Chapter Nine: Can we just give up with the whole Vacation idea..?

Lloyd stretched out on the beach, his gaze wandering over the few others that were enjoying the beach day. Lou was discussing something with an elderly couple, while Dr. Julian was examining a seashell that Echo had found. A game of volleyball was going on with the teams being Kai and Nya on one side, and Jay and Cole on the other. Zane was perched on a chair near Lloyd, his fingers flying as he worked on his laptop.

"Lloyd? We have a problem." Zane looked up suddenly, a frown crossing his features.

There was a loud thud as the volleyball smacked Jay in the head. "No! We're on vacation Z! No problems allowed!"

"Except that the mystery card that I was digging into to find out more about it, I found it on the Dark web." Zane twisted the laptop around so that Lloyd could see the website that was pulled up.

Lloyd felt all color drain from his face as he stared at the screen, his eyes darting down the page. "Who's Dareth von Brown? And why is Darkley's holding him prisoner and calling him my partner in crime?"

Kai wandered over to them , grabbing the laptop without thinking. "Really? I thought..." There was an explosion as the laptop exploded on him. Kai hurriedly dropped the now destroyed piece of tech into Zane's lap. "Darkley's was smarter than to think an idiot that is chasing us across the world is one of us. Sorry Zane."

"No problem." Zane somehow managed to grind out, fingers flying as he disassembled the laptop further. "Nya can help me fix it." Pausing, he glanced up at his friends, concern dancing in his eyes. "According to the dark web before you destroyed my laptop, they are holding him in Paris, France."

"We should head down there and scout around. It would be better not to involve the police. If they come in sirens wailing, they're more likely to kill Agent Von Brown." Lloyd stood up brushing sand off of his green swimming trunks.

Nya gestured to the adults, concern dancing in her eyes. "Do we tell the others that an emergency came up at work...or do we just leave?"

"Tell them." Cole interjected before Lloyd could. "I know that Dad will get mad at us if we just up and leave."

"Go. Kai, Nya? You're with me. We'll get the plane ready to go." Lloyd strolled to where the private jet was parked on a nearby airstrip, the siblings on his heels.

…..

"Kid? You recognize those guys?" Kai readjusted his binoculars, gesturing wildly to the building across the street from them.

Lloyd frowned, peering through his own binoculars to the two men that were standing guard inside. "Oh yeah... Pythor, Darkley's Hand to Hand combat instructor, and Scales. Darkley's Stealth Instructor."

"Isn't Scales the one that failed you?" Nya piped up from behind them, interest edging her voice.

"Don't remind me...that guy had it out for me since the beginning." Lloyd grumped as he slipped his binoculars away. "We need a distraction so that I can get in there and get von Brown to safety."

"Got it." They did so love speaking in unison.

…...

Lloyd could feel his heart pounding loudly in his chest. Only it wasn't from nerves or fear... it was excitement. Pulling one over Darkley's when they were obviously expecting him to show up always made him a smidgen on the excited side. Running across the rooftop, he leapt over to the building that they were keeping Dareth in. Grasping the side of the building, he climbed down to the window that showed Dareth hidden inside. Forcing it open and climbing through was the easy part. Dealing with a nearly comatose Dareth on the other hand...

Lloyd sliced the knots that held Dareth prisoner, trying his hardest to support the crazy man. "I'm not part of the group that took you...I'm rescuing you."

Dareth mumbled something, before pulling out a pen and clicking it. Lloyd frowned, even as Dareth passed out. Just then a hologram of a lady popped up out of the pen. "Agent Von Brown? What is it this time...Lloyd Ninja!" Her eyes widened in horror as she took in the scene.

Lloyd figured that it probably looked bad... after all he was standing over Dareth's limp body. Panic flared up as he tried to figure something out that he could do. The only thing that made sense to him, though Zane probably would disagree, was to destroy the pen and end the hologram. His foot slammed into the pen, splintering it into a thousand pieces. "Ok...I am spending too much time with Zane if I'm counting every single piece of a pen."

Shaking his head, he moved to leave the building, he had a funny feeling that someone noticed that something was going on and called the police... particularly that hologram lady. "Going somewhere so soon Slip Star?"

"Pythor." Lloyd spun around to face the pale man with dark purple highlights.

Pythor cracked his knuckles, looking a bit too excited for the upcoming fight. "One and only... and no one messes with my hard work."

"Sorry to break it to you...but I've got a gig set up where that is precisely the thing that I do." Lloyd shifted into the fighting stance that Kai taught him, running through all of the worst case scenarios in his mind. Unfortunately all of them ended with him dead and Pythor getting away free.

Pythor lunged forward with no warning, quickly wrapping Lloyd in a tight hug...to any outsiders. Lloyd gasped as he felt his ribs crack and his breathing became more and more shallow as he slowly squeezed him to death...literally. Lloyd's eyes flickered as he struggled to stay conscience, black dots floating in his vision. Just as he thought that this was it, that this was how he was going to die...everything stopped and Pythor released him.

"Are you alright?" Scales moved close to him, grasping Lloyd by the arm as he helped him back to his feet.

Lloyd gave his head a quick shake, trying to clear his mind. "Yeah...I'm fine. Why did you..."

"Not here. The police just arrived. This way." Scales interrupted him, ushering him down a hatchway.

Lloyd stumbled after the professional thief, more confused than ever...

…...

Lloyd felt like his head was about to explode as he stood on the random roof, clutching the hard drive in his hand. Cole stood right behind him, ready to catch him in case he fell.

"So let me get it straight... Scales, the guy that you always thought hated you, was the one that found you and everything he did was to keep you from finding out the hard way that you are no Darkley's agent?"

"Cole...not now. I need to rest and then start fighting Darkley's again. Especially after we get this to Zane." Lloyd rubbed a hand over his face, feeling exhausted.

"If you say so..." Cole didn't voice any of the questions that his voice betrayed.

~Meanwhile Atop of a Random Mountain~

Chief paused in front of the large building, suddenly wondering what it was that she was doing. She didn't need help from the idiots! She was just about to head back down the mountain when the door suddenly swung open to reveal a sixty something man with neatly combed hair staring straight at her, his dark green eyes hard. "What do you want?"

She felt her heart pound in her chest, knowing that it was her decision that the others didn't agree to that she had gone through anyways that led to his cold reception towards her. "I came to apologize. You were correct. Pixal Borg and Dareth von Brown were no replacements for Ray and Maya."

His gaze softened as he stepped back, ushering her inside the gigantic courtyard. "I should apologize for criticizing you for trying to help. We've been short handed since Jordan Gordan and Joseph Blizzard died, and Ray and Maya disappeared. Combined with Rachel Stone running away when she was too young to start training. You were just trying to help us."

She smiled timidly at him as she went in for a hug, relief flashing through her. He wasn't mad at her for recruiting someone that wasn't part of their prestigious bloodline...