Sorry this is late. I just...had a really rough time when I was trying to write it. I was thrown off a bit with the writing process and then had to take time to sort my thoughts out. But here it is.

Chapter Twenty: Venomous

"It's now or never. We have to end it all here. She's right, we can't keep running. We aren't protecting anybody by letting the Devourer roam free."

Everyone exchanged wary glances as Cole gripped his scythe tight, determination now etched onto his face. "We'll fight as one and die as one if we have to. Sensei told us to do everything in our power to stop this thing and we haven't." Lloyd seemed to shrink within himself, his confidence lacking severely. Cole's amber eyes fell upon the youngest member of the team and his face softened for a second. "Everything will be okay, Lloyd," he said, tone betraying no hint of anxiety. The young boy met his gaze and just nodded slowly. "If...if worse comes to worse then...your sister can take care of you."

"His sister can do what now?" Laurie blinked, pointing to herself. She did not know how to take care of a child, even if the child was her blood relative. He was going to be the savior of all Ninjago. They could not just leave his fate in her hands. She was not capable enough. "H-He has to learn all of the elements. Master all of the elements." She was panicking now, her heart rate accelerating. "I-I can't do that. I can't teach him about things that I don't know about."

Kai smirked, still gripping the Sword of Fire in his right hand. "Well then...you had better hope that this great idea of yours actually works." With that, the red ninja inhaled deeply and started making his way up the spiral staircase that led to the top of the tree that they had been standing in. Laurie watched his form grow smaller and smaller as another shock wave traveled through the ground. She was thrown off of her feet, back hitting the floor hard. Jay was behind her, helping her to her feet after everything has passed. She whispered a brief word of thanks before gasping.

The Sword of Fire now rested near her feet. And Kai was dangling off of the stairs.

Laurie felt dizzy and instinctively lunged for the weapon near her now. She then headed towards the stairs. Taking them two at a time, the red head made it up to Kai in a matter of seconds, dropping to her knees. The sword was gripped in her left hand and she extended her right out towards her boyfr-her friend. "I've got you. Give me your hand, Kai!"

"Give me the sword first," he rebutted, a gleam of distrust in his light brown eyes.

You've got to be kidding me. "What does it look like I'm doing? Stealing it?" Laurie tossed the weapon up onto the next stair, much to Kai's dismay. "You've got to learn to trust me, hothead." She was bracing herself on the stairs with her left hand, trying to keep herself balanced while still reaching for Kai. "Now, do you wanna take my hand or not?"

SCREEEEEEEECH!

The sound was deafening. Laurie squeezed her eyes shut and held onto the stairs with her one hand as the entirety of the structure shook relentlessly. The Great Devourer...it's got to be just outside or something. She opened her eyes and saw that Kai was gone. Oh my gosh. Leaning over the stairs, she saw the red ninja safe on the ground, a winding slide of ice staring back at her. Well, if she knew that Zane was going to help, she would not have acted so rash and made herself look like an idiot in front of everyone. "Toss me my sword now," Kai called up.

"Yeah, I'll toss you something," the red head mumbled under her breath, getting to her feet. The golden sword glared at her out of the corner of her eye and she bent down and grabbed it before tossing it over her shoulder. At this point she honestly could not care less if the weapon hit the ground and shattered into a million pieces. You're being reckless, her thoughts argued. You're endangering any chance of survival that you or anyone else has against the Great Devourer. Now guilt clawed at her stomach and Laurie ran up the stairs the rest of the way, wanting to leave everything behind. She was embarrassing herself, being a child.

The light from outside was different than she had expected. Ominous clouds blanketed the sky and a harsh wind stirred up flurries of snow that were trying to settle on the ground. Laurie shielded her face against the chill, feeling her cheeks turn red in response. Cold immediately seeped into her jeans, where they had not been tucked into her black boots. Everything around her felt tense and uncomfortable. Where was the Great Devourer though? A creature that could hypothetically grow forever should have been a lot easier to spot.

"You have a death wish, don't you?"

Laurie turned, her hair blowing back in her face. Kai was leaning against the door frame of the odd little home in the tree, Golden Weapon gripped firmly in his right hand. She could see the faint silhouette of the others behind him, Cole's amber eyes especially. They practically glowed in the low light of the interior structure. "I don't have a death wish at all," she replied honestly, taking a step backwards. She was feeling uncomfortable.

"Coulda fooled me," the Ninja of Fire said, stepping out into the snow. Laurie watched as the snowflakes that carelessly collided with Kai's sword immediately turned into steam that wafted upwards on the breeze. It was mesmerizing. "Usually people that don't wanna die tend to stay away from giant, all consuming death snakes."

But heroes never do, she wanted to argue, but she decided to hold her tongue. Was she really a hero? She had never particularly done anything heroic before. Or...maybe she had? It all depends on if this is real or not. How do I find out if it's all real?

As if answering her question, the ground beneath Laurie's feet quivered. At first she thought it was just underneath her, but when she glanced up at the group that had steadily made their way out into the snow as well, she could see that it was effecting everyone. The ground was rising slowly, steadily. "It's gotta be underneath us," she heard Jay call out. The snapping and cracking of trees in the distance echoed throughout the Birchwood Forest and Laurie felt her heart seize up.

"We don't know where it is yet," Cole said, his eyes feverishly scanning the horizon. "Keep your weapons ready and stay on your toes."

Lloyd literally stood on his toes, trying to see over Zane's shoulder. "Will we able to kill it when it finally shows itself?" he asked, noticing his hands trembling for the first time. Was it from the cold or the adrenaline? He could not tell.

"We're gonna kill it," Kai said, turning his narrowed light brown eyes on the small boy. "You're gonna get back inside Dr. Julien's lab where it's safe, half-pint."

Is it really safe? Laurie's thoughts were running a mile a minute. Deep down inside, she felt like she was not as crazy as everyone kept telling her she was, but not knowing what was actually real was going to drive her insane. I have to know. I have to know now. But how? The ground beneath her pitched and Laurie fell to her hands and knees, feeling numb both inside and out. It's gotta be the only way then...

"Look out!" Cole yelled, causing the rest of his teammates to scatter.

Laurie saw the shadow over her growing larger before she glanced behind her to see what was happening. It was a tail. Instinct taking over, Laurie lunged off to her right, somersaulting across the snow and slush before landing in a crouch. The Great Devourer's tail plunged into the ground, sending a shock-wave outwards. The red head was flat on her back, feeling disoriented. Coward, her thoughts hissed. That was your chance to test your theory and you blew it.

No, there had to be another way to test it.

A roar erupted from the broken tree line and an eerie hush fell over the forest as the deep red eyes of the Great Devourer locked onto the group of heroes. "Aim for its weak point," Cole said, getting to his feet and gripping his scythe with both hands. His teammates followed suit, pure determination etched into their features. "We have to work together and time it right or..."

The leader could not finish his thought as his eyes widened. Kai was right: Lloyd's sister had a death wish. She had gotten to her feet as well, barreling across the snow towards the Devourer without a weapon. "Laurie, stop!"

She heard Cole calling her name, but she ignored it. This was it. This was how she was going to know if she was going to know if she was actually crazy or not. If this was not real, then what she was about to do would not hurt her at all. If it is real though...

Laurie shook the thought from her head. If she thought about it like that then there would be no escaping the nightmare. She had to know now.

The Great Devourer eyed her hungrily as the distance between them grew smaller and smaller. By the time the red head could see herself perfectly reflected in the beast's eyes, she knew there was no turning back. It reared up before striking and Laurie somehow managed to jump on top of the creature's head, unsteadily balancing and grabbing onto the large scales that coated its entire body as it threw its head back, trying to dislodge her.

Time stood still. Laurie lost her grip and became weightless as the cool air rushed around her. The menacing clouds that blanketed the sky glared down at her as she became aware of an intense warmth surrounding her body. Darkness was creeping up on all sides, the air growing more moist. Well, this was what she had been aiming for the whole time. Now that it was finally happening, she was not quite sure if it was the right plan of action. Too late now. Laurie closed her eyes and waited to see what fate had in store for her.

"You are out of your mind!"

A strong hand caught the girl by her wrist. Her body twitched as her descent stopped abruptly. Laurie looked around her, seeing the cartilaginous rings of the Great Devourer's throat surrounding her. Then she fixed her gaze upwards. The teeth of the beast jutted out from the jaw, like prison bars. Kai had wedged his sword between the upper and lower jaw of the creature, preventing it from shutting its mouth. "Let me go," Laurie said plainly.

"Uh...no." Kai was gripping onto the Great Devourer's lower jaw desperately. Laurie could see the sky twisting and twirling behind him. The Devourer was trying to throw him off and swallow his next meal. Kai's arm rested between two smaller alabaster teeth and she could see him straining to stay balanced and keep his hold on her. "We don't just let innocent people die," the red ninja continued, his lips drawing into a tight line as he slowly pulled Laurie up towards him. "We're ninja."

You're heroes. She gave a small smile.

Kai finally looped an arm around the girl's waist and pulled her from the creature's throat before grabbing his sword. They both fell to the ground as the serpent pitched its head forward. Laurie landed on top of Kai, much to her dismay. She did not want him to hate her anymore after having to save her from death. Now she would never know if this was just a dream or not. "Thank you," she said, her ice blue eyes wavering with the threat of tears.

"Don't mention it. Just...go wait inside the tree with Lloyd."

Laurie quickly got to her feet and went to brush the snow off of her pants. She trembled as she saw a sticky red substance coating her hands. Blood. Where was she bleeding from? The girl quickly examined her body, looking for the wound she had sustained, but she found nothing. Oh no. "Kai, you're bleeding."

The red ninja looked down at his right arm, the one he had used to pull Laurie from the Devourer's throat. "Yeah, it's okay. I think I nicked myself on one of the Devourer's teeth. I'll be fine though."

No, Kai, you won't. She wanted to shout it, but the words stayed in her throat. Venom is more powerful than you can imagine.

Thanks for being a little more patient with me than you normally have to be. I've taken on another writing project so my mind is a little bit more scatterbrained than usual. Expect this to update again on February 7th. See you then.