The Titanium Ninja

The Restaurant

I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a month or so, college has been crazy and I've been working on other projects. Come Little Children and Rise of the Overlord will be updated soon. Thank you so much for your patience!

"Master, the plan is in motion. The ninja are going to be at the restaurant on Bradley Boulevard Friday night."

"Is the altar set up?"

"Yes, the invitations are in the fortune cookies."

"Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Yes, Master. I have made them a deal that they can't refuse."

"Excellent, and now we just wait."

***

Kai stared at the neon sign and the massive animatronic of Mister Chen, the owner of the chain-restaurant. The bright red sign glowed in the dusk's fading light, food was lined up on a display shelf inside the main window, and the animatronic continued to smile and wink as it held a bowl of neon noodles. Kai sighed and stepped inside, even more obnoxious neon colors blared against his senses. Mint green and yellow waves flowed across the sky blue walls, cherry red booths sat next to a conveyer belt filled with different types of food.

"Kai! Over here!"

Lloyd was waving at him from the third booth, a bright smile on his face. The Master of Fire strolled over, surprised to see not only Lloyd waiting for him but-

"Jay? Cole?" Kai asked. They were wearing hoodies with their respective colors, Cole was wearing black jeans while Jay wore his faded blue jeans, neither of them looked happy to see him.

Cole scoffed, "Ha! You too?"

Jay looked between Kai and Cole, he growled, "The runt tricked us all!"

Kai sat down in the empty seat next to Cole, Lloyd and Jay sat in the opposite seat. Kai looked over at the conveyer belt, his stomach growled at the sight of the sushi rolling past. He reached over to grab a plate but Lloyd grabbed onto his wrist.

"We talk first, then eat," he said, letting go.

Kai sat back down as Cole sighed, "Do you know how hard it was to resist all of this delicious looking food? What took you so long to get here, anyway?"

"Well, uh, I live on the opposite side of the city so it takes a while to walk here," Kai said. 

"Wait, you live here?" Jay asked. "I live in the South side."

"Ugh, who cares about that," Cole grumbled. "Why did you bring us here, Lloyd? I doubt it was for the noodles."

Lloyd suddenly looked nervous, staring down at his hands in his lap, "Uh, well...I know going on without Zane has been hard, and I know how much you all miss him, I miss him too, but I think we need to move on. I think we need to start thinking about the team, and maybe...find a new ninja?"

Kai, Cole and Jay jolted in their seats, fury burning in their eyes.

"A new ninja?!" Kai spat, the thought tasted like bile on his tongue.

"Are you crazy?!" Jay screeched, slamming his hands on the table.

"Zane is irreplaceable!" Cole snarled, bristling at the idea of replacing their beloved departed brother.

Lloyd shrunk back, he knew they wouldn't be happy at the idea but he never realized how upset they would be at the mere thought of someone new on the team. "Look, I miss him too but he's been gone for three months. He would want us to continue to protect Ninjago in his name and legacy. Shouldn't we try and honor his wishes?"

"Well ever since he died, there hasn't been a team! And guess what? Ninjago hasn't been in danger! So maybe without Zane, there is no team!" Kai grumbled, crossing his arms.

The table fell silent, no one could look at each other without feeling guilty, even Cole had lost his appetite.

Kai sighed and slipped out of the booth, "Look, I'm sorry I snapped at you, Lloyd, but I won't come back if there is going to be a new ninja."

As he turned to leave, Lloyd cried out, "Wait, don't go! Please! Don't leave, Kai!"

He froze, remembering how Nya had said the same thing just before he left her at the monastery. Don't leave, Kai. We can make the team better, the team needs us.

"Kai?" Jay asked, holding onto his wrist. Kai blinked a few times, remaining silent as he sat back down in the booth.

Across the room, a man was on constant surveillance of the ninja from the moment they walked into the restaurant. When he saw that Kai was about to leave, he sped-walked outside to where two other men were waiting, both smoking cigarettes by the doorway.

"I take that it's time?"

He nodded and kicked open the door, catching the attention of the entire room. He sneered and walked up to the cashier, demanding all of the money in the register, the cashier timidly handed him the cash.

One of the goons glanced over at the ninja who were cautiously watching them, he leaned over to the leader and whispered, "They're not moving."

The leader suddenly grabbed the cashier and threw him onto the conveyer belt filled with food, creating a blockage. Cole, across the room, noticed the food had stopped moving past him.

He growled, "Okay, now they're our problem." He and the other three ninja stood up and marched to the front of the restaurant where the goons where still bullying the cashier. "Excuse me," Cole said, a scowl on his face. "It's not polite to touch someone else's food!"

"I'd listen to him if I were you," Kai said. "He isn't much fun to be around when he's hangry."

The leader knew he had to lead the group outside, so he threw a punch at Cole's face, but the Ninja of Earth dodged with a smirk. Cole retaliated and hit the leader in his chest, sending him backwards a few feet, the other goons started teaming up against Kai, chasing him onto the conveyer belt, which was still blocked by the piled up food. The Ninja of Fire blocked the punches thrown at him, just before Cole sent the leader crashing into the blockade of food. The conveyer was thrown in overdrive, Kai started kicking several bowls of noodles at the goons, knocking out one of them with a bowl to the head. Cole grabbed the leader and slammed his head against the belt, he was caught and dragged across the room, knocking into the other goon fighting Kai.

Lloyd watched the two fight with a bright smile, as Kai and Cole rejoined them he asked, "How can you walk away from this?"

But before Kai or Cole could respond, the leader of the goons threw some ruined noodles at the group, hitting Kai in the side of his head.

"Hey!" he snapped, chasing them outside. Cole, Jay and Lloyd followed him out, he huffed in anger when he couldn't find them. "Great! They got away!"

"Wait...What's that?" Lloyd asked, pointing to a shrine. A small table, lit by white candles, with a bowl with four fortune cookies and a note that said Kai, Jay, Cole, Lloyd, called to the four ninja. A piece of paper was stabbed into the wall above the table, the dagger holding it there gleamed in the candlelight.

Kai gasped as they gathered around the table, "It's Zane!'

Lloyd reached up to the paper and removed it, his eyes widening as he read the note.

"What does it say?" Jay asked.

"It says...he's alive."