Here comes the major plot tweaks! This is where Kai is the FIFTH ninja, and Jason is the fourth. Will they be able to get along...?
Oh, and the old baddies, new baddies, and my original baddies will all have connections to Jason and his father- oh Jase, what did you and your parents get into?!
MAJOR COLE AND JASON SURPRISE WITHIN! IF YOU CAN PICK IT OUT, I'LL TELL YOU WHAT IS UP BETWEEN THESE TWO!
Jason calls, "Cole, where's my sais?"
"Um, under the sword rack, I think."
"Thanks, man."
The fourth ninja had finally settled in as ninja of air. He was dressed in the same simple black uniform as everyone else. Cole and Jason weren't exactly good friends, but they were playing nice for the sake of courtesy. In all truths and honesty, nobody was really close to Jason. The dark haired man was often distant, and constantly hiding away for peace to write music.
Cole approaches Jason and sits down beside him. He says, "Jason, we need to talk."
"AGH!" Jason falls on his butt, giving a shout, before agreeing, "Ow... Sure, what do we need to talk about?"
Cole's eyes were narrowed and blazing with anger- or was that concern he saw- as he asks, "Do you have any... Problems?"
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Jason snaps.
Cole mutters, "You're making this more difficult," Then he restates, "Do you have any mental disorders, Jase?"
"I'm... I'm an amnesiac..."
"I'm serious, Jason!"
"No, and even if I do, why would I tell you?" Jason's sharp tone pierced Cole's heart better than any blade could.
Cole quietly acknowledges his guilt and his instigation in their feeble tolerance of each other. He sighs, "Alright... I get that you're mad at me for the first time we met- but starting today, starting now, I want you to give me a second chance! I want to make it up to you!"
"Why should I?" Jason snarls fiercely.
Cole pleads, "Look, I'm just trying to get you to fit in with us, Jase. You don't seem to fit in wi-"
"I never fit in, do I?! It's not like I don't TRY to fit in! I just DON'T FIT IN ANYWHERE!" Jason's teeth were bared and his features pinched in anger. Cole saw through the whole charade with ease.
"I-I'm sorry... Why don't you fit in?"
"I wasn't accepted at my orphanage... I'm not fitting in with you three... I didn't even make a good thief. I didn't fit in," Jason murmurs, "It isn't like I don't want to fit in; I just can't..."
Cole rubs his shoulder, and makes him a promise, giving him a guitar pick, "Look, I know I screwed up, but even if you won't give me a second chance, I'll give my best shot at picking up the pieces. We'll be good friends if it kills me."
Jason looks at the guitar pick very carefully. It was made of plastic, but the tip was reinforced by steel. The design was orange roses in a black backdrop, petals curling outward gently, the inside closed- kind of like him. Jason knew it was symbolic of their new friendship, and Cole's promise to him. The taller man with vivid black hair have him a smirk.
Jase whispers, "I'm holding you to that promise from now on. Don't break it..."
"I won't. I'll do my best to keep our friendship." Cole decides gently.
Suddenly, Jason pins Cole to the wall, peeking out the small hole in the door. There was some random brunette who was moping around the training course. His spiky hair got all over the place, and his eyes were red like fire. Jason didn't know who this was, but he didn't like this guy. Moving over so that Cole could see, both were entertained by their similar reaction.
As soon as the brunette leaves, Jason laughs, "Alright, let's put the stowaway in his place! Tonight, we can attack him!"
"Here's the plan!" Cole decides as they make their way to the dorms.
Neither knew what chaos they would cause that night... They simply thought this was an outsider they had to deal with.
That night, they pulled on their hoods and climbed through the rooftops. Jason pursed his lips, whispering a prayer silently. The orange scarf Jason had been wearing lately hung on his neck, and he reminds himself of the fact that he could rely on Cole, Jay, and Zane.
I'm the ninja with the freedom of air.
He smiled to himself as the stranger started talking and singing to himself. Each ninja took their place, and the strange brunette looked at them. Jason was hanging above this weirdo, and he saw the anxiety. He seemed to realize how dangerous his situation is, only to be worsened when Jason drops from the ceiling behind him.
"Uh oh..." He laughs, then blocks an attack with his toothbrush.
He shoves the toothbrush into Cole's mouth, and Cole spits it at Jay, who it bounces off of. Landing in Zane's pants, the strange, smart one wiggles uncomfortably, and Jason felt himself slip on some water on the floor. The air headed ninja, as they had nicknamed him, felt his face heat up. Once Zane had gotten the toothbrush out of his pants, the whole group lunged at him.
This mystery man turned on the training course. All Jason remembered was hitting the monastery walls before his memory blanked. Moments later, he stood up. Jason used the orange scarf on his neck to cover this intruder's eyes. Then, he forces Jason to the ground, eyes still blocked, before the whole team dog piles.
"Enough!" They looked to see Sensei Wu looking annoyed and pleased at the same time.
Jason's point of view
My eyes filled with extreme anger, a rage that I had stored within myself for longer than I could remember, and that isn't saying a lot. Who was Wu to be an interfering old cripple?! Not only was my face full with blush, I was livid with a sense of betrayal. Why was it so familiar? It actually kind of burned...
"Yes Sensei," My team declares with a bow, even me.
This random guy demands, "Wait, so they're you're students too?!"
"Wh-whoa whoa whoa... Sensei! Letting Jase on the team was one thing- this guy is a whole different story!" Jay's reaction actually made me feel warm...
Sensei Wu laughs, "You all will need to know each other! But first!"
He does his spinjitzu so perfectly that I'm glad my mask stayed on. I was blushing, scowling with envy, and I had drawn my lip back in betrayal. Now I was wearing an orange ninja suit with an orange dragon. The mouth had lines with curls at the ends coming out.
"What the heck is this?!" I demand, my ferocious temper already untamed, but I quickly bridle it.
Wu puts his staff on the red stranger's shoulder, "Kai is the red ninja of fire. It burns brightly within you."
Then Wu put it on Jay, "Blue ninja is Jay, master of lightning."
"That's not all I'm master of," Jay boasts, which made me want to kill him, "I work in inventing, do a little bit of cooking, dabble in poetry, maybe some model building, and singing, which Jason happens to d-"
"Shut up!" I bluntly tell him. He rolls his eyes as everyone except Zane and I pull off out hoods.
Sensei ignored our petty spat, and called out Cole, "Black ninja is Cole. Master of earth, solid as rock."
"I got your back, rookie. You aren't the first new guy, but you're probably the last," Cole informs him, then emphasizes, "And I ain't afraid of anything in this world..."
Zane pops in quickly, "Except for dragons!"
"I said in this world! Dragons aren't from this world, Zane!"
"Oh my word, this is so stupid..." I groan.
Sensei merely continues, "Zane, white ninja of ice, and seer with sixth sense."
Zane spins around. When he stops, he throws his hands down, and his shurikens vanish, which, after all this time we've known each other, still confuses me. Where do the weapons go when thy disappear?!
"I sense," Kai jokes, "This one takes things a little too seriously..."
We all smile, though nobody could tell because of my hood, and Zane asks as he removes his mask, "You too have the gift?"
"Oh Zane..."
"He was making a joke, Zane..."
Zane immediately blushes and lies, "Of course! It was a joke. Ha ha."
We all roll our eyes, then return to Sensei as he approaches me. He declared, "Orange ninja of air is Jason. The wind guides you wherever you go."
"Jason? Who even uses that name anymore!?" Kai scoffs.
I feel my face growing hotter as I am forced to remove my mask. Blush was making me look a bit off. I muttered an incoherent complaint about him, then turn on the spot. What a total jerk!
Jay asks, "Soooooo... When do we learn this spinjitzu I've heard so much about?"
"You already know it. Come, my feet are tired. We will take the horse carriage." Sensei says plainly.
Narrowing my brown eyes, I hiss, "Well, then! That was awkward!"
"Great. So now we're going on a wild goose chase." Jay snorts, "Wonderful."
Kai declares, "Well, if I can save my sister, sign me up!"
When we ended up pulling the carriage, we all seemed to take a little more thought towards each other. My face was no longer burning red with embarrassment, though I was angry. I gave into my urge to love the others as well as I possibly could.
Kai's point of view
He wasn't impressive, running alongside me. I wonder why I hate everyone I actually respect, then become friends if they'll give me a chance. I shouldn't be vying for anyone's friendship! These guys seemed cool, though, even if Cole was kind of self-absorbed, Jay is annoying, Zane is weird, and Jason is just not in the same world as us in general.
Jay mutters, "Sign me up, he says! WAY TO GO, KAI!"
"Lay off of him! He's just new!" Jason's argument actually surprised me.
I call to him, "Thanks, dude,"
All I got back was a nod.
"I-I sense," Zane gasps out with difficulty, "This is s-some strange form of... Team b-building!"
I suggest, "Well, h-how did sensei... Find you g-guys?"
"I was testing my invention!" Jay cries out boastfully.
Cole pops in, "I was testing my limits."
"And I, was testing myself..." Zane says in his calm voice.
i look at Jason, "What about you?"
"I-I was..." He seemed hesitant to admit how he was found.
I cock my head as I watch him chew his lip ever so slightly, his eyes looking away from us. He nearly trips on the wagon, but catches himself. Something was definitely off about this guy, and I wanted to know what was going on. He was so nervous that he couldn't look at me!
Jason finally admits, "I used to be in a thieve's guild. At least, before somebody got me in trouble, and I had to run away or be killed."
His eyes glow in a sad manner, but I say, "Dude, that must be harsh. You okay?"
"I'll be fine."
"Stop!"
We all brought the cart to a stop, and looked out at the ridge. There was a lot of skeleton butt to be kicked; I would get my sister back in no time! The others seemed to just spiral out of my memories, and I race off to find whatever weapon is supposed to be here.
Cole's point of view
This was going to be easy as long as we worked together... As if we would actually have that happen. Kai ran off before any of us had even spoken, and I guess he thought he could do this all on his own, but he can't! We chased after him an saved him a million times before he stuck into the mines. When we caught up to him, I decided to tell him we're a team.
"Hey! We're a team now, remember? We can help you." I state.
Kai looked sorry, lowering his head ever so gently, "Yeah, sure."
We then all pushed a boulder aside. When we saw what we revealed, we were all amazed by our findings. There it was- the Scythe of Quakes. I went to grab it when Jay said something much too loudly.
"That is so COOL!"
Everyone hissed at Jay to be silent, lest he wants to get us all killed. I glared at him while the others whispered angrily. I climbed up, grabbing the scythe. Jason narrowed his eyes with some strange form of intuition, as if something was within him, telling the darker man a secret. He closed his eyes momentarily, sighing silently, as if his lost memories were taunting him once more. I gave him a few moments of my attention, which he noticed. He mouthed something about telling me later.
"Look, let's just get out of here!" I exclaimed.
Zane spoke up for the first time since the run, "I no longer believe we have that luxury!"
"Why?" I ask.
Zane grimaces, then calls out, "Them!"
"How many of those guys are there?" Jason asks, eyes huge with shock.
Samukai smirks, but frowns when he sees Jason, "Oh great, not you again..."
"Jase, d'you know him?" Asks Jay, curious.
I demand, eyes ablaze, "What do you two know?!"
"I don't know anything, okay?! For the very last time, I don't remember anything!" Jason snaps, eyes showing hurt, his fists clenching around his weapons.
Samukai snorts, "Well, if you don't remember, I still do! And you're going to pay for it, whether you know what you did or not! This will teach you and your meddling parents to get in my affairs!"
"I DONT UNDERSTAND!" Jason screamed again.
We all lashed out, and I run straight for the exit, knocking enemies away with my old scythe. Whipping my feet around, I knock some down. Samukai seemed to have it out for Jason, and I could tell that if I didn't intervene, my friend wouldn't have a chance to win. It was an unfair fight, with many unfair advantages. Samukai had more arms, more weapons, more armor, more everything. Jason's only advantage was his ability to dodge narrowly without flinching. It was the only skill he had that kept him alive, and I saw the fact that Jason was losing ground with every movement.
I throw it to Zane, not hesitating to go to Jason's rescue. My feet carry me to him just in time to knock him out of the way of Samukai's blades. He nods and we roll away into time to avoid another hit. We get up, synchronized, and I realize that guy is who I needed to bring me to life.
We were practically brothers, but I knew that wasn't possible... Or was it? My mom divorced my father, but she supposedly died a couple years later...
"Kai, go long!"
Zane's yell finally got my attention. I didn't know Zane could raise his voice.
Jay shouts out, "Two points! Whapow! Bam!"
"Goodness, Cole! I bet this would be easier if we knew spinjitzu, but we don't!" Jason yells back.
I agree loudly, "That would be good!"
"Hey guys," Jay gasps happily, "It's just like the training course!"
"?!" Everyone was too surprised by Jay's observation to respond.
"Over the planks," Jay leaped over two enemies, "Dodge the swords," -Mouth of Lightning slides around the enemies-
"HERE COMES THE DUMMY!" Jay screeches at us, making Kai cover his ears while carrying the weapon.
He whirled around, spinning until there was nothing but lightning around him. We couldn't see Jay, and neither could the skeletons. They became spooked and they ran away, the few who didn't were taught a lesson. We watched as Jay zipped within the tornado, swirling like a champion. That seems to set off something in Jason's brain, because he whips into an orange tornado- literally a tornado- without much effort.
"Whoa! Guys! What's the super awesome secret?!" Kai demands.
"Heh, I'm just going through the motions!" Jay snorts happily.
Jason's eyes were closed, though we couldn't see through the mass of orange power, and he wrecks Samukai without even trying. As I watch him wreck, I try my own spinjitzu out on the enemy. Dark brown, almost pure black... Very good! When all the skeletons leave, we stop and all laugh and catcall the enemy. Well, everyone except Jason. He still seemed to be in a total daze from the spinjitzu.
"Alright! We showed them!" Zane laughs.
Kai jeers, "Come back! I thought you guys were tougher than that!"
"Don't assume that, Kai," Jay smirks.
I shrug and make a muscular pose, "They couldn't handle these babies! Good thing they didn't check out the merchandise in the back!"
Jason's eyes said he didn't feel like jeering, that there was something else on his mind. Something like anger, and something like- quote unquote- "sadness", in all his respects. My ego was inflated, so I chose not to care, but that changed when I turned around.
"Umm... Um, g-guys...? Guys...!" I squeaked.
Zane asks, "Didn't Sensei mention something about a dragon...?"
We all turned around to look at it except me. Jason realized what it was going to do, knocking us out of the way. It's elemental breath shot straight across the room. Aren't we just so lucky to have two psychic teammates? Jason pushed us behind a rock, breathing heavily as it's breath nearly hit him. I'm pretty sure that nobody wants to get hit my a storm of boulders coming out of a dragon's guts.
"We're trapped!" Jay whispers.
Zane chokes, "I sense we cannot spin our way out of this one,"
"Maybe we don't have to!" Kai manages. He pulls out the scythe.
I try, "But Kai, that's dangerous!"
"Yeah, didn't Sensei say that it was absolutely devastating to use that weapon?!" Jay gasps.
"Don't boss me around."
Slamming it onto the hard ground, the dragon roared angrily as an earthquake disturbs it. We all use our spinjitzu to get out of there. Wen we got out, we all cheered, Jason's crow less than pleased. He seemed half-hearted. I felt worry creep up in my heart as he walked away. He didn't want us near him, and that bothered me.
"You used the Scythe?!" Sensei yelled.
Kai laughs, "Sorry Sensei, but it was my only option."
"It's all about you! By doing that, you compromised both the safety of your team and yourself! Perhaps next time, you can do better..."
Kai looks angrily at the dirt.
Jason's past point of view
"Your brother and your sister always better... I wonder why I even bother with you!"
Hearing his mother scream at him about a brother he never met, he knew it was dumb. Yet, he always felt disappointed when she never said anything good. When had she said anything good about him? Certainly not while he was alive and talking. He knew that she hated his guts...
"Brother... Sister... Who were you two? Why does mother hate me...?