Ch 23
Before they knew it, the day of the Ninja Ball race was upon the group as they prepared their modes of transportation for the big day. From what the team could see, the racers looked quite unthreatening so far, so it could mean a better chance for the ninja to win the prize and save the dojo.
Alex was currently saddling the dragon, preparing a saddle behind for Lloyd. As exciting as the idea of racing was, the green ninja still wondered over what dangers would be on the course. Surely nothing she couldn't handle, right?
"You look nervous, Alex. You ok?" She looked down to see Cole looking up at her questioningly. She smiled at her boyfriend, "Ha not really. Mostly for you guys and the little hitchhiker over here," she gestured to Lloyd, who had just climbed into his seat, excitement in his eyes.
As Cole walked away to prep with the others, Alex turned back to Lloyd. "You sure you're up for this, because you could always sit this round out. I'd hate for you to get hurt, little brother."
Lloyd shook her away. "No way am I going to miss out on this awesome opportunity! Trust me, I'll be fine." The green ninja smiled at the boy's enthusiasm; what she would have given to have had that innocence and wonder.
Looking past that, Alex scanned the competitors. There was the postman on the bicycle, who knows how he would win this, and a school bus full of the Darkly boys, looking as shady as ever. If she had to, Alex could use another cootie threat to halt the mischievous boys in their tracks.
Also driving up was a car made to look like a pirate ship, with some familiar pirate morons, as well as... a truck carrying a barbershop quartet? Alex walked away from her dragon for a second to look at the one member who looked disturbingly familiar.
"That's my dad," Cole said as he walked over to his girlfriend, "I told you about him. He's a performing artist."
"That's your dad?" Alex was surprised, "He looks jubilant for his age."
The black ninja laughed, "Yep. Nothing can stop him from what he likes." Cole smiled and waved to his father, the latter returning the gestures while giving a questioning gaze towards the couple. The ninja of earth chuckled as he held his lover's hand to confirm his dad's question.
"Maybe after the race, I can introduce you to him," Cole stated to Alex. She smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek, "Sounds great. I'd love to meet him."
The moment was interrupted by a familiar junky looking car pulling up next to the truck. The green ninja could only assume that these people were Jay's parents, as the blue ninja let out a groan.
"Jay! Jay!" the lightning ninja's mother yelled over the crowd, waving to her son.
Jay moaned louder in annoyance as he turned back to the team. "Is there anyone we don't have to compete against!?"
It seemed he spoke too soon as a purple vortex appeared from out of the blue, letting out a skeletal vehicle driven by a gang of skeleton men.
"You had to jinx it," Alex pointed out as the group sighed.
The team's attention was diverted to the screen shortly as the MC explained the course to the competitors. Once the announcement came to a conclusion, Alex wished her friends good luck and headed back to the dragon, where an eager Lloyd was waiting for takeoff.
Lowering herself into the saddle, Alex took a deep breath as she clutched the reigns. Her friends were counting on her to help win the prize money so they could complete her training; she couldn't fail now.
As the first light appeared, the green ninja let her emotions go and focused on the task ahead. She left behind her fears, her anger, and the weight of her inevitable destiny as the light turned to green. Once it was time, she quickly flicked the reigns, and in no time, the dragon was off, carrying Alex and Lloyd on their way to victory.
Though steadying the beast was hard work, its flight was still on course, and with a sigh of relief, Alex calmed her firm grip on the ropes.
Looking down, Lloyd made the occasional remark at the drivers below. "Jeez, these guys are such cheaters. They're using every trick in the book!" There was a period of silence before Lloyd yelled out, "The ninja aren't here!"
His sudden outburst startled Alex as accidentally pulled the reigns out of impulse, sending the dragon in the wrong direction. "No no no! Not that way!" she quickly tried to pull the reigns back, but the damage was done as the creature was going the wrong way.
Sighing in exasperation, she turned to Lloyd. "Don't startle me like that, kid. What if I crashed the dragon because of that? You could have been killed!"
Lloyd looked down in guilt. "I'm sorry Alex. I didn't think I was going to cause us to go off course. I just wanted to tell you that I didn't see the team."
Alex sighed inwardly at herself. What good would come out of arguing now? "It's ok Lloyd. I know you didn't know what you were doing. I'm sorry for blaming you."
Lloyd looked up, looking a little bit more cheerful. "It's ok. Siblings always have fights, right?"
Alex almost teared up again. "Yep, that's what we do best."
The green ninja quickly pushed aside that issue and looked at the new problem. The ninja were possibly out of this race, which would mean that they would not win the prize money. She had gone off course by accident, but would that mean she was out? Or could she come back?
Taking the chance, Alex grabbed the reigns and steered the dragon back to the track. Lloyd looked confused, "But I thought we were out."
Alex shook her head, "Not now we aren't. Time to play by Ninja Ball rules: no rules at all."
It seemed they had come in the nick of time, as the two spotted their friends (who were luckily still in the race) trapped in the canyon by Garmadon, who was ready to fire one of the Bounty's cannons.
"Does it always have to be my dad?" Lloyd sighed. Alex gave him a pat on the back, "Don't worry, I won't hurt him. We're just going to give him and the Serpentine a little surprise."
Aiming the dragon at a low angle, the green ninja zeroed in on the dark lord's ship. "Surprise mo fo!" she yelled as she rammed the back of the ship, sending the trajectory of the cannon close to the Ultra Sonic Raider, but missing it by a hair.
The two currently on the dragon cheered as they passed Garmadon's ship and steadied the beast above their friends. "Nice work you guys," Kai shouted up at the two as the two modes of transport sped along the course. Alex smiled triumphantly as she navigated the dragon closer to the ninja. "What do you say we work together on this?" she yelled at the boys. The group nodded their heads in unison as they cheered their usual catchphrase and sped onwards and forwards.
Heading into the snow, the two groups had to navigate steadily to avoid the dangerous obstacles. Luckily with the dragon, they could scout out a safer route, and before they all knew it, they were on their way to the lead.
However, the ones on the dragon forgot about the other racers and their cheating devices. Which is why when Alex felt a drag on the Ultra Dragon's flight, she looked down to find a grappling hook wrapped around its leg. Preparing for a rapid impact, Alex quickly grabbed Lloyd and used her Spinjitzu tornado to cushion part of the fall, landing them a few feet from the dragon.
As Alex made her way out of the snow drift, she turned to her companion. "Are you ok?"
Lloyd shakily stood up and moved his muscles around. "No damage, thanks to you."
The green ninja slightly smiled. "Well your safety is of my top concern right now, kid, so let's get this hook off of our friend here."
The two made their way across the chilly snow to the dragon, where they proceeded to remove the device from its ankle.
"So does this mean we're out?" Alex pondered Lloyd's question for a moment. "Afraid it does, but that doesn't mean we can't at least help our friends out. We still have Garmadon to worry about."
Lloyd nodded as they fully removed the grapple from the dragon, which proceeded to stretch out its body. Once it had, it looked to Alex for instructions.
The green ninja patted the dragon as she helped Lloyd back onto it. Once she had set herself in the saddle, Alex quickly whipped the reigns and took off in the direction of Ninjago City.
"Will we make it in time?" Lloyd asked as the group flew over the forest.
"I hope so, weather permitting," Alex replied.
Despite some obstacles in their way, the dragon managed to swiftly head towards the city, where in the distance, Alex could see some high tensions out in the badlands.
"Looks like it's just the ninja and Garmadon in this race," she stated as they landed on a nearby building, "Come on guys."
"You can do it!" Lloyd cried out.
The green ninja laughed at the boy's enthusiasm, and cheered with him. "GO NINJA GO!"
Despite some tense moments, including a moment where the ninja had to cross an abyss set up by Garmadon, the two competitors were headed for the finish line. Excited, Alex and Lloyd headed back onto the dragon to get a view of the finish.
From their view, the race had definitely ended in a photo finish, but by a slight miracle, the ninja had managed to win.
"All right!" Lloyd yelled as he and Alex tightly hugged each other in happiness.
After that exciting moment, the green ninja noticed Garmadon coming down from the ship. Seeing this as a possible opportunity, she looked to Lloyd and led the dragon down softly onto the Bounty.
Garmadon was enraged, "That wasn't even a part of their vehicle! My ship...!"
"Your ship?" Lloyd questioned, causing the crowd to look up at the two and the dragon. "I believe this belongs to us."
"And if you don't like it," Alex added, "Please take it up with the complaint department of me, myself and dragon. We currently don't give a crap."
It seemed like a good ending for the ninja, but when Garmadon managed to avoid capture by tagging along with the Serpentine, speeding off until tomorrow, when he would most likely return.
But for now, the team was in complete joy over the win, especially an excited Dareth, who cannon balled into the trophy full of money.
"You realize what this means, right?" Jay was clearly in a state of pure happiness, "We have the Bounty back!"
All the more reason for celebration over the win, as everyone exchanged hugs and high fives.
"You did great out there today, kid," Alex rubbed Lloyd on the head, "Think I'll have you be my permanent copilot."
Lloyd's eyes shined, "Really?! That'll be soo AWESOME!" The young boy whooped loudly.
Alex laughed at her little brother's joy, until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she looked to see none other than Cole. Smiling she trapped her boyfriend in a tight hug.
"I'm glad you're ok," he responded once the two had pulled away.
"You were worried? If anything I should be more freaked out about you guys! You had way more death defying experiences!"
Cole laughed at his girlfriend's remark, and slowly brought her in for a long and sweet kiss.
Well that was fun to finally catch up on!
Thank you all so much for your comments and feedback. You reading this make me feel really happy and accomplished as a new writer.
To Yuna53421: Thank you for reading the story and pointing that out. I looked back on Ch 10 to look for what you said. When I rewatched that specific episode, I did see Lloyd bring the weapons, but they happened to be in black cases. But I do understand that I should have specified. Sometimes I think I rush too much :P
So check out Yuna's stories, ImaginationOverdrive's stories, as well as the many new writers of this community's stories. I will do so myself, and I look forward to it
Until next time!
