So, I started this really long one-shot for Matchters of Spinjitzu!

It was a fun idea to work with but it became too long and I couldn't find a spot I wanted to cut it down at because I loved so many of the elements. It is incomplete but I don't have the motivational energy at the moment to complete it. Hope you enjoy!

[Unedited]

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Day Twenty-Two: "Not again!" And Day Twenty-Three: "People trust me with their lives... they shouldn't"

This one is really long lol 😂
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"Lloyyydddd? Lloyd!" A young girl almost walked past the ninja on her walk through the hallway. She ducked her head through the doorway and caught sight of the young man working away at his desk.

"What are you doing? You said we'd train before the big mission!" She exclaimed, marching in.

Lloyd barely looked up from his laptop, his eyes glued to the screen as he aggressively tapped the space bar with his index finger. "I'll have lunch later." He mumbled distractedly.

The girl rolled her eyes but an amused smile graced her lips. She poked him promptly in the side and made him recoil with a glare. The annoyed expression left his face when he caught sight of her.

"Oh hey," he rubbed his eyes tiredly. "What time is it?"

"Seven!" Her fingers grasped her sleeve and she tugged at him. "Come on! We only have thirty minutes to train!" Since the girl was so much smaller than him she didn't do much. Lloyd struggled to hide his laughter as she struggled.

"Sorry, Mei." Lloyd apologized, finally moving. He sighed and cast a look at all his open tabs. "I've been... busy."

"Did you stay up all night again?" Mei grumbled, one hand slammed his laptop down while the other moved to hook her dark hair into a comb. Lloyd watched as she wound the locks around and secured the bun with its teeth.

"There's a lot of things I need to get done." Lloyd reminded her. "Life's not all fun and saving the world. I need to cover news and fake gossip, possible threats, villain sightings-"

Mei gave an exaggerated groan. "You mean work." She gave him a shrew-eyed stare. "I remember Nya saying if I caught you doing more unhealthy habits I needed to tell her."

Lloyd met her gaze with a sharp one of his own. "You wouldn't dare!"

"I dunno..." Mei sang teasingly. "She promised me some pretty nice stuff in return."

The green ninja shook his head but grinned as he caught her bluff. With a sigh, he reluctantly got up and moved to his closet. "I'll meet you in three." He said.

"Really?" Mei jumped up. He nodded. "YES! Uh- I mean. Thanks. I'll... I'll be waiting- thank you Mr- uh Master Lloyd." Lloyd raised an eyebrow as she awkwardly tried to smother her excitement and backed out of the room.

When Wu announced that the team was going to be taking on some of the young monks as students Lloyd had been dubious about the idea. They were just students themselves and they weren't exactly at the peak of their mental maturity. If they couldn't keep plants alive for five days how could they handle the responsibility of keeping a child alive?

But then Hua Mei waltzed into the courtyard, the young pupil had been practically vibrating in her seat when they entered, bright brown eyes wide with admiration. She was determined, spunky, and a quick learner. Lloyd had found himself growing fond of the girl and her crazy antics. It was hard to believe she's been her student for over three years now.

Lloyd secured his belt around his waist and adjusted the fabric of his hi before he found her waiting in the courtyard. Mei was practicing her combat on one of the training dummies, her bo staff moved quickly as she beat it in swift, calculated movements.

"Well done!" He praised her, causing Mei to jump in surprise.

She held a palm to her chest, taking deep breaths to slow her heartbeat. "Don't do that!" She said hotly. "One is these days my heart's gonna leap out of my chest!"

Lloyd snickered and stepped back to give her her space. Mei resumed her routine, the small girl was quick-footed and had good balance, this allowed her to do a lot of more agility-based moves the girlier students couldn't. Lloyd loved watching her, it was like she was dancing, her movements as fluid as Nya, and as calculated as Zane.

"Move the angle of your arm!" Lloyd called as he skirted around her, his eyes narrowed as he watched her form.

Mei tended to stray from the proper technique when she got lazy. Mei wordlessly did as told but after a while of repeating the same thing, she stopped. Bright almond-shaped eyes regarded him with a mischievous twinkle as she leaned on her staff.

"What?" Lloyd blinked. Was something wrong?

"I noticed you chatting with Master Carter yesterday at the brunch," Mei said casually, but her smile was sly.

Lloyd's brow furrowed. "Mei..." he said warningly.

She raised her hands in surrender. "I'm just saying! You two were getting pretty cozy."

"We were not!" Lloyd's voice cracked much to his embarrassment. His cheeks only flushed more when Mei shot him a smirk.

"Don't you have anything better to do than concern yourself with my love life?" Lloyd complained.

Mei's smile faltered just a bit and Lloyd felt a stab of guilt. He knew her parents' strict rules kept her from reaching out to people. When she did put down her walls she was often viewed as weird and her training with him often made people uncomfortable or jealous. She had a hard time making friends and though Lloyd had encouraged her to get to know the other students she still was lonely.

"I'm sorry," Lloyd said awkwardly as she turned to adjust the leather straps on her staff. "Is your brother still mad at you?"

"Yes." She huffed. "He's such a drama queen. It's not my fault he was using lies to try and woo a wet sock like Arya."

Lloyd raised his eyebrows but couldn't help his smile as she slid the bo into the harness over her shoulders.

"Hey, Greenie! Mung-Bean!" They both scowled at the nicknames causing Kai to stumble back a few paces.

"Woah, you guys are spending too much time together. It's like you're working in sync." He shuddered.

"What do you want, Kai?" Lloyd asked in half-amused exasperation.

"We're meeting up to depart for the mission." Kai shot a finger gun at Mei. "Good luck, little miss. Hope Lloyd hasn't brain-washed you with his stupidity yet."

Lloyd's has dropped and he went to protest but Kai has already turned to leave. Mei tilted her head as they watched him scamper off. "It's like he gets more annoying every time I see him."

Lloyd let out a bark of laughter as he guided her to the others. Nya nodded to them as they joined the circle before turning to the rest of the group.

"Okay, this is a simple mission. Nothing should go wrong but we need to be careful nonetheless. All junior students stay with their teachers and remember all the safety procedures- okay? Comm links on all the time and no fooling around." Nya told them all seriously. She then turned to Zane. "Tell us what we're doing, Zane."

He stepped forward and pressed a button, his eyes glowing before casting a hologram. A floating model of a large warehouse appeared. "A group of low-level illegal traders have been gathering here. Our mission is to round them up and capture, no serious maiming unless necessary. We also hope to gather information on who their clients are and what exactly they are training."

Lloyd took this as his cue. "Kai and Liang, Cole and Arya, you guys are our first team. Go through the left entrance and try and get as many as you can. Nya and Komi will stop them from the back. Mei, Zane, Wyatt, Jay, Carson and I are going through the roof to try and get the info. Pixal will be our backup. Don't be afraid to call her in."

"That's a lot of people," Wyatt commented nervously.

"Though these people aren't very professional there are a lot of them. Because this is your first mission we figured it was a good idea to bring in as many as possible to guarantee that we will outmatch them." Zane explained gently to the boy. "It will all be alright. We have a very high probability of this going almost perfectly according to plan."

Mei glanced at Lloyd, who shrugged and continued. "Make sure you have everything, weapons, proper supplies, and the right uniform. Stealth gi's are preferred."

They all double-checked everything before Lloyd announced that they would be leaving. Mei joined Lloyd in his car, she shifted her staff so it would fit in the small space and waited for her teacher to join her. Lloyd gave the signal and climbed into his vehicle. Mei smiled at the glimmering lights of Ninjago City, watching the skyscrapers fade away as they began to move into the more abandoned part of town.

She involuntarily shivered at the dark alleyways and grim-looking people strolling around with cigarettes and sneers. Lloyd carefully turned down a more secluded ally before parking. He pulled his mask over his head, green eyes narrowed as they scanned the area before opening the hatch.

"We'll take it on foot here," Lloyd said softly. "We don't want to draw unnecessary attention."

Mei nodded, carefully pulling her scarf over her nose and mouth. It was smaller compared to Lloyd's more professional ninja mask but it was a way to differentiate the ranks a little bit more. Mei followed Lloyd carefully up the tall building and stuck close to him as they vaulted and jumped from building to building. At last, they made it to the warehouse, it looked just like every abandoned as any suspicious illegal activity would.

Lloyd pressed a finger to his ear, surveying the surroundings as he spoke through the comm. "We've made it to the base. Everyone get into position. If you're spotted, clean it up as quickly and quietly as possible."

Noises of agreement followed and Lloyd motioned to Mei to stay close. Mei swallowed hard, she tried to calm her nerves as they crept along the side of the warehouse. The sound of voices made Lloyd's head snap around, suddenly Mei was being shoved behind a stack of large crates.

Lloyd was pretty much on top of the younger girl, encasing her with his protective body as they laid there frozen. Mei strained to hear the conversation, her heart pounding in her chest, and her breathing shallow.

"Keep a lookout. The police have started monitoring this area more." A female voice advised another.

"We'll be careful. Make sure that order gets there on time." The other replied. Mei felt Lloyd relax against her as they continued. After a few seconds, two strong arms pulled her up from her armpits and into her feet.

"Thanks." Mei breathed with a wild grin. Lloyd's eyes narrowed, the fabric of his mask lifted and signalled his smile as he pulled her towards the stack of boxes beside the warehouse.

"We'll climb up there," Lloyd murmured.

Mei bounced a little on her toes, getting ready as Lloyd bent down and cupped his hands as a lever. She stepped into his palms and allowed him to boost her to the first ledge. Mei turned and took his hand to pull him up beside her.

At last, they made it on the roof, carefully creeping around the skylights. Mei could make out the dark shapes of the others waiting for them.

"What took you so long?" Jay hissed anxiously, his blue gaze darted around warily.

"Had to hide for a few minutes. There are more people here than I realized." Lloyd responded smoothly.

Zane nodded in agreement. "It appears a new group has joined since my count yesterday."

"It won't be a problem though, right?" Wyatt questioned.

"It'll be fine," Lloyd assured him. "Can you get the panel open?"

Carson bent down and ran his fingers along the metal roof. When he felt the ridge, the boy slipped a device out of his pocket and pressure it to the panel. With a small whirr, he stepped back and watched as the blade cut through the lock and opened it up.

Mei took out her rope and secured it to her belt. She turned to help Wyatt tie his when loud yells and crashes erupted.

"Guess our covers been blown," Lloyd grumbled. He flicked on his comm. "Kai? What's going on. Talk to me!"

Mei listened as the fire ninja replied. "Eensy little problem. So, they were all sort of there when we entered and I may or may not have lost track of Liang."

Mei's heart plummeted at the mention of her brother. She cast an alarmed look at Lloyd who was more focused on his friend. "What do you mean you lost track of him?" Lloyd exclaimed.

Jay pressed his communicator to join in. "Not again! Seriously, Kai? It's been, what? Ten minutes?"

"Give me a break! He's a very small person!" There was a thud as Kai fought with his opponents. "I'm sure he's fine, he just disappeared in the fray. His comm broke before he went missing."

"How many are you seeing, Zane?" Lloyd turned to the nindroid.

The master of ice narrowed his eyes as he scanned through the trap door. "Nearing a hundred now and I'm unsure how many are outside."

"Okay, everyone stay close! Someone call in Pix." Lloyd ordered, he grabbed the end of Mei's rope and secured it around his own waist. "Okay, Mei, you first."

She nodded quickly, shoving aside her concern for her kin as she lowered herself off the roof. Lloyd planted his feet and slowly lowered her far enough that she could hop onto the ground. Her eyes widened at the chaos. People were running around and yelling as the flashes of the elements appeared over the crates and many locked metal vaults. The others landed beside her and she jumped when a man caught sight of them.

"More blasted ninja!" He growled, the members of the group around him turned as well.

Mei's fingers tightened on her bo staff as they launched into the fight. Her body acted fast, pivoting quickly and slamming the staff into the stomach of the first person. Someone grabbed her from behind, wrapping their arms around her so she couldn't move her arms. Mei hooked her legs through her attacker's and locked them in place, making them both fall over. She quickly rolled away, grasping her staff and slamming it into the special point on the person's head. Once they were knocked out Mai turned to the next person, there were no breaks, just opponent after opponent.

Mei felt herself start to tire so she looked for higher ground. Eyes fixing on the vault, she did a quick running start. She launched herself up, feet planing on the shoulders of one of their adversaries, before pushing off their body and landing on the vault. In one quick movement, she took the tip of her staff and swung, like she was paddling a canoe, the other end catching the faces of some of the men and women below.

Mei paused and swept her gaze across the room. Her stomach twisted in fear when she couldn't see the familiar flashes of green energy in the middle of the fight. Suddenly an arm was on her shoulder and Mei instinctively shoved the person back with her bo. There was a yelp as a green-clad figure went toppling off of the vault.

"Oh, crap." Mei scrambled after when she realized who it was.

Lloyd groaned, clutching his side only to be kicked in the ribs by one of the smugglers. Mei let out a battle cry, leaping onto their shoulders in an impressive scissor move that sent them flying to the ground.

"Ha! Take that little pieces of poop!" Mei cheered excitedly. She added in a little victory dance for good measure.

Unfortunately, another person came running at them.

"Seriously?" Lloyd grumbled, forcing himself to his feet.

There was a buzz as Zane spoke through the communicator. "It appears we are greatly outnumbered. I'm unsure if we can safely win this fight."

"Is Pixal in here with us?" Lloyd questioned, blasting attackers back with green power.

"Yes. But her mech is down. It seems they have some sort of advanced weaponry... it's like nothing I've seen before."

Mei didn't like the sound of that. "That's bad right?" She chimed in.

"Just avoid anyone with purple glowing artillery," Zane replied.

Of course, that was the moment when a flash of purple appeared in the corner of her eye. Mei screamed when the blast hit her. It was like every cell was on fire, the agonizing pulse seemed to strangle her heart, and pound the inside of her head with a mallet.

Lloyd stood over her, green eyes worried as he lit his palms with green power. "Mei's down guys! I'm going to pull her aside and try to fix her up! Zane- try and get the information but don't be afraid to retreat. Same to everyone else."

Mei blinked slowly, it was both horrible and numbing at the same time. Her muscles didn't want to move and the throbbing in her side didn't seem to want to lessen. Lloyd whispered to her, gently picking her up bridal style, and backing away from the fight. She groaned when he jostled her wound as he fought to get to a secluded area of the warehouse. At last, he placed her down behind a large computer, gently pulling her gi aside to inspect the damage.

Purple veins spread across her abdomen, right above her right hip. Lloyd swore under his breath and fumbled for something to help it.

"Wasswrong?" Mei mumbled blearily. "Is it bad?"

"It's not good," Lloyd muttered truthfully. Mei squinted at him as he tried to bandage the wound. She could see his hands shaking.

"Chill out, Master," Mei struggled to take deep breathes. "I trust you."

Lloyd closed his eyes briefly before glancing at her with an unreadable expression. "You shouldn't."

Mei's brow furrowed. "Why not?"

"I make a lot of mistakes and mess a lot of things up." Lloyd tightened his hold on the gauze. "The media may seem harsh but that's just reality... cold, hard, and truthful."

authors note****

I love this new character which is why I was so sad I didn't want to complete it. Even her name was so carefully picked because I wanted to have a Chinese OC.

Hua Mei means beautiful blossom, which I thought was so pretty. You may have noticed that she goes by Mei, which is placed behind Hua. In China, their last name is put in front of their first.

Anyways, I hope you liked the one-shot and the short paragraph on Mei's name. Of course, this could all be incorrect because I used google. 😂

Have a nice day!

LuckyBugBooks 🐞