by Tracey West
“You!” Kai cried. “What are you doing? Just get off the ice!”
“Are you going to make me?” the guy asked.
Kai jumped off the Rambooni. Every ounce of peace and calm had left his body. “Are you serious? This is a family place! Back off, dude!”
The guy was about to charge when Kai heard a groan behind him. He had forgotten to put the brakes on the Rambooni! The giant machine slid forward.
“No!” Kai cried. He tried to jump up into the driver’s seat, but he slipped and fell on the ice.
Crash! The Rambooni smashed right into the party area, crushing a pile of presents and knocking the birthday cake off the table. The dad’s face was purple with anger. He stomped up to Kai and lifted him up with two fingers.
“Meet me at the Yang Tavern at midnight,” he said. “We’re going to settle this once and for all!”
Cole picked up the broccoli and peanut butter sandwich that the squirrel had tossed.
“Five second rule,” he muttered, and took a bite out of it. “I don’t see why that squirrel didn’t like it. It’s not bad.”
He finished the sandwich and packed up his backpack.
Might as well head back to the city, he thought, when he suddenly heard the hum of machinery from somewhere in the woods.
Curious, he followed the sound. The soft pine trees at the edge of the forest gave way to towering trees with trunks as thick as houses. The bark was deep, ebony black.
“Blackwood Forest,” Cole said out loud. “I’ve heard of this place.”
He kept walking, and the sound got louder. Soon he saw the source: a huge lumberjack camp. Lumberjacks high up in the trees hacked away at thick branches with axes. Others on the ground loaded the branches onto powerful trucks with humming motors.
Cole stared at them for a few minutes, just watching. They worked like a well-oiled team. The axmen hacked at the trunks. Others attached the trees onto long pike poles and dragged them to the trucks. The next group loaded them.
The way the lumberjacks all worked together, trusting one another, reminded Cole of Kai, Jay, Zane, and Lloyd. They used to be a team. A great team. He missed them. But was he ready to be on a team again?
“Lookin’ for work?”
Cole jumped at the voice next to him. A guy in a flannel shirt and hard hat was talking to him.
“I’m the foreman here. We could use another hand,” he said.
Cole was surprised. But it sounded like a good idea. “Uh, sure,” he said.
The foreman held out his hand. “Nice to have you as part of the crew.”
The foreman handed him an axe, and Cole joined a group of lumberjacks chopping through one of the thick tree trunks. With his superstrength, he could have hacked through the trunk in about three strokes. But he didn’t want to stand out. So he kept the pace with everyone else.
The other lumberjacks didn’t talk much. They mostly grunted. A few hours into the job, one of the guys nodded to the foreman.
“When’s dinner?” he asked.
“Not sure,” the foreman replied. “Old Cookie got a splinter this morning. He’s down for the count.”
“I can cook dinner,” Cole offered.
“Sure,” the foreman said, and that was it.
A short while later, Cole made his way to the cook’s trailer. He couldn’t find “Old Cookie,” but he did find shelves loaded with canned fruits and vegetables. He stared at it all for a moment.
“Lumberjack Stew,” he said out loud. “That’ll be perfect! I can use some canned hot dogs, and some ketchup, and maybe some brussels sprouts and horseradish …”
An hour later, Cole had a big pot of his Lumberjack Stew bubbling over an open campfire. He felt pretty proud. It smelled a little weird, but he was sure it was going to be delicious.
“Come and get it!” he yelled, ringing the dinner bell.
The lumberjacks came in from the deep woods, and Cole spooned out bowls of steaming stew for everyone. He watched nervously as they dug in. Would they hate it, like his friends always did?
Nobody said anything. All he could hear were loud slurping sounds.
He walked up to one of the guys. “So, how do you like it?” Cole asked.
The lumberjack shrugged. “It’s fine.”
Cole should have felt good. Instead, he felt strangely empty. Jay would have said something like, “Cole, this is more like Lumberjack Goo!” Or Kai would say, “Even the Great Devourer wouldn’t eat this junk!” Lloyd would laugh so hard that stew would come out of his nose. And Zane, being Zane, wouldn’t have really understood the joke.
“Ah, well, I guess it’s good that it came out … good,” Cole said with a sigh. He started washing the dirty dishes in a big tub of water.
After dinner, the camp was eerily quiet. The guys were sitting around campfires, but nobody was talking or singing or telling jokes. A few of them were whittling sticks of wood.
Cole sat next to one of them. “So, what are you making?” he asked.
“A skinnier stick,” the guy replied, not even looking up.
Cole raised his voice. “Anybody know any good jokes?” he asked, but all he got in reply were a few coughs.
Cole sighed. Maybe it was better this way. No attachments. No friendships. Just do your job and that was that. Easier not to get hurt.
Suddenly, Cole heard a chattering sound behind him. It was the squirrel from earlier!
“Shouldn’t you be asleep?” Cole asked.
The squirrel hopped onto the now-cooled stewpot. It scooped up some stew with its paw and tasted it.
The squirrel made a face. It stuck its tongue out, put a paw over its heart, and fell off the edge of the pot.
“Oh, no!” cried Cole. His stew had killed the squirrel! He went to help it. But the little squirrel jumped up, chattered some more, and scampered off.
“Very funny,” Cole said flatly. Although he had to admit that it had cheered him up.
Deep down, just a little, he missed the joking around.
Deep down, he missed his friends.
Jay ducked as another flaming banana whizzed past him. His mind raced as he tried to figure out what to do.
If only Zane were here, he thought. He would freeze them. Or Kai could absorb them. Heck, Cole would probably eat them. But I can’t do any of those things!
But he could run fast — and duck. Jay made his way across the top of the narrow wall as quickly as he could, ducking and dodging the fiery, fruity missiles.
“Look at Jay go!” Fred Finley cried, and the audience cheered.
Jay reached the end of the wall and gazed down at the spinning platform below. He looked left and right. No more flaming bananas. Maybe this part would be easy. He jumped down onto the platform …
… and his feet slipped from underneath him! They had greased the surface! Still on his belly, Jay slid across the slick platform, seconds away from falling off.
Cole’s superstrength would come in handy now, he thought. He could stop this platform from spinning with one tight grip.
But Cole wasn’t around. Jay had to do this on his own. Right before he fell, he gripped the edge of the platform with both hands. He hung on as tightly as he could as his legs flew out straight behind him.
The crowd cheered him on. There was no use climbing back onto the platform. He had to think of his next goal — the tunnel.
He had to time it just right. The platform spun in fast circles, passing the tunnel entrance every few seconds. He’d have to make one perfect leap … but luckily, that was something he was good at.
Jay counted in his head. One … two … and then he let go, somersaulting in the air and landing at the tunnel entrance.
“Look at Jay fly!” Fred Finley crowed. “He’s conquered our extreme slippery platform!”
“Jay! Jay! Jay!” the crowd chanted.
Jay’s heart was pounding. This was pretty fun! Now he had to run through the tunnel and avoid the big boulder that rolled through it. That should be pre
tty easy if he stuck to the sides.
He ran in, and saw the boulder speeding toward him. He flattened himself against the wall of the tunnel. The foam rock easily rolled past him. Piece of cake!
Then he heard a rumbling. Another, bigger boulder rolled toward him! There was no room to get past!
“That’s not extreme — that’s just not fair!” Jay cried.
He weighed his options. He could run back out of the tunnel entrance, but that would make him look cowardly. If only there was another way …
Zap! Jay quickly hit the ceiling of the tunnel with a lightning blast, opening a hole for him to climb through. He jumped up and landed on top of the tunnel.
“He’s escaped the Boulder of Doom! Amazing!” Fred Finley cried.
“Jay! Jay! Jay!” the crowd cheered.
Jay sprinted across the top of the tunnel and jumped down to grab the handle of the zip line. He just had to shoot across the giant vat of chocolate pudding.
“Jay! Jay! Jay!”
“Time for this bird to fly!” Jay called out, and he launched across the pudding vat. Suddenly …
Bonk! A huge stuffed ball swung through the air, hitting him! It caught him off guard.
“Whoa!” Jay yelled.
Sploooshh! Jay and the giant ball landed in the vat of chocolate pudding. A huge wave of pudding splattered everywhere, engulfing the announcer, Fred Finley!
Jay popped up at the surface of the chocolate pudding pool. His heart sank. He had failed the Gauntlet. After all that, it was over. But still, he thought, he had to make the best of it. Jay climbed out of the pool and licked his arm.
“Tasty!” he said, and everybody laughed.
Fred Finley, however, was not happy. He stomped past him, covered in chocolate pudding. His seventeen-day smile had finally faded.
“That’s it!” he yelled. “This job is the worst! I quit!”
He tossed down his microphone and stormed off.
“Cut!” a voice yelled, and Rachel Sparrow came running out.
“Sorry about that,” said Jay.
“Don’t worry,” said Rachel. “Fred’s always throwing tantrums. But in fact, I have a great idea. The crowd loves you. How would you like to be the new host of Ninjaaa … Now!?”
“Who, me?” Jay asked.
“Sure!” she replied. “You could crack jokes, talk to contestants … you’ll be great.”
Jay could see it in his mind. He’d be a TV star! Telling jokes that everybody laughed at. Putting on a great show. Pretty cool.
Not as cool as being a ninja, a voice inside him said. Not as cool as being on a team.
But Jay pushed the voice aside.
“I’ll do it!”
Kai made his way down the dark alley. It hadn’t been easy finding the address of the Yang Tavern. He’d had to ask around.
He wasn’t sure why he had decided to meet the big, burly guy, but he figured he’d better go. The dude seemed to be popping up in his life. If they didn’t settle things now, who knew what could happen the next time they met? Maybe they could talk it out over some peanuts and root beer.
Kai pushed open the door, and every eye in the place turned to look at him. A lot of the eyes were yellow or green, because the Yang Tavern was packed with Serpentine. There were blue Hypnobrai, red Fangpyres, green Venomari, and black Constrictai with spikes running down their spines.
Others had bulging, red eyes — these were skeleton warriors from the Underworld. And some were regular old human eyes, attached to guys with big muscles and lots of scars. This place was a hangout for bad guys!
Some of the dudes sat at tables, drinking root beer, while others were gathered around a circular pit.
A Slither Pit, Kai realized. The Serpentine used these to settle disputes or decide who would be their next leader. Suddenly, he had an idea why the big guy had wanted to meet him here.
“You!”
The booming voice came from inside the pit. Kai peered over the edge. It was the big guy.
“Let’s settle this once and for all,” the guy said.
The pit-watchers started to hiss and cheer.
“Listen, dude, I don’t think you understand,” Kai said. “I’m a ninja. I’ve got special powers and stuff. I can’t fight you. It wouldn’t be fair.”
“I’m not afraid of no ninja,” the guy said.
Kai sighed. He didn’t want to fight an ordinary dad. His ninja powers were meant for battling evil guys and Nindroids. He was about to turn and walk out when he felt a shove on his back.
“Whoa!” Kai toppled into the pit.
He scrambled to his feet as the guy lunged at him. The crowd started chanting the guy’s name.
“Big Dan! Big Dan! Big Dan!”
“Can’t we work this out over a mug of root beer?” Kai asked, dodging him.
Big Dan moved to punch Kai, and Kai dodged again. This was going to be harder than he thought. But he wasn’t about to use Spinjitzu on a normal person.
Then he heard Sensei Wu’s voice in his head.
Use your enemy’s strength against him.
“That could work,” Kai muttered.
He faced Big Dan. “Come and get me!” Kai taunted.
Big Dan charged across the Slither Pit like an angry bull. Just as he neared, Kai dodged to the side.
Bam! Big Dan hit the side of the Slither Pit, hard. He went down. Kai jumped up on top of him and pulled Big Dan’s arms behind his back.
“What do you say we have that root beer now?” Kai asked.
Big Dan groaned, and two Constrictai came into the pit and dragged him away to the area where knocked-out contestants recovered. Kai was about to jump out when he heard a voice above him.
“Introducing our next challenger, Zoltar the Venomari!”
Zoltar slid into the pit. He had green, shimmery scales with red markings, and long, white fangs. Kai shivered. If a Venomari spit venom into your eyes, it caused hallucinations. It had happened to Kai once, and everyone he saw looked like a gingerbread man or woman.
“Um, I just came here to see Big Dan!” Kai called out. “I’ll be going now.”
“Spin the wheel! Spin the wheel!” the crowd chanted.
A rickety wheel came down from the ceiling. A Serpentine gave it a spin, and it clicked around and around. Kai read the categories around the wheel: spikes, poison, water, nets. Must be battle extras, he thought. Pretty serious stuff.
“Honestly, I need to get home now,” Kai said. But the two Constrictai blocked his way. Then the wheel came to a stop.
“It’s fire!” the announcer blared.
Kai paused. “Fire?”
What would be the harm in one more round? This time he’d be battling a Serpentine bad guy. Way more his speed. After all, battling bad guys was what ninja did — as a team or solo.
Is it really? a tiny voice asked in the back of his mind. Is this what it means to be a ninja? Is this what Zane would have wanted?
Kai shook the thought away. At least he’d get to use his fire powers!
“What is your name, Challenger?” the announcer asked Kai.
Kai grinned. “Just call me … the Red Shogun!”
Son, you are watching too much television,” Sensei Garmadon scolded Lloyd.
“I’ve only been watching for a couple of hours,” Lloyd complained.
“It’s been four and a half hours exactly,” his father corrected him. “You’re supposed to be helping Cyrus Borg test his holographic system tomorrow. Shouldn’t you be training?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Lloyd said without much energy. Cyrus was expecting the whole ninja team. But Lloyd hadn’t seen or heard from them in weeks. He was starting to wonder if he would ever see them again, and that made him sad.
“Come on, meet me in the training room,” Garmadon said. “It will be fun.”
Lloyd sighed and stretched. “Okay, Dad.” He reached for the remote — and then stopped.
There, on his TV screen, was Jay! He was wearing a glittery blue
suit and holding a microphone.
Sensei Garmadon stared. “Is he wearing … makeup?”
“I’m Jay, Ninjago’s most lovable ninja!” Jay announced. “And I’m here before the Gauntlet of Humility to see who will be Ninjago’s next hero … and whose dreams will be gone in a flash!”
“No way!” Lloyd cried. “He’s a game show host!”
Lloyd felt a surge of energy. “Come on, Dad, let’s go,” he said, jumping off the couch.
He knew where to find Jay! That was a start. And if he could find Jay, that meant he could find the others, too. He may not get the team back together in time for Cyrus Borg’s test, but he was going to get the team back together.
“Or I’m not the Green Ninja!” Lloyd said out loud.
“Yes, you are the Green Ninja,” said Sensei Garmadon. “I knew that.”
Lloyd blushed. “Sorry, just thinking out loud,” he said. “Dad, I’ve got a new mission!”
“As long as it doesn’t involve watching hours of television on end, I will support you,” said his father.
Lloyd knew he could find Jay at the television station. That left Kai and Cole.
To find Kai, he went to see Nya at Sensei Wu’s Academy.
“I haven’t seen Kai in weeks,” Nya told him. “I’m a little worried. But I did hear this rumor recently.”
“Rumor?” Lloyd asked.
“There’s a place called Yang Tavern, downtown. Guys who want to show off their fighting skills go there and compete in a Slither Pit. Bad guys mostly. Except …” Her voice trailed off. “There’s a new guy in the pit. He calls himself the Red Shogun. And they say he can control fire.”
Lloyd’s eyes got wide. “That’s Kai! It’s got to be!”
Nya nodded. “That’s what I think. I told him he needed to cool off, but I guess he didn’t take my advice.”
“I guess not,” agreed Lloyd. “Thanks, Nya.”
Finding out where Cole had gone was the most difficult. Lloyd searched the whole city, but nobody had seen him. Finally, he borrowed a hound dog and had it sniff one of Cole’s old socks.
“Can you find Cole?” Lloyd asked.
The dog took off like a shot, pulling Lloyd behind him. He led Lloyd outside of the city, across a big field, and into the woods.