Now for the in-between chapter. I own nothing.
Soundtrack:
1. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers Theme
2. The Price of Freedom: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VIII Soundtrack
Deploy! Super Serpentine Strike Squad!(deleted scene from Once Bitten, Twice Shy )
Cole, Kai and Zane ran after Pythor and Skales. The three ninja had just freed themselves from Zane's ice block. Cole and Kai were rather upset at Zane, but Pythor had the fang blade and now was not the time for petty arguments. Skales looked behind him.
"Sir, they're catching up." Skales said, gasping for breath. "I don't think that we can outrun them." Pythor twisted back to look at them. Then a grin appeared on his face and he stopped. Skales, baffled, stopped as well. The ninja also stopped. (lots of stopping going on if no one noticed)
"So, ya giving up." Kai taunted.
"Not exactly." Pythor smirked. "You see, since you're so insistent on having a fight, then I'll give you one."
"You're going to fight us?" Cole scoffed.
"No, they are." Pythor said nodding to the roof of the funhouse. The ninja looked up to see five figures wearing brown cloaks.
"And who are they?" Zane asked. The five figures jumped down in-between Pythor and the ninja. They then flung off their cloaks to reveal two hyponbrai, one who had a crud metal claw for a hand, a fangpyre, a rather short venomari, and a tall burly constricti, all wearing color coordinated armor. The serpentine then grabbed the cloaks on the ground and spun them around in circles before throwing them into the air. The hyponbrai with the metal claw hand jumped into the air performing a back flip before sticking the landing.
"Men, introductions!" He barked. The ninja exchanged confused glances as the hyponbrai began jogging in reverse. The venomari then pulled out a boom box and slid in a tape. As a strange rock song began to flow from the music box, the venomari back flipped forward.
"I'm Gydo!" He declared pulling out a pair of nunchuks. "Skilled fighter and future seeing physic!" The venomari then spun the nunchuks around for a few minutes, before striking a dramatic pose.
"Did he just say he can see the future?" Kai asked.
"I'm just wondering what they are doing." Cole said pointing to the other serpentine who were performing an elaborate dance to the tune of the rock music. The burly constricti charged from the group and pulled out a large scythe.
"Name's Rashoom!" The constricti shouted, spinning the scythe around like a mad man. "Prepare to meet your doom!" The constrcti then hefted the scythe over his shoulder and struck a pose similar to Gydo. Then the fangpyre pulled out a bow, jumped into the air, and shot an arrow into the ground before landing right behind it.
"G'day mates, I'm J.C.!" The fangpyre announced in one incredibly strange accent. "Archin' expert." The fangpyre raised his bow, as if to fire next to the other serpentine. Then, the hypobaric, without the metal hand, pulled out a rapier and ran forward swing the sword back and forth.
"I'm Burtir!" He declared stopping next to the other serpentine and striking a pose. "The greatest swordsman in the world!" Finally, the hyponbrai with the metal hand jumped into the air and landed in front of the others.
"And I am Commander Hybrac, the leader!" He said striking a pose.
"What, that's it?" Cole whispered to Zane.
"And together we form the most elite fighting force ever: the super serpentine strike squad!" The five serpentine declared as the song came to an end.
"Who are these guys?" Cole asked utterly baffled by this new development.
"Bunch of fashion disasters if you ask me." Kai smirked.
"Oi, comin' from you, ya spiky haired bogan." J.C. interjected.
"What exactly are you people?" Zane asked.
"We are a special strike force made up of all of the serpentine tribes." Hybrac replied proudly.
"Then why are there two hyponbrai?" Cole asked.
"None of your business." Burtir replied defensively.
"Any other questions?" Hybrac inquired amiably
"Yeah, did he say he can see the future?" Kai asked.
"Yes, I can." Gydo said. Then his eyes went white and he began drooling.
"Oh, here he goes again." Rashoom said.
"Men, assume future sight pose!" Hybrac barked to his men. The serpentine strike force then assumed another strange pose. After a few minutes, Gydo shook his head and resumed normalcy.
"Guys! I just saw the future!" Gydo said happily.
"And, what did you see?" Burtir asked eagerly.
"In the future, the black ninja and blue ninja get in a love triangle with the red ninja's sister." He said proudly.
"Pht. Sure." Cole replied skeptically.
"Anyway, that's not really all that helpful fer us." J.C. said.
"Can we just fight now?" Kai pleaded.
"Very well, men prepare to attack." Hybrac said. The five serpentine then charged forward. The three ninja looked at one another before shouting "Ninja go." and forming tornados of fire, ice and earth. In a few short seconds, the five serpentine were thrown away from the ninja and onto their backs.
"Men, retreat!" Hybrac said. With that the serpentine hurriedly fled.
"Alright, now where-" Cole began when he noticed that Pythor and Skales were gone.
"Ah! Come on!" He said frustrated.
Cyrus' Secret
Luna laid on her bunk in her quarter on Lewis' ship trying desperately to cover her ears with her pillows. Unfortunately for Luna, tonight was Tuesday night, which meant that Lewis was binge watching Star Trek: Enterprise. Well, not really watching, more like sitting in front of the T.V. and yelling complaints at the show. And Luna's quarters were right under Lewis' television room, meaning she could hear everything he said.
"Yeah sure, just go ahead and replace the awesome opening symphony with some stupid acoustic guitar music, nobody will mind." Luna heard Lewis complain. She let out a growl of frustration. Before, she and Guinevere would spend the time together in her room. Poor kid. Luna thought remembering Lewis' young companion. Then, Cyrus popped into her mind. He's probably not doing anything. So, Luna got up and began to walk to the top deck. However, as she neared the top deck, she stopped, hearing Cyrus' voice.
"Never again." Luna poked her head out and saw her white-haired companion holding something in his hand, a badge perhaps. Luna could not make out much about it but she could make out one thing. "XIII" was engraved in gold on it. Before Luna could say anything, Cyrus tossed the badge into the ocean. What was that? Luna thought. A million questions flew through her mind in seconds, dark questions, questions she never considered with Cyrus. Determined to not be lied to she teleported into the sea. Upon being meet with the icy cold of the ocean, Luna considered teleporting back to the ship when she noticed a glint of gold. She swam after it and plucked the badge out of the water. Then, Luna teleported back into her room. At first she was glad that she was in the warmth of her room though that happiness was immediately lessened by the sound of Lewis' voice.
"Really, the original rubber gorn costume looks more realistic."
Growling, Luna discarded her dripping wet clothes and quickly pulled on new ones. The serpentine then picked up the badge. She examined it for a moment, before opening it. On the inside was written in gold engraving "Armed with calculating mind, devious will, and snowflake bow, Number X: The Icy Assassin." Luna took in a shocked breath. Then she remembered Xigbar's words.
"Been a long time kid." How exactly did Xigbar know Cyrus? Could…could Cyrus be.. Luna cut off that train of thought.
"It's not possible." She said to herself. But the possibility remained in her mind. Finally, she could not stand the lack of knowledge. Luna marched up to the upper deck with purpose. When she reached the top she found Cyrus leaning on the edge of the deck. He heard her coming and turned to greet her.
"Luna..why did you change your clothes?" He asked confused.
"Dunno, why did you throw this away?" Luna challenged holding up the badge. Cyrus' eyes widened in horror.
"W..Where did you get that?" He sputtered in shock.
"Found it floating in the ocean." Luna replied. "Care to explain what exactly it is?"
"Nothing." Cyrus lied desperately. "Just give it back."
"Not until you tell me the truth, Icy Assassin." Luna shot back. Cyrus took in a deep breath.
"I..I.. was part of the Organization." Cyrus began. "My sister, Roxie and I, were raised in a crime-ridden part of Ninjago City. My father was a police officer. H..He tired to take down a cartel that ran that part of the city. But they killed him. I was twelve."
"What does that have to do with Organization XIII?" Luna pushed. She felt bad for Cyrus but she was not going to stop until she knew the full truth.
"The gang had a sadistic habit of stealing badges from officers they killed." Cyrus continued. "Roxie, she wouldn't stand for it and decided to sneak into their headquarters and get it back. I came with her. We tried to avoid capture, but they found us. The gang was going to kill us, but then a guy in the black cloak appeared and slaughtered the entire gang. It was Xigbar. He freed us and said that we had a lot of courage to try to stand up to the cartel. He disappeared before we could thank him. After that, the streets began to clear up. Roxie and I obsessed over Xigbar. I thought he was like a lone bounty hunter who fought for justice. Roxie believed that he worked for some kind of secret league of do-gooders. Out of the two of us, she was closer to the truth. One year later, we were on our way to school when we spotted Xigbar again. We followed him and saw him meet with Xaldin. Xaldin spotted us and demanded to know who we were. But Xigbar actually remembered us. He was impressed that we managed to follow him without being seen. Xaldin and Xigbar talked in private for a while before Xigbar asked us if we wanted to be like him and help people. How could we say no?" Luna soaked up every drop of information that Cyrus gave her.
"Xigbar and Xaldin took us back to a place called Castle Oblivion." Cyrus explained. "There he brought us before a room with thirteen thrones; only five were filled. Everyone there had their hoods up, so I couldn't make out any of their faces. Xigbar managed to convince the other members to let us try out for the organization. So we were sent to the training halls. There we meet David, Arden, and Zeke, other recruits for the Organization. We became close very quickly. The next year was spent training vigorously to become part of the Organization. One year later, we all became full fledged members of Organization XIII."
"Did you ever see the faces of the others?" Luna inquired.
"Only three of them: Larxene, Vexen, and Luxrod." Cyrus replied. "The other two, Saix and Xemnas, never revealed their faces."
"What happened then?" Luna asked.
"For years, I worked for the organization." Cyrus said. "For a while, I was convinced that everything we did was the right thing. But then the missions became darker and darker. Soon, I began to question our orders. At first the others didn't share my sentiments, but soon they began to questions our mission. Finally, I hacked into the main computer. I saw records of horrible actions, murders, massacres, all at the hands of my superiors. I passed the information along to my friends. We decided to leave. Unfortunately, the organization got wise to our plans. When we tried to escape, the loyal members attacked. Roxie and my friends were captured. I managed to use travelers tea to escape, but Xigbar caught up to me."
Luna noticed a tear was beginning to form in Cyrus' left eye.
"The man that I admired for most of my live shot me and left me for dead." Cyrus finished.
"And you've been trying to get your friends back ever since." Luna said in realization. Cyrus nodded his head. Luna stood in silence. Then she walked up to Cyrus and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her.
"And Lewis and I are going to help you." Luna said throwing the badge into the water.
Practice Makes…Well We'll get back to you on that one.
Tanca ran back to his home, energy gushing from him like a fountain. Running with a spring in his step, the last few moments replayed in his mind. Ebecard actually gave me the job. Tanca thought, letting out a happy laugh. Shooting past countless people, Tanca charged up the steps to the door. He could not wait to tell Selma and Romero the good news. And when Mom gets back from work, oh what a surprise I'll have. He thought triumphantly. He opened the door but was meet with a screeching noise. Tanca's hands immediately flew to his ear holes. What is that? He thought half walking half crawling up the steps. When he got to the top, he found Selma sitting down polishing a dish. At first Tanca was baffled as to why she was not effected by the sound. Then he saw swabs of cotton stuffed into her ears. Selma immediately got up.
"Well, how did it go?" She asked eagerly.
"I got the job." He said forcing a smile on his face. However, Selma put a hand to ears.
"Um. Sorry just nod your head if yes." Selma said. Tanca let out an annoyed growl, but complied. Selma responded by hugging him.
"Isn't mom going to be thrilled!" She said excitedly.
"Um. What is that noise?" Tanca asked after Selma let go.
"Pardon." Was her reply. Tanca pointed his ears to carry the message.
"Oh, You remember that violin Romero found in the garbage, well he started trying to play it." Selma explained. "You should go tell him the good new, at the least maybe he'll stop." Tanca nodded and the two siblings walked up the stairs. There they found Romero busily playing a rather dirty violin with one string missing. Tanca knocked on the door and Romero turned around, stopping.
"What happened, how did it go?" Romero asked impatiently.
"He hired me." Tanca answered. Romero practically jumped into the air before hugging his adopted brother.
"Ya know what you're just in time." Romero said. "I've been putting together a piece to celebrate."
"That's not-" Tanca began but he was interrupted by Romero as he began to play. Tanca let out an annoyed sigh.
Hi, just to clarify I don't hate Star Trek: Enterprise, I never actually watched it and Gydo has the elemental power of future sight but it comes in sporadic visions. Also, I'm introducing a new concept, character themes. Basically, the song is suppose to reflect the character's overall personality and be a kind of tribute to them. This idea along with the original soundtrack idea is taken from comic writer and former fanficiton writer: James Roberts. Anyway, for any suggestions for OCS, you can include a character theme. The song can be either lyrical or instrumental but the theme must reflect either the character's personality or their actions in the story.
Cyrus' theme: Behind Closed Doors: Rise Against
Bogan- one who is very self conscious of their appearance.