Song Quote: I'll Keep You Safe
"I'll keep you safe in these arms of mine
Hold on to me, pretty baby, and
You'll see I can be all you need"
~~~
Ninja's Pov:
The sun peaked through the blinds dimly lighting the room. Sensei Wu burst through the room banging a mallet onto a gong disturbing his pupils extra sleep.
"Evil doesn't sleep and neither should you!" He shouts earning groans from them adding in more of his wisdom. "In order to reach your full potential, we must greet every day as an opportunity."
Kai let out a groan tossing the covers over as he got out of his bed on the top bunk.
"Okay, okay we're up" he growled with a yawn. "But if you want us to reach our full potential shouldn't we get at least a full night of rest?" He complained while opening the blinds.
He only let out a disheartened sigh when they fell apart onto the floor.
"Ugh, you call that rest? I think my back has more lumps than the mattress" Cole replied as he stretched the muscles in his back. With each movement he made a popping sound.
Jay walked over to the small bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. He stretched his arms grabbing his toothbrush as he got ready for the day.
"We were up so late talking about how cool it is to have a new headquarters I guess we lost track of time" Jay replied attempting to turn on the water.
Only sand poured out from the faucet onto his electric toothbrush. "Since the Serpentine burned down the monastery, I'm just glad we have a roof over our heads- - Ack!" He choked on the sand coughing it up.
Zane, still in a sleepy state, did some morning stretches completely at ease. "What is our lesson today sensei? Mastering the strike of the scorpion? Or perhaps the grace of a- -" he questioned his Sensei but fell through the brittle floorboards.
"I think today's lesson will be chores" Sensei Wu replies gesturing to the room that was very much in need of repairs.
"Chores?!" The ninja whine together in sync.
"Ninja fight sensei, they do not clean" the earth ninja argued crossing his arms in distaste.
"In order to respect ourselves, we must respect our new home and where we are from." Wu replied continuing. "And this place is a long way from becoming a ninja headquarters. I expect it to be spotless when I return and put your backs into it" he stood by the door and hit the gong once more leaving the ninja to the tasks ahead.
~~~
Later on Sensei Wu, alongside Nya headed to the living room to check up on them. When they opened the door they found the four playing videogames but the room was completely spotless.
"What took you so long?" Kai asked turning away from the game with a smirk on his face.
"Wow! This place looks amazing. You guys did all this?" Nya asked looking around with surprise.
Cole turned towards the girl with his own smirk "Ninja don't just fight Nya, we clean."
"Oh. You have exceeded my expectations, but can you keep it up" Sensei Wu pondered aloud to his students.
There was a loud honk echoing outside the window. When the girl in red went to look outside to investigate seeing a vehicle coming in their direction.
She turns to the others informing them "It looks like we're about to have some visitors, and loud ones at that."
"Oh, it's my parents" Jay hummed "Please if they start yapping just don't get them going okay? They don't know when to quit. If you start taking then they'll start talking and suddenly half the day is gone- -" Jay jabbered on but Kai interrupted.
"We get it. They talk a lot. The cherry doesn't fall far from the blossom" Kai replied muttering the last part with Jay sending him a small glare.
Everyone went up to the deck to go greet Jay's family. The blue ninja walked out to greet them "Hey! Mom and Dad what are you doing here?" He whispered rather unpleasantly.
"Oh look it's my baby boy! It's been so long since we've heard from you" Edna exclaims from the vehicle so happy to see her son.
"Ma, I called you two days ago" Jay replied as his parents exited the car.
Ed only shrugged "Well, it's not soon enough son, when are you coming out to the junkyard? You say you're coming and then you don't."
"Dad, do we have to talk about the junkyard in front of my friends?" Jay whispered in embarrassment.
"He hates it when we tell people he was born in a junkyard" Edna explained lightheartedly only making her son more embarrassed.
Edna perked up when she noticed Nya. "Oh and who are you? You are so cute, you're just my son's type" Edna gushes complimenting the girl in red.
"Mom..." Jay whined almost pleading that they don't embarrass him in front of his crush.
"It's a pleasure meeting you. I'm sure if you want, Jay can give you the tour. He worked very hard on it" Nya offered the couple much to the blue ninja's dismay.
"We'd love a tour!" They chanted the smiles on their faces growing wider.
~~~
Jay showed his parents around the bounty and each of the freshly cleaned rooms finally leading to the main control room.
"And this is the bridge" he tells them and gestured to the tech that inhabited the room. "This extends into a periscope, This tells us what's going on in ninjago and this... if the serpentine's not giving us the answers we want and we're up all night- - " Jay explains items in the bridge but his parents interrupt him.
"A neuro apparatus to read their minds?" Edna questioned taking a wild guess getting excited.
"An audio appliance to make them talk?" Ed added in as well.
"No, a cappuccino machine" Jay answers and makes himself a cappuccino.
Ed's eyes lit up "Haha! Amazing son! We're so proud of you" he praised wholeheartedly like a good father.
"Why don't you tell them about the button?" Cole asks pointing to a big red button on the control panel.
"Haha it's not ready yet" Jay said as he sent the earth ninja a glare.
"Oooh what's the button?" Edna inquired curiously wanting to know more about what invention her son is up to now.
"He's working on a special defense system" Zane explained to her.
Kai also added in "Something every ninja headquarters needs."
"Oh really? What does it do? Can I help?" Ed offered wanting to take a look into the technology.
"No it's okay, I don't need your help dad, let's just leave it alone" the blue ninja insisted and pretended to check a nearby clock.
"Hey, look at the time don't you need to get back before it gets dark?" Jay started fo push his parents towards the door. "I told you, there's dangerous serpentine out there" he reminded them to stay safe.
"Uh, I suppose we could get back..." Ed agreed a bit saddened to depart from his son's side.
"Edna it was a pleasure hearing about Jay's first potty time" Cole stated a smug smile plastered on his face as he patted the embarrassed blue ninja on the back.
"Oh if you thought that was good, wait until you hear the story about the time I caught him kissing his pillow" Edna replied wanting to dote on her special boy.
"Ugh, snakes. Ma snakes" Jay sighed reminded his parents.
"Okay, okay. We're going, we're going" Edna responded as they were walked out back to their vehicle.
Ed turned on the car just when Edna remembered something. "Oh Jay before I forget, you should meet this sweet girl we met not that long ago! I think you'd like her a lot" she told her son .
"Yeah sounds great Ma, maybe next time I visit" Jay replies but he stopped for a moment. Who did his parents meet? It's possible a total stranger knows of his embarrassing stories. For a moment the blue ninja had that moment of fear.
"So you promise to come to the junkyard and visit your mother and father?" Edna asked as Ed started to back up the vehicle.
"Yes I promise but only if you leave! I don't want you to get hurt. It's getting dark" he fussed but pointed out "Uh, your headlights are working right?"
Ed pressed a button turning on his headlights that blinded the group.
"Heh. Like em? I used a little extra juice. Yep, Bye son I couldn't be more proud!" Ed shouted as they drove away honking the horn.
"And bring Nya with you, I can see why you like her!" Edna shouted only making the blue ninja red with embarrassment.
"Mom!" Jay whisper shouts with his cheeks blushing in embarrassment as the others snickered behind him.
"Now that they left, perhaps Jay can teach us the art of kissing pillows" Sensei Wu states but couldn't suppress a giggle.
~~~
Your Pov:
"(Y/n), my legs hurt from all this walking..." Lloyd whined with exhaustion in his voice as he held your hand.
"Do you wanna rest for the night?" You asked the child as you surveyed the area. It was approaching dusk and Lloyd was insisting on taking you somewhere. He had a map with a destination in mind but he hid it not wanting to tell you yet.
He nodded and both decided to make camp. Taking what little supplies you had you started a small fire in the Sea of Sand.
When you finally got to sit you started rummaging through your bag for anything to eat. Luckily you had a granola bar.
"Here kid it's not much, but better than nothing. It's even coated in chocolate" you told him as he took the food.
"Your voice is clearer, is it healed?" Lloyd asked curiously noticing a change in your tone.
You didn't really notice since you haven't really been that talkative while traveling with this kid.
You cleared your throat before opening and closing it. Sounds came out from the back of your throat
"I guess so?" You replied very clearly but frowned. "Wait I sound like this?" You asked him finding the change very different.
This was afterall the first time you've ever heard your voice so clearly it caught you off guard.
"Yeah, I'm happy we can talk more now" Lloyd replied as he opened the granola wrapper.
You picked at the small fire with a stick tossing more wood in. You felt a poke in your arm and when you turned your head to the boy he held half of the granola bar in his hand.
"You haven't been eating, please have some" He told you with a innocent smile.
"We can grow big and strong together" Lloyd added in with a determined look on his face.
Taken aback you slowly took the half of food from his hand. You took a bite of the food watching the boy from the corner of your eye as he drew in the desert sand.
Scooting yourself closer to block the sandy gusts that would pick up you started drawing in the sand alongside him.
~~~
Ninja's Pov:
Jay was busy working on the defense system when Kai pointed out "We got a lot of junk piling up If only there was a place we could get rid of it."
"If you don't mind, I'm trying to focus" Jay replied looking over his shoulder sending him a glare.
"Hi mom and dad, of course I'd love to visit. What kind of son would I be if I didn't want to?" Cole faked talking on the phone.
Jay gives out a sarcastic laugh before saying "I know what your trying to do. Okay look I might have promised to visit my parents, But there's a lot of stuff on my plate." The blue ninja defended as he tried getting his brothers off his back.
Nya walked in and immediately Jay straightened up getting flustered by her presence. "Heh heh, hi Nya" he greeted softly with a wave wiping the oil from his face.
"You gonna visit your parents today?" The girl in red asked out of curiosity.
"Uh, sure I am. Just about to leave." The words slipped out of his mouth hoping to get her to accompany him.
"Tell them I said hi" Nya replied and left the room while the other three ninja sent him a glare and shook their heads.
"What? So my plate's not that full" Jay shrugged them off and rolled his eyes.
~~~
Jay went out to go grab his dragon he pulled on the reigns but his dragon didn't budge.
"C'mon whisp it'll be a quick visit. Just in and out, Nothing more" he told his dragon.
Sensei Wu walks over while holding a thermometer "Hm, just as I suspected. The dragons are molting. They're shedding their scales" he voiced as he walked over with a thermometer.
"What does that mean?" He asked tilting his head confused.
"Every adolescent dragon goes through a transformation before it becomes an adult" Sensei explained "We must allow them to migrate east to the spirit coves for their transformation."
"Will we see them again?" The blue ninja worried not wanting to say goodbye.
Wu shrugged as the others gathered listening in "It's hard to say. But we need to allow them to follow their path."
"Rocky's going east?" Cole asked upon hearing the conversation.
He walks over to his dragon and hugs the snout of his dragon "Say it isn't so, Rocky" he muttered disheartened.
The ninja each spent some time with their dragons. Petting their snouts and giving their goodbyes.
Jay rubbed the back of his neck as he walked towards Nya "Well I guess I gotta go this looong walk by myself! It would sure be nice to have some company!" He said aloud trying to get Nya to come along.
"Of course we'll go buddy!" Kai answered ready to tease Jay.
"I could use a break!" Cole chipped in with a smug smirk.
"All you had to do was ask" Zane added in as they all agreed to go.
~~~
Up above the ninja watched as their dragons flew off heading to who knows where.
They walked alongside the burning concrete road listening to the soft music played from Sensei Wu's flute.
Cole couldn't take his eyes off the blue sky watching Rocky's form grow farther away following the sun.
"Ah, of all the days to lose our ride..." Jay sighed kicking a pebble as they walked along.
"That flute" Zane pointed out to the one his Sensei played "you've never told us why it is so special."
"Long ago there were many flutes, created to combat the powers of the Serpentine and drive them underground" Wu explained to his pupils "But over time, Ninjago's forgotten its ancestors' wisdom, and now this is the only one."
He finished explaining and began playing it once more in Jay's face hinting at how he's been behaving.
The blue ninja rolled his eyes shrugging past him "I get the lesson. Respect your elders or suffer the consequences. Boy, you guys are laying it on thick."
Wu chuckled "Perhaps you are only heading what you need to hear."
The blue ninja looked up realizing they had just arrived outside the junkyard. He grew tense because the place was unusually silent.
"What is it?" Nya asked as she stood beside him.
Jay listened closely noting "It's quiet." He pulled his hood on running into the junkyard "My family is never quiet."
The others followed behind and the blue ninja heard shouting from an old fridge. He managed to get it open and found his parents inside.
"What happened?! Who did this?" Jay gasped tearing the tape off his parents.
"Sssweetheart, you came!" Edna smiled when she saw he son.
"You gotta get out of here!" Ed warned the group. "You shouldn't have come. It's the sssnakes!"
"The bite of the fangpyre! Once they sink their teeth, their venom can turn anything into a serpent." Sensei Wu explained "It's only a matter of time before the full transformation is complete."
Everyone looked around once they heard the hissing of snakes all around them. A wrecking ball came out from hiding as it glared them down with it's own angry fangs.
Hypnobrai and Fangpyres surrounded the ninja getting ready to attack.
"Uh is that wrecking ball staring at me?" Cole asked as he held his weapon closely.
The operator moved the arm to the side swinging the wrecking ball down upon the group.
Everyone jumped out of the way with Jay pushing his parents to safety.
"If we want to turn your parents back, we need the antivenom from the staff" Nya pointed over to the object in the general's hand.
The wrecking ball came after once again "Second dose coming in!" Shouted Cole and everyone dived to the floor dodging the wrecking ball.
Once the kicked up dirt cloud dispersed both tribes started to close on in.
"A bit easier said than done sister, We're a bit out numbered" Kai hissed evaluating the situation.
Jay had charged into the snakes with a determined look in his eyes shouting "No one messes with my family!"
They all worked together turning the tides of the large brawl. Knocking blue and red snakes out of the way and out of commission.
The snakes were being backed into a corner so they bit into a large metal statue Ed was working on for his son.
It sprung to life rumbling the ground with each thundering step it took. The statue loomed over the four colorful ninja shining a metalic green in the light and clutched a pair of large nunchucks.
"What is that thing?" Jay gasped stating right into the glowing red eyes.
"It was supposed to be in your honor son...but do you like it?" Ed replied as he twiddled his fingers.
"Thanks, but no thanks" the blue ninja replied as the large behemoth swung down on top of him.
The four took off running only to be sandwiched between the statue and the wrecking ball.
"Why'd you have to be born in a junkyard?" Cole said aloud.
Jay agreed with him "I know. Tell me about it."
The wrecking ball swung down once more with three of the ninja dodging it easily.
Jay however hitched a ride. He stuck to the ball flying through the air and crashed through the cockpit taking care of the driver.
The blue ninja scratched his head as the control panel was a snake's face. The eyes as buttons and the fangs as the levers.
Going along with it Jay moved the levers in the direction desired shrugging "Let's see if I can work this."
He swung the arm smashing the wrecking ball into the statue putting it out of commission.
Both armies were widdled down in strength taking a tactical retreat escaping from the junkyard.
The two generals escaped via helicopter getting away with the antivenom.
"Right now would be a good time to have those dragons" Jay noted as his feet were planted to the ground while the enemy got away by air travel.
"It'sss okay ssson" Ed patted the blue ninja on the back hissing as his skin turned green growing scales.
"There is still a way" Wu replied not letting his team give up so easily. "Part of reaching your own full potential is understanding your weapon's potential. Once it is in tune with a focused heart, its secrets and powers can be unlocked."
"What? This is not the time to be cryptic" Jay retorted sarcastically.
Zane shook his head explaining to his brothers "He's saying our weapons are vehicles themselves."
"Don't tell me I have to ride this like a broomstick" Kai groaned looking at the sharp blade of his sword.
"Jay, concentrate on unlocking your golden weapon" Sensei instructed "Let your heart guide you. Imagine you're taking flight."
Taking a deep breath the blue ninja closed his eyes blocking out the noise of his surroundings. He focused his mind and heartbeat together as his golden weapon burst into lightning transforming into a blue jet.
"Whoa! Haha! Did I just do that?!" He gasped opening his eyes to his new ride.
The ninja followed suit transforming their own weapons into their own vehicles to ride.
Jay took off riding into the sky pursuing the helicopter that dared to get away.
After a turn of events of the blue ninja missing the helicopter by passing it and hitting the wrong button he got his hands on the staff.
But in return he lost his focus making his jet disappear returning back into his nunchucks.
"Jay you have to concentrate!" Kai shouted to him as he tried catching the blue ninja.
"I can't!" He cried falling towards the sand below.
The three on the ground struggled to guess where he would fall in turn making them lose their focus as well.
Luckily though the blue ninja was caught by Nya who drove his parents car.
Everyone needed to get back to the bounty as the armies were coming after them to get the staff back.
~~~
Back home at the bounty everyone rushed inside to their designated stations preparing for what's to come.
"Come with me, once we reverse the venom, we can fix you" Nya explained to the couple rushing inside before their transformation is complete.
Inside she poured the antivenom into two cups and served it to the couple.
Once they took the antidote it worked instantly. Scales turning back to silky skin as the green faded away.
When the button didn't work like Jay intended he let his father have a look. Thanks to Ed he got it working and the ship became airborne flying off and eluded the serpentine.
~~~
Later on once everything was settled Jay headed to the upper deck to check on his family.
"We'll get you back to the Junkyard just as soon as the coast is clear" he told them smiling appreciatively "But stay as long as you like, it's nice having you here."
"Oh, take a note Edna, Of all our greatest inventions, this one is our greatest!" Ed chanted proudly as he held his sons shoulder.
"I already know dear" Edna replied with endearment as they closed the gap with a group family hug.
Sensei Wu watched from nearby smiling as he thought of his own family. It was a sad one though.
He remembered the good memories alongside the bad thinking of where those he loved are now.
He sighed taking out a picture of his nephew wondering where the boy could be now.
~~~
Your Pov:
"Where did you lead us?" You asked the small boy as you stood outside a structure of a fang amongst some rocks.
You internally thought that you should have brought the kid to a village instead. Maybe get some food and sleep under a real roof.
"This is where we'll get more power" Lloyd replied gesturing to the sealed door giving you a sweet evil laugh.
You weren't sure why but when you looked at the door you couldn't help but get the feeling that this child was about to stick his hand somewhere that he will get bit.
~~~
Author Edit: September 7th 2020
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