A.N: ...the reason I was gone so long are under NEWS on my profile. Let's just say bad emotional sh*t happening in my family and I lost concentration for anything.

But, school's out, and here's a new chapter! No POV, and checks in on EVERYONE.

Nice longer chapter for you guys. ;)

The ninja slowly backed against the stone tomb, increasingly tensed and alert. The venomari hissed and bared their fangs every time one of the ninja dared turn their way, while the constrictai simply gave them dumb looks. Clouds of poison hung around the crowd's head as a sign of impending doom.

A low hiss reverberated. In the gloom and fog, two crimson eyes glowed like bright headlights. An unpleasant beacon.

"Well," Skales hissed, slowly turning out of the entrance of the tomb the ninja had their backs against. "It sssseems we meet again..."

Each ninja turned their heads in succession to their foe except for Kai, who still sat curled in an embarrassing fetal position. Cole narrowed his eyes, then lightly tapped Zane's pocket where the Sacred Flute was kept.

Pull it out, Cole thought urgently, hoping that Zane could somehow hear him or at least understand his pleas. Play it, and lets get out of here!

Much to the earth ninja's relief and satisfaction, Zane did exactly what he pleaded. The flute was a blur as it was pulled out of his pocket, put to his lips, played the notes...

...only for the flute to be ripped away by Skales's tail, quick as a flash.

Skales studied the instrument with disgust. "I can't sstand the ssssight of this miserable thing." He then eyed the rest of the ninja, smirking at Kai against the wall. "Well, I sssuppose that goes the same with you four."

"Feeling's mutual," Cole snapped.

Skales flicked his tail in annoyance, giving off an air of superiority. His eyes fell on Kai, and a cruel smile played across his face. "Well, would you look at that? If it isn't the formidable fire ninja, on his kneesss and weeping?"

Jay suddenly took out his nun-chucks. "You're one to talk! You don't even have knees!"

A lone Venomari scout started to laugh, only to receive a dark look from Skales, who spat, "Enough of thissss! All of you, get them!"

His army, which had been waiting patiently behind him, now drew their weapons and eagerly advanced without questions. With one ninja down, per se, it didn't take them much time to be overpowered and backed against the toxic bogs right under their noses. A stray log was soon occupied by four ninja, and it groaned and began to disintegrate under their feet.

Jay bit his lip and looked around frantically, hoping to see some sort of beacon of hope as Cole was glaring furiously at all the snakes on the shore.

"Is...this it?" Jay eventually asked quietly, as if afraid to speak his fears out loud.

Cole sighed in frustration and turned to his shoes, his eyes glassy, his hands shaking. "I...I don't know Jay."

"Whether it is or not, it was an honor to fight beside you all," said Zane with baited breath.

"Yeah," said Jay.

"Hear hear," Cole muttered.

There was a still silence, with no noise but the occasional hiss of a snake and the whistle of the breeze. The log began to gurgle and feel lighter, as the ninja's hearts beat faster and faster. It was odd, waiting for death to creep up behind you and whisper in your ear.

A rustle tore the quartet from reality, as a rope fell from the canopy of trees and dangled in front of Kai's nose. His poison green eyes widened as he reached for it. "A magic rope! We can climb to safety!"

Skales chuckled, before realizing a little too late that his enemies were being pulled away from the bogs by a large Samurai mech. He hissed lowly and began to maneuver quickly through the trees to follow the mech, yelling for his idiot followers to do the same.

The ninja were soon dropped off on the ground and their rescuer stood his ground, swatting aside a large group of snakes like they were pesky flies.

"Whoa," Jay breathed in amazement.

The Samurai then jumped out of its large mech, to reveal a person around their height and age wearing a formidable mask and armor. He pulled an incredibly sharp boomerang, to which Jay nearly jumped with excitement about, and threw it squarely in Skales's face. The serpent screamed and dropped the Sacred Flute, but before the Samurai could grab it, he snatched it back up angrily and motioned for his followers to retreat along with him.

Apparently annoyed, the ninja's savior stomped back over to his mech, to see the four of them standing up and grinning.

Jay was bouncing on his heels and unable to sit still. "That was so cool!"

On the other hand, Kai tilted his head in confusion. "Santa?"

Zane was the first to recover from the shock of seeing a Samurai warrior. He bowed respectfully low as he said, "Thank you mysterious warrior. I owe you my life for-"

The ice ninja never got to finish. The Samurai had sprayed a blue gas in his face, causing Zane to fall unconscious.

Jay's eyes narrowed. "Hey that wasn't nice!" he protested angrily.

The Samurai ignored him and sprayed the rest of the ninja, each falling to the ground in succession. Satisfied, their rescuer climbed back into his mech, started the machine, and flew out of sight, just as the Destiny's Bounty soared into view.

"I can't believe I was dragged into this with you."

"Excuse me? You were the one who wanted to jump into the thick of all this when your uncle specifically told you not to!"

"If you hadn't refused we would't have been heard yelling at each other!"

"Now you're just refusing to be wrong!"

It had been a solid hour since Sean and Pythor had been caught arguing by the serpentine, and their habits still hadn't changed. The two of them were tied back to back and stuffed rather tightly in a small closet door towards the back of the main train car. The cramped quarters and sour mood didn't help their petty arguing much at all.

Sean finally gave an irritated huff. "Any ideas on how to get outta this?"

"Well sorry, but I wasn't expecting to be locked in a closet today," Pythor hissed. "Give me a few moments to think."

In response, Sean groaned in frustration and looked out the closet door, to see Skales muttering to the rest of the generals. He held his breath and nudged Pythor with his elbow to get him to keep quiet.

"How'd it go?" Skalidor asked cheerfully, as if they were talking about a baseball match instead of a battle.

Skales glared at him and flicked his tail. "Thossse ninjas are so annoying. I had them right in my clawsss, and then thiss, thiss Samurai comes in and ruinss it for me."

Sean perked up instantly. A Samurai?

"A Samurai?" Acidicus asked. "Now that is interesssting."

"Do we have-"

"-yet another-"

"-ninja to worry about?!" Fangtom wailed, alternating from each head.

Skales instantly shook his head and began slithering back and forth in deep thought. "No, he wasssn't familiar to the other ninja. They acted as if it was the first time they sssaw him."

Acidicus growled and slammed his staff on the floor. "Ssso it is true then! Another pesky fly in the way!"

"You should tell the bosses," Skalidor added. "Well, the scary one at least..."

It was then that Skales's demeanor changed. His scaled face twisted as if he had eaten something foul, but as quickly as this expression formed, it disappeared. "Yesss, I will go immediately."

As the generals slithered away, Pythor returned to his deep thought, while Sean voiced his question. "So, you think the Samurai will rescue us too?"

"Most likely not," he answered. "The others will realize we have disappeared and will surely come looking for us."

Sean, for once, didn't have a response.

Meanwhile, a certain red-head was pacing back and forth in a sewer tunnel, with his friend anxiously watching.

"Can't believe they aren't back yet, if the ninja beat them then I need to have a word with Skales..." Gene grumbled quietly, his violet eyes flashing in irritation.

Brad stared nervously. "It's not his fault, it's the ninja's..."

Gene's head snapped up to meet eyes with him. "Of course it's his fault! He's the one who had to capture them and is controlling the army!"

"But the ninja could've escaped or something..." he whispered.

The taller of the two glared at him and stomped over. "Whose side are you on anyways?!"

Brad squeaked a bit in panic. "Y-yours of course! Why wouldn't I be?"

Because you've been scary lately. You scare everyone. And you're not in your right mind. Snakes were meant to stay below, away from human lives.

"Because you seem to side with the ninja more often then you should be. Are you with or against me? I need an answer."

The black haired boy took a shaky breath. Do what you know in your heart is right or avoid getting murdered?

"With you." I'm not brave like them.

"Young masssster!"

Gene straightened and walked confidently towards his second in command. "What happened with the mission? You should've been back sooner than this!"

Skales narrowed his eyes in disgust and flicked his tail toward Brad, making him jump. "The ninja and my forcesss fought by the bogs, and we had them in the toxin my liege," at this word Skales looked close to gagging, "but thisss, this Samurai appeared and freed them, defeating a number of the army in the process!"

Gene waved his hand. "They can be easily replaced. My real concern lies with... with this Samurai. Who was he?"

The Hypnobrai hissed angrily. "We are not sssure. But I can assure you that we will find out as ssson as posssible."

Gene huffed and stared daggers into the ground. "Fine. Dismissed," he said, jerking his thumb back down the tunnel as he walked away.

Skales inclined his head and went on his way, a sly smile plastered across his markings.

The dark one spawned a thorn in my side, yet also a catalyst in what's to come.

With the sun dipping slowly in the horizon, and the wind whispering tales of old through the trees, the remaining seven were gathered for dinner and a retelling of their excursion.

"And then, this huge metal robot with boomerangs came in-"

"Samurai. It was Samurai." said Zane, cutting Jay off.

Lloyd sat there with his mouth full and a puzzled expression of his face, looking expectantly up at his uncle. Wu relayed to him the ninja's endeavors, and Lloyd promptly asked, "A Sama-what?"

Nya gave a small chuckle and went back to eating rather quietly.

"Samurai. Highest member of warrior class. They fight with honor, and glory on the battlefield," Wu announced, before translating to his younger nephew, whose eyes widened in awe.

Wu stopped suddenly, realizing something. "Hm, my nephew and Pythor have been gone long. Did any of you see them in your travels?"

Cole shook his head thoughtfully. "Nope, none of us have."

Kai, still having minor effects of the venom, stared at his plate apprehensively while shaking his head no.

The old man pursed his lips. "I fear something must have happened to them. Go. Find them quickly."

All four nodded in unison, pulling down their masks and rushing out the door, leaving Nya, Lloyd and Wu waiting in worry.

The blonde stared fearfully in his lap, now no longer touching his food, appetite gone. Thousands of irrational scenarios exploded into his thoughts like bullets, all involving the terrible things his brother could be going through.

Nya said something to his uncle, and he had never prayed he could hear more than now, for it could mean he could hear his brother's voice in the clouds, reassuring him that Sean would never leave his side again.

A.N: The next chapter will wrap up Can of Worms, then it's onto The Snake King! You all know what happens in that episode... ;)

Ahhhh, so much angst I look forward to writing about. XD

Thanks for reading, review please! And have a great day folks. :) :) :)