Ninjago: The Cursed Child

Chapter 14: Darkness Shall Rise

The Falcon flies through the air, watching the Ninja rebuild Ninjago City.

"The devourer completely destroyed the city" Aria said as her and Lloyd walked over to the ninja

"It'll take months to rebuild it" Lloyd added

"And as ninjas it's up to us to rebuild it" Jay sighed

Master Wu and Nya then ride up "guys we found a new home"

The Ninja are then sent house hunting. Patty Keys is showing them a worn-down apartment.

"This one-bedroom, one-half-bath is a cozy dream. Who needs extras when everything is in arm's reach? Now, wait until you see the lighting" Patty turns on the light, but the bulb flickers, burns out, and falls to the ground "Uh, who needs lights when you have this view? Heh" She opens the window blinds, but the view was actually a brick wall.

"Uh, why do I smell old people?" Lloyd questions

Patty looked annoyed "Look, doll. I'm trying to work around your budget. This is all you can afford"

"Uh, this looks...promising. Remember, guys, Sensei told us our main objective is to train Lloyd and Aria, not kick our feet up in some swanky suite. If this is all we can afford, this is all we can afford" Cole said

"Don't we need to live in some place that'll make training easier for them?" Jay questioned

"Yeah, Jay's right. If we have to get these two ready to save Ninjago from Lloyd's father, shouldn't they at least have their own room?" Kai agreed questionly

Jay laughed nervously "We're only thinking about the children, hehe"

"I do have another property that you'll just love" Patty brings them to a fancy room atop a skyscraper "Now, this is the eight-bedroom Hero Suite. Floor-to-ceiling windows, digital wall television, state-of-the-art game console..."

"Uh, it seems a little out of our price range" Cole said

"Oh, sure it costs a little more, but you deserve it. I forgot to mention, there's also a Dragon keep on the roof" Patty added

"Maybe we can get a hero discount. After all, we are the Ninja who saved the city" Jay said

"I thought Lord Garmadon saved the city" Patty said

"We could get day jobs to pay for the extra expenses" Kai suggested

"We always said we could use a little more responsibility" Zane said

"I can see you blowing this out of proportions" Aria comments

"Did I mention the in-house training facility?" Patty said showing them the room

"We'll take it!" The ninja shout

Lloyd sighed "They didn't just"

"they did" Aria confirmed

To make enough money for rent, they each search for jobs. Jay takes up a job delivering pizzas, Cole becomes a security guard at the bank, Zane becomes a chef at a restaurant and Kai is a party entertainer.

While they all work Lloyd and Aria stay at the apartment training or slacking off eating candy and playing games. The ninja's jobs end up being so difficult that when they return home, they're too tired to train Lloyd and Aria, not to mention they are still nowhere close to making rent.

"my feet hurt" Cole complained as Lloyd brought him over a bucket of ice water for him to put his feet in "thanks kiddo"

"What about Lloyd's training?" Aria asked

"What about Aria's?" Lloyd added

"We'll get to your guy's training after rent" Kai answered

"yeah right" Aria mumbled

The next day the ninjas all left for work, leaving Lloyd and Aria at the apartment. Aria made breakfast and read a book. Later that day Lloyd and Aria sat on the couch playing video games together.

"I win" Aria cheered and Lloyd shook his head

"So purple ninja right?" Lloyd asked

"yeah, I haven't unlocked my powers yet" Aria answered

"I wonder what your elemental power is" Lloyd said

"I don't know, I never thought about it" Aria replied

"maybe sound" Lloyd said

"or wind" Aria said

"or gravity" Lloyd said

"or amber" Aria said

"or maybe even music" Lloyd said and Aria laughed

"what? your a good singer" Lloyd shrugged

"We'll see, only time will tell" Aria said

They heard glass shatter and they turned to see Skales breaking in through the window. Lloyd and Aria run to the door, it's locked and they can't unlock it.

They heard the door nob jiggle followed by Wu and Nya's voices "Lloyd, Aria"

-

The Ninja run into the apartment to find it empty.

"We shouldn't have taken those jobs" Cole said frustrated

"we should've looked out for them" Zane added

"Now they're gone" Jay said sadly

"yeah after everything losing Lloyd was the greatest loss" Kai admitted

They turned to see Master Wu and Nya appearing in the doorway with Lloyd and Aria. They all ran over and hugged the two.

"I can't breathe" Aria complained

The ninja stepped back and looked at the two.

"we're sorry guys" Zane said

"yeah we all are" Jay said rubbing his neck

"we don't need all of this fancy stuff, we only need each other" Kai said

The ninja move to the crowded apartment they were first shown so they wouldn't be distracted and could train Lloyd.

"What happened to Skales?" Kai asked

"jail" Wu simply replied

"It was funny, he kept screaming all the way there" Aria laughed recalling the event

Kai smiled "you know Aria I think you're starting to enjoy life with us"

"I am not" Aria stopped laughing and turned her head "I simply enjoy being with Lloyd"

Jay laughed "whatever you say princess"