Ninjago: Next Generation

Opposites

Edward despised training with Ebony. He despised it even more than having her come over for dinner. He felt like quitting becoming a ninja after a week of training with her.

Today was the last day of training for the week, and Edward was praying it would be over quickly.

"Eddy, get over here!" Ebony called out to him once he went outside. Edward huffed and walked over to her. She looked him up and down and smirked. "Ready to get your ass kicked again?"

Edward rolled his eyes. "You know, it just doesn't make any sense. Water always beats fire..." He grumbled.

Ebony smirked. "Well maybe my fire is just too strong for your little raindrops, tubby." She got into a fighting stance. "Ready?"

Edward sighed. He wished they could meditate like Nicolette and Micro. They seemed to be getting along well that way. Less physical pain too. However, Uncle Kai had a different mindset than the calmer Zane and Cole. His mother surprisingly had a strong fighting spirit, just like her brother, so she had agreed to physical training as well. He sighed and wished that he and Amy were like that. 

Ebony had caught on fast. She could copy her father's moves instantly, without error. Edward, on the other hand, had major difficulty following his mother. Thankfully, she was more patient with him than his uncle would have been.

Edward stumbled before getting ready. "O-okay... I'm ready."

Ebony smirked and charged towards him. Edward bit his lip in fear, getting ready to dodge her attack. He held up his hands instinctively, when suddenly-

SPLASH!

A soaking Ebony stumbled backwards. "Gah! What the fuck?" She gasped, looking at Edward in fear.

Edward lowered his hands. "Holy shit... Did I do that?" He glanced around and saw that everyone was staring at the pair in awe. Nya beamed and clapped loudly for him.

Kai calmed a startled Ebony down. "Don't allow him to quell your fire. Work together to gain an advantage."

"I can't do that!" Ebony cried out. "I don't know how! And how am I supposed to work together with him, if we're fighting?" When her father didn't respond, Ebony rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She charged at him again, ready to deliver a mid-air kick.

Edward easily repelled her kicks by shooting small amounts of water at her. They weren't strong enough to defeat a powerful opponent, but Ebony was still learning, after all. He chuckled nervously as sprays of water hit his face.

Ebony growled in frustration after getting knocked down again. Tears began to form in her eyes as she helplessly dodged Edward's strikes. After two more dodges, however, she began to notice something about Edward's aim; he could only shoot water in one area at a time, and it was always in a compact pump of water. Quickly, Ebony squatted low and dashed underneath the pump in a zig-zag form. Readying her hands, she began to feel a cool sensation on her palms, quickly traveling to her fingertips.

In less than half a second, Ebony fired blazes from each of her hands. Edward gasped loudly and shot water at the puffs of fire, quelling them just before they reached his face. He tried to fire one more, but he immediately grew weak.

At the same time, Ebony's hands grew extremely hot. She screamed as a large and unstable fireball formed at her hands. "I can't control it!" She cried, trying to make it die down, but failing miserably. Ebony panicked; sure Edward annoyed her, but she could never kill him, especially not like this!

Edward shut his eyes, bracing for impact right when Ebony's fireball escaped her hands.

They waited. And then, nothing.

Edward snapped back into reality, and watched his mother contain the fireball in a large cage of water. Steam hissed all around the colossal blaze.

Ebony watched as her father held the ball in place as her aunt extinguished it. She swallowed and clenched her fists, looking down. How could I?

Once the fireball was nothing more than steam, Nya and Kai sighed in relief. "That's enough training for today, guys." Kai announced, his voice faltering. "Nya and I are sorry. We didn't realize how..." He stopped talking and shook his head, making Nya continue.

"We just didn't realize how... powerful you two are." She replied shakily. "B-but I assure you, with proper training, we can get your powers under control. Promise."

Their parents allowed them to rest before dinner. Edward glanced at Ebony as soon as Kai and Nya left. "What happened?"

Ebony clutched her stomach. "I don't know, Edward. But that wasn't me..." She teared up a bit. "I don't know how I did that."

Edward nodded, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I didn't know how I did that either. I think Nicolette and Mike had the same problem during their meditation. Except ours was in real life, you know?"

"Exactly. And Amy's been having weird dreams like that too. She sleep-talks about being too powerful, and something about being scared that she's not in control." She sighed. "It's not like the other instances, but-"

"No, no, I get it." Edward glanced at Amy, who was slipping into the monastery doors. "Why didn't she tell anyone about her dreams?"

"She's been very secretive lately. The three of us haven't been getting along too well, and that's probably why." Ebony looked down, starting to cry. "It's all my fault. All of it. And now she's probably panicking every night and having nightmares."

Edward patted her shoulder. "Let's talk about it. We can figure this out."

Ebony nodded and walked inside with him, but feared his reaction when she'd tell him she liked Nicolette.