Lost And Found, Arc 1: Buried Treasure

Lost and found, arc 1: buried treasure

Part 2: butterfly effect

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Jay wheezed as he made his way down the tunnel. His chest heaving with effort as he pulled his custom gas mask down off his face, taking deep breaths as he let the bag of supplies slip to the ground. “Is it me or is it like, WAY worse out there today?”

Zane nodded, shifting his own bag as it weighed down his shoulders “the fog has gotten thicker it seems. It’s most troubling. You should refrain from making these supplies runs with me so often.”

Jay rolled “yeah and leave you open to the mudders while I’m at it? No way.” He stretched before knocking on the thinned out section of rock thrice, groaning as he picked up his bag once more.

The earth parted, welcoming them inside both inside “please tell me you have some good news?” Cole pleaded, closing the tunnel behind them

“Uuuuh we didn’t get pomled by stone warriors or suffocate in the fog? Oh. And got decent supplies” jay shrugged, waltzing into the underground safe haven with Zane.

“Most of the stores and homes in the area have already been raided. We need to get to the next town soon.” Zane explained

Cole sighed “the constricti are trying to get the next tunnel finished, but they keep breaking through to soon and getting fogged. I do what I can to plug it before it gets to bad but I can’t supervise expansion AND man the door.” He rubbed at the bridge of his nose

Jay hummed, the gears in his head turning “I could try and make a sensor that-“

“Out of the question” Cole said sternly “you are not risking getting that close to the city for parts”

“Wha- there are other junk yards!!”

“Are any of them within travel distance AND away from ninjago city?”

“…no” jay sighed “but I know if I can get the parts I can-!”

“The answer is no jay. We can’t risk losing another elemental master. We need you here.. I need you..”

Jay opened his mouth to protest. But closed it. “I. Fine.” He sighed.

Zane looked between his two partners, then down at the ground “I miss him as well.” He muttered, saying the quiet part out loud.

“..we all do tin can..” Cole sighed solemnly, putting his arm around the ninjaroid, giving him a slight squeeze before holding his free hand out to jay

“He’s still out there.” Jay pointed out, interlacing his fingers with Cole’s.

Zane leaned against the master of earth “Yes but. It’s. Not truly him. Not anymore. Our kai.. he’s-”

“Don’t. Don’t say it. If we- if we lose hope, if we give up on him.. then we might as well stop trying. These people need us. They need us to have hope. To keep our heads up and get them through the day.” Cole, ever the leader, emphasized

“…I know.” Zane looked away. “I simply. Struggle with it….how is Misako doing?” Zane asked, trying to change the subject

“…still looking for the green ninja..” Cole shook his solemnly. “She thinks he could still be out there but..”

“If her son was still on the surface it’s unlikely he would have survived this long” Zane finished, “or at the very least would’ve been corrupted like the others.”

“Yeah. That. Thanks zane.”

“You are welcome Cole.”

“Come on. Let’s get these supplies put away. “ Cole suggested, taking jays bag from him.

Keeping track of time in the underground was.. rough to say the least. He wasn’t sure how long it had been since the overlord took over ninjago. Years, definitely.

They’d lost so many people to his corrupting mud and deadly fog.. none of this would’ve happened if they’d found the green ninja. Without him, they hadn’t stood a chance against the origin of evil itself. Garmadon was as good as dead. Wu had gone missing a year or so ago. Nya was one of the first to be corrupted.. they had been trying to evacuate a town, but they were overrun and- and they got her. Kai had stayed behind to buy them time to escape.. and to make sure Nya wasn’t alone for what came next.

Cole had managed to bring people under ground using his elemental power, much to this dismay of the serpentine (though eventually they came to an agreement), he wasn’t sure if there were any survivors topside anymore. So many people crammed in this cavern..

They’d found kai and nyas parents, it turned out they’d been trapped down here the whole time by the master of time, zane was the one to break the news to them that they’d both..

It was horrible. All of it. There was no other word for it. And there was no way out of it.

The green ninja was dead. He had to be at this point. And if he was still alive the overlord would squash him like a before they could train him. Cole was pretty sure the only reason any of them were still alive was for his entertainment, something to chase and terrorize.

“Cole? Are you alright?” Zane asked, gently placing his hand on Cole’s arm

Cole blinked, realizing he’d been spiraling again “yeah I’m. I’m fine Zane..” he took a deep breath. “Just. Tired.”

Jay frowned “if you turn into a creepy statue from over use of your powers I am NOT making your ass an automaton.”

Cole burst out laughing “I- what?! Why would I be a statue?!”

Jay shrugged “ I dunno, I was just trying to shock you out of that spiral “ he gave a small witty smile, highlighting his joke with a small static shock to Cole’s shoulder. “Worked though”

Cole gave him a soft smile “thanks sparky” he said, putting an arm around the master of lightning