moral of the story | a ninjago highschool fanfiction

[20] haha, yeah, stabbed...

evan

Evan knew little of the bus schedule of Ninjago City, but surely no bus could move this slow. The portly man who was laughing at Jay and Lloyd's jokes was switching his eyes from the road to the two highschool boys, laughing heartily as he casually rounded the steering wheel with one pudgy hand. Evan stalked forwards, lips pressed tightly together as he looked back at his brother.

Only Dr Julien would be able to fix this.

"Perhaps," Evan said softly, sitting down next to Lloyd, who had taken to Evan quite well, "You might get him to hurry along before your funny jokes send him into a coma of hysteria?"

"Alright," Lloyd said, frowning a little, "Evan, look, you're a good kid, but I don't think that Dr Julien is going to—"

Evan simply remained quiet, letting his expression do the talking. He knew that sometimes silence was a better weapon, and his gaze, cool, unmoving, his jaw clenched tightly, was surely working. Why wouldn't they believe him? Evan was young, but his knowledge was far greater than any of them knew.

"Okay," Lloyd subsided, "But you should call ahead and tell your dad that you're coming home."

Evan nodded, slinking away towards Pixal - the only other person he knew he could trust, because she was like Zane. And Zane was like Evan, just a little older. He tugged on her sleeve to get her attention which primarily was focused on her boyfriend. Evan shuddered. Love, he thought despondently, was not an affair he wanted to meddle with.

"Pixal, do you have my father's phone number?" She seemed surprised, and Evan sighed to himself.

"I don't have a phone."

"Here, you call him," Pixal murmured distractedly, still tapping on Zane's shoulder. Evan noticed with great interest that Zane responded lethargically by tapping and drawing on her knee. More code, he realised, proud of himself to figure that out with little context.

He moved a few seats down to have some privacy, drawing his knees up to chest as his back leant against the window. The dialling tone rang dully, then droned to a stop as the automated message came on. Yes, hello, why are you calling? Leave a— there was a loud crash and Evan jumped himself at the accidental recorded noise.

"Zane's hurt. We're bringing him home." short, sharp, and efficient. Evan nodded to himself as the beep signalled the end and he gave Pixal her phone back.

Part of him was glad that Dr Julien hadn't picked up. It was bad enough he'd remembered everything, bad enough that he couldn't have Zane and him join forces to make sure the inventor would divulge in the information Evan knew all too well. Surely, now, with Zane 'hurt', and ketchup smeared over the wound, Dr Julien would open up.

Evan frowned as the bus passed an alleyway. Momentarily, he caught sight of two girls, one wearing a cloak, another tangled in the straps of her bag and her knee set in an awkward position. The bus passed the strange scene in a flash, and before Evan registered it, they were at their stop. Pixal and the others helped carry Zane out and Evan joined the distraction team, offering the bus driver a poor attempt at a smile as he backed out.

"Hurry!" The carriers quickened their pace, shuffling along towards the Julien house. They paused outside of the door, realising they had no key, when Zane lifted his hand and tossed the keys into the air. Kai caught it and fumbled with them before unlocking it and taking his place once more. Lloyd and Jay double checked to make sure no one was looking at them, locking the door.

Evan was banging his fist on his father's door impatiently, dropping his calm guise to demand answers. There was a lot of shouting from inside, mixed voices from a call before Dr Julien wrenched the door open, his glasses askew and his face pained.