The Treehorns have been kicking us around for many minutes now. Our weapons are splayed around on the ground. Whenever we get close to retrieving them, we get kicked again. My entire body hurts from a multitude of new contusions. When I agreed to be the purple ninja, I didn't think I would actually turn purple. Our suffering is ended when Zane runs out of the large metal tree with renewed ferocity.
"Leave my friends alone!" he shouts as he Spinjitzus through their legs.
"What's gotten into Zane?" Cole asks as he struggles to his feet.
"I don't know, but I like it!" Kai shouts. He retrieves his weapons, as do the rest of us, and we all Spinjitzu towards the Treehorns. After a few moments, they begin backing away.
"Are they regrouping?" Jay wonders aloud. His questions are answered when a giant tree horn with a triangular head and multiple red eyes appears. "Who's that!"
"The queen," Zane says. He paces forward, as if to shield the rest of us from her. "You will not hurt my friends. There is nothing that will hold me back!" He pulls out his Shurikens and spins them in his hands. Snow begins to spin around his feet and his entire body begins to glow white. "I know who I am!"
"What's happening to him? Was he programmed to do that?" Kai asks as Zane begins to float in the air.
"I've never seen a robot do that before!" Jay replies.
"You mean Nindroid," Cole corrects in awe.
"Zane's unlocked his true potential," I say, my voice quiet and wispy.
Zane tosses his Shurikens in the air, snow follows them as they go. He drops to the ground and jumps into Spinjitzu. He Spinjitzu's around the Queen Treehorn a multitude of times before he floats back up into the air. A blue beam of ice fly's from his chest, freezing the beast. It lets out a monstrous roar before everything is silent. Zane falls to the ground.
"What happened?" Zane asks groggily as he struggles to his feet.
"That was AWESOME," Jay shouts as he runs up to Zane.
"You should've seen yourself," Kai says.
Cole nods. "I've never seen anything like it!"
"This must be what Sensei meant by unlocking our hearts. I remember now. I remember everything. I remember my father and how he cared for me. I remember where I came from and I feel stronger for knowing," Zane says, glancing at each of us.
"I'm so jealous! His powers are so cool!" Cole exclaims.
"We have our very own Nindroid!" Jay cheers.
Zane smiles threateningly. "Watch out, Pythor. We're coming to get you!"
~
"Some villagers unearthed the remains of this Fangpyre a few miles away. It predates the Golden Age, and must be hundreds of years old. Although the venom in the fangs of the Fangpyre genetically mutate human cells into reptilian, I've learned there could be a way to stop the effects without having to create an antivenom. If one is able to wildly raise their heart rate, hypothetically it could reverse the venom's effects. Resulting in..." Nya pauses to cough. "Diminished— uh, excuse me, is someone wearing perfume? I'm severely allergic to perfume," she says, glancing at me.
"I don't wear that stuff," I say, shaking my head.
Jay chuckles nervously before turning towards Kai. "You told me it was men's cologne!" he whisper yells.
Kai shrugs. "Meh, I get them mixed up."
I smack Kai on the back of the head while the other's burst out laughing. Nya looks like she's about to die and Jay is blushing like mad. When their fun is over, Zane flips open the latch on his arm and turns off his sense of humor.
"Ah, looks like class is over. Time to start stomping some Serpentine before they find any Fangblades," Cole declares.
"Sounds like a plan," Kai replies.
Zane nods. "I'm excited to join."
I follow Kai, Cole and Zane out onto the deck where we usually train. Jay lags behind and I think I know why. His crush on Nya is obvious and it's adorable. Nya has previously confessed to me that she really likes Jay. I really hope they work out, they deserve it.
~
"Can we all agree, Zane is out of the running for the Green Ninja," Kai says. I roll my eyes and shake my head at him.
"What? Why?" Zane protests.
"Because you've already unlocked your full potential and it did not reveal you to be the Green Ninja," Cole explains.
"You guys really need to stop with this whole Green Ninja thing," I say, crossing my arms over my chest.
Zane cocks his head to the side. "Why?"
"Because it distracts you from what really matters," I reply with a shrug.
"And what would that be?" Kai challenges.
"Stopping Pythor and saving my brother."
Kai opens his mouth to reply, but then closes it and his gaze shifts to something behind me. I turn around just as Jay struts into the room wearing a black suit with a blue bow tie. His hair is styled in a weird but fancy way and he wears a scarf around his neck.
"Whoa, where are you going, Mr. Fancy?" Cole asks teasingly.
"Didn't you hear? I'm taking Nya to a nice restaurant. A really nice restaurant," Jay replies with a cocky smirk.
Kai rolls his eyes. "You might want to change your plans. The bridge just picked up evidence of Serpentine activity over at Mega Monster Amusement Park," he says, pulling up a picture of Pythor posing with citizens.
"Hey, that's Pythor!" Jay says.
I scoff. "Obviously." They ignore me.
"Pythor would not be there for fun. We believe a Fangblade may be buried underneath the park," Zane explains.
"We cant let them get it," Jay exclaims. His tough look turns soft. "Oh, but my date..."
"Jay, if they get all four of them, Pythor can unleash the Great Devourer. Get your priorities straight, man," Kai says solemnly.
I roll my eyes and glare at Kai. "Don't you dare sink my ship, Kai!" They give me weird looks, but I ignore them, turning to Jay. "Why don't you just take her to the park for your date?"
He smiles at me. "Great idea! Thanks, Tasha."
~
Jay and Nya are at the most popular restaurant in Mega Monster Amusement park while the rest of us search for the snakes. It's odd, the park is surprisingly empty, especially for this nice of a day. There are barely any lines for any of the rides. Normally, I'd rejoice, but with snakes on the loose, I cant help but feel uneasy.
"Where is everybody?" Kai says what we're all thinking. Seconds after he said this, people come running and screaming out of the Haunted House.
"Wait a minute, that ride was never scary," Cole says.
Zane hardens his gaze. "Venomari."
"Should we get Jay?" Kai asks.
I shake my head and smirk. "Lets not bother the two lovebirds."
Cole nods. "I think we can handle this."
The four of us race into the ride, pushing past the fleeing citizens. It doesn't take us long to find the snakes. They have dug many large holes along the edges of the ride. When we come upon them, Pythor is pulling a shiny silver blade from the ground: the first Fangblade.
"Not ssso fast!" Kai shouts.
Cole rolls his eyes. "Really? That's the best you got?"
Kai shrugs. "I couldn't think of anything on the fly."
"How about 'Time to burn' or 'Jump on this fire ride'?" Cole says, swinging his arms for dramatic affect.
Kai scoffs. "Well next time you lead."
Cole crosses his arms. "Next time I will."
Kai smirks. "Oh, yeah? If you can catch up!"
"Oh, come on. You gotta follow my lead," Cole groans.
"Ladies, Ladies!" I shout, waving my hands between them. "We have snakes to take care of!"
Both boys roll their eyes and we jump into battle. I fire arrows at the snakes as the boys charge. Most of the snakes manage to block my attacks with their swords, so I drop my bow and pull out my daggers. I swing them around in my hand before lunging towards my attackers. While we fight hard and well, the snakes outnumber us and end up cornering us against a wall. Zane steps forward.
"Watch and learn, brothers," he says. His body begins to glow white and ice shoots out from all sides. He didn't freeze the snakes, he froze us. "Oops."
The snakes laugh and slither away. "Great going, Zane," Kai grumbles.
"Now what, are we just gonna wait for it to melt?" Cole exclaims exasperatedly.
"Well, it seems like our only option," Zane replies sheepishly.
"Not our only option," I mumble.
Kai glances over at me. "What's that supposed to mean?"
I shake my head and shut my eyes, focusing hard. I take deep, controlled breaths, allowing my body to relax. "Focus. Feel the power. It is inside you. It runs in your veins. Harness it. Control it." I do just that and my fingers begin to tingle. I concentrate hard, trying to force the energy from my hands. By the gasps and shouts coming from Kai, Cole, and Zane, I know it's working. My entire hand begins to burn, so I open my eyes. A large ball of purple and black rests in each of my palms. I let out a grunt and force the remaining bits of energy from my hand. This causes a small explosion, shattering the ice we're trapped in. The tingling stops, the tendrils of purple disappear, and I collapse to the ground.
"Tasha!" Kai shouts, rushing to my side. I groan as he helps me sit up. "Are you alright?" He asks.
"I'm fine," I say, rubbing my head, which is currently pounding.
"Wh- what was that? What did you do?" Cole exclaims with wide eyes.
"Energy burst," I say with a sarcastic shrug.
"Have you unlocked your true potential?" Zane asks.
I shake my head. "I've been able to do that for as long as I can remember. It's gotten easier to control as I've grown older... but I've never fully unlocked it. It's a struggle to what I just did and often takes a lot of energy," I explain.
"But you've used that power on Kai before and didn't collapse," Cole says, cocking his head slightly.
"I didn't do that on purpose." I pause to let out a small chuckle. "Well, I did, but I wasn't trying to harness the power then. It just came and I used it. Today, I was trying to use it. I had to search for it. When I do that, it drains my energy."
"Can you walk?" Kai asks.
I scoff and shove his arm off me. "Of course I can. I'm not broken, just a little tired."
Kai hesitates, but leaves me to stand up on my own. We collect our weapons and race out of the Haunted House. What we find scares us all. Nya and Jay sit in the front car of the roller coaster. Nya looks to be tied down and they are heading straight for a ring of fire. Kai lets out a fearful cry for his sister and races forward. Cole and Zane grab his arms, stopping him from doing something rash.
We watch in horror as the car nears the fire. Just when it seems like the end for them, Jay begins to glow blue. His body floats up into the air beside Nia. In a flash, he disappears and reappears in front of the car. He flies toward it and holds it back, effectively stopping it just before it drives though the ring of fire. Kai lets out a sigh of relief and lets go of my hand. I hadn't even realized he took it.
~
"You really had me fooled. I never guessed you were the Samurai," Zane says with a kind smile.
"I wish I had a sister like you," Cole adds, prompting Nya to blush.
Kai smirks. "Technically, I was the first to discover her secret, and didn't we agree whoever we thought was the best would be the Green Ninja? Huh? The Green Ninja!" He points at himself dramatically. "The destined Ninja to defeat Lord Garmadon, huh?"
Jay scrunches his nose in mock confusion. "Why would we say that?"
Cole nods. "Yeah, drawing a blank."
"Nope." Zane shakes his head. "That conversation is not in my database."
I scoff. "You all are a bunch of jerks. Either way, I was the first one to find out because she told me."
Nya chuckles while the boys roll their eyes. "You know what I learned today?" Jay says.
Nya smiles at him. "What's that?"
"No matter what kind of secret you have, whether you're a snake or a samurai, it's important to be yourself," he says.
Cole rolls his eyes. "Yeah, that's cute, but you wanna know what I learned? The Serpentine now have the first Fangblade."
"But we're getting stronger. One day, we will reach our True Potential and Pythor will be stopped," Zane says.
"And my brother will be saved," I add.
Jay nods. "And we figured out all this without Sensei. Pretty good for five Ninja--" Nya punches him in the arm-- "and a Samurai.
Kai sighs. "I wonder what Sensei is doing now..."
~
My, my, my. This was an eventful chapter. Fun story about the chapter title: the episode this chapter follows is called "Once Bitten Twice Shy" which is also the title to a song by the band Great White. Being the rock nerd I am, I had to do something with this, so, behold a chapter title stolen from the song's lyrics. Have a listen to figure out how "clever" I am. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Until next time, Wacky AWAY!
Word Count: 2320
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