Ninjago: Reversed Destinies

Chapter 12: Letters from Home

It's another day at the Monastery of Spinjitzu. Wu is meditating once more. He can hear the ninja arguing outside his room again. The old man sighs.

"My turn! Uh, it's my turn!" Nya shouts.

"Oh, you want a little more? Take this!" Cole is heard right after.

"Yeah? How about a little of this?" Jay follows up.

"Monkey paw to the head!"

"Ninja, roll!"

Wu gets up and walk towards their video game room. Opening the door, the old man is surprised to see that none of the ninja are there.

"Dragon punch!" Jay shouts.

Intrigued, Wu goes to the training compound and is shocked to see that the ninja are actually training. Jay is deflecting arrows with his weapon, Cole is practicing on the dummies. Nya is practicing her Spinjitzu and Zane is meditating.

"Ninja, go!" Nya uses Spinjitzu and knocks out a few dummies.

Zane suddenly gets up from his meditation process and jumps in front of Jay.

"Hey! Huh?" The blue ninja gets confused. The white ninja then proceeds to jump towards Cole and snatches his weapon, attacking the dummies with the scythe.

"Hey! What? Give that back!" The black ninja says. Zane simply drops the weapon on the floor.

"Ninja, go!" The blonde makes Spinjitzu, freezing the whole compound, causing Nya to slip.

"Woah, ouch!" She says, knocking on the floor. The three ninjas regroup far away from Zane, who starts attacking the dummies again.

"You know what?" Nya streches herself. "I think this roof isn't big enough for the four of us."

"Correction: This roof isn't big enough for him." Cole says, looking frustraded.

"It's like he's in his own world." Jay groans. He looks at the white ninja. "I BET HE CAN'T EVEN HEAR US!" The boy raises his voice.

Wu approaches his three disturbed pupils. "Is something the matter?" He asks. The trio turn their attention to him.

"Master, Zane's... weird." Nya comments, scratching her head.

"What is weird? Someone who is different or someone who is different than you?" The old man mystifies.

"No, Master. He's 'weird' weird." Cole says, sighing. "Like that one day when I was using the bathroom and then he appeared out of nowhere. I thought he would leave when he noticed me, but he just started brushing his teeth!" The black ninja finishes, embarrassed.

"What about that other day?" Jay comments. "Nya and I were watching a sad romantic movie and then he just started laughing at the TV." The girl nods after that, agreeing.

"And these days I woke up to have a midnight snack and found him inside the fridge, saying something about eating the meat and offering me a cheese." The red ninja says, rolling her eyes. "Listen, we like him. He's really smart, more than me. He's just..." She sighs. "A little off sometimes."

"Zane is a brother and brothers are often different." Wu talks, patient. "I should know." He lowers his head.

A few knocks on the Monastery's door draw everyone's attention. The door opens, revealing the postman from Ninjago City.

"Y'know, you really should look for another place to call home. These stairs don't make my job easy." The postman sighs, tired out. "Well, what are you waiting for?" He asks as everyone is still standing still. "I've got mail for you all."
The group approaches him.

"Let's see here..." The man pants. "A letter from Jay's parents."

"Sweet!" Jay grabs the mail, quickly starting to read it.

"Nya has a letter from some people of her hometown."

"Cool! Wonder How everyone is..." She grabs her letter.

"Oh, something from Cole's father, too. Well, It actually come from some place called 'Marty Oppenh-'"

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Cole quickly shuts the postman off. "At least I have some way of talking to him..." He stops for a second. "Wait, no package? I'm expecting something from Creatures, Beasts, and Beyond."

"No. Nothing from..." The postman gives a second look. "Oh, here it is!" He hands a box to Cole.

"Ha! Rocky's gonna love this!" Cole says, smiling and hugging his package. Zane walks in now, with a sad expression.

"Hey, thinking about now, I never heard anything about your homes, guys." Nya says. "You know pretty much everything about my life from before becoming a ninja."

"Heh, my parents are pretty amazing at everything. Mostly at mechanic, though. I mean, look at me!" Jay says, smirking.

"About my parents... It's complicated. Like, too much to deal about it. Sorry guys." Cole shuts off again.

"Oh wait." Nya says. "Sorry, Zane, you can pick your... Oh." She turns at the white ninja, but the postman is already gone.

"Don't worry, Nya. I didn't received anything." Zane says, still sad.

"Actually, now that I'm thinking about it..." Jay ponders. "How come you never hear anything from your parents?"

"I... don't remember my parents." Zane speaks, lowering his head. "I've been an orphan all my life."

"You mean you've never had a home?" Nya asks, feeling bad for him. The white ninja just shakes his head timidly.

Wu approaches him. "The Monastery is your home now." He puts a hand on his pupil's shoulder. The boy nods, but sadly walks away.

"I guess... I'll go and give Rocky his snack." Cole says, awkward. "Later, guys." The black ninja quickly runs towards the dragon cabinets, stopping at his own dragon's place.

"Hey boy! Look what I have here!" Cole says. The dragon approaches, sniffing the air. The boy then opens the package, revealing the meat. He can see that his dragon is happy. "Liver and toads, Rocky. Your favorite." The black ninja smiles, feeding his dragon. "Mm-hmm."

***

Far away from the Monastery, Skales finally open his eyes after watching the whole scene with the Ninja unfold trough Cole's eyes. A Hypnobrai comrade is by his side, curious.

"So? Did you saw it? The ninjas headquarters?" The snake asks.

"Yes, Rattla." Skales confirms. "I think I have a pretty good idea of where they live now." He smirks.

"I still can't believe you hypnotized one of the ninja." Rattla says, trembling with excitement. "Does the General know?"

Skales rolls his eyes. "Of course not. He's been put under the control of Lloyd. But I plan to use it for my best interest." He gives a wicked smirk. His expression frowns as he notices Slithraa approaching the duo. "Speaking of him..." He whispers.

"Everyone works while you two slack." The general looks at them with dissapointment. "As my second-in-command, I expect more from you, Skales." He starts to slither away.

"Yes, General." Skales speaks, following his leader. "General, you know I am most loyal to you, but I must question this childish agenda. The ninja have stolen our staff yet you instruct your army to make this playhouse for Lloyd? Snakes don't belong in trees." He points to outside. The Hypnobrai are working on a treehouse now. Orders coming from Lloyd, again.

Slithraa turns at him. "You know better than to question my judgement, Skales." He aggresively points at the other snake's chest. "I'll pretend you didn't ask."

"Hey!" Lloyd shouts, standing on a level down from the pair. "If we plan to rule Ninjago from here, this elevator needs to have a trapped door! I want more booby traps!" The boy says, laughing.

"As you wish, young Garmadon." Slithraa bows at the child.

"As you wish, General." Skales says, displeased before walking away.