I will now drop a new chapter and disappear for another month! Hopefully not but honestly probably.
ANYWAY
Review Replies:
WafflesAndLifeProblems: oh. oh no. oh crap. *checks notes* uh- crap. *hides* Also thank you for the unrequested advice, I truly appreciate it lol. And do not worry I shall consume the food (still working on drinking water lol) Thanks so much for the support!
arrowchristian: yay I'm glad! it felt kinda funky to write and honestly felt like filler to me so I'm glad it worked out sufficiently (although to be honest almost everything I write feels like filler lol). I KNOW! I literally hate Harumi and I do not understand why the show went that way. Ugh. Anyway, I think they should have addressed that issue more in the show but I guess if you want something done, ya gotta do it yourself.
Anyway, thank y'all for the continued support and patience! You da best. Here's Chapter 7!
The next day, Eve had another session with Zane. She also worked with Lloyd on her powers more and started on hand-to-hand combat with Cole. After her sessions, Master Wu pulled her aside. "I'd like to speak with you a moment Eve, if you don't mind?"
She nodded. "What's up, Master?"
She followed him into the lounge, which was currently empty. "I'm sorry that I have not been the best Master to you," he said as they sat. "I know you're only with us temporarily, but as long as you are here, I still have a responsibility to you."
Eve shrugged. "That's alright. Lloyd tells me you've been hitting the books. Find anything useful?"
He thought for a second. "I do not know. All the accounts on Soul I have found are wildly conflicting. I spoke with the museum curator this afternoon and he allowed me to browse their manuscripts. He's calling other museums to send any manuscripts on Elemental energy they may have as well."
"Hopefully that turns up something."
He nodded. "But that is not why I wanted to meet with you. I wanted to know if you are alright. Do you feel safe here? Has this master made contact with you again since you've been here?"
She shook her head. "I haven't seen or heard anything. And I think this is the best place for me right now, Lloyd talked it over with me earlier."
"That is good. Her robberies have also stopped, which is good, although I fear it may mean she is planning something else, now that she has the Ninjas' attention." Wu frowned thoughtfully. "I spoke with Zane earlier, and he told me of your first session with him. He told you about his True Potential, correct? He said that he asked you to meditate and reflect on what your block could be. Have you made progress?"
She shrugged. "I don't know, I mean, my power hasn't really felt any different. And I'm not struggling with anything in particular, I'm just out of practice. I'm sure it'll come eventually."
Wu shook his head. "That is not the way of True Potential. In order to unlock it, you must discover and face what holds you back. It is the only way." He rose. "Talk to the Ninja about it. I'm sure they can give you some ideas of what a block could look like. After all, they all had their own experiences. You'll figure it out soon enough."
She stood too. "If you're sure, I'll keep thinking. Let me know if you find anything important about Soul?"
He nodded. "Of course." He glanced at the clock. "My, I should begin my evening meditation. Good night."
Eve woke up sometime in the night to someone out in the hall. She glanced bleary-eyed at the clock: 1:47 AM. She groaned, wishing whoever was up at this hour would be quieter about it.
"Holy crap!"
She shot out of bed. That was Cole! She opened her door and stopped short. Cole was standing in the hallway in shock, staring at-
"Jay!" she cried. "You're up!"
Jay frowned and glanced at her. "Yeah… I'm up. What, is it a crime to get a late-night snack now?"
Another door opened behind them and Nya poked her head out, her hair falling out of its messy bun. "What's going-" Her eyes widened. "Jay!" She practically ran at him and gave him a tight hug. "You're awake!"
He hugged her back, confusion written plainly across his face. "And this is a big deal, why?"
Nya frowned in concern. "You've- do you not remember?"
He shook his head. "No?"
Eve took half a pace forward. "Jay, you've been unconscious for like three days." She glanced behind them as the rest of the team came out into the hallway. Kai did a double-take when he saw Jay, and Zane just smiled in relief.
"Three days?" Jay said. "Nah, you're just messing with me, that's-"
Nya led him into the lounge, the rest of the group following. She sat him down on one of the couches. "What's the last thing you remember?" she asked, putting an arm around his shoulder.
He frowned thoughtfully. "Uh… I remember when you got here," he said, pointing to Eve. "And we went to the bank for… some reason. Was there someone there?" He snapped. "Oh, right. It was that spooky Soul lady." He looked up at Kai. "So did we win?"
"Uh… no, we didn't, buddy," Kai said.
Cole frowned. "She kicked our butts."
Nya gave Jay a side hug. "She knocked you out with her powers somehow. That was three days ago, Jay."
Jay paled. "I- I actually had a dream about that, I think. It was Soul-"
He broke off as Master Wu came in. "I heard a commotion, what's wrong?" He saw Jay and immediately rushed forward. Jay said something to him in a low voice that Eve couldn't make out. Wu looked at the rest of the team. "Nya, Lloyd, I'd like you to stay. Everyone else out, I must speak with him."
"Come on, Master! You can't-" Cole started incredulously.
"I can and I did! Jay needs rest and so do all of you. Out! We will discuss this as a team in the morning."
The rest of the team groaned and filed out. Kai went back to his room, as did Pixal. Eve was too wired to sleep, so she headed for the kitchen.
She put on a pot of decaf coffee and rummaged around in the cupboards for a snack. She found a package of trail mix and poured it into a bowl. As her coffee finished, she picked out all the almonds from the trail mix.
"Coffee? At 2 AM?" a voice said. "Not smart, Shields."
She jumped and whipped around. "Dammit Cole, you scared the crap out of me!"
He cringed. "I'm sorry! I'm not trying to, I promise." He gestured to the coffee pot. "Really though. Bad idea."
She shrugged. "It's decaf," she said mock defensively.
"Okay but decaf still has small amounts of caffeine-" he saw the look she shot him and chuckled sheepishly. "Zane used to get on Kai for having coffee late all the time. You learn a thing or two when Zane's in Mom Mode."
She cracked a smile. "I won't have much. And Shields?"
He grinned. "You know, like your shields."
"Yeah, I get it." She paused. "Didn't feel like sleeping?"
He shook his head. "Just worried about Jay. Do you think he's okay? He seemed pretty shaken up."
"I would be too if I found out I'd been unconscious for two days. He said he had a dream about Soul- what do you think that's about?"
"Dunno." He raised an eyebrow and gestured to her trail mix. "What are you doing?"
She held out the little bowl of almonds. "Want some?"
"What, I don't get the chocolate?"
"Nope. You want the almonds or not?"
He hesitated. "Yeah."
Eve sat at one of the spinning bar stools as Cole went and sat in the dining nook. She used her foot to spin her stool in circles.
"You're making me dizzy just watching," Cole said.
"It's fun."
He chuckled. "I think Wu wants me to help with your training again tomorrow; hand-to-hand combat," he said finally.
"What are we doing?"
"Eh, more basic stuff. You'll get it down fast, I'm sure." He laughed. "Would you stop with the spinning? You're gonna fall over."
She slowed her stool down and fake-pouted. "Party pooper."
He groaned good-naturedly. "Drink your coffee, weirdo." She threw a peanut at him and he swatted at it. "Oh, it's on." He flicked an almond at her.
She cast a small shield and the almond bounced off. "I win." She poured herself a mug of coffee and put her snack bowl in the dishwasher.
"Do you think Jay's alright?" Cole asked finally.
She shrugged. "I really don't know. I hope so."
He sighed. "Yeah, me too."
Wu let everyone sleep in an extra half hour the next morning, and after breakfast, he called everyone to meet in the lounge. "I'm sure you're all burning with questions about last night," he said.
"Literally!" Kai called. Nya yanked his sleeve and he sat back down.
"First I'd like to clarify that Jay is alright."
Eve caught lots of smiles throughout the team. Cole clapped Jay on the shoulder.
"In fact, some new information has come to light," Wu continued. He waved Jay up.
"Hey everybody, uh… I'm not dead," Jay said, cracking a grin. Eve noticed Nya give him an encouraging look.
"Uh… yeah. So apparently I was unconscious for three days. Definitely give it a 0 out of 10, do not recommend, but anyway, I had some weird hallucinations too. Or a vision? I don't know. But I may have a lead."
"From being unconscious?" Zane asked.
Jay nodded. "I saw this room with a weird-looking window and wooden walls. It kinda reminded me of the Bounty when we first found it, remember? I think it may have been on a ship, and out the window, I could kinda see this old, run-down-looking harbor. The city skyline is like, super distant. And I saw a lot of other super weird stuff, probably just hallucinations, but this one kept coming back."
The room was silent. "You think maybe this is Soul's base?" Kai asked slowly.
Jay blew a raspberry. "Maybe," he said. "Look, I know it sounds crazy but so is the idea of a Master of Soul. I was just supposed to tell you guys, now we decide what to do about it."
Lloyd stood up. "We took a hit last time we went against her, so I'll say this: no one would fault any of you for not wanting to go any time soon. We can stay low if that's what the team thinks is best. We won't roll over on this, but we also don't have to jump in the deep end without knowing how to swim."
Jay set his stance. "I want some payback."
Nya nodded. "Me too."
Zane frowned. "I agree with Master Lloyd. We should not proceed with this investigation until we know more and are better prepared."
Kai elbowed Nya. "I'll do whatever my sister does."
Lloyd hummed thoughtfully. "Alright, how's this? We can track down where this boat is, and send a small team, either two or three, to scope out the place. No engagement. Report back, and we go from there. We need more information, I agree, but we've exhausted most other avenues. So far, we still haven't gotten any new, concrete information."
Scattered muttering and nods met the suggestion. Jay raised a hand. "I'll lead."
"Absolutely not," Nya said. "You've been unconscious for the past three days."
"I'm also the only one here who can identify the right spot."
Lloyd sighed in frustration. "I hate to say it, but he's right, Nya. But Jay, this is a recon op only. Do not engage and retreat at signs of conflict. That's an order. Understood?"
Jay nodded.
"I'll go with you," Cole said. "Someone's gotta watch your back, right? You'll be too busy watching your mouth."
"Oh go pound dirt, you-" Jay started, fighting a laugh.
"Thanks, Cole," Lloyd said, stopping the bickering before it started. "And uh…"
Nya's hand shot up.
Lloyd shot her an apologetic look but turned to Eve. "Look, I don't want to send you if you're not comfortable, but-"
Eve shook her head. "If you want me on the op, I'm on the op. Like you said, it's recon only, and it'll give me a chance to perform under pressure. This is why I'm here in the first place."
Lloyd looked hesitant, so she smiled. "I got this, Lloyd."
"I must protest," Master Wu said. "Eve, you are too untrained-"
"I may not even need my powers!"
"Not only that, but hand-to-hand combat too," Cole added. "Are you sure?"
She nodded insistently. "It's recon-only. I'm positive."
Lloyd hesitated before giving a brief nod. "Alright. Let's get at it, everyone."
Everyone got up and people started filtering out. Nya talked to Jay in a low voice for a moment. He gave her a reassuring smile and nodded. She looked reluctant, but gave him a quick kiss and left with the rest of the team.
Jay came over and stood with Eve and Cole. Lloyd turned to them. "I'll leave the details up to you guys," he said. "Let's plan for tomorrow morning. Spend today to really hammer out the plan, I'm happy to help if you need it, and I'm sure Zane would be too, if you want a second opinion. Let me know what the plan is tonight."
They nodded. "What about training?" Cole asked.
Lloyd thought for a second. "I'll say to use today however you think is necessary. It may only be a recon mission, but there could still be some risks." He turned to Jay. "Help them in any way you can from what you saw, but just because you're taking point on this doesn't mean to overwork yourself."
Jay nodded.
Lloyd sighed. "Alright, just keep me posted."
Thanks for the read, leave a review or some feedback if you so wish. Have a great day/night/whatever!