Punch. Jab. Parry. Kick. Duck. Roundhouse. My last kick sent the training dummy skittering across the courtyard.

I slowly straightened, breathing heavily, and sweat pouring down my face.

"Celine?"

I whipped around to Lloyd leaning on the portico. Curse him and his soft walking. I really needed to stop working out with both earbuds in.

"What do you want?" I snapped, pulling an earbud out.

"You to take a chill pill," he responded as he walked towards me.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

"I swear to the Master if you tell me to let it go," I glared at him.

Lloyd's hand flew up in a defensive gesture. "I wasn't going to say that-"

"It's been three days. Three days! What on earth is he doing that's taking him this long to come back?" I vented as I deliberately walked across the courtyard and set the training dummy up again.

Lloyd inhaled deeply and responded calmly, although I could tell he was nearing the end of his rope. "Celine, it takes 12 hours to fly to Shintaro. Flight there, flight back. That's 24 hours; one day. Given that he took an ancient and deadly artifact, there is no doubt red tape involved. Another day at least. And how many times do I have to say it? He didn't go there for the reason you think he did."

"Can you stop trying to make me feel better? Because it's not working." I straightened the dummy and double-checked that the wraps on my hands were still good.

"You need to stop jumping to conclusions," Lloyd reasoned.

"Not listening." I tossed the words over my shoulder, stuffing my earbud back in, and began punching the dummy again. Left hook. Left uppercut. Right hook. Right uppercut. Counting off a cadence in my head. I was vaguely aware of Lloyd traipsing away behind me and I subconsciously followed the sound of his footsteps. Making sure he was actually leaving.

About five minutes passed before I heard Lloyd again. Groaning internally, I swiveled towards him.

"Now wha-?" My hands flew up almost instinctively to catch the towel that was suddenly hurtling towards my face.

"Clean up if you want. You need to go to the police station."

Master Wu, Benthomaar, Zane, and I had met up with Jay and Nya at the police station where the commissioner met us at the door.

"Please come with me, quickly," he urged before leading us down a hall.

"One of my boys on harbor patrol picked him up," the commissioner explained. "Says his name is... Gelatin or something?"

Benthomaar peered in the window. "Glutinous?"

"Yeah, yeah. That's it. Anyway, he said he needs to talk to you. Something about a giant snake and the end of the world or something," the commissioner commented.

"We'll take it from here, Commissioner," Wu spoke. "Thank you."

As we filed into the room, the commissioner caught my arm. "Who's this?" He inquired. "I mean, I assume she's with you?" His eyes flicked up and down my figure, taking in my ninja gi.

"This is Ce-" Nya started, but cut herself off as I made a slashing motion of my throat. "The Turquoise Ninja," she corrected herself. "She's also the Master of Sound. She kinda specializes in interrogation stuff."

The commissioner 'hmphed', "You hiding something under there?" he asked, clearly meaning the hood that still covered my face.

"Yeah, my face," I replied, a little snippy. "I'd prefer to keep my identity secret, thank you."

He shrugged before letting my arm go. "Suit yourself."

We entered the room, Zane shutting the door behind us.

I took a moment to study the snake sitting at the small table in the center of the room. The lower half of his body was missing, and in it's place was a robotic spider-like apparatus. A magnifying glass popped out from behind him and covered his left eye.

He glanced up anxiously as we entered. "Oh thank goodness. You're here. We don't have a moment to lose!"

"What do you want Glutinous?" Benthomaar asked.

"I came to warn you," Glutinous explained. "Kalmaar has awoken Wojira!"

"How?" I demanded.

"That's impossible," Jay interjected.

"Yeah, he needs two amulets," Nya countered. "And he's only got one."

"He has both. He tricked you!" Glutinous corrected excitedly. "He switched it when you weren't looking, with the fake amulet from the Island of the Keepers!"

Nya gasped and Jay quickly moved to comfort her, placing a hand protectively on her shoulder.

"He couldn't have," he argued. "Tell us he's lying Celine."

I swallowed hard, eyeing Glutinous, scrutinizing every tiny movement he made. He shrunk under my gaze, gulping, but he was being honest.

"He's not."

"I'm telling you the truth. I assure you, he did! I saw the real one. He brought it back to the temple. He summoned me, as he usually does..."

Glutinous relayed the events of Wojira being awoken. How he had suggested doing more testing before actually awaking the beast, but Kalmaar had dismissed him, overcome by his lust for power. Glutinous finished off his story by impersonating Kalmaar's maniacal laugh.

We waited a little impatiently for him to finish, and for a moment, I questioned his own sanity and the validity of his story.

Noticing the lull, he composed himself. "Ahem. He rode off on the serpent. I don't think he was exactly in control of it, but it's only a matter of time."

"Why are you telling us this?" Nya pressed.

"When I saw Wojira," Glutinous elaborated, "when I saw her full power. I began to think, perhaps, I had made some poor career choices."

"I'll say," I muttered beneath my breath.

"When did this occur? How much time do we have?" Zane quizzed, ever the practical one.

"Two days ago. As soon as Kalmaar gains control of Wojira, he will wield the full power of Wave and Storm, a force this realm has not experienced since ancient times."

"Wojira could be here any moment," Wu declared. "We must prepare." He hand raised to the communicator in his ear. "Pixal, come in."

"Master Wu?" Her voice crackled faintly in my own com.

"Pixal, the submersible combat crafts you've been developing. How soon can you have them ready?"

"Three days," she replied. Somewhere in the background, something exploded. "Four."

"You have twelve hours. I don't have time to explain, but I need them prepped and armed as soon as possible. And I need you to issue an emergency evacuation," Wu continued.

Following Zane's lead, we hurried from the room and towards the city streets on our way back to the monastery. Even as we stepped outside, I felt a deep rumbling within the ground. I glanced at the sky, which was surprisingly clear.

"It smells like rain," Nya commented.

"I think Wojira is closer than I'd like to admit," I murmured. No sooner had the words left my mouth, than the sky darkened and thunder cracked, the sky lighting momentarily with purple lightning.

Everyone stopped and stared up for a second, gazing at the sky as a storm wind began to whip violently through the streets.

"She's here," Benthomaar whispered.

Author's Note

Apologies for the super  late upload. Life has just been insane lately lol. I'll try to upload semi-regularly for the rest of this book, then I'm gonna take a break for a month maybe to work on my next book before I publish it. That way there's not such long chapter breaks.