Chapter 21
Bodacious

.:Jay:.

"Now, this final stage will be different. Although we have a representative from each team, the whole team will be competing in this stage. Your chosen representative will be facing their fears of dark and enclosed spaces, so they'll be in coffins."

The last remaining steel box dropped its front wall, revealing another line of coffins.

"Now, the last two coffin challenges had spiders and mice. This one? Snakes."

Loud round of gasps.

"And to top it all off, the representatives will be buried alive. This is where the rest of your team comes in; your role is to rescue your team member. Now, due to the danger this stage can pose, the coffins will remained attached by chains to the cranes that lower them in, so if we see the representatives panic through the dash cams and it's riling the snakes up, the cranes will lift the coffin out of the dirt and get you out. But this would mean your team is disqualified for this stage which can affect your final score for this challenge. In addition to this, representatives, if you don't want to continue on and do this stage, you don't have to go through with it. We will value your decision. I will give you a whole minute to decide if you'll do it or not. Your time starts now."

.::.

The mere thought of being trapped in a confining coffin with a dozen snakes sent Jay's body into a state of fear. Adrenaline was flooding through his systems, pumping and beating drastically as if it was trying to escape. Jay could feel and hear the rapid pounding of his heart, which would no doubt explode if his body kept reacting this way.

But he couldn't help it. He just wanted to run away for the safety of the academy. Heck, he wasn't even with the snakes but just thinking about it made his body swirl with nausea. His saliva was thickening dangerously within his throat while beads of sweat formed along his hairline.

How is Nya not panicking?

It was truly a mystery to Jay. Only three of the six remaining teams for this stage were competing; them, a junior team (surprisingly) and Dirtclog's team (unsurprisingly). Jay absolutely felt no remorse or sympathy for Cole. Heck, Jay secretly hoped that Cole would actually get bitten by one of those snacks. But for Nya? Jay felt dread and fear for her.

Sure, seeing her absolutely calm through the overheard monitors showed that she was fine and that the snakes weren't causing any harm, but Jay knew Nya better now. She liked hiding away her true emotions. Even when she was scared, she would mask it.

Jay felt his breath hitch in his throat when the three canes started to lift the three coffins off the ground. On one of the massive monitors, Nya's face slightly flinched but other than that, she remained calm. Looking to the other two monitors, Jay saw that the junior team's representative was starting to freak out by the rapid flares of his nostrils as he breathed quickly, while Cole was similar, except breathing a lot harder by the mouth that his breath was creating condensation on the camera.

"Jay, chill out. Kai isn't even freaking out. We're going to win this stage and this challenge."

"Yeah but we're down one less team member, remember?"

"True… but we got a thirty second head start, and Kai isn't going to forfeit – Cole and Nobu, on the other hand, most likely are."

"I guess you're right."

"I am right," Lloyd firmly stated as they then watched as the three coffins were finally placed in their holes, before bulldozers pushed piles of dirt into the hole, sufficiently burying the three students and their snakes.

But in the monitor, Jay could see Nobu freaking out even more. It was no secret that he was starting to hyperventilate. His breath was causing condensation to form on the camera, but everyone could see the snake near the youngster's head sliver over his face, tongue flickering at the rapid breaths.

"Get him out! Please!" One of Nobu's teammates cried out towards the headmaster.

Jay looked over to Lloyd's father and uncle, watching as the two men discussed in low voices and worried expressions washing over their faces. Then, with a firm nod from Master Wu in Borg's direction, the chain connected to Nobu's crate became taunt and the crane started to retract. The dirt that was on the ground was mostly flat, until inflating into a bump and finally, the crate breaking free like magma spilling from a volcano.

Nobu's teammates rushed over while Sensei Garmadon and Master Wu worked together on brushing the dirt from the locks. One of the young teammates swiftly got the key inserted into the single lock that kept the crate shut while snake wranglers came over.

"So… It's just up to Kai and Cole now," Lloyd murmured. "The whole school is going to be watching. We can't be slower than Zane, Griffin and Gene, okay?"

"Yeah…"

.:Nya:.

Nya steadily exhaled, her breath echoing loudly within the wooden coffin. Her chest raised and fell deeply – inhaling for seven seconds and exhaling for four. Despite having her eyes opened, Nya couldn't see anything but a never-ending void of utter darkness, so, she closed them.

She didn't understand why, but having her eyes closed and focusing on her breathing allowed her to stay calm and allowed her to somewhat ignore the dozen snakes that slowly slivered over her body.

Heck… who was she kidding? She couldn't ignore the snakes. She could feel their scaly bodies on her body. Thankfully, there was none near her head, but majority were on her legs and on her stomach – a source of warmth for their cold-blooded bodies. So far, well taking a wild guess, six of the twelve snakes were docile and resting on her. Four were still slivering around while two were slowly constricting her right leg and her left wrist.

Nya honestly didn't mind snakes. She wasn't that scared of them. Of course, she was a little fearful of a venomous bite, but she knew Master Wu would never let venomous snakes get into close proximity of the students – so in no doubt, all these snakes were non-venomous. Still, snake bites would hurt but Nya also knew if she stayed calm and didn't appear as a threat to the snakes, they would have no reason to bite her… Although, the constriction was a concern.

Finally, the quiet muffled thuds became non-existent – meaning that she was finally buried.

"Alright! Two teams remaining!"

Borg's voice was faintly heard a couple minutes later. But hearing that there were two teams remaining surprised Nya. She knew only three were getting buried, but one already pulled out? She knew Cole would be too damn proud to go out too early so it would have to be the junior team.

Alright Nya. Don't fail Jay or Lloyd again. Stay calm for as long as possible until they can get you out.

"Jay and Lloyd, you both have a thirty second head start! Your time start now!"

After that, all Nya could hear was silence… well, other than the soft sounds the snakes made when moving or the sound of their tongues flickering at the air-

Nya froze, her body turning into stone as she felt a snake sliver underneath her shirt.

An involuntary whimper came up her throat as she could feel the cold yet slimy scales against the bare skin of her stomach. Yet, the snake didn't stop there. No, Nya could feel it slivering up higher and higher. Between the valley of her bounded breasts where no doubt it could feel the rapid beating of her heart.

Did it stop there? Of course not. What happened next was probably much worse than getting bitten by a venomous snake.

She could feel the snake's head navigating its way through the neck opening of her sweater before positioning itself just mere millimetres from her face, its tongue flickering in front of her. And it didn't even stop there. The rest of its body slivered out from her sweater, before coiling around her neck. It wasn't squeezing her neck, or constricting it, but Nya knew it would only be a matter of minutes before it did.

Jay. Lloyd. Please hurry up.

.:Jay:.

It had been a solid four minutes and the sudden afternoon heat had sweat running like condensation off winter glass on Jay's face. What started as a glossy sheen became beaded, but not attractively like morning dew. The sweat then formed tiny rivers that flowed from his hair that stuck like second skin to his forehead, and then travelled down into his clothes.

It wasn't just the sweat that Jay was conscious of. His hands were getting increasingly sore as he tightly gripped the sweaty handle of the shovel. His breaths were erratic, each heave not getting enough oxygen in as he started to feel a little light-headed but that didn't stop him. No, he had to get Nya out. Stuff the competition. Stuff the fact that they may lose to Cole's team. THE SNAKE WAS FREAKING CHOKING NYA!

Jay had tried shouting at Master Wu and Sensei Garmadon to bring 'Kai' up, but Lloyd quickly shouted over him saying Kai wasn't panicking just yet nor did he look to be struggling.

Never had Jay wanted to punch his best friend so hard before.

"Jay, he's going to be fine-"

"The snake is around his neck!" Jay hissed between pants, digging with more ferocity.

The burning ache in his shoulders was overwhelming. If Jay was in any other situation, he would have called quits. However, it was the sheer determination to rescue Nya that made him push onwards – that made him push beyond his physical limits. Each shovelful was full and heaped. He tossed it over his shoulder with a ferocity to get it out of the five-foot hole he and Lloyd had already dug. Never did his speed or intensity decrease or falter for a second.

CLUNK!

Jay cried out with relief when his shovel hit the coffin, but he quickly looked over his shoulder and to the monitor to discomfort and pain flickering on Nya's face. The snake was starting to constrict tighter!

"Hurry!" Jay yelled at Lloyd as he began to shovel even faster and harder.

"You get the dirt off the top, I'll work on the dirt around the lock!"

"Just do it!"

Jay then tossed his shovel out of the hole – narrowing missing the academy's physician and the snake wranglers as they now stood at the edge of the hole. Jay ignored them. He had to solely focus on getting Nya out. So, he quickly crouched down and used his arms in massive sweeping motions to brush all the dirt out of the way.

"I got the lock!" He heard his blond teammate exclaimed. Jay quickly looked over and watched as Lloyd swiftly insert a key (each group had the key for their representative's box) without any fumbles and unlocked it.

Without any hesitation or any seconds to wait, Jay rushed to open the coffin.

He didn't listen to the snake wranglers that told him to move out of the way. He didn't listen to Lloyd calling his name to follow him out of the hole. He just had to get Nya out.

The lid opened and immediately, Jay was horrified to see Nya's face was losing colour, the muscles in her face taunt as pain flashed through her eyes. The snake wranglers were faster than him though. They instantly reached in the remove the snake around Nya's neck and the other eleven.

Heck, Jay didn't even run in fear from the snakes – although he did wait until the snake wranglers got all the snakes away before rushing to Nya's side and helping her up. She was panting and wheezing a bit hard, her lungs desperately trying to get fresh air into her.

"Are you okay?" Jay panickily asked, his hands holding onto Nya's shoulders. "Are you hurt? Can you breathe fine? Did you even get bitten? Answer me!"

"Jay, calm down," she rasped, her amber eyes looking to him and they had an effect on his body that Jay never experienced before.

Just seeing those two, perfect amber orbs filled with relief was an instant antidote to the panic and fear that had seized Jay. The boy felt all the tension and stress leave his body, leaving it relaxed but also incredibly sore.

"I'm okay," Nya said, voice a little shaky but firm. Jay originally thought she said this to him, until he realised she was talking to the physician. But then she turned to him, her gaze soft. "I'm okay, Jay."

"Thank goodness," Jay breathed with relief before the hearing an onslaught of cheers.

Then it dawned on Jay.

"Wait… Am I the first one out?"

"You are… We did it!"

*chirp chirp*

Umm… Hi everyone. Long time no see?

Sorry for my eight-month unplanned and unannounced hiatus. As mentioned in previous chapters, I have been struggling with anxiety and BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) and while I'm not all in the clear, I have found ways to manage this better and start to get my life back onto the track it used to sail on! So here I am! And with the experience I have gone through, I should be able to write Nya's trauma and her PTSD better as well.

Anyway, I hoped you all enjoyed this chapter! I'll see you all very soon! With probably the most anticipated chapter yet! Can you all guess what it is? ;)