Heroes in the Shadows

Chapter 27 The Kiss & The Sludge

"I hope this works."

"Do you guys really think their leader is... well... you know."

"Let's hope I'm wrong, but we need to make sure Lloyd's power is able to over power it. Otherwise, my power will be the only weapon to fight against his darkness inside the bracelets," Wu explained slowly as he, the ninja, and Misako circled their unconscious captive. They had already tied him to a chair and took off his mask. He was a middle aged man with a big brown beard. Kai had been right about the no shower part since his hair was greasy under the light of the room. They all stood inside a storage room and took out all of the boxes and extra furniture. If they were right about who the gang's leader was, then they didn't want him to take over the elemental's mind and find out where they were. Luckily, the room had no windows, but they still didn't want to take any chances. Wu let out a sigh as he stared down at the bracelet their captive wore. "If that were the case, then I'm not sure how much I would be able to help with the rest of the gang. My powers are fading with my age. This has to work... or we're all out of options."

"Shouldn't we bring Cole and Seliel here in case the elemental doesn't cooperate?" Zane suggested, weary of the not so secure restraints on their prisoner.

"Let's not disturb the love birds," Jay teased with a chuckle.

"Plus, it's one elemental master against all of us. There's no way he's getting out of here," Kai added, punching his hand with his fist. He glanced over at Lloyd, who had remained silent while standing infront of the prisoner. "You ready, Lloyd?" The green ninja closed his eyes, letting out a shaky breath. He then opened them back up with a stronger gaze.

"Let's see if my father's still alive," He whispered sternly. He motioned Jay to come over. The Master of Lightning walked towards their prisoner. He bent down and started pulling open the bracelet. Large sparks flew out of the device every which way. Instead of flowing into the Master of Nature, it shot up through Jay. The blue ninja felt tingly inside, but other then that, he was perfectly fine. As Jay opened the bracelet far enough, though, a strange dark sludge began sliding out of it. Jay shot back in alarm, causing the bracelet to fall, but the sludge had already latched onto the Master of Nature. His body jolted and stirred. His head shot up, eye lids burst open, and he gasped for air.

"NOW LLOYD!" Wu demanded. The green ninja closed his eyes with his hands placed together over his chest. A small greenish light formed in his palms, and it gradually grew bigger and bigger. Lloyd peeked to see the sludge began to shrink in protest. It had stopped entering the Elemental Masters' body and turned its attention souly on Lloyd. It hissed like a sick feline. The slime shot forward to attack the green ninja, but Kai blasted it with fire. It was knocked to the floor and tumbled as if it were a real beast. Jay and Zane backed away from the slimy mess. However, it barely seemed to notice the white or blue ninja. It turned its focus now on the fire master.

BLAST!

The sludge slid out of the way of Lloyd's energy blast and splat on the ground. It then picked itself back up started crawling fast after Kai. The fire master launched more attacks, but the flames seemed to only fuel the slimey spider-creature more. It latched itself onto Kai's foot, and the red ninja panicked with pure terror.

"Why the heck is it after me now!?" Kai spat, shaking his leg to fling the sludge off.

"Maybe it's because you tried to barbecue it?!" Jay exclaimed sarcastically.

"No, it's because it can sense powers of destruction. It wants your power," Misako explained quickly.

"What!?" Kai shouted until Misako grabbed a hold of the sludge.

"Jay! Zane! Help me get this off of him!" Misako spoke as the black slime stretched like taffy in her hands.

"Won't it try to latch on to us too?" Zane asked with clear concern.