Ninjago Highschool: Chapter Sixteen: Noodle House
Author note: I'm terribly sorry for the long late. I've been unmotivated for a while, and feel bad for those who do want to see the next chapter of this story. Chapter 15 was garbage and I feel bad for that too. I'll do better for ya'll I swear.
Chen's Noodle House, once a pretty average noodle house run by Mr. Chen...now a pretty average noodle house not run by Mr. Chen, instead, it's managed by Skylor. Or at least it was, because it's hard for a teenager to run a noodle store AND go to highschool. Instead it was run by one of Chen's former minions, who wasn't sent to jail. At least Skylor, and by extension her friends , got discounts at Chen's Noodle House, making it the best place for them to hang out. And that's what they did. Kai, Jay, Cole, Zane, Lloyd, and Nya all arrived, with some differences in time. Kai and Nya got there first, then Cole, then Jay, and Lloyd last. "Well, we're all finally here. Why didn't we all just arrive at the same time?" Cole asked, annoyed at having to wait a bit for the rest. "Well Cole, not all of us go out without preparing like you do." said Jay. "I mean...that's what I did." Lloyd said. If there's one thing he and Cole could agree with, it's not dressing super well. "Whatever guys, let's just go in." said Kai, trying to get them all in before a war started. So they all walked in. The Noodle House wasn't packed, but it certainly had some customers in it. Kai talked to the employee at the front, and got a table for the group. They all took their seats. Kai, Nya, and Jay sat on one side, and Cole, Zane, and Lloyd sat on the other. Everything went normal enough, they all ordered their drinks, except Zane, and looked through the menus, again, except Zane. "So Lloyd, how's the gaming club?" Nya asked. "Terrible." Was all he mustered about that. Cole was on the opposite side of the spectrum. "It's great! They really speak with me, ya know?" "Glad it's working out for YOU, but I'm thinking of leaving period." Lloyd said. "It was a waste of my damn time." "I agree with that. You have zero gaming experience and get mentaly drained from the club." said Zane. "Thanks, you're very insightful." "Hey at least you KNOW you hate it now, right? Better than not joining and wondering if you were wrong." Jay said, trying to find a positive in the situation. "He's right Lloyd, besides, is there really a good reason for you to stay anymore?" Nya said. Jay was right. If Lloyd didn't join the club, he'd probably be thinking about it a lot, worrying about whatever he missed. Now that he knows all he would miss is the loud noises and UV, he was more than happy to drop it as soon as he could.
The drinks arrived finally. The waiter looked at Zane and asked "Are you SURE you don't want a drink?" Zane nodded. "I am a nindroid, I do not need water and food." "Man, they get more realistic each day." The waiter muttered. Zane's more human form was worn most of the time, to keep random passersby from freaking out over the metal man near them. Maybe some day Zane can go without the skin covering, but alas people complain too much about him without it on. They ordered their food next. Kai, Lloyd, and Jay got noodles with a side of rice, Nya got sushi, and Cole got eggrolls with cake. An order like that would take some time, so in the meantime they checked if they had enough money to PAY for all this. Sure enough, they all had enough to pay equally. "So..what have we all been up to?" Jay said, trying to keep the awkward silence away. "Pixal and I have been working on a project, that is what I have been up to." Said Zane. "Well that's nice, what exactly IS this project?" Cole asked. "I can not say, it is a surprise." "Mhm, alright then..." "I'm progressing into the gaming club well, might even become a head of it if I'm good enough." Cole said confidently. "I beat all the nobodies in the club, but UV and the others are pretty good, especially that E guy." "Yeah, that E guy is weird..." Lloyd said. "He's quiet, doesn't do much." "Yeah but he games real freaking good." Cole said, shaking his head. "I could barely catch him, had to use grenades and traps to kill him most of time. Guy's a CoD machine!" "Yeah he sure sounds like it." Kai said. "So what's your plan to leave the club Lloyd?" Kai asked. "Oh, uhm...I don't know. Probably tell Harumi I quit, just like that." Jay shook his head. "No no no, you can't just quit like THAT. That's basic. You're not basic!" "I don't know man he's pretty basic." said Cole. "Shut up Cole. Jay what do you mean?" Lloyd asked. "You gotta give like, a reason to quit, and you have to talk about it BEFORE going. You don't wanna quit in the middle of the club, that's embarrassing!" "Are you saying Harumi's squad isn't gonna make fun of me if I quit in the middle of the hallways? UV is a bitch and you know that." Kai, being the best bro in the universe, spoke up. "If she tries to harass you I'll deck her man, don't worry." Nya nodded. "Yeah, I'd deck her if I could regardless, she's super annoying! Always talking about how she's 'not like other girls'." The others laughed a little. "Yeah, like, you're not the only girl that wears clothes like that." Jay said."Statistically, there are several thousand more gamer girls than she lets on whenever she says she is special for it." Said Zane. There was some laughter at UV, and some more roasts, until the food arrived.
The food was good, even Zane wished he could eat for this moment. For 15 minutes everything was going fine, until the door opened, and the screams of an all too familiar woman were heard. "HEYYY BITCHES, LEMME GET SOME NOODLES!" screamed UV, as she entered the building. Any conversation in the building died out, and Lloyd sunk in his seat, mortified. One of the staff walked to UV. "Uh ma'am, can you please be quiet while in the restaurant?" "Heh, can't handle some noise? Just gimme a seat already." Money is money, so the begrudgingly sat her at a seat. And of course, it was the one booth near Lloyd and his friends. She passed by them, and saw Lloyd. "Well well well if it isn't the LLoydster." Turns out she was accompanied with some random members of the gaming club, looking just as wild as she. "What're you doing here?" Kai looked at UV, annoyed. "What the hell do you think we're doing at a noodle house?" UV, in her astounding wisdom, chose to ignore what Kai said. "You could be gaming right now, training to actually be GOOD, and yet here you are, eating at this place with your friends instead. Weak." "Well what are YOU doing here if you could be training instead of eating with your friends there?" UV laughed. "I already had a mean 5 hour session just a little while ago. And these aren't my friends, they're my second gaming squad." UV saw Cole in the group and pointed at him. "Cole, what're you doing with these losers? I thought you'd be gaming some more!" "Hey man, I game enough, I can hang out with my friends, even if they're losers." Cole said, trying to sound cool. Jay made a shooing motion with his hand. "Why don't you order whatever you goobers eat and leave us alone." UV scoffed, and her squad grumbled some, giving glares. "Whatever. Waiter, give us a booth away from these noobs!" she ordered. The waiter wasn't paid enough, so decided to do as she said, in hopes for a good tip. But we all know UV wouldn't tip someone. "I'm sorry guys, she ruins shit a lot..." Lloyd said, upset. "Hey it's fine, you didn't invite her to bother us like that after all." said Nya. "Yeah, it's fine." Jay said. "Ah you're right, glad she left now at least." Lloyd said, getting out of his funk quickly. "Let's get back to eating before our food gets cold." Everyone agreed, and they went back to it.
After paying for their food, the gang left the noodle store. Kai went on his motorcycle with Nya, Jay got to his bike, and Zane to his car. "Hey Cole, do you need a ride?" Cole dismissed Zane. "Nah, I need to walk to make up for all the sitting I do." Zane shrugged. "Okay, how about you Lloyd." Lloyd also dismissed Zane. "I prefer walking too. I'll go with Cole." Zane and the others saw nothing wrong with this, and went off home, leaving Cole and Lloyd at the parking lot of Chen's Noodle House. "Well, we should head out before it gets too late out." Said Cole, walking on. Lloyd agreed and followed along. On the way they made conversation. "So...the gaming club really doesn't bother you?" Lloyd asked. "Yep, I like it. They're my sort of people, needed that for a while. School is boring as shit." "So the noise doesn't bother you? Or UV's attitude?" "Hell no, I'm fine with that stuff. UV can be irritating, but that's how she be." That may be how she is, but Lloyd can't stand it one bit. They reached a part of the road where there were cars constantly speeding by. There was barely any time to cross, and Lloyd's anxiety at the thought of crossing it was large. Cole tapped his shoulder and pointed elsewhere. "If we go that way we can skip past this and get home sooner." "You sure Cole? That area is the seedier part of Ninjago City." Cole told him it was fine. "No one is gonna mess with ME or you." Lloyd didn't wanna wait any longer, so he agreed with him this time. "Okay, lead the way then." It wasn't the best place to be, lot's of drunks, possible druggies, and some plain violent people. But Lloyd felt somewhat safe with Cole. Like, Cole fought Karlof and survived, what couldn't he beat? Aside from druggies asking for drugs, and some punks trying to act tough, the duo were fine...until they were in an alley by themselves.
"Man, I don't like this one bit." Said Lloyd, looking around nervously. "It'll get us closer to where we need to be, don't worry." Cole said, trying to get Lloyd to calm down. Calm would be the last word on their mind though, when 3 figures, clad in brown jackets, and brown bandanas covering their faces stepped into the alley in front of them, holding metal tubes in their hands. Cole looked at them, inside, a little scared, but on the outside, as steady as he normally seems. Lloyd was frightened enough, but turned around and saw 3 more of them! One had sunglasses on, and had a switchblade. Cole chuckled. "Okay, what's the big idea fellas? You want money?" The figures didn't say anything, and just took a single step each, closer to the duo. "Cole?..." Lloyd whispered, scared. Cole sighed. "Listen, I don't know who ya'll think you are, but if you don't hightail it out of here, I'm kicking your ass." The one with shades shook his head. "We ain't gonna kill you, but you'll be close to dead." Was all he said, with a deep, quiet voice. "Lloyd." Lloyd looked at Cole. "I'll handle them all, feel free to join if you want." Before anyone in the alley could react, Cole leaped towards the men in front of him, giving one an uppercut straight to the jaw. Lloyd saw the ones from his side walk up to them quicker. "Come on Lloyd, get some strength!" he yelled inside his mind. Cole grabbed one of the men's head and slammed it into the brick wall to his left, knocking him out quickly. The one he uppercutted tried to get up, so he stomped on his leg, cracking it, making the assailant scream out in pain. One figure ran to Lloyd and swung his pipe. Lloyd dodged it and pushed him away. His powers, why weren't they coming to him right now? The last figure for Cole tried to hit him, but Cole grabbed the pipe mid-swing. His arms turned a fierce orange, and he bent the pipe ninety degrees, wrenching it out of the man's hand. The man, in his stunned daze, was smacked across the face with his former weapon, knocking him out of the fight too. Now Cole could help Lloyd. "I'm coming Lloyd!" Lloyd didn't have the physical strength like Cole had, so all he could do was dodge hits and push the men away. Cole took the closest man to Lloyd by the neck, picked him up briefly, and slammed him into the dirt, hard enough to immobilize him enough. The last man, before the presumed leader, rushed Cole. Cole rolled his eyes, and grabbed the man's neck mid-rush, arms glowing orange, throwing him into the wall hard. The leader was nowhere to be seen. Cole looked around frantically, then yelled at Lloyd to move it. Lloyd turned around, it was like time stopped for him in that moment. There he was, the leader, who snuck around, about to shank Lloyd. This was what set his powers off, just at the right time. A violent burst of green energy blasted the man back, knocking his knife, and his shades off while he tumbled to the ground. Lloyd stood motionless, shocked at what happened. Cole didn't miss a beat and walked up to him, grabbing his jacket, and lifted him up. "Okay, you failed to mug us. How does that make you feel?" Cole said, his tone angry. Lloyd saw the man's eyes. He had what was either a tattoo, or a bruise on his eye. "Heh, pretty bad man. Pretty bad." Was all he said in that gruff voice. Cole dropped him, and motioned at Lloyd. "Let's get out of here, quick." Lloyd snapped out of his state and hurried out of the alley, leaving Cole's mess behind.
They were in their neighborhood finally. They didn't say anything the entire time. Finally Cole spoke up. "I'm...sorry. That stuff never happened when I went through that alley before..." Lloyd didn't say anything, he really couldn't. "Honestly, I was pretty scared too, believe me." That got Lloyd's attention. "S-scared? You beat up 5 guys just like that. I couldn't even get my own powers up in that." "I was, trust me. Never fought 6 guys with weapons before. Butttt it seems I handled it quite well huh?" "I guess you could say that..." "Hey, you managed to knock that guy down with your powers, that has to count for something right." Lloyd didn't think so, and voiced it. "It just happened though, I didn't MAKE it happen, like what you do." Cole patted his shoulder. "Well, it doesn't happen for everyone. Just don't walk alone near that area I guess, eh? Lloyd agreed, and they arrived at their street. "Well...I'll see you later I guess." Cole said. They waved goodbye, and walked to their houses. Today was eventful, if not a little traumatic for Lloyd.