Cold sweat trickled down my back. I ignored the stinging cold that traveled down my neck, keeping my senses focused. My eyes concentrated on the punching bag, visualizing the vulnerable targets as if it was an opponent. I clenched my fists and bounced on my toes, getting ready for anything that it would throw at me. Well I mean, it was a punching bag; it couldn't 'do' anything to me but you get the point. My breath turned to mist as I exhaled.

I quickly advanced forward, first doing a double roundhouse then quickly after, a jab cross. I followed through and executed a jumping back kick, then lifted my feet off the ground to perform a jumping, spinning hook kick. I landed lightly on my feet, panting heavily from the action.

"Kai!" Nya slid the doors open with a blanket in her hand. A loose icicle dropped and shattered to the floor, making her wince. "come inside already! You've been training for two hours over!"

I looked at her blankly. I have? We did train for an hour and forty-five earlier, and I said I'd stay outside for a little while. I guess I lost track of time.

"Oh," I said nonchalantly. "I will."

Nya scoffed as she put her hands on her hips. "You said that an hour ago."

I scratched the back of my neck, feeling the sweat droplets against my fingertips. "I guess I just wanna get in better shape, so we can find Cole and stop the people that kidnapped him."

Nya smiled weakly and slid the doors shut behind her, waking over to me. She wrapped the blanket around my steaming body, rubbing my back.

She sighed, the cold air making her breath turn to ice. "I know you miss him. We all do," she paused. "and... I'm sorry for leaving him behind."

I gave her a half grin and leaned in her shoulder a bit. I knew she was genuinely sorry. "It's not your fault. He wanted us to escape and there was no changing his mind," I played with the snow, moving my toes to dig little holes. "I just don't wanna loose him."

Nya took my hand and squeezed it. "We're not gonna loose him. I promised you we'd find him."

Not wanting to think about it anymore, I nodded slightly as she pulled me towards the door. "Let's just go inside. Zane made hot chocolate."

I gave her a smile that was maybe half happy and half fake. I know she hated seeing me this way, but I couldn't help but to feel sad every time I thought about Cole. It's only been a twelve hours since the accident, and I hadn't slept well. I'd woken up multiple times in the middle of the night, thinking he was still next to me when he really wasn't. Sometimes, I'd doze off to sleep for a couple seconds, enough time for a short nightmare to trickle in and make me wake up again.

Conversations and noise instantly hit my ears when Nya slid the doors open. Inside was toasty and warm, a hint of sweet, milky hot chocolate in the air. My goosebumps settled, and the cold, prickly, air that was once stuck to my skin melted away.

The elemental masters were all gathered around the living room, waiting for the eight o'clock news. Apparently they had spent the night. I didn't notice since I went to bed early, but Sensei said earlier this morning that they could stay as long as they needed if we were going to fight this together. I had a feeling we'd have their company for a long time.

"Imma go take a shower. I feel so gross." I said to Nya. She gave me a thumbs up.

"I'll tell Zane to get you a cup."

"Thanks."

The noise became less as I walked towards the bedrooms. Everyone seemed to be in the living room watching TV, or eating breakfast. I hadn't eaten yet; I was too busy training all morning.

I started to undo my belt, wrapping it neatly while turning the corner and opening my bedroom door. I lazily threw it on top of my dresser, and grabbed a new gi from my drawers.

Whenever I trained or went on missions, I reminded myself to take off the engagement ring Cole had given me. It wouldn't fit underneath my glove anyways, so I kept it on top of our dresser where it was safe. It shined an array of colors when it hit the light, and it made me glance over behind me.

Cole's Linkin Park sweatshirt hung from our bedpost, and I hesitantly took it in my hands.

His scent lingered on the fabric. I still didn't know how to feel about this. All I knew was he wasn't here, and we needed to get him back. I felt my eyes start to well with tears, but blinked them away and dug my face into his jacket.

"I miss you Cole, I really do," my voice began to break. "I don't know what to do. I feel so lost."

Taking the sweatshirt off my face, I sat on the side on the bed where he usually slept, near the door. I felt really stupid, like I was talking to a ghost or something. There was a possibility he was alive, but knowing he wasn't near me gave me anxiety, especially when he was in grasp of the enemy.

I rubbed my face from frustration and tiredness, leaving the sweatshirt on the bed and heading for the bathroom. I took off my training gi, looking at my shoulder injury. It was healing nicely, and it didn't hurt as much to rotate it.

After taking a quick shower, I changed into a new uniform and went outside. Nya greeted me with my hot chocolate, and we sat down together on the couch. I looked around, realizing Jay and Zane weren't here.

"Where's Zap Trap and Zane."

"Don't call him that."

"Whatever." I snickered.

"They're in the underground garage. Not really sure why, but they're testing something."

I nodded looking around and spacing out.

The secret door to the basement made a hissing sound as Jay and Zane walked out. Though they looked as if something exploded in their faces, Jay had a wide smile plastered on his face, and Zane seemed to be in a good mood. They jogged to us, calling out everyone's name to get our attention.

I could imagine Cole telling Jay to shut up, and it made me smile just the slightest.

"Guys guys guys! Zane and I studied that weird serum stuff and we found some really wacky things!" Jay waved his hands in the air dramatically.

Zane smiled. "Indeed," his eyes went a darker shade of blue as he projected a 3D digital model of the serum in a test tube. "harmful components were put in the mix, one of them highly likely to drive one insane. Substances that are usually combined in stimulants and hallucinogens can be extracted in small portions when dividing the liquids in this serum-

"But," Jay interrupted. "don't worry! Since Sensei cured us with his magical tea we're not gonna go insane and-"

"The effects are only serious when one injects themselves with it for a long period of time. According to my research, it would take approximately a month and two days for one to go crazy." Zane quickly said, stopping Jay's train of thought.

I felt uncomfortable with the fact that I technically took drugs. I didn't want to imagine what they must be giving to Cole.

Nya rested her elbow on my shoulder, leaning in. "That sounds... delightful. But remember the information Kai took pictures of? We know they're trying to stall our powers but those citizens that were captured seemed to have powers of their own."

Jay walked around the table with his hands behind his back, acting serious as if he were a professor. "Exactly. So I'm guessing the serum is making them have powers, and then after a while stalling them."

Everyone was silent. We all looked at each other confused.

"Wait I don't get it." I said, breaking the lack of conversation.

Neuro scratched his head. "Yeah. Why would they want to give them powers, then take them away?"

Jay's eyebrows raised. "Oh, you have a point," he crossed this arms. "I guess that doesn't make sense."

"Then where are these powers coming from?" Lloyd asked. We didn't know how to answer that. How does it hold true that there were more elemental masters other than us?

"My conclusion based on this information is that they are trying to dwindle the strength of one's power, so that they do not become stronger," Zane's eyes turned back to normal. "obviously there is no evidence on where these powers are coming from, or where their point of origin is, however, we can assume they do not want the citizens to rebel against them. It is quite obvious they want to take over Ninjago, and it would work well in their favor if there were not as many obstacles in their way."

Skylor put her elbows on her knees, eyebrows knitted in confusion. "But of these powers must have started acting up before the bad guys knew about them to create this serum. How did we not realize before?"

Everyone looked at each other, wondering why. She had a good point, which brought me to yesterday. How was Cole able to strike the ground so hard it affected the ceiling? If he wasn't cured yet, wouldn't his elemental power be disabled?

I racked my brain to think of a possible answer, but it didn't seem like the most pressing problem we had at the moment.

"Uh, we just didn't know?" Jay suggested.

I facepalmed. "Whatever, doesn't matter. We just need to figure out where their new headquarters is and get Cole back. We can deal with these random elemental outbreaks after we take them down."

The TV shined a new light when the news went on air. We all turned our heads and redirected our attention.

A news reporter was sitting at a desk, explaining the current events. "Since yesterday, the terrorists' headquarters had collapsed, and Ninjago was able to sleep peacefully for a night. However, the south side of Ninjago City was recently attacked by a group of three, where they lit stores on fire and vandalized buildings. Gale Gossip is there live right now, and would like to report in more detail about this situation."

"Uh, we should probably check that out." Lloyd stood up and readjusted his belt.

We all nodded as the sound of the news drowned out in the background.

Nya grabbed her trident in the corner of the room. "Let's split up. Half of us investigate the attack, and the other half go search for their new resting spot," she slid her weapon on her back. "then we can kill two birds with one stone."

"Good idea," Jay walked over to Nya and rested his elbow on her. "how are you so smart?"

Nya rolled her eyes and gave a playful smile to her husband.

"Then it's settled. I'll lead Zane, Nya, Neuro, Paleman and Shade to investigate," Lloyd turned to me. "you wanna lead a search party for Cole and their headquarters?"

I nodded.

"Ok guys. Good luck, and stay safe."

My group had split up throughout Ninjago. I opted to search through a dark forest near Ninjago City, East from the South side. If they were able to terrorize the city a day after, they couldn't have gone far.

I had heard rumors about how this forest was a place people committed suicide in, and I hoped I wouldn't find a skeleton or something. Going in this creepy forest alone was scary enough.

It's vibe was different from the forest we had a snowball fight in. Though they looked the same on the outside, this forest's sky was covered by bony, thick, black trees. During the winter, it's leaves would fall and turn an ugly brown, and despite the fact it's branches were bare, the sun's rays never seemed to pierce through its hide.

I shivered from the cold once I stepped inside. The scent of rotting trees and growing mildew made my nose cringe in disgust, but I willed on anyways, hoping to find Cole. Dead, frozen leaves crunched underfoot, and I heard nothing other than my sharp breath, and my advancing footsteps.

My eyes darted around, trying to spot any life of some sort, but nothing seemed to be alive except for me and the trees. The lack of movement and sounds made me believe there was something or someone watching, but I was oblivious to it.

Twenty minuets passed and I still hadn't found anything. The lighting only seemed to get darker and darker as I traveled deeper, but I started to loose hope.

My microphone static sounded in my ear, making me jump. I pressed the button and heard Jay on the other side.

"Any luck?"

I sighed. "Nope. You?"

"Not one bit," he said. "no one else found anything either. I'm starting to think they're not even in Ninjago."

I looked behind me to make sure I wasn't being watched. "How's that possible though? They retreated yesterday, then attacked early this morning. They have to be nearby."

Jay was silent for a while. "Yeah I dunno man. Let's just keep looking and see what happens."

"K'."

The static stopped. I stood there for a minute, thinking where they could be, until rustling took me away from my thoughts. I whipped around, sheathing my sword.

"Who's there?"

I could hear my heart beating above the shuffling leaves. My breath had become short as my eyes tried to sense movement in the dim light. "Show yourself!"

The rustling stopped. I produced fire in the palm of my hand, aiding me to see better.

Something knocked me from behind, releasing all the air from my stomach and leaving me breathless. It disarmed me and held a strong grip to my neck. Though it was hard to see clearly, I could almost make his facial features, and it felt as if an anvil dropped on my stomach.

"Cole?" I whispered.

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