Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 1: Fangirls, Fast-food, and Felines

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the saviors of all Ninjago, the ninja!"

The audience broke into wild cheers as six smiling figures walked out onto the stage of the studio. Cameras recording the scene live swiveled around to catch the teenagers waving at the crowd before joining their host, Magnus O'Doyle, at the couches sitting at the center.

The teenage girls in particular were shrieking shrilly in excitement, many squealing the name of the Master of Fire. Their screams made whoever was standing close to them grimace and cover their ears. The Fire Ninja grinned at the sound of his fangirls and gave them a foxy wink, which, of course, only made them squeal louder.

Once the crowd had settled down and the guests were seated, Mr. O'Doyle flashed a big white-toothed smile at them. "So, so, great to have you here tonight! We're happy to have you here!

"So," He leaned over to the ninja sitting closest to him: a handsome, golden-haired boy adorned in a bright green gi. "Any daring battles since the last time we saw you? I hear that there was a bit of excitement during Day of the Departed."

Lloyd cast a wry look at his companion in red, who took his cue and said with a cocky smile, "Ah, that! We had a little scuffle with a few mannequins possessed by the evil spirits of past foes intent on taking revenge and sending us to the Cursed Realm. No biggie."

One of the teenage girls squealed. Kai winked at her, which made her squeal again before passing out and slumping to the floor.

Nya rolled her eyes.

"Wow! Just another day in the lives of the ninja, am I right? Ha-haa!" O'Doyle's laugh compelled the audience to laugh with him. Adjusting his stylish jacket, he turned to the muscular teen dressed all in black sitting a couple chairs away from him. "And Cole's now human again? How crazy is that?! Let's give our friend a big hand and welcome back, folks!"

With that the audience broke out in applause and cheers. Cole brushed a strand of hair out of his face and gave what he hoped looked like a warm smile. A jagged green scar ran down one side of his face, a trophy from his battle against Sensei Yang.

"So tell us, Cole, how did you do it? Last I checked, it's pretty hard for a ghost to return to the living world. That is," the TV host added with a cheeky smile. "Unless you're actually just possessing a mannequin to pull to wool over our eyes!"

Cole guessed this was another attempt at humor, and feebly pretended to laugh along with the audience. "Ha."

Kai gave his friend a warning look.

Cole sighed. "No, this is the real deal."

"So tell us, how'd you do it?" O'Doyle leaned forward eagerly. "I'm sure we'd all love to hear about it!"

The Earth Ninja took a breath and proceeded to tell them how he had fought Sensei Yang and had gone through the Rift of Return just a couple days ago. He left out the fact that the team had recently decided to transfer their base there. Everyone had decided it would be best if nobody knew their new base, seeing that the media would most likely track them down like hounds and harass them endlessly.

As he talked, Cole wished this interview would be over already. He just wanted to enjoy the rest of the evening and hang out with his friends. Thankfully the media has been beginning to lose interest in the ninja team when they couldn't find any more big scoops, so hopefully this would be the last celebrity spotlight he'd have to attend for a long time. Unlike Kai, who reveled in the attention of his fans, he wanted life to quiet down so they could concentrate on training and preparing for the next threat.