Zane's POV
I have to say, I think this was one of the most pretty intense situation we have ever been through.
Of course I thought that The Time Twins, Krux and Acronix were a slight pain, but now it seems that they're nothing compared to Zira and the ghouls.
I also remembered the moment that Kai and Nya said Master Wu was lost in the time rift, it has only been two months after we rescued him.
Continuing, Madame Nadine took a bow, so did Ronin. As soon as they stood up, she smiled widely at us.
"Ah, if it isn't the most famous ninja in Ninjago," Nadine said, "I recognize some of these faces - so young too. You're Ray and Maya's son, and so is your sister, and..." Nadine stared at me, "Who are you robot? How come I've never seen you before?"
"My apologies Madame," I took a bow, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Zane, the Elemental Master of Ice. And everyone calls me a nindroid."
"Nice to meet you, Metal Man," Nadine turned to Lloyd, "And you! You're the son of Lord Garmadon, and the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master...you look a lot like your father."
Lloyd smiled when she said that. We all shook hands then she invited us inside her hut.
There were a few shrunken heads hanging up, symbols on the walls, and a bunch of limbs I jars. I was fascinated, but the others seemed to be disturbed.
"How you like this place?" Madame Nadine asked, "I add a few finishing touches."
"Nice," Ronin said just to not make her upset, "Anyway we need your help."
Nadine chuckled, "I could tell. At first I thought you made another dirty arrangement, but I assume it's something else?"
"Yes, it's about my son," Lou answered.
Nadine's smile faded, "Oh...Louis. I did not see you here. I knew something was off. It's Zira is it not?"
Lou nodded.
"Does he know?"
Lou nodded again.
Nadine slammed her hands on the table, "Oh Louis, what have you done now? Why didn't you say so, now, where is the boy?"
"He's not here."
"What?! Where is he? He must know to look for the rings!"
"Cole is in the hospital with Jay," I said, "He fell into a coma after he had a seizure."
"A seizure? Oh no no no no no! This is not good! We're running out of time!"
"Gee you think!" Kai shouted, "Now where are the Five Rings of Socery?"
"Yeah," Lloyd agreed, "This has gone long enough. I can't see Cole suffer any longer than he already has. It's time we end this by finding which ring is in which realm."
"Whoa what!" Nadine cried, "Wait a minute-let me see that map."
Lou handed the map to Madame Nadine. She looked at it for a couple of minutes then sighed.
"You don't get it. You must be confused. You see this map, they're in different areas in Ninjago, not in different realms."
"But I don't understand," Misako said, "These marks clearly say that they represent a realm."
"No, no no, you got it all wrong. Trust me Misako, I know more about this than you do. These represent which ring is where. When I went for the red ring, it was cased in a small glass box, and it is buried a obelisk underground. In case you haven't noticed, the way these rings were placed are shaping into a pentagon. Once all the rings are enlightened and activated by its host can forge beams into the sky, creating a rift like portal to the Shadow Realm."
"Interesting," MasterWu said, "Perhaps you know where all of the rings are?"
"Sadly, only the Red Ring," Nadine said, "The others you might be on your own. The red ring is located under the Evil Forest."
"Evil Forest, got it," P.I.X.A.L told me then placed it into my drive.
"Thank you, Nadine," Lou replied, "You have no idea how much this means to me."
"Same here," Nadine smiled.
"Now that we know where to look," Kai explained, "It's time we head over there. We have to make sure Zira doesn't get her hands on them first."
"Agreed," I replied, "There is no time to waste. To the Bounty!"
As soon as we got up to leave, the door slams shut, locking us in here. The lights flickered off and Nadine's crystal ball began to shimmer.
"Everybody sit down!" Nadine shouted, "This is extremely important!"
"What is it?" Nya asked.
"I am getting a vision of Zira..."
Once I heard her name, I grind my teeth in disgust. She was responsible for Cole's attack, and starting a war with his family.
We all looked into the crystal ball. The more I locked eyes with it, the clearer and larger, the image became.
I saw Zira reading the few spells she tore out. She laughed then began the spell. I noticed in the background, I saw four more figures doing the same thing, but I couldn't tell who they were. It was too blurry to make out.
Then I noticed a few bright lights. One blue, one violet, one silver and one red. I gasped as I noticed that those were the colors of the Five Rings of Socery.
Suddenly, the light started to brighten. It became so bright that it started to reflect through the hut.
"It's...to bright..." Lloyd groaned
Within a flash, the crystal ball exploded. We all began to scream as all we could see was white and our ears ringing.
"Everyone stop!" Nadine screeched.
Once we all stopped screaming, everything went back to normal. But when I looked around the hut was gone and it was dark out.
"What the heck just happened?" Kai asked.
"Ooohhh, you do NOT want to know!" Nadine cried, "That's voodoo magic right there, boy. We need to get out of here quick! This search has now turned into a race!"
"But what about your home?" Nya asked.
"Psshaw, forget about that! I can cast it back anytime. Now what you all waiting for, let's go! Go!"
"To the Bounty!" Kai shouted.
"No! The ship is now too slow! If we use it now the ring will already be in Zira's hands! We will use the Criss Cross spell!"
"You know how to use it?" I asked.
"Use it? Heck, I created it. Now everyone stay close to me-hold hands if you have to!"
We had all stayed together in one spot. Suddenly, Madame Nadine closes her eyes and started to wave her arms around. Then within a matter of seconds, one of her hands glowed pink, and the other magenta. She started to spin, and every time she would stop and spin the other way, there would be this strange noise which made the ground glow as well.
We all lowered our heads to the ground and see a yin and yang symbol, which would move slowly.
"The Yin and yang symbol?" Kai questioned.
"Remarkable..." I whispered.
Pink and magenta went really well with the symbol. Maybe the colors represented Nadine's personality. Suddenly, I felt my stomach drop. I noticed that there was a portal appearing in the ground.
"Portal. To. Red River!" Nadine shouted.
I gasped as we quickly sunk into the portal and was turned around by gravity. Then a bright light came across us. That was when we noticed that we were in a different location.
My ears began to ring and my vision was a bit malfunctioned. But P.I.X.A.L immediately fixed it for me.
"We're here," Lou replied.
Kai groaned, "My head, I don't feel so good..."
Kai ran over to a bush then threw up in it. Nya rolled her eyes then stood up, but then she held her stomach.
"I don't feel well either," Nya said.
"Me too," Lloyd replied, "I think I need to puke..."
"That's okay," Nadine said, "That always happens the first time you encounter a voodoo spell. How are you holding up, Metal Man?"
"I am a Nindroid," I stated, "Therefore I cannot get sick."
"Lucky," Kai grunted.
After Lloyd and Nya were finished throwing up in a bush, we all followed the Trail of the Red River.
"So this is the Red River," Nya looked at Madame Nadine, "How come I never heard of it before?"
"We kept it hidden for a reason," Ronin joined the conversation, "Are we too late?"
"Just keep your fingers crossed," Nadine said.
After about 2 minutes, it seemed that we reached our destination. We gasped as we saw a huge red obelisk that was barely floating above ground. I noticed that the river that was next to it was glowing a light shade of red.
"Is this the place?" Kai asked.
"Yes," Lou answered.
"Now we must get that ring," Misako said.
"I'm surprised they aren't here yet," Nadine replied.
"Who's they?" Nya asked.
"Whoever they are," I said, "I would prefer to not encounter with them. Should I retrieve the ring for you Madame?"
"Eh, go ahead," Nadine smiled.
"I'll come with you," Lloyd placed his hand on my shoulder.
We slowly step over the tall rocks then finally reached the obelisk. P.I.X.A.L scanned to see which way to open it
"There is a small handle in the middle," P.I.X.A.L told me, "You and Lloyd should open it easily."
"Got it," I said, "Lloyd could you give me a hand?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
Together, we easily pulled the latch free, just like P.I.X.A.L said. We looked down into the case then gasped loudly.
"What's wrong?" Master Wu called out.
"It's gone!" Lloyd shouted, which it echoed in the process.
"What?!" Misako cried "What do you mean it's gone?"
"I mean it's literally not in the case!" Lloyd shouted again.
Suddenly I hearda sound of a twig snapping. Lloyd and I jerked our heads to it then stared into the darkness.
"Someone is here..." I whispered.
"Come out!" Lloyd demanded, "We know you're here! Come out and hand us the ring!"
There was a moment of silence then the bushes shook. Lloyd was getting ready to use his energy powers.
"You better come out on the count of three...one...two...."
I began to activate my ice powers then both of us took one step closer.
"Three!"
When the bush shook again, Lloyd and I cried then attacked the bush with our powers. When the dust cleared, we gasped as we saw a rabbit with four of her babies. Luckily they weren't hurt.
"Awww," Lloyd cooed, "Sorry little fellas. You shouldn't have frightened us like that."
Lloyd reached out his hand to pat the mother rabbit. Surprisingly, the mother rabbit inched forward to smell Lloyd's hand. I felt myself smiling. She must've been curious about our powers. The four babies did the same thing with me.
When I was about to pat one of her babies the mother quickly lifted her head then darted into the trees and bushes. The babies quickly followed her.
"Hmm, that was strange," I said.
"Yeah," Lloyd smiled, "Who knew that those bunnies were use to being around people-"
"No, I mean, the mother rabbit sensed something in this area, like there was danger afoot."
"I dunno, Zane. There's no evidence that-"
"Look out!" Nadine screeched.
As soon as she said that, a huge, glowing blue scorpion tail shoots out from the ground. We fell backwards, since it startled us.
We gasped as it came for an attack. We dodged right on time. We quickly got up then activated our powers. But the blue scorpion tail disappeared.
Lloyd and I searched in circles for a while. But so far it was nowhere to be found.
"What was that thing?" Kai asked.
"It can't be..." Madame Nadine whispered, "I know who that is! It's the-"
Suddenly the blue scorpion tail quickly came out behind me then came for a quick attack. I gasped. He was too fast. Even if I could dodge, I would still get hit by the tail.
As soon it was going hit, I heard Lloyd gasp then he shoved me out of the way.
As soon as I hit the ground, I heard Lloyd scream in agony as a few drops of blue liquid and blood flew into the air....