Sorry folks, but I've lost all inspiration with this fic. If you want, PM me to adopted and I'll tell you the basic secrets of the fic. For now: here's a rough (and I mean rough) draft of "The Royal Blacksmiths". I know it's a little redundant, but I wanted to add one more dimension to Aniki's character and partially satisfy a review to make this a Cole/OC pairing.
Pythor and the Serpentine travel to an ancient temple in search of the second fang-blade. Once deep into the temple, Pythor halted to a stop, Skales, the second in command general, bumping into him, confused. The purple snake took his staff, lifted it in the air, and hit the bottom of it onto the ground. The flooring in front of them collapsed about twelve feet into the room.
"Get the boy!" Pythor ordered.
"Bring the boy!" Skales repeated to the others.
The two guards that were watching over Lloyd, brought him to Pythor then released him from his chains.
"You're letting me go?" Lloyd asked happily but confused.
"Just to fetch my dear boy," the snake replied as he "gently" pushed Lloyd forward, "Do step lightly!"
Lloyd stepped along some flooring that hasn't collapsed. When he reached a gap between the flooring, he tenderly jumped, but his landing caused the flooring to break again. Luckily, the lad was able to grab ahold of the floor before he fell. He lifted himself up and looked back to the Serpentine.
"Bring me the fang-blade, and I'll let you go," Pythor told him.
Lloyd walked and some more flooring started to collapse. He ran and the flooring continued to collapse from behind him. He leapt and landed on safe, solid ground. The ceiling, covered in spikes, began closing down on him. He quickly crawled until the ceiling stops barely an inch above him. He quickly crawled out from under the spikes and stood up. He walked only a couple of feet before accidentally stepping onto a button, causing arrows to shoot from the walls! Lloyd quickly ran across the room without a scratch, unbelievably. He then leaned onto a stick, but then the stick fell causing the ceiling to collapse. He ran until the rocks pushed him into the room where the fang blade is supposed to be. He walked up the steps and looks at the platform where a light glowed onto the center of it. There was an impression of the fang-blade but it wasn't there.
"It's gone!" Lloyd yelled from in the room, a moment later he called out, "Do I still get to be free?!"
"No!" the boy heard Pythor yell back angrily, making him grunt.
Meanwhile, Nya and the five ninjas were in the Bounty thinking the same exact thing. They're all grouped around a holographic image of a fang blade, thinking.
"Though the Serpentine have the first fang-blade, there are still four more and we only need one to stop Pythor," Nya reported.
Aniki then interjected, "I've called all the museums, pawn shops, and any other place that deals with antiques and old stuff from the ground. They all know to alert us the moment they find a fang-blade. But I wouldn't hold my breath that they'll be much help."
"That's not our only problem. They have a map and we don't, so, the question remains: how are we gonna find 'em first?" Nya asked, with her arms folded.
Jay replied, "I still can't get over the fact that you were the mysterious Samurai!"
He chuckled then sighed excitedly, "Is anyone else blown away like I am?"
"We're over that!" Aniki yelled at him, still the only ninja who didn't care about Nya's "new hobby".
"Yeah, can we move on?" Kai angrily agreed, wanting to drop the subject.
"Whoop boop-boop whoo! Two someone's a little hot under the collar!" Jay smirked with his eyes closed.
"It appears their impatience is because they have not found inner peace and unlocked their true potentials like you and I have, Jay," Zane observed.
The orange and red ninjas glared at him in irritation.
"Great observation, Mr. Roboto!" Aniki sarcastically spat then responded, "But I'm actually a little more concerned that we lost to a bunch of pea-brained reptiles who, may I remind you, still have Lloyd as a hostage!"
"And you can't pull that 'not found full potential' thing on us," Kai added, "Cole hasn't found it, either!"
Cole, who was lost in thought, suddenly shouted, "I've got it!"
"You've unlocked it?" the orange ninja yelled in confusion, "How!?"
"Oh, why am I the only one?" Kai yelled.
"Again, what am I, chopped liver?!" Aniki glared at him.
"No, I remembered where I recognize the fang blade from," Cole explained as he ran out of the control center, "I have a picture of it!"
"Oh, is that it? Heh…" Kai said sheepishly.
"I got it!" Cole came back with a photo album and places it on the table in the center of the room, opening it up to reveal the picture of the fang-blade put together with other artifacts as a trophy.
Jay grabbed the album and looked at the photo, gasping, "Ooh! That's it!"
"Back where I grew up, there was this pretty big competition where, every year, the winner won the Blade Cup," Cole narrated, "My dad's won multiple times."
"You never told us your dad was an accomplished athlete. What sport?" Zane asked.
"Oh. Uh, he's a… blacksmith…" Cole replied softly, his smile turning into a small frown.
Kai smiled, "Nothing wrong with that. My father was a blacksmith, too, but I don't remember there being a competition…"
"That's because he's not a 'blacksmith' blacksmith. He's a… Royal Blacksmith…" Cole turned the page of the album, showing a picture of Cole's father, smiling while holding the Blade Cup.
The other boys and tomboy snickered.
"That's your dad?" Jay smirked.
"Oh, I've just lost so much respect for you," Aniki laughed.
"But how did the fang-blade become a trophy?" Kai wondered, now focused on the mission.
"Well, supposedly, the Blade Cup was made by some guy that collected rare and priceless artifacts. His name was something like…. Scones? … No, Jones! Indiana Jones!" Cole explained, "Anyways, it gets passed on to each year's winner."
"Who has it now?" Zane inquired.
"I don't know. I haven't seen my father in years," Cole frowned, his head slumping down.
"Well then, we'll call him up!" Kai picked up the phone.
"You can't! He thinks I'm in Ninjago City training at the Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts," the black ninja confessed.
He sighed and walked over to the steering wheel, turning it a bit.
"He wanted me to follow in his footsteps. But when I couldn't sing or dance, I… I ran away," Cole turned to face his friends, "When he sees that I can't sing or dance, he'll know I've been lying in all of the letters I've been sending him."
"He doesn't know you're a ninja?" Zane asked, quite shocked.
"What, you gonna crack some joke that my old man wears a tutu?" Cole snapped.
"No, but if we're gonna have any chance of getting the fang blade before they do, "Kai replied, placing a hand on Cole's shoulder, "We better get our own act in tune!"
"Besides, he's your father," Aniki added, "Your real father. He's gonna love ya no matter what. And if he doesn't, then he doesn't deserve to be your old man."
"Yeah, uhh… Aniki, about the 'love' part… eh-he… there's something you should know," Cole nervously started to admit, rubbing the back of his neck.
"What, another lie?"
"No, it's just that… well…" Cole slowly walked backwards towards the doorway, "When we first met, I wrote a letter about meeting a new friend. I tried to clarify that you were a friend and a girl but… somehow… my dad got the impression… that … you're my girlfriend."
Aniki stared at the earth ninja in shock, her pale skin turning red, then her expression changed into one of anger, Cole's cue to run away.
"YOU ARE SO DEAD!" she yelled as she ran after him, the other ninjas laughing as the chase ensued.
The next morning, the ninja arrived at Cole's home town. Well, technically over it. The Bounty halted to a stop right above the suburb and the ninjas, now wearing regular street clothes, took out their golden weapons. They jumped off of the ship and rode their elemental vehicles to the ground. Once they landed, they turned their vehicles back into their weapons.
Cole, wearing a black hoodie and dark grey pants, opened a long case in which the weapons were to be held in, "Alright, hand 'em over! You too, Aniki, I don't care if they look like bracelets."
"Yes, dear," Aniki, wearing an orange long-sleeve t-shirt with brown zebra stripes and brown jeans, hissed through her teeth, still upset over the "typo" revelation.
"Uh-uh, but no mortal shall possess all five!" Jay, in a blue shirt with long white sleeves and lite blue jeans, teased as he placed his golden nun-chucks into the case along with the others.
"Very funny," Cole glared sarcastically.
"Wanna remind me why we can't keep our weapons?" Kai asked, wearing a red hoodie with a flaming logo and brownish black jeans.
"I told you! My dad can't find out I'm a ninja. And I don't feel like making up excuses why I'm carrying a giant scythe around with me," Cole explained as he and the others walked to the door of his father's house, "Just remember the plan. We find out who has the fang-blade trophy, snatch it, and then get the heck out of town! And yes Aniki, I will clear up the 'we're not dating' thing."
"You'd better," was the female's response.
Cole turned to the front door and knocked.
"Just a moment!" the ninja heard his father say from behind the door.
Cole's father opened the door and had a bit of a shocked expression when he saw Cole at the front door.
"H-hey, dad! How long has it been?" Cole asked with a cheery smile on his face.
"What? You too good for the doorbell?" his father rebuked and slammed the door shut.
Cole stood there, a bit hesitant.
"Use the bell, son," His father told him from behind the door.
Cole didn't want to, he really didn't, not in front of his friends, especially Aniki. But, with no other choice, he walked up to the door bell and pressed the button. The bell's sound a quartet singing, "Welcome!" The earth ninja heard Aniki's snickering, but was inwardly relieved she hadn't burst into laughter. His father opened the door, again, and this time smiled.
"Heh-heh! Come on in, son. It's been forever!" His father greeted, pulling his son in for a hug, and then looked up to see the other three boys and Aniki, "What did you bring, your girlfriend and a quartet? Come in, come in! I have a kettle of lemon-honey tea on the stove, right now!"
The boys and tomboy all walked into the house and Cole's father, Lou, closed the door behind them.
Lou started a conversation once the boys were sitting on the couch and Aniki in a spare chair, with a cup of tea in their hands, "Did my son tell you I broke my foot? I was doing the cha-cha, but I swear the percussionist had it in for me!"
"No dad, I didn't tell them any of your silly stories," Cole rolled his eyes.
"Silly stories?" Lou inquired, shocked that his son would think of it as silly.
"Uh, what he meant was that we've been so busy training at the, the, uh…" Kai quickly tried to explain, but forgot the name of the performing arts school.
"Uh, the Martha Oppenheimer, yeah…" Jay tried to help out.
"The Martha Oppenheimer?" Lou asked confusedly with a raised brow.
"What he's trying to say is the Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts," Zane corrected.
"Oh, I see," the dancer smiled, then looked at Cole, "Is that were you and Annie met?"
"First of all, no one, not even my own family, calls me 'Annie,'" the undercover energy mistress interjected, "And secondly, that's not where Cole and I met. We met at…"
"Her uncle's journalism studio for teenagers," Cole interrupted, "She's studying to be a super awesome reporter."
"Really?" Lou asked, intrigued.
"Yeah, um you see she has this special research assignment on the history of Ninjago talent, and, being a sucker for my sweetie, I asked the guys to help," Cole explained, fully aware of the anger radiating from Aniki's stare, "What we really wanted to know is how we can get our hands on the Blade Cup."
Lou took a sip of his tea and replied, "You're talking about getting your hands on the Blade Cup…"
He then pointed to the picture of the trophy with his cane, "The most treasured and heavily guarded artifact in all of Ninjago…"
"In his dreams maybe," Aniki whispered audibly enough for only the ninjas to hear.
"… The symbol of excellence and style and grace. You can't just get it. You must exhibit style, perfect pitch, push the boundaries of performing license, and… win this year's Ninjago Talent show!"
"Perhaps there's an easier way," Zane uneasily suggested, unsure that this is the right way to get the trophy.
"Is this why you came?" Lou asked as he set his cup down, "You knew I was injured, and when my quartet insisted we shan't go on, you five decide to take our place! Ingenious! My son, bringing forth the next evolution of the Royal Blacksmiths! Starring, a positively beautiful leading lady."
The male ninja looked at each other worried; this visit wasn't turning out like they'd hoped. Aniki just stared directly at Cole with an angry version of her "we're in trouble now" look.
"Let me hear the sound of sweet, sweet harmony," Lou leaned forward a bit to hear them, a hand cupped over his ear.
Defeated, Jay stood up singing, then Zane followed and so did Kai. All were off key. Aniki covered her ears to cancel out the noise while Cole shook his head knowing his friends blew it. Lou winced, shutting his eyes tightly, not happy at all with the sound they've created. He looked at the boys after they stopped singing, then at the one girl.
"I don't do singing or dancing," was her only reply.
"Uh, look, dad. We just need the trophy," Cole was saying as he set his cup down and walked toward his father.
"Yeah! We're bringing home the gold and we want you to train us!" Kai intervened.
"I've never been more proud," Cole's father smiled as he walked over to the door leading into the next room, "If you'll excuse me, I must go right a song about my feelings."
After he left, the ninja were now by themselves, and in need of sorting a few things out.
"What are you doing?!" Cole angrily glared at Kai.
"Coming from the guy who didn't clear up the 'we're not dating' thing like he promised," the orange ninja commented, only to be ignored.
Kai looked at Cole and replied, "Look, we enter this competition to get close enough to the Blade Cup. Once we get the fang-blade, we leave town. How hard can this be?"
"Considering that you all couldn't pass for a rock band to save your own skins, unbelievably hard," Aniki stated, "Besides, we don't need to enter the competition. Now that we know the Blade Cup's up for grabs, we can just talk to the officials, warn them, and switch the real fang-blade for a fake, all without embarrassing ourselves."
"That's never gonna work," Jay dismissed, "I'm with Kai; getting the fang-blade will be easy as pie."
"Actually, there is a 78.725% chance that Aniki's plan would be far more successful," Zane interjected.
"See? Metal-Man gets it," Aniki smiled as she walked over to the boys, "So, after Cole tells his father the truth…"
"Hey!" Kai cut-in, "Just because Zane agrees with you doesn't mean we're going with your plan."
"Yeah," Jay agreed, "It's a two way tie."
"Well, I'm the senior student, I've trained for being a ninja longer; that means I get more say than you guys combined."
"And I'm the leader and I say we go with Kai's plan," Cole stated, "And that's final."
"Yes!" Kai and Jay grinned in unison.
Aniki, was completely shocked, "Are you crazy?!"
Cole sighed deeply, "Can I talk to you alone, for a moment?"
The other three boys took the cue and left, leaving the earth and energy ninjas to themselves.
"Aniki, look, you don't know my dad and you don't understand how this competition works…"
"You mean you don't wanna disappoint your father again and are willing to lie to him for always and eternity to ensure that."
"NO... Okay, maybe a little… Look, we won't go through with the competition; we've just play along 'til opening night, then, when we get close, we grab the trophy and get the heck outta town. And you don't even have to be a part of it."
"We're ninja, Cole! Champions of Good and Defenders of Right! We don't steal from or lie to people unless they're our enemies! If this was the Serpentine we were doing this to, I'd be mostly all in; but it isn't. But hey, I'm not your mother; if you and the guys wanna make fools of yourselves, that's your bees wax, I'll go with my plan."
The ninja girl walked away, adding, "And if you think your father finding out you're not who you said you were would hurt him, just imagine what he'd see in you once you carried out this dumb plan of yours."
People ran away in terror as two Serpentine, one a Hypnobrai and the other a Constrictai, walked through the streets of Ninjago.
The Hypnobrai noticed a flyer for the Ninjago Talent Show hanging on a telephone pole and tore it down, "Hey, look!"
"Ooh, a sssinging competition? I like sssinging!" the other clapped happily.
"No, you idiot, it'sss the Fang-blade!" the Serpentine holding the flyer whacked the oblivious serpent in the back of the head.
"That'sss what Pythor's looking for!" the Constrictai finally noticed.
"We must tell the others!" the Hypnobrai agreed.
The four boys were with Cole's father in the house's dancing studio.
"Now, from the top!" Lou played a couple notes on the piano to get the boys started.
They boys were in order with Cole first, Zane next, Jay after that, and Kai being last. Kai starts and they go all of the way up the row of boys. Aniki was leaning against the wall behind them, telling Lou that she "wanted to see her boy-toy strut his stuff before going to the contest officials for an interview." The guys, however, knew she just stayed to make fun of them.
"Bop 'till ya drop!"
"Shake it 'till ya break!"
"Move it 'till ya lose it!"
"Spin it 'till ya win it!"
"Stop! Stop! If my ears weren't attached to my head they'd be running away!" Lou's father critiqued as he walked over to the boys, "Kai, love the energy, hate the hair. Jay, you're giving a lot, but I need more! Zane! Like a machine, don't change anything. Cole, try to act like you wanna be here! And Aniki, I know you're not entering the competition, but get some sun, you're pale as a ghost."
"Uh," Aniki glared, "I was born this way."
"He's worse than Sensei Wu!" Jay whispered to Kai.
"Okay, moving forward! Let's take a look at the big show-stopping climax!" Lou continued, pointing his wooden cane at Cole, "Cole, we can't have history repeating itself."
"Dad, it was the Triple Tiger Sashay. I was seven!" Cole complained.
"What's the Triple Tiger Sashay?" Kai asked nervously.
"Only the most difficult dance move ever created!" Cole replied.
"It's true. Many of professionals have dare-tried, but none of successfully completed it," Lou agreed.
"Hence, my father thought a seven year old could!" Cole continued, "But I ended up falling on my face, humiliating myself, and letting my quartet down!"
"Huh, ya know, most parents would take that as a sign to get their son into sports," the sole female commented before leaving.
"If you're going to win, you must go big! All right, time for a break, take five," Lou instructed before leaving.
"I'm startin' to see why you're so upset, it's because ya can't deliver the goods!" Jay teased, then became genuinely curious, "Is that why you left?"
"Oh, I can deliver the goods!" Cole spat then at the boys.
They all nodded and went outside to practice without Lou.
Pythor and his second in command, Skales, popped their heads up to the surface from a sewer drain. They watched the ninja practicing outside with their dancing. Skales's eyes widened slightly. He looked at Pythor, making sure he didn't see.
"Looks like we can't the fang-blade, now! The ninja are competing!" Skales exclaimed.
"Hush! We're snakes remember? They'll never see us coming," Pythor looked at the flyer for the show in his hands. He was it was an open audition. He chuckled evilly and shrinked back into the sewer with Skales following after him.
The night of the performance arrived. The ninja were backstage in matching Barber Quartet uniforms. Cole wears his uniform in black, Zane's in white, Kai's in red, and Jay's in blue.
Jay and Kai bumped into each other and Jay yells at him, "Dude, you've got to follow me!"
"Follow you? You're two beats off!" Kai yells.
"Actually, 2.72 off of the beat," Zane corrects.
"Guys, stop! We just have to focus on getting the blade cup," Cole says, "Remember the plan. Once we steal the blade cup, we can forget about all of this!"