DARK SIDE

Chapter 6: Standing Firm

Jay woke up with a start as a shattering cry of agony shot across the room. He looked up just in time to see Cole crumpled on the floor with a bloody figure standing over him. The blue ninja was unable to do anything but watch. He stared at his two friends, trying to sort out in his already muddled mind what was going on. 

Cole gasped for breath, staring up at his possessed friend. The wind had apparently been knocked out of the black-haired ninja, because he was holding his chest and wheezing. Kai was standing there with an expression of unconcern in his blood-tinged eyes. 

It was ominously silent in the room. Jay's chest was throbbing where the jade blade had stabbed him. He felt almost empty, as if he was nothing more than a hollow shell. He noticed that his hand was indeed a nasty black color. Feeling like it was a bad omen, he looked away in disgust. 

Jay bit his lip as Cole burst into action. The ninja of earth rolled to one side, making Kai stumble backwards in surprise, before jumping to his feet and racing away. The mangled red ninja snarled like an animal and started after him with a jade blade in his hand. 

Cole was now backed up against a wall, his eyes narrowed in concentration as his attacker neared him. Just as Kai was ready to take swing at him, Cole dove to one side. The jade blade smacked into the wall with a hearty clang, and the black-haired teen grinned as Kai struggled to pull it back out.

"What's the matter, Kai? Lost your EDGE?" Cole taunted, swiping his black hair out of his eyes. 

Jay would have laughed at the quip if he hadn't been so worried about his friends. But then Cole turned and winked at him, and he grinned lopsidedly back. His buddy would be fine. It was Kai he was worried about. 

Finally managing to pry the blade out of the wall, Kai took a huge uncontrolled swing at his enemy. It almost knocked him over in the process, but he succeeded in making Cole leap backwards in a hurried attempt to avoid the blow.  Without waiting for the muscled teen to retaliate, he flung the blade at the unbalanced ninja. 

Jay caught his breath as Cole managed to swerve to one side before the green sword lodged into the floor a few inches away from his neck. He yelped in surprise and recoiled away from the evil blade. Jay looked back at Kai with new fury in his blue-tinted eyes. Nobody was allowed to hurt his friend! He struggled to get out of his bed-sheets.

Unfortunately, Cole saw him trying to get out of bed. Jay laid back down reluctantly after a quick glare from the black-haired teen. But Kai had noticed their brief eye contact, and he was already swinging a punch by the time Cole turned back around. 

Kai's fist landed squarely on Cole's cheek, and the teen on the receiving end stumbled backwards with a cry of pain. However, Kai's dark side didn't let up. He aimed a few more punches at Cole's face before jabbing his fist into the soft flesh of his stomach. 

Jay let out a small squeak as Cole fell to his knees and moaned. Kai let out a hollow laugh and started in for the final blow. Jay watched in horror as he yanked the jade blade out of the ground and fixed his eyes on the groaning ninja. 

But suddenly Kai wasn't there anymore. Jay heard a massive crack as the dark ninja's head met the wall. The auburn-haired teen let out a relieved breath as he saw Sensei Garmadon standing over the unconscious ninja with his wooden staff in his hand. The old warrior had come to the rescue in the nick of time. 

Cole let out a massive sigh as he saw the threat vanish. He slowly rose to his feet as the pain in his stomach ebbed. He stared at Kai, who was now crumpled on the floor with a knot on his head. 

"Sensei..." he gasped, wiping blood off his face. "You g-gotta get Kai out of here!"

Garmadon didn't respond right away, but he picked up the pale teen and turned back to Cole. 

"Will you be okay?" he asked in concern, looking at the bruises on his cheeks. 

"Y-yeah... I think so. Besides, I want to talk to Jay about something," he added with a sideways glance towards Jay's bed. 

Garmadon nodded. "Then I will put Kai in his bed and try to sort out what happened. Apparently his dark side isn't as gone as we thought it was."

With that, he turned around and carried Kai out of the room. 

Cole smiled awkwardly at Jay, and the injured teen grinned back. He was just relieved that no one had been seriously hurt. But his smile quickly faded as his friend sighed sadly. 

"Cole... What's the matter? Are you okay?" Jay asked, surprised that his voice now seemed to be working fine. 

Cole plopped down on the chair beside the bed and started cleaning the blood off his face with a towel. 

"No..." Cole sighed. "It's just... I was totally weakened. Kai beat me."

"But Sensei-"

Cole cut him off. "That's not the point. I feel like I've failed you. I should have done better. I can't protect you. I can't even protect myself."

Jay frowned. "Cole, you didn't want to hurt him."

"You don't understand! I wasn't strong enough! I can't be strong enough for this team. Lloyd and Zane are missing, Kai's not himself, you're injured..."

"C-Cole... I had no idea you felt this way."

"I do feel that way. Probably more than I should," he added with a weak laugh.

"You shouldn't. You're the strongest person I've ever met. If anyone tells you that you're not good enough, they're wrong." 

Cole wouldn't meet his eyes. 

"Cole...?"

"What is it?"

"Please... never give up. Never. Promise me."

The black-haired teen rubbed a tear out of his eye. He wouldn't cry. He wouldn't give up. He couldn't. He was Cole, the master of earth. And he would stand firm. 

"....I... I promise.