“Sure, if you want…” Jay blushed a little. They both stepped on the scale. Nya, being a bit taller, was slightly less chubby, and Jay weighed a couple pounds more. They were just glad it was over by now.
Jay looked at Nya. Before, she had been slightly curvy but mostly pretty muscular, now she was clearly an hourglass, with wide hips and a largish chest. Her stomach was soft, but not overly protruding, and her face was relatively rounded, with a slightly softer jawline. He had to admit she looked pretty even now, and they were both glad that mysterious villain hadn't gotten exactly what he wanted.
Jay then eyed himself in the mirror. His face was even rounder and more baby-ish, and it dimpled slightly when he smiled, which he hadn't noticed before. His shoulders were rounded, and his stomach was big, round and soft, accompanied by a soft chest. His thighs had also thickened slightly, and his arms were like a small child's, puffy and dimpled at the elbows. His hands had dimples where the knuckles had once been defined. Gosh, why does she have to wear it better than me?
“Be glad it's over,” Nya told him.
“YOU GUYS HAVE TO HELP ME FIND SKYLOR!” A voice that was clearly Kai’s yelled from the other room.
The couple jumped, but they wound up visiting that man again. There, they found out that his name was Lukas Storberg.
“Where’s Skylor, Storberg?” Kai asked aggressively.
“Skylor Chen?” Storberg’s eyes widened a bit. “What do you mean?”
“I know you're just playing tricks. You have her captive.”
Kai heard muffled noises from within a storage closet and dashed off, leaving Jay and Nya with Storberg.
“So my plan didn't work again.” The teen huffed. “I really can't get what I want, can I?”
“Is stuffing people like pillows really the only thing you have?” Jay questioned his techniques. “Isn't there ANYTHING ELSE you can throw at us?”
Storberg was taken aback, and he tried to come up with an excuse.
Jay chuckled. “Not as powerful as you thought, eh?” He crossed his arms. “We were aware when you put that spell on us. It's not like anything you could do would surprise us.”
“He’s right,” Nya added. “You can't just expect people to let you rule the world because of their weight. Some people have more...confidence...than others.”
Storberg scowled. “Let me show you how I- never mind, just stop talking!” He thrusted a syringe at Nya, who got out of the way, causing him to stab it at...Lloyd?
“NOOO!” Jay screamed, tackling Storberg to the ground. He transferred an electrical current to the blond boy’s body, causing him to let the auburn go.
Lukas Storberg lay defeated on the ground, and the Ninja scrambled to Skylor’s location. She seemed to be bound with a lot of rope, and she was gagged. Kai removed the gag while Jay cut away the rope, and there was...less rope than they had thought.
Skylor was huge. She must have been hundreds of pounds. Everything from her belly to her face to even her feet was filled with adipose. Storberg had really taken advantage of his abilities. Despite Kai’s uneasiness, he helped her up, and she exhaled. “I'm sorry you have to see me like this. He just...showed up out of nowhere. I would've been working by now, but he just used some magic spell on me, left me here and took over the shop.”
Kai looked concerned. “We’ll get you and everyone else back to normal in time, I promise. Once we figure out this guy, that is.” He glanced at a seemingly unconscious Storberg, then saw that his eyes were open. “They said your power is form. I'm not even sure that this is your real body.”
“You're right.” Storberg lifted his head. “It's not.” As he stood, he began to transform. His skin swelled as it became transparent, and his body began to turn blue. He swelled until he was obese, and his face seemed to disappear, only hints of eyes and a mouth remaining. “This is.” His voice was deep and bubbled, almost as if he were underwater. “And I’m a lot stronger than you thought.”
Jay yelped and hid behind Nya. “What is that thing?”
“I dunno,” the Master of Water replied.
“Aquavesti,” Zane recited. “Rare water beasts that slow victims down by filling them with water, and once the victim is vulnerable, these monsters can be extremely dangerous.”
“Yes,” the water monster replied. “Very good.”
“That explains his whole thing with weight gain,” Kai said. “But what happens if I do this?” He shot a ball of fire directly at the beast’s belly.
It reformed.
“Nice try,” the monster said, “but you really don't know how things work. You can't just put fire in water and expect it to disappear, in fact…” -he wrapped a slimy “arm” around Kai's shoulder- “water PUTS OUT fire.”
The monster shoved his arm down Kai's throat, shrinking himself in the process, but the others were horrified to see that Kai was rapidly expanding before their eyes; his stomach quickly grew and rounded, his chest doing the same, as he filled with the liquid.
“You do know that by doing that your body will probably diminish and die before you can attack him,” Nya told the beast, smirking.
The monster withdrew from Kai. “Unless I use your power, Nya.”
“And how are you going to do that?” She crossed her arms. The monster jumped straight into Nya’s mouth, and she gasped as she, too, filled up with water, but the beast wasn't done yet. As he became water, he made Nya shoot water at the ground.
“Hey! No one does that to my girl!” Jay lunged at the monster, who simply laughed and let his mouth touch him, where he started watering Jay as well. “Mmph! Mmmmm…” The Master of Lightning gradually settled down, and the monster left him bloated with water as he hunted for Cole, who protected the others with a wall of rock.
“Hanna, Zane, try to freeze him while I hold him off!” Cole yelled. “You're Nindroids, non-rusting ones at that. He shouldn't be able to attack you. Go!”
Zane glanced at Hanna, who smiled a bit. They both dodged every attack, cutting down every stream of water the monster threw at them until they could shoot some ice. Finally, Hanna managed to freeze its arm.
And it roared at them.
“Oh no, I think we made it angry.” Zane anxiously backed away as it advanced, breaking the ice.
Then Hanna did the unthinkable.
As soon as it got close enough, she jumped INTO the monster, raising her spear and freezing it from inside. It screeched to a halt.
The Ninja cheered, up until it broke free, and the Nindroid girl was trapped in the Aquavesti.
The other Ninja gasped and looked at each other.
“What are we supposed to do?” Jay whispered. “It's not like we can fight properly with these bodies!” He grabbed a handful of his belly, then let it go. It jiggled some, causing Jay to wince in discomfort. “Ugh, I have such bad luck today…”
“We’ve tried almost every element,” Cole agreed. He was the only human not bloated, but he was beginning to feel the wall grow weaker.
“Almost every element,” Kai added, “except water.”
“How is that supposed to help?” Nya retorted. “Won't that just make it bigge- ahhh. So if it gets big enough, it might explode!” She raised a swollen arm and began shooting water at it. It turned to her and began advancing towards her, but Nya was stronger.
The monster got bigger and bigger and bigger, so much that it appeared to be expanding under pressure. And then, in a most magnificent explosion of liquid, it burst and Hanna collapsed, coughing the water out of her system. Nya waddled over and picked up a book the beast, in Storberg’s form, had dropped.
“It fixes everything too,” Cole added. “There could be counter-spells in here.”
So they managed to get back to the Bounty, and Cole began to read the book, looking for remedies for everything.
“So this was probably the spell he used in the serum,” Cole said as he landed on a particular page. “I guess I’ll perform that one first.”
As he chanted, some of Jay's weight, as well as all of Lloyd's and Skylor’s, diminished.
“And here's that weird affection one.” Jay and Nya both shrank a bit. “Why am I not surprised?” He chuckled. “Here's one to get rid of excess water in the body.” By the time he was finished, everyone was back to normal.
Jay sighed. “Boy am I glad that's over.”
Nya snatched the spell book from Cole, causing him to yelp. “I call dibs!”
“Hey!” Cole crossed his arms. “You don't call dibs on an enemy spellbook.”
“But I wanna use it on Jay!” she whined.
“What?” Jay scooted back. “No, no, we’re not doing this again.”
“Why not? You were so cute and cuddly, like a baby panda~”
“Alright, fine.” He pouted like a little kid. “But you have to do something for me in return. I…haven't thought of it yet, but I’ll get to it. Eventually.”
“Okay.” Nya crossed her arms.
Kai chuckled a bit and turned to Skylor. “I'm just glad you're okay.”
“Me too,” the Master of Amber replied. “That was honestly worse than being a snake.”
“Yeah.” Kai sighed. “So glad it's over. I so hate water…” He shivered.
“I am simply glad to have you back, Hanna,” Zane told his sister. “It would have been much harder without such a brave girl.”
“Thank you,” Hanna replied. “I'm happy to be back.”
Nya went into her room and went through the spellbook. “Hey, most of these are body-altering spells...no surprise, considering what kind of monster that thing was...let's see.” She flipped through the pages. “The perfect spell…filling them with water? No way! Turning them into slime...what kind of weird spell is that? This one’s gotta be what happened last time...and this one must have been what was in the serum. Turning one into living stone, a list of animal transformation jinxes...turning one into their element? What…?”
“Whatcha doin?” The now slim Jay walked in on her, curious.
“Not much, just-” She tried to hide the book.
“If you're going to make me chubby again, isn't there a more natural way?” Jay asked. “I'm tired of being jinxed into it.”
“I just don't want to make you sick or anything,” Nya admitted. “Besides, you're naturally thin, aren't you? We could do the affection thing again-”
“Let me see,” Jay told her, and she gave him the book. He flipped through it. “These are mostly body spells…”
“I know! Weird, right?”
“If you're going to put a spell on me, make it something that won't feel weird,” Jay told her. “I don't want it to happen randomly either.”
The two of them looked through the spells, and Nya chose one, but she lifted the book up so he couldn't see.
“Let me see! Seriously, what is it?” Jay grabbed for the book, but Nya was stubborn.
“It's a surprise.” She briefly closed the book, then turned away from him, opened it and began chanting. Jay felt a little tingly, and then it stopped.
“Nothing happened,” he said, and then Nya kissed him. “Oh! Okay…wait, nothing happened still…”
Nya giggled. “Well, I guess it didn't work~! I guess we'll just have to treat you to something delicious after all~” she teased.
Jay chuckled nervously. “What are you planning?”
“I want to get Skylor to make something for you at the Noodle Shop. You’ll see,” she said.
Jay glanced down at his midsection in question, but soon they were off. Chen's Noodle Shop felt warm and welcoming again, and Skylor smiled softly as she approached their table. “And what can I get for the happy couple?”
“I’ll have a small, chicken flavored ramen and...what do you want, Jay?” Nya turned to her boyfriend.
“I’ll take a pork cutlet bowl if they're in stock.” (Anyone get the reference?)
“Oh, you want the katsudon, don't you?” Skylor giggled.
“One large pork cutlet for now. And a fortune cookie for both of us.” Nya smiled at her.
“For now?” Jay whispered, his eyes wide.
“It depends on if the spell works,” Nya muttered.
“I thought you didn't want me to get sick-”
“You won't,” she replied. “That's one of the perks.”
“I'm still really unsure of this,” Jay muttered. “I suddenly wish we were cuddling at home…”
“We can cuddle afterwards, I promise. It’ll be my si upde of the deal.” Nya smiled at him.
Jay smiled a little too. “Thanks. I probably wasn't going to decide for a couple hundred years anyways,” he joked.
Nya snorted, then blushed and covered her mouth in embarrassment. Jay giggled.
Skylor served, and Jay was overcome by the savory smell of the meat and fried eggs. Nya stifled an idiotic grin: Jay was such a puppy sometimes.
So he dug in. It was delectable, all the flavors coming together in one bowl- he hadn't thought impressing Nya had come this far. He swallowed his current noodle and his stomach began to press against his skin-tight jeans. “Nya, what did you- oh.” He realized she had used a metabolism spell on him, and that he would fluff up much easier. He unbuttoned his pants and kept eating, finishing quickly.
They both opened their fortune cookies and examined the philosophies on the slip of paper, and Nya ordered another bowl of katsudon for him, despite his protests.
“Alright, but just one more,” Jay said with a sigh. So he dug in again, and he must have gained ten pounds from that one bowl.
Nya chanted the counter-spell as soon as they got home, but the weight didn't come off. Nya explained that she had altered the words a bit so the spell would simply wear off without changing him.
“How did you do that?”
“I was starting to see a pattern in the words,” she said simply. “I’ll change in my room.”
Jay was left alone to change, and he changed into the PJ’s from Zane, as he saw what was coming.
Nya put the book on her desk and joined Jay in his room. She lay next to him and wrapped her arms and legs around him, burying her head in his back. Jay felt himself filling out the PJ’s, and he knew what spell she’d used. But he didn't really care. He lay there and let Nya hug him. He’d gotten what he wanted, even if it would cost him for what Nya wanted.
“You're acting different,” Jay muttered, sitting up. “What's gotten into you?”
“You’ve gotten into me, silly,” Nya replied, ruffling his hair. “Ever since the incident where you got chubby, I just thought you were cute that way. Your soft features made hugging you like hugging a warm marshmallow.”
Jay giggled.
“Besides, it's usually me who winds up protecting you,” she added. “And when you're all athletic, you look a bit more intimidating, no matter how short you happen to be. I guess I feel more...comfortable around you this way.”
Jay blushed, fidgeting nervously with his hands. “Y-you really…?”
Nya nodded. “Yeah. Besides, I don't want you to try so hard to be perfect for me.” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “Just be yourself. That's the best thing you can be for me. I don't want you to be anything more or less than you.”
Jay turned a bit redder. “Well...tha...thanks, uh…”
“Aww, you’re so cute when you're flustered!” The Master of Water giggled. “I’ll get the spell to wear off and then we can snuggle some more, okay?”
“Yeah,” he replied.
Nya snuggled up to Jay and began reciting the counter-spell, and then she put the book away once more and smiled. “Let's brush our teeth and then we can climb back into bed.”
They both got up and went to the bathroom, quickly getting their teeth cleaned and washing their hands and faces. They went to bed, eventually falling asleep.
Hanna sat patiently as Lloyd talked about the plans the next morning. They were going to go to Ninjago City and get a signal to Zane, who would then locate Melody from a rooftop. Zane would give a signal, and then the rest of them would follow Zane's global positioning skills.
Cole glanced at Jay with a small smirk. “Nya really spoiled you last evening, didn't she?”
Jay glanced down at his belly and then back up. “What...what do you mean?”
“I knew she was taking you on a date, I just didn't know she’d mess with the spell book,” he told me. “I mean, I didn't know she'd succeed…”
“Ehehe…Yeah....” Jay grinned sheepishly.
“You can still do Spinjitzu, right?” Cole raised an eyebrow.
“Of course,” Jay replied, and demonstrated for him, then sat back down, now in his gi. “You don't have to be so worried about me. You saw how I fought last time.”
“You just look a bit...soft around the edges, is all,” Lloyd told him. “You haven't really been that way before.”
“Let's stop talking about that,” Jay muttered, before turning his attention to Lloyd.
“I really don't have anything else to say,” Lloyd confessed.
The Ninja got out to Ninjago City, and Zane climbed a building to look out for Melody. “She is...not there…?”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, SHE'S NOT THERE!?” Jay shouted from below.
“I mean she seems to have disappeared, almost as if she quit-” Zane looked as hard as he could, but any trace of her seemed to be doing nothing. He jumped down.
“I guess we could take a day off,” Lloyd confessed. “After all this craziness, we might as well deserve it.”
“I thought a Ninja never quit,” Cole responded.
“That doesn't mean a Ninja never rests,” Lloyd answered. “Let's go out. But first we should change on the Bounty.”
Jay walked into his room and glanced in the mirror. He changed into his usual striped jacket and white T-shirt, which fit decently, and followed the others outside.
“We should eat. I, for one, am starving.” Cole rubbed his belly as body language. “Anyone know any good restaurants?”
“There should be a decent family-style diner around here somewhere.” Nya looked around. “Hey look, there's a sign for it over there! Jay says he used to eat there as a kid.”
Jay blushed a little. “Aww, you shouldn't have!” He was secretly a little nervous and he hoped Nya wasn't going to get carried away.
They walked over there and waited to be seated. Jay became interested in a claw machine, so after a few tries, he walked over with a teddy bear under his arm. He placed it down against one of the legs of his chairs. A waiter, tall and dark-haired, took their order.
“I’ll have the eggs Benedict, please,” Lloyd requested.
“I’ll get chocolate chip pancakes,” Cole added.
“I’ll have a spicy omelet,” Kai told him.
“I think I’ll go with...hmm...eggs and sausage, please,” Nya added.
“And for you?” The waiter turned to Jay, his eyes fixed on him.
“Um, I…” Jay turned to the others. “I can't decide!”
“Just get the buffet and you can have whatever!”, Nya replied.
“Okay, um...one endless buffet, please,” he replied.
“We are satisfied with water,” Zane told the water politely, gesturing towards his sister. “Please do not worry about us.”
The waiter left, and Cole smirked. “So...the buffet, huh?”
“So what if I can't order right away?” Jay replied irritably.
“I dunno, it just sounds pretty...filling...to me.” Cole glanced down at Jay's waist, then back up. Jay huffed.
“Leave him alone,” Lloyd said. “It's not his fault.”
The waiter returned with their orders, and Jay went to stock up on food. Two chocolate chip pancakes, a coffee-cake muffin, a scoop of eggs, two sausage links and a slice of bacon. That should be all.
Jay returned and began to eat, though he was aware that Cole was teasingly looking at him. Swallowing, he said, “Hey, it's not like your appetite is any smaller.”
“I need the energy though,” Cole replied. “You don't really work out that much.”
Jay huffed and finished his plate…though he found himself returning for seconds. Upon finishing his second plate, he stopped and crossed his arms.
“You okay, Jay?” Nya asked. “You look like you're restraining yourself…”
“Okay, maybe a little more, but that's it,” he said. He ate some more, and he felt his pants get tighter.
They left to Jay feeling flustered, embarrassed and irritable, despite thoroughly enjoying the food. “You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?”
“We should go shopping,” he said finally. “Y’know, for clothes.”
The others seemed to approve, and they eventually entered a clothing store where Jay looked around and picked out a few things.
As soon as he left for the dressing room, Nya sighed. “I hope he's okay in there.”
Jay cautiously opened the door, sporting a striped sweater. “How do I look?”
“You look great,” Nya replied. “You should wear sweaters and sweatshirts more often!”
“Really?”
“Yeah, they’d look really good on you!”
Jay bought the sweater, as well as a few sweatshirts, t-shirts and pairs of jeans. “What are we gonna do now?”
“We should…” Nya stopped for a moment. “I don't know. Does anyone have a-”
“I detect a sign of Melody going out of Ninjago City,” Zane interrupted.
“Why now?” Jay complained, stuffing the clothes in a bag. “I thought it was our day off!”
“I hate to complain, but why are we chasing her around like maniacs?” Jay breathed as he caught up to them. “I mean, what's the point if she's just gonna run away all the time?”
“We need to find out more about her,” Lloyd replied. “When I first met her she wasn't like this.”
Finally, Lloyd grabbed her arm. “Hey! What are you-”
She turned into smoke.
“Hey! You don't smoke the Green Ninja!” Jay attempted to shock her out of hiding, but she just ran away again. “WHY DO YOU KEEP RUNNING AWAY YOU- UGH!” Jay ended up dashing after her, and once he had kept up, he breathed, “Why?”
Melody stopped, sighing. “Why should you know?” She folded her arms. “It's not like I have a reason to change anyways. You can unleash your 'power of friendship’ on me all you want. It doesn't give me a reason to go straight.”
Jay looked at her with sympathy. “Then what happened to you? Now that I think of it, you could have gone with Lloyd! I don't know what kept him from accepting you!”
“He probably thought I was cold and heartless.” She sighed.
“Nah, he probably thought he shouldn't go around chasing the chicks,” he chuckled. “Here. I’ll take you to him.” He reached for her hand.
“O...kay.” She trembled a bit, but held on. Her hand was cold and thin, pale as the moon.
Jay smiled at her, and they walked towards the group.
“Hey,” Lloyd said. “Did you-”
“Why did you leave me behind?” Melody’s voice was bitter, straying slightly from its usual monotone. “Didn't you know what I could have done for you?”
Jay stepped back, an expression of shock on his face.
“Look, I considered it-” Lloyd started.
“And you thought I was too cold, to heartless, that I didn't even bat an eye!” Smoke appeared at her sides, circling around the Ninja. “Do you even know what you’ve done? If you’d come for me, I would have actually tried to go along with you. But you just left me there.”
“No!” Jay shouted from behind Melody, but she didn't listen, proceeding to wrap the smoke around their throats, choking them.
“You knew how broken I was,” she told Lloyd. “Why didn't you take me with you?”
“Be...cause…” She let him go. “Because you acted like you didn't care. You acted like you were fine. So I left you alone. I didn’t think I would do this to you, Melody. I guess it was....a dumb move.”
Melody let go of everyone else, and approached Lloyd. She picked him up and then looked at him, and they shared a small moment, before Kai launched himself at her, causing her to turn into smoke out of surprise. She reappeared and Kai tackled her again, only for her to use her powers again and tackle him. Kai escaped and Melody looked at Jay, then at the others.
And there was an awkward silence, seemingly unquenched, for several minutes.
“Come with us,” Lloyd said. “You don't have to be broken anymore.” He stretched his hand out. “Just take it.”
The tall girl sighed in defeat. The smoke left the air and she approached him, taking his hand.
The Ninja took Melody home, and by that time it was lunch. Zane's turn to cook. He served gyros this time, wanting to try something new. They seemed to enjoy it, which made the Nindroid happy.
“So...we’re gonna have this time off?” Jay asked, swallowing his first bite.
“Just until we have a new threat,” Lloyd replied. “We should be on the lookout. Aquavesti or otherwise, they're probably pretty powerful, and we should prepare. Besides-” -he smiled at Melody- “we have some training to do.”
Melody nodded. Hanna smiled at her.
“I think Kai should go first,” Lloyd continued. “Smoke is a product of fire, anyways.”
Kai nodded. “Thanks, Lloyd. I’ll try my best.” He turned and winked at Melody, who blinked at him. “Eh, she’ll get it eventually. Come on.”
Melody followed him out, and Nya turned to Jay. “So...you want any more?”
“Come on, Nya,” Jay replied. “I'm probably big enough now.”
“Oh? And what makes you think that?” Nya giggled and pushed a delicious gyro into his mouth.
Jay bit into it and swallowed. “Okay, I admit they're really good, but why-”
“'Cause you're cute.”
He ate some more, then wiped his mouth. “I’m just unsure if this would still work, you know, for a Ninja, especially since villains tend to...insult their foes…” He shrank a bit.
Nya smiled sweetly. “Then I get to protect you.” She placed a hand on his shoulder.
Jay smiled, blushing slightly. “Thanks.”
“Ship it~” Cole called from across the hall, causing both of them to blush. He blew a kiss at them and laughed before leaving to do his usual workout.
“Shall I make more?” Zane asked, eyeing the couple.
“Nah,” Nya replied. “But you should try baking something. It’d be nice to have dessert once in a while.”
“I thought you didn't like sweets-” Jay began.
“It's for you, sweetie,” Nya replied.
“Hmm.” Zane eyed Jay with thought. “What's his favorite dessert to eat-?”
“He seemed to really like the cakes from the palace,” Nya said. “I'm sure he'll appreciate that.”
“Um...sure, go ahead,” Jay replied.
Meanwhile, Kai was in shock at Melody's skill with her elemental power. “Wow! You really- wow. I...well, maybe we should move on to hand-to-hand combat.” He held up his hands. “Go on. Punch 'em. Get those elbows bent and- aaagh!”
Melody had punched him with maximum force.
“Okay, you're really strong! But are you fast or nimble? Here, try to catch me!” Kai jumped out of her grasp several times, then said, “You're not trying hard enough!”
Melody then ended up catching Kai and pulled him into some sort of weird dance, and a dizzy Kai said, “...We’ll work on it.”
Zane smiled as he served Jay a plate full of little cakes. Nya knew that even though Jay had been pretty scrawny for most of his life, he was a pretty big eater and couldn't resist a good dessert.
Jay stared at the cake for a bit, then picked one out and began eating. “Wow, it's almost like at the palace! Zane really is amazing!”
“Haven't I always been?” the Nindroid replied jokingly with a small chuckle.
Jay laughed a little. “You’ve always been our Nindroid.”
Though Jay was still a bit flustered about it, Zane, Nya and Skylor all cooked for him and took care of him, and he felt spoiled, but he enjoyed it somewhat.
Jay looked in the mirror one day to find that his cheeks had a plush, baby-ish quality to them, his chin and jawline soft. “Wow,” Jay muttered.
Nya giggled. “I so want to hug you right now~”
Jay blushed, but Nya practically collapsed into him, snuggling up to his chest. “Woah! I almost lost my balance, sorry!”
“It's okay!” Nya replied. “Aww, did I hug you too hard?”
“Okay, maybe a little,” Jay replied, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.
“Okay. I’ll try to be gentle from now on.” Nya pat his shoulder.
“Oh. Good.” Jay pat her back.
Nya took care of Jay for a little longer, and helped train him as well to sharpen his skills. One day they were taking a walk when Nya apologized.
“I'm sorry for doing this to you,” Nya told him. “I was being kind of forceful, wasn't I?”
“No, it's okay,” Jay replied. “I'm used to it by now.”
“Okay,” Nya replied. “From now on, I’ll try to listen.”
Nya spoke up. “I just want you to know that even if I did do this to you, I still love you just as you are. Nothing will change that, whether you've lost your voice, become a snake, been taken by pirates, or whatever you may face in the future.”
Jay blushed. “You really think…?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I really think.”
Jay smiled a little and pulled her closer. “I can't believe our relationship has come this far. At first I just had a little crush on you, and then we started dating and I so desperately wanted to impress you...and then, even when our bonds nearly broke, we got back on our feet. I nearly...I nearly lost you. But...somehow, we ended up together again.”
“I always knew lightning was attracted to water,” a random, husky voice butt in, causing both of them to nearly jump out of their skin.
-The Aquavesti; I thought "I've gotta have a unique villain, and Ninjago's never had a water monster, has it?" They might learn more about how to resist and fight them later. I was also inspired by humans in science fiction/fantasy stories that either turn into or turn out to be literally monsters. -Jay was kind of random, but I thought it would be kind of cute for him to be a bit...fluffier...without being any less healthy or good at fighting, that is. (I've already drawn him a bit IRL, still trying to figure out what his exact body type would look like and stuff.) Besides, he's a big eater in canon (possibly not as gouttonous as Cole, but still). Also, I needed some Jaya in my life. Jay is about 5'3-5" in my headcanon (I say 5'4" just to not be confused), and weighs around 120-130 pounds in my usual headcanon. By now he should be around 150-180 pounds, not so sure. -Also, Nya is 5'6", so yeah, she's taller. -Melody wasn't intended to be a temporary villain. Steven Universe did that to me with Lapis Lazuli's character. (Dang it, Rebecca Sugar. XD) -Hanna having a spear was also a reference to the character Pearl of the same series. -The pork cutlet bowl Jay consumed at Skylor's place was a reference to a popular anime called Yuri on Ice, where the main character, Yuuri, notoriously loves the dish. (Also, it looks delicious.) (Katsudon is it's Japanese name.) --The reason my chapters have been longer than normal is because ProBoards is being a jerk to my writing and glitching out like every second, so I'm using Google Docs.
Cole snickered. “Sorry, I just had to. Anyways, if you wanna be all romantic, I know a bakery that just opened in Hanami Town.”
“Oh really?” Nya turned to him. “I'm listening.”
“It's run by a girl named Lindanne Jensen, and apparently it's really good,” Cole said. “So go do me a favor and try some for me.”
Nya looked at Jay. “You wouldn't mind, would you?’
He shook his head. “Not if you don't mind.’
“I don't mind,” she said.
They entered to a very sweet smell, and a plump young lady with a pleasant face greeted them. “Hello, welcome to Jensen's Bakery! What would the two of you like today?” Her voice was sweet, warm and lilting.
“Jay, what do you want?” Nya asked, and Jay looked through the options, seemingly unable to decide.
“Alright, I’ll order for you,” Nya told him, and she ordered for him indeed. Since she knew he couldn't decide, she simply got three items at random with a glass of milk.
“Alright, anything else?”
“I would like a glass of herbal tea,” Nya finished. “That's it.”
Lindanne was very polite and cooperative with the two Ninja, and she insisted on giving it to them on the house, since they were first-time visitors, and two of the Ninja at that.
“Why did you choose three items instead of one?” Jay asked as he sat down.
“Let's just say I haven't broken the habit,” Nya replied, blushing. “But I don't like sweet foods, so you’ll have to have all of it.”
Jay sighed, but ended up enjoying every bite. But once he had gone home, he noticed something: his clothes were loose, and his stomach had flattened. “I lost the weight,” he muttered.
“You weren't exaggerating when you said you couldn't gain weight,” Nya added. “I’ll get the spellbook- unless you don't want me to, that is.”
“No, do it.” Jay sighed. “If you want me like that, there's probably little other choice.”
“I found one that brings back weight one recently lost, but a counter-spell doesn't seem to be present,” Nya read. “Are you sure you want this?”
“Just do it,” he said, closing his eyes.
“No. That should be enough fooling around with that spellbook,” Nya said, then proceeded to tear it apart and throw it in the ocean below.
“Huh?” Jay looked down at himself, and then back up. Nya wiped her hands together satisfactorily.
Cole lay on his back, having just completed a round of weight-lifting and being sore and exhausted. “I could really go for a cold drink right now,” he admitted to himself. Rubbing his back, he got out to find Jay in the kitchen, casually drinking water and causing him to yelp in surprise. He had lost all the weight he’d gained, which was no surprise.
“Huh?” Jay put down his drink. “Hey, Cole.”
“What's in the fridge?” the muscular Ninja asked, leaning against the counter.
“Uh…” The blue Ninja stroked his chin in thought. “Well, last time I checked, there's juice, milk, a couple flavors of jam, several kinds of fruit and vegetables, lunch meat…” He counted on his fingers. “Well, there's a lot of stuff in the fridge, Cole, why do you ask?”
“Not helpful,” Cole replied. “I meant specifically, what is there to-”
Before the tall teen could finish his sentence, the walls shook, and a large rumbling sound filled the kitchen as something seemed to seep through the nearby door…
“That's not me, I swear,” Jay joked, raising his hands.
“That's not any of us,” Cole added. “I guess we weren't on the lookout-”
“I fixed your spellbook!” a cute, girly voice chirped, affected with a charming English accent. “It fell into the water, so I dried it off a bit~”
Something pink and gooey slipped through the door, taking the shape of a slim young girl...made of slime? She was holding the spellbook, which was hanging on by a thread. She gave it to Jay. “You look adorable, by the way! What's your name?”
“Uh...I’m Jay?” The blue-clad boy looked at her in confusion. “Why-”
“Milky Fraise, my pleasure!” She bowed low.
“You're...made of goo…”
“Slime,” she corrected. “Not goo. Huge difference. I'm a strawberry slime! There's a scientific name for us, but I don't think you humans would be able to pronounce it.”
“Are you all strawberry flavored?”
“No, silly! There are lots of varieties! Vanilla cream, blueberry, chocolate, honey, milk, and even slime-flavored slime!” She giggled. “You're funny, Jay! I like you~”
“Oh,” Jay said. He blushed a little.
“Anyways, let me see…” The slime girl circled around Jay, taking a good look at him. “You have a height of 54 trinkets, or 5’4” in your terms, and 60 gems, or 120 pounds…”
“So a gem is 2 pounds and there are ten trinkets in a foot,” Jay muttered. Why had she wanted to know?
“Well, I won’t bother you so much about it,” she said with a shrug. Turning to the side and covering part of her face, she whispered, “For now.”
In the morning, Milky woke up Cole and whispered, “I think something’s up with Jay.”
“Huh?” Suddenly, something hit the Master of Earth like a stone. Jay had been acting so nervous all the time, so unsure, almost as if he was exaggerating his natural traits. Jay was nervous, yes; anxious, yes; a little neurotic, maybe...but not to that extent. And he hadn’t seen Jay geek out or have one of his infamous Jay breakdowns even once. Plus, his eyes, rather than the bright dark blue, highlighted with such a lightning-like texture, now that he thought of it, had been a very light blue, almost translucent in texture.
Cole’s brows furrowed. “Bring me to him.”
But Jay wasn’t in his room. He had gone out. They looked everywhere, and finally found their third-youngest member walking away, walking across the dock....
Cole and his fruit-flavored friend followed Jay, causing him to turn around; his eyes were like mirrors.
“What are you doing?” he hissed. “Stop following me! It’s none of your business!”
“Yes it is,” Cole replied. “Why were you acting so nervous, huh? What were you-”
“I don’t need you to find out who I am,” Jay growled, then began to transform, almost agonizingly, into a water creature. “Let me show you.”
Cole thrust his fist into the Jay-creature’s stomach. “I so wish Nya was awake right now,” he admitted as he kicked his legs, tripping the creature.
Nya wasn’t awake, but Melody was. She burst through the door and summoned smoke, which twirled around her in a beautiful display, before tying itself around the Jay imposter’s middle, squeezing tightly. The creature began to wear out, before eventually drying out under the pressure.
Cole turned to Melody. “We have to find the real Jay. Wake up the others.”
The Master of Smoke nodded, then ran back into the bounty.
“Maybe he’s still imprisoned at the noodle shop,” Cole muttered.
“Then what are we waiting for?” Nya's voice trembled.
They searched the noodle shop, but there was no sign of Jay. This was going to be a long day.
“Well, if he isn’t in the noodle shop, he must be imprisoned somewhere,” Cole muttered.
“Really? Where could he be imprisoned?” Nya turned to face Cole, and instead of warm brown eyes, he noticed that her eyes were like mirrors as well. “Maybe…” She began to transform as well, then lunged at the other four.
Cole realized that she had been acting unusually giggly, while the real Nya was more competent and strong-willed.
This time it was Lloyd to defeat the monster, using his energy to burn it to the ground. “We’ve gotta keep going,” he said.
“Well, how do I know you’re not a shapeshifting water monster?” Cole looked straight into Lloyd’s eyes. Green as ever. “Oh, never mind.”
Lloyd spotted a hint of blue in an alleyway several feet from their location, and he ran towards it. There, gagged and unconscious, was the real Jay.
Lloyd quietly removed the gag and tapped on the boy’s shoulder. His eyelids fluttered, deep blue and bright like a spark. “L...Lloyd?” he asked in a weak voice. Lloyd was surprised to find that he was slender, like before he had been captured. “What…?”
“Jay!” Lloyd hugged the Master of Lightning to his chest. Jay let out a small chuckle and patted Lloyd’s shoulder.
They looked around, but she wasn’t anywhere. Jay was beginning to feel a weight on his chest. “Come on! She's gotta be, like, somewhere!” He started to lose hope. “Nya? Nyaaa?”
After hours of searching, the Ninja went home and Jay was crying.
“Hey, Jay.” Cole touched his shoulder lightly.
“Cole, I just... what if something really bad happened to her? What if she couldn't fight off the monsters?” He wiped a year from his eye.
“Try not to think about that,” Cole told his friend.
“But without her here, it feels like something’s missing.” Jay sighed. “Well, I guess I’ll try not to think on it too much.”
The blue book buried his head, and Cole left, but Milky entered. “Sorry about your girlfriend! Would shape-shifting into her make you feel any better?”
“Um, no, unless you're a phenomenal actor,” he chuckled.
“Try to keep your head up,” she replied. “After all, you are known for being the positive one.”
“Thanks,” Jay told her.
“You're welcome,” Milky giggled with a grin. “I'm sure we'll find her eventually.”
“Yeah,” Jay said. “We'll find her. And when we do, I’ll be okay.”
