When lunch finally came around, Onyx slipped into a booth next to Lloyd with a bowl of udon. Ori hadn't appeared yet, leaving Onyx to wonder if she'd gotten so caught up in making cranes that she'd forgotten. "At least the chow's good," Cole murmured. "Arrgh, it's killing me. What's under the trapdoor? What happens when you lose?" Jay worried. Garmadon shook his head. "Don't think about that. Worrying will only hurt you in the long run," he advised. "It's all I can think about. I moved on. I feel guilt. These are not good feelings," Jay said.
Kai shook his head. "You think you feel bad? Imagine how I feel. Our mission is simple. Tonight, we find Zane and get off this crazy island," he said. "And just how are we supposed to do that? You heard Chen. Break a rule and we're out. He's not gonna let us roam around," Cole pointed out. "Then it's a good thing we're ninja. Meet me in my room at midnight," Kai said, dropping his voice. "Which room are you in?" Onyx asked.
As Kai began to give instructions, Mr. Pale, the invisible man, approached. "You mind if I join you?" He asked in a nasal voice. Onyx glanced around the table, decided that there'd still be room for Ori, and nodded. Perhaps they'd be able to find another ally in him. "I don't see why-agh!" Onyx stopped talking when Jay stamped on her foot underneath the table.
"Disappear, pal! This is private," Jay snapped. Mr. Pale faded out of sight, leaving his tray floating in midair. "I know you're still here. I can see your lunch tray," Jay said, rolling his eyes. Mr. Pale made a scoffing sound and walked away. "What was that? He could've been an asset!" Onyx hissed. "Yeah, Jay, you were really mean," Cole agreed. "How am I supposed to know if we can trust him? See what this island is doing to me? It's corrupting me!" Jay exclaimed, throwing his hands up.
Onyx caught sight of Ori's vibrant hair in the lunch line. "Well you'd better learn how to be nice right about now," she said as Ori approached, bounce in her step. "Hi!" She said, slipping into the booth next to Onyx. "Woah woah woah, who said you could-" Onyx got her revenge by kicking Jay sharply underneath the table. "This is Ori. She's heard about us on the radio and wants to help us find Zane," she said. "Ori, this is Lloyd, Kai, Cole, Jay, and Sensei Garmadon," Onyx said, introducing the team to her. "Hello! Onyx told me why you're here, and I want to help," Ori said, taking a bite of her tempura chicken.
Garmadon leaned forward slightly, tilting his head at Ori. "You're the Master of Origami, aren't you?" He asked. Ori nodded. "M-hm!" She confirmed. "Why do you want to help?" Garmadon continued. Ori frowned, formulating an answer. "Because on the radio, it's always you guys and Zane. He's your friend. Also, I like Onyx. She's nice," Ori said simply. Her answer wasn't fancy, but it appeased Garmadon. He returned to his rice with an approving nod at Onyx.
Jay crossed his arms. "How do we know you aren't lying?" He asked. Onyx kicked him again. "Onyx trusts her, and I trust Onyx's judgment. That should be good enough," Lloyd said. In the rare moments Lloyd used his position as leader to give an order, he wasn't to be argued with. Jay backed down with a huff. Onyx gave him an appreciative look. "I've heard about you too! You're the one who defeated the Overlord the first time," Ori said, smiling at Lloyd. He grinned back, her infectious enthusiasm getting to him.
"Well, I couldn't have done it without everyone else. Including Zane. What can you do to help us?" He asked. Ori thought for a moment. "I can have my origami animals look around. They're good at finding things," she said finally. Lloyd nodded. "Okay. Tonight the ninja and I will be meeting up in Kai's room. Can you have some of your creatures check around inside the mansion?" He asked. Ori nodded. "Yeah! If I find something, I can tell Onyx," she said excitedly. Cole nodded. He hadn't had much to say about Ori, more focused on his food. "Sounds good," he said.
"Fine. I'll see you guys tonight," Jay said, looking at the ninja. Ori smiled and bounced in her seat. "Yeah! It looks like we've got our base fold!" She exclaimed. Off of Kai's confused look, she shrank slightly. "Plan. Base plan," she said.
(=^･ｪ･^=)(=^･ｪ･^=)(=^･ｪ･^=)(=^･ｪ･^=)
Later that night, Onyx sat in a chair in Kai's room, staring at a portrait of him and listening to the fire ninja talk to Skylor- she'd heard him mention her name-out on the balcony. After a few minutes, they wrapped up their conversation, and Jay and Kai finally entered the room. "Whoa-ho-ho-ho. Nice digs," Jay remarked, looking around. "I know! His room is so much nicer than mine. Look, chocolate-covered shell peas. I love these," Cole said, taking a bowl off of Kai's nightstand and falling back onto his bed. "Oh, and look how soft your pillows are. Man, mine are made of rock. What a pain in the neck," he said, stretching out.
Onyx turned away from watching Cole and back to the others. "Okay, it was almost impossible to get here. This place is swarming with guards. The kid's got her paper birds flying around, but I don't trust her. Any ideas on how we search the island?" Jay asked. Onyx rolled her eyes. "We travel by shadow. Cover every square inch of this place until we find him," Kai said. "Do we split up or stick together?" Onyx asked. "The island's big. We'll need to split up," Jay said. Lloyd shook his head. "No, we stick together," he vetoed.
Cole suddenly spoke from behind them. "Uh, guys, this bed is, uh..." he stuttered. Kai groaned in frustration and turned to him. "Cole, I get it! You like my bed. Would you stop playing around?" He exclaimed. Cole shook his head. "No, I think I know how we can search the island! Everybody come get on the bed," he ordered, which was how Onyx wound up lying on a bed next to Lloyd, doing her best not to touch him too much. "I betcha Onyx is enjoying this," Jay announced. Onyx and Lloyd groaned. "I already feel ridiculous. You don't need to make it worse," the latter said.
"The pillows are soft though," Onyx said, monotone. After another moment, Lloyd sighed and propped himself up on one elbow, nearly knocking Onyx off the bed. "Is this a joke?" He asked, catching her and pulling her away from the edge. Onyx's cheeks pinked as he pulled her into him. Cole shook his head. "I must've done something to trigger it. I was laying here, then I stretched-"
The ninja gave surprised yelps as the bed flipped over, plunging them into darkness. Onyx was barely able to grab onto the bed and prevent herself from falling. Lloyd, however, hadn't been able to hold onto the sheets with the position he'd been in. Onyx managed to catch him by the back of his gi as he started to fall.
"Whoa! Secret passageway! Cool," Jay said as Kai summoned a ball of flame, highlighting the red on Lloyd's face and the fact that the floor was close enough for them to let go and land safely. Onyx carefully let Lloyd down before dropping down beside him, Lloyd making an effort to catch her, despite knowing that she could land herself. Onyx appreciated the kind gesture.
"Nice work, Cole. Maybe Zane's not on the island, but in it," Kai realized. Onyx held a finger to her lips as a grunting sound reached her ears. Lloyd pointed upwards. "It's coming from up there," he said. Jay's eyes fell on two holes that let small rays of light into the dark passageway. "Oh, secret peepholes. Haha! Super cool. Sounds like someone's fighting on the other side of this wall," Jay exclaimed, clambering up wooden beams toward the peepholes.
"What do you see? Who's fighting?" Cole whispered. Jay shook his head and grinned, looking down at Kai. "It's not a fight. It's Skylor's room. And it looks like she's training," he said, waggling his eyebrows. "Let me see, let me see!" Kai said, hurrying up to join Jay. Cole elbowed Lloyd. "Ooh, looks like Kai's got the hots for her. I know exactly what that looks like," he said teasingly. Lloyd rolled his eyes. "No, she's competition. I just wanna know what powers we're up against!" Kai said defensively. He and Jay proceeded to get into a scuffle over the peepholes.
"Guys, this is an invasion of privacy," Lloyd said disapprovingly. "Yeah, this is creepy. If someone did this to me, I'd impale them, no questions asked," Onyx agreed. Cole smirked. "Even Lloyd?" He wheedled. Onyx and Lloyd looked at him, unamused. Lloyd raised an eyebrow, and Onyx nodded. "Without my consent, absolutely," she said.
"Ugh, her room doesn't reveal anything about her power," Kai mumbled. Suddenly, he and Jay gasped. The three ninja on the ground looked up immediately. "What was it? What did you see?" Cole asked. "She's...Fire..." Kai gasped. "Wait a minute, if we're all descendants of Elemental Masters..." Lloyd started. Cole started to laugh. "Kai's heart is on fire, Kai's heart is on fire, Kai's heart is on fire!" He laughed. Onyx wrinkled her nose at Cole. "That'd mean they're related," she said. Cole stopped immediately. "Oh." Was all he said.
Kai leapt down from the beam. "Can we please just keep moving? It's like a maze down here. Good thing you're leaving a trail back to our room," he said, trying to divert the conversation. Cole glanced back at the trail of chocolate shell peas he'd been dropping. "I'm-? Oh, yeah, heh. I meant to do that," he said. Onyx frowned, hoping that no rats would eat the trail of food.
The ninja walked further down the passageway. Onyx noticed more peepholes as they went, making her shiver slightly. For all she knew, someone could've been watching her when she was in her room earlier. Lloyd suddenly flung his arms out. "Everyone stop! Booby traps," he said, pointing to a thin silver tripwire strung across the hallway. Jay gave an excited hop. "Haha! Booby traps. Even cooler. Haha," he said. Everyone stared at him. "Yeah, potentially fatal traps. Exciting," Onyx deadpanned. Jay immediately backtracked. "Or, I mean, kinda cool. I mean, they're totally not cool, you know, 'cause they're dangerous," he mumbled.
Lloyd shook his head. "From here on out, we have to watch our step," he said, carefully stepping over the wire and proceeding warily down the hallway. Eventually, the wood flooring changed to a rough stone passageway the deeper they went. Suddenly Kai paused. "Do you hear that? Everyone be quiet," he hissed, tilting his head.
Onyx listened and realized that he was right. A soft chanting was coming from behind them. They ducked behind a large rock as the flickering light of torches came around the corner. Onyx peeked around the side of the rock, watching as several tattooed men marched by, chanting softly to themselves. Onyx's spine prickled. The chanting was unnerving. "Psst!" Lloyd gave a soft hiss as five more men appeared, holding up two fingers and flicking them towards the floor. Take them down.
Onyx waited for them to pass by before grabbing one by the throat and yanking him over the rock, where she smashed his face into the floor, knocking him senseless. Beside her, the boys took care of their own guards. When they'd put the men out of commission, they stripped them of their uniforms and slipped them on themselves. Onyx had to tighten the shoulder pauldrons, and the trousers were too large even when she put them on over her own. At the very least, the outfit was large enough to disguise the feminine aspects of her body.
"What about their tattoos?" Kai whispered. Onyx frowned, glancing around before her eyes fell on Cole's shell peas. "We could paint them on with the coating," she said, wrinkling her nose at the thought of putting the sticky chocolate on her face. Lloyd nodded. "Good idea," he said, taking the peas and divvying them up between the five.
The ninja helped each other draw their tattoos on, glancing down at the unconscious men for reference. Onyx forced herself to not flinch back as Lloyd painted hers on. The chocolate felt even worse on her skin than she'd expected it to. When they'd all gotten their ensembles together, they stepped out from behind the rock and started down the tunnel.
Eventually, they would up in a circular room full of other tattooed men. The ninja joined the lines of people, looking up at a colossal statue of a serpentine. Onyx was growing uneasy as the men began to chant the same thing, voices weaving together into a monotone murmur. "Oɴʟʏ ᴏɴᴇ ᴄᴀɴ ʀᴇᴍᴀɪɴ..." Over to her side, she heard Kai hiss at Cole. "Stop licking your tattoos," he whispered. "It's chocolate. I can't resist," Cole defended. "Shh! Just try to fit in," Lloyd snapped, joining in on the chant. Onyx followed his example.
Chen suddenly came out onto the small stone stage before the statue. A burst of horror tore through Onyx when she saw the expressions of the men around her change as Chen appeared, bleeding into subservient, admiring gazes. The men all fell to their knees, dropping into prostrate bows. As Onyx followed their example, the chant turned bitter in her mouth. Now she understood what was going on here. This wasn't just an underground fight club. This was a cult. "Bring out the loser!" Chen called.
Two cultists drug Karlof onto the stage. "Unh! Get hands off Karlof! Karlof wish he never sign up for this. What's chanting for?" He growled, metalzaroeading over his body as he struggled against the men holding his arms. "Uh, they're saying "only one can remain." Like I said, use it or lose it!" Chen exclaimed, slamming the foot of his staff on the ground, ordering his followers into silence. Onyx watched in horror as a blue beam flew from the crystal on his staff, striking Karlof in the chest.
The Metalonian cried out in agony and began to shake as a grey essence bled from him, flying into the staff. Karlof grunted in pain and fell to the ground, the essence stopping as the metal covering him vanished. "He's stolen Karlof's power," Kai whispered. "He's probably done the same to Zane," Onyx murmured, still trying to understand how what had just happened was even possible. The stakes had just gotten even higher.
Karlof grunted, clanging his hands together. "What happened to my Metal?" He demanded. Chen cocked his head at him, grinning widely. "Your Metal? Oh, it's mine now. But don't worry; I'll let you go," he squealed. Karlof looked up hopefully at him. "Really?" He asked. Chen's eyes narrowed cruelly. "To the factory!" He finished. A horrified expression spread over Karlof's face as the cultist began to drag him off. "No, no! Let Karlof go! No, no!" He cried desperately, trying and failing to break free.
Onyx gritted her teeth. She didn't know what the 'factory' was, but she did not want to find out. Lloyd suddenly gasped. "Jay, your face..." he whispered. Onyx looked over and realized with a bolt of fear that the chocolate tattoos on Jay's face were melting off. "My face? All of our faces! The chocolate's melting," he
whisper-yelled. Now that it came up, Onyx could feel chocolate oozing down her face, and the sensation was enough to trigger her gag reflex.
"Who are they?" A cultist suddenly asked, pointing at them. Onyx leapt to her feet. "Let's go," she said, spinning around and taking off, the others at her heels. "Intruders! Stop them! They must not escape!" Chen screamed after them. Onyx ran down the tunnel, weaving back and forth through the passageways. Suddenly, Cole went flying through the air, toppling to the ground with a grunt. They'd forgotten about the tripwire, and Cole had paid for it.
"Ngh... ow," Cole muttered, blood staining his teeth. Onyx and the others looked around, waiting for the booby trap to trigger. A wooden gate suddenly crashed down in the hallway, blocking the cultists from reaching them. Before anyone could sigh in relief, however, blades began to fall from the walls. "Go go go!" Kai shouted, yanking Cole to his feet and taking off.
Finally, they managed to escape from the blades, and almost immediately, growling began to sound from beneath them. "That sound..." Lloyd murmured, looking down a passageway, only to lock eyes with a vast violet snake. "That's gotta be the second biggest snake I've ever seen!" Jay cried. "Oh, not this shit again!" Kai shouted as the snake began to chase them. "Snakes. Why's it always snakes?" Onyx snapped, clambering up the wall and pulling the others up after her.
They crawled rapidly through a narrow passageway, desperate to escape from the snake. And then they hit a dead end. "No no no!" Jay flung himself back against the wall, accidentally hitting a button as he did so, causing the ground to open up beneath the ninja, dumping them out of the ceiling and onto Kai's bed, the passageway snapping shut after them.
Onyx stared at the ceiling in a tangled heap, waiting for her heart rate to slow down. "Are we dead?" Kai squeaked. "No, but only barely," Lloyd said breathlessly. "No more sneaking around. From now on, let's just follow the rules!" Jay snapped, leaping to his feet. Kai sat up. "We may not have found Zane, but we found something just as important. This tournament isn't about glory. It's about Chen stealing all of our Elemental Powers," he said. Lloyd helped Onyx up. "And there's a cult. That's totally fine," she said dully.
Lloyd shook his head. "But why? What is he planning?" He hissed, trying to puzzle through everything that had just happened. "I don't know, but if we're gonna find out and find Zane, we have to play by his rules. Agreed?" Kai said. Cole nodded. "Agreed," he groaned. "We don't know how much Chen saw. We have to tread lightly from now on," Onyx added. "Yeah, that was too close," Jay said, holding up the corner of his gi, revealing that the snake had partially torn it.
Onyx's stomach dropped. "You'd better pray that they don't find that fabric," she said.
———————————————————————
I am exhausted. I got two hours of sleep last night. Insomnia strikes again! Also, Ori is a precious child that must be protected.
I also realized that technically she's older than Onyx by about a year. If Onyx hadn't gotten whacked with the Tomorrow's Tea stick, then Ori would be older.
Musical of the Day: Tarrytown (an interesting musical take on 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.' It helped me on a quiz, actually...)