Ninjago Movie: Cole’s Weakness

Ninjago Movie: Cole’s Weakness

“Alright let’s work your weakness!” Lloyd clapped his hands together as he faced Cole. The incredibly strong ninja had his arms crossed and eyebrows raised, looking like he could care less. But Lloyd knew Cole: he may be a silent and expressionless teammate, but he definitely took everything seriously.

Lloyd paused as he stared at Cole. “Uh…what is your weakness?” he asked the black ninja.

Cole didn’t respond, but pondered the question before shrugging.

“Hmm..” Lloyd glanced around the training equipment. “Let’s see how your agility looks.”

He nodded, slipped on his headphones and messed with his phone for a quick second before lunging into the agility course. He easily dodged each threat and and expertly slid and flipped like a master. Lloyd watched carefully, searching for anything to critique, but when Cole finished without breaking a sweat, Lloyd was speechless. Cole slid his headphones down to his neck.

“Uuuhh…looks like your good there,” Lloyd chuckled nervously. “Let’s practice your…reflexes.”

Cole nodded again, then returned his headphones to his head. He messed with his phone a little more, obviously choosing a different song. Lloyd raised an eyebrow, but didn’t think much about it.

They both grabbed a training staff and faced each other. Cole held his at the ready and focused his full attention on Lloyd’s eyes. Well done, Lloyd thought.

Lloyd flashed out like a bolt of lightning towards Cole’s head, but he easily deflected it. As Lloyd’s staff rebounded, Cole spun around and swung his staff like a hammer towards Lloyd’s knees. The imbalance of Lloyd’s staff swung him off course, so he barely flipped backwards in time to avoid being painfully tripped. There was a beat as both ninja reset themselves. Cole fixed his eyes back onto Lloyd’s, but he was oddly calm. During their pause, Lloyd faintly heard Cole’s music-loud, heavy, but slow. The beat was heavy but steady and slow, as if keeping Cole’s heartbeat steady and slow too.

The Green Ninja narrowed his eyes, curious to try something. He nodded at his teammate, cueing him to go on offense. Cole instantly swung his staff in a circle before thrashing out a Lloyd, who was ready for the high blow. He ducked under the swing before using his staff to reach up and knock Cole’s headphones right off his head. “Hey-” Cole snapped, and in that moment Lloyd knew he had him distracted. He swung his staff again and hit the headphones further in the air and just out of Cole’s reach. Cole furrowed his eyebrows and tried to go back onto the offense, but he was starting to loose his control. Lloyd easily disarmed the ninja and then used his chest as a backboard to backflip into the air and catch the silver airborne headphones.

Cole hit the ground with a huge grunt and his staff rolled away. Lloyd landed on his feet and twirled Cole’s headphones around his wrist. “Yo, that’s so uncool, Lloyd-” Cole complained as he pushed himself off the ground, but stopped when he saw Lloyd smiling. “What?” The blonde teen slipped the headphones around his neck. “I’ll give you your headphones back, but you have to earn them first. I want you to do the agility course again.” “But I already did it-”

“Not without these….” Lloyd pointed at the headphones. Cole opened his mouth to argue, but then shut his mouth. He turned back to the agility course, but he had a different energy. Instead of standing with confidence, he swayed and rubbed his hands together nervously. Lloyd raised an eyebrow as he watched Cole jump into action. Lloyd immediately noticed Cole was out of his comfort zone. He was able to dodge and make his way through, but it was much sloppier. It was as if he had forgotten how he done it before…Wait! That’s it! The Green Ninja thought as Cole finished the course.

“Alright I did it, can I have my headphones back now?” Cole immediately asked Lloyd as soon as he stepped off the course. He was slightly out of breath and his forehead beaded with sweat. “You dance through the agility course, don’t you?” Lloyd asked with a small smile. Cole paused, as if he was shocked, but then shook his head. “No, of course not. That’s nuts.” “Do you listen to the same song each time you go through the course?”

Cole froze. Lloyd knew he figured it out. “You do, don’t you?” Lloyd grinned. The muscular ninja looked down at his feet, almost ashamed. “No, don’t be ashamed!” Lloyd told Cole, who looked back up. “Music is a good way to memorize things. But if you so the same thing every time, then you aren’t learning anything new.” Lloyd gestured at the course. “You use the song that you listen to in order to remind you of the moves you do to get through, don’t you?” Cole slowly nodded.

Lloyd nodded as well, then stared at Cole for a second. Finally, he took off Cole’s headphones. “Here,” he said as Cole slowly accepted them back. “I want you to do the course some more times, but-” Cole gave Lloyd a confused look. “I want you to do a different song each time.” “How will that help me?” Cole asked. Lloyd tilted his head some. “Well, ninjutsu is similar to dancing in the way that there are certain moves to be learned and then to be used in different circumstances. What you have done is practiced only one dance, and now I want you to learn more.”

The tall ninja looked down at his headphones then back up at Lloyd. “I…never thought of it that way.” The blonde shrugged. “Fighting is a freestyle ninja dance. You’ve mastered the practice, now it’s time to freestyle.” Cole finally let loose a smile. “Alright, Lloyd.” He stated with a grin. “Let’s work my weakness!”