The first chapter of four is out! Hope you enjoy!
Thank you TrinityChrystalPrincess89 and Angel Talon for dropping a review!
TrinityChrystalPrincess89: Aww, you're so sweet!:) Yes, Poor little toaster really has it rough, but he still has a little way to go before we get to that good ol' comfort, but it will be worth it, I promise. Luckily, I'm posting the last four chapters all at once so we can get to the reunion:D
Angel Talon: That is the most accurate summary of Yuki I've seen or thought of thus far and I love it.
Stealing the keys from the distracted guard was a synch, especially since he'd finally gotten something to eat. Slipping back into Cole's pocket before he was thrown back into his cell for his little 'distraction' was just about the easiest thing he'd ever done (these guards really weren't the brightest). It wasn't even all that difficult retracing their steps to find Zane's cell. So far, this was going swimmingly.
He should have known better.
Zane looked exhausted if that were possible with his new face, eyes dim and movements slow and jerky. He perked up when Yuki came bounding up his leg and into his arms, but there was that tremor in his limbs from before that just refused to go away. Yuki continued to feel it even as the two ninja wove through the semi-familiar maze of brick corridors.
But the fun really didn't start until Clouse's 'pet' found them.
The first thing that came to Yuki's mind when he saw the wall of ink blue scales blocking their path was: that's not a pet. I'm a pet. That's a demon straight outta hell.
He stole a glance at Cole hot on his heels behind him as they ran, a horrible sound of scraping of scales against sandstone getting closer by the minute as they picked yet another new route. He shuttered and instead focused on Zane's power source thrumming overtime against his ears.
The nindroid skidded to a halt before another dead-end, this time cold concrete stone, barely managing to avoid colliding into Cole.
A pair of scarlet eyes rapidly approached in the darkness as they spun around, a forked tongue flicking in and out of sight. Yuki's heart jumped into his throat, thinking how benign Skales seemed so long ago in comparison to this thing. He looked at Zane, praying he had something, anything, up his sleeve. After all he'd been through, he really wasn't planning on being snake food now, or preferably ever.
Zane's jaw set as he forced a steady stream of air out of his nose, the lights in his eyes fluctuating brighter as he thought furiously for a solution.
"Any time now, Frosty." Cole ground out, backing against the wall.
"Look out," Zane ordered evenly, half a dozen silver objects flicked out of his hands and embedded into the floor, a quiet beeping sound setting off. Yuki felt Zane's arms tighten around him and clamp over his ears.
Unfortunately, it did nothing to block out the deafening boom those weapons gave off as they detonated, crumbling the ground beneath them and sending the two ninjas and cat tumbling through the floor and down to the next sub-level.
The ringing in his ears persisted as he shook the dried mortar off his coat, drowning out whatever Cole was telling Zane, though his expression looked grim, if not urgent. Yuki blinked upward, meeting an unblinking serpentine eye staring down at them. Though he still couldn't hear anything, he felt the vibrations of the snake's hulking belly slither overhead. he knew this wouldn't be the last time he'd see the monster.
His attention turned back to Cole as he seemed to be waiting for Zane to answer a question. "…never leaves another ninja behind." Zane's muffled voice slowly came back to him. "We're getting all of them out."
Cole grinned and slung an arm around the nindroid's shoulder. "Then let's not waste any time."
Funny how sneaking out of the factory was so easy while getting back into it was so tricky. Chen's henchmen were looking for the two escaped prisoners as it was, and it didn't help that one was noticeably made of metal. Not even Cole's worker hat could hide that.
Consequently, Zane spent most of his time hidden behind the jet (jet? Weren't they underground?) they were building for their escape, welding the scraps of sheet metal together with the help of Karloff. Yuki stayed with him, noticing how the number of prisoners had more than doubled, as well as the number of guards. He curled up inside a toolbox at Zane's feet, dozing in and out to the rhythm of the hammering metal, the crack in the lid giving the perfect amount of light so he wasn't left in the dark.
"Hey, blue bird! Get back to work!" A guard barked at someone.
"Yeah, yeah. Not work if it's what you love," an approaching voice grumbled, footsteps coming around the corner, tools clanking awkwardly in his own factory toolbox.
Yuki's eyes flew open at the sound of metal objects clanging to the floor after a beat of silence, jolting him so hard he bumped his head against the metal cover. Through the narrow opening, he could see Zane freeze and stare at the red-haired freckled face gaping back at them, hammer in his hand hovering mid-strike.
"Zane? Is that you?" Jay breathed, hands still grasping around the ghost of his toolbox. Zane put a finger to his tiny smile in a shushing motion and hurriedly waved him further behind the concealed jet. Jay's grin lit up his sparkling eyes as he quickly scooped up his supplies in a haphazard grip and ducked under the tail wing, tripping twice from his oversized overalls.
Jay looked like he just won a year's worth of rice pudding. "Zane!" he whisper-squealed, practically buzzing with excitement, "You look amazing!" He looked him up in down in awe as Zane stooped down to roll up his pant legs.
"Are you and the others alright?" He asked as he straightened.
Jay's expression fell, "Only Lloyd, Nya, and Garmadon are left, but I have no idea what's happened to them since I lost. Kai's somewhere with Chen and Skylor, he's the one who figured out she's the rat. But he's getting 'special treatment' or something, I dunno," he frowned when he noticed he was missing pliers from his collection and opened Zane's toolbox for a spare. He grabbed a pair from the box and nodded at the cat blinking back at him.
"Hey, Yuki," he greeted before whipping around for a double-take. "Wait—"
"I can answer all your questions later," Zane cut off hastily, "but Karloff and I could use your help with our escape vehicle."
Jay blinked. "The broken noodle machine?"
"What? No-the jet," Zane gesticulated behind him to get his point across. Jay's eyes widened in albeit confused comprehension.
"Aren't we underground?"
"That's what I said!" They heard Cole grumble somewhere above them in the cockpit.
"Just trust me," Zane answered somewhat cryptically, going back to hammering. "Karloff, Jay's here to help you with anything you need."
The former master of metal stuck his head over the side above them and looked skeptically at the blue ninja, "small one knows mechanics?"
Jay puffed his chest out proudly, "yessir, just give the order!"
Zane chuckled behind his work.
Welp, it was now or never.
All heck broke loose when a guard discovered their little project. Cole jumped into the jet's cockpit and revved the engine, shouting something to Karloff, who grumbled as he balanced on one wing and worked the tangle of wires protruding out its shiny skin. The earth master opened fire with their make-shift weapon on the rapidly gathering guards, turning the gun's muzzle on the barricaded door. He frowned when the jet refused to move.
"You guys need to push!" He shouted to the prisoners below.
Zane snatched Yuki up and set him on his shoulders, waving the others over and heaving with all he had. Tox, Neuro, and Shade fell in beside him. With all the masters working together, Yuki heard the machine groan and screech against the ground as they pushed it through the enormous main entrance.
The jet rolled relatively easier over the stone as they fought off the remainder of the guards down the corridor. Karloff struggled to hang on to the latch on the engine as he worked, muttering what were probably swear words as he slid around the smooth surface.
At last, there was a sort of lull in their work; the henchmen had retreated out of range of Cole's accuracy and the rest of the prisoners were too busy pushing the hunk of metal to talk much.
Suddenly Zane stopped pushing, making the other masters grunt in the abrupt loss of help, and peered past the jet into the darkness ahead of them.
He stiffened, "Pixal says there are two heat sources in the snake's living quarters!" the nindroid pointed in its direction. Yuki saw his eyes widen, "It is Nya and Garmadon!"
Down the line of prisoners, he heard Jay give a strangled squeak.
"Don't panic, Jay, just hold on. We're going to get them," Cole called down, "no. literally, everyone hold on." With that he cracked open a small missile, hearing it whistle down the hall. Yuki covered his ears with his paws at the deafening explosion once it collided with the wall.
Karloff gave a triumphant huff and snapped his toolbox shut, sliding neatly off the side and grabbing a piece of the jet.
Several yelps ensued as they too clung onto whatever part of the machine they could grab as Cole thrust the jet through the opening in the wall, crashing down into a cavernous room. The sound of skulls crunched underneath them, making Yuki feel sick, though not as much as seeing that monstrous snake turning and glaring at the intruders.
The serpent bared its fangs and reared its head back, preparing to strike at Griffen, who was closest to it.
Cole narrowed his eyes and glared hard at the massive stalagmites clinging to the ceiling just above the monster's ugly head. With a tremendous grunt he angled the barrel as high as it could go and slammed his hand down on the trigger.
For the third time in three days, Yuki nearly cried at the ear-splitting crack of the weapon's rapid-fire as the sharp chunks of rock rained down, the largest dropping square on the snake's skull before the rest of the cave's ceiling came crashing down on top of it.
The serpent's rattle hovered in the air above the rubble, shuttering like a living being all on its own, before collapsing on the chunks of rock with a billow of dust.
Yuki jumped down and staggered a few steps, disoriented. He shook himself and looked around the room, ears pricking forward as he saw Nya sit up on her elbows where she was thrown in the scuffle. Yuki rushed over to her and gave her a sandpapery lick to clean the dirt off her face as she groaned dazedly and rubbed the back of her head.
"Wha...?" She mumbled as she looked down at the cat, eyebrows raising in surprise. "Am I dead?" The samurai asked, mostly to herself. She turned her head around at Garmadon and the other prisoners gathered their wits, rising a little shakily to her feet as she rubbed Yuki's back. When she spotted the former ice master her eyes lit up.
"Zane!" Nya shrieked, flying past both Jay and Cole and diving into the nindroid with a loud clank, planting a kiss on his cheek. "You're back!"
Zane stiffened, looking confused. "Wait, what is on my back?"
Nya giggled and hugged him tighter, feeling the ninja wheeze a little.
The rest of the ninja and Garmadon gathered around them. "We cannot linger here," the sensei warned, a hand on Nya's shoulder, "Chen may be performing the transformation spell this very minute."
The samurai's eyes widened, "The ceremony! First Master, they've got Lloyd and Kai down there!"
"We'll get to them in time," Garmadon reassured, jaw set, "But we must hurry."
And get to them in time they did.
Much like last time when they rescued the samurai and sensei, the master of earth made a rather grand entrance by ramming through the wall as the other elemental master poured into the interrupted ceremony. Much unlike last time, there was a considerably larger number of cultists ready to meet them, not to mention Chen and Clouse.
Yuki was rather proud of himself for his contribution to the battle. The Chen's henchmen had now certainly met their match with both the number and skill of the masters, but Yuki liked to believe he had helped; There wasn't a single cultist that didn't have teeth marks on one of his toes.
Then from somewhere off to the side, Yuki's ears picked up the sharp sound of something shattering. It resonated throughout the chamber, piercing the sounds of combat like an arrow.
Ribbons of elements, some he recognized and others he didn't, rushed around and above him in search of their true masters. It was then he knew the fight was very nearly over. The cheap imposters didn't stand a chance against this force.
Green tendrils of clustered energy snaked through the crowd over his head, just brushing the tips of his ears. His eyes followed it as it passed by him, almost vanishing into a thick fog of humans before Yuki spotted a flash of green fabric.
His heart did a little happy dance.
Dodging shoots of thick cable-like vines and toxic-looking clouds, he charged across the cave and rammed his head straight into a very familiar boot.
Feeling the whack against his ankle, Lloyd started and whipped around-knocking a cultist out cold with his elbow in the process-and looked down.
No words were actually said, but Lloyd immediately bent down and enveloped the cat in one of the tightest hugs he'd ever experienced. Yuki couldn't find it in himself to complain, snuggling into the mop of blonde hair and nipping his ear just like he used to.
"First Master, I thought I'd never see you again," the green ninja sniffed, not even bothering to look up as he back fisted another cultist trying to sneak up on him.
"But if you're here," he pulled away and looked at the cat, "wouldn't that mean..." Lloyd scanned the now rapidly thinning crowd.
Much like how Yuki rushed to Lloyd, the green ninja barreled into Zane with a started yelp on the nindroid's part. After taking a moment to recover his balance Zane more than gladly reciprocated the embrace, effectively sandwiching Yuki between the two. Yuki growled and leaped down, gracefully weaving around Lloyd's ankles.
"Traitor," Zane mumbled good-naturedly to the cat as Lloyd beamed.
"You ready to finish this?" The green ninja asked, dropping into a fighting stance.
From across the battlefield, Yuki saw the ochre gi and flaming hair of Skylor fighting side by side with Kai, back-to-back, sparring almost perfectly synchronized. As he was near Zane, he saw her steal a glance at the white ninja, nodding tightly at him with hard eyes before throwing a guard over her shoulder and smashing his face onto the ground.
Kai gave her a look of adoration.
Zane nodded back at her and turned his attention back to Lloyd. "Affirmative."
It suddenly occurred to Yuki that for the first time since Zane's death, they were all together again. Lloyd, Kai, Nya, Jay, Cole, Zane, even Garmadon, were together, a family.
It finally felt like everything was going to be ok after all.
Dang it, Yuki, don't jinx everything!
The next chapter will be posted shortly! Review if you like and have a lovely day!