So, if you didn't know, I basically write all of my chapters on the fly. So most of the time I have a vague idea of what I want to be accomplished in the chapter and that's about it. Writing this chapter was fun because what I wanted to be accomplished was accomplished, but the journey getting there was surprising even for me.

Chapter Ten: Prison Break

"Come on, come on. Please, wake up…"

The familiar voice floated on a light breeze, reaching his ears. Opening his eyes slowly, Kai tried to get a good grip on where he was before he did anything else. Torchlight danced around him, casting long, dark shadows all around. He tried to move, get his sword from his back, but found that he could not. Both hands were bound behind him and the familiar weight of his sword seemed to be gone. There was no doubt in his mind that he was in Ouroboros, exactly where he had wanted to end up. Just not like this. So then where was… "Lloyd?" he shouted, his voice sounding slightly raspy.

Silence stretched on for a little while, before the voice spoke again. "Kai! You're awake!" The Ninja of Fire turned his attention off to the right, his light brown eyes resting on a cage that he had not previously seen. Lloyd was gripping the bars of his prison tightly, worry evident on his face. "What happened? When Skales brought you back I just…I thought you were dead."

"Yeah, right," Kai smiled to himself. "It would take a lot more than a few punches to kill me, Pipsqueak." He watched as the green ninja answered with a small smile of his own. Well, he had found Lloyd just like he had wanted to. Now all he had to do was find a way to escape and take him back to his brothers. Sensei was probably worried sick and he still wanted to talk with Laurie. "Lloyd, where's your sister?" the red ninja asked, his tone urgent.

Lloyd's face fell indefinitely, his emerald eyes glancing over to the left as he let out a small sigh. "She's in here with me," he replied, feeling a sense of guilt overwhelm him once more. This was all his fault. Everything that had happened tonight was his fault. "Laurie won't wake up. I've probably been trying for an hour or so to get her to come to, but it just doesn't work." His gaze fell upon his gloved hands and he tightened his grip on the bars. He had even tried to shock her awake, but nothing had happened. "You'll figure something out, right? Kai, you saved me before, you'll be able to do it again, won't you?"

Everything had felt so different before. The Ninja of Fire knew what the young boy was referring to. When the Fire Temple had been engulfed in lava, the volcano it was built into erupting. Lloyd stepped away from the bars of his prison and sat on the floor, his head bowed. Kai could see Laurie now, slumped against the bars on the other side of the cage. His jaw tingled with pain at the sight of her. "I'll get us out of this, Lloyd. You don't have to worry about it," he answered, his voice dripping with determination. These snakes had made a big mistake trying to target the green ninja yet again. This time they would learn that it was better to just give up. He would make sure of it.

"Thanks, Kai," Lloyd whispered to himself, feeling a small sense of hope rekindle within him. Shifting around in his cage, the young boy knelt down beside his sister, taking one of her hands in his own. "Please, wake up, Laurie," he breathed, waiting to see if she stirred. Her chest rose and fell softly, almost mocking the green ninja. "Kai said he'll figure something out and he might need our help to do it." The brief chill of a night breeze overwhelmed Lloyd and he shivered, watching as Laurie crinkled her nose. "Sis?" The word hung in the air for a moment, but seemed to fall flat when still nothing happened.

There was a rattling noise Lloyd glanced over his shoulder, seeing the unmistakable blue scales of a certain Hypnobrai. "Leave the poor girl to rest," Skales chuckled. "She deserves it."

He dropped Laurie's hand and felt his fingers clench tight into fists. "What did you do to her?" Lloyd accused, keeping his anger reserved. His teeth were almost shaking as he clenched them together. Tears were threatening to fall from his eyes. The green ninja just continued to remind himself that all of this was happening because he was reckless; because he was tired of people telling him what he could and could not do. "What did you do to her?" he asked more forcefully. The sensation of guilt was almost unbearable now.

"I've told her to sleep," Skales hissed, narrowing his eyes and watching as the young boy avoided his gaze. "She obeys me, Lloyd, but you knew that." The Hypnobrai gave a small laugh as he watched the young Garmadon seemingly tense up. Pythor had to have talked with the boy already; he was always one for gloating and a good monologue. "You know this was all part of a plan, don't you?" Lloyd turned his body completely away from the serpent, eliciting a large smirk. "You short circuited your ninja friend and then everything seemed to just fall into place. You're very predictable, Lloyd."

All part of a plan? Kai pulled against his restraints, trying to loosen them in any way possible. Skales was not a criminal mastermind by any means, but he did not like the Hypnobrai being so close to Ninjago's destined savior. "Leave him alone, Skales," the Ninja of Fire growled, managing to catch the serpent's attention. Instead of advancing on him, like Kai had originally anticipated, Skales stood exactly where he was. A different pair of hands lifted Kai off of the ground, clutching his gi tightly. He felt his eyes widen indefinitely. "P-Pythor?" The violet Serpent grinned maliciously at the ninja's utter confusion. "You…you're-"

"Dead," Pythor sighed, finishing Kai's sentence for him. "I'm very aware actually. That's what everyone keeps telling me." His reptilian eyes met with his second in command's and he dropped Kai to the ground, slithering over towards the cage in front of the destroyed Devourer statue. "I told you that you would have company didn't I?" the Anacondrai smiled, watching as Lloyd turned to glare at him. "No need for that, Lloyd. I'm your friend, remember?"

He felt so much anger boiling inside of him; his thoughts drifting back to when he had first found Pythor: the sole survivor of the Anacondrai Tribe. You're the best mastermind a henchman could have! Looking back on it now, Lloyd realized how naïve he had been. When the ninja had caught him on the roof of Darkley's, he had not realized how much his life was going to change. For the better. "I wish I didn't have any company," the green ninja mumbled to himself, taking another peek at Laurie's unconscious form. She was still in there somewhere, buried underneath Skales' spell.

"How did you do it?" All heads turned towards Kai. He had managed to prop himself upon his side, feeling his spiky hair begin to fall in front of his face. His gaze rested solely on Skales who shot him back a small smirk. The fire within him blazed to life, his temper now flaring. Skales knew that Kai was addressing him. "You weren't around in the desert when Laurie started attacking me; I looked for you. She was fine, perfectly fine, and then she was just…" His sentence trailed off as both Pythor and Skales laughed. "I don't understand what's so funny."

Skales approached the struggling ninja, using his tail to push Kai onto his stomach. "Stupid, young Fire Starter," the Hypnobrai snickered, enjoying how helpless one of his greatest enemies was. "The girl was never 'fine'. I had decided to take a step back and keep a close watch through her unknowing eyes." He heard Kai give an angered cry before he continued. "I hated interrupting such a genuine and heartfelt conversation, but I needed the girl to do something for me once more."

"Leave my sister alone!" Lloyd shouted, up on his feet now, shaking the bars of his prison. "If you can choose when you want to use her, why don't you just let her go right now?" Pythor lingered near the cage, but the young blonde tried his hardest to ignore the Anacondrai's presence. "She's trapped in here with me anyways…can't you just let her go?" His emerald eyes were pleading.

Kai was having trouble craning his neck around to see what was happening now. Pulling hard against the rope around his wrists was growing fruitless as well. "Lloyd, don't do that. Don't show them any weakness." He knew it sounded the slightest bit harsh, but Lloyd needed to stay strong. Once more, Kai was yanked upwards by the front of his gi, meeting Pythor's eyes. His feet searched for the ground, but did not find it. Without hesitating, the Anacondrai brought the red ninja over towards the cage. Hey, maybe I can do something now, the Ninja of Fire internally cheered. Maybe I can find a way to escape with Lloyd's help…

"You can keep your friends company for a moment while I round up my other comrades," Pythor chided, slithering away in the opposite direction of the ninja. Skales stayed close by, his large red eyes focused on the pathetic trio.

Pushing his back up hard against the cage, Kai managed to slip his bound hands in between two of the bars. "Lloyd, I know that you haven't completely mastered fire yet, but if there was ever a time for some practice, it's now," the red ninja whispered urgently. The young boy's grip on the ropes was firm, Kai could feel it. "You just need to concentrate. I know you're angry right now. Try and harness that into a flame if you can." There was the sound of Lloyd exhaling sharply followed by a string of silence. "No, don't hold your breath. Just focus and breathe." Try not to act like your safety depends on this, Pipsqueak.

Lloyd heeded Kai's advice and steadily inhaled and exhaled, closing his eyes in the process. He could feel it, the small flame of anger that had taken root inside of him. This was all happening because of him and he was going to use the guilt emotions to save his friend. To save them all. Sudden warmth broke out over his gloved hands and the green ninja opened one eye slowly, seeing the gentle dance of flames adorn his hands. Keeping his grip tight on his friends' wrists, Lloyd watched as the fibers slowly burned away, some turning to ash in the process. As quickly as the phenomenon had started, it stopped. "K-Kai, I lost my focus," he apologized softly. "I wasn't able to burn through the whole thing."

Slipping his hands out from between the bars, Kai pulled against the restraints. They snapped almost instantly and he gave a wide smile, rubbing his wrists in an attempt to return the circulation to them. "No, you did great," the Ninja of Fire almost laughed, really surprised how quickly Lloyd had managed to conjure a flame. He was not the chosen one for nothing; that much was for sure. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Kai saw Skales fiddling with his staff. "Okay, there has to be a latch on your cage, right?" he asked softly, keeping his hands behind his back to keep up the illusion of his imprisonment. "Where is it?"

"Uh…" He was feeling slightly frantic, irises gliding over every part of the cage, looking for where the latch would be. Then he finally spotted it, towards the top corner of the portion that swung open for the door. Standing on the tips of his toes, Lloyd stretched his hand up, trying to reach the latch from the inside, but he could not. Sometimes being short was very disadvantageous. "I found it, but I can't reach it, Kai."

Keeping his gaze steadily focused on Pythor slowly crossing the sandstone slabs of the city with the other generals behind him, Kai swallowed hard. "Don't worry about it, I'll unlatch it. I need you to try and find a way to grab your sister because as soon as I open that door, you had better make a run for it," the red ninja stated plainly, inching his way around to the other side of the cage. Quickly, he located the latch with Lloyd's help and threw the door open.

Lloyd draped his sister's arms over his shoulders and sped forward, feeling the air rushing past him as he ran. Laurie though, he could feel her feet dragging along the sand, making it difficult to keep a good pace. She was heavier than he had imagined too. Despite everything in his power, Lloyd felt himself slowing down, weakening. There was shouting from behind and he stopped where he was, turning to see what was happening.

Kai was using his Spinjitzu against the Serpentine. Fighting hand to hand looked a lot harder than using his weapon. Wait, he thought he remembered seeing Skales throw Kai's sword somewhere when he first came back with him. Narrowing his eyes slightly, Lloyd noticed the familiar shape of Kai's sheathed weapon tucked in the rubble of the Devourer statue. Gently lowering his sister to the ground, Lloyd cupped his now free hands around his mouth. "Kai, your sw-" There was a hand over his mouth, successfully silencing him. Breathing hard through his nose, Lloyd glanced behind him to see Laurie smiling wickedly.

"Shhh," she teased, her red eyes practically glowing in the dark of the night. "Kai doesn't need distractions right now." Hugging her brother close to her body, she pinched his nose in between her thumb and index finger. His heavy breathing ceased instantly and he struggled to escape her grip. The muffled shouting of the green ninja grew softer and softer as his lungs burned for oxygen. Both of his knees gave out and Laurie held him upright as he finally passed out in her arms. "Rest easy," the red head smirked, kissing the top of her brother's head.

He was managing to knock back most of the snakes, but his right hand continued to search for a weapon that he did not have on his person. Backing away from the Serpentine around him that were beginning to recover, Kai scanned the dunes around the edge of the city for any sign of Lloyd. Hopefully he had managed to get a good distance away. Ice gripped at Kai's heart when he finally found the familiar green gi of his smallest brother, right on the edge of the city. Lloyd had not made it far at all. Kai surged forward, his eyes widening as he saw the young boy in Fangtom's grip, one head bowed a little too close to Lloyd's neck. "No!" the red ninja shouted, feeling as if everything around him was slowing down.

Already realizing he was too late to stop what was clearly happening, Kai changed his course, veering back towards where the cage sat. Skalidor growled, lashing his tail out at the ninja. Easily sidestepping the attack, Kai saw his sword jutting out of the pile of debris that the ancient statue had been mostly reduced to. Wasting no time, he plucked his weapon from the rocks and continued to charge forward, his breathing very ragged now. He had to get back to Ninjago City. Everything had taken a turn for the absolute worst now and he needed help to try and fix it all.

Kai needed his brothers.

Thank you for reading as always and I will see everyone next week. Thanks and have a great weekend. :3