The others prepared themselves for battle, but then Auria stood in front of them with her arms spread out.
"This is Sensei Reine's battle. Be on your guard, but do not interfere," she said, and the others obeyed, though some with more reluctance.
Kerri and Reine then began their battle:
Kerri attacked first with crystal daggers that she sent towards Reine, who deflected each one with her crystal-edged sword, and actually cut one of them right in half. Then Kerri made three crystal spears and flung them at Reine, as Reine dodged with a sidestep, turn, and duck.
"Tell me Kerri, is this battle a one-on-one?" Reine asked, as Kerri smirked and said,
"It's one-on-one of course."
Reine smirked and then she jumped to the side as a crystal whip smacked down on the floor from Kerri. Then Reine went running towards Kerri, who summoned crystals from the ground up in multiple spikes of various widths as a barrier. Reine was able to jump up and walk-kick off the spikes upward, and then hopped across the spikes towards Kerri, who formed a thin crystal sword and held it in her right hand. When Reine hopped on one of the crystal spikes, Kerri also hopped on the same crystal spike that Reine stood on. They both had a short stare down with the black borders near their eyes. Then Kerri jumped towards Reine and slashed downward, as Reine jumped back to dodge and then moved forward to slash at Kerri. Kerri lifted her blade up and blocked, and then they both went back and forth with attacks and dodges and blocks. They even tried to kick or punch one another occasionally, and they fought each other for a while. Then they clashed with both of their blades and jumped back on two separate crystal spikes that were bend enough to stand on with their points aiming towards one another. The other crystal spikes had retracted underground, while Kerri and Reine readied themselves for a final attack.
Then they ran towards one another and hopped off the edges of the crystal spikes, as they attacked at the same time, and crossed each other.
CLAANNNKK!
Both women landed on the other's crystal spike, and stood standing straight up. The others looked in awe, as they waited to see who won, as a breeze blew over all of them and a few leaves swished by as well.
Then the crystal that both women were standing on began to sink down into the floor and disappear.
Reine and Kerri were on solid ground, but they still didn't move, until Reine brought her left hand to her right side, and Kerri ended up on one knee and held her left side. Kerri's wound was obviously worse than Reine's, since Kerri was on her one knee in pain, and Reine just held her side and turned around towards Kerri. Then Kerri said,
"Uhhhh, hehe, hehe... hehehehehe! Hahahahaha, AH hahahahaha! You haven't lost your touch Reine. Y-your precision is just as sharp, and strangely it seems to have improved. T-That's interesting, but..."
Kerri was able to slowly rise up and turn towards Reine while holding her side and looking at Reine with a dark smirk.
"I won't be defeated next time. I'll let you go for now, but mark my words with your lives: We will meet again, and hopefully soon," Kerri said, as she took a short bow, and then she whistled and used her one free arm to twist the crystal around her feet and spring up into the air.
Then a large black bird with green wings, red talons, grey eyes, and a yellow bill appeared and caught Kerri as it flew away. Kerri held on while smirking evilly at the others.
"She's Getting Away!" Kai yelled out, as Sensei Wu held his shoulder and said,
"Sometimes it's best to live, and fight another day."
"But," Kai said, as he turned towards Sensei Wu, and then Garmadon said,
"He's right Kai. Kerri is a dangerous opponent as we've seen so far. It's actually a miracle that she left us at all."
Kai thought about it, and then he put his head down, as he knew that they were right.
"Kerri is much stronger than any of us could have anticipated, especially with the crystal technique now being a regular part of her fighting style," Zane said kind of sadly.
"That's Kerri for ya. She always had some hidden skill that would catch her opponents off guard. Although, I think my first manuveur already set her mind to retreating," Reine said, as she walked towards the others, still holding her wounded side.
"Mom, your hurt," Raven said, as she hurried over to her mother.
"It's alright my child, I've had worse wounds than this," Reine said with a half-hearted smile, as she still felt the stinging pain from the wound.
"Sensei, you need some ointment for your wound," Auria said, as she stood next to her teacher.
"Yes. I have some I left on the Bounty," Christa said with a smile.
"Wait a minute, where is the Bounty anyway? and my mom?" Lloyd asked, as Zane stood next to him and asked,
"And where is my father?"
"And Dareth?" Violet added.
Then Flare replied, "Eh what are you three so worried about? Besides, they just arrived."
Flare pointed towards the sky, and everyone looked up and saw nothing, but then they saw the Bounty almost emerging from the forest, and it landed right on the ground in front of them. The ramp was laid out as Misako, Dareth, and Dr. Julien walked down on it to greet the others.
"Mom!" "Misako," Lloyd and Garmadon said, as they hurried over to Misako, and she greeted them with a hug and said, "My boys."
"Zane," Dr. Julien said happily, as his son immediately headed towards him.
"Father, you made it safe," Zane said, relieved.
"My Darling!" Dareth yelled out with his hands up in joy, as he ran towards Violet, who was heading towards him with a smile on her face.
"Dare!" Violet said, as they both embraced in a hug.
"Oh my dear sweet Violet. I've missed you so much," Dareth said, as they parted from their hug but held each others' hands.
"Dareth, we've only been apart for a day," Violet said.
"But it felt like months! Let's never separate again," Dareth said, and Violet nodded, as they both smiled at one another.
As the others watched, some in amusement and some in 'aww', Jay noticed that no one was looking, so he walked towards Nya.
Then Jay asked, "Are you okay Nya? Your not hurt or anything?"
Nya gave Jay a kiss and smiled and said, "I'm fine Jay. Thanks to you and the guys."
Jay signed lovingly, as an idea came to his mind, and then he took Nya and dipped her while planting a kiss on her lips, and she kissed him back. In that moment, Kai just turned his head for a moment towards Nya and Jay, and then back to...
'WHAT!'
Kai turned back and, to his horror, saw Jay and Nya still kissing.
"JAY!" Kai yelled out, as he started to approach the Blue ninja with his sword drawn.
After Jay and Nya parted from their kiss and stood up, Jay turned and yelped like a puppy when he saw Kai coming towards him. Nya stood in front of Jay with her hands on her hips, looking at Kai with half-closed eyes, and Jay looked out in fear from behind her.
"Move out of the way Nya," Kai said, as Nya stood her ground and calmly said,
"Kai, your overreacting. You know for a fact that I love Jay and he loves me too. He wouldn't do anything to hurt me, and I know you wouldn't either."
Kai's eyes widened and his mouth hung open as he stood still, and even Jay's mouth hung open. Nya then smiled at her brother, and after a moment he signed and nodded towards Nya in approval as he put his sword away. Jay signed in relief. Kai knew that even though Jay is a chatter box, he is also reliable and he did save Nya before when they were on that deadly rollar coaster ride.
'I guess I can't blame him if he loves my sister. She's awesome, but...'
When Nya wasn't looking, Kai went up to Jay and grabbed him by his collar and said, in a low voice so that Nya wouldn't hear,
"You better take good care of my sister or I'll be the last person you'll ever see, got it?"
Jay was silenced by fear, as he quickly nodded and was able to say,
"Y-Yeah, of course I will. No matter what I will t-take care of her w-with my life."
Kai nodded and said, "Right, remember that."
Then Kai released Jay, while Cole and Zane looked towards one another and signed in relief since they were glad that they weren't in Jay's shoes. Then Cole turned around and he noticed that Auria was looking towards him, seriously. He looked at her curiously, as Auria looked towards Christa. Cole also looked towards Christa and smiled sweetly at her, but then Auria turned towards him with a more angered expression. Then Cole looked towards Auria again in surprise, but then in fear when Auria pointed at Christa and then at him as she nudged her fist into her hand. Cole was shock to see Auria threatening him like that, as well as Zane, who found Auria's gesture to be quite amusing.
"Reine!"
Everyone immediately turned and saw King Terrin, in human form, emerging from the forest.
"Dad!" "Hello Dear!" Raven and Reine said, as Terrin walked towards them.
"Your highness, your here," Christa said, in surprise although she was happy.
"Yes I'm here. Of course, when my wife decides to run off without much of an explanation, I would have no other option but to follow, and figure out what's going on," Terrin said, as he stood in front of Raven and Reine.
Raven hugged her father, and then she moved to the side to let her father and mother talk. Reine looked at Terrin and smiled, as he smiled back, and then he noticed her wound. He stepped closer and put his hand on her hand where her wound was, delicately, and said,
"Reine, my love, your hurt."
Reine looked down at her wound and then back up at her husband with a soft smile and said,
"It's okay Terrin, it's not that bad."
Terrin looked at Reine skeptically, and then he looked around his surroundings and asked,
"Is Kerri gone Flare?"
Flare nodded and replied, "Yes, she's off my radar now so we'll be alright."
Terrin nodded towards Flare, and then he turned his attention to his wife and whispered,
"Kerri won't be alright when I catch her."
Reine looked at Terrin in surprise, as he looked at her with a dashing smile, which made Reine shake her head.
'That's my husband,' Reine thought with a smile, as Terrin put his arm around her back and helped her walk up the ramp to the Bounty.
"I'll get the ointment," Christa said, as she jumped up to the top of the Bounty's deck and ran inside.
The others followed behind Reine and Terrin, as they boarded the Bounty.
"Come your highnesses, I will guide you through the ship," Auria said, and Terrin and Reine agreed as they followed her into the Bounty.
"Sensei's finally back," Flare said, as she patted Raven's shoulder.
"Yes, my mom is back," Raven said, and sniffled a little.
"Wow, but did you see what she was doing?! All those moves and flips and attacks! She's amazing!" Jay said excitingly as the others agreed.
"Yeah, she's really skilled in swordsmanship," Nya said.
"Maybe you could learn something from her Kai," Cole said with a smirk.
"What? I'm the best swordsman here," Kai replied.
"Well we can all agree that your the best gloater, but best swordsman. Hm, that's failed to be seen," Flare said with a cheeky smile, as Kai glowered at her and said,
"Oh yeah? Well I have my fire sword, and you have your scimitar. We can settle this right now."
Flare just smirked and said, "Bring it on then fire breath, you won't stand a chance, and it's 'Shadow' scimitar by the way."
Kai also smirked and said,
"Hmph, we'll see... your royal 'loud'ness."
Kai took a mocking bow, as Flare's expression became annoyed and she whipped out her shadow scimitar.
"Guys, guys hold on a minute," Cole said, as he stood between them with his hands out towards them.
Kai whipped out his fire sword as he set it ablaze.
"Kai no, don't you dare," Nya said, as she stood in front of her brother.
However, Kai and Flare had their eyes locked on one another.
"Kai, dude, come on, your gonna let what she said bother you this much?" Jay asked, but Kai didn't respond.
"Flare, please leave him alone," Raven asked, as Flare just stood her ground and said,
"Stand back Raven. I'm coming for him."
Then Misako said, "Flare, Raven's right, just leave him alone. I'm pretty sure you've all have had a rough day, just calm down and try to relax."
However, Flare didn't falter as she continued to lock eyes with Kai. Zane stood in front of his father just in case Flare and Kai started fighting, while Garmadon and Wu stood back. Wu face palmed, and Garmadon shook his head and said,
"That's your student brother."
Next to them was Lloyd, who had a smirk on his face watching Flare and Kai getting ready to fight. Garmadon and Sensei Wu both turned towards Lloyd, and when Lloyd turned towards them for a moment, he turned back and asked,
"What?"
They continued to look at him.
"What?" Lloyd repeated, as Garmadon and Sensei Wu continued to look at the Golden ninja sternly.
Then Lloyd signed and said,
"Alright, I got it."
He walked a little closer towards the others, and stood halfway between Flare and Kai.
As the others stood in front of Flare and Kai to convince them to stop, Flare and Kai both side-stepped to the same side. They ran towards one another and was about to make contact with their weapons, when Lloyd created a small ball of energy in his hand and sent it out between Kai and Flare, as it blew up right in front of them. Kai and Flare fell backwards on the floor, and shook their heads since they didn't expect to be blown back.
As they both tried to stand up, Sensei Wu walked next to Lloyd and nodded, as Lloyd nodded back and moved next to Raven. When both ninja were on their feet, Sensei Wu spoke, with a serious and almost angered expression,
"Have you two not learned how to work together already instead of wasting your time fighting?"
Kai and Flare glared at one another.
"She Started IT!" Kai yelled out.
"And You Continued IT!" Flare yelled back.
"OH! So It's My Fault Now!" Kai yelled again.
"Well It Takes Any Spark To Start A Fire!" Flare yelled back.
"What's THAT Suppose To Mean?" Kai yelled back.
Sensei Wu at this point has had it.
"ENOUGH!" Sensei Wu yelled out, as the other ninja took a step back.
Flare and Kai cringed at Sensei's outburst and they bowed their heads towards him. Sensei Wu then gained his composure and said,
"You two started off on the wrong foot when you first met, but after we arrived at Aeroplane, you both become more friendly and hospitable. But that doesn't mean you should both lose your heads like this! Now... I want you Flare to apologize to Kai."
Flare looked at Sensei Wu in disbelief, as Kai smirked.
"AND I want Kai to apologize to Flare."
"But-" Kai was cut off by Sensei's glare towards him.
Flare turned to Kai and signed before saying,
"I'm sorry Kai."
Kai looked at Flare surprised, but then he signed and said,
"I'm sorry too Flare."
Sensei Wu nodded, and then he said,
"Good. Now that that's settled, let us prepare ourselves. We have to travel all the way to Ouroborus to bring Lucy back to Marcell."
Lucy jumped up and said, excitingly, "I get to see my big sister?!"
Sensei Wu nodded and smiled, which made Lucy back flip with joy.
"Oh YES Finally! I get to see Marcell again!" Lucy said, as she ran into the Bounty.
"Wait Lucy... do you even know where your going?" Raven asked, as she ran after the vampire princess.
The others made their way into the Bounty, except for Kai and Flare, who stood behind. Flare walked towards the railing and just looked out at the land, and Kai looked towards Flare. He turned and saw that no one else was around, and then he approached her.
"Uh, Flare," Kai said, as Flare turned her head slightly towards Kai and replied,
"Hm?"
Kai rubbed the back of his and said,
"I'm... I just wanted to let you know that... I'm really sorry, for yelling at you. That was uncalled for."
Flare's eyes widened a little more in surprise, seeing that Kai was apologizing with much sincerity. She turned towards him fully, as Kai looked downward. Then Flare took a few steps closer to him, as he looked up into her eyes and she looked into his.
"Kai, thanks... and I'm sorry too. We shouldn't always resort to fighting to solve our problems, and to tell you the truth... I actually wanted to fight you on purpose. I wanted to see how much stronger you've become, especially with your new weapon," Flare said, as Kai's eyes widened in surprise.
Then Kai smiled in understanding and said, "Oh, so you wanted to see me in action huh? Well, to tell you the truth... I actually wanted to see how much stronger you've become too."
Flare flicked Kai on his forehead, which he rubbed after the hit, and then Flare smirked and said,
"Well, we'll see when we train. I wouldn't want to mess up my lovey-dovey boy's FACE."
Flare emphasized 'face,' as she moved her's closer to Kai's, which made him blush as she turned and walked towards the entranceway into the Bounty. Kai was going to say something, but then he just shrugged it off and walked after Flare.
'I wish she would stop doing that, but she looks cuter up close... WAIT, what am I thinking? I don't have feelings for Flare like that... or do I...' Kai scratched his head thinking about it.
Flare was thinking, 'Ah Kai, he's pretty easy to annoy, and pretty cute when he gets mad- WHOA, Whoa, What? What am I thinking right now?! I don't like him likeTHAT! He's just a friend... right?' Flare pondered this, while she headed inside the Bounty.
Inside the Bounty, Wu, Garmadon, Misako, and Dr. Julien headed towards the control room, and Lucy was being given a tour by Raven around the Bounty.
Violet and Dareth decided to head over towards the kitchen to get something to eat, although Dareth was a bit nervous since when Violet gets hungry, her fangs begin to show.
"Don't worry yourself Dareth, I won't bite you," Violet said reassuring, as Dareth smiled and nodded as he said,
"Well alright, that's cool. Phew, I'm still trying to get use to seeing your fangs."
Violet looked down with a despondent expression. Dareth noticed this and he asked, with much concern as he placed his hand gently on her shoulder,
"Hey Violet? What's the matter?"
Violet turned her face away from Dareth a little, as he said,
"Hey, come on. You can tell me what's bothering you. It's my duty as a hero, and your companion, to help you with whatever problems you have."
Violet thought about it, and then she looked back towards Dareth, who was combing his hair, and then he turned to her with his full attention as he put the comb away really quick. Violet smiled a little, and then she signed and said,
"Dareth, there's something you should know about us vampires. The thing is, we weren't always vampires..."
Sensei Reine beat down Kerrie. New additions to the team are set. Secret of the vampires will be revealed. Almost to the halfway point of the story. Crazy and awesome things are going to happen soon. Stay tuned for the next chapter... soon.