Chapter 25
Show Ninjago
They managed to get Echo to Nya's hidden cave in one piece, but he was still very put out about all that had happened, rightfully so.
Still, it was just depressing to see Echo sit sullenly in the cave as they filled him and the other parents in on what was happening. The other group had managed to save Cole's father, Lou, from being taken as well thanks to him and his quartet performing a show in another city, meaning the only hostages the Nindroids had were Borg and Dr. Julien, a fact that weighed heavily on all the robotic members of their group.
Hoping to cheer him up, Nya was giving Echo a small tune-up to keep him better put together until they got Dr. Julien back, and explaining to Ed and Edna how to repair him and keep him wound up in the meantime, and Lou was offering to sing to him until he felt better.
Seeing the young Nindroid getting extra attention, Jay leaned over to Cole and asked suspiciously, "Do you think Nya has a thing for robots?"
Cole rolled his eyes and smacked Jay on the back of the head. "Not the time," he hissed. "Besides, despite his looks, Echo's barely older than Lloyd."
Jay's eyes narrowed at that. "Lloyd…" he muttered thoughtfully. "He's the legendary hero, or he's going to be. Is she saving herself for…"
Cole smacked him on the back of the head again before he even finished that thought, and this time Jay finally seemed to realize how irrational he was being and looked sheepish. "Sorry," he said, rubbing his head. "Thanks, I needed that."
"Any time," said Cole sincerely. His face then fell as Zane moved past them towards the entrance to the cave. "Wait, Zane? Where are you going?"
The look on Zane's face was cold in a way none of them had ever seen before. "I am going to Ninjago City," he said bluntly.
The rest of the Ninja and Pixal all exchanged a glance, before hurrying after him, and their parents watched them go with concern on their faces. Echo struggled to get up and follow, but with Ed and Edna still working on his legs, he was literally benched.
"Wait, hold on," said Kai as they caught up to the White Ninja. "You're not just going to storm in there, are you?"
"I am," Zane replied in a tone that left no room for argument. "I am going to Ninjago City, and I am going to rescue my father, Dr. Borg, and everyone else trapped there."
"You can't just march into the city and take them all on yourself," Nya protested.
"Watch me," Zane snapped forcefully, the air dropping noticeably in temperature the longer they tried to stall him.
His friends were taken aback. They had never seen Zane this angry before.
Sensei Wu tried to reason with him. "Zane, striking out in anger is never-"
"It is not anger, it is my purpose," Zane said, stopping long enough to round on his friends and look at them with anger and determination. "I was built to protect those who cannot protect themselves!" His face then fell. "But I could not protect my father. I could not protect my little brother. I refuse to stay here and continue to fail to do so. I am going to Ninjago City."
With that, he turned on his heel and stormed over to his helicopter. His team exchanged glances again, knowing there was no way they could talk him out of this, and hurried for their own mechs and rides to follow suit.
Their families watched them go with worried looks, and Echo stared after them with a downtrodden expression.
Pixal, meanwhile, hurried after Zane as he began turning his helicopter on and prepared for lift-off.
Seeing her attempt to climb in, Zane's expression finally softened. "You should remain here, where it is safe," he said to her.
Pixal shook her head firmly as she made her way inside. "My father has been captured as well. I have as much reason as you to see him rescued. I will come and help in any way I can."
Zane couldn't argue with that and nodded. "Very well, but please, stay safe."
Sensei Wu was starting up the Bounty to go with them. "The Bounty may be too large a target to take into the city, but I will keep it close to pull you out when needed."
Zane gritted his teeth at the subtle jab that this plan would fail. He knew it was rushed and reckless, but he was counting on that. From what Pixal had told him, and from what he had seen, the Nindroids ran on logic and would think he did the same. Logically, with such overwhelming forces as they had, a full-frontal attack such as this would be deemed too risky to even consider with the more emotional human members of the team's families safe. They were far more likely to expect them to attempt a more complicated and subtle plan to get the two doctors back, not something like this.
They had the element of surprise. They had the cover of darkness. This could work.
That's what Zane told himself as they approached the city.
Kai, ever one to lead the charge, especially when he was in the fastest vehicle they had, shot his jet forward and blasted the first nindroid controlled hovercar he saw.
The entire city seemed to freeze in surprise as the hovercar fell through the air and crashed into the street.
Taking advantage of that surprise, Zane, Kai, and Nya used their flying vehicles to continue shooting down enemy hover cars, planes and anything else they saw in the sky, while below Cole used his jeep tank to bash his way into the city, and Jay jumped his mech off the back to rumble with anything on the ground.
Unfortunately, with their processing power, the Nindroids weren't taken by surprise for long and quickly began to return fire.
"It's like I'm playing a video game on ultra-hard mode," they heard Jay call over the radio as the Nindroids began bringing out their own mechs to fight his.
Nya flew her Samurai X Mech down to back him up as the Nindroid Mechs closed in. "I thought the Nindroids just took over anything with Borg Tech. Why does Borg have mechs?" she asked.
"Their primary use is for construction," said Pixal at Zane's side in the helicopter. "For lifting heavy materials and maneuvering on or under unstable facilities. They were not intended for combat."
"Well they sure seem to be good at it," said Cole as he used his jeep-tank to mow one of the mechs over.
Pixal didn't respond, but Zane could sense her mounting frustration at only being able to sit and watch while the rest of them fought.
"Would you take the steering controls," he offered her. "That way I may focus more on missile fire."
The female android sent him a grateful look, and with a quick switch of the seats, Zane was now fully manning the helicopter's missile controls while Pixal drove the aircraft.
Something Zane almost regretted a moment later, as Pixal drove like a maniac.
Finding himself clutching the controls more to keep from being flung around the cockpit more than shooting, Zane asked in a strained voice, "Would you rather switch roles?"
"That is unnecessary," said Pixal, her eyes glued outside of the windshield. "I am calculating the most successful route through this airspace to reach Borg Tower, where our fathers have the most probability of being held."
Considering they were approaching the tower a lot faster than when Zane had been driving and hadn't crashed yet, he conceded her point, and did his best to shoot down enemy aircrafts, and silently thanking the fact his father didn't build him with the ability to become motion sick.
The half-constructed building of Borg Tower was looming closer to them every second. Already, Pixal could see the window she had been thrown out of by Pythor after starting the Nindroid's construction.
Unfortunately for them, there were just too many Nindroids.
Pixal had to yank their helicopter back as a cloud of Nindroid controlled helicopters appeared and swarmed to cover the building like a force field with no way through without crashing into them. And while Zane could shoot them down to make their way through, he was hesitant to do so when they did not know where in the building the captives were. If he shot blindly at the building, they could accidentally hurt someone or worse.
They could get no closer, and the Nindroids knew it.
But they were so close!
Pixal let out a noise of frustration as she weaved the helicopter through the air, trying to both avoid fire and find a way past them, but it was no use.
And with their way forward so thoroughly blocked, the area behind them was closing in as well, as more Nindroids aircrafts began closing in on them.
They had to do something soon, or they would be shot out of the sky.
Then, over the radio, they heard a yell from Cole. "I'm hit!" he shouted. "My tank's lost too many pieces! I can't move!"
"My mech's not going to last much longer too!" said Jay. "I've already lost an arm, and the other one's just hanging on!"
"Hang on, I'm coming!" called Nya.
"Zane, I could really use some backup, here!" Kai called to them. "These are some really unfriendly skies!"
"I will come to aid you all," they heard Wu call.
Pixal and Zane exchanged a defeated glance. There was no way forward for them, and Zane's friends were in trouble. As much as it pained them to do so, they had to go back.
Pixal turned the helicopter around, and Zane made sure to keep their way clear as they flew back towards the others.
But as they left Borg Tower, Zane glanced back at it one last time, and through the swarm of enemy helicopters, he caught sight of a flash of white on the roof of the building.
There stood Pythor, watching them retreat with a smug look on his face.
The memory of Echo ripped to pieces in the middle of their ruined home flashed through Zane's mind, and knowing that snake was responsible caused a sharp burn of anger to flow through him.
Reaching over, Zane opened the door on the side of the helicopter and leaned out of it just enough to send a small bolt of ice in Pythor's direction.
It wouldn't do any damage to the building if he missed, but Zane's aim was true.
Pythor's squawk at being coated in ice could be heard even at their distance and over the multitude of helicopter blades.
Not even feeling close to satisfied, Zane shut the helicopter and focused on helping him and Pixal move to safety.
When they reached the rest of the Ninja, they were surrounded on all sides by the Nindroids. Jay and Cole had had to abandon their vehicles when they were no longer usable and were helping civilians evacuate to the Bounty while a slightly battered Nya and Kai provided cover.
At the sight of them, Zane felt a stab of guilt. Despite his claims, he had been so focused on saving his father, it hadn't even occurred to him to try and help the other people of the city who became trapped when the Nindroids invaded, and from the look on her face, Pixal was feeling that too.
They quickly helped fight back the Nindroids until all the civilians they could find were loaded onto the Bounty, and provided cover as they escaped just as dawn broke.
Still, some hope was rekindled when on the flight away from the city, a call came over the radio.
"Garmadon to Ninja!" said Sensei Garmadon. "Return to Steep Wisdom as soon as you can! The Ultra Dragon has returned!"
And with the Ultra Dragon came a way to reach Lloyd and with him their best shot at defeating the Nindroids.
They just needed to go pick him up.
A/N Oof, Zane is mad! Sadly, defeating the Nindroids will take more than just a mad dash through the city guns blazing, as Zane's had the misfortune of finding out. There's just too many of them to take on without Lloyd's automatic shut-down. Still, they did almost make it, it just wasn't quite enough. Besides, they're not out of the woods yet. Just because Ultra finally came back doesn't mean Lil'Loyd will be easy to get, as they'll soon find out.
Big thanks to Kay Hau for this chapter. She thought we needed more in the show-verse between the movie drama. Jay being momentarily jealous of Echo and Lloyd was from her too.
Next Time: The Show Ninja arrive in Movie Ninjago just in time to hear of the Lloyds' kidnapping. Meanwhile, Pythor is finding his kidnapping not going quite as planned.
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