Announcer voice: Today, on Way of the Dragon: The ninja are turned into little kids, leaving Jinlong and Lloyd to try and change them back! Will they succeed? And at what cost?
Jinlong voice: Chapter 18: Enter the Green Ninja
"Hey, Lloyd, focus. Come on, kid."
The gremlin sighed, slowly turning from where he'd been looking over the railing.
"Do I have to?" He groaned. "Can't we take a break?"
"What?" Kai challenged playfully. "Tired already?"
"No," The boy said defensively. "But I always train. Why can't I go and play like the other kids?"
"Because you are not like the other kids," Jin told him, setting a hand on his bony shoulder. "You're a ninja, and you have to train to defeat your father."
He groaned again. "But that's no fair!"
Cole ruffled his hair, offering a sad smile. "Life ain't fair, kiddo."
Then, as tended to happen, the alarm suddenly blared to life and Nya ran above deck where the ninja and Jinlong had been training Lloyd.
"Serpentine have been spotted with Lord Garmadon at the museum," She said.
The ninja sighed.
"Lloyd, you stay here," Jay quickly told him as they ran towards the Bridge. "Keep training with Jin."
Then they were off, and Lloyd had melodramatically collapsed onto the deck, groaning. Jin and Nya shared a grin, then hauled the blond boy to his feet.
"Come on, pint size," The black-haired girl challenged. "Show me whatcha got."
oOo
A few hours later, the Trio of Terror finally stopped training, although that was mostly because Wu came up.
"The ninja have been gone a long time," He noted. "Come along, Nya. We should search for them."
After they left, it had taken very little convincing on Lloyd's part for Jinlong to end the training, because she wasn't used to such prolonged exercise and was pretty tired.
"You're so much cooler than the ninja," Lloyd gushed happily. "They're always telling me I've gotta train all day, but I'm just a kid! I don't wanna."
"Mmm," The dragon-girl nodded absently, pulling out some yarn and knitting needles. "Hey, Lloyd, what's your favorite color?"
"Gold," He answered immediately. "The ninja think it's green, cuz all their favorite colors match up with their gis, but not mine."
"Great," She said, and began to knit. She hadn't been doing it for very long when the telephone inside rang, startling her. Lloyd was reading comics and didn't seem to have noticed, so she got up and answered it.
"Hey, Lloyd? Jin?" Came a high-pitched voice that sounded a little like Kai's. "Are you there?"
"Yes," Jinlong answered. "Who is this? Kai?"
"Yeah. There's no time to explain- just meet us at Buddy's Pizza, okay?"
"I don't know where that is."
"Lloyd does," He assured. "Oh, and bring our weapons!"
The connection was cut, and Jin slowly put the phone back. She wandered back onto the deck and called to Lloyd, "The ninja need our help. Do you know where Buddy's Pizza is?"
He looked up. "Yeah. Why?"
"The ninja called and told us to meet them there, and to bring their weapons."
He stood up, stretched, and frowned. "They didn't say why?"
Jin shook her head.
"Weird. But I'll show you where Buddy's Pizza is. It's kinda far, though, so we should hurry."
oOo
"Oh. My goodness," Jin gushed. "You're adorable!"
The now-little-kid-ninja glared at her from under baseball caps, while Lloyd was in hysterics, laughing about 'that's what you get'.
"It's not funny!" Jay cried. "The Grundle's after us, and we can't even do Spinjitzu!"
"What am I supposed to do?" Lloyd laughed. "I'm just a helpless little kid, remember?"
"Lloyd, this is serious!" Kai yelled, which calmed the boy down a little.
"Okay, okay. I think I know someone who can help. But it's across the city."
Cole groaned. "We can't take the bus without an adult."
"I'll go with you," Jinlong offered.
"Uh, no offense, Jin, but you're barely older than Lloyd," Kai deadpanned. The dragon-girl's face turned a bit pink, making her gold freckles stand out even more.
"I am not!" She cried. "He's 9, and I'm 14!"
"The legal driving and working age is 14," Zane informed her. "I do believe that you will count as a chaperone."
"Haha! Take that, Kai!"
"You look, like, 11!" The fire ninja crossed his arms. "Whatever, let's just go."
oOo
The helpful someone that Lloyd knew turned out to be the owner of a small comic store in downtown Ninjago City. The place was pretty neat, actually, and Jin soon found herself wandering through the isles of colorful paper books.
"Reptile Sphere X, Oni Killer, Two Kick Woman, Momo's Normal Quest, Hockey the Wrestler…" She read out loud. "Wow, what even are these?"
She eventually ended up picking up the latest copy of 'Reptile Sphere X' and flipping through it. The art style was interesting, but what she thought was really cool was that all the characters could fly. Lloyd, she decided, would like it. She looked around for him and ended up peering out a window, realizing that it was almost nighttime. Didn't the ninja say that the 'Grundle' came out at night?
Right on cue, an ominous cracking sound came from the glass roof, and she heard Jay gasp, "It's here!"
Just as she tried to run over to the group of children and the store owner, the Grundle came crashing through the roof, sending glass raining down. Jin grimaced as a few sharps cut her face and forearms.
"Jin! Get all the kids to safety!" Cole yelled, and the dragon-girl realized that from her position, behind the reptilian beast, that task would be much easier. She set to work, coaxing the children and eventually even the store owner to crawl under a fallen metal beam at the Grundle's side and run out the exit.
While she did that, the ninja tried to battle the Grundle with cheap flashlight-esque sticks, which quickly broke.
"Uhh, guys?" Jay laughed nervously as the Grundle backed them into a corner. "We do have a plan, right?"
Just then, Nya and Wu burst into the shop, with their trademark perfect timing.
"We have Tomorrow's Tea," Nya cried. "It'll destroy the Grundle and age all of you up!"
How did she know about their predicament? Before Jin had time to ask, Nya threw it at them, and Lloyd caught it, an unreadable expression on his face.
"Lloyd," Kai muttered. "What about him…?"
The Grundle snarled, closing in. Jin couldn't see what happened, but suddenly there was an herbal scent floating around the store, the Grundle was just a pile of bones, and they ninja were back to normal.
"It worked!" They cheered, but fell silent as Lloyd slowly stood up. Jin's jaw dropped. Her best friend, who had been a little gremlin, no taller than her waist, was suddenly at least 5'4, with longer, wilder hair and green eyes.
"I'm...older," He whispered in a much deeper voice than previously.
"The final battle draws nearer," Sensei said, but Jinlong hardly noticed.
"What the heck?" She hissed, although not angrily. "Why do you get to be taller than me now?"
Announcer voice: Next time, on Way of the Dragon: Lloyd's very existence is threatened when his father goes back in time! Will the ninja be able to stop him? Find out tomorrow!