AUTHOR'S NOTES: Hi everyone! It's been a while right? I just wanted to say that this chapter was originally going to be longer but was getting worried that it was too long so it had been split into two parts. I'm also very sorry if this chapter might seem a little rushed and not up to my usual quality. Somethings have been happening at home and as a result, I've had to step away from my stories for a while so I'm not really in the usual rhythm of things yet.
On that note, a few of you have been asking me to update my "Club of Flaming Passion Story".
I understand that everyone wants an update for the club of flaming passion but I'm afraid that I'm having some serious writer's block on that story so I'm waiting for the inspiration to return before I start writing another chapter. I want to update that story soon but I don't want to put some rubbish, half thought-out piece together and dump it for people to read if that makes sense.
I hope you understand and I will try and update that story soon.
Right, I think that's all I have for notes and I hope you enjoy this new chapter!
Lloyd panted heavily as he ran to school. He had slept through his alarm, again, but this time Misako refused to drive him to school. She and Uncle Wu reminded him that he was getting older now, so he couldn't keep relying on them to solve the little problems in his life. The teen knew they were right, but that didn't make it hurt any less. That was one of the many reasons he hadn't told them the reason why he was sleeping through his alarm clock.
He kept staying up late, worrying about the future.
Lloyd was terrified that he and his friends would all drift apart after high school when they all move on with their lives. He didn't want to lose his pack, but he knew it wouldn't be right to trying and make them stay in Ninjago City if it wasn't what they wanted. Soon he was faced with the school on the street across from him. He could see and hear the other students as they arrived. Many were pouring out of the crowded school buses. Some were saying goodbye to their relatives that had dropped them off.
A few were parking their vehicles around the school.
When he focused his senses, Lloyd could see and hear his friends hanging out on the school steps waiting for him before school started. Lloyd sighed and was about to cross the street when he suddenly got the uncomfortable feeling that he was being watched. He turned his head to the buildings behind him, but even with his enhanced senses, he couldn't tell if someone was watching him. There were just too many windows and too many people.
All of a sudden, there was the loud sound of tires screeching to a halt and the blasting of a car horn flooded his ears.
Lloyd's heart jumped into his throat when he realized he had subconsciously started crossing the street as a car was coming. Thankfully, the driver of the car slammed on the breaks just in the nick of time before Lloyd became roadkill. Almost all the students were gathered on the streets, watching Lloyd with wide, scared eyes. For a split second, Lloyd was worried the fright had caused his yellow wolf eyes to show, but one look at his reflection showed that that wasn't the case.
He could tell that the driver was livid, but that was the least of Lloyd's worries right now.
Keeping his head down, Lloyd bolted through the crowd and into the school without saying anything to anyone...
Lloyd sighed as he finished unpacking his old backpack and gathering everything he needed from his locker for his first class. He had Health Sciences with Kai, Jay, Nya, and Cole. Rumor had it that their teacher, Mr. Panton had a special lesson planned for the class. Lloyd knew that whatever they were assigned, Kai would probably try and trick Zane into doing it for him. He would probably succeed too if Pixal and Nya didn't intervene. Lloyd almost laughed at that thought.
It was no secret that Zane and Pixal were probably the only students in the whole school that enjoyed that class.
Even though he found the lesson boring, however, Lloyd had to admit that they did learn some really important stuff. The learned things like health and social care, health management and policy, mental health nursing, midwifery, nursing, optometry, public health, radiography, and speech and language therapy. Just then, he checked his watch and almost cursed when he saw he was going to be late for class. One thing Mr. Panton was famous for other than his boring lessons was his enjoyment in assigning over double the necessary homework and even more boring detentions.
As he ran as fast as he could to his first class, he was so unfocused that as soon as he rounded the corner he collided with another student right in front of Health Sciences.
He got up with a groan, only to free when he saw the person he had just run into. She was his age, muttering a string of curses as she rushed to gather up her books that had fallen out of her bag. She had dark brown eyes and dirty blond hair that was styled in a pixie cut. She was wearing a dark green leather jacket with a white shirt, a red neckerchief, torn black jeans, and muddy long boots. Lloyd thought he recognized her for a second, but he was certain he had never seen her in school before.
When she turned to look at him with anger burning in his eyes, that was when he recognized her.
She was driving the car that almost ran him over outside.
"Watch it, punk!" She snapped and Lloyd was suddenly filled with anger.
"You watch it, creep!" He growled, but before they could say anything else the classroom door suddenly opened, and Mr. Panton, the annoying health teacher, was waiting for them. The two teens gave each other a look, letting the other know this wasn't over, before sheepishly entering the classroom and Lloyd took his usual seat. The strange girl choose to sit at the desk furthest from all other students as the teacher cleared his throat.
"Garmadon! Chan-Kent! Congratulations! You two are paired up for a special Health Sciences project." The teacher smirked as he picked up something from behind his desk. "I now pronounce you man, wife, and child." He laughed as he tossed a flour sack with a happy face and a diaper onto Lloyd's desk since he was the closest.
"What?!" Lloyd screeched as he stared at the sack as if it was filled with acid and back to the strange girl. She had a similar look of anger and disgust on her face.
"For this project, you will all be put into pairs and will take home and care for infant simulators for the next two days; as part of a class project, you will take care of these flour sacks that simulate the eating, sleeping, and crying schedules of a baby." Mr. Panton explained and as if on cue, the sack on Lloyd's desk began to cry loudly like a baby from the little speaker stitched into its back.
"How do we shut it up?!" Kai growled in irritation.
"You need to figure out what it needs; it might want feeding, changing, or just might need a cuddle." Mr. Panton smirked and Lloyd reluctantly picked up the sack by the corner. When the crying didn't stop, he groaned and held the sack like a baby. Almost immediately the crying stop. As soon as the crying stop, Mr. Panton started listing off the pairs and handing out the other sacks.
"Jay with Nya, Dareth with Carrie, Glen with Claire, Cole with Vania, Chad with Gwen, Johnny with Lucy, and Kai with Maggie."
"Why can't I be paired with Cole?" Kai pouted, not looking forward to doing this project with one of the diva cheerleaders that loved to torment him and his friends. He could tell by the look on her face that she felt the same way.
"Because this is a project for PARENTS; in other words, it's for a DADDY and a MOMMY, not two fathers." Mr. Panton huffed with an annoyed look as he moved on to teach the class what to do and how to care for their new 'babies'. Kai was about to make a rude remark, but a quiet warning growl from Nya and Cole shut him up.
"I am so not kissing the bride." He hissed instead.
"What makes you think you can?" Maggie scoffed, brushing her long blond hair to the side. This got them both lunchtime detention...
That afternoon the hallways of Ninjago High were filled with several couples with flour sack babies. As Zane and Pixal looked for their friends, they found Lloyd and the new girl along with Jay and Nya. Cole was somewhere with Vania and Kai was stuck in his detention with Maggie. Seeing his friends, Lloyd quickly left the new girl behind with their flour sack baby to run and join his friends. They continued walking and talking while the new girl struggled alone with her flour sack baby by her locker.
"So we need to take care of a flour sack and pretend it's our baby?" Jay whined.
"It's supposed to be something about shared responsibility." Nya frowned as she looked at the sack in her arms, confused. Just then there was a shout and the pack turned to see Chad with a flour sack baby. The jock threw the sack to one of his friends like a football. The other jock ran far down the hallway as if he was running for the goal line.
"Well, some of us anyway; but so far, the only thing it teaches me is how pointless this assignment is." Nya scowled, noticing the new girl was struggling with her sack, and accidentally dropped it on the floor.
"Not to mention dangerous! Now I've got to spend a week playing house with a stranger who nearly ran me over."
"Was it not you who tried crossing the road without looking?" Zane asked and Lloyd gave him a look.
"Who is she anyway?" Jay asked as they all watched the girl curiously.
"I read her file this morning," Pixal said. "It said her name was S. Chan-Kent, she just moved here from Empire City with her brother Scott who just opened an auto repair shop on Grotto Street." She explained. "Rumor has it that one or both of them were into some shady stuff back in Empire City and that is why they had to move."
"So wait, her first name is 'S'?" Jay snickered.
"It is unclear why her first name is hidden, but if what Pixal is saying is true then they may be under some for a protection program and have had to change their names for security reasons," Zane suggested.
"Protection program or not, I think she's bad news and I want to stay as far away from her as possible," Lloyd grumbled.
"Relax, she can't be gunning for you if she's taking care of your little flour sack of love!" Jay laughed loudly and turned to leave for his next class, only to cry out when he suddenly tripped over the new girl's foot, which was sticking out.
"You should watch where you're going." She said with no emotion. She didn't even flinch when Nya almost lunged for her, only to be stopped by Jay and Zane. "Lloyd, was it?"
"Yeah, and you are?" He growled.
"The name's Seven to you freaks, and I need to talk to you about our project." She said with a scowl, which Lloyd returned.
"Come on, Nya! Our child doesn't need to see this kind of negativity." Jay huffed as he turned and walked away.
"Jay! It's a flour sack!" She cried as she ran to follow him. Sensing the incoming conflict, Zane and Pixal quickly made their exit. Once they were alone, the new girl walked up to Lloyd and dumped the sack at his feet.
"I'll make things quick! I don't like you, and you don't like me!"
"Fine! I'm glad we worked that out!" Lloyd snapped.
"So, I took the time to chart out our responsibilities." She smirked and brought out a pie chart labeled Baby Care. A tiny sliver was labeled 'ME' and the rest of the pie was for Lloyd.
"And by our you mean mine." He growled and she sighed in annoyance.
"Look, unlike you, I'm so busy my grades are in the toilet and I need to pass this class." She tried to explain, only to jump at the sound of a baby crying. "What is that noise?!" She exclaimed as she looked franticly around for the source. The flour sack baby was playing with the sounds of crying and Lloyd quickly picked it up to examine it. The needle on a gauge on the side jumps from calm to cranky.
"You can't just set it down! These things need constant motion." He snapped as he started rocking the sack back and forth.
"See? It's that kind of parental responsibility that's gonna get me a good grade; or else!" She threatened before walking away, leaving Lloyd holding the bag...
After school had finished the pack all thought about meeting up at their usual booth at the Yin Yang Bistro, but Zane suggested the new burger place at the mall instead. All Morro had to hear was the words 'hot, juicy burgers' and he was practically running for the mall. Kai managed to get Maggie to take their sack for the night. Cole and Vania had worked out a schedule that gave them equal time with the flour sack baby. It was Vania's turn tonight.
Jay and Nya still had theirs but it was completely silent in Jay's arms.
Lloyd was also still holding the bag and it was still crying.
"I've been a parent all of one day and my grade is probably already down to a C-minus." The blond teen groaned.
"Life could be worse, you could be that guy." Morro snickered as he pointed to the front of the burger place, where the costumed mascot of the burger place was being tormented by four nasty little boys.
"Let's get a family photo with him! Family photos raise your grades." Jay squealed and practically pushed Lloyd and Nya toward the mascot.
"You're taking this way too seriously Jay!" Nya groaned with an eye roll. Just then, she thought for a split second that there was a flash of a camera in her eyes, but when she looked around there was no one holding a camera. No one except Jay that is. He always carried all sorts of different gadgets with him, and usually, Nya thought it was cute. But right now, it was anything but cute. After a bit of struggling, Nya reluctantly agreed to humor her boyfriend.
She had to admit that it was sweet how seriously he was taking this assignment.
She could tell that Jay would make a great and doting father in the future, but there were still many, many years before that was proven. Lloyd managed to take a couple of snapshots of Nya, Jay, and their flour sack baby with the mascot. He had to use only one hand while holding on to his crying sack.
"You want me to take one of you? Family photos boost your grade." Jay offered as he flicked through all the pictures Lloyd had taken for them and the mascot headed inside the burger place, likely to change or something.
"That would require having the whole family, but Mommy is too busy with her job to pull her weight and keep this kid quiet!" Lloyd shouted, now causing Jay and Nya's flour sack to start crying as well. This got them some weird looks from the other customers.
"Lloyd! You're scaring the baby!" Jay cried indignantly and turned around as if to shield his sack from the cruel world."
"Jay, it's a flour sack." Kai deadpanned as Lloyd's sack started making farting noises.
"Oh come on!" Lloyd shouted angrily.
"Just be thankful it's only flour." Cole pointed out, but it did little to calm Lloyd's anger as the sack farted again.
"Then why does it smell like beans?" The blond teen gagged.
"It's the little touches that bring the baby to life; allow me," Jay said with a smile and he took the sack from Lloyd. He then took off his pack which unfolded into a changing table.
"Where'd you get all this stuff?" Kai asked in honest amazement.
"I announced the birth of our ten-pound sack of joy on the internet, the online geek community can be very generous." Jay smiled and Nya blushed slightly as Kai, Cole, and Morro snickered lightly. The only one not laughing was Lloyd. He could hear himself think now that Jay finally got the sack to stop crying. But he knew it wouldn't last long. The sack would start crying soon, and he was dreading it. As he watched Nya lecturing Jay about talking about their private business on the internet, he was suddenly hit with an idea.
"I need some space! Can you watch the kid for me?" He asked his ginger-haired friend, trying not to sound too desperate.
"What do I look like? A baby-sitting service?" Jay huffed. Lloyd rolled his eyes and handed Jay a two-dollar bill. "Come to Uncle Jay and his babysitting service." He grinned as he held up the flour sack. That was all Lloyd needed to hear before he took off running out of the mall and towards the forest.
"You can not be serious!" Nya exclaimed in shock that her boyfriend would take on another flour sack baby without consulting her first.
"Don't worry honey, it's won't be overnight; that's gonna cost him extra." He promised with a cute smile that just melted Nya's heart. She reluctantly took her and Jay's sack, leaving her boyfriend with Lloyd's. Nya just reminded herself that this was a stupid class assignment and in a couple of days everything would be back to normal. Kai was about to comment when he saw Chad and the rest of the soccer team leaving the burger place.
"Hey, Smith! You coming?!" Chad called and that's when Kai remembered that he had soccer practice that afternoon.
"Gotta go guys!" He cried and tried to run for the door, only to find his way blocked by Maggie, who was carrying a look of fury and their flour sack.
"I don't think so! I've got cheer practice this afternoon so you're gonna have to watch the sack." She snarled and shoved the sack into his hands.
"I can't take the kid during soccer practice!" Kai argued angrily.
"You have protective padding! All I are have are pom-poms!" She exclaimed and Jay was suddenly hit with an idea. Putting on his best salesman smile, he casually approved his friend and the cheerleader.
"Excuse me? I couldn't help overhearing you my friends, and I think I have the solution to your child-care dilemma."...
Lloyd growled as he ran around deep in the forest in his wolf form. His clothes were safely hidden in a ditch not too far away so he was certain that no one would find them. He just needed to blow off some steam after a week of nothing but stress and drama. If it's not his friends happily talking about their bright futures, it was his mother and uncle badgering him about his plans. Now he has some new girl coming in and making a class assignment more trouble than it was.
All he wanted was to hit pause on the entire world so he could get his thoughts in order.
Lloyd never thought he would say this, but he missed having Skylor around. Although they were never that close, it was nice to have another werewolf teen around to talk to that wasn't as familiar with him or the others to talk to. He used to have Morro, but the lone wolf was now more connected with the rest of the pack and now Lloyd felt he had no one to talk to. He wished he could talk to his friends but they always seemed too busy with their own lives.
Cole was too busy with Kai and re-bonding with his father after his mother's death and the recent falling out over his sexuality.
Lloyd was still a little too uneasy around Harumi, especially after everything she had done to them all over the years so she wasn't an option. Jay was one of his most sensitive friends, but the ginger-haired had a problem keeping his mouth shut. Lloyd was certain that the rest of the pack would know his problems. Kai and Lloyd used to be super close. They were like brothers most of their lives. But after everything that had happened with Cole, the fox trap, and almost being captured by a mad scientist, Kai was spending more and more time with his family and Cole.
So much so that Lloyd never saw the brunette alone anymore and when he tried to talk to Kai alone, he would always cancel.
Morro was more interested in Harumi and getting decent grades to get him into a good college and out of foster care. Nya was like a sister to him, but, much like what happened with Kai and Cole, Lloyd feared she would try and make his problems all about her. Pixal and Zane were putting as much energy as they could into their school work so they could get into the best colleges that would allow them to achieve their dreams. It was nothing short of a miracle that the brainy couple was able to hang out with them at the burger place.
That was the main reason that Lloyd didn't want to distract them from that, so he couldn't labor them with his trivial worries.
Figuring that he should get back to the city, Lloyd was about to leave when his nose picked up something strange. It smelt like alcohol, humans, and cars. In the city those kinds of smells were normal. But this deep in the forest, where he and his friends spent most of their time during full moons, was very unnerving for Lloyd. He wanted to check it out and make sure this area was still safe, but he didn't want to risk going alone. Returning to his human form, Lloyd found his bag with his clothes and pulled out his phone.
He called Kai, but unfortunately, the brunette didn't pick up.
Lloyd thought about calling the others, but he was almost certain that it would get the same result and he couldn't waste time making useless phone calls. Reluctantly, the blond teen put his phone back and hid his stuff before transforming and running towards the source of the strange smell...
Back in Ninjago City, Kai wasn't exactly too busy to take Lloyd's call. He had just put his phone on silent because Maggie wouldn't stop spamming his phone. He didn't know what that diva wanted, but he didn't care. As far as he was concerned, the sack was being looked after by his sister's boyfriend. Jay was pushing a carrier through the park while Nya, Kai, and Cole walked alongside him. Cole's was the only sack Jay wasn't looking after. He was worried that Jay was biting off more than he could chew and didn't want to risk his and Vania's grades.
Especially with those ridiculous prices, Jay was charging his customers.
The carrier was made of four prams fastened together and mounting a large banner between two poles advertising Jay's new Flour Power Day Care. He had promised Nya that he would just look after Lloyd's sack. After seeing how many of their classmates were struggling, however, he couldn't stop.
"Flour Power Day Care, please hold; flour power daycare, please hold; flour power daycare? Yes, we do accept your parents' credit cards." Jay smiled happily as he kept raising phones in both hands to his ears. "This babysitting is a gold mine!" He squealed to Nya, putting down phones for a moment before getting back to work.
"That's great, but aren't you worried our sack might get neglected?" She asked as she glanced at theirs. Nya and Jay's sack baby looked like it might fall out of the one-shoulder-strap sling Jay had it in.
"No, why?" Her boyfriend asked as she took the sack out of the sling.
"While you're just so busy, why don't I just take her off your hands for a few hours." She suggested as she began to cradle and rock it like a baby.
"Her? Now, who's taking this way too seriously!" Kai laughed as Jay took the sack away and put it on top of another sack in one of the prams.
"Aw, you're bonding, aren't you?" Cole smirked with his boyfriend and Nya started blushing.
"No! I am so not bonding! I just thought I'd give Jay a break, that's all!" She cried loudly.
"Well, thanks, but no thanks." Jay smiled at his girlfriend. "No better advertisement for business than a full carrier." He added before he started talking into the phone again and started walking away, pushing the carrier with his other hand as Kai and Cole soon followed their friend. Nya looked down at her sack rolling away with the other sacks Jay was using, hoping to make even more money. She blamed Lloyd a little for this mess and vowed to make him take his sack back the next time she saw him...
Lloyd sniffed and panted as he tracked the scent for over an hour deeper and deeper into the forest. He could faintly pick up a few of his friends' scents all around this area so he knew that they often came here during the full moons. That just made it more important that he found out where that strange new scent was coming from and making sure that it wasn't any threat to him or his pack. The blond wolf soon found himself on a road of some kind.
Lloyd quickly recalled when Zane was showing them all a map of the forest surrounding the Julien residence.
He remembered seeing an old abandoned road that used to lead up to a cole mine the city used over a century ago. It hadn't been used in decades and almost everyone in Ninjago City had forgotten it had existed. The road was filled with cracks and old leaves and fallen branches from the surrounding trees. The forest had almost completely taken it over and now the road was just barely visible. As the scent grew stronger and stronger, Lloyd suddenly jumped when he heard over a dozen humans hooting and hollering further up the road.
That was followed by the roars of engines and he could see the bright headlights of cars speeding in his direction.
As they got closer Lloyd saw the ridiculously bright paint jobs and hood ornaments. With dread, he quickly realized what was happening. He had just stumbled into an underground racing track and he could guarantee that those drivers weren't considerate enough to stop for an animal in the middle of their track...
As night started rolling in, Jay returned home junkyard with his carrier-and-rolling-advertisement. He had set up his phony-baloney daycare center in one of the old sheds in his parents' junkyard. He began putting each of his customer's sack's in their cradle to be rocked by a pulley system rigged from a device, so they wouldn't start getting cranky without any effort on Jay's part. Each cradle had the payment for its sack baby clipped to the top.
"Nighty-night, Alexander." Jay smiled as he gently put a sack into a cradle with a ten-dollar bill. "Sleep tight, Andrew." He cooed as he put another sack into a cradle with a twenty-dollar bill. "Pleasant dreams, Benjamin." He giggled as he put a sack into a cradle with a one hundred dollar bill. "You're my favorite! I mean, of course, except not counting— what?!" He suddenly exclaimed when he saw there were no sacks left in the carrier. It didn't take a genius for him to figure out what had happened.
Nya had taken their sack baby from Jay's carrier while he was oblivious.
Shouting a quick goodbye to his parents, Jay bolted from the junkyard and straight for Kai and Nya's apartment. Thankfully the Smith siblings were home alone tonight. Ray and Maya were having a little date night and had gone out for a meal. While Kai was in his room playing video games, Nya was also in her room with her and Jay's flour sack baby. She had put a wig on it like her hair, had drawn eyes like hers, and now she was using her lipstick to give her baby a little mouth.
The second Nya had put the finishing touches on the flour sack baby, Jay suddenly burst into the room, completely out of breath.
His eyes zeroed in on the sack in her arms.
"What have you done with our child?! Give him back!" He cried as he took the sack from Nya, putting a small Starfarer cap on it. "It's obvious Jay Jr. needs a strong father."
"No way!" Nya snapped as she snatched the sack back. "Pearl needs to be raised in a nurturing environment, not some overcrowded baby barracks!" She exclaimed and flashed her yellow eyes at her boyfriend, daring him to try and push her on this subject. Instead of arguing with Nya, however, Jay's eyes suddenly widened at the mention of all the other flour sack baby's he had left unattended at his parents' junkyard.
"Oh my gosh! The other babies! Gotta go!" He cried and instinctively kissed Nya and the sack she was carrying goodbye before he ran out of the apartment like a bullet. Nya was dumbfounded for a split second, but recovered quickly and smiled in satisfaction at her little victory over her boyfriend. Unfortunately, her pride didn't last very long.
"I just heard all of that and I think you two need to have a sit-down and work on your marriage for the sake of your baby!" Kai suddenly called from his room next door, which was quickly followed by Nya throwing a shoe at the wall connecting their rooms and her brother laughing in response...