"Why do you think this is a good idea?" The voice, although quiet, still had a minimal echo in the enclosed building.
"Because, idiot, this'll allow us to get our boss back!" Another voice hissed back, before a beeping noise was heard. The sound of systems deactivating would make anyone in the hallway jump... besides the fact the building was empty other than two. Two, of which were currently standing in a secure room, well, once secure room containing a crystal. A oddly familiar crystal...
"The realm crystal.." One whispered in awe, before getting hit over the head, letting out a whisper yelp.
"Shut up and just grab it already, Master Chen is probably losing his mind in that stupid realm," the snake tattoos on the one guys' arm rippled when he moved it, Anacondrai's trailing down from his bicep down to his wrist.
The other was much more lean, long sleeves covering their arms and instead bore a leather jacket with an Anacondrai sporting the back. Said person shuffled towards the crystal, knowing there was no safety measure active anymore but still being careful nonetheless. They reached out to grasp the crystal, fingertips brushing against the cold surface of the jewel, before swiping it away. They held the crystal in their hands, admiring their reflection before it got snatched by their partner.
"Don't play with it! We need to get out of here with this thing before those dumb guards wake up! Let's go," The bigger one grabbed the other by the wrist, dragging them both out of the room and down the hall.
"Well, you're the expert, open the portal to get Master Chen!" The smaller one leaned over the other, who hissed in irritation.
"Bug off! I'm working on it!" They held the crystal in their hands, glaring daggers at it at they focused, trying to open the portal to the Realm of the Departed. Those pesky ninja destroyed the Cursed Realm so this was the best bet they had in reaching their boss. The two sat alone in the forest beyond Ninjago City around a fire, nothing but the wind disrupting the silence. They sat there quite awhile, before suddenly the space in front of them ripped open, making the smaller one scream in surprise.
"SHUT UP! By the First Master are you incompetent!" The bigger one hissed, before getting up, staring at the portal. The two watched in anticipation, as if awaiting a god to greet their presence, before a figure appeared in the portal. Their eyes widened as they exchanged smirks, before the bigger one stepped forward.
"Master Chen?" They questioned, although they looked confident they were correct. The figure said nothing, but they moved out into the open grass away from the portal, enveloped in a cloak. A sickly green tinted their see through body, green mist floating off of them in a haze as they approached the two grunts.
"That... they seem to small to be Chen.." The lean one peered at the figure, while the other one rolled their eyes.
"... Now that's not a very nice thing to say, hmm?" Both started when they heard the voice, a voice that felt both unfamiliar and very familiar.
"You aren't Master Chen, who are you?' The other grunted, glaring down the figure.
"Jeez, and I thought the ninja could be hostile upon contact... say, that's the realm crystal, isn't it?" The figure pointed a ghostly hand at the crystal held within the hand of the one grunt. They snarled before holding it tauntingly in front of them.
"What, want it?" They teased, eliciting a worried mumble from their partner.
"Well... you were trying to summon that idiot Chen with it... probably shouldn't stay in your hands... although I'm not much better... meh, why not," The figure shrugged before fading out, making both of the grunts get into defensive positions. These positions, however, were useless against the ghost, who took them both off of their feet in seconds. They didn't take long to recover, swinging at the air in blind hopes to connect a punch, even though it was a ghost they were fighting.
The figure's laughter echoed the clearing as they delivered unseen attacks to the two, seemingly toying with them. Eventually the smaller one got the bright idea, though, to grab something out of the pack they two had brought, before blindly applying pressure and unscrewing the cap, spinning around to make themselves a sprinkler as water sprayed out from a bottle they held. The figure winced as they were forced to re-appear due to the water hitting them, but didn't make it apparent they were bothered as they dodged a blow from the bigger one. Now that they were utilizing water the figure seemed a bit more cautious, which made the two grunts weary of something. The figure stood in front of the open portal with a grin on their barely visible face, seemingly taunting the two. The bigger one was already agitated as is, so it didn't take much more than the figure raising an arm and making a 'come at me' gesture for them to leap at the figure, much to the lean one's surprise. They blindly followed though, not even caring about whatever the figure had planned.
Said figure waited until the two were inches away before fading out, making them both gasp when they came face first to the portal. The smaller one shrieked as they tried to stop their momentum, flinging the bottle onto the ground in a panic. This caused the lid to fly off, the water inside spraying directly onto the figure in mass, making them fall to the side as they clutched their stomach, hissing from the sizzling emitting off of their body.
They turned to look at where the portal was... or had been. Both the grunts and the portal were gone, the only signs they had been there were the figure and the hastily set up camp fire. This, though... also ceased to bear witness to the realm crystal anywhere nearby, meaning...
"Crap... That's not good..." The figure winced, before looking back at the open sizzling smear across their torso from the water. They wouldn't last much longer in the Realm of the Living without help, and they needed to relay this information to the only people they knew could do anything about it... because like hell would they want that selfish gloated noodle manic to get out and back to the living.. They winced once more, before fading into the cold night.
"Hey Kai, pass the salt?" The voice of his brother snapped him out of yet another space out session, having zoned out in the middle of a conversation about coral species that Zane had started up at the table. He reached over and knocked the container over to Jay, sliding into his hand.
"Thanks!" He smiled when he caught it.
"No problem," He replied, still with his head in his hand as he sat with his phone on the table. He'd opted to join Jay and Zane on an outing for the day and they currently sat outside of a café Jay had picked out. Kai himself hadn't gotten any food, just a caffeinated drink to keep him awake while Jay had gotten himself an omelet to eat. Zane hadn't gotten anything for.. obvious reasons. He had originally been browsing the latest news on his phone, but when nothing new seemed to be up other than the remnants of the Oni invasion, he gave up rather quickly on that and had opted to play one of his fighter games on his phone before he'd zoned out.
"So, either of you got plans after we get back?" Jay inquired, shoveling a mouthful of egg into his mouth afterwards.
"I plan on watching a movie with Pixal, the new 'Sci-Fi Underspace 3' came out last week and I was able to obtain it, so Pixal has been rather excited," Zane seemed pretty excited himself. Figures, both his and Pixel's favorite movies were those strange sci-fi things, so being as anxious about Sci-Fi Underspace 3 seemed completely believable.
"Well, I was gonna hang out with Skylor but she got held up at the restaurant so we've rescheduled. Honestly I was just gonna sit and play Fist to Face 4 since I was able to knab it at the lineup yesterday.. still mad at Cole for yanking me out for his discussion about a Vengestone transport with Vania so I couldn't play it," Kai grumbled, glaring at the table when he mentioned the last bit before looking up at Jay.
"You going on a date with Nya or something?" Jay gave him an unamused look at this, causing him to smile innocently.
"Very funny Kai, no, I'm actually going to join Cole rock climbing today thanks," He gave Kai a teasing look in return.
"Don't drag me with you, last time I did rock climbing with the two of you I twisted my ankle because you lost hold of the side and collided into me," He retorted, taking a sip of his drink.
"That wasn't my fault!"
"What, the wall was slippery?"
"I- well-"
"You were being reckless and grabbed something with almost no grip to it and you know it," Jay huffed in response.
"Well then be like that," Kai chuckled before tapping the table. Zane himself was just smiling at their bickering. Kai may not make it seem like such but he always enjoyed outings with Jay, even if the other had a motor mouth he never made the conversation dull. It was probably the only reason he had accepted, really. That, and to avoid the no doubt incoming friendly fire he'd be recieving from Lloyd about a prank he'd pulled on him earlier.
"The Realm Crystal is missing."
Under normal circumstances he probably would have made some snarky remark about someone wanting to revive another overlord, but with the fact that it had been spotted that the people who infiltrated Borg Industries were two thugs related to Master Chen he decided choking on his drink was a much more viable option, so he did. Lloyd had stopped the trio right as they walked into the Monastery gates with the news, and since Kai hadn't finished his drink from before he had all the reason to have almost dropped it as he inhaled the swig he'd been taking from it as Lloyd announced such almost like an everyday matter. It didn't help at all when Jay straight up dragged him after Lloyd and Zane as they ushered to meet with the others.
"The Realm Crystal was reported missing 9 hours ago at 3:28am last night, and the last remains of the known suspects seems to be an abandoned camp site they had made. We've been asked to see if we can track them from the site," Nya stated as she relayed what information they had.
"This will not be easy, since there now appears to have been followers of Chen that escaped the banishment, we know they will be much more difficult to locate in their fears of being banished much like Chen," Zane announced, eyes narrowed as he thought.
"I mean we had Clouse escape the Cursed Realm when it fell, it's not impossible some grunts fell out too, only they came out living," Cole shrugged, although his expression was anything but casual.
"Didn't that timeline reset though? Wait- no ignore me, it only rewound so far.." Kai rolled his eyes at Jay before chiming in.
"Look, they were spotted alive so they can't just wink out of sight. There's no way they aren't at least nearby the site with a bunch of police patrolling the outskirts so it shouldn't be difficult for us at all," He narrowly avoided slamming his hand on the table as he spoke, trying to communicate the situation on what appeared to be a deaf tone.
"We have the coordinates, so everyone meet me in the main base in 5 minutes and we'll head over," Lloyd stated, getting a nod from majority of the group. Kai just inwardly groaned in exasperation before following everyone else out the door.
To say the camp looked abandoned was the best description they could have gotten. The campfire was charred and thrown carelessly around, which shocked him as to the fact a fire didn't start. Two care packages lay battered and beaten, contents spilling out to show bruised fruit and what looked like stepped on remnants of a pb-j sandwich. A water canteen lie with a dent in it, grass underneath it damp from whatever water had been in it prior. There was no sign of any living otherwise, except for the squirrel that had been nibbling on a stray apple by a bush further out.
"This looks like a wreck, we sure they didn't get in a brawl with each other?" Kai gave the area a lazy scan, unamused with what was provided.
To say the camp looked abandoned was the best description they could have gotten. The campfire was charred and thrown carelessly around, which shocked him as to the fact a fire didn't start. Two care packages lay battered and beaten, contents spilling out to show bruised fruit and what looked like stepped on remnants of a pb-j sandwich. A water canteen lie with a dent in it, grass underneath it damp from whatever water had been in it prior. There was no sign of any living otherwise, except for the squirrel that had been nibbling on a stray apple by a bush further out.
"Spread out and look around, me and Cole will take this main clearing, Zane, Nya and Kai will take the outer perimeter," Lloyd directed. No one questioned him, accepting their roles instantly as they spread out, Kai moving from Nya and Zane as he went the most logical direction he could see. He took the direction facing away from the city, figuring that if they were to flee it'd be the best option to avoid any police or wanderers.
He spent what felt like ages picking at bushes, feeling trees and looking above in the canopy, but he couldn't find a single trace. The strange thing, in fact was that he couldn't find anything out of place at all. With the situation the camp was in, whatever antagonized it would have had traces out in the surroundings, right? It was exhausting yet he'd barely even done anything. It seemed strange though, the forest was eerily quiet... hadn't he seen a squirrel at the campsite? Yeah, eating an apple.. He only just noticed the lack of birds he'd been annoyed with earlier, and he didn't see a single animal at all. His instincts told him something was off, which by now was a given, but nothing looked out of the ordinary...
The sudden sound of a bush rustling made him whip around, narrowing his eyes at the bush a few feet from him. The moment he turned around it had stopped, but he saw the twitch of the leaves. Moving towards it, he drew his sword, cautiously moving one of the branches aside. Nothing, there wasn't anything inside. Strange... he huffed as he sheathed his blade again, rolling his eyes as he turned back around to continue along. He didn't get far when a sudden gust of wind hit him square in the face, making him blink in surprise. A roaring wind, one strong enough he had to grab onto the trunk of a nearby tree to keep himself from stumbling. He threw an arm up to his face to block the wind, alarms blaring in his brain. What the heck was going on? There was no way this was natural.. The wind stopped with a halt, leaves rustling nervously with the unnatural cease. He looked around, confusion riddling his face as he took a cautionary step away from the tree.
He felt like his very soul was being watched, someone was with him, and he could feel their eyes piercing through him. Now he was on edge... if he wasn't already. His eyes scanned the area around him, but he mentally cursed himself realizing there were plenty of places for someone to hide around him. He went to grab his blades, before he paused, looking ahead of himself as he saw something. It was like a ripple in the space in front of him, as if something was both there... and not. That's when he heard a ghostly chuckle, sending chills down his spine. It sounded both sinister and pained... but he couldn't act on it in time. The ripple manifested into a green blur of sorts that charged at Kai, giving him no time to react to the sudden feeling of being hit by a truck, a yell of surprise and alarm being the only thing he could muster before everything went black.