Announcer voice: Today, on Way of the Dragon: The ninja race to destroy the Fangbaldes, but an enemy has boarded their ship! Will they succeed?
Jinlong voice: Chapter 12: The Awaken Punch
"No, you're off-balance. Firmly plant your feet, knees shoulder-width apart- like that, yes."
Teaching was harder than Jinlong had imagined. She had to hand it to her own teachers; they were 10x more patient than she was, and she had complained 10x more than Lloyd.
Not to say that the gremlin didn't complain, of course.
"This is boring," He groaned. "When can I learn to fight?"
"Once you've mastered your stances," Jin replied. "Which, actually, should be rather soon. You're a fast learner."
"Not in my experience," An accented voice spoke as a tall, long-necked purple Serpentine materialized behind Lloyd, a clawed hand grabbing onto his hood.
"Pythor," The boy growled, although it also could've passed as a squeak.
"After all," The snake continued. "He was betrayed by every tribe before he learned we couldn't be trusted."
"What do you want?" Jin challenged, her voice little and breaking.
"Nothing you have," He answered. "Just stand down and I won't hurt the boy."
I was afraid he'd say that.
"You stand down," She ordered, trying to sound brave. "Or I'll alert the ninja of your presence."
"You could do that," A disturbing grin slid over Pythor's face. "But I would be forced to harm your little friend here."
"That-that's not fair!" She cried. Pythor chuckled.
"Life's not fair, girl."
Jin sighed and hung her head. She'd vowed to be mature and look after Lloyd, but in a situation like this...what would be the responsible thing to do?
"I surrender," She mumbled. "Now put Lloyd down."
He smirked. "Now, there's a good girl."
Less than 2 minutes later, the Warriors Two found themselves tied back-to-back against a punching bag, Lloyd's sleeves used as ropes, duct tape over their mouths.
Thankfully, Pythor was an idiot and didn't count for the fact that Jinlong was a dragon. So, with just a quick shift and back, the duo was free, the punching bag torn down, and the tape ripped from their mouths.
"Pythor's on board!" Lloyd yelled into the intercom, before Jin drug him out of the room and up the stairs.
"Hold him off while I get my suit," Nya hastily instructed as the blond children ran above deck.
"Where're the ninja?" Lloyd barely had time to ask before Pyhtor caught sight of them, wielding all 4 Fangblades in their holder.
With a short battle cry, Jinlong charged, ducking just as the snake punched. She tried to counter-attack, but Pythor easily dodged all of them- and moved right into the path of a flying kick from Lloyd.
"You insolent little brats!" The Serpentine cried. "Do you really think you can beat me?"
"They were never supposed to," Came Nya's voice as her Samurai X suit landed on the deck.
"The ninja!" Lloyd gasped, pointing at the side of the Bounty, but all Jin saw was the bottom of Kai's tabi boots.
Wait…
Running over, the dragon-girl's fears were proven correct. The ninja had all formed a human chain, with Wu at the bottom.
"Hey-Jin," Kai's voice was strained. "Gimmie a hand here, wouldja?"
"Yeah," She nodded, gathering her thoughts, taking a deep breath.
The elders in Kigana used to say that a dragon would only be able to fly freely when they were ready, and that they would know, without a doubt, when that was.
They also called her impulsive.
She leapt off the ship, shouting in either joy or fear, before shifting into a dragon. For a split second, she floated there, but as soon as she tried to move, it was like someone cut a puppet's strings, and she was falling.
No! Swim- that's what the elders said. Swim through the air!
Concentrating as much as possible while falling to a fiery demise, Jinlong tried to envision her body propelling itself upwards, twisting through the air.
When she cracked her eyes open, she was flying.
But then Sensei was falling and she acted quicker than she ever had in her life, zipping up and catching him on her back. A second later, Nya appeared in her mech, grabbing the rest of the ninja.
"Did you see me?" Lloyd demanded from the ship. "I hit him!"
"Pythor got away," Kai noted bitterly.
"And he has the Fangblades!" Nya cried, dropping the ninja onto the Bounty. Jin landed next to them.
Almost before she could process what was happening, Wu was thanking her, Lloyd was talking a million miles an hour, and the Bounty was speeding off.
She shifted into a human, and suddenly the ninja, Nya, and Wu were jumping off the ship, their respective vehicles either flashing into existence or picking them up mid-air.
"Meet us at Ouroborus!" Cole yelled. Jin blinked.
"Lloyd, do you know how to pilot the Bounty?"
"No. Why? You do, right?"
"I do now," The dragon-girl declared, rushing into the Bridge and grabbing the steering wheel. She heaved it in the direction the ninja had gone, hitting a button labeled "forward" in Jay's sloppy handwriting.
And, surprisingly, it worked. The ship zoomed forward, and there were no problems.
"Hey, Lloyd," Jinlong called, grinning. "I got-"
She stopped short, staring out the front windshield. "What. In all of Kigana…?!"
Far off in the distance, but still very, very visible, rearing above the horizon, was a massive serpent.
Announcer voice: The Great Devourer has been awoken! Will the ninja be able to stop it? Can Jinlong put her draconic nature to use? Find out tomorrow on Way of the Dragon!