Only One Can Remain ► Ninjago [REWRITING]

Prologue: The Aftermath

His death took a toll on everyone.

"I'm Jay, Ninjago's most lovable ninja!"

The ninja of lightning laughed into the microphone as the crowd cheered rather loudly. Everyone in the room and even in their own homes enjoyed watching the host run his famous obstacle course show.

"Here before the Gauntlet of Humility—" Jay pointed to the giant obstacle course behind him, the dark stage emitting in the spotlight. "—to see who will be Ninjago's next hero! And who's dreams will be gone... in a flash!"

He then threw the microphone in the air, forming streams of lightning in his hands. He flew in the air, flying past the cheering crowds and landing on the platform high above the ground next to a woman in pink. When Jay landed, he extended his arm out and caught the microphone, scaring the lady.

"I'm here with Kathy," Jay introduced with the smile of a host. "Tireless mother of four, killer of the PTA, and returning contestant. Tell me, Kathy. After being humbled by the gauntlet the first time, what makes you think this will be any different?"

"Because ninja never quit!" Kathy shouted, probably busting Jay's eardrums.

After recovering from the scream, Jay smiled once again and chuckled. "Alright, Kathy. Start the Doomsday Clock!"

On his orders, the timer began counting down from three minutes. Kathy looked at the course for a few seconds before jumping off the platform and hanging onto the rope.

The crowd cheered as she swung back and forth until she reached the next rope. She did this once more before she landed on the next platform that looked like a roller. Kathy smiled triumphantly as she stood, but her victory was short-lived as the platform started rolling backward.

Kathy ran forward as fast as she could to match the speed of the obstacle, and as if it wasn't hard enough, boxing gloves popped out from the wall to intervene. She barely dodged the first few punches, jumping onto the next roller.

She cheered herself this time, but right as she thought she succeeded, a boxing glove popped up from the wall and it hit her, making the woman fall to the ground and fail to complete the gauntlet.

The crowd gasped, and so did Jay as he ran over to her. He held the microphone to her lips as she rose to her feet. Even with her failure, Kathy managed to smile. "I got farther than last time!" And the crowd cheered once more.

The show then ended, as Kathy was the last contestant to appear on stage for the day. Once everyone had cleared out, Jay was finally alone backstage, and he sighed in front of the mirror.

"Is this who I've become?" he asked himself. Being famous wasn't the worst thing ever, but he hated being apart from his team. At the same time, he couldn't help it. With one team member gone, the entire group fell apart.

Including him. Jay never thought he'd lose Zane so easily, but it just happened. Neither did everyone else... maybe that's why they all left each other, Jay told himself. Zane was an essential part of the team, and he was taken away too soon.

"Too soon..." Jay repeated aloud.

Cole slammed his axe into the wood, picking up the chopped branch. Once having the wood in arms, he stabbed the axe into the tree and fixed his open vest over his bare stomach. "Another day of work, another... day of work."

He had no idea what he was doing here, really. It took him a few seconds to realize that it was because he wanted to get away. Away from everything that had happened.