Ninjago: Ripped World

16: The Beginning of The End

His head erupted. The vibrations of the Gatekeeper resonated through his temples, sinuses and teeth. Cole's instinct to wear the mask him self may have been wrong after all. He was alone in a hell of his own making. His only goal was to make this thing trigger a portal that would send them home.

Through the searing pain he managed to open his eyes. Far from being enclosed and suffocative, behind the mask he found a space as wide as he could imagine. He was aware of his body jerking and seizing, his face rattling against the solid interior of the faceplate, but his eyes showed him a different view. The calm of the void.

He felt like two beings, experiencing different realities simultaneously. He would have preferred it if one wasn't so intensely painful. The swirl from the Vortex was around him, the only source of light in the dark. He floated his gaze around to view the immense scale of the churning whirlpool. From the vortex, pinpricks of light travelled towards him. Growing closer they revealed images through what were glassy spheres. There were hundreds of them, showing different images of people and places. They were unrecognisable. Beings he had never encountered before, worlds vastly different from his own. He felt tears streaming down his face as his body reached the limits of his endurance. Where was his world? Anywhere on his world would do. If it came to it, any other world would be better than this.

He focussed on the orbs. He willed them to be Ninjago.

Somewhere else, he was screaming.

He tried to move his view to the outer reaches of the glassy constellation. It must be there, it must.

As he approached a small cluster of spheres, they rotated to reveal a glimpse of home. The strength of his relief released his mind from the physical pain and a great pull sucked him forward. He blacked out.

______________________________________________

Zane's cool glowing eyes stared out into the crisp dark night. Behind them every scanning function, radar, night vision and seismic monitor he possessed was working at full capacity. He was stood at the helm of the Bounty, where he had been for almost a month, ready to blow every circuit trying to find some trace that would indicate the whereabouts of his lost friends.

The Bounty had stayed in the locality after the Vortex had disappeared and was moored off shore, in sight of the bay.

Kai was beside Zane. He sat with him every so often, to give him support and to let him know he appreciated the effort he was making. Whether Zane knew he was there or not, he couldn't tell. Kai placed a hand on the Nindroid's shoulder. It was icy cold. Not that the cold bothered his friend, he still wrapped a blanket around his shoulders.

Jay came from the control room and walked over to Kai 'h hey man. It's freezing tonight. Come inside won't'cha, there's soup?'

Kai looked up. Jay could see from his friends face how low he was feeling. The loss of his sister, from whom he was inseparable, had started to hit him harder as the days of her absence grew longer.

'It's ok, Jay' Kai replied 'I think I'll just stay here for a bit y'know, to keep Zane company?'

Jay nodded. 'Ok' he said 'I'll bring you some soup out, and a coat'. Kai gave him a withering look and emphasised a warm orange glow around him for effect. 'Oh, uh, heh heh. No need for a coat then, just the soup' and he moved to go back into the warmth.

Kai, shook his head and reproached himself. 'Jay' he called back to his friend. 'Thanks'.

Jay raised his hand and gave a small gesture, to say 'don't worry about it, it's nothing'. But really it was. As selfish and needy as Jay could be, he knew that whatever he was feeling about Nya's disappearance was nothing to what Kai was experiencing. Kai and Nya were the only family each other had after all and Kai was Nya's self-styled protector. If Kai was watching out for Zane, he would watch out for Kai.

In the kitchen, Jay was greeted with hopeful looks from Lloyd, Misako and Wu. 'He's not ready to come in yet' Jay let them know. 'I thought I'd take some soup out to him though' and he reached to take a mug from a hook.

Lloyd came up to the island. 'Jay. I... I know this is hard for you. You're holding up really well. It's just. If you want to talk about it. I'm here for you, ok?

Jay gave him a smile and a nod. He wouldn't be talking to Lloyd about it. He wouldn't be talking to anyone about it. Normally he would let everyone and anyone know his thoughts, frustrations and petty grievances as loudly as he felt necessary, even if they didn't want to hear it. But he couldn't now, because this really mattered. Nothing could be done about it. There was no solution, so no point. He started to ladle some of Misako's soup into the mug, when Kai came in.

'Don't worry about the soup Jay' he said 'I'm just going to turn in'.

A rumble resounded around them. A distant tremor from the shore. Jay dropped both the ladle and mug in the soup and ran for the deck with Kai. Lloyd, Wu and Misako followed. As Kai threw the control room door open, he saw that Zane was gone. In the distance the glow of his elemental dragon was halfway to the bay.

Kai, Jay and Lloyd rushed the barrier and were over it leaping forward in to the dark night, their dragons materialising below them.

Zane could see the spectral glow of the Vortex ahead. A rush of wind rolled over him and dispersed as the Vortex disappeared once more. He circled the dark dunes, soft glows peeking through the tufts of moss. His heat sensors scanned the area, picking up two figures in what looked like an embrace. He descended and jumped clear from his dragon that evaporated on release. Cole stood holding Nya, limp in his arms, his head bowed over hers. As Zane approached he observed a different countenance in Cole. An intensity of a sort he had not seen before.

Kai, Jay and Lloyd descended on them, Kai taking no time to run to Cole and carefully take Nya from his arms. Calling forth his dragon once more he raced her back to the Bounty.

In the darkness, Jay looked at Cole. Apart from the cuts and marks of his ordeal, he too saw something different. Coles face set in a stony un-readable expression, stopped him from approaching. Before Jay could utter a word, Cole conjured his dragon and flew after Kai.