Hey everyone, happy Friday and time for an update. I really don't have much to say but the new Ninjago episodes were awesome! But anyway, enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 21: To Ninjago City

Sunlight broke through the cracks of the closed blinds of the windows from shops. Small howls of the wind whistled all through the small village known as Auroa Village. Patrons mingled through the streets to many of the opened shops bustling all morning. Soft flute music filled the streets from a group of students playing in soft melody. Cole peered through the curtains of the motel room he was hiding in from the Forces to smile as the enthusiasm felt peaceful. But atlas, he couldn't join with Betty as he would be noticed for the wanted bounty on his head. He sighed to miss out on the peace and turned around to see Betty with a small smile on her face and formed one as well as the girl stood up and pulled out her small handbag to open it and the earth ninja stood next to her.

The contents of a bag spilled onto a bed. All sorts of items filled a small section of the scratchy comforter. Cole and Betty looked at the contents to ponder. Today was their second chance to deliver the data to cure him. Hopefully the general doesn't come after him again. He doesn't want to have another accident like the other times before. The black ninja shuffled through the contents and tossed them aside to think. Some they needed and some they didn't. "We'll take what we need." he said and grabbed the plastic credit cards. "We won't use these or else they'll track us." and tossed them in Betty's handbag and grabbed her cellphone. "Or the phone. Don't even turn it on."

Betty nodded. "What about my lip-gloss?" she asked playfully.

"Well we can use that." he laughed a little while she applied some of her clear lip-gloss to her bottom lip and rubbed her lips together. "We won't use those things that they'll use to track us. We'll take the cash." and grabbed the dollar bills and something black with a silver rock emblem. His comm-link. "And this." he said and picked it up. "Jay designed it to where no one can find us. Only the Bounty can. We'll be safe when we reach Ninjago City." and placed it in the pockets of his new pair of jeans.

"Do you think we'll be able to reach the city without any bumps on the road?" Betty asked concerned as she tossed the rest of her contents back into her bag.

Cole looked up at her to shrug his shoulders. "I'm worried what may happen," he said. "But my gut tells me that we may have our only chance. I know we'll make it without your father in the way." Betty looked up to nod. Their only chance now.

...

The two walked down the long road ahead of them until they reached a gas station near the edge of a road through woodland ground. Cole looked around to find transportation to use. Ninjago City was a few hours and miles away on foot, but with a vehicle, it would save them time. He turned his gaze to see a rusty-looking truck in the parking lot with a FOR SALE sign on the window. Perfect. he thought and removed the sign off and tossed it in the trunk amd opened the door to see it was unlocked and knelt next to the outlet box by the driver's seat. He seen Jay done this before when they didn't have the keys for the Ultra Sonic Raider and grabbed two wires to touch the metal ends together to have sparks and repeated and repeated it again until the engine roared to life. "Awesome. I know how to hotwire cars." he said in triumph.

They got their transportation.

"Hey turn around." Betty's voice chimed. Cole turned around to see Betty walking up with her digital camera in hand. He smiled and crossed his arms while leaning against the truck and she took the snapshot. Betty looked at the picture on her camera to smile and Cole smiled back. "Come on." she said and walked up to the driver's seat. "We got to cure you." Cole laughed a little and climbed into the passenger seat.

...

"What's it like?" Betty asked, breaking the long silence in the truck.

Cole lifted his head up from the window from leaning on it as Betty drove. The rattling and vibration left Cole's ears ringing a little for a moment and looked at Betty. Did she ask him what it's like being the Hulk? "What?" he said puzzled and stifled a yawn.

Betty averted her gaze away to look at Cole. "What is it like?" she pried softly. "Being angry and...Green? Do you have control over it or not?"

Cole shifted a little and leaned his arm against the window to prop his head up. What was it like? He hadn't thought it over before until he came to an answer. "It's like... darkness." he paused. "At first, I have a splitting headache like someone drove an axe through my head like multiple times and feel my body change. That's when I see darkness. But I know it's me and I can control myself time to time, but when something angers me, I'm not in control. It's really complicated to explain really, but that's what I see what it's like." Betty looked at him to nod as she understood him now. Cole was glad that she understood him and shifted around in his seat to have his head against the glass and slowly closed his eyes.

Blolasky stared at himself in front of the steamed mirror from the hot shower he took. He smirked while brushing his teeth on how well he looked after being battered like a piñata at a children's birthday party. Not every day that you take a nasty hit from the Hulk and walk off like nothing happened the next day. Unless in his case, the Nanomeds helped him repair his body. He had to smirk that he was unstoppable Even to the Hulk.

After he spat out the mint foam out of his mouth, the lieutenant suddenly felt something move in his back and calmly turned around to have his bare back facing the mirror. He peered closely as he watched the vertebrae of his spine were growing than normal and stopped. He didn't call for help, but smirked. He knew he had something in him too.

"Cole, wake up." Betty's voice tensed up. "We got a problem."

Cole snorted to wake up to see what she was saying and looked ahead of them. Ninjago City was in their view, but in front of them were cars lined up and none were moving. Cole could hear each and every car horn blaring to tell the driver ahead of them to move, but none couldn't. A traffic jam. The black ninja had a suspicion. "Your father thinks we're heading to the city and is still hunting me down." he stated. He could see police officers walking up to each vehicle. "We got to leave and go around. Don't make it look suspicious."

Betty nodded and both exited the vehicle to jog through the back of traffic without being noticed and walked on the underpass under the bridge. Grateful that there was no patrol from where they were. Cole could see the long river that was below them that lead to the ocean and kept walking beside the raven-haired girl to reach the city. The two reached the end of the bridge and walked down the streets with citizens bustling through; acting normal without noticed. So far, so good. Cole though.

Betty and Cole kept following down the long concrete streets and she gently pulled Cole over to a large overhead map of the city. She scanned around for the lab she was looking for and pointed at it when she found it. "Sterns' lab is on the other side of the city and the Subway A train is the quickest route." she stated.

Cole snorted. "Yeah put me in a metal tube with hundreds of people inside." he said, crossing his arms to prove his point.

The raven-haired girl looked into his amber eyes to nod in agreement. Both don't want hundreds harmed in a subway car and let Cole have a rampage to destroy the city. "Taxi it is then." she decided finally.

...

Tires screeched on the asphalt as a car raced down the streets. Cole and Betty sat in fear in the backseats of the taxi cab as the driver was having a conversation with them while weaving through the tight traffic. They were petrified to talk back as the car rocked them with horns blaring at them for being maniacs. It was like a car ride through the Underworld and back. The driver kept blabbering to them as he drove and saw traffic ahead of him and sharply drove on the street to honk at pedestrians to move aside and then sharply turned left.

Cole felt his body jerk to the right and his head collided against the window to groan while holding it. He then heard his watch going off to the craziness. Betty heard the watch alarming them and quickly latched her seatbelt around them and grabbed his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Breathe." she said to him and Cole nodded and took deep breaths. The car finally stopped as it parked on the street and both Cole and Betty scrambled out. "Are you crazy!?" the youngest scientist shouted at the driver through the open passenger window. "What kind of driving do you call that!?"

"A very special kind to bring excitement to your life." the driver remarked. "In case you ever dump this guy." and puckered his lips.

Betty stood there shocked and disgusted to his comment and gave him a death glare. Fear flashed across the driver's eyes and quickly sped off. "You son of a AHHH!" she screamed at him in the distance to cause a crowd to look at her.

Cole stood there surprised to her outburst while Betty was still fuming and noticed the crowd stopped staring at them. He didn't know what to say. He stared at her for a while to hear his watch stop beeping and saw her still steaming. "You know." he said. "I happen to know some good anger management tech..."

"Don't start!" she stopped him and grabbed his hand. "Come on." and lead the way. The two walked through the large plaza in front of a building to look for the one that could help Cole. The youngest scientist spotted a man, around Blolasky's ages, with short dirty blonde hair and light blue eyes and knew who he was. "Wait here." she said and walked up to the man as his back was turned. "Doctor Stern?" she asked.

The man heard his name being mentioned and turned around to stare at a young raven-haired girl. "Yes?" he asked.

"I'm Elizabeth Ross." Betty introduced herself. "I'm from the University of Scientology and developer of the Nanomed project."

The scientist studied her to place her face from somewhere about her name and came to a recognition. "Oh yeah." he said while forming a small smile. "I remember you now. You're the youngest scientist in Ninjago and almost caused that meltdown at the ball if it wasn't for that guy throwing himself to it." Betty smiled on the first compliment but then felt guilty on the second part. "Didn't he die from that much gamma?" he wondered.

"No he didn't. In fact," she replied and waved Cole over. "He's alive, breathing, and here."

Stern watched a teen with black shaggy hair that looked older than the girl by a year, walk up to him and stood next to her. He studied his face and recognized him from the news on the television. He's a wanted fugitive and a ninja. "It's you." he said.

Cole quickly looked around him in case anyone was watching and nodded. "We can stay and admire how I survived, but we're in danger and need to talk." he said. "In private."

Stern looked around and nodded. "Let's talk in my office." he said and lead the way. Cole and Betty quickly followed after him once he entered the building.

"So let me get this straight." said Stern, looking at the two from his desk. "You throw yourself in front of gamma radiation, the highest light energy wave in the world, and have the Nanomeds inside you." Cole nodded as both he and Betty told him many times. "But not only you have survived, you have this special ability to change into the green giant that has been rumored to be called the Hulk. How is that even possible?" he wondered.

Cole gently held Betty's hand as the two sat on the chairs in front of his desk of the small lab. Papers littered over the oak wood desk with foam cups of used coffee. There was even the musty smell of rats in the next lab over in the office to have Cole cringe his nose a bit. And the afternoon sun enlightned the room much more than the fluorescent bulbs. "That's what we're trying to figure out ourselves." he said. "Ever since I survived and can change, I've become a target from her father and they want my...powers as a weapon." He reached into the pockets of his jeans. "And we both believe you can help us with this." and pulled out the flash-drive and placed it on the desk.

The scientist picked the small device up to study it quizzically and looked at them confused. "What is this?" he asked.

"That's my research about the Nanomeds." Betty replied. "My father took all of the other work I had and this is all I can salvage. We both believe that you could help us find a cure. We're both cellular biologists and we can trust you."

Stern looked at the flash-drive and saw the call of plead in their eyes. He sighed and nodded. "Alright I'll help." he said and saw them smile. He walked over a large glass door fridge and grabbed an empty blood bag and walked back to Cole. The earth ninja raised a bushy brow as he watched him attach the needle and tube to the bag. "In order for this to work," he continued. "I'm gonna need some of your blood to help me find a cure."

Cole looked at him to think it over and nodded. "Alright if you have to." he said and held his right arm out. He calmed down and didn't flinch as Stern rubbed alcohol rubbing on the inner elbow and felt the needle being inserted in. He grew pale at the sight of his deadly, poisonous blood filling the small bag and started shaking and took deep breaths so he didn't spike his heart rate and felt the needle sliding out and watched the small puncture wound seal itself up due to the Nanomeds.

Stern looked amazed to the Nanomeds and looked at the blood. "Give me some time and I'll see if I can find what you're looking for." he said. "Betty, you can come and help me if you want or stay here with Cole. I'll be in the lab if you need me." and pushed a door to enter his lab and over to his computer.

Betty watched the scientist leave for his lab and turned to Cole to give him a comforting smile while clenching his hand gently. Cole had smile back with her and felt comfortable to her soft hands against his rough hands. He facade the dire situation he was in now but rather show it to Betty and wrapped a hand on her shoulder to pull her closer to him. The raven-haired girl now felt calm and relaxing to lie her head on his broad shoulders to sigh in joy. "So far, so good." she said quietly.

Cole had to agree. "Yeah." he said and watched the time tick away.

...

Cole waited patiently and nervously as it's been a few hours since the data has been delivered. Long shadows casted on the floorboards as the sun was slowly setting and disappearing in the horizon outside the six story building and city. The earth ninja became more paranoid and more nervous after each minute past on the clock on the wall as he wondered if he couldn't find the cure or soon the Forces would be breaking down the door to capture him. Betty sat adjacent from him and held his hand to give it a gentle squeeze to smile at him. The Ninja of Earth felt her affection of calming him down and saw her smile to her a small one back. "Thanks." he said.

The two heard the door swung open and turned their heads to see Stern walk in with a small smile on his face. He must have good news. Cole thought.

"I have found it." Sterns announced.

The cure. Could it be true now? Will Cole be able to no longer become the Hulk or fail trying? Who knows. Find out next week and I hoped you all enjoy watching the new episodes of Ninjago. Have a wonderful Easter weekend and see you next week. :)