"Pythor, we've been digging around for miles." Kai huffed, wiping the sweat from his brow. The Anacondrai leader and his two subordinates had traveled to the Sea of Sand in order to unearth a lost Serpentine city.

"I'll have to agree with the human." Skales hissed, slithering down from the deposit. "We've been here long enough."

"Keep digging, you faithless fools." Pythor snapped, feverishly shoveling alongside Kai. "The Lost City of Ouroboros is right underneath us. I know it!"

"You put too much faith in legends." Skales rolled his crimson eyes, collecting sand into buckets for another trip to the deposit.

Kai wiped his brow once more, huffing in exhaustion. He was once invulnerable to hot weather, but after spending years in the Underworld and of course becoming dependent on dark matter, it seemed that the sun was his enemy.

Pythor glanced at him from the side and was about to make a snide comment before he suddenly gasped. His shovel had hit a stone with a loud clank.

Unearthing what he had hit with his tail, Pythor beamed in amazement. "Skales, Kai..." He began, reaching down to grab something. "I do believe we've found it."

The Hypnobrai slithered next to Kai quickly, gasping. Kai rose a brow skeptically, watching Pythor grab what appeared to be a handle in the sand.

At once, the sand beneath them began to rumble, and large stone structures rose from the desert. A large arena began to form around them, and most prominently, a massive statute of a snake stood in the middle of it all.

Pythor slithered around in amazement, spreading his arms out. "I give you, The Lost City of Ouroboros!"
-
Jay jabbed at the small breakfast on his plate, his appetite nonexistent. Although the team had practically forgotten his encounter with the Samurai, his resentment was still eating him alive. I swear, once I catch that guy...

"Jay?" Zane interrupted his thoughts. "Will Nya be joining us soon?"

"Oh, shoot, I forgot to tell you guys." Jay nodded towards Sensei. "She wanted to go out and run some errands, since we're getting really low on supplies. Sensei gave her a laundry list of stuff, so she's going to be out for most of the morning."

Sensei confirmed this with a nod, before getting up to answer the door. From what is sounded like, the mailman was frantically knocking.

"How did he even get up here?" Lloyd wondered aloud. "We're like, a billion feet in the air."

"That dude'll do anything to bring us our mail." Jay smirked. "I bet he'd even go to the Underworld if we were trapped there."

The others chuckled at this before resuming their meal. Cole took a bite of his greens, looking deep in thought. "You know, I guess I haven't really noticed how low we are in supplies. Especially food." He gestured to their lack of a full breakfast. "Nya's pretty observant."

"Yeah." Jay agreed absentmindedly, his focus going back to the Samurai.

"Personally, I don't buy this." Cole shrugged.

"Buy what?" Zane asked. Jay looked up along with him.

"It's just a wild theory, but..." Cole bit his lip, looking as if he was having an inner debate. "Look, I'll just say this; she can't just be going out for supplies."

Jay tensed up, gripping at his fork. What the hell was he trying to say?

Zane scrunched his brows together. "What are you implying, Cole?" He asked diplomatically, noticing Jay's behavior.

"It's nothing bad." Cole put his hands up. "I just feel like she's using her spare time to spy on Kai and the Serpentine."

"That... does seem plausible." Zane frowned, drumming his fingers.

"Cole, I'd have to disagree." Jay piped up. He was significantly less angry than he was initially, but now his own fear for Nya's safety was taking root.

"Jay, c'mon man." Lloyd crossed his arms. "You're literally in the room when Nya sneaks off at night."

When the others turned towards Lloyd questionably, Lloyd added. "I only know that because I don't get much sleep, okay? I can look out the window and see her run out of her room's window."

"Look, now that I'm saying it out loud, this whole thing sounds ridiculous. I mean, how the hell would she even get to their hiding spots?" Cole added dismissively. "She doesn't have a vehicle."

"You are ignoring the fact that she is an excellent inventor and engineer." Zane countered. "She may have crafted a transport right under our noses."

"How?" Jay snapped. "This place is tiny! We'd hear her working even from a forty-mile radius!"

"Perhaps." Zane added calmly. "She has another location for crafting. A secret workshop..."

"Do you guys realize how ridiculous we all sound?" Cole interrupted, laughing nervously. "I shouldn't have even brought it up. Let's eat!"

"No, I'd like to hear Zane's whole theory, thank you very much." Jay frowned, biting his lip.

"It is incredible, how Nya was able to reach the Venomari tomb on her own, without the assist from the Bounty." Zane continued. "Perhaps the mysterious Samurai isn't so mysterious after all."

Jay jabbed his fork into the table, shocking everyone. "Nya is NOT the Samurai!" He growled, his face flushing in anger.

"Jay, that is not entirely what I am saying." Zane spoke calmly. "She could be affiliated with him, perhaps making his weapons and his mech. There could even be a chance that he has her under his control. Perhaps she's stuck-"

"Zane, shut up!" Cole interrupted him, holding up his hands. "All of us, we need to calm down! Don't you guys see that we took one stupid theory and blew it way out of proportion?"

Jay and Zane nodded slowly, although everyone in the room was still tense.

"Nya is not a traitor, and she isn't putting her life at risk to spy on Kai and the Serpentine." He continued. "Can we all agree this was a stupid debate?"

"Yes." Jay spoke first, then Zane. Everyone was significantly calmer, but Jay still couldn't shake off what Zane had theorized.

After a few minutes in silence, Sensei arrived carrying a large package. "I'm sorry for the delay, everyone. The mailman was nearly blown off of the deck..." He noticed how unusually silent the room was and frowned slightly.

"What's in the box?" Lloyd asked his uncle excitedly, trying to change the room's uneasy atmosphere.

"New uniforms!" Sensei announced to the group. The ninja all gasped in excitement, grabbing their own respective boxes. Each suit had improved armor, and the durable cloth was a significant improvement from their simple gi. Most notably, each uniform was completely unique.

"Since I asked Nya to buy us all new supplies, I figured I'd add some improvements to your uniforms as well." Sensei held Nya's box and sighed. "A long battle is ahead of us, ninja. We must be strong, not only in our weapons and armor, but in our hearts as well."

"Yes, Sensei." The ninja responded absentmindedly, still preoccupied with their uniforms.

At this moment, Nya rushed in, wiping her brow. She was carrying dozens of bags and packages of all shapes and sizes. "I'm sorry I'm late, Sensei." She apologized breathlessly. "The mechanic guy was trying to offer me a job. I finally just had to grab everything and run."

Sensei chuckled, helping her place the items down. "That's alright, Nya. Thank you for your help." He gestured to the table. "Grab a plate of breakfast. I've also got you a new uniform."

Nya thanked him, walking towards the table. Cole rose a brow at her. "How'd you get up here?"

"Oh, Jay let me use his storm glider." She placed the nunchucks down, kissing the lightning ninja on the cheek. "Thanks." She smiled warmly at him.

"You can fly that thing?" Cole asked, dumbfounded. "How did you even...?" He looked at Jay skeptically.

For once, Jay was feeling something other than suspicion; pride. He smiled a little. "It wasn't an easy task, but eventually she learned to summon it on her own. I was seriously impressed. Not because I didn't think she could do it, just because it seems impossible."

Nya beamed over her new uniform before agreeing with Jay. "It took us all night to figure out."

"Sometimes." Sensei added, taking a seat. "When the relationship between two elemental masters becomes an unbreakable bond, they are able to unlock each other's powers." He smiled at the two. "Unfortunately, just as feelings fluctuate, so do these powers. Remain strong, and your bond will become powerful."

"Jeez, now I wish I had someone." Cole joked.

Jay and Nya blushed, looking down at their uniforms.

"Nya, did you see any snake sightings when you were out?" Zane asked. The others glared at him for asking such a blunt question.

"Um, just a few. They were groups of scouts, though, so nothing too big." She admitted, looking around. "But right when I was about to intervene, the Samurai just flew in, took care of everything, and then flew off!"

The ninja's mouths hung open in shock. "Did you try to unmask him?" Cole asked.

"By that time I was so preoccupied with landing that..." She looked down. "I'm sorry, I just didn't have enough control of Jay's glider. He left before I could even try anything."

Sensei smiled at the group, waving Lloyd over. "Come, nephew, I think we should let them discuss."

"You go ahead, Uncle Wu. I wanna hear more about the Samurai." He grinned."

"Very well." Wu smiled. "Ninja, I have to run a few errands, myself. Remember to take turns watching Lloyd." The ninja agreed absentmindedly, all distracted.

"I'm beginning to think we'll never catch this guy." Cole sighed.

"Maybe not." Jay smirked. "Maybe only one of us can."

"What are you saying?" Nya smiled, raising a brow. "You think you can?"

Jay raised his hands. "Hey, I'm not saying anything. All I'm saying is, perhaps only the destined Green Ninja can be worthy enough to identify this guy."

"Wait a sec, are you saying that if one of us catches this guy, then they'll become the Green Ninja?" Cole laughed. "That's crazy talk."

"Perhaps, but it does seem like a fun challenge anyway." Zane grinned. "Count me in."

Cole nodded. "Me too."

Nya laughed, rolling her eyes. "You guys are crazy."

"So what? Are you saying you aren't up for the challenge?" Jay smirked and nudged her.

"Of course not." Nya crossed her arms, grinning. "You're all going down."

"I wanna help too!" Lloyd added, waving his hands.

"Fine, since you'll be with each of us anyways." Jay shrugged. "It'll be fair."

"So we're all agreed then?" Cole looked around. The ninja nodded. "Good."

Nya smirked, taking her uniform. "Alright then, guys. Let's catch this mysterious Samurai."