Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Breaking into the monastery is possibly the dumbest plan Ember has ever had.
-
She slips past the gate easily, using her powers to dissolve herself into smoke and reform on the other side.
“According to the design plans I found, the weapons room should be the fourth door on the left of the main hallway,” Revere’s voice crackles over the makeshift earpiece.
“Thanks Rev,” Ember whispers, creeping towards the main door. They teleport through the keyhole, stumbling a bit as she reforms.
Her darkvision makes it easy to see down the otherwise pitch-black hallway.
“I don’t know what security they have set up in here, so be careful-“ Revere is cut off by static followed by another voice.
“Remember to kick ‘em where the sun don’t shine if you get caught!” Luna calls over the earpiece, laughing as she dodges Revere.
“Luna, give me the earpiece back! I wasn’t done!”
“Only if you can catch me!”
While they continue to bicker, Ember finds the weapons room. She teleports through the keyhole and starts searching.
-
She finds a sword with a retractable blade, not exactly what they’re looking for but close enough. They don’t want to be in here any longer than she has to be.
But when she turns to leave, their hoodie snags on the rack of katanas, which falls to the ground with a loud clang.
“Shit.” she whispers, teleporting out of the room and bolting down the hallway.
The lights all turn on, an alarm blares and something metal starts sliding over the main exit.
Down the hall, a door opens and someone yells, “Stop!”
Before Ember can teleport, an explosion of green energy hits her legs and knocks her to the floor, their gas mask slamming into the wood.
Lloyd stands over her,
“Who are-“
Ember sweeps his legs out from under him, jumps to her feet and runs for the other end of the hall where a window is.
She fills the area with smoke, hoping to slow down Lloyd.
-
A door opens next to her, and before she can react, something extremely heavy slams into her head.
She thuds against the opposite wall, blacking out.

Chapter Text

“What the hell, Cole?” Lloyd yells, coughing as the smoke clears from the hallway.
“It’s not my fault! I expected them to be taller!” Cole lowers his hammer, crouching down to examine the unconscious Ember.
Lloyd sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose,
“Fine- fine, whatever. Take them to the medbay and I’ll get the rest of the team up,” He grumbles.
-
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“Other than a pretty bad concussion, they appear to be ok,” Pixal says to the Ninja gathered around the cot.
“Any information about who they could be?” Kai asks.
“Ember Gray, according to reports she ran away when she was 12 from Styx. Officials assumed they were dead after not being found. Shortly after her disappearance their parents, Ash and Bella Gray, were arrested for aiding multiple criminals and attempted murder,”
“Wait wasn’t Ash the guy I fought in the Tournament of Elements? He has a kid?!” Kai says, confused.
“She seems to have inherited his powers too,” Lloyd picks up the gas mask Ember was wearing and examines it, “Hey Pix, can you scan this?”
“Of course,” She takes the mask and scans it, “Interesting, it is identical to the one the vigilante Fume has been spotted wearing-“
“Wait, what’s a vigilante?” Jay asks, barely paying attention to the rest of the conversation.
“A vigilante is a member of a self-appointed group of citizens who undertake law enforcement in their community without legal authority. A small group has been spotted in the lower parts of the city. Any attempts to catch them have failed,”
“Until now,” Nya adds, nudging Jay who is already falling back asleep.
“Correct. I advise we treat them with caution, she seems to be a skilled fighter,” Pixal sets the mask back down on the table.
“She’s a kid, how much could she really do?” Kai questions.
“If it hadn’t been for Cole, she could’ve bested Lloyd,” Zane points out, reviewing the security footage.
“She could not have!!” Lloyd turns red and the others laugh.
“You’re just mad that you could’ve been beaten by a 17 year old,” Kai teases, and Lloyd sticks his tongue out at him.
-
Nya shakes Jay awake again, “I think we should let Pix keep an eye on her while the rest of us get some sleep, we do still have training in the morning,”

Chapter Text

“EM?! Em, can you hear me??? Answer me you idiot!!“ Luna yells into the mic connected to Ember’s earpiece. There’s nothing but static coming from the other side.

“I think the earpiece broke,” Revere points out, grabbing the mic from Luna.

“No shit Sherlock!” Luna snaps, getting out of her chair, “We have to go out there, what if Lloyd got her? Holy shit- what if she’s hurt? I swear if any of those assholes even scratched her I’m going to-“

“Luna,” Kenzie places both of her hands on her shoulders, forcing Luna to look up at her, “We’re not going to get anywhere by freaking out. I need you to breathe. Ember is going to be ok, they’ve made it out of worse situations.”

“Yeah but-“ Luna is cut off by Kenzie’s stern look, knowing better than to argue with her now.

“Our best bet is to try to sneak around the back. According to this map, there is a door in the wall that we might be able to sneak through,” Revere points out on the beat up old laptop. Their voice is calm, but the drumming of their fingers on the box being used as a desk says otherwise.

Moonlight is casting strange shadows through the old warehouse the three are stationed in. It was abandoned forever ago, and the group had been operating out of it for years. It was falling apart day by day, the windows cracked and dirty, the concrete floor so cracked that plants were growing out of parts of it.

Luna is barely listening to the plan, instead focusing on twisting her hair back into a tight braided bun. She then fits her mask over her face. It’s a masquerade-style mask, with a crescent moon shape covering more than half her face. Revere made it for her out of wood, and she had spent hours painting it white and carefully adding gold accents.

“Luna? Did you listen to anything I just said?” Revere calls over, tipping their chair all the way back on it’s legs.

“No.”

“Great. I’ll have to explain it on the way then,” Revere groans, standing up. They run a hand along their face, wood following their fingertips and forming an intricate wood mask adorned with branches and leaves.

Kenzie pulls her mess of curly hair back into a fluffy ponytail. She is already wearing her purple masquerade mask that she had found in her parent’s attic. It is decorated with golden flowers that are surely plastic, but the look is nice nonetheless.

The three leave the warehouse, heading towards the Monastery.

Chapter Text

Ember feels like shit.

She slowly blinks her eyes open, using her hand to shield her eyes from the harsh lights. Her right ear is ringing and it feels like someone split their skull in half.

It takes her a second to sit up and really start looking around. Everything feels fuzzy. She remembers breaking in to the Monastery, finding the sword, fighting Lloyd and… wait.

Holy shit

Her senses seem to sharpen as it sets in where they are. Ember needs to get out of here before the Ninja find out her identity. But what if they already did? What if Ninjago police are already outside the door, waiting to arrest her for ‘misuse of elemental powers’ or whatever the hell the police were claiming against the vigilantes this time?

Her chest tightens as her breathing picks up. How long has she even been here? Judging by the light outside it’s late morning, but what day?

She scrambles out of the bed, using the nightstand to steady herself. She’s in a small med room with tables covered in medical supplies pushed up against the walls and two large windows casting sunlight across the floor.

She finds a pair of scissors and curls her fist around the handle, “At least I’ve got something sharp,” She mumbles, noting that all of the weapons she had stashed on her person were gone. She also grabs some bandages, painkillers and a bunch of gauze and shoves it into her pockets. Medical supplies are hard to come by and far too expensive to stay stocked on regularly. And in her business, a good bandage was the difference between life and death.

There are footsteps down the hall, and her heart jumps to her throat. She grabs her mask off the nightstand, cringing at how cracked it is.

Great, another thing she’s going to have to fix.

“I swear, Lloyd. I heard something move in there,” A muffled voice from the other side of the door says, getting closer.

“You hit her directly in the head. There’s no way she’s up already,”

The door handle clicks, and Ember freezes. Has two options now. Try to fight the two ninja, get past them and out the monastery with no way of knowing where she is. Or sit here like a deer in headlights and get herself in even more trouble than she already is.

Or the third, which is throw herself as hard as she can against the window.

It shatters, sending shards of glass into her arm and hundreds more onto the ground outside.

“WhAT THE FU-“ Lloyd yells as Ember takes off into the courtyard. Faintly, she can hear more yelling as chaos erupts within the monastery.

She easily teleports herself over the wall, losing her balance as she reforms but still managing to stay on her feet.

“Get back here!” A furious Lloyd yells after her, bursting through the Monastery doors.

“We just want to talk!” A much more calm Nya calls down.

“Yeah right, assholes!” Ember retorts, the bottom of the staircase coming into view.

A spike of ice encases her legs as she runs, causing her to lurch forward while frozen in place. She tries to teleport out, but the adrenaline is starting to wear off and the concussion is starting to take full effect. Instead of teleporting, she simply creates a puff of smoke that blows uselessly back into her face.

“Dammit,” She curses to herself, running footsteps coming closer behind her.

She uses to scissors still curled in her hand to hack at the ice, but it makes no difference.

“Fume!” A shout from the bottom of the stairs grabs her attention. The voice belongs to Luna, who is bolting up the stairs with her sword drawn.

A blast of water soars over Luna’s head. She stops short of Ember, backing up a bit. All six Ninja, fully suited up, stand next to the trapped Ember.

Mackenzie and Revere follow up behind Luna, clearly not sure what to do.

“Listen up, you four.” Lloyd snarls, face red with anger, “We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

Chapter Text

Zane shatters the ice around Ember, and she is grabbed by a pair of rough hands. She throws her body weight back, attempting to stun the ninja holding her long enough for her to escape. But it’s useless, the motion only makes her nausea worse.

Cole grabs Eclipse, who tries to punch him in the stomach and is stopped by Jay who is able to tie her wrists. Nya grabs Nightshade without much of a fight. Zane and Kai tackle Oleander and they try to kick away, which only earns them icy restraints around their wrists and ankles.

“You’re lucky I didn’t call the police the moment we caught you,” Lloyd remarks as he tightly binds Ember’s wrists with rope so that they don't attempt to run again.

Ember doesn’t say a word in response, instead twisting to bite Lloyd in the arm.

He yanks his arm back, still keeping a firm hold on Ember with the other, “WHAT THE FUCK?!” He yelps, “Did you just fucking BITE me??”

“No dipshit, I hugged you,” She deadpans back. Next to her, Eclispe stifles a laugh.

“Dude, you need to stop getting beat up by a 14 year old.” Kai snickers, walking next to Zane and Oleander.

“I’m 17,” Ember snaps, glaring at Kai.

“Same thing.”

“Both of you shut up.” Lloyd hisses, continuing to push Ember forward.

They make it back up to the monastery. The four vigilantes are placed on the sofa with the Ninja sit across from them.

“Take off your masks,” Cole orders, leaning back in his chair.

“We can’t,” Eclipse and Oleander say at the same time, trying and failing to move their arms with the restraints they had been put in.

“Fine, I’ll untie you both,” Zane sighs, getting up and walking over to the four teenagers. Kenzie, the only one not tied up, grabs Zane’s wrist as soon as he’s close, “Hey!” He yells, pulling back.

“They already know Ember’s identity, and using that they were able to figure out Eclipse’s. They don’t know me and Oleander yet, although they have some guesses. Which are wrong by the way.” Kenzie says calmly, and then removes her mask.

“What the- how did you know all that??” Jay asks, eyes wide.

“She’s a mind reader. Do any of you watch the news?” Ember remarks, noting how she doesn’t get untied as Oleander and Eclispe are, “Hey I’m still tied up,” She says as Zane is walking back.

“And you’re staying like that.” Lloyd says, ignoring her first comment. Ember rolls her eyes at him, and the two get locked into a staring contest.

Oleander removes their mask with a wave of their hand, the wood reforming itself into a bracelet. Eclipse sides the mask up above her forehead, not bothering to undo the complicated braid that she uses to hold it in place.

Zane runs a scan on all of their faces, not waiting for an answer, starting with Eclispe, “Luna Ara, 17.” He says after a moment, “I cannot find documented parents or caregivers, and no hospital records. She shares a lease with Ember on an apartment in the city.”

He moves to Oleander next, “Revere Castleton, 16. Adopted by Katherine Castleton and Annabelle Castleton. Possesses the element of nature.” And then he looks to Nightshade, “Mackenzie Norma, 18. Daughter of Neuro Norma and Lilia Norma. Possesses the element of mind.”

“Neuro had a kid too?” Nya asks, leaning forward.

“You know my dad?” Kenzie asks, sitting up a bit straighter.

“Yeah. We fought together in the Tournament of Elements. Same with Ember’s dad, and Revere’s too.” Kai explains.

“My birth dad isn’t in the picture.” Revere mumbles, still trying to warm up their wrists after being stuck in the ice.

“How about we stop talking about everyone’s family history and get to what’s important,” Ember says coldly, still glaring at Lloyd, “What do you want with us anyway? It’s not like you ever cared about us before.”

“You broke into OUR monastery. We should be asking what you wanted with us.” Kai says, swinging his legs over the arms of his chair.

“We were out of supplies. All we needed was the mechanism from a retractable blade.” Kenzie explains, keeping a steady tone.

“Couldn’t you just buy one?” Cole asks, which earns a laugh from the four vigilantes.

“We’re all broke as shit, working minimum wage to get food and make rent. You think we have an extra $400 laying around to buy new equipment?” Luna says grimly, propping her feet up on the table in front of her.

“Everything we use is built by us, stolen, or found.” Revere explains.

Lloyd sighs dramatically “I’m getting tired of this. I’m going to call the police and we can get this all taken care of, we have more important things to be doing.” He says, going to stand up. But he is grabbed by Nya.

“Lloyd, these kids are completely untrained and we’ve seen footage of them fighting better than some trained recruits. With real training they could do serious good for the city.” She says, the only one who had been looking at the group kindly the entire time.

“No. No way. Nya, they are criminals. They can’t be trusted.”

“We gave you a chance, didn’t we?” She snaps back, crossing her arms.

“She has a point.” Jay says.

“The city has had a noticeable decrease in criminal activity since the first reported vigilante activity.” Zane adds.

“Fine. But you are all explaining to Master Wu why we’re housing four wanted criminals.”