Announcer voice: Today, on Way of the Dragon: Nya and Jin go around getting kicked out of stores!
Jinlong voice: Chapter 20: Wu- Dang It!
"It's almost like we attract trouble instead of repelling it," Nya sighed. Jinlong was forced to agree with her; this was getting ridiculous. Not 2 minutes after they walked into the small store, a gang of robbers showed up.
"Well, since we happen to be witnesses…" The girls shared a look. Nya flipped out 4 of her at least 12 knives she kept on her, and Jin assumed a fighting stance. The robbers laughed, clearly not suspecting anything, just two normal teenage girls. Which, Jinlong noted smugly, they soon regretted as the duo pummeled them. It could barely even be called a fight; the robbers were inexperienced, clumsy, and severely lacking in teamwork.
The police arrived soon after the skirmish. Jinlong backed behind her taller friend, still not quite a fan of the blaring sirens. Nya stepped forward, explaining the situation, when the shopkeeper came storming up.
"Thank goodness you're here," The middle-aged woman exclaimed. "Arrest these two hooligans!"
"Us?" Jin frowned. "Ma'am, we're the ones who saved your shop."
"You wrecked it!" The woman yelled, gesturing to her shop, which admittedly, was a mess. Not an unfixable mess, though.
"Collateral damage," The dragon-girl shrugged and waved her hand dismissively. She had no idea what that meant, but she'd heard the ninja toss that term around before.
Nya reddened. "Ah, yeah, Jin, how about you let me talk?"
"Don't patronize me, we're the same age!"
"I am not! I just know more about this than you!"
"Now that's just plain rude. I'm smart, too!"
"I never said you weren't!"
"Um, girls?" A police officer stepped in. "I think an apology is in order to this woman."
"Not just an apology!" The lady cried. "I expect compensation! I want justice!"
Nya and Jin looked at each other, then bowed at the woman, simultaneously apologizing. Her face flushed in anger.
"That was the most measly apology I've ever heard! You two- you two are banned! Permanently! Never, ever come back!"
Jin scowled, but her black-haired friend pulled her away before she could say anything.
"Stupid woman," The dragon-girl muttered.
"Yeah," Nya agreed. "But it wasn't worth fighting over."
"I think it was. Everything is worth fighting over."
"Really? What about, like. I dunno, a grilled cheese?"
"Oh, absolutely. Especially, even."
"Good point. That was a bad example. I'd kill for a grilled cheese."
By and by, the girls forgot about the fiasco at the store, talking about anything that came to their minds. They ended up going to a much larger store, that was less likely to be robbed in broad daylight.
"Light Bulbs?" Jin wondered out loud, looking at the list in Nya's hand. "Why do we need Light Bulbs?"
"Jay's got quite the reputation for breaking them when he's mad, and Lloyd does too, now that he's filled with teenage rage," The girl said. "We're actually quite a destructive group."
Her point was only proven once they got into the Light Bulb isle. Nya grabbed a box and tossed it at Jin, who was carrying the basket. She caught it, but had jumped up to do so, and when she landed, she stumbled backwards, right into the shelf.
"Oh, shoot-" Jin watched, in horror, as the shelf filled entirely of breakable objects wobbled briefly, before toppling over with a crash and the tinkling of hundreds of Light Bulbs.
"Well," She said flatly. "At least no one was on the other side."
They got kicked out of that store, too, and quite possibly banned. The manager was unclear on that part.
"Sorry about that," Jin muttered, eyes downward. That'd been real mature of her. "I really am."
"Don't sweat it," Nya yawned. "The guys have been banned from at least 4 restaurants, and they've known each other for barely over a year."
"That little of time? I thought they'd practically been raised together, the way they act."
"Well they kind of are being raised together. Cole's the oldest, and he just turned 16 a few months ago."
Jin whistled as they arrived in the open-air market Jin had been to on her own before. "All things considering, they're really young."
Nya chuckled. "Yeah, but you're the youngest. Besides Lloyd, anyway, however his age works now."
"Nuh-uh, you're 14, too!"
The girl grinned slyly. "Not for long. It'll be my birthday in less than a month."
A sudden realization flickered across her face and she stopped short. "Wu- dang it!"
"What?"
"It's Sensei's birthday tomorrow! I entirely forgot…"
Jin blinked. "I never even thought of him having a birthday. What are we going to do for him, then?"
"We've only got enough money to make him a nice meal or something."
"What's his favorite meal?"
"I know he likes gyoza and tonkatsu, but I don't know how to make those, or what you'd need to do it."
"I'll bet Zane knows. Have you got the phone?" Jin asked.
Nya nodded, pulling the flip-phone from her pocket. Since discovering he was a Nindroid, Zane had been able to build a phone into his brain, so the ninja could directly call him. Nya spoke with him for a short while, writing some stuff down on the back of her list, then hung up.
"Alright, so I've got the list of ingredients, and Zane also says he remembers Wu liking dango, but we're just gonna buy that because we're cheap. 'Kay?"
Jin laughed. "'Kay."
oOo
"Nya, Jin, this is Lloyd's mother, Misako."
Naturally, the dragon-girl's first reaction to the old lady was anger. She'd abandoned her son at an evil boarding school, after all, and emotionally scarred him.
"Hello, girls," Misako greeted, but got only silence in return. Nya, evidently, felt just as Jin did.
Lloyd, from behind his mother, blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, guys? It's fine. We- we made up."
"You may have," Nya said boldly. "But I haven't. This is the woman who left you at Darkley's, and let you wander around on the streets, homeless and starving?"
"Yep. That's, uh. That's her."
"And the woman who never bothered to try and contact you, to try and see if you were safe?"
"Yeah."
"Nya," Wu cut in.
"No, Wu, she's right," Misako sighed. "I did a lot of things wrong. I just- I didn't know what else to do."
That was a pretty weak excuse, even to Jin's ears.
"Are you sorry?" The dragon-girl asked her.
"Yes," The woman said, and she sounded sincere. "I am. I-I wish I could go back, and fix things, and make up for lost time, but...the past is the past, and the future is the future. I can only try to fix things now."
"Then I forgive you, too." Jinlong declared.
Nya looked at her as if she was insane, and for a second, the dragon-girl considered taking back her words. But she'd be lying if she did, and that didn't sound mature at all.
"If Lloyd forgives you, then I do too," She stated. "After all, he's the one you hurt. So I forgive you."
Wu smiled, and if Jin wasn't mistaken, she thought he looked almost proud.
Announcer voice: Next time, on Way of the Dragon: A seemingly-invincible army invades Ninjago City, an omen that the Final Battle is coming. What can the ninja do to stop it? Find out tomorrow!