#zane is not used to being touched and gets overwhelmed easily

[everdoeswriting]

ever's ninjago next-gens 🌪️

thank you to @legogeek33 @ninjago-oc-appreciation & @cherrybombfangirl for encouraging me to post this, because i was super nervous about it. you guys rock.

asher walker-smith (17): she/they. daughter of jay & nya. a rare case where the child of two elemental masters inherits both of their powers, asher controls both lightning & water. however, both elements are far weaker, and she will never reach the same level of mastery as her parents.

her weapon of choice are twin sai blades

her favorite color is purple

they prefer to go by the nickname "ash"

extremely stubborn holy shit she will not back down ever

really close with her uncle kai. when jay was being overprotective of her she'd go to kai and he'd teach her how to throw a punch or something

they're a nonbinary lesbian :) this is another reason they're close to kai because kai is trans

very adhd just like jay - talks too much

she's super close to her parents even if sometimes she feels as if they are too protective of her (mostly jay)

wants to learn engineering but struggles with the focus it requires

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onyx julien (17): she/her. adopted daughter of zane & cole. orphaned during one of the many disasters that struck ninjago city, she was found by zane and immediately grew attached to him. once everything settled down, zane & cole adopted her without a second thought. zane chose her to be his successor as the next elemental master of ice.

her weapon of choice is kunai. she likes making custom kunai for herself like this. she eventually learns how to imbue them with her element, so they are constantly cold to the touch

she works really hard to be a kind & compassionate person, however, at times this can lead to her doormatting. she's working on finding a good balance. she also can get overwhelmed easily, which leads to tears

she loves birds and bonded quickly with the falcon

one of her favorite memories is a day where zane taught her how to bake chocolate cake from scratch as a surprise for cole

struggles with anxiety - as a child she was very extroverted, but grew up to be an introvert. possibly has asd.

very much a daddy's girl, specifically to zane. cole isn't bothered by her closer relationship with him - he knows that she loves him dearly too, and is happy that zane has such a close relationship with her

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kade smith (16): he/him. son of kai & skylor. currently has no elemental powers, which makes him feel inadequate. very close with his cousin asher, though they bicker constantly.

will throw hands to protect anyone else in the group with zero hesitation

his weapon of choice are 'brass' knuckles, though he's also very skilled with a katana

him being without elemental powers forced kai to confront his own fears about being powerless - their relationship can be strained and messy at times, but they care for each other dearly

the only person in the group that kade has any real resentment towards is zara. he feels like she isn't appreciative for the opportunity she has

he and asher together are so insanely stubborn and reckless... be very afraid

to the surprise of no one he has anger issues

he's a really good cook thanks to mama skylor

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ikari brookstone (15): she/her. surrogate daughter of cole (& zane). inherited cole's earth powers. although she's the younger sister, she's very protective of onyx, and sometimes acts like the older one.

her weapon of choice is a bo staff, though she's also used a mace before (she ended up switching to the bo staff because the mace felt too violent). also a very good archer.

her favorite color is yellow

she loves painting, especially of flowers

she's very level-headed and grounded, and rarely gets angry

ikari is a trans woman! she started questioning her gender when she was 7. zane & cole have supported her since the very beginning and let her choose to present herself however she pleased. she's on hormone blockers and estrogen.

really close with her aunt pixal :)

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zara garmadon (15): she/her. daughter of lloyd. don't ask me who the mother is i have no idea all i know is that she left for Some Reason...or maybe she's dead idk. twin sister of kenji. zara inherited lloyd's energy powers.

zara's weapon of choice is a dagger or knife - though she also will wield dual tanto, like lloyd

she is very much a tomboy - she also hates dressing 'fancy'

she wants to get a dragon tattoo on her shoulder

zara doesn't like being the 'new green ninja'. there's too much pressure and she doesn't like that everyone expects her to live up the legacy of her father. this causes a lot of fights with lloyd.

zara and kenji have been inseparable since birth... well. until recently.

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kenji garmadon (15): he/him. son of lloyd, twin brother of zara. for the first half of his life, he didn't have any elemental powers. however, one day the powers of destruction awakened within him...the same powers that once belonged to his grandfather, lord garmadon. ever since then, kenji struggled with feeling like he fit in with the others and felt doomed to darkness.

his weapon of choice is a dagger, just like his sister

no matter what path he takes, kenji will always love his sister and would do anything to protect her

his eyes were brown as a baby/child, but when his powers awoke they turned purple and glow slightly in the dark

he struggles to control his own powers - but desperately tries to pretend he can

on a lighter note, he knows how to play the drums!

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general plot stuff

the original ninja team didn't really want their children to have to deal with the reasonability of being elemental masters & the trauma and stress that comes with being heroes. unfortunately, fate had other ideas. trying to avoid training them only led to their powers going haywire - so eventually, lloyd took on the title of sensei and began training them all.

current day - after an accident where kenji's powers went out of control and destroyed half of the training grounds and injured onyx, everyone started treating him differently - as if he was a ticking time bomb. onyx was borderline scared of him.

this distanced kenji from the others. during the new team's first field mission, kenji went off the rails and almost killed one of the bandits they were trying to stop. when his entire team yelled at him, he stormed off and didn't return.

zara was devastated by this and struggles with feeling trapped and alone... her fights with lloyd grow a lot more frequent.

lloyd agonizes over how his bloodline must be cursed. once again, there will be a fight son vs. father, sibling vs. sibling. he isolates himself as he tries to find a solution to save his family, going as far as snapping at the other ninja when they try to help him.

meanwhile, the rift between kade and zara only grows more, as zara tries to explain that powers have only broken her family apart - while kade is furious that she doesn't recognize her own importance, and expresses how useless he felt on the field mission.

the new team is torn apart on how to feel about kenji - some of them feel betrayed (kade, asher, ikari), others are scared for him (zara).

onyx doesn't know how to feel about the whole situation - being close to zara, she doesn't want to dismiss kenji as a lost cause, but after her personal scare with kenji's powers she doesn't want him back either unless he can control himself.

also maybe in the background zane is dealing with the fact he doesn't age idk. and jay has major trauma around nya almost dying TWICE so like. he is so terrified everytime asher has to go into the field because THAT'S HIS BABY! also kai and skylor definitely get into small arguments over how to handle kade's recklessness and bad behavior

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um anyways more tba i guess when i come up with more. though i'm pretty sure we gonna get an "evil" zara arc.

i hope you like my ocs, they are my pride & joy and my current brainrot big time :)

[spinchip]

zane 4: I don’t think I can do this anymore.

A/N: accidentally write 2.3k of zangst...

He’s been getting worse.

Cole knows he’s not the only one who’s noticed, and he knows everyone is trying to do their part to coax Zane out of the husk that came back from the Never Realm, but the jarring reality is that nothing they’ve been doing is helping. At first he could barely stand to be in the same room as them all, cringing away from the cacophony of noise and sound, casual touches overwhelming after centuries in isolation. It had hurt to see him withdraw so quickly from them, but he still hung around one on one or if they were in smaller groups. They had to be patient, it’s not like he could just snap back from something so deeply traumatic. They shouldn’t have expected him to be okay.

But he just kept getting worse.

He rarely comes out of his room at all, he can’t bring himself to train- his own ice has him flinching, and he fumbles with his bow and shuriken, too out of practice to use them properly. Sensei Wu had gently suggested he try a bo staff or a podao and Zane had left training half a second after he’d touched one. He hadn’t come back for the past two weeks. He seemed out of place in the kitchen, stumbling over things he used to do with ease, unfamiliar once more with the place he’d practically lived in for years. He didn’t even cook anymore, or play chess, or read- anything he used to find fun he’d abandoned, even turning down video games and birdwatching with Pixal. He just… sat in his room, or on the roof of the monastery, or in the grass just beyond the gate and did not much else.

Pixal sat with him sometimes, trying to get him to open up, but he never did. Cole had walked out on her several times sitting in the hallway outside Zanes bedroom door talking quietly, locked out and begging him to let her in. The others tread lightly around him, trying not to spook him away when he comes out on his own, trying to avoid thinking about how tired he looks. He moves like each act is a chore, lifting his arms to get a glass of water as if his arms were weighed down with concrete, his shoulder slumped with exhaustion.

Two days ago the ninja were called out on a routine mission, some stragglers from the SOG still hanging around had gotten rowdy. Ultraviolet had escaped prison and had rallied a few into a few petty acts of crime in the street- the Ninja were barely necessary, but they were called out on every SOG round up, just in case. It should have been easy, maybe a little bit of a fight with Violet, but a refresher. Cole was almost looking forward to something to break up the monotony.

And then Zane had almost killed her, and things had gotten so so much worse.

It was like he became a different person on the battlefield, using his ice liberally and with a recklessness Cole had never seen from the nindroid before. He froze a few gang members up to their waists, ice crawling up their legs so fast they couldn’t fight it. Ultraviolet either couldn’t tell or didn’t care about the change in him, taunting them all. It wasn’t until she landed a hit on Nya that things got scary- Zane was across the battlefield in an instant, laying into her like it was the only thing he wanted to do. She dodges most of it, but the strikes that hit home were strong enough to put her to the floor. He froze her there, up to her waist, trapping her forearms in thick blocks of ice so she could only wiggle her shoulders to try and break free.

Then he raised his open palm towards her head, and she was laughing and taunting but her voice stuttered and died when she saw the look on his face. Detached and cold, empty, and deeply haunted. Frost swirled around his fingers, and Cole was struck with the awful reality that he’s about to execute her, I can’t watch this-

Cole lunges but Lloyd is faster, slamming into Zanes side a second before ice shards explode out of his palm. They miss Ultraviolet by a hair, smashing into the asphalt next to her hand hard enough to break it, big ugly cracks spreading out across the pavement, and the woman before them looked like she had never been more scared in her life. Her eyes blown wide, her face even more ashen as she looked at the place where the ice shattered the road- that could have been her head.

Zane comes back to himself, jerking away from Lloyd even as he tries to chase after him, gasping at his wrists and offering hushed comforts that Zane doesn’t seem to be able to hear. The entire street has gone eerily silent, watching with wide-eyed shock as Zane almost murders Ultraviolet. Frost starts inching out of the ground where Zane steps, patches of ice crawling across the street, and when he turns away from her and looks across the other SOG gang members- they put up their hands and surrender without any more fight, afraid of him.

Zane turned and ran, racing back to his vehicle and disappearing without a word, leaving them all to deal with the aftermath.

As Cole uses a pick he’d conjured out of earth to chip Ultraviolet out, she looks at him with those spooked eyes and tries to be cocky and uncaring again, “I thought murder wasn’t your style.” she shoots, When he doesn’t respond she asks, more subdued, “Do you think he was really going to kill me?”

Cole isn’t lying when he says yes.

Zane beats them home, obviously, and he locks himself in his room. Each of them take a crack at trying to get him to talk, or just come out for a second and let them see him. Lloyd gets him to at least talk through the door and reassure them he’s fine.

“He says he needs space.” Lloyd had reported back to them all, expression pinched.

And then it had been radio silence the past few days. He wasn’t coming out for anything, holed up in his room and hiding from them all. It was Kai that heard it, yelling for everyone else to come back to Zanes room- a crash, apparently. The sound of something breaking, and now Zane wasn’t responding. They all called through the door, worry spiking with each progressive minute, and Kai was the one who made the decision to force their way in.

It wasn’t something made lightly, but they just… needed to know he was safe.

The lock breaks out of the frame easily, and when they all pile in it’s pretty obvious that Zane left. His mirror is smashed in, a big dent right in the middle, spiderweb cracks spreading out across the rest of it. Jay walks up to it and puts his fist right in the center of it all, looking back at them with deep sorrow when it fits perfectly.

Nya motions to the window, “it’s open.” She says softly, “You think he’s out there?”

A heartbeat passes, “Let me go talk to him.” Cole says before Pixal can volunteer, “I… I’ve known him a long time. Let me try.” Before Pixal and Lloyd and Kai and Nya, before even Jay, it had just been Cole and Zane for a really long time. He knows Zane better than anyone.

Lloyds mouth twists and he doesn’t look happy about it, but he nods slowly.

Cole hoists himself up and out the window with a good deal more trouble than he’s sure Zane had, stupid skinny nindroid, who is nowhere to be seen on the other side. He sighs a little, running a hand through his hair with discontent, and turns back toward the monastery, squinting up at the roof through the darkness. He can’t tell from down here, but it’s honestly the most likely place he’d have gone to hide. He climbs up the wall with little difficulty, hauling himself up on top of the roof and flopping down on his belly. He rolls onto his back and sits up, looking around to catch a certain Nindroid smiling tiredly at him a few steps away.

“Very Graceful.” Zane offers, which is the most Cole has heard him say in nearly a week.

“I get the job done.” he comments, scooting across the roof to sit next to him, “You worried us. We heard your mirror break and then you didn't respond.”

Zane is quiet for a long time, “... How badly is my door broken?”

“Nothing a little work won’t fix.” Cole sighs, looking over at Zane.

It’s hard to explain, but he’s… lost something. Some spark of life or optimism. All he is now is tired and hurt and worn in a way Cole is familiar with on an intimate level, but his own funk had never been this ongoing. His time as a ghost had made him want to...  to give up, but he’d come back. Zane wasn’t coming back.

“What do you need?” He asks and when Zane looks at him, even the blue of his eyes is dull and faded, “What will help, Zane?”

“I don’t know.” He says honestly, “I just… I don’t think I can do this anymore.” he looks up across the expanse of stars twinkling in the sky, eyes distant.

“Do what?” Zane doesn’t answer and Cole leans in, resting a hand on his shoulder to ground him, “I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me.”

It’s something they’ve all said to a certain degree a thousand times before, but maybe he needed to hear it a thousand and one, or maybe it’s gotten bad enough that he finally realizes he needs to talk before it gets any worse, but when Zane looks at Cole again he knows this is a turning point. Whatever he says next will change things.

“I don’t think I can be a ninja anymore.” Zane basically whispers it, barely managing to push it out past his teeth, a truth he’s been harboring so deeply within himself it took getting to his darkest moment to admit it, “i’m sorry.” he adds, face starting to break as the reality of what he’s just admitted catches up with him.

Cole shakes his head, “Don’t- Don’t apologize, Zane, you have nothing to apologize for.” He swallows down his own devastation, the idea of Zane not being a ninja anymore is- is heartbreaking. He doesn’t want that, to go into battle without his calm presence by his side, and almost immediately he feels his stomach roil at his own thoughts. Selfish.

“What I did in the Never Realm- I can’t forget it, it’s all I think about here, it’s all I know. Pain, death, devastation. Everytime I put on my gi I think about hurting people again.” He confesses, voice strained and hushed, “Everytime I call my ice and I feel that rush, I can't remember what I stand for. I just want to use it. On anything. And when I come down all I feel is guilt and shame, and when I look in the mirror all I see is a monster- I just can’t do it anymore. I don’t want to be here anymore.” he breaks, tears running down his face, biting his lip to stop himself from talking any more.

“Then don’t.” Cole reaches out again, taking Zanes other shoulder and turning him to face him, “Stop being a ninja- go- go out, see the world, remember what you love about life and about Ninjago. Remember what you’re fighting for.”

Zane looks at him with wide wet eyes, a new light flickering there, something soft and aching. It’s as if Cole has given him something, a new hope in the permission to leave.

“We’ll be here when you want to come back, be it just to visit or to stay. We’re your family, we’ll support you through whatever you need.” Cole pulls him in close and Zane accepts the hug, twisting his fingers into Coles gi desperately, “Just be sure to send postcards, alright? And- and any fancy candies that we don’t get here in Ninjago City.”

Zane laughs and it sounds watery, but Cole doesn’t mind if he cries because it’ll cover up the sound of his own tears.

In the morning, Zane quietly tells them all that he plans to leave, and they understand. It hurts, and no one’s exactly happy about it, but… they understand. If he needs to go, if space and time away from all this will help him heal, then by the first spinjitzu master they’ll be the ones to help him pack. He politely refuses Pixal and Kais offer to come with him and they take it with as much grace as they can. He sits with Lloyd the longest, breaks it to him the gentlest of them all, and Cole gives them as much space as they need to talk it out. Lloyd doesn’t have the best track record with abandonment, and this will be the hardest for him to grasp, but he does.

They will all let him go, even though it will be hard. There is no party, no celebration, just a quiet dinner that Zane makes himself, a few heartfelt goodbyes, and then Zane is gone.

The first postcard is a family event, it’s sealed up in an envelope with pictures and a letter to them all. He’s found a therapist to talk to over his Borg cell while he travels, he’s safe, he’s optimistic, and he misses them all greatly.

With it comes a little box, for Cole written on a small tag, and it’s filled with candy.

[gryphonablaze]

so i wrote a lil thing. takes place post-fuster cluck

i like ava and her potential for development and growth as a character. i know a lot of people hate her, and even though i don’t know why i do, i like her. i know she’s not well written. i already know so please don’t come at me with that. idk why but i don’t really care how she’s badly written. i like her okay. alright i just wanted to get that out of the way

‘Wait.’ 

‘What is it?’, Zane asked, rubbing his head. 

‘Maya was there? In-in his mind?’ Ava pressed. 

The vault hunters paused. 

‘Ava,’ Tannis spoke, ‘She’s not… really there. She’s about as real as the margarita in my hand.’

‘But… you don’t have a margarita...’

‘Exactly. I want to have a margarita, and I can visualize the margarita, think of what it looks and tastes like, but it’s not really there. The Maya in Kreig’s mind is just as material as she would be if you pretended she was standing next to you.’ 

‘Actually, she, uh…’ Amara started, ‘Well, the… the things that were happening in that… in there, were pretty independent of his intentions.’

‘He’s not exactly in control of the place,’ Moze finished. ‘Everything in there kind of has a ‘mind’ of its own.’

‘Ironically.’ FL4K added. 

‘Hold on. Let me grab an echo.’ A recorder flew across the room and stopped to hover beside Tannis. She clicked it on. Without touching it, of course. ‘Are you saying that, memory though she may be, Maya is functioning as an entire consciousness within Kreig’s mind?’ 

‘It seemed like--’ 

‘I don’t care!’ Ava cut Amara off. ‘I don’t care if she’s ‘really real’ or not! Let me see her!’ 

Tannis sighed. ‘Fine. Ahem--Kreig? Do you mind hosting another guest for a little while? ………Good. Because I don’t know if I’d be able to keep her from trying to worm her way through my technology, misusing it, condemning you to permanent and debilitating brain damage and erasing her own existence from the universe, anyway.’ She turned back to Ava. ‘Alright. In you go.’ 

……………

‘Uh, welcome, I guess--’

‘Where’s Maya?’

‘Hold on--Ava?’

‘MAYA!’ The girl immediately sprinted off toward the sound of the Siren’s voice.

‘... Nice to meet you too.’ 

‘FRIGID FROGS.’ 

‘Yeah, that was a little rude…’

Maya nearly fell over from the force of Ava’s tackle-hug. 

‘MAYAAAAAAHAHAAAA!!’ 

It was a good five minutes of sobbing and borderline strangulation, if that was even possible for, as Maya put it, ‘whatever this is,’ before Ava let go. 

‘You-hic-you look weird. I don’t-hic-I don’t care!’ 

Maya snorted, but was holding back ghostly tears of her own. ‘Observant as always. Did you miss me?’ 

‘Don’t… don’t tell anyone I cried, okay?’ 

‘Won’t tell a soul.’ 

…………… 

The two Sirens were sitting side-by-side on the ground, leaning against the tree outside the portal to Maya’s memory.

‘I’m sorry I didn’t take your training as seriously as I should have. I just wanted to be a Vault Hunter so bad...’

‘Well, now that you’ve got my powers, now that you are a Vault hunter’ Maya grabbed Ava’s left hand and held her arm up, ‘How does it feel?’ A little snarky, she added, ‘Is it everything you dreamed?’ 

‘Yes! It’s amazing! It’s everything I’ve ever wanted since… well, ever! I love it!’ 

Maya almost seemed taken aback for a moment, but then covered it up with a grin. ‘I’m glad you’re enjoying it.’ Her smile fell. ‘But… about how I left you on Sanctuary when the Vault Team and I went to Promethea.’

‘I don’t want to talk about that.’

‘We need to talk about it.’

‘...’

‘I’m sorry for leaving you behind. Honestly, though, for the Vault on Promethea, if I had to make that choice again… I’d do it. But just because that was a very specific situation. In general though--I never wanted to leave you out, or deny you adventure. But you do know why I did it, right?’

‘You were trying to protect me… but I can hold my own! I could--’

‘Ava. It’s not that I don’t trust you or your abilities. It’s just… danger is everywhere. Troy and Tyreen took Lilith’s powers. They overwhelmed even me. Both of us were experienced, seasoned fighters, Vault Hunters, Sirens. If they can do that, I don’t even want to think of what they could do to you. But I do. I can’t get it out of my head. I tried to keep you out of the fight because I didn’t want those things to happen. You’re not invincible.’

Ava looked down. 

‘But... I should have taken you with me. Not to Promethea--but everything else.’ If they had been together in battle, then Ava could fight, practice, learn, but Maya would still be there to keep her safe. Ish. Safeish. Safer, at the least. ‘I just want you to know that if I could do that over again, I would. So, I’m sorry.’ 

Ava leaned more onto Maya’s shoulder. 

‘I’m sorry too. I should have listened to you more.’ 

‘Yeah… I feel like I had to cut so much out of your training… buuuuuut, now that we can talk, even if it is in Kreig’s crazy Psychoscape… ’

‘We can continue training?’ 

‘Yep.’ Both smiled. 

‘We can’t do this, like, all the time though, because Kreig’s brain--hold on. Have--have you even met Kreig yet?’

‘Uh… not really.’

‘Oh. My goodness. Okay, come on.’ Maya stood up and grabbed Ava’s hand and towed her over the the area where Kreig’s split psyches were chatting. 

‘Alright. Favorite person number one, meet favorite person number two. Kreig, this is Ava, my apprentice. And Ava, this is Kreig. Vault hunter, Crimson Raider, and my boyfriend.’

‘Oh,’ Blue Kreig stood up. ‘So you’re the kid she told us about? Huh. Nice to finally meet you. I’m the sane side. And that guy over there is the--’ 

‘SQUISHMEAT FLESHSLAYER!’ 

‘Yeah. That.’ 

The three talked so long that they lost track of time. Not that time could be tracked easily in the weird void-like space anyway. But they shared stories of that one time, that one guy, the place with the thing. Tannis is a Siren, by the way, got her powers from an ‘Angel.’ Troy and Tyreen are dead too, the Great Vault was real. They opened two more vaults, went to Nekrotafeyo, met Typhon DeLeon, used an ancient Eridian Machine. The Destroyer was destroyed, Lilith blew up the moon. 

Eventually, Tannis decided that it was time for Ava to come back to the real world. The reason being that Team Vault was meeting to discuss plans, and you should be there, since Lilith technically passed leadership down to you, but honestly leaving planning up to the group was one of the best decisions you’ve made, no offense to you of course,

‘It… it was really nice to see her again. Hey, Kreig,’ 

‘What is it?’ 

‘Can I ask you a favor?’

‘Anything.’

‘Promise me you’ll take care of her?’

‘Of course.’

[ninja-go-to-therapy]

Here it is! A snippet of my story about the mass conspiracy kidnapping and stealing elemental masters. (It’s 2150 words long :)

———

Kai pulled his hood up over his hair, kneeling on the opposite rooftop and watching the building in front of him. It seemed like a normal building. Single story, nothing exciting in the front or through the windows, aside from the interesting characters who kept walking in and out. All types of people seemed to be coming to this dingy area of town, entering the building and then staying in there for hours, despite the building being empty. 

He’d deduced that they must be going underground, there was no other way for so many people to just disappear. It had to be where the other elemental masters, where his friends, had been taken. And he was not going to rest until he had saved them all. 

He leapt down off the roof, creeping along the street until he was underneath the window. The night was dark aside from the single street lamp, offering a little light into the empty building. He peered inside, seeing nothing out of the ordinary and climbed into the house. His feet landed softly onto the wooden floors, a small cloud of dust puffing up from where he touched the ground. He knelt down, keeping out of sight of the windows and scanned the inside, studying the room. Most of the floor was dusty, the furniture nothing more than displays to give the appearance of a functioning home. He stared down at the floor, studying the odd path of worn and dust-free wood. A smile curled onto his face, finally a path for him to follow.

It led him into a smaller room, likely a bedroom, that was completely empty aside from a giant rug on the floor, with the middle ever so slightly dipping down. His smile grew, easily lifting up the rug to reveal a large hole in the ground. He wasn’t surprised, they’d known the Serpentine were involved for a long time but had no luck in finding their new catacombs. Until now. 

Kai leapt into action, sliding down the hall and shifting the rug back over the hole. He was unsurprised to find a ladder, likely there to help the humans get to this secret base. It didn’t take him long to reach the bottom, the soft lighting from torches alerting him to the ground. He landed softly, eyes scanning for any potential problems. The tunnel was lit with torches, casting long shadows from the rocky walls. He started forward, moving as fast as he could while remaining quiet, pressing himself into the rocky wall just in case someone might be looking down the tunnel. 

The cavern was huge. Kai gaped as he reached the end of the tunnel and stared into a wide open cavern, at least as large as the Serpentine’s last home under the city and possibly ever larger. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling like fire pits swinging softly in the air. He was grateful for the light they provided, enough to see but not enough to completely overpower the shadows. There were several tunnels leading to who knows what and, he ducked down, sprinting to the cover of the rocky wall. There were people walking out from a tunnel and across the cavern. 

He could hear them talking but couldn’t make out the words, not through the sound of heart beating. He took a moment to centre himself, pressing his back into the rock wall and focusing on the touch of the cool rocks, the bumpy surface digging into his skin through his clothes. For four seconds he breathed in, keeping his eyes open and alert. For six seconds he breathed out, ears attentive for any sounds. For four second he breathed in, his heart finally slowing down. For six seconds he breathed out, and pushed himself off the wall. 

Out of all the tunnels, one caught his attention. There was no sound coming from it, but rather it was the most well light, growing brighter as if something was flashing within. If his friends were somewhere, he was betting that was where they were. 

Instead of risking a sprint across the cavern, Kai stuck to the walls. As a few more people walked across the cavern, oblivious to his presence, he knew he’d made the right decision. As he reached the entrance of the tunnel, it became clear that there was definitely something strange about it. Unlike the other tunnels, it didn’t smell of natural earth. It had an unnatural smell, artificial and metallic. Almost as though there was metal down there, like a laboratory. 

Wasting no more time, Kai glanced around to ensure he was alone and began his sprint down the tunnel. It didn’t take him long to reach where the strange smell and lights were coming from. 

The tunnel was a dead end, the final stretch wasn’t made of rock but rather metal. The walls were glass, the lights from within illuminating the tunnel. The floor was also metal and wider than the rest of the tunnel. Most of the lights were plain white but two of what were clearly rooms were giving off strange lights. One was erratic flashing and the other was a soft green. 

Kai had to remind himself to breathe as his chest tightened, his muscles stiffening as a thousand scenarios ran through his mind. Just because the tunnel made him think of a laboratory, didn’t mean his friends were being experimented on. It just meant these people were crazy. And just because they were crazy, didn’t mean they were malicious or hurting his friends. He struggled to rationalise his thoughts, forcing himself to focus on moving his legs so he could investigate. If he was going to save everyone, he needed to know what was going on. 

A small part of him wished he’d stayed home. 

The first rooms held elemental masters he recognised, each trapped in their own personal hell. There was no sign of vengestone preventing them from using their powers but it didn’t seem like that was their goal. It almost looked like they were… stealing their powers. 

Tox was trapped in a cloud of her own poison, filters in the roof of the room taking the poison out, though the cloud never shrunk. Kai couldn’t see her face, but she was curled up in a ball, shaking in the centre of her cloud. He shuddered, knowing first hand how bad her cloud was and although he knew she was immune to it, he couldn’t help but wonder if her immunity didn’t work after such a long time. 

Opposite her was Karloff, pressing his hands into pieces of wood and plastic and… turning them into metal. His expression was blank, unaware that Kai was watching him, all his energy focused on turning the items in front of him into metal. It was something Kai didn’t know was even possible, and he didn’t want to know what Karloff had endured to make it possible. He couldn’t help but notice the chunks missing from his arms, as though someone had carved into his metal form. 

The next pair of rooms were no different. Griffin was trapped on a treadmill, running and running and running and Kai forced himself to look away. His heart ached for his friends, the pain and loss on their faces so clear it hurt. Opposite Griffin was Jacob, sitting in the middle of his room, screaming. It sounded muffled through the glass, but it was definitely screaming. Was this how they stole his sound? By forcing him to scream? 

Kai shuddered and rushed through the next rooms, only pausing when he saw someone lying on a slab. He stopped to study them, acutely aware of his time running short, paying close attention to the feet, the bits hanging open. There was only one person he knew who could have their chest opened like that. Kai held his hands against his mouth, fighting back the urge to puke. These… these monsters had taken Zane and were exposing him, rifling through his insides for what? A chance to learn more about him? It was sickening. 

He slowly turned to look at the room opposite, afraid of what he might find. Kai clenched his fists, his disgust and fear overtaken by overwhelming anger as he watched Cole, the strongest man he knew, struggle under an unimaginable weight. He was on one knee, hands pressed against the object above him, half resting it on his shoulders, sweat pouring off him as he struggled. Kai knew how strong Cole was, and if he was struggling like this, he couldn’t imagine how much weight he was holding. 

“I’m going to get you out of here,” he whispered, “All of you." 

Kai paused, the next rooms were where the erratic flashing was coming from. And the green glow. He almost didn’t want to continue, sure that he had seen enough to get out of here and come up with a plan. But he had to see. He had to know. With a shaky breath, he kept walking.

If seeing Zane opened up on a slab was horrifying, nothing could have prepared him for the sight he was seeing now. It was Jay, suspended upright on a weird X, his arms and legs splayed apart. The erratic flashing was coming from his lightning, that was being sucked from his body by wires. So, so many wires stuck into his body. Jay had always been on the small side but he looked so tiny and fragile being hooked up to so many wires. And that wasn’t even the worst part. Kai forced himself to look away, unable to bear the absolute twisted and tortured expression stuck on Jay’s face, so clearly illustrating the immense pain he was in. 

He moved on to the next room, bracing himself. He’d known from the second he saw the green glow who was in there, and now seeing so many horrible tortures, he prepared himself for whatever horror his little brother was having to endure. 

Kai was pleasantly surprised, something he’d never expected here, when he saw Lloyd. His little brother was curled into a ball, his face pressed into his lap, surrounded by a shield of green energy. It was being siphoned by some kind of machine, similar to how Tox’s poison was being stolen. He couldn’t help but feel relieved that Lloyd was only being forced to create a shield of energy. Kai knew it couldn’t have been a pleasant feeling, but… he glanced down the tunnel, the occupants of the other rooms hidden from view but still clear in his mind… it could have been worse. 

There was only one person left for him to find. The person who had been missing the longest and the one he longed to see the most. 

His sister. 

He approached the next room, once again bracing himself for whatever horrors he might see. He breathed a sigh of relief when the person inside wasn’t Nya but rather Neuro, a strange contraption on his head and his entire body shaking. He didn’t want to know what was making him shake so bad. 

Kai kept walking, part of him hopeful that maybe Nya had escaped somehow, that she was free and in hiding so no one could find her. 

His hopes were shattered when he looked inside the next room. He almost couldn’t see her, she was suspended on a plank in the air, her arms hanging down the sides and water pouring from her arms. It pooled below her, disappearing down a drain. A part of him was glad he couldn’t see her face, he didn’t want to know how much effort it took to be constantly creating water. He blinked, surprised to feel a tear sliding down a cheek. He wiped his face quickly, more determined than ever to free his friends. 

He was nearly at the end now, only two more rooms to go. He checked them, surprised to find one of them, the one directly next to Nya empty. 

"It’s for you.” A voice whispered in his ear. 

Kai spun around to see a large Serpentine, Constrictai, standing next to a hole in the wall. He raised his hands as the Serpentine’s fist came flying at his face, connecting with his cheek and sending him crashing into the ground. 

He frowned, struggling to fight through the fog overcoming his mind. The Serpentine leaned over him, a wide smile across their face. “I’m so glad you could join us, Kai,” they said, sounding farther and farther away. “We’ve been waiting such a long time." 

Kai turned his face to the side, looking into Nya’s cell. He was foolish to think he could save her alone. But he would not rest until he was free, until they were all free. He focused on freedom, repeating it over and over again as his vision tunnelled and went black.

---

EDIT: AAAAAAAHHHHHH

[s0l0b0d0r]

SOME random ninjago hc that is in the RTO au

i wrote a lot of hc that fit the RTO au, not necessarily associated with Future and so here we are 

it’s long so here’s a summary of the HCs, you’ll find them under the cut 

Timetwins childhoods 

 + Kronos HCs (as requested by @moonprincess101)

cyrus HC

Pixal HC

couple other than future in RTO 

EMs and elemental power in general 

Zane & the ICE EM reincarnation 

Morro & Ronin sibbling 

Nadakhan & Dilara 

AGE CHART 

Bonus : Pokemon AU (+ doodles !!)

WARNING : LOOOOONG 

Timetwins childhoods ( + Kronos HCs)  

“Acronix" and "krux" isn’t their birth names, Acronix came up with them when they were younger, as super heroes names after discovering their powers. Krux loved the idea and they kept referring each other as these names. Krux forgot what is original name was, but Acronix still remembers them. i’m guessing that they might use them again after getting back into society

They grew us in a country side village with their mother for a big part of their life, didn't socialized much til their mother passed.  Krux was always overprotective and nix, not having anything else to compare, thought krux directing him was normal. when joining the EMs when the serpentins wars happened, Nix easily became friend with some of the EMs, unlike krux . tho they really did not got along with wu and garmadon 

their elemental power was passed down to them by a Unknown Man whom they never met, as he left before their birth, Kronos :

- kronos was the previous user of the time element, he used it for good, preventing some disaster, saving people’s life, Wu knew him well. 

- tho he was young when he married and didn't know how what would happen to his power after having kids. he took his power for granted and overused them even for simple task. to him , having powers was normal and sounded arrogant when speaking with other EMs or people in general 

.- during his wife pregnancy, he noticed his powers started fading and freaked out, he went to wu, asking for help and learn the truth about what would happen to his powers after his sons where born. he was never seen again afterward. 

when wu met krux and acronix, he knew they were related to kronos , but when asking them about their father , the twins would not reply and looks uncomfortable 

- his personality shifted rapidly afterward, without powers he went mad, more aggressive, salty, self centered 

Cyrus HC

- Cyrus grew up taking inspiration from DR. julien work to build his own tech, he never really expected to become so popular later in his life and sometime feels overwhelmed by it .

- Cyrus is a billionaire, and donate to charity all the time , ninjago doesn't seems to have any problems beside villains attacking time to time, you can expect rich people of the world to be actually helping RIGHT ?

- Cyrus isnt paralyzed, i imagine him more having weak legs motor control that dont support his body weight enough to let him stand, if he did, he would feel dizzy very fast, (this is heavly based on this HC )

it has some hint in the show, but you dont wanna mess with cyrus, he can be agressive toward people that bother him or his loved ones, he will not hesitate to fight the best way he can ! 

Pixal HC

- pixal was a project he worked on for YEARS, but she was only fully finished at the beginning of S3

- pixal was built to be gender neutral, until she told her father that she wanted to be seen as feminine , and he loves and support her

- pixal is very polite and usually call people by title, unless she knows them personally, she would never call cyrus by anything else than “father”

- when she first got in contact with people other than her father, she found them fascinating, and specially zane, knowing that he was a nindroïd like her.

- she used to have a crush on zane that for a while, felt mutual, until she got dismantled .. she was glad zane found a way to keep her around but as time passed, the lack of physical body, zane becoming colder with her afterward , and him getting closer to cole after the event of S4. made her loose interest, they were living as one but she missed being herself 

- ronin was the one who dismantled her, after he captured zane, pixal tried to defend her friend but got destroyed, ronin used part of her body to repair his own . his left arm being partially made from pixal Original body

- she took inspiration from nya’s samurai X mech to build herself a new body 

- in the process she developed feelings for nya. like zane earlier in her life, she felt like it was mutual but she isn’t sure the relation is working out, nya and her are spliting and getting back together every month or so

-she is an hopeless lover and tend to crush on anybody that express kindness to her 

Couple other than future in RTO

RTO mainly focus on future, but also : samurai, Glacier, Scruff  and A BIT of jaya , in general, the ninjas (minus lloyd) are pretty much all in open relationships with one another and it’s mostly just polyninja but main focus on samurai and glacier  

EMs and elemental power in general

- EM lives longer that other people , roughly 120~ years instead of 80 , and that even if they lost their powers

- being an EM can be either genetic or Given .. Powers can be passed down only two ways : a Em can have a kid and during pregnancy, the element will start fading until the baby is born, element will take time to developed in someone’s body , it roughly take 10-15 years for someone to discover their power. however this process inst guaranteed, and some EM’s kid can be born without powers, this is usually the case when only one of the parent is a EM, in case a EM have more kids than powers (eg. twins) the power will either splits up, or one of he kid will be born without powers 

- the second option is strong bound, if a EM is dying (or dead) without kids or non of their kids inherited their powers , they can choose a Vessel .. it can be human, creature or any sentient being. 

- taking someone’s power away by force CANNOT happen, it’s BULLSHIT.. wu and garmadon simply blocked krux and acronix powers, they are still considered EM and if they wish to, can pass down their powers to someone else , who WILL be able to control it (tho since the power Split up, nix can only pass down slow and forward power) after that, the time blade will lose their powers.

Zane & the ICE EM reincarnation

for his HC i’m going to call the previous ICE EM “simon”  i cant remembrer who named the Ice EM simon, if you know it please lemme know !  i love it tbh

-julien and simon knew each other very well, they were Close friends 

- simon knew that julien loved making machine and heard about a new project "zane" a robot that could protect people that could protect themselves, julien loved zane like his son . later in his life after the serpentine wars , simon feeling old, wanted to pass down his elemental power to someone before passing away, and thought julien was perfect, after all they knew each other, but he changed his mind and decided to pass it to zane instead. He touched zane heart and after that, he slowly lost his powers till he passed . neither zane nor julien knew about it, but by freezing his heart, it gave him a part of his soul ( 9 STYLE) ,  a unusual but strong power source to zane, the elemental power of ice and changed his behavior a bit 

Morro & Ronin sibbling HC

Morro and Ronin are brothers , morro is the oldest and inherited the wind power, unlike ronin. 

ronin loved to provoque people and overall was a little brat. one day with morro, he annoyed a citizen of Stiix, that will later be known as “soularcher” that decided to curse him and his brother 

Morro was terrified and fleed, he eventually decided to join wu’s monastery , who adopted him. morro was sure that becoming the green ninja of the prophecy would make him a hero and lift the curse on his soul. he was even more devastated to learn that wu was wrong

on his own ways ronin tried his best to fix his mistake growing up , without much success. falling into robbery, con artist, failed marriage and alcoholism 

when morro came back as a ghost, he felt guilty and wanted to fix his mistake but he finally had people like nya and dareth (whom he met at a bar and chatted with him when he was sad) that cared about him and decide to fight for good for once 

Ronin had a wife and a daughter a WHILE ago, but lost them . his daughter was roughly the same age as nya and she remind him of her 

Nadakhan & Dilara

Dilara and nya are related

Dilara and captain sotto knew each other (family related ;;; OR she was cheating on nadakhan idk but either way she cared about him too )  and she help sotto capture nadakhan and his crew but made a mistake and got killed in the process

Dilara was just there to use nadakhan for his powers but nadakhan wanted her for his infinite wishes so I GUESS THEYre a good pair ???

AGE CHART 

BONUS : Pokemon AU for no reason but i’m happy of them 

THERE IM DONE BYYYYYYYYE 

[edgarbonesknows]

It Comes in Waves || March 19th, 1980

The smell of freshly cooked lasagna and toasted garlic bread clouded the air like a thick perfume, making Edgar’s mouth water as he set the table and Rommie rounded up the children. Dinner was finally ready and Caelum was already in her seat, squawking angrily for food just as Zane came running in, pulling himself up into his own chair while Rommie followed with Antimony, plopping her down in her own high chair.

It was a nice evening. The kids had been good all day, Edgar hadn’t had to work and neither had Rommie, they’d spent some of it in Diagon Alley, getting coaxed into buying new toys and having some good family time. Things had been fairly quiet recently, which was good because Edgar didn’t think he could handle anything more going wrong.

He should have known this was only the calm before yet another storm in his life.

There was a tapping on the window as an owl swooped out of the dark sky. Socks came charging into the room, barking at the window and wagging her tail excitedly. Edgar was busy trying to convince Caelum to eat her dinner while Rommie had only just finished dishing out her own. “I’ll grab it,” she said as she got to her feet.

Opening the window and allowing the brown tawny to swoop in, she easily pulled the letter from its ankle, offering it one of Margaret’s treats before sending it off again. It shot Socks an offended glance, ruffling its feathers before turning tail and flying off into the night once more. Rommie looked the envelope over lazily before opening the letter.

“Tim --- hey, Tim! No, put that in your mouth. Your mouth,” Edgar chastised as Antimony rolled a chunk of ground beef across the table.

Zane, always hoping to be helpful, poked at his sister to get her attention. “Like this,” he told her, demonstrating as he took a great big forkful of his own and stuck it in his mouth. Antimony let out a bright laugh as she watched her brother eat, immediately mimicking the action. Edgar smiled as he watched them, warmth filling his chest as he saw Zane glow with pride to see his sister listening to him.

“That’s right, Tim, you did well --- Don’t you think, mummy?” Edgar turned to Rommie, wondering if she’d missed the exchange. The warmth that had washed over him froze like ice in his stomach as his eyes locked onto his wife.

She was standing over the sink, the letter they had received half crumpled in her hand as she leaned heavily on the counter, her head slumped forward against her chest and her back heaving as though she was breathing heavily. Edgar dropped the small spoon, ignoring as Caelum picked it up and began loudly banging it against her high chair.

His heart was racing in his chest as he moved swiftly to her side, his hands already starting to shake as he placed one on her back. It was a mistake, she leapt from where she was staring blankly at the counter and swung around to face him, hissing a venomous, “Don’t touch me!”

Her anger, the look in her eye, it hurt, but he raised his hands, feeling truly terrified. “What … what’s wrong?” he asked, swallowing thickly, unsure whether he wanted to know the answer.

Rommie didn’t say anything, her glare relaxing as her eyes turned down to the letter still clutched in her trembling hands. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before pushing past him briskly and making her way up the stairs.

Edgar blinked after her, scared out of his mind as to what that letter held. “Is --- is mummy alright?” Zane asked, sounding similarly afraid. Even Antimony had quieted down, looking confused while Caelum pouted angrily.

Shaking his head, he tried to organize his thoughts for the sake of his kids. “Hey --- um --- can you keep an eye on your sisters for --- uh --- a minute?’ Zane was staring at him, but he nodded. “Just --- ah --- make sure they have something to eat. I’ll be back in a minute, I promise.” It was equally as frightening to see the understanding and maturity in his five-year-old son’s eyes. This was wrong, his son wasn’t supposed to understand these things yet.

Whatever these things were.

His legs felt heavy, like it was taking more willpower than he had to spare to lift them as he took the stairs up to their bedroom. The door wasn’t locked, surprisingly. His wife wasn’t the type to enjoy company when she was upset, usually locking herself away from the world while she dealt with her emotions.

Not this time, it would seem. She wasn’t even shouting, or throwing things, or punching the wall like she might normally, simply staring at the letter, reading it over as she sat on the edge of the bed, her face unreadable.

Moving slowly and deliberately, Edgar stepped into the room and sat himself down beside her, remaining silent. He wanted so badly to ask. What could be in that letter? Who had died? Obviously, someone had died. Another death in this god damned war. Someone else he had to mourn. Was it Lance, was it Georgia? Their unborn child? Had she miscarried? Had one of their friends been murdered? Had it been Tilden? Had it---

“My mother is dying.”

The words were quiet but it broke him from his spiralling thoughts, bringing him back to reality where he realized his own breathing had picked up and was coming out in short gasps. Now it stopped altogether as he felt a second of overwhelming relief, quickly followed by a flood of guilt for being glad that it wasn’t anyone he cared about. “Oh…” he said quietly, glancing to the letter. “What --- is it ---”

“Her liver,” Rommie’s voice was toneless besides a wry laugh as she gazed upward, letting the letter sit in loosely in her hand. “That stupid old bitch drank herself to death.” Another laugh, unnerving and a little louder than the one before. “But you know what’s the worst?” Her head snapped to his gaze and despite her calm tone, he could see the chaos behind those brown eyes. He knew the feeling all too well. “It’s him. That fucking --- the fucking --- that --- that fuck is ---” The dam broke as Rommie let out a frustrated cry and threw the crumpled letter at the wall. “How --- how dare he --- I will not! That bitch doesn’t deserve me --- she doesn’t deserve me sitting there watching her die! It would be amazing! I want to --- I would love to watch the life drain from those eyes! It would be amazing --- do you know how amazing it would be? Maybe I should--- but --- No! I’m not going to give her that! She doesn’t deserve that!”

While she shouted, surging to her feet and pacing around the room, Edgar quietly shut the door, securing the silencing charm around their room. Moving slowly, he bent and picked up the letter, his eyes scanning over it.

Romilda,

I wish we could have spoken earlier than this. I also wish that it wasn’t tragedy that had to bring us together once more, but alas, I am the bearer of bad news. It’s your mother, she’s sick. Dying, in fact. Her liver is failing and I’m afraid she doesn’t have long to live.

I know we’ve had our differences, but that’s no reason to take your anger out on your mother. Do you know how much she misses you? She wants to see you before she dies. I would also like to see you again. It’s been so long, how old are you now? You must be nearly thirty. I’ve tried to see you, but your father made sure I never could. I’m sure you’ve grown into a beautiful young woman, whatever you’re doing now. I hear you have kids, too. I think Theresa would love to meet them. Please don’t let your mother die thinking her only child hates her. Come home, please.

With love,

Daniel

His heart pounded in his chest. “Daniel?” It was the wrong question.

Rommie turned on him and shoved him against the wall, tearing the letter from his hand and waving it in front of his face angrily. “Yes, Daniel,” she spat the name like it was poison on her tongue. “He wants me to ‘come home’, he wants me to bring my kids. Like it’s my fault that my bitch of a mother hasn’t --- never had the chance! He --- he wants to see me? What the fuck is that supposed to mean? And you notice he doesn’t even mention you.”

Her breathing had picked up again and Edgar knew better than to move from where he was pressed against the wall at the moment. “This --- If he thinks he’s ever going to lay eyes on my kids I will rip those eyes from his head.” He could see the tears forming. “If he thinks I’m going to lie at my mother’s deathbed, crying over her crippled body.” They began to flow down her cheeks as her body started to tremble. “If he thinks --- if he thinks I’m ever going to --- going to go near --- near him again then --- then --- he’s got --- he’s going to---”

Edgar swooped forward as his wife’s legs gave out, catching her and lowering them both to the ground gently. She didn’t reject his touch this time as she loudly began to sob into his shoulder. He held her tightly, rubbing her back. “He won’t,” he told her.

“He will. He will. He’s going to find us and he’s going to take the kids and he’s going to--- to--- and I can’t let him do that. I would rather die. I would rather die.” As her sobs took over once more, he shushed her, resting his head on hers and keeping his own anger locked up tight. His wife needed him right now.

“He won’t,” he repeated. “I promise you, he will never go near you again. He will never go near our children. I promise.” While he spoke these words calmly, he felt his fear bleeding away to rage. It was boiling through his blood, making his arms squeeze a little more tightly around his wife. If he ever met the man who raped his wife and made her childhood a living hell, he wouldn’t hesitate to end the man’s life. He had known that from the day Rommie had explained everything to him.

In this war with so many faceless enemies, it was almost nice to have one with face and name. Someone he could truly take his rage out on without worrying about whether they were guilty or not.

“Don’t make me go back,” Rommie said quietly, her voice small and trembling like a terrified child’s.

“Never. I promise.” Never again.