Just an Illusion (A Ninjago Reader Insert)

Tricked and Trapped

"Where's Y/n?" one yelled.

"Play dumb," thought Cole.

"Who's Y/n?"

"Not that dumb!"

The guard rolled his eyes and ordered the others to search the place. Y/n was silently panicking, not knowing if she could use her powers again. But she had to try.

She imagined herself as a chameleon, mirroring the background behind her. Looking at her hands, she could see that she had changed a little. Her grey attire stayed the same, so she quickly lay down against some boxes, to appear as an old rag. She shut her eyes tight and held her breath.

One of the guards had strayed from the group and was searching in the furthest corner right. He saw a group of boxes nearby, and grinned. She had to be behind there. He jumped to the side to look, but only saw a grey towel. He wanted to keep looking, but the head guard called them all back. He groaned and went back to the doors, leaving with the rest of the group.

"Y/n? They're gone!" called Cole.

She sighed in relieve and rose from her hiding spot, letting herself return to normal. She stumbled over to the group of fighters gathered around.

"Thanks for not snitching," she muttered.

"No problem. Now why are you being chased by those guys?"

She opened her mouth to speak but felt a shock of pain flooding through her.

"Ms? You appear to be bleeding," someone said. Her vision was fogging up, but she could see enough to make out a thin wound running down her arm.

"Well would you look at that?" she whispered, her head aching. She felt herself hit the floor, and all went black.

***

The elemental masters ran around gathering materials. Cole was muttering under his breath. "Build a jet engine they said, it'll be fine they said."

From a corner came a light groaning, followed by a croaky voice. "What in the name of fuck is going on?"

"Y/N!"

The group ran to the far edge of the factory where they'd hidden her. She was pulling herself up carefully, while staring at the bandage on her arm.

"What the hell happened to me?"

"You were bleeding. Pretty nasty cut too," replied Griffin.

"Bleeding? From what?"

"No clue. You must've cut it when you ran in here."

"I do not find that likely Cole. From my assessment, the wound did not appear to have burst open rather than being cut, and I could not find any residue of the potential external sources."

Y/n frowned to herself. She looked up and saw a strange metal man in front of her. "Who's that guy and why is he speaking nerd?"

Jay laughed. "Ooh, burn buddy!" he cackled, leaning against him. "This is Zane. Cole found him a while ago."

Y/n looked perplexed. "He's actually made of titanium? I thought that was just the statue?"

"Well yeah, but no- it doesn't matter. How do you feel?"

She stood up slowly. "As good as expected, I guess."

The group nodded. "Hey, now you're awake, we don't need to make the jet engine, right? You can just bust us out!" said Tox.

"Jet engine?"

"That was Clouse's idea. Clouse builds engine with the help of the other prisoners."

"Okay....but aren't we underground?"

"Yes! Thank you!"

Y/n rolled her eyes and turned to the door. "I guess I could break us out, but it might take a minute."

"Wait! Are you sure it's safe?" asked Jay

"He has a point. You may be hurting yourself by using your powers."

Y/n groaned. "C'mon guys. Do you want to escape or not?"

"Y/n. Think about it. You bust us out now, and we all go out with no weapons or powers. Or we could wait till the jet's finished and go out with something to defend ourselves with."

She sighed. "Ok, fine. How long's this jet gonna take?"

"A few more hours?"

"Alright then. Let's get going with it."

***

Kai kept tripping up on the chains around his legs. A guard was dragging him along to who knows where. "Would you slow down? I'm no good to you tangled up in these things."

The guard ignored him as he continued his march through the tunnel. Kai rolled his eyes as he wondered where his friends were. He hoped they'd found Y/n by now; after what he'd learned in the jungle, he could understand her vendetta against Chen and Clouse. Still, it was suspicious how keen Chen was to get her on her own.

Something much bigger was going on here, and he was afraid he would be powerless to stop it.

It surprised him just how concerned he was about her. But hey, two birds of a feather stick together, or whatever the phrase is.

At the end of the tunnel, he met Clouse, who stopped them. "I wish to speak to the ninja alone." The guard took off around the corner, and left Clouse to continue the march.

"Oh, hey Clouse, quick question. Did you always look like an asshole, or did you just get a smaller brain for your big head?"

Clouse scoffed at that. "I'd hold my tongue if I were you. You wouldn't want anyone to get anymore hurt then necessary, would you?"

"The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm sure you know your little friend still hasn't been found. Poor girl. Such a shame what happened back then, but it is what it is."

"That's all you have to say about it? You took everything from her-"

"Not lightly mind. She had every chance to cooperate-"

"Are you kidding? She was a kid! You don't do that do a child!"

Clouse turned sharply to him. "That's what I hate about children. Their own innocence is their greatest weakness. They are so hopeful and happy it's sickening."

Kai groaned. "Quit with the metaphors already!"

Clouse turned back to the path ahead. "You know, it's quite lucky you were made aware of our predicament. At least once we're done with her, someone can speak for her."

"What is your big plan, huh? What's your great strategy?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

Silence descended upon them. This was how it was till they meet Chen in the main hallway. As Clouse unlocked the chains, he whispered in his ear.

"You really have a habit of falling for tricks and illusions, don't you?"

Kai looked up at him and stared, staring as they walked away, staring as Clouse sneered back. He'd definitely missed something here. Something big.