Sam's eyes widened, her brain racked with a million questions at once. The room she had just entered was not a room, but in fact a ginormous cave. Rock and earth surrounded Sam on all sides, as well as the floor being nothing but dirt. With only a few metal doors much like the one she and her captor had just exited, were randomly placed into the base walls of the cave, possibly leading to more rooms and more hallways unknown. But what caught Sam's attention was what was in the cave currently. Like the office spaces she had taken note of when she first was brought here, there were a few more desks and chairs, but instead of paperwork, they homed various equipment and technology that buzzed or hummed. Most of the equipment were things Sam could not identify, but she did take note of a seismograph. She had her science class to thank for knowing what a seismograph looked like. Aside from the equipment, there was three giant tubes, big enough to fit a person. One of them had busted glass, but the other two were usable. And- even- currently being used. Sam saw a recognizable figure sitting in the furthest tube to the right.
"COLE?!" Sam ran up to the tube and gained a look of concern when she saw the master of earth. He looked very much alive, but he wore a black tank top and shorts, was wearing some sort of bracelet on each hand, and his hair was messy and coated with dirt. He had some sort of breathing apparatus on his face that was tied to the ceiling of the tube. Aside from that, he looked a bit exhausted and tired, but otherwise fine.
Cole instantly snapped to attention when the girl called his name. "Who are-?!" He then gasped. "Oh no..." His voice was coming out clear through some sort of speaker on the control panel beneath the tube. "Are you hurt?" Sam asked, worried. Cole ignored her and looked at Mordecai with anger when he approached slowly. "HOW COULD YOU?! Shes an innocent bystander, she's just a kid at that!" Cole spat. Mordecai tisked at Cole. "Now, Now, Calm yourself, Earth ninja. The girl won't be harmed as long as she plays her role." Mordecai looked back to Sam who looked back hesitantly. "Now that we're here. Tell me where the axe is." Sam blinked. She was now more confused than anything. "The- Solar Axe? H-How should I know?" Mordecai rolled his eyes. "I know you know." He walked closer to her. "DON'T HARM HER!" Cole yelled.
"And one way or another..."
Sam backed up, her face full of fear.
"I WILL make you tell me."
MEANWHILE-
Maria started to pack a duffle bag. If the police weren't going to take finding Sam seriously, then SHE would. She packed a water bottle, a change of clothes, her baseball bat, and a snack or two. She didn't know how long she would be gone, but she wouldn't rest until Sam was safe. She and the other girls had already picked a spot to meet, and they were all going to go find Sam together, whatever it took. Maria thankfully lived on the first floor, she opened up her window and began to slip through. Once outside she closed it back up and began to walk. "Sorry Mom- I have to do this." Maria felt determined as she started running down the sidewalk to meet her friends.
A FEW MINUTES LATER.. (APROX 3:40 PM LOCAL TIME)
Victoria looked weary as she held her backpack straps of her shiny pink backpack, she rubbed the straps nervously as her eyes darted to and fro. "I don't know if this is such a good idea, girls." The nine high schoolers were walking through the streets of Ninjago. They traveled in a group with their bags. "You worry too much Tori!" Peni exclaimed, her arms rested behind her head. "But it's already mid afternoon! The adults will come looking for us when they all realize we're not getting milkshakes!" Victoria whined. "I know this whole thing is- risky at best...but..." Jane sighed. "We don't have many other options..."
The group all huffed once the reached the top of the staircase leading to the monastery. "Why...Is there so many...stairs?!" Peni asked, to no one in particular. "It feels like.. my legs are...disconnected from my body!" Nagi lamented, also huffing. Once all the girls regained a little bit of energy, they walked to the main door and looked at one another. "So- Who wants to knock?" Jane asked. "Not it." May and Victoria both said. "I'd rather not." Sadie shook her head. Peni looked at her. "Whats the matter, Sadie? Scared?" "No! I just would...rather not. How about YOU do it, Peni?" "Oh uhm... my arms are kinda weak...ya know? My knock probably wouldn't be loud enough." Peni said sheepishly. "I'll do it." Maria proclaimed, she walked straight up to the door and knocked loudly three times. "Holy Ninjago you actually knocked-" Peni whispered, sounding shocked.
No immediate response was given, but after a moment, Nya opened the gate door, her face a mixture of confusion and mild annoyance at the sudden nine visitors. Most of the girls were dazed to see one of their heroes standing mere feet away. So much so that they stood there, staring, at Nya, for an uncomfortable amount of time. Nya looked even more confused. "Can I- help you?"
Madison was the first to snap back to reality. "Hello there- Nya- I- I need to - I mean we need to speak with Lloyd. Immediately." Nya folded her arms. "Why?" "Please- It's an emergency." Jane urged. "It's about our friend." "Oh? OH are you talking about that blonde haired girl?" Nya asked, suddenly realizing who they were referring too. The girls nodded. "Go home, girls, The police will let you know when they find her-" "NO-" Madison pleaded. "You don't understand- they don't-!" "Hey, what's going on?" Lloyds voice came from behind Nya, he was walking up to the gate to see what all the commotion was.
"Green Ninja we need to talk to you, Now!" Jane urged again, much more firmly. Lloyd looked over the nine girls, he recognized them from the highschool just a few hours before. "Oh- It's you nine." Nya turned to Lloyd, "Yeah I told them to go home. But, they really want to talk to you." Nya explained. "Well, what is it?" Lloyd asked, he paused letting them speak. He wasn't sure of what to expect. The girls looked at one another. "We- we think we know where Sam is." Madison stated. "Well, Why don't you tell the police?" Lloyd wondered. "Well duh! Obviously we tried that route already when they questioned us!" Peni exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "They didn't believe us." "Why not?" Nya wondered. "Because- it's- well- from a dream."
"A...dream?" Lloyd blinked. "Did I hear you correctly? From- a dream?" Madison nodded. "Sam- she-" Madison sighed. "She had this dream she told us all about a few times these last few months. First- it started with a dark figure swallowing her whole- then a bright blinding axe of some kind suddenly appeared to aid her. Then she saw this rock formation lit by a rising sun. At first she didn't think the place in her dreams was real. But she looked into it- The place is called Sunset peaks. A huge rock formation on the west side of Ninjago, surrounded by desert. One look at an image of the location and she knew that was where her dream took place. We think she'll be there." There was a silence. Before laughter erupted from behind Nya and Lloyd. Kai, Zane, and Jay had arrived to also see what was going on. Jay was bursting with laughter at what Madison had said.
"u-uh sorry-" Jay snickered. "But that- that's the silliest thing I've heard all week." "I know it sounds crazy- believe me, I don't tend to believe in superstition or luck- But this dream was reoccurring. We have no other leads to go off of, Green ninja, Lloyd...PLEASE take us there. I beg you." Lloyd thought over what the girl had said. "The sunset peaks do exist-" Zane said. "And in her dream, Sam foresaw the axe." The ninja all processed the information. Jay shrugged, "It could just be a coincidence." Lloyd sighed and turned to the nine girls. "Coincidence or not, we don't have any current leads on Mordecai or the Axe..." "But couldn't it just end up being a wild goose chase?" Nya asked. "Maybe..." Lloyd looked at the girls who all were seemingly pleading with him silently for his help. He couldn't at the very least try. Not with something as important as the Solar Axe hanging in the balance. "Nya, You and I are going on a little journey. The rest of you will stay just in case something happens in Ninjago." The girls then all cheered. "But- How are all of us going to get there?" Nagi wondered. Nya and Lloyd looked at each other knowingly.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Nagi screamed as she held onto the mast of the destinys bounty. Peni was screaming too, but out of Joy, and not Fear like Nagi. "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH YEAH! THIS IS SO COOL!" Peni exclaimed loudly. "I can't believe this- we're on THE destiny's bounty!" Maria squealed. Her and Jane had huge grins on their faces. Madison walked along the deck of the ship, looking down at the ground bellow. She looked over at Nagi, who looked shaken and dizzy. Nya walked up to Madison. "Is she alright?" "She's not very fond of heights." Madison explained, not moving her gaze from the side of the boat. The clouds looked so close like she could touch them.
"So this is how you usually get around?" Sadie asked, to Nya in particular. "Well we do have cars and bikes and stuff, but this way is definitely the quickest for long distance travel." Nya explained. She noticed Victoria was giving her an odd look. Nya raised a brow at the girl who turned away sheepishly.
"We'll be there in about 2 hours." Lloyd called, he walked down from the control center and joined the group. "Wait shouldn't you be flying the ship?" Jane wondered curiously. She eyed the now empty control center. "Auto-Pilot, comes in handy when flying a big airship and you need a break." Lloyd explained.
MEANWHILE
"ZAP! ZAP! ZAAAAAAP!" Cole let out a pained shout as Mordecai electrocuted him once again. Sam banged on the glass of the tube she was now in. "STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP!" She cried. Mordecai looked at her. Sam had ears coating her eyes at this point. "Please! I- I really don't know where it is!" Mordecai did not look pleased with her answer. He walked back to her tube and looked her straight into her eyes. "I don't want to use force. But this has been going on for an hour now, and I am becoming extremely impatient. WHERE. IS. THE. AXE?! WHERE IS IT!" He slammed his fist onto the glass. Sam backed up, gasping. Mordecai closed his eyes and took a deep breathe. "Think, LONG and hard in that brain of yours. THINK. Where is it?!" Sam had been thinking. And though it took a while, she knew exactly where it could be.
"FINE! FINE! I'll tell you! Just stop hurting him! Please!" Sam begged. Cole looked at her with somber eyes. "You can't! You can't tell him!" Sam sighed. She had too. "The sunset peaks." Mordecai gained a evil, malicious grin. "That's better." With a snap of his fingers, he healed Cole up quickly. "I must prepare, now don't either of you go anywhere! I'll be back!" Then then heard him giggle to himself as he basically skipped out of the cave. "He must be insane." Cole said, bewildered.
"Cole! I'm so sorry- I couldn't watch you get hurt anymore-..." Cole tried to give the sniffling girl a weak smile. "Hey. Don't worry. I've been through worse." Sam wiped the tears from her face and sat on the ground, crunching her legs to her knees. She said nothing as she looked distantly at the wall. "Who are you again?" Cole asked. Sam looked back over to him. "Oh right- uh- I'm Sam." Cole nodded. "I bet you feel pretty helpless now, huh? I know that feeling." Sam slightly shifted. "You do? Was it when you were turned into a ghost, maybe?" Cole nodded. "Yeah it was when I turned- Wait how did you guess?" "Im- uh- I'm a ninja fan." Sam whispered. "Oh cool! Sorry that we couldn't meet under better circumstances. " Cole offered a weak smile, Sam nodded, but held her head low. "It's not your fault." "huh?" "None of this- is your fault." Cole repeated, he looked at the girl and had a look of concern. Sam let a few warm tears flow but she wiped them away. "I- I know." "Do you?" Sam looked at the master of Earth. She inhaled, exhaled and then gained a wide smile. "Of course!- And I also know we'll be fine! We-we'll make it!" Her smile faltered but it stayed. Cole sighed. "Feeling helpless isn't a weakness you know, you're a person. You can feel scared." "I'm not scared." She lied in an unnaturally happy tone. Cole looked disapproved at her answer. The two then entered a period of silence for about 15 minutes, Mordecai came out with a huge grin on his face. "Oh this is golden! We have a plan to head to the Sunset Peaks! I am BRIMMING with excitement here!" He beamed, walking in front of Sam and Cole's pods. The Earth Ninja looked annoyed while Sam just gave him a blank stare. "Now here's the plan dearie, You and I will borrow a car and drive out to the Sunset Peaks, we'll make it there in a few hours if I use magic to get us there closer." He explained. "Wait- Just checking- you don't expect ME to drive, do you?" Sam asked. Mordecai blinked. "Well obviously, I'll be busy." "Well- I CAN drive. But..I- I've never driven on desert before. What If something happens?" Sam explained. Mordecai groaned. "What are you saying?" "I'm saying that Cole should drive us, not me. He's probably more experienced." Sam explained. Mordecai shook his head. "Absolutely NOT. It's a big enough risk bringing you outside, never the less him." Mordecai scowled. Sam then down in the tube and crossed her arms. "Fine. Then you can forget getting that axe." Cole couldn't help but grin while Mordecai looked like he was two seconds from popping a blood vessel. It looked like he was about to yell at the teen again before he actually sat in thought. He closed his eyes. letting out a huge sigh, he opened his eyes back up. "I guess- he is weakened, and it's not like you fight...Fine." Sam brightened "Great!" "But- he'll need to keep those cuffs on at all times." The Earth ninja just blinked. "That's it?" Mordecai nodded. "That's it." Cole nodded in approval which made Mordecai smile. "Wonderful!" Mordecai slammed his staff on the ground, and in a puff of smoke, the three were gone.