Hey, everyone! I hope you all have had a great week, and for those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you enjoyed it. Mine actually went way better than I thought it would lol.
Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago or the lines from the episode Dungeon Crawl.
Chapter X: Dungeon Crawl
Ever since Cole found that necklace with the small Geckle in his room, a single memory had been replaying in his head over and over again. It wasn't a good memory, but it was one that if he ever forgot, he would never forgive himself.
Growing up, he had it rough. He wasn't poor or anything like that. In fact, both his parents were very famous, being part of the Royal Blacksmiths and all, but with his father trying to get him to be a singer and dancer as well and his mother being sick. There was little room for an actual childhood.
They said that she would be fine. That everything would turn out for the better. That she was showing improvement and would come home any day now, and she did come home. But not for the reason she should've.
The doctors and his father went from acting everything was fine to "it's time to say goodbye" within a day. It made Cole angry that they lied. His mother never lied to him, even when she was in this horrible condition. She could barely keep any food down. She was so pale and sickly. Her hair had been growing back for a while now, and she was finally able to keep it up in a bun, but Cole knew now that it was because the doctors just gave up. That made Cole even more angry.
His mother breathed shakily as she sat up and a fit of coughs was quick to begin. They soon stopped, though, and she was able to look to her son with loving eyes.
"Hi, Honey," she smiled, but it wasn't real. It was never real.
Cole didn't notice at the moment, though. All he could think was that she was here. Not sleeping. Able to talk for a moment. A moment he had not gotten in a very long time.
"Mom!" he had exclaimed as he ran into her arms to hug her.
He tried to ignore how frail she seemed compared to his own thirteen year old body, but it was a difficult thing to do.
"I don't want you to be sick anymore, Mom," he had told her.
"I know," she replied, "but we don't always get what we want, do we?"
Cole hugged her even tighter at that. Afraid to let go.
"Your father said you got in trouble at school," she mentioned, and Cole immediately let go so he could explain himself.
"Yeah, but it wasn't my fault. There's this kid, and he just-he's just a big bully! He's always picking on the little kids and-"
"And you got in a fight," she finished for him. Cole thought he had messed up. That he had stressed his mother out more than this terrible sickness had already done, and that scared the boy.
He looked to his mom and said, "I'm sorry, Mom. I promise. I won't fight anymore. I'll be good from now on. I'll make you proud and-and-" Cole stopped as he felt the tears begin to roll down. Great, now he was just going to make her sad.
"Oh, Cole," she had said. "Don't you see? I am proud. I want you to promise me, Cole, that you will always stand up to those who are cruel and unjust. Always."
"I promise, Mom. Always," Cole replied before they hugged again. This time he didn't even try to hide his tears.
The earth master held their final conversation dear. He was going to keep his promise, and he was not going to let his departed mother down. That is why, even when all hope was lost, he still led the Upply through the mountain they had searched thousands of times thinking that maybe, just maybe, a fresh set of eyes would spot something different. Not everyone understood his way of thinking, though.
"What are we doing? We've explored this tunnel a million times," Plundar began complaining after a couple hours had passed. "If there was a way out of Rock Bottom, we would have found it already."
"Come now, Plundar," Fungus replied. "It doesn't hurt to have someone take a fresh look."
"It's hurting my feet! We've been at this for hours!"
"Are we having a teatime chat, or are we trying to escape this dungeon?" Vania asked. She was really tired of Plundar's disrespect towards her friend.
Suddenly, the earth master stopped when they reached a wall. Vania ran next to Cole and asked, "Another dead end?"
Cole felt like he was about to burst by how frustrated he was, but the squeeze C.J. gave his hand was enough to tell him that this was not the time nor place to blow up. He breathed a long breath before confirming with the princess saying, "Another dead end."
"Good Sir Ninja, if it makes you feel any better, the four of us have been failing to escape for years," Fungus told him.
"Well, thank you, but that doesn't really help," Cole replied, and he did mean it. Sure the statement was hopeless but at least Fungus was trying to cheer him up. Unlike Plundar.
The earth master began heading in another direction and everybody followed, raising some questions in the thief.
"What are we doing following this guy?" he asked. "This is a waste of time! We're already a bunch of failed adventurers. We don't need a leader to help us fail more."
Cole closed his eyes in an attempt to drown his voice out. If only he could concentrate.
"Oh! Cole isn't helping us fail!" Vania yelled. "He's helping us escape! For your information, Cole is a fantastic leader!"
"Oh, yeah? Where's he leading us? In circles? Because guess where we are. That's right. Back in Rock Bottom."
Cole ran up to the pool of water in the middle of Rock Bottom only to see his own reflection. The failed ninja. The failed father. The failed friend. In his anger, Cole picked up the nearest rock he could find and threw it as hard as he could into the lake. He then began making his way to a nearby rock where he could lay for the rest of his days. C.J. deciding to join him.
"I'm so sorry, Bud," Cole told him, tears brimming his eyes, but he had to keep them down. He had to make sure C.J. wasn't worried. "I didn't mean to get angry. It's just...kind of frustrating trying to get us out of this mountain. You know?"
Cole chuckled dryly before continuing.
"Of course you do. You're stuck with me. Forever."
C.J. frowned at this before snuggling up to his father, hoping to maybe cheer him up.
"I do not remember you being so...hopeless," Wu said as he walked over to the earth master.
Cole sighed, not even sitting up.
"I failed her, Master Wu. I couldn't do it."
"Who?"
Cole turned his head away from his master. Why did he have to open his big mouth?
"You will have to face it eventually, Cole. Who did you fail?"
The earth master mumbled something under his breath.
"I'm sorry?"
"My mom, okay!" Cole yelled now as he sat up. He sighed again when he realized that he was yelling. Hugging C.J. to let him know that he wasn't going to do it again, he decided to tell what was truly on his mind a bit quieter. "Ever since I saw my mother's locket, I've felt her presence. She's connected to this place somehow, I can feel it." A pause. "Will you listen to me. What am I talking about? Why would my mother have come to this place? We're at the bottom of the world!"
"You're right," Wu started. "This is the lowest you have ever been."
"Thanks for noticing."
"No. I mean, your mother once told me that her powers were strongest when she was closest to the earth."
"Really?"
"You've never been farther underground, Cole. Never been more surrounded by the very thing that powers you. The Skull Sorcerer thought he was burying you, but what if he was actually bringing you closer to the earth? To the source of your elemental power?"
"So, what do I do? Try to connect with the earth?"
"Perhaps. Perhaps you just have to stop worrying so much and let the earth connect with you."
Cole thought about this a moment. It was worth a shot, at the very least. He beckoned for C.J. to get off of his lap before hopping down from his rock and reaching his hands out in front of him, eyes closed. He breathed slowly for a few moments, feeling for the inner workings and spirit of the mountain around, but there was nothing.
"I'm not feeling anything," he admitted after a few minutes.
"Cole. Open your eyes," Wu instructed.
The earth master obeyed and saw that he was now floating. Nearly his entire body was glowing with energy and so was the nearby rubble surrounding him. Allowing the energy from everything around him to overtake him, he punched the ground, causing a huge crack to form leading as a pathway under the water.
"Woah!" C.J. yelled.
Everyone looked to see where it led and much to Cole's surprise, he saw that there was a tunnel.
"Maybe a way out!" Cole told the group.
"We're with you!" Fungus exclaimed.
Plundar rolled his dice to see what his decision would be and was deeply disappointed that it voted to go with Cole.
"Fine," he groaned.
"Fungus, do you know of any spells to keep C.J. safe while he's down there?" Cole asked.
"Yes. A small one that would not help us, but for someone his size, he will be able to breath as long as he keeps this on his face," Fungus proudly stated as he held a mushroom out to the father.
"Uh..." Cole started as he examined the mushroom over. "Okay," was his skeptical response.
He handed the mushroom to C.J. and instructed him to do as Fungus said, and he obeyed. In situations like these, he knew better than to make trouble.
Cole led the way, C.J. in his arms, and the group began making their way through the tunnel. Cole had to stop to help many of his friends, though, as they kept getting stuck by various things, leaving the earth master breathless by the time he came up.
"Is everyone okay?" he asked when he saw the worried looks on everyone's faces.
Vania's smile gave Cole all the answer he needed.
He took the mushroom from C.J. and led the group to the end of the path, which happened to be in front of a pool of lava.
"But which tunnel do we take?" Vania asked as she looked to all the ones surrounding them and the one across the pool.
"Cole, touch the ground again," Wu instructed.
Cole did so, and the path ended up leading to the tunnel on the other side of the pool, leaving Plundar less than pleased.
"Across the lava?!" he yelled. "Ugh! What am I saying? Of course across the lava. All these nice tunnels we could take, but no! We gotta take the tunnel on the other side of the lava!"
"You think I'm any happier about it?" Cole asked, "but that's the way. I feel it."
"Ha!" Korgran suddenly exclaimed. "Korgran fears no lava!" he said as he took a cup and filled it with the dangerous liquid. "Korgran drinks lava for breakfast!"
He was about to try drinking the lava, but Plundar suddenly interrupted saying, "No you don't. You drink juice."
"What?" Korgran asked as his cup burned up. He screamed in fear saying, "Oh right. Juice! Korgran fears no juice! Lava, on other hand, very scary."
"Is the path filled with danger? Yes. Would it be easier to turn back? Of course! But we can't stop the Skull Sorcerer and save our friends trapped down here, can we?"
"We can't stop him if we're dead either," Plundar argued.
"Then I'd guess you better roll your dice and take a chance. What's it gonna be? Turn back? Or keep going?"
Plundar rolled his dice and sighed when he saw the results. He put up his hood and faced the lava with a new determination. Beats staying in Rock Bottom for the next twenty years.
For Cole, crossing the lava was just like any other dangerous jumping day, which was many days, so doing it with C.J. was a piece of cake. He just worried how Vania was doing. Shintaro wasn't that dangerous of a place, so she didn't have that much experience with these kinds of expeditions, but she had been holding her own very well so far.
Adam, Plundar's spider had decided against jumping from rock to rock and instead webbed the cave ceiling and crawled over to the other side.
"Almost there!" Plundar exclaimed when he saw how close his best friend was to him.
"Wait," Cole started. "I sense danger!"
He hugged C.J. tighter to him as he felt for that rumble in the ground.
"What are you talkin' about? We're practically home free!"
"No, I-I sense tremors in the ground beneath us! I've never felt anything like this!" Cole was beginning to get worried. He backed up a little as something bubbled up from the lava and growled at the group. They didn't know what it was, but it was made out of lava and seemed very angry.
"Never seen anything like that!" Fungus screamed. "Look out!"
Cole jumped to another rock when the lava monster destroyed his, and Vania was forced to move as well.
"Team, listen up!" Cole started. "Korgran, frontal assault! Keep its focus! Look out for those tentacles!"
"Tentacles should look out for Korgran!" the Metalonian replied confidently before taking out at least five of them.
This didn't do much, though, because the lava immediately grew more to replace them.
Cole managed to use his earth punch to bring some stalactites down on the creature's head, but when the monster spit lava at the rocks, they were sent right back to Cole, and he just barely managed to jump out of the way in time.
"Master Wu, block those lava balls and send them right back at him!"
"Look out! More lava balls flying at us!" Vania yelled to Wu.
Wu responded to this by using his spinjitzu to throw one off to the side.
"Two more to the left!" Vania warned.
And Wu managed to do the same thing except this time, the lava balls landed right back in the creature's mouth, preventing him from firing his next attack.
"Fungus, see if you can distract him with some more of those snow flurries!" Cole instructed.
"I will endeavor to do more than just distract him!" Fungus protested.
The wizard ran at the monster and began trying to conjure up a spell while Cole continued to block more lava blasts with nearby rocks, but it was then that he noticed another rock right above the monster's head.
"Plundar, see if you can sneak around and reach that boulder!" Cole yelled. "It just needs a little nudge!"
"Oh, that's a job for Adam," the thief replied. "Get it, Adam! Get it!"
Fungus threw his snow flurry at the lava monster, momentarily freezing him, giving Adam enough time to dump the boulder on the creature's head, and he was no more.
"Everybody alright?" Cole asked, now that the ordeal was over.
"Yes."
"Yeah."
"I'm okay."
"Doing well, Sir Ninja."
"I've been better."
"Korgran still alive."
"Good job, Adam! Good boy!" Plundar praised.
Adam chittered happily.
"Yeah. Not bad for a bunch of failed adventurers," Cole said and everyone smiled. He was right. If they had what it took to beat a monster made entirely of lava, they could get back up the mountain.
As they all began walking through the tunnel, Cole holding C.J.'s hand to make sure he didn't get lost, he looked back to the pool of lava and said, "Hang on. I'm gonna seal this passage. Just in case that lava monster decides to come back."
Letting go of C.J.'s hand, he jumped up into the air, and pounded his fists on the ground, creating a rockslide to block anything or anyone from getting to the lava pool. Or out from it.
As he joined the group once again, he felt a tug on his shoulder followed by Plundar's voice saying, "Hey. Hold up. I need to say something to you."
Cole turned around to see Plundar wearing a regretful expression. Almost guilty.
He hesitated a moment, but seeing Cole's curious look, and realizing he was already in too deep, he decided to continue.
"I was wrong about you," he said. "You been straight with us. You got us outta there, and well, you're okay in my book."
"Thanks, Guys," Cole replied, "but let's not start getting all huggy yet. We got a long way to go."
"For the first time in a long while, I believe we have a chance," Fungus admitted. "Lead on, Young Ninja!"
The earth master touched the ground once again, and the path continued on through the tunnel.
"Phew," Vania breathed. "Let's hope it's downhill from here. I mean, I know it's uphill, but, you know, downhill uphill. That would be nice."
"Yep! I'm willin' to bet the worst is behind us," Plundar added.
"Up!" C.J. exclaimed.
I hope you all liked that chapter. Next chapter should be out on Monday.
Have a great day/night!
#God'sNotDead