CHAPTER TEN — NINJA VS SAMURAI
the snake king — part two

"IRIS WU!" — the ninja

THE LOST CITY OF OUROBOROS HAD RISEN FROM THE DESERT AFTER SO MANY YEARS, MAKING THE ANCIENT CITY LOST NO MORE. Serpentine had collated at the old ruins which just rejuvenated their faith in Pythor's awful plan to unite the tribes and unleash the Great Devourer. The ninja, it seemed, had taken one step forwards and two steps back when it came to the Serpentine. And to add to it all, it was the Serpentine who had Lloyd. 

All Lloyd wanted to do was help, but now he was in a heap of trouble. With the Serpentine and possibly Wu when they bring the boy back to the Bounty. 

The girls were first to figure out what was going on. Whilst the ninja were out, scouring the streets, Nya used a bird's eyes view to look over Ninjago. "Look." She exclaimed, pointing to the screen in front of them. "This wasn't there a few days ago." 

As the young girl zoomed in on her find, Iris's eyes widened in realisation. She had seen those shapes and structures before: in her Father's scrolls. "That's the Lost City of Ouroboros." She gasped in shock. Never did the yellow ninja imagine anyone would set eyes on that collection of rocks ever again. "It was where the Serpentine would study the stars."

"Well, it seems it's not lost anymore." Bringing up another screen, Nya's eyes ran over all the data in front of her. "There has been a high surge of Serpentine activity in the area. We just didn't think it was anything because there was nothing there until now."

Narrowing her eyes at the picture, Iris deduced. "That must be where Lloyd is." Nya nodded in agreement. Fortunately her Father was below deck, unaware of their conversation. Because even though he knew his daughter was the warrior clad in yellow, he had no idea about Nya and they wanted to keep it that way. "Lets go."

A challenging smirk tugged at Nya's lips. "I'll see you there." Was it a race? Iris had no idea. 

Nya dashed off for her Samurai gear whilst Iris went to find her new suit, courtesy of her Father, to change into. It didn't take the ninja very long to slip into the brightly coloured fabric and armour and then, after returning to the bridge to picture the lost city clearly in her mind, Iris Wu vanished in puff of yellow. 

She appeared beside the outer wall, clearly out of the way and sight of any passing Serpentine. Her eyes scanned her surroundings, searching for the Samurai in the empty desert. And just when she thought she would have to wait, Nya suddenly flew down and arrived beside her. "I'm glad you could make it." Iris smirked beneath her mask.

Nya rolled her eyes behind hers and then inquired. "So, what's the plan?" Her voice was deep and disguised by the modulator within her helmet. Whilst Nya had all the cool gadgets and tricks, Iris was more old-fashioned — like she had been raised — and continued to disguise her voice herself. 

Humming in thought, Iris then teleported herself to stand upon the metallic shoulder of the Samurai suit. "First, we have to figure out our surroundings." She then reached up and grabbed the top of the crumbling stone wall, pulling herself up just enough to peer over the edge. And what she saw made her eyes shoot wide open. 

Lloyd was in a cage. And it was right beside Pythor and the statue of the fearsome Great Devourer. Not good.

"I see him." 

Within her suit, the Samurai nodded. "So what do we do?"

Now this was a difficult situation. Lloyd was right there, in the centre of it all. They definitely weren't going to get him out of there without being seen. So, their priority was to just to get out at all. "We don't have to fight them all, we just have to get to Lloyd. If you distract the majority, I can grab him and we go." 

"Sounds like a plan." Nya's samurai voice agreed. 

Iris took a deep breath and calmed herself. If she was going to do this, she needed to be on the top of her game. "Lets do this."

Reaching out for the wall again, Iris pulled herself up so that she was now on her hands and knees on top of the old stone. She cast a look down to Nya and nodded. It was time they put their plan into action.

The Samurai shot up into the air before landing in the city centre with a loud thump. As the snakes all focused on the Samurai, Iris quickly turned her focus to Lloyd and pictured his position in her mind. Then she was instantly transported to his side. 

Snakes advanced on the Samurai and she did her best to keep them at bay as Iris slowly and carefully approached the bars of Lloyd's cage. "Monty." She hissed to alert the boy to her presence.

"Iris." Gasped the boy as he smiled in relief at the appearance of his cousin. "Have you come to rescue me?" 

"Of course." She smiled beneath her yellow mask. "As if I was just going to leave you here."

Nya was still doing her best to keep the advancing Serpentine distracted as the yellow ninja reached out to unlock Lloyd's cage. Of course she didn't have a key, which would have made everything much easier, but she could pick the lock. The fingers of her young cousin were curled around the bars desperately as Iris attempted to free him. 

"What do you think you're doing?" Oh no.

Iris shot up in alarm and the yellow ninja barely had a moment to realise what was happening before a tail swept under her, sending her tumbling out for all to see. Pythor had caught her yellow handed. They were so done for now. 

Her body impacted the stone steps harshly causing pain to erupt in her side. A groan escaped her lips at the feeling. But Iris started to push herself back onto her feet because ninja never quit. She stared down the purple Anacondrai warrior fiercely. With what he was planning and taking her cousin, he was lucky he was just getting one heated glare. 

"Leave her alone!" Screamed Lloyd as Pythor went in for another attack.

But the young Garmadon's words seemed to stop the Serpentine in its tracks. Iris's heart raced inside her chest and a sweaty hand went out to cup her bruised side. "'Her'? The yellow ninja is just a girl."

Iris scoffed. "Does it matter? I can still kick your scaly ass."

"We'll see about that."

The yellow ninja risked casting a glance to check on the Samurai, only to find her losing against the united Serpentine tribes. She didn't want to leave Nya or Lloyd, but if she could get away she could return with enough help to take them all down. If any of them stood a chance, she had to leave. Now.

Picturing the Bounty clear in her mind, Iris closed her eyes and tried to teleport herself away. But nothing. At first she thought it was because of her injury, but when she saw the approaching snakes, hands laden with chains, she knew it wasn't because of that. Because those weren't just any chains. They were vengestone. And vengestone cancelled out their powers. 

Lloyd was still in his cage. Pythor was smirking menacingly. Nya was being overtaken with snakes carrying chains too. And Iris was about to become a prisoner too.

As she felt the scaly hands of the Serpentine grab her, Iris stared up at the clear sky and hoped that wherever the ninja were, they were on their way.

THE VENGESTONE CHAINS WERE RUBBING AGAINST IRIS'S SKIN, DIGGING THROUGH HER YELLOW SUIT TO ALREADY BRUISED LIMBS. It was safe to say that their rescue mission was a complete and utter failure. Not only had Iris and Nya failed to retrieve Lloyd from the clutches of the Serpentine, but they had ended up being captured. The snakes covered the Samurai in large chains before leading her away into one of their large cages. And Iris, she was currently tied down to the stone beside Lloyd, giving Pythor a glare every chance she got.

Without her powers, she couldn't go and get help so she had to hope that the ninja had figured out where they were by now. 

The cousins kept glancing at each other with matching apologetic looks on their faces as they both believed they were at fault for the situation they were. Lloyd believed if he hadn't gotten on that bus then they wouldn't have even been caught. And Iris, she blamed herself for not keeping a closer eye on Lloyd and for going into the previously lost city of Ouroboros without a better plan. Maybe if she had then they would be back on the Bounty. 

But as her Father often liked to remind her: you cannot change the past, only the future. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Iris spotted them. The ninja were here. But before she could even try and warn them, a cage like Lloyd's landed right on top of them and separated the four from their golden weapons. Now that wasn't good. Fear built up inside Iris and she felt her knees threaten to shake as she watched her friends, her students be locked up like the rest of them were. 

"The ninja!" Gasped Lloyd in shock when he too noticed their arrival. Iris just shook her head sadly. 

Then Pythor slithered over and tugged on her vengestone chains, pulling her along with him like some sort of pet as he made his way towards the four ninja. Iris struggled against his hold, but the Anacondrai was too strong and she was powerless against the mineral chaining her. When the ninja spotted the yellow ninja being dragged in their direction, they gasped in horror. All their previous grievances suddenly vanished once they saw their friend in chains.

Pythor hummed in approval at his catch. "It looks like we've caught the main event." He gave an evil laugh and Iris tugged once more against her bounds.

Zane narrowed his eyes at the snake and demanded. "Let them go." 

"Yeah!" Jay piped up in support as he shook the bars of their cage. "Let him go!"

Another laugh bubbled in the serpent's throat and he yanked Iris closer by the chains so that she was standing right in front of the ninjas' cage. "'Him'? Don't you mean her?" He tore off her yellow mask and revealed her face to everyone. 

She knew her identity would be revealed one day, but she didn't expect it to be like this. She wanted to do it on her own terms.

"IRIS WU!" Shrieked the ninja in shock. Their jaws dropped and their eyes bulged from their head at the sudden revelation. Their newest Sensei, their friend, was the yellow ninja this entire time.

She redirected her gaze to the floor shyly as the boys continued to gawp at her. 

Zane just blinked. "I can say, that without a doubt, I did not see this coming." 

All Iris managed to say was, "I'm sorry." Because what else was there to say?

After that shocking reveal, Pythor's triumphant, smug grin returned much to Iris's displeasure. He then summoned some of his Serpentine followers who released the ninja from their cage and then guided them to the centre of the city. Iris's chains were also unlocked upon arrival and the girl tentatively rubbed her sore limbs once the metal was removed. She was still weak from the vengestone so there definitely wasn't going to be any teleporting any time soon. 

"You're the yellow ninja?" Kai leaned forwards to raise an eyebrow at her.

Tiredly, Iris sighed before she replied. "Yes, I am the yellow ninja. But do you think now is the time for explanations." She gave the fire ninja a stern look.

"Yellow—I mean, Iris, is right." Zane corrected himself and then nodded in her direction. "We can discuss this once we've escaped wherever this is."

"It was known as the Lost City of Ouroboros." Supplied Iris.

But that wasn't the main concern at the moment. The serpents around them were cheering excitedly as the five ninja were ushered towards the centre. She didn't have to be a genius to realise a fight was coming. And she had a bad feeling she knew what was going to happen next.

"Main event?" Asked Jay as he glanced between his fellow ninja. "What do you think he meant by main event?"

"I have a feeling we're the main event."

Cole gulped fearfully. "Or the main course."

Out of them all Zane was the most logical, but then he said. "Kai, you may be right." If she was in better circumstances, Iris would have laughed, because those weren't words you heard often. The snakes stopped them before a large cage and suddenly Iris's fears were confirmed. Oh no. "Things really may come to an end today."

"Uh, don't worry. The Samurai could still come around to save us." The lightning ninja tried to reassure them.

A shaky breath passed Iris's lips and then she raised her hands to tuck her dark black strands of hair out of her face. "I don't think so, Jay." She told them sadly. "Did you really think I came alone?" A frightened and anxious look was shared between the ninja and Iris just focused on the large doors ahead of them. 

"You say you wanted a battle, and I give you one." Boomed Pythor's voice around the city centre. "I give you Ninja vs Samurai." 

Then the doors opened and out came the Samurai, chains linked over the arms of the suit. This wasn't going to be fun. 

"What? We have to fight the Samurai? But we don't even have our Golden Weapons and he has that hulking thing of armour. It's not fair." Whined Jay.

Iris's hand reached out to her side and she winced in pain at contact. She couldn't fight like this even if she wanted to. The sound of pain alerted Zane and he turned to see the twisted grimace on the girl's unmasked face. "You're hurt." It wasn't a question.

"I'll be okay." She assured him but by the tilt of his head, she could tell the white ninja wasn't convinced. "We have bigger problems right now." And they both knew that was the truth. But still, the worried look in Zane's eyes didn't go away.

And to prove her point, Pythor's voice continued to echo around the circular space. "I want to see once and for all who is the greatest hero. Is it Samurai or ninja? Only the victor will be allowed to leave."

"Stay together."

Her side was throbbing, her limbs ached and honestly, Iris was also a little frightened. But she had to get through this. Zane suggested. "Perhaps he can join our team to fight our way out? After all, he hates the Serpentine too."

A proud smile made its way onto Iris's face and she turned to the frosty fighter approvingly. "Now that is a good plan." 

But before Zane could thank her, one of the Samurai's spiked discs was sent hurtling at them. The ninja dived out of the way and landed onto the stone beneath them. Another groan passed Iris's lips as her sore side hit the hard stone. But she had to ignore it and keep going. Then she spotted her discarded yellow mask right in front of her and reached over to pluck it from the ground where Pythor had left it. 

She yanked the material back over her face as Cole and the others stood up. "Scratch that. He is not on our team." Considering the Samurai was actually Nya, Iris found that very unlikely. 

The Samurai suit charged straight at the five ninja who leapt right over to safety. But once they landed on their feet, the Samurai — Nya — turned and flung another disc right at them. She knew Nya had to keep up the act, but wow, it was convincing. The disc returned and hit Jay on the way back to the suit's massive metal hand causing the blue warrior to rub it with a wince. 

Cheers rose from the crowd as they enjoyed the show. Meanwhile, Iris just wanted to get back to the Bounty and sleep. Unsheathing her sword, the Samurai swung at each of the five ninja, including Iris, who jumped and ducked each time the blade neared them. Sweat was starting to bead down her face and her palms as she fought her friend and the injury to her side wasn't helping.

Once the ninja came to a stop, Zane offered an idea. "Tornado of creation?" A series of nods followed as the others agreed.

Iris knew what that was, of course she did, but she had never seen one before. When her Father recalled everything him and the ninja had gotten up to before she arrived, he mentioned that they had managed to do this incredible feat. And to be honest, she was excited to see it finally in action.

"Earth."

"Fire."

"Ice."

"Lightning."

The Master of Space did not join the quartet as they used their spinjitzu to form one, much larger tornado. It climbed and swirled and gathered up pieces to create what it needed. Iris took another step back to avoid being included in that gathering and admired the towering swirl of multiple colours. It was amazing. 

And when the tornado reduced to nothing, the ninja were all standing around a rather large slingshot. By the grace of the First Spinjitzu Master. Iris had never seen anything like that before. She rounded the slingshot to stand beside the ninja. But the big spiky ball that the ninja were about to fire, that made Iris worry slightly. They had no idea who was in the suit and Iris didn't want them to hurt Nya. 

The ball was sent hurtling through the air, striking the Samurai directly in the chest. Nya was sent flying backwards onto the steps Iris had landed on earlier. The ninja rushed over to where the Samurai lay, almost defeated, so that they could finally win the right. But of course, before they could get there, spikes shot up from the ground and blocked their path.

"Argh!" Jay cried out in annoyance. "Why can't anyone play fair?"

Eyebrow arched, Iris answered. "They're snakes, Jay, that's why."

And if they thought the spikes were the end of the meddling, they were most certainly wrong. Because then the floor beneath them started to move. It tilted upwards, with them being near the top, so the only place they had to go was down. 

They tumbled down the floor until they all reached out and grasped a spike with all their might because who knew what was at the bottom of this deadly slide. "Can this get any worse?" Cole asked rhetorically.

"Don't ask that!" Hissed Iris fearfully. She had enough experience with that question to know it was good at jinxing situations.

Nya, still in the suit, used her disguised voice to say. "We must continue to make it look that we are fighting for real." 

"Huh? We're not fighting for real?"

Understandably, the other ninja were incredibly confused right now. Iris tried to hold onto the spike with all her strength, but her sweaty palms just made it harder. Her fingers loosed on the rock. "No!" Then her hand fell.

But another hand grabbed hers. Iris looked up to see Zane, one hand still clasped tightly to his spike and the other wrapped around hers. He had saved her. "Don't let go." 

"Trust me." Iris just smiled up at him with utter gratitude. "I won't." 

"Keep up the charade and hold onto my exo-suit." 

Zane used Iris's momentum to swing her towards the Samurai whose suit she latched onto like her life depended on it. The others were soon to follow and it didn't take very long for them all to grasp onto the Samurai's armour. But what about Lloyd? He was still out there.

Nya didn't give her any time to argue and switched on her boosters, sending her suit with its ninja cargo directly up into the air. But it didn't get very far and the engine started to sputter as the suit froze part way up. "There's too much weight." Kai pointed out and as soon as he said that, Nya exited her suit and leapt from it. Iris spotted her jetpack strapped to her back and knew she had a way out, but she couldn't help but admire the girl's sacrifice.

Without the added weight of the Samurai, the exo-suit soared straight into the air and took the ninja far away from the City of Ouroboros. 

"I can't believe he just saved us." Scoffed Cole in disbelief.

Then Kai exclaimed. "He stole our thunder again!"

"Ah! I hate that Samurai!"

Rolling her eyes at the boy's antics, Iris then turned to give them all a stern glare. "The Samurai just saved us, so you should stop complaining." 

The boys basically ignored her, but she wasn't really worried about that right at the moment. Because as they disappeared into the desert, the yellow ninja cast her gaze back down to the city where her cousin was still caged. She hadn't wanted to leave him, but here she was, doing just that.

I will come back for you, Lloyd. I promise.

WITHOUT A PILOT, STEERING THE SAMURAI EXO-SUIT PROVED TO BE IMPOSSIBLE. Which explained why they crash landed straight into the desert. The pain in her side just intensified at the landing, but Iris couldn't think about herself at that moment. She crawled out from the bits of Samurai suit debris and the piles of sand before calling out. "Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah." Cole grunted out as he stood to his feet. Iris made note of his presence, and the obvious blue blob on the dune above. Then Zane made himself known as he pulled out of the pile of sand he had landed in. But they were one ninja short.

Noticing this too, Jay called out. "Where's Kai?"

"He's not here." Realised Iris as she scanned their orange surroundings for the sight of a red gi. Nothing. "But he has to be around here something." 

As Iris got to her feet, her hand shot to her waist as pain shot through her. Her knees tried to buckle under her and she would have most likely faceplanted the sand if Zane hadn't caught her. "You're hurt." He repeated from before.

"I'm fine." Insisted Iris, but when she went tore herself from Zane to try and walk on her own, her knees gave in once again. Luckily, Zane had quick reflexes and caught her for a second time — or was it a third time? "Okay, maybe not."

A soft laugh escaped the white ninja before he led the girl to sit down on the sand. "Can I take a look?" He asked gently as he helped her her onto the sand. Fortunately for them all, Iris had a tank top on under her suit (which was actually an all-in-one piece) so she managed to slip her arms out of her sleeves and roll it down without leaving herself in just her sports bra. Then she tugged up the corner of her top to reveal an already purpling mark on her side. She winced as the fabric shifted around her wound. 

"I can't look!" Cried Jay, hands covering his eyes to keep himself from seeing the injury. Cole just winced at the sight of it and Zane, he fixed his gaze upon the pain Iris was feeling and didn't move a muscle.

Then the ice ninja spoke up. "I think Iris has hurt her ribs." Observed Zane and then he reached out to carefully touch the edge of her wound. Instinctively Iris tensed at the contact, but for some reason, his touch felt okay. It seemed his cold hands felt good on her injury. "We have to get her back to the Bounty." He told his fellow ninja.

"Not until we find Kai." She insisted with a stern, no arguing allowed look. 

Suddenly, Jay just burst into a fit of giggles. "I still can't believe you're the yellow ninja!" Iris furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and sent the master of lightning an offended look.

"He didn't mean it like that." Cole quickly jumped in and Iris gave him a look to continue. She could feel Zane pulling her shirt back down to cover her wound, the tips of his cold fingers still grazing the purple blotch. "You're one badass Sensei, Iris." Now that made her smile. "It's just, we always leave before you yet you still somehow manage to get to these places and back before we do. How is that possible?"

Jay nodded in agreement. "Yeah! What he said?"

With a hum, Iris tapped her finger against her chin. "What's the simplest way to put this?"

"—Hey!"

Iris chuckled. "You know I didn't mean it like that, Jay." Then, with a sigh, Iris began. "Basically, Earth." She pointed at Cole. "Lightning." Then her finger went towards Jay. "Ice." Now Zane. Then she pointed to herself and concluded. "Space."

"Huh?"

A curious smile crossed Zane's lips as he realised what she was saying. "You can move through space. You can be somewhere at one moment and then across Ninjago in the next." Iris nodded in confirmation and the grin on the ice ninja's face widened. 

"YOU CAN TELEPORT!" Jay practically shrieked. "THAT'S SO COOL!"

Cole then nodded as he thought over and then accepted his friend's story. "That explains so much." 

"Good." Despite the throbbing in her side, the Wu girl couldn't fight the smile on her face. "You can tell Kai all of this later when he gets back. No offence, because I love you all, but when I get back to the Bounty, I just want to sleep." They all chuckled heartily at the yellow ninja's words.

Zane sighed as he calmed his laughter. " I would say that you have earnt it, Iris." 

"Wait..." Jay halted in his tracks, his face twisted as if he was trying to mentally piece together a puzzle. Iris and the other two boys just watched Jay curiously and waited for him to snap back. He suddenly whipped around to face Iris. "If you and the Samurai fought together, does that mean you know who they are?"

Oh dear, that question. The very question that the boys wanted to know to see who would become the Green Ninja. "I don't. But even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. They've kept their identity hidden for a reason, like I did, and I respect that."

Cole rose his eyebrow inquisitively. "Why did you not tell us who you really were?" He asked.

A tired sigh fell from Iris's lips and then she answered. "At the start, you did not know me very well. And later I was your teacher, your Sensei. I've found that people are more likely to listen to a friend." She went to say something but stopped herself, she didn't want to throw her Father under the bus. "So I decided to help you out there against the Serpentine and hoped I could impart some lessons as I did so."

"You didn't tell us because you wanted to be more of our teacher?" Queried Cole, crossing his arms over his chest. Iris nodded. "Wow. It totally worked, but that's some dedication." A blush formed across Iris's cheeks. 

"I think I speak for all of us when I say: Thank you." Zane smiled as he gave Iris a grateful and friendly glance.

Then, where the suit had landed, a low rumbling echoed in the desert. They all turned to see smoke spilling from the metal as the engine was switched on and the suit went soaring up into the air. The boys quickly tried to run after and stop the suit from escaping, but it was too late. It was gone.

At least Nya had her suit back.

Jay groaned and hung his head as they watched the Samurai suit vanish into the sky. "Great. Now we lost Kai, the Samurai suit is gone, and we have no way to get home." Iris's teleportation skills weren't great when it came to more than herself, but she was sure she could retrieve the Bounty. Had Jay already forgotten their conversation?

"I wouldn't say that."

At Cole's words they all spun around to see their familiar red ninja standing upon the dune. He brandished the golden weapons high for them to see and relief washed over the four. They were all going home. Well, nearly all of them.

Chapter 10, y'all!!! Double digits!!!

This is honestly probably my favourite chapter so far. We have badass Iris and Nya together trying to rescue Lloyd, the reveal and then her explaining it to the ninja. Not to mention the Iris and Zane moments I peppered in. I love these two.

We all know what happens next!!! So excited for it!!! Zane was so supportive of Iris here and she's gonna be so supportive for him. We love that about these two.

Iris doesn't like leaving Lloyd behind but she has to have a plan of attack next time. Also, how dare Pythor hurt my baby? Bad Pythor!!!

Thank you for reading!!!

Sincerely Rosie aka Winter326