I don't own Lego or Ninjago

Chapter 21

Cole's POV

There was a mutated, German Shepherd-size beetle on Tara's tree.

"Well that's... new," Jay stated the obvious. I went up to the willow and unveiled one of the test tubes as I doused a little on the giant dog-beetle. I waited a few moments. No effect. I poured vials on periodically and waited for an effect. Ten vials on the ground escalated to twenty... thirty... and so on. I started to pour another vial on when Kai piped up.

"You know, even if we do have the right pesticide with us, how can we spread that small of an amount to have enough effect to wipe out the entire infestation, or one mutated beetle for that matter?" he inquired. Only half-way listening, I poured the final bottle, the combined one, onto the insect. Nothing happened. I whirled around and marched up to Kai as my eyes began to sting.

"I don't know... maybe because it was another of your stupid ideas! I should be asking you that question, because it was your ingenious idea that got us into this mess! So tell me, how are we supposed to save this forest or Tara at the least?" I yelled at him. Kai's eyes widened with surprise and fear and then returned to their normal determined state.

"We both know I tried my best given the circumstances," he said under his breath. Zane brightened up.

"If the Asian Longhorn Beetle's colony hierarchy works principally the same fashion as the Tree Horns, then shouldn't we able to just take out the queen in order to disperse the rest of the beetles?" he proposed. A genuine mastermind. Everyone should start having nindroid friends! I looked around frantically for the queen beetle.

"Calm down. I'm certain that the queen is the giant beetle clinging to Tara's tree, since she is the one the beetles are supposed to target," Jay informed me. I turned to Zane.

"We couldn't have figured this out earlier!" I yelled in frustration as I charged up to the insect. New thing to the list of stuff I despise: Beetles. I took out my scythe and thought of all the hatred I had for this insect due to all the problems it was causing me as I swung downward at the beast.

"Cole, wait! You shouldn't do-" Jay called out as my scythe cleanly went through the beetle and stopped.

"That," he finished. I dislodged my scythe and realized I had hit Tara's tree too.

"Oh... well that's not good," I understated, unsure of what to do.

"Look!" Kai pointed at the tree. A trail of beetles was starting to leave the tree, wandering aimlessly into the forest.

"The hormones from the queen have stopped being released, causing the beetles to not know their orders!" Jay and Zane said simultaneously. They then high-fived each other. Ahh! Knowledge buddies! The nerdy-ness is blinding!

With the infestation leaving by its own accord, we headed to the Toxic Bog. I scurried over to the vine dome.

"Tara! Are you in there?" I called through the squirming plant. The vines parted, creating a spacious pathway as I spotted Tara running towards us, smiling widely. Wait. Running? An urge to laugh rose up in my throat because I knew that Tara had recovered to where she was capable of running again. She flung herself at me and pulled me into a tight embrace. I picked her up by her slim waist and twirled her around as she giggled. Her laugh reminded me of bells, joyful and melodic. I put her down on the ground and set a stern look across my face.

"I was so worried about you..." I whispered. She blushed and looked away, giving a lopsided smile.

"Hellooo, your best ninja friends who saved your butt are here! Get a room, geesh..." Jay told us, annoyed. We both just gave him the same look: Seriously? You want to talk about getting a room? What about you and Nya?

Tara put both hands on one hip, "I don't know how you guys got rid of the infestation, but you did it! However, I now have this strange gash on my side." She removed both hands to reveal stained clothing underneath. Zane, Jay, and Kai bore eyes into the back of my head.

"Yeah... about that... So, speaking of things that exist in the universe, why isn't this vine monster eating our heads off about now?" I asked here.

"Well," she started with a smile, "if you must know, once as Xavier here found out that we were sort of "brethren" and found out about my predicament, he tried to make me as comfortable as possible. Just in case I died or something."

"That's all?" I asked. She nodded.

I placed my hand on her head and ruffled her hair, "I'm just glad you're okay." We started to stroll back to the Destiny's Bounty.

"So..." Tara began.

"So?" I repeated.

"Can I keep Xavier? As a pet? He has an adorable eastern Ninjago plant accent," she proposed.

"Absolutely not," I firmly stated.

"Why not?" she pleaded with puppy dog eyes.

The bickering began and our group had returned to normal. Well, if you consider ninjas with friends who are nindroids and trees to be normal.

Garbaflarblestien! I can't decide what college I want to go to. Maybe I'm planning to early, but still!