#i really like the way i did the hair i might reuse it for lloyd

[sea-jello]

it me fr

alternately:

[sibillascribbles08]

Cole.

Getting back to this. 

Might as well drop some info about what the ninja are even doing in this AU while I’m at it, ey? I have a sketch of what Cole looks like too but I’m probably gonna wait till I do a better one of Jay and Kai before posting them all

Cole inhaled the outside air before letting out a sigh. The air at the top of Borg Tower was cooler, but the overhead sun was beating down on his head and shoulders. He pulled his long hair off his neck, debating again that he should probably get it cut, but he couldn’t seem to get himself to.

God, was it only noon? It felt like an entire day after taking out an entire block worth of ruined buildings. None of the structures could be reused, so Cole did what he did best.

Tear things apart.

He sighed again.

“Yeesh, did you really climb all the way up here?”

Cole turned to see Kai standing behind him. Even now he had trouble processing that was his friend standing in front of him. Twenty years older, a few more scars on his face, and god what was with that pony tail? And he would always judge Cole’s hair.

“It helps me burn energy.” Cole crossed his arms.

“Yeah cause you weren’t doing enough of that earlier.” Kai snorted. “Tell me the real reason.”

“I just wanted some space to myself. No one even comes near this building, much less climbs it.” He stared at his friend for a moment. It didn’t seem like he’d broken a sweat. “How did you get up here?”

“The elevator still works, did you know?” He had that smug grin on his face as he walked over. “Though getting through the first floor was still sucky.”

Cole snorted. “You’re telling me. I don’t know why Toby never let us just tear all this down.”

“He has a bit of a point.” Kai kept his gaze on the city below. “Better to remember those who suffered then try to erase it.”

“But we could have just set up something new. Not left this husk of a building standing here taunting us.” Cole growled, clenching his fists. Every time he looked at this damn spire it just brought up one memory or another. Walls of nindroids. One failed battle after another. And Zane…

“Cole…” Kai was looking at him now. “Trust me, I know how you feel. I know it hurts, but it’s not like it doesn’t hurt for the right reasons.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means we failed.” Kai narrowed his eyes. “We failed. We weren’t strong enough. That’s just the facts, no matter how much it hurts.” His gaze dropped. “If we never accept that we can’t move forward.”

Cole raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been really listening to your sister, huh?”

“Is she wrong?” Kai frowned. “Maybe you could learn a thing or two if you talked to her.”

“You know why I’d rather not.” Cole turned away. “My stupid fight with Jay just lent to our defeat.”

“Why you don’t talk to him either huh?”

“Jay doesn’t talk to anyone.” Cole kicked at a loose tile. “I know that you’ve noticed.”

“Yeah,” Kai sighed. “Wish I could help him out, but he keeps finding reasons to duck out.”

Cole shook his head. He couldn’t blame Jay. The guy probably had the same amount of guilt that Cole did over their dumb spat. It was so useless from the start. Cole didn’t even like Nya, he just fought with Jay to get back at him. And by this point in their lives Nya moved on. A few months ago she started dating Skylor, not long after the red-head opened her noodle shop.

“You ever wonder why it even happened?” Kai mumbled.

Cole looked at him. “Why what happened?”

“That we lost. I mean, we went through all that prophecy crap. About protecting the green ninja, about Lloyd being the green ninja, about facing the overlord. And then not even a year later he comes back, and he beats us.” He crossed his arms as if he was cold. “Makes you wonder why, yeah? Like… why did we even bother with all that if it was useless in the long run.”

“Yeah, I’ve wondered.” Cole said. “Just bites harder knowing that in a bunch of other universes we won the second go round too… but not in this one.”

“Ugh,” Kai groaned and tilted his head back. “No, this is too depressing. Come on, let’s get off this empty building and go hang out somewhere. It’s cold up here anyway.”

Cole smirked at him. “Cold? Says the ninja of fire.”

“Oh shut up, I don’t know how you aren’t with your sleeveless flannel and two open buttons.” Kai jabbed him on the chest, a dusting of pink forming on his cheeks. “Is that even necessary?”

“Jealous?” Cole leaned toward him.

Kai glared and stomped off toward the door. “You wish! Now come on. Let’s go grab a snack or something.”

He wouldn’t object to that. It was about time he stop staring into space anyway. He shrugged his shoulders and followed after, though he knew walking back out the lobby wouldn’t be any easier.

Though maybe between him and Kai they could produce enough chatter to distract him.