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Chapter Text

Cole knew something felt wrong, but he just could not pin it. Since their confrontation with the Serpentine, he’d been haunted by the fact he’d nearly been put under a Hypnobrai’s command. Luckily his brother had intervened. But who was to say it would go so well the next time. Fighting with your eyes closed was hardly an option, but what other choice would they have? 

Either way, he was just glad to be back home at the monastery, at least for now. There were some strange things going on, however. 

He’d wake up randomly, somewhere he’d not remember going. Cole never sleep walked before, but that could be the only explanation. The first night, he’d woken up in the bathroom. Maybe he just had to go? 

The second night, it was the kitchen. He had flung every cabinet open. 

“There’s stuff to make sandwiches in the fridge.” Jay had offered, himself somewhat of a night owl and haunting the bag of chips. 

“Not hungry.” Cole mumbled in reply, dragging himself back to bed and hoping to stay put. 

“Whatever, grumpy butt.” Jay called back with a mouth full of food. 

The third night is when Cole began to feel afraid. He’d woken up in Wu’s private space, opening a scroll cabinet and having several of the texts strewn about his feet. “Not good…” Cole mumbled, backing away slowly, the crunch of a stepped on paintbrush snapping in half scaring him nearly out of his sleep pants. 

“Can I help you?” Wu asked, suddenly appearing in the doorway. 

“No… Yes… I don’t know. I’m tired.” Cole finished with a yawn. 

“Seems you have been quite busy in the early hours of the morning.” Wu commented, taking in the mess that had been made of his space. “Perhaps you should go back to bed.”

“Yes, sensei.” Cole agreed, slipping back into the main hall. 

The following night, he took matters into his own hands, tying his belt around his ankle and the bedpost. Hopefully the jolt from that would wake him up before he could cause more trouble. 

Many miles away, Skales merely laughed. “Seems he is onto me. Better cut to the chase. I’ll have my chance soon enough. Besides, those scrolls proved to be quite enlightening. You were right, Pythor. Better to explore a bit before killing the others, and to make our move in the dark.” 

The Anacondrai beside him chuckled. “You’ve done well, Skales. Very well. But yes, we have all the information we need. All that is left is the slaughter.” 

Sitting down to better be able to focus on his task, Skales closed his eyes. “Indeed so.” 

Cole’s own eyes opened to reveal a bright red glow. “Kill… Them… All…” He echoed, drawing a blade from below his bed to slice through the belt restraining him. 

“Get the red one first.” Pythor muttered. “He’s been nothing but a thorn in my scales.” Skales nodded in agreement, and then the deed was done, a swift stab to the heart ending the fire ninja’s life permanently, without sound or warning. 

Red blood, the color of Kai’s uniform, splattered over Cole’s bare hands and coated the blade as he retracted it, turning to whoever was next. 

“This one’s a bit small to be a ninja don’t you think.” Skales mused with a chuckle. 

“All the better to put him out of his misery, then.” 

Cole did not hesitate to plunge the blade in again. Jay let out a choked garble, still deep in the grip of his slumber, as Cole twisted the blade. 

Pythor chuckled. “Only one left now.” 

“And the deed is… what?” 

Cole had attempted to sink the blade, but it somehow glanced off the ice ninja’s chest, slipping to the side and leaving a trail of crimson on snow white pajamas. Bright blue eyes opened. 

“Cole, what are you doing? Is something wrong?” Zane asked innocently, not yet noticing the blade, or the looks of murder in Cole’s now red eyes. 

“What is wrong…” Cole droned as Pythor commanded him. “Is that you… Are not dead!” 

“Yes, go for the eyes. A wise choice.” Pythor commended as Cole drove his blade into Zane’s eye socket, a sharp jolt of electricity traveling along the metal from broken circuits to zap the earth ninja, knocking him unconscious. 

Zane cried out in pain, and at the sudden realization that his teammate had betrayed them all. Clutching at his ruined eye, coolant leaking from the orifice, he ran to find Sensei Wu. 

As the damage was assessed, they realized that there was no way to heal the damage done. Picking up Cole’s badly burned body, Zane set him down in his cot while Sensei Wu played a strange melody on his flute. 

Pythor swore. “Only two! How could you have messed this up so badly, Skales!” 

“Two is better than none, which is what you have accomplished.” Skales muttered, slithering away. “We’ll get the other two yet, trust me.”

Chapter Text

“I hate you!” The young Montgomery Garmadon screamed at his brother who scampered away. The brother who had done this to him, forced him over the wall and into the fangs of the Great Devourer. 

His father sighed, and rose from where he sat at his son's bedside. “Don’t upset your brother like that. He is having just as hard a time as you coping with this.” 

“Don’t side with him!” Garmadon cried out, jagged nails mid transformation into claws- yes claws- scratching along his own forearms. Some base part of him wanted to rip the skin off his body. Maybe that would end this pain, this torture. 

The first spinjitsu master just looked down on his son from above, tucking a corner of the sheet over his leg that had slipped out. This world may have been a bountiful one, full of life and growth, but it also harbored evil, and he knew something as pure as his offspring was sure to become tarnished eventually. His love had warned him as such when they did mate, bonding through the energies of the land and their passion. He just never dreamed it would be so soon. 

“I love you both, and could never pick just one. You know this.” He eventually said, softly. This did nothing but fuel Garmadon’s anger. 

“Pick. Me.” He seethed. “Fix me! Father! Are you blind! Look at me!” Garmadon screamed, throwing the sheet away from his body, clothed only in shorts it was evident just how far the evil had seeped into his body. His skin was turning an ashen grey, and thin grooves began to form in intricate patterns, each one a pattern of beautiful agony. 

Without another word, the first spinjitsu master turned his back to Garmadon. “I will tend to your brother now.” 

Garmadon wailed, left alone. He tore at the sheet, nails ripping holes in the thin fabric that felt like fire on him. Messy, knotted strands of hair hung before his eyes, which glowed bright red, staining his vision in the color of blood. Reaching for the cup at his bedside table, the ceramic clinked against budding fangs and the coldness of the water stung his tongue. 

Nothing about Montgomery Garmadon was soft or good, it was all sharp and terrible and oh so hot and he knew that this would never end. He was cursed, with evil venom running through his veins like lava. 

On a whim, some weeks later, he finally left the home, standing out in the pouring rain. The water that touched his coal black skin quickly turned to steam, boiling on contact. Looking down into a puddle, he saw his reflection. A face he did not know stared back at him. Too long teeth jutted from a thin lip, and grey lines decorated his face in swirling brushstrokes. Chuckling bitterly, Garmadon thought how well they obscured the hairline scars covering his body. 

With an angry shout, he kicked the water, disturbing it and breaking the reflection into a million tiny bits. The loosely tied knot at the top of his head fell, further impairing his vision with greasy black locks. 

“I… I hate myself.” He whispered, suddenly aware of himself from such a jarring experience. But soon, his consciousness faded back into the background, the evil that had consumed him drowning out any sense of sanity left in his abused body. 

A stranger even to himself, he took what he needed, which was not much, and left. Garmadon had a new purpose now, a dark purpose, and he would find it, wherever it was. The only thing he knew was that it was not here. 

Chapter Text

Pythor cursed the humans. 

He cursed the desert, which he was trapped deep beneath in this tomb. 

He cursed his ancestors for putting the entire tribe into this position. 

And he cursed himself for eating them all. 

He sat amid a pile of bones, picking away at one picked at random, hoping somehow there was a scrap of meat he missed. All he got was a mouthful of chalky dust as his fangs ground against the bone. Tossing it aside, he slithered through the tomb, ruling over his domain of detritus. 

The only Anacondrai ever born in the tomb, he’d never known anything but the space, navigating it in the pitch darkness that even his well adapted eyes could barely pierce. Every corpse was it its place, strewn and picked at. Pythor chuckled to himself. It really had been quite the life he lead, challenging himself to rule the tribe on a whim, and killing them all one by one on a similar mental bet. 

Pythor considered himself to be one to live in the moment, and frankly he’d not fully thought through his actions. Now, he was in somewhat of a pickle indeed. Tunneling out of the stone chamber was hardly an option, but ancestors be damned did he try.

As usual, he soon found himself facing a carved mural, the lone adornment of the chamber. Tracing the engravings with a clawed hand, Pythor smiled to himself. Yes, this was reason to keep pushing. He had conquered the most fearsome tribe of Serpentine.

Now, it was time to conquer the most fearsome of all snakes. To unleash it on the humans who trapped him deep in the ground, and to truly be the ruler of all creation. Pythor was proud of his ingenuity, and thought the plan to be quite wise of him. Now, there was just a matter of getting to the surface. 

He was not sure how much longer he could wait, either. 

Chapter Text

Jay thought they were in love. He thought what they had was real. But now she was gone. Chasing her dreams, or whatever it was she said she needed to do leaving him alone in the rain. His sense of hearing had shorted out as soon as she frowned. He knew the look in her eyes. What came next could not be good.

Time slowed down. Jay just stood there, on the corner, watching her footsteps be washed away, until dawn. 

He wondered what he could have done wrong. What could have been said to turn her tears into laughter, melted away by the cold winter rain.

The funny thing was, he didn't even cry. 

“There you are! Get in, you’re going to catch a cold out here.” Cole called from his car, waving Jay over. “Jeez, man, your coat is soaked. Just, get in the car ok.” 

Jay nodded, eyes not focusing on anything in particular as he slapped around, trying to get a grip on the door handle. His fingers were numb, the tips nearly the same color as his blue jacket. Cole leaned over to open the door for him, cranking up the head in the cabin. 

They didn’t talk on the drive back to the apartment. Jay disappeared into his room, not greeting anyone. Cole sat next to Kai on the couch.

“You’re sister really broke his heart.” Cole muttered. 

Kai bristled. “Look, he was being a bit of a dick.” 

“I know… She could have warned him.” Cole offered. 

“Look. We both know I’m going to support my sister and her well being above all. So can it, rocky.” 

Cole quieted, knowing when a conversation was over. Not feeling welcome he wandered away, finding Zane meditating in the kitchen of all places. The guy still kept some of the odd habits from the first day they met, but at least now he sat outside of the refrigerator, a solid few feet away from the lunch meats. 

The ice ninja hardly acknowledged his presence, but Cole was just glad to be near someone, leaning against the counter across from Zane. 

Then, out of nowhere, Jay sulked into the room, tugging on Zane’s gi sleeve. 

Zane opened his eyes slowly, the blue glow casting a gentle light onto Jay’s freckled face, giving his pale skin a sickly pallor. 

“Yes?” Zane asked calmly, Jay just tugging again at the sleeve. Trading a curious look with Cole, Zane then followed Jay where the lighting ninja lead. 

Cole could not be certain, but he could swear there was almost a scheming look in Jay’s eyes. Shrugging it off as nothing, he started making himself a sweet tea. 

In Jay’s room, he sat Zane down on his bed, turning around to rummage in his drawer. 

“Is everything alright, brother?” Zane asked softly, not quite sure how to react to what was going on. 

Finding what he was looking for, Jay turned to Zane with a crooked smile on his lips. “Oh yes, things are just perfect.” 

His golden nunchucks sizzling to life in his hands, Jay conjured up a powerful bolt of lighting, striking the nindroid square in the chest before he even had a chance to react. The jolt was enough to overload his circuits, but not fry them, and Jay knew he had at least 10 minutes before Zane began to reboot as he performed internal diagnostic. 

Locking his door and then ripping away the white gi, Jay opened Zane’s access hatch. Careful not to disturb anything too much, he began taking detailed pictures and notes of Zane's inner workings. Only when he was satisfied did he pull out the memory card, working quickly to wipe the last, say, fifteen minutes from the history. Replacing the card, he lay Zane down on the bed in a haphazard position, making it look like he had slipped and hit his head. 

For good measure, Jay lifted his head from the ground and dropped it, a loud metallic thud echoing through his room. Not long after there was a knock on his door. 

“Everyone ok in there?” Cole asked from the other side of the door. Jay rushed to throw Zane’s clothes back on his unconscious form. 

“Zane slipped! He’s out cold, but seems to be ok!” He cried out in a pathetic whimper that he did not need to force out, flinging the door open to reveal the scene. Jay’s room was very messy, so it would be easy to trip on a dirty sock or something of that nature. 

“You really ought to clean up.” Cole commented, frowning at the state of the place. Then, forcing a smile he offered to help clean it up, hoping that a neat atmosphere may help perk Jay up. 

“No, it’s ok. But let’s get Zane back to his room.” Jay suggested, and Cole agreed, scooping the thin nindroid into his arms with ease. 

“Ok, but I want you to eat something, and then get some sleep.” 

“Deal.” Jay was feeling rather fatigued, after all. He would need to be at his full mental capacity to enact his plan. 

Waking at noon, Jay appeased his teammates by making a sandwich and then walked to the hardware store, picking up some equipment he would need. The others were glad to see him tinkering again, but just what he was working on Jay would not say. 

A week later, Nya came back to the apartment, much to Kai’s surprise. 

“I thought you were going to live with Lloyd and Sensei Wu for a while?” He asked his sister. 

She smiled easily. “Well, I think it’s been long enough. I’ve missed you all. Where’s Jay?” 

Kai frowned. “I’m not so sure its a good idea you should go talk to him… He’s been pretty upset lately. Short fuse.” 

Nya rolled her eyes with a light laugh. “Oh, don’t worry. I’m bringing him good news.” 

“What sort?” Cole interjected from the far side of the room, frowning at the woman in the doorway. 

“Well, I’ve missed him most of all. I think I overreacted when we broke up is all.” 

Cole was not sold. “Really? Well, you really did break his heart. I’m not so sure he’s...”

“Nya! Hi!” Jay ran up to her, squeezing in front of Kai, wearing the first smile the ninja had seen on his face all week. “Do you really mean that?” 

Nya pulled the shorter man into a hug. “Of course I do.” 

A few days later, the duo left on some sort of ‘bonding trip’ as Jay described it, out camping in the woods outside the city. 

Cole could only laugh. “Probably don’t want us to hear them at night.” 

Kai simmered, grumbling something about that being his sister they were talking about. 

“I believe some alone time will be good for Jay and Nya. They will have time to discuss the future of their relationship.” Zane offered. 

“Yeah, that too.” Cole agreed. 

A knock at the door surprised them all, and Kai answered it to find his sister wearing a solemn expression. “Hey, brother.” 

“You forget something?” Kai asked, trying to get a read on the recently bubbly Nya. 

“Forget something? No, I don’t think so. Did you find something?” She replied, a touch confused. 

“Not really, figured you and Jay would be out in the woods by now though.” 

Nya cocked her head, stepping into the apartment. “Why would I be in the woods with Jay?” 

Cole spoke next. “Because you two are supposed to be out on a camping trip today. And tomorrow. And the day after that.” 

Nya shook her head. “Ew. No way. I don’t know what he told you, but that’s not happening.” 

Kai breathed out slowly. “Nya, you are the one who told us that.” 

Zane already had his phone out, and dialed Jay. No reply. Nya’s phone only rang the woman in front of them. 

“So if you are here… Where is Jay and who is he with?” Kai asked, starting to panic. 

Leaving immediately, the ninja scoured the woods, and the city, and found no trace of Jay. They searched for days, and when the supposed camping trip ended, there was no sign of him. Soon, the whole city was keeping an eye out for the blue ninja who disappeared, but there were no leads, no witnesses. 

On a remote island far away. Nya, or Nyadroid as Jay affectionately called her, poured another drink into his coconut. 

“Thanks, love.” He said, leaning back into his beach chair, watching the waves sprawl out before him. Nya sat in the sand beside him, resting her head against his thigh. 

“It’s beautiful, Jay.” 

“Not as beautiful as you, dear.” 

Jay smiled, soaking all this in. Life truly was perfect when you could build your ideal partner and have their undivided attention. Nya was a fool for not wanting to run away with him. Serves her right to run away and hide with Wu instead. 

Shaking the thought from his mind, Jay took a long sip of the beverage prepared, running a hand through Nya’s silken locks, the perfect length. She turned her head to beam at him. 

Yes, this was perfect.

Chapter Text

In the first days after the defeat of the Overlord, weeks even, people visited the statue to pay their respects and offer thanks to the ‘Titanium Ninja’. The trio he left behind even more so than most. 

The first day, they did not even leave, spending the night under the monuments vigilant gaze. They did not sleep, they did not eat, but they wept at the loss of their brother. 

As time bore on, however, life returned to normal for most. The citizens of Ninjago City went about their daily life as the world rebuilt itself, and even the ninja went back to training, always on call in case of the next disaster. 

But things were hardly the same. Especially for the once-leader of the ninja, Cole. As he watched Kai spar with Lloyd and Jay flirt with Nya, all he could do was gawk. 

“Do you even think about him?” The Earth ninja blurted out suddenly. 

“Who?” Lloyd asked, parrying a blow for Kai’s sword. 

Cole suddenly found himself irrationally offended. Sure, Lloyd was distracted by the spar, but that was surely no excuse. “Zane! You know, the ice ninja. The one who just died!” 

The others froze. Nya gave Cole a sympathetic look that told him to stop while he was ahead. Lloyd offered a half hearted apology for the mistake. Jay just frowned. 

“He gave his life so that we could continue to live ours.” Kai finally stated with a sense of finality, like a Judge delivering his verdict. 

Cole would not be sated. “Maybe I don’t want to continue just ‘living my life’. Huh? How can you just move on like nothing happened?” 

“We’re not.” Kai continued. “You don’t think it hurt?” 

“No, I don’t mean that.” Cole muttered. 

Lloyd spoke up next. “There are new threats rising, we need to be ready.” 

“So that’s it. Just to prepare for the next, bigger and badder thing to attack the city? I thought the Overlord was the ultimate evil.” Cole pouted, anger rising. 

“Apparently not.” Jay quipped. 

Nya offered more gentle words. “The citizens of Ninjago City are relying on us, Cole. They need us.” 

Cole thought about this, then made up his mind. “Yeah, well maybe I don’t need them. Maybe what I need is Zane.” It hurt his heart just to say the name of his brother. Cole could not believe how they could just act like it never happened. 

“Zane’s gone, Cole. We can’t change that.” Kai said softly. It was something they all knew, but hardly said. 

Cole already turned his back on the group. “I know.” 

“Then where are you going?” Nya asked as he walked through the training room doors. Cole simply shrugged. 

“Away.” 

-

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-

When the ninja discovered that Zane had been rebuilt, they celebrated. Not only had they gained one brother back, but there was hope that a second would return. 

However, Cole had spirited himself away to a place none of them knew, or could find. They searched the city first, of course, like they had a hundred times before finally resigning to give the Earth Ninja his privacy. And like always, there was nothing to be found. Next, they searched the forests, the serpentine tunnels, even the wreckage of the old monastery. But Cole simply refused to be found. 

Zane even built a small fleet of falcons to assist in the search, but it was all fruitless. The ninja never gave up, passively keeping an eye out for signs of their brother, all trying to keep themselves from thinking the worst, that Cole had died. Eventually, Jay and Kai retired, too old to keep up with the newest threats. Zane, an immortal nindroid, and Lloyd, kept young by the dragon’s blood that ran through his veins, pressed on however. 

It was on a most unexpected mission that Zane finally found a lead. The new postmaster, a young and inexperienced woman, took a nasty fall on the steps leading up to the monastery-turned-orphanage that Lloyd had founded some years ago, and Zane was simply tasked with helping her back on the ground from a precarious perch. No task was too small for he who was built to simply protect others, after all. 

There, he noticed something strange. It was as if all of the stairs had been reformed, the sizes a bit narrower with less height between each step. Yet, if this was new construction, how were the steps already appearing to be so weathered. 

He knew immediately that this was the work of the Earth Ninja. He had to be nearby! 

Scouring a forest he’d searched a million times before, Zane eventually found an irregularity. At the base of a large pine tree was a perfectly round stone door, covering an underground passage. It had recently been revealed by the sun melting the snow. Steeling himself, the Ice Ninja pried the hefty stone away, revealing thin steps much like those of the monastery. 

Climbing down, Zane eventually found himself in a round chamber. One side of the room was a simple kitchen, and the other housed a sleeping area, all made from immaculately carved stone. Had Zane been human, he would not have noticed the man sneaking up behind him. But his enhanced android senses alerted him to the presence, whipping around and drawing a weapon to meet the knife aiming for the back of his head. 

The man he found behind him was hardly recognizable, but it was Cole, there was not a doubt in Zane’s mind about this fact. He may have been aged, long beard and hair obscuring square features, but it was the Earth Ninja. In one hand he held a curving knife. In the other, a golden walking stick. It was the two halves of his scythe, Zane realized with a curdling sensation in his gut. 

But something else occupied most of his mental capacity, the sheer fact that he finally found Cole. The shorter man froze, eyes blown wide. 

“Who are you?” He stammered. 

The smile Zane did not even realize he wore melted into a frown. “Cole… It’s me. Zane. Your brother.” 

Cole shook his head. “My brother died a long time ago.” He then coughed, a ragged sound that seemed to shake the room. “And it looks like I’m going to follow soon behind.” 

Making his way to limp around Zane with small steps, Cole sat down on the bed. “Whoever you are, I would suggest not to parade around in the robes of a hero. You’ll never live up to the real thing.” 

Zane knelt before Cole, taking his hand between two of his own. “But Cole, it is me, I am real!” 

Tutting, Cole took his hand back with the most strength he could muster. It was not much. “You may wear white, and be cool to the touch, and are even an android. But you do not look like Zane. You do not carry yourself like Zane. You are not Zane.” 

Zane’s insides knotted. Of course. He had long lost the synthetic skin that once covered his features, but that should not make him unrecognizable. Had Cole truly forgotten? Or was he just so surely convinced that the Ice Ninja was dead that he could not face the reality before him. 

Not wanting to bring any more pain to the dying man before him, Zane stepped away. “I apologize for disturbing you, sir.” 

Cole looked the machine before him a final time, setting his jaw. “Good.” 

Laying down, he turned his back on the android, curling his aching joints up into a ball. Coughing again, he saw red splatter onto his white sheets. It was time. 

For a single moment, he allowed himself to entertain the fact that his brother had returned. Cole died smiling, but Zane did not know this. 

A drop of coolant falling onto his cheek, Zane loosened his gi and opened the hatch that covered his inner workings. Watching his father die had been painful enough. Now he had seen Cole pass as well, and Kai and Jay were sure to follow soon. Zane was not sure how much more he could talk. The stilling of the body before him was all the motivation he needed. 

Reaching inside himself, Zane flipped a switch that had not been touched in years. His memory switch. 

Blissfully ignorant, Zane returned to the monastery, helping the next generation of Ninajgo City citizens grow up in a supportive and enriching way. The steps leading to the top were old, weathered with time, but Zane was certain they would withstand many generations ascending them to find a better future. He wondered about the sort of master masonry worker it took to construct something so fine. Perhaps, he mused, it was a ninja who constructed such a marvel. 

Chapter Text

“So all this time…” Nya began, irritation written on her features. “I’ve been the water ninja. Why did you never tell me?”

Sensei Wu sighed deeply. “You were not ready.” 

Nya felt her anger rising, her temper a trait she shared with her brother Kai, the fire ninja. “Then tell me why my dumbass brother Kai was able to play with fire at 15. We both know how reckless and impulsive he was. But I’m not allowed to study the mastery of water until I’m 21? Were you afraid I was going to splash the television?” 

“No, Nya. It is not that.” Wu responded simply. 

“Then what is it?” Nya pleaded, nearly reaching out to shake the frail man before her. 

Wu took a deep breath. “Fire. Ice. Lighting. Earth. All of these are powerful elements, dangerous in their own right. They can burn and freeze. Shock. Smother. But none of them can even dream of having the implications of water. Nya, this is the element of life. It controls what decays. What thrives. Without water, we are nothing but dust.” 

Nya took a moment to take this all in. Wu continued. 

“If Kai loses control, he may destroy a whole town, raze a forest, but there will be survivors. If Jay…” 

“I get it.” Nya interrupted with a frown. “If I ever lost control, I could kill us all.” 

“It is far too easy to do.” Wu added, closing his eyes for a long moment. 

Nya saw another side to this as well. “What made you think I couldn’t handle it? With that power, so much more could have been saved. Like, back with the snakes, I could have just… dehydrated them all, and prevented the destruction of the city by the great devourer!” 

“I did not think you would understand.” Wu admitted softly. 

“I don’t really care what you think anymore.” Nya added threateningly. “And you can count on such a thing never happening again.” 

Wu had been afraid that this moment would come in his training of Nya. He just never thought it would be so soon. Now, he’s have to tread carefully. Nya was the only ninja he did not have confidence he could subdue without fail. 

“You understand what is done cannot be undone.” 

“I’m counting on it.” With that Nya turned and left, walking towards the bridge of the bounty, calling the other ninja to come. 

Facing all of her teammates, Nya flashed a wicked smile. “I’ve got a new plan, so listen up.”