Ch 14
After some intense (yet seemingly useless) training the next day, Alex went to the kitchen to grab a drink. As she took a swig, she noticed Lloyd in the living room, playing video games.
"Shouldn't the guys be back for lunch by now?" she asked Lloyd. He looked to her, "Well they did say they were aiming for overtime, so I'm guessing that means no lunch break."
She pondered over this news, "But they'll be starving for the rest of the day. Seems like a dumb thing to do for extra pay. Did they take lunches?"
Lloyd shook his head, "Too busy discussing the whole 'plan.'"
Alex sighed; boys will be boys. But right now, she had to be concerned with the whole skipping lunch thing. After she had seen how her friends had looked these past few days, there was no way they'd survive without some kind of food.
Sighing again, she went into the cupboard, grabbed the necessary ingredients for sandwiches, and began to prepare lunch.
When she finished, she grabbed a plate and a sandwich, which she gave to Lloyd, and packed the others in a paper bag. "Lloyd, I'm going to go give the guys their lunches, so be careful while I'm gone. Got it?"
Lloyd got off of the couch to grab his sandwich, "I will, but come back safe, ok?" He went over to Alex and held her in a friendly hug. She smiled at this; she and Lloyd had really been bonding over these past few days, growing as close as brother and sister. The only downside was that she would be the one to face his father. "Of course. See you soon."
On that note, she walked out into the elevator and headed to the ground floor. Though it would be cool to ride the dragon, he was still recovering from his injuries, plus Alex didn't want civilian panic on her side. Besides, a walk wouldn't hurt too much.
After exiting the building, Alex headed off to find the boys, pondering on who she should go to first. She went to Jay's work, but the manager said he was out, so she had to leave the sandwich with the surly man. Zane was busy with lunch rush, so she'd go there last. When she asked for Kai, the person there had given her a stern lecture on not disturbing the employees, and after some sharp words were exchanged, Alex left in a huff. That left her with only Cole to go to first, so she headed for the bank downtown.
As she reached the bank, she noticed the black ninja leaning against the front of the building, a peaceful look on his face as he was dozing. Smirking, she slowly moved to the right side of his body, and leaned in to his ear. "STOP DOZING BROOKSTONE AND GET TO WORK!" This yell awakened a startled Cole abruptly, causing him to trip over himself as he tried to arrange himself. But once he heard Alex's laughing, he immediately stopped everything and looked to her. "What the heck? You really freaked me out Alex! That's not funny!" Cole retorted. Alex stopped to catch her breath before replying, "Well I think it was hilarious, my friend. I think that just earned you your sandwich."
She handed the homemade sandwich to Cole, who gladly accepted the meal and began to eat. "Thanks and all, but that seriously wasn't funny. You scared me!" he sternly told Alex, but with the gleam in his eye, she believed the meal made up for the scare. "Well I noticed that you guys decided to put food aside for the overtime shift, so I decided to step in."
He smiled, "Guess we forgot. Thanks Alex. By the way, how have you been coping? Any more nightmares?"
She sighed at his remark; she somehow knew he'd bring this up one way or another, "Fine fine."
He frowned, "I don't think that's the case. At this stage, everyone's noticed how tired you are. Have the dreams been the same?"
Alex hesitated, but nodded. Cole nodded back, "Believe me, I may not know what amnesia and nightmares feel like, but I can at least be there to help you out."
"You really look out for your family, don't you?" she asked. Cole chuckled a bit, "Yea. Well they were the only ones who accepted me for me for some time. Until I unlocked my true potential."
This statement confused Alex, but right when she was about to ask, a loud crash and the sound of an alarm came from the bank. "Looks like it's a good thing I woke you up from your beauty rest," Alex stated as she and Cole rushed into the bank. Cole rolled his eyes as the two entered the vault in question, where they found a hole in the ground, and several bags missing. However, they did manage to hear some helpful information from the robbers, who as they escaped, stated, "Let's take the subway."
Cole looked to her, "Subway?"
She had tried to explain to Cole's manager about the situation, but it turned out just being there was an offense to his case at it was. "Sleep in all day tomorrow for all I care, because you're fired!" the manager yelled at Cole as he walked back inside the bank. Alex was just pissed at all of this hostility, "Well screw you too, asshole!"
The whole situation seemed bad for the others too, as Kai and Zane had arrived on the scene with the same dejected look on their faces. Seeing this, Alex decided to cheer them up. "Hey, I thought you guys having jobs was a waste of your talent anyway. Those guys wouldn't know potential if it bitch slapped them with a sack of bricks."
This brought smiles to the guys' faces, and even some laughs. "Yea, I didn't like that job anyway," Cole replied, "But right now, we should go. I overheard the robbers talking about the subway."
"Good call," Zane replied, "Now let's go."
"Ninjago!"
Before they knew it, the ninja had arrived inside the subway system; and just in time, too, as a train was heading their way. The four quickly launched and landed on top of the moving car, regaining their balance before crawling carefully across the roof.
"Isn't there an easier way to get inside?" Cole yelled at the other three.
"Not without a ticket," Kai yelled back. No sooner did he state this, however, that a hole appeared under the red ninja, and a pair of hands pulled him inside.
"What the..? Guess Kai just found the entrance," Alex pointed out.
"Well then, ladies and nindroids first?" Cole asked. The other two ninja exchanged a look as Alex rolled her eyes. But nonetheless, she jumped into the train car, followed by Zane and Cole.
As they landed inside, they found none other than the Serpentine generals; Skalidor, Acidicus, and Fangtom. Before Alex could wonder where the fourth general was, the Venomari general launched his venom at the group. Quickly, Cole pulled Alex away from the blast and Zane used himself to shield the venom from the two.
"It's ok. Venom can't hurt..." Zane was cut off by Fangtom, who decided to whack the nindroid with his staff. The ninja of ice stood up to recover from the hit. "But that does sting a little."
The three began to fight off two of the generals, while Kai was still being held by the Constrictai general. "This was a lot easier when we had our weapons!" Kai interjected as Zane was taken down by Acidicus, and Cole and Alex dodged a blow from the Fangpyre leader. "Welcome to my world!" Alex retorted as she landed a blow with her dagger on the general. But after backing away, he merely grinned as Alex found herself wrapped up in Skalidor's tail.
Cole began to take over in the fight, "You won't get away with this," he told Fangtom as he knocked him into the side of the train.
"Get avay? Ve aren't trying to get avay. Ve're just trying to dissstract you long enough, sso that Sskales can kidnap Lloyd," the Serpentine replied.
Damn it! I just HAD to leave him behind! Alex cursed herself as she managed to get a hold of her dagger and cut Skalidor's tail. With a pained cry, he let go of her, and she quickly made her way to Acidicus, punching him hard in his scaly face. His distraction with her allowed Zane to get back into the fight.
As Kai complained for a weapon, Zane managed to use his surroundings to make his own weapons, and soon, the generals could do nothing against the blows that the group dealt. Alex even went as far as to spit in Acidicus' eyes, retorting with, "Now how does it feel to have someone spit in YOUR face? Pain in the ass, isn't it?"
After finally managing to show some fight against the Serpentine, the group, however, was distracted by something else.
The bright side was that they managed to find Jay. On the downside, he happened to be on a collision course with their train.
They left Kai behind to watch the generals, and quickly made their way to the front of the train to warn the driver, but to no avail, as the train appeared to be automatically controlled.
Zane quickly pulled on the brake lever to stop the train, but it wouldn't budge. Even with the applied help of Alex and Cole, the three weren't strong enough to pull the brake.
It was the arrival of Kai that allowed the four to work together, pulling as hard as they could. And just in time, too, as the train ended up coming to a halt inches in front of a relieved looking Jay.
"There you guys are, haha. So do you think you can help me out here?"
Once Jay was untied, the five rushed home to save Lloyd, but as they entered the building, they found no sign of the young boy.
"I should never have left," Alex looked down, upset. Cole gave her a reassuring pat on the back, "It's our fault, too. We should have been here training you and helping you watch him, not working at some silly job. This is by far our greatest loss."
"But it could be your greatest lesson." The ninja turned to find Sensei Wu, Nya, and...
"Lloyd!"
They ran up to him happily, and Alex even went to embrace the young boy, who gratefully hugged her back. "I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for Sensei and Nya showing up at the last moment."
Nya shook her head, "I go away for a bit and this is what happens?"
"Well at least we know we don't need any fancy stuff; what we need is each other," Kai wisely stated.
"Here, here," Alex agreed, "Now, let's get out of all this fancy air, shall we?"
Before they knew it, the ninja had moved into the small but humble apartment. Alex couldn't help but feel that with this place, everything did seem right; with the boys laughing and arguing, Sensei's words of wisdom, and some needed training on the way, the place was truly meant to be their home, since it brought them together in new ways.
"Now don't tell me these sandwiches I personally made for you are going to waste!"
