Taking Control. (a Ninjago fanfic)

Chapter 4 - Danger calls

Z A N E

I stood quietly in the monastery's courtyard, watching the gentle snowfall coat the stone path. The snowflakes were beautiful, each one different and special. I sighed contently, happy to finally have some alone time with my thoughts. Our lives have been so busy recently, it was nice to get some time to just think.

The peaceful silence was suddenly interrupted by the soft buzzing of my communicator. I groaned in annoyance, and tapped the device, Sensei Wu's voice crackling through.

"Zane, we have an urgent situation," Wu's voice was calm but held an underlying urgency. "A crime has been reported downtown—a break-in at some traditional house. They say it's urgent."

My eyes flashed a faint blue as I processed the information. "Understood, Sensei. I'll get the others and be there immediately."

Without another word, I sprinted toward the edge of the courtyard, my movements fluid and precise. When I neared the door, I tuned to look once more at the peaceful scene I was leaving behind. Sighing, I ran through the doors to alert the others.

I moved swiftly through the monastery halls, my footsteps nearly silent. I wonder what's the problem. Was it serious, or just a low level crime? Wu made it sound pretty bad. I guess we will see.

I found Kai and Jay in the training room,  sparring with quick bursts of lightning and fire. I cleared my throat to get their attention, standing by the entrance.

"Kai, Jay." I said urgently.
"Sensei Wu has alerted me of a mission, and I was informed to tell you all."

Kai stopped mid-punch, exchanging a look with Jay, who instantly powered down his lightning. "What kind of mission?" Jay asked, his usual playfulness replaced with focused concern.

My eyes glowed faintly as I continued. "He didn't specify. But he made it sound pretty serious."

Without further words, the three nodded, determination set in their faces, and headed off to gather the others, ready for whatever awaited them.

~~~

"Soo... what's this about exactly?" Cole asked again, his voice crackling on the intercom. We were all on separate vehicles, travelling to the destination as quickly as possible. "I told you, Cole, I don't know." I replied with a hint of annoyance. I wish he would stop asking that. I don't know anything more than he does!

"Right." Cole muttered. "Sounds a bit suspicious, if you ask me." Jay mumbled an agreement. "Just... let's just get there and find out. People could be in danger, and we need to save them. Quit whinging, everyone" Lloyd scolded.

I smiled to myself in amusement. He will be a great Sensei. Master Wu's training was really starting to rub off onto the young boy.

"We're here." I announced, turning the corner to reveal the building. It seemed quite isolated, the other houses standing a couple of feet away. It was also bigger than the others surrounding it, and had the Japanese style-like what old Ninjago looked like. I suppose some owners decided to keep their houses the same instead of becoming more tech savvy with Borgs new inventions.

"Righty ho." Jay chirped, and parked his motorbike by the entrance. The others followed suit, and soon everyone was standing outside.

"Ready to go in?" I inquired. Lloyd nodded, and glanced at everyone before saying "Ok. Cole and Kai, you go together and search the ground floor. Nya and Zane, you go for the middle and me and Jay will go for the top. Once you find something, alert us all immediately. Ok?"

We all nodded, and I walked over to Nya. "Let's do this, Nindroid." She smiled warmly and gestured to the doors. I opened them, and everyone stepped inside.

The inside was surprisingly calm, and serene. Soft light filtered through the shoji screens, casting a gentle glow across the mats that lined the floors. The scent of cedar and cinnamon filled the air. In front of us, the main room, a low wooden table sat surrounded by plump cushions.

Leading off from the room were narrow corridors with wooden floors, polished smooth from years of footsteps. The walls were lined with more shoji screens, each one letting in a filtered light that danced across the hall, shifting as the day passed. As I walked down one of the hallways to analyse the patterns, my footsteps felt lighter, my mind at ease. It was calming, much unlike the other houses in Ninjago with their modern interiors.

"Ok, everyone. Split up." Lloyd instructed and grabbed a wandering Jay by the arm, dragging him to the stairs.

"See you all soon." I chirped and set off to the other set of stairs, with Nya in pursuit.

Just before I climbed, I heard the muffled voice of Cole, "Well it looks like we have an easy job. Nothings down here for sure, look how calm it is!"

Shaking my head, I climbed the stairs and reached the middle floor. It was much like the one downstairs, but it didn't have the main room and was full of more corridors and little rooms. This wasn't a house, this was more like a dojo. I wouldn't be surprised to find a training room in here somewhere.

"Surely we'd know by now if there was a crime taking place in here.." Nya said slowly, looking around with an eyebrow raised. "I was thinking the same thing." I responded. "But maybe it was a robbery. You'd be silent, right?"

Nya nodded, but she still looked uncertain. "Right, well there's no harm in looking. Let's stay together though, ok? We don't know what's in here. Might be super dangerous."

"Of course."

Something was nagging at my thoughts- a feeling that wouldn't seem to cease. A feeling of uneasiness. This dojo seemed so nice and serene, but it felt... wrong. Like something was hiding in here, something really, really bad.

I had a bad feeling about this place, and I don't know why, or how. But I do.