Legends of Ninjago Book 2: Rise of the Serpentine

Chapter 29: Rest in Peace

Keaton knew what she was about to do was suicide, but when she saw her big sister standing there, spouting that nonsense about the Hypnobrai, her heart felt like it would tear in two if she didn't do something. To Zane's dismay, she abandoned her hiding place and charged at Ann, hoping that the sound of her voice or the sight of her face might be enough to snap the water ninja out of her trance.
Keaton grabbed her sister, and in the shock and panic of the moment, she dragged her down from the car hood with barely any idea about what to do next. "Ann?!" she cried, shaking her sister's arms and searching her eyes for any sign that she was still there. Her expression was blank, and her eyes were glazed over. The snakes had begun to close in around her, but if she could just wake Ann up, then maybe they could get away in time and—
"Ann Jing!" the snake who was with Ann yelled. "Wake up! You've been taken captive!" He clapped his hands together and all of a sudden, Ann blinked and looked around. She spotted Keaton and her eyes widened in raw anger, an expression Keaton had rarely seen from Ann. She instantly threw Keaton's hands away and backed off into the crowd. Keaton felt her heart move up into her throat, then down into her stomach, and goodness-knows-where-else, not knowing what to think as two words rang out very clearly among the Serpentine who were getting far too close for comfort,
"Get down!"
Her muscle memory kicked in, and she instantly ducked, placing her hands over her head. Jay swooped in, taking down some of the enemy soldiers with a single blast, and he yanked Keaton up by the arm. They were running now, but the only reason Keaton knew that was because her eyes were frozen in place, staring at the ground.
Jay brought her to safety behind a mangled, flaming car, but they were quickly pursued by none other than Ann herself. She had an air of anger that outmatched all of the Serpentine present, and she seemed to have it out for Keaton specifically.
Suddenly, the car was flipped over in a watery wave, completely exposing Keaton and Jay. Ann was ready with another wave of water, but Keaton took a bold step forward, her arms raised in surrender.
"Ann-Ji, it's me! Keaton!" she squeaked, stepping closer still.
"Don't get cute with me," said Ann, which was a pretty normal thing for her to say, but it came out far nastier than Keaton was used to. "You're one of Wu's students."
"Yes! Of course I am!" Keaton replied, not quite sure what was going on. Cole hadn't acted like this. Why was Ann different? "And so are you!"
"Ann Jing! It's-s-s a trick! Attack!" that same Hypnobrai yelled, and suddenly Ann had a water tendril flailing toward them.
'When there's harm, protect and disarm!' Keaton recited in her head. Just as the water was about to hit her and Jay, she summoned a wind so strong that it blew straight through the tendril and pushed Ann back, splashing the water everywhere.
"Keaton, we need to get out of here!" Jay cried, grabbing her by the shoulder.
"I'm not leaving Ann!" Keaton snapped back. She unfurled her war fans and took a deep breath, her eyes glued to her sister who was getting back on her feet. "Ann Jing! Stop!" Down came a water whip, but Keaton knew how to blow it away. Ann growled in frustration and tried again, while Jay started fending off the Serpentine horde with his lightning. Ann kept shooting at Keaton again and again, from above, below, left and right, pushing the air ninja back and Keaton was barely breaking them apart in time. Ann was simply too fast!
"Stop!" Keaton yelled, unleashing an air wave that managed to disorient Ann for a few seconds. "Please, Ann-Ji! You're being hypnotised!"
Ann looked up and her expression darkened. "Nice try," she said. Keaton felt her eyes growing wet and her chest felt so, so tight.
"Ann-Ji—"
Ann blasted water like a fire truck hose and knocked Keaton off her feet. She felt her body hit the ground, the wind knocked out of her lungs, and she could tell that there were a million awful bruises already forming. Keaton couldn't see very well with the water in her eyes, but when she swiped at her face a few times and looked up, she thought she saw a dozen-or-so arrows falling down straight towards her. She raised a hand but never got the chance to blow them away as a sheet of ice suddenly appeared and caught them all.
"Zane!" she cried when the ice ninja appeared out of nowhere and sent a few more Serpentine to the ground as he went. He paused when he saw Ann, but that proved to be a mistake. She used her fire hose move once again and Zane was caught off guard. With a loud "Oof!" he fell to the ground beside Keaton.
Keaton had to clench her jaw to keep it from quivering as she got to her feet and tightened the grip on her fans. She had to put an end to this! Keaton charged at Ann, full speed, and Ann Jing really had to think fast to defend herself from the little ninja's air slices.
"Ann-Ji! Please! Come back to me!" Keaton yelled whenever she could, but no matter how many times she pleaded, Ann remained unfazed and unmoved.
Ann was finally in the position to attack again, and sent wave after wave at Keaton. Zane and Jay were never far behind, but they were more preoccupied with fending off the army of snakes which the two girls seemed to have forgotten about. Zane blocked off parts of the street to prevent the party from getting too crowded, and Jay had a particularly fun time zapping Serpentine left and right. Sometimes all it took was scaring the Hypnobrai off with the loud crackles of his electricity, but the Fangpyres, he noticed, were far more bold. The candy cane coloured snakes seemed eager to get to him, and probably take a bite out of him, which made Jay all the more eager to keep them at a safe distance. More lightning was required.
Jay suddenly got a horrible feeling that something was coming up behind him. His head swivelled just in time to see a Hypnobrai lunging in his direction, and all he could think to do was jump out of the way—and straight into the horde of Serpentine. He flexed his arms and legs with all his might, really giving the snakes a run for their money, but their scaly hands and tails refused to let go.
WhatdoIdo? WhatdoIdo? he yelled in his head. There were Fangpyres all around him, he realised, and like when you find a cockroach in your shower, he felt the urge run as far away as possible. In his panic, Jay managed to break one of his arms free and used it to unleash a wild bolt which scared off most of the snakes. All that was left for him to do was yank his left arm free and run like the wind!
"AAAAAAAAHHH!" he screamed when he pulled his arm free. There was a shooting, burning pain in his forearm, and it felt like his body was going into some kind of shock. Zane's ice suddenly appeared and Jay felt safe to lie on the ground for a second, breathing in and out quickly and clutching his arm.
"What happened?" Zane asked frantically, kneeling next to Jay.
After flinching one last time, Jay said, "I don't know—ugh! But it hurts!"
Zane could make out where the pain was coming from and he ripped back the navy blue fabric to reveal a long, bloody gash in Jay's arm.
"Oh, that's nasty!" Jay cried, feeling the pain swell again. He began to wonder if maybe he'd pass out. His head definitely felt dizzy enough.
"Hey, hey, hey! Stay with me!" Zane said, tapping Jay's face. He ripped up his own shozoku hem and used it to wrap up Jay's arm, then tied it tightly.
"AAAAHAHAHAA SWEET MERCY!!!" Jay yelled. "Do you think you could've tied it any tighter?!"
"Well, yes, I could've tied it tighter, actually," Zane replied as he helped Jay to his feet.
"It was a rhetorical question!" Jay snapped.