Saturday

The next morning, Wu shook Lloyd awake. Lloyd blinked at him groggily.

"It's time to get up, Lloyd," Wu said. "We have to make a plan to save Misako and Garmadon."

Lloyd sat up, suddenly remembering yesterday, and what they were doing today. Finally, he could do something to help his parents.

After a short breakfast, Lloyd and Wu sat at the kitchen table discussing plans. Wu had drawn a map leading to Bane Bete Noire, and a map of the place. At least, consisting of what they had seen.

"Okay, when are we leaving?" Lloyd asked.

"Now," Wu replied, standing up. "Grab two katanas, as many shurikans as you can carry, and a dagger or two. I will pack a backpack consisting of the gear we'll need."

Lloyd nodded, rushing off. Finally, he could save his parents! After Lloyd had grabbed the items, he hurried back to the kitchen, where Wu was waiting for him with his tan backpack. Then, they both headed out, towards Bane Bete Noire.

"We're running out of money, Kai," Nya said.

"I know, I know!" Kai grumbled, rummaging around in a drawer. "Where is that?! I know I put it here somewhere!"

"Face it, Kai! You spent it!" Nya snapped.

"What? No, I didn't! This money was only for emergencies!"

"Yes, yes it was. And, may I remind you, we did have an emergency!"

Kai looked up. "We did? When?"

Nya glared at him. "Last fall? When you decided to do something stupid, and ended up having to be rushed to the hospital?"

"Oh… Heh, uh, I forgot about that…" Kai mumbled. He closed the drawer he had been rummaging through.

He and Nya were at their house, in Ignacia. They lived in a blacksmith shop that had once belonged to their parents. Their parents had mysteriously disappeared one day; Kai had been four, Nya three. That was twelve years ago. Kai and Nya were very poor, having barely enough money for school. Cole generously paid for their lunches.

"Okay, so, I have to make more weapons," Kai said, thinking.

Nya snorted. "Your 'weapons' don't even look like weapons."

"Fine, fine," Kai grumbled. "What if I got a job? You know, something that I can do after school?"

Nya nodded. "Me too."

"Okay, but what would we do?" Kai asked.

Silence. A few crickets chirped.

"I could work at that car repair shop," Nya suggested.

Kai nodded. "Alright sis, fine by me. But what about me?"
"Hmm." Nya scrutinized him, one hand on her chin. "I don't know. You're not good at much."

Kai groaned. "There's gotta be something!"

"What about a hairstylist?" Nya suggested, gesturing to his spiked up hair.

Kai lit up excitedly. "Perfect!"

Lloyd and Wu reached the huge concrete wall of Bane Bete Noire at noon. They were at the east side, and right now they were hiding in the foliage and trees. Lloyd had two katanas strapped to his back and a dagger on his hip. He also had three shurikans attached to his cloth belt. Wu also had two katanas, and some shurikans attached to his own belt. Wu got a rope out of his backpack that had a hook at one end. He tossed it up, and the hooked end caught the top. Wu tugged it, making sure that it was secure, and then slung his backpack back on. Then he and Lloyd silently climbed up the rope. Lloyd was glad that he was wearing jeans today so that the nails barely poked him. He was also wearing gloves, so that the wall didn't tear up his hands.

At the barbed wire, Wu leaped over it with some fancy flip, and landed on the ground on the other side. Lloyd was very glad that Wu and his dad had taught him self defense, which included flips of this sort. Lloyd cleared the wall easily, landing beside Wu. Then they both crept silently along one of the warehouses, being watchful of guards. At the second wall, Wu got out another rope, and they got over that one the same as the first one. They both quickly hid behind one of the junk houses, as Lloyd had taken to calling them, since they were literally made out of junk.

Wu peeked around the wall of the one they were hiding behind. "Lloyd, look."

Lloyd peeked around the corner, too, and gasped in shock. A bunch of soldiers were lined up on their side, and on the other were other half breeds in chains. One of the soldiers, probably high in rank, was lecturing the enslaved half breeds. Two of them, Lloyd suddenly realized in horror, were his parents. Garmadon did not look happy, and Misako just looked scared.

"Now, you will follow my orders, or else there will be consequences," the head soldier was saying.

Garmadon glared at him, along with a few others.

"You all will serve in my master's army. I expect 100% obedience at all times, and immediate obedience. I don't want excuses to be made, or for you to hesitate. If you do, there will be consequences."

"What's the consequence?" one of the chained half breeds asked, looking at him mockingly.

The soldier snapped his gaze to the man, narrowing his eyes threateningly. "You will either be tortured, beaten, or, on one of my bad days, you will be executed, slowly and painfully."

The man visibly gulped, but apparently he was stupid. "Ha! You need us for your 'army'. You wouldn't kill us!"

The soldier raised his gun that had been in his holster, and then shot the man in the head. He collapsed immediately, dead. The soldier gave the rest of them a cold glare. "Anyone else?"

Silence.

"Good." The soldier turned to a random guard behind him. "Take the body."

"Yes, sir," the guard replied, who then took the corpse away.

"Now," he said, turning back to the prisoners, "my name is Damien Spade, but you will address me as 'sir'. Understand? Good."

As Damien rambled on, Lloyd said, "What do we do? There's too many."

"We'll have to wait till nightfall," Wu replied.

Lloyd and Wu had been forced to watch the rest of the day. Lloyd was very glad when night time finally came. They were both in the large rusty building that was in the middle of the large encampment, having snuck in a little earlier when the soldiers and prisoners had finally quit for the day. They were both walking along a concrete hallway. Lloyd had assumed that the entire building was made of scrap metal, but apparently the inside was covered in concrete. The building was definitely formidable.

After a few minutes, they came upon a large room. A ton of soldiers and guards were there, and so they quickly hid behind some crates. For some reason, these people really loved their crates. They were everywhere. Wu and Lloyd then cautiously kept moving, careful to remain unseen. Eventually, they reached two large doors made out of metal. These doors looked polished, and they were devoid of rust.

"We must wait," Wu whispered.

Soon, one of the soldiers, the head soldier Damien, Lloyd realized, walked to the doors. He typed in a code on a panel beside the doors Lloyd had not noticed before, and the doors opened silently. Inside, Lloyd caught a glimpse of gold. His eyes widened in surprise.

Suddenly, Wu started tugging him forward towards the doors. Lloyd followed him, and together they snuck through them before they closed without being seen.

Once inside, Lloyd gasped in shock. They were in a hallway made of gold, and small red pillars lined the sides. Wu and him quickly hid behind two of the pillars, with Damien remaining oblivious of their presence. Quietly, they snuck after Damien, wondering where he was going. Lloyd hoped that he would lead them to where the prisoners were held.

After a few minutes, they reached two more metal doors, made of gold. Damien opened these as well, using a code, and they both slipped in after him. Inside these doors was a large room, also made of gold. Large red pillars stood lined up on either side, golden vines wrapped around them. The walls held paintings of what seemed like battles. At the end of the room was another metal door, this one also gold. It was decorated with golden vines, like on the pillars, and the doors were lined with red paint. On either side of the doors stood two guards, both dressed in golden armor. Damien spoke briefly with them, and then one of the guards let him in.

Wu and Lloyd were hidden behind one of the large pillars.

"I'll knock that guard out, you take the other one," Wu instructed quietly. Lloyd nodded in agreement.

They both crept silently along, and at the last pillar, suddenly jumped out at the surprised guards. The guards didn't stand a chance.

Wu opened one of the doors slightly, and they both squeezed in, Wu closing the door behind them. They both immediately hid behind a golden pillar. Inside was a medium sized room, covered in guards. There was no way they could sneak past them. And, Lloyd thought in dismay, they had lost sight of Damien.

"We must be getting close," Wu murmured. Suddenly, Wu pointed behind them. "Look."

Lloyd turned to see a normal sized wooden door, lined in gold. "Let's try through there."

They both dashed to the door. Inside was a small plain hallway, with torches lining the walls as the only light. It was quite chilly.

"It's like a dungeon," Lloyd said, slightly in awe. His voice echoed strangely.

Wu and him started down it. After what seemed like hours, they reached another door, this one also wooden, except that it lacked the gold lining. Wu opened it, and they both stepped through it. Inside were five guards, all pointing guns at them.

Oh no, Lloyd thought in despair.

"Surrender to Bane Bete Noire!" the head guard demanded.

Wu moved like lightning, dashing first to one guard, then spinning around to the next. They were all knocked out in seconds.

"Wow," Lloyd awed.

They continued down the short hallway, reaching a thick metal door. There was a hole, where a key went in.

"We need a key," Lloyd said, looking back at the guards. He walked back over, kneeling next to the head guard, and found the key. He walked back to the door, sticking the key in, and heard a satisfying click. Lloyd opened the door with a creak. Inside was a long hallway, filled with cells. Inside the cells were the prisoners.

"Open the cages," Wu said, walking down the hallway.

"What?! But what if they attack us?!" Lloyd protested.

"No one should be held prisoner," Wu replied.

Lloyd frowned, not agreeing with him, but obeyed him nonetheless. As they walked, they released the prisoners, and still Lloyd had not seen his parents. He knew that his father had gotten in trouble halfway through the "training session" and that two guards had had to restrain him and take him away somewhere, but Lloyd had assumed that he would be with the other prisoners. And, surprisingly, none of the prisoners attacked them; instead they just followed them quietly.

"Misako!" Wu suddenly exclaimed. Lloyd looked up, and than ran over to where Wu was standing. Misako was inside the cell, along with two others. Lloyd quickly unlocked it, and the three of them gratefully walked out.

"Are you alright?" Wu asked Misako.
"I'm fine," Misako replied.

Wu nodded in acknowledgment, then turned to Lloyd. "Continue releasing the other half breeds."

Lloyd nodded, and then continued unlocking cells.

A few hours later, they had released all of the prisoners. Now, the hard part—getting them out.

They obviously couldn't go back the way they had come, as there were too many guards, and so they all continued down the hallway. Eventually, they reached a metal door, and Lloyd unlocked it. It led to a room full of guards. All of the guards looked up at them, and Lloyd gulped nervously. As one, the guards started shooting at them, and they all tried to duck out of the way. Some of the prisoners were shot and killed, others just wounded. Then the guards attacked, taking out katanas. Lloyd took out his own pair of katanas, slashing at random guards. Through the mayhem, a lot of the prisoners had fled back down the hall. With a sinking heart, Lloyd realized the whole of Bane Bete Noire would hear of their escape plan in a few minutes.

Suddenly, Lloyd felt a flare of pain in his leg. He gasped, almost losing his footing. He didn't have time to look at his leg to see how bad it was, but he could feel his pant leg getting wet. Wet with blood, his brain helpfully reminded him. He kept on fighting, but it seemed hopeless. They were outnumbered badly.

Lloyd used his free hand to blast his green power at three of the guards. They fell down, knocked out cold. Lloyd continued to use his power with one hand, and his katana with the other.

"Lloyd! This way!" Wu suddenly called.

Lloyd snapped his head in his direction, and then quickly followed him. Misako and Wu were standing next to a rusty metal door. While the guards were distracted, they could escape. Lloyd felt bad about abandoning the other prisoners, but he knew that in the Outcast, it was everyone for themselves.

They walked down the hallway that had been revealed behind the door, and passed through a few more empty hallways. That's when Misako noticed Lloyd's leg.

"Lloyd! You're bleeding!"

Lloyd blinked, suddenly remembering his wound, and then glanced down at it. His pant leg was soaked through with blood, and Lloyd cringed at the sight of it. It felt like it was on fire.

Wu quickly rushed over to him, taking out the medical supplies from his backpack, and quickly wrapped up Lloyd's leg tightly to stop the bleeding.

"I'll do a more thorough check when we get back to the monastery," Wu promised.

Lloyd nodded, grimacing.

Soon, they came upon another door. It was metal like the last few. Wu cautiously opened it, not wanting to run into more guards. Inside were a ton of guards, and Lloyd was thankful for his uncle's cautiousness. It would not do them any good if they had to fight again. They barely got out the last time. Lloyd also saw what seemed to be torture machines. The three people (his father included) who had had to be restrained and dragged away were in a small cell off to the side. They looked like they had all been knocked out, or else they had somehow fallen asleep. Which, Lloyd doubted, as it would be very hard to fall asleep in a place like this.

Wu slowly closed the door, and then turned to face them.

"How do we get them out with all of those guards around?" Lloyd immediately asked.

"One of us will distract them, one will get them out, and the other will stand guard by the door to ensure we can escape," Wu replied. "I will distract them. Lloyd, you will stand guard by the door. Misako—"

"Whoa, whoa," Lloyd interrupted. "Why do I have to stand by the door? I can help!"

"Lloyd, you are injured." Wu turned to look at Misako, signaling that that was the end of the discussion. "Misako, if memory serves me correctly, Garmadon knows how to pick locks." Wu took something from his backpack—it was a hairpin. "Give this to him."

Misako nodded.

Wu turned to the door, taking out his katana. He took a breath, then stepped through the door. The reaction was instant, the guards immediately attacking him.

While they were distracted, Misako snuck past them to the cell. Garmadon and the other two prisoners had woken up by the sudden racket. Lloyd watched as Misako quickly handed Garmadon the pin, whispering something to him that Lloyd couldn't hear. He nodded, standing, and then started working on the lock.

Lloyd then heard a grunt from Wu. He quickly looked his way, and saw that he'd been knocked down by some guards. Lloyd quickly pulled out his own katana and lunged at the guy about to stab his uncle. The guard was knocked out in three seconds, and then Lloyd started helping with the rest.

Wu got back up, seeming a bit dazed but okay, and started helping him.

Garmadon finally unlocked the lock, and swung open the door. He and the other two quickly got out. Lloyd noticed that he was limping.

Lloyd and Wu finally finished with the guards. They were all knocked out. The other two prisoners quickly ran off down the hallway.

Wu, Garmadon, Misako, and Lloyd went down another hallway they had discovered.

Wu turned to Garmadon, who was now leaning on Misako. "Are you alright?"

Garmadon nodded, not saying anything.

The four of them continued down the hallway, silent.

About twenty minutes later, Lloyd said, "It's like a maze down here! I'm sure we've been this way before!"

"How can you tell? They all look the same to me," Garmadon grumbled.

"How do we know we're not walking in circles? There's all these twists and turns and new doors, and they all look the same," Misako said, looking worried.

Lloyd remembered the game he had played on Jay's video game thing. It had been a maze. Jay had said that if you kept on turning left in a maze, then eventually you would find your way out. Lloyd hesitated, but decided to use Jay's advice. "What if we keep turning left? Eventually we'll find our way out."

There was silence for a few seconds, then Wu said, "Let's try it." Garmadon and Misako hesitantly agreed. Lloyd took the lead, making sure to always turn left. Soon, they came to a door that had five people guarding it, all having guns and katanas. The guards started shooting at them immediately, and they all quickly dove out of the way, Lloyd's heart pounding. The guards then advanced towards them, taking out their swords, and Wu and Lloyd, the only ones with weapons, leapt in front of Garmadon and Misako.

"Surrender now, and we won't kill you," the lead guard said.

Wu passed one of his katanas to Garmadon, and Lloyd passed one of his to his mother. They all got into fighting stances.

"We will never surrender," Garmadon hissed.

"Very well. It's your funeral." The lead guard then lunged at them, swiping furiously. They all quickly got out of the way, and Lloyd found himself fighting the leader.

"Ha! You're just a kid, and you're wounded! You don't stand a chance," he said, grinning evilly.

Lloyd growled in annoyance. All of the other half breeds he fought always seemed to underestimate his skill. Lloyd had to admit though, the guy was good. He had been well trained. Too bad for him, not well enough. Lloyd swiped his feet from under him, and the guard fell down with a surprised gasp. Lloyd knocked him out swiftly. He looked up, seeing that Wu, Garmadon, and Misako had just finished up with the others.

They all continued down the hallway, Lloyd starting to feel claustrophobic. It seemed as if they had been walking through dungeon halls for hours—which he was pretty they had been—and he was getting tired of dark cold halls. And before, he had been so worried about his parents and had had his mind set on the mission, and now that there had been no distractions for a while (besides the occasional guards) Lloyd was starting to feel anxious—and his leg was starting to throb. He glanced back, seeing that Garmadon was still limping and was now leaning on Wu. He hoped that he was alright.

Soon, they came to another door, this one thick metal. It was double doors, and was bigger than the smaller doors they had been passing through. About twelve guards were there, all heavily armored. They all turned as one, noticing them, and then stared shooting.

They were all forced to dodge again, and then they attacked the guards. Lloyd heard the swiping of multiple katanas, and after a few minutes, he realized that these guards were almost as good as them. Keyword, almost. Lloyd knew that he would probably win, but he was outnumbered. It was three to one, and Wu and his parents had all been separated, each fighting three guards. The battle dragged on, and Lloyd's leg was burning from the strain. He was certain that it had started bleeding again, but he could do nothing about it at the moment.

He ducked a swing from one guard, and then turned to swipe at a guard behind him, who leaped back to avoid the blow. Lloyd then somersaulted away, feeling the wind from another katana near his neck. Lloyd gulped, realizing that these guards were aiming to kill. He quickly got up and swiped at a guard, then back flipped away, knocking another guy down. He fired his green power at one, sending him flying back. Another guard pounced on him, trying to knock him down, but Lloyd threw him off over his shoulder. The guard crashed into the other guard in front of Lloyd. The third guard that Lloyd had lost sight of suddenly appeared, slashing at his back. Lloyd twisted around, barely managing to catch his katana on his own before it pierced him. Lloyd panted, ducking away from another blow, and then spun around to catch another katana on his blade. These guys were a lot harder to beat than Lloyd had originally thought. The other guards they had been able to knock out quickly and easily, but these were definitely better trained. Finally, Lloyd managed to land a sufficient hit on one guy, knocking him out, and Lloyd was relieved. Now for the other two, Lloyd thought. With only two now, Lloyd knocked them out fairly quickly. He turned, and saw that his parents and Wu had also finally knocked their own guards out.

"Let's keep moving," Wu said, panting like the rest of them. Wu went over to Garmadon, letting him lean on him, and then they walked to the door. Misako opened it a little cautiously, and peered out. She gasped, leaping back. About thirty guards stormed in, all from—Lloyd noticed with relief—outside. Fresh, warm air streamed in, and Lloyd welcomed it compared to the cold dungeon hallways.

The guards attacked them, and Lloyd quickly raised his katana again. He was still exhausted from the last fight, but he was not finished yet. These guards were as well trained as the last bunch, and they were hopelessly outnumbered. Lloyd was up against eight guards, and they seemed to be all over the place. Lloyd kept on having to turn left and right trying to fend them off, and he could feel his strength waning.

A few minutes later more guards arrived, and Lloyd's throat tightened in fear. We're not gonna make it out alive, he thought in despair. As he went up against even more guards, he started blasting his power at them randomly, trying to throw them off. He knew he was showing desperation, and that now the guards were much more confidant as they saw that he would be theirs soon, but he had no choice. It was a kill or be killed world. Not they he ever tried to kill anyone, as he usually avoided that if he could, but it was still a fact; a fact that Lloyd had learned when he was younger. He had lived in the Outcast for most of his life, and these kinds of battles happened very often. He may expect them, but that didn't mean he didn't have fear when he was forced into battle.

His power trick seemed to be working, thankfully, and Lloyd had managed to knock out a few with it. But, there were still plenty more guards to go.

Eventually, they had managed to knock out all of the guards. Panting, the four of them hurried out into the daylight—wait, is it sunset already? Lloyd blinked in surprise, not realizing that it was that late already. He looked forward, seeing that they were in the back of the huge camp. The huge nail decorated wall loomed before them, and junk and random crates lay about haphazardly.

Wu gently nudged Garmadon off of him, and Misako quickly took over, Garmadon leaning on her instead. Wu took a rope out of his backpack that had a hook on one end, and tossed it up the wall. It caught at the top.

Suddenly, Lloyd heard voices. They were getting alarmingly nearer. He turned to his parents and Wu. "I hear them coming! We have to hurry!"

Wu and Misako nodded, and they both hurried over to the rope, Garmadon included. The three of them quickly climbed the rope, Lloyd and Garmadon more slowly with their injured legs, and at the top the four of them leaped over the wall. The other wall now loomed before them. Lloyd almost groaned, having forgotten that there were two walls, not one. This place was well protected, but they could definitely use better trained guards.

They all scaled that wall same way as the last, and at the other side Lloyd happily welcomed the cool forest air.

The four of them hurried into the foliage, Lloyd hearing the voices now at the other side of the wall. Lloyd heard a lot of pounding feet, and realized that the whole camp probably knew about the escape attempt by now. Still, going an entire day without being noticed was pretty sad, on their part. Especially since when theywerenoticed, they had beaten all of the guards.

As they ran, the voices slowly faded away. They didn't stop though. None of them wanted to take the chance that they might still catch up to them. They ran for at least thirty to forty minutes, and finally Wu called for a break. Lloyd gratefully sat down, wincing as his leg throbbed.

After they had all caught their breath, they continued on. It was dark now, and Lloyd had trouble seeing where he was going. He kept on tripping over roots and stray branches and logs, and accidentally got caught in thorn bushes. It was a long walk, to say the least. They were all hyper alert, as you had to be in the Outcast. Sometimes mobs would attack you; you always had to watch your back.

Wu suddenly stopped. "We'll sleep here for the night."

They all agreed with him, and Wu took out blankets from his pack, handing them out. After that, Wu made sure to check up on both Lloyd and Garmadon, and bandaged them up. Lloyd's leg had been cut, but it wasn't too deep. Wu did say that he might need stitches, though. Garmadon's ankle was sprained. Other than that, there were no other injuries.

That night, Wu kept watch while they slept.

Lloyd was uneasy, though. He kept on hearing sounds—the snapping of twigs, the creaking of branches, the crinkle of dead leaves—and every time he jerked awake, thinking that it was people from Bane Bete Noire. It was a long night…

Sunday

The next morning, they set off again for the monastery. With their current slow pace, Wu said that it would take them all day.

As the sun was setting, they finally made it back. Misako fetched some ice for Garmadon's ankle, and Wu gave Lloyd stitches. After that they ate supper, as neither of them had eaten for two days, and then they all went to bed.