Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 93: A Happy Ending

Most of the Moon Tribe warriors had already turned to flee the building. All the ninja and the now-freed miners alike were cheering in victory when a loud banging sounded from the great doors of the warehouse. Suddenly they burst open, and a flood of humans in crisp blue uniforms flooded in. Red and blue lights from the cars outside lit up the interior of the building.

"This is the police!" a familiar voice shouted from a loudspeaker. "Surrender, and come out with your hands in the air!"

"Like you just don't care!" a different voice added.

"Shut up, Tommy."

Lloyd's jaw fell slack as he stared at the newcomers. "C— Commissioner? How—?!"

The surviving nekomata bristled and growled warningly when the police officers rushed in—but the fight had gone out of them. Several hissed and pounced on the humans, but they were soon brought down by tasers, which had their fur bristling all over from the shock and their large bodies crumpling heavily upon the ground.

The policemen and women ran around quickly to clamp muzzles onto the incapacitated cats. Thick leashes were attached, and the nekomata were led or hauled into the large police vans. Some of the Moon Tribe cats attempted to shift into the bakeneko bodies and escape, but they too were caught—albeit not without some stumbling and bumbling on the cops' part. The small cats were grabbed by the scruff of their necks and shoved unkindly into metal cages. Most of the officers taking care of this business wore thick leather gloves and masks for protection.

Meanwhile the rest of the police force—led by the bushy-mustached Commissioner—took care of securing the perimeter and searching for wounded miners. As his men spread out and filed into the warehouse, he approached the ninja.

Lloyd finally found his voice. "How'b did you know we needed help? How'b—?"

"Misako gave us a call," the Commissioner responded matter-of-factly. He gestured back to the open doors. There, walking in briskly from the dark night, came in Wu, Misako, and Mr. Brookstone. Cole's father gaped in astonishment at the sight within the warehouse, whereas his companions reacted to the scene a little more calmly. Misako met Lloyd's look with a smile as he approached her.

"Mom! How—? Ah-CHIEE!" He sniffed, "How'b you know we—?"

"We moved closer to the village to keep an eye on things. Some of the miners came running from the hills, and they gathered up people to come with them," she explained simply. "It didn't take much for us to put two and two together, and we decided, that with these werecats being isolated from the rest of their tribe and not knowing we were there—"

"That the police department would not be able to bungle this up too badly," Wu finished.

"Hey!" the Commissioner protested. "I heard that!"

Another squeaky sneeze burst from Lloyd. "Ah-CHIEE!" He rubbed his watering eyes.

"Are you all right?" Ironically, Misako looked past his battle wounds across his arms and armor and gave his red face an expression of concern.

"Yup, ju'b aller'dies."

"Where's Cole?" Mr. Brookstone broke in anxiously. He swept his gaze up and down the dark interior and metal contraptions rising above their heads. "And—?"

"B'ittle 'Eaf!" Lloyd finished happily when a feminine figure stumbled out of the gloom. Her ginger ponytail was in disarray, and she suffered several scratches and bruises up and down her torso and limbs.

Little Leaf blinked warily in the face of the glaring red and blue lights from the police cars. "Wha— what's going on?"

"We won!" Jay approached the group. Nya was with him and had one arm around his shoulders as he supported her; she appeared to be limping, but the wound didn't stop the broad smile on her face.