Onyx and Rebooted

The Curse of the Golden Master

Onyx looked around the streets of Ninjago as the ninja warily walked down one. "What happened?" Kai asked, looking around at the dented and destroyed cars and robots piled up in the streets. "No power, that's what happened," Cole said, shoving a fallen traffic light aside. "Are we too late?" Zane asked softly, brow furrowing. "We can't be. I would've felt-?" Onyx trailed off as her foot came down on a thin metal tripwire, so narrow that she hadn't been able to see it.

As her weight came down on it, a glass bottle was yanked out of a huge pile of debris in front of the ninja, sending several cars toppling down its sides. They all leapt back in alarm as people swarmed over the top, wearing torn clothing and holding scavenged metal bars. "Outsiders must answer to the Postman!" A bearded man shouted. Said Postman stepped to the top of the pile. "Return... to... sender!" He shouted.

Before anyone could make a move, Borg suddenly wheeled himself to the top of the pile. "Ah, you finally made it. Don't mind the savages. Since the power went out, everyone here has grown a bit bored. Their imagination knows no bounds," he said. Then his eyes fell on Pixal. "P.I.X.A.L., amazing! You're powered!" He exclaimed. The Postman groaned. "You need to stay in character, Borg. This is no fun if we're not all committed," he said. Borg rolled his eyes. "Oh, I'll have you committed if you don't all leave us at once. Now shoo!" he said. The citizens obliged, but not without mutinous mumbling. Onyx almost laughed at their tenacity.

"We have real problems to address. P.I.X.A.L., what's powering you?" Borg asked, making his way to the street in front of the ninja. "Zane gave me half of his heart," she answered, giving a slight smile. Borg nodded to Zane. "Thank you, Zane. I am greatly indebted. Unfortunately, the hard drive was stolen with the digital imprint of the Overlord. You'll be unable to erase him with your Techno Blades until we find it," he said. Onyx sighed. She'd known it wasn't going to be easy. It never was.

Jay waved a hand. "Aw, don't worry, we already had a little run-in with the red-handed suspect. Or should I say white-handed? He left behind a white scale. Get this, he's Serpentine," he said. Cole grinned, stepping over to a manhole cover. "Lucky for us, the last Serpentine were sealed within a tomb right under the city, so it's about time we pay them a little visit," he said, reaching over and easily lifting it.

"Approach with caution. I've also lost a few valuable prototypes. He may be armed and extremely dangerous," Borg warned as the ninja prepared to lower themselves belowground. Jay nodded. "We know, and uh, ahem, just for the record, when those prototypes are made available to the public, could you let me know? They're just the coolest gadgets," he said, eyes sparkling. Borg smiled, but the expression quickly turned to one of confusion when he noticed Pixal stepping into the hole.

"P.I.X.A.L., where are you going? Now that my assistant has an unlimited power supply, there's an infinite amount of good to be done," Borg said. Pixal glanced at Zane, who only hesitated for a moment before nodding. "As you wish, Mr. Borg," she said. Zane gave a small wave as they began to leave. Pixal returned it, the awkward smile returning.

Now that they were gone, Onyx took the chance to begin climbing down the ladder, Nya going in next. "Watch your step, Nya. We don't know the last time this ladder was used," Cole said. "That's thoughtful of you, Cole," Nya said, a bit awkwardly. "Hey! How about you watch where you're watching, Cole? Huh?" Jay snapped.

"Ow!" Onyx gave a cry of pain as someone's foot suddenly struck her in the head. "What's-oh!" She abandoned her indignant response when she realized that a few rungs of the ladder had snapped beneath Nya's feet. "Uh, guys, a little help?" She asked. Jay and Cole were too busy arguing to notice her predicament. "Hang on, I've got you," Onyx said, wrapping her legs around the ladder and allowing Nya to use her hands as a step to reach the next solid rung. "Thanks, Onyx. You're a better knight in shining armor than these two," she said, rolling her eyes at Jay and Cole as the two reached the ground. Onyx grinned at the frustrated expressions on the faces of the arguing boys.