Chapter 1: Memories
A five-year-old Cole was walking with his dad to the park. He had told his son that he was meeting an old friend there and that he was bringing his daughter. "I don't wanna be friends with a girl!" he protested. "It'll be good for you, and besides, girls don't really have cooties." His father told him. When they got there, a man was sitting on a bench. "Lou! There you are!" he called. "Hey there Tyler!" They walked over to him. "Where's your little girl?" His father asked. "She's hiding over there," he said, pointing to the nearby tree.
Cole ran over to where she was supposed to be. "Hi!" he greeted her. "Hi," she said quietly. "I'm Sky." She smiled at him. "I'm Cole" he informed her. He held his hand out. She was hesitant to touch she shook it, it seemed to burn a little. "Ow!" he exclaimed. "I'm so sorry!" she apologized. "My dad says I'm hot blooded and that's why my skin is hot." "It's ok," he said, trying to calm her down. He smiled, and she smiled back. "Cole? Cole! COLE!" "Ahh!" Cole shouted.
He sat up to see Jay at the side of his bed. "Come on Sleeping Beauty, you're gonna be late for class!" "Get out!" Cole barked back. "I'll be there soon." When Jay left, Cole got up to get dressed. While he was getting ready, he couldn't help but think of the girl in his dream. She had been nice through the single-digit years. But when she turned ten, she changed. It was like someone flipped a switch. She'd cause mischief and be snarky. But she was still nice to him. She cared about him. "Hurry up Cole!" Jay yelled through the door. "Relax, relax, I'm coming" he responded. He left the room to go start the day.
Cole was sitting in the classroom when he heard a few students talking in the hallway. "Did you hear the rumors about that gang in New Ninjago City?" "Yeah! Man, they sound scary." "I'm afraid to go to the city at night now!" Cole wondered about this gang. 'Do the guys know about this?' he thought. He had some free time since it was recess so he went to the teacher's lounge to find the others. Sure enough, they were all there. Jay, Nya, and Zane were sitting on the couch, Kai was leaning against the wall, and Sensei Wu was getting tea. "Hey Cole," Kai greeted him. "Glad you could could make it." "Thanks" Cole said with sarcasm. "So, have any of you guys heard of a gang in New Ninjago City?" He got many confused looks. "I don't recall there was a gang in the city" Zane replied. "Me neither" Nya added. "Who told you there was a gang?" asked Kai. "No one. I just heard some kids talking about it in the hall" said Cole. "Maybe we should ask them about it" Jay suggested.
Cole thought about how the kids probably wouldn't say anything. "It's worth a shot" Cole decided. "I'll go with you," Kai said. "I wanna see how they got the idea that there's a gang in the city." So the two went to the courtyard to ask the children about the rumor. When they got there, Cole saw the three kids that he heard in the hallway. He pointed them out to Kai, who walked over to them. "Hi Mr. Kai" one of them said. "Hi. So, Mr. Cole says he heard you talking about a gang earlier?" The trio looked at each other nervously. "You're not in trouble," Cole assured them. "We just want to know more about it since we didn't hear anything." "Oh, well we're not sure if it's 100% true, but we think it is" one of the boys stated. "Well what do you know about them?" Kai asked impatiently. "We heard that if you go out at night in their territory, they'll first tell you to leave" he started. "Then if you don't, they freeze you right in your tracks" another chimed in. "Then they'll beat you down. And if you still refuse to leave, then they bring out the leader, and... she'll burn you alive!" The third one finished, that last part in unison. "Whoa" Kai said, trying to process the violence. "Wait, 'she'?" Cole asked. "Yeah," the first one answered "a gang of girls doesn't sound scary, but this one is." "Thanks for telling us" Cole told them. He grabbed the still thinking Kai and went back inside. From the description, it sounded like Sky and her friends. He could try to stop them, but he couldn't do it alone. It was too risky bringing someone with him, so he put the thought in the back of his mind.
After school had ended for the day, Nya called them all to the teacher's lounge. She apparently found something important. "I'm glad you're all here." Nya started. "I was researching the history of Ninjago for class when I came across something a little... disturbing." All eyes focused on an old scroll she rolled out on the table. "As you know, the elemental powers were passed down. But what you probably don't know is that when the powers were being transferred to the golden weapons, they split into two parts. Good and bad." "So if we obtained the good powers, what happened to the bad one?" Zane questioned. "I was wondering that too. I was able to find more scrolls containing the information" Nya said as she took more scrolls from her bag. Rolling open another scroll, she began to explain. "It says here that the bad powers separated and found their way into four young boys. The boys noticed the changes soon after. When they were teenagers, they found the spinjitzu master and forced him to teach them his ways.
After few years of teaching them, the master refused to continue because they were using their powers for evil. They fought the master and weakened him, then left to learn by themselves." "So what happened? Do they still exist?" Jay asked in a panic. Nya opened another scroll to answer the question and continue the story. "No, they died a long time ago. But not before they mastered their elements. They caused years of chaos and destruction. But they knew that eventually that they were getting older, and could not continue their rein." "So the evil elements are gone. Why should we worry?" Kai pointed out." Nya unrolled yet another scroll. "Well actually, the powers aren't gone." Everyone stared at her in shock. "But, the men are deceased. How can the powers still exist?" Zane said, trying to figure out the anomaly. "Apparently, the men had sons, who ended up inheriting the powers" said Nya, trying to help.
"So it's passed on genetically" Kai summarized. "What happened to the kids?" Jay asked. Nya brought out another scroll and told them, "They learned spinjitzu from their fathers and when they got their full powers, they went on to create chaos. But this time they had a goal." "To rule Ninjago?" asked Zane. "No," Nya began, "they were trying to find a master of all powers. "Lloyd" Cole muttered. "When they couldn't find one, they gave up. They just stuck to causing chaos" Nya explained. "So there are dark ninjas out there looking for Lloyd?!" Jay asked, seeming to be frightened. "I think those guys are too old now. They probably don't do anything anymore" Kai said. "That might be true," Zane started, "but according to this information, they most likely had children who now have the dark powers." "Hey Cole, what about that gang the kids told us about? The freezing, the burning, it sounds like it could be them" Kai pointed out.
Cole knew it was them, but he couldn't let them believe that. The dark ninjas were dangerous and his didn't want his friends to get hurt. So he told Kai, "Nah, it can't be them. They're girls. All of the evil ninjas were guys." "Yeah, you're right" Kai agreed. Cole had an idea about why they wanted Lloyd, but he wasn't positive. So he asked, "Why did they want to get the green ninja?" Nya looked for the last scroll and rolled it out. She looked a little upset. "They were filled with greed and wanted more power. If they could get their hands on his power, they would be unstoppable. But," Nya paused. "But?" Cole tried to get her to continue. "But had they succeeded in getting the powers out, the green ninja would not have survived the process." Nya was holding back tears. "We have to stop the new dark ninjas from getting Lloyd! His life depends on it!" Kai shouted. They all agreed with him, except Cole. He said yes to the plan, but in his head he knew better. He would have to confront them by himself. He didn't want his teammates getting hurt. He decided to do it tomorrow night so he could prepare for whatever they would throw at him. When night fell, he was still planning what he would do. He finally fell asleep dreaming of a certain memory.
"Do you have to move?" a sad 12-year-old Cole asked Sky. "Yes. I'm sorry, I'll miss you" she said trying not to cry. "Here, I want you to have this," she said, giving him a wooden box. "Don't open it until you get home. You won't know what it means yet, but you will when you're older. Oh, and keep it a secret. No one should know about it except us." He held the box in one hand while he used the other arm to give her a hug. Then she put her hands over his heart and softly said,"As long as you remember me, fire will never burn you." Before he could ask what that meant, her father called her over. "Goodbye Cole," she said as she went over to her father and got into the car. When he couldn't see it anymore, Cole looked at the strange box he had given her. Whatever was inside was a secret, and by whatever means necessary, he would keep it that way.
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