I'm back :D Enjoy Chapter 3~
Joey's P.O.V.
I woke up to the sound of women talking, and I immediately wondered where I was and what was happening. My eyes stayed shut until I felt a small hand on my back and heard a familiar voice in my ear. "Joeyyyyy, wake up! Aunt Kru made blueberry pancakes!" That's when the events of the previous night came back to memory.
Smelling the warm, sweet smell of the blueberries, I finally mustered enough strength to push myself off the couch and stumble into the kitchen.
Then I stumbled out of the room a bit. All of my aunts and uncles were there, cooking pancakes and bacon (YUSSSS) and making coffee and doing the dishes. All of them greeted me simultaneously, then Aunt Amanda led me into the dining room, where all of my cousins were.
First of all, let me get this straight. None of these are my actual relatives; they were simply family friends, who for some reasons we called relatives. The only people that my family was actually related to were Uncle Jay, Aunt Nya, and their two kids, Brian and Jessica.
Anyway, I sat down at the table between Steph and Toby. Although Toby was a LOT cooler than his dad (Uncle Cole was always telling everyone what NOT to do, and always seemed so angry and tense), Toby looked EXACTLY like Uncle Cole. It was pretty funny to be honest. I watched as my aunts brought in plates for everyone, and tried my best not to drool over it.
"Alright, kids," Uncle Jay said, coming into the dining room, "the guys and I are all gonna go out for a bit. Don't give the ladies here too much trouble. Or else, ya know, you're grounded." He winked as he said that last part. Uncle was the opposite of Uncle Cole - he may threaten to punish someone jokingly, but everyone (including his wife) knew he wouldn't follow through with it.
The men all kissed their wives good bye, and left the room. Then, we kids took that as our cue to dig in to breakfast.
Suddenly, the tune of the "Weekend Whip" by The Fold filled the air, and Aunt Nya answered her phone. "Hello?" There was a long pause, and although I was stuffing my face with bacon and blueberry pancakes, I still managed to catch a glimpse of how pale her face turned. "KAI?!" she yelled into the phone, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Aunts Amanda, Kru, and Melissa turned to her, shock written across their faces.
I dropped my fork. "Well, Joey and Steph are with me and everyone else at Lloyd's, but Julia..." When her voice trailed off after saying my mother's name, the echo of her scream returned to my memory, and I almost cried.
You could probably hear my dad's voice a mile away through the phone. "WHAT THE HELL DID THOSE SCALY BASTARDS DO TO HER?!" Steph, Ryan, and Zack all giggled at the curses. I don't think Steph understood what was going on, but the twins were just being really immature. As usual.
Aunt Nya then proceeded to finish her phone call in another room.
After being reminded of the previous night, I was no longer hungry, and excused myself to go to the bathroom. Then I went back to sleep.
Kai's P.O.V.
As I drove to Lloyd's, I could not thinking about last night. I had no idea how the Serpentine had found me at the car repair shop I worked at, nor could I remember how they managed to stuff me in one of the lockers in the back room. The boss came in this morning and almost fired me at the room's mess. But after seeing me in a locker, he literally laughed it off. At least he gave me a week off after I explained how much shit my family (and most likely my friends) were probably in.
I just really hoped Jules was ok. If those filthy fucking Serpentine did ANYTHING to hurt her... BOY were they gonna pay...
At least the kids were ok. At least the passage Jules and I created as an escape route was useful to save them.
Over the phone, Nya was able to convince me that it was more beneficial to meet up with the guys back at the house instead of going back to my house. Lloyd, Zane, Jay, and Cole had been there after Steph and Joey showed up at Lloyd's, and had no luck in finding my wife. They also had trouble fighting off the few snakes that were left behind - just as I had last night at work. It was obvious we were gonna need some back up if we were gonna face possible the entire Serpentine army any time soon.
I burst into Lloyd's house. "Joey? Steph?" I called immediately.
Steph ran up to me with her finger to her lips. "Shhh! Joey's sleeping!" I picked her up and hugged the crap out of her. Thank God, I thought.
She led me to the living room, where Joey was asleep with tears in his eyes. I stroked his head and left him there to sleep, instead looking for the guys. Steph ran off somewhere else in the house, probably looking for the other kids.
I wandered into the kitchen, where Melissa, Amanda, Nya, and Kru were washing dishes. Nya dropped a plate when she saw me, wrapping me in a hug. "Kai! Thank God you're ok!"
"Um, thanks, sis... Where are the guys?"
Nya composed herself before responding. "They went out to look for you, but Kru called them to come back after you called. They should be back soon."
As if on cue, the front door opened, and in walked the four guys. "Hey, look! I found him!" Jay joked. I rolled my eyes. This kid literally hasn't changed one bit since our ninja days.
Joey's P.O.V.
I woke up from my light nap, and wandered through the house in search of the other kids. I found all of the adults - and DAD! - sitting at the dining room table, obviously discussing something serious. I sat behind a wall to eavesdrop, being too tired to deal with my cousins anyway.
Their conversation went like this:
Dad: It's obvious we can't fight them, at least not alone.
Zane: Agreed. We had trouble fighting off a few Serpentine last night. How will we be able to fight off a whole army?
(So those were Serpentine...)
Amanda: Well, I mean, you haven't been ninja in how long? You may just be out of shape. If all nine of us got back into shape, we might be able to take them.
(NINJA?! What the... Was my dad... a ninja?)
Cole: I doubt it. My joints were killing me after five minutes.
Melissa: *giggles* That's because you sit around watching TV all day, and you work in an office. You don't get as much exercise as you used to.
Kru: Yea! You used to have SO much more muscle!
Jay: You used to be able to lift an ENTIRE bus full of people!
Cole: OK! Ok, I get it!
Nya: Guys, this isn't helping. I honestly don't feel that we could fight them off with or without training. We're just too... old.
The room was silent for a long time.
Lloyd: You're not gonna like it.
Kai: Like what?
Lloyd: There's really no other way.
Zane: What is it, Lloyd?
Lloyd: I mean, they already have some of our powers, I've started to notice it-
Kru: You don't mean-
Jay: YOU WANT OUR KIDS TO FIGHT THE SERPENTINE?!
Lloyd: THERE'S NO OTHER WAY. *pause* I don't want to. I mean, my kids are friggin twelve. I don't want to put them in danger. But ALL of us will be in danger if we don't at least try. *another pause* And we won't need all of them to become ninja or anything, just the oldest boy should have powers, so the younger ones won't have to endanger themselves as well.
Nya: What, so Jess can't be a ninja?
Lloyd: Sensei Wu told me about it before. It's only the oldest boy. The younger ones might have slight powers, but nothing to worry about. The powers come naturally, as well, so they should be easy to train compared to, well, us. We had to actually learn our powers. This is also why I suggested we train them when they turn ten; they'll eventually figure out their powers eventually. It would be easier if we stopped lying to them about our past and start teaching them the truth.
"Wait, you've been lying to us?!"
There was complete silence, as I realized that voice came from me. I stopped breathing and kept completely still, hoping they would brush it off and ignore me...
"Joey, get in here," Dad commanded.
"Uhh Joey's not home, please leave a message at the beep... BEEP."
"Joseph. Now." Uh-oh... When Dad uses "Joseph", I'm probably in a lot of trouble. I got up from my spot on the floor and went into the dining room. "How long have you been listening?"
Despite the serious nature of the conversation, I just couldn't help myself. "Since before Uncle Cole became fat and lazy and unable to lift a bus." Uncle Cole looked like he was about to murder me, but the other adults all laughed at my comment.
After settling down, Dad sighed, like what he was going to say was going to kill him. "Would you be ok with it?" he asked quietly.
"Um, with what?"
"What Lloyd mentioned. Would you be ok with it? You've always been the most anti-violent, so if you're ok with it, I don't see any reason why we can't train the other kids as well."
I was shocked. They were actually serious?
Pondering it for a moment, I thought of Mom. Those Serpentine... they hurt my mother.
But violence was not ok. But... Mom...
"Yes," I said quietly. Then louder, "Yes, I'm ok with it." Only for Mom.
I think the majority of the story will bounce between Kai's, Joey's, and Steph's P.O.V. Mostly Joey though. For now. I don't know. In case none of you have noticed yet, I start my stories having no idea where the hell they're going.
I imagine Stephanie to be HELLA adorable, like an innocent little 5-year-old. Even though she's eight. Hehe.
Also, someone (can't remember who & too lazy to check) commented on the last chapter something like "please update soon! no pressure though I don't wanna rush you." Actually I would prefer if y'all bugged me to update because otherwise I'll probably forget.
Have a nice day :)