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"agent walker! agent walker! are you in there?" someone knocked on his door, they seemed worrying from the way they were insistently knocking.
Jay - who found himself forced to stop twirling the pen with his fingers and stop staring at those documents full of letters, which made it too long and uninteresting - took his gaze away from the empty spot he had been staring at for a few seconds and turned towards the door. Initially he would also have been frightened by the sudden agitated call, but by now it had become such a habit that the irritation was the only one to bloom in his nerves.
Huffing heavily, he cast his gaze towards the floor, as if it would somehow give him strength, and tried to hide the boiling nerves from his voice.
"yeah.. what happened now?" the annoyance failed to go away, releasing another huff after his question.
in a week, he was alerted to intruders inside at least five times, which wouldn't be too many times if it wasn't a place supposedly impossible to access. or at least not so easily that you can make several attempts.
to say that he wasn't tired and fed up with this situation would have been a huge understatement. something underneath his flesh was sizzling, sneakily and annoyingly bad. he felt his temples throb and his hands tremble inside the fists where his fingers hid.
he was annoyed that these intruders had returned again, but there was another thing that was driving him obsessively mad, ans it was that no one had yet managed to catch them, and above all, that no one seemed to be doing anything other than shooting in vain and instead don't target one of them.
it only took one, just one of them and brought them to his office to find out who they were, it didn't take that long and every time the news of those ninjas were inside the facility again, it sent him into a rage.
"-kay there, manager?" the voice behind his door pierced his eardrums, pulling him out of his thoughts.
"yeah, I'll be there in a few minutes. keep doing your job, or don't, I don't care.." Jay responded in a careless manner, looking around the small office-room for something.
Not even hearing how they responded him, Jay connected the dots towards the things he had to take with him. getting up from the chair in front of the gray metal desk, the chair didn't stop until a few centimeters away from his legs, with him reaching under the desk and opening the drawer, grabbing the shoulder holster with two guns under his jacket. slamming the drawer closed again, he moved forward and retrieve the jacket from above the sofa, but a tremor under his feet and also up the roof, alarmed him.
something inside him sensed that this visit would be the last, returning to take something important away with them this time, but Jay wouldn't allow it. after the rumors of intrusions also reached all the departments of the administrator, Jay was assigned to deal with it personally, and he accepted without hesitation, ready to put an end to those guys dressed in colors too bright for his tastes.
a crack cut like roots above the roof of the room, feeling crumbs from the wall fall onto his hair soon after. recovering from the brief distraction, he grabbed and put on the perfectly fitting black jacket, bringing together the tuxedo ensemble and hiding the firearms under. moving the chair out from him, he pushed his way in and pushed the door open. outside he found the two young agents as usual. they stood in front of the digital screens in front of them.
all the next screen were beeping, and thw room was flashing with alerting red lights. the cameras with heat detectors were focusing only on the ninjas body heat. Jay climbed the stairs towards the two, analyzing with his own eyes what their moves could be and how he could stop them from their still anonymous motivation.
he doubted that they would peacefully resign themselves, after all they would have already done so, but instead it seemed as if it was an extra incentive for them to do so. he was convinced that they enjoyed causing confusion among all the workers and getting chased, and it was more than annoying for him.
the cameras did not lose its eyes on them, continuing to observe as they ran away from shots aimed wherever the crosshairs would hit, but each shot was avoided or reused against the owners of the weapons.
he furrowed his eyebrows, obscuring his face and showing only the strong red lights coming from the cameras, reflected above the clarity of his eyes. until one of the ninjas in the cyan and gray pajamas stopped in their tracks, and in a second they electrocuted the only way he had to observe them.
his nails were marking his palms, with a rapid heartbeat due to the adrenaline, and his breathing heavy and agitated from nervousness. the ceiling shook again, but this time it was able to make the two agents fall and almost make him lose his balance, hearing the sound of an explosion a few floors above them. the concrete above continued to crack, creating an even greater chance of a fall. the low lights were shaking, altering, causing most of the bulbs to explode like balloons.
darkness was the only thing in the room, except for a few cables straying from where they had been placed, threatening to send killer bolts of electricity to anyone who came near. a water pipe must have been broken and as soon as the building started shaking again, a piece of wall came off, landing in a thousand pieces almost everywhere. the water cascaded right next to the cables, shaking them like a mad horse.
Jay didn't take his eyes off the actual camera footage until they were all off, taking a good look at which department they were on and identifying it. he didn't need to see anything else, and as a few still-in but swinging light bulbs flashed active again, Jay jumped down the stairs and ran for the exit.
in this case what he should have done was make sure he found a safe place, and this was the thing that the two officers left behind also shouted at him, but he couldn't hear them, as he was already outside and going in search of the other stairs.
as he was outside, he realized that the light bulbs in that empty corridor were still on, but thanks to another earthquake, they flickered like crazy right after. Jay couldn't help not ignoring how the energy around him seemed to be the cause of his surging adrenaline. it was a stupid thought, but as if someone had been there to suggest to him that the heat in his stomach was a force also fueled by his nervousness, it seemed to explain many things to him.
the elevator was dead, for at least a couple more floors too, and the stairs, even if the cracks seemed to follow the same destination as him, taking them was his only way. running up the stairs, he used adrenaline as strength to make it as fast as possible, trying to regulate his breathing but to no avail. until voices, screams and gunshots fired and make themselves clear this his ears, his heart beat beyond its limits, but he couldn't stop. he could not.
already arriving two floors up from where he was, he caught his breath, stopping and looking around to find the next stairs. his lungs weren't reacting well to the activity, and his leg muscles were suffering, but he couldn't stop for a few more minutes, letting the earthquakes remind him.
starting to run again, the light bulbs above his head began to go on and off repeatedly, until they exploded in single file after he passed under them. not stopping, he turned around, feeling that energy around him again, but this time something became a guest in his veins, feeling his body heat up.
he was tired and his breathing was asking for mercy, but when the previous noise made itself felt much closer than before, he took a look around again, finding what were the offices a few minutes ago.
the place was completely destroyed, completely broken computers, file and pencils on all the floor, ashes from gunshots everywhere and smoke coming out in every possible inch. that heat built in his stomach again, furious. hearing someone say his name in a surprised tone, he turned around, finding one of the officers on the ground.
he couldn't waste time, so he opened his mouth, even though his breath might give him away. clearing his throat, he asked his question.
"where they went?" there was coldness in his words.
the agent coughed, lifting his arm with effort, and pointing the way with his finger, straight. if his memory did not deceive him, straight down the corridor where his eyes are focused, that was the road to the administrator's office. Casting one last glance at the officer, he took a deep breath, and faster than before, he ran again.
his mission officially began now.
if he had allowed those ninja to even get close to his boss's office, he would have been fired, and that was only the best case scenario. he couldn't allow it, it was the only place he could stay, and he absolutely couldn't disappoint his boss.
the road continued straight, with many office cabins on its sides. the LEDs in the ceiling played the same trick as before, exploding shortly after he passed them. the earthquakes seemed to be over, but he couldn't help but wonder how many months, or years, it would take to fix the building again.
he abruptly stopped as soon as he heard multiple footsteps and voices, and when he was about to peek out from behind the wall to see if it was them, the lights went black out.
how lucky..
even though he couldn't see anything, this was his chance. he heard the confused voices, others unnerved, huffing that the light had gone out just as they seemed to be looking at something in their hands.
Jay went into stealth mode, trying not to make the cleat sound out of his formal shoes and continued walking. his good fortune was also that he wore a black tuxedo, so invisible in the approaching darkness.
a few feet away from the voices, he watched as one of the ninja created pure fire out of his palm. he was confused but not that surprised. he was aware that there were elementals, and that ninjas were part of them, but a strong feeling of nostalgia hit him unknowingly when he saw that little flame.
he was trying to listen to them, but when his foot hit something, he felt the adrenaline bloom again. due to the sound it was impossible not to have heard it, he know they had noticed the presence of someone with them.
Kai fanned the small flame in his hand, trying to see something, but the firelight showed nothing, so he moved his hand in front of him, throwing the flame towards the dark corridor in the opposite direction of their direction.
something black moved, avoiding the fire. they all went on alert after confirmation from someone other than them.
unexpectedly, Kai was pushed from behind, bumping into his sister. it was pitch black and the only help was hearing and intuition. the sound of the safety being removed in a gun was heard, alarming them.
"identify yourself" a voice spoke, precise and cold. something didn't sound right, the voice seemed as if they had heard it before.
they were confused but not intimidated, and actually intent on knowing who it was.
"did you hear me? identify yourself." the voice in the dark repeated, impatiently "right now."
they remained silent, continuing to reflect on where they had heard the voice, so similar to someone else.
"ok, I'll make myself clear then" the voice began, the clicking sound of a gun again. despite the darkness, the crosshairs had been aimed "I won't hesitate to shoot"
"wait" Lloyd, bringing his hands forward and helping himself, from not meeting the floor with his face, by holding onto their backs. the darkness was a little uncomfortable.. "there's no need"
the voice said nothing in return, probably waiting.
"we're looking for something that could be dangerous in the wrong hands, it was indicated to us that it was inside this building and in this realm"
"therefore you could not fail to destroy all the place" the voice continued sarcastically, receiving a contradicted expression from each of the ninja, but the voice couldn't see them.
"no, that wasn't in our plans, they attacked us and we reacted. we're ninjas, not criminals" Lloyd added quickly, not wanting to complicate the situation more.
There wasn't an instant response, but a small laugh out of their throat, accompanied by a sigh. It sounded like a mockery, but it would have continued to be a tense situation if something familiar in that laughter hadn't struck them.
"ironic, right?" as much as they wanted to extract a hint of sarcasm from their voice, it only sounded monotonous and cold "every story in comics begins with the superhero who wants to save the whole world, protect the citizens, have defeated the villain and finished the day with a beautiful sunset behind it.. I admit it's poetic" one last laugh came out, low and forced.
"how could you know the sacrifices behind it? after all, for my taste you're just someone who works behind a computer all day" Kai barked, annoyed by how the person in front of them was talking.
for a millisecond, an LED lamp that was hanging above them, thanks only to an electric wire, flickered on, managing to glimpse the man. and as hard as it had been to be able to see his face hidden behind the gun, a look of hatred was present. but Nya could recognize from afar the eyes she met every morning when she first woke up.
Nya placed her hand over her brother's shoulder, trying to get him to stop, and after a deep breath, she stepped forward. Kai searched for his sister even in the dark, feeling a bad feeling about letting her do what she had in mind.
her footsteps echoed against the white marble floor, uncertainty sounded through the distant sound of drops of water falling to the ground, through the crackling and static sound of electricity, which rattled the broken and damaged wires previously hidden above the ceiling. she stopped a little ahead of them, gaining the courage to speak.
if her thought was true, then she wouldn't be afraid to move the crosshairs directly over her forehead by herself, she knew he wouldn't shot.
she opened her mouth and let out her question.
"Jay?"
Jay lowered the weapon from his sight. his grip on the gun becoming less tight as his pulse suddenly quickened. her voice seemed reassuring and strangely familiar, like a distant and twisted memory, hard to memorize. he looked everywhere, trying to be able to look at the woman through the turned off lights.
how did she know his name?..
without warning, a blue light was shone towards him, it was far away but he could see something around the room, and them too. As he had previously noticed while peeking, they had hoods over their faces. No memory of them were on his thoughts, and the the fact that one of the ninja knew his name was confusing. uncomfortable.
the tallest of the group was the owner of that blue light that was above his figure, it looked like an analyzer coming out of his eyes. they seemed surprised, perhaps disconcerted.
"Jay? What happened to you?" another voice said his name, and even though he blended in with his black suit in the dark, he could see the ninja, but not recognize him.
that blue light remained above him still, feeling exposed and uncomfortable. he wanted to escape from all their eyes, which he could swear he had already seen somewhere, but couldn't remember where.
Jay regained control of his hands, shaking his head and blinking as a pressure in his chest he had never felt before made itself known, alarming him and making his knuckles go white against his grip on the gun.
"stop this bullshit! I don't know who you are, I'm not stupid, drop this little stupid show" his breathing became rapid, the echo of his heartbeat came out of his ears and his heart seemed as if it wanted to escape from his throat. his hands were shaking, but the weapon was raised again, moving it and aiming it at each of them.
he was managing to hide the panic from his face, but his legs betrayed him. he felt like he was going to fall to the ground, and that wouldn't have made things any better for him. he had to get himself together, he was the manager of this place, and that meant he couldn't disappoint anyone and even worse his boss... he couldn't afford it and a little panic attack wouldn't be the reason for his dismissal.
"hey Jay, you don't need to keep pretending, it's us. you know we could never hurt you" the red one said. His voice had changed from the one before, it seemed more calm, but a strong discomfort made itself felt in his stomach, bringing his eyebrows together in a frown.
the pain in his chest did not go away, in fact, it got worse, while his breathing sounded like the same as that of an angry bull. his body burned, with the sensation of his flesh boiling and his bones catching fire like a tree struck by lightning during a storm, the fury could have been the same, and that fury changed something in his eyes.
not even thinking about being able to take a sharp breath, his body acted on its own, removing one hand from the grip of the gun and opening his fist against the outside of his left thigh. his cheeks felt warm, along with his ears and chest. his heartbeat accelerated again, while a strong, and above all powerful energy teased his blood up to his palm. suddenly the lights flickered on but this time repeatedly. they didn't stop, bothering his eyes which were burning. his vision became blurry, with black dots advancing like a grainy old paper photo.
another light, this one was also blue, but warm, appeared where his left hand was. keeping the weapon still, he looked down and observed the strange situation. his hand was like a teaser in that moment, where red root-like scars, reminiscent of the ceiling he had seen moments ago, lay along his fingers, rising towards his knuckles and up his wrist. he couldn't see further, with the sleeve of his black jacket blocking it. Electricity flowed from outside his palm and around his fingers. it felt dangerous, but strangely it didn't hurt.
but perhaps, it fueled his nerves. lifting his face first, and then his eyes from his hand and onto them instead, he noticed their expressions. he didn't understand what they were feeling, but he knew exactly what he was feeling instead, and a maniacal grin slowly spread across his face. the lights continued to flicker, going crazy but without managing to die. he felt the energy dying, but the moment he lost himself in the sensation of his blood boiling, that energy strengthened tenfold.
she removed her hood from her face, letting him see it.
"Jay, I'm Nya, your Yang.." she said. her voice was the first to remind him of something from deep inside, but he was too distracted to think about it "take a deep breath, remember? like we did when you had a panic attack"
she moved one foot forward, and Jay noticed the movement even before he put her foot on the ground, feeling another energy inside her body, and shortly after, also from the other bodies of the group. they weren't quite as strong as what the light bulb was offering him, but he still couldn't help but notice something else about them. their eletric energies drove him crazy, but it was stronger than him and the thought of having already noticed them and that they were all different but at the same time recognizable, disoriented him.
"don't worry, we're here for you now, I won't leave you again" Jay's eyes widened, his vision was vague, but a distant conversation rang in his ears and head, indecipherable but hurt nonetheless. Nya reacted at the same time, raising her eyebrows in concern.
his head hurt and he was tired. the only reason he was still standing was solely due to the strong adrenaline, with his hand giving off light. he wanted them out of his sight and never to be seen again. something hurt him when he looked up at each of them. their faces showed concern, remorse and everything else that made the electricity roar under his skin and reflect on his light eyes. Without another thought, he blinked and raised his arm, forgetting about the gun in his right hand, and using the other to intimidate them.
smiling as he saw his hand again and now in front of him, the background was blurry, only seeing their colors as the light flickered. a bolt of lightning escaped from his palm, heading straight into the middle of the group, who ran away from the strike. Nya shifted, but couldn't keep her gaze away from his, and he noticed. like the lights above him, his eyes moved from them to her, gaze piercing and somehow disturbing.
but before he could move his aim and send a shock to her too, something knocked him to the ground first, inevitably hitting his head against the ground. it hurt and this distracted him, taking away the energy that was in his eyes and hand, and it was like recovering from a hangover. the sounds around him became clear again, also hearing a voice above him. he looked up, noticing that something black was holding him down, and realizing that the voice he was hearing was the same as the black ninja.
"what's wrong with you!? why are you attacking us? we don't want to hurt you!" but somehow, his words managed to bring back his fury.
he was trying to move away from the hold, but he was too strong to do it with his body strength alone. he could feel the floor vibrating. the lights had managed to find a balance, remaining on, but they started flickering again, and his eyes started burning for the second time. stronger than before. he released a discharge high enough to free himself, but it was difficult to block the sudden flow of pure electricity out of his body, before it could even kill the ninja.
the ninja let out a broken and hurtfully scream, feeling his muscles writhe, releasing him from his grasp. Jay moved him off of body, pushing him away. inevitably, he glanced towards the now unconscious body, and without an explanation, he felt.. guilty.
"COLE!" one of them yelled, assuming it was the name of who he had just knocked unconscious. looking up, the white ninja ran to his side. Jay stood still, watching as the white ninja used the same light out of his eyes previously on him, and now on the black ninja. he was curious to know what it was, but something told him he already knew it.
perhaps the reason could be for some rumors going around the departments and reaching outside his office. a kid in orange and presumably the white ninja, who could have been him, together with another ninja but in green had been the first sign of intrusion. and now that he could observe it in person, something whispered in his ear that they were not something to fear.
but a mission was a mission, and alive or dead, they had to get away from the administration.
"why did you do that!?" yet another voice said, accusatorily. he looked up, finding the three remaining ninja looking at him in terror, with the red one having spoken, now having an unreadable but angry look at him.
they no longer had their hoods over their faces, being able to observe their faces. and maybe it was worse for him, bringing a pain to his stomach this time. his hands throbbed, and his head didn't stop hurting. he already knew he had blood in his hair from the previous blow, but perhaps the adrenaline was able to lessen his pain and keep him standing.
"what did they do to you?.." the cyan ninja asked. the volume of her voice was thin. he could sense a hint of disappointment.
but before he could even think about whether to answer or not, the red ninja started running towards him. Jay opened his eyes wide, dodging a flame aimed at his side. He continued to throw flames at him, until he was in front of Jay. With the fire still on his fists, he raised them and only thought about hitting him.
Jay was focused on avoiding the blows, dodging but never hitting. he could see that this was annoying his opponent, and he had to admit that it was becoming funny somehow. but in his head it seemed like a déjà-vu.
it was strange, but he felt like it had happened before.
"Have you lost your mind?" Jay looked into his eyes, noticing the fire behind them. the red ninja moved his arm and grabbed something behind his back, taking a katana and pointing it at his chest.
Jay looked at him, then searching for his gun to defend himself. looking on the ground, he found it some distance from his feet, but it was too far away and dangerous to retrieve it. so he stuck his hand inside his jacket, grabbing the last gun he had, pointing it at his forehead. the red ninja widened his eyes, but still kept the katana towards his chest.
"i don't lost my mind, you attacked the place and if the boss were here to see it, you would be dead in the blink of an eye.. I'm doing you more of a favor, leave while you still have time.. try to escape as far away as possible, I recommend it heartily"
the cyan ninja continued to look at him, never taking her eyes off him. he had no idea why, but he felt sorry when he saw her expression. the red ninja looked down at the white one, the two exchanged a look, and then he turned to the green ninja. even if the katana was still, he could very well attack or shoot him, but for some reason it was against his will now. he had the chance to capture them, even kill them, but he couldn't do it. inside him it felt wrong and against his every thought.
the red and green ninja shared a nod, and then turned back to Jay. he looked at him, without taking his eyes off, and after a few seconds, the ninja lowered his katana, sighing but keeping a hard expression on his face.
Kai took few steps back, until he came to an unconscious Cole and Zane. fortunately he was still alive, but it would take some time for him to recover. helping Zane lift Cole off the ground, he cast yet another glance towards who he thought was their Jay.
his gaze was dull, unknown... he couldn't recognize him, even though his face and body were his, with the same red hair and the same freckles... but his eyes were different from the last time he had seen him.
sure, time had passed from the very first merge, but it felt like he had been drained, changed.
he was no longer his brother-in-law or just his brother, not even the same boy he had met over ten years ago, nor Jay.
now he was just someone, with the same features and same name, nothing else.
walking towards Nya and Lloyd, he looked at them one at a time. he was sorry, but he will probably never be able to erase the look on his sister's face from his head. and while he might know her better than anyone else, he had no idea what she was feeling at that moment.
he had no idea what he was feeling either, or anyone else, but he was disappointed.
whatever happened to Jay, wanted or not, he made Nya suffer. and he will never forget this.
walking away from the room, Nya took a second to turn around one last time.
her Jay, her Yin, her other half, the love of her life was gone from her hands.
placing the firearm behind his jacket and sorting his clothes free of wrinkles and dust, he was ready to start sprucing up the place somewhat, but when he looked up, Nya feel nothing.
it was a pain, and to think that someone could have done something to him, eaten his brain and made him somehow forget who they were to him, and she would have vowed to hunt them down personally until she found the author.
both Nya and Jay didn't look away, but something grabbed her arm, trying to drag her away.
"Nya, we have to go.." it was Lloyd. and with all the strength in the world, she broke the gaze between the two, but did not turn around again.
leaving him alone, and destroying her promise. again.