to rule the world | a ninjago au

[5] i give cole nightmares because i'm mean

astra

A ball.

A ball?

Was Garmadon crazy?

They needed to get to the Golden Weapons before Wu could, and the Ball was the perfect opportunity for them. Wu would be occupied for the entire night, possibly the next day, as well as his officiation into the throne, leaving them enough time to split into two groups and travel to the four locations of the Weapons. But Garmadon was still caught up in some petty brother feud with Wu like he had been in the Last Battle, simply enjoying the chaos and the trouble he'd caused.

Sometimes, Astra wasn't sure whether or not Garmadon really wanted to reclaim the city or just cause eternal trouble for his brother.

However, she could tell that the slightly more logical people of the task force were having the same thoughts as her. Nya's jaw was set as Misako gave a slightly more in depth description of the locations of the weapons. Zane, Pixal, Skylor and Cole all held similar expressions until Misako was finished when Astra jumped in.

"You can't be serious about the Emperor's Ball, Lord. It's a waste of time when we could be getting our hands on the Golden Weapons and stopping Wu before this gets out of hand."

"Reaper, may I remind you that you are speaking to your superior. And when you speak to your superior, you listen to their decisions and keep your opinions to yourself. The Ball you speak so dismissively of is a great opportunity to receive covert intelligence. Many of Wu's allies will be attending and we will be able to scope out the Palace of Secrets to add to our blueprints."

"Why do you need us, then? Send in one of your more experienced or perhaps, less likely to be turned in for money, agents." She shot back easily, squaring her shoulders as a scowl found its way to her face. "You are endangering some of our greatest weapons against Wu for plans we won't need. If we need to compromise, at least send someone else."

"Half of you will be attending the Emperor's Ball, and half of you will be journeying for the Golden Weapons. Do allow me to explain myself fully before you take a leap of faith into an argument, Reaper." Garmadon cracked his knuckles and swiped across his tablet screen, clearly fed up and finished with the conversation.

Two lists came up on the screens of seven names each.

"Squad Oni will be led by Reaper. Titanium, Arete, Junior, Bica, Aslec and Forge. Squad Dragon will be led by Valley and Destroyer. Roiya, Lato, Raven, Fritz and Lotus. No swapping or changes, that's final. Oni will be going after the Golden Weapons along with Misako, and Dragon will be infiltrating the Ball."

Metal, Earth, Energy, Amber, Healing and Fire. I can work with this. Either way, everyone's in danger.

Garmadon continued after a beat of tenuous silence, watching everyone take in their new squads assignments. "For the next two weeks you will be training in these new squads, preparing for situations you might run into and improving all of your mediocre skills. Dismissed."

Astra bit down on her tongue as Kade subtly shook his head at her and left with everyone else in a thoughtful daze. Part of her wanted to be infiltrating the Ball, finding Wu and knocking his kneecaps out, but the more logical part of her knew finding the Golden Weapons were just as important. That, and training, mastering how to lead Squad Oni and seeing if she could really accept the Garmadons as family.

It was nearing eight o'clock and everyone's stomachs were grumbling. Taking up space in the hallway with their big clump, they were debating whether or not to stomach cafeteria food or make something themselves in the communal kitchen. Astra's left eye threatened to twitch as she read the menu for that night, meatloaf and freaking couscous. Despite popular cooking opinion, Astra firmly believed the two belonged far, far away from each other.