Chosen by Destiny
Type in the URL I posted on top of chapter 3 at Youtube.
Again, that's me right now. I can't believe I have over 100 reviews! I was hoping to get there before Halloween. THANK YOU! I couldn't be more grateful! But now, on with the story!
Chapter 24: The Good Ol' Days
The Serpentine leaders barely escaped in time, but they were forced to leave the sarcophagus behind. The ninjas' footsteps could still be heard after Skales sealed the sewer entrance.
The blue snake was actually hoping to see the auburn-haired girl from the attack at the Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts.
Too bad she wasn't there.
Ever since he first laid his red eyes on her, Skales realized that he and the other leaders of the Serpentine Tribes had no mates. Without them, the Serpentine will face extinction. Unless…
"Sssskalesss!" Acidicus called out to the Hypnobrai once they reached their underground base.
"WHAT ISSS IT!?" He asked with irritation in his slithering voice.
"You haven't been yourssself lately," Fangtom answered with one of his heads, "Have you gone ssssoft?" He continued with the other.
"No. In fact, I've been doing sssome thinking…" Skales slithered his way to the front, so all the other snakes could see and hear him.
"Ever ssssince our lasssst true battle with the ninjasss, I realized… we're at a dead end."
"Dead end?" Skalidor asked. He was never the sharpest tool in the shed.
"Yesss. Unlessssss we have… queenssss." Skales voice dripped with a perverse lewdness as he hissed out the last word.
"WHAT!?"
The incredulous cries of the other tribe leaders echoed across the underground base.
"Sssskalessssss! Are you mad!? Why would we need matesss!?" Both of Fangtom's heads yelled at the blue Serpentine.
"Becaussse, there hassss not been a female Sssserpentine for eonssss. Without any heirssss to our thronesss, we'll have no future."
It quickly dawned on the other leaders that Skales was right. Without any females to carry any offspring, the Serpentine will quickly die out, and they can NOT let that happen! But where will they find female snakes? The last recorded female was an Anacondrai centuries ago, but now they're extinct ever since Pythor was swallowed by the Great Devourer.
"But where the hell will we find matesss?"
"I wassss getting to that part, Assssidicusss." Skale turned to face the crowd.
"I figured out where to get our queensss…"
Everyone was in silence, waiting for the Hypnobrai leader's answer.
"The kunoichi."
"Why them!? They're only a bunch of filthy humanssss!" Skalidor complained.
"Yesss, they may by humansss now, but don't forget. We have the Fangpyre." The blue snake eyed the characteristically red tribe among the crowd.
"Onssse we get hold of the girlsss, we'll hand them over to the Fangpyre, they'll bite them and turn them into ssssnakesssss, and then they will be our matesss!"
Little by little, the other three leaders began to like Skales' plan. They realized that they were all without a queen. There was four of them, and there were four kunoichi likewise. One queen for each tribe. It all started to make perfect sense.
"Once we make the kunoichi our queenssss," Skales continued, "we will have heirssss. They will be the motherssss of our offsssspring, who will continue our bloodlinesss, and the Ssserpentine will NEVER die out! We will be… IMMORTAL!"
The snaked cheered for the Hypnobrai who raised his arms in triumph with Fangtom, Skalidor, and Acidicus beside him, showing their support.
With Skales' plan for the kunoichi, the Serpentine are guaranteed to NEVER die…
This was, by far, the WORST day of the ninjas' lives.
Garmadon used the omnipotent powers of the Mega Weapon to reverse time on the skeletal remains of the monstrous Grundle to revive it. Unfortunately, the ninjas were exposed to the resulting smog and were turned to kids.
Since Zane was not a human, he shouldn't have regressed in physical age like the other three, yet he did. The Finnish ninja tried to come up with a theory over how and why he, a manmade machine, changed into a child, but it was only a cause for sparks to fly.
Literally.
This just doesn't compute for the poor little robot!
The ninjas stood there like helpless, well, children, in front of a pair of cops, next to the golden coffin the Serpentine tried to hoard.
"NINJA-GO!"
The young ninjas attempted to use Spinjitzu to get the hell out of there, but the powers of the elements were too much for their little bodies, leaving them in a dog pile on the police car.
"Our Spinjitzu doesn't work! We're too small!" Kai lamented.
"Easy kiddo, you're coming with us to the precinct." One of the cops picked up Cole and Kai by the back of their uniforms.
"But officer, this isn't what it looks like!" Kai still tried to convince the cops that they were the good guys. "We're the ninjas! Seriously! We were trying to stop- "
"Yeah, yeah." The other cop carrying Zane and Jay dismissed the 'kid', "You can tell all the fairy tales you want once we go back to the museum."
The physically regressed ninjas hung their heads in dismay.
"And explain why you stole THAT!"
The cop continued, motioning towards the coffin they were all next to.
"B-but we didn't steal it! We were- "
"Zip it!"
The surly policemen practically threw the little ninjas into their car.
"You have the right to remain silent." One locked the doors, barring all hope of escape.
"Kids…"
The other sneered before heading back to the police station.
The sun was already up back at the Destiny's Bounty.
Lloyd was taking advantage of his free time by catching up with his favorite comic books, Aria was just letting the soft breeze rush through her short hair, Heather was still wondering what Zane tried to say to her yesterday, and Nya and Luna were chatting.
'What was it Zane wanted to say to me?' The teal kunoichi thought.
"Heather?" Luna called out to her teammate.
"Yes? What is it?" The amiable girl asked.
"You seem distracted. Is something wrong?" The purple kunoichi walked over and stood next to the kunoichi of nature.
"No. I was just thinking…"
"Is it about Zane?"
"H-h-how did you k-know?" Looks like Heather's stuttering habit's coming up again.
"You looked like you had a bit of a moment with him right before he left."
"He was going to say something…"
Luna had a feeling that it must've been VERY important, and she didn't like putting her nose in other peoples' businesses, so she changed the subject to keep Heather from getting all moody.
"So… what's it like being able to control all sorts of plants?"
"It's unique, that's for sure."
As the girls continued, Lloyd moved to the upper part of the deck. All he wanted was a moment of peace away from anything female! Isn't that too much to ask for!?
At the other side of the deck, the kunoichi of wind relished the breeze caressing her face. After all, she was born in Villa Celestia, the home of the ancient wind worshippers. Ever since she met Kai, she felt like she was the rush of air that fueled the fire he controlled. Even though they had a terrible start, she started to feel like she and the fire ninja were destined for one another.
Aria began to wish that Kai was here, right next to her. But he's been gone since yesterday.
Suddenly, the orange kunoichi felt a fell wind blowing.
Something was going to happen.
Or already happened…
Sensei Wu just finished his morning cup of tea when he also noticed something was amiss.
"The ninjas should've returned by now."
The kunoichi turned their attention to their teacher while Lloyd was still reading.
"Now that I think about it, Jay hasn't even called me." Nya mused, gazing over the skyline of the city, where the ninjas were supposed to be.
Lloyd was glad his uncle got the girls' attention. Now they would finally stop yapping and he can go back to his comics.
"Do you think something bad happened to them?" Aria asked.
"I do not know," Wu shook his head, "But we must go down to the city and investigate."
The kunoichi nodded and got ready to call their dragons.
"Lloyd."
The green ninja perked up at his name and exchanged his comic for a book on weapons so that it appeared he was studying the whole time.
"Y-yeah?"
"The kunoichi and I will head to Ninjago City and look for the ninjas. In the meantime, you stay here and guard the ship. Do you understand?"
"Hai." The kid replied in a dismissive tone.
The green ninja continued his 'diligent' charade as the kunoichi whistled and disappeared with their dragons and Sensei Wu. At last, he was finally free from the wretched harpies!
"Finally! I've been waiting for this moment forever!"
Lloyd grabbed his comics, whatever snacks he could find in the pantry, and headed to the living room to watch cartoons, play video games, and finally just live life like a carefree child.
But he had no idea it was also his last day as a child, too.
"We're sorry for stealing."
Kai, Jay, and Cole bowed down in front of the curator. No one took them seriously because they were now children, constantly putting them in terrible situations in which they couldn't explain for themselves.
"But we didn't steal anything." Zane still tried to tell the truth to the disbelieving adults.
"Shush!" Kai hissed at the nindroid, "The sooner we get outta here, the sooner we can get back to the Bounty and find a way to return our bodies back to normal!"
The white ninja sighed. They would be stuck here unless they 'behave'.
"I'm sorry for stealing too." He also bowed down.
"I must thank you young boys for returning the sarcophagus. You did the right thing." At least the curator wasn't as bad as the cops, "But what about the bones?"
'Wait, what!?' The four ninjas turned kids thought simultaneously.
"What bones…?" Jay asked.
"The Grundle bones." The grown man pointed towards the Grundle display. Or what USED to be the Grundle display. Now it was just an empty space.
"They're gone!"
That could only mean…
"You don't mean…" Kai didn't even want to finish his question.
"It's theoretically possible." Even as a kid, Zane still used big words. "If Garmadon managed to reverse time on our bodies, then he had succeeded in reversing time on that of the Grundle's, bringing it back from the dead."
The others gasped.
Ninjago was in SERIOUS danger!
"YOU GUYS MUST BELIEVE US!"
Jay was back to his lengthy mile-a-minute rants.
"GARMADON BROUGHT THE GRUNDLE BACK TO LIFE AND HE'S SOMEWHERE ON THE LOOSE IN THIS CITY! THE ONLY THING ON ITS MIND IS TEARING DOWN THE NINJA, AND IF WE STAY HERE, EVERYONE WILL BE AT RISK!"
This time, even the curator laughed off the ninjas' words as a bunch of childish stories.
It was now official.
Being a kid sucks.
The ninjas were confined to a bench at the front of the museum.
"Now you four stay right here while we call your parents to pick you up."
The cops still made fun of them as they left. Behind them, a tour guide was leading a group of kids on a field trip around the building. An idea popped up in Kai's head.
"Guys, follow me."
While the cops weren't looking, the four kids made their escape. Lagging behind the group, the ninjas grabbed whatever spare clothes they could find in order to blend in. It was embarrassing, but they HAD to leave now!
"As long as we can't use Spinjitzu, we have no hopes of facing the Grundle."
Zane reminded his teammates.
"But we must get back to the Bounty! Maybe Sensei will know what to do." Cole replied.
"Got it."
Once the tour finished just outside the entrance, the kid ninjas made a run for it.
"Hey! Get back here!"
The tour guide shouted at the runaway 'members' of the tour.
THUMP!
The ground shook under the sound of a giant being making its footstep on top of the building.
"What was that…?"
The group looked at the dust falling from the roof until the beast showed itself.
It was the Grundle!
The monster leered at the humans with thick green saliva dripping from its fanged maw.
"The Grundle! It's alive! ALIVE!"
The civilians ran for their lives as the beast jumped down and began its rampage.
The kunoichi and Wu had no luck on the other side of the city.
"We've been searching everywhere!" Heather tossed up her arms in frustration, "Where could the ninjas possibly be!?"
The kunoichi of nature could've just communicate with plants, but there was barely any in this built up part of the large metropolis, making her abilities seem in vain.
"I even checked their old apartment! They weren't there either!" Aria ran up to the group.
"Apartment?" Luna asked. She never knew that the ninjas and kunoichi dwelt in the city for a while because she joined them after they retrieved the Bounty.
"Yeah… before you came along, we didn't have the Bounty and the guys were stuck in a crappy high-rise." Nya cleared things up as fast as possible for the confused girl. The kunoichi turned to their teacher, hoping he found something.
"This isn't good." Wu shook his head over this unsavory situation.
"I no longer doubt that something bad has happened to them, but we don't have a single clue of their whereabouts. I'm sorry to say this, but we are at a complete loss."
The kunoichi stood in complete silence.
Whenever Sensei Wu had a bad feeling, it was pretty serious. With the ninjas missing, how will Lloyd be able to face his father?
"Let us return to the Bounty, and we'll figure this out. Lloyd must be feeling lonely by now…"
The wonderful sound of a loud and powerful manly belch echoed across the Destiny's Bounty.
Lloyd just scarfed down a whole bucket of rocky road ice cream. The terrible case of indigestion that'll rear its ugly head tonight will be SO worth it!
He canceled the pause on his Fist-2-Face run, planning to beat Kai's record. Just the make things more 'interesting', he decided to save his record under Zane's name.
RING! RING! RING!
The phone next to him kept ringing. He was hoping whoever was on the other line, most likely a nosy telemarketer, would give up, but it kept going with no end in sight. Being forced to pause his game again, the green ninja tried to pick up the phone from his seat, but he just settled with it hanging from the curly cord.
"Hello?"
"Lloyd! It's me, Jay!"
If Lloyd was in the city, he would've seen how Jay, who couldn't reach the phone alone with his shrunken body, was teetering in the phone booth with Kai and Cole to hold him while Zane was on the lookout.
"Jay?"
"Duh! Let me talk to Sensei!"
"Why? You guys never returned. Sensei and the kunoichi left looking for you."
Lloyd could've sworn that the blue ninja's voice was rather high-pitched for someone his age, but he dismissed it as distortion from a bad quality phone booth.
"Apparently, you need parental permission to take the bus, and we can't seem to get out of the city!" The Scandinavian ninja complained from the other end.
Parental permission?
Since when did the ninjas need parental permission!? Aren't they old enough to ride the bus by themselves, much less, drive!?
"What?" The boy tilted his head in confusion, "Aren't you all old enough to ride the bus alone? Didn't you even bring any money with you?"
"Never mind!" Jay dismissed him. "Look, it's gonna be complicated. Meet us at Buddy's Pizza in ten minutes, and we'll explain everything! Oh, and bring our weapons!"
With that, the blue ninja hung up on Lloyd, who was still confused.
Did something happen to them?
Well, they obviously took their sweet time before even bothering to call him, and Ninjago City was huge, so it'll be a long time before Sensei Wu and the kunoichi return. But it wouldn't hurt to leave now. Lloyd knew where to find them so he can just get a quick explanation from them and get back to the Bounty before Sensei and the girls do.
'Looks like I'm gonna have to beat Kai's record some other time.'
The green ninja lamented before turning off the game and make his way to Ninjago City…
Carrying the ninjas' weapons, Lloyd made his way into Buddy's Pizza, where kids can play games and eat pizza to their hearts' content. Leave it Jay to pick the strangest places to meet.
"Really?" The ninja boy heard a childish yet familiar voice nearby, "Of all places we could meet, you picked THIS place!?"
"What? I like their pizza." Another familiar voice answered.
"Pssst! Lloyd!"
The green ninja turned to face the group, who were four boys roughly his age. It didn't surprise Lloyd that the ninjas had many young fans who went as far as to dress up like them. He still had to admit, these four had some GREAT costumes, and they even got the eyebrows right.
"Beat it brat. I'm on a mission." Lloyd rudely dismissed the kid.
"It's me! Kai!" The kid with spiky hair turned Lloyd around to look at him straight in the eye.
Getting a closer look, he realized it was the ninjas! No one could match them perfectly!
"HOLY SHIT!"
Lloyd's scream and the clatter of a bunch of fallen metal reverberated throughout the building. Employees stared at the foulmouthed kid and parents covered their children's tainted ears.
"W-w-what the hell happened to you guys!? You- you're… SMALL!"
"Shhhh! It's all your father's fault! He used the Mega Weapon to turn back time and revive the Grundle, whose sole purpose is to hunt down the ninjas! Not only that, but it also turned us to kids!" Cole explained as quickly as possible to Lloyd.
"And unfortunately, whenever we try to warn the people, they only laugh and don't believe us because of our physical ages." Zane added.
This must've been a lot to take in, because Lloyd was as pale as a ghost, his face expressionless.
Until the corner of his lips began to twitch…
Again, the green ninja was making a scene, but not by a swear word this time, because he was too busy laughing hysterically at the ninjas' predicament. He couldn't stop guffawing as he kept one hand on his abdomen to keep his sides from splitting and clinging to the edge of the table with the other so he wouldn't keel over.
"Oh my god! This is, by far, the BEST day of my life! Aw man, this is too awesome!"
The green ninja couldn't stop laughing. Now the ninjas know what it's like to be underestimated all the time. Just like him.
"Lloyd! Please!" Zane tried to calm him down, "This is serious! We must return our bodies back to normal so we can use Spinjitzu in order to face the Grundle!"
After regaining his composure, the ninja boy took a deep breath.
"What about me? I can use Spinjitzu."
"Yeah," Kai started, "but you have no idea what the Grundle can do! Your power alone won't be able to even land a scratch! We all must be at full strength if we are to defeat it! But right now, we have to find someone who knows more about the Grundle and how we can face it!"
Lloyd couldn't help but notice the kids at the other table reading some comics.
He had an idea…
"LLOYD!" Cole yelled at him to get his attention.
"Weren't you listening!?"
"I was."
The green ninja faced the shrunken ninjas with confidence.
"I know the right guy who can help us…"
Knowing Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon, this won't end well…
Yeah, and next will be the 'instant puberty' tea. Just don't get any in your eyes. :D Oh, and Lloyd may find out why he's been having that dream…
Okay, now I wanna talk about what will come up for this story.
As you can see, the Serpentine's plot for the kunoichi will be pretty important, even though it's really gross. I actually gagged writing that part. DX
With Claire introduced in the last chapter, I feel like I finally 'solidified' my headcanon on Zane & Dr. Julien's past into the story, because she's very important to their backstory. I'm just glad I finally did so before the next season airs, which I was hoping to do.
Anyway, I want to say this again. Thank you so much for the reviews! Especially SergeantSarcasm7! I would've never thought I'd get over 100 reviews by now!
THANK YOU!
Reviews for this chapter will also be nice.