Ninjago: The Purple Ninja - Book 2

Prime Empire: Chapter 3 - Level 13

Cole goes over the caution tape stands in front of the cabinet. He cracks his knuckles and smirks with determination. "And I'm gonna reach level 13 and crack this baby wide open!"

A minute later, the screen on top turns on, revealing live footage of prisoners who have just escaped Kryptarium Prison. "How did the Mechanic get out of Kryptarium?" Zane says worriedly. "And there's Captain Soto, and Ultra Violet!"

"I can handle a 201 year old pirate, a cyborg, and a pyschotic banshee easily." Katarina says cockily, while narrowing her eyes at the screen. 

"They must have broken out of prison, but why did they come here?" Nya wonders aloud. Katarina looks at the cabinet. 

"They must be here for the original Prime Empire cabinet!" 

Borg powers down the elevator, but they all know that won't stop the escaped prisoners for long. 

"Let's go fight em' off!" Kai exclaims, ready to fight. The others nod and were about to head towards the elevator, but Borg stops them. 

"Uh, no, wait! I'm initiating my buildling's defenses. It'll attack anything that moves, including you if you go down there!"

Lloyd groans. "We're ninja. We can't just sit out a fight."

"Fight the opponents in the game. You must reach level 13 before the real enemies get up here." Borg reasons with them. The Ninja and Pixal relucantly nod and head over to Cole to see how he was doing. 

"How's it going?" Nya asks hopefully. 

Cole wipes the non-existent threat off his forehead. He exhales. "Harder than expected, but I'm almost done customizing my avatar." On the screen, it showed Cole's avatar going through a selection of outfits. The team blink incredulously. 

"Wha—? Y-You haven't even started the game yet?!" Kai shouts angrily, clearly baffled Cole has made no progress at all. 

"Winning's all about confidence. I gotta look cool when I'm fighting!" Cole argues. 

"Remind me why we let him play our way into Prime Empire again?" Katarina says. 

"Because he's the only one besides Jay who's skilled at video games. We've played video games before, and you haven't even played a single one." Lloyd explains. 

Meanwhile, Borg was working hard to prevent the prisoners from entering the last floor. "Now we'll see who has the better security system. Hmph, robot dogs!" He scoffs, jealously getting the best of him. "Robot dogs are for amateurs!"

He slams a hand down on a button on the console, activating the towers security Nindroids, while the Ninja watch Cole finally start to play the game and cruise through the levels with ease. As he slams his fists down on the console, the Mechanic and his entourage enter the next floor with a drone watching them. 

A prisoner shoves the Mechanic out of the way, and the drone rises up into the air. The prisoner get electrocuted instantly. "Watch out! Invisible lasers!"

"Send the least important recruits first!" Ultra Violet grabs another prisoner by the back of his prison outfit and shoves him out of the elevator. Everyone winces when he gets electrocuted. 

"Me thinks we should have brought Fugi-Dove. Anybody have his number? He's probably not doing anything too important." Soto asks the prisoners, the Mechanic and Ultra Violet, who all shook their heads. 

Cole continues to play the game, carefully using his gaming skills to pass through each level. It didn't take long for the prisoners to figure out how to bypass the lasers and run through each floor, getting closer and closer to the top. 

A prisoner opens a door to the next floor. It was bricked off. Ultra Violet groans. "It's bricked off. We can't go any further."

Soto yells angrily. "Shiver me sails!" He rips a fire extinguisher off a nearby wall and chucks it at the bricked wall. The extinguisher goes through the hologram, revealing the drone, which turns red. 

The Mechanic laughs. " Nice try! Almost fooled us."

Borg glares at the screen. The Mechanic leads the group through the rest of the floors. On one flight of stares, the steps slope down. He uses his mechanical arm to hold the edge, leaving the majority of the prisoners to hold onto him. Some prisoners didn't manage to grab on and only slide down the slopes. 

Borg groans as the Mechanic climbs back up and pulls the remaining prisoners with him. "Should've gotten robo dogs."

They entered the last floor. There wasn't much time for them now. "Floor 100. I said I'd be on top again!"

Cole rapidly presses the console's buttons, trying to reach the level 13 as fast as he can now that the Mechanic and the rest of the prisoners were on their level. "I'm so close!"

The door opens. The team get into their fighting positions. "Yeah, well, so are they!" The Ninja began to attack the Mechanic and his team. Kai and Zane use their powers at the same time, melting Zane's ice and splashing water all over Soto, who laughs. 

"Well, blow me down! You made a wee puddle." Zane uses his hand to aim his ice at the puddle Soto was still on. Soto slips and falls down, the ice causing him to slide towards a desk, separating Lloyd and Ultra Violet. 

"Lloyd!" Lloyd turns his head towards Nya, who was holding the caution tape. "Industrial strength caution tape!" Both Ninja use their Spinjitzu at the same time and use the tape to restrain Ultra Violet. 

"Spin kick! Thunderbolt punch! Maximum damage!" Cole yells as he rapidly pressed the buttons, while Kai, Zane and Lloyd took on their opponents in the background. 

Seeing the Ninja were occupied, the Mechanic makes his way towards Cole, who was still playing the game to get to level 13. However, Katarina sprints towards the Mechanic and pins him against a nearby wall. "Going to great lengths just to play a video game ! Why are you doing this for Unagami?!"

"He's pressing the start button on a new revolution," The Mechanic grabs her by her shoulders and quickly turns her around, pinning her against the wall. "I will be player two, serving at his side!"

She plants her feet against the wall and shoves him down onto the floor. Cole makes the last move, and reaches level 13. "Guys, I did it! Level 13!"

Nya pulls at the caution tape that was restraining Ultra Violet. "Ah, that's great, but a little busy here." She turns on her heel and spins Ultra Violet around. The original cabinet slowly opens, revealing the portal into the game. 

"Would you like to enter Prime Empire?"

"Guys, let's go!" He urges them. Kai was the first to run towards the portal, and the crooks follow close behind. Nya holds onto the caution tape a little more, until she lets go, causing Ultra Violet to fall onto the criminals. 

Pixal wheels Borg towards the exit, but a prisoner blocks them. She gets into her fighting stance, standing protectively in front of her father. Lloyd jumps up into the air while his sister pins the Mechanic down. Lloyd kicks the prisoner out cold. 

Nya runs up towards the portal. "Jay better be safe in there, you...dumb game!" She runs into the portal, going into the digital world of Prime Empire. Katarina kicks the Mechanic away and runs towards the portal. 

As she goes in, Cole urges Lloyd to follow. "C'mon, Lloyd!" Lloyd nods and gives a firm nod at Pixal and Borg. He dashes towards the portal, but the Mechanic manages to get up and block his path. 

Zane slides in and knocks the Mechanic away from Lloyd. "Go on! Good luck finding Unagami!" Lloyd goes towards the portal and exchanges high fives with Zane. 

"Good luck finding Milton Dyer!" Zane nods, and watches Lloyd and Cole go into the portal. The cabinet closes. He walks towards the cabinet and grabs the motherboard from the cabinet. 

Cole gently falls onto the ground of the digital world of Prime Empire. He gets up, and walks towards his friends, who were in awe of the digital world. 

"Woah." He exhales. The place they were in was covered in neon lights, stores, Ninjago's citizens, and the occassional NPC. 

"Welcome to Prime Empire, guys." Katarina says. "Now let's go get our friend back."