Work Text:
With Nya and Lloyd captured by the Sky Pirates, there isn’t much that Cole can do when the pirates boot him and Jay off the small zeppelin back onto the Misfortune’s Keep. They’re quick to slap fetters on their ankles as soon as their knees hit the deck.
Cole hates the feeling that sets in. Like a candle being smothered with a wet thumb, his powers are snuffed out instantly.
Vengestone freaking sucks, but Cole’s reasons for hating it aren’t the same reasons the others might have for this stuff.
He’s heard Kai complain about it the most and Jay’s complaints have been similar. How vengestone feels suffocating and stifling. Like having a damp, heavy towel draped over the whole whole body or like being trapped in a thick, gummy plastic insulation. They both have said that vengestone makes them wanna dig into their skin to claw their powers back out.
But to him, it doesn’t quite feel like that.
Maybe it’s because of his element. Jay’s and Kai’s elements are active, vibrant, live. Based on energy. But Cole’s element is Earth, which has always been steady and firm. Powerful but in a quiet sorta way. His element is still.
So when he’s under the effects of vengestone, he feels stunningly normal. More normal than he ought to be. Sometimes, he doesn’t even realize his powers are gone until he tries to move the earth or use his super strength.
It's honestly more unnerving to him that way.
After the pirates toss him, Lloyd, and Jay into a pit cut into the hull of the ship (who knows where they're taking Nya), Cole immediately goes for his chains. He takes them into his hands and sharply yanks. The links chink loudly, mockingly even, but that’s all they do.
He continues pulling on them as hard as he can anyways, frustration building in his throat. He doesn’t feel weaker and yet he’s never been more powerless. The disconnect is so wrong; it feels even worse than it usually does.
"It’s vengestone, remember..." Jay's voice cuts into his thoughts. He winces when the chain makes a sharp, tinny clink so Cole stops yanking at once. Jay sighs sullenly from behind his folded arms and knees, watching Cole with a vague sense of exhaustion clinging to him like a sickness, and continues, "Your super duper strength isn’t going to work. And you can’t ghost through it either."
Oh yeah. His ghost thing. There's that too. Maybe that’s the reason being trapped in vengestone feels more disturbing than usual.
Cole grips the chains. Being a ghost has been so weird for him for these past several months. Because he never truly died. But at the same time, he can’t tell if he’s part of the living anymore. His entire existence changed. The makeup of his being stopped being human, what is he even made of? How can he just see straight through himself? Does he even have blood? Sometimes it feels like he shouldn’t exist.
And right now, that’s not even his problem. Not when vengestone forces him to be corporeal.
Before, living as a ghost has always felt like being stuck between two worlds, drifting peacefully within an overlap. Vengestone rudely wrenches him half-way out of that gap, tethering him forcefully to the physical plane. He’s more in the realm of the living than he usually is, but it’s forced, unnatural. It’s not like he was brought back to life in the way he's supposed to be.
It’s hard to describe. But he really doesn’t like it. It feels bad and heavy like his soul is being dragged down by concrete.
Jay’s defeated groan snaps Cole out of his spiral.
Jay rests his forehead on his arms and mumbles into the space between his legs, "Thanks for trying to save me, but maybe it would’ve been better if you never came."
Cole straightens up at that. Worry pushes out whatever existential crisis he was about to have. Forget that, he’s never seen Jay so down. And he’s seen the state Jay was in after he got dumped by Nya. Jay's always been kind of a pessimist, but this? This is different.
He’d done brisk once-over of Jay before, when he first found him. Just a quick check to make sure he wasn't dying—they didn't have time at the moment, they had to go. He seemed fine enough to run then at least.
"Dude, what happened to you?" Worry worms into Cole’s chest as he looks over Jay now.
Jay gives Cole a dirty look. "Well, a lot has happened, Cole."
No kidding. Just look at him. He’s a total mess.
There’s so many little ways Jay has changed. His hair’s a total rat’s nest; he thinks if he went at it with only a comb, it would break. Then there’s his skin. It was too subtle to catch before, but he’s been sunkissed just one shade darker. He has a tan like the kind he would get on a nice summer day on the beach but... it’s off-color. There’s a greyishness to his skin that Cole associates with pallor. Is Jay sick? Cole has noticed his headache but he doesn’t think it’s from a fever.
...It could be from his eye. Cole tries not to stare at Jay's eyepatch. He doesn’t want to think about it, but the way he can see blood flaking along the bottom edge of the patch... the deep, dark brown material definitely used to be blue. Cole suppresses his nausea. Maybe (hopefully) it’s not as bad as he’s imagining.
Then there’s all these odd holes and tears in his gi, blood lacing the edges of so many, some stains appearing washed out. His sleeves are in the worst shape; what got them all torn up? Though, the rest of Jay’s body could be worse but Cole can’t get a better look with the way he’s folded up on the floor.
"Too much has happened." Lloyd agrees solemnly. He then asserts, "But we still have hope. Things might look dire now, but we still have each other, and between all of us, we have ten wishes—"
Jay’s face instantly jerks up with wide-eyed horror, and he rises so fast and screams, "WISHES?!" with such vehemence, Lloyd almost stumbles back.
"Wishes. Wishes!" Jay’s arms sway out like he can’t believe what he just heard. His voice turns nearly shrill, "You wanna think that through?! Wishes are why I—" Jay’s voice catches for the briefest second as his eye flashes with something that goes by too fast for Cole to catch— "how I got you guys stuck up here with me. Wishes are a mistake, and not making my final one is the only reason I’m still here. Somehow..." Jay says that last bit so faintly off to the side that Cole barely catches it. Suddenly, Jay shakes his head furiously and glares at Lloyd. "No WISHES."
Lloyd puts his hands up in surrender. "Okay, geez! Fine, no wishes! Only as a last resort."
Cole watches Jay’s face scrunch up in displeasure hearing that last part, and he opens his mouth to argue. But before he can get a word out, the grate above them clangs. Cole’s head snaps up to watch it groan open.
Somewhere beyond the opening, Cole hears, "Bring out Jay and the black ninja."
"A-a-and the green one, s-s-sir?"
A voice thicker and richer than the first replies, "Leave him behind. He is not necessary for what I have planned."
That first voice again hums in accord. "Plus, too many ninjas means too much trouble. One alone is a pain in my britches."
"Hey!" That's Nya’s voice—Cole perks up—she's okay! Nya hollers above, "What are you planning to do with Jay and Cole!? If you lay a single hand on them, I'm going to tear you all to pieces!" ...Just fine even.
Two pirates jump in, both armed with swords. One holds Lloyd at knifepoint when a rope ladder drops down. One after another, Cole and Jay are forcibly hauled out of the pit. Or more like they are when they get towards the top after struggling to climb the flimsy thing. Well sor-ry for not being any speedier with a freaking stone ball hanging off them.
Cole is rubbing the rawness on his ankle out when Jay hits the deck hard next to him. Cole grimaces as Jay groans, clutching himself. Do they gotta be so rough? It’s like they have it out for Jay specifically.
"Eugh..." Jay peels himself off the hardwood, props an arm under himself, and glowers at Nadakhan. "What do you want?"
Nadakhan returns his scowl with a slight, ominous smile.
Jay drags a knee up and pushes his body upright with a sway. He steps, barely not stumbling, around and in front of Cole, standing protectively. "Whatever you’ve got planned, leave him out of it."
Nadakhan shuts him down. "Afraid not. I need both of you for this—" he poofs and materializes behind Nya with his hands on her shoulders— "demonstration."
Jay’s and Nya's eyes meet and they both freeze. Cole can’t see the face Jay’s making from behind his back, but he catches Jay's hand flexing uneasily at his side. Meanwhile, Nya has such a complicated emotion on her face.
The awkward pause ends suddenly when Jay breaks eye contact and shouts with a wide sweep of his arm, "Get your mitts off of Nya!"
Nya follows up like the frozen moment never happened, "Yeah, why don’t you listen to him." Nya thrashes in Nadakhan’s grip, trying to throw his hands off her. "Let me go so I can show you what happens when you mess with me, you freak!"
Nadakhan hums in amusement and tosses her at Dogshank, who immediately restrains her arms. He chuckles and addresses Jay, "She's a lively girl, isn't she. I can see why you don't want to let go of that fire. I enjoy that in a woman too. But Delara was a bit more... refined. She knew when to be silent." Nadakhan motions to Nya with his head. "Gag her."
One of the pirates pulls out a large bandana and twists it up into a thick roll and approaches her.
"Oh no, don’t you dare put that thing anywhere near my MFGH—!!!"
Cole and Jay yell in unison, "Hey—!" Cole quickly scrambles up and Jay is already halfway there to Nya.
Nadakhan crosses Jay’s path and Jay stops dead in his tracks.
"Your destination—" Nadakhan languidly points to a clearing on the deck encircled by crates and barrels— "is over there."
"Scrap-N-Tap!?! Again?! Give me a break!" Jay presses palms over his eye sockets and moans skyward. A second passes— "...Wait." Jay snaps forward and whips around to look at Cole like he realized something. "No. Is this gonna be a tag team thing? Oh nonono, you can’t make Cole do this."
When Jay turns to face him, Nadakhan merely looks down at Jay with an amused, up-turned smirk.
"Get into the ring." There’s a threat underlying Nadakhan’s words.
A faint shiver climbs up Jay’s back. There’s a moment of hesitation. Then wordlessly, Jay turns and walks stiffly toward the ring, dragging the vengestone ball behind him, without a single glance towards Cole.
Cole follows him with his eyes, confused. He’s about to call out to Jay when a pirate chick snatches his wrist.
"You didn’t get the memo?" She smiles at him, eyes curving into thin crescents. "That means you tooooo." She snickers and yanks him forward, nearly making him trip on his chain, into her step. She’s scary strong; he can’t escape her grip as she leads him to the ring. Are all these pirates this terrifying when you are powerless?
She drags him into the ring’s center before Jay reaches the border; Jay looks apprehensive and sick to the stomach when he steps in. "So uh," Jay starts. "Who are we fighting first? Cyren? Dogshank? Doubloon? ...Please not Dogshank right off the bat."
All the pirates laugh as they gather around the ring, getting comfortable in their places. Cole tries not to squirm under their leers.
"...What’s so funny?" Jay asks as he watches the pirates shove a trussed up Nya down on a throne of crates. Dogshank pins her in place with a heavy hand on her shoulder. Nya's got a perfect view of the arena, of Jay and Cole. Cole can read the fury burning in her eyes, but he can sense the cold fear crackling underneath her skin too.
"He thinks we are playing the usual game. How adorable." Nadakhan chuckles as he drifts around Jay. "Who said anything about you fighting us?"
"What...?"
"It gets dull having to provide our own amusement, wouldn’t you say? I wanted to give the crew a chance to view some fresh outsider entertainment. Consider this a special match. Or perhaps, a reenactment considering your history." And Nadakhan gestures over to Cole.
Horror dawns on Jay’s face when he looks at Cole. Jay squawks and turns to Nadakhan, "Oh, I am not fighting Cole! Are you kidding me? No way!" Jay whips his arm through the air in impassioned emphasis.
Nadakhan suddenly grabs Jay's face, Jay’s yelp muffled by his palm. "Hey!" Cole shouts, about to sprint to them to tear Nadakhan’s hand off of Jay’s mouth, but he falters when he sees the glint of Nadakhan’s hook hovering closer to Jay’s head.
Nadakhan pulls Jay up by the jaw and leans in way too close to his face. "You don’t have any say in that matter." Nadakhan’s mouth drifts closer to Jay’s ear and whispers something too quiet for Cole to hear. Jay’s shoulders go rigid.
Nadakhan tosses Jay’s face away as abruptly as he had grabbed it. Jay stumbles back a few steps and crashes onto his butt when his foot catches on his weight. Cole rushes as fast as he can to Jay’s side and helps him up. Red imprints of Nadakhan’s fingers mar Jay’s cheeks. He pants hard in Cole’s hold.
"Don’t get any more smart ideas, now." Flintlocke spins his revolver on his index. "We wouldn’t want a repeat of last time."
Jay’s body shakes for some reason at that.
"Now, give us a good show." Nadakhan gives them a greasy smile and slips back into the audience’s circle and takes his place besides Nya.
"Um, Jay? I know this is a bit late to ask, but what exactly is ‘Scrap-N-Tap’?" Cole has a sinking feeling.
Jay glances at him. There are thoughts that Cole can’t read flipping rapidly though Jay’s head, he can just tell. He’s his best friend, but he just has a feeling he wouldn’t like anything that Jay is thinking right now.
Then Jay smirks wryly at him and gently brushes Cole’s hands off his shoulders. He steps away from him a few feet, arms shrugging like it’s not a big deal. "Well, it's nothing really complicated." Jay turns to face him. "A no holds barred, pure contest of strength. Whoever wins has to face the next competitor. And this time it’s you versus me, Cole."
He figured as much but— "Dude... Are you just gonna go along with that? I don't get why we have to play this dumb game of his."
"Ugh, of course you don't." Jay pinches the bridge of his brow as he mutters, "You’re not the one who spent days held captive by pirates."
He sighs wearily. "Just fight me, Cole. We do it every other week, it’s not like this is anything different. Heck, we were fighting before I got kidnapped, even!"
Cole cringes a bit remembering that—that hadn’t been fighting, it had been more like bullying. Cole regrets treating Jay like that. But Jay doesn’t seem to care about that now? Has he forgiven him? Is he over it? Or no, it’s more like Jay doesn’t think it matters anymore.
Something about that doesn’t sit right with Cole.
Cole looks over Jay. He’s standing straight, shoulders pulled back confidently with his head at a cocky tilt, his hands tensing like he’s itching for a fight. In the way that he’s carrying himself, though, Cole can tell something’s up. He’s hiding something.
"This is totally different. You’re in no condition to fight. You’re hurt, aren’t you." It’s not really a question.
"No, I’m fine." Jay waves him off a touch too fast, Cole narrows his eyes sharply, and Jay flinches back like he knows he’s been caught in his lie. Cole challenges him with his eyes and Jay matches his glare, mouth twisting.
Suddenly, Jay furiously scrubs his hair and groans out loud, "AuuuUGGH, dangit, Cole! You’re the last person who I expected to be unreasonable about this!"
"Unreasonable? Unreasonable?!" What is Jay going ON about— "I think I’m being perfectly reasonable for not wanting to hurt a friend who’s injured, Jay."
Wordlessly, Jay approaches Cole in a few short strides.
Suddenly, Jay grabs Cole's collar and SMASHES their foreheads together.
Both of them yelp in pain; Jay immediately lets go of his grip to clutch his head, hissing through gritted teeth.
"You headbutted me?!" Cole cries out, feeling vaguely betrayed somehow. Hot, throbbing pain radiates from Cole’s forehead under his fingertips—he definitely has a goose egg—and Cole blinks away his tears. "Why would you do that!"
"To get it through to your big! Dumb! Head!" Jay yells, incensed, fingers still gingerly touching his own forehead.
"Hey!! Dumb?! That's uncalled for! Hey Jay, what's with you?"
"Have you thought about our position here? Look around us, Cole! We are surrounded by pirates, miles and miles above water, without any powers! Do you really have any plan to get us out of here? Well, let’s hear it, wise guy!"
"W-well, I don’t really, but I don’t get why you have to get so mad about it! And why do we still have to go along with them!"
Jay’s expression turns grim.
"Because if we don’t, it’s worse."
Worse?
"You think I want to do this any more than you do? I’ve been IN it. It’s awful! I’ve been living this nightmare for how ever many days, I don't know, I can’t remember! They make you fight, and you can’t tap out— do you know what it’s like having to fight, over and over and over and over and OVER? It hurts! A lot!!! Obviously! I’m so tired, but I can’t give up, I can’t give in to Nadakhan because then it’s over and things get even worse." Jay’s lips quirk, but it's too miserable to be a smile. "So I just try to last, you know?"
"Jay..." Cole doesn't know what to say.
"So I’ve thought about it. You don't deserve to go through what I've gone through. I don't want that for you. So if taking you out of this dumb competition myself is the only way to do it then so BE IT. Alright, capiche? Happy? You have my reason."
"Huh?" Wait, Jay wants to beat him? To spare him? What—
Jay readies himself in a simple stance, fists raised guarding his front, "If that isn’t reason enough for you..." Jay makes a tiny cock of his head towards Nya.
Oh. That he can get. Jay’s trying to protect her. Maybe Cole could've figured that out sooner. And in some backwards way, Jay's trying to protect him too.
Something about this doesn't add up. But...
Cole slowly mirrors Jay and reluctantly puts his fists up. "I really don't like this, Jay."
Jay smirks ruefully. "Who says you have to?" He shrugs. "‘Sides, vengestone, am I right? No powers, no perks. We are as evenly matched as we'll ever be. Just us, our fists, mano a mano. Maybe without your dumb super strength I can sweep the floor with you. Heh."
A bucket smashes against Jay’s head from out of nowhere.
"Jay!" Cole cries out, (he thinks Nya yells the same, muffled by the gag). Jay stops Cole from approaching with a raised hand. He pulls the other out of his hair with a wince. There's a small smear of blood on his fingertips.
"Stop yappin’ and get scrappin’ already!" The pirate who threw the bucket yells at them from the sidelines.
"Oh, but I was enjoyin’ the soap opera though, now why didja go ‘n’ do that!" The pirate next to him smacks him. Where did they get popcorn!?
Cole grits his teeth. He hates these pirates so much. It’s all really just a game to them. They’re just hurting Jay for kicks. Cole hates this.
"I’m okay, Cole." It’s like Jay can hear his thoughts.
"Yeah, I don’t believe you for a second," Cole says with a frown.
"Hah," a mirthless laugh. "Well. We have to fight anyways." Jay wipes the blood off on his shoulder. "By the way, Cole? Don’t go easy on me. Got it?"
"...We have to give them a show, right...?"
Jay grins. "Looks you don’t have rocks for brains after all." Jay bounces on his feet, his chain lightly rattling from his ankle. He asks, "Ready?" Then Jay’s face turns blank, wiped of humor. Gravity sets in his one eye as it focuses and pierces straight into Cole.
"Go." Jay lunges forth, closing the distance fast, with a hard swing and no other warning.
"Woah!" Cole barely redirects Jay’s fist away from his face. No bow before the match?? Just straight into it? Jay doesn’t let up for a second and immediately tucks and follows with a series of jabs.
They make impact against his guard hard enough to smart. "Dude, chill???" Cole backs up a few steps to get a breather but Jay closes the gap immediately.
"Get serious, Cole!" Jay calls out and kicks him with his unchained leg right in the solar plexus, knocking him backwards.
The soles of Cole’s shoes squeak against the dry floorboards as he barely catches himself from falling. Jay isn't messing around. He's not pretending, this goes beyond giving the pirates a show. He's serious about this. Too serious.
Cole doesn’t have time to think when Jay keeps him on the defensive. Jay does this weird jerky kick, which snaps the weight forward, and kills the ball's momentum with a stomp on the chain before it can break his ankle where it's shackled. He pursues Cole, following his chain’s slack, with a roundhouse. Cole grabs Jay’s leg before it bops against his ear.
"How are you so fast in these!" Cole pushes Jay’s leg away and Jay recovers his balance, quick.
"You get used to it!" Jay’s fist kisses him right across the mouth.
Cole’s lips gnash painfully against his teeth and he stumbles and falls onto his rear. Cole wipes his bottom lip against the back of his hand and it comes away with a dark, shiny streak. Yeahhh, Cole figured it would from the way his lip is throbbing.
Oh wait.
He’s bleeding.
He’s bleeding even though he’s a ghost.
Cole stares at the stain. It’s blacker than it should be, like it’s being viewed through a tinted filter. It's a stark shade against his translucent skin.
Cole is a little bit rattled.
"Sorry." Cole snaps out of his stupor and Jay stands in front of him, holding out a hand. Cole stares at it then Jay’s face for a bit before he shakes off the funk and takes his hand. The pirates boo at them at once as Jay hauls him up.
"Man, what's their problem!" Cole rankles. Seriously! He just got a bloody lip for this and for what! Didn't they want blood? Apparently this isn't enough.
Jay rolls his eye. "They’re just miffed that I didn’t stomp you while you were down." Stomp??? "What did they expect, I’m not like them." He looks at Cole apologetically. "You okay?"
"Yeah." Cole looks at Jay. Then he furrows his brow in thought. "I thought you didn’t want us to go easy on each other, though."
Jay freezes. "Right, uh..." Jay stumbles back a few awkward steps to put distance between them and jabs a finger at Cole. "Don’t go easy on me now just because of force of habit! It’s no mercy from now on, okay?! You got that?!"
Honestly, Cole isn't exactly sure.
Jay squares up and oh snap—Cole brings up his guard—without a second of pause, Jay flashes forward with a sharp jab aimed right at his chin.
Cole blocks it with his forearms and starts thinking as he blocks another blow aimed at his temple.
Something's up. The way Jay’s fighting him isn't making sense. He doesn't get it. What WAS that just now. Why did Jay just stop? Didn’t he want to beat him?
Cole dodges another cheap punch to his throat.
And then there's Jay's fighting style too. He’s gotten dirtier. Scrappier? Like honor isn’t holding him back. There's barely a foundation in Spinjitsu left in his movements. Though Cole guesses it can’t really be helped; their art form is based strongly on legwork and they got these shackles weighing them down. A real pain.
But even so. Jay really isn’t fighting like a ninja anymore. That honed refinement is gone like it’s been cast away. He hasn’t gotten worse at fighting, though. In a twisted way, maybe Cole can admit he’s gotten better. But...
Jay’s moves just feel so desperate.
"Grahhh!!!" Jay roars into the sky all of a sudden in frustration, fingers tangling in his greasy locks. He throws his hands down out his hair and snarls at Cole. "You're ticking me off!" Then Jay tackles Cole with the full force of his shoulder.
Cole hits the ground with a bounce and gasps. Jay straddles his waist in an instant before he can collect himself and he yanks him up by his collar.
"Quit playing on the defensive, Cole!" Jay seethes, his breath hot on Cole’s cheeks. "Don't you get it? I don't want to fight you either—" His hands wrench, stretching out the fabric in his grip— "So do me a favor and fight me back!" Jay slams him back down and bows over his body, eye shut and jaw clenching.
Jay’s frayed, disheveled locks frame his tight face. He takes a wavering breath through his nose and opens his uninjured eye. He glares down at Cole, seething through grinding teeth. His eye shimmers with a glassy wetness.
It dawns on Cole: Jay is still holding back. Jay’s holding back because Cole’s still holding back. He’s serious about fighting, but Jay doesn’t want to just beat Cole. He wants Cole to actually put up a fight instead of just taking it.
Geez, why does his best friend have to be so complicated.
Cole groans and knocks his head on the floor. "Fine. Fine!" He grabs Jay’s collar and pulls his face closer down. Cole whispers into the privacy of the narrow space between their noses with a scowl, "Fair and square, right?"
Jay grins with a huff—a toothy, crooked smile stretches from cheek to cheek—like he finally got what he wanted, that punk.
Vexation knits Cole’s brows and Cole tightens his grip on Jay’s collar. He heaves Jay off his stomach and Jay's weight tumbles to the side, freeing Cole. Cole quickly kicks up onto his feet. He faces his best friend who gingerly picks himself off the floor.
Cole clenches his fist. He swallows his reservations. If Jay really wants him to fight, then fine, he’ll do it. Because Jay is just so damn stubborn.
Cole exhales. Just think of it as one of their stupid fights they always get into for stupid reasons.
Like good times.
Cole steps forward with heavy footfalls, rattling chain, hastening pace, and slugs Jay right across his mouth.
Jay slams into the floor, Cole's hand throbs where his knuckles struck teeth, and sickness climbs up his esophagus, and who is he kidding, nothing about this is good at all.
Jay stumbles as he stands, wiping away the bright trickle dripping down his chin—a bloody lip to match Cole’s—and doesn’t waste a second to pounce, teeth bared.
They quickly fall into a rhythm like it’s some messed up tango. Strike and block. Swing and miss. Jay parries a punch and Cole catches a blow in his fist.
They’re locked into each other’s beat and Cole has never been more acutely aware of his pulse, his breath, his senses—
His opponent right in front of him.
Their range is so limited without their powers and Spinjitzu. The scale of the fight has shrunken down to a tight radius. It's strangely intimate. And so much more raw.
Even though they're both so much weaker and their hits don’t pack half the punch, they’re aiming to bruise.
Jay’s punches hurt, but not as much as Cole’s heart every time his own fists impact against soft, giving flesh.
Jay has been still holding his own pretty well despite slowly racking up injuries (there’s blood running down from his nose now that merges into the trickle on his chin). Then Cole’s leg catches him good in the side. On impact, Jay’s eyes bulge, tears welling up instantly, and Jay nearly trips over his own legs in the stumble. Cole can't help hesitating when Jay clutches his side, hunching over and shaking and breathing through his teeth.
Jay wheezes between coughs, "I’mokay, I’mokay—" waving Cole’s concern limply away.
Liar. "You are totally not!"
"It's fine, I’m good, you just hit a bruise, you jerk." Jay lets out a shuddering exhale and straightens quicker than Cole expects. "Stop worrying about me!" Jay returns a kick into Cole’s hip, just hard enough to smart.
To his credit, Cole makes half an attempt as he retaliates. But he can’t shake his unease. Jay tells him not to worry, but Cole can't do that when he looks visibly paler. Jay’s breaths refuse to even out; they're too loud and reedy. His hits only grow weaker and weaker when they connect. His skin is moist with a thin sheen of sweat.
Jay didn’t look too hot before, but now he's doing even worse.
His gaze is still sharpened by determination. Dead set on ending this fight.
But at this rate, can he even?
...
Does he have to at all...?
This is a tournament, Jay said. Whoever wins goes on to the next round. But if Jay wins, he won't last. Cole’s not even sure if he’s going to survive even the next match. Who knows what the pirates will do to him. They sure won’t hesitate like Cole.
Cole hasn’t witnessed it himself but he’s gotten more than enough hints.
Scrap-N-Tap is just a thinly veiled game of torture.
Jay is much too willing to subject himself to it, though. Because of Nya? Because of Cole? Because of guilt? Because of some secret fourth thing?
Whatever the reason is, he’s running himself ragged. He’s a candle burning down to the ground. And Cole is the one holding the match to his wax.
Will Jay be mad if he puts him out?
Cole’s gotta admit. It’s not a great plan. Maybe because he’s stealing Jay’s plan which was NEVER good in the first place. But Cole doesn’t see any other option. Jay’s not giving him much of a choice. Ugh, this is terrible, this sucks! He’s going to hurt Jay so that he gets less hurt? It’s nuts. It’s a sick kind of mercy.
But Cole has a feeling Jay won’t rest otherwise.
Jay’s had enough.
He’ll beat Jay at his own game to give him a break.
He just gotta. Hurt him. Gently. Somehow. Somehow.
(Easier said than done.)
Cole grits his teeth. Steels his will as a fist comes flying in.
Cole dodges, catches Jay’s wrist, and says, "I’m sorry, Jay. But I'm gonna have to ruin your plans."
"Whu—?" is the only sound Jay could get out before Cole yanks him forward, slips behind his back, and snakes an arm around his neck.
Cole cinches his chokehold and a short, shocked, guttural sound expels from Jay’s throat.
Jay slaps at Cole’s arm as Cole flexes around his neck, muscles bulging cutting off circulation. Cole whispers hushed apologies, "I’m sorry, I’m sorry," as he concentrates on subduing Jay as quickly as possible.
Suddenly, Jay thrashes with unexpected violence, bashing Cole’s shins with vicious kicks. Jay nearly wriggles out so Cole tightens his hold, enduring, trying to force him still, ignoring the awful strangled gasps and stuttered wheezes wrested from Jay’s throat.
Jay claws into his arm, tearing his ragged nails so hard across his skin that he draws black blood and startles Cole enough to loosen his grip.
Jay wrenches himself out of Cole’s arms. He splutters and coughs and shudders violently whilst holding his neck. He whirls around, quick, like he has his back turned towards an enemy. His feral, terrified expression sears itself into Cole’s memory.
Then suddenly his face clears as if he realized something. Between short, shaky breaths, Jay says, "Oh." His voice, rough and broken up, turns down into almost a hush. "I didn’t mean to do that."
Cole realizes, Jay has his guard down. Cole doesn’t think.
Cole seizes his chance and, like a bullet, drives his fist into Jay’s abdomen.
The air punches out of Jay’s lungs and he crumples to Cole’s feet like damp newspaper.
Cole pants as adrenaline begins to slowly drain out of his system, his heartbeat pounding heavily against his eardrums, deafening the din of cheers from all around. Cole looks down at Jay’s body as it stays down, curled in a tense fetal position, an arm hugging and clutching his side. He lies still save for the rapid rise and fall of his chest.
Jay’s blood seeps out into the bunched fabric between his clenched fingers.
Cole’s gut swoops, blood suddenly running cold. What did he just do?
Cole drops so fast, his knees crack against the wood. His hands hovers waveringly over Jay’s side, mind blanking at what to do as the stain blooms into a dark rose. Anxiety stirs in his chest as he calls out, "J-Jay?"
Cole looks away from the wound and shifts his gaze up Jay’s trembling body. Jay's face is turned toward the floorboards but Cole can see the edge of a strained grin cracking over his cheek.
What? He’s smiling?
"We have our winner!" Nadakhan roars and the entire crowd whoops and hollers.
Cole glares at Nadakhan, hate boiling in his chest hot enough to make him sick.
His attention snaps away when Jay makes this wet rasping sound that devolves into a pathetic whimper that puts Cole’s rage on ice. Fear eclipses his heart.
Cole’s hands shake before he puts them on Jay to carefully roll him onto his back. Cole says under his breath, "Sorry ‘bout this, buddy," and yanks open Jay’s gi and rucks up his undershirt.
The shock of white enveloping Jay’s entire midsection takes Cole aback. Round and round and round, bandages wrap Jay’s torso from his bottom ribs to abdomen.
Red leaches in from the side, slowly dyeing the stark expanse. Cole traces the source to a lump of gauze packed and tucked tightly underneath the strips on his left oblique right above the crest of his pelvic bone.
It’s absolutely soaked with blood. It’s too dark, Cole realizes with mounting horror that it’s not all fresh; new blood rewets old to soil the bandages an even darker and dirtier color. It’s a rich, pitch warmth. It spills out of Jay too freely onto the already filthy floorboards.
Cole panics, I have to stop the blood, and none too gently slaps his hand over the sopping, slightly stiff, unpleasantly warm wad and tries not to recoil from the squelch when he grips firmly down onto yielding flesh.
A guttural scream wrenches out of Jay’s throat with a painful writhe. He clutches Cole’s wrist, smearing blood, with a violently trembling arm.
"Y-you can't just push-h down," Jay strains out. "My back, I got shot clean through."
"SHOT?!" Cole yells, eyes darting to the growing pool of blood underneath Jay. Cole adjusts his grip to seal the wounds the best he can, drawing out a pained whine out of Jay.
The backs of Cole’s hands where Jay’s blood drips—Cole suppresses the feeling that Jay’s life is slipping out through the cracks between his fingers, he’s going to be fine, he’s going to be okay—they begin to itch as the blood starts to get tacky. Cole asks (mostly to himself), "How did you survive this...?"
"Haha," it’s a half-delirious but cheerless laugh. Jay stares wistfully up at the gunmetal ceiling of the ship's split hull. He answers Cole, "Sheer force of will? Because they really packed the bandages i-in? Or maybe Flintlocke’s just a good shot."
Jay takes in a shuddering breath. "I don't think they wanted me to die. And I didn't either. So here I am."
A lick of anger flares up amidst Cole’s confusion. "You’re here bleeding on the floor! How is this part of not wanting to die, bolthead?! Why didn’t you tell me about this!" Cole puts on more pressure on the wound, half to better staunch the wound, half to make a point.
Jay winces with a sharp inhale. He sags a bit upon release, exhaustion washing over his tension. He rolls his head towards Cole, expression neutral but tired. "‘Cause then you wouldn’t be able to beat me."
"What?" Cole’s brain short-circuits. "Didn’t you—? Huh? You said—"
"Haha." Jay presses a finger to his forehead. "Tricked ya." Jay lightly pushes his head with a flick and drops his hand with a light thud, like he lacked the energy to spare to bother lowering it gently. "You really thought that the winner got to stay in the ring, boulderbrain? ...Yeah, I did too. Can't blame you for wish—" Jay suddenly trails off, mid-word. After a pause, he continues, "Positive thinking..."
"No. No, no way." Cole whips his head to Nadakhan, who has a grand old grin slapped up on his face like he’s watching the show of a lifetime. In the periphery of his tunnel vision, Cole catches movement and beside Nadakhan, Nya thrashes, fighting against the hands keeping her in her seat, clearly wanting to help Jay. Tears stream from Nya’s wide open, horrified eyes and soak into the gag she’s biting so hard on, Cole’s surprised her teeth haven’t snapped clean through. Cole had forgotten she was a part of the audience too, so absorbed in the fight. She saw him do this to Jay. Cole feels like the worst.
"It's adorable how easily you believed his lie," Nadakhan says, amused. "Maybe the earth ninja does have rocks instead of a brain. Perhaps Jay has too many rattling in his own skull himself, since it worked in your favor, dear winner." Nadakhan sounds too pleased with the result and Cole wants nothing more than to punch him across the jaw.
He can’t do that when his hands are the only things holding Jay inside himself.
Cole pries his eyes away from Nadakhan and realizes he has to unclench his jaw when he tries to speak. He asks Jay, "Why did you do this?" demanding an answer.
Jay starts weakly, "It wasn’t all a lie. I didn’t want to get you to get trapped in this ‘game’. But we couldn’t not fight—I knew that. But if I told you the truth about Scrap-N-Tap, you definitely would have refused to fight me, much less beat me, wouldn’t you?" He meets Cole’s eyes directly. "I know you."
Cole’s not gonna admit he’s right to his face. He resents Jay a bit too much for the result to say it. Cole’s heart squeezes and he says, "Jay, you're such an idiot," instead.
"Yeah," Jay agrees so matter-of-factly, voice dull. "It’s okay, though. I deserve this anyway."
Cole narrows his eyes sharply. "What does that mean." He doesn’t mean to snap. Cole should calm down, this isn’t the time to get mad, Jay’s hurt dammit. But the reason Jay got hurt in the first place... "Was this an elaborate scheme to use me to punish yourself?" Cole accuses, voice low.
"No!" Jay exclaims. "I just—" Jay’s eye flits as if he could find an answer somewhere else—"I... I just thought it was better me than you."
"You thought fooling me and throwing yourself under the bus would be better how!? What do you take me for? How do you think I feel?!"
Jay flinches and is silent for a moment, his face pulled into a tired grimace. His hand fidgets a little bit like he has to squirm under Cole’s scrutiny but is too exhausted to do much more than that. Cole’s anger falters, weakening against sympathy.
Cole sighs. "Would it kill you to be honest?"
After a moment, Jay opens his mouth. "Lying only makes things worse, huh." Jay chuckles wryly. "I guess I haven’t learned." Jay drapes an arm over his eyes. "I lied back then, about Nadakhan, and I made such a mess of things and ended up getting captured. I wanted to fix it all, but I couldn’t, I’ve been so useless. So useless that all of you got caught trying to rescue me. Then you had to be called up to scrap. And I thought about the hell I went through and what happened when I tried to run and I just—"
He takes in a shuddering breath and exhales, holding back a sob against clenched teeth. "I was scared. I couldn’t bear it. The idea of you going through it instead of me. I didn’t know how else to get you out of it except to lie again to make sure you wouldn’t flake out of fighting me. Sorry for lying." Jay stops hiding behind his arm and glares at Cole with red-rimmed eyes. "But I’m not sorry for doing it either."
Leave it to Jay to be annoying to the very end. Cole’s heart hurts like it’s being twisted in two. Jay is so. He is just.
He’s a real piece of work that Cole loves anyways.
Cole bends down his head and stares at his bloodied hands squeezing tight. He whispers quietly for Jay’s and only Jay’s ears to hear, "I wish you would stop sticking your neck out because you feel responsible for everything. You've suffered enough."
Jay's eye snaps wide open in horror. "Cole, shush! Nadakhan might hear you! You can't carelessly wish like that!"
The thread in Cole’s brain holding back his temper snaps. Cole huffs, ticked, in awed disbelief. "What are you even saying right now. I can't even say that?" Cole’s volume rises. "That I don't want you SACRIFICING yourself?"
Jay shrinks. He talks back, a loud hush, "That's not what I meant!"
No, Cole knows. Anguish roots deeply into his chest. Jay’s self-worth has been ruined on this ship and Cole is partly to blame for this. Cole ignores Jay’s words and utters, "Screw what you meant. You think that you getting hurt is worth all this? Wishing for nothing?"
Cole stands up, taking his hands off of Jay’s wounds with a moment's hesitation.
He turns and points a dripping finger at Nadakhan. Cole calls out, "Hey Nadakhan! I got some crummy wishes for you!"
"No!" Jay grunts in pain and Cole can hear Jay fail to scrabble upright. "Cole, wait!"
Nadakhan quirks up a brow. "Oh?"
Cole’s resolve cements.
"One." Cole raises his finger. "I wish Jay were healed."
Suddenly, Jay gasps and screams in agony, thudding back onto the floor.
"Two," Cole presses on, past the spike of worry, and raises the second, "I wish these stupid chains would break!"
Their restraints shatter into pieces, including Nya's and she immediately tears the gag and hands on her shoulders away and bounds out of the makeshift seat before she could be seized.
"Three." Cole turns his hand over as he unfurls his thumb. "I wish to protect Jay until the bitter end."
An oath more than a wish.
Nadakhan smiles and bows.
"Your wish is yours to keep."