Green With Envy

The Forgotten Ninjago Episode

Chapter Four: Things Don't Always Go As Planned

When the four ninja met in the screen-lined room, Zane tried to be friendly but as soon as he saw Kai's tight, thought-strewn face, he faltered. His old thoughts returned. Maybe he shouldn't be friendly. He should act tough and pretend that nothing had happened. Zane kept glancing at Kai, and Kai would occasionally steal glances at Lloyd sitting bored in a chair.

"Okay, Pythor and the other tribe leaders have returned. And we still don't really know what they're looking for…"

Jay craned his neck to watch Cole without him noticing, and Cole was subtly staring at Zane.

"…So if we extract the anti-venom for all four tribes from the staffs, then…"

Nya cleared her throat as she pointed to the screen. "Um, hello! I'm explaining the mission here!" The ninja snapped to attention.

"Yeah, sorry sis." Kai laughed a little nervously. "Pythor is back with the other tribes, and we have to go… uh, take the staffs?"

Nya shook her head.

"We already have the staffs. All you need to remember is that Pythor needs the staffs to make his next move. So whatever you do, make sure he doesn't get the staffs back."

"Doesn't get them back, got it!" Cole repeated, pumping his fist in the air.

Nya walked over to a blanket on the floor beside the serpentine staffs. She whipped it off, revealing four large shuriken-like weapons. The ninja gasped in approval. "These spin blades will help you to open the fort-lock"

Cole started. The fort-lock? He hadn't been paying too much attention to the mission debrief, he realized. And now he was too afraid to ask anyone else what the fort-lock was. He reminded himself that he had to be smart like Zane and remember the logistics of the plan.

"Alright, I think that pretty much covers it. You guys are good to go." Nya was saying as she walked back. Cole scrambled in his mind. Make sure Pythor doesn't get the staffs back. All you need to remember is to make sure he doesn't get the staffs back. The ninjas shuffled around to grab their spin blades and golden weapons and head out the door. On the way out Nya stopped Jay.

She spoke softly:

"What is up with you guys? No one's really listening to me. I try to call your names, but you're too busy training. Like you ninja have nothing better to do... And the mission debrief-Don't even get me started on the debriefing."

Jay tried not to blush as he responded: "Guess we're all just, uh, thinking about the mission earlier today. It was kind of tiring." He scratched his head and looked up at Nya's face. Her eyes… they were so exquisite. He sighed contentedly. Nya's mouth squirmed into a confused kind of smirk.

"Well, uh, gotta go. Mission and everything." Jay said quickly, grabbing the pile of stuff left on the floor.

'Mission and everything' Nya mused as she turned back to find Lloyd messing around with the screen controls. Doesn't he know how lucky he is to even have a mission to go on? All I ever get to do is run errands and explain missions and babysit lousy Lloyd.

"Stop messing with the controls." Nya said, a little stricter than she meant it. Lloyd stopped grudgingly.

"'Kay, sorry."

he muttered as he slipped down from the chair to the wooden floor.

"Don't 'sorry' me!" Nya snapped. Lloyd froze a bit; Nya was never this uptight.

"Don't you have something better to do than man the bridge?" She suggested, annoyed. Don't I have something better to do than man the bridge?

"Uh, I'll just go play some video games or something." Lloyd said falteringly as he turned and ran down the stairs.

Just this morning I felt like I was really appreciated. He thought on the way down. Like I was officially part of the team. And now, he hung his head. Now I'm not so sure.

Make sure he doesn't get the staffs. Doesn't get the staffs. Doesn't get the staffs… Cole repeated the phrase over and over in his head. He wasn't going to forget this one. By golly, Cole was going to remember the plan as if his life depended on it.

"The serpentine fort is approaching." Zane noted.

"Everyone got their spin blades ready?" Kai asked. He could feel the shape of the gleaming metal on his back just waiting to be used. He couldn't wait to see what these babies could do.

"I've got mine."

Cole said over the walkie-talkie.

"I have mine as well," Zane affirmed.

"Yup, I got my—" Jay stopped mid-sentence. "Oh shoot."

"What is it?" Cole asked, alarmed. "Did you forget your spin blade?"

"No, I got it. But I brought something else too." Jay glanced at the blanket-covered pile of stuff by his seat in the cockpit. He could see sticking out from under the blanket the bottom of a golden staff.

"Shoot, shoot, darn, oh nut muffins." He said quickly under his breath. "Guys, I think I might have accidentally brought the serpentine staffs, too."

"Jay!" Kai exclaimed.

The staffs! Cole screamed inwardly. He knew they were a very important part of the mission. Yeah, make sure that Pythor doesn't…Wait. he had repeated this phrase so many times that it started to become nonsense in his head. What was it again? Make sure Pythor does—Does get the staffs. Right? Yeah, that was it. Or something like that. Something about Pythor and the staffs.

"Well, don't we need the staffs?" Cole asked, his rocky vehicle zooming over the leafs of Wildwood Forest for the second time that day.

"Um, I'm pretty sure Nya said to make sure Pythor didn't get the staffs." Jay said. "Which is just swell, 'cause now we're driving straight towards him with the staffs in tow!" He yelled.

"Well, I made it a very purposeful point to remember that Pythor actually did need the staffs." Cole interjected. "Nya made it very clear."

"I'm going back." Jay said. "We can't get any closer to Pythor with the staffs."

"No, wait!" Cole said hurriedly.

"We have to stick together." Kai interjected. "I don't know how you managed to screw this one up Jay—well, actually it's not that surprising—but I don't think we have any choice but to go onward."

"But Nya said—"

"This time we're going to have to impro—"

"Wait!" Cole cut Kai off. "Zane probably remembers what we were supposed to do with the staffs. So what should we do, Zane? Stick together or take back the staffs?"

Silence.

"Zane?" Jay asked. They looked around. The ice bike was nowhere to be seen. Cole and Kai shared a worried glance. The three accelerated over the rocks and leafs.

"Zane, where are you?" the speaker in Zane's vehicle cackled. The white ninja was ahead of everyone else, zooming dangerously fast through the woods. Just go straight in without thinking too much, Zane was saying to himself. He ignored an oncoming ratio on his internal screen about the chances of him crashing into his surroundings. He skidded his vehicle to a stop, jumped out, and ran towards the locked fort gates with his golden shurikens in one hand and his spin blade in the other. As he began fighting the guards he noticed three others fighting alongside him.

"Dude, what were you thinking?" Kai asked Zane as he flipped over one of the guards and gashed his blade into the large locked iron gates blocking their way into the fort. Zane faltered. "I thought that you would have proceeded straight—"

"We have to stick together!" Kai said. Jay threw his spin blade into the fort-lock, and the blade spun straight into a slot. Cole followed suit, relieved that he could pretend like he had known what a fort-lock was the whole time.

"Okay, but about the staffs… Zane?" The black ninja started, giving Zane his cue to start forming a plan of attack. "Should we take them back or carry them with us?" Cole motioned to a large pack on his back.

"I can't remember." Zane said under his breath like he didn't want anyone to hear.

"What?! But Zane, you're the smart one! You're supposed to remember!" Jay exclaimed as the fort-lock moaned and started to swing open. The huge iron door of a lock opened part of the way then shuddered to a stop. Zane pushed through his friends and tried to squeeze through. "I can't fit!" He grunted. He took a few steps back to glance at the height of the wall. Too high to climb. But the door was too heavy to push open. "Wait, I got this!" Jay said cheerily as he ran to the small space between the door frame and the door. Straining his arm muscles, he tried to push the door open with all of his might. It wasn't budging. I bet Cole could do it, a random thought said. Jay closed his eyes and concentrated. Cole wasn't going to do it; he was. He was strong, too. "Aargghhh!" grunted Jay as he tried to wedge the place open.

Lloyd paused in playing his video games. He had played for two hours straight and it was getting old. But he was too afraid to go upstairs. What if Nya snapped at him again? He shook his head. He was the green ninja. He could take whatever his friends said to him! He got up with confidence and was about to ascend the stairs when he noticed a framed picture on the ninja's nightstand. It was a picture of the whole crew. Sensei, Nya, Kai, Cole, Zane, and Jay. Each of them smiling. Completely happy without Lloyd around. Lloyd wavered. What if no one really wanted him around?

Cole was busy trying to remember the mission instructions and formulate a plan of what they should do with the staffs. For some reason, Zane couldn't remember it. But he could. He could do it. He was almost positive that Nya had said to make sure that Pythor did get the staffs back. Making up his mind, he slung the staffs from his back and heaved them up over the wall. They landed behind the walls with a thunk. Everything suddenly went silent and still. The three ninja turned to Cole with a look of utter disbelief. Finally, serpentine cheering split the silence.

Kai practically exploded. He lunged at Cole and pinned him to the ground. "Woah!" Cole exclaimed.

"What did you do?" Kai said, anger pouring down him like a volcano.

"I can't exactly remember the plan, but I know that we were definitely not supposed to do that." Zane said as he separated the red ninja from the black one. Jay slid down to the ground from pure exhaustion. He couldn't push anymore. His arms were aching, and the iron gate was pressing into his stomach from his position on the ground. Weakly he pulled himself up and wobbled over to the others. His hand was on his shoulder; it felt like searing fire, but hotter than Kai could ever produce. The noise of the serpentine grew louder and louder.

Kai abruptly turned around and started towards the fort. "If none of you guys can finish this mission, I'll do it myself."

Jay started muttering softly. "Stop it. Stop. No NO! EVERYONE JUST STOP IT!"

Kai stopped in his tracks and Cole and Zane looked to Jay. The master of lightning sighed and clutched his shoulder tighter. Suddenly Cole flipped in the air and transformed his golden scythe into a brown and black car and zoomed off, leaving the three in his dust. Kai was gone in a flash of red and gold. Jay slowly took out his nunchucks and was soon zooming off in his jet. Zane silently retreated into the woods. The four rushed through, not even caring about the mission anymore.