Two chapters in one day? Hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago or the lines from the episode Trial by Mino.
Chapter VI: Trial by Mino
Kai, Zane, and Echo were all alone. Kai had lit his hand on fire to light their way through the caves, but they had no idea where they were going. Zane and Echo tried to help with their internal GPS, but they were so far underground that it was near impossible to pinpoint their location. The fight with the Skull Sorcerer had ended hours ago, and right now, the three just wanted to go home. They had to find the others first, though.
"Are we just going in circles?" Kai asked the nindroids.
"I believe my internal gyroscopic positioning would alert me if that were the case," Zane replied.
"Okay, good," the fire ninja breathed in relief.
"Unless the rock in this cave is ferrous or naturally magnetized," Zane added.
"And we are very deep underground," Echo remarked.
"What does that mean?" Kai asked.
"There is a possibility we are going in circles," Echo said.
"Oh, great. Now you tell me? Wait a second. I've seen this rock before. We passed this rock an hour ago!" Kai groaned. "I knew it! I just said-"
The fire master stopped suddenly when the three heard singing. The fire went out, and they hid behind a nearby rock cluster as some Geckles with ladders and buckets came in singing, "The great warrior, Gilly, the savior of the cave, left us a blade about which we rave. A great blade of ivory stolen by greed, so we won't give up until our blade is freed."
As they sang this, they used rakes to move some moss from the nearby crystals into their buckets.
"The moss is particularly plump and juicy today," one Geckle remarked when the singing had ceased. "More moss milk for everyone! Huzzah!"
Another began sniffing the moss in her bucket as she said, "Putrid and rotten!" She then started inhaling some of it before continuing saying, "Delicious!"
"There's so much today! We should've brought more buckets," another said as he wiggled around excitedly. Unfortunately, this caused his ladder to fall right to the ninja, and the moss milk from his bucket went right to Kai.
"It's in my mouth! It's in my mouth!" Kai screamed as he jumped away from the Geckles. "Oh! I think I'm gonna barf! I think I'm gonna-" and he did.
Zane began rubbing circles on his brother's back while Echo watched the Geckles in curiosity as they tried to figure out what had just taken place among themselves.
"Who are they?" one asked.
"Outsiders!" another said. "They must be in league with the Skull Sorcerer!"
"That is not true," Echo tried to cut in, but another cut him off saying, "Aren't all of the Skull Sorcerer's servants evil skeletons?"
"Exactly! We are not-"
"Right. Yes. That means-" another cut him off once more.
"They must be skeletons!"
"But-!"
"For skeletons, they seem rather fleshy."
"We are not working for the Skull Sorcerer," Zane was the one to finally get a word out, leaving Echo rather annoyed. "In fact, we just orchestrated an escape from him and freed several other Geckles."
"Ha! A likely story, Fleshy Skeleton!" a Geckle replied.
"We aren't skeletons!" Kai exclaimed after composing himself. "I mean, we have skeletons, of course, but there's so much more to us! Like veins and-and organs and stuff!"
"We have none of those things," Zane sighed as he gestured to him and his brother.
"Let us destroy them so we don't have to listen to the lies of these flesh skeletons!" a Geckle said.
Two of the Geckles began coming towards the three with their rakes while Kai, Zane, and Echo backed away, unsure of what to do.
It was then that the last Geckle ran up in front of his friends and said, "Wait! We should be sure! Let's take them to Chancellor Gulch. He'll know what to do."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Good idea! Yeah, take us to your leader. He'll know," Kai agreed.
At the Geckles home, Chancellor Gulch was currently making the new laws of their fine city. Currently, they had 2,879 laws that made up the Geckle community, but some were taken down and added every single day, so it pretty much balanced out. Currently, he was adding a new law.
"Proposition 8.81-stroke 7a, forbidding the riding of giant snails on Tuesdays has passed," Chancellor Gulch announced. He then noticed three Geckles running into the rooms, very out of breath and with the three ninja behind them. The chancellor said, "Gingle, Garpo, Groko? Aren't you supposed to be out milking moss?"
"Yes, Sir, we were, when we found these suspected skeletons in the eastern caves. They were lurking."
"Lurking?! That does sound bad."
The Geckles began chattering among themselves about these new skeletons before Chancellor Gulch asked, "What does the accused have to say?"
"Okay, first, we're ninja, not skeletons. I'm Kai, and this is Zane, and that's Echo."
"Can you prove it?" Chancellor Gulch asked.
"Just look at us!" Kai exclaimed. "See any bones? No! Because we're not skeletons! And those black skeletons don't talk, right? Hear my voice, huh?"
"Hmm. A strong argument on both sides."
"Both sides?"
"There's only one way to settle this. A trial by mino!"
Everyone began cheering as they threw rocks at Chancellor Gulch while Chancellor Gulch started laughing, proud of his decision.
"Mino?" Kai asked. "Like those animals we saw in the-?"
Suddenly, screaming could be heard as Zane, Kai, and Echo fell further underground in an arena made entirely out of rock. There was a gate on one side, and the only way out was the top where they had been previously standing.
"What's the deal?" Kai asked. "You said we were gonna get a trial!"
"Yes, a trial by mino. If the mino crushes you quickly, you are guilty. If it crushes you slowly, you're innocent."
"What?!"
"Good luck!"
"Are those our only options?" Zane asked.
Suddenly, the cage opened to release a very angry mino. It charged at them, forcing the three to jump out of the way. Echo attempted to jump over the creature, though, and he ended up getting snagged onto the mino's horn.
"Echo!" Zane screamed.
"Help me!" Echo yelled as he was shaken by the large creature.
"Ice!" the older nindroid yelled as tried to use his power, but it only sparked a moment before going back down. Zane could feel the same horrible feeling he got every time he wore vengestone, and Kai felt the same thing as he tried with his own power.
"What happened to our powers?" Kai asked.
The mino charged again, and while Kai used spinjitzu to get out of the way, Zane jumped onto the mino's horn and hung on for dear life as he tried to rescue his younger brother.
While he attempted to get Echo off of the horn, he noticed that the mino was covered in vengestone armor. And it was much too tight for the creature, most likely making her very angry.
"Kai, her armor is made of vengestone. That is why our powers are dampened!" Zane told the fire ninja.
The ice master freed his brother, and the two ducked and rolled underneath the mino as it chased Kai.
"Oh, great! This just gets better and be-" Kai stopped to screamed as he jumped out of the way just in time for the mino to destroy the wall behind Kai with her horn.
"They've survived longer than most," Chancellor Gulch said to a nearby Geckle. "This is wonderful news. I hereby declare you not skeletons!"
"Great! Now get us out of here!" Kai yelled back to the chancellor.
Chancellor Gulch gasped as if Kai had offended him greatly. "That is not how it works!" he yelled. "Do not make a mockery of Geckle civil court!"
Zane was now facing off with the mino. It looked as if it was ready to charge, but Zane stared it right in the eyes, as if daring her to come.
"What are you doing?" Echo asked. "Staring her in the eyes, makes her think you're ready to fight!"
"She needs to think I am or this isn't going to work," Zane replied before running at the mino.
When the mino was close enough, Zane jumped at it and swung himself onto her back by the horn. He then stood up and pulled her armor out before crashing to the ground.
The Geckles gasped when the armor came crashing to the ground. The mino even rolled on its back and licked Zane in thanks.
"From my analysis, mino's are not naturally aggressive animals. I surmised that her armor was angering her," the ninja of ice explained.
"Impressive," Echo said, looking to his brother in awe.
"So, we're friends now, and friends help friends," Kai smiled as he walked over to the mino and petted her, "which also translates into 'Not skeletons help not skeletons'!" he yelled up to the Geckles.
Reluctantly, Chancellor Gulch helped them out of the pit, something that had never been done before, and they were brought back onto the stand for an announcement.
"Pleased as I am that the innocence of the accused has been proven by our flawless judicial system, we are left with a baffling question. If they are not flesh skeletons, who are they?"
"Uh, um, Chancellor, during the, um, trial, they appeared to use elemental powers," a Geckle spoke up.
"Yes, I observed," Chancellor Gulch replied.
"Perhaps the rumors we heard about elemental masters visiting Shintaro were true, and if they are elemental masters, perhaps they know Gilly."
The other Geckles murmured to themselves upon hearing this. It had been so long since they had last seen their hero. If she was back, maybe she could help them.
"Fascinating," Zane remarked when he noticed the locket wrapped around the Geckle's neck. "The Geckle appears to wear a necklace, like the one Cole claims to have seen around the neck of the creature who was in his chambers."
"That must be the Geckle that Cole saw!" Kai realized.
"Perhaps he can provide us with some clarity," Echo suggested.
"Perhaps," Zane agreed, but they were not done speaking with the chancellor just yet.
"Do you know the one called Gilly?" Chancellor Gulch asked them.
"No, we do not," Zane answered.
"But we are elemental masters," Kai added.
Both Kai and Zane showed off their respective powers while Echo watched in awe. He wished he could do something as amazing as that. Maybe he'd be able to use it for good to erase what he had done in the past.
"Our friends also possess elemental powers," Zane explained. "We were separated and are trying to find them."
"There are more of you!?" Chancellor Gulch exclaimed. "Then we will try to help you in light of the dishonor we have brought upon ourselves with our suspicions. I propose you, Red Ninja Who is Not a Skeleton, be elected the new chancellor!"
"What? No, no, no, I don't want to-" Kai started.
"I second!" the Geckle with the locket exclaimed.
"All in favor?" Chancellor Gulch asked.
Suddenly, a bunch of rocks were thrown at Kai.
"Ah! What are they doing?" Kai asked, hoping none of the rocks would hit his head.
"Congratulations, Chancellor Red Ninja Who is Not a Skeleton," Gulch said as he placed the banner he had been wearing throughout his days as chancellor over Kai.
"Okay, fine!" Kai started. "My first motion as chancellor is for everyone to stop throwing stuff at me! Got it?"
"All in favor?" Gulch asked.
Everyone agreed and showed this by throwing rocks at Kai.
"No! I just said-No more throwing!" Kai yelled as he sunk to the floor.
"It would appear Geckles express their approval by throwing objects at each other," Zane explained, but he couldn't help but laugh as he said so.
"I would like to be a Geckle," Echo snickered, looking right at Kai. The fire ninja was not amused.
"What is your next order of business, Chancellor Red Ninja Who is Not a Skeleton?" a Geckle asked as he and his friend approached their new leader.
Zane thought a moment. He looked at Echo, who seemed to have the same idea before whispering the Kai, "Perhaps the Geckles could tell us something about the origin of the Skull Sorcerer? Something that might help us defeat him?"
"Okay, sure," Kai said as he stood back up. "What do you guys know about the Skull Sorcerer?"
No one seemed to know why he would want to know about such an awful person, but one Geckle in particular jumped up and yelled, "The story cave!"
"Take them to the story cave!" another agreed.
Many twists and turns were taken before the three, four if you include their guide, Gulch, made it to the cave. There were many drawings all over the cave, recording different periods of time. It was almost like a museum.
"Welcome to our story cave," Gulch announced. "It is here where the history of the Geckle people is kept."
"There appears to be no logical narrative here," Zane remarked when he saw the drawings.
"This is the dawn of our people," Gulch explained as he pointed to what Zane was looking at, "and then our first decades are down here on this side, then it jumps over here to our dark ages. Then here, the arrival of the great hero, Gilly. Here Gilly saves us from the terrible beast, Grief Bringer, and gives us the Blade of Deliverance."
Kai, Zane, and Echo gasped as they could swear they saw the pictures of the events moving as Gulch told the story.
"And here the treacherous Munce are stealing our blade and-"
"Uh, we've heard this part," Kai cut in. "What about the Skull Sorcerer? Where did he come from?"
"Ah, it began with the three explorers. Three adventurers who ventured deep into the mountain, into the old tunnels, where all Geckles are forbidden to go." A law that had never changed. "They awoke an ancient evil! An evil from the old world! The Skull Sorcerer, and his evil reawakened! Many Geckles and even some filthy, traitorous Munce were captured and put to work in the mines. Some few escaped, but the reawakened roam the caves, hunting us now, hoping to capture us for the Skull Sorcerer. Where once we lived openly, now we must hide, and pray the Skull Sorcerer doesn't find us."
"Geckels and Munce have a common enemy," Zane acknowledged. "If we could convince them to put aside their differences, they might be able to defeat the Skull Sorcerer together."
"How do you propose we do that?" Echo asked.
"I'm the Chancellor now, remember, Echo?" Kai asked. "I got this. Watch and learn."
When the four had made it back to the rest of the Geckles, Kai used his fire to grab their attention and said, "Okay, listen up, Geckles! Get ready for the pebbles," he whispered to his two friends. "The Skull Sorcerer is the problem here, and we're not gonna beat him unless we all team up! So my second act as chancellor will be to unite the tribe with the Munce and forge one great army, to liberate these caves from the Skull Sorcerer once and for all!"
Kai winced as he expected the rocks to come, but they did not. Instead, the Geckles just laughed.
"Our new chancellor jokes!" Gulch exclaimed, hardly able to breath by the perceived humor of the situation. "Ah, such a sense of humor! Is he not amusing?"
"I'm beginning to think this will not be so simple," Zane sighed.
"Yeah, we'll need a different approach," Kai agreed.
Both Zane and Echo smiled as they threw rocks at the fire master. Kai then looked to the brothers and realized something horrifying.
"There's two of you now," he groaned.
I hope you liked those two. I definitely had fun with Echo in this chapter. So glad I brought him back.
Have a great day/night!
#God'sNotDead
