Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Where are you taking me?!” Cole struggled against the grip of the ice guards. Not even his super strength was working at the moment, and even though he dug his heels into the frozen floor of the Ice Emperor’s palace, they just continued to drag him along. He’d tried elbowing one of them in the face, shattering it to pieces, but another just took its place, gripping his upper arm with bruising strength.

He wasn’t sure why he was taken away from the rest of the group or where he was going. The ice guards didn’t appear to be particularly chatty. It probably didn’t help that they were constructs rather than actual people, but he tried to get a reaction out of them anyway. It was all he could do, apparently.

“Answer me! Are you taking me to your creator?!”

They turned down a long hallway lined with ice warriors and Cole froze. There must have been at least seventy-five to a hundred, all standing at attention. Cole could probably take a couple, but without the other ninja, he’d be overwhelmed in an instant. 

At the end of the hallway was a large set of grand doors, frosted over and sparkling in the moonlight of the Never Realm. They were almost beautiful, and not for the first time, Cole felt his heart ache. An evil emperor ruling over the land aside, Zane would have loved it here. It was so beautiful and so in line with his own element. The villagers told them that he was somewhere in the palace, but Cole didn’t feel that they were any closer to finding his boyfriend than they had been back in Ninjago. They were in the dungeons and Zane wasn’t there. Had the Ice Emperor taken Zane’s powers for his own gain, like Aspheera had done to Kai? Cole’s expression hardened.

No one touched his Snowflake and got away with it. No one. He’d tear down this entire palace looking for Zane if he had to.

In front of the doors was the man who Cole recognized as the Ice Emperor’s second in command; Vex. He didn’t look pleased per se, but he didn’t look completely unhappy either. Haughty was probably the best word for it; looking at Cole like he was something particularly unpleasant that he’d stepped in.

Cole couldn’t help the way his own face twisted into a scowl. “You,” he said as the guards dragged him close enough to speak without shouting. “What do you want with me?”

Vex scoffed dismissively. “Oh please don’t flatter yourself. If I had my way, you and the rest of those ninja would spend the rest of eternity rotting in the dungeon.”

“Then why-”

“The Emperor wants to speak to you,” Vex said simply, frowning.

Cole stiffened. That…didn’t sound good. He hadn’t even met the Ice Emperor. What could he possibly have to talk about to Cole? He wasn’t Lloyd, the green ninja, or even Kai whose powers directly opposed the Ice Emperor’s control. All he’d really done since they came to the Nether Realm was find Krag up in the mountains and scare a bunch of kids with a puppet show. None of that was really worthy of singling him out among the rest of the ninja.

Unless maybe they’d gotten through to the dictator…maybe they made him rethink his actions or something…

“You will only speak when spoken to, ninja,” Vex continued. “And if you try anything, well…you’ve seen the might of the Emperor.” He gestured at the hallway of warriors behind Cole.

Cole gritted his teeth. He wasn’t the most diplomatic person on the face of the earth, but maybe he could reason with the Emperor? He was a powerful figure, to be sure, and if there was nothing Cole could do physically, he would try to use his words.

But if he’d hurt Zane…all bets were off.

Cole just nodded at Vex’s squinting gaze. Vex straightened in response and raised a hand towards one of the guards in charge of the doors. They hurried to open them.

The doors rumbled open, providing a much grander entrance than was probably warranted for Cole whose hands were chained in front of him. Vex took over for the guards that had led him here, ushering Cole into the throne room with an almost sarcastically loose grip. He acted as if Cole was absolutely no threat at all.

As Vex led Cole down the long carpet towards the throne, Cole got his first glimpse of the Ice Emperor. It was hard to see anything aside from the icy armor wrapped around his body, providing no clues as to why he’d requested Cole, but he seemed tall. He had on a samurai helmet and had a mask covering the entire lower half of his face, expression hidden. And in his hand was a spear, frozen beyond recognition. When he breathed, icy mist curled from the opening of his mask, drifting in the stale, cold air of the throne room.

Cole saw the Ice Emperor…but the image before him didn’t tell him much. All Cole could really understand was that the man in front of him radiated a kind of power Cole had never seen before. He was intimidated, but he stood his ground regardless. So this was the man that had imprisoned his lover? He at least hoped Zane went down fighting…because if it came to it, so was Cole.

“Leave us,” the Emperor said, his voice deep and raspy. 

Vex stood straighter “But your majesty, what if the ninja tries to-”

The Ice Emperor cut him off. “I said…leave us.” His tone left no room for debate.

Vex grumbled but finally let go of Cole. He bowed deeply and turned on his heel, walking back up the carpet to the double doors. Cole didn’t watch him go. His gaze never left the Ice Emperor’s face. While Vex may see someone worth respecting, Cole only saw a despotic, evil man who deserved everything that was coming to him. He was powerful, yes, but power didn’t mean he wasn’t the scum of the earth; the very type of person Cole had sworn his mother he would stand up to. 

“Where is Zane?!” Cole hissed out once he heard the double doors close behind him. “What did you do to him?!”

The Ice Emperor cocked his head to the side, considering Cole from his high throne. “I do not know of whom you speak, but if you’ll allow me…” He started to get up, breaking the ice surrounding his arms on the throne and shattering it into pieces. Cole took a quick breath in. The only person he’d ever seen capable of that kind of strength over solid ice was Zane.

Yeah...this guy definitely knew who Zane was. He’d probably drained Zane and the ice element was stored in the spear…

The Emperor started walking down his carpeted stairs, towards Cole. Cole bristled at his approach, but he didn’t back down. As the ruler got closer, the more the chill set in around Cole. His gi could only keep out so much, and this guy absolutely radiated the elemental power of ice.

When he got to the bottom step, standing in front of Cole, the Emperor looked down at him. It wasn’t the same contempt Vex had held for him, but almost an amused curiosity.

Before Cole could stop him, the Emperor had reached out his free hand to grab Cole’s chin. Cole tried to squirm away, but the Emperor’s hold on him was firm and unwavering. He had a kind of physical strength that dwarfed even Cole's. He turned Cole’s face this way and that, considering him.

“Yes…” The Emperor said. “Yes, you will do just fine.”

Cole’s eyebrows furrowed and he bit back the instinct to spit into the Emperor’s piercing white eyes. “For what…?” He asked with barely disguised venom. He was almost afraid to ask. Was the Emperor going to drain his power too? Was Zane just the first in a longer plan like they’d encountered with Chen? What was this guy’s deal?

The Emperor spoke again, but refused to let go of Cole’s face. “Earth ninja, I have ruled over these lands for almost sixty years now…but my time here has grown lonely. I have decided I require someone to rule by my side.”

Cole blinked, his jaw dropping as his eyes widened. “W-what?”

The Ice Emperor released his face and folded his hands behind his back. “I am honoring you by asking you to become my consort.”

Cole couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You want me to…to marry you?!”

“That is the idea, yes.” The Emperor’s eyes crinkled around the corners as if he was genuinely smiling. “You are powerful enough to stand next to me, to keep the people of this realm in check.” He reached out again, this time caressing Cole’s cheek with the back of his hand. Cole flinched away, but the Emperor didn’t seem bothered. “And you are visually appealing…”

Cole’s stomach riled. “Fuck you,” he spat out. This guy had done who knows what to Zane, the man he actually loved,…and now he wanted to marry Cole?! Weirdo!

The Emperor only chuckled, as if he found Cole’s outrage delightful. “See? That is what I mean, you have that passion in you. Such power…” The Emperor turned, looking out one of the windows in the throne room. “I believe you will find that I can be far more than an adequate lover, and that under my protection you will have everything you could ever need. I would treat you like the royalty you would become.”

Cole felt his hackles rise. “Never. Where is Zane?!” He asked again. Something in his gut told him that this fucker knew exactly what had happened to Zane, but he just wasn’t telling Cole. The Emperor was toying with him...

The Emperor turned to him curiously. “You are flustered when you say his name…is this man you are so desperate to find your previous lover? Do I have competition for your affection? Because I assure you, I can take care of that.”

“Zane is three times the man you’ll ever be.” Cole promised, calculating in his head how best to strangle the man in front of him with the chains around his wrists.

“Is that so…?” The Emperor was calm, almost scarily so. “Then shall we compare?”

He reached up to the lower half of his face and undid the latches holding the mask in place. When he slid it off of his face, Cole immediately felt his blood freeze. And it had nothing to do with the below zero temperatures in the throne room.

“Z-Zane-?” was all Cole managed to get out before the Emperor’s chilly lips were on his own. Cole tried to fight it, truly, but he knew those lips more than anyone else. He had missed those lips more than anyone else. His heart yearned for them.

Cole, maybe foolishly, allowed himself to sink into the kiss, allowing the Emperor…no, allowing Zane to take the lead. It was far from the usual sweet kisses that Zane normally showered him with. No, this, like the Emperor himself, was commanding and powerful, and it made Cole a little weak in the knees. Zane was kissing him with such ferocity, such insistence, that Cole thought his lips were going to be bruised by the end. 

When Zane leant back from the kiss, his eyes still white and harsh, Cole was a little dazed where he stood. Zane smirked. “And is it better than what this Zane could give to you?”

Cole was breathing too heavily to answer. Part of what they’d discovered when they’d started dating, Zane didn’t need to breathe, so things like kissing went on only as long as Cole could handle them. He’d gotten pretty good at his stamina but the Ice Emperor was not nearly as forgiving about it as Zane was. “I-” he started, before clearing his throat.

“Join me…” Zane whispered in his ear.

Fuck, how he missed his boyfriend. And now that he knew the Ice Emperor was Zane it was…also pretty hot if he was being completely honest. Zane was always careful, always giving in their relationship and never taking in return. He always handled Cole gingerly and with the utmost care, which was one of the things Cole loved about him, but this level of authority, this degree of control and dominance…it was doing something to Cole that made him want to say yes to the Emperor's request.

But the larger elephant in the room was how Zane got this way. The Zane he loved wouldn’t imprison people in ice (or otherwise harm them). The Zane he loved wouldn’t terrorize an entire realm for no reason other than power. The Zane he loved was decidedly not the Ice Emperor.

He reached out his hands, gently cupping Zane’s face in his palms. “I don’t know what happened, but we’re going to save you…okay? I don’t know how but I’m going to save you.”

The Emperor’s optics hardened. “Save me? There is nothing to save… So, join me or you can spend the rest of your days in the dungeon with the other ninja. These are your only options.”

Cole leant forward, not caring about how the temperature dropped the closer he got, and gently kissed his boyfriend. The Emperor seemed surprised, but let it happen.

When Cole stopped stalling for time and pulled back from the kiss, he whispered, “I’m sorry, but I choose option number three.” He proceeded to judo flip the Emperor over his shoulder. His boyfriend hit the ground, hard, and Cole saw his optics flicker for a moment as his systems adjusted to the crash.

But then Cole was running for one of the windows, intending to break through one of them. He couldn’t go out the way he came in, but he had to let everyone else know what had happened. He had to save Zane! His boyfriend needed him! He-

He didn’t make it very far. Ice immediately encased his legs, halting his desperate sprint for freedom. Behind him, the Emperor laughed. “A pity…I had hoped you wouldn’t run away like a coward.”

“Zane you have to remember! Your name is Zane Julien! You’re my boyfriend and the most wonderful man I know!” Cole struggled against the ice. “This isn’t you!”

“I do not know your pathetic Zane…but if he was anything like your simpering friends when he ended up in this realm, then he was destroyed a long time ago.” The Emperor said, voice cold like the very ice he controlled.

“Zane! You’re stronger than this! Please! Come back to me!” Something like panic crawled up Cole’s throat. He just got his boyfriend back, he couldn’t lose him again! Not to this!

There were steps from behind Cole, coming closer. “If you won’t rule by my side…you’ll make a lovely addition to my throne room.”

And that was the last thing Cole heard before his world went dark…