JAY

Rhys Moses ordered Soren to take Jay back to his cell. Along the way, Soren stopped to give Jay more water and another apple. The thought was kind but it felt hollow considering the current circumstances.

Doctor Kirk did something to Zane. His friends were being led into a trap. And what was wrong with Jay's Elemental Power? That didn't matter now. He had to give it up.

Soren opened Jay's cell door and pushed him inside.

"Rest easy," Soren instructed, "We need you at full strength tomorrow."

"The impending doom of my friends makes rest a little hard," Jay said.

"If your friends didn't bother us, this wouldn't have happened."

"You. Kidnapped. Me. And you expected them not to get involved?" Jay said, "I feel like I'm going insane. You actually think you aren't the bad guys!?"

Soren walked away. Jay waited until he was sure Soren wasn't in earshot.

"Eyre?" Jay said, "I need to learn that passing of the Elemental Power thing."

Jay wondered if Eyre was asleep because she didn't respond for a second.

"The motions are easy. The action is easy. To pass on such immense power without forethought and intention would be the greatest abuse of power possible. The first step: choose a worthy successor. Someone who will use the power with as much valour as you have."

The task sounded easy but as Jay considered options he realized how few friends outside of the ninja he had. Maybe Ronin. But he'd use the power to his benefit, not to help others. Dareth? He's not very competent or disciplined. Jay didn't know anyone else...

"Can we work on the second step while I decide?" Jay asked.

"Second step: meditation. You need a clear mind in order for the transfer of power to go smoothly."

Jay wasn't sure he was capable of having a clear mind. He'd seen Master Wu meditate many times. It was easy. Just sit down, be still, and... Jay's mind began to wander immediately. The thought of meditation alone caused his brain to meander without his permission.

"What's the third step," Jay asked, hoping it would be easier than the first two.

"A clear mind and a clear successor is all you need. Once you are in the right headspace, I'll tell you actions."

So it didn't get easier. Jay sat down on the damp ground and took a deep breath. Clear his head? Was that even possible?

Jay's mind swirled around. He was trying not to think about his own failures. So he saturated his mind with thoughts of Nya.

Everything about Nya was perfect. Her dimples, her raven hair, her curvy stature, her mole, her deep brown eyes; but those were only the icing on the cake. She was fierce, independent, strong, stubborn, and had a great sense of humour. Jay smiled to himself as he pictured the sound of Nya's laugh. Oh, her laugh... What would Jay give to make Nya laugh one last time.

 Woah... Did Jay believe he was going to die? He didn't expect that intrusive thought to invade his brain. Jay chuckled to himself. He was spiralling (at least 'spiralling' is what Nya called it).

Jay tried to think about happy thoughts. Like... Like... Like... Oh no, this was a bad spiral.

"You're breathing heavily," Eyre noted. Jay realized he was wheezing. He squeezed his eyes shut. Jay lost his focus. He took a deep breath. Again, he had to try again. Clear his mind.

Jay's meditation ended upon another intrusive thought. Would Nya be sad if Jay died? No! That was not what Jay should be thinking about. He wasn't going to die and Nya loved him! But she never said that she loved him.

They hadn't been dating long, it was too soon for either of them to say 'I love you'. But Jay knew he loved Nya, even if it was too early to say it. Maybe he assumed that Nya loved him because he's been in love with her from the moment they met. Nya didn't love him. That would be too much to ask from her. It was a miracle she was even dating him.

Jay struggled to inhale his next breath. He sputtered, echoing his sadness through the tunnels. Bitter tears lined his eyes. Why couldn't he take in a breath?

"Jay?" Eyre said. Jay wiped a tear from his cheek. He took a few seconds to focus on breathing. Inhale, one, two, three. Hold, one, two, three. Exhale, one, two, three.

He regained some semblance of control over his lungs.

"I can't do this," Jay's voice broke, as he choked on his tears, "I can't be alone with my thoughts."

"Try. You have to," Eyre said. Jay continued torturing himself. Because, as toxic as it was, he'd do anything for his friends. Even drive himself insane.

Jay whimpered and cried, trying to turn off his brain. This feat proved, again, to be impossible.

Jay's panic ceased suddenly when he heard Kai shouting. Kai's loud voice echoed through the caverns. Jay wiped his tears, swallowed his anxiety, and plastered a goofy smile on his face. Ever since that super awkward moment of Kai walking in on one of his panic attacks, Jay developed the ability to turn off his anxiety on a dime. But only for as long as it took to hide it from his friends.

He never wanted to drag his friends into his messy mind. He wouldn't want his worst enemy to be stuck in his mind. Not even Nadakhan. Well... maybe Nadakhan. (When brainstorming how to stop Nadakhan with Nya, he considered wishing Nadakhan had Jay's anxiety. However, to suggest such a wish would mean Nya would realize how bad his anxiety was. And at that time, Jay was actively trying to woo Nya. He did not want her to see him as weak. Since they started dating- and working through their shared trauma- he started opening up about a lot of the messed up stuff circling his brain.)

"For ninja, you are all very loud," Eyre observed as Kai's yelling got louder.

"Yeah. It makes meditation hard!" Jay shouted. Kai's yelling paused.

"Jay?!" Kai yelled back.

"Keep it down, Kai!" Jay yelled.

"Are you okay!?" Kai's voice was coming closer.

"Well, let's see. I'm in prison. I'm tired. And I'm having the worst day of my life. Yeah, I'm just fine," Jay said, sarcasm dripping out of him. 

He peered through his cell bars the best he could. Kai, Zane, and Cole were navigating through the tunnel. Jay's heart leapt. His friends were rescuing him! But his excitement left as fast as it sprung up. But Doctor Kirk did something to Zane...

Cole spotted Jay first.

"Jay!" he said, trying to rush forward. Zane grabbed Cole's shoulder and held him back. Zane shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Cole. I have orders to not allow you to make direct contact with Jay," Zane said, "You remember what Soren told us upon our arrival."

"Seriously, Zane," Kai complained, "No one's around. Drop the act."

"He's not acting, Kai," Jay said, "Doctor Kirk did something to Zane. He messed with his programing or something."

And yet again, life smothered Jay's hope.

"I have no data in my memory bank to suggest I was tampered with," Zane said, putting Kai in the cell across Jay. As if locking up his friends wasn't proof enough...

Cole went into the cell on Jay's right side. Then Zane began to pace. Their friend was their prison guard.

Great, how was Jay going to try to meditate -and have a panic attack- with his friends loitering around? It was awkward enough knowing that Eyre was listening to him.

"Are you okay, Jay? Where have you been?" Kai said.

"Where haven't I been?" Jay said, "Hiroshi's Labyrinth. And here. I guess that's not that many places."

"What's going on here? Why do they want you?" Cole asked.

"Oh, they think I'm the key to making dragons. Silly idea. Don't know where they got it," Jay said.

"From the dragon you created," Zane said matter-of-factly.

"Oh yeah," Jay chuckled. He was so hooped.

"I am glad to see you are unharmed, Jay. Although the Dragon Clan had no intentions of hurting you," Zane said, "Despite this disagreement in perspective, I still consider you to be my brothers."

"Nothing says brotherhood like being our prison guard," Jay said.

"I am merely carrying out my objective. As many fond memories I have of our brotherhood, I also have fond memories of the Dragon Clan." Zane said.

"What are you talking about?" Kai said.

"The Dragon Clan. They have done so much for us," Zane said.

"Oh... Good news! Doctor Kirk overwrote Zane's memories," Jay realized, "Which is why Zane is out there, not helping us." Doctor Kirk must be freakishly smart to have messed Zane up in such a short amount of time.

"Who's Doctor Kirk?" Cole asked.

"The brains behind the Dragon Clan. He's a nice guy despite ruining Zane's memories. But everyone here is nice... Except for Rhys Moses. He's the chief of the Dragon Clan. And he's super creepy. He only experiments on kids and somehow he doesn't think he's evil. That reminds me! I know this is a bad time, but I need you to go find a kid in Hiroshi's Labyrinth for me."

"Timmy? We found him. And, Jay, get this: he stole some of your Elemental Power when you turned him into a dragon," Cole said.

"What do you mean?" Jay said.

"He was constantly outputting Lightning; you're Lightning! It was driving P.I.X.A.L. insane trying to manage the electrical overload on the Bounty," Cole said.

"He could shoot Lightning out of his hands," Kai added.

"We thought that your power had passed on," Cole said. Jay almost forgot that he needed to pass on his power. Especially since the Dragon Clan captured more Elemental Masters. And those Masters happened to be his friends.

"Eyre," Jay said abruptly.

"Air what?" Cole said.

"Yes, Master of Lighting," Eyre said.

"Someone else is here?" Kai said.

"Eyre, these are my friends, Kai, Cole, and Zane. Zane's usually on our side. Everyone, this is Eyre, the former Master of Darkness."

"Are your friends Elemental Masters?" Eyre asked.

"We are," Zane said.

"It is dangerous for them to be here," Eyre mused.

"Eyre, I need to do that thing. Right now. I know who I choose," Jay said.

"You must clear your mind," Eyre said.

"I don't know if I have enough time," Jay said, "Just tell me the steps!"

"What's going on?" Kai said.

"Trust me, I have a plan," Jay said, "Eyre, please."

She was silent.

Although Jay could only make out Kai's silhouette in the darkness, he felt Kai gazing at him. He learned the feeling of Kai's stare. Since every time Jay as much as looked at Nya, Kai glared at him.

"It will not work properly," she said, "But, I will tell you. Once you make sure your friend is on our side."

Eyre was right. Until they fixed Zane, they couldn't trust him. He can't know about the transfer of Elemental Powers.

"Zane, you got to remember. You were made to protect those who cannot protect themselves," Cole said.

Jay loved how Cole always jumped in to help, even when he didn't know what was going on. All Jay's friends were amazing.

Zane crossed in front of Jay's cell, going towards Cole's voice.

The idea came to Jay suddenly. Leaving Jay only a few seconds to react.

Before Zane could step out of Jay's view, Jay grabbed his apple

"Zane!" Jay yelled. Zane turned. He had one chance to hit the proper spot on Zane's chest. And he had to hit the spot hard enough to jostle Zane's wiring.

A wave of doubt crept over Jay. Zane would have fixed his glitch, right? Oh, please First Spinjitzu Master, let Zane still be broken.

Jay whipped the apple at the nindroid. Zane paused as the apple bounced off his chest. A jolt ran through his body. And then nothing. Zane's eyes dimmed.

Jay lifted his arms above his head in victory.

"Jay!" Kai said, "You killed Zane!"

"What?!" Cole yelled. He couldn't see anything. That news would be disturbing.

"I didn't kill him. I rebooted him," Jay said.

"How?" Kai said.

"I once accidentally hit Zane in an indented spot on his chest during training. It jostled a switch inside his compartment that caused him to reboot. And he never got it fixed!"

Jay could still feel Kai's eyes fixated on him. But it didn't feel as intense. It felt... softer than usual. Almost like Kai was smiling at Jay. That was probably Jay's wishful thinking getting the better of him.

"We have an hour before he finishes rebooting," Jay explained, "And if we're lucky, it will reset Zane's memories back to normal. But it also could not. We'll see."

Kai and Cole were silent.

Jay sat back down on the ground. He closed his eyes, trying to ignore Kai's gaze burning into Jay.

"Ready, Eyre?" Jay said.

"I should be asking you that," Eyre said.

"What is Jay doing?" Kai said.

"Giving up his Elemental Powers," Eyre said. "It is the only way to stop the Dragon Clan."

"There has to be another way," Cole said, "There is always another way."

Eyre began to relay instructions to Jay. All the while, Kai and Cole debated whether Jay was making a mistake.

"Your talking is making it hard to have a clear mind," Jay said.

"That's rich coming from you," Cole said.

"Jay, I don't think this is a good idea. What will happen to you after you lose your power? What will Master Wu say when he finds out? Or Nya? What do you think she'll say?" Kai's words penetrated Jay more than he'd like to admit.

He could hear Master Wu's voice chastising Jay for rushing into a foolish decision.

And his worst fear was that Nya would stop liking him.

What if his Elemental Power was the small thread attaching him to the ninja team? If he wasn't a descendant of an Elemental Master, would Wu have chosen to train him to be a ninja? Would he still be a ninja without it? Maybe it was all he was worth.

"If you followed my instructions," Eyre said, "You should feel the power leaving you."

But if Jay didn't give up his power, then his friends would be in danger. Doctor Kirk will figure out that he can use any Elemental Master to turn people into dragons. Jay had to take the fall so that his friends could be safe. They didn't need him anyway.

Jay needed to do one more step: picture his successor in his brain. That was the last step. Jay tried to focus all his thoughts on a singular picture. His mind couldn't clearly see the next Master of Lightning. Anxiety muddled his mind's eye.

Jay gasped as he suddenly found it hard to breathe. Something inside of him tore away, leaving Jay's body in agony. Lightning was melded to Jay. Electricity emanated from his every fibre. To abandon such power meant ripping out every spark. From every cell.

After the initial sting of losing his power, he felt like his organs were set on fire. Lightning had sustained him from the moment he was born. And now... it was all gone. Forever. And his body didn't know how to function without it.

Jay definitely couldn't focus on who was going to inherit the Elemental Power of Lightning. Not with pain surging through his bones.

"Jay!" Kai said, "Hold in there, buddy. It's going to be okay."

Jay laughed. His giggles were the only thing keeping him from crying.

"I doubt it," Jay said. Then he lost consciousness.