The Child of Silver

66

After resting for a time, the Ninja returned to the tea shop to come up with new battle plans and find a way to defeat Morro before he could use the Realm Crystal. The entire time they flew back to the tea shop, Anirei and Lloyd were inseparable, never leaving each other for too long, and it was very obvious to the others that this adventure was pulling to together even more.

That, or maybe it was because of the celebration coming up soon. Chinese New Year was always a happy and exciting time, especially for people so close to each other as Lloyd and Anirei were.

They landed in front of the tea shop just as the sun was rising behind them.

"Shouldn't we be going to Stiix?" Kai asked as they climbed down from the Bounty, "The longer we wait, the worse it'll get."

"We need to stock up." Sensei Wu said.

"On what? Magic tea that will make us invincible?" Jay asked, "Give us special powers? Is it gonna give us four arms?"

"Far too soon to mention four arms, Elder Brother Jay." Anirei said as Lloyd helped her down from the Bounty.

"It's all right, Rei." Lloyd whispered to her.

"Sadly, no magical tea today." Sensei Wu said as they approached the tea shop, "I had to sell all the merchandise along with everything else."

They walked up to the tea shop and saw a large red X on the front door.

"What? You sold your business?" Zane asked, "But that was for your retirement."

Just then, the door opened, revealing Cyrus Borg wheeling out of the tea shop.

"Ah! Hello again, Ninja." He greeted the team.

"While we were away, I had Borg use the money from the tea farm to create us some new toys to balance the scales. They are expensive you know."

Borg wheeled up to the team, smiling at them since he hadn't seen them in some time.

"It's been so long, I hardly recognize any of you." Borg said, "Lloyd looks older. Anirei has grown much more beautiful. I see a water ninja. A titanium nindroid. Cole is.... a ghost. Heh. Jay looks shorter. And then there's Kai."

"Hey. What do you mean I look shorter?" Jay asked, offended by Borg's statement.

"Sorry, Dr. Borg, but cut to the chase. We don't have much time." Kai said.

"Yes, always the impatient one." Borg turned around and pressed a button near the door. Immediately, the tile pattern in the center of the quad lowered and split open, allowing several new machines and weapons to be lifted up to the surface.

"If you want a little muscle with that hustle, I've made Jay a lightning-fast Ghost Taker GT." Borg said gesturing to the blue vehicle, "Front spectral intake, rear incorporeal storage."

Jay smiled and bounced excitedly towards the vehicle, "Why did the ghost cross the street? Oh, I don't know, maybe 'cause he saw me coming in that!"

Borg then gestured to the large white mech in the center, "Zane's ice mech. Sure it appears to be the same, but I've equipped the underarms with Deepstone particle shooters, allowing you to freeze the competition."

"Super cool. And I mean, quite literally." Zane said as he ran to the ice mech.

"Cole, I've made you a Ghost Cycle." Borg gestured to the last vehicle, "Twin carbine blasters, auto-evasive handling. Made entirely of Deepstone, perfectly molded to fit the, uh... bodiless. And I've set all the radio presets to your favorite: soft rock."

"I do love a slow jam." Cole said as he jumped onto the Ghost Cycle, pressing one of the buttons on the radio to play a soft rock song.

"And for you, Kai." Borg pulled out a red headband from his pocket before throwing it to him.