Chapter Text
Jay liked to think himself a simple guy.
A cool, funny, simple guy.
Fighting crime for a job, getting swept up in fame and commercials, while playing video games with a pizza stuffed stomach, with all his friends.
He was even destined to be with the love of his life. A love he betrayed. A destiny he betrayed. For if it was something bound to happen, why couldn’t he have just waited?
But no, of course he gave in to the temptations of a wish he had no right to make. Because when a suspicious Djinn comes up to you and offers you three wishes, you take the offer and screw everyone over. It’s the logical thing to do.
Messing everything up. Might even be better at that than being a ninja. Definitely is better than that.
Better still, a small part of him thinks he could fix it. A big part of him wants too, and a small voice says yes, he could. He could make things right, do everything well from here. Fix. Things.
He was an engineer wasn’t he? Before the whole ninja thing, tinkering with old parts and making something better. His life might be in pieces, but he could put it back together, make something great, something—
What was he even thinking? Why would he ever—
“Jay! C’mon, focus here buddy.”
Jay allowed himself to relax, forcing his mind to calm.
Right. Focus.
The ninja were now gathered outside the doors of the chapel that now held the love of his life and greatest sworn enemies. He was half blind, awfully injured, with a tad bit of head trauma, but that was okay, this was going to be over soon.
“Alright. Count of three.”
Before he knew it, the barricaded wall collapsed inwards, pushing out dust and rubble through the air, raining down like a hailstorm.
He was so close.
The other side of the room, however, laid untouched, unbothered, uncomfortable. The sight of Nya standing there with Nadakhan made Jay’s stomach lurch. A place meant for comfort and love turned into one of itching discomfort.
“By the power vested in me, I pronounce you all-powerful,” The serpentine did not pause, did not stutter(surprisingly), as he uttered the words that sealed the fate of everyone in the room.
“No, no. NYA—,” Kai’s yell bounded through the room, while Jay scrambled to get into earshot.
“We’re too late—”
“Jayy! Quick!”
The blue ninja watched as Nadakhan slowly turned around. He felt a tug at his gut the moment they made eye contact, he had lost. They had lost. They were all fighting a losing battle.
Still, he widened his stance, prepared himself for the impact. Jay was going to make things right, or die trying. There was no other way.
With every last bit of hope, for a chance, the slightest chance, he yelled—
“I WISH—”
But it never got far.
Was never meant to.
Because what Jay Walker wanted, never went well for him.
“I wish for you to disappear into another universe, with little hope of ever finding your way back home and ruining my plans!” Nadakhan got the words out before he could.
No matter how anticipated it was, he would’ve never been prepared for the feeling of the ground disappearing beneath his feet a second time.
Like the first time, he held on.
Like the first time, it was no use.
He felt his fingers slip against the invisible wall, and his heart succumbing to the darkness of the endless pit.
“I wish—”
He never got to finish. The hole merely closed and swallowed him whole.
~~~
The dust finally began to settle, a thick blanket over the deafening silence. The air was humid and dirty, suffocating and damning, no one dared swallow it down.
Cole stood in the middle of the room, standing where Jay was mere seconds ago. He’d run over in his attempts to save his best friend, only to find it pointless, because the barrier always forced him back.
He was the first one to break the silence.
“What did you do to him?” His voice shook, barely holding back a sob.
That was all it took, for the tension to snap like an outstretched rubber band.
“You heard him! What the hell did you do to Jay?” It was a rhetorical question. They all knew what happened to Jay, they heard the wish, they weren’t deaf.
And yet.
Nadakhan’s laughter came through, grating and horrid, a slap in the face to allow it to sink in.
“Let us say you won’t be seeing him for a long, long time.” His face was twisted in a sick grin. One Nya never wanted to see again. She wanted to bleach her eyes, claw them out. Allow the memory and every trace of this nightmare to be over.
In the time it took for her to finish that thought, the creep was already making a counterattack on the ninja.
“I wish you all locked up in Cryptarian prison, with no means of escape on your own, no powers, and no special treatment,” The effects of the wish were already beginning to take place, and Nya was helpless to stop them.
“KAI NO—” The water ninja could only screech, allow her voice to cut through, raw and pleading. It was the only thing she could do, the only thing everyone else expected her to do, the only thing she never wanted to do in the first place; proving them right. That she was just a helpless, hopeless, damsel in—
Nadakhan finally turned his attention to her, the twisted grin now a sick smirk. Nya could only stumble backwards as she grasped at her dress, the monstrous fabric forcing her to stumble.
“No—”
“Oh Delara…I wish—”
“No, no, no. Back off—GET AWAY FROM ME,” She screamed, and screeched, and stumbled. This time, she fell, the heels that she wore twisting against her foot, forcing a pained crack.
Somewhere, in the chaos and panic, she blasted the ceiling, probably did. She didn’t know how, or when, but she did.
And when it caved in, when the rubble collapsed on top of her, she didn’t know it at the time, but it wasn’t only her physical collapse.
It was the collapse of her consciousness.
~~~
Jay cursed as he slowly peeled himself off the ground.
“Oh that damn—ow—Djinn,” He grunted as his bad leg shook under pressure, “Man, I hope the others are okay.”
Letting out a scattered breath as he pushed himself up, basically hugging a tree trunk for support. How he never appreciated the solidness of matter was beyond him, he could only imagine how Cole felt when he became a ghost.
He heard a pop in his joints as he lowered himself back onto the ground, this time sitting up and against a tree, trying to seem semi-casual.
Taking a deep breath as he squinted over his surroundings, he muttered out loud, “What did he say again? ‘Another universe’....’little hope of finding your way back’....Well,” he could feel his voice grow loud, but he didn’t care, he deserved a little rant. Hell, the fact that he was alive was a feat of its own.
“That’s great. The love of my life was taken from me, not even willingly, I’m in a completely different universe with no knowledge of where I am, I’m on my own, I have no idea how my friends are faring, I don’t have anyone with me, little hope of finding my way back, the whole of Ninjago city is in danger—oh, and did I mention—I'M ALL ALONE?!”
He took a deep breath, “Okay, Jay, just calm down, maybe this isn’t so bad, you know. I mean, you only just found out that you're adopted, went to prison after being framed, had all your friends turn on you, extract the tiger widow’s venom, get kidnapped by a djinn, get tortured on the ship, have your friends bust you out, lose your friends, have Nya push you out of danger, get your friends back on your own, crash a wedding, then get sent to an alternate universe. Which is TOTALLY NOT A REASON TO PANIC.”
He was standing again. Balancing on his good leg as he limped between two trees. Injured or not, he needed to work off his restlessness somehow.
Only, when he finally turned around, he realised he wasn’t in the middle of some forest with a bunch of greenery.
He was at a park.
A huge park.
A huge, popular, park.
Filled with people, namely people taking pictures of him, videos, cameras out.
“Well, guess paparazzi really does find a way to follow you everywhere,” He muttered to himself.
Hey, at least he knew his humour could never fail him.
But alas, he had things to do, a villain to defeat, and more things to figure out.
So he threw on his best sheepy grin, and slowly began to back away. Slow measured steps turned to fast consecutive hops, those hops turned into a full running-stumble as he tried to get as far as possible from the crowd.
~~~
The smell of cigarette smoke wafted through the air. Bits of ash, trash, and other things that did not rhyme were riddled and scattered across the alleyway floor. Clothes hung out to dry laid high above Jay, while his face scrunched at the sight. Even his eye was beginning to act up under the eye patch.
Gosh, even Cole’s cooking smelt better than this.
As the thought crossed his mind, his stomach did a weird lurch.
“Alright, pull yourself together Jay,” he muttered. “Think. What would Zane do? What would be the logical, smart thing to do in this situation?”
Maybe muttering to himself under his breath wasn’t the best, considering what had just happened at the park, but Jay had no other choice, he needed his thoughts going.
They were going alright, he just wasn’t exactly sure where.
Speaking of where, he should’ve probably been focusing on finding out where he was, because—
“Good morning Ninjago!”
Well, that answered his question. Mostly.
The sound was coming from around the corner, a little TV shop displaying their stuff out front, the screens all displaying… ‘Good Morning Ninjago’?
“Now, on to the latest, juiciest, gossip! There has been a viral video going around of a teenage boy, supposedly cosplaying as one of the ninjas, yelling in the middle of Ninjago Park! This sparked the interest…..” The voices turned to static as Jay realised that that teenage boy was, in fact, him.
He looked absolutely insane, horrible.
How did the video even reach the news—of all things—so quickly?
It didn’t take long for people to begin whispering around him, given his attire and newly acquired fame. The only thing he could do was duck back into the alley and think of a logical course of action.
~~~
That course of action, was of course, to take a few things that were hanging out in the alleyway. It wasn’t much, and if you asked Jay, he was merely helping to clear the clutter in that stuffy space.
So here he was, walking around this so-called ‘Ninjago’ rocking sweats, a blue hoodie, a pair of sneakers, and sunglasses.
A quick walk around the block was enough to disorientate him.
Everything was so…different, but somewhat the same?
It had tall buildings and somewhat modern infrastructure, but there were areas bustling and bursting with people. A little river ran through the city, with bridges and boats, that much similar to his Ninjago.
Then, there were the different orientations of everything, iconic landmarks scattered and twisted in different areas. Areas he knew and loved now unrecognisable, or replaced. Colours and streetlights slightly altered, and iconic, flashing signs a little off centre.
When he ventured out, the outskirts of the city only served to confuse him further, he couldn’t find his parents, nor the monastery. He tried not to dwell. Tried not to question. Yet the further he ventured, the more he found.
What exactly was this place?
Faced with a thousand questions and no actual answer, he eventually found himself against a small sidewalk in a quiet neighbourhood. It was a dreary afternoon, most people were at school, or work. He was technically on the clock, if being mid battle as a ninja counted for anything, but it was in this moment he wished more than ever for a twinge of normalcy.
Oh man…it would’ve been great if he and Nya met under normal circumstances, and were able to have a normal date, or confession, or friendship for First Master’s sake! Hell, even their first meeting involved…whatever the hell that was.
His friendships too. If he was never pulled from that roof, maybe he could’ve continued building, and designing, could’ve met his friends through other means, they could’ve hung out and snuck off without the weight of the world and their titles lifted and displayed on their shoulders.
He kicked a loose sharp rock on the pavement, watched as it tumbled onto the road. Cars drove by unbothered, the pavement barely scratched. He didn’t even know where the rock came from, and didn't feel like caring.
In the grand scheme of things, it was the same as a grain of sand used to blanket the bottom of the sea.
Yet, as cars drove, one after another, the small pebble stood, patient and waiting. When an unsuspecting victim finally drove on top, Jay watched as it pierced through the rubber, a big, punctured hole.
As the car went away, sirens began to blare all around, and the hairs on his back began to stand.