Chapter Text
Jay’s starting to wonder if he’s made the wrong choice. Heck, maybe even more than just one wrong choice.
A deserted, washed-out field stretches out before him from where he’s crouched down in the mud, warm dirt oozing in-between his fingertips. He tries his best to rub some of it off his skin from where he’d smacked face-first into the marsh, but to no avail. After a few minutes of struggling, the cleanliness of his suit jacket is all but forgotten in the face of a realization.
He is so fucked.
Then, as if on cue, he hears a monstrous growl in the distance, the sound so loud that he feels the tremors through the earth.
He’s up and running before he knows what it is, because he’d rather do anything else than face the consequences of his own decisions, however stupid and rushed they might have been. Surely anything beats paperwork, though, right?
After losing his memories in some sort of freak accident, Jay was taken in by an administration overseeing a chaotic mess of merged realms. Said Merge took place right before they found him, apparently, and he has no recollection of his life during and before the accident itself. Whoever Jay was in his past life, however, had not been someone suited to an administrative lifestyle. It had only taken him a week to get sick and tired of meetings, endless paperwork, and overall just being supervised. In fact, the supervision had begun to make him more and more uncomfortable as time went on.
Jay’s not dumb, though. He knew then and he knows now that someone from higher up took him in for a reason, and that they’re choosing not to tell him about who exactly he was before the Merge. He also knew that there’s no way they would let him quit without at least another 50 stacks of paperwork, so with his access to Realm Reassignment Services he’d decided to go to the last place they’d ever look for him: the Land of Monsters.
Which…had obviously been a great choice.
He tries to push any doubts out of his mind as he runs from the source of the monstrous sounds, scrambling under a nearby rock shelf framed by a small cliff and a large piece of driftwood. A cold wetness seeps through his cheap shoes. He winces when they make a loud squeaking sound as he skids to a stop. The low rumbling sound of whatever large creature—monster?—passing through the area rises in volume for a moment, before slowly tapering off. Jay presses his back against the stone, sweat beading on his forehead as he waits for just a few more seconds before breathing a sigh of relief.
Realm Assignment had said this place was abandoned, and now he knows why. Honestly, the name “Land of Monsters” should’ve been a dead giveaway, but he’d thought whatever would be inhabiting this realm would be less…large. He realizes that he has no idea what could be coming after him next, if he’s not careful. He shudders at the thought.
Actually, what is his next best course of action? Both quitting his job and landing in a new realm had been spur-of-the-moment decisions, and neither of them would be worth it if he just ended up getting gobbled up by some alien creature. He has nothing on him besides his suit, his cheap shoes, and a random ballpoint pen in his pocket, but a voice deep inside whispers that he can be resourceful and survive whatever comes his way. The rational part of his mind is very doubtful of that.
He’s worried, but maybe the best way to rediscover things about himself is to just try and survive. Hopefully, he can make it out alive for more than a day.
As he cautiously leaves his hiding spot underneath the rock shelf, he hears another noise, suddenly making him flinch. The spike of fear quickly abates, however, when he realizes it’s just a small…squeaking? sound.
He hears the tiny squeak squeaks of something he instantly recognizes to be mechanical, with a knowledge he didn’t know he had, paired with the sound of something sizeable being slowly dragged through the mud. As the sound gets closer, he starts to hear someone muttering to themselves, too.
Wait. Another human? Whatever happened to the Land of Monsters being abandoned?
Jay steps out fully into the light, turning to face the source of the noise.
He’s met with the sight of someone’s bare back, as they drag what looks to be a large mechanical arm in front of them, walking slowly backwards. Their clothing is singed and frayed, and they sport a startlingly red bandana in their hair. Their skin is singed too, with little nicks and burns arcing up their arms and back.
The crazy appearance, paired with the muttering, immediately tells Jay all he needs to know. Sure, he’s not the only human out here, but this guy is for sure a lunatic.
He’s debating whether or not to approach said lunatic when he feels something decidedly not human brush his ankle.
Jay barely has time to let out a yelp before he’s suddenly upside down, dangling by one of his stupid, cheap black shoes. What he’d previously thought to be a large piece of driftwood resting against the small cliff side actually has a multitude of bug-like arms with little pincers, and large black eyes that he finds himself staring directly into. Very large, empty, possibly hungry, eyes.
He notes that any normal person would be screaming in fear at his predicament, but as he feels the blood rush to his face he only finds himself screaming angrily instead.
“PUT ME THE FUCK DOWN!!” he cries at the top of his lungs, “I’M NOT FREAKY-STICK-BUG FOOD!”
He tries his best to wriggle out of the creature’s grasp, grabbing at anything he can but only reaching air. He’s surprised when it suddenly drops him with a screech, leaving him to fall into the mud for the second time that day. He notes dimly, as he peels himself away from the earth, that he’s starting to get a headache.
It continues to screech in what Jay realizes is pain, as he sees that someone has come to his aid.
The shirtless lunatic attacks it with a sword, the rusty weapon seemingly pulled out from nowhere and set on fire (where the source of ignition came from, Jay has no clue). Flames dance along the blade as the stranger swings at twig-like bug arms with what at first glance looks like reckless abandon. There’s a method to his madness, though, as Jay sees him aim for the soft spots in-between the plates of the insect’s tough skin.
Damn it. Now Jay has to talk to this guy, because his unlucky self had to go and get his life saved. The view before him gets increasingly grotesque, but he feels a strange sort of relief wash over him. A thanks, at the bare minimum, is in order, even if the man’s dark expression turns his relief quickly into discomfort.
He scoffs to himself before getting up, not bothering to try and clean the mud off at this point. He’s not scared of crazy dudes wielding fire swords, he tells himself. Especially not if they’re the only ones who can help him survive in a wasteland full of things that want to eat him.
It’s just after he’s found his footing again that the bug noises stop.
Jay looks up to see the rusty blade get thrown into the dirt, flames receding. Then he’s face-to face with a red bandana and a strangely familiar eye scar. It cuts through the side of the stranger’s face and into an eyebrow, and Jay has a brief mental image of freckles on tanned skin, even though he’s not close enough to see any on the other’s face. The guy suddenly closes the distance, with a dirty hand reaching out to poke him harshly in the face and rudely awaken him from his thoughts.
“The hell?!” Jay screeches again, quickly backing away.
To make things even more confusing, he sees the guy’s eyes suddenly go wide, a strange, haunted look to them. “You’re real,” he says, almost whispering. His voice sounds a bit dry with misuse.
“Of course I’m fucking real, you asshole,” Jay snaps back, “and I was just about to thank you for saving my life!”
Somehow, that look becomes even more haunted.
“…Jay?”
Some unknown feeling stops Jay’s heart for a second, followed by a swoop of fear in his stomach. This doesn’t make sense. All previous anger forgotten, he just stares back. “…how do you know my name?”
The guy steps forward, as if to reach out again, but Jay slowly steps back. Sadness, then confusion flash on the stranger’s face before his brow furrows. “You don’t remember me.”
Jay slowly shakes his head. “…am I supposed to?”
There’s silence, for what feels like an eternity.
Then, he sighs, all tension suddenly leaving his body. “I’m Kai. Why are you wearing a suit?”
“I just… quit my job. And that doesn’t answer my question.” Jay’s eyes narrow.
Kai chuckles darkly, a smile looking a bit strained on his face. “What, was it an office job?”
“It—doesn’t matter! Answer my damn question.”
“…No,” Kai replies, “I’ll answer it when I’m ready.” He then turns around, trudging back through the mud to pick up his sword and stick it back into a sheath on his belt.
Jay sputters, baffled. “You—I’ve been trying to find out who I am, and you think I’ll be ok with just not getting any answers from the one guy who knows literally anything about me?!! You can at least tell me one damn thing about myself that—”
“—You. You say you really like the color blue, but your favorite color is actually more of a purple,” Kai interrupts. “There, that’s one thing.” He clears his throat a bit, as if he’s a bit embarrassed to say so.
Jay groans. Now that Kai’s told him something, though, he’s burning with so many more questions. Just how much does Kai know about him, and why is he so hesitant to let him know?
“Don’t you think you could…also tell me where exactly you know me from?” He asks.
“Ninjago,” comes a curt reply, as sandaled feet start walking back to the discarded mech arm.
“That…makes sense. Do you know which part of Ninjago I lived in?”
There’s no answer, only a sad squeaking as the machine starts making tracks in the earth again. Jay is quick to follow, wincing at the noise.
“What, should we start playing twenty questions?” He tries again.
There’s suddenly a wet thunk as the mech piece is dropped back down, and Kai gives him a look that’s somehow both equal parts defeated and angry. Something tells Jay that such a look isn’t too out of place on the guy’s face.
“I don’t want to answer your damn questions, because I thought you were fucking dead,” he deadpans. “I thought you were dead, I mourned you and everything, and now you’re real and you have no idea who the hell I am.” He gives the metal arm an angry kick, before wincing and rubbing his foot with a curse.
Oh. Right. The accident.
Wait.
“You…mourned me?” Jay says, and he hates how hopeful his voice sounds. Nobody he’d worked with at the administration had ever treated him like anybody, and he’ll be surprised if they ever notice that he’s run off. Even the supervisors, who he’s trying to run from, had only ever treated him like a part of the machine, another company asset to be shaped to their liking. He can’t remember the last time anyone told him they missed him, much less mourned him.
“Of course I did, you—” Kai cuts himself off, then narrows his eyes at Jay. “Where the hell were you working?”
“…the administration,” Jay says lamely.
“So, not an office job?”
He winces. “Worse.”
There’s a slow inhale, as if Kai is calculating something in his head. “The guys you were working for, did they…tell you anything? About yourself, anything about who you are?”
Jay shrugs. “I know my last name? And now my favorite color, I guess, no thanks to you,” he makes sure to accentuate that last part with a glare.
As if they’ve switched bodies, Kai winces at the look, strangely reproachful. ”…right. Um. I knew you…very well before the merge thing happened. I just—yeah. That sounds like it was shit. I’m glad you quit.”
“It’s fine. You don’t have to…answer my questions, if you don’t want to,” he looks away, the cliffs following the horizon line for an eternity.
“I would say I know how it feels,” he continues, “but…”
“…but you don’t remember mourning anyone?” Kai supplies.
Now it’s Jay’s turn to wince. “That makes me sound like an asshole.”
“You’ll be ok. I’m sure fixing up a mech arm will help.”
“I’m not sure I know how to do that,” Jay almost stumbles as Kai picks the lump of metal up again and starts dragging it away.
“Trust me, you do. Come on.” There’s a hint of a smile in Kai’s voice.
Jay still thinks he’s a lunatic.