Ninja Apocalypse

13: Interrogation (edited)

'There!' Said Zane, pointing. Amongst the smashed bones of the skeleton army and within the ruins of the barricade, a lone Anacondrai skeleton was trapped.

'Where? I don't see it' said Cole.

'Oh, it's there all right' Zane insisted 'its trying to avoid detection'

'Have you only just realised it was there?

'No... it wasn't going anywhere, so there was no rush' they made their way over to the collapsed barricade, the High Council Shaman and warriors followed and Cole began to shift the wreckage.

'Stop!' The Shaman ordered.

'Why? What now?' said Cole, looking around.

'The warriors will continue with any further manual labour' The Shaman demanded. He moved towards Cole and rolled his long, scaled fingers around his shoulder 'you must rest. You are weak and it won't get any better. Conserve the strength you have left... Pleassse' Unable to lead with his strength Cole was annoyed but nodded in agreement. The Shaman directed Cole towards his entourage 'I have brought these few warriors, for your use. You are a leader, Master of Earth, you must have troops and yours are sadly lacking at the moment'

Cole looked over to Kai laid out on the ground and Zane, his head twitching violently. Cole had to agree and nodded. 'Thank you...' he said to the Shaman 'you can call me Cole...' he added.

'Master of Coal?' The Shaman asked confused.

'Uh, no, just Cole...' The Shaman looked confused 'Oh, don't worry. Master of Earth is just fine' The Shaman, gave a regal nod and turned to hurry his troops along with the removal of wreckage.

Cole looked again at his injured friends. One third of the team were out of action and only the Masters knew what had happened to Nya, Jay and Lloyd. They had been at the epicentre of the blast and the likelihood of survival? He didn't want to think about it.

The warriors at the barricade, pulled free a large slab of concrete and a ruckus kicked off, the Anacondrai skeleton had darted free of its confines and was writhing and lashing out. Every bone of its skeleton was a useful weapon and it whipped it's spine around, directing its sharpened ribs to the soft underbellies of the warrior Serpentine. The warriors fell back as the Shaman shot forward and directed his staff between the skeletons empty eyes, slamming its skull into the ground. The Anacondrais' long fluid skeleton rolled immobilised into the dirt. The Shaman looked at Cole 'they have a memory imprint. It remainss here, jussst between the eyesss'

'They don't like that, huh?' Cole asked.

'Hehehe... Noooo they don't! Asssk him what you will'

Cole bent down to look the Anacondrai in its dead, black eyes; only empty voids remained 'Is it still with us?' he asked just before two sparks rolled in the back of the sockets, making Cole start and pull back.

'Rrrragh! Releassse me... it... hurrrtsss!' The Shaman released the pressure on its skull and slowly pulled his staff away, but followed the creatures' eyes up 'Oh, I'm not going to fight you' it spat, shoving the staff away.

'Glad to hear it' Cole said 'now, where have you come from and who released you? Was it Pythor?'

'No' came the skeletons smug reply 'Oh, don't get me wrong. Pythor is our Lord and Massster... But he did not releassse uss'

'What? Then how?'

'Well. That would be your little green friend. He very helpfully opened a sinkhole to hell!'

Stunned, Cole felt like he had just been struck between the eyes himself. Lloyd had released them? Why would he do that? 'and Pythor? Where does he fit in?'

'Our livesss are bound with hisss... we are part of him. Our life forccce livesss within him. He isss our one true leader'

'What are you talking about?' Cole asked incredulously 'Couldn't you just stay dead?'

'We sssacrificed ourselvesss to him, we gave him our bodiesss to fuel his crusssade. In exchange, he would give us the world'

'Is he saying what I think he's saying?' Cole looked at Zane who had dragged himself over to hear.

The skeleton continued 'We had all the time in the world and we have been patient. Now we have been freed and he is ready to fulfil his promisss to usss!'

Zane looked back at Cole, confused. Taking a deep breath, Cole tried to make it more obvious 'Pythor is the last Anacondrai? His clan sacrificed themselves, so he could live...?' Surely Zane would understand without him spelling it out... Cole rolled his eyes and sighed 'He ate them!'

Zane stood bolt upright and jerked his head to look at the Anacondrai skeleton 'I don't believe it!'

'Youuu better beleiiive iiit!'

Cole swayed. He felt dizzy so Zane let him lean on his shoulder. Zanes' leg may be mangled and the foot smashed, but he couldn't feel it and there was a certain amount of stability through the lower leg struts. He may not be able to fight effectively but there were more ways to be useful to the team and he felt a certain amount of responsibility for their wellbeing. They didn't look after themselves that well generally and he didn't see that changing any time soon. He tried to rouse Cole from his slump, that had turned into a full collapse. Zane had to steady himself again to take Cole's weight and taking a step back, he lowered Cole to the floor to gently lie him down. Zane looked up at the Shaman 'you mentioned his strength was low and would not return. What did you mean?'

The Shaman looked at Zane with a confused look 'what do you care? You are an oddity, a robot of sorts and you are obviously broken. Do you carry out the hard labour? Perform mental arithmetic? What?'

Zane was taken aback at the Shamans' response. His outer skin would normally save him from this kind of assumption, but even so, it was a shock 'Yes I am an oddity, of sorts. But I feel joy, compassion, anger and fear. I am not of your world, as are any of us Ninja. I may not even be of this world, who knows? Perhaps only my maker. My team calls me brother as I do them. I call you Shaman of the Constrictai... You may call me Zane, or Master of Ice. You choose. Just don't presume I am anything less than an elemental Ninja' He continued to look at the Shaman with a serious stare 'Now, what did you mean?'

The Shaman held Zanes' gaze 'Master of Ice. You are cool under pressure. I like this...' he smiled 'whatever the hell you are' and continued 'your friends, the Master of Earth and the Master of fire. Their powers have been disrupted by the Green Ninja. After all, your powers are all linked to his. Whatever he has unleashed has caused an imbalance in your own. Have you tried to use your elemental power?' Zane shook his head 'Well, just look at the Master of Fire. He could not stop himself from burning. Master of Earth, becomes weak, he feels the world spinning and cannot focus. You, Master of Ice... it is yet to be seen. Perhaps try not to use you powers for a while. Tell me, where is The Blade of Ouroboros?'

'It is at the Temple of Airjitsu'

The Shaman beckoned his warriors to come to him 'make stretchers for these two. You five will carry them to their temple. The rest, you will search for their teammates. Go' He indicated that they should start at once and turned back to Zane 'The blade is more than just a symbolic weapon. The Master of Earth must wield it, to save you all'