JMJ

Chapter Thirteen

Organ Grinder

With a laughable sneer but quiet serious spite, Kinkomi threw out a spout of dust from one of his vials. The aim was directly at Kai, but Kai saw it coming. He blasted it with fire.

With a shriek, Kinkomi ducked behind the palanquin and tried to put the flame out of his hair piece, but before Kai could begin pursuit, the fire made the dust explode. Kai fell back as smoke the scent of stink bombs assailed him. He tumbled down, face first into the ground. He was up in seconds, though, despite the smoke still sifting the air and monkeys nearby were still coughing. Kai himself coughed enough as it was, and tears stung the sides of his irritated eyes, but he ignored it.

He had to hope that burning it had made it lose its effect. He sure did not want to prove Master Wu right and he would soon be as green as Lloyd or some other strange color.

Both he and Cole saw that Lloyd's gorilla captors were quite disoriented. On either side of Lloyd, the two ninja promptly slipped him out of the loosened grasp of his captors. As fast as they could, they fled behind one of the towers. They could hear Kinkomi climbing bodily over the side his sideways palanquin after the smoke had cleared and shrieking in his glass-clawing way. The monkeys were organized in a moment, but the ninja were out of sight.

To make sure, they ducked into some overgrown brush by the side of the wall.

"Get him out, Kai," said Cole, and he lifted his hammer. "I'll cover you, and you make sure he doesn't touch the ground. I don't want roots growing out of his feet."

"Right," said Kai with a firm nod. "Meet back at that cave we saw on the way here?"

"Yeah."

Immediately, Kai lifted Lloyd up, and he cringed to see that the reason his hair looked a little different was because it was starting to look more leaf-like. It almost looked like young shoots were coming out of the middle of his head.

"Uh, guys, I'm not a vegetable, I can still do stuff," said Lloyd.

"Barely," Kai said with a frown, but he put Lloyd down again.

Lloyd lowered his head and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, you guys. This is my fault. I should've…"

"Later!" hissed Cole. "There are some monkeys coming. Hurry. If they come too close they'll be tasting metal."

Kai grabbed Lloyd's arm and pulled him to the wall, but Lloyd outdid him to the top with surprising speed. Kai could not help but raise a brow, but he had no time to think about it as Lloyd pulled him into a tree. As the monkeys went by, Lloyd looked back down after Cole.

"Cole!" he hissed. "C'mon!"

Cole visibly hesitated, and Lloyd rolled his eyes impatiently. He almost looked like he was going to jump back down and drag him up, but Kai did not have to stop him and do it himself as Cole began climbing. Lloyd then jumped out on the outside of the wall. He assumed Cole was coming or maybe he just had a lot of energy. Kai was not exactly sure which, but he followed.

However, he was surprised to find not much ground to land on. Behind the tree was a drop about twenty bricks down and an angry river roaring.

But the sound of the water did not drown out the swarm of monkeys entirely.

Lloyd was already leaping back up into the tree like a monkey himself. The sunlight gleamed strongly through the leaves of the tree and onto his lively green skin. For a moment Kai stared at him. He looked like a cat ready to pounce.

Is he really turning into a plant? thought Kai. Or some kind of green ninja mutant?

He swayed a little as he craned his head up and gaped, but he snapped out of his stupor as he steadied himself and leapt up the tree after Lloyd. He heard the grunt of Cole between monkey shouts and a small cry as Cole was dragged from the wall overwhelmed. Then there was a tremor of Cole's hammer.

Steadying himself in the tree, Kai blinked feeling a little dizzy, but he did not want to think it had anything to do with the art of Pow-Dur.

"Kai?" asked Lloyd turning to him. "Are you okay?"

Kai shook his head and then nodded. Lloyd could not see the forced grin beneath Kai's mask.

"We gotta help Cole!" snapped Kai.

Another tremor went through the earth. Kai missed a branch. As he fell, water came to meet him.

"Kai!"

Submerging like a stone, before he buoyed back up, he had a dreamy, groggy wish that his sister was there.

Neither Kai nor Lloyd saw that the gorilla snarl on the other side of the wall was the triumph of that same gorilla who had managed to kick Cole into the ground.

#

"Ah…!" said Kinkomi rubbing his hands together as for a scrumptious meal.

Cole would not have been surprised if Kinkomi would suddenly announce having a roasted ninja for dinner. He would have whacked him hard in the face for it too, but after trying to reach the handle of his hammer in that cinematic way, the same gorilla who had kicked him in the chaos of monkeys had taken it.

Quickly, Cole tried to pound the ground with his fist, but two more gorillas grabbed his arms and quickly pulled him towards their leader. The monkeys nipped at his shoulders and shrieked in his face as he passed them. One of them got spittle on his cheek.

"Keep him off the ground," Kinkomi warned. "That's how his super abilities work. Take off the mask, though, I want to see who I'm talking too."

Kinkomi released a toothy smile as he played with his dangling banana charm around his neck.

A monkey ripped off Cole's mask as the gorillas made sure not even the tips of his toes touched the ground.

Cole growled at Kinkomi as they stopped just inches apart from the king.

"Now, don't take this personally," he said to Cole rather calmly, "but you are standing in the way of my revenge, little ninja." He took out a vial like a magic trick at a circus. "Let's see how quiet you are after a dose of this. I want to know where your friends are headed or maybe just to entice them back with your screams. Either way works with me, but this is one of my favorites… even if not so flashy."

Cole's heart beat faster as he closed his eyes so that he could not be sprayed there. He closed his mouth into a tight grimace and held his breath as he recoiled into his shoulders against the oncoming onslaught of that exasperatingly annoying and deceivingly powerful power of Pow-Dur.

Kinkomi sprayed. Cole knew just as well as Kinkomi that he could not hold his breath long enough to escape it, especially as the fine powdered dust literally coated his face for some seconds before falling away.

Cole tried not to, but he coughed from lack of oxygen. Then he sucked in, to his dismay. He coughed and gasped at just a taste of that nasty stuff. Downright suffocating, it attacked his throat and lungs. It went up his nose and into his sinuses. The sting seemed to attack his very brain. Not only that, but there was an awful taste of some super sweet concentration that would have been enough to stop someone's heart after one bite if it had been made into a cake.

But the feeling did not last long. Soon enough, he was gasping fresh air, though his brain still tingled. Cole was not sure if he had passed out or not, but he was blinking at the image of Kinkomi only slowly coming into focus as though from a fevered dream.

"How do you feel?" asked Kinkomi, his voice was a little dreamlike; though unbeknownst to Cole at the moment, he was making it dreamy on purpose.

Blinking, Cole moaned.

"Good," said Kinkomi. "Now… tell me where you're meeting, hmm?"

Cole shook his head. He could not believe that the answer was nearly on the tip of his tongue.

"It's a truth serum?" Cole demanded.

"Sort of…" Kinkomi said with a shrug. "But it's better. So, again. Let's hear it, little ninja. What's your name?"

"C—Cole…" Cole found himself saying.

"Yes, so, Cole, where is the Green Ninja headed?"

"I don't know!" snapped Cole.

His brain swam with the denial.

"I think you do…" said Kinkomi getting closer to Cole's face. "Cole, tell me where the Green Ninja is headed."

Cole gulped. "I…" He bit his tongue.

A strange roar sounded behind him. The searching penetrating eyes left Cole's in an instant. Screaming monkeys came from the tower, and Cole let out a smile as he smelled the smoke. It broadened wryly as two or three monkeys shrieked past him with fire on their tails. His captors had lowered him too as they looked behind at the growing number of burnt monkey butts, and they had lowered him far too close to the ground.

As hard as he could, Cole stomped his foot into the earth beneath him. A tremor went underneath them, and as the gorillas lost their grip trying to steady themselves, Cole was able to slip out of their grasp.

"No!" shrieked Kinkomi.

Lloyd suddenly appeared with a vine thrown over the wall. As quick as a flash, Cole climbed it avoiding the stones some monkeys threw but he did get hit with a few bananas. One almost made him lose his balance, but he caught himself. On the other side, Kai was already on the ground. Together the ninja retreated from the sound of Kinkomi ranting after them, but so many of the monkeys were quite preoccupied with the burning towers and burning tails.

Kai laughed. "That'll hold them up for a while!"

He tripped and almost fell over as he looked behind.

Lloyd frowned, but they did not stop other than for Cole and Lloyd to pull Kai upright again.

They disappeared deep into the forest away from the sight of the wall, and only the sound of monkey shrieks could be heard in the distance. The trees sheltered them from above in their rich canopies, but the ground before them was covered in only a thin layer of brush from lack of sunlight.

"We need a plan and quick," said Lloyd.

They were still running.

"No kidding," said Cole.

"All I mean is that they're gunna find us, and everything Master Wu said would happen to us, happened to us," Lloyd said.

"Uh, huh, I noticed," said Cole rolling his eyes.

Suddenly Lloyd stopped. "Wait a minute! Where's Kai?"

Cole stopped. Both he and Lloyd looked back.

"No, it's cool, guys, I'm catching… up," Kai called.

He was pretty far behind, and he did not look well.

"What did he do to Kai?" demanded Cole.

Lloyd sighed. "Whatever it is, it's starting out by really slowing him down."

Kai caught up panting and looking very tired. Already bags had formed under his eyes and he blinked strangely.

"What about you?" asked Lloyd.

Cole shook his head. "It was just a truth serum. It's not like it'll be a detriment. Besides. It isn't that bad."

"How do you know?" asked Kai rather groggily. "Have you tested it?"

Lloyd shook his head. "Let's just get to that cave you're talking about."

"I don't… No." Cole hid his muddled answer by looking down at the ground. Then he glanced at Lloyd's feet. "We better not stand around too long until we get there either."

"What about Kai?" Lloyd demanded.

Cole glanced briefly at Kai, and Kai lowered his head miserably.

"I'll try to fight it!" Kai then asserted.

"No," said Cole. "Lloyd's right. We'll slow down for you."

Lloyd shook his head and looked away trying not to notice the leafy edges of his hair piece. "I just hope the others are better off than we are."

"Yeah, hopefully they went to go get Master Wu," said Kai.

"If we even deserve to be found…" muttered Cole.

Kai and Lloyd looked at each other but said nothing.

"You just don't let your feet on the ground for too long, Lloyd," Cole said suddenly. "I don't want to see roots coming out of your feet."

Lloyd stiffened and looked at Cole rather defiantly. It was a reflex still from the old days, and in it, there was definitely a childish pout. Cole raised a brow, and Lloyd lowered his eyes blinking at his feet. He sighed.

"We could carry you?" asked Kai.

Lloyd shook his head and instantly began climbing a tree. He moved pretty quickly too and seemed to be calmed but the sunbeams filtering in through the branches.

"Well, I guess that works," Kai muttered.

Cole was not overly satisfied.

"Lead the way, Cole," said Lloyd.

With a slow nod, Cole started forward, glancing briefly at Kai. Their way was slow until Cole picked him up, but evening was descending. Red beams filtered through the leaves, when the cave was within sight. They went right inside without worrying whether it was occupied or not. The lack of the sun, which now made sense if Lloyd was turning into a plant, made the Green Ninja slow down and look almost as groggy as Kai.

This left Cole the only fully conscious member of the group, but it was hard to concentrate with his stomach rumbling. They had not eaten since that morning.

"Maybe we should try to find something to eat, you guys," he murmured.

Neither answered.

He glanced at Kai and jumped to see that he had already fallen asleep on the stony floor of the cave.

He gasped and turned to Lloyd.

Lloyd was leaning against the wall and looked as though he was drowsily falling asleep where he stood.

"Lloyd!" he cried.

"Huh?" Lloyd croaked.

"Don't do that!" Cole snapped. "At least sit down!"

Lloyd moaned, and Cole, without warning, simply pulled him down into a seated position.

"What are you doing?" Lloyd asked.

"Helping to keep you human for a long as possible," Cole answered quickly.

Lloyd stared at him funny, studying his face for a moment, nearly at full alert again, and Cole had no idea what he was staring at.

"What?" Cole demanded.

Lloyd sighed yet again. His eyes fell to the ground again. He almost looked as if he would cry. Maybe he would have had he been fully human. Cole was not sure if a plant person could cry. Or maybe he would cry green sap like Garmadon cried lava-like tears.

Cole winced.

"I should've…" Lloyd murmured.

"No," said Cole quickly. "You can't be perfect all the time, Lloyd. You know that."

"Yeah, we should do that," breathed Kai in his sleep.

Both Lloyd and Cole looked at their poor weary friend. It was hard to tell whether he was trying to add something to the conversation or if he was just talking to himself in a dream. Very slowly Cole sat down beside Lloyd. In the silence, they could hear the trickling of water from the cavern stream deeper inside, and Cole suddenly felt more parched than hungry.

Quickly, he half dragged, half led a somewhat sleep crawling Kai over to the water. Kai just barely woke up enough to drink before Cole took some water himself. By the time Cole had finished, Kai was asleep again by the water's edge. With a moan Cole gently carried him to a somewhat open earthen spot between the stones so that he would not have to sleep on the stone.

Then he turned sharply to Lloyd to make sure he was awake.

Lloyd smiled weakly back; though it was hard to see it in the dim redness of the final setting of the sun beyond the horizon. Cole was about to tell Lloyd to get something to drink too, but he paused.

"What?" asked Lloyd.

"I was going to tell you to get something to drink too," Cole said, "but a thought stopped me."

Lloyd closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around himself most unhappily as he stared out at the reddish tinted forest.

"But you should still get something to drink," Cole insisted.

Lloyd didn't answer. His eyes were growing heavy again. Even the leaves on his head seemed to droop.

"As a human, you still have to drink," Cole said. "You'll dehydrate."

With a miserable nod, Lloyd climbed to his feet. Cole helped him a to the water's edge and Lloyd drank his fill. His thirst was immense, Cole noticed, and it made him wonder if he should stop him from drinking too much, but he didn't.

After they were both situated again, Lloyd closed his eyes wearily. Cole felt weary too, but he was thinking again about food. They would be absolutely useless next morning if they did not get something. At least, they would not be good for fighting if the need came for it.

But he just had to sit down for a moment. Maybe he would wait for Lloyd to be asleep so that he would not insist upon coming with him as the responsible leader that he was. As weird and wiry as Lloyd could be, he did sincerely take his duty to heart. He always had, just as much as he always sincerely cared about the others. In some ways he had cared about them even before he had stopped being a punk kid Garmadon wannabe. Once Lloyd had told the ninja that he had learned to be a good leader with their help.

Already feeling low, Cole could not see how. All they ever did was argue about who was better or banter. Well, any one of them was always admittedly there to lend a hand if any of the others were in need, but Cole had to admit that they were to this day not overly kind to Lloyd unless he was in immediate danger. He was part of the group, this is true, but he still was sort of honorary, in a way, and not in a good way.

"Oh," groaned Cole.

Maybe he was just thinking too hard and when he was so tired.

It had been a very long and mostly unsatisfactory day.

Something heavy landing on Cole's shoulder, and Cole jolted a little before realizing that it was only Lloyd's head, which had dropped down enough to fall. Soft snore emanated from him.

At least, they had rescued Lloyd. At least, Lloyd was still human enough to be snoring. That was something. He could not allow himself go into despair. It was up to Cole now, and he knew it. He was the only one well enough to do something. It had been so long since he had even desired being in charge anymore, he felt, and yet part of him did welcome it despite himself. The other part felt strangely guilty.

"I'm sorry, Dad…" Lloyd whispered.

Cole glanced at Lloyd briefly. His own eyelids had been drooping just before, and Cole shook his head.

"No one can blame you for not trusting Garmadon, Lloyd," he whispered back. "None of us did."

Besides, where was he now?

There had been no sign that he had been at the monkey city either successfully or unsuccessfully. Sure, he had just reformed and meant to be a good father, which was good. Cole was more than happy for Lloyd about it, but that still did not change the fact that Garmadon was kind of crazy from the poison that had ruined his life in the first place.

Now it was just them all alone. He sure hoped that the other three were better off like Lloyd said. Maybe they had even found Garmadon, but there was at least one thing that Garmadon could not be blamed for even if he had been fully sane.

The Secret Ninja Force had directly disobeyed Master Wu in not waiting before they jumped out to take on Kinkomi. Head-on of all things too. He had seemed such an easy thing to take on, but Pow-Dur was not what any of them had expected. Had they learned nothing from when they had tried to take on Garmadon as thirteen-year-olds to try to save Lloyd from his own stupidity in the first place all those years ago when Lloyd had wanted to be his father?

Obviously not.

The years of mechs and Ninjago worshiping the Secret Ninja Force had softened them all and made them forget everything…