Taking Control. (a Ninjago fanfic)

Chapter 88- Let them be enough

Sorry if this one's a bit all over the place, I had a hard time writing it for some reason?? Nonetheless enjoy <3

C O L E

I don't think I'd ever prayed so hard in my life.

Kai and Nya had stayed behind, facing down a wall of fire bigger than anything I'd ever seen. I'd seen them handle impossible before, but still — the thought of leaving them to it twisted my stomach.

Please. Please let them be enough.

There wasn't time to look back. Pan was already ahead of us, sprinting through the smoke-choked trees with a speed that made even Lloyd look slow. All I could see was his rat-tail whipping behind him and the whites of his teeth bared in fury.

The three figures we were chasing weren't exactly subtle — branches snapped under their boots, sparks trailed in their wake, and every few seconds I swore I heard them laughing. Laughing while the jungle burned. Laughing while the animals died and the huts caught fire.

"Pan—slow down!" I called, leaping over a half-burnt log. "You're gonna run into an ambu—"

Too late.

The trees broke suddenly into open air, and we skidded to a halt at the edge of the forest. A sheer cliff dropped away not even ten feet in front of us, mountains jagged against the horizon. And there they were — three bounty hunters, waiting.

Guns raised.

"Down!" I barked, shoving Lloyd aside as the first shots cracked through the night. The sound echoed like thunder, too close, too loud. Sparks lit the air where bullets ricocheted off stone.

Pan didn't duck.

He charged.

"You cowards!" he yelled, weaving through the gunfire with surprising focus. "You burn our home and run away?" His fist caught one of them in the gut before the guy even had time to aim again.

Lloyd gritted his teeth and sighed, charging too, sword flashing in the firelight. And I wasn't about to be left behind.

The fight was fast, messy, the kind of brawl where every move meant the difference between living and having a bullet embedded in your chest. The metal whipped past me — one caught the edge of my shoulder guard, spinning me around, but I planted my feet and slammed the nearest guy into the dirt with a solid elbow.

"Not so tough without your fire, huh?" I growled, pinning him down.

He spat in my face. "You think you can stop us? You've got no idea who we're working for."

"Don't care," I snapped, shoving my knee harder into his chest.

Meanwhile, Lloyd had disarmed another and had him flat on his back with a sword tip at his throat. And Pan? Pan was very busy making sure his guy regretted every single life choice that had led him to this moment. The bounty hunter tried to crawl back, but the tribe member grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the dirt.

"Why?" Pan shouted, voice raw, almost breaking. "Why do this? Why burn the jungle? Why go after the animals?"

The man smirked through a bloodied lip. "If  you won't let us take the fucking animals," he sneered, "There's no point letting 'em live."

I swear the firelight caught Pan's face then — wild, furious, sharper than I'd ever seen it.

And then his fist connected with the man's jaw.