Chapter Two:

Snakes on a Friday Night

Kamara drove up to the side exit of the ice rink. She looked around to make sure no one was watching, then disabled the Wind cycle. She took a deep breath, and immersed herself in the sounds of the city. It seemed almost unreal to be there. Kamara had only been in Ninjago City once at that point, and it was when she and the team were tracking down serpentine. She could smell the smoke of burning trash over the crisp Spring air, the commotion of the cars, and the garbled conversations of people. She hoped that someday, she could come on a day where there wasn’t anyone to fight or save, and see the sights in peace. Maybe even with her future special someone…

.

Kamara was about to pull out her cell phone and inform her friends she had arrived. Then she saw a familiar, blonde haired, bright blue eyed girl step out. She saw Kamara and squealed.

“Kam!”

She ran up and embraced her. Kamara hugged her back.

“You do not know how good it is to see you!” she sighed.

Odette beamed and exclaimed, “Can you believe we’re actually here, performing!?”

Kamara laughed. “Calm down, Odette! It’s just the opening act!”

“I know, I know, but think of all the opportunities we could get after this! We could be super famous!” Odette hissed, excitedly.

Kamara giggled. “Well, let’s just focus on not screwing this up first!”

Odette nodded. “Right. Come on, Pence and Hayden are tuning up the guitars!”

Odette grabbed her hand, and the two took off inside.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

The alarms blared throughout the Destiny’s Bounty. The four ninja immediately stopped everything they were doing.

“Aww, we haven’t even eaten yet!” Jay whined, “Bad timing serpentine!”

The boys sheathed their golden weapons and ran to the bridge, where Nya and Sensei Wu were waiting.

“What’s the trouble, sis?” Kai asked.

Nya turned to the map.

“Fangpyre and Venomari have been spotted at the Ice Arena in Ninjago City, and there’s a huge crowd of people already there for a concert! They haven’t attacked yet, but who knows when they’ll strike!” Nya explained.

The ninja looked at each other, then Cole said, “Alright boys, let’s kick some serpentine butt!”

.

It was six o’clock when the ninja kept off the Bounty and transformed their golden weapons into vehicles, hurtling towards the ground. Ninjago City was backed up with traffic, but that didn’t stop them. They just speedily, but also cautiously weave around them towards the Ice Tournament Arena. They could see the crystal white dome in the distance ahead of them, which was now lighting up like a disco ball.

“Uh oh, looks like the party has already begun” Kai commented.

“Well, we know what to do if the Fangpyre bite anyone” Cole replied, “Just stay focused.”

.

When they arrived, the lines had just moved in to the arena, and the plaza was empty. The ninja sped in and jumped out of their vehicles.

“So, anyone got ideas on how to get in without starting panic?” Jay asked.

“We can’t exactly blend in with the crowd…” Kai added.

Just then, Zane spotted a family of four on the tail end of the crowd. They were all dressed in the same colors as they did, and they even had their personal ninja’s symbols painted on the back. Zane raised his eyebrow.

“I don’t understand how, but I may have found our way in” he proposed as he pointed at their apparent fans.

Everyone looked where he was gesturing to.

Cole said, “I don’t know, Zane, we could be risking giving away our identities.”

“What other choice do we have? Pray we find a chainsaw lying around and cut a hole in the roof?” Kai asked, “I say we go for it!”

The ninja looked at each other, then Cole nodded. Looking around to make sure there was no one watching, nor security cameras, they took off their hoods, and walked in, following closely behind the cosplayers.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Kamara took a deep breath, staring at the curtains, hiding the band from the crowd of people that waited outside. Pence was getting his drum set squared away, Odette was checking the microphones, and Hayden was quietly tuning his electric guitar.

“Does your microphone work Kamara?” Hayden suddenly asked.

Kamara lowered her head, and ran her finger over the microphone securely attached to her ear.

“Yep, looks like everything’s working” she responded.

Kamara took another deep breath, and sighed.

“You nervous, Kam?” Odette asked.

Kamara pulled some hair back behind my ear.

“Yeah, a little bit,” she responded, “We’ve always performed at Katlin’s Cafe, where there’s been -what- maybe twenty people? There’s definitely more than twenty out there!”

“You’ll do fine, Kamara. You making everything you easy!” said Pence.

Kamara blushed a little. “Thanks, Pence.”

She bent down and gently took her violin. Kamara rested the end on her chest, and placed her chin on the top. She walked to the middle of the stage, and put my bow up.

“Okay guys, let’s rock and roll.”