#The ninjago anime art style makes me want to break my bones

[grumpy-zane]

((Ninjago Anime Zareth doesn’t exist, he can’t hurt you. Ninjago Anime Zareth:

[littlepryingpandorica]

Project Rebuild Chapter 6

As Nya continues her story in voice over form, we...

DISSOLVE TO: FLASHBACK – EXT. NINJAGO VILLAGE - DAY

NYA (VOICE OVER): In this village, there lived a young girl who was brave and fearless.

We see a lively, young girl with orange hair. This is YOUNG KOKO, whom only Lloyd recognizes.

NYA (CONTINUED VOICE OVER): She was a seeker of hidden truths.

Young Koko takes out a magnifying glass and uses it to look at her surroundings.

NYA (CONT’D V.O.): Leaving no stone unturned, she wanted to explore all of Ninjago to uncover her many secrets. She climbed the highest of trees, entered the darkest of caves and ventured into places where no one else dared to go. Like many other children her age, she roamed the lands completely unsupervised, as was the custom of Ninjago.

Young Koko emerges from underneath a large non-Lego rock. We see a montage sequence of Young Koko exploring the various terrains of Ninjago. She climbs trees, enters a dark cave while holding a lit non-Lego matchstick, and makes her way through dense non-Lego jungle foliage.

NYA (CONT’D V.O.): But it was only a matter of time before it got her into trouble, as would be realistically expected.

We see Young Koko trying to cross a rickety old log over a river of non-Lego water. The log breaks and she falls into the river. She struggles to stay afloat but the strong current carries her away. The river leads to a waterfall and she is helpless to avoid it. The waterfall drops into the ocean and she panics before inevitably going under.

We see from her POV as her sight begins to dim. The last thing she sees is the silhouette of a giant fish coming towards her.

We fade out.

CUT TO: PRESENT – INT. SCHOOL LOCKERS - DAY

Lloyd, Jay, Cole and Zane all gasp simultaneously! Nya has a knowing smile on her face. Kai is disinterested as he already knows the story but indulges his sister anyway. He rolls his eyes but also smiles.

LLOYD: Well, don’t stop there! What happened next?

NYA: Something she did not expect.

CUT TO: FLASHBACK – EXT. BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN - DAY

We slowly fade in, still following Young Koko’s POV.

As Young Koko awakens and regains her sight, the scene transitions to LIVE ACTION MEDIUM. Young Koko is no longer a Lego plastic minifigure. She appears as a large scale, wooden, Bunraku-style puppet. She is inside a transparent dome bubble. The craftsmanship is not necessarily professionally done but must be within the capacity of a very promising and talented high school student from a prestigious school who is being mentored by a very skilled Industrial Design teacher and with access to all the right materials, possibly funded by winning many art competitions.

Everything in the underwater section of the flashback is done in the style of a low budget version of the REALM OF SHADOWS LIVE PLAY. The surroundings are a brilliant oceanscape.

A glowing puppet of a Koi fish appears before Young Koko. This is the SACRED KOI, a mythical creature of Ninjago’s oceans. The Sacred Koi speaks in the voice of whoever is telling the story. Here, she has Nya’s voice.

SACRED KOI: Greetings, little one. I am the Sacred Koi of Ninjago. I am a Friend to All, even the most friendless and shunned individuals.

YOUNG KOKO: Oh Sacred Koi! You saved me! Thank you!

SACRED KOI: I was only doing what was right.

YOUNG KOKO: How can I ever repay you?

SACRED KOI: There is no repayment necessary. But there is something you can do. Your heart is strong, little one. But a strong heart without purpose is nothing.

YOUNG KOKO: What should I do?

HARD CUT TO: PRESENT – INT. SCHOOL LOCKERS – DAY

NYA: And do you know what the Sacred Koi said?

Zane jumps up and waves his arms.

ZANE: Oh! Oh! I know this one! She said...

CUT TO: FLASHBACK – EXT. BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN – DAY

The Sacred Koi speaks with Zane’s voice in a gentle manner.

SACRED KOI: (Speaking in Zane’s voice) You must protect those who cannot protect themselves.

Young Koko inhales and composes herself. She looks the Sacred Koi in the eye and speaks with a firm resolution.

YOUNG KOKO: Yes! I will.

SACRED KOI: You must do this, not to seek personal glory, but to right the wrongs of the Realm. You must do this even if no one else knows about your deeds. Will you swear the solemn oath?

Young Koko puts her right hand to her heart to pledge an oath.

YOUNG KOKO: I swear the solemn oath to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

Bubbles rise from the bottom of the screen as we transition back to STOP MOTION-ESQUE CGI ANIMATION. Young Koko is a plastic Lego minifigure again.

FLASHBACK – EXT. NINJAGO VILLAGE – DAY

A young boy with black hair has fallen out of his wheelchair and struggles to get back up. This is YOUNG CYRUS BORG. Young Koko rushes to his side and helps him back up.

NYA (V. O.): And the little girl kept the oath over the years.

FLASHBACK – EXT. NINJAGO CITY – DAY

Many years later, we see an ADULT CYRUS BORG still on his wheelchair and now wearing a pair of glasses. A black-hooded figure steps in front of him, brandishing a bright green blade. All that can be seen are his eyes, which are a dull orange and covered in red and green face paint.

Cyrus Borg shrinks away from the threatening figure. A now adult Koko suddenly jumps in as Lady Iron Dragon. She roundhouse-kicks the hooded figure away from Cyrus Borg and off the screen.

NYA (VOICE OVER): That little girl grew up to become the Lady Iron Dragon.

We see a close up of Lady Iron Dragon standing heroically in a dramatic stance. We then cross dissolve to the Lady Iron Dragon painting on Nya’s bike in the present.

CROSS DISSOLVE TO: PRESENT – INT. SCHOOL LOCKERS – DAY

We see a close up shot of Nya talking.

NYA: She fought to protect the good citizens of Ninjago.

We go to a close up shot of Cole who stops listening to Nya talking because he hears something in the distance due to his SUPER SENSITIVE HEARING. He looks around trying to see what caught his attention.

NYA (VOICE OVER): And she would do anything to defend what was right. No one ever found out who she really was. And if anyone ever did, it was their secret to keep.

Cole sees the same bullies who wanted to spray paint Lloyd’s locker earlier. They are now carrying a short non-Lego straw and some wet wads of paper to use to make a spitball. They hurry away to a nearby building where they can take a shot at targeting Lloyd.

NYA: Then one day, she vanished…

Close up of Nya

NYA (CONT’D): …without a trace.

We go to a wide shot of everyone to reveal that Cole has disappeared. But no one notices this.

CUT TO: INT. ADJACENT SCHOOL BUILDING – DAY

Cole stealthily follows the bullies to an adjacent building where they can shoot a spitball at Lloyd through an open window. Cole catches them in the act.

The shot is framed in such a way that is similar to when Garmadon tried to persuade the thug to join his army in chapter 4.

COLE: Hey! Whatcha got there?

BULLY # 1: None of your business, punk.

Cole attempts to diffuse the situation.

COLE: Listen. I know Lloyd can be a bit… much.

The way Cole hesitates to say this says a lot about his relationship with Lloyd.

COLE: But that is no reason to chuck spit balls at him.

BULLY # 2: Just leave us alone and mind your own business!

Cole narrows his eyes and intercepts the bullies. He grabs both bullies by the shirts and pulls them close.

COLE: Listen here! I am not okay with bullying but I will not hesitate to use physical strength and intimidation if you mess with Lloyd, especially on his birthday.

Intense percussive music plays as Cole says this.

HARD CUT TO: INT. SCHOOL LOCKERS – DAY

We cut back to Nya and the others. We see a mid shot of everyone huddled together.

NYA: Whatever happened to Lady Iron Dragon? Who knows? But rumors say she's still out there, waiting, watching.

We go to a close up shot of Lloyd.

LLOYD: Yeah, a real mystery for the ages.

We cut to a wide shot to reveal that Cole has reappeared as though nothing had happened. No one has even noticed his disappearance. He remains as silent and stoic as ever.

CUT TO: INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY - DAY

We see a trio of cheerleaders walking down the hallway, carrying brightly colored pom poms. Two of them are female. Their apparent leader is a male with short brown hair and a blue cheerleader’s vest. This is CHEN THE CHEERLEADER.

As they walk by, we see a shot from a low angle that shows the ceiling above them. Chen the cheerleader and his lackeys pass by the two bullies from earlier who are now stuck to the ceiling with the wet wads of paper. The bullies struggle to get Chen’s attention but he just keeps on walking.

INT. SCHOOL LOCKERS – DAY

Chen and the other cheerleaders walk in and sees Lloyd and his friends. He takes this opportunity to taunt them.

CHEN: Hey, everyone, look! It's Garma-dork and the dork squad! You wanna hear our new cheer?

Chen and the cheerleaders get into formation and do their routine.

CHEERLEADERS: L-L-O-Y-D. His dad is bad and so is he! Boo, Lloyd! Boo, Lloyd!

CHEN: (LOUDLY) Boo, Lloyd!

Kai is quick to defend Lloyd. He protectively stands between Chen and Lloyd.

KAI: Hey! Back off man! Lloyd’s actually trying to be good now.

CHEN: And what if I don't? What are you gonna do about it, Spiky? Hit me?

Kai is visibly aggravated. His fists are shaking in fury. Lloyd tries to calm him down, worried he might accidentally use his fire powers. He grabs Kai’s arm.

LLOYD: Kai, it's okay, really. Remember. Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

Kai inhales and exhales. His fists stop shaking but his face is still filled with contempt. He glares down at Chen.

KAI: Sticks and stones may break my bones but I'm calling you out on your unnecessary verbal abuse and will report you to the proper authorities!

Deciding it is not worth his time, Chen rolls his eyes and walks away.

CHEN: Whatever loser!

KAI: Why I'd like to give them a piece of my...

Kai's plastic hands begin shaking violently again. He struggles to keep his inner fire quelled. Lloyd firmly takes Kai’s hands in his own.

LLOYD: Kai, we talked about this.

Kai shows restraint.

KAI: I know, I know, we're the good guys. Arson is wrong.

LLOYD: That's right, buddy, and I just want to say I really appreciate you standing up for me.

In the background, Cole has a distant look on his face.

The school bell rings as we...

SMASH CUT TO: INT. SCHOOL CLASSROOM - DAY

The chorus of “Bring Me To Life” by Evanescence is playing very loudly on full volume.

[SONG: Bring Me To Life by Evanescence - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YxaaGgTQYM ]

[WAKE ME UP! WAKE ME UP INSIDE!] We see a close up of Cole with his headphones on. He is tapping his hand despondently to the music. On his desk are two books, implying he’s been reading them. They are “Rock Solid Stoicism” and “Batman’s Guide to Not Opening Up About Your Feelings: The Pre-Character Development Edition”. Cole taps his plastic hand on these two books.

[CAN’T WAKE UP! WAKE ME UP INSIDE! Save me! Call my name and save me from the dark!] We go to a wide shot of the classroom as the music dulls down. The teacher, MS. LAUDITA, is teaching the class about the concept of free will. On the black board “FREE WILL?” is written in chalk.

MS. LAUDITA: For example, if I move from here to over there, is it just me walking or is there some unseen hand that moves me from point A to point B?

[Bid my blood to run, before I come undone] We focus on Cole as the music becomes clear and distinct again. Cole looks distantly out the window.

Suddenly, we slam zoom out the window and away from Cole and the classroom, past several buildings, past the marketplace, past the beach front, and all the way out into the ocean. From the water’s depths, several aquatic themed vehicles rise. Multiple aquatic themed flying vehicles also swoop in. Their jet engines make a very loud vibrating or roaring noise.

[Save me from the nothing I’ve become] We cut back to Cole as he takes off his headphones. He hears the sounds of Garmadon’s approaching army and he has a startled look on his face.

COLE: Garmadon!

Happy Chinese New Year, everyone! I hope you all enjoyed Chapter 6.