136
M was eating when the door opened again. He glanced up and froze as his father came into the room. The two Openheimers studied each other silently before Marty IV finally spoke.
"The doctors finished their tests," he said, his voice strangely quiet. "They say that I can take you home. They kept you overnight in case you sustained head trauma in your fall…"
M's father trailed off, and M stared down at the tasteless mashed potatoes in silence. Marty sighed heavily as he came over and took a seat.
"You could have died, M. Did that never occur to you?"
M. swallowed, not sure what to say. He was more aware than anyone what had almost happened; there was no point in guilt-tripping him. What did his father even want him to say? Or did Marty just want a chance to rip into him?
"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" his father demanded, and M. felt a hand under his chin, jerking him up to look at the Headmaster. He flinched at the touch, and Marty's words trailed off when he saw it. M. glanced away again, not comfortable maintaining eye contact. Should he apologize? No doubt such words would be meaningless to his father, anyways. He waited for the punishment—for his father to describe how the rest of his life was going to play out with the understanding that M. would never stray from the path again.
"I could have lost you, son…"
M glanced up in surprise; rather than furious, Marty almost sounded emotional. Sure enough, there seemed to be tears in the headmaster's eyes as he moved his other hand so both were cupping M's face. When he spoke again his voice was stern…but in a desperate rather than angry way.
"You're all I have, M."
The youngest Openheimer stared into his father's eyes. He could feel Marty IV's hands shaking as he looked at his son.
"I won't lose you. Do you understand that?"
He was waiting for M. to answer, the teen knew. M. opened his mouth, but the words died in his throat. Sure, his father couldn't lose the heir to the Openheimer legacy…he couldn't lose the prestige. That's what he was talking about…right? But staring at his father now he couldn't help but remember the way Marty IV had acted in the cave. His father had climbed a mountain, he realized suddenly. It was so against everything he knew about Marty IV, and he found his throat was getting tight thinking about it.
Marty studied him a moment and finally released his face, as if realizing that his son wasn't going to say anything.
"I spoke with your grandfather," he finally said, and M's brow furrowed. The headmaster cleared his throat. "We're going to figure this out, M…when he gets back, we'll all talk. About what needs to happen."
M. wasn't sure what he meant by that, but then Marty was running his hand through M's bed-mussed hair almost tenderly.
"Get your things together. We're going to be heading home," the headmaster ordered, finally standing. However, he stared at his son a few seconds longer, like there was something else he wanted to say. M waited, his lunch all but forgotten on his lap.
"Son…"
"Oh."
The voice was soft, and M and Marty both glanced to the doorway. Amber flushed when she saw them looking at her, and M's heart began pounding. He hadn't expected her to actually come, but she had. He was relieved to see that she really did look like she was alright, just like her father had told him that morning.
M's nervousness for seeing his friend was compounded by the fact that his father was here. He glanced up to see Marty staring at the Oni, seemingly lost in thought. Finally, the headmaster spoke.
"We leave in ten minutes," he said distantly, and then he left. He didn't really look at Amber as he pushed past her, and the Oni looked over at M, obviously feeling awkward.
"Does that mean I can talk to you?" she finally asked, and he cleared his throat.
"I guess."
She hesitated a moment before coming in. She seemed a little wary, and that made M's stomach do a flip. Did she hate him after all?
"You…doing ok?" she finally asked. M. nodded, looking down at his lunch tray as he tried to move. He set it aside and went to stand, as if standing somehow proved he was fine.
"It's just my wrist," he explained, holding it up as proof. "I…sorta sprained it."
She stared at him and finally shook her head.
"You're an idiot, you know that?"
He blinked and glanced away, filling with shame.
"Amber…I know you probably hate me for what happened at the beach, and I don't blame…"
"The beach?" she snapped, coming over to fix him with her usual piercing stare. "I didn't mean the beach, M…I meant the whole running away thing. What were you thinking?"
He winced.
"I….I just couldn't stick around here anymore. I needed to get away."
"Get away from what?" she demanded, and he looked back over to meet her eye as he scoffed.
"From everything!" he said, gesturing around him as if his problems were surrounding them. "From everything I did wrong."
Her gaze softened a little and she shook her head.
"Like what?"
He sighed heavily. Why was she pulling this out of him? She should know what it was that he had done wrong. She had more reason to blame him than anyone else.
"I almost killed us in that stupid cave," he pointed out, and Amber was silent.
"No," she finally argued. "I almost killed us in that cave…"
"Only because I made us go in there!"
"Why did you make us go in there?" she said. "You've been off, M. You were off that day, and then you went crazy and tried to run off on your own. What's been with you?"
He didn't say anything, and Amber continued.
"Is it…is it your mom?"
He winced and shook his head as he sank on his bed.
"Is what my mom?"
"The reason you've been so weird around me. And Dani and them."
"Dani?"
M. scoffed. He had almost forgotten about his old fears and jealousies; in fact, he couldn't help but feel stupid about it now.
"You would always get weird around them," Amber pointed out, taking a seat next to him. "I just…I don't know what's going on in your mind."
"Well, you usually do," he pointed out bitterly, and her brow furrowed.
"I can read feelings, M. Not minds. I know you're jealous of them, but I don't know why. Is it because they're free to do what they want? Or maybe…."
He looked over at her in disbelief. She hadn't figured it out? She caught his expression and frowned.
"What?"
"It had nothing to do with the musicians," he said, and she just shrugged.
"Then what? Your parents?"
"No. Amber…don't you get it?"
"Get what?"
He hesitated, looking away.
"I've been losing people my whole life," he finally admitted, messing with the edge of his shirt to avoid looking right at her. "Somehow or another….I always manage to drive people away."
"What are you talking about?"
Her voice was less irritated now; she sounded genuinely unsure and he almost felt angry because of it.
"My mother left because of me, Amber! And my father was hardly any better…always off on some business trip or another. The only time he ever talked to me was to remind me of all the ways I wasn't measuring up…"
His expression twisted with emotion, and he wondered why it was he always let himself get to this point with the Oni-girl. She was still looking at him, and he figured he might as well have the rest of it out.
"But I had friends to help me get through that time…or I thought I did. But then next thing you know they're all leaving me too, turning against me for something stupid…"
"When I first showed up and you had to be my partner," Amber guessed, and he shrugged.
"They left when I needed them. That's when I realized that there's not much about me that convinces people to stay."
"M…" Amber started, but he cut her off.
"And sure, I knew I drove you crazy. But there was something about you that was different than anyone else. When you said things, you meant it. But in the end, even you left…"
"I had to save my parents!" she said. "It had nothing to do with you!"
"I know!" he replied, frustrated that he was bad at explaining and she was bad at understanding. "But I had no idea if I would ever get you back. So when I heard that you could be coming back to school, I did everything I could to make that happen."
She frowned as she continued to stare at him.
"What do you mean?"
He shrugged.
"Doesn't matter now. I know I was a jerk around Dani and them, Amber. It's just…I finally had you back, someone who I knew actually cared about me, and suddenly all these people were coming out of the woodwork to steal you away."
She snorted.
"M, that's ridiculous."
"It didn't feel ridiculous," he replied defensively. "That's how it always happens. People stay with me until they find something better…something more worthwhile. Then they leave."
Amber was silent, and he felt stupid. No doubt she thought he was crazy now, and maybe he was. But she had wanted him to explain himself. Despite the many hours he had thought about this very subject during his few days on the run, it seemed he still didn't know how to make his thoughts coherent enough for others to understand.
"We're friends, M." Amber finally said. "And nothing is going to change that."
His expression crumpled. How could she say that, after everything that had happened?
"But it's all my fault!" he pointed out. "You being in the hospital…your family getting arrested. Theo…"
His voice cracked and he shook his head.
"You were right about my mom, Amber. I should have listened…I just…I just wanted to believe that she really did care!"
He was crying now…it's all he seemed capable of doing lately. Driving people away and crying.
"It's not your fault, M. It's your mother; all of this has been her. The fact that she used you in the process of everything else…"
Her eyes flashed angrily, and M. stared down at his lap.
"I tried to talk her down, Amber. I swear I did. I didn't understand why she was targeting your parents or Theo. We got into an argument."
Amber hesitated before speaking.
"What did she say?"
He scoffed softly.
"That I'm just like my father."
"She's a monster."
M. glanced up at Amber's face to see that the Xinta was furious. There was a part of him that immediately jumped to his mother's defense. It was the part that had spent the last few days really trying to figure out a reason behind his mother's behavior. Something that would explain why she had treated Amber's family so terribly other than the obvious reason that had been staring at him in the face for months. But once the truth had taken hold in the backseat of her fancy sports car, it wouldn't go away. She wanted that councilwoman position…and by destroying Amber's family she thought she could get it.
Amber's expression seemed conflicted, as if she didn't know what else to say. But then M blinked in surprise as the Oni hugged him. She had never seemed to be the hugging sort, and he wasn't really sure what to make of it. But when Amber didn't let go, M. finally relaxed and hugged her back.
"We're going to stop her, M." Amber promised softly. "We'll get my brother back…and she'll pay for hurting you again."
He closed his eyes, not sure how to reply to that. He didn't want his mother to get hurt, but he also couldn't deny that she needed to be taken down a few pegs. He exhaled shakily.
"If there's anything I can do to help…let me know," he found himself saying. Amber was silent and M. shrugged in their hug. "I mean…I don't want to hurt her. But she can't become councilwoman. I see that now."
The Xinta didn't reply; she seemed lost in thought. They stayed like that for a few minutes longer, neither of them noticing the headmaster who was peering at them from around the doorway.
The evening was unnaturally foggy, and a figure peeled away from the shadows of the Western Fortress. She was wearing a long cloak to keep off the chill of the night, one hand cupped around the candle in her hand protectively. As she walked, a guard appeared in the night to apprehend her. However, as she brought the candle to her face to illuminate her copper-streaked eyes, the guard bowed his head respectfully and allowed her to pass.
The place she was going to wasn't far. Within a few minutes, she had arrived. Myrah pushed the cowl of her cloak back, sighing heavily as she looked out to the memorial mounds. The fog sifted between the weapons half-buried in the hardened earth, their hilts pointed at the stars. There weren't many of them…the Western Province hadn't had that many leaders who deserved the honor.
Many of the blades were weathered, having lost their sheen over the years. But the sword that Myrah approached was still new enough to wink in the candlelight. She sighed as she reached it, running her hand along the simple hilt. It was strange seeing this weapon stuck in cold ground, rather than being sheathed next to the side of her previous mentor and leader. She shivered a little; there was still an ache inside when she thought of Heavy Metal.
"I know you can't hear me," she started softly, looking at her flickering reflection in the sword's surface. "Or…maybe you can. I'm not really sure of anything anymore."
She placed the candle on the ground, taking a moment adjusting it to stay put. Then she straightened with a sigh, hugging herself.
"In life, I could always come to you for advice. But this time it isn't about how to handle village discontent or insulted advisors. It's more…"
She trailed off, shaking her head at her foolishness. She almost turned and went back to the fortress, but at the same time there wasn't anybody here to realize how crazy she sounded. Besides…she didn't have anyone else to talk to.
"I've made a mistake," she finally admitted, pushing her hair out of her face. "I just don't know which part of the past week was the mistake. I can't even think of what you would tell me to do if you were here. My mind says you'd side with Bula and tell me that I've been wasting my time, endangering my plans. Leadership was everything to you, so it should be everything to me. And yet…"
A breeze stirred her hair, which was down around her shoulders.
"I've heard things about you that don't necessarily match up with that image," she murmured. The sword didn't answer, but of course she didn't expect it to.
"I think I fell in love," she finally admitted. "It was different than I had been taught. It's almost like companionship, but more…I don't know how to explain it. I suppose you were never in love…were you? Never that foolish."
There was a howl in the distance, and Myrah glanced up. She wasn't worried however; it was far off.
"I wish you were here," she finally sighed. "Because I thought I could do this…and now I'm not so sure. A few months ago, everything was on track. I was going to become the leader, gain Theodynn's trust, and eventually become the Ruler of the realm. Make changes that would bring the Oni traditions more into focus. It's all Bula and I have ever talked about.
"Don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't want to be a leader anymore, because I do. I still want to make the changes that will make the realm better. But now I'm not so sure what those plans should be, and I can't even trust Bula anymore. There have been times when I was annoyed with her, of course…but to know that I can't tell her things has made everything even more complicated."
She rubbed her arms; the mist was chilling her. Bula would have a fit if she knew she was out here, Myrah knew. She'd go on and on about the risks of fever…but the Western Leader was over worrying about what her senior advisor thought.
"I've been trying to forget about him. Hershel. The Master Healer. He's the one who I, you know…" she trailed off, sighing. "You knew him, didn't you? I mean, of course you did; he's the one who would check on you those final weeks. But I mean you knew him when he was younger, a slave at the fortress. We had decided to try it out, this love. But because of Bula it's fallen apart…"
Her throat tightened with guilt, and she scoffed in annoyance.
"I don't know why I feel guilty," she argued. "It wasn't my fault they blinded him. I would have never asked for that to happen to anyone. Least of all the man who I…who loved me. He doesn't anymore of course; perhaps that should make it easier to move on, and I tried. But like I said, I've been trying to forget and I can't. I just keep reliving that night, over and over…and now I have these terrible dreams…"
Her expression crumpled and she looked down at where the candle was flickering madly in the gathering breeze.
"They would kill him. They would…if they blinded him for merely kissing me, then they would kill him if we continued. Normal Oni I could handle easily, but these are Healers; Ancients. I have no way of battling them. Before Bula got involved, I could have had everything. But now I'm forced to choose between keeping my distance to protect him and risking everything to continue chasing something I don't even understand…"
She fell silent now, staring at the sword in front of her. It was silent as well, and she pressed a hand against her forehead.
"I know what I have to do. I just…I just wanted the chance to talk it out before I do. And I can't do it now, because it's too soon…"
Her face twisted again.
"I came to you to draw strength…because you were the strongest person I knew. And I know you can't hear me, that you aren't here. But I also knew that it couldn't hurt anything by coming."
She pulled her cowl back on, ready to head back to the fortress.
"Perhaps I'll be back," she told the sword quietly. "If someday I regain my confidence, I'll come tell you about it."
She thought about taking the candle back with her, to light her way. But the moon was bright tonight, causing the mist to glow. So she left the flickering wax stub at the base of the sword to burn itself out or be smothered by the breeze, whichever came first.
137
"It's finished."
Mia said it both exhaustedly and triumphantly as she pushed her chair away from her laptop. Julien glanced up from his monitor.
"Completely?"
"Yup. It's as good as we're going to get it," she said, and May came over.
"You got the full arrest footage in?" she asked, and Mia nodded.
"Yup. It's got the arrest footage, the shot of her slapping Theo, not to mention all the horrible things she said to him in their first interview. Then there's that part you did about how she stopped feeding him and won't give him a lawyer. And, to top it all off, I included evidence that her son was locked in her office the night of the arrest and then counter it with the footage of her telling the kid's Dad that she hasn't seen him. That alone should destroy any argument that she has about Cole and Keyda being involved in her son's disappearance. What would be really great is if we had a testimony from M. himself, talking about how he ran away and Cole and Keyda saved him."
"I've called the school four times," May said, folding her arms. "His father's not letting us get anywhere near him."
"Can't Amber get the interview?" Mia complained. "He's her boyfriend after all."
"I do not believe they are dating," Julien cut in. "Besides, Amber has been so touchy lately, I do not think it would be a good idea to push the matter."
"Push what matter?"
The teens looked up as Colby came in, his face and hands spattered in black paint. Mia shook her head.
"Yo, Colbes! What happened to that political cartoon we were promised?"
Colby shrugged.
"Finished it."
"Finished it, he says," May said, rolling her eyes. "You've got to give it to us if we're going to post it."
"It's pretty well posted where it is," the thirteen-year-old said comfortably, grabbing a soda from the stash Kai had brought over earlier and popping the tab. His sisters just stared at him.
"Whatever," Mia finally sighed. "Have you seen Amber? We haven't been able to get a hold of her. Man, I wish that girl would carry a phone!"
Colby shrugged.
"Nah. Haven't seen her."
He took a long swig of soda, acting like someone who had completed an exhausting feat and deserved a refreshing break. Mia chewed her lip.
"I'm not sure how we're going to get that interview, then…"
"Look. Let's just get this video up and running, alright? We can do the interview later on. There's no rule saying that we have to stop slandering Matilda after the primaries. But the video's solid where it's at; it'll be ready to go tomorrow morning," May cut in. Julien nodded as he continued typing.
"May has a point," he noted, and Mia sighed.
"Fine. One hammer at a time, I guess."
She saved the file and stretched before looking over at her brother.
"So, you ever find out what your girlfriend was up to, Colbes?"
The youngest Walker inhaled soda and everyone watched him choke and cough. When he finally got it out of his system, he glared at his sister.
"She's not my girlfriend. Geez!"
"Whatever. Did she ever share what exactly it was that she was planning on doing?" May pressed, and Colby shook his head.
"Look, Dani-who is just an acquaintance- hasn't talked to me since I met her a couple days ago, alright? You wanna talk to her you have to talk to Amber."
Mia tapped her fingernails impatiently on her keyboard.
"Just another reason that girl needs a phone."
"What am I looking at?"
Matilda raised her sunglasses as she frowned at the graffiti now plastering the side of the NCST. Alejandro rubbed his nose.
"I…think that figure in the middle is supposed to be you."
"Mmmm…not a flattering likeness, is it?" she muttered. "Do I have four arms?"
"And fangs."
"Ah."
They both tilted their heads as they continued to study the black and white picture.
"I believe it's supposed to imply that you are Ninjago's current villain," Alejandro finally said, and he rubbed his face again. Matilda looked at him from the corner of her eye; if she didn't know better, it looked like her assistant was amused.
"How quaint," she said coldly. "How soon can we get this cleaned off?"
"I've already called the appropriate services," he replied quickly.
"And any idea who's responsible?"
He gestured for her to follow her back inside. They made their way up to the third floor and Alejandro took her back to the security office.
"I had Janet run back the cameras, and we picked this up."
He typed something into the monitor, and as he pushed enter a video feed popped up. A short figure in a blue hoodie was spray-painting the side of the building.
"It's broad daylight," Matilda said with wonder. "Does he realize he's doing this in broad daylight?"
"Apparently he doesn't care," came the reply. They watched as the figure finished the details of the screaming masses being crushed under the center figure's stilettoed heel and scampered off.
"The little delinquent!" Matilda scoffed. "Do we know who he is? I assume you've called the police?"
"I can if you want me to. But in all honesty, we should be grateful the kid did this; I think you'll be happy to see what I managed to dig up after figuring out his identity."
Matilda raised an eyebrow.
"Do share."
Theo dropped into the seat, his face neutral. He was over these interviews. No doubt he was just going to make Matilda angry, and then she wouldn't let him eat dinner, and he'd eat six or seven snack bars to make up for it. He didn't even have the energy to glare at the NCST President as she slunk in. He waited for her cold, calculating reasoning, but to his surprise she started laughing the second she saw him.
"Kids. This entire time…it was just a bunch of children!"
Theo stared at her, concerned. What on earth? Matilda was still chuckling as she walked over to his side of the table. That unnerved him even more; she never came near him, usually choosing to stare him down from the opposite end of the table. The NCST President looked down with a victorious sneer as she tossed a bunch of pictures onto the table. Theo glanced down and his blood ran cold.
"Friends of yours, aren't they?" she cooed, and he swallowed as his eyes flicked across the pictures of his Ninjagoan friends. Mia and May's school pictures. Julien Cyrus's Borg industry employee photo. A professional-looking picture of Ashley, and a blurred picture of a freckled-face in a blue hoodie.
"I've been trying to figure out who would have built up a case for you, honestly. I thought it was my competitors at first; I'll admit, the quality of the attacks threw me off. But the more they wrote, the more it focused on you. Who better to come to your defense than those who grew up with you? The children of your father's former partners."
Theodynn wasn't sure what to say, his heart pounding. How much did Matilda know? What was she implying?
"Still going for the silent defense?" she asked, folding her arms patronizingly as she leered down at him. "It doesn't matter. Now that I know who I'm really against, I don't have any doubt that the councilwoman seat will be mine in a matter of weeks. Your friends have no defense. Childish measures with obvious Oni bias; that's all this is. But I suppose I should thank them; because of their involvement, you're finally going to talk to me."
He narrowed his eyes, and she seemed to understand the challenge in the look he was giving her.
"They took a few steps too far," she explained in a silky voice. "That little hoodied hoodlum just vandalized the NCST building…something that we can certainly press charges for. And would you believe our system was infected with spyware? We haven't proved it yet, but we'll get there. Not to mention one of my newest interns seems to have lied about her intentions in our company."
Her hand rested on Ashley's picture, and Theo blanched. Matilda smirked.
"Did they really think they would stand a chance? That this little 'FreeTheodynn' movement would take off? Sure, it's been liked and shared across the web, but in the end they have no voice, do they? People sure love inspiring posts, but when it comes down to actually doing something about them?"
Matilda laughed, finishing her own thought. Theo wasn't even sure he knew what she was talking about, but he had a horrible feeling that his friend's plans had just fallen apart. Matilda eventually stopped chuckling, her expression sobering as she fixed him with an intense look.
"Look, Oni. I've been nothing but patient over the past few days, but you haven't shown yourself to be very cooperative. That's going to change right now, or I'm going to have to get your friends even more involved than they already are."
The teen's mouth had gone dry as he looked back down at the pictures scattered on the table.
"There's nothing to cooperate with," he finally said, and Matilda's eyebrow raised as he actually spoke to her. He turned to glare. "You keep asking about invasions, but there aren't any. When are you going to realize that? That we aren't the monsters you keep painting us as!"
"No, if anyone's painting someone as a monster, it's your little friends," Matilda said, throwing a disgusted look at Colby's picture. "And I would suggest you admit to something, if you don't want them getting visits from the Ninjago City Police…"
"There's nothing to admit to!" Theo yelled, getting to his feet. "We haven't done anything! You arrested us for no reason! You've kept me in this stupid building for days for nothing! You're a villain…a selfish, power seeking…"
She grabbed his arm, and he grimaced as her long nails dug into his skin.
"This is not a good time for name-calling, Oni." She murmured dangerously, and he met her eye defiantly as she continued. "I'll give you one last chance…what are the Oni's plans with this realm?"
"I have nothing to say to you."
She scoffed, but as she studied his face her lips twisted up in a sneer.
"Fine. If it's silence you want, then you're going somewhere where you won't get to talk to anyone."
He clenched his jaw at the threat, glaring at her, but she released his arm and straightened.
"I suppose I'll just have to get your friends involved after all. Not to mention your sister and your parents once again. But I'm tired of trying to work with someone so uncooperative; you'll get another chance to testify at your hearing…whenever that ends up taking place. It will be interesting to see how long we can push it off for…won't it?"
Theo was fuming as his guard pulled him back up to his feet. No doubt he would be in aura storm mode, if the vengestone cuffs hadn't been present.
"You're nobody!" he finally yelled. "You think you're so elite…so important. You're just the president of a villain's façade! You have no real title…no real influence!"
"And you're so much more important?" she countered, clearly unimpressed. Theo narrowed his eyes.
"I am the Heir to the Oni realm...royalty. And there will come a day where you will regret treating me like this!"
Matilda didn't move as Earl pulled Theo from the room. As the interview door slammed shut, a smile spread across her features.
"That will do just fine."
Ashely was laughing with the receptionist when her cellphone rang. She put up a finger to hold their conversation.
"Sorry…my brother. Can I answer this?"
The receptionist motioned for her to go ahead and the redhead flashed her a grateful smile as she took a few steps to answer the call.
"Julien. What's up?'
"I can't get through."
If his tone wasn't enough to let Ashley know something was wrong, she realized with a start that he had used a contraction. He didn't use those lightly.
"Get through?"
"The NCST system shut me out suddenly, about ten minutes ago. I am no longer able to get into the security footage, listen in on calls, nothing. And no matter what I do, I can't get it back."
She swallowed hard, her eyes glancing over at the receptionist warily. But the woman just looked concerned, no doubt picking up on Ashley's anxiety.
"What do you think that means?" she asked carefully, and she could hear Julien's furious typing through the phone.
"They found my spyware, most likely. It was pretty encoded, but I had to make it less discrete in order to find those other files. I created it to self-destruct when tampered with…which means someone triggered it and now it's gone. I'm not in the system anymore."
"Do they know about me?" she asked, turning away from the receptionist with a soft voice.
"How should I know!? Are you not getting that I no longer have eyes in the company!?"
Ashley's heart was pounding; this wasn't good. But it didn't necessarily mean that all was lost. She needed to go see what the damage was. She spoke a little louder, so the receptionist could hear.
"Alright. Well, I'm at work, Julien…I'll have to talk to you about it when I get home."
"Wait, Ashley I do not think…."
She hung up the phone and turned to smile at the receptionist. The woman gave her a concerned smile back.
"Everything ok?"
"Yeah, no, it's fine. Nothing I can't sort out," Ashley assured, tucking her hair behind her ear. "But I really should go check and see if they need me upstairs. Good talking to you!"
The receptionist nodded and went back to typing, and Ashley immediately headed to the elevator. As the doors slid shut, she went to push the 3. That's where she would be able to talk to the most people and get the most information, after all. But as her finger hovered over the round button, she hesitated. A sudden fear hit home, and before she could think better of it, she pressed the 4.
The elevator dinged open and she walked quickly down the corridor. Her stomach gave a flip as she saw that for once, Franklin wasn't at his desk. Sure, there were times that he was asleep, or there was a separate guard entirely for the night shift. But it was broad daylight and he should be here…and the desk was completely bare. Ashley passed it quickly, trying to convince herself that everything was fine. There was no point in freaking out; he could be in the bathroom for all she knew. But her intuition wasn't buying it.
She turned the corner, desperate to see Theo sitting on his bed. She didn't even care that they had left on an awkward note…it was far more important that he be there and everything still be on track.
Ashley reached the cell quickly, and her heart dropped. It was empty…completely empty. The bed was stripped of even its sheets, and she felt like throwing up. Her mind raced through a million possibilities. Theo could be in an interview, and they were washing the sheets while he was gone. He could have been moved to a new cell. Maybe they had even let him go.
But she wasn't stupid; she knew better. They had been compromised. Her worst fear was realized as she heard a voice behind her.
"Well…if it isn't my spunky little intern."
The redhead turned to see Matilda O'Keefe standing with a few other NCST members. Ashley tried not to appear intimidated, but considering that she had no idea what was going on and her only exit was blocked, she wasn't necessarily feeling confident.
"Come to see your friend again?" Matilda asked sweetly. She held up a snack bar, her nose wrinkling in disgust. "Probably to make sure that he's eating alright, yeah?"
There was no point in keeping up the act. Ashley folded her arms, eyeing the President coldly.
"Where's Theo?" she demanded, and the blonde woman scoffed as if she found Ashley both endearing and annoying.
"Is that your pet name for him? How sweet. Unfortunately, as a political science major, you must know that we could hardly keep a political prisoner in a compromised space…"
"Where is he!?" Ashley yelled, her heart pounding. They had failed. She had failed. Her mind couldn't calculate the repercussions of what Matilda was saying fast enough.
"Somewhere secure," Matilda replied lightly. "You'll be able to see him at his trial…though it's hard to say exactly when that will be. At least a few months, perhaps even longer. Probably best to wait until the elections are done, when I'll actually have time to be part of the proceedings."
"You can't do this," Ashley argued, making sure to keep her calm. "Ninjagoan law states that trials must be held within the month of crime; no one can be incarcerated without trial for more than…"
"Those laws only apply to those born in Ninjago. Face it, love…dealing with people from other realms is uncharted territory. And I fully intend to be the pioneer who stakes out exactly what regulations we will use."
Ashley was stiff with anger as she glared at the patronizing NCST President, and Matilda shifted her weight in a way that suggested she was bored with this conversation.
"I suggest you leave now, Ashley Smith. As you could probably guess, you're fired…and I'm afraid I won't be able to give you a very glowing letter of recommendation to N.U."
"I'm not leaving until you tell me where Theo is!" Ashley said, standing her ground. Matilda just scoffed.
"Girly, unless you want a lawsuit on your hands, I expect you back off. In fact…" Here the President took a threatening step forward, the guards around her stiffening expectantly. "You can tell all your little teenage friends to back off. Give up on this social media movement, stop attacking me and my campaign, and realize that you are in over your head here. It's cute you tried, really…and you all put up an impressive little fight. But you're out of your league and I have more than a dozen things I could charge the lot of you with if I so desire."
It was checkmate…and Ashley knew it. It felt like the world was spinning, crashing down. This monster had figured them out, and what was worse is they hadn't even unleashed their greatest attacks yet. But despite the fact that she knew she was beat, the redhead couldn't help but glare at the patronizing woman.
"What you're doing is wrong and you won't get away with it."
It didn't really leave the impact she was hoping for. Matilda just smiled.
"How cliché…you pick that up from your father? The ninja were always known for their trite little catechisms. But all of that 'true potential, spinjitzu' nonsense is a thing of the past. In the world I'm creating, there is no need for ninja. And there is certainly no need for little girls and boys who meddle with things they shouldn't. So you go home…and you pass that along, alright?"
Ashley didn't move, but Matilda was gesturing at the guards near her to escort her out. The young woman's face flushed angrily as one of them grabbed her arm, and she yanked it out of their grasp. However, she knew she couldn't stay here; if she didn't leave herself, they were going to use force. She gave Matilda one last hateful, defiant look, and strode towards the elevator. She was burning with fury and humiliation as she rode it down to the ground floor, but the only thing she could do was head back to the temple and try and figure out what could be salvaged in the shattered plans they had made.
138
It was chaos when Amber walked in.
"How could you be so stupid, Colby!?"
"I don't get how they figured out it was me! Isn't Julien controlling their cameras?!"
"I can see what their cameras see," the robotics major corrected in coldly. "Or at least…I used to be able to."
"But you totally loop it or whatever when Ash visits Theo…"
"Because I knew to do it before hand…"
"You always mess everything up!" One of the twins yelled, and Amber found that she was dizzy with all the emotions in the room. Anger, disgust, guilt, defensiveness…and sadness. A wave of sadness. She looked over, realizing that was stemming from the redhead sulking in one corner. Amber's heart fell.
"What's going on?"
As loud as it had been, the chaos died immediately. Everyone froze, and it seemed like everyone was suddenly avoiding eye contact. The Xinta had a horrible feeling.
"What's happened?!" she demanded. "What's going on?"
No one answered at first, but as her eyes flashed, Julien finally pushed his glasses up his nose and spoke up.
"Our position at the NCST has been compromised."
Her stomach did a flip.
"What do you mean?"
"He means Matilda is on to us…and she totally shut us down. On pain of lawsuits," Mia cut in bitterly. She seemed to be stewing in a corner, bouncing what looked like a tennis ball off the wall in an effort to calm down. From what Amber could feel, it wasn't working.
"Shut you down? What about Theo?"
Again, silence…and an increasing amount of guilt. She shook her head and ran over to the computers that Julien had been glued to for days.
"Where's my brother?! Is he still in his cell? What's happened?"
"I can no longer access the NCST database," Julien explained softly, staring at his black screens with a forlorn look.
"But is he ok?" Amber turned to the others, angry that no one would look at her. "Do you know anything?!"
"He…should be fine."
The soft comment came from the redhead sitting on a counter, and when Amber looked at her, Ashley finally looked up to meet her eye.
"He has to go to trial, so Matilda can't do anything to him…"
"Trial?! You said that you would have him out of there way before the trial! Matilda won't even release when that trial is!"
Ashley just winced and looked away, which was worse than anything she could have done. Amber realized with sudden anger that she needed the redhead to have a back up plan. To say that everything was going to be ok….to assure her that they were on it and she just needed to have faith. But if anything, Ashley suddenly looked so young and defeated. Amber's expression hardened with resolve.
"You tried," she started, and everyone glanced over at her then. She sighed heavily. "You all tried it your way…but it didn't work. So now we have to do it my way."
Ashley sat up then, blanching.
"Amber, you can't…"
"I'm not letting her touch my brother. If you all couldn't get him out, I will!"
The Xinta stormed out of the room, but Ashley followed close behind. Aura winds started swirling around Amber for a transport as she headed down the hall. Someone grabbed her arm and she whirled around angrily.
"Let go!" she demanded, but Ashely's expression was finally resolved.
"I know you're upset; I don't blame you," she said calmly. "But please, trust me when I say that if you break in there it's going to make everything so much worse."
"I should have done this days ago!" Amber argued. "She will finally realize exactly who she's messing with. We don't have to jump through her hoops. We don't have to play fair."
"Amber…"
"I'm an ONI! What's more, I'm a Xinta. I banished a centuries old witch, I fixed my brother when he died, and there is nothing I am not capable of. Least of all defeating a monster who has targeted everyone I care about!"
Ashely seemed more than a little shocked at her speech, and Amber pulled her arm from the older girl. However, Ashely snapped out of it and grabbed her other arm.
"You're right!"
Amber paused at the redhead's confession, and Ashley sighed.
"You're right, Amber. I don't really know anything about all the stuff you just said, but I definitely believe you when you say that you could defeat her…make her pay. But that's exactly what she wants!"
Amber scowled.
"She'd be pretty stupid to want what I'm about to do to her…"
"If you hurt Matilda, you are proving her right," Ashely countered. "You're proving that Oni are unpredictable, that they can't follow rules, and that they should be feared. Is that what you want?"
Amber hesitated, hating that logic seemed to be leaking through her internal rage. Ashley continued.
"You also aren't giving Theo enough credit. There's no doubt in my mind your brother could have escaped by now if he wanted to. He could have made her pay. But he didn't. He's choosing to stay there because he knows if he does anything then it will only give Matilda more ground in this war."
"No, he stayed because you swore to him that you'd get him out!" Amber yelled, and something flickered across Ashley's expression. Guilt.
"She can't hurt him. She's bound by the same laws that she's using to trap him, Amber. She can't hurt Theodynn without making things harder on herself. So she's targeting us….trying to make us flip a switch and lose control. She's counting on it."
Amber's eyes were filled with tears.
"She has to pay."
"She will pay," Ashley assured, and Amber scoffed.
"How?!"
"I don't know!"
Ashley finally raised her voice herself. She released Amber so she could angrily shove her bangs out of her face, and then the eighteen-year old sighed heavily.
"I don't know. But we aren't giving up, Amber. We won't let her win. Today came as a blow…I'm not going to lie. But that doesn't mean we're just going to give up on Theo…"
"You don't even care about Theo!" Amber hissed in reply, and Ashley stiffened with anger.
"I do!" she yelled back, glaring at Amber. "I do care, ok?! I get that you hate me. You've hated me as long as I can remember; you hated me all growing up because you thought Theo paid me more attention than he did you, and then you hated me worse when I told him I didn't love him. But the thing is, Amber…I don't love your brother. Not like that. I don't see us together, and I don't have those feelings for him. But that doesn't mean I don't care!"
Amber continued glaring, angry that Ashley's feelings seemed to be backing up her argument. She was surprised when Ashley's eyes filled with tears.
"He's one of my best friends; always has been. You don't think it's made me livid to see how that creep treats him? That he's locked up for nothing!? He's the sweetest, most genuine guy I know…and he doesn't deserve any of this! Which is why I'm trying to make it so he doesn't have to suffer more than he has to; that none of you do. Because Matilda is a spider in her web of lies; she will twist what you say, warp situations, and do whatever she can to get to power. Yes, you could take her out; I've no doubt about that. But her web will remain and trap every one of us in it if we don't go through the process of jumping through the gaps."
Amber's own eyes were filled with tears, and she was still furious. But the aura winds around her were dying down.
"Then what can we do?" she finally demanded. She could feel Ashley's relief as the redhead sighed.
"I'm not completely sure. We have the video still, but Matilda made it clear she would come down hard if we continued our attack. If we do post it, we have to time it right…and be ok with the consequences that will follow."
Her expression flickered for a moment, but then she continued on.
"Her primary debate is tomorrow afternoon. It would be a perfect time to question her—confront her with the details of what she's done. We really wanted Uncle Lloyd to do it, but he wouldn't. And now if any of us or even our parents show up, she has plenty of ammunition to shut us down."
Amber frowned as she processed what Ashely had said.
"We need someone to take her head on…but it can't be any of us," she finally clarified, and Ashley sighed.
"Yeah. Which makes it nearly impossible, at this point."
An idea was forming in the back of Amber's mind. It was risky….and she wasn't even sure she could make it happen. But as she thought of everything Ashley had just said, as well as Theo in some unknown cell, Amber knew it was worth a shot.
"I might know somebody."
Colby sulked in his chair, trying to make himself as small as possible. No matter what he did, he couldn't please anybody. First they didn't want him involved, and then they finally invited him, but then they were mad he wasn't doing things for the cause, and then they were blaming him for everything falling apart. This is why he stuck to abstract! He had never been able to meet expectations…better to invest his time and talent into something that literally didn't have any!
"What about your video?" he finally asked. "Don't you guys still have that you can post? Matilda might know who you are, but it would still tell everyone what a witch she is!"
"She's got us cornered, thanks to you!" May snapped, glaring at her brother. "We post that and suddenly she pressing charges against you for vandalizing and Julien for spyware and Ash for…"
"I would like to see her try to pin that on me," Julien cut in coolly. Everyone glanced over and he shrugged. "It was created to self-destruct if people try to fiddle with it. They may know that there was spyware in their system and they may know that I was in their building at some point over the last few days, but I would like to see them try to prove those events have a correlation."
Everyone blinked, and then Mia sighed.
"It doesn't matter. All that work for nothing…"
"Well, you can't quit," Colby snapped. "If you quit then it's not my fault…that's on you!"
"We wouldn't have to quit if you had been born with half a brain!"
"That's it!"
Colby stood, frustrated and guilty and defensive all in one.
"You know what?! Release that video. I'm not sorry! Why should we let that lady win, huh? I'm glad she knows who we are! I'm glad she understands that we may be kids but we aren't just going to lay down and take it! I don't care if they lock me up for a hundred years…"
"They wouldn't lock you up," May cut in with a scoff and an eye roll. "You'd probably just get fined and be saddled with community service."
"Even better!" he said. "I'm sick of you guys treating me like the black sheep, the one who didn't fit into the mold of 'ninja kid.' So what if I like painting and drawing more than fighting and engineering and all that stuff? So what if I can't hack into computers and I have like zero self-defense skills? I don't quit, and isn't that what being part of the ninja legacy is all about!?"
His sisters were staring at him like he'd lost his mind, but he was too irate to care.
"You guys go ahead and sit there and make fun of me, alright? You can tell everyone that you were really close but that "Colby the brainless" messed it all up. But if you quit don't you dare blame that on me!"
"Colbes, chill…" May tried, but he shook his head.
"NO. You guys have been hounding me for years! Is it any wonder why I hate being around you!?"
The Walker twins both blinked in surprise at that, but he didn't wait for them to say anything else as he stormed to the exit.
"Where are you going?" Julien called, and Colby didn't turn as he yelled out.
"To the police station!"
"Why?" Mia called out, clearly shocked. Here he paused and turned around.
"To turn myself in! Suffering for the cause…like a real artist! I'm not gonna let 'the man' have something hanging over me!"
The other three teens sat dumbfounded as they watched the youngest Walker leave the room and slam the door.
"He can't be serious," May finally cut in. Julien scratched his head.
"He…sounded serious."
Mia stood and scowled.
"Well we can't just let him go and do that! If he wants us to stop treating him like an idiot, then he should stop acting like one!"
The twins went to leave, but Julien stood and called out to them.
"Wait!"
They turned to fix him with identical withering looks, and he polished his glasses as he frowned.
"I think that Colby has a point."
"A point? The stupid kid is about to go turn himself in to the police!" May snapped. Julien rolled his eyes.
"I know. Which would make it so Matilda no longer has the ammunition she thinks she has."
Mia folded her arms, obviously cross.
"Get to the point, geek…we have to go get our brother!"
Julien narrowed his eyes but continued.
"You could post the video now, technically. Sure, she'll try to pin stuff on me, but I'm clean as a whistle…"
"You can't be sure of that," May argued.
"…and while Ashley had ulterior motives, she never actually did anything wrong besides talk with Theo. Which is not a criminal offense. You both have been posting slander, but freedom of speech makes that entirely legal, even if it is irritating for Matilda. Colby is the only one she could really target at this moment if we were to continue our fight, but if he has already been punished for his misdemeanor, she cannot have him punished again."
The twins scowled, and he shrugged.
"She called our bluff. Now we are calling hers."
"So you're saying we should let our baby brother throw himself under the bus and still post that video challenging Matilda that will no doubt make her furious?"
Julien smiled.
"Our parents did not give up when facing villains of the past, no matter what the threats were. What are we showing them…what are we proving to ourselves if we give up now?"
The twins were silent and Julien sat back down in his chair, seemingly inspired by his own train of thought as he powered his computers up again.
"Like I said, I think Colby has a point. Ninja never quit."
"Wait…you're turning yourself in?"
The police officer looked confused, and Colby flashed him a classic Walker grin.
"Yes. I was the one who vandalized the NCST building earlier. You can ask them for confirmation."
The policeman raised an eyebrow.
"And you came here because…"
Colby offered his wrists, as if waiting for handcuffs.
"I was fully aware that my actions were against the law," he explained. "But I did it because there is wrong going on in this city and if I had to be the only one who would stand up against it…"
The police officer was waving him off.
"Ah, that's enough, kid. I don't need your soapbox, alright?"
He picked up a phone and Colby lowered his arms.
"Chief? Yeah…we got a kid here confessing to his own misdemeanor. Vandalism. Yeah…yeah. Apparently he's got some political chip on his shoulder. I know, right? That's just what I was thinking."
He looked back at Colby, looking him up and down.
"I dunno. Ten? Twelve?"
"Thirteen!" Colby corrected with a huff. Someday he'd get rid of this baby fat, and people might take him seriously.
"Thirteen, he says," the officer repeated wryly. "Uh-huh. Nah, haven't called the parents yet. You think? Yeah, that would work. I just wanted your input first. I can have the paperwork done by this afternoon; it's been slow. Sure Chief, thanks."
The officer hung up the phone with a sigh, and then fixed the eager-looking kid with a long look.
"Alright, kid…this is what's gonna happen. We're gonna call your parents and have them come down here. There's gonna be a fine involved, and an apology letter written to the NCST, not to mention community service."
Colby nodded; he had expected as much.
"How much?"
The officer scratched his chin.
"Normally you'd have a hearing and the judge would decide that, but I just talked to the Chief and he's gonna call the Justice of the Peace today to see if we can settle this outside of court, so to speak. We're gonna have to put this little political statement on your record, you understand. As for the community service, you can start today. Goodness knows this police station needs some sprucing up."
Colby nodded his understanding. The police officer handed him a paper so he could write down his parent's numbers. That was going to be the only bad thing…trying to explain this.
"What exactly was this vandalism?" the police officer asked, surprisingly curious as Colby handed the pad back to him. The boy smirked and pulled out his phone.
"Just…a mural describing Matilda O'Keefe's effect on Ninjago."
The officer raised his eyebrows and Colby turned the phone so he could see the painting. The man scanned it for a few moments, and the boy was surprised when the officer began chuckling.
"Say…that's pretty good," he murmured, but then seemed to catch himself. He cleared his throat. "But completely inappropriate, you understand."
"I know," Colby said sheepishly. The Cop began typing in Jay Walker's phone number and a smile cracked through his serious mask again.
"Never liked that woman, though," he murmured, as if to himself. "Bossy…and all those stupid laws." He spoke louder as he addressed Colby again. "Alright lad, go get started on those windows. I want them sparkling by the time your parents get here.
Colby saluted.
"Aye-aye."
25