Cheers erupt all over the city as the Great Devourer explodes into a pile of stomach acid. The team and I all breathe sighs of relief and sink to the floor, finally able to rest... until we realize someone's missing.
"Hey, where's Garmadon?" Jay asks.
"He... left," Lloyd whispers. I pat his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, but I don't think it helps.
"Argh, we should have known not to trust him," Kai says. "He probably made off with the golden weapons the first chance he got!"
"We didn't have a choice, remember?" Nya says. "Besides, what's done is done."
"She's right," Zane says. "We can't do anything about it now, so maybe we should start worrying about where we're going to stay, considering that the bounty's been destroyed."
"Right," I say. "And in the meantime, while we look for a new home, we might as well help clean up the damage the devourer did."
The other ninja start walking down the sidewalk, a hopeful demeanour present between them. Sensei stays behind for a few extra moments, stroking that long white beard of his.
"What's the matter?" I ask him. "Everything okay?"
"Yes, but I fear it won't be for long," he says. "My brother now possesses the golden weapons; who knows what he'll do with them first?"
Weeks Later...
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" I scream, being chased by a bunch of pirates. Well, that's one thing I can cross off my bucket list.
Destiny's Bounty is up and running again, but it's been taken over by Captain Soto's pirate crew. We have no idea where they came from; we only know that Soto used to own the ship many centuries and now he wants it back.
"Y/n! What are you doing?!" Kai yells from on top of a building, watching me run for my life on the streets.
"What does it look like?!"
"Damn it, y/n," Cole shouts, jumping down to help me. Or at least, that's what I thought he was going to do. Instead, he just runs along with me. "Don't tell me all that time spent training you was for nothing!"
I groan. "It's not my fault I have stubby legs!"
"Stubby legs or not, you've got a brain attached to your body," Cole says as he lifts me above his head. "Time to use it!"
"Cole! What the f*** do you think you're doing?!"
"Where did you learn that word?!"
"From you, duh. Put me down!"
Cole tosses me towards the pirates. I shriek, and put my hands out as I fall, summoning as much power as I can. A wave of y/e radiates from me, knocking down all the pirates, and allowing me to tumble onto the pavement unscathed.
"Yowza!" I hear, and turn to see Jay dodge the anchor attached to Destiny's Bounty, which is being dragged across the roads we only just repaired earlier this week. As the anchor passes me, I see Kai holding onto the chain for dear life.
"Should we help him?" I ask Cole, unable to avert my gaze.
"I don't know... I kind of want to see how this ends."
"Cole!"
"Okay, okay, fine."
...
The next thirty minutes fly by as we rescue Kai from the anchor and gather the team in the place we're staying temporarily. It's a really ugly townhome that's slowly falling apart, but it's all we can afford right now. There's not much in here that even belongs to us; just our clothes, and the pile of Starfarer comics that Lloyd and I have been reading together. We're currently halfway through issue 27.
"I have two questions," Jay says, his voice an octave higher than normal. "Firstly, where did those pirates come from, and secondly, how do they have our ship when we saw it get destroyed by the Great Devourer?"
"Something tells me Garmadon might have something to do with this," Cole says.
Lloyd raises an eyebrow. "I don't think my father has the ability to raise pirates from the dead."
"Maybe not on his own," Sensei says. "But with the help of the golden weapons... anything is possible."
"So what are we going to do?" I ask. "We can't leave the bounty in the hands of those scallywags."
Jay laughs mischievously, and pulls a coupon out of his pocket. "I think I may have an idea."
...
Long story short, we end up back on the bounty, ready to kick some pirate booty.
Ha, ha. Puns.
Thanks to Jay's fantastic idea to use Halloween costumes, we sneak onto the flying ship looking like we're a part of the crew, and not their opponents. We shuffle on board slowly, trying not to attract any attention.
"What's the plan, guys?" Lloyd asks, popping up between me and Kai.
Kai covers the little dude's mouth. "Lloyd! We told you to stay with Sensei!"
"But I wanna help!"
"You're not ready yet!" Zane hisses. "Now be quiet before the pirates hear us!"
"Heyyyyy, wait a minute," one of the crew members say. "You're not one of us... you're those pyjama people!"
"Forget stealth!" Cole says, prepping his fists. "Let's get our ship back!"
Cole, Zane, Kai, and Jay attack the pirates using Spinjitzu, but I'm still not very good at it, so instead I knock out the nearest crew member with a roundhouse kick. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Captain Soto sneaking up behind Lloyd.
Before I can yell at him to look out, Soto picks up Lloyd by the fabric of his gi.
"You don't belong here, little one," the captain seethes.
"Sure I do!" Lloyd says while he squirms. "I'm just as cool as the rest of my friends! Ninjaaaaaaaaaa... go!"
I scoff and roll my eyes. I have always found the ninja's war cry to be a bit ridiculous, and Lloyd's is the most cringey by far.
"Whoa, Spinjitzu! I just did Spinjitzu," Lloyd brags, as his little green tornado wears off.
I can't help but be a little jealous that Spinjitzu comes so naturally to him, but my frustration is short-lived; I double over in laughter as a pirate dressed in red—no wait, that's Kai—shoves a barrel over Lloyd's head.
"Y/n! This isn't time for fun and games!" Jay cries, fighting off a pirate.
I make a face at him. "You're one to talk."
Garmadon emerges from the inner quarters of the ship, wearing a nightcap and a bathrobe. In one hand, he's wielding a big shiny staff the same colour as the golden weapons, and in the other, he's got a cup of coffee.
"The ninja are here??" Garmadon asks, utter disbelief plastered on his face. "Soto! Why didn't you tell me?!"
"RAHHHHHHH!" Kai screams, jumping on top of the villain.
Garmadon drops his coffee and tries to wrestle Kai off his head. "Get off me, you incompetent fireball!"
Although we're outnumbered, we've had far more combat training than the pirates, and the fact that Garmadon just woke up from a nap works in our favour, so the battle doesn't last much longer. Zane kicks our last opponent off the ship, and as the pirate joins his crew mates in the ocean below, I slump over the railing of the bounty, exhausted.
"What a day, eh?" Jay asks the group, elbowing Kai.
"Did you see me use my powers?" Lloyd asks like a little kid who just wiped his own ass for the first time. "I was awesome!"
"Yes, but you still can't control them yet, so be careful," Zane warns.
"Yeah, yeah," Lloyd says, not really listening. He pulls out a comic book from his pocket. "Come on y/n; we have a a Starfarer issue to finish."
As he takes my hand and drags me downstairs, I see Cole mouth "great work today." Zane nods approvingly, and Jay gives me a thumbs up. I smile, glad that they're proud of me.
Lloyd and I climb up onto his bed and eagerly flip to page 30. I glance around our room, so happy to have our home back.