Howdidoodee, mi freundlees! Beg your pardon, my Dragonese is a little rusty :3
Speaking of things that are not Ninjago, do any of you remember that Star Wars/Ninjago casting I did awhile back that put the Star Wars universe in the Ninjago story plotline? Well, I'm reviving it, but it's not just including Star Wars this time. I realized there were a few key flaws in my original Star Wars casting, and after careful consideration, decided that characters from other fandoms besides Star Wars would make better choices.
So, Fandom: Heroes of Spinjitzu came to be! Seeing how I've gotten most of the casting of Season 1 figured out, I've decided to put up the first episode of the pilot up, and even though when I watched it, the pilot was only two episodes long, I will also include the six mini-sodes that were released for the pilot as well.
Here is a helpful list of all the major fandoms included in this casting: SO OBVIOUS SPOILERS FOR ALL THEM JUST IN CASE THERE ARE ANY!
Lord of the Rings
Star Wars
Harry Potter
Pirates of the Caribbean
Marvel
DC Comics
I will include some small cameos from characters from other franchises (including one I know J. Walker-Gordon is probably the only one who'll recognize it) so keep your eyes peeled! (Although for the most part they will be obvious XD)
Without further ado, I hope you enjoy Fandom: Heroes of Fictionitzu!
Major Fandoms Referenced In This Episode
Star Wars
Marvel
Harry Potter
Lord of the Rings
Episode -3. Way of the Hero
It was a peaceful afternoon in the small town of Naboo. As the sun began to set on the town, Gungans and humans were tending their crops and heading in and out along the small road connecting this distant village to the rest of the land of Fandom.
In the blacksmith's shop known as Four Sabers, a young man, probably about seventeen, with windswept dark brown hair and blue eyes, was working at the forge. "To forge the perfect weapon, you need the right amount of metal, and plenty of heat," he murmured to himself, remembering the words his father had told him. He dipped the sword he was melding into a tub of cold water, where it released steam with a satisfying hiss. "Cool it off. . . and presto!" He triumphantly pulled out a bent sword. "Argh. . ."
The young lady watching him from just inside the doorway of the shop laughed quietly. "You made it too quickly, Ani," she said. "If Father were here, he would say─"
"I know─no matter how much fire you have, experience isn't something you learn overnight," Anakin Skywalker, or Ani, as he was called, sighed. "That may work for you, Hope, but I'm gonna be a better blacksmith than Dad ever was!"
His younger sister sighed and rolled her eyes. Hope van Dyne (she had adopted her mother's maiden name) had brown eyes and bobbed black hair, and she wore a plain black sports tank top and jeans. She was also a bit more sensible than her older brother.
Just then, a tall old man dressed in long purple robes walked into the blacksmith's shop. His long gray beard was bound with a tasseled cord, and he had what looked like an old-fashioned fez/nightcap thing on his head.
As he examined what was in stock, the old man remarked, "Your metal is loud and heavy. Useful for slowing one down, but useless for the art of stealth. Great tools for a samurai, but nothing for a hero?" His deep voice had an English accent that was both oddly calming and commanding at the same time.
But the seventeen-year-old wasn't impressed by him. Anakin snorted. "Heroes? You're a long way from finding heroes in these parts, old man." He pointed to the sign. "And the shop's called Four Sabers, not For Browsing. So either buy something or go peddle your insults somewhere else."
The old man released a scoff. "Ha! Too bad. I thought I'd find something special here."
Hope frowned, shooting a look at her brother. Anakin huffed, knowing what that look meant. "Fine. . ." He scooped up a helmet and turned back to the old man, but he had vanished. The siblings exchanged looks. Well, that was odd. . .
But they didn't have time to wonder over the mysterious old man's disappearance. The sky was darkening a lot faster than it should have been, filling up with black storm clouds. The villagers looked up, their mouths opening to let out terrified screams at the sight appearing on top of the hill.
A truck like a monstrous skeleton head, escorted by several skeletal motorbikes, had roared its way to the hill overlooking the town. The riders were heavily tattooed Nightbrothers, yellowed fangs and devilish eyes gleaming in the premature night.
On the truck were three Nightbrothers, one with four arms and red-and-black tattoos on his face, the other two nearly identical with yellow tattoos. The only way you could tell them apart was that one had lost his eye, and the other wore a helmet. "Let me go first!" the one-eyed Nightbrother begged his four-armed master. "Please oh please, I'm dying to go down there!"
"You nitwit!" the Nightbrother with the helmet snapped. "You're already dead! Try to control yourself in front of Darth Maul!" He turned to the four-armed Nightbrother. "With all due respect, Darth Maul, last time you did say that I could go first."
"Sorry, boys; this one's mine," Darth Maul sneered. "Just remember what we're after, and find that map!" He pointed a dagger at Four Sabers. "ATTACK!"
The bikes and the truck charged down the hills, sending frightened Gungans and humans dashing every which way to get out of their path.
"What are they?!" Hope yelped.
"I don't know. Stay here," Anakin ordered. Pulling on a samurai helmet with matching armor and seizing a sword, the young man ran out of the shop to greet the Nightbrothers in combat.
Anakin slashed at the tattooed warriors, but they just kept coming. "Aren't these guys supposed to be extinct?" he wondered aloud as he dove out of the way and two Nightbrothers collided head on into each other. Though he fought bravely, in a few minutes he was pinned to the ground by another Nightbrother. He bared his fangs in a wicked grin, but seconds later, it turned into a shocked look of terror as Hope ran into the fray, whacking two Nightbrothers unconscious with a black staff.
As the siblings fought back-to-back, Anakin yelled, "I thought I told you to stay back!"
"What, and let you have all the fun?" Hope replied.
As the siblings battled outside, the two yellow-tattooed Nightbrothers (their names were Savage and Opress, by the way) snuck behind them and into the shop.
Opress, the one-eyed Nightbrother, tried on a samurai helmet. Frustrated, Savage hit him on the head. "You're not looking hard enough!" he hissed.
"Oww!" Opress whined. "No, you're not looking hard enough!" Throwing the helmet aside, he tackled his brother and they went into an all-out slapfest. In the scuffle, Opress slammed into the wall, knocking the sign above the shop door loose and it crashed to the pavement.
The two Nightbrothers spotted something hidden behind the sign, and gasped first in surprise, then triumph. "The map!"
Meanwhile, Anakin and Hope kept fighting, and they seemed to be gaining the upper hand, until Anakin pointed his saber at a red-tattooed Nightbrother. Yellow fangs in a triumphant smirk, the Nightbrother's two arms split into four, a poison-tipped dagger clenched in all four of his hands. Anakin gulped, and took a step back as the Nightbrother spun his daggers in four dangerous circles. With one deft move, he threw the daggers. Anakin dodged them, and they slammed right into the leg of the water tower next to the shop.
The young man fell to the ground, helpless as the tower teetered forward, preparing to crush him to smithereens.
"Heroooo-GO!" A golden tornado whirled in front of the tower, catching Anakin up and sending him flying out of the way. The tornado stopped in front of the Nightbrother, revealing the same purple-clad old guy who had visited the shop.
The Nightbrother hissed, "Professor Dumbledore, your Fictionitzu looks rusty!"
"Nothing like bone to sharpen its edge, Darth Maul," Dumbledore replied coolly.
With a loud yell, Darth Maul threw his daggers again, but Dumbledore easily sidestepped them. Sensing defeat was near, Maul jumped back onto the Skull Truck and yelled, "Lord Saruman says take the girl!"
A giant skeletal hand shot out of the back of the truck and caught Hope by the waist. "Anakin!" she screamed as the truck sped away.
"HOPE!" Anakin struggled to his feet to run after them, but the Nightbrothers─and Hope─were gone. "They took Hope!"
Professor Dumbledore stepped up behind Anakin and tapped his helmet with his wand. "I told you, useless," he said placidly.
Anakin whirled on the old man. "You could've done something!" he shouted. "You could've used your Twitzitzu or your Tornadzu─"
"Fictionitzu," Dumbledore corrected him calmly.
"You did nothing! I'm going after my sister!"
"Where they go, mortals cannot," the professor replied quietly. "That was Darth Maul: lord of Dathomir, and if he's carrying out orders from Lord Saruman, I fear things are far worse than I had ever thought."
"Dathomir? Lord Saruman?" Anakin repeated. "What do they want from us? Why did they take my sister?"
"What do they want? How about everything in Fandom itself?" Professor Dumbledore sighed. "Long before time had a name, Fandom was created by the First Author using the Four Mithril Weapons of Fictionitzu: the Shield of Quakes, the Pistol and Cutlass of Lightning, the Knives of Ice, and the Lightsaber of Fire. These were so powerful, no one could handle all their power at once."
He paused momentarily, then continued, "His two sons swore to protect them when he passed, but the older was consumed by darkness, and wanted to possess them. A battle between brothers broke out, and the older was struck down to Dathomir. Fearing that the brother would be coming back looking for the Weapons, the younger hid them, placing a Guardian to protect each Weapon. And for fear of his own demise, a map for an honest man to hide." He looked Anakin straight in the eye. "That honest man was your father."
Anakin's eyes widened in surprise. "Lord Saruman is the older brother," Dumbledore said quietly. "And I need to find those Weapons before he does."
"You're the younger brother?" Anakin asked. "So you came here looking for the map?"
"No. I came for something greater." Professor Dumbledore pointed his wand at the young man. "You! Since my brother cannot enter Fandom, it's obvious Lord Saruman has struck a deal with Darth Maul. If he collects all the Weapons, even I can't stop him again. But you have the fire inside. I will train you to harness it. Use it. To become a Fictionitzu Master."
Anakin rolled his eyes. "Look, I would love to get involved in your sibling rivalry, but I've gotta save my sister."
Before he could turn away, Dumbledore knocked him over and pinned him to the ground, one foot on Anakin's chest. "Ha! You weren't ready to face my pinky toe!" His face grew serious. "If you want to get your sister back, you must control the fire that burns inside. Only when you become a Fictionitzu Master, become a hero, will you be able to face Lord Saruman."
Anakin sighed reluctantly. "Okay. When do we start?"
Anakin was panting heavily as he desperately clung to the edge of the mountain. How in Naboo could Professor Dumbledore, a guy who looked like he had to be a bajillion years old, scale the mountain like his hands were suction cups?! He wasn't even using his Fictionitzu stuff!
Out of breath, Anakin asked, "How long is this training gonna be?! Shouldn't we in a bit of a rush since they have the map?"
"Patience," Dumbledore replied calmly, arriving at the top of the mountain and waiting for the young man to haul himself over the edge.
On top of the mountain sat a black, white, and red building designed in the style of a medieval castle. "A monastery?!" Anakin exclaimed, shocked. "You expect me to learn to fight in a place of peace?"
"Not fight, train," Professor Dumbledore answered placidly, opening the door and walking into the empty courtyard. "In order to become a true hero, first you must see what others cannot."
"But there's nothing here!"
Dumbledore approached a pedestal mounted with a decorative golden dragon, and flipped the dragon aside. Pressing a hidden button under the dragon's resting place, he stepped back as a training course, complete with training dummies, whirling spiked balls, and wooden plank systems.
"Whoa!" Anakin's jaw dropped open. "Will this teach me how to do that awesome move?" He jumped onto a wooden pillar and balanced on it with one foot. The pillar sunk into the floor at Anakin's touch, until it clicked into the floor and suddenly shot back up, sending the young man flying across the course.
Dumbledore didn't seem to notice the boy's discomfort as he sat down in the doorway to the monastery, a pitcher of pumpkin juice and a cup resting at his side on a wooden tray. "Complete the course before I finish my drink. Then we shall see if you're ready." Before Anakin could react, the professor filled up his glass and drank it. Setting his glass down, he said coolly, "Today you failed. You will try again tomorrow."
"Failed?! But I didn't even─" He was cut off by Dumbledore shutting the doors in his face.
For the next few days, Anakin kept trying to master the training course, only to get knocked over by one obstacle or another. Dumbledore's monotone "fail" was getting frustrating to the hot-headed young man, but he kept at it, until finally, with a satisfying look of surprise appeared on the professor's face when Anakin appeared at his side before he had finished his pumpkin juice.
"So, am I gonna learn this Fictionitzu I've been hearing so much about?" he asked.
"You already have," Dumbledore replied. "Your final test is tomorrow, so my advice would be to get some sleep."
That night, as Anakin was brushing his teeth, he was unaware of the presence of three black-garbed figures moving silently across the rooftop and into the monastery, balancing on the rafters just above him.
My advice would be to get some sleep, he heard Professor Dumbledore's words echoing in his mind. He scowled. "Oh, yeah?" He waved his toothbrush at the mirror. "Well, take this!"
A black-clothed young man with a pistol and a cutlass landed noiselessly in one corner of the room, followed by another with twin silver knives, and a third with a heavy shield.
Anakin spun around in an attempt at Fictionitzu. "And that!" He ended up face-to-face with the young man with the shield, held in a battle stance. Anakin froze. "Oops."
To be continued. . .
(posted March 30th, 2018)
(updated July 24th, 2018)