The Enchanted DVD Player (Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 6 - Meeting Lloyd

"Happy birthday, y/n!" 

My head perks up as the team walks into the room with a cake. Cole has frosting on his chin.

"You remembered?" I ask, as Zane sets the cake on the table in front of me. 

"Of course we remembered," Kai says. "You're our teammate. How old are you now, anyway? 10?"

"13!"

He looks down at my feet, then back up to my face. "You're short for a 13-year-old."

"Stop! Stop the festivities!"

"What's wrong, Sensei?" Zane asks as our teacher tumbles into the room, all out of breath.

Sensei pulls a long bag off his back and lets it roll onto the floor. Jay bends down to untie the fabric. 

"Whoa!" he shouts. "You got the sword of fire? How??"

"I fought my brother for it in the underworld," Sensei says. "I was going to send the lot of you down there because I was feeling a bit lazy but I only had enough traveller's tea for one person so I sucked it up and went down myself."

I stare at the sword in shock, unable to process this. Is the timeline unravelling because of me? Or is this alternate reality really just a different dimension separate from the one I know?

Kai picks up the sword and plays around with it, chanting "fi-ya!" while Nya chases him with a fire extinguisher. Zane helps Sensei to the couch and offers him a slice of cake.

"I don't want any cake," Sensei says, pushing the plate away. "This is no time for celebration. There is a new evil on the rise."

"What do you mean?" Cole asks.

"The Serpentine. They've been released. All five tombs."

"Already?" I ask. "We've barely even solved our first problem and now we're already in the middle of the second?"

"Unfortunately, yes. While the six of you have been busy with cake, the Serpentine have been busy  collecting three of the four fang blades so that they can release the Great Devourer."

Jay's lips pull into a thin line. "The what now?"

"It's a giant snake," I say. "And what's with Ninjago and dangerous weapons that come in sets of four?"

Sensei sighs. "Hold on, y/n. There's more. I know who opened the tombs."

I know what name he's going to say, but I bite my tongue. 

"So?" Cole asks. "Who was it?"

"It was my niece," Sensei says. 

I blink. "Wait, what?"

"You have a niece?" Jay asks. "Since when?"

"Yeah, since when?" I say. 

"I don't know, ten, twelve... maybe thirteen years ago? I can't do math," Sensei says. "But either way, she's the reason the Serpentine are out and about."

"Well, if she's no older than thirteen years old, then maybe it was an accident?" Zane suggests. "It would be unlikely for someone so young to be capable of such malicious intent."

"I'm not sure. Lynn escaped from Darkley's Boarding School for Bad Boys and stumbled across a tomb. With the help of the last remaining Anacondrai, she awoke the Hypnobrai," Sensei explains. "But she didn't stop there. She managed to open every other serpentine tomb, but then the snakes turned on her and held her captive."

"Why was she at a school for Bad Boys?" Kai asks. 

"It's where her mother thought she'd be safe," Sensei says. "Why would Garmadon look for Lynn at a place like that?"