The infamous ninja team had been a close family since the team was formed. Assignment after assignment, mission after mission, they only grew closer and stronger. But as the years went on, and time passed, so did age.
Kai was the first to go, he had died while protecting Ray and Maya from rogue elemental masters, some of Lloyd's students who had rebelled and fought for the opposite side. Kai had been able to defeat them, but the strenuous fighting had taken a toll on his 70 year old body, and he died from the strain on his body.
Nya had been shocked to the core, as did Ray and Maya, who died a few years later from old age, leaving Nya as the only living member of her family left. She and Jay had attempted to have children after getting married, but Nya just...couldn't.
Heartbroken and depressed, Jay took Nya with him to the mountains where they spent many years alone in solitude, before peacefully passing away in eachother's arms.
Misako had died from old age as well, and left a heartbroken Lloyd without parents or family.
And then there were three.
Lloyd, Cole, and Zane.
It had only been three years since Misako died, and Ninjago was at peace, as it had been for many years. Lloyd had kept the prophecy, maintaining the balance in Ninjago and keeping evil from consuming it.
Cole had a son with his wife, Seliel, named Collin. Seliel refrained from any ninja duty to become a stay at home mom for Collin. But at this point, Collin was now 17 and would soon go to college. Collin refused to take on the role of the Earth Ninja like his father, content with the life of a scientist. Cole had been saddened by this, but respected his son's decision.
Zane and Pixal had built a child, named Sam. Sam was a female Nindroid who was created shortly after Collin was born. She had inherited the elemental powers of ice from her father, Zane, and unlike Collin decided to take on the role of her father.
Lloyd trained Sam as his final student, for all his previous students had either rebelled or completed their training. Lloyd saw Sam as the closest thing he would ever get to a daughter, as he only had a son, Max.
Max was the elemental master of Energy and Golden Power now, which had both been handed down to him from his father. And since Kai, Jay, and Nyan had not had children to pass down their powers to, Max also inherited fire, lightning, and water. Or at least until he could find a worthy master to give them to.
One morning, as the fog hung over the wet grass, the three remaining members of the original ninja team stood on the porch of Lloyd's monestary.
Cole let out a sigh, stroking his short beard with one hand, while folding the other arm behind his back. "Time sure has done a number on us all, hasn't it?"
Zane nodded, his expression solemn. "Sam is already almost 16, its hard to believe she's grown up so fast."
"I bet she could start going on missions now, I mean we were doing the ninja thing around her age, right?" Cole added. "What do you think, Lloyd?" He turned to the Green Ninja, who stood silent with his arms folded on the railing, his mouth formed in a straight line, and his emerald eyes staring off into the distance.
"Lloyd?" Cole repeated, raising a brow.
A sigh came from the Green Ninja, and he lowered his head. "Do you guys ever wonder if the future will even need ninja?"
"What do you mean?" Cole had raised both brows, standing beside his friend.
"I mean...Ninjago has been at peace for...decades now. With all the advanced security droids from BorgLabs, we're very rarely needed, and that's just for serious and tough missions."
"Which are rare," Zane added.
"Yes. Guys...is there even a point in teaching the next generation? Does destiny really have to control their roles in life? Is it not possible for our descendants...our children...to live peaceful, normal lives? Cole, your kid doesn't even wanna be a ninja or have anything to do with our line of work. Is that really wrong?"
Cole thought for a moment, his blue eyes filled with thought. "I...I guess not."
"But then...think of what Kai once said..." Lloyd started, but the other two ninja lowered their heads at the reference to their fallen friend.
Lloyd sighed, putting one hand on each of his friend's shoulders. "Guys, I know you miss him. And I do too...I miss him, and Jay, and Nya, and...Mom..." Lloyd fought back his own tears. "And Uncle Wu who we never saved from that Time Vortex. For as much as we know, he could be up there with the others now..."
Zane tapped the side of his metallic head, activating a holoprojective image displayed from his eyes. It was that same picture that Wu used to keep in the Bounty. There was Kai, Cole, Jay, and Zane across the photo, and in the middle, with Jay's arm around him, was a young Lloyd.
Zane smiled, putting a hand on Lloyd. "No. We will not be forgotten. We are ninja, and we will continue fighting on, just as our ancestors did before us. Our elemental powers, that were passed down from generation to generation, fuel us. They are our blood. And our heart and soul is each other. Our family. No matter how much we are put down, no matter how many people tell us we can't...we will prove that we can. And one way or another, we can't be forgotten. We have already left a major footprint of history on Ninjago, and that print shall stay forever."
The three legendary warriors held up their hands together, smiling broadly and filled with a spirit of confidence that only a true Master of Spinjitzu could have.
"Shall we? For old time's sake?" Zane requested, earning nods from his comrades.
Then, in that moment, on that foggy morning, the three ninja raised their voices unto the heavens, proclaiming a message that would forever be remembered.
"NINJAAAAA-GO!"
I legit cried writing this. Just saying. I got talking with a friend about the future of Ninjago, and I took it quite literally. I honestly feel like this is how Ninjago should end, with the ninja in their old age and at the helm of a new generation of greatness. And of course, with one last cry, "Ninja-go!" Please make sure to leave your opinions in the reviews, it helps me to improve in later writings.
Until the next fiction,
-EnergyBlast
