Wu's Teas - The Aftermath

The Aftermath - Episodes 3 and 4 - Music Night

"Dareth! DARETH! Stop!" Lloyd was yelling, pushing his way through the whirlwind of tomatoes being thrown his way. He reached for Dareth's shoulders and shook him to get his attention, to which Dareth promptly stopped "playing" his clarinet.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"What the heck was that all about??" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Wu said you needed some clarinet! Something about the "nuclear note..." Dareth explained, shrugging as he turned to walk off stage. Another tomato bounced off him, somehow leaving him perfectly untarnished. Lloyd blinked confusedly but shook it off, turning immediately back to his teammates and the audience.

"Uh... Sorry, everybody! Looks like that's all the time we have tonight! Now, uh, if you'll note the exit, we need to close up shop for tonight, but come back tomorrow!" He announced.

"Boo!" The crowd jeered at the ninja, throwing the last of their tomatoes before making their way to the shop's front door.

"Eugh." Jay groaned, flicking his wrist to shake off excess tomato juice.

"Ditto." Kai said, grimacing at his own sticky hands. "At least no one will be able to tell my suit's stained." He added, grinning.

"Pfft. That only works for you. My suits blue! It's gonna be like, grey, now!" Jay complained, pulling at his own shirt. Cole rolled his eyes.

"We've gotta get this cleaned up." Nya said, looking around the stage. The others followed suit, frowning at the mess of red fruit all over the shop.

"Do we have to, though? I'm exhausted!" Cole said, pointedly yawning.

"Me too, actually. But if we let this dry overnight, we're gonna have to be up at like, 3 am to get it cleaned up before we open again." Lloyd said, letting out a sigh.

"Precisely, Lloyd. I suggest, then, that you get started." Wu said suddenly, having walked up to the stage behind Lloyd.

"Yes, Sensei." He replied gloomily, catching the mop Wu tossed him. The ninja turned, as though to leave the stage.

"Sensei Wu," Kai started, "what's the 'nuclear note?'" This caught the attention of the rest of the ninja and they turned back toward Wu, awaiting his answer.

"I cannot adequately define it." Wu answered. "The musicali-tea was made to enhance one's musical abilities, certainly, but has too much power. It enhances to an unnatural level. If you'd sung for too long, the power would have built up until you reached a note it correlates with. You hold that note too long and..." He lead off.

"And what? What happens?" Jay asked him, looking incredulous at Wu for his dramatic pause.

"Put most simply, the results are like that of your last song's title."

"Our song's t- Oh!!" Jay broke into giggles. "Exploder! I get it! We would have-" He paled. "Oh."

"What? We'd have exploded?? How?" Cole asked, looking horrified.
"I don't know. It's never happened. I can tell you this, though: It drains your energy quite thoroughly. Which is why-" Wu continued, giving Jay, who had opened his mouth to comment, a meaningful look, "I suggest you get to work!"

A round of disdainful groans echoed around the five of them and they began shuffling toward cleaning supplies.

"You'll likely pass out in 20 minutes or so, so get it done quickly, please!" Wu demanded, having slipped back into Boss-mode.

"Okay, okay!" Jay huffed, pouting. "Jeez. All business, this guy."

"Yeah, well, he's got a point, Jay." Kai said. "This place'll never got done if we ignore the mess. And I, for one, would not like to get up 3 hours before opening to clean up rotten tomato."

"Agreed." Nya said, shivering at the idea.

"Oh, hey, Nya, you got a bit of tomato on your shoulder..." Jay said, walking up to her and grabbing a thick bit of red skin off her suit." Nya giggled and gave him an appreciate smile.

"Thanks, Jay." She said, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. Jay beamed.

"Jay." Kai said, clearing his throat in a menacing way. Jay lept toward the broom closet with a yelp and grabbed a mop. He walked quickly past Kai with it, grinning sheepishly. Nya rolled her eyes.

"Okay, now that you've tormented your teammate, wanna take a rag and clean off the instruments on stage?" Nya asked, although rhetorically. She tossed Kai one of the rags she held and he scowled at her.

"No. But I'll do it anyway." He said, pointing his nose and walking back toward the stage on the opposite side of the room, swinging the rag in circles as he went.

"Come on guys, let's just get the job done." Lloyd mumbled, dragging a broom after himself.

As they each began scrubbing the shop, top to bottom, the front door to the shop opened, clanging the little bell that hung above it. Everyone looked to the doorway to see Zane standing with half a dozen bags on each arm. He'd gone to buy supplies for dinner and to restock some of their most popular teas some 5 hours ago. He took in the scene before him. There was tomato and tomato juice on everything, tables and chairs overturned, a couple broken windows, teacups overturned and spilled on the floor, instruments scattered about a makeshift stage, Kai glowering at the rag he held, Jay "sweeping" but not paying any attention, Cole and Lloyd picking bits of tomato off each other...

"What did I miss?"