Chapter 6: True Potential
The ninja rushed out of the dinner room and onto the main deck. "Sensei!" Solo smiled at the sight of the wizened old man. She paused, seeing another person behind him . . a person with black skin, a helmet with a bone set into it and, most disturbingly of all, four arms.
"Who'sss the goth freak show?" the Anacondrai whispered to Jay, who was closest to her. He chuckled at his description of the man, before shaking his head and glaring. "Remember those stories we told you about Lord Garmadon?" he frowned.
"Yesss?" Solo raised an eyebrow.
"That's him," the blue ninja informed her.
"What?" She looked between the man and her friend for a few seconds, before whispering, "You never mentioned he had four armsss!"
"Because he didn't," Cole frowned, brandishing the scythe. "Sensei! Look out!" he barked. "Lord Garmadon is -"
"Our ally. For the time being, at least," Sensei informed his students.
"Say what you want about me. It's probably true," Garmadon admitted. "But I care about Lloyd more than I despise you four - er, five?" he corrected himself, spotting Nya, then his eyes squinted and picked out Solo's purple scales against the darkness of the evening. "Six? And you're hardly in a position to discuss working with the enemy when you rub shoulders with a Serpentine," he frowned.
"That's different," Jay frowned. "Solo's our friend. She never tried to kill us, or steal the Golden Weapons,"
"Yet," Kai rolled his eyes.
"I'll keep that in mind," Garmadon nodded, intrigued.
"My brother is going to be staying with us until Lloyd can be rescued. He is going to be our ally,"
The majority of the ninja looked decidedly iffy about this, so the Anacondrai stepped up to the plate, pushing past Cole and extending a claw to the dark lord. "Hello, I'm Sssolo. Nice to meet you . . I guessss,"
Lord Garmadon was unimpressed, ignoring her outstretched hand and pushing past. "Where are my quarters?" he huffed.
"Forgive his rudeness, my dear," Sensei advised the Serpentine. "Your kind kidnapped his son, he is understandably less than happy about working with you,"
"I ssstill don't get why they're ssso angry," she commented. "What did the Serpentine even do that warranted being locked up in those tombsss in the firssst plassse?"
Sensei looked decidedly awkward. "The past is the past. It cannot be changed, and the children should not be held accountable for their parents' mistakes,"
"Like Lloyd and Garmadon?" Solo realised.
"And you and your kin," Sensei Wu nodded. "Now, if you don't mind, I am dying for a nice cup of tea," And with that, he walked away before Solo could ask what he meant.
Kai was grumbling, but for once the others seemed to agree with him. No one was ecstatic about sharing the ship with Lord Garmadon.
"Shall we return to our dinner?" Zane offered.
X
The next day dawned late. When she went above decks for her morning workout, Solo took one taste of the air and smelt rain and lightning.
"There'sss going to be a thunderssstorm today," she informed the humans over breakfast. "How can you tell?" Zane asked, intrigued.
"Ssscentsss in the air. Everything hasss one, even all of you," she explained.
"So that's what you meant by smelling Kai's socks," Jay realised. "Huh. I thought his socks just reeked that bad,"
"Ooh, what do I smell like?" Cole grinned. Solo licked at the air, smacking her scaled lips. "Kind of earthy, sandy . . ." She wrinkled her nose. "Is that a faint hint of prunes?"
The black ninja blinked, gulping.
"So that's the secret to your deodorant!" Kai crowed. "Prunes!"
Slowly, everyone turned to look at him. It was the first time the red ninja had said anything at a mealtime gathering for days. Kai gulped at the sudden attention.
"So, he can speak after all," Nya joked, and with that, the tension was shattered.
"Can you still smell his socks?" Jay asked the Serpentine with a wide grin. Kai smirked. "Today, I came prepared,"
"He'sss right. He'sss not wearing sssocksss," Solo nodded, and the red ninja triumphantly smirked. "I mean, hisss armpitsss are even worssse, but I'll give him credit on the sssock thing," she chuckled.
Everyone cracked up. Kai huffed, but he couldn't prevent a grudging smile from crossing his face.
"So. Lord Garmadon's living with us," Nya shook her head. "It's crazy. How's he going to help Lloyd?" Kai sighed.
"Yeah, and even if he can, we can't trust him," Jay agreed.
Everyone looked over as the door swung open, and the black-skinned warlord cheerfully strolled through the room, carrying a plate of black gunk in two of his four arms, and exited through the other door.
Solo retched, shaking her head as though she was trying to expel her brain from her skull. "What wasss that stuff? It sssmelt . ." She coughed, rubbing her tongue.
"Concentrated evil," Zane told her. "Apparently, it is high in fibre,"
"High in disgusting, more like," Kai glowered.
"Can't believe I'm sssaying thisss, but I agree with sssparky over there," the Anacondrai nodded, weakly pushing her plate away.
Zane and Nya looked at each other and smiled.
"Never thought I'd say this, snake, but I think I've found an ally I trust less than I trust you," Kai snorted, but with a genuine smile.
"And I think I've found a human who sssmellsss worssse than you," Solo retorted. She stood up, still running a claw up and down her tongue. "I've lossst my appetite. Sssee you all later,"
As,the others finished breakfast, Nya grinned. "Well, Zane, it looks like we've found the one thing that Kai and Solo needed to get along with each other,"
"Yes," the Nindroid agreed. "A common enemy,"
X
"So, Solo. How has your mastery of the training course developed?" Sensei Wu asked his student.
"Zane told me that it wassssn't about finishing the courssse," Solo admitted. "It'sss about memorisssing the movementsss, and I've done that,"
"Very good," Sensei nodded in approval. "But can you do them fast enough?"
"Huh?" the Anacondrai frowned as Sensei led her up to the deck. He activated the training course, and, seemingly from nowhere, produced his teapot. "Can you finish it by the time that I have finished my tea?"
"Alright," Solo nodded, taking her position.
"Begin," Sensei commanded her, and she flung herself forwards, dodging between the twirling blades of the first post, before leaping between the wooden staves and shoving past the dummy on the second stand - "Time's up," Sensei called.
"What?" the Serpentine blinked, looking over at the Master of Spinjitzu and seeing that he had indeed finished his tea. "Do you wish to try again?"
Solo nodded, extricating herself from the training course and returning to the starting position. As she skirted the edges of the posts, the door to below decks swung open and Kai emerged. She frowned as they passed each other, but as they did, he whispered, "The goal is to complete it before he finishes his tea. So, make sure that he can't,"
Kai of all people, giving her advice? Maybe there was hope after all. As Solo took her position, she flexed her tail, testing its reach.
"Begin," Sensei nonchalantly commanded, pouring a cup of hot water - and blinked in shock as a long, purple tail adorned with a three-stripe pattern caught his teapot's spout and snatched it out of his hands, bracing and shivering as heated liquid met cold-blooded scales. Having done that, Solo completed the course with ease, all the while clinging to the teapot with the (slightly scalded) end of her sinuous, flexible tail.
As she leapt out of the last post, the Anacondrai twisted her tail around, bringing it up to her mouth, and cheekily took a drought from its curved spout. She smirked, enjoying the lukewarm remains. "Good tea,"
The wizened old man nodded in approval. "Well done,"
A few raindrops spattered into the empty pot, and Solo shivered as several more hit her back. Sensei looked up at the brewing clouds, and frowned. "Perhaps we ought to go inside,"
"Yeah. I sssmell lightning," his student nodded, and both retreated indoors.
As they did, Solo passed Lord Garmadon, who, for some obtuse reason, was carrying a deck-chair and wearing a pair of sunglasses. Solo watched in confusion as he went on deck and set up the chair. "What'sss he doing?" she whispered to his brother.
"I believe that he is sunbathing," Sensei Wu informed her, looking more than a little disturbed.
X
"You're going down, snake girl! The master of lightning is undefeated!" Jay crowed, dealing a stunning blow to Solo.
"In your dreamsss!" Solo hissed, savagely retaliating, leaping forwards and bringing her sword down on Jay's head.
"Nooooo!" the ninja shrieked as he died.
In massive, blinking letters, 'GAME OVER' flashed on the screen. Solo whooped, dropping the video game controller and flicking her tail triumphantly. Jay snorted, folding his arms. "I was going easy on you,"
"Keep telling yourssself that," the Anacondrai snorted. "Rematch?"
The intercom crackled above them. "Everyone to the bridge!" Nya commanded.
"Everyone, to the bridge! Zane's falcon found the Serpentine!" Nya's voice echoed through the intercom. Solo sat bolt upright, hissing softly. "The rematch will have to wait,"
The eight inhabitants of the ship gathered in the bridge, everyone giving Lord Garmadon a wide berth. Zane protectively clutched his shurikens, eyeing the dark lord.
Nya tapped a button, and a bird's-eye view of the Serpentine appeared on the screen, marching through the forest.
"I know that place," Kai frowned. "That's right near the Temple of Fire!"
"The what?" Solo blinked.
Cole rapidly summarised the events of several months ago, when Kai had retrieved the Sword of Fire and rescued Nya from Lord Garmadon's shadow. Solo nodded in understanding, and Nya huffed. She didn't much like to remember that time.
"Well, according to my scans, after retrieving the Sword of Fire, the volcano that the temple is built atop has become unstable," Zane explained.
"And the Serpentine's interest indicates that in addition to it being the former resting place of my old Sword, a Fang Blade was hidden there," Sensei Wu added.
"So, we have to fight the Serpentine for a Fang Blade in the gut of a volcano that could explode at any moment," Cole surmised.
Jay sighed. "Great, and I was just starting to feel good about this,"
"Which makes it imperative that none of you use the elemental powers of your weapons on this mission," Lord Garmadon commanded.
"What?" the ninja demanded in unison.
Their Sensei nodded. "My brother is correct. With the instability of the volcano, using your weapons as anything but weapons could cause it to spontaneously erupt," Wu explained. "It's too dangerous,"
"I understand," Zane nodded.
"Fine," Jay sighed.
Cole nodded, and Kai shrugged. "Not like that matters for me,"
The Senaei blinked. "You are correct," Reaching behind him, he unsheathed the Sword of Fire and offered it to the red ninja. "You are going to need this,"
Kai blinked, looking at the sword. "Really?"
"Prove to me that you are worthy of using it once more, and the answer to that question is yes," Sensei nodded.
"Thanks," he smiled, clutching the weapon, before sliding it into the sheath in his back, where it joined the steel katana he had been using in luau of his Golden Weapon. "I won't let you down,"
"We're here," Nya declared as the Destiny's Bounty slowed to a halt, hovering over the forests outside the Temple. "Everyone, get moving,"
Solo sighed and made to leave, in the opposite direction to the rushing ninja. Sensei Wu frowned and stopped her. "Where are you going?"
"I know the drill. I ssstay on the ship while the boysss go fight my kin," Solo shook her head.
"Would you be willing to fight your kind?" the man gently asked. She paused, and nodded. "Yeah. I would,"
"Then let's go," the man smiled, opening a cupboard and revealing a rack full of weapons. "Would you like to take a weapon?"
Solo paused, and nodded. "Yeah, I would. But not from here," A smile crept through her fangs. "I'll be right back,"
X
The Bounty landed, and the four ninja, accompanied by Nya in her Samurai X armour and the elderly brothers, disembarked. Nya had foregone her mech, simply using the under-armour and the swords and S-shaped throwing stars that she wielded as Samurai X. Sensei Wu carried his bamboo staff, and Lord Garmadon, disturbingly, carried a silver weapon in each of his four hands; a sword, a scythe, a set of nunchucks, and a shruiken.
"Where'd Solo go?" Jay frowned.
"Here," a familiar voice hissed, and Solo dropped from the deck. Nya smiled.
She was wearing a leather harness, with a pair of swords mounted on her back in silver harness, and sleek leather covered her arms, with silver epaulets that perfectly matched the ones worn by Cole and Jay. Her chest was bare, exposing her bronze underbelly, and a silver helmet with ridges on the back covered the back of her head. The effect was that she was seemingly wearing similar armour to that of the ninja.
Solo smiled, baring fangs, and brandished a polished steel staff. "Time to tessst the new armour,"
Sensei Wu nodded in approval. Cole, Jay and Kai's jaws dropped. "How come she gets fancy armour?" Jay demanded.
"Because she stayed on the ship with me enough that I had the time to make it," Nya grinned through her helmet. "Besides, this is a prototype,"
"The giant robot isss ssstill in the worksss," Solo smirked.
"She's joking, right?" Jay asked, nervously chuckling.
"Let's go," Lord Garmadon declared. "They may have already found the Fang Blade,"
The group set off. Kai kept a careful eye on Lord Garmadon. "You can stop looking at me like that. My goal is to remake the world in my image, and I can't do that if it gets eaten by a giant snake first," the
"I still don't trust you," Kai snorted.
As they passed under the large gate to the courtyard, all eight readied their weapons. "It's quiet," Nya frowned. "Too quiet,"
An echoing, vaguely British shriek echoed from the inner sanctum of the Temple. "DIG, YOU INSUFFERABLE BUFFONS!" Pythor's voice shrieked.
"Not too quiet," Cole smiled. "Come on!"
Kai shivered as they passed a familiar pool of lava. "Good times," Lord Garmadon smiled as he reflected.
Carefully, they passed through the skull-like gate at the back of the chamber and emerged into the centre of the volcano.
Almost two dozen Serpentine of varying tribes were digging in the inner sanctum, which contained several pillars of brimstone, towering above a pool of lava, connected by several makeshift wooden bridges. Pythor was atop the panel closest to the centre, and was brandishing the golden staff that denoted him as General of the Anacondrai, and King of the Snakes. In the corner, two Fangpyre tribespeople guarded a skeletal cage containing Lloyd Garmadon. The boy looked up in excitement as the ninja and co. entered the room, and Pythor turned in surprise, which rapidly changed to rage. "Ninja! Everyone, prepare for combat! And find that Fang Blade!" he barked.
"Brother, you and I shall retrieve Lloyd. The rest of you, find the Fang Blade," Sensei Wu commanded, guiding his brother along a passage set into the side of the cavern. The others split up, Jay leaping overhead to the nearest pillar. Zane followed suit, while Cole and Solo made a break for the nearby bridge, and Kai followed the elderly brothers. Nya hung back, watching for when she was needed.
Solo and Cole split up, and her steel pole immediately met the rusted sword of a Fangpyre warrior. "Oh, look. The traitorous little hatchling," he spat as Solo knocked him back.
"Why? What do the humansss offer you that makesss it worth turning on your own kin?!" a Hypnobrai demanded, swinging an axe at her that clanged off her shoulder armour, before she knocked him off his feet with her tail.
"Nothing," Solo retorted as her Fangpyre assailant renewed his assault. "I just don't believe that we should fight the humans at all,"
"How can you sssay that?" her blue-scaled cousin demanded. "After what they did to usss?"
Solo paused. There it was again, that hint that there was some missing part of the puzzle. Why did humans and Serpentine hate each other? "What did they do to us?" she asked, facing the Hypnobrai.
"Well, you see, it'sss really quite simple. Jussst look into my eyessss, and I'll explain everything," he softly hissed, fixing her with an alluring gaze. Solo blinked as her thought processes slowed down, being overridden by that hypnotic gaze -
A flash of blue suddenly knocked the enemy Serpentine away, and he fell screaming into the lava. Then Jay was in front of her, shaking her by the shoulders and staring into her red irises. "Stay with me, Solo. Don't let them trick you,"
The Anacondrai shook her head, clearing her mind of the hypnotic fog. "Right. Thanksss," she smiled, turning to the Fangpyre. "I jussst remembered why I fight with the humansss," Solo narrowed her eyes as her pupils shrunk to vertical slits, raising her staff. "It'sss becaussse you can never trussst a sssnake!" With that, she delivered a smashing blow that knocked him clear across the cavern.
She turned, and the Ninja of Lightning smiled at her. "Well, I'm glad we've found the one exception to that rule," he grinned through his mask.
"Thanksss," Solo smiled, touched, before turning and dashing down the nearest bridge.
"Yes! We've found it!" Pythor's voice shrieked from across the room. Solo looked up in shock as her general reverently lifted a red-tinged blade out of the ground and lifted it into the air.
"Ninja GO!" Kai shouted, and a tornado of flaming energy leapt through the air and snatched the blade out of the tall Serpentine's hands. "Not on my watch, snake!" he shouted, brandishing the Sword of Fire in one hand and the Fang Blade in the other.
A black-scaled tail yanked him off his feet, and the Constrictai General, Skalidor, crowed as he took the Fang Blade from Kai's grip and strangled him in his tail. "Throw it!" Pythor commanded, and the great black snake obligingly tossed the blade into the air, where it spun end over end towards the two Fangpyre soldiers guarding Lloyd Garmadon. One of them caught it with a smile.
Seconds later, Lord Garmadon ploughed into them, brandishing his assortment of weapons, and knocked them away, Sensei Wu darting in and retrieving the weapon. Pythor hissed in anger and slowly melted away into nothingness.
Solo squinted. A skilled Anacondrai wasn't only able to turn invisible, they were capable of teleportation. She had never picked it up, but Pythor was advanced. "Everyone! Be on guard! Pythor could be anywhere!"
Lord Garmadon took his sword and cut Lloyd free of the cage. "Dad?" the boy asked in excitement.
Behind them, an invisible hand snatched the Fang Blade away from Sensei Wu, and Pythor rematerialised. "Not quite, my boy," he smirked.
"Wrong again!" Kai shouted, wriggling free of Skalidor's clutches as Cole distracted the burly Serpentine, and pointing his sword at Pythor. Flickering plumes of flame swirled around his Golden Weapon, and a blast of heated energy flew across the room, smashing into Pythor. "No!" Sensei Wu shouted as the Fang Blade fell from the male snake's grip, glanced off the edge of the ridge he stood on and fell towards the lava. The Anacondrai gasped, glaring at the ninja of fire.
Every eye watched as the blade fell - and landed on a tiny ridge less than a foot above the surface of the lava. Suddenly, the entire chamber quaked. "Kai! What have you done?" Sensei Wu demanded.
"Everyone! To the exit, now!" Zane commanded, flipping between pillars. Wu and Garmadon shoved past Pythor, Garmadon leading Lloyd by the hand as they made their way back to the exit.
The Anacondrai's red eyes slitted in fury, and his long tail uncurled, wrapping around Lloyd's leg. "Wha - hey!" the boy gasped as Pythor pulled him away from his father, and, with an inconsiderate flick, tossed him over the edge.
"You snake!" Garmadon spat - and his brother pulled him back as a large rock fell from the ceiling and smashed into the path, tearing a chunk out of the aisle. A pair of Constrictai soldiers emerged from the wall and snatched Pythor's arms, pulling him into their burrows. "So long," the Serpentine smirked as he vanished.
Lloyd landed on the same ledge as where the Fang Blade had fallen. "Okay," the boy breathed, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He picked up the dagger, and, carefully looking around, leapt to the nearest chunk of rock.
The Ninja regrouped by the entrance as, systematically, the Constrictai removed all the surviving Serpentine from the tomb, until Solo was the only snake left in the room. The Anacondrai carefully crossed a bridge - but the pillar she had been standing on seconds earlier shook and fell sideways, collapsing into the magma. The bridge was pulled away and tore, and she frantically clutched at a loose strand of rope.
"Solo!" Kai gasped, dashing over to the edge where she hung, being the only one close enough to do anything. He crouched and stared at her, pausing. "Help," she whispered.
The red ninja shook his head and snatched her cool, scaly wrist, and in that moment, all his prejudice, all his anger, all his disgust at the thought of having a Serpentine on the team - it vanished. He heaved her to safety on one of the sole surviving pillars, and the Anacondrai sighed with relief as she righted herself. She stared at Kai in surprise and gratitude. "Thanksss," Solo hissed.
Meanwhile, the end of the falling tower smashed into the chunk of rock Lloyd balanced on, causing him to lose his balance as the brimstone slab split in two, and the Fang Blade fell out of his grip. The boy frantically clutched at one of the shards of pillar, desperately remaining abreast of the lava.
The remaining three ninja, Nya, Wu and Garmadon had gathered at the entrance. They watched, helpless, as the pillar that Solo and Kai stood atop hovered and began to collapse. Kai noticed before Solo did, and, bodily lifting the snake girl, he threw her into the air, where she landed just shy of the edge of safety.
Cole grabbed her claw and pulled her in close, heaving her over the lip. Solo stared at him in surprise, red eyes meeting black-flecked brown up close. "Hi," she breathed. "Hey," the black ninja responded.
Meanwhile, Kai had landed on a nugget of rock floating in the lava. The Fang Blade was inches away, and he could reach it! "Come on, come on, just a little more," the red ninja begged, arm outstretched.
A shrill voice interrupted his focus. "Kai!" Lloyd shrieked from halfway across the chamber. The boy was perched on a slowly-sinking chunk of rock, and steadily growing more and more panicked.
"Lloyd!" Garmadon shouted in fear. The rock face that the rest of the group perched upon slowly crumbled, and they were forced to back away for fear of falling into the lava.
Kai looked at Lloyd. His gaze returned to the Fang Blade. Lloyd. Fang Blade. Lloyd. Fang Blade. Lloyd-Fang Blade-Lloyd-Fang BladeLloydfangbladelloydfangbladelloyd
With a sickening crack, the archway that the rest of the group was standing beneath collapsed, dumping dozens of tons of rock into the area and separating the group from Kai and Lloyd. "Everyone! Back to the Bounty!" Sensei Wu shouted, and the group dashed back around the bubbling pool of lava, exiting the Temple of Fire as quickly as their legs and tail could carry them.
Garmadon paused by the temple gate and loozed back, shouting with his arm outstretched; "My son!" But then everyone was back aboard the Bounty, gasping for breath, and someone, probably Nya, had lifted the ship into the air to keep it clear of the erupting volcano.
The team gathered on the edge of the ship, gazing back at the temple. "Kai," Cole moaned. "Lloyd," Sensei Wu shook his head.
"Everybody, you might want to look up," Zane suggested, pointing to a speck of orange ought that arched high above the volcano.
"It's gonna hit us! Take cover!" Jay shrieked, dashing backwards. But he stopped as the ball of fire resolved into a familiar shape.
Kai landed on the deck, his body glowing with fire, and clutching Lloyd in his arms. Everyone gasped as the lights flickered and died, and he released the boy.
"What happened? How did you do that?" Cole demanded, excited.
"He unlocked his true potential," Sensei Wu realised. "But how?"
"Simple," Kai smiled. "First, I had to realise that my dislike of Solo was, ah," he looked at her awkwardly.
"Ridiculous?" Zane put forward.
"Stupid?" Jay suggested.
"Misguided," Kai settled on. "And then," He looked at Lloyd. "I realised that my destiny wasn't to become the Green Ninja, but," Everyone followed his gaze, and, as one, the four Golden Weapons started to glow. "To protect him," Kai finished.
Lloyd looked around. "Why are they doing that?"
"It's quite simple," Sensei Wu explained, looking at him solemnly. "You are the Green Ninja,"
Lord Garmadon's eyes widened. "What?"
A/N
A/N
Huh. I was planning to get both episode 10 and 11 in this chapter, but 10 got so long.
Anyhoos. :) Nothing much to say, so, peace!