Ch 22
After a hectic and confusing day full of cake, clones, and cooties, the group had been relieved to get back to their own lives training Alex for her destiny. Nya had been notified about the clone that had kissed her, and had sealed an apology with Jay with a kiss; one that the blue ninja was all too happy to receive. At the same time, it was now well known amongst the team that Alex and Cole was a couple, and among the bets and laughs about shipping names, the group had fully accepted this news, taking a huge weight off of the two. At least now their love did not have to be secretive, since most of their time was spent in the dark or away from the others.
With a new day dawning, Alex was currently at work with her strength, carrying Sensei Wu and the four ninja while balancing with one hand.
"Focus," her teacher spoke, "In order to bear the fate of Ninjago on your shoulders, you must first learn to bear the weight of all of us."
"Easier... said... then done," the green ninja huffed as she focused on holding up her friends.
"Uh Sensei? I'm starting to think this wasn't such a good idea," Jay pointed out as he began to wobble.
"Yea," Cole added, "I mean I know she can take some things, but can she really take our weight right now?"
"In order for Alex to succeed, we must all trust one another," Sensei stated wisely as the tower of ninja tried to balance out.
However, as Alex managed to add more strength to her balance, a crash sounded from the window as a heavy object knocked the tower over, sending the ninja flying to the floor.
"Ugh, what was that?" Cole groaned as he quickly got up to help his girlfriend to her feet.
"A wrecking ball?" Alex looked to the heavy sphere that had blown a hole in the dojo. (no, no one in this story is going to ride it or lick it)
The construction workers' expressions mirrored the ninjas as they turned to hear the swishing of beads.
"Whoa whoa whoa!" Dareth ran out, "This wasn't supposed to happen until tomorrow!"
"Tomorrow?" one of the workers looked at a form, "Oh yea, my bad. Sorry about that; we'll be back tomorrow morning." On that note, the workers pulled out with their equipment.
Dareth looked down as he picked up one of his trophies, looking dejected and very upset.
"Dareth, what is this all about?" Cole stepped in to ask what was on everyone's mind.
"Well I fell behind on some payments, and some developer named Darnagom Enterprise is buying up the whole block to put in some stupid Frisbee-golf course," the brown ninja explained, "They say if I don't come up with $50,000 by tomorrow, the dojo's gone."
"What? This can't happen," Jay interjected, "We already lost the Bounty, we can't lose the dojo too."
As Dareth cried over his fake trophies, Zane put up an interesting point. "Darnagom? When you rearrange the letters, it spells..."
"O Grandma?" Jay asked.
"Rad mango?" Alex guessed.
"No," Kai stated, "Garmadon."
Jay and Alex looked to each other rubbing their heads. "Yea... that was my next guess," the green ninja added.
"My dad is behind this?" Lloyd walked over from the other room, looking confused.
"If he destroys the dojo, where will we train Alex?" Cole looked to Sensei Wu.
"Any chance you have $50,000 in your teapot?" Dareth was clearly desperate.
Sensei smiled, "Worry not Dareth. You are not in this alone. We're all with you."
"Did someone say $50,000?" The group turned to see a smiling Nya from the doorway.
Jay looked startled, "How? You didn't happen to win the lottery?"
"No," Nya replied, "But I've heard about Ninja Ball Run."
The group looked to the girl in confusion.
"It's the biggest road racing tournament in Ninjago, with a prize of 100 thousand big ones. And it's tomorrow."
Dareth stepped up. "I thank you little lady fighter, but you're talking about the most dangerous race known to man. Only the most serious of racers can stand a chance."
"Pshh please!" Alex interjected, "There's no way this world has anything dangerous compared to my home."
"Plus, didn't you add some upgrades to the Ultrasonic Raider?" Kai asked his sister, who nodded in reply. "Maybe we might stand a chance."
"Then I'm going to enter with my dragon!" Alex jumped in.
"I'm going too!" Lloyd chimed in.
Before anyone could argue, the green ninja stated, "He can come with me, and no one is going to stop him. He'll probably do something worse if he's refused."
Sensei Wu hesitated, but gave his consent. "As long as you obey what Alex tells you."
Lloyd nodded eagerly. "This is going to be awesome!"
"So it is agreed," Sensei addressed the group, "You will all enter this Ninja Ball Run to save the dojo."
Nya walked over to a sobbing Dareth. "Are you still crying?"
The brown ninja looked up with tears in his eyes. "Yes, but these are happy tears."
For the rest of the day, the team was busy prepping for the big race tomorrow. While Nya and the ninja worked on updating some parts of the Ultrasonic Raider, Alex was practicing with her dragon, with a little help from Lloyd.
The two had set up an obstacle course out in the badlands of Ninjago, where they would not freak out any civilians. They had quickly set up some basic hoops, but the many rock formations out to the far side of the area would also be a great means of preparation.
Lloyd stood at their starting point, timer in hand. "Ready? Set? GO!"
Alex whipped the reigns upward as the Ultra Dragon took off into the air. As the flight began, Alex started focusing on her goal. You can do this, she thought, for the dojo!
One by one, the green ninja and her dragon passed through each of the hoops with ease. The real challenge, however, was with the rocks. There were a few narrow misses, but luckily, Alex managed to glide the dragon through them successfully.
When she returned to her starting point, Lloyd ran over to greet her. "Awesome job! All of that in under 5 minutes!" Alex smiled at the boy's enthusiasm, "Just wait until you're going to be riding with me tomorrow. You'll be able to experience some of that action."
Lloyd laughed, "So is it my turn?"
Alex shook her head. "No way am I going to let you out of my sight, young man. Sensei will kill both of us, and don't get me started on your father."
The mention of his father seemed to bring the kid down.
Alex immediately regretted what she said. "Lloyd, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so dumb. I know it must be hard to know what will be happening."
Lloyd looked up, "I know that it's not your fault that this happened, and my dad does deserve punishment for hurting so many people, but is it wrong to hope for another way?"
Alex sighed; why did prophecies have to be so foreboding? "Believe me, I wish there was another way, but we don't know what will happen during the final battle. It may seem bad to get your hopes up, but I feel as though I could never put you through that pain of losing family. And in that case, I do understand."
Lloyd sniffled and smiled. "Thanks Alex. I'm glad you're here with us. You're a great friend." He quickly hugged his friend, who gladly returned the loving embrace.
"Since you don't have family, do you want to be part of mine? You can be like my sister." The comment nearly made Alex cry; the fact that the young boy whose father she would have to defeat was asking for her to be his sister was almost too much. He cared so much for her to the point where knowing she had no family seemed unfair. Alex had never felt so happy and so relieved that despite destiny, she would always be Lloyd's sister.
"You don't even have to ask, kid. You and the others shall always be a part of my family."
Yea so this came up later, partly due to a lot of hw and banquets, but also for another reason; one that most writers on here know about, but that I will not mention for the sake of peace in this community
I just hope you all keep in mind that some people do like to enjoy reading fanfictions, so I hope the certain issues are dealt with, and this community can go back to a peaceful atmosphere; for the reader's sake
This comment will probably be deleted soon, but just so I hope you guys are watching, I will leave it up for now
Until next time
