We've made it back to Garmadon! What dangers will his fortress hold? Here we go! I am planning a sequel for this story, for when it ends. There will be at least a few more chapters though.
"That's a lot scarier than I remember it being." Jay gulped.
"No kidding." Lloyd leaned against the plane wall.
"I'm starting to regret this." Cole groaned.
"This is for Zane, remember? We have to do this." Jay reminded him.
"Right." Cole agreed, looking out at Kai and Zane, who had just started to land.
"We should probably land." Lloyd turned to Jay.
"Who's the one that flies the plane? Me. I know what I'm doing, thank you." Jay settled in for a landing.
On the ground, the ninja were gearing up. Kai was setting random shrubs on fire, much to Cole's disliking. Jay was telling Nya something through the Falcon, and Lloyd was there too, generally not being very helpful. Zane was trying to figure out a way to safely enter the fortress.
It's guarded to the North and South, but there are no entrances on the East and West. We couldn't enter without being spotted. Unless we resign to a loud entrance and get rid of the guards. That increases our chances of being caught, however. Zane sighed.
"Any progress?" Kai sat down beside him.
"Unless we could somehow make it up to the roof without being caught, no." Zane rested his head on his talons. He noticed the strange silence from Kai. He turned, and Kai was stifling a laugh.
"I was flying you just a minute ago. I think we can get up to the roof." Kai smirked as Zane sheepishly curled his tail around himself.
"Right." Zane mumbled, and stood up. Kai chuckled, and motioned for the others to come over. Once the plan was explained, the ninja had mixed reactions. Well, they were all happy except for Cole, who wasn't too keen on flying on Zane again. Kai went first, gripping Zane's back tightly. His scales were slick and slippery, and there wasn't much room.
"Could you move faster!" Kai growled through his teeth, and Zane swatted him with his tail.
"Be patient. I'm trying to wait for a window." Zane grumbled back. There was an eerie silence, before Zane shot across the sky, and Kai almost yelped at the movement. On the roof, Kai barely had time to leap off before Zane shot back, and Kai sat on the ground, catching his breath.
One by one, the ninja flew over. Once they were all on the rooftop, Zane led the way inside using a hatch on the roof. The ninja crawled down, and made their way through tunnels. Oddly enough, there were no Serpentine roaming around the inside. Eventually, the team found themselves in front of heavy iron doors.
"Well, here we go." Cole sighed, and pushed the doors open. Darkness shrouded the ninja as they moved forward. Jay felt something soft under his feet. He bent down, and ran a hand across the floor.
"Is this.. sand?" Jay raised his eyebrows, confused. Nobody had time to answer his question as lights flashed on around them, and revealed their surroundings. The doors swung shut. The ninja were trapped inside a massive, Serpentine-filled arena. The ninja all yelped in surprise, except for Zane, who sat motionless, staring at one thing, and one thing only. Laying next to Garmadon, lifeless, was Zane's human body.
Zane burst into the air, suddenly overtaken by anger.
"Give me that back, Garmadon." Zane hovered in the air, his wingbeats making the sand beneath him fly in different directions.
"On one condition. You have to fight for it." Garmadon smiled, and a grappling hook shot out from the other side of the arena, grabbing Zane's midsection, and pulling him behind an iron fence, which slammed shut.
The others ran to the gate, Cole desperately pulling at the bars. Zane was freaking out inside of the cave, only stopping when he heard Garmadon's booming voice from above.
"The nindroid will fight for his past form. If he wins, he is set free with his body. If he looses, or does not want to fight, his body is destroyed!" Garmadon cheered, causing a massive commotion in the stands.
"I'll fight if that's what he wants." Zane looked out with a determined expression. He wouldn't stop at anything to get his body back.
Serpentine guards came and dragged the others away, who were protesting all the while.
Zane started planning strategies out in the dirt, but swiped them away when he heard Skales' voice behind him.
"Do you accept the challenge or not?" Skales sounded thoroughly bored with the idea.
"Of course." Zane sighed.
"Good. Your fight will start shortly. I wish you the best of luck." Skales hissed, and left. A few minutes passed, and Zane grew more and more worried. The doors eventually opened, and Zane searched around for signs of his opponent. He heard doors opening on the other side. He eagerly turned, but his determination quickly turned to shock as he saw his opponent.
There, on the other side of the arena, stood a very frightened Jay. The reality set in. Stay a dragon forever, or murder his brother.