STORY 2

THE BABYSITTER

The sun shined through the open parts of the curtains in Lloyd's room. It was Saturday morning and Lloyd was sleeping peacefully in bed. When the weekend came along, all he ever wanted to do was sleep. His alarm clock suddenly went off. After a few minutes of hearing nothing but the annoying buzzing sound, Lloyd finally punched it off with his fist. He turned to face the other side of his bed. Just when he was about to fall asleep, his door swung wide open. The sound of a gong banged in his room. That could only mean one thing. His father was waking him up like he does every morning. He continued until Lloyd finally got himself out of bed, falling flat on his face in the process. His father walked up to him.

"Get up, son," Garmadon said, "Evil never sleeps in and neither should you. Besides, your mother and I have a lot to do today and we need you to cooperate with us. Now hurry up and come downstairs for breakfast."

Lloyd thought that his father was just messing around, but after seeing the attire he was wearing, Lloyd knew he was telling the truth. Dressing in his usual everyday clothing, a green hoodie, green pants and lime green sneakers, Lloyd ran downstairs to the kitchen. He saw his mother wearing her white sweater and brown skirt with dark brown flats. His father was wearing one of his good kimonos. They looked as though they were dressed to go up to the temple. Things were starting to become suspicious.

"Okay, why are you guys dressed as though you're about to go to the temple?" Lloyd asked.

"Because we are about to go to the temple," Garmadon said.

"We need to help set up for the annual picnic that's coming up tomorrow," Misako said, "It doesn't matter what your there for, you always have to dress nice when your around the temple. It's been that way for hundreds of years."

"So what are you guys gonna do with me? I'm not dressed to go."

"Well, we weren't able to find you a babysitter, so it's safe to say that I think your older enough to watch over yourself."

"All by myself?"

"You won't be completely alone. Miss Allyman will be home all day so if you need anything, just go over to her place. She'll pop in to check on you from time to time. I'll leave an emergency contact number list on the counter just in case of an emergency. You know how to use the phone. Your father and I will take our cell phones so we'll call whenever we can. We'll only be gone a few hours. We should be back around noon."

"Let me get this straight. You guys are just gonna leave me here with nothing but an emergency list and Miss Allyman to come by and check on me."

"That's right. I think it's time you start learning how to be responsible by taking care of yourself. Your father and I won't always be there, so this is a good time to learn."

"I promise not to do anything that will make you think otherwise."

"I'm glad to hear it. Looks like you have everything under control here. Come on, Garmadon. We need to start heading out."

"Alright," Garmadon said, putting the newspaper down on the table, "I only have one thing to say. Don't destroy the house while we're gone."

"Don't worry, Dad," Lloyd said, "The house will still be here by the time you get back. Have a good time."

"We'll be back in a few hours. You be good, sweetheart." Misako kissed her son's forehead. "I love you."

"Love you, too," Lloyd said quickly, "Bye."

Misako and Garmadon left out of the house and saw their son looking out the window as they climbed into the car. As they pulled out of the driveway, Garmadon had a worried expression on his face. "Do you really think we made the right choice by letting him stay home by himself?"

"There's nothing to worry about, Garmadon," Misako said, "Remember what we talked about last night. This may be Lloyd's chance to finally learn a thing or two. We need to show our son that we can trust him."

"I just have that weird feeling in the pit of my stomach that something is gonna happen by the time we get home." Before Garmadon said anything else, Misako kissed his cheek, making him blush a bit. "Maybe it was just something I ate. Never mind. I won't worry about it so much."

Once they were out on the road, Lloyd took himself away from the window. If there's one thing a pair of parents should think about before they take off is to find a different place for the children to go. Otherwise, it can lead to disastrous consequences.


A few hours had passed. Luckily, the Garmadon`s home was still standing, but the inside was a complete mess. The place was covered in food and wrappers. Lloyd's clothes were scattered in many different places. Jelly covered the curtains while peanut butter covered the couch. There were slices of bread all over the floor. Lloyd's video game console was hooked up to the TV, but he wasn't there to play it. The screen showed the home page of Dragon Race 2. Where was Lloyd, though? Music filled up a room as Lloyd came out into the hallway, wearing one of his good shirts. He wasn't wearing any pants, but thank goodness he had underwear on. He wore his father's socks on his feet that were three sizes too big for him. He had a pickle in his hand that he pretended was a microphone as he sang the song coming from the radio.

Just take those old records off the shelf

I'll sit and listen to 'em by myself

Today's music ain't got the same soul

I like that old time rock 'n' roll

Don't try to take me to a disco

You'll never even get me out on the floor

In ten minutes I'll be late for the door

I like that old time rock 'n' roll

At that moment, Lloyd's parents walked through the door and were horrified to look at the mess that was right there in the house.

Still like that old time rock `n` roll

That kind of music just soothes the soul

I reminisce about the days of old

With that old time rock 'n' roll

Garmadon turned off the radio and Lloyd looked up. He jumped and almost screamed when he saw his parents. His mother had her hand cupped over her mouth as she was sinking in the mess that was made. Garmadon`s eyes were full of disappointment and anger.

"Looks like I lost track of time," Lloyd said.

"Looks like I should've been worried the entire time," Garmadon said.

"The curtains are covered in jelly," Misako said, "This was an anniversary present."

"The entire living room looks nothing like it did when your mother and I left," Garmadon said, "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking about making myself a quindruple peanut butter and jelly sandwich," Lloyd said, "Somehow I ended up slinging the peanut butter all over the couch and on the chair. When I used the jelly, I swung it at the curtains. I tried to clean it up, but it ended up smearing everywhere, so I just decided to play video games. I got hungry and found some chocolate bars in the cabinet. I started going hyperactive after that. After I calmed down, I saw that my clothes were smeared in peanut butter and chocolate, so I went to change. I found a basket that was full of my clothes, so I decided to take the clothes out and I ended up throwing them all around the place. I went up to my room and found this shirt in my closet. Luckily, my underwear was clean because I didn't have any clean pants. To keep myself from getting my feet dirty, I put on a pair of socks. I got hungry again and search the fridge until I found a pickle. Then I got the idea of using it as a microphone. I found one of your old tapes and started singing. Then you guys came home."

"Well, at least you were being honest. As they always say, honesty is always the best policy."

"Oh, it's going to take weeks to clean up this mess," Misako said.

"Don't worry, darling," Garmadon said, "You won't be the one cleaning it up. Lloyd will."

"Why do I have to clean it up?" Lloyd asked.

"Because it's your mess. I think your responsible enough to clean up after yourself."

"The reason we let you stay home by yourself was to teach you how to be responsible, but it seems that you can't handle it," Misako said, "I won't make that mistake again. Until you can learn how to act mature when your not around us, you will never stay home all on your own."

"Futhermore, there will be no video games, television or training until this mess is cleaned up," Garmadon said, "I don't want to see a speck of anything on it when your finished."

"I don't know to wash furniture," Lloyd said, "How do I even begin?"

"You should've thought about that before you caused the problem. If you don't know how to do it, you better start learning fast. It'll teach you a lesson on how to not destroy everything inside the house. You better get started. You've got a lot of work to do."

Garmadon left out of the room and went upstairs. Lloyd looked at the living room. This was the worst thing he could possibly do. At that point, he felt bad for what he did. It was only a test that his parents gave him and he failed it. There was no time to think about it now. He had a lot of work to do.


Deep inside the woods of the cold region in Ninjago, the tomb to the Hypnobrai tribe was opened. For the past week, there have been reports stating that the Hypnobrai have been scattering themselves all over the place. Once night came along, they slithered back inside the tomb where nobody could bother them. They were searching the surface ground to find the staff that was taken from them a week ago. They wouldn't give up the search until it was found. The general slithered around inside the tomb and found a group of snakes whispering to each other.

"I wonder if we'll ever find that ssstaff?" the first snake asked.

"With the trail that were walking on, I don't think we'll ever have any luck," the second one said.

"What are you doing jussst ssstanding around here?" the general asked, "Go to your homesss. We have another day of sssearching tomorrow."

"General Ssskales," a snake said, running up to the general, "We were able to find the location of where the ssstaff may be."

"Why are we ssstill ssstanding around here?" Skales asked, "Lead me, sssoldier."

The soldier led Skales to a little hut where a crystal ice ball sat in the middle of a small table. The soldier placed his eyes on the ball and showed the staff in somebody else's hand. It zoomed out to reveal a person in red that placed the staff in a secretive room.

"Now we know who our culprit isss," Skales said, "Where doesss thisss perssson live?"

"Ninjago City," the soldier said, "I don't know the exact location of where he isss in the city, but that'sss where he livesss."

"Excellent. We will ssstart our sssearch tomorrow night."

"Why at night, sssir?"

"Becaussse people are ssstarting to get sssussspiciousss of usss. The bessst thing to do isss to ssstart traveling at night. Ssspread the word out to the other sssoldiersss."

"Yesss, General Ssskales." The young soldier left the room in search for the army.

Skales was laughing to himself. He had it all planned out and he had a feeling that it wouldn't fail. He would do anything to get that staff back. After all, he fought in a battle to earn it. Now that he was in charge and he no longer had to listen to anybody else, he could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Skales slithered out of the little ice hut. Taking that staff would be a piece of cake.


Back at the Garmadons, the living room was still a wreak, but at least all the clothes, wrappers and bread was out if the floor. Of course the floor was covered with some smear spots, but it would get done soon. Garmadon sent his son to bed right after dinner. He was definitely not in the mood for anything. Since the furniture was still covered, he was inside his bedroom watching television. Misako came in there as she had just gotten off the phone.

"That was the museum calling," Misako said, "Looks like the yearly dinner is this Tuesday night and they want me to come and present a part of the presentation. As usual, no children can come, but the both of us are invited."

"Well, looks like we need to call up a babysitter," Garmadon said, "Lloyd is not staying here by himself."

"I was just thinking the same thing. Let me handle this, honey."

Misako picked up the bedroom phone and dialed up the number for the one and only babysitting service in Ninjago City. The phone answered to an older woman. "Ninjago City's Child Care Babysitting Service. How may I help you?"

"Yes, my name is Misako Garmadon," Misako said, "I need a babysitter for Tuesday night."

"Hmm, I don't seem to see your name on our membership program. Have you ever called here for a babysitter before?"

"Well, no, I haven't."

"Well, the only way you can get a babysitter is if you join our program. Don't worry. It's absolutely free. No payments required. The only payment is for the babysitter that you hire. So, would you like to join?"

"Yes, I would."

"Alright, I'll just put your name down and we'll get back to you for your contact information. Now what kind of babysitter are you looking for?"

"Do you have anyone at the age of eighteen?"

"Well, we have a few. Let's see. The one at the top of the list is a person name Zeah Blitz."

"I'll take her. From six to ten."

"Alright, we'll call and let her know. Thank you for joining our program and choosing our babysitting service. Please call again."

"Thank you. Goodbye." Misako hung up the phone. "Well, that's taken care of."

"Who's coming over?" Garmadon asked.

"I think I know who."

Garmadon nodded and continued watching TV. Little did they know that Lloyd was watching them from their door. This was not something he was hoping for. A babysitter would be entering the house and watching his every move. This was something he was not hoping for.


Lloyd had went over to Nick`s house on Monday to clear his head. It was a good thing he was only a block away. He wasn't feeling up to walking at the moment. It was the only place where Lloyd could play video games without his parents catching him. At that moment, he and Nick were playing Spinjitzu Fight 3, with Lloyd in the lead. He's played the game plenty of times to know how it game goes. He wasn't losing his concentration even when he was talking to Nick.

"Okay, what did you do to get a video game ban this time?" Nick asked.

"I trashed the living room," Lloyd said.

"Why did you do that?"

"Well, I was trying to keep everything clean, but it just got messy all of a sudden."

"Didn't they hire somebody to watch you?"

"No, they let me stay home by myself. They don't trust me anymore."

"Dude, when your parents are giving you a huge responsibility like that, don't blow it. Their trying to teach you how to take care of yourself because they're not always gonna be there."

"They said the same thing. Now they hired a babysitter to watch over me tomorrow night."

"Really? Who is it?"

"I don't know, but whoever it is, I hope they'll go easy on me."

The door to Nick`s bedroom opened, revealing Mrs. Armegon, Nick`s mother. "Lloyd, your mother called. She wanted to make sure you weren't playing video games. Looks like your doing the exact opposite."

"Great," Lloyd said, "I'm not even at home and my parents are still watching over me."

"I think that's enough video games for one visit, boys. Why don't you go and play in the backyard?"

"Sounds good to me," Nick said, "Come on, Lloyd."

Once they got in the backyard, Lloyd's face suddenly got red with anger. "Why is it that my parents always get under my skin? Why can't they just leave me alone and let me do whatever I want?"

"Geez, Lloyd, stop growing up too fast," Nick said.

"What are you talking about?"

"Your acting like a teenager right now, thinking that your all grown up. If you ever say that in front of your parents, you'll break their hearts."

"What do you mean?"

"Your parents don't want you to grow up too fast. They want you to enjoy every minute of your childhood. They don't want you to complain about it all the time. Just enjoy it, man."

"Your being no help to me at all. I'm going home. Tell your mom that I left."

Lloyd left out the gate and went home. He had some stuff he needed to do anyway. Today he had to wash his clothes because some of them had stains from Saturday's fiasco. At that moment, he noticed that he was acting too much like a teenager. He knew that it was getting out of hand and it needed to stop before something bad happens.


When Tuesday night rolled around, Lloyd was sitting around in his room. He thought that the best thing to do was hide in his room for the entire time until the babysitter left. He wasn't going to hang around while they were there. The one thing he should be doing was figuring out how to clean the furniture. The peanut butter stains have already harden. It would take forever to clean it. Besides, it would save a lot of money to clean it then to buy new furniture. At that moment, he heard the doorbell ring and his mother calling for him.

"Lloyd, the babysitter`s here," Misako called out.

"Great," Lloyd said, "Coming, Mom."

Lloyd went down the stairs and stopped in midstep when he overheard his parents talking.

"Were glad that you took the time to come over," Misako said.

"I would do anything for the two of you," the babysitter said, "I would never say no to some really wonderful friends of mine. I cannot wait to see Lloyd again."

"Don't try to hide, Lloyd," Garmadon said, "I know where you are."

Lloyd came down from the steps. He gasped when he saw who was watching over him. "Zeah?!"

"Why, hello, Lloyd," Zeah said, "I did not think you would ever remember me."

"Who would forget you?"

"We'll only be gone for a few hours," Misako said, "Well be back around ten. There's a contact information list on the counter. Just in case you can't reach our cell phones, the museum number is on there. There's enough leftovers in the fridge for dinner so I'm sure Lloyd won't mind eating any of it. The bathroom is upstairs. It's the first door on the left. Don't sit on any of the furniture because when we left Lloyd here by himself, he ended up making a huge mess. Don't let him touch anything in the kitchen. Lloyd's bedtime is around eight-thirty. I'm sure he'll be tired out by then. Oh, and make sure he brushes his teeth."

"I will make sure all is done before you come home," Zeah said.

"Well, looks like you have everything under control." Misako walked up to Lloyd. "Bye, darling. Well see you in the morning. Be good. I love you." Misako kissed his forehead.

"I better not hear that you've been causing trouble," Garmadon said, "Be good, son. Good night."

"See you later," Lloyd said.

Once Lloyd's parents left out the door, Zeah went into the kitchen. "Come, Lloyd. Let us find some leftovers. I have not eaten dinner yet."

At that moment, Lloyd could care less. He ran into the kitchen for dinner. Might as well think of the night as normal. Little did he know that something was lurking around the neighborhood.


Shadows emerged from the darkness as they slithered on the streets. Luckily, no one was out. Except maybe some cars driving down the road, but they didn't seem to notice the snakes. Skales kept his eye out for any night joggers. If he saw someone coming, he would simply hide the army behind some hedges. This was the second night they went out to search for the staff. One of the soldiers was able to get a lead on it. Skales thought he heard something in the distance, but it was too far away to come near the army.

"Follow my lead, boysss," Skales said, continuing to lead the army.

The Hypnobrai continued following the noise until they finally heard it. It came from a house that may have had only one bedroom inside. Who would want a place like that? The snakes made their way over to the house. A light was on so it was easy to see that someone was home. Inside the house was Kai, who was listening to loud rock music while vacuuming the floor. It was so loud people could hear it down the street. A sparkling glimpse caught Skales eye. The staff was inside the living room under the red ninja`s guard. He looked away from the window and towards his men.

"Looksss like it'sss under the boysss guard," Skales explained, "We will have to return when he'sss not home. At leassst we found it. Back to the tomb."

One of the snakes stayed behind as another one looked at him. He was bobbing his head up and down like he was at a rock concert.

"I love the beat thisss musssic hasss," the snake said.

"You idiot," said the other snake, "Come on."

The snakes left Kai`s home and went down the street. They stopped in front of Lloyd's house when someone finally caught them on the street. A man stopped his car and screamed when he saw them. The snake scattered away like cowards and went all over the place. Chaos would start happening any moment.


It was around eight when Lloyd decided to get ready for bed. He was tired from trying so hard to clean the furniture. It would take forever to wash it. Lesson learned. Never destroy the house while the parents are out. Since he couldn't watch TV or anything, the only thing to do was get ready for bed. A knock was heard on his door.

"Come in," Lloyd said.

Zeah open the door and stuck her head out. "I just wanted to come and say good night. I will check in on you from time to time."

"That's fine. Good night."

Zeah closed the door as Lloyd settled into bed. Before he could even try and go to sleep, he heard some noises in the backyard. He jumped out of bed and walked up to the window. He was surprised to see snakes slithering around in his backyard, some of them hiding in fear. Someone must have saw them and scared them off. Lloyd knew that the Serpentine were up to no good. Lloyd knew what he was about to do was drastic, but what other choice did he have? He put on his ninja gi and climbed out the window. He tried to be as quiet as possible so Zeah wouldn't hear him. By the time he got on the ground, a snake stood next to him, pretending to be a yard ornament. Lloyd knew it's tricks. When it still didn't move, Lloyd jumped up and kicked him in the face. It ran off and ruined the tribes plan. They all slithered out of their hiding places. The general slithered his way over to Lloyd.

"We meet again, little boy," Skales said.

"What do you want, General?" Lloyd asked.

"My name isss Ssskalesss. I'm here to retrieve my ssstaff."

"I don't know what your talking about."

"Yesss, you do. Lucky for usss, we've already found it."

"General Ssskalesss," someone said, running into the backyard, "That boy jussst left and the ssstaff isss ssstill inssside the houssse."

"Well, boysss, let'sss go get my ssstaff," Skales said, slithering back to the sidewalk.

Lloyd couldn't let them take the staff. He knew the time had come to take drastic measures. He climbed over the fence and sneaked his way down the street so nobody would know he was following them. They got to Kai`s house and started to go over the plan. Lloyd hid inside a bush so he could hear what they had to say.

"Lisssten up," Skales said, "The ssstaff isss not in the original place that it wasss before. The firssst thing we're going to do isss break every sssingle window ssso we can get inssside. We need to sssearch every corner of the houssse. Once we find it, we ssset the place on fire and run."

Lloyd couldn't let them do that. Just before he could sneak away from the bushes, the snakes were already breaking the windows. He decided that the best way to stop them was to sneak inside. Once they were deep inside the house, Lloyd followed behind. The first place he went to was behind the couch. Everything was red inside Kai`s home. He had to agree with that. A little table sat in between the couch and chair. He looked to see a photo of Kai with some girl. That girl looked kind of familiar. He was discovered pretty quick, though, because a snake caught him.

"Ninja!" the snake shouted.

The others turned around as they noticed Lloyd as well. They came up close to him as the general placed his eyes on him. "Look into my eyesss."

Lloyd closed his eyes just in time and tried to run. He ended up hitting the wall. The young ninja still needed to learn how to fight with his eyes closed. He fell on his back as the world spinner around. The snakes looked at him.

"Can we hypnotize him now, sssir?" one of the snakes asked.

"No," Skales said, "That won't be necesssary becaussse I just found my ssstaff. Ssset the place on fire. Leave the boy here."

A snake poured gasoline on the floor and lit up a match. He threw it on the gasoline pile and the place start setting on fire. Lloyd shot up and saw that he had just enough time to escape. Before he did that, he had to notify the fire department. He quickly picked up the phone and explained the fire situation. The operator said they were on their way and Lloyd saw that he may only have a few minutes to escape the house. He climbed out of one of the broken windows and found the hose next to the fence. He began spraying water through one of the windows, but it didn't help much. The fire trucks started blaring down the streets as Lloyd put the hose away. He was taken by one of the firefighters and placed on oxygen. Lloyd saw Zeah running down the sidewalk while his parents pulled up next to the sidewalk and ran up to their son.

"Oh, Misako and Garmadon, I am terribly sorry for all of this," Zeah said, "I went up to check on him and when I saw the window opened, I got scared."

"No one is to blame for any of this," Misako said.

"No, it's my fault all of this happened," Lloyd said.

"Care to explain, son?" Garmadon asked.

"I saw the Serpentine out in the backyard. I did the one thing I wasn't suppose to do. I went out to take care of them myself. They told me that they found the staff and saw that Kai left the house with the staff still there so they went to get it. I got here to Kai`s house and snuck inside to see if I could stop them and take the staff myself. One of them caught me and tried to hypnotize me, but I closed my eyes and tried to run. I ended up banging myself against the wall. They set the place on fire while I was still inside. I called the fire department and escape out of the house. I tried using the hose to calm the fire down, but it didn't work. By the time the firefighters got here, I let them take care of the rest. Now it all comes down to this."

"We're very disappointed that you got yourself into this mess, Lloyd," Misako said.

"I know, Mom," Lloyd said, "I'm too irresponsible to take care of anything, including myself."

"There is one thing that you did that I would consider responsible," Garmadon said, "You did your best to stop the snakes from getting the staff and even though you failed, you were able to help a hone when it was in need. That was the most responsible thing you could ever do."

"Thanks, Dad," Lloyd said, "What about Kai`s house?"

"I'm sure it'll be alright."

One of the firefighters walked up to Lloyd's parents. "The fire's out, but the inside of the house is halfway damaged. Luckily we stopped it before it started to head upstairs. Say, do you know who lives here. We need to contact them about this."

"What happened to my house?" Kai asked, his eyes wide with fear.

Lloyd walked up to him. "Uh, Kai, the Serpentine set your house on fire after they took back their staff."

"Well, I can see that's true."

"You're more than welcomed to stay with the Garmadons until your house is fixed."

"Well, it seems I don't have much of a choice."

Laughter started surrounding them. Whatever happened in the past happened. There was nothing anyone could do to change it. People make mistakes, but they just have to fix them. They are a responsible person even if they don't think so themselves.


ANOTHER STORY WRITTEN. ENJOY THIS ONE EVERYBODY.

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