Season 11.5

Episode 5

Zane moaned, rotating his head around to wake himself up. He blinked his eyes for a few minutes, trying to adjust to the dark room. Eventually, he fully woke up, and water greeted him, dripping right next to him and forming a puddle. Zane pushed himself against the wall, and sat up.

Where am I? Zane thought. He looked at his environment. Steel bars were in front of him, and the place he sat on had dark brown bricks. He sighed.

Right! I remember we were going in for the scientist, but we got captured. He looked in front of him, and saw Kai unconscious.

"Zane?" Zane looked to his left, and found Lloyd.

"You're awake huh? You're the first one to wake up other than me." He said.

"How long have we been here?" Zane asked. Lloyd shrugged.

"Who knows. I just know that it's getting dark outside." Lloyd responded, looking ahead. Zane followed hi gaze to a small set of bars which overlooked the the horizon.

So around a day, huh? Zane heard a grumble, and saw Kai waking up.

"Where are we?" Kai said, dazed. He squinted at Zane, then looked over at the other cells. Jay, Cole, and Nya remained sleeping.

Kai raised his fists up, then slumped against the wall. "I can't use my fire against these chains. They're probably vengestone." Kai said. He groaned. "It's been a while since I felt like this." He stated.

"You get used to it." Lloyd replied. Zane gave him a questioned look, then turned his head away, hiding his saddened gaze.

Shaking away his thoughts, Zane tried summoning ice. To a certain extent, he could feel some control over his ice, but it zapped away at his energy much faster. Zane continued his efforts, but his concentration was broken when a loud banging noise entered. The other three woke up.

"Where are we?" Nya said, still waking up.

"In the dungeons, underneath our base." A man strolled in with two guards accompanied him. He wore a a large black hat, and had a dark black coat on. He wore a monocle on one of his eyes, and was dressed like a gentlemen. He carried a briefcase at the side.

"I see you all are awake." He said.

"Who are you?" Jay asked. The man smiled.

"Call me Adelman. And I'm your jailer for your time here." He said, waving a golden key in his finger.

"Let us go!" Cole said. Adelman laughed.

"Yes, and let our most prized fighters away. Hate to break it to you, but today isn't your day." He said.

"Fighters?" Lloyd said. Adelman unlocked his case, and brought out a green liquid in a syringe.

"Fighters. If I were the boss, you would have already been dead. But the boss demands that you live. Something about 'the good of Ninjago', or how we owe you guys so much. I'd have wondered if he was getting soft, but he makes a good point. But that's not why I'm here." He said.

"Then why are you here?" Kai asked.

"Remember that scientist you were chasing? It was all a scam." Adelman said.

"Scam?" Nya said. Adelman nodded.

"Just a bit of a trap. We paid that Dale guy some good money for it, but it'll backfire on him when we release you guys."

"I don't get it." Lloyd said. "Why would you go through such complicated means just to capture us?" He asked. Adelman shrugged.

"At first, the plan was to finish you off. But the night you guys invaded, the boss changed his mind. He said he found something which had interested him, so we decided to capture you guys instead." Adelman finished. He took a bird out of his briefcase, and held it in his other hand.

"But here's the game plan." He waved the syringe in the air. "Right above you all is a bucket. And in that bucket is the same stuff in this syringe." Adelman said.

"If you don't participate in what we have planned for you, you'll end up like this chicken." Adelman placed the syringe in the chicken, and squeezed the trigger. The chicken's eyes glowed green, then it exploded. Adelman coughed, brushing the feathers off his suit.

"Wait. That stuff's above me?" Kai looked straight up, and saw a green haze bubbling above him.

"As for the one who is really hard to tranq with a dart." Adelman looked at Zane. "You'll be crushed if you don't cooperate. The tiles above you will cave in, and finish you off.

"But anyways." Adelman waved his hand around, then pointed his finger at Nya. "Take  her." Adelman said to the guards. The guards opened Nya's prison, and dragged her out.

"Nya! Where are you taking her?" Jay shouted.

"To fight. Relax, she'll be fine. And like I said earlier, after all of you go through those trials, you'll be released. As long as the boss is satisfied, that is." Adelman said. He turned and left the room, closing the door and leaving the ninja in the dark. Lloyd's and Zane's eyes illuminated the dark.

"I hope she's okay." Kai said, concerned for his sister.

"I'm sure she's fine." Lloyd reassured him. Cole shivered. "It's cold in here." Cole said.

Kai shivered, and Lloyd did the same. Jay put on his hoodie, and hugged himself, while Cole pulled out a blanket. The ninja stared at him.

"What? I passed the base while trailing a truck, and since it was cold outside, I got myself a blanket." He said.

Jay laughed, and the whole room was encased in laughter when the door opened up. The guards threw Nya onto the floor, then dragged Kai out.

"Nya!" Kai said, running up to his cell and banging the bars. The guards took notice of this, and unlocked his doors. One grabbed his chains, and the other unlocked the chains from the wall. They started dragging him out the door.

"Let me go!" He said, but the guards gagged him. Kai wrestled and tossed, and the guards called for backup. Two more entered, and grabbed him on each side. The door swung shut.

"Nya?" Jay said, peeking at her cell. The ninja all looked at her. She had remained quiet the entire time, and seemed unharmed.

"That, was weird." She said.

"What happened?" Zane asked. She looked at him. "I was taken to their leader, and he just walked up to me and gave me a knife. He then had his guards fight me, and I beat them all. It was so weird." Nya said. "Afterwards, a bunch of knives hit me and tossed me against a wall. A guard rushed in to finish me off, but the leader just stopped him before he could finish the job."

"That is weird." Lloyd commented. The guards brought Kai in, and tossed him into his cell. They then grabbed Jay, who just shouted curses the entire way.

"I just had my opponent offer me a knife, then order me to attack his allies. Did the same happen for you?" Kai said. Nya nodded, then stared at Cole, who snored softly in his blanket.

Nya rolled her eyes. "I'm not even going to wonder."

Zane smiled, then yawned. He might as well get some sleep before he gets dragged out. With that thought in mind, he fell asleep.