The Elemental Adventures

Neuro Almost Dies

To be honest, Neuro hated the "Elemental Gatherings" the Elemental Masters have every week.

Sure, it's practical--it ensures that they don't become strangers again and repeat the whole Tournament fiasco--but Neuro would much prefer to remain away from the other Masters.  Mostly because he always felt left out or forgotten.

Well, he didn't have to worry about either being left out or forgotten this time.

Him and the other Masters were at the park, located on Ninjago City's North Side.  After Turner broke the glass doors at the community center, they were all banned from ever renting out the center again.  Which was understandable, seeing as with so many Masters in one room there is bound to be damage.

"Hey, Neuro!  You playing?" he heard Turner yelled.  Neuro sighed.  The other Masters wanted to play paintball--with paint-filled balloons since they didn't have actual paintball guns--and Neuro didn't want to play, so he tucked himself underneath an oak tree in hopes of going unnoticed.

"Not really," Neuro mumbled, but was dragged out from under the tree by Turner anyway.

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun!" Turner cheered, "You'll be on my team."

There were two teams, obviously.  The first team, lead by Skylor, consisted of Jacob--poor guy--, Gravis, Chamille, Tox, and Bolobo.  The other team, led by Turner, consisted of Shade, Ash, Paleman, Karlof, and himself.

"Alright! Here are the rules! You get hit, you're out! If you take out the leader of the opposing team, everyone who was out on you're side comes back in. Last team standing wins!" Skylor yelled, "You guys ready?"

"Yeah!" Turner yelled back.

No! Neuro internally yelled, I want no part of this!

Too late, the game has begun.

Jacob was out first, no surprise, and the fight only escalated.  Neuro, wanting no part of any of this, darted under a bush in hopes of being left alone.

No such luck.

Neuro was under the bush, trembling, while holding a paint balloon in his hands.  He was praying to the First Spinjitzu Master no one finds him, but the guy didn't seem to be showing mercy today, since he was found by the Master of Poison.

He screamed when she dragged him out of the bush, laughing.

"Hey guys!  I found Neuro!  The last 'surviving' member of Turner's team!"  she yelled.  Neuro blinked, trying to clear the fear from his head.

Tox pulled out a paint balloon and took aim.  From the angle, it would hit Neuro in the chest once she threw it.  Panicking, Neuro threw his balloon.

He should of just let Tox hit him.

His balloon hit her in the face, covering it in bright pink paint.  Everyone there went silent.  Neuro saw how most of the other Masters were horrified and were giving Neuro concerned looks.  The rest--Shade, Chamille, and Turner--were trying to restrain their laughter.  Neuro swallowed a gulp of air.

"Um, I'm sorry?" he meekly said.  Tox wiped the paint off her eyes and fixed Neuro with a venomous glare.  Neuro froze.

He should of ran.

Tox grabbed him by his collar and slammed him into a tree.  His head smacked against the trunk hard enough he saw black spots dance across his vision before he hit the ground.  He felt himself get picked up again, then felt pain blossom across his right cheek, quickly followed by pain on his left cheek.

Stumbling, Neuro tried to focus on his assailant.  He was dimly aware of yelling, but couldn't place where the sound was coming from.  

He felt another stab of pain in his right eye, the blow launching him into the tree again.  His body bounced off the tree and almost hit the ground, but a sharp stab of agony on the left side of his skull sent him flying to the right.

He was out the moment his head slammed against the dirt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeskip~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Neuro let out a groan as his eyes slowly pried themselves open.  Well, eye, since his left eye was the only one that opened.  His right eye remained stubbornly closed.

He didn't know what hurt worse.  His head? His eye?  His face?  Back?  Chest?  No clue.  But he did know he was in pain and couldn't move.

"Here, take these.  It'll help," a male voice said, gently propping Neuro up.  Neuro opened his mouth to scream, but the mysterious person popped a couple small, circular objects into his mouth before he could.  Stunned, Neuro swallowed them dry before he could choke. 

"There.  It'll be a few minutes before the pain pills kick in, but they'll greatly help," the man explained.  Neuro flicked his gaze over to the man and, through blurry vision, managed to make out the figure.

"Shade?" Neuro croaked.  The man sighed.

"Yeah.  Don't worry, you're at Ash's house.  His place was the closet to the park.  Figured you didn't want to deal with the hospital if you didn't have to," Shade replied.

Neuro sighed in relief.  It comforted him greatly knowing that he wasn't in a strange place, surrounded by strangers.

"What happened?" Neuro slurred, finding it hard to speak due to his face hurting.  Shade sighed.

"Well, after you hit Tox in the face with a paint balloon filled with bright pink paint, she went nuclear.  She was pissed that you aimed for the face.  The paint also got into her eyes, which infuriated her even more.  You got to be Tox's personal punching bag.  She punched you on both sides of your face and your right eye.  You got slammed into a tree twice and she round-kicked you in the left side of your head.  We managed to get her away from you after that.  After a little debate, we decided to bring you here," Shade explained, "You've been out for at least a day."

Neuro groaned and Shade gave him a concerned look.  "I'm tired," Neuro mumbled and Shade nodded.

"Alright, get some rest.  I'll be back in a few hours to change your bandages," Shade said, slipping out of the room.  Neuro sighed.

He really hated paintball.