• 𝓓𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓷𝔂 • {𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐚𝐠𝐨}

•S1 E3: Snakebit (I)•

The sun broke over the horizon to reveal a beautiful, peaceful morning. Aboard the newly-claimed Destiny's Bounty, four ninja lay asleep on their bunk beds, snoring, slumbering deeply...

And then, the very intrusive sound of a gong.

Wu loudly walked into the room, hitting the gong with vigour, shouting, 'Evil doesn't sleep, and neither should you!' Kai smashed a pillow into his face, Zane ducked under the covers, Cole plugged his ears, and Jay just rolled to face the wall with a groan. None of these did anything, of course, to guard against the offending sound.

After about a minute more, Kai finally gave. He kicked his way out of the top bunk, hair even more a mess than usual. 'OK, OK. We're up, we're up,' he yawned. 'But if we're gonna reach full potential, shouldn't we at least get a full night of rest?' He tugged on the blinds to let in a bit of sunlight. The old wood promptly fell from its hinges.

    'Rest? Ha!' Cole cracked his back as he stretched. 'You call that a rest? I think my back has more lump than the mattress.'

    Jay waved his toothbrush aimlessly through the air. 'We were up so late talking about how cool it was to have a new headquarters. Guess we lost track of time, huh?' He turned on the faucet. 'Since the Serpentine burned down our... our monastery, I'm just glad we have a roof over our he—'

    He spat out his toothpaste the moment he put it in his mouth, toothbrush covered in the sand that poured from the faucet.

    Zane was surprisingly awake and alert for a ninja that just slept on what was practically a rock. 'What is our lesson today, Sensei?' He chirped eagerly. 'Mastering the strike of the scorpion? Or perhaps the grace of—' The floor beneath him collapsed, sending up a plume of dust. He coughed hard with the old residue.

    Wu took one look at the rooms condition and shook his head. 'I think today's lesson will be chores.'

    The ninja stared at him. 'Chores?' Jay asked, deflating.

    Cole stepped forward, arguing, 'Ninja fight, Sensei. They do not clean.'

    Wu sighed, then firmly said, 'In order to respect ourselves, we must first respect our new home and where we are from. This place is a long way from becoming a headquarters for ninja.' He pivoted, walked out of the room. 'I expect things to be spotless when I return. And put your backs into it.' With a final hit on the gong, he disappeared.

    The ninja looked at each other despondently. Cole pulled Zane from his hole. 'This place is gonna take forever to clean and fix up,' Kai grumbled.

    They stood there, thinking. Jay snapped his fingers, grinning playfully. 'Unless...' he said, dragging out the "s," 'we put more than our backs into it, heh?'

    He nudged Kai, who grinned as everyone caught onto the idea. With a practiced twist, Cole spun into a tornado, whirling around the room and collecting all of the loose dirt and garbage. He practically flew from the Bounty, depositing what could be scavenged far away for sale.

    Zane covered the walls with ice, and Kai used his sword to burn it away. They only waited for a few seconds before decided that it wasn't fast enough, and spun around the room to clean it completely of dust and mildew.

    When the ship was near spotless, they set to work on wiring the ship. Cole and Kai tried to fix the main power to no avail, twisting wires and poking at metal. Jay uncovered a large power box, tapping it once—only once—with his Nunchucks. The power returned at once. He decided to ignore Cole and Kai celebrating their "victory."