Lloyd POV: We stealthily ran through the halls and searched every room we saw, but strangely there was nothing. No one was here other than a few guards here and there. Fortunately we managed to avoid them. After what felt like a couple hours we stopped by a window to catch our breath.
"This is getting us nowhere." Nya mumbled, sounding disappointed.
"This place is pretty large, searching is going to take a while." Zane responded, trying to reassure her.
"But this place is nearly deserted and there hasn't been any sign of Kai." Nya said, and I couldn't help but agree with her.
"We can't give up just yet. There is still another wing we haven't checked yet. He could be there." I said anyway. Kai wouldn't give up on us, so we can't on him.
She looked at me, and nodded after a few moments. And we were about to continue until we heard a crash. Looking outside on a bridge someone was running towards our half while several other guards following. Soon they stopped and started to fight them with a sword, but it was clear that their other arm was injured. However, whoever it was held their ground, beating them quickly.
"No way…" Nya whispered, right before taking off.
We followed, but she was sprinting and I couldn't understand why. I could barely see who that was. Soon we arrived at the opening to the bridge to see the guy finishing off the last guard.
He was wearing a tattered uniform that had many openings from cuts and other injuries, and was bleeding. He was panting and went down to one knee after fighting, using his sword to keep himself up. Even in this state, up close, I could tell who this was.
"Kai!" Nya said, standing in front of us.
He heard us and turned to us. He even looked tired, and the blood running down the side of his face didn't help. Nya, after seeing that, ran to his side.
"Nya, it's so good to see you." Kai said, smiling. Though he sounded worn out.
"Good to see you too, but what happened?! You're really hurt!" she responded, helping him up.
"Well, these guys are really big fans of mine." He laughed, but flinched right after.
I took his other side and said, "Let's get you out of here. Then we can worry about your haters."
He nodded and Zane took the lead and we quickly, and very carefully, headed back to the portal.
"What exactly happened after you got kidnapped?" I asked, once Kai seemed to relax more.
"I… managed to get away from them soon after we got here. And-" he burst into a coughing fit.
We stopped and let him go until he stopped, but only after he coughed up some blood.
"That's not good… Are you sure you're okay?" Nya sounded really worried.
"It's nothing that can't be fixed." Kai answered, strained.
"Zane, can you scan him? We need to know if there's anything immediate we need to take care of." I said.
He nodded and a beam of light went over Kai, and he stayed still. And that was weird of him, because of how stubborn he usually is. But I didn't say anything and Zane finished his scan.
"He has several lacerations all over, some internal bleeding, three broken ribs, a mild concussion, and…" Zane heistated.
"What?" Nya asked.
"...just tell them." Kai said, practically whispering.
"He has a large stab wound in his chest that goes through and through." I froze when he said that.
Nya looked at her brother, and after we set him up against the wall she looked for that wound. As she tore the opening he hissed in pain, and I could feel his pain. The wound looked like someone stabbed him and pulled downwards when taking the sword out. And it was still bleeding bad.
"Who did this?" Nya asked, giving me shivers.
"No one that can do anything like this anymore, no need to worry." Kai said, taking her hand, slightly coughing after that.
I was going to say something, but then we heard someone running at us. It was more guards, and they were charging fast. We prepared ourselves, but Kai tried to push himself off the wall.
"Kai, you're hurt." Nya said, gently grabbing his shoulder.
"I can still fight." He said stubbornly.
"You've been fighting a lot, you can let us take over now." I said, and after a few breaths he nodded.
Nya helped him sit down while Zane and I started our attack.
I blasted the first couple and Zane froze the ground immediately, catching them all off guard. He threw his shurikens, nailing two the heads and punched them away. With my power, I keep blasting them and punching them whenever they got close. But there were a lot of them, like all the guards were suddenly here.
"We need to leave now." Zane said, knocking one back.
"Agreed." I created a large blast, sending them all back before helping Nya get Kai back up.
While Zane covered us from behind we ran as fast as we could, trying to compensate for Kai, who tried not to groan loudly. Soon we made it outside and I took a look behind us. There were almost fifteen of them following, and a shadow figure stood at the entrance. But I couldn't see them properly, though I can't worry about that now. We raced around the hill and made it to the portal.
Cole and Jay were standing next to the gates, and once they saw us Cole ran up to us.
"Kai?! What happened?!" he said, taking over from me.
"We found him, but we're being followed! We need to hurry!" I answered, and he understood.
We raced over and got the portal gate started, but it was being really slow. And he didn't help that Kai suddenly cringed in pain.
Nya and Cole tried to help him, but it only helped a little, since we didn't have anything. And the guards appeared around the corner. Zane, Jay, and I prepared ourselves.
The first one charged at me, and I blocked the blow with my sword. Pushing him back I slashed down against his shoulder. Jay hit the two coming at him in their heads, and kicked their weapons away while they were disoriented. Zane managed to keep another one back with several blows. However, there were a lot of them.
Cole was about to get up when the portal fully activated and yelled, "We're good! Let's go!"
Knocking them back, we raced to the portal as Nya and Cole picked Kai up. And we all jumped through before they grabbed us.
The swirling was just as bad, but it ended faster and we landed hard on the museum's floor. Kai gasped loudly as he came through though. Despite being dizzy myself, I quickly got up and helped him sit up. Nya reacted fast too and supported him by holding his shoulders.
"Yep, that portal is just as bad as I remember." he said, still groaning.
"Yeah, it's not a smooth ride." I responded, laughing a little.
"Welcome home, Kai." Nya said, hugging his shoulder.
He smiled slightly, hugging her back as he said, "Good to be back."
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Back in the Unknown Realm
? POV: My men returned, injured and without him. Not that I'm terribly surprised.
One of the generals by my side turned to me and said, "He got away, as well as his allies."
"I can see that, but it's of no consequence. What about the girl? Have they found her?" She was also important to my plans, just like him.
"No, sir. She seems to have slipped our grasp for now. However, based on our intel, she didn't make contact with them and is still in this realm." he answered, making me sigh in frustration.
"Then send more soldiers after her. We can't let her keep our key for much longer." he nodded, and walked away.
Only to get replaced with another general who said, "Sir, we need more men."
"There's nothing I can do now. Not without the candidates I have in mind." I said, not even looking at him.
"I understand sir. However, with so few, we wouldn't be able to maintain this place for much longer."
"As if I don't know that!" I snapped at him, making him go into a bow.
"My apologies." was all he said.
Despite this general's limited intelligence, he was correct about that last point. We did need more men if we could at least repair this place. But there is one solution that will work for the timing being.
"Prepare the available troops and get the portal room ready. We'll leave as soon as we can." I ordered, walking back inside.
"Understood, but to leave that quickly will require the sacrifice of the men." the general stated, following me.
"I'm well aware, but we don't have the time to lose. I won't let anyone escape my grasp." No matter what.
"Understood." Then he finally left me alone.
I laughed to myself, and of how good this could all end. This has started to get me excited. I can't wait to see Ninjago and the sun, it'll be grand.