Video Game Lovers

racing

Next day's race starts in the worst way possible. When the ninja were about to leave Scott's garage, some reg visors awaited them. Scott sacrificed himself in the fight and Jay's mind keeps going back to that exact same moment, no matter how hard he tries to concentrate. The way Scotts body disappeared and turned into a hundred tiny little cubes was too much for a nervous, sleep-deprived blue ninja. Scott was his first real friend in Prime Empire, and now he's gone. Jay doesn't even know what it means to turn into a cube. Is he just having a blackout till they stop the game, and his real body is still intact, or is he ... dead?

No. No, that can't be true.

"Jay, stay focused", Lloyd tells him through his loudspeaker. The ninja arrive at the race a few seconds late, so they're already in last place. The red visors are still behind them.

Luckily the other team starts eliminating each other, throwing bombs and crashing cars into a wall.

Jay is the first to fly his jet close to another team, but he ends up getting a bomb thrown just above his head.

When the red visors try to block Nya, she takes out three of them.

"Well done", Kai tells her.

"Thanks."

The fire ninja still has Cole sitting on the back of his jet, so when a large vehicle appears next to him, he tells Cole to jump. The black ninja does as he is told and jumps into the big car. Now he can finally drive on his own.

It's a dirty race, challenging every second. There's always something unexpected happening. Shurikens on the road, a loot box changing someone's vehicle or a car going up in flames.

Cole tries to watch Jay as much as possible. It's not that he doesn't believe in his abilities - Jay is the best when it comes to driving and gaming - but now that they talked about everything, something has changed in the way they look at each other. Cole doesn't have to admire him in secret anymore. Doesn't have to turn shy when Jay catches him staring. Now, when they lock eyes, the world stops for a moment.

They're both in vehicles with masks over their faces, so there is no time for a moment like this now, but Cole still looks out for the boy who promised him a kiss when this is all over. Cole's heart starts beating faster when he discovers that Jay is trapped in the middle of three rats. "Um guys ... I could use a little help."

"Hang on buddy", Kai yells immediately, running up to him in his mech.

"If I can just get this guy off my tail ..."

Cole drives up behind Kai, his eyes still on the guy in blue. His head realizes something, his heart can't process for the next few seconds. If the rats hit Jay, he will lose his second to last heart. And Jay needs all his hearts. He's their leader in Prime Empire, the best when it comes to video games. Both Kai's and Cole's last hearts aren't that important compared to one heart of the blue ninja.

Cole just hopes that losing his last one won't mean his death. If he understands it correctly, he will just turn into a cube until the game is mastered. Until Jay fights Unagami and wins against him. Hopefully ...

Cole doesn't want to take his eyes off the blue figure. His face is hidden behind his mask, no fluffy hair to be seen. But Cole knows it's there. He knows what his boy looks like, what they mean to each other, and he knows that he will come back to him.

The black ninja lifts his eyes to the red mech walking beside him. Kai seems to follow his thoughts even without speaking, because he gives him a defined nod.

He could say so much more, but he doesn't want to distract the lightning ninja, so Cole only says: "Good luck Jay."

He throws his wrecking ball at one of the red visors while Kai spikes the other one. Both fall back, enemies trapped under their vehicles. Cole watches as the red mech crashes on top of him, blocking out the light until the world fades in front of his eyes.

"No!", Jay shouts. It took him too many seconds to discover his teammates' plan, and by the time he knows what Cole and Kai were up to, it's already too late. Jay watches the four vehicles crash in his rearview mirror. He watches two of his family members turn into tiny little cubes.

The car next to him starts shaking. "Kai!", Nya cries out not focusing at all on the street in front of her.

"Cole!" Jay shares her pain. He knows how it feels like to lose the person you love the most.

Don't think I'm going to forget about it. If we win the race, we'll continue our conversation.

There won't be a time to continue where Kai interrupted them yesterday. Cole is gone and Jay doesn't know for how long. Maybe just until he wins Prime Empire, maybe forever.

He was with Cole for not only a day, and now he's on his own all over again.

Jay wants to start to cry, wants to fall into his bed and wants to curl up in a little ball. Close his eyes and never open them again. But he's in the middle of a race, driving for his life. There's no chance to mourn their losses, they have to focus on winning.

"Fast Chickens moving into second place. Neck and neck with the Rat Pack. And we're approaching the fourth mile mark."

Good thing Racer Seven, the woman Lloyd talked into their team, is dominating the race soon after. She's a NPC, but like Okino, they helped her out of her rabbit hole.

Racer Seven is fast, but the rats are on her back.

"Those rats are trying to take her out!", Jay shouts, his mind still going back and forth between the present and the past.

"We gotta help her", Nya answers, both of them trying to get to the woman in front of them.

"Hang on Seven - we're coming", Lloyd promises.

"Racer Sevens teammates are trying to clear the road for her. But can she make it? We're in the homestretch and it looks like a nail-biter!"

The green race car is the first to cross the finish line.

"It's racer seven! Racer Seven and the Fast Chickens!"

Everyone is relieved that they have won the game. You can even see a little grin on Lloyd's face when the crowd cheers for Seven, and lifts her up high into the air.

But no win can make up for the loss they had to witness today.

As they are handed the Keytana, Jay speaks up. "We can fix this. We're going to find Unagami and make him bring them all back. I promise."

"I hope so." Lloyd and Nya push him into a group hug that is both comforting and disturbing. Because usually their group hug includes so many more people.

And Jay can't give up on them. He has to believe that if he wins the game, he can bring them all back. The citizens of Ninjago, Scott, Kai ... and Cole.