To hell with the veggies!

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🔥🔥🌶️🍅🍆🌽🔥🔥
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Let candy rule!

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And let Day 9 commence!

Prompt: "Cough– I'm sick."

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"I don't get it, Zeb," said a gruff voiced guard who was sitting at the computers playing solitaire while his partner paced the room, a coffee cup in his hands. "Why did we intentionally leak the date of the shipment?"

He placed a black Queen of Spades on a red King of Hearts, pouting all the while, his brow furrowed in confusion. "We don't even have anything to ship!"

The one with the coffee, Zeb, rolled his eyes before walking over and slapping the other's head from behind. "Weren't you listening, you buffoon? The news of the smuggle is just a bait for the Ninja."

"Oh," the first guard stated, free of any confusion. Zeb drained his coffee cup before crushing it between his palms and tossing it into the trashcan. "The Ninja come hopping in like a pack of clueless bunnies, thinkin' they're about to foil a smuggling operation, while we make arrangements."

Zeb gave a low, evil chuckle, grinning at the other guard. "And then–" he snapped his fingers. "–the Ninja are out of business!"

He and his partner stopped laughing as they both heard a faint gasp and a cough. The guards both leaned forward to squint out into the dark hall from the doorway of their office. They strained their ears but were met with nothing but pin-drop silence.

Zeb grunted, back to relaxing. He took out a coin and twirled it between his thick fingers. "Must've heard someone on the radio."

His partner, however, wasn't so keen on shrugging it off as no big deal. With his forehead lined with creases due to curiosity, he got up out of his chair and walked out into the hall.

Zeb shook his head, trying to convince him that there was no one there. When he didn't get a response, he too sat up straight, staring into the darkness. "Luther?"

He was met with more concerning silence. Just as he was about to call out a second time, he heard the other guard yell, "Hey–"

His voice was cut off, followed by a slight struggle. Zeb stood up to attention as a thud sounded.
Adrenaline boosting his determination and strengthening his resolve, he marched out into the hall . . .

. . . before a fist came flying at his face.

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"What the– I thought I told you guys to not engage!" Lloyd hissed as he glared at Jay and Nya through his green hood. He gestured at the unconscious bodies of the two guards they were supposed to spy on, opening his mouth but not saying anything.

"We're sorry!" Nya whispered back apologetically while Jay only croaked. "It's just that one of them almost found us so we knocked him out. Unfortunately, his friend got suspicious and came to look for him. We really had no other choice."

Lloyd slapped a hand to his forehead, groaning in frustration. "Why were you found anyway? I thought you guys were qualified ninjas!"

Nya scoffed disbelievingly. "We are qualified ninjas but I don't think it was a good idea to send Mr Cough-A-Lot with me," she expressed, gesturing at Jay who was coughing silently into his fist.

"Oh, yes. Most definitely," Kai announced dryly. "In hindsight, that was a terrible idea."

Nya ignored her brother, putting on a concerned face instead. "We did discover something."

"What?"

The Master of Water opened her mouth to speak but her boyfriend beat her to it. "This is all a trap to capture us!" Jay panicked. "We heard these two." He shook the knocked out men.

"Then we must exit the premises immediately," Zane advised to which Cole argued. He was so totally in the mood to test out his muscles and reflexes. Jay and Nya got to beat 'em up. Why couldn't he?

"And let the bad guys go scott free?" the black ninja protested, folding his arms. Lloyd shook his head at him. "We're not retreating. We're gonna come back with a different mindset and a different plan."

"Cough– I'm sick," Jay added due to which Lloyd went over their present condition in his head. "And maybe even come back without Jay since he's sick."

Kai huffed indignantly, sleepy but annoyed at the same time. He could hardly wait for them to get home so that he could hit the hay and savour some reasonable amount of sleep hours. "If I don't get my naptime  tonight, I'm gonna be sick!"

"Shh," the Green Ninja snapped at the fire master. "Not so loud! Are you trying to get us caught?" As if purposefully trying to disobey his leader, at that moment Jay let his sickness be heard loud and clear.

Cough! Cough! COUGH!

The Ninja winced at the noise as it echoed in the hall in which they were hidden. They all paused, not moving an inch, waiting for something to happen. Jay gave his umpteenth sheepish smile as everyone stepped forward to give him a piece of their minds.

However, before anyone could get a word out, a sort of thudding filled the air and it seemed to be coming from a few floors below. Attentive, Zane dashed to the stairwell on the other end of the hall and peered down over the banister. Just as he had expected, a group of men in jet black uniforms were thundering up the spiral steps, clearly trying to reach the floor they were on.

"I heard something up there!" one of the men shouted. "Luther and Zeb aren't answering their comms. There's no denying the Ninja are behind this."

The nindroid pulled away from the stairwell and dashed back to his team whose eyes were wide in shock under their hoods. "Our safety has been compromised!" he declared in an urgent whisper. "We need to leave now!"

"What about the Mario Brothers?" Cole demanded, pointing at the two unconscious guards. Lloyd looked around the room, the voices of the other men getting closer and making it hard for him to think.

He perked up as he saw a vent, its cage like entrance embedded into the wall. "How 'bout we stuff them into the vents?"

"And block the entire ventilation system?" Nya whisper-shouted. "No way! We need an alternative."

"We don't have time for an alternative!" Kai stated, frantically glancing back at the stairwell every few seconds.

"Then we'll go into the vents," Lloyd replied before rushing over to the aforesaid wall. Leaving the guards behind, the others followed suit, crowding around the blonde.

Kai reached up and pulled on the metallic framed entrance of the vent. It didn't prove useful as his hands were shaking due to the possibility of getting caught any second.

"Hurry!" Nya pushed her brother since it was evident that the men had reached the floor right below them. Kai gritted his teeth as he tugged harder but the frame seemed to be stuck in place. "It . . . won't . . . budge!" he said through clenched teeth.

Cole pushed him to the side, attempting to do it himself. "Stand aside, chicken muscles," he muttered as he gave the vent entrance a mighty tug. To their relief, the frame came off in Cole's hand with a feeble screech of metal against cement.

"Move, move, move!" Lloyd ordered, giving Nya a boost into the vent. They all pushed and pulled each other and squeezed into the tunnel before Cole snapped the frame shut over the entrance.

Lloyd thanked the First Spinjitzu Master for their narrow escape as the group of men emerged from the stairs and onto the deserted floor. Not wanting to stick around till the men found the unconscious bodies, Lloyd gestured at Nya at the head of the group to slowly make her way forwards.

When they were sure they had put some safe distance between the guards and themselves, the Ninja relaxed a little. "That was a close one," Cole mumbled. He frowned and pinched Jay's thigh who was crawling in front of him. "Great job, you loon! Thank you for nearly getting our butts whooped!"

The Master of Lightning scowled at the black ninja. "FYI, I have no control over my coughs! Quit blaming me!" Cole was about to retort back when Lloyd snapped, "Stop bickering and keep moving!"

Again, as if deliberately trying to make Lloyd lose his sanity by disobeying him, Zane stopped crawling, putting a hand to his ear. "Pixal, do you read me?" There were a few seconds of static before Pixal's crackling voice responded from the comm-link. "Affirmative."

"I need you to map out all the escape options we may have to our advantage simultaneously taking the matter of stealth into consideration," Zane instructed as the rest of the Ninja stopped shuffling onwards. Everyone began turning on their comms so that they too may hear the female android.

A few moments of silence ensued before Pixal replied, "Based on the blueprints of the building, there are multiple possible escape routes on all the floors. But as far as stealth is concerned, you cannot use doors and windows. The vents are your only option."

"The nearest one, Pix" Nya spoke into her comm. "We need the nearest escape route and we need it fast."

"According to your position," the android answered, "the closest one seems to be a fire escape leading off the room right below you."

Jay furrowed his brows as he felt around the tunnel in the dark for an exit. "The room right bel–" he stopped as his fingers brushed over another vent entrance. "Found it."

Cole did the honours while grinning smugly at Kai and before long, they all dropped down into a pitch black room through the vent opening. The team squinted in the dark, trying to make out the entrance to a fire escape.

"Switching to light mode," Zane's voice erupted in the dark. They all turned their faces away as two powerful beams of light shot out of Zane's blue luminescent eyes. "Whoa," Jay breathed out in amazement. "I didn't know you could to that."

"That's what upgrades are, Jay."

As their eyes adjusted to the light, they began to notice gas cylinders on metal shelves which lined each wall of the room. The Ninja stood in a circle, back to back, gazing at the shelves around them. "Good thing I didn't use my fire for light," Kai muttered before chuckling nervously.

Zane walked up close to one of the cylinders and read the words plastered on its side. His eyes widened as he abruptly stepped back. "Sarin!" He exclaimed.

"What's that?" the blue ninja inquired, freaking out at the fearful tone of his nindroid friend. Everyone turned to look at Zane as he read the writing on all the cylinders, his worried facial expression never changing.

"These cylinders," he finally spoke, "They contain sarin, a type of nerve gas." The others clearly looked confused, having no knowledge on nerve gases.

"Sarin," came Pixal's voice from their comms, no doubt with an explanation. "It is a molecule that binds irreversibly to the acetylcholinesterase enzyme in the human body and causes the muscles to remain contracted."

"And what does that mean?" Kai demanded, irritated at the use of big words he couldn't really understand. Nya sighed hopelessly before saying, "It means that if we breathe it in, it can lock up our muscles and prevent us from moving."

"Well, that's terrifying," the Master of Fire mumbled, shivering at the thought of being stuck in one position. Cole on the other hand, flapped his hand to dismiss all the nervousness. "Pffft! I'm sure my super strength can overcome any muscle affecting gas."

Zane shook his head in the negative at that. "I do not think your elemental abilities will be of any use. For example, if it were to affect your diaphragm muscle, you wouldn't be able to breathe."

This was followed by an uncomfortable silence in which they all tried to come up with something to say. However, no one needed to say anything as Jay let his ill state take over again.

COUGH! COUGH! COUGH!

Lloyd growled in frustration and almost strangled the coughing blue ninja. "Worst . . . stealth mission . . . ever!" He announced in an angry hiss. As Jay was about to retort back, there was a clanging noise which caused them all to notice the main door of the room being pushed open. 

Zane turned off his lights as they all gaped in horror at the same man they saw arriving by car earlier. He gave them a maniacal grin before gesturing to someone behind him. A man holding a pistol appeared on the boss's side, the weapon aimed at the colourful band of warriors.

"Well, well, well," stated the boss, clapping his hands along with each word. "And to think I would have to work really hard to trap you."

"What do you mean?" Lloyd snapped, forcing his voice to sound intimidating. The man chuckled softly. "You are all right where I want you to be. How . . . coincidental."

Cole pushed to the front of the group, hands balled into fists. "Whatever you're planning, we'll stop you!" The man nodded at the threat, folding his hands behind his back. "Oh, most certainly," he muttered as if he understood them.

"But obviously," he continued, "you need your rest before you jump into action." He turned to narrow his eyes at Kai who tried not to yawn. "Isn't that right, Master of Fire?"

Lloyd took a bold step forward, trying hard to ignore the pistol aimed at his chest. "Don't try anything clever!" He stared at the man all the while focusing his powers to accumulate in his hand, ready to strike if anything were to happen.

"I won't," the boss drawled casually. "Now . . . time to sleep!"

Before the Ninja could even blink, the man with the pistol pulled the trigger and shot the gun. "Noooooooo," Zane screamed as the bullet zoomed towards one of the gas cylinders.

Another loud clang and the door to the room shut close, leaving the Ninja alone in the room. Everyone ducked and covered their heads as the bullet hit the cylinder.

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Whoopsie! A cliffhanger! Mwuahahahaha!!!!