The Becket household was an interesting mix of complicated emotions leading up to the National Performing Arts Competition. Naturally, Liu was still barrelling on ahead with all of his ideas and schemes, absolutely sure that they could “figure it out somehow,” meanwhile everyone else was being dragged along and very slowly wearing down. Kai never ever, EVER, wanted to see the inside of a dance studio EVER again for as long as he lived. He also never wanted to see himself in the monkey-suit that Liu called a tuxedo ever agin. The costume was not complete, of course, until he had a top hat and cane which he, Zane, Keaton, and Jay would be using as props during the show.
Somehow, against all odds and despite the long three weeks of training and numerous mishaps, such as Jay tripping and falling into the stereo or Cole nearly dropping Ann during one of their aerials, the floor show actually seemed to be coming together. At the very least, they didn’t stink.
The town was quickly becoming a beehive of activity, with the Performing Arts Centre being dressed up and prepared for the night of the competition, tourists arriving to see the show live, not to mention the performers themselves, plus friends and families, and all the news stations who had come to cover the events, all the while, more Winter Fest decorations were going up, the snow sculptors were already half-way done with their masterpieces, food businesses were ordering twice their usual ingredients supplies, and everyone was counting down the days until the last week of December. Even the ninja team had been getting wrapped up in holiday spirit, although, truth be told, it was mostly Keaton, Nya, and Jay. The three of them had, over the course of their stay in Brookeside, become something a regular trio, singing carols, playing board games, and watching movies when they had the time. Nya and Keaton had been spending more time together since Ann was usually occupied with extra long rehearsals and evenings spent sitting on the back porch, alone, and Jay had joined them, because… well, the other three guys knew exactly why, but Ann couldn’t understand it for the life of her.
The evening meal had become a little less awkward as the month had worn on and everyone began to find their place in the conversation. Nya and Ann were still acting a bit stiff toward each other, but they hadn’t actively gone at each other since that first night, much to everyone’s relief. Instead, it seemed that Ann was backing off from the group as a whole, while Nya only became more and more active. Perhaps it was because of this that Jay had also become more involved. Who could say. Definitely not Ann.
The older members of the group had decided that after the almost-run-in with the police the other day, they should go into town as little as possible, much to the chagrin of the younger members who had been looking forward to more shopping and sightseeing, but even without the police on their tail, their rehearsals would keep them too busy for personal trips. The sight of the news vans and tv cameras did have them on alert, though; another reason why Ann was in favour of bailing on the performance altogether, but Cole had come up with a decent safety net. He had asked his dad if perhaps they could add costume masks to their wardrobe, and he had exploded at the idea. He then wrote down a laundry list of ways they could implement the masks, from animal themes to royalty to fairytale characters and goodness-knows-what-else. Cole was almost sorry he had suggested it as Liu then went on about how happy he was that his son was actually getting invested in the show after nearly two whole weeks of passive-aggressive complaining. Nya was decidedly less happy, though, to find out that they had yet another thing to take care of before the night of the performance, and threw several dirty looks in Cole and Liu’s directions the following night.
The final details, such as the painted backdrop and the tailoring on the costumes, had all been finished by various friends of Liu throughout the community, the performance itself was completely memorised, although as Liu noted, it could still use some polish, and a gentle snow had begun to fall.
Then… it was time.
In the morning, Liu would take the group to be registered at the Performing Arts Centre, which would hopefully be their chance to sneak around and find the Blade Cup. If they couldn’t do it then, for whatever reason, then they would have another chance the day after, which was the competition proper. After that, the centre would be cleared out to make way for the Winter Fest play that was scheduled to perform the day of the festival, and the trophy would be sent back into protected storage.
The teens were gathered on the back porch, huddled up close to a fancy fire pit. It was late into the night, after they were sure that Liu would be asleep, and they were finalising their plans for the next two days.
“There’ll be security crawling all over the place,” Cole was explaining. “Not to mention, there’ll be people and cameras everywhere. The trophy is usually only on display during the night of the competition, and I have no idea where it’s stored before then, but if I’d have to guess, I’d say behind lots of locked doors.”
Ann rubbed her hands together and placed them closer to the fire. “Keaton, would you be up for another undercover mission?”
“I don’t know…” she said, tugging on one of her ponytails. “This isn’t exactly like reconnaissance. It might be better if someone who looked more like an adult could sneak in, pretending to be a staff member or something.”
“Mmm, good point. Zane? How comfortable would you be sneaking backstage?” Ann asked, leaning forward in her seat.
“I’ll do my best,” he said confidently.
“Good. Remember, you just need to get in, confirm it’s real, grab it, and get out.”
“Isn’t this, kinda, you know, illegal?” Nya asked, rubbing her neck. “I mean, if we’re caught, the IBI will be on us in a heartbeat, AND we’ll have a criminal record. I dunno, it just feels like a lot to risk for a knife.”
“If the Serpentine are after it, then it must be important. We need to find out why,” said Zane calmly.
“Besides, the Zikipedia article for the Blade Cup was a total dead end. What else are we supposed to do?” Cole asked.
Nya looked as though she were really trying to come up with an answer, but she inevitably let out an exasperated sigh of defeat. “Just… be careful, okay?”
“Don’t worry,” Jay said, reclining in his chair. “We’ve gotten in and out of far worse places.”
“Don’t remind me,” Nya shivered.
“Well,” said Ann, drawing everyone’s attention again. “The easiest disguise would be the staff. You just need to swipe someone’s badge”
“I have a bag you can use to carry the blade once you get it,” Cole offered. “It’ll look like you’re just moving back stage supplies or something.”
“Keaton, did you scout out the area around the centre?” Ann asked.
“Yup. There’s a good spot to hide the bag, around back and across the street, between the dumpsters.”
“Excellent. Once you’ve retrieved the blade, you’ll drop it off there and then rejoin the group. We’ll go back for it after the heat has died down.” Ann rubbed her hands together again.
“That’s it?” Jay asked. Everyone looked at him. “I mean, you know, it just seems too easy.
“Hey, as long we don’t actually have to get up on that stage and do the can-can, I’m good,” said Kai, his sock-covered feet propped up dangerously close to the fire.
“Agreed. The publicity would also be an issue,” Ann added.
Keaton gave a tiny pout. “But we worked so hard on our dance. You mean to tell me I got all these blisters and bruises for nothing?”
“Sorry, Keaton,” said Cole. “But the sooner we get out of here, the better.”
“And what about the Winter Fest?”
Everyone seemed to squirm in their seats a little bit as the reality of what was about to happen truly sunk in.
“Keat, with the blade being stolen, there may not even be a Winter Fest,” Ann explained slowly. “The police will shut down at least the Performing Arts Centre, and even if they let the festivities continue as normal, we’ll be heading out of town as soon as humanly possible.”
Her face became stony, but her eyes still fell and her shoulders still slumped.
“I understand,” she mumbled.
“Aw, cheer up, half-pint,” Jay said, hugging her shoulder a bit. “We had a lot of fun these past few weeks.”
“Yeah,” Kai laughed. “Like you, running into the sound system? That was fun.”
“Heh. At least I don’t look like an ostrich passing gas.” Jay’s smirk was the biggest, smuggest smirk possibly ever recorded in Ninjagian history.
“Or a delicate breeze, swishing its hips!” Nya chortled. Kai’s face was growing more red by the minute and he slumped down further in his chair, his arms crossed.
“It’s not my fault that dancing is for sissies,” he grumbled. Then he caught Cole’s eye. “No offence.”
Cole shrugged. It was exactly the kind of response he was used to and expected, even from his friends. It definitely didn’t bother him, not one tiny bit. Why would it? It was only the exact same insult he had heard over and over again ever since he was five years old. But that was neither here nor there. He was just glad that they would be leaving town soon.
“We’ll have to remember to thank Mr. Becket one day,” said Zane, eyeing his friends. “He put an awful lot of work into this routine.”
“Yeah, I guess he did,” Jay agreed.
“Tgh! Yeah, and I did over half of it,” Nya grumbled.
“Oh, yeah, absolutely,” Jay agreed. He sheepishly smiled. “You were, uh, you were really great at it all, too.”
“Oh, stop it, it was just a lot of paperwork and phone calls,” Nya said, swatting his compliment away.
“But you answer the phone really well,” Jay insisted, his cheeks turning just a slightly brighter shade of red.
“On an unrelated note, does anyone have a crowbar?” Kai suddenly asked.
Cole cleared his throat. “ANYway… once we have the blade, what are we gonna do with it?”
Kai straightened. “Well, I could take a look at it and maybe tell you something. My dad used to work with all kinds of different weapons, new and antique, there’s gotta be a clue I can find somewhere on it.”
Ann nodded. “Mm. And beyond that, we simply keep it as far away from the Serpentine as possible.”
“But, like, if there are two of these things, do you think there’s more? Like, what if there’s one for every Serpentine tribe, or something?” Nya pointed out.
“Until we can ascertain their purpose, that is inconsequential,” said Zane. “Besides, we should return to the caves and await Sensei Wu’s return. The blade will be safe there.”
“Back to the caves…” Jay sighed.
“Goodbye jet tub…” said Keaton.
“Hello freezing creek water,” Nya finished.
The three of them let out a collective breath and Ann scrunched up her face. “Oh come on, it’s not that bad.” The youngest three just frowned at her. “Okay, so it’s kind of a pain dealing with the bugs in your shoes and the freezing cold and the rationed food, but those are still perfectly liveable conditions.”
“Oh, I didn’t even think about the food!” Jay moaned. “No more bacon or noodles or fried eggs! Why is life so cruel?!”
“Ugh! I don’t want to go back to checking my shoes for scorpions every morning,” Nya sobbed.
“Or sleeping on bumpy rocks that make it impossible to get a good night’s rest,” Keaton added.
“Or little old lady soaps and rutabaga bath bombs!” Kai said in high-pitched mock agreement, wiping a fake tear from his eye.
“Oh! The soaps!” Nya cried. “I’d forgotten that my hair could be this clean!”
“I’ve never smelled so nice in my whole life!” Jay agreed.
Cole, Ann, and Zane watched with blank expressions as they continued their bellyaching for well over a minute, Kai jumping in every now and then just to mock them.
“Well, I think I’ve seen enough,” said Ann, and she got up to leave. “See you all bright and early. Goodnight.”
Cole waved and then turned back to the rest of the group. He smiled and shook his head, wondering where these knuckleheads came from. “Alright, we get it, you’re really gonna miss it here.”
“I don’t know how you CAN’T miss it here!” Keaton exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air. “It’s got a jet tub!”
“Yeah, well, home is more than just fancy toys.” He took a breath, thinking back to all the adventures he’d had with these guys, even just recently. It hadn’t been perfect, but it was close enough. “This is gonna sound really sappy, but…” Cole looked around at them all and smiled again. “Over the last year… you guys have kinda become my new home. So I don’t need a jet tub to feel happy. …I just need you.”
“Awww,” Keaton cooed.
“Boo,” said Kai. “Get better material, you sentimental Mole”
Cole chuckled at the ground and looked around again. “Okay, I will, as soon as you stop being such a curmudgeonly old man, Sizzle Fingers.”
“Sizzle Fingers?!” Kai repeated, his eyebrows shooting up. “Excuse you, my fingers do not ‘sizzle.’ Who came up with that? Was it you, Nya?”
Cole watched as the chaos unfolded further, and they laughed together for a solid hour. The Becket house hadn’t felt like this in a long time, but he was glad that it was now. It made it easier to be back. Just a little bit.
* * *
The morning of registration dawned over a cloudy, foggy, snowy Brookeside, and the ninja were already wide awake. They were dressed, finishing breakfast, and in a few minutes, they would be driving over to the Performing Arts Centre to retrieve the blade from the Blade Cup without anyone—especially Liu—noticing.
Speaking of Liu, he was uncharacteristically late for breakfast that morning. He seemed, to Cole, a little disheveled, which was rarely a good sign.
“Alright, everyone ready?” He announced after their plates were put in the sink. “Nya, do you have the backdrop?”
“Got it,” she wheezed, holding up a very long, rolled up piece of canvas.
“And I’ve got the music,” he finished, more to himself than anyone else. Everything was ready. They were simply waiting for Mr. Becket to lead them out to the car. Only, he didn’t move. He just kept fiddling with something in one of his coat pockets.
“What’s up, dad?” Cole asked after a minute.
Liu breathed in and let a very slow and methodical sigh. “I just… I wanted to let you all know how very proud I am. Of each of you. I understand that this routine was a lot to prepare for, and I know that I can be rather pushy when I want to be…” He took another breath. “I suppose what I’m attempted to say is… if you wish to bow out now… I won’t hold it against you.”
“No!” Several people cried at once.
“Dad, heh, it’s fine, really,” Cole tried to say as smoothly as possible. Liu stared at him, just as surprised as Cole felt.
“We’re happy to do it,” Jay lied.
“We’re gonna win this thing!” Keaton declared with both hands in the air.
Liu looked around the room and smiled. “Oh, you all have no idea how much it means to hear you say that. It’s been… so lonely around here… I…” he fiddled with his cane, “Thank you.” Then he turned toward his son. “Cole… I’m glad you came home.” The older gentleman swooped in for a hug and Cole stared off into the distance as he distractedly wrapped his arms around his father. Then he swallowed. This was the first time in very long time that Cole had seen him like this, giving open praise and getting emotional… but Liu wouldn’t be saying that in a few hours when the Blade Cup would mysteriously go missing. Worse yet, he would be saying something else entirely if he ever found out that Cole and his friends were the ones responsible.
Liu pulled back and seemed to return to his old self. “Right then. Let’s get moving! The show must go on!”
Out into the driveway they went and piled into a very nice mini van. Cole remained dead silent throughout the ride.
The Performing Arts Centre loomed above them as they wove into the thick crowd and entered the building. Just as planned, Cole watched Zane break apart from the group and easily disappear. He could only wait in line with the others and hope that the mission would be a success.
* * *
Zane spotted two staff members having a rather heated conversation with a group of what looked like fire jugglers up ahead. This was the perfect opportunity to grab a key card. He casually walked by, looking to all the world like some random citizen looking for a bathroom, and when he walked by the men, he snagged one of their cards as if it were a leaf on a bush.
He kept walking, looking for a door that would lead further into the building. There was a double door up ahead with dozens of important-looking people passing through. On he went.
Now, finding the trophy without looking like someone who didn’t belong would be tricky. First of all, he never broke stride and always appeared to know exactly where he was going; as long as you seemed like you were supposed to be somewhere, others would believe it. Second of all, he needed to keep his ears and eyes open for any clues as to the trophy’s whereabouts.
“…apparently the Flaming Four are back again this year…” someone was saying as they passed by.
“Hey, can I get I hand over here?”
“…and those lights needed to be up two hours ago.”
“…I’m on my way, just give me a…”
“Does anyone know where Kevin is?”
“Tell Mr. Fettermen that it’s waiting in room 65. Mmhmm. That’s right,” said a woman in a business suit as she passed, talking into her cellphone. Zane’s ears pricked up. “Yes, it needs to polished before the end of the day.”
It wasn’t a lot to go on, but it was better than nothing. He changed course and started looking for room 65. Eventually, he found a long hallway of what looked like dressing rooms and counted the numbers printed on the doors. 63… 64… 65! It was locked with a key pad, but Zane simply pulled out his borrowed key card and it unlocked easily. With a quick tug, he opened the door… and froze as he stared at the sight in front of him.
* * *
Cole couldn’t stop tapping his foot as the the line crawled forward at a snail’s pace. He would greatly prefer it if they could get off the premises as quickly as possible.
“You seem excited,” Liu commented.
“Hmm?” Cole asked, having completely missed what he said.
“You’re all jittery,” said Liu with a laugh. “I haven’t seen you like this since your fifth grade performance. Remember, with—“
“Franny Boyle, I remember,” Cole forced out, debating whether or not to let himself be distracted, or remain completely vigilant.
“Odd young lady, she was. Although, a remarkable dancer considering her lack of three toes.”
Cole was tuning him out now. He just couldn’t stop thinking about the alarms that were sure to sound, the guards who would close down the centre, and all the police who would show up. They only had two more groups in front of them, and then it would be their turn to register at the front desk. Now if only the guy with the trained monkey would hurry up.
* * *
Zane blinked as he stared into room 65. There was the trophy—a big, bulky, golden cup with a curved blade sticking out of it—and around eight or so Serpentine trying to fit it through a window. There were three Hypnobrai, two Constrictai, and three Fangpyres. As long as he avoided getting bitten or strangled, this should be a piece of cake. Hopefully.
After the deer-in-the-headlights moment passed, Zane slammed the door shut behind him and shot out a blast of ice that knocked him back up against the wall. Thankfully, it had also incapacitated the three Hypnobrai.
The Constrictai were slower than their more brightly coloured brethren, but they still managed to slither to Zane’s side in a blink of an eye and one of them had its coils wrapped around his arm before Zane could get away. As he froze the monster’s tail, the other Constrictai and the Fangpyres moved in on all sides. He couldn’t risk setting off another insanely overpowered blast. He had to rely on his combat skills.
Instinct took over. With the tail of the first Constrictai frozen, Zane broke it off like an icicle and used it like a boxing glove as he punched an approaching Fangpyre in the eye, followed by a split-second dodge as he tried to avoid a set of fangs that nearly bit his head off. He grabbed the snake’s neck and used its momentum to push it forward strait into the second Constrictai, then his legs gave out from underneath him.
In a blur, Zane was on the floor, staring up at the third Fangpyre who was licking its lips. It gave a loud hiss and struck, but Zane rolled out of the way just in time to be grabbed by the leg by the Constrictai, who had apparently gotten up. Without thinking, he grabbed hold of a chair and threw it at his assailant, who gave a mighty “YEOUCH!!!”
When he got up again, Zane found himself confronted with a set of daggers pointed at his face. The Fangpyre holding them grinned menacingly and tried to slice him up, but Zane ducked easily and used his refined reflexes to block the second swipe, grab his arm, twist it, steal one of the knives, and drive it deep into the snake’s side.
“EEEAAAGH!!” It wailed, and tried to use its second knife, but all it succeeded in doing was knocking off Zane’s fedora. The ninja grabbed its arm and sent a flying kick to its scaly face. It collapsed near the foot of the trophy, wheezing.
A familiar sensation. A “ping” in his chest. Telling him that something was about to hit him.
* * *
The group in front of them finally finished, and now it was their turn. The lady at the desk gave them a dry look and said, “Group name and registration number, please,” although, when she said the “please” part it sounded more like a nasally “pleeeeease don’t waste my time.”
“Good morning. My name is Liu Becket, and this is my son’s group, Spin Harmony.”
“Spin Harmony?” Cole repeated as the woman searched her computer.
“Do you like it? I thought it was a step up from ‘The Spinners’ at the very least.”
“Aha. The late entry,” the woman grumbled. “And your registration number?”
Cole glanced around the room as the adults finished talking and a staff member came to take the canvas off of Nya’s hands. When and where were they supposed to see Zane again? Was he supposed to come find them here or later at the house? He hoped it was at the house. They were so close to being done, they just needed to give the woman the registration code and get out.
“You know, me and my son are quite famous,” Liu suddenly said as the woman typed.
“Uhuh,” she said dully.
“I don’t suppose you’ve ever heard of the Royal Blacksmiths?”
“Dad—“ Cole started, but was unceremoniously cut off by the lady at the desk who suddenly lit up.
“The Royal Blacksmiths? As in THE Royal Blacksmiths? My sister is a huge fan of yours—could I get an autograph real quick for her?”
“Absolutely!” Liu said, beaming.
“Dad, heh heh, we’re holding up the line,” Cole strained through gritted teeth, trying to sound casual.
“Oh, it’ll only take a second,” he insisted, and went around his pockets looking for a pen.
Cole looked to his friends for help, but they seemed just as tense as he did. He silently wished he had something he could strangle right now.
* * *
In one smooth motion, Zane had turned around and grabbed a pair of scissors that had been thrown at his head right out of the air. The Fangpyre who had thrown it looked rather surprised and started chucking anything else it could get its hands on. Zane simply kept on dodging and blocking, all the while advancing and cornering the Serpentine in a corner of the room, until finally he threw the scissors back at it, open wide like his own set of flying fangs. The snake yelped as it slammed into the drywall and pinned its scrawny neck. It didn’t dare move. Especially as Zane walked up to it.
“Why are you after that knife?” He asked, his voice low. The Serpentine’s eyes darted around the room, clearly looking for a chance to weasel its way out of this. Zane picked up one of the discarded knives from the floor and pointed it at the snake’s chest. “What. Do. You. Want. With. It?”
The snake was wheezing hard now. “Eeeeh… we… we need them…”
“Why?” Zane asked, inching the dagger closer.
It bared its fangs. “Revenge! REVENGE!!!” The more manic it became, the more Zane was sure that someone would hear, so he pulled back his arm and let loose a punch so hard it knocked it out. It slumped down to the ground as the scissors fell from their place in the wall, leaving a pile of snakes on the floor.
Zane looked around. There didn’t seem to be anyone else who could stand, and the trophy was sitting right there. Now was his chance to—
“I don’t know, it just sounded like a huge crash!”
There were people coming. Lots of them. He could hear their footsteps charging down the hall. He took one last look at the trophy, then bolted out the window, empty handed. Thankfully, the falling snow would cover up any tracks he made. Actually, as he looked down, he saw that the snow was already a mess from when the Serpentine presumably entered through the window in the first place. Once he was out of view of the dressing room, he stopped and stared at the trail in the snow. He could follow this and see where it led…
He shook his head. Running off alone toward an unknown number of enemy soldiers was not a good idea. He made a mental note about where the tracks were headed, then started making his way back toward the Performing Arts Centre’s parking lot.
‘Well,’ he thought as he walked, ‘at least now we know one thing.’
* * *
“Dad, let’s go,” Cole said for the thousandth time.
“Just one second. It’s always such a pleasure to meet a fan,” Liu finished, handing his autograph back to the woman at the desk. “Take care, now!”
Cole practically had to drag him away, but they were finally heading toward the exit. So far, no alarms had sounded and no police had arrived, so hopefully that meant that everything was okay thus far.
“Hey.”
Cole nearly jumped out of his skin, and might have nearly pulled up a rock through the floor if he hadn’t seen Zane’s face right next to him. “Don’t—do that!” He whisper-hissed. He looked around and it seemed that the only people who noticed Zane’s sudden reappearance were the ninja.
“What happened?” Ann asked quietly, glancing at the bag at Zane’s waste.
“It got complicated.”
Suddenly, a group of security guards rushed passed them, headed for the back stage area, and a man in a suit stood in front of the crowd of people and said, very loudly, “Can I have your attention please! Registration is being temporarily postponed until this afternoon! Everyone, please exit the building and return to your vehicles in an orderly fashion!”
“So… by complicated, you mean…?” Jay asked, watching the crowd start to funnel out the way they came.
“The Serpentine.”
* * *
“I can’t believe this.”
Ann was pacing up and down the boys’ bedroom floor, her hands on her hips. “We actually have to go through with this.”
“And here I was thinking you were worried about the Serpentine,” Jay said dryly.
“Oh, so you actually want to go and dance and sing on stage in front of thousands of people on national television?” She still had her hands on her hips and practically looked like a disapproving mother.
“Excuse me if I’m more concerned about the Serpentine trying to kill us!” Jay shot back.
“To be fair, we don’t know that they’re after us specifically,” said Nya from the couch.
“Yeah… totally not after I seared one of their faces off…” Kai blurted, looking just the slightest bit panicked.
“You did what?” Jay cried.
“Yeah, you weren’t there for that one,” Cole added, shifting in his seat on the bed. He remembered Scales’ bloodcurdling scream all too well.
Keaton was by Nya on the couch. “So, how are we going to get the trophy now?” She asked. Ann went back to her pacing and groaned.
“We can’t go back, the police are still all over the place, and who knows how long it will be before special forces arrive to take care of the Serpentine they found in the dressing room,” Ann thought out loud. “And after that, it’ll be guarded day and night until the competition when it will be on display and on tv. I don’t…” Everyone watched her as she stopped and stared at them all, a horrified look on her face. “Short of stealing the trophy once it goes back into storage, the only way I can think of to get close to it without drawing any attention… is to win the competition.”
“Alright, now I know you’re not serious,” said Kai, eyeing her. “Cole said it himself, we’d be lucky if we made it past the preliminaries.”
Cole had said that. It was probably still true, although, he had to admit, they weren’t quite the same disaster they had been at the start of the month.
“Cole?” Ann asked and suddenly his cheeks felt a little warmer.
“Well,” he said, clearing his throat. “Depending on who we’re going up against… it’s at least possible.”
“Possible is all we need,” she said confidently. “What else can we do to prepare?”
Cole sighed. “The day before a performance, the best thing you can do is rest.”
“So we just sit around and do nothing?” Jay asked, scratching at his arm under his sweater. “While the Serpentine are out there doing who knows what?”
“If it comes down to it, we may have to abandon the blade all together for the sake of the civilians’ safety,” Zane said in his usual pragmatic tone.
Ann started pacing again, placing her chin in her hand. “I just don’t understand what they could possibly be using the daggers for. What kind of revenge scheme needs a bunch of antiques?”
“Well, didn’t we spend several months tracking down a couple of really powerful ‘antiques?’” Kai asked, really emphasising the word “antiques.”
“You think they have powers like the Golden Weapons?” Keaton asked, rising in her seat.
“Oh, there’s a bright idea. How about we grab the Golden Weapons and blow these scaly creeps to kingdom come?” Jay suggested.
“Because they’re too powerful,” Ann said with a glare. “And also… Master Wu wouldn’t tell me where he hid them.”
“Oh ho ho, looks like someone’s not the teacher’s pet anymore,” Nya suddenly quipped with a smirk.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ann snapped.
“Guys,” Cole raised his arms before anyone could start. “Focus. We’ve discussed it at length. There’s nothing else we can do today, so why don’t we just get ready for tomorrow?”
The room seemed to sigh as one. Ann and Nya’s eyes were still on each other for a while after, but neither one of them made another move for the rest of the day.
Cole could feel those oh-so-familiar butterflies building in his stomach. Even after all this time, it never got easier. As the afternoon wore on, everyone trying to find ways to occupy their time, Cole found himself in the studio, playing around with some footwork. With his hands in his pockets, he twirled across the floor casually, imagining the music as he went.
It was funny. Without his dad or anyone else in the room, dancing almost felt fun. He stopped and looked around. They all used to have fun here. As he slid into a back step, he tried to remember what it was like back then and instantly he could see his parents and him trying to do a three-way waltz across the floor, and he smiled.
This had also been the room where he’d been taught how to do swing. And some of ballet, come to think of it. After he had requested to be taken out of public classes. He stopped as he remembered all the times someone had called him a name for being a dancer. All the snickering and the teasing… it had led him to one rainy afternoon where had curled up in his room and refused to come out ever again because his life was over. He had completely botched his attempt at the Triple Tiger Sashay, and the other kids had been merciless in their criticisms afterwards, not to mention his dad’s notes on the whole thing. Cole had wanted to quit dance.
While hold up in his room, his mother had come in with a plate of homemade cake she had made just for him. She had been the only person Cole had ever confided in, about that day, or anything else. He remembered how she sat with him and listened to his story and then she placed him on her lap and wrapped her arms around him until the whole world seemed to fade away. Then she told him something that he would never forget.
“Cole, honey… you don’t have to dance to make me or anyone else happy. I love you just as you are, right here, right now.”
Back in the dance studio, Cole wished he could feel that hug one more time. But then he caught sight of her old dress hanging in the closet and set his jaw. Whether he was a dancer or a ninja, she’d still be proud of him. So tomorrow’s performance… it would be for her. The best performance of his life.
Omg this episode was just... WOW. Love it! 💕