The creak was faint; too quiet for most to hear. Cole woke up without opening his eyes. A faint gust of morning wind slipped through the door, tickling his toes where they stuck out from beneath the blanket. He wasn't alone.

Making no move to suggest he was awake, he resisted the surge of adrenalin and sharpened his ears. For a moment, all he could hear was the beat of his own heart, but soon, he could make out a soft, rhythmic pulse in the haze, rising and falling. Breathing.

As he listened, the pace got quicker, followed by the slight cracking of joints as the intruder's body tightened.

Cole flung himself out of bed an instant before his pillow was torn apart by the impact of Achlys' claws, filling the room with a cloud of sawdust. The Black Ninja spun around just in time to guard against the bedframe hurled at him, blasting him straight through the wall and into the courtyard. Achlys emerged from the dust cloud, snarling at the master as he dusted off his gorilla-patterned pajamas.

"Do you have a chronic hate of comfort or what?" he asked groggily before rubbing his eyes and witnessing the destruction wrought to the living quarter doorway. "Uh oh… Nya's not gonna be happy about this one."

"I'll show you unhappy!" the girl howled, charging once more like a rampaging bull. Cole made no move to dodge, but instead kicked a pillow straight into her face.

Blinded and berserking, Achlys had no time to react as Cole stepped aside, tripped her leg and sent her sprawling headfirst into the mattress.

"You did a good job avoiding the nightingale floor, but you've still got ways to go before you can sneak up on me," he said, stretching his body. "Not a bad way to start the day though. We should train like this more often."

Achlys pulled her head out of the fabric, coughing and sputtering as the stuffing poured out onto the cobblestones. Her face reddened as she slammed her fists down, which only launched another burst of sawdust in her face.

Pixal came running from the guest room. Cole waved lazily in her direction as she drew up beside him.

"Forgive me. I only took my eyes off her for a short moment, but she managed to slip out," she squirmed, scanning the scene. "Please tell me you are unscathed?"

"No harm done," Cole reassured, much to the android's relief. "Actually, now I have a great excuse to replace these terrible pillows. Thanks, Achlys, you've been a big help!"

The girl pulled up her collar to cover her face, now rivaling a tomato in colour.

Hurried steps came from the living quarters. A bed-haired Nelson emerged through the wrecked opening and did a little roll onto the courtyard before darting upright, fists at the ready.

"Who did this to the monastery!? Where's the enemy?! Master, I think there's something dangerous nearby! "

"Hold your horses, hothead," Cole laughed. "Just a little exercise, nothing to worry about."

Achlys let out a long groan, burying herself deeper and deeper in her robes.

"Oh… of course!" Nelson said, flustered. "Who would be stupid enough to attack ninja in their base anyway?"

Achlys flopped down sideways, head two-thirds of the way to her toes.

"Just… shut up. All of you."

Making sure Achlys wasn't looking, Cole quitely wiped a drop of sweat from his temple and bit his nail. She'd been close. Very close. If she had been just a little quieter, there was a good chance he never would have woken up. Ever.

He kept gnawing on his thumb, gaze wandering from the sawdust to the child, to the wrecked room then back to the child, gradually emerging from her shell with a bitter scowl. What would Wu do in this situation? He took a deep breath, knowing the answer. I hope I won't regret this.

"Come here," he finally let out. "I'll show you something cool."

"Go choke on gravel, mudbrain."

Nelson's eyes widened at the insult, but Cole just shrugged and tapped the boy's shoulder instead, gesturing for him to follow. They walked over to the busted doorway. Nelson eagerly mimicked the ninja as he knelt down to examine the floor pushing the boards, producing a sharp squeak, reminiscent of a small bird.

"I'm sure you've noticed these?" Cole queried and the boy nodded aggressively. "We call it nightingale floor. It's purposely made to make noise when people step on it with even the slightest bit of pressure."

Cole waltzed across the boards, causing a choir of chirping to erupt from below. He stole a glance at Achlys, still sitting in the courtyard, refusing to move, though he could have sworn he saw her eyes slide toward him as he walked.

"I get it!" Nelson exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "It's to know when there's someone sneaking through the corridors at night!"

"Normally, yeah. But that's not why we put them here." Cole said, shuffling back across the boards. "What about now? Notice anything different?"

This time, Achlys made no attempt to mask her interest, staring intently at the ninja as he went. Nelson's eyebrows shot up.

"You're barely making any noise at all!"

It was Cole's turn to snap his fingers triumphantly.

"Bingo. This floor isn't for detecting intruders; it's to train us ninja at intruding undetected! After all, what would ninja be without their stealth?"

Nelson hopped onto the boards with and started tiptoeing across. Needless to say, the boards protested wildly with each step. Cole followed closely from behind, making no more than the faint sound of feet across wood.

"There's a trick to it. Look here," he urged, making sure to say it loud enough for Achlys to hear, just as they passed out of her line of sight. "Walking on your toes won't work here. You have to do it like this."

The Master of Earth gently placed his foot across the thin border between two planks. It still made a sound, but not quite as loud as before.

"You want to spread out your weight as much as you can. Never place your foot on just one board at a time, otherwise you'll wake up the whole castle! Walking on either side won't help you either. You see, the key is balance. Let your weight flow evenly from one foot to the other. Give it a roll!"

Nelson straightened up and carefully placed his foot dead center in the pathway. Shifting his weight, the floor creaked a smidge… then again… and again… until he was halfway down the hall, jumping up and down with joy. Cole's scar flickered yellow before he glanced over his shoulder with a smirk.

"You want to give it a go, too, champ?"

Achlys had moved up behind him, leaning against the splintered wall. She turned up her nose at the suggestion.

"You think I haven't been doing that already? I'm not an imbecile."

"Oh, I know you have," Cole nudged. "During the meeting, you managed to sneak right up to the door like it was nothing. For someone who hates ninja, you sure move like one."

"I know how to avoid unwanted attention. Don't try to sway me with pointless flattery."

"Guess I have no choice," Cole sighed jokingly. "Let's move on to step two. Soon we'll have you walking on this floor like it's a soft, white cloud!"

The girl squinted in response, trying to call his bluff, but found no trace of deceit on his face.

"Why?" she asked, taking a step back.

"What do you mean why? You don't want to?"

"I just tried to rip you to shreds and I'd do it again without a second thought. Why would you make me better at it?"

Cole's face wrinkled oddly as he flubbed around with his arms in a vague gesture to nothing in particular.

"You asked for training and now you're shocked I'm actually training you? You want to punch my face in? Breaking news, folks, water is wet!" He shook his head and went down on one knee. "Look… Skills are just skills: it doesn't matter if you're a complete novice or the greatest master in the world. What matters is how you use them."

Achlys spat on the floor.

"And what? You think someone like me could be a no-good do-gooder?"

"I know you can. Anyone can; and I will get you there."

Achlys' eyes narrowed further as she leaned back in, studying Cole's face closely before walking past him.

"Just because you don't get what you want, don't think you can heap your ambitions on me. I'll never be your puppet."

Cole's head sank just as Nelson came waddling back, laser focused on his feet, so much so that he completely missed the ninja and bumped into him from behind, letting out a squeal of surprise.

"Ouch. Sorry, Master, this is pretty hard."

Cole just smiled and offered him his hand.

"No worries," he said as he pulled the boy off the ground. "Keep training and you'll be able to do it in your sleep."

The boy scratched his chin, closed his eyes and took a big step forward, only to trip over some debris and fall. Cole caught him by his collar and hoisted him upright.

"I meant later," he muttered. "Besides, we haven't even had breakfast yet. Let's grab something to eat before we keep going."

Cole scratched his head and looked around.

"But… where's that Serpentine?"

The library looked like the aftermath of some otherworldly natural disaster, piles upon piles of books removed from their shelves covering every table, chair and windowsill, while the floor was littered with crumbs and wrappers. Chocolates… nuts… grain bars… cookies… everything strewn about like confetti. Cole had no hope of walking soundlessly here, crinkling and crunching as he waded through the sea of scraps. What could possibly have caused such mayhem?

The trail of snacks grew thinner, guiding him into the next room. Here, every single piece of furniture had been dragged away from the walls. Cole straightened up a painting and kicked a tatami mat back into place before tracing the last few crumbs into the kitchen. A certain serpentine lay snoring in the sink, filling it up like fluid with his leg hanging out. His hoodie was surprisingly clean, though his mouth and fingers were covered in marshmallow fudge. Cole took one look at the scaly mess before turning the handle, releasing an ice-cold cascade over the unsuspecting Serpentine who let out a high-pitched squeal. Cole shut off the stream and let the prince get his bearings.

"Oh, ssslitherpits, is it bedtime already?"

"It's breakfast!" Cole grunted, stepping back. "What in the world have you been doing all night!?"

Skales sat up drowsily, drops of water sliding right off his sombre blue hide, blinking quickly in the strong morning sun as he crossed his arms and pretended to think very, very hard about it. Cole tapped his foot impatiently to the rhythm of Skales knocking his forehead.

"Ssslepwalking…?" was the answer he finally settled for.

"Sleepwalking?" Cole mimicked. "You ate enough snacks to knock out a rhino … in your sleep?"

"I'm in my growth ssspurt right now."

"...and rearranged all the furniture?"

"My phone died! Why don't you people have any outletsss?"

"Why were you looking for an outlet in the tea room of all places!?"

Skales shrugged.

"It was the closest? In the end, I found this one" -he pointed beside the counter- "but my cable wasn't long enough. Figured I'd just sssnooze here for a minute 'til it charged."

Cole's face went from mild annoyance to full-on terror. He quickly leaned over the counter and let out an anguished cry.

The door was thrown open by Nelson, launching himself inside with a roll.

"It's an ambush! Everyone, to arms!"

Achlys skid to a halt outside the door.

"Is he choking? Tell me he's choking!"

Cole sat hunched at the floor, sobbing uncontrollably with a black, unplugged cable in his hand.

"He's unplugged the refrigerator," Cole sniffled. "The food… my breakfast… Everything's ruined!"

Skales shifted a bit as he watched the Black Ninja reach into the fridge and pull out a single slice of cake. The half, melted chocolate frosting mimicked his clear, salty tears as they flowed down his cheeks and onto the floor.

"I'm… sssorry for your loss?"

"You little- go clean up your mess!"

Skales mumbled something under his breath and slowly began to follow his old paper trail, picking up the garbage the slowest way possible. Nelson snuck up behind Cole as he mourned, peeking into the lukewarm space.

"This isn't super bad," he said, squeezing under the ninja's arm, throwing out food left and right. "Let's see… all the meat's gotta go. Ham, turkey, walloper, mackerel… Whoa! This chicken is alive! Ow! Ow! Get off! You're not food yet! Ugh… Well, the milk doesn't smell bad so it'd be a waste to throw away. If we heat it, it'll turn safer and yummier. The cheese may look bad, but we can actually just remove the moldy edge. Most condiments are alright, but we should probably eat them soon just to be safe. Yeah, I think I can work with this!"

Much to Cole's surprise, when he opened his eyes, there was a platter filled with sandwiches, packed to the brim with all kinds of colourful components. He gawked with swollen eyes as Nelson slid the tray onto the table and slapped his hands together.

"Food is served!" he gleed, biting down into the soft bread. Cole whispered a fleeting promise to his cake before leaving it in favour of the thick, layered slices. His eyebrows instantly shot up at the first bite.

"Wow!" he finally got out, already reaching for another helping. "How is this so good?"

"Back home there's just the two of us, mom and me," Nelson got out between greedy bites. "Mom works really hard, so I always have to help out a bunch. You learn to work with what you got."

"Gotta ressspect that," Skales said, making Cole jump at his sudden presence. The Serpentine's jaw widened and swallowed his portion whole. "Ya shouldn't ever waste food."

All those snacks and he's still hungry? Cole thought. Nelson let out a quiet "thanks" but chose to step back into Cole's shadow.

Achlys snatched up a sandwich, examined it from every angle and smelled it warily before finally gnawing off a tiny piece. Nelson threw sideways glances at her as she chewed for what seemed like an eternity before swallowing.

"So… what did you think?" he asked meekly.

"Who cares?" she answered, not sparing him a second glance. "It's just fodder. All tastes the same to me."

"Then why sssniff around it like a bloodhound on the hunt?"

"Maybe you shouldn't stick your nose where it doesn't belong!"

The corners of Skales' mouth turned up ever so slightly, he went back to the fridge, rummaging around until he found the tube of green paste. Wasabi.

"If taste is so worthless" -he placed it on the table- "I dare ya to take a ssspoon o' this."

Cole shuddered at the thought, remembering his matches against Kai.

"I'm warning you… that stuff means business."

Achlys stole the tube before he could get to it. Despite the cries for caution, she threw away the cap and smelled the paste before squeezing a large piece straight into her mouth. She stiffened, chewing slowly with closed eyes. The Serpentine was taken aback, then leaned forward as the girl's nose began to run and her cheeks flush. Cole and Nelson watched tensely. No one blinked.

Then, without warning, Achlys gulped down, and stuck out her tongue without a shred of green left.

"I could drink this stuff like water."

The boys let out a collective breath of air. Skales laughed and threw his hands up in defeat.

"Can't argue with that," he snorted. "Game, ssset, match."

Nelson burst out into applause and Cole couldn't help but join in. Achlys' eyes, however, remained fixed on the Prince.

"Not yet," she rasped through a swollen throat, quieting the room as she placed the scrunched-up tube back on the table. Not a single tear appeared in her eyes. "-It's your turn."

The Serpentine broke out into a sweat and glanced toward the others, but no one met his gaze. Nelson was bouncing excitedly on the spot. Cole's head wobbled a bit side to side as his conflicted thoughts rolled around inside.

"Dunno, Skales, it's only fair…"

The prince's head snapped back to Achlys, already squeezing out the last of the paste onto a spoon the size of a strawberry. His nostrils flared just looking at it. He tried to run, using the cleanup as an excuse, but Nelson dragged him back, whom it apparently was too much effort to resist. He stood before the green goo, very aware of what awaited.

"See?" Achlys mocked. "He can't do it!"

Skales' jaw tightened. He snatched up the spoon and brought it to his mouth, nose curling at the scent. Ever so slowly, his mouth enveloped the wasabi, placing it upon his tongue before quickly pulling out the clean, silver utensil, crossing his arms and churning his jaws to mimic Achlys. The next moment he exploded into a coughing fit, eyes overflowing as he rolled around on the floor, hacking, sputtering, hiccupping as the burning sensation crawled up his nose and into his eyes. Nelson let out a delighted hurrah, while Cole just shook his head and fetched two glasses of vinegar water.

"Game set match, huh?" he chuckled, setting the drinks down in front of each combatant. "Fair play. No hard feelings I hope?"

Skales crawled up to the table and chugged the drink blissfully, eyes glowing like fire, leaking tears onto the planks below. Achlys sneered at him and grabbed the glass nonchalantly, only to have it shatter in her hands.

"Argh! Not again!" she exclaimed, letting the pieces fall back onto the table. "Get some better glasses already."

Nelson was mildly disturbed by this, picked up one of the shards and studied it closely before grabbing it firmly trying to snap it in two, though all he accomplished was cutting his own finger.

"Nelson!" Cole cried out in terror, scouring his pockets for a band-aid.

Achlys threw him a condescending look as she kept crushing the glass into a fine powder between her fingers. Skales, having regained his senses somewhat, oozed his cheek up on the table and pointed at the purple youngster.

"It's your turn, Nelly. After that, Teach can have a go."

"Got it!" Nelson exclaimed. "Don't think I'll back down now!"

"You're on!" Cole said while wrapping the boy's finger. "I'm not going to let you get the better of-"

He stopped short. There was something gnawing on the fringes of his mind, a voice snapping at his ear.

Do you really have time for this?

He finished with the band-aid and tapped his finger on the table, scar flickering green.

You promised, remember?

"Actually, I think that'll have to wait," he said, deep in thought. The others booed him fervently, accusing him of trying to slip away. Cole just shook his head and gestured for them to follow.

"Need I remind you why you all are here in the first place? Do you think this is some kind of vacation?"

"Yup," Skales popped without missing a beat.

"Wrong! Where are we?!"

"It's the Monastery of Spinjitzu!" Nelson shouted.

"Why are you here!?"

"To get strong." Achlys gruffed.

"That's right; but there are lots of strengths. Starting today, I'll teach you everything I know. Technique. Power. Strategy. Survival against Kung Fu chickens… you name it."

They burst out onto the courtyard. Cole walked straight across it and spun around.

"Ninja never quit," he recited. "It's our mantra. Take a second to think about what that means."

Nelson's hand shot up like a rocket.

"No matter who you're fighting or how powerful the enemy is, you've always gotta face them head on! That's what being a ninja is all about!"

"That's… one way of looking at it," Cole hummed. "-but more than that, it means once your mind is set, you can't give up! Ever! You have to keep moving forward until you reach your goal, no matter what!"

"And here I thought the breakfast wasss cheesy," Skales snickered. The Ninja threw him a devious smile and called for Pixal. The android's head poked up from below one of the cobblestones, smeared with oil and grease.

"Acknowledged. We are good to go."

The Master of Earth flipped the dragon statue over, revealing the bright red button beneath it.

"Let's hope your breakfast stays where it is until the day is over."

A churning noise surrounded them as the cobblestones sunk into the ground as large, wooden structures rose from the depths, spinning, slicing, whirring, gnashing. Before they knew how to react, the pupils were surrounded on all sides by the obstacle course, shedding its dust.

"Training starts now."