Ninjago Rebirthed: Next Generation

{C2} Strangers on every doorstep

~~~~={Hariel's POV}=~~~~

I am a pretty normal kid, all things considered. I like playing video games, I collect Starfarer comics, and I am obsessed with Ninjago. I live in an unremarkable household with my mom and my two year old sister.

I also look normal at first glance. I have blond hair, hazel eyes, and I'm average height for a twelve-year-old. The only anomaly is that I'm adopted and look nothing like my mother.

Well, there is also the other elephant-in-the-room reason people find me somewhat remarkable. The most accurate way I can describe it is with those character creation screens some video games have. It's like if you went to one of those screens, went to the 'face' menu, smashed all the buttons, and called it a day. That's what my face it like.

I'm the center of attention whenever I leave my house. People either stop and stare or try too hard not to look at me. There is no middle ground.

School hits the hardest. Kids in elementary school have absolutely no filter. Most kids try to avoid me, move away from me during lunch, hope that they don't have to work on a school project with me, and practice social distancing with me during recess. Some kids even have the nerve to push and shove me in the halls.

Adults aren't much better. They think they are hiding it, but they are really being about as subtle as a field of fireworks. They whisper behind my back, and scold their children for asking.

The only people who treat me like a regular kid are my family. My mother doesn't care what I look like (Or anyone else for that matter). We also have some very close family friends that might as well be family.

My mother walked in on me while I was playing Prime Empire. "Hey, work calls for me later today, okay? I'll drop you off at Hazel and Maeve's house." She put up her neon green hair in a ponytail. "Also, look after your sister, Karis."

"Aight." I focus on my game. I finally reached the point where I died last time.

The doorbell rang. My mother sighed and went to open the door. I was curious, so I decided to sneak behind to see who it was. I crept near the steps, where they overlooked the front door.

My mother answered the door. I man straight out of one of those 2000's ninja movies stood near the doormat. He looked like a stereotypical old wise man, with a straw hat, white robes, and a bamboo cane. There was no way he actually dresses like that on a day-to-day basis.

"Hello there." He looked through the papers in his hands. "By any chance, is your name, Tox Ariel, master of poison?"

"Uh- yea..."

He rustled his papers again. "Do you have a son?"

"Yes... what's it to ya?"

"His name is Hairel, right?"

"Yea, but why do you want to know?"

He closed his papers and tucked them into his robe. Smiling, he took out his hand for my mother to shake.

"Hello Tox. My name is Master Wu, and I have reason to believe your son is very special."

A gasp escaped my lips. Master Wu, as in son of the First Spinjitzu Master? Could it be? Could I be some kind of ninja or elemental master?

My mother was unfazed. She didn't take his hand. She reached for the door. "Anything else?"

The man hesitated, confused by my mother's reaction. "No wait-" My mother started to close the door. The man put his foot in the house, stopping the door. "I'm not kidding, I can prove it!"