Taking Control. (a Ninjago fanfic)

Chapter 8- The stillness of fear

N Y A

We'd been walking for what felt like ages, and we'd found nothing. The mission was starting to feel useless, like some prank a couple of teenagers pulled to waste our time.

"Guys!"Lloyds voice sounded through the intercom, crackling. "We need help! The mechanic- he's here! Get to the top floor as quickly as you can!"

He sounded panicked. Scared, even. I didn't even respond, just whirled around to face Zane. His face was grave, the kind of expression he only wore when things were really bad. Without a second thought, we both broke into a run, our footsteps echoing loudly through the hallways.

We'd walked a long way so it took a while, but eventually the stairs were in view. Hopefully we weren't too late. Hopefully they were ok.

I ran up the stairs, my legs burning with each step. As soon as we reached the top, I took off down the corridor, my heart racing, eyes darting in every direction, searching for any sign of trouble, any hint of the danger that Lloyd had warned us about.

But there was nothing. No sounds of battle, no signs of struggle, nothing at all. Just an empty hallway stretching out in front of me, bathed with the warm light streaming through the shoji screens. My footsteps slowed to a stop, and the silence was almost eerie, a heavy, unnatural quiet that settled over everything. I stopped for a moment, straining to hear even the faintest sound, but there was nothing. Just stillness.

I glanced over my shoulder at Zane, his own face a full of confusion and worry as he scanned the corridor. Everything looked... normal. Peaceful, even, as if nothing had happened, as if the danger we were rushing toward had somehow vanished the moment we arrived. The emptiness was almost worse than any chaos we might have run into because it felt wrong. I felt my heart sinking, a sick, uncertain feeling creeping in. Something was very, very wrong here.

We kept moving, checking every corner, every darkened doorway, hoping we'd find something, but there was no one to be seen. Not Jay, not Lloyd, not even any villain. Just silence, stretching on and on, taunting us with its calm, lulling us into a sense of false security so it could attack us in the last second.

We turned the corner and my eyes fell upon a green figure on the ground.

Lloyd sat there, slumped against the wall. He was slowly rubbing his neck, over and over again- looking completely shattered. My heart sank. I could see it in his eyes— that haunted look. Whatever happened here was bad. Really bad.

"Lloyd," I said, trying to keep my voice steady even though my pulse is racing, "Are you okay? What happened?" I reach out, grabbing his arms, and pulling them gently away from his neck. An awful, red ring adorned his throat, like he was strangled.

I felt this tight, sick feeling twist in my stomach, and I pushed down the wave of fear rising in my chest. I can't let myself think the worst—not yet. I need to know. I need to know he's okay.

"Lloyd..." I try again, my voice barely more than a whisper now. I can hear it break a little, but I don't care. "Please. Tell me. Where's Jay?"

He closed his eyes, like he was trying to shut out some horrible memory, and for a second, I wanted to shake him, to make him snap out of it. I needed him to say something, anything, because every second of silence was filling my mind with a thousand horrible possibilities.

Finally, he spoke, and his words hit me like a punch to the chest. "It's... it's Jay. The Overlord- the overlord possessed him."

I could barely breathe. My mind went numb, and all thoughts just stopped. My brain was silent, and I just stood there for a second, not feeling anything, not doing anything- before I felt my heart clench so hard it was painful. Jay, my Jay- my husband, my ying, possessed by that monster? That beast? That evil, evil motherfucker?

The room felt like it was closing in, and I couldn't make sense of it, couldn't believe it was real. I wanted to scream, to yell at Lloyd to tell me he's wrong, that there's been some mistake. But the look in his eyes told me everything I needed to know. Haunted.

I took a shaky breath, trying to pull myself together. He needs me to be strong.

"Did he... did he say anything?" I ask, hoping for even the smallest sign that he's still in there, that there's still a chance.

Lloyd just shook his head, looking away. And that's when I felt it—the anger, this sharp, fierce surge of determination I didn't even know was there. I didn't care if the Overlord himself has him. We've fought our way through worse before, and we'll do it again. Ninja never quit, and we always find a way to make things right. We defeated him many times already, we can do it again.

I turned to Zane, who was watching me with a quiet, sad understanding, and then back to Lloyd. "Then we find him. We bring him back," I said, my voice steady, even though inside I'm barely holding on. "I'm not losing him. Not like this."

Lloyd nodded shakily, but went back to rubbing his neck, over and over again, each rub getting harder and angrier until they turned into scratches. I grabbed his hands and put them firmly onto his lap, and he looked at me, tears brimming in his eyes. "He- he said,.." the poor boy started.

"He said he was going to kill us all, one by one. And- and he'd save me for last so I could watch all my friends die."

I was speechless. Who could say that to a child? One thought ran loud and clear through my mind. The overlord was a monster, and needed to die. Whatever way possible, whatever method needed. He needed to die, and soon. I needed to get Jay back, in whatever way necessary.

"We will get Jay back, Lloyd. I promise." Zane nodded in agreement, and we helped the shaky ninja to his feet. He sniffed, and rubbed the tears from his eyes. "Yeah." He muttered, and started off down the corridor. I shared a horrified look with Zane before we followed suit.