Chapter 2: Meet the Parents
Amber, Roxy, Cliff and Laynie walked home from school that afternoon, talking and laughing until they made it just outside Ninjago city. A large ship was resting amongst the trees. Four figures were on the deck of the ship, training. The kids smiled and climbed onboard.
FWOOSH! All four kids jumped back as a whirlwind of ice and snow flew past them. When it stopped spinning, it revealed Zane, the master of ice.
"Oh sorry, I didn't see you there." He apologized with a robotic smile.
"It's cool." Roxy spotted a black-clad ninja punching a punching bag on the other side of the deck.
She ran over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around with his fists out.
"Woah, woah woah!" She leaned back. "Watch it dude!"
"Watch it what?" Cole asked crossing his arms.
"I mean, watch it father dearest?" she said quickly.
Cole chuckled and ruffled her hair.
Cliff looked on at this scene in admiration. Laynie followed his gaze and laughed. "Why don't you tell her?"
Cliff turned around. "Tell her what?"
"You likes her!" Laynie smiled cheesily.
Cliff playfully pushed her shoulder. "Okay Laynie, I'll go tell her as soon as you go give Brandon a great big hug."
Laynie shuddered. "I'd rather die."
"Hey, hey!" The siblings turned to see the master of fire jog towards them. "How are my favorite nieces?"
"Uh, Uncle Kai, I'm a boy." Cliff said. Laynie burst into giggles.
"Right." Kai said, "favorite niece and nephew. What's your name again?" Laynie laughed even harder.
Kai smiled. "Nah, I'm just messin with ya!" He slapped Cliff on the back as he walked past him. "Where's Amber?" he asked. Amber had already left for the living space of the ship, most likely to look at her phone in peace. Cliff shrugged
"Amber!" Kai called out as he went into the house part of the ship. "Your mom has to work late tonight so we're eating noodles!"
Cliff rolled his eyes and turned to his sister, who was trying to compose herself. "It's not that funny." he said.
"I know," Laynie took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She opened one to look at him. He slowly raised one eyebrow and that set her off again. He smiled and laughed with her. "C'mon let's go find mom and dad, I'm dying of hunger and starvation."
"Wow," Laynie said with a giggle. "Hunger AND starvation. That sounds serious." Cliff nodded.
Just then Lloyd ran past them and called out, "Check the bridge, they said they were gonna upgrade something or somethin!"
"Thanks Lloyd!" Cliff shouted back to him. Lloyd saluted as he ducked under a robotic dummy swinging wooden swords.
"Bye Rox!" Laynie called to their friend. Roxy turned and waved, and the siblings grabbed their backpacks from her room, and ran outside and around the temple. A large ship was parked behind it. They could hear the sounds of hammers, drills, blow torches, and the occasional "ouch!"
Cliff and Laynie ran up the stairs to the bridge. Laynie slowly opened the door, but quickly closed it when a flying piece of metal almost hit her in the face. She cautiously pushed it open again, making sure the coast was clear.
The master of lightning slid out from under one of the control panels. "Sorry about that," he said as he stood up, wiping grease off his hands onto his blue jeans. "The metal slicer thingy wasn't working again.
"Sureā¦" Cliff responded, sarcastically. Laynie giggled. "Whatcha workin on dad?" She asked.
Jay sighed. "Well I wanted to amplify one of the rocket boosters a bit more, but then one of the circuits busted. So I came up here to check the control panel, and the metal slicing thingy went crazy and-"
"It's called a steel cutting saw, Jay." The kids turned to see the master of water enter the room. She handed Jay a socket wrench. "You'd know that if you read the instruction manual."
"A true inventor and fixer of things does not need an instruction manual" Jay announced, proudly. "Wait a minute, instruction manual? There's no instruction manual, I built almost all of this stuff!"
Nya smiled and reached into her back pocket. "I made one!" She pulled out a folded up pamphlet and glanced over at the tangled mess of gears and wires coming out of the wall. "I had a feeling something like this would happen." She wiped some oil off his cheek and kissed him. Laynie stopped laughing. Her and Cliff immediately pretended to be interested in something outside. When he assumed the acts of affection had stopped, he turned towards his parents. "Can we go home and get food?" he asked.
Jay shook his head. "Not yet, we gotta finish up the Bounty and then we gotta stop by the school to get stuff ready for robotics club tomorrow." Nya taught robotics and led robotics teams and Master Wu's academy part time.
"But dad, he's dying of hunger and starvation!" Laynie protested, poking fun at his earlier statement. Cliff nodded.
"Go ahead and get them some food, Jay. I'll finish up here, then pass by the school real quick."
"You sure?" Jay asked.
"Yeah, it'll only take about an hour."
"Um. Alright!" Jay turned toward his kids. "So, what restaurant are we hittin up!"
"I meant food from home Jay!" Nya called out from under the control panel where she had begun to work.
Jay and the kids sighed. "Okay guys let's do it." Cliff and Laynie followed their father out the door. "See ya later!" Nya said.
