Disclaimer: I don't own Ninjago, just the story.
Today's prompt is doing an AU. This is the first time that I'm doing an AU. My AU is based on my real life when soccer season is allowed to happen. I'm making the Ninjago characters in the story based on real people and just so you know...
Nya is me.
Nya was walking up to where the soccer fields are along with her brother, Kai. It was just a normal, Saturday in November for them. Kai was dressed in his soccer uniform, a red jersey with the number 4 on it, black shorts, long flame socks, and red soccer cleats. Nya was dressed in her referee uniform, a red referee jersey, black shorts, long black socks with white stripes, and blue soccer cleats. Most refs for this league wear sneakers, but Nya knows from experience that cleats give better traction to the grass, especially when it's muddy.
Nya had started to ref when she was 12 years old. She used to play, but found that she wasn't very good. Luckily, she discovered that she was an excellent referee. This was currently her 6th year as a referee. This weekend happened to be the tournament, so it was going to be very busy.
Kai and Nya walked up to the referee station that had just been set up. Only two referees were currently there. Although, there was one who happened to be there that Nya couldn't stand. Cole. Cole thought that he was the best referee in the league just because the Referee Coordinator decided to make him the "Head Ref" which he didn't deserve.
Being a female referee, Nya had to work twice as hard to climb up the rankings since it's a male dominated job. She quickly climbed up the ranking to become one of the top refs in the league.
"I gotta go, sis," Kai said and it snapped Nya out of her thoughts. "I have to meet my team to warm up for the first game."
"Good luck," Nya said as Kai started to run over to the field that his team was playing on. A few of his teammates already happened to be there. Although, a majority of his team is known for showing up right before the game starts.
Nya was left at the referee station with Cole and his friend Lloyd. Lloyd was also one of the top refs and was a lot more humble than Cole. Lloyd was actually a better ref than Cole too. The main problem with Cole was he let power go to his head. He was a lot better as a ref until the whole "Head Ref" thing.
Nya was also upset about how she had been assigned to do U12 games all season, but got put at U10 games for tournament. Cole got the U12 games since the older age groups were playing in a different district.
"Hey Nya," Lloyd said. "Are you ready for the tournament?"
"Yeah," Nya said. She really didn't mind talking to Lloyd. "It's going to be a lot of work."
"But we'll also make a lot of money."
"I swear that if one coach or parent yells at me, I'll-" Cole started, but got cut off by Nya.
"You'll what?" Nya asked annoyed. "Red card them right away?"
"Yes, I will."
Nya rolled her eyes. "You can't do that. Dissent is only a yellow card offense and coaches can object to a call, but then they have to let it go."
"There have been way too many coaches yelling at me this season."
"If that many coaches are yelling at you, then maybe you should call more fouls."
"She's got a point," Lloyd said.
"It doesn't matter because I'm in charge," Cole said.
"Techically, Garmadon is in charge because he is the Referee Coordinator," Nya said. Wu used to be the Referee Coordinator until he had a fallout with the district, so Garmadon took over and once he took over, Nya started feeling like she was getting the short end of the stick. She didn't kiss up to him like Cole did.
"But he chose me to be the Head Ref."
"You didn't deserve it," Nya mumbled.
"Excuse me," Cole said. He barely heard what Nya had said. "Did you say that I didn't deserve it?"
"You know what, I did. I'm more deserving since I'm USSF certified and we started the same year." Nya got USSF certified about 8 months ago. She could now do more than just this league.
"I don't have time. I'm in college."
Nya absolutely hated that response that Cole always gave her. What does him being in college have to do with anything? He uses that excuse for everything. Last year, her brother's teammates confused Cole and Nya as being a couple and Cole gave the exact same excuse. "You know, I'm a senior in high school, right? I'm going to be in college next year. Also, if that's your excuse, how do you have time to ref if you don't have time for anything?"
"Because I'm the best ref in the league."
"Are you really? Who won ref of the year on their second year as a ref?"
"Wu was mistaken."
"No, he wasn't. You just have a huge ego and don't want to admit that a girl can be a better ref than you!"
"That's not true! Right Lloyd?"
"I actually have to agree with Nya here," Lloyd said. "You do have a huge ego. Plus, she's better at training refs."
"I have to agree with that." The three of them turned around to see Jay walking up to them. "She's the best at training referees."
"Awww. Thank you," Nya said. Nya had actually trained Jay herself. They were almost always put at a field that was separated from everyone else. Sometimes, they were with another ref there and in that case, Nya was the center and Jay and the other ref were her ARs. Other times, Nya and Jay were the only ones assigned there and even then, Nya was still in charge.
"It's true. I don't think I would have become one of the top refs if it wasn't for you."
"It was nothing."
Eventually, the other refs and Garmadon showed up. Garmadon gave everyone their schedules. Nya was still upset with how Cole was given U12 games instead of her, but at least was assigned with good refs.
"Everyone get out onto the fields," Garmadon said.
"Come on Jay," Nya said. "We're assigned together along with Zane."
"I am here," Zane said as he walked up to them.
"Great." Nya handed them the AR flags. "Let's get going." Nya ran out onto the U10 field with Jay and Zane. She may not have gotten the games she wanted, but she could still show Cole how it's done.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed! Sorry to you Cole lovers. I just had to make someone that character. This helped me to release my frustration towards the guy who I based Cole's character off of. Also, here are what some of the terms I used mean:
USSF=United States Soccer Federation
AR=Assistant Referee
U12=Under 12
U10=Under 10
U12 and U10 are age groups.
