♡*☼ 𝓛𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 A̷g̷a̷i̷n̷s̷t̷ Ɗαɾƙ ✶‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

Chapter 136: Ninjago Confidential

(Ninjago City is shown in greyscale.)

Zane: (Narrating in a dramatic voice) Ninjago City. My city. I know it like the insides of my own circuits. Which is why I know...it has a dark side. My best friends are trapped in an immersive video game called Prime Empire.

(Zane is revealed to have been narrating out loud.)

Zane: Yeah, you heard that right. They're being held there by a villain named Unagami. But "Unagami" isn't his real name. It's as fake as a used car salesman's smile. His true identity is Milton Dyer, the computer programmer who designed Prime Empire. The only hope for them getting out of the digital world rests on finding Dyer in the real world. My world. I was fishing for leads, but for now I find myself adrift on a sea of dead ends.... 

(Pixal steps out of the fog with Styx on her shoulder.)

Zane: Then...She walked in.

(The colour returns to normal.)

P.I.X.A.L.: There you are, Zane.

Zane: She said, shining the only ray of light into my dreary world.

Styx: Uh, I'm here to ya know?

Zane: He said annoyed.

Styx: Uh-

P.I.X.A.L.: Who are you talking to, Zane? And why are you dressed like that?

Zane: (Breaking character) Since we are engaged in detective work, tracking down a missing person, I have downloaded thousands of detective books and movies as research.

Styx: Right, right. (Whispers to Pixal) I have no idea what he said.

P.I.X.A.L: You have downloaded detective books and movies as a "detective study" so it will help us to find Milton Dyer?

Zane: Yes.

Styx: Uh-huh.

Pixal: And that has to do with...hats?

Zane: According to my analysis, 100 percent of successful detectives wear trench coats and hats while narrating their thoughts. Thus I have adopted the same methodology.

P.I.X.A.L.: It seems improbable that hat choice and overly descriptive monologues are significant factors in an investigative outcome.

Styx: Uh, yea what she said.

Zane: (Sighs.) I've tried everything else to no success. This method has to work.

P.I.X.A.L.: Well, okay I guess. I do have a new possible avenue of inquiry.

Zane: (Dramatic voice) A lead...

P.I.X.A.L.: What?

Zane: (Breaking character) Detectives call it a "Lead."

Styx; Yea, it's like information on something or someone. (They look at him) What? I watch a lot of Detective movies.

P.I.X.A.L.: Okay, I have a "lead". A source willing to share information.

(Zane gets back into character and the colours go back to greyscale.)

Styx: Did the sky just turn-

Zane: (Dramatic voice) Ah...So a "canary" wants to "sing?" Who is it?

(P.I.X.A.L. projects an image of a young Dyer and another figure.)