The Imperial Battle II: The Emperor of Ninjago

Chapter 17. Crushed

It's time, folks. Get your tissues. Also, prepare for some graphic stuff.

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"Surrender!" Little Lloyd shouted, pointing his very blunt, wooden sword at James, who he had just cornered.

"Er, no," said James, swiftly grabbing the nearest pillow and smacking Lloyd with it.

Lloyd screeched and proceeded to wrestle the pillow out of James' grasp. He was smiling from ear to ear, laughing and having the best time.

Lloyd's ears were ringing so much.

"Remembered to brush your teeth?"

Lloyd nodded dully to Hutchins, crawling into bed. He cuddled his favorite cuddly toy, a green dragon, and lay on his side, facing Hutchins. The Master-At-Arms knelt beside his bed and gave him a very comforting look.

"The spider's in the house, sleep, sleep..."

He felt piercing aching all over his body.

James held the dictionary almost up to Lloyd's nose, repeating once again, "Khop khun krap."

Lloyd stared at the words before shouting, "Cop can crap!"

He could feel something slightly moving under him.

The prince stood up, almost ready to return to the others. However, before they could go anywhere, he embraced James. The blond closed his eyes, just enjoying the warmth and comfort he felt. And it didn't take long until he felt his friend returning the gesture without another word.

"Just know that I trust you," Lloyd murmured, taking a deep breath.

His closed eyelids twitched a little.

Lloyd leaned forward to grip his friend's shoulder. "But we'll be alright, mio fratello," he slightly imitated James with the Italian words. "We'll be out of here in no time, with the mask, unharmed."

James cracked a small smile, nodding.

Lloyd slowly opened his eyes only to see nothing but darkness. He couldn't make out a single shape or color anywhere around him, but could feel the lack of oxygen, the weight on top of his leg, and the dust all over him. His skin was stinging all over, his leg was aching so much he felt like wailing, and he could not move much.

"Can you hear us?"

"Lloyd!"

The muffled shouting hurt Lloyd's ears like it was banging on them, but the fact that he could recognize the voices made up for that.

"Kai..." the prince muttered, his eyes slowly getting used to the dark. He extended his aching hand to the side, but his fingers only collided with a thick slab of stone. From what he was able to feel, he could tell there was lots and lots of stone around, below and on top of him.

"Lloyd! Lloyd! Can you hear me? Hutchins! James!"

Lloyd took a deep breath, ignored the pain it caused in his rib cage, and yelled as loud as he could. "Kai!"

"Lloyd?"

"Kai! Here!" Lloyd shouted. His voice was weak, wheezy and hoarse, but loud enough to be heard.

It didn't take long until the voices outside came closer and Lloyd could hear something heavy being moved around. He still couldn't see anything, let alone know where he was and what was going on.

Then suddenly, bright light poured in, momentarily blinding Lloyd. He blinked a couple times, getting his eyes used to the sudden daylight they had not needed to experience for hours and the light of the lantern that was pushed in. Looking around, he could now see large stony slabs and boulders around him.