Hellooooooooo everybody!

Last chapter ended with Stephanie grabbing all four golden weapons and dying. Well, maybe. She did scream a lot though.

Anyway, now Derek's Serpentine Army is coming top steal the golden weapons. Let's see how our little ninja react!

Enjoy~

Tyler's P.O.V.

After talking with Steph, I ran back into the other room to find Jay and Nya once again trying to hold Kai back. Jay even used his hand like a taser and Kai was STILL fighting back. I guess punching Kevin in the face just unlocked all the rage he's bottled up over the years. Cool.

I avoided this mess and walked over to Lloyd to tell him about the telepathic messages that Steph and I heard between Kevin and the Serpentine. Honestly, no matter what Steph said, I did NOT expect him to believe me. But I had to try something, right?

Lloyd looked me dead in the eyes, probably deciding whether to believe me or not, and then turned to the other kids and said, "Alright, kids, I'll deal with this mess. Just go back to bed." The other kids looked at him, still half asleep, and agreed, walking out of the room. Lloyd followed, and I ran after him. He really needed to believe me on this, even if he didn't believe me on anything else.

In the hallway, I was about to protest his orders when he pulled all the kids into a huddle. "Ok guys, listen up," he said. "All of you need to wake your asses up, because the Serpentine are coming here RIGHT NOW, and we need to protect the golden weapons. We can't keep hiding forever, so tonight we're fighting back. Got it?" Everyone, still tired, looked at him with confused stares.

Finally, Brian raised his hand, then lowered it again. We all looked at him questioningly, and he shook his head. "I have so many questions, I don't even know where to start."

And that's when we heard the scream.

I didn't even hesitate. I ran through the house and down into the basement to see Steph passed out on the floor, the golden weapons scattered around her. Lloyd's words flashed through my mind: No mortal has the strength or power to possess all four of the golden weapons at once.

I felt for a pulse, and as soon as my fingers touched her, her eyes flew open and she sat up. I almost cried of joy, but hugged her instead, because joyful tears are just weird.

Everyone except for Cole, Jay, and Zane came racing down the stairs. Cole was probably still passed out drunk, and the other two were hopefully keeping an eye on Kevin.

Steph's P.O.V.

I don't even know what just happened. One minute, I'm picking up the golden weapons and screaming, and the next Tyler's hugging me? What is this?

Lloyd must have guessed what happened, because he started laughing. When everyone looked at him funny, he replied, "She's so much like her mother it hurts," and continued laughing. The other adults realized what was so funny and smiled.

"Can someone explain? Or am I just gonna sit here clueless?" I asked.

"You know that 'no mortal can possess all four weapons' thing?" Dad responded. "Yea, well, your mother was an exception to that rule. And apparently you inherited that as well."

Well then. That's interesting.

Suddenly reality hit me again, and I remembered that the Serpentine were after us. I turned to Lloyd. "Can you stop laughing long enough to help us beat the Serpentine, or...?"

"Ok ok ok ok ok, I'm fine now. Sorry." He wiped a tear from his eye.

"Wait, what?!" Dad yelled. Oh yea. No one told the other adults what was going on. Quickly, Lloyd explained what was happening, and everyone got into fight mode. Brian, Tyler, Toby, and Joey all got their weapons ready, while Jessica grabbed a whip - Kruthika taught her to use it properly - and the twins put on gloves because, well, they have this weird superstition that they can't fight without them. The adults all grabbed metal weapons; Dad took a sword, Amanda took shurikens for herself and Zane, Nya took two swords for herself and nun chucks for Jay, Lloyd took a sword and - like his kids - put gloves on, Kruthika grabbed a whip (apparently she's really good at it), and Melissa just grabbed two swords, unsure of whether or not Cole would wake from his drunken stupor to come help us. I haven't ever practiced with weapons - just my elemental powers - so I just kind of watched while the others prepared for battle.

Ready to go, everyone went upstairs. Dad hung back, and motioned for me to do so as well. "You should probably stay out of this fight," he said once we were alone.

"No," I said.

"Steph, sweetie, you're not ready -"

"I don't care. I've spent enough time watching everyone else fight while I just sit on the sidelines."

"But -"

"Dad, I've improved a lot recently, and I'm not the a kid anymore, neither physically or mentally. Yes, technically I'm only eight years old, but I've learned enough to actually be as old as I look. I'm not sitting out on my friends anymore, and I'm not sitting out on my family anymore. I'm a part of this fight, whether you like it or not." I didn't even realize what I was saying until it was said. It was like once I started talking everything I had been feeling since we got to Lloyd's came rushing out.

Dad - king of anger - looked absolutely furious at my rebellion. But then he settled himself down and took a deep breath. He grabbed another sword and handed it to me. "You have almost no training with weapons, but you need something besides your powers." He paused, then said, "I hate how you've managed to grow up so fast." He hugged me real quick. "If you need me, just yell." I nodded, then we headed upstairs.

Upstairs, Kevin was up on his feet, calm and collected, while everyone in the room looked like they were about to murder him. Seriously, even ZANE looked pissed. That was new. And bad. VERY bad.

"You know, if Dr. Steinsberry had done his job correctly, she would've been dead by now anyway. So it really doesn't matter how much we've tortured her," Kevin said in response to someone.

"You know, if she's dead, you're next," Joey responded in a calm voice. They were talking about Mom.

"That won't be necessary. Once the medication given to her by that fool Steinsberry wears off, we'll kill her without an issue. And by then, you should be dead as well. There's no way your pathetic group can defeat the Serpentine Army without Derek and I, never mind when you add us to the mix." He smiled eerily.

"What happened to my Mom?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"Well, first we stuck her in a chamber that slowly drains out her powers, and then we started torturing her with needles, whips, electricity, and various other weaponry." His eyes lit up and he licked his lips, as if he enjoyed thinking of my mother in pain. Come to think of it, he probably did. "We were going to kill her, but Dr. Steinsberry had drugged her with a special medication that heals her wounds, so she can't die at the moment. But the day we do is slowly approaching."

Toby, surprisingly, was the first one to lose his shit. He screamed and attacked Kevin from the left. With a simple movement of his arm, though, Kevin sent Toby flying across the room.

A high pitched scream came from the hallway, and suddenly Dr. Steinsberry appeared. That idiot actually slept through all this?! "KEVIN?!" he screeched. "How did you find me?!" The fear in his voice was clear.

"I wasn't looking for you," he replied. "And it doesn't matter, because you're all going to die." As if on cue, tires screeched outside, and suddenly snake-like figures were breaking down the door.

Serpentine.

Welp, shit's going down REAL quick...

Please review! I'll try to update quicker, feel free to bug me for updates.

Toodles~