Ninjago: Crystalized

Episode 17-Valedictum Kryptarium!

The bus drove through the desert like a line in the sand. The arid temperature was so intense that it was almost sickening, and there wasn't even any machine to filter out the air inside the bus. It was like they were trapped in an oven.

Half a dozen police cars trailed the bus, just in case the ninja got any weird thoughts of escape.

Kai could swear he almost saw a shore, but that would be impossible. Must have been a mirage, he thought to himself, sitting at the sides.

Aside from one or two Hypnobrai, most of the passengers were human, but they all had the equal hate against them, which the ninja had already gotten used to. The ninja sat at the back of the bus.

Jay sat quietly at the back of the bus, staring out at the sea of sand. It was a vast, seemingly endless world—

"Ah!" Jay yelped as a sudden pounce from the front caught him off guard.

"Well, well. If it isn't my arch-nemesis, Jay!" Someone behind him started saying his name, "The ninja of lightning!"

Jay looked around, seeing the weirded out expressions of his friends, and some cosplay-bird-person at the front of his seat with a clumsy smile, "Sorry, have we met?"

"Oh, you probably don't recognise me in my prison clothes. It is I, Fugidove!" He started cooing like a dove, successfully making the situation much much more embarrassing, "My cry fills the night?"

Out of all days, this was the day Jay was not in the mood of making new friends, let alone enemies. He stared at Kai and the others, only to see Cole and him trying their best not to let their snickering become audible.

"What happened to you, Jay?" Fugidove did not intend to stop talking.

"What."

"Why have you turned to a life of crime? And what does this mean for our long-standing rivalry?" He did not stop talking at all, slapping his white feathered wings on Jay's face, "And how can we be enemies if we're both criminals? You're messing everything up!"

"First, I'm not turning to a life crime. Second, there is no rivalry, and third, you're weird. Stop talking to me." He snapped back, completely and thoroughly annoyed.

Right before the chatterbox was going to continue blabbering, a stop of the bus diverted their attention. The cop cars stopped as well.

"We're there already?" Kai stood up at his seat, dying to leave this place. Lloyd stood up as well, unintentionally noticing Zane holding a black, mechanical arm.

The ninja saw the officer driver at the front leave the bus, walking into the roads. Maybe the bus malfunctioned?

The guards walked out, approaching a vehicle in front of the road. An old man with a straw hat stood in front of his van, where fumes of smoke rose.

"What seems to be the problem, sir?" A guard inspected the van.

The old man started wildly flailing his arms and legs like a monkey practising ballet, "Ooh, well one minute she was purrin' along, and then somethin' went screwy, and she started makin' a sound," He started dramatically dancing around, "Like a clunka clunka clunka, and then a sound like a chugga chugga chugga. And then she just went pow! And rolled to a stop!"

"Hmm. Sounds like you might have a blown piston." The other guard replied, somehow unreactive to the old man's ridiculous goofiness.

"Yeah, that'll happen if you don't change your oil regular." The guard added.

"That guy reminds me of someone." Cole peaked from the windows.

"Yeah, me too." Jay replied.

Fugidove's cry didn't fill the night, but certainly annoyed Jay to the fullest. Jay was just about to talk back to him, only to see a large shadow casted around them, following with a sudden thump on the ground.