Legends of Ninjago Book 2: Rise of the Serpentine

Chapter 23: Gotta Get Out of Dodge

Nya blinked and rubbed her eyes. There was a funky, morning-breath taste in her mouth, and she was sore all over, not to mention positively freezing in the metal truck, but at least she wasn't still in that containment cell.
'What time is it?' she thought groggily. The last thing she remembered was the IBI searching for them, and then nothing. She squirmed around and peeked out from behind a crate. It was still difficult to see much in the dark, but some light did slip under the truck door. From where she was sitting, she could just make out Kai's hair, one of Jay's legs, part of Zane's face, and Keaton's feet. They were all still mostly hidden and everything seemed to be fine.
A door creaked and Nya instantly ducked behind the crate again. She could hear two sets of feet walking in their direction, and for a moment, she pondered whether or not she should wake everyone up.
"...yeah, tell me about it..." someone said.
Nya held her breath and listened as carefully as she could, mindful to not move so much as a hair.
"You gonna watch the game tonight?"
"Can't, Maris is having her mother over for dinner."
"Ah, right. You have my condolences."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
All the while Nya was thinking, 'Please don't open the back door! Please don't open the back door!'
Then, the driver's side door and passenger's side door opened, and the truck bobbed back and forth with the weight of two bodies climbing in. The doors closed with a THUD! and the next thing she knew, the engine ignited. Relief flooded her whole nervous system as she swayed in her seat with the movement of the truck, and she let out the breath she'd been holding.
All of a sudden, she heard something. It was like a low rumbling—no, more like growling. But what on earth could it be? It came and went in a rhythm, or like ocean waves rolling onto the beach, and with every growl, it got louder.
The truck started to slow down now, and Nya could hear more people approaching—people who were checking the truck before letting it leave! It was at this moment that Nya realised what was causing the growls. Kai. He was snoring like a badger, and soon he'd be as loud as a bear. The people outside were getting too close!
She quickly looked around for anything she could throw, and eventually found her shoe. Despite the bottom of her foot shivering, she launched her sandal across the crates and straight onto Kai's face. His head was up in a second, and he was looking around, confused, as the sandal flew up into the air and landed happily in his lap.
Nya held her breath again and listened.
"Alright, you're clear."
"Move along."
The truck started moving again and Nya relaxed against the wall.
"This yours?" Kai whispered, and he leaned over to her, holding her shoe.
"Thanks," she said, taking it.
The five of them were wide awake within the following twenty minutes—bobbing and swaying in time with the moving vehicle. Where was it taking them again? Wu had said it was... Haru, right? No, no, he had said "meet me in Haru." The truck was taking them someplace else. Probably. She was at least sixty percent sure. Wherever they were going, she just hoped they had blankets there.
An hour later in the truck, Nya was starting to get fidgety. From the sound of it, they were stuck in traffic for a good deal of the ride, prolonging their little escape for far longer than she would have liked.
The truck suddenly made a sharp turn and went over a speed bump, jostling everyone up pretty good. A few more turns later, and the car parked, shutting off the engine. Now what? Did they trust the drivers, or should they remain hidden?
The two men exited the car and then it sounded like they just walked away. Kai was the first to act on this, and got up from his hiding spot without making a sound. On tip-toe, he walked over to the door and tried to lift it, but it didn't budge. Right! It was locked! Nya crept from her hiding place as Kai lit a small flame. It didn't seem as bright as his fire usually did, and she wondered if his powers were effected by something.
A few minutes went by, and Nya watched as the lock and the door started to slowly melt away. It was quite fascinating, actually, and she wasn't the only one who thought so. Keaton and Jay were by her side now, starring intently at the glowing, melting metal.
All of a sudden, the door began to fly up, completely detached from any other mechanism, and Kai had to grab it before it slammed into its final position. The light from outside was absolutely blinding, and Nya couldn't keep her eyes open, but from what she could see, they were alone.
Kai helped the door open quietly before leaping out and helping everyone else down. Once Nya's feet her on the concrete, she looked around and saw an old truck lot next to the back a building. They were still very much in Ninjago City, but in one of the quieter districts. The hum of early-morning traffic hung lazily in the air, and every so often a police siren sounded in the distance.
"Now what?" Jay asked as he looked around the human-devoid lot.
"Sensei Wu said, 'meet me in Haru.' Does anyone know where that is?" said Kai, keeping his voice low.
"It's about fifteen miles from here," Nya piped up. She turned to Kai, surprised. "How could you not know that?"
Kai squinted and said, "Why on earth would I know that?"
"Because that's where Charlie was from, remember?" She paused and waited for it to click for him, but the longer he stood and stared, the more obvious it became that once again, he was completely clueless. "Charlie! Your old grade school friend! Remember? With the lazy eye?"
"Why do you know that, though?" Kai asked, looking astonished. "I mean, we haven't seen or heard from him in years!"
"Ladies, I don't mean to interrupt, but could we maybe get this show on the road before we're, you know, found and caught and imprisoned again," Jay said in a falsely cheery tone.
"Right, sorry," Nya mumbled.
"Do you know the way?" Zane asked, his straight eyebrows furrowed in stoic concentration, as they always seemed to be.
"Not from Ninjago City," Nya admitted. "But I do know where it is on the map. We need to head South-East."
"Okay. First things first, we need to get out of the city," Zane said confidently. "And we need to get out of these clothes."
"Yes please," Nya remarked, waving her hand over her nose. The boys had been wearing the same smelly shozoku for the past few days, and they starting to smell a bit... ripe.
"The IBI's after us, there'll be 'missing posters' up all over town, on the news—we can't show our faces, and we can't wear our masks in public," Kai summarised. "What do we do?"
Zane placed his chin in his hand and thought for a moment. "We have a better shot of blending in than we do sneaking around, especially given Nya's lack of training. We grab a change of clothes and take the first train out of here."
"And where are these new clothes?" Jay asked, flourishing his hand for effect.
The ice ninja smiled and turned around. Nya looked passed him at the gate to the lot and across the street there was a hole-in-the-wall mini-mart. "I think we'll find something," said Zane.
"Great. How do we pay for it?" Jay asked. "Oh right, we're broke." Well, he was acting sassy today.
"Actually..." Keaton suddenly said in her small voice. She reached into one of her grey pockets and pulled out a small, leather wallet. "Sensei makes sure that Ann and I never leave the monastery without one. In case of emergencies."
"Hot dog, I stand corrected," Jay blurted. "Speaking of which, can you get me something to eat? I'm starving."
"Keaton can't go in there, she'll stick out like a sore thumb," Kai pointed out.
"Exactly. Nya's gotta be the one to do it," Zane said simply.
"Me?" Nya stammered. "Why me?"
"You're the only one wearing normal clothes," Zane continued. "How much do you have on you, Keat?"
Keaton opened the wallet and flipped through the colourful, paper bills. "Will sixty-thousand yen be enough?"
"Sixty-thousand?" Zane repeated. "More than enough. Go ahead and give Nya the wallet."
Nya reached out and took the beaten, leathery thing tentatively. This wasn't totally terrifying at all, and it wasn't like everyone was counting her not to mess up, or anything. Nope. She was chill as a cucumber. Definitely.
They stayed by the truck for a while, waiting for an ideal time to send Nya in. While they waited, Nya tossed the wallet in her hands, wondering what she should say to the cashier. What would "normal" look like?
Suddenly, a group of three school girls, all with dark hair, came down the sidewalk and started entering the shop.
"Now! Go!" Zane suddenly cried.
Nya was walking passed the gate and across the street toward the mini-mart before she could blink, still holding the wallet in her hands. She realised how silly she must look and shoved the wallet into one of the tiny pockets in her black leggings under her red tunic top. The door opened with a little bell and the first thing she looked at was the cashier who was helping another customer. He was a middle-aged man who definitely looked like he read the newspaper every morning. Before she started staring, she looked over to the snack section and felt her stomach rumble. Perhaps she should follow Jay's previous suggestion.
The school girls weren't far ahead of her, so she blended in as well as could be expected, which should have put her at ease, but instead it made her chest tight. They all wandered the isles, passing each other so many times that Nya was almost sure she was safe from any prying eyes, and yet no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about how fast she was breathing.
She stood in front of the chips and jerky and trail mix for a while, but then spotted a small hot case by the register. They were selling corn dogs—warm and crispy corn dogs. That sounded a lot better, but they probably wouldn't last long, so she grabbed one bag of Powdered Puffs, two bags of Pretzel Mix, and three bags of Turkey Jerky before leaving the isle. By now she had gotten herself one of those little hand-held baskets and was passing the freezer section when she saw herself on the tv in the corner of the ceiling and froze. It took her a moment before she realised that it was only a security tv, showing her the image of what the camera was picking up. She quickly swallowed and tried to flush that sudden stab of adrenaline out of her system before anyone noticed. Had anyone noticed? The school girls were giggling about something in the candy isle and the cashier was restocking the corn dog case. Phew.
Next: disguises. The little shop didn't have much in the way of clothes, mostly just hats and sunglasses, but thankfully they happened to be running a sale on commemorative t shirts celebrating Garmadon's defeat. Mostly they were modelled after the Ninjagian flag with red and white and gold, some dragons, and slogans like "Remember the Day: 8/6/1889" or "Freedom!" Without any other option, she grabbed four of them, along with some of the hats and sunglasses, and discreetly put them in her little basket.
She glanced up at the wall clock. "9:17" it read. They'd better hurry if they wanted to get out of the city before the word of their escape did first.
Nya scoured the shelves and racks one last time, looking for anything else they could use. She found some hair clips for her and Keaton, not to mention a charming rainbow tutu (last one on the rack) and even some makeup. Finally, she couldn't think of anything else they'd need and stepped up to the register, trying to remember how to talk like a normal person.
"Scuse me?" she said timidly. The cashier turned around and looked at her with little interest. "Could I please get five of those? Please?" She pointed to the corn dogs and the cashier lazily moved over and started packing them one by one into a small plastic bag.
"Anything else?" he asked after he was done and handing her the warm bag.
"Uh, nope. Nope. I'm, uh... ready check out," she said as calmly as she could. She was just a few seconds away from freedom, but the man behind the counter started scanning each item in her basket at what seemed like a glacial pace, having trouble with more than one of the tags on the shirts.
All of a sudden, a phone started ringing in another room behind the counter.
"Excuse me," the cashier said, halting his scanning and disappearing into the other room. The school girls had apparently decided that they weren't going to buy anything and left, giggling some more. Now the shop was entirely empty except for Nya and the quiet voice of the cashier somewhere out of sight. Who was he talking to? Was it the police? Had they found her already?
'Chill. Be chill!' she told herself. 'Why on earth would the police be calling this guy of all people? It's not like they have security cameras out here, right? Right?' She swallowed hard and tried not to look fidgety as she scanned the walls and ceiling for any hidden cameras.
The door swung open and two people came in, chatting loudly with each other. Nya resisted the urge to look at them, keeping her face hidden as much as she could.
"Excuse me," said one of them, a woman. "I just need to get one of these amazing lip balms." Nya stepped aside quickly and let the woman do her thing. Then, out of the corner of her eye, Nya could tell that the woman was staring at her. "I'm sorry," she said suddenly. "Nya? Is that you?" Nya looked at her now, feeling all the blood run from her face. "Nya! It is you! Oh my goodness! Betty Miller, do you remember?" the woman asked, flashing a friendly smile. Still in shock, Nya shook her head slightly. "Oh, I suppose you wouldn't... I'm one of your mom's friends, from the pickle ball club!"
"Oh!" Nya said, more out of relief than anything else.
"You are just so gosh darn pretty! Look at you! Look how much you've grown! Oh! It seems like only yesterday you were this tall!" She bent over and hovered her hand above the floor to demonstrate her point. Nya smiled, but she could feel her checks twitching and prayed that the cashier would come back soon. "Goodness, you look white as bone, dear, are you feeling okay?"
"Oh, uh, fine, just... fine," Nya stuttered.
"Oh, I'm sorry, it's probably my fault. Didn't mean to startle you! So what are you all doing in town?" Betty was looking at Nya expectantly and Nya was staring at Betty trying to come up with an answer.
"Just visiting," she lied, hoping that she sounded convincing enough. "A little... vacation, you know?" Nya chuckled, but it sounded more like she was in pain.
"Oh, where are you staying?" Betty continued. "I could show you around if you'd like?" Nya started to stutter again when Betty cut her off. "Oh, you know what, I think I'll surprise your mother and give her a little jingle instead! She used to love surprises, but Kai was always her favourite, of course. Ha ha!" Nya stood stalk still silently begging to be anywhere else in the world right now. "Hey! We should all go to this bean bun place I found on the upper-east-side, they've got these really spicy ones that I know your father will love! Is he still doing the whole 'chilli peppers' thing?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, yeah... dad can't get enough of 'em," said Nya with another forced smile. 'How long does it take to make one stupid phone call!?'
Betty gave a deep laugh. "Your daddy is so nutty! One of these days those peppers'll burn his tastebuds right off!" Just then, like the cavalry riding in, the cashier returned and resumed his work at the counter. "Well, I've taken up enough of your time. I'll see you later then, dear!"
"Sounds great!" Nya said, waving to her as she walked away. That had felt far too close for comfort.
"Here," the cashier said, adding a chicken sandwich to Nya's bag. He had his eye on Betty and shook his head. "On the house."
Nya felt her insides unwind just a bit as he rung her up. She paid with the cash, and a second later, she was walking back across the street with two plastic bags full of supplies. Then another terrifying thought hit her: what if Betty's watch me right now? She couldn't possibly walk back into the parking lot now, she'd get suspicious! So Nya turned and followed the sidewalk for a ways, much to the confusion of her teammates who were watching her from behind the truck, until she was out of sight of the convenience store.
'What do I do? What do I do?' she thought nervously.
Just then, she spotted an alley that ran the length of the metal fence that encompassed the private parking lot and started walking. The alley was fairly secluded on both sides and quite the ideal place for some fugitives.
"Guys!" she whisper-cried over the fence. "Guys! You there!?"
"What are you doing?" Kai cried back.
"Just jump the fence! Hurry!" Nya urged.
One second later, and Kai was plopping down in the dirt next to Nya, followed by Zane, Jay, and Keaton. Nya started handing out her spoils while Zane put up two ice walls on either end of the alley to keep people from seeing them change. The corn dogs were devoured immediately, and then Nya passed out the t-shirts.
"You couldn't find anything else?" Kai asked.
"As surprising as it is, mini-marts aren't exactly known for their rows and rows of leather pants and swayed jackets," Nya replied.
To keep suspicion to a minimum, Zane thought it would be best if two of them were set apart from the rest of the group and didn't wear the matching t-shirts. Nya gave Keaton her red tunic and the tutu and donned one of the shirts, meanwhile Jay and Kai swapped under layers of their shozoku so now Jay looked like he was wearing a long-sleeve red shirt with baggy blue pants. Kai and Zane took regular shirts too, and they stuffed all the ninja garb they took off into the bag that used to be holding the shirts and hats and sunglasses. By the end of it all, they looked like quite the interesting bunch, but in Ninjago City, perhaps they could get away with it.
"Where do we go?" Keaton asked, untying her half buns.
"Train?" Kai suggested.
Jay looked thoughtful for a moment. "It'll be crowded, and filled with cameras. I wouldn't risk it."
"Jay's right," said Zane. "The best option I think we have is traveling on foot."
"It's a good thing we've got a true native in the team, huh?" Nya piped up with a smile. They were, indeed, very lucky that Jay used to live in Ninjago City. Without him, they might not make it out. However, after she spoke, Jay got awfully sheepish and chuckled nervously.
"But travel on foot where? Just to the edge of town?" Kai asked. "Bumbling through the open countryside doesn't exactly scream 'covert' to me."
"Well," Jay said hesitantly. "I may know a place..." Everyone looked to him expectantly, and Jay's cheeks began to flush a little. "It's not exactly the ritz..."
"It doesn't matter, so long as it's safe," Zane said. "Lead us there." Jay gave a quick nod and then Zane melted the ice barriers he had made.
Feeling more than a little uneasy, Jay and Keaton started down the sidewalk first, then Kai, Nya, and Zane came out as a separate group. Foot traffic was far too sparse on this back street, but once they stepped onto one of the main roads, they were able to slip into the flow; just a couple of faces in the crowd, lost amid the gaggle of people.
Nya made sure to stay close to her brother's side and scanned the crowd for anyone that looked like an IBI agent or police officer, but it was hard to keep herself concentrated as the dozens upon dozens of people kept buzzing around her like a swarm of bees.
Just then, Kai grabbed her arm and started pulling her to the side, toward an alley between one brick and one concrete building, and Zane followed instinctively. Nya didn't say anything in protest, for fear of garnering any unwanted attention, and instead looked around frantically to uncover the reason for her brother's sudden change in direction. Right as they were entering the alley way, she spotted it: a police car. All three of them squeezed in behind a dumpster until they were sure that the vehicle had passed them over. Nya crossed her fingers and stepped back out into view where there were only civilians minding their own business.
"Hey!" someone gently called from the other end of the alley. Nya quickly recognised him in his baggy blue pants, and started walking toward him, Kai and Zane at her heels. Jay and Keaton, of course, stayed ahead of them in their separate group, but Nya was just glad that they hadn't gotten separated.
With every step they took, the city scape changed. It would seem that they started out in a business district, and now they were slowly coming into a residential district, filled with mothers taking their stroller-ridden toddlers on walks, and kids riding bikes and skateboards.
Any time a car drove past, Nya's nerves felt like they might burst. She had to keep reminding herself, "that's just some random guy," "that's just a family," "that's not the police." Still, an IBI agent could be lurking in plain sight, and she wouldn't even know.
In order to strict less suspicion, presumably, Jay and Keaton suddenly crossed the street. He didn't signal for them to follow him, so Nya, Kai, and Zane stayed where they were.
Up ahead, Nya noticed that there was one of those public bike rack things. She had never used one before, but the thought of peddling out of town sounded much more appealing than continuing to trudge along like this.
Jay looked as though he was about to make a right, but then doubled back and started walking the way they had come. He gave a wild look to the rest of the group, and Nya didn't have to guess as to what he had seen on the next street.
Nya looked around frantically again. Which way should they go? Were the local pedestrians suspicious of them? Was their cover blown? Was this the end?!
All of a sudden, Kai started marching up to the bike rack Nya had seen earlier, and with a great deal of effort, ripped the lock from one of the bikes. Zane had no choice but to help in now, and get them out of there as quickly as humanly possible, so he started breaking locks too. A bike was shoved into Nya's hands, and as she mounted it, Jay and Keaton crossed the street again to rejoin them. Within fifteen seconds, all five of them were peddling down the street, Jay leading the way.
Nya had never stolen anything in her life, and even touching the bike felt wrong, but at the moment, her biggest concern was not getting run over as they rounded a new corner. Travel like this felt scary in the city, even in the quieter parts. There were a lot of people around that you had to be mindful of, and the bike lane was difficult to follow in a lot of places.
A police siren started screaming somewhere nearby, and Nya, for one, was not going to sit around and wonder if it was after them. She doubled her speed, causing everyone else to speed up as well.
They practically skidded through the next turn, and Nya could hear her heart pounding in her ears. The siren sounded further away now, so perhaps she was just being paranoid after all, but she refused to slow her pace. Not now, not ever.
A police car, with its lights whirring and flashing, suddenly pulled out into the street in front of them, halting very suddenly. Nya nearly let the shock topple her over, but she grabbed the handlebars tighter and hopped the curb onto the sidewalk, going around the big vehicle. Jay was still leading the way, but he sure was getting a run for his money with how fast Nya was peddling.
Now Nya was sure that they had been discovered, as the police car backed up and turned around to follow them.
"What do we do?" Nya asked over the rush of the wind in their ears.
"Follow me," Jay said confidently.
He took them up a street with a stop sign, and three motionless cars, manoeuvring around them around the stagnant vehicles easily, and leaving the police car far behind. But that wouldn't be enough.
Jay changed direction again, leading them to a park this time, and taking them on a walking path with no roads in sight. People yelped and jumped out of the way, and Nya wanted to stop and apologise, but there wasn't any time.
The path of the park was quite extensive and took them through a surprisingly lovely greenway covered in trees. There weren't any police sirens to be heard, only more wind, but Nya could already see, in her mind's eye, the fleets of police and IBI agents already being dispatched to go after them.
Nya truly was grateful for Jay's expertise, because this pathway led them straight out of the city and into the barren countryside. This time of year, it was especially dead-looking, but not all together ugly. After all, the ocean was just a mile or two away, and Nya really loved that salty smell.
Jay changed their course one more time, and Nya had no idea where they could possibly be going, until she spotted a small building growing larger in the distance. Jay made sure to take them along the paths which wouldn't leave a trail, and before long, after a great deal of frantic and tiring pedalling, they reached a large, sandstone wall.
"Quick, Keaton! Launch us over!" Jay cried.
"I can't do all of us!" Keaton cried back.
Jay sighed in frustration and slid of off his bike seat, only to grab the thing and throw it over the wall. Zane and Kai did the same for their own bikes and the girls' bikes.
"Zane, can you get us over there?" Jay asked. Zane nodded and created a huge chunk of ice beneath their feet. As the cold thing grew in size, Nya felt her feet slip. Her arm was suddenly grabbed by someone, and she looked up to see Jay smiling at her. "Be a shame if we lost you now," he said playfully. Nya smiled back and thanked him.
The group slid over the wall easily and Zane melted the ice block away. Now, for this brief moment, Nya felt safe.
She noticed pretty quickly that there was a very odd smell about this place, and it didn't take a genius to find out why: it was a junkyard. Filled with piles and piles of discarded and abandoned things, and in desperate need of more than one can of air freshener, it was definitely not what she had been expecting.
"What is this place?" Kai asked as Jay started forward, lugging his bike behind him.
"It's, uhh... well..." Jay mumbled.
All of a sudden, there was a loud noise and then someone yelling. "Get off a' this property! I'm warning ya!" Just then, around one of the piles of junk, an older gentleman came with a baseball bat and a steady look in his eyes which completely melted away when he saw Jay.
"Jay?" he whispered.
"Hey, dad."