Ninjago High: Rise of the Ninja

Prologue: A New Hope

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙡𝙮 𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙣(𝙟𝙞𝙩𝙯𝙪)

𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗲𝘀, 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲?

𝚆𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖. 𝙾𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝.

𝙷𝚘𝚙𝚎.

𝙸𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚐𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚐𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚞𝚜 𝚊 𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎.

𝙰𝚜 𝙸 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚍𝚎. 𝙱𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚎𝚛. 𝚆𝚎'𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔, 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚎 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎.

𝚆𝚎'𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐.

𝚂𝚘𝚘𝚗, 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎. 𝙾𝚞𝚛 𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚝, 𝚟𝚒𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚗𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕.

𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚢 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎, 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚗𝚜.

-𝚂𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚕 𝙻𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚣𝚊

~~~

Harmony hummed to herself as she dragged the damp rag over the now-clean plate. A glance at the stove clock predicted mom's return in half an hour. The dishes would be done by then, and takeout lunch would be spread across the table in all it's greasy glory. She stacked the plate in the cabinet, tossing the rag on the counter for a quick, well-earned break.

Clomp clomp. The walls shook as two pairs of sneakers stomped down the stairs, interrupting her quiet. The slam of soles against the floor was like thunder before lightning, the breath before the storm raged. She turned, groaning as Finn and Mason tumbled into the kitchen, arguing viscously. 

"It was my turn with the phone!" Finn shouted, swiping at the battered BorgPhone in his brother's hand. Mason danced nimbly out of reach, swatting at his twin's arm. "Was not! It was your turn two hours ago!"

Harmony sighed as they shouted back and forth, their screams building to a crescendo. Patience worn thin, she stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled.

The twins froze, their gazes slowly turning to their sister. Mason swallowed, quickly shoving the desired phone into his pocket.

"What's wrong now?" Harmony asked. By her count, it was their fourth argument this morning, a record. And her fifth headache. She rubbed her temple as another chorus of shouts began.

"Look, guys, mom's almost home. Can't you just wa-."

A screech cut her peacemaking effort off, drowning out any counterargument from the twins. The trio glanced at one another, identical fear written across their faces in bold.

The Alarm.

"Get to the closet, QUICK!" Harmony cried. Finn spun on his heel, Mason close behind, their argument forgotten. Harmony snatched her own phone off the counter, taking a few precious seconds to lock the door, before following the twin's path to their mother's bedroom.