Chapter 8: A Not so Clean Getaway
Garmadon growled, but there was nothing he could do. Clouse had his wand pointed right at us. One wrong move and we were done for. Well, we were kind of done for anyway. Now that all of us had been seen, they were free to make our entire lives miserable. This was the end.
"Expelliarmus!" Zane cried, and Clouse's wand went flying. Before either of them could react, Garmadon pounced on Chen, using his four arms to wrestle his wand back.
"Clouse! Do something!" Chen cried.
Clouse reached for his own wand, but I launched a fireball straight at him. Clouse leapt back and glared at me.
"You made a big mistake, boy," he said.
"Oh, really?" I said, as my friends ran to my side.
"It's five against one, and you don't even have a wand!" Cole yelled at him.
Clouse smirked. "I don't need one!" He slammed a button on the wall and the floor opened up under us.
"Not another trapdoor!" Jay cried. My stomach lurched in my throat as we began to tumble into the darkness. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited to hit the bottom.
A hand grabbed my shirt. "Gotcha!" Cole yelled and I looked up. Somehow he had managed to grab the edge of the door and me at the same time. Then, something latched onto my foot, and the weight almost wrenched me out of Cole's grasp. But he gritted his teeth and pulled tighter. I looked down and saw Zane, Jay and Nya had all latched onto each other like a human ladder. Poor Cole. If it wasn't for his super strength, I bet we would all be plummeting into the abyss right now.
"Hang on guys," Cole hissed through his teeth. He grunted and swung his feet into the stonewall, creating a ledge for him to stand on. Then he let go of the door and grabbed onto me with both hands.
"Climb up!" he said. I braced myself and pulled up as hard as I could, but everyone's weight hanging on me was too much.
"I can't," I groaned.
"Come on!" Cole complained, but he leaned back and yanked with all his might, and this time, I managed to get a foot on the ledge. Zane took the opportunity to let go of me and grab the ledge instead.
Without all the extra weight, I leaned forward and pulled my other leg up onto solid ground. I paused to catch my breath. That was too close.
"A little help here?" Cole called. Oh right, the others! I slipped my wand in my robe, and grabbed onto Zane's other hand.
"On three," I said. Cole nodded.
"Three!" And with a giant heave, the others joined us one by one on the ledge.
"That was close," Nya said.
"Too close," Jay agreed.
"Yeah, let's not do that again," I said.
"Everyone, listen," Zane broke in. We all paused.
"Excellent, Clouse," Master Chen praised. "Although, you could have been a little quicker about it."
"My apologies, Master," Clouse replied.
"Now, as for you, Garmadon," Chen said. "You'll pay for your insubordination. Clouse, feed him to that pet of yours."
"Of course, Master," he said, and I thought I detected a bit of sick pleasure in his voice.
"What do we do?" Jay whispered.
"We rescue Garmadon, of course," I said. "We need him to help Lloyd."
"Easier said than done," Cole replied. "How we going to get past Chen and Clouse?"
"Watch this," I said. I grabbed my wand again and scrambled up the wall.
"Kai, what are you doing?" Nya hissed.
I kept going.
"Kai!" I ignored my sister. "Kai!" She whispered louder, but I had already jumped out of the trap door.
"Stupefy!" I yelled, and before Clouse had time to blink he was on the ground cold. Glancing around, I saw Garmadon completely tied from head to foot with thick ropes.
"You!" Chen yelled. "You'll pay for that!" He whipped out his own wand, but I was already by Garmadon's side.
"Diffindo!" And with a swipe of my wand Garmadon was cut free.
"Why, you, you—" Chen shrieked. "Stupefy!"
I rolled as fast as I could as a bolt of light came flying at me. I glanced up and fortunately, Garmadon managed to push himself out of the way and the spell dissipated into the floor.
"Stay still!" Chen screamed as he fired off a new set of curses. I ran with Garmadon and we hid behind a fancy chair. The spells shook our hiding place, but we were safe. For now, anyways.
"Where's your wand?" I asked.
"In his robe," Garmadon replied.
"Great," I muttered. I peeked past the giant arm of the chair, just in time to see a scarlet spell flying toward my face. I ducked back and it just clipped my cheek. "We're completely pinned down. Have any ideas?" I glanced at Garmadon. If anyone could get us out of here, the former warlord was our best bet.
Flames sparked into his four hands. "Got one," he replied with a grin. "How's your aim?"
"Fine, just give me a clear shot."
"You take left, I take right. He can't hit both of us at once."
I nodded and braced myself to dodge more spells when someone groaned. Clouse. My spell was wearing off. "Stupefy!" I yelled again. I turned back to Garmadon. "That won't last forever."
"Then we need to move."
"Expelliarmus!" I glanced past the chair. It was Nya! She came for me. I grinned.
"Thanks, sis!" I called.
"Someone has to save your hide," she shot back. Behind her, Zane, Cole and Jay clambered out of the hole. I grinned.
"Give up, Chen," Garmadon said, drawing up to full height. "Your surrounded and unarmed."
"No, no, no!" he cried. The pathetic 'master' bolted behind his desk. "You'll never get your wand!" Chen slammed a bunch of buttons and the floor started to drop.
"Not again!" Jay cried.
"Quick!" I shouted, leaping through the air before the trapdoor could open all the way. I hit the ground running and shot toward Chen before he could press any more buttons.
"Buttons, buttons," he muttered. "One of these will stop you!"
I dodged holes opening up every which way, and ducked as giant blades swung from the air. I was almost to desk. This evil headmaster was going down.
"Help!"
I skidded to a stop. Jay was limping. I swallowed a lump in my throat. I can't believe I didn't notice before. I don't even know how he got hurt. Nya was helping him along, but a series of doors was opening right nearby. If someone didn't something, they were both going to fall.
Nya glanced around the room and called again, louder this time, "Someone! Please." I was the closest one to them. Cole and Zane had problems of their own to deal with. Clouse had woken up again and was keeping them both on their toes. I glanced back at Chen. He was using the commotion to grab his wand.
"Gah!" Jay had fallen down a hole, Nya was trying to pull him up but…
"Go! I'll take care of Chen," Garmadon said. He didn't have to tell me twice. I sprinted toward Jay, but a series of blades blocked my path.
"Kai! Help!" my sister begged. A giant axe was swinging in front of me and series of spikes poked out of the floor. What to do, what to do…
"Kai!" Nya shrieked. She was slipping fast, and I could barely make out Jay, but I couldn't get to them. It would take too long to go around. I wish I could just lift them up from here. There had to be a spell…I got it!
"Wingardium Leviosa!" I shouted. Jay began to rise clean out of the hole, and Nya along with him. Yes! It's working! Now to find a safe place to put them. Where they were standing was far too dangerous, maybe I could guide them over to where I was. I didn't have a lot of time, though. Wingardium Leviosa only worked on objects and I could see the strain on Jay's robes. If I didn't hurry, they would rip clean off and both Nya and Jay would fall to their deaths.
I raised my wand so they could float over the spikes. Nya clung to Jay like a lifeline, but she didn't cry out. My heart pounded. The spell only worked on one object at a time. If Nya let go, she would be impaled. I shook my head. Focus, Kai, I thought. Get them over here.
The axe swung past my face again. I took a deep breath. For a moment, I was reminded of an old videogame I used to play, but these were real people. And there were no extra lives.
I pulled them forward, but the axe was too fast, I jerked them back last minute, but—
"Careful, Kai!" Jay yelled. "You almost got us killed!"
"You alright?" I asked.
"Just a scratch," Nya replied. "I'll be okay."
With the blade out of the way, I could see blood dripping down my sister's cheek. I couldn't believe I got my sister hurt. I had to be more careful. This time, as soon as the axe passed, I pulled them over as fast as I could and set them down next to me.
"Ow!" Jay groaned, clutching his leg. I winced. Probably should have set them down more gently. Then, I turned to Nya. Up close, the cut was a lot shallower than I thought. It was just bleeding a ton. I grimaced, and ripped a piece of my kimono to try and clean her face.
"Kai," she complained, shooing my hand away. "I'm fine. Really. It's not that bad."
"I know," I said, but I kept wiping the blood. Finally, Nya just took the cloth and started doing it herself. While I waited, I glanced over at Zane and Cole. They had Clouse backed into a corner, and looked like they were about to win. Perfect. Meanwhile, Garmadon was throwing fireballs at Chen, trying to get close enough to grab his wand.
"Well, if you're alright," I started, "Let's go help Garmadon and get out of here."
Nya nodded, but Jay stayed on the floor. "You guys go ahead," he said. "But if you need assistance," he summoned some sparks in his hands, "Let me know."
I smiled. Jay was a good friend; even injured he was still willing to help. "If you get a clear shot, go ahead," I told him.
Nya and I circled around. Now that Chen wasn't pushing buttons anymore it was a whole lot easier. I darted left and shouted, "Stupefy!"
Chen dodged out of the way, but Nya was ready on the other side. "Incarcerous!" Rope swirled out of her wand and bound Chen, just like Garmadon only a little while earlier. The former warlord darted forward with almost inhuman speed. He reached into Chen's pockets, despite the man's protests, and soon has his wand in hand.
"Got it!" He yelled in triumph.
I turned back. "Zane! Cole! Let's go."
"But Clouse—" Zane said.
"No time!" I yelled. We needed to get out of here as soon as possible before something worse happened. I sprinted over to Jay, where Nya was already helping him up. "Come on," I called. "We have to get out of here."
Cole gave Clouse one last look before sprinting over to the window. "It's still locked!" He said.
"Leave that to me," Garmadon said with a smirk. "Bombarda!" Suddenly, the entire window exploded and shards of glass went everywhere. I blocked my face, but my hands got cut all over.
"Seriously?" I asked him. "Did you have to do that?"
He just shrugged and mounted his broom. I helped Jay get onto his, and soon after we were flying back to Garmadon's hut.
"Now what?" Jay said. "We're wanted men! Clouse and Chen will find us, and then we'll be expelled, and—"
"Calm down, Jay," Cole said. "I'm sure Kai's got a plan, right?"
"Uh…" To be honest, I had no idea what we were going to do. The plan was to get Lloyd and drag him back to Garmadon's hut, but at this point it seemed impossible to get back into the school. Everyone's face began to fall.
"I was thinking we could hide here?" I trailed off and stared at Garmadon, who shrugged.
"I guess, but Clouse and Chen will find us here eventually. It's not like it's a huge secret."
"We're doomed!" Jay cried.
"No!" I said, slamming my fist on the table. Everyone jerked their heads to look at me. "We'll just get our resistance started sooner," I said. "We'll sneak in, get Lloyd, and once he's on our side again, he can help us gather people to fight against Chen before we get caught. We'll drive them out of here, and everything can go back to the way it was."
"How? The whole school we'll be on lockdown after we broke in," Zane pointed out. I faltered. Zane was our voice of reason. If he didn't know what to do, then…
"Leave that to me," Garmadon said. "I know all the ins and outs of this school. I'll find L-loyd in no time."
"See?" I said. "We'll make this work. We always do." The others didn't look so sure, but one by one they nodded.
"We're with you, Kai," Nya said at last.
"Now, and always," Cole added.
I smiled. "Thanks. You guys are the best."
AN: It's getting real guys! How will they save Lloyd? Read next week to find out! Reviews are always welcome, and thanks to NaninaDaPanda and JBomb217 for faithfully reviewing!