Chapter Text
The ninja woke up in a heap, with the sun already risen high in the sky. All piled up in a ninja pancake stack, the teens blearily blinked their eyes open and, with tired groans, pushed themselves off the mattresses they slept on.
Kai stretched, his back creaking as he did. His entire body was sore, and judging from the noises everyone else made, so were the others. He shook residual sleep from his head and looked around.
The events of the previous day had finally caught up to everyone, and it was clear that everyone was dead tired after all that. The only one that wasn’t was Wu, who was sitting at the counter of the mattress store with a full spread of teacups. Better than nothing, Kai decided, grabbing a cup and chugging it. It soothed his sore throat.
“Everyone alive?” Cole asked, joining Kai at the counter and grabbing his own cup.
“Barely,” Nya grumbled. Her hair was a mess. Kai knew his was also a mess, since he didn’t have the gel needed to spike it up like usual.
She tried to get up, but was kept down by Jay, who was wrapped around her in a tight hug. She smiled softly, then shimmied her way out of his grip (with some difficulty, she noted) and grabbed some tea.
“D’we win?” Lloyd blearily asked, rubbing sleep crusties from his eyes. “That wasn’t a dream?”
“Yep, your dad kicked ass,” Kai snorted. He went over and picked up the kid, ignoring his half-hearted attempts at getting out of his hold.
“Fuck yea,” Lloyd grumbled. He let himself be carried over to the counter, grabbing some tea and washing his mouth out with it.
“Good morning,” came a slightly glitchy voice. Zane finally woke up, and everyone cringed when they saw half of their face still missing. They should probably get that fixed.
Taking initiative on that, Cole nudged Jay with his foot. The blue ninja barely stirred, just curled further into himself. “C’mon, Bluebird,” Cole grumbled, still half asleep. “You know the most about how to fix Zane. Wake up.”
“I could handle it,” Nya muttered into her tea.
“Do you wanna?” Kai raised an eyebrow.
“I wanna go back to sleep,” she snarked, then shook her head. “Gotta fix my mech, anyway.”
Finally, Jay stirred, eyes snapping open and staring off into space for a bit. Cole bit his lip. Was Jay alright?
It took a few seconds for Jay to fully pick himself off the mattress, tail lazily waving. There was a weirdly distant look in his eyes, and a little seed of worry grew in everyone’s stomachs when they saw that Jay was mostly scales.
Eventually, though, Jay focused enough to grab the cup Cole held out to him, and he drank it, holding its warmth close. “Thanksss,” he hissed.
“Do you have a mo-mo-moment to make sure I a-am in fully functioning order?” Zane asked, sitting beside Jay.
His eyes fixed on the exposed metal of Zane’s face. “Yea, I can. I’ll try, anywaysss.”
“Meanwhile, we must find a new home,” Wu finally spoke up. Everyone turned to look at him. His face was serious. “Am I correct in assuming the Devourer consumed the ship?” At everyone’s nods, he sighed. “Therefore, it would be best to find a new place to stay.”
“I liked the ship…” Lloyd said. His ears drooped sadly.
“I know, kid,” Kai gave him a one-armed hug.
“All our stuff was on that ship,” Nya groaned, dropping her head in her arms.
“That sucks,” Cole grumbled. “Anyone have any ideas?”
Wu hummed and walked over to the window of the mattress store. Outside, the dragons dutifully watched over the group, with wary civilians with cameras and phones taking photos of the mythical beasts.
But beyond the dragons was ruin. The city did not escape the Great Devourer’s rage unscathed, and a good few blocks of Jago City were heavily damaged, if not outright destroyed. Firetrucks and other wailing cars carted the injured and scared away from the scene of destruction, even hours after everything went silent.
“We must try t-to find a place to stay,” Zane frowned. They ignored Jay poking at their wires.
“I dunno, here isss fine,” Jay said. “No worry about… ssstuff.”
“Wow, you’re really asleep,” Lloyd giggled.
Wu cleared his throat, bringing attention back to him. “Kai, Cole, Nya, you all try and find a place for us to stay. I’m sure there must be some place in the city to live.”
“In the city? Tough luck,” Cole scoffed. “Waiting lists for apartments are a mile long. We’d never get a place.”
Kai hummed. “Yea, that sounds like hell.”
Nya suddenly snapped her fingers. “I may have an idea. With me, boys!” She stood up and grabbed her Samurai X helmet and goggles. She tugged those on, along with her armor, and waved the other two along.
As Kai and Cole exchanged looks and followed suit, Jay whined. “Why can’t we go?”
“You need to fix Zane,” Wu explained. “That should take some priority.”
“Masssksss exissst,” Jay hissed, but turned back to Zane anyway.
“What about us, Uncle?” Lloyd asked. His eyes widened hopefully.
“I will go purchase any necessities,” Wu explained. “I do not want to use my abilities for anything that cannot be obtained any other way.”
“But tea is free game?” Lloyd snorted. “Can I go with you?”
Wu seemed to consider that for a bit. “You only have the Green Ninja gi, right?” When Lloyd nodded, Wu looked a bit more disappointed. “Then I’m afraid you cannot.”
“What!?” Lloyd squeaked.
“It is safer to not compromise our private identities,” Zane reasoned.
Lloyd grumbled. “Doesn’t mean I gotta like it.”
“Talk to the dragonsss,” Jay suggested. He tried to put a hand on Zane’s shoulder, but flinched away. It was so cold .
Zane noticed. “Are you alright?” they whispered.
Jay didn’t respond, just turned back to their exposed face.
“Can I help?” Lloyd sidled up to the teens.
Jay turned to look at him, and Lloyd noticed his pupils were almost completely slit. “Toolsss. Can you…”
Lloyd nodded and headed out to search the store for any spare tools they may have stored. As he did, Wu waved goodbye and vanished.
-=-
On the opposite end of Jago, a group of Serpentine gathered, finally getting out of the tomb and exploring the surface. Skales breathed in the fresh desert air, relishing the heat. He and the other two leaders (because the Constrictai were dealing with Skalidor’s leadership on their own) exchanged looks, glancing at the crowd of snakes gathered before them.
They were in the shade of a large overhang, not too far from a deep canyon. Scraps of red wood were scattered around from an unknown source. It was far from the tombs, but many snakes felt comfortable in the desert. It was safe, for now.
No one knew the state of Ouroboros. They were taking a small break on the journey there, the only safe place the Serpentine knew. Skales only hoped it was still standing enough to live there.
“Are you even sssure it’s still intact?” a voice asked from the crowd. He looked over to see a small Fangpyre raising a hand. “What if we get back to Ouroborosss and it’s completely… dessstroyed?”
“I’m sssure there’s still sssomething remaining,” Skales assured. He looked over at Selma, who clutched their hatchling tightly. Junior was aggressively wiggling, rubbing his sides against his mother’s scales. He was going to start growing limbs soon, and Skales wanted to make sure he had a home to do this safely in.
Acidicus hissed in an upset manner, coiled up on the ground. “I may take the Venomari to a ssswamp,” he said. “The desssert heat will fry usss.”
“Ve Fangpyre alssso do not like the desssert,” Fangtom added, frowning and shaking their head in dismay. Their other head rolled its eyes. “Ve like the coolness of night.”
“The desert isss freezing at night,” Skales argued.
One head perked up, but the other continued to glare.
Skales sighed. “Allow me,” he said, then rattled his tail, getting the crowd’s attention. As far as he was aware, this was almost every Serpentine remaining alive. “Fellow ssserpents! We stand before you now with a proposition. I underssstand that many of you do not prefer to live under the desert sun,” he subtly nodded to Acidicus, “and therefore, I suggessst everyone choossse where to live - in the desssert in Ouroboros-”
“If it’s still there,” someone in the crowd snarked.
“-or go with Acidicusss to the Toxic Bogs,” Skales continued, ignoring the interruption.
“But where would we go if Ouroboros isss gone?” someone asked.
“Or, what if we don’t wanna live in the ssswamp OR Ouroborosss?” someone else spoke up.
Murmurs moved through the crowd as Skales rose up on his tail. He had opened his mouth to get people to quiet down before he was interrupted, but this time, by an unfamiliar voice.
“If you seek a home elsewhere,” someone rumbled, “I can certainly provide that.”
Every snake turned to see who it was. At the mouth of the cave was a pitch black figure, with white markings, tall antlers, and four arms. Lord Garmadon smirked, shifting so that all four Golden Weapons were on full view. His smirk was all teeth - a thinly veiled threat. Behind him, a crowd of skeletons gathered, observing the snakes with pinpricks of light in their sockets.
“Lord Garmadon?” someone exclaimed as hushed whispers spread through the group. Garmadon and the Serpentine had not interacted much, other than when he invaded their hideout to steal back the Fangblades with the ninja. To the others, he was still a myth.
To those old enough to remember, he was a vexing man who turned traitor on them at the last moment and condemned them to their fates underground.
“I have not been myself as of late,” Garmadon sighed, shaking his head. “However, it is time for me to finally take control of Jago for good. I figured I’d come here, to see if I could recruit any living blood.” The skeleton army behind him snickered.
“We do not wish for conquessst,” Skales snapped. “We only wish to live peacefully.”
“Who died and put you in charge?” someone asked sarcastically, and Skales suppressed the urge to groan when he saw Mezmo, smirking up at him.
Some snakes seemed to agree, exchanging looks and nods. Skales hissed in alarm. Were these all the Pythor loyalists?”
“Do not follow him!” Skales snapped. “Lassst time you followed sssomeone with dreamsss of conquest, the Great One rose!”
Garmadon gave him a look. He looked bored . “You want a home? Not in the desert, not in the swamps? I’ll give you a home!” He pointed his scythe towards the desert, at the scraps of wood in the sand. Golden energy swirled around him, the weapons, and the scraps of wood. He seemed to mutter something under his breath, in words no one could hear or understand.
And the snakes watched as sand swept up, and out of the tornado, they could see the scraps of wood piecing together, forming new connections, like a quickly healing wound. Sand turned into stone and metal, and the sandstorm whirled around it, solidifying shapes in the air.
And then the sand faded away, leaving a beautiful ship in its wake. The same flying ship the Fangpyre had seen when chasing the ninja through the desert.
Garmadon groaned, taking a knee, using the sword and scythe to keep himself even remotely upright. He panted, and the gold around him faded. Still, he pushed himself up and, through heavy breaths, grinned. “Behold! The power of Creation!”
Amazed whispers echoed through the crowd. The power of Creation was a sight to behold.
Skales, however, wasn’t fooled. “Are you all SSSERIOUSLY going to follow a mad warlord into world domination?” he snapped. “Are you going to blindly follow him becaussse he had a fancy spell!?”
“It’s alright if you choose to not to follow me,” Garmadon hummed, speaking in a tone that definitely did not sound like it was alright. “You will only lose out on glory and power and security . Oh, and, a home that isn’t a pile of sandstone or toxic sludge.”
The skeleton army, as he spoke, cheered and boarded the ship. And to the leaders’ horror, about a dozen or so snakes left the crowd and ran to the ship. “Covards,” Fangtom sneered.
“Did they learn nothing from Pythor?” Acidicus hissed.
“Clearly not,” Skales sighed. Still, he was happy that it was only a select few Serpentine that decided to defect. Though… he looked over at Mezmo, happily exploring the ship, and a pit grew in his stomach. There were powerful snakes on board that ship of Garmadon’s.
The ship's engines came to life, fire bursting from them as they flew into the air and began to fly to the right of the cave. Skales sighed and decided to take initiative. They needed to explore Ouroboros, or what remained of it.
Meanwhile, on the ship, the snakes and skeletons mingled. Garmadon counted a good 16 snakes that came with him, which was admittedly worse than he hoped. They were supposed to crave war, where was their warlike spirit?!
A Hypnobrai slid up to him. There was a certain bloodthirst in his eyes, which Garmadon could appreciate. “If you do not mind me asssking, your Eminence,” he began, “why are we heading away from the city? Sssurely, with the Golden Weapons in hand, you could kill thossse ninja within minutesss!”
Garmadon smirked at the use of a proper title, but didn’t keep the smile on his face for long. He focused on steering the ship in a specific direction. “Because they have my son, and it is written that he will one day defeat me. What good would turning Jago into my own image be when that victory would be fleeting?”
Mezmo was silent, not completely understanding the weight behind those words. He, instead, nodded and shuffled back.
A Skulkin, who was in the hangar with them, smiled. “Why don’t we just kill your son then?”
Garmadon saw red, and seconds later, the Skulkin was nothing more than a pile of dust on the floor. “ NEVER INSINUATE THAT AGAIN, ” he snarled. The hangar was silent as Garmadon composed himself. “My son will NOT be harmed. No matter what. But killing those pesky brats and my brother would prevent him from ever reaching his full potential and defeating me.” It would halt it, in any case. Perhaps he would be able to defeat him in a few years, when he was old enough. In the meanwhile, Garmadon would try and stall as much as he can.
Mezmo looked at the other snake in the room, a Fangpyre named Sui. They both quickly kneeled, looking up at the angry warlord. “Then… why are we heading away from them?” Sui asked quietly.
Garmadon whipped back around to the steering wheel and tilted it slightly to the left. “Because we are flying to the Golden Peaks, birthplace of the Golden Weapons. Even they have secrets yet to be unlocked. And once I uncover their full potential, nothing will stand in our way.”
The snakes exchanged nervous looks, but quickly became excited. “We’ll follow you to the ends of the Realm, my lord,” Mezmo said, tail wagging happily.
Garmadon gave him one spare look, smiling. “Good.” He turned back to the wheel. “You’re dismissed.”
“Yes, Lord Garmadon!” Sui stood, saluted, and ran out of the room. Mezmo hung around just a bit longer, staring longingly at the Golden Weapons. How he longed to hold them, to even stand near them was filling him with wonderful bloodlust.
But he shook those thoughts out of his head as he saluted to Lord Garmadon and left, leaving him and the dust of a Skulkin behind.
-=-
Back in Jago City, Jay was busy fixing up Zane’s face. He hummed as he worked, occasionally spacing and flicking his tongue around Zane’s face. It’s not that it was particularly uncomfortable, but it was… weird. Zane frowned as they looked up at Jay. He was usually so self-conscious of his new snake-like features, but he didn’t even blink at the tongue movements. It was weird, with how spaced out he’s been all day, too.
Jay’s solution to half of Zane’s face being missing was to, essentially, graft it back on, using some of the artificial skin on Zane’s chest panel. One could see the lines between the original skin and the added parts if they looked close, but from afar, it looked normal.
Their voicebox was back to normal, thankfully, with a little tinkering on Jay’s part. “You’ve gotta let me do maintenance on you more often, dude,” Jay had said while working. “You can’t let yourssself go like thisss, your wiresss are ANCIENT. It’sss a miracle you haven’t russsted away to dussst yet.”
With a promise to let Jay do maintenance on them more regularly, Zane let him keep working. The skin taken from his chestplate was actually not too noticeable, as it was in the middle of their torso, and was currently covered in rolls of bandages. Not for any particular reason, but it wasn’t like they had many other options to cover it up and make it a little less obvious that there was a chunk of skin taken from their body. It at least made Zane feel better about it.
Lloyd was outside, talking to the dragons. Zane saw him out of the corner of his eye giving the new green dragon a scratch behind the ear. They were glad he was entertaining himself.
Jay finally sighed and stepped back. “You should be all good now.”
Zane hummed and touched their face. Sure enough, it was mostly smooth skin, with one jarring line down the center. Looking at their own reflection in the window, they could see the line clear as day. They frowned.
Jay frowned too. “Sssorry.”
“No, it’s fine,” Zane mechanically said. They turned back to Jay and smiled. “Thank you for fixing me up.”
Jay blinked and smiled back. “Sssure.”
The door took this moment to slam open, and the house-hunting trio came back with big grins on their faces. Jay jumped and hissed, claws digging into the wall as he clung on.
“Sorry for the scare,” Nya said, “but we got one!”
“Well done!” Zane grinned.
“Yea, but we gotta show up in our ninja gi,” Kai groaned. “We managed to sweet talk the realtor in giving us a spot ahead in line cuz we just saved the city.”
“And then she didn’t even believe us???” Cole complained. “She was all like ‘but Lord Garmadon killed the giant snake!’ Like we’re chopped liver.”
Kai then noticed Zane’s state. “Wow, not bad. You look almost normal!”
Zane chuckled. “Jay did a good job.”
Jay finally unhooked himself from the wall, staring at the others warily (no one knew why he looked wary). He blushed, looking away. “I jussst did my bessst,” he mumbled.
“You said you found a place to stay?” Zane continued.
Nya blinked. “Oh, yea! Here, come on! And put your masks on!”
It took the ninja a little time to convince the dragons to take them to the apartment, where the ones who could talk to them (everyone but Nya, she realized bitterly) were delivered bad news.
“You’re leaving again?” Cole exclaimed, dismayed.
‘I apologize,’ Rocky rumbled. ‘We were only here to drop off Green-Of-A-New-Sprout before we head back home.’
“It’s not faiiiirrrrrrrrr,” Lloyd complained. “I thought we were gonna see the dragons for longer!”
‘I’ll still be here!’ the little green dragon said, flying beside Kai and Flame. As they were fairly small and not used to carrying passengers, Lloyd was forced to ride on Flame’s back.
“Why did you all need to drop them off here?” Zane asked.
‘You needed assistance,’ Shard replied, ‘and Green-Of-A-New-Sprout needed training, much like your own little sprout.’
“So they will train each other?” Zane said.
‘They will make each other better through growing together.’
“I see,” they nodded.
The dragons landed on the roof of an apartment building, and their riders immediately descended to wish them goodbye. “Stay safe,” Kai murmured, running a hand down Flame’s face.
‘We will,’ Flame purred, leaning into the touch.
Jay tilted his head and stuck his tongue out, tasting the air. Wisp chuckled and headbutted him, causing him to laugh too, nuzzling against their soft facial fur.
The four adult dragons eventually parted from their riders, and, with a final farewell, shot into the sky and vanished into a portal. The little green dragon was all that remained, curled up into a ball and letting Lloyd scritch their head.
“C’mon guys,” Kai waved them all to the roof access door. “Let’s go see our possible new home.”
Everyone took their time to recover from the dragons’ departure, but followed Kai down. There, a woman with black hair in a bun and a pink blouse waited. “Oh, you must all be the ninja! And Samurai X, of course,” she added hastily, nodding to Nya. “Follow me, follow me.”
The team exchanged worried looks when they saw the state of the building. The wallpaper was slightly peeling, the carpet underfoot wasn’t in the best state, and the lights overhead flickered. This place looked like it was on its last legs.
Still, the realtor led them to a room a floor below them (with Cole almost falling through the stairs at some point) and opened the door to… the saddest thing they’ve ever seen. The apartment was dingy and musty, with an algae green filter over the entire room. The tech and equipment inside looked thousands of years old. “This one-bedroom, one-half-bath is a cozy dream. Who needs extras when everything is in arm's reach?” The realtor presented the room with the excitement of someone who wasn’t in front of the worst apartment in existence. “Now, wait until you see the lighting!”
She flicked on the light switch, only for the single lightbulb to fall out of its tiny holder and shatter on the floor. Silence reigned as everyone looked at it. The realtor laughed nervously, turning back to them. “Wh- who needs lights when you have this view? ” She headed over to the window and opened the rickety shutters, but the smile fell from her face when she revealed a brick wall behind the dusty glass.
“Uh, why do I smell old people?” Lloyd grimaced, looking around with a glare.
“ This is the apartment you said was ‘perfect’ for us!?” Kai snapped. “We just saved this lousy city!”
“Look, doll, I’m just trying to work around your budget,” the realtor suddenly dropped her nice face, getting snarky. “This is all you can afford.”
Before Kai could fire back at her, Cole grabbed his shoulder. “Red, calm.”
“This is-”
“-certainly something promising, ” Cole cut off his hot-headed friend before he could blow up on their realtor. When Kai finally backed off, Cole sighed. “Remember guys, Master told us our main objective is to train Green, not kick our feet up in some swanky suite. If this is all we can afford, this is all we can afford.”
“We haven’t exactly been getting paid,” Jay commented from the back. He was wisely staying out of sight of the realtor, since he had a tail that was very hard to hide now. He wasn’t like Lloyd; he couldn’t just stuff it in his pants and pretend it doesn’t exist.
“Let's not rush into any decision here,” Nya hummed, leaning against Jay’s shoulder. “I mean, if it's really all about Greenie, don’t we need to live in some place that'll make training easier?”
“She’s right,” Kai nodded. “Kid needs his own room, at least.”
“Technically, that does not matter, he only-” Zane’s statement was cut off by Kai elbowing them in the ribs.
“We’re only thinking of the children, heheh,” Jay chuckled, peering over at the realtor from behind Nya.
The realtor did seem to consider this for a moment, putting a hand on her chin. Then, she brightened and clapped her hands together. “Well, I do have another property that you'll just love .”
With that, she headed out of the shitty apartment, leaving the ninja no choice but to follow. It took them about fifteen minutes of walking to come up to another apartment building, this one looking much sleeker and cleaner.
Riding the elevator up to the top floor, the ninja watched as mechanically sliding doors slowly opened, revealing a gorgeous suite. Everyone gasped in awe as they looked over the giant TV and couch in the living room that was bigger than that entire one-bedroom shithole they saw just fifteen minutes ago. The view of the city from the floor-to-ceiling windows was stunning, casting warm light from the sun into the room.
“Now, this is the eight-bedroom ‘Hero Suite,’” the realtor explained, “with plenty of room to breathe, play video games, and with smart toilets, at that!”
Kai’s awe quickly faded as he realized exactly why this was the polar opposite of the other apartment. “We can’t afford this.”
“Oh, sure it costs a little more, but you deserve it, you mighty heroes,” the realtor said, her voice gaining a sarcastic edge.
“Don’t sssupossse that givesss usss a hero dissscount?” Jay asked.
The realtor finally seemed to notice that Jay was there, and a snake, because her eyes widened and she backed away slightly. “Uh-” she cleared her throat. “I thought that Garmadon saved the city.”
“We helped!” Cole exclaimed.
“You’re lucky you’re even getting this place offered ,” she said hurriedly. “Consider that your hero discount.”
Cole sighed. “Gang, meeting?” he said, pulling them into a little huddle. “This whole apartment is too good to be true,” he muttered.
“Do we have to live in Jago City specifically?” Zane asked. “Would it not be easier to live in a small village on the outskirts of town?”
“We gotta help repair the city,” Cole countered. “We did kind of destroy it.”
“We could get day jobs to pay for rent,” Kai suggested.
“Oh, great, we gotta worry about rent now?” Nya groaned. “I think Zane has a point.”
“Garmadon could come back to take over the city again,” Cole said. “We wanna be here when he does.”
“ If he does,” Lloyd muttered.
Everyone chose to not think about that. “Can’t Wu make usss money?” Jay suggested. “He can make thingsss. Many thingsss.” He leaned into Kai’s warmth, who frowned. What’s up with him?
“He’s careful about using his powers too much,” Cole said.
“We still gotta train the kid,” Kai jerked his head in Lloyd’s direction.
Before anyone could say anything in response, the realtor piped up. “Did I mention the in-house training facility?” She opened a door to reveal a large gym.
This seemed to seal the deal for the ninja, as they all cheered “WE’LL TAKE IT!” in unison. The realtor threw them the keys and bolted out of the room. For some reason, Jay didn’t seem bothered.
The ninja excitedly chattered about the new apartment, even with some of their trepidation. They hurried around the place, exploring it, and quickly claimed which room was theirs. Later, when the sun was setting and the room was painted red and orange, the teens found themselves on the giant couch, playing video games.
Jay hadn’t left Kai’s side since they entered the apartment, happily cozying up to his warmth. It made him feel somewhat uncomfortable, and he managed to wriggle the blue ninja off and into Cole. He didn’t seem to care, though his tail was still wrapped around his leg. Looking at the others didn’t give any clearer answer, as everyone shrugged at their teammate’s strange behavior.
At some point, the apartment doors slid open and Wu entered, the tiny dragon in tow, sniffing everything in sight. Wu’s eyebrows raised as he looked over the apartment. “Very… classy.”
“Ain’t it?” Cole grinned.
“This is gonna cost us a pretty penny though,” Kai sighed. He paused the game. “We’re gonna get jobs.”
“It will teach us all responsibility, at the very least,” Zane added.
Wu smiled and nodded. “Not an awful idea. Here,” he held out a few large bags. “I bought you all various necessities.”
The teens cheered and got up, thanking their teacher for the purchase. In the bags were toothbrushes, toothpaste, and several different types of clothing. All a group of kids would need.
Jay and Nya remained on the couch, mostly because the former was wrapped around the latter. She frowned and raised a hand. “Uh, Master Wu? Something’s up with Jay.”
Wu immediately headed over, leaving the bags behind. “Is everything alright?” He placed a hand on Jay’s forehead.
He opened his eyes and stared unnervingly at Wu, watching him as he checked his temperature. Nya began running a hand through her boyfriend’s hair. “He’s been kinda… spacey all day. More than normal. And a bit quiet.”
“His temperature is fine,” Wu said. “Perhaps he is simply exhausted from yesterday.”
“We all are,” Cole grumbled, stretching. “But it’s barely sunset.”
“All the more reason to get some rest,” Wu got up and began to explore the apartment. “You must all wake up early tomorrow to seek out employment.”
“Yes, Master,” everyone droned.
They did not end up going to bed, just going back to playing video games, but it was Jay who began to nod off first. Nya smiled, still playing with his hair. “Let’s get you to bed, Jaybird.”
And then she felt it. In his hair, along his skull, was a small hard bump.
Jay made a little noise of protest as Cole slid his hands under him, trying to pry him out of Nya’s arms. She was still as she processed what she just felt .
Cole disappeared into the rest of the apartment, then came back a few minutes later. “He’s tucked into bed,” he smirked. “Sleepy little thing.”
“I felt something,” Nya blurted out. Suddenly all attention was on her. “On his head. There was a bump.”
There was quiet in the room. “What does that mean?” Zane asked.
“I don’t know,” Nya twiddled with her fingers. And she truly didn’t. Something was wrong with Jay, and no one knew what it was.
It was a few hours later when the ninja would find out what was wrong. Deadly, deadly wrong.