Ninjago: The Wishing Arc (6)

Chapter 104: Jail Break

It was lunchtime, and the atmosphere in the Kryptarium Prison cafeteria was as dismal as ever. The woman serving food, the notorious Lunch Lady, slopped a spoonful of something unrecognizable onto each prisoner's plate. Anna cringed as she looked down at the grayish, mushy blob on her tray, fighting the urge to gag. The smell alone was enough to turn her stomach. Across from her, Kai wasn't faring much better. In fact, he received an entire bucket of the slop, with some of it spilling over the edge of his tray and splattering onto the filthy floor.

"A little extra since you're my favorite," the Lunch Lady smirked, not even hiding her amusement at Kai's misfortune.

Kai shot her a forced smile before turning to follow the others, grumbling under his breath. "You said you wanted special treatment," Nya commented with a teasing smile as they made their way to the table.

"Not this kind of special treatment," Kai muttered back, casting a disgusted glance at his overflowing tray.

As they sat down, Jay couldn't contain his frustration any longer. "So the bad guys are out there while the good guys are stuck in here. It's not fair!" he said, his voice tinged with frustration.

"What was it your favorite movie character would say?" Cole asked with a smirk, mimicking a dramatic pose. "'Fair isn't a word where I come from!'"

"The word was fear," Jay snapped, glaring at Cole. "And if intergalactic space hero Fritz Donnegan were here, we'd already be out!" he added dramatically.

Anna, meanwhile, attempted to bite into what was supposed to be a muffin, but the texture was far from what she expected. She grimaced and nearly chipped a tooth. "Ugh, is this even a muffin?" she asked, pushing it away in disgust. "It feels more like a fossilized rock."

Lloyd, walking next to her, glanced at the untouched muffin and sighed. "Seems like Morro's not the only one skipping lunch today," he said dryly.

Anna barely paid attention to the chef's bitter words, the mocking tone sliding off her like water on glass. She'd heard worse. Instead, she kept walking, her focus elsewhere, until the lunch lady popped up beside her, startling her slightly. "Don't mind him," she whispered conspiratorially, "He's a Jay fan." Anna raised an eyebrow but didn't respond, choosing instead to follow her teammates to the nearest table where Lloyd was already trying to make some friendly overtures to the surrounding prisoners.

"Hi, guys, care for some ninja company?" Lloyd asked, his voice hopeful as he approached a table of inmates. The response was less than warm, the prisoners quickly standing and leaving without a word, their trays clattering as they abandoned the table. Lloyd's smile faltered, and he let out a small sigh as he took a seat. "Guess they can't all be fans," Zane said with a sympathetic tone, setting his own tray down beside Lloyd's.

The rest of the team followed, each of them taking their seats with varying levels of enthusiasm-or in Jay's case, none at all. The atmosphere in the prison cafeteria was bleak, to say the least, but Anna refused to let it dampen her resolve. She stabbed her fork into the questionable food on her tray and spoke up, her voice sharp with determination. "We may be out of the action, but that doesn't mean we can't take action. What are we going to do about this djinn?"

Her question seemed to pierce through the gloom, drawing the attention of everyone at the table-and someone else. "Did someone say Djinn?" a gruff voice interjected, dripping with intrigue. "Best not be speaking of Nadakhan The Djinn."

Anna turned around sharply, her eyes narrowing as she recognized the voice. Standing behind her was none other than Captain Soto, the notorious pirate who had once been a thorn in their side.

Kai raised an eyebrow. "His name is Nadakhan the Djinn?" he asked, clearly curious about the pirate's knowledge.

Jay chimed in, "Hey, it's Captain Soto. The first captain of the Destiny's Bounty."