The Resistance Never Quits

I snuck into the kitchen with Cole. We needed more food after our baking spree, but I mostly wanted an excuse to get back into the action again. Garmadon's hut was much nicer now, but it was still a cage, and I couldn't sit back and let the other Resistance members do all the work.

"Okay, we go in, grab as much food as we can, and we get out," Cole told me as we slid in the back door.

"Yeah, yeah," I said, not really paying attention. I peeked inside. The kitchen was running itself overtime to prepare for breakfast, but like usual, there was no one there. "All clear."

Cole immediately started filling his bag with anything to do with cakes. I put a few things in mine, until it was clear that Cole was more focused on food than on me. I set my bag down and slipped out into the hall. Chen and Clouse would most likely be in the Dining Hall, eating and showing off his power at the same time. With any luck, the Resistance would already be planning their first move.

The paper doors were closed, but fortunately they opened without a sound.

"Yow!" Someone screamed. I darted into the shadows, hoping I hadn't been spotted, but I needn't have bothered. All eyes were on Chen, and he was clutching his face.

"Who did this?" He yelled, pointing at his staff. Someone had transfigured the top of it into a sort of jack-in-the-box, which had presumably punched him. I could see the beginnings of a black eye forming, and I smirked. So far so good.

The room was dead silent. "No one?" Chen seethed. "Well, if anyone would be so gracious as to tell me, they will be handsomely rewarded."

People whispered, but no one came forward. I breathed a sigh of relief. Now to cause a little mayhem of my own. Sticking to the shadows, I edged as close as I dared, till finally I was almost on the teacher's platform. Fire danced on my fingertips and I directed them right to the edge of Master Chen's fancy robes.

I backed away and watched my work from the back of the Hall. The students were beginning to panic. "FIRE!" Someone screamed. "You're on fire!"

"What?" Chen said, and then he looked down at his long cape. "Gah! Don't just stand there, you fools! Put it out! Put it out!"

I snickered as Chen stomped around the platform like a lunatic, while Clouse tried to put out his robe. But when he finally got close, Mistaké tried to 'help' but only got in Clouse's way.

"Whoops," the professor laughed. "My mistake."

Clouse glared. "Out of my way, old woman!" But the damage was done. Chen's robe was completely charred and at last he just tore it off and put it out himself.

"Who did this?!" He shouted. "Who dares make me look like a fool?"

The hall fell dead silent. I had to stifle a laugh. Chen's face was priceless. This is what I had been missing all these weeks: the adrenaline pumping through my blood, the energy, the uncertainty of it all, and feeling so alive. Plus I was actually being useful for once and making an evil villain pay. Yep. It didn't get better than this.

"Kai!" A loud whisper broke my thoughts. I turned around and saw Cole hiding behind screen door. "I've been looking all over for you!" he hissed.

"Sorry," I whispered, "but check this out!" I pointed to Chen, who still carrying on looking for who set his robe on fire.

Cole crept next to me. "What? Chen's acting the same as always," he said.

"No! The resistance is on the move! Listen!"

"Since no one is coming forward, I have no choice but to punish the entire Fire House!" Chen yelled. The hall erupted into chaos. All the fire students jumped up and it looked like we were going to have a rebellion right there and then.

"But I'm not an unreasonable man," Chen continued. "If someone comes forward and admits to setting my robe on fire, I'll change my mind about punishing you."

"Whose bright idea was it to set Chen on fire?" Cole muttered.

I winced. "It was me."

"What?" Cole snapped. "Kai, how could you? No one's going to step up and then the entire Fire House will be in trouble."

"I realize that now," I said. I couldn't believe this was happening. I was just going to help the Resistance out a little, not make things worse. I took a deep breath. I had to take responsibility for my actions.

"Kai, what are you doing?"

"Stepping up," I replied.

"Kai, no!"

I kept walking.

"Kai, come back!"

"Well, well, well," Chen chuckled. "Look what we have here."

"I set your robe on fire." I said. "So leave the Fire House alone."

"You surrender?" Chen asked.

I clenched my fists, but one look at the Fire table and my mind was made up. "Yes."

"Hand over your wand."

I pulled it out of my robes and held it out, forcing Chen to grab the wand from my hand. He glared at me, but the look was gone as quick as it came and Chen was a picture of smugness.

"Clouse?"

Clouse took the wand from him and snapped it clean in half. I gasped. This was bad. Really, really bad. How was I going to magic now?

"This is what happens to those who oppose me. Their magic will be stolen, and not even their elemental power will be left." Chen laughed and whipped out his wand.

I stumbled back. No. This couldn't be happening. I was just going to help out the Resistance a little, not lose all my magic. I've messed up before, but this… I don't know how I'm going to fix this.

Chen flicked his wand at me and suddenly I was in agony. My whole body felt like it was on fire. The air was ripped out of my body and I crumpled to the ground. My body was glowing and all of the energy was being drawn into Chen's wand. Then as soon as it started it was over. I couldn't feel anything. I was numb, and… empty. Like a part of me had just been ripped out and now there was a gaping hole in my chest.

"Does anyone else want to challenge me?" Chen asked.

No one answered. It seemed like the entire hall didn't dare breathe for fear of loosing their magic like I did. Not that I blamed them. Magic had been a part of my life for so long, and I had worked so hard for it, but now it was gone. And there was nothing I could do about it. This is how Lloyd must have felt.

"I thought so," Master Chen said. "Take this trash away, Clouse."

The slime ball grabbed me by the arms and shoved me to my feet. But as the shock wore off, I couldn't let Chen get away with this. What had I said in my speech? Even when things get worse, don't give up? Well, things couldn't get much worse. I gritted my teeth and threw all my weight forward and twisted my arms away.

Pain shot through me, but I pushed through, and Clouse was so surprised, I actually broke through. "You won't get away with this," I croaked. Then, I cleared my throat, and yelled with all my might. "THE RESISTANCE NEVER QUITS!" And I punched Chen in the face.

It felt really good. But the feeling didn't last long. "Stupify!" Clouse said. And my body froze and crashed to the ground again.

Chen kicked my hard in the ribs, and my already broken body cried in protest. "Insolent boy!" he screamed. "I'm Master Chen and nothing will stop me! Feed him to your pet, Clouse." And with that, Chen stomped out of the hall.

Clouse cast a spell and soon I was floating in the air, my brokenness displayed for the entire school. I saw Cole frozen at the back of the hall. I tried to signal with my eyes that he needed to get out of here. It was bad enough that I got captured; I didn't want to see any of my friends get hurt.

Cole frowned, but he finally bolted out of the room. Fortunately, Clouse either didn't notice or didn't care. He kept walking past all the familiar hallways. I had no idea where he kept his pet snake, but hopefully it was somewhere far enough away that my friends would have time to rescue me.

I almost laughed. Who was I kidding? I was trapped with a dark wizard wandering through the darkness. There was no getting out of this one. I had to accept the fact that this was the end. The real end. I hoped everyone would continue the Resistance and got rid of Chen before anyone else got hurt.

Clouse turned and we walked down a poorly lit corridor I had never bothered to use. The darkness cast a shadow over my heart. I tried to swallow back my rising emotions, but my frozen body didn't respond. The more I thought about it, the more I didn't want to die. There had to be a way out of this. I tried to struggle, but Clouse's spell held me fast and I had no magic of my own to fight back. I closed my eyes, and tears slipped down my face.

I wasn't ready to die. I wanted see Skylor again. I wanted to have a normal year of school for once, where my biggest worry was my little sister trying to date one of my friends. Nya. More tears welled up in eyes. I didn't want to leave her behind. I promised I wouldn't leave her alone, and now I was going to die and it was all my fault.

Clouse stopped in front the rusty boy's bathroom by the Fire Dorm and pushed it open. I groaned. Ouroboros? Really? I guess it made sense. Where better to hide a giant snake than in the Great Devourer's old nest? I sighed. I was going to die where I had rescued my sister. Great. Clouse just had to rub it in my face.

Clouse pulled the snake handle and tapped his foot impatiently, as the old mechanics creaked and groaned, revealing the secret passage to the underground chamber. It looked a lot cleaner then the last time I was here though. Clouse probably didn't like all the slime and dust that lined the sides. Cole's stairs were still there, and the dark wizard marched into the darkness.

Before long, we were at the bottom. Some of the feeling was beginning to return to my limbs, but there was nothing I could do to escape floating up in the air a few feet behind Clouse. I thought about trying to shout and force the ceiling to collapse, but the dark wizard must had fixed all the damage when he took over the place. The roof was perfectly smooth and the rubble in the exit chamber was all gone.

Clouse turned down the eerie green hallway and his steps echoed throughout the chamber. Then we were out in the large circular room where I found Nya two years ago. The snake fountain had dried up and the floor had repaired since the battle with the Great Devourer, but now it was littered with bones and a single a pole sitting in front of them. Clouse dropped me on the floor and tied me up.

"You're lucky," Clouse said. "My pet is hungry. You're death will be quick."

"Right. I'm sooooo lucky," I muttered under my breath. I lost my magic. I was going to die. My sister was going to be alone. It felt like I had just made mistake after mistake and now I was going to pay the price.

Clouse frowned. "You brought this upon yourself, you know. You should have done what you were told."

I laughed bitterly. Boy, did I know it. And bringing back the words he engraved into my hand? Real smooth. "So you're really going to kill me? A fifteen-year-old?" I asked in a last ditch effort to save my miserable life.

Clouse stared at me for a moment, his gaze as cold as ice. "Yes."

I sighed. Not that I thought it would work. "You're a sick person, you know that?" The dark wizard didn't respond, and instead began hissing something in a strange language.

"I can't wait for the Resistance to kick you out of the school," I continued. "I only wish I could be there to see it.

Clouse stopped and glared at me. "Your petty Resistance will fail. Master Chen will see to it."

"The Resistance never quits," I replied.

He growled, but turned back to his strange chanting. Suddenly, a loud hiss filled the room and a gigantic purple snake slithered into the light, not stopping until it reached Clouse. It reared back and opened its large mouth revealing fangs bigger than my head. Clouse rasped something to it, and then it was staring at me.

I swallowed. The snake slithered closer and closer until it was right on top of me. It reared back and flashed forward. I closed my eyes and a breeze whipped passed my face. I cried out.

Then, I realized something. I wasn't dead. I began to open my eyes, but my left eye stung. I squeezed it shut and warm liquid oozed down my face. I opened my good eye. The snake had somehow missed and was lying on the ground next to me.

A blur rushed toward me, sparking as it went. I braced myself for another attack, but instead my bonds were cut. "Let's get you out of here."

I turned and saw Griffin, one of the older students from the resistance meeting. "How did you…?"

He grinned. "The Resistance never quits right?"

I blinked, and he continued, "You ever heard the phrase 'fast as lightning'? That's me. After Chen left, I zipped all around the school looking for you. It wasn't easy, but I finally found this place. I sent a message to the others. They'll be coming soon."

"Others?"

Griffin's grin grew even wider. "Come on, before Clouse wakes up."

"Wait," I said. "If Clouse's is out, let's get rid of him once and for all. Toss him off the mountain."

"I like the way you think. Be right back." He grabbed Clouse's arm and zipped away, leaving me alone. My eye was still stinging like crazy; I put my hand over it trying to ease the pain. It grew warm and sticky. I pulled my hand back and it was covered in blood. I gasped. That couldn't be good.

I couldn't make out a whole lot with my good eye. What if I was stuck like this forever and my eye never healed? My heart thudded and I turned my body around, peering into the darkness. Griffin took care of Clouse's snake right? It wasn't coming back?

I bumped into a hard, sickly smooth surface. I jumped back, but it was just the unmoving body of the snake. I breathed a sigh of relief. When were those others getting here?

"Kai!" A black shapes ran toward me.

I squinted "Cole?" I asked.

"And Karlof!" The other shape protested.

"I thought you were a goner!" Cole said. "Don't ever do that again! And what happened to your eye?"

"I think it's just a scratch. Let's just get out of here. Does Nya know yet?" I hoped she didn't, otherwise I was never going to hear the end of this. Cole shook his head.

"Others went to stop Chen," Karlof said.

I blinked. "After he totally stole all my magic?"

"You inspire us. Resistance never quits," Karlof smiled and clapped back. I mustered a weak grin back.

"Yeah." I can't believe I was that inspiring.

"Well, let's get out of here," Cole said. They turned to go and I started to follow when my leg shuddered under me. I wobbled and toppled to the ground. I cringed. It was like all the energy had been sucked out of me.

Strong arms grabbed me and lifted me onto my feet. Karlof and Cole helped walk the rest of the way. I sighed. I hated feeling so helpless. Maybe when we got rid of Chen we could force him to give me my magic back.

"Hang on, we're going to walk up a bunch of stairs now," Cole warned.

"Guys, I'm fine. Really." Of course, as soon as I finish saying that I trip and nearly fall on my face.

Karlof shook his head and slung me across his back. I groaned. It felt like hours before we finally reached the top.

"Let's get you to the infirmary," Cole said.

"But what about Chen?"

"Others will take care of him," Karlof said.

Cole frowned. "You're not much use to us right now, Kai. Stay with Mistaké and get better."

I glowered, but I knew he was right. Without my magic and my powers, I was no good to anyone. I'd probably just get in the way. A few corridors later and I was lying on white cot staring at the ceiling with my one good eye.

"We'll be back soon," Cole called.

"You better," I muttered.

"Now," Mistaké croaked. "Let's take a look at that eye."

I sighed. I hoped the others come back soon.

AN: We're almost done! Just another chapter to go. Once again, thanks to my faithful reviewers JBomb217 and NaninaDaPanda. You guys make my day! Thank you for all who continue to read my story. It means a lot that you enjoy what I write and inspire me to keep going. See you next Friday!