Chapter Text
Kai glared at the grass in front of him, fury and irritation and dread churning in his blood. He had been so close. His plan had nearly come to pass, and then he’d have no need to worry about anything. He turned his gaze to the statue of the subject of his ire.
The Titanium Ninja.
First Master, Zane just had to go and get himself killed, didn’t he? He just had to throw years of planning down the drain. He just had to make all of Kai’s torment worthless. All of the elements of creation were needed for the plan to be activated, and now Kai had to wait for who knew how long for the next Master of Ice. Maybe he’d get lucky, and it’d be Pixal?
Who was he kidding? He never got that lucky.
Don’t get him wrong. He was begrudgingly grateful for the ninja’s sacrifice. Without it, the Golden Master would have been the one to destroy all of Kai’s careful work, and the tournament wouldn’t have happened, anyway.
Not that it’d be happening without the Master of Ice.
Kai wanted to light the whole city on fire.
A stick cracked behind him, and he looked up to see one of the only two people he trusted striding towards him. She joined him on the bench, her red hair down to keep her face hidden from any cameras watching the site. She remained quiet, simply offering the comfort of her presence. He hadn’t called her there, but he appreciated that she came.
Kai was the one to break the silence. “We’re fucked,” he grumbled, glaring at the statue again.
Skylor hummed. “I do not believe so.”
Kai let out a rueful laugh. “Really? We have to wait all over again. All of this, everything I’ve done, was a waste of time.”
“My father sent me this,” she told him, handing him a piece of paper.
Kai took it, eyes wide. The tournament was on? “But, the staff won’t work without the elements of creation?”
Skylor leaned closer to him. “He says he has Zane in custody.”
Kai’s lips parted. Zane was alive?! They had a chance! It could be okay! The two of them just had to make it through the tournament without losing or hurting each other. From there, they’d finally, finally be free.
“Holy shit,” he breathed. “Sky, we could…”
She smiled, bumping her shoulder into his. “Glad to know you remember the plan, fire boy.”
“How could I forget?”
After this, no one would be able to stop them. After this, they’d be free.
…
Kai spent the next week making a name for himself in the Slither Pit. He needed the others to think he was grieving, and the character he’d spent so long building had always been the angry type. Hitting things just made sense, so that was what he spent his time doing. It was a gamble, but it was a well-placed and easily-predicted one. They’d come find him when they needed him.
He caught sight of Lloyd slipping into the audience out of his peripherals, and Kai decided to give the kid a bit of a show. He took down Kruncha with speed and ferocity before going over to the bar for something legal to drink. He honestly would’ve preferred something with a kick, but he was playing the role of a hero. He was going to stick to the law.
“You shouldn’t drink so much juice.”
Kai almost rolled his eyes at Lloyd’s comment. He turned to look at him, except the kid was under the fucking table.
“It’s filled with more sugar than you realize.”
Said the kid who had been obsessed with sugar two years ago.
Kai narrowed his eyes. “I know why you’re here, Lloyd, and I’m not coming back.”
“The team needs you now more than ever.”
Kai stuck to his character. “Team?” He scoffed. “Who says the Green Ninja even needs a team?”
“I get it.” Kai seriously doubted that, but he let Lloyd continue, not making eye contact. “You’ve run out of bad guys to fight out there, so you need to come to a place like this. But where’s the honor?”
Honor? Nothing Kai ever did was honorable. Everything in his life, every action he took, was in the name of survival. Even now, he was fighting to keep himself, Nya, and Skylor alive amidst the hell they were trapped in.
“You don’t belong here-” Yeah, no shit. “You’re the Master of Fire.”
“It’s the Red Shogun now,” Kai growled. “Where’s the Master of Ice, huh? He’s gone, and I’m still here.” The protective instinct that persisted despite his best efforts flickered to life, and he was immediately grateful he’d sculpted this character around it because he couldn’t help what he said next. “It should’ve been me. I should’ve been the one-”
“You always say that,” Lloyd interrupted, and Kai’s mouth shut with a click. “You always think it should’ve been you. First, being the Green Ninja, now this. When will you start thinking of someone other than yourself?”
Rage flared up within him, and he had to bite his tongue before he broke his cover.
“If you change your mind,” Lloyd said, disappearing into the crowd, “you’ll know where I’ll be.”
Kai glared at the cup in front of him. Selfish? Him? Was it selfish to wish he’d been the one to sacrifice himself to defeat the Overlord? Then, Chen would’ve had to wait for fire to find a new host, and Nya would’ve been released from his grasp since she’d never shown an affiliation for any element. The only one who’d never be able to escape Chen’s clutches was Skylor.
Kai could never have done that to her.
No, they had to see their plan through. It may… hurt… to betray the ninja in the end, but he was doing what he had to. He couldn’t allow himself to get sucked into the dangers of sentimentality.
He dragged himself out of the Slither Pit, hands disappearing into his pockets. Maybe he was selfish. He was sacrificing the powers of multiple elemental masters so that he and the people he cared about had a chance to escape the evil that reigned over their lives.
He ran a hand over the side of his face, almost feeling the snake that wrapped around his body like a chain. The marking was hidden beneath a glamor charm that he needed to refresh before he went to meet the ninja at, ironically, Chen’s Noodle House.
…
The door swung closed behind him, the slimy feeling of Chen’s hundreds of cameras climbing up Kai’s skin. He pretended not to notice, trudging over to where he could see Lloyd waiting. Cole and Jay were also already in the booth, and Kai slid into the remaining seat to join them.
He reached for a bowl of noodles, but Lloyd stopped him.
“Talk first, then eat,” the kid ordered.
Kai narrowed his eyes, glancing at the others.
“He’s been making us wait, too,” Jay told him.
“Do you know how hard it is to not be eating this delicious food?” Cole exclaimed.
Kai grit his teeth. “Fine. Then talk.”
“I’m thinking we need to add someone new to our team,” Lloyd said.
That was received about as well as one would expect. Both Cole and Jay let out offended gasps, and Kai turned to stare at Lloyd in disbelief.
“You want to replace Zane?” Jay protested.
Lloyd tried back tracking. “That’s not-”
“No one can replace Zane,” Cole stated with finality, rising to leave.
With the timing that only came with someone watching them, the doors swung open to admit a few of Chen’s lower-level goons. They stalked into the restaurant, moving to cause some terror and steal a few hundred bills from the till. Kai joined the rest of the ninja in fighting the jerks off. He kicked one of them in the face, a thrill going through him. He wanted to make it hurt, he wanted to rip all of those little piercings out of this guy’s face and then light him on fire, but he let the goon escape out the back with his buddies.
It made Kai sick, but he still trailed after the others into the alley behind the noodle shop. He knew the goons had managed to slip away due to some tech-based trickery, but he pretended to look around anyway. Across from them, pinned to the wall, was a caricature of Zane, a table sat in front of it. Kai thought that it was obvious for one of Chen’s traps, but he also knew the ninja were desperate to get their friend back.
“Fortune cookies!” Cole exclaimed, shoving one in his mouth.
Kai stared at him, marveling at that level of ignorance. It was truly impressive. The paper inside was probably explosive, and the cookies could’ve been poisoned regardless.
The fortune cookies said the same thing the flyer Skylor had given Kai did. They were invited to Master Chen’s Tournament of Elements, they were to tell no one where they were going, and they were to take a ferry to get there. It would be leaving the docks the next night, and if they agreed to go, they would have to be on it.
The very idea of going back to that cursed island made Kai’s skin crawl, but he would do what he had to. He was getting that staff by the end.