Howdy! Got back from drama just in time to update. Now I'm in a western mood since are play is a western. I can't believe it's nearly tech week.
Anyway, hope you guys are liking this story so far. Some of you probably know this by now, but this story had become my pride and joy. I don't go a day without thinking about it anymore. So please leave a review. I greatly appreciate it. Follows and favorites to. Anyway, ignor me, I'm a nag. Go on! Read this patently awaited chapter already!
A New Enemy
Cole, Lloyd, Melissa, Rori, and Skylar were deep in conversation. Zane and Mia were still somewhere in the mob of people on the dance floor. No one had seen Nya or Jay for hours, but that had been expected. Kai stepped away from the table for a minute to get some more punch.
As Kai took a seat back at the table, the others were still deep in discussion over who knows what. Not really looking to join the conversation, the fire master ran his fingers around the rim of the plastic disposable cup. As the others were talking, a familiar ringing reached his ears. Instinctively, Kai looked up, glancing around in search for the source of the soft noise.
"Excuse me," Skylar interrupted the conversation, pulling out her phone. "I better take this." She said, getting up from her seat after glancing down to see who the caller was. Her reaction to whatever the caller ID read was interesting to Kai. He couldn't quite put a finger on it, but her facial expression read that it wasn't a good thing.
Kai watched Skylar closely as she paced back and forth along the wall, always remaining just out of his earshot. Though he couldn't make out what she was saying, he could tell by her urgency and expression it wasn't good.
Melissa was slowly starting to pay less, and less attention to Lloyd. Skylar was on the phone with who knows who. And Kai seemed lost in his punch.
"Hey," Melissa nudged him gently in the side, breaking him of his thoughts.
"Oh - yeah," Kai jumped a little, gradually coming back to reality.
"Wanna dance some more," asked the dirty blonde, pushing aside her scarlet red streak of hair.
Kai smiled a little now that he seemed to have forgotten what was ever so interesting about his punch. "I'd love to."
Melissa was just about to get up when a soft finger tapped her on the shoulder. Startled, she whipped around, her long hair flying, lashing across Kai's face. She was relieved however to see that it was only Skylar.
"I need to talk to you," she whispered urgently, he tone full of seriousness. Instead of arguing, Melissa turned back to Kai, who was rubbing his cheek where the tips of her hair must've hit.
"I need to talk to Skylar for a minute," she stated, placing a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to get a look at where her hair left a mark. "Can I join you on the dance floor in a minute?"
"Yeah, sure," Kai replied, still rubbing his cheek.
Melissa nodded, and followed Skylar through the crowd, to the back of the room. With all the flashing, multicolored lights, she kept finding herself rather disoriented, and losing her footing.
"What is it," she asked soon as they were out of earshot from anyone who might try to listen in on their conversation.
"We have to leave," Skylar told her.
"What? Why? I'm not in any hurry, and neither is Rori or Mia," Melissa protested, clearly not wanting to leave the party any time soon.
"And I don't either, but do you want to tell him that?," Skylar retorted, holding up her phone, showing a picture, and name for who called.
Melissa gasped as she realized who "he" was. Angering him was not a clever move. To do so could have disastrous consequences. It would be smartest just to do as he pleased.
"I'll get Mia after I tell Kai," Melissa sighed. She was hoping she and Kai could have at least one more dance, but now that just couldn't happen.
Kai watched as Melissa, and Skylar slowly worked their way through the crowd, back to the table. A grim look on their faces.
"What's wrong," the red ninja asked as soon as they returned.
"Kai, I have to leave," Melissa responded glumly.
"What? Why do you have to leave," Kai gasped, rather shocked that she had to go so suddenly.
"Oh - uh, Skylar's dad wants us home," she hesitated, "we're in big trouble if we don't leave strait away."
"Oh," Kai sighed in disappointment. "Maybe we can get together again," he asked, hopefully.
"Yeah," Melissa's tone brightened at the idea. "Here," she pulled out a napkin, and scribbled something down. "My number."
Kai looked at the napkin and the inky, scribbly numbers as if he was trying to memorize it before ripping off a small unused section, writing down his own number. "Here's mine," he handed the other half of the napkin tucking the half with her number in his pocket. Melissa glanced down at the napkin before doing the same.
"Call me," she smiled before turning and following Skylar, and Rori to the dance floor in an attempt to find Mia.
The rest of the party wasn't as much fun. Zane joined the others after Mia left. Nya and Jay eventually met up with them at the table.
To Kai, the passing minutes felt like hours. Now and then, he'd pull out Melissa's number, and examine it. He considered bringing up the idea of leaving early, but he didn't.
Everything continued normally. No unusual activity. Cole didn't even see his old boss, which he found quite relieving. Something was coming though. Something bad. Something that wouldn't easily be forgotten. Not by anyone.
All was going perfectly fine at the party. Suddenly, an earsplitting crack sounded over the dance floor. This captured all the ninja's attention instantly. The bank began to shake as guests began screaming, all running for the entrance in a desperate hope of escaping the madness.
Over the dance floor, large cracks were visible in the ceiling. As the cracks grew wider, the bank continued to violently shake.
"Are we having an earthquake," Jay shouted over the chaotic screams of frightened guests.
"It appears that the cracks are coming from one main focal point in the ceiling, where as in an earthquake, there would be more activity in the floor. This is defiantly not an earthquake. The irregular, yet consistent pattern of shaking is nothing natural. It's as if the building was under attack," Zane assessed, trying to keep a calm tone.
As the cracks continued to widen, and plaster began to fall, the ninja spotted the last things they expected to see. In the center of all the cracks, something had broken through the ceiling completely. It appeared to be the tip of a scythe.
As the scythe was removed from the center, it was brought down again. The building shook even more violently. With all the shaking, even larger chunks of plaster began to fall from the ceiling, down onto the dance floor. Luckily, the dance floor was deserted of guests, for most of them had already escaped, or were having some sort of panic attack in the corner.
As plaster fell, it continued to come down in larger, and larger chunks. The ceiling suddenly opened up to the black, moonless night sky. With all the shaking, the strobe lights had fallen as well, leaving the bank completely dark, except for the little starlight shining through the giant crater in the ceiling.
"Ninja... GO!" cried a voice from the rooftop.
The ninja immediately took defensive positions, despite wearing tuxedos. Suddenly, four tornado like figures came spinning down from the gaping hole in the ceiling. One was on fire. One looked half frozen. One had boulders orbiting around them. One looked as though it was ready to electrocute anyone who came near.
As they landed, four ninja took their places. In outfits identical to those of the original ninja.
Instinctively, Kai reached behind his back for his sword. However, all his fingers could find was empty air.
"Where are our weapons," Kai shouted to his teammates over the chaos.
"We didn't bring them," Cole stated.
"What reason would we need our weapons at a party anyway?" Zane pointed out plainly.
"That reason!" Kai retorted, pointing at the four ninja who just crashed through the ceiling.
"That looks like a pretty good reason," Jay agreed, panic growing in his tone.
"If we don't have weapons, and we can't do spinjitsu in these tuxedos, we're sitting ducks," Cole pointed out.
"I officially hate tuxedos," Lloyd muttered, narrowing his eyes at this new threat.
"Are we sure they're not on our side," Zane asked, trying to make sure they'd assessed all aspects of the situation before drawing any conclusions.
"They just crashed through the ceiling onto a big party in a very fancy bank, causing massive amounts of damage,"Jay cried, "I don't think they're looking to give cookies to the children of the world."
"We should at least try to find their purpose for coming here," Lloyd suggested, trying to sound at least somewhat hopeful.
"Where are the ninja!" cried the second ice ninja.
"Uh, I think they're looking for us," Jay replied, really panicking now.
"Maybe they won't recognize us," Kai thought out loud.
Without thinking twice, Cole picked up a chunk of plaster, and chucked it at the second earth ninja. "I thought I defeated you last time, me," he growled, furrowing his bushy eyebrows.
"Why would I ever want to be you," the second ninja of earth spat in disgust, catching the chunk of plaster, and crushing it with their fist.
Unlike the copies Garmadon had made, these ninja had different, slightly higher voices. Their eyes didn't look at all like the other ninja, nor were they glowing red. And there were only four. Earth, fire, lightening, and ice. No green ninja. Whatever they were, they weren't just copies. The glint in their eyes. Could they be girls?
Cole gazed wide eyed at the other ninja. She slowly came nearer, and nearer, keeping her scythe at hand.
"Now, would you kindly tell me where the ninja are," she repeated, anger rising in her tone.
"Uh," Cole sputtered, his skin coated in a nervous sweat. "There?" He pointed towards the other three ninja that had entered the building with her.
The second earth ninja looked back at her companions, before turning back to Cole, filled with rage. She raised her scythe, and swung it right into him. Though it didn't break any skin, the force sent Cole flying into the wall, knocking the breath out of the black ninja.
Kai, Jay, Zane, Lloyd, and Nya, not knowing what else to do, hid under the table, hoping to avoid the same fate as their brother. The second fire ninja noticed this right away, and while the earth ninja was still interrogating Cole, she flipped the table over, and raised her sword threateningly at them.
"I have a feeling you do know," she glared at the five of them, her tone full of an evil harshness. "And you will tell me." She turned to Nya, getting right up in her face, and pressing the tip of her sword into her throat just hard enough to make her breath more panicked and labored. "Starting with you."
Kai totally lost it with the fire ninja's threat. "Get away from my sister!" he cried, launching himself on top of her.
The two rolled off to the side, deeply engaged in their tussle. The fire ninja did her best to take advantage of their rolling, and pinned Kai to the floor. "Or you," she growled, glaring at him with a menacing look. "I don't have a preference."
Kai didn't struggle, nor did he say a word. He only met her gaze, holding his ground as hard as he could. The fire ninja was growing impatient with him, and his stubbornness, annoyance growing in her gaze.
"Fine," she concluded, raising her sword again, hoping it would intimidate him enough to make him talk. "If you're going to play this game, then I'm not afraid to use force to get it out of you."
However, when she brought up her sword, the fire ninja's weight shifted just enough for Kai to throw her off, and get away. Using every bit of strength, he shoved her off, jumped to his feet, and ran behind some larger chunks of fallen plaster.
It took a moment for the fire ninja to regain her balance, but once her head stopped spinning, she looked off in the direction she thought she saw Kai run off to. Not seeing him anywhere, she turned back to the others only to find they had hidden as well. Not bothering to search through the rubble, the second fire ninja moved on to interrogating some of the other guests who where trapped in the bank.
The earth ninja continued to pick on Cole, however she was beginning to patience with his constant refusal to talk.
"I'm going to ask you one more time," she had Cole pinned against the wall with her scythe, crushing him more with every question he failed to answer.
Cole, despite his desperate desire for relief on the incredible pain of the earth ninja's scythe squishing every breath out, he held his tongue. The earth ninja's gaze bored into his, sharp enough to cut through steel. But Cole kept a firm foothold, and wouldn't give.
"Very well," the earth ninja released her scythe, and Cole collapsed to the floor.
After the sudden relief of suffocation, Cole gasped, and broke into a fit of coughing. His head was spinning, and his temples were throbbing. Slowly, he managed to regain his balance, and gathered himself to his feet.
The earth ninja narrowed her eyes at Cole, pleasantly surprised that defeating him was so easy, though he still wouldn't talk. Without a warning, she brought a heavy punch to his torso, with enough force to send him flying back against the wall.
The earth ninja took one more quick glance at Cole. Her expression was completely emotionless. If she even had any emotions, she was very good at hiding them. She didn't let her gaze linger though, and quickly turned away, and stalked off.
Soon as she was far enough away not to notice any movement, Cole ducked under some of the larger chunks of plaster and ceiling, in search of his friends.
"Cole," Cole heard a hoarse whisper call his name. "Over here."
Cole turned to his left to find Lloyd peeking through some rubble. "This way."
Cole followed the green ninja through the maze of plaster, trying to prevent the winding paths from making him dizzy, and provoking a headache. Eventually Lloyd lead him to a dirty looking door to what must've been a janitors' closet.
The two stumbled through the door into a dark room. Though he couldn't see anything, Cole sensed the body heat of others, and could just make out the barely audible sound of breathing. As his eyes adjusted, Cole could just make out the silhouettes of Jay, Zane, Nya, and Kai in the darkness. The others appeared to have only a few scratches, but Kai seemed pretty beaten down. He sort of lost track of them after that other earth ninja lost it with him.
"Is everyone alright?" he asked. Though he could see everyone now, he wanted to make sure there wasn't any damage that he couldn't see, or needed serious attention.
"Aside from some scratches and bruises," replied Nya, "and the fact we're trapped in a supply closet. Fine, I guess."
"We have to do something," Jay cut in, more determination in his tone than usual. "We can't just hide in here."
"Jay's right," Zane agreed, "they will, find us eventually. When they do, there's no chance they'll show us any mercy."
"We need to fight back," Kai growled, making a fist.
"Did you see them?" Lloyd cried, having trouble imagining the other ninja ever beaten in battle. "They're practically indestructible."
"Let's not jump to any conclusions," Cole slowed him. "First we need to properly asses the situation."
"Maybe we don't need to beat them in battle," Zane pointed out, quickly grabbing the attention of his brothers. "If we could just distract them long enough to escape, that would work."
"I think I have a plan," Jay piped up. "I'm not too proud of it, but it may work."
"We're all ears," Kai said, as the others gathered around the blue ninja, listening closely to the plan. It wasn't the best of plans, but being their only option, they went for it.
Oh snap, this is not good! Jay has a plan! What will this mysterious plan be? I know what it it already. But you don't! Find out Tuesday! Or Wednesday. Not sure when I'll post exactly. I've got a million things to do this weekend, so that should be just awesome... :/
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