#walking through a city hand in hand talking to him like i’m zane lowe is my dream

[partoftheairforce]

he means the WORLD to me

[rosiehunterwolf]

little things

Prompts: Hugs and Crying

Word Count: 3,251

Characters: Lloyd and Kai

Timeline: Immediately after episode 18 (Child's Play)

Trigger Warnings: Trauma, Brief panic attacks

Summary: "Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things."

-Kurt Vonnegut

Lloyd’s tired of being left behind. How is he meant to be the green ninja when he always has to work harder, train better, and wait longer to go on missions with his team? He wants nothing more than to be their equal.

At least, that’s what he thought he wanted.

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The trip back to the Destiny’s Bounty that night was thick with tension. No one spoke, but Lloyd could feel Kai’s gaze boring into him.

He wished the fire ninja would look at something else. He didn’t want to think about what he was looking at.

It had been Lloyd’s choice, and he knew it. Not that his range of options had exactly been wide when a huge, ninja-eating monster had been looming over them, but he had made the choice nonetheless.

He just hadn’t expected it to be like this.

He had thought that not being a little boy anymore meant he got to become stronger, fight better, and, of course, accompany the ninja on their missions.

But he hadn’t thought about the way his legs would become so much longer suddenly, forcing him to concentrate so he wouldn’t trip. Or how his hair would dangle too-long in his face, or how the green gi, on which the sleeves and pant legs had been rolled up a ridiculous amount of times, now fit perfectly. Reminding him too much of who he was and what he was meant to do.

Most of all, though, he hadn’t expected the gaping ache in his chest, like someone had ripped out his heart. He didn’t understand where it came from or what it meant, only that the sparkling display racks in the windows of Doomsday Comix had never felt more distant than they did now.

Their arrival at the monastery couldn’t come soon enough, and Lloyd began to dart down the hall, anxious to get away from the prying eyes of the others. Before he could get far, however, a hand snatched his wrist, and he looked back to see Kai staring at him apprehensively.

“Hey, bud. We’re here for you. You don’t need to go running off on your own.”

Lloyd shook his head. “I’m not. I just wanna go take a shower.” The voice that came from his throat wasn’t his, it was too deep. He didn’t even recognize himself anymore.

Lloyd repressed a shiver of dread, realizing Kai was still looking at him expectantly. “I got… there was a lot of rubble and dust when the Grundle caved in the roof, I just wanna get clean. I’m fine.”

Kai stared at him for a long moment, and for once Lloyd couldn’t read the expression in his eyes. Relenting, he let out his breath, dropping Lloyd’s wrist. “You’re not. But whatever.”

Lloyd merely nodded, realizing that wasn’t the most reassuring answer he could give, but being reluctant to hear his own voice again.

Forcing himself to turn away, he headed down the hallway, passing the ninja’s cabin and heading towards his room a little way down.

Uncle Wu had cleared out the small storage room for him that first night he had stayed on the Bounty, and it had been his ever since. He had appreciated the gesture, to have his own space away from the others, and it had always been a comforting little place for him.

But now, as he gazed around at it, the room itself wasn’t the only thing that was small anymore. The bed in the corner was no longer large enough for him, the mirror mounted on the wall was too low down, the Starfarer comics piled on the nightstand were too juvenile and suddenly much less interesting.

Lloyd sighed, rubbing his hands over his eyes. There was no point lingering here. He might as well go take a shower like he had promised Kai.

But when he pulled open the drawer on his dresser, he paused, gazing down at the clothes.

Everything was too small. Of course it was.

Lloyd took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair as he tried to push down the bubbling panic in his chest.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

Letting out his breath again, he grabbed a pair of old, baggy pajama shorts that had always been too big on him anyway, and an undershirt from his gi.

Slipping through the halls, he made it to the bathroom at the end of the ship and quietly pulled the door shut behind him.

As he undressed, all he could focus on was his body, how it was bigger and older and different now. He forcibly shoved the thoughts out of his head before he had a breakdown and stepped into the shower.

Lloyd turned the shower as hot as it would go, barely even noticing as the water scalded his skin. He didn’t know how long he stood there, only that the water kept getting colder and colder until his teeth were chattering. Not even bothering to wash his hair, he stepped out of the shower and grabbed a bath towel, pressing his face into it.

He couldn’t do this. He had thought he could handle it, but he couldn’t. Lloyd was barely clutching on to the last threads of his sanity, and he needed to get out of here.

Quickly changing into the shorts and undershirt, he walked over to the window and carefully pushed it open. Stars twinkled at him from the dark sky, and he glanced down. The bathroom was at the top of the ship, just behind the bridge, so it was about a twenty-foot drop to the ground- easily enough to break a leg.

Biting his lip, he grabbed onto the window frame and pulled himself out, gripping onto the side of the ship as his feet found purchase on the windowsill. As he slowly stood, he accidentally caught sight of his face in the reflection in the window and nearly slipped, gasping sharply as he just barely caught himself from falling.

Get yourself together, Lloyd. You’re still yourself, just a little older. Stop being such a crybaby.

Reaching up for the edge of the roof of the bridge, he hauled himself up and crawled back from the edge a bit. Staring out over the trees, the soft glow of the city in the distance, he glanced down at his hands. Fingers too long, palms too rough.

He hadn’t known it was going to be like this. All he had done was age up a few years. It was a small sacrifice to make, seeing as the Grundle would’ve killed them all otherwise. It shouldn’t have been that big of a deal. Lloyd shouldn’t have been acting so selfishly.

He wrapped his arms around his legs, curling up into a ball.

For the first time that night, Lloyd let himself cry.

---

Kai paced back and forth across the hallway. “Ugh! Why do I let him leave? I know he always locks himself in his room and never comes back to talk to me!”

Zane frowned. “I know this is difficult and confusing for you, Kai- it is for all of us. But Lloyd’s always been much less straightforward than you. Perhaps we should try a less direct approach.”

“You’re saying I should just let him sulk alone for the rest of the night?”

“What I’m saying is that maybe we should just give him a little time to himself, time to process, before we all go barging in to speak to him.”

“Just because Lloyd thinks he wants to be alone doesn’t mean he should be. Isolation isn’t going to solve anything.”

“Kai,” Cole sighed, “that’s not what we’re saying at all. This is just a sensitive situation for Lloyd, and we don’t want to provoke him the wrong way.”

“A sensitive situation?” Kai barked. “Don’t you think I know that? But I’m telling you, he needs someone! Don’t you see? That’s what he does! He tells us he’s fine, but he’s not! Of course he’s not! And- and I want to help him, but I can’t. When he needs me most, I have no idea what to do. Augh, why did I let him come with us? I knew it was too dangerous!”

“Kai,” Zane put a cool hand on his shoulder. “Calm down. There’s nothing you could’ve done.”

“Nothing I could’ve done?” Kai blinked up at him through watery eyes. “I was supposed to protect him.”

Nya squeezed his hand. “You can’t blame yourself for this, Kai. You can’t.”

“I’m not trying to. It’s just… hard. This isn’t some small little mishap we can go back and fix. This is big.”

“I know, but he’s strong. He’s going to get through it. I think Zane’s right, we should tread lightly. Although,” she paused, her brow furrowing, “I am starting to get pretty worried about him. He’s been in there a long time.”

“Wait,” Jay frowned. “In his room?”

“No, the bathroom.”

Kai’s head snapped towards her. “Wait, what? Did he go in there again?”

Nya shook her head. “I’ve been watching the door. He never left after he went in the first time.”

Cole glanced between them. “How long has he been in there?”

Kai’s gaze darted anxiously towards the bathroom door. “He went in there to take a shower nearly an hour ago.”

Cole’s eyes darkened. “Yeah, that’s too long. Let’s go.”

They hurried over to the bathroom door and the others hovered anxiously behind as Cole rapped his knuckles on the wood, leaning his ear against it. “Lloyd, you okay in there?”

There was no answer.

Cole knocked harder, and Kai could feel the anxiety building. “Lloyd? Bud? We just wanna talk.”

“Okay,” Nya breathed after a moment, “Lloyd’s as stubborn as a mule, but he doesn’t purposely worry us like this. Something’s wrong.”

“Zane,” Cole said, the struggle to keep calm evident in his voice. “Can you pick up anything?”

Zane stilled for a moment. “My sensors don’t detect any sign of movement.”

Kai’s heart skipped a beat. “Get me in.” Shoving past the others, he lunged for the door handle, yanking on it- but it didn’t budge. “He locked it! Why would he lock it?”

“We need a lock pick!” Jay yelped. “Nya, do you have a bobby pin?”

“I can get one, I’ll be right back!”

“Lloyd!” Cole yelled, banging on the door. “Open the door! Don’t do anything dumb!”

“Talk to us, bud!” Kai cried. “Please!”

“I’m back,” Nya huffed, skidding across the floor and holding out the pin. Jay snatched it from her hand and jiggled it in the lock, gritting his teeth. The others waited apprehensively as the seconds ticked by.

Jay pulled back with a sigh. “It’s not working.”

“Lloyd,” Kai moaned, “Open up!”

Cole glanced at them. “Should I break the door?”

Zane hesitated, then nodded. “Do it. We can always replace it later. Lloyd is more important.”

Everyone except for Cole stepped away from the door. The earth ninja held up his fists, and they glowed amber, the light spreading down his forearms.

“Stand back, Lloyd! I’m coming in!” Cole lunged forward, punching in the door and sending splinters of wood flying.

Kai darted to his side and stared into the bathroom, his breath caught in his throat.

Jay stepped around them, pulling back the shower curtain. Empty.

Just like the rest of the room.

“He’s not here?” Cole asked. “I just destroyed the door for nothing?”

“That’s impossible!” Nya yelped. “I saw him go in, and he never left! I’m positive.”

Kai’s eyes lingered on the far wall. “I know where he went.”

The others followed his gaze towards the open window, and Jay’s eyes widened. “He went out the window? That fall could seriously injure him!”

Kai shook his head. “He didn’t go down, he went up.” Glancing back at the others, he added, “Perhaps Zane had a point about the whole subtlety thing. Let me go talk to him first.”

The others exchanged reluctant glances, but stepped back.

Kai pulled himself out the window, balancing carefully as his fingers found the edge of the roof’s shingles. A chilly breeze hit him in the face, but he ignored it, hauling himself the rest of the way up with a soft grunt.

Lloyd was sitting a few feet away, curled in on himself as he stared off into the distance. Kai slowly eased his way over to him and the two sat in silence for a while.

Kai forced himself to look at the boy and felt a tug on his heartstrings. The way he sat there, so quiet and still, was as unlike Lloyd as his new appearance.

Kai shook his head. He couldn’t allow himself to think like that. No doubt Lloyd already had enough of those thoughts going through his head. This was still the same person. He was still Lloyd. He was still his little brother.

Kai leaned closer, allowing his shoulder to lightly bump against Lloyd’s. The green ninja gasped suddenly, as if just realizing he was there, and quickly scrubbed at his eyes. The action made him seem more like the young child that had been left behind. That, and the fact that he was shivering.

“Dude, you’re freezing!” He glanced down to see Lloyd was only wearing a pair of baggy shorts and a light tank top. “Why aren’t you wearing any proper clothes?”

Lloyd’s cheeks flushed, and he dipped his head, muttering under his breath.

“What?”

“I don’t have any proper clothes, okay?” More quietly, he added, “Nothing fits me anymore.”

Oh, Lloyd. “Hey, why didn’t you come to me? Y’know I’ve got way more clothes than I’ll ever wear, me and the guys would be more than willing to share stuff with you. And we’ll take you shopping, too, so you can pick out some stuff of your own. How does that sound?”

Lloyd sniffed, wiping an arm across his face. “Yeah, that sounds… that sounds good.”

“Here.” Kai slipped his sweatshirt off and draped it over Lloyd’s shoulders. “It’s not exactly warm out. Don’t make yourself sick.”

“Thanks.” Lloyd pulled the sweatshirt tighter around his shoulders, and Kai felt a small swell of relief as he noticed it was still a little big on him. So his little brother hadn’t grown up completely yet.

“Bud,” he said gently, “it’s fine if you come up here, but tell us before you do next time, okay? We were worried about you.”

Lloyd looked down, still refusing to meet his gaze. “Sorry. I just… didn’t really want anyone to follow me.”

“I know, but you can’t be alone forever. It’s not going to fix anything.”

“Being together isn’t going to fix this, either.”

Kai winced. “Not physically, no. But we’ll be here for you emotionally. We’ll help you heal.”

“But I can’t-” Lloyd stopped, sighing. “Sorry. I’m being selfish.”

“Selfish? How is any of this selfish?”

“Because! You guys were risking your lives, and I made the decision that saved you, yet I’m regretting I did!” “First of all, you’re not regretting you saved us, you’re regretting the other consequences that came out of the choice. Second, it wasn’t much of a choice at all. The Grundle backed you into a corner- literally- and that was the only logical solution at the time. It’s not fair. It shouldn’t have been you. You shouldn’t have been there. You shouldn’t have been forced to make a decision like that. But you were. So you have every right to be upset, every right to complain. That is not selfish.”

Lloyd finally turned to look at him, a helpless, floundering expression on his face.

Kai took pity on him, putting an arm around him. “Lloyd, I’m here. Whether you wanna talk, or scream, or cry, or just need someone to lean on, I’m here.”

“I… I don’t know what to do, Kai. I don’t feel like myself anymore.”

“You are. You’re still the same Lloyd, still our friend, our little brother, our charge. This changes nothing between us. We’re gonna take care of you, okay?”

Lloyd sniffed, putting his hands over his face, and Kai elbowed him gently. “It’s okay to cry, y’know. No one’s gonna judge you for it.”

“But I… I’m not a little kid anymore.”

“So? Everyone cries! It’s natural, and it doesn’t matter how old you are! I’ve cried, I’ve seen Cole cry, Jay cry, I’ve definitely seen Nya cry, and Zane- well, actually, I haven’t seen Zane cry. But that’s only because he’s a nindroid and physically can’t cry. He still gets upset sometimes, though.”

“I know, but… I just feel like I should be able to handle things better.”

“Are you crazy? I’d go insane if I suddenly just aged several years in the span of seconds. Compared to me, you’re handling it like a champ.”

Lloyd didn’t look at him. “Not really. I feel like a wreck right now.” His last words caught on a sob, and Kai glanced over at him, apprehension budding in his chest.

“Are you okay?”

Lloyd blinked rapidly, trying and failing to stop the tears spilling from his eyes. “Not really.”

“Can I hug you?”

Lloyd hesitated but nodded, and Kai wasted no time in wrapping his arms around Lloyd’s shoulders, pulling him close.

Kai didn’t know how long they sat there, but it was a while before Lloyd broke the silence. “Do you think the Final Battle is coming sooner, now that I’m older?”

“I don’t know. But whenever it is, I’m gonna be there. Even if that means I have to kick Garmadon’s ass for you.” He bit his lip, grinning sheepishly. “Shoot, I didn’t mean to say that in front of you.”

Lloyd snorted. “I already know that word.”

“Wait, who taught you that? Was it Nya? I bet it was Nya.” “It wasn’t any of you. I grew up at Darkley’s, what do you expect? That isn’t the only choice word I know.”

Kai’s eyes widened. “Don’t you dare tell Zane, he’ll have a fit.”

A brief smile flickered across Lloyd’s face, the first once Kai had seen all night.

“Hey, if I’m grown up now, I should at least get to use some bad words once in a while.”

“Not happenin’, bro,” Kai grinned. “You’re not that grown up yet.”

“I could be fifty and you’d still say that.”

“What can I say, you’ve got a baby face,” Kai smirked, putting his hands on either side of Lloyd’s head.

“Stop that,” Lloyd grumbled, pushing him away. “‘M not a baby.”

“You are, and no dumb tea can change that.”

Lloyd bit his lip, trying to look away, but Kai forced his head to turn, looking him in the eye.

“Lloyd. It’s okay. You don’t have to pretend like it’s all fine. Let it out.”

Lloyd gasped, half falling into his lap, and Kai gripped him tight. It’s gonna be okay, he told himself. He’s going to be okay. We all are.

Lloyd’s path had been difficult from the beginning. It wasn’t fair that all this had been thrown on him- he was just a kid, even now. But it had been, and Kai had an awful feeling that this wouldn’t be the worst hardship his youngest teammate would have to endure.

But next time he would do better. He was one of the four elemental masters of the elements of creation. It was his job to protect Lloyd, to keep him safe.

It made his heart break to see Lloyd, usually so spunky, so unshakable, like this, and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure it didn’t happen again.

But for now, he just hugged the green ninja.

He hoped, with time, it would be enough to heal him.

[miraculous-ninjabird]

This is my half of a collaboration I did with @ezlikessharks as a gift for our mutual friend @enbyjaywalker

You can find their half here

the fic is also on Ao3 here

I hope you like it!

Title: An Acceptable Proposal

Words: 2209

Warnings: None. Just self-indulgent fluff

Samuraishipping + background Oppositeshipping

“Zane! I need your assistance!” Pixel bursts into the room. He lets out an undignified squawking sound, dropping the dish he had been holding. Feeling just the tiniest bit guilty about that, she picks it up and hands it back to him.

“Pixal! You startled me! What can I do for you?” He pauses putting away the dishes to look at her.

“I am planning to propose to Nya when we go out tonight, remember? I need you to help me make sure all the preparations are in place.”

“Is tonight the night? Pixal that’s wonderful! It completely slipped my mind. How can I help?”

“I have a number of things that need to be confirmed and some things that need to be collected while Kai and I go to pick up the ring, along with a few other things,” Pixal hands him a list. “It would be very beneficial if you could meet us at the park when you are finished to help set things up.”

Zane takes the list, scanning the contents.

“This seems reasonable. I will get started on it just as soon as I am finished here. When should I plan to meet you?”

“Thank you so much! We will be there around 5pm or so. Jay should be meeting us there also. I have to leave around 5:30 to get ready to meet her, so the three of you will have to finish setting up without me. Can you make sure it’s all ready by the time we come through at 7:30?”

Zane salutes her “Your wish is my command.”

Pixal thanks him profusely once again before rushing off. Not a single moment to waste! Tonight had to be perfect.

“So tell me again why you need me here?” Kai asks as he pulls open the door to the jewelry store. Pixal steps inside, clutching the pick up slip for the ring tight to her chest.

“You’re the only other person who knows Nya as well as I do. I want you to do the final check on the ring to make sure it is something she will like. And I haven’t forgotten you telling me you wanted to do something similar for Zane in the near future. We can’t have that double wedding you and Nya are so heartset on if you don’t get a ring yourself.” She gives him a pointed look, and his face flushes a deep red.

“Touche,”

Kai wanders off to browse the cases, and Pixal makes her way up to the counter.

“Good afternoon! How can I help you today?” The clerk greets cheerfully.

“I have a pick up for Pixal Borg, please,” She hands the slip over. The clerk takes it, reading it carefully.

“Your timing is perfect Miss Borg! This shipment just came in yesterday. Give me a moment to get it ready.” He takes the receipt and hurries away, leaving Pixal to join Kai in his browsing. She finds him staring hard at one of the cases.

“Find something you like?” She inquires.

“Actually, I think so,” He points to a specific ring. “Do you think Zane would like something like that?”

The ring in question has a twisted silver band set with two sapphires, one pink and one blue. It’s beautiful, and simplistic in a way Zane would like.

“That would be a good choice. Though I think Zane would be happy with just about anything you chose for him.” She offers. It was true. Zane loved him so much it wouldn’t take any real effort on Kai’s part to impress him. Kai could propose with a ring of paperclips and the nindroid would be overjoyed.

Pixal doesn’t get to hear Kai’s thoughts on things though, as the clerk calls her back over.

“Here you are! One custom engagement ring, ready to go!” He hands the box over to her. Hesitantly, Pixal opens it. This will be her first time seeing the final product in real life. Inside sits one of the most stunning pieces of jewelry she has ever seen. Nya’s phoenix symbol is carved into it, set with a sapphire eye. The carving is flanked on either side by two small diamonds. Without a word, she shows the contents to Kai. He lets out a low whistle.

“She’s gonna love that, Pix.”

The approval helps to relieve a little of the worried knot that was forming in her stomach. That was a relief. She turns back to the clerk, and Kai wanders back over to the ring from earlier.

“Can I set up a payment plan for the remainder that I still owe on it?”

“Sure thing! I’ll just need some information from you first…”

Once that is sorted out, she collects Kai and they head out. She doesn’t miss the fact that he is now clutching a little pick-up slip of his own. Seems Nya was going to get her double wedding afterall...

The jewelry store had taken longer than she was anticipating, so by the time she and Kai finished up with the rest of the things on their list they were running a little behind. When they finally reach the park, Pixal only has a few minutes before she has to leave. Zane is already there, and so is Jay.

“Pixal! Kai! Over here!” Zane calls out. Once they are a little closer, he continues. “I was able to complete everything on your list. The photographer is confirmed, I got the approval from the city to change the lights in the fountain and hang the lights in the trees, and I dropped your dress for tonight off at home for you. Did you get the ring?”

“Yes, and Kai has the rest of the lights. I appreciate your help in all of this. I wish I could stay, but I really have to be going if I want to be on time.”

“Yes. Go, go. I can handle directing these two here,” Zane makes a shooing motion with his hand. “You go have fun and I promise things will be ready for you when you return.”

Pixal shouts more thank-yous at them as she walks away. She would be eternally grateful, as this was not something she would have been able to do on her own. The only things left to do now were get herself ready, meet Nya, and then...ask her the big question. Simple enough. She could do this.

Maybe asking Nya to meet her at the restaurant was a bad idea. Originally Pixal was thinking it would give her extra time to compose herself, but honestly? It was just making things worse. It didn’t help that she had gotten there early, and that Nya was now running late. What if something had happened to her on the way here? What if there had been an emergency team summons and Pixal had somehow missed it? How long should she sit here by herself? Maybe she should call Nya? Just to make sure she was okay?

Just as that thought occurs to her, the door chimes. It wasn’t the first time it had happened since she’d gotten here, but she whips around to see who it is regardless. A visible weight lifts off her shoulders when she sees that this time, it is Nya. The host leads her over to the table, and Pixal is able to get a good look at her.

It’s a good thing Pixal doesn’t need to breathe.

“I’m so sorry I’m late! Cole took me to a painting workshop today and it ran over. I didn’t want to show up in paint clothes so I ran home first.” She gasps. She must have walked because she doesn’t have that windblown look that comes from riding her motorcycle. She has on a midnight blue tunic dress, paired with dark leggings and a sparkly belt. Instead of her usual ponytail, her hair is pulled into a low braid across her shoulders.

“Nya, you look positively radiant.”

“Thank you. You look pretty good yourself. The butterfly clip is a nice touch,” She winks as she sits down. “This place is pretty fancy. What’s the special occasion?”

Pixal’s brain momentarily stutters, trying to come up with a reasonable answer. She reaches a hand into her dress pocket, clutching the ring box.

“Do I need a special occasion to be able to treat my partner to a night out?” She questions. Nya laughs.

“No, I guess not. I just wanted to make sure I hadn’t forgotten something.”

“Well in that case, don’t worry. There is no special significance to tonight you should be aware of,” Pixal smiles softly. At least not any that Nya was aware of. “So tell me about your day. You mentioned Cole took you to an art class?”

“Yeah! I wasn’t expecting that at all but it was actually really fun…” Nya starts rambling about her day. Pixal listens intently, focusing all attention on Nya. The way her eyes light up when she gets excited was always enchanting. First Master, she was so in love.

The rest of their evening at the restaurant passes without incident. They talk about how busy they’ve been lately, about all the upgrades Pixal is planning to do to her samurai X mech, and about how nice it was to be able to finally have a night to themselves. Nothing out of the ordinary for them, other than the massive ball of nerves that was weighing heavily in her stomach.

It only got worse as they settled the bill and left.

“So do you have anything else fun planned for tonight?”

“I was hoping you would accompany me on a walk through the park?” Pixal offers an arm out to her. Nya takes it, linking them together.

“Of course! I would love too. Lead the way.” She gives Pixal a peck on the cheek for good measure.

Making their way to the park, she hopes against all hope that the three she had left behind had been successful in getting things ready. The park soon comes into view, and she breathes a miniscule sigh of relief when she can make out the lights glittering in the distance against the setting sun.

“Hey, what’s that over there?” Nya asks, pointing.

“Would you like to go and take a look?” Nya nods, and Pixal leads her in that direction. Even though she had planned this whole thing out, she is taken by surprise at just how good things had turned out. Delicate lights are strung through the trees, warm and inviting. The fountain in the center of the plaza she’d picked was lit up with soft blues and purples. She can’t identify where it was coming from, but someone was playing soft music. That was a nice touch. She was forever going to be in Zane’s debt for making sure things went off without a hitch.

“This is beautiful!” Nya whispers, releasing Pixal’s arm. She steps forward, taking it all in. The way Nya looks around in wonder makes her think that all the work that went into planning was worth it. “But what’s it for?”

Taking a deep breath, Pixal fishes the ring out of her pocket. This was it.

“Well, my dear...this is all for you.”

“All for me? What do you mean by that-” she turns around in confusion. Pixal takes that moment to drop to one knee, and Nya’s eyes go wide.

“Nya, you are my everything. You’ve done so much for me. You helped build me a body, gave me freedom. You gave up your mantle as Samurai X to me when you didn’t even know who I was. You taught me what it really means to love, and I love you with every fiber of my being. Every moment I spend with you feels like an eternity. There isn’t a single other person I could imagine spending my life with. So, would you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”

She opens the box, heart thundering in her chest. Nya’s mouth is open in a gasp. With one shaky hand, she reaches out and takes the ring. The sapphire eye of the phoenix symbol engraved on it glints in the light as she studies it.

“Oh Pixal…” Her eyes fill tears, and she launches herself at Pixal.

The heavy weight that had been following her all was lifted as she welcomed Nya with open arms. She had no words to describe the pure elation that was filling her. In one swift move, she bends down and catches Nya’s lips in a fierce kiss. Nya kisses back just as fiercely. When they part, they both collapse into a fit of giggles.

“I take it that you find my proposal acceptable then?” She whispers.

“Yes. Yes I do.” Nya whispers back, pressing their foreheads together. She is grinning wildly, and her eyes shone. Pixal imagines she looks much the same.

“I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you so much.”

“However much you love me, I love you more.”

Pixal pulls her into another kiss, this one softer. As long as she had Nya by her side, the two of them would be unstoppable.

[grumpy-zane]

((Idk what to title this. DOTD stuff/Royal Blacksmith HC lore.

WARNING: this is long.))

Dareth ran the tablecloth up and down the counter, scrubbing out the spots that had ring stains to the beat of the song cracking from the radio. It was still too early in the evening to open up shop, but he didn't mind the wait. It gave him a lot of time to double check everything and re-count inventory. He flicked off the radio and on the TV, leaning on the counter to catch the news.

Nothing important was happening today, unless you counted traffic jams as a lethal city attack, and it was the perfect weather to hit the beach according to the news. No doubt Gayle was trying to find something to talk about, but, "Not a single story to get a scoop out of today, miss reporter," he spoke to the screen. Eyeing the window, he contemplated going out for an hour to catch some rays. Not that he needed it immediately, but he had notice that his tan was starting to fade as of late.

Knocking against the door pulled him from his thoughts. "We're not open yet, come back in three hours!" Dareth called, hoping his voice carried though the thick wood.

"Not a patron!" A prideful voice muffled back.

"Lou?" He stood up and answered the door. "Lou! Good to see ya, how have you been?"

"Well I've been just wonderful," he smiled and stepped inside, taking a seat at the bar while Dareth returned to his position, "I stopped by to talk to you about Day of the Departed plans."

"You know me, always room in my schedule for that. That's a few months away though, right?"

"Yes, but its always good to plan these things far in advance. Anyway, the other day when I was going through the archives, It hit me that I never let Cole experience how the Royal Blacksmiths formed."

Dareth lowered the TV volume, "Wait, I thought Cole didn't want to be a Blacksmith?"

"No, of course not! But its family history that I think he and his friends should know.. on top of a performance of course! That’s why I've come to you! We need the Jade Palace rented out." Lou beamed.

Bewilderment struck across his face, "Lou. You can't just rent out the Jade Palace- sure the city rebuilt it and turned it into a memorial.. museum.. actually I haven't been inside. But! Isn't that a little 'out there' in terms of.. you know.."

He laughed, "That’s why I came to you! You know how to make the impossible work out! And it's perfect too! 'The Royal Blacksmiths perform at the Jade Palace: a Historical Unraveling', I can see the headline now." He looked up, picturing the scenario in his mind.

Dareth folded his arms and thought about it. No doubt he'd have to talk to a rabbit hole of people just to pull it off, at least Lou came to him about it now rather than one week in advanced. "I'll see what I can do," he sighed.

"Haha, yes! I knew I could count on you!" He jumped up and headed towards the door, "I'll give you more details once I flesh them out. This is going to be so much fun!" The door shut in excitement.

---------

"You said your dad planned something?" Jay popped a few pieces of candy in his mouth, "something about the palace?"

"Yeah," he reached over and dug into the bag, grabbing out a taffy. "He said he had something special for the team- more importantly me, but he extended the invitation. He said something about Blacksmith history, I just hope he doesn’t drone on and on." Cole rolled his eyes.

"It sounds like you didn't have a very good experience with this in the past?"

He shrugged, "My dad was never a 'when I was your age' person, but he was a 'your great great whatever' person when it came to performing. I didn't like listening to it, so I never payed much attention."

The two climbed the front stairway just as people were departing. so much for making the show, but at least they weren’t absurdly late and didn’t leave Lou waiting half an hour. Kai and Nya looked away from the entry way and waved at the two, drawing the attention of Dareth was was hovering around the side walls. He whistled, Lou snapping away from the conversation of the quartet and smiling. “Cole! Jay! there you two are!”

“Hey dad-” the two hugged, “sorry we missed the performance. Crime never rests.”

“Yeah, luckily Pixal and Zane took over for us.” Jay chirped, “So, a story? Will it be in the form of a song?”

He laughed and rested a hand on Cole’s shoulder, leading the two up through the entrance. “No, no, I’m afraid not. The boys want to call it early tonight, so it’s going to just be me.” Lou nodded to the rest of his group, the three calling their goodnights and goodbyes. “So, you said two of you aren’t showing up, what about Lloyd?”

Jay and Cole exchanged glanced, then repeated the motion with Kai and Nya.Usually everyone would be here, but the S.O.G. no doubt made him rethink things in regards to his father. “I’ll keep a look out for him,” Dareth waved a hand and smirked, “I already got the low-down and I’ll get him up to speed. You guys enjoy the tour.”

--

The interior was much like it was before the destruction, though more antique fitted for the occasion, no doubt. Glass cases displayed attire and relics of an older time; worn armor stood tall on wooden racks, faded paintings hung beneath special lights, weapons held vertically reflected the gold trimmings surrounding them, and masks hung from the walls. Lou proudly walked past the displays to a dark lit wall, “As all of you know who the Royal Blacksmiths are, I won’t e going over that. Instead, I want to start from the very beginning.” He flicked on a light, illuminating the wall with a portrait through a lamp. “Before there were Blacksmiths, there were entertainers. This group of four traveled through Ninjago by foot, performing tricks no one had seen before! Their acts drew the attention of the Royal Family, who’s prince was delighted by their performances! So much so, that he invited them to perform at the palace.”

Cole tried not to sigh, feeling deja vu from this spiel. Taking a look around, it seemed like no one else was feeling the same. Whether that was for better or worse...

“Mr. Compère, You’re needed!” Lou jumped with the rest of the group, the masked man wrapped his arm around the Blacksmith, his attire making him look out of place, hailing from a lost time.

“M-Mr. Compère?” He sputtered.

“Yes, the King wants to see what we can do!” He was promptly pulled away, the person stopping to look back at the stunned Ninja. “You best be making your way to the stage if you don’t want to miss the performance.” He held up a finger to the lips of the mask, dispersing away into smoke.

Jay gawked, “Did you just SEE THAT?!”

“Who was that?” Kai asked, Cole pushing everyone aside.

“I dunno, but I don’t like the sound of what he has planned. Come on!”

Grand pillars held up the octagonal roof, the rafters danging dozens of lights of varying color, each held at a height that pointed down to the stage. The squad shoved open the doors, weapons brandished ready to fight when they were once again dumbstruck. On the far side the king sat, his green robes draping over his armored body. The Jade undertones in the trimming angled in a way that drew attention to his pale face, his dark eyes watching intently at the four masked men who stood in a circle with their backs on the inside. Among the four, one rose up an instrument: a lyre, intricately carved in ancient Ninjagian. The notes that escaped it echoed in the large room, the lights flickering as the air reacted to the music. The other three drew comically long blades, lifting them to the air and spinning around in a dance.

“The King and his son watched as their performance spelled out the story of a bard, One of which caught in plans that would prove to be quite fatal,” Lou’s voice spoke from the upper floor. As if on queue, one of the masked figured drove their sword into the other, shocking the royalty as the other two dropped to the floor dramatically. The bard only paused, returning to his playing once again. Another masked person stabbed their sword through, followed by the third, but the playing did not cease. This frightened the assailants, the person turning and gliding towards them, scaring them off stage. “It was such a grand display of endurance, that the King thought it would be foolish to simply send them away without compensation. Thus, he dubbed the ensemble, ‘The Royal Blacksmiths’, entertainers of the Royal Family.”

Cole lead the way around the lower balcony, the lights above blowing out suddenly before flickering back on. The stage had dramatically changed, one of that reflect a circus. The ringleader faced the four who had taken a seat next to the railing. Kai blinked, “Hey is that-”

“Ladies, and Gentlefolk, Tonight’s performance is none other than The Wondrous, Illustrious, Roooyaall Blacksmiths!” He brown cape flew as he lifted an arm to them, the curtains flying open as a large tiger leapt forward. One of the blacksmiths, wearing a black suit and white face paint with red accents, jogged across the ring, leading the large cat around the obstacles and through the tubes. From the other side, another Blacksmith ran out, performing flips through the same obstacle course and landing on a rolling board. A third leapt over the back curtain, landing in the hold of the rolling one who lifted them elegantly. The fourth emerged in a cloud of smoke, holding an arm out to the Ringleader who promptly through his hat and cane.

“Cole, That’s your dad!” Jay giddily squealed, pointing at the center circle.

“What?!”

Lou gently bowed, spinning the cane around and throwing it into the air, catching it and tossing it up again even higher. “No more was the need to act plays and stories, the people wanted to see something extraordinary, and so it was!” Lou shouted, barely turning around in time to see the tiger leap from the back curtains again.

“Dad look out-!” Cole leapt up from his seat, gripping the railing as the tiger fell into the hat and disappeared completely. Lou caught the cane and tossed it up again, winking at his son as he whipped the hat directly at him. It spun back around just out of reach and out of the light. The wheeling blacksmith sped up their circles, tossing the other into the air and catching the cane. The other landed next to Lou, striking a pose as the third slid out from the curtain on the other side. Lou kept his hands raised, marching in place as the cane was tossed up again. He grabbed it just as the last smith found his place behind the three, sparks exploding from the end of the cane like fireworks. The hat finally came back around which he promptly caught, lowering it to the ground and letting a small house cat step out of it.

“But it was so, that the life of excitement wasn’t something everyone could handle. Generations of building up elaborate stunts were daunting to the eyes of a junior, and so he chose a different approach,” Lou spoke as the quartet began humming various pitches. “He thought no one should bear to hear such noises that left ears ringing, Instead he came up with a new plan! One that involved singing!” He held the last word on a high note.

The tiger let out a low grumble, its purring distracting everyone to look at the side wall. “Oh nuts,” Dareth, the ringleader, smiled sheepishly, gently scratching the large cat under the chin.

Lou cleared his throat, “And so here we are now, carrying out the tradition to entertain no matter the form, display, or song. I hope you all enjoyed the performances, you especially, Cole.” He smiled up at his son.

Jay barged into the conversation, “That. Was. Awesome!”

“How did you pull it all off??” Nya asked, beaming.

“I would have never guessed that it was that deep,” Kai mirrored their excitement, “who knew?”

Cole leapt down from the balcony and approached his father, “You did all of this, just for me?”

“Of course, Cole, It’s family history!.. and I wanted to let you know that, not everyone in our historical line wanted to do what their fore-fathers did. I’m proud of you, that you’re a ninja, It gives me a lot to write and sing about!” He gripped Cole’s shoulder and laughed, pulling him into a half hug.

The other ninja had leapt down, asking the others as the group of performers congregated in the pit. It was a shame that Zane, Pixal, and Lloyd missed it, but Cole was sure that Kai had recorded at least part of it on his phone for his social media followers. The earth ninja eyed around at the general happiness, content with it, and leaned against his dad. “Happy Day of the Departed, dad.”

He squeezed him back, chuckling, “Happy Day of the departed.”

[lloydskywalkers]

it’s ironic that you should ask this now, because one) that’s the firST thing my mind went to during my rewatch so far, and two) i now have a whole bunch of lovely little oneshots like this guess which episode i watched recently

Nya should’ve listened to her gut the moment she started feeling something was wrong.

Kai calls her impulsive (which is rich, coming from him), but Nya’s instincts haven’t been wrong before. They weren’t when the Fire Nation came for them the first time, they weren’t when things went sour in the Earth Kingdom, and they weren’t when she found Lloyd frozen in the ice. While her method of action might not always the best, Nya’s instincts have rarely led her wrong.

She curses herself between gasps for breath for ignoring them this time, sprinting as fast as she can through the darkened forest. It looks so different in the dark than it had when she’d gone out with Harumi earlier. Bright and sunny as it’d been then, Harumi had been nothing more than a unassuming nonbender and a potential friend — perhaps more, for Lloyd, with how his cheeks had flushed every time she’d talked to him.

Now, with the trees silhouetted black and the echoes of Kai’s angered shouts through the forest, Nya can’t believe she ever let her get within five feet of them.

The long months of trekking from nation to nation serves her well, and Nya bursts from the thick trees full-force — only to immediately skid to a stop, the cursed red skirt she’s stuck in swishing around her legs as she sucks in a breath of horror.

Harumi stands in the middle of the clearing they were in earlier, but the scene is drastically different. The serene look Harumi once wore is gone as if it never existed, replaced by a twisted expression of malice. She got one hand raised in the air, sharp nails curved inwards as she holds Kai steady where he’s frozen across the clearing, by what Nya can only guess is the witchcraft the villagers had whispered about. Kai’s face is pale and furious, but he seems unharmed, if unable to move.

It’s Harumi’s other hand, the one that’s locked around Lloyd’s pale hair as she holds him in place, that has Nya rooted to the spot.

“Nya,” Lloyd gasps, his eyes wide and frightened. “Watch out, she’s—”

Harumi’s fingers clench around his hair, and Lloyd’s expressions spasms in pain as he twists unnaturally, his arms folding in on themselves. Hot anger sparks in Nya’s gut, and she snarls at Harumi.

“Let them go,” she says, her voice low.

Harumi tilts her head at her, her eyes gleaming in the moonlight. Her hand shifts around Lloyd’s hair, and he twitches again, shooting Nya a look of terror.

“No,” Harumi says, her voice silky. “I don’t think I will.”

Nya swallows. The look on Harumi’s face is deranged, makeup streaking down her cheeks like twin streams of blood, and Nya can’t believe she ever thought to trust her. She knows they’ve been getting careless lately, but this is the nail in the coffin. Lloyd’s already too trusting as it is, but they’d gotten so lucky with Jay, then Cole and Zane, that Kai and Nya had begun to let their guard down as well.

Right in the middle of the Fire Nation. Nya stomach twists. She, of all people, should know how unbelievably stupid they’ve been.

But there’s nothing for it now. Nya’s almost lost Lloyd to the Fire Nation twice, and she won’t let Harumi be the third.

“That wasn’t a request,” she says, louder this time. “Let them go."

Harumi eyes her, and her hands jerk. Kai’s expression contorts, as if straining against some incredible force, before his hand drifts toward his belt. He gives a sharp warning of “Nya!” before he abruptly sends one of his knives flying toward her head. Nya dodges easily — the throw is sloppy, without any of Kai’s usual accuracy or grace, but the force behind is enough to give her pause.

“I don’t know what kind of witchcraft you’re using, but I doubt it can match three benders at once,” she threatens. She’d tout the fact that Lloyd’s the Avatar, except not only is it something Nya’s supposed to be keeping secret, but it would probably fall flat with how Harumi’s got him easily pinned right now.

Nya hopes it’s just Lloyd being soft-hearted again, but that wouldn’t explain Kai staying so still as well.  

“Oh, it’s not witchcraft,” Harumi answers, rolling her eyes. “It’s a…unique, bending technique.”

Nya pauses, her eyebrows furrowing, but Lloyd’s the one that speaks up. “You said you weren’t a bender.” His voice is painfully small.

“Oh Lloyd,” Harumi laughs, rattling him again. “I lied, you stupid boy. Haven’t you figured it out? I’m just like you, Nya.”

Shiny droplets of water weave between her fingertips as she speaks, and Nya’s eyes widen.

“You’re a waterbender,” she breathes. Harumi nods, her teeth glinting as she smiles. Nya glances from her hands to Kai and Lloyd, watching the way their limbs twist, expressions tight with pain.

“Their blood,” Nya whispers, her mouth dry. “You’re — you’re bloodbending.”

“Oh, you are smart,” Harumi’s grin widens. “Much smarter than them.”

Lloyd grimaces as she shakes him, and Kai jerks against her hold, his eyes hot. “Leave him alone, you twisted—”

Harumi moves her hand and Kai’s entire body wrenches, flinging himself into the nearby tree with an ugly crack. Lloyd gives a panicked cry of concern, and Nya darts forward, fury giving her purpose.

“Don’t touch him!” she roars, her arms sweeping as she blasts her element at Harumi, just as Kai manages to launch an attack of his own in a bright burst of fire.

Neither hit lands. Panic lances through Nya as Harumi deflects her water effortlessly, sending it splashing into Kai’s burst of fire and extinguishing it. Harumi gives a shrieking laugh at their attempts, and Nya feels sweat bead up at the edges of her forehead. She desperately wishes the others were here — Cole or Jay would be able to handle this, even Zane could at least freeze the water effectively. But they’re deeper into the Fire Nation right now, scouting out the inner cities, and the only person to combat Harumi is Nya and her stupid raindrops.

Blinking back tears of frustration, Nya wishes, not for the first time, that she’d been born a firebender like Kai. Water is useless with her anger.

But if she used it like Harumi—

No, Nya scolds herself hotly. She’s no monster. She’s nothing like Harumi, and she’s not about to stoop to her level.

“Harumi,” Lloyd says, his voice pleading. “Harumi please, if you’d just explain why you’re doing this, then maybe—”

He cuts off in a cry as Harumi curls her fingers, and Lloyd’s arm twists unnaturally, bending like the limbs of a marionette. He whimpers as she stretches his right arm too far, dangling him like he’s caught in a deranged spider’s web, and Nya sees red.

“Stop, stop, let him go!” Her voice threatens to crack in anger, and water leeches from the grass around her, pouring between her fingers. “Do you even know who he is?”

“I know exactly who he is,” Harumi hisses, her eyes wild. “The Avatar. The one who was supposed to save my family.”

Lloyd stares up at her with wide eyes. “W…what?”

Harumi’s eyes finally leave Nya, and she glares at Lloyd in fury, her fingers practically tearing his hair out as she shakes him.

“Don’t play dumb, where were you?” she howls, as Lloyd flinches in pain. “Where were you when the Fire Nation destroyed my people? When they murdered my family? You were supposed to save them, where were you?!”

Lloyd goes as silent as he had when they’d brought him to the ruined Air Temple, his eyes glassy in that same kind of horror. Kai writhes against Harumi’s hold, and Nya’s stomach twists. It’s killing her to stay still, but with Lloyd in Harumi’s grasp and Kai still frozen near the tree, she can’t risk it.

“My family died because you weren’t there,” Harumi continues, the shadows catching on her manic expression and turning her visage monstrous in the moonlight. “Now it’s your turn, when I hand you over to the Fire Lord.”

Kai makes a noise of panic, and Nya finally wrenches herself from her stupor. “The Fire Nation killed your family,” she starts, trying to reason with her. “They killed ours too, and Lloyd’s! We’re trying to stop them. Why are you helping them?”

Harumi’s lip curls, her eyes snapping back to Nya. “Because water is weak,” she sneers. “Our tribe was stupid and arrogant to think we deserved the kind of respect fire does. With the power of the Fire Nation behind me, I can turn waterbending into something deadly. Something to be feared. Every last one of us will be bloodbenders, and with the Fire Nation, no one will ever attack us again!”

Kai stares at her, incredulous. “The Fire Nation was the one who attacked you in the first place!” he exclaims. “Are you ser—agh!”

Harumi’s wrist snaps downward, and Kai’s knees buckle, sending him plummeting to the ground with a pained cry. Nya’s heart jumps, her fingernails biting into her palms. She forces herself to calm instead, gritting her teeth. Harumi’s logic is twisted beyond belief. It’s clear there won’t be any reasoning with her.

“You’re not the only one in the world with a tragic past,” Nya snarls, and she can feel the humidity in the air itself vibrating with the intensity of her anger. “I don’t care about your reasoning. This is your last chance. Let them go, and you can walk away from this.”

Harumi’s teeth bare. “I had hopes for you, you know. You could be great. You could be powerful, like me. Instead you chain yourself to these two. How disappointing.”

She raises both hands, releasing Lloyd’s hair from her grasp as her fingers clench together. Kai and Lloyd both shout in pain as they’re dragged forward, and Kai’s suddenly pulling his sword from where its strapped to his back, his fingers shaking as they grasp the hilt.

Nya’s mouth goes bone dry. Harumi smiles. “I’ll make you a deal, waterbender,” she says. “If you can stop them, you can have your brother back. If you, can’t, though…”

Her hand twists again, and Kai’s eyes go wide in terror as he surges forward, forced into a dead sprint toward Lloyd.

“Then maybe I’ll just kill the Avatar myself,” Harumi finishes, her eyes dark.

“Kai!”

“Stop, Nya, stop me—!”

Nya’s running before she can think, barreling toward Harumi at full force. Kai is moving across the clearing faster than she can blink, his sword leveled at Lloyd’s unprotected head where he’s stuck frozen in place. Nya moves to attack Harumi with her element, but it’s immediately redirected just as before, splashing back into Nya’s own face.

“Stop it, stop it, Nya stop me now—”

Panic swelling to a crescendo in her head, Nya freezes. Harumi’s going to kill them both. She’s going to kill Nya’s family without a second’s thought, and Nya and her water will have done nothing. The tears of frustration welling up in her eyes begin to hiss, steaming up in her vision. Her hands shake with fury, white-knuckled and trembling, and the thin threads of Nya’s restraint snap.

She stretches her hand out toward Harumi, feels for her element, and reaches.

It’s almost laughably easy. Nya’s hold on her element is already razor-sharp in her anger, and the blood that thrums through Harumi’s veins is loud and pulsing. Nya feels the viscosity of it, the heavy traces of water flowing through it as easily as she does the icy streams of water at home, and for a second it’s terrifying — the sound of Harumi’s heartbeat pulsing through her ears, the watery flow of blood.

Then her rage burns hot, and Nya feels control.

Harumi screams as her arms wrench forward, and Kai and Lloyd drop with startled shouts, like puppets with their strings cut as Harumi looses her hold. Lloyd slumps to the ground below Harumi, and Kai rolls across the grass before coming to a stop, panting harshly as he flings his sword away.

Nya barely glances at them. Her eyes are locked on Harumi’s, savoring the growing terror she sees in them as she tightens her control, filtering through the very veins beneath Harumi’s skin.

“You said I’m weak?” Nya hisses, a dull roaring in her ears. “I’ll show you weak.”

Harumi strains against her hold, trying to make a last-ditch attack, but Nya has her in the palm of her hand now. She makes a choking noise before cutting off, collapsing to the dirt as Nya forces her to her knees.

Where she belongs.

A dizzying kind of elation sweeps through Nya’s veins as she realizes that she can make Harumi do whatever she wants her to. As she realizes the power she’s wielding. She can do this to anyone — anyone who raises a hand against her, or any of her family again — she can control them. The Fire Lord himself, in all his purpose to destroy Lloyd, she can tear him apart piece by piece before he even sets eyes on him.

Nya can turn anyone on earth against themselves. With her waterbending — with her bloodbending — she’ll be so powerful no one will ever challenge her again, no one will ever underestimate her again, no one will ever come close—

“Nya,” Kai whispers.

Her control shatters like glass. Nya drops to her knees, shaking uncontrollably as she gasps raggedly for air. Her vision swims, turning Harumi’s crumpled form on the grass into dozens of blurring figures, and terror shoots through Nya like lightning.

She’s a monster. She’s just like Harumi, she’s worse, she’s a monster. The thoughts that just ran through her mind — that taste of power—

Nya wants to throw up, and dissolves into tears instead.

Familiar warm arms wrap around her, pulling her close. After a moment, there’s a gentle touch as she feels Lloyd join in the embrace as well. His hold isn’t as firm as Kai — he’s trembling as badly as Nya is.

“Harumi?” Nya finally croaks, half-fearing the answer.

Kai makes an angry sound in the back of his throat, like an infuriated dragon.

“She’s alive,” Lloyd murmurs. “Just unconscious.”

Nya finally wipes at her eyes, glancing at him, and her heart sinks. Lloyd’s eyes, normally so bright and cheery, are dull and downcast. There’s heartbreak written all across his face, and Nya wants to throttle Harumi for wiping his smile away like that.

“I’m so sorry, Lloyd,” she whispers.

Lloyd shakes his head, wiping surreptitiously at his own eyes. “I guess you were right. You can’t make peace with everyone,” he says, his voice wavering.

“Harumi is not everyone,” Kai says, firmly. He turns his eyes on Nya, and she shrinks under his gaze. “And she’s not you, either.”

Nya shakes her head. “Kai, you saw what I — Kai, I just—”

“You wiped the floor with her,” Kai cuts across. “That’s all that matters.”

“Kai—”

“Look, we’ll — can we figure it out in the morning?” Kai finally shudders, his composure faltering. “We can — we can work it out then, when everything’s not…not so…”

Nya stares at him, watching as he refuses to meet her gaze. His scarred hands are wrapped tightly around both her and Lloyd now, holding them close. She remembers the terror in his eyes as he’d launched the knife at her head, and the drowning horror as he’d charged at Lloyd.

“Alright,” she finally says, quietly. “Tomorrow."

[ultra-creepy-fucker-things]

In Loving Memory(Reupload)

Zane is dead, Jay doesn't seem to care, and Cole doesn't know what to do

Before he fully realized what was happening, it was over.

Crawling out from the sewers, he turned, scanning the frozen city.

There was no sign of the overlord. Whatever Zane had done, it'd worked.

Zane...

Cole turned, running to the place he'd last seen the android, and his foot hit against something which skidded across the ice, on instinct, he looked over at what he'd kicked.

It was... it was Zane's face, the side that had been sliced away so long ago, and never truly been the same since, falling away to reveal his mechanical nature when subject to stress.

As it had been just now.

Numbly, his body working on autopilot, Cole picked up the faceplate, it's one empty eye staring up to him, devoid of the warmth and love that once lay behind those empty eyes.

Looking back up, he began to notice the fake skin and scattered metal, twisted far beyond repair.

Even if they could find his hard-drive, Cole knew beyond a shadow of a doubt it'd be destroyed.

Zane was dead.

Dimly, he was aware of them.

His surviving friends gathered around him, in the same state of shock as he was. He could see Pixal out of the corner of his eye, her expression lost, Zane had been the first person she'd met who could truly understand her, and only a couple weeks later, she'd lost him. He understood that feeling.

Nya came up behind him, and he could hear her gasping, she pulled him into a hug, sobbing into his shoulder.

As the reality of his situation set in, Cole returned the hug.

He leaned on her, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.

Zane was dead, and nothing would be okay ever again.

_________________________________

Cole couldn't sleep that night.

Instead, he snuck out, slipping to where the bounty was docked.

He didn't bother with stealth once he was on board, this ship's old boards creaked no matter how softly you stepped, and he was alone here anyways.

He walked through the darkened ship, making his way to the sleeping quarters, flicking the lights on as he entered the room, all of Zane's belongings, the little he had, where still there. They'd deal with it later, when it wasn't so fresh in their minds.

There where so many memories here, in the pictures hung on the wall, celebrating victories and failures and the mundanities of simply being alive , in the little chips and scratches left by a group of rowdy teenagers with a thirst for battle, embedded in the very floorboards, worn smooth by both the current occupants and the pirates who'd lived there hundreds of years prior.

Cole sat on Zane's bunk and reached into his pocket, pulling out a photograph, one he'd carefully kept hidden.

It was of him and Zane, holding each other close.

This alone wouldn't have been suspect, the ninja where not shy about physical affection, constant training and close quarters had quickly driven out any lingering aversion to touch.

In the photo, Zane's lips where pressed to his, a fond smile visible on both their faces.

Cole stared at it, blinking away tears, his fingers tracing gently across the face of his fallen lover.

He'd been so warm.

His tears began to flow freely, the picture fluttering to the ground as his hands went to cover his face.

The sound of a door slamming nearby shocked him out of his little pity party, as their footsteps approached, he scrambled to grab the photo, shoving it back in his pocket just as Jay burst into the room, "Cole, we need to talk"

Cole turned to glare at him, his face still damp, "what the hell do you want, Jay"

"I want to know what-what THAT was all about" Jay gestured vaguely, his voice heavy with anger and panic

"What are you talking about?" Cole asked, genuinely confused

"That THING you did, ya'know, when you HUGGED Nya?"

Cole stood, looking Jay in the eye

"Holy- your still talking about this? You're seriously. Still. Talking about this? It was just a freaking HUG, Jay, we'd just seen Zane- YOU'D just seen him- And this is what you're worried about? Some stupid, one-sided rivalry? I never even returned her feelings, Jay, it was all her, and with how your acting now, frankly, I don't blame her for wanting to leave you"

Jay snarled, "Never returned her feelings? NEVER RETURNED HER FEELINGS?!?!!!? WHY THE HELL DID YOU FLIRT BACK THEN?!?!"

Cole ground his teeth "I wasn't flirting" he began to pace, like a caged lion "I TRIED to let her down easy, I didn't WANT to go out with her, I had a BOYFRIEND, fsm, but apparently NEITHER of you knew how to TAKE A FUCKING HINT"

"WELL, MAYBE-YOU-" Jay's mind caught up with what Cole had said, and his speech began to falter as his brain desperately shifted gears, "wait-" his brow furrowed "your... your gay?"

Cole nodded firmly, standing tall, his fists clutched, as though daring Jay to take issue with this revelation.

Jay fell silent, his anger fading, as he thought through his next words, something about what Cole said struck him, "had a boyfriend?"

Cole's shoulder's slumped, the fire draining out of him, he sat back down, hands in his lap, confirming Jay's suspicions.

"fsm, Cole, I'm so sorry, i-if I'd had known-"

"Save it" Cole's voice was quiet, cold, "it doesn't matter what my relationship with him was, or how I feel about Nya, today someone died, someone who mattered a lot, too all of us, this isn't the time for some petty relationship drama"

Jay looked away, ashamed, "I'm sorry-"

"Get out." Cole said, his voice dangerously low, "I don't want to see you"

Jay glanced up at him one last time, and then walked out, closing the door behind him as he left Cole alone with his thoughts.

[rinas-ninjas]

Is it bad that I want Kai to have a really stereotypical "why didn't you come back to me?" freakout when the others finally find him? I'm a sucker for that sweet, sweet, cliche angst

I mean, it takes them a week to even realize he’s gone...the possibilities with that are endless. >:)

On the Bounty, Zane laid Kai on his bed following a quick check in the med bay. The boy was still out cold, but that was easily attributed to his now nasty looking black eye.

“What happened?” Cole leaned in the doorway of his room. Zane looked up with a pressed expression after putting an ice pack on the ninja’s face. He kept his voice low, mindful of their teammate.

“I do not know – he was unconscious when I found him.” The two quietly watched his steady breathing for a moment. “Why did he go off on his own?” Zane asked.

Cole grimaced. “Bizarro Kai threatened to go after Lloyd. Kai…was not going to let that happen.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Dunno if it was a legitimate threat or not, but he was already pretty off this morning – it must have set him off.” Kai was a good ninja, but his temper was a flighty thing in battle. The Bizarros were experts at needling it, and today had been no exception.

The image of their youngest brother facing any one of their doubles sent a pang of worry through Zane’s system. He glanced at Kai’s face – he was lucky to come away with just a black eye. “Thank goodness he is not injured…” He suspected it was because it was his own double he’d chased down. Any of the others could have caused serious damage, whether from Cole’s bone-breaking strength, or Zane’s frostbite-inducing ice. Jay in particular was always eager to use lightning on a living target.

Cole nodded in agreement. “Could have been a lot worse. Now we just need him to wake up.” Zane followed him out of the room, turning off the lights on the way out.

All things considered, the day was mild.

Even Kai didn’t take on horribly intense injury.

Across the city, in a hidden room, Kai gasped awake with ice cold water drenching his head.

“Wake up.”

Kai rolled over as best he could with bound arms, shivering. He panted in cold shock, his fire still too constrained to help him.

Above him, bizarro Zane stared disinterestedly. “Finally.” He stalked away, every step tinged with burning cold permafrost. Kai barely registered his comment on the way out of the door – “Now please leave me alone until something interesting occurs.”

Blue shoes paused in front of him. “You took for-freaking-ever to wake up, you know that?” Jay’s familiar head of curls and freckles leaned into his vision. “Rude.”

Kai closed his eyes to catch his breath. He may not be able to make any flames, but maybe he can at least warm himself –

He seized and shook as shock surged through his system. His breath caught in his throat and his muscles cramped with the sudden tension. As quickly as it hit, it stopped, leaving him shaking in a puddle of icy water.

“Hello? I’m talking to you.” Bizarro Jay’s expression was mildly annoyed, a raised eyebrow and pout, not the look of someone who’d just shocked a soaking wet person. “Cole said it’s my turn on the Blasty.”

Kai just rolled over with a groan. “I’m not,” he hissed. “Tellin’ you anything.”

The off-color ninja stared at him for a moment, displeased. “I’m gonna ask you one more time, and this time, you need to actually use the brain cells you still have, mkay?”

Angry orange eyes met red. “No.”

Kai’s teeth cracked together as another volt wracked through his body.

“See, I dunno why you have to be so stubborn.” Bizarro Jay leaned over him. “It makes like, zero sense – I can literally stop your heart.” Kai wheezed on the ground, stunned from the electricity. “So again – brain cells, if you’re in there, please stand up – anything to declare?”

Kai stubbornly glared at the double.

“Wow you’re dumb.” Jay watched with disinterest as Kai seized with another wave of lightning. “We’re not even asking you to like, hurt them, we’re just asking you for info. I haven’t even asked you any specific questions! There are literally almost zero wrong answers – how do you choose a wrong answer every time?”

Kai’s tongue felt like rubber in his mouth. Fingers snapped in front of his face, sparking a whine as he tried to think.

“You better not be dead, Cole’d be pissed.”

Kai struggled to meet the bizarro’s eyes.

“Did you know,” He sat on the ground next to Kai. “That this can mess with your brain?” He tapped Kai’s forehead. “And not just frying it either.” He smiled wider than ever, sending a chill down Kai’s spine. “I’ve been watching you guys – me and Zane both. Your Jay? He’s smart, under all that jumpiness and blabber. Zane’s literally a walking computer. Cole’s actually good at strategy. But you?” He shook his head. “You don’t use your brain, you don’t think – you just rush in without a thought, hands blazing.” He leaned in close. “You better start talking, Kai.”

Kai watched as lightning arced through his fingers. “You don’t have a whole lot of brain cells to lose.”

[mcfanely]

Nightowls

With suspicions about Cole’s well-being becoming apparent during an awkward conversation with Kai, to Chamille trying to convince him to do more than just stand around and watch other dancers at the studio; Cole finds has a lot to think about.

Chapter 03 - Lack of Sleep and Reluctant Ideas, 3093 words

Cole was usually good at pacing himself. 

He was good at knowing his limits, knowing when he was getting too tired or too worn down. 

He knew if he was pushing training too hard, or if he was doing too much during the day and needed a rest. It hadn't really occurred to him that having a busy day and then spending most of the night out at a dance studio would catch up on him, but it did. 

He'd slept solidly through a full night for once, something which had been happening more and more lately. No interruptions, no jarring awake at a god-awful time in the morning with heart palpitations and a cold sweat. For once when his eyes opened and were met with a beam of sunlight drifting directly through his window, he was wide awake. No drifting between sleep, no 'five more minutes'. Cole was up and ready to go with his day. 

Only, when he got dressed and headed out for training, fastening his gi a little tighter around his waist as he left his room, he passed by Kai heading the opposite way to the training area. 

He received a raised eyebrow from the fire ninja when he said, "Morning, who else is up?" 

"Try everyone." Kai replied, stopping in his walk and leaning against the wall on the other side of the hallway. "You're the last one up, which is probably a first."

Cole's eyes widened a fraction, "Jay got up before me?"

"Yeah, like, two hours ago."

"I- what?" His confusion shifted into more of a frown, which only served to draw out a slight laugh from the other. 

"Dude, it's past noon. You slept through the whole morning."

"I--" Cole faltered, then looked around the hallway. There was a clock on the wall, he knew there was. There was an alarm clock in his room too, had he really not checked it? Had he just woken up, gone through the motions and not looked at the time? 

How had he not checked it? 

Cole eventually located the wall clock. 

13:43.

"My alarm--" 

"Went off." 

Cole turned to Kai with a look of confusion, "Then why--?" 

"We were all training and it was ringing for like, ten minutes. So we got Zane to go into your room and turn it off."

"And you didn't wake me?" 

Kai held his hands up in mock surrender, but there was something measured about his expression, his eyes searching over Cole's face as if he was seeing more than he was deciding to let on. 

Or maybe he was willing to talk about it, "We thought you'd need the sleep. We didn't wake you because we know you haven't been sleeping."

There it was. Clear as day. So apparently he hadn't been very good at hiding his gradually declining amount of sleep, but that didn't mean he needed to bother anyone with the situation. He did sleep, he had slept. He'd managed to sleep through the night, along with half the following day. No sleep deprivation there, he'd slept enough for a week. 

Kai seemed to pick up on his thoughts. Or at least where his mind was going. 

“Listen, if you're not getting enough sleep for some reason--" 

"I'm fine, Kai." Cole interrupted after a moment and ran a hand through his hair. Though his argument soon fell apart as a yawn surfaced, jaw cracking and long, it even made his eyes water slightly. 

Then when he refocused, Kai was just watching with his arms crossed over his chest as if his point had been proven, "You're fine? Right. Sure."

Cole glared, then sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Don't you have someone else to interrogate? I'm fine, okay? Am I not allowed to be tired?" 

"It's not that. You're allowed to be tired, it's just," Kai faltered briefly and moved his hands around in front of him, as if he was trying to pick the correct words out of thin air. It was ironic, really. Cole wasn't open about his possible issues, and Kai wasn't the one to usually breach the topic. But there they were, standing on opposing sides of the hallway, trying to figure their way around a conversation that neither of them were really prepared for. "Just know that whatever's going on, you can talk to anyone here--" 

"Kai," 

"And I get it, it's not easy to talk about things--" 

"Kai," Cole sighed. 

"But whenever you want to--" 

Cole placed a hand onto Kai's shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze. "Kai, I'm fine. There's nothing wrong, just a few late nights."

Even still, he didn't look convinced, though the red ninja took that moment of the conversation as a small and offered out, nodding slowly, "Right, late nights." He didn't sound reassured. "Okay."

There was a short nod, and Cole released his hold. "I'm going to go and train, want to join me?" 

Kai huffed and shook his head, "No way. I already got my ass handed to me by Zane this morning. You can train yourself."

Cole smirked, "I'm not surprised."

There was a scoff, "Wow, dirt-clod, tell me what you really think."

_____

Cole had laid himself down on the stage at Nightowls, and the sky had only just begun to darken outside. This time, he'd snuck away just after dinner had ended. It wasn't hard to weasel his way out of the general games night that happened every night, consisting of Jay hogging the console and trying to beat whatever high scores Cole had set a few days prior. He was definitely getting close, but he hadn't succeeded just yet. 

All Cole had to do was tell Jay that he had no hope of ever beating his high scores, since he hadn't been able to and it had already been days. That resulted in a very focused Jay and everyone else sitting in the living room egging him on and trying to get him to prove Cole's words wrong. 

Then a brief, "Yeah, I'm turning in for the night. Going to try and get a few more hours in," And an absent and acknowledged: "Uh huh, g'night." later and Cole was pushing his bedroom door to, climbing out his window and making his now regular trip into the city. 

Chamille had apparently had the same idea of arriving early, since other than the two of them and Tyler who had been nice enough to let them both in before official opening times, the place was empty and for once, lit up normally. 

Cole could see the sheet amount of wires snaking over the ceiling from where he laid, all connecting to different lighting systems attached to a metal frame. It was professionally done, and completely inconspicuous when the lights were at their general low setting and the beating music made it hard to focus on anything else. 

Chamille nudged his foot to get his attention and Cole lifted his head to see a paintbrush held in his face. 

He tilted his head, but took the brush into his hand, "What do you expect me to do with this?"

There was a deadpan stare in return, "I don't know, play it like a flute." She said, then gestured down to an assortment of different pots of paint beside her, each one with a vibrant pigment inside, "Help me get ready. I'm dancing tonight and I gotta look good." She explained as if it was obvious, and it wasn't like Cole could say no. 

So he shifted over to the edge of the stage, picked up a pot of pink paint and started painting careful swirls over Chamille's left forearm. He must have gotten her approval, because she didn't tell him to stop. 

"Don't you usually do this before you come here?" Cole questioned after a few minutes of focused silence. 

Chamille gave a short nod, her gaze set on painting the tips of her fingers a deep purple, "Normally. But I just decided to get ready here," She looked at where he was sitting, and smiled at his look of concentration. "You have the same idea too?" 

"What, getting ready? I don't really get ready, I just come here in whatever I put on in the morning."

There was a sigh, "No, like performing. You actually going to dance tonight, or just stand in the crowd?" 

Cole paused, then shook his head. Sure, he liked watching all the performances. All the differing styles, they shifted daily and he honestly never knew what to expect. There had been ballet a few days ago, and street dance, and when some fairly bass heavy music had come on the studio had delved into a fray of jumping up and down and headbanging for a good few minutes. He never knew what to expect, but whenever he left after a night he was always grinning widely. 

But him, actually dancing? That was a whole other thing, a whole other thing that would literally never happen in a million years. 

Sure, maybe he'd thought about it. 

How couldn't he? Watching all these different people with different talents, of course it got him thinking about what he was able to do. He saw all these routines, all these moves and he could stand there and tell just by looking if he could do the same thing or not, and the answer was always a solid yes. Yes, he could do body isolation; yes, he could do ballroom, he could do street and hip-hop and pointe. 

His dad was a singer and dancer, but Cole was the one who'd been accepted into Marty Oppenheimers. Not because of his dad's previous history there, but because he'd gone and auditioned, he's aced the entry exam and he'd been good enough to get into a private school on his own. 

But that was all in the past, it was history and it had been years since he'd properly done anything to do with dance; or done anything even remotely related to dancing. The idea of trying again, even in front of strangers and like minded people, it made his stomach turn just thinking about it. 

Cole shook his head lightly, "I don't dance." 

Chamille didn't seem to take that as an answer, and she set her paintbrush into a paint pot; then she turned fully in his direction so Cole had to shift his brush away too. "Come on," She rolled her eyes in exasperation, "you don't come here because you can't dance. You're fooling no one, man, I see you. A dancer can see another dancer a mile off."

He watched her for a moment, twiddling the brush between his fingers. "I just don't dance, Cham."

"Any reason why?" 

Cole sat back a little, and decided on the general excuse of, "Because I can't."

She laughed as if the statement was a joke in its own right, before giving a light punch to his shoulder. A punch that left small neon marks from the wet paint still coating her fingers, Cole didn't make a move to try and rub it off. 

"Sure." She nodded, "Sure, right, you can't dance."

"That's what I said."

She hummed quietly, lifting a freshly opened pot of orange paint and stuck her fingers into it, then after a moment of brushing the paint over the palm of her hand, she brought it up to her face and left a solid vibrant hand print over her left cheek. 

Cole just watched. 

She repeated the process, but this time using rudimentary finger-painting to mark down rough spiral designs onto what had been a once clean t-shirt. 

Eventually, after a minute of quiet painting, Cole took it as the end of the conversation and got back to his own artwork. A line of Ninjagoan moving down Chamille's bicep, starting at her shoulder and stretching to her elbow. It read as 'light', which he thought was ironic. 

"Just saying though," she began. "If you did happen to dance,"

Cole groaned in exasperation, "Cham, I said--" 

"I know, I know, but if you did," She said, using gestures to enunciate the words, as if the actions would cause the current impossible to become possible. As if by her being enigmatic about the situation, it might come true. "If you did, I know everyone here would enjoy it."

He was taken aback by that turn of statement, his mouth moving around unspoken words before he let out a heavy breath, "Doesn't change the fact that I won't dance."

The loud laugh that followed made Cole jar, and a paint line go in completely the wrong direction. He stared up at his friend, mainly in confusion at what had caused the outburst. 

She was just staring back in what looked like victory, "So you can dance!" 

"... What?" 

"You said you 'won't dance'."

Cole nodded, his brows creasing, "Because I won't."

"Won't and can't are two different things."

Understanding descended, "Cham," He started, his free hand moving to his hair as he shifted the strands around lightly, "You know what I mean."

Honestly, she probably knew exactly what he meant, if the look she proceeded to give him was anything to go by. A raised eyebrow, then a quiet sigh escaped her nose after a short second. Her smile was still there, just a little smaller. 

"Yeah, I do." She agreed, then in the next second she reached forwards and wiped a hand directly over Cole's face. 

He didn't realise what she'd done initially, before he noticed a spec of colour clinging to his eyelashes and when he wiped his sleeve the sleeve of his hoodie, and the once black material came back with a smudged mix of bright orange and hot pink. 

His mouth dropped open, and he picked up his own paintbrush to arm himself, "I know you didn't do that." 

Chamille smirked, but he could see one of her hands skirting towards the opened purple paint. "Do what?" she questioned with feigned innocence. 

Cole kept his attention shifting between her hand and her face, "You know what you did."

In the next moment, they both moved at the same time. Cole bent the loaded paintbrush bristles back with his thumb in an attempt to spray her with it, and Chamille suddenly dove forwards with a hand freshly covered with paint. 

The next few seconds were sheer chaos, and neither party had really come out the winner. Cole was sitting, though nearly on his back and heaving with building laughter. He could feel the fresh paint on him, and he could see it too. Coloured streaks haphazardly strewn down the front of his jacket, the sheer amount already dripping onto his jeans. Then he could feel it running down his face too, enough that he had to close one eye. It was in his hair too. 

Chamille was a little better off, but she hadn't fully evaded his wrath. She had an upturned pot of neon orange on the front of her shirt, and the design they'd both spent the past half an hour painting onto her arms and face was now dotted and tarnished with a random affray of splattered marks. So Cole's shot had hit home. 

They both had a large distance between them now, but that didn't stop them from sharing a glance, and then proceeding to buckle over again. Full shoulder laughs, eyes closed. Cole was curled over his chest, a wide grin on his face with no noise coming out; but he was heaving for breath around near tears. Chamille's laugh echoed, and it just made the situation worse. It was loud, nasally, and generally one that would draw looks from any passing groups were they in a public place. It only served to make Cole laugh harder, until he had to force himself to stop in favour of taking in air. 

Even then, catching each other's eye, a small smile, and they were close to hysterics again.

They properly started to calm down when they realised that they'd gotten paint everywhere, and began to clean before they were caught in the act of causing the mess in the first place. 

They still giggled, though. Shoulders shaking briefly, a laugh disguised as a cough.

Cole was screwing the lids on the paints when the first few dancers walked through the doors, and the lights dimmed down. The music would start up soon, and the night would begin. 

Chamille stood up and stretched her back, wiping her hand down the dried paint on her arms as if she could remove the splatter. Which made Cole realise that he was probably covered in dried paint too. 

"I guess I'm going for a different style today." She said. Then she paused, as if she'd had a sudden thought. Looking between the paint on her arms, and where Cole was sitting, she said, "You could do this."

Cole just watched bewilderment, "Do what?" 

"This!" She pointed to the paint, "Or something like this. You know, what me and my team do." 

Chamille was talking like her point was obvious, but Cole was definitely not following, "Uh…" 

"You could hide behind paint."

Yep, totally lost, "What?" 

"It's what we did the first time we danced as a group. We fully covered ourselves in paint, colours everywhere, I had a kabuki mask painted on my face." She grinned, "We did it to hide who we were."

The point to her previously incandescent rambling made sense. 

"Cham," 

"Hiding who you are, wearing a mask, it's just like you being a ninja."

Cole shook his head, "People know I'm a Ninja."

"But they didn't always. Having a barrier; something to hide behind makes it easier to do your thing. You're just a Ninja, no one knows who you are." She continued. He knew she was talking about him being a ninja, but he also knew the other meaning behind what she was saying. "You just do your thing, do what you enjoy, and then at the end of the day you go back to being Cole."

"We’re talking about me being a ninja, right?" He asked, and Chamille just rolled her eyes. 

Then she fixed him with a knowing look. "Yes. Definitely. You being a ninja. That's it."

She smiled, then jumped off the stage. 

Cole watched her go, blending into the growing crowd better than anyone should be able to when covered in neon paint. 

Hiding behind being a ninja, behind a mask. A secret identity. It made things easier.

_

From the beginning

Ch 02 > Ch 03 > Ch 04

AO3

[aweebwrites]

Move on Dragons 12

Lloyd stared at the elder dragon with wide eyes, surprise coursing through him.

‘... I’m not even surprised anymore.’ Kai commented, breaking the silence.

‘If you were, you’d be pretty lime.’ Morro commented, shifting onto his back and batting at Kai’s wing idly.

‘One, I think you mean lame and two, hey!’ Kai grumbled then hissed, lowering his head to nip at Morro who only batted his snout away.

‘... But that can’t be right.’ Lloyd finally spoke up and the dragon version of his uncle looked at him curiously.

‘How so?’ He asked Lloyd who frowned.

‘If he were my father… I’d be able to tell right away.’ Lloyd told him surely. ‘And my father’s an Oni, not a dragon.’ He pointed out and Wu nods.

‘All very true. But only one person can confirm or deny if the dragonling is your father or not.’ The elder dragon rumbled and Lloyd nods.

Only his uncle Wu can tell them that or not… He might have to wait a bit before that happens. Though, he had to admit, the realisation made some sense. Why else would a dragon he’s never met before seem so very familiar to him? But why would he be so fussy over him? He was sure his father lacked all means to care about anything that didn’t aid him somehow. Though, it has him a little worried. He has no clue where his father is. After the battle against the Oni, he all but vanished into thin air. What if that dragon really was him? What if he got himself into a situation and they turned him into it? He wasn’t the most careful nor caring person right now, despite his focus on survival. He just hopes that if it really is him, there’s a way to turn him back.

Meanwhile, Wu was at a loss. This dragonling certainly identifies as his brother but that wasn’t possible. He knows his brother’s movements, has been keeping an eye on him through his spirit smoke. His brother was very much still an Oni, not a dragon. Yet, this dragon radiated the same aura, carried the same scent, and now that he looked, carried the same horns and eyes as he. What… What was this? How can this be? He stared at the dragon in thought, even as it only laid there, still upset about what Lloyd had said. He could clearly understand them yet even like this, Wu couldn’t understand anything about this. He huffed through his nose. He needed to meditate to be certain… And to reveal some truth to his students and nephew.

Not too far away, the dragons and their counterparts all gathered to where the dark elder dragon was resting. The ninja were reminded just how big he was as he rose up to sit, his size easily passing that of the ultra dragon. Even with the added height of their newly shifted legs, they were absolutely tiny in comparison.

‘Let us return. The sun is setting.’ He rumbled and they nodded.

‘Uh… We could use a paw…’ Lloyd says sheepishly to his father, glancing across at all the fruit they gathered nearby, the leaves they had been carrying them back with snapped.

Garmadon gave an amused huff before looking to the Zanes.

‘If you would.’ He rumbled and they fashioned a large basket of thick ice for both Lloyd and Kai to toss their finds in.

With their food secure, the dragons returned to their Ninjagan home. There, they found the winged Oni Lloyd deep in thought as Kai dozed with Morro under wing. He peered a lowly glowing amber eye open once they arrived, their collective wing beats making it impossible to sleep through. He yawned, watching as everyone filtered in, the whole lay-around-and-eat lifestyle already gotten bored to him.  He blinked once Blaze approached him, smelling guilt on him.

‘What’s up?’ Kai asked as he rose up to sit, Morro grumbling as he did.

‘... You aren’t replacing me, are you?’ Blaze asked him after a moment and Kai looked horrified.

‘’Course not!’ Was Kai’s immediate response. ‘What makes you think that? Is it something I said?’ He asked, tail flicking anxiously.

‘No.’ Blaze huffed, feeling stupid now as he glanced away. ‘I was just being an idiot.’ He rumbled low, rubbing at his front leg with the other.

Kai looked him over carefully, concerned.

‘I doubt that.’ Kai says as he got to his feet, walking up next to him and draping a wing over Blaze, both of them the same size and almost exactly identical. ‘We might look a like but there’s really only one of each of us and neither of us are replaceable. Or forgettable.’ He huffed giving him a comforting nudge Blaze returned with a soft rumbling purr.

‘Kai’s great and all but come on. He isn’t you, brother.’ Nya huffed, the light blue dragoness walking over to nudge her brother, rubbing against his side.

‘See? Our Nyas are smart. They know what they’re talking about.’ Kai rumbled as he lowered his head to his Nya, huffing once she flicked his nose.

‘How are you? Does it hurt to move around?’ The bright green dragon that was Lloyd asked as he walked over.

‘It hurts a little but I’m alright.’ Kai reassured him, nuzzling him too.

“Here comes Sssensei…” Jay hummed from where he lingered by the exit closest to the location of the ship.

The other didn’t have a chance to go look. No, Wu flew in on his own, landing on all fours, white wings open before he folded them. In this form, he looked very familiar to the other Wu in the area but noticeably smaller. He glanced over at his students with gold slitted eyes and was as mildly surprised as they look that they weren’t more surprised about this. Then gain, considering all they have been through… He began shifting, reducing in size, taking a more humane form, scanty scales on his cheeks and neck and covering the tips of his ears

“Let me guesss. There’ss sssomething you haven’t told usss.” Jay says lightly, tilted his head to the side.

“Yes.” Wu sighed, folding his hands behind his back, a familiar black shape around his neck.

“Uncle.” Lloyd says as he stepped forward, eyes on the small black dragon around his neck. “Tell me is that… My father?” He asked Wu.

“Yes…” Wu responded and Lloyd's breath caught. “But also no.”  He added, confusing him.

“I have been keeping track of my brother and he is very much still on the move. But this dragon also identifies as him. That is the confusing part.” He says as he pulled the dragon from around his neck, said dragon still sulking.

Lloyd looked at it- at him… Before he reached out and took him in hand not missing how this dragon who was also supposed to be his father, was immediately meek in his presence. It must be because he yelled at him...

“Hey…” Lloyd began with a sigh, guiltily rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. “I’m sorry I yelled at you. I know you’re probably mad at dad- er.” Lloyd paused, realising this was going to get about as confusing as their names and the other dragon names were.

“Big dad.” He settled on, glancing over at the larger Garmadon as he walked over to Kai, checking his wings. “About everything but it really wasn’t his fault and he doesn’t have it out for me. I like spending time with him so if you could give him enough of a break to not throw a fit whenever he’s close, I’d appreciate that.” He spoke quietly and the small black dragon that was somehow his father and also not looked up at him with shiny red eyes then across at the larger other worldly version of himself...

He then gave small, grumbling squeaks but then crawled his way around his favorite spot on Lloyd’s neck, rubbing his small head against his cheek and Lloyd chuckled, taking it that he forgives him and will cut Big Dad some slack.

“So what do we do now?” Lloyd asked, looking to his uncle.

“I’ll have to track down my brother and bring him here to see if we can solve this mystery.” Wu told him, stroking his beard. “That is a task easier said than done.” He added, folding his arms behind his back.

“We’ll keep an eye out on these big guys while you’re gone and if anything comes up in Ninjago City, we can take care of it in teams.” Cole grinned from his place atop his alternate self who was helping himself to the food, the lower levels of dragon already receiving their share.

“Speaking of, we should probably get in touch with Pixal. She’s been holding the fort down in New Ninjago City but she’s still waiting for an update from us.” Nya spoke up.

“I wonder if no-one isss assking why he hid it after what happened with Kai and Lloyd becausse you’re all blissssfully ignorant or if you all figured you won’t get a ssstraight ansswer.” Jay spoke up from where he was sitting cross legged near an exist, his eyes almost glowing in the diminishing light of day, making him look downright sinister.

It had Wu pausing for a moment.

‘Well now that Jay mentioned it, I am a bit curious…” Kai says from his place on his back, Garmadon- er.

Big Dad being thorough in checking him now that movement didn’t hurt too much. Wu sighed then.

“It was for my protection.” He told them and that bit was surprising. “Unlike my brother, I was born with these draconic genes already awakened. My father was fine with them, but had started to fear for my safety as humanity began to thrive. He couldn’t save the few dragos that lived in ninjago at that time but he could save me. So he bound my ability to shift and appear draconic so I would appear as an average human. I had the power to break it if I chose but if I so ever did, I would not have the ability to fully hide these traits of mine ever again as the process to do so is…”  Wu glanced at Lloyd.

“Very harmful.” He finished.

“So why not inform Lloyd of that? You could have done so without revealing yourself in this way.” Zane pointed out.

“... Simply because I did not know of his ability to change either. I had not expected him to inherit his father’s genes in this way, nor did I sense it. With my binding, I also lacked the ability to sense and communicate with my kin and Oni alike.” He explained.

“Cool but like all the times before, a lot of trouble could have been avoided if you had told us at some point.” Nya pointed out. “We should keep something totally major a secret until the last second and see how you like it.” She huffed.

‘The lesson here is to learn from your masters’ mistakes, not follow in their footsteps.’ Garmadon rumbled nearby as he sat, satisfied with his check up on Kai, deeming him a whole dragon, not missing anything nor having anything in addition to that.

Which meant he should be able to fly and use his powers without trouble though he will have to relearn how to fly with the new shift in his weight. His wings had the muscle for it so he doesn’t need to build any up. But it would still be a solid day before he would be ok with letting him fly however.

“He’s right. Considering our line of work, keeping secrets won’t be the best thing.” Zane nodded, his vice dry.

“Well, today was eventful.” Cole says with a stretch his wings and tail mimicked.

“Tell me about it.” Lloyd says dryly, stroking his father’s head with a finger. “I’m beat.” He sighs, knowing it was early still but the emotional rollercoaster that was today wore him out.

“... Ssso.” Jay spoke up, wondering if other Jay’s team had always been this oblivious, and if so, how do they managed to keep saving Ninjago on repeat. “No-one isss going to quesstion how Garmadon undersstood usss?” He asked them and they stared at him collectively, before staring up at Garmadon.

“This day just keeps getting interesting, huh?” Nya says dryly.

_____________

(God it’s been ages and I’m so sorry but I’m back! The sad times had me p badly, you know? But me aside I’m definitely gonna think up some new names for the dragons because this is gonna get confusing quick. And Big Dad is only temporary It’s too close to big daddy and that makes me cringe so hard i can see my intestines. I’m gonna try for another chapter for today while the writing gods favor me. Thanks for reading!)

[wtfdavidsvlogs]

Out of my League (D.D)

Warnings: Fluff and swearing

Requested: @cracraforfandoms

Oooo! Or maybe a fluffy one w David where he’s really awkward around u cuz he thinks ur way out of his league but he really likes u and makes excuses to spend time w u just one on one??

Gif by: @ughitsdavid

David has been one of my best friends for as long as I can remember. I grew up in Vernon Hills with him, Natalie, and Ilya. David has always been a really weird kid in many ways but lately he’s been a lot different around me. He keeps on making excuses for me to stay over longer whether it’s, “The video won’t look right, I need you to be in it.” Or “I can drive you home I just need to finish editing the next 6 hours of footage.” Which I don’t mind necessarily, it’s just not like him. He invited me to his house for the 100th day in a row.

“DAAAAVIIID?! I’m HERE! WHERE ARE YOU, CRACKHEAD?!” He bolts from around the corner as i’m taking me shoes off. He comes to hug me. I let out a groan as it feels more like a bear hug then a regular hug. “H-Hi, David.” I say letting out a laugh. “You act as if I haven’t been seeing you everyday for the last 2 months.” I say looking at his goofy smile ridden face. He immediately gets all flustered and awkward.

“I mean, I j- I just like seeing you, you know?” He says letting out a sigh and placing his hands on his hips. Everyone that was sitting in the living room yells their hellos to me as I walk closer to them. David follows close behind. I sit down right next to Zane and David sits in the love sac with Heath.

“So what’s going on? What have I missed?” I say taking off my jean jacket to reveal my cute red tank top. I will admit, it does reveal a little bit of cleveage if I wear the right bra with it. With any other bra it looks weird and lumpy. I knew none of these guys would really care since none of them think of me that way...I think. David looks up at me and starts choking on his chewing gum. He throws his laptop and gets up to cough. I get up immediately trying to help him. “Oh my god, you clutz! Are you alright?!” I say laughing as he finally caught his breath. He looks at me and nods his head quickly. I pat his back. “Go get some water or something.” I say to him, he nods in agreement and lowly chuckles as he walk to the kitchen. I sit down and the rest of the group is silently laughing. “What’s so funny?” I say with a confused smile on my face.

“Oh nothing, he just really likes the color red.” Jason said to me and laughing again. I sit back into the couch with pure confusion riddled on my face.

Davids POV

I cannot believe I just embarrassed myself so badly in front of the girl of my literal dreams. I get a glass and fill it up. I sit on the counter and see that Jason gets up to talk to me. He gets close and starts silently chuckling. I roll my eyes knowing very well what this talk will be about. Everyone in the group knows that I am hopelessly in love with Y/N, who is desperately out of my league.

“Slick. Very slick.” Jason says crossing his arms. I get down off the counter.

“How the hell was I supposed to know that the hottest girl on planet Earth was gonna walk in looking like one of charlie’s angels?!” I whisper yell in his face.

“You really are whipped...you have to tell her. Every day she gets more and more suspicious about your behavior and I don’t think Zane or Todd can keep it hidden much longer.” Jason says to me in a low whisper.

“No. Absolutely not. Girls like THAT!” I point at her. “Don’t want guys like THIS.” I say pointing both fingers at my chest. “She is so out of my league. There is no way that girl would ever like me. Hell, she’d probably laugh in my face if I told her that. I’ll save myself the gut wrenching embarrassment for now. But thanks.” I said whisper yelling every word.

“Look. You have NO IDEA if she likes you or not. Hell, she could be just as whipped as you are. But the worst thing you can do for yourself is never try and see what it could be. You could be missing out on the opportunity of a lifetime and you are worried about if she reciprocates it?! Shoot your shot, kid!” He says patting my shoulder. I look over at her and she’s smiling and laughing with the other girls in the group. Jason’s right. I at least need to try.

I take a deep breath and walk over there. I curve around the couch and she immediately looks at me and smiles the most amazing smile.

“Y/N, can I talk to you? For a minute?” I say to her. She nods and stands up. I walk her out back right near the balcony over looking the city. She and I sit down and on one of the lawn chairs. Her eyes gaze over the skyline as if she’s never seen anything like it. Her eyes have this glow no matter what she’s doing. Like she’s always happy to be living and breathing. Looking at her face all of my confidence that I once possessed is now gone. I stand up in a hurry.

“I can’t do this! Why did you think you could do this?!” I say running my hands through my hair. She stands up and walks towards me. She grabs my arm and I jump slightly.

“Do what, David? What is going on?” She said calming me down. The worry on her face gave me all the reason to say what I needed to say.

“Y/N. From the day I met you, I thought you were honestly the most beautiful, vibrant woman that I have ever met. It scared me how quickly I started to fall in love with you. I got to know you better and the love only grew stronger. You made me want to spend every waking moment with you. I wanted to kiss you like the world was ending every time we touch, I wanted you to be every where that I was, I wanted to be the shoulder you cry on, I wanted to be there in every happy moment in your life and I wanted to be the cause of it. You make me so fucking crazy. You make me lose motor functions.” I say chuckling and she does too. The smile never fading from her face. “The only reason I’ve never told you is because you are way way way out of my league. I thought that you deserved to be with someone so much hotter than me. I’m just me and I thought that ‘me’ wouldn’t be good enough for someone like you.” I say to her. She smiled and placed her hands on my face. She quickly leaned in and kissed my lips and every dream and thought that I had ever hsd about that moment was increased ten fold. She pulled away and laughed.

“You really thought all of that?” She asked me softly.

“Every. Day.” I said back to her with no hesitation. She wrapped her arms around me and cried slightly. I grab her so tight never wanting to let her go.

“David.” She said and pulled away with tears on her rosy cheeks. “You are the only man that has ever treated me like a human. Every other guy wants the same thing from me and it’s always sex or a booty call or I’m the person they’ve cheated on someone with. You are LITERALLY the only guy to ever say anything like that to me.” She said with her voice cracking I grab her hands as she looked down at her feet. I switch my body so that it’s facing her completely.

“Hey. Look at me.” Her head leans up to me. “You deserve everything I told you. Every last bit of it and more. Watching you get played and toyed with while I sat in the side lines like a little bitch, is the biggest regret in my life to this day. But I promise you I will never let that happen to you again. Do you understand?” She nods and I pull her in again to hug me. Tears well in the ducts of my eyes thinking about the horrible people that have made her feel like she was nothing.

“I love you, David. And if you’re wondering if I ever felt the same way, I have. I always have.” I close my eyes tight and a tear falls down my face.

“I love you too, Y/N...and thank god. This conversation could have gone so much worse.” I say laughing. She chuckles and leans her head into the curve of my shoulder.

AGHHGNE I LOVED THIS SO SO MUCH THANK YOU FOR THE REQUEST! Speaking of which my inbox is open for requests so send em in!

[afandomroom]

Sage Storyline + Fact File

Note- This file contains her canon, RP, and future story information. I will mostly be talking about her canon storyline, however anything that differs in the rp storyline I will be writing at the end of the file. 

Warning- Brief mentions of parent death, abandonment, and bullying. Nothing descriptive or angsty, this isn’t a story just a fact file, but I’m adding warnings anyway. Also, it's really long

Full Name- Sage Celia Brooks Birthday- August 15th Age: Canon- 18 Search History (rp) - 21 Future- 26 Hometown- Eyton, Northern Ninjago (Blood) Family- Aster Brooks (deceased), Lily Brooks (deceased) (Found) Family- Asher Woodman (older brother figure), Marion Nettle (younger brother figure) (Future) Family- Willow Woodman (Niece), Cedar Woodman (Niece), Katlyn Woodman (Sister in law) Hair- Black, down her back, ponytail braid or side braid Eyes- Silver Height- 5’3

Canon Story- Sage grew up in a village known as Eyton. It’s a very traditional and old fashioned village, and they aren't fond of outsiders, typically viewing them as trouble unless they were invited by a higher member of the village. The Brooks had moved there a year before Sage was born. They, of course, had permission from the village leader to live in Eyton. However, most of the village still stuck up their noses. While Lily and Aster were aware of the village 's bias, things didn't go down hill until someone died on a fishing boat Aster was working on. A couple of weeks later, someone almost died from an allergic reaction to one of Lily's pastries. 

Rumors started spiraling that the Brooks were omens of death, and  bad luck.  When Sage was 7, an illness ran through the town, killing many. The Brooks were the last family to catch it, Sage was the only family member to survive. The village had a new leader by then,and he decided that the village needn't waste resources on the child of two "bad/death omens". So she was cast out of the village. She spent years blaming every bad thing that happened around her on herself, because as a child she was told she was bad luck.  After two years of wandering, she came to a village with a stone wolf statue in the center. A group of town kids cornered her, and were pushing her around. At least until a white haired boy stepped in, fighting off the bullies. He didn’t turn to check on Sage or introduce himself, he just walked off. Sage didn’t think she would see him again. That night, a skeleton horde attacked the village. Hiding under an elevated porch, Sage spotted the white haired boy from earlier getting chased by some skeletons. Thinking quickly, she yanked him under the porch before the Skeletons could find him again. He introduced himself as Asher, and they both spent the night under that porch, hiding from the horde. The next day, Asher offered to teach Sage how to live on the streets. They would be partners, relying on each other to survive. They traveled from village to village; pick pocketing and stealing from stall owners. When Sage was 11, Asher got them a job. A thief named Ronin was willing to hire them for their help on a job (Note: not rp canon). Sage was reluctant at first, but didn’t want Asher to be alone on the job. So, she agreed to take the job. This started Sage’s long life of crime. Ronin (Not rp canon) hired them for a couple more jobs and passed their name onto some clients and fellow thieves. They made quite the name for themselves, well known in the underground as the “Partners in Crime”. Kind of cheesy and cliché, but eh, what you going to do. Years later, at age 16(around 19 in rp universe), Sage decided to turn a bit of a new leaf. A temporary turn around. She helped defend citizens against the SOG, even helping some of Ultra Violet’s targets get to hiding. This of course placed her on UV’s wanted list. During one of her rescues, Sage encountered Mr. E (not rp canon). Remarkably, she managed to escape, and it didn’t seem like the incident was ever reported. One day, Sage was wandering along some rooftops when she spotted a group of SOG members bothering an older woman. She was preparing to fire a few arrows at the members, when a kid threw rotting tomatoes at them, taunting them. The members gave chase, running after the kid until they had him cornered in an alley. Sage shot the members down and brought the kid to the apartment she shared with Asher. The kid introduced himself as Marion, and unbeknownst to him, he was an EM. In the years that followed, Sage did her best to help Marion master his abilities. She wasn’t able to help him that much, but the fact that she believed in him gave Marion a boost in confidence. (This next part isn’t Rp canon) Three years later, Sage ended up helping a young man with a green hair streak hide from a group of muggers. She invited him to hide at their home for a while, and he ended up joining the group. He introduced himself as Morro. Morro never took on any thieving jobs, choosing to freelance with lifting and loading jobs instead. He also helped mentor Marion on his element and taught him to be a ninja. Sage’s future- When she turns 23, Sage officially leaves the crime life. Her parents taught her good morals and she honestly couldn’t handle the guilt of everything she had done. However, she didn’t turn herself into the cops because she didn’t want to leave her brothers. Instead, she helps run a branch location of a tea shop some close friends ran. She continues to be a supportive figure for her brothers. She often provides advice and a listening ear for Marion’s trainees, Calvin’s niece and nephews, and Asher’s daughters.

Rp storyline changes: - Ronin isn’t the thief that introduces Sage and Asher to the life of crime. A thief named Seth did. - Sage leaves the life of crime at the age of 21 to provide Marion with a more normal life. There was also some encouragement from Lloyd. - Sage has yet to meet Morro and he does not join the Partners in Crime - Sage did not face Mr. E during the SOG takeover - This hasn’t been brought up yet, but she and Asher did not help kidnap Zane in rp universe - The SOG never attempted to hire them in RP universe - They never stole Borg tech in the RP universe - I…think that’s it?

Season by Season: Season 1- Sage meets Asher

- Sage and Asher were in a village that was attacked by the Skeleton Horde - She was in Jamanakai with Asher when Lloyd first attempted to raid the place for candy. - She was going to offer to help him snag some candy, but got scared off when the ninja arrived.

 Season 2- Sage and Asher continue their partnership, their loyalty and trust has grown quite a bit.

Season 3- Sage and Asher begin their lives in crime

-One of the jobs Ronin hired them for was keeping an eye out while he grabbed Zane. Season 4- Somewhere between 3 and 4, Ronin recommended Sage and Asher to Chen

- Clouse was the one who offered the job to the partners. - Sage convinced Asher to not take the job - Later, they were in one of the towns ransacked by the cultists Season 5- Sage and Asher begin to consider themselves siblings

- They were in Styx when the ninja attempted to steal from Ronin. Sage saw them leaping across the roofs. Season 6- With the ninja’s rise in fame, stealing becomes both harder and easier. On one hand, they’re too busy to come after them. On the other, cops were alerting them to every crime. Sage and Asher end up laying low.

Season 7- When Borg disappears; Sage and Asher are given the job of stealing his tech.

Season 8- The SOG gives Sage and Asher a job offer. Steal an Oni mask. 

- Sage talks Asher out of it - The SOG doesn’t like them 

Season 9 – Sage starts fighting off the SOG

- She never joins the resistance…..haven’t figured out why yet - Sage was targeted by UV and placed on the wanted list - Sage fights Mr. E - Sage saves Marion and brings him to her place - Spotted Lloyd and his resistance multiple times Season 10- Sage, Asher, and Marion hide in an underground bunker during the oni attack

Season 11- Sage, Asher, and Marion were not in the city during Aspheera’s attack. Rather, they were trying to remove Marion’s vengestone cuffs. They spent the rest of the season try to help Marion with his abilities. 

Season 12- The minute Sage hears about the video game linked disappearances, she drags the boys away from the city and to a rural village. Girl isn’t taking any chances. Later that year, Sage meets Morro

Facts: - Her father taught her the archery basics; she taught herself how to shoot years later from these teachings. - She taught Marion, Calvin’s niece and Nephews, Asher’s daughters, and the trainees how to shoot a bow. - She makes her own arrows - Can throw knives like a boss. - She does know a few things about fighting, but it’s not her strong suit and she prefers long range and dodging to melee and hand to hand combat. - Her favorite tea is Passion flower, and her favorite food is puffy pot stickers(or just pot stickers in general) - Her kill count is 24…..she doesn’t like talking about it - She can pick locks, including handcuff locks and jail cell locks - Has never been in a jail, interrogation room, or holding cell for more than an hour (*cough* she breaks out *cough*) - Every year since she was 14, she visits Eyton to update her parents on her life and apologize for the life she is living. - Learned to drive a car and ride a motorcycle at 15. A fellow thief for hire taught Asher and Sage. - Uses fake names on jobs, gives cops fake names, and goes under a fake name for things like her driver’s license, id, and other such things. Currently her “name” is Mei Baker. - “Mei Baker” has a completely clean slate and no jail records. - Built/repurposed her motorcycle, Asher’s motorcycle, and their pickup by herself. - Her motorcycle is her baby and if you break it she will break you. Taught herself mechanics and medical stuff - Got all of her education from libraries, everything she knows about math, history, etc. is self taught - Loves Harry Potter books: She’s a Gryffindor if you must know - She was 17 when she got her tattoos. - The chain tattoo represents how she feels trapped by her past and regrets - The raven tattoo represents a death omen, the hyacinth the raven is carrying represents an apology 

- She picked up roof running to help with jobs, it became a hobby later on

- ……She used to pretend she was a ninja while roof running. It was a small phase when she was a kid, lasted half a month. She’s very embarrassed by it. -Tried to teach herself guitar, but they moved around too much for her to focus on it. - Ill end this here its getting waaayyyy to long lol

[eyeofthewolfe]

Ninjago Movie: “Different POV” - Something’s Wrong With Lloyd

The Morning of the Attack of Meowthra

The day started as it usually did. Jay met up with Cole in the early morning, before any of the other friends arrived. They chatted about their night, mainly Cole saying how he saw Jay’s pops on a worksite on his way home. However, Cole seemed more sour than usual, hinting that something happened when he did get home. Jay, however, didn’t voice it. He knew not to get Cole started. He may be chill all the time, but when he’s not chill, he’s dangerous.

As they turned the corner to their lockers, they saw something they never expected to see.

“Lloyd?”

“Uh,” Jay crinkled his eyebrows when he saw him. “Don’t you ride the bus?”

Lloyd’s green hood was up, hiding most of his face from his friends. Cole instantly turned his music off and lifted the boombox off of his shoulders. “Dude, what’s wrong?”

They came to a stop next to their younger friend, with Cole leaning up against his locker while Jay stood next to Lloyd. His unnatural green eyes were focused on the ground.

“I walked today,” he mumbled, then closed his locker. Cole and Jay exchanged a look. Lloyd lives about five miles from the school.

He turned to leave, but Cole grabbed his lower arm by the sleeve. “Whoa whoa whoa, where do you think you are going?”

Lloyd paused then turned his head some. “To class,” he murmured again.

“Class doesn’t start for another thirty minutes,” Jay chimed. “Lloyd, what’s wrong?”

He didn’t respond but instead pulled his arm from Cole’s grasp and briskly walked down the hallway. The two teenagers watched him leave, both confused and broken-hearted. Lloyd was always positive, why is he moody today?

With a sigh, Cole went for his locker when he saw something on his hand. He lifted and inspected the black substance that was suddenly painted onto his hand. “What the….” Cole breathed, but suddenly it clicked. He slowly looked over at Lloyd’s locker.

It was smeared in black paint.

Jay followed Cole’s gaze from the paint on his hand to the smeared locker. “Those bullies….” Jay gasped, but Cole was already pissed. He scanned the hallway until he spied the two same boys who were putting their black spray paint away and snickering.

Jay knew not to hold him back as Cole marched right up to the kid with the spray paint. “What did you write?” he demanded in a dangerously low tone.

The teenager flinched and stepped back, but didn’t respond. Cole narrowed his eyes before he reached out, grabbed his sweatjacket, and lifted the bully a good foot off the ground.

“I said,” Cole snarled. “What did you write on Lloyd’s locker?!”

“You’re just as evil as your dad!” he squealed. Cole felt his blood turn to ice.

He dropped the teenager and gave him one last long look. “No, you are.” He spat down at the teen before turning away. Jay followed behind, both impressed with Cole and disgusted by the bullies. “Do you think that’s why Lloyd was moody?” Jay whispered to Cole.

The black haired teen ripped open his locker before pausing. Jay leaned against the locker next to his and watched as Cole took deep breaths with his eyes shut. Finally, he pulled two textbooks out from his stack and shut his locker with a bang!

“It’s part of the reason,” Cole huffed as he stared at the smeared paint on the locker. “But it doesn’t explain why Lloyd decided to spend an hour to walk to school.”

“Should we go talk to him?” Jay asked Cole as he fixed his scarf nervously.

More and more students began to fill the hallway, adding to the familiar sounds of high school. The far majority were discussing the huge events of yesterday when “The Green Ninja’s dragon TOTALLY messed Garmadon up!” or “Did you see that crater? That Green Ninja has some firepower!” or “Garmadon was no match against the Green Ninja!”

The chatter was interrupted when a roar of a motorbike sounded through the halls. Kids were already diving out of the way when Nya skidded around the corner, almost causing Kai to fly right off. Cole noticed Jay instantly turn red and he turned to his locker embarrassed. Cole rolled his eyes and closed his locker before positioning himself against the lockers.

As soon as Nya skidded to a stop, Kai flew right over her head and tumbled on the ground in front of the bike. “I’m okay!” he shouted triumphantly, only to stand, cover his mouth, and rush to a trash can to throw up.

“That’s why I don’t give Kai rides in the school,” Nya snorted as Kai made gagging sounds in the trash. Other high schoolers chuckled and pointed at him, and Nya revved her motorbike at them. It was fun to scare other pitiful teens.

“Good morning everyone!” Zane materialized out of the crowd behind Nya’s bike. “Has anyone seen Lloyd? He did not get off his bus this morning.”

Kai made one last hurl in the trash before rejoining the group. Jay still couldn’t make eye contact with Nya, and Cole glanced at his friends with a scowl.

“What’s wrong, Cole?” Nya noticed the look on the sleeveless teen.

Cole took a deep breath then stepped away from Lloyd’s locker, revealing the dirty and black-streaked surface. Nya, Kai, and Zane gasped. “Did he see it?” Kai asked with a worried voice.  

Cole nodded.

The motorbike revved again. Kai cracked his knuckles. “Where is the little brat who wrote it?! I’m gonna practice my spin-“

“Cole already dealt with him,” Jay squeaked.

“Is he dead?” Zane asked in his monotone voice.

“No!” Cole snapped. “I don’t kill people. I just…scare them.” Behind him, Jay nodded furiously.

Nya kicked out her kickstand and slid off her bike. “Maybe we should just leave it. Lloyd is old enough to deal with it himself.”

“But…” the whole group turned to Jay. “Lloyd is our leader. If something is making him upset, we should be there for him. Always. He already has it the toughest-“

“What?” Nya snapped, causing Jay to flinch. “Are you saying that our problems aren’t as important?”

Without trying, Jay’s eyes started to water. “I was just trying to say-“

“That Lloyd has it the worst?” Cole grumbled next to him. “Are you sure about that?”

The group all looked around at each other. For a second, they didn’t see each other as powerful ninja friends, only broken teenagers. Jay took a shaky breath. “I’m…I’m sorry. But we need Lloyd at full strength.”

“Jay’s right,” Kai chimed in as he crossed his arms. “Lloyd’s our greatest weapon against Garmadon. If Lloyd is out of the game, then so are we.”

The team hesitated before nodding in agreement. “Let’s hope Garmadon doesn’t attack today,” Nya grumbled as she climbed back on her bike. “Or else we are all screwed.”

 __________________________________________________________

Lloyd’s hood was still up when Kai and Zane got to their first period. He was slouched over in his seat, eyes fixed on the desk and unmoving. Zane slid into his seat behind the blonde headed teenager, and Kai directly to his left.

“I threw up this morning!”

Lloyd barely moved his head in Kai’s direction. Kai’s huge grin slowly faded. “Come on, Lloyd- why are you so pessimistic? This isn’t you.”

“I left before mom got home from her shift,” Lloyd murmured to his desk. “She tried to cheer me up last night, but it didn’t work. I couldn’t…see her again. So I left before she got back.”

Kai was speechless. Finally, he found some words. “What…what did she say?”

Lloyd finally looked over in Kai’s direction. “She was worried that I was getting home late, she called 18 people…she wanted to make me dumplings…”

Kai felt his eyes drift over to the wall, wondering if Lloyd only knew how lucky he was to have a mom like that.

“She was going nuts over me. Wanting to know if I was okay, and safe, and had a full stomach. But… I couldn’t tell her, ya know? I couldn’t tell her that Garmadon told me face to face that he never cared about me. That he never cared about her. That…all I am to him is a bald and toothless baby that is worthless to him. How could I tell her that?”

Zane leaned over Lloyd’s shoulder. “There is no simple answer to that question.”

“It’s rhetorical,” Lloyd sniffed. Kai leaned over and placed his hand on Lloyd’s arm.

“You aren’t worthless to us,” the fire ninja told Lloyd as confidently as he could. “You are the best person I know, even over my own sister.”

That made Lloyd crack a smile. “Nya won’t like hearing that.”

“That’s cuz you will keep that to yourself, you hear me Lloyd?” Kai grinned back before flipping Lloyd’s hood off and ruffling his hair.

The attack siren instantly went off. The whole class screamed and ducked under their desks, save the three kids in front.

“Already?” Kai gasped as he looked at the clock. “School hasn’t even started yet.”

He turned to Lloyd, but his mood had completely changed. He had a dead serious expression – the expression of the Green Ninja – and his narrowed eyes were fixated on the clock as well.

“He’s excited,” Lloyd stated so confidently it sent shivers down Kai’s spine.

Within seconds, the three teenagers were in the hallway rushing to their transport lockers. Jay, who had emerged from his first period, joined them in their pursuit to their base. The rev of a motorbike signaled Nya to be close by, but when they turned the corner to the main hallway, they saw Cole gaping out the window.

“Uh, guys?” Cole whimpered (he was SCARED?) as he pointed out the window.

The team rushed over to Cole and followed his gaze.

“Holy Spinjitzu, Batman…” Jay muttered under his breath. A giant shark-man mech towered over smaller buildings in the city, followed by dozens and dozens of other small vehicles and shark warriors. The team had never faced a threat so huge in their life.

The team slowly looked to Lloyd, where for a second his face was frozen in fear. However, he quickly snapped back to himself before turning to the team. “Come on team, we can’t freeze now. Ninjago City depends on us.”

He stuck his hand out, and the five others instantly followed. Lloyd shut his eyes, and took a deep breath, doing his best to hide his fear from the team. However, the other five had their eyes locked on him, and when they saw the panic in his face, they too were weakened where they stood.

“Ninja-GO!”

[littlepryingpandorica]

Project Rebuild Chapter 6

As Nya continues her story in voice over form, we...

DISSOLVE TO: FLASHBACK – EXT. NINJAGO VILLAGE - DAY

NYA (VOICE OVER): In this village, there lived a young girl who was brave and fearless.

We see a lively, young girl with orange hair. This is YOUNG KOKO, whom only Lloyd recognizes.

NYA (CONTINUED VOICE OVER): She was a seeker of hidden truths.

Young Koko takes out a magnifying glass and uses it to look at her surroundings.

NYA (CONT’D V.O.): Leaving no stone unturned, she wanted to explore all of Ninjago to uncover her many secrets. She climbed the highest of trees, entered the darkest of caves and ventured into places where no one else dared to go. Like many other children her age, she roamed the lands completely unsupervised, as was the custom of Ninjago.

Young Koko emerges from underneath a large non-Lego rock. We see a montage sequence of Young Koko exploring the various terrains of Ninjago. She climbs trees, enters a dark cave while holding a lit non-Lego matchstick, and makes her way through dense non-Lego jungle foliage.

NYA (CONT’D V.O.): But it was only a matter of time before it got her into trouble, as would be realistically expected.

We see Young Koko trying to cross a rickety old log over a river of non-Lego water. The log breaks and she falls into the river. She struggles to stay afloat but the strong current carries her away. The river leads to a waterfall and she is helpless to avoid it. The waterfall drops into the ocean and she panics before inevitably going under.

We see from her POV as her sight begins to dim. The last thing she sees is the silhouette of a giant fish coming towards her.

We fade out.

CUT TO: PRESENT – INT. SCHOOL LOCKERS - DAY

Lloyd, Jay, Cole and Zane all gasp simultaneously! Nya has a knowing smile on her face. Kai is disinterested as he already knows the story but indulges his sister anyway. He rolls his eyes but also smiles.

LLOYD: Well, don’t stop there! What happened next?

NYA: Something she did not expect.

CUT TO: FLASHBACK – EXT. BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN - DAY

We slowly fade in, still following Young Koko’s POV.

As Young Koko awakens and regains her sight, the scene transitions to LIVE ACTION MEDIUM. Young Koko is no longer a Lego plastic minifigure. She appears as a large scale, wooden, Bunraku-style puppet. She is inside a transparent dome bubble. The craftsmanship is not necessarily professionally done but must be within the capacity of a very promising and talented high school student from a prestigious school who is being mentored by a very skilled Industrial Design teacher and with access to all the right materials, possibly funded by winning many art competitions.

Everything in the underwater section of the flashback is done in the style of a low budget version of the REALM OF SHADOWS LIVE PLAY. The surroundings are a brilliant oceanscape.

A glowing puppet of a Koi fish appears before Young Koko. This is the SACRED KOI, a mythical creature of Ninjago’s oceans. The Sacred Koi speaks in the voice of whoever is telling the story. Here, she has Nya’s voice.

SACRED KOI: Greetings, little one. I am the Sacred Koi of Ninjago. I am a Friend to All, even the most friendless and shunned individuals.

YOUNG KOKO: Oh Sacred Koi! You saved me! Thank you!

SACRED KOI: I was only doing what was right.

YOUNG KOKO: How can I ever repay you?

SACRED KOI: There is no repayment necessary. But there is something you can do. Your heart is strong, little one. But a strong heart without purpose is nothing.

YOUNG KOKO: What should I do?

HARD CUT TO: PRESENT – INT. SCHOOL LOCKERS – DAY

NYA: And do you know what the Sacred Koi said?

Zane jumps up and waves his arms.

ZANE: Oh! Oh! I know this one! She said...

CUT TO: FLASHBACK – EXT. BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN – DAY

The Sacred Koi speaks with Zane’s voice in a gentle manner.

SACRED KOI: (Speaking in Zane’s voice) You must protect those who cannot protect themselves.

Young Koko inhales and composes herself. She looks the Sacred Koi in the eye and speaks with a firm resolution.

YOUNG KOKO: Yes! I will.

SACRED KOI: You must do this, not to seek personal glory, but to right the wrongs of the Realm. You must do this even if no one else knows about your deeds. Will you swear the solemn oath?

Young Koko puts her right hand to her heart to pledge an oath.

YOUNG KOKO: I swear the solemn oath to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

Bubbles rise from the bottom of the screen as we transition back to STOP MOTION-ESQUE CGI ANIMATION. Young Koko is a plastic Lego minifigure again.

FLASHBACK – EXT. NINJAGO VILLAGE – DAY

A young boy with black hair has fallen out of his wheelchair and struggles to get back up. This is YOUNG CYRUS BORG. Young Koko rushes to his side and helps him back up.

NYA (V. O.): And the little girl kept the oath over the years.

FLASHBACK – EXT. NINJAGO CITY – DAY

Many years later, we see an ADULT CYRUS BORG still on his wheelchair and now wearing a pair of glasses. A black-hooded figure steps in front of him, brandishing a bright green blade. All that can be seen are his eyes, which are a dull orange and covered in red and green face paint.

Cyrus Borg shrinks away from the threatening figure. A now adult Koko suddenly jumps in as Lady Iron Dragon. She roundhouse-kicks the hooded figure away from Cyrus Borg and off the screen.

NYA (VOICE OVER): That little girl grew up to become the Lady Iron Dragon.

We see a close up of Lady Iron Dragon standing heroically in a dramatic stance. We then cross dissolve to the Lady Iron Dragon painting on Nya’s bike in the present.

CROSS DISSOLVE TO: PRESENT – INT. SCHOOL LOCKERS – DAY

We see a close up shot of Nya talking.

NYA: She fought to protect the good citizens of Ninjago.

We go to a close up shot of Cole who stops listening to Nya talking because he hears something in the distance due to his SUPER SENSITIVE HEARING. He looks around trying to see what caught his attention.

NYA (VOICE OVER): And she would do anything to defend what was right. No one ever found out who she really was. And if anyone ever did, it was their secret to keep.

Cole sees the same bullies who wanted to spray paint Lloyd’s locker earlier. They are now carrying a short non-Lego straw and some wet wads of paper to use to make a spitball. They hurry away to a nearby building where they can take a shot at targeting Lloyd.

NYA: Then one day, she vanished…

Close up of Nya

NYA (CONT’D): …without a trace.

We go to a wide shot of everyone to reveal that Cole has disappeared. But no one notices this.

CUT TO: INT. ADJACENT SCHOOL BUILDING – DAY

Cole stealthily follows the bullies to an adjacent building where they can shoot a spitball at Lloyd through an open window. Cole catches them in the act.

The shot is framed in such a way that is similar to when Garmadon tried to persuade the thug to join his army in chapter 4.

COLE: Hey! Whatcha got there?

BULLY # 1: None of your business, punk.

Cole attempts to diffuse the situation.

COLE: Listen. I know Lloyd can be a bit… much.

The way Cole hesitates to say this says a lot about his relationship with Lloyd.

COLE: But that is no reason to chuck spit balls at him.

BULLY # 2: Just leave us alone and mind your own business!

Cole narrows his eyes and intercepts the bullies. He grabs both bullies by the shirts and pulls them close.

COLE: Listen here! I am not okay with bullying but I will not hesitate to use physical strength and intimidation if you mess with Lloyd, especially on his birthday.

Intense percussive music plays as Cole says this.

HARD CUT TO: INT. SCHOOL LOCKERS – DAY

We cut back to Nya and the others. We see a mid shot of everyone huddled together.

NYA: Whatever happened to Lady Iron Dragon? Who knows? But rumors say she's still out there, waiting, watching.

We go to a close up shot of Lloyd.

LLOYD: Yeah, a real mystery for the ages.

We cut to a wide shot to reveal that Cole has reappeared as though nothing had happened. No one has even noticed his disappearance. He remains as silent and stoic as ever.

CUT TO: INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY - DAY

We see a trio of cheerleaders walking down the hallway, carrying brightly colored pom poms. Two of them are female. Their apparent leader is a male with short brown hair and a blue cheerleader’s vest. This is CHEN THE CHEERLEADER.

As they walk by, we see a shot from a low angle that shows the ceiling above them. Chen the cheerleader and his lackeys pass by the two bullies from earlier who are now stuck to the ceiling with the wet wads of paper. The bullies struggle to get Chen’s attention but he just keeps on walking.

INT. SCHOOL LOCKERS – DAY

Chen and the other cheerleaders walk in and sees Lloyd and his friends. He takes this opportunity to taunt them.

CHEN: Hey, everyone, look! It's Garma-dork and the dork squad! You wanna hear our new cheer?

Chen and the cheerleaders get into formation and do their routine.

CHEERLEADERS: L-L-O-Y-D. His dad is bad and so is he! Boo, Lloyd! Boo, Lloyd!

CHEN: (LOUDLY) Boo, Lloyd!

Kai is quick to defend Lloyd. He protectively stands between Chen and Lloyd.

KAI: Hey! Back off man! Lloyd’s actually trying to be good now.

CHEN: And what if I don't? What are you gonna do about it, Spiky? Hit me?

Kai is visibly aggravated. His fists are shaking in fury. Lloyd tries to calm him down, worried he might accidentally use his fire powers. He grabs Kai’s arm.

LLOYD: Kai, it's okay, really. Remember. Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

Kai inhales and exhales. His fists stop shaking but his face is still filled with contempt. He glares down at Chen.

KAI: Sticks and stones may break my bones but I'm calling you out on your unnecessary verbal abuse and will report you to the proper authorities!

Deciding it is not worth his time, Chen rolls his eyes and walks away.

CHEN: Whatever loser!

KAI: Why I'd like to give them a piece of my...

Kai's plastic hands begin shaking violently again. He struggles to keep his inner fire quelled. Lloyd firmly takes Kai’s hands in his own.

LLOYD: Kai, we talked about this.

Kai shows restraint.

KAI: I know, I know, we're the good guys. Arson is wrong.

LLOYD: That's right, buddy, and I just want to say I really appreciate you standing up for me.

In the background, Cole has a distant look on his face.

The school bell rings as we...

SMASH CUT TO: INT. SCHOOL CLASSROOM - DAY

The chorus of “Bring Me To Life” by Evanescence is playing very loudly on full volume.

[SONG: Bring Me To Life by Evanescence - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YxaaGgTQYM ]

[WAKE ME UP! WAKE ME UP INSIDE!] We see a close up of Cole with his headphones on. He is tapping his hand despondently to the music. On his desk are two books, implying he’s been reading them. They are “Rock Solid Stoicism” and “Batman’s Guide to Not Opening Up About Your Feelings: The Pre-Character Development Edition”. Cole taps his plastic hand on these two books.

[CAN’T WAKE UP! WAKE ME UP INSIDE! Save me! Call my name and save me from the dark!] We go to a wide shot of the classroom as the music dulls down. The teacher, MS. LAUDITA, is teaching the class about the concept of free will. On the black board “FREE WILL?” is written in chalk.

MS. LAUDITA: For example, if I move from here to over there, is it just me walking or is there some unseen hand that moves me from point A to point B?

[Bid my blood to run, before I come undone] We focus on Cole as the music becomes clear and distinct again. Cole looks distantly out the window.

Suddenly, we slam zoom out the window and away from Cole and the classroom, past several buildings, past the marketplace, past the beach front, and all the way out into the ocean. From the water’s depths, several aquatic themed vehicles rise. Multiple aquatic themed flying vehicles also swoop in. Their jet engines make a very loud vibrating or roaring noise.

[Save me from the nothing I’ve become] We cut back to Cole as he takes off his headphones. He hears the sounds of Garmadon’s approaching army and he has a startled look on his face.

COLE: Garmadon!

Happy Chinese New Year, everyone! I hope you all enjoyed Chapter 6. 

[adriennescomingbacktolife]

(IX)

   “I’m sorry I didn’t come earlier.”    Adrienne Levi leveled her gaze at Matt Knox, sitting up in his hospital bed. He slurped at a Jello cup, dislodging the gelatin and swallowing it whole. Crossing her arms over her chest, she let him finish.    “Wasn’t sure what to say.”    Knox rolled his tongue and the cherry gelatin prize down his gullet. He eyed Adrienne evenly, a smirk cracking his features before speaking in a dazed, sleepy tone.    “Hello is a good start, I think.”    At least he was still charming in his way, she thought.    “Hi.”    Adrienne did her best to hold back the waterworks. But that was before she watched the dumb match where these two nearly murdered each other, especially with what happened afterward.    “Do you believe me now about him?” She asked with a mix of concern and slight irritation.    Knox closed his eyes, exhaling through his nose. He took a moment before responding.    “Would you be mad if I said I almost had him?” He said with a wry chuckle, “I always believed what you said, Ade. But you know me well enough now to know that giant, angry mental patients aren’t something I’ll shy away from fighting.”    For the briefest moment, his gaze goes somewhere far off. To Zane’s wild eyes at the end of the match. To that horrid smell on his breath. The howls.    “But yes, I believe you.”    “...I talked to him last month, Matt. Like away from all of this.”    Adrienne hadn’t told anyone about that strange conversation. Sometimes she wondered if it even happened.    “He’s not okay. He seems sick. Like physically ill.”    Matt’s face fell into a frown. His voice came flat, and not just because of the painkillers. “Physically, mentally,” he shook his head, “If Zane is that messed up, maybe he should be institutionalized. Someone like him, if there are that many underlying issues...hell, fuck underlying, just spend thirty seconds with him.”    He wove a hand through the air, before chopping it as he made his point.    “Zane King is going to kill someone. Maybe it’s not entirely his fault, but the longer people dance around and pretend it’s a non-issue? The bigger a risk, it becomes not just to the victim, but to Zane himself.” He paused, breathing in, before letting out a long exhale.    “I have no love or understanding for Zane King. But, I have miles of it for mental illnesses. Hell, sometimes I see and talk to--” He stopped himself. “I’m just saying. He needs help, even if the help is being put out of commission.”    Adrienne had a feeling that Zane welcomed threats like that every day. Pulling a seat closer, she sat next to Matt’s bed.    “Maybe.” She said uncertainly. Her mind wandered to how this encounter only seemed to serve as a catalyst. Everyone seemed on edge, whether it was about this match with King or the other fires spreading as of late.    Matt eyed her quietly, before reaching out a pale hand, knuckles swollen and bruised and grasping one of hers.    “We never get any kind of breaks lately, huh, kid?” He asked in the kindest tone he could muster.    “Between Silvio’s past coming to reap whatever was sewn, Mitch riding a bike between here and Detroit on no sleep, The Rat, Sebastian, and his fucking mouth.” He said, shaking his head. “At least it isn’t boring.”    Adrienne’s hand relaxed in his.    “No, it isn’t.”    Knox squeezes her hand, before releasing it and settling into the bed. He looks around the room before setting upon the stuffed blackbird at his bedside. He reaches over and plucks it, showing it off to Ade.    “Had someone drop this off while I was doped out of it last night. I think it was your new tag team partner.” Matt said with a cheese-eating grin, “You know, the one you replaced me with.”    Adrienne feigned shock, “I didn’t make that decision.”    Eyeing the bird, she smiled.    “Besides, I think our mutual friend is trying every way possible to cause conflict. Especially after Stan was fired for cause. I guess carrying a list of my supposed daily routine is frowned upon.”    “Fuck that guy.”    Knox laughed, pausing to wince and favor his midsection.    “And fuck Axton Gunn too. And well, almost everyone else if I’m honest.” A soft chuckle escaped as he eyed the drip.    “Man, this stuff numbs everything but the tongue.” He sighed slowly, feeling and enjoying the warmth.    “Yknow, Adrienne,” he has leaned back into his pillows a bit more, eyes lulling halfway, “you three. You, Mitch, Silvio. It’s like someone broke my reflection up into three pieces. Mitch, I remember bein’ that angry and protective because it was yesterday.”    Another self-aware chuckle.    “Silvio, well, he reminds me of all the ghosts.” And without a beat, he pointed a finger at Adrienne, “And you, It’s like an out of body experience, when I laid eyes on you. All the doubt and self doubt to boot, but then all the god damn grit to overcome.”    A brief pause. Adrienne continued to let him roll. She was enjoying the company of a good friend.    “Like my theme, you see.” After letting her soak in his pun, he continued, “You are currently enjoying … what, a five-win streak? You know that puts you only behind Silvio and Cortes, right? The tag champion, and future tag champion.” The cocktail seeping into his veins was clearly getting the better of him, but he adjusted and spoke clearly, “You’re better than good Ade. You’re great. Might be the best.”    Adrienne responded with a polite smile. She let the Axton stuff slide. Too much to consider to get an argument about a celebrity and now a co-worker. One that she happened to think the best of. One she was struggling mightily with. Matt was someone special. Past that gruff exterior and tenacity to curse like a sailor, she saw a man finally reconciling with a past worth forgetting.    It seemed to be a commonality.    “I appreciate that, Matt. I’ve still got a long way before I could talk about myself like that. I’m not sure I ever could.”    She didn’t intend to self-depreciate. Was a nasty habit.    “But I do understand where you’re coming from. I’ll make an effort to think better of myself. I promise.”    “You better, or I’ll take that Baltimore title from you. If you win it.” He snorted then, “Christ, I’m not watching that match. My best friend and my dragon...friend.”    Matt furrowed his brow and shrugged before concluding, “You two are gonna tear the house down.”    Adrienne acknowledged the compliment with a nod. However, his hesitation quirked her interest. She thought of something sarcastic to say. Maybe joke a little. But this was important, she could tell. Adrienne squeezed his hand and spoke low, “I’m happy for you, Matt. I really am.”    “Yeah? Well, I mean, I don’t know what it is. Don’t wanna label anything or...” he trailed off.    She nodded along, understanding that he would always be guarded considering the public spectacle his life has been made.    “Guess it’s just nice, having a match to watch where I don’t hate someone. Not that I’m gonna watch.” Matt squeezed her hand back then, his voice lower now too, “You helped open me up to this sort of rot though, you know that, right? You dug me the rest of the way out of that hole Bert wouldn’t let me die in.”    Listening intently, Adrienne felt the weight of his words. She never thought she had much of an impact on anyone. She tried her best, certainly but to hear something like this took her aback.    “Learned that it was easier to put all that aggression into helping someone instead of hating everyone.” He snorted. “Christ. You’d think this was my death bed, and I was having ‘The Surge’ the way I’m goin’ on.”    “The Rat has that effect.” She said with a knowing smile, followed by an immediate shame for letting that slip.    Knox went to make a quip about bad breath when suddenly a knock on the door cut through the room. Standing at a proud five foot, seven in the doorway was a young, blonde, distressed looking woman of maybe eighteen. She wore an Imperial Youth Wrestling shirt and blue jeans. Matthew’s features went still a moment before a smile broke them up.    “Hey, Hope,” he said with as much doped up cheer he could muster.    Adrienne waved at Matt’s daughter that she had heard all about. But now wasn’t the time to chat. It was clear that Hope was being respectful, but that this was visit had a reason that didn’t involve her.    “Matt, I’m going to leave you two be.”    Standing up, Adrienne went to the doorway.    “And after today, I could use a drink.”            “I’ll be honest. I’m pretty shaken up about this one.”    One of the newest contenders to the Baltimore City Championship, Adrienne Levi, was sitting at a corner table at the Angels Rock Bar. Located right in her new home city, she felt it would be an appropriate setting to talk about well, rock stars. It’d be a lie if she planned this. Adrienne just happened to be out mailing a letter when she saw a flyer for a free concert. Also, it was ladies’ night. Her little digital camera was placed on the table, framing the shot tight and level. Despite her surroundings’ dim lighting, it was clear she had on a black t-shirt on displaying Axton Gunn’s charming visage. Her elbows were on the table, hands steepled. Her eyes shimmered as she mulled over and contemplated her choice of words.    “This is like my third take,” she admitted with her usual meek tone. “But I wanted to make sure to get this right. In less than a month, I have a great opportunity to represent this city. But that can’t be my focus.”    Adrienne pivoted the camera slowly towards the stage. Stagehands were setting up for a concert.    “Let’s set the stage.”    When the shot reverted, her grin was apparent.    “Get it, cuz like they’re setting … the … stage?” After the proverbial crickets sounding off in her mind, Adrienne continued, “Maybe I’ll just edit that part out.”    In between her words, the ambiance of the bar took over. Clinking glasses, random conversations, and of course, the mechanical bull she made a concerted effort to ignore when first walking in.    “One more stop before that huge century mark. Same partner. I know that I can trust her. I know that the fierce attitude that The Dragon Lady possesses will maybe lend a different perspective to this upcoming encounter. And they may be the very reason that she walks out champion instead of me. These aren’t things I can fret about right now. Our opposition seems to be of the same wavelength. I could understand why Sebastian Hawke would look up to someone like Axton Gunn. It would only be natural that these two eventually worked together. However, judging by all of our reactions, I doubt none of us expected this.”    She gestured with her hands, following by a slightly exaggerated shrug.    “But here we are,” she said with a smile, “Sebastian, I’m sorry I couldn’t find a shirt with you two on it. Maybe you’ll rectify that later for me. This isn’t just about your partner. I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about you. I wish I had half the courage that you did. The ink wasn’t dry on your contract before you accepted the challenge of someone who personifies this company’s mission statement. That is ultraviolence. You stood toe to toe with Mitch Heart and earned a lot of people’s respect that evening.”    Mitch Heart had intended to teach Sebastian a lesson in humility through brute force. And while Hawke succumbed to The Broken, it only seemed to harden his heart. It made Adrienne wonder if that approach has been common to someone like this young man.    “May we talk about what else happened? I think its rather important. To be dismissed, to be infantilized, to be marginalized - it hurts. I wanted to thank you for your advice the other day. I know that you meant well. Maybe those sorts of ideals worked for you in the past even. But that isn’t who I am. Here’s what bothered me just a little, Sebastian. I think you were just angry, and that’s okay. But you tried to hold me accountable for the actions of my friends. Maybe Matt Knox can be a little caustic. And Silvio and Kohaku are quick to speak their minds. And well, you met Mitch personally. I get it. I may have held Steve Matthews’ feet to the fire for his half-hearted denouncement of Alex Winter, and so maybe you think I’m a hypocrite.”    Pausing, she took a sip of the ice water the server brought her earlier. The cubes were already melting, and she could maybe go for something harder. But Adrienne had promised herself not to drink on camera anymore as it set a poor example.    “It’s a little different than a friend coming to my defense when you chose to be abrasive, don’t you think? However, I admonished my friend because I don’t think you had done anything particularly wrong. You were just asking questions, right? Or is that you’re confused that I could associate from people so different than me? It just requires a little empathy, Sebastian. Either way, everything washed out in the end. For you, this is an opportunity to hit the reset button on your debut. Maybe muddy the waters of the Baltimore City Championship scene by getting a definitive victory over the current contenders. However, if you wanted to, you could ask your partner about his motives sometime.”    Adrienne slid her business phone into view. Having previously set this up, a brief audio snippet played for all to hear. ”...so glad to see you made so many new friends without me, Silvio. Can’t wait to introduce myself to ‘em… one by one.”    That was Axton Gunn just mere moments after he drove Silvio Leon’s skull into the mat. Notably, after a feigned motion to reconcile. Adrienne’s expression was mired with conflict. Hesitation marked her words.    “Axton, I know you may hear this a lot. But I’m your number one fan. Your music has always been a beacon of light in the darker periods of my life. That’s a little dramatic, huh? Your take-no-prisoners attitude is something I wish I could emulate every day. You just say what you want, consequences be--”    Adrienne cut herself off.    “You know what I mean. Axton, simply put, you’re one of the coolest people ever. And as evidenced by your debut against Kohaku, you bring all of those intangible rockstar qualities to the ring as well. Not only that, but you’ve also given so much back. You use your influence to help those who are less fortunate. And if you would forgive me for this little weakness, Axton, you’re striking to look at. Your eyes are mesmerizing. Your smile makes me melt.” She said with a reverence like the many times she had rehearsed in the mirror if she ever had the chance to meet him. Well, before this. “You are just perfect.”    The clip played again - a startling interruption to her star worship.    “But, you’re not.”    Adrienne’s words hung in the air. She did her best to revert to a neutral tone. Maybe even stoic if her soft eyes didn’t always happen to betray those attempts.    “You said as much. That makes me foolish to place you so high. It was wrong of me almost to deify you. I deprived you of your right just to be human. I would hope that you would extend that same courtesy towards my imperfect friends.”    Habitually, she wiped away at her eyes.    “I’d like to reintroduce myself. I’m Adrienne, and in just over a week, we’ll be opponents. Nobody will remember my name like yours, but in that ring, we are equals. I don’t want to brag, but I’ve worked hard, and I’ve done well for myself. I appreciate the kind words you’ve shared about me. I really wanted to say something prior, but well, you’re a star, and I’m just me. I’m okay with that. For the first time in a long while, I think maybe I like the person I see in the mirror. One of the reasons I’ve been able to do that is because I’ve promised to be honest. I can’t break that promise for you, Axton, I’m sorry.”    Leaning forward, Adrienne stared intently into the camera. She spoke in a calm voice as if she was truly speaking to an audience of one.    “Your first appearance in Carnage Wrestling wasn’t as Axton Gunn, the award-winning rockstar. It was as someone who had traveled across to the country to confront someone that had hurt you. Let’s take that at face value. You’ve always been truthful in your art. So I believe you. You laid everything on the table, and I think you and Silvio have a lot to talk about.” She said this with utmost sincerity. Adrienne’s gaze to Axton faltered as she continued, “And then I saw Axton Gunn as I’ve never seen him before. Not that I know you or anything. I’m just basing this on what you’ve allowed me to see. You struck Silvio.”    Her fingers tapped on the table lightly as she looked away for the brief moment, all of this accompanied by a small sniffle.    “You know, in this industry, a lot of issues get resolved through violence. There’s a distinct difference in what you chose to do and what happens within the confines of a match. Sometimes it even seems a little preformative. Silvio hurt you. So you decided to hurt him. This sort of thing happens every show. Could even get desensitized to it.”    Whether she meant to or not, Adrienne’s hand went to the side of her face.    “I always blamed myself when this sort of thing happened. There was something that I did to deserve a lesson. I needed to understand the hurt that I caused. Sometimes I’d get confused, and I wouldn’t learn fast enough. But, suffering creates clarity.” Her demeanor softened once she affixed her gaze towards the lenses of the camera.    “I don’t think that is you at all, Axton. I can’t speak to whether that was premeditated or not. You’re one of the smartest people around, so when you speak, maybe I misunderstood what you meant.” For a third time, the statement from Axton played.    “You met Kohaku last show. He may have pinned you in that ring, but you planted that seed. You sowed that doubt on the type of person Silvio is. You admitted what you did wasn’t enough. Silvio hadn’t learned his lesson. As you watch this, Axton, ask yourself a small question. You ever wonder how Kohaku feels about all of this?”    Adrienne couldn’t confess to know about the inner workings of Starfox. However, their affections had been public, so no wonder Axton found out how he did.    “None of this. None of this would be my business, except you made it my business. I’m next, Axton. I’m your number one fan, and I love everything you do. I expect you to be on your best behavior. I expect you to be the Axton Gunn that I’ve maybe had dreams about. But Axton, I can’t play the part you want me to. I can’t feed into this campaign you have against Silvio Leon. You will need to handle these things in private, and you need to be held accountable for how you chose to react to Silvio’s decision to leave you. All of this can be done without any more lessons.”    Sitting up straight, Adrienne’s voice climbed to one of determined resolve.    “Axton, I hope you understand how difficult this was. When that bell rings, you face a team that has been battle-tested under precarious circumstances, with the mutual understanding that eventually, we’d have to compete with one another for just one prize. The Dragon Lady will speak for herself some other time, but I can say in the brief time that I’ve known her, she’s the bravest woman I know. And well, when you lock up with me, Axton, I won’t be your number one fan. I will be the woman who stood up to the rampant misogyny that still permeates this industry. I helped quell back those who would corrupt the innocence of this world.”    Adrienne’s eyes sparked if that were even possible, and she spoke with the fervor of someone who truly believed what she was saying.    “In the face of low expectations, I’ve climbed through the wreckage of one of the most devastating nights of my career, and I’ve thrived. One day, I don’t know when and I don’t know how, but I’m going to be remembered, too. I hope that I haven’t made Sebastian or you angry with me, Axton. I just wanted to let you know where I stand. I’m going to fight you, removed from whatever your plans are, and if I have the opportunity to beat you?”    Letting that question linger, she answered it herself.    “I won’t hesitate.”    Reaching forward, Adrienne went to turn the camera off. Inadvertently, her elbow knocked the plastic tumbler over and spilled water all over the table and her shirt and lap.    “Darn it, not aga-”    The feed cut.        Adrienne let the bubble mailer slip from her hand into the open hatch of the USPS mailbox. Addressed to one Sylvia Gould.

[kelphero47]

The Marvelous Adventures of Echo Zane - Chapter 7

Another chapter for whoever is still reading this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was safe to say that setting down the Bounty somewhere outside Ninjago City would have been a better idea than trying to avoid crushing cars in their current situation. The group had decided to go shopping since they were running low on food and other necessities. Nya was at the controls as Cole and Kai lent over the rails on deck giving her directions, yet somehow even with three people involved the task was no easy feat. Echo was certain they had already scratched five cars.  

Nya huffed in annoyance as her said 'left' yet again before saying 'right a little', this was getting old. Before either of the ninja on deck could say anything, she cut power to the engines allowing the ship to finally rest on the ground (squeezed between a couple of cars). She may have heard the sound of at least six car alarms go off as the ship shook the ground but she chose to ignore it.

The Ninja gathered on the deck together in a line with Echo standing behind his brother. Wu stood in front of them, "We all know how this goes. We shop for what we need then leave, quietly, and try not to destroy the store... Again." Echo already knew the story of what happened at the graciously named, 'Battle of Bargain Bin', in which the Ninja had accidently wrecked the store after another group of teens insulted Kai and then put gum in his hair. They hadn't been allowed back since, mostly because the store was still trying to repair the giant hole in the roof.

The group nodded, with Kai looking sheepish at the mention of said mishap, and left the ship quietly. They stood in front of the store as Lloyd spoke seriously, "We all now our missions?"

"Me and Cole are on sanitary duty." Kai looked over the list he'd been given, why they needed so many different soaps was beyond him.

"And snacks!" Cole added enthusiastically as he held up another list of his own, this one somehow longer than Kai's.

"Echo and I will be handling groceries." Zane smiled as Echo nodded in response, the younger being distracted by all of the people passing the group. He still wasn't used to big crowds.

"That leaves Jay and I to get everything else." Nya held up their list, turns out 'everything else' wasn't all that much.  

Jay took the list from her hand the glance over it quickly, "Who wrote 'coffee machine'? I thought we already had one, did someone break it?" He looked over his friends questioningly.

"I broke it by accident." Cole admitted quietly before continuing, "I was trying to make coffee and my hand kept going intangible so I ended slapping it off the counter." The others fell into an awkward silence at his admittance, making the black ninja shuffle nervously.

Lloyd cleared his throat to get back on subject, "Anyway, since we all know what we're doing we should get going."

"Wait, what are you doing Lloyd?" Echo asked as the green ninja turned away from the group.

"I've gotta get this stuff for Sensei at the store down the street, so I'll see you guys later." Lloyd replied holding up his own list. He left the others to watch him cross the street and disappear behind another building. None of them really knew what to say so they left it alone and instead proceeded to finally go inside.

The store itself was quiet. The few people that were milling about moved at slow, relaxed paces as they went about their tasks. Without much prompting the remaining Ninja split up leaving Echo and Zane on their own with their shopping cart. Echo took the job of pushing it alongside his brother as the older gathered the items on the list and instructed him where to go next. The pair fell into a comfortable quiet, exchanging words only when needed, as they shopped.

After a while Echo lost interest in just solely looking at the cart and the various objects placed in it. There was so much to look at in the store that he just couldn't help but wander off, if only for a moment.  He stepped cautiously down the aisle and moved into the next. With how quiet the room was he could faintly hear the sound of a generic pop song playing in the background, which given his solo circumstance was actually kind of unnerving.  

Turning yet another corner into the next aisle Echo chanced upon a lady struggling to reach something from the top shelf. Echo watched for a moment as she gripped the edge of the shelf, as if to try and boost herself up. Not wanting to allow her to struggle he closed the gap between them to reach over her head for the can she had been reaching for. She gave a huff returning to her normal height as Echo held out the can in front of her.

Echo smiled apologetically as she took the can from him. "I apologise if my actions insulted you in any way, but you seemed to be struggling."

The lady laughed waving him off, "No harm done, I appreciate the help. My wife usually grabs the stuff from the top shelf but she ran off earlier. Leaving me with half a shopping list." She gestured to the basket on her arm, "Most of it was on the lower shelves. The name's Jean and you are..."

"Echo, it is very nice to meet you." He held out his hand which she shook slowly.

"Say, have I seen you somewhere?"

"Most likely, my brother is one of the Ninja." He watched as her face lit up with recognition.

"Oh yeah, the white one. My nephew loves them." She nodded, then looked at the list in her hand frowning.

"Is something the matter?" Echo spoke in concern as Jean shook her head.

"It's nothing..." She sighed before glancing at the top shelf, "I'd hate to bother you but... Would you mind helping me with some of this?"

"I would be happy to help."

**With Zane**

He had only turned for a second. A second. Echo was gone. His little brother was missing in a place where who knows what could happen. He'd been pacing next to the cart of who knows how long before he was suddenly jerked back into reality by the realisation that his foot was stuck. Frozen in ice, to be more precise. "Okay..." He spoke to himself taking in shaky breaths, "Okay... Just calm down... And breath."

After a couple of seconds of listening to his own instructions and doing just that he watched PIXAL pop up at the edge of his vision. She looked worried, reaching out in front of her as if she wanted to comfort him, and he smiled in return. They fell into a comforting silence for a while before the sound of someone walking quickly came from around the corner. The sound was followed by the appearance of Kai and Cole skidding past the corner entirely and out of Zane's line of sight. The couple smiled as the pair came back into view nearly tripping over themselves.

Cole was nearly hidden under a mountain of soap, hair products and various kinds of snacks while Kai leant on the side of the cart. Neither ninja spoke for a minute as they caught their breath. Kai was the first the recover looking at Zane worriedly, "You okay man? I felt it get cold in here for a second and thought you might be in trouble."

"I could use some help..." Zane gestured to his still frozen feet, "I let my emotions get the better of me for a moment."

"Woah, what happened?" Cole asked as Kai moved to thaw out his friend's lower legs.

"Echo is missing."

"Wait, what?!"

**Back with Echo and Jean**

"So, you're telling me you lived on an island by yourself for months and never considered leaving until last month?" Jean questioned as they wandered through the aisles. They'd discussed various things, including Jean's wife among other things, and were now onto talking about Echo's life. The android nodded silently, not really knowing what to say. The pair fell into a tense quiet as he passed her another thing off the list, almost jerking away in fright when she spoke again. "Why?"

"I... Um... Just didn't really question my father's departure and rather chose to accept it." He looked at the floor in interest, somehow unwilling to look at her.

"What about a mother or something?"

"Well, there was Gizmo but he wasn't much for conversation. I'd compare him more to a dog but don't tell him I said that..." Echo explained growing quieter with every word, "I never actually had a mother." He finished as a whisper, feeling that lump in his throat he'd previously felt at the interview. He finally looked up at her to see Jean smiling sadly at him with tears forming in the corners of her eyes.  

She reached out to pat him on the head lightly before enveloping him in a hug, "Well if it makes you any better, I'd be happy to be your mom." She whispered back pulling back to look him in the face and let out a small laugh as Echo stood there in shock. "Well technically you'd have two moms since there's my wife, who you still have to meet."

"Okay..." He nodded at her drastic change in emotions, humans were so confusing sometimes. Yet the thought of having more people to call him family made somewhere inside him radiate with warmth.

"Oh, I just had a lovely idea! We should have you round for dinner someday, I make a mean Mac n' Cheese." She nudged him playfully in the side with her elbow making them both laugh, "You'd have to ask your brother of course."  

Those words brought all of his other thoughts to a grinding halt. He has completely forgotten about Zane and the others. What if they'd already left? Finished their shopping and went back to the Bounty without him. The idea didn't sound like something they'd do but they hadn't come to find him yet so... What if they had? The thought made Echo's legs feel less stable, as if someone had replaced them with paper. His distress must have been written on his face because Jean was shaking his shoulder to try and snap him out of his own thoughts. "You okay?"

Echo spoke shakily as if his voice wanted to match how his legs felt, "I'm fine... I just expected to see Zane by now, and..."

"And?"

"Do you think they left without me?" He felt stupid for saying it out loud, his fears were completely unfounded but somehow he just couldn't help it. Echo put his head in hands as his legs finely gave out allowing him to sink to the floor. Jean followed him down as she kneeled in front of him, she smiled at him despite everything. "It's okay to doubt things you know." Echo looked up from his hands at her statement, "Like people do it all the time, it means we have insecurities... Fears. I'm no psychologist but I think it's sweet that you care enough about your family that you're afraid of losing them."

"Really?" Echo seemed unconvinced.

"Of course, why else would you be on the floor of a not too busy store with me otherwise. Besides from what you've told me about your brother he's probably in here looking for you right now." Jean spoke as she got up and dusted herself off. Not knowing what else to do Echo followed her lead with standing up before she patted him on the shoulder. "Now, since you helped me I think it's only fair I help you. And so... We're gonna find your brother."

"You don't-"

"Pfft, no buts." With that she looped her arm around his and with a surprising amount of strength began dragging him down the aisle. "Now if I was a ninja where would I be?"

Echo took a moment to recover from yet another drastic change in emotions from the other. Feelings are so complicated. Yet he found comfort in the fact she was willing to help him and smiled, "Produce."

**With Zane, Cole and Kai**

The three sped through the store Zane hastily grabbing items from his list while Cole tried to sneak more things into his cart without Kai noticing, the second task being easier than the first with the fire ninja more preoccupied with finding Echo. They'd already had to stop him from climbing on the shelves to get a better view, Zane insisting they wouldn't be able to support his weight. So they settled for speed walking past people to cover as much of the store as they could.

"Do you see him?" Cole asked as Kai looked around the corner into the next aisle.

"No..." Kai sighed putting his hand under his chin in thought, "I don't get it. We've checked everyone aisle and he isn't anywhere."

"Perhaps it would be wise if we stayed in one placed and waited for him to come to us." Zane suggested crossing off things on his list, "Since I have finished my portion of the shopping there is no reason for us to move now anyway."

"I guess it could work." The trio stood there waiting for something to happen, the low chatter of the store surrounded them. Cole began humming as the minutes went by this then developed into tapping his foot, patting the side of the cart and nearly reached him singing before Kai cleared his throat beside him. The earth ninja sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry." They fell into a quiet again, Cole still lightly tapping his foot.

Zane however was focused on his surroundings as he glanced up and down the aisle they were currently situated in. An overly excited female voice caught his attention as another meeker voice replied in kind, a voice resembling his own if not slightly gravelly due to the lower grade speakers used in his construction. He watched in tense anticipation as a duo came from a nearby aisle wrapped in a conversation, despite it seeming quite one-sided.

Echo giggled at Jean's story as the two of them walked through the store. She was about to continue when she gasped. He was going to ask if she was alright but instead focused on the direction she was looking. Jean was staring at none other than Zane, as the nindroid stood beside a pair of packed shopping carts along the ninjas of earth and fire (both of whom seeming very bored).

Neither android hesitated in moving towards each other to meet in the middle for a hug, before Zane quickly pulled away to inspect his brother for injuries. Echo smiled at Zane's protective nature as he was given a thorough look over only to brought back into another hug. They parted for the second time as an 'aww' sound was let out behind Echo. They both turned to see Jean smiling at them and shyly waving as they focused on her.

Zane glanced between his brother and the strange until finally settling on Echo, "Where have you been? Do you know how worried I've been?"

Echo smiled sheepishly as he looked at Jean, "I've been helping Jean with her shopping. I'm sorry for wandering off..." Zane sighed as Echo watched her walk over at the mention of her name.

"It's my fault really, your brother was helping me reach the top shelves." Jean admitted, "But he's safe and sound, I promise."

"I can see that", Zane patted Echo on the shoulder. "Thank you for watching him, things like this don't happen this often."

"It was no problem, a pleasure in fact. He's a helpful young man, you should be quite proud."

"I am." Zane smiled admiringly at Echo as the android gave his best impression of a pout. "We best be going now, thank you again." Zane turned to leave while Echo gave Jean a small wave goodbye.

"Oh wait!" Jean made them pause as she pulled out her shopping list and a pen from her pocket. "Almost forgot... This is my phone number, if Echo ever wants to come around when you guys are busy just call." She handed the slip of paper to Zane, "I'm usually free." The ice ninja nodded before leaving with his brother to meet up with Kai and Cole, who were sitting on the floor waiting.  

Kai looked up at the pair before glancing quickly behind them to see Jean leaving as well. He smiled at Echo, "Looks like someone made a new friend." Echo nodded to himself thinking, 'And maybe something closer'.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shopping is the best and worst thing ever.

Until next time...

[sheilacwall]

Jesus Walks… in Adidas

Jesus Walks… in Adidas

Jesus is King has finally dropped. This is Kanye West’s first Christian rap-gospel album since turning into a born-again Christian in April after the hedonistic indulgence of Coachella.

The Lucifer, Mercy and New God Flow producer has given up secular music and has now turned his career toward the servitude of God.

However, his return from hospital and new found faith will flow nicely into his plans to expand his fashion, music & entertainment empire as well as possibly delivering him the top spot in the White House. This is a man not to be underestimated.

Saint Pablo

‘Ye recently turned around a personal debt of $53 million into a nearly $50m profit. Back in 2016, ‘Ye went out cap in hand to Mark Zuckerberg for $1bn for his ideas, but was promptly ignored. Zuckerberg was raised in a Jewish household, although his wife is a Buddhist and he hasn’t publicly stated his faith. But, this wouldn’t have gone unnoticed by ‘Ye and may have pushed Kanye toward his born-again Christian position.

Soon after, the “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” star seemingly finally started listening to his wife.

“My wife said, I can’t say no to nobody, and at this rate we gon’ both die broke,” West raps on Saint Pablo. “Got friends that ask me for money knowin’ I’m in debt, and like my wife said, I still didn’t say no.”

Stronger

Whilst facing the cold shoulder from Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey – the Square & Paypal founder who was raised a Catholic, offered to invest in Kanye early on.

Jay-Z also kicked in a loan of $20m triggering tensions between the two ending in a public feud.

Here’s Jay-Z on “Kill Jay-Z”:

“You dropped outta school, you lost your principles / You gave him 20 million without thinkin’,” Jay-Z raps, seemingly confirming the rumor that he lent West money. “He gave you 20 minutes on stage, f–k was he thinkin’?”

Recently, Kanye has tried to dead the beef with the recent track “Brothers” with Charlie Wilson.

Power

‘Ye never got that billion from Zuckerberg, although they apparently became friends and even performed karaoke together, but it appears West has now healed his own financial woes: His apparel brand Yeezy is a billion-dollar empire, according to Forbes and over the past 12 months, Forbes estimates West has earned over $150 million before taxes. His wealth is due largely to Yeezy’s Adidas deal, a line that is expected to top $1.5 billion in sales in 2019.

The Jordan line does approximately $3 billion in annual sales, so the Yeezy line is catching up fast. If he can latch onto the Christian vote, sales could explode even more rapidly.

Touch the Sky

Christianity is the most adhered to religion in the United States, with 65% of polled American adults identifying themselves as Christian in 2019. This is down from 85% in 1990, 81.6% in 2001, and 12% lower than the 78% reported for 2012. About 62% of those polled claim to be members of a church congregation.

Kenneth Copeland is the number one pastor in the USA and his net worth is $300m. After the backlash for supporting Trump, the natural progression seems to be for Kanye to target the Trump supporters and Christians who make up the large majority of America with around another 20% of the population perhaps open to conversion back to Christianity. It is a huge target market… and that is just America.

Christianity is by far the world’s largest religion, with an estimated 2.2 billion adherents, nearly a third (31%) of all 6.9 billion people on Earth in 2010.

Jesus is King

The new sound track has been carefully crafted to be sung by large audiences to worship god. With tracks such as “Follow God” and “Use This Gospel”, Kanye is on a mission to convert. He has brought the Church to the streets and into the hills… No Church in the Wild.

His carefully chosen purple hair and purple cloths are to portray himself as an Emperor, clergy-like figure, if not Jesus himself, I don’t think it will be long before Kanye professes himself as a Prophet of some sort.

Kanye pronounced himself “I am a God” back on Yeezus.

I just talked to Jesus He said, “What up, Yeezus?” I said, “Shit—I’m chillin’ Tryna stack these millions” I know he the most high But I am a close high Mi casa, su casa That’s our cosa nostra I am a god I am a god I am a god

Rappers as Jesus

This isn’t new in rap. Check out the images below from Kanye, Nas, Tupac, DMX and The Game.

Jeru the Damaja, who follows the Nation of Islam, like Wu-Tang, Rakim & Brand Nubian, famously wrote a song “Can’t Stop the Prophet”.

Rappers have always seen themselves as street prophets, telling war stories, from Rakim, Nas & KRS-One right back to Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five in The Message.

Purple Robes

Throughout history, purple robes were worn by royalty and people of authority or high rank. Many believe this to be true because the rare occurrence of purple in nature made it one of the most expensive color dyes to create.

Purple and violet represent the future, the imagination and dreams, while spiritually calming the emotions. They inspire and enhance psychic ability and spiritual enlightenment, while, at the same time, keeping us grounded.

At the time of Jesus, the dye used for making the colour purple, extracted from shell-fish and was one of the most expensive dyes. The colour-fast (non-fading) dye was an item of luxury trade, prized by Romans, who used it to colour ceremonial robes, usually worn by Emperors. The very fact that purple was an expensive color made it affordable only to the royals. That Jesus was made to put it on before his crucifixion, implies that the Romans were sending a strong signal to the Jews against any coup.

A.D.I.D.A.S.

ADIDAS was founded by German, Adi Dassler (Adolf Dassler). In fact, one of the founders, his brother Rudolf Dassler later went on to found Puma and started a bitter rivalry between the brothers. There is a popular myth among fans (not true) that Adidas stands for All Day I Dream About Sports, whilst in 2003, Killer Mike dropped a hip hop track called A.D.I.D.A.S. (All Day I Dream About Sex).

Like many of their fellow citizens, the brothers joined the Nazi party after Adolph Hitler came to power in 1933. Their shoe business remained modest until 1936. In that year, Germany hosted the Olympics.

In an ironic twist, the two party members got legendary African-American runner Jesse Owens to wear their running shoes while competing. Owens went on to win four gold medals during the games. The exposure of their product gave Dassler Shoes a huge boost in sales. You can read more in Sportsweek History.

It does seem ironic, given Kanye’s sex addiction that he would align himself with this particular shoe and his plans are to get the shoes made in America and give “second chances” to inmates.

But, he is going to run into problems with the media as the average wage of a prison inmate ranged between $0.23 and $1.15 an hour  – According to the International Labor Organization, in 2000–2011 wages in American prisons 

In Texas, Georgia, and Arkansas, inmates aren’t paid at all for their labor.

The “New Slave” indeed. I initially thought another way to make money would be to make inexpensive Jesus style sandals and sure enough, I found that is exactly what ‘Ye is planning. They are called “slides” in America and Adidas will be making these from injection moulding and it hasn’t gone unnoticed from Twitter that they are basically prison shoes, but now they are being remarketed as a high fashion item for children of rich kids. That is marketing genius.

Why do the yeezy slides look like the slides worn in prison.. pic.twitter.com/LsR8dbFyqE

— Cyn ☕️ (@Kingxxcyn) October 17, 2019

ADIDAS YECHEIL

The first shoe in Ye’s collection is the Yecheil, which is a Hebrew masculine given name meaning “May God live” or “God shall live”. Several people in the Bible also have this name.

ADIDAS YEEZREEL

For the second shoe of ‘Ye’s collection, there is the“Yeezreel”. It has no exact translation but it seems he might’ve been inspired by the word “Jezreel” which was an ancient Israelite city and fortress originally within the boundaries of the Tribe of Issachar, and later within the northern Kingdom of Israel.

ADIDAS YESHAYA

The third shoe is called the “Yeshaya” which directly translates to “God Is Salvation”. The name Yeshaya (Yesha’yahu) translates from Hebrew to English as the name Isaiah, who was one of the four major prophets of the Old Testament, and the author of the Book of Isaiah. He was from Jerusalem and probably lived in the 8th century BC.

Many of these shoes use Adidas “Cloud” foam, so ‘Ye and his fans are figuratively walking on clouds.

Click the pic to get the best prices on Adidas below

Through the Wire – Prison Reform

Kim Kardashian announced her decision to study law back in April. Since then, she’s met with President Trump to discuss prison reform, teamed up with the 90 Days of Freedom campaign, and is producing a documentary on the subject.

CNN reported that Kim Kardashian West helped free 17 inmates in 90 days.

Kanye West has donated $1m to prison reform, but is now getting US prison workers to make his shoes at 25% of the cost of having his shoes made in China, unless somehow, he is quadrupling the prison wage.

There will be Church factions and sections of the media who will most likely attack Mr. West for essentially using slave labour in prisons to increase profit. Chinese factory workers are now getting paid more than ever: Average hourly wages hit $3.60 in 2017 compared to around $1 for an American prison worker.

Kanye West’s Interview with Zane Lowe

If you don’t want to watch the lengthy interview below, scroll down for a quick summary.

In the interview Kanye talks about the following:

How billboards are guilty of sex trafficking

How he became a born-again Christian in April after Coachella

Why he wants to create jobs and bring jobs back to the USA

How he experimented with Domes & living in them then “the man” tore them down as a metaphor for tearing down his ego

How his farm will be growing cotton & wheat

He will employ prisoners to make his shoes as a “second chance”

His respect for founders, especially Warren Buffett, Amancio Ortego (Zara), Elon Musk, James Turell (artist concerned with light & space) and Jack Dorsey (Paypal)

He calls himself a Christian innovator

How his daughter North drives his passion for church

How Sunday Service may become a church and how he may become a Pastor

He is asking people to fast & not have premarital sex

How he had a porn addiction due to seeing Playboy at 5 years old & his sex addiction

People should pray together, fast together, stay together to increase power

Getting stumped by Zane Lowes question on whether he had to work for his 4th house

How white owners controls hip hop

How God is using Kanye to show off

Compares himself to Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, diagnosed of Bipolar disorder. This was also the ship in the film The Matrix which “woke” people up

According to the Bible, Nebuchadnezzar II was king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, who reigned c. 605 BC – 562 BC and conquered Judah and Jerusalem and sent the Jews into exile.

How he will become the President of the United States, perhaps as early as 2024

How Facebook & social media is a disease

How porn is ruining marriages and brainwashing children

How to keep the eternal, imaginative 3 year old at all costs

How he’s undeniably the greatest artist of all time, no question!

How wearing the red cap was a joke on all the liberals as well as Drake living four blocks down from him was also a joke from God.

I guess him wearing blue fur whilst talking and making a blue record is also a joke on the liberals

How he will now rewrite and censor all his old songs for performances

How some of the merchandise money will go to the church

How the Louis Vuitton boss reneging on a handshake to make him the LV don and his wife getting robbed helped put him in a mental hospital

Jokes about being the pastor at Drake’s wedding

How he objects to the censorship of speech of the left

Jesus is King is out now on Spotify, mp3, vinyl & CD

Jesus is Born, another new album, is arriving on Christmas Day this year.

Kanye West’s Journey

There is a bigger story here. How hip hop can be cathartic. Hip hop is bashed left, right and centre in the mainstream media daily, mainly times rightly so, for enforcing stereotypes. But, real hip hop can be a spiritual journey.

Some artists have found solace and teachings much earlier on in their lives such as Rakim, Wu-Tang Clan, KRS-One & Jeru the Damaja. Other artists take longer to mature. It seems to me to be better rapping about street crime then taking part in it. This is something most non-hip hop heads seem to not understand.  Hip hop is way out the streets, just like a sports contract.

Everyone has their own journey and Kanye’s has taken him into Christianity. If record sales pick up, it will turn into a bigger movement. Time will tell what happens if it “All Falls Down”,  streams sour and Adidas sales start to Fade. In such a scenario, it may be very hard for Kanye to stay on the straight and narrow, but I wish him luck. Time will tell.

I’m looking forward to see how he reacts surrounded with Angels in future fashion shows singing his new songs.

I’ll leave you with the last verse from Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five’s “The Message”, possibly still the greatest hip hop song ever written. The message is as relevant today as it was back in 1982.

A child is born, with no state of mind Blind to the ways of mankind God is smiling on you, but he’s frowning too Cause only God knows, what you go through You grow in the ghetto, living second rate And your eyes will sing a song of deep hate The place, that you play and where you stay Looks like one great big alley way You’ll admire all the number book takers Thugs, pimps and pushers and the big money makers Driving big cars, spending twenties and tens And you wanna grow up to be just like them Smugglers, scramblers, burglars, gamblers Pickpockets, peddlers and even pan-handlers You say I’m cool, I’m no fool But then you wind up dropping out of high school Now you’re unemployed, all null ‘n void Walking ’round like you’re pretty boy floyd Turned stickup kid, look what you done did Got send up for a eight year bid Now your manhood is took and you’re a may tag Spend the next two years as an undercover fag Being used and abused and served like hell Till one day you was found hung dead in a cell It was plain to see that your life was lost You was cold and your body swung back and forth But now your eyes sing the sad sad song Of how you lived so fast and died so young So, don’t push me cause I’m close to the edge I’m trying not to lose my head It’s like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder How I keep from going under It’s like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder How I keep from going under

Watch Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five – The Message

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