ATTENTION READERS! Please thank the following:
Bee'sGirl813
Random Ninja Wizard Girl
And especially ZaneWalker!
They saved this story from permanent abandonment (If I had 'postponed' the story, it would have been until someone begged me to continue and gone on to a horror story I was going to write with my best friend, who is equally insane with me, a special feat)!
So here's chapter six! Also, rather than update when I finish (what I used to do), it will now be every week, perhaps longer if I have writer's block.
Annabella's P.O.V.
I yawned as I awoke. Looking around, I saw I was the only person awake for once. I shrugged it off and entered the bathroom, feeling groggy. By the time the water was hot for a shower, I heard the others getting up.
Stepping in, I let the warm water wake me up. The past week was the best of my life, but I was still on guard; you never knew when your life could flip upside-down. I grabbed my shampoo and lathered my hair. It ran down my face and I frowned, looking at the white foam. I stuck out my tongue and tasted it for a moment before fuming.
"Whoever did this is gonna pay!" I shouted, rinsing and getting a towel on before exiting the bathroom.
Emera's P.O.V.
Rubbing my eyes, I sat up from my sleep. Annabella's bed was unoccupied, but Nya and Diane were sitting on their beds. I heard the shower and realized Annabella was using the bathroom.
I put my hand under my bed and pulled out my sketchbook, really just a couple of pages taped together. But when I flipped through the pages, my eyebrow began twitching. Someone had ruined all my drawings, and made the blank pages useless!
I growled angrily, gaining Nya's and Diane's attention. "Who did it?" I nearly shouted.
As I said that, Annabella came out of the shower with a towel. "Could someone kindly tell me why my shampoo turned into whipped cream?!" She hissed.
Nya's P.O.V.
I was surprised when Annabella had gotten up first, since normally Diane was up at sunrise. But I decided to wait patiently for the shower. Diane was already awake and Emera had just woken up. Emera reached for something below her bed, but when she looked at it she got angry.
"Who did it?" Emera practically screamed.
A second later Annabella came out of the shower, towel around her. "Could someone kindly tell me why my shampoo turned into whipped cream?!" She demanded.
"Guys, don't jump to conclusions." I said cautiously. Then I noticed my mother's bracelet, which was always on the post of my bunk, was gone. "Hey! Who took that?!" I cried.
Diane's P.O.V.
I was surprised when the other girls began to yell, but I quickly stepped in. "Listen! First of all, who are you trying to blame?" I told them.
"Err..." Annabella scratched her head then laughed nervously. "When you say that, I feel less angry and more embarrassed. I was the first person up."
"Yeah. And I doubt you guys even knew about my sketchbook." Emera admitted.
"My bracelet could have just fallen off or I misplaced it." Nya said thoughtfully.
"Good. Now think, who on this ship might do this?" I asked.
"If the boys did this, I'm gonna commit murder." Annabella muttered.
"Wait, didn't Lloyd come from a school for bad boys?" Nya said thoughtfully.
"Dibs!" Emera shouted, running from the room. I couldn't help but smile; logic had successfully restored us.
No P.O.V.
By the time Emera returned, dragging Lloyd behind her, Annabella, Nya, and Diane were ready, equipped with duct tape, whipped cream cans, peeper spray, and feathers.
"Hey! This is so not fair! I didn't do it!" Lloyd insisted.
"SHUT UP." Emera and Annabella chorused.
Quickly, Annabella duct-taped Lloyd to the ceiling by his legs. Nya began tickling him, Emera sprayed whipped cream on him, Diane pasted feathers on him, and Annabella sprayed pepper in his face, making Lloyd sneeze.
"Now, I'm going to ask you nicely; WHERE IS MY MOTHER'S BRACELET?!" Nya growled, and Lloyd gulped.
"I swear, I don't know!" Lloyd squeaked. A moment later, however, a golden object fell out of Lloyd's pocket, which Nya picked up.
"Really?" Nya asked. "What's this?" Lloyd became very quiet then scared as he noticed the evil glimmer in Emera's eye.
Across the ship, there were raised voices, but the girls ignored them. It was only when Sensei Wu came in the girls released a feather-covered Lloyd.
"I see the rumors did not work." Sensei Wu observed.
"Wait, you told Lloyd to do this?!" Nya said, dumbfound.
"I wanted to see how strong your trust was." Sensei Wu said. "Though you have only known each other for a few weeks, it seems to be much stronger than the boys'."
"When you all helped each other break out of a government facility, you tend to build trust very quickly." Emera pointed out, leaning against a wall.
"Do you suppose you could teach this to the boys?" Sensei Wu asked, and the girls all held back snickers.
"Was this our lesson today, Sensei?" Diane asked.
"Yes. Unfortunately, I misplaced my lesson book." Sensei Wu explained.
Annabella frowned, then went to the corner were Lloyd had dropped something. "Is this your lesson book? Lloyd dropped it." She said, gritting her teeth.
"Ah." Sensei Wu took it, frowning. "I believe I need to have a talk with my nephew." He left the room, and Emera cracked her knuckles.
"Anyone up for payback?" She asked.
Diane put a hand on Emera's shoulder. "He received punishment from us, and I suspect Sensei Wu is going to deliver some as well." She said calmly.
"Come on, there's something I want you guys to see." Nya said, and the girls went into the control room, where Nya pulled up a map of Ninjago. She turned on the intercom and called the boys up, who were happy to see Lloyd, still covered in feathers.
"So, here are the first two Serpentine tombs, and Pythor's." Nya typed on the keyboard and the locations lit up. Lloyd groaned.
"Don't remind me." He muttered. Despite what he had done, Emera rubbed his head in comfort.
"But without the map, we have no idea where the other tombs are, while Pythor does." Cole said.
"True. But, Diane and I stayed up late and figured something out." Nya continued typing, and a symbol lit up the screen. "This is the Ninjago symbol for serpent."
"Then the last two tombs are here and here." Jay completed. "Aw, Nya, you're so smart."
Nya smiled while Annabella held back a snort. "Lovebirds." She muttered to Emera, who tried to not smile.
"Girls, take the tomb in the mountains. The boys will the take the swamp." Sensei Wu instructed. "Also, I believe this will be of use." Sensei Wu handed the Sacred Flute to Zane.
Splitting up, the girls took their dragons to the top. "Did anyone else notice Zane wearing his pajamas?" Emera said jokingly, and Diane made a face.
"I highly doubt it was his decision!" She retorted.
"Whoa. Are you okay?" Annabella asked, surprised Diane had sounded so angry.
"Fine, fine." Diane said quickly, going back to her quiet demeanor. Annabella, Emera, and Nya shared confused looks.
The rest of the ride to the tomb was silent. They landed on the top, where the hole had already been opened. "Pythor beat us here." Nya said sadly.
"Damn it!" Annabella muttered.
"We should still investigate." Diane suggested, and the girls slid down the hole. It was dark, but Nya had packed torches, which they used.
"Look at the wall." Emera said, pointing. "Can anyone read this chicken scratch?"
"I think it's in the ancient language of our ancestors. Let me try." Diane studied the wall before snapping her fingers. "The writings say should the tribes unite, they will be able to find the four silver fang blades and unleash the Great Devourer, an evil which shall consume everything."
"Then we'll make sure that doesn't happen." Annabella assured her.
A moment later, the ground shook slightly. "Did you guys feel that?!" Nya asked.
"We've got to get out, now!" Emera told the others. Unfortunately, her warning was late, as a Serpentine rose up out of the ground and wrapped his tail around Diane.
"We need to help her!" Nya said, but nothing worked until Annabella's face lit up.
"Guys, cover your ears!" When they had, Annabella opened her mouth and screeched at the highest pitch she could.
"Agh!" The Serpentine released Diane and they made a break for it, getting on their dragons.
"If the Serpentine were expecting us, the boys could be walking into a trap." Diane said, still trying to catch her breath.
"Let's go!" Emera called, and the girls took off. When they reached the swamps, the boys were outnumbered and surrounded. Thankfully for them, four loud roars from River, Ore, Spring, and Breeze sent the Serpentine running.
"Are you guys okay?" Nya asked. The guys nodded. Annabella and Emera choked back laughter upon seeing Zane in a pink ninja suit, but Diane gave them the evil eye and they stopped.
"Fine. Well, Kai got hit with some venom from the Venomari." Cole said, and Kai looked their way, making the girls notice his weird greened eyes.
"We should get back." Annabella said. "Kai can ride with me."
Back on the Bounty...
Dinner was very quiet. Annabella managed to get Kai to not babble and convinced him to ignore strange things he saw.
Cole filled in Sensei Wu who looked troubled. When Diane added her bit on the Great Devourer, Lloyd sighed. "It's all my fault." He mumbled, putting his head on the table. Nya patted his back.
"We cannot change the past, but we can affect the future. At least we have the Sacred Flute." Sensei Wu said.
"Yeah, about that..." Jay began, tipping over his water.
"Pythor sort of... stole it." Zane finished.
"The last Sacred Flute?! Gone?!" Sensei Wu asked, bewildered. He sighed. "You are Ninjago's last hope."
An alarm blared. "That's the cold vision! It must have caught something!" Nya said frantically. "They must be near!"
"Wait, the only close place is-" Emera covered her mouth.
"Ninjago City?!" Cole responded.
The ninja ran into the control room where Nya pulled up a hologram of Ninjago City. "How many are there?" Jay asked.
"I think it's all of them." Annabella replied.
"Pythor is trying to unite the tribes!" Diane said, shaken.
"Go, ninja! We mustn't let the tribes unite!" Sensei Wu stressed.
The ninja ran out of the room, getting their ninja suits on, but Kai crashed into the wall. "You're coming with me." Annabella told him.
Rather than use their dragons, the girls also took their vehicles since their dragons wouldn't be able to get close in. Jumping off the ship Cole whooped. "I love the smell of land hurtling toward you in the middle of the night!"
"Me too!" Emera yelled, smiling.
They landed, and the ninja took a chance to look around at the city. "Wow. Ninjago City." Kai said in wonder.
"Biggest city in all of Ninjago. I always wanted to come here." Jay reflected.
"Any city's awesome." Annabella told him, Emera and Diane nodding.
"May I remind you, where are the Serpentine? They should be right here." Zane pointed out.
"I think they are. Just under us." Nya said, pointing to a manhole cover.
Going into the sewers, the ninja snuck in to find a hoard of Serpentine of every kind listening to Pythor. "What're we gonna do? We can't take them all out." Emera said.
"I've got an idea. Remember the lesson Sensei taught us about the destructive power of rumors?" Kai asked.
"Wait, that worked on you?" Annabella said incredulously.
"It didn't on you guys?" Cole asked, confused.
"Why do you think Lloyd was covered in feathers?" Nya replied.
"Alright, but it could work." Zane said, and they quickly split up.
Pythor continued his speech, but at one of the pauses, Kai slipped down and said loudly, "That sounds great, but you know the Hypnobrai will screw it up!"
"They're so incompetent!" Annabella said.
The Hypnobrai reacted violently, booing. Jay and Nya slipped behind the Fangpyre, and Jay quickly added, "Those buck-teeth can bit me rear-end!"
"I bet they're drinking their own venom!" Cole said from a pillar.
"Or the dead's!" Emera added.
"All the digging must have given them dirt for brains!" Zane suggested.
"Or perhaps none at all!" Diane said.
The Serpentine started fighting amongst themselves, not listening to Pythor. Sadly, Skales noticed the ninja and sent the Constrictai after them. Cole, Kai, Jay, Nya, Emera, and Annabella were all sucked down into the earth. Diane and Zane began running, but they caught up, and Diane pushed Zane out of the way.
"Run! We'll be fine!" She assured him. Nodding, Zane ran down into the subway tunnels and flattened himself against a wall. Thankfully, they didn't notice him, and when Zane looked at the wall, he silently thanked Lloyd for his pranks.
Meanwhile, the others were tied up and put in a closet. Annabella groaned. "PLEASE tell me Zane's getting help!" She said, exasperated.
"I think he's doing fine." Diane told her, jerking her head towards the Serpentine, to find Zane swinging over them. He head-kicked Pythor and Skales before going to the closet and cutting the ropes holding the others.
"Let's get out of here!" Zane said.
Quickly, the ninja swung over to where they came in. Diane and Annabella converted their weapons and went first. Once they were out of sight, Zane froze the tunnel and had the other boys climb onto his. They made it out safely and climbed onto Destiny's Bounty.
An hour later...
After everyone had changed, they resumed dinner. "Lesson book or not, the destructive power of rumors helped us." Cole said.
"Perhaps. But Zane's the one who got us out." Diane responded, giving Zane a fond look.
Zane felt his face warm but dismissed it. "Thank Lloyd. If not for his 'laundry skills', we all would have been caught." He reminded, and everyone laughed.
"I'm just glad the Venomari venom wore off." Kai put in.
"Yeah, you were acting pretty weird." Annabella told him, but she smiled at him, her tongue poking out of her teeth, which took the bite out of her words.
Lloyd came in. "Took twenty loads, but I managed to get your ninja suits back to normal." He told Zane. Sensei Wu coughed and Lloyd nodded. "And to say I'm sorry, I replaced your shampoo Annabella, I got you a new sketch book Emera, and Cole, here's a can of nuts."
Annabella and Emera took their things gladly, but Cole rolled his eyes. "I know what you're doing. I'll open it and a bunch of snakes will come out. Not falling for it!" He told Lloyd, going to the fridge.
As he opened the door, rubber snakes jumped out. Cole yelled and fell over, covered in the fake snakes. Everyone started laughing again, and eventually Cole joined in.
Okay, with that out of the way, please review, follow, favorite, etc. Also, keep voting in the poll! Once an option reaches six votes, the poll will close!