The Silent Man's Whisper [ninjago]

17 | descended

They groaned loudly but refrained from yelling at their friend, knowing they wouldn't get anything out of it anyway.

"Why don't they have any pillows on the walls?" Jay wondered.

"Go straight ahead, then take another left turn," Zane continued, his eyes narrowing in on the blinking red dot on his tablet. "Strange."

"What's strange?" Cole asked him. He took a left turn like he was told and accelerated when the road was less crowded.

Zane pointed at the dot. "The color of the dot is beginning to fade."

Cole risked a glance at the screen before looking back at the road. "What's that mean?"

"I am not entirely sure," the nindroid stated, "but it might mean that Lloyd has either descended the ground or ascended it."

"So, for dummies, he's either flying or drowning," Kai said from the back.

"Or he's below ground level," Jay pitched in.

Zane's eyes widened when the dot entirely went away.

"Where has it gone?" he asked himself.

Suddenly, the radio in the truck turned on and made everyone quiet down.

"Jay might be right." It was Nya's voice coming from the speaker. "Lloyd might be below ground level."

"See? I'm always right!" Jay exclaimed. He pointed at Kai with a loud laugh. "Ha!"

"Jay, shut up and let me continue."

"Sorry, Nya." Jay put his finger back down.

"You guys are heading south. Remember when Pix and I told you we went down the railroad tracks and found a brick wall? And the vengestone?"

Cole frowned down at the radio. "You don't think Lloyd's headed there, do you?"

"She does think that, Cole," Jay answered for Nya.

"Jay's right," Nya confirmed.

"Ha!"

"It might be plausible," Zane said. "It is a decent way below the ground to be considered a cause for the faded color of the dot. Send me the direct location of the railroad tracks, Nya."

The information popped up on Zane's tablet five seconds later.

He looked at the location before glancing at where Lloyd was heading before the dot had disappeared. It lined up.

"Take us here, Cole," he told the fierce driver, who immediately complied.

Jay and Kai held on to the seats in front of them, not able to see the rope on the Mechanic's hands that was slowly coming loose.

— — — —

Lloyd's screams echoed loudly against the walls as he was being taken to a place unknown to him. He was in a compact white vessel.

The way was long, but he couldn't know how long exactly. He didn't even know how much time had passed since entering the vessel. A small light was attached to the front, and the only thing it was helpful with was the fact that Lloyd could see dirt and mud in front of him.

Bile rose up in his throat but he managed to push it back down. Throwing up was only going to make his journey worse than it already was.

The moment the vehicle stopped was the moment he cherished like no other. He even felt like kissing the floor but refrained from doing so.

"Ah, the Mechanic," a familiar voice exclaimed, catching Lloyd off guard. "A classic, really. I can see why he's also invited."

Lloyd didn't have time to fix his crooked mustache. He turned around and took in the scenery he was quite literally thrown into.

Purple and pink crystals coated the entirety of the cave. A half moon-like stone table was in the center, and in its center was a circular black podium. Lloyd tried his best to keep his cool when he locked eyes with Pythor, Mr. E and Vangelis. The cloaked person sitting in the middle was the same one he had talked to through the hologram on the robot spider.

"Uh, hello everyone," Lloyd said, making his voice deeper and more Mechanic-y. He waved at them with his robo-arm.

The three familiar villains all slowly raised their arms and waved back. The cloaked person stayed unmoving.

"Have a seat next to me, old man," Pythor stated, smiling. He pointed at the seat to his left with the tip of his tail.

Lloyd carefully walked over to it and sat down. He wanted to know more about everything but tried to play it cool.

"So, uh, this is the Council of the Crystal King, huh? Pretty fancy, this place."

Everyone cast him a glance but no one offered a response, so Lloyd looked at the only person he didn't recognize.

"Are you the Crystal King?"

"I am not," the person answered vaguely.

"So who is it then?"

"Patience is a virtue."

Lloyd bit his lip to keep from sighing. He had heard that phrase more than enough, and he was annoyed by it.

Suddenly, a sound came from somewhere around them. Lloyd looked at where his means of transportation was sitting and found another one right next to it, filling the empty space.

The glass slid up and revealed Aspheera, with the four Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu in her arms.

Lloyd's eyes widened.

"Oh, this day's just become better!" Pythor yelled excitedly. He reached for the Nunchucks of Lightning when Aspheera was close enough. "Gimme those!"

Aspheera put down the other three weapons in front of the cloaked person. "I'll take this," she announced, grabbing the Sword of Fire and holding it up. Then she went over to the spot next to Vangelis and sat down.

"I'll have the scythe," the former king of Shintaro said before he stood up and took the Scythe of Quakes. Then he walked back to his seat and sat down, admiring the shiny blade.

Lloyd watched as Mr. E stood up and wordlessly grabbed one of the two Shurikens of Ice. He was the last one to grab a weapon, so he slowly and unsurely stood up, making his way over to the weapon.

"I guess I'll take this-"

His hand stopped just near the shuriken when another sound came from behind him, drawing everyone's attention to the new vessel that just arrived.

Lloyd cursed under his breath when he saw who exited it.

"Gosh, am I dizzy." The real Mechanic shook his head. "You really gotta-" His eyes locked on Lloyd, who was staring right back at him.

The rest of the villains kept looking from one Mechanic to the other, trying to figure out what was going on.

The silence in the room thickened since no one knew what to say or do.

"We have an imposter among us!" Vangelis suddenly yelled, jumping up from his seat. Mr. E followed in suit.

"He's the fake Mechanic, I mean me!" Lloyd accused the real Mechanic, pointing at him.

The other grew agitated quickly. "No, that is wrong! That one's the imposter, and I bet you a penny he's a filthy ninja!"

"Ninja?" Pythor narrowed his eyes.

"No!" Lloyd quickly yelled. "He's a ninja! Get him, guys!"

Turning back around, Lloyd attempted to grab the last shuriken to at least have a weapon on him when the cloaked person grabbed his wrist, making him freeze. In fact, everyone in the room stopped and looked at them.

Slowly, carefully, the other hand of the person reached up, and without a warning, they ripped off Lloyd's mustache.