Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Dammit..." the small boy said as he slumped against the wall of the alleyway. Trying to keep his cries of pain in, he gently pulled back his pant leg to examine his throbbing ankle. He let out a breath as he exposed it to the cold air. It was swollen beyond being able to articulate it, and it ached like a pile of bricks was dropped on top of it. The boy shivered, hearing the roaring of cars and shouts of angry city drivers passing by, going to do who knows what on a night such as this.

He wrapped his arms around his uninjured leg and pulled it to his chest, squeezing his knee tightly. He was hoping to get some kind of warmth from it, any at all. He couldn't keep going like this. Hell, he couldn't keep going even if he wanted to. Every time he tried to take a step his ankle would scream in protest and he would stumble over the snow-covered streets. It was hard enough trying to navigate the streets with an injured leg, so he took refuge in the first deserted place he could find, which happened to be next to an empty garbage bin tucked away in the crevices of the slums of Ninjago City. All he wanted to do was fall asleep and magically wake up in a soft, warm bed with a full plate of food at his bedside and not have to worry about the state of survival, but he knew that was too good to be true. It always was.

He was used to sleeping outside, he'd been doing it for three weeks now, but the pain was keeping him awake despite his drowsy body and half-lidded eyes. All his adrenaline had completely run out by now, and the pain was almost becoming unbearable. Not only that, but his small, petite frame was shaking violently under his black hoodie and his limbs were so frozen he could hardly move them. This was definitely one of the more brutal winters in Ninjago, and it's unfortunate timing that he decided to run away right when it was kicking off. Not that he had much of a choice, though.

I'm going to die here, aren't I? He thought grimly as he coughed, the frigid air attacking his lungs and triggering a string of wheezing hacks. Once he calmed down enough to breathe somewhat properly, a noise caught his attention. He froze. Listening closely. Ignoring the howling of the wind and loud city life around him, he almost thought he was just hearing things before the sound came again. No, he wasn’t just hearing things.

For a brief moment he thought it was a person, and fear prickled at his skin and climbed up his throat, but he dismissed the thought when he could distinctly make out the weak crying of an animal at the back of the alley.

At first, he ignored it. Not only was he frozen in place, but he couldn't get over there even if he wanted to due to his leg. As the crying continued, however, he couldn't help but feel a pull towards it. Standing was out of the question, so instead the boy used his hands to scoot himself closer. On the other side of the garbage was a cluster of crushed boxes, one of which was separated from them and still fully intact. Lloyd shifted so he could be on his knees, but the action caused a bit of pressure to be on his ankle and his arms gave out under him. He choked on a gasp. His ankle was on fire and prickling like a hot knife was stroking the skin. Still, he persisted as the mewls sounded from the box.

After the wave of sharp—almost unbearable—pain passed, he lifted himself up as much as he could and peered into the box to see a small kitten lying inside of it. It had gray, spotted tabby fur that was matted and frozen from snow. Its tiny body was shaking and its cries sounded weak and desperate. It was so young, its eyes weren't even open yet. The boy looked around for any possible other family members, but the alley remained deserted. He turned back to the kitten in pity.

"They abandoned you too, huh?" His voice came out tiny and nearly gave out due to his intense shivering. Without a second thought, he reached for the minuscule ball of fur and scooted himself towards the wall again. Settling himself down with his leg outstretched, he stuffed the kitten into the collar of his hoodie and rapidly tried to warm it by hugging it tightly and rubbing it through the fabric. He couldn't feel his hands, feet, or legs.

"Don't worry," he said to the kit. "I won't leave you."

He sat there, shivering in place as he rocked back and fourth. He knew he may not survive the night, and he was content with that. The idea of death never scared him. If anything, he found the idea peaceful. Perhaps the pain will go away when he's in the afterlife? Maybe he would become a ghost and walk the earth a little longer. He'd be fine with that. He could haunt his classmates. That would be fun. Maybe he could even be able to fly. That would be nice. Either way, he would finally be free from the shackles that held him down, that kept him from feeling freedom, from feeling happiness.

Slowly, the boy closed his eyes. He had a good run. Maybe not the best life, but it was adequate. At least he had the comfort of someone else with him in his final moments. He always thought he'd die alone. Had this kitten thought the same? He didn't know, but its not like it mattered anyway. He wasn't alone, and that's as all he could ask for.

————

Unbeknownst to the boy, the shadow of a tall figure loomed over him. A man walked up to the small, frozen boy and placed two fingers on his neck, feeling. After a few quiet seconds, the person felt a faint heartbeat on the pads of his fingers, and he smiled.

"Master Chen is going to want to meet you, young Garmadon."

Chapter Text

The morning sun shone lightly onto the haul of The Bounty, slowly clearing away the nighttime shadows around it with a soft yellow glow. The cool air gently blew the trees around it, hitting The Bounty and causing the old wood to creak slightly. The large ship floated calmly in the water, having taken refuge behind a high shelf of rock due to a massive storm that had unexpectedly rolled in the prior night. Most of its onboard passengers were fast asleep, waiting for the day to start, all except for one.

The passenger in question sighed as he scooted his chair back from the table to slump down, feeling exhausted. He had ignored his Sensei's orders to sleep and instead stayed up all night observing the map of Ninjago. He rubbed his tired eyes and ran a hand through his messy brown hair. Every day Garmadon was attacking more and more places in Ninjago, slowly trying to take over and turn it into his own image. He had just begun to ease his way into Ninjago City, the capital of the country. Thankfully, he hadn't reached the heart of the city yet, but it was only a matter of time until he forced his way in and wreaked havoc upon the realm.

"There has to be a pattern..." the boy mumbled to himself, the sound of his own voice startling him due to how silent the world around him had been for the past several hours. His teammates would wake up any time soon, and maybe he could share what few discoveries he had made with them.

"Kai,"

Speak of the devil.

Kai turned around to look at the origin of the voice. A girl with tan skin similar to his and short raven hair stood on the entryway, rubbing her eyes so her vision could clear. She was already dressed in her usual red and yellow outfit and pretty much looked ready for the day. Kai, however, must've looked the complete opposite.

"Kai, have you been up all night?"

He sighed, straightening up in his chair. "Pretty much."

"Sensei told you to go to bed last night."

"I know."

There was silence between them as Nya put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. "So you disobeyed direct orders to stare at a map all night?"

Kai rolled his eyes. "Why do you care? Don't you want to defeat Lord Garmadon?"

"Yeah, I do, but it seems to me like you'd rather solve this whole thing and defeat Garmadon yourself. Alone, without the support of your team, like a hothead."

Kai sighed and pushed his chair back even more, lazily stepping out of it and crossing the room to the coffee machine. "How many of those have you had?" Nya asked him as he grabbed a new mug.

"Why does it matter, Nya?"

"Sensei's not going to be happy with you."

"When is he ever?" he said irritably as he took a swig of the bitter, boiling liquid, the heat not having an effect on him.

She crossed her arms. "I know why you're doing this."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"This is about the Green Ninja thing again, isn't it?"

"No," Kai took another sip of coffee.

Nya's eyebrows furrowed down, her tone becoming irritated. "It is! Kai, when are you going to let that stupid prophecy go? Master Wu said it could be one of you, but he also said that it might not be one of you."

"This isn't about that!" he lied. Kai knew he had been obsessing over the prophecy of the Green Ninja ever since he and the others found out about it, but he was determined to prove himself worthy to wear the green gi. He was one of the most determined fighters on the team, it should be him!

He set the mug down, all coffee drained from the cup. Kai thought about making another batch. "Maybe I just want to kick Garmadon out of Ninjago. Ever thought of that?"

Before Nya could respond, she was cut off by a new voice.

"Good morning, students." the voice sounded from the entryway. Kai inaudibly sighed, knowing exactly who it was.

"Good morning, Sensei." Kai responded, a little more dreadfully than he would have liked to sound.

The older man stepped into the room, looking around at the mess. "You've been up all night?"

If Kai could snort fire, he would've filled the room with smoke by now, but Sensei Wu was an honorable man and had been there for the red ninja in his times of most need—like when he trained him to become a ninja and helped him rescue Nya—so Kai swallowed the smoke and turned to the wise man.

"Sensei, I think I found out where Garmadon will attack next."

Sensei Wu's eyebrows perked up at this knowledge. "Really?"

Kai nodded. After a moment of brief thought, Sensei Wu combed a hand through his long beard and closed his eyes. "Alright, show me what you've found."

Feeling a tiny bit of triumph, Kai nodded and lead him over to the table, pointing to the marks he made with pins and markers. "Garmadon has attacked many smaller towns and villages on the outer banks of the city. The pattern is showing that he's slowly moving his way into the city, and if my theories are correct, his next target should be around this abandoned apartment building, just on the edge of the city's inner circle."

Jay coughed, drawing attention to his sudden appearance. The blue ninja was brushing his teeth and running a hand through his tussled ginger hair. He was still dressed in his pajamas. "Isn't that down the street from that awesome noodle house? What was it called?"

"It's Chen's Noddle House, idiot. Don't you pay attention to anything?" Cole scoffed as he passed by him, heading straight over to the coffee machine. By now the room was filled with everyone on board, including the nindroid the team all knew and loved, who just shook his head at Cole and Jay's antics as they began to bicker. This was pretty much the morning routine of the ninja, and they were both used to it and far past annoyed by it nowadays.

"Oh, would you two shut it!" Nya said to them, sending her ever-so-famous glare at them. They both huffed, heading off to opposite corners of the room. Ever since the whole love triangle thing happened between them, Jay and Cole have been becoming more and more divided every day. Nya couldn't seem to get a word in with them, either, considering she was the cause of the divide to begin with. Kai rubbed his temples, being too tired to really pay attention to them.

"Anyways," he grumbled. "Yes, it is by that awesome noodle house we like to go to."

"I knew it."

"And, Garmadon should be planning to attack there today, but here's the thing. Garmadon has to go somewhere every night to sleep or come up with plans or—do whatever it is he does. I doubt he stays in one place more than one night, so I say we scout the area he plans to attack and wait to see if anything happens. I know he's going to do something today, and if he does then we can hopefully scare him off and follow him back to wherever he's holding base."

Sensei Wu stroked his beard in thought for a moment. "But how can you be so sure? What if my brother attacks somewhere else and you aren't there to stop him?"

Kai perked up. He was getting closer to convincing him. "Then Nya can stay back, just in case!"

"Hey! Why should I stay back?"

"Because you're the samurai? If Garmadon does attack somewhere else, you're strong enough to hold him off until we get there."

"It does sound like a solid plan, Sensei." Cole interjects. "I mean, Kai's a hothead but it seems like he's really confident in this idea."

"Since when was that ever a good thing?" Jay said.

Kai snapped his head around to glare at the blue ninja, who just shrugged. "I'm just saying, Kai being really confident often makes him cocky."

"I'll show you cocky—" Kai said as he began to march towards him, hands ablaze with orange ribbons of flame, though Sensei Wu immediately stopped him.

"Kai." He said in warning. Kai stopped, glaring daggers at the ginger. Wu continued. "I like your plan, though I think it would be best if you stayed behind with Nya."

Kai swiveled around to look back at him. "What? But it's my plan!"

"You're exhausted and riled up. I think the best decision to make in favor of all of us would be for Cole, Jay, and Zane to head into the city while you stay back and wait to assist them when needed. It would be wise for you to rest in that time. My mind is made up."

Kai looked at the floor, fists clenched tightly. I know Sensei is right, I am exhausted, but I was the one who came up with the plan in the first place! I should be the one to execute it! He thought to himself.

Though his mind objected to the idea, his body gave into it. A nap did sound great. Besides, if he was wrong about the plan, then he would be the first one on the scene and he would be able to show Garmadon once and for all that he'll never take over Ninjago. Not while Kai was living and breathing.

"Fine..." Kai reluctantly agreed.

Wu smiled, and Nya immediately took initiative. She confidently faced the three ninja. "Now, suit up you three. We'll monitor your progress through the falcon and await your request for backup if needed. And please, for the love of the First Spinjitzu Master, don't fight please." She glanced specifically at Jay and Cole, who just rolled their eyes in response.

Kai sighed, and Sensei Wu turned to him. "Now, Kai, when exactly do you think Garmadon will attack?"

——————

Jay, Cole and Zane waited in position across the street from the abandoned apartment complex on top of another building. They had been there for a few hours now, waiting to see if Kai's theory was indeed correct and that Garmadon would attack today. Jay was bored, and resorted to fidgeting with a few pebbles on top of the building roof to keep himself occupied. Zane was keeping an eagle eye out for any movement, but Jay's pretty sure he was playing a couple rounds of Tetris at some point. Jay had helped program that into him. Zane was skittish about the topic of him not being human when he first found out, but he's warmed up to his nindroid-self over time. Cole was polishing his scythe with a spare cloth, though before that he was drumming his fingers onto his knees in a rhythmic beat, nodding his head along with it as if a band were playing in his head.

Off to the side, the falcon was perched on a branch, watching both the boys and the area around it. Nya sat on the other side of the screen, bored out of her mind but making sure to pay close attention. She had been itching to get out and fight crime, but the boys always had first pick when it came to that stuff. Even after they found out she was the Samurai (through unfortunate luck after she had once again taken their spotlight on a mission and accidentally got caught by the boys) they still would still overshadow her. They didn't mean to do it, Nya could tell, but she supposed it was because she was not only a girl, but also the youngest.

Nya looked around at the empty bridge. Kai had finally swallowed his pride and went to bed, and Sensei Wu was meditating in his room, so now the bounty was peacefully quiet, leaving the ravenette alone with her thoughts. Through the comm, Jay's voice crackled to life.

"This is so boring!" he blew out with an exasperated breath.

"Yeah, we're all bored, but you don't hear us complaining." Cole's voice came next. Ah, so they're on open comms. Nya thought. They would have no use to manually radio in to Nya just to have a conversation next to each other.

Jay's voice popped up again. "Why are we taking Kai's word for this? Y'know, the same guy who supposedly 'theorized' this while he was sleep deprived?"

"Kai may be hotheaded sometimes, but a lot of his plans can be pretty well planned out and successful if thought through enough." Zane informed the two. Back on the rooftop, he didn't break off from his scouting.

"Zane has a point," Nya's voice sounded in their hoods. "My brother can come up with pretty well thought-out plans if his head's in the right place."

Jay stood up to stretch. "I feel like this was just a big waste of our time."

As Zane scanned the streets, some movement caught his eye. He looked closer, and saw a figure moving swiftly among the shadows of the alleyways. Zane's eyebrows furrowed down in recognition. "Maybe not, look."

Jay and Cole rushed to Zane's side and observed the mysterious figure. "Wait a minute..." Cole said, looking closely. "Is that Scales?"

"What? Scales? He's there?" Nya asked urgently.

Zane scanned the figure from afar (another upgrade he and Jay had been working on) and sure enough, there he was. Blue and yellow scales in all their glory, climbing into a manhole and closing the lid on top of him, making it seem like he was never there.

"Let's get 'em!" Jay nearly pounced towards the hole before Zane caught his shoulder.

"We'll talk to you later, Nya," Zane said into his hood. "We're going to follow him."

"Good luck guys," she said. "Over and out."

Zane let go of Jay. "We can't fight him yet, we have the element of surprise. Let's follow him and see where he goes."

Jay, although restless, nodded and perched himself on the edge of the roof. The ninja started descending the building quickly and stopped right before the manhole Scales had disappeared into. Ever since Scales and his tribe were somehow released from their tomb, he made it his goal to keep out of the way of humans (unless it was to attack them), so why was he smack in the middle of human isolation?

The three boys quickly followed the snake down into the sewers, Cole giving the falcon a quick thumbs up before hopping in since it can't follow them underground. If anything else were to happen while they were gone, Nya would know immediately. They fought the urge to ambush the general and instead followed him as he navigated through the sewers. It seemed that wherever he was intending to go was far away from where they were, but now they had a huge advantage. They now knew how Garmadon and his allies were traveling around the city without drawing attention to themselves.

There were a few close calls where one of the ninja stumbled over something and were almost caught when Scales turned around, but luckily wherever he was trying to go was more important to him than potential trailers, so he turned around and kept going, the ninja hot on his heels.

After what felt like an eternity to the boys, Scales finally began to climb a ladder leading up another manhole. Once he disappeared from sight, the boys nodded to each other and crept their way over, climbing the ladder to see where it led out.  After waiting about half a minute, they lifted the lid and peered out. The manhole led right into an alleyway, where an abandoned and worn down building next to them had an ajar door. They could hear faint voices from inside, talking somewhat hushed. They climbed out and scaled the building, perching next to a dirty window that had a big hole in it on the second floor.

It was then that Zane looked around and noticed where they were. They were in an abandoned factory on the very outskirts of the city, far from where they were standing a little bit ago. The factory was abandoned thirty years ago, and nothing had been done with it since. Why would Scales be so far away from the attack point?

"Zane, listen to this."

Zane turned his head back to the scene inside the factory to see Scales standing in the open. "Sir," he finally said, snake tongue drawing out the S sound. He was addressing someone out of sight.

To their surprise, a familiar face walked out of the shadows, standing tall with his four arms behind his back. A menacing, dark look in his eyes as he scowled. It was a normal look for him. Garmadon was either always frowning or just downright glaring at whoever he was looking at. His skin was as black as tar with teeth as sharp as a jaguar's.

"Scales..." he said darkly.

Scales slithered up to him, making sure to keep his distance. "Your Darkness, everything is in place. We're ready to attack on your command."

"Good," he said in a voice that sent shivers down Jay and Cole's spine. Why did he have to sound so creepy? "We attack now."

The three ninja exchanged a startled glance. Scales was working with Garmadon? Did that mean Garmadon had a serpentine army on hand?

Cole whispered to the others. "This isn't good, if Scales is working for Garmadon—"

"Then that means Garmadon is planning to start a war..." Zane finished for him.

No more words needed to be said between them before they jumped through the hole of the window and landed on a support beam. "Stop right there Garmadon!" Cole said, revealing their presence.

Scales and Garmadon turned their heads to look up at them in surprise, and Garmadon growled. "Ninja..."

"You're working with Scales?" Jay shouted at him. Scales glared at him, although he said nothing.

"Snake army or not, you'll never take over Ninjago!" Cole said. Zane looked around and scanned for any more snakes.

There's no one else in the area. He concluded. He drew his shirkins from his gi and got into a fighting stance.

"Alright, two to three!" Jay said as he jumped down and knocked Scales over, earning a pained grunt from the general. Cole jumped down next, only he was aiming for Garmadon. Garmadon just closed his eyes and dipped his head.

"Very well," he said darkly as he grabbed Cole's leg before he could kick him and swung him into the wall harshly, causing a large crack to appear in the old building where he impacted. Zane gasped, and jumped into action. He threw his shurikins at the dark lord, only for him to deflect it. Zane summoned ice in his hands and shot a wave of deadly ice spikes at him. Garmadon dodged and swiftly maneuvered around it, getting close enough to Zane to punch him back.

Zane hit the ground hard. "How pathetic," Garmadon stated, looking around at the ninja. "You don't even deserve to die by my element."

"Shit, we need backup. Has he gotten stronger?" Cole said into the comms, rolling back his sleeve to press a button on his bracelet, sending an S.O.S. and location to Nya. Now they just had to stall them until backup arrived. He punched the ground, which caused a tremor to knock Garmadon off his balance. Cole immediately charged towards him, having been charged up with super strength. Zane stood up, ready to fight, until something stopped him. He could sense something, and an uneasy feeling prickled in his system.

They weren't alone after all.

He dodged an attack by Garmadon, jumping out of reach and hiding behind a wall to take a breath as Cole came back in and nearly landed a hit on the dark lord's back. Jay was still battling Scales in the background. Zane scanned the area again, only this time his sensors could pick up a pair of people walking through the halls of the factory a little ways away. At first, he felt relieved. Maybe it's Kai and Nya? He became nervous again when the pair he once saw doubled, and then tripled. He could see what he assumed were spears being held in their hands. That definitely wasn't Kai or Nya.

Zane looked back and forth from where the people were to the battle going on behind him frantically. He had to warn the others, but just as he turned back to rush into battle, he was stopped as he felt a shockwave of excruciating pain revolt all throughout his body and he let out a scream. Jay and Cole heard this and immediately looked towards the area Zane was hiding behind. Cole's eyes went wide, but before he could register anything he was blasted back by a strong force, causing Cole to land harshly on the concrete floor, unable to move.

Garmadon rarely used his powers when in contact with the ninja, but when he did he would project some kind of dark, shadowy force from his hands that did nothing but destroy anything it touched. It was a dangerous element, one that left those who are touched by it in a frozen, painstaking state. It felt like a terrible cramp, only all over. Sensei Wu always warned the ninja about it and worried that Garmadon would use it against them, but he hardly ever did, except in this instance. Cole expected Garmadon to finish him off while he was down and helpless, but nothing ever came.

When Cole could move again, he opened his eyes and sorely sat up, groaning at the aftershocks of Garmadon's element. He looked around for the dark lord. The spot on his side where he was blasted felt like it was burning and freezing him at the same time. Jay rushed to his side, panic reflected in his sapphire eyes. "He's gone, so is scales, and I can't find Zane!"

Cole quickly got to his feet, ignoring the pain that flared in his side, and looked around. Sure enough, the place was deserted. The two ran over to where Zane was a moment ago to find that no one was there.

"No..." Cole said.  "No, no, no where is he?  He was just here!"

"You don't think Garmadon took him, do you?" Jay said in a panicked tone.

"I—I don't know."

Chapter Text

“Arg!” Kai punched a training dummy hard, fists ablazed. “How could we let this happen?”

Cole didn’t answer the red ninja. Instead, he stared sadly at the poster in his hands. Zane’s face smiled back at him, the word “Missing” printed in large font at the top, along with a brief description of the nindroid and the date he disappeared, which was exactly one week ago. Morale for the team was lower than ever.

Kai breathed heavily, guilt extinguishing his flames. If he had just gone to bed like Sensei asked him to, then he would have gone on the mission with the rest of the team. He could have prevented Zane’s abduction if he had just listened.

Kai turned from the charred dummy and stormed inside to the cabin, leaving Cole out on the deck. They had already put up so many posters across the city, yet they haven’t received a single call. Cole didn’t know how to feel other than fearful. What if Zane was injured or worse? Cole didn’t want to blame anyone, it wasn’t anyone’s fault, but he couldn’t help but feel angry towards Kai. It was his mission, his plan, and through it they lost a member of their team. Cole hadn’t spoken a lot to Kai over the past week, and he believed Kai was starting to notice.

Inside, Jay paced the bridge as he analyzed the map of Ninjago. They had hacked into security systems all around the abandoned factory but didn’t see anything of value. All the footage showed was a big, colorful truck carrying out its weekly shipment to Chen’s Noodle House down the road. Nothing was pointing to where their nindroid friend had gone.

Nya entered the bridge, holding two coffee mugs in her hands. Evening was rolling around, but that never stopped Jay from drinking caffeine (whether it be from energy drinks or coffee). Nya had a similar habit. She offered one of her mugs out to Jay. He gratefully accepted the beverage, sipping on it while his eyes watched the security footage they recovered for the twelfth time that morning. “Searching again?” she asked him.

“I’ll never stop until we find him.” he didn’t take his eyes away from the screen.

Nya sighed. “I don’t get it. It’s like he teleported or something.”

“If he did, then we’re in a world of trouble.” Jay tapped the side of the mug impatiently. The repeating footage was starting to piss him off. He turned away from the screen and sighed. “Did Cole and Kai find anything?”

Nya shook her head. “Nothing. The factory was completely untouched from the last time we were there. No secret passageways or anything.”

Jay turned in exasperation. “It has to be Garmadon who took him. Or Scales, or whoever’s connected to that four-armed freak! Why are we just sitting around here? We should be hunting down Garmadon!”

“We do not know who took Zane, Jay.” Sensei Wu spoke up from the entryway. How many times is he going to do that? Jay thought to himself as he corrected his stance. “It could have been my brother, but we have no evidence that it was him. However, in this case I believe you are right. Cole and Kai have informed me of their search results. We will look into my brother’s whereabouts, but for now…”

He pulled a pamphlet out of the pocket of his robe. It was red and yellow with little illustrations of ramen bowls on it. “…I’m craving noodles. I’m tasking the four of you with getting takeout for tonight.”

Jay raised an eyebrow. “The four of us? Isn’t this, like, a two person job?”

Sensei Wu shot him a look. Jay sheepishly laughed. “I am sending all of you because we are a large household and because you must take a break from your work. All of you. Zane’s disappearance has shaken us all, but we cannot rot our brains by staring at the same videotape for hours on end. If you want to get your brother back, you must keep your mind sharp. Understood?”

Jay nodded, bowing respectfully. “Yes, Sensei.”

“Good,” he smiled warmly. “Nya, please place the orders. Jay, inform my other students, please.”

Sensei Wu handed Nya the pamphlet and left the room, no doubt to meditate. He too had been trying to find Zane, only his methods were through trying to induce visions. Unfortunately, this time-consuming method of searching left their Sensei tired most days. Jay wrangled a mopey Cole and Kai together and they left The Bounty soon after Nya placed the orders. Traveling via motorbikes, it took them no time at all before they were parked outside of Chen’s Noodle House. The team couldn’t help but feel saddened knowing that their brother had disappeared right down the road.

They entered the restaurant, the delicious smell of noodles and fried foods wafting through the air. The team would sometimes come to this place after a particularly hard mission that left them starving. They checked in with a woman at the register and waited for their food to be ready. Cole sat down in an empty booth, uninterested in standing. The others stood around him in silence.

"I can't believe this," Cole mumbled out, resting his head in his hand. "This is just... crazy."

“Yeah,” Jay sighed, his arms crossed over his chest. "I mean, why Zane? It makes no sense."

Cole’s eyes trailed the food on the conveyor belt beside him, showcasing delicious dishes that made his mouth water. "How did we not see who took him?"

No one responded for a moment. Only the sound of table conversation and silverware against plates could be heard in the restaurant. Nya spoke up first, her gaze looking far away. “How’s your side, Cole?”

Cole blinked. “Oh, it’s fine I guess. It doesn’t really hurt anymore.”

“That’s good.”

Another quiet moment passed over them. Awkwardly, Jay began bouncing his leg and whistling. Kai was glaring daggers at the floor. His eye bags were dark and angry.

"So…you think the food will be out soon?" Cole picked up the conversation again, getting tired of watching very delicious meals glide past him untouched.

"Hopefully," Kai responded. “I’ll go check with the lady.”

Kai only managed to take one step before the doors to the restaurant were swung wide open, hitting the walls and drawing the attention of everyone in the room with a loud bang. Three guys walked through the door, looking more out of place than a clown in a funeral home. They had tattoos covering their arms and faces and they all wore leather jackets without shirts, baggy red pants with chains attached to them, sunglasses, and black gloves. One of the guys—presumably the leader—had his hair spiked up in a large black Mohawk.

"Uh oh," Nya said. "Looks like we've got trouble."

The three guys walked up to the register and demanded money from the cashier. The cashier frantically pulled out all the money from the register and handed it over to him. The Mohawk guy removed his sunglasses to reveal that he had a silver artificial eye. He stuck his hand out for more money, but the cashier fearfully told him that there was no more. Not even a moment later, the guys were picking up the poor cashier and laughing as they threw him onto the conveyor belt, food colliding with his face.

"Oh, they did not just waste perfectly good food!" Cole growled as he stood up, the rest of the group following.

Nya cracked her knuckles. "Let's teach these guys a lesson, hm?"

"Hey!" The three men look over. Cole crossed his arms, a pair of chopsticks in his hand. "It's not nice to play with your food."

"I would listen to him if I were you," Kai said from behind him. "He's no fun to be around when he's hangry."

The three guys laughed, but the battle between them was short-lived as the ninja and Samurai proceeded to wipe the floor with them, Cole using nothing but a pair of chopsticks (and also grabbing a snack mid-air as food was flung everywhere). As the group retreated, the man with the mohawk looked back at them and smiled, running into the alleyway through the back door.

"Hey! He's getting away!" Jay announced to the team.

"Let's get him!"

The group ran into the alleyway to find it completely empty. "Where'd they go?"

The group looked around, but instead of seeing the guy they were chasing, a very obvious setup caught their eye. There was a small table pushed up against the back wall of the alley that had two candles and incense which outlined a hand-drawn picture that was stuck to the wall with a dagger. Beneath it, on the table, there was a plate with four fortune cookies neatly displayed. The ninja and Samurai looked closer at the picture and their eyes went wide.

"Is...is that Zane?" Nya put her hand over her mouth in shock. Sure enough, a realistically drawn picture of Zane hung from the dagger. The group approached the table cautiously.

"What the hell? Is this some kind of joke?" Jay asked to no one in particular as he ripped the paper off the wall to examine it closer.

"What does it say?" Kai asked him. As Jay was reading over the paper, his eyes blew wide.

"Holy—" he said.

"What? What is it?" Cole asked impatiently, taking the paper from his hand.

Jay spoke before Cole could read all the way through. "It says where Zane is!"

"Wait, what?" Nya said, looking over Cole's shoulder at the paper. "Chen's Island? Where the hell is that?"

Kai picked up one of the fortune cookies and examined it. "This seems like a trap."

"Maybe," Cole said, picking one up for himself. He looked at it for a moment, and then popped the whole thing into his mouth and began to chew it. The group looked at him, appalled, and he froze. "What?" He said after he'd swallowed.

"Um, you do know that there's a fortune inside the cookie, right?" Kai said as he split the cookie in two, revealing the slip of paper inside.

"Ohhh, so that's why they’re called that!"

Jay rolled his eyes as he picked one up and cracked it open. He grabbed the slip of paper and read off of it. "'Master Chen has invited you to participate in his tournament of elements.' Wait, Master Chen, as in the guy who's been filling my belly with the most delicious noodles in all of Ninjago for years?"

"This is weird..." Nya mumbled as Kai began to read off of his.

"'Secrecy is of the utmost importance. Tell no one or suffer the consequences. If you ever want to see your friend again, meet on the pier at midnight, and leave your weapons behind.' Okay, this is definitely a trap."

"Hold on, Master Chen? So it wasn't Garmadon who kidnapped Zane?" Cole examined the paper again.

"No, no way. That doesn't make sense, does it?" Nya said before she reached for the last cookie and cracked it open. "'This tournament is strictly for elemental masters only. Any uninvited guests will be immediately eliminated from the tournament and face the punishment'?" She said in disbelief. "So, what, I'm not invited?" She glared at the paper before it puffed into smoke, startling her for a brief moment.

One by one the papers they held turned to smoke, and they all looked at Cole, who shouted and jumped, burping out smoke a second later. "Well, at least I know I was invited." he said, making Kai and Jay laugh.

Nya crossed her arms. "There's no way I'm staying behind. I'm coming with you guys."

Kai turned to her. "Nya, you can't,"

"No! I don't know who this guy thinks he is, but I'm not going to stay here while you guys go risk your lives to get Zane. I'm coming with."

"But you read it, 'Any uninvited guests will be immediately eliminated from the tournament and face the punishment,'" Jay reminded her.

"Nya," Kai said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Please, we need you to stay here in case anything goes wrong. Plus, what if Garmadon attacks again? We need you here because we won't be able to help defend the city." Nya stayed silent, glaring at the floor. "Please? Do it for me?"

She sighed, and then looked back up at him. "Fine, but if something goes wrong, you contact me immediately."

"Promise."

"Okay, so now what? Should we tell Master Wu about this?" Jay asked the group.

Cole looked at him. "No, the fortune said we couldn't tell anyone."

"And we won't," Kai said. "We can't. For Zane."

Cole, Jay, and Nya looked down in thought. It was risky, but it was the best option they had. They had a lead, and as sketchy as it was, they had to follow it. It was all they had, and they needed to get Zane back.

The ninja walked out of the alleyway, not even bothering to go back into the restaurant for food. Unbeknownst to them, a figure had been watching them from high atop a nearby building. Hidden by his dark hoodie, the figure dialed a number on his phone. He put the phone to his ear and spoke into it.

"Yeah, they accepted it. No, I don't think they'll tell Wu. They're too stupid." He paused as the person on the other line spoke. "Okay, I'll see you on the boat. Yeah, I know. C'ya." He pressed the end button on the call and stuffed his phone into his pocket.

He leaped down from the roof he was on and jumped onto another building, slowly making his way down to the ground. He landed on the sidewalk and stuffed his hands into his pockets, casually walking in the direction of the pier. He had a few hours to kill before midnight, so he figured he could either stop by somewhere to eat or steal a candy bar from a convenience store on his way over. Everything was now in motion and going according to plan.

——————

"I told you we shouldn't have dressed like this," Jay whispered to the others as he looked around at all the other elemental masters. The three boys were dressed in their old gis, and in their hands they each held a small duffel bag. They weren't sure how long they were going to be gone for, but they tried to leave as little trace as possible to keep Sensei Wu off of their backs.

"Relax, Jay, we're fine," Kai told him, although he felt a little unsure himself. Sensei Wu didn't know what they were about to do, but for how long? How long could Nya keep him out of the loop and distracted? The ninja looked at all of the people around them. They were shocked at how many elemental masters there were. They'd never known about anyone else like them, yet here they were, presented in front of them so casually like it was nothing. The ninja almost thought it was just some ruse to get them in one place in order to ambush them. At that point, why wouldn't they? Zane was missing, and now they had to board a boat to an unknown place and compete in a tournament with other elemental masters like themselves, or else they'd never see their friend again? Doesn't sound like much of a coincidence.

Looking around, everyone noticed just how different the other elemental masters were from each other. There were thirteen people on the dock, all looking around at each other cautiously. It was obvious that none of them really knew what to expect from this tournament or from each other. The ninja continued to discreetly make their way past all of the new faces. Jay jumped almost five feet in the air when a gray cat with dark spots hissed under his feet, having almost been stepped on by his foot. The cat scampered over to a tall figure leaned up against a stack of wooden crates. He was dressed in a dark zip up hoodie decorated with a skeleton patterns. The hood was covering his head.

The cat meowed for attention at his feet, ears thrown back in annoyance—no doubt from Jay almost stepping on it—and the boy obliged, kneeling down to stroke it.

"Geez, what a bunch of weirdos…" Jay mumbled to himself.

"Yeah..." Cole responded as he continued to walk on, a feeling of uneasiness giving him goosebumps as the boy looked up, dull, unfriendly green eyes fixated on them as they continued to walk. He looked to be the youngest out of them all.

"Some of these guys are creepy," Jay whispered. Just as he had said that a large three-story ferry docked in front of them. The glow from the swaying lanterns illuminated very beautifully among the eerie fog enveloping the pier. Everyone grouped up in front of it, watching as two tattooed men dropped a wooden plank to connect the dock to the ferry, and an older man with greasy black hair pulled back into a ponytail stepped onto it and made his way over to them, arms behind his back.

"Greetings, fellow elemental masters," he said, pausing dramatically before continuing. "My name is Clouse. Would you join me?" he gestured to the ferry.

Everyone began to line up, and one by one they boarded the ferry. Kai watched as a girl hidden under an orange hoodie looked back and accidentally caught his eye. In that faint moment, Kai was spellbound by the sheer beauty of her gaze. Her face was clear and symmetrical, her lips were big and fit her completion like a puzzle piece, and her eyes were like fierce emeralds. He melted at the sight of her, the world seeming to disappear around him. He almost didn't hear when Cole spoke firmly in his ear.

"Dude, pay attention. We're not here to pick up chicks, we're here for Zane." he said, glaring at the fire ninja.

"Hm? Oh, yeah yeah, whatever you say." Kai mumbled in return as the girl turned away and hopped onto the deck of the boat. Once everyone was on, the ferry took off and slowly made its way towards wherever this tournament was going to take place. Minutes soon turned into hours, and they had yet to see any sort of land upon the horizon. It was a beautiful night. Billions of stars glittered brightly in the sky along with the half-shaded moon which reflected on the water's surface, causing it to almost glow. During this time, the ninja closely observed the other elemental masters.

Everyone was doing their own thing to keep themselves busy, and oftentimes they displayed their elements to do so. There was a rather large, muscular man with big metal gloves punching a metal container into the air over and over again until he would lose control and it would fall onto the deck with a loud clunk. Another man was meditating and floating in the air. There was a guy who played a type of stringed instrument that emitted a sound wave when he strummed it. Beside him, another man with a long disheveled beard grew vines from within the wooden staff he wielded. There was even a guy who was practically invisible, his body being nothing but air under a heap of clothes.

"This is weird, right?" Cole finally asked, leaning his back against the wall as he sat on the floor.

"You mean the fact that there are so many people here who also have elemental powers? Yeah, definitely weird." Kai answered him, looking towards the orange hooded girl who was gazing out at the vast ocean.

"Who brings their pet with them in a situation like this?" Jay blurted out.

"What?" Cole looked at him.

Jay continued to gaze over at the assumable owner of the cat he almost stepped on earlier, who was now leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "Emo Hoodie over there. Am I the only one who thinks he’s way too young to be here?"

"Now that you mention it…yeah.” Cole peered over Jay to get a better look at the guy, whose attention was on the stars above them. “How old do you think he is?”

"I don’t know. My question is, why bring the cat?"

“Seriously? That’s your main concern right now?”

“Oh shut it, boulder brains, you have to admit it’s a little weird. Like, where’s this dude’s parents?”

“I don’t know, Jay, why don’t you go ask him?” Cole said sarcastically.

Kai interrupted them before their conversation turned into back and forth bickering (as it usually did). "Who do you think that girl is?"

"Orange chick? Don't know, don't care." Jay slumped back against the wall again, closing his eyes. Just as he had said that, the man with the large metal gloves approached the girl. As soon as he made his presence known to her, it was clear that she was being bothered by him. At some point in their conversation, the man grabbed her by the arm and began to tug on it. Their hushed conversation rose a little as she struggled to release herself from his iron grip—pun intended. A spark of aggravation lit up in Kai as he watched the scene unfold. He stood up, fists clenched.

"Elemental master or not," he started. "That guy needs to be taught a lesson."

"Kai—" Cole tried to stop him as he stomped towards the two, but Kai ceased after a few feet as a figure quickly cut him off and grabbed the man by the collar, pushing him away from the girl. It was the skeleton hoodie guy. He towered over the man, giving him a stern and intimidating glare.

"Back off." he said slowly, his voice dangerous. His eyes looked as if they could burn a hole through the man.

"You think Karlof intimidated by you?" the man said in the deepest voice Kai's ever heard, a thick accent laced into his words. "These gloves not mittens, these crush little boys like you." he said as he curled his metal fingers into a fist and shoved them into the guy's face.

"Woah, Emo Hoodie got guts," Jay said as he watched the tension between the two grow.

"I can take care of myself," the girl said to the taller male, glaring at him.

He ignored the girl, speaking directly to Karlof instead. "I'd like to see you try, pinhead. I don't want to see you bothering anyone else on this ferry. If you're smart you'll listen to me, but I know you're not smart enough to take my advice, so I'll keep this simple. Touch her again, and I'll rip those gloves off and nail them to my wall."

"You saying Karlof not smart?" he accused him. "Karlof not afraid of you, Karlof bash your head in!" He ripped himself out of the guy’s grip and smashed his fists together. Suddenly, his skin thickened and turned into some kind of armor, one that encased his whole body in a metallic coating. His whole body turned into metal. Kai noted. Karlof lunged at the boy, but he swiftly dodged his attack, although he made no move to land a hit on him. Now that Kai was paying attention, he could tell that the kid must have been a high schooler, maybe sixteen or seventeen. It was hard to tell because of his height. Karlof turned back to him and wound up his body, ready to attack him again when a voice shouted out and stopped him.

"Enough!" The voice belonged to Clouse. Karlof's skin returned back to normal and he backed away from the taller male, grumbling as he passed by Kai. The girl was long gone, having had enough of the dominance display taking place in front of her. Kai growled deeply in his throat as the boy turned away and walked out of sight. He didn't know who the kid was, but Kai was annoyed at him. He was annoyed that he'd stolen his opportunity to help her, and he was annoyed at his mysteriousness. The hood he hid behind, whatever element he refused to display, it all annoyed him. And Jay, being Jay, decided to bring attention to that.

"Wow, Emo Hoodie just stole your thunder."

Kai whipped around to face him. "Would you stop calling him that?"

"Guys! Shh!" Cole hushed them as Clouse spoke again.

"We're here," Clouse announced to everyone. "Elemental masters, welcome to Chen's Island."

Daybreak was now upon them, and the faint yellow and pink glow of a new dawn illuminated the mountains and sea stacks that made up the mysterious location they had been brought to. This is where Zane was, and this was where they'd spend who knows how long with the mysterious people all around them. There were many mysteries that had yet to be discovered, with so many more mysteries yet to come. The ninja were more than ready to face them, more than ready to get the answers they so richly desired.

"Let me see," Karlof shoved Kai to the side to take a look at the island. Kai bit back a growl when Cole laid a firm hand on his shoulder, discouraging him from starting up a fight. As everyone crowded around the bow of the ferry, watching as the island came closer and closer to them, the orange-hooded girl pulled the teenager from the fight aside at the stern of the ship, out of sight from any of the other elemental masters.

"Are you stupid? What was that?" she glared at him, speaking quietly.

"He was harassing you, Skylor!” he bit back, pulling his arm out of her grip. “What did you want me to do, stand there and do nothing?"

"Yes," she hissed through clenched teeth. "Lloyd, you know the rules! We can't be associated with each other at all until everything has fallen into place. We can't risk them knowing!"

"I know, I know, but I wasn't just going to stand there!"

"The fire ninja was coming over to help me, you interfered!"

"Well, I'm sorry I don't want creeps like them trying to hurt you!"

Skylor sighed, rubbing her eyes with her fingers. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. You were just trying to help, but Lloyd you need to stick to the plan. I appreciate what you did, I really do, but from this point on we're strangers, okay?"

Lloyd sighed, his shoulders slumping. Skylor felt bad about her outburst towards him and playfully leaned in to bump shoulders with him. "Hey, on the bright side, I got Karlof's element." she smiled.

Lloyd perked up at that. "Really?"

"Yeah, we're one step closer now," she smiled excitedly. "Though, things are a bit set back because Garmadon isn’t here..."

Lloyd’s fists clenched at the mention of his father’s name. "He’ll come if he knows what’s good for him. And when he does..."

Skylor waved him off with her hand. “We don’t have to worry about that. We have our own tasks to worry about. Speaking of, we should rejoin the group before anyone realizes. Good luck, and see you on the other side." She gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze and smiled warmly at him, walking away afterwards. Lloyd sighed. He understood why Skylor was being so cautious, she wanted things to go perfectly for her father. She wanted to make him proud. Lloyd understood that. He wouldn’t want to disappoint Chen either; the man who'd taken him in and cared for him when no one else would.

The gray tabby brushed up against Lloyd’s leg, looking up at him for pets. Lloyd smiled, kneeling down to scratch her head. “Thanks for staying by my side through all of this, Taffy.”

He stood back up and rounded the corner to join the group as the ferry docked. This was only the beginning. There was so much more to come, and Lloyd’s excitement only grew as the elemental masters blindly walked themselves to their doom.

Chapter Text

“Wanna talk about it?”

Lloyd hesitated, staring at the amber-colored tea in his mug. “I don’t know.”

“I get it,” Skylor—dressed in athletic wear that was mildly sweaty due to the run she had just gotten back from—crossed one leg over the other on the stool as she leaned against the counter. “I’m not huge on sharing my feelings either, y’know? But sometimes talking about your nightmares makes them go away faster.”

“It’s…not really a new nightmare.”

“Is that so?” Skylor took a sip of her coffee and raised an eyebrow. “I hate recurring nightmares. This was about the alley, right?”

Lloyd nodded lightly. He watched Taffy as she ate her food on the countertop, tail swishing back and forth happily. Lloyd liked mornings, he found them calming. He got to take his time getting ready and sometimes go on a run with Skylor. (Though it usually always ended in them racing and being too out of breath to talk afterward). Lloyd smiled at the thought, though it quickly disappeared. He tapped the side of his mug anxiously, trying to absorb as much of the warmth into his hands as he could.

"I can still remember how cold I felt." he started, swallowing thickly. "I thought I was going to die."

"You nearly did." Skylor got up and walked over to the fridge. The palace’s kitchen–located in the dining hall cafeteria–was gigantic, though it was empty at this time, leaving the two siblings time to eat breakfast at their own pace. Skylor continued to talk from inside the fridge. "When Clouse brought you back, you were nearly frozen to death. With how slow your heartbeat was, Clouse had his doubts. I had faith that you would be fine, but it was a miracle that Taffy survived." She closed the fridge, holding out two yogurt parfaits.

Lloyd looked at Taffy. He reached his hand out to stroke her long fur. She glanced at him with her vibrant amber eyes. "I remember how long it took her to be able to walk again. They almost had to amputate two of her paws and tail because the frostbite was so bad."

Skylor placed the two parfaits down and scratched Taffy under the chin. "She’s a little trooper, this one.” She slid one of the parfaits to Lloyd along with a spoon. “And as for you, it was a traumatic experience. It's only natural for it to bother you still."

"But it's been six years. And I've had plenty of other traumatic experiences before that one."

"Near-death experiences?"

"I—well, no, but still! It shouldn't be affecting me this badly after all these years."

She took a big bite of the parfait and set down her spoon. "There’s a chance it may never go away. Trauma likes to stick with you. I’m sure over time it will be easier to live with it, though. You’ve already made great progress as it is.”

Lloyd scoffed. “Really? What progress?”

“Well for starters, you aren’t afraid of cold or darkness anymore.” She sipped her coffee. “You used to have panic attacks whenever we would go to the mainland in the winter, and you slept with the lights on for months.”

Lloyd’s shoulders sagged. “I guess.”

Skylor set down her mug. “Don't worry bro, big sister Skylor is here if you ever need to talk about it again." She said as she hooked her arm around his neck and rocked him back and forth playfully.

Lloyd couldn’t help the tiny smile that crept onto his face. “You aren’t my actual sister, Sky."

"Aren’t I though? You’re a part of the family at this point. Foster sister, actual sister, whatever! You’ll always be my annoying little nuisance either way." she said as she patted him on the back, earning a small laugh from the blonde. Skylor cheered triumphantly at getting Lloyd to laugh. Lloyd didn't know where he would be today without Skylor. She was the one person in this world he could relate to—who he could trust and feel safe around. She may be five years older than him, but she's the closest thing he's ever had to having a mother.

"By the way, Dad wants to talk to you. It's about the plan,” she said, releasing him from her grip. “Man, I can’t believe we’re only three days away from putting it into motion. I feel like my dad’s been planning for this since before I was born."

Lloyd nodded, his smile fading. "Yeah, it’s definitely been a wild ride.”

Lloyd remembered when Master Chen first told him about the plan. Lloyd had been living with the Chens for about six months, and in that time Lloyd had done a lot of physical and mental recovery. It was Clouse who told Master Chen about Lloyd’s potential.

Lloyd had always known about his elemental powers. In fact, they were hard to ignore. When times would get tough, they would make an appearance at the most inconvenient times. Anger would cause him to accidentally burn things with his hands, fear would make him shock people or overcharge lightbulbs around him until they exploded, sadness would make the ground freeze around his feet, and sometimes he wouldn’t know his own strength until he unintentionally pulled the doorknob off of a door.

In all of these instances, the elements displayed were always green-coded. It was a strange power, one that Lloyd had no control over at the time, which was only a reflection of his unstable mental health. After all, his powers never managed to work when he actually needed them to fight off bullies or his abusive teachers. Until Clouse found him, he always assumed he was cursed. Maybe he was. He certainly felt like he was supposed to be, considering he was the son of Lord Garmadon.

Lloyd’s first few weeks of living on the island were a blur. He had a hard time adjusting to the fact that he wasn't in Ninjago anymore (he had never seen palm trees before, or the ocean for that matter), and that he was surrounded by all these new and unfamiliar people (who, frankly, looked pretty scary). Despite that, though, he was grateful that Clouse saved Taffy. On the days when Lloyd felt well enough to leave his (king sized!) bed, he would visit her and spend several hours just sitting next to her and talking. It helped calm his nerves, especially when he had nightmares. Lloyd was grateful to have been taken in by the Chen family, yes, but he had been confused about being saved. He was so prepared for what would come after death, and now death seemed so far away. He should've been happy about that, it should've been this big moment where Lloyd would savor life for everything it was worth and swear to make the most of it, but he didn't. He didn't know what to think.

Lloyd felt trapped and isolated. He found it difficult to process everything that had happened and was planning to escape on one of the ferries until Master Chen revealed to Lloyd that Garmadon used to be his pupil. He told Lloyd tales about their training, how Garmadon excelled as his student and showed great potential…but alas, he betrayed Chen to fight with his brother and the other elemental masters when the Serpentine Wars began. They fought against the Anacondrai, Chen's allies, and won. Garmadon ended up banishing Master Chen onto the island with Clouse. To Lloyd, Chen and Clouse were nice men who not only saved his life (which would be a first) but also gave him a second chance at living it. He felt ashamed that his father would have done such a thing, not to mention the fact that Lloyd had other family members who never once tried to make an appearance in his miserable life.

The deal was sealed when Master Chen offered to have Lloyd train under Clouse to strengthen his powers. He said that Lloyd didn’t have to be like his father, a deadbeat man who never took the time of day to ever meet his son. Lloyd could show Garmadon just how great of an elemental master he was and make him regret ever leaving him behind. He could show his father—show the world—that he wasn’t living in Garmadon's shadow. He could show everyone that he was better than his father ever could have dreamed of being.

Six years later, Lloyd hasn’t regretted a single thing.

Lloyd placed his spoon down on the countertop. “Right, I'll go now," he said as he hopped off the island stool and began to walk out of the room.

"Aren't you going to finish your food?"

"I'm not that hungry," he said, leaving his half-eaten parfait and empty mug behind. Walking through the halls, Lloyd admired the red and yellow walls of the palace. Soon, these empty halls would be full of people similar to him. It almost felt surreal.

Eventually, he made it to the closed doors of the throne room. He took a deep breath before gesturing to the tattooed guards to open the doors.

Fierce as a dragon, bold as an oni. He told himself before walking in.

—————

"Elemental Masters, welcome to Chen's Island!" Clouse said, arm extended to the marvelous island. Everyone huddled at the front of the ferry, watching as the island came closer and closer into view. The faint booming of drums sounded off in the distance, only growing louder as the ferry docked.

The ninja looked at the grand palace in front of them. Jay's mouth was agape while Kai and Cole looked at the building dangerously. This was where Zane was being held prisoner. The ninja had to be on their guard because now they were at the mercy of the tournament. As the ninja were walking up the large stairs leading to the palace entrance, Cole whispered to the two, "Well, this is it. No turning back now."

"The point of no return passed when we walked onto that dock," Kai stated bluntly, looking over to see the girl in the orange hood tailing them. Kai immediately shoved Jay and Cole to the side—despite their protests—and cockily smiled as she walked by. "Ladies first," he said, earning a small smile in return.

"Fire will melt her icy heart," he informed his brothers when she was out of earshot. Jay couldn't roll his eyes any harder.

"You're an idiot," Cole told him as they resumed walking into the palace. All the elemental masters were led into the guest wing, the high velvet ceiling towering over them, and were told to sit in a semicircle. The room was full of different emotions. Some of the masters were talking to others around them, becoming acquainted with one another, while others looked around the room and eyed each other suspiciously.

"I'm not really getting the greatest vibe from this place..." Cole mumbled.

"Oh lighten up!" Jay walked over, smiling. "We're in an underground fight club, this is supposed to be fun!"

Cole looked at him. "I think you and I have different definitions of 'fun.'"

Suddenly, a gong was struck, quieting everyone in the room. "All rise for Master Chen." Clouse's voice rang out. A large throne with an older man sitting on it was lowered from the ceiling. The whole palace was already fancy, but the man sitting on the throne was dressed even fancier than the room decor. He wore red robes with gold and purple accents splashed across it, and he had a helmet made of bones and some kind of purple scale-looking material. He also seemed to be wearing black and red makeup. He looked exactly like the pictures—who everyone thought was a mascot for the restaurant—portrayed him to be.

"Welcome to the Tournament of Elements!" Master Chen said. "Now, you can all die!"

Suddenly, all the doors and open windows in the room closed, locking them in like animals in a pen. There was nowhere to go, and a spark of panic washed over the group.

"Direct all your attention to me! Never before have so many elemental fighters been under one roof!" Chen paused and gestured to the engraving on the gong. "This symbol before you is the anacondrai, the finest warriors to ever roam this land. Its creed: Only one can remain."

The gong suddenly split open to reveal a bracket, each outer space filled with a picture of an elemental master. Chen held up a magnificent emerald-colored blade. "This here is a jade blade. Jade blades represent life. Obtain it, you move on. Allow your opponent to take it…loser! The rules are simple. Every match will be different. Your powers will keep you in the tournament. Use them to your advantage."

"Hmm, what does Karlof win?" Karlof blurts out suddenly, gaining everyone's attention.

Chen smiled. "Win, and you stay on the island. Win it all, and you'll be granted fortunes beyond your wildest dreams! And, Master Chen's delicious noodles! But, you're not here for noodles, you're all here for glory!" Most of the elemental masters laughed, but the ninja stayed quiet.

"You will now be shown to your rooms," Clouse said. With his parting words, a line of kabuki women filed into the room. Each one stood by an elemental master and grabbed them by the wrist, leading them to their rooms. The ninja were all skeptical of the whole situation they had thrown themselves into, but they were distracted when they made it to their rooms. They were decorated to fit their wants and likings, almost as if the rooms knew them better than they knew themselves.

Kai was fawning over his room when he opened his balcony door, marveling at the beautiful sight. The horizon was clear and shaped by the lush green mountains that surrounded them. He took a moment to relax, closing his eyes and feeling the wind brush against him. He then heard a noise to the left of him and he turned his head. His eyes widened as he saw the girl from before, her hoodie gone and revealing her deep red hair. She was truly a beautiful sight to behold, and Kai’s excitement doubled when he realized she was about his age.

"Looks like we're roommates," Kai said with a flirtatious smile. "I'm Kai, master of fire." He lit his fist on fire on command.

She directed her attention to him, looking nothing short of unimpressed. She turned back to the scenery of the jungle. "Your little show on the ferry was charming, but I'm not interested."

Kai's fist extinguished. "You saw me?"

She looked back over at him. "Well, yeah. After that other guy came over I saw you standing there like a lost child. Were you really planning on fighting the master of metal?"

"Well, sure! He was harassing you."

"I can take care of myself," she grumbled to him, annoyed. "Why do men always think women are damsels in need of saving?"

"Well, Cat Boy helped you."

“Cat Boy?” she repeated, raising her eyebrows in confusion.

Kai backtracked. “You know, the kid in the skeleton hoodie?”

She shook her head, seeming not to question his antics. "Yeah, it was annoying." Her gaze softened as she looked back over at Kai. She sighed. "I'm sorry for my outburst. I guess I'm just a little freaked out by all this."

Kai smiled. "It's okay, I understand fully."

She leaned forward, extending her hand. "So, master of fire you said?"

Kai grinned. "The one and only! And you are?"

"I'm—"

A sudden eruption of music startled the two, causing them to break away from each other. The music was being played from speakers all around the temple. Master Chen's voice rose above it. "Fellow fighters, hidden around my island are enough Jade Blades for every participant but one. The one who returns to the palace arena empty-handed loses. The tournament begins now!"

Kai and Skylor looked at each other. Instinctively, they glanced up and saw a jade blade placed conveniently above them. Skylor looked back down at Kai and smirked. “That one is mine!” She jumped over to Kai’s balcony and shoved him over.

Kai watched in shock and awe as she scaled the side of the temple. “Hey!” he cried as he jumped up after her. She slipped, nearly falling off the temple if it weren't for Kai catching her by the ankle.

“Help me!” she pleaded desperately. Kai heaved her up, causing her to grab onto the wall and use the leverage to pull herself up and snatch the blade. She grinned down at Kai’s shocked expression. "Sorry, hot tamale."

She was safe from elimination.

Kai was in for it now.

————

“The tournament begins now!”

“Now?”

Jay sheiked as a man burst into his room’s bathroom. Jay, stark naked in the bath, shrank away from the man as he lifted his staff towards him. His bushy eyebrows were knit down in determination. “This place could use a bit of fresh air. Lightning, meet nature!”

On instinct, Jay jumped out of the bath and tore a towel off of the wall, wrapping it around his waist quickly as he dodged the green vines snapping towards him. He shot a bolt of lightning toward the master of nature, who was thrown back into the other room. Jay followed into the main room, gasping as he saw the master of nature grinning up at the jade blade wedged in his ceiling. How did I not notice that?

Jay lunged for it right as the master of nature did. The man grabbed it, pinning Jay down with his vines a second later. Jay struggled to get out of the tangle, opting to reach for the controller he had carelessly thrown on the floor ten minutes earlier. He pressed a button that triggered his flatscreen TV to emerge and play one of the Fritz Donnagan movies, distracting his attacker momentarily. Jay used this to his advantage and rolled out from underneath the vines. He removed his towel and slapped the man with it. He let out a cry of pain as Jay snatched the jade blade from him.

He laughed. “I love my room!” Jay cheered.

————

“Let the best fighter win!” Chen’s voice called over the intercom. Lloyd exited his room (not his real one, only the one he would occupy for the duration of the tournament) and glanced around the wing. A few elemental masters were on his floor, looking around frantically for any jade blades. Luckily, Lloyd knew where they all were. He looked towards a decorative piece in the hallway that held a jade blade amidst the decorative blades. Three elemental masters were already gunning for it. Lloyd sped towards them. Sure, he was outnumbered three to one, but he wanted to be safe from elimination as soon as possible. The plan counted on it.

Lloyd cursed when a foot tripped him. Ash, master of smoke, emerged from his room and smiled down at Lloyd. Lloyd growled, getting up and attacking him. These damn people– He was starting to wish he had changed out of his zip-up hoodie and jeans, Chen’s island was much more humid than Ninjago City was.

Ash fled in a puff of smoke (not before Lloyd landed a few satisfying hits on him) and made a lunge for the blade, only to be shoved over by another elemental master. Lloyd followed suit, joining the chaos. Lloyd found himself going one-on-one with Jacob, master of music, while Nathan, master of gravity grabbed for the blade. He was thrown off course, however, when the pattern on the run beneath him came to life and wrapped around his ankle, dragging him back onto the floor. It disappeared before Nathan could turn around and see who had done it. Lloyd smiled to himself.

He shoved Jacob to the side and jumped over Nathan, successfully grabbing the jade blade. He grinned and booked it down the hall away from the others. Thanks, Master. He couldn’t see the sorcerer, but Lloyd knew he was watching nearby. Lloyd intended to make him proud.

————

Cole held his stomach painfully, leaning down to pick up the blade he had just fought off five elemental masters for. When it picked up itself and started “floating” away (as well as hitting him), annoyance pushed the ache in his stomach away and he punched a stability pillar next to him. Dust rained down from the ceiling and outlined a body holding the blade.

Cole laughed and threw himself into spinjitzu, knocking the master of invisibility over and successfully catching the blade. His victory was short-lived when the master of gravity took it from his hand overhead. He was running on the ceiling.

“Hey!” he called after the man. He was about to pursue him before he caught a glimpse of another jade blade hidden under a bench. That’ll work.

————

“Two jade blades remaining,” Master Clouse said as he placed another blade among the others. Jay looked around nervously. Neither Kai nor Cole had returned yet, but most of the other elemental masters had. Anxiety rose in his throat. He couldn’t find Zane alone!

As if the First Spinjitzu Master himself had heard his worries, Cole, burst into the room and presented his blade. “Wait! I got one!”

He stopped and looked around at the other masters (who were glaring at him, seriously, what was with this crowd?). “Wait, where’s Kai?”

Chen himself stepped forward to take the blade from Cole. He added it to the collection. “Only one blade remaining,” he said mischievously.

Soon, the attention in the room was drawn towards Karlof’s heavy footsteps, a jade blade in his iron mitt. He laughed heartily. “Karlof wins!”

Chen laughed giddily alongside him. The elemental masters erupted into applause. Jay broke from his moment of panic when he saw a red arm reveal itself from behind Karlof, a tool in its hand tinkering with Karlof’s glove. The glove fell to the ground, to Karlof’s shock and confusion, and Kai darted around him and scooped up the blade.

“Looks like you’ve got a few screws loose!” he said as he ignited his fire and propelled himself towards the stage, sliding the blade into place as soon as he landed. A new round of applause and cheers came from the elemental masters. Kai had done it.

“We have a loser!” Master Chen announced.

“That’s not fair. He cheated!” Karlof cried. He stepped forward, anger plastered on his face. “I never wanted to be on this stinking island, anyway!”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear you did not enjoy your stay.” Master Chen cooed as he sat back on his throne. “I guess this works out for the best. This is…goodbye!”

Suddenly, the floor opened up beneath Karlof and he fell, the echos of his screams fading into quiet. A wave of shock washed over the elemental masters.

Chen smiled. “As you can see, lose and you are out. Break, any rule, you are out. Never bite the hand that feeds you, Master Chen delicious noodles! Now rest up, tomorrow the tournament will recommence!” A small gong was played, dismissing the elemental masters from the room. Jay turned to Kai and Cole, who wore similar shocked expressions as he did.

What on earth had they gotten themselves into?

Chapter Text

“Well, at least the chow’s good.” Cole said, very happy with the selection of food they had been given. The dining hall was large and smelled divine. It was like an extremely fancy version of Chen’s Noodle House.

“Guess owning one of the best noodle houses in Ninjago City has its perks,” Kai said as he slurped some of his noodles.

“Ah, it’s killing me!” Jay anxiously threw his hands up. “What’s under the trap door? What happens when you lose?”

“Look, our mission is simple. Tonight, we find Zane and get off this crazy island.” Kai pounded the table with his fist to emphasize his point.

“And how are we supposed to do that?” Cole faced him. “You heard Chen, break a rule and we’re out. He’s not gonna let us roam around.”

“Then it’s a good thing we’re ninja.” Kai’s expression was serious. “Meet me in my room at midnight–”

He was cut off as the master of invisibility–Paleman–approached them. “You mind if I join you?”

Jay waved his chopsticks at the man’s invisible face. “Disappear, pal, this is private!”

Paleman took that seriously, and disappeared, leaving only his lunch tray behind. Jay signed, his annoyance clear as day. “I know you're still here, I can see your lunch tray.”

Paleman scoffed and walked away. Cole watched him as he left, turning back to face Jay. “Wow, Jay, you were really mean.”

Jay rounds on him. “How am I supposed to know if we can trust him? See what this island is doing to me? It’s corrupting me! It has to stop!” he stressed. “I’ll see you tonight.”

————

“Whoa! Secret passageway! Cool!” Jay was grinning widely as he dropped down into the dark stone hallway.

Kai and Cole followed. Kai lit his fist aflame. “Nice work, Cole. Maybe Zane’s not on the island, but in it!”

“Oh my First, guys!” Jay was scaling the wall leading up to a rectangular piece of wood. “There are secret peep holes! It sounds like someone’s fighting on the other side.”

“What do you see? Who’s fighting?” Cole walked towards him.

Jay squinted to see through the small holes. “Oh, it’s not fighting. It’s Skylor’s room, she’s training.”

“What?” Kai extinguished his flame and began climbing the wall next to Jay. “Lemme see!”

They shoved each other over, bickering to take a look. Cole frowned. “Guys, this is a huge invasion of privacy.”

Kai and Jay opted to share the peep holes, looking through to see Skylor training intensely. All of a sudden, her fist lit on fire. Kai and Jay gasped to each other.

“What? What did you see?”

Kai looked down at him. “She’s…fire!”

“If we’re all descendants of elemental masters…” Jay pondered.

Cole laughed. “Kai’s heart is on fire! Kai’s heart is on fire!” He sang and danced around.

Jay looked at Kai. “Wait, but your dad was the elemental master of fire, right?”

“Yeah, what of it?”

“Wouldn’t that mean she’s your…y’know, sister?”

Kai was so taken aback he nearly lost his grip and fell down. “Jay! Don’t say that! Gross!”

“I’m just saying! How can there be two elemental masters of fire?”

“Okay, well think about this later. Can we just keep moving please?” Kai dropped from the wall and landed on the ground. He lit his fist up again and began walking down the hall, ignoring the taunts and teases from Jay and Cole.

————

“Okay, no more sneaking around.” Cole breathed unevenly on the bed, worn out from the terrifying chase the three had just endured with Chen’s cultists and giant snake. “I thought the regular serpentine were bad, but that thing? No thank you!”

Jay got up sorely. “No more sneaking around. From now on let’s just follow the rules.”

Kai stood up with him. “We may not have found Zane, but we found something jus as important. This tournament isn’t about glory, it’s about Chen stealing all of our elemental powers!

“But why? What is he planning?” Jay anxiously began pacing.

“I don’t know, but if we’re gonna find out and find Zane, then we have to play by his rules. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Cole and Jay said harmoniously.

“Good thing we weren’t spotted, that was close.” Cole stretched his arm with gritted teeth. Being thrown around didn’t do well for the body.

Jay wiped sweat from his face. “Yeah, too close.” Grimacing at the hole in his pant leg where the serpent had snagged him.

As the boys began to undress from their disguises, Lloyd turned away from the peep holes looking into the fire ninja’s room. He scowled, trying to push down his panic. How had they found out so quickly? This was not going according to plan!

Lloyd made his way through the stone passageway towards the heart of the underground temple. Master Chen would surely be unhappy with the events that took place tonight, especially considering it was only the first night. Lloyd climbed through a narrow hole in one of the walls which dropped him right underneath Kai’s room. He looked up at the trap door they had no doubt used to get in the passage. He turned away and headed for Skylor’s room instead, looking through to see if she was in it. Lloyd couldn’t see her, but he could hear her walking around. He considered knocking, but decided against it. He had to remind himself that he and Skylor couldn’t be associated with each other.

He dropped down from the wall and continued his trek through the underground tunnels. Panic was prominent and making his anxiety rise. It was imperative that the plan went exactly as they expected it to, or else the entire operation could be jeopardized. Lloyd had worked too hard for the ninja to screw it up.

Lloyd was passed by a few of the cult members, who were running around frantically after discovering the ninja had infiltrated them. They wielded angry faces and sharp purple spears, no doubt still hunting for the trio. Master Chen must not have known they escaped. Lloyd considered ordering them to head for Kai’s room, but he ultimately decided against it. If they escaped The Serpent, then Master Clouse no doubt knew about the ordeal, and if Lloyd knew his mentor well—which he did—then Clouse was already formulating a plan of action. This thought didn’t quell the rising anxiety that squeezed his chest, but he decided to trust his instincts that his mentor was already handling it. His instincts usually weren’t wrong, so Lloyd continued on.

Lloyd found himself walking aimlessly for a while, his thoughts struggling to straighten out from a jumbled mess of overthinking and stress due to the past few days. Lloyd had finally substituted his hand-painted skeleton hoodie he cherished so much for a black t-shirt with an irrelevant rock band on the front (he had stolen it from a random person’s clothing line outside of their apartment) but now he wished he had it to ward off the goosebumps that covered his bare arms. With the humidity of the island gone with the bringing of night, it was especially cold underground.

Lloyd hopped mindlessly over a hidden tripwire. He knew about all of the traps around the island (he had proudly set a few of them himself). Once he finally looked up from the ground, he noticed he was in the prison area not far from the factory. In the darkness of the hallway, he could see a soft blue light illuminating around the corner. Lloyd glared at it, making his way around the bend and towards the source of the light: a metal cell door with small bars in place of a window. The window was where the light was originating from. This door in particular led to a small room with a cell inside meant for maximum security to ensure the prisoner was contained. Lloyd pulled a ring of keys off of his pants and fiddled with them rather loudly, intentionally making them rattle against each other. The blue light suddenly disappeared as Lloyd jammed the right key into the lock and pushed the door open, slamming it closed behind him. He stalked towards the cell and peered through the small window of bars at a blonde haired man whose hands were chained above his head. He was slumped on the ground, still as a rock. If Lloyd hadn’t just seen the blue light, he just might have believed the machine was really shut down.

“You aren’t fooling anyone,” he said. He slammed his fist against the cell door, the metal rattling under the force. “Up!”

The figure didn’t even flinch. Lloyd could see some wires poking out of his tattered white gi as well as silver scratches from where the paint was scraped off. There was a slight dent in the robot’s head. The ice ninja had put up a good fight against the cultists after he woke up from being tazed, but he was no match for Lloyd’s powers. After Lloyd had stepped in, he fell faster than a house of cards.

Lloyd leaned in close, staring coldly at the robot. Seeming to realize his acting had failed, he opened his eyes and lifted his head to stare at Lloyd. His eyes were bright and icy. Lloyd would normally execute playful banter towards the robot for mere entertainment, but Lloyd was angry, and there was nothing else he could take it out on.

“Your friends suck, you know that?”

He internally cringed at himself. His inner voice was riddled with sarcasm. Wow, real mature, Lloyd. What a great villain you are.

The robot looked at him inquisitively. “My friends?”

“Yeah,” Lloyd turned away from the prisoner and leaned his back against the metal door. “They’re actively trying to ruin things for me. Go figure.”

Lloyd could hear the chains shift behind him as the man adjusted himself. “Who are these friends you speak of?”

Lloyd didn’t waver at the question. Zane’s memory had been disrupted ever since Lloyd blasted him with his raw green energy a week ago. When the ninja became more well-known in the eye of the public and Lloyd caught wind of them, he realized his own elemental abilities mirrored theirs, with the exception of his “true” power being his green energy. He didn’t intend to erase Zane’s memories, but it worked out in his favor. He and Skylor theorized that due to Zane being a robot, Lloyd’s energy blast messed with his mechanics and may have caused a system reboot. Though, neither of them were very knowledgeable in technology or engineering so that was promptly where their hypothesis ended. With Zane incapable of remembering his origin or the other ninja, he was much easier to keep under wraps and subdued.

Lloyd crossed his arms. “These friends I speak of are annoying and need to be eliminated.”

Zane was quiet for a moment. “Why must they be eliminated?”

“They’re trying to mess everything up. Things need to be perfect if I’m going to succeed.”

“Will killing them lead to your success?”

Lloyd’s eyes widened and he pushed himself off of the door, startled by the question. “Killing them?”

Zane’s monotone robotic voice was prominent despite the mild damage it had received. “You say your goal is to eliminate these people, meaning you intend to kill them, no?”

Lloyd slammed his hands back on the door, staring the robot down. “I need them out of the way,” he stressed with a hiss and a fixed glare. “After they’re taken care of I can focus on my real goal.”

Lloyd grinned maniacally. “Once he’s here, I can finally get my revenge. Then all of Ninjago will know the Prince of Darkness.”

“But they’re my friends,” Zane looked at him neutrally. “Which means they must mean something to me, right?”

Lloyd shook his head with a smile. “You poor fool, you’ll understand soon. Unfortunately I must go now, I have some calls to make.”

Lloyd turned on his heel and began making his way towards the exit. He was stopped when Zane’s voice spoke up again. “You don’t have to be so alone.” the robot said softly.

Lloyd paused before the doorway and clenched his fists. “The only one who’s alone here is you.” And with that he left the room with a slam of the door, resuming his traverse through the stone corridors. It was dead silent now. No cult members, no scurrying of animals, only him and the torch-lit hallways. Once Lloyd was far enough away from Zane’s cell, he pulled out his phone. Lloyd was shocked to see it was already four in the morning.

Looks like it’s going to be a coffee day, he thought to himself as he dialed a number and held the phone to his ear. After a few rings, someone picked up on the other end.

“Who is this?” The voice slurred their “S,” dragging the sound out longer than needed.

“Scales,” Lloyd’s greeting was quick and his amusement was nonexistent. “Good to know you’re capable enough to know how a phone works now. Garmadon was not at the dock yesterday. Am I to assume you failed at your job or are you just as incompetent as the rest of your tribe?”

The Hypnobrai growled quietly on the other end, though he made an effort to appear friendly in his speech. “Lloyd Garmadon, always a pleasure speaking with you.” Lloyd could hear the ticked rattle of his tail. “Your father has been difficult to convince, I'm afraid. He is adamant. He wants nothing to do with the other elemental masters or Master Chen.”

Lloyd began to pace, trying to keep his professionalism prominent in his tone. “Need I remind you of what you owe me, Scales? Or do you need more motivation?”

Scales was quick to answer, though he spoke slowly. “No, young Garmadon, I remember.”

“Good,” Lloyd clicked his tongue. “I released your tribe from your tomb a year ago so in turn you could gain my father’s trust. I do recall telling you that if you failed we would personally hunt you and your tribe down with the Anacondrai and lock you away again, did I not?

Scale’s demeanor seemed to change at this threat. “Of course, young Garmadon! We are trying our best, but I think your father needs more of a reason to go. We have tried everything!”

It took Lloyd everything in his power not to scream at the snake through the phone. ”Do I have to do everything for you? What was the point of releasing you if you were going to waste all of my time? You better slither fast, because I’m going to blast every one of you into the next century!”

Instead, Lloyd opted for a calmer approach. “Make it happen, Scales. You would be a poor double agent otherwise. You have twenty-four hours.” He said sternly before promptly hanging up the phone and stuffing it in his pocket. He sighed and rubbed his face tiredly.

“Idiot…” he mumbled.

————

“I mean, sure, Jay’s cute and funny and I’m always laughing around him, but everything’s about him and he never takes me seriously. More light, please.”

Sensei Wu perked up from his small doze and readjusted the flashlight he was holding. “Right, he never takes you seriously,” he said quickly, acting as if he wasn’t bored into his early grave. Nya continued to work on her newest mech. She usually went on tangents when she worked, and unfortunately Sensei Wu was the only one around to listen to it.

“And then there’s Cole. He’s handsome and I suppose I connect with him on a deeper level, but everything’s so serious with him you know what I mean? Socket wrench.”

Sensei handed her a tool from the box. “Yes, young emotions are…complicated.”

Nya looked at the tool in her hand and held it back out to him. “Sensei, these are needle nosed pliers. I asked for a socket wrench. And could you at least try to import some wisdom?”

“No way, I’m not sticking my nose into that beehive.” He turned off the flashlight, gaining her attention. “Nya, it’s been days since the ninja took off and we still have no word from them. I’m worried, and I think it’s time we broaden our search.”

Nya rolled out from underneath the mech and stood up, brushing her skirt off. “Well then, it’s a good thing I made a mobile base in case the Destiny’s Bounty was ever out of commission.” She grabbed a remote and pressed a button on it, causing the floor to open up and a platform to reveal a large red vehicle. “I call it, the DB Express! I’m…not married to the name.”

Sensei Wu nodded. “Find them, Nya. And be careful. Garmadon is still out there with the serpentine.”

She hopped in the driver’s seat and saluted. “I’m on my way!” She turned the vehicle on and drove it out of the Samurai X cave. Wu sighed and turned around, leaving the tools forgotten on the floor.

Something is not right…