Announcer voice: Today, on Way of the Dragon: Jinlong is left to defend Lloyd, but with her wrist still injured, will she be able to?
Jinlong voice: Chapter 14: Magnificent Bodyguards
Finding a place to live, in theory, should've been very easy for 4 near-celebrity status teenagers and their accomplices, especially after playing a pivotal role in saving the capital city and probably the world from a massive, multiple-ton snake a few days beforehand. But, just like anything in the ninja's lives, it really wasn't that simple.
"Ain't got enough room for me'self in this stinking city," Grumbled yet another landlord upon being asked. "And it ain't likely to be any room anytime soon, so scram!"
Jay let out a world-weary sigh, which may or may not have been overdramatic, depending on who you asked. Jin didn't think it was, at this point.
"Isn't there anywhere open in the whole city?" He groaned as the ninja and co. walked along the sidewalk.
"You know, Lloyd whines less than you, and he's, like, 8," Kai muttered, shooting his brother-in-arms a half-hearted glare.
"I'm 10," The gremlin corrected him, but no one paid attention. The sun beat down overhead, seeming to drain away any enthusiasm or liveliness. Nya had told them that she, in some way or another, knew a real estate agent and was expecting a call from her, but it had yet to come in.
"I'm hungry," Lloyd said after a few moments, and while Jinlong loved him like a brother, she had to disagree with Kai. No one complained more than Lloyd, and likely, no one ever would.
"We'll get lunch in a few hours," Cole promised.
"My feet hurt."
"Why don't you walk on your hands, then?"
The blond boy pouted, probably about to complain again, but at that moment, Nya's(well, technically it was the whole team's) flip phone rang. She whipped it out and in an instant was deep in conversation with someone.
"Great! We'll be there in 30 minutes," Nya said cheerfully before hanging up.
"Well? Did you find a place?" Jay asked.
"Maybe," The girl answered. "But it's across town and we have to be there in half an hour, so we'd better pick up the pace."
oOo
"Here we have an affordable and cozy home," The real estate agent, whose name Jinlong hadn't even caught, went on, her shrill voice giving the dragon-girl a headache. "Who needs space when everything is in arm's reach?"
A disapproving sound came from the ninja, but Jin actually quite liked the small, but dingy, apartment. It might be a little cramped if they were all there together, all the time, but in such a massive city, Jinlong found it hard to imagine that you, physically, could stay home all day with so much to see and do.
"Remember," Wu said. "All we need is a space to train Lloyd."
"And this is the only apartment we can afford," Zane added.
Kai walked around a little. "I dunno, Sensei, this place is pretty small. Do you think we even could train Lloyd here? I mean, there isn't even lighting."
"Well, if you're interested, I do have another place," The real estate lady said, leading them up the stairs of the apartment complex to the top floor.
"This," She announced as the doors opened on their own accord. "Is the Hero's Suite."
A collective 'whoa' rose from the ninja+ co., even Jin and Wu. The apartment was massive, glittering, with pristine white floors and an entire wall that was a window overlooking the city.
"And that's not all," The shrill-voiced woman went on, hitting a small button on the wall. Immediately, terrifyingly(to Jin), one of the side walls lowered itself, revealing a full set of training equipment.
"We'll take it!" She heard Cole enthusiastically cry.
"Hey, wait a second," She yelped, spinning around to face the ninja. "Can we even afford the rent?"
Actually, she didn't care if they could or not, mostly the dragon-girl didn't want to get stuck having to clean such a massive space.
"We'll just get day jobs, don't worry," Kai waved her off absent-mindedly.
Jinlong sighed.
oOo
As it turned out, "we" did not include a certain gold-freckled Changing Dragon, as she was told, rather harshly, that she would not be getting a job. It was because of her still-injured wrist, the ninja said, and because she had to look after the Ultra Dragon who was perched on the roof.
But after all the fuss about it, the Hero's Suite was actually pretty cool. Lloyd could be trained from home, Flwirosh lived just a flight of stairs up, and Jinlong even got her own room. She didn't share it with Nya, or Lloyd, or anyone. It wasn't even a broom closet or anything, it was her very own room. And with each of the ninja and co. having their own room, there were still extra bedrooms.
And it was within her very own bedroom that Jinlong sat, happily knitting, ignoring the twinges of pain in her left wrist. She had also been told, that time by Sensei, not to knit so her wrist could heal, but that would be far too boring. Of course, she probably should've been watching Lloyd, since the ninja were all working and Nya and Wu had gone out shopping, but she wanted some alone time.
But wanted rarely meant got, as a far-too-Lloyd-sounding scream echoed from the living room. Bolting out, a spike of terror ran through Jin as she saw Skales somehow in their apartment.
"What-?! How?! Get out!" She shrieked, quickly arming herself with a broom and pointing it at the arctic blue Serpentine.
"Sssilly girl," He hissed. "Do you think that will ssstop me?"
Frankly, yes, she did, and with that confidence, she swung the broom handle at his head, which he dodged, then tried to jab it into his abdomen.
His long, clawed fingers easily stopped the broom, wrapping around its wooden handle and jerked it from his opponent's grasp.
Seeing that method exhausted, Jinlong charged at the snake, first raised high, only to get sucker punched and thrown easily against the wall, dazed.
She vaguely heard Lloyd scream again, and forced her head up, vision blurry. The snake towered over him, Lloyd was running, and suddenly Nya was there, sending a sharp kick to Skales' side.
Wu was at her side, helping Jinlong to her feet.
"Are you alright?" He asked. Jin nodded, watching in a sort of dulled awe as Nya quickly subdued the Serpentine and, with her free hand, called the police. Not that Jin really knew who the police were, but within 5 minutes they were at the apartment, man and woman in blue uniforms with batons at their sides.
They prompted clamped silver bracelet-like things chained together on the snake's wrists, then led him, screaming, away. Jinlong blinked.
"Lloyd, are you alright?" She asked, still a little unsure of how everything happened so fast.
"Yeah," He replied, although his voice trembled a little.
"When the ninja get back, I am really gonna let 'em have it," Nya seethed. "We didn't need this fancy apartment, but nooooo they insisted we went with it!"
And, a few minutes later, when the 4 teenagers did arrive, Nya yelled at them for very close to an hour. Wu, Jinlong, and Lloyd all left them to that, instead making themselves some tea. When, finally, her lecture stopped, she loudly announced that the team would be moving into the smaller apartment.
Jin chuckled to herself. For being the destined protectors of the savior of Ninjago, they really weren't magnificent bodyguards, and got bossed around by their collective little sister.
Then again, Nya was pretty scary.
Announcer voice: Next time, on Way of the Dragon: Lord Garmadon has stolen the wrecked Bounty! And worse yet, he has a new, more powerful weapon! Will Jinlong be able to warn the ninja?