We Are Survivors

Hunted

    As Mr. Pale lead everyone to see if Tox knew any good places to hide, Dareth informed Lloyd, "Have you seen the news lately? Ol' Garmy's first act as Emperor was to outlaw the color green. Seriously, out of all the new the laws he could've made, he chose to ban green! That dude really has it out for you."

    'Yes he does' thought Lloyd sadly. He said out loud, "Yeah, along with the entire Sons of Garmadon gang." He examined his surroundings and was mildly surprised by how... rough Mr. Pale's neighborhood appeared. He could get how Tox lived around here but he never would've guessed that Mr. Pale lived here too.

    "Tox practically blew up when she heard Garmadon's new law. I was barely able to rescue the TV from her wrath," laughed Mr. Pale. "She claims she'll never dye her hair a different color and there's nothing we can do about her green eyes. With the new law, she'll be arrested if she goes out. That's the main reason she wasn't with me and the kids today."

    "You live with Tox?" asked Skylor. Surprise was evident in her voice.

    "Yeah, we're really close friends. We both... have a history together and we both look really weird so it's hard for us to find good jobs. It just made sense for us to share an apartment and split the rent," explained Mr. Pale. He opened the door to an apartment complex that looked the worse for wear.

    "Yikes! This place needs a serious makeover. It's giving me the heebie-jeebies," commented Dareth as he looked around. He didn't mean any offense by it but he got a few looks from the others that said "mind your manners." 

    Mr. Pale started to feel self-conscious and nervous laugh. "Uh, well, it's the best we can do and we manage to get by."

    Mystaké gave Dareth a sharp tap on the back of his head with her cane for making Mr. Pale feel ashamed and embarrassed.

    As Mr. Pale was unlocking his apartment room, a brutish man with a jagged scar on his throat walked by. He eyed the group with suspicion as he walked into his own apartment. Mystaké shot the man a dark look of her own and was tempted to smack him with her cane.

    "Lloyd, I would suggest we get outta as soon as possible. I don't like the look of that guy," whispered Ronin. Lloyd nodded in agreement. It felt risky to be hanging around. Plus, if this guy made Ronin feel uneasy then it probably meant that this guy was pretty bad.

    As the group filed into the apartment, they quickly and awkwardly averted their eyes to the side, floor, or ceiling. Shade and Tox were sitting on the couch while kissing each other passionately. 

    Mr. Pale gave a loud cough and said a humor filled voice, "Are you two done? We've got guests."

    For Mr. Pale, it was extremely hilarious how Shade and Tox jumped at the sound of his voice and quickly moved away from each other. 

    Tox looked up and saw the visitors. She let out a few curses before yelling at Mr. Pale. "Luka! What the heck is going on?!" She and Shade felt really embarrassed that a bunch of people had just walked in on their make out session.

    "Luka? Who's that?" blurted Dareth in surprise. Everyone else just stood there in astonishment. They were learning a lot about Mr. Pale.

    "Oh, did you think my name was actually Mr. Pale or Paleman?" asked Luka in genuine interest. He turned and addressed Tox, "Lloyd is raising a rebellion. Do you know any places that could make a good base?"

    "A rebellion? Cool," commented Tox. "I know there's an abandoned nuclear power plant not far from here that's easily defensible and easy to escape from if need be. I also bet the thick metal walls on it would make it difficult for that evil android thing to track you. Does that sound like something you might be interested in?"