THIRD PERSON POV
"The ninja are armed and dangerous and they have powers. If you see them, do not approach, call the law enforcements-" the tv was saying
Zane pulled out his phone.
"Hello? Local law enforcement? We are-"
"Zane! What the hell are you doing?!" Lloyd interrupted him.
"I am programmed to obey the law, not telling them our location would be a direct violation"
Jay face-palmed.
"Hey..." the man sitting on the table next to them approached, "Aren't you-"
"Nope! Heh, we are not the ninja!" Jay exclaimed nervously "We are another random group with a ghost... a girl... a nindroid..."
The ninja got up from the table and slowly backed away.
"Six on six, at least it's an even number" Kai said, trying to be optimistic.
"We're not gonna fight them!" Lloyd said, "Right now it's us who look like the bad guys"
"I'm afraid he's right" Nya agreed.
"How are we supposed to defend ourselves then?" Jay said.
"We... don't?" Lloyd said tentatively.
They turned and started to run.
"I liked them better when they were fans!" Kai said, causing Nya to roll her eyes at his comment.
They ran from alley to alley, but found themselves facing the cops in every direction, so instead decided to climb up the wall and continue their escape by rooftop. But even then, the cops and civilians followed.
"Keep going guys!"
"They sure are dedicated"
The roofs led them directly into the sea, so they climbed back down, only to find themselves surrounded again.
"There's nowhere to hide!" Cole said in panic.
"There may be one place" Kai said. "Ninja-GO!"
He spinjitzued a hole down the floor, and they all climbed underneath the docks.
"They're under the floor boards!" a cop said, quick to catch up to the ninja's plan.
The ninja kept moving towards open sea, running out of time, so Lloyd decided to call the Bounty.
"Mom, we're in a bit of a jam" he said.
"I saw the news. I'm on my way" Misako answered from the flying ship "Looks like you've gone from fame to-"
"We're not gonna find out who did this to us unless we get outta here!" Lloyd interrupted her, deciding he didn't have time for one of her spontaneous lessons.
Above the wooden floor, another civilian called "I can hear them from here!"
"Everyone get on those cranes!" another one said "Let's find those damned ninja"
The civilians and cops proceeded to drop the cranes down, shattering the floor boards and missing the ninja by inches.
"We're out of road!" Nya said, as they finally reached the end of the docks, with only sea extending beyond.
"Follow me!" Lloyd says as he jumped onto one crane, which slowly elevated them out of view.
The people below kept searching, just as the Destiny Bounty approached the area.
"Home sweet home!" Kai pointed to the ship.
They all let out a breath of relief. Salvation had come.
"Bring her down!" a cop called as the people threw rope and rocks, making the ship crash, Misako in it.
"No!" Lloyd yelled.
Kai let out a string of curses, earning himself a smack on the back of his head by Nya. He glared at her, but then decided there were more pressing matters at hand.
"Bring down those cranes and check them, those fruit-colored bastards could be hiding anywhere!" a cop yelled.
"What do we do now?" Jay asked, suddenly panicking.
"We need to split up" Lloyd said, already regretting making the choice.
"Split up?" Cole argued "But we're all in this together"
"We only have a real chance of getting out of here if we divide" Lloyd countered.
"Bad things always happen when we split up!" Jay said "Chen's island, Yang's temple, Morro's possession. See? All bad things!"
"We have no other choice!" Lloyd argued back "We have to go! Now! Unless you wanna get caught"
Suddenly, a bright light flashed, blinding them all, including the cops below the cranes. A hooded figure landed softly on the crane the ninja were standing on.
"Follow me" the newcomer said upon arrival.
Lloyd blinked rapidly, trying to get his eyes to adjust.
"Who the heck are you?" Kai asked.
"Look, it's either you let yourselves get caught, split up and know for sure that something bad will happen, or take a leap of faith and follow me" the stranger said.
"How do we know you're not leading us into a trap, huh?" Jay asked.
"It's six against one, you can easily overpower me if I really am evil. But right now, I'm your best choice at getting away safely"
The ninja exchanged uncertain glances. They argued silently for a few seconds, but then decided they were running out of time.
"Fine. Lead the way" Lloyd said.
The stranger nodded "Close your eyes"
They did as told, and saw another flash of light through their closed lids, and thankfully this time they weren't blinded.
It bought them the seconds they needed to jump to a nearby rooftop unnoticed, while the cops were still blinded. They kept to the shadows, and made sure they were far away enough that they wouldn't be noticed when they summoned their elemental dragons. Surprisingly, the newcomer had one too.
They decided to keep following her, in what appeared to be the direction of Ninjago City.
It appears she is another elemental master. PIXAL said inside Zane's head.
"I figured as much, too" he answered "Except I don't recall seeing her at Chen's"
I don't either. I do believe we can trust her, but be careful.
"I know"
Something about all of this just doesn't seem right. I don't think we're gonna be facing the usual villains this time.
"What do you mean by that?"
Just, I don't know. Instinct?
"Figure that out, and then tell me. I too feel like something really bad will happen"
His conversation had to be cut short though, as they had reached the outer parts of the city, and had to dismount or risk attracting too much attention for themselves. They traveled on the roofs and shadows, until they reached a small apartment, which they entered through a window.
The apartment only had a small kitchen and living room, with a door to one side which should lead to the bedroom. But the whole place was a mess.
Sheets and pillows sprawled on the couch, empty soda and beer cans and cookie wrappers on the coffee table, bags of trash in the kitchen that hadn't been taken out, dirty dishes piling up in the kitchen sink, a few weapons laying around...
"Sorry. I wasn't really expecting visitors" the hooded one scratched the back of her neck sheepishly "I just saw the news and headed over to Stiix as fast as I could, didn't have time to clean up. A second too late and you'd have been caught, apparently"
She then proceeded to take out a new garbage bag and stuff in all of the mess. It only took her about five minutes to put everything away, throwing the bags into the bedroom. She then headed to the kitchen and opened the fridge.
"Can I offer you anything? Beer? Soda? Food?"
Jay was about to accept a beer, when Lloyd spoke:
"We're good, thanks"
"Suit yourselves" She popped open a Coca-Cola, and pulled back her hood.
She had dark brown hair, which was pulled back into a messy bun, gray eyes, and a few freckles decorating her nose. She looked about eighteen, give or take. The only things that marred her beauty was a greenish scar crossing her left eye.
She then headed back to the living room, where the ninja were still standing, and plopped down on the couch. She motioned for them to sit, but they chose to remain standing. Or, at least Lloyd silently told them to stay standing, because Jay and Cole very much wanted to sit down and eat something.
"I assume you have tons of questions" she said "Shoot"
"Who are you?" Nya asked.
"Ah, here we have it, the most predictable question. Who am I?" she took a sip of her soda "Well, my name is Aya Kuroichi, but I don't think that tells you much about me. But if I tell you I'm Morro's little sister, now that will cause a reaction, hm?"
Indeed, the ninja were now sending uncertain glances her way, Jay even not-so-subtly walking backwards towards the window. Aya chuckled lightly.
"Don't worry. As far as I know, he's very much dead. And I didn't turn to the dark side like him. We're like Wu and Garmadon, one evil, one good. If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done so a long time ago"
"But- if you're Morro's sister, you would have to be well over fifty, maybe even sixty. And you look quite young" Nya pointed out.
"Perks of being stuck in the ghost realm for a few decades. You don't age"
"You were in there too? How come we didn't see you when they invaded?" Jay asked.
"Because, there were hundreds of ghosts running around. And I decided to run away instead of staying in the battle"
"Wait, you were a ghost?! How did you turn back?" Cole asked, trying not to get his hopes up.
"I'll explain later. For now, how about I tell you my story, yeah?"
It all started the day Morro decided to go looking for food in the trash cans near the monastery. As you know, Wu caught him, and decided to take him in to train him. But I guess Sensei Wu, as always, skipped a part of the story. You see, as soon as Wu offered him a place to stay, he came back to get me. Wu took us both in, and trained us together. He got control over wind, while I got mastery over light. Everything was perfect, until he became obsessed with becoming the green ninja. And when Wu told him he just wasn't the chosen one, he was devastated. He had trained all his life to become the legend, and suddenly that one dream that he had allowed himself to have was stripped away. He started searching for the First Spinjitzu Master's Tomb. I saw him slowly destroying himself, and tried to stop him. When I finally reached him, he was too far gone. Still, I didn't give up. So we fought, sibling against sibling, but in the end, we were both dragged down to the ghost realm. Morro quickly made himself known there, and formed bonds with the ones that ruled over the place. Me... I kept to the shadows. I survived by making sure no one knew about my existence. I knew I'd become a target if word got around that the great Morro had a sister. So, we slowly drifted apart. I didn't know what he was planning until it actually happened. I hadn't really talked to him in years. So when an escape appeared, nothing was holding me back, so I took it, and ran as far away as I could. Somehow, I shifted back into a human, with only this scar as a reminder of what I'd once been. And I've been living here for the past few months, slowly adjusting to this way of life. Until today, when I saw the news, and decided I wouldn't keep to the margins anymore.
"So you see, I won't follow my brother's footsteps and become evil. I wanna help you guys in defeating this new enemy"
"Well, we usually don't accept anyone new... It's just that we can fight coordinately, and understand each other without speaking. That balance would break"
"I know. But I still think you could use my help. For starters, none of you can really go out without the whole city coming after you. And, I have somewhat of an idea as to what this new enemy is"
That spiked the ninja's interest.
-x-
"Damn it! We gotta go faster, Nya!" Kai cried, as he indeed sped up with his motorcycle.
Ronin continued chasing both siblings through the desert, his ship faster than their vehicles, so he started gaining distance on them.
"Watch out!" Nya said, as she stopped her motorcycle abruptly, a wall of rock blocking their path.
Kai slowed down too, leaving a cloud of smoke behind him.
"This wasn't supposed to be here..." he said.
"What do we do now?" Nya asked worriedly.
"Now you come with me" Ronin said behind them.
He pushed a few buttons in his ship, causing two nets to shoots forward, successfully immobilizing the two ninja. Carrying them into the ship was much easier without the two constantly kicking and punching in a desperate need to escape.
"Two down, four to go" the bounty hunter smirked.
-x-
Ronin captured Jay and Cole at the amusement park, and he got Lloyd and Zane at the library. Aya, who was with them, managed to pass for a civilian and avoid getting captured too.
The ninja walked into the prison, with special shackles around their wrists, preventing them from using their powers. The policeman sent one last glare their way, and shut the door to their cell.
Jay groaned "I told you guys we should have stayed at the apartment!"
The rest of them all sent incredulous looks his way.
"You were the one that was complaining that you didn't want to be locked up like a zoo animal, idiot" Kai retorted.
"I meant that in, uh... opposite world?" he tried.
Nya rolled her eyes at that, but still smiled slightly.
"But seriously, how are we getting out of here again?" Cole asked.
They all turned to Lloyd at that.
"Why are you all looking at me?"
"Aren't you supposed to be the one with the plan?"
"Well, yeah, but not all the time. We're a team, remember?"
"Well whatever we do, we gotta hurry" Nya said "the demon king is only getting stronger each day that passes by"
"I know" Lloyd rubbed his forehead exasperatedly, sometimes he wished someone else had been chosen as the green ninja, that someone else had to be the leader.
"Demon king, you said?" A voice said from the side.
They all turned, to find Captain Soto and his crew in the adjoining cell.
"You know anything about it?" Kai asked.
"Only what the lore says"
"Tell us" Kai demanded.
"What will you give me in return?"
"I won't incinerate you, that's what" that comment only earned him a smack on the back of his head, courtesy of Nya.
"We don't go around threatening civilians" she scolded.
"Yes, mom" he mocked, which only caused another smack to come his way.
"We'll take you with us once we escape" Lloyd offered.
"Escaping would be a violation of the law" Zane said in a robotic voice, confused "We must wait until we are convicted and the jury decides a sentence for us"
"Zane, buddy, we really need to find a way to turn this whole 'violation of the law' thing off" Cole said, rolling his eyes.
"Do we have a deal?" Kai asked Soto, igniting the brief exchange between his teammates.
"Fine" he agreed "I don't really know much, we were only told about the demons at sea. But I do know a bit about the origins...
You've all heard about the battle between the First Spinjitzu Master and the Overlord. Well, us sailors know a different version. Instead of only being one evil being, there were hundreds. Armies of dark creatures, called demons. All in varying classes and skills. And they were led by Asmodeus, King of Demons. He had four lieutenants: Astaroth, Thamuz, Vassago and Sabbath. Each were specifically created to combat one of the golden weapons. The Overlord was just one of the generals, but the one that survived the most. The cleverest. So the First Spinjitzu Master was able to defeat Asmodeus and its kin by sending them into a foreign dimension. He split the continent in two, leaving the corrupted lands where the battle had taken place stranded somewhere far from Ninjago. He vanquished all but the Overlord, who he fought later on. And the foot soldiers under the Overlord, which turned into sea demons, waiting until they would be called to arms again. And that's why sailors should never go too far from land: the sea demons might sink their ships, drown the sailors and then eat them.
"Did the legend say how to defeat them?" Zane asked.
"It just said that the First Spinjitzu Master used the four golden weapons to open a portal to another realm and send the demons off. Nothing specific"
"But the golden weapons don't exist anymore..." Jay said
"Physically, no. They live on inside each one of you" Soto said "Kai, the red ninja of fire. Zane, the white ninja of ice. Jay, the blue ninja of lighting. Cole, the black ninja of earth"
"So, we combine our powers? Like the tornado of creation?" Cole asked.
"I have no idea. You should find more information in some library" Soto shrugged.
"Thanks for your help" Lloyd said.
"I held my end of the deal. It's time for you tu uphold yours" was the pirate's only reply.
"Tonight" Lloyd said "Just be ready"
But suddenly, alarms started blaring all over the place, starting chaos. The police patrolling around took out their guns and ran for the entrance, leaving the prisoners only guarded by about five other cops.
"Find the fugitive! Immediately!" The ninja heard a cop screaming into his radio.
Just then, a hooded figure dropped down from the roof, right in front of the ninja's cell.
"Miss me?" Anya grinned, while she blasted a hole in the lock with a light beam. She flung the door open. "Let's go. We only have a few seconds before they notice no one actually escaped. Well, apart from you guys"
"Hey!" Soto yelled indignantly from his cell, "we had a deal!"
"Right" Lloyd said, "free him too"
"Why?" She eyed the pirates in disdain.
"We made a deal. I'll explain later"
She decided not to argue, and blasted a hole through their lock too. Then she proceeded to open the ninja's shackles, and together they escaped the prison.
-x-
The next few days they decided to stay in the apartment. Only Aya went out, once to get books from the library, and the second time to buy more food and drinks. They avoided even standing too close to the windows, since the whole damn country would be on alert, now that the ninja had escaped from prison.
They did as much research as they could, getting lore from books and the internet, pasting things on the walls and connecting everything, like a huge puzzle. But they still hadn't found anything on how to beat the demon king. Wu was still in prison, and they had decided to wait a few more days until everything calmed down a bit to risk going and getting him and Misako out.
They all couldn't help but think that this was probably going to be the hardest villain to beat yet. They had had a hard time ensuring the downfall of the Overlord (Zane even had to sacrifice himself), and now it turned out that he was only a lesser one of his kind.
The tv was turned on in the news channel, just to see what was going on and if anything alarming happened. But it was mostly background noise, with one of them sometimes bothering to check it. Music was being blasted at full volume though. Aya has proved that it helped them relax a bit, and focus more on their work.
"So, apparently he also has a wife. Lillith, Queen of demons. And there were rumors of an heir-" Nya was suddenly interrupted by the tv blaring an 'Emergency News Flash'.
They all ceased whatever they were doing, and turned their attention to the tv.
"Jamanakai village is under attack. We're not sure by what exactly, since our reporters are too afraid to go and investigate. But from what we can see from the helicopter, there's some kind of black smoke slowly spreading over the village. Screams can be heard even from up here. And now that the ninja have gone rouge, we pray that someone or something else will take mercy on us and save the villagers..." the image on the tv was unfocused, but it indeed showed the unfortunate village slowly being consumed by black smoke.
"That village sure has some bad luck" Jay said.
"This is a perfect opportunity for you to redeem yourselves" Hologram-PIXAL said.
"Yeah" Nya agreed.
"So, I guess we're off to saving that village for the millionth time" Cole said.
"Let's go!"
Short, I know. I'm sorry. I'll try to make the others longer.
I know having an OC as the main character can be quite annoying, so I'll try to keep Aya to the margins and focus more on the ninja on this rewrite. I could probably take her out, but I don't feel like it.
I already have half of the next chapter written on gdocs, so hopefully an update will come fast.
Please review!
-Emma