Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It's another sunny, yet normal day for the citizens of Ninjago City, Lord Garmadon has recked the city for the fourth time this past week. Luckily, as always the ninjas defeated Garmadon and his minions just in the nick of time. The citizens start to rebuild their shops, roads, apartments; really about the entire city was destroy or broken but that was normal. Normal enough that insurances would always include "destruction by Lord Garmadon" bundle cover for any property and item that was well destroy. Few stores were hardly damaged enough that they'll ever need to use this insurance but it's good to have just in case. But never trust something so broad especially from your insurance.

" What do you mean my dented trophy cannot be cover by my insurance?!"
" Sir the trophy is not broken, we cannot cover items if they are in working conditions"
" But it is broken, not physically, emotionally, does that count?"
"No sir, your insurance does not cover emotional damage to items. By the look of this dent, it seems like it's been like this for a very long time. Are you sure it was damage today Mr. Dareth?" the customer service worker asks the mid-30-year-old man sitting across from her.
"Y-yes did you think I would have accidentally knocked over this trophy by accident when I was listening to 'Boo Lloyd' and waited until Garmadon attack to scam my insurance so that they cover my mistake. Heh yeah right that did not happen, not at all heh.." sweat started to form on his forehead to his brow.
"...security we have a 419, make him leave the building at once," the woman said holding a button under her desk.
"Damn another scammer we just kicked out one just now." one building officer said to his partner walking over to the desk.
"Yeah, people been realizing that they can just say Garmadon destroy something of theirs and can get cover without question" the other officer responded.

The two men pick up Dareth by the shoulder on both sides, dragging him out of the seat. "Wait I'm being honest, I'm not a petty scammer!! You got to believe!" Dareth pleaded to the officers. They didn't respond just kept on pulling him to the exit.

"Beat it, man, aren't you too old to do these types of scams? one of them said when pushing Dareth out the door.
"Yeah, don't you have some pills to take or pigeons to feed huh?" The other officer said hoping to get a reaction from his partner.
"Listen here I am not old, I am in my prime time. I am the powerful, all amazing, girlfriend stealer, Dareth how dare you two to insult me?"

The two officers look at each other and look back at this average height guy with a beer belly, his v neck brown sweater showing chest hair, and his well groom hair that was full of hairspray. They snicker and closed the door on his face. "Soooo I was wondering if you would like to get a drink with me as friends, not co-workers later today. Well, are you interested?" Dareth heard one of the officers said to the other officer when they were moving farther away from the door. Dareth look at the see-through glass door and saw his reflection and the two officers walking together up to their posts. He frowns looking back at his reflection realizing that they were right he is becoming an old lonely man. He picked up his trophy off the ground that now has more scratches than before. He walks away from the building looking down, feeling down. After some self-pity, Dareth looks up seeing a shadow from the top of his eyes, and saw this tall, muscular-slim man walking ahead of him holding some type of vase that one of its handles was missing. He was going in the same direction as Dareth's Mojo Dojo was. The strange man kept on walking and Dareth kept walking too right behind him only a few meters back. Suddenly the figure took a sharp right from the block. Ironically Mojo Doji was just two more blocks straight ahead. When Dareth walks to the corner where the man turned he saw it was a dark ally where the everyday sunlight hasn't touch. "Hmm oh well" Dareth look back ahead wanting to go to his dojo and house above it but his body turned right. Something was controlling his body to try and follow the man down the ally way. "Wait no I want to go home and eat some ramen on my couch while watching Ninjago next Ninja!" he said in his mind hoping that his body will listen but it did not. Instead, his body followed the shadow created by some lightbulb slowly dying in the distance. It disappeared and a faint jingle of a bell echoed in the now lightless alley. "What the?? What happens he vanish" Dareth asks himself forgetting that he never wanted to follow him in the first place but is now filled with curiosity. He paces forward the area where the shadow disappears and there was this door in the middle of the alley, strange and out of place for sure. Dareth open the door and...

Chapter Text

Dareth unlocks this strange door, a click, and rusty sound echo through the alleyway when he pushes the door open. He steps into a dark room where only a glimpse of sunlight reaches barely inside. Strangely he could see it was full of weapons, artifacts, and fine china plaster onto shelves all over the walls. Maps and scrolls scatter the floor, this room seems abandon but it wasn't dusty or dirty. The sunlight from the outside really shined this cleaned, well-fit room. This wasn't what he expected from a strange room somehow wiggle between an ally, to be frank, the layout of this somehow spacious room made no sense whatsoever. He slowly creeps into this room more and more like a wandering mouse exploring the rabbit holes on a hill. He let go of this alien doorknob finally having his hands next to his sides and then dropping his trophy onto the ground. And just like that wooshhhhh.

Dareth jumps up with fright, the little light from the outside disappears quickly within a blink of an eye. Dareth's heart pitter-patter as he quickly worried and then like a sharp pain in his throat bash him upon the wall beside the door. His eyes went shut as the force of the impact bashed his head, slowly his breath going slow. He akes with grunts and moans as this strange force felt human.

"Who sent you?" a mysterious man violently stated.
" I- I- aughhh" Dareth tried to speak but his throat held in a sharp grip.
The figure became visible at least the outline, he was tall but not frail. He had a lanky body shape but he wasn't just skin and bones covered with clothes. He was muscular, but not too much to be considered a bodybuilder. He was strong though as Dareth just felt one hand holding him up, his feet were hanging off the ground. Not to mention he was a roundish guy, holding him with one hand must mean he was strong. The tight grip becomes tighter as Dareth slowly losing consciousness, his eyes slowly open and close quickly.
"Ple-pleas-" Dareth tried to speak, but he couldn't finish just one word. Dareth thought it was the end of him, following a sketchy guy and going in a sketchy room was the worst embarrassing way to go. His eyes slowly shut as the lack of oxygen traveling to his head.

Then he was dropped onto the ground. Air finally moving through his head. Conscience finally allowed his mind to think about what just happen, he was just about to die!!! Coughs filled the quiet darkroom as the blood finally circulate.
"Hey who the hell are you!!!" he yelled to this figure. He quickly stood up while saying "Do you know who I am, I'm the brown ninja you fool! Once my ninja friends get a hold of this -" a woosh sound enters his ear. He looks back up to the wall it was a small knife fully wedge in, it was thrown to the right of him almost stabbing his head.

"You were saying something" the figure-man spoke with a deep serious tone. Foreign footsteps move slowly towards Dareth. Dareth in return moves back onto the wall where he was once strangled. His side-head was just a few millimeters from the wedged knife. The footsteps sluggishly move towards him.

"He-hey I- um forget what I said k, I was just kidding right, It's a joke haha right its joke." Dareth hesitantly tried to speak, "So-". A woosh hit his left eardrum this time, another knife was thrown, and just like the last one a few millimeters from his head. His heart was beating so hard that his mind only heard loud pitter-patters and the dangerous footsteps drew closer. He could now see the outline of the figure, know on his feet he saw how much taller he was compared to him. Dareth was just 163 cm (5'4) tall. The figure, on the other hand, was a tower compare to him, he was around 180 cm (6'0) tall. He knew that one hit from this skyscraper of a guy would lead him bloody and severely wounded. He braces for impact as he felt the figure breath on his hair but instead, he was pushed out from the wall. The figure opens the door and aggressively made him leave.

"Forget this place ever existed, if I ever hear rumors about this room then I will hunt you down and slash your nig mouth of yours got it!" the figure with a strict and harsh voice yelled at Dareth once he was out of the room. He knew that this figure was kidding either, his stone-cold tone made Dareth sink onto the dirty unpaved cement of the ally. This man would do this to him and would not feel any remorse. After all, that figure almost strangle him to death just a few moments ago. With a nervous nod, the door was shut in front of this brown wearing man. Within seconds this entire encounter hit his head as he walks towards the public street where almost all the building that was once destroyed by Garmadon was quickly getting repaired.

As reality hit his head that his dojo might not get repaired because he wasn't home to receive the approval from the government-owned and lead construction unit specially made to repair Ninajo City residence from Garmadon attacks. Dareth started to run down the two blocks left to the "Grand Sensei Dareths Mojo Dojo". Just in time, the government worker knocks on the door looking at his watch.

"IM HERE, HEY IM HERE DONT SKIP ME, HEYYY" Dareth scream to get the government worker's attention before walking away.
He turns to the man running on the sidewalk at well his full speed, "Are you Dareth-"
"Yes I am the Dareth of this fine establishment" he was finally next to the government worker, and out of breath.
"Well, will you show i.d. and consent to-"
"Yes here's my i.d. and yes I want my dojo to be fixed" he handed his now sweaty id card to the well-dressed man.
"I- ew, ok here's your paper just hang this on the door and some men will knock-"
"Yes blah blah blah open the door, give them a photo of how it used to look like and give them the paper for them to sign and let them construct yeah yeah its all memory by now. "

The government worker looks at him with tired eyes and just moves onward to the next building.

Chapter Text

A week has passed, Garmadon has attacked the city of Ninjago twice and the ninjas have defeated him again. The citizens of Ninjago went along with their boring life, but not one.
Darreth Mojo Dojo was always filled with yells, cries, and mostly clank, crash and chatter especially during the weekend. It was Friday afternoon the mojo was filled to the brim with little kids wearing standard Meijin karate uniforms. Giggles and hitting were the norms since it was about 20 kids for just one man to handle. That one man was Dareth, the dojo was named after, he's a self-name karate master even though he has no idea the basic vocabulary of the subject. Though he is much more knowledgeable about the "way of Karate" (as he says) than well most of the people of Ninjago other than the Ninja.

"Beware of me, I'm the new Red Ninja, hiya," a short stubby kid with blond hair said before he lung to his spare partner.
"How dumb of you, I'm the new green ninja!!!" a girl with brown puffy hair yelled out dodging her sparring partner's attack and punch him in the stomach.
The blond kid starting to snuffle his cries and burst with tears just a few moments later.
"Hey hey, what's going on!!" Darreth yelled over the kids' voices and walk toward the crying child.
"Jasmine tell me what happens to Tommy will." The middle-ish man said while consulting the blond kid.
"I- well um kinda hit his belly... BUT IT'S ON ACCIDENT!!" The brown puffy hair girl said while she touching her hair.
"Well does Tommy know that?" Dareth said finally making Tommy stop balling his eyes out.
"Umm I'm sorry for hitting you Tommy can you umm forgive me?" Jasmine said looking at her feet.
With a nudge from Darreth, Tommy stops crying and finally spoke "It's ok Jasmine I forgive you."

The two kids hug each other and just at that time it's 6:30 pm and all the kids' parents walk through the door all talking to one another. All the kids stop sparing and ran up to their parents to hug them. And with that and with a few goodbyes and concerns Darreth's job was done for the week.

Nighttime came in an instant, Dareth closes up his Dojo and moves upstairs to his home. After a lot of screaming and never-ending yells of pre-pubescent kids, the owners of the building realize that the home above can't be rented. Finally, with a bit of pleading, they allow Darreth to move into the small barely livable apartment. Before that Darreth just lived out of a sorely bruised and bang-out van, after he was allowed access to the new home he sold his rusty van for some quick money. That money was just for an emergency, though it wasn't that much and barely enough to cover a real financial accident; he was happy-ish. Well, he self-employ and lives in a real home but sometimes money was scarce and the rent was high so he did something illegal. No not something such as selling drugs, poaching endangered species, or anything that rough but it was tax evasion. It started by accident but soon enough he learns not just to keep his taxes low but to get the highest amount of tax return he can. But yet money was still hard, yeah he runs a successful-ish dojo but still, debt still touches his throat. Recently it's been tougher since Garmondon is getting better weapons and causing more damage than the current tax plan can handle, causing a spike in tax in everything. Darreth never really cares too much about politics, I mean he teaches with kids, lives above the dojo, and can't function as an adult. Hell, he eats instant ramen every night but still manages to somehow ruin it. But he was happy right? Why wouldn't he be?

"Shit, SHit, Shit!! Dammit, it's burnt again." He rushes letting the now black noodles cool down in his sink. Life was always like this for him, boring competitive. Sitting on his old musty couch and raggy pillows while slurping on the remains from his "dinner" Darreth started like always to reminisce his past with the ninjas. They were like friends to him, well not exactly he just allowed them to bunker in his dojo during a huge Garmadon attack here and there. But now that they reach their full potential not only with their element but as well as each other. The ninjas of today are ninjas who don't need any normal person's help, they completely forgot about Darreth. Turning on the small barely color tv the news was on, Gayle Gossip as always was reporting the everyday news such as a local cat is missing. Slurping the burnt noodles Dareth questions whether he has any meaning to living, he runs a dojo but that's it. Look at the poor quality tv and the entire "home" in shambles. The nonsensical blabber from the tv fade out of his head, just static was all in mind. "Man, I useless huh, I have no adult friendships, no family to run to, no one to care, my life is a joke heh." The brown wearing man said while setting his noodles onto the small coffee table, slowly hiding his face with his hands.

"Not even the ninjas, my old friends...", a small sniff came out from his nose while speaking out loud. "Who am I kidding, just myself, the ninjas were never my friends, they took pity on this man who has no entire purpose in life unlike them". More sniffle cries echo through the poorly lit room, the tv that was still on in the background just froze on the news, showing the ninjas happy faces during an interview.

In a fit of despair, Darreth threw the remote across from him, hitting the television in the process. Getting more upset he lashes out throwing the couch pillows he was perched on everywhere on the floor. The sound of an object hitting the floor moves everywhere in the now dark room. The neon lights from the streets faded inwards Darreth lackluster, flat second-story apartment. In the corner of his eyes, the remains of his dinner splash upon the bootleg fur rug, black noodles intermix with the wavy long rug hair, and the juices form a dark golden puddle underneath. With no reaction from the now cold man, Darreth walk toward the beads that replace the door between the living area and his bedroom. Slumping onto his just mattress, he lay there thinking of his actions, why did he ruin his already disgust home with his temper. Self-contemplation filled his head and the noise of the nightlife interwoven his ears to make a tired ma. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. Tears fall but no cries could be heard. Silent cries and hatred filled the room where it felt heavy on Dareth's body. It was welcoming though, it was normal for him, every Friday night the same thing happens to him, gets upset ruins his already ruin tv, and go to bed. But the ramen incident was new, he never went this furious, was it because of that. Since no one was close to him, the event of almost getting killed by that man was still holding a tent in his mind. That man was something different to him, why. "He almost killed me but I felt close with him, what the hell is wrong with me?" the man said why silently whispering to himself. His eyelids grew heavy and slowly the moments of darkness from the outside world fade into more darkness. The night went on and so did Darreth, sleeping after a fit of rage, still wearing his everyday outfit. It a normal Friday night for him.