Lego Ninjago Rising Dragon: Raya's Journey (Under Editing) (Re-Write)

Chapter Three: Gangs of the Sea

The Ninja flew to the back of the Monastery of Spinjitzu on their dragons. One by one, the dragons dove down to the hole that leads them into the Dragon Stables. Zane and Winter flew in first, then Kai and Blaze flew in behind with Wyldfyre and Heatwave behind them. Sora and Dragon Sora flew up behind them while Nya and Jiro flew into the tunnel too. Raya and Estrella flew into tunnel while Arin and Boulder flew up behind her. Lastly, Lloyd and Protector flew down into the tunnel.
Once they finished encouraging their dragons friends to get some rest in, the Ninja went into the hangar for the next plans of their next mission ahead. The hangar bay is a large underground base located inside the Mountains of Impossible Height and underneath the Monastery of Spinjitzu. Raya could see the other Ninja on the main deck of the hangar bay, and there seemed to be an urgent meeting happening.
"We think the three Dragon Cores can be found somewhere here, here, and here," explained Nya. "We have to find all of them if we want to stop the MergeQuakes and stabilize the world."
"So, we have to split up into three teams," Lloyd cut in, Arin looked downright hopeful and excited. "Now, how do you wanna—"
"Me and Sora." Nya placed an arm over Sora's shoulders.
"Yeah!" Sora nodded with a smile. "Me and Nya." That's when Riyu jumped up onto the table while wagging his tail and panting eagerly as Sora gently petted him. "And Riyu. We're a team."
"Then me and Arin will be a team." Lloyd glanced at Raya hopefully, whose expression softened into a gentle smile and nodded. "And Raya will be a team."
"Sounds good. And that leaves..." Arin and everyone looked at both Kai and Wyldfyre nervously.
"With her?!" Kai exclaimed.
"With him?!" exclaimed Wyldfyre simultaneously.
The two hotheads both glared at each other and spoke simultaneously to each other. "Don't get us into trouble!"
"I will remain here at the monastery to deal with any MergeQuakes that arise," spoke up Zane. "And to also work on figuring out the portal gates. There is a high percentage chance the gates are tied to the Merge. Perhaps since I woke on the Imperium side of the gate, they will be the key to finding the other ninja. And Pixal.." A look of desperate hope and love for his partner went over his expression.
"Thanks, Zane." Nya nodded understandingly. "That could change everything. Sora, let's go."
At that moment, Dragon Sora had leaped up from the Dragon Stables and landed in the main room of the hangar bay while accidentally knocking the table away.
"Right, I guess Sora should be coming too," said Nya. Human Sora and Dragon Sora both exchanged confused looks. "I was talking to Sora. Oh, uh, the other Sora, not that Sora." Human Sora and Dragon Sora both exchanged another confused look. "Both of you! Ugh. We're headed out, me and Sora."
"Which one?" Arin asked Nya curiously.
"The person!" Nya frustratedly pointed at Human Sora. "Us, and Riyu, are gonna travel by dragon, which includes Sora."
"Which one?" Arin asked Nya again.
"The dragon!" Nya sighed and facepalmed. "This name thing is gonna be a problem."
"If they're traveling by dragon, then so are we," said Wyldfyre. "I will ride on my family, Heatwave."
"I'll get a lift from Blaze," Kai said.
At that, the two Fire Dragons both flew up onto the platform of the hangar bay. Heatwave nuzzled Wyldfyre while Kai patted Blaze with a smile. But Wyldfyre started bickering with Kai yet again.
"Glad I'm not in that group," admitted Arin quietly to his team.
"You and me both," Raya whispered.
"You two and I are gonna take the Destiny's Bounty," Lloyd said to them. "Flying by airship should be easy. Smooth sailing ahead."
At that, the respective teams of three started to head out of the hangar while Zane has gotten back to work on, but Mr. Frohicky tongued him to clean him, and Zane sighed.

The sun had started to rise to from the horizon and the faint silver of the moon could hardly be seen in the morning sky. The Destiny's Bounty could be seen sailing through the sky and was outlined by the sunlight.
"The Dragon Core's supposed to be out across the ocean, so I think we're on the right track." Lloyd was carefully steering the flying pirate ship.
"Should be smooth air," Arin noted as he gazed at the clear skies and the ocean below. He soon looked at Lloyd curiously. "What are we gonna do in the meantime?"
"I know just the thing." Lloyd smiled knowingly at him.
Around noon hours, Raya had seated herself cross-legged on a meditation mat and was attempting a bit of meditation to clear her head. She took notice that Lloyd was meditating next to her with Arin next to him.
Arin stood up, looking bored and sheepish. "Uh, this is fun and all, but maybe we can do something less close to sleeping?"
"Mindfulness is about being awake," Lloyd told him. "Paying attention. But that reminds me... remember in Dorama's theater, when you somehow gave Spinjitzu power to an inanimate object?" He soon up and placed a hand on Arin's shoulder.
"I haven't been able to do it since," admitted Arin. "I'm starting to think I imagined it."
"No, you did that." Lloyd smiled at him warmly. "And there's no reason you can't do it again. Your self-taught Spinjitzu is a bit wonky, but it's incredible you learned it on your own. It makes sense to me you have other skills you haven't tapped into yet. We just have to learn what's holding you back." He handed his students a plate. "Throw it, and try to give it Spinjitzu power." Arin tried to do it, but the task failed as the plate landed in front of Raya.
"Well, that's one plate to clean up." Raya picked up the plate and placed it on the nearest box.
"It's okay." Lloyd patted Arin's shoulder. "Remember your mindfulness. Focus, and try again."
Arin struggled to focus and tried again, but the plate flew off the ship, nearly hitting some seagulls. "Sorry!"
"Don't worry!" Lloyd smiled at Arin reassuringly. "One less plate for me to wash."
Soon, they were playing catch with a plate and Raya got a weird image of him playing catch with a young boy who looked like him. She quickly shook her head. Raya may be traveling with him, but she still barely knows him. Also, they were on a mission and this was no time to think of a future that most likely won't happen.
"Come on. Focus. You can do this!" Raya glanced at Arin self-encouragement to himself. "Think. What did you do when you did this last time?"
Arin soon did his bright orange Spinjitzu and threw the plate, which was glowing with the orange energy of Arin's Spinjitzu. "I did it!"
And at that moment, that's when Lloyd was unexpectedly tackled down to the ground by an unknown force. He cried out in surprise. But when he looked at his back, Lloyd relaxed when he saw Raya on the ground next to him. The two of them both stood up and cringed at the sight of the flashing orange lights coming from the engine and she could see that it was destroyed by the plate.
"That was the last of our dinner plates," Lloyd stated.
"What happened?" Arin asked them.
Lloyd started checking on the ship's engine. "I'm thinking the plate spun right through the engine."
Raya observed the trashed engine. "Arin, I think you had accidentally destroyed the ship's engine."
"Well, the good news is... I gave it Spinjitzu Power?" Arin gave them a sheepish grin at the duo.
Raya paled as the ship's engine started to stop working. That's when the ship started falling from the sky. Raya cried out in fear and held onto the railing desperately while Lloyd tried to get the steering wheel working with Arin's help.
"Keep it steady!" Lloyd yelled to Arin.
They soon landed onto the ocean's surface with a loud splash. Raya was soon soaked to the skin and felt winded by the sudden shock. It took her a while to calm down by Lloyd's gentle comfort and they started checking on the ship's damages with Arin.
"Structurally, the hull's still good, so we're not gonna sink," Arin told them. "I hope."
"But the engines are cooked, and there's no way to fix them without equipment." Lloyd looked through their remaining supplies. "Without engines, there's no way to fly, and no way to call anyone for help."
"We just have to paddle our way out." Arin started searching through their supplies. "With this!" He held up a mop. "No, wait. With this!" He held up a rake. "Don't we have any paddles on this ship?"
"Airships usually don't need them." Lloyd smiled at him warmly. "But, we do have these." After hitting a button on the steering wheel, the sails have opened up and has managed to catch the wind that'll blow them somewhere in the right direction. At least, that's what Raya hoped it'll take them to.
"Oh yeah." Arin nodded. But he soon noticed that the ocean had changed color from blue to red. "Hey, Lloyd! Check this out."
"This must be a mix of the blue ocean of Ninjago, with red water from some other realm," said Lloyd observantly. "And it all came together in the Merge."
"The Merge just makes everything so odd," Raya noted as she took in the sight.
They soon spotted a familiar aircraft overhead in the sky. As both Lloyd and Arin started yelling and shouting to the aircraft, Raya remained silent. She narrowed her eyes warily at the aircraft, remembering that a similar aircraft had captured Estrella when Raya was playing catch with her dragon friend. But the aircraft had disappeared into the clouds before Raya could transform into her owl form. As Lloyd and Arin both grumbled to each other, annoyed at the driver.
Raya soon noticed an outline of a structure was appearing from the horizon with Arin. "What is that?" The sunlight shone through the clouds onto the coastal city. Raya spotted some patches of Algae, it's probably an Algae Farmers' Village. The collection of houses were on wooden decks and floorboards, and smoke rose from the chimneys. Red lanterns are hung on the houses with black roofs.
Lloyd joined her side. "That looks like a place we might find some help." As the sailed closer, Raya eyed the village warily. "Hello? Hi! Our ship's engines have taken damage!"
"Which was sorta, kinda, a little, totally my fault," admitted Arin sheepishly.
She was wary when she spotted five Merlopians ocean gang walking out of the village, wielding their archery when they saw them and pointing it towards their direction. "Destroy the interlopers!"
"I'm guessing they're not interested in helping us!" Arin yelped as he dodged the flying arrows.
"Gah!" Raya started dodging from the flying arrows and struggled of not getting hit by the arrows. "I think this lot doesn't like visitors!"
"I'm getting the same idea," agreed Lloyd. "We gotta get out of here!"
As Arin tried to steer the Destiny's Bounty, they heard a lot of noise coming up from behind the ship. Raya gasped at the terrifying sight before them. Rising from the depths of the water was a giant crab monster. She's not sure where the giant crab monster came from, but she figured that it's being mind controlled by the Ocean Gang.
"There's a little bit of a hiccup in the 'getting out of here' part," admitted Arin nervously.
"Sink the ship!" yelled the leader. "Destroy the interlopers!"
"What is that?" Arin pointed at the giant crab monster.
"A crab," explained Lloyd. "It's like a crustacean, but—"
"We both know what a crab is mate!" Raya jumped out of the way of another arrow. "But they're not usually as big as a house!"
The crab picked up its claw and growled at them, clearly threatening them. The crab looked ready to fight the Ninja and sank the ship.
"Well, the house crab is rude," Raya chimed in.
"You understand it?" Lloyd asked incredulously.
"No, but I can sure guess." The crab swung its claw back. Arin got out of the way and Lloyd took Raya with him to the other side of the ship to avoid getting killed.
"How'd they get a giant monster crab!?" Arin asked from up top of the ship.
"Destroy the interlopers!" The snake in charge yelled again.
"You must be short-circuiting if you can only repeat that one phrase!" Raya yelled at him.
"Don't patronize him! We're in enough danger as it is!" Arin told her nervously.
She just rolled her eyes at him. "Tell that to the bloke who was attacking us when we needed help!"
"I don't know, but it looks like that guy is controlling it with that crown." Lloyd saw a red crown on the Ocean Gang's leader. "We have to get it off the ship!"
The trio each tried to loosen the crab's hold, but it suddenly attacked them with a beam of energy. Lloyd, Arin, and Raya jumped out of the way of the beam of energy.
"Hold on!" Lloyd returned to the steering wheel to put up the defensive weapons up. He adjusted the ship and fired cannons at the crab, finally managing to get away from the crab and the village.
With a weary sigh, Raya collapsed onto the ground and was recovering from her startled shock. "That was terrifying."
"They should really put up a sign if they don't want visitors." Even Arin sounded winded as he fell down next the railing.
They stopped moving and Lloyd seems to be working on something. Then again we seemed to be slowly sinking so that might be a good call. Arin went over to join him and they both talked. Thump! Did something hit then? Raya peered over the edge of the ship and not a moment later Arin and Lloyd joined her. Are those boxes? Or is she seeing things? Like a tiny village for example. Nope, not imagining things, that's a tiny village... Or what's left of it.
"They seem friendly," Arin said.
He earned an incredulous, but weary look from Raya. Did he not learn from the fact they were just attacked a little bit earlier today?
He waved at them while Lloyd looked wary too. "How so?"
"They're not shooting arrows at us," admitted Arin. "Or attacking us with a giant crab monster." Both Lloyd and Raya exchanged wary looks as they gazed at the people.
"They look like farmers," noted Raya.
Lloyd soon caused the ship to dock by the tiny village and approached it. There were about seventeen people, at least that's what Raya had counted quietly.
"Hey there." Lloyd soon stepped towards the people. "We, uh, have a problem with our ship. Is there anyone here that could help fix our engines?" A young woman nodded to Lloyd's question and pointed to an agitated man (the villager told them his name was Dale) who was building boat additions onto a bathtub.
"Reckon we got a good news, bad news situation," said Dale. "I could work on your engine, but I need to get back to my shop, which is impossible."
"Why?" Arin asked Dale. "Where's your shop?"
"You happen to pass by a big floating structure overrun by nasty jerks with arrows and a giant crab guarding it? That's where." Raya sighed wearily at Dale's blunt answer, understanding their situation. "That used to be our home, at least till that Merlopian gang showed up. The leader of the gang controls a giant crab, if you can believe it. They took over our home, and we've been stuck floating on this thing ever since."
"We ran into the same gang and their obnoxious crab," Lloyd said.
"No kidding," agreed Raya. "That thing almost took us out."
"We're just peaceful algae farmers," Grace said. "But ever since the Merge, strange characters have been coming through, like that ocean gang."
"They stole all our village and they eat all our algae," added Justin. 
"If we don't find land soon, we'll all starve," Raine said.
"Why don't you just fight and take your home back?" asked Arin.
"What, and take on that gang and their crab?" Dale asked. "We're farmers. We ain't fighters."
"We can help you get your village back," said Lloyd. "You need a place to live, and we can't go anywhere until our engines get fixed."
"The same thing was said about Formlings, but I proved it wrong by fighting alongside my friends," spoke up Raya boldly.
"So, we can solve both problems by going back and kicking Ocean Gang butt!" Arin exclaimed excitedly.
"As long as you are willing to stand up and fight," added Lloyd. "We'll train you with the materials you have on hand."
🌑🌑🌑🌑🌑🌑🌑
By nightfall, a Merlopian spotted a raft with a note on it floating towards the docks of the village. He frowned at the sight and looked around warily, but he couldn't see anything. He took the note, but he couldn't make out the writing in the shadows of the night.
"It's too dark to read," The Merlopian grumbled under his breath.
"Ugh, it says 'look behind you'."
The Merlopian nodded understandingly at the unknown voice. "That's what it says? Huh. Maybe it's time for me to finally get some reading glasses." But he soon realized the problem. He quickly turned around, but gets kicked into the sea by Arin.
"Now!" Lloyd called out.
Lloyd, Raya, and Arin had each taught the farmers how to defend themselves from a fight and how to use any sort of weapon to protect themselves from their enemies.
Everyone started fighting against the Ocean Gang fiercely in the village. Raya was soon kicking more a lot of heck out of the thugs than Kim Possible in her movies. One of the thugs grabbed her from behind. She stomped onto their foot, grabbed their arm and flung them into a group of three others. But as they regroup with each other, they soon spotted Lloyd finishing off his fight.
"Any sign of the leader?" Lloyd asked them.
"No, but he has to be around here somewhere," replied Arin.
"We better hurry though." Raya eyed the still waters warily. "That crab monster might come back again."
"We need to find him and get his crown, before he can call the giant crab," said Lloyd. Everyone stiffened when they suddenly saw a terrifying sight before them. Rising from the depths of the water was a giant crab monster. The villagers screamed, horrified at the sight. "Too late."
Some of them began to run away from the crab not wanting to be hit in any crossfire. "Too late." Raya heard Lloyd say. Lloyd soon ran in the opposite direction with the rest and Raya grabbed Arin before he could do something stupid.
More snakes came and started shooting arrows at them. They started knocking them out. Raya ended up round housing one in the face for coming too close to her.
No matter how high up they got, Raya realized the crab continued to keep level with them. It was kinda unnerving. But then again, so was dodging the snakes and their arrows. One second the bridge was there, the next the snakes on the bridge fell with them on it. More came into view, but Arin kept everyone calm. "We can take 'em! Stay focused! Just like we practiced!"
"This isn't going to work!" One of the village girls said, scared. "There's too many of them!"
"They're not that many of them!" Arin ended up yelling. "This is your home! Fight for it! I promise this is gonna be good."
The guy with the long pipe swung it and knocked all the snakes into the water. It was fun to watch the training because of it. The crab screeched and we all looked up. It was standing on the docks now, and it was huge.
"This is gonna be bad." Raya heard Arin said.
"I thought you said this was gonna be good," Raya told Arin playfully.
"That was before, this is now," replied Arin.
Raya shrugged. "Fair enough."
As if hearing what they said, the crab began to crab-punch the buildings around it. "Destroy the interlopers!" Raya heard from her left. Raya whipped her head around and saw the leading snake with an arrow pointed straight at them.
This cannot be good. He released the arrow and Lloyd made sure it didn't hit them. "There he is." He does know they can see the snake with the crown on it right? "I'll go get him and get control of that crown."
"Wouldn't it be easier if I went with you?" Raya asked Lloyd. "If I touch the crown, it will lose its ability and become a plain old crown."
"We can't risk that crab running wild. I fear that if nothing has control over it it'll just destroy everything." Raya nodded, understanding the situation. Without another word, Lloyd jumped up to get that crown.
"And I'll stay here and keep the monster busy," Arin said boldly. The monster tore off a piece of a building. "Um, I will, uh, try to keep the monster busy."
"Good luck with that," Raya told him, he was going to need it.
"Somehow, maybe." Arin eyed the destroyed building nervously.
"Oh, don't chicken out now, you were doing so well," Raya told him sarcastically.
"Thanks, Raya," Arin said, oblivious to her sarcasm in the midst of his shock.
Raya heard a splash and whipped around, a ladder fell into the water and she looked up at the building it fell from. Lloyd was still safe. Kinda, he was going straight towards the snake with the crown. She heard footsteps and saw the others running towards the crab. Raya could only sigh before following them down to the main level. The snakes they previously knocked out were up and looked really mad. Raya couldn't blame them either, she would be too if someone did this to her.
"You guys again?" Arin asked.
They all hissed and started fighting once more. Raya knocked a couple of snakes out in a matter of seconds. It didn't take them too long to knock the others back. But what she thought would finish them was Arin putting Spinjitzu into an inanimate object. Except he failed and only made the snakes madder.
Maybe the memory of the obstacle course that Raya had become all too familiar with, or maybe it was the fact that she had just witnessed what could possibly be the most beautiful thing in the universe, but Raya overcame her fear, and stood confidently against her enemies. She went through the motions of the obstacle course over and over, until she was going so fast that she could barely see. But eventually, all she could see was bright purple consuming her enemies, and she knew that she too had gained the ability to do Spinjitzu. Inside Raya's Spinjitzu, she is in the center of the tornado as she swatted some Merlopians with her katana while throwing some punches and kicks.
Raya stopped her Spinjitzu with a proud smirk to se that everyone was keeping her a fair distance from her. She and her companions were stunned to see that the Merlopians seemed to have snapped out of a trace and they started dropping their weapons.
"The gang wasn't controlling the monster." Lloyd's voice could be heard from the bridge with a weary blue Merlopian. "The monster was controlling the gang!"
"Yes." The Ocean Gang Leader nodded next to Lloyd. "The crab is the mastermind behind this. It made us take over, so it could feed off the processed algae."
Arin soon noticed that the crab monster has a glowing tooth in its mouth. "That tooth! It's gotta be the source of its power!"
"Yeah, probably how it was mind controlling the gang," Lloyd continued.
"Who would be stupid enough to give that power tooth to a crab monster?" Raya was angry and annoyed, but she was ready to fight yet again.
"That tooth doesn't match any of the others," Arin said. "Which means someone put that thing in its mouth to give it power! But who would do something like that?"
"Merlopians and villagers, team up!" The Ocean Gang Leader soon joined the fight with them.
"Work together so that monster can't blast us, or control anybody ever again!" rallied Dale determinedly, lifting his weapon slightly.
As the crab monster started to damage the village, it had started to anger everyone in the village.
"Ugh, that monster is so annoying!" Arin's expression flashed with realization. "Annoying. We tried everything, we haven't tried that!" He leaped onto the crab's head with his grappling hook and started bothering the crab. "Hey crab! Hey! Over here! Over here! Look at me! Do you see me? Huh? Huh? You're not looking!" The crab punched its own head. "Lloyd! Now!" Raya smiled as Lloyd used his bright green Spinjitzu to knock the tooth out. The crab shrank to normal size, and quickly swam away. Once the original crab monster was long gone, and everyone started cheering.

By the next day, the human villagers and the Merlopians were working together in the village. They started to think of each other as a brand new family. The Merlopians helped repair the damage on the village and gather algae with their new friends. Raya could have sworn that she had spotted some new houses being built for their new Merlopian friends.
But once she returned to the Destiny's Bounty, she could see that Dale was repairing the engine with his tools. "Almost done." Dale gotten out of the engine room and smiled at the three of heroes. "Once I'm through, I reckon your engine will run better than ever."
"How much for your work?" Lloyd asked him generously.
Dale smiled at Lloyd and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Nah, this job's on the house. You didn't just save us from a monster, you brought us together into one big happy family. And you're more than welcome to stay with us."
"Sounds fun, but we're on a very important mission," said Arin. "The fate of the world is at stake." The villagers were stunned at this fact.
"We have a line of duty to protect others," Raya spoke up.
"Just know, if we succeed, we couldn't have done it without your help." Lloyd smiled at all of the villagers. "Thank you."
The trio waved goodbye to their new friends in the ocean and flew off in their newly repaired ship.