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Chapter Text

It was a usual day in Ninjago, the four elemental ninja training the young Lloyd to become the Green Ninja. Out on the deck of the Destiny’s Bounty— which they had recently reclaimed— they fought, kicking and flipping and throwing their punches.

“Huh, not bad,” Cole remarked as the young boy managed to block his rather easy attacks. “But you aren’t focused. You need to pay attention in battle, otherwise the enemy will be able to beat you, just like that!” To prove his point, he kicked low, just at the boy’s feet, knocking him down.

“Ow! Hey, come on!”

“Told ya.”

He held out a hand, lifting him back up.

“Lloyd, you need to focus, you can’t just take this lightly,” Kai remarked, putting his sword away.

“Yeah, dude, you’re the Green Ninja!” Jay added.

“I know I’m the Green Ninja,” Lloyd replied, looking down. “It’s just… we’ve been training for so long now, can’t we take a break?”

“Evil doesn’t take breaks,” Kai said.

“And we’ve only been training for four minutes and twenty-three seconds,” Zane brought up.

Lloyd was only silent.

“All right, what is it really?” Cole asked, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

Still looking down, he answered, “I don’t know if I want to do this… I mean, I know Dad is evil, but he’s… you know, still my dad…” He sighed. “It’s stupid, I know.”

“Your emotions are not stupid, Lloyd,” Sensei Wu said, walking up to the five with a cup of tea in one hand and his bo staff in the other. “Your qualms for fighting your father are normal, but you must make sure to not act upon emotions too often, as it can cost you greatly.”

“Um, I’ll try…”

“Don’t worry, Lloyd,” Kai told him with a smirk, ruffling the boy’s hair. “Anything your dad throws at us, we can handle.”

“Yeah!” Cole agreed. “Any trick that Ol’ Garmy has up his sleeve, we can take it! And you’ve got us to to help you!” He placed a hand on Lloyd’s shoulder, giving him a gentle smile.

“But Garmadon doesn’t have sleeves,” Zane pointed out, the others laughing in result as he only looked to them with confusion.

“I shan’t interrupt you more.” Sensei took a sip of his tea, then turned around, walking away. “There is no shortcut for readiness; you must keep training if you wish to defeat your father one day.”

Cole nodded, turning to the young boy. “Sensei’s right,” he said. “We’re gonna keep going until we see some good improvement!”

Lloyd groaned lightly, but said nothing. Cole chose to let this go. He was just a kid, after all.

Cole readied his weapon, signaling to the others to do the same and to get into position. “All right, from the top! One, two, three!” At the end of his countdown, the young green ninja prepared himself for their attacks, the other four rushing towards him as the leapt into the air, ready to strike.

An ear splitting alarm.

Startled, the four elemental ninja fell on their faces just at the boy’s feet.

“Looks like Garmadon’s causing trouble in Ninjago again!” Cole commented, clearly annoyed as he got up and put away his scythe.

“Break it down for us, sis!” Kai commanded as they ran into the bridge.

“Garmadon was seen in the town square of Ninjago City,” she informed the others, showing the Falcon’s view on the screen. “He hasn’t done anything serious yet, but who knows what he’s up to.”

“Shouldn’t be too bad then,” Jay said with a smile. “Just pop in, beat him before he does anything with that Mega Weapon, then pop out! Piece of cake!”

“I… don’t see what cake has to do with fighting Lord Garmadon,” Zane said, confusion in his voice.

“It’s just an expression, don’t worry, Zane,” Kai replied, placing a hand on the nindroid’s shoulder. “But fighting the Dark Lord is never going to be that easy. It’ll be more like Cole’s cake, if anything.”

“Guys, just cool the small talk, and let’s go,” the black ninja interrupted, rushing out. “And my cake isn’t that bad!” The others laughed a bit, following him out as they pulled up their hoods.

They rushed to the deck as the Destiny’s Bounty descended, ready to jump into the city below, Nya rushing out as she put on her samurai helmet. “Hey, it gets boring sitting in the bridge!” she said as Kai shot her a look. He shrugged, choosing not to question it; they all knew that Nya could protect herself.

They jumped down, shouting their usual battle cry as they spun down to the gravel, Nya shouting one of her own and deciding to head down with only her suit and not her mech. “Ninja GO!!!”

“Samarai go!”

The five of them rushed down the street, to the opposite direction where people were running. They had to be running from Garmadon and the Serpentine!

As they approached the town square, the Serpentine were in plain sight, causing havoc. Smashing windows, destroying cars, throwing garbage cans, it was chaos as people fled the scene.

“Ugh, I hate snakes!” Jay whined, pulling out his nunchucks. “Hey, buddy!” he yelled at one Venomari kicking over another trash can. “Don’t you know it’s against the law to litter?!”

Without hesitation, he ran towards the serpent, his nunchucks spinning above his head as he let out a cry. He swung his weapon at the snake’s head, knocking him down.

The others were quick to follow. The other three ninja used their weapons to stop the Serpentine’s actions, hitting them to the ground, while Nya used her fists and feet to fight, knocking as many snakes as the others.

Usually, being outnumbered wasn’t a big deal, especially when most of your team knew Spinjitzu. However, new Serpentine seemed to be showing up for every one that they hit. “Ack! Why aren’t they just going away?!” Kai cried out, trying to keep them at a distance with his sword.

It wasn’t enough. The five of them walked backwards into each other, completely surrounded by the horde of snakes.

And in the midst of it all was Garmadon, who cockily walked up to them, his Mega Weapon gripped tightly in his four hands. The Serpentine stepped away from him, creating a clear path for him.

“You know what? You were right, Kai,” Jay said, not sounding as confident as before. “This is like a piece of Cole’s cake.” He hit a Fangpyre with his nunchucks, which didn’t seem to do much to help their situation.

“I heard that!”

“Surely you don’t want to spend your last moments quarreling?” Garmadon told them, smirking madly. He pointed the Mega Weapon towards them, shouting out, “Mega Weapon, I wish to create a way to send the ninja and the girl far from here!”

In his hands, the golden weapon glowed brightly, the Dark Lord struggling to keep it steady in his grip. A dark matter seemed to shoot out from its end.

“Watch out!”

Ninja, samurai, and Serpentine alike jumped out of the way, not wanting to be hit by the powerful weapon. The dark matter soon began to swirl, faster and faster until a purple portal was formed. It looked almost like a purple whirlpool with sparkling dark dust, mesmerizing in a way. And just like a whirlpool, it drew in anything that was within its reach. That just so happened to be the blue ninja of lightning.

“Wha— IT’S SUCKING ME IN!!” Jay began to flail his arms and legs around as it slowly lifted him from the ground, trying to find something to stop him from moving towards the portal.

Quick as she could, Nya grabbed onto his hand. “Gotcha!” Only she didn’t. Her weight wasn’t enough, as she too was being dragged towards the portal.

“Sis!”

“Kai!”

“Cole!”

They all grabbed onto each other, whether on their arms or waists, forming a chain, Jay clinging to life tightly, his grip on Nya slowly slipping. Fighting the pull of the portal, Zane grabbed onto a lamppost, trying to keep his brothers and sister from being sucked in. He held onto Cole’s hand tighter, afraid of what would happen if he lost his grip.

Someone placed their hand on his own gripping the lamppost. Zane looked up, his eyes widening at the sight of Garmadon’s ash black hand on his own gloved one.

“Goodbye, ninja!” Garmadon shoved his hand away, breaking Zane’s hold.

“NO!!”

And just like that, they were sucked in, the portal closing.

Chapter Text

His head hurting from the impact of landing, Jay already knew that they weren’t in Ninjago. Or maybe they were? The wood was all too familiar, like that of the Bounty. The walls were all too familiar, like that of the Bounty. In fact, he would’ve sworn they were just sent to the Bounty. If everything wasn’t so big.

He took off his hood, trying to get a better look.

“Is everyone okay?” Cole asked, all of them slowly getting to their feet. His hood was already off.

“I think so?” Kai said, taking off his hood and rubbing his temple.

“I’m fine, but looks like my helmet isn’t,” Nya remarked, taking it off. She was right, as it seemed to have taken quite a hit from their fall. Jay would’ve offered to help, if he had his tools.

“Forgive me, everyone,” Zane said, looking to his feet as he removed his hood. “I was not able to hold on tight enough…”

“Hey, Zane, this isn’t your fault!” Jay told him, placing a hand on the nindroid’s shoulder. “Garmadon’s just a jerk, none of this was you!” How could he even blame himself?! It was all Lord Garmadon and his stupid Mega Weapon. Yeah, he was so gonna pay.

“Yadda yadda yadda, it’s not your fault, all that junk. Okay, more important matters: where the heck are we?!” Kai brought up, the others beginning to notice their surroundings.

“It… kind of looks like the Destiny’s Bounty…” Nya commented, voicing everyone’s thoughts as they looked around.

“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure the Bounty doesn’t have a giant cliff inside of it.” Jay pointed down the edge he stood next to, the others walking over. He tried not to look down for too long; the thought of falling that far made him feel a little light-headed, especially since he no longer had his Nunchucks of Lightning to create his storm glider.

“Hang on,” Cole said, staring intensely at something ahead of them. “Is that… is that a giant chair?!”

Before Jay could even look closely at what Cole was talking about, the wall seemed to shift. He realized that this was the Bounty! That was one of the sliding doors to get to the dining room!

However, he was in quite a shock to see who came in.

“Is that… me?!” he whispered to the others.

The giant looked like him, yet he didn’t. He had the same clothes, the same hairstyle, and the same hair color, but he still looked very different. For one thing, his skin color was different. His face was different. The build of his body was different. Plus, five little arms seemed to extend from each of his hands. Jay… was slightly disturbed by this.

It was more disturbing when a voice in the distance (was that Cole’s?) yelled out, “Jay, don’t you dare touch the lemon meringue in the fridge!”

“How dare you accuse me! I would never!” the giant yelled back in his voice, which Jay could mostly assume from his friends’ faces. The voice sounded kind of different to him personally. Worse than the one he usually heard when he heard himself talk.

“We’re both seeing the same thing, right?!” Nya worriedly whispered to Jay, watching the giant pull out the very pie the voice told him not to take. He had the urge to hold her, protect her from that… clone? Imposter? What was he?

“What’s going on here?!” Kai cried out a little loudly. Too loudly, in fact. Loud enough to catch the Giant Jay’s attention as he took his first bite of the pie.

He stared at them, his blue eyes wide. They stared back, their own eyes just as wide. They made no sound, the only ones they heard being their own breathing. No one moved a muscle.

Until Giant Jay’s plate slipped out of his hand and onto the floor.

“Uh… guys…?” he called out nervously. “Something weird is going on here…”

“He saw us!” Jay hissed, the panic starting to rise more. “Oh man, we’re so hooped!”

“What, did Cole’s cooking come alive this time?”

“I heard that!”

Why did it sound like his friends were behind the walls? They were right next to him… weren’t they?

“Come on, we gotta run!” Cole told the others. Yep, he was right next to them. But before they could move, however, the door opened once again, three other giants stepping in, looking just like Kai, Cole, and Zane.

They looked similar to their counterparts, though they seemed to resemble Giant Jay in a way, with their bodies and their skins, though Giant Cole’s skin was darker compared to the others, and Giant Zane’s almost looked white as snow. Giant Kai’s eyes also looked a bit smaller compared to the others. Their heights also varied, Giant Zane being the tallest and Giant Jay being the shortest.

“Whoa,” Giant Cole remarked, staring at them. “Since when did they make LEGOs of us?”

Jay took a nervous step back.

“Huh, they look pretty accurate.” Giant Kai walked over, picking up Jay with his tiny hand arms… claws… whatever. Just his luck.

“Kai, don’t touch them, they’re alive!!” Giant Jay shrieked.

Giant Kai rolled his eyes. “Ha ha, very funny, Jay.”

Meanwhile, Jay was not enjoying being lifted against his will. He struggled in the giant’s grasp, but his fleshy claws were tight; he couldn’t wiggle out. He looked down, the idea of falling at this height giving him a terrible feeling in his stomach.

He had no other choice, though. He took out his nunchucks, swinging them above his head. Letting out a battle cry, he swung down, hitting the hard part near the end of the tiny arm-claw thing with as much force as he could.

“YEOW!!!” Giant Kai practically threw him back onto the table, putting the tip of his arm-claw in his mouth.

“Time to go!” Kai yelled, helping Jay back to his feet as the five of them jumped off.

“Ninja GO!!!” The four ninja spun into their Spinjitzu tornadoes to lower themselves to the ground, Nya using rocket boosters she recently added to her suit if she ever had to fight without her mech.

“This has Garmadon written all over it!”

“Get them!”

“Don’t let them get away!”

Jay gulped, the giants starting to surround the five of them from all sides.

“Split up!” Cole commanded them, pulling up his hood. The others did the same, Nya putting on her damaged helmet. “They can’t catch all of us at once!”

Without hesitation, they all rushed in five different directions. Jay ran past the fallen pie and in between the legs of his giant copy, hitting his feet with his nunchucks. While that didn’t seem to do anything, like he had hoped, where he ran did seem to help a little. The giant ended up stumbling forward as he tried to grab him, crashing into the chair in front of him.

“Haha, yes!” he laughed, watching the giant fall. Unfortunately, he wasn’t looking where he was going, running right into the wall. He looked up, realizing it was one of the sliding doors they had on the Bounty. When did they close it?! He knew it was useless, but he attempted to shift it, maybe just a little bit. Maybe if he used enough force, he could run and slip through the small crack on the side.

“Gotcha!!”

Jay yelped, suddenly finding himself surrounded by a clear material, the outside world somewhat distorted. He looked up, his giant counterpart having slammed a drinking glass on top of him. When did he have time to get it?

His world suddenly shifted, the glass sliding across the wooden floor and tilting up, forcing him to the bottom of it with a hard thunk. He rubbed the back of his head, watching in horror as his friends were captured one by one in similar drinking glasses by their own counterparts.

“Nya!” he cried out, seeing her and her brother swept up together in a single glass. He pushed against his clear, prison walls, trying to escape, as if it would do anything.

It didn’t.

There was no hope. They were done for. He dropped down into a sit, waiting for the inevitable.

“So,” Giant Cole spoke up, “what do we do with them?”

Chapter Text

“Think if we squash them hard enough, they’ll turn to dust like our ninja doubles?” Kai suggested.

“Aw, but they’re kind of adorable!” Jay cooed, especially when looking to Kai’s glass, right at the one that mimicked Nya’s appearance. She seemed uncomfortable, backing up into Kai’s miniature double, her tiny helmet shielding her for defense.

“Just five minutes ago, they scared you, Jay,” Cole pointed out, holding his glass carelessly, his tiny double tossed around a bit.

As the rest of his brothers bickered, Zane took a moment to study his miniature counterpart.

He couldn’t see his face well, with his white hood up, and his eyes lacked irises, as he knew LEGO figurines should. However, his white outfit was just like his own, down to the minute details. It was way too nice and exact to simply be painted onto like a toy. Shurikens lay by his feet, similar to his own pair, though they were designed to better suit his miniature’s fingerless hands.

Tiny Zane was clearly panicked, which was understandable; he would be, too, if he were in his position, not to mention seeing the tiny counterparts did make him more than uncomfortable at first. However, it tugged at his metaphorical heart, watching Tiny Zane looking around, staring at his captured friends. Tiny Zane looked to him, his small hands pressed against the clear walls of his prison.

Through his hood, Zane could see it in his widening black eyes: the fear. Tiny Zane was terrified. He lifted the glass up to his eye level. Staring at him, he knew these were not creatures of evil intentions. They were simply lost, or maybe better said, misplaced.

With a single finger, he pressed back against the glass, right across one of his tiny gloved hands.

Tiny Zane stared at his finger, the tip of it almost larger than his face, then looked back up at him.

Part of him told him to listen to his brothers, that they could be of Garmadon, but he chose to listen to his intuition instead, which seemed to tell him that there was something they didn’t know. Ever so gently, Zane tilted the glass as slowly as he could, allowing for his miniature self to gain his balance as he did so. Once he had the glass completely on its side, gripping it tightly in one hand, he held out a cupped hand right below its mouth.

Tiny Zane was very hesitant, but carefully and surely approached the exit. With a small leap, he landed on the middle of his palm, his feet feeling nothing like plastic. Zane was a little shocked at how heavy he felt compared to how his size looked, but they weren’t toys; of course they’d have more mass than a plastic figurine of the same size.

Once he got past the thoughts, he couldn’t help but smile. Tiny Zane looked up at him, taking off his hood.

He looked almost exactly like him! He had the same blonde hair in the same flat top, though his skin was yellow rather than any natural colors, and he lacked a visible nose. The best part was how he smiled back at him. A thankful smile that mimicked his own.

Tiny Zane nodded slightly; no words were needed, but he understood exactly what he was saying.

“I do not believe they wish us harm,” Zane finally spoke up, looking to his brothers.

They turned to him, all of their mouths open clearly to argue against his statement, but instead just left them hanging open, staring at Tiny Zane sitting safely on his hand.

“Zane, what are you doing?!” Jay cried out, the first one to gain his voice. “That thing could kill you!”

“Jay, make up your mind on what you think of them already,” Kai complained, rolling his eyes.

“No, they are simply out of place,” Zane replied, stroking Tiny Zane’s hair with his thumb. He was amazed at how it felt just like real hair like his own, despite its plastic appearance. The tiny counterpart seemed uncomfortable with this sudden physical interaction, however, so Zane immediately stopped, feeling Tiny Zane relax once again on his palm.

“Out of place? Come on, they have to be Garmadon’s doing!” Cole exclaimed, now probably being more careful as not to let out his counterpart.

“This may have been Garmadon’s doing, but it is not in the way you think,” Tiny Zane suddenly spoke up as he got to his feet, surprising everyone. “Please, let my friends out, and we can explain everything.”

His hand steady, Zane lowered it down to the table, allowing Tiny Zane to hop off.

The others were wary, but Cole and Jay eventually tilted their glasses onto the table, allowing their tiny doubles a way out.

Kai was the last to hold onto the LEGO duplicates resembling himself and his sister. Seeing the others let theirs out, he sighed. “All right,” he gave in begrudgingly. “But I’m only letting you guys out because Zane trusts you.” Just like everyone else, he tipped the mouth of his glass to the table, Tiny Kai and Tiny Nya being allowed to escape and join their friends.

“Okay, we let you guys out,” Cole said, glaring suspiciously at the five of them. “Now what’s going on?”

“As I said before, this is Garmadon’s doing,” Tiny Zane said, looking up at the four of them. “He sent us here using his Mega Weapon.”

“It’s true!” Tiny Jay exclaimed. “One minute, we’re fighting snakes, the next minute, we’re sucked into… into… I don’t even know where we are!”

“The Destiny’s Bounty, approximately 433 feet above ground level just over Ninjago City,” Zane replied simply.

Tiny Kai scoffed. “Uh, last I checked, the Bounty wasn’t so huge or for housing giants,” he said, crossing his arms.

Kai just scoffed, crossing his own arms as well. “Yeah, you’re one to talk about what is and isn’t real,” he replied. “If you’re here because of Garmadon’s Mega Weapon, explain why Nya came with you!” He motioned his hand towards Tiny Nya, her helmet placed down by her feet.

“I’m sorry, but it gets boring on the ship!” Tiny Nya retorted rather bitterly. “If your sister is anything like me, just ask her!”

“Well, maybe I will!”

“Yeah, then why don’t you?!”

Both glared intensely at the other, Tiny Nya craning her neck up to stare at her brother’s counterpart straight in the eye, Tiny Kai holding her back a bit defensively.

No one moved, worried what the two might do to each other, until Jay abruptly burst into laughter, cutting the tension. “I’m sorry,” he said between giggles. “It’s just… you’re exactly like Nya!”

Zane hummed in agreement. Their behavior mirrored those of their counterparts, it was hard to believe they were anyone other than themselves.

“So I guess you guys really are us,” Cole mused, his arms crossed, though not as threatening as Kai.

“Okay,” Tiny Cole replied, “but that doesn’t really do anything to tell us what exactly happened…”

Cole smiled down at him. “Guess it’s time we ask Sensei for some help.”

Chapter Text

“Well, this certainly is interesting,” Sensei remarked as they finished their story, looking at the five of them on the wooden table. The dining room was a lot more crowded now with the giant counterparts of Lloyd, Sensei Wu, and herself sitting with the giant counterparts of the ninja around the table. Nya felt a little uncomfortable, being surrounded with no escape, but she did her best to keep her rational thinking; Zane’s counterpart had convinced them that they weren’t trying to cause trouble. She had to trust that they weren’t going to hurt them.

Sensei’s, Lloyd’s, and her counterpart, while still resembling them, had features of the ninja’s counterparts, all while looking different at the same time. Giant Sensei’s skin seemed a bit darker, though not as dark as Cole’s. His skin also hung heavily from his face, more so than the Sensei Wu she knew. His eyes also seemed brighter, and like the others, had color in them, though they were different. His right eye was shade of brown, lighter than the eyes of the counterparts of her, her brother, and Cole, while his left was blue, a shade darker than the eyes of Jay’s counterpart.

Her counterpart was shorter than the others, and her skin was about the same shade as her brother’s, if not a little darker. Her eyes were narrow as well and slanted slightly upwards, similar to her brother’s counterpart, and her body had a shape that kind of reminded her of an hourglass. She also appeared chubbier than the others, like that chubby pup she loved to play with in her home village.

Lloyd’s counterpart was the shortest out of them all, just like the Lloyd she knew. His hair was a lot messier, though, and he had bright green eyes, reminding her of a thriving plant. His skin was about a little bit darker than Jay’s counterpart’s.

This was too weird for Nya’s liking, being honest. All of this, in fact.

“How come I don’t have a LEGO?!” Giant Lloyd complained, crossing his arms.

“Our apologies, Lloyd,” Zane replied to him, “but the Lloyd that we are training is much too young to be battling Lord Garmadon, like you are, hence why he did not come with us.”

Giant Lloyd only muttered something incoherent in response, keeping his arms crossed.

Giant Sensei stroked his white beard, leaning back in his seat. “So my brother managed to rip through the seams of space itself,” he contemplated, his eyes half closed.

“I’m sorry, rip the what now?” Kai asked, clearly not understanding.

Unlike him, Nya knew exactly what Giant Sensei meant. Studying mechanics led to a little interest in Physics, which also led to learning about some relativity and space-time continuum.

“He’s saying we’ve basically been sent to a universe that’s kind of like ours, but different in some way,” she explained, placing her hand on his shoulder. “An alternate dimension, to say the least.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Jay interjected. “I thought the universe can’t handle the same thing occupying the same proximity! Aren’t we all supposed to explode ?!”

“You haven’t died yet,” Giant Nya pointed out. “So I’m assuming that we’ve just disproven that theory.”

Giant Jay sighed with relief. “I’ve never loved you more than now,” he told her in awe.

Giant Nya simply rolled her eyes with a smile.

Giant Sensei sat up straighter, all attention turned to him once again. “Luckily, there should be a tea that can send you five back to your universe,” he told them. They cheered with excitement.

“What do you know? Sensei’s got a tea for everything!” Cole exclaimed happily.

“It should only be a couple hours trip to Mistake’s, and I’ll be back with the tea shortly.”

He stood up, his bo staff in his hand. “Nya, land the Bounty nearby.”

Giant Nya brought her hand up to her forehead, saluting. “Aye aye, Sensei!” She ran out of the dining room, presumably to the Bridge.

Sensei turned to the rest of them. “Don’t worry; I shan’t be long,” he told them, then turned to exit, walking out.

“Huh, that was actually pretty fast!” Jay commented, his hands on his hips. “Who would’ve thought this whole situation would be so easy to solve?”

“Yeah,” Nya replied, smiling back at him. “Usually you guys spend hours on the problem before I come in to save you boys!”

“Well, we could’ve handled those on our own, you know!” both Kais retorted at once, causing the others to laugh. As they did, they could feel the flying ship descend

“Since we’ve got time to kill while Sensei’s out,” Giant Jay spoke up, “you wanna play some video games, Mini Me?” He pumped his fists, a grin so wide plastered on his face.

Jay jumped up in response. “Do I ever!” At that moment, his stomach growled loudly, and he held his belly with embarrassment. “Or, maybe have a snack first?”

“Well, it is lunchtime,” Giant Cole said, getting up and walking to the fridge. “Might as well grab something to eat.”

“Ah, ah, ah!” Giant Jay tutted, pulling Giant Cole away as he opened the fridge door. “If we’re going to feed out guests, we have to give them something that’s actually edible.”

“Excuse me?!” both Coles cried out at once.

Nya snickered. Despite this weirdness, it still felt like home.

“Do not worry, Cole,” Giant Zane spoke with a smile. “It is my turn to cook today, anyway.”

Giant Cole grumbled a bit, but sat down at the table as Giant Zane walked out of the room and into the kitchen.

“If his cooking is anything like our Zane’s, then I’m starving!” Kai exclaimed.

“So, if you guys are like the ninja and Nya,” Giant Lloyd suddenly spoke up, “is there a LEGO version of me and Uncle Wu?”

“I guess?” Jay answered, looking to his friends, all of them confused. “But you guys keep calling us that. What’s a… ‘Let-go’?”

Their giant counterparts turned to each other incredulously.

“You don’t know what LEGOs are???” Lloyd asked in shock.

“I mean, I doubt they’d call themselves ‘LEGO figurines’ anyway,” Giant Kai told the young boy.

“Ooh! I should get some!” Giant Jay suddenly exclaimed, bursting from his seat and running down the hall.

“While he does that, LEGO is this company that makes these small plastic building blocks,” Giant Cole explained, “and they’ve branched out to a bunch of different franchises, and they also have these plastic figurines that… pretty much look like you guys.”

“I got some!” Giant Jay returned, carrying two boxes in his arms and held what looked like some spaceship. He set them all down on the table, being careful not to drop it on top of the small doubles.

“Hey, are these mine ?!” Lloyd cried out, grabbing one of the boxes. It had a photo of a truck on its side, a figurine worker sitting at the seat, one that felt more familiar to Nya even if she never saw anyone from Ninjago who looked exactly like that.

“No!” Giant Jay responded defensively, before his face started turning a light shade of red. “It’s… my own… that I bought myself…”

“You play with LEGOs?!” Lloyd couldn’t help but laugh, the other two giant counterparts trying to hold it in, their tiny guests only confused. “The box says ‘Ages 8 to 14.’”

“Well– that’s just a suggestion !” His face grew more red each second, Nya thought it would explode.

“Is your face okay?” she asked worriedly. “It’s becoming as red as my brother’s suit…”

“Eh, don’t worry about him,” Giant Kai assured her. “It’s normal.”

It didn’t seem normal to her, but what did she know? These guys weren’t exactly the same as the people back in Ninjago.

“So Sensei’s on his way to Mistake’s, and there’s no Garmadon or snake activity according to the Bridge,” Giant Nya announced, stepping in the room. “What’re we doing here?”

“Zane’s cooking lunch, and Jay here is showing off his LEGO collection,” her brother replied, half smiling.

“This is so cool!” Jay cried out, inspecting the pre-built spaceship his counterpart brought out. He was lightning fast as he combed through each detail, which Nya see was carefully placed. She couldn’t help but smile as the blue-dressed ninja jumped into the pilot seat, popping the top open. “Can it actually fly?”

Giant Jay laughed. “Unfortunately not. It’s only plastic, so it doesn’t actually work.”

He then picked up one of the boxes, dumping the contents out on the table as carefully as he could, as not to crush their guests nor lose a piece on the floor. “Here, you guys can try building one! Just follow the instructions here.” He slid them a little instruction booklet, though to them it was pretty huge. “Lloyd can help you build it.”

“Aw, sweet!”

Giant Lloyd wasted no time opening the booklet, working with Cole, Zane, and Kai to build what looked like should be a helicopter.

Meanwhile, Nya jumped up onto the spaceship next to Jay, enjoying the intricate craftsmanship of the toy vessel. “This thing’s impressive,” she commented, admiring the attention to details.

Giant Jay’s face began to glow a soft shade of red once again. “R… really?” he asked softly, almost in awe.

Nya smiled up at him. “Definitely! Had it been built with the right materials, she could probably fly for real!”

“I know, right?!” Jay next to her exclaimed. “I mean, if we added some lightweight turbo engines—”

“Pedals to power them—” Nya added, just as excited.

“Yeah! And the right wires to connect all that together, along with some—”

“Ow!” Giant Jay yelped. Nya and Jay turned back to him, watching as he rubbed the back of his head and grinning sheepishly at Giant Nya, who was playfully smirking at him. “She’s still technically you!” he told her, resulting in a small chuckle and eye roll from her.

Nya looked back to the others, where they had about less than half of the helicopter built. There wasn’t much progress, however, as they argued where each piece should go, Giant Lloyd explaining that the instruction booklet only had pictures. They went as far as enlisting the help of Giant Cole and Giant Kai, who weren’t having much better luck with the build, either.

“Lunch will be ready in a few minutes,” Giant Zane told them all, sticking his head into the dining room. “Would you guys mind cleaning up as I finish making our meals?”

Giant Nya gave him a small salute. “No problem, Zane!” she said.

Giant Zane smiled, before stepping out and heading back to the kitchen.

“I’ll just go put these away,” Giant Nya said as she swept the remaining loose pieces of the helicopter away in their box. She held the boxes to her chest, then after allowing the tiny counterparts to step away, picked up the spaceship and partially built helicopter. “Don’t worry, Jay, I know where to put these!” she said, stepping out.

“And who’s gonna take care of that?” Giant Kai pointed to the pie that was on the floor, which felt hundreds of feet down to Nya from the tabletop.

“I didn’t do that!” Giant Cole said, holding up his hands. All eyes turned to Jay.

“Okay, whoa! Hold on!” he said, his hands out defensively. “It’s not my fault!”

“Didn’t I tell you not to touch that pie?” Giant Cole reminded him, raising an eyebrow.

Giant Jay held out a tightly clenched fist, determination in eyes. “Rock, Paper, Scissors,” he stated simply. “Loser cleans up the pie.”

Rock, Paper, Scissors? Nya knew rock and paper, but she had no idea what scissors could be. It was most likely some equivalent to clip, like in the game she was more familiar with: Rock, Paper, Clip.

Giant Cole smirked. “Get your broom ready, then!” he said, his own fist out.

Both ninja brought their fists down three times, an action similar to Rock, Paper, Clip. Giant Cole kept his fist held in the reveal, which Nya could assume was rock. Giant Jay held out two of his mini arms, which were probably scissors, since it didn’t resemble the action for paper or rock in Rock, Paper, Clip.

Giant Jay groaned in frustration, Giant Cole celebrating his mini victory.

“Come on!” the giant ninja of lightning complained, walking out of the room to fetch the broom to clean up the pie.

Nya couldn’t suppress her giggles. These giants were just like them; she didn’t really mind having to wait in this world for the time being with everything already reminding her of home.

“A tea to travel to alternate universes…”

He placed a pondering dark hand against his chin in thought, a white smile beginning to form on his dark face.

“Well, well, well… another Ninjago to conquer, and by the looks of it, an easy one, too.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle darkly, his red eyes gleaming with delight. It was a great idea to use the Mega Weapon to create a way to spy on the ninja and his brother! Even if it was a cliche crystal ball, it was quite useful, and he could take it with him wherever he pleased. The ninja couldn’t hide anything from him now!

He’d have to keep watching if he wanted a thorough plan, though. But he didn’t mind.

Good things come to those who wait…

Chapter Text

Just like himself, his small version had a large appetite.

Of course, it probably had something to do with the fact that Zane always made the best meals, which he had to admit. And travelling between dimensions probably made a person hungry, especially someone so tiny.

His normal teammates, Nya and Lloyd included, weren’t even finished with their plates when their tiny doppelgangers had already cleared their shared one.

“You must have been quite hungry!” Zane remarked with a smile, watching Small Jay licking his LEGO hands.

“Oh man, I knew Zane’s food was good, but it’s even better big!” Small Jay exclaimed with excitement, then turned to Small Zane. “Uh, no offense, Zane.”

“It is quite all right, Jay.”

Cole smirked a bit at the sight of the five laying on the plate. It was impressive they were able to eat so much! “If you guys still have room, we’ve got some dessert waiting in the fridge!” he told them.

Small him sat up quickly. “You don’t mean…”

Cole got up, grabbing the chocolate cake iced in vanilla frosting. “That’s right, Small Me!” he said, holding up the cake before placing it down on the table gently.

“No thanks, I don’t think I can eat anymore…” Small Kai said, still laying on his back as Small Cole ran towards the cake, which was much bigger than he was.

“Cole, you better make sure he doesn’t eat the whole thing,” Kai told him, an eyebrow raised.

“He’s two inches tall, how can he even eat one slice?” Nya asked, picking up some of her food with her chopsticks.

“Yeah, but if he’s like our Cole, his stomach’s a bottomless pit!” Jay joked, grinning ear to ear.

Cole glared at him, his smaller version glaring up at the blue ninja as well, everyone else laughing at their faces.

“What’s LEGO me like?” Lloyd suddenly spoke up curiously, his mouth full.

“Uh, like you, I guess?” Small Kai answered, sitting up. “Assuming you’re like him.”

“Yeah! Also he looks more like us except shorter!” Small Jay added, sitting up as well. “Like, maybe a head shorter?”

Lloyd placed down his fork, staring deep into his plate. “And what’s Dad…” he murmured softly, trailing off uncomfortably.

Cole pursed his lips. The others eyed Lloyd, worried and concerned for the boy, all of them shifting slightly in their seats. Their smaller selves looked to each other, probably feeling just as awkward as their larger counterparts.

“It is… probably best if we do not speak of the subject of your father, Lloyd,” Small Zane said, looking down.

Lloyd nodded, his face emotionless.

Jay laughed a bit, which sounded too forced. “H-hey, you know, if your dad’s mini version comes here, you could always defeat him by stepping on him! Heh, heh…”

No one else found it funny, Lloyd stiffening up and the small versions of themselves recoiling a bit. Cole shuddered, trying to get the image of them being stepped on and crushed out of his mind.

Jay coughed, looking away as no one else laughed at his attempted joke. “Uh, who wants to play video games now?”

Lloyd, Kai, himself, and Small Jay and Kai all raised their hands quickly.

“With Sensei out, we’ll all probably need something to do to pass the time anyway,” Cole remarked, nodding his head.

Once they had all finished their meals, they made their way to the gaming room, their tiny selves being carried by their respective doppelgangers. Jay, Kai, their tiny selves, and Lloyd opted to play video games, with Small Jay and Small Kai sharing one controller, having to work together on the controls. Nya and her small doppelganger just hung around, working on fixing Small Nya’s helmet. Zane and Small Zane sat in the corner, asking each other questions about each other’s builds it seemed, the way both of them opened their chest panels, Small Zane somehow opening his through his gi. Cole and his small self just watched over everything and talked.

“Guess some things never change, no matter what universe we’re in,” small him commented with a smile, sitting on the metal shoulder armor of his black gi.

“Seems like we’re all pretty much the same, whether we’re human or LEGO,” Cole replied, smiling back as he crossed his arms.

“Though I do have some questions about stuff in your universe,” small him continued, frowning a bit.

“Shoot ‘em, Small Me.”

Small him held up his LEGO hands, shaking them a bit. “Those… arms on your hands… what are they for?”

Cole couldn’t help but laugh, his small counterpart almost falling off his shoulder. “These are fingers,” he answered, wiggling them as he held one hand up. “They’re mostly just used to grab stuff and do more intricate things, though they’re sometimes used for a thumbs up or peace sign every now and then!” He gave a demonstration of each action, small him looking a little jealous.

“Aw man, why do you guys get the cooler hands?!”

“Don’t worry, Small Me. With great hands comes great pain.” He grimaced slightly, remembering an incident from about a week ago. “Slamming a door on your thumb is not something you’d want to feel.”

“...thumb?”

He wiggled his right thumb. “This finger.”

“Uh, noted. And um, what about your skin…?”

“What about it?”

“It’s all… different colors?”

Cole took a look at his tanned hands, then to his teammates, all of them with lighter skin and different features. “Well, yeah,” he said casually. “We’re all of different races and stuff.”

Small him tilted his head, clearly confused. “Like the Ninjaball Run?” he asked. “That race?”

Cole blinked, slightly surprised, realizing that this version of him must’ve come from a place much more different from his own. Their universes may not have been as similar as he originally thought.

“No, not that kind. It’s like… we’re all people, but because of our ancestry, we all look pretty different. Take Kai and Nya for example.”

He pointed to the two siblings, the brother aggressively yelling as he pounded the buttons of his controller and the sister carefully fixing the dent of Small Nya’s tiny helmet with her much larger tools. “If you notice their eyes, they’re smaller than say, Jay’s eyes. That’s because they’re Asian, Chinese to be specific. ”

He pointed to himself. “I’m Asian myself, Filipino actually. My eyes aren’t small though, since not all Asians necessarily have small eyes. My mom didn’t have small eyes, and I have her eyes instead of my dad’s…” He trailed off, gulping a bit at the memory of his mother.

He shook the thought away. No, not now. Mourning her again would do no good at the moment.

“Anyway, Jay is what we call white, but he isn’t sure what kind of white. Says his parents won’t say. But I wanna bet Irish or something. Zane doesn’t count because he’s a robot, but he believes his inventor is Korean. And Lloyd says he’s half white, half Asian, which I believe, since I know Sensei Wu is at least half Japanese.”

He looked back at his tiny self, who seemed even more confused by the explanation.

Cole just gave him a small smile. “Well, in our universe, before Ninjago was made, the place was called ‘Earth,’ and consisted of people from different cultures and places known as ‘countries.’ We don’t have those anymore, but the countries are still known since they still let people know where they were from before Ninjago. But don’t worry about it too much. I don’t even know too much about it myself. The history’s kind of confusing.”

He looked over at the boys playing Fist to Face II, Jay and Kai blaming Lloyd for cheating, who only laughed in response. Small Jay and Small Kai seemed to be having much difficulty with their controller as they argued, being small and unable to reach all the buttons necessary.

Cole turned to his small doppelganger with a smile. “Think your friends would mind a little help from us?” he asked, pun not intended.

Small him smirked. “As long as this means seeing us beat your Kai’s and Jay’s butts!” he exclaimed, pumping up a LEGO fist.

The bell of the tea shop rang, signaling that someone had entered. Wu turned to the counter, an elderly woman matching him in age standing behind it with her back to him, stocking shelves. She clearly had heard him enter, choosing to ignore her customer.

“Hello, Mistake,” he greeted her gently.

She didn’t bother to turn around. “What is it that you need this time, Wu?” she asked, her voice raspy.

“I’ll be needing a helping of some Everett’s Tea, please.”

Mistake froze in place for a moment, before speaking. “I’m afraid I’m out of stock,” she replied, gently placing another box onto the shelves.

Wu stroked his beard nervously. This wasn’t good. “And when will you be in stock?”

“Not until next week, I believe.” She paused. “When do you need it?”

“I’m afraid I need it as soon as possible.”

Mistake placed the boxes she held down onto the wooden floor. She bent over, rummaging through her items underneath the counter. “This is the next best thing, I suppose,” she said, reappearing with a piece of paper in her hand. “A difficult task, but not impossible.”

She handed it to him. The recipe for the tea. He quickly read over the ingredients with concern. Just like she said, the task would be difficult, but he had complete faith in his students, both of his universe and of the other.

He looked to Mistake with a smile. “This will do. Thank you, Mistake.”

Chapter Text

“And I win!”

“Oh, no fair!”

“You totally cheated!”

Giant Lloyd just smirked. “Man, you’re even bigger than those guys and you still can’t play right,” he taunted. “And now you can’t even accept defeat. Talk about some sore losers!”

Giant Kai wasn’t about to have any of it. “Rematch! Best out of thirty-eight!” he exclaimed, fire in his eyes.

“Like I said: sore losers.” But Giant Lloyd picked up his controller anyway, a confident grin on his face.

“Beat ‘im, me!” Kai yelled, perched on top of his double’s shoulder. He wasn’t playing anymore, since Giant Cole had joined in, but he wanted so badly for his giant double— or any of their doubles, actually— to beat Lloyd, who went undefeated for thirty-seven rounds of the game.

Five minutes later, a screaming match included along with the game, and only the same outcome. Giant Lloyd’s smirk only grew wider, his face reading “I told you so.” In frustration, Giant Kai threw his controller to the floor, which luckily didn’t break. Giant Jay had his face in his hands, Jay on his shoulder trying to comfort him. Giant Cole gently tossed his controller down, his hands up.

“I quit!”

“Wow, aren’t you boys a bunch of downers,” Giant Nya commented, walking over with Nya on her shoulder.

“They’re only mad ‘cause they couldn’t beat me,” Lloyd said, standing up. “Thus, I remain the undefeated champion!” He posed heroically, as if he had just saved an entire city.

“Fist to Face II is supposed to be my game,” Giant Kai moaned, hunched over as he sat cross-legged. “ I’m the king of that game…”

“Then I guess there’s a new king now!”

Kai hopped down from where he sat on the metal shoulder armor, walking over to his giant counterpart’s neck and patting it. “Don’t worry, once we get back to our universe, I’ll so beat my Lloyd!” It wouldn’t be the same as beating this Lloyd, but it would be good enough.

“Yeah, and if you find a way back here, let me know how that turns out.”

Kai glared at the kid, who crossed his arms with confidence. Oh, the Lloyd back in his universe was gonna pay! Even if it wasn’t the same Lloyd he’d have to play against, but payback was payback regardless of their universes.

“As much as I hate to ruin your pouting fest,” Giant Nya said loudly, her hand next to the stereo they placed in the room, “we really need to lighten the mood in here.”

She hit the “Play” button on the stereo and immediately, a familiar guitar riff began to sound from its speakers.

“Oh sweet! I love this song!”

Everyone’s mood drastically shifted right away, all of them no longer sour.

The giant doubles of Kai, Cole, and Jay went over to the table at the side of the room, allowing their miniature selves to jump off their shoulders, slide down their arms, and dance onto the table as the lyrics started. Nya and Zane were also placed down to join them, everyone in the room jamming to the song.

“It’s time for training and we’re getting started!

It’s on you know!

And we wanna see you whip and shout it!

We rock! You roll!”

They all sang as loudly as they could, dancing and moving their bodies. It was as if the feud with Giant Lloyd and his gaming skills had been forgotten completely.

“They say go slow!

And everything just stands so still!

We say go go!

We’re ready for the fight, we know the drill!”

They were basically screaming at the top of their lungs, their throats and eardrums hurting as Giant Jay turned up the volume. Anyone with any musical ability could hear that they were offkey, but none of them cared.

“Monday morning and we feel defeated!

Seems so long ago!

Tuesday’s coming and we keep on beating!

‘Til we’re in our zone!”

“It’s getting to my favorite part!” Giant Jay said, smiling wider.

“They say go slow!

And everything just stands so still!

We say go go!

You’re gonna see us rip into it!"

Cole, Jay, and their counterparts all did their best knee slides with their hands in the air. Kai, Nya, and their counterparts sang into their closed fists, pretending to sing into microphones. Lloyd did his best air guitar, banging his head, both Zanes just smiling at their friends, happily singing with them.

“Just jump up, kick back, whip around, and spin!

And then we’ll jump back, do it again!”

The four small ninja on the table spun around, doing Spinjitzu. Their larger counterparts jumped up in the air, their fists pumping up.

“Ninja-go! Ninja-go!

Come on, come on, we’re gonna do it again!

We just jump up, kick back, whip—”

“Whip around, and spin!” both Jays continued singing as they danced, unaware that the music had just cut off and that everyone else had stopped.

“Aw, come on!”

“Who turned off the music?!”

“We were just singing the best part!”

“And then we’ll… jump back… do it again?”

“Why would you do this to us?!

Everyone turned to the stereo, Giant Sensei Wu now standing next to it, the tip of his bo staff placed right over the “Stop” button.

“I’m afraid you five will have to wait a bit longer in order to return to your universe,” he told them, turning to the small team standing on the table.

Jay just shrugged. “So what? We gotta wait for a tea kettle to heat up, no big deal! Now, crank up that music so we can kill the time!”

But Giant Sensei didn’t. “This is more than just waiting for a tea kettle to heat up and boil,” he said sternly. “If we want to send you back before next week, we’ll need to gather the ingredients ourselves.”

“What?! Next week ?!”

“Well, it shouldn’t be too hard, right, Sensei?” Cole asked, stepping forward. “Tea just needs some water and leaves.”

Giant Sensei Wu sighed. “Special tea like Everett’s Tea requires more than a few leaves, Cole.” From his pocket, he took out a piece of paper and placed it on the table. Both teams, Lloyd included, crowded around it, reading the five ingredients written down.

Kai felt his shoulders slump as he read the first one. “A strip of yanjiang bamboo?” he asked incredulously. “That’s at the base of Mount Re, the most active volcano in Ninjago!”

“Leaves of a pogpung tree?!” Jay cried out. “Those are in the highest reaches of the mountain ranges down south!”

“Water of the Cha Sea?” Nya read aloud. “What kind of tea needs sea water? Besides, that’s the most dangerous waters in East Ninjago.”

From the looks of it, it seemed like they had no chance of getting this tea. Their hope of getting back home before the evening was beginning to diminish.

“This is going to be pretty hard,” Giant Nya said with a frown.

“Yeah, like a piece of Cole’s cake,” Giant Jay remarked.

“I do not see how cake relates to this mission?”

“I heard that, you know!”

“It is challenging, yes,” Giant Sensei told them, “but you can’t give up now. Our only other option is to wait for the next shipment to Mistake’s shop, but one week is enough time for my brother to create much damage to Ninjago, no matter what universe he’s from.”

They all nodded with resolve. They had to do this! They couldn’t just give up because they thought it was impossible!

“Don’t worry, Sensei,” Giant Kai said, bowing slightly. “We won’t let you down.”

To save time, they to split up, one person paired with their counterparts to get one ingredient. Kai would get the bamboo from the volcano, Jay would get the leaves from the mountains, Cole would get the mushrooms from the caverns, Zane would get the flower from the Birchwood Forest, and Nya would get the water from the sea.

“Lloyd and I will keep track of your progress from here in the Bounty,” GIant Sensei Wu said, placing a hand on the young boy’s shoulder.

“Aww, why do I have to stay here?!” Giant Lloyd complained, slouching a bit. “They’re tiny, and they get to go!”

“That’s because they’re trained, unlike you,” Sensei replied. “You still have a long way to go. Besides: big and small are only illusions based on perception. Don’t base your expectations on how small someone may be, but by how capable they are.”

Kai mused at how their own Sensei would give them similar pieces of wisdom back at home. It was somewhat comforting to know that Sensei would remain Sensei no matter what he looked like.

All of them stepped out onto the deck, hovering just over the desert, the anchor hooked to the rocks below. Giant Nya, now in her samurai suit, placed something small on the backs of the larger ninja. “The Falcon isn’t able to be in five places at once,” she explained, “so I made these quick trackers so that Lloyd and Sensei can keep an eye on us from the Bridge. It’ll also let us communicate with each other in case something happens. Just say ‘come in’ to turn them on to speak and ‘over and out’ once you’re finished.”

“What about you, sis?” Giant Kai asked with concern.

She smirked through her helmet. “My suit’s got one built in! Oh, and I’ve got some vehicles down below to help us get to our destinations faster. Nothing too fancy, but it’ll help you get to where you need to go faster.”

With her miniature double in hand, she jumped into her mech, settling in. “Best to go in this if we wanna be safe getting that water.”

“Good thinking,” Nya replied, her helmet on as well.

“Be quick, and be careful,” Giant Sensei told them, nodding his head slightly. He pointed his bo staff out. “Go ninja, go!”

With that signal, making sure their tiny counterparts were safe and secure on them, the five of them jumped down, the ninja doing Spinjitzu to slow their fall and the samurai flying to the east coast.

Giant Sensei Wu watched as they did, the last thing they heard from him being, “And good luck.”

Chapter Text

Sitting in the Bridge was really boring if you asked him; all you did was stare at a screen. Plus, his uncle was sitting there with him, which meant he couldn’t even play video games while he did this! It was so unfair! How did Nya actually do this all day?!

Well, considering she ended up building an entire samurai mech on her own, maybe she had the same problem he was having at the moment.

Lloyd yawned, staring with disinterest at the five blinking red dots on the screen, all in separate locations all over the map of Ninjago. Nothing seemed to be happening at the moment, which meant nothing really to do.

He leaned against the table, his arm propping his head up, and looked over to his uncle, who was pouring what was probably his sixth cup of tea. He looked away, huffing through his nose and drumming his fingers against the wooden tabletop. How much time passed? One hour? Two? Maybe even less than an hour? It felt like forever, though, and an hour was already a really long time for him.

He started to close his eyes, with the idea of sleeping this through in his head, when a low beep sounded from the radar, a beep that was different from the beeps of his friends’ trackers. His eyes snapped open, eyeing the screen in front of him.

Several smaller red dots flashed on the screen, forming into groups and heading towards the ninja. This didn’t look good…

“Uncle…”

His Uncle Wu was almost immediately by his side, stroking his beard as he stared at the screen with worry. “I fear this dangerous task became much more difficult rather quickly,” he said solemnly. “We have to warn them immediately.”

Lloyd nodded, pressing down one of the buttons. Man, was he glad Nya taught him the controls on this thing! “Guys, there’s a bunch of red dots on the radar coming after all of you! Be careful!”

“A bunch of red dots? That could be anything!” Jay complained as he continued to scale the mountain. He was able drive about halfway up on the ATV Nya had for him before he had to continue on foot. Unfortunately, now there was nowhere he could walk to get higher, so he had to climb it to get to the ledge above them. He wasn’t fit like Kai or Cole, though, meaning this task was pretty difficult.

“My bet is on Serpentine,” his mini version said from his shoulder. “They’re always trying to ruin anything we do!”

He grunted as he pulled himself up. “I agree on that.” He attempted to find some foothold and ended up stretching his left leg out in such an awkward position. “Ugh, what I wouldn’t do to have my storm glider back!”

His mini hummed in agreement, and he felt him holding onto the cloth of his gi tighter.

Jay held onto another crook he was able to find, only to find himself stumbling a bit as he did so, thunder rumbling above him. Fortunately, he was able to quickly recover, holding his body close to the mountain as he breathed heavily, refusing to look down. He wasn’t scared of heights, but he was definitely scared of falling from heights, especially when it was thousands of feet high from the side of a mountain barely anyone made it back from. The Beongae Mountain Range may not have been the highest mountain range in Ninjago, but it was definitely one of the most dangerous, with lightning storms quite frequent near the top.

There were rumors that no one ever made it to the top, and those who did never made it back down; the lightning supposedly struck them the moment they were at the highest point. Luckily, while they were found at quite a high altitude, the pogpung tree wasn’t close enough to the top to constantly be struck, so Jay wouldn’t have to go to the top and test those rumors. Even if he was the Ninja of Lightning, that didn’t mean he was immune to lightning; he could only control it to an extent and withstand the shock of electricity much better than the average person.

Too bad it didn’t apply to falling as well.

“Hey, watch it!” his mini self yelled as he stumbled, gripping tighter. “Some of us are gonna break easier than others if we fall!”

Jay just huffed in response, trying to find another stable foothold. “ You try climbing a mountain with no equipment and no footholds!” he retorted, pulling himself up a little further. Man, he did not have time to deal with his mini self’s complaints.

He realized that this was probably how the others felt whenever he complained or joked about the danger they faced. Was he really this annoying? Man, it must’ve sucked to be them!

He was finally able to throw himself onto the ledge, flopping down onto the dusty ground in exhaustion, glad that he didn’t have his hood up. “I am never doing that again…” he moaned, closing his eyes as he caught his breath. “How you doing so far, Mini Me?”

No response.

“Mini Me?”

He opened his eyes, his little double no longer by his shoulder. He felt his heartbeat quicken, scrambling to the edge to look down, hoping he might’ve found some ledge to hold onto.

“Found the pogpung tree!”

Jay turned around, his mini self safe and sound a few feet away, pointing to a pathetic looking plant nestled between two rocks in the wall. He sighed with relief, his racing heart slowing down.

“Don’t scare me like that again!”

He got to his feet, picking up his mini self as he did so, and walked over to the tree, which was barely over his height. With his free hand, he plucked a couple leaves from it, its texture feeling a bit weird. Then again, it could’ve just been his gloves.

“Well, good thing the trip down will be easier, right?” his mini double said, just before the ground Jay stood on began to rumble.

“Have you spotted the kori flower yet?” Zane heard the voice of his larger doppelganger ask through the beak of the falcon.

“Not yet ” he answered, still scanning the ground from a bird’s eye view. “No suspicious activity yet, either.”

Long before Giant Lloyd had announced to them that danger was approaching, they had both already sensed that they were being followed. They both agreed to let Zane ride the falcon once they exited their vehicle, his larger double able to communicate to him through the mechanical bird, in order to scout for trouble and maybe find the flower quickly.

Zane ran the information about the flower through his processor once again, his scanners still searching for its white petals in the snow. “The kori flower of the Birchwood Forest, one of the few plants that can survive the low temperatures found in the forest,” he reviewed. “With a white stem and white petals to hide from its predators, it is thought to bring good luck to those who found it.”

He wasn’t sure how true the superstition was, but they were definitely going to need that luck. Whatever or whoever was following them was very close, hidden somewhere in the forest. He just didn’t know where.

He wasn’t sure how well he’d even be able to spot the flower. Even as a robot with scanners that could pick up small details, a white flower in the white snow would still be a difficult find. He doubted he would be able to pick up anything like that, especially from so far away. But he also served as lookout for any danger, so he focused less on the kori flower and more for something out of the ordinary, such as a treehorn or maybe even Serpentine, ignoring the harsh wind whipping into his eyes through his white hood.

The falcon let out a loud cry, almost damaging whatever served as his eardrums. “What is it, my giant friend?” he asked, patting what he could of its neck through its fake feathers.

The falcon didn’t respond; it only began circling over something like a vulture. Zane squinted, trying to see what it saw. It was pretty unfortunate that he wasn’t able to connect to this falcon, but after spending much time with his own from his world, he was pretty much able to understand what it was trying to say, through its calls and body language.

“I believe we may have found it!” he exclaimed, hoping his counterpart could hear him. He should hear him, as it didn’t sound like communication was turned off on the falcon.

He watched as his larger double moved through the snow, right under where they were circling. With careful hands, he scooped up something from the white ground. As it was lifted higher, Zane could much more clearly see the flower, its white contrasting against his doppelganger’s black gloves.

Zane pet the falcon’s neck once more. He was about to ask the bird to descend down to his giant counterpart, when it let out another ear splitting cry. A cry of worry.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, peering once more at the ground below.

The falcon didn’t have to answer; from behind the birch trees, he spotted familiar flashes of red, white, turquoise, black, grey, and green emerging from all sides of his larger self, surrounding him. This was definitely not good!

“Watch out!”

“Good thing we’re the Ninja of Fire, huh?”

He looked down at his miniature on his shoulder, smiling through the pain. As dumb as it may be, he wasn’t about to admit that it was sweltering hot, the red sleeves of his outfit sticking to his sweaty arms. The hood of his gi and his black gloves were unbearable to wear, but he refused to take them off and give in to weakness. He was the Ninja of Fire! He could handle a little heat!

From the looks of it, his double felt the same way he did. Which meant he also kept up with the facade of being okay. “You know it!” his tiny self replied as he panted slightly, holding onto the cloth of his larger counterpart’s hood. Given where they were, sitting on the metal shoulder armor probably wasn’t a good idea.

“How does bamboo even grow somewhere like here?” his miniature asked. “Wouldn’t it burn easily from the heat or lava? Or die from all the ash?”

“Especially considering bamboo is a fire hazard,” Kai added, searching for the sturdy plant. “I’ve only really heard of the yanjiang bamboo in Dad’s stories, but I guess we’ll find out. Keep an eye out for anything unusual!”

“What do you think I’ve been doing?”

Of course, “anything unusual” didn’t just mean the bamboo; he was pretty wary ever since Lloyd told them all that they were being followed. Kai was pretty sure it had something to do with Garmadon, the one from his universe, because if there was trouble anywhere in Ninjago, it usually meant the Dark Lord was behind it.

However, the odds of something surviving at the base of an active volcano was very unlikely, and he could barely stand the heat! So maybe he didn’t have to be so cautious about someone following them. But then wouldn’t that also mean the bamboo wouldn’t be able to survive? Was this mission just some lost cause?

He looked up the volcano. It wasn’t too high, as it didn’t reach the heights of the average mountain, but it was still plenty high. There was also the risk of Mount Re being the most active volcano in Ninjago, meaning they had to be careful. They may have been able to withstand the heat better than the average person would, but lava was something that could definitely still kill them. They were ninja, not invincible!

Kai continued his search, more wary of the volcano than anyone following them. It hadn’t shown any signs of eruption so far while they were there, which unsettled him.

“Hey, there’s something over there!” Little him pointed to something that stood off in the distance, a bit higher up on the volcano. With the strength and energy he had, he ran towards it as he ignored the heat, its mahogany color becoming clearer as he came closer.

He slowed down as he approached it; it had to be the yanjiang bamboo. It looked like bamboo from its shape, but it was mahogany in color rather than the usual color of bamboo, gradually becoming a darker shade of red towards its base.

They only needed a strip of it, but it felt easier to just take a whole stalk of the stuff and get the strip later. Besides, maybe they could use the rest of the bamboo for… whatever you used yanjiang bamboo for.

Grabbing his sword from his back, he sliced down a stalk, then cut it into a more manageable piece that he could easily carry back. He wrapped his gloved fingers around it, and with a grunt, lifted it up. Wow, it was a lot heavier than it looked!

“All right, let’s get back to the bike!”

Just as he turned around, the ground beneath him began to rumble, ash beginning to slide down the side and rocks beginning to roll to the base of the volcano. This wasn’t good.

It sounded like something was spraying behind him. Glancing behind, he caught a glimpse of the fire fountain exploding from the top of Mount Re.

“We’d better get going, like now !!!” his small counterpart yelled from his shoulder.

Kai didn’t need to be told twice. Without hesitation, he bolted, the bamboo tight in one hand and his other grabbing his miniature double, who didn’t sound too happy about that. With both secure in his grip— his miniature pushing against his fingers wrapped around him— he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, fighting through the heat, pushing himself not to stop.

Seeing the motorbike his sister built, he quickly hopped on, sitting on top of the bamboo as to not lose it. He opened up his fist, his tiny double looking pretty mad at him. “Dude, what the heck?!” he cried out, climbing onto his shoulder. “A little warning would’ve been appreciated!”

“Sorry, dude,” Kai replied, checking behind him. The lava was flowing down pretty fast for lava. He started up the engine, its loud roar banging in his ears. “Hold on tight!”

He immediately hit the accelerator, bouncing up and down in his seat as he went down the rocky sides, shifting lower, hoping the bamboo wouldn’t be lost. He didn’t stop or slow down, which was a pretty bad idea, as he found out quite soon. The front tire jammed into a rock he couldn’t avoid, sending him, his tiny double, the bamboo, and the bike flying through the air.

Luckily, they landed on the other side of the ditch that was dug years ago for the lava to collect into, safe and sound.

“You all right there, Small Me?” he asked his counterpart as he landed on top of his chest. He immediately scooped him up in his hands, sitting up as well.

“Yeah, I think I’m good. You got the bamboo?”

“Right he–” As he reached over to grab it, he realized that they were already surrounded.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“Yeehaw!”

Cole whooped excitedly, feeling the adrenaline rushing as his larger counterpart increased the speed. It was pretty reckless, especially considering that they were leaders and the vehicle was very new and mostly a prototype, but neither of them could resist! What better chance to try out an earth driller than on a mission to dig to the Underground Caverns?

Around them, rocks and dirt flew, hitting against the glass in front of them. Besides their yells, the only sound they heard was the steady digging of the giant drill.

Much time passed, and they still didn’t reach the caverns. Lloyd’s message barely got through to them, the ground around them most likely affecting the signal. But Cole wasn’t too worried; who would actually think to follow them underground? And for what reason?

“How deep do you think it is?” Cole asked, breaking the silence between them as his larger double lay back in his seat.

“I dunno,” his doppelganger said, his hands behind his head. “I just know the place is hard to find since entrances keep collapsing and stuff since it’s on top of some fault line. No one’s been in the Underground Caverns for years.”

“Then we’d better find it soon.”

The drill was too slow to their liking as it bore down through the ground, unable to go faster than it was already going, which was a bit too fast than they should’ve been digging. Within a couple minutes of silence, they blasted through the side of the caverns, crashing the drill right into a giant stalagmite on the cavern floor.

Cole was tossed from his doppelganger’s shoulder and onto the control panel, which was luckily just barely working.

His double pushed the button to open the top and turned on the lights, which shone on one of the walls, the layers of rock being illuminated. Cole hopped onto the gloved hand of his counterpart, and they climbed out of the damaged earth driller, feeling the sudden blast of heat as they stepped out.

“Guess we won’t be seeing this baby any time soon,” he said dejectedly. After their carelessness, there was no way Nya would be building them another one in the near future, both of them in fact. He could already hear their angry ranting about how they should’ve been more careful. Heck, if his Nya already had one built in his universe, she probably wouldn’t let him even lay his eyes on it after this.

“Well, good thing Nya packed these things.” His larger double flipped on a light, Cole blinking a bit as his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. His counterpart had a head mounted flashlight on top of his head. When did he get that?

In silence, he walked around, both of them searching for any sign that could indicate that there were mushrooms nearby.

“Do you think there are any mushrooms here at all?” his larger self spoke up, his voice echoing through the walls.

“There’d better be. How else are my friends and I gonna get home before next week?” One afternoon in this universe, that was fine. But a week? Sure, the giant cakes here were a huge plus, no pun intended, but he didn’t really think spending so long away from home was a good idea, especially with Garmadon roaming free back in his universe.

“Wonder how anyone even gets down here,” his counterpart mused, shining his light on just about every nook and cranny he could, trying to find the lupa mushroom. From what they could see, no one had been down there for a very long time.

Underground, there were crystals, stalagmites, stalactites, rocks, but no mushrooms. For a quick moment, he thought he saw something. He quickly tapped his double’s thumb, if that was what it was called. “Wait, shine the light over there again!”

“There?”

“No, a bit more to the left.”

In the spotlight growing between two stalagmites, there they were. Almost pure white in color, except for the top of the cap, where it gradually became a light brown.

With his free hand, the larger counterpart plucked one from the ground. “It’s amazing these guys were able to grow down here in these conditions,” he mused, tossing it a bit in his hand as if it were a baseball.

“They better be edible,” Cole stated, shuddering at the thought of what might happen if they weren’t.

“Let’s get out of here, bud, before the entrance we made collapses,” his double said, briskly walking to where they came in. Unfortunately, just as he started walking, the walls around them began to shake. He quickened his pace, soon breaking into a run.

The hole they made with the earth driller was still there. Cole’s double pushed harder, trying to reach it before they were blocked off.

Before they could make it, dirt and rocks fell in front of it, their entrance no longer there.

“This is gonna be tricky,” she told her miniature on her shoulder, looking down the cliff’s edge at the crashing waters below them.

She couldn’t just fly down in her mech; the waters of the Cha Sea were very unpredictable, and it would probably end up destroying her samurai mech, if it didn’t crash it into the cliffside first. So going down was definitely a no.

She looked around, trying to find the safest alternative. She could fly out farther, but the waters were still pretty rough, even out in the open. Legends had it that monsters were constantly moving about in the Cha Sea, which was why the waters were never calm. Of course, no one found out if it was really true, as any sensible person stayed away from this sea, and Nya didn’t really feel like being the first to confirm the legends.

“Send me down,” her tiny self suddenly spoke up, startling her from her thinking.

“Are you crazy ?!” Nya hissed at her. “You’ll only get yourself killed!” Wow, it was weird to be mad at herself. Was this how her brother felt whenever she disobeyed what he said to stay safe and just joined him in the danger? Was she actually this reckless sometimes?

“Trust me about this,” her tiny double insisted. “You just need to send me down on the hose for getting the water. Go out a bit and just make the hose long enough just to reach the water. I can handle this!”

Nya pursed her lips before nodding in agreement. She had to have faith in herself. Especially in her doppelganger. “All right,” she replied. “Just be careful.”

She could see her smiling through the helmet of her suit. “You almost sound like our brother!”

Nya laughed, unable to hold it in. “Guess we spend too much time around him, huh?”

With her mech, she flew them both out farther out above the sea, hovering just high enough above the waves to not get thrown around. With her small counterpart holding onto the nozzle of the newly installed hose, made just for this mission, she lowered it down to the water’s surface, stopping it just as her small self was able to start collecting the water.

Nya couldn’t see very well what her doppelganger was doing, the swaying of the hose worrying her. Instead, she just chose to watch the small tank she attached to the mech fill up with the seawater. So far, it seemed that small her was collecting the water pretty well; the tank was filling up pretty fast.

The collection quickly stopped though. Her concern rising, she looked down, checking on her counterpart. The hose was quite steady for the most part, but down at the nozzle, Mini Nya was frantically flying around with her rocket boosters, trying to dodge something. Nya couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but something down there looked like it was trying to nab her.

Without thinking, she immediately pulled up the hose as fast as she could. As she spotted her tiny self holding tightly onto the nozzle safe and sound, she slowed down, sighing with relief.

“You okay?” she asked, offering out her hand to step onto, which she gladly did. Beneath them, the creature disappeared below the surface, its ripples disappearing among the crashing waves.

“Yeah, I think so,” her miniature panted. She could feel her shaking slightly on the palm of her hand. “Please tell me that was enough water…”

Nya turned to the tank. While it wasn’t full, it looked over enough to fill a teapot.

“I think we’re good!” she replied with a smile.

Mini Nya smiled back with relief as she took off her helmet.

They flew the mech back onto the cliff, landing several feet away from it’s edge. Nya jumped out, her small double clinging onto her shoulder. “I need to adjust the tank first real quick,” she said as she stood up. “Can’t fly back with the mech off balance.” Even if it wasn’t too much water, her mech was designed to be as lightweight as possible, using only the lightest metals and engines found in Ninjago, so even the smallest of extra weight could affect its performance.

Just as she detached it, she heard hissing behind her. She turned around.

He chuckled darkly. “Yes…”

Both the Ninjago of this universe and the Ninjago of the other universe would soon be his! He just needed the ingredients to the tea, and he would be able to conquer both worlds!

His chuckles soon became cackles, the Mega Weapon tight in his hands. He may not have had the energy anymore to use it, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t fight.

“I think it’s about time I pay the ninja a little visit…”

Chapter Text

Lloyd stared at the screen with increasing worry, watching the small red dots surround the five larger ones that represented his friends. Had they been together, he wouldn’t have cared as much— they could do pretty awesome things when they worked together— but separated, he didn’t know how long they’d last. Plus, their only assistance were their LEGO versions, and he wasn’t really sure how much they could help being under two inches tall.

Unless they’ve been living under a rock this whole time, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that the smaller dots were the Serpentine, and that Lord Garmadon was behind all of this. The problem was, Lloyd wasn’t sure what kind of Serpentine were out there surrounding his friends. They could probably handle one type, but if there were more of them together, or worse, all four of them, his friends had almost no chance. It’d be pretty much impossible to try to avoid all four effects of the Serpentine!

He turned to his uncle, who was also watching the radar with worry, stroking his long, white beard. “Uncle Wu, we have to help them!” he cried out. He couldn’t just sit here on the Bounty with his friends’ lives in danger!

“I’m sorry, Lloyd,” his uncle replied with regret, “but we cannot help them effectively as of now. Choosing to help one group puts the others at a disadvantage.” He sighed, sounding just as upset as Lloyd felt. “Unless something changes, we’ll have to let them fight their own battles for now.”

Lloyd sighed, staring back at the radar. He only hoped the ninja and Nya could hold out on their own.

Jay couldn’t do anything as the ledge they were on collapsed beneath the feet of his counterpart, except hold on tightly to his counterpart’s gi. Both of them shrieked as they fell, the larger gripping the leaves tightly in his fists.

Shortly, they landed roughly back onto the trail they walked, Jay being thrown off his double’s shoulder. Giant Jay held out his free hand, catching him in his palm.

“You okay, Mini Me?” his giant doppelganger asked, bringing him close.

Jay sat up, rubbing his head. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied, still a little shaky from the fall. “How ‘bout you, Big Me?”

His counterpart stood up, wincing a bit as he did. “Other than a few bruises, I think I’m good.” He gave him an unsure smile, probably just trying to assure him.

He began to slowly limp back down the trail, muttering a small “ow” as he took his first step, the leaves in one hand and Jay in the other.

There wasn’t much for Jay to do as they went on their way, so he just looked around, keeping an eye out for any other dangers as he remembered Lloyd’s warning. He tensed up looking at the side of the mountain.

“Uh, Big Me?”

“What is it, Mini Me?” He grimaced through the pain, clearly trying to hide it.

“I don’t think the ledge falling was an accident…”

“What do you mea—” He followed Jay’s gaze, abruptly stopping in mid sentence as he spotted what he was talking about.

At the side of the mountain, there were holes that looked freshly dug out, big enough for Jay’s double to crawl through. To Jay, it was definitely a lot bigger, but he already knew what it meant: Constrictai. Serpentine were nearby.

And just on time, a horde of Serpentine came stalking up the mountain: Fangpyre, Hypnobrai, Constrictai, and Venomari alike. Giant Jay took a nervous step back.

Jay looked behind them, the sight just as bad: just like they suspected, the holes were dug up by Constrictai, which were crawling out of the said holes that they bore. Other Serpentine crawled out from behind them, surrounding the two of them from almost all sides. The only escape was to jump off the side of the cliff, but Jay wasn’t feeling that desperate yet, and he had a feeling that his counterpart wasn’t either; besides, he doubted either of them would survive the fall back to the ground.

Looking back at the snakes that surrounded them, Jay saw how much more disgusting they were in this universe. They had a similar shape to the humans of this universe, except they had claws with long, black talons like dinosaurs where their hands and feet should’ve been. Some of their faces looked like that of a real snake, and some were flatter, shaped a bit more like a human head. However, rather than having that bump in the middle of their face that Jay learned was a nose in this universe, it was flat, with only two slits where it should have been, unsettling him.

The worst part about this all was figuring out how to get out of here. His giant double seemed too injured to fight his way through safely, and if they noticed Jay, they could crush him way too easily! There was no way out of this!

Wait… if they noticed him… but if they didn’t, he’d probably have a chance.

He looked up to his counterpart, his blue eyes looking down at him, saying that they were thinking the same thing.

“But what about you?” he asked with worry. “How will you get out?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan!”

Whenever he said that, it usually meant he really didn’t (if Jay knew himself well enough), but it also meant that he knew he’d figure something out eventually, so he wasn’t too worried. Instead, he just smiled up at him as they both pulled their hoods over their faces with a nod.

“Ninja GO!!!”

His giant doppelganger spun quickly, but not before handing Jay the pogpung leaves as discreetly as possible. Jay jumped off just as his larger counterpart did Spinjitzu, tumbling as he made contact with the ground so as to minimize the damage to his body. He hugged the giant leaves to his chest, not wanting to lose a single one. He was grateful that the leaves weren’t too wide, or else he wouldn’t be able to see where he was going!

Crouched as he craned his neck upward, he made sure that none of the Serpentine had spotted him. Luckily, they were too focused on Big him, who had been able to knock some snakes off as he spun, and was now using his nunchucks to fight, hiding his limp best he could. He wasn’t seen at all.

Jay ran.

He wove between their scaly claws, left, right, left, right. He tumbled as a foot almost came down on him. He spun as he jumped over their scaly toes. All the while, he fought the urge to take out his own weapon and strike; the last thing he wanted was attention, as they could crush him easily if they saw him.

He picked up his speed as he finally made it out of the forest of their legs, rushing down to the ATV, if it was still there.

Thank goodness it was!

Using Spinjitzu to help him, he climbed up the side, until he was right on the steering wheel. Doing his best to keep his balance, he looked out to the distance, trying to see how well his  counterpart was faring. Through the sea of Serpentine, he couldn’t tell. Was he still stuck in there? Was he getting beat up?

There was no sign of his counterpart for a while, and Jay found his worries increasing. Had they knocked him unconscious? Was he not able to escape? Jay tapped his foot nervously on the steering wheel, hoping the worst hadn’t happened.

The ground he stood on shook a bit, forcing him to try to regain his balance. “Didja miss me?”

Startled, Jay spun around, spying his doppelganger’s face smiling a lopsided goofy grin from above him. Jay wished he was at least big enough to punch his double lightly on the shoulder. “Don’t scare me like that again!” he teased with a smile.

Running up his arm to sit on his shoulder, his double started the engine, doing a quick three-point turn without falling off the side, driving them as fast as they could down the mountain. “I got a message from Cole saying to meet up at the Sea of Sand,” his double said over the roar of the engine. “I’m assuming the others will be there, too! I’m just hoping those snakes didn’t hear that while I escaped.”

Jay nodded resolutely, holding on tighter. “Then we better get there before they realize where we’re off to,” he replied, the wind whipping into his face.

“Watch out!”

Zane’s head whipped around, and he found he was surrounded on all sides by Serpentine, and by the looks of it, all four kinds had come. He readied his shurikens, tight in his grip, ready for a fight. The kori flower was tucked safely within his garments, and there was no way he was going to let these serpents get their claws on it. He needed it if the tiny counterparts of him and his friends would make it back to their dimension safely!

Zane was wary of every little move they made. Each snake slowly crept towards him, their movements slither-like as they inched closer, their tongues flickering in and out. He tightened his grip on his weapons.

Without warning, several Constrictai burrowed into the white snow. A Venomari leapt towards him. He acted.

He bent back, the Serpentine flying over him and crashing into the snow with a scream. He stood up, predicting their next move. A Fangpyre rushed to bite him. Its fangs glistened as it opened its mouth wide.

He jerked to the left. His sleeve just grazed the snake’s teeth. He used his shuriken to strike him in the back of his head, knocking him out. He threw his other shuriken, hitting three more Serpentine before it spun back to him.

He could fight these snakes, sure, but for how long? Especially without the assistance of his brothers.

And what about the others? Lloyd had mentioned that they were all surrounded. How were they faring? Hopefully better than him, but considering the dangerous locations they had all ended up in, that didn’t seem likely.

The snow beneath him shifted. He jumped.

Four Constrictai shot out of the ground. They swiped at him, just barely missing his gi.

As he landed, he could sense just how close he was to a couple of Hypnobrai. Without looking, he tossed his shurikens backwards. Judging from the pained grunts he heard behind him, he did not miss.

A shriek.

From the sky, his falcon swooped down, its talons swiping at the snakes’ heads. They hissed in pain, trying to swipe back at the robotic bird. They missed, the bird flying back up before diving back down.

“Hand us the flower!” Tiny Zane commanded through their communication of the falcon.

Zane looked up. The falcon was just above him, rushing back down towards the ground, ready to grab the flower.

He had to act now.

Quickly, he shifted his shurikens so that he was holding them both in one hand. He grabbed the flower from within his suit, the plant still in one piece, and he spun. “Ninja go!” As he created the mini tornado of ice, he jumped up, boosting himself into the air with the head of a Hypnobrai, who fell backwards into the snow.

His grip tight on the flower, he reached his hand as high as he could, and he stopped spinning. Just as gravity began to pull him back down, the falcon grabbed the kori flower in its talons as Zane let go, soaring back up again.

Zane smiled as he fell back down, then did spinjitzu once more, softening his landing against the Serpentine. Shurikens back in both hands, he continued to fight, fending off the snakes best he could and hoping his bird and doppelganger were safe.

He continued to fight, the Serpentine showing no signs of ceasing. But Zane kept going. As a nindroid, he could do this for as long as he needed to, never feeling fatigue unlike other humans. Besides, Serpentine were cold-blooded; though they could last in the snow for longer than a normal reptilian, they couldn’t last long. Sooner or later, they were bound to feel the need to stop fighting or hopefully leave.

The tracker that Nya had built for everyone beeped on his back. “Guys!” Cole’s voice came out, though it was not very clear. “Meet up at the Sea of Sand! We’ll have a better chance if we’re together! Over and out!”

Afterwards came the confirmation of each of his friends agreeing to go there, their voices varying in clarity, Zane responding as well.

“Zane, meet me at the Sea of Sand,” he told his miniature through their communication, knocking down a Venomari with his gloved fist. “Cole just announced it as our rendezvous point.” He kicked a Fangpyre, knocking him into other Serpentine.

“Understood!”

The falcon let out another shriek. Zane looked up, the bird and his counterpart already flying south, away from the Birchwood Forest. As much as it pained him, at least they were safe, along with the flower. Besides, he would see them again quite soon, once he managed to escape the surrounding Serpentine.

His head spun around, almost literally in fact, his scanners calculating every possible route to get out, determining his odds of success. From the data gathered, his best bet was going over them. But it’d be difficult, especially considering the enclosing space around him was quickly shrinking.

Wasting no time, he bent his knees and shot up into the cold air. He twisted his body, forcing himself to spin. As he fell to the ground, his small tornado of ice formed, and he landed right in top of a Constrictai’s scaly head. Still spinning, he jumped up, landing on one of a Fangpyre’s two heads, careful to avoid their fangs.

He repeated this, hopping from Serpentine to Serpentine, falling into a steady rhythm as he did so. He finally made it to the end, landing into the soft, white snow. He didn’t have time to dwell on the fact he made it out successfully, however; he needed to leave the forest as soon as possible.

He took no time to rest or pause, sprinting away in the direction of his vehicle. If he was lucky, the Serpentine would not have touched it, allowing him to make it to the hot, sandy desert much quicker. If he was lucky.

And from the looks of it, he was.

There was no trace of a Fangpyre bite, meaning none of them had touched it. That was good. He hopped in, starting up the engine as fast as his mechanical build would allow. The engine roared to life, and he stomped on the gas pedal, speeding away, far from the snakes and closer to the desert.

He allowed himself to relax the further he got, focusing on making his way to the Sea of Sand. They were going to make this tea, and they were going to send their doppelgangers home.

Those snakes were not going to stop them, no matter what they tried.

Kai held onto his giant double’s hood quickly as his double shot up to his feet, doing his best to keep his balance. He looked down, relieved as he spied the bamboo in his double’s hand, though it wasn’t much considering they were trapped: surrounded by Serpentine on one side, a lava filled ditch on the other. Just perfect.

“Aren’t we in a pickle,” he heard his counterpart mutter, taking a small step back, closer to the lava, which really didn’t seem like the better option. Then again, were the Serpentine?

“Okay, here’s the plan,” his double hissed. “I throw you and the bamboo across and you run away while I deal with these guys.”

Kai shot his doppelganger a look. “Are you crazy?!” he hissed back, despite the fact that that’s probably the best he would’ve come up with on his own as well. Hearing it voiced out loud and coming out of someone else’s mouth (even if it was still technically him), though, he realized how stupid it was.

“You got a better idea?!”

“Well, there’s gotta be, like, four brain cells between us now, we can probably come up with something better!”

They had to think of something fast, as it didn’t look like they had much time.

As the snakes came even closer, Kai didn’t think, despite what he just said. He just threw his sword at the nearest Venomari, striking it right between its eyes.

The snake hissed in pain, spraying its venom. Kai’s double ducked quickly, the venom just barely missing him, spraying a poor Fangpyre instead, who started screaming about zombie rabbits. The Venomari clawed at the tiny weapon in his face, the sword shooting to the ground.

“Weren’t you the one who said we needed to think?!” Giant Kai hissed, kicking down the Venomari and Fangpyre, the other Serpentine backing up a bit.

“I didn’t know what else to do!” he yelled, realizing how vulnerable he was without his sword, even if he was under the safety of his giant double.

Thankfully, his counterpart seemed to understand how he felt, plucking the weapon from the ground and handing it back to him, though not before bending it back to normal as best he could. Which, if you were small enough to see it, wasn’t that great. It wasn’t completely straight; the blade bent a couple ways, before bending off at a slight angle. Kai made a mental note to ask his sister to help him fix it.

“Okay, new plan,” his giant counterpart said, suddenly placing him on the rocky ground. “I fight from above, you fight from below.”

Kai would have objected if he had more common sense, especially with a bent sword, but he wasn’t usually one to let a poorly thought out plan stop him; besides, it was better than having him drag that heavy piece of bamboo away, and his sword was still pretty sharp, enough for inflicting at least some damage to his giant enemies.

So heading towards the same direction, they both drew their swords, fighting for a path out. Kai used his to stab at the massive scaly feet of the serpents, the snakes all jumping and flinching out of the way. His giant doppelganger used his to clear the way and keep the snakes at a distance, which was easier to do as they avoided the tiny ninja attacking their exposed feet.

It was going well, until Cole’s voice came in from the tracker. “Guys! Meet up at the Sea of Sand! We’ll have a better chance if we’re together! Over and out!” Even despite the commotion and being farther away from the tracker, Kai could still hear the message. Unfortunately, that also meant he wasn’t putting all his focus into his fighting, and his sword was kicked out of his hands, far from where he stood. He watched in dismay as it was trampled on, as if it was a small piece of nothing.

He didn’t even notice the scaly foot in front of him until it kicked him. He flew backwards, into the black, scaly leg of a Constrictai, sliding back down to the rocky ground. The Constrictai unfortunately saw him, and only laughed.

“Looksss like we got ourssselvesss a ninja pessst!” it hissed, a smirk on its face. “And you know we have to exterminate pessstsss!”

It lifted its dinosaur-like foot, ready to stomp him into the ground. Kai flinched, bracing himself for the inevitable.

“DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!!!”

Kai opened his eyes, watching as his giant counterpart violently attacked the giant Constrictai above him, rage and fire in his eyes. As the snake was knocked over, he felt himself being lifted up, held tight in a gloved fist.

“Ninja GO!!!”

His doppelganger performed Spinjitzu, aggressively fighting off the remaining serpents that blocked their way out with the bamboo as he spun. (From the looks of it, he chose to leave his sword behind.) His other hand, the one that gripped Kai, was held close to his chest, as to keep him from flying off.

Pretty soon, they emerged from the horde of Serpentine, Kai’s giant double no longer spinning. Honestly, had he not been a Spinjitzu master, Kai would’ve been a lot more dizzier from that. Not that he was dizzy, no. He wasn’t even a little bit! Why would a Spinjitzu master be dizzy?

“Sea of Sand, here we come!”

His doppelganger began running, the bamboo tight in one hand, the other letting the smaller ninja climb onto his shoulder and hold onto the hood of his gi, the snakes going after them.

“Isn’t that some miles away?” Kai asked, thankful to no longer be handheld. He was a little concerned, though: were they really going to the desert by foot?

“Then it’s a good thing we’re ninja,” his double said between huffs, picking up speed.

Well, it would’ve been more trouble to try to find the motorbike again, and it wasn’t like Nya hadn’t gotten mad at them before for losing something she made. Besides, they’ve covered farther before.

So they’d just have to continue on foot. Hopefully, the Serpentine behind them would soon give up and make this run a lot easier.

They were trapped. Their only way out? Gone.

Desperately, Cole dropped the mushroom, using his gloved hands to try to dig out the dirt and rocks blocking their entranceway. He may have been strong enough to lift the rocks that blocked them in, but by himself, it would take forever to clear a pathway to escape. And what help did he have? His LEGO self? Strong as he was, he doubted they’d still be able to clear a path quick enough.

He stopped, the boulders already ripping through his gloves, scratching his fingers and palms. Now that he had stopped, the pain was catching up to him, his hands stinging like mad.

“Now what?” Small him said, sounding almost defeated.

Cole tried using his scythe to move the rocks away, but more fell in place of each rock he removed. So that didn’t work.

He picked the lupa mushroom back up, wincing as it touched his still-stinging cuts. Yeah, first thing he would do when they got back on the Bounty was definitely wash it; he didn’t want the miniature counterparts to drink his blood.

He looked around, aiming the head mounted light on every bit of the cavern that he could see. There had to be some easier way to get out that didn’t involve digging through all that.

To his joy, there was a hole in the side that wasn’t too far off, just the right size for him to crawl through. Sure, he needed to be on all fours to get through it, but it was big enough for him to rush through, and even if it took a while, it’d be much faster compared to digging his way out.

He whooped in celebration, jogging towards it, until his mini self spoke up. “Hold up,” he said, Cole stopping in his tracks. “That seems a little fishy, a hole conveniently just right here for us...”

With another person’s perspective, Cole realized how right he was. Why was there a hole in the wall of the cavern? They hadn’t noticed it before. Was it even there when they crashed through?

He turned his head, his light shining on another part of the wall. There was another hole nearby, about the same size. And another. And another. In fact, there were several holes in the wall, all approximately the same size, some larger, some smaller.

A chill suddenly went down his spine, a realization coming to him. “We’re not alone,” he said out loud, taking a step back.

Their suspicions were confirmed as hisses came from all around them. Serpentine!

Cole whipped around.The four different kinds surrounded them, backing them into the rocky wall of the cavern. The majority of them seemed to be Constrictai; to Cole’s relief, the Constrictai General wasn’t with them.

They were definitely the ones who made all the holes that could be seen. It also meant that if they wanted to, they could dig into the ground and strike him from underneath.

He turned around, giving a moment’s glance towards the holes behind him. He could crawl through one to escape the snakes, but they could quickly follow him, or even cut him off. Plus, crawling wouldn’t be quick enough: he’d need to find a tunnel that allowed him to stand and run, even if only a little. That would allow a faster escape from the Serpentine.

He turned back, the snakes so close to him now. With his free hand, he got his scythe from his back, wincing a little from his scratches but still ready to fight. It seemed pretty easy to beat them, though; each one he turned to, they seemed to recoil, giving him the opportunity to knock them away with his scythe.

“Keep shining the light in their eyes!” Small him said.

Of course! Down underground, their eyes must’ve adjusted to the darkness, so a sudden light could throw them off.

“I can take the mushroom!” Small him added, standing up on his shoulder. “You keep fighting!”

Cole nodded, handing his miniature the lupa mushroom, both hands gripping his scythe. Despite the pain from his scratched palms and fingers, he was much more comfortable holding his weapon with both hands. Using his head mounted light to stun them, he kept them away, easily knocking them into each other.

Even so, they still kept coming back up. Even if this strategy was working, it wasn’t enough to allow them an easy escape. Cole’s eyes darted around as he fought, trying to figure out some alternative solution. Seeing what was here in the Underground Caverns, he had one idea, but it posed several risks. If he could pull it off, though, it could allow them to escape without the snakes on their tail (no pun intended).

He held a cupped hand to his shoulder, his small double thankfully understanding and stepping into it, the mushroom hugged tightly in his arms. He knelt down, lowering him to the largest tunnel behind them, still looking at the snakes in order to stun them with his light and keep them from advancing. “Take the mushroom and run,” he ordered him. “No matter what happens here, no matter what you hear, just keep running.”

His small counterpart hesitated. “You sure?”

Cole just nodded, not taking his eyes off of the Serpentine ever so slowly advancing towards them. “I’ll meet up with you in a bit. I just need to take these guys out.”

“All right!” He felt his miniature hop off, and he stood up, trusting that he would listen to himself. Now to deal with these snakes.

First, he’d need to lead the snakes away from the tunnel. Making a mental note as to where it was, he went back to the earth driller, guiding the snakes away. Still keeping them away with his light, he took one hand off of his scythe and reached into the open top of the vehicle, feeling around for what he wanted.

Once he found what he was looking for, without looking, he flipped it on. The second head mounted light in his hand made everything even brighter, all the snakes hissing in pain as they turned away. Cole had to admit, it was kind of bright for him, too.

Through slightly squinted eyes, he looked around for some of the crystals that he saw were nearby earlier. With his best shot, he tossed the extra light towards the crystal and squeezed his eyes tight.

From the pained hisses and the light coming through his closed eyes, it worked. Blindly, he took his scythe with both hands and swung down on the ground with as much strength as his arms could muster. Around him, he could hear the caverns rumbling around him, and soon, the sounds of what seemed to be rocks and dirts collapsing to the ground.

His eyes only barely open, he made his way past the Serpentine, who couldn’t keep their eyes open from the blinding light from the crystals. He dodged falling rocks and stalactites, he struck at the snakes in his path with his weapon.

The ceiling was quickly crashing. He leapt.

Hopefully, he got the right tunnel.

And behind him, the pathway was blocked, barricaded just like their way in had been.

He took a deep breath, taking a moment to catch his breath. He stood up, having to bend forward a bit, and looked up the tunnel, his light shining down the endless pathway, no sign of his miniature or the mushroom. Had his counterpart made it far already?

“Hello?” he called out, his hand by his mouth. “Small Cole? You in here, bud?” Was this even the right tunnel? If it wasn’t, then all that was for nothing!

“Down here!”

Further up the tunnel, his small self stood, the lupa mushroom on his back. Cole smiled, walking with big strides to catch up to him, scooping him up in his hands, which were thankfully no longer in pain. He placed him back on his shoulder.

“Better hope those snakes don’t follow us in here,” Cole said, moving as fast as he could.

“We’ll need to meet up with the others,” his counterpart said as Cole continued the climb up. “Chances are, they’re also surrounded by Serpentine.”

Cole nodded. “Good thinking,” he replied. Lloyd had warned all of them about some sort of danger, after all.

“Come in!” his counterpart said loudly, activating the tracker. Cole had forgotten about that, honestly. “Guys! Meet up at the Sea of Sand! We’ll have a better chance if we’re together! Over and out!”

“Think the message will get through?”

His question was soon answered as their teammates answered the message, each voice with different clarity.

“Good thing it’s right above us, then,” Cole said, the tunnel still pretty endless. He picked up his pace, hoping that the way up wouldn’t take as long as the trip down.

Nya watched as her giant double hugged the tank with one arm as tightly as she could against her chest, her other arm ready for a fight. On the shoulder armor of her counterpart’s samurai suit, she put up her own fists as well. She didn’t care how small she was in this dimension; they were on a mission, and after an encounter with a giant sea monster, she wasn’t going to let a bunch of giant snakes stop them.

“I hate snakes,” her doppelganger muttered, a quiver of worry in her voice.

“Are you sure you can fight with one hand?” Nya asked her softly, not taking her eyes off of the various Serpentine surrounding them. “And while holding that?”

“Not really,” her counterpart whispered, more quietly, but she held her ground. “But it’s not like I have a choice.”

Nya racked her brain, trying to think of something as quickly as she could. Her double would definitely have a hard time fighting, as she’d be off-balance while holding the tank. Plus, there was a risk that they’d end up losing the water to the Serpentine if she did, though why they would want the seawater, Nya didn’t know. Most likely some plan of Garmadon. Since when was Garmadon not involved?

She could fight in her mech, but it would take some time for her to attach the tank on the mech properly to keep it balanced. However, if she had the time she needed, they’d have a better chance.

So that’s what Nya would do: give her counterpart the time she needed.

“I’ll distract them,” Nya said aloud, preparing her rocket boosters. This was just as risky as her collecting the seawater, but it was the best they got. Besides, this time, she didn’t have to get anything; all she had to do was bother them enough but stay just out of reach. And considering she was a younger sibling, that wouldn’t be so hard.

Her counterpart didn’t argue. She just wrapped both arms around the tank of seawater before telling her, “I’ll be as quick as I can.”

Nya nodded, then launched into the air. Her doppelganger ran back to the mech, the tank tight against her chest.

There was no time to waste. Nya flew as fast as she could with her rocket boosters in front of the Serpentine’s faces. They attempted to swat at her with their claws, but she was too quick, the snakes narrowly missing her. She wove between the snakes, in and out, making sure she was noticed.

The distraction was working. The Serpentine stopped advancing towards her counterpart, too busy instead trying to shoo the “bug” flying in their faces. They swatted, they hissed, and some Fangpyres even snapped at her, but none of them had the reaction time to hit her. Nya couldn’t help but laugh as she flew.

With an adrenaline rush from the excitement of what she was doing, she flew even closer to their faces, a risky move. She yelled “BUZZ!!!” loudly, as if imitating a pesky insect. She’d hover in midair for a second, taunting the giant snakes as she stuck her tongue out before zooming away, the Serpentine just barely missing her.

However, she ended up paying the price for her carelessness; one snake managed to rip off one of her rocket boosters with its claw. She yelped.

She could barely steady herself now; with the single rocket booster, her flying was off-balance. She did her best to continue being an annoying distraction, but it did no good. The single rocket booster could barely lift her, and she had no opportunity to adjust it to at least regain her balance.

“Gotcha!”

Nya shrieked. The pointed claws of a Hypnobrai pierced the sides of her samurai suit, very close to digging into her sides. She tried to pull away, struggling against the two claws, increasing the thrust in her rocket booster, but her attempts were futile. The snake laughed, hisses in the back of its chuckles. Her fighting was too weak against something much larger.

“Well, aren’t you cute? Too bad we have to kill sssuch an adorable thing!”

Don’t call me cute , she thought bitterly, but what could she do? Her only option was to hope that her giant double had finished adjusting the tank.

And that hope paid off.

Her double wiped away the snake that held her with the arm of her mech, the sides of her suit being scratched as he screamed. She smiled with relief, staring up at her doppelganger as she struggled to fly straight up steadily.

“Talk about a close call!”

Her flight path a little wobbly, she made her way to the shoulder of her counterpart, who wasted no time knocking out some Serpentine as she sat down.

“Geez,” her doppelganger commented, sending a Fangpyre and Venomari flying, “you need to stop destroying your suit in our universe!” She took a step forward with the mech, wiping out three Constrictai.

Nya let out a laugh. “You can say that again!” She sighed, tired from that terrifying experience, and honestly just glad to be alive. She made a mental note to fix the suit up when she got home.

Her counterpart’s helmet beeped. “Guys!” Cole’s voice said, the signal sounding a little weak. “Meet up at the Sea of Sand! We’ll have a better chance if we’re together! Over and out!”

“Come in!” her counterpart said, the helmet allowing her to communicate to the others. “We’re on our way! Over and out!”

Cole must’ve had a plan to fight off the Serpentine! That or he was also struggling with some Serpentine that followed him, too. Either way, if they were together, that’d definitely make the fight a lot easier.

Her doppelganger made one final swipe at the snakes, before quickly lifting up in the samurai mech. “Terribly sorry we have to leave the party so soon!” she told the snakes, quite mockingly. “Parting is always such a sweet sorrow!”

And with that, they blasted off towards the Sea of Sand, to meet up with the others and hopefully get everyone home.

“Sssir…” Skales suddenly spoke up, the Dark Lord whipping around, annoyed that he had been summoned. As he did, however, the weapon in his hands struck the crystal ball he had created to spy on the ninja, knocking it to the ground and causing it to shatter into pieces. Needless to say, Lord Garmadon was not pleased with this.

“Look what you made me do, Skales!” he yelled, scowling even more than he usually did. “Don’t you realize how much energy I put into using the Mega Weapon!? I have to wait ‘til tomorrow now if I want to recreate this, and that wastes time I could use to defeat my brother and make sure my son never fights me!”

Skales bowed his head, though his red eyes glared back at the Dark Lord. “My apologiesss, sssir,” he replied, his voice sounding more mocking than sincere. “But I have to asssk, what’sss the point of going after the ninja for a few tea ingredientsss, when we could be doing sssomething actually ussseful? I do not sssee why we mussst sssend our sssnakesss to do sssuch meaninglessss tasssksss.”

Garmadon glared at him. “‘Meaningless’?!” he repeated, as if unable to believe the Hypnobrai General had dared to call his plan such a word. “‘Meaningless’!? Do you not understand!? That is a tea that can allow anyone to travel through space itself, across dimensions, farther than Traveler’s Tea, to more than just the other realms that connect to Ninjago!”

He turned around, stroking the handle of his Mega Weapon, feeling a smirk forming on his evil face. “There are other Ninjagos to rule… Other Ninjagos to recreate in my own image! And I can get there without my Mega Weapon!”

He turned back to Skales, scowling once more. “Which is why this isn’t ‘meaningless’ as you claim. And if all else fails in this dimension, at least I’ll have another Ninjago to rule.” And by the looks of it, one under his foot, quite literally in fact.

Skales said nothing, though he clearly wanted to say something against his idea. It was good that he held his tongue, though, because Lord Garmadon didn’t know what he’d do had the snake general said more.

Choosing to ignore anything Skales had to say, Garmadon set his way to make it to the Sea of Sand, where he knew the ninja and the girl would be. “Skales, prepare a way to the desert!” he ordered, his grip on his Mega Weapon tight in his hands.

“Asss you wish, sssir.” He could practically hear the snake’s eyes roll, but as long as Skales did as he was commanded, there wouldn’t be too many problems.

But that serpent would soon see; this smaller Ninjago would be his to rule, and no one could stop him!

Chapter Text

Giant Nya was the first to arrive, her samurai mech landing onto the sandy desert, a tank on its back a little over halfway filled with seawater. On her shoulder, her smaller counterpart sat, her suit greatly damaged. The larger stepped out of the mech, taking off her helmet.

In the distance, Jay was approaching on the ATV.

Zane gently patted the neck of the giant falcon he rode. “Let’s descend, my feathered friend,” he told it. The bird screeched, before slowly gliding down to the samurai.

Noticing the falcon, Giant Nya held out her arm, the robotic avian flapping a bit as it dropped the kori flower in her hand and perched on her arm. “Where’s Zane?” she asked, before quickly adding, “Our Zane, I mean, not you, Zane.”

“He is on his way,” he told her as he pulled off his hood, just as Giant Jay pulled up, hopping out with the leaves in his hand and the Jay that Zane knew on his shoulder.

“We have the leaves!” Giant Jay said, holding them in his fist, the pogpung leaves tinted a shade of blue-green. He and Jay took off their own hoods.

Out by the horizon, his larger counterpart came closer in his vehicle with a speed too fast if on a road, reaching them in a matter of seconds. As he skidded to a halt— his vehicle turning to the side so it could stop quicker— Giant Cole came running from a distance.

“Do you have the kori flower?” Zane’s giant counterpart asked as he climbed out of his vehicle, pulling off his white hood like Giant Jay had.

Giant Nya held up the white flower with her free hand, smiling at him. “Right here!”

Giant Zane smiled, the falcon stepping up onto his arm, Zane moving back onto his shoulder.

Giant Cole finally arrived to where they gathered, a little out of breath. His hood was already off, showing off his disheveled hair and slightly red face. “Maybe next time… make these trackers give our locations?” he panted to Giant Nya between breaths. “I waited for you guys back there… before I saw Zane driving over here…”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she replied. “Got the mushroom?”

“Right here!” Cole, on his doppelganger’s shoulder with his hood off as well, held up the fungus.

“So we got the kori flower, the water from the Cha Sea, the pogpung leaves, and the lupa mushroom,” Jay said as he stood on his counterpart’s shoulder. As he listed off the items, he pointed to each item, everyone’s eyes following as he did. “Now we just gotta wait for Big Kai and our Kai to bring the yanjiang bamboo, and we’ll be set to go home!”

“Speaking of, where is my brother?” Giant Nya asked out loud.

“If we know our brother,” the smaller one said on her shoulder, “he probably wrecked up the bike you gave him.”

Everyone laughed, but not for long.

Giant Kai was seen running from the distance. And he wasn’t alone.

“SERPENTINE, GUYS, HEADS UP!!!”

“ARE YOU SERIOUS, KAI?! You had to let them follow you!”

“WHY DON’T YOU HAVE YOUR SWORD?! WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU DOING BACK AT THAT VOLCANO?!”

Zane had to agree with the others; while he didn’t know exactly what happened at Mount Re, Kai— both of his and of this dimension— seemed to have been a bit careless while by the volcano. It was honestly a miracle they still had the bamboo.

Both red ninja glared at the gang through their hoods as they arrived. “ You try fighting a bunch of snakes surrounding you with lava behind you,” Giant Kai retorted. “It’s not like we meant to completely lose our weapons!”

“You both lost your weapons?!” Nya yelled from her giant double’s shoulder. “Don’t you realize we’ll have to fly back to Ignacia just to make you another sword?!”

“Guys, we can argue later when Sensei’s making the tea,” Giant Cole said, grabbing his scythe from his back, pulling his hood over his face. “Right now, we’ve got some snakes to fight!”

The other two larger ninja with weapons brought them out as they pulled up their hoods, the giant red ninja holding up his fists and Giant Nya getting ready in her gigantic mech. They all had the ingredients on them though, risking them being stolen by the Serpentine.

“Come in!” Giant Nya said a little loudly, her helmet beeping as she did. “Sensei, Lloyd, we need you guys to bring the Bounty to the Sea of Sand and get us out of here! Over and out!”

The snakes drew closer, their tongues flickering in and out.

A beep from her helmet. “We’re on our way!” Lloyd’s voice shouted.

“Then we have to fend them off until they get here!” Giant Zane stated, holding his shurikens a little higher.

Zane looked to his own friends from his dimension, unsure what they could do. Kai had no sword, Nya’s samurai suit looked pretty damaged, there was nothing to help them out in the desert, and if they got on the ground, there was a chance of being squished, either by a snake or their own doppelganger!

He looked up to the falcon, who was now gliding high above them. For a moment, he considered that they could ride it, but soon dismissed the idea. It was dangerous if all five of them rode the falcon’s back.

His giant doppelganger seemed to know what he was thinking. Taking the kori flower from Nya, he placed it down on the sand and extended his arm, allowing Zane to climb down to the ground. “Protect it while we fight,” his giant double said, trust in his ice blue eyes. Zane nodded resolutely.

The others followed suit, quickly placing down the ingredients to make Everett’s Tea along with their counterparts, though they didn’t need to tell them what to do. Piled together on the sand were the flower, the bamboo, the mushroom, the leaves, and the small tank of seawater, the tiny ninja and samurai standing on top of them.

“How are we supposed to protect this stuff?” Jay pointed out, their counterparts already starting to fight off the Serpentine. “I don’t know if Big Zane noticed, but we’re literally the size of bugs in this dimension!”

“Make the Tornado of Creation?” Kai offered, simply shrugging.

“We’re literally in the middle of the desert! There’s nothing useful you can create with sand!”

“Our doppelgangers will be distracted with the number of Serpentine they have to fight,” Zane told him, bringing out his own shurikens. “There’s a chance they may not notice one of them slip past, so it’s imperative we let them know if a snake gets by!”

“And if they can’t get them, we’ll have to fight them off ourselves,” Cole stated, his hands already on his scythe and his hood over his face.

Zane pulled up his hood, Jay and Kai doing the same, Jay spinning his nunchucks while Kai and Nya held up their fists.

The Serpentine didn’t often get past their larger counterparts, but there were a few cases when they did. At least they were able to get their counterparts’ attentions when they did and didn’t need to fight them long.

However, the surrounding snakes were slowly pushing them in, getting too close to the tea ingredients for Zane’s liking.

“Zane!” he yelled to his giant double. “It’s too close!”

Giant Zane nodded. “Guys, push out!” the giant nindroid told the others. “Ninja GO!!!” He spun, pushing back the snakes around him. The others did their best to push the snakes around them away from the ingredients, keeping them a good distance away.

“Where’s the Bounty?!” Giant Jay yelled to the others as he knocked away a Constrictai, several minutes having already passed. “Aren’t Sensei and Lloyd supposed to be here by now?!”

“Just keep fighting!” Giant Cole said, kicking back a Venomari. “I’m sure they’ll be here soon!”

“You better hope he does,” a voice said from above. Zane looked up. From a snakecopter hovering over them, the Lord Garmadon from this universe jumped out with his Mega Weapon, landing a couple feet away from the pile of tea ingredients. At least, a couple feet away according to this universe.

“Lord Garmadon!”

Their giant doubles turned around, trying to aim their attacks to him, but in that short moment, the snakes surrounding them were able to grab them and hold them back. Several Constrictai wrapped their arms around the giant ninja and Giant Nya’s samurai mech, restraining them tightly. Separating the team from Giant Garmadon were the Serpentine Generals, slithering around the Giant Dark Lord and the tea ingredients as they made sure the larger ninja couldn’t break free.

Zane held up his shurikens, hoping his fear and nervousness weren’t obvious, especially with Giant Garmadon too close for his liking.

This Garmadon definitely resembled the one from their universe, while still resembling the humans of this universe. Like the Garmadon he knew, this one had skin as black as ash (quite literally!) and four arms, the sight even more disgusting than the one at home. Just like the Garmadon he knew, this one wore a helmet with a skeleton bone attached and an armored chest plate over his blackened kimono, with a purple belt wrapped around his waist.

The details that could be seen on this Lord Garmadon were very unsettling.

“Ugh, and I thought the Serpentine were disgusting in this universe!” Jay remarked, voicing everyone’s thoughts out loud. Probably not a good move.

“Well, well, well… looks like the ninja put some little toys to guard their tea ingredients!” The Giant Dark Lord made sure to put emphasis on the word “toy,” reminding Zane that their forms were merely toys in this universe.

“Yuck! His breath is even worse at this size!”

“Jay, now’s a good time to shut up !” Kai hissed through his hood, not taking his eyes off of Giant Lord Garmadon.

Giant Garmadon only chuckled darkly. “Aww, where’s your sword, Kai? Did you not get it with the rest of your accessories?” Giant Garmadon then, using one of his four disgusting arms, plucked up the Ninja of Fire, pinching him between his fingers, as Zane learned they were called.

“P-put me down!” Kai stammered, struggling to break free. Giant Garmadon’s fingers wouldn’t budge.

“STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!!” Giant Kai yelled, trying to wriggle free from the snakes holding him down, but they wouldn’t let him go. Instead, more Constrictai came and held onto him, almost immobilizing him.

“Let my friend go!” Zane demanded, taking a step forward, his shurikens held up. As much as this Garmadon frightened him, he wouldn’t let him just take his friends like that! With all the strength he could, he threw one of his shurikens with as much force possible. The weapon flew to the Giant Dark Lord’s face, cutting him on the cheek, before flying back to its owner. Giant Garmadon cried out in pain, Zane feeling triumphant, until he saw that it didn’t force Giant Garmadon to release Kai.

In fact, all it did was make him even more livid.

“You little pest !” he spat out angrily.

Zane barely had time to react, when he too was plucked up by Garmadon.

One by one, the rest of his friends were soon in the Giant Dark Lord’s grasp, attempting to fight him off and force him to drop them. They were held tightly in his ask black fist, squeezed uncomfortably close together, one of his other hands gripping the Mega Weapon. With his two free hands, Giant Garmadon grabbed the ingredients they had collected for the Everett’s Tea.

Zane continued to struggle, trying to wriggle out from his grasp. From where he was held, he could

“Soon, I will be the ruler of a second Ninjago!” Giant Garmadon boasted, beginning to stand up. “I’ll be able to create another Ninjago in my own image!”

But not if Zane had anything to say about it! “You won’t get away with this, Garmadon!” he yelled, determination in his voice. “I won’t let you!”

Giant Garmadon only smirked at him, his white teeth gleaming. “And what can you do about it?” he asked, almost as if he pitied the puny ninja held tight in his fist. “Do you really expect to beat me with your size in our dimension? You can barely hurt me like this!”

“Even so, I won’t stop!” Zane tightened his grip on his shurikens. “Because a ninja never quits!”

“Zane, what are you doing?” Cole whispered, scared and skeptical at the same time, but Zane ignored him.

“Ninja GO!!!”

Zane spun quickly, using Spinjitzu to break from the Giant Dark Lord’s grasp. Landing on his closed fist near his wrist, Zane took one of his shurikens and struck his skin.

Giant Garmadon yelled in pain, his hand flinching and opening up, his friends falling from his grip. They did Spinjitzu to soften their fall, Jay grabbing onto Nya to help her down, and Zane knew they were fine on their own. With Giant Garmadon too focused on his friends— who were doing their best to get the Giant Dark Lord to drop the tea ingredients— Zane made his way to the ground, rushing to where his giant double was pinned.

The Serpentine hadn’t noticed him, though his giant counterpart did. This was good. Their eyes met, both of them with the same plan in mind. His counterpart lowered himself closer to the ground without attracting the snakes’ attention, allowing Zane to climb onto his head as quick as he could. Now closer to the Serpentine’s faces, he threw up his shurikens.

While mostly unnoticed, his shurikens did graze by their eyes, causing them to hiss in pain, loosening their grips on the giant ice ninja. Just as Zane’s weapons flew back to him, his giant doppelganger shot up to his feet and knocked down the snakes that had had him pinned just moments ago, Zane holding onto his doppelganger’s white hood. His counterpart took his own shurikens and threw them. They hit many of the snakes that still held his friends. The snakes recoiled from the pain for a moment, but that was enough time for the others to break free.

They jumped, the ninja using Spinjitzu to knock away the snakes and Giant Nya swatting them away with the arms of her mech. Having not foreseen the ninja escaping their grasps, the Serpentine were easily knocked back, unable to keep up.

“Retreat!” Skales commanded loudly, the rest of the Serpentine obeying immediately.

“What are you doing, fool?!” Giant Garmadon yelled at the Hypnobrai general, still struggling to hold onto the tea ingredients and his Mega Weapon, Zane’s friends using their weapons and fists to hurt the Giant Dark Lord’s hands.

The snakes chose not to listen, continuing to pull back instead.

“Cowards!”

“Face it, Garmadon.” Giant Cole held the blade of his scythe close to Giant Garmadon’s face. “You’ve lost this battle.” He only glared, both at the scythe and the ninja and samurai surrounding him. Everyone was still, including Zane’s friends standing on the ash black arms of the Giant Dark Lord. For a moment, it felt as if time stood still.

Finally, he let his arms drop, the tea ingredients and Zane’s friends falling to the ground, miraculously fine; the tank of seawater even had no visible cracks. “Fine,” he conceded. “You win.”

Moving quickly, Giant Kai and Giant jay grabbed the ingredients and the smaller counterparts up in their arms, holding them to their chests protectively. They stepped back quickly, in case Giant Garmadon made any moves.

Everyone flinched as he began to chuckle darkly, his laughter growing louder.

“You may have beaten me today, ninja,” he said, still smiling, “but I can still make the Everett’s Tea on my own!” He looked to them, a gleam in his red eyes, especially when he looked to the smaller ninja team, making it clear that he was now talking to them . “I know the recipe! And once I collect my own ingredients, I’ll be able to crossover to your Ninjago and recreate it in my—”

“Look out below!”

There was no time to react when a teacup shot down from the sky above, striking Giant Garmadon right in his face, its contents spilling all over him. Almost immediately, he collapsed, limp on the sandy ground.

Everyone was silent as they stared, but not for long. The anchor of the Destiny’s Bounty crashed into the sand next to all of them. “Come on, guys, climb up!” Giant Lloyd called out to them. So they did, aside from Nya’s counterpart, who instead flew up on the samurai mech, bringing the tea ingredients with her.

“What the heck was that ?!” Giant Jay exclaimed as he climbed onto the deck. “How did you guys just beat Garmadon with tea ?!”

“Amnesia tea,” Giant Sensei said simply. “He will be out for some hours, but the events of the past twenty-four hours will have been erased from his mind.” He turned to the smaller ninja and samurai, most of them in the hands of Giant Kai and Giant Jay, Zane still holding onto the hood of his doppelganger. “Meaning my brother will have no recollection of the Everett’s Tea, and your universe will be safe.”

All of them sighed with relief, their smiles showing as they pulled off their hoods and helmet.

“We also threw it down at the Serpentine!” Giant Lloyd said proudly, beaming wide. “You shoulda seen me! I was like a pitcher, and I barely missed!”

Giant Sensei chuckled, the others joining in as Giant Kai ruffled the kid’s hair.

“Now then, let’s brew this tea.” Giant Sensei turned to Giant Nya, taking the tea ingredients from her. “Nya, get this ship flying; we don’t want to be near my brother when he awakens.”

“Aye aye, Sensei!”

He slowly blinked his eyes open, feeling as if he had fallen asleep and was just waking up. Wait, the Sea of Sand? That couldn’t be right! Wasn’t he just in one of the temples at Ouroborus, plotting some way to keep the ninja from foiling his plans? How’d he even get to the desert? He didn’t remember at all—

Amnesia tea… The ninja must’ve used it on him after he had found a way to stop them! But now he’d never know what!

He yelled in frustration, striking his Mega Weapon against the sand by his feet. Defeated again!

He grasped the weapon’s handle with all four hands. He could use it to create a way to find out what had happened, but from how he felt, he had already used the Mega Weapon’s power that day.

Well, there was no use dwelling on something he had no memory of. He had to figure out some other way to retaliate without wasting energy on some memory.

Mega Weapon in hand, he started the long trek back to Ouroborus, prepared to yell at Skales and blame him for whatever had happened.

Chapter Text

It would only take about ten minutes to brew. After all that happened, at least there wasn’t some life threatening quest for the tea now, so they could relax and do nothing. Which was what they did. Seriously, they were too tired to even play video games!

Both Nyas were the only ones not lazing in the room, busy with something else. The ninja, Lloyd included, were just on the floor around Sensei Wu, talking about whatever happened to cross their minds. Most of it was just wondering what kind of universes there could be to travel to.

“You think there’s some My Little Pony dimension with us in it?” Jay asked, half joking. There probably was one that existed. If there was ever any time, he decided should check it out.

“‘ My Little Pony ’?” Mini him asked from his shoulder. Right, they probably didn’t have that in the LEGO universe. Was it because there’s no LEGO My Little Pony stuff? Or was it copyright junk? Why would copyright affect anything though? That’d only be if their world was some movie or show. Hey, what about a dimension where their adventures were only just a show? That’d be cool! But that probably meant they wouldn’t exist.

“Never mind that,” Cole said with a smirk, bringing Jay back to the present. “He probably just wants to see if his ponysona is accurate!”

Jay felt his face heat up. “Cole!!!”

Everyone laughed, aside from the LEGO ninja, who probably didn’t understand it.

“Oh! What about a universe where our elements are swapped around?” Mini Zane suggested.

That was actually a pretty interesting one to think about. What if instead, Jay was the ninja of ice? Or fire? Or heck, even earth?

“Is that possible, Sensei?” Cole asked their teacher. “Would it be possible to have a universe where we’re not our elements?”

“The multiverse is vast and limitless,” their Sensei replied, stirring the tea. “There are infinite possibilities of what could exist. There may be several universes where you are not the Ninja of Earth, or even a ninja at all.”

“We’d probably be earth, then!” Mini Kai said, motioning to both himself and his doppelganger. “Since we’re the most grounded next to Cole!”

“Guess again, hothead!” Mini Cole replied, causing both Jays to laugh as Kai’s face turned red.

“How about a universe where instead of ninja, we go to school?” Lloyd brought up. Everyone, aside from both Zanes, groaned loudly.

“That’d be the worst universe!” Kai complained.

“What is so bad about school?” Zane asked genuinely, tilting his head. “Is there something wrong with receiving an education?”

“ Everything is wrong with school!” Cole answered. “I mean, the education system is pretty messed up!”

“It’d be better if we were still secretly ninja in high school!” Mini Jay added. “Like, superheroes with secret identities, but we’re ninja!”

Jay nodded in agreement. Now that’d be cool!

“And it is done!” Sensei announced loudly, pouring the tea into a cup.

Everyone stood up with their LEGO counterparts in hand, surrounding Sensei by the table. They stared at the disgustingly thick, dark liquid sitting in the blue teacup. Jay fought the urge to gag.

“We’re supposed to drink that ?!” Mini him voiced out loud.

Jay really hoped the Mini team didn’t have to drink… that… Could it even be called tea?

Sensei Wu didn’t say anything; he just smiled, then poured the liquid in a circle on the table. The moment the circle was connected, it disappeared, replaced with a shining blue portal. It glowed softly, swirling as it did. At the sight of the portal, Jay felt his mini self relax as he sighed with relief.

“Oh, okay, that’s a lot better.”

“So… guess this is goodbye?” Mini Cole spoke up.

Jay frowned slightly. Hours ago, he was terrified of their LEGO selves, so sure that they were evil minions of Lord Garmadon. Now, it felt like an old friend that he hadn’t seen in forever had to leave. Mini him looked up to him, Jay lifting his hand higher so that they could see eye to eye.

They didn’t have anything to say to each other– how did one even say goodbye to themself?– so they just smiled like the dorks they knew they were. After a few moments, Jay lowered him to the table so that he could join his friends in returning to the portal.

Nya came into the room, donned in her usual attire and Mini Nya in her hand. From the looks of it, both girls had fixed up Mini Nya’s samurai suit. Seeing the portal swirling on the table, she nodded, lowering her mini self on the table with the others.

“Oh, and before you go…” Nya reached into a pocket she’d sewn into her outfit, pulling out a tiny sword pinched between her fingers. “We fixed you up another sword so that you guys won’t have to fly back to Ignacia.”

From the corner of his eye, Jay could see Kai crossing his arms, huffing a bit as he muttered some choice words. Jay held back a snicker.

Nya lowered it to her mini brother, who took it gratefully. With a smile, he tested it a bit, swinging it around skillfully in the air. “This one is a lot lighter than the other one!” he exclaimed, still grinning. “And the balance and handling is better, too!” He stopped, putting the sword on his back and smiling up at Nya. “Thanks, li’l… er, big sis!”

She laughed. “No problem, li’l bro!”

Mini Nya punched her own brother lightly in the arm. “Some thanks would be nice for me too, ya know!” she said, smirking.

Mini Kai rolled his eyes, his smile not leaving his face. “All right: thank you, too, actual li’l sis.”

Silence again. “So this is goodbye for real,” Mini Zane spoke up.

“Maybe, but we can still see each other again,” Zane said with a smile. “We still have the Everett’s Tea, and if you can get some from your universe, you’ll be free to return to our universe as you please, if Sensei permits it.”

They all turned to their teacher, who nodded. “You’re welcome to travel between our dimensions whenever you wish,” he told them. “Besides, a visit now and then between battles with my brother couldn’t hurt. Just think of the specific dimension you wish to travel to; have in mind a specific person, or a specific place.”

“Hey, when you guys come back,” Lloyd spoke up, looking to the mini team, “let me know how much my LEGO version beats you in Fist to Face II!”

They all laughed. “Not if I beat him, first!” Mini Kai said.

They all exchanged their final goodbyes. Once they were done, the mini ninja team and samurai put on their hoods and helmet, held hands, and took the leap together.

“Ninja GO!!!”

They disappeared into the portal, and with that, the portal vanished.

An entire afternoon without those pesky ninja! Garmadon couldn’t be more thrilled!

He unleashed the serpentine to wreak havoc across Ninjago City, terrorizing the citizens. He chuckled evilly as they all ran in fear, screaming.

“Where are the ninja?!” one man yelled, cowering as the car he was just in was toppled onto its side.

Garmadon couldn’t help but smirk. He should’ve gotten rid of them the moment the Mega Weapon was forged! Nothing could stop him now!

Until the very ninja and samurai he had sent away came hurtling from the sky, hitting some of his Serpentine in the process.

“What?!”

They turned to him, holding their weapons to him, the samurai holding up her fists.

Garmadon gripped his Mega Weapon in his hands, his nervousness hopefully not showing. He looked to them all, glaring. He was too weak to try something else with his Mega Weapon. The five of them could easily beat him, now that they had found a way back to Ninjago. So he did the only thing he could do.

“Retreat!”

Seeing the ninja and samurai back, the Serpentine didn’t hesitate to obey. They stopped what they were doing and rushed away, clearly intimidated by their presence after spending an entire afternoon free of them.

As Garmadon fell back with them, he turned to face them, scowling. “I’ll find a way to beat you, ninja!” he yelled to them. “Just you wait! Then Ninjago will be recreated in my image!”

As he ran off, the ninja and Nya whooped, high fiving and fist bumping one another.

“Well, that was pretty easy!” Jay commented, pulling off his hood. “Glad we could stop Ol’ Garmy before he caused any major damage!”

“Uh, Jay?” Nya motioned to the city around them, which was pretty trashed from the Serpentine roaming free around the city. Jay’s smile immediately left his face. It seemed Ninjago could barely last an afternoon without them.

The blue ninja sighed. “Guess we’ll have to clean this up, huh?”

It was about a week since their other dimension experience. Garmadon didn’t do too much against the ninja, and their fights have been pretty easy, making it easier on the ninja to be able to train Lloyd. With not much happening in Ninjago, they decided to spend the day teaching him to harness his powers out on the deck of the Destiny’s Bounty as they flew over the desert, far from the city.

With very little happening, though the five had considered visiting their friends again from the other universe, they decided they’d focus first on helping Lloyd reach his full potential in order to fight his father; the visits could wait, after all. Maybe once Lord Garmadon was defeated, they could go see them.

“All right, you’re getting better, kid!” Cole commented as he got to his feet, Lloyd smiling wide. “How ‘bout we take a ten minute break? You earned it!”

“Yes!” Lloyd ran down below deck, probably off to play video games.

Jay was laying on his back, too tired to even try to get up. “Man, Lloyd’s getting stronger each day,” he said, clearly out of breath. “I swear he’s gonna be able to fight his dad soon.”

“Well, at least we can take a break for now,” Kai commented, helping Jay up to his feet.

“Besides, at least nothing is happening for the moment!” Zane piped up.

BOOM!!!!!

The air around them shook violently, rocking the flying ship.

“You just had to jinx it, tin can,” Cole told the nindroid, the four ninja rushing to the side to see what was going on. Sensei, Nya, and Lloyd came out from below the deck and joined them, wanting to find out what had happened outside.

Laying in the desert were five very familiar giants, clearly having just landed from a fall. They slowly sat up, their heads nearly knocking against the Destiny’s Bounty as they did. As they eyed the hovering ship, their strange eyes widened, the giant samurai taking off her helmet to get a better look, her familiar bob showing.

“Oh hey, it’s big us!” Jay exclaimed, before waving to his giant counterpart. “Hi, Big Me!”

His counterpart slowly took off his hood, smiling sheepishly as he gave a small wave back. Lloyd and Sensei stepped back in shock, having not known about the ninja’s and Nya’s experience from about a week ago.

With their giant doppelgangers now in their universe, one thing seemed certain: they were going to need a lot of Everett’s Tea.

Chapter Text

Ch 1

Kai’s POV

It was a normal day. We got the Bounty back and were training Lloyd. He wouldn’t concentrate, though, and started complaining. “Can we stop already?” he whined. “I’m tired.”

“Lloyd,” I stated, “you’re going to face your father one day and we need to get you prepared.” “I know,” he replied. He sighed. “I don’t want that day to come.” “We understand,” Zane told him. Zane understands everyone’s feelings.

The alarm sounded. We all ran to the bridge. “Tell us, sis,” I commanded Nya. “Lord Garmadon was spotted in Ninjago City near the toy shop scaring anyone in or near it,” she answered. “Why would he?” Jay asked. “I don’t know,” she said.

“Can I come with you guys?” Lloyd pleaded. “Sorry Lloyd,” Cole told him. “You’re not ready.” “Awww… Could you at least get me a toy?” I laughed and said, “Maybe.”

“Nya,” Sensei said, just coming in, “you’re gonna have to go with the ninja. I’m having the Bounty cleaned and the company requests that it is completely empty.” A smile started creeping on the squirt’s face. “Lloyd, you’re coming with me to pick up my tea.” “Aw, what?!” was his reply, and a frown took over. “Next time, kid,” I said.

We rode on the and Nya flew in her Samurai Suit.

“Just on time,” he said when we arrived. Then he put all four hands (why four, Garmadon?) on the Mega weapon and said, “Megaweapon, take the ninja and the girl far from here.”

The Megaweapon glowed very bright, I had to shield my eyes from it. The light got brighter each second.

I probably passed out because the next thing I remember was a male meerkat in a grass skirt doing the hula and singing and his warthog friend had an apple in his mouth. Then a bunch of hyenas chased them.

Ch 2

Nya’s POV

I had a weird dream that I was a magical winged purple horse princess at a kingdom made of crystals. Then someone stole my crown and the only way to get it back was through a mirror. I don’t remember anything else after that except waking up.

It was pitch black when I opened my eyes. I wasn’t sure if I was dead or blind. “Are you okay, Nya?” I heard Kai ask. “Yeah, I think,” I replied. OK, I’m not dead. Was I blind? “Zane, give us some light,” I heard Jay. Zane’s head lit up (creepy) and I knew I wasn’t blind.

“My samurai suit!” I exclaimed. My samurai suit was gone. “Where are we, Zane?” Cole asked. “I-I don’t know,” he stammered. “What do you mean, you don’t know!?!” Jay whined. “You know everything!” “I’m not getting any readings,” Zane said, worriedly.

“Great,” I said. “The only knowledge we have about our location is that WE’RE IN A CARDBOARD BOX!!!” Cole shushed me. “What are we doing in a box?” Jay wondered aloud. “Shhh!” Cole shushed once more.

I was confused why Cole wanted us to be quiet. I looked at my big brother and he placed his hand to his ear. At first, I didn’t understand what that meant, until I heard voices.

But these voices confused me, too.

??? POV

“Can’t I get a toy, puh-leeze?” I asked for the tenth time, making the sweetest face and poutiest voice possible. “Alright, fine,” Cole said, obviously annoyed (by me, of course).

“Yesss,” I said, pumping my fist in the air. “Green ninja wins again!” “Wow,” Jay said. “Not only does the green ninja win every battle, he also wins every argument.” “You do know the only reason I gave in was so you would stop bugging me, right?” Cole told me.

We entered the Ninjago Toy Store. There were kids with their parents, tugging sleeves, whining, pointing to what they want. This was my first time here, and I kinda wished Dad wasn’t evil so I could do this kind of stuff with him.

“OK, you can only get one toy,” Cole said. “Fine, whatever,” I answered before running off in the aisles.

There helicopters, action figures, plastic swords, you name it. I wanted all of them, though I knew I couldn’t. Then a certain box caught my eye. I don’t know why it stood out. It wasn’t designed and it didn’t have a picture on the outside showing the contents on the inside. It was just green with yellow boxy letters saying “LEGO.” The box shouldn’t have grabbed my attention. Other people didn’t notice it, so why did I?

Finally, I couldn’t resist. I quickly grabbed the box and ran to the front of the store where Kai, Cole, Jay, and Zane were all waiting for me. When I was close enough, I skidded to a halt. “Oof,” I heard someone say. Guy probably tripped or something.

“So, whatcha get?” Kai asked. “This,” I replied, holding it up for the four of them to see. “What’s a “LEGO”?” Jay asked. I shrugged.

We headed towards the checkout counter with the shortest line. The cashier was a girl with a blue viser and shirt and black pants. Her hair was the same color as Jay’s and in a ponytail. She also had dark brown eyes.

“How much do I pay?” Cole asked her. She looked up from what she was doing. She was about sixteen I guess, because she started acting like a fangirl. “O-oh my g-gosh!” she stammered. “How much do I pay?” Cole asked again, tossing the Lego box on the counter. “OW!!!” someone yelled. Two idiots were probably fighting. “Hello?” Cole waved a hand in front if the girl, who seemed to be in some sort of trance. Cole snapped his fingers, which sent her out of the trance. “Huh, what?” she said.

“This is the third time I asked you. How much do I pay?” “Oh, you don’t need to pay,” she replied, the question finally sinking in. “Just let me pay, I insist,” Cole told her. “No, I insist you don’t pay,” she said back. “You can have it for free. Here.” She took a piece of paper and wrote “Free for the ninja. Sydney Patterson.” Then, she got some tape and taped it on the box. “Fine, I won’t pay,” Cole was once again the loser of an argument. “If we come back, I’m gonna pay.”

When we got back to the Bounty, Nya greeted us by asking, “What took you guys so long?” “We were getting Lloyd a toy since he wouldn’t stop bugging Cole,” Zane said. He didn’t speak for so long, I forgot he was there! “Why were you so quiet, Zane?” Kai questioned. “I sensed something happening and I was trying to decipher what it was.” “Did you figure it out?” Cole asked. Zane shook his head.

I ran to my room with the box in my hands. I sat on the floor and looked at it. I thought about what a Lego could be. I’m not sure how long I was daydreaming, but after a really long time, I decided to open it. My fingers trembled with excitement. I turned the box upside down, emptying out all the contents. Five figures came out.

They looked like the ninja and Nya, I guess. Their skin was yellow, they had no fingers, their feet were square, so they didn’t look like them at all. Wait, did they? I just confused myself.

“Ugh, where are we?”the one that looked and didn’t look like Jay said. Then, (even freakier) he got up. My eyes widened in shock and I started running and screaming.

Cole’s POV

“MY TOYS ARE ALIVE!!!! MY TOYS ARE ALIVE!!!” the giant yelled. He strangely looked like— “Was that LLOYD!?!” Kai exclaimed. “Wait, that giant was Lloyd, as in the green ninja Lloyd, as in the boy we’re training Lloyd, as in—” “We get it, Jay,” I cut in. “But how is that possible?” Nya added, panic in her voice. “He was supposed to be with Sensei getting tea, not playing with Jay’s growth gun.” “I never invented a growth gun!” Jay argued. “Or did I?”

“Now I know where we are,” Zane said. We all turned to him. “We are in an…” he hesitated for a bit, then said, “ alternate dimension.”

“WHAT?!”

The other Cole’s POV

“MY TOYS ARE ALIVE!!!” Lloyd screamed, running towards me. I laughed.

“Never heard that one before,” I said.

“But it’s true!” he whined.

“What’s true?” Jay asked walking in. He took huge gulps of a green, fizzy drink from a huge soda bottle. I frowned.

“You know that has too much sugar,” I told him.

“So?” he replied. He belched.

“Dude, how do you burp the best? I can never get as good as you!”

“It’s my talent, a gift.”

“No, it’s not!”

“I claimed the Burp Master title.”

“You did not!”

“GUYS!!!” Lloyd yelled. I forgot about him. “MY TOYS ARE ALIVE!!!!”

I heard laughter from Jay and Kai, who walked up behind me with Zane.

“Oh joy,” Kai mocked. “The Blue Fairy granted my wish and my toy son wants to be a real boy!” He continued laughing. Zane stared at Lloyd with questioning eyes.

“I’m serious!” Lloyd complained. I rolled my eyes.

“Look,” I said, “we’ll go in the room, and everything will be normal.” He did not look convinced. I sighed. He had better not gone mad, or else Ninjago would doomed. Doomed to cower under that four-armed, twenty-fingered dark creep.

“What?” Lloyd asked. I covered my mouth with my hand. Had I said that out loud?

Back to the first Cole’s POV

“Okay, everyone stay calm,” I said. As leader, you must make sure that—

“Stay calm!?! STAY CALM!!!!” Jay yelled. All of a sudden he looked like a mad scientist whose experiment blew up in his face and then never slept in a year. “We are in an alternate dimension, and you are telling us to STAY CALM!!!!! Do you know what could HAPPEN in an ALTERNATE DIMENSION!!!!” He seemed really stressed, and the way he was breathing deeply frightened me.

“Umm…” I answered.

“The UNIVERSE will CRUMBLE!!! Or, or if we meet our counterparts, we’ll EXPLODE!!!”

As he continued ranting about how we will die and started pacing, I asked Nya, “How many sci-fi movies has he watched recently?”

“There was a sci-fi movie marathon Monday,” she replied. That explained it.

“We are going to die!!!” Jay screamed, shaking Kai like crazy.

“Ooookay,” Kai said, who probably never heard a word Jay said.

“Jay, all those are just theories,” Zane said. “No one knows what will really happen.”

“Do YOU want to test them?” Jay argued.

Zane was silent. The expression on his face seemed awkward. “Thought so.”

“Everything will be all right,” I assured him. “We just have to find out how—”

“Everything is NOT Okay!!!!!” Jay yelled. “Lord Garmadon sent us to our doom!!!”

Before I could respond, the ground beneath us shook like an earthquake.

Jay’s counterpart’s POV

I looked at Lloyd as we walked to our room. He was trembling like a four-year-old who thought he had a monster under his bed. “Coward,” I muttered under my breath, even though I had that feeling when I was young. I thought there was a creepy and cooky old lady living under my bed. I got over it before I was fourteen. Not when I was fourteen, before I was fourteen. There is no reason I gave that specific age. No reason at all.

Anyway, back to the story. “Lloyd, Kai said, “your toys are not alive. It’s all just in your imagination. Or prank.”

“I’m not kidding!” Lloyd defended. “I’m serious this time!”

“And when was the last time you were serious?” Cole asked.

Lloyd mumbled something, but it was not understandable.

“What?” Cole put his hand near his ear.

More clearly, Lloyd said, “On my last prank I pulled.”

“Exactly.”

Since I was the one closest, I opened the door for everyone. I was also the first to see the toys, which were so tiny. “Aww… cute!” I commented, and left the door.

“OW!” Kai yelled. Oops. I forgot to make sure everyone came in, and the door must have slammed in his face.

Anyways, I picked one of the minifigures, action-figures, whatever, that was dressed in red. It strangely had a resemblance to Kai. Maybe they are now making toys of us? Sweet!

“Jay, I am SO gonna KILL you!!!” Kai screamed, bursting through the door.

I instinctively turned around. I swear Kai’s hair turned to fire. Everyone else stayed at the side.

At the corner of my eye, the little toy seemed to grab its sword. (AN: A normal sword in case you thought it was the sword of fire.) I thought it was just my periferal vision, until it cut my thumb.

I screamed and dropped it, or him I guess. If you have ever been cut by a tiny sword on the thumb, you know my pain. If you have not, if you ever stapled yourself, multiply the pain by ten. I swear that is how much it hurt. I have stapled myself seven times.

Blood started dripping. Luckily, not a lot. Quickly, I took the edge of my shirt and pressed it firmly against the cut to stop the bleeding.

I looked up and saw everyone staring at me in shock.

“Did that just stab you?!?” Cole asked, wide-eyed. I nodded.

It was Kai’s turn to ask. “Did anyone see where they went?” We all shook our heads.

We were all quiet for a while.

“I think,” Zane started, breaking the silence, “that was what I was sensing earlier.”

“Do you want a different toy, Lloyd?” Cole questioned the young boy.

“N-no. No I d-don’t.”

Ch 3

Human Zane’s POV

It has been three days since the toy incident. It was 12;01 in the morning, and I was the only one still awake, lost in thought. I was thinking about what happened after the mishap.

We discussed it, and we all agree it was Garmadon’s doing. Everyone else were sure they were evil. I did not think so. I sensed they were lost or misplaced. I felt they were from another world.

I also felt they were weak, tired, scared, and starving under my bed. Yes, I knew where they ran off to. I was just scared one of my brothers would harm or kill them.

I could not stand the thought of them suffering. It has been bugging me for so long, I decided to help the poor things.

I stood up from bed (which was thankfully on the bottom bunk) and as quietly and carefully as I could, tiptoed to the kitchen barefoot. I set my view to night vision so that I would not stumble about.

I grabbed a plate, opened the fridge, and started collecting some of the leftovers from the previous dinner. I also poured in two bottle caps from Jay’s Fizzy Pop. I figured they were also parched.

Placing the two caps on the plate, I got up and slowly went back to the room. I entered as Jay moaned and rolled over. I froze.

A few seconds of silence came next, and I knew he was asleep. I sighed.

On my toes, I crept towards my bed. I placed the dish on the floor, went down on my hands and knees, and peeked under. They were definitely there.

“Come on out,” I coaxed quietly. They looked at each other, uncertain whether or not to trust me. “I won’t hurt you,” I promised them.

It was a few moments before one of them stepped forward. He wore white and had a flat-top, like me. He started eating the food I brought.

One by one, they all came out. By the speed they ate, I could tell they were ravenous.

They did not speak, except for the one similar to me. “Thank you,” he said. “We are truly grateful.”

I smiled in response. He grinned back, then went back to eating.

After watching them a while, I asked, “Where do you come from?”

They all looked up at me. The white one explained everything, who they were, what they did, where they came from, and how they got here.

As he explained, I studied them carefully. They had yellow skin, instead of different colors. Their legs and feet were rectangular and square. Weird. Instead of hands and fingers, they had little… things. What do I call them? Their heads were cylindar, they had no noses, and they had no eye colors, just black. It was understanding why to think them as toys, for they seemed as if made of plastic.

“So you are Garmadon’s doing,” I said.

“I guess you could say that,” little Kai replied.

Little Jay started talking. “More like part of a plan of Garmadon’s doing, but we didn’t know about it, and then we’re here, but we’re not evil, and we need to get home, and— OW!”

Little Kai hit little Jay in the back of his head. “Shut up, Jay, he gets the point,” Little Kai told him. I held in a laugh. Little us were so much like us.

“Could you help us find a way back to our world?” Little Cole asked me. “And at least keep us safe in here?”

I nodded in reply.

“Sensei’s probably wondering where we are,” Little Nya stated.

“And it has been too long since we last trained Lloyd for the final battle,” Little me added.

“Don’t worry,” I said to them, “I will help you. And if I can convince them, my brothers may help as well.”

I allowed them to step into my hand, got up, and placed the six of them on my pillow. “You might wanna get some rest,” I told them.