Three days. Three days of bathing under the warm tropical sun. Three days of massages by ancient chiropractors. Three days of sweating in steamy saunas. Three days of resting in silk beds. Three days searching and never finding. Three days wasted on anything but progress. Pythar remained at large, yet they chillaxed like he never even existed.
The fourth started like the last three. Nya and Jay strolled through six miles of garden, received three massages, swam for two hours, dined for two hours, and basked under the evening skies for another three hours. They tried fresh-caught crab. They dared each other to swimming races. They even endured thirty minutes of Karlof's worst karaoke. Now they relax on the porch of their room, watching the sun sink into the western horizon.
"Isn't this lovely," Jay sighed. "Sure beats living in a scorching desert."
"Yes, Jay, it is," Nay sighed. "But I thought you loved the desert."
"Who says I don't," Jay questioned. "I love my family. It's just that the heat there is awful."
"I can see why people love vacationing here," Jay continued. "I'm jealous Skylor owns the place, to be honest. But it definitely needs a few adjustments."
"Like what, Jay," Nya asked. "I think it's perfect."
"I don't," Jay answered. "For instance, if I owned the place, I'd build a nice, big statue right where that ugly rotunda is. I mean, what sane person paints a roof with pink flowers? Come on. That's even uglier than half the buildings in Ninjago City."
"You not like Karlof's handiwork," a voice grumbled from below. "Karlof teach you manners, ninja."
"On second thought," Jay shrugged. "Maybe it's alright, a bit pretty for a rotunda."
"Just to keep Karlof from beating you up," Nya asked.
"Yeah, I guess," Jay laughed. "Oh dear," he yawned. "I better call it a night and head to bed. Even ninja need their sleep, after all, even if we are warriors of the ninja as the local's gossip supposes. You are coming in, right?"
"No," Nya nodded. "Go on ahead. I'll come in when I'm ready."
"Is something the matter," Jay asked.
"I guess I'm just bored," Nya sighed. "I mean, here we are waiting for Pythar when we should be hunting the island for him."
"Skylor advised us to crash here until Pythar strikes. That way, we can pick up the trail without losing the element of surprise."
"I guess you're right, honey. I just wish he'd show himself already."
"Hey, don't worry. If and when that snake dares to poke out his head, we'll be there to kick his butt."
"That's reassuring."
"Hey, trust me on this, okay? I know Kai would."
"Do you? Then I guess you don't know Kai very well. Why don't you crawl into bed? I'll join you when I'm ready."
"Alright, suit yourself," Jay shrugged.
Jay rose from his chair, then walked inside to get ready for bed. Nya then glanced out at the garden again. She sighed. She hated having nothing to do; she never enjoyed doing nothing while the others were off fighting villains. No, Nya had to do something. Nya had to prove herself as capable of protecting Ninjago as the others. That's why she started the whole Samurai X alias. That's why she risked her neck infiltrating Chen's Island. That's why she served as the Water Ninja. Even as Jay's wife, she planned to contribute, to continue shaping her role as an essential asset….
Crash! Nya jumped from her chair, racing over to the edge of the patio. A flower pot lied on the ground in a million pieces, its contents spilled everywhere. Then she caught sight of an unhooded figure, dressed in bright black-and-blue with partially blue hair, fleeing toward the garden. At the same time, she heard the clamoring of Karlof below, an awkward stomping of feet too clumsy to effectively run.
"Come back," Karlof shouted. "You owe Karlof new cactus plant."
"Relax, my friend," Neuro's voice soothed from another porch. "We can procure another cactus from the desert in the morning."
"But Karlof want new plant now," Karlof demanded. "Bring mean girl to justice."
"You can't chase her now," Neuro retorted. "You're too late to do anything. But perhaps Nya can help us?"
"Way ahead of you," Nya smiled.
She pulled up her ninja mask, then glanced back at Jay. Jay was still asleep, softly snoring under the covers. Nya decided against waking him; after all, she could handle the thief without his help. She caught sight of the intruder again near the gardens, then raced over and jumped off the balcony toward the ground. With a thump, she landed on her feet, then raced off to catch up with the intruder.
Into the garden the intruder sprinted and into the garden Nya pursued. Right and left, they weaved through flowers and around small ponds. They raced across the stone bridge near Karlof's rotunda. At the other side, the intruder stopped, then stuck out her foot. Nya attempted to stop, but tripped over the foot and crashed into a nearby patch of lilies.
"Very clever," Nya coughed. "You won't beat me that easily though."
The intruder raced into the rotunda, leaving Nya behind to crawl back onto the trail. Nya immediately realized running wouldn't make up the lost time. So instead of running, she fired off two salvos of water. Both landed directly on the back of the intruder's head, knocking her flat to the ground inside the rotunda. Then Nya surged forward, reaching her foe before she could stand up again.
"Stay put," Nya ordered. "Resistance is futile."
"Alright, alright, you win," the intruder gasped. "Now please stop hovering over me like that."
"Show yourself," Nya ordered. "Then I will move."
The stranger turned her head to face Nya. Pale blue eyes, richer than sapphires glistening in the moonlight, gazed up at her, as if to say, 'Don't worry. I won't bite.' A strand of blue hair covered her right eye; the rest of face appeared as clear as a glass mirror.
"Oh dear, I'm so sorry," Nya offered. "Here, let me help you up."
"Much obliged," the girl nodded, taking Nya's hand. "Your reputation precedes you, water ninja."
"Thanks," Nya replied. "You alright?"
"A bit sore, but I'll get over it," the girl shrugged. "By the way, your reflexes are quicker than I imagined."
"And so are yours. You had me for a minute there, so why didn't you finish me off? I wasn't in any position to win."
"Because I'm not here to butt heads with you or any of your friends. I have better uses for my life than beating up friends."
"Friends? Then why haven't I seen you around here?"
"I prefer secrecy. By the way, the name's Ryoko."
"I'm Nya, but you knew that already."
"Yes, I did. Nya, can you keep a secret?"
"I'm a ninja," Nya puffed. "I can keep anything a secret."
"Don't breathe a word to anyone except your friends," Ryoko ordered. "I live in the shadows for a reason, you know.
"I don't," Nya answered.
"Oh right," Ryoko sighed. "Nevertheless, if I find that you breathed a word to the wrong person, I'll hunt you down and I'll guarantee I won't hesitate like I did tonight."
"You have my word," Nya swore.
"Good," Ryoko sighed. "Anyway, I'm an undercover spy for Skylor, and I just located where Pythar's men will strike next."
"You have," Nya blurted out loud.
"Hush," Ryoko hissed. "I don't want you waking the entire palace up. Anyhow, I located the target site and was on my to tell Skylor but accidentally walked in Karlof's room instead. But enough talk. Skylor needs to know asap what I found."
"That is serious," Skylor remarked.
Skylor, Jay, Nya, and Ryoko were gathered inside the sorcery room, which Ryoko had recently converted into a command center for the Elemental Masters. Everywhere a ninja needed was present. From state-of-the-art computers and monitors to remote-distance commlink channels, this lab possessed the essentials and more.
"Sure is," Jay yawned. "I still can't get over the fact that you built this place Ryoko."
"I did," Ryoko stated. "Now please let me concentrate on my work, thunder pants."
"Thunder pants," Jay shouted. "Did you just call me thunder pants? Oh boy, now you're itching for a fight, lady."
"Jay, keep it down," Nya hushed. "Now Skylor, what do you make of this?"
"I trust Ryoko," Skylor stated. "No doubt Pythar has a hidden base somewhere on this island, but the location has eluded us so far. However, I figured that at some point Pythar would rear his ugly head somewhere. Fang-kill Base sure fits the bill for ugly alright."
"What's Fang-kill Base," Jay asked. "We've never heard of such a place."
"It was a former Anacondrai headquarters during the Serpentine War," Ryoko answered. "The Anacondrai generals used it as a command center during the early stages of the conflict. Then, once Garmadon joined forces with Wu, they abandoned the outpost to fight the war on Ninjago's mainland."
"And my father used it as an armory before he created the staff of elements," Skylor added. "Once my father was defeated, I converted the armory into a top-secret safe, planning to store dangerous artifacts there for safe-keeping."
"Any dangerous artifacts there now," Nya questioned.
"Only the most dangerous," Ryoko sighed, "if you consider time claws to be dangerous."
"Time claws," Jay blurted out. "Where on earth did you get those?"
"What Jay means to say," Nya repeated, "was how you procured a time claw if they were lost permanently with the Iron Doom in the time vortex."
"The time vortex is a mysterious freak of nature," Ryoko remarked. "It contains unknown abilities, such as the ability to make what was lost found again."
"What do you mean," Jay asked. "You're starting to sound like Master Wu."
"Is that a compliment or an insult, ninja," Ryoko winked.
"The time claws," Skylor interrupted, "aren't lost anymore. About two weeks ago, before I returned to Ninjago City and my noddle shop, one of the time claws was discovered by Karlof and Neuro in the jungle. We presume that at some point, all the time claws broke free of the Iron Doom, destroying the time vortex and launching the time claws to different spots in Ninjago."
"Which claw do you possess now," Nya asked.
"The forward claw," Skylor answered. "But don't worry. Even if Pythar knew where to find the claw, it is safely guarded behind a secret based, protected by forty of the sharpest nindroids in Ninjago. No one can break in and escape successfully."
"That's where you're wrong," Ryoko interrupted. "I just intercepted a transmission from Pythar's men. They have the time claw, Skylor. They have the time claw."