Written by: dxganronpa

Scarlett walked around the city, munching on some bread. She put her hand on the hem of her crop top, lowering it a bit--although it was pointless, considering the top didn't go much lower than her chest.

She also held a check in between her ring and pinkie finger, frowning slightly. Sure, she got a decent four hundred dollar check, but she also got fired. Rats.

Gotta pay rent... gotta pay rent... she told herself. While mentally scolding herself, someone was following her to her apartment.

Once outside the building, the voice startled her. "Okay, I won't follow you in there, so you mind turning around?"

Scarlett squeaked, almost jumping. "Oh! It's... you?"

The red ninja gave her a small smile. "Uh, yeah. I'm glad you're not... running away?"

"Well, I will in a bit..." She lifted an eyebrow in confusion. "You said you were following me?"

"Oh, uh... nah, I didn't. You're probably imagining things..." Kai crossed his arms over his chest. Considering his mask was still on and covering his face, Scarlett couldn't really tell his facial expression.

"Right... um, anyway, I've gotta go--" Scarlett went for the door, but the fire ninja grabbed her wrist in exasperation. "Huh?"

"Look. Maybe we got off on the wrong foot yesterday," he told her. "Do you think we can start over?"

OhmygodIthoughthewantedtokidnapme--

"Um, sure." Scarlett nodded. "Yeah, we can start over... so what's a ninja like you doing wanting to make friends with an ordinary girl like me?"

"That's... actually a long story. Maybe if you come with me, I can tell you?"

Nevermindheactuallywantstokidnapme--

Scarlett stepped closer to the door, her eyes widening slightly. "Okay, that's a sure sign of kidnapping and rape."

"N- No! That's not what I'm trying to do here!" Kai frantically waved his hands in front of him, his entire face turning pink. "Okay, this is going worse than I thought..."

"Look, I'm just gonna--"

"You're a ninja!"

Scarlett sort of froze, looking at him for a few seconds. She blinked. Blinked again. "Come again?"

"You're one of us, Scarlett. The reason my friends and I were going after you and Mia yesterday was because you're destined to be ninja," Kai explained.

She opened her mouth to say something, then decided against it. Once again, she said nothing for a few seconds. Did I hear him right? Did he just tell me I'm, like, a ninja?

Scarlett giggled. And then she startled full-on laughing. "One of you guys? Like, a fighter-type person? Um, you must want something from me. A date? Friendship? Name it."

"Actually, a date wouldn't--wait, that's off-topic!" The red ninja once again shook his head, denying--not totally, he'd think about that date--the claims she made. "I'm dead serious."

"Yeah, for some reason, I'm not buying it," Scarlett hummed. "Well, if you wanted to kidnap me, you would've done it by now, so at least I have no reason to be scared and call the cops."

"I'm a ninja. A savior of Ninjago!" Kai emphasized. "Why would I even do something like that? Oh, and we're good with the cops, so they wouldn't really help."

"Okay... well, try a prank like that another time. Maybe it'll work then!" Without waiting for an answer, she slipped through the door of the building and made her way up to her apartment. "What a strange day this has been."

* * *

Mia opened the door to her apartment, shutting it behind her. "Damn those stupid ninja...!"

Finally safe in her home, she shrugged her bag off her shoulders and put it on the floor. She walked into her kitchen, opening a cabinet and pulling out a dish.

Something then flashed past the window, and her head shot up. "Huh...?"

However, after a few seconds, only her breathing was heard. "Maybe I imagined it..."

She continued what she was previously doing, grabbing a slice of toast and placing it on the plate.

"Well, I might as well look over my files..." Mia told herself as she walked into the living room. She had planned to get her bag of papers and books and organize them over toast.

She didn't plan getting hit in the head with her own lamp.

The redhead fell to the floor, the hit making her vision blur. "Ow..."

"Hello, Brooklyn," a voice spoke. It didn't sound natural, it sounded cruel, raspy... inhuman.

"Wha... what?" Mia couldn't find any words to say as she put a hand to her head. When she pulled it away to examine it, there was blood on her fingers.

"Was that a glass lamp?" the voice questioned. "Maybe I left some of it in your skin—oh, looks like that wound won't stop bleeding anytime soon. Maybe if I leave you here, desolate from everyone else, you'll be less of a threat to us."

"Who... who are you?" Mia choked out, slowly losing consciousness. She tried to stay awake, she had to.

"I'm your worst nightmare. And just know... there's more of us coming. You and your friend are doomed, Brooklyn."

With that, they were gone. Whoever had hit her was now no longer in the room. She couldn't see very well, as she was going to fall unconscious but she resisted—but she noticed the many pieces of glass on the floor, and was able to tell that maybe one or two were in her skin.

"Somebody..." she breathed, feeling herself slip away. "Somebody, help me..."

* * *

Scarlett stepped out of the elevator, making a left and walking to her apartment door. She hummed as she searched her pocket for her key.

"Great..." she mumbled, seeing that it was far too deep into her pocket to pull out so easily. Instead of the shuffling of her hand in her pocket, she heard the shuffling of feet. "Hello?"

When she turned around, nobody was in sight. To be sure, she asked again, "Is anybody here?" Still no response.

This caused a small fright in her, which made her frantically reach for her key. Suddenly, from under her feet, a purple mist reached up and almost crawled up her leg.

"Ugh!" Scarlett jumped back, stepping away from the mist. "Wh- What is that?"

The mist followed her, and she took another step back. The farther she went, the closer it got.

Her first instinct was to run, and that's what she did.

She ran down the hall, but the mist followed her. It seemed to get bigger, too, as she ran into a wall.

Scarlett let out a scream as the mist grew to take the form of a person, and it held what looked like a knife in its hand. "Someone... help me!"

Running up the stairs of the building, Kai looked over to his comrade. "You said you sensed an evil presence up here, Zane?"

"I did indeed." The white ninja nodded. "They are on this—" They both heard a scream, cutting him off.

"Someone's in trouble!" Kai shouted as he burst through the door. While running down the hall, both boys saw Scarlett at the end of it, fearing for her life as a purple shadow-like figure held up a knife.

On instinct, Kai grabbed Scarlett before the figure brought the knife down, stabbing it into the wall. He held her in his arms while she had hers around his neck, her eyes wide with fear.

Before the figure could move again, Zane slammed his fists into the ground, creating a trail of ice that encased the figure. He sighed in relief, standing once more and walking over to his friend.

"Is she alright?" he asked, seeing Scarlett still shaking somewhat.

Kai looked down at her, frowning slightly. "Are you?"

Scarlett gulped and looked behind her, seeing the figure trapped in ice. To get rid of her worries, Zane went over and with a swift kick, broke the ice with it inside. "Now it's truly gone."

"And now I feel much better..." Scarlett let out a small sigh, closing her eyes. She then noticed that she was in someone's arms, and quickly jumped out of them with a slight blush. "S- Sorry..."

"No worries," Kai chuckled. "Your friend... is she here, too?"

"Who, Mia?" Scarlett asked. "Um... she lives on the same floor. Why, are you going to try and kidnap her?"

"We aren't attempting to kidnap you. But what you just saw could have gotten to her as well," Zane explained, his voice collected. "You two are in danger. You're currently in our eyes, but Mia is not. If you can lead us to her, we will explain everything."

With a meek nod, Scarlett walked over to Mia's apartment, which was about two doors down from where the three were standing. She knocked once, "Mia? It's Scarlett... are you in there?"

When there was no response, she looked to the two boys. "Guys... I don't think she's in there."

"We have to try looking. They could've gotten to her already," Kai said, looking to Zane specifically.

"I don't know who you're talking about, but it sounds bad..." Scarlett went into her hair, pulling out a bobby pin. A strand of it fell into her face as she bent down to be level with the doorknob.

"Good idea." Zane nodded to her. "Any way we can get in there is welcomed."

"Okay..." Scarlett turned the knob, pushing open the door after picking it. "Mia...?"

After seeing her friend on the floor with a bloody wound, she let out a shriek.