Querencia (Rewrite)

S2 E4: Ninjaball Run

Lloyd was precariously balanced on one hand, sweat dripping off his brow. 

"Focus," Wu instructed, pouring two cups of tea, one for himself, and one for the stressing purple ninja. "In order to bear the weight of Ninjago on your shoulders, you must first learn to bear the weight of all of us."

Zane was balanced on Lloyd's feet, holding Kai and Jay on his shoulders. The two were helping Cole balance on Zane's head, as the black ninja held [M/n] and Wu on his own shoulders. The ninja were all sharing nervous looks, as [M/n] kept his face perfectly smooth, and blank on the outside. On the inside though, the ninja was hissing and spitting every curse word and threat he could think off at Wu as he held back his stress, and fear from reaching Lloyd. 

Wu sipped his tea as Lloyd wobbled slightly. "Focus."

"Sensei, I'm starting to think this was a bad idea," Jay said. 

"Yeah, Sensei, he's just a kid," Cole agreed. [M/n] gave a terse nod, barely moving any of his muscles so he wouldn't unbalance the tower. 

"In order for him to succeed, we must all trust one another."

Lloyd's trembling got worse as he strained to hold all of them up. [M/n] frowned when he heard machinary approaching the Dojo as he knew the noise would likely throw Lloyd off balance, but he ignored it. 

A massive wrecking ball crashed through the side of the Dojo, knocking everyone down. [M/n] and Wu both twisted and landed on their feet, tea still in their cups. Spinning, [M/n] shoved his cup into Wu's hand, and rushed over towards Lloyd and Zane, who was practically laying across Lloyd protectively. He easily pulled the two up, and did a quick preliminary check over them for injuries. 

"What was that?" Cole groaned, hauling himself up. They all turned to see a construction worker, and a foreman, both wearing hardhats, standing at the hole. The ninja all stared at the two for a minute before they actually noticed the ninja, and froze. 

Dareth charged through his beaded doorway, frantically shouting, "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! This wasn't supposed to happen until tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow?" The foreman turned back to the worker, "Let me see that order . . . Oh, yeah. My bad. Sorry about that, we'll be back in the morning." The two left, leaving the wrecking ball behind. 

"Uh, Dareth, what is this all about?" Cole asked, brushing his GI off. 

"Well, I fell behind on some of my payments and some developer named Darnagom Enterprises is buying the entire block to put in some stupid frisbee-golf course. They say if I don't come up with 50,000 by tomorrow, the dojo is gone," Dareth explained. 

"But, we already lost the Bounty. We can't lose the dojo now," Jay despaired. 

Dareth began ugly sobbing as he gathered up his fake trophies in his arms, "My trophies. Oh, my fake trophies!" 

"Wait a minute. 'Darnagom?' When you rearrange the letters, it spells—" Zane tried to explain. 

"O'Grandma?" Jay guessed. 

"No! Garmadon!" Kai snapped. [M/n] closed his eyes for a second, resisting the urge to smack Jay upside the head. 

"Right," Jay giggled. "That would would make more sense."

"Um, my dad is behind this?" Lloyd questioned, looking up at [M/n]. 

"If he destroys the dojo, where will we train Lloyd?" Cole asked, ignoring Lloyd's question. [M/n] pulled Lloyd tighter against his side, keeping his arm around him. 

Dareth turned to Wu, sniffling. "Any chance you got 50,000 in that teapot of yours?"

"Worry not, Dareth. You're not in this alone. We're all with you," Wu responded.