A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…

Chapter Twenty-Four: Since when Do Ninjas Gawk at the View?

Kai coughed as he lifted a hand up to press it over his mouth, waving his hand through to clear the smoke from the bomb away. Flames were licking the walls as the fire from the explosion spread rapidly out. "ZANE!" Kai yelled both in his mind and out loud, struggling to breath through the smoke.

"Is everyone alright?!" Garmadon bellowed from somewhere behind Kai, panic flooding his voice.

I'm fine! I used my lightning to teleport a short distance away so the bomb didn't get me. (Jay)

What about you Cole? (Zane) Cold hands grasped Kai by the shoulders, steering him out of the billowing smoke. Once he was out of it, he turned to see that it was Zane that had guided him out of the smoke, chains still around his wrist. "Let's get you out of those..."

Garmadon crashed out of the smoke, shooting a withering look towards them. "Did you all forget that I was in there... or were you planning on coming back for me?"

"Sorry?"

"You could try sounding sincere you know..." Garmadon muttered under his breath, annoyance edging his voice.

Jay wrung his hands together, staring at the thickening smoke. We still have a fire to outrun...which most likely alerted the guys that are holding us prisoner in the first place that we have escaped and they will come looking for us. Oh, and to top it all off, Cole's missing and we still need to find Nya and Greenie. (Jay)

Kai gulped largely to get fresh air, which was diminishing rather quickly, into his lungs. "Zaptrap's got a point. We need to find Cole and the others much quicker now than we did earlier."

~Let's go check on Sensei Wu...~

Sensei Wu frowned as he leaned against a table in the kitchen, watching as the employees at the school scurried about the place cleaning up lunch. "Garmadon should have been here by now..."

"Grand Sensei! The Museum is on fire!" Griffin skidded to a halt, his breath coming out in gasps. "And since there was a loud bang right before the fire started to spread, foul play is suspected and they want ninjas on scene immediately."

"What!?" Sensei Wu nearly lunged at him out of surprise.

Griffin took a small step back, suddenly the defintition of nervous. "It gets worse. According to witness reports... Sensei Garmadon and Kai both were spotted around there before the bomb went off and no one has seen them since."

Sensei Wu paled, panic welling up inside of him. "We need to find them. I cannot believe Kai tricked us into thinking he was still injured just so he could kidnap Garmadon! We have to locate them before he destroys anymore landmarks."

~Back with the Friends!~

Kai nearly stumbled to the ground, pressing his arm across his chest, a small gasp of pain escaping him. Zane was by his side in an instant, concern flashing in his eyes. "Why did you not tell us that you are injured?"

"Didn't want you guys to worry about me. Besides that. We still need to find the others. One of which is my baby sister. And the other is the kid that we are supposed to be guarding." Kai feebly pointed out as he panted.

Cole scooped Kai up as if he were nothing more than a sack of potatoes, turning to stare into the flames that were now encircling them. "Z? Can you sense the others? I already used my extrasensory skills to confirm that no one is down on this level with us and this is the lowest level. I'll carry Kai so that he doesn't strain himself."

"I'm fine! Honest! Just out of breath!" "No need." Zane scanned for a way out of there. "I overheard our captors mention that they took Nya and Lloyd to a different hideout."

Garmadon coughed, pressing a hand over his mouth and nose. "We need to get out of here. How bad can one fire from one small bomb be anyways?"

Kai squeezed his eyes shut, taking in a deep breath, before entering a coughing fit. "Pretty bad. It's all the way up to the museum."

"Museum?" Zane, Cole, and Jay questioned him.

"We're underneath the Museum. Long story. I think I can move the flames to make a safe pathway for us..." Kai narrowed his eyes, glancing over at Garmadon. "Zane? Jay? Make sure to sandwich Garmadon between you two. I won't be able to sense if he has passed through safely since he isn't one of us."

"Sorry to be a hindrance." Garmadon sarcastically apologized to the friends, not wanting to know what Kai meant by sensing the others.

"Apology accepted." They chimed out together. Garmadon quickly opened his mouth, only for Kai to cut him off. "We are completely aware of the fact that you just used sarcasm. We just don't care at the moment."

Garmadon scowled at him even as the flames parted, making a perfect pathway. "By the way Cole... I'm serious when I say that I can walk!" Kai shoved against the stronger boy, hopping out of his arms and immediately his legs buckled underneath him.

Cole rolled his eyes skyward as he grabbed Kai by the arm. "At least lean on me. Won't do us any good if you collapse on us."

~Back with Sensei! Ten Minutes Later...~

Sensei Wu paced around the the border that the police set up, worry creasing his brow. "Let me get this straight... there is no one inside and still no sign of my brother or Kai?"

"Sorry..?" A rather nervous police officer shifted underneath the Grand Sensei's penetrating stare.

Sensei Wu rubbed his face, mumbling to himself. "Misako? Try calling Garmadon. Hopefully seeing that it is you, Kai will hand him his phone."

"On it."

~With the Friends and Garmadon~

Garmadon arched one eyebrow upwards as he followed Jay into the kitchen. "This is your HQ?"

Jay shrugged, pulling the fridge door open. "Yeah? Why are you acting so surprised?"

"When Kai told me that your HQ was a flying pirate ship, I thought he was kidding." Garmadon gestured around the room, his mouth dropping over as he peered out the window the beautiful view of Ninjago City sprawled out down below them. "This... this is amazing! I mean check out this view!"

Jay gave him a weird look, picking up a can of pop from the fridge door, snapping it shut. "Dude... it's just the city."

A/N: Done! Hmm, they just missed the gang again! Only this time they weren't in a rush to get Lloyd out of there. I wonder where Lloyd and Nya are being kept...? Oh well, they ain't gonna stop until they find them. And Garmadon is still helping them! And Jay is finding Garmadon's reaction to the view on a flying ship odd. I think he got used to the view... what about you?

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SkyTalon