"Tasha?"
His voice is so far away. Why is it so far away? Kai . . .
"Tasha!"
Lloyd's voice is even quieter. Like he's calling me from underwater.
I need to open my eyes. I need to see them. I need to be able to hear.
Surrender.
God damn it. Shut up. Open your eyes.
"Tash."
Coles voice. The quietest of the three. I need to reach for it. I need it to pull me out. Keep talking, please.
Someone touches my cheek. Rough fingers, warm. Kai's fingers. Kai's touch. I'd know it anywhere. "Tasha, please. Wake up."
My lids flutter. The world is bright. But my eyes are open. Kai, Lloyd, and Cole are hovering over me. Jay, Nya, Zane, and Dr Saunders are standing a little farther back. They all look concerned; They all look afraid. Did I say something?
"What happened?"
"You passed out," says Lloyd, helping guide me to sit up. Dr Saunders hands me a glass of water with the instructions to drink.
"Yeah, but what happened?"
"You don't remember?" Kai asks. His eyebrows are furrowed and his eyes are glassy. I shake my head. "Well, you were kissing me--"
"I remember that," I say, staring intently at his face, hoping to offer him some reassurance. "My tongue was in your mouth, and then--" I cut myself off because I don't know how to continue. I don't know what happened.
Kai's face is bright red, and Lloyd's hand on my back is suddenly stiffer. Oops. I overshared.
"You, um. You went limp against me. I barely had time to wrap my hands around you before you were falling to the floor. You wouldn't wake, no matter how much I said your name. And you looked troubled, too. Your eyebrows were furrowed, frowning. You kept mumbling, 'I'm alright. I'm alright.'"
If Lloyd hadn't been signing what he was saying, I probably wouldn't have gotten any of it. His voice is so faint, and I know he's not even talking that quiet.
"How long was I out?"
"About twenty minutes," says Lloyd.
My heart sinks. Why? Why are they getting so bad. No matter what I do, they get louder and more insistent.
Cole catches my gaze. I stare at him, willing him to understand. He does.
"Um, why don't we get back to work," he says, turning to the quartet standing off to the side. "We've still got a lot to do before we're done for today."
They were hesitant, but eventually Cole is able to usher them away.
"I need to tell you guys something?"
Kai scoots a little closer, grabbing my hand and squeezing. "What is it?"
I take a deep breath. Am I really about to do this? "I-I've been hearing voices."
"Voices?" Lloyd is rubbing circles up and down my back. It makes me want to cry.
"Yeah. They're the reason I can't hear so well. And they've been calling me . . . Calling for me to rejoin the side of evil."
Silence. My heart is hammering in my chest. Just say something already. Please. But they stay silent for a long moment, absorbing what I just said. I dig my nails into my palm. Is the room getting smaller?
"That's not gonna happen." Kai's voice is loud and clear. Demanding. I can breathe again. "Not if I have anything to say about it."
"We're gonna help you get through this, Tash," says Lloyd, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and hugging me. "We'll defeat this evil."
They've done it. They've made me cry. "I love you guys."
"We love you too."
~
"Six p.m. Quittin' time," Kai cheers as he leads me out of the museum. But then something strange happens. My body jolts forward, everything around me is whimsical, nonexistent, and then I am planted firmly on the bounty where alarms are blaring.
"What just happened?" exclaims Lloyd. "Time just--"
"Moved forward?"
"Um, weren't we just outside?" asks Cole. "When did we get here?"
"How did we get here?" adds Nya.
"My circuits are picking up an energy displacement," says Zane.
"There was a displacement all right," says Kai. "It displaced us right in here."
"What is going on?"
"I don't know, but it's loud!" screams Jay, hands clutched over his ears.
Nya rushes over to the computer and starts pressing buttons. "These energy readings are off the charts. Where is it coming from?"
"I'm trying to pinpoint the location," says Zane.
"How about pinpointing the location of the off button?" exclaims Jay. Honestly, I'm surprised I can hear him over the siren and the voices. "These alarms are giving me a--" Kai smashes his hand down on a red button, ceasing the blaring. "Headache. Thank you."
"Hm. This is surprising."
"No it's not. I've always had sensitive ears and--"
"I meant, I think I know how we suddenly appeared on the Destiny's Bounty," Zane interrupts.
"How?"
"The displacement we experienced was not caused by just any normal energy. It was temporal energy."
"Oh, well, temporal energy. Of course. Everyone knows that's, um . . . powerful."
I cross my arms over my chest, amused by Jay's idiocy and pleased that the voices have quieted down; even they are interested in what Zane has to say. "You have no idea what 'temporal' means, do you?"
"I do not."
"It means 'time.'"
"Precisely," says Zane. "Whatever created that displacement can warp the very fabric of space-time."
"Which is powerful, right?" Jay inquires hopefully.
"Very. All the normal rules of existence no longer apply to such a force."
Jay nudges my arm. "Told you it was powerful."
Zane ignores him, turning to the computer and grabbing a cord, plugging it into his head. The screen immediately fills with whatever the heck his going on in that big robot brain of his, which currently is a giant map of Ninjago. It keeps zooming in and out of different places, focusing on red zones that apparently contain high levels of temporal energy.
Jay sighs exasperatedly. "Okay, yes, there was a little hiccup in time. But just one. I'm sure it was nothing. They probably happen all the time, and we just don't realize it. You know, like deja vu. Can we go home now?"
I quirk an eyebrow. The others have similar responses.
"Seriously, we just cleaned up an entire museum! Aren't you guys tired?"
"Well . . ." Zane trails off
"Well?" asks Nya.
"I've located the surges epicenter," says Pixal.
"Where, Pixal?'
The screen changes. My jaw drops.
"The old monastery."
"The old monastery? That place totally burned down," says Cole. "Why would anyone or anything be up there."
"We should find out," says Lloyd.
"Oh, why?" whines Jay. "Cole's right, there's no reason for anyone to be up at the monastery. Zane's probably malfunctioning."
"Self-diagnostic indicates negative."
Jay punches his arm. "How about now."
"No."
"I agree with Lloyd," says Kai. "We should go. Where there's smoke, there's usually fire."
"And where there's an energy displacement, there's usually trouble," adds Nya.
"Well, maybe it's, like, you know, a harmless massive energy displacement." He looks between us, smile fading. "Come on. Seriously, I'm exhausted. We did our good deed for the day."
"Wait," says Lloyd, eyes suddenly widening. He signs frantically at me and my eyes widen as well.
"What, what's going on?" says Cole.
"Uncle Wu said he was going to the monastery. Something about 'finishing an old fight.'"
"He said this was something he should do alone," Lloyd adds.
Jay sighs. "What are you waiting for? Get us to the monastery."
~
"Does anyone see Master Wu?" asks Lloyd, scanning the remnants of my first real home from aboard the bounty.
Jay's response is too diluted by them for me to hear, but he points at something--or should I say, someone--standing in the center of the ashes. A young looking man dressed in a red and black cloak holds this claw looking thing that glows green. He looks sorta familiar, but I can't really tell where I've seen him before from this far away.
"Who's that," asks Cole, who's standing next to me.
Jay says something else, and then walks over to the anchor.
"No, no, wait, what if--" Lloyd falls short when Jay presses the button to lower the anchor and goes down with it. "Hey! Jay!"
Jay walks over to the man, gesturing wildly with his hands as he speaks. The man does not look impressed. Why do I have the sinking feeling Jay just got himself into a buttload of trouble? Probably because he did. Then Jay pulls out his num chucks. Goddamit.
"Acronix!" Zane screams. Did they just have a whole conversation that I didn't hear? I look over at Lloyd, but he doesn't look at me. Everyone's shouting now though, so I can vaguely hear.
"Acronix, as in Acronix and Krux? The Hands of Time?" says Cole.
"From the painting?" says Kai. "But Dr. Saunders says the battle wasn't real."
Suspicious.
"Even if it was, it was forty years ago," says Lloyd. "Acronix would be an old man today, like Master Wu. But that guy down there is young."
"That's impossible. Unless . . . he time traveled?"
Nya's right.
Zane rushes over to the railing to view the fight that's ensued below. "We have to get down there. Now!"
The six of us slide down the chain. Acronix disappears from one place and reappears behind Jay. He punches him in the back, sending him flying into a pile of rubble.
"Did you see that?" says Lloyd. "It's like . . ."
"He jumped forward in time," I finish.
"Yeah?" says Cole. "Let's see him jump this." Then he proceeds to launch himself off the chain, fists glowing orange with power, and he flies towards Acronix. Just as he's about to punch, though, Acronix grabs his fist and swings him around, tossing him back towards us. As soon as we reach the ground, we're pummeled by him.
"More Ninja?" says Acronix. "Curious."
We're back on our feet in seconds and Spinjitzuing towards him. But when we get there, he's gone. In the confusion, we crash into each other, collapsing to the dirt once more in a tangle of limbs.
"You only missed me by a few seconds," he says with a condescending chuckle.
"Sometimes I wish I was still Samurai X instead of a Ninja," Nya groans.
"You're fast," says Kai, lighting his hand on fire. "But faster than this?" He hurls the flame at Acronix, who skillfully dodges. The fireball hits the burnt remains of the Monastery, setting them ablaze.
"Elemental Master of Fire. I've encountered one of you before."
Kai falters. "Y-you met my father?"
I step in front of him and hurl a ball of energy at Acronix, but he disappears and the ball crashes into the inferno that was behind him, spreading it further. There's a faint sound that's sort of a pop mixed with a zap, and he reappears on the burning roof.
"Ninja," he drawls. "Come out and play."
"Jay, Cole, Kai, Tash, we get Acronix. Zane, Nya, use your Elemental Powers to put out this fire."
"Ninja . . . Come out and play!"
"Hang on," says Jay. "Who put you in charge? Why can't I help with the flames?"
I cross my arms and quirk an eyebrow. "You think lightning is better than water and ice for stopping flames?"
"Good point. Let's go!"
The five of us run towards Acronix. Jay shoots a lightning bolt at him, and he dodges. Cole charges forward with his glowing fists, but Acronix ducks and Cole slams into a burnt wood pillar.
"Tasha, launch us!" Lloyd says, sprinting towards me. Jay jumps first, and I drop a burst beneath him, shooting him upwards. Kai follows, then Lloyd, then I drop a ball beneath me, sending me up as well.
"One!"
"Two!"
"Three!"
"Four!"
Our powers blur together in a ray of orange, blue, green, and violet, blaring towards him in a raging stream of destruction. Acronix sprints away just in time to avoid the combination. Lucky for him, because that myriad of power put a large hole in the spot he was just standing.
The four of us land back on the ground, but our attacks don't cease. Acronix is forced to dodge left and right, sprinting along the crumbling roof to avoid our attacks. Meanwhile, Zane and Nya work hard to douse the flames.
"Yes," says Lloyd. "Keep moving him back. He's gonna have to surrender, or else the flames are gonna get him."
"Here's Acronix!"
Fire, lightning, and both types of energy are shot at him in a constant stream. He uses his green blade thing to block. Except, it's not really blocking it, it's more like it's absorbing it. Uh oh.
"Guys--"
Before I can finish my sentence, the blade explodes, knocking us all off our feet. The smoke is thick, obscuring our view, but even as it starts to clear, Acronix is nowhere in sight.
"Ah, burned down again," says Jay, glancing at the flaming ashes. "Man, this place just cannot catch a break."
"Neither did Acronix," I grumble.
"Good," says Kai, placing his hand on top of mine, a little signal to me that he's talking, though I can hear him clearly; The voices are too shocked to be making noise. "You know me, I don't back down from a challenge, but I wouldn't want to face that guy again."
"No way," says Cole. "He moved at, like, the speed of time."
"Come on guys," says Lloyd, getting to his feet, "let's go back to the Destiny's Bounty."
"But what about Master Wu?" says Nya.
Lloyd gasps, but it's more shameful than shocked. "We gotta find him. Spread out!"
Kai interlocks our fingers and charges into the flames. He throws his arm outwards, and the fire clears a path for us. We begin searching the rubble, but he's nowhere to be found. Then Kai pulls me out from the rubble and down the mountainside. My eyes widen when I spot Cole pulling Uncle Wu up the side of the mountain, and I let out a breath of relief as soon as he's safe on the cliff's edge.
"Master, are you alright?" asks Zane, but I can barely hear him. The voices have started talking again.
"I fear not."
"Why was Acronic here?"
"How did he do that?"
"Why were you fighting him?"
Wu sighs, exhausted. "There is much to tell you. And not much time." Then he collapses.
~
As promised, another chapter! Lowkey was struggling to title it. I hope you enjoyed, see ya next week!
Word Count: 2428