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“I’m so glad you could make it!” Welcomed Cyrus Borg in front of Borg towers.
“Of course,” Zane replied for the group, “if I remember correctly you requested our presence specifically due to a disturbance in your security?”
“Aha, yes,” he replied, anxiously, “specifically surrounding a specific crystal.” The ninja’s eyes widened immediately, a few gasps could be heard. “Inside, quickly,” Cyrus rushed.
“What’s up with the realm crystal?” Kai asked, urgently. Cyrus didn't answer any of their questions until they reached the Crystal’s vault and entered.
Pixal followed behind, making sure it was closed shut. She already knew what was going on but didn’t say anything, she let Cyrus do the talking, “as you know, we keep the realm crystal along with many other artifacts in here secure. Protected with utmost precision,” he gloated for a second, “but last night there was.. concerning footage caught to say the least.”
“Well?” Lloyd asked, signaling for him to continue, so he elaborated.
“There was someone by the crystal last night, most likely to steal it.”
“What? But it’s right there!” The earth ninja retorted, pointing to the glowing blue crystal in the middle of the room.
“Yes, but do you notice anything strange about it?” He took in the confused and curious faces for a bit before turning it revealing a chipped part of it.
“What happened to it, it seems a part of it was broken off,” Zane stated the obvious.
“Do we know where the chipped part of it is?” Lloyd asked seriously as he, along with all the other Ninja examined it.
“No,” Cyrus answered solemnly.
Lloyd sighed, “what do you think someone could do with a chipped piece of the crystal, and why is it so important?” He ignored Jay freaking out in the back.
“Well for all we know, it could be almost as powerful, if not the same as the actual realm crystal, it could also mess with.. IDK THE FABRIC OF REALITY!!” Jay exclaimed, Cole put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down but failed, “maybe it’ll throw the crystal out of whack and make it uncontrollable!”
“Or it could mean the crystal can no longer be used,” Kai glared at Jay for a second out of annoyance, and then turned towards the others and continued, “which could be good news for all we know!”
“True,” Zane replied slowly, seemingly deep in thought, “but for all we know, Jay’s claims could be completely accurate,” he humored.
Lloyd face-palmed, he didn’t need his fellow ninja any more anxious than they already were.
“I think it’s best we get the crystal back as soon as possible,” Pixal finally entered into their conversation, Lloyd gave a curt nod in agreement and replied with a ‘me too.’
“Because of course, every visit to Borg Towers leads into some big ‘adventure,” Jay continued in the background, Cole fruitlessly trying to comfort him until..
“What is that?” Kai exclaimed, reacting to the blaring sirens that obviously mean someone has broken in.
“Ahaha, yep, I knew it,” Jay claimed, voice strained.
“Stay on your guard, guys,” Lloyd commanded as he got into a defensive stance.
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Cole replied as they all did the same, but soon after they heard a noise and gas started to fill the room. Only Lloyd got out quick enough as the others got caught up in the gas and couldn’t move, so he went on ahead.
Lloyd exited the vault, taking a deep breath as he was freed from the gas.
As he collected himself he saw a figure turn a corner at the end of the hall and followed him. He chased him through the grey halls of Borg Towers’ basement until he chased the perpetrator into a corner and lo and behold he had the chipped piece of the crystal. He couldn’t quite make out who they were or what they looked like as they were covered completely in black with a black cloak around him.
“Return that piece of the realm crystal and I may let you go,” he bargained confidently. He could tell they were shaking, they were probably freaking out. The perpetrator started putting out the hand with the crystal, and Lloyd assumed they were choosing to return it so he calmly started walking towards them to retrieve it.
“See,” he started with a cocky smile, “that’s how you get a job do-“ the perpetrator opened a portal before he could finish and ran up to him to push him in, “hey? What are you-“ Lloyd was caught off guard and was successfully pushed into the portal.
He could barely take in the vibrant colors of his new surroundings as he fell from the sky quickly. Luckily the bushes caught his fall. “Ouch,” he complained quietly as put his hand up to his head.
He collected his bearings and looked around,
“Just where the hell am I?”