Chapter 13: The Maxx family
After Nya had dyed Lloyd and Scarlet's hair back to the correct colors, Scarlet went onto the deck. She took a deep breath as she looked down the side of the ship. "Is that the place where you live?" Cole asked, pointing down at the huge, modern mansion, ahem, or palace! The house was breath taking! There was a big front and back yard filled with flowers and green grass and a stone path leading up to the front door. Scarlet nodded.
"That place is awesome!" Jay threw his arms up in the air.
"Dude, how could you not like telling people about being rich?" Kai asked.
She sighed. "You'd be amazed how quickly people change their view of you when they find out that you're wealthy." She looked over to Lloyd and grabbed his hand. "But you don't care, right?"
He shook his head. "Of course not, I loved you before I even knew."
"Alright…" Scarlet said. "Let's go."
Sensei Wu would stay behind on the ship while the ninja and Nya would go. The group seven climbed down from The Bounty and approached the two large front doors. Lloyd squeezed his girlfriend's hand nervously; sure she liked him, but what about her family? He remembered the day her mother called him "a disgusting boy from that boarding school". But still, he was good now, he had changed. Who was he kidding? That wouldn't change a thing, he had unleashed the Serpentine onto Ninjago, as soon as Scarlet's parents found that out *snap* and he's gone. He squeezed her hand tighter. "Calm down, Lloyd, nothing's gonna' go wrong, just watch out for my dad."
He gulped. "W-why?"
"I'm not sure he's gonna' like my sudden age change."
"Oh God help me…" he whispered under his breath.
Scarlet reached forward to ring the doorbell which was a short piece of music by Beethoven. A few minutes later, a teenage boy, a little older than Scarlet answered, for a rich kid he dressed really casually. He wore a brown hoodie, blue jeans and clean white sneakers. His hair was caramel colored just like hers but it was shaggy and fell over his right eye, which was blue. When he saw Scarlet, he smiled. "Hey, Scarlet what's up?"
Her eyes widened. "How'd you know it was me so quickly?"
"We got a letter from that falcon and it sort of explained everything, I'm not really shocked."
Lloyd seemed to relax and reached out to shake the boy's hand. "Hey, I'm Lloyd Garmadon."
"I'm Tony Maxx, Scarlet's older brother…At least I used to be her older brother." He eyed his sister up and down. "Who would've thought I'd be the guy with the hot little sister?"
"Tony!" Scarlet laughed, punching him playfully in the arm.
Tony's eyes fell upon Scarlet and Lloyd's joined hands. "Wait a minute…Lloyd Garmadon? Oh…You're that Lloyd. The same kid who used to hang around back when we lived in that village." Lloyd gulped nervously. "So that tomorrow's tea shit really fucked you two up, huh?"
"Tony said a bad word! Two bad words!" a little girl around seven or eight ran into the doorway. She looked around at each of the ninja and smiled. "Scarlet!" she jumped into the wind master's arms.
"Okay, is it that easy to recognize me?" she smiled, letting go of Lloyd's hand and kissing the little girl on her forehead.
"You got really, really big, sissy!" she squealed.
The little girl had two short platinum blonde pigtails, blue eyes and freckles that spread themselves across the bridge of her nose. She had on a red and orange floral sundress and when she saw Kai, she jumped down from her sister's grip. "Hi! My name's June Maxx, I'm Scarlet's little sister! You're cute, can I play with your pointy hair?" she then chomped on Kai's hand before running back into the house.
Kai held his own hand in pain. "What'd she bite me for?"
Scarlet smiled. "It means she has a crush on you." She then turned to Tony. "So, who else is home?"
"Mom and dad are at work, so that means they won't be home until after midnight. But, Haden and you-know-who are here,"
Suddenly a man in his early to middle twenties walked up to the door and pushed Tony out of view of the ninja and samurai. The man had dark brown hair which was cut cleanly, hazel eyes and a muscular build. He had on a cream colored button down dress shirt, black pants and black dress shoes. He eyed Scarlet up and down before smirking. "Hi, little sister in law," his voice was smooth and mature; more mature than any one the ninja's own.
"I'm not your sister, Storm." She hissed. "Now move so I can go see Haden." She tried to push him, but he stood like a rock.
"I don't think I like your tone of voice." He pushed her back and made her land in Lloyd's arms.
Lloyd glared at Storm as he helped Scarlet stand properly. "Hey, what's your problem?" he raised his voice. Everyone got in battle stance, ready to fight the man but all he did was laugh…Laugh! "Oh, is this your little boyfriend?" he pointed to Lloyd. "That's a shame; I always thought you'd end up with that nice Sheen fellow. He was the only good boy from Darkly's."
Lloyd's eyes widened a bit. "What is he talking about? You've never met Sheen."
Scarlet opened her mouth to say something but shut it when a woman around the same age as Storm walked next to him. She examined each ninja and when her eyes landed on Scarlet, she squealed. "Scarlet!"
"Hey, Haden," she hugged back.
Haden had platinum blonde hair like June and blue eyes, but like Tony, she had no freckles. She had on a light pink sundress and pink platform heels. "Who are they?" Haden pointed to the other ninja.
"Oh…" Scarlet pulled away from the hug. "That's my, uh, well…Boyfriend, Lloyd," she pointed to the green ninja who was blushing at the word boyfriend aloud. "That's Kai, Jay, Kai's sister, Nya, Zane and Cole. They're all the ninja that I work on the same team with, well actually, Nya's the Samurai X."
Tony suddenly burst through the open window beside the front door and looked at Nya with wide eyes. "No way, you're thee Samurai X, The guy with the suit and everything?" Nya nodded, smiling. "Oh, crap! Dude, I mean, girl, you have no idea how awesome this is to meet you!" he shook Nya's hand super-fast. "Oh, man. This is so cool! I just touched Samurai X's hand! Geez, this has made my freaking day!" he jumped up and down like a teenage girl who had just met Justin Beiber. "Wait a minute…You're a girl…" he realized. Nya nodded again. "Even more awesome, you're hot and you're the samurai! Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man! I love this day so much!" his smile was nervous yet excited. "Dude, you, like have to let me take you to the prom! My parents would lend me some cash so I can buy you a dress! Any dress you want! Just let me take you to prom!"
Nya giggled and smiled. "I'd love to, but sorry, I already have a boyfriend." She gestured to Jay who had his arms folded.
Tony still smiled. "That's cool, but just let me say this." He ran over to the blue ninja. "You are so lucky to be dating the samurai, man!"
Jay chuckled. "I know."
"Oh, man, Nya, you wanna' come up to room? I have a few of my friends over and they're huge fans just like me!" Nya looked to Jay and so did Tony. "Please? You can come too, man. My friend, Whitney says you're her favorite ninja ever since you and the others destroyed The Devourer!" he looked at Kai and Cole. "The two of you can tag along too, especially you, Kai, my little sister likes you." He looked at Zane. "My friend, Mike says he thought when you made that ice escape during the fight with The Devourer it was super awesome! C'mon, they're all up in my room, come in! Come in!"
He pushed Storm aside so the four ninja and Nya could follow him inside. Haden looked to her sister, smiling. "What's wrong with you, Scarlet? Come inside! You too, Lloyd." She ushered the two inside the house and closed the doors behind them. "So, Scarlet now that you're older, and you're my sister…" Haden smiled even wider. "This might be a little short notice sense my weddings three days away, but…Would you be my maid of honor?"
Scarlet squeezed Lloyd's hand as she looked at Storm in the corner of her eye. "Really?" Haden nodded rapidly, waiting for an answer. "Uh…Yeah…"
"Yay!" Haden wrapped her arms around Scarlet and pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm going out tomorrow with my friends to look for my wedding dress, and then we'll have my bachelorette party you're coming."
Storm patted Lloyd on the back. "Tell you what, kid. You can be one of my groomsmen and you can come to my bachelor party too."
Lloyd looked up, cocking an eyebrow. "Just because you're marrying my girlfriend's sister doesn't mean we have to get along."
"Oh it does, especially if you want to get in good with Scarlet's parents."
"Is that some sort of threat?" Lloyd glared at the older man.
"It is, if you value your relationship it is. We wouldn't want old Sheen coming back into the picture, especially sense he's older now."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Ask Scarlet," he said, walking off.
Lloyd stared as the man walked off, curious and slightly frightened. "What does he mean, damn it?" he thought. Suddenly Scarlet hugged him, tearing him from his thoughts. "Do you wanna' see my old bedroom?" she smiled.
"Uh…Sure…" he answered distantly.
"You okay, Lloyd?"
"Sure…"
She shrugged it off and led him away so they could go to wait for her parents to come home.