Chapter 28

Movie Ninjago

SJ stared at his new human friend with wide red eyes. "How?" he asked. "They locked usss in, and you can't ussse your powersss in here."

Lil'Loyd smirked beneath his mask. "Wanna know what the best thing about being a kid ninja is?" he asked SJ.

"What?" asked the young prince.

"The bad guys always underestimate you," Lil'Loyd said, reaching into the sleeve of his gi and pulling out a set of lock-picks, and leaning over to begin using them on Luh-Loyd's shackles.

He then glanced out of the cell, and said in a softer voice, "I need you to keep watch for me, do you think you can do that?"

SJ flicked his tongue nervously and Lil'Loyd could see the fear in his eyes. "I-I dunno," he said. "What if we get caught? What'll they do to usss?"

Lil'Loyd, well used to being kidnapped, knew the drill. "To us, not much. We're the leverage. The ones they're using to keep the Ninja Force and the Serpentine from fighting back. If we get caught, they'll just lock us up tighter."

SJ didn't look convinced. "But, if they don't hurt usss? What if they hurt him again?" he asked fearfully, pointing at Luh-Loyd. "Mr. Chumsssworth already hurt him really bad and he'sss not waking up."

"That's why we're taking him with us," said Lil'Loyd as he managed to unlock the cuff on Luh-Loyd's left wrist and got to work on the right.

"We are?" asked SJ. "But-"

Lil'Loyd let go of Luh-Loyd's wrist, stood up, and lowered his hood so that he could stare SJ right in the face.

"Are you a prince or a scared little snake," he snapped more forcefully than he meant to. At SJ's frightened and hurt expression, he took a deep breath and said, "I know you're scared SJ and this is really bad, but if we don't do something it'll just get worse. Both our families have got to be really worried about us. If we stay here, the bad guys win and your dad might have to do something bad to get you back. We've gotta get out of here before that happens."

SJ's face fell, no doubt imagining what his father's reaction might be to his disappearance.

Lil'Loyd's expression softened. "Hey, I'm a ninja, and you are the one who beat me earlier. If we work together we can do this. What did your dad's generals tell you before?"

Something in SJ's expression shifted at that question. "They sssaid to show no fear," he said.

"Not to any humans," agreed Lil'Loyd with a smirk. "Those goons that locked us in here may be wearing masks, but they looked pretty human to me. You gonna show them any fear."

SJ clenched his fists in determination, and he looked Lil'Loyd in the eye. "No," he said. "I am the prince of the SSSerpentine. No human scaresss me."

"Louder," said Lil'Loyd.

"I am the prince of the SSSerpentine! No human scaresss me!" said SJ more confidently.

"LOUDER!" Lil'Loyd said.

"I AM THE PRINCE OF THE SSSERPENTINE! NO HUMAN SCARESSS ME!" SJ shouted, looking ready to take on all the kidnappers himself.

At their feet, Luh-Loyd groaned in his sleep, and the two children were reminded they were currently trapped in a cell.

SJ gasped and clapped his hands over his mouth, and Lil'Loyd strained his ears to hear if anyone was coming.

A minute went by…

Then two…

When no one came they breathed a sigh of relief.

"The guardsss at my palace would have come running the sssecond they heard that, thessse guyss mussst not be that good," SJ said with a breathless giggle. "Maybe we actually do thisss."

"You bet we can," said Lil'Loyd confidently, pulling his hood back up. "Keep watch while I get my brother free. Then we're getting out of here."

SJ nodded, and hurried to the bars of their cell to peer out for anyone approaching, and Lil'Loyd finished picking the locks on Luh-Loyd's shackles and started picking the lock on the cell.

"Is picking locksss a ninja ssskill?" SJ had to ask.

Lil'Loyd actually had to pause in his lock-picking to think about it. "Actually… no," he said, a little surprised to realize it. "It really should be, now that I think about it since part of being a ninja is sneaking around. I guess Dad and Sensei Wu are too honorable to teach it to us."

"Then where did you learn it?" asked SJ a little confused.

"Darkley's School for Bad Boys," Lil'Loyd replied with a shrug.

SJ blinked as if he wasn't sure he'd heard that correctly. "Wait, what-?" he started to ask, but before he could fully voice the question, the lock on the cell clicked, and the door swung open.

With their way clear, Lil'Loyd hurried over to where his counterpart still lay unconscious. He was way too short to actually carry Luh-Loyd, but by draping the teenager's arms over his shoulders, he should be able to drag him along, and once they were out of this cell, he could channel his strength to make it easier.

However, lugging him out of the cell in the first place was proving to be a sticking point, as Luh-Loyd proved to be heavier than he looked. "You… need… a… diet!" Lil'Loyd grunted as he tugged him towards the door.

"Here, let me," said SJ, scurrying to his side to tug one of Luh-Loyd's arms over his own shoulders.

Thankfully, Serpentine were naturally stronger than humans, even as kids, and between the two of them, they were able to carry Luh-Loyd out.

The second they were away from the Vengestone, Lil'Loyd felt his powers return, and he immediately activated his earth strength to make carrying his brother easier.

The two crept through the long hallway of cells, keeping their eyes peeled and ears strained for any sign of the guards returning.

They made it out of their cellblock without running into anyone, but as they turned a corner, they had to stop and stare.

To their left was an elevator, no doubt the way out of this dungeon. To their right, stretching on a long way down was another hallway full of cells…

And all of them were full!

"My people!" SJ gasped.

Before them was a vast variety of Serpentine. All the ones who had been reported missing were here, trapped in all the cells. They turned to look upon hearing that, and upon seeing their own prince, they all burst into startled whispers.

"It's the Prince," was the general consensus of their words, along with several questions of, "Is that the Green Ninja?" and wondering who Lil'Loyd was.

Setting Luh-Loyd down on the ground, Lil'Loyd fished his lock picks back out and hurried towards one of the closest cells. "Hold on, I'll get you out," he said and had to smile at the irony. Looks like he was freeing Serpentine once again. Old habits die hard.

"Our thanksss, little one," said the large Constrictai within it, as he and the two others trapped there huddled by the door.

"Have all of you been here thisss whole time?" asked SJ as he stood guard over the unconscious Green Ninja, but still stared around at his captured people in surprise.

"Yesss," hissed another Hypnobrai in the cell. "They took usss here when they captured usss. We don't know why."

"They want people to think you were captured by the Golden Master," Lil'Loyd said as he unlocked the first cell and hurried to the next one. "They want to make the prophecy come true."

Several angry hisses sounded out of the cells upon hearing that.

But just before Lil'Loyd managed to unlock the second cell, the sound of the elevator coming to life made them freeze.

Instantly, the Serpentines' whispers turned to ones of worry, and the Constrictai Lil'Loyd had freed quickly scooped the children and teenager up and carried them into his cell to hide.

"It'sss feeding time," whispered a Venamari who was also in the cell as she stood in front of them to hide them from view.

"We can't let them recapture the prince," whispered the Hypnobrai.

The Constrictai glanced fervently at the elevator, before turning to crouch down by the children. "Lisssten to me, little onesss," he said. "Thossse of usss in this cell will caussse a dissstraction. Once we do, you mussst essscape."

"But what about you?" asked SJ worriedly.

"We will be fine, your highnessss," said the Hypnobrai. "You are more important than usss."

"No one is more important than anyone else," Lil'Loyd protested, not wanting to leave them behind either.

"It isss too risssky," said the Constrictai. "The more of usss you free, the more likely you are to be recaptured."

The Venomari nodded in agreement. "I don't know what thessse monsssters want with the Green Ninja, or our prince, or even you, little hatchling, but whatever it isss, if it involvesss the Golden Massster, it can't be good," she said. "You should go ssso they do not sssucceed."

SJ and Lil'Loyd exchanged a glance, remembering why they had broken out in the first place. The longer they were here, the worse things would be.

"We'll tell the Ninja Force," Lil'Loyd promised. "We'll make sure they come back for you. Promise."

"Our thanksss, hatchling," said the Hypnobrai. "Now be ready."

The elevator dinged as the door opened and two new guards came out. One stepped forward and called, "Alright you slimy snakes! Lunchtime! You know the drill! Away from the bars or you get a taste of my zappy friend!" As he said that he waved around a taser rod.

"Chope, why do I have to carry all this!" complained the other goon as he lugged a crate full of food.

"I told you, Kapau, one person's gotta carry the food and the other's gotta wave the stick," said the first goon who was apparently named Chope. "I've got the stick, so you've got the food."

"But you've always got the stick," Kapau complained.

"Shhh, you're ruining my intimidating entrance," said Chope. "We gotta do a good job with this, or else Master Chen will keep us on snake feeding duty forever."

That quieted Kapau, though he still grumbled unflattering things under his breath.

"Thessse are your guardsss?" asked SJ in disbelief as he and Lil'Loyd lifted Luh-Loyd's arms back over their shoulders.

The Hypnobrai let out a snort. "Not quite up to ssstandards of palace guardsss, I'm sure," she whispered back.

Chope waved his taser rod at the cell across from the one they were hiding in to force the Serpentine inside back. They hissed, but backed up so that he could unlock the door and Kapau could throw food in for them, their backs turned to them.

"NOW!" shouted the Constrictai.

Pretending to ram the door open to hide it was unlocked, the Constrictai burst out of his cell with the Hypnobrai and Venomari right behind him.

Chope and Kapau were so surprised at the sudden attack, that the Constrictai smacked the taser rod out of Chope's hands before they dogpiled on top of him and Kapau. The Serpentine that had been in the cell they were feeding jumped onto the pile as well while all the other Serpentine cheered in their cells, allowing the children to drag Luh-Loyd past undetected and managed to make it into the elevator just before the door closed.

The second the door opened again, they hurried out of it knowing they didn't have much time before more guards came to back up those down below. They managed to duck out of sight before more arrived and hurried past them to break up the scuffle downstairs.

Once the guards had vanished into the elevator, they made to put as much distance between them and it as they could. Once the fight was broken up it was only a matter of time before their escape was noticed.

However, dragging a teenager around when you're half his size was tiring work and wherever they were seemed to have more than enough hallways and doors. Not knowing how to get out, the two had to stop and hide in a closet to catch their breaths.

"SSSo far ssso good," said SJ as he slumped to the floor to rest.

"Don't jinx it," said Lil'Loyd, just as breathless.

"How are we going to get out?" asked SJ. "Thisss place seemsss to have no end! My palace is easssier to navigate than thisss."

"We've gotta find some way out," said Lil'Loyd in agreement. "The more we wander around this place, the more likely we are to get caught, but I doubt there's just a map we find and look at to get out."

SJ snorted. "Or we could asssk a guard that would jussst tell us the way out," he said as a joke.

But the words caught Lil'Loyd's attention and a memory surfaced in his head. A memory of when he first met King Skales in this world. "Why don't we?" he asked.

SJ looked at him in bewilderment.

Seeing he wasn't getting it, Lil'Loyd said, "SJ, you're a Hypnobrai! You could hypnotize a guard and make him show us the way out!"

SJ looked startled, then hesitant. "I dunno, I'm not that good at hypnotizing yet," he said. "Hypnobrai don't reach full hypnotic power until they're all grown up."

"We don't need you to control them completely," said Lil'Loyd. "We just need them to tell us how to get out and not chase us when we leave. Think you can do that?"

SJ thought a moment, then nodded slowly. "In training, I can control my tutor for about ten minutesss, but then the control breaksss. But I've never controlled a human before, ssso I don't know if it'sss different."

"Then that's our best shot," Lil'Loyd said with a nod.

"But there were Hypnobrai in the dungeonsss," said SJ thinking of one last flaw in his plan. "Won't they know to not look in my eyesss if I try?"

That was a good point, and Lil'Loyd thought hard to come up with a solution. Then a lightbulb went off. "Not if they don't know you're a Hypnobrai," he said with a smirk.

SJ could only stare at him, completely lost. "What?"


Sleven sometimes wondered how he got to this point.

No, that wasn't true, he knew how he got here. He was loyal to Master Chen and willing to do whatever his boss wanted of him.

Even if it meant working with snakes. Sleven hated snakes.

At least he hadn't been sent down to the dungeon. He heard some of the snakes down there had gotten out of their cages, and several guards had to be called to round them back up. All he had to do was patrol on the ground floor to ensure none had escaped upstairs.

None like the Green Ninja's little brother (possible clone?) who was standing at the end of the hall in his own little green ninja gi and hood.

"Hey!" shouted Sleven, grabbing his sword and rushing towards the escaped child.

The Green Ninja's little brother jumped at the sound of his voice and darted down the hallway to get away.

Sleven took off after the little hooded figure as they ran through the halls. He managed to corner the child as he attempted to open a closet to hide.

Brandishing his sword in front of him, Sleven approached to take him back to his cell. "Nice try kid," he said. "But not good enough."

The kid huddled with his back to him, visibly trembling and his hand still clutching the closet door despite there being no point in hiding in there now as Sleven would see him go in.

Sleven was close enough to grab the kid now, and as he reached out to do so, he heard an odd rattling sound.

But before he could question the sound, the Green Ninja's little brother wheeled around and looked him dead in the eye.

The last coherent thought Sleven had was to wonder if the kid had always had swirling red eyes…


SJ yanked off the ninja hood and knocked on the door behind him to signal Lil'Loyd.

The door opened, and Lil'Loyd wearing SJ's robe peered out to see the transfixed guard standing there in a daze and SJ giving him a thumbs up. "It worked," the prince hissed. "With the hood up they thought I wass you."

"Told'ya it would," said Lil'Loyd with a grin, swapping clothes back with SJ. "Good job luring him in. Maybe you could be the first Serpentine Ninja."

SJ flashed him a grin, but his eyes never left the guard, a look of intense concentration on his face.

"You got this?" Lil'Loyd asked.

"Yeah, it's a little easier than with my tutor," said SJ. "I don't think I can hold him for long, but at least long enough to get us out of here." His eyes swirled as he looked at the guard and commanded, "You will take us outside this place, and do so in a way we are not seen."

The hypnotized guard woozily put his sword back into its sheath and turned and walked slightly down the hall and pulled on a candlestick opening a secret doorway, then stood to the side waiting for them to follow him.

"Whoa! Secret passage," said Lil'Loyd impressed as he started lifting his counterpart back up. As he did so, he glanced between Luh-Loyd, knowing how slow they had to go carrying him, and then at the guard. "We're on a time limit, do you think you could get that guy to carry Luh-Loyd for us."

SJ nodded and focused on the guard again. "You will carry the Green Ninja as you lead us out," he ordered.

The guard stepped away from the passageway long enough to lift Luh-Loyd up so he was carrying him piggyback, then walked back to the passageway and led them down it.

The passageway was dusty and full of cobwebs from disuse, but the children took that as a good sign. If they were used more, then there was a higher chance they'd be caught, but if the people who worked here didn't even use them, there was little chance they'd think they would be found by outsiders.

A few minutes later, the guard opened a door at the end of the passageway, revealing a tropical looking forest outside, and Lil'Loyd and SJ eagerly rushed past him out of it.

"We made it!" exclaimed the prince excitedly.

"We're not out of the woods yet, we still gotta get away from this place and get help," said Lil'Loyd, but he was grinning at the fresh air too, happy to be out of that place.

Unfortunately, the taste of freedom distracted them from something important. Specifically that their ten minutes were up, and the guard was waking up from his trance.

"Ohh, what happened?" the guard asked woozily as he looked around, making both boys tense. "How did I get out here?"

Needless to say, when the guard spotted the source of his confusion, he did not look pleased. He dropped Luh-Loyd off his back and reached for his sword again (belatedly, the boys realized they probably should have told him to get rid of it).

"You brats are in a lot of- Oof!" he cried out as his legs were kicked out from under him.

Lil'Loyd and SJ blinked in surprise as their would-be attacker was knocked flat in an instant. The reason for it sprang to his feet an instant later.

Luh-Loyd, who'd gotten his second rude awakening of the day when the guard had unceremoniously dropped him, was not at all pleased to see this jerk threatening his little brother. Kicking his legs out from under him wouldn't take the guard down for good, but a swift punch to the face took care of that.

With the threat taken care of, Luh-Loyd looked around in bewilderment, not recognizing where they were and trying to put the pieces together from the muddled memories left from his concussion.

Lil'Loyd whooped at the sight of him up and looking better, and launched himself at him.

Luh-Loyd, well used to being tackled by his friends, managed to catch him and fell back to the ground under his weight. "What… happened?" he asked, rubbing his still aching head.

"You got kidnapped by Pythor," said Lil'Loyd brightly from where he was sitting on Luh-Loyd's chest. "We saved you. You're welcome."

It felt nice to be the one to save someone from being kidnapped for a change.


A/N As far as Lil'Loyd is concerned, Luh-Loyd is the one who got kidnapped. Lil'Loyd and SJ were just playing along to rescue him. Still, they did good in getting out. Thankfully, Chen and his guards have no idea just who Lil'Loyd is and underestimated him and SJ. The two make a pretty good team. Also, I didn't make up Sleven, by the way. I found him on a Ninjago Wiki article and thought he'd be a good fit to be the minion here.

A big thanks to Kay Hau for beta reading and contributing ideas to this chapter. It was from our discussions we thought to have the kids escape themselves dragging Luh-Loyd in tow. She also encouraged me to have SJ contribute in a big way to getting them out.

Next Time: They may be out of the mansion, but they're not out of the woods. The Lloyds and SJ still need to get as far away as they can, which is only made more complicated when a certain snake arrives with presents in hand.

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