What if the Ninja hadn't escaped Ninjago? What if the Traveler's Tea kept them on earth? An unexpected storm awaited the Ninja as they struggled to get through Ninjago's darkest days yet. (I'm probably going to alter the story a bit to prevent giving away TOO much.) (Inspired by "Under the Night" from the old MBs, except that concerned the Final Battle of Season 2.)
-prologue-
They watched Ninjago fall from the then-safety of their ship. Evil, for once, was winning. And they couldn't allow it.
"We have to go down there," Kai muttered, glancing down. "We can't just do nothing."
"And I don't even get to say goodbye?" Jay replied, his voice unnaturally high in terror.
"We're not gonna die, Jay," Cole assured him. "The smartest thing to do would be to keep everyone safe. We'll stay up here until it gets too dangerous."
"But Nya's down there," Jay muttered. "We can't just leave her to the hands of Garmadon. I'm going down there, no matter the cost!" He began to swing his leg over the rim of the ship, but Cole pulled him back. "Nooo!"
"You're my best friend, Jay. If anyone's gonna sacrifice himself for the other, it's me," he replied.
"For your information, Nya's my sister!" Kai retorted. "I've known her since she was born, so I'm saving her!" He immediately lunged for the edge, but Zane held him back."
"Nya and Lloyd are almost like family to me," Zane said, a hint of melancholia in his usually icy voice. "Let me do it."
"No way, Zane!" Jay replied. "We're not gonna have you go away again! You know what happened last time!"
Crunch.
They weren't expecting it. But their ship was being crushed by the minute.
"Looks like we don't have a choice," Kai replied, looking up.
"I guess this is the end," Cole replied, blinking away the mixture of tears and dust in his eyes.
"Happy thoughts, happy thoughts," Jay muttered, closing his eyes.
"It has been a pleasure, brothers." Zane seemed to be the only one smiling.
Crash.
The world seemed to fold in on them, the walls of life closing in. It seemed all was lost, like it was really the end...
Jay suddenly gasped. "Guys, the tea!" He took out a jar and opened the lid. They all felt it, a strange, tingling sensation, and then they were gone.
Sand in his hair. Sand in his shoes. Sand on his face. Hot, coarse, and grainy. Jay sat up. His uniform was torn. His hair was a mess. His face felt scratched, and touching it confirmed this. Where was-
His eyes widened at the familiarity of the scene. A large gate, surrounded by a huge, round fence, bearing two names in flickering neon patchwork...it could only be one place.
The Ninjago City of his childhood.
Ed and Edna's Scrap 'n' Junk.
Jay shook the sand off his body and rose. His leg nearly gave out on him with a sharp, jerking pain, and he realized he must have landed on it. But he wouldn't give up. He would be safe in that old trailer with his folks, and safety was what he wanted.
Standing shakily, Jay limped and hopped, occasionally stumbling but getting up with determination. Finally, he clung to the door handle. How long had he been out? His aching fatigue made it feel like an eternity.
Nonetheless, Jay pulled the door open, ready to greet his parents like a soldier returning from the war. "Hey, Mom! Da-...huh?"
Nothing. No one. Jay was getting nervous.
"Heh...they must have just escaped somewhere, right? I mean, it's not like anything bad happened to them..." He laughed nervously. "Yeah, maybe they're out back with the old jalopy or something."
After a short period of rest, he ventured out and searched the junkyard digging through even the sharpest and heaviest objects to look for them. Not in the car, which was still parked in the garage...if you could call it one. They didn't seem to be working on any projects, and there was no sign of them among the junk itself.
Now worry was really biting, and it hurt. He screamed for them, hoping they'd here him, hoping to hear those Upper Midwestern accents again calling for their son. But there was only silence. You could hear a pin drop.
"I shouldn't be too worried," but his voice was shaking. "I mean, they could have very well gone somewhere else. It's not like they could stay in the junkyard in this- huh?"
A scrap of paper fluttered on the ground, wrinkled and torn. He picked it up, and his heart felt like a thousand knives.