Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago or the lines from the episode The Worst Rescue Ever.


Chapter III: The Worst Rescue Ever


Echo woke up feeling relaxed. It was a strange feeling, yet a welcome one. Even after being woken up multiple times throughout the night by C.J., he felt completely rested. It was like the bed was made of magic clouds.

Upon turning over, Echo found C.J. already wide awake and looking down to the nindroid. Echo stood from his bed and looked out the window to see that the sun was already quite high in the sky, and Shintarans had clearly been busying themselves with work for the past few hours.

"Well, then. Now that the others are rested up, I'm sure that they will be more than ready to listen to your father. Don't you think?" Echo asked the young one.

C.J. nodded happily at that.

"Let's go."

The nindroid picked C.J. up and carried him down to the kitchen, but it looked as if the ninja had already eaten.

"If you're looking for the ninja, they left for the gardens. They told me to let you know," a nearby woman, most likely a maid, told them.

"Thank you," Echo smiled.


In the Palace Gardens, Lloyd, Jay, Nya, Zane, Kai, and Master Wu were all walking through, admiring the beauty of it. Everything around them was in all ivory, gold, or blue colors, but the gardens were a bright green to show how much life thrived here.

"This city is truly wondrous," Master Wu remarked happily. "Look at these gardens. Have you ever seen anything so magnificent?"

"Sure is pretty," Lloyd agreed.

"Where's Cole and Echo? They're missing all of this," Jay complained.

"Master Wu!"

"Master Wu!"

Two different voices from two different directions sounded.

One was Echo's as he ran up to them from behind and the other was Vania's as she appeared from the bushes in front.

"Wait!" Vania exclaimed as she ran up.

"Princess? Echo? What's wrong?" Master Wu asked.

Once Echo caught up to Master Wu and the others, he quickly realized one thing.

"Cole is not with you?"

"I went into the dungeons below with Cole, and we found something terrible!" Vania explained.

"Dungeons?" Master Wu asked.

"There's an underground mine full of these little creatures, and they're all chained up, and they're being forced to dig by these evil skeletons with whips, and Cole stayed to rescue them, and he told me to come back here to get help."

"What?" Lloyd asked. All he heard was that she went to the dungeons with Cole, and he needed help. This girl talked way to fast.

"We have to tell my father to send his guards. Come on!" Vania continued.


Everyone followed Vania to the throne room, but once she explained everything to her father, he was less than pleased. In fact, he looked like he was just about ready to destroy something.

"I'm very disappointed, Vania," were his first words to her, yet they were calmer than expected. "It is forbidden to enter the mountain! The rule of law is there for a reason. It is unsafe below. Not only did you endanger yourself, but you have also endangered our guests."

"I-I'm sorry. Father," Vania replied, head down in shame.

"I humbly beg your forgiveness, Master Wu. I will send three brigades of my ablest guards at once! They will find your friend. Have no fear," King Vangelis explained.

"We'll go too," Kai immediately offered.

"I...cannot allow that. The dungeons are treacherous. We have lived here for centuries, and even we do not enter them lightly. There are things that dwell below that...should not be disturbed."

"So the creature Cole saw was real?" Nya asked.

"You told me I imagined it!" Vania exclaimed, betrayed by her father's lies.

"I said what I had to to protect you child," King Vangelis responded. He then placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "One day when you are older, you'll understand." He then turned his attention back to the ninja and said, "Now, time is of the essence. I must dispatch my men. I ask you all the remain calm and stay here."

"We cannot do that!" Echo exclaimed.

"We can't just stay here. Cole is our friend," Kai objected.

"Yeah! We have to help," Jay agreed.

"It is out of the question!" King Vangelis exclaimed. "I will not put anyone else in danger. My men will bring your friend back. Trust in them."

"Yeah-?" Kai started, but Master Wu pulled him back and said, a little too loudly, "Of course! King Vangelis. We will do as you ask," he bowed.

"Thank you. Now please, I have much to attend," King Vangelis responded. "As do you, Vania."

The ninja turned to leave. Out the door they went, feeling uneasy with themselves and thinking of a few choice words for their master and the Shintaran king. There was no way they were just going to leave Cole down there. They were ninja! And ninja don't leave friends behind.

"You don't really think we're gonna sit this one out, do you?" Lloyd asked his master as he ran down the steps to the door of the throne room.

"No, of course not," Master Wu replied, "but angering the king won't solve anything. Princess Vania, I don't want to get you into any more trouble but...do you think you can, perhaps, show us-"

"The way into the dungeons? You bet! Follow me!" Vania suddenly exclaimed, handing an already lit torch to Master Wu and running off into that direction.

This made Lloyd feel very uneasy, but if it meant saving his friend, he'd go along. For now. Just as long as Cole didn't get attached, everything would be fine. And even if he did, Lloyd wasn't going to let her try anything on them.


Cole woke up rather suddenly to something poking his back. He sat up to look at the black skeletons with spears in their hands and said, "Okay, okay. I get the point!"

The two skeletons grabbed his arms harshly and practically dragged him past many different creatures who were mining for something. They all looked very skinny and week. It was clear they weren't getting enough food nor sleep, and it made Cole sad. He didn't care who they were, these creatures didn't deserve this.

Finally, the skeletons stopped Cole in front of a rock and chained his waist up to a giant ball. Cole noticed as the key went on the skeletons hip right before he saw the ground. He had been shoved into the rocks beneath him before being thrown an ax for mining.

You could've asked nicely, Cole thought before getting to work.

Although, his powers were blocked, Cole was still very strong and was able to mine away with ease. He still didn't like it and was already hatching an escape plan, but he wasn't going to be able to do it alone. Noticing a larger, green creature nearby, he decided to make some small talk.

"Hey. Psst! I'm Cole," the earth ninja said.

"Murt," the green creature replied.

"How long have you been done here, Murt?" Cole asked.

"Long time. Like you."

"What? No, I-I-I just got here."

"Me too. Long time."

Seeing that this guy wasn't going to get him anywhere, he turned to another nearby creature. This one looked a lot like the creature in his room, except for the eye patch.

"Hey. Hey, Buddy," Cole whispered to him. "Any way out of here?"

"No," was his quick response.

Cole suddenly felt a sting as he got a whip to his wrist. He tried not to react as his attention quickly diverted to a nearby skeleton who was overseeing their work.

"Okay, okay," Cole said to the mute creature and with that, promptly started mining again.


Vania ran through the palace gardens as quickly as she could, the ninja following her with ease until she finally made it to a grate in an outside palace wall.

"Here it is," she told them. She then sighed before continuing saying, "I wish I could go with you. I feel like this is all my fault."

It is, Lloyd thought.

"It's not," was Echo's response.

"Besides, we don't want you to get into any more trouble," Nya added. "We'll handle it from here."

"Yeah. You've done enough," Lloyd said coldly.

Vania looked towards the green ninja in dismay as he and then Kai and Jay left through the tunnel. She really didn't mean for this to happen, but Lloyd didn't seem to believe her. Maybe she could do something for him when he came back up. To make up for it.

"Would you like to go? I do not mind staying back to watch C.J.," Zane told his master as he gestured to the blond looking in the tunnel curiously.

"Don't worry. I'll stay," Master Wu replied.

"Are you certain?" Zane asked.

"Of course. Go. Quickly. Before someone spots us."

Master Wu handed the torch to Zane, who nodded determinedly before heading through the cave.


Cole groaned slightly as he felt for his still stinging and now tired wrist. He dropped his tool and turned to the green creature next to him. It was the same guy he was talking to before.

"Hey. U-um, Murt, right?" Cole asked.

Murt looked at Cole in disgust before turning his back to him and crossing his arms.

"Friend of Geckle," Murt said.

"Just ignore him," the purple creature with the eye patch said as he threw down his tool dramatically and walked up to Murt menacingly. "He's a low-down, thieving Munce."

"Sneaky, tricky Geckle!" Murt exclaimed as he threw down his tool in the same fashion.

"Blade stealer!"

"Me? You blade stealer!"

"Guys, guys!" Cole whispered as he pushed the two away from each other. "We're all in this together, okay? Why do you hate each other so much?"

All of the sudden, the two different creatures began huddling up together, and it looked like Cole was about to be caught in the middle of the crossfire.

"Hey, come on! Knock it off!" Cole exclaimed as he was beginning to be buried in the crowd.

It was then that a gong sounded, gaining a different response from every creature. Some groaned while others cheered. One of the creatures who groaned turned to Cole and said, "Glop time."

"What's glop time?" Cole asked.

It wasn't long before he figured it out.

All of the slaves, big and small, got in a single file line with a dirty, wooden bowl in their hands. When Cole finally made it to the end of the line, a serving of some really sticky, green stuff was given to him, and the skeleton who served this food gestured for him to move on.

Cole looked around the area to all of the different creatures eating and soon enough, he found Murt. Since he knew no one else, Cole sat on the rock beside Murt and said, "Hey, um, Murt? Are there any other Munce who are a little, um...How do I put this? Smarter than you?"

"Murt smartest," Murt replied, much to Cole's dismay, but luckily, he continued saying, "Also Manko and Mudd and Mood and Meeha and Mid-"

"Uh, do all Munce names start with 'm'?"

"Mm. Like you. Mole.

"No. My-my name's Cole, not Mole."

"Like I said. Mole."

"No, no, no. With a "c," like, uh, cold. Say cold."

It was like he was speaking to C.J. Man, he hoped that he was okay.

"Cold?" Murt repeated.

"Yes! Exactly! My name is like that. Cole."

"Mole."

Cole didn't know what to say to that.


Glop time was over and everyone was heading back over to their cells to finish the remainder of their meal, but little did Cole know that just above him were his friends come to rescue him.

"Quick! Let's hide!" Lloyd ordered.

The torches were thrown for fear of the smoke giving them away, and everyone hid behind the same large boulder that Cole and Vania hid behind the night before.

"Wow. Vania was right. There sure are a lot of them," Nya sighed, remembering the days when she took down plantations. One more couldn't hurt, right?

"But I detect only simple weapons and crude fortifications," Zane replied hopefully.

"Look! There's Cole!" Jay suddenly exclaimed as he pointed to the only other human in the room. He was carrying his bowl of glop and being followed by his skeleton guards to his cage.

"What do you think? Take 'em by surprise?" Kai asked.

"I don't know. This feels like a moment when Master Wu would say we need more of a plan," Lloyd replied.

"I like simple," Kai argued. "I say we bust up that bag of bones, get that key, and save Cole. Best rescue ever. Unless someone else as a better idea."

No one did.

"Just as long as we go unnoticed," Echo added.


Cole tried his hardest not to gag on his glop as he ate, but soon enough, he was greeted by a large mino, who seemed surprisingly friendly despite the circumstances he was in. Wanting to encourage his friendliness, Cole offered his bowl to him, which was immediately taken. The mino ate the glop and the bowl happily.

"That's quite the appetite," Cole smiled. "Ugh! I bet the bowl tastes better than the glop."


The ninja stayed silent as Kai and Lloyd jumped onto a floating cage and picked the lock with a spare barrette from their water ninja. It fell down, taking out two of the skeletons, one of which had a key.

Kai picked this key up and watched as the head to the skeleton tried to bite him before promptly becoming deceased once more.

The fire ninja shuddered at the sight before running back off to his friends.

"Boy, am I glad to see you guys," Cole said when the ninja jumped down to his cage.

"You okay?" Nya asked.

"Yeah. Get me outta here."

Kai smiled as he ran up to the earth ninja with the key and opened the cage.

"Someone's coming!" Jay exclaimed.

Zane looked behind him to see some more black skeletons marching forward. Quickly, the ice ninja took out his shuriken and threw it at another floating cage, breaking its chain and causing it to destroy the skeleton below.

Cole immediately shushed his nindroid friend saying, "Keep it down. There's a creepy, evil guy with wings in that temple., and trust me, you do not want to meet him."

"Yeah, let's not bring the whole place down on our heads," Nya agreed.

When the ninja saw the Geckles in Cole's cage breaking free, they decided to free everyone else as well.

Once everyone was out, chaos ensued.

A cheering Geckle bumped into Murt and fell on her face. When she looked back up, she saw Murt and the two parties were not pleased.

"You rescue Geckle?" Murt asked as if it was a horrendous crime.

"Thieving Munce!" the Geckle who fell over screamed.

"Thieving Geckles!" Murt accused.

"Hey, keep it together, Guys. Just for a few more seconds!" Cole said as he pushed them apart once again.

"Blade stealers!" the one with the eye patch screamed.

"Filthy takers!" a Munce shot back.

"Traitors!"

A fight broke out between the two parties, leaving the ninja helpless.

"Hey! Knock it off!" Kai exclaimed.

"This is annoying," Echo remarked as he held a Munce and a Geckle off of each other with his hands.

"We may have a problem," Zane added.

"You think?" Cole asked.

Suddenly, two black skeletons started throwing their spears at the ninja, all the while, growling and moaning.

"New plan! Jay, Nya, take out that tower," Lloyd commanded. "Everyone else, run!"

The masters of both water and lightning used their spinjitzu to destroy the tower the skeletons were on, knocking them all into the lava.

"Blade stealer!"

"Geckle thief!"

The ninja stopped running and turned around to see that the fight was still going.

"I don't believe this!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Guys! Move it! Run!" Cole screamed at them.

"This is painful," Lloyd continued when they didn't stop. "Cole, can't you get them to move?"

"I'm open to suggestions! Murt? Murt! Hey! Murt! Run!"

"Murt run," Murt replied.

"Every Geckle for themselves!" the creature Murt was fighting yelled.

"Let's get out of here. We'll come back," Kai promised.

The ninja began making their way towards the nearest exit, but a bunch of black skeletons got in their way.

Cole picked up a nearby ball and chain and threw it at the skeletons, destroying all of them.

"Strike!" he cheered.

While this was going on, Kai, Zane, and Lloyd used their weapons to fight off the surrounding skeletons.

"These guys go down so easily," Kai laughed.

Suddenly, another hoard of skeletons appeared behind them. Zane tried to use his power to freeze them, but it didn't work. Cole mentally slapped himself for not telling them this earlier.

"My elemental powers appear ineffective!" Zane exclaimed.

"There's something down here messing with our powers," Cole replied, "but spinjitzu still works! Ninja go!" he yelled before using this art to destroy the skeletons.

The other ninja did the same, but the noise disturbed something sleeping in the temple. The eyes to a skeleton mask on the temple turned green and the mouth opened up in between the lava waterfall.

"Who dares disturb the Skull Sorcerer?" a raspy voice asked as he flew up above the dungeons.

"Yep. That's him. That's who I was telling you about," Cole said as he backed up slightly.

The ninja tried to run away, but the Skull Sorcerer flew in front of them to block them.

"There's seven of us and one of you, Pal," Kai gloated.

"Rise, My Children!" the Skull Sorcerer yelled as he reached his green skull out to the ninja.

"Rise!" the skull commanded and all of the sudden, the skeletons were coming back to life. Reconstructing themselves and gathering their weapons. The ninja were only left to watch in shock as this unfolded.

"They also get up easily!" Jay exclaimed as he and the others got ready to fight.

"You will never again see the sun," The Skull Sorcerer laughed evilly.

The skeletons jumped at the ninja and easily overcame them. Soon enough, all seven were in chains and holding mining tools, and so were all the Geckles and Munce.

"Worst rescue ever," Jay said, directed towards Kai.

"What? I asked if someone else had a better idea," Kai defended.

With that, the ninja got to work.


I hope you all liked that. Sorry there wasn't much C.J., but he should appear more soon.

Have a great day/night!

#God'sNotDead