Chosen by Destiny
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Unfortunately, I don't have any 'Halloween specials' but in celebration of the holiday, I've decided to update BOTH of my stories today! A lot of crazy stuff's gonna happen in this one! As I said before, there'll be a MAJOR twist in the end and we'll find some answers to Lloyd's mysterious dream. Read on!
Chapter 25: All Grown Up
The ninjas followed Lloyd deep into the heart of the city into a little building.
Or more specifically, Ninjago Doomsday Comix.
"You brought us to a comic book store!?" Cole asked in disbelief.
"Trust me," Lloyd reminded the ninjas, "If there's anyone who knows how to defeat a monster that doesn't exist, I know just the person to talk to."
"We're not here to pick up your stupid comic books, Lloyd!" Kai complained, turning the green ninja to face him. Jay also noticed a certain comic in the shelf next to him.
"Ooohhhhh! It's Daffy Dale! I loved this guy when I was little! I would read… his…"
The blue ninja's high-strung speech slowly came to a stop. He realized the others were looking at him like he was a freak. And he said he WAS little, when he was now just a child (physically).
"Uhhh…"
The other three ninja turned kids shook their heads at their teammate's immaturity. Lloyd had enough and shoved the group towards the counter, where a grown man sat.
"Fellas, meet Rufus McAllister, aka, Mother Doomsday."
The man, who had long brown hair tied in a ponytail and a full mustache and beard, greeted the green ninja and his allies.
"Oh, Lloyd Garmadon! It's been a while!" The man greeted the boy like they were old friends.
Lloyd smiled back, as if expecting something from Mother Doomsday.
"Sorry if you came looking for the latest StarFarer. I'm all sold out."
"NANI!?"
It took EVERYTHING in poor Lloyd to NOT jump at the guy and rip his throat out while everyone else in the store stared at him. But the green ninja knew he wasn't here for comics. This was a serious situation and he needed to act fast!
"I-I mean… actually, Mother Doomsday, we need your help."
"Help? On what?"
"It's the Grundle. It's on the loose, and we need to know how the defeat it."
Mother Doomsday got up from his chair and went to show Lloyd and the others a comic book with the Grundle pictured on the cover.
"The Grundle did exist in a time long past. It's extinct now, but there's tons of books, movies, TV shows, and all sorts of media that pay homage to this ancient beast. It's been said that it always get its prey."
"Is there anything we can do to stop it?" Lloyd asked.
"First thing to know," The store owner started, "is that its thick hide is like armor crafted from only the strongest metals. Swords, scythes, nunchucks, and shurikens would be no match for it so those cheap weapons won't do you guys any good."
"Wonderful…" Cole grumbled with sarcasm.
"Second, the Grundle is nocturnal, so it's most active during the night."
"Oh good!" Jay exclaimed, "It's still daylight outside. We've got plenty of time."
Again, he got strange looks. The blue ninja forgotten that no one believed that the Grundle was alive and that they had to stop it.
"Um, I mean… theoretically."
"And the only way to defeat it is with light. It's possible that with enough light, the Grundle may be destroyed." Mother Doomsday made his way towards a glass display case with four plastic swords inside.
"My personal weapon of choice will be the IllumiSword."
The grown man opened the display case, showing the toys in full glory.
"These are authentic replicas that will come in handy, IF you ever had to face the Grundle."
The ninjas weren't sure how to react. Mother Doomsday struck to them as an overgrown nerd.
"If swords are up your ally, maybe you will also be interested in some authentic ninja gear," he pointed towards another display case, which contained a perfect copy of their ninja suits that were fitted for children. It was perfect for their currently shrunken sizes.
"We'll just settle with those light sword thingies." Kai tried to take the toy swords but Mother Doomsday stopped him by grabbing his wrist.
"Not so fast. I won't give these swords to anyone. Only the winner of the Fritz Donnagon Trivia Battle Royale can have them."
It was no secret to the ninjas that the StarFarer comics were one of Lloyd's favorite reads.
"Do YOU have what it takes, Lloyd?"
"Lloyd, we don't know anyone who knows of this Fritz Donnagon better than you. I believe you may have a chance." Zane goaded the green ninja.
Lloyd knew a LOT about Fritz Donnagon, so he was sure he had this in the bag.
"Sign me up."
Things were too quiet when Sensei Wu and the kunoichi returned.
It was already bad enough that they couldn't find the ninjas.
"Where's Lloyd?"
Nya asked nobody in particular when the group didn't find him on the deck.
"I'm sure he's around here somewhere…"
Luna responded as the group searched the whole ship for him. Most of the time, he was in the living room playing video games but there was no sign of him. After checking the kitchen, the boys' bedroom, and even the training room, they went into the control room, where they may have found a clue.
"This is bad. With Lloyd missing, what are we going to do now?"
Heather questioned Sensei while she put the hanging phone back on the appliance. But she also noticed that there was one message.
BEEP!
The group fell silent, hoping it was something the message will give them a lead.
The message was from none other than the green ninja.
(*) "Uncle, we're at Doomsday Comix in Ninjago City! Garmadon turned the guys into kids and we have to face an actual Grundle! By the way, this is NOT a prank! Hayaku!"
"Well, at least Kai's not in immediate danger…" Aria started, "…until I get my hands on him."
The other three kunoichi cautiously took a step back from the kunoichi of wind.
Sensei Wu, on the other hand, believed everything his nephew said. With the Mega Weapon, Garmadon could do just about anything with its might in his four hands, including manipulating time, which is the power of the pink kunoichi who'll be important in the final battle.
"This is not good." The old man sighed, "I know only one person who might have what we need to return the ninjas back to their normal selves."
Once again, Wu and the girls were back in Ninjago City. This time, they were in the less built-up outskirts of the city. Sensei Wu knew where they had to go. In fact, he's been there quite a few times in the past and the items he got from there helped him multiple times.
The kunoichi found themselves in front of a little old tea shop.
"You brought us to a tea shop?" Heather questioned her teacher, which wasn't often.
"We're not here to get any ordinary tea, Heather," Wu reminded the teal kunoichi, "I know this place. It may have the one thing we need…"
"And that is…?" Aria asked, expecting her teacher to finish for her.
"Tomorrow's tea." The aging man answered.
"Tomorrow? Cole and the others need us now!" Luna reminded Sensei Wu.
"No, that's the actual name of the tea. It got its name because it can rapidly age anybody who drinks it or even inhales its fumes. It's the only way to get the ninjas back to normal."
The girls had no choice but to follow their wise teacher inside the building.
(*) "Konnichiwa, Ms. Takei."
Wu greeted the store owner, a woman with greying hair and the same straw hat as his.
"We came here to find a special tea."
"They're all special you old fool!" Ms. Takei raised her voice at Sensei Wu with no provocation.
"Please Miss, we need to find this tea." Heather tried to get the woman to hear them out, "It's supposed to turn… uh… well, it's supposed to age your body." The English girl tried to describe the effects of the tea they were searching for without offending her teacher and his old age.
"Ah, you seek Tomorrow's Tea. I have only one in stock in the back. Follow me."
The group followed Ms. Takei as she led them to the storage room in the back of her shop. The greying woman turned on the light bulb and climbed the ladder to get the tea from the higher shelves as the others looked on.
"It should be here somewhere…"
"But you said you have it!" Aria raised her voice impatiently at the store owner.
"It's just misplaced!" Ms. Takei yelled back at the Mediterranean girl. "I DO have it! I just need some time to look for it!"
"We MUST get the Tomorrow's Tea!" Sensei Wu exclaimed, "Time is running out and we have to get it before the Grundle finds Lloyd and the ninjas!"
With the sun starting to set, Wu and the kunoichi didn't have much time! Everyone in Ninjago and not just the guys' lives depended on it!
The time flew by pretty fast at Doomsday Comix.
Lloyd passed the contest with flying colors. It was finally down to just him and one diehard fan while the ninjas looked on in the small crowd of fellow Fritz Donnagan fans.
"Alright! We're down to the final two!" Mother Doomsday announced, "Now THIS question is for Lloyd."
"Lloyd! Lloyd! Lloyd!" The crowd cheered for the destined green ninja.
"What is Fritz Donnagan's favorite catchphrase?" Mother Doomsday asked.
It took just a moment before Lloyd answered.
"Fear? Fear is not a word where I come from!" The ninja boy answered, getting into the comic book character's personality, AND with confidence.
"Correct! Now it's a tie!"
The crowd cheered but Zane was alarmed when he observed the sky from the window. The sun was setting and was mostly under the horizon.
"We don't have much time left. The sun's almost down and the Grundle will find us soon." The little nindroid reminded his teammates.
"Don't worry," Kai consoled Zane, "Lloyd read every Fritz Donnagan comic out there. He'll win and we can get the IllumiSwords."
Munch… munch…
Sticky chewing noises distracted the ninjas. They turned to the source of the sound, which was just Jay pigging out on some cotton candy.
"Is this really the best time to be eating cotton candy!?" The fire ninja hissed at him.
"It makes me feel young. Deal with it." The Scandinavian boy dismissed him before gobbling up some more tooth-melting sugar.
"Now! The final question!" Mother Doomsday faced the finalists. "The first person who answers correctly wins."
Clearing his throat, the grown man asked the question that'll really test a fan's knowledge.
"In the latest issue of StarFarer, how did Fritz Donnagan escape the Imperial Sludge?"
'Oh shit!' Lloyd swore in his mind.
That issue was sold out before he could get his hands on it!
His palms were soaked in sweat and he could barely get any words out of his lips.
"Um, it… uh… but I- but I haven't read that issue yet…!"
"By reversing the polarity of the ship's gravity transducer." The other fan answered.
"We have a winner!"
Everyone but the ninjas cheered. They and Lloyd hung their heads in sorrow. Now there was no hope of defeating the Grundle and getting their bodies back to normal…
THUMP!
The lamps hanging from the clear ceiling swung back and forth.
This was NOT a good sign…
"What was that!?"
Everyone in the store looked at the ceiling, where the vibration came from.
The large letters of the Ninjago Doomsday Comix sign fell over in front of the store, alarming all who were inside.
"It's here…"
"What's… here…?" Mother Doomsday asked with apprehension.
"Do you remember our little talk about the Grundle?" Cole asked.
Another rumble vibrated on the roof. A giant clawed foot can be seen above the cracked glass.
"I-it can't be…!" Mother Doomsday didn't want to believe it, but it was no use denying it.
"IT'S THE GRUNDLE!"
The beast's foot smashed through the glass, raining shards down onto the people inside.
"We have to leave now!" Zane called the others.
Everyone made a run for it, but the fallen sign blocked the entrance that needed to be pushed in order for them to escape.
"Crap! It's coming!" Jay pointed at the monster above.
The Grundle raised its leg and thrust its large foot through a portion of the glass ceiling. Before long, the entire ceiling caved under the monster's mammoth weight, sending it crashing down, right in front of the ninjas and everyone inside.
"We're doomed! Doomed I tells ya!" Mother Doomsday cowered in the corner along with the other citizens trapped in his store.
The Grundle's tail swished around and that appendage alone was powerful. Everyone ducked as it swung around and even shattered the glass encasing the mini-sized ninja uniforms.
"Guys! Follow me!"
The ninjas followed Jay, running around the Grundle, confusing it for a moment, until they got to the IllumiSwords and the uniforms, which they wore over their clothes since they can't use Spinjitzu with their shrunken bodies.
"Hey! Ugly! Over here!"
Kai called towards the Grundle, getting its attention, which the ninjas were hoping for, now that they got a source of light to weaken it.
Before the Grundle had the chance to make its move, the ninjas swung all four IllumiSwords at once, causing it to rear back and roar, as if in pain.
"It's working!" Jay exclaimed proudly.
The ninjas stepped forward and kept swinging their swords at the fearsome monster, who tried to get away from the light.
The quick ninja of lightning was the first to make his move.
Jay lunged at the Grundle, but the titanic beast pushed him aside with his own head, breaking the sword in the blue ninja's hand. The ninjas of fire and ice were next to try and land a blow, but their swords also ruptured from the Grundle's reputably strong hide.
With only Cole's sword still working, the little remaining light the ninjas had now will do nothing against the Grundle, leaving it invincible.
"This is not good! NOT good at all!"
The Grundle swiped its massive claws at the ninjas, sending them flying into the furthest corner of the room. The little ninjas were trapped and there was no way out!
The beast licked its maw, now that it had four little morsels waiting for it. The ninjas shrieked as the Grundle bared its teeth coated in green saliva. But hope was on their side.
Lloyd appeared from behind the counter where the ninjas were trapped.
"Don't worry guys! I got this!"
Concentrating on his powers over creation, the green ninja formed a large ball of pure energy that illuminated the entire room, causing the monster to recoil in agony, but it had enough. The Grundle swung its tail again, hitting the ninjas and trapping Lloyd behind the counter.
Baring its jaws again at the group, there was no way out.
The four ninjas gave one final thought over their lives and all they had up to this point.
'I can't believe I'm going down like this! Nya, I'll say 'hi' to Mom and Dad for you…'
'Nya, if only I could see your beautiful face one more time…'
'My only regret is that I was never able to convey my true feelings to you, Heather…'
'At least I'll finally be with Mom again…'
"NINJA-GO!"
Four feminine voices echoed from outside. Four tornadoes of purple, teal, orange, and yellow spun and wiped out the fallen letters blocking the door to freedom.
Nya kicked down the door and she, the kunoichi, and Sensei Wu burst in.
(*) "EVERYBODY GET OUT! AHORA!"
Mother Doomsday and the civilians heeded Aria's words and ran out of the battle scene.
"Guys! Catch!" Heather threw a bottle filled with a mysterious purple liquid towards the ninjas. Jay managed to catch it in his hands.
"What is it!?"
"It's Tomorrow's Tea!" Sensei Wu answered the lightning ninja, "It has the power to manipulate time by moving it forward! Use it to restore your bodies back to their original shape, and bring an end to the Grundle by reducing it to bones!"
The kunoichi realized Lloyd was telling the truth. They were astonished to see their boyfriends as kids. They had to admit, they were pretty adorable, but now wasn't the time to be gushing over cutesy stuff! This was serious!
"You must be careful!" Wu warned the ninjas, "Once you use it, there's no turning back."
"Alright, Grundle!" Kai egged on the beast, ready to use the tea, "This ends here!"
(*) "Attendez!"
Using the only working IllumiSword to subdue the monster for just a little bit, Cole stopped Kai before he could open the bottle.
"Lloyd's still here! He'll also turn old!"
Everyone's mind were on Lloyd and the drastic loss that would occur.
"I'll be fine!" The green ninja exclaimed, "You have to do it, now!"
"We can't!" Zane protested, "You have so much ahead of you in life and we can't bear to take your childhood away from you!"
"Sensei, please!" Luna cried, "There MUST be another way! It's just not fair for Lloyd!"
Wu sighed in anguish. He knew that life wasn't always fair.
"I am sorry, Luna. But there's no other way…"
Another roar from the Grundle interrupted the ninjas' moment. Swiping Cole's sword out of his hands, it snapped its jaws at the ninjas, sending them crashing behind the counter. Jay lost his grip on the bottle but it luckily landed on Lloyd's torso without breaking.
Lloyd looked back on his life before becoming a ninja and the immense sacrifices he must make for the greater good of the world. In fact, his childhood was far from happy. He was something of a misfit at Darkley's, home of his earliest memories, because he was sure his mother didn't want him. After he had enough of the school and ran away, but before he first met the ninjas, he lived out on the streets, barely surviving by stealing candy. But it wasn't all bad. He also had some happy memories with the ninjas, who were now like the brothers he never had. He hated to admit it, but even the kunoichi were like sisters to him.
'There's nothing I can do about the past…' Lloyd thought, 'But I can take control of my destiny and my future!'
The green ninja got up with determination with the Tomorrow's Tea clutched in his hand.
"Fear…?" Lloyd looked straight at the Grundle with courage in his two-colored eyes, "Fear is not a word where I come from!"
Before anyone could stop him, the green ninja threw the tea right at the Grundle's face.
Sensei Wu and the kunoichi ran just outside the entrance so they won't get exposed to the fog.
"Look!" Nya pointed at the scene before them. "The tea's working!"
The Grundle bellowed and spun around as the scales and flesh melted away and dissolved into nothingness until all that remained of the terrifying monster was its skeleton, which shattered once it stopped spinning.
The girls cautiously took a step inside once the fog was entirely dissipated.
"Guys…?" Heather called out to the ninjas.
The guys got up and were glad at their discovery.
The tea also worked on them and restored their bodies to their actual ages.
"Kai…" Aria sighed in relief, walking up to check on him.
"Cole!" Luna cried tears of joy as she flung herself into the black ninja's strong arms.
"Heather, I'm so glad you're here." Zane gently embraced the teal kunoichi.
"Nya! I knew you'd help us!" Jay spun the Japanese girl in his arms before locking lips with her.
"They ARE the real ninjas…" Mother Doomsday went back in his store to check the wreckage.
Sensei Wu was still concerned for a certain someone.
"But what about Lloyd?"
At that moment, another person got up. This person was as old as the ninjas. His wavy blonde bangs and green gi can only mean one thing.
"I'm… older…" Lloyd said, his voice now deeper with age.
'He looks so much more like his father now.' Wu thought in astonishment at his aged nephew.
"The hour of destiny grows nearer…" The old teacher said out loud.
Lloyd's new body felt numb since he inhaled the fumes of the Tomorrow's Tea. His eyesight was a bit dizzy, having been used to the ground being closer. The green ninja observed the chaotic scene around him. The bones of the Grundle that terrorized the ninjas just moments ago laid in a pile in the center of the room, pages loosened from their comic books still floated down, the shattered ceiling covered much of the ground, and a human hand can be seen under the debris.
Wait! A human hand!?
Lloyd gasped at the disturbing sight and ran over to where he could see the appendage.
"Lloyd! What's wrong?" Cole asked, following him with the others.
The green ninja held the hand in his. It felt so delicate in his own. Like a…
"Oh no. The tea may have also affected an innocent citizen." Wu said with slight guilt.
The ninjas and kunoichi cleared the debris until the person underneath turned out to be a girl. Her clothes that were meant for a child was torn at the limbs and abdomen and her brownish gold hair fell in delicate waves. Lloyd's breath hitched in his throat.
It can't be, can it?
The green ninja turned her over to check her neck. Around it was a necklace and in the center was a clear crystalline heart.
That was all the proof Lloyd needed.
It was her.
Before him was the girl he saw in his dream, but this time, she was just as old as him.
He can no longer run away from the fact that he knew her before.
"Lloyd… who is she…?" Heather asked.
"I don't recognize her. She wasn't in the group. How did she get in?" Mother Doomsday asked, also getting a good look at mystery girl.
"I think that answers your question." Cole pointed towards the emergency exit at the very back of the store, which was open. The girl must've snuck in here during the attack, but why?
Lloyd observed the unconscious girl, answering Heather's question.
"I can't run away from the truth any longer. I've met her before."
"So you have interacted with a female before." Zane looked back at a certain memory.
The Finnish nindroid noticed how Lloyd's face seemed distant for only a single moment, as if he was trying to remember something…
"Yeah, and I've been seeing her in my dream."
"But who is she, exactly?" Kai asked impatiently.
"After I ran away from Darkley's, shortly before I met you guys, I met her, and she was the first person to ever show me kindness."
And here the two were, all grown up.
The path of destiny got a whole lot more complicated…
(*) Hayaku = Hurry (Japanese)
(*) Konnichiwa = Hello (Japanese)
(*) Ahora = Now (Spanish)
(*) Attendez = Wait (French)
O… M… F… G… O_O
Looks like things are REALLY picking up!
Moving on, we'll learn more about the girl, such as her name, how she & Lloyd met, and how they'll discover the joys of puberty! ;)
Okay, now review, go out, and have a happy Halloween! XD