On the rare occasions Skylor can slip away from work to visit the ninja, she usually has a blast. These seven warriors never cease to find a way to spend their evenings together laughing, horse playing, and somehow not killing each other, which is pretty impressive in her books.
Of course, not everything they did was what she would call the smartest (the one that really took the cake was Cole's hammer throw, but... with the ninja instead of his hammer, and the ones not being thrown scrambling around with someone's mattress so they can land without breaking every bone in their body. They succeeded about 69% of the time.) But many of them were just fun things real families did, like play monopoly (which Jay absolutely slays at), going out for hot chocolate (which, according to Lloyd, is an all-year-round beverage), or just watching a movie, which happened to be what they were doing that night.
Skylor was wedged between Kai and Nya on the sofa while Jay had beanbag privileges, and Pixal, Zane, and Cole sat against the couch on the carpet. Lloyd somehow balanced himself laid out on the back of the couch, head in his hand as he munched on some pretzels.
The movie was that old Avengers film, which Lloyd had picked out, though only because he was outvoted to not put on yet another Star Wars movie, which was fine. Skylor was happy to watch it, hand in kai's, with a bowl of popcorn in her lap.
When the scene where Black Widow began beating up those Russian guys while talking on the phone, Nya leaned over beside her and whispered, "Natasha did all that without her high heels on."
Raising her eyebrow, Skylor whispered back, "yeah, so?"
"I bet I could do those moves with them on."
A smile played on the ochre ninja's face, "yeah?"
Nya nodded, "I bet you and Pixal could too." She looked at the nindroid in front of her and nudged her with her knee. Pixal tilted her head back to look at them. "Pix, wanna see who can fight the best in heels?"
"Yes."
Both were surprised how fast she agreed but all three grinned. Skylor shook her head at the ridiculousness of it all but you know what? It was no more ridiculous than Cole flinging Jay thirty yards onto a haphazardly-placed landing mat, so what the heck? "I get off of work next Friday, we can go shopping in the afternoon."
That very Friday Skylor came by to pick them up in her station wagon. She barely recognized the two girls in their street clothes, Nya in her black biker jacket and little silver thunderbolt necklace, and Pixal in her blue and white sundress. Aside from Pixal's metal face, they almost looked like a normal group of friends.
The image was disrupted slightly when Nya unslung her favorite spear and slid it into the backseat before climbing in herself, Pixal following her.
Skylor couldn't help but chuckle as she put the gear in drive. "Everyone ready?"
The rest of the afternoon was spent at some cheap thrift stores, the three girls occupying the shoe racks to find the steepest heels they could find.
Nya found her dream stilettos almost right away: six-inch (they measured) neon green boots with light-up soles.
"I love them." Nya breathed, trying them on. She stomped to make them light up like a billboard sign. "Is this what it feels like to be tall?"
"Yup," Skylor responded, popping the 'p', now being able to look the water ninja in the eye.
Pixal was next, finding a pair of glittery silver heels that seemed like the kind a little granny would wear if it weren't for the six-inch needle-like pumps. Skylor could only imagine what kind of badass granny could pull those off, but Pixal seemed to love them. Trying them on, however, was a different matter. Her nindroid feet just weren't designed to bend that way, no matter how hard she tried.
Pixal refused to give up.
"I will alter my feet when I get home." She said simply, holding onto her shoes in finality.
Skylor and Nya chose not to argue.
At last, Skylor found the perfect pair, simple black with a ribbon tie around the ankle. They felt relatively comfortable and looked amazing. She did a couple of practice roundhouse kicks experimentally, freezing mid-kick at the clerk gaping from the cash register. Nya and Pixal stifled a laugh as Skylor straightened and painted a smile over her reddened face, "we'll take them."
They checked out early enough to grab some shakes before heading back to the monastery, a little out of breath from the climb. They lost no time in trying on their shoes in the courtyard and, in Pixal's case, tinkering with her ankle joint.
The boys had curiously come outside and sat on the overhang in the shade.
"Watcha doing?" Kai asked.
"We're seeing who fights the best in heels," Nya grunted, pulling on her boots without bothering to look up.
"You're gonna train in those?" Kai raised an eyebrow skeptically.
"Yes, it was Nya's idea," Pixal affirmed, putting the wires back in her feet and standing up. She nodded in satisfaction as her feet slipped easily into her granny shoes.
"But, but those look dangerous," Zane looked nervously at the precariously thin heals, "such attire would lead to possible injury."
He turned to Jay for backup, who was holding a big homemade sign reading "you go, my yang!" In big blue markers.
Kai frowned, "when did you make that?"
Jay shrugged, "I've always had this. I've been waiting for a chance to use it for years."
"But Nya's only been your yang for three weeks."
Jay stared at him, "what's your point?"
The first round they decided was a dead sprint down and up the monastery stairs. Luckily they were already warmed up from the first time and took off like three deer, even skipping steps four or five at a time. If they looked back, they would have seen Jay frozen mid-poster raise in shock, Zane clutching his head in anxiety, and Kai staring slack-jawed at the girls disappearing over the lip of the stairs.
"What was that?" He stuttered, turning to his brothers to see if they were seeing what he was seeing.
Zane looked like he was praying to the First Spinjitsu Master. "They are going to break their necks," he moaned.
Jay just looked dreamily at where Nya was a moment ago and sighed, chin on his hand.
Sooner than they thought they would the three ninja heard the sharp clicking of shoes and heavy breathing as they reemerged over the horizon, Skylor 's red ponytail drooping from the humidity.
Pixal, meanwhile, being a nindroid, looked absolutely fine and was barely breathing hard as she skipped over the final step a full pace ahead of the other two.
"Does this mean I 'win?'" She asked as she turned to the others, looking a little unsure.
Nya leaned heavily on her knees and gave her a thumbs up. Skylor wiped the film of sweat off her forehead and focused on breathing.
Zane now had a look of bubbling pride and crippling anxiety on his face.
The second round they decided to spar with their weapon of choice. Since they had an odd number they pulled out the training dummies, set to the highest calibrated level. The first one to knock her opponent over wins.
After taking a moment to recover their breath Nya smiled sweetly and cracked her knuckles, unslinging her beloved spear off her shoulder in a fighting stance. Pixal opted for her samurai katana, strong, thin, and easily maneuverable. After a moment of deliberation, Skylor chose some of Zane's throwing stars. Unlike Nya's spear and Pixal's sword, these were great for long-distance fights, meaning as long as her aim was good, she could stay relatively out of harm's way of the training dummy.
Cole had joined the small cluster of boys, as well as Lloyd, who shared a bowl of popcorn with the earth master while watching with big green eyes. the black ninja watched them spar and even shouted some pointers.
"Head up, Pixal!" He called, popping a burned kernel in his mouth and looking disappointedly at Lloyd's microwaving skills. The green ninja shrugged helplessly. "That's better. Keep your weight evenly distributed, Sky, you'll balance easier on those."
Skylor adjusted her position and threw her star with considerably more ease, making the dummy spark where her weapon found its mark. She sent him a quick thank you with a smile. Cole nodded in return.
The round ended with Nya plunging her spear straight into her dummy's power source, using the shaft as a kind of lever to vault herself over the fallen warrior and landing with her shoe embedded in its face. She did an impromptu battle cry and held up her weapon in victory. Jay whooped and cheered. Lloyd joined him in support.
The last round was hand-to-hand combat. No powers, no weapons, just brains and brawn. The first to submit their opponent without breaking their ankles wins. Seeing as the dummies were out of commission, Zane, Jay, and Kai volunteered to be sparing partners, Zane with Pixal, Jay with Nya, and Skylor with Kai.
Jay and Nya worked great together; Jay's nimbleness complemented Nya's ambitious attacks. They both knew each other's fighting style well enough to always keep themselves on their toes, countering and re-countering their anticipated moves in a fast-paced dance.
Being nindroids, Zane and Pixal could go harder on each other than they could with any human, and it showed. If Skylor didn't know any better, she'd say the two nindroids were trying to kill each other in the most efficient way possible. But, she did know better, and she knew enough about them to know that Zane was holding back just a little, but that was just his sweet and concerned personality, and Pixal was definitely holding her own, just looking happy to be there.
Skylor loved it when Kai was her training partner, not just because he was a natural fighter, coming up with completely unexpected maneuvers to trip her up, but also because he did not hold back with her at all, and it was exhilarating being pushed that hard with no way of knowing who would come out on top.
Kai didn't even give Skylor a chance to size him up for openings, keeping her hard on the defensive while slowly but surely backing her into a corner. Skylor grimaced as she blocked another hook and ducked under a cross, looking for any opportunity to switch to the offensive.
"You know, you look really nice in those." Kai managed while dodging a sidekick.
The compliment caught her a little off-guard, considering she was drenched in sweat and she had long since given up on keeping her ponytail in. Still, she allowed herself to smile as she tried to sweep his feet out from underneath him, but he jumped out of range.
Unfortunately, the abrupt move sent her off-balance, costing her precious time to regain her bearings, which Kai took advantage of, diving for her center of gravity and causing both to crash to the ground.
"That was a dirty trick," Skylor ground out, grappling with the red ninja. He grinned despite the circumstances, the lovable idiot.
At last she saw her chance. Using a heel to pin one of his wrists down, she twisted and countered till she had him in an unbreakable armlock.
Kai growled and squirmed but couldn't shake free no matter what. Skylor squeezed.
"Owowow! Uncle! Uncle – I give!" She let go as soon as he tapped out, smirking as the two other opponents paused their sparring at the noise.
Kai sent her a wounded expression as he rubbed his elbow. "Sure, go ahead, I didn't my arm anyway, ya big bully."
Skylor gave him a look and dove in for a hug, making the fire master freeze up in surprise. "You can't expect me to just let you win because I like you, hm?" She chuckled when she noticed his ears turn pink.
"You looked just like Natasha Romanoff!" Nya whooped, joining the group as Skylor pulled away from Kai.
"Well done, Skylor," Zane smiled amicably, offering her and Kai a hand up off the ground. "But do you think perhaps you can take those off? You look in pain."
Skylor nodded with gusto and gladly stumbled over to the stairs to pull hers off. Nya and Pixal plopped down next to her."
Lloyd leaned on Jay's poster near them, "Can you stay for dinner, Sky? It's Zane's turn to cook." He gave her puppy eyes, as if she needed further enticement.
"What's he making?" She asked.
Lloyd's expression turned a little gremlin, "Stay and find out."
Skylor snorted at his face and nodded, "I'd love to, thank you."
Jay and Lloyd cheered while the rest of the ninja followed Zane inside in hopes of getting to taste test his dinner, though chances were pretty thin, leaving Skylor alone with Nya and Pixal.
"Thanks Sky," Nya slumped onto the step and pulled off her shoes, flexing them in the warm sun.
Skylor leaned back against the post and closed her eyes, "No problem."
"No, really," the water master's tone made her open her eyes to Nya's unexpectedly serious face. "I've never really had anyone to do… this" she gestured uncomfortably in front of her. "Just, like, stupid stuff you do with sisters and stuff. Not that I don't like doing dumb stuff with the boys," She amended quickly, a little too quickly, but Skylor managed to hide her smile. "I just… Thanks."
Skylor was a little taken aback at Nya's honestly. She glanced past her at Pixal and saw she was the same way, legs drawn in, a little shy but sincere. It was so easy to forget that they were still kids, all eight of them, and still wanted to do things that normal kids their age do. They wanted to belong, make friends, and do things for the sake of doing them, and being saviors of the world has a tendency to leave those things by the wayside.
It was only then that Skylor realized how much this day meant to Nya and Pixal. How for an afternoon, they could just be normal girls, or, as normal as possible under the circumstances.
She smiled and closed her eyes again, mentally noting to take off from work way more often. "Anytime, ladies."
Nya is the baby, Pixal is the middle child, and Skylor is the independent big sister and no one can convince me otherwise.
