Legend of the Brown Ninja Read online

  CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE

  FROM THE JOURNAL OF DARETH: THE LEGENDARY BROWN NINJA

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  COPYRIGHT

  Dareth’s Super-Secret, Ninja PR Journal

  Entry #76

  No one will ever find this, but if they do, it’ll be worth a lot someday!

  Trouble in Ninja Paradise

  The ninja resist me.

  You would think, since I’m their publicity manager, that the ninja would be thrilled to have me working for them. After all, I have their best interests at heart. All I want to do is make sure the world recognizes them for their total, incredible, amazing awesomeness!

  But alas, things have turned bad. Sour. Nastier than two-day-old noodles. And I have no idea why.

  I mean, sure, the ninja may have sent me a few texts. Left a voice mail or two. Something about “wanting to focus on being a team.” But I assumed they were joking. Who wants to focus on “being a team” when you can focus on being megastars!

  Ugh. I better start at the beginning.

  Since defeating the Preeminent, the ninja have been more popular than ever. People line up for blocks to catch just a glimpse of them in action! Clearly, they needed a manager.

  That’s where I came to the rescue. I, Dareth, the Legendary Brown Ninja, selflessly offered to be their guide to stardom. Their social media guru. The visionary that would take them from newbies to superstars.

  For a while, things were going great. Promotional spots. Commercials. An unauthorized documentary. The fans were loving it, baby! They couldn’t get enough!

  But then, the unthinkable happened.

  The ninja canceled a prime-time spot on Ninjago City’s hottest talk show — Fred Finley Live at Five. Canceled it! Don’t they know how hard it is to get a guest spot on Fred Finley Live at Five? It’s HARD.

  I was sure they would be thrilled when I told them about the interview!

  “Thank you, Dareth, for making us famous!” they would say.

  “Thank you, Dareth, for brilliantly handling our public image!”

  “Thank you, Dareth, for being the best thing that’s ever happened to us!!”

  Was that how it went down? No, it was not.

  There’s only so much one publicity manager can do. How am I supposed to keep the ninja up in the fan polls if they refuse to do public appearances?

  This calls for drastic action. The ninja are my friends, and I can’t let them down. Even if they don’t realize it, there is nothing more fulfilling in life than being famous and popular.

  Well, and maybe Master Chen’s Puffy Potstickers. Those are very fulfilling.

  So, okay. Popularity and potstickers. That’s what life’s all about.

  I will make the ninja famous, or my name isn’t Dareth!

  (aka the Legendary Brown Ninja)

  (aka PR Master/ Social Media Guru)

  (Available for consultation and all your celebrity ninja needs)

  Looking good, Nya!”

  Kai watched proudly as his sister took out three consecutive practice targets with one smooth water blast.

  BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

  “You’re on fire today!” Kai said. “And that’s saying something coming from the master of fi-yaaa!”

  He somersaulted next to her and blasted one of the dummies with a well-aimed fireball.

  “Thanks,” Nya said. “But I’m just getting started. In fact, I think I’m in need of a spark.”

  Nya looked at Jay and winked. Jay gave her a wide smile. Then he zapped a bolt of electricity right at her!

  Without missing a beat, Nya blocked the electricity with a burst of water. It created an electrified arc that sprayed out at the remaining targets. Zzzzzfttttt! The dummies were obliterated.

  “Time to clean up the mess,” said an invisible voice above them.

  In a poof, Cole appeared, hovering over the center of the training area. Since Cole was a ghost, he was able to vanish and reappear. He began whirling around faster and faster until he created an Airjitzu tornado powerful enough to lift all the broken dummy pieces off the deck of the Destiny’s Bounty.

  “Zane, Lloyd, you’re up!” he called.

  “Indeed,” replied Zane. The Titanium Ninja powered up an ice blast while Lloyd generated a green energy ball. But instead of firing their elemental powers in one shot, the two ninja allowed their combined energy to drift into the whirling Airjitzu tornado.

  Slowly, Lloyd’s green energy began melding the debris together while Zane’s ice surrounded it. In a bright burst of light, the tornado vanished. All that was left on the deck of the Destiny’s Bounty was a smooth metal sphere constructed out of practice dummy remnants. It was icy to the touch.

  “Well done, ninja,” said Master Wu. He had been watching the practice session from his seat atop the Destiny’s Bounty side rail. He was drinking tea, naturally.

  “You’re working very well as a team today,” Wu noted. “Very in sync with one another.”

  “I must agree,” said Zane. “Not to ‘float our own boat,’ but we are operating at maximum efficiency.”

  “It’s like something’s changed,” said Lloyd, placing a hand on the cool sphere. “Like there’s a different energy among all of us.” He glanced over at Nya and Jay.

  “Maybe that’s because we feel like more of a team than ever before,” said Jay. He took Nya’s hand, and she smiled.

  A lot had changed for the ninja. But only Jay and Nya knew the full truth.

  Not long ago, the ninja had been attacked by a legendary wish-granting djinn named Nadakhan. For hundreds of years, Nadakhan had been trapped in the Teapot of Tyrahn. But an evil sorcerer named Clouse had released him. Once free, Nadakhan planned to build a sky world called Djinjago out of pieces stolen from New Ninjago City. He was obsessed with destroying the ninja and claiming Nya as his bride.

  The only reason Nadakhan had been released from his lamp in the first place was because the ninja were wrapped up in one of Dareth’s silly publicity stunts, and they weren’t able to stop Clouse from summoning him.

  Luckily, Jay had been able to undo all of Nadakhan’s evil work with his final wish: that no one had ever found the teapot in the first place. Since Nadakhan was a djinn, he had to grant the wish. In doing so, time went back to the moment right before the Teapot of Tyrahn had been discovered.

  No one remembered any of the events that had taken place, except for Jay and Nya. They had shared a lot during the adventure, and they’d grown close. Nya had once been uncertain if she liked Jay or not, but she was certain now. The bond they shared was very strong, and that made them both happy.

  “I’m glad we decided to take a break from Dareth’s publicity stunts for a while,” Nya said. She carried a fresh training dummy out of a storage closet. “Being in the limelight was getting to be too much.”

  “And making us forget who we really are,” Jay added.

  “Speak for yourselves,” Kai said. “I was enjoying the celebrity lifestyle.”

  “You do have the most Chirp followers,” Zane pointed out.

  “Speaking of Chirp,” said Lloyd, “Kai, your phone is chirping.”

  Kai rushed to his phone. “Must be one of my adoring fans, looking to see why I’ve gone offline. My followers have needs, you know!”

  Kai picked up his phone. His face fell.

  “Aww, it’s just Dareth,” he said, putting the phone on speaker.

  “Ninja, are you there?” Dareth’s voice rang out. “
Thank goodness I’ve reached you. Now, I know you said you weren’t doing Fred Finley Live at Five, but I’ve just found out that … wait for it … they’re making the entire show a dedicated tribute to your work. It’s no longer just a guest spot — you’ll be on the air for the entire hour!”

  The ninja looked at one another.

  “Sorry, Dareth,” Lloyd spoke for all of them. “But we told you, we’re taking a break from the celebrity life.”

  “To focus on ourselves,” Cole added.

  “As a team,” Jay and Nya said together.

  Kai frowned. Nya elbowed him.

  “Yeah, yeah.” Kai sighed. “Time off just to be ninja. The regular, old, ‘we don’t need action figures made of us’ ninja.”

  “But … you don’t understand …” Dareth sputtered. “The fans … the commitment … the PROMOTIONAL ENDORSEMENTS. You can’t cancel!”

  “You’re right,” said Nya. “We can’t cancel, because we never booked it in the first place.”

  “Sorry, Dareth, but that’s just not us anymore,” said Lloyd. “We don’t want to be famous.”

  There was a long pause on the other end of the line.

  “But … that’s just it!” exclaimed Dareth. “This talk show isn’t about the ninja as celebrities. No! It’s about you! Uh, as a team! Yeah — an entire hour dedicated to who you really are. All of New Ninjago City is inspired by you! We just want to give your fans the real story behind your teamwork.”

  Lloyd raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know, Dareth. It still sounds like a publicity stunt.”

  “I swear it’s not,” insisted Dareth. “Hey, come on, ninja baby, you’re talking to Dareth. I listened to you! ‘No more publicity stunts, Dareth,’ you said. Well, I can guarantee you that this is not a publicity stunt. This is the interview that will show everyone just what you stand for. Working together. Inspiring your fans to be their best! Nothing but total commitment. Reach for the …”

  As Dareth nattered on, Lloyd put the phone on mute. “What do you guys think?” he asked.

  Kai shrugged. “Could it really hurt? It would be nice to have a chance to explain to my — uh, our — fans why we’re leaving the spotlight.”

  “I guess one more interview isn’t so bad,” said Jay.

  “As long as we get to focus on who we are as a team,” said Nya.

  “Right,” said Cole. “Something really inspiring.”

  Lloyd nodded. He turned the speakerphone back on.

  “Okay, Dareth,” he said. “We’ll do it. As long as you promise this interview will focus on us as a team.”

  The ninja could practically hear Dareth jumping for joy on the other end of the line.

  “You got it, ninja! I promise, this will be the interview to end all interviews. Or my name isn’t Dareth the Brown Ninja!”

  A few days later, the ninja were seated comfortably on a long couch next to Fred Finley. They watched the camera lights blinking, signaling the show was about to start.

  “All right, ninja, we’re about to ninja-go!” Fred Finley flashed an impossibly white smile. “You guys all set?”

  “Yeah.” Lloyd nodded. “We’re ready.”

  Cole leaned forward so he could see Fred Finley from the end of the couch. “Just to make sure, Dareth told you what we want to focus this interview on, right? It’s about our work as a team.”

  Fred Finley’s smile grew wider. “Oh, he sure did. Trust me, this is going to be the interview that really lifts the mask off the ninja!”

  The ninja glanced at one another as the camera lights blinked more rapidly. From the wings, Dareth gave them a big thumbs-up.

  “And three, two, one,” a cameraman announced. “We’re live!”

  “Welcome!” said Fred Finley. “To another exciting episode of …”

  “FRED FINLEY LIVE AT FIVE!” cheered the studio audience. “Live at Five! Live at Five!”

  Fred Finley did a little dance for the audience as they clapped and chanted.

  “All right, folks,” said Fred. “Today, I have six very special guests with me. You guessed it … the heroes you’ve all been dying to get the real story behind … Ninjago City’s very own NINJA!”

  The audience went wild. Kai waved to the fans, brushed his hair back, and pointed to two girls in the audience. They swooned.

  Meanwhile, Jay and Nya fidgeted. This wasn’t starting off like a serious interview.

  “So, ninja.” Fred turned his attention to them. “Let’s get right to business. Tell us — what’s going on?”

  “Uh, well,” said Lloyd. “I’m glad you asked. We’re working together as a team. Stronger than ever.”

  “That’s right,” said Jay. “We’re very in sync.”

  “In fact,” said Nya, “you may have heard that we’re taking a break from celebrity life.”

  The audience ooooooohhhed.

  “Oh, yes, we have heard that.” Fred Finley glanced at Jay, and then at Nya. “But tell us, is that the whole story?”

  Jay and Nya looked at each other, unsettled.

  “Um, yeah,” said Nya. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean …” Fred Finley leaned closer. “Are you sure there isn’t more to it?”

  Zane jumped in. “Quite sure. If you’ll excuse me, Fred, I am confused. Your question implies there is unsavory information we are not sharing. But that is not the point of this interview.”

  “Yeah,” Cole said. “This is supposed to be about our work as a team.”

  “You know, for our fans to see what we’re all about,” said Kai.

  Fred Finley leaned back. “Oh, it is!” he said. “Folks, it looks like the ninja may need a little help telling the real story. Shall we go to the Real Reel?”

  “Yeah!” cheered the crowd. “Run that reel!”

  The ninja watched, stunned, as an oversized movie screen lowered behind them. A moment later, it lit up with the name of the segment in big, bold letters:

  Trouble in Ninja Paradise!

  “Trouble? What trouble?!” exclaimed Jay.

  Secret-camera-style footage of the ninja splashed across the big screen. It showed them walking through town, eating noodles at Master Chen’s, even attending publicity events. But the way the footage was all pieced together, it made it look like there was, well, drama!

  “Nya, Nya!” On the screen, a cameraman jostled Nya on the street. “Jay or Cole?”

  “Seriously?” onscreen Nya answered, pushing the camera away. “Not a chance!”

  On the couch, Nya flushed. That had been before she and Jay had grown closer. She hadn’t realized how harsh she’d sounded back then.

  The footage cut to a shot of Jay talking with reporters outside a florist shop. He was carrying a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

  “These are for that one special lady in my life …” Jay told the reporters.

  “Oooooooooh,” the studio audience echoed.

  “Wait!” Jay cried. “It was Mother’s Day. Those flowers were for my mother!”

  But the film cut away before Jay got to that part of his interview. Instead, it jumped to a shot of Kai.

  “Of course I’m the best-looking,” Kai told a reporter. “My hair is on fi-yaa!”

  “Aw, come on,” Kai complained from the couch. “I had just gotten a haircut!”

  The film reel cut to a shot of Cole, Lloyd, and Zane. They were laughing.

  “He’s got the power of hot air,” Lloyd told the reporters. “He’s not really a ninja.”

  The audience gasped.

  “We were talking about Dareth, not Kai!” Lloyd insisted. “That reporter asked us what power the Brown Ninja had.”

  “I think we’ve seen enough,” said Nya. With a quick motion, she fired a ball of water right at the screen. It crashed to the ground in a damp heap.

  “Awwwwww,” said the audience.

  But Fred Finley was still smiling. “A little too much reality?” he asked. “Then tell us, ninja. What is the real story?”

  “The real story
is that this interview is done,” said Lloyd. He and the other ninja stood up. “We’re a team,” Lloyd continued. “We’re at our best when we’re together. And anyone who says otherwise is just looking for publicity.”

  Lloyd shot Dareth a look. Dareth gulped.

  The audience groaned as the ninja walked off the set.

  “Well, folks, it looks like our guests got a little too close to the truth for comfort,” said Fred Finley. “But that’s okay, because we’ve got the rest of the story … on our backup Real Reel!”

  “YAY!” the audience cried as an even bigger movie screen lowered from the ceiling.

  Backstage, the ninja confronted Dareth.

  “What was that?” Cole demanded.

  “I … I have no idea where that came from,” Dareth said. “Fred told me the interview would get to the core of who you guys really are.”

  “By humiliating us?” asked Kai. “Where did he even get the idea for Trouble in Ninja Paradise?”

  “Ah, well.” Dareth pulled at his shirt collar. “I may have mentioned it was a catchy title …”

  “You promised us this interview would inspire our fans because it was all about teamwork. It wasn’t supposed to pit us against one another!” said Lloyd.

  “Well, it was getting to that,” Dareth insisted. “You didn’t give Fred a chance …”

  “No, we gave you a chance,” said Zane. “And we were wrong.”

  “That’s it, Dareth,” said Nya. “No more publicity. No more bookings. We’re done.”

  “But … but …” Dareth pleaded.

  “Don’t call us again unless Ninjago City is in trouble,” said Lloyd. “Because that’s the only thing we’re doing now. Working together to keep people safe. Come on, guys.”

  Dareth was speechless. How could the ninja walk away from so much potential?

  Didn’t they realize how hard he had worked to make them famous? And wasn’t being famous the most important thing there was?

  Something had to be done.

  “Unavailable unless Ninjago City is in trouble,” Dareth mumbled to himself.

  A sneaky glint came to his eye.

  “Well, then, we’ll just see what we can do about that.”

  A few weeks later, the ninja were eating at one of their favorite restaurants. But their definition of “favorite” had changed since they’d become famous.