#ninjago future au

[ninjago-future-au]

I wish it was easier to sort and categorize single playlists on Spotify (like literally just being able to add small notes to specific songs) bc otherwise this AUs general playlist looks like it has glee and highschool musical songs in them for no reason BUT I PROMISE THERE'S A REASON!!

[ninja-rot]

Doodles of my future AU ninja!

I love my little guys so much!

[taddymason]

Ok, a little more of this bc I love drawing wolves and I'll go to sleep

To explain a little why Cinder's form is a little disproportionate, I like to think that using shatterspin as often as he does has many side effects mentally and physically. For example, as Cinder uses the gong of shattering more often, there is a greater chance that his powers will be more difficult to control, that after using his smoke powers to disappear it will be more difficult for him to return to normal. Also I like the idea that shatterspin simply makes users more mentally unstable, and they may have a tendency to become more aggressive, so he would also lose consciousness when using his wolf form and behave more like a wild animal.

I just want to see him a little crazy and even more violent for using that thing every time he fights, that's all.

nothing to say about Jay and Kaida except that I accidentally made them seem related again, it's fate at this point

(btw I got inspired by @wyrmswears and his werewolf Jay AU, go check it out it's what made me obsessed with this concept)

[saline-coelacanth]

I was in the middle of rewatching season 2 and the scene where Rontu talks about the dragons who taught Spinjitzu stuck with me in regards to the Purified Au simply because of the FSM mention. Oliver will just immediately become petty whenever the FSM is brought up in any conversation so I thought it would be funny to draw the scene.

Also as a side note, I love Oliver dropping vague hints to his true nature/lore around the DR kids and them just having little to no idea of what he's actually talking about lol. Bonus points when the dropping of hints is unintentional on Oliver's part

[grilledcheese-savage]

Part 17: Push and shove

Jaya prime empire Au Comic

Previous/ Next chapter

(If it’s suddenly blurry or fuzzy just comment and I’ll fix it)

[ninjagood4]

Agatha and Leo's theme song came out today 🎶

[rainbow-flavoured-skittles]

carry on pretending like we don't know exactly who he is and what happened to him please and thank you

Name: Cole [REDACTED]

Alias: Talon

Powers: Geokinesis, clairvoyance, enhanced healing and durability, enhanced senses

Age: 15

Backstory: While being trained by Yang, Cole regains some of his memories and learns that he used to be a vigilante. He completes his training and goes back to Ninjago City, creating the identity Talon. The ninja notice the new vigilante running around and seek him out, eventually becoming reluctant allies. During one of Garmadon's attacks, Cole is injured and brought to the Monastery, where his identity is revealed and a reunion occurs.

Additional notes: He was only dead for a few days before being brought back. After being resurrected, he gains the ability to see and interact with spirits. Yang was unaware of Cole's past and his connections to the ninja until Cole told him. He comes back during the time between Aspheera's release and after the oni invasion. Not all of his memories are able to be recovered due to the Rift's nature.

[numberonepartyboy]

stuff from my ninjago pmd au... everyone else is coming as soon as i can figure out their designs. no fullbody bc i would perish i think

[sunnysunshine101]

Female Djinn Anatomy Art

So I had this idea for a long time, what is the society of Djinn?

The potential to explore this fact could have been executed so well In Skybound with Nadakhan but we all know how that went-

So I went ahead and decided to do my own interpretation

What

Me!? Me!?

Possibly using this as a possible idea for an ask blog comic!? What!? Noooooo

Quickly starts shoving away plans titled “Like the Seasons, things Change”

[grimbeak]

genuinely can't believe that years ago i made a fucking au where jay was a formling and his form was a wolf which didn't even make sense for his character!! i just like wolves!! and characters who turn into them!! and now he's a fucking wolfboy in canon. this isnt even the first fucking time ive done something like this. this is like the 6th time this has happened to me.

[ninjago-future-au]

Taylor Smith

is the elemental master of fire. He was the 3rd to find the old monastery, the 3rd to connect with elemental masters and 4th to discover his powers. His weapon of choice is a mallet. A close second is a set of twin blades that connect to each other in order to be easily carried and be used as a double-edged and double-sided sword. Taylor has the largest collection of various weapons, as she developed an ability to forge her own. Taylor and Adrian have a set of twin swords that combine to create a large bow, but they are only able to use them when they find a true balance.

Taylor lived in a smaller, newer city a few miles away from Ninjago City. Where he lived was often plagued by petty criminals and their family's shop (an already struggling business) was often the go-to place for petty criminals who just wanted the thrill of doing something bad rather than people in genuine need. After experiencing many break-ins and having an overly stressful time growing up, he became apathetic to life from a young age. They were seemingly unfazed by anything. After high school, Taylor makes music in their free time while helping their parents with the shop. He loved music and knew it was likely one of the only things he cared about outwardly. However, she never wanted to attend a school for music to disappear in a desperate attempt to find their big break. So, at age 20, they look after their younger siblings, slowly take over his parents' business as they grow older, and he tolerates the life he's living. Somewhere along the way, they realised they were generfluid and bisexual and their family were supportive, despite not initially understanding the terms. Their music let them make some extra money, which they put into the family's savings account and kept small amounts so he could get piercings, buy his siblings new clothes and make sure everything stayed afloat. The financing was helped by their slightly younger sibling Yvie, who is 18 at the beginning of the story.

Taylor discovered his powers at 20, completely out of the blue, during a sudden surge of passion and joy, the first extreme positive emotion she'd experience in years. Almost immediately, they made contact with Kai due to their similar feelings of responsibilities for their relatives, which had been part of what caused the emotional influx. However, they do nearly burn down the building they were in, so that was not good.

Taylor was unable to decide about going to the monastery, as he didn't want to just up and leave their family with nothing. So, they broke and told Yvie to receive their advice. Yvie hit him for even suggesting not going. So, as yvie was 18, they became the manager of the family business and was in charge of the family's finances as Taylor left to find the monastery. Yvie and Taylor told their family Taylor had been given an opportunity to travel with a small band for free. As their music continued making money, and as Taylor's younger siblings were able to get jobs to earn their own money, the family were able to save more and slowly become more comfortable in simply existing. Taylor was finally convinced to leave by receiving Avneesh's letter.

Taylor remained apathetic (seemingly just very chill and light-hearted) for a while at the monastery. When they began making a specific team structure, Taylor didn't really care for what position they took. They ended up becoming the media rep for the team; whenever they did interviews, their light-heartedness was often what avoided people panicking and Taylor had a talent for getting people to listen or to keep talking (many years in customer service.) Their fighting style is Melee a majority of the time, their weapons consisting of mallets, swords and katanas however they increasingly use ranged weapons, such as the large bow they use with Adrian. They also later learn to use throwing knives and shurikans, and their morphweapons often include an ability to fire bullets or arrows. Taylor is able to ambush enemies, sneak, and hide easily. He isn't the fastest or strongest member of the team, but they learnt how to sneak from dealing with home invasion and burglary A LOT. Taylor is able to identify risks to revealing locations and often stops the team from stepping into traps by being extremely aware of their surroundings.

Taylor struggles to learn how to harness their powers, often resulting in their coming in strong, uncontrollable bursts, then being very weak and impossible to use. Over time, Taylor learns control the strength of their powers and develops complete control over when and how they use them.

Taylor was happy being around the team and enjoyed the family dynamic they developed over time. Even though she tries remaining at least civil with his team, it is clear he and Adrian do not get on well. They are polar opposites in attitude, fight style, and behaviour, despite their similar desires, worries, and views on the world. This is why it's so hard for them to find balance when working together.

Taylor's family finds out he's a ninja when an extremely violent burglary takes place at their shop. She returns home to support them and brings Avneesh and Kay with them. Their family overhear Avneesh and Taylor arguing about Tay keeping their family completely out of the loop, and the truth comes out. They're supportive but deeply worried, and there's some arguing about only Yvie knowing what's actually going on.

Stats/TLDR:

Name: Taylor Smith

Age at the beginning of the au: 20

Race/Ethnicity: Morrocan

Gender/Pronouns: genderfluid, any pronouns

Sexuality: bisexual

Element: fire

Elemental Guide: Kai

Team position: media representative

Fighting style: Melee, offensive, later ranged as well

Weapons (no preferance): mallet, twin blades, fire/water blades/bow, various morph weapons, shurikans, throwing knives

- MORE TBA -

[ninja-rot]

Main 6 character designs for my ninjago future AU!

some characters need last names, and names are definitely subject to change. I also have some references for them using a picrew which I'll post soon! Hopefully, I'll be able to find my apple pencil and create full drawings and reference sheets for each character. I'd be super excited to talk about this AU, so please send me any questions about it you might have!

[grilledcheese-savage]

Jaya Prime Empire Au Comic Sketch…

Possible Kai re-design in the future? 👀

Also decided to go for a marker drawing look for the artstyle. I have this cool Pixal brush that I’m going to use for the prime empire scenes.

[ninjagood4]

A very angsty question for Agatha over here. Has she ever had a near-death experience, and if so, what happened? How has it impacted her life? Being the Jade Ninja, something must’ve happened. All the Ninja have their own trauma and tragedies.

-Elijah

Personally, Agatha did not have a near-death state, but she had experience of deaths and will even have it again (I can’t reveal the future, because don’t want to spoilers, so I’m talking about past experiences). Also, her valley is under occupation, and they live by giving part of the rice to the bandits (she and her family are rice farmers) so that they do not touch them. Despite the fact that the bandits will kill them without any problems if they go against the regime.

Her biological mother died immediately after Agatha was born, so she was raised by her father alone until he married a woman who became stepmother Agatha’s when she was 4 years old. Because of this, she has a very bad relationship with her stepmother, but a very close relationship with her father, she considers only her father as a parent and, due to her reluctance to intersect with her stepmother, prefers to retire most of the time in nature. They live in the Valley of Mountain Fires (a hidden place in Ninjago), so going to the forest or anywhere else is not a problem.

Agatha also made a friend when she was 5 years old, and they became so close that they became a kind of brother and sister (their families also got along well), and this friend's name was Kim. When she was 7 years old, Kim was killed by bandits in front of her eyes during the capture of the valley, which caused Agatha to have a panicky fear of death, also considering that she had not previously realized that the world could be so dangerous. After that, she became withdrawn and unsure of herself, afraid to take an extra step, but when she saved very little Leo from a trap, she was able to return her enthusiasm for life, but the fear of death was deeply embedded in her. Also, due to her reserved, modest and at the same time frank nature, she is unable to find normal friendships, and she often becomes the object of ridicule.

She is also afraid of losing Leo and for her own life, given that the tiger was a trophy of bandits, which she stole from them (Tigers Bongo have very expensive skin and are a rare species). The bandits know that Leo is the same tiger who fell into their trap, thanks to the scar on his hind leg, so they do not deny that they want him (which will kill Leo). And in the future she will be afraid of losing Lloyd, who is very similar to her deceased old friend.

If there is anything else or you need clarification, I will be happy to answer!! :D

[rainbow-flavoured-skittles]

I have redesigned Cole. don't ask me where he got the armour from because I don't know either

Name: Cole Hence-Brookstone

Alias: Talon

Powers: Geokinesis, clairvoyance, enhanced healing and durability, enhanced senses

Age: 15

Backstory: While being trained by Yang, Cole gains some of his memories back and learns that he used to be a vigilante. He completes his training and goes back to Ninjago City, creating the identity Talon. The ninja notice the new vigilante running around and seek him out. They eventually become reluctant allies. Cole regains his memories at some point but keeps his identity secret out of fear. During one of Garmadon's attacks Cole is injured and brought to the Monastery, where his identity is revealed and a reunion occurs.

Additional notes: He was only dead for a few days before being brought back. After being resurrected, he gains the ability to see and interact with spirits. Yang was unaware of Cole's past and his connections to the ninja until Cole told him. He comes back during the time between Aspheera's release and after the oni invasion.

His first ref and backstory here

[beybladeninja]

I’m an avid supporter of the ship Cole x Vania, and I’ve head cannoned for a while that they would have twins if they ever decided to get together.

But then Dragons Rising Part 2 came out, and I wondered… how would they try to prevent another Empress Beatrix?

This is what I came up with.

—————

“YOUR MAJESTY!”

Cole winced as the frantic voice echoed throughout the cavernous hall. He turned around to find the source and took in the sight of a palace attendant rushing towards him, a harried look on her naturally pale face. There were too many attendants in the palace for Cole to keep track of, but he easily recognized this one.

She was the attendant assigned to oversee his sons’ history lessons.

This could not be good.

“What’s wrong?” Cole quickly asked, fully turning to face the attendant as she literally slid to a stop in front of him. “Are my sons okay?”

The attendant took a while to answer, nearly crouched into an upright fetal position with her hands on her knees as she heaved. She had obviously ran very fast from a very far distance, if the sweat streaking her dark hair was any indication. Her condition only worsened Cole’s worry for his sons, but he respectfully waited for the attendant to compose herself before she answered.

Finally, the attendant straightened slightly from her pained position as her breathing started to slow. “I’m… sorry to… disturb you… your Majesty…” She was able to gasp out, still shaking on her feet. “I was just… giving the princes… a lesson in the garden… because it’s such a… a beautiful day… and I… I guess I said… something wrong…? And, well… one thing led to another… and now…” She started babbling, her eyes darting anxiously to his face, to the walls of the hallway. “I-I really am sorry… b-but Queen Vania is in a meeting with the Queen of the Munce and the Geckle Chancellor, a-and… none of the guards can seem to calm them down…”

A small tremor ran through the palace’s marble floors, so slight that one would have missed it if they weren’t focused on it. Cole quickly got the gist and nodded. “Which garden?” He inquired.

“West,” The attendant immediately replied, and that was all Cole needed as he took off in the direction she’d come from.

The palace was a maze of stairways and corridors, but living in it for over a decade had helped him develop a mental map of the place. Marble columns and colorful paintings flew past him until the white fell away into the sprawling green of the West Garden. The tremor he’d felt before slowly strengthened into a steady rumble the farther he went, with regular intervals in which the tremors grew in intensity before leveling out. Cole was starting to get an idea about the type of fight his boys were getting into, and the garden turned into nothing but a multicolored blur around him as his speed increased.

A decently sized rock flew past his head; it was only thanks to his ninja training that he was able to duck out of its way in time. It slowed him down for a split second before he was up to full speed once more. He was getting close.

Finally, the scene of the crime came into view. Lillian, his and Vania’s oldest son, was standing in a giant crater with other smaller craters surrounding him. His fists were clenched at his sides and he was seething as he stared up at his twin brother, Vincent. The younger prince had so far been able to evade his furious brother by using the surrounding foliage as shields. The result was that everything green within a few yards of the center crater was tragically smashed and pummeled. Vincent was currently perched on the last surviving tree within the danger zone. Both boys’ regal outfits, black with orange lining for Lillian and white with gold lining for Vincent, were dusted in a fair amount of dirt. The states of both the garden and the boys’ outfits suggested that they’d been at this for a while.

The gardener is probably going to quit over this, Cole griped, picturing the angry message that would most likely be waiting for him in the morning.

“Take it back!” Lillian was shouting at Vincent, his normally pale face nearly the color of a tomato. His hand instinctively reached for the earth beneath him, causing another chunk of the garden to crack apart and rise to his beckoning. “Take it back!”

“You can’t take back the truth!” Vincent wailed back. His tone was smug enough to hide his true feelings, but they showed through the sweat slicking his forehead and the way he tensed on his tree. A guttural growl came from Lillian and he raised the earthy mass above his shoulder, ready to throw it. Vincent crouched in response, prepared to make the jump to safety.

It was time to wrap this up. Cole took the tense moment as an opportunity to take a deep breath and bellow, “BOYS!!!”

The twin princes jerked in surprise at the sound of their father’s voice. Lillian lost his control over the earthy mass and it fell onto his shoulder, breaking apart and dusting his skin with a new layer of dirt. Vincent lost his balance and fell at least five feet, though his training had him rolling and on his feet in no time. They looked to their father with twin expressions of dread, made of wide eyes and trembling lips.

But Cole wouldn’t allow himself to fall for their sorry appearances. “Just what do you two think you’re doing?” He asked them heatedly, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’ve trashed the West Garden, traumatized your history teacher, and from what I’ve heard, probably put a good chunk of our guards out of commission.” He hadn’t seen any wounded guards when he’d run through the garden, but he could see enough chips of armor in Lillian’s crater to know that at least a few of them were in the infirmary at this point.

The boys blinked at their father for a second before turning and gazing at their surroundings. They took in the battered ground, the destroyed greenery, the shards of golden armor, and the state of their attire. It occurred to Cole that they had most likely been so caught up in their explosive argument that they hadn’t even realized the kind of damage it was causing. The realization made him even more curious as to what the fight had been about.

His sons glanced sheepishly at each other before turning back to him, their hands folded apologetically in front of them. “We’re truly sorry, Father,” Vincent spoke up, his eyes closing as he bowed his head respectfully towards his father, the King.

“Yeah,” Lillian added somewhat mediocrely. His eyes stayed open as he stared at Cole imploringly. “Are you mad?”

Cole was about to say yes, but the picture of his sons looking at him with such fear stopped him. He sighed and said instead, “I can decide whether or not to be mad once I’ve heard what the fight was about.”

Vincent was all too happy to provide him with an answer. “Well, our history teacher was just giving us a lesson in the garden when she referred to me as ‘Crown Prince’…” He turned condescending eyes towards his brother. “Which Lillian apparently didn’t like.”

The older twin scowled back. “What I didn’t like was the fact that you didn’t correct her,” He explained, putting an angry emphasis on each word. “We’re twins - we’re both Crown Princes! But no - you just smiled your little princely smile and said ‘thank you’.”

“We may be twins and Crown Princes,” Vincent admitted, though his tone remained haughty. “But which of us is inheriting the throne?”

“I told you before and I’m telling you now,” Lillian growled, taking a threatening step towards his brother. “The only reason you’re inheriting the throne is because you’re a kiss-up!”

“And as I told you then and am now repeating,” Vincent sneered, sliding into the crater so that he could match his brother step for step. “The reason Mother and Father passed over you for the throne is because you’re ugly!”

Lillian froze before showing his father a tense smile. “Which is when I started to pummel him like this!” He reached towards the ground once more and started to separate a large chunk from the surrounding earth.

“Boys!” Cole yelled before the mass could be dislodged . He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, already tired of the whole thing. “We’ve discussed this before - Vincent got the throne because Lillian got the Elemental Power of Earth. Your mother and I just split up your responsibilities!”

Lillian released his hold on the mass, but his expression had turned into one of forlorn. “But why, Father?” He asked, sounding on the verge of desperation. “Why wasn’t I given the throne? I’m the older twin - it’s within my right!”

Cole sighed again. “Lillian, I just told you…” He started, but his son angrily cut him off.

“And I don’t want to hear that trash about splitting up our responsibilities because we’re twins - I may be ten, but I know that’s not the real reason!” He stared up at his father, who was still standing at the lip of the crater. “Please, Father… why was I passed over for king? Is it because…” His voice trailed off as his gaze slid down Cole’s body until it wasn’t on his father at all. “Is it because you and Mother didn’t believe in me?”

A quiet gasp escaped Cole’s mouth. “What…? No… no, that’s not it at all!” He quickly denied, shocked that Lillian would even consider such a notion. His hand instinctively stretched towards his son in an attempt to comfort him. Within the crater, Vincent’s hand did the same as his expression turned from one of smug content to one of guilt-stricken fear.

A bit of heat creeped back into Lillian’s voice as he quietly demanded, “Why?”

Cole hesitated. He wanted to tell them - the words were on the tip of his tongue. But are my sons ready to hear the truth?

He took a long look at his sons - his brave, beautiful twin boys. Both had inherited their mother’s platinum blonde hair and their father’s warm brown eyes, and Cole could already see the shaping of his chin and cheekbones peeking through their baby fat. Though when it came to personality, they acted more like their uncles than anyone else. Lillian was hotheaded and prone to outbursts like his Uncle Kai, while Vincent was more logical and forward-thinking like his Uncle Zane. Neither of them had completely grown into their royal attire, as their sleeves still dropped a few inches past their wrists. Cole had held both of them in his arms, comforted them, attempted to shield them all the horrors of the world. He’d tried to be a good father.

But he was well aware that he couldn’t protect them forever.

It was with this realization that Cole heaved another sigh and sat down on the crumbling lip of the crater - royal attire be damned. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and fixing his sons with a tired smile. “Story time,” He announced softly.

His boys immediately sat down in the center of the crater, knee to knee. Cole smiled at this - regardless of whether they were fighting or not, that all went out the window when their father was about to tell a story. He prided himself on his storytelling abilities and the peace it brung.

Cole looked out over his audience before he took a deep breath. Like most of his stories, he started with a question, “Do you know of the city of Imperium?”

“Of course,” Vincent readily replied. “They’re our closest trade partners, supplying most of our computers’ motherboards and hard drives.”

“What he said, I guess,” Lillian agreed with a shrug.

Cole nodded before continuing with another question. “Did you know that it wasn’t always a democratic republic? Up until a little over a decade ago, it was a monarchy, like Shintaro.”

Both of his sons looked surprised at this information. “Really?” Lillian asked. “What caused them to change?”

Cole hesitated once more before he dove into the main story. “The last Imperium Emperor was a good man. I didn’t know him personally, but I’ve heard that he was content with the state of his kingdom and preferred diplomacy before violence. His allies stood with him by choice as opposed to force, and things were at peace. But the Emperor was also an Elemental Master, and-”

“Like you!” Vincent exclaimed, sounding eager to contribute.

“Yes yes, like your old man,” Cole relented with a slight chuckle. “And also like your old man, he had twin children of his own, two daughters. The oldest daughter inherited her father’s powers, and as was the tradition of the royal family, she also inherited the throne.

“Though it probably wasn’t the Emperor’s intention, he started to show bias towards his daughters. He spent most of his time with his oldest daughter, showing her how to use her powers and how to run the kingdom. So not only had she gained her father’s power and his kingdom - she’d also gained his favor.”

“But what about his other daughter?” Vincent asked. “She must have been so lonely!”

Cole scoffed. “I don’t know if ‘lonely’ is how I’d put it,” He admitted. “The younger daughter had been devoid of any form of power her entire life. She was desperate for control in her father’s kingdom. So when she finally got the chance to get some… she took it.”

As was his custom, he took a pause for dramatic effect. He paused for so long that Lillian impatiently blurted out, “So? What happened?”

“Well, they say that her father died in a hovercraft accident,” Cole explained. “And her sister was imprisoned on charges of treason. With no one left to stand in her way, the younger daughter ascended to the throne.”

Lillian and Vincent were both quiet after hearing such news. In an almost scared voice, Lillian asked, “They weren’t accidents… were they?” As his father sadly shook his head, he seemed to withdraw into himself in order to ponder this revelation.

“The younger daughter finally had the control she’d been denied by birthright,” Cole went on, his tone taking a more serious edge. “But after having a taste of power, she couldn’t get enough of it. She demolished her father’s regime and put her own in its place. Allies and loyalties were gained by threats and violence. Dominance was asserted in the form of military and technological might. Anyone who dared to speak against her faced imprisonment… or worse. Dragon, human, animal… no one was safe from her wrath.

“She ruled Imperium with an iron fist, but it still wasn’t enough for her,” Cole continued, his mouth tasting bitter. “She wanted more. She wanted to do something her father couldn’t - place all of the Realms under Imperium control. And she was willing to do whatever it took to do so.” He took a deep breath through his nose. “Even destroy the world as we knew it.”

His sons looked confused, so he asked another question. “Has your history teacher ever taught you two about the Merge Storm?”

“Of course,” Lillian spoke up before his brother had a chance. “That was the day when the sky tore open in order to allow all of the Realms to come together as o-” He abruptly stopped talking as a new expression of horror dawned on his face. “Wait, you’re saying that happened just because some lady was having a temper tantrum?”

Cole nodded solemnly. He hadn’t been in that particular fight, but he’d felt its effects. The memory came unbidden to the front of his mind, the one of the sky becoming speckled with Merge rifts that sucked everything around them into their depths, then splitting open entirely into the universe beyond. He’d heard later that it was only thanks to his friends that the event had been averted, and he’d been so unbelievably proud in that moment that he’d actually cried. He’d rather die than admit it to them, though.

“She’d created a weapon that could tear open the fabric of the universe itself,” He explained softly, swallowing. “She wanted power so badly that she’d went mad with her hunger for it. I don’t know if her original plans as empress were good or bad, but whatever pure intentions she had were squashed the second she gave into her hunger.

“Fast forward a few years to when your mother and I realized that we would be parents,” Cole went on, a small smile lighting his features when he remembered that much more joyous day. “We were overjoyed when we found out, and even more so when we discovered that we were having twins.” His mouth twisted as the feelings came back to him, and he had to avert his eyes from his sons. “But we were also scared. We knew that whoever was born first would inherit my Element of Earth, and royal law decreed that the firstborn child would also inherit the throne. It was the same thing as what happened in Imperium. We were terrified that history would eventually repeat itself.”

Cole couldn’t speak for Vania, but his feelings that day had been especially worrisome. He’d been terrified at the thought that he may show bias towards his own children, just like the Imperium Emperor did. No child deserved such treatment - especially if it led to that child becoming another Empress Beatrix. He’d resolved to himself that day that he wouldn’t do so, and that he’d love his children equally.

“Father?” Vincent asked gently from outside his field of vision.

He took another deep breath to compose himself before going on. “So your mother had an idea. She wrote and passed a law that decreed that if any Elemental Master married into the royal family, and if they had twins, one twin would inherit the Elemental Power while the other would inherit the throne.” He held out his hands for emphasis. “That way, both twins would have their own semblance of control. And… they wouldn’t feel left out in any way.”

His sons lapsed into another period of silence. It went on for so long that Cole finally mustered up the courage to look at them again. Vincent’s hands had come up to grasp his older brother’s bicep, though he didn’t seem to mind one bit. Their big brown eyes, so much like his own, were filled with tears as they stared up at their father. He got the impression that his eyes weren’t doing much better.

“So… the reason why I was passed over for king…” Lillian said slowly. “Was because… you were trying to protect us?”

Cole nodded, forcing himself to smile against the wave of emotions. “The Imperium Empress let her hunger for power nearly destroy herself and Ninjago,” He told them. “Your mother and I love you boys so much. We couldn’t bear to see the same thing happen to either of you.

“You are both important,” He said firmly, stretching out his hands to his sons. Getting the message, they stood up and climbed the side of the crater so that they could grab his hands. “You are both necessary for this kingdom,” He continued, staring into their eyes. “You are both necessary for Ninjago. You are both regal Crown Princes.” He gripped their smaller hands in his big ones. “And you are both our sons. And we love you both very very much.”

That was the dam breaker. Lillian and Vincent started crying and wouldn’t stop, jumping onto their father and burying their wet faces against his silk shirt. Their combined weight ended up pulling Cole over the lip of the crater, causing them all to tumble down into the center. They became even filthier in the process, but the sobs gradually turned into laughs as they realized their predicament.

“W-We’re sorry, Father!” Vincent eventually blurted out. “W-We didn’t mean to bring back bad memories for you! W-We promise to never bring up the subject again!”

“Yeah!” Lillian agreed; his face and that of his brother were still buried in their father’s shirt. “W-We didn’t know that you and Mother had done it to protect us!”

“It’s fine, boys,” Cole sniffed, his own tears coating his face as he rubbed his sons’ backs. “We were going to tell you eventually, anyway. No time like the present, I guess.”

The family lapsed into a brief period of peaceful quiet, father and sons locked into each other’s embraces. It was Lillian that broke the silence by saying, “So… does this mean we’re not in trouble?”

Cole feigned a dramatic gasp and abruptly pushed his giggling sons away. “Oh I knew it - I knew there was a catch!” He exclaimed in disappointment, even while his own bright smile lit up his features. “Buttering up your old man so that he won’t punish you for tearing up the West Garden? Is that the plan?” They continued giggling, so he decided to play his trump card. “Yeah yeah, laugh while you can - you’re still getting punished. You’re both going to help the gardener clean up this mess!”

The giggling stopped as the boys once again took in the sights of the ruined garden. “Oh come on!” Lillian groaned. “I thought we had a moment!”

“Besides, it… it’s not that ruined!” Vincent attempted to protest.

Cole smirked. “If it’s not that ruined, you shouldn’t have any problems putting it back together,” He replied smugly. At his sons’ persistent complaints, he added, “Oh, you think you’re in trouble now? Wait until your mother finds out about this!”

That surely shut them up. “Y-You’re not going to tell her about this, right?” Lillian asked, searching for any hint of mercy from his father.

“BOYS!!”

The princes winced as the king looked in the direction of the queen’s voice and smiled. “I think she already knows.”