Chapter Text
“Alright, so. The bad guys we’re tracking are going to the annual Heather’s Royal Ball, and we need to infiltrate it and swipe them.” Nya explained the mission as the four boys stood around the table in the bridge.
“Okay, easy. We just use stealth to ‘waltz’ in.” Kai grinned smugly at his stupid joke. Only Jay laughed.
“Nope, sadly it’s not that easy. There’s going to be guards everywhere. There’ll be too many even for you guys.” Nya continued.
“Well then, what are we going to do? We can’t sneak in, and there’ll be too many people to take out.” Cole spoke up, crossing his arms and furrowing his brow.
“We…” Nya paused and sighed, the outcome being very clear to her, “We need to ‘blend’ in.”
The four boys looked to each other and then back to Nya, clearly confused.
“You will dress up and go to the ball, as guests.” Wu spoke from where he was sitting, pouring tea into his mug.
“What? But we don’t have suits!” Jay exclaimed. There was a small “I do,” from Zane.
“No, dingbats. You’ll dress as bachelorettes and try to.. Ehem.. lure the bad guys away to take them out.”
You could visibly see the moment it clicked for the boys, as each of their faces contorted in realization. Kai groaned in annoyance, Jay clapped his hands excitedly, Cole flushed, and Zane didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.
“Lloyd and I will help you all get ready. The ball is tomorrow evening, so we don’t have a lot of time.” Nya put her hands on her hips and started plotting what each of them would wear and how she would transform them.
***
The next day
They were at a dress shop. The last place any of them would imagine themselves to be. Jay was in the dressing room, trying on his third dress that Nya had picked out.
“Done! How do I look?” Jay stepped out of the small room and all three boys smiled. It was perfect for him.
Cole was next. He tried on four dresses before Nya was happy. “This better be the last one, because so help me God if you make me try on another one-“ he complained as he stepped out of the dressing room. Nya gasped and whispered an excited, “it’s perfect!”
Then it was Kai. He only tried on two, because Nya already had a dress in mind for him. “Ok I’m done, but hold your applause,” he said as he stepped out in the dress. Jay stood up and genuinely applauded, as they all laughed.
Lastly, Zane. Nya picked out several different dresses for him, but he only got through one. Without warning, he stepped out into the waiting area. Nya, Cole, Jay and Kai’s jaws were on the floor. “Dude…” Kai said as he gaped. That was the one.
***
Later, Nya and Lloyd helped the boys with their hair back at the ship.
They combed, straightened, curled and gelled the boys’ hair. There was definetely a lot of complaining, but Nya and Lloyd managed to pull through and get them ready.
“Ow! That hurts!” Kai exclaimed.
“Oh shush, stop being a baby. It’ll all be worth it in the end,” Nya replied as she helped him into his dress.
Finally, Nya decided that it would be more inconspicuous (and fun) if they left the ship and met each other at the ball.
***
The ball was set in a lovely vintage wooden mansion, owned by old money. The rich family had invited all the richest and the royals to attend this year’s celebration.
The music was quiet and classical. The orchestra played in beautiful rhythm, having clearly practiced many, many times before, perfecting their performance. People wandered around, clinking their expensive champagne and talking to others as if they were better than everyone else.
The waiters and waitresses catered to the rich, walking around othering everyone small bites of food. Cole had gotten there first, and had his hands and mouth full of little egg bites. Kai was second to arrive, spotting Cole almost immediately. Nya had a microphone in each of their ears, and a camera sewn into each of their dresses.
“Cole! Stop that! You have to act like a lady, remember?! Also you’ll ruin your makeup.” Nya hissed over their comms. Cole remembered his role and discretely shoved the rest of the bites into his mouth, seemingly swallowing them whole. Kai felt equally disgusted as he was proud of Cole and what he’d just witnessed him do.
“You look nice,” Kai said as he approached. Cole posed dramatically and laughed.
Cole was wearing long black dress with light pink pearls cascading from the bottom up. He wore a sheer black scarf around his shoulders and long pink gloves with black designs that went up to his elbows. His hair was combed up and over, focusing on volume.
Kai was in a fiery red dress with many cascading layers of orange, red and yellow. It had pleats like flames, and a tight corset with many different shades of red and orange. His hair had been pulled back in a neat bun, with two wisps falling down his face gracefully.
The two boys stood off to the side, chatting with each other and waiting for the others to arrive.
As they were about to ask Nya if she knew where they were, Jay burst through the door in his usual clumsy way and looked around. Nya had stuck them all in heels, and Jay was arguably the worst at walking with them on, even though he’d negotiated his way down to the shortest pair.
“Well, don’t you look nice,” Kai smirked as Jay stumbled up to them.
“You look like a princess,” Cole commented.
“I feel like one!” Jay replied with a goofy grin spread across his face.
Jay was wearing a light blue gown with silver sparkles sprinkled all over it. His skirt had slight volume to it, and it twirled as he walked. His corset shined as he moved, the sparkles almost overwhelming. His hair was twisted up into a messy bun in an equally sparkly matching hairpin, shaped like a subtle lightning bolt.
The three of them, now only waiting for one, continued to chat and people watch as they waited.
“Hey, look over there,” Kai started, pointing at someone who’d just arrived. The two others looked to who he was pointing to.
“Woah. I’d hit that,” Cole added.
“Yeah, she’s really pretty,” Jay paused, thinking, “does she look familiar to either of-“
Realisation hit as all of their jaws hit the floor.
“Zane?!” The three of them gasped as he noticed them and started to walk over.
“Yes?” He looked to each of their shocked faces, half in confusion and half in concern.
“You— you look—“ Jay tripped over his words as he flushed a bright pink.
“I-I didn’t even recognise you.” Cole said as he snapped out of his trance and glued his eyes to the floor.
Zane was wearing a tight fitting white satin dress with intricate gold lacing along the lower side. It had a white corset top with gold designs and an open back. There was a long slit up the leg and a shiny gold belt tied tightly around his waist.
Kai couldn’t even form words, as his eyes stayed on Zane even as the nindroid waved his hands in front of his face. It took Cole punching him in the arm to take him out of it.
Somewhere back on the ship, Nya, Wu and Lloyd were crying laughing, as they’d watched everything.
“Alright everyone, get in position.” Nya came in over the comms, wiping tears from her eyes.
“Everyone remember the plan?” Kai asked as they huddled together. They nodded in synchrony and went their separate ways.
As Zane left, the other three stayed behind for a moment. “Nobody tells Zane what we said.” Kai whispered. Jay blushed and Cole nodded in agreement and left.
***
There were four men they had to take out. One for each of them. It was fairly easy to find each of them, considering they had green scales and sharp teeth.
Jay’s target was on the dance floor. He knew he was good at dancing, flirting on the other hand… not so much. He hoped his dancing skills would charm his target enough. So, he picked up his skirt, and sauntered onto the dance floor, immediately getting a partner. He needed to manoeuvre his way through the crowd, partner to partner, until he reached his target.
He waltzed his way towards the scaly man, nervously getting closer and closer.
He was passed hand to hand, strategically placing himself towards the man. Finally, he felt a scaly hand pass to his.
Jay looked up to yellow eyes, staring right back at his blue eyes. The plan seemed to be working, as the man didn’t let go.
Internally, Jay was screaming. Every instinct in him told him to punch the man holding him. He couldn’t. Not yet. They were still too public, they needed to go to one of the side rooms.
The song soon ended, and Jay thanked the First Ninja for everything he had ever done for him. Quickly, he remembered the plan. This was his chance. Luckily, it was almost as if the man was working with him.
As the floor cleared, the scaled man turned around to Jay and winked. Jay smiled slyly and followed the man as he left for one of the side rooms.
***
How does no one care that there are literal snakes here? Kai thought as he scoped out his target.
His heels clacked as he walked on the tiled floor, as he tried not to trip over himself. He definitely wasn’t used to wearing such attire.
Looking up from his uncomfortable shoes, he spotted the snake. He was drinking his champagne and looking around, clearly bored. He shifted as he saw Kai staring him down, eyeing the ninja in return.
Kai continued to walk over, putting on his best flirty grin, which for Kai, came easy. Acting feminine on the other hand, was a new feat entirely. The four ninja had been debriefed by Nya beforehand about how to act, and he was pretty sure he’d got it down.
He strutted up, heels clacking to a stop as he stood beside the snake, deliberately showing off, trying his best to bait the man next to him.
“Ahh, you come here often, miss?” The snake said, drawing out the last “ss” noise, as a thin, forked, slimy tongue slipped through his teeth.
Kai gave him most convincing amused chuckle, “do you?” He said slyly.
“Heh,” he huffed. After a (frankly short) pause, the scaled man continued, “what do you say I get you a drink and we go somewhere… quieter?”
Internally, Kai cringed. He hated every second of this. And he was still confused as to why Nya couldn’t have done this instead. To be fair, she was the least trained ninja out of all of them. And probably liked watching them suffer.
Kai snapped back out of his thoughts, giving a small nod and a smile that could melt millions. He followed the man as they slowly made their way to the bar.