Life and Such

Chapter Eleven: Trust

With tears in his eyes, Lloyd raced across the giant warehouse. He couldn’t believe it…Master Wu is alive!!

The older man was clearly shocked at Lloyd’s reaction to seeing him. However he barely budged as Lloyd lunged on him and wrapped his arms around his master. “Master…you’re okay!”

Even Jay and Nya had stopped their work to watch Lloyd crush Wu. After a few seconds of being in a tight embrace, Master Wu spoke. “I didn’t expect this much of a reaction from returning from my nap.”

Lloyd’s blood went cold. He knew Master Wu’s voice more than he knew his own father’s or mother’s. The voice that Lloyd heard was one of a complete stranger.

The green leader reluctantly pulled away and stared wide-eyed at his not-Master. Besides more wrinkles, this man was a spitting image of Master Wu, but his voice… it had more of an accent than Kai and Jay combined. It was actually miraculous Lloyd had made out the words he had said…

“Master…?” Lloyd forced the words out of his mouth. “Not you too….”

The master sensei took in a breath and then looked Lloyd from top to bottom. After a few seconds of silence, Wu regained a straight composure. “Are you a Lloyd from a different world?”

The green ninja didn’t have to look behind him to know that the other five ninja had lost their jaw to the ground. With a sigh of relief, Lloyd smiled and nodded. “One second I was in my Ninjago and the next-“

“How interesting.” Wu nodded. “I imagined Ninjago to only have one world….I do not know what this means.” There was a long uncomfortable pause as the whole warehouse reflected on Master Wu’s words.

Suddenly Wu slapped his staff on the floor, a sound so unexpectedly sharp that Lloyd flinched in surprise. “Whatever, I guess.” Master Wu shrugged and walked past Lloyd to the table with the map, leaving Lloyd and the orange-haired warrior.

Lloyd stared at Wu as he talked with Cole, Zane and Kai about the battle plan. He shook his head a little in disbelief.

“Is he different too?”

The green ninja turned with wide eyes filled with shock. He didn’t recognize it before but the familiar voice struck him like a staff to the stomach.

The lady in armor was none other than his mom. Or-well, you get it right?

Her eyes flashed wide in response to Lloyd’s shock. “What? Is there something wrong with my hair?”

“Your a warrior??” Lloyd gasped in shock. To that, Koko chuckled. “Oh, this. Yes, I am a warrior. My fighting alias is-“

“WE ARE GOING OUT ON A MISSION WITH LADY IRON DRAGON???”

Koko grinned as Nya, in full sprint, launched a hug onto the warrior. “My dreams are coming true!!”

Her dreamy eyes turned to Lloyd. “Can we be paired up?? Pleaaaaase please please please?”

Lloyd was about to say, “Sure,” when he realized what he originally needed two more people for. After realizing this, he shook his head sadly. “Sorry Nya, I need Mo-uh, Lady Iron Dragon and Wu as a strike team to get Garmadon as fast as possible.”

Both Koko and Nya’s grins slowly faded. With a scowl, Nya dejectedly turned away and walked back to the dragon mech with a comment of disgust. Lloyd tried not to listen to it but it still hurt his heart.

“How grown up of you.” Koko nudged Lloyd. The ninja shrugged his shoulders. “I have to put the plan first. We have to get Garmadon back. You and Wu will be the ones in charge of retrieving Garmadon from…wherever they are keeping him.”

Koko crossed her arms. “Have you made a lot of battle plans in your life?”

Lloyd was confused by the question. “Uuuuuh, kinda…?”

His not-mom leaned in close. “Here’s a little advice, warrior to warrior. Always trust your team more than the plan.”

Chuckling, Lloyd put his hands on his hips. “Oh, I know that.”

Koko raised an eyebrow. “Do you?” Leaving that question hanging in the air, she walked towards Wu humming an unfamiliar song.

Always trust your team more than the plan. Lloyd knew that, right? Of course he did. He’s the green ninja, leader of the best team of ninja in the-

Mid-inspirational thought, he watched as Jay accidentally slipped on a piece for the dragon and elegantly fall to the ground, hitting about ten pieces on the way down. “Ow,” the pain-filled echo from Jay topped with the laughter from his whole team shrouded Koko’s advice just a little in his head. He could trust his old team with his life but these…. imposters were a little harder to trust.

“I’ve got to get home ASAP,” Lloyd grumbled as he jogged over to make sure not-Jay was alright.

________________________________________________

“….and now Meowthra has a spot to live a little west of Ninjago. It’s been peaceful for a few weeks but yesterday the Shark Army launched an attack on the city and captured my dad. My efforts to save him were….” Lloyd searched for the right word while spinning his chopstick in his bowl of noodles. “…worthless.”

He slowly raised his eyes to see how the others were responding to the events from his ‘realm’ in the past month. All he saw from everyone (including the new girl, Skylar? Skyler?) were wide eyes, dropped jaws, and untouched food.

It took a few seconds but finally the host of the restaurant Kai picked found the first words to respond to Lloyd. “There is a little something wrong with your world,” Skyl?r chuckled as she continued to wipe down a counter with a rag. “A giant cat? C’mon, that’s just a little ridiculous.”

“I mean,” Kai shrugged and lifted his hands in defense. “We did have a giant snake attack the city a few years back.”

“A giant snake?!” Lloyd repeated in shock.

“Oh yeah, it was huge!” Cole dangled a long noodle off of his chopstick. “It was as long as like, fifty blocks. If we hadn’t of stopped him-“

“I thought Garmadon stopped him,” Skyl?r interrupted with a side grin.

Jay slapped his hand in the table and Zane almost lost his drink. “What is up with everyone thinking Garmadon saved the day?! I mean he turned it into a huge wave of green goo but we did all the hard work!”

The fire ninja shook his head. “So under appreciated.”

“Talk about being under appreciated,” Lloyd mumbled. “Try having the whole world hate you.”

“Seriously?” Zane picked up Lloyd’s words as if he had said them clearly. “Why did everyone hate you?”

Lloyd sipped his water. “Cuz my dad attacked Ninjago City almost three times a week for like, half a decade. Everyone hated Garmadon, and therefore everyone hated me. Simple, really.”

Nya crossed her arms on the table. “But, they knew you were the Green Ninja right?” Lloyd shook his head. “They didn’t?!” Nya was taken back. “Why?”

The Green Ninja shrugged. “Secret identities. It was to protect us. Didn’t y’all have secret identities?”

A chorus of no’s and nope’s met Lloyd. One “yes” spoke up, but it was from the red head.

“Oh, hush- you were a spy!” Kai laughed at Skyl?r as the group of Ninja laughed at her joke. Lloyd, who didn’t get it, chuckled but caught eye of a flashing blue and red blur as it flew by the window behind all the ninja. He glanced at the team; in the moment of joy, no one had seen the cop car.

They are having fun, Lloyd decided in his head. I’ll let the cops handle this one.

“Nya had a secret identity!” Jay inserted into the conversation.

“Oh yeah?” Cole smirked. “Being my girlfriend?”

Oh Meso, oh Meso Why can’t you listen to me? Oh Meso, oh Meso Just one click and then we’re free~

is it bandwagoning if you’re fast-riding on a dead meme?

Here we have one of the ever-cool people in current bionicle/lego community - Eljay Johnsen of TTV channel. Sadly, I haven’t been one into podcasts, so I didn’t really close-pay much attention to stuff on TTV prior to 2018, hence missing out on things like MNOG letsplay, but I watched it recently, and it was fantastic. The best part, however was the parody video that Political Slime made, which this ever-lovely drawing is referencing.

Chapter Eight: Learn Something New Everyday

“Everyone please take out your homework from last night; I’m coming around to check it momentarily.”

Class had just started and Lloyd’s heart sank to the basement of the school. The classroom buzzed with conversation and the unzipping of backpacks and shuffling of paper while Lloyd sat still, frozen and wide eyed. Kai, who was in the desk directly to his right, slammed a huge binder on his desk when he realized Lloyd hadn’t moved.

“Dude, your homework.” Kai hissed. His auburn eyes glanced to the floor looking for something that wasn’t there. “Bro…where is your pack?”

Lloyd shrugged as the teacher, a middle aged woman with a bun, slid on some rectangular glasses and began to make her way down the rows as she clutched a clipboard.

A sound of gears clicking signaled that Zane was peering over Lloyd’s shoulder. “Oh no- Lloyd has violated rule number 10 letter a-”

“I didn’t know we had homework, okay?” Lloyd hissed back with his heart pounding. What do teachers do to students who didn’t do their homework? Pushups? Suicides? Detention??

He tried looking over the desks of the other high school characters to see who didn’t do their textbook work, but it looked like Lloyd was the first.

His mind began to race. It’s okay, I’ll just tell the truth! I’ll just tell her that I had no idea we had homework last-

Lloyd felt his gaze stop on the right side of the whiteboard. There was a neat little organized chart made from tape that clearly listed every homework assignment for the week.

The last bit of hope drained from Lloyd. It’s okay, Lloyd told himself. Oh, who and I kidding-no it’s not! If I tell her that I didn’t know, then I’d have to explain that I didn’t see the assignment on the whiteboard because I’m not actually the Lloyd from this universe, I’m a Lloyd from a completely different realm who doesn’t go to high school and has no idea what Trig is-

“Lloyd?”

He flinched, not expecting for her to be at his desk so fast. He looked up at the older woman, looking past the clipboard and her glasses to stare into her tired eyes. “Where is your homework? I asked for you to take it out and be ready for me to check it.”

“I’m sorry ma'am,” Lloyd forced the words out. “I…don’t have it…today.”

The classroom got severely more quiet than it had been. Once again the judging eyes of insecure teenagers rested on Lloyd. The teacher blinked slowly at Lloyd’s empty desk. The blonde teenager anxiously waited his severe punishment.

“Just because you are the Green Ninja doesn’t mean you are excused from math homework,” she said plainly while scratching something on her clipboard. She glanced at him once more over his glasses, but he caught a glint of sadness.

He felt his mouth open just a little as she moved past to check Zane’s sheet.

That was…it? Lloyd pondered. That’s what happens if I forget my homework? That’s not terrible.

He spoke too soon. He wished he had done his homework once the class actually started. The teacher- apparently her name was Mrs. Briarcliff- started writing complicated formulas on the board that had weird symbols and the words “sine”, “cosine” and “tangent”.

“There are words in math?” Lloyd whispered to Kai. The spiky haired teenager didn’t even reply, but his eyes got wider and wider the more he thought about Lloyd’s question.

Mrs. Briarcliff called on Lloyd only once. When it took him a full thirty seconds to make it clear he had no idea what she was talking about, she called on Zane behind him. The correct answer made no more sense than the question.

Lloyd flinched when the bell rang again. Immediately the entire class rose from their seats while stuffing their supplies into their bags. After one last reminder from the teacher about their homework, she began to wipe down the board.

Instinctively, Lloyd approached her to apologize. Kai tried to hold him back, but it was too late.

“Um, Mrs. Briarcliff?”

She turned to the teenager. “Ah, Lloyd. Are you okay? You were very out of it today.”

He stuffed his free hand in his pocket. “I’m just not…feeling myself today. I just wanted to apologize for not doing my homework. I’m very sorry.”

She let out a sigh. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Zane and Kai were waiting for him at the door. Kai made a motion with head that looked like, “We gotta go!”

Lloyd turned back. She placed the eraser back on the rail. “Thank you for apologizing. I expect you to have it ready tomorrow though,” she responded with a small glint in her eyes. “I expect only the best from one of my most dedicated students.”

Most dedicated student?!

“Uh- yes ma'am of-of course.” Lloyd stuttered and excused himself to get to class. After brief farewells, Lloyd joined the other two in the hallway, only to find Cole leaning against a locker with the other two.

“Heard you got on Mrs. Briarcliff’s bad side,” Cole called out with a smirk. “Look who’s the bad boy now.”

“Look how was I supposed to know-”

“No time, let’s go,” Cole interrupted briskly as he took off down the hallway. Lloyd looked over at Kai in shock.

“I texted Cole in class to meet us here. You’ve got physics with him and Nya next.” Kai explained. “But you have about four to five minutes to get there so I suggest you get-a-moving.”

Physics. He’s had physics lessons before from the ninja… but it was more like “If you move your body in this way while kicking you will end up doing this fighting move. Why? Physics.”

He was pretty sure he wasn’t going to be learning fight moves in class.

Apparently his physics teacher was named Mr. Marchman but he wasn’t there today. Instead, a short woman with beady eyes introduced herself as Ms. Russell and that she would be the sub. Nya, who was next to Lloyd, whispered, “She looks like she worked for Garmadon.”

Lloyd scrunched his eyebrows together. “Worked for? What do you mean?”

“I bet she was one of his little nerds,” she beamed. “After he became good, she got demoted to a substitute teacher.”

Cole, who was behind Nya, snorted loudly. Ms. Russell made eye contact with the black haired teenager before finishing her role.

The instructions Mr. Marchman had left were simple: they watched the most boring video Lloyd has ever watched. On top of the fact Lloyd didn’t understand anything they talked about in the video, the gentle monotone narrator almost put the whole class to sleep.

While Nya lightly snored next to Lloyd, the blonde rested his chin on his arms and began to think about his situation.

The others clearly know that he’s different, but they think it’s just a “mindset” or a “phase”. They haven’t even considered different realms because…

Lloyd twisted in his chair. Cole’s tired eyes slid over to him from the screen. Realizing Lloyd had a question, he slid a perfectly hidden black earbud out from under his mess of hair.

“Have you been to any other realms?” Lloyd whispered.

Cole narrowed his eyes. “You mean worlds?”

Lloyd shrugged. “Yeah, worlds. Have you been to any?”

Even in the darkness of the room, Cole’s expression drew more shadowy.

“Unfortunately you are the only ninja that has seen the expanse of the universe.”

The harsh tone bothered Lloyd. What did that supposed to mean? Before Lloyd could question him further, he stuck the earbud back in and fixed his eyes on the screen.

Lloyd righted himself as well.

You are the only ninja that has seen the expanse of the universe.

Something about that line bothered him. Putting Cole’s attitude aside, ‘seeing the expanse of the universe’ didn’t really line up with what Lloyd wanted to hear. Also he wasn’t familiar with the word “realm” and instead correct Lloyd to “world”. Was there a chance that they had no idea what realms are…?

If so, then how will he be able to explain to them that he isn’t from this realm? How will they believe him?

I need to learn more about the Lloyd from this world in order to prove I’m not him…Lloyd decided. But I need to tell them. They deserve to know. He turned to the sleeping teenage girl and the slightly pissed off teen behind her.

At lunch. Lloyd concluded. I’ll tell them at lunch.

_________________________________________________

With a gasp, Lloyd sat up in total darkness. His comforter was heavy on him, and he scrambled to get it off of his sweating body. The pajamas he was given was about a size larger than what he usually wears, but still part of it stuck to his skin where he had slept in hot sweat.

He took a few breaths to calm his mind. He flashes of his dream still clung to him like his sweat-covered pajamas, and he recognized the flashes of the battle all to well.

The red flare…the scorched shark army tackling Garmadon off the Destiny’s Bounty…and the explosion that sent Lloyd rocketing to the ocean. He’s had nightmares of past battles, but nothing left him with a hollow feeling like he had now.

As his heart slowed to a regular pace, he scanned the bedroom. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness, so everything he saw was only what the dim moonlight and the light under the door shone on. Even with the little amount of light, he could see that all the beds were bare.

The bathroom was right across the hall, and before Lloyd went out in the large temple to find his friends, he quickly showered to rinse off the sweat and slipped back into his ninja gi. With his hair still wet but feeling cleaned of his nightmare, he took a step into the hallway and then listened.

One thing that he knew about his friends was that it was nearly impossible to keep them quiet unless their very lives depended on it. Even though he knew he was in a new…what did they call it? Realm? Even though he knew he was in a new realm, he only assumed it was the-

“YOU DIRTY CHEATER!! YOU CAN’T DO THAT!!”

Lloyd grinned. Some things never change.

He followed the loud voices of his friends until he turned into a large living space on the main floor of the temple. What he saw was….well, the best word he thought of was familiar.

A large TV was in the corner, with three older teenage boys arguing over controls and characters as they battled on the screen. Just a few feet away, Nya and Zane were chatting, watching the mess of the teenagers, and casually playing chess.

“You CLEARLY don’t know how to properly play the game!” Kai spat at the taller teen next to him. Cole gaped at him and then nudged him so hard he collapsed on Player Three.

“GET! OFF! YOU’RE SUFFOCATING ME!” the muffled cry of Jay wailed under Kai’s chest.

Lloyd stood frozen at the door. It was so hard to believe just a few hours ago the five teens lounging in front of him were trying to kill him.

Zane, who was facing him, finally noticed the newcomer. “Look who finally awoken!” he chimed, his robotic tone more naturally chirpy than Lloyd was used too. All at once, the room fell silent and five pairs of eyes turned to the door.

“Hey, guys.” Lloyd greeted, realizing the warm feeling in his cheeks was because he was getting flushed in the sudden attention. Nobody responded.

Suddenly Jay spun his head back to Cole. “PAY UP!”

With a groan, Cole forked over a few coins. Nya giggled and rose from her seat.

“What did they bet on?” Lloyd asked Nya as she came to a stop in front of him. She shrugged. “Oh, who knows. Probably whether if you were going to run away or not.”

That was not comforting to hear.

Lloyd’s expression must’ve revealed his thoughts because Nya giggled. “Oh come on, lighten up a little. We did try to..uh… you know, earlier so some of us thought once you woke up you would split.”

Lloyd peered over her shoulder, where Zane watched with a small smile as Kai almost threw the remote at the wall out of anger.

“…Shouldn’t we be prepping to go save my dad?” Lloyd asked Nya, forcing his eyes back to hers.

Suddenly her face was unreadable. “You…really don’t know, don’t you?”

“Know what?”

Her eyes softened. “Lloyd…your dad…..he died. A few months ago.”

The world swirled around him. He was glad he was still standing at the door because he needed the doorframe. Nya stepped a few paces to a bookshelf and took off a picture frame. With a weak smile, she handed it to Lloyd, who stared at the picture with huge eyes.

Standing with a smile was him, but he didn’t recall that picture ever being taken. Even more peculiar was the older man next to him. His hair was styled similiarily to Lloyd’s, but it was grayed with age. The man’s face was decorated with wrinkles, but the comfort, wisdom, even the loving gaze of the eyes were all too familiar.

That was his dad, but as a good sensei, not a conquering warlord.

This isn’t my life, Lloyd reminded himself as he stared at the image of a father he’d always wanted. This is not my life.

“He sacrificed himself to stop a second Serpentine War,” Nya murmured. “And then I drowned the realm he was imprisoned in to prevent the world from being cursed.”

Lloyd didn’t understand a word she had just said, but nodded anyways. He had to het past this and move on. With a forced smile he pushed the frame back to Nya. “Thanks,” he murmured back before scooting past her and farther into the room.

He apprached the three still-arguing gamers. “Uh, what are you playing?”

They all instantly stopped squabbling and turned to Lloyd. “Uhhh-” Cole droned, glancing at the screen. “Unity 2: Battle Royale?”

“Cool,” Lloyd noted that he didn’t recognize the game at all but that there was a fourth controller next to the console. “Can I play?”

Kai, Jay, and Cole’s eyes widened. Lloyd even heard a light gasp come from Zane and Nya. “Don’t tell me the other Lloyd hates videogames,” Lloyd continued with a playful smirk.

Jay was the only one who cracked a nervous grin. “He….didn’t-doesn’t- I think..” he rambled.

“Well the thing is…” Cole tapped his finger on his controller. “You- I mean, Lloyd hasn’t touched a controller since Zane’s memorial maybe two years ago.”

Two very strong emotions hit Lloyd at the exact same time. One was rage that his counterpart had no love and appreciation for videogames as he did, and the second was shock that the silver robot behind him had a memorial.

“Sucks for him,” Lloyd finally declared as he moved to get the controller. “Now let me in on this Unity 2.”

It took about two rounds for Lloyd to get used to the mechanics and gameplay. A few rounds after that he made the other three sorry they let him join in. But even as they went down against the blonde teen, all four wore smiles of pure joy.

Welcome to the jungle, watch it bring you to your knees – 

I wanna watch you bleed!!

“If I had wifi, I would totally be blaring an AC/DC song right now,” Cole grumbled as he slapped yet another leaf the size of his body out of the way. It was basically pointless, there were so many leaves in their path already, and it has only been about ten minutes of crossing into the jungle.

Master Wu was confidently walking between the leaves as if he had walked that path countless times. Lloyd was trying very hard to stay on his heels, but his face was starting to redden with the countless times he was whacked in the face from a leave his Master had brushed away. Jay, Nya, Cole, Kai, and Zane stayed behind, both reluctant to even follow them into a death trap and also to keep away from their ex-friend.

With a whimper, Jay slipped his phone out of his suit and stared at a few messages that lingered on his screen. He glanced up at Master Wu with his eyes large and afraid. Nya, who was just behind the nervous Nya, eyed the messages. They were all from “Ma”. She slowly looked up to the teenager with a small warm smile creeping onto her face. It instantly died when a bug the size of her head buzzed in front of her face.

“AGH!” Nya bellowed loudly, making Jay yelp in surprise. He spun around quickly using his phone as a shield in front of his face as Nya launched herself into the air, spun around a few times and slammed her foot on top of the bug, crushing it onto the ground.

“Wow,” Cole muttered, not even lifting an eyebrow at her effort. Kai, however, leaned over into a shrub and puked.

Zane’s eyes shot open when he saw the bug’s guts on the mossy floor. “You just ninja-kicked a part of nature!” he snapped.

Nya rolled her eyes. “Well nature got a little to close to me.”

During this, Jay had slowly backed away with his eyes bulging from his head. Suddenly, he ran into something.

“AHH!” Jay screeched as he whirled on the object, only to see Lloyd jump back and lift his hands in defense. Jay sighed a deep sigh of relief and leaned on the Green Ninja. “Oh, Lloyd…it’s just you- I mean –“ Jay realized what he was doing as shot back up and pulled his arm back as if he had laid it on a hot stove. “Lloyd. It’s you. Don’t…uh…don’t scare me like that.”

The blonde ninja narrowed his eyes quizzically. “Dude, I didn’t try to-“

Jay ignored him as he harshly brushed past him and towards Master Wu. As soon as Jay’s face left Lloyd’s eyes he softened his expression and let a guilty one take over. It was hard for him to act mean.

Master Wu still walked ahead, not letting the jungle or its creatures bother him one bit. Jay sucked in some breath and grew closer.

He opened his mouth to speak, but the old man beat him to it. “Why are you so worried, Jay? Here you should feel safe.”

The Blue Ninja stuttered on his words, for he did not anticipate the question. His body still shaking, he walked even closer to Master Wu. “Master, I’ve never been to the jungle before and everything is so different and huge and-“

“Bah!” The Master barked, causing Jay to flinch I surprise. “The size of the jungle is not what is bothering you. If you are scared to even speak the truth, then scared you are indeed. What do you wish to ask me?”

Master Wu’s statement shocked Jay. He was too scared to speak the truth? What truth? He shook his head, not letting the cryptic ways of his Master prevent him from asking his very important question. “So…with everything that is still going on…are we still secret ninjas?”

A chuckle was his response. Jay waited a second, and then another. “So?” Jay pressed. Master Wu turned his head a little to look at Jay out of the corner of his eye.

“Jay, of course you are still secret ninja. Why do you ask?”

The curly haired teenager looked down at his phone, where a new message popped up, as if on cue. His throat tightened up and he felt his eyes begin to burn. Master Wu slowed his step as he waited for Jay’s response. “Jay?”

“Nothing, Master.” Jay weakly replied as he turned and darted past Lloyd (who gave Jay a somber look) and paused near Cole and Nya.

Nya shot Jay a look as he stumbled by, almost falling on his face. Before he could truly lose his balance, someone grabbed Jay’s arm and pulled him back to his feet.

“Chill out, man,” Cole grumbled as he retracted his arm. Jay sniffled and wiped his nose.

“Ma is worried,” Jay spoke quietly so only Cole could hear (or so he hoped). “After the giant cat attacked she wants to know where I am and…” he stared at his feet as he continued to walk side by side Cole. “What am I supposed to tell her? That I’m in the jungle? Why would I be in the jungle? Am I running away? Why would I leave them? What-“

“Jay!” Cole stuck his hand out, briskly interrupting him. “You are talking so fast I can’t even make out a single word you are saying.”

The smaller teenager brushed some of his curls out of his face. “Cole, I’m scared for back home. With that cat free and Garmadon in charge….what’s gonna happen to our home? Our…families?”

Jay knew he said something wrong. Cole instantly stiffened and his dark eyes somehow grew even darker. Jay winced and drew back as if he was scared of the black ninja. Cole noticed his friend recoil and tried to push the bad memories out of his head. “S-sorry. I just… it’s….you may worry about what you left back there but I do- I can’t.”

“Can’t?” Jay repeated with a small snort. “What is that supposed to mean?”

He was answered with silence. For a few paces, Cole looked as if he was trying to force himself to swallow something incredibly sour. Finally, he grabbed Jay’s arm. “Something happened this morning.”

Jay recognized the gesture and slowed his pace, letting the other four grow some distance between the stragglers. Once they were out of earshot, Cole’s shadowed face molded into one of bottled pain.

“What did he do?” Jay hissed, already knowing what this was about. Suddenly, Cole’s cold attitude and harsh façade made a ton of sense: something had happened. Something bad.

Cole’s dark pools of pained anger met Jay’s. In a voice Jay never had imagined to emerge from the hunk of muscle before him, Cole whispered simply, “He found out.”

“About you being a ninja?” Jay gasped almost too loudly. Immediately Cole shook his head.

“No, worse.” He took a shaky breath. “About the lies.”

Chills sent Jay’s whole body trembling. Of all the things that could be “bad” to happen to Cole, this was around the top three.

“How’d he find out?” Jay murmured as they continued to walk in the jungle.

Cole couldn’t make eye contact. “When I woke up this morning, dad was sitting on the couch with his suit on just waiting for me. I’ve never seen him look so angry before.” He hesitated with his mouth slightly ajar, as if searching for the next sentence. “…He stood up when I walked out and looked at me dead in the eyes and demanded I start talking. I…I told him I had no idea what he was talking about when he just….raised his voice and told me.

“He told me that during his rehearsal the night previous he had run into the theater director at Ninjago High. Obviously, he asked about me. And obviously-“

Jay already knew what he was about to say. “The director had no idea who you are.” Oh no… Jay thought. “What…did you say?”

Cole’s face was unreadable. “I didn’t say anything.”

Scrunching his eyebrows in confusion, Jay replied, “Then what did you do?”

Finally, Cole slowly looked over to Jay. His eyes told the whole story. They weren’t glazed over in his usual care-free expression, or even blazed with anger. Instead, they were struck with fear of returning home.

Before Ninjago Season 9: Hunted was released, we all knew there was a lot that the season had to cover. The most difficult struggle was predicted: they had to keep a steady pace even when covering two completely different plots in two completely different realms at the exact same time. Not only that, but the ‘big bad’, Garmadon, had to be expanded on, as well as the new realm the ninja were marooned in. After the unrivaled success of Ninjago Season 8 Sons of Garmadon, the bar was set and the expectations for Hunted were set incredibly high – higher than any season in the past. But did Hunted live up to its predecessor?

The animation definitely did as it proved great success with the new and improved dragons, unique shots in chases and fights, and more depth and detail in every way. The music once again captivated me with new tracks from the Realm of Dragon and Oni, to new themes with dragons, to the final battle between Lloyd and Garmadon. The Voice Acting was stellar as always from the main cast, but new voices like Young Wu, Iron Baron and Faith joined the cast with memorable and believable acting. Returning voices of Dareth, Skylor, and even Mystake were impressive in their moment to shine. It is easy to decide that the technical side of Hunted easily matched Sons of Garmadon, if not better.

The plot of Hunted can be simplified to this sentence: Since the ninja are split into two realms, they fight or flee in the hopes of one day regrouping to defeat the resurrected Lord Garmadon from destroying Ninjago City and beyond. For the majority of the season, the ninja are exactly as the title of the season: Hunted. In Ninjago, it’s Garmadon hunting down his son so he can destroy him; in the Dragon and Oni Realm it’s the Dragon Hunters hunting the four ninja and the Son of the First Spinjitzu Master so that they can claim the fabled Dragon Armor. Although the plot is not complex, the story of how everything unfolds is up in the air, depending on the realm.

The story told in the Realm of Dragon and Oni was fast-paced, full of energy, and filled with witty humor, lessons to be learned, and memories forgotten in Ninjago. There was always something going on in every episode that threatened the ninja, the dragon hunters, or both. The Dragon Hunters had its usual band of unique ensemble characters; from determined Jet Jack to the witty duo of Daddy No Legs and Muzzle to the ridiculous Chew Toy. Heavy Metal, or as we found out later to be Faith, became the lead in that Realm and a new standout strong character in the series. She was willing to drop everything (including her hard-earned reputation) and assist the Son of the First Spinjitzu Master (FSM) reclaim the armor, and Wu was willing to bring her on the team because of her….name. His faith was strong however, and she became a beloved character I grew to cherish over time. Another character that was also easy to cherish was Young Wu, who’s sassy spirit only lasted four episodes. His dynamic with the ninja, especially Cole, made every scene in the First Realm with him an instant favorite. It was a unique and very original perspective to see Master Wu, after teaching the ninja for the past seven seasons, learn just as much from the students he had taught. His bow to his pupils at the end was a perfect way to cap off his interesting and fun arc of growing up for a second time.

However, the Dragon and Oni Realm’s story was not perfect. After a few episodes, the chase scenes and Dragon Hunts seemed to blur together as one. The main reason for this would probably be the backdrop: whether it be day or night, open sand or caverns, the ninja escaping time and time again was exhausted by the time they reached the Firstbourne’s nest. The other concept that didn’t change was the character of Iron Baron. The well-respected leader of the Dragon Hunters desired power…and that was it. He told lies about Oni to force his people to live in fear and then used that fear to control his own personal army. He was a cliché villain that never changed, even at death. While the Dragon Hunters as a clan had a change of heart because of the reveal of Iron Baron’s lies, the static arc of the Dragon and Oni’s ‘big bad’ taints that plot from being perfect.

Back in Ninjago, the story was slower, more mature, heavy handed and full of emotion, and most importantly: it strengthened the over-arching story of the series and kept it going. While some short episode arcs were practically thrown away after they finished (Lloyd’s training, Dareth’s powers, freeing the airwaves, hiding their identities) the story in the long run stayed true to the theme of the series: they remained Hunted until the moment the other half of the team returned. With the cheerful (and long-awaited) return of the Elemental Masters, as well as answering the question about Mystake I as a fan have always wanted to know, the story back home remained true to Ninjago as it could be.

Garmadon’s strong hand and diabolically menaced mind was shown many times to prove just how powerful and evil he had grown to be. I think we all can agree, after turning Mr. E to scrap we all got a little more terrified of him. Harumi returned strong in a role I didn’t expect her to play: the exact same role as when we left her in Sons of Garmadon. While I hoped she would have a change of heart, she did the exact opposite and remained faithful to her new “father” even though it ultimately cost her her life. Her arc ended with an act of goodwill, leaving her on a bittersweet note. Although her villain arc dipped some at the end of Sons of Garmadon and the beginning of Hunted, she will go down as one of Ninjago’s greatest and most successful villains of all time.

The greatest strength of the story in Ninjago was also its greatest flaw. The slow pacing made me lose interest at times and the repetitiveness of the arc of the heroes got boring. While in the Dragon Realm, the ninja escaped to get somewhere else in the realm, the ninja in Ninjago never could truly escape the city. They got nowhere, learned very very little about their circumstance, and the only two feats they had against Garmadon was Lloyd sending the message of hope and Skylor absorbing some of his power. Mr. E, a villain who we all expected to have a jaw-dropping identity and purpose in the series, was turned to scrap halfway through the second episode. Dareth, while he had his good moments, also absorbed screen time with his childish shenanigans. Even Lloyd seemed to take a backseat to the villains’ hunt until his moment to shine (literally) in the finale.

Ninjago’s finales have always seemed to fail at perfectly capping off an incredible season, and Sons of Garmadon was no exception. The finale of Hunted was to either make or break the season… and boy, did it make it! All the predicted events came true: Lloyd and Wu versus Garmadon, the defeat of the Colossus, a reunion among the whole team, and (hopefully) a happy ending. However, each event was perfectly written and executed in the best way. From the well- choreographed and beautifully lit final battle to Kai stupidly dropping down on the rock titan to highlighting all the couples (don’t forget Cole and his cake!) the finale wrapped up the masterpiece that Sons of Garmadon and Hunted had to offer… even leaving us with a sting that the Oni are not far from destroying Ninjago.

10. You

9. Can’t

8. Rank

7. Them

6. They

5. All

4. Have

3. Their

2. Faults

Kai! 1) How I Feel about Kai: Hmm. He’s a toughie. I really liked him back in the day then he got boring, but now he’s back to being great. I love his one liners and him “acting tough”. Best hair in the show. 2) I romantically ship Kai with: Skylor, or course. No one else. #ninjagoneedsmorekailor3) Non-romantic OTP with Kai is: PIXAL. @mesonak put this idea in my head and I can’t stop thinking about it but Kai and PIXALs dynamic is actually the best. 4) Unpopular Opinion about Kai: I do not enjoy his car chase scene in Rebooted. Something about that scene is too cheesy for my taste. 5) Something I Wish will/had happened to Kai: I want something magically weird to happen to him, like it did with Cole. He’d be the one to freak out and literally be scared half to death of himself. Like he’d be the werewolf/vampire of the group.

Link

NINJAGO SEASON 9 ESTIMATED AND MOST LIKELY ACTUAL RELEASE TO BE AT THE END OF JUNE!!

Ninjago Episode 78: Snake Jaguar aires tomorrow- but Cartoon Network has been switching the air times from 6:30PM EST to 6:15PM EST…. so keep in mind that tomorrow the episode will air at 6:15PM EST!!!!

Don’t forget USA fans!! #WatchNinjagoLive2018 is SO ESSENTIAL! The ratings for the first three episodes are terrible, and we can change that. Spread the word! Make sure all the fans in the USA know that we have the power to save the show! We did it once and now we need to do it again!!!

THIS IS NOT A REVIEW OF THE MOVIE- IT IS SIMPLY MY EXPERIENCE AT THE ATLANTA CAST AND CREW PREMIERE OF AVENGERS: INFINITY WARS. THERE ARE NO SPOILERS BELOW.

Never be late, always be early. Be assertive. Smile.

Those are more than just quotes, those are ways to get more than you expect. And for the case of volunteering to help out at Infinity Wars, it made all the difference.

It was raining when I left my house to go to the event, an hour and a half before I was supposed to be there. I don’t trust Atlanta traffic- but it worked out on my end. I was the second one to arrive, finding perfect parking and with my handy umbrella I made my way to the Fox Theater.

I thought I was overdressed, wearing black slacks and a black blouse (they did say in the email that the attire was black, and I was right) but I couldn’t tell if I was too professional. One look inside and I realized my outfit was perfect next to the security guards wearing suits.

There was one other person there, Alex, and we chatted for a bit before Suzi, our supervisor gave me a rundown of what was going to occur and that I was going to meet her boss, Jane (who works for Disney) in a few minutes.

Two more arrive, and then Jane comes up. She has us all introduce us to her (there’s only four of us at the time) and then she asks for help setting up signs in the theater for the VIP reserved seating.

Next lesson, everyone: when your boss’s boss is looking for easy help- always be the first to drop everything to help out. That’s exactly what I did. Alex (remember him?) volunteered as well, so she handed us two all access passes and into the theater we went.

We met James, the head of secretary, who was an incredibly nice and focused man. He along with Jane walked into the theater where we met Don, who was in charge of the projection and sound of the screening. I made sure to share a few words and a smile with them, I was sure they were stressed out so a smile goes a long way. I can guarantee you, it did.

They had a quick meeting with a cue-to-cue of the night, going over the speakers, the order of the awards, what lighting they were going to do, etc. Alex and I were off to the side listening and learning about this process, and also educating ourselves about how the night will go and who the main VIP people will be, the two major ones being Nathan Deal, the governor of Georgia, and Mitch Bell, a producer for Infinity Wars.

Finally we got to taping the names on the seats, where I instinctively started putting pieces of tape on my hand to rush the process since I could feel that Jane was being pushed for time. Once all the tape was up, Jane turned to me (and not Alex) and asked if I was comfortable seating all the VIP when they arrived. Of course I said absolutely. However, I still had my umbrella and my purse so I asked politely where to keep my stuff. She said she would take me back to the arcade of the Fox and find out with me.

We arrived back to the arcade where the rest of the volunteers had arrived (about 25-30 in total) and they were having their crew meeting. Jane realized I should find out where the VIP check in should be so I journeyed over there with another worker and he explained the process to his volunteers and myself. Jane reappeared and then handed me a few VIP passes and told me to come with her. We returned to the arcade so I could finally put my stuff down, and then I returned only to have one of Jane’s employees to ask me what my job was during the event. Jane was searching her paperwork when I replied, “I will be seating the VIP guests when they arrive.” Jane, however looked over and said, “Actually, I’m going to have Hayley shadow me during the event, if that’s okay with you,” referring to me of course. With a smile I looked back at the one who had asked and said, “Actually, I will be shadowing Jane.”

And that, my friends, is why you are always early to an event and never afraid to step up and help or offer a genuine smile.

Let me tell you more about Jane, now since I am going to be following her for the rest of the event. Jane works directly for Disney and her job is to make sure the whole event runs smoothly. She did the same job when Black Panther premiered in ATL, but Black Panther was apparently a beast compared to Infinity Wars. To her, the craziness of the Premiere was a piece of cake.

I followed her as she bounced from the general check in to the VIP check in to the ‘production office’ in the Fox to the VIP reception in a nearby restaurant….I watched her do it all. When it started to sprinkle I was asked to go get my umbrella since some of our usual walking path occurred outside. She asked me to run errands for her all across the theater, and I met a lot of the people helping Jane out. She even asked me to take one of her phones to take pictures of the event for her. At that moment I realized I had not just done a good job, but earned her trust.

She was introducing me to people (VIP people) and I got to chat with some high up executives and such. Most notably I met and chatted with Bryan, who is one of the great men who is in charge of Pinewood Studios Atlanta. I brought up that I had just finished my internship at Love Is___ at Pinewood and greatly enjoyed the experience and the facilities. He agreed (of course).

It’s getting close to movie time (6pm). Mitch Bell, the Marvel producer for Infinity Wars walked the carpet at 5:35 and was interviewed until five minutes til 6. The governor, who was the first speaker, was running behind, so I got to witness Jane adapting and recovering unforeseen events. When the time came, we brought everyone backstage of the Fox theater to meet and shake hands with Nathan Deal before taking the stage. During the speeches, Jane documented by taking photos, and then we helped everyone to their seats as the movie began. At this point, the theater was pretty much full and I worried I wouldn’t get good seats. I didn’t voice that however, and asked politely where she wanted me to sit. She told me to sit in her spot.

Her seat was in the VIP section.

You read that right. I watched Avengers Infinity Wars at the Atlanta Premiere in the VIP section in the Fox Theater. That would not of happened if I wasn’t early, been assertive and ready to help, and always have a smile on my face.

As soon as I sat down, Bryan (the guy with Pinewood) turned around in his seat and playfully told my to behave myself in the VIP section. With a smile I whispered that I’ll try my best, which received a laugh from Bryan.

The movie was great of course, with an incredibly active crowd (especially for Black Panther scenes - Wakanda Forever!!!) And after the movie had rolled all the credits I was told by Jane to bring her friend to the lobby and wait for her.

I did so, and after chatting (she asked if I worked for Marvel or Disney!!! I work for neither, I’m just a student!!!) and explaining a few of the abilities of the characters (she wasn’t caught up on the MCU so I got questions like “Who is the guy with the arm,” and “What powers do Thor have?”) we both walked around a bit when the crowd died down to find Jane. It was then, I KID YOU NOT, that Mitch Bell (the Marvel producer, remember?) walked UP TO ME to THANK ME and give me a hug! I congratulated him on the film and said it was a job well done, and then playfully demanded when the next Avengers movie was coming out (even though I knew). He laughed and told me it’s coming out May of 2019 but not to worry! Antman and the Wasp was coming out in June, and that it was much lighter of a movie. I told him I was grateful before thanking him again.

Internally freaking out, I locate Jane and reconnect her with her friend. I ask her I there’s anything else I can do for her. She says no, and then thanks me heavily for helping her out. I said absolutely and if they need any help for Ant-man and the Wasp in June, then to let me know!

I found out later that all the other GFA students did the whole time was to help out in check in then watch the movie from the balcony. My night was crazier, I was definitely more tired, but I had spent that day doing the greatest possible thing in the world.

This was made as an entry into the TTV Brickonicle Contest, in which this received an Honorable mention. My other two entries were Tahnok Va Attack and another which I’ll post shortly which won 1st place.

The idea of the contest is to make a feasible Bionicle system lego set.

The Bohrok Swarms are hatching! A Nuvhok is bursting out of it’s holding cell and attacking Onua! But not all Matoran are defenseless against the Bohrok. Take Nuparu’s Boxor Mech into battle with the Nuvhok and the Nuvhok Va and help Onua fend off the Swarms.

Set Includes:

Boxor mech and Bohrok holding cell

4 Minifigures; Nuparu, Onua, Nuvhok, Nuvhok Va

Mech boxing function

Bohrok launching function

This set can combine with the set Tahnok Va Attack to form a larger structure)

Before anyone mentions it, this is more of a re-interpretation of the Boxor design than intended of being a direct copy.

Punchy McPunchface

This won 1st place in the TTV Brickonicle Contest. I made two other entries Tahnok Va Attack and Boxor vs Nuvhok which won an honorable mention.

The idea of the contest is to make a feasible Bionicle system lego set.

Price: $150 Pieces: 1386

The Rahkshi are attacking the city of Ta Koro! The mythical mask of light is hidden deep in the fortress and the Rahkshi are determined to find it, but the Toa and the Ta Koro Guards are here to protect the city. Fire the Kanoka Disk launchers at the Rahkshi and lower the stone pillar drawbridge. Blow up the wall of the frotress to give the Rahkshi a way in, and use the hidden floor catapult to fling the Rahkshi away. Find the mask of light hidden away behind a lavafall to find it before the Rahkshi can!

Set Includes

Lowerable drawbridge

Wall-explosion function

Hidden floor catapult

Light up eyes for the entry-way

Two small disk launchers and one large disk launcher

Launching lava-boat

Raising lava fall function

Mask display monument to put your collected masks on

Hidden mask stache

Matoran Living quaters with a bed and Kohli kit.

6 Minifigures and two brick-built Rahkshi builds.

Sectioned design for re-arranging the fortress design for more play possibilities

The sons of Makuta

Alright so it’s around 2005-2007. I submitted an application to “lavaside rahi” to be a guest star in his sprite comics. I never really asked to guest star often, but I saw that he was taking applications, and I went for it.

Few months later, I discovered that he put me in a comic. When I read it I felt absolutely awful, because the punch line was me getting thrown into some kind of void, and I couldn’t even figure out why. I remember showing my mom because I felt so upset, and she said something like “well, at least the ending pun was clever”. I didn’t care though, 10-12 year old me just didn’t know why my character deserved that.

Fast forward 10 years. Every so often my brain reminds me of that comic. It actually haunts me a little. For some reason I get determined to find this comic. After about an hour of digging, I actually found it. Behold: