tournament | ninjago {featuring your ocs!}

10 | boiling tension

The only positive part of Kira's morning is being reunited with Cole.

He looks shocked to see her when she joins the rest of the fallen elementals, wearing a work jumpsuit and a bandage over her burnt arm. The eyes of Rose, Ray, Ivan, Taylor, Samuel, and Katlain all widen when they see her, their expressions a mix of surprise and sympathy. There's no time to talk, though, as they're all quickly chained together and lined up, led to the noodle factory by one of Chen's cultists. Cole and Kira trudge along at the very back.

"Lloyd beat you?" Cole whispers to Kira over his shoulder.

"I...I had to make sure he moved on," she responds. "I don't regret it."

The former earth ninja shakes his head sadly. The group keeps going, chains clinking as they lumber wordlessly through the island's tunnels. It's not long before they pass by a cell, but only Cole and Kira notice a familiar voice coming from inside.

"I don't know, Pixal...I sense these chains are unbreakable."

The two ninja stop dead in their tracks. They exchange glances, thinking the same thing, and sneak off toward the sound without hesitation. Of course, them stopping makes everyone else grind to a halt.

"What's the hold up?" growls the guard.

Rose glances over her shoulder, noticing the two, and thinks quickly. "One second!" she calls. "I'm just, um, tying my shoe!" Cole and Kira both shoot her a grateful look as the guard stops to wait.

"Zane? Is that you?" Cole whispers, peering into the cell window. Kira tries to look in too, having to stand on her tip-toes to do so.

Shuffling reaches their ears. Something moves in the shadows of the cell. Then, a pair of glowing, icy blue eyes appears, blinking at them curiously.

"Zane!" Kira gasps. "You're alive!" She sniffs, tears starting to prick at her eyes. "Oh, we thought we'd never see you again..."

Cole laughs out of pure joy. "Boy, it's great to see you! Look at that, you look brand new!"

"Titanium," the nindroid responds. His voice now has an echoing quality to it, making him all the more robotic.

At the front of the line, the guard finally realizes it doesn't take two full minutes to tie a shoe. He growls and stalks toward the end of the line. Kira notices and nudges her friend.

"Hold tight, lugnut," says Cole. "We're gettin' you out of here. That's a promise." Kira nods, determination evident on her face.

"Where are the Ninja?" demands the guard. He pushes Rose aside, only to come face-to-face with the former masters of earth and crystal.

"Right here, of course," Kira responds, smiling innocently. "Where else could we have gone?"

The cultist harrumphs and turns away, dragging everyone else with him as they continue on to the factory. When everyone arrives as the sun rises, Cole and Kira are suddenly quite cheerful, humming and smiling as they work together to make a batch of fortune cookies.

"What's got you two so happy?" Ivan asks, raising a brow.

"Things are lookin' up, Ivan!" Cole tells him. "We came here to find a friend, and we found him! All we gotta do now is get to Zane and bust him out."