Just when we thought Ronin was finally sober, he had gotten into a stash of alcohol that was found in Misako's room. You know, I'd ask why there was alcohol in Mrs. Garmadon's room in the first place, but that's none of my business. She does a ton of weird crap anyway. I wouldn't even be surprised if she was caught smoking weed. It even makes me wonder how Lloyd can stand some of his mother's antics. I suppose I haven't seen all the weird stuff that she does yet though.
Seeing that Ronin was going to be drunk for a longer time, we all decided that we would wait until tomorrow to see what he wanted. Sensei Wu volunteered to watch over the drunken man as we all headed to our rooms to sleep. Lilly and I had to share our room with Cass, Sammie, and Nya though, since Sensei was going to keep Ronin in their room. Most likely because it was closest to the bathroom.
"Hopefully he doesn't touch anything in there. I don't feel like pouring soap and disinfectant all over everything," Sammie sighed as she settled into her sleeping bag on the floor. Nya nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. Does anyone else question why Misako had a stash of sake in her room?" the female master of water questioned us all. Nearly everyone nodded.
"Uh, I know this is off topic, but are you three sure none of you want to take my bed? I can sleep on the floor...then you guys won't be as uncomfortable," Lilly spoke up, looking at the girls. Cass nodded.
"We'll be fine. Besides, I think it's better that you sleep on your bed, considering your wounds," she responded, wiggling into her sleeping bag. Lilly hesitated for a moment, then nodded and laid down. I had to admit, it was quite pleasant having the other girls in here. It actually kinda felt like a slumber party, except we weren't watching cheesy horror movies and eating tons of pizza. Instead, we were just staring at the ceiling and listening to the occasional noises that Ronin made down the hall. We should do this stuff more often.
"Oh mama I'm in fear for my life from the long arm of the laaawww! Law man has put an end to my running and I'm so far from my hooommme!" the drunken man sung louder outside, as if he were actually trying to wake everyone up.
"I like that song, but I don't like it when some drunken doofus is freakin' screaming it down the hallway," Cass commented, trying to cover her ears with her pillow. Nya groaned.
"Couldn't he have slept outside?" she grumbled, sticking her fingers in her ears. Looks like Ronin isn't getting a Grammy for his drunken singing anytime soon.
"How about we try to talk over his singing? Cole and I used to do that when our father would blast his classical music at night," Sammie suggested. I guess that couldn't be too bad.
"What could we talk about though?" Nya questioned. Sammie rubbed her chin.
"Well...I kinda eavesdropped on Sensei the other night and heard something," she mentioned. I instantly perked up.
"What'd you hear?" I asked.
"Well, it was kind of muffled, but Sensei was saying something to Mrs. Garmadon about an 'elemental overload'. It sounded kinda serious," she informed us all.
"What is that?" Cass asked.
"That's what Mrs. Garmadon said. And Sensei said it's some kind of overflow of your powers that can be triggered by certain events or emotions and can even possibly take over your mental state or state of mind. From what it sounds like, the events that can trigger it could be death of a loved one, betrayal, traumatic experience, or really, just pure rage. Anything that can ignite a strong feeling of anger or sadness. Maybe even fear," the master of light explained. I was surprised, as well as everyone else in the room. An elemental overload? And it's triggered by events and emotions like that? How come it didn't happen to me when Luo died? I didn't feel any kind of overflow. I only felt emptiness and I was frozen. Maybe Sensei was lying to Misako. Or maybe my overload was just remaining frozen and empty for a week.
"What exactly does the overload do power-wise?" Lilly questioned. Sammie was silent for a moment, then sat up.
"What I think I heard Sensei say is that your powers kind of control your body and the kind of impact your powers can make. For example, if Jay has an overload, he become a living Beacon of Maracaibo. He could even possibly electrocute things standing within several feet of him. I could possibly become a human flashlight. Hunter or Cass could become human tornadoes (if spinjitzu doesn't do that already), and Kai could even become a human torch," she explained.
"That's hot," I thought I heard Lilly comment, to which Nya snorted. I was still amazed by the details of this phenomenon though. Could I become a living representation of darkness then? But I'm anything but dark! It's only my powers that are dark, right!?
"Eh...I don't think this could happen to Lilly though, considering that seems like a genetic power thing. I don't think the shard in your hand can reach the multitude of an overflow unfortunately," Sammie told the blonde, who didn't look surprised.
"Oh well. I don't need an overload to be badass anyway," Lilly smiled, flexing one arm. I heard Nya giggle slightly.
"Well, anyway, that's pretty cool. How it's triggered isn't cool though," she commented, to which we all nodded.
"If only it was triggered at will or when you wanted a granola bar or something," Sammie sighed, wiggling in her sleeping bag. Cass nodded.
"So, anyway, Nya, did you catch that new episode of Soldier Sun earlier?" the master of light asked Nya. She lit up immediately, proceeding to chat about the show with Sammie, excitement evident in her voice. I smiled to myself and turned onto my side, facing the wall now. Well, the overload stuff is pretty nice, but I wonder what it really looks like. Would lightning be wrapped around Jay's whole body? Would Nya become a living water being, her body slightly clear? Or maybe even opaque? Could Cass become a human-sized cyclone? What about Lloyd? What would he become? Can energy even take a physical form?
I listened back into my friends' conversation, since I really had nothing else to think about. I'm afraid my face could become noticeably red if I thought about Lloyd, though, it would be nice to think about him.
"So, how about Jun and Bora getting together? What do you think?" I heard Sammie ask Nya. I heard the female master of water make a disgusted noise.
"Are you serious? I hate that they made them an official couple," she complained, "Aya would have been a much better partner for Bora."
"I don't understand the problem with Jun and Bora though," Sammie frowned.
"Jun's too old for Bora! He's like, eighteen and she's fifteen!" Nya explained, crossing her arms. I froze in place. Wait...those are about the same ages Lloyd and I are! Does that mean...? No, these are fictional characters Nya is talking about! It can't possibly relate to reality, can it?
I always heard stories from my friends in middle school to not date anyone 16+ until I'm their age, for fear of manipulation. Does this apply to my feelings for Lloyd!? But I'd never manipulate him! I'm not that kind of person! He's already been through enough, why would I be the kind of person to do that him!? Would this just be a matter where past generations have ruined this for future generations?
I continued to feel nervous over my feelings for Lloyd. Are my feelings illegal? Am I not supposed to feel this way? Lloyd trusts me, right? Would he think I'd manipulate him if we ever became a couple? Our age difference is about the same as Jay and Nya's. What could be so different!?
Though, I suppose it could be the issue that Lloyd is still mentally a kid. He's still fourteen, despite his physical appearance. He's still seen as a kid by society technically. So, does trust not count anymore? Are my feelings truly illegal? Would I be seen as possibly manipulative or wrong if I expressed my feelings for him?
I clutched onto the skirt of my nightgown, worry and frustration flooding my mind. Why is that when I actually love someone, it all goes wrong? Whether it's a matter of "Oh you can't like them because they aren't the same race" or being brutally rejected, or this. I just can't like or love someone romantically anymore...can I? I'm guessing I'm fated to be alone. Fated to have everything go wrong. I have enough evidence to know it. My family's in poverty, Luo is dead, I was possessed, I rarely ever have good dreams anymore, then this. What's next? What Fenwick said actually happens and I die of losing all my blood? It's likely.
I've always known myself as the one who brought bad luck to those who deserved it, hence my nickname. Though, what it looks like now, it looks like I'm only bringing the bad luck to myself.
Ninjago City, Unknown Building, 2:56 am
Alex typed away on his laptop, yawning and brushing his disheveled orange hair out of his face. He had been hacking and installing the flashdrive's program into one of his inventions for about eight hours now. Though, during this time, he had taken the time to think about something that had been bothering him.
"Marléne, are you awake?" he questioned his colleague, whose head lifted up to acknowledge him.
"I am now. What do you want?" she asked, sounding annoyed.
"Don't you think what we're going to do is...a bit much? I mean...I just want to change the world...I don't.." his voice trailed off as he tried to think of what to say. Marléne raised an eyebrow.
"Alexian, you murdered a man and nearly killed a girl, and now you're questioning our plan!?" she raised her voice, while getting up. Alex sighed.
"Listen, I just want to go a different route! It's not going to be good on my record if I'm known for killing people! Maybe we should tone it down!" he defended himself. Marléne stomped over and abruptly picked him up by the shirt collar, making him drop the laptop.
"Do you realize how stupid you're sounding here!? How do you think the leader of Astor City got into power? He killed people! Even the creator of this godforsaken country killed people! You can't go soft now! Don't be like your dumbass mom!" the woman shouted. Alex felt a spark of rage ignite inside him.
"My mother wasn't dumb you imbecile! She was a decent human being!" Alex shouted back. Marléne narrowed her eyes.
"How did you expect Sebastian to promote you to his rank with this attitude?" she grumbled. Alex narrowed his eyes.
"Well, if you put me down, I'll show you," he said. Marléne immediately dropped him, allowing him to stand. He then posed dramatically, making Marléne raise an eyebrow. Alex's hands then turned into fists, then he flashed two prominent middle fingers in her direction, causing her to look offended. He then proceeded to break out into a dance, still flashing middle fingers whenever he could, and even waved them in front of his face. Marléne was both appalled and offended by this behavior. She then facepalmed.
"I can't believe I'm working with this child," she mumbled as Alex stopped dancing. He smiled triumphantly.
"I call that 'Making My Point', I hope you enjoyed it. Maybe it even made you smarter," he laughed as he picked up his laptop. Marléne sighed like a mother who had just survived a Walmart trip with her twelve children.
"Eh...at least my voice isn't the exact same as a boy band singer's," she yawned, brushing her hair out of her face. Alex scoffed.
"What's that supposed to mean!?" he shouted, glaring at her. Marléne grinned.
"Don't you remember? I said your voice sounded exactly like that singer Ashikubi's*," she reminded him. Alex glared at her and then crossed his arms.
"Well, at least that means I can sing...Heh, maybe I can serenade-" he began to say, but Marléne cut him off, "Yeah, but nearly everyone hates you so no one really cares."
The master of psion opened his mouth to protest, but then closed it and turned back to his laptop.
"Just go to sleep, Marléne."
*Pssst, Ashikubi is an actual singer (He's a damn good utaite like holy mama) He usually does covers of Vocaloid songs.