Choice-Ninjago Plasma

Manipulation

Valgurous was sitting in his office. It was behind a secret wall in the temple, far off from the eyes of the naive worshipers. He was in a suit and tie, not wearing his garb to con the people of the temple. His dark brown hair cascaded slightly over his eyes as he scanned the room.

It was rather dark, as the rest of the temple was. There was a light switch in front of the secret door, but he never bothered to turn it on. His wooden desk sat behind the leather chair he sat it. Computers, and more electronics sat on the desk, even though for the rest of the temple residents electronics were outlawed.The only other furniture beside the desk and the chair was a small bookshelf, covered in books.

The master of deception sighed. He's always hated the ninja. He feels as though they abuse their power, and that there should be new saviours who would bring equality to all of them.

Which is why he admired Samurai X. Although the Samurai were an ally of the ninja, they cared about the people rather than the villains. He only hoped that the great Samurai would join him when the ninja were gone.

But there was someone else. Someone else he wanted on his side. This person in particular fought with passion for the people he cared about. That ninja and himself had that in common. He wanted the ninja in red on his side.

Kai was almost too passionate for his liking. But, this is why he would be a great asset. Especially at his emotional state. Desperate people, take desperate measures. That's what he was betting on here.

Valgurous saw a lot of himself in Kai. He's studied all of them over the last few months. Even found some recordings from years ago. All to root out the strong, and eliminate the weak.

Jay, he knew, was not weak. Just weak bodied. Jay had to be stronger, Jay had to be quicker. He was smart, and he found his team never gave him credit for it.

Kai however, was perfect. He just needed to bring the best out of him. Valgurous just had to mold him to his own design.

The wall in front of him turned to the side, and in came a woman with red hair, blue eyes, and a blue stripe in her hair to match. Once she walked in, the wall closed again.

"Hello Seleil." Valgurous' tone lowered as the so called 'phantom ninja' entered the room

"I'm done with this." Seleil brushed her black gi.

"Remember your village, a push of a button I can kill them all. Choose wisely." Valgurous tightened his tie.

"That wasn't part of the deal!" Seleil stomped her foot angrily.

Valgurous said nothing, waiting for Seleil to make that choice on her own.

"Fine. What do you want me to do?" Seleil crossed her arms.

"Fetch the red one for me." Valgurous said, pretending not to know anything about them.

Seleil reluctantly bowed, and put her black hood up. She placed a hand on the wall, and it turned to the side. When she walked out, the wall closed again.

Once again, Valgurous was left to his own devices. He turned his chair to face his desk, and grazed his hand along the wood until he found a speaker. He pressed the button, and raspy breathing came out.

"Send him in." Valgurous said into the small speaker.

"Of course." A raspy voice replied.

Then, he placed his hands on the keyboard in front of him. He typed some things in, then put his hand underneath the frame of the computer. It turned on with a flash, blinding his eyes momentarily. Then, he was accustomed to the light.

On the screen, there was a recording of the ninja on the rooftop many years ago. The ninja were hiding behind a billboard, most likely from the paparazzi.

"Forget what I said, just take my hand!" Jay called out, his hand reaching for Nya who was standing on the building.

"No. What did you mean by we?" Nya said angrily, her hands on her hips.

There was a quick glitch in the camera. It was very quick, and didn't effect anything that was happening on screen. But no matter how many times Valgurous watched this clip, he wondered if the glitch had something to do with Jay's change of tone.

"I'm sorry Nya. I don't know what I was thinking. You don't need me, you are confident and strong. Do what you need to do to hide." Jay placed his hand to his side.

Nya's tone did not change. She looked very confused.

"What?" Her mood changed.

"You heard me." Jay smiled warmly.

Still, Nya was confused. But nonetheless, flipped up to the back of the billboard to stand next to Jay.

Valgurous pressed a button on his keyboard, and rewinded the video.

"Forget what I said, just take my hand!" Jay's eyebrows were furrowed in a frustrating position.

Valgurous fast forward the video a bit.

"What?" Nya was confused.

"You heard me." Jay's entire personality changed from then on.

He reluctantly hit the pause button. Valgurous had watched this tape over and over so many times, and still couldn't comprehend how Jay's whole personality changed in an instant. It's been itching at his brain ever since he's seen the tape. Jay had been so arrogant and loud mouthed before that moment, why had that changed?

A part of Valgurous wanted to delete the tape all together. But, plans do require trial and error. He needed to understand Jay. He needed to figure out what his motives were. He couldn't quite find any true or clear motives. But he did find a weakness. He's prone to grief.

Jay's seen all of his friends die multiple times, and still keeps going. Valgurous admires him for that. However, he's not very good at processing grief. So, to avoid feeling that kind of grief again, he'd probably do away with himself instead of his team.

He knew Jay would sacrifice himself. That's how we would root out the weakness and do away with it. But how to twist Jay's morals against himself, that he had trouble with.

The sound of the walls opening awoke him from his trance, and he shut off the computer quickly. He spun his chair around to face the door.

"-hands off me!" Kai said angrily.

Seleil was grabbing his arms, her hood over her face to continue her anonymity. Kai's face was tear stained, and his eyes were strained with eye bags looming over them.

The wall closed, and Kai looked at Valgurous with a murderous face.

"Leave us." Valgurous ordered, waving his hand.

Seleil bowed, and left through the wall.