Review Replies:

StoriesAreMagic: Yeah, blackouts can be very problematic, especially in big cities. Glad you like the story! More intensity is coming.

LucyBrick123: I love it when I get more than one chapter from a favourite story. Who doesn't? And yay, libraries!

Anonymous7: Thanks! I've worked really hard on the plot and the twisty turnies on this story, I've even got a load of sticky notes all over my wall about it. In this story, there's a secret around every corner, especially with the OC's. I'm so happy that you think I'm an amazing writer! It's comments like these that really make writing even more worth it.

Isabella camovic: Yeah, Zane would definitely say something like that, although Echo isn't the only family he's got left (he's got the other Ninja, after all). And I'm actually not all that certain how many more chapters there'll be. There's quite a lot I've got planned. Also, the tickle scenes in this~! Hope ya like it!

Ariza Luca: Heh, yeah, you do. And I have looked up animation software's on Google, but I suppose I can try specifically doing 'UK' ones. Also, thanks! And I have actually done the drawing-over-artwork thing, it's really handy ::)

TheAmberShadow: They can't form their dragons when they're scared, which they are what with everything that's been going on. And yes! Dingy dingy ding! Yeah, Echo finding out about the nindroids would probably make him feel worse, or at least confused. He'd probably ask Zane why they weren't their friends, since they're copies of them. As for the Oxford Comic Con, it's literally just Comic Con. In Oxford. That's it. And I have a high suspicion that PIXAL is Samurai X. There's no way that she's not. Although I did theorise that Echo-Zane was somehow Samurai X, but now I'm certain that it's PIXAL. Or maybe the two of them working together? Hmmm...

Ebony umbreon: Hm, I suppose I failed to express just how far and long Lloyd had been running. Lets just say that Nelson doesn't exactly live close to the police station. And he's also jumping across roof tops. And yes, Kai is still in the hospital, but you won't be finding out what happened to him in this chapter (sorry). Thanks to his new family, Echo is starting to become aware of how what Julian did to him was wrong, although he still blames himself.

My mums shouting at me to go to bed ::(

Chapter Thirteen:

Crimson

The chair spun around and around, propelled by metallic feet pushing off the floor. The ceiling was a nausea-inducing whirlpool, and the only thing stopping him from falling off the chair was the continued spinning.

Then the chair came to an abrupt stop, and Echo was immediately smacked by a wave of dizziness. A laugh sounded behind him.

He turned, trying- and failing- to blink away the dizziness. Zane's titanium face blurred before him, an amused smile on his lips.

"What are you doing, Echo?"

Echo blinked, his entire world still spinning. A giggle rose from his throat as he slid out of the swivel chair, only to stumble on his feet and almost fall over. Zane released the chair and grabbed him by the elbows to help steady him, who leant against him, another giggle passing his younger brothers lips.

"Everything's spinning," Echo muttered, a lopsided grin on his faceplate. This was one of the most bizarre thing he'd ever experienced.

"Well, that's usually what happens when you spin around on a swivel chair." Kai's voice came from behind them, as he made his way over to their front. He, too, looked highly amused. "Were you getting bored, pal?"

"I was getting bored." groaned Jay, appearing next to Kai, who rolled his eyes.

Cole and Lloyd passed them, the former giving his blue brother an unimpressed look. "Yeah, we noticed."

"Jay," said Nya, coming up to him, "I love you, but trying to discreetly tickle Lloyd while he's talking to the Commissioner isn't the best idea."

"It's not that big of a deal, Nya," Jay replied, opening the hotel's mini fridge and pulling out a can of Pepsi, "I still can't believe they thought they could just tell us to stop fighting crime like that. I mean, we wouldn't need to do what we do if they had decent police officers!"

"Jay!" snapped Lloyd, glaring at him, "You know fine well the Commissioner and the police force had nothing to do with that."

Jay sighed, "I know, I know. It's just... how can they even think that? It's not like we're doing anything wrong."

"Actually, being a vigilante is against the law," stated Zane, Echo still leaning against him, "Although 'vigilante' isn't exactly a word I'd use to describe what we do."

"If we were vigilantes," Kai said, "We wouldn't be able to reveal our identities. And it's not like we go out looking for crime."

"Unless we're bored." Nya pointed out. Kai waved her off.

"Point is, we're not vigilantes and we're not just going to stop helping Ninjago because some snobs with sticks up their butts told us to."

"I'm not disagreeing with you," said Cole, snatching Jay's Pepsi, who sent him a scowl. He returned it with a glare. "It's just that I don't think you should try to tickle someone in such a serious situation."

"What's a tickle?" asked Echo, having finally recovered from his dizziness. The Ninja turned to him in obvious surprise, most having forgotten he was even there.

Jay blinked at him. "What do you mean 'what's a tickle'? You don't know what being tickled is?"

Echo finally pushed himself upright, Zane raising his hand incase he fell again. The shorter bot cocked his head to the side, fogged eyes shinning in confusion, "I... no?"

The Ninja stared at him for a long moment, before five heads turned towards Zane. Blinking, Echo followed their gazes, hopping his brother would give him an explanation.

"Uh..." Zane rubbed the back of his neck, seemingly lost. A low mumble filled the silence, and Echo's head snapped left and right for the source, but couldn't find it.

"Tickling is..." He moved to stand in front of him, moving his hands in a useless attempt to figure out to explain it, "It's basically like... like this..." Zane poked at Echo's tummy, who jumped back with a loud yelp that was followed by a giggle.

A grin tugged at Zane's lips, and he poked at Echo again, who gave another squeal and dashed away, standing between the two double beds. Zane shared a wide smile with the other Ninja, before turning back to Echo, a mischievous look gleaming in his eyes.

A nervous giggle rose from Echo's throat, "Wha-"

All at once, the Zane, Jay and Kai lunged, igniting another yelp from Echo. He stumbled backwards, startled, and fell over onto one of the double beds.

The mattress sunk slightly, Jay and Kai grabbing him by the arms and pinning his arms down. Then Zane was practically on top of him, jamming his fingers into different parts of his stomach.

Echo squealed, twisting in their grip, laughter bubbling in his throat. His grin was so wide that his cheeks were starting to ache. "S-S-Stop!"

"I didn't know nindroids were ticklish," Lloyd said, watching the scene unfold in amusement. Nya shrugged.

"Most aren't. Their father, however, had been quite the genius."

Echo gave another high-pitched squeal, twisting and pushing himself further into the mattress in a desperate attempt to get away from the hands poking into his stomach.

Zane laughed himself, moving upwards and poking underneath Echo's arms. The younger bot laughed, his legs thrashing and smacking harmlessly against the side of the bed, his body twisting in yet another useless attempt to pull free.

Finally, Zane sat back on his haunches, grinning down at his younger brother. Echo panted, giving off tiny little giggles, his heart ticking loudly from the adrenaline.

Jay and Kai finally released him, grinning at each other. Echo lay there for a long moment, struggling to catch his breath, wide grin still in place.

Zane rolled off him, lying down next to him. The mattress dipped again as Lloyd, Cole and Nya joined them on the bed, Jay flopping down and stretching out on the pillows.

"So," said Kai, after a long moment, "Fun, right?"

In answer, Echo gave a breathless giggle, rolled over and buried his face into Zane's arm.

"Echo?"

Unwillingly pulled from the pleasant memory, Echo blinked open sore eyes, taking a moment to adjust to the low lighting. Groaning, he removed his head from where it had been resting on Kaze's shoulder, raising a hand to rub at his pounding forehead.

"You okay?" asked Kaze. Absentmindedly, Echo nodded.

They were still in the same corridor as before, their backs pressed against the wall. Echo realised that he must have fallen asleep, although he hadn't a clue as to when, or how long they'd been sitting there.

"We..." Echo rubbed at his eye, immediately pulling his hand away when his face burned. He swallowed. "We should get going."

Kaze frowned at him for a long moment, as though debating how he should answer. "I... yeah. Okay."

Bracing himself on the wall, Kaze pulled himself to his feet, his legs trembling from sitting down for so long. He took a moment to steady himself, his arms aloft to help keep his balance.

He reached down, extending his hand towards Echo. The droid grabbed it, getting to his own feet and almost falling flat on his face. Kaze pulled Echo's arm around his shoulder, very nearly sending them both to the ground.

After yet another moment of steadying, they were able to stand up right, legs stiff and struggling to support them. They began to limp, feet dragging along the rocky ground, in a random direction. Echo couldn't remember whether it had been the direction they'd come from or not.

Everything looked the same.

Lloyd fell. The muscles in his legs tensed. The wind caused his eyes to water. His arms were spread. The van appeared beneath him as it turned the corner.

He slammed onto the top of the van, coming dangerously close to slipping off the edge. His fingers clawed automatically at the roof in search of something to hold onto, but he was quick to splay his palms once it began clear there was no perch.

Gritting his teeth, Lloyd scrambled towards the front of the van on all fours, his feet skidding across the roof. Muffled voices, in a language he vaguely recognised but couldn't understand. There was the whir of a window going down, and a head masked by a ragged shawl poked out.

Lloyd's eyes barely had time to widen before the man pulled out a gun, pointing it directly at the ninja.

BANG!

Taking in an almost painful lungful of air, Lloyd threw himself away from the window, slamming his back against the roof of the van. His legs dangled in open air, the van beginning to speed up.

Lloyd scrambled desperately for a perch, his fingers curling around the top of the open window. He held on for dear life, his entire body shifting along the roof as the van turned the corner dangerously fast.

Something hard rammed into his fingers and he yelled, instinctively releasing the top of the window. At the last minute, he swung himself, sliding down the tinted front window, the metallic bits on his gi scraping against it. There was more shouting from inside, and then-

BANG!

The bullet shattered the glass, taking off the tip of Lloyd's earlobe. He winced, but hardly had time to do anything else before another bullet shot through the window, this time going straight through his palm.

He screamed, blood soaking his black glove and dripping down onto his green sleeve, splattering against the van's sleek bonnet. Lloyd glared at the tinted window, his red eyes bright in the city's darkness, teeth clenched against the pain. His wounded hand, shaking, curled into an agonising fist. He brought it down on the glass, directly between the two bullet holes, and shattered it.

The two Basilisk in the front seat jumped, the gun pointed directly at Lloyd's face. The man pulled the trigger. BANG!

Lloyd rolled to the side, narrowly dodging the bullet, and lunged. He grabbed the gun wielders wrist, forcing it upwards just as he pulled the trigger again- BANG!

Ears starting to throb, Lloyd punched the man in the side of the head, then kicked the other one in the neck. He grabbed the gun, chucked it out the window, and then twisted the ex-gun wielders arm as the other Basilisk struggled to get the van under control and help his companion at the same time.

There was a sickening snap, and the man let out a loud scream. Lloyd released him and slammed his fist onto his forehead, leaving him slumping in his seat, unconscious.

The driver pulled out a jagged knife, attempting to stab Lloyd in the neck but missing by mere inches, instead burying the blade into the passenger seat. Lloyd karate-chopped the driver in the throat, causing him to choke and release the knife to clutch at his neck.

Spotting the grate directly behind his head, Lloyd rammed his elbow into it- once, twice, three times- before it went flying away. The driver reached out blindly, fingers curling around the collar of Lloyd's gi.

He swatted him away, not knocking him out in fear of the van crashing, and crawled through the grate's opening, thankful for his small size for what must have been the first time in his life.

Landing on his hands and forcing himself to ignore the agony that sprung through his wounded palm, he allowed himself to fall to his feet, rising and taking in the faces that were now turned towards him.

"Lloyd!" Nelson exclaimed, his entire face lighting up.

Lloyd pulled back his gi, revealing his face, and despite the throbbing of his wounds, he found his own lips turning upwards in a smile. But the moment was short-lived.

The bullet hole appeared directly above Nelson's head, and another appeared inches from a person with a black eye's neck. The person stiffened and got down on their front, the children quickly being covered.

"What happened to these guys being easy?" muttered Lloyd. He was starting to regret not bringing any weapons.

But he always had his green power.

Raising his hands in front of him, his brow furrowing in concentration, little trails of green energy began to float from his fingers, quickly forming a large ball of glowing light. Lloyd turned to the back of the van and fired.

The ball turned into a beam, blasting apart the back of the van and sending shards of shrapnel flying in all directions. Another van, directly behind the one Lloyd was in, swerved out of the way and crashed into a bus stop.

Poking his head out the newly formed hole, his hair whipping about in the wind, Lloyd looked about. The van was driving too fast for them to jump out. Perhaps he and the others would have been able to do it, but the hostages most likely never even considered jumping out of a speeding van.

He turned back to the hostages, all who were watching him expectantly. "Alright," he said, scrambling through his brain for what to do, "I'll go... slow down the van. You guys sit tight."

Lloyd crawled back through the open grate, leaving his legs dangling on the other side. The driver glanced back at him, trying to keep his eyes on the road at the same time, the result being him snapping his head from Lloyd to the road again and again.

"Uh, hey," said Lloyd, "Mind slowing down?"

The driver spat something in his unknown language. Lloyd sighed.

"Alright. Fine."

Bringing his hand up, he squeezed the back of the driver's neck. He tensed, eyes rolling into the back of his head, and then slumped against the wheel.

Lloyd pulled himself further into the front, shoving the unconscious Basilisk aside and grabbing onto the steering wheel. The van swerved, tilting slightly as it went onto the sidewalk, causing Lloyd to slide further into the front.

Grunting, he forced to van back onto the road. The van wasn't slowly down, at least not fast enough. The edge of the open grate dug painfully into his navel, and his legs hung openly in the air. At the back of his mind, he realised how odd he must look.

Someone tapped on the back of his knee. The van bounced as it hit a pothole, an uncomfortable pain in his navel where the edge of the grate dug into him. Lloyd winced, glancing over his shoulder despite not being able to see past his own body. "Yeah?"

"Get out of that window, boy!"

Startled, Lloyd hesitantly released the steering wheel and slid out of the grate. An elderly woman, the one in a bathrobe and slippers, pushed him aside. "I drive," she said, and then promptly hopped through the window and pulled herself all the way through, vanishing into the front.

Lloyd turned to the other hostages. His startlement must have shown on his face, because Nelson sent him a crocked smile that showed off a missing tooth.

"She's always like that."

Shaking his head, Lloyd made his way over to the hole he'd created earlier. The van was slowing down considerably, and they might just be able to let it come to a complete stop before anyone had to jump out.

"Alright," said Lloyd, turning and taking in the hostages. He counted four children, Nelson included, a guy who was around Lloyd's age, a toddler, three adults and the old woman that had insisted on driving. He gestured to the toddler.

"She and the teenager can go first. We need to do this as fast as possible."

"What?" said the teen, his eyes widening. Lloyd made his way over to him and hauled him up by the arm. The teen's hands, like all the other hostages, were bound with a zip tie.

"What's your name?" asked Lloyd.

The teen hesitated, glancing to the side, "Uh... H-Hector."

Lloyd gave a small nod, before going over to the open grate. He stuck his head through, spotting the old woman sitting in the drivers seat, the two unconscious Basilisk piled onto each other. Lloyd reached through the grate and grabbed the knife, which was still embedded into the seat.

The old lady glanced at him as he pulled it out, raising an eyebrow at the weapon. "Don't cut yourself."

Lloyd sent her a deadpanned look, before returning to the back of the van. Hector gave a frightened squeak at the sight of the jagged knife.

"Calm down," said Lloyd, "I'm just going to cut the tie." He grabbed the teens hands and slid the knife between the zip tie, snapping it and effectively freeing him.

Lloyd turned, kneeling in front of the little girl, who cuddled up closer to her fathers. "Hey," he said, smiling kindly, "Can I see your hands?"

The child hesitated, looking up at her dads for help. They shared a look, before nodding down at her. "Go ahead, Kimmy." said the one with glasses.

The little girl, Kimmy, hesitantly held out her hands. Giving her another smile, Lloyd took the jagged blade between the zip ties, pulling until it snapped in half. Straightening, Lloyd handed the knife to Glasses, before looking back over at the road again.

Lloyd's eyes widened, "Crap."

Two other vans had appeared behind them. One had a dented front, so it was most likely the one that had crashed earlier. Perched on the sides and roofs of the vans were men and women wielding makeshift weapons, their black rags flying behind them.

"Lloyd?" Nelson reached up, clutching at the Ninja's green sleeve, "Lloyd, what do we do?"

Nervously licking his lips, Lloyd looked down at Nelson, his heart twisting when he realised the boy's eyes were shiny with tears. He looked back at the vans. "Maybe if we-"

Abruptly, a cable-wire launched from one of the vans, latching onto the floor of the van. Lloyd instinctively pushed Nelson away, just as another cable-wire latched to where he'd been standing not a moment before.

Black Rags began scuttling across the wire like massive rats, some on all fours, some faster than others, most with some sort of weapon but a few with nothing. Eyes widening, Lloyd looked down at the large hooks connecting the vans to theirs.

Raising his foot, he slammed it onto the closest hook, trying to jostle it out of place. The cable-wire shook, and the Black Rags faltered, but were quick to continue their pursuit.

"Here!"

The dad without glasses, he and his husband free from their zip-ties, tossed the jagged knife towards him. Lloyd caught it by the handle, just as the first Black Rag reached the van and lunged at him.

Lloyd stabbed the Black Rag in the shoulder, igniting a loud scream that caused his ears to throb, and kicked her onto the road. The dads were struggling with the hooks, trying to detach them, while the children were huddled to the back, the rest of the adults starting to help with the hooks. The elderly lady was starting to shout from the front, asking what was happening.

His wounded hand burned, but he did not release the jagged knife. In his other hand, a ball of green energy zapped to life between his fingers. The Black Rags scuttled towards them like some kind of demonic monkeys. Lloyd took a deep breath.

Then stabbed the closest Black Rag in the throat.

Screaming. Serpentine, battered and bruised, dragged into cages by hooked wires on the end of long sticks, thrown around their throats, as though they were rabid dogs. Blood covered the floor, the walls, the stories engraved into the stone obscured. Younglings wailed in their much smaller cages, reaching through the bars for their parents, some of who lay immobile on the floor in pools of crimson.

They ran. Together, alone, this way or that way, they ran and they were chased. Some fought. Held them back. Those ones were captured. Or killed.

Serpentine spilled out onto the streets of Ninjago City. Constrictai dug through the earth to make shortcuts. The entire colony was a mess of confusion and panic and blood. Never before had Skales Jr seen so much blood.

"Mama!" he screamed, but could hardly hear himself over the chaos arround him. The city was so much darker than his father had told him. "Papa!"

The wire cut through the scales on his throat, yanking him backwards. Skales Jr screamed, screamed so loudly that it was all he could hear, thrashing and kicking as he was dragged along the ground.

He was thrown onto cold metal, quickly followed by the slam of a gate and the click of a lock. Skales Jr twisted around, hardly able to move in the tiny cage. He grabbed the bars, rattled them and shook them and pulled them, screaming, screaming, screaming with all the others.

The doors of the van slammed shut, and Skales Jr could see nothing but darkness.

Screaming, screaming, screaming in the dark.

Yup, Skales Jr is in this! I've done a bit of thinking, and I believe that he was around three back in Rebooted, when he first saw him. He makes a reappearance, albeit briefly, in Hands of Time, and he must be at least a few years older by the way he acts. I think he's about seven now, so he's around the same age as Nelson, although there's a possibility that Nelson's nine or ten. Let's just say they're in the same age group.

Anyway, I hadn't originally planned on stopping the Lloyd fight scene on such a cliff hanger, but it was getting too long. I'll probably finish it up sometime in the next chapter, and Echo and Kaze will finally be getting somewhere in either the next chapter or the one after that. Not sure when Kai and the others will appear again, but it shouldn't be too long.

Okay, guys, I gotta head to bed. School in the morning, bleeeeeeeh.

Nighty night!