Legends of Ninjago: Book 3: The Four Fangs

Chapter 19: Cornered

Jay gripped his arm so tightly it felt like he might pop a vein. The realisation that his wound had been the result of a Fangpyre attack still had his mind running in bewildered circles, and the words of his sensei were looping in his ears,

"Listen, children, whatever you do, do not let yourselves get bitten."

"What happens if they bite you?" Jay had asked.

"You become one of them."

Now, as Jay looked at his hands, oddly greenish and covered in hard bumps, he saw it for what it truly was: his skin turning into scales. And his eyesight also seemed to be improving as well.

"Everything okay, Jay?" Cole asked through the tunnels.

"Fine!" He squeaked back, then coughed and repeated, in a more even tone, "fine."

He leaned back against the sewer wall and but his lip, only to find his teeth were becoming far more sharp, and he desperately tried to think of what he could do before it was too late. Was there an antidote? Some way to slow down, or better yet, reverse the effects? There had to be some way he could handle this on his own, without letting the other guys know how badly he had messed up. But as he sat there, wracking his brain, the pain was getting worse, the bumps on his skin were growing bigger, that ache in his tailbone was becoming unbearable, and an odd sensation was pulling at his gut. He might have let out a gasp when he bent over, his hands bracing him against the concrete floor, but he wasn't sure of much right now. Everything was getting all fuzzy and hazy and blurry.

"Jay?" Kai called. "You sure you're alright?"

No. He couldn't see him. Not like this. He needed to get away. As far away as possible.

* * *

"Jay?" Kai asked, getting up and inching closer to the disturbing noises coming from around the corner. Cole and Zane were still seated, but on high alert. That sound just now had not been anything natural, not even for Jay. It was almost like a snarl or some sort of choking. "You sure you're alright?"

Jay didn't answer.

Then, scuffled footsteps.

"Jay?" Kai called, far more urgently. "Jay!" He stared around the corner, not sure what he'd find, and was startled when he saw a figure running down the tunnel. "Jay!"

Cole and Zane were behind him, trying to keep up as they chased after Jay, who still would not respond to his name.

"What's the matter with him?! Cole cried, rounding another tight corner and nearly slipping in the slimy water.

"Ask him that!" Kai yelled, glaring in the lightning ninja's direction.

Jay couldn't run forever, though. Eventually he found himself run into a corner—a brick wall at the end of a long tunnel. Kai's firelight still couldn't reach that far, so from where he and the other boys stood, slightly out of breath, he appeared like a shadow, his hands against the wall and his back facing them.

"Jay, what—" Cole had begun, but then, without warning, Jay flung himself around, a ball of lightning in his hand, and shouted,

"S-s-stay away!"

The lightning boomed and cracked around them, obliterating the walls and ceiling in one big flash of light. Kai had to duck low to the ground to avoid getting hit in the head with a brick as everything caved in.

The concrete crackled, dust flew wildly through the air, and a pair of feet could be heard scurrying away long before Kai was able to stand up again.

"Which way did he go?" Zane asked.