Ninjago: Ripped World

3: The Confrontation

The blow came out of nowhere. Cole knew exactly who it had come from. He let the blow consume him, he absorbed it, felt it. Because he deserved it.

Cole hit the parched cobbles. Dust thrown up in the still air as he skidded to an unceremonious stop. An exhausted heap, he could finally stop his self-imposed punishment. Jay obviously knew, but how did he know? 'Nya?' he looked up at Jay. 'Is she awake'?

'No. No, she's not awake, dirt for brains. And if she was I would not be letting YOU anywhere near her.'

'Well, that's for Nya to decide'.

'What?' Jay was incredulous. Thin blue fronds crackled around his forearms. 'That's all you have to say to me? That's it? Me or you? No explanation. No apology? What the hell went on while you were gone? You set about luring Nya away from me? I let you go. I let you save her. It should have been me! I trusted you. I put my faith in you.'

Cole was still sitting on the cobbles. His black training robe covered in soft lime dust. He had been dreading this moment. But here it was, not quite as he had imagined but having never been able to imagine the right words it was just going to have to play out. 'Jay.' Cole began. 'I didn't know this would happen. How could I? All I wanted was to find her and bring her back.'

'Yeah well, well done with that! You seem to have broken her'. Said Jay, letting his anger control his words.

'That's not fair. How we even managed to create the return Realm Jump... It was a near impossible task, practically a suicide mission. We may never have made it back at all, Jay.'

'Don't try and make me feel bad about this boulder brain'.

Cole held his hands up, a sign of surrender and placation. 'Jay. I know you don't want to hear this, but I know how I feel. I think I know how Nya feels, but... I could be wrong. Why do you think I didn't say anything? I felt wretched enough. You think I want to feel like this? I don't. It's tearing me apart.' Cole knew how anxious Jay could be and this development may just push him over the edge.

'Just don't say anything else' said Jay. His hands covered his face. He threw back his head letting his arms drop limp by his side. As he searched the sky for clarity, his anger welled up and he channelled it all into an electrical blast that radiated down through his body into the earth below.

There was nothing to be done now. Time had intervened and another world had brought Earth and Water together. An offering, a surrender. Cole's heart ached with the weight of his betrayal and welled with the love that he and Nya discovered. It was a painful state that tore at his stomach, clawed at his brain. One that only a physical pain could quell. This was no mean feat, his body had been absorbing the daily battery he inflicted on himself. A by-product of his elemental powers, the more physical pain he sought out, the less he felt and all the while his mental anguish grew.

This pain was far worse.