Powerless

Power Down

Kai returned to the main area in a rush, trying to avoid the conversation he was going to have with Wu about bursting out of the lab.

The rest of the ninjas, who seemed to have gotten comfortable, all shifted to greet Kai excitedly.

"Hey, buddy!" Lloyd exclaimed. "How did it go?"

There was a nervousness in Lloyd's voice but Kai didn't blame him, he was freaking out too.

"Listen, I get it. You guys are freaked, I was too." Kai lied. "But P.I.X.A.L said it was just a power spike. It's all good."

Kai hated lying to his friends and he was sure they didn't believe him, but he was too tired to deal with anything else.

"Okay." Said Cole.

"Well then," Kai let out a genuine yawn. "I'm off to bed. My eyes should be back to normal in the morning. G'night!"

And just like that, Kai disappeared into the dormitory, his hands balled into fists as he fought the tears that wanted to gather in his eyes.
___

Cole knew if Kai needed something, he would go to his team. So he decided he wouldn't follow him. After all, they were each other's brothers, and they cared about each other, but they also knew when they needed space.

A few hours later they all lay in the bunk beds, Nya excluded. She had the girl's dormitory all to herself which Cole admittedly envied.

There was a deadly silence for what felt like an hour until something unexpected happened.

"Look, what just happened earlier didn't matter... Really. So stop making a big deal out of it." Kai said, harshly.

He followed with a mumbled, "Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" Zane inquired.

"Yeah!" Jay concurred. "Unless you're talking about your salty attitude."

"I just... didn't want to worry you guys."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, don't sweat it." Cole smiled.

"It's our reaction that warrants an apology," Lloyd stated.

Kai let out a relieved sigh, "Thanks, guys. Training in the morning?"

"You can count on it." Cole nodded.
___

"So are we gonna just stand here all day or can we do something!?!?" Jay said, all of them forming a diamond around the Blue Ninja.

The sun was just barely rising, but managed to drag themselves out of bed to train. Jay asked Nya if she wanted to join but she was already working in the lab.

"You guys know the drill," Lloyd grinned.

"Whoever gets tagged by the person in the middle replaces them. Then they become the new 'monkey'! No weapons. Got it?"

"Let's do this!" Kai shouted excitedly.

"On the count of three," Zane yelled to them as they were all ten feet away from Jay.

"ONE!" Yelled Jay.

"TWO!!" projected Cole.

"THREE!!!" Screamed Kai as they all started moving.

Jay charged for Zane first who iced the floor, leaving Jay air born. He used that to his advantage, however, turning himself into a bullet and tackling Zane to the ground.

"Zane's it! He laughed.

Zane quickly got to his feet and set his eyes on Lloyd. He charged at the green ninja, already having an attack plan. Lloyd shot green bursts of energy at Zane which he avoided with relative ease. By the time Zane reached Lloyd, The Green Ninja smiled and tugged a nearby Cole toward him.

Zane and Cole collided and Lloyd let out a loud snicker, "Cole, you're it!"

"Aw, man!" Cole sighed as he brought himself to his feet and scanned the courtyard.

Kai had been moving this whole time, avoiding staying still, but that didn't stop Cole from setting towards the Red Ninja.

Cole was at a disadvantage as Kai was much faster than him but Cole has an idea.

"Hey, speedy!" Cole shouted. "Try running on this!"

Cole slammed his foot into the ground and a giant ragged mountain burst from under Kai's feet which sent him backward towards Cole.

Unfortunately for Cole, Kai dove and slid between his legs evading the attack.

"Too slow!" Kai shouted already on the other side of the yard.

Cole humphed and accepted defeat, chasing Jay, his new target.

They continued for a little over an hour, chasing each other. Kai finally got tagged at the end and that's when they called quits.

"Man, how do you run that fast?" Jay panted.

"I-" Kai started, face beat red. "Don't like losing."

They all drank water until they cooled down and Kai headed for the showers.

Hey guys, Lloyd caught their attention, "Why didn't Kai use his powers?"
___

Nya made her way down the elevator back to the lab. She stopped by this morning to grab a few things but then moved to the garage to continue on the fried MEC.

By the time the doors opened, she heard a conversation taking place that she knew she probably shouldn't have been listening to, but before she could interject, she heard something she couldn't believe.

"Now, what you said to Kai last night was not the truth... was it P.I.X.A.L?" Wu asked.

"I'm afraid not, Sensei. Kai's results came back peculiar."

"How so?"

"Elemental Masters are usually supposed to generate an aura of sorts, their element seething through their skin, surrounding themselves with their powers. But Kai..."

P.I.X.A.L stiffened, her eyebrow tense and her hand tapping the console before her.

"Yes?" Wu asked emulating similar nerves.

"Kai isn't exuding his powers, but vice versa. His body is consuming any fire it can get close enough to. It- it shouldn't do that."

"So what caused this," Wu responded, perplexed. "I'm assuming Kai isn't doing this intentionally."

"Precisely so Sensei Wu. This amount of power growth is unnatural and unheard of. It's almost as if someone is controlling it..."

"How would someone do something like that P.I.X.A.L?"

"I... I am not sure."

Their conversation immediately ceased as Nya entered the room, not knowing she was there the whole time.

"Hey, guys! What are you talking about?" she questioned with a weirdly accusatory tone.

"Your brother," P.I.X.A.L said plainly.

"Is he okay?" Nya was going to dig for the truth. "I'm really concerned. He has been hiding stuff lately and I don't know why. I just want to make sure he's okay."

"Kai is fine his powers are just rising and sinking, like the ocean. He will be okay." Wu said attempting to portray his typical Sensei Wisdom.

"Okay Sensei," She frowned. "I believe you."

She left the room in a hurry, looking back frequently at her Sensei and the Nindroid.

Wu always hated lying he never believed it was the answer to anything...

Until now.