꧁𓊈𒆜"Chapter Seventeen"𒆜𓊉꧂
Having false hope

If there was one thing about my Father that I was absolutely sure of, he didn't like it when things didn't go his way. I mean, neither did I so I couldn't exactly blame him for his annoyance about Lloyd picking the Ninja over us.

I was annoyed to, but I didn't have time to think about Lloyd and his stupid life now, I had to think about mine if I had any chance of being at the top of the world one day.

Lloyd was being dumb. He'd come around.

Father was currently addressing the Serpentine in his office of the Black Bounty. I sat off to the side, partially interested but mostly not at all.

I'd figured out early on that the Serpentine were unhelpful. But still, it was funny to watch them think they'll have a share of my future.

They mumbled about ways to use the weapon, ways to put the Ninja off. Ways to destroy Wu and change the course of Lloyd's future.

"Instead of things that have already failed to destroy the ninja, how about something new?" He was getting frustrated.

He clawed the weapon, his red eyes looking into it as if it would come up with a resolution itself.

They muttered amongst themselves again, most of it utter nonsense. The Skeleton army were better then this.

"This is impossible, you are all impossible!" He yelled at the snakes, "Those Ninja always come out on top. How can I defeat ninja when they refuse to be defeated?"

I frowned at his words.

How could we defeat someone who didn't let themselves be defeated by others? What if they fought against themselves!

"Father," I called out to him, pulling his harsh glare from the Snakes, "We make their opponent themselves,"

His frown deepened as he stared back at me before his expression changed to one of elate.

"Yes! My son I knew you would make me proud!" He beamed at me, his praise causing a smile to appear on my cheeks.

He was proud of me.

"Gather me any ninja belongings left on their ship!" He turned back to the snakes, his usual disappointment in them returning as if he'd never addressed me.

We both waited patiently in a comfortable silence as the Serpentine rushed off, only to return with 5 coloured Gi. Only, two of them were the same colour.

An idea popped into my head.

"Father, before you continue," I paused for a moment, "Let me go with them, there's two Red, we could trick them further,"

Father thought over my request for a moment before nodding sternly.

"I believe that'll be best,"

I bit my lip, grabbed one of the Red Gis and rushed out, eager to put the thing on.

Staring at myself in this colour was a lot different to staring at myself in my own purple attire.

Red was one of Ninjago's safety colours which I was now breaching with evil... and they never know.

I lifted the mask over my face and narrowed my eyes at my reflection.

Oh yeah.

I could pass off as Kai alright.

Speaking of, my mind wondered back to the night I left and left me in my room a little longer then I Should've stayed.

"You--you need to go," He stammered, picking his towel off from the floor to cover himself.

His cheeks were flushed, he was embarrassed. Why was he embarrassed? It was just sex, not even that, we didn't even do it properly!

"Why are you being weird now?" I frowned slightly, "I thought you wanted this. You did want this, didn't you? I didn't... force you, did I?"

"What? No!" He shook his head quickly, "Just get out,"

"Kai..." I mumbled slightly, his voice had cracked during his demand.

I took this moment to actually look at him to see there were tears brimming in his eyes.

"Now Ashton," He grimaced, his eyes, though upset, oddly harsh.

I blinked at my reflection. He seemed to have a lot of problems to work out and clearly I had just added to that list.

I didn't have it in me to care.

I walked out of my room quickly, marching into my Father's office just to see 4 replicas of the Ninja.

"Yes, Lord Garmadon," They all chanted at the request of destroying the real Ninja that my Father gave them.

I smirked under the mask. This was going to be so much fun.

...

Walking down the busy streets of Ninjago City, looking like their sworn protectors was something I had never thought I would do.

And it was different, a lot different then what I was used to.

People were smiling at us, taking pictures, asking for autographs and thanking us for saving their lives.

People actually wanted to come up to me. It was strange.

But it had me smiling nonetheless. These citizens didn't know what they had in store for them.

"So..." Evil Kai pursed his lips, giving me a look from the corner of his eyes, "You usually wear red?"

"No," I told, keeping my voice level.

These people weren't my friends. Not yet at least.

If they destroyed the real Ninja then it would be considered. They might come in use.

"You should," He nodded confidently, "Looks good on you Sweetheart,"

To say I was baffled was an understatement.

"Kai!" Evil Cole scolded, smacking him round the back of the head.

"Whaat?" Kai huffed, annoyed with the hit, "It's something I think Good Kai would say,"

This sparked my interest.

"In general or to me specifically?" I wondered, stopping in front of him, ignoring the looks from Jay and Zane.

Kai took off his mask.

The first thing I noticed was the sly grin that was seemingly permanent on lips.

Attractive.

Maybe I could convince my father to let this Kai stay if all went wrong with the others.

"To you, Duh," He chuckled, fingers reaching forward to grip at the material of my mask too.

I slapped his fingers away, he made a sound of excitement.

"Oh!" He squeaked, "Fiesty, just the way I like 'em"

I rolled my eyes and continued my walk, ignoring the giggle from Jay and the continued scolding from Cole.

...

I was extremely proud of the four boys so far. I had stayed behind when they cornered Wu and injured him. I had watched from afar as Jay pursued Nya by kissing her and stealing the keys to a car she was working on for the real Ninja.

They were good at what they were doing.

As we reached the location of the Ninja, one which confused me, Darkley's Boarding School For Bad Boys, I separated myself from them oncemore.

It would only conduct more suspicion from the students if there were two red Ninja.

But... as we entered, we quickly came to find that there weren't any students or teachers around.

"Jay and Kai, go to the classrooms to see if you can find anyone. Cole and Zane, you roam the halls, I'll look around myself,"

They nodded at my command and took off in pairs whilst I turned back on myself and looked at the classroom doors that we hadn't checked in.

This was strange.

A school with Ninja inside, yet the students and teachers were being stealthy just like them.

We're they even here?

I stopped walking, conscious it was my footsteps making the sound I was hearing, only to realise it wasn't.

There were sounds of shuffling and frustrated growls coming from one of the classrooms.

I lifted my hand, along with it, a ball of smoke.

It could be the Ninja.

I braced myself before opening the door with a loud bang

The person inside let out a startled yelp before staring at me with joy.

"Kai! Finally, I knew you'd come back for me!" Lloyd cheered happily.

My eyebrows rose.

He was in his Green Ninja Gi, tied to a chair with shattered light bulbs around him.

"Did you just use your fire? Is that why your hand is smoking?" He wondered, turning his head like a puppy would.

I let out a quick chuckle.

Poor Lloyd, how naïve he was.

"I'm not Kai Lloyd," I smirked, pulling off the mask and fisting it my free hand.

"Ash!" He gasped, his eyes wide, "What are you doing here? Why are you dressed like that? What haplened to your--"

"Shut up," I hissed, putting the mask over his mouth to silence him.

His eyes stared at me in fear.

"If you scream..." But I couldn't finish my threat, no words would come out.

I stared at him in silence for a moment before begrudgingly finishing my words without the completion of the threat.

"Where are the Ninja?" I asked, sliding the mask off his mouth.

He winced, looking away from me.

"I'm not sure, I was grabbed by my old friends and put here," He mumbled, his eyes peeking to look at me, "Why is your hair black?"

"Old friends?" I almost laughed, "Lloyd. You didn't have friends here. They all bullied you,"

Lloyd swallowed and looked away from me again. Maybe I could've put that in a kinder way, but I didn't have time to waste.

I ignored his question too, I didn't want him knowing how I was stronger.

"You said they all hated me because they were all worried about the competition I gave them," He reminded in a small voice.

"I lied," I stated blankly, "What competition could you possibly have with a bunch of kids far evil then you? They'd eat you alive,"

Tears rose in his eyes but he stubbornly clenched his jaw and focused on not letting them fall.

"Have you changed your mind yet?" I wondered, smirking slightly, "Realized you're gonna lose and its better to give into the evil in your blood?"

"No!" Lloyd glared at me with a look in his eye that I'd never seen before, "I dont know what Dad's done to you Ash, but isn't you!"

"Shut up," I bared my teeth, "You don't know me. You never did. I put on an act for you Lloyd. I didn't want to hurt your pathetic little feelings but now I don't give a shit. You picked a bunch of Ninja over your own blood,"

He took in a big breath, looking on the edge of a breakdown.

"I want to help the world, you want to destroy it,"

"I want what needs to be done," And then I stood up tall, looking at him with a grimace, "You're not my brother Lloyd. A brother would stick with his family and not betray them,"

"You don't mean that," He shook his head quickly.

"Oh I mean that," I promised, "And when Father and I take over this world and you're left begging for our forgiveness because you lost...don't expect open arms,"

He made a sound of protest but I didn't care to listen.

I wiped my mask down to stretched it to pull over my face again.

"Fiyah," I sang mockingly as I made my way to the door again, ignoring the way Lloyd cried out for me.

I walked the halls again, wondering where the Bizarro Ninja were and if they had made any discoveries about the real Ninja's whereabouts.

I heard them laughing close by, sounds of lockers being shoved over and one familiar sound of someone begging to be free of something.

But then the sound stopped completely, as if frozen over by Zane's power himself.

"Drop the boy! Uh...me?"

I pressed my back against the wall, peering over the corner to see the real Ninja closest, staring at the Bizarro Ninja and their captive.

Oh.

This was gonna get good.

"He's of no use to us anymore," Evil Cole smirked at his doubleganger, dropping the boy who ran away in fear.

"Who are you guys?" Kai demanded, his eyes flickering to the other imposter in red.

"Your doom," He replied smugly.

"My early assessment tells me this must be Garmadon's doing," Good Zane frowned, looking around suspiciously.

"My early assessment tells me you will be destroyed," Evil Zane told with an ounce of sass.

Kai let out a frustrated growl which put the other Ninja on his team into action.

The good Ninja charged and proceeded to attack each other.

Cole took hold of his Evil's fists and fought with strength to pull him away, but the imposter, who had the same amount of power in his muscle, didn't falter.

Jay pulled out a set of nunchucks and started using them on his counterpart who deflected the moves efficiently. Both seemed trained in the art of attack and defence with the same weapon.

Kai was using his fire as his weapon, but the other look-alike kept stealing the flame everytime a new bud appeared.

Zane and his enemy were uncharacteristically standing opposite each other with no fight. It seemed like good Zane was trying to hack evil Zane's system, and Evil Zane was hacking Good Zane's hack of hacking him.

The fight was a disaster.

I had thought that having people just as strong as them meant they had a harder target but it just meant that they had an easier fight.

Both sides shared the same brain, both counterparts knew each other's fighting style.

My plan was a fail.

Father was going to be furious.

No.

But maybe I could still save it somehow.

The Good Ninja didn't know I was there. How would they react if another Red Ninja popped into the action?

"Ugh, we're so evenly balanced...ugh...this fight could go on...forever," Good Jay bemoaned, his fighting slower then what he had once started.

"We can't give up," Good Kai persevered, "Keep fighting!"

"Hate to drop by late," I jumped in next to the Good Kai to immediately take over in the fight.

I saw with extreme excitement how Kai's eyes widened in shock as he caught my fist but couldn't catch my other hands swing.

"What?!" Cole yelled.

"There's more of us!?" Jay groaned.

Kai faltered to the side, gripping his jaw in pain, leaning against a set of lockers.

Me and his fake ganged up on him, I couldn't help but smirk under the mask.

His eyes met mine, the Browns wincing in pain.

Finally.

This would be the news my father wanted.

Then why did his expression cause a slight falter in my action as I lifted my foot to kick his chest?

"Ninja, go!"

All of us suddenly stopped our battle, turning in confusion to see more Ninja running round the corner that I had just come from.

The blues, the reds, the whites and the blacks were alarming.

Father hadn't wished upon more, had he?

No.

He hadn't.

Because one singular Green turned the corner with him.

"If you land a punch, they'll be defeated!" Lloyd told his team.

Traitor.

"Hey, it really is Ninja Day!" Cole beamed, a surge of confidence flowing through him to continue his fight.

"They are trying go confuse the impostors," Zane realized, creating Ice under his fake's feet.

"Yeah, but it's confusing me, too," Jay complained, passing his weapon to a kid in a Blue Gi.

"Keep your focus," Zane grunted, his fist colliding with his counterpart who vanished instantly after.

I watched, startled as Cole pushed his fake back then used Spinjitzu to make his doubleganger dissapear.

"Don't think you can get rid of us that easily," Bizarro Jay threatened, "By the way, did I mention that I kissed Nya?"

"What?!" Jay screeched, "You did what?!"

The blue Ninja, now with fury controlling his actions, grabbed his fake's shoulders, jumped over him and kicked him in the back, black smoke taking place of the evil.

"Nobody kisses my girl!"

Beside me, seemingly fully recovered and something that I hadn't expected, Kai leaped from his slouched position and punched the fake Kai in the face.

He vanished too.

Then the Brown eyes turned to me.

And they were angry.

"Wait! That isn't a fake!" Lloyd yelled in warning, but Kai seemed too far angered to listen.

He lifted his fist again and knocked me hard in the jaw. I staggered back from the hit, it taking a long second to compose myself.

When I looked up, I was met with four pairs of confused eyes and one pair of hurt ones.

I noticed that Jay was looking at Cole with concern, Zane was fiddling with his fingers, and Kai was fisting his hands.

He was standing directly in front of me, it was kinda hard not to notice the small parts of the real Red Ninja.

I mustered a small smirk as I lifted the mask over my head with one hand.

His eyes widened.

"Ash..." My name slipped from his lips.

The rest of the Ninja aside from Lloyd gasped at my new appearance.

I hope they thought it made me look hot and evil.

If raised my black gloved hand to my lip, pulling it away to see that it had darkened in colour.

"You bust my lip," I noted, my tongue peeking out to lick the blood away.

For a split second, I saw a hint of regret in his eyes.

"How are you supposed to kiss me now?" I teased, letting our little secret partially out of the bag.

"Woah," Jay whispered, but said loud enough to he heard.

Kai hissed furiously, not an ounce of apology showing in his eyes now.

He stepped forward, aiming to cause me more pain evident in the way he moved.

But I surprised all of them by jumping then kicking back, twisting my body confidently until the Red glow of Spinjitzu knocked him back.

He was again, deemed back to the lockers.

The others were too shocked to move.

Lloyd was frozen in fear.

"I'm stronger now," I rose an eyebrow, "Get ready for some competition boys, you're gonna need the skill once you find out what you're up against,"

"Fuck you," Kai bared his teeth, pulling his mask off with a huff, his hair dishevelled, his face red in anger.

"Yeah yeah," I waved him off, a short chuckle leaving my mouth, "I know Kai,"

I hoped he understood that I was inferring to our night alone.

I shoved past Zane who looked upset on my barging, before I passed Lloyd.

"Think about what I said," I glared at him, watching him nod quickly.

"What did he say to you!?" Kai yelled, quickly removing himself from the lockers, "What did he say to you!?"

"What did he mean kiss!?" Lloyd bit back with a similar tone.

The desperate tone in Kai's voice mixed with the anger in his veins made me smile as I walked out of the building.

Lloyd’s deadpan made me hold back a laugh.

Maybe splitting them up was easier then I thought it would be.

Hey so I made an evil Asher aesthetic.

I feel like the change Garmadon did to him made the tops of his hair dark.

Envision this, the under of his hair is his natural blonde but the evil passing from Garmadon has bleached his hair so its sorta a 50/50 of colour? Does that make sense?