Flames of the Past #2: Beginning of Chaos (Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 9

"A pile of goop?" Chester echoed Kai. "What does that mean?"

"It means one of Alfonso's own did this to him," Cole answered, crossing his arms.

"Why would they do that?"

Kai stared at the goop on the screen. "They must've thought he'd start talking soon," he murmured. "And I guess they'd thought it'd be easier to kill him than to break him out."

"Maybe they overheard what Lloyd wanted to do," Cole muttered.

Lloyd glared at him, but Kai grew thoughtful. "It's not impossible," he pointed out.

"I beg to differ," Skylor cut in. "How would a gang member get inside our palace walls, much less the dungeon? There were no signs of a break-in on any of the cameras."

"I don't think they had to break in," Kai said. "Hijacking our research, murdering Alfonso—all this can't be a coincidence."

Skylor stared at him. "What are you saying?"

Kai returned her gaze. "I think there's a gang member right here in the palace," he claimed. "Hiding in plain sight."

"A spy?" Skylor asked.

"A spy," Kai confirmed.

Chester grinned. "Awesome," he breathed.

Lloyd switched his glare to the prince. "It's far from awesome, Dimples," he spat. Then he glanced at Kai. "That must be why Dad won't tell us everything right now. We could be compromised."

Kai nodded. "Especially with... you know."

Cole met his eye. "You think he's the spy?"

"Who?" Skylor demanded.

Kai glanced at her, hesitating. He opened his mouth, but Lloyd and Cole were shaking their heads at him.

"If there's a spy in my kingdom, I'd like to know who you think it is," Skylor prompted.

Kai gazed into her intense eyes. What was the harm in telling her? It was just a suspicion, anyway. "Well, you see, one of our senseis used to be a part of the Sons of Darkness," he began. He heard Cole facepalm and Lloyd curse. "And he thinks it's... Clouse."

"Clouse?" Skylor raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

Kai gave an awkward laugh. "I mean, he is kinda sketchy, don't you think?"

"He was my father's advisor," Skylor reminded him.

"Wait, your sensei was a part of the gang?" Chester asked, folding his arms across his chest. "How do we know he's not the spy?"

Kai stared at him. He didn't even know what to say to such a stupid accusation.

"Kai." Lloyd cleared his throat as he and Cole brought the red ninja aside. "We shouldn't be telling them all this."

"Why not?" Kai's eyes flared with frustration. "It's their kingdom, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but like Lloyd said, we could be compromised," Cole answered.

Kai stared at him in disbelief. "You think the spy could be one of them?"

"No. But there are guards around, and in a room with all this tech, anything could be tapped," Lloyd grunted. "So let's just keep all this between us, okay?"

Kai sighed. "Fine."

The three turned back to Chester and Skylor.

"You don't have to worry about any of this," Lloyd told them. "We'll handle it."