Chapter Text
- Once Bitten, Twice as Shy -
"How are you, Moon?" - Nya asked the girl.
"Uhm... a little sore after the Treehorns fight. I didn’t expect they could absorb aura," - she replied, stretching.
Nya smiled to herself, happy that Moon was speaking more now, opening up.
"Well, I made a small discovery—actually, it wasn’t me, but anyway. Come on, the others will be there too," - Nya said with a smile.
But as quickly as it came, Moon fell silent again, though she followed her.
"Some villagers dug up remains of this Fangpyre a few miles from here," - Nya said as she pulled the cover off the said remains. - "It belongs to the Golden Era. Must be hundreds of years old. Although the venom in Fangpyre cells transforms human cells into reptilian ones, I discovered a way to interrupt the effects without needing to create an antidote." - All the ninjas, except for Moon and Jay, were paying attention to Nya’s words—Jay was just staring at her like a love-struck pigeon, and Moon was listening closely. - "If you increase your heart rate enough, in theory, you can reverse the venom’s effects, resulting in less—" - Nya was starting to sound odd, her cheeks redder. -
"Excuse me! Is someone here wearing perfume? I’m super allergic to perfume!" -.
"Ah! You told me it was cologne!" - Jay murmured angrily at Kai.
Moon watched from the corner of her eye.
(I don’t need to use aura to see what’s going on here. I wonder how long it’ll take... if the other side accepts it, of course.) -.
"I mix them up," - Kai shrugged.
The boys, except Jay, started laughing, amused by Kai’s joke.
Zane fist-bumped Kai before turning off his humor function.
"Looks like class is over," - Zane and Cole stood up with their books. - "Time to stomp some snakes before they find the Fang Blades!" -.
"Sounds like a good plan," - Kai smiled.
"I’m happy to help!" - Zane said in his usual cheerful tone.
Moon stood up, giving one last glance at her notes. She just gave a nod before leaving. Jay was the only one who stayed behind, as far as she could tell.
[Unknown Location]
"Hello, brother. What took you so long? I brought the katana from our youth. Funny. You never had the courage to cross the temple wall, but now you dare come here?" - Garmadon asked Sensei Wu.
"But why did you come here, to this place of darkness?" - Sensei Wu questioned him.
"A place as disturbed as I am? Isn’t it obvious?! Here, I feel at home. In Ninjago, I was physically incapable of wielding the Spinjitzu Weapons, but here... the dark magic made me stronger, and what was once impossible is now possible!" - He turned around fiercely.
"Ah! You came all the way here just to get the Spinjitzu Weapons?!" - Sensei Wu sounded very surprised.
"That’s right, brother. And I refuse to let you or your little ninjas get in the way!" - In his four hands appeared different weapons.
Garmadon charged at Wu, who defended himself and tried to counter, but ended up being pushed into a mud-covered area. Wu attempted to use his Spinjitzu to escape, but was surrounded by bizarre mud monsters.
"Brother! I didn’t come here to fight...!" - Wu tried to say, but it was useless.
"You’ll pay for this visit! Mud monsters, converge!" - Garmadon commanded, pointing his weapons at Wu.
Wu tried to escape, but it was completely in vain.
"This isn’t your place, old fool! You shouldn’t have tried to stop me!" - Garmadon exclaimed maliciously.
"I didn’t come to stop you. I came to warn you. To tell you..." - He was swallowed, but had enough strength to resurface - "Your son is in danger!" -.
"Lloyd?" - Despite being a villain, a dark lord, in his black and ravaged heart, he still held compassion and love for his son.
Garmadon quickly pulled Wu out of the mud monsters, desperate to know what happened to his son and why Moon wasn’t doing her job.
"Where did Lloyd get himself into? And why isn’t Moon watching over him like I ordered?" - Garmadon asked, sighing in frustration.
"He opened a can of worms that I fear may never be closed," - Sensei Wu explained.
"You mean we’ll never close it? Get up," = Garmadon helped him = "I want you to tell me more. First, we need to go back. How did you find me?" -.
"Pilgrim’s Tea. But I used it all, I have no way to return," - Wu explained.
"There’s only one path back to Ninjago, but to reach it, we need to pass through the Mountains of Madness. It’s a long and dangerous path," - Garmadon said.
"I expected nothing less," - Wu nodded.
"We need to go before night fully falls," - Garmadon led the way.
"After all, what happened? The last time I saw her was when she and Master Aaron went to defend the Jungle Realm." - Wu questioned.
That question had been bouncing around Wu’s head for a while, and he hadn’t asked Moon, knowing she’d never answer.
"Turns out Master Aaron was very careless and left his things lying around. I just wonder why that useless girl isn’t doing her job properly," - Garmadon grumbled the last part.
Sensei Wu frowned at his words.
[ Back in Ninjago ]
Moon was walking down the hallway, heading to the command room, but felt a mysterious disturbance in the air.
She closed her eyes and activated her aura vision.
(Seems like it’s the Blue Ninja? That’s strange...) - Jay’s aura was very unsettled and seemed odd - (Because of his date with Nya? No... seems to be another reason.) -.
For now, she chose to stay silent and observe — it wasn’t exactly her place to get involved. Moon arrived at the room and ended up standing next to Cole, who was distracted with something.
"Ah! You scared me, Moon!" - Cole jumped a bit - "Don’t sneak up like that." -.
Moon stayed quiet, her attention now on Jay, who had just arrived wearing gloves and a scarf.
(In this heat? He’s going to roast.) - She was confused by his choice of clothes.
"Whoa, where are you off to all dressed up?" - Cole asked with a grin.
"Haven’t you heard? I’m taking Nya to a super fancy restaurant!" - Jay was practically bragging.
"I don’t want to ruin your vibe, but you’ll need to change your plans. The bridge just picked up evidence of serpents at the Mega-Monster Amusement Park," - Kai said, pointing to the screen.
Moon looked at the image of Pythor with hidden anger.
"Dude, it’s Pythor!" -.
"He’s not there for fun. We believe there’s a Fang Blade buried under the park," - Zane explained.
"We can’t let him take it!" - Jay shouted, determined, but then remembered the date - "B-but my date..." -.
"Jay, if Pythor finds them all, he’ll release the Great Devourer. Think about what’s more important," - Kai advised.
Jay seemed deep in thought, and Moon stepped away for now. She sensed Nya returning to base in her samurai suit.
"I have some news… mostly bad ones," - Moon said as Nya landed.
"Okay, just give me a moment," - she said, taking off her belt.
"Oh Nya, you’re here?" - Jay was about to enter, but Moon easily held the door shut.
"Better not go in, Blue Ninja, she’s getting dressed," - Moon said as he tried again to open the door.
"Moon? What are you doing there?!" - Jay asked, surprised.
"She’s helping me! Getting ready!" - Nya quickly replied.
"Oh, right, it’s just... I wanted to talk about our date..." - Jay sounded nervous.
Nya quickly hid all her samurai gear in the wardrobe.
"So, I read some reviews of the restaurant..." -.
"Snakes at the Mega-Monster Park?" - Nya looked at Moon, still standing against the door.
She just nodded, indicating the news was about that, though her presence turned out to be unnecessary. Nya nodded back.
"You know... I think we should cancel," - Jay said as Moon stepped away and opened the door.
"Cancel? You’re canceling on me?" - Nya looked disappointed.
"No! No! I just... wanted to know if you’d rather go to the Mega-Monster Park?" - Jay asked.
"Seriously? That would be perfect! But aren’t you a little overdressed?" - Nya asked.
Moon spotted her helmet and quickly hid it, like the stealthy ninja she was.
"You know what? Sounds fun!" - Nya stepped behind a divider - "I’ll get changed." -.
"I was thinking of bringing my Storm Glider(?)" - Jay said.
"Sounds good," - Nya said, emerging from behind the divider, already changed - "I’m all yours." -.
Moon handed her the bag, already with her helmet inside.
"I’ll head out first. See you soon, Nya... Blue Ninja," - Moon walked past without looking back.
"How did you two become friends?" - Jay asked, surprised.
"She’s really understanding and pretty cool, once you get to know her." - Nya hooked her arm with Jay’s.
Jay smiled, and they went on their way.
[ Mega-Monster Park ]
Moon, in her Purple Ninja outfit, was with the others at the park.
"So, where are they?" - Kai asked Moon.
"Inside the haunted ride," - she replied with her eyes closed.
Right on cue, people came running out in panic.
"Venomari venom," - Zane concluded.
"Should we call Jay?" - Kai asked.
"Oh, let’s not bother the lovebirds. We can handle this," - Cole shrugged.
The ninjas moved forward. Kai politely entered through the entrance, but Moon chose to jump the fence — fewer people there, less hassle.
"This is official ninja business!" -.
They arrived, and Kai lit up his sword. Zane took a stance with his shurikens. Cole raised his scythe. Moon twirled her staff.
"The aura coming from that blade..." - Moon widened her eyes.
It was a strong, intense aura, full of malice and poison. It shook her a little, but Lord Garmadon’s aura was a thousand times worse.
"Not so fast!" - Kai called out threateningly.
"Oh seriously? That’s your best line?" - Cole sighed.
"Well, I didn’t think of anything better," - Kai explained.
"What about something like, 'Time to Burn!' or 'Jump into the Fire!'?" - Cole suggested.
"Oh yeah? Then next time, it’s your turn," - Kai huffed.
"Count on it," - Cole replied arrogantly.
Zane just watched, and Moon rolled her eyes.
"Only if you can keep up." -.
"You should be the one keeping up." -.
"Seriously? When are you two going to stop joking and act like ninjas, Red Ninja, Black Ninja?" - Moon raised an eyebrow - "You’ve even given them time to get ready." -.
She pointed at the serpents now armed and waiting.
"Ugh..." - Kai and Cole had no words.
Moon shook her head. The ninjas charged, Moon following last and landing a solid hit on the snakes with her staff.
People in the ride carts watched the scene in confusion.
"Watch and learn, brothers," - Zane activated his True Potential, glowing white.
"No! Wait! It’s still—" - Moon didn’t have time to finish.
The ninjas were frozen by Zane’s power.
"Oops..." -.
The snakes laughed hard. Moon focused her aura, managing to break the ice — freeing one of her hands.
The snakes fled, knowing the Purple Ninja wouldn’t be stuck long.
"Aghr!" - She managed to break the ice fully - "You shouldn’t use your True Potential if you barely know how to control it." -.
She started breaking the others free with her Golden Staff, aura infused, making it easier.
"I’m sorry..." - Zane was the first freed, followed by Cole and Kai.
Obviously, it took some time.
"Even I know I don’t control mine well, why do you think I train so much?" - Moon asked.
Indeed, she trained more than any of them, even at night. The ninjas felt ashamed, especially Zane.
"Whatever happened, is in the past," - Moon dashed out of the ride - "We need to stop those serpents!" -.
That lifted the ninjas’ spirits, and they followed. As they exited, Moon gave a slight smile, but it quickly faded.
(Blue Ninja has unlocked his True Potential... Only two more to go...) - She was satisfied. Beating them while weak wasn’t fun.
"You fooled me well. I never imagined you were the Samurai," - Zane said, surprised.
"I wish I had a sister like you," - Cole’s words made Nya smile.
Moon just nodded.
"Technically, I was the first to discover the secret. Didn’t we agree whoever found out would be the Green Ninja?" - Kai said proudly - "The Green Ninja destined to defeat Lord Garmadon!"
"Actually... Moon found out first," = Nya said suddenly = "She’s known for a while and helped me from time to time." -.
"What—?! Oh... Right. I remember now..." - Kai sighed, disappointed.
The others, except Moon, laughed.
"Anyway, I don’t remember saying anything like that," - Jay crossed his arms.
"Yeah, nothing like that’s in my database," - Zane concluded.
"And even so, I could never be the Green Ninja." -.
"Well, you know what I learned today? No matter what kind of secret you have, whether it’s being a serpent or a samurai, what matters is being yourself," - Jay declared.
(No matter the kind of secret, what matters is being yourself? Interesting words, Blue Ninja) - Moon reflected for a moment.
"Aw, how sweet. You know what I learned? The serpents got the first Fang Blade," - Cole said sarcastically.
"But we’re getting stronger. Soon we’ll reach our True Potential and stop Pythor," - Zane said confidently.
"Yes. But strength means nothing if you can’t control it," - Moon added.
"Right. We have to train more then," - Zane nodded in agreement.
"And we figured this out without the Sensei. Not bad for five Ninjas," - Nya gave Jay a look and patted his shoulder - "And one Samurai." -.
"I wonder how the Sensei is now..." - Kai pondered.
"Wherever he is, Wu is okay," - Moon replied.