Chapter 11: To Storm Or Fire

Nick's P.O.V.

It was another ordinary day, if you call getting up at 5:00 am and training until Lord Garmadon told us to stop, ordinary! Thankfully, Garmy came in around 11:00 so that we could eat breakfast. Yes, I said breakfast at 11:00!

Ace made blueberry pancakes for all of us. Apparently, one of Ace's old jobs was an IHOP cook. What other jobs had he taken, a circus performer!? I was glad for the pancakes. Eating gloop isn't exactly what I'd call a good breakfast.

About the time that I was halfway through my plate, Lord G. burst in. Was this going to become a habit of his? "Is this going to become a habit of yours?" Aurelia asked Lord Garmadon. "Probably." Garmy replied, "Any-who, The Ninja are now suspicious of you four. So they have started searching for us." "And how is this worthy of making us stop eating?" Cassidy complained.

"Because they're here now!" Lord G. yelled. "Why didn't you start with that!?" I shouted back at him, as my teammates and I pulled on our hoods. Garmadon just shrugged.

The four of us ran out onto the deck. Sure enough, The Ninja were climbing up the anchor. The Black Bounty was situated on the top of a tall rock structure. Its anchor was hanging over a flat part of the rock.

"Take care of them." Ace told us, in a rare moment of talking, while gesturing at The Ninja. Then he ran off into the control room, no doubt to start the ship. Aurelia, Cassidy, and I pulled out our weapons, getting into fighting stances.

"We could knock them off the anchor." Aurelia suggested. "Sure." I agreed, while Cassidy nodded.

The three of us grabbed onto the anchor's chain. "Let's slide down and run into them." I said. We were about to, when the ship's rocket boosters turned on suddenly. "Woah!" Cassidy exclaimed.

The sudden take-off almost made us lose our balance, but our ninja training got us to hold on. Meanwhile, The Ninja had managed to close most of the difference between the ground and the ship.

We hopped back on deck. "Raise the anchor!" Cassidy yelled to Ace. I saw Ace nod through the window. The anchor started to rise.

"Too late." a taunting voice said from behind us. The three of us spun around, only to see The four Ninja. I glared at Kai. He glared back.

Then, from the window that only I could see, Ace pointed at the steering wheel, then pretended to spin it really fast. I understood what he was saying, "Is it safe for me to turn the ship a whole lot?" I nodded, and shouted to my teammates, "Grab on!"

Aurelia grabbed the railing, Cassidy stabbed her katana into the deck, and I grabbed the mast. The Ninja did nothing, except look confused. Man were they slow. Then the ship turned so much, we were practically sideways!

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" the blue one, Jay I think, screamed, as he fell off the deck. "Jay!" the other three yelled. They had grabbed onto the opposite railing as Aurelia.

"This is NOT GOOD!" Jay screamed even more, falling into the clouds. "Jay, do spinjitzu!" the white one, I think it was Zane, shouted. Jay heard him, did spinjitzu, and managed to generate just enough wind to blow back up on deck.

The ship righted itself at the perfect time (I meant this sarcastically). The Ninja advanced on us. "DIE!" I yelled, sending a mini hurricane at Kai. "What the world!" he shouted, then jumped out of the way. "Why do you want to kill me so badly?" he shouted at me. "I think you know!" I growled at him, sending a small storm cloud his way. The cloud dissipated quickly.

With me being distracted, I didn't notice the black ninja jump at me. I was tied up by him and Kai. I snapped at them. I smirked as I bit Kai's finger. "Ow!" he shouted.

I looked over and saw my teammates all tied like me, even Ace. He must have come down while I was yelling at Kai.

"Where is Lord Garmadon?" the black one questioned me. "I'm not going to tell you, blacky." I told him. "I sense that none of them will talk, Cole." Zane said to blacky, whose real name I guess was Cole. Cole sighed then said, "Then let's take them back to Dareth's dojo." "And not forget to lock their doors." Jay joked.

Later

After wandering into Ninjago City, we were almost to the dojo. "Hey, remember what your sensei said?" I asked The Ninja. Aurelia caught on and continued, "Yeah, about the best way to defeat an enemy?"

"Yes, we remember." Cole responded. "Then why did you capture us?" Cassidy questioned. Jay replied, "Because we are going to make you our friends there." "Or at least try to." I mumbled.

Even later

After getting to the dojo, The Ninja put us in the training room and untied us. I immediately jumped towards the door, only to be stopped by Cole. "You need to listen to us." Cole told us. "Fine." I said, sitting down and crossing my arms.

"Lord Garmadon is evil, a lier, and a charlatan." Zane told us. "You're wrong!" Aurelia yelled at them, "If Garmy was evil, would he have saved me from my brother when I was a kid!?" "Or have brought Ace back from the dead!?" Cassidy added. "Or have saved me and my friends from the Serpentine!?" I shouted at them.

"Wait, did you say that he saved you from Serpentine?" Cole asked us. I nodded. "Well, the Serpentine are all loyal to Garmadon." Kai told us. "No, Lord G. told us that not all of them are loyal to him." Cassidy countered. "Ugh, he's such a lier!" Jay complained.

"Well, even if that was a lie, can you explain him saving me as a kid?" Aurelia challenged. "Saved you from what?" Zane asked her. "When I was a baby, my parents abandoned me and my brother because they didn't have much money. My brother didn't want to raise me, so he locked me in a closet until I was 10. Then, Lord Garmadon found out and called the cops."

"Hmmm. How long ago was this?" Zane questioned her further. "6 years ago. Why?" Aurelia answered. "Because, 6 years ago, Garmadon was trapped in the Underworld." Zane responded, The other Ninja nodding in agreement. "WHAT!? THAT LIER!" Aurelia screamed.

"How do we know you aren't the ones lying?" I asked. "They aren't." a voice said. I spun around. Standing in the doorway was The Ninja's sensei, along with a little boy in green, a man in brown, and a girl in a red dress. Jay's eyes went all lovey, and Kai and Cole noticed and rolled their eyes.

I don't know why, but I trusted their sensei. There was just something about him that made him seem wise and trustworthy. "Okay, but then why did Garmy raise Ace from the dead?" I asked The Ninja.

Jay tore his eyes from the girl in red to look at me weird and say, "Raise who from the what!?" Cassidy pointed at Ace and said slowly, "Raise him from the dead. D-E-A-D, dead."

The Ninja looked at Ace and said incredulously, "You were raised from the dead!?" He nodded. "No weirder then Garmadon getting four arms, or bringing a bunch of pirates from nowhere." Kai said.

"So, why would Garmadon have raised Ace from the dead?" Aurelia asked The Ninja and their friends. "No offense Ace, but I think he might have just been trying to get a servant." Zane said sadly. Ace just nodded, then said simply, "I suspected as much."

"And we saved all of you from Lord Garmadon, soooo, friends?" Jay asked. Me and my teammates looked at each other, then my three friends nodded to The Ninja.

"Yeah!" Jay cheered. "No." I said forcefully. "What!?" Cole asked, surprised. I replied, "I will not be a friend to the person who killed my father!" I pointed at Kai, then ran into one of the other rooms.

Even later (I am using a lot of these)

I heard a knock on the door. "Who's there!?" "Nya." came the reply. I had no idea who that was, so I let them in. It turned out to be the girl in the red dress.

"Hey." I said. "Hello." she said back, "What did you mean when you said that Kai killed your dad?" "My family was poor. When I was 13, my father was about to die of starvation. I knew he was a friend of the local blacksmiths, so I went to their shop. When I got there, Kai was managing the store. I begged him for some food so that my father could live. He refused. I went home after that, only to find my father dead. I realized that it was pretty much Kai's fault, so I set out looking for him. This was all 5 years ago."

Nya frowned, then said, "I remember that day. I was out on an errand with my father. When I got home, I found out, along with my father, that my mother had died of a disease that she had had for a while. Kai told me that a strange boy about his age had come and begged him for food. He had refused because he was angry about our mother dying."

"You're his sister!" I realized. "Yes, I am. Can you please forgive him?" she asked me. "No." I replied. Nya sighed, then left the room.

Even later!

Aurelia came running in the room. "Nick! The Serpentine are attacking! Can you help!?" she asked. I shook my head and replied, "I am not going to fight alongside my father's killer." Aurelia frowned and left.

Later even more!

I was lying on my bed, when my door was blown through. I sat up quickly, and saw the red, black, and green Serpentine that had captured me. "You traitor!" The red one yelled at me. "Why did you turn againsssst Lord Garmadon, and sssstart working for thosssse pessssky Ninja!?" the black one shouted.

"I turned against Garmadon because he is a lier! But I am not helping The Ninja either!" I yelled in reply. "Oh, a rouge. Let'ssss capture him anywayssss." the green Serpentine hissed. They snatched me and tied me up. Not again. I said to myself.

Guess what. LATER!

I was thrown next to my teammates and The Ninja. I glared at the snakes for putting me next to Kai. "Wait here. We will come get all of you later for your exsssecutionssss." the red Serpentine told all of us, our eyes all lighting up with fear. The snakes slithered away, laughing.

"Hey, dark blue ninja guy." Kai whispered to me. "My name is Nick." I growled, looking the other way. Kai continued, "Yeah, Nick, I'm sorry for what happened 5 years ago." I looked at him incredulously.

"My mother had just died, and I was angry. Can you please forgive me?" Kai pleaded. I looked into his eyes, and to my surprise, I saw real sincerity. "I...I...I..." I tried, then felt all my angry emotions slip away as I realized, He felt the way I did after I found my father dead. I replied, "I forgive you."

Suddenly, I felt better then I had ever felt in my whole life! I felt free! I saw everyone, human and snake, stare at me in awe. I saw a bright light shining around the room. I realized the light was coming from me.

"Your true potential!" The Ninja simultaneously shouted. I felt a good-sized tornado beneath my body, I saw storm clouds flouting around me. I was a storm. I smiled, and went around the whole area, getting rid of any snake there was.

I then promptly passed out.

EVEN LATER!

I woke up. I saw all my friend around me. Yes, I included The Ninja that time. "Hey." I said. "He's up!" Aurelia shouted. Cole flinched, then said, "No need to yell, we're all right here." "Oops." Aurelia said sarcastically,

"So, how was your true potential?" Kai asked me. I replied, "It felt amazing! I felt better then I've ever felt before!" "Yep. That's pretty much what it feels like." Jay told everyone.

"I am so jealous!" Cassidy squealed. Aurelia then said, 'I can't wait for that to happen to me!" "All you must do is overcome the obstacle that each and every one of us has, when you conquer that fear, only then will your heart be free, only then will you unlock your true potential." our new sensei told us.

"I remember that speech. It was right before you left, Sensei." Jay told us.

My stomach growled quietly. "Cool." I said, "But can I get something to eat?"

Everyone except for me, Zane, and Ace started laughing. Zane looked confused, and Ace looked at us with no expression.

"No, seriously guys, I'm starving!" I said.