Ninjago, a vast continent with a lush variety of interconnected ecosystems. Despite this fact, the true crown jewel of this small world was not its mountains, whose commanding presence drew wandering eyes to their peaks where heaven and earth met. Nor its endless deserts that shimmered like diamonds in the midday sun.
No, the true jewel of Ninjago was the man-made metropolis unsurprisingly named Ninjago City. The city itself, like any other, held the label of home to both businesses and residential homes alike. Something that instantly set Ninjago City apart from any other city though was its massive size. While cities are known for being inherently large Ninjago City made any other in comparison seem no bigger than a small 200 population town.
In addition to the fact that Ninjago City was also built near the center of the continent it came to no surprise to anyone that nearly half of Ninjago's total population migrated to the concrete jungle. Generations worth of farming families and wandering tradesmen swarmed like moths to a flame in hopes that this new shining opportunity would sustain them enough to never need to return to the no man's land that was the rest of Ninjago.
As the way life goes, laws were set in place, and a government was created. Classes began to form as the unsuccessful fell into the city slums and in turn the elite rose into the upper ranks of the new society. The monstrous metal structures of the urban sprawl grew taller and taller, eventually leading into the city's modern day. Its history, still visible in the ups and downs in the skyline, with the rich mainly occupying the pristine and expensive penthouses scattered throughout.
On this night one of these penthouses appeared empty. Its halls dark, and void of the warmth where a family would normally be. Anyone casually passing by or briefly glancing at the unlit windows from the outside would make the simple assumption that this one penthouse was merely vacant of any occupants. Afterall there were only a handful of the city's population that could even consider purchasing such a residency.
To those with a more patient and observing eye though an entirely different story would begin to unfold itself. This penthouse, the ones that held the same promises of a new future, was instead laden with the heavy weight of grief. The windows were not dark because of its lack of residents but dark because of the lack of hope within its walls.
In one of the rooms were items strewn about. Every flat surface seemed completely littered with personal belongings and trash alike. Wadded up papers scattered both on the wooden desk as well as the carpeted floor below. Stray pencils, books, clothes, and various trinkets looked as if they had been thrown about by a hurricane or unsympathetic burglar.
On the far wall of the room was a duo set of ceiling high windows which covered the entirety of that side of the room. Normally the lights from the streetlamps or those of other nearby buildings would illuminate inside of the penthouse. However, due to the switch controlled shades being set to drape the full length of the wall the only source of light in the room was that of a dim phone screen. The soft blue light bounced off of the wall behind the headboard of the queen sized mattress, only accompanied by the muffled notes of music and quiet breathing.
The source of the disturbance? A young teenage girl. Her attire consisting of a pair of plain gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt two sizes too big (the bold trademarked icon of one of the most recently popular indie rock bands plastered onto it) along with a pair of matching yellow ankle socks to boot. The clothing was very casual, although concerningly each of the articles of clothing appeared to be slightly stained with the past weeks worth of activities.
The girl herself seemed to be fairing even worse than her clothing. Her long and wavy dark brown hair tangled and greasy, not appearing to have been brushed or even washed any time recently. Her skin which was usually a shade of golden brown tanned by the sun now appeared more of a sickly pale tone. One might have easily mistaken the girl for a walking skeleton if not for the thin blanket of skin that hugged her body, the joints of her bones appearing more prominent than what most people would view as healthy.
It was clear as day that this young girl was not taking care of herself, the most heartbreaking sight of her entire physique though were her eyes. They were sunken and tired, dark bags seemingly weighing them down. The green orbs which once held the spark of joy, curiosity, and innocence were now dull and glossed over with the fog of fallen tears.
The girl mindlessly scrolled her thumb along the length of the screen of her phone, seemingly unstimulated by anything the addictive device had to offer. She halted her journeyless search though when a buzz moved through her hand and down her arm. The cause of the sudden intrusion was a text message from her mother.
Hello dear, just texting to see how you're enjoying the new penthouse so far! It cost a pretty penny but nothing is too expensive for you my darling! Well, I've got to go, duty calls! You understand how demanding showbiz can be! See you when I see you! XOXO - mom
The girl who had previously been in a dreamlike trance was now clenching her hand around the phone in anger. After letting out a growl of frustration she threw the device across the room and it hit the door loudly before falling to the ground with a thud.
Muffled music continued to emit from the earbuds plugged into the phone, but it was now joined by the quiet sobs of the girl. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks as she hugged herself in an attempt of self-soothing. Her crying didn't last for longer than a minute though due to how much energy she had already been spreading recently weeping into the deafening silence.
Once she calmed down enough she slowly stood up, shuffling over and picking up her phone from the floor before pausing the music and dropping it into her pocket. She then opened the door, revealing the shared kitchen and living space. Flicking on a single light that rest above the sink allowed for enough brightness for her to see where the glass cups were. Grabbing a single glass she only filled it up about a third of the way with tap water before taking a reluctant sip of the clear liquid.
Deciding that was enough self care for the time being she set the glass back onto the counter top before walking away and over to the far wall of the living space. Just like her room the far wall was made entirely of ceiling high windows, though this wall allotted enough space for 3 instead of 2. Nearly pressing her face against the glass she silently observed the busy city.
Even at this time (half an hour to 1am) the roads and sidewalks were still occupied by the odd citizen every so often. Although the traffic was nowhere near that of the day it still went to show that the city never truly slept.
The girl stared out the window for some time. Eventually she finally came back to her senses, moving away from the invisible barrier. Instead of returning to her room though, she walked to the front door. After pulling on a yellow colored hoodie, sliding on some yellow converse, putting her hair up into a messy bun, and gently placing her earbuds back into her ears she left the building. Walking down onto the sidewalk below.
With the Ninja -
"Zane you there?" A muffled voice questions through the covered earpiece the white ninja was wearing beneath his mask.
"Yes. I am here" The white ninja responds cooly.
"I think we should start heading back to the Bounty. It's getting pretty late." The same voice from before concludes.
"Affirmative. Allow me a moment to retrieve the Falcon, then I will meet you at the rendezvous point." The white ninja explains.
"Sounds good. See you soon, Kai out." The muffled voice says followed by a click.
"Falcon, it is time for us to return to the Bounty my friend." The white ninja says as he looks up at the sky from the wet concrete rooftop ledge he was currently standing on. Above him resting on a powerline was a silver falcon, the gentle patter of the rain drizzle hitting its metallic body. The bird looks down at the boy with glowing blue eyes before moving to roost on the ninjas' outstretched arm. Prior to landing though the Falcon soars back into the air, letting out several seemingly frantic screeches.
"Falcon? What is wrong?" The snow colored ninja questions before patching himself into an internal comm link. "Pixal, can you show me the feed of what the Falcon has located?"
"Of course Zane." Pixal answers as the camera feed from the Falcons' eyes appear in the white ninjas' mind. The image that flooded Zane's eyes next was that of a person being surrounded by a group of several thugs. The Master of Ice wasted no time in his next actions.
"Pixal, quickly, patch me back into the comms with Kai please." it took no time at all for Zane to hear a second click identical to the one from earlier, signaling that he was once again patched in with the Master of Fire. "Kai! Quickly, come to my position. There is an unarmed citizen being surrounded by what appear to be muggers!"
"Zane? I'll be right there! Try not to get into trouble until I get there" Kai responds before patching out again. Zane jumped down from the ledge he was on and onto the rooftop of a slightly shorter building. The Master of Ice did not like having to wait, but he knew Kai was right. They would have better odds fending off the thugs together. If Zane went into the fray without his teammate there was a chance both he and the helpless citizen could get injured, leaving only Kai to protect the both of them.
"Pixal, is there any way that you can enhance the audio of the figures down below? I want to see if we can figure anything out about them before getting involved in the conflict." Zane attempts to strategize and he crouches low, doing his best to remain hidden for the time being.
"I can try my best." Pixal answers. Soon thereafter the voices of the figures below begin to patch into the white ninjas' earpiece.
"Hey! You guys better let go of me before I make you!" The victim hisses. The ringleader of the shadowy figures then steps forward before speaking.
"Ha! She thinks she's gonna get us to let her go. Pft, good luck kid, but the boss wants to meet you." The leader says, gently patting the victim's cheek a few times. The victim attempts to bite the figure's hand but they pull it away too quickly.
"Boss huh? I don't even know who you guys are. What could "The Boss" possibly wanna see me for?" The victim retorts, obviously unamused. The ringleader then pulls out a taser from underneath their leather jacket and twirls it around in their hand.
"Oh, you'll find out soon enough." right as the ringleader launches forward to tase the girl Zane throws one of his shurikens, which knocks the taser out of the persons hand and onto the wet concrete. The victim doesn't wait another second and quickly wraps her legs around the neck of the thug that had been holding onto her right arm and uses the momentum to cause the thug attached to her left arm to let go and fall forward onto the ground.
The girl then, still sitting on the first thug's shoulders, grabs their hood and pulls it over their head before tightening the drawstrings. Blinded and unbalanced, the thug lets go of the girl's right arm in order to reach for their own hood. The girl then jumps down from the thug's shoulders, causing them to fall forward and trip over the body of the other fallen gang member.
The victim then lunges herself towards the upheld taser the ringleader had retrieved. Before she can grab it the ringleader moves towards her as well, the jostling causing the both of them to tumble around a bit. It's then that the fourth thug grabs the girl from behind and attempts to pull her off of the ringleader.
"Oh Kai, where are you?" The white ninja asks aloud worriedly, nearly about to throw himself into the fight.
"You called?" A voice to Zane's left responds, followed by the thud of feet hitting wet concrete. The red ninja had finally arrived.
"Kai! We need to get down there immediately. The gang intends to kidnap the girl wearing the hoodie." Zane informs his teammate. Suddenly the air is filled with the sound of a loud bang. Looking over the ledge down to the alley below the two ninja could see that the victim had been thrown against the side of a dumpster, and was now lying lifelessly on the ground.
"Then what are we waiting for?!" Kai shouts as he jumps off the roof and into the alleyway below. Zane wastes no time, following his friends movements before landing into the alleyway himself. "Hey! Didn't mommy ever tell you it's not nice to pick on other people?" Kai fires at the ringleader, getting in the way of him and the girl on the ground. Zane looks down to the girl, running a diagnostic scan of her vitals.
"The girl has suffered a mild concussion. The recommended course of action is to take her to the Bounty for medical treatment." Pixal's voice rings through the white ninjas' mind.
"Kai! We need to get the girl out of here!" Zane shouts over the sounds of the fight the Master of Fire was currently engaged in.
"UGH. Smokescreen!" Kai orders as his sword pushes against the blade of a knife the fourth thug had pulled out. The white ninja nods, lifting the girl up off of the floor before using his foot to coat the ground in a thin layer of ice. Kai then immediately uses all his strength to push the thug away, causing them to hit their back against the wall, before engulfing one of his hands in fire. Shooting his flames at the ice, steam fills the air, creating the perfect smokescreen and allowing the ninjas to escape without being followed.