On a String

Chapter 3

("Face it, Fireboy. You're surrounded. Now will you come quietly like a good boy or do I have to...")

Kai swallowed. This was Cole. Trustworthy, solid as rock, responsible Cole. The team's leader and his wouldn't do that.

("She's dead, Ninja. How does that make you feel? It was all your fault, you know, and the same fate will await anyone else who tries to escape!")

Kai folded his arms loosely, and Cole couldn't tell if the gesture was defensive or not. "I survived, didn't I? The Puppeteers would have gotten suspicious if all four of us infiltrated their gang. Admit it; we're pretty big news around Ninjago. If any more than one of us tried to go undercover, the chances of being discovered would have increased tenfold," Kai shot back bitterly. How long had it been since he'd thought of anyone as his teammate?

Cole nodded. Kai had a fair point. But he wasn't done with his teammate yet. "You were reckless to take that mission on by yourself. But I've noticed that you're not reckless anymore. You stop, you observe, you evaluate and then you decide on a course of action. What happened, Kai?"

Kai's eyes narrowed very slightly in irritation, but Cole didn't miss the subtle movement. "Why do you even care?" his tone was faintly prickly.

"Because I'm the leader of this team, and I have a responsibility for the people I lead. If one person isn't stable, then everyone else will be affected and I can't let that happen. Look at the way you treated Lloyd today. He got punched twice and you didn't even care. Plus, I really don't like seeing you like this," Cole replied calmly.

Like this? What did that mean? Nothing was wrong with him... "Not everyone in the real world plays nice. It's better for someone-even Lloyd- to take a hit here where it doesn't matter, than to get hit when they're fighting for their life. He'll learn from this, and won't make the same mistake next time. Plus, it wasn't actually a bad punch. Zane's fist barely grazed his stomach and he looked fine afterwards," Kai said, his face twisting into a slight sneer as he continued. "You want me to apologize to him for not mother henning?"

Cole raised one eyebrow, noticing that Kai had dodged the other half of his statement and definitely gotten marginally defensive. "No. I would just like to know what caused the change," He realized that he might have been too direct with that last statement, and wasn't surprised when Kai fluidly moved away, ending the conversation.

And that raised another series of interesting questions. Kai had never been one to move gracefully. He had always been a direct, reckless fighter who walked with confidence and what he had called 'swagger'. So, what had taught him to ghost around silently?

And then there was the fighting. Kai had never paid much attention to detail, but now he was getting picky about every little thing, stressing how important it was that everything was perfect. Cole could tell that what Kai was teaching them was very practical and would no doubt make them better fighters.

But he was teaching them to fight without honor. To be sneaky, not upfront and honest. It was right to give your opponent the opportunity to dodge or block your blow. But Kai didn't care about that. He was more concerned about killing the enemy as fast as possible.

Kai was teaching them to fight very much like an assassin would- kill the opposition at all costs and do what you must to survive.

And that scared Cole.

It was interesting, though. In a roundabout way, Kai had actually helped him. Kai had said that for him to be a better fighter, he needed to be sneakier. Cole was pretty sure that if he followed that advice when talking to his brother, he'd be more successful at getting answers as well.