#ninjago: ripple effect

[alexusprime]

hey guys it’s been… a hot minute since I posted on here. With that being said I’m back with a new au, Ninjago: Ripple Effect.

Doodled the main girlies for you guys

Meira Kaji (Left) and Blair Delways (Right). You’ll see a lot more of them soon enough !

[tarditzgrade]

chat i write the fanfiction about the ice guy. no not the robot, the old one

two chapters. around 4,546 words. :)

full fic under cut if you dont wanna bother with ao3

"The cold bit his fingers, threatening to loosen his grip on his staff. The frost clung to his face and beard, obscuring his vision. The frigid air broke through his clothing and chilled his skin directly, staggering his breathing and slowing his movements dramatically. He cursed at it. What was this bitter element’s role in Creation?" The Elemental Master of Ice has too many questions to answer and not enough time. Even his own element seems to want to kill him, but he must find answers, and a successor, before he passes.

The hail battered his body, stinging with every impact.

The cold bit his fingers, threatening to loosen his grip on his staff.

The snow fell under his feet, never telling how far beneath the surface a step would sink.

How humbling. His own element working against him.

He did not have to be out in this horrendous blizzard. He could’ve been sitting back in the monastery, cozied up inside where it was warm and comforting and he could spend the final days of his life in peace.

But something called him out here. Something he couldn’t quite understand.

The frost clung to his face and beard, obscuring his vision.

The frigid air broke through his clothing and chilled his skin directly, staggering his breathing and slowing his movements dramatically.

His foot snagged an obstacle hidden in the piles of snow and he fell down.

The snow continued to fall upon the Elemental Master of Ice as he laid there and the harsh effects of the cold rippled throughout his body, rapidly shutting down his will to do anything.

He cursed at it. What was this bitter element’s role in Creation?

A question he had asked himself since he first mastered it. There was no doubt what the others were there for.

Fire provided warmth and heat, something every living being needed to sustain itself and the very movement of atoms. It provided light and guidance, used for cooking, smithing, or simply a place to gather around and socialize. Fire aided life.

Lightning would’ve been better known as electricity, a current that coursed through the nerves of every organism. It provided thought and power. Electricity kept wheels turning, gears moving, and people going.

Earth was a foundation. It supported all, buildings, trees, even the ocean would crash into the core of the planet if it wasn’t for the ground everything stood on. It provided shelter and materials used to create. The earth offered protection.

But what could ice do? Sure, it was a form of support, but a very fragile one and never reliable for long. It negated the effects of fire’s warmth, leaving people to sit still to conserve whatever little warmth they could provide themselves. The coldness it brought overwhelmed a person, left them numb, and robbed them of all will and thought besides one:

That they were cold. Very, very cold.

But he, of all people, should not succumb so easily to such feelings and shortcomings. 

He was the Master of this horrid element.

But was he? Here, lying in the cold, desolate snow. Unmoving. Lost.

He should be feeling invigorated in this moment. He once did. At his prime, when he felt like he knew all there was about the element he commanded. He’d truck through the snow and frost without worry, and the ice would give and bend to everything he asked of it.

But his powers were fading now. He was fading. And he did not know the element he could command.

He mustered some of the will that was left in his body into his arm and felt around in the snow for his staff. It stung to do so, the ice meeting his bare palms. It was a sweet, yet minor, relief when his hand found his staff among the snow.

Slowly, he used his staff to help right himself upon his two feet.

Thankful to be standing upright again, the scenery around him still did not change.

The birchwood mixed with the blizzard and created a bleak white as far as he could see with his limited vision. A fleeting glimpse of brown would occasionally appear in the mix, but it would disappear just as quickly. 

It all blurred together to create a nothingness. He might as well have been in the void.

He could not recall which way he had come in this forest or if he had ever taken a turn at all. Senseless in direction, there was nothing left to do but trek on forward.

Step after slow step, he continued to make his way through this hailstorm.

Why did his element fight him? Even if he could not command it anymore, he had heard tales of elements still aiding their former masters if they were still alive to benefit from it.

Flames would retreat from the hands of former Masters of Fire so they did not accidentally burn themselves. Former Masters of Light would find themselves able to see in conditions too dark for an average person. The ears of a former Master of Sound would be able to pick out the lightest of noises in a cacophony.

And he had heard of former Masters of Ice retaining their low-temperature tolerances once their element had passed on from them, unable to parse how cold things truly were.

But cold was all he could feel right now. Cold and rejected.

It seemed like his element wanted to kill him, but for what?

If it was mad at him for being unable to find an heir within his lifetime, then, trust him, it was a sentiment he shared.

Something that had bothered him all his life was that he would never find someone to become the Master of Ice after him.

All of his peers had figured out what to do with their elements, either passing them on to their children, or nephews, or other trusted younger figures in their lives.

But he had always been a more reserved person in his life. He did not have many younger friends, he had no students, and he had never settled down with anyone. Aside from his fellow elemental masters, he hardly made any real connections with anyone in the world, let alone with someone younger.

And now he was paying the price for it.

No, he was not going to let himself die and just let the ice find its own successor. That was perhaps the greatest shame any Elemental Master could undergo, no matter if their death was premature or not.

There was no way in hell he’d find an heir in a hailstorm, though.

Who else would be out here in the worst conditions in the middle of nowhere but him?

Who would subject themselves to such torments?

Or perhaps this was the perfect place to find a successor. Someone who relished in the cold just as he once did would obviously be a wonderful Master of Ice. 

But would they be worthy?

An Element of Creation was not something to be handed off to the first slightly suitable person you find. What if that person had corruption within them? What if that person was destined for evil and darkness? What if the second they were given such powerful abilities, they would turn them against the world and use it for nothing but personal gain?

But did he even have the time to consider such things?

A particularly large chunk of hail struck him across the face and he faltered.

His element was mad at him. It was true.

For never properly showing it appreciation. For never finding a successor in time. For never truly learning its purpose.

More and more hail struck his body. The cold pierced his skin, freezing over his muscles and bones. Perhaps such a hostile element would be suitable with a more morally dubious master.

Maybe the ice called him out here to kill him. Maybe the ice had found a new purpose and was done with its old master. Maybe he was taking too long to die and the ice brought him out here to kill him itself.

He stumbled over another thing hidden in the snow and he halted his pace to gather his bearings.

The wind howled and whipped. The noises in this storm were so monotonous that it became deafening. Nothing changed. Just the repetitive beating of the storm.

The song of the cold. Ever familiar. Ever mystical. Ever maddening.

The nothingness of the noise mixed with the unchanging scenery reminded him of white torture.

Perhaps the goal wasn’t to kill him, but just to drive him mad.

The buffet of the snow and the pain and exhaustion coursing through his body felt more welcoming now, as they were the only things reminding him he was still alive.

How? How did he ever find something like this so good?

Sure, every element could be destructive, but it felt to him that ice was destructive by nature.

Ironic for an element of Creation.

Thump.

A new noise broke through the storm.

Thump. 

Thump.

Thump. Crack.

The sound of repeated striking.

Thump. Crack.

Thump. Crack.

He couldn’t tell where it came from.

CRRRRRACK.

A crack louder than the rest.

Something split. A tree, most likely. 

Odd. These winds were strong, yes, but these trees were thick and their roots held fast. It was impossible for the storm itself to sway one of them, let alone tip one over.

Creeaak.

Something shifted in the storm. A large birchwood trunk fell, plummeting down towards him.

It took every ounce of strength, will, and energy left in him, but he managed to leap to the side to narrowly avoid the giant birch.

Something within him decided to live. Something within him still needed to learn, to know what the purpose of his element was, why it brought him out here in particular.

But now, lying face up in the snow, he didn’t think he’d ever get to know.

He felt senseless, weak, and lost. So many things demanded his attention and he could give thought to none of them. Alone in a blizzard with nothing but the cold, here to take him in his final moments. Maybe that’s how it was intended to be.

He lived by his element and he would die by his element.

The ice drained the last bits of life from his body, until at last the meager strength in his eyelids began to wane.

Fluttering between open and shut, the monotony of the storm didn’t change as he looked up. White and gray, as far as he could see.

Maybe this was what death looked like for someone who never found purpose.

…

There was a new color in the sky.

Blue.

Two bright dots of blue pierced through the unchanging grays.

A higher power coming to save him?

He couldn’t care.

The Elemental Master of Ice succumbed to the cold and let his eyes rest.

End of Chapter 1

Warmth. 

It was warm.

It was comforting.

It was welcoming.

It was…wrong.

It was wrong. He should not be feeling warm right now. He should not be taking comfort in this.

He was supposed to be in the cold. He was supposed to relish in the lack of warmth.

He could not find the answer to his many, many questions by staying so far away from the element he called his own.

But despite his supposed nature, his mastery over an entire element, he was still but a human and subject to the human desire to stay warm.

So he did not shove off the blanket he found himself under and succumbed to warmth as he opened his eyes.

He was not dead. Unless the Departed Realm took on the form of a messy workshop, he was still among the living.

Steel pipes and a winding staircase lined metal walls. Blueprints detailing all kinds of mechanics and shelves stocked full of various tools decorated these walls as well.

The floor had its messes, too. A few tiny things, like screws, gears, nuts, and bolts, had been left lying about the ground. Larger things, such as hammers, spools, and buckets, had at least been kicked to the side or put up on a table.

His own staff had been placed to the side as well, in its own corner away from all the messes.

Incomplete inventions caught his eye. Something in the shape of a bird sat dormant on one of the tables, with a wind-up key in its back. A box on wheels had its gears sticking out. An automaton resembling a cat sat tucked away underneath a table.

A light whistling filled his ears.

He saw a man, turned away from him, hunched over a desk, working on something out of view.

The whistler wore a white coat and his gray, nearing silver, hair moved up and down as he worked away on his project.

The tinkerer must’ve been enamored with his work, as he didn’t hear the Master of Ice stir.

But the Master of Ice had greater things to do than lie in a workshop, safe and warm under some nice stranger’s covers.

He had questions to answer, purpose to discover, and an heir to find, and he did not have long.

He began to gather the strength to move away from this bed, only to be overrun by a sudden coughing fit.

It seemed he was still weak.

His coughing caught the tinkerer’s attention. The tinkerer turned around, revealing the face of an older man, nowhere near as old as the Master of Ice himself, but certainly someone who had seen some years.

A small pair of glasses sat on his nose and many pens sat in the pockets of his wrinkled lab coat.

The tinkerer’s face lit up when he found the Master of Ice to be awake. He abandoned his project and came over to the Master of Ice to help him sit up completely.

The Master of Ice asked to be removed from the covers, but the tinkerer only chuckled, finding the request odd and mentioned how important it was to stave off the cold out here.

Oh, did he know the irony of that statement, but he couldn’t help but agree with the sentiment.

The tinkerer stepped away for a second and brought back a bowl for the Master of Ice.

A warm bowl of soup, with steam rising off the top. The Master of Ice was again put off by the need for warmth, but his hunger far outweighed his ideals and he was sure he’d get another odd look for requesting his soup to be cold.

He accepted the food, taking note of the tinkerer’s smile as he did. The tinkerer asked him if he needed anything else and the Master of Ice shook his head.

Surely this tinkerer could not give him what he truly needed.

The tinkerer nodded and returned to his project, leaving the Master of Ice to stew with his stew.

Tentatively, he took a few sips. By all powers that be, it was a very well-made soup. Whoever made it certainly knew how to cook.

And the temperature only complimented it. He would not have found it as appealing if it were cold or even lukewarm.

It just did not sit right with him.

Instead of braving his own element to figure out its purpose for once in his life, he sat cooped up indoors, taking comfort in its opposite.

Not just in its opposite, but the other elements of Creation, too. Electricity powered the bulbs keeping this place well-lit. The earthen floor and metal walls offered insulation and protection from the outside.

There was no place for the cold in this haven.

Sometimes he, too, felt unwelcome in places of hospitality or refuge. Places meant for gathering and healing.

He felt like he only brought an intrusion on the sanctity, like a glacial wave leaving once green plains barren.

Sometimes he’d try to leave these places, but others would ask him to stay, insisting they could think clearer when he was around and that he brought a calming sort of mood that they appreciated. He never felt this air himself, but he always obliged, forgoing his discomfort for others.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he hardly noticed he had finished the soup.

It was a good meal.

He hadn’t eaten like this in a while. And he doubted he would again.

He cleared his throat and offered his thanks to the tinkerer.

The tinkerer only laughed (a very joyful laugh) and said that he was not the one who made the soup, but would pass on the compliments to the chef.

Of course, the tinkerer wasn’t the only resident in this place. The workshop seemed to be a little too tidy for someone like him.

Plus, the tinkerer was old. There was no way it had been him alone to take the Master of Ice out of the storm.

Curious, the Master of Ice asked the tinkerer who had made the soup. The tinkerer pondered for a second, then told him that his son had made it.

Right now, his son was outside chopping wood, but would probably return soon.

Outside? Was it safe out there now? Or did the blizzard still rage on?

If the conditions had lessened, perhaps he could last just a little longer out in the storm.

The Master of Ice was about to tell him that he wanted to leave as soon as possible when the door at the top of the stairs flew open.

The blizzard howled outside, ice and snow flicking about in the crisp wind that called to the Master of Ice with a song that he always knew, but words he could never decipher.

He could feel the cold rip through the previously warm and tender workshop, an unwelcome frigidness that made him tighten his grip on the bowl he held. The lights on the ceiling swayed roughly in the wind. He noticed the tinkerer pull his coat closer to his body.

And yet, despite this hostility, he could not help but yearn to be out there. To trek once more through that unforgiving storm and seek meaning or die trying, surrounded by his element.

His gaze remained fixed on the doorway when two bright dots of blue broke through the unrelenting gray of the storm.

The very same ones he had seen before.

The eyes belonged to a young man who stepped through the door, bundle of wood over his shoulder and an axe in his hand, wearing only a thin white shirt and equally thin pants.

The song of the cold continued to flit about the Master of Ice’s ears, whispering words he would never understand, but a meaning he could interpret.

Could this young man be his heir?

The man shut the door as quickly as it had opened and apologized for his intrusion. The tinkerer told him not to worry and beckoned him over.

As the man descended the stairs, his eyes swept over the room in a methodical fashion. The steps he took were strangely precise, almost calculated, each stride exactly as long as the last.

The tinkerer introduced the young man as his son and the Master of Ice didn’t know what to think of it. The many, many thoughts and questions swimming about his head seemed to slow down with the new presence, yet there were still too many of them and none of them reached his tongue.

Instead, he tried to focus on the similarities between father and son. He could not find many beyond general traits. The tinkerer was slightly shorter and portly in stature where the man was tall and on the thinner side. He had no reference for the tinkerer’s hair, but the young man’s hair was a platinum blond, bordering on white.

Most obviously, where the young man’s eyes were an unnatural and striking blue, the tinkerer’s were a soft brown.

The man asked him if he was alright. By most definitions, he was not. He was old, sick, dying, and confused.

But he told the man he was fine. His condition was the least of his worries to him and he didn’t want it to be the worries of this stranger.

The man didn’t respond, but instead stared at him, boring into him with a very intense gaze.

The Master of Ice did not shrink under his gaze, but he took notice of how the young man’s eyes moved. They scanned him up and down in an even and practiced way, as if he was examining every detail of the Master of Ice from afar. How strange.

The man’s brow furrowed and he asked the Master of Ice if he was sure he was.

The Master of Ice assured him he was. Again, a lie, but what was it worth at this point? If this man was what the ice claimed he was, surely he’d catch his fib.

The young man shook his head. He stepped forward and grabbed the Master of Ice’s wrist to look at him closer, taking the empty bowl from him at the same time, all in complete silence.

And then he felt it.

Concentrated.

Collected.

Focused.

His confusions, his worries, his ailments, his needs were all previously a tangled mess in his head that burdened him as he never knew which one to address first.

Now his thoughts settled down at the man’s cooling touch, no longer warring for his attention.

This was the effect he had on others, was it not?

This was the purpose of ice.

Similar to how the absence of heat was just the stillness of atoms, the presence of the cold brought a stillness to his mind. A small moment of clarity.

The cold, in smaller quantities, brought an odd refreshing effect that cleared one’s head, suppressing the voices of the unimportant and distracting thoughts; allowing one to focus only on what was necessary in the moment.

The slight shock ice brought reminded one of reality. An odd sort of wake-up call that kept one’s mind from drifting, kept them present so they could think straight and make reasonable decisions.

The same way winter was a time of reset for the land; anytime one felt cold, it was a mental reset that let them start thinking again anew.

Earth supported.

Fire comforted.

Lightning invigorated.

And ice focused.

With this new revelation, only one question begged his attention.

Could he trust this young man?

The Master of Ice watched the young man examine him to discern exactly what was wrong with him.

The man continued to hold his wrist as he studied the rest of him, never too intrusive in his methods, but enough where he could learn what he needed to properly diagnose him. 

Methodical. Calculated. All of his motions were. The Master of Ice was enamored.

That was when it hit him.

The way his eyes flitted about in patterns.

The way every single one of his movements seemed intentional and planned. 

The way he seemed to account for everything around him.

Up close, he could see it now.

This was no man.

The person studying him was inhuman.

A robot.

That would explain why he and his father looked so different. 

Why his eyes seemed to glow.

Why he examined him with some all-knowing precision.

Why he had such a tolerance for the cold.

The tinkerer’s “son” was one of his creations, in a very literal sense.

This had to be some kind of joke.

Was the ice taunting him?

Was it possible for non-natural objects to master elements?

The man, no, the robot, holding his wrist looked up at him, worry on his face.

He relayed to the Master of Ice information he already knew. That he was so close to death, beyond saving, and it was very ill-advised to go back out in the storm, for it would hasten his demise.

A very orderly way of summing up his situation, yet laced with enough care to show his concern.

Yes, he could trust this man. 

Despite his inhumanness, he still had heart. He would be a worthy Master of Ice. Clearly, the ice liked him, too.

The Master of Ice only smiled and told the robot he was aware of these things, and still wanted to get back outside as soon as possible.

Both father and son tried to get him to stay, telling him it was no bother if he stuck around for however longer, but he insisted that he must go.

The tinkerer and robot were clearly not comfortable with his choice, but ultimately relented, as they couldn’t force a stranger to stay in their home.

Two good people. He had chosen right.

The robot retrieved the Master of Ice’s staff and helped him out of the bed and up the stairs.

As the two reached the door of the humble workshop, the Master of Ice had just one last question on his mind.

“I can tell you aren’t human, young man. For what purpose were you built?”

“I am Zane. I am built to protect those who cannot protect themselves.”

“Well, Zane, you must know that you have helped me today in ways you can hardly imagine right now. I hope you continue to serve that purpose throughout your life, however long it may be. I wish nothing but the best for you.”

“And I wish you the best on your travels, sir. Please know you are always welcome to return should you ever find yourself around here.”

“You and I both know that will not happen, but I thank you for the offer regardless. Farewell, my friend.”

The Master of Ice shook the old man’s hand and opened the door to let him leave.

The blizzard still raged outside, just as strong as ever, the song of the cold calling to both figures standing in the doorway.

It met younger ears with a new, alien tune, whispering to him words that he would one day come to understand.

And it met old ears with a familiar, welcome tune, singing words to him that he always knew and now understood. It beckoned him forward, out into the storm, and he obliged, leaving his successor behind.

For once, he felt unburdened. To be surrounded by his element without having control over it felt freeing in a sense. The snow gave way under his feet and he no longer cared how far his steps fell.

The frost no longer bit. The ice no longer stung. The air no longer chilled.

He no longer felt maddened by the unchanging scenery surrounding him. The grays seemed so much brighter now.

He had no pains left to endure, no worries left to bother him, no questions left to be answered.

He laughed, despite the hostility surrounding him.

For once, his mind was clear. He knew the purpose of what was once his element. He knew its place in Creation. And he knew a good man who would master it after him.

He felt calm. He felt content. He felt free. Powers above, he felt so free and glad.

He halted his pace and kneeled down in the snow, letting the snowfall shower him from above. The cold loosened his grip on his staff and he fell down into the ice.

This was how it was intended to be. Alone in a blizzard with nothing but the cold, here to take him in his final moments. Another laugh, lost to the storm.

He had lived by his element and he would die by his element.

The man once known as the Element Master of Ice succumbed to the cold and let his eyes rest.

edit: a few hours after posting this i swapped around the words 'refresing' and 'focused' where the master of ice has his revelation bc it was bothering me. if you saw this beforehand, you're not going crazy. i did switch it

[rugnificentthegrand]

Reality shifts dramatically as Kirby Morrow's fate changes.

The voice acting world transforms.

"He's still voicing iconic characters," an industry insider explains. "His range only grew with time."

The impact on animation resonates deeply.

"His Goku in Dragon Ball still inspires," someone notes. "He brought new depth to the character."

His career expanded:

"His live-action roles increased," a casting director shares. "He balances voice and screen work beautifully."

The cultural impact continues:

"He mentors new voice actors," a studio director mentions. "Changed how the industry trains talent."

"His Cole from Ninjago evolved wonderfully," an animator explains. "The character grew with him."

"His Miroku in Inuyasha got a spin-off," a producer adds. "Fans loved seeing more stories."

You observe how this timeline preserves not just a voice actor, but transforms the entire dubbing industry's approach to talent.

"His mental health advocacy changed the industry," someone notes. "Studios provide better support now."

The ripple effects of Kirby Morrow's continued career run deep.

"His work in Stargate Atlantis expanded," a producer explains. "Major Lorne became a series regular."

His influence spread to new media.

"He hosts a popular voice acting podcast," someone shares. "Teaches techniques and discusses mental health."

The animation industry evolved:

"Dubbing got more respect," a studio executive notes. "Voice actors receive proper recognition now."

"He bridges Western and Anime dubbing," an industry veteran mentions. "Created new collaboration opportunities."

Personal projects flourished:

"His original series took off," someone adds. "Writing and voicing his own characters."

"Convention appearances became workshops," an event organizer explains. "He trains the next generation."

You marvel at how preserving this talented voice actor not only saved countless beloved characters but also transformed voice acting into a more respected and supported profession.

[mysillylittleblorbocollection]

OC masterpost

This is a small project where I attempt to document all my ocs and their respective stories, mainly for my own reference. Most if not all of these characters are inspired by music, and their names are often a direct reference to the songs they're inspired by (ex. The Thunder Bringer and The Ruthless Serpent are inspired by Epic the musical's Thunderbringer and Ruthlessness respectively

This is also a work in progress because it's the first time I've ever put these online

Dreamscape multiverse

Heavily inspired by slay the princess and any other games/stories i get inspired by, essentially, two characters get forced into a dream realm where they are forced to perform and play games for an unseen audience. Supernatural elements and magical beliefs are a big part of this. Essentially, I get to put my blorbos in a ton of aus and have it all connected through a metanarrative

The Players

The Vessels of Eage (yes it's all self inserts sue me)

Minton (Ninjago)

Darcy

The Blank Slate and Pandoras box

The Wanderer made of reflective rose petals

The Hundred Days

The Frozen Heartbreaker

The Thunder Bringer

The Ruthless Serpent

The Storm

The Electric Demon

The Spring (Growth)

The Spring (Serpent)

The Snow Woman

The First

The 2nd in command (Epic the musical reference)

The Notre Dame

The Circus Beast

The Core

Coral

The Engraving

The Blackhole

The Stranger

The Hare

The Tunneling Guide

The Avatar

The Infection

WhiteRock

The corrupted

A small town/city stationed on a coast near Texas, home to those with a lot to lose and many secrets to hide, supernatural temptations, and underground fighting rings

Brooke

Dunmeshi

A collection of individuals dealing with the ripple effects of an elf who is performing risky magic within the dungeon. No one is having a good time.

Renkee

Jayritt

Peri

Titan

Lioden

The lions i made lore for, I love them <3

Grimdark

A fantasy world I play with on and off, inspired by Aphmau Minecraft diaries

Misc Ocs

The ball jointed ribbon dancer (TADC)

[thepeanutbutterwizard]

Ok ok ok crack Ninjago au time!

Things go as cannon up to Garm being banished.

Misako comes up with a different plan to thwart destiny's cruel plan for her family.

Instead of researching for a way around the prophecy, she decides to ensure the Green Ninja will never rise up to defeat the Dark Lord, by raising Lloyd to be evil.

All she wants is her family safe and happy. Who cares if the world burns.

She finds a way to travel to the Underworld, bringing Lloyd with her, to help Garmadon conquer Ninjago, bringing stolen magic texts with her.

They bust out of the Underworld, leading the Skulkin (and mb also Misako found the Stone Warriors so they're there too) out to attack Ninjago. And while they're doing that, Garm and Misako are raising Lloyd with all the love and attention and weaponry and dark magic a kid could ever need.

When Lloyd is about three, he baby babbles something about wanting to be just like his dad, and he means it

and Cloud Kingdom breaks.

That was enough to stall out destiny, and now none of their scrolls work. Which has a massive ripple effect bc of how many things only happen bc 'destiny' said so.

[blursed-ninjago-ideas]

BAFPT The ninja finding out Lil Nelson was the one who told Wu that they were in trouble after all the Aspheera/Never Realm shenanigans and hanging out with him

ok, I went off into the weeds on some weird rant, but this whole thing is about just messing around, challenging myself, or creating new ideas to play with.

--

“Well, you know, I had to do something.”

“Nelson, you do realize that you saved our lives.” Jay said

“You would’ve-“

“No! Nelson, Pixal and Wu got to us just barely in time to save us. If they had taken even a few more minutes to figure out that we needed rescued, we would have died. We would not have been there for them to rescue.” Nya explained

“But…”

“That means, everything we do from this point on, is because of you!” Kai said, giving the boy a affectionate noogie. “Any evil we fight from now on, was defeated because of you.”

“What? No! No!”

“He’s right, you’ve already technically saved Ninjago at least twice.” Lloyd said.

“But I only did the one thing!”

“Well doing one thing can affect any number of things, it’s how cause and effect works.” Jay said.

Nelson stared at his shoes. He didn’t think he was that much of a hero, but the way the ninja saw it, he was now just as much so as they are. Even if he never did another thing good in his life, he would just keep racking up lives he’d saved because of one action he took.

He supposed that man his mom a hero too, for raising him to do the right them. It made Antonia a hero for helping him learn. Did that make his childhood babysitter who gave him the Heimlich when he was 5 a hero? Was she now responsible for all the lives they saved? Was her friend who taught her how to do it as well? Was the teacher that gave her extra credit assignments to not be held back a year? How far back did it go? Did someone save that teacher? If that teacher hadn’t been where he was teaching that class and helping that girl catch up, she wouldn’t have gone to the next grade, met his babysitter and taught her how to do the Heimlich maneuver, and his babysitter wouldn’t have stopped him from choking to death, and he wouldn’t have been there to help the ninja, and the ninja wouldn’t be saving people anymore.

Nelson wondered if that teacher knew. He wondered if there was anyone that helped or saved that teacher. Did they know they were a hero? By saving one seemingly inconsequential person, they saved thousands through a domino effect. And they would never know.

Nelson could’ve been a hero in ways he would never know. Small acts of kindness that rippled into life changing events for people he’d never meet.

It was amazing and strange to think about.

--

So yeah, off on some kind of idea.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Oh and it may take me a bit to get to the next prompt since I have been volun-choosen to go get food.

-Ivy

[parachutingkitten]

Dear Ninjago: Stop It With The Twists Already

An essay by Parachutingkitten

JK! This isn’t that formal. But I do have some lengthy points for you under the cut :)

Ninjago started out with a twist. The whole first season is built around the green ninja twist and the second season kinda subverted the expectation we had built up of Lloyd fighting his dad. This is the last time we had a twist framed as a sort of “big reveal” to both the audience and characters that really served the story in a productive and meaningful way. Let’s look the highlights over the seasons, shall we?

Season 4: Skylor is a villain. This one gets revealed to the audience before the ninja so it’s not really a big reveal twist, more of a suspense thing.

Season 5: Nya is the water ninja, revealed at the beginning of the season and serves more as a development than a twist.

Season 7: Ray and Maya are alive (and aren’t evil... I guess?)! This is our first real stupid twist. And pointless twist. They stick around for the season and then disappear from the show again. This was the first time Ninjago had a twist for twist’s sake. This is the beginning of the problem. 

Season 8: Pixal is Samurai X! Wu is a baby! Harumi is the Quiet One! (I know this one isn’t cannon, but they were troublingly close to including it) Mr. E is Echo! Now, most of these are okay. Just not handled well. This is where the problem becomes evident.

Season 11: Zane is the Ice Emperor. The stupidest twist of them all, and by far handled the poorest.

Now. Why do some of these more recent twists not work? Well, let’s break it down. 

Sometimes the problem is the twist itself. The twist is convoluted, and retcons information we’ve known from before, or has underlying implications that make everything more complicated. Ray and Maya are a perfect example of this. It’s been established since the pilot episode that these two are dead. Kai and Nya grew up on their own. Wu had so much trust in Ray that he gave him the map to the golden weapons. Trying to make us think he was evil was just stupid. Ray and Maya also don’t do that much in the season, besides the whole drama and reveal aspect of the story. You easily could have had them be dead and still get everything done that you needed to plot wise. Maybe have even more time for Nya and Kai to bond as siblings. It just brings up so many questions. Or rather, the one main one of where have they been? Were they really enslaved for ALL THAT TIME?! That’s darker than them just being dead! And to add insult to injury, they don’t show up in the show ever again after this. This twist left no impact on the franchise. It was a complete waste.

Season 8 has a lot of twists, and this introduces the problem of execution. Baby Wu is the one reveal that works. It has proper build up, it makes sense in the narrative, they find out mid season, they piece it together in a pretty mundane scene, and while it is a large reveal moment, the writers assumed you’ve picked up the clues before the ninja have. Compare this to the Pixal reveal. Very similar set up. It ties up a mystery from last season at a similar point in the current season. But the difference is in how they treat it. Pixal has to confess to being Samurai X. No one figures it out. Everyone is shocked and surprised and it culminates in a big dramatic “how could you?! *gasp emoji*” fight scene. I’m sure most everyone knew Pixal was Samurai X even back in season 7. She disappears right as Samurai X enters the picture, it’s really not that hard to piece together. This should have been handled differently. The audience should have been told Pixal was Samurai X ahead of time. We should have gotten a few shots from her perspective. It should have been handled like, oh, idk, Nya’s reveal in season 1. The problem is that they kept it a secret to go for shock value even though it was an easy guess. It would have been much more character enriching if they just handled it like they did baby Wu. Harumi is a little more complicated. Technically, you could argue that her arc goes through season 9, and hence we did get the reveal mid story, even if not mid season. My problem is that before the reveal she’s just such a blah-bland character that you don’t really care about that much, so when the reveal happens, that’s the point where she gets interesting. Why waste the majority of a season carrying around this dead weight that you feel obligated to give screen time to while waiting for her to get interesting? So yeah, it could have been handled a lot better, but it’s nothing compared to the mind bending twist that almost happened.

Mr. E is Echo makes no sense. It just doesn’t. It���s a character from 2 seasons prior who was physically distant to the main cast, had no connection to the villains, was established as a character as being extremely sweet, pure, and kinda ineffective, and probably worst of all, doesn’t have memories of the main cast, and most of them don’t have memories of him. There is just SO MUCH they would have had to explain away. SO MUCH that doesn’t add up. SO MUCH the main cast would have to relearn that it really doesn’t make ANY sense. And what scared me when the season first came out was that it almost made it in to the season. It doesn’t make sense on ANY logical level, so the only reason you would have done this twist is because you thought it was clever and unexpected, and you wanted the shock value. Shock value is the wrong reason to do a twist. 

But they did it again in season 11. They combined all of the problems with all of the previous twists, and mushed them together into the Zane is the Ice Emperor twist. Now, I would like to address @coleisunderrated‘s post about season 11 kinda killing Zane. It’s a good post, and another good lengthy rant to check out after this one if you’re in the mood. But a lot of the claims they made I think kinda missed the point about why this move didn’t work. They said Zane commit genocide (which I guess technically he kinda did, and even the people who were frozen were frozen for years. That's definitely not nothing) and that Zane still had some level of free will, so Vex can’t be an 100% scapegoat.  So because Zane did this horrible thing, there is no chance for him to be redeemed. (Which I kinda see your point, but also, crazy staff that pretty much makes you evil, plus merciless manipulation. Cut him some slack. If Garmadon can be redeemed, so can Zane. Devourer venom and forbidden spinjitzu staff seem to have similar corrupting powers) And though I’d agree that as it stands in the show it feels like they’re ignoring all the awful things Zane’s done and that makes him a kind of a uncomfortable character at the moment- all the set up and what he did is not the problem. The problem is what he didn’t do, and what we didn’t see.

This twist starts at the beginning of the chapter, and finally resolves itself at the very end. The writers obviously thought that Zane being the villain, while having this weird unexplainable time skip made a solid, clever twist. Again, you can tell they were going for shock value and that *gasp emoji* “It’s YOU?!” moment. Problem with that relatively simple set up to keep your twist a secret, is that you now have 20 years of time to account for. Years of people suffering and time skips that are addressed, but are straight up never explained and don’t make any sense when you sit down to think about them for more than a second. These weird ripple effects ringing a bell? They’re the same sorts of retcon problems as the Ray and Maya twist. But that’s not all. It’s also frustratingly predictable. Even if you weren’t sure of your theory the first few episodes, it becomes increasingly clear as the season progresses. The audience doesn’t find out until the characters do, even thought it’s pretty predictable, missing out on a bunch of opportunities for better storytelling- just like the Samurai X reveal. The ice emperor is also kind of a boring character until the reveal, just like Harumi. And, maybe worst of all, it just seems like a clever shock value twist that raises a bunch of questions, doesn’t make sense in character, and needs a ton of explaining, just like the Mr. E scenario. This twist has every single problem I’ve ever had with any twist in this series. 

But it even adds one more.

Even with all the random nonsensical twists in the series, at least all of them had time to resolve. To be explained. For characters to grapple with them. As random and poorly thought out as this ice emperor twist is, it would have been okay if it hadn’t been so very VERY rushed after the reveal. We needed to see his reaction after breaking free. That’s all we needed. 

Imagine this, Zane breaks out of his evil daze, you can keep the kinda cop out reason, it’s a kid’s show, whatever. He looks down at himself and is horrified. He drops to his knees, mutters some line like “what have I done?” or something along those lines. Then, in anger, he looks back up at Vex, and then insert fight scene where he saves the day. Afterwards Zane tosses the staff away, and is in this weird daze as his friends welcome him back. The episode ends with the camera zooming in on Zane’s blank expression. But wait, there’s another episode afterwards where Zane can right his wrongs in the realm, talk with the people, and tie up all the other loose ends while finding himself again. The next season (and they might still be doing this in season 12, but without that initial reaction and remorse, this part rings kinda hollow) Zane is visibly a bit shaken by intense violence and has a talk with someone about the lasting effects of his 20 year rule. The end of the season sees him getting past this fear of hurting people in order to protect those he needs to. This all sounds very deep written out like this, but you could make the dilemma pretty surface level, and it would still be effective.

You see, the real problem with these half length episodes is that ALL of your plot lines have to reach their head, your big final battle has to take place, and your resolution has to happen, all in the last 10 minutes of the season. And you can really tell that season 11 skimped the resolution part. Because Zane only becomes Zane half way through the last episode, there’s no time to explore his feelings about the matter. Even just making the last episode 20 minutes, I feel, would have done wonders for this twist because everything would have had time to breath. This wouldn’t have been too much of a problem if this had carried over directly into season 12 (kind of like the season 8-9 thing) but that clearly isn’t the case, at least from the episodes we have so far. This emperor thing should affect Zane as much as becoming a ghost affected Cole. Things like this just need time to process. It wasn’t that making Zane the ice emperor made him unlikable, it was that ignoring that Zane was the ice emperor made him unlikable.

And all of these things, I can almost guarantee, happened because the writers just thought it would be a clever twist. It’s not like the writers can’t do twists! Skylor being evil was perfectly fine! Mistake being an Oni was even okay. But they had ideas for what to do with those bits of information after the reveal. They’ve got to stop with these reveals that are just there to be the *gasp emoji* moment. They’re not all bad ideas necessarily! But if you come up with the idea, just because it would be a cool reveal, and that’s it, then it’s likely not a good idea. For example, as nonsensical as the Echo thing is, if he had become a main stay of the series, and a reoccurring villain with backstory and motive that got explained, it might not have been the absolute worst. But if they did what they did in the show and just killed him off a few episodes later, it would have been pointless, because the twist would have made no impact, changed nothing, and had no point. The green ninja reveal was good, not because it was a reveal, but because it allowed Lloyd to be the green ninja in the episodes afterwards. It served as a progression for the story and characters while also happening to subvert this notion set up from episode 1 that one of the four would be the green ninja. Zane being the ice emperor is a bad twist because it affects absolutely nothing in the plot that follows. Zane is back to his happy quirky robot self in season 12, the status quo is restored, and nothing has changed. 

The whole point of a twist is to switch your perspective of something, an action that instinctively insists change. A change in the world. A change in the situation. A change in character. Something. If a twist doesn’t insight change in your story, you’re doing your twist wrong.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to agree/disagree with me in the comments. I get that not everyone is going to agree that Zane could be redeemed no matter how they played it. Again, I think the almost mind control staff, matched with the manipulation, mind wipe, and fact that it’s a kid’s show, and they obviously didn’t mean for it to read that way, is enough for me to kinda ignore it cuz I love Zane, and Ninjago, and I’m not going to let one misstep kill my enjoyment of the show. But, I get it if you can’t get past it.

ttfn!

[alexusprime]

buh buh buh blair 😻

[justsomerandomweebo]

Ninjago Valentine's Week Day 5

OC Ship: This one is an OC x OC ship. The ninja are mentioned.

Sirius took in the sights around him as he walked along the countryside after just leaving a small village on the eastern coast of Ninjago. It was a quaint little fishing village with children collecting shells on the nearby beach and adults preparing their catch for trading with a farming village a few miles in. It was a good resting place for the past night and he even had the chance to hunt down a ‘ghost’ that was haunting the village. Turns out, it was just some troublesome kids with too much time on their hands.

This was what he does. He travels around Ninjago, taking in the sights, experiencing and taking down jerks who want to cause trouble with his powers. He'd roam for a month or two then return to his home in Ninjago City to spend some time with his mom and dad and repeat. Sometimes while he's there, he helps out the ninja if there's trouble around. He was just a helping hand. His his gravitational element does come in handy often but they never actively sought him out. So the Bounty flying overhead was certainly out here to address a mission, right?

“Hey Sirius!” Said male blinked, seeing Jay hanging off the edge of the deck as the Bounty came to a stop overhead.

“Careful idiot!” Cole yelled, smacking him over the head after pulling him back.

“Ow!”

Sirius chuckled then reversed the gravity around himself with a thin mist of blue, leaving him falling upwards. He stopped the effect once he was high enough and landed on deck.

“Well if it isn't the Green Ninja.” Sirius says with a grin, fistbumping Lloyd.

“It's been a while, huh?” Lloyd grinned back.

“That it has.” He says then turned to the other four ninja on deck. “What's up?” He asked curiously.

“Well-” Kai was cut off by the sound of glass shattering.

“That is ‘what's up'.” Zane says with a grimace. “This isn't happening just here, but all over Ninjago. Glass and other reflective items keep shattering and breaking at random. We're sure this has something to do with Umbra since she's the elemental master of reflections but we don't have the best relationship with her and she would probably seriously injure us if we sought her out. She tolerates you most out of everyone we could think of calling.” He explained and Sirius frowned.

Umbra was someone he met while assisting the Ninja. She wasn't good per say but she wasn't evil either. She just steals whatever she wants and heads into the mirror world where no-one can get to her. He managed a few short conversations with her but she wasn't the talkative type. If anyone else were to try, she would promptly beat them silly with their own reflection so he guessed he was their best bet.

“It doesn't sound like something she would do. I mean, sure I don't know her very well but pointless destruction doesn't seem to be her style.” Sirius says as he pondered her.

“That's what we thought as well.” Lloyd spoke up. “She's not one of the good guys but she's not evil either. That's why we're hoping you can get to the bottom of things.”

“But I have no way to get into the mirror world to see what's going on.” Sirius pointed out.

“But you do.” Sensei Wu says as he walked out, holding what looks like a teapot that was covered under cloth. “This is the only way to keep the traveler's tea in the pot and not all over the floor.” Wu explained once Sirius gave him a curious look.

“Traveler's tea… Of course.” Sirius whispered to himself then nodded.  “I'll do my best.” He says and Sensei Wu nodded.

“And do it quickly. The Bounty's rocket boosters are pretty reflective. I've landed the ship just in case but I'd rather not deal with a possible explosion.” Nya says as she walked over.

“And for the sake of your life as well.” Wu adds. “If you remain in the mirror world for too long, you will die.”

“Woah. Um- aren't the risks a little too high for just some glass breaking at random?” Kai asked with a grimace.

“You forget, cars are reflective and people drive in them.” Sirius says, taking the teapot.

“Not to mention eyes! Eyes are reflective Kai!” Jay yelled,  shaking the fire ninja.

“Please don't ever let me imagine that again.” Cole says with a grimace, looking a little green.

“I am reflective.” Zane pointed out and they all looked at him.

“Quick! Grab some sheets!” Cole yelled.

“Already on it!” Nya yelled as she and Kai took off.

Sirius grimaced once something shattered and something metallic groaned.

“Well, I won't dally.” Sirius says then pulled the cloth back enough to free the spout then backed up and poured it in a circle on deck, creating a portal. “Wish me luck.” He says, landing the pot back to Wu as Cole and Jay pushed Zane out of the sun, Cole's top over his head.

“Good luck.” Wu says and he grinned then jumped in.

Once he passed through the space between worlds, he used his powers to slow his fall, landing back on the Bounty. He was surprised when the Bounty appeared empty but could see through the mechanics of the ship that the others were there.

“Alright. If I were Umbra, where in this world would I stay?” He says to himself as he looked around the Bounty, finding it empty.

He blinked once he felt a surge of something- power- and there goes the spout of the teapot. Well, all he really had to to now is follow that flow of power. It's coming from the northwest. He hopped off the Bounty and altered the gravity around him, sending him falling sideways instead, making it appear as if he was flying. Looks like he's heading towards Ninjago City. He increased the gravity around him, making him fall faster. He didn't know how long he had after all. It'll be a shame if he died before he could find out what's gotten into her. He was flying through Ninjago City now, seeing the hustle and bustle through the reflections of the tall buildings he was weaving through. He felt a much closer surge of power and he jolted once several glass windows shattered, sending a shower of glass down below onto the screaming civilians.

“Crap!” He yelled then quickly used his powers to catch the glass rain before clumping it all together.

He looked around and spotted the sea of sand outside the city then sent the ball of sharp glass out there instead, leaving it to fall apart once it touched the sand. He panted as he looked at the people through the intact glass of the closest building, all of them confused but grateful. Wow, that took a lot out of him. Funny, he exerted way more energy than this before and he… His vision wavered before going black. Once he came to, it was to the sight of the ground rushing up to meet him.

“GAH!” He yelled then quickly threw out his powers, curving the gravity around him and making him loop around, falling up instead. “That was too close.” Sirius panted, heart beating a mile a minute as he floated off into the air.

“I'm pretty sure I'm close enough to walk.” He says as he lowered himself to the ground then looked around.

This is the higher end of Ninjago City. All pristine buildings and apartment prices to give you nightmares. She's somewhere around here… He looked up at the higher floors as well and even in car-

“Wait.” He says to himself and looked up again.

The building to his left, a few floors up had a broken window with something familiar sticking out. That's Cole's scythe! The one he spent forever on polishing it until it shone. It caught Umbra's eye during a battle against rouge serpentine and she defeated the serpentine before stealing it from Cole. He's still salty over it. He hopped up there, using his powers as a boost and was surprised at what he saw there.

Umbra was there indeed- wrapped up from head to toe in a blanket as she glared at the space before her, eyes runny and nose red. She sneezed then and the TV screen before her shattered, making her glare harder.

“What are you doing here?” She asked without even glancing at him, sounding off due to her stuffy nose. “Do you really want to die that badly?”

“I had to come to see what was going on with your powers.” Sirius says as he walked over, looking her over before kneeling before her and pressing the back of his hand against her forehead. “You're burning up! You shouldn't be alone while you're this sick!” He says worried, forcing her to lay back on the couch.

“Don't touch me so casually.” She says, glaring at him but it had no effect since she looked terribly sick and cute in her blanket burrito. “You need to leave.” She says, reaching a hand out to the only window that wasn't broken, making it ripple like water.

“I can take care of myself.” She says,  closing her burning eyes due to her pounding headache.

“Not a chance. How about we both get out of here and I'll help you get better.” He says instead, standing.

The next thing he knew, he was blinking awake on the ground, his vision a little spotty.

“You fool. I warned you, didn't I? If you stay here, for more than 4 more minutes, you will die. Three strikes and you're dead. That was your second.” He heard Umbra say as he slowly sat up.

“I will go.” He says, holding his head and she, closed her eyes, satisfied. “But not without you.” He adds and her eyes snapped opened.

“You stupid, arrogant-”

“That my be true but I mean what I said. Let me help you get better. I won't leave until you do. And if I die…” As if on cue, blood ran from his nose then. “Then I die trying at least.” He shrugged.

“I already told you.” She says lowly, throwing the blanket as she stood, seething in anger. “I can take care of my…” Her vision wavered as she stumbled.

“Got you.” He says, catching her before she fell. “You could probably take care of yourself but I'm not keen on finding out if you really can.” He says, lifting her up bridal style before walking over to the window that was still rippling.

“Why… Do you care?...” She asked through fevered pants, somehow feeling worse.

“Why wouldn't I?” Sirius countered. “It's just what friends do.” He says, giving her a beaming smile before walking through into the real world, the mirror going still behind them.

“... Friends, huh?...”

************

For this one, I used some of the mirror world concepts from the Sorcerer's Apprentice and twisted it a bit. I tend to put a lot into description but I'm still posting on mobile which means limited text so I used this site to make them instead. Here is Sirius:

And this is Umbra:

Long story short, her family is wayyyy up there in Ninjago Society and her eyes are actual mirrors thus the appearance. My true oc is actually Umbra. She's fairly new (like a week or two) so I never really thought of her and anyone from cannon and when I thought about it, they just wouldn't fit with her. This is a pre relationship fic so I hope it still counts!

[silver-ninja-of-the-tides]

Silver and Gold 4--Not Just a Tournament

Chapter 10--The Matches

Summary

Fractured once, then fractured again. Four of the heroes of Ninjago have hung up their ninja gear and vainly started anew. And they’ve convinced themselves that they’re not going back.

But as Lloyd and Janet try to piece their team back together, a mysterious invitation to a massive tournament tells them that Zane is alive.

Bonds will be tested. Suspicions of everything they know and don’t know will arise. It all goes down at the Tournament of Elements.

(First chapter)

3rd person POV

The first arena was situated outside near a mountain, and a drummer pounded against his instrument. The stands overlooked a cliff bearing a tree bursting with pink blossoms. And there was where the competitors would fight for a Jadeblade that was tucked into the highest branch.

“Turner, Master of Speed, versus Gravis, Master of Gravity,” Chen introduced. “Fight!”

Griffin instantly darted for the tree, and Gravis used his powers to float to the coveted prize.

“Anyone else have the thought that we’re basically watching Chen get more powerful?” Janet asked from next to Cole.

“How can I not?” Jay hissed, watching a streak of white and red sprint up and across the branches.

“We have to keep playing along,” Lloyd said.

“But somehow we have to figure out why Chen’s doing all of this,” Kai said.

At the tree, Gravis was flying to the top only for Griffin to smack him back. The white clad master’s laugh was short-lived when Gravis smacked him right back with a branch.

Although momentarily stunned, Griffin bounced right back. “What? Can’t keep up? I’m over here!” He bolted up a couple branches. “Can’t catch me!”

Determined, Gravis soared forward, but Griffin kicked him back before whacking him with a branch. Furious, Gravis levitated hundreds of blossoms and surrounded the duo.

“This . . . doesn’t look good.”

The Master of Gravity then hurled the flowers at him with a mocking laugh.

“What if we tried looking underground again tonight?” Destiny suggested, seated next to Kai.

“It’s too much of a risk,” Cole said. “With the close call we had before, I don’t wanna know what might happen a second time.”

“And it probably won’t be a missing piece of fabric,” Jay commented.

Suddenly the crowd erupted into cheers, and the Jadeblade was seen in the hands of Griffin Turner.

“Winner!” Chen exclaimed. “Loser!” Pressing a button, a trap door opened at the ground, and Gravis laughed at the effort. Chen, however, merely pressed another button to drop a heavy bag on top of the master, who fell right into the hole.

“Woah,” Griffin said. “How many buttons does that man have?”

“Master of Speed, move on. Now, on to the next match!”

The stands began to clear out, and the other masters were guided to the next arena.

“On second thought maybe another look wouldn’t hurt,” Jay said.

“But we’ll have to be careful,” Lloyd warned. “No doubt Chen’s heightened security around here.”

                                                         * * * *

The cheetah watched Blake attentively as he listened to the other end of the line. His hand curled with every word that was spoken to him, and he wanted to strongly protest against the old man. He was more than ready to get back on his feet again, especially if Destiny was missing. But he held his tongue.

". . . Fine. We'll leave it at that," Blake said, and he irritatingly hung up the phone before handing it to the green-eyed woman.

The silence that followed warranted the wolf in the room to glance between Blake and the woman, and it eventually plopped its head back onto its paws with a huff. Blake was fed up with being cooped up at the monastery the Ninjas and company had come to call home. His condition was fine so long as he didn't fight. And he was sure Emma would rather join the search than watch over him.

“If Wu says they’re on the case, then you need to trust him,” Emma said.

“You’re not the least bit worried?” Blake questioned, shifting on the bed.

“My girls are missing. Of course I’m worried. But I know that Nya and Ryan will find them and the others.”

The blonde ran a hand down his face, wincing as he passed over his eye patch. “And you’re sure you entirely trust this Ryan Grand I’ve heard so much about?”

Emma stayed quiet. “I think we should start pitching in.”

“Wonderful suggestion, Mrs. Stone.”

The second match was about to take place outside during the evening, but this time the Jadeblade was stabbed into the top of a giant boulder. The open field had swirling designs in the dirt, and the next pair of fighters were awaiting Chen’s signal.

“Neuro, Master of Mind, versus Bolobo, Master of Nature,” Chen announced. “Fight!”

Instead of lunging for the blade, Neuro focused his element on his opponent, who readied his staff.

“They call this a fight?” Lloyd argued.

“Wait for it,” Garmadon said.

To an outsider, Neuro hardly looked like he was trying, but to the master, he was actually reading Bolobo’s mind. And just as he saw, the bearded man directed vines at Neuro to block him only for Neuro to jump onto one and latch onto the boulder.

Angered, Bolobo pounded his staff into the ground to summon another vine to carry him toward the blade. He then shot a vine at Neuro that wrapped around him and lowered him away from the blade. Neuro, however, quickly jerked around and forced Bolobo to the ground with his mind.

“That was pretty impressive, actually,” Janet complimented, seated next to the sensei.

“Never underestimate the power of the mind,” Garmadon said, but as Neuro fired again, Bolobo rolled away and had more vines tie themselves around Neuro.

“I—didn’t—see that—coming,” Neuro grunted.

“In man versus nature, nature usually wins,” Lloyd replied.

With the Master of Mind tied up at the moment, Bolobo seized the opportunity to have a vine bring the Jadeblade to him. Refusing to give up, Neuro used his powers once again to give Bolobo what looked to be a massive headache. He nimbly jumped off of the Master of Nature’s back, climbed the vine, and claimed the Jadeblade.

“You were saying?” Janet teased.

“Winner!” Chen announced. “Loser!” One button press from him and Bolobo was eliminated from the match. “Master of Mind moves on.”

“This is it,” Destiny said. “Kai’s match is next.” The team glanced to the Master of Fire.

“Don’t worry,” he reassured. “I’ve got this in the bag.”

“Don’t let your arrogance be your downfall,” Garmadon warned. “If we’re going to stop Chen, it’s going to take all of us. We can’t afford to lose each other.”

The Ninjas stood around Kai at the base of an escalating staircase of rock. Even from where they were, the temperature emitting from the lava was close to boiling.

“Go get ‘em, Kai,” Lloyd encouraged.

“Show ‘em whose boss!” Jay said.

“You got this,” Cole said.

“And don’t get cocky,” Janet warned firmly.

“Especially that,” Garmadon agreed. Kai nodded sternly, and the team walked off to the stands.

“Hey Spike!” Destiny called as Kai marched up the stairs. “Be careful out there!”

“I will, Water Girl,” he called back, sliding in a wink before hurrying up the stairs. Waiting for him in the middle of a wooden bridge was the Jadeblade, and on the other side of the bridge was his opponent looking as eager as ever. Maybe even too eager.

Both contestants stopped at their end of the bridge that hung above boiling lava, and Kai glanced over to his team now sitting down. A figure of orange stole his attention, and Skylor smiled at him.

“Kai, Master of Fire, versus Ash, Master of Smoke,” Chen introduced. “Fight!”

The Red Ninja ran across the bridge as Ash swung around by the rope and whipped the bridge. The ripple effect lurched Kai off, and he latched onto the edge of the bridge to see the Jadeblade secure itself head first into a rock pillar.

Kai swung from one board to the next as Ash rushed after him, determined to not let him win.

“Come on, Kai, you can do it!” Lloyd egged on.

Throwing his legs forward, Kai burst through the boards and came in for a kick. Or at least, that’s what he hoped to accomplish. Instead he passed right through a cloud of smoke, and Ash materialized in front of him with a mocking smile.

He fired a ball of smoke at Kai, who powered through to deal another kick to Ash. Once again Ash vanished into smoke and reappeared, but Kai wasn’t about to give up. With every attack he made Ash constantly appeared and reappeared to deal an attack of his own, before he ultimately knocked Kai back hard enough to sent him through several boards. Luckily he wasn’t stunned enough to not grab onto the bridge again.

The move warranted cheers from everyone in the crowd except for the Ninjas and Skylor.

“Don’t quit now, don’t quit now,” Janet muttered.

Kai swung from side to side to avoid balls of smoke, but the board he was on shattered, and he grappled onto another broken half of a board. Swallowing his panic, he threw himself into the air and . . .

“Ninjaaa-GO!” With his fiery Spinjitzu he finally made it back onto the bridge and forced Ash back.

The whirlwind was dismissed, and both competitors lunged forward. Ash, however, dematerialized, but Kai was quick to make sure he landed on his feet.

“Come on, Kai,” Lloyd said. “Use your power!”

Igniting his hands, Kai shouted his element as he shot at Ash three times, and each time Ash narrowly avoided the fireballs. And since Kai kept firing, Ash kept fading into smoke, until the Master of Fire shot with both hands. Ash faded away once again, but the bridge wasn’t so lucky. And Clouse wasn’t about to let the Ninja win.

“Ah! No magic!” Chen ordered. “I’m enjoying this.”

Ash hopped from one steaming board to another and appeared behind Kai to strangle him. With a free arm, Kai set the bridge on fire and caused it to collapse, and he managed to land on a platform next to the Jadeblade. Unfortunately for him, so did Ash.

They lunged for the blade and became a flurry of attacks, before they eventually shoved each other back to a platform. The two darted for the blade again, and Kai back flipped to kick Ash, who still sent punch after punch his way. Suddenly they were both on the same platform and pushing against one another. And it was anybody’s game now.

Ash vanished once again while jumping back toward the Jadeblade, and that’s when Kai had him pinned.

The Master of Fire sent two balls of fire as he jumped for the blade, and just like before, Ash disappeared into smoke to avoid it. Kai’s hand wrapped around the smooth hilt of the blade, and with his momentum he yanked the prize free.

“Winner!” Chen exclaimed as the stands erupted into cheers.

“Yes!” Destiny exclaimed, nearly louder than her standing team.

“Loser! Master of Fire moves on.” With the third button press of the night, Ash plummeted through the trap door. “That will be all for tonight! Time to rest up!”

Chatter buzzed amongst the remaining masters as the Ninjas hurried off to where Kai was headed. He was already halfway down the stairs before they even reached him, and one of Chen’s men held his hand out to receive the Jadeblade.

“That was amazing!” Cole exclaimed. “You really had me back there.”

“I knew you’d pull through,” Lloyd said.

“Excellent work,” Garmadon complimented.

“At this rate we might actually beat this thing,” Jay said.

“Remember we’re here for Zane? And we still have things to uncover from Chen?” Janet reminded.

“Aw come on! Aren’t you the least bit excited?”

“He was pretty impressive,” Destiny said, playfully elbowing Kai.

“Of course you’d say he was,” Janet teased.

The evening was idling by, and Master Chen and his right-hand man were watching the Kabuki perform. Chen was clearly enjoying the performance, but Clouse had his mind on more pressing matters.

“Master, it was the Ninjas who snuck into our ceremony,” Clouse explained with a hint of bitterness. “Yet we allow them to move forward.” His hand began to glow with dark magic. “I beg you, let me use my sorcery and put an end to this.”

“We’ll use your magic in time. But not now,” Chen reassured. “Not when there are . . . other ways to whittle them down. Perhaps it’s time to switch things up!”

(First chapter) (Next chapter) (Previous chapter)

[alexusprime]

Children Of Wojira

[alexusprime]

prime empire Kai + Blair plus an extra bonus blair doodle !