Ninjago: Negative

18 - Against the clock

Once Hector had stepped out of the factory's unfunctional gate, he paused. He had a choice. 

Either he returned to the ninja, explained everything and set this right or kept quiet and avoided them forever. But he heard what Killow said; if he does as much as breathe another word of their plan to someone else, it could cost him something he'd never get back. 

The rain had stopped and the midnight clouds above hovered in the coldness. As he stood by the outdoor brick wall that closed off the abandoned factory, the soft rumbling of a familiar heavy vehicle echoed in his ears. 

Oh no. They figured it out. 

He couldn't show his face to them again. Not to the ninja and certainly not to Jupiter. He desperately looked around for a place to hide, but the concrete ground of the factory's loading space was empty. He had no choice but to go back into the building. 

In a flash, he slipped quietly in through the doors, making as little noise as possible so that Ultraviolet and Killow wouldn't notice. He could hear them speaking to each other on the other side of the large machinery room along with the faint sound of tools being used on the doorway-device they had shown. The device that could open up a gateway to another Ninjago City. 

If Ultraviolet and Killow managed to open that rift using the Orbs, the very balance of the two phases could shift. But the real reason as to why they were opening the rift was unknown to Hector. What business did they need to sort out in the Negative Phase? 

Like a ghost, he silently moved from the dim lights and into the shadows between the broken machinery of the factory, peering over the metal equipment, anticipating the entrance of the team he betrayed. 

A few minutes passed until he heard the seven ninja stealthily entering the abandoned building. Hector watched them as his mind filled with the conflict of what to do. What was the right thing to do?

"Erm, don't we need a plan?" Jay whispered, tugging on Lloyd's golden sleeve. The blond hero swivelled around to hear him out. "We can't go bursting into the middle of their scheme - we have no idea what could go wrong!"  

"Jay, there's no time! Any moment now, they could start something terrible with the four Orbs!" Cole hissed at him, kneeling down behind a distant piece of equipment. 

"Actually, there may be a bit of time." Another voice whispered in the dark. 

Each of the seven elementals glared into the shadows, weapons drawn, waiting for the voice to reveal themselves. 

"Hector!" They all whisper-yelled in shock. That shock soon turned into anger. 

"Why you back-stabbing piece of---"  Lloyd stomped over to the boy in the dark and shoved him against the metal behind him. The loud clank caused the team to freeze up, hoping that the villains way on the other side of the factory didn't hear them. 

"Dude, dude! I know, I'm sorry--"  The teenager croaked, attempting to push the green ninja off him. His eyes glanced across to Jupiter; under her mask, it was apparent that she was disappointed. She looked away sourly. 

"Lloyd, would you chill out?" Nya grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away. "Yes, he's a traitor, but you gotta let him speak.." 

He took a breath and let go of Hector. The traitor brushed off his shirt momentarily.

"Thank you. Look, It's complicated to explain but I didn't want to have to do that, alright?" The teenager said, raising his hands in defence. "I betrayed you all and I could go on about my apology but right now, there's bigger things to take care of!" 

"He is right - our main focus is to stop Ultraviolet and Killow from causing great harm to the city." Zane affirmed, putting his shurikens away. 

"Okay - the good news is, they're really slow mechanics;" Hector began as the team huddled around him. "They refused to let any of their backup members help out so they're finishing the device themselves." 

"So...why did they let you help out?" Cole interrogated, squinting his eyes at him. 

"I...I can't tell you that right now." He briefly glanced at the lilac ninja again before continuing. "But hear this; each of the Orbs are attached onto the machine. It'll take the essence from each one and use it to power up the doorway--" 

"-- creating a rift between the Negative Phase and our Phase!" Nya gasped quietly. 

Kai stepped away from the group for a second to peer all the way across the factory at the two figures huddling around a large metal frame. 

"Uh, GUYS-" He whisper-shouted, eyes wide in the dim lights. "I think we've underestimated their construction-skills... Killow's just put the last Orb onto the--" 

A huge flash of blue light shot through the factory, illuminating ever piece of metal for a split-second. Loud eery whirring emanated from the far side of the abandoned building, as well as the evil chuckling of the two criminals. 

"Erm...I hope we aren't too late...?" Jay said tentatively to the team.

"Argh, see? We should've just pummelled them as soon as we got here!" Lloyd directed his frustrated stare towards Hector. The blue light from the now active machine reflected across the dusty windows and equipment. 

Without another word, the teenagers sprinted through the electrifying space towards the machine, where Killow and Ultraviolet were relishing in the blue radiation coming from the whirring metal frame. A portal was gradually forming, dark colours spinning in the essence and light as the Orbs attached to the frame glowed and vibrated intensely. 

"Don't get too close!" Jupiter yelled to her friends, shielding her eyes from the intense lights with her arm.

It was loud and chaotic. A ruthless wind began blowing in the space, ruffling the hair of everyone in the device's radius. In a few short moments, Ultraviolet spinned around and growled at the sight of the ninja, but gasped in disapproval once she saw Hector standing by them. 

The big man also turned to see the disturbance and his thick eyebrows furrowed at the situation.