Taking Control. (a Ninjago fanfic)

Chapter 34- A race against time

K A I

My whole body ached, and it felt like my chest was on fire. The wound had clearly reopened, my gi stained an even darker red. I was barely holding it together. Every breath was a struggle, my lungs burning as I tried to steady myself. But that didn't matter right now. What mattered was Cole. He was out there, buried beneath rubble, and I needed to get to him.

It wasn't surprising that I felt like I'd been through hell. I kind of had, in a way.

I'd been thrown around like a ragdoll for hours, pummeled by the Overlord. I'd barely kept my footing as we fought him. I'd gotten hit hard, but none of that hurt nearly as much as the thought of Cole—alone, trapped, maybe even...

"Kai!"

I heard Nya's voice, and it snapped me out of my spiraling thoughts. My head whipped around, and I felt a rush of relief when I saw her running toward me, her face a mixture of worry and confusion. For a moment, I forgot about the pain, just thankful she was here, safe, well, and ready to help.

"Are you okay?" She asked, her hands reaching out as she slowed to a stop in front of me. "What happened? Where's Jay?"

"He's gone," I croaked, my voice ragged. I'd been yelling for so long, my throat was on fire. "He left—just a couple of minutes ago." I wiped the sweat from my brow, trying to catch my breath. "But Cole... he's trapped. Fuck, I don't even know if he's alive..."

The weight of it crushed me, but I couldn't let Nya see how scared I was. I couldn't break down now—not with Cole depending on me.

"Where?" Nya asked urgently, her eyes scanning the wreckage.

I wanted to answer, but before I could, I noticed someone else standing beside Lloyd. A girl with ginger hair and long braids, looking out of place in the chaos. She was staring at the wreckage around us, eyes wide.

But I couldn't focus on her right now. We didn't have time for introductions.

"Pixal!" I shouted, catching the nindroids attention. She was scanning the rubble nearby for any heat signatures.

She turned sharply, her eyes full of relief when she saw us. But there was no time for pleasantries.

She sprinted over to me, her body shaking with the aftereffects of the fight. But when she hugged Zane, I saw a flicker of relief pass through her. Her voice was soft when she spoke, but the tremor was clear. "I'm so glad you're here," she whispered.

"Me too," Zane said quietly. "But you have to tell us what happened—and what we can do to help."

Pix took a deep breath and then sighed. "Jay was here." She paused, as though trying to gather her thoughts. "He was killing civilians, destroying buildings. We fought him for a long time. But he isolated Cole, and the next thing we knew, the building collapsed on top of him."

"You haven't found him yet?" Nya asked.

Pixal's face darkened. "Yeah. I don't even know if he's alive. The building—" She choked, her voice faltering, "—it collapsed on him. I'm sorry."

My hands clenched into fists. I couldn't think about this right now. We didn't have time for this. I had to save him. "So what now?" I demanded. "How do we get him out?"

But Pixal wasn't done. Her expression hardened. "The Overlord vanished, Guys. He just disappeared. I don't know where he went. But he's toying with us, picking us off one by one. This is part of his game."

"Right." Lloyd stepped forward, his face pale but his voice steady.

But before he could speak again, the distant sound of screams echoed eerily through the abandoned streets.

People were in danger.

"A collapsing building. 9 or more people inside." Zane confirmed sharply, pointing to the right of us.

Lloyd ran a hand through his messy locks, sighing. "Right- we've got to have a plan. Rue, you and Kai—head for Cole. Get him out."

Rue was the ginger girl, I guess, and she nodded quickly. No hesitation, just resolve in her eyes. She had a quiet confidence, but there was no way to tell if that was enough. Could someone who didn't even know us really help save Cole? But I had no choice but to trust Lloyd. If he said she was good enough for the job, then I had to believe it.

I glanced at Rue, still unsure about her. But this wasn't the time to question anything. We had a job to do, and I needed to keep it together for Cole's sake.

"I'll do my best," Rue said, her voice low but determined. "Give me some time."

I raised an eyebrow, but there was no time to argue. "Fine," I muttered, turning back toward the pile of debris where I knew Cole was trapped.

Lloyd shouted the orders to the rest of the team, his voice cutting through the chaos. "The rest of you—rescue the civilians. We don't have a second to waste."

Rue followed me closely as I limped toward the debris. My legs were barely holding me up, each step a sharp reminder of the punishment my body had taken. But I couldn't afford to stop. Every second that ticked by was another second Cole could be slipping away.

We were getting him out of here. I didn't care how.

Rue kept up without breaking a sweat, but I could tell she was nervous. It was written in the tension of her shoulders, the way her eyes darted from the rubble to me, as if weighing the risk. I couldn't blame her.

"Don't worry," she said after a moment, her voice even. "We'll get him out."

I didn't say anything. What could I say? We didn't have a plan. We just had to act, and hope we didn't make things worse.

When we reached the wreckage, I could feel the weight of it all pressing down on me. It was so much. So much destruction, so much loss. The rubble seemed endless, the once proud structure now nothing more than a mountain of shattered stone and steel. I didn't know where to start. But I had to.

"C'mon," I muttered, brushing some of the larger debris aside, wincing with every movement. My breath came in ragged gasps, but I kept at it, knowing I couldn't stop. Rue crouched down beside me, her hand slowly placing on mine. "Stop. I've got this." She said gently, and closed her eyes.

"Just—just make it fast," I said, my voice low, strained. "I can't lose him."

Rue didn't answer. She didn't need to. She was already focused, her brow furrowed in concentration as she... I didn't even know what she was doing.

The only thing I could do was hope, pray— that she was as good as Lloyd thought she was.

And pray that we weren't too late.