Hey guys! Sorry for making you wait so long for this chapter–got busy–but it's finally here, so read on to chapter 22!
No. It couldn't be. Kara couldn't be trapped in Garmadon's ship. How did she even get caught? How did Garmadon know Kara wasn't just an ordinary fox–that she was special? He couldn't have known.
But he must have known that Kara meant something to me. Maybe one of his forces saw me and her hanging out.
Chase's heart beat faster. He couldn't think. What would he do? How would he get her back?
He realized now that the bigger problem wasn't getting Kara back–it was stopping Garmadon. So he did the only thing I could–running inside the bounty and alerting the ninja, the only people in Ninjago would have any chance at beating this evil monstrosity.
"Jay! Nya! Lloyd! Kai! Cole! Zane! Sensei!" he cried at the top of his lungs. They came rushing to him immediately, much to his relief.
"Guys, Garmadon's forces are right outside. Look!" Chase pointed to the open door, and everyone peered out, gasping when they noticed the looming black object.
"Oh my gosh, when did that get here?" Nya asked.
"Just now," Chase replied, seemingly out of breath from shouting their names. Chase wanted to tell them about Kara, but two thirds of the ninja didn't even know who that was. Only Jay and Nya had ever seen the fox, and even they didn't know how close Chase was with it.
So Chase didn't say anything, hoping that Kara would be able to escape once Garmadon got distracted fighting the ninja.
"What do we do?" Cole asked. He sounded more worried than normal, which threw Chase off guard. What if the ninja weren't able to defeat Garmadon?
"We should all be prepared for anything Garmadon will throw at us," Lloyd said. Then Chase remembered something.
"Wait! Lloyd and Nya should stay out of this one. Remember, they're his primary targets."
"That's true," Kai said. Then he turned to the two youngest of the group. "You guys should sit this one out. We don't want anything bad happening to you two."
"What? No!" Lloyd and Nya said together.
"We want to help!" Nya protested. She almost sounded like a little kid, the way she was whining.
"Yeah, we'll be careful!" Lloyd chimed in.
"I know you want to help, but Chase is right. We can't risk something happening to you two."
"We have to at least do something," Nya said. "We can't just sit back and let you do all the work."
"Actually, you can," Jay said.
"Well, you two could patrol the bounty, make sure none of Garmadon's forces get inside. We have valuable stuff in the bounty. But whatever you do, don't get caught," Zane suggested.
"Alright," the two of them agreed reluctantly.
"What can I do?" Chase asked, desperate to help. The ninja looked at each other uncertainly.
"I think it's best you sit this one out, buddy," Kai said.
"But, I can help." Deep down, he knew he wasn't going to be allowed to help the ninja with a job as dangerous as this. But he so desperately wanted to prove that he wasn't useless.
"I know, but it's a bit of a dangerous job. We don't want anything happening to you," Nya said. Then, seeing the crestfallen look on Chase's face, added, "You can hang with me and Lloyd. Afterall, we aren't allowed to fight either."
This gave Chase hope. At least he wouldn't be the only one not actively participating in defeating Garmadon.
"Alright, it's settled. Cole, Jay, Zane, and I will be actively fighting out there, and the three of you will be on bounty patrol. Don't get caught." Kai kept on talking, but Chase only caught snippets of the last things he said. His vision became blurry. His ears rang. His heartbeat grew strong and steady, and very loud.
He knew what was happening. He was going to have another vision. His breathing quickened as he clutched his chest, awaiting the vision nervously. Dreading it. They weren't painful, but they scared him. He knew what he saw was real, and only he could stop it.
He dropped to his knees, sweat dripping from his forehead. He heard the ninja calling his name. Not all of them had witnessed Chase having a vision. In fact, I think only Nya had. They all knew he had them though, didn't they?
"Chase!" He heard someone call. But who? "Are you okay?" The voices around him were blending.
"Is he okay?"
"What's happening?"
"What do we do?"
They hurt his head to hear them, so he covered his ears, and right as he did so, his vision began. It was Ninjago City at peace. He smiled, hoping this one would end nicely. But they never did. And this one wouldn't either.
In his vision, something disturbed the peace. Garmadon and his forces. Black and purple things were flying through the air, smashing buildings to the ground.
Chase then saw a building collapsing. But it wasn't just collapsing onto the ground. It was collapsing on top of Nya.
Then the vision stopped. All the blurriness and ringing ears and thumping heart went away. And it wasn't until that happened that Chase realized he was screaming.
He quickly quieted down, looking up at the ninja, nervous to see their expressions.
Immediately, Nya bent down, helping Chase to his feet. "Chase, are you okay?" Chase nodded numbly, his breathing still shallow.
"Was that another vision?" Nya asked.
"Y-yes," Chase croaked, inhaling deeply to calm his rapid heartbeat.
"Is that what they look like?" Kai asked. He seemed worried, but also scared. Of what was inside the vision? Or of the person had the vision–Chase?
"Yes," Chase repeated, taking a seat in a chair.
"If your visions look like that, your other time powers must be like that too," Jay theorized.
"No, it's not like–" Chase started but was cut off.
"Wait, this isn't going to be another episode of the Time Twins, right?" Cole asked.
"No, it–" Chase tried, but no one was listening.
"Could he be secretly going behind our backs?"
"What if he's like the Time Twins?"
"Can we trust him?"
"His visions seemed pretty intense. Could he be dangerous?"
"GUYS!" Everyone stopped talking, looking at the source of the voice. It was Nya.
"Guys, listen, you may think that Chase is going to end up like the Time Twins, but I know for a fact that he isn't. His visions have actually helped in the past. And he's just a kid who's always eager to help out. Maybe it's finally time we let him."
This seemed to resonate with the ninja.
"Sorry for assuming the worst of you, kid," Kai said. Everyone gave their own apologies to Chase. He smiled, glad that the ninja finally accepted him.
"So, can I help?" Chase asked eagerly.
"You can help, but stay with Nya and Lloyd," Zane said. Chase nodded. At least maybe he could help fend off some bad guys if they came to the bounty.
But he still had an uneasy feeling in his stomach. His vision wasn't nothing. Nya was still in danger.
And it was up to him to do something about it.
Chapter 22, complete! Hope you enjoyed it. Make sure to review any thoughts or feedback–I always appreciate it! Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more!
Ducky :)