Hip hip hooray, I went back to writing. First time writing something for Ninjago and Lavashipping so hopefully it's not terrible. There is an OC villain, but the story itself is not OC centric. I simply needed a more bendable villain than Lord Garmadon or the Serpents. Enjoy.
"In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present." -Francis Bacon
Magicians aren't born, they're created. From the dust of the earth and the light in the stars rise creatures of might and magic and power unlike anything else in existence. Once loved and now hated by all, magicians have been driven to the edge of extinction...
"So, what'cha reading?" Jay's voice cuts through Lloyd's train of thought faster than a knife as the green ninja drops his book onto the floor.
"Jay! I was trying to read about magicians!" Lloyd grumbled as he picked up the book and creased back the pages which had been folded in his panic.
"Magicians?" Intrigued, the ninja of lightning dropped down from his upside down hang along one of the Bounty's support boards and onto the floor. "As in the 'abracadabra and poof you have doves' magicians?"
"Not exactly. These are magicians of legends. Ones who cast spells and hexes and healing, you know, the really powerful ones."
"Magic goes about as far as the elements with me," Jay shrugged before he took a seat beside the green ninja. He looked over the blond's shoulder at the pictures of a manly figure holding a mini universe in his hands.
Lloyd continues to read and points to the man absentmindedly. "He's the Enchanter. His legend says he controlled the universe like a toy and could bend the world around his will without a second thought. Dangerous, but neither good nor evil, he disappeared from existence millennia ago."
"Sheesh, talk about gone in a flash."
"Just be thankful he doesn't still exist, Jay. That Enchanter could probably wipe all of us out in mere seconds."
"Please, I could take that guy!"
"Oh yeah? You and what army?"
Jay huffed in irritation and shut the book Lloyd was reading before snatching it from the green ninja's hands. He leaped back from his spot beside the fellow ninja and waved the book around in the air.
"Jay, what the hell? I was reading that?" Lloyd snapped as he lunged for the book, only to miss and hit the wall behind Jay.
"Let's see...oh there's a magician who can turn water into gold! Interesting. Any who can make sandwiches appear from thin air?" The ninja of lightning teased with a cocky smile.
"Jay, cut it out! I find them really interesting, okay? Don't go making fun of them!"
"They're just myths, Lloyd. A fairy tale for small children! Enchanters and Magicians don't exist beyond cheap tricks and gimmicks," Jay claimed coldly as Lloyd spun around to face the quick ninja and leapt for his book.
"Just give it back, you asshole, you're going to rip it!" The green ninja snapped as he bolted for the book and stole it from the ninja of lightning's hands. Lloyd carefully tucked it away beneath his bed and glared back at Jay. "Why do you have to make fun of something even slightly educational that I like? Is everything a joke to you?!"
Jay scoffed and crossed his arms as if the insults didn't bother him at all. "Whatever. Dinner's ready so hurry up if you're going to eat." He informed the green ninja before leaving the shared bedroom and closing the door not too gently behind him.
Lloyd sighed and watched Jay go as he thought about the scathing words of his teacher. "They're not myths. I know they have to be out there somewhere..."
"Rise."
In a temple far from Ninjago, across the endless sea and seated on an island of black sand stood Lord Garmadon before a circle of white stones. Each one was perfectly round and patterned like the moon, surrounding a pit of sand much darker than the rest. Any attempts to touch the sand within the circle were futile as the endless abyss sucked in whatever it came into contact with and crushed it in seconds. However, should one read from a tome so ancient the language had long died out and spill a drop of evil blood into the pit, another reaction occurred. The black sand shuddered and shifted as the whole island gave a rumbling groan of response to Lord Garmadon's command.
A hand made of sand slowly breached the surface air and stretched towards the stone to wrap it's fingers around the side and pull. Another hand rose from the sand, then a mass of hair and the head of a very young man. The sand creature gasped as the head surfaced and it tasted air once again after so long buried in the sand. It thrashed and clawed at the ground until it's whole body was free of the sand and left to cough and shiver on all fours before Lord Garmadon. He tapped his foot impatiently as it slowly stood up and shook off all the sand to reveal a boy-like figure with ashen skin and moon white hair hiding behind eyes that twinkled like stars.
"You are the Enchanter, are you not?" Lord Garmadon asked the man. He thought the answer over before nodding once. "Good. You are to serve me as your master and do as I command. Is that understood?"
He nodded again before bowing to Lord Garmadon and standing up at attention.
"First order of business... Er... Put some clothes on."
The Enchanter blinked once before the sands of the island shifted to curl around his form before sliding off again. In their stead was a Victorian style suit of black silk with shimmering silver stitching along the collar and wrist cuffs. His undershirt was dyed a dark lilac and ruffled collar pale white to tie it together. Lord Garmadon ignored the immediate dress change for the moment.
"Yes, yes, whatever. Now, I need you to deal with a few ninja. Protectors of Ninjago?"
The Enchanter tilted his head to the side in a silent questioning gesture.
Lord Garmadon groaned and rubbed his temples with two of his four hands. "Don't tell me you have no idea who the ninja are."
"I..." He coughed a few times as a raspy and soft voice made it's way out past the man's lips. "I have been sleeping for a long, long time...Master. I know only of one ninja."
"Well take care of that one then! Take out the four elemental ninjas and make sure they cannot stand in my way! But leave the green one unharmed, do you understand?" He snapped back at the unwavering and barely blinking being.
"Yes, Master. I will see to it that they are stopped in one way or another," The Enchanter replied with another bow to Lord Garmadon.
"Good. Take me back to Ninjago. I have plans to work out and very little time to do so," He ordered.
The Enchanter nodded and blinked once before the two figures on the island of black sands disappeared into thin air.
"...And then I said, no, you're the mailman!"
The lunch table erupted into laughter as Jay finished off his joke with a cheeky grin. For Ninjago's protectors it seemed as though everything would go on without a hitch today. Of course, nothing ever goes as one plans.
"Boys, lunch time is cut short today, we have trouble in the city!" Nya shouted down to the others.
Dishes were left on the lunch table as the five ninjas hurried up the stairs and into the main control and steering room of the Bounty. Upon the wall monitor was video of the city scape of Ninjago in complete panic and chaos. Sheets of ice covered the streets and orbs of dark fire chased the helpless citizens around blocks and into buildings without stopping. At the center of the destruction stood three people dressed in black robes and each wielding a staff topped with a precious stone. Whenever someone ran by the trio, one if them held out their staff to cast another fireball spell on the poor citizen. For what they were worth, the police had attempted to fend off the attackers, but their bullets never reached the targets and almost all police squads ended up encased in a thick shell of ice.
"Yeesh, talk about big messes in small packages," Jay shivered at the mere image of the police getting trapped in ice.
"How did three people cause so much destruction in this amount of time?" Kai asked his sister who shrugged back.
"No one knows. They just...appeared and started to wreck the city without warning. Although, several people have claimed to see them walking towards a jeweler's store at the end of the street."
Zane looked back at the video feed with slight confusion. "All that chaos for jewels? It seems rather unnecessary, don't you think?"
"I don't think it's the jewels they're after. It's probably this," Nya replaced the video with an image of a small silver crown with amethyst jewels spread out along it's center ring.
"A crown? Is that really all they're after?" Cole grumbled as he thought about the lunch they could be having instead of needing to deal with chaotic criminals.
"Whatever reason they have for invading the city like that doesn't matter. It's go time, guys. We have to stop them." Kai declared as the other nodded in agreement and pulled their hoods down over their heads.
"Hang on everyone, I'll have you there in just a minute." Nya punched the Bounty's thrusters into full power as the ship have a single lurch and took off towards the chaotic inner city.
Arriving on scene of the current destruction in progress the ninja made quick work of getting to ground level to face off against the fireball and ice wielding trio who were almost to the jewelry shop. Kai led the team towards the shop and positioned them before the doors to the jewelry shop.
"Stop, you three! Leave this shop and the city in peace!" He demanded.
The trio blinked in surprise before laughing at the ninja that now stood before them. A cloaked man with a red jeweled staff stepped forward with a chuckle and pointed his weapon at Kai.
"Step aside, children. We have no business with you."
"That's what you think." Kai rushed forward as the leader shot off a fireball that dodged around Kai and smashed into the shop front.
The others jumped out of the way of the blast as glass and concrete went flying everywhere and scattered across the street. Cole quickly got to his feet as the other two opponents moved in on the downed squad.
"Zane, Jay! You two take care of the one on the left. Lloyd and I can take this one. Make sure Kai doesn't get himself into too much trouble, alright?" The leader ordered as he pulled out his scythe and took a swipe at the figure before him.
She, from the yelp of surprise she made, jumped back and swung her staff at Cole, shooting off a bolt of lightning that struck the scythe blade. The earth ninja almost dropped his weapon, but noticing it's electrified state he instead charged forward and spun the blade in a circle. It smacked the girl in the side and sent her flying. She shook with the force of the blow and her own electricity before dropping the staff and screaming in pain as her body melted away into nothing but dust. Cole and Lloyd simply stared in utter terror at the fate of the cloaked figure.
"Did I just...kill her?" Cole whispered as he slowly approached the pile of dust.
Lloyd slowly picked up the girl's weapon and looked it over. It was oddly familiar and the patterns seemed almost mystical in nature.
"I think I've seen this before. It's a magician's staff." He said quietly as he ran his hands along the etched surface.
"You know what that is?" The earth ninja jumped to Lloyd's side as the green ninja placed the staff down on the dust. The pile shuddered once before a hand materialized out of the dust and gripped the staff with a force so great it's knuckles turned white.
"What the hell...?" Cole shouted as he slid back into a fighting stance to counter the hand.
"No, no, it's fine. She never died, Cole. She's not real." Lloyd insisted as he grabbed the staff again and pulled it away. The pile sank back to dust and the green ninja nodded to his leader. "None of them are."
Jay's whoop of excitement interrupted the two as the wielder of lightning slammed his nunchucks into a poorly constructed shield of ice made by the second cloaked figure. Zane leapt left and then right to avoid two more blasts of ice which coated the street and building behind the white ninja. He threw his shuriken at the cloaked figure and nearly toppled over when he saw him collapse into dust as well.
"Woah, Jesus! Did you see that?" Jay hollered as he skidded to a halt beside the pile.
Cole sprinted over and kicked the staff away from the second dust pile. "Guys, they're not real! None of them are!" He said as Kai came flying through the air and landed with a hard smack up against the earth ninja.
Kai and Cole both tumbled back and groaned in pain as their bodies collided with the icy ground. The red ninja pressed his hands against the ground and slowly pushed himself back into his feet as Zane helped Cole onto his.
"They may not be real, but this one is packing a punch," Kai growled as he glared at the laughing man standing a few yards from him.
"I hear ya, man. What say you and I take this guy out once and for all?" Jay grinned and swung his nunchucks around in the air in anticipation for a battle.
"I'll take all of you on! It won't make a difference at all!" The cloaked man laughed as he shot off two fireballs at the ninjas.
Kai and Jay leapt out of the way of the fireballs, but failed to notice the man disappear in the flash of light each fireball produced as they exploded against the nearest building.
"What the-?"
"It's a ploy, he's going for the crown!" Zane shouted as he peeled from Cole's side to intercept the figure.
The man's fingers nearly closed around the crown as Zane's hand reached out and pushed the headdress from it's pedastal and onto the floor. The two glared at each other as nindroid and staff wielder pushed and shoved each other out of the way to grab the precious crown. Jay and Kai stood before the scene, unsure of how to intervene without losing the crown.
"Such petty little struggles. You humans are rather precious things, aren't you?" Lloyd and Cole both turned to the right as a chilling voice echoed out of the alleyway. Slow clapping filled the air as the Enchanter strode towards the two ninja with a knowing smirk.
The leader pulled out his scythe, ready for a battle, but Lloyd simply remained frozen in his spot as he watched the Enchanter walk towards them.
"N-no way...it-it can't be..." He whispered in fright as the white haired Enchanter stood before the ninja.
"Oh? It seems your little friend here knows me." He chuckled and twirled a lock of white hair between his fingertips.
"Lloyd, what's he talking about?" Cole questioned as he glanced over at his awestruck teammate.
"That's...that's the Enchanter. He's not supposed to be here!" The green ninja hissed back.
The Enchanter clicked his tongue and shook his head. "No, no, no, my dear boy. I am here. You're the green ninja, yes? Pity I can't just wipe you all off the face of the earth, but then Lord Garmadon would be rather mad at me."
"My father?! He's the one you're...but...I don't..." Lloyd stammered in confusion.
Cole grit his teeth and took off after the Enchanter. He had enough of all this nonsense, Enchanter or no this guy was going to pay for sending his underlings to wreck Ninjago!
"Cole, wait!" The green ninja shouted as the Enchanter laughed and held out his hand to form an energy shield. Cole's attack never got close as his scythe hit the shield and slid right off.
"Ninja-go!" The earth ninja shouted as he used his spinjitsu to attack the shield. Sparks flew off in a blaze as the Enchanter smirked at the attacking ninja. He never budged an inch. In one powerful push, the Enchanter forced Cole back with his shield and broke the ninja from his technique, leaving the leader dizzy and disarmed beside Lloyd.
"Cole, are you okay?" Lloyd kneeled down to help his teacher up when the Enchanter held up a pale pink spell sphere.
"I hate to cast and run, but I certainly don't want to be around when this takes effect. I cast upon you two a spell of infatuation. First person you lock eyes with shall become the one you most desire. Have fun, darlings." He laughed and hurtled the sphere in the ninjas direction as Lloyd held up his hands and attempted to shield himself and Cole. In his haste, he forgot to hold onto the earth ninja and only shielded himself. With a blast of pink energy the earth ninja was flung backwards and into a pillar of ice as his head collided with the hard surface. He slowly slid down the pillar and to the ground as darkness swarmed his vision.
"Cole! Cole...okay...? Cole!" Someone called out as the leader closed his eyes and slipped into the inviting darkness.
