CHAPTER NINETEEN
❝ The Lost City of Ouroboros ❞
THE MYSTERIOUS TIRE MARKS had not only led the ninjas out of the city, but completely in the middle of the desert, more precisely to a snake reunion, again.
The five tribes were trying to unite again, and this time, Lloyd was entangled in the middle of it all. The boy was sitting in a cage beside Pythor, while the other snakes were sitting in bleachers, as if to wait for a show that was to start.
"What is this place?" Cole asked, placing a arm above his head to block the sunlight from his eyes.
"Looks like snake city," Jay pointed out, as he and the others hid behind some pillar.
"No fucking way," Jane breathed, as she too took in the scene in front of them. She received surprised looks from her teammates, aside from Zane who had noticed her fascinated expression.
"You know this place?" He asked, motioning toward the snake city.
"Yes," Jane replied, her eyes never moving away from the city in front of them. "That's the Lost City of Oroboros," She said, earning a weird look from Jay.
"Why are their names so horrible?" Jay asked sarcastically, only to receive a smirk from Kai and Cole. "Can't they just give their locations normal names?"
"Jane," Zane called, ignoring Jay's comments. "What is this city? What is its purpose?" He asked, knowing that if someone knew the answers, it was her.
"The Lost City of Oroboros is a massive Serpentine city that was buried beneath the Sea of Sand after the Serpentine War," Jane explained, and the others nodded at her explanation. Although, the brunette swallowed thickly as she was finding it hard to explain the next part.
"What is it, Jane?" Kai asked, noticing her hesitation.
"The uh—the Great Devourer was imprisoned underneath the city. It's the key point to resurrect him, if Pythor succeeded in finding the city, then that means he's closer to releasing it than I thought," She said, and the four boys froze at the explanation.
"You mean to tell me that this ginormous snake is currently under us?" Jay asked, looking at the ground anxiously. "EWWW,"
"Er, yeah, that's basically it," Jane replied, as she watched the blue ninja cringe.
"Then we must stop Pythor before it gets too far. We can't risk the Great Devourer coming back to life," Zane announced confidently, and the others nodded, minus Jay, who was still tapping his foot on the ground, as if the snake would come out at any second.
"Alright, let's get a closer look," Kai said, and the ninjas nodded, all of them approaching the city and hiding behind a pillar so they could watch and listen closely.
"It appears Pythor has successfully united all of the tribes," Zane pointed out, and Jane bit her lip in worry.
"I know we ruined their last get-together, but that's no reason to not get an invitation. My feelings are hurt," Cole complained, and Jane sent him a small amused smile.
"There's Lloyd," Kai pointed out, motioning toward the small blond boy that was sitting inside a cage.
"Woah!" Jay breathed, pointing toward the gigantic snake statue that was standing in the middle of the city. "Look at who they worship,"
"Let me guess: the Great Devourer," Cole said dryly, his dark brown eyes focusing on the statue.
"Is it supposed to be that big?" Jay asked Jane in a whisper, and the brunette shook her head. The blue ninja sighed in relief. "Oh, thank Go—"
"It's supposed to be way bigger," Jane interrupted, and Jay faltered.
"UHH, bigger than that?" He shrieked, pointing at the snake statue. Jane simply nodded, and Jay started whining. "I don't want to face that thing!"
"All the more reasons to get Lloyd out of here," Kai said, rudely interrupting Jay and Jane's conversation. "This comes to and end today,"
Kai lead the way, and the others followed as the red ninja managed to sneak to other side of the city, quite precisely behind the gigantic snake statue. Jay paused when he watched Kai climbing the statue, the red ninja climbing effortlessly before sitting inside the statue's mouth.
"I'm not doing that," Jay deadpanned, and Cole snapped his head to him.
"Yes, you are," Cole pressed.
"What if it comes back to life?" Jay asked, and Jane facepalmed. Cole blinked at the blue ninja, his patiente getting thin.
"Jay, it's a statue. Get up there and help Kai," Cole warned, and black ninja's nostril flared in anger when Jay shook his head once more.
"Jay," Jane called, as she walked beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You see those five fangs in the snake's mouth?" She asked, pointing upward. The blue ninja nodded. "Well to bring back to snake to life, you need the five fang blade, and you need to position them inside these fangs. Once that happens, the venom from the head of the statue will be released and then it will come back to life,"
Jay blinked. "What if there's a leak?"
"Oh for fucks sake!" Kai grumbled from his spot on the statue. "Jay! Get your ass up here before I cancel our Disney+ subscription and you won't be able to watch Nemo before bed anymore!"
"FINE!" Jay whined, before he finally started climbing the statue, an amused Jane and Zane following. Cole was far more on the annoyed side, but he was still amused by Kai's threat.
"What's the plan?" Jane asked the master of fire, only to receive a smirk from the man.
"Just grab my ankles and help me get to Lloyd," Kai said, receiving a nod from the brunette, who proceeded in lowering Kai by his ankles. The red ninja tried to reach for the cage quick enough before too many snakes could notice them, but he was too far.
"I need to get lower," Kai called back, and Cole nodded, grabbing Jane's ankles and lowering her too, so that Kai could get closer to the cage.
The red ninja tried to reach for the cage, he was almost there, almost, almost, and then Pythor spotted them.
"NINJA!" The purple snake called, and multiple snakes came after the teenagers. It took them only a couple of seconds to force Cole, Jane and Kai to fall into the arena, while Jay and Zane were forced down by some Constrictai.
The ninjas did not dare to do anything too harsh, because Lloyd was still stuck in a cage, and they didn't want to risk his safety.
Above everything else, Lloyd was their first priority, and they needed him back and alive.
Pythor laughed as he placed the five golden weapons beside Lloyd's cage, his evil stare sending chills down the young boy's spine.
"Looks like we caught the main event," Pythor announced, turning to the crowd of snakes who cheered at the news.
"Main event?" Jay echoed, turning to Jane. "What do you think he meant by 'main event'?" He asked, as he grabbed her shoulder in worry.
"I have a feeling we're the main event," Kai replied, as he watched the crowd of snakes cheering for them.
"Or the main course," Cole retorted, and Jay's grip tightened on Jane's shoulder.
"This stupid snake," Jane groaned, glaring hard at Pythor. "He had been planning this for a while, he knew we'd come for Lloyd."
Cole grabbed his air in frustrating, realizing that this whole thing was just a trap and that they were definitely in deep shit.
"Kai you may be right, things really may come to an end today," Zane commented, as he turned to the red ninja, who frowned.
"I cant believe I'll be dying in an arena in front of crowd of stupid snakes," Jane said, turning to master of lightning.
"Don't worry, the Samurai could still come around to save us," Jay replied from behind her, but it sounded more like he was trying to reassure himself.
"You say you wanted a battle, and I give you one." Pythor announced, as he turned to the crowd. "The ninjas versus the Samurai!"
Jay and Jane's mouth gaped as the Samurai was dragged toward them in chains. That suit was probably 20' tall and the ninjas looked like ants compared to them.
"WHAT? We have to fight the Samurai?" Jay yelled, sending the others an incredulous look. "But we don't even have our Golden Weapons and he has that hulking thing of an armor! That's not fair." He whined, stomping his foot on the ground.
"I want to see once and for all who is the greatest hero. Is it the Samurai, or the ninjas?" Pyhtor asked the crowd, and they cheered even louder. "Only the victor will be allowed to leave," He finished, as the Samurai was released from his chains and pushed forward.
"Stay together," Kai warned through gritted teeth, watching as the Samurai took a large steps toward them.
"Perhaps he can join our team to fight our way out? After all, he hates the Serpentine too," Zane proposed calmly, before the Samurai took out his sword, swinging at the ninjas who barely had the time to dodge.
"Scratch that, he's not on our team!" Cole called back, as he dodged another attack.
"You guys got me. I hate the Samurai too, now!" Jane groaned, as she slid between the Samurai's legs, dodging the sword he kept swinging at them.
"HAHA! Missed me," Jay laughed, shaking his ass in front of the Samurai, who tilted its head, before slapping him to the other side of the courtyard.
The crowd of Serpentine cheered and laughed at Jay's slap, and Jane immediately ran over, offering her hand to the blue ninja.
"Jay, are you okay?" She asked worriedly, inspecting her best friend quickly to make sure he had no injuries.
He grunted as he grabbed her hand, standing back on his feet awkwardly. "I planned that," He said sheepishly, and the brunette sent him a look.
"Tornado of Creation?" Zane proposed, turning to the others. The five ninjas hesitate for a moment, but they didn't have that much time to decide because the Samurai was starting to make his way back toward them.
"Let's do it!" Jane decided, before she immediately started spinning. "AIR!"
"FIRE!"
"EARTH!"
"ICE!"
"LIGHTNING!"
The ninjas all merged together, creating a gigantic tornado that absorbed everything that was coming it's way. The snakes and the Samurai watched in horror as the tornado got higher, before completely disappearing and revealing what appeared to be an enormous slingshot.
The ninjas had also made sure to create some sort of big rock that they could fire at the Samurai with the slingshot. Said Samurai blocked the projectile, earning groans from the ninjas and cheers from the crowd.
The ninjas all ran toward the Samurai, ready to fight him with their own hands, before Pythor activated some sort of spikes who emerged from the ground, trapping the ninjas.
"Er, why can't anyone play fair?" Jay groaned, as he turned to glare at Pythor. Said snake smirked evilly at the ninjas, before activation another switch who quite literally tilted the ground of the arena.
"Can this get any worse?" Cole asked sarcastically, as he and the others, including the Samurai, were holding on to the ground tightly so they wouldn't free fall toward the massive hole that was now beneath them.
"I hate snakes," Jane groaned once more, as she peeked over her shoulder to look at the hole.
"We must continue to make it appear that we are fighting for real," The Samurai said, and Jane was extremely surprised to hear his voice for the first. Whoever that person was, they had used a device to modify their voice, so that no one would be able to recognize them.
Smart.
"Er, we're not fighting for real?" Jay asked to no one in particular, as he still tried his best to not fall into the hole.
"Keep up the charade and hold on to my exo-suit," The Samurai ordered, and the ninjas complied, jumping onto the Samurai's suit. He tried to fly himself and the ninjas away, but their weight was too much for them to actually flee the place properly.
"There's too much weight!" Jane pointed out, turning to the Samurai. Without hesitation, the Samurai jumped out of his suit, letting the ninjas fly away with it.
The ninjas watched as the suit started flying away from Oroboros, the Samurai jumping back into action and fighting the snakes.
"I can't believe he just saved us," Cole breathed, as he tightened his grip onto the Samurai's suit.
"He stole our thunder again!" Kai whined, as he punched the Samurai's suit.
"Argh, I hate that Samurai!" Jay groaned, glaring at the suit that they were still flying on.
"Are you guys serious, right now?" Jane glared, quite annoyed that they were still complaining about the guy that had just saved them.
Sure, she had also started to despise the Samurai during that fight, thinking that he wasn't that much of a fighter if he was ready to fight against them without being fair. But he had saved their lives, and she was forever grateful that whoever the Samurai was, had saved her and her friends.
"What? We wanted to save the day," Jay whined, earning a slap behind the head from Jane, who sent him a warning look.
"He saved us, you should be grateful," She scolded, and Jay just rolled his eyes, crossing his arms in annoyance as Kai started pressing random buttons on the Samurai's suit.
"How do you turn this thing off?" Kai grumbled, as he kept pressing buttons urgently.
"Don't do it like that, press it gently," Jay said, as he reached over his shoulder to press it, but Kai swathed his hands away.
"I am pressing gently," Kai snapped back, and Jane facepalmed.
Suddenly, the suit started beeping and malfunction, probably because Jay and Kai wouldn't stop pressing random buttons. The five ninjas grabbed onto the suit harder, but their eyes widened when they realized that the suit was heading toward the ground dangerously quickly.
"Hold on tight, guys!" Cole warned, and before any of them could realized it, the suit hit the ground, sending all of them flying in different directions.
The oxygen was pushed out of Jane's lungs when she hit the ground, the sand burning onto her skin, leaving cuts everywhere on her face and body. She tried to sit up, reaching to touch her lip, and she realized that it was bleeding.
She lifted her arm in the air to block the sun from her vision, looking around to see if she could spot any of the guys. She spotted no one. Her heart hammered in her chest at the different outcomes of this situation.
She was simply hoping that they were all alive, close and not badly hurt. She got up on her feet and started walking around, looking anywhere for any sight of the guys, the Samurai or simply the suit.
"Jane!" A voice called, and the brunette let out a relieved sigh when she spotted the Ice Ninja approaching her, his uniform all torn up. "I am glad that you are alright," He said, bringing the female into a tight hug.
Jane sighed in relief as she allowed herself to hug Zane back, placing her chin on his shoulders.
"Have you seen the others?" She asked, pulling away from the hug. Zane's blond hair were tangled and dirty. Sand and dust could be seen in his hair and on his face.
"No, but we should start looking for them in case that they are severely injured," Zane replied, and the female nodded. The two of then proceeded in walking around, not really sure in which direction they should go but still not wanting to just stay in place and wait.
After about half an hour of searching, and Jane overthinking the worse, they spotted two figures that looked like they were arguing a couple of meters away. Jane took a couple of steps closer, blocking the sun with her arm once more, and realizing that one figure was dressed in blue, while the other was dressed in black.
"That's definitely Jay and Cole," Jane smiled, before waving her arms in the air, calling for the two.
"Jay! Cole!" She called, as Zane stood beside her, also waving his arms in the air. The two figures turned in her direction, sighing in relief at the sigh of the brunette and their blond friend.
Jane ran toward them, ignoring the sand that was entering her boots and immediately engulfing the two in a tight hug. She heard the two boys let out a relieved sigh, hugging her back.
Jane smiled once more when she was able to smell the familiar sent of Cole's cologne and Jay's blueberry pie parfum.
For the past hour, she had been thinking the worst, but she was glad that at least four of them were alive. She could only hope that Kai was somewhere in this desert, safe and alive.
Jane stepped back to look at the two, taking in their condition. Jay's shirt was completely ripped off and he looked like he had hit his head, some blood coming down his hairline and leaking onto his forehead.
Cole's suit was relatively alright, except for the fact that an arm sleeve had been ripped off, letting his nude arm breathe. His medium black hair were all tangled, dust from the engine covering his face just like Zane's.
"You guys look awful," She said, receiving smiles from the two.
"You don't look any better yourself," Cole teased, as he placed an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer.
Jane hadn't been the only one that was worrying for the others. Cole and Jay were also starting to think the worst, wondering what had happened to their friends.
The brunette knew Cole was right. Her brown hair were still in their normal two french braids, but they weren't as neat as before the fight. She had dust and sand all over her, with hundreds of small cuts all over her face and body. Let's also not forget about her bloodied lip.
"I know, we all look awful," She smiled, also placing an arm around Cole's shoulder. Jay had found himself smiling at the sight of his two best friend, admiring the relationship all of them had.
"Have any of you guys seen Kai?" Zane asked, as he now approached the trio. The two boys smiled at the sight of Zane, relieved that now at least four of them seemed to be alright. Not in their best shape but still alright.
"No, we were hoping he might be with you guys," Jay replied, as his brows furrowed in worry.
"We need to find him," Jane said, turning to look at Jay and Zane. They nodded, and soon enough, they were all dispersed and yelling out Kai's name, hoping that the red ninjas was somewhere, conscious enough to hear them.
After an hour of them searching for the red ninja, they still had found nothing, and they were all starting to get very anxious at the thought of loosing Kai.
Jane raised her brow when she started hearing some sounds behind her, and she quickly turned to notice that the Samurai'a suit was activating itself and about to fly away.
"GUYS, the suit!" She called, as she started running toward it.
"Quick, get it! It's gonna get away!" Jay yelled, as he and the others all ran toward the suit.
Unfortunately none of them were quick enough to get on the suit before it flew away, leaving them alone, in the middle of the desert.
"Great. Now we lost Kai, the Samurai suit is gone, and we have no way to get back home," Jay whined, as he sat on the ground in exasperation, Jane doing the same.
"I wouldn't say that," Cole said, as he poited behind them. They others turned, only to spot the red ninjas approaching them with a wide smile, the Golden Weapons in hand.
Jane furrowed her brows in confusion at the sight of the weapons, but still relentlessly stepped up and ran toward her friend, the others following.
"KAI!" They all yelled happily, jumping onto the Fire Ninja and giving him a group hug.
They were all alright. They were beaten up, but they were alright.
___________
The ninjas were now back on the Bounty, thanks to Kai and his encounter with the Samurai. They learned from the fire ninjas that the Samurai had not only saved their lives with the snakes, but he had also managed to get the Golden Weapons back, and had given them to Kai.
They had all cleaned themselves up, while Nya and Sensei Wu made dinner for them.
They were now all sitting around the kitchen table, very obviously discussing their day and Kai's encounter with the Samurai.
"He was all mysterious, never said a word. He then handed me the Golden Weapons and poof, he was gone," Kai said, before he took a sip of his pepsi.
Jane watched with an amused expression, knowing that Jay, Zane and Cole were growing frustrated with the Samurai's unknown identity. She took a bite of Sensei Wu's spaghetti, listening to the guys' rant.
"Poof? He just poofed?" Cole asked, as he leaned on the back of his chair, crossing his arms.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute, Kai, if the Samurai had his hands on the most powerful weapons in the whole wide world, why would he just give them back to you?" Jay asked, waving his hands all around.
"Uh, I don't know. Maybe she—I mean, he's not so bad after all. All I do know is that we owe him our lives. Maybe he has made it all a little bit better," Kai said, and Jay huffed.
"I'm surprised to hear this coming from you, Kai," Jane said, as she raised a brow at the red ninja. She had never expected Kai of all person to accept the Samurai first.
"I sense this means the bet is off," Zane said, earning annoyed groans from Jay and Cole.
"More importantly, my nephew has found his way into the den of all snakes. I fear there may be no way of rescuing him now," Sensei sighed, and Jane swallowed thickly, worried about what might be happening to Lloyd at that very moment.
"Sensei, there's always a way," Kai reassured, as he got up, taking his empty plate to the kitchen, before going back to the ninjas' room.
"And don't worry, we'll find it," Cole added, as he followed the red ninja.
Soon enough, the lights were turned off, Nya was in her room, Sensei was meditating in his room, and the ninjas were all discussing in their room before they went to bed.
"So much for our new uniforms," Jay sighed, as he handed his uniform to Zane, who started sewing it back together, just like he had previously done with Jane's. The Ice Ninja had given himself the mission of fixing all of the ninjas' uniforms, and so far his and Jane's uniforms were all fixed.
"Well, today's mission was a little bit unusual," Jane said, as she dropped on her bed in a pair of black spandex and a loose gray t-shirt.
"You don't say," Kai said, as he took off his shirt, throwing it into the laundry basket. The red ninja jumped on his bed, grabbing his phone.
"I'm just thankful that we're all alright," Zane said, keeping his eyes on Jay's uniform that he was fixing. "We could've easily lost one of us, today," He said, and the ninjas all looked at each other, as if to realize that his statement was true.
They could have died today.
"Well we didn't," Cole said, as he sat on his bed, simply wearing a pair of black boxers. "We're still here and ready to beat those snakes," He added, earning a smile from Jane who was laying on her bed, her green eyes burning from exhaustion.
"You know, I'm really glad I know you guys," Jane said, as she stared outside the window at the dark night sky. "Sometimes I miss my old life, but I'd trade this life for nothing in the world," She admitted, earning an adoring smile from the blue ninja.
"Nawww, Jane, you're so nice and sentimental," Jay said, and he rushed toward her to give her a tight hug. "We love you too," He said, as Jane reciprocated the gesture, hugging the blue ninja back.
"I also would never trade this life for anything in the world," Zane agreed, as he looked up from Jay's uniform that he was still sewing to smile up at his friends.
"I mean, my life wasn't even near as awesome before I met you guys," Cole admitted, as he placed his hands behind his head, a smirk on his face.
"And I have to admit, I never knew that by coming here I'd make three brothers and another sister," Kai said, looking up from his phone.
"Naww, Kai, that's even more nice and sentimental," Jay gushed, as he now decided to run toward Kai, forcing him into a tight hug too. Kai grunted at the gesture, but still laughed at Jay's obvious happiness.
Jane smiled at the two, before finally deciding to turn around and let sleep take over. She had deserved this night of rest, and she was going to enjoy every second of it.