Ch 21

Alex sighed at Cole's freak out over cake withdrawal. "Come on, we're not going to accomplish anything if we stand around here and let these kids win." She walked over to a box of supplies and pulled out a meter stick. "I for one am not going to sit down and lose it over cake."

The green ninja stuck one end of the stick by the door lock, and once it was in place, she began to push with all her might, hoping to bust the lock and save her friend.

Before she knew it, the other ninja lined up next to her and began to push on the meter stick. Their combined strength seemed to work for the first part, but soon the stick broke in two.

Kai sighed, "Alex is right. If we don't get out of here, those kids are going to brainwash Lloyd and undo everything we taught him."

"Not to mention we might never taste cake again!" Cole added.

Alex lost her patience right then, "This isn't about cake! Our friend is in danger right now! I'm sorry for being harsh, but you need to stop whining about a dessert you just ate yesterday right now!"

After a moment of silence, Cole lowered his head, "I know you're right. I'm sorry for being a pain in your side." He walked over to his girlfriend and held her hand, "So what do you say we get out of here?"

She smiled and squeezed his hand, "Sounds like a plan."

Zane walked over to the principal. "How well do you and the teachers know this building?"

The principal sighed, "We barely know it at all, actually. We're new. The old teachers were highly committed to teaching evil and quit in protest when the school went good."

Zane pondered for a moment, "So if the school building was originally built for evil, don't we have to assume there are hidden passages which none of you would even know about?"

"Hey, you're right," Cole pointed out, "It wouldn't be an evil school without hidden passages."

Kai stepped up, "Ok everyone; look for a hidden switch! It could be anything: a book, a tile, a fixture!"

The group of ninja and teachers soon dispersed around the office to look for a secret passageway. Some pulled out books from shelves; others looked under rugs and behind pictures, but so far, nothing hidden.

Suddenly a loud clinking echoed across the room from a bookshelf. "Found it!" Jay called out triumphantly. However, this proved to be the wrong switch, as when Alex looked up, the ceiling seemed to be coming closer towards them. "Wrong switch! Hurry up, we need to keep looking!"

Cole soon found a switch, but it turned out to make the situation direr as spikes were now emitting from the falling ceiling.

"Oh that is just so evil!" Cole remarked.

"This way!" Zane called out from where he had moved a lamp, pointing to an opening in the wall across from him. Quickly, he and Kai took the lead, while Alex, Jay and Cole herded the teachers in before plunging into the secret tunnel.

As they ran further in, Jay started giggling, "Hey stop tickling me!"

"I'm not tickling you, Jay," Alex responded, before feeling a crawling sensation on her arm, "Cole this isn't the time, stop touching me like that."

"But I'm not touching you," the black ninja replied from in front of her.

"Zane, can you give us some light?" Kai inquired.

Soon Alex could see the ice ninja, whose body was glowing in a bright fluorescent light. The light was enough to see what was up ahead, as well as the spiders rushing onto the group from every direction.

As the ninja were freaking out, Alex merely sighed and looked at the arachnids. Spiders had never been a fear of hers; she had always had more to be afraid of in her own world than in some puny creatures. So as the others tried to flick the spiders away, the green ninja just looked down at her hands, concentrating on what element she wanted to appear and control.

Before the guys knew it, the spiders were scurrying away, as Alex calmly walked after them, scaring the creatures with the flames emitting from her hands. On occasion, she would shoot out small streams of fire towards the arachnids, causing them to flee quickly from the rest of the group.

Once the chaos had ended, Alex turned back to her team to find their faces in shock. Confused at first, the green ninja looked down at the nonextinguised fire in her hands.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" She quickly tried to put the flames out, and soon managed to successfully put it out.

"Well look at you, chosen one. Looks like you've managed to harness some fire power." Kai looked impressed.

Jay laughed a bit, "Looks like we should just leave you to your own devices next time. That way we guys can have some free time."

Alex merely chuckled a bit as she and the others navigated their way down the passageway, trying to find an exit.

Once they had reached their destination, the group felt relieved to step out into the hallway. "Finally a way out," Cole remarked as they all stepped out into the hall, only to find a more interesting situation in front of them.

Walking towards the ninja, carrying a scared looking Brad, were... the ninja? Alex looked back and forth between her friends and their copies, who were wearing aviators over their eyes. How much you wanna bet this was Garmadon's fault? Alex thought to herself as the ninja stiffened next to her.

"Guys, why are we staring at ourselves?" Kai was very confused.

"Well this is getting too weird for us, so we're going to stay in here," the principal said as he shut the door to the secret passage.

"Huh, those who don't fight teach," Jay thought aloud.

The look-alikes pulled off their sunglasses to reveal glowing red eyes.

"Put down the boy... uh... me!" Cole tried to act serious, but it was obvious that he too was weirded out.

"He's of no use to us anymore," the doppelganger replied as he dropped Brad from his grip.

"Who are you guys?" Kai inquired.

"Your doom," 'Kai' replied.

"My early assessment tells me this must be Garmadon's doing," Zane thought.

"My early assessment tells me you will be destroyed," 'Zane' retorted.

"Will you all just shut up and fight already?" Alex rolled her eyes, annoyed, "This is the already Garmadon's stupidest idea ever, so why are we making everything worse by confusing each other by how closely alike we all are? Either way, I'm going to kick someone's ass today."

This was enough to instigate the oncoming fight, as both sides rushed each other.

Alex tried to rush in, but it seemed she had no true opportunity, as the opposites were already locked in deep combat. Sighing, she turned to notice Lloyd and the other boys behind her.

"Lloyd!" she called out as the boy ran over to her and embraced her.

"I'm glad you're ok," Lloyd replied, happy to see his friend.

"Yea, well unless we do something about these doppelgangers, we won't be having a fun reunion," Alex stated as they watched their friends fight their opposites.

"We have to help them," Lloyd turned to Gene and the other boys.

Gene chuckled, "Just to be clear, which them?"

"My friends of course!" Lloyd's reply seemed to not be enough as the boys began to surround them.

"Ninja-GO!" Alex's tornado swept the group of Darkly kids away from her friend, and once they were floored, she looked to the boys in disdain. "What is wrong with you kids? First you kidnap a boy to turn him evil, then you lock him away from his friends, and now you plan on taking him again? Well that's not happening on my watch."

The boys looked a bit scared at Alex's angered face, and slowly backed away.

"Look, if we don't stop those evil ninja, think on what they'll do to you! Brad over there just got beaten to a pulp because of those guys! Do you really believe they'll let you even live?"

Gene crossed his arms, "Maybe you have a point, but what makes you think we want to join you?"

Lloyd walked over, "Because you all have a good side hidden away. I've seen it before, and that doesn't mean it's gone forever. You're all just too afraid to admit it, but I'm not."

Lloyd's wise words seemed to have some impact on the boys, but just in case, Alex decided to close off with a warning. "And if you don't help the good ninja, I will give you guys cooties."

This sealed the deal as the boys quickly set to work, all the while avoiding Alex and her 'cooties.'

Setting to work, the group began to create their ninja costumes, which would confuse the doppelgangers, and allow the ninja to deal the final blow.

Once they were ready, the group lined up, prepared to 'fight,' and soon collided with the ninja and their opposites.

The situation was confusing for both sides, but luckily the kids knew where to aim, as they piled onto the evil ninja.

Alex joined into the fight as well, using her Spinjitzu to separate the gangers from her friends to make distinguishing their targets easier.

Zane was the first to find and defeat his opposite, using his icy tornado to scoop up the evil clone and knock him into the wall, where he dissipated into black smoke.

Jay was up next, angered by the fact that his clone mentioned kissing Nya, using it to fuel his energy to land a final kick to his opponent. "Nobody kisses my girl!" the blue ninja declared as the clone evaporated.

Alex was locked in battle with 'Cole,' desperately trying to distract the clone with her tornado while Cole regained his bearings. "Not today," the evil ninja growled as grabbed a piece of plywood and knocked against Alex's twister, sending her spiraling to the floor.

Quickly trying to grab her dagger, she was halted by a strong grip on her arm, as she was lifted off the ground to face glowing red eyes. "Think you can stop me?" the clone asked mockingly as his free hand found Alex's throat, "You have no idea, you little bitch."

"Put her down now!" Alex looked out of the corner of her eye to see her real boyfriend standing there at the ready.

The doppelganger pulled her closer and glared at Cole. "One step closer, and I will kill her. Such a shame, too. She really is quite stunning." Alex felt 'Cole' rub his free hand across her face, and she snapped. She headbutted the copy in the face, to which he replied by throwing her to the floor, allowing the real Cole to finally step in and finish off his opposite.

Alex began to shakily stand, grasping her stinging throat, but was halted as she felt a familiar presence grab her. "Here, let me help you up." Cole slowly brought his girlfriend up into his arms, where he was able to get a closer look at what possible damage the clone might have caused.

"It looks slightly bruised, but I think you'll be ok. If that monster had done anything else to you, though..." Cole looked away darkly.

"But he didn't, and everything is fine," Alex brought his face back to hers, and planted a small kiss on his cheek. The black ninja smiled a bit and hugged his girlfriend in a tight hug.

The two were unaware that the fight had just ended, and that the ninja and the Darkly boys were all staring at the couple.

"So... they ARE dating," Jay smiled a bit, "You owe me a twenty Kai!"

"Yea, yea," the fire ninja rolled his eyes and brought out his wallet.

"Ew, doesn't he realize he's going to get cooties?" Gene commented.

"So what?" Lloyd replied, "I think it's fine. Still disgusting, but fine."

Once everything had been set in order, and Cole had finally received his cake, the group began to head back to Ninjago City. With the tank back in order, Kai, Zane, Jay and Lloyd rode in there, while Alex and Cole took the dragon. The green ninja smiled as she held the reigns and watched her boyfriend dive in happily into his cake.

As the sun set on th city, Alex looked back on what had just occurred. They may have defeated the clones, but tomorrow would bring a new day. However, no matter what happened, Alex and her friends would be ready.

Next up: Ninjaball! One of my favorite episodes in season 2

Thank you all for reading! Be sure to pay up your bets and avoid cooties!

Until next time!