A/N: Ok everyone, here's part two of this two-shot. It's pretty long, but I really wanted to finish this and give it justice, so here it is. Hope you all enjoy it! If you want more Ninjago, check out the other fanfic I'm in the middle of writing, Green Legacy. Enjoy all the pranks and weirdness these people get into even when they're on a mission.
They met Cole and Zane on the north side of the building.
"We got alerts on them and went to check them out. It turns out they're all armed and planning something. Cole and I figured it'd be best to take them out now and risk fewer lives. From our intel, they seem to be planning an assault on the palace." Cole informed them quietly.
"Yes, they are all in here right now planning the attack as far as we can tell," Zane added.
Lloyd turned to Zane, "Any info on them? Is this a splinter group or all of them?"
"I'm not sure. They strike without warning, but the police planted a spy inside and he managed to send them word about this. You will know him if he responds to the code word "bulldog" with the phrase, "the sun is shining". Do not engage him, he is under orders to help if the tide is turned in our direction. As far as I can tell, there is a lot of guards in there, so we'll need to be careful and take them out as quietly as is remotely possible."
Lloyd nodded, "Ok thanks, Zane. Kai and Jay, I want you on the south side. Nya and Cole, east side. I'll take the west side and Zane, you take this side and stay alert. Use formation 4."
They all nodded and ran to their assigned areas. They had different numbers for several different formations that had been previously discussed, to make life easier for Lloyd. Formation 4 was slow infiltration, listening to various conversations, pick up information and slowly close the net of ninja by knocking anyone they came across unconscious. Use of their elemental powers was discouraged except for Jay's because if someone was paying enough attention they would notice the amount of destruction that their elemental powers tend to cause. Jay's elemental power was the least likely to get noticed and he had the job of cutting the power in the building to signal the closing of the net, sending their adversaries into confusion.
Lloyd set his watch to count down 5 minutes, knowing everybody else would be doing the same. Once the 5 minutes were up, they'd all begin the infiltration.
After about 4 minutes passed, he turned on his comm, "Ok, is everyone in position?"
Affirmations from everyone on the different teams, "Alright, let's do this thing."
He checked that his mask was down and focused himself, climbing in through a window and stealthily dropped down to the ground. He quickly took out two perimeter guards and reported in, knowing that constant communication was key to making sure that no one got worried and went to his position to be sure he was ok.
He encountered another guard and ducked behind a storage bin, scuffling with him for a second before knocking him out and depositing him into a bin, locking the position into his mind. Hearing the voices of two other guards, he climbed atop another bin and listened closely, trying to hear what they were saying.
They weren't talking about anything of any interest to him, just about some movie Jay had also been wanting to see.
He knocked them out with no difficulty and continued closer to the middle, hoping someone would be spreading their opinion on the plan.
On the other side of the building, Cole and Nya entered through the roof, dropping a perimeter guard and two other goons that wheeled around the corner at the wrong time.
"Ugh, that was louder than I thought it would be." Groaned Cole, slapping handcuffs on them and activating the trackers so they could find them if they tried to run away.
Nya shrugged, "It's fine, but let's try to quieter now."
Cole agreed, following her as she stealthily approached a corner, peeking around it to spot two more guards with guns.
Lloyd, Zane, and Jay checked in, saying that they were in the building. Cole echoed that, helping Nya take out the guards before they could even draw their guns.
She climbed up to a storage crate, seeing what was beyond them. She signaled him about a group of off duty bananas-no, wait, guards, playing cards with their guns all piled onto a table behind them.
He nodded, climbing behind her and trying to listen to and hear what they were saying.
"All I'm saying is," One was commenting, "I think this is ridiculous, planning such a large scale attack with our leadership as fractured as it is."
Several others chorused in agreement but one shook his head, "I think that's the point. No one wants to show weakness, so they're all acting on this as if they agree. Also, I'm surprised that those darn ninja haven't figured us out yet, I thought they were supposed to be smart!"
Everyone laughed raucously, and Nya and Cole exchanged looks.
"I agree with Clyde. The six tribe leaders can't seem to agree on who will lead us when we storm the palace! I'm surprised they haven't gone to war against each other!"
They all nodded and murmured in agreement.
Cole waited a few minutes before determining that they weren't gonna be saying anything else. He caught Nya's attention and signaled where he'd go down. She crawled in the opposite direction and he dropped to the floor, trying to decide what to do.
Ok now Cole, go time. He walked to the edge of the circle of light and cleared his throat, making his expression relaxed and friendly.
As soon as he made a noise, everyone's eyes turned to him.
"Nice weather we're having." He remarked, trying to calm down his heartbeat.
"It's the earth ninja!" Someone yelled.
"Keep it down, you guys! By the way, before you shoot me, can I ask anyone about a bulldog?" He paused, and when no one responded, shrugged, cracking his knuckles, "Alright, guess we can get going now."
Someone got up and ran at him, knocking over their chair. Cole dodged casually to the side of the punch, not even moving his feet. He swept his leg across the floor and knocked the guy over.
"Anyone else?" He asked, slapping handcuffs on the guy and knocking him out.
There was silence for one second. At first, it seemed no one wanted to challenge him, but no one wanted to run and risk him chasing them. Just as he had begun to think that he may be able to get them all to surrender without a fight, he got rushed by a wave of people and knocked to the floor.
When Nya entered the fray, there were suddenly fewer people trying to beat him up and surprised shouts of "there's another one!" that seemed to bounce off the walls and reverberate around, hopefully not calling anyone else to their aid.
When all was said and done, they walked around the circle of unconscious or semi-conscious men, slapping handcuffs on them.
"Ok, now that was much louder than we meant it to be." Remarked Nya, stretching.
"Let's just be glad this is a big warehouse. Anyone who heard us has probably already come and been taken care of."
Kai's voice came over the comms, sounding worried, "Are you two good? We heard some commotion coming from where your positions are."
"Yeah, we're good. Is everyone on schedule?"
Agreement from everyone. Kai clicked off quickly (presumably because Jay had spotted someone), and Lloyd and Zane followed suit.
Cole finished putting the last guy inside an empty storage container, chuckling. "It's a good thing that this a warehouse. There aren't many more places that formation 4 would work with."
Nya chuckled too, "Still cannot believe these guys couldn't take a break for April Fools. Are you ready?"
"After this, the rest of the guys should be as easy as making water soup." Cole joked, checking to make sure his mask was secure over his face and climbing to the top of the metal containers.
Nya followed him, being careful about how she stepped. She noticed a guard patrolling and indicated that she could take him.
He nodded and she dropped down to the floor, dropping the guy with a well-placed kick. She rejoined him and they set off towards the middle.
The net was being pulled tighter.
Zane got to the middle first. Even though he was by himself, he was normally the first one to finish his objectives.
He blinked away the warnings that he needed to shut down, that routine checks that were normally completed while he slept were now overdue and needed to be resolved. His brain was extremely tired, but he was wide awake, receiving constant reports on the statuses of his teammates, which included their heart rates, state of health and where they were, distances he would need to jump to make it to the next firm standing point, any news reports that had specific keywords in them, and cute cat videos on repeat. Yeah, he was one of those people.
Settling into a more comfortable position to watch the meeting currently going on, he took notes on exits, how many people were in the meeting and any criminal records they had, the number of guards, possible defendable positions should they need them, etc. All of this he sent to Lloyd's watch with the tag line "urgent" and the code that said it was from him. Then, he turned his audio interface up to listen to and record what was being said, idly watching the map of blinking dots to the right of his vision and a video of kittens playing with a ball of yarn. It was times like these that he wished that Pixal was still in his head. He understood how trapped she had felt there, and he was wanting her to be able to do what she needed to do, but he had enjoyed being able to talk with her for hours and still be able to just talk about random things. Now that she had gotten her own body again, she rarely reappeared in the side of his vision again unless he needed her help.
His audio picked up the word emperor, alerting him to that, and he began actively listening.
"The emperor won't be expecting a force like ours to attack. By the time he manages to get the men he needs together to repel us, we'll be feasting at his table! The thing is, we need everyone's support and help, not just two or three of you. Everyone must participate for this to succeed. If we all work together right now, we'll be able to duke it out later. We will finally get the justice we deserve!"
Everyone cheered at that, filling Zane with foreboding.
"What's your status?" He whispered into his comm.
Kai was the first one to respond, "We are almost in position. Jay brought along a few...surprises for them. Will alert you when we are in position and ready."
"Us too," Nya added, "Minus whatever surprises they have though."
Lloyd was the last to respond, "I'm a bit behind schedule." There was a grunt and the sound of someone hitting the floor, "I'll try and speed it up."
"No no no no." Cole interrupted, "Don't speed it up and get yourself hurt or killed. We may need you in the future, not the remains of you. Take your time and we'll wait for you."
"Copy," Lloyd replied.
Zane sat back again, trying to be patient. Each second that passed was a second that those hooligans down below him had to get their act together. He moved the timer and clock from his main point of vision and continued listening idly, staying alert, but relaxed.
His audio sensors stayed level at first, just listening to the conversation that had now moved to something about the arrival of fewer ducks then someone had ordered (like what in Ninjago?) and there was a fight going on. Well, at this rate, they'll be too preoccupied to do much of anything when we attack them, which is always nice. His attention was distracted by the sound of movement behind him. They weren't too close, but they were close enough that his sensors were able to pick up the sound of their movement. He tensed, resisting the urge to turn around and look at what was behind him. Instead, he closed his eyes and listened, letting his brain automatically fill in the blanks and draw a mental picture of what he was facing here.
Two men, maybe three. They were amateurs at sneaking up on someone because they weren't even really trying to muffle their steps. One was making more noise on his footfalls then the other, so he was more heavyset and probably the muscle of the group. The bigger they are the harder they fall as the saying goes. The other one (two?) was smaller and lighter. Listening closer, he could hear the sound of a gun hitting against someone's leg. Just one gun, not two thankfully.
They were trying to sneak up on him, there wasn't any other good reason for anyone to be up here. The next question had to be, had they alerted anyone to the fact that he was here? Maybe, maybe not.
If he was them, he'd want to take out the ninja that was up there by himself, hoping to get a promotion or a pay raise for bringing him in successfully. The more people he included in this, the more unlikely it became that he would get any promotion at all. Chances were, neither of them had told anyone that he was there and were first gonna try and take him out themselves.
He had a few options. Jump down and begin evasive maneuvers in an attempt to lose them, engage them up here and probably win the fight, or, play dead and lure them in.
He calculated the rate of success for each option. The first option held too many variables. They knew the exact layout much better than he and even if he did manage to lose them, they would then definitely alert everyone else in the building that he was here and he and his teammates would have to evacuate or risk getting hurt. The second option risked a greater loss of life if they shot the gun, so he automatically crossed that off of the list. That left the third option, play dead and surprise them.
The great thing with being a Nindroid was the ability to look as if he'd shut off due to lack of power or a glitch of some kind. He'd often pulled this trick with his teammates, and they fell for it every time. These criminals would have no way of knowing he ran on a remote energy source and that he rarely developed any glitches.
He shut down all signs of power, making the light in his eyes go down to low power mode. To any casual observer, he would look dead. Just what he wanted.
"So what should we do if he isn't shut down?"
"Run like heck I suppose. There's no way we can beat him."
So there were only two people. He waited patiently and they came into view.
His predictions had been correct. There was the larger, more heavyset one, and the smaller guy carrying a gun.
"Thank the First Spinjitzu Master. He must have run out of power or something."
"Lucky us, we are so getting promotions out of this!"
Zane willed himself to be heavier. As soon as they attempted to pick him up, he'd catch them by surprise and knock them out.
"Alright, we are in position." Cole's voice came over the comms.
"Did you hear something?" Asked the skinny man, going behind Zane to pick him up.
"Hmm, nope not a thing. I just thought of something Alex."
"Oh yeah, what?" Alex responded, trying to figure out how best to pick Zane up.
"Well, why would it just be him? What if-" He paused, whispering, "The rest of them are also here?"
Alex paused, considering this, "Nah, that's just ridiculous. Ya know Lang, the odds that the rest of them are here is extremely low. Why is it low do you ask? Well, we haven't heard any commotion or anything like that and everyone knows that for calling themselves ninja, they are pretty loud. Chances are, he heard something strange, came in here to investigate and ran out of battery. Just be glad that we were the first ones to see him."
Lang sighed, bending down to pick up Zane by the feet, "If you really think so."
Alex nodded, "Oh I'm sure. There's nothing to be worried about."
Zane powered on completely, "Is there nothing to be worried about?"
He swung his leg up and flipped Lang over. Then he flipped over Alex and slammed him into the container. He took their walkie talkie and hot-wired them so they wouldn't work. He took the gun from Alex and threw it to the top of a different container. He checked the two of them. They'd be alright, maybe have small concussions and neither would be getting up in the next half an hour, which would be just the right amount of time.
"We are in position also, does anyone copy?" Jay asked.
Zane jumped to an adjacent container, "I copy and am also in position and ready."
"Alright, now that everyone is ready, Jay, would you mind killing the lights?"
A second passed, then the lights went out, plunging everything into darkness. Across the wide space, a firework exploded, sending everyone down below for cover.
As soon as the lights went out, Zane jumped down and into the wide circle of light, immediately engaging someone in a fight. As he zigzagged around the circle, he caught glimpses of his team, Jay getting knocked to the floor, but getting up and tackling whoever had punched him. Nya twisting the arm of a goon. Lloyd sweeping a leg underneath a guard and sprinting after someone who was trying to escape.
The whole scene was complete chaos. It turned out that the "surprises" that Kai had been talking about was a bunch of April Fools tricks that Jay had somehow managed to sneak in. The tricks he had brought were now exploding and making noises all over, just adding to the chaos.
The enemy was taken by complete surprise, but that didn't stop them from fighting back. Those who had been carrying guns beforehand had recovered enough from the surprise attack to take out their guns and begin to use them, making it even more difficult to maneuver.
Zane spotted Kai exchanging blows with one of the gang leaders. He was holding up fine on his own, and Zane was about to move on to look for someone else to engage, but he spotted a goon cocking a gun and pointing it at Kai, who had just downed the man he was fighting and had his back to the guy.
I'm not gonna make it in time he thought frantically, running scenarios quickly in his head. He sprinted towards Kai, feeling like he was running in slow motion.
"KAI!" He yelled, hoping Kai heard him in time, "BEHIND YOU!"
Kai turned around just as Zane reached him, tackling him around the waist. He froze the man who'd had the gun and turned to Kai.
Kai's face was a mask of pain, pulling his hand away from his shoulder, where the bullet had hit him. As soon as he saw the wound, he scrolled through the list of what he would need to do to make sure it wouldn't get infected.
He pressed his comm, "Nya, I need you to come to my position immediately. Kai got shot."
"Alright, I'm on my way."
"How bad is it?" Kai asked, trying not to look at it.
Zane hesitated before answering, "It's not too bad. Nya's on her way here." He shot ice towards someone who was trying to get away and began to pull bandages out of a compartment in his arm.
"Oh FSM what happened?" Nya asked, running up and kneeling beside Kai.
"Someone was trying to shoot me but Zane tackled me and the shooter missed and shot me in the shoulder instead of somewhere in the chest," Kai told her, gritting his teeth.
"Oh my gosh. How bad is it?" She asked Zane.
"It's fine if I can deal with it quickly enough. Otherwise, we run the risk of infection."
"Ok, what are you gonna do?"
"Kai, I'm gonna freeze this over so it doesn't set with the bullet inside of your shoulder. That would not be good. How are you holding up so far?"
"I'm good, it just-" He gritted his teeth in pain, "It burns."
"Alright, I'm gonna freeze it over now. Don't look at it if it makes you nauseous. Ready Nya?"
Nya nodded, her face slightly pale, holding on to her brother's hand.
"Ok, make it quick please," Kai asked, eyes shut tightly and reflex tears leaking out of the sides of them.
Lloyd ran up to them, sheathing his sword in its sheath behind his back, "What happened?"
"Kai got shot," Nya explained.
"We'll have to take him to the hospital as soon as possible, but I'm freezing it over right now." Zane concentrated and shot a thin layer of ice over the wound, reinforcing it with more ice around the sides and the middle so it would stay.
Kai shook his head, "Darn it, Zane, that burns almost as much as the wound itself."
"Your temperature stays at a constant 105 degrees Fahrenheit because of your elemental power, so I'm using colder ice so it won't melt as fast. As it is, you've got maybe 45 minutes before it completely melts."
How're we looking?" Nya asked Lloyd.
"Not too bad, Jay and Cole are finishing up. It actually worked perfectly besides, you know, Kai getting shot. We routed them. Jay has a headache and is a bit deaf from setting off the fireworks so close to him, Cole is a bit bruised up, you, Zane, and I are just about fine, besides soreness and some minor injuries, and Kai...yeah, he got shot in the shoulder."
"Just because I got shot doesn't mean that I can't still beat your butt in a sparring match Greenie. Don't push your luck." Chuckled Kai, throwing a half-hearted punch towards Lloyd, who easily dodged it.
"Just sayin, that was so lame. Also, I'm still irreparably covered in glitter." Lloyd pulled off his mask, revealing his blonde hair that glittered in the lights that Jay had just turned back on.
"In my defense, that was originally Cole's idea." Protested Kai, attempting to sit up.
Cole and Jay walked up, laughing at something. They stopped when they saw Kai on the floor with one sleeve that was torn off and his shoulder soaked with blood.
"Umm, what did we miss?" Cole asked, setting his hammer down on the floor with a loud clang.
"Yeah Kai, you look terrible. I mean, you normally look terrible, but I think you broke a record with how terrible you look." Jay added, earning a laugh from everyone.
"Someone was aiming for my hear, they got my shoulder instead." Replied Kai shortly, look tired of repeating it.
Cole sucked in a breath, "Well thank goodness your alright. Don't know what we would do without you."
"Are the police on their way?" Asked Lloyd, helping Kai to stand up and helping him to stay balanced.
"Yeah, they'll be here in a little while," Jay responded, clipping his nunchucks to his back.
"I thought you couldn't hear," Nya asked Jay, supporting Kai.
"I can hear, but it sounds like it's really far away, like your whispering or something. Kinda annoying let me tell you that."
Nya shook her head, laughing a little bit at him, "I'll fly Kai to the hospital. Can someone call ahead and let them know I'm coming."
Zane said he would, and she and Kai went outside. The sound of a dragon roaring signaled that she was flying in the direction of the hospital.
The rest of the day seemed to drag on and on. As Jay often joked to people, their job was hours and hours of waiting for 10 minutes of action, to than 6 hours of paperwork afterward. They had to go chase down some people who attempted to escape and then they all had to fill out statements on what had happened to use in court should they need it. By the time they got back to the Monastery, everyone was completely exhausted.
Nya was sitting in the living room playing a one-person video game when they all walked in.
"Who knew how fun it was to play video games?" She joked as they all filed in, flopping down in various areas all around the room.
"Especially when some young men I know aren't hogging the console."
Jay didn't say anything, just draped himself over the back of the couch and grinned at her.
"Ah, who am I kidding, It's way too quiet without all of you crazies here." She leaned down and kissed Jay on the nose.
He pretended to faint, flipping over the couch.
"Don't be so dramatic." She giggled, kissing him on the lips.
Cole cleared his throat, "Ummm, guys, there are...other people...in the room. Just sayin."
Lloyd grinned mischievously, "Should we interrupt them?"
Cole sat up, trying to decide what they should do, "Hmm, I dunno, it is still April Fools... That means that all bets are still off." He sat straight upright, an idea coming to his mind, "Aha, I got it! Give me a sec." He came back a minute later with an ice pack from the freezer, shot a grin at Lloyd and stuck it down Jay's back.
"AIIIIIIIII!" He took it out of his shirt and glared at Cole, whose face was turning red from trying not to laugh.
"Bad idea Cole!" He leaped over the couch and ran after Cole, who couldn't control his laughter.
"Your face! Hahahahahaha!"
It took some doing, but they managed to separate the two of them from inside of the training room. There was a lot of laughing and Lloyd excused himself to go check on Kai.
He opened the door to their room quietly, trying to figure out if Kai was awake or not.
"Kai? Kai?" He expected a grumpy response. What he did not expect was a rubber chicken left on his bed from that morning to come flying at him, presumably thrown by Kai. He grinned "Heh heh, forgot that you're ambidextrous. How's the shoulder?"
Kai groaned, "It'd be so much better if I could sleep off some of these pain meds. Seriously, I thought we couldn't get much louder this morning but boy did you all prove me wrong."
Lloyd smiled, turning on the lights just a smidge so he could see Kai.
"Argh! Lloyd, what about wanting to sleep do you not get? For goodness sake, turn off the lights!"
Lloyd climbed on top of Cole's bunk so he could peek at Kai, who glared at him. He was glad to see he was at least looking mostly himself, though his naturally high temperature had more than likely burned off most of the pain meds and he was now feeling the pain from the gunshot wound.
"You good?"
"Honestly Lloyd, I'm fine. Part of the job as you know. And the doc gave me plenty of meds when he treated the shoulder and removed the bullet, so I barely felt a thing. I'm fine, now please let me sleep and for Ninjago's sake, let's put a halt on the rest of the pranks for tonight, my head is killing me."
"I'll pass it along. Alright Kai, sleep tight."
Kai rolled his eyes and turned over, adjusting his arm to a more comfortable position.
Lloyd quietly climbed down and went to his closet, hoping that he'd be able to find a specific game the Jay had gotten him for his birthday a few years back. They hadn't wanted to play the game before, due to the fact that it was absolutely crazy, but maybe everyone would want to now. He was greeted by a strange sight when he opened his closet door. His back-up gi was magenta. There were still spots where it was green, but whatever dye had been put in it had soaked through the fabric, making it now mostly magenta. Oh great, I'm now the green and magenta ninja he thought, shaking his head.
He picked it up and walked into the dining room, where everyone had reconvened to watch Nya and Cole arm wrestle, ninja style. He held up the gi for everyone to see, "Alright, who was the lucky person responsible for this abomination?"
Cole turned around to look and grinned. Nya, taking advantage of this opportunity, slammed his hand into the table with a BANG.
Cole rubbed his arm, "Ok, I call a foul for that, you so cheated."
Jay grinned, "You call upon the power of the chicken?"
Nya shrugged, unapologetic, "No cheating, just using what I have to my advantage!"
Lloyd set the gi aside. Family, you gotta love em. As he watched Cole do a series of acrobatics and reluctantly dunk his face into a bowl of strawberry Jello, emerging all sticky with red stuff all over himself, Lloyd laughed and clapped with everyone else. Eventually, Kai walked in, grumbling about "not being able to sleep because of all this racket" or something like that. As he watched everyone around him clap and cheer at whoever was showing off at that moment, he began to feel truly happy. He trusted all of them with his life and he knew it was vice versa. Maybe one day they'd come across an obstacle they couldn't overcome, but as he grinned at Zane attempting to freeze Jay and then pretend it wasn't him, he felt certain that they'd always have each other's backs because as a family, they had to stick together.
He lit a firework and jumped back out of the way, watching it explode into the sky. "HAPPY APRIL FOOLS!" He shouted, honoring the tradition they had started so many years ago. Today had been a really good day. Well, except for the glitter of course...
A/N: Alright everyone, thanks for the reviews and such for this story. Sorry about how long it was, I needed to finish this and I always have a hard time cutting things lol. I should be updating Green Legacy soon and if not, I have a new story that I'll also be publishing as well. Stay tuned for more stories and thanks a ton!