ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: Twenty Øne Pilots - Lane Boy

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They say, "stay in your lane, boy, lane, boy"

But we go where we want to

They think this thing is a highway, highway

But will they be alive tomorrow?

---

Lloyd was doing a one-handed handstand, while (Y/n) watched, building a Jenga tower.

''Focus,'' Wu told the young green ninja, pouring some tea. ''In order to bear the fate of Ninjago on your shoulders, you must first learn to bear the weight of all of us.''

Lloyd was using his feet to balance the Ninja and Wu. Zane was on top of Lloyd's feet while holding Kai and Jay in his arms, and Cole was standing on his head. Cole had Wu on his shoulders, and the ninja were all nervous, scared they would fall.

''Focus.'' The old man said, sipping his tea.

''Sensei, I'm starting to think this was a bad idea,'' Jay replied, looking up at his sensei.

(Y/n) slipped a wooden brick from the tower and carefully placed it on top.

''Yeah, Sensei, he's just a kid,'' Cole said, looking down.

''In order for him to succeed, we must all trust one another,'' Wu replied, pouring some more tea.

Lloyd struggled with the weight of them, while (Y/n)'s Jenga tower began to wobble, and machinery could be heard, before a wrecking ball came and crashed through the window, toppling them over and (Y/n)'s tower stood still for a moment but fell into a pile of wooden bricks.

She could still hear the little girl's cries from when the Great Devourer attacked the city, and she shook her head, trying to clear her mind of what she experienced.

Morro was quiet, which was a good thing, but after what happened yesterday it made sense. How would you feel if you were stuck in someone's mind and forced to experience what they experienced?

'You know I can hear you.' Morro spoke, in an annoyed tone.

Remo saw a piece of glass embedded in (Y/n)'s leg and went to help. (Y/n) hadn't noticed yet, which made the little snake wonder if that was a bad thing or not. Slithering over to her, he used his small fangs to carefully remove it and tossed it aside.

She thanked the little snake and smoothed down his scales, and he happily let out a puff of air.

''What was that?'' Cole asked, and the ninja got up to see a builder and a foreman, wearing hardhats, who noticed the ninja.

Dareth emerged from behind the beaded doorway. ''Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! This wasn't supposed to happen until tomorrow!'' He shouted, running towards them.

''Tomorrow?'' The foreman asked. ''Let me see that order.'' He said, and the builder handed him the order slip and he looked at it. ''Oh, yeah. My bad. Sorry about that. We'll be back in the morning.'' The foreman apologised, and the two left.

Dareth groaned as he looked at one of his trophies, which was bent.

''Uh, Dareth, what is this all about?'' Cole asked, confused.

''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 answered, closing his eyes and turning his head towards the ground.

'Garmadon.' Morro said, quickly figuring out what the word was.

'Yeah, I know.' (Y/n) replied, rolling her eyes.

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

''My trophies. Oh, my fakes trophies!'' Dareth said as he sobbed. (Y/n) bit her lip and shook her head at him.

''Trust Ronin to make or steal cheap trophies.'' She mumbled under her breath.

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

''"O grandma"?'' Jay interrupted.

''No! Garmadon!'' Kai answered, looking at Jay.

''Um, my dad is behind this?'' Lloyd asked.

''If he destroys the dojo, where will we train Lloyd?'' Cole asked the others.

''Any chance you got 50,000 in that teapot of yours?'' Dareth asked the old man.

''Worry not, Dareth. You're not in this alone. We're all with you.'' The sensei reassured the brown ninja.

Nya walked in. ''Did someone say 50,000—''

Jay gasped. ''You didn't happen to win the lottery?'' He asked.

''No, but I heard about Ninjaball Run.'' She answered.

''Ninjaball Run?'' The boys echoed.

''It's the biggest road race in Ninjago, with a prize of 100,000 big ones. And it's tomorrow.'' Nya told them.

''I thank you, little lady fighter, but you're talking about the most dangerous race known to man. Only the most serious of racers even stand a chance.'' Dareth replied, making (Y/n) frown.

''But didn't you just do a few upgrades on our Ultra Sonic Raider?'' Kai asked. ''Maybe we might stand a chance.''

''And I can enter with my Dragon. You did say I needed the practice.'' Lloyd said, looking at the fire ninja.

'' So it is agreed. You will all enter this "Ninjaball Run" to save the dojo.'' Wu replied, holding his tea.

''Are you still crying?'' Nya asked Dareth, who was still sobbing.

''Yes. But these are happy tears.'' Dareth answered, wiping them away.

---

The crowd cheered as competitors lined up to the race.

''Welcome, everyone, to the 14th annual Ninjaball Run!'' The first announcer said.

''The Grand Prix where it doesn't matter how you get there, as long as you get there first.'' The second one spoke.

''Well, let's take a look at the racers.'' The first said.

''I see the starter's line. We have a few familiar faces.'' the second looked at the competitors.

The Postman jingled his bicycle bell before the Ultra Dragon landed next to him, making him fall off his bike.

''Watch it, you big oaf!'' The Postman cried out, pointing his fist at the dragon.

''You look nervous, Lloyd. You okay?'' Cole asked, looking at the green ninja.

''N-n-nervous?'' Lloyd stuttered and chuckled. ''Maybe for you guys.''

Nya got off the Ultra Sonic Raider. ''One final thing: I installed a pretty cool upgrade so if you're ever in a really tight spot, pull that lever because what it does. . .'' She said, but her voice could not be heard over the revving of the Darkley's boys modified bus.

''What?!'' Kai asked, trying to make his voice heard over the noise.

''Pull that lever, because if you pull that lever. . .''

''Alright, the race is about to start. And officials are saying pit crews must take their places.'' The first announcer said, talking over Nya.

''. . .only under those circumstances and no other.'' The samurai girl finished, leaving the boys confused.

''We're about to begin!'' The announcer said.

''That's my cue. Gotta go! Good luck!'' She said and ran to take her seat in the stands.

'Huh? Wait, Nya, we couldn't hear you!'' Kai shouted after his sister.

As Nya left, two more competitive teams appeared. Soto and his pirates in a van, and the Royal Blacksmiths in a modified pickup truck with a driver singing in harmony.

''Look, it's my dad,'' Cole said, looking at Lou.

''Too big, too big. Too slow, too slow. We had a lead but let it go~'' The Royal Blacksmiths sang. As they sang, Jay's parents appeared in their jalopy, making him groan in embarrassment.

''Oh, is there anyone we don't have to compete against?'' Jay asked.

A portal soon appeared and Kruncha and Nuckal come out of it, in a skull-based vehicle, next to Soto's van. Then, someone with a motorcycle helmet on appeared, driving a motorcycle.

The person took off their helmet, revealing (Y/n), whose hair was slightly frizzy from wearing it. The bike was mostly black, with bits of purple here and there. The inner part of the wheels was red, and there seemed to be gang designs on the side.

''We thought you weren't joining!'' Jay exclaimed, surprised.

(Y/n) grinned. ''I got help from someone.''

''Where'd you get it from?'' Zane asked.

''I borrowed it from a guy called Luke, his last name probably started with a c, I don't know.'' (Y/n) replied, shrugging.

''Don't you mean Ronin stole his bike and gave it to you?'' Remo asked her.

The ninja looked surprised.

''Rules?!'' The announcer laughed. ''There's only one rule in Ninjaball Run, and that is cross the finish line first.''

(Y/n) raised her hand like a little schoolkid. ''Doesn't that mean I could skip all of the course if I just walk around the barriers and get to the finish line?''

The two announcers widened their eyes in realisation. ''I really think that rule is dumb.'' The first announcer said to the second, not caring that the microphone was still on. They murmured, the crowd looking at (Y/n), impatient.

(Y/n) herself, well, she didn't care. She was only trying to help these people so they didn't make the same mistake over and over again.

'That's what you get when you mess with the matrix.' Morro said, sounding grumpy.

''New rule!'' The announcer shouted. ''You have to go around the full course, no shortcuts!''

The crowd and the racers groaned, glaring at (Y/n) with the exception of the ninja.

She placed her motorcycle helmet on her head. ''They say stay in your lane girl, but we go where we want to.''

The light turned red, and the racers readied themselves.

Then, it turned yellow. They revved their engines.

Seeing it turn green, they shot off, with Lloyd on the Ultra Dragon flying up into the sky, and the boys didn't get far as they were sabotaged.

(Y/n) gripped the handlebars of the motorcycle, looking in the rearview mirror, she saw the boys stuck at the starting line.

Gritting her teeth, she turned back and went to help, stopping and hopping off her wheelchair appearing. She went over to them and got them to lift it, and reconnected the traction belt.

''Now, are we going to win this race or not?'' (Y/n) asked, getting back on the motorcycle. She drove off, with the Ultra Sonic Raider following her.

''So that's how this is gonna go. Alright, boys, let's do this!'' Kai exclaimed, following the girl.

---

(Y/n) on her motorcycle sped past Soto and his pirates, who yelled out after the already disappeared racer.

Then, came the Ultra Sonic Raider, which made No-Eyed Pete spin around after getting too close.

''Yeah!'' Jay chuckled. ''We're no longer in last! Things are looking up.''

A shadow appeared, making Kai lookup. ''Oh, no, Garmadon!''

''What?!'' Jay exclaimed, surprised.

Seeing cannons being aimed at the Ultra Sonic Raider, the ninja prepared themselves for defeat.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Lloyd on Ultra appeared, knocking the Black Bounty and making the cannon miss the ninja, almost hitting (Y/n) but she swerved to avoid it, almost making her crash into the rocky canyon walls.

She watched the Black Bounty following them, along with Lloyd. She looked ahead, seeing the other racers.

In the Birchwood Forest, the young Green Ninja found a shortcut and directed the others to it, making (Y/n) wonder why the heck they went on a different path.

Beside the Skullkin, she saw them fire a skeleton hand at Ultra Dragon, latching onto his leg and making the multi-headed dragon screech.

Kruncha made a few turns, successfully bringing the dragon down but also ending up wrapped to a tree by their own chain. Talk about karma. ;)

Following the serpentine bus, the racers made their way through the Glacier Barrens, with the police ending up getting their vehicles stuck in an igloo.

(Y/n) was struggling to keep her bike balanced, the snow beneath her vehicle already packed into ice.

Seeing Jay's parents and the ninja helping each other, she smiled, before catching sight of the serpentine.

The ninja and serpentine fought, ending up with a full-on vehicle landslide down the snowy slope. (Y/n)'s bike swerved uncontrollably, and she almost got hit by the serpentine bus.

Stopping at the bottom of the slope, the ninja hopped out to check the damages, while Jay went over to his parents to check if they were okay. Jay saw a loose headlamp and took it, and the Ninja and (Y/n) went to catch up with the other racers.

---

The Ultra Sonic Raider passed Garmadon, who was too busy gloating over his victory too early. He then saw the ninja ahead of him, with (Y/n) trailing behind.

Using the Mega Weapon, he created an unbridgable gap, making them stop.

''Oh, that's totally cheating!'' Jay shouted.

(Y/n) bit her lip. Knowing that Nya had prepared something for the boys in case this happened, but nothing for her seeing as Ronin had given the motorcycle to her.

''Guys, it's impossible to cross that divide,'' Zane told the others.

''Wait! What about (Y/n)?'' Cole asked the others, and they looked at the girl, who was looking at the other side.

''Don't worry about me guys, just worry about getting to the finish line.'' She reassured them.

Kai looked at the lever. He then drove back, giving them space and straightened the Ultra Sonic Raider. Gripping it, he told the others to hang on.

''Uh, you do know we're heading straight for that cliff, right? You're sure that's a good idea?'' Jay asked the fire ninja.

''I haven't had time to think it through. Oh, what was it that Sensei said? You gotta have trust.'' Kai replied.

''Yeah, in each other, not in miracles!'' Cole said, looking at the porcupine.

''Oh, Nya, don't fail us now. Alright, NOW!'' Kai shouted, pulling the lever. The top half of the Raider flew, and the boys used spinjitzu to reach it, abandoning the bottom half. (Y/n) waved as they caught up to Garmadon.

---

The crowd cheered as The Black Bounty and the Ultra Sonic Raider appeared, toe-to-toe and nearing the finish line.

Making a rough landing, they got out, and the crowd lifted them, cheering. After realising they won, Garmadon threw a fit, claiming he won instead of the ninja. He then realised Lloyd was on the deck of the Bounty along with the Ultra Dragon, looking down at him.

The police attempted to arrest the Lord of Darkness, who was saved instantly by Skales.

Looking around, Lloyd couldn't see (Y/n). ''Where's (Y/n)?'' He asked. The ninja turned to face him, looking guilty.

''Uhh...'' Jay stammered, trying to find the right words.

''You left her?'' Lloyd asked.

The ninja all nodded guiltily.

Sighing, Lloyd went to get (Y/n). ''Really wish they hadn't done that.'' He grumbled.

When he saw her, she was about to push the motorcycle into the dark chasm. It fell, into the dark abyss and Lloyd landed and helped her get on.

''Don't be mad at the boys, they were the ones who needed to win the race, not me.'' (Y/n) reassured the boy. ''Besides, I have Remo to keep me company.''

At the mention of his name, Remo appeared, looking at Lloyd. ''I was getting plenty of sunlight if you were worrying about me.''

''You're not a plant, Remo.'' (Y/n) told the snake, chuckling. ''I bet you can't perform photosynthesis.''

''What does that mean?'' Lloyd asked.

''Pretty much how a plant gets its food.'' (Y/n) answered.

Morro sighed. 'Don't educate me, please.'

(Y/n) shrugged. ''Don't stay in school, kids.''

Questioning Ninjago Logic XD

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WriterAgreste, over & out!