Chapter 32

Movie Ninjago

School ended without much fanfare, though the gossip mill was still buzzing with theories as to why the dragon-drawn carriage had come for the Ninja Force.

If Penny had any of her own theories, she was keeping them to herself, and Skylor was grateful for it. There was less of a chance she'd let something slip if they didn't talk about it.

It was just when they were wondering what they should do next when a text was sent to Penny from Zane.

'Zane:

Our mission is taking longer than expected. Please stay with Skylor for her safety. I will contact you again soon.'

Skylor felt relieved when she read that over Penny's shoulder. It may have been paranoia, but she could have sworn she'd seen flashes of a white lab coat outside the school windows throughout that day and had no doubt Clouse had been lurking nearby. She knew the moment she was alone Clouse would make his move, but her father's need for secrecy would keep him at bay so long as she was around others. Anything to stave off her punishment was something she was grateful for.

Penny, however, frowned slightly at the message, as if thinking something over. Then, with a nod like she had made a decision, she turned to Skylor and said, "Would it be agreeable if we had our first martial arts lesson at my house? There is space in the basement where we could practice, or outside in the yard if that is preferable."

Skylor grinned. "Sounds great," she said. "It's not like we can go back to my apartment."

Penny nodded, her expression still oddly serious for simply inviting a friend over to her house.

The blonde girl led her to modest duplex and unlocked the door to one side of the building before stepping aside to allow Skylor inside.

"Father!" Penny called as she entered behind her. "I'm home! And I brought one of my friends!"

"You did?" called a surprised voice from somewhere deeper in the house. "Splendid! I do look so forward to meeting them! Which friend is it?"

Penny moved onwards towards the voice, no doubt going to explain the circumstances of Skylor's visit to him.

Skylor glanced around at the front room of the house and was relieved to see that the blinds on all the windows were nearly closed, only cracked just enough to let in a small amount of light. She had little doubt if Clouse was following her he would try to peer in, but the blinds being how they were, he wouldn't be able to see much. Still, she was glad Penny's father was home. The scientist may have tried taking his chances if it had just been two teenage girls in the house.

As Skylor continued studying her surroundings, she could hear the sound of Penny returning with her father, though, strangely, she could only hear one set of footsteps.

The reason why soon became painfully clear and Skylor suddenly found herself unable to breathe.

Penny stepped into the room pushing a wheelchair in front of her, and the person in the wheelchair was the absolute last person Skylor had been expecting.

Penny gave her a shy smile. "Skylor, I'd like you to meet my father-"

"Cyrus Borg," Skylor choked out in a strangled tone. "But you- But he- He- He doesn't have a daughter! Your last name is Allons!"

This couldn't be happening! The very inventor her father was so desperate to find was sitting right in front of her. They'd been searching the most remote parts of Ninjago for his hiding place and he'd been here in the city this whole time! If her father found out he'd be furious they'd missed him.

Something cold pooled in Skylors stomach as she thought that last sentence. Should she really be thinking if… or when?

Did she really have to betray the one friend she hoped she could keep?

Not seeming to realize the reason behind Skylor's shocked reaction, Borg chuckled. "Ah, you've heard of me," he said in a perfectly friendly tone. "Yes, I'm afraid Allons has been an alias we've been forced to adopt in recent times. And as for how I now have a daughter, well, I'll have her tell you," he said, turning to Penny with a proud smile.

Penny nodded, still looking nervous. "Yes. I apologize for deceiving you before. You see my name is not actually Penny Trixie Allons, but rather-" she paused and her entire form shimmered for a moment, before coming into focus again. "-Pixal," she finished. "My real name is Pixal Borg."

Skylor could only stare at her friend. Her hair was now a shining silver and her skin was metallic and covered in lavender circuitry. "You-You're a-"

"An android," Penny-no-Pixal said with another nod. "Like Zane. He's the only other one who knows," She then ducked her head shyly. "Is this something you would dislike about me?" she asked worriedly.

"No!" the word was out of Skylor's mouth before she could even think about it, and it wasn't until after it was said she realized it was true. Penny-Pixal being an android… that wasn't a problem. She was surprised, oh boy was she surprised, but she'd not had any problems with Zane being one, why should she with Penny? If anything, suddenly a lot of things about the girl made a lot more sense.

Penny being an android wasn't the problem. The problem was what her father or Clouse would do if he ever found out.

Skylor's brain stalled as she instantly remembered why she was here.

CLOUSE!

With that thought, Skylor's eyes shot to the windows. Sure enough, there was Clouse's silhouette, pressed against the window trying to see through the blinds, but to her relief, due to the angle of the window he was looking in and because of the blinds he wouldn't be able to see the Borgs. All he could likely make out was Skylor.

At least, he wouldn't have if Borg hadn't wheeled his chair across the room to her to offer her a hand to shake. "It's very nice to meet a friend of my daughter's," he was saying, still as perfectly friendly, completely unaware of the danger.

Clouse's silhouette disappeared from the window, and Skylor knew there was no escape. He'd seen Borg.

"Put it back on!" Skylor said urgently, knowing they had only seconds.

Borg and Pixal blinked at her in confusion. "What?" asked Pixal, now looking slightly hurt.

"That- whatever made you look human, put it back on! Put it back on now!" Skylor demanded forcefully. "Please!"

Some of her fear must have shown on her face because Pixal flickered and suddenly Penny was there once again.

And just in time as the wall exploded inwards.

All three of them were sent sprawling in the debris, their heads ringing but otherwise unharmed.

Though how long they would stay that way with a mech bearing down on them was anyone's guess.

As if the mech wasn't enough, several of Skylor's father's men began surrounding the opening in the wall as Clouse stepped through the wreckage to study them.

"Excellent work, Skylor," he said as he looked down at Borg. "You found our wayward inventor. Your father will be most pleased."

Borg, who had been thrown from his wheelchair by the blast, looked up at Clouse like he couldn't believe he'd been found. "Her-her father?" he asked.

Chen sneered down at him. "Why yes," he said. "You were foolish enough to invite Master Chen's own daughter through your own front door."

The look of absolute horror and betrayal on Penny's face hearing that was sure to haunt Skylor's nightmares for years to come, but she couldn't focus on that now. She had an act to maintain if she wanted to have any hope of protecting her.

Skylor stood up and dusted herself off. "Yes, well, who would have thought the Ninja Force was hiding him this whole time," she lied through her teeth, her cold professional mask coming down. "They sent me here to act as a safe house after you 'attacked' me yesterday."

The betrayed look on Penny's face switched to confusion, no doubt wondering why Skylor would claim the Ninja Force was behind her arrival here instead of Penny herself.

"I suppose this discovery will forestall your punishment," Clouse mused. He then turned his attention to Penny and looked at her in disinterest. "And this one?" he asked.

Skylor nearly fainted from relief, that one question making it clear Clouse hadn't seen her true form and had no clue who she was. Instead, she took purposeful steps to stand between Clouse and Penny, blocking her from view. "A friend from school," she said. "Just an escort here so I wouldn't be alone, but Borg was too polite to not invite her in for a drink before she left."

More lies, but Penny seemed to remember what Skylor had said before about Clouse's interest in Zane, and kept her mouth shut.

Clouse sneered again. "And I suppose as your friend you wish her unharmed."

Skylor said nothing, but her silence was answer enough.

Clouse rolled his eyes. "Very well, bring her along. We can't have her warning the Ninja Force, after all."

Skylor nodded and grabbed Penny's arm to pull her to her feet. "I'm sorry," she whispered in a barely audible voice so that Clouse couldn't hear before two goons came over to keep her from running.

Penny still seemed too shocked to really fight back, still staring at Skylor with an utterly lost expression, though when some more of the goons roughly shoved Borg back into his wheelchair, she did give a cry of protest and struggled against her captors' grips.

Clouse scoffed, mistaking her worry as that of any decent concerned citizen over a disabled man. "Relax, girl," he said. "We will not harm the good doctor." He gave Borg a menacing look, and added, "We need him in good shape to finish our little project."

Borg looked too pale and frightened to even speak. Both he and Penny could see they were surrounded with no escape, and out of fear for each other, made no move to try.

Then, someone tried for them.

"SURPRISE!" came a shout from above, and that was all the warning they had before a ninja in a vivid fuchsia gi appeared out of nowhere and kicked the goons holding Borg in the face, before beginning to fight off the rest and doing a good job of it too.

Scowling at the interruption, Clouse said only one word. "Skylor."

Hearing that, the Fuchsia Ninja turned just in time to barely dodge a fireball to the face.

Penny let out a strangled gasp at the sight. "Skylor? What?" she asked in bewilderment.

Skylor did her best to ignore her and focus on the enemy at hand. The Fuchsia Ninja was looking at her in surprise before his eyes narrowed behind the mask and took a fighting stance against her.

Shifting into one herself, Skylor let her fists burn with Kai's flames. She had nothing against the Fuchsia Ninja, but the goodwill she would gain beating him here would go a long way in allowing her to protect her friends.

And she was going to need all the goodwill from her father that she could get.

The Fuchsia Ninja made the first move and launched himself at her, but Skylor dodged his punch, and the Fuchsia Ninja had to jerk back to avoid a flaming retaliation.

They continued like that, but Skylor knew she couldn't keep it up for long. Loathed though she was to admit it, the Fuchsia Ninja was a better martial artist than her, and it was only the use of her borrowed fire keeping him at bay so he couldn't take her down. Still, she knew she couldn't keep this up. Using fire like this was draining, and given she still hadn't found her True Potential they could fail her at any moment.

On cue, the second that thought passed through her head, the flames on her fists fizzled out.

Sensing her weakness, the Fuchsia Ninja darted forward, looking ready to drive his fist into her stomach.

Reacting quickly, Skylor summoned a quick jet of water to knock the ninja back into a wall of the busted house.

The Fuchsia Ninja seemed frozen in shock at the water, before slowly climbing back to his feet to keep fighting.

But before he could get back to her, a large metal limb of Clouse's mostly forgotten mech swung at him and knocked him through the wall and under a pile of bricks.

Clouse smirked that his creation had landed the final blow, only for his expression to sour as his mech shuddered and fell to pieces a second later. "Meddlesome Ninja. He sabotaged it before showing himself," Clouse muttered, realizing what had happened, and quickly Master Built the remains of the machine into a large helicopter. He then turned to address his men. "Come, we've wasted enough time here."

The goons dragged Penny and Borg away with Skylor trudging reluctantly behind, guilt once again bubbling to the surface.

Her last sight before climbing into Clouse's helicopter was the Fuchsia Ninja struggling to get free of the brick pile but was not able to stumble out until they were already flying far out of reach. She kept quiet about the sight, knowing Clouse would want to finish the job if he knew the ninja had survived.

There was nothing he could do to stop them anyway.


A/N Well, the good news is, we know what happened to Penny and Skylor. The bad news is, they were taken by Clouse to be held captive on Chen's island, which the Lloyds only just escaped from. Skylor's in some pretty deep mental turmoil right now. Penny was the one friend she thought she wouldn't have to betray to her father. But now, to protect her robotic nature from being discovered by Clouse, she had to do just that. It was a no-win situation for her, but she's trying to protect them as best she can. Meanwhile, Penny/Pixal is sure to have her own turmoil discovering she'd just let someone connected to the one person they were hiding from right in her front door. It was a brave thing she did to let down her guard around Skylor and let her in on their secrets, and it totally backfired thanks to Clouse following them. If Clouse hadn't been there, whether or not Skylor would have kept Borg's location secret is up in the air. On one hand, finding him isn't her mission and she doesn't want to hurt her friend, on the other, what Chen would do to all of them if he found out she didn't tell him would be horrific. You decide.

A big thanks to Kay Hau for helping plan and beta reading this chapter. She was a big help. She and I wrote a a pair of joint fics for April Fools day, so check out my Triple the Ninja, Triple the Fun, and her Ninjago Version 3 point 0 fics.

Next Time: The Ninja Force arrives at Penny's house and are horrified at the destruction left behind. Meanwhile, Penny gets a good look at Skylor's home life.