Ninjago and Beyond (Beyblade Burst x Ninjago)

Waking Up

Monastery of Spinjitzu
No One's POV
In a room deep within the Monastery, a boy lay sleeping. He'd been wrapped from nearly head to toe in bandages, and his fractured arms had been elevated. His ruined coat had been lovingly washed to restore it to its former glory, and was laid beside him on a chair. His beloved bey and even more beloved puppets had been positioned on a nearby table so they would be the first thing he saw when he woke up. Two cards were propped between his puppets. One looked like it had been dunked in a bucket of glitter while the other was slightly cleaner; both had GET WELL SOON written on their surfaces.

At the boy's beside were his rattled parents, who had not slept a wink since they'd entered his room three days ago. They'd been contacted by his teacher and had been sent methods of transportation to his location. The father had been to the Monastery before and welcomed the nostalgia. The mother had not and was wary of their new surroundings. Regardless of their trains of thought, they had were of one mind when it came to one thing: Their son. They had taken shifts each night to ensure one of them was always awake or at least in the room to watch his chest as he slept.

To make sure it never stilled completely.

Friends of the boy came and went, checking on his condition and changing his wrappings if need be. Sometimes they stayed for extended periods of time, but his parents always shooed them away in the end. They claimed that their son needed silence in order to recover from his Double Awakening and previous excursions.

But everyone in the Monastery knew the true reason. They simply wanted their son to themselves for a while.

But the boy didn't see any of it. His eyes were closed to the outside world for three days. Behind his eyelids was only darkness, though metal worked through the shadows. It slid silkily through his soul, curled around his limbs, shaping him. It filled his senses, sharpening them, opening his eyes to a whole other world. It spun its web within his body, with his heart becoming its heart. No one else could see its progress, but deep down he knew.

It was shaping him anew.

Only when it was done did it allow him to open his eyes. Only when it was done did it allow him to move. Only when it was done did it allow him to breathe normally again. Only when it was done did it allow him to renter the normal world.

It would never be normal for him, though. He was Ken Midori. A ventriloquist. A blader. A student.

A Master of Metal.

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Ken's POV
PIXAL said that resting was a part of the adjusting process, but I didn't remember doing any spiritual adjusting. All I remembered was falling asleep while kneeling, then I was waking up in a different position. My entire body felt stiff and thick, though not solid like my Metal Form. Gravity let me know that I was laying on something flat and soft, and that my head was propped up on something equally comfortable. My arms felt as light as feathers - probably because they were in elevated slings. A dull ache throbbed through each of my limbs, though it wasn't a persistent pain. More like feeling sore after a good long nap.

When I took in the room I was in, the first thing I noticed was that it was daytime, judging by the light shining through a nearby window. The second thing I noticed was Keru, Besu and Kerbeus propped up on a dresser directly in front of my bed. It seemed like so long had passed since I had seen them; my eyes actually watered when I saw them. If that wasn't enough, there were two GET WELL SOON cards stationed between them. One looked like it had been done entirely in glitter glue while the other looked like it was at least done by teenagers.

I wondered who had made them - and how long I had been asleep for someone to make a card that wished for my wellbeing.

My instinct was to pull out my phone, or find some form of time-telling device. When I tried to turn my head to look for one, though, a burst of soreness shot through my neck. I gritted my teeth but a groan still made its way through my mouth. Someone else gasped in the room. "Oh my God - Ken!"