Chapter 9; Breathe

(Trigger warning; talk of anxiety and a panic attack are included in this chapter. If this is sensitive to you please skip this chapter)

There it was- Ninjago City. Beautiful, and a hell-hole. Beautiful with its architecture, a dump with its outskirts.

My throat clenched tighter as Lloyd lowered his dragon to the ground. It covered hundreds of feet per second, so it was pretty fast. We got below the clouds and I could finally see the rest of the ninja traveling on their mechs not too far behind us. The buildings of Ninjago City grew bigger and bigger as we drew nearer. Eventually, we were entering downtown. Everything looked so much bigger from above than on foot. You would think it would be the opposite, but when you are flying between buildings, everything looks massive. The streets were completely empty. My guess was the Slithraa. Not one human being in sight.

At the sight of the News 11 Tower, we took a hard left towards the East. It was a sharp turn and Lloyd didn't give me a warning, so my head got thrown downwards by the side of Lloyds thigh. During the portion of the turn, the force was so strong, I couldn't lift my head up. After we went straight again, Lloyd realized what was happening and slowed down.

"Oh, sorry about that. Should've given a warning." Lloyd laughed as I lifted my head.

I didn't laugh I just acknowledged his comment with a "Yeah." I wasn't in the mood to laugh. I was too distraught with the thought of my old home, Slithraa and Trench, and Ley.

"Alright everyone. Dareth said he's at the old noodle shop on the southeast corner of downtown. I have an idea of where it is, but does anyone know exactly where it is?" Lloyd said in his com.

"Oh, do I know where it is," Cole said in a sarcastic voice. "Of course I do! Here I'll lead the way. After all, before it was abandoned, it was my favorite noodle shop in the city." Cole laughed.

"Yes, Cole, we all know just how much you love your food." Zane said.

"Hey! Food is an art. I just chose to take a bigger interest in it." Cole said confidently.

"Maybe a little too much." Jay snickered.

"I am a man with super strength, therefore, I have a super stomach. Besides it's not like I gain weight I burn it all off anyways." Cole said.

"Yeah but I mean, there was that time, you know, before Asphera..." Kai started.

"We were ALL in a dark time there guys...It wasn't just me. Jay you were addicted to video games you paid no attention to Nya, Zane all you DID was pay attention to Pixel, Nya you basically got skin cancer because you were addicted to tanning, Lloyd you complained about almost everything that had to do with moving off of the couch you stuck to like a bug, and Kai...oh Kai, your obsession with-"

"OKAY! OKAY! We get it. We were all a mess. Geez, you don't have to bring it up again." Kai said.

"Alright guys, let's calm down a bit, Cole's right we were all pretty much a mess, but we're back now. Better than ever. Let's just focus on what we have to do today and worry about tomorrow, well tomorrow. Cole how much further?" Lloyd asked.

"Two blocks, I'm slowing down. This place is sketchy as hell." Cole said.

I was intrigued by their conversation. I didn't realize that the ninja became so...lazy at one point. You'd think for all the shit that goes down in Ninjago City, they'd be ready for it? Then again, I've rarely ever had a chance to be lazy here. It's been a constant rush in my life. Running from evil masterminds or serving them as a bounty hunter just as a way to get by. I did notice how they said they were better than ever now. Let's hope so, because I can't deal with these snakes by myself.

"According to my calculations, there is no serpentine in sight. If anything they're on the other side of the city, or below us." Zane said.

"Great just watch, the snakes are going to open like a can of worms right under us!" Jay screamed.

"We'll be fine. I trust Dareth. And Zane." Lloyd said.

"Oh god, we are in deep shit if that's where your trust lies. With Dareth, not you, Zane." Kai said.

"Well that is a relief." Zane laughed.

"We're here!" Cole yelled.

Lloyd slowly lowered his dragon right in-front of the empty shop. He shut off the engine and hopped out. I followed him, slowly sliding off the side. The scales of the mech scraped against my back and it hurt like hell since they were metal. I grabbed my back once I was on the ground and began to rub it wincing.

"Careful, I found it easiest just to jump off. See these are titanium, which means it's strong, and hard. I learned the hard way." Lloyd said.

"I guess I did too." I said continuing to hold my back.

"I've missed this place." Cole sighed as he placed both hands across his chest in a crossing motion. I thought it was so adorable how he got all excited when he talked about food.

"This looks seriously sketchy. Zane you reading anything?" Nya said hopping off her bike.

"Nothing. Wait, Dareth, I see him on my x-ray. He's inside. We are clear of any Slithraa." Zane said as he scanned the building.

We all nodded and walked inside. The deadbolt on the door was cut, most likely who ever this Dareth guys is did it. Inside were tables amongst tables that were either flipped or severely coated with dust. There was a buffet lane that was empty, and a kitchen right in the middle of everything.

"Hello? Dareth? It's us!" Lloyd called.

"Dareth! Where you at?" Kai called too.

"NINJAS!" A man in a brown gi jumped out from behind the kitchen counter. "Oh boy, am I glad to see you!" He walked up to Lloyd and kissed him on both of his cheeks.

"Dareth, stop it," Lloyd pushed him off of him. "What the hell happened here?"

"Oh, god, it was awful. Nightmare-ish! Snakes. EVERYWHERE! I've tried my best to fight them off, but my super ninja skills haven't been good enough for the fight. They show up everywhere, through sewers, they come out of man-holes, EVERYWHERE." Dareth shook Lloyds shoulders as he shouted.

I knew him. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I recognized his voice. Wait, could he be? No, WAIT. "I know you," I said in an angry voice.

Dareth turned to me and gasped. "YOU!" He pointed at me. "This crazy bitch tried to kill me! Why is she here? Especially since IM here? Are you all trying to kill me too?" Dareth grabbed a sushi knife and pointed at me and the others.

"What are you talking about? When I first saw you, you tried to attack me thinking I was one of the Slithraa. Next, while I was making my escape off the tower, you wouldn't let go of me so I had to push you so I could grapple away." I said throwing my hands in the air. At this point, everyone had eyes going back and forth on me and Dareth.

"You left me with the snakes! And not to mention that awful blast of light you used to get me off of you. I couldn't see for like...twelve seconds!" Dareth cried.

"Wait, you left Dareth alone, on a tower, with a bunch of snakes, and you just...grappled away?" Nya looked at me with a glare in her eyes.

"It was self-defense. I didn't mean to hurt him, but he wouldn't get his sweaty palms off of me! Maybe if you didn't act like such a FREAK I would've helped you. Besides my grappling hook only held the weight of one person." I sighed.

"SWEATY? My hands are anything but sweaty. They're dry...and...and cold and...well you know what I mean! She is crazy! You shouldn't trust her." Dareth crossed his arms.

I looked at Lloyd with a "You don't really believe I actually tried to hurt this lunatic, do you?" look.

"Look, if she said she didn't mean to, she didn't mean to. I trust her." Lloyd said.

I heard Nya scoff in the background. I wanted to throat punch her for that.

"Dareth that didn't happen to be when you made the first distress call, was it?" Cole asked.

"Yeah, yeah it was. Then she showed her face." Dareth glared at me. I glared back but with more hatred in my eyes. My hands started glowing as I shaped them into firsts.

"Okay, let's all take a breather, sound good?" I felt Cole's hands touch mine. Then Lloyd went over to Dareth and grabbed his shoulders, facing him away from me.

"I'm fine." I released my wrists.

"You sure? Because your crazy light fists said otherwise." Cole whispered.

"I said I'm fine." I snapped.

"Alright, I just didn't want you doing anything you would...you know...regret?" Cole said.

I just shook my head and turned away from his face. I know he mean't well, but I was not in the mood.

"Okay, now that we're all on the page of understanding..." Kai stepped in and eyed both Dareth and me. "It's time to figure out what the hell we're going to do. These snakes are everywhere. Well I mean we haven't seen any, but they are here. Otherwise pedestrians would be filling the streets."

"Kai's right. We need a plan. Dareth you need to tell us what you know about the Slithraa. Do you have any idea what their motive is?" Lloyd asked.

"I do. I know exactly what they want. I was their dog; their slave. They constantly knew my whereabouts, what I was doing, where I was going. They had eyes everywhere. They knew my every move. When they found out how powerful I really was, they wanted to use me for their benefit. If I didn't comply, I was punished. Many times they tortured me; wether that be with their venom or just old fashioned beatings, but the last time they asked something of me, they promised my freedom. They're still looking for the key to the city generators. I gave them the wrong one and now they're pissed. I knew if I didn't run, I would've been killed. They want to shut everything down and take over. They're tired of the underground life and want to rule Ninjago. Just like every other villain in the history of villains that have ever walked this earth." I stared off into the distance after spilling my guts like that.

Everyone was quiet, including Dareth. Nya was too, I didn't receive any snarky comments from her.

I felt an arm go across my shoulder. "We're going to get those son of a bitches who did all those horrible things to you. I promise." Cole said.

"Yeah! There's no way a couple of snakes will be able to stop us." Jay smirked and folded his arms.

Everyone cheered in agreement. "It's not just 'a couple of snakes', Jay. They've bred. There's thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of them. You have to be really powerful if you think you can get rid of them all so quickly." I shivered. I hadn't really thought about when I was tortured. It kind of just stayed in the back of my mind. All the emotions were coming back and my heart started to race. My hands became shaky, and my breath short. "I need some air." I said running out of the building.

I stood behind some empty trash cans on the side of the street and hunched over. I looked down at my hands and saw how shaky they became. I more anxious and had to sit down. I started hyperventilating as more and more of my torture memories came back. I remember being brainwashed by their venom they injected me with. The scars on my back from their bite marks and scars all across my body from their club beatings. At this point my head was throbbing and my hands became numb. Tears streamed down my face. It was all coming back.

Inside, everyone looked concerned. "I'll go see if she's okay." Cole said starting to walk outside.

"Wait, let me go. I'm her brother after all." Lloyd said passing Cole out the doorway.

Outside, Lloyd looked around the storefront for any sign of me. He couldn't see me, but heard me crying hysterically behind the trash cans. "Maya, hey I didn't know-" Lloyd looked at me and saw me hunched over, cradling my arms that were shaking, and breathing uncontrollably. "Hey! You're okay! Umm.." He sat down next to me. "Im pretty sure you're having a panic attack, so uh...think Lloyd what can you do?" Lloyd said to himself. "Okay umm, I'm going to try something. Can I hug you?"

"W-what?" I said still hyperventilating.

"Here," He wrapped the arm closest to me around my back and the other across my chest, grabbing his hand behind my back. "Let's try something. It's super easy. All you're going to do is breathe when I breathe and exhale when I exhale. Ready?" He asked.

I nodded my head.

"Okay let's breathe in nice and deep," Lloyd said as he started to overly inhale to execute himself. I followed along. "That's great! Now let's exhale together." I nodded. Slowly, we both exhaled and my mind slowly started to calm itself. After about two minutes of this, I was collected again. "You did amazing." Lloyd smiled.

I couldn't help but give a small smile either, I've never had anyone care so much about me before, let alone through a panic attack. "Thanks, that was like, super embarrassing." I laughed.

"Don't be. I get bad anxiety too. It comes from the thoughts of my-our father a lot. I still get nightmares when he was possessed by the Overlord. Believe it or not, Nya has actually helped me out through a couple panic attacks before." Lloyd said.

"You get panic attacks too?" I asked. I didn't realize the all-mighty green ninja got panic attacks.

"Of course I do. You know, us ninja, we go through a lot. We don't have access to any counseling, so we rely on each other when we aren't feeling okay. And there's no shame in it either. Anxiety is a real thing." Lloyd said.

I guess I understood where he was coming from. He has had to deal with a lot. "You know, the whole deal with me being basically owned by the Slithraa and all, it wasn't like I didn't try to defend myself. I tried to, the more I did, the more I was tortured. I didn't think about it until we came back here, so thats what triggered my attack."

"I don't expect you to tell me any details, but I just want to let you know you aren't alone. You have us now. You have me. That's what brothers are for after all." Lloyd smiled.

"I guess so." I half smiled. It was so strange hearing someone say that to me. I really do have people now, don't I?

I might be tripping, but I think I just got officially noticed as a part of a real family. At this point, I didn't accept the fact that I had a real family right in front of my face, but I would realize it eventually. It will just take some time.