Chapter 5: Serpentine United
As soon as the four ninja returned, Cole pulled Solo aside. "Solo. What do you know about the Lost City of Ouroboros?" he demanded, clutching her shoulders. Solo blinked. What? "It'sss the ancient Ssserpentine capital city. I never sssaw it myssself, but the ssstoriesss the eldersss told me sssaid that it wasss destroyed when the Serpentine were locked underground," she explained. "Why?"
"It didn't look very destroyed when we escaped from it. Pythor must have rebuilt it or something," Cole growled. "Well, they didn't sssay dessstroyed," Solo corrected herself. "They sssaid lost. I thought they meant it had been annihilated, but what if it wasss jussst hidden sssomehow?"
"That would make sense," Zane commented, joining them. "Ouroboros was an architectural marvel. Surely our ancestors would not have been so barbaric as to destroy it,"
"Well, I can tell you one thing. If the Great Devourer isss real, then it'll be sssomewhere in Ouroborosss," Solo nodded, gulping.
"And the Serpentine made us fight the Samurai," Jay complained. "It was so unfair! He had the giant robot suit!"
"We did use the Tornado of Creation on him, and stole his sword," Cole pointed out. "The Tornado of Creation?" Solo frowned.
"It is the ultimate move we are capable of as a team," Zane explained.
"You know our individual Spinjitzu? Imagine what would happen if we were to unite our Spinjitzu vortexes into a massive tornado!" Jay exclaimed.
"Which we can then use to create something to help us. Heh. Remember the first time we used it?" the ninja of Earth grinned.
"The Ferris wheel?" Zane frowned. "Yeah, that," Cole confirmed.
Solo blinked. "You had a massssssive tornado that could create anything, and you made a Ferrisss wheel?"
"Cool, huh?" Jay grinned. "Anyway. I don't think we should feel guilty or anything. The Samurai kinda had it coming," Cole pointed out.
"Plus he did tell us to make the fake fight look real," the blue ninja pointed out. Kai looked over and agreed. "You don't get much more real than that, huh?" he nodded. "But still, maybe she -" The red ninja cut himself off, and, in the corner of the room, Nya suddenly looked like a deer caught in headlights. "I mean, he, isn't so bad. He definitely seemed to be on our side," Kai reasoned.
Solo caught his slip and narrowed her eyes. He had somehow figured out that Nya was Samurai X, but wasn't telling anyone. Why? "I need to get back to training. I'll sssee you three at dinner," she flawlessly lied, carefully dodging between Cole and Jay and going after Kai.
On the slightly damp floor of the Bounty - Zane had cleaned that morning - Solo had plenty of purchase for her sinuous tail and easily caught up with Kai. As soon as she was sure no one else was watching, she grabbed Kai's shoulder and pulled him into one of the spare rooms. "What are you -" The Serpentine shushed the Fire ninja and made sure that her manoeuvre was undetected, before turning back to Kai - and yelping in surprise at the sight that he had his hood over his face and sword in hand, ready to slash at her. "What the - pleassse don't ssswing that thing at me!" she begged in shock.
"I knew it! I knew you were just waiting for a chance to take us out!" Kai growled. "What? No! That'sss not why I brought you in here!" Solo blinked in shock. "Oh really? No witnesses, no one close enough to hear me scream, perfect situation for a murder!" Kai glared at her, pointing his sparking sword at her. "I wanted to make sssure we could talk without being overheard!" Solo protested, holding up her claws in defence. "Right," Kai snorted, but was caught off-guard by her next question. "How did you find out Nya was Sssamurai X?"
He sharply exhaled in shock. "Wait, she told you, but not me? Or anyone else?"
"She didn't intentionally tell me, I acsssidentally walked in on her while she wasss building the mech," Solo explained. "And I'm sure it was an accident," Kai rolled his eyes. "It wasss! I sssmelt fire from her welding torch and thought it might be a danger to the wooden ship,"
"Right, you can 'smell' fire," Kai snorted, rolling his eyes. Squeezing the hilt of the Sword of Fire, he caused it to burst into flames. "Smell that?"
Her red eyes narrowed into slits. "I cam sssmell your disssgusssting sssocksss," Solo hissed. "That is the stench of manliness," Kai growled. "Ssspiky hair, a flaming sssword and jealousy issssuesss doesssn't make you a man, you overgrown hatchling," the Anacondrai retorted, her eyes red slits. "Oh, that's it. You listen to me, snake -"
"No, you lisssten to me! Why do you hate me ssso much? What. EXACTLY. Did I ever do to you?" Solo demanded. "Sssince I got here, you have mocked me, ssscorned me, insssulted me, and treated me like living garbage! And why? Becaussse I'm not human?" In her anger, she forgot the flaming sword levelled at her. Pushing herself forward by her tail, the Anacondrai slapped Kai in the face. "I'd rather be a sssnake than a human like you! You know, I alwaysss wondered why usss Ssserpentine alwaysss thought we were better than humansss. Well, if all the humansss back in the time of the sssnakesss were like you, I think we had the right of it! You're ssso ssself-righteous, ssso ssself-obsssessssssed," Solo paused and took a deep breath. The force of hissing the multiple 's' sounds in the phrase 'so self-obsessed', combined with her anger, had left her winded.
And in that moment, Kai, driven beyond reason by anger and denial, dropped his sword and, leaping forwards, flung a solid punch towards the Serpentine girl -
Only to find it blocked by a thick, heavy bamboo staff. Sensei Wu had appeared out of nowhere between Kai and Solo, wielding his staff with both hands and meeting Kai's punch square on. His jump interrupted, Kai collapsed, falling to one knee to avoid hitting the floor. Releasing the staff with one hand, Sensei dived forwards and snatched the Sword of Fire from the ground. He glared at Kai in silent fury. "I am extremely disappointed in you, Kai. You have no right to treat Solo in such a way, and I believe every word she said to you was justified. We will discuss your punishment another time, but if I hear about anything like this happening ever again, there will be severe consequences," Sensei Wu commanded. "I will not force you to apologise to Solo, as it would be pointless, since you would not mean it. But for the time being," he looked at the Sword of Fire. "This is no longer yours. I feel that I will make better use of it on my journey,"
"What?" Kai demanded. "Wait, what journey?" he frowned, processing the rest of the sentence.
"After Lloyd's capture, I decided we need help. I am going on a journey to find that help. And I believe my old weapon will serve me well on that journey," Sensei nodded, flexing the Sword of Fire in his hand. "Perfectly balanced, just as I remember," he smiled.
"Sssensssei, I'm - I'm sssorry for -' Solo started, but Wu turned in an instant and stopped her with a comforting hand on her scaled shoulder. "Do not be concerned, Solo. While you were angry, it was definitely something Kai needed to hear. I hope that he will now understand the error of his actions. Now, my dear, come with me. There is something I wish to attempt before I leave, and it will require not only your presence, but that of all four Golden Weapons," He paused with a rueful smile. "Luckily, only the weapons themselves are required, not their wielders, as 'disgusting socks' back there is unlikely to help in his current state of mind. But, if you three would be willing to accompany us to the control room, I am hopeful that we might discover something of considerable value," Sensei explained, looking over Solo's shoulder. She turned, and was shocked to discover Cole, Jay, Zane and Nya peering through the doorway. She yelped. "How long have you four been here?" the Anacondrai demanded.
"Since about 'stench of manliness'," Jay helpfully told her. Solo gulped. That meant they had witnessed her tirade about the demerits of humanity in relation to Kai, but . . . at least they had missed her admission of Samurai X's identity. She sighed. "Let'sss get this over with," following Sensei past her friends and away from the disgraced fire ninja.
X
Sensei laid out the four Golden Weapons in a square on the table. "What are you doing?" Solo frowned. "Trust me, Solo. It is better if you do not know until after it is over. The last person -" Sensei caught himself, and Solo had the distinct feeling there was something he wanted to tell her, but felt she should not know. "It does not matter. Anyway. Approach the weapons,"
Awkwardly, Solo moved forwards towards the four Golden Weapons. Cole, Zane and Jay watched with baited breath. Nya was a bit more impassive. Solo guessed her mind was still on the fact that her identity as Samurai X had nearly been revealed.
She continued to move forwards until she was centimetres away form the table. "What am I doing?" she looked back at Sensei, who sighed and shook his head. "If anything were to happen, it would have done so by now. I suppose that I was wrong, once again,"
"Wrong about what, master?" Zane tentatively asked. "An ancient prophecy says that when the prophesied Green Ninja is beholden in front of the four Golden Weapons, they will respond and signify the prophesied one's fate,"
Solo blinked. Cole had mentioned the story of the Green Ninja and how it had been turned into a contest between the four ninja a couple of days ago. "Y-you," she paused, spluttering in shock. "You thought she was the Green Ninja?" Jay demanded. Solo gestured in Jay's direction. "That," she inarticulately finished.
"While I did at first assume that it would be one of you four, I thought that Solo's unexpected arrival might have some significance beyond good fortune. I had hoped that destiny may have a hand in her appearance, signifying the most unlikely of people to be the greatest one of all," Sensei paused. "Evidently, I was mistaken. I'm sorry," he nodded to Solo. "That'sss why you didn't want to tell me what thisss wassss about, isssn't it? You didn't want me to get too excited, only to be disssssssappointed," she realised.
"Essentially, yes," he nodded. "Do not worry, though. Just because you are not the Green Ninja, does not mean that you cannot be one of us," the old man smiled.
But, behind them, while the Scythe, Sword and Shurikens were unresponsive, the Nunchuks of Lightning were quivering, glowing with a faint yellow-green energy.
Sensei retrieved the Sword of Fire. He noticed the Nunchuks' response to Solo, and froze for a second in shock and what almost seemed to be fear. "It can't be," he whispered.
Then the moment passed, and Wu reasserted himself. "Where are you going?" Cole asked. "A place none of you can follow,"
"Why not?" Jay frowned. "Because someone needs to deal with the Serpentine," Cole told him, but paused, noticing Solo's sad gaze. "The other Serpentine," he amended. "And we can't rely on Samurai X for that. He's unpredictable," he finished.
"All three of you must continue to practise. I am confident that, once you all discover what holds you back, you will all unlock your true potential. I wish you the best of luck in my absence," Sensei left, making for the upper deck of the ship.
Once the party was on the edge of the deck, Sensei raised the Sword of Fire. "What'sss he gonna do?" Solo whispered. Nya shushed her. The sword glowed, enveloping Sensei Wu in a shimmering light. When it cleared, he was straddling a motorbike that resembled Kai's Blade Cycle, but mostly gold with white highlights, and a little slimmer. "Could he do that with any of our weapons?!" Cole asked, suddenly surprised. "Would that be a problem?" Zane frowned.
The motorbike revved up and shot into the sky, falling down to earth and speeding away. "I hope he comes back," Cole frowned. "It's Sensei, he's, like, a bazillion years old. Of course he's gonna come back," Jay scoffed, then paused. "Right?"
"That man could rival the entire Anacondrai ruling counsssil put together in termsss of wisssdom," Solo smiled. "He'll be back,"
X
Everybody else, even Kai, who had come out of the room Solo had left him in looking almost guilty - "About time," Solo had hissed - had gone down to earth to raise awareness about the Serpentine, leaving Solo alone on board the Bounty. She would have gone with them, but Nya had worried that people would panic at the sight of an Anacondrai. So she was stuck on board the ship, throwing herself at the training course and desperately trying to unlock the 'key to Spinjitzu' that Sensei Wu had talked about.
"Okay," she told herself. "think about thisss logically. Remember the riddlesss the eldersss usssed to ssspout off," she paused and gulped, her pupils contracting, "before they all died - anyway. He sssaid it wasss the key to Ssspinjitzu. Think. What do you need a key for?"
She blinked. "To open a lock. Ssso Ssspinjitzu isss locked sssomehow. And I need to unlock it before I can become a Massster of Ssspinjitzu. Urgh, I hate riddlesss," Solo hissed in aggravation. "The key isss inssside me, and ssso the lock mussst be too. Ssso Ssspinjitzu is inssside me? Weird to think about it that way,"
"Anyone can learn Spinjitzu," The Anacondrai suddenly heard Sensei Wu's voice inside her head. It sounded so real that she jumped and frantically looked around, half expecting the old man to be right next to her. "Even a Serpentine,"
"The old man had faith in me," Solo smiled through her fangs. "It'sss a nissse feeling,"
X
"Zane'sss a what?" Solo frowned, confused. "A Nindroid!" Jay screamed, incredibly excited.
The Serpentine cocked her head. "What'sss that?"
"A robot," Cole added, grinning at the smiling White Ninja. Solo was still confused. "How about just assssssume I'm from a time period where technology wasss all but nonexissstent, ssstill have trouble with the consssept that the Bounty can fly without wingsss and I have no idea what any of thosese wordsss mean, okay?" she suggested.
"A robot is an object capable of performing an action without needing a living being to tell it what to do. Like a sword that doesn't need someone holding it to be swung," Zane explained. "Ssso, like magic?" Solo suggested.
"Not really," Jay shrugged. Behind them, the Anacondrai girl noticed that Kai had opened his mouth to say something, but hastily bit it back. His shoulders slumped and he turned away.
Eventually, they managed to draw a parallel between golems, which apparently she had heard of from her ancestors back in the tomb, and robots and explain to Solo that Zane was a 'metal golem made to look like a human'. "But, long and short of it is, he unlocked his true potential!" Jay grinned. "Come with me, I will demonstrate,"
Solo followed Zane to the kitchen, while Cole and Jay went to rest after the long day. Zane promptly picked up Sensei Wu's spare teapot and poured a cup of hot tea. "Not very magical," Solo sceptically cocked her head.
Zane held his free hand about a foot underneath the cup, and the Serpentine watched, amazed, as a stream of what looked like powdered snow streamed from his hand, chilling the cup, before evaporating into nothingness. "Iced tea?" he offered with a smile.
Solo's slitted pupils were so wide that they were nearly round. "Why can't I do that?" she blinked.
"Perhaps because there are only four magical Golden Weapons?" Zane offered. "Isss your inability to recognissse rhetorical questionsss part of being a golem or jussst you?" Solo frowned. "That's debatable," Zane nonchalantly shrugged. "Nevermind,"
X
The next day dawned, bright and early, and the six inhabitants of the ship rose,merger for the new day. Solo was up bright and early, grinding away at the training course yet again. "You're up early," Cole commented with a yawn. "I'm going to massster Ssspinjitzu today, I know it!" Solo hissed, ducking under the spiked club for what felt like the thousandth time. "Spinjitzu isn't about the training course, Solo. The training course just teaches you the way to activate it. Spinjitzu only comes when you need it," Cole tried to explain.
"That doesssn't make sense," the Anacondrai girl frowned, looking up from dodging between logs. "It's how it happened for me. There I was, facing off against an army of Skeleton warriors with nothing but my scythe, and, bam, it was suddenly there," the black ninja shrugged.
"Unfortunately, we lack an army of Ssskeleton warriorsss. All we have isss thisss ssstupid training courssse," Solo hissed, glaring at the wooden posts.
"Anger is not the way of the ninja. You must be calm, and focused," Zane advised her, walking up. "You're right, you're right," Solo composed herself, pausing, closing her eyes, raising her head as high as her two-foot neck would allow - placing her shoulders on head height with the humans in the process - and breathing deep.
Within seconds, a whirling axe smacked into her naval, sending her flying across the deck. Zane winced, and Cole couldn't help but guffaw, which he hastily turned into a cough as the Anacondrai screamed in rage from halfway up the ship. "That course packs a punch," Zane winced.
"Actually, I have a theory about that," Nya commented from out of nowhere. The two ninja turned in surprise. "I've made an interesting discovery that could prove very useful,"
Cole looked between Nya and the incensed Serpentine cursing like a sailor several metres away. "As long as it doesn't involve swear words that are about eighty years out of date, I'm in,"
X
"Archaeologists unearthed this outside Jamanacai village. It's an ancient Fangpyre skeleton," Nya explained to the other five. Even Kai was present, but he wouldn't look at Solo. This suited the snake girl just fine, she didn't want to look at him either.
On the central table that no one had bothered putting back after Sensei had dragged it in two days prior, Nya had laid a large, thick skeleton that appeared to be a rather squat Serpentine. If Solo didn't know better, she would have said it was a Constrictai skeleton.
"I managed to get venom samples from the fossilised venom sacs in the fangs. The venom directly converts mammalian cells into reptilian ones, altering the being's DNA on a genetic level. According to my chemical analysis, the antivenom contained in the Fangpyre Staff isn't the only way to negate the venom's mutagenic effects," As Nya rambled, the Anacondrai tuned out, flicking her tongue into the air. That was a weird scent, she couldn't quite place it . . . pomegranates? It seemed to be coming from Jay, but that wasn't how he normally smelt . . normally, it was like metal and sparks.
"Seriously?" Cole grinned. "No way," Solo sceptically snorted. "Based on my analysis," Nya started, "if you can make someone's heart beat fast enough, it will purge the venom from their system,"
"How would we do that?" Cole frowned. "Yeah. It seems circumstantial at best," Kai frowned. Solo jumped a bit. She had gotten used to the red ninja being quiet.
Nya irritably huffed. "It's better than nothing, okay?"
Solo raised her hand, but Jay go there first, holding a bouquet of flowers. "Hey, Nya," he started. "So, do you want to go to, uh, a restaurant of something, say, on Thursday?"
Nya blinked, and Solo raised a scaled eyebrow. "Sure. Sounds fun," she smiled.
"I got you these," Jay mirrored her expression, offering her flowers, and the girl blinked, but smiled. "Aww, that's really nice," she replied, sniffing them in interest.
A large, irritated bee shot out of the bundle and dive-bombed Nya's face. "Wha - hey!" Jay shouted, shooting a palm out to swat the bee away.
The bee dodged and Jay's palm strike hit Nya in the nose. He gasped. "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!"
Nya carefully rubbed her nose, holding her other arm in front of her face in defence. "It's fine, it's fine - I'm just gonna go wash up," she responded, turning and dashing away.
Jay sighed, turning around. He started a little, seeing Solo directly behind him, before relaxing. "Sorry," he nervously chuckled. "Still kinda getting used to the fact that there's a friendly Serpentine on board the ship,"
Solo folded her arms in irritation. "It'sss not that difficult a consssept,"
"Yeah . . what do you think?" Jay asked. "I know you and Nya get along well, as, the, only girls on board, heh,"
The snake slowly blinked. "Are you asssking me for relationsship advisse?"
"I guess so," the ninja nodded.
She shrugged. "Ssserpentine have an old sssaying. Sssnakesss can't change their ssscalesss, no matter how much they shed,"
"I'm not a snake," Jay pointed out, and the Anacondrai rolled her eyes. "That'sss not the point. Point isss, you can give her flowersss, reek of pomegranatesss -" She licked at the air again and shivered. "Ssseriously, what were you thinking with that one? But the point is, you're ssstill going to be you no matter how you act, ssso don't fight it. Embrassse it, and you'll figure it out,"
The blue ninja paused. "But what if myself isn't enough?"
Solo paused, and shrugged. "It'sss not like Nya'sss the only human female out there," She trailed off, realising how ironic the sentence was in her case.
Jay nodded, turning back. "Thanks, I guess," he commented.
The Anacondrai shot him a fanged grin, before turning away as he walked back around the table, swaying his arms as he walked.
She paused, hearing a muffled "Ow!" But it was rapidly followed by a "Don't worry, I'm fine! Just tripped!" and she nodded, content with that, exiting the cockpit and returning to the training course.
X
The Serpentine sighed as she folded her tail up beneath the table, waiting for the ninja to return from the latest Serpentine incursion, so that Zane could make dinner. "Maybe I should learn to cook for myssself?" she wondered, but cut herself off as the doors swung open.
She was immediately hugged by the blue ninja. "Solo! You were right! I just had to act like myself!"
A cough sounded from beside her, and Jay rapidly let go, sheepishly looking at Nya. "Sorry,"
"Relacsss. You aren't my type," the snake chuckled as the ninja sat down around her. "You have no idea how ironic that sentiment is," Jay told her.
Cole looked fit to burst. "Solo, you won't believe this! Nya is Samurai X!"
"Oh! Uh, really? Wow, who'd have thought?" she blinked in 'shock'. Her less-than-stellar performance convinced no one. "She totally knew, didn't she?" the black ninja sighed.
"Seriously? Was I the only one who didn't know?" Jay blinked.
"I was unaware," Zane volunteered as he retreated into the kitchen.
X
Once again, the sun was barely peeking over the horizon as Solo started working on the training course again. "Over the planksss, dodge the ssswords, here comesss the dummy," she repeated the mantra to herself, flicking her tail and launching herself between planks.
But she paused, looking around as footsteps approached. It wasn't uncommon for Zane to come on deck and meditate during the early hours of the morning, so she thought nothing of it - until a familiar acrid taste of burnt wood touched her tongue.
On instinct, she turned invisible, purple scales fading into nothingness. For a second, the three-colour pattern on her back twisted as she continued the course, until it vanished too.
Kai looked around, frowning. "Weird. I thought Solo would be here by now,"
The Serpentine silently leapt off the course and landed on the deck rail of the ship, wrapping her tail around it for purchase on instinct and twisting the strong muscles in her tail to remain upright. Had anyone been capable of seeing her, the effect would have been that she resembled a genie rising from beneath the deck.
"And the training course is on," Kai frowned. "Could she be in the toilet or something?"
The ninja paused, hearing a faint noise. "Eh, probably nothing," he shrugged, throwing himself into the course.
Solo stayed perfectly still, listening. Anger still burned within her at the way the red ninja had treated her, but Jay had once had a similar opinion. And he had come around, so Kai could too, right?
Her ears caught something. "Stupid snake," Kai growled. "Who does she think she is? She doesn't have any right to just barge in here and act like she owns the place," he told himself.
The Anacondrai's pupils contracted in anger, not even realising that Kai was trying to convince himself as much as he was anyone else.
Wrong.
She hissed, a noise so high-pitched that human ears could barely hear it, pushed herself back onto the deck proper, and manoeuvred herself to the training course controls.
Kai prepared to dodge the spiked metal ball that came swinging towards him - until it stopped, and began to turn in the other direction. "Huh?"
An insulated bag swung in an arc, lazily gaining speed, and smashed into him from behind, sending him sprawling towards the planks with randomised elevation.
At least, they had random elevation, until every single one raised into the air to their maximum height and began smashing against the floor like hammers. "What the - hey!" Kai demanded, frantically rolling and dodging the logs.
Solo chuckled and returned to the lower deck, remembering what Zane and Cole had told her about the course. You could run through it as much as you wanted, but the point was to memorise the movements. Once that had happened, you just had to wait for the key to be ready to be found.
She had the movements memorised. So all she had to do was wait.
In the meantime, the snake though about what the boys had relayed to her about yesterday's events. Her thoughts kept looping back to one thing; the mythical Fang Blades were real. That essentially meant that the Great Devourer itself was almost guaranteed to be real.
That meant they were in deep doo-doo. "Brilliant," she softly hissed. "Jay'sss rubbing off on me,"
There was a commotion upstairs, and she got back up to the main room, looking around. Kai was off sulking, most likely, but the other four were crowded around Cole . . . who was holding a poster that depicted a trophy. A trophy that had what looked suspiciously like a Fang Blade sticking out of it. "Why is there a Fang Bpade in that trophy?" Jay questioned.
"I knew I'd seen that blade somewhere before. It's the Blade Cup! A trophy that was created from an ancient weapon by this mysterious guy named Dutch . . . no, Clutch. Clutch Powers," Cole explained.
"And you know where to find it?" Nya asked, and Cole nodded. "My dad's won it three years in a row. He'll have it,"
"For once, it appears we have the upper hand over the Serpentine," Zane observed, a smile creeping across his synthetic lips. "We should go at once,"
"I'm ssstaying on the sship again, aren't I?" Solo shrugged.
"It's probably for the best," the black ninja nodded, grimacing. "Don't worry, it shouldn't take long, but there is one thing you all should know," he paused. "My dad's a blacksmith,"
"So, it's a weapons-making contest?" Jay nodded.
"What's so bad about that? My dad's a blacksmith," the black-haired girl frowned.
"No, he's a, er," He paused, unsure how to say it. "Royal Blacksmith. Like, the dance group,"
Solo knew she shouldn't laugh. It really was a serious matter.
The Anacondrai fell over in hysteria. "Ssseriousssly? A dancer?"
"You don't have to rub it in," Cole grumbled.
X
"Another lonely day on the Bounty," Solo sighed, passing down the corridor. "Maybe I should get a hobby?"
"I might be able to help you there," a voice offered, and Solo was surprised to see Nya's head poking out of her door. "The boys don't need me to go pick up a trophy. So I figured I might as well keep you company,"
A smile crossed the Serpentine's lips. "Thanksss,"
"Plus, I think I've got an idea for a hobby for you," the samurai smirked.
X
"Everyone except me has unlocked their full potential!" Kai's rant was Solo's first clue that something good had happened.
She got the full story over dinner. "I still can't believe you never told your dad you were a ninja," Jay told his teammate.
"Maybe not my smartest move," Cole admitted. "But I'm glad I figured it out,"
The Serpentine swallowed a chunk of lamb. "Well, that'sss good," she agreed.
As one, they looked up at a commotion downstairs. "Was that Kai?" Zane frowned. The red ninja was notably absent from the table.
"I'll check," Nya grumbled, standing up and leaving the room. After a few moments, her voice called back up to them. "Guys? You've gonna want to see this,"
A/N
A/N
Can anyone guess what Sensei Wu wanted to tell Solo but didn't think she should know? Hint; it's related to the Nunchuks' reaction to her.
Anyway. This time, it is officially declared that Solo is NOT the green ninja. Despite what some reviewers thought. And kinda skipped over the episodes where Zane, Jay and Cole unlock their full potential, because there wasn't much our Serpentine could do about that. She'll get a little more involved in the last few eps of the season.
Also, this chapter beats out the last one in terms of length! Woo!
Plus, I'm not dead and intend to revive this fic. :) Hopefully. Wish me luck! Peace!