Legacy (Ninjago OC fic)

4. Doubt

As much as Flint hated to admit it, Al quickly became a regular, even familiar part of their schedule, both at school and after. Especially after. Turned out Al knew plenty about self-defense and fighting strategies, though he always declined the offer to actually join in the practice. When questioned why, he simply shrugged and said, "Fighting's not my thing. I hang out in the back and direct, or sneak around and sabotage, y'know? Granted, I haven't had much field experience, but if I have anything to say about it, I'll keep it the way it is."

He even hung out with them over the weekend, showing up at their respective houses after politely asking where they would be meeting every day (without actually asking for addresses but arriving at the correct places anyway). Al was bright, a jokester, and even helpful when it came to assisting the other teens with their regular homework. Seeing as he was apparently some kind of government agent, he got away with no homework himself (which everyone openly expressed disgust and jealousy at, at which he just laughed) and therefore had more free time to spend with the group. Once or twice he suggested beginning to devise a plan to rescue Brooke but even without saying a word, Flint, Raquel, and Azure all agreed - they would wait for Frieza to come back. Regardless of whether she came back successful or not, they would wait for her.

When their blonde friend didn't reappear the following Monday, Flint and Raquel grew a little uneasy but Azure was quick to assure them that Frieza said 'about' a week, not 'exactly' a week. Whatever she was doing, which Azure admitted even she didn't know the exact details of, it was not a precise art. So they waited.

Then, late Tuesday night, she came back.

"Anything else you wanna go over?" Al offered, scrolling through the group's collection of online bookmarks regarding self-defense and martial art techniques.

"Flint, come at me again. I wanna try blocking," Raquel said, readying her mock katana. Azure reclined on her bed, content to take a break and watch for the time being.

"All right, but don't complain if I bruise you again," Flint teased, squaring off across the bedroom floor from the redhead. As he tensed his arms and readied himself to swing his padded plastic hammer again, a loud knock echoed through the house. He stopped himself short as everyone's gazes directed towards the bedroom door.

"Al?" Raquel asked, shooting the teen an expectant look.

Turning around in the desk chair slowly with a growing frown, Al stared at the door and said slowly, "There's no one there."

"What?" Azure said incredulously, raising an astonished eyebrow.

"Maybe my powers aren't reaching far enough, but... there's no one there," Al reiterated, leaning forward slightly.

"A doorbell ditch?" Raquel suggested, letting her sword go slack. Before the idea had long to sit around, the knocks rang out again. Knock, knock, knock . Even the redhead had no words.

Blinking a few times and shrugging like this wasn't a big deal, Flint set his hammer down and said, "Well, better see if we're being haunted or something," and headed out the bedroom doorway. After a moment's hesitation, so did the other three. He lead the way downstairs to the dimly lit kitchen and foyer where the supposed ghost knocked once more just as they arrived at the front door. Hesitating a moment, but only a moment, Flint reached out and opened the door to reveal-

"Frieza!" Azure and Raquel cried at the same time. Sure enough, there was their tall blonde friend, with a backpack slung over one shoulder and looking rather tired in the bright, harsh light of the porch. "You're back!"

A small smile graced her pale lips, lifting the exhaustion briefly. "Yes, I'm back. Safely and in one piece, thankfully. May I come in?"

"Oh, of course! Sorry," Flint apologized, stepping out of the way and forcing the others to step back as well so she could walk through the doorway.