Warning: swears, my (at times cursed) humor, my headcanons, my (bad) grammar, 4th wall? never heard of her—

TW:

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The ninja lied in their bunk beds, sleeping peacefully when suddenly Wu burst in banging a gong. All five boys groaned and went to cover their ears, [Name] also snuggled closer to Kai in an attempt to block the noise; the two ended up sharing a bed as the Red Ninja's big brother instincts kicked in. "Evil doesn't sleep and neither should you! In order to reach your full potential, we must greet each day as an opportunity"

"An opportunity to make my ears bleed first thing in the morning?" [Name] mumbled to himself, pulling away as Kai started to get up.

"Okay, okay, we're up" The Red Ninja turned to their Sensei with annoyance. "But if you want us to reach full potential, shouldn't we at least get a full night of rest?"

Cole raised a brow at him, with Jay yawning in the background. "You call that a rest? I think my back has more lumps than the mattress" The Earth Ninja complained, reaching a hand to massage his back in emphasise.

"We were up so late, talking about how cool it is to have a new headquarters, I guess we lost track of time" Jay confessed, walking past all of them to their ensuite bathroom and picking his toothbrush (which they somehow still have) to brush his teeth. "Since the Serpentine burned down our monastery, I'm just glad we have a roof over our heads" He placed the toothbrush under the tap, too invested in the conversation to notice nothing but sand come out of it.

[Name] cringed. "Jay, wait!—" But he was a bit too late, as the other boy already placed the toothbrush in his mouth, eyes widening in realization before he spit it out, choking in the process with a disgusted look. Kai and Cole shared a snicker.

"What is our lesson today, Sensei? Mastering the Strike of the Scorpion? Or perhaps the grace of—" Zane's questioning got cut short as the floorboards cracked underneath his feet and he fell down, dust flying up, making him cough.

"I think today's lesson would be... chores"

Without skipping a beat, all boys exclaimed at the same time in disbelief, "Chores!?"

"Ninja fight, Sensei! They do not clean" Cole argued.

"In order to respect ourselves, we must respect our new home and where we are from" The youngest boy made an unamused face. "And this place is a long way from becoming a ninja headquarters. I expect things to be spotless when I return. And put your backs into it" Wu banged the gong one last time before exiting the room while the team whined.

"Ugh... This place is gonna take forever to clean and fix up!" Kai threw his hands up.

Jay's eyes suddenly sparkled with mischief, "Unless we put more than our backs into it, huh?" [Name] quickly caught on, marching the wide grin. Jay pointed at him, "You get it!" The Lavender Ninja nodded. The others, especially Zane, shared a confused look but eventually also started grinning.

The blond's eyes jumped from one teen to the other, lips pursed in a thin line as he tried to understand. Cole sighed softly, helping him up and put a hand on his shoulder, "These ninjas are gonna fight some dust" Zane stared at him as the gears turned in his head (quite literally—), he opened his mouth in a small 'o' in realization.

"And spiderwebs" The youngest boy quickly added, looking deeply disturbed. "Please, please, get rid of those" Jay pat his head with a reassuring smile.

All five boys got to work, using spinjitzu and their magical weapons to clean everything spotless. Cole got rid of all the junk laying around the Bounty, setting everything outside with a 'For sale' sign. Somewhere along the way they uncovered a computer system (why was it on the ship? Nobody had the answers...) and got to fixing it as well, organising a gaming area for themselves, because why the hell not?

With everything finished the five gathered in their new gaming room to high five. "I say we earned a break" Kai said, grinning widely and pointed at the gaming console with his thumb. "Whatcha say, guys?"

[Name] and Jay quickly nodded their heads. "Totally deserved!" The youngest ninja noted proudly.

Cole let out a laugh. "You're on!"

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Nya and Wu entered the room, impressed beyond belief as every single room was cleaned spotless. "Woah..." The girl whispered, catching everyone but [Name]'s attention.

Kai smiled goofily, "What took you so long?"

"This place looks amazing! You guys did all this?" She asked, ignoring the comment.

"Ninja don't just fight, Nya. We clean" Cole simply said, shrugging. The girl raised a brow at him while Wu stroked his beard.

"Oh, you have exceeded my expectations" There was a car honking something not too far from them. Jay immediately tensed up while the others exchanged confused looks. Sensei briefly glanced to the side before adding, "...But can you keep it up?" Cue more honking.

Nya approaches the window. "Looks like we're about have some visitors, and loud ones at that"

Jay groaned, now everyone turned to him as he started explaining with an embarrassed expression, "Ugh... It's my parents" [Name] furrowed his brows in confusion, now trying to focus on the two auras approaching them with the car's speed. Family auras usually have a bit in common, they're different, sure, but you can tell someone's family. So why did they feel like total strangers? "Please, if they start yapping, just don't let them going, okay? They don't know when to quit. And if you start talking, then they'll start talking. And suddenly, half the day is gone before you know it ends—"

"We get it!" Kai cut in. "They talk a lot!" He then turned to the other boys and whispered, "The cherry doesn't fall far from its blossom" Cole barked out a laugh while [Name] let out a small chuckle, Zane only grinned. Jay glared daggers at them all.

Ok, so either Jay's adopted or he's Rapunzel.

Everyone paused as the sound of a small car crash came from the outside. "...We should probably check that" Zane said, already getting up. Everyone quickly followed.

Outside, Ed and Edna had a small collision with Cole's garbage mound. "Oh, heh. Take a note, Edna: either better brakes or a better bumper" The man said to his wife and she started scribbling it down in her notepad. He turned to look at the mound, expression changing to one of excitement. "Oh, will you look at all this great stuff? They can't just get rid of it. We should have brought the trailer, Edna"

The woman gave him a look, "This ain't a flea market, Ed. We're here for Jay!"

"What was that? Did you take a note?" He called out loudly, pretending not to hear.

Edna sighed and moved her pen across the paper begrudgingly, "I'm writing it down, Ed..."

[Name] could help but smile at the bickering, not a dose of malice marking their auras. Although the woman was actually annoyed. But that soon went away as Jay called out, "Mom! Dad!" The two's auras changed to ones full of care, happiness and love as soon as their son's voice reached their ears, even before they actually looked at him! Man, why can't [Name]'s parents be like this... "What are you doing here?" The Blue Ninja asked with a tense smile, embarrassment radiating off of him. The youngest boy elbowed him. Before Jay could complain, his mother jumped out of the car and locked him in a hug.

"Oh, look! It's my baby boy! It's been so long since we heard from you!"

"Ma, I called you two days ago" The teen reminded, awkwardly returning the hug as his father approached them. Edna finally pulled back, keeping one hand on his forearm and lovingly stroking his cheek with the other. Jay's embarrassment only rose.

Wait, hold on. If Jay last talked with them two days ago then how did they know they moved? The monastery only burned down yesterday!

Ed let out a chuckle. "Oh well... It's not soon enough, son. When are you coming out to the junkyard? You say you are coming an-an... and you don't" [Name] felt everyone's aura shift. Cole looked away feeling a pin of shame, Kai and Nya frowned at the emptiness (Kai more than his sister), Zane got sympathetic and Wu got a bit sad with a hint of guilt, being visibly ready to ridicule the Lightning Ninja, all while the two parents seem a tad hurt. The Lavender Ninja himself felt jealous, and also a bit annoyed with his brother.

"Dad..." Jay tensed up even more, his cheeks becoming pink. He lowered his voice for the next part, but not enough to actually be quiet and discreet, "Do we have to talk about the junkyard in front of my friends?"

"He hates it when we tell people he was born in a junkyard" Edna elaborated, making Jay seethe with embarrassment. The woman moved her eyes to Nya, gasping with delight as she moved over to her, "And who are you? You are so cute! And you are just my son's type"

"Mom!!" Jay yelped, voice high in panic. [Name] and Cole laughed quietly while Nya became flustered and Kai got a bit annoyed.

The girl quickly collected herself and smiled brightly, with pink dusting her cheeks, "It's a pleasure of meeting you. I'm sure if you want, Jay can give you a tour. He worked very hard on it"

The two overly happy parents turned to their red-faced son. "We'd love a tour!"

Jet let out an exhausted sigh, this was going to be a long tour... For him at least.

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"And this is the bridge. This extends into a periscope. This tells what's going on of Ninjago. And this..." Jay pointed out various things to his parents, talking fast to prevent them from recalling any more embarrassing moment from his childhood, which his mom was way too happy to share. The guys already got enough teasing material... "Well, if a Serpentine's not giving us the answer we want, and we're late up night—"

"A neuro apparatus to read their minds?" His mother asked eagerly. Her husband's following right behind.

"An audio appliance to make them talk?"

The teen stared at them for a second. "No, a cappuccino machine"

"Haha. Amazing, son! We're so proud of you" Ed said, so genuinely it made [Name] suppress a reaction, either screaming or straight up breaking down and sobbing. Jay couldn't stop the small smile that blossomed on his face at the words.

"Why don't you tell them about the button?" Cole urged, stepping close to his friend and sending him a smile of his own. No malice, not even teasing.

"Heheh... it's not ready yet" He pushed him away, slightly annoyed.

"Oh, what's the button?" Edna asked, intrigued.

"He's working on a special defense system" Zane explained, drawing an amazed 'ooooh' from the pair.

"Something every ninja headquarters needs" Kai chimed in and [Name] nodded, silently agreeing.

"Oh, really? What does it do? Can I help?" Ed questioned his son, so eager to help it made the small ninja's heart swell. (He decided to ignore Cole and Sensei growing emo.)

"No, it's okay. I don't need your help, dad. Let's just leave it alone" Jay quickly reassured waved his hands. His eyes darted across the room in desperate search of a new topic, they landed on the landscape behind one of the windows. "Hey, um, look at the time. Don't you need to get back before it gets dark? I told you, there's dangerous Serpentine out there"

Ed glanced towards the window, noticing it was slowly getting dark, "Uh, I suppose we could get back..."

"Nooooo!" [Name] lamented in despair. The old couple sent him warm smiles while the others either looked at him with confusion (Jay and Zane) or small, amused grins (mainly Kai).

Cole laughed and pat the young boy's shoulder then turned to the woman, "Edna, it was a pleasure hearing about Jay's first potty time" Jay glared at him.

Edna let out a short chuckle. "Oh, if you thought that was good, wait until you hear the story about the time I caught him kissing his pillow!" Cue Cole, Kai and [Name]'s snickering.

"Snakes, Ma. Snakes!!" Jay threw his hands up, waving them around in a desperate manner to get the old couple to go as his face burned.

"Okay. We're going, we're going" Edna assured as her husband sneaked a hand around her waist and started gently leading her out. Jay followed them outside, the whole team right after him. As Ed went to start the car, the woman turned to her son one more time, "So you promise to come to the junkyard to visit your mother and father?"

"Yes, I promise!!" He squawked, still embarrassed. Realizing he was unnecessary raising his voice he sighed and continued more gently, "But only if you leave. I don't want you to get hurt. It's getting dark. Uh, your headlights are working, right?"

At that Ed turned on the headlights, blinding everyone. He cackled, "Heh, like 'em? I used a little extra juice"

"Yup. Can see that..." The youngest boy mumbled, shielding his eyes with both hands.

Thankfully, the man decided to end their suffering and turn it off. "Yep. Bye, son. I couldn't be more proud!" He threw as they started driving away.

"And bring Nya with you, will ya? I can see why you like her!" Edna added, summoning a new wave of laughter while her son seethed.

"MOM!!"

Wu walked over to him and placed a hand on his tense shoulder. "Now that they have left, perhaps Jay can teach us The Art of Kissing Pillows" He grinned at the teen, barely holding back a snicker.

Jay glared at him, quickly swatting the hand off and angrily stomping back inside.

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On the road, Ed's expression fell, "I don't think he's coming, dear"

His wife instantly turned to him with a determinated look. "Stop it, Ed. He's coming"

"No, he doesn't need us anymore. I just have to remember that" He sighed. "Uh, write it down for me, would ya?"

"Lights, dear. It's getting dark"

"Right, heh. Thanks, sugarplum" They smiled at each other and fell silent.

"...Do you think we should've invited [Name] as well?" Edna asked suddenly.

Ed glanced at her, eyes quickly jumping back to the road as he took a moment to think. "I'm sure he'll ask Jay if he wants to visit"

"Have you seen him, honey? He looked like he was about to cry when you said we're proud of Jay" She frowned, worried. "And he didn't want us to leave—"

Ed reached over to take one of her hands in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'm sure he's okay, sweetheart"

"Oh, but he's just a child"

"Jay's only a couple years older than him—"

"You can't tell me that's normal!"

He turned to face her (hey, the road was empty) and sent her a teasing smile. "You want to adopt another kid?"

Edna immediately matched her husband's energy. "Would you stop me?"

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Lloyd swallowed hard before entering the Cemetery of Souls, gripping hard onto the map and flashlight with shaking hands as he slowly pushed forward. "I-it's not scary... Um, maybe just a little, b-b-but I like scary! Yeah, t-that's it! I'm the son of the Dark Lord. I love the dark. I eat this stuff for breakfast" There was a lightning and a loud thunder. He shrieked, definitely scared shitless. Still tense, he stood there frozen for a few seconds, his heart pounding against his chest. He let out a long, exhausted sigh and hesitantly proceed onwards, talking to himself to ease the fear, "I'm gonna make those Hypnobrai pay for betraying me. I have to find the Fangpyres. If there's anything a snake doesn't like, it's another snake"

Lloyd glanced down at the map, narrowing his eyes at it before looking around. His eyes lit up a little at the familiar shape, "Here, by the mutated tree. I found it! Soon, the Serpentine will know who their master is, and it will be I, Lloyd Garmadon!" He let out an 'evil' laugh, that made the author have suicidal thoughts and so they decided to smite the kid. I mean— Ahem, another lightning hit the ground, making him jump with a terrified yelp.

(I regret nothing.)

After taking a moment to calm down, again, he opened the tomb, snakes immediately jumping out. He stumbled back, fearful. "And who—" "—may I say released us—" "—from our captivity?" The general (taking in as he (they?) wield the staff) asked, narrowing two sets of eyes at the little blond before... him? Them?

What are your pronouns, snake!?

Lloyd's eyes switched between the two heads in stunned silence, the question barely registering in his brain. He shook his head. "Uh, Lloyd. I released you to make the Hypnobrai pay for betraying me"

"The Hypnobrai?" One head turned to the other, which hissed angrily, "Those hypnotizing deceivers!" They shared a nod and turned to the poor, confused child again, "It'll be—" "—our pleasure"

"Oh, good... I'll lead the way. Then after that, there's some ninja I want dealt with"

"Sounds like—" "—you know—" "—what you want" "But the Hypnobrai are strong" "And we are few in numbers" "We need— "—reinforcements!"

Lloyd titled his head. "What do you have in mind?"

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The Walkers arrived at their junkyard late at night. "Home, sweet home. And back to the grind" Ed immediately reached for his toolbox, heading towards a big junk statue (as in a statue made out of junk).

"Oh, sweetie. You've been working on that thing day and night"

"Well, you never know when Jay may show up"

"Oh, you're right. You never know" Edna hummed to herself as she entered their caravan.

The man got to working on his project, but soon heard a noise behind himself. He turned around, glancing in every direction and calling out once he didn't saw anything too out of place, "Uh, Edna? Was that you?"

The woman peaked from inside their home. "What, Ed? Are you hearing things again?"

Was he? His gut told him something was off. "Uh, you, uh– You turned on the security alarm before you left, didn't ya, hun?"

Edna furrowed her brows. She headed out to check, flipping the switch only for nothing to happen. "Uh, must be broken!" She called out to her husband and he scratched his head.

Suddenly all the lampposts in their junkyard turned off, leaving them stranded in complete darkness. This was definitely not normal. "Whoever's there, my son knows Spinjitzu!" Ed shouted to whoever was listening, if there was anybody. All he got in response was a quiet hiss. He immediately rushed over to his wife.

"What is it, Ed? Oh, why are the lights out?"

He gently grabbed her forearms, getting close to half whisper, "Call Jay, hun. Someone's broken in!"

"How about we wait until he calls you?" The couple jumped at the voice. They looked up in fear, which for a second turned to confusion as they saw a kid, and then back to fear as they noticed a snake with two heads standing next to him. "Actually, I don't think that's gonna happen either" Lloyd grinned evilly as he pulled out the phone with a cut off cord from behind his back. He let out an evil giggle.

"Ed..." The woman looked up at her husband, their bodies so close they could feel each other's heartbeat.

"Be strong, Edna. I won't let them hurt you" He reassured, readjusting his hold on her protectively as he stared the duo down.

"If we plan—" "—to attack—" "—the Hypnobrai—" "—we'll need to grow—" "—our army"

Lloyd looked up at the snake general with a raised brow, "And, uh, how do we do that?"

They both smirked. "Let's just say—" "—we Fangpyre bite off more—" "—than we can chew" "Have at it, boys!" To the pair's absolute horror, a whole army of snakes emerged from the shadows, walking over to various machines and biting into them (their dentist bill must be at the height limit—), turning them into living, snake-like mechanical monsters.

Ed gasped in shock. "My creations! They are turning them into—!"

"An army?" One of the heads cut him off, chuckling while the other continued, "You are correct!" "But we can also—" "—turn people, too" The two heads sent the old couple two nasty smiles as a good part of the snakes started to surround them.

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Jay was trying to work on the button project, but just as he got down to it, [Name] walked over to him and just stared at him with that innocent smile of his. The Blue Ninja sighed and gave him a deadpan look, "What?"

"Can I go with you?"

Jay made a face. "Go where?"

"To visit your parents" The younger boy grinned. He was still jealous, and there was a chance he'll burst out crying if the Walkers are too wholesome, but he also had this overwhelming need to see them again. Not a magical tugging, just his personal tugging, longing for a set of parents that are actually fucking supportive—

"I'm not visiting my parents" The older simply replied, turning back to the button.

[Name] stared at him, his brows soon drawing together in confusion. "Why not?"

"I'm buys." Jay retorted, giving him a pointed look.

The boy only got more confused. "But you promised"

"Yes, but I'll visit them when I have some free time"

"We're not doing anything important at the moment!" [Name] argued.

"I am! I. am. working. on. the. button." The Blue Ninja pointed with his hands, his aura shifting more and more in annoyance. The [colour] haired boy stared at him, offended.

"Wow. Just— Just wow"

"Don't you have more interesting things to do? Like, playing video games, or even training, if you're feeling crazy"

[Name] wasn't amused, he clicked his tongue and walked off. Soon a whole guilt tripping mission was organised.

Kai and Zane walked past Jay with some old pieces in hands, "Sure got a lot of junk piling up. If only there was a place we could get rid of it..." Kai mused loudly in a condescending voice.

The ginger head huffed. "If you don't mind, I'm trying to focus"

The two signalized Cole to go on, he got out his phone and pretended to call his father as he walked past Jay as well, "Hi, Dad. Of course, I'd love to visit. What kind of son would I be if I didn't want to?" Surely this will never bite him in the ass.

The teen glared at him and let out a dry laugh, "Hehe. I know what you're trying to do!" He gritted his teeth before sighing. "Okay, look, I might have promised to visit my parents, but there's a lot of stuff on my plate" [Name] listened from outside the room, he looked up in thought before an idea struck him and a mischievous grin blossomed on his face. He quickly run out to find Nya, soon coming back with her alongside him. Seeing the girl enter the room Jay quickly wiped his face from all the grease and oil and directed a small wave at her, smiling sheepishly (his aura was literally forming small, irregular hearts), "Hi, Nya!"

The girl waved back, returning the smile with a warm one. "Hi. You gonna visit your parents today?"

"Well, I, um—" He glanced at the younger boy, drawing a silent giggle and a mischievous grin. Jay faked a cough, eyes moving back to Nya. "Sure am. Just about to leave"

"Mind taking [Name] with you? He really wants to see them again" She asked with pleading eyes, having heard a sob story about just how 'scared' the youngest boy was to ask for this himself. Said boy gave a small, shy nod and went to sheepishly play with his hands giving him the puppy dog eyes. The others stared at the commotion with wide eyes, especially Kai.

Jay was at the loss for word. "I-I— Uh— Um— I— Sure, I don't mind" He stuttered out, a bit strained as he had to hold back his growing frustration.

Nya's smile grew. "Thanks, you're the best. Oh, and tell them I say hi!" She threw before exiting with a farewell wave.

"Mhm!" He waved back. When he was sure she was out of earshot, he glared at the boy, "Why you little—!"

"Ah-ah-ah!" He raised a finger, stopping him. "Wouldn't want that praise to be for nothing, mmm?" Jay seethed, shaking fists clenched at his sides and face burning red as he gritted his teeth, just staring at him. "I'll wait for you outside" [Name] smiled innocently and then strolled out as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

The Blue Ninja let out a prolonged whine, hiding his face in his hands before putting his tools down and quickly heading to their room to change into some clean clothes, leaving the other three all alone.

"...I fear him" Kai confessed, legitimately sounding concerned. He looked at the other two, a bit disturbed. "Is this normal?" Cole laughed as he patted his back.

"Don't worry, Match Boy, the chances of you developing a crush in this economy are rather small"

"The chances may be small, Cole, but they are never zero" The Red Ninja mumbled, with the thousands yard stare, making the Earth Ninja raise a brow. He glanced at Zane, who just shrugged.

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Jay pulled on Wisp's reins, grunting as the dragon refused to move. The Lavender Ninja stared, a hand by his chin in thought as the creature's aura seem perfectly normal. "Come on, Wisp! It'll be a quick visit. Just in and out, nothing more"

"It is as I suspected" Wu's voice suddenly coming from behind the dragon's made Jay jump back with a yelp, almost making him fall backwards. [Name] chuckled as the old man walked over to them, with a comedically big thermometer. "The dragons are molting. They're shedding their scales"

The Blue Ninja squinted his eyes, not understanding. "What does that mean?"

"Every adolescent dragon goes through a transformation before it becomes an adult. We must allow them to migrate east to the Spirit Coves for their transformation"

The [colour] haired boy frowned at the news. "Will we see them again?"

"It is hard to say" Wu started, turning to look at the dragons as he thought. "But we need to allow them to follow their path"

"Rocky's going east?" Cole asked as he and the rest arrived. He approached his dragon with a sad expression, "Say it isn't so, Rocky" He reached out a hand and the dragon moved his snout closer for pats. The other two also went to pat their dragons.

"Nooo! I need to pat the babies!" [Name] lamented, quickly jumping to pat Wisp before moving on to the next dragon. His action drawing a laugh from the Red and Black Ninjas.

Jay scratched his head, his dragon nudging him for pats as soon as the younger boy stopped giving it the attention. He fulfilled the request before pulling away as well and approaching Kai and Nya. "Well, I guess we gotta go on this long walk all on our own. Sure would be nice to have company..." He and the girl locked eyes, she smiled and started to nod.

Kai slammed a hand on his shoulder, making him jump in place. "Of course we'll go, buddy" He sent him a wide grin, still not too happy with the idea of the two having a thing for each other.

"I could use a break" Cole shrugged. Hey, there's a possibility Edna might have some interesting stories left!

"All you had to do was ask" Zane joined, happy by the prospect of a field trip with his team.

Jay laughed awkwardly.

As they walked, Wu played his flute and [Name] watched the four dragons fly off with a small frown.

Jay sighed deeply, shoulder slumping down as he mumbled to himself, "Of all the days to lose our ride..."

"That flute. You've never told us why it's so special" Zane noted, looking at their Master with interest.

"Long ago there were many flutes, created to combat the powers of the Serpentine and drive them underground. But over time, Ninjago's forgotten its ancestors' wisdom, and now this is the only one" Wu turned to Jay and played a few notes, drawing a whine from the teen.

"I get the lesson, respect your elders or else suffer the consequences. Boy, you guys are laying it on thick" He rolled his eyes, picking up his pace to avoid further confrontation.

The man chuckled. "Perhaps you are only hearing what you need to hear"

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Jay and [Name] stopped at once, drawing all eyes to themselves. Nya placed a hand on the Blue Ninja's shoulder, "What is it?"

"It's quiet. My family's never quiet"

"We have company..." The younger boy said, tense at the amount of unfamiliar, not too friendly auras.

Jay's eyes turned to him before he sprinted forward, running into the junkyard and quickly scanning the area in search of his parents. The others obviously followed, with the Lavender Ninja pointing at a barricaded, old fridge from which muffled noises could be heard. Jay kicked it open, gasping as he saw his ill-looking parents all tied up. This was probably the first time [Name] felt determination radiate from the ginger haired teen. "What happened? Who did this!?" He demanded, gently removing duct tape from his mother's mouth before doing the same with his dad.

"Sweetheart, you came!" Edna, bless her heart, cheered happily.

"Oh, you gotta get out of here. You shouldn't have come, it's the ssssnakes!" Ed, buddy, didn't you want to call them for help yesterday?

"The bite of the Fangpyre. Once they sink their teeth, their venom can turn anything into a serpent. It's only a matter of time before the full transformation is complete" Wu explained, making Jay look at him as if he was ready to murder.

There was no time for further questions though, as all the snakes hidden in the junkyard revealed themselves, accompanied by all the machinery they turned into semi-sentient monsters. "Uh, is that wrecking ball staring at me?" Cole asked, just to make sure as he reached for his Scythe.

"So, um, who's doing the Miley Cyrus?" [Name] quipped, throwing his team a goofy grin.

"Duck!!" Jay exclaimed in answer, jumping to tackle his parents while the others jumped out of the ball's way just in time.

"Nevermind!"

Ed smiled at his son, "Thankssss, sssson"

"Lloyd!" Wu pointed with his staff, automatically making all the eyes turn to the small blondie.

"Hello, uncle. Looks like we're not the only family reunion. I'm glad you brought the ninja. I could use some help taking out the trash!" He cackled 'evilly'.

"Wait, what happened with the Hypnobrai?" [Name] asked, not too surprised with the change, but more so doubting the other snake group wouldn't be a problem in the future. He got ignored.

Nya turned to the boys, mainly Jay, "If we want to turn your parents back, we need the antivenom in the staff" He gave a determinated nod.

"Second dose, to the dirt!" Cole warned and they all threw themselves onto the ground again to avoid getting Miley Cyrus'ed.

"Easier said than done, sis. We're a bit outnumbered" The Red Ninja complained as they were getting back up.

"Nobody messes with my family. Ninja, go!" Jay charged at the group of snakes closing in on them all. The other boys following his lead soon afterwards.

As five colorful spinjitzu tornados swept through, taking care of a good number of serpentine, a smaller group approached Wu and Nya. The girl immediately raised her hands, taking a battle stance and glaring at the few white-red snakes, but before either could attack the old man pulled out the flute and started playing out a familiar melody. The serpentine warriors grimaced in discomfort, quickly raising their hands to the sides of their heads, where ears would normally be but, y'know, they're snakes so they don't really have these.

Nya glanced at Sensei and smiled to herself before jumping at the small group, bringing them all down without breaking a sweat. She dusted off her hands with a huge grin, "I don't know, Sensei. I think we make a pretty good duet" Just as she finished her sentence, loud, rock music started playing, making everyone wince at the ungodly volume.

"Young nephew, must I teach you whose side you should be on!?" Wu screamed, trying to get through the noise.

Lloyd, who despite being the closest to the source didn't seem bothered by the possibly-hearing-loss-causing-volume at all, turned the music up even more. He soundlessly cackled to himself, then brought both hands up to the sides of his mouth as if it was supposed to help the old man hear his next words, "Sorry, uncle! Can't hear you!!!"

With the cover of the music, one of the snakes managed to sneak behind the duo, but just as he was about to attack them, Edna smacked him with a frying pan. "Yeah, way to go, Edna!!" Her husband cheered, standing right next to her. The woman let out a barely audible giggle and the couple exchanged warm, loving looks.

[Name] couldn't help but glance in their direction as what he felt from the sweet pair made the 'I don't know what they had, but I want some' thought cross his mind, then back to the grind of dealing with the pesky snakes.

And awfully pesky they were, as when they run into the big statue Ed was so thoughtfully making in honour of his son as they were running away, they didn't even hesitate before biting into the thing and turning it into a living, scaly monstrosity. Everyone paused as the ground shook with each step the big, evil robot took, Lloyd even paused the music, just as flabbergasted as the others.

"Ah! What is that thing!?" Jay questioned, taking a step back.

Ed fiddled with his fingers awkwardly. "I-i-it was supposed to be in your honor, son. Um... do you like it?" He gave a small, sheepishly smile which went unseen as the five had their eyes glued to their new opponent.

"Thanks, but no thanks!" The Blue Ninja yelled back just as the thing moved forward, with its nunchucks ready to smash at them. The boys screamed as they quickly run away.

As they run, Cole noticed they were running right back to the wicked wrecking ball. He whined turning to his teammate in blue, "Oh, why'd you have to be born in a Junkyard?"

"I know. Tell me about it"

"Watch out!" [Name] warned as the ball swung at them. Everyone quickly dodged, apart from Jay who instead jumped onto the ball (mostly) unnoticed.

The youngest boy looked up in astonishment, following his brother's aura while the others looked around confused. Kai scratched his head, "Uh, wasn't there five of us?" Zane immediately looked at the Lavender Ninja, with Cole doing so as well just a second later, the two then followed the [colour] haired boy's eyes to their 'missing' friend.

They watched Jay go up with the cursed ball, then jump off onto the machine supporting it and get inside the cockpit by kicking one of the serpentine out in one smooth motion. "Let's see if I can work this" He said to himself, quickly realizing this could be a problem as the controlling panel glared and hissed at him.

While the Blue Ninja was getting a hang out of the monster machine, the terminator robot attacked the other four again, pulling its hand with the weapon back before swinging at them. Cole gripped his Scythe with both hands and raised it up high, blocking the hit but getting himself stuck in place. "Don't worry, I got it..!"

"You so don't got it!" The youngest teen commented, seeing as the other struggled with the weight. The trio quickly stepped in to help, or at least try to.

"Can't you do something?" Kai glanced at the Lavender Ninja, quickly receiving a glare.

"It has no soul to work with!" At that a few of the snakes paused in surprise, disbelieved whispers shared with uncertain looks.

Suddenly, the wrecking ball swept the big bad robot to the side, making it crash on one of the big piles of scrap with a nasty metal scratch. There was a brief pause before Cole turned to his teammates with a smug look, "I told you, I had it"

He got punched in the shoulder by the Blue Ninja. "I did that, faker"

[Name] snort while Kai shook his head, "This is not the time for your game references, Jay" The five turned to look up at Lloyd and the Fangpyre General, with the second youngest boy in the junkyard quickly sensing the small blondie become anxious, which in turn made him feel bad.

"Retreat!!" The little troublemaker ordered, quickly turning around and skipping down through the scrap, out of the ninja's sight. The two-headed snake, though a bit surprised at first, quickly followed him as the rest of his kind followed the order. Soon the team saw the duo leave on a corrupted helicopter (which I'm impressed the Walkers had in here).

"They're getting away with the staff!" Nya exclaimed what, I'd assume, everyone was thinking.

Jay turned to the youngest ninja, "You said your Wand can reverse the effects of their venom"

[Name] raised his hands, "Woah, woah! I never said that!"

Wu shook his head. "The Wand can only reverse what affects the soul. We need the staff to fix this"

The Blue Ninja groaned pitifully, shoulders slumping down in defeat. "Right now would be a good time to have those Dragons..."

Ed patted his shoulder. "It'ssss okay, sssson"

"There is still a way" Wu crossed his arms behind his back.

Jay did a double take. "How?"

"Part of reaching your own full potential is understanding your weapon's potential. Once it is in tune with a focused heart, its secrets and powers can be unlocked"

"This is not the time to be cryptic!!" Jay growled, waving his hands in frustration.

"He's saying our weapons are vehicles themselves" Zane simplified.

Kai made a face. "Don't tell me I have to ride this thing like a broomstick"

[Name] snort, "Please do" The Red Ninja gave him a deadpan look.

"Jay," The teen turned his attention back to their Sensei. "Concentrate on unlocking your Golden Weapon. Let your heart guide you. Imagine you're taking flight" He glanced at the shining nunchucks in his hand.

Taking a deep breath, he took a couple steps back, closed his eyes and focused on the energy radiating from the weapon. [Name]'s breath hitched as the two auras grew stronger, mixing together as the Blue Ninja did a few moves. There was a flash of bright light, pure elemental energy, and suddenly Jay was sitting in a blue jet. "Whoa! Haha, did I just do that?" The other three stared with wide eyes before gathering themselves and excitedly trying summoning vehicles themselves.

Wu reached a hand to support the youngest boy as his legs started to give out. That was a lot of powerful energy he was not used to a bit too out of the blue and it made him overwhelmed.

Ugh, at this rate he was never going to get used to this...

"Ha! I hate to hurt Rocky's feelings, but I think he's just been replaced" Cole said as he sat in his new ride. The four boys quickly started chasing after the runaways, leaving the others behind.

Nya looked at Wu, ready to ask about something but she paused once she noticed the Lavender Ninja taking off his mask and breathing heavily. "Are you okay?" She asked the boy instead, grabbing onto his other arm to help keep him up.

"Yeah... Just a bit dizzy... I-I'll be fine though"

She gave him an uncertain look. "...So, um, does your Wand change into anything?"

He chuckled weakly. "I wish"

"Oh, sssweetie, you look pale..." Edna frowned in worry, the boy felt his face grow warm.

Oh heavens, no! Don't make him blush now!!

"I-I think we should follow them" Ed threw in, making Nya nod.

"Good idea"

"I'll go get the car!" The almost-snake man announced, already on his way.

❤️🖤💙🤍

Jay's jet zoomed right past the little blond menace and his new snake friend. "Oops, haha. Overshot that a little..." He chuckled sheepishly, turning the jet around. "Let's see what this baby can do" He pushed a button, the glass cover opened and the jet got out of his control. He and the two runaways screamed as they ducked just as his jet flew right over their heads. Jay peaked an eye open as he felt something heavy in his hands, eyes blowing wide as he saw the staff. "I got it? I got it!" He cheered happily. Just then, there was a flash and the jet turned back into the nunchucks. His heart stopped for a second. "Uh-oh... AHHHHHH!!!" The Blue Ninja started screaming as he started falling down.

"Jay, you have to concentrate!!" Kai called out to him.

"I CAN'T!!!!"

"I think we're gonna have to catch him!" Cole announced, making the other two nod to themselves as they all speed up.

"I got him! I got him!"

"No, I got him!"

"He's mine!"

Eventually, the trio bumped into each other and their vehicles turned back as well, resulting in all three slamming into the sand face first. The Red Ninja immediately pulled away, promptly taking his mask off and shaking the sand off with a disgusted look. The other two looked up at their falling friend with worry.

Just before Jay could smash against the ground and paint the sand red, the others turned up with the Jalopy. [Name], sitting between his Master and ever so motherly Edna, flinched as the car squeaked and two pained groaned were drawn from his brother and sister as the former unintentionally slammed against the latter. "Nice catch..."

"Aw, I knew I liked thissss girl" Edna cooed, making her son immediately pick himself up and look at the girl underneath him with wide eyes. He stumbled back with a yelp, face burning from embarrassment, Nya had to pull him back so that he wouldn't fell out the speeding vehicle. The younger boy had to stifle a laugh.

Ed quickly circled the car around to the remaining three as the whole serpentine army charged at them again. Kai tried turning his weapon back into his motorcycle but it didn't work. "Huh? Why isn't this thing working?"

"Your weapon is merely an extension of your mind. If your mind is immobile, so is your weapon" Wu explained as the snake man stopped the car near them.

"Oh, boy. Oh, gosh. Oh, golly, oh, duh. Get in, boys!" Nobody had to tell them twice, all three jumped onto the Jalopy and the man quickly drove off.

"We have to get back to headquarters!" Jay exclaimed, to which Nya gave a nod and started instructing the man beside her.

❤️🖤💙🤍💜

The whole group run onto the ship, with all the boys and Wu quickly running to the deck while Nya called the elder couple to another room. "Man the stations, everyone!" Jay exclaimed.

Kai and [Name] looked out the window, seeing the Serpentine army closing in on them. The younger boy turned around to their brother, "Hurry up, Jay!"

"I've been waiting for this moment" Said teen rubbed his hands proudly, then slammed the red button.

Nothing happened.

"W-what?"

"They're gaining on us!" Kai called out.

Jay punched the button again and again, then kicked the whole thing supporting it in frustration. "Ugh, I don't get what's wrong! I spent forever on this. It's supposed to work!!"

"Uh, son? Maybe I can help?" Ed asked, peaking into the room, [Name] sensed the two ladies right behind him.

Jay gasped, quickly getting to him. "Dad! You're okay!"

Ed chuckled. "You're darn tooting! Oh, let's have a look" He walked over to the button with his son following close behind, he kneeled down and started fixing something. "Oh, yeah. Uh-huh. Oh, that should do it. Now try it" Jay gently pressed the button. The Bounty shook as it slowly ascended and flew off, everyone stumbled back. Nya accidentally let go of the staff, resulting in it being thrown off the ship entirely and getting back to its rightful owner.

Jay smiled at his father, his mother approaching them and putting a hand on his shoulder. He surprised her with a hug, making a few hearts melt (couchcough[name]coughcough—). "We'll get you back to the Junkyard just as soon as we see the coast is clear" He pulled back, smiling at the both of his parents. "But stay as long as you'd like. It's nice having you here"

"Oh, take a note, Edna: of all our inventions, this one is our greatest" A few quiet snickers filled the room, making Wu roll his eyes.

The woman rolled her eyes as well. "I already know, dear" She reached a hand to grab onto his arm and pulled him closer for a family hug.

[Name] frowned in sadness, crossing his arms and looking away. Why didn't he get such a sweet family?

Nya lightly elbowed her brother, pointing at the youngest boy as the hedgehog sent her a questioning look. Kai quickly got the other two's attention and the trio dogpiled their little brother. "What the—!? Hey, this ain't funny!!" [Name] struggled to get them off while they laughed.

Wu watched all his students share a wholesome moment with a content smile.

❤️🐍❤️

"General?" A small group of snakes approached the two headed leader after Lloyd went to sleep.

"Yesss?" One of the heads asked while the other narrowed its eyes at them.

"Back at the junkyard we... sssaw something you ssshould know about"

"Well—" "—what isss it?"

"The boy in pink clothesss—" One of them started but got cut off.

"They were purple" They glared at each other.

A serpentine behind them roller his eyes and stepped forward, pushing the two to the side, "Sssir, he had the Wand of Sssouls"

Fangtom's heads looked at one another in surprise. "You think—" "—the boy—" "—is Bruno'sss son?" The whole group promptly nodded.

"Or at leassst a relative" Some snake shrugged.

"Did you—" "—hurt him?"

"No, sssir!" Everyone quickly denied, energetically shaking their heads. "We didn't get the chance..." Someone muttered, earning a slap from the guy next to him.

The General thought for a moment, this was... quite the problem. "Jussst—" "—don't touch—" "—the boy" The group gave a strong nod and quickly retracted back.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Let's go and fill Moominvalley with crime!!!

'Snufkin's guide to leaving situations' suddenly appeared on my yt page and now I've spiraled down a rabbit hole xd

Just in case: Happy Holidays!

And hope u don't have a fricking cold like I do, bc I currently sound like a broken radio