Taking Control. (a Ninjago fanfic)

Chapter 76- Whose story is this?

N Y A

The couch creaked under Lloyd's weight as he flopped next to me, stealing the remote out of my grip like it was some kind of prize.

"Alright," he said, voice still thick with sleep, "who's ready to rot their brains?"

Rue stretched beside me, legs splayed out and balancing a bowl of cereal on her stomach. "I'm so ready."

Kai was laying across the floor, his head half on a pillow, half on the rug, looking like he might pass out again at any second. "If Zane puts on that silent nature documentary again I swear I'm gonna melt the TV."

"I have selected a compromise," Zane announced from the armchair. "Animated, fast-paced, mildly ridiculous. I believe this one involves rats... in outer space."

I blinked. "Are we talking literal rats?"

"Yes."

"Sold," Rue said, raising her spoon in salute.

The screen lit up with bright colors and chaotic theme music. For a moment, we let it happen. We let ourselves breathe. We let the air in the room stretch with something that almost felt normal. Rat-shaped ships crashed into each other. Kai snorted at the villain's dramatic monologue. Lloyd kept doing terrible impressions. And I just let myself watch.

Cole wandered in and raised an eyebrow, before chuckling and 'accidentally' stepping on Kai's stomach on his way to the couch, eliciting a groan from the fire ninja.

It was all calm. Peaceful. So... meaningless and unpurposeful. Which is exactly what we had all been missing. Exactly what we'd all wanted.

That was until Pixal walked in.

The air shifted immediately.

She was stiff, spine straight as a ruler, expression stone cold, jaw clenched. "I need you to switch to Channel 8," she said.

Rue looked over, not sensing the urgency in her voice. "Pix, we're watching space rats—"

"Now." she said, clipped and sharp.

Zane's hand moved without hesitation. One tap.

The channel flicked.

The sound changed.

Grainy news footage, static overlaid with the crisp voice of a reporter trying to sound calm.

"...still recovering from the catastrophic events in downtown Ninjago City 2 weeks ago, found surveillance footage shows the lightning-powered attacker—believed to be Jay Walker, former member of the ninja team—causing widespread destruction..."

I sat up straighter.

Former.

He wasn't a 'former' member. He was a member of our team.

Why did they—

The screen showed footage from above. A street, scorched and broken, vehicles overturned and wrecked, smoke coiling from shattered windows. People running. Screaming. Bolts of lightning slicing through the air.

Jay's lightning.

Jay's body.

And those goddamn eyes I hoped I'd never see again.

My stomach dropped.

"...confirmed reports state that over forty buildings were affected, with at least 32 fatalities and over 150 injured. Citizens are demanding answers as to how such a trusted figure could become a threat so quickly —"