A/N: Sorry this took so long everyone, I hope you all had some pleasantly enjoyable holidays! Anyway, enjoy this chapter of Kai's- *Checks script* Kai's? Really? Huh, he's not usually a perspective I'd choose. Oh well. Enjoy this chapter of Kai's perspective! (Kind of, it's still third person like the rest of the story.)
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xxXTryMeXxx: Yes, he does. Just wait until someone tells him something that he can't take as any kind of lie/manipulation/command, he'll probably just break on the spot! I wish I could say that I gave him a calm enough backstory that this isn't trauma related but... wait, what am I saying? No I don't! ;p (I am much too fond of my traumatic backstories, although you're likely already aware of that.)
"Alright, this time! This time for sure! I'm finally gonna one-up that samurai!" Kai boasted, flexing in front of the others.
Wu stepped onto the deck, looking more than a little off. Which was fair, last Kai had heard was that he was gonna try and give the little runt a bath, and maybe talk to him a little. Kai didn't really care all that much about that, after all it clearly had nothing to do with the Green Ninja prophecy so he didn't see any point in wasting his time on such trivial matters as his Sensei's nephew.
"Kai, I actually have a special mission for you." Wu's tone was… different. Sounding almost worried, or even disturbed. How strange.
Kai jumped, turning to face him. "Sensei!" Under his breath, he added "This has gotta be my chance to prove I'm the green ninja!" He cleared his throat, eyes shining eagerly. "What do you need me to do?"
"I have to go out for a bit, and I need you to make sure nothing happens to Lloyd."
Kai let out an offended squawk. "Babysitting?! That's your 'important mission'?!"
Wu glared at him. "It is imperative you do not let him out of your sight until I return, understand?"
Kai sighed. "Yes, Sensei." Reluctantly, he went below deck to try and find Lloyd.
...Who was in the bathroom, not hiding in some corner for once, and was examining his new haircut in the mirror. It was the first time Kai could recall seeing the kid with his hood down, so Kai wasn't certain this wasn't his old haircut but he was pretty sure Lloyd hadn't had a bowl cut. "Hey, Lloyd."
Lloyd whirled around, bright (almost glowing, even) emerald-green eyes wide. "Yes, sir?"
"Wu said I have to babysit you." He turned around. "C'mon." He led the kid to the edge of the Bounty, grabbing him with one arm and holding the Sword of Fire in the other.
He lept over the edge, turning his sword into his motorbike and shoving both himself and Lloyd onto it. For his part, Lloyd didn't even scream at being shoved off the side of the flying ship.
Once they hit the ground Kai drove straight to the nearest arcade - kids love arcades, right?
"Here we are." He looked at Lloyd expectantly, who just sat there looking at him but avoiding his eyes. With a slight sigh, Kai turned and lifted Lloyd off the end of his motorbike, setting him down on the ground. "Just stay here and play some games. Here." He handed Lloyd a small handful of coins, which the boy stared at in confusion. "Alright, I'm leaving to go do meaningful things, like prove to everyone I'm the Green Ninja!"
Lloyd stared at him as he drove away.
What a weird kid.
*A few 'meaningful' things later*
Wu returned from his trip visibly upset, and it only got worse when he spotted all four ninja arguing amongst each other. "Kai! Where is Lloyd?!"
Kai jumped. "Oh, Sensei! Welcome back!" He tried to hide the dread that rose in his throat in response to his mentor's glare.
"Where is my nephew?!"
"Relax, I dropped him off at an arcade. He's probably having the time of his life or whatever."
Fury rose onto Wu's face. In a cold, flat tone he gave Kai a 'gentle' reminder. "I told you not to take your eyes off him."
"Calm down, I can go grab him anytime. Seriously, you're acting like I dropped him off a cliff or something."
Wu just glared at him. "We are getting him. NOW."
Kai jumped, shocked at how quickly Wu got scary. "Okay, okay. Sheesh."
*A short ride later*
"I'm telling you, he's going to be just inside here." Kai led the way into the building. Inside was rather small, and you could easily see all the arcade machines - and whoever was playing them - from the doorway. There weren't a lot of kids inside: a couple of girls were trying to beat one of the more difficult, older games together, and a brunet boy failing miserably at q-bob. There was also a young adult man sitting behind a desk, watching the kids.
No sign of Lloyd.
Aware of Wu's ice-cold glare of stone, Kai glanced around for something to save him from his sensei's wrath. With relief, he noticed a security camera and raced up to the man behind the desk. "Do you have one of those outside?" He pointed at the camera.
"Uh, yeah. Why?"
"I need to see the feed from... a half, maybe a full hour ago."
The man frowned. "I can't show the feeds to a non-employee, unless you're a cop or something."
Before Kai could reply, Wu pushed past him. "We're looking for my nephew, who someone left on his own right outside your place here. We were hoping to see which direction he went."
He shuffled slightly. "Well, alright. If it's a missing kid, then as long as I'm supervising it should be fine." Hesitating just another second, he led the two of them into a back room with a couple of computers on a desk, logged onto one, and pulled up the outer camera's feeds. "Here you go, you can go back almost 24 hours, so you should be able to find what you're looking for."
Wu slipped into the seat behind the desk. Kai would have argued, but he kept his mouth shut because of the look on his mentor's face.
Clicking at a seemingly random point in the feed, Wu pulled up the image of Kai dropping Lloyd off (first try, even. Kai wasn't sure how.) After Kai drove off-screen Lloyd just stood there, looking almost confused as he hesitantly pocketed the coins. After a moment, his eyes locked onto something off-screen. He stood frozen for a second before turning and sprinting. Before he reached the end of the screen he was tackled to the ground by a pair of boys who were clearly pre-teens.
Hissing through his teeth in an almost inhuman way, (Kai was not scared by the outburst) Wu paused the video. The mentor peered at the screen, examining the boys who had attacked his nephew. The both of them were wearing dark suits with a little cracked skull emblem that Kai vaguely recognized, and Wu cursed - literally cursed - under his breath as he unpaused the feed.
The two boys rose to their feet, dragging Lloyd up with them. Both looked absolutely ecstatic, even through the poor quality of the camera, while Lloyd had gone completely pale and was shaking like he was terrified. As they began dragging the smaller child past the alleyway next to the arcade, a bright pink Hypnobrai emerged from the alley and tore their grip from the child. She held Lloyd strangely protectively as she stepped back, and Skales slithered in front of her, clearly recognizable by his long tail. With a razor-sharp hiss the two assaultants were sent scurrying away. The two serpentine talked a moment before pulling Lloyd with them back into the alleyway.
The feed was paused about a minute later.
Wu rose, grabbing Kai by the ear - pulling really hard, unnecessarily so in Kai's opinion - and dragged him out of the room. The counter guy, for his part, remained dead silent.
The two of them went into the alleyway (Kai still being pulled by the ear) to find tire tracks, well defined and easy to follow.
"Go get the others." Wu let him go with a shooing motion, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Kai hurried away, rushing back to the bounty.
A/N: Gee, I wonder where those two boys could possibly be from. Or who that pink snake was.
Who knows. ;p
Also great job, Kai. All you had to do was watch over one kid and now he's been kidnapped by snakes.
If you have a spare minute please at least consider leaving a review! (This fic is kind of built for speculation and putting pieces of the puzzle together, and so I'd love to hear what you all or thinking!)