The Silent Man's Whisper [ninjago]

28 | shocked

Dire times required desperate decisions.

For Zane Julien, those decisions stretched the boundaries of desperate. His nerve circuits were through the roof, his fingers fidgety, and his thoughts ran a hundred miles per hour without his consent.

This was not how Zane usually operated, neither how he wanted to operate.

When it came to Pixal, however, he felt like a different man, a different nindroid. He could barely control his emotions. Was this the human equivalent of anxiety attacks? He was unsure.

His calculated gaze followed Lloyd's moving body as his leader came up with a strategy. Their plan was to take back Pixal, no matter how, as quickly as possible.

Lloyd told his friends his plan with a straight face, all signs of joking long gone. "We need to prepare to face the worst," he said. "There is a chance they knew Pix sent us that short message. There is a chance they are waiting for our arrival."

Jay pulled on his gloves as he looked at Lloyd unsurely. "You sure we should...you know, go in there? Where the villains are probably all staying? Right now?"

Lloyd stopped pacing and rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Yes, I'm sure. Unless anyone else has a better idea."

The other five ninja looked at each other before turning back to Lloyd, shaking their heads.

"Great. Let's go."

The team went back down to Ninjago on their own, without their master or Misako, in the dead of night, where they were sure nobody would see them, recognize them, and report them to the authorities. The amount of enemies they had to fear was a pain to keep count of.

They were dressed in their gi's for the added protection, since they knew there was a high chance they would have to fight the enemy down there, where Pixal was. Because it was pitch black outside, their bright-colored gi's were muted and very unrecognizable, so that also helped in their case.

Cole lifted the grate so that everybody else could get through before he lowered himself down and closed the grate over his head. The rusty ladder creaked under his body weight, and Cole feared it would break, but he landed on the concrete with a relieved sigh before the ladder could betray him in front of his friends.

The ninja brought out their flashlights and ventured down the path they were all familiar with by now. As Lloyd passed by Kai, he noticed the Red Ninja wasn't using his regular flashlight but the flashlight on his phone.

"I forgot mine at home, okay?" Kai answered once he was asked about it.

Nya sighed. "You shouldn't have come, Kai. You know how—"

"I'm fine, sis. The bullet only grazed my skin. There's no way I'm letting you guys have all the fun while I stay on the Bounty and count the floorboards." He moved his phone around and looked at the moist walls, his face scrunching up in disgust. The fishy smell clogged up his nose. "On second thought, I think should have—AH!"

The ninja stopped walking and all pointed their flashlights at Kai at the same time, expecting a serious situation that entailed danger, but instead Kai stepped back and hid behind his sister.

"What?" Jay asked, not understanding what was happening. There was no apparent danger in sight. No enemies, no rabid animal, no pesky creature.

"That thing bit me!" Kai pointed down at Jay's right, and upon a closer glance, a pair of black eyes stared back at them.

It was a large rat, gray fur, long tail, expansive stomach. It was standing on its hind legs and looking at the ninja curiously before turning around and scurrying back into the darkness.