I can see you (waitin' down the hall from me)

chapter tenn >:)

   Sunlight dusted the looming building as the motercycles parked next to a worn down electrical fence. Kai's home had dark gray walls with peeling wallpaper somehow on the outside. The ground around it was uneven and had metal spikes poking out of it. Cole made sure to be careful with his steps when followimg the red criminal through a gap between to walls that had fallen down and landed together. The redhead, who Cole quickly found out was named Wyldfire, walked behind the group, checking that the bikes were concealed properly.

  "What is this place?" Cole cocked his head and asked. With a smile, Kai pushed open two red velvet curtains to reveal a huge room.

  "My humble abode!" he announced. There were two sections of it, a top one that you could reach with a grand carpeted spiral staircase in the middle of the room, and the main one. Books of all shapes and sizes lined the upper floor's walls. There were high-tech computer moniters and an assortment of weapons hanging on hooks. The walls were a shade of warm brown like cocoa. On the bottom section tables and kitchen were scattered across the left side of the floor. Delicious smelling dishes were displayed for the criminals and the detective.

  "This place isn't too shabby," Cole remarked.

  "Not too shabby? This place is amazing! You stepped up on the base Wyldfire," Kai said. His hand moved to ruffle her blazing red hair, but she quickly ducked out of the way, hiding behind Pinky, who looked exasperated.

  "Sora, save me!" Wyldfire shoved Pinky forward. The group seemed like a tight knit family. Each definitely had different roles. Cole could already tell Kai's position as the leader and Wyldfire's position as the bodyguard. The other two, he had no clue.

  "Before we can get to rescuing Lloyd, you should meet everyone. This is Wyldfire." Kai pointed to the redhead. "Sora," Pinky. "Arin," Duh. "And Pixal." Kai pointed to the second floor where a woman with silver hair stood organizing the weapon wall.

  "Pixal?" Cole thought aloud. Her head darted over to look at him. Pixal's eyes widened and she immediately set down the reflective sword in her hand.

  "You weren't supposed to find out like this. Don't tell Zane, he mustn't know," Pixal said.

  "What? You guys know eachother?" Kai asked.

  "Yeah, you could say that." Cole moves to walk up the stairs. "It's great to see you," Cole says when he reaches Pixal.

  "Pixal has started getting inside information on 'The Quiet one's base. There are three potential rooms where Lloyd may be," Kai started.

  "We have been working on a plan to extract him since you stepped foot inside their base," Sora finished.

  "We will split up into three teams. Each of us will be attached with a communication device and a weapon," Pixal said.

  "We should contact the station. They'll know what to do and we will have more officers on our side," Cole said.

  "Are you crazy? They would probably not only track your phone, but they definitely have spies on the inside. I got spies! And I'm just a lowly criminal," Kai exclaimed.

  "You're Ninjago's most wanted," Cole deadpanned.

  "Hell yeah, I am!" Kai had his tongue between his teeth as he grinned. "This mission of sorts is going to have to stay inside this group of six. The cops are going to blow the whole operation."

  "There is way more happening down at the base than we initially thought," Arin began. "Whoever is in charge there, has something much bigger in plan."

Throughout the evening different ideas were tossed out. The plan was formulating, but slowly. Soon people got hungry and the work had to be stunted.

 
Cole hung back with Kai. He leaned back on the counter. Dinner dishes were piled next to the sink and a sponge lay lazily on top.

  "I hope you understand the risks of involving 17 year olds in this," Cole said.

  "They won't be involved. I'll save him." Kai moved to stand next to Cole. His eyes were locked on the ground, observing the brown hardwood.
 
  "We're gonna need more people then, Lloyd has lots of security surrounding him. Last time we entered the building, my officers barely made it out," Cole began. "I want to save him as much as you do, but if we do this foolishly with no backup other than a mechanic, Lloyd won't be getting out of there and we won't either."

  Kai brought his eyes upwards to meet Cole's. "And what do you think your cop buddies will do when they find out about Arin, Sora, Wyldfire? Pixal?" Kai stated. His head tilted towards the direction of the kids. "It's us against them."

  "Unless," Cole trailed off. Was there anyone else?  What if cops weren't their only option? "I have an idea."

____________________________________________

814 words