Thanks to all of you who have put up with some of my late chapters and for reviewing. It really makes my day when I open my e-mail and a review pops up. So here's the next chapter. It's the longest so far.


It felt great being above ground. If I wasn't kinda a hostage to a psychotic snake, I would've savored the moment. I looked up at the clear sky, it was so peaceful. I could only imagine what was going on in the city. They had no idea what would happen if I lost control. My powers caused destruction. Pythor should've just left me in the cell underground. If he got a storm, I'd make sure it destroyed everything so the serpentine couldn't have it. I wouldn't let him get what he wanted.

"Now, let's discuss what kind of storm it needs to be," Pythor said, grabbing my wrist tightly.

I winced a little. "What do you mean?"

"I say a tornado with a snow storm and enough static in the air for tons of lightning," Pythor mumbled.

"Can it just be a storm?" I asked.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Pythor snapped. "It has to be precise."

"Okay," I said, yanking my arm away from Pythor. "So a lightning snow-nado storm? That's three seperate storms, and I don't even know how to make one!"

"You'll figure it out," he grinned.

I didn't like this, not one bit. I looked around the area. I was in a forest. I could probably run through and escape. Then I could find the Bounty and get Misako, Wu, Garmadon, and Dr. Julien. Good plan, my only plan. Now I just needed to distract him so I could have a head start. Every second counts! "So..." I said. "I can make this storm, and then the ninja and Molly stay safe right?"

"Sure," Pythor muttered, turning away most likely so I couldn't tell he was lying. That's what I expected to happen. I bolted, my feet making no noise as it touched the ground. I figured I had less than a minute before Pythor realized I left.

I looked around, trying to remember the forest from our school field trip. We'd came here to talk about different types of plants and animals. We saw a couple deer but that was it. The boys in my class pretended to have guns, yelled "boom" as loud as they could, and scared the deer off. So much for being close to nature. I thought the trip was a total waste of time until now. I could navigate my way back to city limits. Then finding a flying ship would be a piece of cake. Time was the problem. What if I wasn't fast enough?

I started up a small hill. The city was right over it, down it a little ways. If I was lucky, the Bounty would be overhead soon too. Apparently I wasn't lucky today. I tripped over my own two feet and fell face first into the grass. I was dazed for a moment. That moment was just long enough for Pythor to catch up. While I was still dazed, he grabbed me by the back of my shirt and lifted me to my feet. He spun me around. He looked mad. Like... Dump somebody's hot chocolate into the snow mad. Trust me, someone did it to me before and I was not happy about it. Not one bit!

"You little pest!" he hissed. "I'd end you now if I didn't still need you!"

I felt my heart begin to race. The sky started to darken. No! I told myself. Not now! I calmed myself down and the sun peeked back out, not that it mattered. No one was coming to help me. I'd have to make the storm.

Next thing I knew, a rock hit Pythor in the head. Not a tiny pebble, this rock was he size of my fist, maybe bigger. Pythor turned his head, dropped me onto the ground, and vanished. I felt daze again. My head had hit the ground twice in the last minute. It hurt. Two figures came into my view, but they just seemed like silhouettes. Though just by that, I thought about my parents. They looked like how Molly had described them from what I could see.

"Echo," a familiar voice said as the figure to my left knelt down to me. "Are you okay?"

"Back," I mumbled, not having a clue what I was saying. "M-Mom?" My vision began to fade, my head throbbed in pain. I didn't want it to fade though. Even if I was hallucinating, it was the first time I felt like no one would ever forget me again. Someone had saved me, and I thought it was my parents. It faded until I went unconsious.


When I came to I sat up immediately, thinking it was all a dream. I looked around and found myself in yet a different room. There was nothing but a bed, a nightstand, a few chairs, and a door. I watched the door for a moment, wondering if Pythor caught me again. It seemed to nice though. Too nice and comforting. Misako walked in, and I was relieved to see a familiar face.

"Echo, I'm glad you're awake," she said.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I'm not entirely sure," she replied. "You came running up the hill and tripped. Pythor appeared, but we scared him off. Then you mumbled 'back' and... and you called me 'Mom'."

I felt my cheeks turn red. I looked down. "Uh... I'm sorry. I just... Molly told me a story and you looked like her. Though I couldn't see very well, everything was going black, and I don't know how I knew."

"It's fine," Misako told me. She looked like she wanted to say something else, but she couldn't bring herself to say it.

I bit my lip. "Others," I mumbled. "Pythor has them."

Misako's face darkened. She looked worried. "We figured that was why you came back from a different direction and alone. Nya went to locate them. Alex and Lloyd, they aren't hurt right?"

I shook my head. "They were fine when I was taken out." Misako silently sighed in relief. "And," I continued. "Pythor had Molly. I had to agree to help him in order to save her. He poisoned her."

Misako walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. "It'll be okay," she told me. "She's fine now, right?" I nodded. "The ninja won't let Pythor hurt her again."

I slowly nodded again. Pythor wasn't even back at the tunnel. I didn't know how, but I knew he wasn't. "We need to go find them," I insisted.

"We'll go help, but you're staying here with Dr. Julien and Wu," Misako said.

"But I wanna..."

"Garmadon and I will find them," Misako assured me. "You just stay here and rest."

I sighed. A part of me was screaming, 'You should be thankful!' Obviously that part of me wasn't listening he part that knew Pythor was waiting. Wu walked in the room. For a split second, I could picture him as my dad. That couldn't be right though because I had thought for a moment Misako was my mom. Misako and Garmadon were a couple. Alex and Lloyd were their kids. I must've hit my head too hard. How could I consider this?! My parents left me. I won't see them again.

"Garmadon's ready," Wu said.

"Okay," Misako said. She studied me for a moment, like she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Everything will be fine this time. I'll make sure of it."

I figured she meant she wouldn't let Pythor get me again. "Okay," I said.

She hesitated and got up. She walked out of the door, glancing at Wu before leaving. They were hiding something. If only I could read minds! Wu walked over to me and sat in a chair. He stared rummaging in the nightstand drawer, pulling out a small bottle. I covered my mouth with both hands.

"Echo," he sighed. "You have to take some Tylenol. It'll help."

"No!" I said, refusing to move my hands. "I hate medicine. Ms. Ceader always shoved it down our throats."

"I won't shove it down your throat, but you have to take it," Wu said.

"No way," I said. "My head doesn't even..." I winced. Yeah, way to jinx it. I mentally slapped myself.

"Uh, huh," Wu mumbled, hiding a smile. "You know, Alex and Lloyd acted just like this when they were little."

"You helped take care of them?" I asked, moving my hands slightly away from my mouth. It wasn't enough for Wu to get the Tylenol in my mouth.

Wu nodded. "We all lived in one monastery." He studied me for a moment. "Echo..." he started, but never got a chance to finish. A loud crash noise echoed outside.

I dropped my hands. "What was that?"

Wu didn't answer. He stuck the Tylenol in my mouth and clasped his hand over my mouth. "We'll go see what it was after you swallow it."

I mumbled under my breath and took the Tylenol. Then I swung my legs over the bed and Wu removed his hand. We slowly made our way to the door. He stood to one side and I stood to the other side. Wu pushed the door open and peered out. I felt like we we were playing army, but if it was Pythor than this was no game. He signaled for me to follow and we walked out onto the deck, standing back to back.

Dr. Julien ran out onto the deck, scaring me half to death. "What happened?" he asked.

"We don't know," Wu said.

"Maybe Pythor got on the ship," I suggested.

"That is a possiblity," Wu agreed.

"We should check around," Dr. Julien said. "But Alex is the only one who can see him."

"So there's no point in splitting up and searching. We'll check the cameras, try and find him with the thermal camera."

We ran up to the bridge. I sat down next to the wheel while Wu and Dr. Julien messed with the cameras. To think, just two days ago I was at the orphanage wishing for something to happen. Now I was trying to escape a mad snake that was out to force Ninjago underground. After a while, Dr. Julien and Wu looked to me. "Well he isn't here," Dr. Julien said. "We've tried every setting and there's no sign of him."

I nodded and looked down. I needed to stay calm and not get scared. If I did, Pythor would get his storm. Wu walked over to me. "Echo, let's go outside and take your mind off what's been happening," he suggested. "So your powers don't act up."

I wasn't sure how he knew about that, but I nodded and stood up anyways. I walked out of the bridge with Wu while Dr. Julien stayed behind. We walked down to the decks and Wu turned to me. "So what are we doing?" I asked.

"Would you like to play a game?" Wu asked me.

"Sure!" I exclaimed. "Let's play... Army base."

Wu smiled. "Okay, let's go."


For an old man, Wu was excellent at army base. We played for five minutes, and we each won twice. I'd just about forgotten about what was happening. During the entire game, nothing abnormal happened. It was like I had a normal life.

We were on round five, the tie breaker. I slowly snuck towards the mass. I glanced around the empty deck. I've learned that Wu was stealthy, quick, and clever. He could've came from anywhere, so to make it fair he hid his object, in this case an old scroll, in the same place. Right as I got to the mass, I felt gentle arms wrap around me. "Got you!" Wu said.

I squealed a little, giggling as he swung me and set me down away from the mass. For a quick moment, I once again saw Wu as my dad. I felt a strike of grief. I sighed and walked to the edge of the Bounty, sitting down. Wu walked over to me. "Wu," I said, looking up. "Do you think my parents will ever come back for me?"

Wu slowly sat down next to me. "I do not know," he replied. "Have you ever met your parents?"

"No," I mumbled. "They left me when I was a baby. Molly saw them when they dropped me off at the orphanage but... Well she'd know them if she saw them again."

Wu looked like he was trying to hold something back. He stared blankly at the ground below. Before I could ask what was wrong, something grabbed my legs and tried pulling me off the Bounty. I screamed and Wu grabbed my hands. "Hold on Echo," he told me.

I tried holding on, but whatever had my legs was strong. I felt myself slipping out of Wu's grasp. "Can't, hold on," I gasped.

"Yes you can," Wu insisted. "I can't lose you again."

I didn't have time to question what he said. I slipped and was pulled to the ground. I flipped back and landed on my back, knocking the wind out of me. As I tried to catch it, Pythor appeared leaning over me. "Thought you could get away, hmmm?" he asked. "Think again little girl."

I started to push myself up. "Pythor," I strained. "Just leave... me alone." I was still trying to catch my breath. Pythor grabbed my arm and hoisted me up. Wu jumped down and hit Pythor with his bamboo staff. Pythor dropped me and I caught myself.

"Leave here now," Wu ordered.

"I'm not leaving without the girl!" Pythor hissed.

I felt a cold breeze rush over me. I shivered, and next thing I knew, Zane was in front of me. Lloyd and Molly rushed to my side an helped me up. I wrapped my arms around Molly, and Lloyd looked a bit jealous. Molly pulled me back a little. "Let's go," she whispered to me. "The ninja will take care of it."

I nodded and backed away with Molly. The other ninja came into my view and started to attack Pythor. The snake hissed and vanished. "Cole, left sweep kick," Alex called, running to Cole's side.

Cole did a sweep kick and Pythor reappeared as he tumbled backwards. Alex knocked Pythor down and placed the tip of her blade to Pythor's neck. "Stop!" Pythor hissed at Alex.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't end you right here and now," Alex growled.

"Because, I... I know where he is!" Pythor said.

"Who?" Lloyd asked.

Pythor smirked. "It was to be a last resort, in case I got in this situation, but it's time to tell you." Misako and Garmadon each to mine and Molly's sides. "I know where Lucas is."

Alex looked like someone slapped her abruptly. She stared at Pythor for a moment, loosening her grip. Then she narrowed her eyes at him and gripped her sword tighter. "Liar!" she yelled. She really looked like she was going to kill Pythor for just saying the name, 'Lucas'.

Misako hurried over to Alex and put her hand on her shoulder. "Alex," I heard her whisper.

Alex pulled her sword away. "Leave now," she snapped. "Unless you want me to kill you."

Everyone watched in silence as Pythor vanished. For a moment I thought he'd come for me, but nothing happened after that. We all started boarding the Bounty. Garmadon invited Molly to stay the night since it was getting late. Alex didn't say anything as we laid in the girls' room. In fact it was silent.

Molly got sick of it and asked, "Does anyone want to hear a story?"

"Yes!" I replied, sitting up.

"I love stories!" Lillie cheered.

"Sure," Tove mumbled.

"I guess, eh," Vanessa said.

Alex said nothing.

"Okay, his story is about... Hmmm..." Molly closed her eyes. "How about the boy on the street?"

"I've never heard that one," I said. "Tell it!"

Molly smiled. "Okay, now this is a secret story. You can't repeat it to anyone!" We all promised not to, and Molly began her story.


So the story will be in the next chapter. I wanted a cliff hanger... I hate them, so I assume you do too. Just be glad the chater didn't end with, "Echo summoned her strength, and the massive storm appeared." So review, no flaming.