Jay Walker woke to the shrill sound of the alarm clock blaring in his ears. It was 6:00am. Training started at seven.
"Ugh," he groaned as he covered his head with his pillow. "Five more minutes."
One by one, the ninja began to stir after hearing the dreaded sound of the alarm, however, no one made the effort to actually get up.
Kai started throwing various objects at the alarm, hoping to shut it off, but the ninja's aim was less than accurate. "Turn it off!"
After about ten minutes of grumbling and complaining, Sensei Wu burst through door of the ninjas' bedroom.
"Get up ninja! Training starts in fifty minutes!"
A series of protests resounded in response to the sensei's command.
"Oh the humanity!" Lloyd whined.
"Enough," Wu said. "As ninja, it is your duty to make sure that you are in optimal fighting condition. Evil does not rest."
"How can evil do that? I can barely function with five hours of sleep. I need my sleep." Cole said.
"Then might I suggest turning in earlier," the teacher replied, narrowing his eyes at the ninjas. "...so that you are able to rise earlier if need be."
"Come on, Sensei, I had to finish that level!" Jay said. "I was so close to reaching the end-I had to defeat the boss."
"I understand, Jay." The sensei truly didn't, but he knew he was an old man, and that he tended to perceive things differently than the young adults. "However, the safety of Ninjago comes before recreational entertainment. It does not change our training time. I believe you are familiar with the saying 'the early bird catches the worm.'"
The five ninjas stared at him blankly. He wasn't sure if they had actually heard the saying before, or if they were simply trying to be difficult. Either way, it was wasting time.
"...Never mind. I shall see you all on the deck in forty five minutes." And with that, Sensei Wu left the room, leaving the ninja to prepare for their long day ahead.
When they heard the door shut, the ninjas glanced at each other expectantly. No one wanted to get up, but someone had to go first. Sharing a bathroom with four other people was difficult, especially if time was limited.
The blue ninja was the first to speak up. "I'll go first," he declared.
It made sense, since Jay usually took the longest, besides Kai that is.
In the bathroom, Jay started his early morning routine. He splashed cold water on his face, then got out the toothpaste from the cabinet and his toothbrush, which was sitting in a blue cup on the counter along with a green, red, black, and white cup. The ninja hummed a little to himself as he began brushing his teeth. The whole routine relaxed him. It was weird for him to think that his day started off with something simple like brushing your teeth, and then before you knew it you could be fighting snakes or a whole skeleton army. Needless to say, Jay found comfort in the normalcy of a morning routine.
Outside, the other four ninjas were waiting patiently to use the bathroom. Lloyd and Zane had managed to pull the covers off of them, but Kai and Cole were still lying contently on their beds.
"I think I will make some breakfast for us all," Zane declared, "in order to help motivate us for the day ahead."
The other ninjas nodded eagerly. They loved Zane's cooking, especially when it was for breakfast.
"Ooo! Could you make blueberry waffles? I love those!" Cole exclaimed.
"Certainly," the white ninja answered. "Are the rest of you okay with that?" he asked, motioning towards Kai and Lloyd.
"Yep."
"Sure."
Seeing that the others were in agreement, the nindroid smiled.
"Then I will start making them right away."
The ninja of ice left the room, leaving Kai, Cole, and Lloyd to wait in line for the bathroom.
The red ninja put his hands behind his head, trying to work up the strength to get up.
"What's taking Jay so long? For the ninja of lightning he's extremely slow," Kai said, earning a chuckle from both Cole and Lloyd.
"Yeah except when he's talking," Lloyd muttered.
Their laughter was silenced when they heard a loud screech coming from the bathroom.
"KAAIIII!"
The ninjas froze and glanced anxiously at one another, not having the slightest idea as to what set the blue ninja off.
Cole and Lloyd turned to Kai, who wore a sheepish expression.
"Ok, Kai, what'd you do this time?" Cole said mockingly.
The red ninja glared at his teammate. "Nothing, I swear!"
Suddenly, Jay burst out the bathroom, holding, you guessed it, a roll of toilet paper. He stomped up to Kai's bed and held the toilet paper directly in front of the red ninja's face.
"What is this?" the ninja of lightening demanded.
Kai, who did not appreciate having a roll of toilet paper inches from his head, couldn't muster up an appropriate response.
"Uh...toilet paper?" he said, not quite sure what answer the blue ninja was expecting.
"Yeah, the wrong kind!" Jay retorted. "This," he said, holding it closer to Kai's face making him flinch, "is not Navy toilet paper."
Finally, Kai couldn't stand it any longer and sat up, shoving the roll away from him.
"No, it's not," he said. "I got the generic brand, Joe's Ultra Soft." He wasn't sure what the big deal was and why Jay was making such a fuss.
"You what?! That's the worst kind!" the blue ninja shrieked. "The generic brand is always the worst!"
"Why? What's wrong with it?" He asked, feeling the heat in his cheeks rise.
"What's wrong with it," Jay echoed, "is it's too thin, too flimsy, and not soft. I was chafing because of this!"
Kai rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, maybe it was because you were, you know, rubbing too hard?"
"Absolutely not!" Jay argued. "I treat my backside like royalty, thank you very much."
Lloyd and Cole, who were watching the scene unfold in front of them, were stifling laughter at the red ninja's expense.
"Hey Jay," Cole said in between chuckles, "cut the man a little slack."
"Yeah, in my defense the list didn't exclusively say what brand to get," Kai said.
"But it's the brand we've always gotten!" Jay exclaimed.
"He does have a point there," Lloyd mumbled under his breath.
While all of this had been going on, Zane, in his oblivion to the conversation in the ninjas' room, had just finished making the waffles, and was now setting them on plates. The scent of freshly-made waffles filled the ship, traveling all the way to the ninjas' room. Cole was the first to smell them.
"Yo guys, all this arguing has been fun, but I'm starving."
The other ninjas sniffed the air, filling their noses with the intoxicating aroma. Breakfast was definitely ready.
"Did Zane make food?" Jay asked, momentarily forgetting about the toilet paper, realizing that the white ninja had been absent the entire time.
Lloyd nodded. "Yeah, he made waffles."
"What kind?"
"Blueberry."
The ninja of lightening beamed. "That's my favorite!"
The other three ninjas exchanged knowing looks, aware that the topic of waffles had completely distracted Jay.
By this time Cole had gotten up, the smell of Zane's cooking being motivation enough for him to climb out of bed.
"Well, I'm not waiting any longer, so let's go eat," he said, more than eager to get himself a generous helping of waffles. "Last one to the kitchen is a rotten egg!"
"You're on!" Kai challenged.
Jay scoffed at the others-they did not stand a chance against him. After all, he was the ninja of lightning for a reason. "You better believe I'm gonna get there first!"
Lloyd playfully rolled his eyes. "No way!"
"On the count of three," Cole said. "One...Two...Three..."
"Ninjaaago!" The four ninjas cheered as they raced to the kitchen, ready to indulge in a good, homemade breakfast.
When they reached the kitchen, the ninjas were greeted with the delicious treat stacked on five plates belonging to a newly set table, each aligned with five sets of forks and knives, with butter and a bottle of syrup in the center.
"Woah buddy, you really outdid yourself," Cole said, his mouth watering at the sight of the prized batter cake. As expected, the white ninja had baked the waffles to perfection: golden and crispy, with just the right amount of blueberries mixed in.
The four ninjas took a seat at the table, and without hesitation, began diving into their meal. Zane's back was still turned to them, obviously in the midst of preparing another food item, and pretty soon the ninjas heard the sizzling of something in the skillet.
"Is that bacon I smell?" the earth ninja asked enthusiastically while chewing a mouthful of waffles.
"Indeed," the white ninja answered.
Within minutes, Zane set out a plate of fried and crispy bacon. "I hope this is acceptable," he said.
"Are you kidding?" Jay exclaimed. "This is great!"
Zane received many thank-you's, which he graciously accepted as he sat down to eat himself. "I am glad you all are enjoying it."
While the ninjas were busy finishing their meal, Sensei Wu walked into the kitchen.
"What's all this?" he asked, surprised to see his students feasting on such a large quantity of food so early in the morning.
"Zane made food," Kai said, dribbling a generous amount syrup on his waffles.
"Did he?"
"Yeah, and it's really good," Cole said, still scarfing down his breakfast as if it were his last meal.
"I see. That was very generous of you, Zane," he said, motioning towards the nindroid, who politely nodded his head, acknowledging the compliment. "I am sure you will all be ready for training in fifteen minutes?"
"Of course, Sensei," Jay replied, reaching for another slice of bacon.
"I'll be ready, I just need to use the bathroom," Lloyd said, standing up, excusing himself from the table. Taking a waffle with him, the blond disappeared into the hall, leaving to freshen up before training started.
The casual mention of the bathroom made Jay suddenly remember the problem he had encountered earlier regarding the toilet paper.
"Speaking of the bathroom..." Jay started.
Kai groaned, face-palming himself in the process. He knew what the blue ninja was about to say. Of course Jay hadn't forgotten about the stupid toilet paper.
"the toilet paper that Kai bought...stinks."
"Stinks?" the sensei repeated, confused.
"Yeah! Kai here decided to buy the generic brand instead of the real kind!"
Sensei frowned. "Everyone knows you cannot buy the generic kind if you are seeking quality."
"That's what I'm saying!"
Kai watched his brother and martial arts teacher animatedly discussing the quality of bathroom tissue, becoming increasingly annoyed by the former's dramatics. It was toilet paper for crying out loud!
"Jay, if you're so fed up about the whole TP thing, why don't you just go buy some yourself?" It made sense. He was the only one making a fuss about it, so he was perfectly capable of getting a different kind if it bothered him that much.
"You know what Kai? I will! I'll go the store and get some, right after training."
"Actually..." Sensei Wu interjected, "...perhaps it would be best if you went to the store now. I will delay training until after you get back."
"What?!" Kai exclaimed. Sensei delaying training? For toilet paper? Ridiculous!
"And Kai," Sensei motioned towards the red ninja, "I want you to accompany him."
Kai's jaw practically dropped to the floor. Was he crazy? This had to be some kind of joke! It was bizarre! And now he was being forced to go with the one who was causing all the mayhem in the first place?! Absurd!
The red ninja crossed his arms in defiance.
"Nuh-uh. There is no way you can make me go with that clown all the way back to store just to pick up more TP. I barely survived the last time."