Ninja vs Samurai [COMPLETE]

Blue Ninja

(This chapter is the edited and slightly extended version of the Pilot Chapter.)

Chapter 2: Blue Ninja

Jay sighed as quietly as he could, checking his watch for the umpteenth time in the last three minutes. The final lecture for today should have finished ten minutes ago already, but the professor was still talking enthusiastically about something that Jay himself couldn't care less about.

The auburn haired young man started wondering whether anyone would notice if he just left? After all, he had become pretty good at sneaking recently...

"Class dismissed." The professor finally announced. Jay immediately grabbed his already packed backpack and was the first one to dash outside. While running, he put on his helmet and jumped on his old motorbike. They only had seventeen minutes to get to Steep Wisdom, the tea shop where Jay was working part-time, and he hated unpunctuality.

As did Sensei Wu, the owner of Steep Wisdom, and Jay's boss.

Luckily, the blue ride had decided to cooperate and for once the motor started at the first attempt.

"I might have to break a few lights." Jay Walker thought as they took off.

"Did I make it?" He gasped, bursting into the staff changing room. Three pairs of eyes belonging to his colleagues and close friends turned at his direction.

"Good afternoon, Jay. You have one minute and twenty-three seconds left to get changed." Zane, an artificial being - or Nindroid, as his friends called him - replied. The platinum blonde male was already dressed in a pure white gi.

"Good." Jay crumpled his jacket into his locker, and took of his shirt. "Ugh, I hate Wednesdays." The engineering student complained. "For the last lecture, we have a double period in Statistics. That's already bad enough, but it gets even worse because our professor just can't find an end and keeps talking and talking..."

"This reminds me of someone I know." Jay's best friend Cole smirked. "But I think Sensei is still busy in the shop anyway, so he probably wouldn't even have noticed if you hadn't made it in time..."

"Lucky you." Kai who was putting on a red uniform, stated. "I was late for my class this morning and the professor certainly did notice."

"How come?" Cole raised a bushy eyebrow. "Did Nya forget to wake you?"

"Kind of." Kai suddenly looked rather worried. "Nya had to work last night again. She didn't even come home before college this morning."

Jay quickly turned away from his friends, so that they wouldn't notice the light blush that had suddenly appeared on his face. He remembered all too well that Nya had spent last night somewhere else than at the autobody shop...

If he hurried up now, he might still have some time to have a look at his phone. Last time he had checked, Nya hadn't replied to his latest message. He just hoped he hadn't scared her away with all his questions.

Jay knew that he was a bit clingy, especially with his urging her to tell Kai the truth about their relationship status and asking her to move in with him.

But he just hated missing out on any opportunity for spending time with his girlfriend. With everything that was going on in Ninjago at the moment, in particular those random attacks from the Serpentine, an ancient race of snake people, who were currently terrorising Ninjago, one could never know what was going to happen – or who would be targeted – next...

And the blue-eyed engineering student was probably rather high on their list. Or rather, his secret identity was.

Steep Wisdom was not only one of the country's finest tea shops, its back rooms also served as headquarters of the Secret Ninja Force, a team of four college students with special elemental powers, chosen to protect Ninjago from the Serpentine and other evil. And those four Ninja - Cole, Kai, Zane, and Jay - were trained by the old, wise and very strict Sensei Wu.

"Hey, Jay." Cole's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "I didn't know you have a cat."

"I don't." He turned around, confused about his best friend's comment. "Why would you think that?"

"Oh, just because you have some scratch marks on your back." As the Earth Ninja in the black training outfit burst out laughing, Kai angrily glared the other now heavily blushing auburn haired man.

"These marks do not match any feline species." Zane, Master of Ice, stated. "They rather appear to be..."

"Thank you Zane." Jay quickly slipped into the blue jacket. "I must have hit it at a door at university this morning. Now, hurry up before Sensei tells us something like 'Evil is always on time. And so should you.'"

"Consider yourself lucky again, Walker." Kai said, tightening the red belt around his waist which matched the rest of the Fire Elemental's uniform. "But as much as I hate to admit it, you are right."

"Then let's go." Cole impatiently said, and the four friends opened the soundproof door to the currently almost empty tea shop.

"Hey guys." Lloyd, Sensei Wu's young nephew greeted them happily in the doorway. "Uncle is already waiting for you in the training room." He told them. "For today's first lesson, he's gonna do elemental training with Cole, Zane should meditate, and Kai and Jay have to spar against each other. Oh, I have finally mastered the training course." He happily added.

The fifteen-year old boy also was a powerful Elemental Master. At this stage, however, he was only an honorary member of the Secret Ninja Force, but his uncle wouldn't yet let him join in the older Ninja's missions.

"Congrats, buddy." The red Ninja ruffled the boy's golden hair. He then turned to his sister's boyfriend. "Oh, it will be my pleasure to fight you. What about using our elemental weapons today? I could really use my Sword of Fire to burn off a few issues with you..."

"Alright, bring it on. Good thing your hair already looks like you've got an electric shock, so no one will notice when I've hit you with my Nunchucks of Lightning." The blue Master of Lightning retorted, as the friends walked into the back area of the shop, which not only contained a store room and the kitchen, but also a rather impressive training hall.

"Friends, we should not argue with each other." Zane chided his teammates, carefully carrying his Shurikens of Ice. "We already have enough problems with the Serpentine and the Samurai."

"Ugh, I hate snakes." Cole stated, placing the Scythe of Quakes in a corner before he started to perform some warm-up exercises. The Serpentine momentarily were the team's main enemy.

"And I hate the Samurai." Jay added, stretching his legs. "We are so much better than they are. They are nothing without their fancy mechs."

While the Ninja Force and the Samurai Warriors were actually fighting on the same side (and against the same enemy), a fierce rivalry had developed between the two groups, both claiming to be the true 'Protectors of Ninjago'.

"And you will have just the opportunity to prove it." To the young men's surprise, Sensei Wu, an 'old man with a long white beard' (as Jay had called him), all dressed in white and gold, was suddenly standing right next to them, having snuck up to his students. "Yes, you should never let your guard down, not even here. But we can work on your discipline as well as on your punctuality another time, our scanners have just picked up Serpentine activity at the Mega Monster Amusement Park."

"Whoohoo, a mission." Cole cheered. "Anyone else feeling all tingly inside?"

"Ninja-Gooo." The four Ninja cheered. As they sprinted outside, they pulled down their masks before turning their elemental weapons into vehicles and heading off towards Mega Monster Amusement Park.