An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Summary: After he is retrieved from the lighthouse by his brother and new friends, Echo must adjust to his new life. Even though his new home and family are amazing, it's still so different from what he's used to. Maybe a walk in the city will help clear his mind.
Chapter 3
New People, New Places
Echo felt his pants pocket for about the tenth time since leaving the monastery. Yep, the communicator was still there.
He’d probably forget to check in as much as Zane wanted him to, but he promised himself he’d call his brother at least once on his outing.
At some point.
But not right now, there was too much to see!
And this place was like nothing Echo had ever seen before.
The streets bustled with cars and motorcycles of all shapes and colors. Tantalizing smells wafted from street vendors and out of restaurant doors. Bright signs advertising sales and 2 for 1 specials, sat outside of businesses, trying to bring in as many costumers as possible. People lined the sidewalks, arms full of the wares they had bought at the previous store, headed to the next vendor on their list.
It was so beautiful. The city was filled with more life and color than Echo thought possible.
And the buildings were all so tall! Sure, the lighthouse had been pretty sizable, but these buildings were ginormous!
Echo craned his neck to see the top of a particularly large building that looked to be near the center of the city. It’s shiny glass sides shone in the sun. The walls kept going up and up and up; crowned at the tippy top with a shimmering blue hologram that looked a bit like a stylized letter “C”. The hologram shimmered and warbled with static as a bird flew through the center of the digital image.
There were quite a lot of birds around, actually, Echo noticed. Pigeons strutted through the streets, larger black birds, probably crows or ravens, soared through the spaces between the many buildings. There were even some robins perched on some of the power lines that lined the roads.
Echo was looking at a particularly large black bird perched comic-ly on a rather small streetlight when a kid on a bike almost crashed into him.
“Wwhhhooooaaa!!!!” the kid yelled and swerved at the last second as Echo stumbled in the opposite direction. Both the bike and the kid fell to the pavement with a crash.
When he had recovered his balance, Echo rushed over to the kid sprawled out on his back and offered a hand to help him up.
“Are you okay?”, he asked urgently. He sincerely hoped the boy was alright; it had looked like a pretty nasty crash. But the kid suddenly jumped up from the street unaided, as if nothing had happened.
“Oh, don’t worry, I’m fine!”, he exclaimed, “I’ve crashed my bike hundreds of times!”
The boy looked a little disheveled, but he didn’t seem to be hurt too bad.
“Hundreds of times?” Echo asked, flabbergasted.
“Well, maybe not that many times, but I do crash a lot,” the kid answered, “I’m Nelson by the way, what’s your name?”
“Oh, I’m Echo,” the android replied, and stuck out his hand for a handshake like his brother had taught him to.
Nelson accepted his hand and shook it enthusiastically, “Nice to meet you, Echo! And um, sorry I almost ran you over,”
“It’s okay. I am glad that you are fine as well,”
“Thanks!”, Nelson replied with a smile.
Then his smile broadened, and his eyes widened.
"Whoa…sorry - this is - I just have to say – I can’t believe I’m meeting a real life nindroid!”, Nelson stuttered out, “This is so cool! I’ve seen some nindroids around town, but I’ve never actually met one before,”
Echo smiled wide.
He didn’t think anyone had ever called him “cool” before. It felt good. And from the sounds of it there were other nindroids in the city as well. That was an encouraging thought.
Pausing their conversation, Nelson crouched down by his bike to examine it.
“Oh no…” he groaned, “my mom’s gonna kill me...”
Echo gave Nelson a concerned look.
“Oh! Not really. It’s just an expression,” Nelson added with a laugh, seeming to understand Echo’s confusion. “She keeps telling me to be more careful when I bike in the city. So, she’s not going to be happy when she sees this,” he gestured to the overturned bike.
Echo took a closer look at the bike and saw the reason for Nelson’s distress. Not only had the chain come off the gears, which in and of itself would have been an easy fix, but the gears themselves were missing entirely!
He looked around for the missing gears, and finally spotted them scattered on the sidewalk a few feet away. He quickly retrieved the bike gears and went to hand them to Nelson.
“Are these what you’re looking for?” he asked.
“Oh, you found them! Thanks Echo!” Nelson exclaimed excitedly. And then he paused, seemingly deep in thought, “Now, how do I reattach these…”
Echo squatted down next to Nelson to get a closer look at the problem.
If there was one thing he knew, it was mechanics. He had reattached his own arm multiple times and had kept Ty-Dee in tip top shape over the years in the lighthouse. Echo figured he could reattach the gears easily.
With the right tools.
Which he didn’t have on hand.
“Hmmm. I think I can fix it, but I don’t have the tools right now…”
“You’ll help me fix it? Aw man you’re a life saver Echo!”
Echo stood up and considered their options.
“If you would like, we can take your bike back to my house and I can fix it there,”
“That sounds great! But I’ll have to ask my mom first,” Nelson rolled his eyes, “She doesn’t like me going to other people’s houses without her permission,”
“Hm. That seems like a good rule for her to have” Echo replied.
“Yeah, I guess,” Nelson admitted, “I’ll ask her and maybe I can come over with the bike tomorrow,”
“Sounds like a plan,” Echo nodded his head in agreement, “I suppose I shall see you tomorrow. It was very nice meeting you Nelson.”
“It was nice to meet you too,” Nelson replied with a smile.
Echo waved a quick goodbye and was just turning to leave when Nelson interrupted.
“Hey, I was headed to the Dairy Dragon for some ice cream. Y’know, before I almost crashed into you and all. But it’s kinda boring eating ice-cream all by yourself. Do you want to come?”
Echo considered the offer. The whole reason he had wanted to explore the city was, ironically in a city this size, to get away from people. But honestly, after talking with him for a bit, Echo kinda wanted to hang out with Nelson some more. Who knows? It could be the start of a new adventure.
“I would love to accompany you. But, um, what is ice cream?”
“You’ve never had ice cream before?!”, Nelson blurted, flabbergasted.
Echo thought back to all the different meals he had tried with his new family. Ice cream. Like the cream cheese frosting on his welcome home cake?
“Um. Is it like cake?”, Echo offered in response to Nelson’s bewilderment.
“If you like cake, you’re going to love ice-cream!”, Nelson replied, “Be prepared for deliciousness my friend! It’s this way!”
Nelson gestured for Echo to follow him as he wheeled his bike down the sidewalk towards a row of small shops.
Echo didn’t move from his place on the concrete.
Friend. He had made a new friend.
Echo stood smiling for a moment longer before Nelson shouted back to him.
“Are you coming, Echo?!”
“Coming!”, Echo shouted back and ran to catch up with his new friend.
It wasn’t exactly the alone time he had planned for the day, but that was okay.
He was glad to have met someone as nice as Nelson.
Orange is the New Black (Chapter 4 - The Kids Are Alright)
[Chapter 3] // [Chapter 4 - you are here!] // [Chapter 5] – (FFN) (AO3)
Part of @ninjago-fic-fest!
Summary:
A rift opens in the sky above Ninjago City just as Cole continues his track record of falling from tall places. The place he wakes up in isn't the same as the one in which he fell... and who's the kid with a man bun who looks just like him?
Chapter summary:
Cole sees what all the fuss is about with Garmadon's constant attacks.
NOTE: The title is a reference to The Kids Are Alright (by Fall Out Boy)! Can you tell I went through a mild emo phase?
The whole world shook with the sound of heavy footfalls, engines, screaming, and maniacal laughter.
A familiar voice called out over a loudspeaker, cackling and overflowing with ego.
“Say my name, Ninjago City!”
The city replied in the form of terrified screams. “GARMADON!”
“What’s my name?!”
“GARMADON!”
Cole looked out over the city. From the docks, he was able to see a full picture of what was happening. A small army of mechs, boats, and planes– and a couple of sharks?– were assaulting the city’s coastline. At the head of the charge, a mech which had a full three meters’ height on every other vehicle around it was marching across the sandbars. Based on how it walked, the driver had clearly been there before.
And, of course, the mech was black with purple detailing. Cole wasn’t unfamiliar enough to have trouble identifying Garmadon when he saw him.
He turned to the bridge, running to find Master Wu. “Master! The city is under attack!”
Wu was looking out the bridge window, toward the city skyline. “I know.”
“What do you guys do when this happens?”
Wu shrugged, tapping his staff against the floor. “My students will retrieve their mechs. Go have fun with them.”
“Have fun?” Cole wondered if he’d gotten a concussion when he fell. “Master, I think I hit my head harder than I thought. Did you actually say–”
“Yes, I did.” Wu pointed toward the warehouse with his staff. “Now go.”
It wasn’t worth it to try reasoning or arguing with Wu, so Cole did as he was told. He walked off the deck of the Bounty, down the gangplank and onto the docks, all the while with Wu watching him go.
The day had been so strange already. Could Wu tell how unsettled he felt? Even the thought of being watched left him with shivers running up his spine, and not the pleasant kind.
As soon as he was out of view, Cole ran for the warehouse at full tilt.
He slipped in through the back door, where he was greeted by the sound of voices and doors slamming.
A moment’s investigation revealed the source of the sound was the red lockers he’d seen the day before. At the time, they hadn’t been worth any thought, but now he heard the Secret Ninja Force’s voices coming from inside them.
“Come on, let’s just get this over with quickly.” It sounded like Lloyd’s voice, but Cole just couldn’t be sure– everyone sounded just a little different from what he was used to.
“You got it, Green!” Nya’s voice was the gimme, the only woman on the team. A slamming sound accompanied her stepping out from one of the lockers, dressed in a gi with cyan and gray detailing. She looked over at Cole and immediately adopted a death glare. “What are you doing here?”
“Uh… looking for you, I guess?” Cole looked around. “What’s going on?”
Another door opened up, revealing Hence in all black– with his ever-present headphones. When he saw Cole, he gave him a jerky upward nod. “Hi, me.”
“Hi?” Cole watched as the others exited the lockers, then run to their mechs and start their engines. “Hence, what am I even seeing?”
Hence laughed, a confident sort of chuckle that Cole found he hadn’t expected. “Our school lockers have elevators that take us here so we can sneak out. Nya built them.” He all but sauntered toward a unicycle-type mech, then proceeded to scale it like a lizard. “Come on, you can ride with me. You got a mask?”
“Yeah, of course I do.”
“Great. You’d better put it on.” Hence looked back down at him, then frowned. “By the way, you’re not the Black Ninja here. I am.”
Cole gaped at him. “Excuse me? I’ve been the Black Ninja for years!”
“Not here you aren’t. We use our colors as code names, and black is taken. Pick another color.” Hence waved him on. “C’mon! I want to get my tunes going.”
Cole took one look around the warehouse, which was rapidly emptying out, and made his decision. A burst of Spinjitzu threw him up onto the body of the mech, and with one good pull-up he was able to climb inside the cockpit.
Hence gave him a strange look. “What was that?”
“What was what? Spinjitzu?”
“Spin-what?”
Cole rolled his eyes, finding a safe space to park himself so he wouldn’t fall out of the moving vehicle. “Never mind.” The cockpit looked like a DJ booth, so he decided to go behind Hence’s chair. It was almost the perfect space– that, and it gave a great view of everything Hence did, which currently included throwing records onto his twin turntables, pulling on a ninja mask, and throwing the mech into gear.
The engine roared. Cole held on to the driver’s seat as the mech leaned back suddenly, then forwards as it charged out of the warehouse.
They emerged onto the docks, but Hence seemed to have the route memorized. He scratched at his records and whooped with delight. “Ninja on the job! C’mon, get your mask on. Do you have a radio?”
“Uh, yeah. What frequency?” Did this world use frequencies?”
Hence told him, and a wave of relief flowed through Cole– it was the same unit, even, which seemed to be a rare thing between their two worlds.
Hence was impatient as Cole pulled on his ninja mask, fiddling with his booth’s many buttons and switches. “Come on, let’s go fight!”
Cole hustled to get it on. Hence didn’t waste a second; he steered them onto a major road and into the fray. The other five Secret Ninja were ahead of him, driving their mechs with all the reckless abandon of their teenage years. The constant rocking motion kept Cole from musing on that fact– even though he’d been just like them once, and he remembered it quite well– because he was struggling not to throw up.
“Hence! Can you take it– hrk– easy on the throttle?” He put one clenched fist to his mouth.
Hence looked back at him, then at the road again. “Yeah, sorry! Forgot you’re an old man.”
“Old man?! Who are you calling an old man?”
“You’re the older one of us, so you!” Hence laughed, and in the back of his mind, Cole noticed just how much he seeemed to be in his element. Was this what the alternate version of him liked? Why didn’t this joy show up in the rest of his life?
Still, Hence was compassionate enough to ease up on the rocking motion, and Cole felt a little better. They came upon the larger city streets, where the other ninja had come to a stop. Bursts of fire and ice fired into the air as Lloyd (or was it Green?) spoke over a loudspeaker.
“Lord Garmadon! Stand down!”
Garmadon’s familiar, jeering voice echoed in response from somewhere Cole couldn’t see. “Kiss my butt! Generals, get those pesky ninja!”
Instantly, the mechs scattered. As Hence pulled back, Cole got his first glimpse of their foe.
A twelve-foot-tall bipedal mech, shaped like a swordfish, firing blanks in the air from its fist. With those blanks, innocent fish were being ejected from compartments Cole couldn’t see, flying into the air with fins flailing. From his vantage point, their landings couldn’t be seen, and he hoped that it wasn’t as unpleasant for them as it looked.
In the cockpit, the other Garmadon roared with glee. He was the same as Cole remembered, with four arms and a penchant for black and purple. The cackling didn’t stop, even when the mech was suddenly struck by a projectile.
Hence swerved around a building just as a poor, innocent fish came flying at them. “Time to rock ‘n’ roll,” he joked, throwing on a new disc so “The Weekend Whip” blared from his oversized speakers.
The fish was vibrating to the music, and Cole clapped his hands over his ears. He had to shout over the din.
“Hence! How are you not deaf? Turn that down!”
“No can do!” Hence called out. “Sorry!”
Through the noise, Cole heard Lloyd’s– no, Green’s– voice over his comm. “Red, fend off the fish!”
Kai’s voice responded immediately. “Got it.”
“Cyan, keep the canals clear!”
A loud splash preceded Nya’s reply, along with indeterminate yelling and threats Cole could barely make out over their connection. “Loud and clear, Green!”
“White. Start working on a wall between Garmadon and Ninjago City Tower.”
“I am a cool, calm, and collected teen.” A white pyramid-shaped mech drove past, shedding ice crystals and snow, and Cole got a split-second view of Zane’s electric blue eyes.
Lloyd kept calling out instructions, directing the Ninja, and Cole watched in growing confusion as the scene before him descended into organized chaos. The Secret Ninja were good at controlling the environment, acting before reacting most of the time, and their teamwork was excellent. This world’s Lloyd was good at giving orders and expected that his teammates would follow them.
When that day came, it would be a welcome change in Cole’s own world…
Nostalgia, homesickness and overwhelm warred within him, but the final outcome was nausea.
“Hence,” he shouted over the music, “let me out! I’m gonna be sick!”
“What? Now?!” Hence expertly directed one mech arm at an enemy car, blasting it with a pile of dirt. “We’re in the middle of battle!”
“You don’t want my vomit in your cockpit, the smell will never come out!”
Hence groaned, back to a shadow of his moody self. “Fine! Can you get out without me stopping in the middle of the road? Maybe with your spin-something?”
Cole pushed to the front of the cockpit. Hence opened a narrow door where he managed to force his way out, gaining purchase on the outer panels. “Don’t change anything!”
On the outside, everything moved faster…
He swallowed bile and prepared to leap.
Three…
two…
one…
The world became a blur as he launched himself into the familiar, practiced motions of Spinjitzu, tinged with orange and gold. Cole heard himself shouting his battle cry. “Ninja-GO!”
He landed with continued motion, rolling to his feet amid enemy soldiers. He directed it into a roundhouse kick, expertly landing on one opponent’s abdomen, throwing him back and onto the ground.
The others yelled in surprise, or maybe rage, and Cole was beset with at least four of them– two were easily handled through Spinjitzu, a third with a single punch.
The fourth was blasted back by a soundwave, loud enough that Cole’s teeth rattled in his jaw.
The comms crackled. “Hey, fake Black Ninja! Don’t get yourself killed!”
Cole scowled, massaging his face. “Don’t call me that, Hence.”
“Don’t call me that,” Hence parroted. “I’m Black, and we’ve got nothing else to call you.”
“Well, I don’t know!” He looked around, then at himself and at his uniform, with its stripe of bold color around the chest. “I guess you can call me Orange?”
“Fine with me– watch out!”
Cole wheeled, and a moment later, strafed out of the way of a large sword.
A sword with a crossguard made of… sashimi?
More importantly, it was held by a mech decorated with sushi, piloted by a cackling, gloating woman who looked very pleased with herself.
Secretly, Cole wished these teens were older and less impressionable, so he could say something rude and possibly vulgar. Instead of doing so out loud, he threw out the best taunt he could think of in a rush. “Your tactics are a little fishy!”
He was rewarded with another swing of the giant sword. One well-timed jump threw him onto the blade, and he held on for dear life as the mech driver swung it again. “Get off!”
Cole laughed, and as soon as she raised it, he dropped down into the driver’s compartment.
A minute’s struggle ensued, with Cole coming out the victor and the driver being thrown out of the compartment. He caught her with one of the mech’s hands and set her on the ground fairly gently. “Thanks for the ride, but I gotta roll!”
She shouted something and ran for the ladder on one leg, but he backed off and turned to run down the street, sashimi sword in hand.
“Nice going, Orange! Head for Ninjago City Tower,” Hence commented, pointing with his mech’s arm at a particularly tall and isolated skyscraper. “Garmadon’s trying to get to the top.”
“Why? What does he get out of that?”
“He takes over Ninjago City.”
Cole stopped in his umami-flavored tracks.
He turned around, staring at Hence as he stopped his unicycle mech in front of Cole’s new two-legged ride.
“What?” Hence– no, Black– looked around. “What’s wrong?”
“He takes over the city?!”
“Yeah?” Hence sounded like he thought Cole was looking at something. “What’s so strange about that?”
“Your city is controlled by whoever is on top of a single skyscraper?!”
“Yours isn’t?”
“No?!” Cole laughed, almost too flabbergasted to speak. “Wh– Of course not! That’s crazy. This whole place is nuts!”
Hence shrugged, driving past him and down the street. “Look, you can tell me all about how weird my world is after we handle Garmadon. Sound good?”
There was nothing to do but follow him. “Sure. Whatever. You’re all crazy.”
Hence laughed, and despite how Cole felt like he was going insane, it was a comforting sound, even encouraging.
Maybe this version of him was happier than he’d been at the same age. Whether he was truly happy was another question… but there was hope.
There was still a battle to fight, even if it was one of the weirdest battles he’d fought in a very long time, and Cole was optimistic that the kids would be alright.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Summary: After he is retrieved from the lighthouse by his brother and new friends, Echo must adjust to his new life. Even though his new home and family are amazing, it's still so different from what he's used to. Maybe a walk in the city will help clear his mind.
Over the next couple of weeks, Echo was showered with affection from the whole team, as they tried to make him feel at home.
First things first Zane took his brother down to the workshop underneath the monastery. There Echo met P.I.X.A.L.; another android, like him and Zane. She had seemed very confused upon seeing him, but after hearing Zane’s explanation of the situation, she got right to work. She sanded down Echo’s rusty arms and legs until his metal coverings were once again shiny. She carefully applied oil to his joints and even fixed that rouge gear in his chest that always seemed to slip out of place. P.I.X.A.L didn’t say much while she worked, but her smile was warm and kind.
“Let me know if that gear gives you anymore trouble, okay?” she had told him once his repairs were finished.
Jay introduced him to video games, which he picked up pretty easily. It was funny to see Jay’s overly animated fake outburst when Echo won. He also gave him some soda to try, but Echo found it felt funny on his taste sensors.
Nya showed him the art of painting. Echo ended up painting a sunset over an ocean view. It was nice to be off the island, but he found himself missing the sea sometimes. Nya seemed to understand that a bit, and showed him some water tricks she could do with her element. She floated shiny orbs of water in the air and swirling streams all around the room.
He got to help Cole bake his very own “Welcome Home” cake. It turned out a little dry, but Cole didn’t seem to mind. Echo really enjoyed frosting it too. They both ended up on the floor covered in frosting and laughing their heads off by the end of it.
Kai gifted him a pair of sunglasses and then tried to teach him some cool looking Spinjitsu moves. Echo had to reattach his arm multiple times during Kai’s crazy lesson but he had a lot of fun nonetheless. Kai also told him that having siblings was totally awesome, and that Echo was going to love it.
Lloyd showed him the obstacle course and how you could hang upside down from the rings. He also gave him his old Fritz Donnagen comic books. He then proceeded to go on a rant about easter eggs and plot inconsistencies and other stuff that Echo didn’t understand. But seeing Lloyd excited got him excited too. And it felt nice to just listen when he couldn’t think of much to talk about himself.
Master Wu was very glad to have another member added to the family. He welcomed Echo with open arms showing him around the monastery and gifting him a large pile of books from the library. When Echo asked if he should put them back when he had finished reading them, Wu smiled and said that they were his to keep.
Zane always seemed to be hovering near him. He followed him around, asking if he wanted anything, and he always seemed to be offering him food for some reason. Being a “nindroid” as Echo now knew he was called, he didn’t necessarily need food to survive, but he supposed the extra energy he got from it was nice. Not that he was complaining. Zane’s food was always delicious, especially since the only thing he had in the lighthouse after Dr. Julien had left was a bit of tea now and then.
It seemed to Echo, that Zane was worried about him. He wasn’t quite sure why though. He was quite happy here. Kai told him it was an older brother thing.
“Older brothers worry about their little siblings. It’s just something that we do,” he had reassured him.
But he didn’t really elaborate beyond that.
After a few weeks, things had settled into kind of a new normal. Everyone went about their daily tasks as usual, and even Zane had started to be a bit less clingy.
But even though everything was calming down, Echo was feeling a little claustrophobic. As big as the monastery was, he always ran into someone. There always seemed to be someone there.
He found himself spending more and more time in his room away from the common areas. He would turn the corner when he saw someone coming down the hall, and he was much quieter during mealtimes.
Sometimes, it felt like he was trapped. Like he was stuck in a new, albeit different, prison. But that didn’t make any sense.
This was all he ever wanted. To have a family, to be around people again. He loved his brother and his new friends. They were all so nice to him. So why did he have the sudden urge to hide away?
Maybe Zane could help him.
Echo found him in the kitchen stirring batter in a bowl.
“Hi Zane. What are you cooking?” Echo asked.
“Oh, hello, brother!”, Zane turned to him, “I’m making cupcakes. Would you like to join me?”
“Maybe not today. But I do have a question.”
“Fire away.”
Echo took a deep breath.
“Do you enjoy living with so many people?”, he said slowly.
Zane looked thoughtful. He set the bowl of batter on the counter and turned to Echo.
“The ninja are my friends, my family. I cannot imagine life without them,” he said.
“Ah, yes. Of course,” Echo turned to look at the bowl of cupcake batter, not wanting to meet his brother’s eyes.
But then he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Zane smiling down at him.
“But I know how you feel Echo,”
“Huh?”
“Sometimes they can be a little much for me too,”
Echo stared quizzically at Zane, who winked at him knowingly.
Oh.
Echo felt a mite embarrassed. He thought he had been hiding his feelings pretty well.
“Oh. Um you noticed then huh?”
“Of course I noticed. You’re my little brother!” Zane said in mock exasperation, before pulling Echo into a tight hug. “Now, how can I help,”
“I just don’t understand it,” Echo sighed, as Zane released him. “I didn’t like living alone on the island. So why do I want to be alone now?”
Zane hummed in thought before answering, “Spending time around people is good, but it’s also important to spend time by yourself. It’s a balance. You can’t have too much of one without the other,”
Zane grabbed the spoon out of the bowl of batter and proceeded to balance it lengthwise on his index finger. It wobbled a bit as Zane tried to keep it balanced, stumbling forward to follow the movement of the spoon.
Echo was laughing hard as Zane circled the kitchen, swaying this way and that with the spoon, almost tripping a few times before he finally plopped it back in the bowl, splattering chocolate batter on the kitchen wall.
Zane smiled warmly when he saw that his antics had had their intended effect. “Just like that!” he laughed.
When Echo had let out his last chuckle, his brother slung an arm over his shoulder and pulled him close.
“It’s okay to want some alone time, Echo. Being around a lot of people is new for you. It’s normal for you to feel this way,” Zane said softly.
Echo nodded to show he understood.
“You know what I do when I need some time to myself?”
“What?”
“I go on a walk. Sometimes in the park in Ninjago City, sometimes just around the monastery. It helps clear my mind.”
Echo thought a walk sounded nice. And he would love to explore Ninjago City. Yes. That’s what he’d do, he decided.
But then again, Echo thought, he hadn’t really left the monastery since arriving two weeks ago. And he had the distinct feeling that his brother wouldn’t be too comfortable with him exploring a huge city all by himself.
Well, the only thing to do was ask him, he supposed.
“Can I go on a walk in the city?” Echo asked his brother tentatively.
Zane seemed a bit startled by the question and his face suddenly tensed. There was that worried look of his again, Echo noticed.
“Um, well, I mean I figured, just around the monastery would be…”
“Oh! Please don’t worry, brother!” Echo pleaded. He was so tired of being cooped up in the monastery. “I’ll be really careful, I mean it!”
Zane walked over to the kitchen counter, picked up the mixing bowl, and continued to stir the batter. He tapped his foot for a few seconds, apparently trying to make up his mind.
He let out a long sigh, “Ok, you can go,”
“Yes! Thank you, Zane!”, Echo rushed forward to give his brother the biggest hug he could.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Summary: After he is retrieved from the lighthouse by his brother and new friends, Echo must adjust to his new life. Even though his new home and family are amazing, it's still so different from what he's used to. Maybe a walk in the city will help clear his mind.
Chapter 1
Multiple Suprise Visitors
Zane was scrubbing at a particularly stubborn dark spot on one of the lighthouse windows. He scowled at the mark and pressed with the rag a little harder. The mark still didn’t budge. He decided to give up with the rag and started scraping with his fingernails. After a couple of passes, the mark was gone.
Zane stood back to admire his handy work when there was a loud thumping sound from downstairs.
“Thump, thump!”
He paused; certain his audio receptors were glitching. His only other companion, a small cleaning robot named Ty-Dee, was in the far corner of the room dusting away some cobwebs. What could possibly be making noise downstairs?
The noise sounded again.
“Thump, thump!”
It sounded a bit like someone knocking on a door.
But that wasn’t possible of course.
Nobody else had been on the island for years. Not since the day his father left.
And he had disappeared years ago.
Zane remembered it very vividly.
It was like any other normal day. He had worked on inventions with his dad, had some lunch, gone downstairs to his room to work on his own personal invention, and then went to sleep. But when Zane awoke the next morning, his father had vanished.
He hadn’t left a note behind explaining where he was going or anything.
Just like that, gone.
And from then on it had just been him and Ty-Dee.
The sound came again, louder this time, “THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!”
That was definitely, a knock at the door.
Someone was here, Zane thought. Someone who could finally get him off this rocky island of solitude. Someone was here to rescue him!
Had his father returned? He barely dared to hope.
Zane raced down the stairs, two steps at a time; Ty-Dee rolling along after him, clunking down the stairs one by one. Upon reaching the bottom, Zane bolted toward the front door.
And then he paused, his hand clutching the door knob mid turn.
As excited as he was at the prospect of seeing people again Zane also found he felt a bit nervous. He hadn’t seen a human being in years. His mind started to wander. Who was on the other side of that door? Were they really here to rescue him? Or had they stumbled upon the island by accident? Would they be friendly? He certainly hoped so.
Only one way to find out.
Zane slowly opened the door, just a tiny bit, “Hello?”
“Oh good, Echo you’re here!” an excited voice responded.
Zane jumped a little at the sudden exclamation, but then opened the door a little wider to see who had spoken. A young man dressed in blue, greeted him with a small wave, smiling warmly. There were five other colorfully clad humans standing behind him on the wide stone steps that led up to the lighthouse door.
One of the blue stranger’s companions, a girl with dark wavy hair, must have noticed Zane’s caution and stepped forward.
“It’s okay Echo,” the young woman said gently, “We’ve come to take you home.”
Zane looked back and forth between her and the first stranger. They were both smiling at him. But their eyes were darting back and forth and they both shifted from foot to foot. They almost looked as nervous as he was.
Examining the two closer, he felt a strange sense of Deja Vu.
But then in a blink the feeling was gone. Odd.
No matter, Zane was much more interested in the name the girl had called him. “Echo”? Who was that? He opened the door a bit wider.
“Echo?”, Zane asked, finally stepping out of the lighthouse. “I’m sorry, but no one by that name lives here.” And then, not at all eager to be left behind he added, “But, um, maybe I can help you find who you’re looking for?”
The blue stranger looked confused for a second before the girl elbowed him in the ribs and whispered something Zane couldn’t quite catch.
But before he could begin to wonder what she had said, a movement from behind her caught his eye.
One of their companions was coming closer, traversing the last couple of steps. The young outsiders who had first greeted him stepped to either side, creating a space on the last step for the new arrival.
Now, he and this third stranger were standing face to face.
He was clad in white, and a bit taller than the first two strangers. He had short cropped hair and a confused look on his face.
And he wasn’t human.
The stranger was mechanical.
Zane had never thought he would see another human being ever again. Let alone an android like himself.
But this wasn’t just any android…
Zane’s eyes widened even further as he realized that the other android looked just like him.
It was like looking in a mirror. The shape of the face, the cropped pieces of curly wire for his hair, the lines down his cheeks where the sheets of thin metal had been welded together. The only differences being that this android was a shiny silver, instead of the brass and copper of his own rusting metallic skin. He was a bit taller as well, and his eyes were a brilliant blue in contrast to his hazel. But other than that, they were exactly alike.
Zane took a step back in surprise.
After a few more flabbergasted seconds he finally worked up the courage to ask,
“Who are you?”
The other android blinked twice, as if confused as well, before he answered, “I am Zane. I was built to protect those who cannot protect themselves,”
A heavy silence hung in the air.
Until, finally, Zane found his voice again.
“But I am Zane,” he replied.
The silence again, was thick.
And then another thought occurred to him. If this looked like him, then did that mean…
“Do you know Dr.—”
“Julian. Yes,” the stranger finished, “He was the one who made me. He was my father,”
And then the visitor’s eyes were shimmering with oily tears. Zane hadn’t quite expected that.
And then, the stranger leapt forward and wrapped his arms around him.
He jerked back in surprise, but the stranger who looked like him only pulled him closer.
And suddenly, the pieces fell into place.
If father had built this other android…
“A-are you, my brother?”, Zane whispered.
“I think so,” the stranger replied through his tears.
He had a brother?
Why had father never told him?
Zane felt his own eyes wet with tears.
Finally, after all this time. Someone had come for him.
His brother had come for him.
Now both androids were sobbing as they slumped to the ground.
They clung to each other like their lives depended on it.
“I’m so glad I found you,” the taller of the two whispered.
Zane only hugged his brother tighter.
After a minute or so, he pulled away still holding tight to his new brother’s hand, his smile wider than he ever thought it could go. The taller Zane smiled back, wiping away his tears with a baggy, white sleeve.
A large man dressed in black approached the two. The sleeves of his gi looked to have been ripped off, his muscly arms on full display. Zane thought he looked rather intimidating, but his voice was soft when he spoke.
“Are we ready to go Zane?” he asked.
The two androids turned and spoke in unison.
“I think so,”
“Yes please,”
They looked back at each other in surprise and then started to laugh.
“This could get a little confusing,” the stranger in red chuckled. His hair was spiked almost straight up from his head in a way that Zane thought looked rather silly.
“So, what should we do about this brother?”, the silver android asked, ruffling the other’s curly copper hair. “Do you want a nickname?”
Zane thought for a moment.
He wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to do.
He was Zane. He had always been Zane. He had stated that matter a factly not two minutes earlier.
But with the sudden appearance of his brother, he wasn’t so sure if the name was really his anymore.
Nobody had called him “Zane” in years. There hadn’t been anyone around to call him by any name actually. He admittedly had started to feel a bit disconnected from it.
Maybe a nickname would be nice.
Suddenly he remembered the name the stranger in blue had called him earlier.
Echo.
There was the strange feeling of Déjà Vu again. Weird.
He thought he rather liked the sound of that name though.
He wasn’t sure why, but he felt connected to it somehow. He had no memory of it that he could think of, but at the same time it felt familiar. Like when you wake up from a dream and can only remember the feeling of it but not any of the details.
“Oh, but …you don’t have to decide right now or anything. Or we can keep calling you Zane if that’s what you want, or um…” his brother spoke up again, stumbling over his words.
“Actually, a nickname sounds nice,” Zane interjected.
Maybe “Zane” could be his middle name, he thought with a smile. He wasn’t sure he wanted to let go of the name completely. It was what his father called him after all.
[Chapter 2] // [Chapter 3 - you are here!] // [Chapter 4] – (FFN) (AO3)
Part of @ninjago-fic-fest!
Summary:
A rift opens in the sky above Ninjago City just as Cole continues his track record of falling from tall places. The place he wakes up in isn't the same as the one in which he fell... and who's the kid with a man bun who looks just like him?
Chapter summary:
Cole experiences a number of small yet confusing moments and questions his sanity.
Things in this alternate Ninjago City seemed to move both faster and slower than Cole expected they would.
Wu had offered him a cabin on the Bounty, inadvertently the one where Cole had once lived with his brothers back when Lord Garmadon had been their biggest threat. He’d settled into his old cot with a sigh, the mattress just as hard as he remembered, and slept as well as the earth he mastered.
He woke late in the morning, remembering the last wisps of dreams. He’d been somewhere lush and green, not unlike Hiroshi’s Labyrinth. Princess Vania had been with him, doing… something…
He tried to remember it, but couldn’t… and with the absence came a painful homesickness.
Wu had nearly knocked down the door a minute later, balancing an entire tray of breakfast food on his staff, and they had breakfasted right there on the floor. Wu didn’t answer any of his questions, instead telling him to be patient, and the clipped tone of his voice made Cole remember that this wasn’t his Wu.
They finished their meal quickly, so with an entire day to kill, Cole went for a long walk around the city.
—
The Ninjago City Tour began at the bay where the Destiny’s Bounty was docked. Cole could see the whole city without having to turn his head! It was small, yet reaching high into the sky, and extremely colorful.
It wasn’t like the Ninjago City he remembered, or anything in his Ninjago.
He began to walk toward what he thought was east, toward where he thought the sun must have risen from. It was already nearing its zenith.
Cole smiled and shielded his eyes, appreciating the heat.
It felt like home.
East took him toward the coast of the bay, where it was sandy and populated. While there weren’t many waterfront properties, the skyscrapers even came up to the edge of the sand, as if taunting the very geography.
Wasn’t that a safety concern?
Why was this place so strange?
Cole was so distracted that he didn’t realize what was happening until he walked right into someone and knocked them over.
“Ow!” The person fell backward, landing on the sidewalk. “Watch it!”
“I’m sorry!” He reached down and offered a hand to help the person up. She was middle-aged, with long, platinum blond hair tied into a high ponytail.
She gave him a dirty look and got up on her own, brushing herself off. “Thanks. Now I’ve got dirt on me, right before my Pilates class.”
“I said I was sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going, it was a complete accident.”
The woman rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I’m fine.”
She walked on, and Cole stood still in amazement.
What was that all about?
He looked around again. There was nobody else around– not even anyone on the boardwalk he’d somehow found himself on. How had he managed to run into someone?
This place got stranger and stranger…
—
A few hours later, Cole stood in the shallows at the beach. He’d discarded his tabi boots a few meters back and rolled up his pant legs. The water was just a little warmer than the air, and he smiled as it lapped against his shins. The relaxing rush of water was still something familiar, not unlike when Nya was meditating and practicing her elemental skills. If he closed his eyes, he could envision Kai playing with fire, taking videos for his social media. Jay would be messing with some device, trying to wire it in a way that could possibly start an electrical fire. Zane would sit nearby, supposedly to relax, but really so he could quench Jay’s project if needed.
Oh, how Cole already missed them… but he had to look on the bright side. This was a good place! It was still Ninjago, after all.
Maybe it wasn’t so bad to be in another realm, listening to unfamiliar radio playing through loudspeakers and children shouting excitedly. The beach was crowded enough that he only had a little space to himself, but Cole didn’t want to isolate himself. He’d done enough of that when he was a teenager.
A teenager like Hence, who walked around with headphones on all the time, who wore all-black and tried to be cool but obviously wasn’t happy.
If he was as similar to Cole as he appeared, Hence was struggling, and Cole probably knew why.
But how did you help the alternate version of yourself? It was like those stupid interview questions from the Ninja’s celebrity days. What would you tell your younger self? Any advice?
I’d tell him to be brave, and to talk to his dad earlier. To ask about his mom, to not worry so much about other people’s opinions. To not let himself be talked into stupid interviews on live TV so people could poke at a non-existent relationship.
A fish swam up by Cole’s toes, investigating. He wiggled them, scaring the little minnow off.
Maybe he shouldn’t say anything.
But what if it helped? Wasn’t that the job of a ninja?
The radio blared on. “That was ‘Everything is Awesome’ by Tegan and Sara, featuring The Lonely Island! Now Davy, wasn’t that something?”
“It sure was! I’m telling you, this is a beautiful day in Ninjago City. A full two days since Garmadon’s last attack! So you all know we’re overdue, but still.”
Overdue? Cole scoffed. What was Garmadon, a volcano that was ready to blow? Never mind the actual volcano Garmadon supposedly lived in, not even three kilometers away from shore.
“Well let’s get back to the music! Next up, it’s Chen’s newest hit, ‘Boo Lloyd!’ Hit it, Davy!”
The lyrics floated down the beach to Cole. At first, he didn't pay attention, but a few words were familiar made him listen out of disbelief.
Cheerful drum beats and synths heralded the baffling chorus. “L-L-O-Y-D, his dad is bad and so is he! Boo Lloyd!”
No. Surely he was imagining the earworm he was currently being subjected to, which called Lloyd out by name and mocked him openly.
Lloyd was just a kid here! The son of a famous warlord, yes, but an innocent teenager all the same.
Never mind what he’d thought about this being a nice realm. What was wrong with these people?!
—
Cole burst into the bridge of the Destiny’s Bounty, panting from a flat-out run. “Master Wu!”
The ninja master looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. He sat at a short table, sipping tea and eating what looked like crab cakes. “That is my name. Don’t wear it out.”
Cole sighed in relief, closing the door behind him. “I’m glad I found you. I– I need to talk to you about something.”
“So much is obvious. Sit down.” Wu took out a second teacup and filled it, offering it to Cole as soon as he was seated. Cole took it and sipped, and while he drank, Wu watched him expectantly.
“Master, something’s wrong here. I was out on a walk in the city, and I– well, I was all over, but I was at the beach for this part. They were playing the radio, and this crazy song was playing. I almost thought I was going crazy!”
Wu hummed and sipped his tea, taking so long that he ended in a drawn-out slurp. “I do not know if you are crazy. What song was it?”
“I don’t even know what it was,” Cole admitted. “I felt like I was hallucinating. The announcer said it was called ‘Boo Lloyd’? Which is exactly why I felt like I was crazy! Am I crazy?”
Wu watched him.
Cole waited.
The ninja master sighed. “No. You are not crazy.”
“Oh, thank goodness. But then–?”
“Yes, it is a real song.” Wu sipped again, slurping loudly. “..It is my nephew’s burden to bear.”
“But– but it’s bullying! He’s never done anything to them! He’s even protected them!”
“They do not know that. His identity is a secret, as is every ninja’s. Perhaps your realm does not take secrecy seriously?”
“Well– we never really needed to keep anything secret.” Cole looked down at his teacup, feeling ashamed. “I just… didn’t think anybody would go after Lloyd like that. Our Lloyd never got treated that way, and his dad was so much worse. No offense.”
“Perhaps he had other lessons to learn.”
“Lessons? What does anyone learn from bullying?”
Wu raised one eyebrow. “Resilience, perhaps patience. He will not learn them if someone else solves his problems for him.”
Cole gaped, struggling for words. “Wh– that’s not– you’re letting him be bullied?”
They stared at one another, the sound of slurping barely registering in Cole’s mind. When Wu finally moved, it was to set his teacup down and pour another, then to slurp from it instead.
It was time to change the subject. “Why are their identities secret, anyway? They wouldn’t be hurt by anyone as their civilian selves, except maybe Garmadon, and they can take him. Right?”
This time, Wu glared at him. “...They are children.”
“I wasn’t any older than them when I started.”
“And your master wanted your enemies to know that?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say he wanted it, but it couldn’t be helped! We had to stop Lord Garmadon before the prophecy could come true.” Cole crossed his arms. “So we were a little young. Big deal. Your ninja will have to defeat him before the Overlord comes into play, right?”
Now it was Wu’s turn to look confused. “What overlord?”
“The Overlord. The greatest force of evil in the whole realm?”
“This sounds like something out of a children’s story,” he commented, matter-of-fact. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“No? You don’t have a prophecy?”
“No. Only the five elements…” Wu shook his head. “They are too young for them. The Ultimate Ultimate Weapon cannot be used. They will have the elements when they are ready.”
“And when will that be? When Garmadon has already been defeated?” The very idea made Cole sad. “Come on, Wu. You’re not letting them stretch their wings.”
The way Wu shifted was enough for him to know that the comment landed, so Cole continued. “You have to let them grow up. They’re not children, they’re teenagers. Soon they’ll be adult ninja. What if they can’t be your students anymore? You can’t keep big secrets like the elements from them.”
Wu set down his teacup, emptied for the second time, with a sharp clack. “You do not know what I’ve seen–”
“I can guess,” Cole interrupted, “and that’s good enough. They don’t know. You need to tell them.”
“It is too much for them. They deserve innocence.”
“Then start small! Start with the elements, or– or leading themselves, or choosing whether or not to stay secret. They should be able to be real ninja, not just pretend to be ninja in front of the rest of the world. If you don’t let them choose their own paths, they’ll be haunted by past failures.”
Wu stood up, suddenly looking very old and very tired. He looked at Cole with aging eyes. “You know too much.”
Cole frowned, heart aching– he missed his Wu, and this doppelgänger just wasn’t him. “So do you.”
They watched each other, and deep down, Cole knew he wouldn’t understand why this Wu was so different. He’d tried to understand his own Master Wu, and that had been under extenuating circumstances.
No one would ever understand his relationship with Wu… not unless they’d seen it grow. No one else would ever know how it felt to be someone’s student, son, and father.
No one would understand why Cole knew so much, or hurt so much
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to push.”
Wu shook his head, exhausted. “...We leave early tomorrow,” he said, as if it was a dismissal.
Cole stood and bowed to him, feeling oddly ceremonial. “Sure. See you later, Master.”
He left the bridge, head spinning and heart aching, wondering how he’d gotten to the position he was in. Somehow, he felt just as old as Wu–
His reverie was broken by the sound of a blaring alarm. “Garmadon alert! This is not a drill. Garmadon alert!”
Orange is the New Black (Chapter 2 - Doppelgängers)
[Chapter 1] // [Chapter 2 - you are here!] // [Chapter 3] – (FFN) (AO3)
Part of @ninjago-fic-fest!
Summary:
A rift opens in the sky above Ninjago City just as Cole continues his track record of falling from tall places. The place he wakes up in isn't the same as the one in which he fell... and who's the kid with a man bun who looks just like him?
Cole stared at the teenage boy in front of him. “Uh… care to run that by me again?”
‘Cole’ glared at him. “You’re not the Black Ninja. So who are you? Are you impersonating me?”
“No! Dude, you’ve got it all wrong.”
The boy scoffed. “Garmadon put you up to this, didn’t he?”
“Garmadon? Woah, woah, woah. I’m not working with him!” Cole crossed his arms. “Now I’m sure something weird is going on.”
“Yeah, it’s weird that you’re impersonating me!”
“No, not that kind of weird!” Cole laughed in disbelief. “Geez, kid. You gotta believe me here, I’ve already said it twice. I am not trying to impersonate you. How do I explain… it’s like I’m from an alternate dimension, okay?”
The boy scoffed, but before he could argue the shorter boy piped up, “That’s impossible. There are no alternate dimensions.”
“Actually, there are! There’s sixteen. Yours must be one of them.” Cole reached out a hand to shake his. “What’s your name, kid?”
The boy was hesitant, but he shook it. “...Lloyd.”
“Lloyd Garmadon?”
“Yeah. But I’m not like him, honest!” The boy looked on edge, close to panic. “Trust me, I don’t want to be a warlord and attack the city all the time. I don’t even live with him. I just want to be a normal teenager!”
“Woah, chill!” Cole put his hands on the kid’s shoulders, ignoring how the other Cole gave him the stink-eye. “I believe you. I’ve got a Lloyd back home, and he’s not like his dad either. Our Garmadon even turned good, if you can believe it.”
Cole scoffed. “That’s not possible.”
“It is, but that’s irrelevant.”
Lloyd laughed, but it sounded a little hysterical. “My dad is an evil warlord. He cries lava! I couldn’t do that, even if I tried.”
“Oookay, so ours doesn’t do that, but he really did get better!” It seemed convenient to leave out the part where the evil version of Garmadon had been resurrected as an Oni monster, so Cole ignored it. “Anyway, that’s not so important. Are you a ninja too? If you guys are both ninja, do you have a team? Maybe a teacher?”
Lloyd and ‘Cole’ looked at each other before Lloyd spoke. “My uncle, Master Wu, teaches us. We can bring you to see him.”
“Yeah, that’s great! I’d love to. Maybe he knows how I can get home.”
It was wishful thinking, and Cole knew it, but it would have to do. If Wu didn’t know what to do, he didn’t want to think about what kind of trouble he’d be in.
Besides, this world was weird. Seeing Wu would really help. It wasn’t as good as talking to his own Wu, but it was something. Cole already missed him… and the rest of the team too, even though he’d barely been separated from them.
These days, any time apart was like a wound.
—
On the walk to the Secret Ninja Force’s base, Cole learned several important details.
One: The other Cole wasn’t quite the same as him. For one, his last name was Hence, not Brookstone. Cole wasn’t used to hearing his mother’s maiden name so much, but it helped to just call the other him ‘Hence’ instead of his own name. Hence didn’t seem to mind it too much, besides the odd eye-roll.
Two: Dragons didn’t exist in this world. At all. The only dragon either Lloyd or Hence knew about was Lloyd’s dragon mech, which obviously didn’t count.
Three: The Ninja kept their identities secret here. Why? Because Lord Garmadon didn’t seem to know who his son really was, and apparently, no one wanted him to know. There wasn’t a prophecy, so they could keep this going indefinitely.
Cole remembered Garmadon being a pretty good dad when it counted, always showing up when he was needed most. Apparently in this world, he was a warlord and a deadbeat. Already, Cole’s opinion of him was in the dumps.
It was a crazy hour or so, all told, but Cole felt like he was pretty caught up on the differences… until they arrived at the Secret Ninja Force’s warehouse base.
Hence and Lloyd brought him in through the back door, expertly disguised by a neon yellow sign.
WARNING: RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS!
In Cole’s opinion, it was not the best hiding place.
Lloyd pushed open the door, the two gestured for Cole to enter, and Hence flanked him from behind. They came out next to a bank of bright red lockers, of the type Cole remembered from Marty Oppenheimer’s School for Performing Arts. The back was messy, filled with video game consoles and mis-matched furniture, with a clunky old refrigerator in one corner.
The rest of the warehouse was an enormous garage with a retractable ceiling, filled with six incredible mechs.
Cole was grinning at the thought of driving one when four teenagers suddenly showed up in front of him, the first skidding to a stop in front of the other three.
“Lloyd!” A brown-haired boy dressed all in red with a bandaged temple reached out and hugged him. “Hey, Green!”
Lloyd laughed softly, hugging back for a moment. “Kai, hey, what’s up.”
“Dude, we’ve been waiting for you!” Kai was about to say more when a girl stepped up, pulling out a knife from somewhere Cole couldn’t see.
“Who are you?!”
The rest of the teenagers gasped, but Cole snickered. “Hi. Nya, right?”
“How do you know my name?!”
“Because I know you!” Cole snickered more, glancing at Hence. “C’mon Hence, help a doppelgänger out here.”
Hence rolled his eyes, but he stepped forward and leaned one arm on Cole’s shoulder. “Guys, this is me from another dimension.”
Four pairs of wide eyes watched them in disbelief. “What?!”
Cole snickered, even as the team crowded around and gaped at him. Their versions of Kai and Jay were curious, though Jay seemed oddly shy, and Kai had no problem with touching him and messing with his hair and gi. Cole let him, feeling oddly nostalgic. It felt like when Wu had been going through his ‘fussy toddler’ stage.
Their version of Zane– oddly robotic and with a stiff smile on his face, but with the same piercing blue eyes– trundled over and looked him up and down. “You are not a cool teenager like us!”
“Nope. Sorry, buddy, I’m almost twenty-seven years old.”
“How does it feel to be a geriatric ninja?”
Cole laughed. “Geriatric? Who are you calling geriatric, tin can?”
Other Zane turned his head in confusion. “I am not a tin can. I am a regular, teenage ninja.”
Before Cole could push it any further, he was interrupted by the quiet voice of Jay. “Why are you carrying so many weapons? What if someone sees you and figures out you’re a ninja?”
“Because it’s not an issue?”
“But ninja are supposed to keep their identities secret,” Jay insisted, slowly seeming to become more confident as he realized Cole wasn’t about to snap and eat him… or whatever weirdness this Jay expected. He couldn’t be too different, even if he was quiet, and Cole knew Jay well enough to know he never had a quiet moment inside his mind.
So Cole launched into his explanation, telling the story of how he’d arrived. The rift, landing on the football field, meeting Hence and Lloyd. It felt like telling a story to a bunch of school kids who sat on the floor with rapt attention, listened closely, and asked all their burning questions.
He didn’t mind it. Not really.
Even if Lloyd was fidgeting and pulling on his hoodie strings like he did when he was nervous. Jay buried his face in his bright orange scarf so he could barely be seen. Kai had scratches all over, most of them without bandages. Nya toyed with a knife. Zane sat too still and smiled too widely. Hence, most normal of them all, didn’t seem to be able to sit still at all.
The whole world was knobbly and scratchy and bumpy and wrong.
When he got to the end of the story, Cole took a deep breath and delivered his summary. “So, I’m stranded in your version of Ninjago. I think you guys are probably my only ticket back, so I need your help.”
The teenagers looked amongst themselves as Lloyd spoke for the group. “We don’t really know anything that could help.”
Before Cole could speak, he was cut off.
“Then it is a good thing I do.”
A chorus responded to the interrupting voice. “Master Wu!”
Cole looked around for the source of the voice. He found it above him, the ninja master sitting on a railing near the ceiling. Upon eye contact, he leaped from his perch, sprung off a wall, and landed as nimbly as a cat on the cement floor.
Master Wu looked at Cole with calculating eyes, shrewdness hidden under a faint layer of secrets. It was at that moment Cole knew he was truly Sensei Wu, no matter what he did or said. Only Wu could look like that.
Wu folded his hands behind his back, his shoulders seeming a little strange as he did so. “Students, who have you brought to your secret base?”
The whole team began to protest at once, giving excuses.
“We didn’t bring him here!”
“It was Lloyd’s idea!”
“He just showed up!”
“Master, he said he’s me–”
“We are just clueless teens, Master.”
At last, Lloyd spoke over the cacophony. “Master, he says he’s another version of Cole! Cole and I didn’t know what to do.”
“Cole?” Wu raised an eyebrow, glancing at Lloyd and Hence. “So that is why you brought him here.”
“I didn’t know what else to do. He’s a ninja too, and he knows all of our names. He’s not a real stranger.”
Wu scrutinized Cole with the watchfulness Cole remembered from his first few weeks of ninja training. Seeing weak points, exploiting them for students’ benefits and drinking far too much tea… it was all present in this wizened man’s face, staring him down from where he stood. “You’re right, he is not a real stranger. Who did you train under, young man?”
“Uh… under you, Master. My version of you. It was a long time ago, I’ve been a master ninja for years.”
Wu hummed, then nodded several times. “How did you arrive here?”
Deep down, Cole suppressed a sigh. Would he have to explain the story again in full? “I just fell through a rift in spacetime. It was magenta, it looked like this place. Then I arrived, and I want to go home already.”
Wu brushed off his homesickness. Instead of sympathizing, he pulled a wooden staff out from behind him. He put it to his lips, and as Cole watched in amazement, began beatboxing and playing it like a flute. A short rendition of The Score’s “Going Home” came through, somehow sounding right despite lacking every background instrument.
Cole glanced at the rest of the team, who seemed frustrated as they rolled their eyes and shook their heads. Secretly, he wished for a camera. If only his brothers could see this Master Wu!
“Master,” Lloyd complained as Wu was coming to the end of the tune, “What do we do? We don’t know how to get Co– him home!”
Wu, finishing his ditty, brought the flute down on Lloyd’s head with a quiet thwack. “You interrupted my music. Not very ninja of you.”
“This isn’t a very ninja situation!”
“Not important. Not my problem.” Wu turned to Cole with a grave expression. “Yes, we must send you home. I know of a magical device which will return you to your own realm.”
“Really?” Cole laughed in delight. “Talk about fast.”
“Not so fast, young ninja.”
“Young?” Kai sputtered. “He’s older than all of us!”
“Hush. We must travel a long, long way… to the Wanderlust Woods.” Wu pointed toward the back wall of the warehouse with his staff. “That way, on the other side of the island.”
“We’re on an island?” Cole frowned, glancing around as if the unseen scenery could help him verify the claim. “I guess we can take the Bounty, or maybe mechs…?”
“No!” Wu now brought the flute down on Cole’s head, a thwack making his scalp sting for just a minute. “‘Cool mechs are weapons first, not vehicles. We will walk. It is not far.”
The teenage ninja all groaned. “Come on, Master, we can’t be gone that long!”
“Today is Thursday. We will go after your classes end tomorrow.”
“Master,” Zane commented, with little emotion, “we have homework.”
“And what will our parents think?” Jay added. “My mom said we’re going to the flea market this weekend…”
“You will figure out something to tell them.” Wu shook his head, clearly not amused by his students’ excuses. “Not my problem. You are ninja, you will need to find a way for yourselves to remain secret. You do not need my help.”
The six teenagers groaned, but they didn’t argue any more. Instead, they turned to talk amongst themselves. Cole heard snippets of whispered conversation, mentioning clones and call it a sleepover at my place and are we sure this is a good idea?
He tuned them out, deciding to talk to Master Wu instead. He opened his mouth to speak, only for Wu to cut him off.
“You have no place to stay here.”
Cole blinked twice. “Uh… yeah. That’s what I was going to ask you about– one of a few things.”
“Come to my ship, the Destiny’s Bounty. You will stay with me.” Wu turned and gestured with his staff, walking to the other side of the warehouse and its great bay doors. “Come. Let them decide for themselves.”
After a moment of hesitation, Cole followed him. “Yes, Master.”
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
After he is retrieved from the lighthouse by his brother and new friends, Echo must adjust to his new life. Even though his new home and family are amazing, it's still so different from what he's used to. Maybe a walk in the city will help clear his mind.
Again, so sorry it's late, the story kinda of spiraled into a longer and longer project. I have more chapters coming soon, I just have to edit them.
@ninjago-fic-fest I don't know if this technically counts as part of your event since I was late, but I figured I'd let you know it's posted now.
Are we allowed to claim and write for prompts even though the event's over? Idc abt the promo I'd just like to write for some prompts
Unfortunately unless you claimed a prompt before July 27th, you can't claim one now that the event's over. With any luck, fic fest will come around again sometime next year and you can hop on then!
Sora has never felt an ounce of attraction in a not-friendly way, to anyone, ever. In the society of Imperium that conforms to everything, she doesn't feel like she fits in. When she runs away and the world is - rather literally - ripped apart, she finds friendship in the boy she meets along the way, Arin. What happens when she suspects Arin takes their friendship as... something more?
💛 Sora | Arin | Frohicky | rated G | 3.2k | complete
🏷️ pre-canon | gay Arin | aroace Sora | misunderstandings
Garmadon could turn into the worst monster imaginable, left to plunge into an inescapable darkness, and Wu would still have faith in the good in him; for the only thing worse than watching his brother succumb to an easily preventable fate...is being the one unable to save him from it.
Or, Wu's ungraceful stumble through his tragic life pre-canon
🍵 Wu | rated T | 7.7k | complete
🏷️ canon compliant | pre-canon | character study | family | Wu-centric
Lloyd, waking up after the Merge, finds himself in a cage, floating over some dimly lit void. But it doesn't take him long to realize that he's not alone.
theartofmadeline
tangentwithtanner
yousharknotpass
origamiaround
gamechangershow
