"Tonight, brothers, is the night. We're going to do it."

A loud cheer erupted from the crowd in front of me. If anyone entered the abandoned subway, they would have seen a ruthless biker gang led by a fifteen-year-old princess-- and they wouldn't be wrong. In one year, I had turned an inkling of an idea into a reality.

I leaped off the subway car I was standing on, smoothly landing in front of the Sons of Garmadon. "We have planned for years, slowly rising to power. We have been lurking, preparing, deceiving, and it finally is the time to change Ninjago!"

The gang whoops and hollers, echoing ominously through the subway. I had purposefully staked out our hideout to be in a place where any noise underground could not be detected above, and I was especially grateful for that then.

"Tomorrow, the Emperor will make a speech. I have convinced them to bring the Ninja to stay at the palace for extra security measures since they know that we are a threat. Once the Emperor finishes his speech, I need Luke and Nails-" I snapped my fingers and pointed at the bikers- "to pose as civilians. Nails will be the acting little brother to Luke or something. I don't care, figure it out. I need you to release a red balloon with our mark on it, and Luke, set off firecrackers. They will sound like gunshots, and by seeing our symbol, the Ninja will be scared. They will move to protect the Royal family, and trust will be gained both ways.

"In that case, I will find a way to sneak out with Lloyd Garmadon. You all know very well that I would never betray you all, so don't be alarmed when I pretend to not recognize and be against you. Just as a warning. I have become a very good actor.

"I want you to be around the city, stirring up a little bit of trouble in order to continue our steady march out of the shadows. My goal will be to gain all the Ninja's trust, especially Lloyd. The next day, I will bring UltraViolet to help me load the palace with Blast Sap." Most of the bikers gulped at the general's name, but I ignored them. Violet might be a psychopath, but she's a good fighter and willingly supports us, so who cares what her mental state might be?

"During the explosion, the entire palace will be eventually destroyed except the Temple of Resurrection, though that will come into play much later. There will be mass chaos, and during that time I will need all of you to help steal the Oni Mask of Deception.

"Mr. E has the Oni Mask of Vengeance, giving him an upper hand over the Ninja so he can steal the second mask. The entire Royal house save myself will be killed, taking away our threat to power!" I thrust a gloved fist into the air, and everyone cheered.

"Killow, Violet, and Mr. E know the rest of the plan by heart. I don't have time to go through the rest of it, so our generals will do so for us. For now, this is all you need to know.

"I will act as the docile princess until I must reveal myself, and until then, you must pretend you don't know who I truly am. I will communicate with the generals when I can, and you must obey their orders. Farewell, brothers, and tomorrow we will rise!"

💮

"As many of you know, my family has kept a private life. We aren't interested in meddling with current affairs. But as crime has risen, so has our concern. So it is time to step out of the shadows, and into the light."

The Emperor was making his speech to a growing crowd. Already bored, I found myself looking around for my henchmen. Sure enough, Luke Cunningham and Nails were casually standing towards the back of the crowd.

Easily, I spotted the six Ninja 'hidden' around the area. Pretending to not notice them, I continued to plaster on my fake smile and let my gaze wander over the crowd. My internal communicator for the S.O.G. accidentally picked up the Ninja's radio frequency. It was fuzzy and mostly static, but I heard some of what they were saying.

"-eye for the Princess."

Are they talking about me?

"I guess green is her favorite color."

Yeah, they're talking about me...

I forced myself to not grit my teeth and scowl. I had a faint idea of what they were talking about, and I was not happy with it, though it might be helpful for the Sons later on. I block out their talking and focus on Father's speech.

"As a new crime syndicate continues to try to counter the power of my family, staying back will only make it more difficult for us to take a stand. We will stand with you, the citizens of Ninjago, as we go through these rough times. Ninjago has faced much worse, and we will rise back up from it like we have done before," Father said.

It was hard for me to not roll my eyes. If they truly knew what we were planning, Ninjago would likely be under lockdown at this point.

"We must continue to be vigilant and always stay united."

Now.

Luke and Nails, having made their way into the crowd, drop the firecrackers and release the balloon into the air. The citizens scream, running away from the noise. At the same time, Lloyd tackled me and Mother to the ground while Hutchins protected the Emperor. I had accurately guessed the Ninja's reaction, and "Is the threat clear?" he asked, comm'ing the other Ninja. I noticed he wasn't out of breath at all, but his cheeks were flushed pink as he moved away from me.

Things could get interesting.

💮

7:00 PM.

Mother told me to fix my makeup, as some of it had smudged over the course of the day. I personally didn't see why I had to fix it when nobody would see it anyway; she would have me stay in my room while the Ninja were at the palace because apparently it's undignified for me to talk to them.

I leaned towards the vanity, wishing I could take all of it off. My skin got irritated easily, and the only face paint it didn't react to was the red one. I liked smearing it in jagged strokes across my eyes, and that became a part of my "Quiet One" look.

What I wouldn't give to be with the Sons of Garmadon right now--

I looked up at the mirror and saw Lloyd peeking his face into my room. My instinct was to whirl myself around, hold a knife to his throat, and teach him what manners were, but I figured the dainty royal princess of Ninjago probably wouldn't do that. Instead, I gasped and covered my face. His quiet footsteps vanished as he left, and in his absence, I wondered why my heart was racing.

Well, I would get some time to figure that out. I was going to be stuck with the only real son of Garmadon soon enough.

💮

I threw my dress into the hamper with disgust. Pretending to be a poised princess in front of my parents was hard enough, but doing so in front of my former idols that I was planning to overthrow in a few days made it even more impossible.

My acting skills were paying off, though. I had brought all the Ninja to trust me, and that was a good start. Everything was going well.

Time to get the Green Ninja on my side. I put on leggings and a jacket, throwing a dark cloak over my clothes and face. I snatched my sack of food, a knife in case I needed it, an extra hoodie, and glanced back at my room.

All of my belongings were strewn on the floor, and I had made sure that the room was even messier than usual- stuff hanging out of drawers, the bedsheets crumpled to the floor, and even my desk chair laid on its side. It looked like someone had ravaged through my room and kidnapped me.

I patted my bag of food. The day before I had quietly snuck out to give food to some of the hungry children, building their trust. Trust was everything right now, and being the princess, a damsel in distress, made it much easier for people to trust me.

If the children knew that I brought them food before, it would be more believable to Lloyd that I was doing a good deed. Of course, I didn't care enough to go out every night and feed them. I knew what it was like to be hungry, and giving them food wasn't going to teach them how to work for a meal. You had to steal, work overnight, eat leftover scraps, and when you were old enough to get a job, you would go out into the world. My parents had to do this. They had to struggle to get by, so why shouldn't everyone else?

Channeling all my anger, I threw a heavy book titled Princess Posture and chucked it at the window, creating a satisfying CRASH as the glass shattered.

I hopped out the window and hit the roofs running.

That last line is so satisfying for me. Anyway, I feel like I haven't updated in a long time-- two weeks!! Holy Spinjitzu, that's pretty long!

The future chapters will be based on existing episodes but from Harumi's perspective. Since I'm trying to keep The Quiet One as canon as possible, I have to do tons of research *cough*Ninjago Wiki*cough* to make sure it fits snugly with the show.

Well, that's it for now. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more!