INVISIBLE STRING | ZANE

16 | operation rescue lloyd

Then the ground beneath Lloyd broke and he was sent down into the depths of the volcano.

They were all too late to grab him and couldn't do anything but watch as the boy's form fell into the orange sea beneath him. A broken scream tore through Iris as she watched her cousin fall. She couldn't lose him. He was just a boy. She was meant to be the one to go first, not him. Zane swung his arms around her and pulled the Wu girl into his chest as she began to sob. 

But Lloyd was alive.

Somehow the boy had managed to remain on the piece of stone that had broken away from the edge. But there were no more bridges and the volcano was collapsing. What were they going to do. Iris's teleportation skills lacked in the plus one department. She had only ever been able to teleport herself and no one else. Maybe one day she could, but that was not this day.

"Dad! I'm sinking! Iris!" 

The helplessness she was feeling in that moment, watching as the boy she cared for slowly be consumed by the magma below, it broke everything inside her. Hot tears streamed down her face as she turned away and buried her face in Zane's chest. She couldn't watch this. 

"We have to get out of here," Wu told them as he watched the rocks continue to fall down upon them, "or else none of us will get out of here."

Iris didn't want to go, but she didn't have the energy to fight back as Zane pulled her towards the exit behind them. Even if she couldn't save Lloyd, she wasn't going to leave him alone. Not again. Wu grabbed his brother and tugged him backwards, but he obviously protested. "But my son!"

Then more rocks fell down upon them and suddenly, the tunnel was blocked off to the volcano. Garmadon immediately used his four arms to try and dig away the rubble, but it was no use, there was too much of it. Another gut-wrenching sob wracked Iris's body as Lloyd and Kai were sealed off from them. 

Zane grabbed Iris and Wu grabbed Garmadon and between who was left, they managed to get everyone out of the volcano. But Kai and Lloyd were still there. 

Shakes took control of Iris's body as she began to feel the grief of losing her cousin and her pupil/friend. She was meant to protect them and she had failed. Zane somehow managed to get her onto the Bounty in her half-conscious state and as soon as she feet met the wood, she collapsed onto her knees on the deck.

The ice ninja fell with her as she gave up and let her body drop. Her knees hit the deck harshly, but the pain didn't really matter to her. All the ninja and her Father stood around the girl and then knelt down to join Zane as he embraced the yellow ninja. Together they were united in their grief as they lost two very important people in their lives. Garmadon did nothing and just stared off blankly into the distance. He couldn't process his lost at that moment.

As the Bounty soared up into the air, Nya joined them on the deck. The ninja broke from their group hug as they gathered around the edge and stared up at the erupting volcano. Zane helped Iris to her feet and guided her to the edge as they watched the volcano explode. "Kai." Nya gasped as she watched the violence of the volcano.

"Son." Sobbed Garmadon as he let his tears fall. 

Then a ball of orange light was spat out from the volcano's crater. And it was headed straight for them. Tugging on the yellow ninja's gi, Zane directed her to face the incoming glowing orb. And when Iris's eyes met it in the sky, she suddenly smiled.

A relieved chuckle somehow made it out of her hoarse throat as she watched Kai and Lloyd fly towards them. Kai had found his true potential and he had rescued Lloyd. She hadn't lost anyone after all. 

Iris sobbed in relief and threw her arms around Zane's neck as the two grinned beneath their masks. "It's Kai!" Jay pointed out. "He's found his true potential." Then the sphere of fire landed on the deck and fell to reveal one fire ninja and one Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon.