Legends of Ninjago Book 2: Rise of the Serpentine

Chapter 18: The Hypnotist

    In the pitch blackness of Cole's earthy fortress, the boys listened to sounds of metal scraping off of the hard stone. The Serpentine were relentless, and whether they got in or not, the boys were still surrounded.
    "What'd you go and do that for?" Kai yelled, his hand resting on the hilt of his katana.
    "Well..." Cole started, with no idea what to say after that.
    "No, you've been making mistake after mistake. What's wrong with you?" Cole couldn't see Kai's glare, but he could feel it in his voice. As a matter of fact, it was starting to feel very warm in the little dome.
    But Cole just clenched his fists. "I'm fine, alright?! Just a little..."
    "Yeah?" Kai said expectantly.
    Now Cole could feel Zane, Kai, and Jay staring at him. Think, think, think! What would they believe?
    "It's none of your business!" he finally blurted. "I'll. Be. Fine."
    THUD!
    One of the stones in the structure came loose and fell to the floor, letting in daylight and a Hypnobrai fist.
    "Aaaah!" Jay screamed. "Can we continue this love-fest somewhere else please?!"
    Then another stone came loose, then two more, then three, and soon the whole structure was falling apart. Cole raised his arms and the rocks hit the snakes instead of the ninja. With that precious window of opportunity, Cole led the charge and pushed passed the nearest Serpentine, his skin shivering as he brushed up against those cold scales.
    As they were leaving, however, Jay and Kai suddenly let out yelps of surprise. Cole turned around to find them lifted off of the ground by two long, teal tails. Zane moved first, freezing the two Hypnobrai where they stood; his blast sent an icy chill through the air. Kai and Jay fell with a PLOP, but by then, more Serpentine had arrived.
    By sheer force of will, and more than a few stone walls, Cole had barrelled down into the small valley below where he suddenly found a construction sight which was positively teeming with Hypnobrai. Everywhere he looked he saw more teal scales and bulbous red eyes, following him, taunting him, chasing him. There was still a chance they could salvage all of this, though. The mission was to find—and if necessary, rescue—Ann Jing, Keaton, Zane, and Jay. Well, they had certainly found them, now it was only a matter of escaping.
    Cole suddenly found himself, dodging building supplies; ducking under scaffolding, sliding under massive wooden beams, and avoiding being sliced by active buzz saws.
    "Keep moving!" Zane shouted. "I see Ann! Up on the ridge!" Cole looked up and squinted. There was a tiny speck of a person waving their arms around above them, and it looked as though she was urging them all to meet up with her.
    More and more stone walls went up, pushing aside any Serpentine who tried to cross swords with Cole, and he could hear the familiar sounds of thunder and flames being shot off behind him. But the most terrifying sound of all: the crowd of Hypnobrai all screaming and clanging their weapons directly behind the four boys.
    The moment that Jay—who had been at the back of the group—exited the scaffolding, a large gust of wind sprung up out of nowhere. Cole dropped to his knees and clung firmly to the ground, feeling no urge to turn around and see the wooden framework of the Serpentine's building bow to the mercy of Keaton's powers. It's support beams popped out of the fresh cement and from there, it all came toppling down right on the Serpentine's heads.
    Finally, the wind stopped, and Cole took only a glance at the dusty scene behind him before bolting at full speed. The others were close by when he and the girls met up somewhere between the top and bottom of the little valley.
    "Is everyone all right?" Ann asked, looking genuinely concerned for a moment.
    "Yes," said Zane.
    "We're fine," Jay added.
    "Good. Now what in the name of Ninjago were you thinking?!" Ann railed. That tone of voice, that sharp accusation... she yelled it at everyone, but... it really felt like she was yelling at Cole. After all, this was his fault. None of this would have happened if he hadn't blown their cover.
    "...Cole..."
    The others started running again, disappearing into the trees nearby, but Cole couldn't seem to move.
    "Cole? Did you call for me?"
    Kai even stopped and turned around, seemingly worried for his friend, but Cole couldn't hear what he was saying.
    'I... I messed up... big time...' he thought. What kind of long lasting consequences would this blunder have? How many more mistakes could he afford to make?
    "Hello again, Cole"
    Cole blinked. This wasn't the forest. This was... the glass atrium in the white expanse... and Scales was standing right in front of him.
    "Well, if you don't need me, then I'll just let myself out," the snake said, turning around.
    "No, wait!" Cole said, thinking frantically.
    "Yes?" Scales asked. He turned around enough for Cole to see his face and it somehow looked full of compassion. But that wasn't right, the Serpentine were... they were... "Would you like me to help?" Scales pressed.
    Cole was surprised by himself. The words were right on his lips, begging to jump out. With a shaky jaw, he let them.
    "Yes... please..."
    "Very well."