CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
SPIES IN DISGUISE
HIRO THANKED WHATEVER GODS EXISTED for Clouse's training; it would be the only thing he was thankful to the man for. Rather than breaking his nose on impact, Hiro caught most of his fall with his shoulder and rolled into a kneeling position, hands spread on the ground to find his balance, a move he only learned because Clouse insisted on it.
It consumes no energy, unlike your powers, the man had said after having some Kabuki demonstrate the move. When you levitate yourself, you're consuming energy. Do you remember the exhaustion you felt during the Final Battle? You used too much energy; your powers began to pull at your very life source. Using your biokinesis on your own body, especially in a fight, is dangerous. It will kill you. Stay independent of it.
Hiro stood and brushed his palms on his pants as he looked up. The Ninja were holding onto the bed for dear life despite the fall being a little more than ten feet. Hiro''s eyes had already adjusted to the darkness; it was far easier to see their terrified expressions. It wasn't as easy to hide his amusement; at least the four men couldn't see how unimpressed he was, or they might be offended.
"Hiro!" Lloyd yelped, looking down at what he had to think was an endless darkness. "Are you alright?"
"It's a five-foot drop," Hiro said, moving away from the landing zone. "I'm fine."
Taking the bait, Lloyd dropped down first. He managed to stay on his feet, though barely; Cole came down next, immediately reaching for a wall to find a landmark. Jay and Kai came down together; Kai grunted when he reached the bottom, landing on his feet while Jay nearly fell into Cole.
"Didn't feel like five feet," Kai muttered, forming a ball of fire in his hand. Hiro blinked the sudden spots from his eyes, squinting through the brightness. The tunnel stretched into darkness, framed by worn-down boards above their heads and walls that looked older than Wu. Some of the floorboards were missing, promising a far deadlier drop under their feet. Webs, from a spider or time, attached themselves to every available surface, one very close to Hiro's arm. He moved away from it and turned around, peering into the tunnel's darkness.
However reluctant he was to be near the team again, he was silently thankful they were with him at this moment. Hiro had a better handle on himself when it came to dark spaces, but it wasn't easy. Sometimes he still felt like the Overlord would trap him in darkness again if he let himself stand in a complete void.
"Secret passageway!" Jay exclaimed, moving a few steps past Hiro before realizing he shouldn't run off by himself.
"Nice work, Cole," Kai commented. "Maybe Zane's not on the island, but in it."
Hiro crossed his arms as the chill set in; under the island, there was no way to fight off the night's cold, except to stand closer to Kai's fire. Hiro decided he would rather have a tea party with the Overlord than get any closer to Kai than he had to be. He could handle a little cold.
"Hey, do you hear that?" Lloyd asked, turning toward the other side of the tunnel. Both directions seemed to go on forever, but only one of them echoed the sound of fighting.
The group shared an uneasy look, but Jay's eyes were drawn upward, where two holes in the wall allowed in the barest amount of light. He pointed to them with a grin on his face, creepy-looking with only Kai's fire to show his features. "Look, secret peepholes!" He laughed, climbing up the rotten boards to look through the openings. "Sounds like someone's fighting on the other side of this wall."
"And if you talk any louder, they'll be able to hear you," Hiro muttered, noting how thin the walls seemed from the peepholes. "Are we seriously spying on people now?" he asked, stomach turning at the thought of invading someone's privacy like that. He'd have to check his room for spy holes now, or he'd never be able to sleep. Who knew who was lurking behind these old walls, watching Hiro when he thought he was safe?
"Relax, Sunshine," Kai dismissed, rolling his eyes for good measure. "If someone's in trouble, we should help them." Hiro scowled at him. Lloyd looked between the two nervously, ready to step in if a fight broke up, but Hiro held himself back; they were here for Zane, he reminded himself. No matter how much he wanted to argue with Kai, he couldn't jeopardize Zane's only hope of getting off this island.
"What do you see?" Cole asked, craning his neck to look up at Jay. "Who's fighting?"
"It's not a fight," Jay told them, squinting to see better. "It's Skylor's room. Looks like she's training."
Suddenly, the group was plunged into darkness again as Kai ran for the wall. Hiro closed his eyes tightly against the sudden darkness, reminding himself that he was surrounded by the team. He stood under Chen's island, not on the Island of Darkness. The Overlord was dead; he couldn't trap Hiro anymore. Better yet, Hiro had control over the dark now. If he wanted to, he could call upon the shadows and take himself somewhere brighter.
Something brushed against his arm. Hiro inhaled sharply, opening his eyes. Barely visible without Kai's fire, Lloyd's expression was one of concern. Hiro didn't deserve it; he had left Lloyd to wonder about his whereabouts for over a month; he'd run away when given the chance to ease Lloyd's worry; even now, he avoided Lloyd, not ready to be alone with him again. And yet, Lloyd was worried for him. He knew of Hiro's fear of being in the dark—the literal kind, that is.
Hiro nodded to him. He wasn't sure how well Lloyd could see him, but eventually, the Green Ninja turned away, accepting Hiro's answer at face value.
Lloyd looked up at Kai and Jay, who were arguing over space for the peepholes. "Guys, this is an invasion of privacy," he scolded, crossing his arms like a disappointed teacher.
The two ignored him, bashing their heads together to look through the peepholes. Hiro wondered what it looked like to Skylor; was there a painting on the other side, the holes acting as eyes, or were the holes hidden by something else? His skin crawled at the thought of someone watching him when he was unaware. Even if Skylor was doing something suspicious, they would have no right to spy on her. Hiro valued his privacy too much to think about plaguing someone else's.
"Her room doesn't reveal anything about her power," Kai groaned. Hiro rolled his eyes, knowing damn well that wasn't the reason Kai was watching her. Jay, maybe—or the Master of Lightning was just annoyingly curious and didn't know what boundaries were. But Kai obviously felt something for Skylor, despite barely saying a word to her. He couldn't pretend to be checking out the competition when there would be chances to do that during the fights.
Jay's gasp pulled Hiro from his annoyance; he held out his hands, on guard, but Kai and Jay remained at the peepholes, giving each other horrified looks. "What was it?" Cole demanded. "What did you see?"
"She's fire," Kai told them, breathless. Hiro's brows furrowed. He had thought that there was only one Master per element; otherwise, he was sure Nya would have been a Master of Fire as well. But if there was more than one wielder of Fire . . . could there be another for Darkness? Was Hiro alone in being the Master of such a deceitful element, or was there someone like him out there—someone who could help?
"Wait a minute," Lloyd said, grinning up at Kai. "If we're all descendants of Elemental Masters—"
Cole laughed, loud and sharp in the tunnel. Hiro grimaced, wondering if Skylor had heard that. "Kai's heart is on fire," he sang mockingly, too gleeful about the information that had shaken Hiro.
Descendants of Elemental Masters. That's what Lloyd had said. If there was another Master of Darkness out there, they would have to be a descendant of the Overlord, too. As far as Hiro knew, he was the only one, and he wasn't even technically a descendant. He was a body given a soul. The Overlord hadn't created him like one would a real child; Hiro was a mistake, Destiny's revenge against the Overlord for interfering with Her plans. If there was another Master of Darkness . . . they would be dead.
It was silly to get his hopes up, Hiro knew. But for a moment, the thought of not being alone with this Element gave him a new hope.
Kai and Jay dropped back to the ground. Kai crossed his arms and glared at Cole, who had continued his song. "Can we please just keep moving?" he demanded, pushing past Lloyd to lead the way down the tunnel. He formed another ball of fire in his hands, lighting the passage again. Hiro almost preferred the dark now; at least it was easier to hide his expressions.
The group walked further down the tunnel, away from Skylor's and Kai's rooms. Hiro crossed his arms, looking around as they walked. The walls were the same, old wallpaper peeling away after years of neglect. Hiro wondered about the point of secret passageways under the island—it's not as though Chen held a tournament so often that he needed to sneak around. This was his home; if Chen wanted to go somewhere, he had the power to do so. There was no reason to hide under floorboards and behind secret paintings.
They turned right, then left. The walls never changed. More than once, Hiro saw more peepholes in the partitions; from the other side, it was always a different sound. Someone talking, someone training, someone moving around the room. Hiro wondered if anyone could sleep that night after the eventful first day.
"It's like a maze down here," Kai commented; his voice seemed to echo down the tunnel, loud after several minutes of walking in silence. "Good thing you're leaving a trail back to my room," he said, nodding to Cole.
"I'm what?" Cole asked. The group turned and saw a thin trail of chocolate-covered shell peas leading back the way they had come; at some point, Cole had picked up the bowl that had fallen into the tunnel with them, and as he ate, he'd been dropping the candy. It was the perfect route back the way they had come, though Hiro worried a rat would come along and eat it. "Oh, yeah. I meant to do that," Cole promised.
Hiro shook his head, grabbing one of the peas from the bowl. Surprisingly, Cole didn't complain. Hiro ate the pea as the group continued walking, taking a few moments to think about the taste.
"I don't like it," he decided.
"More for me," Cole boasted, popping a handful of the candy into his mouth. "Too sweet?"
Hiro thought for a moment before shaking his head. "I don't think peas are meant to be covered in chocolate."
Cole shrugged. He would have kept walking if Lloyd hadn't come to a stop; the Master of Earth nearly ran into him, which would have sent both of them tumbling into an endless drop if Kai hadn't thrown his arm out to stop them. "Can you talk about your candy later?" the Master of Fire deadpanned. "We need to go down."
"How?" Hiro demanded.
"We climb," Kai said, extinguishing his flame as he curled his fist. "Think you can handle that, Sun—"
"Call me Sunshine again and I swear—"
"Hey!" Lloyd snapped, stepping between them. "Focus on Zane. We're getting nowhere by arguing with each other."
Hiro clenched his jaw, trying not to grind his teeth together. He nodded when Lloyd looked at him for agreement, avoiding the others; he could almost feel to look Cole and Jay exchanged. Which, if they were agreeing with each other—likely about how they wanted Hiro to stay behind—then Hiro knew he was messing up pretty badly. Those two hadn't been friendly since the whole thing with Nya—even now, Hiro could sense the tension between them.
But if they could get along for Zane's sake, then so could Hiro and Kai.
The drop was a long one. Hiro couldn't see the bottom; he knew that if Kai made another light, it wouldn't matter. No one would be able to see the bottom of the pit until they were in it. Even if you could survive that drop, you weren't coming back out. Still, he pulled up his sleeves and waited for Lloyd to climb down before he went, Jay following just behind—or above—him.
They used rotted boards attached to the walls to climb down. Twenty feet below, another tunnel had been carved into the side of the fall. Hiro kept his eyes on his hands, glad he couldn't see the state of the wood he used to scale the wall; it was almost too terrifying to think about how a century-old piece of timber could break at any moment and send him falling to his doom. Even though Hiro could technically levitate himself, he wouldn't. He didn't trust Clouse, but he trusted his experience—the power that he had used in the Final Battle would kill him. Landing at the bottom of this pit meant death, too, but at least it would be a quick one.
Lloyd reached the new tunnel first. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, taking a step forward and then one back, but finally reached out to help Hiro into the entrance. Hiro decided to let him; he was sure he could make it over the small space between himself and the floor, but he was afraid to hurt Lloyd further. His skin burned where Lloyd had touched him, but Hiro ignored the feeling, letting Lloyd hold onto his arms as the Green Ninja made sure he had safely made it across.
"Thanks," he muttered.
Lloyd nodded, not meeting his eyes. "No problem."
Hiro wished Lloyd would let go of him—literally. He'd never had trouble shrugging off unwanted touch before, even when it came to the Green Ninja—though he rarely felt the need to when it was Lloyd, Hiro rationalized. Now, though, it was too much. It hurt.
Jay, surprisingly, was his savior. "Uh, I could use some help, too, Lover Boy," he joked, reaching a hand toward Lloyd. Lloyd let go of Hiro and scowled at Jay, but still went to help him. Hiro pulled his sleeves over his arms, silently grateful for Jay and his poor timing.
Cole, still holding onto his bowl of candy, made it down; Kai came last, immediately producing another ball of fire to light the way.
The tunnel had changed, Hiro realized as the fire revealed the details. Gone were the old walls and crumbling floorboards; now, a rounded tunnel of stone greeted them, the path made of the same materials as the walls. It looked as though someone had caved a tunnel before gluing giant stones to the walls; everything about the passage seemed unnatural, including the green light that bounced around, reflecting off the stones due to Kai's fire.
Hiro kept to the back of the group, looking over his shoulder every few minutes. Even though there was no clear way someone could come from behind them, Hiro couldn't shake the feeling that they were walking into a trap. The tunnel seemed to stretch on forever, but thankfully in only one direction. The situation would be worse if they had to choose which way to go.
"Everyone, stop!" Lloyd shouted, grabbing Kai's shoulder and pulling him back. Hiro stopped in his tracks, trying to see what Lloyd had. The Green Ninja kneeled, pointing at the floor. A tripwire stretched across the floor, nearly invisible. Had it not been for Lloyd's keen eye, Kai would have stepped on the wire—and who knows what traps Chen had planted down here. "Booby traps," he said.
Jay laughed, stepping back and nearly running into Hiro. "Booby traps. Even cooler!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands out. Hiro wasn't the only one who scowled at the Master of Lightning; Lloyd's and Cole's expressions matched his. Jay chuckled nervously. "Or, I mean, kinda cool." Seeing how unimpressed the team was, Jay crossed his arms and looked away. "I mean, they're totally not cool. You know, 'cause they're dangerous," he amended, sensing he was the only one finding this situation 'fun.'
Lloyd sighed, standing up. "From here on out, we have to watch our step," he told them.
The group carefully stepped over the tripwire. Hiro studied the walls once he was safely across, looking for anything dangerous. Though cracks spread through the stone, he couldn't see anything smaller, like holes for arrows to shoot out of or spikes to come through. His best guess was that the floor would drop from under them, sending anyone who had activated the trap down a deadly fall. Or maybe something worse awaited them. Chen seemed to love pulling levers that pulled the floor out from under people.
Kai, who had continued leading the charge, suddenly stopped, holding out his hand. "Do you hear that?" he whispered. Up ahead, muffled voices echoed down the tunnel, barely reaching Hiro's ears. He liked to think he had good senses, but could hardly hear what Kai was. It sounded like multiple voices were speaking at once, talking over each other. The closer they got, however, Hiro realized that the voices weren't talking—they were chanting.
Closer to the vocals, the tunnel grew smaller to make room for a caved serpent; the snake, made from the same rocks as the rest of the passage, provided an easy hiding spot for the Ninja and Hiro. Ahead of them, the tunnel stretched on into darkness, the end not in sight. But just past the serpent, another tunnel identical to the main one led into the main room, where the chanting could be heard. From the left, four of Chen's minions marched into the main tunnel, distinguishable only by the reptilian headpieces they wore. They passed quickly, toward the chanting. Once they were out of sight, another group of four men marched after them.
Hiro bit back a curse as he realized the Ninja's plan too late. Each of the Ninja grabbed one of the four minions and pulled them over the serpent rock, knocking them out quickly and quietly. He moved out of the way as the Ninja deposited the bodies—alive, of course—and watched them dress in the men's attire.
He crossed his arms when the four turned to him, seeming to remember that there were five in their group. "I'll hide," he decided.
"Where?" Kai asked, in the same demanding tone Hiro had used on him before. Hiro exhaled slowly before he answered, pushing away his annoyance and making a mental note to not use that tone anymore. Coming from Kai, it didn't sound as reasonable as when Hiro did it.
"Shadows," he said simply. He frowned at the blank faces that stared at him—the literal blank expressions, since the Ninja had various expressions of protest. "You'll never fit in like that. Chen's guys have tattoos."
The Ninja looked at the men they had knocked out, realizing that they, in fact, had purple tattoos covering their faces and bodies. Cole reluctantly held up his bowl of peas as an idea.
Some melted chocolate tattoos later, and the Ninja headed into the ceremony.
Without Kai's fire, the shadows clung to Hiro as he moved. The men were focused on the front of the room, chanting as they looked at a large, caved snake. Its mouth was open, fangs jutting out of the ground; at the top, however, one of the fangs was missing. Hiro crept along the wall, watching the Ninja join Chen's minions at the mouth of the serpent—thankfully, they stood at the back of the group, as Clouse stood in front of the mouth, surveying the scene.
Hiro stopped once he'd stopped the man, halfway between the real world and the darkness that tried to drag him away. Part of him was tempted to leave now; Clouse hadn't seen him, but if he did, Hiro had no doubt he would be pulled into whatever cult this was. He could use the shadows to return to his room and leave the Ninja to figure out what Chen and Clouse were up to. Then again, if he left, he wasn't sure the Ninja would understand what they were getting into.
Hiro decided to move back toward the entrance. It seemed like no other minions were coming to join and the opening was the only one he could see that led out of here. Something told him that the Ninja were going to have to make a quick escape, which meant Hiro would have to be on their tail.
Behind the serpent's mouth was a set of stairs that seemed to stretch into the darkness. Chen descended them, holding his staff. The crystal wedged between the jaws of his snack-headed scepter was swirling with blue and white ice, the power he had taken from Zane.
Hiro resisted the urge to facepalm. He'd completely forgotten to tell the Ninja what Chen had done to Zane when Pixal and the Master of Ice had arrived on the island. How could he have forgotten that Chen had stolen Zane's element with that staff? It had to be the most important piece of information he had!
Oh, he couldn't say anything now—unless Chen decided not to show off the power he had. If he kept it quiet, Hiro would tell the Ninja as soon as they returned to Kai's room. But there was nothing he could do now that the Ninja were in the thick of Chen's cult. Unless he wanted to out himself the team, of course, which wasn't an option. Hiro may want to work alone on this, but he couldn't jeopardize Zane's safety.
Chen pounded his staff on the ground. His minions dropped to their knees in a synchronized bow; Hiro glared at the Ninja as they took more than a few moments to get the hint. He may forget important information, but these four had to be the dumbest—
No. He had to focus on Chen, Clouse, and whatever this cult was planning. He could rip into the Ninja later.
"Bring out the loser!" Chen ordered, looking toward a side door that Hiro had noticed.
Two of Chen's minions carried a struggling Karlof into the room. The man had completely surrounded himself in Metal, but it didn't seem to even hinder the cultists. They hauled Karlof across the room with ease, the clanking of metal and stone echoing around the room. "Get hands off Karlof!" the Elementalist groaned, dragging his feet. "Karlof wish he never sign up for this!"
Hiro frowned, leaning forward as the men threw Karlof to the floor. The Master of Metal got to his knees, fists of steel pressed against the stone, and glared up at Chen. "What is chanting for?" he demanded as Chen's minions picked up their vocalizing again.
Chen grinned at Karlof, insanity dancing in his eyes. "They're saying only one can remain!" He raised his arms above his head. The chanting grew louder. Hiro shuddered as he thought about being here one day, kneeling before Chen as the man prepared to take his power. He didn't want to be the Master of Darkness—but if this was how he had to lose his Elemenet . . . some part of Hiro thought it might be better to just keep it. At least it was safe with him. Chen would use it for evil.
Then again, what else could Darkness be used for? The Overlord had been the Master of Darkness, if Garmadon's word was anything to go by. Now that power was Hiro's. His body was meant to be the Overlord's, too. If he was meant to house the Overlord . . . and the Overlord had been the Master of Darkness . . . then surely the Element was doomed. Surely the Master of Darkness was meant to be immoral.
Hiro shook his head. He could deal with this later, after they had defeated Chen and rescued Zane. There would be some way to get rid of his Element without handing it over to Chen while on his knees.
"Like I said," Chen began, turning the head of his staff down at Karlof, "use it or lose it."
A burst of ice shot out of the staff, directly into Karlof's chest. For a moment, Hiro feared the worst—that Chen would kill Karlof. He had no love for the Master of Metal, who had revealed his identity before he was ready, but if Karlof could be killed off so easily, that meant Zane wasn't safe either. In fact, if Chen killed Karlof right now, Hiro wasn't sure there was hope that Zane was even still alive.
Chen didn't kill Karlof, thankfully. Despite the Master of Metal's groans of pain, it was clear that Chen had only taken the man's Element. Hiro watched as the metal practically lifted off his skin, joining the ice in Chen's scepter. The grey blended with the blue and white to the point that Hiro was only sure of Chen's success because of Karlof's appearance.
"What happened to my Metal?" Karlof asked, distraught. Hiro winced, remembering what it had been like when his hands were bound with Vengestone. He had barely been able to breathe, and that was only a temporary prison. If Chen took away his powers, would Hiro be left with anything? Would that breathlessness become his new normal as he adjusted to a spirit without control over an Element? Garmadon had said his biokinesis and telekinesis were from the Overlord, but would Chen's staff care?
Very quickly, Hiro was beginning to realize his mistake in agreeing to this tournament. The odds were stacking up against him. Even with the Ninja, Hiro was unsure they were going to be able to stop Chen and his cult.
Chen's laugh pulled Hiro from his spiral. It sent a shudder through his body to hear the glee in the man's voice. "But now I will let you go," he told Karlof, giving him a condescending look.
"Really?" Karlof asked tiredly, his will broken by the loss of his powers. He had probably known his Metal for his entire life; to have it ripped away so suddenly—
"To the factory!" Chen exclaimed, motioning for his men to take Karlof away.
Karlof's cries of protest could be heard even when he was out of the room, growing fainter. At the same time, the cultists began to murmur; Hiro tore his eyes away from the door they'd taken Karlof through and saw that the minions were turning around, beginning to realize that the Ninja had infiltrated their meeting. Hiro stepped further back down the tunnel, realizing it was very much time to run.
Chen's expression dropped when he saw the commotion. The fury in his eyes was not familiar to Hiro, who had never seen the man without his crazed smile. "Intruders!" he cried out as the Ninja bolted for the tunnel. "Stop them! They must not escape!"
As the Ninja got closer, Hiro realized why they had been discovered; their tattoos had melted away, leaving their faces bare once more. He didn't have time to bite into them for it, because as soon as the team was in range, Lloyd was grabbing his hand and pulling him down the tunnel with the rest of the team. The blond nearly ripped Hiro's arm from its socket, the tug so distressing that Hiro could feel pain beginning to radiate from where Wu had stabbed him a month ago.
He held back a wounded noise, following the team down the tunnel. They turned, running past the tied-up men the Ninja had attacked, Chen's cultists hot on their heels.
A few feet ahead of Hiro and Lloyd, Cole tripped the wire Lloyd had warned them about. He tumbled over it, landing hard on his front. Hiro and Lloyd stumbled to a stop, turning to face the group of Chen's minions as the trap sprung—a thick wooden door fell, separating the team from the cult.
Hiro didn't let himself relax, for as soon as Kai let out a cheer of approval, the rest of the trap began to move. From the walls, metal axes dropped down, one of the the other. Their handles were made of bone, their blades so sharp they cut into the stone floor like it was made of butter. This time, he grabbed Lloyd's hand and pulled him out of the way, beginning to run again as the axes continued to fall. Kai and Jay pulled Cole up as the axes continued falling, each too close for Hiro's comfort.
They reached the drop from before. Lloyd pulled Hiro out of the way of the final axe, pressing against the wall to give Hiro more room to stand. Hiro held onto his hand, trying to catch his breath as the final axe fell, the clang! of broken stone hitting metal echoing through the tunnel. His side burned with pain, though whether that was from his lack of breath or the scar that remained from a month ago was a mystery.
"That was close," Cole sighed, hands on his knees as he fought to catch his breath.
Hiro scowled at him, pressing a hand against his side to dull the pain. From the misery he was in, he assumed his hand would come away wet with blood, but he was relieved to find that he wasn't bleeding at all. "You guys are idiots," he deadpanned, grimacing as he spoke.
"How were we supposed to know the chocolate would melt?" Jay complained, leaning against the wall. He stood too close to the pit's edge for Hiro's liking; Kai seemed to agree, pulling Jay back. "I didn't hear you offering a better plan!"
"A better plan? That wasn't a plan at all!" Hiro argued.
"Yeah, well, some of us can't hide in the shadows," Kai cut in, glowering at Hiro. Hiro glared back. "Were you even going to tell us about Chen taking powers, or was that part of your plan to give up yours?"
Hiro's blood ran cold. "I didn't—"
"Oh, you didn't know?" Kai asked in disbelief, taking a step forward. "You saw Zane when he got here, but you didn't know Chen had taken his powers? Or were you too selfish to tell us because you can't bear the thought of being a part of this team?"
"Knock it off," Lloyd stepped in, putting himself between Hiro and Kai. "He says he didn't know, so he didn't know. If we're going to rescue Zane and take down Chen, we need to trust each other!"
Hiro bit the inside of his cheek, exhaling harshly through his nose. He hated that Lloyd was defending him from Kai's accusation only because it was true—he had known that Chen had taken Zane's Element. The entire point of entering this tournament was for Chen to take him too. Sure, Hiro hadn't maliciously kept the information from the team; he had forgotten. Revealing his identity too soon had given him too much to process. But he'd still known, and he'd withheld it. For once, Kai was right about him—he was selfish.
"Uh, guys?" Jay spoke up, cutting through the tension like a hot knife. "Do you hear that?"
Hiro tilted his head. In the pit, a hissing could be heard, so low that he had mistaken it for the echo of water.
Slowly, the group looked over the edge. Below, two glowing purple eyes stared up at them, the forked tongue of a large serpent almost waving in greeting. Whatever nightmares Hiro still had about Pythor were gone in an instant; this snake was easily a hundred times the size of the last Anacondrai, with fangs as tall as Pythor's body. Hiro felt dizzy just looking at it—or maybe that was the pain in his side growing sharper, begging for his attention.
"Oh, my—" Cole breathed.
"That has got to be the second biggest snake I have ever seen!" Kai exclaimed.
The serpent lunged. The only reason they weren't eaten, Hiro would realize later, was because the snake had to move vertically.
Cole and Jay jumped onto the wall and began to climb up, back the way the group had originally come from. Hiro didn't need any encouragement from Lloyd to do the same, jumping from the ledge and grabbing the wall with ease. Clouse's training was paying off well—this was the second time Hiro had used moves the older man had taught him. He should have used it to get that first Jadeblade from the rafters, but he'd been so worried about Karlof getting there first that he had used the shadows.
The team climbed. Below, the serpent jumped higher, chasing after them and biting at the air. Hiro did not doubt that it could swallow one of them whole but would decide to chew them up just for fun.
Cole and Jay climbed higher than the tunnel they'd come down, where the trail of chocolate-covered shell peas remained. Hiro bit back a groan of protest as he followed them, wondering what the hell they were doing. They had a trail back! Going up even further, taking another route—they had no idea where they would end up!
Nowhere, as it turned out. The new pathway was barely two feet tall, forcing Hiro to crawl on his stomach; it ended abruptly, cutting off five feet ahead and forcing the team to huddle against the wall. Even worse, it didn't stop the snake, which looked at them with amusement as the boys screamed in terror. Hiro watched the snake snap it's jaws at them and realized bleakly that this was how he died—to Cole's and Jay's stupidity.
No. He refused to let them be the reason he failed.
Hiro was crammed between the four boys, every exposed inch of skin screaming at him to hide. He ignored it, reaching out. He grabbed Jay by the arm and stretched his hand until his fingers just barely touched Cole; then, he did the same with Lloyd and Kai. Only then did he call upon the shadows that followed him, closing his eyes tightly to picture the closest, safest place he could—Kai's room.
All at once, Hiro felt lightheaded. When he opened his eyes, he was staring at Kai's ceiling, but the colors swirled together. His entire body felt like it was made of lead; if that wasn't bad enough, he could still feel the pain of his injured side screaming at him. The shadows seemed to laugh—they had helped, but at the cost of Hiro's energy. If he used his powers again too soon, he would need to pull at his life force. To use his abilities, he would need to die.
"Are we—" Kai sat up, looking around in confusion.
"How are we here?" Cole asked, rubbing his head as he looked around.
Immediately, Lloyd turned to Hiro, eyes wide with worry. "You said you couldn't," he accused, but unlike Kai, he wasn't blaming Hiro for being selfish—he was reprimanding him for saving them all. Go figure.
"It was the only way," Hiro muttered. Though his body protested, Hiro pushed himself into a sitting position. The world spun; he was going to puke if he wasn't careful. "Everyone alright?"
"Barely," Jay said helpfully. Hiro rolled his eyes—ow—and stood up.
Bad idea. One moment, he was on his feet, trying to go to his room to regain any sort of energy he could through sleep. The next, he was sitting on Kai's bed on the other side of the room, looking into Lloyd's oh-so-concerned expression and feeling like his ears had just popped from sudden pressure.
"Careful," Cole said, sitting at Hiro's side. "You back with us, kid?"
"I stood up," Hiro said, blinking spots from his eyes. "What—?"
"You passed out," Lloyd said, holding Hiro's hands in his own. Hiro didn't pull away—even if he had the power, he didn't want to. This time, Lloyd's touch was warm instead of burning. Hiro welcomed the small amount of comfort it gave him. "You can't do that again, Hiro. No matter how much danger we're in. You're going to kill yourself."
Hiro waited for Kai to make a smartass comment about how Hiro would be more helpful to the team dead than alive. He wasn't surprised that Kai remained silent—after all, that would be going too far, even for the Master of Fire's hatred for Hiro.
Hiro shook his head, pulling his hands out of Lloyd's. He didn't miss the expression of hurt the blond gave him, but he decided to ignore it. "Forget it. We need to find Zane and figure out Chen's game."
"Shiro," Cole began gently, "maybe—"
Hiro closed his eyes, trying to fight back a wave of nausea. "Let me handle it," he forced out. "Move on. Don't push your luck."
Cole sighed, scooting away from Hiro. It remained silent for only a few seconds before Kai spoke up. For the first time, Hiro was thankful for the Master of Fire and his lack of care toward him. "We may not have found Zane, but we found something just as important. This tournament isn't about glory, it's about Chen stealing all of our Elemental Powers."
"But why?" Lloyd asked. He hadn't moved away from Hiro like Cole had, seeming ready to force himself past Hiro's clear boundary. "What's he planning?"
"I don't know," Kai admitted. He looked in Hiro's direction; Hiro forced himself to shrug despite the wave of exhaustion that rolled over him. He didn't know what Chen was planning, really, but if he had to guess, he supposed it involved wanting to be the most powerful being in Ninjago. "If we're gonna find out and find Zane, we have to play by his rules. Agreed?"
"Agreed," the other three echoed.
"Hiro," Lloyd gently proded once the others realized Hiro hadn't answered.
Hiro sighed heavily. He wished he hadn't brought them to his room; at least then, once they'd left, he wouldn't have to move from his bed and could just fall asleep there. At this point, he'd take Cole's supposed bed of rocks. Every part of him was tempted to pass out in Kai's bed—and maybe he would have if it wasn't, well, Kai's bed. He was pretty sure the Master of Fire would burn him alive.
"Yeah," he muttered, mustering the strength to look up. Lloyd's expression twisted; he reached for Hiro again, then thought better of it and kept his hands to himself. Hiro wondered just how bad he looked for Lloyd's concern to go from worried to horrified.
Cole stood up, stretching and yawning. "Good thing we weren't spotted," he commented. "That was close."
"Too close," Jay agreed. "That thing nearly bit my leg off!" He half-turned, showing the group his leg, where a piece of his disguise had been torn off by the snake's teeth. "I need a break after that. Hopefully, Chen lets us sleep in!"
Cole and Jay bid their goodbyes to the group and left from the balcony. Lloyd remained kneeling in front of Hiro, looking up at him with a doe-eyed look that Hiro hated—it made Lloyd look cute. Hiro already had a hard enough time saying no to him. How was he meant to push Lloyd away when he was cute?
"Go," Hiro muttered. "If you don't see me at breakfast, I'm fine. I'm either training with Clouse or regaining my strength."
"You could have seriously hurt yourself, Hiro," Lloyd murmured. "I can't— I lost you once, but I knew it wasn't permanent. No matter what anyone else believed, I knew I would find you. I can't lose you again, not to this. Not to death."
Hiro clenched his jaw. Kai, who had gone to see Jay and Cole off, stopped at the partition that divided the balcony and bathroom from the rest of the room. "Get some sleep, Lloyd. Please. We can talk about this later."
"Promise?" Lloyd asked, holding out his pinky.
Hiro frowned. The last promise he had made Lloyd, he'd broken. They were supposed to take a week-long break from the heroics; they were meant to eat junk food, read comic books, and be kids. But then Zane had died, Hiro had disappeared, and Lloyd—
Lloyd shouldn't believe Hiro could keep a promise. But here he was, still trusting Hiro with every part of himself.
Hiro sighed, interlocking his pinky with Lloyd's. "Promise," he said wearily.
Lloyd smiled at him, soft and genuine. He stood, letting Hiro's hand drop, and turned. For a moment, Lloyd and Kai stared at each other. Hiro worried Lloyd was going to order the Master of Fire to take care of him since Hiro could barely move on his own, but finally, Lloyd headed for the balcony without a word. Only when Hiro heard the doors close behind the Green Ninja did he let himself feel everything.
The room was still spinning, but less so than a few minutes ago—still nauseous; at the sight of his healed stab wound, pain radiated from the scar toward the front of his stomach, but he wasn't bleeding—manageable when he pressed his hand against the old wound, dulling the pain; his limbs felt like they were weighed down by Karlof's metal hands—every step would hurt, but he could do it; he was hungry, strangely—he would blame it on Cole and those stupid chocolate-pea-candies, which shouldn't have been made in the first place.
"You're hurt," Kai noted, glancing between Hiro and the balcony; he was probably wondering how to get Lloyd back to deal with Hiro. They both knew Kai wouldn't be the one to do it. "Did you get bit? Or is it a scrape?" he asked dryly. Hiro scowled at him as he attempted to stand, only to have to sit down again. head fuzzy. Black spots danced in front of his eyes, but he supposed it was better than passing out again.
"I'm fine," Hiro muttered, dropping his hand from his side. "It's the stitches. They're irritating, that's all."
Kai was quiet. Hiro glanced at him, brows furrowed, and found the Master of Fire staring at him with a deadpan look. "You still have the stitches in?" he asked, tone sharp.
Hiro frowned. "No, Kai, I'm not an idiot. Clouse took them out, the scar is just annoying," he sighed, sarcasm biting his tone.
Kai pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a suffering sigh. "Did he take them out correctly? You know you can still get an infection, right?" he explained dryly. Hiro rolled his eyes, though worried at the thought of further injury. He couldn't be useful if he were suffering from an infection weeks in the making. Clouse had told Hiro he would be fine, but he should have known by now not to trust what the older man was saying.
"I'll figure it out then," Hiro sighed, forcing himself to his feet. "Don't mention this to Lloyd."
"Yeah, because the last time someone hid important information about you, that went over so well," Kai muttered. "Just—"
"I can take care of myself," Hiro dismissed, walking toward the door. One foot in front of the other. After a few seconds, his head began to clear and movement became easier. But he didn't get very far before Kai grabbed his arm, keeping him in place. Hiro turned and glared. "What are you doing?"
Kai was entirely too tense for Hiro's liking. Jaw clenched, shoulders taunt, not meeting Hiro's eyes like his life depended on making this even weirder. His hand was warm around Hiro's arm, almost unbearably so—if Hiro didn't know any better, he would assume Kai was trying to burn him. But Kai was the Master of Fire; he ran hotter than normal people. No, he wouldn't be trying to burn Hiro right now—but he looked ready to punch him.
"Look," Kai said, letting go of Hiro as a show of peace. "About what I said—"
"Don't," Hiro cut in, holding up a hand to stop him. Even without the use of his powers, Kai went silent, mildly offended that Hiro had had the nerve to interrupt him. "We're good, okay? We find Zane, get out of here, and I'll forget it."
"But that's not fair," Kai muttered. "You disappeared. If I hadn't—"
"You did. It's done," Hiro insisted, turning away. "I got my anger out through training. Now, I'm focused on Zane. Whatever you're feeling, stop it. Nothing is more important than rescuing Zane." He pulled the door open, then paused and looked over his shoulder. "I don't want an apology, Kai. I don't care."
He was nice enough not to slam the door behind him as he walked out.