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The alarm had gone off a few seconds ago and the ninja were all rushing to grab their things and move to the destiny's bounty. Low level thugs on the north side of the city, nothing they hadn't seen before. “Kai! Don't forget your Katana!” Cole shouted after Kai as they both sprinted out the monastery gates. Kai turned around quickly, still keeping his pace before grabbing the red-hilted Katana from Cole's calloused hands. “Thanks man” He exclaimed before grabbing hold of the Bounty’s long rope-ladder and climbing up. Cole followed suit, the rest of the team followed quickly.
After a short ride along the giant flying ship, the ninja repelled down onto a large metal building, the most common type from the North side. Kai looked around, nothing looked out of the ordinary. Trees swayed in the wind, buildings stood strong and still, the sun glinted on the roofs of homes and offices and factories. He could almost see the entire city of Ninjago from here, it sure was a sight to see.
Lloyd spoke first, “Nya, Cole, you two head on the rooftops to look for anything that may lead to clues on where the thugs are hiding. Zane, Jay, you two head south towards the building that got mugged and try to help get some people out. Me and Kai will take the ground”. Without another word the ninja split up into their assigned groups, and headed out.
The ninja didn't talk much now, which was strange to Kai. After the defeat of the Crystal King everyone had gone their separate ways to find their true potentials once again, but during said time they had all grown apart. They didn't feel like a team anymore, and it broke Kai's heart. He missed the days when they were younger, when they played video games instead of training and when they skipped small events to go fishing or race their dragons.
Now they were battle hardened and only a shell of what they all once were.
“Kai, you still with me?” Lloyd exclaimed beside him. Kai had been so lost in his thoughts he didn't realise they had walked almost a mile without looking for anything.
“Yea, sorry. Stuck in my head at the moment”. Lloyd simply nodded, and walked in front of Kai. Walking up to another steel building Kai spotted a small red emblem on the side of the frame. It resembled a crow holding a knife, he had never seen it before. “Lloyd, come look at this” He called in front of him. Lloyd turned back, walking towards Kai and staring at the marking on the wall. “Ever seen that before?” Kai exclaimed, “Nope, you?” Kai shook his head. Lloyd quickly snapped a picture of it before continuing walking forward. Kai followed behind.
After a whole lotta-nothing Kai started swinging his sword around, bored and ready for some action. “Would you stop that? This is a serious mission and you're acting like a child”. Lloyd exclaimed, turning to face Kai and stopping him dead in his tracks. Kai simply stared at the young ninja. His short blond hair and his bright green eyes. He looked so much older than Kai remembered. And he wished they still had the bond they once had. “You're the child here”. Kai blurted out before pushing past him, continuing walking in the tight alley. Kai heard some inaudible mumbling behind him, and assumed it was Lloyd cussing him out or some bullshit. But he quickly noticed something was wrong when a sharp yelp came from behind him, along with the sound of gurgling and coughing.
Kai whipped around to a scene he never thought would happen. He had nightmares similar to this. One of his teammates being injured so badly it took him days to recover from something that never happened. But this, this was happening right in front of him, eyes wide open. Lloyd pinned under a man standing on his back, sword plunged through his spine. Blood pooled out of his mouth, streaming from his eyes and nose. The look of fear the young ninja had on his face was enough to send Kai flying at the masked man, Katana drawn and ready to skewer him like a shish kabab.
The masked man pulled the sword out of Lloyds back and fought fiercely, the sound of metal against metal rang through the alleyway as Kai and the man danced together in a battle to end each other's lives. A dance only one would survive. A swift cut to the side left Kai gasping for air, leaving just enough time for the masked attacker to get yet another blow of his sword into Kai’s leg. Kai doubled over and fell to the ground, pain shooting up the right side of his body. Kai couldn't keep his mind off Lloyd. The poor boy, skewered through the back in a dusty alleyway. The green ninja did not have to die like this. Kai put his finger to his ear and began to speak.
“Nya, Cole, we need…backup” he choked out as he watched his attacker drag Lloyd by his collar around a corner far ahead of where Kai was actively bleeding out. He cried out in pain as another squirt of blood flew out of his abdomen. The com in his ear crackled, “On our way” Nya exclaimed, “What happened? Is Lloyd there with you!?” she sounded panicked and out of breath, as if she was sprinting. Kai tried to answer, but all he could choke out was a simple, helpless, “Lloyd”. He doubled over in pain again, crying out in pain once again. The last thing Kai remembered before blacking out was the same masked man emerging from the corner, bleeding from his shoulder but still upright. He walked over to Kai and, with the help of a very sharp kitchen knife, dug into his arm so deep Kai could feel the tip of the sharp blade grinding on his bones.
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When Kai awoke, he was no longer in that dusty alleyway. He was in a bunker of sorts. Cement walls, broken overhead light, lots of bugs and a single rat in the corner. But one thing was off. There was a drain, in the middle of the floor, right in front of him. This was no ordinary room. This was a torture room. Kai felt the cold tingle of fear run up his body, grabbing his lungs and prohibiting him from breathing. They were going to torture him. Just as other villains had done time and time again. Kai couldn't take being tortured one last time. He couldn't take the injections, the water boarding, the cuts and slices, the scalpels and bats that were used to beat his skin bloody. Kai tried to move his limbs, any of them, but he quickly realized he was bolted to the floor, kneeling to stare at the floor. He looked at the chains that bound him. Of course, they were vengestone. Kai thrashed around on the floor, tugging at his chains and crying out like an injured animal. Kai hadn't even noticed his injuries until he was contorted in a way that sent blood squirting out of his side like a volcano eruption. Hot, thick blood poured out of all three of his injuries. His side, his leg, and his arm. Kai screamed like a child, broken and helpless. Tears streamed down his face.
He would not stay here like a captured animal. He would not do nothing like every other time he was captured. He would not obey, he would not be broken again. Kai laid on the floor, panting and crying and bloody. He stared at the flickering light above. Why must this happen to him. Why did he ever decide to become a ninja? Was it all worth it? The pain, the suffering. And for what? Nobody appreciated him anymore. They did when he was younger, funnier, more courageous and wild. But now he wasn't the hothead he used to be. Not even his friends cared much about him anymore. Barely his sister was there for him. Kai gave one, last, pathetic tug at his chains before rolling onto his side and falling asleep. If he was going to pass the time, he knew he couldn't be stuck in his head the entire time.
This process repeated for hours, or days, or weeks, or months. Kai didn't know. He would wake up, think about his friends and loneliness, thrash around like a helpless animal, beg someone to feed him or water him or heal his wounds, and fall back asleep from exhaustion. At one point he stopped, simply staring at the grimy walls for hours and thinking about Lloyd.
Lloyd.
His friend.
His little brother.
His teammate.
The youngest member of the team, the boy Kai swore to protect was…gone. Stabbed right through the back. Kai would never get to see his green eyes again, his blond hair and the way he smiled when he laughed. They way he stared at the sky every evening as he watched the sun set over the horizon. Kai blamed himself for his death, even if it was an accident. There wasn't really anyone to blame, so Kai blamed himself.
Kai wondered if anyone would even bother coming to look for him. Nya might have, but he knew the others wouldn't. He knew how much he meant to them now, and that amount was very little.
…
Kai sat up back onto his knees. He placed his forehead on the ground and wailed. Agonizing, blood curdling sobs that shook his body. Cries Kai had never known he had. He wept and wept and sobbed and shook. His body convulsed as he was drowned in his own thoughts.
He had grown weak over the past however-long it had been he was locked up. He had only been given food three times, through a slit smaller than Kai’s hand a single glass of water and a small loaf of bread was given. His body was much slimmer now, and his mind was almost completely deteriorated. Weeks of sulking in his own thoughts had left a tunnel in his mind, deep cavers and trenches where meaningful memories once stood. Kai told himself at first he would make it through this, he would live. But now, Kai didn't think that was true.
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Kai had awoken again, but this time…something was different. He opened his eyes facing his regular wall, but he could sense something was different. He lifted his head slowly, and before him was a broken Lloyd, shackled to the ground just as Kai himself was. He was on his back, staring at the ceiling. Kai stared at him for a second…his eyes were still green and his hair was still blond. He was…healed, too? His injuries were healed and he looked completely fine. Good as new.
“Lloyd…?” He croaked out. Kai hadn't spoken in so long he forgot what his voice sounded like. Lloyd turned his head to the side, apparently he had never noticed Kai, and when he did, his face crumpled. “Kai…Kai is that you?” He exclaimed. Kai nodded, not daring to make another sound. Tears welled in Lloyd's eyes, “How long have you been here? How did you get here, wha…” Lloyd trailed off as he sat up, staring into Kai’s eyes deeply. “Man, what happened to you?” Lloyd spoke softly this time, as if trying not to scare Kai.
“I don't know” Kai spoke once again, turning his head to the side. His voice felt like gravel, scraping his esophagus. Lloyd stayed silent, neither wanted to speak.
“Did they… Did they torture you?” Lloyd exclaimed after a moment, staring at the now messily healed scar on his forearm. Kai shook his head, and Lloyd huffed out a quiet sigh of relief. Kai’s eyes welled with tears, turning back to look at the young ninja. He thought he was dead. He thought… Kai didn't have the words to even think of what he felt. Sobs racked Kai’s body once again, gentle this time. He tried to keep his cry quiet.
“I thought…I thought you were dead” Kai exclaimed, his words drenched in sorrow. Lloyd nodded, “I was…”. No words were spoken after that, and Kai soon collapsed onto his side and fell unconscious once again. Not another word was spoken for far too many days. The only sounds present were Kai’s relentless sobs, when he was awake…which as Lloyd realised, was not much.
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Lloyd knew he had lost the Kai he loved so dearly when Kai awoke screaming and shaking after a particularly-long time unconscious. He was so skinny and pale and broken now, a shell of the man and hero he used to be. Kai screamed for what felt like hours, before propping himself up on his knees one last time to look at Lloyd, taking in his face and everything he loved. Before slamming his head into the cement underneath himself over…and over…and over. Blood splattered everywhere, leaking from the crown of Kai’s forehead onto anything in reach. Lloyd included.
Lloyd turned away as it happened, sobbing and puking as he heard his older brother's screams of terror and the sound of Kai’s skull fracturing and the squelching of his brain as it fell onto the bloodied cement one last time. Kai’s helpless body crumpled to the ground, blood everywhere with a head full of memories he could no longer take. Lloyd, for the remainder of his time in that cell, couldn't bear to look behind him.
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Lloyd's rescue came only a few short days after. Nya and Cole broke down the cement door with no regard to who was inside, and what they found was worse than they could have ever imagined. Lloyd, eyes wide open staring into the pavement, hands bound. He looked like a corpse. And Kai…
Kai Kai Kai Kai Kai
Kai Kai Kai Kai Kai
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Kai Kai Kai Kai Kai
His head was smashed in, he was covered in dried blood from head to toe. Huge gashes smeared over his side, leg, and an improperly healed arm injury where his tracker should have been. Nya and Cole just stood there, before Nya rushed to Lloyds side and got hold of his face, “Lloyd, Lloyd you have to wake up. Come on buddy I know you're in there” She exclaimed, tears starting to well in her eyes, she could barely get the words out. Cole stood in the doorway, keeping watch. Lloyd’s eyes began to move upwards, very, very slowly to meet Nya’s. “Im sorry” He exclaimed quietly, his voice was but a whisper? He reached a hand up to Nya’s hair and gently stroked the silky black strands. His body soon went limp, his hand falling onto the concrete floor with a quick thud.
“No no no no no, whyyyy” Nya cried, Cole coming to her side and putting an arm around her. “NOOO” She screeched, cradling Lloyds head in her arms and staring at her older brother’s decimated body. Cole began to crack, his eyes filling with tears. Sobs racked Nya’s body, her scream alerted the other ninja down the hall and they soon entered the scene. Jay simply collapsed onto the floor, sobbing and shaking and vomiting. Zane flipped off his emotion meter and began to assess Lloyd’s and Kai’s injuries.
Zane concluded both Boy’s were as good as gone. Nothing could save them…
“I'm sorry” Zane exclaimed to the broken, bloodied, dead ninja before leaving to alert Master Wu.
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Kai had been in that cell for 2 years. Two entire years of almost no food, no human contact, and no medical attention. Lloyd had only been in the cell for 2 months. Captured on another routine fight against some “low level thugs”. Nothing would bring them back, and the other ninja knew they couldn't do it without them.
Nya drowned herself two weeks later.
Jay drowned himself one week after that.
Cole jumped off the tallest mountain three days after.
Zane was the only ninja left, forced to live with everything that happened.
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