Chapter Text
It should have been a simple mission. Technically, it still was.
She held her breath as hushed voices could be heard. Quietly she pushed herself back into the darkness of the vent. They shouldn’t be able to notice her, but staying so close to the light shining through the grate felt too risky. Shadows moved in front of it and blocked the light, leaving her in complete darkness. There were only two of them, but the others were close-by. Which meant that she couldn’t attack them without alerting everyone else.
‘Come on, move…’ she urged silently. There was no way that they had noticed her.
Finally, the dark figures stepped away, and she let out the breath she had been holding in. She could hear them talking about other rooms they hadn’t searched yet, as they walked towards the door. Carefully she crawled towards the gate and peeked through the gaps. The gang members stood at the door and discussed their next moves in a hushed tone, before they left the room. She was alone.
Nya waited a couple of seconds to make sure that nobody else entered the room, before she crawled out of the tight space and rolled onto the floor. She immediately got up and adjusted her gi and spear. The room was filled with all sorts of junk and boxes, but there was a window. That was all she needed to get out of here. Nya sneaked around the junk piles and opened the window. Below a steep drop-off greeted her. It was a busy day in the city, evident by the traffic filled street beneath her.
There was a small ledge she could stand on and turn around to grab onto protrusions on the wall. Thankfully, she had been on the highest floor and didn’t have to climb far to reach the roof. Once she stood on it, she used the quiet moment, apart from the traffic noise, to call Jay. Since the hostage wasn’t in this building, he had to be kept at the other location.
“Jay? Can you hear me?”
There was static rustling for a few seconds, before he answered in a hushed voice: “Yeah. Can’t talk right now. N-not that I’m not happy to hear you! It’s-“ He went quiet and voices in the distance could be heard.
“The hostage isn’t here. He must be at your location,” Nya quickly told him.
“I’m aware… He’s very annoying. And not the only one at my location.” The static got louder as he charged up his powers. “Call you later.”
The last word was cut off at the end. That was her signal to leave.
“She must have escaped through the window!”
Nya heard the gang members shouting at each other to get to the roof. She secured her weapon and ran towards the opposite ledge before jumping over to the next building. After traversing a couple of buildings, she heard the shouting more clearly. She looked back just enough to see the gang members standing on the roof of their hideout in the corner of her eye. One of them was holding a crossbow. For now, she kept running. Maybe she could lose them before she arrived at Jay’s location.
Her reflexes saved her from a small arrow shooting past her head and she silently swore when a second cut through the sleeve of her gi. She heard footsteps following her, either three or four gang members were running behind her. And more would certainly join them. She looked around and ran to the left. There was a larger gap between buildings that she jumped over. After continuing to run a small distance, she turned around and blasted water at her pursuers. Two of them had jumped as well and because of that, couldn’t dodge her blast. They crashed into the members behind them, buying her more time.
After putting more distance between them, Nya tried to find a new path to lose them. A structure in the distance caught her attention and she immediately followed the next best route towards it. More arrows shot past her, but they easily missed her. Whoever was shooting, was probably too focused on running. The steps behind her became quieter and no more projectiles flew past her. It would give her enough time to get the water out.
She reached the water tower she had spotted and positioned herself under it. Her pursuers were a few buildings further away, but they were quickly catching up to her. Nya focused on the water in the tower and forced it to move. The groaning of metal could be heard but nothing big happened yet.
‘Come on!’ she thought and pushed harder.
More groaning and cracking echoed. Screws and nails broke off one by one. Her enemies were already jumping onto the same building. Finally, the tower tipped and burst open. The gang members slowed down and tried to flee the big wave that had been directed towards them. They all were rinsed off the building and fell below. Nya ran towards the edge and looked down. Most of them were tethered in clotheslines and a few had fallen into garbage piles. That should take care of them. She didn’t waste any more time and ran towards the second hideout.
The streets at the second location were much busier and more populated. Billboards and screens with commercials were hanging everywhere. She was honestly surprised that they had brought the hostage here. A more quiet and hidden part of the city would have made more sense. But maybe hiding in plain sight was the strategy.
Nya suddenly heard Cole’s voice talking, but it was impossible for him to be here. All the ninja were currently spread all over Ninjago on their own missions. During the period when the four had lost their powers, a lot of crime had the chance to rise, and a bunch of their old enemies had escaped their prisons. Lloyd had gone on some missions, but he alone hadn’t been able to keep everything under control. Now they had to work overtime to clean up the mess.
When she looked towards the direction of Cole’s voice, she spotted a big screen on the side of a building playing a video of him, instructing how to act during earth-related emergencies. Nya remembered how all of them had recorded clips about how to act in whatever crisis involved their element. Sure enough, the screen changed and played Kai’s video.
Then the opposite building exploded.
She held up her arms and took a step backwards. Through the gaps in her arms, she saw Jay getting launched through the air and crash through the big screen. Nya immediately dashed towards the hole he made, half-stumbling across the roof tops. The new crater in the screen and building had caused it to glitch out and jumble their messages together.
“In case- fire- do- use the elevator- under a tree.”
Sometimes it managed to play a normal sentence, but it was still accompanied by loud glitching and static which hurt her ears, now that she was closer. She jumped from the roof of the building onto the now slanted screen and slid down into the crater. Electricity was sparking everywhere and cut cables were hanging above her.
“B-be careful ar-rround a-a-areas wi-with high voltage!”
“Thanks, me…” she heard Jay groan, which helped her locate him in the rubble. There was still electricity sparking around him and entering his body.
Her approaching alerted him, and he had pushed himself halfway off the ground when he recognized her.
“Nya! They have bombs!”
“I’ve noticed.” She gave him a sympathetic smile. “You’re lucky that elemental masters are more resilient than the average person.”
“Yeah, lucky me…” he whined and got up.
Nya had offered him her hand, but he had declined before she could even finish the question.
“Not with all the electricity around,” was his reasoning and walked past her.
She wondered if that was just an excuse and he was being too cautious. She silently debated with herself if she should challenge his reason and point out, that she had touched him a bunch of times while charged up. He wouldn’t hurt her if he did not want to. But he spoke first.
“Come on, we need to save the hostage before they disappear with him again.” He held some sparking cables to the side for her to pass through.
This wasn’t the right time to start a discussion. But she would confront him later once everything calmed down. Hopefully, this didn’t have some deeper reason.
Stepping out of the crater she immediately searched for the building that was the gang’s hideout. People had fled the area, and some gang members were guarding the new gaping hole. The ninja wouldn’t be able to get in there without a fight. Nya exchanged a quick glance with Jay and grabbed her spear. Jay pulled out his nunchakus, and they made their way towards their target. Using the balconies and ledges, they dashed towards the hideout and jumped into the newmade entrance.
Nya used her spear to block the sword that had swung down at her. With a strong kick she sent her enemy backwards and knocked the sword out of his hand. She felt Jay covering her back, close enough that she could feel his warmth. Their enemies were decent fighters, but no match for them. She sacrificed her defense for a more aggressive fighting style without getting majorly hurt. With the tip of her spear, she scratched the cheek of her opponent, confusing them for a second. She immediately used the blunt end of her weapon to deal a powerful blow to their head.
Nya suddenly felt Jay duck down and knew what to do. Immediately, she turned around and used the momentum to swing her spear and hit it against the temple of the attacker in front of Jay. The attacker had still been mid-swing and hadn’t been able to block her spear.
“Heh, I can always count on you,” Jay complimented her and stood up.
That had been the last enemy standing in this room. Nya tried to ignore her light blush and focussed on the mission.
“Same,” was the only word she managed to say, before they moved on to find the hostage.
Jay took the lead, since he remembered the layout of the building. They encountered more gang members along the way but took easily care of them. The room where they had previously held the hostage turned out to be empty. Jay concluded that they were trying to flee the building with him. So, they hurried down the hallways again and ended up on a railing high up in a larger room. Below them were a van and multiple motorbikes and it seemed like they were nearly done with preparing the large vehicle.
“Stop them!” one of them shouted and multiple gang members gathered below.
They had to take them all out fast. Luckily, they both stood above the ground, which gave Nya an idea.
“Jay!”
He immediately understood what she wanted to do.
“Gotcha!”
Nya used her spear to block ranged attacks and summoned enough water to cover the room below with a thin film. Jay whacked an enemy who had run up the stairs right in the face with his nunchakus, which caused them to fall backwards over the railing. After hesitating for a moment, he charged up his hand and shot lightning below. All the gathered gang members were electrocuted, except the ones in the van. With no more opposition, the ninja jumped down.
“Go!” One of the enemies inside the van screamed and the vehicle drove off with a figure frantically closing the backdoor.
“No, they’re going to escape!” she called.
“I’ll catch up with them,” Jay assured and walked ahead, “Maybe you can find a way to track them in case I lose them in the city?”
“I’ll contact the police department. Are you sure you have enough energy to keep up with them?”
He let out an exaggerated gasp and then grinned when he said: “I could keep up with a speeding vehicle as a teen. I doubt they’ll be able to drive fast enough in a city.”
“Alright then. Don’t crash into anybody!” she warned as he started running after them.
“I would never!” he promised and disappeared down the street.
*
Giving the van a head start probably wasn’t the best idea. But it wasn’t too difficult to track it. People yelling and cars honking gave him a good trail to follow. Some cars had stopped in the middle of the street, with the drivers having lowered their windows and still swearing. Some small groups of people were standing beside the street and talked confused about the mysterious vehicle. And there were a few people continuing with their daily lives as if nothing had happened. After a couple of turns, Jay spotted the van turning right at the end of the street. He was catching up with them.
All these turns were slowing him down. It was annoying, but it wasn’t enough to stop him from approaching the van. The noise of somebody revving an engine behind him startled him and in the corner of his eye he saw a motorbike charging him. He had to dodge to the side and landed in the wrong lane. Immediate loud honks followed, and cars tried to swerve around him. He stumbled to the side, was narrowly missed by the first car, and dodged the next ones.
“Sorry guys!” he apologized as insults were thrown at him, and he made it back to the correct lane.
The biker looked back at him and despite wearing a helmet, Jay knew that they had a smug grin on their face. That was enough for him to hate them. Angered, he forced more electricity into his muscles and dashed after them. It only took ten seconds for him to catch up and run beside them.
“Missed me?” he asked.
The gang member spared him a single glance and pulled out a couple of throwing knives. Of course they had throwing knives. He ducked beneath the first throw and slowed down, causing the second to hit the street in front of him. He stayed close behind the motorbike and jumped onto it. There was a small protrusion behind the gang member where he could land on and throw the bike out of balance. His enemy gasped in surprise and leaned to the side to keep the vehicle upright.
“Careful or it’ll tip over,” Jay mocked and started to lean towards the same side.
The motorbike swerved as the gang member tried to counterbalance, coming dangerously close to the pavement. Jay shot forward and grabbed the handlebar to steer it away from the pedestrians. A knife swung towards his throat, and he dodged backwards. The abrupt motion caused the bike to spin once around itself, but it continued speeding down the street. The biker got up and attacked back, holding the knife. Jay had no more space to dodge and jumped off the vehicle. But he kept up with the speed and used his nunchakus to deflect a throwing knife. He used up more energy to run faster and overtake the bike, before jumping onto it again. This time he was positioned behind the biker and punched them off the vehicle with a charged-up fist. He hopped off after them and let the bike crash into a streetlamp. The metal pole broke in half and exposed the sparking wires within.
He had dealt with the biker but quickly realized, that he had lost the van while doing so. The black vehicle was nowhere to be seen.
“Come on…” he groaned and held onto the biker while contacting his yang. “Hey Nya, I caught one of them, but I lost the van.”
“The media has sent out a helicopter tracking them. I can guide you towards it,” she quickly responded.
“Can you also send some people from the police department to my current location? They need to take care of the biker.”
“Of course, just make sure they don’t escape.”
“Will do.”
The gang member was half conscious and didn’t realize that they were being talked about. He removed their helmet and weapons and properly knocked them out. The throwing knives might come in handy. Jay dragged them towards the pavement, where a young teen had observed the last moments of the fight.
“Hey kid, do me a favor and keep an eye on them. If they wake up, hit them with a rock,” he instructed and didn’t wait for a response. That child probably felt honored helping out a ninja.
First, he ran to the broken lamp and grabbed the exposed wires. Running and fighting with the biker had exhausted him too much and he needed to replenish that lost energy. He stabbed the wires with one of the throwing knives, resulting in electricity flooding his system. It immediately merged with his powers and felt exhilarating. His exhaustion was gone in an instant, his vision grew sharper and new energy filled his muscles. With more force than he’d like to admit, he pulled out the knife before notifying Nya: “I’m ready.”
Luckily, the van hadn’t left the city. Yet. Jay had noticed how the streets had become emptier. Which made it easier for him to catch up, but also easier for them to drive. With Nya’s help he not only found them but also managed to cut them off and block their path. If they wanted to continue following this street, they had to drive past him. The dark van kept speeding in his direction. It didn’t look like they wanted to drive around him.
“Jay, they are not slowing down,” Nya noted.
“Yeah, I’m aware.”
“Don’t do anything stupid.”
“I would never!” he assured grinning. “If I don’t make the jump, you’ll have to carry me back home. So, it’s a win-win situation!”
Before she could comment on his logic, he had to jump into the air to avoid getting run over. He managed to land on the van and rammed the throwing knife into the metal so he wouldn’t slide off. He heard Nya sigh relieved.
“Aw, so close…” he whined jokingly while holding onto the knife.
“How about I carry you home if you free the hostage unscathed?” she proposed.
That was all the motivation he needed. The mental image alone made his heart beat faster.
“There won’t be a single new scratch on me!” he promised.
He pulled out another knife and climbed towards the front. The van was accelerating and avoiding the police cars approaching them from different directions. The door in the back of the van burst open and one of the gang members climbed onto the roof of the vehicle. Jay stood up, stumbled a step backwards until he found a secure standing position and pulled out his nunchakus with his right hand. In his left his still held the knife. His enemy charged him, though they were struggling to keep their balance, which made it easier for him to dodge. There was more space on the van than on the motorbike, but it was still limited. He came dangerously close to the edge and used the knife to block the dagger he was being attacked with. They were strong, but it was still easy for him to overpower them and push them to the side. With a fast twirl of his nunchakus, he hit their temple and knocked them down. The unconscious body was sliding towards the back of the van, and he nailed their clothes to the roof with the throwing knife before they fell onto the street. With that problem dealt with, he diverted his attention back towards the front of the van.
He used his nunchakus to smash open the window on the side of the passenger seat and swung into the vehicle through the new hole. He kicked the guy sitting by the window into the driver, causing the van to swerve around. The driver shoved the middle person back into Jay and yelled: “Throw him out!”
Because of the limited space, Jay couldn’t dodge well enough and his gi was grabbed. This was getting too dangerous; he had to end this fight now. As he was being shoved towards the door, he slowly summoned his lightning and redirected it towards the middle guy, knocking them out. He pushed them out of the way and made his way back to the driver. It wasn’t easy to fight someone, who was currently driving the vehicle you were inside of. At least with the bike he could easily jump off. The driver tried to punch him, but had no chance of hitting him, because they had to focus on the road. Jay used a charged-up fist to knock them out and immediately grabbed the steering wheel to steady the van. Since the gang member was unconscious, the vehicle wasn’t accelerating anymore and was slowing down.
When the van finally stood still, Jay noticed how tensely he was gripping the steering wheel and had to force himself to let go. He deeply breathed in, and with the adrenaline gone, his exhaustion made his bones feel heavy and his muscles wobbly like jelly. Though he couldn’t rest now. He had to restrain the gang members and free the hostage. Jay grabbed the two unconscious enemies by the collars of their outfits and dragged them behind him towards the rear end of the van. The third member was still nailed to the roof of the van and was half hanging over the edge.
Police sirens could be heard approaching and soon enough, the first police officers arrived. They took care of the gang members and helped him unlock the backdoor of the van. Fortunately, the hostage wasn’t able to speak thanks to the gag. But that sadly changed when Jay started freeing him.
“Oh finally! I knew my savior would come!” the hostage exclaimed as Jay was cutting through the rope that was restraining him. “I could- oh.” The hostage had jumped up and had seemed to want to hug him. But in the last second he took a step backwards. With a disappointed tone he noted: “It’s you again.”
“Yeah, sorry for freeing you.”
The former hostage groaned and dusted off his elegant clothing. He continued without acknowledging his comment. “You said the water ninja is working with you. How am I supposed to tell the difference with you ninja wearing masks?”
“I dunno, the yellow lightning patterns might give a hint,” he suggested with a scowl.
“Whatever. At least you are somewhat attractive. But you are nowhere near the water ninja.”
Normally, Jay would gladly agree with such a statement. But not when knowing his ulterior motives.
“If only she didn’t have that ugly mole on her face, but I guess she can’t be as perfect as me,” the former hostage sighed as he walked towards the door.
For too long Jay contemplated punching him and blaming the gang members for the wound. It would certainly satisfy the hot anger surging in his chest and arms. But unfortunately, there were too many police officers around to witness it.
As they stepped out of the van, Jay accidentally shoving past the former hostage and making him stumble, they were greeted with more police cars surrounding the area. He pulled off his ninja mask and fully breathed in the air. His exhaustion was starting to overwhelm him, and he dreamed of his bed. Though spotting Nya next to some policemen gave him the necessary energy to run up to her. She noticed him approaching and let him hug her from behind.
“Good job on freeing the hostage,” she told him.
“Thanks, did it without getting hurt!” he giggled and nuzzled the crook of her neck.
“Easy there, Sparky, I’m still in the middle of a discussion,” she noted with a blush and softly pushed against his chest.
The two policemen had started to look at the sky and the surrounding buildings with an uncomfortable expression on their faces.
“Oh! Yeah! Of course!” He let her go and took a few steps back. With an embarrassed smile he walked back towards the van, after Nya promised him that they were finishing up and it would only take a minute.
Sadly, mister “I’m a prince, but not actually” was still there.
“I demand that you two ninja accompany me back to my village!” he exclaimed before Jay could pretend to ignore him. “I refuse to be accompanied by anyone from the police!”
“You managed to arrive in Ninjago City without problems, I’m sure you’ll survive the trip back.”
“Now that they know they can kidnap me despite your incompetent police force guarding me, they’ll try it again! I’ll gladly pay you whatever you demand.” He flicked his dark, long ponytail back in an outraged gesture.
“No amount in the world would be enough…” Jay muttered under his breath, before saying, “Sadly, we don’t have any time for you.”
“Then make time!”
“Do you have any idea how many criminals are currently running around in Ninjago?! They are way more important than accompanying you to some village nobody heard of!” he lost his temper.
“Well, as “heroes” I expected you to want to protect everyone in Ninjago. Including me. Or are you the only one who doesn’t care about his morals?” he accused.
“My morals don’t-“ Jay started shouting but was interrupted by Nya placing her hand on his back.
“Hey, there is no need to argue with the hostage,” she said with a calm voice.
“He wants us to waste our time by accompanying him back to the village!” he defended himself.
“Yeah… Well… That’s what we are going to do,” she confirmed with an apologetic smile.
“Huh?!”
“Our mission is to ensure his safety and if the police aren’t enough, we have to make sure he returns home unharmed.”
“It’s not our fault, that the police are incompetent,” he hissed quietly.
“No, but it is part of our mission.”
Of course, Mr. Prince was elated.
“Finally, somebody with common sense!” He shoved himself between Jay and Nya and held her hand. “We sadly haven’t met yet. My name is Akaya from the Howling Woods. I’ve heard amazing stories about the water ninja and today you’ve proven them correct.”
Nya pulled her hand away before Jay could interfere.
“I’m flattered, but Jay was the one who freed you, not me,” she pointed out.
“A broken clock is right twice a day,” was his response, “Besides, I’m sure he needed your help.”
Who did this guy think he was?! Jay felt his element surge in his chest and sparks popping off his hands as he took a deep breath to give a piece of his mind. Nya had noticed and stepped to Jay’s side to grab his hand, forcing him to suppress his lightning.
“I assure you, that we both rely on each other’s help and that Jay is as capable as me,” she guaranteed, though Jay noticed that her friendliness was strained and she was trying her best not to lose her temper. According to how much his hand was hurting, the former hostage was on thin ice.
“Whatever. As long as you both are accompanying me…” he let it go and rolled his eyes. “My train leaves tomorrow morning at eight. I need to rest after everything that happened today.”
“There are some medics that want to take a look at you. Just to be sure,” Nya added and nodded towards an ambulance that had arrived.
“Of course. I don’t feel too hurt, but those binds hurt my skin.”
Distracted, he rubbed his wrists and made his way towards the medics. Jay made sure to silently glare at him until he was gone.
“Can’t we send him back with the mail? I’ll make sure we find a nice package with holes in it,” he suggested.
Nya let out a sigh and kept holding his hand.
“I would love that…” She intertwined her fingers with his and leaned against his arm. “At least we only have to survive one or two days with him.”
“Mhm.” His anger slowly calmed and let his fatigue return. He wanted to lean his head on hers as he remembered something. With a smirk he noted: “By the way… I managed to not get horribly hurt while stopping the van. Didn’t you promise me something…?”
“Hm… I’m not sure… You might be hiding some wounds from me,” she teased.
“Then I guess you’ll have to verify yourself that I’m telling the truth,” he suggested.
“Very tempting…” she admitted with a blush. “How about, I carry you back to the car and back home I’ll take a look at your wounds?”
“I’ll accept that.”
He snaked an arm around her neck and let her pick him up bridal style.
“Comfy?” she asked.
“Of course!” He fully leaned against her.
Nya adjusted her grip and carried him back towards their vehicle, making this mission worth it for this moment alone.