Rivals {Ninjago AU}

Chapter 8

***(Kai's POV)***

As Skylor continues to screech like a banshee about lawsuits and tearing down the school and whatnot, I struggle to make sense of her vengeful words and case against Ridgewood. I mean, you can't even have an intelligent conversation with the woman.

Girl, actually – she's Nya's friend, meaning she's probably my age – but with the amount of attitude and entitlement she has, she seems like a timeless Karen to me.

I raise my voice in the middle of one of her sundry rants. "Okay, okay, quiet down so you can accuse me in a way I understand, please." I rub the bridge of my nose.

Her eyes train on me like a hawk's on its prey, and she jabs her index finger into my chest. Again.

"You set off a bomb at my school," she hisses. In her mind, I'm sure she's swooping down to grab a helpless mouse in her greedy claws.

She underestimated her prey, though.

I cross my arms and roll my shoulders back, allowing the muscles in my chest to swell and demonstrate their power. "I did not."

She sputters. "Oh, sure, refuse it! I know you're just trying to get back at your sister for sneaking into your house after you locked her out last night."

Wu looks even more drained than I am at this point, and he's not even the one being accused. But then, he's been stuck in here for longer than I have, so I guess maybe he has a right to be exhausted by her antics. Who wouldn't be?

He slowly trains his gaze on me with those no-nonsense eyes. "Kai, what's this about you locking Nya out of your house?"

I roll my eyes. "Don't we have bigger problems to deal with, Daddy-O?" Problems like getting rid of Skylor?

He frowns severely and rises, his old age no longer apparent in the swift movement. "I am not your 'Daddy-O'. I'm your uncle, and I want to know why my would-be niece was forced to sneak into her house last night."

The atmosphere in the room changes, and it's then that I realize the real predator in this room is my uncle. Skylor may be nuts, but her words and threats are incredibly ineffective against me.

My uncle, on the other hand, has actual power.

My eyes drift toward the unwelcome guest in our midst, and I try not to let anger grip my chest at the satisfied look she's watching me with.

I finally sigh. "Any chance we could talk about this privately?" I jerk my head toward Skylor.

My uncle narrows his eyes at me. "It seems she already knows exactly what happened, so I don't see any need for the privacy."

Skylor is disgustingly quiet, allowing the situation to play out without any need for her to act.

Of course, she's the one who brought this whole mess to light in the first place.

I'll just have to manipulate the situation as well as she did.

I sigh, flopping down in one of Wu's guest chairs. "All right, you've got me. I locked Nya out of the house last night." I rake my fingers through my hair. "I guess I just got...annoyed."

"Annoyed?" Wu asks, his tone void of either sympathy or judgment. In fact, he's not giving away much of his opinion so far at all.

I go on, forcing an expression of surrender into my features. "Yeah. I mean...Nya's lived with our parents for a few years now, so her friends have all gotten to meet our parents and see our house and stuff. My friends, on the other hand, have not. I just wanted some room for me and the guys, and here she was, trying to barge into the house and mess it all up." I shake my head solemnly. "So I did something stupid, and I locked her out. But Lloyd found out and let her in – you can even ask him."