Rise of the Ninjago Force

Chapter 21: Jay's Request

At a restaurant, Nick was eating at one of the exterior tables as a waiter came up to him, holding a bottle of wine. "General Fury, can I get you more wine?" He asked.

"No." Nick replied. "This is fine. Tell the kitchen that the General Tso's is fantastic."

Beeping was soon heard as Nick looked at his watch which appeared to have an energy reader before pressing it. "One Eye Eagle, we are receiving a recurring energy flux in your immediate area." Someone spoke through a small earpiece in Nick's right ear.

"I have it." Nick looks at the energy reader again.

"Here comes the matching intelligence."

"Thank you." He looks at it before becoming curious. "Huh."

"Request command sequence."

"No, I got it."

"Sir?"

"I'll take care of it myself."

"But, sir, procedure."

"Soldier?"

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."

Nick soon got up and leaves some money for the bill. "Keep online, await my command."

"Yes, sir." Nick soon started walking down the street as a teenaged boy sees him leave before immediately following him.

—————

As he soon turned into an alleyway, he is suddenly confronted by another teenaged boy. "Look at the pirate." He teasingly said.

"I bet he's got a lot of gold on him." The other teen sarcastically replied.

Nick slowly went to grab something from his coat. "Ah, ah, ah." The first teen gets out a Ruger SP101 and aims it at him. "I'll grab it myself, if you don't mind."

But as the boy prepares to move closer, something soon lands behind him, knocking him down on the ground, face down. Nick immediately backed away when he saw that it was Jay. The other teen was soon surprised. "Zaptrap." He soon got out a switchblade and opened it. "He'll be a better mark than the pirate."

The teen charges at Jay, who quickly backed away before grabbing hold of his neck, and started to emit lightning through it, shocking him. As he was getting jolted, his friend gets up. "Dumb kid." He prepares to raise his gun, only to get hit in the neck by a tranquilliser and collapses again.

As he kept shocking the kid, Jay turned and saw that Nick was aiming a modified Crosman 2240 CO2 Pistol. "Jason, let him go." He said.

Jay soon pushed the teen down, who was quickly scared of him. "Get lost." He simply told him. The teen quickly got up, ran over to his friend, grabs the gun, picks him up, and they immediately ran out of the alleyway while Jay turns to Nick. "I take it that you're Nick Fury?" He nods. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." He puts his tranquilliser gun away. "How long have you been following me?"

"Since you left your--" Jay tried to think. "I don't know what to call them-- those headquarters."

"You've been following the leader of the top espionage organisation on the entire planet for over an hour?"

"Yeah."

"Not bad. What do you want, Jason?"

"I want you to take my powers away. I don't want them. I don't want to be Zaptrap and don't want my powers. And I know you can do it! I know you can inject me with something, or-- or-- or spray me with something and I can go back to a normal life! I don't want to do this anymore! I want my life back where it was before I was caught in that explosion! Before I lost my eye! I want this to stop!"

"No."

"I'm an illegal genetic mutation! You-- you said it yourself to Lloyd! I'm telling you! I don't want this!"

"What happened, Jason?"

Jay soon sighed as he turned away. "Apart from that mugger, I nearly killed someone. My sister's ex-boyfriend. He was beating her, and I had to stop it. And now she doesn't want to look at me anymore. Which is why I want you to do the right thing. I want you to--"

"I heard you."

"I don't WANT this!"

"Kid, you had a rough day. Everyone has them. And when you do... do what I do. You ask yourself. Anybody's life is better because of what I did today? If the answer's yes... then stop your whining." He puts a hand on his shoulder. "If not, well, do better tomorrow. What did your friend, Lloyd, tell you when he and I met?"

"You told him that we were going to be your prisoners because we are illegal, unnatural genetic mutations!"

"No, I didn't."

"Oh, yes, you did!"

"I thought you were smart, boy. I told him... my exact words... 'Enjoy your youth.' 'You and your friends are too young to be this involved with the big boys.' 'There will be plenty of time and opportunity for you here later.' You and your friends are in line to be part of one of the finest organisations this world has even seen." This got Jay to think. "You'll work alongside Tony Stark, Dr. Bruce Banner, Captain America. You and your friends are going to be part of the greats. Part of the greats, kid." Jay turns to lean on the wall. "But looking at you today-- like this-- your head's going to pop off your body before you even make it to prom. You don't want to be Zaptrap anymore? Fine. What else are you going to do? Go work at Burger King? Help out at your parents' junkyard? I have. You don't want to. Kid, you hit the lottery. People would kill to be you. Literally." Jay then placed his head on the wall. "I'm much smarter than you... so listen to me. Take some time off. Just because you're Zaptrap doesn't mean you have to be Zaptrap every single second of every single day." Nick puts a hand on Jay's shoulder again.

"I'm not sure if I can do that."

"You can and you will." He soon sighed. "A friend of mine in the army once said, 'You cannot change the past, but you can affect the future.' Like it or not, but you'll always be a mutant, and a potential Avenger."

"I, uh, I didn't mean to suggest--"

"Yeah, you did. It's okay. I know what's going on. You're so angry you don't even know what to be angry about. It's called being a teenager." He soon held out his hand. "Been there." Jay looks at the hand before reluctantly taking it, and they shook hands. Nick soon started to leave the alleyway. "It's all right. But next time you want to talk to me... make an appointment. Or I'll shoot you." Jay just watched him leave before he suddenly felt his face covered, causing him to yelp.