Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had just been a normal day. You were at home, relaxing and rewatching your favorite show, Ninjago. You'd watched the pilots and we're halfway through the first episode before you blacked out.

You woke up falling from the sky. You'd barely registered falling before you landed on the ground with a soft “oomph”. Wait…not the ground. You were on top of something, or rather, someone.

You scrambled off the poor person you'd just landed on and took in your surroundings, which you recognized. Were you… in Ninjago?

You pinched yourself to make sure you weren't dreaming. It hurt, so you deduced you probably weren't dreaming. A possibility that you still didn't want to rule out, since, well, you were in the world of an animated Lego show, the main characters of which were standing, or in Jay’s case, sitting on the ground, right in front of you.

For a minute, you and the four ninja just stared at each other. Then Kai spoke up.

“Who are you and why did you just fall out of the sky?” He narrowed his eyes at you, holding up his golden sword. Which he promptly loses control of, to the extent that he throws it to the ground, which doesn't help the situation as it only causes the monastery to start burning. Poor Jay, who's still on the ground, just barely manages to scramble out of the path of the flames and stand up.

You stand up quickly, backing away from the fire. Soon though, Master Wu comes outside and, seeing the flames spreading, uses Zane's shurikens to put them out.

“What were you thinking?!” Wu says, very obviously furious.

“Uh…we were tryna figure out who’s the Green Ninja.” Jay’s the one who answers. Zane slaps his arm when he mentions the Green Ninja. “Ow! Did I say Green Ninja? No, sorry. What I- what I said was lean !”

Wu sighs. “You were not supposed to see this.” Then he notices you. “And who might you be?” He questioned.

“Uh, I'm (Y/N). And I have no idea how I got here.” You said, standing there awkwardly.

“They fell out of the sky.” Cole chimed in. “Right on top of Jay.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” You apologize to him.

“Eh, it's fine.” Jay waves the incident off.

Master Wu ponders this for a moment, before asking you, “(Y/N), do you happen to remember anything from before you ended up here?”

You try to remember your life, but you can't. You realize that all you remember from your life is that in your world, this one is just an animated show. “I remember blacking out and then falling from the sky. I…I can't remember anything before that. But-” You pause, a voice in your head telling you not to tell them about their world being from a show.

“But I know I'm not from here.” You finish. “Like, not from this world.”

Wu ponders this information for a moment. “Interesting. Very interesting.” He muses. “I will go see if I can find any information on anything like this. Meanwhile, you may stay here at the monastery, as a guest.” He turned to the four ninja. “And you four, train.”

“Wait, Sensei. We wanna know, which of us is the Green Ninja?” He asked.

“None of you if you don't unlock your full potential,” Wu answered.

“But my sword, it was so bright. Is this what you meant by unlocking our Golden Weapons?” Kai asked again.

Wu sighs. “You are only at the beginning. And the road is long and winding, but yes, this is what I meant. If this is what it must take for you to train, then so be it. But none of you are near the level of what it takes to be the Green Ninja.”

And so, the ninja started to properly train with their weapons, while you watched, sitting on the steps leading inside of the monastery building.

~

A while later, Master Wu came outside, looking panicked. “The Serpentine are back! Everyone in Jamanakai Village is in danger!”

“Calm down, Sensei. We were just there. It’s just some kid who says he-”

You interrupted Cole. “They are back. Your Sensei is right about this.”

Kai crossed his arms. “And why would we believe you? We don’t know you.”

“Your sister’s at Jamanakai Village right now, right?” You raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think you want to take a chance with this.”

“How did you know I have a sister? I haven’t mentioned her in front of you.” Kai questioned.

You shrugged, a small smile tugging at your lips. “I know things. You guys should get going if you don't want everyone in Jamanakai to end up under the control of the serpentine for the rest of their lives.”

Chapter Text

The day begins at the Monastery of Spinjitzu with the Ninja actually training for once. Jay is deflecting arrows with his nunchucks, Cole is practicing on the dummies with his Scythe, Kai is practicing Spinjitzu, and Zane is meditating. And you’re watching them while doodling in an empty notebook you found lying around. Making sketches of things that you can remember are going to happen in the future:

Garmadon with the golden weapons in this season,

Zane with a bit of his face cracked and inner metal and circuitry showing in season 3,

Possessed Lloyd in season 5,

And Harumi with the Oni Mask of Hatred in season 8.

Suddenly, Zane stands up from meditation and jumps in front of Jay, throwing him off balance. Then Zane takes Cole's scythe for the dummy test, and immediately after does Spinjitzu which freezes the whole compound, causing Kai to slip.

You watch all of this with a smile on your face.

Kai, Cole, and Jay regroup near where you're sitting.

“This roof isn't big enough for the four of us,” Kai grumbles.

“Correction: This roof isn't big enough for him.” Cole pointed at Zane, who was immersed in his own world.

“Me, Master Wu, and Nya live here too, y'know.” You point out. They ignore you.

“It's like he's in his own world.” Jay raises his voice. “I BET HE CAN’T EVEN HEAR US!”

Sensei Wu approaches the three disturbed ninja and you.

“Sensei, Zane's…weird,” Kai told him.

“What is weird? Someone who is different, or someone who is different than you?”

“No, Sensei. He's weird weird.” Cole says.

Then each of the three recounted an instance of Zane where he acted slightly off-putting.

“We like the guy, he’s really smart. He’s just…” Kai sighed. “A little off sometimes.”

“Zane is a brother, and brothers are often different. I should know.”

Then the doorbell rang.

“Mail!” Kai, Jay, and Cole said in unison and headed over to the door to get their mail.

While they eagerly get their letters and packages, Zane walks by them sadly.

Jay noticed him walking by. “Hey, Zane. How come you never hear anything from your parents?”

“I don’t remember my parents. I’ve been an orphan all my life.” Zane answered sadly.

You frowned at the expression on Zane’s face. You already knew about this, of course, but it still made you sad. You walked over to him and gave him a small side hug.

“You have a family now, Zane. We’re your family!” You cheerfully said.

He shrugged and walked away sadly.

~

It’s dinner time now. You sit across from Nya and Next to Kai.

“Mmm. Oh, I love it when it's Zane's night to cook!” Jay said.

“Hey. I didn’t hear any complaints about my duck chowder last night.” Cole said

“That’s because it glued our mouths shut. You really thought Jay was speechless throughout dinner?” Kai said.

“Yeah. Please don’t make that again.” Jay agreed.

You watched the Ninja interacting with a smile on your face.

Then Zane enters the room, wearing a pink flowery apron and carrying tonight’s dinner, a delicious-looking Turkey.

“Dinner is served.” He announced.

The room erupted into laughter. You facepalmed. You’d forgotten about the old humor in the earlier parts of the show.

“What’s so funny?” Zane asked, confused.

Nya giggled. “Zane, you're wearing a…even I wouldn't wear that!”

“Guys, stop laughing at Zane, it isn't that funny.” You shake your head.

“Well, how about this?” Cole threw a plate of shrimp at Kai’s face. You did let out a small laugh at that, and the others in the room (except Zane) burst into a fresh round of laughter. “How could you not find that funny?” After Cole said that, Master Wu poured a bowl of soup over his head.

“Now you are brothers,” Wu said to Zane and Cole.

The room erupts into a food fight, and you duck to avoid getting hit by the delicious projectiles. Zane still stands there, even more confused.

You decided to go to bed early after Jay hit you with a piece of turkey.

~

After you changed out of your turkey-stained hoodie into a clean one, you headed to your room.

The room you stayed in here at the monastery was a small one since you were the only one staying in the room. There were a few plants around the room, but that was mostly for the decor.

On your bed was a small black sketchbook and pen, the ones you'd been doodling with earlier that day while the Ninja trained.

You flopped down on your bed and grabbed your book, looking over the earlier sketches and doodles you'd made. You decided to draw a bit more before sleeping.

Before the ice thing had happened you'd been working on another sketch, this time one of Akita, the formling from season 11, in her animal form.

After a bit of trying (and failing) to get the body right, you decided it was about time to sleep. Yawning, you got up and turned off the light, then got cozy under a blanket and fell asleep.

~

You dreamed you were floating in a black void.

A quiet, female voice called your name. It was that voice, the one you'd heard telling you not to tell the Ninja about what you remember.

She repeated your name a few more times, her voice growing louder as if she were walking closer to you.

Then you heard her voice right next to your ear.

“Hello!” She sounded much more cheerful than you would have expected.

You whirled around to look at her…and were surprised to see a completely normal-looking woman with dark hair and green eyes.

“Who the fuck are you?” You floated backward, away from her.

“Oh, you don't need to worry about that.” She waved her hand, dismissing your question entirely. “It isn't important for you to know.”

“No, I think I should be worrying about that.” You crossed your arms. “You're a person who I've never seen before, I don't know anything about you, who you are, what you are, but you know my name. That's a bit suspicious, don't you think?”

“Alright, that's understandable.” She relents. “So, my name’s Luna, and I'm the one who put you in this world.”

“Why the fu-?”

She cut you off. “Yes, I put you in Ninjago. But I didn't mean any harm!”

“You plucked me out of my life, erased my memories of everything other than Ninjago, and put me in a world where I could very easily get hurt.” You pointed it out.

“Well, yes, true.” She admitted with a nervous laugh. “But I had a reason. Okay, bye-bye now!”

And then you wake up before you can demand that she explain her reasons.

~

When you woke up after that dream, you thought it was just that…a dream.

And then you heard her voice in your head.

‘Hi again!’

‘Why are you in my head?’ You mentally huffed.

‘It's a lot faster to talk to you in your head instead of waiting for you to sleep.’

‘I’ve been here for a while now, why didn't you talk to me earlier?’

‘I was busy with some stuff.’

‘Can I know what stuff?’

‘No.’

‘Alright then.’

‘You’re strangely calm right now.’

‘What do you want me to do, scream?’

‘No, I was just expecting you to freak out more.’

‘Fair enough I guess.’ You paused.

‘You said you had a reason to put me in Ninjago. What was that reason?’

‘Not important right now.’

And on that note, your brain was quiet again.

When you left your room to get breakfast, you found out that the Ninja were out. Zane followed a falcon and he found Lloyd’s treehouse.

You vaguely remembered what happened in the show at this point, the battle at the treehouse, Cole being mind-controlled by Skales, Zane finding the Bounty…

‘Wait, won't the Monastery burn down soon?’ You suddenly remembered while drawing.

‘Don’t tell them.’ You heard Luna in your head again.

‘Why? They could save the Monastery!’

‘Because if they save it, it'll throw off canon! And they'll never have to find the Bounty! Some things have to happen if-’

‘If what?’

No response. It seemed like she was gone again. Begrudgingly, you listened to her. You didn't say anything about it. Not even when Wu and Nya go off with the sacred flute to save the Ninja, even though you know if you said something you could save the Monastery.

Not even five minutes after Wu and Nya had left, you’d been sitting in your room, again drawing, and you smelled smoke.

‘Shit. Shit shit shit!’ Your eyes widened, internally panicking. You knew this would happen but that did not make you any more prepared for this.

You grabbed your sketchbook (you had worked on the drawings a long time for them to look good, you were not leaving that behind!) and ran out of your room, encountering fire that had spread surprisingly quickly.

‘Shit shit shit there's fire everywhere, what do I do what do I do!’

You tripped over something that you couldn't identify and face-planted on the floor (which, honestly, if it had been someone else you might have laughed), mentally cursing your occasional clumsiness

Groaning, you stood up, thankfully still managing to keep a grip on your sketchbook, wiping some warm liquid off of your cheek, which, on closer inspection, was blood from a cut you must've gotten when you fell. You managed to continue on your way to the exit, despite every bit of your face being in pain and your legs aching from hitting the ground so hard and so suddenly.

You coughed from all the smoke you'd managed to inhale during this entire panicked ordeal.

Then you somehow fell, again, and blacked out. Your last thought before you fell unconscious was a simple ‘Fuck.’

~

When you woke up, the Ninja had returned. Except…Zane wasn't there. Nya brought you up to speed about everything that had happened while you were unconscious, the others occasionally chiming in to add details.

“So, the Serpentine burnt down the Monastery and you blamed Zane.” You summed up. “You're all idiots.” You huffed.

“Remember, we must be thankful for what we still have.” Wu reminded you all.

“What do we have? Our home is gone.” Cole pointed out.

“You know, I don't miss our home. What I really miss is Zane.” Kai sighed, the regret obvious on his face, as well as the other two Ninja’s faces.

“I mean, we still have each other. That's what matters, right?” You said encouragingly. “Look on the bright side, Zane could come back soon!” Well, you knew he would.

“Zane?” Nya asked, making everyone pretty confused.

“Yeah, Zane. You know. White Ninja. The smart, strange one.” Jay explained, assuming Nya somehow forgot who Zane was.

“No,” Nya exclaimed, pointing ahead. “Zane!” Everyone looked where she pointed and there stood the White Ninja. Joyously, you all ran to him.

Jay sighed in relief. “Zane. We are so sorry for everything we've said. We're a team and that means we're all responsible.”

“You don't need to apologize to me.” Zane smiled.

“But…what about all those awful things we said?” Kai questioned him, confused. “Isn't that why you left?”

“Of course not. I saw the Falcon again and I followed him.” Zane reassured the Ninja.

“That's our Zane!” Grinned Cole as everyone, including you, hugged Zane.

“We missed you, Zane.” You hugged him tightest out of everyone else who did.

“We’re happy to have you back.” Nya smiled.

“Why? Is it my turn to make dinner?” Asked Zane, tilting his head to the side. Everyone laughs at that.

“Yes, Zane,” Wu smiled. “We would love for you to make dinner.”

“But I already made it. Come, I want to show you what I found.” Zane said. “I think you will all be pleased.”

He leads all of you to the sea of sand. You, of course, already knew what he'd be showing you, and you were excited to see the bounty in person.

“I can't explain it, but I feel a strange connection with the Falcon. I think he's trying to help show us the path we need to take.” Zane explained as he showed all of you the Destiny's Bounty.

‘I’m seeing this. I'm actually seeing the Bounty In person. Wow…”

“Our new home,” Zane announced.

“Do I smell pie?” Jay wondered aloud.

“Cobbler berry,” Zane confirmed with a smile. “Oh, and I made myrtle berry and apple and-”

Before he could finish, you, Nya, Kai, Jay, and Cole all raced to the Bounty, happy to have a new home and to have your friend back.

Chapter Text

That first day in the Bounty, you, unlike pretty much everyone else, got to sleep in. And thankfully, you didn’t dream. Or at least, no dreams you could remember.

But your sleep was rudely interrupted when Kai very noisily entered the room you’re sleeping in to wake you.

“Wake up, sleepyhead!” He grinned, startling you enough that you fell off your bed.

You groaned, rubbing the back of your head where it hit the floor. “Why the fuck did you do that?”

“To wake you up.” He responded, leaning against the doorframe. “We have chores to do.”

“Then go do them.” You grumbled, annoyed at being woken up. “I’m going back to bed.” You stood up, yawned, and flopped onto your bed again.

But of course, he couldn’t let you go back to sleeping peacefully. Instead he literally dragged you out of bed and you hit your head for the fourth time in two days (hopefully it wouldn't become a daily occurrence).

~

Turns out they didn’t really need you to help clean up. They just used their spinjitzu to speed up the process and were done in a matter of minutes. Leaving you grumpy at being woken up for basically nothing. When Nya and Master Wu came back from wherever they’d been, they found the guys playing a video game with you in the corner, glaring a hole into the back of Kai’s head, still grumpy at being woken up for literally nothing.

“Wow, this place looks amazing!” Nya marveled. “You guys did all this?”

“Ninja don’t just fight, Nya. We clean.” Cole smiled.

“And drag people out of bed for said cleaning when they don't need help.” You grumbled, glaring pointedly at Kai.

“You have exceeded my expectations.” Sensei Wu smiled. “But can you keep it up?”

Just then, a loud car honk is heard.

“Looks like we're about to have some visitors, and loud ones at that.” Noted Nya, looking out the window. You got up to look too.

Jay sighs. “Ugh...It's my parents. Please, if they start yapping, just don't get them going, okay? They don't know when to quit. And if you start talking, then they'll start talking. And suddenly, half the day is gone and before you know it ends-”

Kai cuts him off. “We get it! They talk a lot. The cherry doesn’t fall far from its blossom.” He mutters, leaning over to you. You laugh.

Outside, his parents’ car pulls up, and you all head there to meet them.

“Mom! Dad! What are you doing here?” Jay says, with false cheerfulness in his voice.

“Oh, look! It’s my baby boy! It’s been so long since we heard from you!” His mother beamed.

“Ma, I called you two days ago.” Jay grumbled.

His father giggles. “Oh well... It's not soon enough, son. When are you coming out to the junkyard? You say you’re comin’ an…an…and you don't.”

“Dad…do we have to talk about the junkyard in front of my friends?” He groaned.

“He hates it when we tell people he was born in a junkyard.” His mother says. Then she notices you and Nya. “Oh, and who are you two?” She gasps. “You are so cute! You both are just my son's type.”

That certainly caught you off guard. You weren't really expecting to be lumped in with Nya, especially not in terms of being considered Jay’s type. Damn.

“Mom!” Jay protested.

Nya laughs a bit, sounding a tad nervous. “It’s a pleasure meeting you. I’m sure if you want, Jay can give you a tour. He worked very hard on it.” She said, gesturing to the bounty. In unison, Jay’s parents cheer: “We’d love a tour!”

Jay sighs, rubbing his forehead, but he shows his parents around the bounty.

~

“And this is the brig.” He jogged over to the periscope. “This extends into a periscope.” He gestured to the monitor. “This tells what's going on in Ninjago.” Then he walked over to a table near the monitor and controls. “And this…if a Serpentine's not giving us the answer we want, and we're late up night-”

Edna cuts in. “A neuro apparatus to read their minds?” She guessed.

“An audio appliance to make them talk?” His father also guessed with the same excitement in his voice as his wife.

“No, a cappuccino machine.”

“Haha. Amazing, son! We're so proud of you.” His father beamed at him.

“Why don’t you tell them about the button?” Cole chimed in.

“Heh, heh…it's not ready yet.”

“Oh, what’s the button?”Edna asks both curiously and enthusiastically.

“He’s working on a special defense system.” Zane explained.

“Something every ninja headquarters needs.” Kai said, gesturing to the button.

“Oh, really?” Ed said, sounding quite excited. He bent down to get a closer look. “What does it do? Can I help?”

“No, it's okay. I don’t need your help, dad.” Jay said quickly, getting him away from the button. You frowned. “Hey look at the time! Don't you need to get back before it gets dark? I told you, there's dangerous Serpentine out there.” Jay herded his parents towards the door.

“Uh, I suppose we could get back.” His father said, looking disappointed.

Cole walked up to the three. “Edna, it was a pleasure hearing about Jay’s first potty time.”

You giggled at the mention. It had been a pleasure, if only to see Jay’s absolutely mortified expression.

“Oh, if you thought that was good, wait until you hear about the time I caught him kissing his pillow!” She giggled. Jay groaned at the mention of what

“Snakes, Ma! Snakes!” He reminded her, shooing his parents through the door of the brig.

“Okay, we're going. We're going.” She smiled, walking over to the door of the brig.

When they got in their car, she gave him one last reminder. “So you promise to come to the junkyard to visit your mother and father?”

Jay sighs. “Yes, I promise! But only if you leave. I don't want you to get hurt. It's getting dark. Uh, your headlights are working, right?”

Ed turns on the headlights, and everyone (minus Ed and Edna) shields their eyes, the headlights being just that goddamn bright.

“Heh…like ‘em? I used a little extra juice.” Ed grinned, turning off the blindingly bright headlights. “Yep. Bye, son. I couldn't be more proud.”

Ed started up the car and started driving away, before they left though Edna called out, “And bring (Y/N) or Nya with you, will ya? I can see why you like those two!”

“Mom…!” Jay groaned, hiding his face in his hands. But she didn’t hear, seeing as their car was already too far away from them.

Wu smiled. “Now that they have left, perhaps Jay can teach us The Art of…” He snickers. “Kissing pillows.”

“Argh!”

Everyone, minus you, laughed as he went back inside the bounty out of embarrassment. It had been funny when Jay and everyone else were just characters in a show, but now they were all real, as real as you were. You honestly felt a bit bad for him.

~

The next morning you’re sitting in your room, practicing drawing hands (why did they have to be so difficult to draw?) when someone knocks on the door. Without looking up, you say, “Come in,” Brows furrowed as you tried to get the finger anatomy right. In comes Nya.

“We’re gonna walk to Jay’s parents’ junkyard.” She told you. “You wanna come along?”

“Is everyone going, or…?” You ask, cocking your head to the side. (You didn’t really want to walk all the way, but if everyone was going you didn’t want to stay back either. And why weren’t they taking the dragons?) She nodded. Well then, looks like you’d be getting quite a lot of exercise today.

When you all set out, Zane explained why the dragons weren’t there. “The dragons are molting, and they need to go east to undergo transformations, according to what Master Wu told us.” He explained. Right. The ultra dragon was going to be a thing soon.

Wu played the sacred flute all the while you were walking.

“That flute. You've never told us why it's so special.” Zane asked the old master curiously.

“Long ago there were many flutes, created to combat the powers of the Serpentine and drive them underground. But over time, Ninjago's forgotten its ancestors' wisdom, and now this is the only one.” Wu explained, a hint of wistfulness in his tone, then went back to playing the flute.

Jay groaned, taking this as another lesson on how he acted yesterday being wrong. “I get the lesson! Respect your elders or suffer the consequences. Boy, you guys are layering it on thick.” He grumbled.

Wu chuckled. “Perhaps you are only hearing what you need to hear.”

You all finally get to the junkyard, and Jay pauses suddenly.

Nya asks him, confused, “What is it?”

“It's…quiet.” Jay said. “My family’s never quiet!” He runs into the junkyard, you all following. He hears Ed and Edna’s mumbled grunts from a locked fridge. He kicks open the fridge, finding his parents locked in chains, tape over their mouths and looking…different. Both had slightly green-tinged skin, in some places looking almost scaly.

“What happened?” Jay was panicking. “Who did this?” He took the tape off of Edna’s mouth so she could answer.

“Sweetheart, you came!” She smiled at him. He took the tape off of his father’s mouth too.

“Oh, you gotta get out of here. You shouldn't have come, it's the ssssnakes!” Ed warned.

Wu surveyed them and had a realization. “The bite of the fangpyre!” Everyone looked at him, and he explained, “Once they sink their teeth into something, their venom can turn anything into a serpent. It's only a matter of time before the full transformation is complete.” He looked back at Jay’s parents, brows furrowed.

You hear a hiss behind you, alarmed, you whip around to see a wrecking ball…with eyes.

“Uh…is that wrecking ball staring at me?” Cole asked. The ball swings towards you guys.

“Duck!” Jay yells, getting his parents out of the way. You almost got hit, but Cole tackled you to the ground.

“Thanks.” You muttered, looking up just as Master Wu says, “Lloyd!” spotting said kid on top of a pile of tyres (there had to be about a hundred tyres in there, god it was huge) next to a Fangpyre with two heads, holding a staff tipped with a snake’s head.

“Hello, uncle. Looks like we're not the only family reunion. I'm glad you brought the ninja. I could use some help taking out the trash. Muahaha!” Lloyd let out an evil laugh.

What a weird kid.

Nya grabbed Jay by the arm. “If we want to turn your parents back, we need the anti venom in the staff.” She told him, pointing at the staff. Jay started to walk, but first the wrecking ball came back for another pass.

“Second dose, to the dirt!” Cole yelled, tackling you again. The ball hisses in frustration from having missed you all twice now.

“Easier said than done, sis.” Kai grumbled. “We're a bit outnumbered.”

“Nobody messes with my family.” Jay says, standing up again with a determined glint in his eyes. “Ninja, go!” He yelled, running towards a group of snakes with his nunchucks out and ready, ducking under the wrecking ball when it tried to hit him again and attacking the snakes.

Wu starts to play the sacred flute and Kai, Zane and Cole rush off towards other snakes dotted around the junkyard, yelling “Ninja, go!” as they attacked, following the lightning Ninja's example.

A group of snakes near you, Wu, and Nya covered their ears to block out the sound of the sacred flute, leaving them open to attacks from you and Nya. Your body automatically jumped into action, and you managed to take down half of them with moves you didn't even know you knew, Nya getting the rest.

“I don't know, I think we make a pretty good trio, don't we?” Nya high-fived you, grinning. “Didn't know you could fight like that.”

“I didn't either.” You shrugged.

‘Nice moves.’

‘Nice of you to grace me with your presence.’ You mentally grumbled. Luna had been silent since Zane had found the bounty. Still no explanation for why you were in Ninjago.

‘You still owe me an explanation of why I'm here.’

‘I’ll explain some other time, you’re a bit busy now.’

And your mind went quiet once more.

You wince as you hear really loud rock music, loud enough that it drowned out Wu’s flute. You whip your head around to see Lloyd, with a fangpyre bitten boom box, playing music.

“Young nephew, must I teach you whose side you should be on?” Wu scolded him. He just laughed and turned up the volume, you covered your ears.

“Sorry, uncle! Can’t hear you!”

You hear a clang! behind you, turning around to find that Edna hit a snake with a frying pan, rapunzel style, stopping it from biting Wu.

Just then you see a giant statue of Jay, obviously snakebit, chasing after the Ninja as the music dies down. A funny sight, if it weren’t for the fact that it was chasing your friends. Only a few minutes later the statue was down, hit by a wrecking ball that Jay swung at it to save Cole.

Lloyd panics. “Retreat!” He and the leader of the Fangpyres jump into a bitten helicopter, unfortunately taking the staff with them.

“He’s getting away with the staff!” Nya exclaims, panicked.

“Right now would be a good time to have those Dragons.” Jay grumbles.

But you guys didn’t have dragons. All you had were large piles of junk and golden weapons. Right, the weapons!

“It'ssss okay, sssson.” Ed hisses, patting his shoulder.

“There is still a way.” Wu said.

“How?” Jay asked, face hopeless.

“Part of reaching your own full potential is understanding your weapon's potential. Once it is in tune with a focused heart, its secrets and powers can be unlocked.” He answered, gesturing to Kai’s sword.

“Oh, this is not the time to be cryptic!” Jay grumbled.

“He means your weapons are vehicles, idiots.” You explained.

Kai groaned as he held up his sword. “Don’t tell me I have to ride this thing like a broomstick.” You imagined that scene in your head and chuckled. Honestly, you wished it was like that. You would pay to watch Kai rocketing towards a snake helicopter thing on his sword with fire propelling him forward like a human missile.

“Jay, concentrate on unlocking your Golden Weapon. Let your heart guide you,” Wu wisely said. “Imagine you're taking flight.”

And successfully, Jay managed to turn his nunchucks into a glider. “Whoa! Haha, did I just do that?” He looked at his glider excitedly. You had to admit, it was cool. A sleek metallic black and blue glider with lightning crackling around it.

The others followed his example, each getting a cool new ride. Kai got a red and black fiery bike, Zane a cool white snowmobile, and Cole a shiny goldenish car made for all terrain. Cole in particular looked really happy with what he got.

“Ha! I hate to hurt Rocky's feelings, but I think he's just been replaced.” He grins, looking around the inside of his new vehicle. Soon, they were all driving off after Lloyd and the Fangpyres (would be a wicked name for a band, honestly).

Nya asked Wu if his flute turned into anything, he looked at it with a small frown, sighed and said, “I wish.”

You all jump into Jay’s parents car thing and also ride after them. Good thing you did, cause right after Jay got the staff he lost his concentration and fell, and the rest while trying to catch him lost their concentration too while arguing who would, so you caught him.

“Heh, nice catch.” He said. 

Edna cooed, “Aw, I knew I liked thissss one,” making you drop Jay into the seat next to you, just a bit flustered. 

The fangpyres started to come after you all in their vehicles to try getting back the staff. Kai shook his sword, trying to get it to become his bike again. “Why isn't this thing working?”

“Your weapon is merely an extension of yourself. If your mind is immobile, so is your weapon.” Wu explains.

“Oh, boy. Oh, gosh. Oh, golly, oh, duh. Get in, boys!” Ed yelled. The Ninja quickly got into the jalopy, since the fangpyres were getting closer. Ed started driving off in the direction the bounty was, just barely making it back before the snakes caught up.

Everyone rushed into the brig, and Nya took the staff and told Jay’s parents: “Come with me. Once we reverse the venom, we can fix you.”

The ninja (and you) rushed to get the bounty up and running, Jay taking charge and telling everyone what to do. You were grinning despite everything. Time To Fly.

Jay hits the button. The special button, the secret weapon. Something every ninja headquarters needs. And…nothing happens. Well that was anticlimactic.

Jay frowned. “Ugh, I don't get what's wrong. I spent forever on this, it's supposed to work!”

His now-healed father approached him from behind. “Uh, son? Maybe I can help?” He asked tentatively, tapping Jay on the shoulder.

Jay gasped when he saw his father being human once more. “Dad! You're okay!”

“You're darn tooting,” Ed smiled at his son, crouching down to take a look at the button. “Oh, let's have a look. Oh, yeah. Uh-huh,” It took him only a few minutes before he announced, “Oh, that should do it. Now try it.”

Then Jay hit the button again and finally, the bounty was airborne.

Chapter Text

It was surprisingly boring, living with the ninja. You should've expected it since you didn't have any powers, and the only reason you were staying was you'd fallen from the sky into the monastery and were now just a regular part of their lives. And only after a week or so, too. Huh. Funny how the ninja made friends so quickly.

Currently, you were watching the ninja training (as you usually did), sitting on the floorboards of the bounty as it cruised through the sky. Nya was busy working on something in the brig, so you sat silently, observing.

Wu was demonstrating some yoga positions, facing away from the ninja, who were whispering among themselves. Then Wu turned around and, noticing this, walked over to Kai (who was too engrossed in whatever Zane was telling them to notice) and pulled at his hair.

"Ow, ow, ow! Hey!" Kai scowled as Wu let go of his hair. Wu looked at him sternly.

"What was so important that you ignored my teachings?"

"Uh, nothing." Kai rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Jay agreed with him, and Cole said they don't talk while Wu was teaching, making you snort. As if they did anything but talk while Wu was teaching. They were always gossiping about something while they were 'training.'

"Everyone was paying attention," Zane stated calmly. Which, you all knew, was false. Zane was the only one paying attention (and you, though you weren't training); the others were chatting.

"Since you all appear to be lacking in focus, then you can all share in the punishment," Wu said sternly, surveying the ninja that stood before him. Cue the protests.

"What?"

"Punishment?"

"It was all Zane!"

"I was merely answering their questions."

Despite the protests, Wu continued, "No free time and no video games. The rest of the day can be used for training. And tomorrow, for that matter."

"Training? For how long?" Kai asked incredulously.

"Until you can answer this simple riddle," Wu stated. You perked up. Ooh, you remembered this part.

"What is the best way to defeat an enemy?"

To make them your friend. You remembered it clearly. It was iconic, with it being how Lloyd joined the team. And since you knew the answer to the riddle, you could hold this over the ninja team to annoy them. Now that would be quite fun.

The ninja all tried to come up with answers, all of them violent, none of them even close to the actual answer. Wu sighed in disappointment at their attempts, "Pace yourselves. You have a lot of training ahead of you. Make sure you sharpen your mind as well as your Spinjitzu." Saying this, he walked away, leaving the ninja to train and ponder the riddle.

"Ugh. What's the best way to defeat an enemy? It could be anything!" Cole groaned, everyone thinking hard about what the answer could be.

As Wu leaves, you, sitting in your little corner, laugh, "It's so obvious." Well, it wasn't really; you'd just watched the show enough times for the answer to this riddle to be ingrained in your memories.

Kai looked in your direction with a scowl. "Oh yeah? Well, if it's so easy, what's the answer, smartass?"

You smiled coyly back at him. "Not telling," You said in a singsong voice. "I'd rather see you all struggle to answer it."

Jay then said encouragingly, "Come on guys, we're smart! We can figure this out."

The fire ninja hits a punching bag, taking out his frustrations about the punishment and you teasing them about it. "Yeah, but let's hear more about this dream."

Zane smiled, "Let me just say, the Green Ninja is awesome."

~

You were still there when Zane finished explaining his dream, in detail, to the other three elemental masters. When he finished, the other three ninja let out a 'whoa' in unison. The last bit of his dream was the Green Ninja wielding fire, so Kai immediately concluded, "So I'm the Green Ninja."

Cole scoffed at him. “What are you talking about? He had incredible strength to lift that cargo and save his life. It’s me!” He countered.

“ No, no. Did you miss the part of the story where the guy pulled out nunchucks? I have nunchucks!” Jay chimed in, brandishing his golden weapon.

“I think you're all missing the point of this dream. The point is the Falcon flew on his arm and it was my dream, so naturally, it's me.” Zane countered.

“Girls, girls, you’re all beautiful.” You interjected in a dry tone. “Can we stop arguing about who’s the green ninja now? For all you idiots know, it’s someone who isn’t even on the team.” Which it was. It was Lloyd, who wasn’t on the team yet.

Jay dismissed you with a wave of his hand. “Nah, it’s gotta be one of us. The green ninja had our skills! Personally, I think we can cross Cole off the list. I could've lifted ten times–”

“Whoa, cross me off the list? Anyone can hold nunchucks.”

Then Wu seemingly materialized out of nowhere. “Since you are not training, you must have already found the answer to my riddle. What is the best way to defeat your enemy?” He asked them, raising an eyebrow.

You snickered at the expression on Kai’s face as he tried to come up with an answer for Sensei Wu. “Uh, the best way to defeat your enemy is to...train, Sensei?”

“Feeble and incorrect. Maybe more training will help you focus. Remember what happened to your vehicles when you lost focus. A razor-sharp weapon is an extension of a razor-sharp mind.” He reprimanded them before walking away as the ninja collectively groaned.

~

You were floating in an inky black void, your surroundings strange yet somehow familiar. Sort of like the void you'd found yourself the first time you'd talked with (Xenia probably) but more… alive.

You couldn't explain it exactly. But the void seemed to be aware, to speak in a million low whispering voices. Whispers you could just barely make out.

‘Use the power.’

‘Find him, free him.’

‘Unleash the ultimate evil.’

This…dark power, this void around you, felt ancient, and powerful, and corruptive, and very, very dangerous.

And all of a sudden you were sinking, sinking, sinking. It started to suffocate you, this dark energy, and you felt like you were drowning in it. You couldn't speak, couldn't move, and the void pressing in on you made it so you couldn't breathe.

Were you about to die?

Just as you thought you would, your eyes shot open at the sound of the bounty’s alarm going off. Just a dream.

You hop off the bed and rush to the brig, glad that something was going on that wasn’t you dreaming about a dark power, just in time to hear Nya explain what was going on, and why the alarm was blaring. “Lloyd and a Serpentine have overtaken Darkley's Boarding School for Bad Boys.”

What an unfortunate name.

“That place is a cesspool for the crooked and the misbehaved.” The lightning ninja commented, obviously reluctant about the idea that they all go help.

“Well,” Cole pointed out. “That doesn’t mean they don’t need our help.” He looked over at Zane. “Step on it.” Zane does as he says, pressing the fly button.

“Ninja-”

You interrupt their catchphrase to ask, “Can I come?”

“Official ninja business, so no, you can't come.” Was the answer, Kai being the one who said it. “Plus, you don't even have powers.” He added.

At his mention of you not possessing powers, you heard the whispers from the dream you'd had just a few minutes ago again, but louder this time. One particular phrase being the loudest.

‘Use the power.’

You purse your lips. What power? You didn't have any powers.

Right?

Nya noticed your expression and assumed you were disappointed about not being able to go with the Ninja on the mission. She walked over to you and patted your shoulder consolingly. “Hey, it's fine! We can relax and hang out while they go on the mission.”

Her talking snaps you out of your head, and those whispers quiet down. “Wha- uh…yeah. We can…yeah.” You nodded, still thinking about those weird voices in your head.

~

The bounty was parked right over Darkley’s, above the roof in the air. When the ninja were lowered by the anchor into the school, Luna decided to talk to you in your head.

‘How’s it going?’

‘Still stuck in Ninjago with no memories of my past life, thanks.’

‘Good, then?’

‘Could be worse, but I'm sure it could be better if you told me why I'm here.’

‘Y’know I just remembered I've got this thing I have to do, uh...bye!’

She disappeared just as you were about to grill her for information. Ugh. Looking back down at how the fight was going with the Ninja, you saw Jay chasing Lloyd around the roof. Lloyd tries his best to escape but he sees how high up exactly he is and is sufficiently scared enough to stop. The bounty then descends, and you, Nya, and Wu all walk onto the roof, you trying not to look down at how high up you were.

“Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon, you come here right now!” Wu said sternly, Jay then saying, “I got him.” And grabbing the kid, throwing him over his shoulder.

“Whoa! Hey, let me go!” Lloyd squirms and kicks, but eventually gives up trying to get away.

“What should we do with him?” Cole asked with a head tilt. “Wash his mouth out with soap for a year?”

“Ground him indefinitely?” Kai suggested.

Then Zane said, “Have him sit in a corner for a century?”

You shuddered at all of those suggestions. Thank goodness, Wu wasn't going to do any of that.

Instead, he ominously stated, “I know exactly what we must do.” Which you knew meant reading him a storybook before bed. Later that day, exactly that happened. Wu had Lloyd set up in his room, and before bed, he read him a story about why Jack the Rabbit never trusts a snake. You and the ninja watched from the doorway, you, with a soft smile on your face at the sweet family moment, and them, with varying degrees of disgruntledness on their faces.

When Wu finishes the story, Lloyd murmurs, “Oh, if my dad had read me that book, I would never have made that mistake. I'm sorry, uncle.”

“Oh, you do not need to apologize. I am sure that if your father was still here, it would be the first book he'd read.” Wu smiled kindly at his nephew, ruffling his hair. “Good night, nephew. Sweet dreams.”

“Good night, uncle.” Lloyd smiles, closing his eyes and drifting off.

Wu smiled and got up, walking out of the room and gently shutting the door. When he did so, Kai said in a disgruntled tone, “I don't get it, sensei.”

Jay continued the thought. “Why isn't the little brat getting punished?” You bonked him on the head, making him let out an ‘oof.’ 

“He lived in a boarding school for villain kids, what else was he going to turn out like?” You scowled.

“Still, we had to train all day and he gets read a bedtime story? It's not fair.” Cole huffed, arms crossed.

“Hmm, you're right, I nearly forgot.” Wu mused. “Why are you not still training? Did you find the answer to the riddle?” He surveyed the ninja with a stern gaze, causing them to take a sudden interest in the floor.

Kai sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “No, Sensei. We still don't know what the best way to defeat your enemy is.” The four ninja start walking away to train, heads hung low.

“Ooh, ooh, can I say?” You look at Wu with a smile, bouncing a little. You'd told him you knew the answer earlier in the day, and he had been pleased that someone knew what he was trying to teach the ninja. He nodded, a signal for you to go ahead.

“It's to make them your friend.” You stated with a grin. The four all let out a consecutive. “Ohh,” nodding.

After this, they all went to sleep, and so did you, hoping not to have any dreams about drowning.

Chapter Text

It was just an average morning upon the Destiny’s Bounty. Kai was playing video games, Cole was cooking, Zane was doing the laundry, and Jay was working on a training bot. And you and Lloyd? Well, you two were running around to set up pranks and sow dissent (on Master Wu’s orders) within the team. 

How dastardly.

First on your list: Kai.

For his prank, Lloyd beat all his Fist to Face 2 high scores using Cole’s profile. So later, when Kai was about to play, you and Lloyd walked into the gaming room, you trying not to giggle and give away the game as Lloyd said, “Hey, Kai! Saw Cole beat your high score. You should've seen it. It was pretty spectacular.”

You nodded in agreement as Kai looked at Lloyd, perplexed.

“Uh, you must be talking about Sitar Legend. This is Fist to Face 2. No one beats me on my game.”

You shrugged. “Eh, maybe we saw wrong, but I remember this being the loading screen.”

“Yeah, could be wrong. Anyway, see ya!” Lloyd and you left, the former whistling as you two walked away. While in the gaming room, Kai checked Cole’s profile. And sure enough, all his scores were higher than Kai’s.

Infuriated, he yelled out, “Cole!”

Here, you two split up, Lloyd going to Jay to tell him Zane messed with his training bot (in reality, it was you two) and you to Cole in the kitchen, where he was making Violet Berry Soup.

Cole is happily stirring a pot of his latest concoction, when he tries a spoonful, immediately spitting it out because it's much spicier than it was supposed to be.

You call out to Cole from the outside, “Hey, Cole, I saw Jay spice up your food. I told him not to, but he said your cooking was way too bland. Just thought I'd let you know!” But of course, it wasn't Jay, it was you. You didn't want to ruin such a good soup, but Master Wu had had you and Lloyd do this, so was it really your fault? Nah.

Last on the list was Zane, but you'd let Lloyd take care of it. You already knew what was going to happen. Ah, Zane the Pink Ninja. A classic.

It was only a few minutes later that you and Lloyd were hiding in the bathroom, giggling while listening to the Ninja argue. The two of you high-fived, grinning all the while.

Of course, the fun came to an end when Master Wu came and revealed the two of you hiding in there with huge, Cheshire cat grins plastered on your faces.

The four ninja gasped and spoke, both in unison, “You two did this?” Cole glares at Lloyd, and Kai at you.

Cole stalked towards Lloyd, saying, “Boys, I get first dibs on-” But before he could do anything, Wu grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him.

“No dibs. I put them up to this for today's lesson. I wanted to show the destructive power of rumors and that jumping to conclusions can only lead to trouble.” Wu explained sternly, pulling Cole back. “Did you ever think to find out if the accusations were true?”

Cole shrugged his hand off of his shoulder. “Uh, no offense, Sensei, but let me jump to this conclusion: today's lesson is lame.”

Jay nodded eagerly, chiming in, “Yeah, why can't you just teach us to paralyze your enemy with one finger, or find out if a man is lying by the twitch of his nose?”

Wu fixed him with a deadpan look. “Because not all lessons are about fighting.” After a pause, he added, “And I misplaced my lesson book.”

At this moment, Kai noticed a book in Lloyd’s pocket, which he'd stolen from Wu (not your idea) before everything with the pranks. He snatched it out of his pocket, holding it up and asking, “You mean this lesson book?”

Lloyd frowns. “It was the perfect plan until you had to show up and mess everything up–” He's cut off when Cole closes the bathroom door on you and him.

Through the speaker then comes the voice of Nya. “If you're done fooling around, I could use you guys in the brig. We do still have a snake problem to attend to. Over and out!”

Kai mutters something about thinking this was a ninja headquarters, and Nya responds with: “You do know I can hear you...over and out!”

~

All of you make your way into the brig, where Nya explains what she's discovered.

“Last we heard of Pythor, he stole the Map of Dens from Lloyd and is now on his way to open the last two Serpentine tombs.”

Lloyd groans, “Ugh, don't remind me.” Looking both embarrassed and remorseful.

“Pythor's our most dangerous threat,” Wu remarks, stroking his beard thoughtfully. “If he finds those tombs before we do, with his intellect and all four tribes unleashed, there's no telling what he'll do.”

Wait, shouldn't Wu know where the tombs are? He was alive during the Serpentine war, he led the band of elemental masters that defeated the Serpentine.

Plot holes galore, you supposed.

“But those tombs could be anywhere. Without the map, we might as well just throw darts at a map!” Jay exclaims, visibly frustrated. Nya smiles.

“Good idea. Why don't we?” She grabs two darts, one red and one blue, and throws them at a map, marking the locations of the Fangpyre and Hypnobrai tombs respectively. “These are the two locations of the Hypnobrai and Fangpyre tombs.”

“Show off,” Kai mutters under his breath. You elbow him.

“And this is Pythor's tomb.” Nya places another dart, a purple one this time, on the map. "After many hours of ruminating on why the tombs were placed in these three precise locations, I discovered a secret pattern. If you notice, all three are in line with the Ninjago symbol for serpent.”

“So the last two tombs must be here and here.” Jay pointed out the last two locations on the map. “Ah, you are so smart.”

Nya shrugged, smiling. “Was there ever any doubt?”

“There is little time. Kai and Jay, you head to the Venomari Tomb.” Wu instructed the red and blue ninja. “Cole and Zane, you take the Constrictai Tomb. And take this.” He handed Zane the sacred flute. “You might need it if you run into Pythor. Good luck, ninja.”

Nya interjected, “What am I gonna do?”

“Yeah, what are we gonna do?” Lloyd agreed.

You nodded too. “Yeah, and me.”

“Nya, (Y/N), I need you two here to make sure Lloyd doesn't get into any more trouble.”

Nya frowned, but replied, “Yes, sensei.” In an annoyed tone. You just shrugged. It wasn't like you were expecting to be sent on a mission. Besides, Lloyd may be a bit of a brat, but he was a good kid when he wanted to be, you didn't really mind looking after the little scamp.

While the ninja rushed off to kick ass and fight snakes, you took Lloyd and headed to your room to hang out and talk. He'd taken a bit of a liking to you, and you him.

You wanted him to feel like he had you to rely on, since you knew his future, knew the responsibilities the kid would have as the green ninja. You knew what he'd go through.

You didn't want him to go through it alone.

About an hour later, you two were sitting in a peaceful silence, Lloyd sitting still on your bed in front of you as you sketched a picture of him. You'd shown him a few drawings (the ones that weren't of his future, you didn't want him to know what he'd go through yet, he was just a kid) that he'd liked a lot. Then he looked at you with pleading green eyes while asking you to draw him. You couldn't refuse the kid. So here you were.

Unfortunately for your peace, you got a sudden, horribly painful headache, causing you to drop your pencil and clutch at your head. It felt like someone was stabbing through your brain with a hot iron rod that was also melting inside your head, the molten metal burning you from the inside out.

You heard a ringing in your ears, and as you squeezed your eyes shut, you could see evil-looking red eyes and hear a menacing, grating laugh. You nearly blacked out from the pain, only conscious because Lloyd was shaking you, looking concerned and a little scared.

The pain subsided, and you could finally open your eyes again, seeing the kid holding onto the sleeve of your hoodie, concerned. He called your name softly.

“Are you okay? You- you looked really hurt…” He sounded shaken up. Did it really look that painful that he was this scared for you?

You let out a shaky breath, sitting up straighter. “I- I'll be fine.” You managed to croak out. “I just- I just need to rest for a bit.” Lloyd looked doubtful, but he didn't press.

You leaned back against the headboard, running a hand over your face. What the fuck was that?

And was it connected to that dream you'd had about the void?

~

You recover enough by the time dinner rolls around and the ninja are back that no one looks too concerned. Except Lloyd, who sits next to you and holds onto your sleeve, as if to make sure you're okay.

Jay was telling the story of what all happened earlier. “So then, just when we were gonna bite it, this huge mechanical robot–”

Zane interrupted him to correct, “Samurai. It was a Samurai.”

Lloyd tilted his head in confusion. “A sama-what?”

Wu explained to his nephew what a samurai was, while Kai said, “He was a hundred feet high, with weapons coming out every part of him.” Then he leaned over to you and whispered conspiratorially, “Look at Sensei's beard. It's moving like snakes.” You facepalmed.

“When is this Venomari spit supposed to wear off? It's starting to get annoying.” Nya complained. You couldn't help but agree with the girl. It was funny…at first. But his ramblings made him sound like he was high. At this point, you might just turn in early. Especially since your head was honestly still pounding from earlier. 

So while everyone was discussing the events of today, you quickly finished your food and quietly slipped off to go to sleep.

Chapter Text

You, the four ninja, Master Wu, and Lloyd are all standing on the bounty's deck. The ninja are teaching Lloyd about the serpentine. Below, the postman is trying to catch up to the bounty using makeshift wings, with a package in hand.

“First, I'll stomp on his tail. Then when he turns, a thunder clap to his ears. Then when he's stunned, I'll disarm him.” Lloyd says triumphantly, a response to the ninja quizzing him on the best way to disarm a serpentine without knowing the type.

“Too late,” Cole shrugged. “He's already hypnotized you and now you're under his control.”

“Or he's already put you in a squeeze,” Zane stated.

“Or spit on you with his hallucinatory venom. Trust me, bad stuff.” Kai said, shuddering as he remembered the effects of the hallucinatory venom.

Lloyd groans, looking at his uncle. “Uncle, what's the best way to stun a Serpentine if you don't know what kind they are?”

“I'd guess it was the sacred flute.” You said from where you were observing (as you do). Wu nodded.

“Yes, it was the Sacred Flute you four carelessly lost.” Wu looked at the ninja sternly.

“Hey, no, no, no, we didn't lose it. Pythor stole it.” Jay protested.

“Whatever the case, without it I fear we have nothing to combat their powers,” Wu sighed. “We may have prevented them from uniting in the past, but they will try again, and one day they will be stronger.”

‘And release the great devourer,’ you thought.

‘Oh, don't sound so glum!’

‘Were you behind the headache I had last night?’

‘...no.’

For some strange reason, you didn't believe her.

“Don't worry. I've almost reached my Full Potential,” Cole bragged, a smug look on his face. “And when I become the Green Ninja, we're not gonna need any magic flute.”

You snorted. It was funny to see the ninja bicker over who was the green ninja when you knew it wasn't any of them.

“You're gonna be the Green Ninja?” Kai chuckled. “Don't make me laugh.”

The white ninja looked at his comrades, puzzled. “I thought it was decided that I was destined to become the Green Ninja.” He interjected.

Jay shook his head. “The only thing decided about you, Zane, is that you're weird.” This discussion, of course, devolves into an argument, which is only broken up when Lloyd asks Wu what was in the parcel he'd gotten from the postman.

“Your new uniforms,” Wu stated as he opened the box, making the ninja gasp in awe. You went over to see the new uniforms, and you had to admit, they did look sweet.

Each uniform was fitted with armor, each a color corresponding to one of the elemental ninja. The suits had gold highlights in some areas, making the color pop. And the fabric was soft, light, and breathable, easy to move around in.

Lloyd frowned. “Oh, nothing for me?”

“Um, you get, uh, the box.” Before Wu has to explain anything further to his dear nephew, the alarm of the bounty goes off and saves him.

“Sorry to break up the moment, boys, but a small faction of our slithering friends are stirring up trouble at Mega Monster Amusement Park,” Cole says.

Lloyd’s eyes lit up. “Amusement park? Can I go? Can I go with you, please?” He pleaded. “Let me make things up. I can help!”

Wu lets out a small sigh. “I'm sorry, nephew. You will stay here, where it's safe.”

Lloyd frowned, deflating. “Aw, ninja get all the fun.” You ruffled his hair.

“Oh, don't worry Lloyd, we can have plenty of fun here! Let them handle all the boring ninja fights and weird snakes.” You leaned down to whisper conspiratorially in his ear, “Besides, we can plan pranks for when those four come back.”

Your whisper made Lloyd giggle, and he nodded with a bright smile.

“C'mon, let's go and finish that drawing of you.” You smiled, offering him a hand which he happily grabbed. The two of you went to your room, and thankfully, this time you weren't interrupted by weird headaches!

~

A few days later, it's Kai’s turn to look after Lloyd, and you're bored, so you tag along. Kai ends up dropping you two off at the kiddie arcade.

“Okay, I know it's my turn to look after you, but just play a few games and stay put while I look around,” Kai said, kneeling to talk to Lloyd face-to-face. “I have a feeling the Samurai may show up.” He hands Lloyd a few coins and stands, looking at you. “Make sure the kid doesn't get into any trouble, alright?” You nod in assent.

As Kai is about to get onto his bike, Lloyd grabs onto him. “Let me help.”

The red ninja shakes his head. “No.”

“Come on. At least drop us off at a decent arcade.” He pouts, letting go of Kai.

Kai just shrugs, revving up his bike and saying, “Sorry, Shorty,” before driving off.

“Kai, wait!” But the fire ninja is already too far to hear. Lloyd crosses his arms in frustration.

You smile ruefully at him, ruffling his hair. “It’ll be fine. C'mon, let's go have fun.” But when you two are about to enter the arcade, you hear voices.

The Serpentine.

“I hear he found it. And everyone is gathering again.” Came the unmistakable hiss of Skales, the general of the Hypnobrai tribe.

“Impossible. The Lost City does not exist.” Said another, unfamiliar voice, this one still undoubtedly a serpent.

“Well, it isn't lost anymore.” Replied Skales with a chuckle. “And I heard there's gonna be a fight.”

This must've piqued the other snake’s interest, for he said, “A fight? Count me in.”

The two serpentine walked (or slithered, in Skales’s case–he was the only one of the pair with a tail) to a bus. Seeing them do this, Lloyd scanned the area and his eyes landed on two Hypnobrai disguises.

He tugged on your hand and pointed at the costumes. “C'mon, let's follow them!” He whispered.

You shook your head. “It's dangerous, we could get caught.”

Lloyd shook his head enthusiastically. “Don't worry, we won't! And even if we do, the ninja will save us! They always do.”

You sighed, then followed him into the shop, using the coins Kai had given him for the arcade to buy the two costumes, which you quickly put on and snuck into the bus, you going first.

“All aboard. Next stop, Ouroboros” Skales said. Then he noticed Lloyd enter behind you. “Hey, you, hold it there.”

You two froze.

“Huh?” Lloyd said, trying not to look suspicious.

“Last one in closes the door.”

“Uh, sure thing.” Lloyd does as he's told and the two of you find seats on the bus. It soon leaves, driving through the city for a whole day. You doze most of the time, and so does Lloyd, who sleeps leaning against your side.

By the time the bus stops, it's already night. You shake him awake, murmuring, “Wake up, bud, we're here.”

The two of you follow the crowd of Serpentine into an arena, the seating around it being made of sandstone and the ground inside the arena being golden desert sand.

Pythor slithers into the center of the arena. “I bring you together to the Lost City of Ouroboros, before the statue of our very own Great Devourer,” He gestures to the giant statue of a snake head on one side of the arena. “To speak of unity.”

A few serpentine started to object, asking about the fight they'd been promised. They started to chant, “Slither Pit! Slither Pit! Slither Pit! Slither Pit!”

Pythor hissed in anger. “You want a show? You want to see a fight? I ask for your allegiance but you will not give it. So I will take it.”

The snakes viewing this started to murmur amongst themselves. Fangtom narrowed his eyes, and one of his heads spoke, “What are you saying?”

Pythor’s response: “I challenge the four tribe Generals for their staffs and their allegiance. At once!” What the hell? How was he planning to win- oh right. He had the sacred flute. But would he use it against his own people?

A general you hadn't seen yet, the general of the Venomari, said, “I fought hard for this staff and will not give it up easily.”

“There's no way he can defeat the four of us at once.” The constrictai general was the one who spoke this time.

Unfortunately for him, yes, Pythor could beat all four generals at once. He just had to play the sacred flute, which he did, rendering the other serpentine immobile.

“He's using the Sacred Flute against his own,” Lloyd whispered to you. You nodded.

“Yeah. What a scumbag.”

Skales quickly throws Pythor his staff (he must have been in on it). The rest of the generals are taken down quickly, and Pythor gains all 5 serpentine tribes’ staffs.

“Bow to your master. Bow to your master, Serpentine!” Pythor held up all five staffs, and all the serpentine viewers started to bow. You and Lloyd did too, but Lloyd dropped his rattles.

Shit.

~

Well, the two of you were stuck in a cage now. Lloyd was sitting on the floor, glum, and you were leaning against the bars, watching the serpentine. What were they doing? Pythor, in particular, looked like he was waiting for…something. And then that something was revealed.

Lloyd gasped, pointing at the arena floor. “The ninja!” They came. However, they did get trapped. Idiots.

“Looks like we've caught the main event.” Pythor laughs sinisterly, grinning. “You say you wanted a battle, and I give you one. I give you ninja versus Samurai!” A gate opened, and the Samurai X mech was brought out in chains, with Nya inside (you were the only one who knew her identity). And then they started to fight, with the Samurai attacking first.

In response, the ninja formed the tornado of creation, making a slingshot though the projectile was easily blocked. Pythor then activated spikes and, soon after, tilted the arena floor. How fucking unfair!

The fight didn’t last for much longer, as the samurai mech blasted off with the ninja holding on. Lloyd cheered,

“Go, ninja, go!”

Then he turned to you, a little scared. “They’ll come back for us, right…?”

You crouched down and ruffled his hair. “Don’t worry.” You smiled. “The ninja will save us. They always do.”

Chapter Text

How long ago had you and Lloyd been captured? Was it a few hours, a day, or a few days? You didn't have a calendar, so you didn't know. You wondered when the Ninja would show up. It had been…a while.

You didn't have much to do other than sleep and talk to Lloyd, and although you two had been growing closer, he preferred to sleep the hours away.

So while you two sat in your damp cell, Lloyd asleep with his head in your lap, you thought.

You shifted through your memories, all you remembered of the story of Ninjago, and were surprised at the detail in which you remembered the show. Maybe it was an effect of you forgetting everything else. Now you could remember details of the show you'd otherwise forget. You knew precisely what was going on with the ninja currently.

Right about now would be when Zane was having his existential crisis over being an android- sorry, nindroid. Very important distinction.

So, it'd probably be a while before the Ninja got you and Lloyd out of here. You knew they would, though, so you didn't see the point in attempting to escape.

You shivered. It was cold in here. Man, you wished you had a blanket. Lloyd had his hoodie, but you were in a plain black t-shirt.

Speaking of Lloyd, said blonde was asleep. So you were quite alone. Well, until you heard a certain someone in your head who you hadn't talked to in a hot minute.

‘Looks like you've gotten yourself in a bit of trouble there.’

‘How nice of you to notice, I didn't know.’ You grumbled. ‘Are you here for unnecessary chatter or are you planning on helping for once? Maybe telling me everything might help?’ You didn't have to elaborate; judging from her nervous laugh she knew what you meant.

‘Listen, listen! It wasn't even my idea to begin with! I was just going along with his plan and-’

‘His plan? Who’s this mysterious he, huh?’

‘Uhm…nobody?’

‘Yeah right. Is this oh-so-mysterious “he” the guy who uprooted my life?’

‘Well, I'd say he improved it. You get to meet all your favorite characters in person!’

‘I doubt my current situation is an improvement from my previous life.’

‘Could be.’

‘I can't exactly know that since, y'know, my memories are missing!’

‘Well-’ Luna paused. ‘Hold that thought. I gotta go. Talk to you later.’ And she left. You didn't like her much. So cryptic, and for what? And who the hell was this ‘he’ she mentioned?

So many questions, and not a single answer.

~

It was only when Lloyd woke up that you took your mind off of trying to think of who the hell ‘he’ was. You would have kept thinking about it if Lloyd hadn't started to incessantly poke you on the arm. 

He only stopped when you turned to him and said, “Yes?”

“I'm bored.”

“So am I. What do you want me to do?”

He shrugged. “I dunno. Play something with me.”

“Alright. What should we play?” You asked. He shrugged again. He wasn't being very helpful. You sighed. “How about you ask me about me, and I answer? We can get to know each other better.”

“I guess that's fine. Hmm…” He tapped his chin, thinking. “Do you have powers like the ninja do?”

At his question, you heard those whispers again.

‘Use it.’

‘Accept his gift.’

‘You are his vessel.’

‘Giveingiveingivein-’

You gritted your teeth and ignored the voices, focusing back on Lloyd and letting them face into the background. “No, I don't. Not that I know of, at least.” You shrugged.

The quick whispering of the voices stopped. Huh.

Lloyd nodded. “No wonder you don't go on missions. Do you wish you had powers?”

You thought about that for a moment. Did you wish you had powers? It'd certainly be cool, to be able to control fire, or wind, or earth, or water. But great power came with great responsibility. Would you be able to deal with that responsibility if you did have elemental powers?

Probably not.

But regardless, you kind of did wish you had powers. Everyone around you did. Even if some didn't know it yet (Lloyd and Nya).

You nodded in answer to Lloyd's question. “Yeah, I kinda do. I guess.”

His questions continued until you both got bored of it. Then you two decided to just nap, you leaning back against the wall and Lloyd leaning against you.

The warmth was nice.

Chapter Text

The Serpentine had the first Fangblade, which you knew with certainty, because Pythor had come to gloat for almost an hour straight when they had acquired it.

They'd also let you two out of where you were being kept, if only to put you in chains and drag you along to get the second Fangblade. A futile attempt, as you knew. It was made into the trophy for the dance competition the ninja would have to enter. 

Damn, you wished you could see that. Wouldn't that be fun. 

Lloyd was forced to fetch it for them, they were too chicken to send one of their own to get through the traps. 

You couldn't help but look on anxiously, though you knew he'd be fine. He was the Green Ninja, he had plot armor. 

Sending him was all for naught, since, as mentioned earlier, the Fangblade was gone. 

“Do we still get to be freed?” Lloyd called back hopefully. 

Pythor hissed a sharp no. Well, that was that. More waiting on the Ninja to save you. This ‘damsel in distress’ thing was boring when you knew when and how you'd be saved.

~

It's hot. Really hot. Obviously, since you're in a volcano. 

The Serpentine had taken you and Lloyd to the fire temple. Why they kept taking you two along to find the Fangblade, you didn't exactly know. 

Eh, probably because they needed people they could sacrifice to take risks. 

And now you and Lloyd were in the fire temple in a cage, Lloyd nervously looking down into the magma every few minutes and clutching onto your arm, and you the picture of calm. 

“It'll be fine, kid.” You ruffled his hair. “They'll come get us.”

“You keep saying that and they still haven't!” Lloyd pointed out. “It's been so long.”

“I have a good feeling about today.” Well, not just a feeling.

Your ‘feeling’ is proved right when Pythor yells, “Ninja? Attack!” And all hell breaks loose.

Jay uses wind to blast a few serpentine away from him. Wait, he could do that? Then what the hell was there a completely separate element of wind for?

Plot holes, plot holes. Annoying ass plot holes.

Kai, while surrounded by several serpentine, brings out his sword of fire, causing the volcano to rumble and shake, which knocks both you and Lloyd off balance and you land on your butt with a soft “Oomph…”

Even when Nya points out that the sword is making this place unstable, he keeps it out. Idiot.

The serpentine begin to flee when it's made obvious they won't win this, but not without some parting gifts. Said gifts were, one, the constrictai burrowing out like moles to make the volcano’s stability even worse than what it already was. Two, they dropped your and Lloyd’s cage (which they initially tried carrying out with them) onto a platform near rising magma.

Lloyd grabs onto you tighter and whimpers in fear. He looks up to where his father stands and yells out, “Dad!”

“Lloyd!” Garmadon manages to grab Lloyd and you (you were a little surprised but you wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth…that was the saying, right?) just before the cage bottom melts. Then there's a sweet father-son reunion where the two hug it out and you swear you're getting cavities by standing too close.

Kai rushes past, making you flail your arms to stay upright because he nearly knocks you back into the magma. You're saved by Cole, who grabs you by the waist before you can topple over.

“You alright?” He looks at you with concern obvious in his earthen brown eyes. You nod and step away from the edge, eyeing it like it's going to break under you.

After looking over you one last time, he yells after Kai to come back, because the volcano was on the verge of eruption and it wasn't safe.

Kai just yells back, “Then I better be quick!” And throws his golden sword at Pythor, knocking the fangblade out of the anacondrai’s grasp and impaling both it and his sword in a rock. Pythor obviously decides it isn't worth it because he books it after trying to get the fangblade out.

Kai then jumps down to it, also struggling to get it out but slowly making some progress.

“Leave it, Kai! It's not worth your life!” Jay yells, he, Nya, and Master Wu are already at the entrance.

“Not without the fangblade!” Kai grunts, straining to get it out.

Garmadon, you, and Cole start to move to the entrance, but Lloyd refuses to go. “What about Kai? Kai!” He, too, starts yelling at him to leave the blade. Before he can say anything much, however, the ground beneath his feet crumbles and he lands on a rock surrounded by quickly rising magma.

“No! Lloyd!” Lord Garmadon nearly jumps after him but Cole and you hold him back. 

The kid starts panicking once the magma starts to get closer. Meanwhile, Kai got his sword out but the fangblade still isn't budging. “It, unh, won't budge.” He grunts. But when it finally does budge, with how hard he'd been pulling at it, the momentum carries it away from him and it ends up on a rock, also surrounded by rapidly rising magma.

“We have to get out of here, or else none of us will get out of here!” Wu says, ushering everyone out. 

Garmadon protests (of course, his son is still inside!), “But my son!” You don't want to leave Lloyd behind either, and neither do you want to leave Kai, and in your current state, you couldn't remember what would happen now or later, which made it worse. When you were captured, you remembered, but that was because you had time to think.

Now, it was so hectic, you couldn't. And that scared you.

Garmadon is still trying to go back when the Bounty takes off and the volcano explodes, a fiery ball headed right toward the Bounty.

Well shit, that ain't good.

But it is.

Because right inside the ball of fire are Lloyd and Kai.

“It's Kai! He's found his True Potential!” Jay grins as everyone notices the two. The two lands, mercifully not starting a fire on the bounty, and Kai looks at Master Wu with understanding dawning on his face. He seems to have had a revelation.

And as soon as his power simmers down, he collapses on the deck from overexertion and the bounty flies off, with you rushing over to him and crouching down.

“He's not dead, right?” Lloyd asks anxiously. Poor kid. He hadn't even been revealed as the green ninja yet and he'd been in several near-death experiences, and now Kai passed out right in front of him after saving his life.

Right, he was the green ninja! And this was around when it was supposed to be revealed! That must've been the revelation Kai had had when in the fire temple.

You check Kai’s pulse. “He's alive, don't worry,” You offer the blonde a reassuring smile. “Just needs rest.”

~

It was an hour or so later, when Kai was awake again that everyone gathered in the brig, standing off to the side while the Garmadons had a proper reunion. Kai was still sore from using his true potential, so he leaned on you for support.

“Dad…is it really you?” Lloyd said, with a tinge of hopefulness and anxiety, scared that his father would dissolve right in front of him. With good reason, too, he'd been abandoned by his mother when he was younger at a boarding school for villains, and his father had been banished to the underworld when he was too young to remember him.

“It is, son.” Garmadon gave him an unsure, tentative smile.

“Dad, why do you have four arms?” The blonde tilted his head inquisitively. A big grin plastered across Cole’s face.

“He's gonna be okay!”

Everyone cheered.

Lord Garmadon then turned to Kai with a grateful look. “Thank you, Kai.”

Zane also turned to Kai. “How did you survive? How did you uncover the key to unlocking your powers?”

Kai paused, looking at Lloyd before looking back at everyone and stepping away from you. “I knew when I had to make a choice. I wanted the Fangblade so badly, to prove I was good enough to become the Green Ninja. But then…I figured it out.” He paused again. “All of my training to become the best ninja wasn't in preparation to become the Green Ninja. It was…” He glanced at Lloyd regretfully. Maybe he was envious, maybe he didn't want him to be the green ninja because of the burden.

“To protect him.” You finished his sentence for him. Everyone (minus Lloyd) caught onto what you two were implying.

Lloyd looked…mildly uncomfortable with everyone staring at him so intently. “What? What is everybody looking at me for?”

Nya slowly says, “That means…” She, Cole, and Kai grab the golden weapons and place them in front of Lloyd, who takes a nervous step back and glances over at you as they start to glow and levitate.

“Lloyd is the Green Ninja,” Wu stated, amazed. “I had thought it would be one of you, but it was him the whole time. It all makes sense. Not only have you four been chosen to protect the Golden Weapons, but also to protect the Chosen One.” Just as he finishes his explanation, the weapons fall back down.

Garmadon also has his own crushing realization. “That means…”

They were fated to fight.

Wu nods sorrowfully. “The battle lines have been drawn, brother.” He says. “Sadly, our family has only become more divided. Brother versus brother, and now…” He looks at his nephew. “Son versus father.”

Chapter Text

The rewrite is OUT!!! I decided to delete this not immediately but once I get the rewrite to the point this was at. Which I hope will happen soon, I don't know, might be another few months. You can find it on my profile titled "Vessel".