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Looking back on it, one could wonder how such brave and powerful heroes could be so weird and stupid. If the citizens of Ninjago could see what their almighty heroes looked like at 1 in the morning when all six of them were running on sugar and four hours of sleep… First Master, the news would have a field day.
It was a regular, sleepless night. The ninja were gathered around the kitchen table at quarter to one, laughing about a fight they’d won against some thugs a few days ago. All dressed in their signature-coloured pyjamas and all wide awake despite the late hour.
Nya was leaning on Jay’s shoulder and held a warm cup of coffee, occasionally sipping it in between jokes and laughter. Jay was laughing his head off, nibbling on cookies from the plate on the table. Every now and then, he gently kissed Nya’s forehead.
Lloyd was resting his head on the table, the green ninja wrapped in about six blankets, arguing with Jay while also eating cookies. Zane was tinkering with something small and covered in wires, smiling at the conversation. Cole had half a chocolate ganache cake in front of him and didn’t show any signs of stopping.
Kai was hunting through the kitchen pantry for some noodles. Zane had mentioned that they were out, but Kai refused to believe that there wasn’t at least one packet, surely Cole wasn’t that greedy.
Nope. Lots of sweets and random dinner ingredients, but no damn noodles. They were a classic late-night snack for everyone – the picky eaters (cough cough Lloyd and Cole) could have them plain, while everyone else could add as many flavours and spices as they wished.
“WE HAVE NO NOODLES!” Kai announced from inside the pantry, doing one last half-hearted look around.
He heard gasps and loud shushes from his teammates. He emerged to find half the ninja shushing him, the other half looking as though they’d all been slapped.
Kai took his usual seat at the table and took a cookie as they all started quietly arguing.
“Kai, need I remind you that PIXAL and Master Wu are trying to sleep?” Zane whispered at him, glaring.
“Who ate the last packet of noodles?!” Jay demanded, almost pushing Nya off in his outrage. He caught her at the last second though, without even spilling any coffee.
“Bro, it’s not that deep.” Cole said through a mouthful of cake, rolling his eyes. “We’ll buy some more tomorrow.”
“But I want noodles nowwwww.” Lloyd murmured from his blanket pile. “Can’t we buy some now?”
“Is anywhere even open?” Kai wondered. Ninjago was typically rather quiet at 1am.
“Well, there’s that new 24/7 supermarket down the road from Dareth’s dojo.” Nya pointed out, sipping her coffee (Kai wondered privately why she was drinking coffee at 1am. He supposed there had to be a reason she was always so hyperactive). “Could check that out.”
“It is 1 o’clock in the morning.” Zane pointed out.
“Dude, none of us are going to sleep anyways.” Kai replied, shrugging. “Might as well get some fresh air.”
Jay nodded. “We can buy some other food while we’re out as well. Snacks and bread and stuff.”
Lloyd emerged from his blanket pile. “Please, Zane?”
All five ninja stared at Zane with pleading eyes. Zane stared at them each for a few seconds before sighing.
“Alright. We’ll head out and buy some food.”
“Yes!” Jay and Kai whispered. Nya placed her cup down, Lloyd pulled all his blankets off and Cole ate his last handful of cake. As they all got up, quietly chattering, Zane announced, “We are behind on the grocery shopping, so this would be an excellent opportunity to stock up on other basic supplies.”
They all hurried to grab jackets.
Kai had no idea what those poor employees were thinking when six very loud, very energetic ninja walked through the doors after parking the new mobile Bounty out the front. They were all still dressed in their pyjamas, their bed hair a mess and their jackets hastily thrown on top.
Other than the ninja, there was around half a dozen tired employees – three at the front checkouts, two stocking shelves and one behind the service counter.
Zane was waving a piece of paper around, clearly trying to take charge. Cole had quickly found a trolley and was standing there, waiting. Jay and Kai were arguing about who got to ride in the trolley. Lloyd and Nya had already run off to the candy aisle.
“You call dibs on it every time, dude!” Kai yelled.
“Yeah, but you won’t even fit!” Jay argued, tapping his foot impatiently.
“Alright, we need to… where did Lloyd and Nya go?” Zane said, doing a double take upon realising one third of the team was missing.
“Can we get some more cake?” Cole asked, as they slowly wandered into the bakery.
“Cole, you have half a cake waiting at home.” Zane reminded him, reading the list.
“Are you calling me fat?” Kai cried, poking Jay.
“No! Maybe? Look, I’m smaller than you! It makes sense!” Jay protested, standing protectively in front of the trolley.
“Can you two focus? We have about two dozen items to purchase!” Zane instructed.
“Boo. I thought we were getting noodles.” Kai complained, his body drooping.
“We have a lot to buy, Kai. Stay focused.” Zane said.
“No. Anyways…” Kai started trying to pull the trolley away from Jay.
Lloyd and Nya chose that moment to reappear, their faces smug and pushing a trolley half-filled with candy.
“Well, we have enough sugar to last us a week.” Nya announced proudly. “Maybe a bit longer.”
Zane sighed in exasperation. Cole laughed heartily. Jay and Kai stopped arguing for a minute, before Jay did a double backflip and landed on his butt in the empty trolley Cole was pushing.
Kai groaned. “Asshole.” Then he glanced at the candy-filled trolley, and grinned.
“Hey, easy solution. Jay sits in one trolley; I sit in the other.”
“Uh-uh.” Nya shook her head, and Lloyd stood protectively next to the trolley (the team had learned long ago not to get between the green ninja and his candy). “Get your own trolley, bro.”
Kai rolled his eyes and turned to Zane. “If I get in a trolley, would you push it?”
Zane sighed, his fist clenched around the shopping list. “If you promise to behave?”
Kai nodded eagerly.
“Fine. Go and get one, very quickly. Meet us in the dairy section.”
The ninja were not the only ones at the monastery who struggled with nightmares. Master Wu had been woken up by a particularly bad one, reminding him of the different monsters he’d faced. He laid there, breathing heavily, trying to focus.
Tea. That was Wu’s solution to everything. Some tea would calm him down.
As he got out of bed and wandered down the hallway, he noticed how… quiet the monastery sounded. No snoring, or crying, or quiet chatter. He could faintly hear whirring, and some kind of machine beeping.
That was odd. Even on the nights with no nightmares or trouble, he could usually hear his students. He could have sworn he heard a few of them in the kitchen earlier, probably eating and chatting.
When he arrived in the kitchen, it was also empty.
Well, not entirely. There was a handful of cake crumbs, a half-filled coffee mug with the words WORLD’S BEST SAMURAI and a plate of Zane’s handmade cookies. No sign of any of the ninja.
There was also a handful of blankets dumped over one of the chairs, some sort of metal contraption covered in wires and a note in Lloyd’s handwriting.
Hey Master,
We went out to get some food. Don’t panic, we’re staying together, and Zane’s in charge. We wanted noodles, plus apparently, we were behind on grocery shopping. Home soon! Don’t call the police! :D
Lloyd
Wu huffed. What was it with the ninja and just refusing to sleep? It was as though they were toddlers refusing to take a nap.
Well, what kind of trouble could they get into?
That was a stupid question. His students couldn’t go anywhere without attracting trouble. Wu felt terrible for whoever would have to deal with them this late at night.
Should he wait up? Go back to sleep? Call one of them?
He decided to make tea first. That was his solution to everything.
Wait. They were out of tea. Damnit.
Kai was having the time of his life.
The aisles in the supermarket were wide enough that three trolleys could fit side by side, so that was how they walked down all the aisles, occasionally pausing to debate something or grab something off the shelf.
Cole was pushing Jay, who was slowly being buried in vegetables and other healthy foods. Despite that, Jay was laughing his head off and pointing out anything interesting he saw.
Nya was pushing the candy trolley, which now also had Lloyd riding in it, slightly buried under candy. He was chatting with Nya about which flavour lollipop was the best.
And of course, Kai was being pushed by Zane, who had put several random items (some magazines, laundry detergent, cake mix, ice cream, that kind of stuff) in Kai’s lap, taking charge of the shopping trip.
For about half an hour, they wandered throughout the store, the three ninja in the trollies slowly being buried in food and other stuff (when they found the pasta and noodles section, Cole grabbed all the noodles cups and packets, dumping all of it on a disgruntled Jay). The conversation was hectic and loud.
“Hey Cole, look it’s you!”
“That looks nothing like me! I’m way buffer!”
“Ooh, can we please get this pudding?”
“We’re already over budget. If you want additional groceries, you’re paying for them yourselves.”
“Ooh, pass that cereal Nya. I love that stuff!”
“We had a budget?”
“LLOYD! We haven’t paid for the stuff yet, don’t open that lollipop!”
“Come on, I’m the green ninja! I can do what I want!”
“The green ninja status doesn’t apply to eating lollipops in a supermarket at one in the morning!”
“Geez, how much noodles do you guys need?”
“We do not need that cereal. Put it back.”
“You chose to ride in the trolley. You will suffer this fate.”
“I change my mind. I want to get out.”
“Nope, not until we’ve paid. Besides, I want to push you down a hill first.”
“COLE!”
“Joking, joking. Chill, Zane.”
“Nya, you’re going to tip the trolley. Please learn to drive.”
“Here lies the lightning ninja. Cause of death – buried in noodles.”
“Stop being a drama queen. You’re not getting out!”
“Lloyd, stop trolley-driving.”
“I’ve always wondered what it would feel like to ride down a hill in a shopping trolley.”
“If that is one of your biggest aspirations, I worry for your future, Kai.”
“I don’t want to fall out!”
“I was driving vehicles long before you ever became the green ninja, dude. I know how to operate a shopping trolley!”
“What? It looks fun!”
“Ooh, can we get this?”
“We have very different definitions of fun, dude.”
“No. Stop asking.”
“Just please be careful going around corners.”
Another half hour passed, the ninja added and subtracted from the trollies and finally made it to the checkouts, where the same employees from earlier were standing, half asleep.
As they began scanning items, Kai and Jay refused to get out.
“You are aware we can’t bring these things home, right?” Nya told them, as she passed several bags of lollipops to the cashier. “You got to get out eventually.”
Kai rolled his eyes and started climbing out once his trolley was empty of groceries, but Jay didn’t move.
“Jay, please get out.” Zane said, reloading the groceries into the now empty cart.
Jay avoided Zane’s eyes as Cole began to unload his trolley. He made no movements to remove himself.
Kai laughed. “Are you stuck?”
Slowly, Jay nodded.
Kai cackled loudly.
“It’s not funny, Kai!” Nya cried, who was halfway through pulling Lloyd out of the candy trolley herself. Lloyd was pouting like a toddler, and he also looked stuck. His legs were twisted at angles that legs shouldn’t be twisted.
“Alright, alright. Keep your hair on, sis.” Kai muttered, walking around the trollies until he stood directly behind Jay, who looked up in fear.
“Hold still, zap-trap.”
“Wait Kai…” Cole said, as he handed several bags of rice to the cashier, who looked on the verge of a panic attack. “Maybe I should do it…”
“Nah, I got it. You finish up with the groceries.” Kai said, wrapping his arms around Jay’s chest.
“You sure about this?” Jay asked, his eyes wide.
“Absolutely not.”
“Kai-”
The next two minutes were a mess. Kai managed to lift Jay out, but the lightning ninja was still fearfully hanging onto the edges of the trolley, so Kai ended up lifting both trolley and ninja at the same time.
Zane and Cole’s arms were both full of grocery bags, and Nya was still trying to unsuccessfully remove Lloyd from his trolley.
“Damnit Walker! Let go!” Kai cried, before his knees buckled, and both ninjas fell to the ground, the trolley landing on top of them.
Zane instantly dropped the four bags he’d been clutching and ran to help. As he lifted the trolley up, he demanded, “Are you both alright?”
What he found, to his surprise, was both Jay and Kai laughing their heads off.
“Why didn’t you let go?! Didn’t you trust me?”
“I’m sorry! I panicked!”
“You know I’d never let anything happen to you, dude! Nya would kill me!”
“First Master, you’re a pain in the ass!”
“You just made me drop a trolley on myself! How am I the pain?!”
“I’m gonna kill you when we get home!”
“Not if I kill you first!”
Wu had finally tracked down some tea, hiding in the back of the cupboard.
The familiar taste and smell helped calm him, his nightmare long forgotten. He’d tidied up the kitchen – blankets back in Lloyd’s room, cookies and cake back in the pantry, mug and plate in the sink. Now he could breathe.
First Master, he could sit here all night. The only sounds were his own steady breaths and the distant sounds of birds…
CRASH!
Well, it was nice while it lasted.
He took another sip of his tea as the sounds of his students coming upstairs (presumably from the underground bunker PIXAL had recently finished building) became louder and more chaotic.
“What the hell are you talking about? There’s no way you would win in a fight against a gorilla!”
“Kai, if you drop those bags of candy, I’ll push you off the mountain!”
“Guys, remember, Wu and Pix are still asleep…”
“I would so win! I’ve beaten my fair share of ugly monsters!”
“I’d like to see you try, greenie!”
The elevator door opened, and they made their way into the living room. He could hear the rustling of shopping bags and several yawns.
“Alright, once we’ve put all these away, we’re making NOODLES!”
“Kai, stop yelling, holy FSM…”
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m finishing my cake.”
“Alright, Bruce Bogtrotter.”
They finally entered the kitchen but stopped when they saw Master Wu.
He stifled a laugh. All six of his pupils were still dressed in their pyjamas, with jackets hastily thrown on top. Their bed hair was messy and all over the place, and all six of them had arms full of shopping bags.
They looked like deer in headlights when they saw him – frozen in place with wide eyes.
“Master Wu!”
“Oh, First Master! You scared us!”
“Did we wake you?”
“Blame Kai! He wanted noodles!”
“Hey, where’s my cake?”
“We just went shopping! Nothing happened! I promise!”
All Wu did was shake his head and chuckle.