Chapter Text
Jay sat up in pain for what felt like the hundredth time this week in the medbay of the bounty. What…happened? Jay remembered the events of what happened until the trident exploded, but what happened after that? It felt like a million trucks hit me when the powers were released from the trident. Jay felt as if his body was carrying the weight of his whole team 100 times over. Jay lugged himself out of the bed and took off all the wires attached to him. Is everyone else okay?
Jay dragged himself through the halls of the bounty in immense soreness and pain. Where is everyone? And why do I feel like this, I don’t see any new injuries, just some bandages for small cuts. Jay continued his search and ended up finding all the ninja and Master Wu in the living room. Why are they all just staring at me like idiots (they’re not idiots). I guess I’ll need to start the conversation like usual.
“Is everyone okay?”
As soon as Jay spoke, it was like he switched a flip and everyone got up to hug Jay as if they loved him (wait, they do love me, they always have). No one seemed to have too much damage. Cole had bandages around his hands and Kai had a brace on his leg.
“What happened…? Where did Cain go? What happened to your powers?”
“Well, Cain was very weak once he dropped his trident and was taken to Kryptarium prison. And sadly no one was there and conscious enough to see what happened when you destroyed the trident, and we still don’t have our powers.” Lloyd said while frowning at Jay.
What is he frowning at me for, it’s not like I could do anything else at that time? And I saw the powers get released from the trident, they should be back. At least I was able to stop Cain, essentially all by myself. Jay immediately felt guilty for thinking that and the more he tried to take the reins of his thoughts, the worse the soreness and aching pain was getting.
Lloyd continued speaking. “Master Wu just called us here for a group meeting. And don’t worry, you weren’t out for long, just a day and a half.”
Master Wu cleared his throat. “I’m glad to see all of you are doing alright after facing Cain. However, it is time to face the reality, your powers are gone and this time, they may not return, so you must be prepared to protect the city without them, so we will resume training today.”
Did he call everyone here just to tell us that?! News flash old man, we already knew that, and I still have my powers, unlike the others, so what about me? And we just fought a psychopath after being kidnapped and working our butts off, and you want us to train? We saved the city while you probably sat on your ass and sipped your tea in the monastery. Are you stupid?
Jay sighed to calm down his stray thoughts and then looked around the room and saw a mixture of furious and surprised faces. Master Wu’s face looked the angriest of all. “Jay, that was extremely inappropriate and disrespectful. I did not expect this from you, and I will not tolerate this behavior, you will be doing extra training today.” Master Wu finished harshly before leaving.
Shit, did I say that out loud? Why did I even say that?
“Yeah, you did say that out loud.” Kai said, his voice laced with venom. “How are we supposed to know why you said that? And just because you have powers and we don’t, doesn’t mean you should get special treatment.”
Jay was confused now about how his thoughts are getting leaked from his brain. I didn’t mean it. And Kai, you’re just jealous, you all probably are.
Now all the confusion from everyone’s faces vanished, there was only anger. Goddamn it, did I say that out loud too?
“Yeah! You did!” Nya said with rage. Jay now focused hard on controlling his thoughts.
Cole then stepped up to Jay. “You know, we were all proud of you when you took down Cain, but I didn’t think it would get to your head. I love you Jay, but what’s going on with you?”
You love me? Maybe I don’t love you. Maybe I don’t love any of you. As soon as the thought entered Jay’s head, he tried to push it away, but it was too late.
Everyone was still angry, but Jay felt the sorrow wash over the room as well and he felt his body getting even more sore, the pain was almost unbearable. Wait, I didn’t mean that.
“The fuck you mean ‘you didn’t mean that’. You can’t just say stuff like that!” Kai yelled at Jay.
Everyone, except Zane, began to yell at Jay as well.
“What’s the matter with you Jay?” Cole said as he pushed Jay’s shoulder.
Jay then felt a burning pain across the right side of his face. That slap had also made one of his cuts reopen as the blood leaked to the floor.
Nya had slapped him and Zane got up to calm her down. Jay had felt the tears bubbling up earlier, but he felt them running down his face now. Before Jay can think another thought or open his mouth without his knowledge, he slapped a hand over his mouth and ran right to his room and locked the door.
“Jay, wait…” Jay heard Nya call for him, but he just stayed in his room. She probably called me back just to give me another slap, and I deserve it. Why did I say all that? They are my family…And Cole…I love him so much, but I said I don’t love him. All this time I was scared that they will abandon me, but they stayed. I don’t deserve them, but they stayed with me. And this is how I repay them. What’s wrong with me? Jay grabbed his hair in frustration and began sobbing.
After Jay finished his meltdown, Jay got up to go and take a shower since it has been a few days since he has taken one and he still felt heavy, like he was dragging something along with him. Jay undressed and then stared at his face in the mirror. If only I didn’t have my powers either, now they will treat me differently. But Kai will be on his jealous streak either way.
As soon as Jay unwillingly thought that about Kai he saw his own mouth moving in the mirror, repeating his thoughts. WHAT THE HELL…Why am I speaking some of my thoughts out loud without my knowledge? I should talk to Wu, but maybe after the extra training since I pissed him off. Jay took his shower, which did nothing to soothe the aches across his body, and was about to go to train when he stopped at the door. Maybe I should figure out a way not to speak. Jay spotted duct tape on his desk and stuck a piece right over his mouth.
Let’s see who gets the last laugh now! Not you, because your mouth is taped closed. Jay thought to himself. Am I arguing with myself now? Oh boy.
Jay threw his mask over his face so no one can see the tape. If I tell them my mouth is talking without my knowledge, they’ll think I’m crazy, I mean, look at what happened earlier when I was about to explain, that stupid bitch slapped me. Jay made his way to the deck of the bounty to train.
———————————————
Kai was taking a break from training when he saw Jay walk into the training course, silently. That’s not like Jay, but then again, what happened earlier wasn’t like Jay either. What’s going on with him? He looks like he’s been awake for days and looks tensed up in pain. Everyone agreed to let him cool down after they heard him sobbing in his room. Kai felt absolutely terrible. Why did I say all that? Why did I let Nya slap him? However, Kai almost got whiplash seeing how different Jay was acting compared to the meltdown they heard a few moments ago. He was walking around like he didn’t give a shit about anything that happened. Maybe he feels better now?
“Look who finally decided to show up!” Kai said, trying to lift the mood. Jay just looked at Kai for a few seconds as if he was going to say something, but then just turned back to practicing with his nunchucks.
Later, the ninja all had a break together and Kai saw Nya go up to Jay.
“Jay, I’m really sorry for slapping you earlier, I really shouldn’t have done that.”
Jay looked like he was about to give Nya a hug and say something, but he just nodded at Nya before taking a sip of water and walking away. Nya scoffed at Jay’s lack of apologies because he was also in the wrong. “Whatever…”
The ninja all finished training, except for Jay, who needed to complete his extra round of training. Wu had instructed him to practice with his lightning. Kai couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous. Jay got to keep his powers because of a fluke, but Kai knew he should be better than that and be happy for his little brother and support him. “Good job Jay!”
Kai expected a thanks or at least a thumbs up or anything…but Jay just continued training like he heard nothing. Ok…this isn’t right, Jay should be talking so much that the ninja wanted to rip their ears off. Maybe I can get him to talk.
“Hey lightning boy! You can be doing much better with those powers. Like what was that punch, are you actually fighting the person or just asking for a fist bump?”
To Kai’s relief, that seemed to bring some emotion out of Jay, but instead of a witty comeback like Kai had expected, Jay began winding up to shoot lightning at Kai. Before Kai can move or Jay can shoot, Jay’s chest was brutally hit by Wu’s staff. This knocked all the lighting off of Jay’s hand and all the air out of his lungs as he fell onto the deck with a thump. Ok, something is definitely wrong, Jay is usually not impatient or violent like that. Kai expected Jay to get back up, but Jay continued to clutch his chest and struggle to breathe while lying on his back and shifting around in pain. Kai looked at Jay’s chest rise and fall, but his mask wasn’t giving the indication that any air was coming out of his mouth. Why isn’t he breathing out? Jay continued to struggle to breathe, so the ninja ran over to him.
“Jay, breathe out of your mouth buddy!” Jay got up slowly while groaning in pain and turned away from the ninja before lifting off his mask, but he was still clutching his chest. As Jay was trying to breathe and was still turned away from the ninja, Kai spotted something shiny and gray at the edge of Jay’s face.
Kai grabbed Jay’s wrist to turn him around. “Jay, what’s on your face-” Kai and the other ninja froze as they took in the sight of Jay’s face. He had a piece of duct tape on his mouth, sealing it shut. Kai ripped it off of Jay’s face and thankfully, Jay began breathing normally again.
“Jay, why would you train with duct tape on your mouth?”
“Fuck you Kai, I hope you fall off the bounty.” Jay immediately slapped a hand over his mouth with wide eyes like a deer caught in the headlights, but Cole pried it off and held both of Jay’s hands in front of him.
“What is with you Sparky? Why have you been so rude all day?”
“I-I don’t know…but I do know that if you don’t let go of my hands, I will zap the shit out of you.” Jay’s face immediately turned into a guilty and regretful face after that, confusing all the ninja. If Kai didn’t know any better, Jay’s voice was getting deeper and deeper the more he yelled rude things. Before they could inquire Jay, Wu stepped up.
“Cole, release his hands.” Cole complied. “Jay, you need to get your anger in check! You will be doing another round of training.”
Jay’s guilty face turned into one of pure anger. “You are fucking joking, right?” Jay laughed, but there was no humor in it. “I feel like absolute shit and I don’t even know what’s wrong with my mouth or mind, and you think training all day will fix it? Master Wu, I knew you had trouble prioritizing things when telling us about ancient evils, but this is a whole new level of stupidity.” Jay said pressing a finger into Master Wu’s chest. Jay, once again, returned to the guilty and shocked expression, this time accompanied with fear. To Kai, it looked like Jay was saying these rude things involuntarily. Kai could also tell that Jay was about to explain, but before he could say anything else, Master Wu kicked Jay in the chest.
“Master, what are you doing?” Zane said in horror.
“His extra training is starting right now.” Jay took advantage of Wu being distracted and struck him with a bolt of lightning. Master Wu staggered backwards, but composed himself in a split second. Jay began shooting more bolts of lightning in fear and Kai could tell this won’t end well if the other ninja don’t jump in. By the look on everyone else’s faces, Kai could tell they thought the same.
“Wait, Jay! Calm down!”
“Master Wu, stop!”
The ninja ran up to Jay, but before any of them can reach him, Wu landed another kick to Jay’s chest. Jay scowled out in anger and stomped on the floor, and sent out a shockwave through the floor and made the whole bounty shudder in the air. That earthquake knocked everyone around him onto the floor. Wait a minute, that’s one of Cole’s moves…
Everyone looked back to Jay, and they all froze, including Jay. Jay had fire in one hand and water in the other. Beneath his feet, there was a patch of ice forming on one foot and pieces of rocks floating around his other foot. Jay’s entire body was doused with blue and yellow lightning jumping across it. He was looking at his body in confusion now with scared eyes that were radiating with green light.
Everyone remained silent for a few moments before Jay, Cole, and Kai all said in unison, “What the fuck-”