8 months ago

Sirens wailed in the distance, causing Kai to jump away from the door and sprint further into the store, eyes searching for his sister and Cole. Another door nearby opened and his two partners in crime came out, the teenage boy holding a gun in hand and his sister with a bag of loot over her shoulder. Kai could see the salesman shivering in fear on the other side of the counter.

Kai hustled them out of the store, moving swiftly. "Guys, cops are on their way. We have to move!"

The three of them went out the back and saw the van all the way on the other end of the alley way.

Nya shot a death glare to her brother and hissed through tight teeth. "Why would you park the van all the way there, Kai?"

"I panicked to search for a good place to park, okay! It's hard to get out of this tight of an -"

"Kai, shut up." The spiky haired teen rolled his eyes at his comrade and took some of the bags off Nya's hands. He watched as Cole raised his gun to the end of the alley with the cops already huddled close with their guns raised. Before any of them could move, a man dressed much more fancier than the other cops stepped forward and clasped his hands behind his back, a smug grin well on his face.

"The Smith siblings… not much of a surprise if I must say…" his eyes drifted to Cole. "Cole Brookstone. Wonderful. The entire gang is here."

Cole's hand tightened on the handle, hesitating to pull the trigger.

Garmadon stepped closer, looking very calm.

"You put down the gun, boy, and I'll have my boys put theirs down as well."

Kai's gaze looked back and forth from Garmadon to Cole. The dark haired teenager kept his gun at eye level, aiming for Garmadon's chest. In one swift motion, Kai reached out and tore the gun out of Cole's hands. He shot at Garmadon's foot, then at Cole's, before dropping it and running towards the van with his sister.

Cole cried out in pain and dropped on his other knee, holding his throbbing leg in pain. In front of him, Garmadon stumbled backwards, two of the cops catching him and holding him upright.

His eyes were fixated on the two siblings who were running away. His eyes drifted to Cole and he scoffed. "Rookies." He tore his sleeve off his uniform and wrapped it tightly around his bleeding foot, then limped back to the car. "Bring him in. At least we caught one of them."

Being stuck in a prison cell suddenly became one of the first places on his list that Cole wouldn't care to be trapped in.

He couldn't believe what happened.

Kai shot him.

He shot him in the foot.

And then, he and Nya just ran, leaving Cole behind for the cops to deal with. But rather than being tough enough to fight back, Cole had fell to the ground, painful memories coming back to him when he felt the small metal object embed itself in Cole's foot.

Snapping back to reality, he gently stroked a hand over his right arm. He looked up when he noticed a shadow looming into his cell.

"How's your foot?"

Looking down, Cole wiggled it in front of him and shrugged. "I've had worse."

Garmadon chuckled softly, nodding as his eyes fell upon Cole's right arm - or rather, Cole's robotic right arm.

"So, how long am I gonna be here?" Cole finally asked.

"Depends. You weren't associated with their first several crimes which means you might get it a little easier." Garmadon stepped closer to the glass separating him from Cole. "It's like them to turn on anyone and use them as a shield." Cole clenched his fist, still bitter about what happened in the alley. "You aren't the first, you know."

"So then, do I get like, some kind of free pass?"

The man burst into laughter and sighed. "Nice try, Cole, but no." Cole bit back tears. Garmadon turned around to leave, but quickly added, "Oh, and if you need anything, just press the button."

Present Day - middle of fall.

"Awe, no!" Jay cried, dropping his controller on the ground. He ran up to the projected hologram and threatened to throw a fist at it, crushed that he had failed to complete the final boss level. "I worked so hard!" He frowned and picked the controller back up, quitting out of the game.

Lloyd came by behind him and laughed, tossing his friend a cookie.

Right as Jay caught it, he stuffed it in his mouth, choking back fake tears. "Mm, this good, Lloyd. Where'd you get em?" He called to the other.

"My Mom baked them. She's a pro at baking, not gonna lie." He walked backwards to Jay and looked over the hologram at the game he was playing. "You know, I beat that game weeks ago."

"Really?! How?! Please, you gotta tell me!"

"Game hacks. Easy."

Jay gasped dramatically. "Did you really just admit to cheating?"

"Hey, it isn't cheating - think of it more like a shortcut," he said with a smirk. Jay pursed his lips and shook his head at Lloyd in disappointment.

"Have you hacked your way through other things, Lloyd?" He scoffed and took another bite off the cookie.

The other snorted and turned for the kitchen. "Mail's probably here," he said to Jay.

Trudging to the door, Jay opened it and found Lloyd was right. He picked up the mail and brought it inside, eager to have another cookie.

"What's the mail look like today, hey, Jay?"

The dark haired teenager threw a pile of papers onto the table and began to fumble through. He picked up one of the letters and lifted it in front of him, squinting to read the handwriting.

It wasn't sloppy, but it wasn't very legible either. The cursive that this man or woman was trying to write completely failed, and all Jay could make out were the words: Lloyd Garmadon.

He gave up trying to read it and tossed it to the side, going through the rest of the pile. He started to sort out the letters - one pile for him, one for Lloyd, and the other miscellaneous. Suddenly, he came across an article with the picture of a boy just around his age on it. Curious, he snatched it from the pile and put it to side in a way he could remember to come back to it later.

When he finished going through everything, he picked up the article and leaned back in his chair, hooking his feet around the table legs.

"After 8 months in prison," Jay started to read, "Chief Garmadon has decided to release 18 - year old, Cole Brookstone."

Without realizing it, Jay had unhooked his feet from the table legs and fell backwards in his chair, holding the article high above his head.

"Jay!? You alright? What happened?!" Lloyd's voice came from the door frame, the concern in his voice easy to pick out.

"All… good… Lloyd!" Jay coughed, pulling himself off the ground.

The blonde teenager stalked towards the table, picking up the pile of letters with his name on them. "These are all mine?" He asked Jay.

"Yep!" Jay slammed his hand down on the table and took in a deep breath, grateful that nothing was hurt - except his pride - after the fall.

Lloyd caught notice of the paper in Jay's hand and pointed to it with one brow raised. "What's that?"

Jay tilted his head, his eyes following Lloyd's finger. "Oh! This?" He smoothed the partially crumpled up paper on the table and slid it to Lloyd. "Check it out yourself."

Lloyd's eyes skimmed over the article and he picked it up, holding it closer to his face. "Wasn't Cole Brookstone part of that little gang with Kai and his sister Nya?"

Jay made a 'I dunno' face and shrugged.

"Keep up with the world, Jay. It's a part of what we do anyways." He directed his attention back to the article. "If they're letting him go… well, I mean, he probably wouldn't be let go that easily. Don't you think?"

"Why don't you just ask your Dad? He is the Chief, isn't he?"

"Good point."

Lloyd took the paper with him to the living room as he grabbed his phone from the end table and began to dial his father.

Two calls went by and the machine took him straight to voicemail. With a heavy sigh, Lloyd tried once more. He knew how busy his father could be with his job, but he also knew that his father promised him that he'd somehow find a way to make time for him.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Jay took the letter whose address was written in that funky cursive font and tore the envelope open. Carefully, so that he wouldn't catch a paper cut like last time, he slid the letter out of the envelope and opened it from its crease through the middle.

The first thing he saw was the logo of the Ninjago Police Department and a shiver instantly ran down his back. The next thing he noticed was the name: Chief Garmadon.

"Awe fudge." Jay muttered under his breath, folding the paper back in half. After a few seconds, he opened it once more and started to read.

Back in the living room, Lloyd dialed the number one last time, getting tired of trying to reach him.

At last, his father picked up and he heard a, "Lloyd? Is something the matter?"

"Dad! I tried to reach you at least six times!"

"I was busy, Lloyd. Now answer my question. Is something the matter?"

Lloyd huffed. "I'm fine, Dad."

"Then what might the call be for?"

"Dad… I was wondering. Jay found this article in the mail, and it says that you're releasing Cole Brookstone - that guy who was part of Kai's activities. You know, the one you've been trying to catch for years."

"Yes, what about him?"

"So you're just letting him go? Not even after a year?"

"Is there something wrong about that?"

"Kai and his sister caused many problems, if you can remember that. And Cole was a part of his group."

"Yes, Son, I understand that, but you know that Kai and Nya haven't been spotted for months. And we've come to the conclusion that they've stopped all their bad intentions and hide out somewhere in the city. Cole Brookstone was a bit of a rookie, it's only fair."

Lloyd grumbled. "Fine. Dad."

"Before you hang up, I take it you didn't read the letter I sent you?"

"What letter?" Just then, Lloyd's back hunched at the shrill sound of Jay's voice.

"Sounds like Jay's already found it. Tell your mother I'll be home a little late. Love you."

And he hung up.

Setting his phone down on the table, Lloyd turned to Jay, a hand over his ear. "Geez, Jay, you don't have to shout so loud - I'm not that far away."

Jay's face flushed and he handed Lloyd the paper. "Sorry, I um - here."

Lloyd tore the letter from Jay's hands and read carefully. His expression drew darker as he came closer to the end of the message his father sent him. His arm fell and he stared directly at Jay, not quite sure what he was supposed to be thinking right now, because at the moment, he felt a great mix of emotions.

Tomorrow, the two of them were to meet his father at the station, ready to meet their new best friend.

So yeah, another new story! I want to say: I am so sorry for not having updated Face the Music regularly and for starting quite a few new stories. I also want to add, while I do love the concept for Be Bold, Cole, I don't feel I can continue it right now. So that story is probably going to get trashed, and possibly revived later in the year or next year. Sorry guys. :/

Anyways, I'm really excited for this one! As I've been planning it in my head all week, especially when listening to Taylor Swift's ... Ready for It! (It's actually where inspiration for this AU sparked). I drew fanart of Jay and Cole from this AU on my tumblr and already have Nya and Kai's sketches planned out :))

One more quick thing, I am super excited to say: MOANA'S ANNIVERSARY IS THIS THANKSGIVING DAY. THIS THANKSGIVING. I'm telling you now, I'm probably going to end up sneaking my entire Moana speech in a chapter or just put it all in my bio. I've gotta write a speech, you just know it - it'll be Thanksgiving and I am thankful for Moana. Very thankful. Extremely thankful. Quoting my friend, "It's a national holiday" for the two of us :) you betcha I'll be wearing my Moana shirt, bringing Pua and my Moana POP(s) around, and definitely rewatching the movie. Oh and the Moana Maori soundtrack came out yesterday and it beautiful, I kid you not.

Hope you all enjoyed this first chapter and like the idea!