"Uncle Wu! Uncle Wu! Help!"
The old ninja master put down his teacup. "Is that Lloyd?"
Nya, who was practicing with her sword nearby, shrugged. "Sounds like him. Think there's any trouble?"
But the sensei was gone, his teapot sitting abandoned where he had been a moment before.
Wu raced through the Bounty, still holding his cup of tea and not spilling a drop of it as he flipped and passed over whatever stood in his way. The bedroom was empty. The kitchen was empty, save for one of Jay's concoctions bubbling merrily on the stove.
"Lloyd!" Wu yelled. "Where are you?"
"I'm in the game room!" Lloyd's voice was getting higher and weaker. "They're killing me!"
No longer bothering with stealth, Wu began a flat-out run toward the gaming room. Nya ran up behind him. "I've got my sword, Sensei! We go in together!"
The door to the game room was locked. Wu wrestled with the doorknob as gouts of laughter came from inside the room. It sounded like the ninjas.
"How can you laugh when Lloyd's being attacked?" Nya hollered through the door. "I thought you guys were a team!"
"Uncle Wu!" Lloyd's voice was reaching frenzy pitch. "Help!"
Nya whipped around and delivered a spinning back strike to the door. She yelped in pain and grabbed her hand, shaking it wildly.
"Too hasty, Nya," Wu chided. He took the thin spoon from his teacup and slid it into the keyhole.
There was a click, and the door swung wide.
Jay, Kai, Cole, and Zane were kneeling on the floor around a writhing Lloyd, all of whom were laughing uproariously.
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" Wu thundered.
Cole, Jay, Zane, and Kai jumped to their feet. Lloyd lay on the floor, gasping for breath.
"They were tickling me!" he managed.
Kai looked up sheepishly. "We were playing Taco Hunter o' Tickletown, and Lloyd said he could take us all on at once. So we started playing, and he kept shooting me in the head and I kinda lost control."
"And then," Jay interrupted helpfully, "we all pitched in to teach Lloyd a lesson."
"It was a team effort," Cole added.
"Lloyd is part of the team," Nya pointed out. "You guys ganged up on him. That doesn't sound like a team effort to me."
"It wasn't my idea," Jay said hastily. Wu sighed heavily.
"I think that will be enough Taco Hunter o' Tickletown for the day," he decided. "It's time for dinner."
"What'd you burn for us tonight, Jay?" Cole asked interestedly as the ninjas trooped out of the game room. Jay smiled.
"Tacos."
"Tickling need not apply," Lloyd added feelingly.