#i lowkey feel bad for all the times I've gotten alisha hurt

[random-chaotic-bitch]

Siren's Song - Chapter 4

Three months of peace had passed since the team had recovered the Golden Weapons. Alisha could be found training in the courtyard, running the training course as quickly as possible. Nya kept time, watching the siren gracefully slide through the course. Wu stepped outside, looking for the ninjas. Alisha took no notice, but Nya shook her head, pointing to another room inside the monastery. Wu shook his head in disappointment, closing the door as he left to chew out the ninja. 

Nya turned her attention back to Alisha, who was wrapping up the course. "Whew! What's my time?"

The dark-haired girl grinned, checking the stopwatch. "Uh, forty-five seconds! Maintaining the same average as the last few rounds. Stamina seems to be holding out, and you've barely broken a sweat."

Alisha smirked. "Sounds great. I'm gonna go clean up, 'cause I was thinking about running into town and rescuing the rest of my stuff from my apartment. Need anything?"

Nya nodded. "Actually, yeah. I think we need to get more laundry supplies, and I have some stuff to get for myself as well."

The girls made their way inside. Alisha quickly changed from her blue sports jacket and matching leggings to a pair of ripped black jeans and a coral zip-up sweatshirt with a loose tie-dyed tank top underneath. The tank top read "This never happened" in black letters, a contrast to the blue-green dye job over the white fabric. She pulled her hair from its braid, keeping it in a simple loose ponytail. The siren grabbed a pair of soft-soled white sneakers, doing an awkward hop-walk as she pulled them on her feet. She made her way to the game room, where the boys sat playing video games. She made it in time to hear Cole say, "Well, I was gonna eat this pizza tomorrow, so if that's the case..."

Wu swiftly kicked the pizza slice out of Cole's hand. "Ow!"

The older man quickly snapped at the ninja. "No pizza for you! In order to reach your full potential, you must train."

Kai leaned back on his forearms, video game console on his lap. "Uh, remember when we did a little thing called the Tornado of Creation? I thought that was pretty insane."

Alisha stifled a giggle, continuing to sneak up behind the ninjas. Wu sighed. "Oh. You four have merely scratched the surface of your full potential. There are still so many secrets you have yet to unlock. You haven't even begun to tap into what powers your golden weapons hold."

Cole laughed. "You wanna talk secret powers? Check this out," he replied, using the Scythe of Quakes to plug in the TV, starting up the video game. Alisha readied herself to jump at them as Zane tried to comfort Wu. "Don't worry, Master. We will be ready when Lord Garmadon returns."

The siren crept up behind the boys, yelling, "BLEAH!"

The reactions of the ninjas made Alisha break down in giggles. Cole jumped, Kai shrieked, Jay fell over, and Zane yelled. Wu, upon seeing the chaos, had to stifle a laugh despite knowing the disappointing state the team was in. 

The boys turned around to see Alisha sitting on the floor in a fit of giggles. "You- your faces," she managed to gasp out. "You look- ridiculous!"

Nya burst in, out of breath. "Guys, Lord Garmadon, he's returned! He was spotted approaching Jamanakai Village!"

Alisha leaped to her feet, laughter being replaced with shock. "Shit! Come on, let's go!"

She sprinted outside, opting to jump up and over the wall of the courtyard rather than go through the gates. As she free-fell down to the dragon stables, she used her Siren abilities to make her clothes shift from normal to her combat suit. Landing lightly on her toes she rose to her feet between doors to the separate stable stalls. As the doors opened, Alisha climbed onto Shard's back with ease and grace, compared to Zane, who struggled. She settled behind Zane's seat, laughing as they finally leaped into flight. 

Alisha watched the conversation between the ninjas with a small smile. Her eyes widened when Jay asked, "Race you there?"

The rest of the team spurred their dragons faster. Alisha yelped at the change in pace but after a moment, recovered and whooped as Zane prompted Shard to move faster. "Come on, Zane! We'll beat them there!"

As they landed, Alisha hopped off first with a laugh, watching the others bicker over who arrived first. "Ladies, ladies, you're all equally pretty. Mission now, bickering later," she reminded them, grinning beneath her mask. Kai turned towards where the shadow of their enemy reflected off a wall. Evil laughter echoed around them. "Stay sharp, team. Whatever happens, never let your guard down."

The laughing shadow rounded the wall to reveal... a little kid in a black hoodie. Alisha rolled her eyes. "Oh, great," she commented. The kid laughed. "It is I, Lloyd Garmadon! I demand all the candy in town, or else!"

Jay's defensive position went slack as he stood normally. "Lloyd Garmadon? I thought we were gonna face Lord Garmadon."

Cole groaned, turning to Kai to explain. "It's his son."

Jay groaned. "Ugh."

Cole continued, addressing everyone. "Looks like he escaped his boarding school for bad boys again. And to think we could've been doing Spinjitzu already."

Alisha groaned. "Again? The last time was bad enough, with that two-week-long mission-turned-manhunt. This kid is gonna be the death of me."

Lloyd, getting no response, tried to make more threats. "Uh... gimmie your candy, or I'll release the Serpentine on you!"

The villagers of Jamanakai Village started booing. Lloyd pulled out a prank can of rubber snakes, unleashing them into the crowd. Alisha snickered as the villagers started throwing vegetables at the child. "No way! I asked for candy, not vegetables! I hate vegetables!"

Kai picked up one of the rubber snakes, slingshotting it out of the way as he spoke. "He's gonna have to do a lot better than use an old bedtime story to scare people."

Zane shook his head. "The Serpentine are real, Kai. They're not something to joke about."

Kai scoffed. "Serpentine? Real? We're talking about the ancient race of snake people who once ruled Ninjago and were supposedly locked underground."

Jay chuckled nervously. "Sealed in five different tombs to separate the warring tribes and ensure they don't unify to exact their revenge upon those who put them there."

Kai threw his hands in the air. "It was an old wive's tale to teach kids not to poke their noses where they don't belong. Don't you think it's a little suspicious no one's ever found one of their tombs?"

Cole sighed, approaching the kid standing on the fountain ledge. "Well, that's because you'd be a fool to look for one. If there was anything I hated more than dragons, it was snakes. Rubber or not."

The rest of the team joined Cole in getting the kid out of the main space. Jay got waffled in the head with the snake can, earning a stifled laugh from Alisha. "Eh, at least it isn't spider people. That would be bad," she commented. Cole waved off the people, saying, "Don't worry, folks. We'll take care of this. Nothing to see here."

The kid, fighting to get out of the team's grasp, started spewing nonsense. "Bow down to me or suffer my wrath! I'll give you to the count of three! One! Two!"

Kai butted in as they carried the gremlin child around the corner. "What are we supposed to do? Spank him?"

Alisha swatted his shoulder, scolding him. "Kai!"

The little kid got nervous. "Two and a half!"

A few minutes later, Lloyd was hanging off a sign by the back of his shirt, with food and mud all over him. Alisha snickered as the kid yelled, "You just made me your nemesis! Mark my words, you'll pay for this!"

Zane walked over to the candy stand nearby, purchasing candy for the rest of the team. The others each got some candy of their own from Zane, and Alisha ended up with a few lollipops. "Next time, try paying for your candy," Cole commented. Alisha shook her head with a grin, looking up at Lloyd. "Crime doesn't pay, niño. Trust me. It's not worth it."

Jay made a show of eating his cotton candy, taunting the ten-year-old. "Mmm... cotton candy."

The kid lost it at that, causing Kai to start laughing as the team walked away. As they walked back to the dragons, Cole wrapped an arm around Alisha's shoulders. "See? Nowhere near as bad as last time!"

The siren scoffed, face souring at the memory. "Yeah. Do you recall how we got that little gremlin to stop stealing our shit? Because I certainly do. Trust me, lullabies barely worked on that little demon child."

The team started to mount the dragons, Cole giving Alisha a boost onto Rocky. A scroll fell out of Kai's saddlebag. "Huh? I don't remember putting this here."

Zane examined the bag. "That Sensei's bag. You must've accidentally taken it in the rush."

Jay peeked over Kai's shoulder. "What is it?"

Kai turned to him in annoyance. "It's a scroll, windbag," he deadpanned. Alisha cracked a grin as Jay turned back with a matching look. "I know it's a scroll, but what does it say? It's written in chicken scratch."

Zane shook his head. "Not chicken scratch. The ancient language of our ancestors."

Alisha's eyes widened. Oh shit, she realized. Only Sensei's important and very secret scrolls are in the Old Tongue, like the-

"Uh, can you read it?" "Well, I can try. This symbol means 'prophecy'."

Ohhh no.

"Prophecy?" "It means it tells the future." "Of course. Ha-ha. I knew that."

Oh fuck no, I swear if this is what I think it is-

"'One ninja will rise above the others and become the Green Ninja, the ninja destined to defeat the Dark Lord,'."

Shit fuck shit fuck shit fuck shit fuck shit!

"Oh, look, a picture!" "Dark Lord? Hold on... you think they mean Lord Garmadon?"

Oh gods, please, no!

"Wait a minute! Is that us? Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking?"

Shit! Oh, we're so screwed. Screwed.

The bickering of the others faded into the background as Alisha continued to panic. Oh gods, Sensei's plan is going to fall apart! The whole point of the team was that it wouldn't be any of them! I have to tell Sensei before the plan crumbles-

"Everyone, stop it! Remember why Sensei brought us together in the first place. We're a team. We weren't meant to see this, and probably for good reason. Come on, let's head back home. We have training to do," Cole's voice broke into the siren's thoughts, dispelling the panic. She registered a black blur in front of her. "Hey, you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost," Cole commented, meeting Alisha's panic-stricken eyes. She let out a shaky breath. "Yeah, just got caught up in my head," she replied, readying herself for the ride home. "Don't fly rough this time, I don't want to get sick like I almost did the last time I rode with you."

Cole laughed in front of Alisha. "That was one time! You can't let that go?"

The blonde scoffed. "Never," she replied with a playful jab to Cole's side. 

About minutes later, the team returned to the Monastery of Spinjitzu with lively chatter between the boys. Alisha flicked her wrists, alighting her hands with the purple-pink glow of her siren powers. She quickly crossed them over her front and dropped them quickly. As she did so, her combat suit shifted back to her regular clothes, relaxing in her more comfortable day clothes. 

As the team entered the monastery's courtyard, Alisha noticed Nya running the training course. She noticed the team and lost focus, getting knocked off of the course. Jay went and shyly offered her a hand. "Hey, Nya. Closer to beating your brother's speed record?"

The black-haired girl nodded with a grin, running a hand through her bangs and de-sticking them from her forehead. "I'm getting there. Heard what happened in town. Just a false alarm?"

Kai nodded. "Yeah. Uh, but we're gonna need the space. Sorry, sis."

As the boys set up the space, Alisha rolled her eyes. "Men. Always thinking with their fists."

Cole started laying down some rules. "Two matches. Then the winners of each face off for the title. The armor is for our own protection. It's time to see what these babies can do."

Kai turned back to the girls. "Hey, Nya. Wanna stay and watch me mop the floor with them?"

Nya shook her head. "No, thanks. Alisha and I have to get some stuff from Jamanakai Village. Knock yourselves out."

The girls turned and left, walking down past the dragon stables to the hidden driveway. Alisha guided the younger girl to her motorbike, passing Nya a spare helmet. "You might have to adjust it a little, Cole was the last one to use it."

Nya laughed, clipping on the helmet. The two girls soon arrived at Jamanakai Village and split up to run their separate errands. "You pick up what you need, and I'll get the groceries we need."

About an hour later, the girls had what they came for. As they packed up Alisha's bike, villagers started screaming and running. Nya sighed. "What now?"

Alisha took a look, seeing Lloyd Garmadon with a cart of candy. "Ugh. Mini Garmadon. Again. I'll handle him, you finish loading up the bike."

The siren stepped out into the street just in time to see a horde of snake figures marching in formation behind the kid. She just as quickly darted back behind the building next to Nya. "I would like to retract my previous statement," she stated with wide eyes. 

They stayed hidden in the alleyway, watching the Serpentine mind-control the innocent villagers. Eventually, the rest of the team showed up and attempted to deal with the wayward child. But, when they realized they were outnumbered, they turned and ran. Alisha caught them with the Force, pulling them back into the alley with herself and Nya. "Guys!"

Jay laughed. "Ha! You guys are okay!"

Nya sighed. "Barely. They've hypnotized everyone in town."

"Mind control? How is this possible?"

The black-haired girl held up a hand. "When you hear them rattle their tails, don't look them in the eyes. That's how they get you."

Jay groaned. "Well, what are we supposed to do? We can't use our weapons, and now we gotta fight with our eyes closed? Ha, perfect."

Alisha nudged Nya in the side, pointing to the only snake with a real tail. "The snake with the staff is the General. He's the one in charge. If we can get the staff from him, it holds the anti-venom. If we get that, we can save everyone," Nya explained. Kai butted in, pointing out, "Look, guys. Forget about the whole Green Ninja thing. Let's make Sensei proud. The four of us. We're a team."

Cole laughed. "Now you're talking!"

Jay turned to Nya. "Oh, and Nya, you can be our honorary member."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks," she commented sarcastically. Alisha knocked Jay in the back of the head as she strode past him. "Ow!"

The siren peeked out around the corner. "It's a good thing I don't have to ruin these clothes," she commented nonchalantly. "I like this outfit a lot."

She opened her mind to the Force, feeling the familiar hum of her siren powers. A purple-pink glow engulfed her, and when it faded, she was now wearing her combat suit, cape and all. Strapped to her back was her spear, tucked safely in a small slit along the cape seams. A familiar call came from the Force, a plea from an old weapon to be brought back once more. She frowned, tuning out the call. 

Alisha grabbed her spear, spinning it in her hands for a moment. "Let's see how those snakes like a taste of their own medicine."

She stepped into the street, hitting her spear against the ground to catch the Serpentine's attention. "Hey, snakes!"

Her eyes widened as a bunch of snakes turned to attack her. "Please work," she muttered as she sheathed her spear. Crossing her wrists in front of her torso, she grinned as her hands lit aglow with purple-pink tendrils of siren magic. 

The tendrils poured from her hands, eyes, and heart down into the streets, creeping along the ground until they caught the leg or tail of a Serpentine warrior. Once she had a sufficient catch, Alisha started softly singing a dark, simple melody. 

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree?

Where they strung up a man

They say who murdered three.

Strange things did happen here,

No stranger would it be

If we met at midnight

In the Hanging Tree

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree?

Where the dead man called out

For his love to flee

Strange things did happen here,

No stranger would it be

If we met at midnight

In that Hanging Tree.

Alisha opened her eyes to see a crowd of Serpentine, eyes glowing the same purple-pink as her siren magic. They were under her control, completely unable to do anything other than what she willed them to. A dark smile crept across her face. "Sleep."

The Serpentine dropped to the ground unconscious, some snoring as they went down. Alisha released her hold on the snake beings before the whispers invaded her mind. She brought a hand to her head, holding back a gasp of pain from the sudden headache. "There's that karma," she groaned. 

She noticed Zane confronting Lloyd. "Sensei was right. Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today. We should've dealt with you the first time around."

Lloyd shrieked. "Retreat!"

As the snakes turned to escape, Cole tackled the general, stealing his staff. But another snake tried to hypnotize him. Alisha tried to run to him but fell to her knees, still weakened from controlling so many beings at once. Nya saw everything and kicked the snake in the head. "Cole! You have the anti-venom!"

Cole shouted something back, but Alisha missed it when her ears started ringing. The siren's head drooped, forehead brushing against the ground. A red-clad figure entered her vision, but she couldn't tell if they were Kai or Nya. The figure picked her up, yelling something the siren couldn't quite understand. Through blurry vision, she saw the figure look her in the eyes. "Hang on, Alisha," they pleaded in a muffled voice. "Don't pass out."

Alisha started feeling lightheaded and floaty as her vision cut to black. The last thing she heard before passing out was her ringing ears.