CHAPTER 24

WE'VE FOUND THE BAIT

ROMENSA'S POV:

I was boiling mad. Angered by the way Haran was trying to lead my people. If I had any control, I would banish him forever and placed him out in broad daylight with no way to protect himself. At this moment, I would really care less about what happens to Haran at this point. If those mistresses want to fight us, I'd be happy to place Haran on the spot. It would be the perfect way to regain leadership of my people and take over Ninjago myself. This was not what I had planned. Not at all of what I wanted to do in order to make Ninjago into my own image. I seriously hate the life I'm living now.

I began following Haran, who had decided that since he was in charge, he would take over as leader of all the soldiers, making them follow his every move. I sighed, knowing that walking around was getting us nowhere. "Haran, can we at least take a break? My feet are beginning to ache from all this walking."

Haran scoffed. "Women. They can't step foot outside their homes for a day and they already get aching feet."

"Of course I have aching feet. We've been walking non-stop for three hours."

"We will not stop until I say so. I am in charge. Do you not remember that? Besides, I am taking you somewhere where you will be very pleased to see what we have brought along with us." He continued to lead the way.

My mind only had one thought. What has he found this time? "What did you find this time, Haran? More buried treasure? A fake jewel? Perhaps you found buried treasure?"

"You already said that."

"I did? This old brain of mine doesn't work as well as it used to. You should know that by now."

"That is why the time has come for me to begin leading the Mistoffs. A new leader is in need and I know I have what it takes."

"I wouldn't say that in front of all these soldiers. I wouldn't wanna make anybody jealous."

"During my rule, there will be no such thing as jealousy. Everyone will learn to love me."

Romensa laughed. "Seriously? And here I thought you loved only one person. Although, I can't remember who that one person is."

"Forget about that, Romensa. We're here."

I don't get what I was seeing. The only thing I was seeing was a giant green blanket. "This is what you wanted to show me? A blanket?"

"No. What I plan to show you is under the blanket." Haran removed the blanket to reveal a giant venge stone cage. Inside it were two young people that didn't look to be older than at least sixteen or seventeen years old. Haran chuckled evilly. "Feast your eyes on the bait."

"Who are those people?"

"All will be answered soon, Romensa. Let's remove them from the cage and place the cuff upon them. I hear venge stone weakens an elemental master from using their powers." Haran laughed evilly.

I sighed. How many more messes will Haran get us into? I had to stop this before he ruined everything. I couldn't, though. I was pretty much under his control. Having no other choice, I followed the soldiers and Haran. Before I left, though, I thought I heard footsteps from behind. I shook it off and continued on. Maybe Haran was right to say he should be the next ruler of the Mistoffs. My old brain doesn't function the way it used to.

NYA'S POV:

I can't believe it. We defeated the Mistoffs for the first time ever and finally learned spinjitzu. Plus, we finally unlocked our powers. Best day ever. I don't think anything can ruin it.

At that moment, Misako and Garmadon walked up to us. The sensei had a smile on his face. "I'm very proud of all of you. You were finally able to overcome your fears and weaknesses to unlock your powers. Now the time has drawn near when all of you search deep inside for your true potential."

"Just when I thought the hard part was over," Kitty said.

"Learning spinjitzu and unlocking your powers should have been the easy part. That was the first step through this whole process. The second step is drawing nearer. Misako and I will be there to help prepare you."

"We are honored to have you both as our teachers," I said.

"I can't believe I actually turned into a turtle," Carol said, "This is the best day ever! Now I don't remember how I did it."

Everybody laughed. Misako was the first one to stop her laughter. "Wait a second. Did any of you see Lloyd or Kai around?"

"I don't think so," Kitty said.

"Pixal, do you mind scanning the area?" I asked.

"Already on it," Pixal said. She looked around before she spoke again. "It seems that Kai is to be detected inside the tea shop. Lloyd is nowhere to be found."

"That worries me," Garmadon said.

"It does with me, too," Misako said.

"Let's go figure out what's going on," I said. We all made our way over to the tea shop. I gasped when I saw the place as did everyone else. Everything was a mess. Crates and boxes were all over the place as well as teapots and teacups. In my opinion, this place looks like a tea party gone horribly wrong. I looked over to see Kai walking out of the back room. I placed my hands on my hips as I gave him the look. "What happened here, Kai?"

"Don't blame this all on me, sis," Kai said, "Lloyd helped make this fiasco happen, too. We were trying to protect the ship and make sure those things didn't see we were here."

"Where's Lloyd?" Misako asked.

"I don't know. He just ran out of here like a maniac. He said he had to help some friend of his that was in trouble or something."

"And you didn't go after him?" Garmadon said.

"What else was I supposed to do?" Kai asked, "I couldn't go out there knowing that those things had weapons that can kill a human being in a heartbeat."

"I thought you were the fire ninja," Kitty said.

"I am, but I'm not immune to that stuff like you four are."

"Did you happen to keep track of his location?" Pixal asked.

"It's kind of hard to do that when you have wood blocking the window," Carol said, "Some say if you block out the sunlight, you are immune to the darkness for life. The darkness is your heart and soul."

"I suppose that's how it is for the Mistoffs," Kitty said.

"So you have no idea where he is?" Misako said.

"Unfortunately not," Kai said.

Without warning, Dareth barged inside. "Guys! Thank goodness I found you all!" He stopped to catch his breath. "You guys are not gonna believe what I just saw."

"What happened, Dareth?" Garmadon asked.

"I saw Lloyd outside trying to save this girl and before you knew it, these two weird creatures that invaded the city came in and knocked them both on the heads. I don't know who the girl was, but I did see Lloyd. They were both being dragged behind an ally in between Mai Chow's Sushi House and Ramen's Pawn Shop. I have no idea where they're taking them."

"You didn't even attempt to follow them, did you?" I asked.

"Sorry, babe, but you know how much of a coward I am," Dareth said, "I'm too handsome to put myself in danger."

"You are an idiot, Dareth," Kai said.

"Of anyone is an idiot around here, it's you Kai," I said.

"Can we please not fight for five minutes, Nya? I'd like to get through a conversation without the two of us always fighting."

"That is enough, you two," Garmadon said, "Have you both forgotten that my son and his friend are in danger? Who knows what those Mistoffs will do to them?"

"Garmadon's right," Misako said, "We need to focus on what's going on right now. Nya, do you remember where the Mistoffs base is?"

I was surprised to see that Misako would ask me that. "I don't know. Why are you asking me?"

"Probably because they imprisoned you and you promised them the map and now they know where our secret headquarters is because of you," Kitty said.

"Can we just forget about that whole fiasco and let bygones be bygones?"

"No!" everyone except Garmadon and Misako said.

"Okay, look, I don't know where their headquarters is located at," I explained, "The only thing I can remember is walking out of a cave in a remote forest area and I don't know how long it was before I took a break and slept slumped against a tree. The next thing I knew after that was I was in the monastery and in my bedroom."

Kitty groaned. "There's a bunch of forest areas with caves in them all over Ninjago. How are we gonna find the right one?"

"That gives me an idea, but we'll need to head back to the monastery," Misako said, "Nya, contact Jay and have him come get us."

"Yes, Misako," I said.

I went outside and called Jay with my cell phone. I don't know what Misako is planning or what she has in mind, but I can tell it'll work and we may have a shot at getting Lloyd and whoever that girl is back.

YES, I KNOW. I AM UPDATING EARLY. I'VE HAD A LOT OF FREE TIME THE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS. JUST WAITING ON SOME CALL BACKS FOR JOBS AND STUFF LIKE THAT. HIGH SCHOOL IS ALMOST OVER FOR ME IN A COUPLE OF DAYS. I'M NOT SURE HOW THE WEEK WILL TURN OUT, SO I HAVE WENT AHEAD AND STARTED UPDATING.

WELL, ENJOY THIS CHAPTER, BUT DON'T ENJOY ME POSTING EARLY IN THE WEEK.

PLEASE REVIEW.