Legends of Ninjago: Book 2: Rise of the Serpentine: Chapter 19 — Hailstorm

“Keep moving!”

“Does anyone see Ann?”

“I think they stopped chasing us.”

Kai, Zane, Jay, and Keaton stopped for a moment to catch their breath. They had been running non-stop from the Serpentine construction sight, and only now did they feel remotely safe.

“We... shouldn’t... have left Ann,” Keaton lamented through heavy gasps.

Zane put a hand on her shoulder. “She’ll be alright. She’s tough, remember?” He tried to give her a smile, but Keaton’s frown didn’t disappear.

“Well, she didn’t get sucker punched in the chest,” Jay whined, lying on the ground. “I’ll be feeling that one in the morning... ow...”

Kai leaned against a tree and breathed in and out deeply. The only thing on his mind was Cole. He kept thinking if maybe he’d done things differently—maybe if he’d been better to his friend—maybe, maybe, maybe... ugh! He was getting sick of the word already. But the fact still remained: this was largely his fault, and he knew it.

“Come on. We shouldn’t linger here,” Zane said. He pulled everyone up to their feet and led them forward. “Kai, were did you say that car was?”

“It’s just up ahead,” Kai mumbled.

Half an hour later, they were standing outside of the armoured car, waiting. There were crows squawking off in the distance, and a cold, grey layer of clouds was rolling in. Kai leaned against one of the doors and stared at the ground. Everyone seemed unable to accept what had happened.

“Can’t we wait a few more minutes?” Keaton asked, sill scanning the trees.

Zane sighed. “It’s too risky. We’ve been here long enough already.” He popped open the door to the driver’s seat and starting climbing in.

“But—but we can’t leave! What if—?” Keaton stuttered.

“Keaton... we have to assume that she’s been taken,” said Zane simply. His expression was steady and solemn. “We’ll get her back. Just not today.”

Keaton stood stalk still and starred at Zane. Her jaw began to shake terribly, and her fingers curled into fists.

“Keat... come on,” Jay said gently, walking over to her.

She rubbed the water out of her eyes and gave a big sniff before she finally started moving toward the car. Jay and Kai climbed in after that, and Zane started up the engine. It seemed to be routine for silence to overtake the vehicle, leaving Kai to take in the ominous weather outside.

After a few minutes, Jay reached up to the dashboard and clicked something. Instantly, the radio came to life.

“Baby, baby, baby! Oh!”

click!

“Chloe! I know you sister—“

click!

“...on the good times, blame it on the boogie!”

click!

“...has thrown Ninjago into quite the state of alarm, dampening much of what we now know to be premature celebrations.” Everyone sat up a little straighter in their seats. “The town’s people have been taken to the nearest hospital where many seem to be suffering from severe mental trauma. The doctor’s say they have no idea what could have caused this strange case, but the patients themselves say they already have the answer. They claim that a group of mythical Serpentine came and ‘took control over them all,’ causing quite the stir among the historical and fantasy communities. Whatever the case, no video footage was recovered from the crime scene before it was set ablaze, leaving everyone to wonder what really happened.”

Kai’s ears perked up when the news anchor mentioned a fire. Was that part of the reason why the army had closed off the town?

“On a slightly brighter note, military forces have finally managed to take back the Undead Citadel, formerly known as Dead Man’s Stronghold. An intense investigation has commenced, and as many as five hundred prisoners have been found and returned home as of today.”

Kai’s breath caught. Five hundred prisoners? Could two of them possibly be... no... no. He remembered something now. During his interrogation with Lloyd, the boy had been very adamant about not having his parents in custody. But still... he could’ve been lying... maybe there was a secret cell for high priority prisoners? If there was any chance that they were out there, he had to go and see for himself. It was now at the top of his list of priorities, and he’d be heading back to Harper Vale as soon as he could.

“In other news, the identity of the Garmadon impersonator from a few weeks ago has finally been revealed. In an official statement from General Prasert Niran, he stated that it was nothing more than Garmadon’s twelve-year-old run-away son, Lloyd Garmadon. He went on to say that the boy’s whereabouts are currently unknown, and they are asking people to immediately contact local authorities if they have any information on his location, but they have also issued a warning not to approach him if found, as he still may be dangerous.”

“Could you please turn it off?” Keaton asked, leaning against the cold window, and fogging up the glass with her breath.

Jay was about to hit the power button when the news anchor suddenly said, “Breaking news! I’m being told right now that...”

“I said, please turn it off,” Keaton said again.

Jay reluctantly hit the button and the speaker’s voice died away.

As they were just about to rejoin the highway, Kai remembered the radio in his travel bag. It had been way over two hours now, and he was late for his scheduled check-in. Scooping it out of the small case, he held it up to his lips and pressed a small button.

“Fireboy, calling Tortoise. I repeat, this is Fireboy calling Tortoise, over.”

“What are you doing?” Jay asked, turning around in his seat.

“Wu gave me orders to check in every two hours,” he said simply. However, fifteen seconds later, there was still no response. “I repeat, this is Fireboy, calling Tortoise. Are you there? Over.” Nothing but static.

A sporadic hail storm had begun, and hundreds of tiny, white ice chunks pelted the car, before finally dropped to the ground and soaking the road. Kai didn’t like this one bit.

He tried one more time. “Tortoise, do you read me? This is Fireboy! Are you there?”

After another stretch of silence, Zane said, “It’s probably just the storm.”

“Maybe,” Kai mumbled.

Keaton adjusted her seat and hunkered down for the rest of the ride, and Zane had to turn on the heat after a certain point. Meanwhile, the sky kept getting darker, and the air kept getting colder.

They had taken a back road to the monastery, in the interest of keeping a low profile, and Kai was anxious to see Wu as soon as possible, but the longer they bounced over the dirt road, the more of a sick feeling he got in his gut.

Finally, they rounded the last corner, the corner that led straight into one of the smaller courtyards, when they were stopped by a dozen men in black military armour pointing automatic crossbows at them.

“Park the vehicle, and step out with your hands on your head!” one of them shouted.

“What?” Jay stammered.

“Everyone, stay calm,” Zane said quickly. “Just do what you’re told. Hopefully, this is some kind of misunderstanding.” With one hand up where the agents could see, he quickly parked the car and took the key out of the ignition.

“Get out of the vehicle, NOW!” someone else barked.

Kai reached down and grabbed his door handle, stepping out into the freezing cold with his hands behind his head just as instructed. Was this some sort of drill? Where these guys new guards maybe?

“What’s going on?” Kai asked as four of the men marched forward. “Where’s—?”

“Put your head on the hood of the car!” the man in front of Kai shouted.

“What?!” Kai cried.

“Now!” he shouted again. This time, he grabbed Kai by the arm and shoved him toward the car hood. Jay, Zane, and Keaton were already lowering their heads, looking just as shocked and confused as Kai, who followed suit. Once they were all in position, the men came forward and started handcuffing each of them.

“Ow! Watch it, tall, dark, and ugly! It doesn’t need to be that tight!” Jay complained. The man cuffing him made no response.

“Guys, what’s happening?” Keaton asked, looking more worried than ever.

“I don’t know,” Kai said, completely lost.

After that, they were padded down and relieved of all their throwing knives, first aid, katanas, food, and radios. One of the men stepped forward, his face covered with a black helmet, mask, and visor.

“This way,” was all he said. The four ninja were escorted into the monastery, and out of the hail, where they saw hundreds of agents combing through every last nook and cranny. There was caution tape, metal detectors, and a bunch of other doodads that Kai couldn’t even identify. They uprooted every potted plant, tore through every closet, and confiscated every weapon. At one point, Kai spotted a soldier carrying a pile of knick knacks and clothes that used to be up in his room.

“Hey! Those are mine!” Kai blurted. But before he could move a single step forward, he got hit in the head with the butt of a crossbow.

“Keep moving,” one of the agents said, and on they went. Kai gave a menacing growl, and wanted nothing more than to return the favour to that no-good, heartless, cretan.

It seemed as though they were being taken to the dining hall, and when they arrived, Nya was there waiting for them, handcuffed to one of the tables.

“Kai!” she called.

“Nya! What did they do to you?!” Kai’s fury was reaching it’s limit. If they had hurt her, he wouldn’t be able to keep the flames at bay.

The guards dropped them off with Nya, guarded by five men, and then went back to demolishing the monastery.

“I’m fine,” said Nya, trying to find a comfortable sitting position. “But these guys won’t be, now that you’re here!”

Kai quickly elbowed her in the side.

“Oww! What the—!”

“Shhh!” Kai hissed.

“You mean...?” she asked. Her eyes seemed to finish the sentence, ‘You’re not going to use your powers?’

Kai gave only one nod in response. “Now would you mind telling us what’s going on?!”

“I was up in my room, right where Master Wu told me to be, and then all these cars pulled up out front. The next thing I knew, the place was flooded with soldiers, and I was being hand cuffed and dragged here. They won’t say anything, either! And I haven’t seen Master Wu since this morning,” Nya explained. Everyone exchanged worried looks. Of all the times for something like this to happen, this was the worst possible time in the history of the world. But what should they do? By the oath of the ninja, they technically weren’t supposed to tell anyone besides Wu about their mission and what had gone wrong, but how could they get to him? Was he even able to help them right now?

A few minutes later, two men came in who were different from the rest. The first was wearing a fedora and spectacles, with a beige trench coat over a plain, grey suit. He looked tired and smelled like cigarettes. The second had a large forehead and was wearing a black suit and sunglasses, carrying a heavy briefcase. Judging by his face, he looked as though he had just eaten something sour, or maybe that’s just how he looked all the time.

“Alright, these the ones?” the first man asked the guards. They gave him a look that said, ‘what do you think?’ “Ugh, you military guys and your protocol... hello, children, my name is Mr. Iwata, social services.” He lazily pulled out a small card with his name and a symbol on it.

“Agent Duan. IBI,” said the second man, and he pulled out a shiny badge from his jacket. Putting it away again, he continued, “Let’s make this simple: tell me your names and we can have you back with your families as soon as possible.”

“...if you aren’t sent to juvy hall first, that is...” Mr. Iwata added under his breath.

Kai swallowed hard. Where was Wu? Wherever he was, he’d want his students to keep their identities secret for as long as possible. Preferably forever. So he set his jaw and glared up at the social worker. Everyone else slowly did the same.

Mr. Iwata rolled his head and gave a long sigh. “We’re gonna do it this way, huh?”

“Trust me,” Agent Duan said, “Things will be a lot easier—for all of us—if you just cooperate.” Kai wouldn’t be budged, and neither would his teammates.

Again, Mr. Iwata sighed. “Kids today...”

“Bring them,” Agent Duan told the soldiers.

Right away, they unchained Nya and dragged everyone up to their feet. Kai was getting real tired of being pushed around like this.

On and on and on they went until they reached the front courtyard and finally the great gates. The hail was letting up now, but the air was still frigid and everything was wet, including the muddy trail down the mountain. But before they reached the entrance to the park, they were met by half a dozen black cars sitting in the middle of the path. The soldiers told them to get in, and before Kai knew it, he was sitting, hand cuffed, in a government vehicle. The cherry on top was the black sack which was shoved over his head.

* * *

The ride wasn’t particularly long (Kai assumed that they were still in Ninjago City) and suddenly the sack was being removed and he and the others were ushered out of the car. They were in some kind of really nice, really large garage space. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all made of solid concrete with square pillars holding everything up. There was a large, automatic door for the cars to enter through, and a regular, human-sized door at the opposite end of the room.

“This way,” Agent Duan said, adjusting his jacket. When he moved, so did everyone else.

Kai did not like this one bit. He needed to memorise everything, in case he needed to make a quick getaway. The last thing he wanted was to be trapped here by the government forever.

A left... a right... down a flight of stairs... two lefts then another right. Then they stopped. There was a small sitting room right across from what appeared to be an interrogation room. Kai spotted the one-way mirror by the door and his mind began to race again. Exactly how much trouble were they in?

“So... who’s going first?” Mr. Iwata sighed. Kai rolled his eyes. “Oh, perfect. A volunteer. Come on.”

Kai’s escort pushed him forward and seated him in front of the social worker and the IBI agent before leaving. The door was closed, and the three of them were alone.

“Well, Mr. John Doe—can I call you John?” Agent Duan began. “You seem to be in a very peculiar situation. How old are you? Fifteen? Sixteen?” Kai didn’t say anything and stared down at the table. Neither men seemed phased. Instead, Agent Duan reached down and grabbed a small file from his briefcase. “Hmmm... and what exactly were you and your friends doing in that armoured car with all those dangerous weapons?” Kai still didn’t answer.

“How are you involved with Wu Garmadon? Did he abduct you? Cooers you or bribe you into working for him maybe?” Mr. Iwata asked. Kai struggled not ask questions of his own. Was this what the government thought Wu had been doing all this time? Kidnapping teenagers?

“Can you tell us why Wu brought you in?” Iwata continued.

“What would an old man like him want from a couple of kids?” Agent Duan seemed to be getting more and more menacing with every question. “John, allow me to paint a little picture for you... a family was reported missing from a little town called Harper Vale about two months ago...” he peered down at the file again. “Lee and Vivian Rayson, and two kids, Kai and Nya, the description of whom just so happens to match you and your sister out there perfectly.” He leaned in closer. “Did Wu promise to reunite you with your parents, Kai? Is that what he did? Hmm?” Kai tried to swallow as subtly as he could. Was this man suggesting that Wu... was lying... about everything? “Listen, kid, we know that Lord Garmadon took your parents, and if you cooperate, we may just be able to help you find them.”

Kai was completely blank. What to think, what to say, what to do, all of it just blinked away. The only safe option was to stay quiet... but what if he didn’t want to do that anymore?

A thought—a memory—suddenly sprang to mind: the day he had taken the oath. Wu hadn’t wanted them to stay. He had wanted them to go home. It was Kai’s own decision to stay. He had to remain strong. Wu didn’t do anything wrong! This guy was just trying to get information out of him. But he did need to choose his words carefully.

“Look, Wu hasn’t done anything wrong. I chose to be here. Period.” Kai hoped he sounded convincing enough. There was so much else he wanted to address, but fear told him not to say any more than he needed to.

Agent Duan gently tapped the paper file on the table for a few seconds. “All right, then,” he said. After a nod to his companion, Iwata got up and opened the door.

“Bring in the girl,” he said to the soldier.

Kai was suddenly being pulled to his feet again and pushed toward the door. He passed Nya on his way out, and he tried to convey a message with just a few quick facial expressions: “don’t tell him anything.” She seemed to understand, and took a short breath of dread.

* * *

Nya could hear her heart pounding in her ears as she sat in front of Mr. Iwata and Agent Duan. It hadn’t stopped since the soldiers first arrived at the monastery. She wished that, for one moment, she could get it to stop, to hide what she was really feeling, but unfortunately for her, Kai had always been better at disguising his emotions.

“Miss Nya Rayson, I take it?” Mr. Iwata asked.

Nya opened her mouth and then stopped. She had been about to say, “how did you know that?” when she remembered what Kai had tried to tell her. His message was received loud and clear, almost as if he had spoken the words directly to her. She had to stay quiet, so she closed her mouth and didn’t intend to open it again.

But Agent Duan only smirked. “All right, then... what’s your affiliation with Wu Garmadon?”

...

“Did Wu abduct you? Threaten you? Bribe you?”

...

“What does Wu want with you kids?”

...

“What is Wu planning?”

...

“Young lady, things will go a whole lot easier for you if you cooperate.”

Nya looked up. “Yeah? Like what?” Whoops. She had said something... Well, it was harmless, right? She didn’t reveal any information, right?

“Like...” Mr. Iwata breathed in another sigh. “...seeing your parents again.”

“You know where they are?” Nya blurted. Darn it! Her mouth was moving faster than she could think!

Agent Duan chuckled dismally. “Not yet, but we will. Sooner or later. And I’m sure you’d want to be there when we do, right?”

Nya could see where this was going now. She clamped her lips together and turned away. She was sealed up tight as a drum now.

“All we want is for you to get back where you belong,” the social worker said, leaning a bit closer. This time, Nya successfully resisted the urge to respond. She had some very particular things she wanted to say to the both of them, but she bit her tongue for the sake of her brother.

Mr. Iwata produced a small notepad and pen, and began scribbling something down on it. Then he got up and opened the door again. “Bring in the next one,” he said.

* * *

Jay nervously bounced his leg up and down as he waited for one of the men to speak. Kai had warned him not to say anything when they had been in the sitting room, waiting for Nya, and he intended to follow that advice, but did these guys have to be so creepy?

Finally, Agent Duan said, “You’re quite an enigma, young man.” He produced a single file from a briefcase on the floor. “Based on your photo ID, I assume that this is you?” He slid the open file over to him and saw his school ID photo staring back at him, along with all his personal information. For example, his sudden disappearance from school. “The only problem is: there’s no such person as ‘Jay Walker,’” Agent Duan continued. Jay’s head snapped to attention.

Mr. Iwata picked up the lead. “There’s no record of a Jay Walker being born sixteen years ago anywhere in Ninjago. So... who are you?”

Jay stared back down at the photo. No... record? What? How? Did his parents have him in secret or something? Why? What was there to hide? Other than... his powers... oh. That sort of made sense. So they knew all this time? They knew he had powers and never told him?

“So you didn’t know?” Mr. Iwata said gently. “Interesting... now, what reason could your parents possibly have for keeping you unregistered during all that time?”

Jay didn’t have an answer—for the agents or himself.

“What caused them to suddenly break the silence?” Agent Duan seemed very intrigued now.

“The war...” Jay mumbled, still transfixed on the photo.

Mr. Iwata leaned in a little closer. “By all accounts, your a victim in all of this. If you help us by answering a few more questions, we can keep you out of any legal trouble.” Jay looked up. Why did he have a feeling that whatever he was about to ask, Jay would be unable to answer? “Were Wu and your parents working together?”

Jay thought for a moment. “I don’t know.”

Agent Duan scribbled something down on a small notepad on the table. “And how did Wu bring you in?”

“He...” Jay stopped. He knew he shouldn’t say anything, but they seemed to be pin pointing Wu for some reason. The last thing he wanted to do was incriminate his Sensei. “He asked me nicely.”

“To do what?” Duan pressed.

Shoot! This is exactly where he didn’t want to be. Should he zip a lip, or try to weasel his way out of it?

“Well why don’t you ask him?” he finally said. “And while you’re at it, can you get me a strawberry banana milkshake? Extra whipped cream? I’m parched.”

“We’re asking you right now,” Agent Duan retorted.

“Well, ask me later,” said Jay, reclining in his seat. “When I have my milkshake.”

“No one’s getting any milkshake,” the agent pressed.

“Well, looks like neither of us are getting what we want,” Jay quipped.

Agent Duan suddenly stood up. “This isn’t a game. Tell us what you know, now!”

“Ah yes, shouting. My favourite part of the day,” Iwata said in a bored sort of way.

Jay’s throat caught and he looked the agent up and down. “Look, Sensei Wu is a good guy. Whatever bad things you think he’s done, you’re wrong. And I’m still waiting for that milkshake.”

Duan gave a smug “hmph!” and sat back down, writing something new on his notepad. Had Jay accidentally said something important? He didn’t think so.

* * *

Keaton stared down miserably at the boring table and gave another sniff. They were supposed to find Wu and go save Ann, not get arrested! Was Ann okay? Was she being tortured? Why didn’t she go back for her when she had the chance?!

“Hello? Little missy?” Mr. Iwata called, snapping his fingers.

Keaton didn’t care what he said. She was trained for this. No one could know about her powers, so she would have to wait for just the right time to escape and find Wu and then save Ann. Oh, and also Cole.

“Did you hear what we said?” Agent Duan repeated for the hundredth time. “What’s your name? That’s all we’re asking for.”

Keaton ignored them again. If they didn’t already know, then there was a good reason. She just kept her head down, mentally plotting her escape.

“Do you have family? A mother? Father? Sisters? Brothers?” Mr. Iwata went on, trying anything to get her attention. “Are you related to Wu maybe?” Agent Duan gave a sidelong glance at the social worker, who simply shrugged in reply.

“How long have you been with Wu?” Agent Duan asked. “Has he been teaching you and the others how to use weapons? What is he planning?” Keaton remained stone cold silent.

“That is the toughest little girl I’ve seen yet,” Iwata noted. “She’s not even scared of your ugly mug.”

“Mr. Iwata, if you don’t mind?” said Agent Duan.

“Fine, fine. Whatever.”

They could say whatever they wanted. It didn’t matter.

* * *

“Which just leaves us with you,” Iwata said as Zane sat down. “What’s your name?”

Zane felt very conflicted. On one hand, this was law enforcement, so he should comply, but on the other, he had sworn an oath to Sensei Wu, so he shouldn’t comply. He didn’t know how to respond, his brain just kept going back and forth between obeying law enforcement and obeying Wu.

They asked him a bunch more questions, mostly about Wu, and he stayed silent for all of them. They also didn’t seem to know anything about him, which was good. The last thing he wanted was the government on his tail with his personal information. Something about it just felt too... personal.

“This is your last chance,” Agent Duan said, rising from his chair. “Tell us what Wu is up to, or we’ll have no choice but to lock you up for a very long time.”

“Give it up, Duan,” Mr. Iwata said after a while. “These kids aren’t talking. Wu must’ve trained em’.”

Agent Duan sighed. “Perhaps.” He walked over to the door. “Take em’ to their cells. We’ll—“ suddenly, the radio at his hip stared gargling code words and other such gobbledygook. His eyes went wide, and he rushed off.

“Don’t hurry back,” Mr. Iwata remarked dully as he slowly rose from his chair. He followed Zane out to where the others were being pulled to their feet. “I warned you kids. You should’ve spoken up.”