𝐌𝐎𝐊𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐑
In the morning, at Grand Sensei Dareth's Mojo Dojo, during the middle of a training session, we found ourselves all surrounding a blindfolded Lloyd, weapons in our hands.
"Don't rely on your eyes. Use your ears." Cole tells the blonde in the center. He sends us a collective glare, sending us a single nod as a signal.
We position ourselves, raising our armaments as we're getting ready and slowly creeping towards Lloyd, who rotates his body — trying to locate our different places.
Dareth peaks through the bread curtain. "Uh, guys, I'm teaching a class later so I'd appreciate a clean dojo."
Not even at the end of the sentence, we strike our weapons at Lloyd. The Green Ninja kicks one of Zane's shurikens out of his hand, dodges my kusarigama that hits the bleach blonde, knocking the nindroid back, grabs Cole's scythe and uses it to block a strike from Kai's sword. Lloyd then uses the scythe to spin, kicking us away from him.
Cole backs away onto Dareth, letting out a huff at the impact before rejoining the fight and goes to tackle the Green Ninja but Lloyd leaps into the air, avoiding Kai and mine's attacks, our two weapons getting stuck together. Lloyd then kicks Jay into Dareth's collection of fake trophies, some dropping from their shelves.
This earns a gasp from the 'Grand Sensei' , who rushes to his cabinet. "Ah! No, no, no! No, no, no! No! No, no, no." He drops the trophies that he was picking up and dashes to a window before opening it to prevent it from being broken by Jay, who had gotten back on his feet to charge at Lloyd, but ends up being sent flying by Lloyd.
My brother screams as he flies out. Once his back hits the ground of the exterior, Dareth closes the window before seeing Lloyd use his fire powers, setting a small patch of carpet on fire with a green flame. Dareth screams before rushing over to the patch and quickly stomps on it, mumbling the word; 'no' again and again.
I hear the sound of knocking against the window, probably my brother asking to let him in as he could easily pass by the door. The logic of my brother sometimes is concerning.
I snicker before opening the window and helping Jay get inside. "Could have used the door, you know?" I murmur while we return to the fight as I head over to Kai to help untangle my kusarigama from his sword.
Suddenly, the ground underneath our feet begins to rumble, taking all of us by surprise. We all lose our balances, gripping on the person closest to us — which in my case, was Kai.
"Stop the training! Turn the TV on!" Zane exclaims while walking to the TV.
The hothead and I let go of each other as we regain our balance before joining the tall blonde and pulling our hoods down. A few students of Dareth's Dojo along with Wu and Misako join the place, all mustering around the television.
"NGTV reporter Gayle Gossip on the scene of what appears to be an earthquake rocking the city of Ninjago. But it's an earthquake like no other, as scientists have yet to pinpoint the cause. And more frightening still, the aftershocks are getting stronger."
"What do you think this could be?" Cole asks as the ground starts shaking once again.
Kai crosses his arms and stares at the screen before looking back at us. "Wouldn't be surprised if it was Garmadon. We haven't seen him for a while."
"He would never." Misako steps in. "Lloyd's father is evil, but he would never do anything to put his son in harm's way."
I put my hands behind my head. "But that wouldn't stop him from putting others in danger."
"Misako's right." Sensei Wu joins her side. "He only tried to thwart his training. This is something else."
"But what is it?" Jay speaks up.
Zane lets out a whistle, calling the Falcon, who lands on his arm. "My friend, be my eyes and look for danger in the streets from above." He tells his mechanical friend as he opens the window, letting the bird fly outside.
✴
Screams, yells, everywhere.
A real cacophony all around the streets of Ninjago City, each coming from citizens due to violent earthquakes that kept going more and more.
"Help! Help me!" I hear a woman yell out in a sob. My ears pick up the sounds of a dog's barks in the distance.
The noise leads us to a huge crevice, where the screams were emerging from.
"Ninja to the rescue! Go!" Lloyd yelps, signaling me to catch up to him. We dash towards the long pit, jumping one behind the other to make a human ladder.
"Go!" I shout, my hands gripping tightly onto the Green Ninja's feet — holding him as he extends his arms in hopes to reach the panicked gal.
"Go!" Zane follows right after me, grasping my feet to prevent me from falling.
"Go!" Kai joins, his hands clinging onto the White Ninja's ankles.
"Go!" Then here goes Jay, following our gestures as he was being held by Cole, who was the base, the one that was holding all of us.
Lloyd grunts as he stretches his hands to meet the woman's. "Few more inches, guys!"
I hear the dog whimpering to Cole, who's doing his best to support all of us. "Appreciate the support, doggy." Another chunk of the ground falls. The ravenette quickly hops onto the more stable ground after the Green Ninja succeeds to grab the woman's hands. "Ugh. Could have thought this plan through a little more!" The canine continues to bark at him. "No more help, please!"
He starts to pull us back up slowly, groaning all the way. Once we're all out of the crevice, Cole lets go along with us, falling backwards as he lets out a relieved huff. Everyone, except the Black Ninja, gets off from the ground.
The woman turns her head to the chosen one. "Oh, thank you!"
The blonde gives her a nod. "No sweat."
Cole catches his breath, still being on the floor. "Speak for yourself, I did all the work." He complains as the dog pounces on him, causing him to let out, "Oof."
The puppy hops towards the woman, ending up in her arms as she embraces it tightly. I walk towards the ravenette, holding my hand to him as an offer to help him get up. "Seems rather familiar, don't you think?"
He lets out a faint, playful scoff as I could swear that he has a smile underneath his mask. "Do I?" He grabs my hand, standing back on his feet.
"These things keep coming with no warning!" Kai screeches, throwing his arms in the air.
I observe two elderly people sprinting towards us — them being Sensei Wu and Misako, who has a scroll in her hands.
"That's it! A warning." She exclaims as she stops running, getting right next to the hothead and opening the parchment in her hands. "The scrolls said the earthquakes would be a warning. A warning for something far worse to come." She explains as she rolled the papyrus open on the hood of a random car.
My brother steps in. "Far worse? What could be far worse?"
"Misako, the indestructible Stone Warrior we fought yesterday, where did you find him?" Cole questions, joining the conversation as I follow him by his side.
"He was buried under the city." She responds, her gaze diverting at all of us.
"You don't think there's more, do you?" Jay asks the woman in a hurry.
"Most likely." I answer, causing him to turn his head to me as he lets out a worried whimper.
"Be on guard, ninja." Wu speaks up. "We must be ready for whatever comes our way."
The ground begins to rumble once again, more violently this time — intense enough to make us lose our balance. We quickly regain our equilibrium — screams still ringing in our ears as the citizens still are running around in panic. Another sound joins the yells, a loud cracking noise — as if someone were breaking stones or bricks. We position ourselves in a circle, looking around to search where the sounds are coming from.
"Sensei, it's as we feared." Zane's voice arises from behind. "Another Stone Samurai Warrior is loose on the streets." He explains as a Stone Warrior's hand breaks through from underground between us. We all scream due to being startled. More hands appear from the floor, a slit cracking in the concrete.
"No. No." Kai murmurs, shaking his head in disbelief.
"No. No!" Jay cries out as some Stone Warriors run out of an alleyway.
"Ninja! We're under attack!" Wu shouts.
We all fight our way back to Dareth's dojo. The warriors wouldn't give up and seemed very difficult to stop. Only Lloyd was able to slow them down. We trail our gazes, only to see Dareth holding a camera and Gayle being held up by a warrior. Zane swoops in and kicks the warrior out and holds the reporter in a bridal style. The rest of us, except Lloyd, Misako and Wu, join our friend.
"You seem in need of assistance." The White Ninja says while putting her down.
Gayle calms her beating heart from the scare before looking up at him. "Thanks, Mr. Ninja."
"Stay strong. Show no weakness." Cole tells while narrowing his gaze on the incoming warriors.
We place ourselves into a fighting posture as we wait for them to strike in.
Lloyd, Misako, and Wu come by with the Ultra Sonic Raider and push all the stone warriors out of the way.
"Well, that's one way to make an entrance." I comment, pointing at the vehicle.
Wu hops out of the vehicle with Misako while Lloyd was in the driver's seat. "We have to protect the people. Gather as many as you can and get them to our evacuation point."
"We've got problems with that evacuation point, guys. I can't find a safe place to land!" I hear Nya exclaim from the huge tank.
Gayle rushes to Sensei Wu. "The NGTV office building has a helipad on the roof." She suggests while pointing to the building.
Wu nods as we disperse ourselves all around, ready to attack the army that is walking our way. "Yes. Higher ground. Lloyd, tell Nya to head there."
"Citizens of Ninjago who have yet to evacuate the city, head to the NGTV building rooftop. Our heroic ninja will evacuate you from there! But hurry. We're running out of time." I hear the reporter tell the camera in front of her.
"Uh-oh. There are more of them." Lloyd says worriedly. They come closer until a loud thud gets heard from behind, making me look over my shoulder — only to see several Stone Warriors on the floor and the Ultra Dragon right on them. "Yeah! Ha ha!"
The creature hops back in the sky — my eyes following — flying above us as the dragon lands right between the army and us. Letting out a roar, the army screeches at the beast, swinging their weapons in the air.
Wu turns to his nephew. "Lloyd, did you practice your Elemental Quakes?"
The green figure chuckles. "Who needs to practice, when you're a natural?" He hops out of the Raider and jumps in front of us before punching the ground, creating a barricade between the team and the Stone Warriors.
The ninja, Misako, and Wu get on the Raider while Gayle takes the wheel with Dareth in the back seat.
"Thanks, boy. Now see if you can help us find a way out of here." Lloyd jumps on the Raider and the Ultra Dragon freezes the wall, causing the warriors to become a sort of ramp.
The dragon jumps in the air, flying above us as the rest of us follow, but from underneath the creature. We drive forward, heading in the direction of the structure previously mentioned.
The team finally reaches the NGTV building, seeing the citizens that weren't able to leave the city entering the building. We hop out of the Ultra Sonic Raider and are the last ones entering the building.
"Barricade the doors!" Cole exclaims, pointing at the entrance.
We look around, each of us finding some kind of furniture — in my case, a shelf filled with all kinds of small optical disks containing either recorded music or data from a computer — only to place them in front of the entré, blocking the passage to gain us time and safety.
Once the access for the exterior gets completely covered by appointments, Zane and I direct the citizens towards the start of a dozens of stairs that seem to be endless. "Now we head to the stairwell."
Cole, Zane and I stay back a bit waiting until everyone else has gone up before us, making sure no one is left behind.
"Stairs?" Dareth gasps while looking up to the many flights of stairs circled around a chandelier he will have to climb. "It's twenty floors. Let's just take the elevator, guys" Dareth replies as he starts to press the button to slide the doors open.
"It's unwise to take the elevator during an emergency, Dareth." The White Ninja advises.
Dareth shrugs him off and patiently waits for the elevator to get here. "Well, I think I'll take my chances."
"Good luck. Hope you make it out alive and not get stuck." I wave nonchalantly at Dareth before running up the stairs.
While walking up the steps, my ears pick up the sound of a ding, followed by a yell(from the one and only Dareth). "Okay, stairs it is! Let's get climbing, everybody!" He shouts, the noises of several footsteps behind, leaving the conclusion that he is running along with Cole and Zane. I see him rush past me, earning a glance with a raised brow.
Dareth is certainly a unique character.
Speaking of the devil, I turn my head back forward and observe him slowing more and more down — to the point where the three of us, ninja, succeed to catch up to him. He pants heavily, completely stopping in his tracks.
"I swear this guy is something else." I murmur to myself as I slow my run.
I rotate my head to look behind, seeing the brunette with his arm raised in the air. "Guys, I need to rest!" He breathes out, sitting down on a step.
If I have to drag him upstairs myself, I will.
As I start to make my way towards him, he lets out a screech, immediately standing up and begins to sprint upwards once again, passing by me. He yells something that I couldn't quite understand, but hey, beats me.
I raise my head a little, seeing some Stone Warriors starting to make their way up the stairs. I blink twice, "Yeah, no." I comment, starting to rush upwards. I manage to catch up to Kai and Zane as the others were already far ahead of us. "Heyyyy.." I begin, trailing the y. They turn their heads to me as I point backwards. "We got a wee, itty-bitty problem right behind us."
As soon as we get at the very top of the stairs, Zane speaks up to Jay, Lloyd and Cole. "We must buy time for our getaway."
We nod and use Spinjitzu to travel on the railing to go to different levels on the staircase. "Ninja, go!"
Cole punches a Warrior that falls back and knocks a couple of statues down like dominoes. Zane and Kai then use Spinjitzu to knock them off the staircase.
Below that level, Lloyd uses the elemental power of lightning and creates a green energy ball that he then fires at Warriors that are heading towards him, Jay, and I "Lightning up!" Seeing them out of it, The three of us push them down. Lloyd smirks. "Not so tough." But the Warriors get up with no problem. "Whoa. So tough."
"Let's hope we bought enough time." Zane tells us before we meet up with the rest of the crowd on the roof.
"Where's the Bounty?" I hear Dareth ask.
"Look!" Misako exclaims as she points to the Bounty sailing our way. Everyone cheers while Nya lands the ship.
"Hurry, they're coming!" Lloyd yelps.
Cole and Kai board the ship first to help the civilians get on while the rest of us direct them where to go and order the crowd to get in single file lines to get on, calming the crowd and making sure there are no complications.
My ears pick up the sound of Misako's voice, who's saying something about her research. I look over my shoulder, seeing Lloyd trying to persuade his mother to stay in safety. She plants a kiss onto Lloyd's forehead before sprinting back in the building and leaving the green figure to stand there — his shoulder dropped along with his head.
I make my way towards the blonde, placing a hand on his back. He turns his gaze to me as I stroke his back up and down. "She's going to be okay, I'm sure of it."
He doesn't react nor say anything and gives me a nod. I direct him onto the Bounty, staying by his side. We arrive on the deck, removing the ramp that we used to put the citizens on the flying ship. My ears pick up the sounds of growling over the side of the bounty.
Lloyd, who seems to also have heard the noise, looks over the railing and his eyes widen. I join him, only to see the Stone Warriors have made it to the rooftop and are charging at us. "They just keep coming!"
"Go, go!" Cole urges the last group into the bottom deck.
I hear some Stone Warriors beating up something — which is one of the boosters.
"Oh no. This is bad! We have everyone? We've gotta get out of here. Our only remaining booster won't last much longer!" Nya exclaims over the comm.
"We have to wait for my mom!" Lloyd says, trying to keep Nya from getting away. I notice Wu furrowing his brows as his face grows in worry. He jumps off and beats the warriors that are trying to get on board as he makes his way inside the building. "Sensei!"
The old man looks back at us as the Bounty begins to float. My brows furrow as I watch in the distance, seeing him disappear in the structure. Zane goes to the bridge as I follow right after him. The bounty circles the NGTV building, trying to find where Wu and Misako are through the glass windows.
The tall blonde and I spot something — an opened window up ahead with Misako and our Sensei in the room, fighting off multiple Stone Warriors. We realize that there are too many and see Wu and Misako getting ready to jump.
"Nya, descend." He tells her. Nya turns her head to him, a confused expression on her face. "Do it now!"
The ravenette nods, listening to him this time as we find the two elderly people jumping out of the window. Nya swoops in and they land safely on the ship. I leave the bridge to go see if they are alright — which they are. Wu's hat flies off and a picture hovers away.
It must've been important to him.
Misako grabs the hat of our mentor, giving it back while mumbling something to him. I walk down to the deck, pulling off my hood. We look over the railing to see in our horror the chaos and destruction happening to the city.
The Stone Warriors have taken over Ninjago City.
I feel something creep up on my hand, taking me out of my trance. I trail my eyes down, seeing Cole's hand on mine. The corners of my lips curve up ever so slightly as a warm feeling appears in my chest. I move my head to the side, resting it on the ravenette's shoulder as the boy beside me also tilts his head, his cheek touching the top of my head. We all watch the scene that is happening underneath the ship, a bad sensation overwhelming us.