Hey guys! Let me just say I am REALLY excited for this chapter (and the next few!). The story is getting closer to the end, and the action is gonna go waaaay up! Hope you love it!
"How did you find us?" Xochi managed, stunned.
"Did you really think you really just disappeared?" Julia shot back smugly. Truthfully, she and Garmadon had been completely baffled when the elusive couple they were pursuing had vanished without a trace, and she was completely caught off guard from finding them here, on Earth, but she wasn't about to let them have that satisfaction. The wariness of being watched just helped her pin them under her thumb even more.
"You can't have the map," he growled, looking as front as he could in the awkward position.
She chuckled lightly. "The map? You mean the map to the golden weapons? That's old news by now. Garmadon tried and failed to gather them, and now-" Her mouth snapped shut. She wasn't about to give them any hope of rescue, was she? The ninja were safely out of the way. It was show time.
"Take them away," she ordered, "But make sure they have a good seat to watch as I take over the world. It'll be quite a show."
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Julia hoisted herself up onto one of the platforms on the roller coaster, straining the years of muscle built up from forging all of her technological backup. She needed a good view of the entire coaster, and this was the best lookout point.
A flash of light caught her eye, on the track right before the final loop-de-loop. As she drew closer, balancing on the sturdy tracks, she nodded thoughtfully. "Garmadon must be trying to open the portal," she realized. Good-it would give her a better clue as to where it was located.
Brushing her hands on her dress, with only a hint of nervousness, she drew herself up to her full height and took a deep breath. This was it. Her chance to prove to everyone that she was good enough. Her chance at redemption.
"Portal of draconi, open to me!" she cried, "Show me the side of the universe I wish to reach! Open your gaping maw to admit my army of victory!"
All was silent. Then a tiny speck of violet light appeared, shining onto her clothes like a laser pointer. Slowly, it grew in size, until it was fifteen feet tall, and nearly as wide, glowing with a brilliant white light, laced with an ominous purple. A triumphant laugh bubbled up inside of her, and she grinned darkly. Her moment had come.
"Stop!" a voice ordered, making her pause. Turning around irritatedly, she scowled as she saw the team of ninja behind her, looking bruised and battered but ready for a fight. No way was she going to let them ruin her plans. No way.
"Destroy them!" she ordered, and her monsterbots started towards them, brandishing swords and other weapons.
The red one, Kai, stepped forward and began to speak, voice ringing across the grounds. "You're going to kill us, Julia? Hide behind your army of pathetic robots?" He scoffed. "A coward if I ever saw one."
"Your jibes mean nothing to me," she retorted coldly, and Kai could tell she meant it. She could wipe them out with a single command, then go back to business without much more than a post-it note on her conscience.
But he wasn't finished. "Tell your robots to stop, Julia," he called, "You need us."
She regarded him with loathing. "Do I?"
"Go through the portal," he invited, "Go ahead, try. It won't work. You're missing something vital, and only we know what it is. You can't kill us yet."
Julia was caught in an awkward position. Looking as in control as possible, she reached out and touched the portal. Her fingers met a cool, hard surface, like glass. The more she pushed on it, the more impenetrable it seemed. She had a feeling that the teenager was right. But that had never stopped her before.
"Bring him to me," she ordered, "Take hold of the others." The monsterbots complied, and after a painfully brief struggle, Cole, Zane, Jay, and Lloyd were held at sword point, unable to move without being skewered. Kai was deposited onto the raised platform that Julia stood on.
"Tell me what I need to know, Kai," she said coolly.
He shook his head stubbornly. "Never," he spat, suddenly doubting his plan.
She made a tsking sound and inclined her head, taking him in. "I do have other methods if persuasion, if you aren't in an eager mood today," she offered. Rapping her knuckles against the sealed portal, she called, "Garmadon, are you in there?"
The flat surface flickered once, then a fuzzy image of a man with ebony skin came into view, sharpening by the second until it seemed as if he was standing right there. "I'm here," he answered. Kai cringed at the voice he knew all too well.
Julia continued as if she was having a conversation with an old friend. "Garmadon, I'm having a bit of difficulty convincing your friend Kai to aid me in opening the portal completely. Do you have anything that could help me out?"
"But of course," the dark lord agreed, venom on the edge of his voice. He didn't like Julia, Kai knew that. But he liked Kai even less.
The ninja of fire watched as Garmadon stepped aside, revealing two people struggling and in bonds. A cloth ran through their mouths, rendering any words said useless. One person was Sensei Wu. And the other was his sister.
"Nya!" he cried, lunging forward, but two monsterbots caught his arms and held him back.
She smirked triumphantly. "And that's not all I have, Kai," she said, in a voice coated with poison, then motioned for her monsterbots to step aside, revealing the makeshift prison that held her two bound-and-gagged prisoners-prisoners he would surely recognize. For as well as she knew them, he knew them better.
"No…" she heard Kai mutter, dropping to his knees, stunned by the impossible. "Mother? Father?"
The shock on their faces mirrored his own. How could they be here? They were… no, of course they weren't in Ninjago. Kai was a ninja-he knew the area inside and out. He would've found them by now. Not that he'd looked-guilt started gnawing at his heart. It only made sense for them to be here. But why? He longed to fall into their embrace, to be told everything would be alright. But they were far away, and Julia had to be stopped. He wanted to try to save them, but then Julia would put him in check by threatening someone else he cared for. He was trapped.
"You see, Kai, I hold all the cards," Julia said coolly, "Your friends, your family, even your girlfriend."
"My…" His face blanched, and he looked around wildly, hoping to see her, still encased safely in ice. "Lindsey? What did you do to her?"
A slow, taunting smile graced her lips. "Look at her. I didn't need to do anything, she is already slipping."
"What do you mean?" he asked warily.
"If she is not cured from her virus, do you know what will happen?"
His head shook slowly, wobbily, as if controlled by an amateur puppeteer.
"You will watch as she begins to deteriorate. First, she will lose her technological advantage, the thing the world calls genius. She will become normal. No more smart lady. After that, she will lose her common knowledge. Then she will begin to lose her basic understanding of technology, right down to wheels and axles. As stupid as an infant. And you know what'll happen then?" Kai sucked in his breath as he realized what she was going to say next. No, no, no.
"Then she will die."
He hung his head, broken. He couldn't let them die. The people his world revolved around. His teacher. His sister. His friends. His parents, whom he had missed for the last four years, without any clue to their whereabouts. Lindsey. His whole life, he'd needed to be the hero, terrified that he wouldn't be able to protect those he loved. Now it was all crumbling around him. He waited to hear someone, anyone, call, "Kai, don't do it!" "It's not worth it!" "Stop!"
But no one did. All was silent. All he heard was the voice inside his head, telling him that he couldn't fail his friends. So, knowing he was going against what they would have wanted, but desperately hoping to save their lives, he whispered, "Alright. I'll tell you. Just let them go."