Befriending the Criminal

Life Hacks

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."