Well now Clay and Lance were alone. The ninja were off enjoying themselves in different parts of the Fortrex, as were a majority of the knights. So what to do? Lance suggested just taking a nap, only to be shut down instantly by Clay. No slacking on a day where they had guests, it was impolite. So the pair just made their way back to the common room where Merlock 2.0 and Wu were catching up over a cup of tea and Ava was trying desperately to ignore them in a corner. Well, some company was better than none.
Clay took a seat across from Wu quietly so not to interrupt the conversation, Lance taking the seat to his right. Wu was going on about someone named Morro, and Merlock was listening, enraptured by the story, but Clay could not catch onto what was being discussed in the slightest. The best he could do was nod when Merlock did in the hopes that it looked like he understood.
Lance wasn't even trying. Instead, he was eating a Lance-Bar he had nabbed from when they were at the kitchen earlier. How he could stand the taste of those rancid protein bars was an enigma.
A couple more minutes passed, Wu's talking filling the otherwise silence of the room joined by Ava's typing, before the story was finally over. Clay took that moment as one to speak up.
"We gave the ninja a tour, Merlock."
The holo-wizard in question jumped, then whipped around on his podium to give his nephew a stern glare.
"Clay, my boy, you can't keep on sneaking up on me like that! A little warning would be nice!"
Clay nodded, elbowing Lance to get his attention. It worked slightly, and the knight gave a small huff before shoving the unfinished bits of his snack into a pocket. Wu gave the two a look from behind Merlock 2.0's bright orange hologram.
"Sorry Merlock," Clay continued, "Just thought you'd like to know. Especially since everyone is kind of scattered everywhere throughout the place."
Merlock hummed in confirmation, twirling a finger through his digital beard.
"Scattered is a good way of putting it," He mused, "Well, as long as they're relaxing."
Wu smiled from the other side of the podium.
"As long as they're relaxing indeed! I'm glad my pupils are fitting in with you knights."
Lance gave Clay a skeptical look from the corner of his eyes. They had both been wondering how a teenager could refer to people the same age as him as his "pupils". Yet both Lance and Clay thought that the answer would be overly complicated and possibly involve some sort of retcon timeline bullshit, so they kept their mouths shut. Instead they let Merlock continue the conversation.
"Pupils indeed!" The wizard chimed, "I know you've met my nephew already, so where's yours? Last I heard from you Garmadon's wife was pregnant."
Instantly Wu looked like he would rather be anywhere else. So he did as any self respecting teenager turned sensei would do and changed the topic instantly with no explanation.
"So did Clay end up inheriting magic from you and his mom?"
Now it was Clay's turn to look extremely uncomfortable. His arm changed from blue to orange, then settled on a bright white. Wu watched this happen with mild interest. Merlock 2.0 coughed in an attempt to ease the waves of anxiety now pouring off of his nephew.
"Ah, he did, actually. But his mother was corrupted by the allure of the Forbidden Powers and I… I had to encase her in stone to save her. I didn't tell Clay about his magic at first because I was afraid that he would inherit the taint from his mother at a young age but ah, Montrox brought it up from the depths of Clay's blood anyway."
A sharp pain shot through Clay's arm and he bit down on his tongue to keep from crying out. He knew these weren't new pains, but memories of the unbearable pain he had been in when he broke free from his stony prison of a body. This pain always returned when anyone talked about his magic or his mother. He hated it. But for now all he could do is rub at his wrist and force himself to focus on other things.
"I've been trying my best to train him," Merlock continued sadly, "But I'm more focused on keeping that from spreading."
He didn't even need to point at Clay's arm, Wu knew what his friend was talking about. And then Wu was struck with an absolutely brilliant idea. The ninja may not have magic, but they had their elemental powers, which were very similar to the magic of Knighton. He smiled at Merlock 2.0.
"Maybe my students can help with that."
((This is a line break))
"So what are the rules again?"
The four ninja and five knights were gathered in the holochamber. Cole, who's hammer was slung over his shoulder, had asked the question. Not because he didn't understand, but because he was pretty sure that Kai was too busy making faces at Macy to pay attention. Clay pressed a hand- the one not currently in the shape of a giant sword- to his temples. If Cole asked for a fifth time after this, he might actually lose his cool.
"Each team has a target on their side," Clay recited, gesturing to the wooden targets, "It's your team's job to guard your target and to be the first to hit the opponent's target. Simple stuff. We played this back at the Knights Academy."
Cole nodded, elbowed Kai, and moved his hammer into both hands.
"I still can't believe you were cheating at Whack-Man," Aaron said, flipping his visor over his eyes, "Lightning powers are cheating."
Jay shrugged and swung his nunchucks comfortably.
"Not cheating until you get caught-"
"Can we go now?" Macy snapped, "Seriously, I want revenge for my hair."
Clay gave a small grunt of agreement.
"Right. When the bell rings we start."
All four ninja tensed, lining up side by side in a wall that hid the target from view. Clay gave the knights a hand signal, and they lined up in a triangle formation. Clay, Lance, and Macy at the front would split the ninja's formation while Aaron and Axl stayed behind and defended the target. It was one of the oldest tactics in the book, but dear god they loved using it.
The bell rang.
At once the ninja started forwards, but were cut away from the opposite target by the three knights at the head of the form. Jay managed to slip past only to be stopped short when an axe landed right where his head would have been if he hadn't jumped out of the way. Aaron watched the battle closely for a few seconds, wating until all four ninja were pinned before making a beeline for the ninja's target on his hovershield, successfully shooting it dead in the center. The entire match probably lasted about 30 seconds.
Lance lifted up his weapon from where it pinned Kai's gi to the ground, flipped up his visor, and wiped sweat off of his forehead.
"Only 30 seconds?" He whined, "It felt like an eternity!"
Cole removed the handle of his hammer from Macy's neck and slung it back over his shoulder. His eyebrows pulled together in mild confusion.
"Yeah well that's kind of how they tend to be." A pause, "Battles, I mean."
"I think a rematch is in order," Jay wheezed, trapped under Axl's butt, "Could be just me though."
So the timer was reset, and the knights and ninja got back into position only for this match to yield the same result. In fact, the next three all ended in the ninja's failure. Frustrated, Kai shouted for a time out, gathering his brothers close into a huddle.
"Ok," He huffed, "So obviously we're sucking a little bit, but also, we aren't using our fucking powers. Which is, by the way, the reason Wu sent us to train with these guys in the first place."
Jay gave a soft grumble telling Kai to watch his profanities before Zane took up the argument.
"Specifically he said to set a good example for Clay in the hopes that he will learn from us."
"Right," Kai said, "Just set an example for ol' fuckhands mcsword over there and try not to suck so bad anymore."
There was a grumble that passed between the other three ninja at being bossed around by Kai, but none objected. They were in fact, getting their collective asses kicked over and over again because they were being too caught up in physical combat to use their powers. But now things were going to change.
The bell rang once more and the first thing Kai did was shoot a fireball into the knight's formation. Immediately they broke apart, Lance even giving an annoyed yelp at the flames when they came too close to him for comfort. Zane saw this as a splendid opportunity to freeze everyone in place, and Jay simply darted forward and tapped the target with his hand.
The ninja were now absolutely smug. 10 seconds it had taken them to take down the knights. 10.
The grin Kai had on his face while he unfroze Clay was one full of pleasure and smugness. Clay met it with a poker face, but his eyes flashed yellow briefly.
"So…" Aaron said to nobody in particular, "That just happened."
Axl snorted. "No shit, Aaron."
Lance stepped forward, swinging his lance in his hands like an was indifferent to the situation, but he had to admit, he liked things a lot better when he was winning.
"I'm going to copy what the blue one said and say that I think a rematch is in order."
"The score is four to one," Clay said, "First team to 10 wins. Deal?"
Cole stuck out his hand and shook Clay's non-sword hand.
"Deal."
The timer was reset, and the ninja burst forward again, powers at the ready. The matches swayed differently each round, but it always ended up with the ninja winning. Each time they won Clay's eyes flashed yellow, and now the score was practically set.
9-4. Ninja in the lead by far.
The bell rang for perhaps the final time, and Kai headed straight for Clay. Fire danced in his palms and he chucked fireballs with ease at the knight. Clay shielded himself with his sword-arm, grunting as he was pushed back.
Kai laughed tauntingly, shooting another three fireballs before moving in with his swords.
"What's wrong Clay?" He teased, "Got some sort of issue over there with the swinging part? Here, I'll show you how to do it."
Both blades were brought down hard and clashed with Clay's singular blade. He tried not to let Kai get to him, but now his eyes were flashing rapid yellow. He knew he was about to snap. He could feel it.
Clay shoved the ninja back a few feet and started advancing. Kai smirked at him, put his blades back behind himself, and lit twin fires in his palms. That did it. Before Clay could stop himself he was on top of Kai, sword arm replaced with his normal arm, and both hands wrapped around the ninja's neck. At once all battling stopped.
Macy could tell from the bright yellow gaze Clay had, and the slow tightening of his fists that this… thing wasn't Clay. The Grey Knight was back again.
"Clay!" She cried, hoping he would snap out of it, "Clay stop you're hurting him!"
When he didn't respond, and just kept watching Kai choke beneath him, the knights dropped their weapons and ran over to their boyfriend. He wasn't going to like it, but he needed to get off and away from Kai as soon as possible.
The rest of the ninja were horrified. Kai was struggling to breath under this person they thought they could trust. Hell, he was being strangled over there. Zane was the first to his feet and then he was by the knights at Clay's side, grabbing him and attempting to pull him off. After Zane was Cole, and then Jay. Soon there was an entire entourage of 7 people tugging on Clay, and after a few moments, the Grey Knight was finally pulled away from the Red Ninja.
Kai grabbed at his throat desperately and choked down air, scooting himself as far away from the knights as he could, stopping only when his back hit a wall. And then the other ninja were by his side, checking him for other injuries.
Meanwhile Clay was half-yelling half-growling at his team.
"We were going to lose!" He spat, "To these strangers! We're the Knights of the Realm for God's sake!"
"This isn't you!" Macy shouted back, "You need to calm down, take a breather or something!"
Aaron stepped forward, shielding Macy with one arm.
"She's right," He said, "You just need to calm down."
Clay scowled at Aaron and Macy, then whipped around to face the ninja.
"If you guys won't support me, then I'll just have to win the game for us."
His arm lengthened into a sword again and he slowly started to advance towards Kai. It was as if the other ninja didn't exist to him. Or if they did, he only saw them as more obstacles. About halfway through his march Merlock 2.0 came over the intercom. His voice was rang with power and control, and he only uttered one word.
"Sleep."
A heartbeat passed, and then Clay toppled over onto the ground, his arm returning to normal. He was instantly in a deep sleep.
