Ninja Apocalypse

9: Overthrown (edited)

'We have to get back to the team' Nya said and backed away. Lloyd stared in a daze at the plumes of smoke that twisted into the sky on the far side of the city, barely registering the pull on his hand 'Lloyd' Nya pulled again, trying to wake him from his trance.

The elevator pinged and as the doors opened Cole, Kai, Zane and Jay bundled out and ran towards them. The sudden flurry of action brought him back and Lloyd released Nya's hand.

Cole called to him 'Lloyd, It's a skeleton army'

'The Skulkin?' Lloyd asked, confused.

'No. Serpentine!'

'What?' Lloyd looked at Nya, trying to process this unexpected news, but her shocked face mirrored his 'What do we know?' he asked, straightening up to mentally take charge of the situation.

Cole held a Borg Pad and skimmed the incoming news feed 'It looks like they've come out of the desert ...the explosion was the gas works on the edge of town. Further fires and explosions have been reported, mostly due to the first fire spreading and the forward attack...'

Zane was standing up against the window scanning the city 'the skeleton army has split and spread wide, advancing in a pincer movement. They are heading for the city centre; Though why they are attacking? I can't even begin to guess'

'Well we know where the Skulkin came from' Kai said

'The Underworld' Lloyd replied.

Cole pulled a face 'but there was never any hint of serpentine when we were there... You don't think there's a whole parallel world under there, do you? Hold on there's footage coming in from the desert... of a huge sink hole'

Lloyd felt his blood run cold. He felt immobilised and knew his foolish experiment must be responsible. Cole continued to talk, but Lloyd barely heard through the rush of blood in his ears and the pound of panic in his heart.

'Look guys, it'd be great if we could analyse this all day but we have to get out there' Kai shouted 'The rate they're advancing, the city will be sacked before long' and he started moving back towards the elevator as a fleet of nindroid patrol ships dropped in front of the tower, flying straight towards the fray.

'Borg's onto it, that's good' said Cole 'it will give us a chance to assess a plan of attack on the ground'

'We need to halt their attack, barricade them or re-direct them somewhere where we can deal with them' Nya suggested and they all ran to enter the elevator.

'Zane, do you have any suggestions? Is there anything in the city that might enable this?' Cole asked.

Zane fell still momentarily, and the elevator dropped. Long pulses of light travelled over them as the sun low on the horizon caste eerie shadows on their faces 'there is the Eastern reservoir which services the dryer desert side of the city. The army is pushing forward but half of it is moving in that direction'

'Borg?' Cole spoke into the air.

'Yes Cole?' came a reply

'Direct your fleet to the Eastern Reservoirs'. Try and corral the skeleton army in the area behind the waters. Hopefully snakes can't swim without muscle and flesh, it might just hold back the advance' the elevator slowed abruptly and the doors opened into the hanger. The team ran to their vehicles and jumped in. Lloyd grabbed hold of the controls and felt his hands shake. He was exhausted and having re-absorbed his power from the orbs earlier, he was now running on adrenalin and a surplus of power. As he powered up his craft, pinpricks stabbed gently at his finger-tips and the crawling sensation he had been blissfully free of was now beginning to creep along his arms No, not now. Why now? he asked desperately.