《Brother of Wind {book 6: Skybound}》chapter 4
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"What are we doing all the way out in Jamanocai Village? The genie was never out here." Kai said, following Nya, who had disguised herself with a wig and glasses.
"You mean Djinn." Nya corrected.
"And since our Dragons attract too much attention, we'll need a more discrete mode of transportation. Ninjago's a big place." Nya said, leading Kai to a bike stand.
"Bicycle Chalet? Ugh. I know they confiscated all our vehicles, but I was hoping for something with a few more gears." Kai sighed
"They didn't take all of our vehicles." Nya pushed her hand on a wall, revealing a hidden compartment with high tech bikes she built.
"I always keep a spare for times like these." She shrugged.
"Haha! I love my little sister." Kai exclaimed. Nya looked on her bracelet, glowing red
"It's Zane's SOS beacon. There's trouble." Nya informed.
"What are we waiting for? Lead the way." Kai said. The two jumping on their bikes.
. . .
"Hmm. The Realm Crystal. It is here." Nadakhan said, approaching the safe house for dangerous relics and such built by Borg. Nadakhan tripped an alarm and white coloured Nindroids came running out.
"Intruder, freeze. You are surrounded." A Nindroid pointed it's blaster at the Djin.
"Hmm. Strange metal men. Uh, you do have me surrounded. But I am a captain. And captains don't take orders from anyone." Nadakhan raised all four of his hands, daggers summoning in each of them.
"He has a weapon. Fire!" The Nindroids shouted, firing away. Nadakhan defeated them all, using his power to teleport and deflecting the blasts of his daggers.
"The future." Nadakhan scoffed. He teleported inside, setting off another alarm. More Nindroids came.
"Intruder, freeze." A Nindroid halted. Nadakhan zipped through the blockade, teleporting into an elevator.
"Well, that was easy."
The elevator started to flood.
"Now it's starting to get interesting." Nadakhan said. He teleported on top of the elevator and saw a room with the Realm Crystal in it.
"Ah. The Realm Crystal." He entered the room.
"It is mine." He tried to grab it, but the image faded, turning out to be a hologram.
"Huh? What? Where is the real one!?" He shouted, breaking the central pedestal.
"Repair in Sector 5. Repair in Sector 5." The image or Borg's face appeared above it.
"You again. Well, maybe you can help me." Nadakhan said.
. . .
Kai and Nya seem to have driven out to a canyon.
"Zane should be just up ahead. But what are they doing out here? I thought they were at the library." Nya said, as the two entered the Corridor of Elders.
"There he is." Kai pointed to the image of Zane.
"But where's Lloyd?" He asked.
"That's not Zane." Nya said.
"It's Ronin!" Kai shouted, as Zane's image flickered away, turning into the one after them.
"Go around him!" Nya exclaimed.
"Go get them, Rex!" Ronin commanded his airship.
"We need to split up." Kai said to Nya as they turned left.
"We can't. He bottled us up in here for a reason. We have to outrun him." Nya nodded.
"Well, let's see if he can keep up with this." Kai pressed a button on his bike that shot missiles, breaking off a large piece of the canyon to drop it down. Ronin, following in his ship, was able to narrowly avoid it.
"Nice move. Right back at you." Ronin pointed forwards, doing the same thing. He fired at the cliffs, Nya and Kai just used enough speed to dodge.
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"Whoa, whoa, whoa! That's just rude!" Ronin exclaimed.
"This way. He won't be able to follow us!" Kai turned right, into a narrow passage way, fit only for a bike.
"We can't shake him!" Nya said, glancing at Ronin who flew above.
"Never liked taking the high road." Ronin jumped down the side of a cliff.
"I can't believe this guy." Nya said.
"Nya, look out!" Kai shouted. A large blockade was in their way. They had come to a dead end.
"Off the bikes and hands up. And don't try any of that Elemental stuff, or else Rex won't play nice." Ronin said, coming out with a blaster. The siblings slowly got off their vehicles.
"We were framed." Kai said.
"And then--"
"Save it. Already heard it." Ronin said, cuffing the two.
"All right, Rex, show's over." Ronin said, the ship in the air rested down, revealing the dead end as just a hologram. An illusion.
"You tricked us." Nya growled.
"Four down, three to go." Ronin said.
. . .
"The Realm Crystal has been compromised. Hurry. Send all sentries to protect it." Holo-Borg's message was sent all throughout the vault.
"Affirmative, Borg. Protect the Realm Crystal." The Nindroid General nodded. A team of Nindroids entered the room, to find the crystal untouched.
"The Realm Crystal. But Borg said it was compromised." The General said in confusion.
"It is now." Holo-Borg, who was only Nadakhan in disguise said, reaching the crystal. In one swift apparition, Nadakhan was out.
"Brainless tin cans."
. . .
Night arrive and Cole along with Jay made it to the amusement park where Zane was said to be seen.
"Looks like Mega Monster Amusement Park shut down after it became a crime scene." Cole said, taking note of everything being shut down and closed off.
"Come on. Let's go check out the roller coaster. That's where Zane was framed." Cole said, Jay following him.
"Ah, this place gives me so many fond memories." Jay gasped.
"It's here I found my True Potential." Jay pointed to the rollercoaster tracks in the air.
"Oh, and over there is where Nya and I went on our first date." He pointed at the restaurant.
"I bet one day she and I will laugh about all this." Jay chuckled.
Cole looked at Jay like he was delusional.
"Uh, I mean, why would she laugh at that? She hates me. It's not like I'd expect anything to suddenly change between her and I." Jay coughed.
"Where is that roller coaster?" He changed topic.
"The only thing this place gives me is the creeps. Let's not stick around any longer than we need to." Cole said, jogging around a corner.
"There it is. Just what kind of clues are we looking for? It's not like there are any witnesses around to tell us what they saw." Cole said, approaching the launch pad.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Jay went over to the booth where you'd pick up photos taken of the ride. Using his powers, he shocked the monitors awake.
"Haha, it's practically a visual timeline of the events that day. Jay, you're a genius!" Cole silently shouted.
"Like I said, it's where I found my True Potential." Jay shrugged.
"There. That's our guy." Cole said. He pointed to a picture of Zane.
"These pictures were taken seconds after each other." Jay said, switching the pictures. In one was a Djin. In the other, Zane.
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"That means that guy is Zane." Cole pointed. Jay gasped.
"You mean--"
"The Djinn can shape-shift. He could be anybody!" Cole threw his hands up. Jay's mouth hung open. He just had to be sure. So, Jay stuck his hand through Cole.
"Seriously?" Cole said, slouching over and dropping his hands.
The music and lights of the amusement park activated, startling the two.
"What did you do now?" Cole asked.
"I didn't touch anything." Jay raised his hands.
"Guess we can add trespassing to your charges. Don't bother calling your friends, I already caught them." Ronin's shadow started to come up behind the corner. Cole disappeared.
"Really? You're disappearing? You're leaving me alone?" Jay whisper-shouted.
"If he already has the others, we both can't get caught. I'm sorry, but you're on your own. Good luck." Cole said, his voice getting quieter, meaning he was further away.
"A ninja never leaves a ninja behind. Some friend you are." Jay was tripped by an electric rope.
"And you." Jay turned to Ronin.
"Ha! You think you can electrify the Master of Lightning?" He asked.
Ronin had a charged blaster out.
"Yeah. But are you the Master of Kablooey?" Ronin asked. Jay jumped onto a set of rollercoaster cars, Ronin following.
"It wasn't us, Ronin. We just saw that a Djinn can look like any one of us. That's how he did it. That's how he framed us!" Jay exclaimed, climbing to the front as they sped on the tracks.
"Tell it to the judge." Ronin said. He shot at net at Jay, but the carts went down, so did the boy in blue.
"If you take us all out, who's gonna protect Ninjago?" Jay asked.
"Not my problem." Ronin said. Jay jumped onto another set of trains. Ronin jumped off and turned the attraction off.
"Oh! Not good. Aah!" Jay screamed, as he was just under a loop. He fell into a bag.
"Five down, two to go. Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Ronin ran around the grounds.
"Funnel cake." He spotted a plate. He followed the crumbs to a prize stand.
"I know you're in here. The funnel cake did you in. You always were a nervous eater." Ronin said.
"Maybe. But how do you catch what you can't see? Oh. Where am I? Am I over here?" Cole teased, running around the small shop grounds. Ronin activated the lens over his eye, making it glow.
"Oh, or am I over here? Maybe I'm over here? Haha. I'm not just like a ghost. I am a ghost." Cole continued.
"I got thermal vision, Cole." Ronin aimed.
"You do? Aah!" Cole shouted, being caught in a Deepstone net.
"Look at that. I'm a winner." Ronin said, looming over Cole.
"One left." He said.
"...? Oh, let me guess. It's Morro." Cole said, dryly. Ronin shrugged.
"Ugh. I hate him sometimes." Cole sighed.
"WHAT?? WHAT DID YOU SAY?? I CAN BARELY HEAR ANYTHING HERE!" Jay shouted from in the bag.
"You wanna cover his mouth?" Cole asked.
. . .
Now very late, or maybe very early, the sky was completely dark. Morro sat on the side walk in the middle of the city. He was by the museum, a thumb on his mouth, looking deep in thought.
"Never thought you'd be out in the open here." Ronin said, standing a little distance from Morro. The Wind Ninja turned to see him.
"So, you were hired." Morro said. Ronin quickly tilted his head. Morro stood up, staring at the stars in the sky.
"The Archer was his key constellation." Morro said.
"Up North, a bit West..." Morro trailed off.
"It has a great myth behind it, too."
Ronin took his chance to throw a weighted rope at Morro. The Wind Ninja jumped up and landed on the roof of the museum thanks to his wind, avoiding the attempted capture.
"You gotta be a bit quicker than that." Morro said, turning around and disappeared from sight if you stood on the ground. Morro used Airjitzu to jump off the roof of the museum and make it to the other roofs, to run.
"Tch!" Ronin gritted his teeth, running after Morro from ground level.
"You can't keep running, Morro." Ronin said, from the ground.
"From a literal point, I can." Morro said, silently landing from a jump. Ronin made his way up to chase Morro.
"I run away from everything else, why not the police and the guy they desperately hired." Morro said.
"You gotta come in!" Ronin said, running after the evasive Wind Ninja.
"For a crime I didn't commit?" Morro asked.
"I'm looking for evidence, Ronin. The more I find, the easier it can be for me to get this cleared up." Morro said, jumping in the air, turning back and slashing wind at Ronin. The thief narrowly avoided the attack.
"Yeah, well don't you wanna pay for Stiix?" Ronin asked. Morro stopped at the edge of a tall building. Ronin smirked. That got to him. Ronin caught up to the boy.
"And what he did." Ronin flipped his finger by the green cloth tied around Morro's arm. Morro grabbed Ronin's wrist in a quick moment.
"What." Morro said, his tone dropping.
"You said it's his fault?" He slowly turned to Ronin.
"He never got to learn how the world works!" Morro shouted, a wave of wind flying over Ronin. Morro let go of his wrist.
"All he was doing was looking for answers for me, and you blame him?!" Morro turned towards Ronin who stood just beside him. Another wave of wind passed by, this time more forcefully.
"If anything, it's my fault! I asked for it! I sent him on that quest, and that eventually lead to the destruction of Stiix!" Morro shouted, placing his hand on his chest.
"What ever you do, never blame him for Stiix." Morro said assertively.
"You always blame me." He held his arm forwards.
"Arrest me." Morro said. Ronin raised suspicion. He looked at Morro up and down, seeing his determined expression.
"Just like that?" He asked.
"I once told Lloyd I feel like I should go to jail. I guess, now's a good reason." Morro said.
"But, you're innocent?" Ronin asked.
"So you agree."
"Ah, who cares. You're only in for the money." The Wind Ninja sighed.
"But there are other things. This isn't one of them, but in the past, the Great Devourer, both Overlord attacks..." Morro listed.
"I let people die." He silently said.
"Plus, the Commissioner is right. I am dangerous. I could destroy entire buildings if I'm not careful." Morro said.
"But what you saw on screen wasn't me. But I just figured out, I have enough evidence to make a case." The boy confirmed.
"You do?" Ronin asked. Morro nodded.
"Then." Ronin placed a Vengestone cuff on Morro.
"I hope get out of this mess. But I still gotta bring you in." Ronin said.
"You just need a strong case against the court." Ronin said. Morro willingly walked beside Ronin.
"Oh, I have one." Morro said.
The Ninja turned to the path in front of him.
"Never blame him again."
"I won't. Sorry."
"I wish I could say that too."
. . .
The next day, Ronin happily had a bag of money in his hands as cameras flashes.
"The search is over. We have the ninja. Ninjago is safe once again. Now, let this be a lesson to everyone. No matter who you are or how famous you become, justice will find you. We have a place for criminals. It's called Kryptarium." The Commissioner said.
"There's no trial? Not at all?" Morro stood up, from his seat on the transport.
"That's unfair! The least you can do is get a confession and we never gave you one!" Morro exclaimed.
"Straight behind bars." The Commissioner said.
"I have enough evidence to prove us innocent in court, yet you won't give us a trial?" Morro shouted.
"Morro, calm down. There's nothing you can do." Cole said.
"No, there is something I can do, and that's make a case. They're unjustly putting us behind bars!" Morro shouted. Through a shocking mechanism in the cuffs, Morro was stunned, making him go unconscious and falling down in his seat, Zane as the closest, made sure he was not injured. Not that much tine passed before Lloyd did as well, Cole catching him.
"Ugh. Great to know the link still works." Kai sighed.
"There's a shocking mechanism in these?!" Nya shouted, lifting her hands, as the transport drove away.
"One crew down. And now to get mine back." Nadakhan said, watching the Ninja be driven away. The Realm Crystal shinned in the sunlight.
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