on the floorboards. He bites his lip, trying to stifle a scream. He wants it to stop. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. She beats down on him for what seems like an eternity for Jay, but in reality was probably only a few minutes, before it stops.

He's fighting for consciousness by the time it does and he wonders to himself why he doesn’t just give in to blissful darkness. His breathing is labored. His lungs burn, his throat raw from screaming. He's on his side clutching his stomach. Eye squeezed shut, trying to imagine himself anywhere else but here.

He wants his Ma.

He hears Nadakhan's voice again, "Well? Changed your mind?”

Jay can't even form words. He can't open his eye.

He's really tired.

And dizzy.

He manages a small shake of the head before someone grabs him by the neck, lifting him up and slamming him into a wall.

He lets out a strangled gasp, opening his eye to see Nadakhan glaring at him with anger he's never seen before.

Nadakhan squeezes the hand wrapped around Jay's throat, holding him off the ground and Jay wheezes.

His throat is getting crushed.

Jay scratches and claws at Nadakhan's hand but it only tightens.

" Really?! After all I've put you through? You still refuse to make your wish?!"

Jay feels the slightest bit of satisfaction but it’s overshadowed by the hand crushing his throat.

"I've had enough of this! I'm almost there," Nadakhan hisses out. "You can't hold on forever." He squeezes Jay's throat tighter. "You're only making this harder on yourself. You have nothing to keep fighting for! No one is coming for you! You are alone !" Nadakhan's grip somehow gets tighter and Jay coughs and sputters.

"S-s-stop... c-can't bre-eathe."

Jay's vision dances. Everything is blurry.

He can't breathe.

He can't breathe !

"Resist all you want, my little canary , but know this; No matter what you do or where you go, I will always be there. When you fall asleep, in your nightmares, and when you wake. I will get what I want from you! I always get what I want. There is no stopping me!"

Jay lets out a strangled sob.

He's gonna pass out.

Just before he gives into the darkness, the pressure on his throat lifts and he falls to the floor. He takes a big gasp of air.

His heart is pounding in his ears.

Nadakhan glares at him as he struggles to take a full breath. "You brought this on yourself, child. Both of you, get over here, now!"

Nadakhan waves for Dogshank to leave and two very familiar pirates walk through the door.

Jay pales.

"N-no, no, I," Jay whimpers through gasps as his crying continues, "no, don't. Please , no.."

This can’t be happening...

"Oh, was that another plea I heard? Maybe we are making progress." He laughs.

"Hey, birdie. Missed us? We sure missed you."

Jay unconsciously starts backing away. He's sobbing so hard he's shaking and he backs himself into a wall.

"G-get away from me, I said no, I..."

"We don't care what you said, birdie. This is happenin' whether you like it or not."

The two pirates grab him, drag him to the center of the room, and pin his arms down.

Jay's screaming, but it doesn’t faze them.

Chamille caresses his cheek as Mustache grabs his legs.

"S-stop!"

Jay yells and screams and cries but they don't listen. It doesn't matter what he says, they won't stop.

Chamille unties Jay's gi, exposing his battered chest, and she slams her lips into his.

And Jay panics.

He kicks and he squirms and he struggles and he tries to shove her off of him but they hold him down. They just laugh .

She finally pulls away and Jay takes a deep breath. "Wow, kid!" Jay lets out a choked sob and turns his head away from her, cheeks flushing with embarrassment. He sees Nadakhan sitting at the chair next to the table, looking amused.

This is the second time he's allowed this to happen. He can't even defend himself against two pirates. He can't push them off. He can't stop them. He's helpless.

And then she starts kissing him again. On his lips, his face, his neck, his chest. Jay can't do anything but scream.

He can't do anything .

He can barely move already.

This is really happening.

This is really gonna happen.

Mustache grabs the hem of his pants.

Chamille whispers in his ear, “Don’t worry, honey, we’ll be gentle.”

Then the door bursts open.

It’s Flintlocke.

Nadakhan scowls at his first-mate. “You’re interrupting us, Flintlocke. What is it?”

The first mate looks uncomfortable, he shoots Jay a tiny glance before answering.

“Sorry, Cap’n, but a zeppelin is missing. We need all hands on deck. And there’s something that requires your attention.”

Nadakhan grumbles, but he gets up from his chair. "Fine, give the ninja a break then take him back to his cell. If our little canary here still hasn't changed his mind, you both do whatever you want."

Chamille groans in disappointment but climbs off of Jay and Mustache lets go of his legs.

Once they're both off him, Jay immediately backs himself into a corner and curls into a ball, trying to cover himself, whimpering and crying. He quickly reties his gi and flushes.

"See ya' later, birdie!"

"Save some energy for us to have fun, okay?"

Jay watches through blurry vision as Nadakhan disappears and the other pirates exit the room with a slamming of a door.

Jay buries his head into the corner he's backed himself into and wraps his arms around himself.

How could he have just allowed them to do whatever they wanted?

He's a ninja!

Ninja don't allow things like that to happen.

They defend themselves.

They fight back.

All he does is cry .

The pain comes back and it’s overwhelming.

Everything's fuzzy again.

He'd just sat there and let them do whatever they wanted.

And he wasn't even strong enough to fight back.

He can't handle this anymore.

He can't keep pretending he isn't broken.

Because he is more than broken at his point, he's shattered.

He is never going to be okay ever again.

But he's going to have to keep pretending because no one is coming for him.

He isn't going to wish it away.

He doesn't care that the others aren't coming, he's still gonna protect them.

He's not letting Nadakhan get to Nya. No way in the Cursed Realm is he letting that happen.

He's not gonna say those stupid words.

But he's falling apart. Nadakhan already won, Jay just can't let him know that.

Nadakhan's words ring over and over again in his head.

"You are alone!"

How much more pathetic can he get?

He was supposed to be a hero. He was supposed to be invincible, strong for those who couldn't, look villains straight in the eye and not cower with fear. He was supposed to be brave, fearless.

But he's just weak.

He can't even defend himself.

Here he is, after only a few days of imprisonment, lying on the floor because he's too weak to stand or even sit up.

What a joke.

He’s sobbing again.

He isn't strong.

It doesn't matter what he does, nothing is ever gonna be good enough.

Not good enough for Ninjago.

Not for his team.

Not for Nya.

And there is nothing he can do about it.

Jay makes himself as small as possible, lays his head down on the floor, and silently cries. The floor is dusty and dirty. The dirt is getting in his cuts, it makes them sting but Jay doesn't care. He welcomes the pain, it's a distraction from all the thoughts swirling in his head.

He eventually stops crying. But the pain doesn't stop. Everything hurts so much . Every part of him aches and throbs. His head pounds. His vision is still blurry.

Then he hears the floorboards creek.

No.

No, they can't be back already!

He’s not getting bailed out this time...

Jay forces himself to look up.

He sees a green tinted shape walk through the room and stop at the table. The figure takes something out of their pocket and sets it down.

Wait.

Is that Cole?

It can't be.

Jay has to blink several times to clear his vision, but once it is clear, he sees him, it is Cole!

First Master, Cole is here. Right in front of him.

But, what about the last time?

No, that was a dream.

But what if his dream was right?

No, whether or not the outcome, he has to get his attention. Cole doesn't notice him. He has to say something before he misses his chance.

Cole grabs a bottle off the table and tries to pull the lid off, and Jay takes his chance.

He laboriously pulls himself forward from the corner by his hands. "C-Cole? I-is that you?"

Is that really his voice?!

Cole's head shoots up in surprise and he turns towards Jay. His eyes immediately light up.

" Jay! You're okay!" Cole drops whatever he was holding and rushes to Jay immediately. But his expression quickly turns from excitement into panic.

Jay pretends to ignore Cole’s horrified look when he gets a closer look.

He knows he looks awful.

Cole gently kneels down in front of him, almost as if afraid to touch him, fearing he’d shatter into a million pieces if he did.

Jay uses all the strength he has left and pushes himself up with his shaking arms, groaning and grimacing with pain in the process. He keeps himself up with one arm.

"What happened to your eye?" Cole's voice is gentle and concerned.

Jay acts like he didn’t hear the question. He really doesn't want to explain why he probably looks half-dead right now. "W-why, why are you dressed like a pirate?" Part of him is curious but the other part just wants to change the subject.

Cole smiles happily. "Don't worry about that. Our friends are nearby. We're gonna get you outta here!"

Jay has never been more relieved in his entire life. This is really happening. He's being rescued!

Cole pulls a set of keys from his belt and Jay could literally cry when he sees them. Cole’s still got that concerned look on his face as he inserts the key into the lock. Jay visibly relaxes when the latch loosens then completely unlocks from his ankle. That extra heavyweight is finally off and Jay lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

He feels like he could let out a million volts of electricity.

"Boy, am I glad to see you," Jay breathes out truthfully. He still can't believe this is happening.

Cole hoists Jay up from off the ground, (ignoring how light he is), and slings the smaller boy's arm around his shoulders so he can have support. Because there’s absolutely no way Jay's in any shape to walk right now. Checking to make sure Jay is secure, Cole leads him to the door.

Jay takes his chance to say what he should've said a long time ago. "Cole, I'm sorry about keeping stuff from you, I should've told you that—"

"And I should've been a better friend." Cole interrupts before he can finish. "Don't worry about it. Save your strength. We can laugh about this when it's all behind us." Cole gives him a reassuring smile.

Jay can't believe it.

Cole. Is apologizing. To him?!

Even after all he's done? Cole doesn't even seem mad anymore.

Like, at all .

Jay's expression melts into relief. But it doesn’t stay that way for long because he can hear the familiar creak of the floorboards and his relief turns into a pure panic.

He gets a worried look from Cole until he whisper/yells and points toward the door, "Behind you!"

Cole looks in the direction Jay’s pointing and understands right away. "A-ah, quick! Hide in there!" Cole shoves Jay into a closet and slams the doors shut, completely forgetting about his injuries in the moment.

Jay has to cover his mouth to stifle a scream, almost falling to the floor, having to use the walls of the closet to brace himself as pain flares up all over.

He can hear Cole move his ball and chain but he can’t see much.

Then the doors burst open and Nadakhan floats in, heading straight for the table.

He doesn't look surprised that Jay’s not there, so he probably thinks he’s been taken back to his cell.

Jay tries his best to keep his heavy breathing quiet. He knows exactly what will happen to him if he's found and he has to physically stop himself from crying just thinking about it. The door of the closet shifts a bit leaving a peephole Jay can see through.

Nadakhan growls, "We're out of Fiddlehead cider! Make sure someone plunders a new case for me!"

Flintlocke walks around the doorframe and leans against it. "Aye aye, Cap'n. You may need a cloak. It may be cold and really windy this fine evening."

Nadakhan strokes his goatee in thought and turns toward the closet Jay's hiding in. "Hm, good idea."

Jay's stomach drops.

No.

No no no!

Jay bites his lip and squeezes his eyes shut.

This is it. He's gonna get caught and be forced to clean again and he'd have to fight and fight and then clean and no food or water and there was just so much fighting and they would come back to finish with him—

The ship lurches and everyone jerks at the movement. Jay's ball and chain rolls out from its hiding place, catching Nadakhan's attention.

Jay lets out the breath he was holding but then Nadakhan growls angrily.

"Our prisoner's escaped! Search the ship!" He sounds furious .

Jay's stomach lurches again.

"Aye aye, Cap'n, we won't let him get away!"

Now they're after him.

Nadakhan storms out of the room and Flintlocke follows. Cole rushes for the closet to get to Jay and opens the doors, catching him before he falls and slinging his arm over his.

"We better get out of here, and fast!" Cole makes sure his arm is securely around Jay and they run out of the room in the opposite direction of Nadakhan.

Jay does his very best to try and keep up. He’s already leaning most of his weight on Cole because his foot is on fire and his ribs are pounding and telling him to slow down, but he can't slow down.

They have to get out of here!

After they've gotten a safe distance away from Nadakhan's room, Cole checks around the corner, making sure no one's close.

Jay gives him a look, "What's wrong?"

Cole’s got this sad look on his face.

“Cole, wha- woah!”

He pulls Jay into a giant hug without warning, not squeezing him too hard, making sure not to hurt him anymore, but tightly nonetheless. It startles Jay at first but after a second he deflates and relaxes into Cole. He wants to cry.

"I'm so glad you're alright," Cole sighs truthfully. "We were so worried about you, I don't think I've ever seen Nya so scared. We got your message in the bottle, but we didn't know if you were okay, or if Nadakhan already got you in the sword or... worse.... Ahh, this sucks, we should've come sooner."

Jay smiles softly and leans into Cole's hold more, he's probably getting blood on Cole's clothes but Jay doesn't think he'll care. He just can't believe what he's hearing. He knows he doesn't deserve any of this, but it feels so good to hear, especially from Cole. He was afraid he'd lost him for good.

"I'm the one who needs to be apologizing," Jay face falls, "I was the one who messed up and put everyone in danger."

Cole squeezes him tighter. "You don't need to apologize. You're not the only one to blame. I should've never outed you like that on the island."

"I'm just glad you came."

Cole chuckles, "What, you thought we'd leave you behind?" It’s meant as a joke, but when Jay doesn't answer and he sniffles, Cole gets a sick feeling in his stomach.

"Wait..." He pulls Jay out of the hug to look at him. "You, you thought we'd leave you here?!"

Jay looks down and Cole's eyes widen with shock. "Wh-why would you ever think that, Jay?! You're our brother, my best friend. Do you know how worried we were? Afraid that Nadakhan would do something horrible to you, he obviously did do something horrible, look at you! What made you think we'd leave you?!"

Jay sniffles again but he keeps his gaze averted. "W-well, I just figured, you were all really mad at me for making the wishes, and I was only messing up anyway. So, it made sense—" Cole cuts him off by pulling him into another hug.

"We would never leave you behind. Never. Please, don't ever think that."

Jay hesitates, but eventually nods, teary-eyed against Cole's shoulder.

That's the most comforting thing he can ever hope to hear right now.

Cole pulls away again, "Come on. Let's find the others."

Both of them make their way through the halls of the ship, silently for the most part. Jay gives occasional directions on where to go since he'd been throughout the whole thing several times. As they turn another corner, Jay looks down at his hand and makes a small spark of lightning between his fingertips. It's weak at the moment, but FSM , does it feel good to let out.

It‘s such a huge relief to be able to use his element again. He sighs heavily and Cole shoots him a worried glance, seeing the sparks in Jay's hand, "You okay, buddy?"

"Y-yeah. It's just... been a while since I could do this." He gestures to the sparks flickering in his palm.

That does nothing if worry Cole more, but he doesn’t push it.

As soon as they’re through the winding halls, the intercoms throughout the ship make flickering sounds and Flitlocke's voice booms over the speakers.

"All hands: Keep an eye out for anything suspicious. The prisoner has escaped!"

Cole and Jay stop dead in their tracks. "We better get moving. They're gonna be looking for you."

Jay nods, agreeing, "I can walk now."

Cole raises an eyebrow, "You sure? I'll help you, it's not a big deal."

"No, no I'm fine. With my element back, I feel better already. I can walk." That's not completely true, but it's not a complete lie either. He does feel slightly better, more energized and not as lethargic.

Cole hesitates, but agrees and they keep moving, picking up a steady pace just as they reach the end of the deck, (it's where they always play Scrap N' Tap and he really hopes Cole doesn't notice his blood on the ground).

All of a sudden Cole stops running. "Ugh, the venom!"

The venom? Wasn't it dumped— oh, he and Nya must've switched by accident when he tripped and dropped his canister while they were running from the spider. He must've grabbed her's instead.

"You left it?! W-well we can't go back!" They'd be caught for sure and Jay wants to avoid that at all costs. He can't stop his voice from wavering.

"And we can't go on without it, it's too important! I-I'll tell you where Lloyd and Nya are, you can fly to them and—" Jay cuts him off, groaning and hanging his head.

"Ugh, I can't spark up my dragon, I've been scrubbing this ship every waking moment."

There was also the fact that he'd been constantly and consistently torn down emotionally, beaten for days, and left with lots of injuries. He has no confidence in himself right now, he's really weak, and even if he was feeling stronger after being released from the Vengestone, he's still far too weak to summon his dragon. He doesn't have half the energy it takes to spark it. Mentally or physically.

But Jay doesn't feel like mentioning that.

Cole looks around frantically, "Ah, look, there they are, follow me!" Cole points behind them to a Raid Zeppelin and they run in that direction. They Airjitzu off the ship and bounce onto the top of the Zeppelin, into the cockpit...

... and Flintlocke's pistols aimed straight at them, half of Nadakhan's crew standing there laughing.

No no no!

This wasn't supposed to happen.

Without thinking, Jay immediately gets up and stands protectively in front of Cole. The pirates aren’t getting to him.

It doesn't matter how hurt Jay is.

It doesn't matter what happens to him. And Jay knows very well what will. He knows the punishments for trying to escape.

They aren't hurting Cole like they'd hurt him.

They aren't getting to Cole.

"Uh oh," Cole shrinks back behind Jay, "I think we may have jumped on the wrong ship." Jay and Cole both look over to the Misfortune's Keep. They see Lloyd and Nya, hands tied behind their backs, being forced to stand near the edge of the deck. They look up at the two with worry as the crew surrounding them and Jay and Cole laugh.

While the two are distracted, Dogshank grabs Jay from where he's standing in front of Cole and pins him to the ground. Jay groans as pain flares and Cole shouts his name before pirates try and grab him too. But they just phase through him.

"Ha, you guys can't touch me!"

Flintlocke cocks his gun and points it at Jay's head. "Maybe. But we can touch him," he gestures towards Jay. "I suggest you stop resisting."

Cole immediately goes still and looks at Jay, who just furrows his eyebrows and closes his eye in frustration.

Even now he's only a liability.

"Alright, fine. Don't hurt him." Cole puts his hands up, solidifying himself, and a pirate ties his hands.

Flintlocke kneels down beside Jay as another pirate ties his hands behind him after Cole surrenders, chuckling. "Guess your little friends did come for you. But I know you remember, kid, there is no escape from here."

Jay squeezes his eye shut and growls as he's manhandled to a standing position with way more force than necessary. Cole receives similar treatment and the ship they're standing on is flown down to meet the Misfortune's Keep.

Someone comes up behind Jay, grabs his tied hands and yanks the knot tighter. Jay grimaces and bites his lip.

"Hey, birdie. What? Is that too tight for you, kid?" Jay doesn't respond but he recognizes the voice. He doesn't even have to look to know who it is.

Mustache places his hands on Jay's waist, and whispers into his ear.

"Can't wait to finish up our play time with you. And your friends can watch this time!" Jay shivers, his stomach churning as he bites his lip and shrugs the pirate off, just as Cole asks if he's okay.

Jay doesn't trust himself to speak so he doesn’t answer.

He's not.

He's definitely not okay.

Jay and Cole are pushed next to Lloyd and Nya. Both Lloyd and Nya’s eyes widen when they see Jay, questions of concerns on the tips of their tongues, but then Nadakhan floats in front of them all before they can say anything.

"Well, well, I started with one ninja in my possession, and now I have four." He chuckles mockingly.

"What did you do to him?!" Lloyd angrily shouts what they're all thinking, gesturing to Jay while still glaring at Nadakhan.

The djinn smiles wickedly. "Nothing he didn’t ask for. I couldn't get a wish out of him, but he provided good entertainment for my crew." Jay grimaces and keeps his head down away from the others because he knows they’re all looking at him.

"Take those three to the hole, but Nya is coming with me."

Nadakhan smiles endearingly at Nya and that's when Jay snaps.

"Don't touch her!" Jay’s ready to charge at Nadakhan himself, but before he can even take two steps, he, Cole, and Lloyd are grabbed and dragged backward. "I swear Nadakhan, if you lay one hand on her-"

Flintlocke pulls his pistols and aims them at Cole and Lloyd who stop their struggling but Jay doesn't.

"You better calm down, kid," Flintlocke yells at Jay. "Or I shoot them both, point blank." Jay looks at Cole and Lloyd, then at Nya who gives him the slightest shake of her head, and reluctantly gives up but his glare never falters.

"That's more like it." Flintlocke laughs.

Nadakhan scowls right at Jay, floating over, grabbing his chin and whispering in his ear, too quiet for the others to hear.

"It would be of your best interests to stop struggling. Or we could, of course, play another round of Scrap N' Tap, now that your friends are here to watch. After all, we haven't seen that spark in quite a while, it'd be a shame to let it go to waste." Jay can feel his grin.

And Jay's strong facade crumbles at just the mention of that horrible thing they call a game, and the scared child that was hidden under all the adrenaline and rage resurfaces.

"N-no, no m-more." Jay whimpers quietly and Nadakhan chuckles, motioning for Flintlocke to lead them away. Jay's eyes are full of shame as he catches Nya's gaze before she's dragged away to Nadakhan's room.

The other three ninja are pushed to a different part of the ship. Three ball and chains are waiting for them when they reach the cell. Jay tries to hide the fear in his eyes once he sees them but he catches a look from Cole that tells him he's not doing a very good job.

Some pirate cuts Cole and Lloyd's hands free, then the ball and chains are attached to their ankles, and they're pushed into the hole.

Flintlocke does the honors of locking the ball and chain on Jay's ankle. He almost pukes seeing his dried blood around the latch of the chain.

"We saved yours for you." Mustache snickers next to him as the chain tightens. Jay didn't think that latch could get any tighter than before, but it does. He can't hide the grimace of pain on his face.

"Aww, are you gonna cry?" One of the other pirates teases and grabs Jay's shoulders.

Jay scowls and shoves the pirate off with a sharp, "Get off! " His fingers clench into fists from where they're bound behind him, drawing blood.

"Hol' up, don't throw him down yet. The brat needs to be taught a lesson."

That's all the warning Jay gets before someone shoves him to the ground from behind and he can feel the familiar breath on his neck.

"We need to correct that attitude of yours, brat ."

Jay squirms under the weight and braces himself for the inevitable pain when another voice cuts Mustache off.

"Not right now."

"Aww come on, Flintlocke. You know the kid's getting too mouthy, just let me fix it."

"I said, that's enough ." The first mate orders sharply, not happy with the response he receives. "The kid's had enough for now. Besides, the Cap'n has plans for him an' his friends, if 'e's too out of it, he won't be any use. So it'll do you some good to follow the orders you are given! And that's sir,  to you."

Mustache immediately stands and salutes, going rigid with fear. "Y-yes, sir."

Someone hoists Jay up and before he's pushed into his cell, Mustache grabs his shoulder. "Don't think I'll forget about it. I'm gonna get you alone and then I'll have my fun. Just you wait, birdie." Mustache almost lets him go but then he hesitates and pulls Jay in close. "And watch that mouth. Wouldn't want the small one down there to get the same treatment you've got."

Jay does nothing but glare even though his insides twist into knots. He's trying his absolute best to keep his composure right now because he can't break down here and he's found that holding a glare is what works best.

Without warning, someone pushes him into the cell and he yelps before hitting his head on the floor with a sickening thump . His ears are ringing again.

"See you later, birdie!" Mustache calls down at him before they lock the cell door.

Jay's head throbs, his vision blurring slightly. Cole and Lloyd are immediately at his side helping him up.

"Hey, you alright?" Cole helps him up and Lloyd unties his hands.

"Y-yeah." Jay whispers shakily.

He's not. He's so not fine.

But Cole and Lloyd don't need to know.

That's the first time he's kept himself together in a long time. He feels sick.

“First Master, Jay, your hand!” Lloyd yells once he gets the knots of the ropes free.

Oh, yeah. He forgot his glove on that hand is missing, showcasing his mangled limb for all to see.

He gingerly brings his hands in front of him. He cradles his broken one that’s a mess of blues and purples, bent at an odd angle, Cole wincing as soon as he sees it, and leans up against the wall, grimacing and curling in on himself.

“Uh, the um,” he stumbles on his words, trying to talk through the pain, “some pirates messed it up awhile ago. It’s not a big deal.”

Both Lloyd and Cole look at him like he’s crazy.

“ Not a big deal?!” Cole shouts and it makes Jay flinch. “Sorry, Jay, it’s just, define ‘awhile ago,’ cuz’ that looks bad. It’s most definitely a big deal.”

Jay doesn’t say anything to that.

Cole and Lloyd share a look, Lloyd sighs and asks, “Are there any other injuries like that?” Jay shrugs.

“Will you at least us at least check you over?”

Jay hesitates but then nods.

"What happened , Jay?" Cole quietly asks, only now noticing just how bad the bruises and cuts covering Jay’s body are. He kneels down next to Lloyd, ball and chains making it awkward, to help with the impromptu checkup. “Did Nadakhan do this to you?!”

Jay simply shrugs. “The pirates did. He, ah, Nadakhan made me fight them. A lot.”

He hates the way Cole and Lloyd are looking at him. With pity.

“ Jay...” Cole starts, voice filled with sympathy.

“Did they make you fight with the Vengestone?” Lloyd asks with worry in his voice.

“Yeah,” Jay answers quietly. “I’ve been stuck to this thing pretty much the whole time.”

“What?” Both them yell at the same time.

“Jay, that’s dangerous!”

He just shrugs again. “I know. Trust me, I know. I could recite Wu’s lecture a thousand times over in my sleep. But the pirates don’t care.” Lloyd and Cole are still looking at him funny and he hates it. “I-it’s fine, guys, really. What can like, two or some weeks do anyway?"

Cole and Lloyd look at each other worriedly then look at Jay, like they know something he doesn't.

"What? Why are you looking at each other like that?" Jay looks quizzically back and forth between them. "Guys?"

"Jay," Cole starts cautiously, "you've been gone for over two months."

Jay's face falls and his jaw drops.

That long?!

He's really been here for that long?!

All the torture has been going on for months?!

Everything that’s happened, the beatings, the Scrap N' Tap, the constant cleaning, the, the... has all been going on for months?!

He thought maybe two weeks, possibly one more at most, but not this long?!

How out of it is he?!

He must've been unconscious a lot of that time.

What else had they done to him?

Jay swallows thickly, "Oh, uh," he clears his throat and scratches the back of his neck nervously, "must've lost track of time, heh heh." He chuckles sheepishly but there's no humor in it.

Cole gives him a soft look, “But your powers were working fine earlier, so they should be okay, right?” He asks, trying to deter the subject a little.

Jay nods. “Yeah, yeah, uh,” he clears his throat, “they don’t feel any different.”

Cole and Lloyd simultaneously sigh in relief. “Good,” Lloyd says, he gestures to Jay’s ball and chain, “Lemme see your ankle, this thing can’t be comfortable.” Jay gingerly uncurls himself and stretches out his leg so Lloyd and Cole can look. Lloyd gently takes off Jay’s boot and they both wince when they see the damage.

“ How is that worse than your wrist?!” Cole asks rhetorically, running a hand through his hair.

It's really swollen and the chain is digging into Jay’s already torn skin. Lloyd gently feels his ankle around the chain, checking the bones for any broken ones. He presses on a particular spot and Jay bites his lip to keep from screaming, pulling it towards himself.

"Sorry." Lloyd apologizes quickly. "Yeah, Jay, that’s definitely broken." Jay nods but doesn't respond. “Is there anything else that’s this bad? What else hurts?”

Jay chuckles lightly but there’s no humor in it, “Um, pretty much everything hurts, but uh, my ribs are pretty bad.”

Lloyd nods, “Okay, lemme see.”

And Jay knows Lloyd isn’t going to hurt him, and Lloyd doesn’t know any better, (why should he, they’ve always been this comfortable around each other), but when he reaches for Jay’s gi to unbuckle the clasps, Jay doesn’t see Lloyd anymore.

“Don’t worry, kid, we’ll be gentle.”

“The more you struggle the more it hurts.”

“You’re so much fun, birdie.”

“N-no! S-stop it, get away from me!” He can’t breathe anymore. The walls are closing in on him, it’s happening, it’s actually happening, this can’t happen, he can’t breathe, FSM, he can’t breathe.

“Jay! List—.... —o me, it’s ok—....”

“—on please, I promise...”

“It’s Lloyd, Jay, I’m really sorry. I won’t touch you, I promise.”

Jay snaps out of it. Cole and Lloyd are both at his sides, worry written all over their faces. He sniffles and runs a hand through his hair, “Uh wow, um, I-I’m really sorry, I-I don’t know where that came f-from.”

Cole shakes his head, “No, don’t you dare apologize. You just had a panic attack. What happened, talk to me.”

Jay clears his throat and wipes a stray tear from his cheek. “Nothing, h-honest, I-I don’t know what that was.” That’s a lie, he knows exactly what it was. But there’s no way he’s ever going to tell a single soul about that. It’s not happening. He’s taking that secret to the grave. “J-just ahh, don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. You don’t need to check anything else, Lloyd.”

They can all hear the tremble in his voice. Cole and Lloyd exchange concerned looks but they both nod gently at Jay and silently agree to not push it. Jay's obviously uncomfortable.

Sitting back against the cell wall, giving Jay enough breathing room, Cole asks one more question. “Jay...” He starts, “How many panic attacks have you had since being here?”

Jay doesn’t look up. He knows Cole means well, he’s always been Jay’s number one support system when it comes to his anxiety, but even if he wanted to answer, he honestly has no idea.

Jay’s face twists up in frustration, “I-I don’t know, Cole, I... at least a couple.”

Jay should just stop talking if he wants them to stop looking at him like that.

They sit in an awkward silence for awhile until Cole suddenly groans. "Ugh, the venom, I keep forgetting about it! I left it in Nadakhan's quarters!"

Lloyd gives him an incredulous look, "You did what ?!"

Cole puts his hands up in defense. "Hey, I was a little more worried about Jay when I found him than planting the venom!"

Jay winces, hanging his head. He’s the reason Cole had forgotten about the venom, "Sorry."

Lloyd and Cole both deflate, "Hey, no, Jay. Don't apologize." Lloyd reassures him. "You were our first priority, above everything else. We all agreed on that before we came. Okay?"

Jay nods, but he’s not convinced.

There's no reason why he should be their first priority.

Lloyd sighs, feeling guilty now that he realizes his tone. "We'll figure this out. Sorry I snapped, Cole."

"Eh, it’s not a problem. Don't worry about it, green bean." Cole shifts awkwardly, his ball and chain clinking, and looks at Jay, who’s keeping his head down, fiddling with his sleeve.

He knows he probably shouldn’t ask Jay any more questions, but Jay looks awful.

Jay's hurting, there's no doubt about that.

He's really, really hurt.

He's deathly pale, covered in bruises of every color, cuts, lacerations. His gi is stained with dirt and blood, tattered and torn.

He’s got an eyepatch?!

And Cole can see bruising and blood peeking out around the edges. Jay avoided the question about it earlier and Cole hasn't asked again. Not to mention Jay's skittishness around two particular pirates, the mini panic attack he just had, the fear in his eyes when Nadakhan gets too close.

It's all just awful.

Nadakhan had to of done more than just forcing Jay to fight. None of it is adding up.

Cole hates seeing Jay like this, and he’s sure Lloyd feels the same.

Sixty-seven days.

That's how long Jay’s been gone.

Sixty-seven days.

For Cole, Nya, and Lloyd it had been sixty-seven days full of worry, and anxiety, and stress, and fear, and sleepless nights, and planning rescue missions, and arguing about plans, and overthinking, and imagining the worst, and theorizing, and just, just...

Just hoping  Jay would be all right.

Praying Jay would still hold onto hope.

That he would believe his friends would come for him.

Even after all they'd put him through.

Cole still feels horrible about that, and he knows for sure Nya and Lloyd do too.

They'd made Jay honestly believe that they wouldn't come for him.

Jay honest to the First Spinjitzu Master believed his friends would leave him behind.

And to have that mindset while going through... whatever it was he went through...

First Spinjitzu Master, they’re horrible friends.

Jay said he’d been forced to fight. And it’s pretty obvious he didn't win many of those fights.

They need to get outta here.

Getting frustrated at not being able to do anything, Cole stares offensively at his weight instead, grabs the chain tight, and starts yanking and pulling.

Jay lets out an exasperated sigh after Cole keeps at it for a few solid minutes, "It's Vengestone, remember?" His voice is tired and weary. "You can't ghost through it, and your super-duper strength won't work anymore."

"Cole, you'd said you left the venom in his quarters ?" Lloyd asks, thinking back to his earlier statement.

"Yeah, well, hopefully Nya can get to it."

"How?!” Jay asks incredulously. “She doesn't even know it's there!" Jay starts getting worked up. "Oh, I don't like her being alone with that silky-voiced seducer . If he lays one hand on her, I—!"

Lloyd, slightly concerned at Jay's choice of vocabulary, cuts him off by grabbing his arm. "Hey, don't worry! We won't let that happen."

"We better not. Because if he takes her hand in marriage, he'll reach his true-potential, and we'll all be hooped when he has infinite wishes!"

Cole gasps, "Infinite wishes?! He'll be unstoppable!" Jay forgot to mention that earlier.

"But then his crew will be expendable," Lloyd points out, "maybe we can convince them to—" Jay interrupts before he can finish.

"I already tried, they wouldn't believe me." He sighs, slumping down against the wall, "Thanks for try'na save me, but maybe it would've been better if you never came." He isn't gonna lie to himself, it probably would've turned out better if they'd just left him here. If Cole never would've found him, the pirates wouldn't even know they were here. If Cole had just ignored his pathetic cries in Nadakhan's room, the others would already be up and gone.

He really is a burden.

Lloyd tries to shoot him down, "Hey, we may not have our elemental powers, but we're not without hope. Between the three of us and Nya, we have ten wishes that-"

Jay cuts him off again by scoffing incredulously, "Uh, wishes?! You wanna think that through?! Making wishes is why we're up here!" Well, why he's up here, and why they had to come save him.

Again, all his fault.

"Yeah," Cole agrees, "and when he turns them around on you, you'll beg for him to wish it away. And that only makes him more powerful!"

" No wishes, Lloyd." Jay says firmly. "Things may be bad, but they can still get worse!"

Things can still get so much worse, and only bad things can come from wishing.

"Okay okay, no wishes. Only as a last resort." Lloyd sighs and looks up at the bars. "I just hope Nya's faring better than we are."

Jay leans against the wall, closing his eye, Cole fiddles with the chain, and Lloyd just sits quietly. Jay grimaces at the thought of Nya being alone with Nadakhan. He better not touch her.

This is exactly what he was trying to prevent from happening!

"Wait, back up a second." Lloyd sputters all of a sudden when what Jay's said clicks in his head. "Jay, did you say Nadakhan wants to marry Nya?!"

Jay winces, nodding sadly. "Y-yeah, that's his plan."

"Why wou-" Cole's reply is cut short when they hear Nadakhan's voice shout orders at the crew.

"Take them out of the hole. Prepare the plank!"

Flintlocke bangs on the cell and Clancee comes up behind him. "Let's go ninja. Time for the fun to begin!"

The three ninja are forced out of the cell, for Jay, not without help from Cole, he's too weak to pull himself out, and Flintlocke and Clancee push them forward.

Jay has a very hard time pulling the weight, he's still limping and he's trying his hardest not to let it show, but he can't hide the pain on his face.

He hears Nya's voice behind him and he turns around to see Dogshank holding her back while she struggles and shouts. "You wouldn't dare!" Jay shoots her a glance and catches her eyes, he sends an apologetic look as he's shoved forward.

Pirates are setting up the plank at the edge of the ship.

Are they...?

Is Nadakhan gonna really...?

He's done so much to get Jay to make a wish and now he's just gonna push them over?!

He could’ve just done that with him a long time ago!

Not that Jay would’ve wanted that.

" I make the orders around here!" Nadakhan shoots Nya a glare. "The sooner you'll learn that, the smoother it will go."

"You hurt them, and you can forget about any deal!"

Nadakhan turns to Nya and Jay can see the smugness in his stare. "Then agree to marry me right now. And it'll all be over."

Jay’s heard that before.

He's blackmailing her.

No, she can not say yes.

He's spent his entire time here trying to protect her, thinking if Nadakhan was so focused on him he'd leave Nya alone for a while and now, now she's here and, and... Jay can't do anything .

"Nya, don't do it!" Cole shouts what Jay's thinking. "It'll make him all powerful and..." Cole's cut off when Nadakhan shoves him toward the plank. Pirates start cheering.

"The black one goes first."

No no no!

Everything's going to pieces.

Flintlocke and Clancee grab Cole's ball and chain and heave it onto the plank, making Cole stumble, while Mustache grabs Jay's arms and another pirate grabs Lloyd's to hold them back.

Mustache pulls Jay against his body and holds him tight, whispering in his ear, "This is what happens when you don't behave, birdie."

Jay tries his best to hold his composure and squirms against the pirate. He doesn't miss the look Lloyd gives him.

"I will ask you again, Nya ." Jay wants to hurt him for saying her name like that. "Give me your hand and they live. I remind you: below is nothing but ocean and just what does water do?"

Cole whimpers trying to pull his ball and chain from the edge.

If Cole falls ...

If any of them fall... it's over .

They're all gonna die.

"Ugh, get off!" Lloyd struggles against Flintlocke, trying to get to Cole. Jay squirms too, but neither pirates budge. "Nya, you can't !" He yells again.

What are they supposed to do?!

If Nya says yes, then she'll have to marry Nadakhan and he'll get infinite wishes and then he'll probably kill them anyway and he'll rule Ninjago and they can't let that happen but if she says no, Cole's gonna die.

"I don't get it." Flintlocke suddenly speaks up, briefly stepping away from Lloyd. "We should be pushin' her over. You said that all that matters is Djinnjago. Not her."

"Quiet, you hairy-lipped fool! Or should there be one more walking that plank?!" Nadakhan shoves Flintlocke towards Cole, "Push him over!"

"Wait!" Cole yells. "Don't I get any last words?"

Nadakhan hums in thought, "Humor me."

Cole looks down at the water nervously. "I-I wish..."

No.

No no no no no no no!

He can't start wishing! If they start making wishes then they'll run out and then Nadakhan will get them into the sword and...

"No! Cole don't do it!" Jay shouts with desperation. He reaches out to Cole but Mustache and Clancee hold him back.

He can't make any wishes!

"You wish?" Nadakhan sounds genuinely surprised.

"I wish," Cole repeats, he hesitates before an idea crosses his face, "Vengestone didn't stop our powers, but made them stronger!"

Jay feels such a sudden strong surge of power it almost knocks him over, he can tell Cole and Lloyd feel it too by the looks on their faces.

"Ha ha, I can't believe it worked!"

"If he's within earshot, he has to grant the wish."

Jay can't help but smirk as he stares at the spark of lightning in his palm.

"Get them!"

A female pirate, (Cyren, Jay thinks? If he can remember correctly, she's the one that cut his eye) charges at Cole but he manages to flip over her and land next to Lloyd. Jay shoves Clancee and Mustache off his back with a newfound strength and the three of them form a circle back-to-back, letting their powers come to life in their hands.

Nya flips Dogshank over her head and joins the boys. "I wish someone told me we were gonna use wishes."

"Your wish is yours to keep!" Nadakhan immediately smirks.

No! Not another one, they've gotta be careful!

"Careful not to waste wishes!" Lloyd shouts.

"That's two down with eight left!"

What was he thinking?!

There's no 'wishes left' they need to stop wishing!

The pirates are surrounding them. They're coming from all angles.

Mustache comes straight for Jay but he doesn’t even get a chance to come close, because Jay makes a huge lightning bolt in his hands and throws it straight at him.

And, First Master, did that feel good. This is the first time in months he's been able to use his lightning for real.

"Remember the rules: you can't wish for love, death, or more wishes." Cole points out as he kicks another advancing pirate back.

But then something feels wrong. His lightning felt great at first, but, now if feels like it's buzzing underneath his skin. It's— he can't control it . He can't stop the lighting coming off his fingertips. He can't stop it.

"Cole's wish has made our powers too strong!" He shouts once he realizes. "I can't control it!"

He, along with Lloyd start floating off the ground, and that really freaks him out. "No, I knew this was a bad idea, but nobody listens!"

"We have to break off the ball and chains!" Lloyd shouts, blasting a pirate with a ball of green energy. He then boosts himself off the ground and Cole breaks his chain, then breaks Jay's and his own.

And the weight is off and Jay can breathe again.

He's making a promise to himself; that's the last time he will ever be chained to that thing again.

His relief is very short lived. There’s the sound of a gun loading.

"I ain't afraid to shoot you where you stand." Flintlocke has Lloyd at point blank.

Can they catch a break?!

"I wish you were a lousy shot!" Lloyd makes another wish.

Come on! Stop with the wishing!

"I never miss." Flintlocke pulls the trigger and Nya screams.

Jay waits for Lloyd's scream but it never comes.

The bullet lands inches in front of Lloyd's feet. Everyone on the ship gasps in shock and looks to Flintlocke who does not look happy.

"I said , I never miss!" Flintlocke angrily looks towards Nadakhan who just shrugs.

Flintlocke growls and fires off shot after shot, and fortunately for them, Lloyd's wish actually worked and the bullets hit everything but them.

"Stop firing!" Nadakhan's voice booms over the fight. "Or else you're going to put a hole in all of us!"

"And would everyone stop wishing!" Jay's getting desperate. "Nothing good is going to come of this!"

Don't they know wishing is what got him here?!

Wishing is how they lost Zane and Kai and Sensei and Misako and why can't they understand how bad this is all gonna turn out if they keep this up?!

Flintlocke fires off another shot then the four of them seem to have the same idea and they all spin into Spinjitzu, knocking pirates left and right. Jay tries his best to keep steady, he's already dizzy and in pain and in hindsight he did not realize how hard doing Spinjitzu would be.

All of a sudden there's a sharp clank and now the ground is cold and slippery. The four ninja spin out of control and loose their tornadoes, left to slip and slide on the deck now coated in— is that ice?!

"That's not fair!" Cole shouts after slipping to the ground. "He's fighting us with our friend's power! Wait...I got it!"

Jay prays to the First Spinjitzu Master Cole's not about to do what he thinks he is.

"I wish he didn't have that sword!"

Jay wishes he could strangle him right now.

The sword shakes in Nadakhan's grasp and flies out of his hold... only to be caught by Flintlocke, who returns it.

"Your blade, Cap'n."

"Well," Jay's mad now. "You got what you wished for, boulder brain! Words matter ! We can't just be firing off wishes from the hip like this!" Jay dodges a swipe of a sword from a pirate.

Why don't they get it?! He's about to lose them too!

"That's six left. We have to be wiser what we wish for."

Are they even listening?!

"No! Not wiser! Quieter!" Jay slips on the ice and can feel his shoulder pop. "No! More! Wishes!"

Nya helps him up. "How about this: I wish I was wise like Wu." Lloyd shouts and the little orange sparkles flicker around him just like they do when anyone makes a wish.

"Oh, clever boy." Nadakhan looks mildly impressed.

Lloyd pauses and then a look of... knowledge? Something like that washes over his face and he jumps on two nearby buckets, effectively using them like ice skates and kicking pirates out of his way.

"Yeah, maybe we're over-thinking this." Cole suggests.

Jay slips on the ice and falls on his face again.

No no no no!

"Why hasn't anyone just said, 'I wish us all out of here?'"

Again. Jay would punch Cole if he could.

"Agh, you fool!" Nadakhan... panics?

The whole ship starts to creak and it slowly tilts forward.

Are you kidding?!

The ship tips farther and farther, making everything, including several crew members, fall of the side.

"We really need to start listening to me!" Jay shouts desperately as he slides down the deck.

What is it gonna take for them to listen to him?

"Make it stop!" Flintlocke yells

"I can't." Nadakhan is frantic and Jay's never heard him sound like that before. "He's wished us all out of here."

Jay grabs on to the side of the ship with his less damaged arm just before he can fall off into the ocean below and hangs on like his life depends on it, which it does. He sees the same vial Cole brought to Nadakhan's room when he'd found him roll down the deck.

The venom!

Jay rotates himself the other direction and swings his body, ignoring the protests of literally every bone in his body, to catch the vial before it's lost in the ocean below.

Cole and Nya fall next to him.

"I really wish you hadn't said that, Cole!"

Is she serious?!

Jay's spent what's been apparently two months resisting one wish and they can't seem to stop wishing?!

"I heard that!" Jay hates the smugness in his voice. "It's yours to keep."

Nya gasps, realizing her mistake.

"And there's another one wasted! You really aren't very good at this!" He doesn't mean to sound so mean, but he's terrified that he's about to lose everyone right now after everything he's done to try and make sure they were all safe.

"Hold on!" Lloyd yells at them. The ship is completely vertical now.

But there's something off about Lloyd's voice.

He sounds... older...

A second later Jay's suspicions get an answer. "Uh, I'm not just getting wiser. I'm getting older?!"

Ahh, there's the fine print.

Jay's gotta warn them before it gets any worse. Before one of them makes a decision they can't undo. "He wants you to wish it away. You can't!"

That's his whole purpose.

To twist someone's hopes and dreams around so much until they want it all to go away.

"Well, unless someone wishes something quick, we're all gonna fall! And don't look at me, I don't have any left."

Nya slips and catches Cole's leg but the weight’s too much for him and he slips too.

No!

"Then I wish those clouds would stop us!"

Pain shoots up Jay's arm and he falls right after Nya makes her wish.

Lloyd and the rest of the ship's inhabitants fall as well and land on the now substantial clouds, bouncing safely.

Jay can't help but chuckle in relief. "Would you look at that." He doesn't have time to enjoy the breath of air because he catches Flintlocke's line of sight and the first mate is not happy.

He growls and Jay barely has time to move before the pirate lunges at him. He does move out of the way in time and Flitlocke bounces out of vicinity. Then Doubloon comes from behind and Jay barely ducks in time.

Before he can get up someone crashes into his side, knocking him down, pinning his arm, and it takes every ounce of willpower not to scream when his ribs are pressed on.

"I see yer gettin' a little cocky, kid." Jay really doesn't want to deal with this right now. He squirms under the weight. "Just because you got yer fancy powers back don't mean anythin', brat. You still just as broken ."

He hears Lloyd scream.

Then Jay snaps .

He builds as much electricity as he possibly can in the moment, which isn't much but it’s something, and directs the lighting throughout his whole body. He knows his powers are weak right now, but they're strong enough to electrocute anything touching him and that's precisely what happens. Mustache screams as Jay’s lighting corses through his body and falls down, shaking from the aftershocks. Jay slowly pulls himself up, holding his side in pain.

"Yeah, it does means something."

He immediately rushes to the others, where Lloyd's writhing in pain on his back and Cole and Nya are next to him.

"Lloyd!" Nya's the first to respond. "What's happening to you?"

"Don't worry about me. Jay and I have one wish left, and I'm not going to use it to save myself."

"But you'll continue to get decrepit." Jay's voice is reaching the point of hysteria. "And you already sound like an old person. Let me use my last wish to save you!" Jay really doesn't want to make a wish, but if it means saving Lloyd, he'll do it in a heartbeat.

"Jay, the wise thing to do is to save it. I see beyond the now. You'll need it."

"For when?!"

"For when it's said from the heart."

"Said from the heart?! Hearts don't talk!" He doesn't want to hear this Sensei-style cryptic message right now!

Nadakhan appears behind them and he doesn't look happy. " You think you can use your wishes to stop me?!"

Lloyd matches Nadakhan’s glare with his own. "I wish for a sword!" Everyone, including Nadakhan, gives Lloyd a weird look as a sword materializes in his hand. "No, Nadakhan. I know our wishes will stop you. Just not today."

That's all the warning anyone gets before Lloyd stabs the cloud Jay and Nya are standing on and the two fall off the clouds toward the ocean.

“Nya! Jay!”  Cole screams their names. Jay screams. Then Nya screams.

And what was Lloyd thinking?! He's gonna die. They're both gonna die. He can't spark his dragon and Nya just barely learned how. The wind's rushing in his ears he can't breathe he can't think oh FSM they're both gonna die!

"Nya!"

They're gonna die they're gonna die they're gonna—

"We have to create our dragons!"

That's not gonna work! He's too weak he'll never be able to harness that much energy, he's been beaten down too many times and all he can focus on is the wind rushing beneath him and his blood pounding in his ears!

"I don't have enough energy! I'm not strong enough!"

He doesn't expect answer she gives him.

"Then we'll be strong together. Hold on to me!"

Their hands reach and Jay holds her like his life depends on it.

Then he feels a surge of energy.

But it's not overwhelming like last time.

It's... comforting.

For a split second... he's not in pain. He's not hurting, and he's definitely not weak.

All he can feel is Nya's strength and power flowing through him and in that moment, for the first time in months he feels reassurance.

He's not alone in that cold cell anymore. He's here. With Nya.

With her warm smile.

And he smiles back.

Both of them grunt, it takes a lot of energy out of both of them.

Then he feels the familiar, and comforting, feeling of his electricity forming together to spark his dragon, but he feels Nya's water too.

It's a calming presence that cools the antsy buzz underneath his skin.

It's invigorating.

As the dragon materializes, Nya takes the lead and Jay feels her extra burst of energy so he doesn't have to give quite as much.

The energy he does put into the dragon is all he has and he forces himself to stay conscious when Nya takes the reins and he's sitting behind her...

On a water and lightning dragon.

Did they just...

Their dragon roars and takes a dive down near the ocean.

"Ha! It's two dragons in one!"

He wraps his arms around her waist and holds onto her tight when the beast soars back up.

"I guess water and electricity do mix!"

Jay can't do much but laugh in disbelief.

But then his stomach drops and the peaceful feeling he felt with Nya is gone.

"Nya, we have to go back for them!"

He feels Nya stiffen and she pulls the reins back to where the others are.

They pull up just in time to see Cole and Lloyd get sucked into the sword.

Jay's heart stops beating.

No.

"No! No no! They, they can't be gone!" He can't breathe. "No no no! We, we already lost... not them too! I-I this is all my..."

"Hey!" Nya's voice cuts over Jay's, but it's not angry. It's... gentle. "It's okay, we'll figure this out. But you have to calm down, Jay. If you panic, we'll lose the dragon. Just hold onto me. Breathe. "

Nya's words are calm and comforting and Jay's surprised at first because the last time he saw Nya she was furious, but now she's helping him ground himself like she use to way back when.

Jay swallows thickly and hesitantly nods, taking slow, deep breaths.

"We gotta move. They're gonna chase after us."

Jay nods at her back and then a barrel with explosives drops over them.

"Watch out, Nya!" She swerves out of the way just in time.

They both notice the dragon flicker.

Flintlocke is an in airship chasing them and he’s right on their tail.

"Hold on, Jay. I've got an idea." Jay doesn't say anything. He just does what she says as Nya swerves in and out of the clouds avoiding the missile fire.

Then Jay can see land and... the entire Ninjago City Police Department. At just the last second, Nya swoops straight up, out of the police's line of fire and Flintlocke gets the barrage attack waiting.

Nya steadies their dragon after the police chase the pirate away and she heads for the mainland.

Jay rips the eyepatch off his eye, feeling stupid wearing it. He blinks experimentally, testing his vision. It's still blurry in his bad eye, but at least he can see out of it now, so he tosses the eyepatch.

The adrenaline starts to wear off and the weight of everything and the pain kick him in the head.

"They-they came to rescue me, and—" he hesitates, trying to hide the tremble in his voice. "A-and now they're all gone ." He shoves the sob back down his throat. "Everyone's gone."

And it's all his fault. If they would have just left him there, left him on that stupid ship like he deserved... Lloyd and Cole would still be here.

They risked everything for him and he wasn't worth it.

"Well, I'm not." Nya's reassuring voice cuts through his haze. "And you heard Lloyd. He saw beyond today. It had to be like this."

How can she be so positive right now?

How does she not hate him right now?

He just got more of their friends captured!

"But now he's going to come after you!" Nya's the one Nadakhan wants and Nya's the one Nadakhan didn't get. He's going to be relentless trying to find her. "When will it be enough ? When will it end ? I-I can't stand losing anymore!"

They've already lost so much and it's all because of him.

"I can't stand losing either,” Nya reassures, “but Lloyd saved us for a reason. Let's just hope by the time we see Nadakhan again, we figure out what that reason is."

Jay reluctantly nods. She’s so confident.

They reach the beach to see the entire police force cheering and clapping, and Nya briefly halts the dragon to talk to the Commissioner.

"We'll meet you back at the police station!" Nya calls down.

The Commissioner gives her a thumbs up. "Sounds like a plan! Glad to see you're safe, boy." He waves at Jay and he gingerly waves back, giving a small smile.

Jay would rather it be Cole and Lloyd coming back, not him.

But he has to shove everything and all of this down right now. It's just him and Nya. The two of them left. Nadakhan is after Nya and Jay is swearing on his life that he is going to protect her.

He couldn't do it while he was a prisoner but he sure as he is the master of lightning he can now.

If Nadakhan wants Nya, he's gonna have to go through him first.

Out of nowhere a wave of dizziness hits Jay hard.

His vision goes in and out and he suddenly feels really tired. He can feel his energy draining ounce by ounce. He recognizes the feeling. They get like this when they've used too much energy.

His body physically can't keep the dragon alive.

Jay groans and the dragon flickers ever so slightly.

"N-Nya, I, I don't t-think I can keep this up for, much l-longer. It, it hurts." Jay's voice is weak and strained. It's taking every ounce of energy he has left to do his part keeping the dragon sparked. And he didn't even have that much energy to begin with, Nya's already doing most of the work.

Nya glances back at him with a soft, worried gaze. His eyes are squeezed shut and his breathing's ragged, he's holding onto her with one hand and hugging his stomach with the other.

"It's okay, Sparky. Just hold on a little longer." She reassures gently.

Jay rests his head on her back, smiling briefly at the old nickname and completely forgetting her rules about "boundaries." His head becomes too heavy to keep up. He manages a small nod and winces. Keeping the dragon steady is draining what little energy he has left. And fast.

"Nya, I-I really c-can't, do t-this..."

The dragon flickers again.

They haven’t even made it past the beach.

"Come on, Jay, you can do it. Just hold on."

Jay lets out a pained whine. It hurts. It's really starting to hurt. He can't keep it up.

"I'm s-sorry, Nya. I c-can't."

Their dragon rapidly flickers before completely vanishing. Both of them scream. Nya manages to land on her feet, but Jay crashes, shoulder first into a sand dune.

“Jay! ” Nya rushes to his side immediately, helping him up. He hears police cars pulling up around them, and people he assumes are police officers mumbling.

Nya gets him standing, but his feet aren’t willing to support him any longer. Jay’s legs give out and he hits the ground before Nya can even try and catch him.

He clutches his side in pain and several officers are immediately at his side. He tries to shakily stand up, but his arm buckles beneath him, a pained cry escapes his lips and he falls.

Nya does catch him this time, by the arm just before he hits the ground. His breathing is too labored.

"Woah woah, steady. I got you, I've got you."

He winces again. "I'm fine, Nya, really. I can—agh—get up myself." She looks at him worryingly as she holds him up. He's pushing away from her and trying to stand on his own. His adrenaline's fading fast, along with his strength.

"Jay, you are so not fine."

“Are you okay, son?” The Commissioner rushes over, pushing past his officers.

Before Jay or Nya can answer, an EMT comes up behind them. "Sir, we really need to take a look at your injuries, some seem to be pretty serious."

Jay manages to stand up on his own and Nya steps back a few inches. He’s getting too overwhelmed, there’s too many people hovering around him.

"I said, I'm fine. Nothing serious, just a couple bruises is all."

Nya almost scoffs at him.

That's the understatement of the century.

"Jay, we need to get you to a hospital. You're hurt pretty bad." Nya suggests as she places a concerned hand on Jay's shoulder. She doesn't miss the subtle flinch her touch causes and pulls away.

Jay immediately shakes his head in response.

"No no no. We need to focus on getting you somewhere safe. Somewhere Nadakhan won't find us. Don't worry about me, I'm fine." Jay gives her one of his signature smiles, the one that's filled with determination but also so much heart.

“How about this?” The Commissioner asks, interrupting, “Let us drive you back to NNCPD where a medic can tend to your immediate injuries, then you two can deal with the rest when you find a safe house? Sound fair?”

Nya looks at Jay for an answer. It’s not ideal, Jay should be going to the hospital, but she knows he’ll never agree to that.

Jay briefly looks at her so she nods at him and then he sighs, defeated. “Fine.”

The Commissioner nods. “You heard him, boys,” he shouts at his officers, “Let’s go!”

Nya helps Jay into a nearby patrol cruiser, then she hops in as well. The ride is mostly silent, the precinct is a solid twenty minutes away. Jay leans against the window, holding his wrist... that Nya only now notices is bent the wrong way and purple!!

She stops herself from asking about it when she looks at Jay’s face again. She can only imagine the thoughts swirling in his brain right now. She can tell he’s really stressed, and she definitely is too, but Jay’s never handled stress well.

And something bad had to of happened while he was captured to get him this hurt.

He just looks so empty and defeated, nothing like the Jay she knows.

The Jay she knows also just got rescued after being kidnapped, and she knows from personal experience, that’s not something you just walk off into the sunset from.

She reaches for his hand, the one that’s not ruined and holds it tight. He looks at her in surprise, but she smiles reassuringly. He hesitantly smiles back and squeezes her hand tighter. They stay like that the whole way into the city.

This is the first time Nya gets a good look at him.

His injuries are bright on his pale skin. Bruises of every color, cuts in every stage of healing, his wrist is definitely broken, and probably his ankle too with the way he’d been walking.

His gi is ruined, stained with dirt and blood, missing a glove and half his boot.

His eye.

It’s definitely a black eye. It’s swollen and there’s a cut running over it that goes from his eyebrow, all the way down his cheek. Now that she thinks about it, he’d been wearing an eyepatch earlier.

On that note, his sapphire blue eyes, always full of energy and life, always having a vibrant spark... are dull, hollow, and sunken. And the one that’s swollen is... gray?

Whatever color it is, it’s definitely not its normal blue.

Nya wouldn’t be as worried if it were, say, brown. Whenever their elements get stolen, or they’re near Vengestone for too long, or are just feeling weak, their eyes change back to its natural color.

Jay’s for instance, is brown. Her’s is brown, Lloyd’s is red, Cole’s is green, etcetera, etcetera.

But Jay’s eye isn’t brown.

It’s gray.

She doesn’t know if Jay knows or not, but she’s not going to ask him about it now.

Before she can worry about it anymore, they pull into the police station parking lot. Once the cruiser parks at the front of the precinct, Jay begrudgingly lets an officer help him out of the car and into the police station, Nya following right behind.

She can't ignore the guilt growing in the pit of her stomach as she watches Jay grimace in pain every few steps in front of her, even with the officers help.

And she can't help but think how this is all her fault.

—

An officer leads them both to the medical wing of the police station where a medic, who they'd been told ahead of time was already filled in on everything, is waiting. She politely asks Nya to wait outside, but Jay in a near panic says he wants her in there with him.

He just really doesn’t want to be alone with a stranger right now.

The medic is hesitant, but she agrees on the condition that Nya stays out of her way.

She opens the door for them both and Jay sits down on the exam table. The medic asks him to remove his gi, which he does very reluctantly and slowly, and she gets to work, poking and prodding.

She takes some blood, does a few quick x-rays, examines the cuts and bruises, (Nya wants to be sick when she sees just how badly Jay had been hurt, there are so many bruises, he’s literally covered in them), shines a flashlight in his eyes, and runs a bunch of other routine procedures.

When she’s done the look on her face is nothing to be excited about.

"Well? Can we go now?" Jay asks, tone slightly annoyed as he slips his gi back on.

The medic looks at him as if his head had fallen off. "Hun, you’re gonna have to hold on a few minutes. With these injuries? You should be in the hospital. Just hang tight for a sec."

Jay groans, laying back down on the table and Nya sends him a reassuring look from the bench she's sitting on.

As the medic looks over Jay's blood work, her face scrunches up in worry and she looks at Jay who raises an eyebrow, "What? What is it?" She doesn't answer right away and looks back at the screen displaying the results.

Nya and Jay exchange looks, "What did you find?"

The medic takes a breath, "Well, um," she looks back at Jay. "Were you given anything? Like any medicine or something while you were on the ship?"

A sickening feeling is growing in the bottom of Jay's stomach, "Um, no. Not that I know of."

Nya's face scrunches up in confusion, "I'm sorry, why do you ask? What does it say?"

She furrows her eyebrows, "Well, there are traces of rohypnol and a combination of sedatives in his system."

Nya's eyes widen and Jay’s pretty sure his heart stops beating.

"Rohypnol severely lowers your inhibitions and ability to think clearly, in large amounts it can knock someone out, and this combination of sedatives can cause memory loss, delirium, and lethargy. With the amount of drugs in your system, it's highly likely that you lost track of time and were possibly seeing things that weren't actually there."

Jay feels like he's gonna puke. And he probably would've if there was anything in his stomach.

"They, he... h-he... drugged me?"

Jay brings a hand to his forehead. "I-I don't, understand. I was... I, no, that's not, I-I don't remember.." His breathing picks up.

"I wouldn't expect you to, hun. You were given pretty high dosages." She rolls up his left sleeve, the one still intact, and points out several track marks on his upper arm. "That would explain these."

Come to think of it, he does remember the occasional pinch in his arm... But he never would've guessed... this!

He feels Nya's arm on his shoulder and she says something, but he can’t hear.

How could he have allowed this to happen?!

Nadakhan had tried to make him wish it away without he even knowing it!

That's why he didn't realize three months had passed.

That’s not comforting in the slightest.

That’s terrifying .

He didn't want to think about what Nadakhan had done while he was out of it.

He gets lost in his thoughts but at some point he becomes vaguely aware of the voices around him. He blinks several times, clearing his head.

When he regains his composure he sees the two worried faces of Nya and his medic kneeling in front of him.

"Jay, you okay? Can you hear me?"

Jay swallows thickly and nods softly, taking a deep, slow breath. "Um, y-yeah. S-sorry, I, I just... this is hard to wrap my head around."

"Don't apologize, sweetie. I understand." The medic says calmly.

Nya puts a hand on his knee and looks him in the eyes. "It's gonna be okay, alright? You know they can’t hurt you anymore."

A part of Jay wants to argue that, yes, yes, they can, if the pirates catch up to them and they both get captured, he absolutely will get hurt.

He nods anyway, "I, I just... I was there for two months, right?" Nya makes a sound to confirm his question. "Un-until Cole and Lloyd told me, I thought it had only been several days ... I.. I..."

"Hey," Nya cuts in before his breathing can pick up, "He’ll be okay though, right?" She asks the nurse.

The medic nods. "I’m not too worried, he’s metabolized most of it already. There’s only traces of it left."

Jay swallows thickly. "C-can you just do what you need to do so we can get outta here." Both Nya and the medic can hear the fear in his voice.

The medic gives him a sympathetic look and glances over her notes. "Well, hun, you must’ve gotten knocked around pretty good.”

Jay winces but he doesn’t say anything.

“You've got a severe concussion, six cuts that really need stitches, broken wrist and ankle, seven broken ribs and two cracked ones, you’re severely dehydrated and malnourished, a black eye, you're running a 103.4 fever, most of the cuts and lacerations are infected, a dislocated shoulder that wasn't properly set, and that's not even half of it."

Jay winces. That’s... bad.

That’s really bad.

He knew it was bad, but hearing out loud, all at once.

It’s a lot.

He looks at Nya, then immediately regrets it. She’s looking at him the same way Cole and Lloyd were earlier. She clears her throat, "What do you need to do and what can you leave to me?" Nya asks, giving Jay another concerned sideways glance.

"Well, fortunately for you, nothing’s life threatening. But I need to handle the major things. The broken bones, some of those cuts, and the dehydration we can't ignore."

She turns to Jay. "You’re wrist is in pretty bad shape. It’s broken in several places and there’s bone fragments that have detached themselves. I’d normally say it requires surgery,” Jay’s face pales, “But I know you can’t do that. You’ll just have to let me splint it and promise once this is all over, you go to a hospital. ” He’s not happy about it, but he nods.

What other choice does he have?

“Thankfully,” she continues, “your ankle isn’t as bad. You’re very lucky it’s a compound break, which heals much easier. I’m not going to put you on crutches, but I’ll have to splint it too. I honestly have no idea how your still standing right now.”

Jay smiles sheepishly at her.

He has no idea either.

“I can’t say the same for your ribs. Those are a mess.”

Jay knows. He knows. He can’t count how many times he’s felt a crack.

“Some even healed and then been re-broken?”

Nya’s still giving him that look.

“I’ll wrap those for you, but you just need to rest them. Okay?”

Jay resists the urge to groan, but he agrees.

“Then I’ll just stitch some of those cuts, give you an IV bag, and get you some painkillers.”

Jay knows he probably isn’t hiding the frustration on his face well.

They don't have time for this. For all they know, Nadakhan could be on his way here now and they're basically just sitting ducks, all because he couldn't defend himself on that stupid ship.

He's putting Nya in danger. He's putting the officers in danger. He's putting all of Ninjago in danger. This is all his fault.

The medic catches Jay's expression and her gaze softens, "I'm sorry, hun, but you really can't wait any longer. You're stable right now, but you might not be in a couple of hours. Your levels are still dangerously low." She places a hand on his shoulder. "Sweetie, you could put your mission and your life in jeopardy if you try to fight like this." Jay looks at her, then takes a deep breath and sighs a shaky sigh, nodding.

"I'll be back with your IV."

"Hey, uh," Jay starts before the medic walks off to get the needed medical equipment. "Could I get some water, please?"

The medic smiles softly. "Sure thing, hun. I was gonna bring you some anyway."

She comes back not five minutes later with supplies, handing Jay a cold compress to cool him down. She splints his wrist and ankle, wraps his broken ribs, stitches the cuts on his forearm, shoulder, back, stomach, and leg, and hooks the IV up to his vein, all while Jay chugs several bottles of water.

Within no more than two hours of the two remaining ninja arriving at the station, Jay’s patched up enough for them to leave.

One saline drip bag, six rolls of support bandages, and forty-six stitches later, (Jay’s been counting), the medic pulls the needle out of Jay's arm and helps him off the table. "Now please, for the sake of your mission and your well being, be careful ." She looks at Nya, "Treat the rest of his injuries as soon as possible and make sure he rests. He can't stay this way for long."

Nya nods in understanding. “Don’t worry, I will.”

The medic hands Jay off to Nya and she slings his arm over her shoulder. It makes it easier that he’s shorter than her.

"And, hey," the medic calls out to them and they briefly turn back to look at her. "Good luck." She smiles and the two nod in thanks.

Jay lets out a sigh as soon as the door clicks shut behind them. "I can walk, Nya. I'm fine." He pulls his arm from around her shoulder, and she hesitantly lets him. He steadies himself and wraps a hand around his side.

And, First Master , he wants her to stop looking at him like that.

Like he's gonna fall over every five seconds.

Like everything isn't his fault.

(It is.)

Like he doesn't deserve it.

(He does.)

She is giving him exactly what he doesn't want nor deserve.

Pity.

He just wish-... wants her to stop.

The two bump into the Commissioner, who’s carrying what looks like Cole's travel bag, on their way down the hall.

"Jay! Glad to see you're okay."

Jay smiles nervously. "Thanks."

"Listen, you two. When we took custody of your ship, we searched it for any evidence and took some of your belongings to put through processing." He pauses and sheepishly scratches the black of his neck. "Sorry about that by the way, I was completely wrong about you ninja. Anyway, it's a good thing we did because before Nadakhan stole your ship, we were able to grab some stuff that should last you awhile at your safe house." He hands Nya the duffel bag.

"Thank you." Nya says gratefully, taking the bag.

"You two can use one of the interrogation rooms to decide where you'll head. Right down that hall, room 7A. There's a map in there for you."

Jay and Nya both thank him again and the Commissioner heads to the front of the station.

"Well, we better start thinking of a place." Nya says through a sigh.

As they pass the front, they can see all the police cars lined up barricading the doors with even more officers ready and waiting, guns trained at the sky.

Jay stops in his tracts and hints of a small smile appear on his face. "I think I know the perfect place. Somewhere Nadakhan won't even think to look."

Chapter Text

“Dr. Julien’s lighthouse?” Nya raises an eyebrow while glancing through the go-bag the Commissioner handed them. There’s enough food for a few weeks or so, a first-aid kit, a map, and extra clothes. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah! We haven’t been back since the funeral. There’s no way Nadakhan would know to look there,” Jay says excitedly, pointing to a spot off the shore of the eastern coast on the map the Commissioner gave them.

Nya zips the bag and joins Jay to look at the map. “Okay. Yeah, sure. But how do we get there?” She crosses her arms skeptically. “Our dragons will attract too much attention. Besides, I don’t think you’re up for sparking yours, let alone the hybrid again.” She gives him a look and Jay pretends to ignore it.

He sheepishly rubs the back of his head. She does have a point, whether Jay wants to admit it or not. “Uh, not sure. Haven’t gotten that far yet. Maybe we can ask the—“ A loud boom cuts him off and the whole building shakes, nearly knocking the two over.

“What was that?!” Nya yells, regaining her balance before the panic seeps in. “Don’t tell me he found us already!”

She can see the color drain from Jay’s face. “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.” He hobbles to the door in seconds, but an officer is there to shove him back in as soon as he opens it.

“It’s not safe out here!” The officer yells. “You two need to stay put. We’re under attack!” He grabs the door handle from Jay and slams it shut.

Jay groans, turning on his heels. “Great! Just great! Now we don’t even have a head start!” He runs a battered hand through his hair with a frustrated groan. “Gagh! We should’ve just left right away instead of waiting on m-“

“Hey!” Nya stops him by grabbing his shoulders as more explosions and shouting echo throughout the precinct. “We’re not playing the blame game right now. You know as well as I do that there is no way you could’ve gone on like that. Let’s just figure out how we’re getting there so we can escape. Nadakhan is not taking us. Got it?!”

Jay doesn’t look convinced, but he nods curtly anyway just before the Commissioner bursts through the door looking panicked.

“We can’t defend you any longer. Did you find a safe house?”

Jay nods, “Yeah, it’s-“

“No no no, don’t tell me! No one can know but you . ” He pulls a rug from the corner of the room to reveal a secret door and latch leading underground. Another loud explosion keeps the two ninja from questioning it.

“Listen, Jay, if Nadakhan finds and marries Nya, he’ll have infinite wishes. Protect her.” He says what’s been playing on repeat nonstop through Jay’s head over and over since he got off that ship.

Jay nods affirmatively and puts his hand over his heart, “I promise to, with my life,” he’s never been more serious about anything.

Nya rests a hand on his shoulder, not missing the way he tenses at the touch, and can’t help but roll her eyes. After everything that’s happened, she doesn’t know why he’s starting this bravado thing now. “I appreciate the macho sentiment, but may I remind you that I can look after my—,“ shouting interrupts her argument and several unconscious officers fall in front of the door, Nadakhan’s unmistakable accent echoing just down the hall. It makes Jay’s stomach drop.

“There isn’t any time!” The Commissioner shouts gesturing to the open escape door. “Go, Ninja, go!”

Both of them utter a quick thanks before Jay ushers for Nya to go first down the hole,  and he follows behind her. It becomes pitch black instantly after the door closes but thankfully, the ladder doesn’t stretch too far down. As soon they reach the bottom, they’re met with an underground bunker. It’s structured like a storm shelter, but there’s a tunnel in the far corner leading out.

“Who knew these were under the police department this whole time, heh heh,” Jay muses, sparking a fistful of lighting for some light.

It’s also an excuse for him to use his powers, but that’s not important.

They hurry as much as they can through the twists and turns of the tunnels with surprisingly little difficulty. When they finally do see a light, it leads them out to the coastline, Jay recognizes it as the one just outside the city limits.

Nya lets out a relieved sigh, “Thank the master,” she slips a quicks glance behind them, “I don’t think they followed us. Looks like we have that head start after all.”

Jay stops to look around the shore, for anything they can use to get away, then he spots a small, wooden boat tied to a dock. “Well, let’s not give him a chance to catch up. C’mon, I think the Commissioner left us that rowboat up ahead.” Jay’s the first to reach it, immediately grabbing for the oars.

Nya makes a sound of disbelief instantly, “Uh uh. No way. Absolutely not. Don’t even think about it, Jay. Did you not hear anything that medic said?!”

Jay‘s got a look of desperation in his eyes and Nya hates that she knows that look. His eyes keep shifting from her to behind them. “Nya, we don’t have time for this, the pirates could be right behind us! I can do it, I’ll rest when we get to the lighthouse, I promise, but please let me do this! You saved me, now let me save you.”

Nya hesitates for a beat before a desperate, pleading look crosses his face. He really shouldn’t be doing this, but she knows that look, and he’s not going to give up without a fight, so she relents. “Fine. But you’re resting the minute we get there.” 

Jay’s face relaxes and he throws her a little salute with his un-splinted hand. “Yes, ma’am.”

Nya can’t help but smile as she rolls her eyes and hops in the boat, throwing the duffel bag in the bottom. For Jay’s dignity’s sake, they both decide to ignore the pain etched on his face as he starts moving the oars.

They sit in a more or less comfortable silence for a while, Nya, using the map, gives the occasional direction here and there. Jay lets her check him over while he rows, just to make sure their little escape act didn’t rip any stitches or make anything worse.

“I think you’ll be okay until we get there,” she picks up their go bag and sets it on her legs to sift through their supplies a second time, “I’ll wait for bandages since I’m sure you’ll wanna shower.”

Jay gives her an unreadable expression but nods anyway, “Yeah, please.” Both of them look away awkwardly, Nya returning her focus to their supplies and Jay to keeping the boat straight.

It really shouldn’t be awkward.

Even though it has been two months since they’d last seen each other, but come to think of it, Jay’s been under the impression Nya hated his guts the whole time, which was fair, because she’d been horrible, and Jay’s also been through a lot, so on second thought, maybe the awkwardness was called for.

“So, uh,” Nya starts an attempt at a conversation, “wanna go through our supplies?” Jay doesn’t respond to her. She looks up at him to see he’s staring at the bottom of the boat like it holds the answers to the universe. “Jay?” Still no answer. “Jay!”

The yelling gets his attention and an embarrassed flush covers his cheeks. “S-Sorry. What did you say?”

Nya gives him an odd look. “I just asked if you wanted to go through our supplies. Y’know. To kill time.”

“Oh,” Jay swallows nervously, “y-yeah, sure.”

Nya raises an eyebrow in concern. “You okay?” She realizes in hindsight what a stupid question that is. The past two months can answer that for her.

But despite that Jay answers, “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. What we got?”

She gives him another skeptical look but drops the subject and returns to the duffel on her lap. “Okay, well of course the Traveller’s Tea and the venom, uh, some food, about enough for a week or two, extra clothes, first-aid kit, water.” She drags on. “Looks like the Commissioner gave us some extra supplies.”

Jay gives a noise to let her know he’s listening. “That was nice of him. Oh, hey, is that your Airjitzu gi?!” Jay catches the glimpse of the special symbol on the robes as Nya shuffles through the bag.

Nya can’t help but smile, a slight blush on her cheeks. “Yeah, and one of your spares. Guess that was convenient, huh?”

Jay’s mouth quirks up in the smug way it does when he jokes around, and Nya pretends it doesn’t make her more happy than it should. “What’a’ya mean ‘convenient’ Ms. water ninja? You’ve gotta learn Airjitzu first!” Jay laughs to himself a bit and nudges her arm playfully.

Oh. That’s right. Jay’s been gone awhile.

“Uh, actually. I did learn Airjitzu.”

A surprised but still sorta fond look crosses Jay’s face. “Oh! Really? That’s, that’s awesome, Nya! When’d you learn it?”

Nya braces herself for Jay’s reaction because she knows she’s about to ruin the mood. “Uh, on the island. A few days after you were taken.” She winces at the look on Jay’s face.

“Oh. That’s... good.” Jay looks away awkwardly again and Nya internally scolds herself.

“Can I ask you something?” Jay asks quietly.

Nya gives him a confused look at the need for him to ask. “Yeah, sure. Of course.”

Jay hesitates and he’s still yet to look her in the eyes. “How, how long were you guys stuck there? On, on the island I mean?”

Nya frowns. He deserves to know, but she can tell he’s already blaming himself, and while, technically yes, it was partly his fault, getting kidnapped and stranding them there was most definitely not.

“You weren’t stuck there the whole time, right?” Jay questions before she can answer, and she can hear the fear in his voice.

That’s what he was worried about?

“No! Oh no, we definitely weren’t there that long. It wasn’t even a week, five days.” She answers truthfully. “The Commissioner and Ronin rescued us actually. They were the ones who found your message in the bottle.”

Jay relaxes the tiniest bit and sighs a little in relief. “Good.” His eyes widen after he says that. “I-I mean, not g-good obviously, but it’s b-better than I-I...”

“Jay,” Nya cuts off his rambling, “It’s okay. I get it.” He immediately shuts his mouth and flushes, averting his eyes. Nya raises an eyebrow.

Why is he acting so nervous?

Oh...

She’s actually an idiot.

“Jay, you know I’m not still angry, right?”

It takes him too long to respond. But even then, he doesn’t say anything, just nodding his head in acknowledgement. Nya’s not convinced but she doesn’t press it.

They fall into silence again and Nya can’t help but stare, she at least tries not to make it so obvious.

There’re bruises everywhere.

He has a bandage covering the one she thinks is the worst on his temple, but he also has marks that are sickeningly shaped like hands on his neck, and faint ones on his face. It makes her stomach knot. She doesn’t want to know how he got those.

Why had she been so hard on him?

He spent his whole time captured thinking she, Lloyd, and Cole had hated him.

Did he even think they were coming?

Nya banishes the thought from her head. Whether it be the case or not, she can’t think about it right now. She needs to stay positive for both of them at the moment.

Some time later, about an hour if she can guess, she notices the sweat glistening on Jay’s forehead and his raspy, tired breaths, and she decides that this has gone on way too long.

“Okay, Jay, that’s enough, you’ve been straining yourself way too much.” She isn’t surprised when he shakes his head, panting even heavier. “Please, let me take a turn?” She asks again. “If this is our way of traveling with a low profile, the least I can do is help row?”

Jay takes another heavy breath. “No, no. I won’t hear of it. You saved me last time, this time, let me take care of you.” Nya wants to mention that he’s in absolutely no condition for this right now, she’s genuinely afraid he’ll pass out at any second, but he speaks up before she can say anything.

“Besides, a gentlemen would never let a lady row.” Nya can’t help herself and rolls her eyes. She knows he’s not intentionally doing the “win Nya’s heart” thing, she knows him too well to know that’s not it, he just honestly wants to do this for her.

(A part of her thinks it’s because he can be in control, which is something he probably didn’t have as a prisoner, but Nya doesn’t say anything.)

“Hey look!” Jay turns around and gestures behind himself. “We’re almost there!” She looks ahead behind him, and sure enough, there’s the lighthouse, but it’s still a good hundred yards away.

“The lighthouse where Zane’s father was held prisoner. Haven’t been here for a while.” It’s true they hadn’t. It’s been about two years since Dr. Julien passed, and his funeral was the last time the team had visited.

“Yeah,” Jay says breathlessly, “let them search all of Ninjago. They’ll never find us way out here.”

Jay sets the oars down momentarily to catch his breath and Nya takes her chance, leaning back over the boat, she releases a jet stream of water from her palm, propelling them forward faster than Jay could ever row. Jay gives a yelp of surprise before losing his balance and falling forward into her lap. His cheeks flush almost immediately.

“You said I couldn’t row,” she smirks smugly,“I’m not rowing.”

Jay chuckles embarrassed, “Yeah okay, fair enough.”

They reach the shore in record time, docking the boat in the sand. Jay’s the first out of the boat, his leg giving slightly as soon as he hits the ground. He tries to hide it but Nya can tell.

Nya follows suit and Jay takes their bag. The smell of the seashore hits them immediately, and a flock of seagulls fly overhead. Jay hurries in front of her to grab the door and Nya playfully rolls her eyes, despite herself. They make the long trek up the winding staircase in relative silence. Nya almost forgot what this place was like, it’s also a painful reminder of who isn’t with them right now.

“Hey, Jay?” Nya asks. “I can make some ramen if you want, while you get cleaned up?” There’s no response. “Jay?” In a momentary panic, she looks over her shoulder to see Jay almost a whole flight of stairs behind her, doubled over in pain, holding his side. “Jay!” She quickly rushes back down the stairs as fast as she can. “What happened?”

His breathing is extra heavy and strained, taking deep breaths like he’s trying to block out pain. “N-nothing I’m fine, right behind ya. Go on ahead.”

She has to physically blink back her frustration. “Are you serious right now? Not a chance, tell me what happened.” Without even giving him a chance to respond, she groans frustratedly, “Argh! You shouldn’t have rowed that boat for so long!” She finds herself quickly checking him over, looking for any blood that wasn’t there before. “Jay, you better tell me what’s wrong, I swear if you busted an organ or something!”

“No, no, I didn’t!” Jay quickly assures, then lets out a sigh through pained breaths. “It’s just my foot. And ribs. I just... kinda forgot they were broken and moved too fast.” Nya sighs in relief. At least no stitches popped. It’s still bad but it could be worse.

“Can you make it up the rest of the way?” She doesn’t know why she asks, she already knows what he’s gonna say.

And sure enough, “Yeah, yeah, I can do it.”

Nya raises an eyebrow but she doesn’t protest when he takes another step up, favoring his right foot. She stays right behind him the whole way up, in case he does fall, which fortunately he doesn’t.

When they do finally reach the top he mutters a quick thanks before dropping the duffel on a small table.

“Oh, heh heh, actually it’s a nice little resort. Vacant for years, yet not a sign of dust.” He unzips the bag, making all of the contents fall out. He sheepishly rubs his head in apology before there’s a beeping noise coming from across the room, and a little robot pops out of a box, rolling over to the table, and picking up Jay’s mess.

“Oh,” Nya chuckles, “I forgot Zane’s father liked his toys.” The little robot pushes the bag toward Nya. “Let’s go over these supplies one more time.”

Jay grabs the bag. “Enough food for a week, changes of clothes, the vial of poison Nadakhan doesn’t know we have, and finally one teapot of Traveller’s Tea. But only just in case all else fails!” The Commissioner had been nice enough to contact Mystake for them so they could ask for the tea, and Jay revealed he’d snagged the poison after they’d left the infirmary.

“You wanna go over the plan again?”

“Okay,” Jay breathes, recalling what they’d gone over back at the police station, “if Nadakhan shows up, we shoot him with the poison, then when he can’t use his magic, I say my last wish and save Ninjago.” He laughs a humorless laugh, before his face falls. “A wish Lloyd told me is said from my heart, a heart that has no clue what it could be, but if said incorrectly could likely make everything ten times worse!”

Nya places a hand on his before he can freak out anymore. “Hey, you’ll think of it. You always do.” She gives him a reassuring smile, and he returns it. “Let’s get settled in, yeah? We could use the peace and quiet to think. All we can do now is hope the police can find Nadakhan, before Nadakhan finds us.”

She doesn’t miss the way Jay flinches at that, which is something he’s been doing a lot more of since they found him. “Yeah. You’re right.”

“Why don’t you go get cleaned up, and I’ll make us something to eat.”

Jay nods at that before heading to the bathroom. “Yeah, thanks, Nya.”

“You’re gonna let me finish the injury check when you’re done, okay?”

Jay winces before humming in agreement, grabbing a shirt and pair of shorts from the duffel bag. It doesn’t take him long to find the shower, and he doesn’t waste any time, wanting nothing more than to rinse all evidence of that ship, of them, off of him.

He turns the water to the hottest it can go, unbuckling the clasps and untying the straps of his gi, gingerly slipping his aching shoulders out of the sleeves and throwing the suit in a pile on the floor. He never wants to wear the gi again, and he’s forever grateful to whoever decided to put one of his spares in their duffel bag.

He wishes , wants to burn that stupid thing and bury its ashes. He can’t even bring himself to care about working so hard to earn it anymore. It’s beyond ruined anyway; ripped, frayed, covered with dirt, and stained with his own blood.

He can still feel Nadakhan’s hands.

Hands trailing along his shoulders and around his neck. Squeezing and—

No.

No, he’s fine.

Jay shakes the unwanted thoughts from his mind, unwrapping his bandages and stepping into the shower. He lets out a huge sigh of relief once the water hits his aching back.

It feels so good . Just to sit under the warm, soothing water, ignoring the fact he hasn’t showered in months. It stings a little as it hits his battered skin, but the soothing feeling outweighs the pain. He winces watching the blood and dirt fall off of him and to the shower floor.

Whether Jay is willing to admit it or not, he’s really hurt, and he’s in a lot of pain.

Every joint and muscle aches as if he’s being hit all over again, his head throbs, so do the bruises, the cuts sting, the new stitches burn, but he’s super careful not to get them wet, he really doesn’t want Nya to have to re-stitch them. His ribs, his wrist, and his ankle are making sure he doesn’t forget about them, the vision in his left eye is still blurry, and the gash on his side is oozing blood from the stitches.

That last bit honestly can’t be good.

He’s just now starting to feel the fever he apparently has. And he guesses that makes sense because he knows some of his cuts are infected, including that one on his side, and he can’t remember how he got it, plus it’s not like he’s been taken care of in the past two months. He’s willing to bet the adrenaline must’ve masked it earlier. He feels groggy and tired. Moving hurts.

He’s finally off that ship and he’s still feeling pain. He can’t get away from it.

A traitorous part of his brain reminds him it’s his fault and he deserves it.

He also still can’t seem to get it through to his battered mind that he was drugged up with FSM knows what. Just thinking about it sends a shiver running down his spine, despite standing under steaming water.

It just feels so... so violating, everything they did was violating.

He’d had no control over himself, forgotten things, couldn’t keep track of time, and all because they’d kept him high out of his mind for who knows how long!

Jay lets out a frustrated groan and runs his hands through his wet hair, hissing at the pain it causes. They’d broken him so thoroughly, took his dignity, his pride, left him with absolutely no hope, he’d been alone for so long he thought he’d never get out of there. He honestly might not’ve lasted much longer if Cole hadn’t of found him when he did.

Cole...

Lloyd...

They’re both gone.

They’re gone because they came for him.

Why is it that after everything he’s done, he’s the one that gets away?  He’s the one that escapes.

Jay wants to be sick. All of sudden a wave of dizziness hits him and he has to steady himself on the shower wall unless he wants to fall. He shakes it away as soon as it comes. He’s fine. If he just keeps telling himself that, it’ll eventually be the truth, right?

Right. He’s fine.

Realizing he’s probably already taken too long and not wanting to keep Nya waiting, Jay turns off the water, carefully steps out of the shower, and wraps a towel around his waist, all of which are simple tasks that shouldn’t be as difficult as they are now. As he gingerly dries off, he catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

He wants to look away but he can’t.

He doesn’t want to believe that the person staring back at him in the mirror is actually... him.

No, that can’t be him.

That shell of a person staring back at him can’t be... Jay .

No wonder everyone keeps looking at him like that.

He barely recognizes himself.

He looks awful.

His stomach is decorated in ugly shades of blue, black, purple, yellow, and other disturbing colors. More mottled, deep, dark bruises are all over . Cuts in various stages of healing are scattered across his body, some scabbed, some still fresh, and some bright with infection. Taser burns are polka-dotted across his whole body.

His arms and shoulders are just as bad.

And FSM his eye .

He definitely has some record-breaking dark circles, but his left eye is so swollen and bruised, and there’s a cut Jay didn’t notice was there until now running across it. His vision is still fairly blurry in that eye, but it’s better than it was. Yesterday he couldn’t see at all .

And... it’s not blue anymore.

It’s gray.

That’s the last thing he notices and it makes his stomach do somersaults.

He’s sure he’d puke if there was anything in him.

It wouldn’t scare him so much if it was brown, his eyes always turn brown when he doesn’t have his powers, it’s the same with the others and their weird elemental energy-infused eyes (especially Lloyd), too.

But it’s not brown.

And he has his powers, a quick spark between his fingertips confirms that.

It’s dull and sunken, and looks like it belongs on a corpse. He would joke about looking like a zombie if he wasn’t so scared.

It takes a lot out of him to refrain from panicking.

It’s probably nothing, right?

Probably just from being too close to Vengestone for too long.

But... he’s never heard of Vengestone permanently changing eye colors.

Maybe it’s just because he’s still weak.

Yeah, that’s it.

Once he’s feeling better and healed his eye’ll go back to normal.

Right?

He doesn’t want to think about it anymore.

Forcing himself to look away, his eyes lock onto his neck, and by default, his collarbone.

The handprint-shaped bruises from where Nadakhan choked him are just now appearing. That was only this morning... There are more handprints on his chest and legs and one’s forming on his face... Jay’s hand floats up to his neck, he can feel the hands cutting of his airway, he can’t breathe, can’t think, can’t breathe—

He swallows thickly. No, he has to snap out of it. He isn’t there. He’s safe. Nya’s safe. They’re at the lighthouse, not Misfortune’s Keep. They’re both safe.

“C’mon, Jay,” he pleads to himself, “get it together. You’ve gotta be strong for Nya.”

His hands fall to his sides as his eyes look over the rest of his abused skin, wrist twinging slightly at the motion.

There’s hardly a spot left untouched on him.

And did he really get that skinny?

He turns around, glancing at his back and grimacing. It’s even worse than his front, if that’s somehow possible. The two slashes that run across his whole back he knows are from Nadakhan’s hook are oozing blood. They look awful and he knows they’re gonna scar.

And then his eyes trail down to his bruised and broken ankle...

...where very dark, ugly, mangled skin is scarring.

Jay’s stomach does another spin.

There’s... actually a scar.

Wu’s warned them about this so many times before.

Some part of him had known this would happen, after finding out how long he’d actually been stuck to the stupid weight ball, but it does nothing to quell his fear.

He’s always gonna have a reminder of that ship. And yeah, he’s probably gonna have a lot more scars from the pirates than he cares to think about, but still.

Even if they make it out of this, he’s always gonna have a reminder of that stupid ship.

Of Scrap N’ Tap.

Of the pain.

Of the humiliation.

Of his failure.

Of him.

After a quick shudder and a deep breath, Jay decides it’s best not to keep dwelling on it. He can just talk to Sensei and see if there’s some magic tea that can get rid of scars.

Only if Jay can save him, that is.

Jay shakes the thought away and quickly gets dressed, pushing the nausea away every time he sees a new injury he doesn’t remember getting. He throws on the too-big pair of red shorts he bitterly realizes now are Kai’s, and debates on putting the shirt —which is Lloyd’s— on or not since Nya’s gonna need it off anyway. He eventually decides to put it on, feeling too exposed at the moment. He grabs the bandages and braces he’d taken off before the shower and leaves the bathroom feeling worse than when he’d walked in.

Nya’s waiting for him by the table with two bowls of steaming ramen, fiddling with the little robot, when he comes out. “Hey,” she smiles, “feeling better?”

Jay tries to smile, but it falls short and he knows she can tell. “Yeah,” he lies.

Her smile falters at that, but she grabs the first-aid kit anyways as Jay tosses his bandages on the table and sits down on the bench.

She pulls up a chair in front of Jay, gently putting the back of her hand on his forehead, her brow furrowing in disappointment. “You’re still pretty warm, but I think the fever’s going down.” She sits in the chair and motions for him to rest his leg up on hers. “Let me know if I need to stop.” Jay hums in agreement so she takes that as her cue to start.

She wraps his ankle first, all the way up to the scarring ring that’s still oozing blood, then re-fastens the splint the same way she remembers the medic doing, and does the same to his wrist.

Nya orders him to take off his shirt and he obeys, embarrassed to admit she has to help him.

She tries not to let the horror show on her face seeing Jay’s injuries in full and up close, he’s so gaunt. The needle marks are the first things her eyes are drawn to, countless little (thankfully fading) dots decorating his arm, and it makes her stomach clench.

Then the gash, borderline stab wound, on his side catches her attention, it looks much worse than it did. It’s bright red, oozing blood, and warm to the touch. It’s definitely infected, it doesn’t take a doctor to see that, but it was only stitched a couple hours ago, so Nya can’t really gauge how bad it’s going to get. She simply sterilizes it, and places a bandage on top.

“You okay?” She asks because he’s been really quiet other than the occasional wince or grimace. He nods right away and hums a yes. She then motions for him to turn around so she can get to his back, and her heart stops.

“Jay...”

There’s two really long, deep cuts that run from his shoulder all the way to the hem of his shorts. It’s mostly scabbed over, thankfully, but that doesn’t make it look any better.

They almost look like scratches, or... or... like someone dragged a sword down his back several times.

Jay shrinks in on himself under her gaze. “I-I’d really rather not talk about it right now, Nya.” He sounds exhausted and pleading at the same time. Nya swallows thickly, but doesn’t say anything more.

She bandages the rest of his stitches, even does some herself where she sees fit, sterilizes the infected cuts, and applies salve to the burn marks, some look like taser burns and some are suspiciously hook-shaped. She tries not to focus too much on the handprint bruises that are literally all over him.

They’re on his neck, his chest, his face, his arms, and they’re even ghosting under his shorts.

“Hey, Nya?” Jay says, breaking her concentration as she tapes a piece of gauze over the bruised cut on his temple.

“Hm?”

“Why didn’t you tell me about my eye?”

The question catches her off guard. She looks at him with a raised eyebrow. She can’t read his expression. So he didn’t know...

“It’s not blue.” He sounds so innocent with the way he says it. And... scared.

She knows. That was the first thing she’d noticed when he took the eyepatch off.

“I thought you already knew.” She answers truthfully. “I didn’t want to stress you out more.”

Jay doesn’t respond to that, but he flinches when Nya cleans the cut on his eye.

“How long did you have the eyepatch?” She’s afraid of his answer.

It takes him a second to respond. “The fourth day, I think? I can’t really remember. They made... um... the first time they made me fight, I got cut, I guess, I don’t really know, but I couldn’t see out of it until today.”

She can’t mask the disgusted look on her face.

There’s so much to unpack from that...

He’s been blind in one eye for two months?!

They’d forced him to fight?!

“How many times did you fight?”

Jay winces before answering, “I lost track after the first few times. Almost everyday I think.”

Nya’s face falls, “Jay...”

He shakes his head as if trying to banish memories out of his head. He’s getting really tired of people looking at him like that. “I don’t... can we not talk about it right now, please ?”

Nya’s worried look doesn’t change, and she wants to press the issue, because now she’s terrified of what Jay went through, but she can see the desperate look in his eyes, so she drops it. Another time. “Yeah, sure.” He’s shaking as she wraps another support bandage around his wrist, but she doesn’t mention it.

Nya’s starting to connect the dots and she doesn’t like the picture that’s coming together at all.

She pointedly ignores the other handprint bruises while she stitches a cut on his thigh.

When she’s finally done, a good half an hour later and the sun’s starting to set, Jay’s a bundle of bandages, stitches, and steri strips. There’s nothing she can do about the bruises, but at least everything else is taken care of. She’s not afraid he’ll bleed out anymore at least.

Nya dusts off her hands, admiring her handiwork. “I didn’t miss anything, did I?”

Jay shakes his head, “No, I’m pretty sure that’s it.” He grimaces as Nya helps him put his shirt back on, and he spins around to the table. “Thanks, Nya.”

“Anytime, Sparky.” She gestures to his bowel of ramen. “Eat and then go rest, please . You promised, remember?”

Jay sighs but there’s a hint of a smile on his face. “Yeah, okay.” Nya will take it as a win.

The water she’s been boiling for tea finally whistles and she pours Jay a cup, grabbing a bottle of aspirin from the kit and handing Jay three little capsules. “That should help with the pain and bring down your fever.” He mumbles a thank you, popping the pills in his mouth and sipping the tea. She pours herself a cup and sits across from him, finally getting to eat her food.

It’s quiet, save for the ocean waves and seagulls. It’s a peaceful sort of quiet, or at least it would be peaceful if not for the circumstances.

Jay doesn’t say a word, sipping away at his tea and stirring his noodles around in the bowl with his chopsticks. “Not hungry?” She asks.

To her surprise, he responds right away, “I am, stomach just doesn’t feel great. Think the fever’s catching up to me.”

It makes sense and Nya gets it, but Jay looks like he hasn’t eaten in weeks, which is probably not far from the truth, and he really needs to eat, but she’s not gonna force him if it’ll make him sick.

Jay doesn’t say anything else for a while and Nya takes his silence as opportunity, because there’s been something on her mind for a while she’s been too scared to bring up.

“Hey, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask to you about.” He looks up from his bowl of probably-now-cold ramen that he’s been staring at for a solid five minutes, still yet to actually take a real bite.

“Hm? Oh, uh yeah, sure. Shoot.”

She tries to broach the subject carefully. “Back on the island,” even her just saying that makes Jay tense. “You said something about Ed and Edna... not being your birth parents?”

An unreadable look crosses Jay’s face before he lets out a long sigh. “Y-yeah,” he looks away awkwardly, “turns out I’m uh, I’m adopted.”

Her face falls, “Jay...” She‘d been so mad at him when he shouted it out back on the island that it didn’t really click in her head until Jay’d been captured.

She can’t even imagine what that’s like, well technically she guesses she can because parents are a sensitive subject, but it’s not the same. “When did you find out?”

Jay doesn’t answer right away. “When... when we were having lunch together a couple days - er - months ago,” she hates the way he has to correct himself. “And I just kinda ditched and then you found me at that mansion... Nadakhan cornered me and convinced me to make a wish. I wished to be rich to uh... to impress you. Then I got a letter saying my dad died. So I went to the junkyard and that’s when they told me. Apparently I was left on their doorstep as a baby.” He rests his forearms on the table and picks at his splint nervously.

Nya doesn’t even know what to say. She rests a hand on his bandaged one and she almost expects it when he flinches away before immediately apologizing. “Then that mansion?”

“Was my birth father’s.” Jay finishes, then adds, “Who is also Cliff Gordon.”

Nya does a double take, raising an eyebrow. “The Starfarer guy?!” Jay nods but there’s no sign of an emotion even resembling happiness in his face. “What about your mom? Do you...”

Jay shakes his head. “Not a clue. But unless Cliff Gordon, the movie star, was an elemental master...” He doesn’t need to finish the sentence for Nya to understand. “I mean, I want to know why, but he’s dead and she could be, too, for all I know.” Jay sighs heavily before continuing. “I guess it doesn’t matter. Either way, they didn’t want me.”

She knows Jay’s always been insecure, especially about people wanting him around, but it breaks Nya’s heart the way he sounds so sure. Like there’s absolutely no way the solution could be anything else. “Jay, you have no way of knowing that. Maybe something happened?”

Jay shrugs. “I guess,” he doesn’t sound convinced, “In hindsight, I should’ve figured it out sooner. Ed and Edna weren’t elemental masters.”

He rests his chin on his arms, the ramen long forgotten. Nya sighs. “I’m sorry, Jay. I’m, I really am.”

“Don’t be, Nya, it’s okay. Really.” He says almost immediately. “It doesn’t even matter. Ed and Edna are always gonna be my real parents.” He’s got no room to complain. All he’s ever gotten from them is unconditional love and support. Nya doesn’t even have parents.

Nya gives him a look, but he pointedly ignores it and picks at his food.

—

It takes a lot of convincing, but she eventually gets him to eat most of his ramen, and by then the sun’s gone down completely.

Even though it’s probably only around eight o’clock, Nya can feel her eyes drooping and Jay looks about two seconds away from keeling over from exhaustion, so she cleans up their dishes, and pesters him about going to bed.

“C’mon, Sparky. Can’t have you collapsing on me.” Jay grumbles, but she can see a smile pulling at his lips so she’ll let it slide. She helps him make his way to the bedroom and opens the door for him.

And as she figured...

One bed.

They both look at each other and Jay smirks, but she raises a hand as a warning before he gets a chance to say anything. “ Don’t . Say it. You’re getting the bed and there’s no arguing it.” She goes straight to the closet on the other side of the room and starts rummaging through it.

Jay chuckles lightly. Jokes aside, even if he wanted to argue with Nya, he doesn’t have the energy right now. “Just until I heal enough. You shouldn’t have to sleep on the floor.”

Just as he mentions it, Nya pulls a rolled up futon from the closet. “Not the floor,” she says as matter of factly, stretching out the r.

Jay just shakes his head good-heartedly, holding his side when it twinges with pain, and gently sits down on the bed.

Regrettably, Nya has to help him lift his legs up, because Jay doesn’t even have that much energy left.

It’s still hard to believe he’s sleeping in an actual bed tonight, when this morning he didn’t know if he’d ever get home.

After checking his bandages one more time, Nya sighs, “Okay, is that good?” He nods in return after grimacing.

“Y-yeah, thanks, Nya.”

“Yeah.” She turns to get her stuff set up when Jay grabs her hand.

“I mean it, Nya. For, for saving me today, and everything else. Thank you.”

Nya hesitates, but then smiles warmly. “Anytime.” She turns out the light, whispering a goodnight, and Jay murmurs it in return.

She decides to check around the lighthouse one last time, just to make sure there aren’t any threats, but she loses herself to the millions of thoughts swirling in her head.

What if Jay thought they weren’t coming?!

Jay had been alone for two months. Alone with those pirates. Alone with Nadakhan .

That couldn’t have been anything other than a nightmare. Especially for Jay.

And the comment about his adoption earlier?

Jay has absolutely no possible way of knowing what could’ve happened sixteen years ago that caused his birth parents to give him up.

Absolutely no way.

And yet... it’s like Jay had already made up his mind.

Nya shivers, and not just from the cold night air. Everything just totally sucks right now.

And she and Jay have to have a talk at some point. About all that’s happened.

Eventually.

But she can’t push him. Jay obviously went through something horrible, and if she were in his position, she wouldn’t want to be pushed either.

It’s all just so wrong.

Jay should never be like this.

Jay shouldn’t have that tired, solemn look permanently etched on his face.

Jay shouldn’t be this hurt.

And Jay shouldn’t be this small.

She really wishes the others were here. Cole would know what to do, and Lloyd, Zane, and Kai...

But, she can’t let herself think about it now. She really does miss everyone, but the only way to get them back is to stop Nadakhan, and in order to do that, they have to hide out here in the lighthouse for awhile.

Which normally wouldn’t be her first choice of action, but it’s what’s best for Jay, and that’s all the reason she needs.

FSM, does she hear herself right now?

The Nya from three months ago would’ve never said something like that.

Jay’s her friend. First and foremost, before anything else. That’s how things started out with them anyways.

She needs to be careful about how she says things, because the last thing she wants is to string him along after what he’s been through.

But they are just friends, so why would she be stringing him along?

She’s not.

Jay’s her family.

And right now, her family is hurting, so she’s going to do everything she can to fix it.

—

By the time she heads back up to the bedroom, Jay’s fast asleep, curled up on his side and hugging the blanket. It’s almost adorable, if not for all the bandages covering him.

But upon a closer look, Jay’s not as peaceful as she thought. His forehead is glistening with sweat and he’s tossing his head back and forth, mumbling something Nya can’t understand.

Nightmare, she guesses.

She gently runs a hand through his hair without really thinking it through. “It’s okay, Sparky,” she says, hoping the old nickname will help him grasp some semblance of reality, even in his sleep, “you’re safe.” Jay’s breathing slowly evens out and he relaxes into the pillow the slightest bit, so Nya pulls her hand away.

She feels absolutely horrible seeing him like this.

Letting out a heavy sigh and choosing to stay in her gi rather than change, (just in case something happens), Nya settles on unclasping the armored pieces instead, and finally lays down on her makeshift bed.

She’s just glad they’re both safe. For now at least.

Her eyelids droop and she gives into the sweet relief of sleep moments later.

—

He’s being dragged through the ship by the collar of his gi, and he’s in too much pain to fight back, still reeling from a pistol whip to the head. He figures he’s going to Nadakhan’s room because it’s always the same. If he’s lucid enough after Scrap N’ Tap, he either cleans or has a chat with Nadakhan. He’s learned to prefer cleaning over Nadakhan any day.

A door slams open and yep, he was right.

A chair with restraints is waiting for him in the center of the room.

Jay hates this part.

He’s roughly manhandled into the chair and his wrists are strapped down tight, he tries to fight, he really does, but he’s trapped before he can muster up enough strength to squirm.

But then he hears keys clanking.

And the ball and chain unlocks.

He can breathe.

It feels like a thousand pounds of weight has just been lifted off of his chest.

He looks around at the pirates, confused, but he doesn’t dare say anything, in case they change their mind. They’re all waiting in anticipation.

Something is going to happen to him.

His lightning starts buzzing underneath his skin, much more so than before, pent up so long it feels like it’s gonna explode. It... it hurts .

It hurts bad.

He wants to release all the caged electricity immediately, but if he does they’ll put the chain back on and he really doesn’t want that. And if he lets it free all at once, he might just strike the ship down, his lightning is too hard to control after it’s been suppressed this long.

“Confused, little bird?” Jay hates that just Nadakhan’s voice makes him flinch.

All the high ranking crew members are surrounding him. Dogshank, Doubloon, Monkey Wrench, and Flintlocke, they’re all here.

“You’ve been suffering for so long, haven’t you, Jay?” Jay shifts uncomfortably in the restraints, preparing himself for the question he knows is coming. Nadakhan’s hands rest on Jay’s shoulders. “Don’t you just want all this pain to stop?” Jay doesn’t have to answer for Nadakhan to know. “As I expected, so how about I make you a deal?”

Jay raises an eyebrow. “W-what do you mean?” His voice is hoarse and he’s in too much pain to fully comprehend that this probably isn’t going to end well for him.

Nadakhan’s hands trail down his arms. “I imagine that element of yours is tired of being suppressed, hm?” At the mention of it, the veins in Jay’s arms light up with electricity. Jay can feel the lightning course through his body and it burns . Nadakhan sneers, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Get off me,” Jay shrugs Nadakhan’s hands off with as much movement as the restraints will allow. “Just do what you want and leave me alone.” He turns his head downward as the low chuckling from the pirates starts. He’s almost expecting it when rough hands grab his chin and yank him forward.

Nadakhan is inches away from his face with a very sharp hook at his throat. “You seem to so easily forget who’s in charge here, my little canary.” Jay squeezes his eye shut. “I decide when you get left alone. And I decide what happens to you.” His hook cuts into Jay’s neck, drawing blood. “How would you like it if one of your friends took your place instead?”

Jay swears his heart stops beating and his face pales.

“Then you better stay in line.”

Jay lets out a whimper without meaning to. Nadakhan roughly lets go of his chin.

“I thought I’d give you a little incentive, you make your wish... I’ll leave the ghost and green one alone. I’ll even let you use your powers one last time.”

Jay keeps his head down, but he listens.

He said he’d leave Cole and Lloyd alone, not Nya.

He’s lying, he has to be.

There’s no way he’s just gonna give up two souls.

“Besides just how long do you have before the Vengestone causes permanent damage?”

He hadn’t even thought about that.

“So? What do you say, ninja ? Are you ready to put this silly little game to rest?”

Jay looks at the pirates, at Nadakhan, and down at his battered body, and the ankle that’s still numb.

Then he gets an idea.

“Fine. Get me out of these cuffs, leave my team alone, and I’ll make your stupid wish.” Jay looks away when Nadakhan smiles evilly.

“Very well. I’m glad we finally came to an agreement.” Jay almost laughs at that.

Some agreement.

Nadakhan snaps his fingers and Doubloon starts unstrapping Jay’s wrists. And as soon as one hand’s free of the cuffs, Jay yanks it away.

He focuses all the energy he has and slams a fistful of lightning straight into Doubloon’s chest, with a painful cry.

He tries to hold back, he’ll kill him if he doesn’t.

But it burns, it burns.

Don’t kill him don’t kill him don’t kill him.

He stops the lightning from flowing through his hand with another scream of pain.

Doubloon hits the floor unconscious, then people are shouting, but Jay can’t differentiate any of it because his heart is beating too fast and too loud for him to hear anything else. He clumsily unstraps his other wrist and bolts for the door.

Or he tries too.

As soon as he gets up, a wave of blinding pain overwhelms him and his legs give out and he hits the floor hard. A hand roughly grabs his shoulder, but Jay’s body is still flowing with pent up electricity and whoever just grabbed him gets a taste of his lightning too.

He manages to push himself off the floor and get out the door, briefly turning and electrocuting Flintlocke and Dogshank, who were right on his tail.

He hears Nadakhan shout, “Get him!”

And then he runs.

As fast as his body will possibly allow. But he’s in so much pain. His heart is beating too fast and he’s already out of breath.

He can only think move move move, get out get out, go go!!!

He runs in and out through several hallways, the sirens are going off, he can hear “Find the prisoner, he’s got his powers!” over the intercom.

Too many things are happening at once.

Too many noises.

He can’t focus.

How is he even gonna get out of here?

There’s absolutely no way he’s gonna be able to spark his dragon. He can feel the exhaustion catching up with him and his body’s shutting down. He’s all out of breath, where is he even going?!

Then he slams hard into a body, knocking him to the floor with a pained cry. It takes a brief moment for the world to stop spinning, but when it does he looks up and sees Mustache.

He can’t breath.

He wants to run away, but he’s too scared to move.

“There you are!” He leans around the corner to yell, “Oi, I found the kid!!”

No no no he can’t be caught!

Mustache grabs his leg, so Jay grabs his arm, shocking him with as much power as possible. With the quick moment he buys, Jay turns on his knees scrambling to get away, he has to get away!

But it’s too late.

All the pirates had been alerted and now there’s hands all over him, grabbing and yanking and he tries to electrocute them all, but he hears a sharp clank and the Vengestone is painfully on him again and he can’t feel his lightning anymore.

“No no no, stop, get off me!” He only hears laughter.

They shove him face-first into the ground. His hands are forced behind him and tied tightly with rope, and he’s gagged with something one pirate pulls from his belt. It’s shoved in his mouth and tied around his head.

He squirms and writhes and struggles as much as he can, but they don’t budge.

He’s breathing too fast and sobbing and shaking his head back and forth when they force him to his knees. He doesn’t stop even when someone grabs his hair and yanks his head up.

He should’ve guessed Nadakhan is the one grabbing his hair and he’s definitely not happy.

“You insolent child! I give you a chance to save your friends and you squander it?! I’ll force that wish out of you myself, and believe me, boy , it will happen!”

Jay tries to yell, “You never would’ve let them go anyway,” but he can’t calm his breathing down enough and the rag in his mouth keeps him from speaking.

“Break him!” Nadakhan yells before storming off and another pirate he doesn’t recognize approaches him and punches him in the broken ribs.

“Yer gonna pay for that little stunt, brat!”

Jay groans through uneven breaths. When he opens his eye, he sees at least ten pirates shaking from the aftershocks of his lightning and they do not look happy. His stomach drops.

He’s really in for it.

Then without warning, someone grabs his hair again and yanks him backwards. He lets out a yelp as he’s dragged through the ship.

He cries and squirms and kicks, the ropes already burning his wrists, he tries to make them stop.

They don’t.

He guesses he’s kicking to much, even with the ball and chain, because he hears, “Ay! Get his legs, will ya?!” And then someone else is grabbing him and tying his ankles together, all while his cries and screams are ignored.

They finally do come to a stop and Jay’s scalp burns. He hears a door open and he’s tossed through it roughly.

He immediately hits a wall and it takes him a second to realize where he is. When he does he wishes he hadn’t.

He’s in a closet.

The walls are too close.

They’re too close FSM he can’t breathe!

He can’t move!

He looks at the pirates amused faces just before they slam the door closed and lock it

and the small space is plunged into darkness.

His breathing cuts off right after that. He tries to scream, but it gets lost in his throat. He can’t squirm, he can’t stand up, there’s not enough room for him and the ball and chain, he can’t move. There’s no room the walls are closing in, Jay can’t breathe. He bites down hard on the rag.

The hyperventilating starts and everything becomes blurry.

Let me out...

Let me out!

Let me out let me out let me out!

-

Jay wakes up screaming.

He shoots up from the bed in a cold sweat, head bolting around the room, his mind failing to comfirm he isn’t still locked in that closet.

His eyes dart around the small cabin in the lighthouse, his terror subsiding slightly as he sees Nya sit up from her futon next to the bed. He‘s panting heavily, he can’t slow his breaths enough to calm down. He doesn’t even notice Nya kneel down in front of him right away. It takes him a few minutes to realize she‘s asking him a question.

“—ay? —alm down, it’s ok—, J—, Jay, look at me.” He finally gets a full breath in and tries to compose himself. He looks at Nya, who’s got that look of pity he hates on her face and roughly runs a hand through his hair.

“I-I’m sorry, Nya,” Jay shakily breathes, scrunching his face up, “go back to sleep.”

That does nothing to quell Nya’s growing concern. She can hear the tremble in his voice and see the shiver that runs up his spine.

“Jay, I know you know that’s not happening,” he winces when she says that, “just let me help. What’s going on? You’ve been jumpy ever since we rescued you, and now this.” She realizes a second too late just how stupid she is to say that.

Jay can’t help but roll his eyes through raspy breaths. “Y-yeah, well, y’know, Nya, a lot can happen to someone in two months.” He pauses, immediately regretting his words when he sees Nya’s face. “Agh, I’m sorry. I didn’t... I didn’t mean that, I-I...” she gently moves to put a hand on his shoulder, but Jay flinches away hard and ducks his head, whimpering.

Like he’s afraid she’s gonna hurt him.

Like he’s expecting to be hit...

Why would he think she’d...

Oh, she’s just a colossal idiot, isn’t she?

Nya quickly retracts her hand and swallows. “I-it’s okay. I’m not mad.”

He doesn’t hear her, or if he does, he doesn’t acknowledge her, and wipes at hollow, sunken eyes, glistening with tears that are daring to fall, and swings his legs over the side of the bed. Nya backs up to give him some space.

Jay takes advantage of that and quickly gets up, jostling his bandaged ribs. He notices Nya stops herself from touching him again, letting him catch himself as he grimaces and bites his lip.

He completely ignores her questions of concern and makes way for the nearest window of the lighthouse — because he needs some air and if he doesn’t see the open sky his mind will fall back to the closet and it’s too small — and failing to hide a limp. He leans on the window sill, wrapping an arm around his stomach and rubbing gently, and heavily favoring his right side.

“Jay,” Nya starts gently, “What’s going on? Was it a nightmare?”

More like a memory.

Not that he answers her, though.

Nya sighs, “Do you want to talk about it?” Still no answer. “C’mon, Jay. Don’t do this.”

“I’m fine, Nya. Go back to sleep.” He doesn’t hesitate with that response and he doesn’t even look at her, like that was some automated response he’d worked up, which Nya finds really frustrating.

“Jay, I’m worried about you!” His shoulders tense even more. “Was it about the pirates?”

Jay screams when his head hits the floor, he doesn’t have time to get up before foreign hands are grabbing him and shoving him harder into the deck.

“I say he’s been yapping long enough! Whataya say Cap’n? Can we shut him up for this dose?”

He hears Nadakhan laugh, “Perfect idea.”

Someone tosses the pirate who asked a roll of duct tape. He waves it mockingly in front of Jay’s face before ripping off a piece and harshly pressing it to Jay’s mouth.

“Flintlocke, give our little canary his daily treatment.”

There’s a sharp prick in his arm, something he’s felt before but can’t identify, and everything goes blurry, the voices get loud, too loud, it’s all wrong, he’s panicking, he can’t breathe, it’s like every sense is heightened, the pirates faces blur, every voice distorts, it’s too much, he tries to scream...

“I love watching you squirm.”

“Nya, please,” Jay flinches so hard, she’s sure it has to hurt, “ ju-just drop it. I-I can’t do this, I-I...” A sob gets caught in his throat, but he tries to hide it.

Nya’s face falls, it was about the pirates. She doesn’t want to push him, but... “Just tell me what’s going on.”

Jay’s shoulders clench and he lets out a growl as he swirls around to face her. “Look, Nya, in case you haven’t noticed we’re the only ones left! And it’s my fault everyone’s gone! And that psychotic Djinn is not gonna stop chasing us until he’s got you and I’m dead! ” He cuts himself off, sighing and his voice breaks.

“If I hadn’t of been so stupid, we wouldn’t be in this situation, and our team would still be here.” He starts to shake, grabbing at his chest like he can’t breathe. “I promised to protect you, but I don’t know if I can because I can’t even stand right now without... without...” Jay’s legs wobble slightly before giving out.

“Hey hey hey,” Nya clears the room in under a second and catches Jay before he can hit the ground, “it’s okay. It’s okay.” Jay sinks down to the floor, bringing Nya with him and failing to keep his tears at bay any longer.

“ I-it’s all my f-fault... ” Jay cries the same broken sentence over and over as he buries his head in Nya’s shoulder.

Jay’s really been blaming himself so much...

Even if he should’ve told them about the wishes, none of... of this is his fault.

He was captured, and hurt badly . There’s nothing he could’ve done about that.

He didn’t ask for Kai, Zane, or Cole and Lloyd...

This isn’t his fault.

She’s part of the reason he thinks so, isn’t she?

FSM, why did she say those things to him on the island?!

“Jay, it’s not . It’s not your fault. This is all on Nadakhan. Not you. You didn’t ask for any of this to happen.” Jay doesn’t respond, he just continues to sob into her shoulder, gripping the fabric of her gi like his life depends on it.

She knows he probably doesn’t believe her, and she wants to tell him everything will be okay, but... she doesn’t think that’ll make him feel better right now.

“I got you,” Nya whispers gently, rubbing soothing circles on his back. “You’re not alone anymore, I’m right here.” That makes Jay sob harder, but she knows he needs to hear it after spending so much time alone, and Jay’s never handled being alone well. She can’t even begin to imagine what he went through on that ship to warrant a nightmare like the one he just experienced. She wants to say it’s over, but she knows it’s far from it.

So she just holds him, instead.

Eventually Jay’s sobs turn into whimpers, his trembling lessens, his sniffing stops, and he gently falls limp. Asleep, Nya guesses, and a quick glance down confirms her assumption.

Careful not to wake him, she gently adjusts his frail form so she can pick him up. Jay’s always been small, and she ever had a problem lifting him, they’re roughly the same size, Jay just lankier, but now, it’s like he weighs nothing at all. He’s so gaunt and skinny and it makes Nya sick.

Whatever Nadakhan did to him is becoming more and more obvious.

Nya shakes those thoughts from her head before they can get out of hand and carries Jay back to the bed. He stirs slightly and lets out a whimper when Nya sets him down on the bed and covers him with a blanket.

Well, that was almost a talk, Nya thinks bitterly to herself.

Once Jay’s settled again, Nya sits herself down on the futon, sighing, but she can’t sleep. Looking from Jay to the small alarm clock on the desk, it’s four in the morning, and she doesn’t plan on going back to sleep, not after that.

Everything just really sucks right now

Nya would be lying to herself if she said she wasn’t expecting Jay to have a nightmare tonight, after everything he’s been through, but she didn’t expect it to be this bad.

He was screaming , he thought she was going to hurt him, just because he’d snapped at her...

What did Nadakhan do to him?!

Jay starts whimpering in his sleep again, almost as if on cue. Another nightmare already?! She’s by his side in an instant, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I’m here, I got you.”

Jay settles back into a fitful slumber rather quickly so Nya pulls away and sits on the edge of the bed, sighing.

This is bad. She wants to help Jay, but she has no idea how.

She guesses the best thing she can do right now is just be strong enough for the both of them.

She sits with Jay until the sun comes up.

—

Jay wakes up the next morning feeling absolutely terrible.

His head is pounding, his ankle is on fire, his wrist itches, his stitches burn, and all in all he feels like he’s just been hit by a truck.

Then he rememberers what happened last night and suddenly feels ten times worse.

He cried in front of Nya.

That normally wouldn’t be a huge deal, Jay is a crier after all, if it weren’t for their situation and everything that’s happened. After the promise he made to himself back at the precinct? After all the crying he’s done in the past two months? He’s better than this. He knows better. He’s gotta be stronger .

He needs to get over it.

He’s off the ship, it’s over, he’s done thinking about it.

He needs to get better, protect Nya, then take down Nadakhan.

You’re weak, you know that, kid?

Ninja huh? Coulda fooled me.

You cry way too much for a ninja.

He swings his legs over the side of the bed and buries his face in his hands, groaning. “Agh you’re so stupid, Jay!” He whines to himself.

He doesn’t even remember falling asleep last night. One minute he’s sobbing into Nya’s shoulder, the next it’s morning.

How much did he tell her?

He didn’t mention... did he?

He really hopes he didn’t, because if he let it slip...

Nya’s never gonna look at him the same anymore.

FSM , seeing her is gonna be so awkward.

Speaking of which, Jay can hear the sound of something sizzling on a stove, and Nya’s quiet footsteps coming from behind the closed bedroom door.

Jay knows he should really get up, despite the fact he’s in for a world of embarrassment, but he’s also realizing that getting out of this bed is going to be way harder than it should be.

“Ok, you got this, Jay,” he coaches to himself, “just push yourself up. Nice and simple.”

Not nice and simple.

Jay gingerly pushes himself off the bed with his unbroken wrist, almost face planting into the floor when his arm buckles, and shakily gets to his feet.

Why was that so hard?!

Shaking off the vertigo, he slowly makes his way across the bedroom and into the main part of the lighthouse where Nya is up making eggs.

“Hey!” She greets him brightly and jogs over to help him get to the table. He tries to shove her off, but she doesn’t budge. “How’re you feeling?”

Even though Jay knew that question was coming, he wasn’t dreading it any less. “I’m fin-“ he cuts himself off once he sees the look on her face, sighing, “Still hurting.” She gives him a sad look, and Jay decides it’s too early for this so he quickly adds, “but I think my fever’s gone!” She feels his forehead with the back of her hand, then smiles.

“That’s a good sign.”

“Mhm.” Jay murmurs as she goes back to the small stove. “What time is it?” He asks while she stirs the eggs in the pan.

“About 10:30. You needed the sleep, so I didn’t wake you.” Jay smiles and quietly thanks her. Would he rather have woken up when she did? Yes. Was it worth bringing up? No. “Hang tight, I’ll get you some breakfast.”

“Thanks,” he says again, it’s becoming a bit of a habit, but he’s pretty sure she prefers it to apologizes. And speaking of apologies, he should probably address the elephant in the room, “Hey, uh,” Nya hums, letting him know she heard him, while she scoops eggs onto two plates. “Whatever I said last night, I’m just, I’m sorry if I said anything weird or, agh...” He pauses and runs a hand through his hair in frustration. He sees Nya turn to face him out of the corner of his eye. “I don’t really remember what happened and...”

He stops himself when Nya crouches down in front of him, one hand on his knee and the other holding a spatula. “Jay, it’s okay. You don’t have to apologize so much. And as for last night? We don’t have to talk if you don’t want, but, you’re okay. I promise. You didn’t scare me away, if that’s what you’re worried about.” She gives him a small smile, it takes Jay a second, but he smiles back.

“O-okay. Alright. I uh, I’d really rather not,” he says sheepishly, “I barely remember, anyways.” Nya gives him an odd look, with an expression he can’t quite place, but she nods and stands up.

“No problem,” she turns to the stove to grab the plates, “now how about some breakfast?”

—

The rest of the morning is an uneventful blur.

They eat their breakfast through a relatively awkward silence, with occasional small talk here and there.

Then Nya checks his wounds and changes his bandages, which isn’t fun for either of them. Jay’s still in a considerable amount of pain and his bruises have only seemed to of gotten darker. And the stab wound on his side is starting to scare Nya, because the stitches aren’t closing right, it’s red and puffy, and warm to the touch. Logically she knows it’s getting infected, and while they’re stuck out here in the middle of the ocean, there’s not much Nya can do other than keep it clean and covered.

And then there’s a brief discussion about what his wish could be.

Which is honestly proving to be a lot more difficult than either of them thought.

“I don’t know, Nya,” Jay says exasperated, resting his head on his folded arm where he’s sitting across from Nya, “Honestly the idea of any wish at all makes me sick.”

Nya makes a face and runs a hand through her messy hair. “Yeah, I know. Me too. But we don’t really have any other options.”

Jay knows, but it still doesn’t make things any better.

“And plus, what Lloyd said has to mean something, right? We are gonna make it.”

Jay hums, sitting up and rubbing his temple. His head starts throbbing and he fails to hide his grimace.

“You okay?” Nya asks like he knew she would.

“Mhm.” As soon as he says that, a sharp pain stabs right through his head, it feels like his skull is splitting open .

“Jay? What can I—“ Jay doesn’t hear anything after that. He hears a buzzing noise and his vision blurs.

There’s a rope tied around his neck and Mustache is holding the other end, yanking Jay sharply across the deck.

More pirates have come to see the show, because he hears more laughter.

“If you’re such a great ninja, get up and fight! Don’t just lie there!”

Jay tries.

Jay tries so hard.

But someone hits him in the head just as he pushes himself up the slightest bit, and stars explode in his vision.

Jay thinks someone has a taser, because he hears something like his powers charging up, except it can’t be his powers because he hasn’t been able to use those in who knows how long...

Then electricity courses through his veins and he can’t stop himself from screaming.

Jay’s eye drifts shut moments later.

“-ay? -ear me? Jay!”

Jay’s shaken out of his thoughts, memories, when Nya yells.

“S-sorry, what did you say?”

Nya looks at him with concern. “You just kinda shut down for a second there. I just asked if you wanted some water?”