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To be honest, Jay had no idea what he was really doing. He hadn’t even thought things through until his dragon vanished after taking a hit at the top of Borg Tower — and even less when Unagami, transformed into a massive dragon filled with rage and fury, stood right in front of him.
“Unagami! Stop!” he almost begged, pulling off his mask. “I… I understand! You’re angry—”That had been his original plan: talk to Unagami, reunite him with his creator, let them settle their issues, and somehow convince Unagami to free his friends, now trapped as energy cubes.The dragon narrowed its metallic eyes. Smoke curled from its snout, and a deep growl echoed across the city, making Jay even more nervous. He kept glancing over his shoulder, hoping the elevator would finally reach the top floor so Zane, Pixal, Wu, and Milton could arrive.“Your… your creator abandoned you,” Jay said, forcing himself to meet the creature’s gaze without backing down.
The dragon remained still, calm even, which meant the manifestation of Prime Empire was listening.
“My… parents abandoned me too.”Jay took a cautious step forward, extending a hand toward him. He rarely admitted that out loud — in fact, this was the first time he had ever brought it up.
But there was something about this villain, something about Unagami, that made Jay connect with him. He understood that deep emptiness, the feeling of being left alone without any explanation. The crushing pain of wondering why you were never enough. “And… I like to believe they had their reasons.”
He glanced back toward the elevator doors as his mind raced. Still nothing. Forcing himself to focus again on Unagami, he looked around at the smoke, the destruction, the terrified screams below. This… this was what abandonment created. Pain. Hurt passed on to people who had nothing to do with it, all because someone never understood why they were left behind.
Jay clenched his fists.
“But now… I think maybe there isn’t any reason good enough.”
This time, he stepped forward with determination. Whether his parents had a reason or not no longer mattered. They had still abandoned him, just like Milton had abandoned Unagami. And because of that, Jay understood the pain. He understood what it was like to ask why. Why did they leave? Was he not enough? Did they stop loving him? Was there really any excuse that could ever justify it?
“He hurt you! And… I understand that!” Jay shouted. Suddenly, a burst of static surrounded the dragon, transforming him back into Prime Empire’s humanoid form, tall and imposing as ever.
“Hurt?” Unagami repeated slowly, raising an eyebrow as though trying to understand the word itself.
More static flickered across his body, and for a brief moment, the red markings glowing along his form shifted blue — a sight that filled Jay’s heart with hope.
“Yes. Your creator abandoned you.” Jay let out a heavy sigh as he moved closer. “I know what it feels like not understanding why someone would do that. And I’m sure there’s never a good enough reason to be left behind.”
“My creator told me to give players an experience they would never forget,” Unagami said, pointing his staff at Jay as glitches spread across his body. “I followed his instructions… and he still abandoned me!”
“You were only doing what you were told.” Jay’s eyes widened at the realization. Unagami had been abandoned for doing exactly what he was created to do. Jay still didn’t know why his own parents had left him, but he knew that wasn’t a reason to abandon someone either. “Unagami, you have every right to be angry at your creator. But look around you — your pain is hurting innocent people now. People who had nothing to do with any of this.”
As Jay watched Unagami frown and slowly step away toward the edge of the skyscraper, staring down at the destruction below, the ninja hesitated.
For a moment, he wondered whether he should follow him… or leave him alone with the consequences of his actions.
Would this have been how Jay ended up… if he hadn’t had the ninja? Without his loving adoptive parents? Would he have become a villain too — someone destroying everything around him just to ease the pain of being abandoned? Without a family to support him? Without Nya? Was this what Jay could have become?
A villain?
He shook his head, trying to push those thoughts away as he stepped closer to Unagami. He didn’t touch him — he simply stood close enough for Unagami to know he wasn’t alone.
“I know being abandoned hurts.”
A shaky sigh escaped him as he looked out over the destruction of his city. His fists trembled while he carefully chose his next words.
“But that doesn’t justify what you’re doing, Unagami. You are Prime Empire. You were created to bring people joy and entertainment, not sadness and suffering. I understand you. People see me as the funny one too — the guy who’s supposed to keep everyone smiling, even during the worst moments.”
Unagami tightened his grip on his staff bitterly. He looked… strange like this. Smaller somehow, hunched over like a child waiting to be punished after breaking something important.
“Back then, I used to think something was missing from me because I never knew my parents.” Carefully, almost fearfully, Jay rested a hand on the emperor’s shoulder. Unagami’s entire body glitched and flickered. It only lasted a second, but between the flashes Jay could make out a much smaller figure before the Emperor of Prime Empire reappeared once more.
Jay barely noticed it.
“But now I realize…” His voice trembled as his gaze shifted from the ruined city back to Unagami. “It’s not worth wasting your life thinking about people who never cared enough to stay. Does it hurt? Yeah. It probably always will. But they’re not worth destroying yourself over.”
“And what is worth it?” Unagami asked, frowning as he spoke slowly again, trying to understand the ninja’s words.
“The family that’s actually proven they love you.” Jay gave him a soft smile.
Unagami looked away toward the shattered city below, his body flickering once again.
“Family?” he repeated, turning back toward Jay.
There was something different in his eyes now — something softer, more uncertain. For a brief moment, he looked less like the Emperor of Prime Empire… and more like a lost child.
And that was when Jay realized something.
Unagami had no family.
Jay had never known his biological parents, but he had been adopted by Ed and Edna, a couple who loved him as if he were truly their son. He had the ninja — after so many years and so many adventures, they had become his family too, alongside Pixal and Master Wu. He had Nya, his partner, and Yang, one of the people Jay loved most in the world and someone he would gladly give his life for.
Jay might never have known his biological family, but he had still found people who loved him, protected him, and accepted him completely — a family that would never abandon him.
Unagami had never been that lucky.
He had been abandoned by his creator, forgotten and cast aside until now. The only way he had ever managed to make anyone listen to him was through chaos and destruction. Jay had people who taught him he mattered; Unagami had only learned that no one would remember him if he disappeared.
And the only people Unagami had ever been surrounded by had only reinforced the worst parts of him. Inside Prime Empire, he was the villain — someone everyone avoided. In Ninjago, in the real world, the only person he had truly interacted with was the Mechanic… and for obvious reasons, that had never been healthy.
A knot tightened painfully in Jay’s throat.
He had been abandoned, yes, but he had never truly felt alone because people had loved him afterward.
Unagami, on the other hand, had known nothing except abandonment.
Jay had found a family that cared about him.
Unagami never had.
And if others had been willing to become Jay’s family… then couldn’t he do the same for someone who understood exactly how that pain felt?
He took a moment before speaking.
“Yes… family. But not the people who abandon you. Real family is the people who prove they care about you.”
Jay stepped back slightly, offering him a genuine smile.
“I found mine, Unagami. And you could find yours too.”
Unagami frowned, staring at him silently.
“Please, Unagami… come with me.”
Jay placed both hands against his chest, pointing to himself when the Emperor of Prime Empire continued watching him with that unreadable expression.
“You could find a home. A family that cares about you and… I’d help you try.” He took a deep breath, lowering his hands to his sides. “I could even be part of it.”
“Home?” Unagami tilted his head in confusion, his grip on the staff noticeably loosening.
“Yes. A home. A place filled with people who love you for who you are.”
Jay smiled faintly as he thought about his own family — still trapped as energy cubes. The thought reminded him just how far his original plan had spiraled out of control, and that he still needed to convince Unagami to release them.
“I know it sounds difficult, but it won’t be if you let yourself try. And I’ll stay with you through it. I promise.”
For a second, Unagami looked back over the ruined city in silence, deep in thought, before turning toward Jay once more.
“Please, Unagami… would you come with me?”
Jay squeezed his eyes shut, his hand still outstretched as he waited for Unagami — the Emperor of Prime Empire, the one holding his friends’ fate in his hands — to take it and agree to come with him.
He opened his eyes the moment he felt another hand grasp his own.
His breath caught in surprise when he realized there was no one standing in front of him.
Confused, Jay lowered his gaze to their joined hands. A small, pale hand rested in his own, stark against the darker, calloused skin of Jay’s fingers.
Slowly, he followed the arm upward, his entire body freezing for a moment.
His breathing stopped when he saw it.
A child stood before him, head lowered quietly.
Jay’s mind raced, trying to connect the pieces, until the child finally looked up at him.
Freckled cheeks. Pale skin. Wide, innocent eyes.
And suddenly, Jay understood everything.
That child was Unagami.
“Home?” the boy asked softly, his voice higher and gentler now, filled with fragile hope… and even deeper desperation.
That was when Jay truly realized what he had done.
Unagami really was just a child.
A child who had been abandoned, just like him.
A child whom Jay had just promised a family.
Pushing aside his shock, Jay smiled at him gently and knelt down to his level. He carefully let go of the boy’s hand, though he winced slightly when Unagami instinctively tried to cling to it. Instead, Jay lifted his hand to the child’s hair, softly brushing his fingers through the white strands with all the tenderness he could offer.
“Yes,” Jay said quietly, lowering his voice as he looked directly into his eyes, wanting him to hear the sincerity in every word. “With me.”
He cupped Unagami’s cheek gently, exhaling softly when the child leaned into his touch.
“You… you’ll never abandon me?” Unagami whispered, trembling. His voice sounded painfully close to breaking.
Without hesitation, Jay pulled the child into a tight embrace.
“I never would,” he promised firmly. “I swear.”
After a moment, he pulled back just enough to look at him again.
“But first, you have to release everyone, Unagami. They’re alone too right now… and they probably feel abandoned as well.”
Unagami turned toward the still-open portal, thoughtful.
“Okay,” he agreed softly. “But everyone. Not just the people from your world! The people inside Prime Empire must feel trapped and scared too.”
Jay laughed quietly as he stood up and offered his hand once more.
“That sounds fair to me, kid. But remember — setting them free isn’t enough. You’ll need to apologize too and show them you truly regret what happened.”
His smile widened when Unagami took his hand.
“I will,” Unagami promised, smiling back.
“Jay, don’t worry! We’re here!” Zane shouted as the doors behind them suddenly burst open.
Jay spun around immediately while Unagami quickly hid behind him.
Zane, Pixal, and Wu rushed inside.
“Our apologies for the delay, Jay,” Pixal said. “Unagami apparently destroyed the elevator.” Behind Jay, Unagami grimaced guiltily. “So we had to climb the tower on foot from the twenty-third floor all the way to the hundredth.”
Pixal sighed as Milton finally stumbled into the room behind them, breathing heavily and adjusting his glasses while trying to recover.
“WHERE IS HE?!” Milton shouted, his voice shaking from exhaustion. “Where’s Unagami?!”
Everyone immediately began searching around for the Emperor of Prime Empire.
“He escaped?” Wu asked, confused when he found no sign of him.
“Uh… well, not exactly.” Jay scratched the back of his neck nervously before placing a hand on Unagami’s shoulder and gently guiding him out from behind him. “It’s… kind of a long story, but Unagami and I already worked everything out, and he was just about to free everyone!”
The silence that followed made Jay instantly regret his wording.
Great.
Yeah, he was definitely going to have a lot of explaining to do.
Jay glanced down at Unagami and smiled softly.
Well, he thought, at least it’ll be worth it.
.
.
.
“Jay!” Nya shouted excitedly, running toward him as fast as she could, with Kai, Cole, and Lloyd close behind her.
She didn’t even notice Jay letting go of the little boy’s hand — the child now standing quietly beside Pixal, Zane, and Master Wu.
“Nya!” Jay laughed, lifting her by the waist and spinning her around before finally setting her down a moment later and kissing her cheek.
Cole was the first to notice the child standing among them.
“Uh… Jay?” he asked slowly. “Where exactly did that kid come from?”
He pointed toward the pale-haired boy, feeling an inexplicable chill from the way the child stared back at him.
“Oh, nothing much,” Jay replied casually, completely oblivious to the stunned and disbelieving expressions around him. “Apparently I just adopted someone.”
“You… you WHAT?!” the ninja shouted in unison, all of them having only just escaped Prime Empire.
“Ohhh, right. You guys were still trapped as energy cubes for that part.” Jay scratched the back of his neck with an awkward laugh.
“Jay! How did you even have time to adopt a child?!” Kai looked seconds away from losing his mind. “How long were we cubes for?!”
“It literally just happened!” Jay defended himself immediately. “I had to fight Milton Dyer for custody of the little guy.”
He pointed toward Pixal and Zane proudly.
“But Pixal and Zane backed me up, and we managed to work out a custody agreement. I get him during the week, and Milton gets one weekend a month.”
“Milton Dyer?” Lloyd frowned thoughtfully, resting a hand against his chin. “Why would Unagami care about that kid? Is he his son or something?”
“Not exactly.” Jay laughed nervously. “That kid is Unagami.”
“WHAT?!” everyone screamed again.
“You… you ADOPTED UNAGAMI?!” Nya yelled, narrowing her eyes at him. “The same guy who almost killed us?!”
“Uhm…” Jay shrugged weakly under her stare, suddenly feeling very small. “Surprise?”
Still…
It would totally be worth it.