Legends of Ninjago: Book 3: The Four Fangs: Chapter 35 - Evacuation

Cole had never felt such a rush of energy before, as if he were a water balloon, full to bursting and could pop at any given moment. It had started slowly, back in Ouroboros. The Scythe had been effecting him for some time, helping him, directing him, but it wasn’t until they went after Anguis that things seemed to change.

When he had been needing a way to follow the snake—a way to travel faster than his powers alone could reasonably allow—the Scythe seemed to read his thoughts. When it pulsed, he could have sworn he heard it speak to him, just like it had the first time they had met. The words didn’t sound familiar, and yet he knew their meaning. He knew that the Scythe had the power to get him to Anguis. He knew that all he had to do to activate it… was let it have just a little more control… a little more room within him… a little more power…

The situation was dire, so he hadn’t objected, and before he knew it, everything started to change. His vision became sharper, his reaction time faster, as if his eyes had been widened ten times beyond their normal limit. He could sense danger coming from every angle and jump out of the way long before it hit, he could move so fast and hit so hard that it almost scared him, but most of all he could sense the others. The Sword… the Nunchucks… the Daggers… their owners seemed to fade and blur together with the identity of the weapons, until all he could see when he looked at them was a bright golden glow. He wished he had more time to slow down and processes all of this, but the looming shadow of Anguis forced him into a state of constant defensive reaction. There was no time to think. Only to do.

He flew through the air as if he had sprouted wings, and his heart leaping at the sensation. Something about it felt oh so right, as if every time he had ever climbed a mountain, he had really been trying to get into the sky.

When he struck Anguis—or, tried to strike her—he could feel the earth beneath him jumping at the chance to follow his orders. There was so much of it, and he had the power to command it all, he almost found himself lost for ideas. Or, perhaps more accurately, he found it difficult to choose just one form of attack at any given time. There were even moments when so many thoughts would ambush him all at once, the urge to faint arose. His mind was struggling to stay awake and active and not buckle under the strain, but after everything he had endured with Scales, the fear of losing total control forced him to stay present in his own body. He trusted the Scythe more than he did Scales, but there was something peculiar about the nature of the Golden Weapons. Something impersonal… something pragmatic… something inhuman… they were alive in a way, but not like Cole was. Not like his friends. There was an emptiness inside that made the distinction clear, and the more Cole thought about it, the more unsettled it made him feel.

All that aside… the mission.

He had been attempting to chip away at Anguis any way he could, but nothing was getting through. Her scales were too hard, her hunger insatiable, and her venom too potent. When Lloyd had destroyed her fangs, Cole gladly caught him and set him down on the ground, out of harm’s way, forgetting their past fights in the golden haze his mind now rested in, only seeing the battle before him. Then Ann had brought Anguis’ head down to the sand and shouted at them to mobilise.

This was it. The opening they had been waiting for. The other weapons were anxious to release their power—they were anxious to smite this stain of darkness from their presence—anxious to be needed and used after so long of sitting idly by. The last time they had brought together had also been the only time, back during Ninjago’s infancy, and they longed to feel that kind of unbridled release once more.

The Scythe flew up, with Cole still attached to the handle, and it joined the other three in the sky above Anguis. They would summon a power the likes of which the citizens of NInjago had never seen, and they would leave not a trace of the Great Devourer behind. The oceans themselves would feel this tremor, and they mountains and the sky would shake in fear, bowing to the power that created them so many years ago.

In the midst of all of this, Cole quietly began to realise that his own thoughts… his own wants and whims… were slowly fading away. It finally happened. His mind had fought hard, but as the Scythe reached to touch its brothers, the feeling of being a water balloon turned into the feeling of bursting. It’s difficult to adequately describe the feeling of exploding without really being blown apart… the feeling of suddenly seeing the world from a bird’s eye view, taking in the scope of the world itself, while still only being in the body of a tiny human… It was as though Cole was experiencing two states of being at the same time, and of two outrageously different positions in existence. It wasn’t compatible. It was too much for him to handle. The light grew too bright for his eyes to see clearly anymore.

So darkness came and hushed the roar of the Golden Weapons. Quiet came and stilled the waters of their minds. Peace came and washed their troubles away… but only for a moment.

When Cole opened his eyes, he couldn’t make sense of the world. The sky was so dark, the wind was cold, the ground was quivering beneath him, but he couldn’t hear a thing. The power from the Golden Weapons had left him, and he felt strangely empty and weak. The voice of the weapon was nearby, but it had fallen from his hand. He turned his head this way and that, searching for it, and then saw a person lying in the sand next to him. He didn’t recognise him at first for some reason, and could only call him “Lightning” in his mind, but then—as if a veil had been lifted in his mind—Cole could suddenly recognise his face again.

“Jay?” he croaked, and then swallowed, trying to sooth his strangely dry throat.

Jay’s neck was shaking as he tried to look up at Cole, and he squinted at him long and hard before he said, “What happened?”

“Zane! Kai!”

That was Keaton’s voice, coming closer.

“Jay! Cole! Can’t you stand up?”

She was standing beside him, suddenly, a bought of wind flailing in his face the moment she appeared, and he had to strain to hear her.

“Can you move at all?” she pressed, looking at him with big, worried eyes.

Her words were coming through in a distorted, muffled way, almost as if she was far away from him.

“I can—ngh!—move,” he told her, forcing himself to sit up, though truthfully it was very painful. He had never felt such a sensation as this before, like all of his muscles in all of his limbs had evaporated, leaving him as shaky and unstable as a child learning to walk. “Scythe… where’s the Scythe…” he said, looking for it again.

“It’s here,” Keaton replied, showing him.

That’s when Ann and Lloyd appeared, helping Zane and Kai to walk.

“What went wrong?” she asks at once. “Why didn’t you attack? What happened to you?”

“I-I don’t know,” said Cole, reaching for the Scythe and eagerly taking hold of it… only to flinch in pain. He held firm, but the power which normally shot through him easily left a stinging, burning sensation this time, as if he’d hurt himself on the inside.

“The weapons… they overloaded our senses…” said Zane in a daze.

“It got so bright,” Jay added, staring off into the distance.

Cole couldn’t even begin to understand what he had seen in those last moments before he blacked out. It felt like something he was never meant to see.

“Come on… Anguis… stop her,” said Kai, trying to stand on his own and falling onto his knees.

“You can’t walk, stupid,” Lloyd quipped next to him. “And Anguis is…”

Where? Where was she? Cole searched the dunes for her, but she was gone. Finally, he spotted her hulking mass in the distance, moving on, Northward. She had left them for dead. And all the while, the storm was getting worse. The sky was so dark that it almost looked like night, the temperature was dropping steadily, the wind was getting stronger, and there were hints of thunder in the distance.

“No…” Cole breathed, watching that snake escape. “Why couldn’t we do it? Why did it fail?”

“I don’t think we’re str-strong enough,” said Jay with a flinch as he tried to get up. “I felt like my arms and legs were gonna pop off.”

“We have to… move!” Kai grimaced as he tried to start walking again, but he only managed to take one step before Keaton had to catch him.

“Look at yourself, Kai!” she shouted, and at first, Cole didn’t understand what she meant, but then he blinked and suddenly he understood. Had he always looked like that? How come he hadn’t noticed sooner? The sleeves of his shozoku had burned away, and his hands… his hands were red and softly glowing, small specks of orange embers here and there along his fingers. It was like some sort of strange, mystical burn that reached from his fingertips to the middle of the his forearm. When Cole looked over at Zane and Jay, he saw similar markings on their exposed arms as well. For Jay, his hands were blue and glowing white. For Zane, it looked almost like his hands had been frozen solid. Then Cole looked down, and…

His hands were stained a deep orange colour, and glowing softly, like stone that has been warmed in a forge.

“The Weapons almost killed you!” Keaton continued, gripping Kai tighter.

CRACK!

The first bolt of lightning peeled across the sky, bathing the desert in its glow for a split second, as if someone had turned a light-switch on and off again. Its thunder was so loud that it reverberated in their chests.

“They did more than that,” Lloyd added, eyeing the storm clouds. “We should find shelter.”

“And since when did you call the shots?” asked Kai in a bitter tone. “Huh? What are you even doing here?! Did you really decide to run all the way here out of the goodness of your heart, or did you want this to happen? Is this your fault?!”

“Kai,” said Zane threateningly.

But stopping Kai did little to stop the argument.

“Seriously?” Lloyd shot back. “Oh, sure, just blame me for everything!”

“If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t even be in this mess!”

“At least I showed up! At least I’m trying to stop it!”

“Why?!” Kai pressed. “Why. Are. You. Here?!”

“Just shut up!” Lloyd yelled, and he looked like he wanted to hit Kai, too.

“TELL ME!!!”

“BECAUSE I’M SICK OF BEING USELESS!!!!”

CRACK!

BOOoooommm…

Quiet.

Lloyd’s breathing.

“I’m sick of being useless…” he repeated through his teeth. “Sick of always being stuffed somewhere… left behind… because I just make everything worse! And because of that bone-headed idiot! He left! Again! After you all were gone, he left!”

“Garmadon?” asked Cole.

“So, like the little contrarian you are, you came here instead,” Kai surmised in a snotty tone.

“I came here to help! Do you want me to, or not?”

“What’s the point?”

All eyes turned to Ann, who had—at some point—wandered away from the group and was staring out across the horizon, standing in the wake of Angui’s trail in the sand. Cole couldn’t help but feel an odd chill, listening to the sound of her strained voice.

“The Golden Weapons failed…” she continued. “The most powerful things in the world… and we can’t use them… Anguis is gone…”

“I-I’m sure we’ll think of something else,” said Keaton nervously. “Ninjas never quit. Right?”

“Maybe we could try that other plan?” said Jay, straightening. “Luring her to the ocean?”

“Or we could try burying her,” Cole suggested.

“If it were that easy to kill her, don’t you think the First Spinjitsu Master would have done it already?!” Ann turned around finally, and there were tear streaks on her face, her cheeks flushed with anger. “If even he couldn’t do it, what makes you all think we can?! Wu’s gone!” At this, something seemed to break within her. Something came undone, and her eyes widened and her voice cracked. “Wu’s gone!” she wailed again, covering her face in humiliation, before finally falling to the sand and bending over, trying and failing to hold back her sobs.

Keaton wasn’t far behind her. Her chin was shaking and her eyes were wet. Lloyd’s were, too; green and glassy.

“We lost!” Ann finished in despair, and as Cole observed them all, stuck out there in the middle of the desert, Anguis on her way to destroy all of Ninajgo… part of him agreed. What else could they do now? What other possible avenue could they exploit?

He tightened his grip on his Scythe… and then it hit him. They had the Golden Weapons!

He moved closer to Ann, and bent down beside her. When his hand touched her shoulder, he barely even noticed the way his stomach squirmed.

“Ann Jing…” he said evenly, “…we might not be able to kill Anguis… but we’re not done fighting.” She looked up at him with painful red eyes, and without thinking he wiped away some of her tears. He just couldn’t stand the sight of her so sad. “There are a lot of people out there who don’t need to die today. So we’re going to get them to safety.”

Ann looked at him a moment longer, wanting to cry again, but then, in the silence that followed, something came over her. He could see it, a subtle change in her expression, in the way she held her shoulders, and in the way she looked at him. It actually made him swallow, and he very nearly forgot why it was he was talking to her in the first place. Luckily, it would be impossible for anyone to be so completely distracted, given the current situation, and Cole pushed those thoughts away, telling himself that he was helping a teammate. After all, she seemed to need it more than the others. Wu had been like a father to her, hadn’t he? That pain in her eyes was one Cole recognised.

Suddenly, she was clenching her jaw and steadying herself, just the way she always did.

“An evacuation?” she asked. “The whole island?”

“We can make a new home, far away from the Serpentine and Anguis. If the First Spinjitsu Master could do it, why can’t we?” said Cole. He lifted Ann up by the hand and then turned to the rest of the group, trying to calm himself as much as possible, in the hopes that maybe it would calm them as well. “We’ll start with the most populated areas—they’ll take the longest.”

“Ninjago City,” Jay suddenly blurted in alarm.

“Exactly. That should be one of our main priorities—”

“No—I mean, Ninjago City!” he said again, looking more alarmed. “That snake was headed straight for it! I need to warn my parents!”

“It can’t know where Ninjago City is… can it?” asked Kai.

“Sorry that I can’t explain the psychology of an ancient primordial snake queen—my parents could be in danger!” Jay snapped.

“Right. Let’s move! Ninjago City will be our first stop!” said Cole.

“Wait!” said Keaton, just as the boys were holding up their weapons again. “Ann and I are getting tired—we can’t use our powers to get us all the way to Ninjago City!”

“She’s right,” Ann agreed solemnly.

“Then we’ll carry you,” said Zane.

Cole found himself tempted to succumb to distraction again, and for a moment, the image of Ann riding in his arms flashed across his mind’s eye…

Only for that image to shatter the moment that Ann started climbing onto Zane’s back.

“I’ll ride with Cousin Kai!” Keaton said eagerly, climbing aboard and making Kai teeter on his feet.

“Easy, kid!”

That just left…

Cole eyed Lloyd, just barely holding back his disappointment, and grumbled, “Come on…”

“Don’t get too excited,” Lloyd grumbled back.

With that sorted, it was time to take off. Cole held up his Scythe, adjusted his hold on Lloyd (clinging to his back) and then let his weapon’s power ignite.

Four bright comets shot across the sky as the wind howled louder, and the lightning flashed closer, and cold, slushy rain began to fall. By the time the group had caught up to Anguis, slithering far below them, the rain had turned to snow.

They were out of the desert, and over a forest that stretched on for miles. There were few mountains in this part of the country, making it far too easy for Anguis to slither along, and just as Jay had feared, she seemed to be going in the same direction they were. At the very least, they were easily out-pacing her, and reached the outskirts of Ninjago City long before she did.

“Jay! Go get your parents!” said Cole as they got close, though he probably didn’t need to tell him that. “We’ll meet up again at City Hall!”

“Got it!” he called back, and then dove down.

“Everyone else, follow me! And put your masks on!”

Away to City Hall they flew, passing by multiple traffic jams and accidents caused by the bad weather, which was steadily getting worse, until they landed on the front steps of the large, red building where the mayor and his cabinet met. It was traditional in style, with a few modern touches, and swarming with security guards and employees who all shrieked when the ninja landed. They didn’t have time to worry about it, though.

They charged inside, they used their powers to keep the security guards back, and Cole heard several of them whisper,

“I thought the Golden Weapons were just a legend!”

“Those aren’t the Golden Weapons.”

“Then what are they?”

“What’s happening?!”

“Where is the mayor?!” Cole demanded to know. The lady at the front desk looked too frightened to speak.

“I—I-I-I—I-I…” she stammered, shaking in her seat.

“Put your hands where I can see ‘em!” one of the guards ordered, and he and his team held up a row of automatic crossbows. Almost immediately, though, they dissolved into dust and purple smoke. Cole glanced down at Lloyd, whose arm was outstretched.

“All you brick-heads, listen up!” Lloyd announced.

Cole quickly cleared his throat, and took over. “AHEM! You’re all in danger! Alert the news stations—the police—everyone—we need to evacuate the city!”

“Excuse me?!” said the head security guard in disbelief.

Cole didn’t have time to argue.

In one fluid motion, he summoned a large spike of stone and jammed it into the floor beside the guard. Instantly, he flinched and squeaked.

“Anguis the Great Devourer is free! You can send out a camera crew, due southeast, if you don’t believe me! She is going to destroy everyone in this city if we don’t get out of here—now are you going to stand around soiling yourself, or are you going to help!?”

At that very moment, the building shook with the familiar tremors of a small earthquake. Well, familiar to Cole. He’d recognise them anywhere.

The lights flickered. Several people gasps a little.

“Send out the alert, now! Tell everyone to get to the North Harbour—we’ll be arranging the evacuation zone.”

“Do it, Lee.”

Everyone in the room suddenly swivelled their necks to their breaking point to see none other than the mayor of Ninjago City walking out of the elevator, with Nya beside him.

“Guys!” she said, smiling and waving.

“Nya!”

Kai was the first to rush to meet her while the mayor looked them all over. He was stiff man, greying with age, but still very sturdy.

“I’ve been informed of the situation—we’ve sent a crew to confirm Miss Rayson’s report. They’re telling the truth. I want every single news station in this city blasting the evacuation order—and someone get the word out to the rest of the country—preferably to His Majesty and the Royal Family first! And someone get the military on the phone!”

“That won’t do any good, sir,” said Keaton promptly. “Anguis will eat them!”

“And what about our missiles?” said the mayor with an amused grin.

“Well… I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try,” she shrugged, though Cole knew that none of them really thought it would do much in the long run.

“What will you all be doing in the meantime? Are you going to fight her?” the mayor continued.

“We’ve tried,” Cole admitted shamefully. “All we can do now is help the evacuation and then buy everyone time to escape.”

“Then get going. May the First Spinjitsu Master be with us all.”

Hurricane sirens were blaring through the city.

The wind was making the trees lean over to an alarming degree.

Snow was falling thicker now.

Tire screeches and shouting could be heard below.

People were shouting and running and police cars had their lights shining and horns blasting. Ann, Keaton, and Lloyd offered to help down on the ground and get the traffic moving again while the boys flew off with the Golden Weapons to find Jay.

*

Jay had landed at his parents’ house so suddenly that Mr. Walker was knocked clean off his stool and fell backwards.

“Oh, jeez! Sorry, Dad!” Jay yelped, helping him up.

“Jay?” he gasped.

“What’s happening, dear?” asked Edna, coming outside holding a wet dish. “Jay, honey! What in the world are you doing here?”

“There’s not a lot of time to explain—but Ninjago City’s about to be attacked! Everyone’s going to be evacuated,” he explained breathlessly.

“Is it the storm? There hasn’t been anything about an evacuation on the news,” said Ed, eyeing the Nunchucks in Jay’s hands warily.

“There will be soon—please, I need you both to trust me—pack some bags and let’s go!”

Ed thought for two seconds, glanced at his wife, and then said, “Alright, but explain everything. Come on.”

They started walking inside, and Edna hurriedly grabbed two large suitcases from the closet, filling it with clothes and other things dear to the family.

“I-it’s a long story,” said Jay.

“You can start with where Wu is,” said Ed, and at once, Jay stopped walking in the hallway.

“He’s gone.”

Now Ed had stopped too.

“What?” His voice was quiet, and true disbelief edged his fear.

“We were trying to stop the Serpentine—you know those guys from mythology? The guys who attacked several cities and towns recently? Those guys. They were trying to resurrect the Great Devourer, and Wu and all of us tried to stop them, but then we couldn’t, and now she’s free, and Wu…”

And now his hands were shaking.

“Great lug nuts,” Ed swore, in as much a way as he knew how to swear, and he came and laid a hand on Jay’s shoulder. “He’s really gone?”

Jay nodded, holding his jaw firm, mouth tight. He hadn’t thought that all of it would effect him so much… but perhaps he just hadn’t had a moment to really process it up until now. He hadn’t thought that seen Wu get eaten by a giant snake from old legend, and they’d all be next if they didn’t hurry.

“Boys! Don’t just stand in the hallway,” said Edna, passing through.

“Right.” Ed shook himself out of his thoughts and gave Jay one last firm pat on the shoulder before going back to helping his wife. “You’ve done good to come this far,” he continued. “No need to worry about us, we’ll come and find ya—you probably have bigger fish to fry.”

“Wait a minute—wait a minute! This is just like last time!” Jay cried, following his parents around the house as they worked.

“What do you mean?” asked Edna.

“The last time I was here—with all my friends—you weren’t fazed by what was going on! Isn’t it the least bit shocking that I flew here? That I have lightning Nunchucks? That a giant snake is coming this way?!”

Ed and Edna spared a moment to look at one another, and Jay knew they were thinking about something, and he wished they would just tell him what it was already!

“I did promise I’d tell ya, didn’t I?” said Ed, putting some of his favourite tools into his suitcase. “Well, you see… no, there’s too much for right now. I need more time to tell you the whole story. What matters is, we already knew. We already knew you were special, we already knew Wu from long before you were born, and we’ve known that the Serpentine and the Devourer were real for quite some time.”

“You what?!” Jay blurted. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!”

“Like your father said, sweetie, it’s a much longer story—we don’t really have time for the whole thing right now,” said Edna, putting the last of her clothes into her suitcase and locking it up tight.

“Just know that there was a good reason for all of it, and we love you very much,” Ed finished, but the way he said that last part strangely made Jay begin to worry. What secret had they been keeping from him? What big story had been happening when he hadn’t been looking? Did he need to be concerned about it? About them?

He didn’t have time to ask another question. The other boys suddenly appeared at his door, glowing and everything. But Jay promised, no more waiting. He was going to get his answer as soon as all of this was over.

…If all of this ended well, that is.

With the pleasantries over with, and the their bags all packed, Mr. and Mrs. Walker climbed onto the boys’ backs and were carried all the way to the harbour, were some of the first evacuees had already arrived. Most of them seemed confused, weren’t carrying much, or had already been at the marina when the call went out. Jay dropped his parents off on the peer, and then he the others flew up into the sky to begin Plan B.

They knew that they couldn’t use the weapons together, like with Anguis, so they had to settle for individual usage. Cole moved first. He commanded the ocean floor to rise up until a large highway emerged for the people to run across—a hundred cars wide—and it led far out into the waves, where phase two would begin.

Here, he needed Kai’s help. They roused the fires of the Deep, shook the crust of the Earth, caused the ground to rumble, and summoned a great mountain, bursting with fire at its tip; the first peak of a new island.

Zane swooped in the cool the unstable lava, Jay held back the storm raging above their heads, and although this new land they were creating was not big enough to fit everyone in Ninjago, it was a good start for now, and should be able to fit most of the city on it. If not, they could always come back and expand it.

When the ocean waves had begun to settle again, their island was proudly shining, several miles wide, and far enough away from the mainland that Anguis shouldn’t be able to reach them, but not so far away as to make it too difficult for people to walk to them.

When all of that was over and done with, they landed back on the peer, where more people had gathered.

“It’s finished,” said Cole between gasps for air. “For now… anyway… Everyone! That is the evacuation zone! Start moving! There are caves to take shelter in!”

Jay went straight up to his parents and hugged them, saying nothing, and then they were the very first to step out onto that stone highway into the ocean. The others slowly began to follow them, and the evacuation was officially under way.

Now the hard part would begin. Stopping Anguis from getting into the city while everyone else got out.