Chapter 4: Interrogation

AN: I posting early due to spring break-enjoy! I'll go back to posting on Friday's after this. I don't own Ninjago!

Cole and I left the dining hall so we could find the others. I couldn't wait till lunch because Lloyd would be there, and I didn't want him finding out about our plans. After an hour of searching, I decided to send an owl to everyone instead.

It was almost dark by the time we all got together in the courtyard. It was chilly, but private.

"So why are we all here again?" Jay asked.

"Didn't you read the letter?" Cole replied.

"Of course! But it was really vague!"

"Hey! I wrote that myself! It's called poetry, Jay."

"You know what, Cole? Your poetry stinks!"

"I worked hard on that!"

"Boys!" Nya exclaimed at last.

When they settled down, I told them about Lloyd and our plan to find out what was going on with him.

"I don't think interrogating our friend is a good idea," Nya said when I finished.

"Well, how else do we get him to tell us what's going on?" I demanded.

"We could use magic," Zane suggested. "The Confundus Charm would work, or the Imperious Curse. There is also a tea of truth, but that would require stealing from Mistake's store room."

"Those are all illegal!" Jay said.

Zane just shrugged.

"So, verbal interrogation is the best we got," I said.

"I don't know," Nya said. "If Lloyd wanted to tell us, he would. I don't think forcing him to talk is a good idea."

"We've tried waiting and it hasn't worked," I said. "And there's obviously something wrong with him. So we have to know. It's for his own good."

Nya snapped, "Fine! Do you what you want, but I'm not going to make our friend talk for the 'greater good'."

"Then what do you suggest?" Jay asked to try and pacify my sister.

"I don't know, ask him?" She suggested.

"Fine, we'll ask Lloyd first, but if he doesn't answer, we'll interrogate him," I summed up. "You in?"

One by one everyone nodded. Nya glared at me, and I almost thought she wasn't going to come, but then she sighed.

"Alright. Someone has to keep you boys out of trouble." So it was agreed.

That day at lunch, we invited Lloyd to a private study session in the back courtyard.

"Isn't that courtyard really crummy?" Lloyd sniffed. "I don't think anyone's maintained that place in years."

"Yeah, but with all of Master Chen's new curfew and free time restrictions all the other ones will be really crowded," Cole explained. "But in the back, no one will bother us."

Everyone nodded, but Lloyd didn't look convinced.

"It can't be that bad," I said.

"And we can always use magic to clean up the worst of it," Nya added.

Lloyd sighed. "Fine."

"Meet us an hour after classes," I said.

"Why an hour?" He asked.

"Cause, we need to do, um, things," Jay trailed off, fingering his scarf.

"Okay," Lloyd said slowly, but thankfully he didn't keep pushing.

Yes! Stage one complete. After classes, we rushed to the courtyard to prepare for Lloyd. Zane locked all the doors leading back to the school, except the one we came in. Nya cleaned the benches, because it turned out Lloyd was right. Nobody had been out here for years, except the birds, mice and who knows else. Jay was helping her, of course, and I glanced over at Cole who was pulling out an overhead light and rope.

"What's that for?" I asked.

"In case he doesn't cooperate," Cole explained. "I've watched a lot of cop shows, and trust me, we'll need this."

Okay…Really all we needed was magic, but oh well. Before we knew it an hour had passed, and Lloyd had arrived.

"What's up guys?" He asked, glancing at all of us.

I hoped we didn't look too suspicious.

"Not much, just ready to study," Nya said awkwardly.

"Right," Lloyd said. While he sat down, I nodded at Zane, who locked the door behind him. After a few minutes of 'studying', I couldn't take it anymore. I had to know what was going on.

"So, Lloyd," I said, not wanting to scare him off, "How are you feeling?"

Everyone glanced up. Stage 2 was a go.

"Same as always," Lloyd replied. "Why?"

"We've been worried about you," Jay said.

"Yeah, you've been acting strange for a while now," Cole added.

Lloyd frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Ever since the school year started, you haven't been acting like yourself," Nya explained.

Lloyd slammed the book shut. "A lot's been going on, okay? Now if you'll excuse me—"

"Oh no, you don't," I said. "You're not going anywhere till we get some answers."

The third year laughed. "Ha ha. Very funny guys." He tried to slide off the bench, but I grabbed his arm.

"I'm serious, Lloyd. We need to talk."

"Kai, let go of me," Lloyd demanded.

"Not unless you start talking," I insisted.

"Let go!"

"We're worried about you!" Jay said.

Cole jumped in. "This is for your own good!"

Lloyd kept struggling, but I just tightened my grip. I needed to know what was going on.

"I'm sorry, Lloyd," I whispered.

His eyes widened. For a moment, I could believe he was my young, innocent friend again. Then his gaze hardened. "I'll never talk!" he yelled. "Just leave me alone!"

Lloyd jerked his arm away and sprinted toward the door. He pulled on the handle but it wouldn't budge. "What the?" he asked. Then he started banging wildly on the door. "Let me out!" He screamed. "Somebody help!"

I glanced at the others. Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way. I nodded at Zane, who glided toward Lloyd.

He whispered, "Stupefy," and the third year went out cold.

I caught him before he crumpled to the floor.

"He will awake in an hour," Zane informed me.

"Chen's curfew will be over then," Jay said. "I'll get another detention!"

That reminded me of my own detention at six. I needed to hurry. "It's okay," I said. "I know a place we can go."

I lifted Lloyd onto my shoulders and led my friends to Garmadon's hut. It was a bit small for all of us, but Chen would never find us out here. I pushed open the door slowly.

"Garmadon?" I called.

"What do you want?" he answered.

"Can we stay here for a bit?" I asked.

"I guess."

I lit a candle and laid Lloyd down on the table. Cole pulled out his rope and tied him up. I took a few steps back. Now all we had to do was wait.

"What are you doing to my son?"

I turned around to find myself face to face with the warlord, eyes blazing.

"W-we were trying to get information out of him," I stammered. "We weren't going to hurt him, but he won't say anything, so I thought…" I trailed off. There was no real excuse I could make. Nya shot me an I-told-you-so look.

Garmadon just sighed. "Kids," he muttered. Then, he shoved past me and untied Lloyd. "If you want to find out what happened to my son, there are better ways then taking him prisoner."

"So you'll help us?" Jay asked hopefully.

The warlord snorted. "Of course. I want to know what happened to L-loyd as much as you do. But this time, we'll do it my way."

I wasn't sure that Garmadon's way would be any better than mine, but I wasn't going to say so. At this point, we could use all the help we could get. Garmadon grabbed a bucket of water from the back of his hut.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Waking him up," he replied. He tipped the bucket and splashed Lloyd in the face.

Immediately, Lloyd's body shook and green smoke rose from his skin. He groaned and his head rolled. The smoke grew thicker and thicker and my heart pounded harder and harder.

"He's dying!" Jay screamed.

Garmadon sprinted to grab a towel, but Nya just used her powers to stream the water back into the bucket. The smoke settled and Lloyd went still.

"Is he okay?" I asked.

Garmadon frowned. "For now, but we have a much bigger problem than I thought."

"What do you mean?" Cole asked.

"L-loyd's been possessed by a ghost."

AN: Things just went from bad to worse...but it's not over yet. Tune in next week. Thanks for all the support!