Before we get into the fun part, I need to announce my new system for line breaks and perspective changes. One line stays a scene change, and stays the same characters. If it's TWO lines, that means we're changing characters.
Musical inspiration for this chapter: Casual Bongos
Chapter Eleven
Sore didn't even begin to describe how I was feeling this morning. My shoulder was burning, and so was every other part of me. Father said it would be all a part of the show, since he was expecting the ninja to be nosy and try finding me, hence the new wardrobe, the injuries from being told not to fight back, to make it look like I had escaped once already. If anything, the injuries would at least play with the story he had Skylor tell the ninja.
Still, even if they were arriving this evening, was it really necessary to lock me down in the caverns all day? My seven by five foot box wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world. There wasn't even a window to let me know what time it was, or even to let any extra light in. I was getting fidgety, trying to soothe and ignore the pain from the marking and also keep my mind busy. There was absolutely nothing down here. It was dark except for the light from the hall, and it was also loud, the factory not being too far away. I could hear the machines running, gears grinding like they were overloaded, probably preparing for the ninja to arrive. Father always was fond of holding feasts for his guests…
I wanted to call Skylor this morning, since after my walk last night there had been guards stationed outside of my door, but even that didn't work out. Clouse had come to get me from my room, briefing me on the way down. Before I knew it, they were walking away, the door locked. Had I blacked out at some point, or had Clouse simply dimmed my experiences so I didn't have to suffer through them? It was hard to tell, and my brain felt fuzzy, but not the kind of fuzzy when he used magic on me; a different kind of fuzz.
I stood up, pacing the cell again. There were chains on one wall, facing the door. Clouse said they wouldn't use them on me, unless the ninja did manage to break me out, in which case I wasn't supposed to reveal my powers to them, because that would ruin their final plan, which would be for me to "escape" into the jungle, and for them to think they were racing against the clock to save me from my father's following. It was a genius plan, honestly. Made me wonder how long they had been planning it.
At some point I must've drifted off, because when I woke up the hall was dark. I guess that I slept for a long time, and it was getting pretty quiet in the cavern. Had I been that sleep deprived that I ended up sleeping the whole day away? My stomach growled loud enough for that to be the truth and I sat up slowly. The mark on my shoulder didn't hurt anymore. Clouse must've come down and done something about it. In fact, none of my injuries hurt anymore, the ones I could see looked nasty, but they didn't hurt at all. It was almost like wearing the world's most realistic makeup.
Eventually, father came down to see me, smiling. "Clousey-Clouse just called, he said everything is on track, and that eeeeveryone is on board the ship! Things are going off sooo smoothly!" He grinned, and I saw he had brought food for me. As he sat across from me, he handed me the bowl. "I'll try to bring you something to do tomorrow; getting too much sleep won't be very good once the tournament is over!" He smiled, touching my hair gently. "Skylor said everything went smoothly with the ninja, that note we had you fake really had them convinced! So just play your part of the scared little boy and everything shall go fine." He kept talking about all his preparations as I ate, and honestly, I didn't mind. It was good, especially after being alone all day.
"Why do I have to be down here if only the ninja are competing?"
He laughed. "There are far more elements than just those the ninja have! So many more! Perhaps you'll be able to meet a few of them once they're out of the tournament, and down here!" That got him laughing too, and he grinned. "We have roughly sixteen people coming to our island to compete, and in the end, we'll be the real winners."
"Skylor…" Kai said, walking towards me. I leaned against the rail of the ship, looking out at the water. "You're here, good."
I smiled at him, but it was strained. Lloyd hadn't called and when dad said he was 'busy' that worried me more. Lloyd wasn't usually too busy that he couldn't talk, which made me wonder what was happening back on the island. Was there even a possibility that I could still get him out unharmed? "Yeah...I should've been honest last night. About having a power…"
"Wasn't really relevant was it... "He leaned on the rail with me, looking behind him. I turned, surprised to see his friends standing beside Lord Garmadon-I hadn't seen him since I was young, and even then, I doubt he saw me that time. This complicated things. "Look, we're going to find him, Skylor. Chen has him somewhere, we'll find him. It's only a matter of time, right? How big could this island be?"
Nodding in agreement, I moved closer, bumping his shoulder with my own. "You're right… can't possibly be as big as Ninjago." Even though it was the dead of summer, being close to him and the heat that radiated off of him was nice. Comforting, like the moment when you wake up and are simply surrounded by warm blankets, and there's no pressure to get up. "So your team...you're…" I trailed off, looking back at the others, then at Kai. I didn't know how to phrase it without sounding awkward, but he seemed to catch my drift.
"We're working with Lord Garmadon, yeah. He's Lloyd's father. He used to train under Chen, so he figures it'd help us get Lloyd back if we had someone who had been on his side, someone who already knows all of Chen's tricks." Kai glanced back as well, gesturing for them to come join us. "We need to be prepared for Chen to play dirty."
"Well then let's be ready to play just as hard as he is." I could see the island in the distance, and my stomach felt like it was filled with rocks. I needed to get away from these Ninja without raising suspicion to make sure Lloyd was okay. I needed to get him out, tonight.
If I couldn't get him out before the tournament started…I'd be too late to save him.
My father's theatrics were ridiculous. As he spoke, I stood in the back, trying to avoid catching his attention. I could feel Clouse's eyes on me, and part of me wondered how much he knew that I had warned Lloyd about, and if that meant they knew I was going to fight back. If anyone got off the island, it would be game over for my father until that person was found. He needed as many awoken elementals as possible, and the spell wouldn't work until he had them all. Sure, looking around I knew there were more missing, water for example, or wind, but if the elements weren't currently active, there would be no way to collect them.
Any minute now the Kabuki would file in to show us to our rooms, and I'd have my first shot at getting Lloyd out of here. Glancing at the ninja though—specifically the back of Lightning's head—I knew I would have a better shot just telling them the truth. Looking down at my hands, I sighed. There'd be no way to tell them without them coming across the truth. I liked them, really liked them. They'd be good friends if this wasn't the way things had to be, if I wasn't who I was. The minute they find out about my father, any trust, any relationship I had with them would be broken, and I'd be on my own to save Lloyd.
I rolled my eyes, laughing dryly, keeping it quiet. Telling them would lead to them losing trust in me, but if anyone would betray them to my father, it would be Lloyd. Even after a few days, even after I thought I had made a dent in his hero-worship by trying to tell him what was going to happen, he was infatuated with everything he did, and would do anything to prove his worth to him.
Even if that meant turning on the people who wanted to see him safe the most, turning against his own father.
The doors opened with a squeak, and I didn't even have to turn around, just listening to the quiet footsteps to know it was the Kabuki. My father was still talking, and I looked up, glaring at him. It seemed to throw him off, but he shook it off fast. "Now, if you would kindly follow my Kabuki servants to your quarters, you can settle in for a bit before we have a late supper. I'm sure some of you are hungry—isn't that right, master of Earth?" He chuckled, practically bouncing off his stage into the throng of masters, heading right for Cole. The ninja seemed to find it funny, elbowing and chuckling at the expense of your friend. "Yes, yes. We'll all enjoy a wonderful feast tonight! Noodles for everybody!"
One of the servants grabbed my arm, whispering to me quietly as she led me away. "Lloyd was sleep walking last night. I believe he had another night terror…" I knew her name, it was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't quite get it out. "He's alright now, simply waiting."
She opened the door to my room, smiling pleasantly. She had the same vapid stare they all did, and I wondered what happened to cause all of them to keep that jaded expression but also to play their roles as my father's entertainers. Something made me thing Clouse was behind it somehow, using magic to keep them content. "Please don't worry too much for master Lloyd, he's quite safe." She bowed, stepping out of my room and back into the hallway, shutting my door loudly.
My room had been cleaned up, and stripped of anything personal, which made me wonder if there was anything hidden for my father to spy on me with. It wouldn't surprise me if he had laced the others rooms with traps and bugs to keep himself one step ahead of anyone who might be figuring out his plot. I closed my eyes, trying to remember the way I had left things before. Where would he hide surveillance devices that he didn't want me to know about? My eyes slid across the wall towards the painting of my father. Of course, it was nearly too obvious. Walking over silently, I peered at the eyes. There was something behind them, or rather, nothing at all behind them, not even canvas; peepholes. How long had those been there? I shuddered, and walked to my closet, grabbing the role of masking tape, covering them up. That was a start at least.
Taking time to check every nook and cranny in my room, I could hear people talking in the room next to mine. Breaking the last hidden camera, I stepped out onto the balcony, leaning over the railing to listen in. It sounded like one of the ninja. Eyeing the balcony across, I stood on the railing, hopping over. The room was hot, and everything was in shades of amber and red, and on the wall across from the bed there was a fake lava panel. It had to be Kai's room.
"Garmadon said not to trust anyone, Kai. He seems pretty convinced this is gonna be a trap, that there's no way Lloyd is here." It was Cole. So the ninja were right next door. Interesting. I wondered if dad had planned that, thinking I'd tip him off if they caught on. Knocking on the frame, I stepped into the open doorway.
"This guy isn't playing around." I said, leaning on the frame. "He has Lloyd. The shirt I got him at the museum…it was left in my room." Not really, but I knew it was in my bag. I had made a point to grab it before leaving the apartment. Right now I needed to get them to play along until they found Lloyd, then they could get him out, and to safety. I rubbed my arm awkwardly, looking at them. "How do we know we can even trust Lord Garmadon?"
"We've been searching with his help for a long time." Zane said, sitting calmly on the edge of Kai's bed. "If it wasn't for his guidance, I don't think we'd have known as much about Lloyd as we do. Because of his help, we've had a rough estimate of what Lloyd would look like, as well as things he might still have been fond of."
"That's why I took jobs at two different comic shops; because he said Lloyd liked comics, and he used to send copies of Starfarrer to his school." Jay was lying on the bed as well, upside down, his head only inches above the ground. "Why? I mean sure the four arms are freaky, but why don't you trust him?"
Now was the time I either had to play my biggest card—something they might not even be aware about yet—or let it go as 'just a hunch'. "I mean…how do you know he's not in on this too?" I walked towards them, uncrossing my arms. Just keep breathing, in, out. I needed to sound calm. "The green ninja's the only one who could defeat him. And if the green ninja was with you…he'd have to fight."
Their eyebrows shot up. "Are you saying Lloyd's the green ninja? How do you know?!" Jay shouted, rocketing upright and wincing. He must've been upside down for quite a while.
"Because I saw him use his powers, the first night we got him out of wherever he was. Someone came after us and he blasted them away." That was sort of how his powers were revealed; he had gotten in a scuffle with a recruit, and blasted him across the courtyard. Freak accident but it had been enough to wake up his powers, and dad had done his best to figure out exactly what it was, and when he caught on, he knew he had the ultimate secret weapon."If Garmadon knew…he would do anything to have no obstacles in his way, wouldn't he?"
The room was eerily silent and uncomfortable now, the others glancing back and forth. It was a weak point, but I knew the closer I got to them, the more I'd need to cover myself. No one said anything until there was a knock on the door. "Must be dinner time…" Kai mumbled. He seemed to be in a state of shock of some kind. Numbness, maybe.
I headed for the balcony. "We better go back to our rooms…" I leapt across, heading to my own door, opening it before anyone even knocked. The Kabuki girl blinked, startled, but reached for my hand, leading me down the hallway to the dining room. I could see other masters, elements I had no clue to begin to identify walking ahead of us.
Time to wine and dine and get some help, some allies other than the ninja. If anything would keep my father from realizing I was ultimately against him that would be it. Being friendly, he'd see that. Being too chummy, that would make him suspicious. Or, it would alert Clouse, who would use my father like a puppet and then he'd be unpredictable—more so than usual.
Another exciting chapter! Cannot wait to start rewriting the tournament. Certain things change, but in general, it will stick close to the actual show itself.
Like always, feedback makes writers more motivated to write and the more motivation that I have, the more I write, so the more you get to read, and that'll get us closer and closer to the exciting climax of the story and then into the sequel! (which really needs a better title than "Never had a friend like me" bc while that's a cute project name, it's not title worthy...)
I will confirm that there is to be a oneshot that takes place in this timeline that will be titled "What Comes Next?", which will have a very dreamy feeling, and will also be posted before the sequel starts. It'll have perspectives from every side, ending with what you'll all be most curious about once the story ends. (Note, this is one of the things that diverges from Canon material.)
