Ninjago - Heart of Stone

Chapter Four: Rescue

Wu didn't make it out the door of the shop before he felt a spidery hand gripping his wrist. He turned to glare at Mystake, jerking his hand free. "Haven't you done enough?" He asked irritably. She merely smiled infuriatingly, tilting her head to one side.

"I want to tell you something," she said, "I think you will like it."

"Tell me what?" Wu asked. "Is is about why you insisted on aging the twins? Because I--"

"No, no, silly boy," Mystake chuckled, patting him on the hand pityingly, "it is about your friend... your Misako."

"Misako?" Wu's eyes widened, his face draining of all colour. "What about her? She's alive? Where is she?" He gripped the front of Mystake's shirt, pushing her back. "Tell me!"

"I will," Mystake said, shoving Wu backwards with one finger, "but first, you must know that she is not in good hands. She has been captured by the serpentine... and they are using her to control your brother."

"No," Wu gasped, "no, she... what if they kill her?"

"They will not," Mystake assured him, "they want her, they need her alive to keep Garmadon from crushing them all like ants under a boot." She smirked. "But she does not like this, I think we know. She would like to be saved, Wu."

"Where are the serpentine?" Wu demanded, already on his way out. "Mystake, where are they?"

"Endless Desert," she replied, "close to Ninjago City, south for twenty minutes. Large camp. Skales leads."

"Wu?" Wu and Mystake both looked to see Lexi and Nya standing there, watching them. "You coming?"

Assuming they hadn't heard the conversation, Wu nodded. "Yes," he said, hurrying towards them, "let's go."

As he passed by Lexi, he felt a strange feeling wash over him, like he was sinking into a past life. He looked over her golden hair and sparkling eyes and small stature, realizing with a pang of sorrow, that she looked almost identical to her mother. The only difference was her eyes-- Misako's were brown, like dying autumn leaves. Lexi's were green, like her fathers, but still, they were so cold. She looked like her mothers. Misako, her body, and Catherine, her false but real mother, who'd raised her and cared for her and shaped her as a person, her spirit.

"What do we do now?" Lexi asked him suddenly, breaking Wu out of his thoughts. He glanced back up at the shop, which was becoming smaller and smaller as they descended the mountain to where the Bounty waited in the bay (though it was grounded, the ship could still sail). This, he recollected, might be a difficult bombshell to drop, especially given the current situation.

"Why don't we get inside the Bounty, and I'll explain," he said. Lexi narrowed her eyes.

"Wu, what's going on?"

He sighed, carding a hand through his hair and chewing his lip. "Alright," he said at length, "Lexi, I hope you'll be eager to meet your mother."

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Garmadon kicked viciously at a stone, watching it skitter across the sand and come to rest several meters away from him. He stomped over to it, kicking it again, this time with enough force to get it airborne. The stone sailed through the air and landed with a muted thud in the sand, spraying the stuff every which way. Garmadon cursed loudly, spitting on the ground, glowering at the glittering gold sand that surrounded him.

Skales was a filthy, lying bastard. Garmadon had returned from freeing the Grundle, asked to see his wife, and been refused. Skales seemed to find the idea of keeping the two apart highly amusing, and he also delighted in describing in great detail Misako's attempts at escape, and the insults she'd hurled at them in the rare times her gag was removed. Though this did assure Garmadon that she was not dead, and though it was pleasing to hear that Misako's hadn't changed at all, Garmadon could barely contain his fury with the Hypnobrai, and had seriously considered simply marching into camp and taking Misako out by force.