The Silent Man's Whisper [ninjago]

07 | explored

"Whoever created those things wanted to hide something," Nya speculated, looking down at a long black stick. "Whether it's protecting it from us specifically, I don't know. But there's definitely more down there that we haven't found yet."

What was lying on the table in front of everyone was the disembodied metal leg of one of the spider creatures that Nya and Pixal had encountered in the depths of Ninjago's railway system.

It must have ripped off from one of the spiders since Pixal had found the leg stuck in what was left of the leg of her mech.

"There was no one else down there," Pixal continued. "Not another person, at least."

Wu hummed. He picked up the leg and brought it closer to his face. It was a slim piece of round and long metal that looked like an ordinary rod. Nothing was odd about it or awoke any memories to anyone in the room, which was quite the bummer.

When the elevator dinged, announcing the presence of someone using it, the three turned to it and watched as Misako walked out, with a familiar face appearing right next to her.

Nya almost sighed out loud when she recognized who it was.

"What's Clutch doing here?" she asked, knowing he heard her annoyance about his presence.

Said person chuckled as he walked closer to the bunch before stopping on the other side of the table. He bowed his head before opening his mouth. "Clutch Powers, at your service."

Nya rolled her eyes, glancing at Misako for an explanation.

"Since you found the crystal in front of that mirror you said was from the Explorer's Club, I thought inviting him here would be a good start."

"Crystal?" Clutch asked.

Nya face-palmed. Pixal sighed.

Taking a deep breath, Nya calmed herself down and looked at Clutch Powers. He was still wearing the same explorer-esque outfit, as well as the eyepatch that hid his right eye. His other eye looked back at her, a cheeky smile on his face.

"It's great to have you back, Nya."

Nya chewed on the words she wanted to utter and swallowed them down, not wanting to come off as rude when this was the first time after more than a year that she'd seen Clutch.

"Thanks," she said instead. "What can you tell us about the mirror?"

"Ah, getting right to the point, I see," he chuckled, scratching his head. He glanced down at the broken spider leg on the table before looking at the faces around him. "Well, the owner of the museum phoned us and told us he 'needed the mirror in his new collection' or something like that. He gave us some good money for it, too."

"When did he phone you and how much did he pay you for it?" Wu asked him.

Clutch looked up at the ceiling and quietly tried to think about the answer. "Last Friday and thirty thousand bucks, if I'm not mistaken."

Nya and Pixal exchanged shocked looks. "Thirty thousand for a mirror?!" Nya exclaimed.

"Yeah. He said he wanted it delivered as soon as possible, and since it's a very fragile artifact, I told him it wasn't possible."

"But when he offered you thirty grand you couldn't resist," Nya guessed, her arms crossed. She knew the person Clutch Powers was. Always wanting what made him the most money.

Him and Ronin barely had any differences.

Clutch shrugged his shoulders, not offering a better response than, "Money is money."

Wu collected all the facts there were before shaking his head. "We are not getting anywhere with what we have."

"Yes, we need a better lead," Misako agreed. An idea popped up in her head. "Mr. Powers, would there be a way for us to have a look around the Explorer's Club? There might be something that could help us."

Said person looked at the older woman and rubbed his stubbled chin. "I don't know. I could check in with Cecil but-"

"Please do," Wu interrupted him. "It's urgent."

— — — —

"I have not missed this place at all," Nya said as her and Pixal stepped into the cozy-looking lobby of the Explorer's Club. Nobody else was there which granted them the chance to look around freely, without needing to explain themselves to anyone else.

"You remember where the mirror used to be?" Pixal asked her. She let her bright green eyes wander around as they walked up the stairs to the first floor.

Nya nodded, leading the way. "Though I remember breaking in the last time I was here," she smiled, recalling the time in which she had gained access to the building via the A/C, together with Lloyd and Zane. It was a funny adventure now that she thought about it fondly.

Even though it had been a while since she had been there, nothing looked out of place or different. There were still the same decorations hung up on the walls as they passed by them.

The first room they walked into happened to be the main lounge area for the club's participants. There were three brown leather couches that were creating a half moon around a barstool that was used as a stander for an overhead projector which pointed at a blank off-yellow wall. Bookshelves were on both sides of the room and opposite of the blank wall was a large window.

Although they were not there for snooping around, Nya and Pixal still looked around, just in case if there were something valuable for them.

After making sure they found nothing, they moved on to the next room.

This one was a simple supply closet so they didn't spend much time in there before moving on.

The two roamed a few more useless rooms before finally entering the room they needed to get to.

As Nya looked around, she couldn't help but smile a little. Everything was just the way it had been the last time she'd been in there. The same objects and artifacts she learned to despise. Even the terraria with the insects that she couldn't pronounce the names of.

The only thing missing was the mirror, its absence creating a visible open space right next to the window.

"There," Nya said, pointing there.

The duo walked over to it and glanced around. Since it was dark, Pixal activated her implanted night vision and used that to make up for the lack of light.

Nya, on the other hand, had to use the moonlight as a guide. She didn't mind it though, it was a great source of luminosity.

There was nothing on the wooden floor the mirror had once been on. The surrounding areas were free of any clues as well.

But when Nya looked out the window, she stopped walking around aimlessly before trudging up to the closed window. Pixal could only witness as her partner opened the window and let a cold breeze enter the room.

"I can't believe this," Nya mumbled as she grabbed something Pixal was not able to identify yet. When she turned around, however, it was crystal clear as to what it was.

"What does this mean?" the former Master of Water asked her whilst holding up the rectangular brick made of vengestone unsurely.