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Chapter Text

After quite a few days since the ninjas last fight, it's another sunny day at the Monastery of Spinjitzu. Wu is meditating in his bedroom, hoping for another peaceful day, without any serious problem. 

He can hear sounds that resemble a fight outside his room. "Good." He thinks. His pupils are taking this peaceful days to hone their skills, as they should. 

The old Man can hear Nya's Voice outside. "Fire strike! Oh, my gosh, is that the greatest move you've ever seen?" She sounds excited. 

"Stop trying to do everything by yourself. We need to attack as a team." Cole shouts to her.

"I should have a look on how they are doing." Wu mumbles to himself. He gets up, pick his staff and walks outside. The old man make his way to the training compound and finds that none of the ninja are training there. Surprised, he notices that he can still hear them.

"Zane, why are you wasting your special attack on me? You have to save it." Jay groans. The sounds seems to come from a different room. 

Wu follow the group voices and enters in one of the room. Inside are Nya, Jay, Zane and Cole playing a video game on their television.

"No, no, no, no!" Jay shouts. He just lost the game. "Great! Fantastic, I'm out of lives!" He says, with a irritaded expression.

"But the lesson lives on." Zane says, trying to confort his friend. "Oh, I think I'm getting the hang of it. Hee-yah!" He says, with a sweet smile.

"Okay, time to finish this Guy." Cole says, smirking. As the ninja continue with their game, Wu gives a deep sigh unplugs the television.

"Woah! What's going on?!" Nya speaks, shocked. 

"Aw, man!" Cole says, throwing his controller in the floor. "It took us three hours to get there!"

"What? What happened?" Jay meddles in, looking at the black screen, then to Wu, holding the plug and tossing it aside. "Why would you do that? Why?"

"Just because Lord Garmadon escaped through a vortex doesn't mean he won't return one day for the Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu." Their master speak, angry.

"But Master Wu, ever since he's been gone, Ninjago has had nothing but peace." Zane explains with a confused expression.

"Yeah, peace is boring." Nya grunts. "We are ninja's, but there's no one to save, there's nothing to do. Nothing."

"We can train tomorrow." Cole says, laying on the floor.

Wu deeply sighs. "Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today." He speaks, dissapointed.

"Well, I was gonna eat this pizza tomorrow, so if that's the case..." Jay says, joking around and picking a slice. Wu kicks the food out his hand, falling on the floor. "Ow! Hey!"

"No pizza for you! In order to reach your full potential, you must train." The old man master points his staff to each of them.

"Uh, remember when we did a little thing called the Tornado of Creation? I thought that was pretty insane." Nya says, smirking confident.

"Oh. You four have merely scratched the surface of your full potential." Wu shakes his head. "There are still so many secrets you have yet to unlock. You haven't even begun to tap into what powers your golden weapons hold." He looks at the Sword of Fire, heating up a pizza slice. He looks at the girl with a disapproval look 

"Uh... sorry." She takes the food away, a little ashamed.

"You wanna talk about secret powers? Check this out." Cole says, using his Scythe to plug back the television so that the ninja can resume their game.

"Wohoo! Nice going, Cole!" Jay says, picking Zane's controller. He, Nya and Cole start playing again.

"Don't worry, Master. We will be ready when Lord Garmadon returns." Zane says with a determined expression to the older, who just sighs.

Suddendly Kai enters the room, running and panting. "Guys, Lord Garmadon... he's returned! He was spotted approaching... Jamanakai Village!" He says, with a terrified look.

"What?!"

"No way!"

"That's bad!"

"Why didn't you came sooner?!" Jay says, picking his Nunchucks.

"Why do you think I almost out of air here?!" Nya's brother says, annoyed.

The ninja struggle to prepare for the mission. Kai gives his sister her Sword.

"Uh, thanks, Kai-" She says, flustered.

"Hurry!"

"Okay! Okay!"

The group rush to the dragon cabinets they made for their dragons. However, they end up proving their unfitness. One of the dragon doors hits Zane's head. Cole drops his weapon when mounting on his dragon. Jay fails to mount on his dragon. 

"My goodness..." Wu munbles in disbelief.

Kai approaches her sister, mounting her dragon. "Uh, can I help at something?" He asks, hopeful.

"Sorry, brother, where we go, but stopping Lord Garmadon is a job for the ninja." She says, feeling bad about it. The girl fails to reach her dragon's reins. "But... I could use a help in that. Hehe." 

Her brother simply shooks his head, helping her.The ninja fly off to Jamanakai Village with their dragons. Wu and Kai observe their departure.

"Do you think they'll ever reach their full potential?" He looks at the old man, curious.

"In time. Maybe a long time, but in time." The elder answers.

                                               ***

The ninja continue their flight up on the sky.

"Just like old times, eh, Rocky?" Cole says, petting the dragon's head.

"You guys believe what Master Wu said about unlocking our full potential?" Nya asks her teammates.

"He may be onto something." He nods. "I mean, since we got these golden weapons, it's not like we ever had to use them. I wonder what they do." He picks his Nunchucks, looking at them with curiosity.

"I, for one, look forward to the future. If there is more for us to accomplish, let it be." Zane bluntly speaks.

Cole flies by the white ninja's side. "Don't know about you, but is anyone else a little excited about battling Lord Garmadon?" He smirks. "I've been looking forward to trying out some new Spinjitzu moves. Could be the perfect opportunity."

"Ha-ha! Of course you were." Jay jokes at his friend. "Race you there?"

"Hey, count me in!" Nya meddles. The ninja race towards Jamanakai Village. She looks at them. "Jamanakai Village. First ninja there wins. Deal?"

The teenagers and their dragons go on full speed through the last stretch while approaching Jamanakai Village. They all land at the same time.

"Ha-ha! Yes! I was first!" Nya puches the air, cheering on.

"No way! No one was faster than me!" Jay says, grunting.

The red ninja laughs. "C'mon, blue boy! Swallow your loss!" 

" 'Bl-blue boy'? Wait- I mean... That's not fair!!!" He whines. 

Everyone dismounts their dragons, approaching the village now.

Cole shrugs. "Well, We can agree that my feet were down before any of yours!" He says, smirking.

"You were all disillusioned!" Zane shakes his head. "It was clearly me!"

The ninja enter the village, looking as the villagers are screaming and running to their homes. Closer to a fountain in the center of the village, a shadow appears as the group hears a evil laughter. 

"Stay sharp, guys." Nya pulls her Sword, preparing for the fight. "Whatever happens, never let your guard down." The others prepare themselves as well.

The laughter and shadow comes closer now, but something seems off. The shadow was getting smaler, and soon in it's place appeared a young boy wearing a black hoodie. The hoodie had a drawing in white possibly trying to resemble a ribcage, and at the top was a small, green number five. The kid was also wearing a cape in his shoulders.

"Mwahahahahaha! It is I, Lloyd Garmadon! I demand all the candy in town, or else!" The boy says, jumping at the top of the fountain.

Jay drops his guard, confused. "Wait, 'Lloyd' Garmadon? I thought we were gonna face 'Lord' Garmadon." He says, looking at everyone.

"Ugh... It's his son." Cole says, groaning. The black ninja puts his Scythe behind him again.

"Lord Garmadon has a son?!" Nya asks, surprised. "That's news for me."

"We've met him a few times before you joined us." Zane says. "We didn't knew exactly who he was, but Master Wu told us a little about him."

"I actually have a lot of questions right now." The red ninja speaks.

"Don't even try it." Jay shooks his head. "We already gave up."

"Looks like he escaped his boarding school for bad boys again." Cole groans. "And to think we could've been doing Spinjitzu already." He kicks a rock.

The villagers start to come back, noticing what is really happening. They don't look happy.

"Er... er... gimmie your candy or I'll release the Serpentine on you!" Lloyd says, pointing at everyone. The villagers start booing at him. 

The boy attempts the old can trick on them, but that simply makes them start throwing vegetables at him.

"No way!" Lloyd shouts, trying to take cover. "I asked for candy, not vegetables! I hate vegetables!" He starts grunting and ends up falling down.

"He's gonna have to do a lot better than use an old bedtime story to scare people." Nya says, crossing her arms in disbelief.

Zane gives her a cautious look. "The Serpentine are real, Nya. They're not something to joke about." He says, worried.

"Serpentine? Real?" She looks at her friends, surprised. "Okay, I can accept skeletons. Dragons are totally fine." The red ninja counts on her fingers. "But we're talking about the ancient race of snake people who once ruled Ninjago and were supposedly locked underground now."

"Sealed in five different tombs to separate the warring tribes and ensure they don't unify to exact their revenge upon those who put them there." Jay says, whimpering. 

Nya laughs a little. "Sure. It was an old wive's tale to teach kids not to poke their noses where they don't belong." She rolls her eyes, shaking her head. "Don't you think it's a little suspicious no one's ever found one of their tombs?" The girl asks.

"Well that's because you'd be a fool to look for one." Cole decides to end the conversation, approaching Lloyd. "If there was anything I hated more than dragons, it was snakes. Rubber or not."

The kid see the ninja coming closer and throws his can at them, hitting Jay.

"Ow! Okay, that's does it!" The blue ninja speaks, grabbing the boy.

"Uhn... Ugh! Unhand me!" Lloyd shouts, frustraded.

"Don't worry, folks. We'll take care of this. Nothing to see here." Cole says, making away through the crowd.

"Bow down to me or suffer my wrath! I'll give you to the count of three! One! Two!" The son of Garmadon keeps shouting as they move away.

"What are we supposed to do with him now?" Nya asks, offended.

"Two and a half!"

"I think I know something." Jay says, smirking.

                                                ***

Lloyd is now hanging on a sign with food all over him. "You just made me your nemesis! Mark my words, you'll pay for this!" He says, screaming at the ninja.

The group and the citizens laugh at him as Zane buys candy for him and his comrades.

"Next time, try paying for your candy." Cole says, laughing.

"Crime doesn't pay, kid. You can take that to the bank." Nya points at the boy, eating some pieces of candy.

"Mmm... that cotton candy is delicious." Jay says, taunting the minor boy.

Lloyd screams in rage as the Ninja move way, making their way out of Jamanakai Village, still laughing a little.

Chapter Text

Outside Jamanakai Village, the Ninja mount on their dragons when Nya accidentally drops a scroll from a bag.

"Huh? Strange... I don't remember putting this here." She says, picking the scroll from the ground.

"That Master's bag." Zane points out. "You must've accidentally taken it in the rush."

"Actually, Master Wu is always taking Flame to make his travels, so..." Nya comments, side eying the white ninja.

"What is it?" Jay asks, interrupting them, curious.

"It's a scroll, sillie." The red ninja says, amused.

"I know it's a scroll, but what does it say? It's written in chicken scratch." The blue ninja justifies himself, flustered.

"Not chicken scratch." Zane corrects him. "It's the ancient language of our ancestors." As the white ninja explains, Cole approaches his friends.

"Uh, can you read it?" The black ninja asks, looking at the scroll too.

"Well, I can try." The white ninja ponders. He glances at the piece of paper for some time. "This symbol means... 'prophecy'."

"Prophecy...?" Jay looks confused.

"It means it tells the future." Nya explains to him.

"Of course. Haha." He laughs, awkardly. "I knew that..."

"Let's see..." Zane keeps looking at the scroll. "'One ninja will rise above the others and becomes the Green Ninja, the ninja destined to defeat the Dark Lord'".

Jay gasps. "Oh, look, a picture!" He points at a green drawing on the paper.

"Dark Lord?" Nya says, interested. "Hold on... you think they mean Lord Garmadon?" She looks closer at the scroll, noticing some pictures colored as red, blue, white and black. "Wait a minute! Is that us? Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking?" The red ninja look at her comrades.

"Like how good I'm gonna look in green, maybe? Haha." Jay winks.

"That's a lot of confidence, huh?" She looks at him, amused. "What if I am the Green Ninja?" The girl defies.

This makes the blue ninja flustered. "Well, that's a possibility, sure..."

"I'm sorry to say, but technically, I am the best amongst us." Zane bluntly speaks.

"Everyone, stop it!" Cole breaks their little argument. "Remember why Master brought us together in the first place. We're a team." He takes the scroll from the white ninja's hands. "We weren't meant to see this and probably for good reason. Come on, let's head back home. We have training to do." The black ninja mounts his dragon.

"It's about time I added some finesse to my routine." Jay says, doing the same.

"Well, I could use some exercise." Zane says to himself.

"Yeah." Cole slowly nods. I gotta work on some new moves."

Everyone is clearly motivated to train now. All the ninja except Nya are already in the air, flying their way home.

"Could I be the Green Ninja?" The red ninja mumbles to herself before parting like the rest.

                                               ***

After all that racked, Lloyd Garmadon is wandering aimlessly, grunting and mumbling a lot of curses.

"Stupid ninja with their stupid dragons and stupid weapons... and stupid everything!" He shouts. He is slowly feeling cold, didn't paying much attention. He's used to feels like that everyday. 

But today feels colder than usual. His anger cools down as he finally notice where he is. The boy Wanderley for so long that he passed the foot of a snowy mountain.

"Wow... I've been cursing them for how much now?" He mumbles to himself, crossing his arms as he shivers. Then, he remembered. He was furious.

"That's right. This is all their fault! I hate them! I hate everyone!" The kid continues his tantrum, as he keeps follow the mountain's path. "I'll show them who they're dealing with."

Lloyd then kicks a stone that lands a few foots apart, soon hearing a clang sound. Curious, the boy runs to where he Heard the sound, rubbing the ground and moving the snow away, trying to find out what it is.

"Hey, what is this...?" Lloyd asks to himself. It looked like a big door on the ground, with a drawing of a snake in it. The boy gets closer and ends up activating a mechanism, unlocking the door.

Not... GOOOOOOOD!" The kid falls in the open entrance now, sliding trough the icy tomb and soon knocking himself at a dead end.

"Ow! My head..." Lloyd looks around, feeling scared. "Where... I am?" The boy hears some kind of slythering as a big, humanoid snake appeared from the dark.

"You are out of your mind to venture so far away from home, little one." The snake says. The creature His red eyes start to shine, gazing at Lloyd. "Look into my eyes. Give up your mind. I will control you."

Lloyd starts to feel dizzy. Suddendly slipping on the ice as he tries to walk forward. The dizziness soon disappears as the boy looks up and discover that the snake is now the one dizzy, gazing at his own reflection on the ice Pillar behind the boy.

Understanding the advantage he gained now, Lloyd decides to take action. "Hehehe... No. I will control you from now on, mister..." The boy gets up.

"I am Slithraa, Master." The snake bows to Lloyd. "What shall you have us do, Master?"

"Us?" The kid ask, surprised.

The whole tribe of blue snakes attends the situation occurring now, slithering the same way as their leader.

Lloyd look around him, amused. "My own army of snakes!" The boy grims. "That's perfect! Mwahahahaha!"

                                             ***

The Ninja are back at the Monastery, following the stairs back to the entrance. They are still arguing about who is the Green Ninja.

"So then we all agree." Jay says as them keep going. "The prophecy states that one of us will become the Green Ninja and the issue will not rest until it is decided." Everyone agree.

"May I suggest a tournament?" Zane asks. "Last ninja standing is the best."

"And then that person will be declared the Green Ninja! I like the sound of that!" Nya says, excited.

They finally enter the monastery to see Kai training at their training course. The sound of the door opening makes the boy notice them, ending up getting knocked off the course.

"Hey, Kai." Cole helps his friend get up. "Closer to beating Jay's speed record?" He jokes.

"Heh, like he could ever do that!" The blue ninja meddles in, feeling offended.

"I don't know, I think I'm pretty close." Kai smirks, taunting the ginger. He turns to everyone now. "Heard what happened in town. Just a false alarm?" 

"Pretty much." Nya shrugs. "Uh, but we're gonna need the space now. Sorry, Kai."

"Oh, don't worry. All yours." Her brother disables the training, leaving the área clear.

Cole moves towards a cabinet. He opens and picks up some kendo armor. "Two matches. Then the winners of each face off for the title." The black ninja throws one armor for each of them. "Armors for our own protection. It's time to see what these babies can do." He looks at his Scythe, shining brightly.

"Hey, Kai. Wanna stay and watch me mop the floor with them?" Nya smirks at her brother.

"It would be a pleasure..." Kai starts. "But I'll see how things are going on Jamanakai Village." He sets off. " Crush them, sis!" He grims before leaving.

"Alright!" Cole takes the lead after that. "First up: Nya versus Jay! Ninja, go!"

"Why did you put me with Nya right from the start?!" Jay whines.

"What? Scared of losing?" She taunts, getting ready.

The blue ninja swallow dry. "Not in a million years!" He snaps at her, flustered.

The fight commences. Jay circles his Nunchucks around, but ends up shocking himself by accident, making the girl giggle.

"H-hey! That's not my fault!" He tries to attack her, but Nya manages to block his Nunchucks with her Sword. Soon the fight is even between them. Both ninja fight with their might. Jay manages to be a little more faster though, dodging her attacks, annoying the girl.

"Can you... just... stop that?!" The red ninja shouts as her opponent laughs a little and take cover. 

"Sorry, Nya. Looks like I'm going to win this!" Jay winks at her.

"Ugh... Only in your dreams!" She snaps at him, pointing her Sword. Suddendly a fireball is blasted from the weapon, hitting Jay and launching him across the other side of the courtyard.

"Ow!" The blue ninja whines. He didn't seem harmed. "How did you did that?"

"I don't know... but it was cool!" She runs towards him, pointing her Sword at his face. "And I guess this makes me the winner."

"Aw, man... fine, fine..." The blue ninja accepts defeat. Nya helps him get up.

Zane and Cole take their place in the courtyard now, preparing themselves.

"Next up: Cole versus Zane! Ninja, go!" Nya shouts.

The fight is shown to be a balanced fight in the beginning until Zane uses one of his Shurikens to freeze Cole's legs.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Cole says, annoyed.

"I'm sorry, Cole. We have to do what we have to do." Zane says, attacking with his second shuriken. The black ninja deflects it. They keep that pattern for some time.

"You didn't thought I would give up that easily, right?" Cole says, confident.

"I wasn't expecting anything less from you." The white ninja speaks, respectful.

"Well, we're you expecting this?" Cole tackles Zane with his Scythe, aiming at the other boy's legs, making him trip and fall. "Check mate." He points his Scythe at the white ninja's face.

"W-well played." The blonde speaks getting up now. Nya enters again and unfreezes Cole's legs.

"Okay..." Jay says, without much effort. "For the prize and the title of best ninja...blah blah...ninja, go."

The two remaining ninja fight evenly with their respective weapons until Cole decides to try something new, hitting the floor with his scythe. This creates the place quake, knocking Nya out of her balance. The black ninja take the chance and tackles her, knocking the girl I'm the ground. 

"Pretty impressive!" Zane comments.

"Is Nya okay?" Jay says, worried.

"Don't worry, Jay. She's fine. Well, maybe her pride is hurt a little..." Cole jokes, helping her get up.

"Haha. Very funny." Nya says, annoyed. "Next time, you'll see-" Suddendly she feels a lot of heat coming from her weapon. "Huh?" The Sword of Fire starts burning now.

"W-woah!" Cole jumps, getting far away as possible. "What the heck, Nya!"

"It wasn't me!" The red ninja says, desperate. " It's just... too h-hot!"

"Look out!" Zane shouts.

"Nya! Watch out!" Jay scream, not knowing what to do.

The girl loses control of the weapon to the extent that she throws it on the ground. This causes the monastery to start burning. 

"What are we going to do now?" Cole asks, aimlessly hitting the ground with his Scythe. 

Suddendly Wu quickly goes outside. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"Master Wu!" Jay shouts. "Help us!!!"

The old man quickly takes Zane's shurikens, throwing them and somehow making them fly while dropping snow where the fire was. Soon everything is finally normal again. The shurikens come back to the elder.

"What were you thinking?!" Wu scream, furious with them.

"Uh, we were tryna figure out who is the Green Ninja." Jay mumbles. Zane slaps him, making the blue ninja notice his slip up. "Wait, did I say Green Ninja? No, sorry." He laughs and clears his throat. "What I-what I said was lean. Yeah."

"You found about the prophecy?" The old asks, his eyes widening. Nya brings him the scroll, saddened. "You were not supposed to see this." Their master look away.

"But Master, we wanna know." Zane speaks, with interest. "Which one of us is the chosen one?"

"None of you if you don't unlock your full potential." Wu shakes his head in disapproval.

"But my sword. It was so bright." Nya looks at the Sword of Fire, amused. "Is this what you meant by unlocking our Golden Weapons?" She looks at the old man, eagering answers.

"You are only at the beginning." The elder simply says. "And the road is long and winding, but yes, this is what I meant. If this is what it must take for you to train, then so be it." He looks at each of his pupils with worry. "But none of you are near the level of what it takes to be the Green Ninja." He decides to leave them be, entering in one of the rooms.

Each one of the Ninja are now looking at each other, uncertain.

"Was it just me, or Master Wu looked really pissed off with us?" Cole asks.

"Did we blew it our chances...?" Jay cautiously asks.

"He looked more troubled with something, if you ask me." Nya shrugs.

"I agree. Something really disturbed him." Zane nods.

They slowly decided to just keep on basic training for now. The teenagers didn't want to risk anything with their Golden Weapons, too.

Chapter Text

Kai sits on a bench in Jamanakai Village, sighing. Some days have passed already, but he still feels a little overwhelmed by Wu and the other ninjas.

"It could've been worse." He thinks. "At least they are nice and cool. Wish I could do something to help, though..."

Sudden desperate screams make the boy come back from his own thoughts. He watches as the citizens are screaming and flexing into their homes.

"What's going on now?" Kai mumbles, suspicious. He decides to hide in an alley, observing from the shadows as Lloyd appears, pushing a pushcart full of candy.

"Take the candy! Take it all!" The kid laughs evilly, or at least trying to sound like that.

Kai wonders why the villagers would run away from a little kid like that, and soon he discovers why. A big group of snakes in wandering around the village hypnotizing every person they find on their way.

Slithraa, their leader, slitherins around the area. Another snake follows him, looking completely in disbelief.

"This makes no sense, General. Raiding an entire town for sweets? Us, the Hipnobrai?" The snake tries to argument with his leader. Slithraa turns back to his comrade.

"You will do as I command, Skales. Or must I remember you that is I who holds the staff?" He says, angry.

"The Serpentine... they're really real?!" Kai whispers, shocked.

                                             ***

Back at the Monastery, Wu is meditading again in his room, completely revolved by a fog of smoke from his Spiritual Candles. He's finally at peace again, almost sleeping.

Then, he hears snakes slythering. A enormous group of them. He can see a fountain, people wandering, hypnotized, as the snakes keep going, raiding every place...

Wu comes back from that vision, sweating bullets. He runs towards the door, opening it and looking for the Ninja.

The four teenagers are still training on the courtyard. The old man goes out to them. "The Serpentine are back! Everyone in Jamanakai Village is in danger!" He shouts, pale.

Everyone stops what they are doing, confused. Zane approaches the elder. "Calm down, Master. We were just there. It was that boy, Llo—"

"The spirit smoke does not lie! An ancient evil has been released!" Wu cuts him off, desperate. 

"Kai's there right now." Nya speaks, worried.

"Kai?" Cole asks, getting worried too. He decides. "Okay, let's go." The ninja go to the dragon cabinets to mount their respective dragons, without problem this time around. 

"Stay close, and stay together." Cole says to everyone as they start their flying.

"Would we do it any other way?" Nya says with determination. The group make their way as quickly as possible.

The ninja arrive at Jamanakai Village. Leaving their dragons behind, a big number of villagers are still running away.

"I'm never coming down from this sugar ride!" Lloyd shouts at the square, trembling after eating a good amount of candy. "Woo-hoo!" Soon the group make their way trough him, scaring the kid.

"Sorry to bust your buzz, little Garmadon." Cole says, crossing his arms.

"But it's already past your bedtime." Jay says, smirking at his joke.

Lloyd looks at each of them. "The Ninja again! Get them!" The kid shouts. 

Soon the Ninja are the ones surprised when Slithraa appears, accompanied by his race.

"Seize them!" The general shouts, rattling his tail.

"Serpentine?!" Nya speaks, shocked. "You have to be kidding me!"

"Like I said earlier, they are real." Zane points out. The girl side eyes him.

"It doesn't matter! We can deal with a bunch of snakes!" She snaps back at him.

"It's not just them we have to worry about, the whole village has been hypnotized. Look!" Cole says, tense. The villagers that were in control of the snakes were taking their side, approaching the ninjas.

Jay pull his weapon, spining it to attack before Zane stops him. "No! Our weapons are too unstable." The white ninja says, looking at the people with worry. "We can do more harm than good."

"Oh, good point. Hehe..." The blue ninja puts his nunchucks away. "I guess that leaves us with RUN!!!" He shouts as he does exactly that. The others do the same  as everyone goes to one direction, deciding to escape trough the rooftop.

"I still can't believe that's happening." Nya shakes her head. She looks down as the Hipnobrai and the villagers walk around, looking for them. 

"Well, I'm more concerned about everyone there being mind controlled." Jay joins the red ninja. "How is that possible?"

"Must be their eyes." The girl points out. "I mean, it's a little hard to unnotice how big and bright they are. That's my bet." 

"And my little sis got it again!" A voice comes behind them, revealing Kai, hiding in the same space as the rest of the group.

"Huh, Kai! You're okay." Cole says, turning to the boy.

"Barely." The older brother sighs. "They've hypnotized everyone in town. I'm the only one left around."

"So is it true that we have to watch out for their eyes?" Zane asks as Kai nods.

"Great, what are we supposed to do?" Jay grunts. "We can't use our weapons, and now we gotta fight with our eyes closed? Ha, perfect." 

Kai turns his attention to the ground level. "From what I heard, that snake with the staff is the General. He's in charge here."

"That doesn't change the fact we have to save the villagers, too." Jay comments.

"I sense that staff Kai mentioned might be the answer." Zane thinks aloud. "It might be something greater than a symbol of power..."

"And now we have to go after the leader. Awesome." Jay snarks. "Isn't a little too risky?"

Nya puts a hand on the blue ninja's shoulder. "It's the only clue we have, and honestly seems possible."

"Ugh. Fine..." He sighs.

Cole crosses his arms. "Look, guys. Forget about the whole Green Ninja thing." The group face the black ninja. Kai gives them all a curious expression. "Let's make Master Wu proud. The four of us. We're a team."

"Now you're talking. We can do this!" Nya agrees.

"Oh. And Kai, you can be our honorary member." Jay says, smirking at the boy.

"Wow, what a honor." The spiky-haired boy responds with sarcasm. 

The group finally leaves the rooftop, heading against the Serpentine. The ninja try to avoid harming the innocent people, focusing their fight on the snakes.

The fight makes the group divide themselves a little from each other. "So what was that about a green ninja?" Kai asks to Nya, curious.

"Long story." She answers, dodging a person and kicking a snake away. "And now's not the best moment to tell it." She notices Jay fighting a little away from them.

"Okay, so you really wanna play?" He says, a little overwhelmed. "How about a little Spinjitzu? Ninja, go!" He does Spinjitzu, but loses control of it and falls to the ground. One of the Serpentine decides to take advantage and attacks.

"Jay! Watch out!" Nya jumps and blocks their foe with her sword. The blue ninja quickly gets up, flustered.

"Thanks, Nya." They start fighting alongside each other now. "Okay, we're really out of shape, I'll have to admit it."

The ninja slowly, but successfuly, start to turn the tide on their favor. Lloyd notices this and decides it's time to run away for his safety. 

"Ha! Consider this a warning, ninja!" The boy luaghs as he tries to run away with his pushcart. 

"You're not going anywhere." Zane throws his shurikens at the ground, freezing the pushcart and making Lloyd fall with all his candy.

"No... My candy!" The kid says, saddened. Zane quickly runs towards the child is.

"Master was right. Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today." The white ninja pick his weapons as he faces the boy. "We should've dealt with you the first time around."

Lloyd shrieks. "Retreat!" The boy screams, running away from the village.

"Retreat!" Slithraa repeats, following the boy. The rest of the Hipnobrai attempt to escape, but Cole manages to stop Slithraa, kicking the general and getting the staff.

"Go ahead. Give me a reason." The black ninja says, threatening. Slithraa, scared, slithers away without his staff.

"Now let's see... maybe this glowing thingie in the middle is like a antidote or something...?" The black ninja hears something in front of him, lifting his head.

Skales is looking directly at him with his glowing eyes. "Look into my eyes. I control you." The snake says, approaching the ninja.

"You... control..." Cole says, feeling dizzy all of a sudden, walking forward.

"Cole!" Kai jumps out of nowhere, kicking Skales in the head, allowing Cole to regain consciousness. " What are you doing? We have to save the people!" 

The black ninja shakes his head, looking at the staff in his hands. "Oh gosh, you're right!"

"Quick, over here!" Nya shouts from the fountain. 

"Good idea. Take it, Nya!" He throws the staff to the girl.

"Hope this works..." The red ninja says as she sticks the staff at the fountain. A dense fog comes out of the water, curing every person that It touches. Everyone starts helping out, bringing people who were too far from the fog.

At this point Wu finally manages to reach Jamanakai. The Ninja and Kai run towards the old man.

"Looks like everything is well as it ends well." Their master speak, looking around. He looked relieved.

"Maybe, but... we're sorry, Master Wu." Nya says. "If we dealt with Lloyd before he became a problem, none of this would've been necessary."

"Even lessons learned the hard way are lessons learned." The elder ponders, scratching his beard. "Mmm... so my nephew was the one behind this..." Wu close his eyes. "A great evil has been released. I fear troubling times will come. This is only the beginning." He shakes his head.

"Then we will train and be ready for the Serpentine." Zane speaks, determined.

"It may not be Lord Garmadon, but that doesn't mean we won't bring our A-game." Cole joins in, smirking with confidence.

"Help us train. Help us realize our potential." Nya pleas, still feeling bad for what happened.

"Yeah. Teach us the secrets behind the weapons of Spinjitzu." Jay joins the others now.

Hmm... there is much to teach, in that case. Come, we must return to the Monastery." He says. The four teenagers run towards their dragons at the entrance of the village.

Kai sighs. "When am I gonna get my own dragon?" The boy and Wu start walking off behind the group.

The elder looks at the spiky-haired boy for a moment. "Patience, Kai. Your time will come."

"What, is this about that green ninja story the others were taking about?" Kai asks. This makes the old man sigh deeply.

                                               ***

Lloyd and the Hypnobrai are back at the Hypnobrai Tomb.

"Uh... candy. I need candy." The boy grunts, sitting on the cold ground. 

Skales and Slithraa are arguing far from him. "The boy set us free." Slithraa says to the other snake.

"He is a child. He is not one of us." Skales speaks, completely in disbelief.

"I may not have the staff, but I'm still your General! Stand down!" The general shouts, ending the conversation.

Skales walks away, groaning, when a Hypnobrai soldier confronts him. "You coward! We all know he's under Lloyd's spell. You're second-in-command and still you do nothing?" His comrade says.

"Now was no tthe time, Mezmo." Skales simply says. "I still hold the key to destroy the ninja. And when I do that, everyone will see it is I who should be in control." He starts laughing wickedly. 

Chapter Text

It's another day at the Monastery of Spinjitzu. Wu is meditating once more. He can hear the ninja arguing outside his room again. The old man sighs.

"My turn! Uh, it's my turn!" Nya shouts.

"Oh, you want a little more? Take this!" Cole is heard right after.

"Yeah? How about a little of this?" Jay follows up.

"Monkey paw to the head!"

"Ninja, roll!"

Wu gets up and walk towards their video game room. Opening the door, the old man is surprised to see that none of the ninja are there.

"Dragon punch!" Jay shouts.

Intrigued, Wu goes to the training compound and is shocked to see that the ninja are actually training. Jay is deflecting arrows with his weapon, Cole is practicing on the dummies. Nya is practicing her Spinjitzu and Zane is meditating.

"Ninja, go!" Nya uses Spinjitzu and knocks out a few dummies.

Zane suddenly gets up from his meditation process and jumps in front of Jay.

"Hey! Huh?" The blue ninja gets confused. The white ninja then proceeds to jump towards Cole and snatches his weapon, attacking the dummies with the scythe.

"Hey! What? Give that back!" The black ninja says. Zane simply drops the weapon on the floor.

"Ninja, go!" The blonde makes Spinjitzu, freezing the whole compound, causing Nya to slip.

"Woah, ouch!" She says, knocking on the floor. The three ninjas regroup far away from Zane, who starts attacking the dummies again.

"You know what?" Nya streches herself. "I think this roof isn't big enough for the four of us."

"Correction: This roof isn't big enough for him." Cole says, looking frustraded.

"It's like he's in his own world." Jay groans. He looks at the white ninja. "I BET HE CAN’T EVEN HEAR US!" The boy raises his voice.

Wu approaches his three disturbed pupils. "Is something the matter?" He asks. The trio turn their attention to him.

"Master, Zane's... weird." Nya comments, scratching her head.

"What is weird? Someone who is different or someone who is different than you?" The old man mystifies.

"No, Master. He's 'weird' weird." Cole says, sighing. "Like that one day when I was using the bathroom and then he appeared out of nowhere. I thought he would leave when he noticed me, but he just started brushing his teeth!" The black ninja finishes, embarrassed.

"What about that other day?" Jay comments. "Nya and I were watching a sad romantic movie and then he just started laughing at the TV." The girl nods after that, agreeing.

"And these days I woke up to have a midnight snack and found him inside the fridge, saying something about eating the meat and offering me cheese." The red ninja says, rolling her eyes. "Listen, we like him. He's really smart, more than me. He's just..." She sighs. "A little off sometimes."

"Zane is a brother and brothers are often different." Wu talks, patient. "I should know." He lowers his head.

A few knocks on the Monastery's door draw everyone's attention. The door opens, revealing the postman from Ninjago City.

"Y'know, you really should look for another place to call home. These stairs don't make my job easy." The postman sighs, tired out. "Well, what are you waiting for?" He asks as everyone is still standing still. "I've got mail for you all."

The group approaches him.

"Let's see here..." The man pants. "A letter from Jay's parents."

"Sweet!" Jay grabs the mail, quickly starting to read it. 

"Nya has a letter from some people of her hometown." 

"Cool! Wonder How everyone is..." She grabs her letter.

"Oh, something from Cole's father, too. Well, It actually come from some place called 'Marty Oppenh-'" 

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Cole quickly shuts the postman off. "At least I have some way of talking to him..." He stops for a second. "Wait, no package? I'm expecting something from Creatures, Beasts, and Beyond."

"No. Nothing from..." The postman gives a second look. "Oh, here it is!" He hands a box to Cole.

"Ha! Rocky's gonna love this!" Cole says, smiling and hugging his package. Zane walks in now, with a sad expression. 

"Hey, thinking about now, I never heard anything about your homes, guys." Nya says. "You know pretty much everything about my life from before becoming a ninja."

"Heh, my parents are pretty amazing at everything. Mostly at mechanic, though. I mean, look at me!" Jay says, smirking.

"About my parents... It's complicated. Like, too much to deal about it. Sorry guys." Cole shuts off again.

"Oh wait." Nya says. "Sorry, Zane, you can pick your... Oh." She turns at the white ninja, but the postman is already gone. 

"Don't worry, Nya. I didn't received anything." Zane says, still sad.

"Actually, now that I'm thinking about it..." Jay ponders. "How come you never hear anything from your parents?"

"I... don't remember my parents." Zane speaks, lowering his head. "I've been an orphan all my life."

"You mean you've never had a home?" Nya asks, feeling bad for him. The white ninja just shakes his head timidly.

Wu approaches him. "The Monastery is your home now." He puts a hand on his pupil's shoulder. The boy nods, but sadly walks away. 

"I guess... I'll go and give Rocky his snack." Cole says, awkward. "Later, guys." The black ninja quickly runs towards the dragon cabinets, stopping at his own dragon's place.

"Hey boy! Look what I have here!" Cole says. The dragon approaches, sniffing the air. The boy then opens the package, revealing the meat. He can see that his dragon is happy. "Liver and toads, Rocky. Your favorite." The black ninja smiles, feeding his dragon. "Mm-hmm."

                                             ***

Far away from the Monastery, Skales finally open his eyes after watching the whole scene with the Ninja unfold trough Cole's eyes. A Hypnobrai comrade is by his side, curious.

"So? Did you saw it? The ninjas headquarters?" The snake asks.

"Yes, Rattla." Skales confirms. "I think I have a pretty good idea of where they live now." He smirks.

"I still can't believe you hypnotized one of the ninja." Rattla says, trembling with excitement. "Does the General know?"

Skales rolls his eyes. "Of course not. He's been put under the control of Lloyd. But I plan to use it for my best interest." He gives a wicked smirk. His expression frowns as he notices Slithraa approaching the duo. "Speaking of him..." He whispers.

"Everyone works while you two slack." The general looks at them with dissapointment. "As my second-in-command, I expect more from you, Skales." He starts to slither away.

"Yes, General." Skales speaks, following his leader. "General, you know I am most loyal to you, but I must question this childish agenda. The ninja have stolen our staff yet you instruct your army to make this playhouse for Lloyd? Snakes don't belong in trees." He points to outside. The Hypnobrai are working on a treehouse now. Orders coming from Lloyd, again.

Slithraa turns at him. "You know better than to question my judgement, Skales." He aggresively points at the other snake's chest. "I'll pretend you didn't ask."

"Hey!" Lloyd shouts, standing on a level down from the pair. "If we plan to rule Ninjago from here, this elevator needs to have a trapped door! I want more booby traps!" The boy says, laughing. 

"As you wish, young Garmadon." Slithraa bows at the child.

"As you wish, General." Skales says, displeased before walking away.

Chapter Text

It's already nighttime back in the Monastery. Wu, Kai and the ninja are at the dinner table waiting for their food.

"Mmm... Oh, I love it when it's Zane's night to cook. Everything he does is amazing!" Jay says, excited.

"Hey. I didn't hear any complains about my duck chowder last night." Cole points out, taken aback by his friend.

"That's because it glued our mouths shut." Nya giggles. "You really thought Jay was speechless all throughout dinner?"

"Yeah. Please don't make that again." Jay has a disgusted expression on his face.

"So, Master Wu..." Kai looks at the old man. "About that prophecy of the Green Ninja..." Everyone stops talking now, giving attention to the new topic.

Their master sighs. "Yes, Kai? What about it?" 

"The prophecy says that only one of your pupils can become the Green Ninja, right?" The boy asks, curious.

Wu side eyes him. "To be honest, all I have is what is written in the scroll. So I wouldn't be able to say..." The elder shakes his head. "But I don't think this should-"

"Dinner is served." Zane enters the dining room wearing a pink apron with flowers while pushing a cart with turkey, soup, Pilates of shrimp and some more dishes.

Everyone gets silent for a moment before start laughing all at the same time. Zane looks at his friends, confused.

"What's so funny?" He asks.

"Zane. You're wearing a..." Nya tries to keep herself from laughing. "It's just... it looks so stupid on you!"

"Honestly, it would look stupid on anyone here!" Jay laughs with her.

"You laugh because I take steps to ensure I'm clean after cooking?" The white ninja still don't understand what is happening.

"Haha! No! We laugh because you came out wearing that ridiculous outfit!" Kai says, almost crying from all the laughs.

"I guess we don't share the same sense of humor." Zane says, a bit hurt.

"Well, how about this?" Cole meddles in and picks one plate of shrimp, throwing on Jay's face.

"Hey! What gives?!" The blue ninja shouts. Everyone except Zane laughs.

"How could you not find that funny?" The black says between laughs. Wu takes the distraction moment to pour soup onto Cole's head. "Oh, c'mon!"

Their master puts each hand on Cole's and Zane's shoulder. "Now you are brothers." He speaks with a warm smile.

A food fight erupts after this between them. As food continues to get thrown up, and his apron gets dirty, Zane wonders if he was the problem himself.

                                         ***

Later that night, Zane is taking out the trash, still feeling out of place. "Sometimes I wonder what is wrong with me... They seem to have so much fun..." The white ninja thinks by himself.

He suddendly notices a sound coming from a nearby tree. A falcon is standing in one of its branches. Zane moves his head and gives the bird a timid smile, thinking about how pretty the animal looked.

The falcon then moved its Head on the same way as the boy. Curious, the white ninja starts moving his hands, and notices the bird copying his movements again. They keep their little game for a few moments until the falcon flies away.

"I wonder where its going to..." Zane decides to follow it. As he chaves the bird, soon he finds himself on a lonely forest, losing the animal in the process.

"Where are you, friend?" The white ninja speaks, looking around. He can see fire on the distance. Approaching the area, he can hear voices now. 

"If I see one girl in here. I'm gonna go ballistic." The white ninja recognized that voice. A fortress built up like a treehouse was in front of him, heavily guarded by the Serpentine. The owner of the voice, Lloyd, was giving orders at the top.

A new sound from a tree closer to the rock he was hiding makes the white ninja look up. There was the falcon once more, looking at the boy.

"Did you... wanted to show me this?" Zane whispers. The bird nods, flying away after that. "Thank you, my mysterious friend." Zane smiles, running away.

                                         ***

The following day, Zane is leading his team towards the fortress.

"I think I'll have to ask since no one is trying." Nya says, intrigued. "Uh, Zane? Could you tell us again how you stumbled upon Lloyd's secret headquarters?"

"I followed a bird." The white ninja bluntly answers.

"Why did you follow a bird?" Jay asks, a little annoyed from the leg work.

"Because it danced." Another blunt answer. 

"Oh...okay. Was it a cuckoo bird?" Jay jokes, making Nya and Cole laugh.

"Of course not." Zane looks at the blue ninja. "Everyone knows cuckoo birds are not indigenous to these forests." The other three ninja stumble after hearing that, but keep following Zane to the tree house.

"Watch it! No, bigger!" The group see Lloyd giving orders to every snake he finds not working. "Come on, we don't have all day! It's not time for a lunch break."

"Holy cannoli, Frosty was right!" Cole whispers, shocked.

"You have to be kidding me." Nya comments, noticing a sign with the words "NO NINJA!" and "NO GIRLS!" written in it.

Jay laughs. "I guess we have to break some rules then." He looks at the girl, playful. She smirks at him.

"You can say that again. Let's destroy that thing before it becomes operational." She crosses her arms.

"That's a shame, really. It's looks pretty cool." The blue ninja adds. "Ropes course, Tree swings..."

"Really? Tree houses? Aren't you a softie!" The red ninja giggles, causing Jay's ears to became red as her robes.

"Hey! Let me remember you this isn't a date." Cole side eyes the pair, making them flustered. The boy looks at Zane after that. "What can you about this thing, Zane?"

"It looks like the entire place is being supported by those three trees. Once those ties are severed, the whole thing may fall." The white ninja says after some observing.

"Heh, exactly like a house of cards." Jay says, smirking.

"But why would one make a house of cards? Such construction would be careless." Zane asks, confused.

"Oh, brother." Nya shakes her head.

"Travel in shadows, guys." Cole says. Each of them decides what rope they're going to cut. Nya severs a rope and uses it to swing into the tree house. Seeing that, Jay decides to tag along with Zane as the white ninja climbs a tree while Cole uses the elevator.

The group can see Lloyd more closer now. "Hehehe. It's almost finished. Soon, my fortress will be complete." The kid cheers. He looks at a snake passinho by.  "You! Stay right here!" The snake obeys as Lloyd pulls a lever, sending the soldier crashing to the floor. "Watch out for the ooby traps!" The kid laughs.

The ninja get to the top of the tree house and reach for the poles. Nya pulls her Sword and cut the first rope, making the whole place trembles and fall by one side. The Serpentine scream, shocked. 

"What is going on?!" Lloyd screams.

"Ninja, go!" Jay and Zane say together as they use Spinjitzu to sever the second rope. The tree house stumbles and sends everyone flying off onto the ground. Upon looking for the reason why the tree house stumbled, Lloyd spots Nya jumping on top of the tree house.

"Ugh, again?!" The boy says, frustraded. "I said no ninja! Attack!" 

Hearing this, Skales groans, shaking his head. "Everyone! Retreat!" He shouts. The snakes begin to run, leaving the tree house.

"What?!" Lloyd asks with wide eyes.

Meanwhile, Zane and Jay reunite with Nya on the roof. The girl looks at Cole, close to the third and last rope. "Cole! Wait till we're off the treehouse, then cut the line." She shouts to him. The black ninja nods in agreement.

Skales finally notices Cole after that. He turns around. "You! You will obey my every command." He points at the black ninja, making him fall under his hypnosis again.

"I will obey your every command." Cole says with a monotonous voice, walking away from the rope.

"What is Cole doing?" Jay asks curiously as he tries to maintain his balance.

"Who cares? We need to get out, this whole place is coming down!" Nya says, looking for a way. They suddendly hear a loud noise as Cole jumps to the roof, pulling his Scythe.

"No one goes anywhere until you deal with me!" The black ninja says, aggressive.

"What's gotten into him?" Nya asks, surprised.

"He's under their control." Zane points out.

"Yeah, well he better snap out of it quick because this whole place looks like it's about to go down!" Jay shouts, panicking.

                                             ***

The Hipnobrai are on the last before getting out. Lloyd runs towards them, grabbing Skales arm, desperate. "Wait! Don't go. We have to protect my treehouse fortress." The kid says, almost crying.

"Your treehouse?!" Skales look at him in disbelief. "It's about time we did this!" He walks away from Lloyd.

"D-did what?" The boy nervously asks as the snake pulls a lever, trapping Lloyd in a cage. "Hey!" The boy shouts. The other Serpentine that were still there start laughing, cheering on Skales. The snake smiles at this sight.

"Get the boy, it's time to get our staff!" He shouts. The others snakes nod and follow him, taking Lloyd with them.

                                          ***

Cole still has the ninja cornered, grunting at them. Jay tries to slowly approach his friend.

"Okay, now come on. Friends don't hit friends, right?" The blue ninja says. Cole kicks the ginger on the jaw. He stumbles back, being catch by Nya and Zane. "Ow, okay. "I'm gonna... ignore that."

"Are you okay, Jay?" Nya asks. The boy nods and she sighs, relieved. "What're we supposed to do? If I use my Sword, this place will turn up into flames faster than a tinder box." She says, worried.

"Isn't the anti venom in the staff?" Zane asks.

"Yeah, but the staff is back at the Monastery." Jay answers, sweating.

Cole advances and knocks Nya off the top, causing her to take hold on the Edge of the roof.

"Nya!" Jay shouts, running towards her. The boy gives the red ninja a hand, helping her get up. Cole comes for another attack from behind the blue ninja, but Zane manages to block him with his Shurikens.

"Jay! Use your Lightning! Try to shock him out of his trance!" The white ninja says, managing to make Cole back off.

"Oh, right, right!" The blue ninja pulls his Nunchucks. "Sorry, Cole, but this is gonna hurt you a lot more than it's gonna hurt me." He spins his weapon, creating a lightning that shocks Cole and knock him out.

"Did it work...?" Nya asks, catiously. Suddendly Cole gets up again, angrier than before.

"Uh-oh. I-I don't think so..." Jay says, but gets knocks off of the tree house by the black ninja.

"Jay!" The other two ninja shout together. The blue ninja manages to catch one of the ropes, but the tree house continues to collapse.

"Yeah, that is a serious safety hazard!" Jay grunts, grasping at his rope.

Cole jump towards the last rope once more, this time preparing  to sever it with his teammates still on the rooftop.

"No, Cole! Don't!" Nya shouts.

"No! No, Cole! No!" Zane joins her.

Suddendly a song fills the air, causing Cole to snap out of the trance. He stumbles, dizzed. The other ninja look for the cause of the song, finding Wu playing a flute as Kai mounts Flame, both of them coming for the ninjas rescue.

"Huh? Where-where am I? What are we doing?" Cole finally comes back, looking at everyone getting up on the dragon.

"We're getting outta here because this whole place is coming down!" Kai says , giving a hand to Cole as everyone makes their way.

"That flute!" Nya says, looking at the instrument at their master's hands.

"It cancels their powers!" Jay says, surprised.

"It's as old as the Serpentine themselves." The old man explains. "But we must hurry! The Monastery is unguarded! Quickly!" He says, worried.

They make their way trough the sky as fast as they can, hoping to be able to get home before something bad happens.

Chapter Text

By the time the ninja return to the Monastery, it was burnt down. Some of it was still covered by the flames.

"Oh no! We're too late!" Kai says, saddened by this vision. "Those snakes..." The older brother grunts.

Everyone jumps off Flame, looking at the fire. A cry for help makes them turn around. The other three dragons were still on their cabinets.

"Rocky!" Cole shouts, alarmed. He quickly releases the dragons to gain some fresh air.

"Our home." Nya looks around them, shocked with the destruction.

"Shard! Put this out!" Zane shouts to his dragon. The creature flies and breathes an icy breeze, freezing the burning flames. As the smoke rises, the group looks for something salvageable. "The training equipment, gone." The white ninja shakes his head, dissapointed.

"Our video games, gone!" Jay says, desperate.

"They stole their staff back." Wu says after having a good look at everything.

"What do we do now?" Cole asks, looking at everyone, completely lost.

Kai watches his sister sit on the floor, leaning against the wall. She sighs, closing her eyes and lowering her head. Her brother's sadness quickly turns to anger as he face the other ninjas.

"Are you guys happy, now?!" He says. "If you hadn't leave to have some 'putting houses down' silly adventure, none of this would've happened!"

"What? How everything about this is our fault?!" Cole asks, annoyed.

"Well, let's see..." Kai snarks at the black ninja. "You all leave without explaining anything; we found you by pure luck because I don't know HOW Wu found you guys..." The boy then points at Cole. "And we had to help you get rid of you hypnosis. Congratulions, guys!"

"Kai, that's enough-" Nya starts, but gets cut off by Cole.

"And who are you to say something?! At least we are doing something to stop these guys, because that's our job to do! Try do make a difference before saying things like that." Cole snaps at the spiky-haired boy.

Jay and Zane try to keep them apart as both of them keep to argue. "C'mon, guys... We can do better than that." The blue ninja says.

"This is a teaching moment. We must learn from this." Zane joins him.

"A 'teaching moment'?" Cole shouts in disbelief, turning to Zane now. "What's wrong with you? Don't you get it?! EVERYTHING IS GONE!"

"Ugh, seriously?!" Nya meddles in. "Just shut up, all of you! Stop acting like little kids! Specially you, Kai!"

"Why am I in the wrong here?!" Kai shouts back at her. "They just said I'm useless, while of your four, one was attacking his own team, one was hanging from a rope trying not to fall, and the rest was just looking stupid on their own."

"Wow, thanks for the compliment!" The red ninja says, angry.

"Hey, it's not my fault!" Jay interjects. "Cole was the one dumb enough to get himself hipnotized!" 

"Are you really pushing the blame on me now?!" The black ninja crosses his arms. "If Zane hadn't followed that stupid bird, none of this would've happened!"

"Cole..." Wu interveins.

"No, Master, he's right!" Jay says, getting annoyed. "Because of him, we lost everything now! Even my high scores!"

"Is THAT your main concern?!" Nya asks, dumbfounded. "Where are we going to-"

"Enough!" Wu shouts with autority. The group turn to look at the old man. "We are all at fault today. Don't throw the blame on each other. We are a family. Apologize at once. Please." The elder lowers his head.

Everyone slowly change emotion and start apologizing to each other.

"Sorry, guys..." Nya says, embarrassed.

"Yeah, me too." Jay says after her.

"Maybe I was a bit harsh with everyone..." Kai shrugs off, still feeling a little bitter from the argument.

"I ended up failing with you guys again...Sorry." Cole lowers his head. "Specially to you, Kai. And Zane, you're no- Huh?" Zane disappeared during their fight.

"Uh... Where's Zane?" Nya asks, confused. They hear the sound of wings flapping and soon see Shard flying trough the sky, going away from the Monastery. Everyone look at each other, worried. "Oh no..." 

                                              ***

Lloyd and the Hypnobrai return to the Hypnobrai Tomb. Skales is leading the way, holding the tribe's staff with Lloyd tied up and being dragged far from everyone else. The kid looks at Slithraa, waiting for him to act.

"Do something, General!" Lloyd says, desperate. "You're still under my command, right?"

The general finally grunts, approaching Skales. "Enough! I am the General! You will return my staff at once!" He points at Skales once more, who looks from his commander to the staff, finally deciding.

"No. I won't!" He says, aggressive.

"You dare challenge my command?!" Slithraa speaks, completely in disbelief.

The other soldiers look at both sides, slowly starting to chant something. "Slither Pit! Slither Pit! Slither Pit! Slither Pit!" They shout as one.

Skales looks around him, liking what he sees. He slowly caress the staff. "I guess we'll have to fight for it... in the Slither Pit!" He says, defiant.

The Hypnobrai cheer as Skales and Slithraa walks towards an icy arena, preparing for the fight. Mezmo comes to the two, taking the staff from Skales.

"Winner gets the staff and leads the tribe! You know the rules. There are none, but in the Slither Pit, whatever I say goes. Alright, fight!" He announces.

The fight is evenly fair on the first round. Skales proves that besides being in a lower position, he's more than ready to fight. 

Lloyd sweats, hoping for Slithraa to win the fight. The boy looks around him, spotting a skeleton closer to a ice rock. The skeleton had some kind of purse, and a piece of paper could be seen out of it. 

"What's that?" Lloyd mumbles, curious. His attention is brought back to the snakes fight when he hears Mezmo again.

"Two weapons!" The soldier shouts, pulling a lever and lowering a weapons rack containing said instruments made of ice. Slithraa takes a pick-axe and a shield while Skales takes two katanas. Slithraa throws the pick-axe at Skales, but Skales  manages to dodge it, giving a confident smirk.

"Side winder!" Mezmo announces again, pulling another lever that makes arena  tilt from one side to another, causing the two snakes to start sliding. 

Lloyd stops looking and manages to retrieve the piece of paper. By the looks of it, it was some sort of map. The kid wondered what kind of map it was, shaking his head and concentrating again on the duel.

"Go, General! Go!" He shouts.

Slithraa tries to hypnotise Skales, but Skales kicks him to stop the hypnosis. Skales then does a move that dizzies Slithraa and then kicks him on the ground.

"He used Fang-Kwon-Do!" A snake in the crowd yells, impressed.

"Get up! Get up!" Lloyd says, worried. Slithraa doesn't get up, giving the victory to Skales, who lifts his weapons, satisfied.

"We have a winner!" Mezmo cheers with the rest of the Hipnobrai. He passes the staff to Skales, who gently accepts it. As soon as this happens, the magic from the staff changes the new general. He gains a tail and general markings all over his body as the opposite occurs to Slithraa, now a simple Warriors with legs.

"Skales! Skales! Skales! Skales!" The tribes keeps chanting on their new leader.

"You will be loyal to me now!" Skales says, pointing his staff at the other snake on the ground.

"I will do as you command." Slithraa bows to him, defeated.

"Good." Skales smirks. He then turns to Lloyd, who was pale and sweating. "As for you! Leave, and never return!"

The young boy simply gasps and runs for his life, out of the Serpentine Tomb.

                                               ***

The ninja are still sitting on the Mountains of Impossible Height, trying to gain their spirits in the middle of their destroyed home. They made a bonfire, as the sun is already setting.

"Wh-what are we eating again?" Kai asks, looking at something on a attached on a stick that definitely didn't resembled meat.

"Mud newt." Cole says between munches. "Not bad for something that lives underground." The boy shrugs.

"What?" Jay screams, disgusted. He spits out the piece he was eating before throwing away his portion. The blue ninja then picks a rock from the ground and throws it into a can. "Yeah! A n-new high s-sc-score!" He sighs, feeling worse than before.

"Remember, we must be thankful for what we still have." Wu patiently says, finishing his meal.

"And WHAT do we have? Our home is gone." Kai speaks, notably dissapointed. "We don't even have a place to sleep."

"You know, after all that happened, I don't miss our home." Nya says, sad. "What I really miss is Zane. I wish he was with us."

"Yeah. I miss Zane. He's a weirdo, but like Master Wu said, he's part of the family." Jay agrees, as the old man gently nods. "We couldn't find him even with our dragons..."

"At least we tried. I'm sure we'll find him." The girl gives a timid smile to the blue ninja, who smiles back.

"Zane?" Cole asks, confused.

"Uh, yeah, Zane." Jay turns to the black ninja. "You know. White Ninja. The smart, strange one." 

"No." Cole shakes his head, giving a warm smile and then pointing to the stairs. "Zane!"

The white ninja is at the top of the stairs, shyly smiling at his friends.

"Zane!" Everyone shouts, running towards him.

"Zane. We're so sorry for everything we've said." Jay says, nervous. "We're a team and that means we're all responsible for everything, the good and the bad..."

"We shouldn't have pushed the blame to each other, specially not on you." Cole agrees, embarrassed.

"And sorry for calling you weird, and making fun of your apron, too." Nya says, scratching the back of her head.

"It's okay, you don't need to apologize to me." Zane smiles, trying to calm the group.

"But what about all those awful things we said? Isn't that why you left?" Jay asks, confused.

"Of course not." The blonde shakes his head. "I saw the Falcon again and I followed him." He bluntly says.

Everyone gets dumbfounded after hearing this. The silence is briefly broken with a little laugh coming from Cole.

"That's our Zane." He hugs the white ninja, with the whole group joking in soon enough.

"We're happy to have you back." Nya speaks, giving her friend a warm smile.

"Why? Is it my turn to make dinner?" The boy asks. Everyone starts laughing after this.

"Yes, Zane. We would love for you to make dinner." Wu smiles, happy and proud of his pupils.

"But I already made it. Come." Zane gets out of the stairs, mounting Shard. "I want to show you what I've found. I think you will all be pleased."

"Looks very far too, if we'll need the dragons." Kai sighs, hopping in Rocky with Cole.

"C'mon, Kai. Don't be a buzzkill." Cole smirks at the other boy.

Soon they land on the Sea of Sand. A land that in the past was a enormous part of the ocean. Zane jumps from his dragon, and everyone does the same.

"I can't explain it, but I feel a strange connection with the Falcon." Zane turns to them as they walk. "I think he's trying to help show us the path we need to take." He gives a shy smile.

"So... what did he showed you this time?" Jay asks. "Not another secret evil base, I hope?"

"Better than that." The white ninja simply says. He points at something in front of them. A red, big ship with a dragon's head in the bow is stranded at the sand. "Our new home."

Everyone is surprised by this revelation.

"Wait, D-Do I smell pie?" Jay says with sparkles in his eyes.

Zane nods. "Cobbler berry. Oh, and I made myrtle berry and apple and-"

"ZANE IS THE BEST!!!" Nya, Jay, Cole and Kai race to the ship, cheering on their friend. Wu approaches the white ninja.

"I'm proud of you, Zane." The old man says, smiling. "One day, I promise. We will find your family."

"But... I've already found them." Zane smiles, looking at everyone as their enter the boat. Wu nods, happy to see his pupil happy.

"I feel there's more to you than meets the eye. There's something special about you, Zane." The elder says, pondering more to himself than anything else.

"Master, will I become the Green Ninja?" The blonde curiously asks. Wu gives a gently sigh. 

"It's too early to tell, but if it's in your path, you'll know." The old man puts a hand on Zane's shoulder. "Come now. It would be a shame to let them to eat all that pie." 

As both of them enter the ship to take part on dinner with the rest of the team, a lonely Lloyd observes the group with saddeness is his eyes. The boy looks away, giving his attention to the map he took from the Hipnobrai, wandering about aimlessly by himself.

Chapter Text

A new day arises for the Ninja, this time on their new home, the ship they found recently. The four teenagers are all sleeping on two bumkbeds when a banging noise soon wakes them up.

"Evil doesn't sleep and neither should you!" Master Wu who was the one creating the sound, banging a gong. The ninja groan, visually annoyed. "In order to reach your full potential, we must greet each day as an opportunity." Their master speaks with autority.

Nya finally gets up. "Okay okay, we're up." She yawns. "But if you want us to reach full potential, shouldn't we at least get a full night of rest?" 

"You call that a rest?" Cole speaks, stretching his back. "I think my back has more lumps than the mattress."

"We were up so late, talking about how cool it is to have a new headquarters, I guess we lost track of time." Jay shrugs, grabbing his toothbrush and opening a tap in the sink, unnoticing that the only thing that came out was dirt. "Since the Serpentine burned down our monastery, I'm just glad we have a roof over our head..." The boy starts to brush his teeth and spits out the dirt, disgusted. "Ugh, great..."

"What is our lesson today, Sensei? Mastering the Strike of the Scorpion?" Zane asks, striking a pose. "Or perhaps the grace of— woah!" The floor below him breaks, causing him to fall and lift a pile of dust, making the boy cough.

"I think today's lesson would be... chores." Wu slowly says, looking at the mess.

"Chores?!" Everyone says together.

"Ninja fight, Master! They do not clean." Cole grunts, dissapointed.

"In order to respect ourselves, we must respect our new home and where we are from." Their master patiently speak. "And this place is a long way from becoming a ninja headquarters. I expect things to be spotless when I return." He goes trough the door. "And put your backs into it." The old man teases his pupils banging the gong a last time.

"This place is gonna take forever to clean and fix up." Nya grumbles, picking a broom from a closet.

"Unless we... put more than our backs into it, huh?" Jay playfully winks.

"Heh, I don't see a problem with that." Cole smirks, agreeing.

"As long as Master Wu doesn't find out..." Zane adds.

"Okay, fine by me." Nya nods, dropping the broom. " Let's go, guys!"

"Ninja, go!" Cole makes Spinjitzu, cleaning up the trash on their room, then moving to each room in the ship to do the same. The black ninja finally takes out all the trash and put it outside. "And... here it goes." He finishes putting a sign with the words "FOR SALE" written on it.

Inside, Zane throws the Shurikens of Ice toward the walls of the rooms, freezing it. Nya uses the Sword of Fire on the ice, melting everything away with the dirt. They do a high-five after finishing.

Meanwhile, Jay founds a bunch of old manchines, and decides to try and repair them all. He first uses his Nunchucks to energize everything. Soon the machines start to make sounds, making the boy smile, satisfied. 

"Hey there." Nya appears from behind him. "Mind if I join you?" 

"Oh, hey Nya!" Jay smiles. "Sure, come here. I was thinking about a lot of cool things we could do with this place since yesterday!" His eyes are shining again.

"Cool things like what?" She asks, curious, having fun with his excitement.

"Heh, things that will make the training course from the Monastery look like old junk!" He smirks, liking the chance at the spotlight.

"Well, looks like these two are off talking about machinery again." Cole streches himself. "I guess that's my cue to take a nap after all that work." He turns to Zane. "What about you?"

"I found a journal in one of the cabinets." The white ninja explains, closing said journal. "Did you know this ship has a name? It was called 'Destiny's Bounty'. Looks like it belonged to a group of pirates, too."

"Destiny's Bounty..." Cole speaks, thoughtful. "That's sounds nice for a headquarters. Let's keep it." The black ninja grims, while the blonde nods in agreement. 

Soon each one was doing their own thing. After some hours have passed, Wu finally returns, accompanied by Kai. 

"Hey Kai!" Nya comes to greet her brother, a little smudge of oil on her face. "Where have you been all this morning?"

"Hey, sis." The boy grims. "I was busy doing... some things.  He dodges the question. "What about you?" 

"Just working on some special mechanisms to our new home, nothing much." Jay enters the conversation, wiping away some oil from his hands.

Kai takes a look around him. "Wow, This place looks amazing! You guys did all this?"

"Ninja don't just fight, Kai. We also clean, too." Cole meddles in, back from his nap.

Wu takes a good look at everything. "Oh, you have exceeded my expectations..." Suddendly everyone hears a honk outside the ship. "...but can you keep it up?" He asks, more to himself. 

Nya runs towards the window, noticing a hideous car coming from the sand, with a couple inside it. The girl turns around to the rest of the group.

"Looks like we're about have some visitors." The red ninja says. "And pretty loud ones at that." She adds.

"What?!" Jay quickly becomes nervous, running towards the window too. "Ugh... It's my parents." 

"Your parents?" Zane repeats, curious.

"Yeah, I wrote to them yesterday about our new hideout..." The blue ninja says.

"I guess they wanted to pay a visit, then." Cole comments.

Jay ponders for a few moments, thinking at what to do, then finally deciding. "Okay, please, if they start yapping, just don't let them going, okay? They don't know when to quit. And if you start talking, then they'll start talking. And suddenly, half the day is gone before you know it ends..." 

"We get it! They talk a lot!" Nya decides to cut him off. 

"The cherry doesn't fall far from its blossom." Kai mumbles to Cole, making the other boy chuckle.

Jay's parents drop off their car. "Oh, heh. Take a note, Edna: either better brakes or a better bumper..." Jay's father says before noticing the pile of trash outside the Ninja home. "Oh, will you look at all this great stuff?" The man takes a good look at everything, fascinated. "They can't just get rid of it. We should have brought the trailer, Edna."

"This ain't a flea market, Ed. We're here for Jay!" Edna patiently says to her husband as she writes on a notepad.

"What was that? Did you take a note?" Ed asks, looking at her.

"I'm writing it down, Ed." She keeps taking notes.

Jay finally takes courage and walks outside. "Mom! Dad! What are you doing here?" The boy greets his parents, trying to sound excited to see them.

"Oh, look! It's my baby boy!" Edna gives him a hug. "It's been so long since we heard from you!"

"Ma, I literally wrote a letter to you two yesterday." The blue ninja says, embarrassed.

"Hehe. Oh well... It's not soon enough, son." Ed gives him a hug too. "When are you coming out to the junkyard? You say you are coming an..an..and you don't."

Jay groans. "Dad... do we have to talk about the junkyard in front of my friends?!" He asks, completely distressed.

"Oh, he hates it when we tell people he was born in a junkyard." Edna says, giggling. 

"And somehow, that ends up being the first thing you talk about." The blue ninja mumbles, sad. 

A awkard silence comes from that, until Edna finally notices Nya with the group."

Oh... and who are you?" The woman gasps. "You are so cute! You are just my son's type." She says with a warm smile.

"Mom!" Jay whines, blushing deeply. 

"It's a pleasure meeting you." Nya says, a bit flustered. "I'm sure if you want, Jay can give you a tour. We worked very hard on it." 

"We'd love a tour!" The couple cheer, excited.

Jay knocks his head and sighs. He then spends the afternoon showing his parents the Bounty. Sometimes he could hear someone laughing as his parents told some of his embarrassing memories, making the blue ninja try to make the tour go even quicker.

"And this the bridge." Jay says, relieved to know this is the last stretch. The boy starts pointing everything out. "This extends into a periscope. This tells what's going on of Ninjago." He then goes towards a strange machine. "And this... if a Serpentine's not giving us the answer we want and we're late up night..."

"Oh, A neuro apparatus to read their minds?" Edna cuts her son off.

"An audio appliance to make them talk?" Ed joins her.

"No, a cappuccino machine." Jay simply says, activating it.

"Haha. Amazing, son! We're so proud of you." His father says, putting a hand on his shoulder, making the boy give a shy smile for that.

"Why don't you tell them about the button?" Nya gently asks.

"Heh heh, it's not ready yet." Jay quickly tries to shut her idea off.

"Oh, what's the button?" Edna asks, curious.

"They were working on a special defense system." Zane explains.

"Something every ninja headquarters needs." Cole adds in agreement.

"Oh, really?" Ed seems interested. "What does it do? Can I help?" 

"No, it's okay. I don't need your help, dad. Let's just leave it alone." Jay cuts the conversation, exhausted. "Hey, look at the time. Don't you need to get back before it gets dark? I told you, there's dangerous Serpentine out there." The blue ninja says, deciding to end his parents visit for them.

"Uh, I suppose we could get back." Ed awkwardly agrees.

Soon the group is saying their goodbyes to the couple, outside de Bounty now.

"Edna, it was a pleasure hearing about Jay's first potty time." Cole says, giving a playful look at the blue ninja, who side eyes him.

"Oh, if you thought that was good, wait until you hear the story about the time I caught him kissing his pillow!" The woman says with glee.

"Snakes, Ma. Snakes!" Jay groans, wishing he could bury his head into a hole from shame.

"Okay, we're going. We're going." She says, entering their car. "So you promise to come to the junkyard to visit your mother and father?" 

"Yes, I promise! But only if you leave." The blue ninja says, impatient, then giving a deep breath, noticing the way he said that. "I don't want you to get hurt. It's getting dark. Uh, your headlights are working, right?"

Ed turns on the headlights in response. Everyone grunts as they shield their eyes.

"Heh, like 'em? I used a little extra juice." Jay's father says, proud. He turns off the headlights. "Yep. Bye, son. I couldn't be more proud." The man starts the engine.

"And bring Nya with you, will ya? I can see why you like her." Edna shouts as their car quickly moves away from the ship.

"Mom…!" Jay grunts.

Wu scratches his beard. "Now that they have left, perhaps Jay can teach us The Art of… Kissing Pillows." The old man playfully snickers.

"Argh! I'm done with today!" Jay groans, quickly turning around and walking towards the Bounty, relieved that at least the day was over.

Still, everyone kept laughing about everything that happened that afternoon, speacilly Jay's embarrassing memories, for the blue ninja's distress.

Chapter Text

Ed and Edna finally arrive at their junkyard. They leave the car and walk together to the trailer they live.

"I don't think he's coming, dear." Ed says, talking about Jay. "Did you see the look on his face?"

"Stop it, Ed. He's coming." Edna responds. "He was probably troubled with his feelings for Nya."

Her husband shakes his head. "No, I think there was more than that..." The man sighs. "I guess our boy doesn't need us anymore. I just have to remember that. Uh, write it down for me, would ya?"

"Oh, dear. Lights, dear. It's getting dark." Edna says, completely oblivious to the rest of the conversation.

"Right, heh. Thanks, sugarplum." He nods, turning them on.

                                             ***

Lloyd is walking trough a cemetery completely obscured by the fog. The boy is struggling to follow his map directions. He's also a little scared by the place.

"It's not scary." He says to himself. "Um, maybe just a little, but I like scary. Yeah, that's it. I'm the son of the Dark Lord. I love the dark. I eat this stuff for breakfast." 

A owl hoots from a tree, making the kid scream. He takes some time to recover himself, then starts to keep going. "I'm gonna make those Hypnobrai pay for betraying me." He says, frustraded. "I have to find the Fangpyres. If there's anything a snake doesn't like, it's another snake." He finally comes across a tree, giving another look on the map then smiling after that. "Here, by the mutated tree on the Cemetery of Souls. I found it!"

Lloyd starts looking for something that could be a hidden lever or button to open the tomb. It takes some time, but he is able to reach a lever hidden behind a gravestone.

"Yes! Soon, the Serpentine will know who their master is, and it will be I, Lloyd Garmadon!" The child laughs evilly as lightning crackles. He finally pulls the lever, opening the tomb. 

"Ahhh!" Lloyd screams as red and white snakes emerge from the hole, with the Fangpyre General coming right after. Curiously, he had two heads.

"And who..." The one from the left said. "...may I say released us..." The one from the left followed up. "...from our captivity?" The left one finished.

Garmadon's son slowly gets up. "Uh, Lloyd. Are you two the generals,I think?"

"Yes..." one said. "I am..." said the other. "Fangton." 

"O-okay..." Lloyd just nodded, getting confused by Fangton's heads. "I released you to make the Hypnobrai pay for betraying me." He said, trying to sound convincing.

"The Hypnobrai?!" The head from the right looked at its other pair.

"Those hypnotizing deceivers!" The other said, slythering his tongue. Both of them look at the kid in front of them.

"It'll be..."

"...our pleasure."

"Oh, good." Lloyd sighs, relieved. "I'll lead the way. Then after that, there's some ninja I want dealt with." He grims.

"Sounds like..." The left head started. "...you know..." The right one kept going. "...what you want." The first one finished.

"But the Hypnobrai are strong." Fangton keeps talking.

"And we are few in numbers." His other Head continues.

"We need..."

"...reinforcements!" He finally finishes.

"What did you have in mind?" Lloyd asks, interested.

Fangtom hisses as the rest of the Fangpyre rise from the tomb as Lloyd once again laughs evilly.

                                             ***

At the junkyard, Ed leaves their trailer, with a toolbox on his hand. "Home, sweet home. And back to the grind." He says, heading towards what appears to be some kind of statue resembling Jay.

"Oh, sweetie. You've been working on that thing day and night." Edna says from their window.

"Well, you never know when Jay may show up." Her husband says, already dealing with the object.

"Oh, you're right. You never know." She agrees, going back to whatever she is doing inside.

Ed works for a few minutes until he hear something strange. He turns his back to see a dark silhouette passing behind a broken car.

"Uh, Edna...? Was that you?" He slowly asks, nervous.

"What, Ed? Are you hearing things again?" His wife appears on the window again.

"Uh, you uh, you turned on the security alarm before you left, didn't ya, hun?" He asks, looking around, trying to find whatever is in the dark.

Intrigued, Edna goes outside, pulling a lever stucked on a eletric pole. Nothing happens. "Uh, must be broken." She says.

Suddendly the power goes out. Startled, Edna runs towards her husband.

"Whoever's there, my son knows Spinjitzu!" Ed shouts, trying to sound intimidating. The couple hear hisses around them.

"What is it, Ed? Oh, why are the lights out?" Edna says, trembling. Ed hugs her.

"Call Jay, hun. Someone's broken in!" He says, sweating.

"How about we wait until he calls you?" Lloyd appears from a pile of trash, holding a phone with a broken cord. "Muahahaha!"

"Ed..." The woman says.

"Be strong, Edna. I won't let them hurt you." Ed says, holding her closer.

Fangton then appears on Lloyd's side, looking at his surroundings. "If we plan... ...to attack... ...the Hypnobrai... ...we'll need to grow... ...our army." His heads say.

"And, uh, how do we do that?" Lloyd asks, interested.

"Let's just say... ...we Fangpyre bite off more... ...than we can chew." Both of the general's heads grim. "Have at it, boys!"

Fangpyres appears from every corner of the junkyard, starting to bite old vehicles.

"My creations!" Ed exclaims, desperate. "They are turning them into-!"

"An army?" Fangton is right in front of Jay's parents now. They jump and fall behind, ending up cornered. "You are correct!"

The snakes slowly approach them. "But we can also... ...turn people, too." Fangton finishes talking as the couple screams.

                                                    ***

It's the next morning at the Destiny's Bounty. Jay is working on the button from the last day once again. Cole, Zane and Nya are whispering something at the table. Jay looks at them and grunts, having a bad feeling about that vision.

Soon the blue ninja's fears become reality when Nya and Zane get up and pass boy him.

"Sure got a lot of junk piling up. If only there was a place we could get rid of it..." The girl comments with the white ninja, who silent nods.

"If you don't mind, I'm trying to focus." Jay sighs, catching their intention, but trying to ignore it.

Cole then puts a hand on his ear, pretending to be on the phone. "Hi, Mom and Dad. Of course, I'd love to visit. What kind of son would I be if I didn't want to?" He gives a quick glance at the ginger.

"Heheheheh." Jay gives a sarcastic laugh. "I know what you're trying to do!" He gets up. The other three ninja face him. "Okay, look, I might have promised to visit my parents, but there's a lot of stuff on my plate."

"C'mon, Jay. You are working at that button for hours now. You deserve a little break." Nya says.

"Maybe. But that doesn't mean I have to visit my parents." Jay rolls his eyes.

"I sincerely don't understand." Zane shakes his head. "You have parents, but I sense you don't like to be around them."

"Well, I don't see Cole rushing to visit his parents, too." The blue ninja points out, annoyed.

"Are we really going to talk about my family again?" The black ninja sighs.

"Why? Is there any particular reason for this?" Jay snaps at his friend.

"Yeah, actually there is." Cole says, getting annoyed too. "So be grateful that your family at least works!"

"By 'works' you mean how I always end up being made like a joke by them?!" Jay shouts. "I saw everyone laughing yesterday about my past! 'Wow, he came from a junkyard'. 'Wow, I bet he's not so special after all'. Oh, let's talk about all of his shameful moments'! The only thing my parents do well is embarrass me in front of everyone!" 

Everyone stood silent as the blue ninja said all of this. Panting, he slowly sits on the table and put his head between his arms, hiding his face from the other.

Slowly, Nya comes and sits by his side. "I didn't knew you were feeling like that." She puts a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Jay."

"I-its just..." Jay speaks, still hiding his face. "I didn't want to be seen like I'm lame. I always ended up being made fun of where I came or what I do." They hear a sniffle. "Being with you guys was my chance of look cool, impressive... And now my parents ruined everything." 

"Personally, I didn't changed my opinion about you." Nya says. "You're still the same funny, inventive and dorky guy I knew." 

Jay slowly rises his head. Nya notices that his eyes are red. "Y-you really mean it? I-I mean-"

"Heh, don't sweat it, dude." Cole pats his friends back. "We still think you're a stupid blabber mouth."

"Very funny." Nya comments. Jay gives a little chuckle, causing everyone to start laughing with him.

"Sorry about... everything, guys." Jay says, wiping his face. "And sorry about talking down about your family too, Cole." The black ninja just shrugs.

"It happens." He answers.

"Does that mean you're going to see your today?" Zane decides to ask. Nya and Cole give him a unfazed look.

"Ugh... Do I have to?" Jay asks.

"Well... I'm sure they would like it." The red ninja says. "I know they might say some things you don't want them to say, but..."

"I think that no matter what, you still care a lot for each other." Zane says, giving a warm smile.

Jay sighs. "Guess I have no choice then." He says.

Now outside, the blue ninja and the rest of the team is trying to get Wisp, his dragon, to move. The creature doesn't move a inch.

"Come on, Wisp! It'll be a quick visit. Just in and out, nothing more. It's not THAT far." Jay grunts.

"Hm, it is as I suspected." Wu appears from behind them. "The dragons are molting. They're shedding their scales."

"What does that mean?" Nya crosses her arms, curious.

"Every adolescent dragon goes through a transformation before it becomes an adult." The old man explains. "We must allow them to migrate east to the Spirit Coves for their transformation."

"Will we see them again?" Jay asks, a little uncertain.

"It is hard to say. But we need to allow them to follow their path." Their master speaks with patience.

"Rocky's going east?" Cole says, saddened. He approaches his dragon, petting his head. "Say it isn't so, Rocky."

Zane pets Shard, nodding in acceptance. Jay walks over to Nya, who is saying goodbye to Flame. 

"Well, I guess I gotta go on this long walk all by myself." He says, trying to sound hopeless. "Sure be nice to have company..." 

"If you want me to go, you can ask me, you know?" The red ninja says, smirking at him.

"Uh, well..." He looks away, embarrassed. "Would you...?" He shyly asks.

"Of course I'll go, if it makes better for you." She says. The blue ninja reacts with a silent "yes!" with his fists. She giggles, finding his reaction cute.

"Going where, exactly?" Kai says, approaching after seeing the comotion with the dragons.

"Jay wants to take Nya to visit his parents." Zane bluntly speaks.

"Z-Zane!" Jay shush the white ninja. "If you say like that, it sounds like..." 

"Sounds like what, exactly?" Kai slowly asks. The cold in his voice makes the blue ninja tremble. 

"Uh, well, you see, like..." The ginger struggles with his words.

"I'm just accompanying him, don't get so worked up, Kai." Nya says, annoyed with her brother's behavior.

"Oh, so you don't mind if I go too, right?" Kai snarks at her. "Just to be sure Jay have company enough."

Cole starts laughing after hearing that. Nya simply sighs. "Suit yourself." She simply says.

"I sense it would be wise to go all together." Zane says, looking at everyone's face.

"Haha, I could use a break." Cole says, trying to stop his laughs. He approaches the white ninja, lowering his voice. "Besides, I wanna see how THIS turns out."

Jay sighs in annoyance. Wu also tags along as the dragons fly away. He plays the Sacred Flute while they walk trough the road.

"Ugh... Of all the days to lose our ride..." Jay grunts, annoyed.

"That flute." Zane points out. "You've never told us why it's so special."

Wu stops for a moment, then keep walking, this time speaking. "Long ago there were many flutes, created to combat the powers of the Serpentine and drive them underground. But over time, Ninjago's forgotten its ancestors' wisdom, and now this is the only one." He plays the flute again.

"I get the lesson: respect your elders or else suffer the consequences." Jay says, grunting a little more. "Boy, everyone is against me today."

The old man chuckles. "Perhaps you are only hearing what you need to hear."

The group keep their way to the junkyard, as the sun kept burning hot in the sky.

Chapter Text

After a few hours, the group approaches the Junkyard. Jay stop at the entrance, his expression getting worried.

"What is it?" Nya notices, getting confused.

"It's... quiet." The blue ninja slowly says. "My family's never quiet. Something's wrong!" He runs inside, hearing mumbled grunts coming from a locked fridge. 

"Mom?! Dad?!" Jay kicks the door, opening it. The couple is tied with a rope and have a piece of tape on their mouths. "What happened? Who did this?" The blue ninja asks, ripping the tape off them.

"Sweetheart, you came!" Edna says, relieved.

"Oh, you gotta get out of here." Ed speaks, worried. "You shouldn't have come, it's the snakes!" His voice makes a funny sound, almost like a shlither.

"The bite of the Fangpyre!" Wu approaches the family, shocked. 

"Another tribe of Serpentine?" Kai asks, feeling he knows the answer. 

The old man nods. "Yes. Once they sink their teeth, their venom can turn anything into a serpent. It's only a matter of time before the full transformation is complete." He points at the couple before them, who appeared to have gained fangs.

"That means Lloyd must have found one more group to help him." Nya comments, getting on guard. 

Suddendly everyone hears hisses. A crane appears from behind a pile of trash, being operated by a Fangpyre soldier. There was a wrecking ball on its end, with a wicked face printed on it.

"Uh, is that wrecking ball staring at me?" Cole says, pulling his scyhte.

"Duck!" Jay shouts, protecting his parents as the ball is launched towards the group. Everyone manages to dodge the danger in time.

"Thanks, son." Ed groans, slowly getting up again.

"Lloyd!" Wu shouts, noticing his nephew appearing with Fangton from another pile of junk.

"Hello, uncle. Looks like we're not the only family reunion." The boy grims. "I'm glad you brought the ninja. I could use some help taking out the trash. Muahaha!" He laughs evilly.

"If we want to turn Jay's parents back, we need the antivenom in the staff." Zane points out, as Fangpyre warriors start to appear.

"Second dose, to the dirt!" Cole shouts as the wrecking ball comes for another shot. Everyone plunges to the ground as the object passes flying by their heads.

The Fangpyres hisses, attacking the Ninja. Nya blocks a attack with her Sword, pushing some of them away.

"We have to get rid of those guys first if we want to get closer to the general." The red ninja says as a second group of snakes attack. "At least they don't seem to be a big group."

"Big group or not, nobody messes with my family." Jay says, determined. "Ninja, go!" He performs Spinjitzu, getting rid of a bunch of snakes on his way.

Kai, Cole, and Zane nod at each other. "Ninja, go!" They follow right after the blue ninja.

Meanwhile, a small group of Serpentine goes against Wu. The old man quickly pulls his flute and plays it. The snakes get dizzy with the sound, giving Kai the chance to attack them from behind, knocking them out.

"Y'know what, Master? I think we make a pretty good duet." The boy jokes. An lone Fangpyre tries to bite him from behind, but is knocked out by a frying pan, courtesy of Edna.

"Yeah, way to go, hon!" Ed cheers on her, who gives a proud expression.

"Oh, uh, thanks, Ms. Edna." Kai says, awkward.

"Oh, that was nothing, swet-" The woman ia cut off by a loud music coming from Fangpyre-bitten boombox closer to Lloyd.

"Young nephew, must I teach you whose side you should be on?" Wu shouts to the boy, with a harsh look on his face.

"Sorry, uncle. Can't hear you!" The kid says, turning the volume up even more.
He gives a quick glance to the Ninja, noticing that the group is managing to fight back against the Fangpyres. "Ugh, don't give up now!" He shouts to them.

Some Fangpyres run over to where the Jay statue is and start biting it, creating a green and alive robot, who makes his way to the heroes.

"Gotta say, these guys aren't too much problem." Nya says as she strikes a snake, make his comrades flee from the battle.

"I sense this is about to change. Look!" Zane points at Fangpyre Robot, slowly approaching the group. It had a pair of nunchucks in its hands.

"Ah! W-what is that thing?!" Jay asks, alarmed.

"It was supposed to be in your honor, son. Hehe..." Ed says, embarrassed. But, uh, do you like it?" The robot starts to swing his weapon, preparing to attack.

"Thanks, but no thanks." The blue ninja says, slowly walking away. The robot finally strikes, swinging his nunchucks against them. Jay and Cole jump to their left. Nya and Zane manages to dodge as the attack hits a pile of trash right where his friends are.

" To the right! Go to the right!" Cole shouts. The duo dodges as the pile almost fall atop of them. Nya and Zane quickly help them to get up.

"Why'd you have to be born in a junkyard?" Cole grunts.

"I know. Tell me about it." Jay sighs, exhausted from the action.

"Okay guys, less talk and more action." Nya says. "We have to find a way t-"

"Watch out!" Zane shouts as the crane comes back for a second round. The group ducks as the wrecking ball passes around them before coming back to its original point. Everyone lifts their Head, relieved.

"That was close..." Cole comments.

"Uh, wait. Where's Jay?" Nya asks, looking around.

"Over there!" Zane points at the crane.
The blue ninja take a hold on the ball, flying  his way trough the cockpit.

"Zane! Behind you!" Nya jumps and drops the white ninja on the ground as the Fangpyre Robot came for another attack on the group. It prepares to attack again, launching his weapon to the ground before Cole catches it.

"Don't worry, I g-got it." The black ninja grunts, fighting back with all his power.

"Hey, uh, excuse me." Jay says, finally getting on the cockpit. The blue ninja kicks the Fangpyre operating the crane and sits in his place. "Okay... let's see if I can make this work." He manages to hit the robot with the ball, saving Cole. 

"See?" Cole says, panting. "I told you, I had it."

"Good for you, Cole." Nya rolls her eyes.

"Retreat!" Lloyd shouts, feeling cornered again. He and Fangton run away and escape on a bitten helicopter. The pair stay on some kind of pendulum.

"He's getting away with the staff!" Zane says. The group quickly tries to make their way to the villain, but they are too late as the vehicle is already on the air.

"Ugh... great!" Jay grunts. "Right when we lose our dragons, we need them more than ever!"

"It's okay, son." Ed puts a hand on his child's shoulder. He and Edna's appearence got worse now. They skin got a sickly tone of green and scales were appearing on their faces.

"There is still a way." Wu speaks, patiently scratching his beard.

"Really? How?" Cole asks, curious.

"Part of reaching your own full potential is understanding your weapon's potential." The old man explains. "Once it is in tune with a focused heart, its secrets and powers can be unlocked."

"Okay, hear me out: this is not the time to be cryptic." Jay says, frustraded.

"He's saying our weapons are vehicles themselves." Zane stoically explains to his friend.

"So what? Do I have to ride this thing like a broomstick?" Nya points at her sword, awkward.

Wu shakes his head, turning his attention to the blue ninja. "Jay, concentrate on unlocking your Golden Weapon. Let your heart guide you. Imagine you're taking flight."

The ginger looks at his Nunchucks, slowly closing his eyes and concentrating. A short time after this, a sudden flash blinds everyone as in Jay's place was a blue jet, with the boy inside it.

"Whoa! Haha, did I just do that?" He says, looking at his cockpit. 

The other ninja soon follow his example. Both Nya and Zane create motorcycles, one red with Fire details and the other white with ice details. Cole creates a black buggy with orange details.

"Ha! I hate to hurt Rocky's feelings, but I think he's just been replaced." The black ninja says, excited.

"Ooh, I'm going to remember that!" Nya says, playful. 

"C'mon, that was a joke!" Cole shouts to her, regretting his words. Everyone chases after Lloyd with Jay cheering from his jet.

Kai gives a lonely look to them before turning to Wu. "Does your flute turn into anything?" He asks.

The old man gives a good look at the instrument in his hands, sighing. "I wish."

Jay quickly catches the snake-helicopter, passing like a flash close to Lloyd and Fangton.

"Whoa, what the heck was that?" Lloyd says, trying to keep his balance.

"Oops, haha. Overshot that a little." The blue ninja says to himself. He turns around. "Let's see what this baby can do." The ginger pushes a button, but the jet malfunctions, gaining a lot of speed again. "Whoa!" 

The jet comes for the pair one more time at high speed. "Duck!" Fangton shouts, making the action as Lloyd mimics him. Jay passes by them again. After that, they both lift their heads.

"That was close..." Lloyd comments. 

"The Staff!" One of Fangton's head shouts, horrified.

From inside the jet, now with a open window, Jay gasps. "I got it? I got it!" He laughs, excited. That makes the blue jet disappear. "Uh-oh." It's all the blue ninja says before falling, screaming in terror.

"Jay, you have to concentrate!" Nya shouts from her motorcycle.

"I CAN’T!!!!" The blue ninja whines, scared.

"I think we're gonna have to catch him." Cole speaks with worry, starting to accelerate his buggy speed.

"I got him. I got him." Nya shouts, advancing.

"No, I got him!" Cole meddles in.

"He's mine!" Zane joins them. In the panic, all their vehicles disappear, causing the trio a fall in the sand. Jay keeps screaming as he gets closer to the ground, but Kai, Wu and his parents are able to catch him in their family car.

"Oh, heh, nice catch." The blue ninja says, still trembling.

"You're owing us twice now." Kai says with a smirk on his face.

The snake-helicopter turns away, facing the ninja now. Fangton points at them.

"Everyone!" "Attack!" His heads shouts. A big group of Fangpyres in varied vehicles start a pursuit against the Ninja. The other three quickly get up and try to summon their vehicles again.

"Huh? Why isn't this thing working anymore?" Nya says, desperate. Ed and Edna's car soon catches the group.

"Your weapon is merely an extension of your mind." Wu explains. "If your mind is immobile, so is your weapon."

"Did anyone understood that?" Cole asks, looking at the others faces.

"I think he's saying we are lacking of concentration." Zane says, tense.

"Oh, boy. Oh, gosh. Oh, golly, oh, duh. Get in, boys!" Ed stumbles in his words, opening the door to the other ninja, who enter fast.

"We have to get back to headquarters!" Jay shouts, worried.

"Go, go, go! They're getting away!" Lloyd whines.

After a few minutes, the ninjas get back to the Bounty before the Fangpyre. They drop the car and run as fast as possible inside.

"Come with us." Zane says to Edna and Ed as Nya joins the white ninja. "Once we reverse the venom, we can fix you." The couple nods at them.

"Man the stations, everyone!" Jay shouts, running towards the button he and Nya were working on.

"Jay, we better hurry." Cole says as the Serpentine get closer and closer.

"I've been waiting for this moment." The blue ninja smirks, finally pressing the button. Nothing happens. "Huh?"

"They're gaining on us!" Kai shouts, looking trough the window.

Meanwhile, Zane and Nya manage to create a antidote to Jay's parents. The red ninja gives a cup for each of them.

"Okay, hon. Bottoms, up!" Ed says, quickly drinking from his cup. After some seconds, they are completely healthy again.

"Oh, that's better." Edna says, glad. The four of them hear Jay's grunts.

"Ugh, I don't get what's wrong." The ginger yells, desperate. "We spent forever on this. It's supposed to work!"

"Uh, son? Maybe I can help?" Ed asks, catiously.

Jay gasps. "Dad! You're okay!"

"You're darn tooting." His father smiles. "Oh, let's have a look." He says, opening the panel, fixing some wires inside. Oh, yeah. Uh-huh. Oh, that should do it. Now try it." The man says, closing the panel.

Jay nervously presses the button. This time, the Bounty opens its wings and starts lifting from the ground. A pair of rocket boosters appear from each side, allowing the ship to fly away, leaving a trail of dust behind. Thanks to the sudden movements, Zane loses his balance and stumbles, dropping the Fangpyre Staff away from the window.

"No, no, no, no!" Lloyd whines before start coughing from the dust.

Fangton picks his staff from the sand. "These ninja... ...they must be stopped." The general says, irritaded.

"Oh, tell me about it." Lloyd groans, annoyed.

                                              ***

Back at the Bounty, it's almost nightfall as the boat keeps flying. Everyone is doing their own thing. 

"So THAT was what you guys were working on?" Kai asks, proud of his sister.

"Yeah, Jay thought it would be cool to go wherever we want." Nya shrugs. 

"Well, I have to admit he got it right this time." Her brother says. The girl laughs at him before taking a glance at the blue ninja, who is a bit far from the others, with a distant expression.

"I guess... you could talk to him if you're feeling like it." Kai says, awkward.

"Thanks, Kai. I was really waiting for you approval in that." The red ninja taunts him, but decides to approach the ginger.

"Hey, everything good here?" She gently asks. 

Oh! Hey, Nya." Jay gives a small smile to her. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just... thinking." 

"About what?" The red ninja asks.

It takes a moment for him to respond. "Like, if wasn't for my father, we would be toast." He simply says. "I kinda screwed up today."

"I guess everyone screwed up today, for better or worse." The girl says, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But I think you did great." She smiles at him. He smiles back.

"Uh, well... I guess we should go now, everyone." Ed announces the news to the group.

"Oh, yes." Edna nods. "We don't want to cause more trouble for any of you. Right, dear?"

Jay face his parents, thinking about everything that happened today and what the other ninjas told. Yes, his parents could be a little troublesome sometimes, but he still loves them. He would do anything to see them safe and happy, and he knows he can always count with them whenever he needs it, too.

"Uh... the snakes could still be around, trying to get back at you as soon as we go away." The blue ninja says, nervous. "So maybe you guys could... stay? As long as you'd like." He pauses before continuing. "It's... nice having you here." He gives a shy smile to them.

Ed gets touched by their son's words. "Oh, take a note, Edna: of all our inventions, this one is our greatest." He says, hugging Jay.

"I already know, dear." She says, tossing her notepad away, joining the hug.

The rest of the group is glad to see their family doing okay. Maybe this wasn't the day they stopped Lloyd, but at least everything ended up okay in the end.

Chapter Text

A familiar falcon flies trough the sky, soon landing on a phone line, scaring off a group of birds. After a few seconds, the animal quickly turns its head.

"Wake up, Zane." The falcon speaks, moving its mouth. "I know where you come from."

Suddendly a spiral of colors and screams fill the air, with vague glimpses of faces and names. Strange samurais, stealthy warriors, an army of purple snakes, ghosts, pirates, a museum, motorcycles, dragons, a female voice claiming for revenge, a frozen kingdom...

"AAAH!" Zane wakes up, hitting his head on the top bunk of the bed he shares with Nya. The blonde gets out of bed, rubbing his head and looks out the window.

"That strange dream again..." The boy mumbles to himself. He looks around him and notices that no one is in bed. "Weird... They didn't woke me up."

Zane decides to go to the bridge, where Wu and Kai are, observing a map on the monitor Jay and Nya installed. "I see the hunt starts early today." The ninja greets them.

Wu nods. "A watchful eye never sleeps." He says, with a serious expression.

"As long as Lloyd and the Serpentine roam freely, no one in Ninjago is safe." Kai comments, turning his attention on the monitor again.

"Where are the others?" Zane asks, noticing his comrades were not with them.

"Training on the upper deck." Wu points, soon turning his attention to the monitor as well.

The blonde goes out to the upper deck before seeing the falcon again, perched on the mast. He gives a warm smile to the bird.

"You were in my dream, little friend." The boy puts one hand on the mast. "Last time I saw you, you led me to good fortune. What reason have you returned?" The falcon soon flies off and Zane watches it fly away from the Destiny's Bounty, unaware that a shadow was sneaking up behind him.

Realizing soon enough, he jumps to his front, turning his head at his foe right after that. "Lord Garmadon?" Zane says, confused. Garmadon was in front of him. The same helmet, the same wicked face and the same red eyes. "But you were banished!"

"Only to return for the Weapons of Spinjitzu." The villain says, with a cold and deadly tone. He pulls out two katanas. "Soon I will have the power to recreate Ninjago in my own image."

Garmadon charges at Zane, who notices he had his Shurikens with him all this time. Determined, the blonde jumps over Garmadon before he could strike him, landing in a defensive position.

Garmadon turns to face the ninja behind him. "Give me your Shurikens of Ice." He demands, pointing one of his katanas at the white ninja.

"You'll have to take them from me." Zane says, preparing to counterattack. "Ninja, go!" He does Spinjitzu and comes at the evil lord, but he easily grabs Zane and holds him up. Throwing them boy into a pile of junk, causing the ninja to lose his shurikens in the process.

"So be it." Garmadon speaks with a wicked smile, noticing a heavy box right Zane's head. The man cuts the rope that is tied with the box, making the heavy object coming down on the white ninja's placement.

However, just as it was about to be the end of the Master of Ice, a green blur suddenly comes for Zane's aid, getting a hold on the box in the middle of the air, saving the boy's life.

Zane faces his savior, shocked. "The Green Ninja!" He says, admired. "The legend's true."

The Green Ninja throws the box away, turning his attention at Garmadon. Grunting, the evil lord comes down just as the hero punches him before flipping back to avoid a strike. Both foes face each other, determined.

Garmadon charges at the Green Ninja, but he jumps up as the man thrusts the katanas forward, causing him to hit the Bounty's mast. The ninja lands on the blades.

Furious, the dark lord spins around in an attempt to unstuck his katanas before the Green Ninja jumps off, moving around the other side of the ship. Finally, Garmadon manages to get his weapons unstuck, throwing them at the Green Ninja, but he tilts forward, letting the swords hit a wall before moving aside to straighten himself and doing Spinjitzu.

Zane watches in shock before Garmadon flips forward to the Green Ninja, ending up getting punched in the face by him. The evil man attempts to fight back, but the ninja moves back and kicks him, knocking the villain down before vaulting over him.

The Green Ninja then pulls the Nunchucks of Lightning high over his head. Garmadon turns to him, holding one of his katana and charges at him, but the hero turns around, striking him with the nunchucks. The dark lord slides along the deck before falling off the side, screaming.

Zane, still amused, tries to take a better look on his savior. The Green Ninja faces him, with fire burning in his eyes as well as his right hand. The Falcon comes out of nowhere and perches on his left shoulder.

"Who... are you?" The white ninja stands up. "Nya, is that you?"

Suddenly, multiple falcons fly around Zane. "What's the meaning of this?" The blonde yells. "Who are you, Green Ninja?"

There are soon multiple copies of the Falcon on the deck. The number was getting bigger each second, the Green Ninja now becoming a blur in the dark. Zane was feeling suffocated by the overwhelming number of feathers, until suddendly a falcon screeches on his face...

Zane wakes up, hitting his head on the top bunk of the bed like in his dream.

"Oh, sleeping in. You're gonna be late for training." Jay says, playfully as he desses himself for the day.

"Oh, how come no one awakened me?" The white ninja asks, still a little dizzy from his sleep.

"Oh, Jay was BEGGING for me to let him do it." Cole comments, already dressed. "But you looked really immersed, so..."

"So you decided to be a buzzkill." Jay grunts.

"How do I know this isn't a dream-" Zane asks before Cole hits him in the face with a pillow.

"Does that feel like a dream?" The black ninja snarks at his friend.

"No. Thank you for your help." Zane says. This gets the others to laugh at him. "Where's Nya, anyway?"

"Dressing in the bathroom, of course." Jay says. "You know Kai would kill us if it were any other way..." Zane trades his pajamas for his ninja robes as the ginger talks.

"Yeah, we all know how protective Kai can be with Nya..." Cole shrugs. "I don't know how she handles him."

"Maybe it's how siblings work?" Zane asks. "We don't have any, so maybe that's something impossible for us to understand." Jay nods, agreeing.

"Do you guys always talk about me and Kai behind our backs?" Nya speaks, getting out of the bathroom. "That's rude, y'know?"

Jay quickly gets nervous. "Uh, uhm... Sorry, Nya." He says, embarrassed.

"You are right, that was rude. My apologies." Zane joins the blue ninja.

"Haha." Nya chuckles. "I'm just kidding, guys. You don't need to be so serious."

Cole rolls his eyes with a smile on his face. "Can we go, now? Master Wu is waiting for us."

The group starts to make their way to the deck. "Oh, what was that about Zane thinking he was still dreaming?" Nya asks, curious.

"I think I was having a dream inside of a dream." The white ninja responds.

"I never heard about anything like that." Jay comments. The Ninja greet Wu, who was waiting for them.

"I remember seeing the Falcon again." The blonde adds.

"You mean, like, the same bird from last time?" Cole seems surprised.

"Whoa. Zane, every time you see him, something big happens." Jay says, with the classic sparks in his eyes. "First, it lead you to the secret tree house...."

"Then it lead you to the Bounty on the same day." Nya added.

Wu coughs, cutting their conversation. "All right. Stretches." The old man says. "First, the Swooping Crane." He faces away from the ninja to demonstrate a stretch, posing. His pupils mimic his movements.

"This time, it showed me the Green Ninja." Zane whispers to him teammates.

"The Green Ninja?" The three yell together, breaking their poses.Wu quickly turns around, with a grave expression. Looking at their different poses, he resigns himself. "That looks like the Shocked Monkey. Bad form, more focus." The wise man says with authority, facing away once more.

"You can't just drop a bomb like that. Spill the beans." Jay whispers, trying to redo their master's moves.

"Yeah, what else did you see?" Whispered Nya, almost failing her balance.

"He was fighting Lord Garmadon." Zane quietly says, doing his pose.

"That's what the prophecy said." Nya says, impatient. "That the Green Ninja would defeat the Dark Lord, yada yada yada... But did you have a chance to see which one of us was him?"

Wu turns to them with a impatient look on his face. However, seeing that they did their poses correctly this time, he gives them a quick nod before turning again. "Let's see... The Predatory Wolf."

The ninja start changing their poses. "So, did you see?" Cole asks, looking at Zane.

The white ninja thinks for a moment before opening his mouth. "I could not tell. He shared attributes each of us possess."

"Now, Pinching Crab." Wu adds. Zane, along with the others, changes pose.

"Well, what are you waiting for, then? Tell us!" Jay whispers, excited. "Maybe there's a clue that tells us which one of us is gonna be the Green Nin- Ow, ow, ow! Hey!" Wu was pulling the blue ninja's hair.

"What was so important to ignore my teachings?" He asked with a annoyed face.

"I-it was nothing, Master." Jay speaks, massaging his head.

"Uh, yeah, we weren't even talking after all." Nya waves her hand.

"We don't talk while you teach." Cole adds, embarrassed.

"Everyone was paying attention." Zane agrees, distracted.

Their master raises a eyebrow, clearly not believing in them. "Since you all appear to be lacking in focus, then you can all share in the punishment." He finally says.

"Punishment?" Jay yelps, nervous.

"Seriously?" Nya whines.

"It was all Zane." Cole points.

"I was merely answering their questions." The white ninja timidly comments.

"No free time and no video games." Wu shakes his head with impatience. The rest of the day can be used for training. And tomorrow, for that matter."

"Training?" Nya asks, feeling a little more relieved. "For how long?"

"Until you can answer this simple riddle: what is the best way to defeat an enemy?" The wise man scratches his long beard.

"Easy, with a good technique." The red ninja promptly answers.

"Oh, your fists." Jay punches the air.

"Spinjitzu." Cole says, confident.

"Tornado of Creation?" Zane suggests.

Their master gives a deep sigh. "Pace yourselves. You have a lot of training ahead of you. Make sure you sharpen your mind as well as your Spinjitzu." He says, walking away.

The group grunts as they start picking their pace to train.

"Ugh. What's the best way to defeat an enemy?" Cole mumbles. "It could be anything!"

"Come on, guys, we're smart. We can figure this out." Jay says, preparing one of his new creations: a responsive training dummy.

Nya punches a punching bag and notices Wu closing the door, satisfied. "Okay, but let's hear more about this dream, first." The three ninjas approach Zane.

"Let me just say, the Green Ninja is awesome." Zane says, starting off his tale.

                                                 ***

At the icy mountain the Hipnobrai Tribe resides, the Fangpyre Tribe, commanded by Lloyd, march towards their rivals with their vehicles. The blue snakes are already waiting for them with their own army, somehow. Skales is leading the march.

"Go, General!" Lloyd cheers at Fangton's side. "Time to teach the Hipnobrai a lesson for betraying Lloyd Garmadon!" He laughs evilly. "Uh, do your thing, Fangpyre. I let you out of your hole for a reason."

"Attack!" Fangton cries. The Fangpyre advance, but soon are stopped by their own leader. "Wait! Hold up!" The red snake approaches Skales with a intrigued look on his faces. After a few moments, he grims. "Skales, my old chum! I didn't think I'd be fighting you." Both snakes hug each other. "Hmm, moved up in the world, have we?"

"If it isn't the Fangpyre." Skales greets the tribe. "Of all the cold-blooded to creep up on us, I'm glad it is a friend."

Completely in disbelief, Lloyd run towards them. "Wait, I thought you were enemies, not friends." The boy whines.

"We were at war, but not against the Hipnobrai." Fangton explains. "And seeing that Skales, the good ol'Skales is now leading them, well, I think we could all work as one, even."

The other general agress. "Have you released the Constrictai, the Venomari, or heaven forbid the Anacondrai, then we would've had a tussle." He says, slythering his tongue.

"A tussle? A tussle!?" Lloyd yells, irritaded. "But I'm Lloyd Garmadon! Bringer of evil!"

"Hehe. What should we do with him?" Skales faces Fangton.

"I could turn him into one of us." The red snake ponders.

"Hmm, no, the little tyke is pretty useless." The blue one dismiss the idea.

"What if you hypnotize him and make him think he's a pig?" The Fangpyre general suggests.

"That'd be pretty funny." Skales agrees. They both laugh as Lloyd, feeling that the tide is against him once more, sneaks away. Laughing at his failure, no one is bottered to chase after him.

                                                 ***

Back on the Bounty, Zane is finished explaining his dream.

"...with his fist on fire." The white ninja finishes.

"Whoa..." Is all they can say, astonished.

"So I'm the Green Ninja." Nya says aloud to herself.

"What are you talking about?" Cole says, confused. "He had incredible strength to lift that cargo and save his life. It's me."

"No, no." Jay meddles in. "Did you miss the part of the story where the guy pulled out nunchucks? I have nunchucks!"

"I think you're all missing the point of this dream." Zane interrupts them. "The point is the Falcon flew on his arm and it was my dream, so naturally it's me."

"I think we can cross Cole off the list. I could've lifted ten times-" The blue ninja starts, but Cole cuts him off.

"Whoa, cross me off the list? Anyone can hold nunchucks." The black ninja says, annoyed.

Wu comes back, realizing that they're not training. "Since you are not training, you must have already found the answer to my riddle." He says, impatient. "What is the best way to defeat your enemy?"

"Uh, the best way to defeat your enemy..."  Nya thinks, getting caught off guard. "...is to... train, Master?"

Wu shakes his head. "Feeble and incorrect. Maybe more training will help you focus." He looks at each face before him. "Remember what happened to your vehicles when you lost focus. A razor-sharp weapon is an extension of a razor-sharp mind." The wise man goes back inside before the ninja groan.

"How am I supposed to focus when we don't know who the Green Ninja is?" Jay grunts, anxious.

"I don't want to be training all day." Cole speaks as he picks his Scythe. "Let's work together on this riddle. We can figure it out." The other three agree, trying to find a solution for that strange riddle.

Chapter Text

At the Sea of Sand, Lloyd is walking alone, follow his map for the Serpentine Tombs once more.

"Hmph! 'Had you released the Constrictai, the Venomari, or heaven forbid the Anacondrai, then we would've had a tussle.', great." He mumbles, mocking Skales words.

The boy stops for a moment, noticing a enormous rock that looked like a snake fang. He takes another glance at the map, finally griming. "I found it!" The boy starts running towards the tomb. "The Anacondrai. The most feared and powerful Serpentine of them all." He takes with himself. "And if they're afraid of the Anacondrai, then the Anacondrai is what they're gonna get. Mwahahahahaha!" 

Finally at the front, the kid pulls a flashlight he brought with him, opening the tomb. Throwing the light inside, he see some bones on the ground. The boy gives a few steps inside before seeing a purple snake with a long neck appearing out of thinking air. 

"AAAH!" Lloyd shrieks in fear, falling in the ground.

"My sincerest apologies, young man." The snake opens his mouth. "Oh, dear, due to my unfortunate appearance, I tend to have an unsettling effect on people, heh." He helps Lloyd gets up. "Oh, I believe you dropped this." The serpent hands him his flashlight. "Ah, there you go."

"Uh, thank you." Lloyd says, a bit uncertain. "Uh, what happened to the others?" He says, looking around them. Except for that one Anacondrai, there was no one there. Just piles and piles of bones.

"Poor, unfortunate souls. All those years, locked away with nothing to eat." The snake says, looking completely devastated. "Must have slowly starved away until they were just scales and bones." The serpent puts a hand on the boy's shoulder. "And who may you be, my little appetize- Uh, I mean, friend?" He quickly says.

"Lloyd Garmadon." The blonde says, filled with pride. "Son of Lord Garmadon and future dark ruler." He adds. The snake takes his hand off as soon as he hears that, with a surprised expression.

"Oh, hahahaha. How deliciously evil." The serpent speaks, waving his hands like he was having chills. "If I had feet, ooh, I'd be trembling in my boots."

"Oh, heheh. Thank you." Lloyd scratches his head, a little flustered. "And, uh, who are you?" He asks.

"Humbly, I am Pythor P. Chumsworth." The snake says. "And since you've freed me, I am eternally in your service." He bows to the youngster.

"Really? You're not gonna trick me?" Lloyd asks, suspicious.

"Oh, why would I trick you? I hardly have any friends." Pythor speaks with sadness.

"Whoa. I... hardly have any friends too." Lloyd confess, a bit timid to admit that.

"You don't say." Pythor says with a comprehensible look in his eyes.

"Hey, how would you like to be my loyal henchman?" The kid asks, excited. "I've been betrayed by the Hypnobrai and the Fangpyres, and I'm looking to get a little revenge on some ninja too." He says, turning away.

Pythor notices that Lloyd has a map on him. It doesn't take too much time to him for understand what is its content. "Hmm, I love revenge!" He goes back to the conversation. "Oh, you know Floyd-"

"It's Lloyd." The kid corrects him.

"Whatever. I have a feeling this is the start of a beautiful friendship." The snake says with a wicked smile as the pair goes out of the tomb.

                                                   ***

The Ninja keep their routine, getting tired of training all the morning. 

"Ugh, why is this riddle so hard?!" Jay whines, tossing his nunchucks at the floor. "Zane, you're supposed to be the wisest here! Can't you figure something out?"

"Unfortunately, this seems to be quite a 
predicament, even for me." The white ninja shakes his head. 

"Ugh!" Nya grunts, irritaded. "I could be working on my projects right now!"

"Projects? What kind of projects?" Cole asks, curious.

"Oh, oh!" Jay starts jumping, excited. "She showed me! She has a folder with a lot of drawings and blueprints, they're so cool!"

"Haha, c'mon Jay. They're still just some concepts..." The girl says, embarrassed.

"No way!" The ginger disagrees. "The others will say the same thing when you show them. We will have smoke bombs, tranquilizers... She even draw a mech!"

"Oho, drawing new ideas of tools for the team? Aren't you a inspired artist." Cole makes a little tease.

The red ninja smirks. "Don't worry, I'm not planning on robbing you from your title of the 'Artistic Ninja'." She mocks back. "Your drawings are really pretty, by the way." The ninja adds, seeing the black ninja's face going red. 

"But... But when you... How did you..." He says, flabbergasted.

"Uh, maybe we found your notebook when we were cleaning our room these days..." Jay meddles in, a little nervous. "Sorry, Cole. But Nya's right, they are really good!" He notices that his friend still look tense. "Are... You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm... just... A little surprised, that's all." Cole says, a little uncertain. "I... was not expecting someone seeing them, that's all."

"I see..." Nya says, feeling a bit guilty. "We didn't mean to see them, really." She pauses. "But like I said, they ARE really pretty. If this is a hobby of yours, you should keep doing."

"Yeah, there's no problem with that, Cole!" Jay nods.

Cole gives them a warm smile. "Thanks, guys."

"Oh, I think I may have found the solution." Zane comments. The other three ninja look at him, surprised.

"Great." The black ninja says. "Tell us then, because while we're here working, that means the enemy is playing."

                                               ***

Lloyd laughs evilly as he and Pythor are moving along Jamanakai Village, knocking trash cans down, laughing wickedly as they become a nuisance to everyone around. Some villagers try to pursuit them, but the pair quickly miss them in an alley.

"Hahaha! These guys are really dumb!" Lloyd laughs, having fun.

"Indeed they are." Pythor grims, agreeing. "What else can we do to show them how evil you are?"

Garmadon's son takes the lead, taking Pythor to the outskirts. The serpent notices a sign that states that the grass is not to be disturbed. 

"Oh, well, what do we have here." He picks the sign, throwing away, and jumping in the grass, with Lloyd joining him soon. 

Back in the village, the pair is having a big ice cream as Pythor pushes the ice cream cart and Lloyd stands on it, leaving a terrified ice cream salesman behind.

By the pond, Lloyd and Pythor watch a couple of kids playing with boats. The two look at each other, already thinking on their next mischief. They approache the children from behind, picking rocks on their way. Then, the duo throw them at the toys, causing the boats to skin and the kids to cry. 

"That's right! Go away and cry like the little babies you are!" Lloyd shouts, grinning. "Let's have some candies, Pythor."

"I'm right after you." The snake nods, following him.

Soon they are getting out of the village, with a pushcart full of candies, laughing and talking about their evil deeds all the way back to Pythor's tomb.

"Wow. You're the best henchman a mastermind could ever have." Lloyd says, laying on the ground after devouring a lot of their robbed candy.

"Oh, Lloyd. You're the best mastermind a henchman could ever have." Pythor says, laying on the kid's opposite side. "Hmm, why is it that you have no friends?"

Lloyd hesitates before he sighs and open his mouth. "Well, I could've had friends back at my Boarding School for Bad Boys, but I decided to run away and never let them see me again." The boy does one of his evil laughs.

"Really? Uh, why would you run away from making friends?" Pythor asks, curious. "Everybody needs friends, even tyrants."

"Well, uh, maybe I didn't run away." Lloyd's voice falters, a bit nervous. "Maybe I uh, I got kicked out."

"From the Boarding School for Bad Boys?" His henchman express shock. "I don't believe it. I hear they are the breeding ground for the truly despicable. And if you ask me, ho-ho, you are a handful." He smiles as he compliments the child.

Lloyd give a weak smile after hearing this. "Well, thank you, Pythor, but they told me I wasn't bad enough." He says, getting sad. "They said I lacked the amoral ambition to be one of tomorrow's masterminds. Especially that one girl..."

"Girl? What girl, exactly?" Pythor asks with interest.

"She was older, and meaner, and ganged up on me a lot..." Lloyd says, feeling a bit of regret from bringing her up. "She always reminded about how alone I was..."

"Well, you'll show her. Actually, you'll show them all." Pythor finally says, grinning.

"Yeah... yeah, that's right." Lloyd slowly agrees. "I will show them." 

"Then why don't we?" Pythor lifts his long neck, facing the boy.

"Uh, why don't we what?" The blonde says, confused, as he gets up.

"Let's get revenge on the very school that rejected you." Pythor speaks, getting up too. "And when the ninja come to the rescue, we'll have a trap laid out for them."

"A double revenge?" Lloyd says, liking that thought.

"A double revenge." The snake says, lifting the boy like he was his own child. "Get some rest. Hijacking an ice cream truck is a lot for anyone, and if you're going to rule the world, well, ho-ho-ho, you'll need to get your sleep." He puts Lloyd on the ground, who decides to follow his partner idea. "Oh, and one more thing."

"Yes?" Ask the child, already getting sleepy.

"I'll be your friend." Pythor gives him a wicked smile, lying down by the boy's side.

Lloyd sighs as they both embrace each other. "Oh, Pythor. You're the best." He says, feeling a kind of happiness that he didn't had for a long time.

Lloyd sleeps on the ground. Pythor notices this and laughs as he tries to get the map at the blonde's pocket, but Lloyd rolls over to the other side, much to the serpent annoyance.

Chapter Text

At the Bounty, Wu is meditating on his room again. He hears a knock at his door. 

"Come in." Says the old man. His four pupils appears before, whispering between each other. "Oh. If you are here, then perhaps you must have found the answer to what is the best way to defeat an enemy?"

Cole takes the front, determined. "Yes, we have, Master. It's..." the boy turn around to the rest of the group. "On three, guys. One, two..."

"Teamwork!" They say together, putting their hands together.

"Is this what you all think?" Wu asks, with a curious smile on his face.

"You betcha." Nya says.

"Yes!" Jay nods.

"Absolutely." Zane ponders.

"Sadly, you are all wrong." Wu says, a little playful. His students smiles become frowns.

"Come on." Cole grunts.

"Aw, man." Jay lowers his head, groaning.

Wu goes back to his meditating. The Ninja take that as a invite to leave, so that's what they do.

"I'm starting to think whoever figures out this riddle can be the Green Ninja for all I care." Cole grunts in frustration as they walk trough the hall.

"I sense solving this could be an even greater challenge than facing Lord Garmadon himself." Zane agrees.

"I just want to stop our training, I'm feeling numb already!" Jay whines. 

The group then is startled by a sudden sound, as a red light begins to flash troughout the entire interior of the ship.

"Wait, it's that..." The blue ninja speaks, astonished.

"Our excuse to leave training and do something more with our day?" Nya looks at him. "Yes, it is. Let's go, guys!" 

The Ninja run to the bridge, where they find Kai, struggling to stop the alarming sound.

"I didn't do anything!" The boy shouts as he notices they entering. "I was just watching the map trough the screen when this stupid sound started."

"Don't worry, big bro. It's just the scanner that Jay and I made for the Serpentine." The girl says, turning off the alarm. 

"So that's what you guys were working on lately..." Zane ponders.

"How's THAT works?" Cole asks, curious.

"Heheh, glad you asked." Jay speaks as Nya focus her attention at the results on the screen. "This little toy simply reads the specifical thermal signature of the Serpentine in a large area. I mean..." He gets a little embarrassed. "It still doesn't work underground, but atleast we are able to know when they're up to something when they get out..." 

The blue ninja's watches the blank expressions on Cole and Kai's face. 

"Okay, okay!" He says, annoyed. "I know it's not perfect, but we are getting there, alright?"

"Sorry, but I didn't catch half of what you said." Nya's brother speaks, completely lost.

"What matters is that it works and make things easier for us." Cole shrugs off.

Zane turns to Nya, concentrated on the screen. "Did it got something?"

" Yes." Nya nods. "There's a Serpentine in Darkley's Boarding School for Bad Boys." 

"Wait, "a" Serpentine? Not a bunch of them?" Kai ponders.

"Nevermind the snake." Jay says. "That place is cesspool for the crooked and the misbehaved." 

"Well, doesn't mean they don't need our help." Cole says, determined. "Step on it." He talks to Zane. The white ninja pushes the button to fly.

"Ninja, go!" The group yells, with a new objective upon them.

                                                  ***

At Darkley's, Lloyd laughs as he and Pythor have tied up the students and teachers. 

"Yeah, that's it!" The boy mocks his prisioners. "Who is too soft now?"

The pair follow their path trough the hallway, still laughing at their success.

"It's a pity we didn't found that girl you talked about." Pythor ponders, by the kid's side.

"Nah, who cares about her?" Lloyd says. "What matters is that we showed them how evil we are."

"If you are satisfied, then that is enough for me." The snake says. 

"Hey, how are the booby traps?" Lloyd asks.

The serpent grims. "Every door, window, and hole into this place are spring loaded."

"Ah, good." Lloyd gives a wicked smile, soon becoming a frown. "I'm sick and tired of those ninjas sneaking their way into my evil doings."

                                                ***

The Ninja finally arrive at the school with their ship, right above the roof, actually. Zane observes the place for some time.

"Looks quiet down there. Should we infiltrate using stealth?" He asks.

"That sounds good, but even if it's just one snake, what if there's more, just waiting to ambush us from the ground when we arrive?" Nya speaks, suspicious. "Maybe we should give our vehicles a try."

"I'm still working out the kinks on that." Cole shuts the idea off. "I think we need more practice with them first. Anyone have any other good ideas?"

"Hmm." Jay ponders, after a moment. "Well, I have one idea, but you guys gotta trust me."

"That doesn't sounds reassurring." Nya comments. 

Meanwhile, Lloyd and Pythor are in the rooftop, on lookout for the ninja. The young boy looks particularly tense.

"Relax, we've made the perfect trap." The purple snake says, noticing his anxiety. "We're in broad daylight so there isn't any shadows. But even if they could get in-"

"What's that?" Lloyd shouts as he sees something scurrying on the ground. Pythor fires a net at it, but the mysterious crawler was nothing more than a lizard. 

"Oh, good." The blonde says, flustered. "Yeah, good reflexes. I was just testing you." The serpent slowly nods. "If I know these ninjas, they're cleverly sneaking their way right past us at this very moment."

Without their knowledge, said ninjas were standing right above them, standing on the Bounty's anchor.

"Jay, could you tell us what exactly is your idea?" Nya says, uncertain.

"You'll see." He speaks with confidence. "Just hold on tight!" The blue ninja signals Kai to drop the anchor, which the other boy reluctantly does.

Everyone screams as the anchor falls. Lloyd and Pythor, hearing them and looking up, rapidly dodge the descending anchor as it crashes through the roof all the way down to the ground floor. The ninja cough once they reached the ground.

"Next time, let's try to filter the good ideas from the bad ones, all right?" Nya says, feeling sick.

"Better yet, let's agree to never do that again." Cole speaks as he catches his breath. The black ninja lifts his Scythe up at the students, making them whimper as he cuts their rope. "Stay out of school, kids." Then, he turns to the teachers and do the same to them.

"Well, well, well." The black ninja says, noticing who the teachers are. "Kruncha and Nuckal. Substitute teachers, eh?" The duo runs away without saying any word to their saviors.

"I see Lloyd!" Zane says, looking to the ceiling as the boy looks back at him. "He's on the top floor."

"Wow, sharp eyes, Zane!" Nya says, looking too. "We have to go, everyone!" 

"Since we are at school, let's teach a lesson to that brat!" Jay nods.

"Ninja, go!" The group shouts as each one follow a path to the rooftop. Zane and Kai run up the stairs, as Cole decides to climb on the anchor chain directly to the roof, and Jay takes the elevator. 

The ninjas of Fire and Ice soon are on the halfway point before opening one of the doors to the next corridor. Unfortunately for them, a bucket of some kind of goo falls on the floor, stucking the pair in the same place.

"Ugh! What is this?" Nya grunts.

"I don't know, but. I guess we are not going anywhere." Zane says, surprised.

Pythor and Lloyd laughs as their hear the red ninja grunts on the low floor.

"Very funny, huh?" Cole groans, getting closer to them now. "Prepare to eat dust!"

Pythor pulls on a rope, making dust fly everywhere and Cole coughs, losing his grip on the chain and falling a level below them. 

Almost at the same time, the elevator door opens. "Well, that was a nice trip." The blue ninja notices his friend. "Cole! Are you okay?"

"Ow! I'll be fine, I guess..." The black ninja says. "Keep going. But watch out for the booby traps."

Jay takes a quick glance on the upper level, as Pythor does the same.

"Ah. Yeah, uh, that's one big snake." He speaks with a frown, but still making his way.

"They're coming. They're coming. They're coming!" Lloyd yells desperate as he runs around in a circle. "What are we going to do?" He looks at Pythor, who looks a bit annoyed at the moment. The snake barricades the door with everything they have, but Jay manages to break it open.

"Oh, hey! 'Shocked' to see me?" The blue ninja says, grinning behind his mask.

"Eep!" Lloyd yelps, turning to the serpent for backup. "Pythooor! Do something!"

The snake simply rolls his eyes. "Oh, I'm going to do something, alright." He says, snatching the map from the boy's pocket.

"Wh-what are you doing?" The blonde speaks, hopeless. "I thought you were my friend!" 

Pythor starts laughing evilly. "Your friend? Why would I wanna be your friend? Why anyone would?" He says with contempt in his eyes. "All you wanted was to make the Serpentine your slave. Well, sorry, old chum, I have other plans." He grims before dissapearing in front of them.

"How did he-" Jay starts before noticing Lloyd trying for a way to escape, but to no avail. "Uh-uh-uh, where do you think you're going?" He says, talking a hold on the boy.

"L-let me go!" The kid shouts.

It doesn't take too much before the Destiny's Bounty arrives, with Wu and Kai on the deck.

"Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon, you come here right now!" Wu says with authority.

"Don't worry, I got him." The ginger throws Lloyd on his shoulder and brings him to the old man.

"What should we do with him?" Cole asks, arriving with Nya and Zane. "Wash his mouth out with soap for a year?"

"Maybe a few slaps will do the trick." The girl says.

" Or have him sit in a corner for a century." Zane joins in.

"I know exactly what we must do." Wu says, looking at Lloyd, who gulps.

                                                   ***

"And that is why Jack the Rabbit never trusts a snake. The end." Wu says, finishing a bedtime story for Lloyd on his bedroom at the Bounty. It is already nighttime.

"Oh, if my dad had read me that book, I would never have made that mistake." Lloyd says with regret. "I'm sorry, uncle."

"You do not need to apologize." The old man have a gentle smile on his face. "I am sure that if your father was still here, it would be the first book he'd read." He gets up. "Good night, nephew. Sweet dreams."

"Ah, good night, uncle." Lloyd says, sleepy. 

The wise man get out of the room, finding the Ninja on the halfway, with angry looks on their faces. "What could I do for you?" He says, playful.

"What is going on here, Master?" Nya crosses her arms.

"Whatever do you mean?" The old man asks.

"Well, like why isn't the little brat getting punished?" Jay whines.

"Yeah, we had to train all day and he gets read a bedtime story? It's not fair." Cole grunts.

"Hmm, you're right, I nearly forgot." Their master ponders. "Why are you not still training? Did you find the answer to the riddle?" The group sighs, defeated.

"No, Master. We still don't know what the best way to defeat your enemy is." Zane says. "So I suppose we should go back to our training, then." He turns around as the others do the same, hanging their heads. 

"It is to make them your friend." Wu says, gently looking at his bedroom once more.

"Ooh..." The Ninja say together, turning around.

"Of course." Jay says.

"Makes sense." Nya agrees.

The four of them join Wu, watching Lloyd sleep with a peaceful look in his face after so much time alone.

Chapter Text

"I'm hungry." Says a girl from her seat inside of a car. "When are we going to get home?"

"Don't worry, sweetie." A man, probably her father says from the driver seat of his car. "Today looks like a calm day in the city, I'm sure we will be back with no prob-" 

A pair of motorcycles pass like a lightning in front of the man's car, frightning him as he looks everywhere around him.

"What was that?" He speaks to himself, nervous.

Meanwhile, said pair of motorcycles keep passing trough the streets at maximum speed.

"Nya, I think this is a good place to stop." Zane says from his cycle, slowing down.

"Yeah, you right. We almost hit that car behind us." She agrees.

As soon as their vehicles stop, they become the Golden Weapons once more. Both of the ninja are wearing more casual clothes today.

"I think we are finally getting the hand of using our vehicles." The white ninja says, confident.

"We sure are." The red ninja agrees, looking around her. "No matter how many times we come here, Ninjago City looks really amazing, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, although I sense the reason for think that comes from the fact that we lived in small villages." The blonde says, looking at the shops and buildings while they walk.

"Maybe." She shrugs off. "Let's see now... What were we supposed to buy, again?" The girl ponders.

"Our first thing to do is look for a renowned craftsman of robes. Master Wu said that he has a important order to make." Zane comments. 

"Then we have to buy groceries, some new tools for Jay and I, a sewing kit and hair gel for Kai..." Nya keeps listing everything.

"Cole also asked for some cake, and Lloyd demanded some sweets." The boy keeps going.

"And Master asked for some tea from a tea shop." The girl speaks. "What was the name again? 'Mistook'...?"

"I think the name is actually 'Mistaké's Teas'." Zane corrects her.

"Yeah, that." Nya nods. "Let's go. This is looking to be a long day..."

The pair take some time asking around and looking for the craftsman, without success.

"That's strange. We asked everywhere, and we didn't found a single clue to who this person is or where it could be his home." Zane speaks, worried.

"Maybe we missed something or-" Nya started before noticing a heated conversation from a alleway. "What's that?"

"It would be wise not to meddle in problems that aren't ours." Zane says. "Espeacilly in this city."

"GO AWAY! WE DON'T WANT ANY DIRTY SKELETONS SCARING OUR CLIENTS AWAY!" A woman's voice yelled.

Nya and Zane take a quick glance at each other, thinking the same same thing. They nod at the same time before running towards the comontion.

In the other side of the alleway, there's was a diner, where a pair of skeletons was being pushed away by a woman with a broom.

"Wait, is that Kruncha and Nuckal again?" Nya asks, surprised.

"Please, ma'am! Just give us a chance! We won't dissapoint you!" Kruncha yelps, as Nuckal gets hit with the broom and loses his head.

"I said go away! Shoo, shoo!" The woman leave them away, furious.

"Ow... What are we going to do now?" Nuckal asks as he puts his Head on his neck again.

"Don't worry, we'll find something-" Kruncha turns away, finally seeing the ninja who arrived. "Oh, great. You again."

"So, are you guys looking for trouble again?" Nya asks, crossing her arms.

"Wait, wait wait wait!" Nuckal waves his arms, nervous. "You guys got it all wrong!" 

"If so, then please enlighten us." Zane gives them a suspicious look. "Why are two skeletons wandering at Ninjago, when they belong to the Underworld?" 

"Well, let's just say that without Garmadon or Samukai, we kinda don't have anything more interesting to do at home." Kruncha shrugs it off with a frown. "So we decided to look for a New job in Ninjago." 

"Oh, really?" Nuckal looks confused. "I thought it was because we broke our truck and couldn't go back to our Realm. Even the passage from the Temple of Fire was destroyed..." 

"You don't say..." Nya says, looking away. She maybe knew the reason why that happened.

"You idiot! I told you to not talk about that!" Kruncha hits his partner, angry.

"So we can take that you're not looking to cause problems?" Zane asks. 

"We're just looking for something to do..." Nuckal shyly lowers his head.

"I see. I guess we should be going, then." The blonde turns his attention to Nya.

"What? Are we just going to leave them here?" Nya says, confused.

"If they aren't looking for trouble, we should focus on our priorities for now." Zane bluntly says.

"Oh, oh! Maybe we can help!" The eyepatched skeleton speaks, excited.

"What are you talking about? Why would we help them? They are our enemies!" Kruncha says in disbelief.

"Ooh, I forgot about that..." His comrade becames embarrassed.

"But don't you know it?" Zane says, remembering their last lesson. "The best way to defeat your enemy is to turn them into your friend."

Both Nya and the skeletons look at him with blank expressions. 

"That sounds stupid." Kruncha says, annoyed. "Who told you that?" 

"Uh, it was Master Wu." Nya decides to play along, not knowing where this conversation would take them. "And worked a lot of times in the past."

The skeleton think for a few moments, finally mumbling something. "Hmm. Master Samukai always said that besides being his enemy, Wu was a really smart guy..." He looks at the pair. "Okay, we're going to help you. Then you're going to be defeated! Haha!" 

Nya and Zane sigh, still surprised it worked. The girl approaches the boy, whispering. "Do you think this is a good idea?" 

"At least we can keep an eye on them this way." The blonde whispers back.

"Hey, what are you mumbling about over there?" Nuckal comments, crossing his arms. 

"Uh, nothing!" Nya says. "So, about this help of yours..." She starts, feeling stupid. "Do you guys know any place that makes a special kind of clothes?"

The pair of skeletons look at each other, with a weird look at their faces. Nya didn't thought she could feel even more stupid.

"That's it?" Kruncha finally says. "That's too much easy."

"What?!" The pair of ninjas say together, surprised.

"Yep, you're guys are talking about the Knitty Family. We did a big business with them in the past." Nuckal looks satisfied.

"You... did?" Zane says, suspicious.

"Yeah, they were the ones who made our Elemental Belts." Kruncha points at the brown belt with the symbol of earth he is wearing. "They had to make them in three days, or else they would find out how it feels to be a skeleton." He starts laughing.

Zane and Nya face each other, worried. "I guess... we should go, then. Lead the way." Zane says. Nuckal happily runs forward, being followed by the rest of them.

                                               ***

Meanwhile, Jay is on the deck of the Destiny's Bounty, looking at the blue sky with a frown on his face.

"Wish I could have gone with Nya instead." He sighs. 

"Why didn't you went with her then?" Cole asks as he punches a dummy. "I thought you guys were close to each other."

"Well, that WAS the plan until Kai freaked out just because I let Nya borrow some of my clothes for her." The blue ninja rolls his eyes, annoyed. "Then she decided to go with Zane to avoid more fights."

"Wait, go back a little." Cole comments, stopping his training. "Why did Nya take your clothes again?" 

"Uh, I was trying to decide what I was going to wear when she noticed them." The ginger says. "She looked a little bummed out and I asked what happened."

"And then...?" Cole was curious to know the rest.

"Then she said that- Woah!" Jay turned around to keep the conversation going, but ended up falling on the floor on his butt. "What the..." The boy looked at his shoes, seeing that his shoes strings were tied together.

"Ugh! Lloyd!" The ginger yells, annoyed. The younger kid managed to do that to him unnoticed. 

"Mwahahaha!" Lloyd laughs, walking away from behind the mast. "You guys are too much stupid to fall for something like that!" 

"Says the kid who got played out by the snakes three times in a row." Cole crosses his arms, smirking. Lloyd laugh dies after hearing that. 

"That's because you're always meddling in my plans." The boy says. "And now I'm trapped in here, having to deal with all you guys being annoying." 

Jay and Cole sighed. Wu was doing a good job with Lloyd for the last few days, but the boy was always demanding attention from everyone. That made them get quickly annoyed each time he tried to be part of anything. 

"Well, you had your fun." Jay says, solving the problem with his shoes. "Now can you leave us alone?" 

Lloyd sighs, irritaded. "You guys are always pushing me aside every time. That's not fair!" He runs away.

"Maybe if you weren't so lame...!" The blue ninja shouts in the kid's direction.

"Let him be." Cole says. "He'll find something to do eventually. Anyway..." He smiles. "What were you talking about Kai and Nya again?"

"Oh yeah!" Jay finally remembers. "She said blue was her favorite color and that she was really hoping she could buy some new clothes soon. Did you know that a lot of her clothes were from Kai first?" 

"That's news to me." The black ninja says. "So how everything ended?"

"Uh, heheh..." The ginger gets embarrassed. "Let's just say that Kai didn't liked seeing Nya wearing one of my shirts..." The boy frowns.

Cole starts laughing after that. "I guess we have a case of brotherly jealously." He finally says. 

"Ugh... Great." The blue ninja grunts. "Now, besides having to convince Nya of how awesome I am, I have to deal with Kai being a weirdo."

"Hey, come on." His friend puts a hand on his shoulder. "I don't think you have to convince Nya of anything. She seems to like you a lot."

Jay's ears get red. "Do you really think so?" He asks shyly.

"Dude, seriously?" Cole laughs. "You guys get along pretty well in my opinion. You're always supporting each other when you need... Always tinkering with something..." 

"Yeah, maybe you're right." The blue ninja gives a warm smile. "Thanks, Cole."

"That's what friends are for." The black ninja says. 

"And good leaders, too." Jay adds, leaving his friend flustered.  The boy sighs. "I just wanted to know what I should do about Kai..." 

"You have to show him how much of a cool guy you are." Cole shrugs. "But not because you like Nya. This isn't about her."

"What do you mean? Of course it's about her!" The ginger whines, making his friend sigh.

"See? You're sounding like Nya is some kind of trophy. Do you think Kai would like to hear that?" The black ninja says.

"Oh, I get it now." Jay mumbles, nodding. "Maybe I am sounding a little desperate..."

"Just a little." Cole speaks with a smile. "Just be yourself. You are a blabbermouth, but one with a big hearth."

"Yeah... Yeah!" The blue ninja gets confident. "You're right! I'll show them. I'll show Nya how amazing I think she is! I'll show Kai how awesome I can be!"

"You're showing me what now?" A voice comes from behind them. Both ninja turn away, surprised.

"Oh, Kai. Uh, hey there..." Jay speaks, sweating. The hotheated boy face them, suspicious.

"So?" The boy asks again. "I heard my name coming from your conversation. What happened?" 

"Nothing that matters." Cole says. Kai don't believes that, but decides to shrug it off. "Do you need something? It's rare for you to come around and talk with us when Nya isn't around."

"Yeah, I guess so." Kai nods. It was true. Kai was more distant from the other three ninja since their argument at the day they lost the Monastery. 

"But actually, yes." The boy says. "I wanted to ask Jay if he could help me with something."

Both ninjas give a quick glance at each other. Jay's eyes show how much nervous he is. Cole simply gives him a little nod for support.

"Uh, yeah, why not?" The blue ninja finally says, tense.

"Good. Then follow me, I have to show you something." Kai says, entering again as Jay follows him inside the ship.

Chapter Text

Jay followed Kai all the way up his room, wondering if the other boy could have heard anything from their previous conversation.

Inside, Kai pointed at his bed, silently asking for the blue ninja to sit down. Nervous, the ginger does that.

"Uh, so what did you want?" He asked, tense. The brunnete sighed without saying anything for a few moments.

"Okay." He finally speaks. "I need your help with... something."

"Oh, uh... Sure!" Jay answers, confused. Kai wasn't the kind of person to ask for help, especially after their last argument.
"I mean, I don't how I can help, but..."

"Oh, don't worry, it's something you can help, I'm sure of it." Kai moves to a fold screen from a distant side of his bedroom. From there, he picked up something that closely resembled a backpack.

"What is that?" The blue ninja slowly asks, uncertain.

"It's... Uh... Kind of a jetpack?" The other boy says. "At least that was what I was trying to do. But as you can see, I'm not the better mechanic out there." He rolls his eyes. "Do you think you can finish?"

"Ha, that's piece of cake." Jay says, confident. He suddendly thought about something. "Wait... Why don't you ask for Nya's help? I think she would do a better job than me."

"Yeah, I could." Kai looked tense. "But... I don't want to... ruin her surprise." He talks slowly.

"A surprise?" The ginger gives him a confused look.

"Y-yeah, that's it." The brunnete nods. "I wanted to give her a gift for going so far until now." He scratches his head.

"That's a weird choice for a gift." Jay points out. "Like, a jetpack for a ninja?" Kai gives him a dark look. "B-but I'm sure you know what you're doing. Heheh."

"Yeah, sure." The hotheated boy looks away. "You can take it to your work room or whatever, just give me back before Nya comes back."

"Don't sweat, man." The blue ninja grims, starting to walk away.

"One more thing." Kai stops him. "Don't think this will help your situation with my sister. So you better back off."

"I... thought so." The other boy frowns.

                                              ***

Kruncha and Nuckal led Nya and Zane to a unremarkable house, almost off from Ninjago City limits.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Nya asks, suspicious. The pair of skeletons fiercily nods.

"If so, I sense they don't like to be disturbed." Zane ponders. The place almost looked abandoned.

"Heheheh. If you could make the clothes and armor that this family do, you would want to be out of the radar too." Kruncha grims.

"Now, if I remember correctly, Master Samukai had a secret knock to call them." Nuckal knocks the door, trying to remember.

"W-who is it?" A timid voice comes from the other side of the door. "Is that you, Samukai?"

"Nuh-uh. Just Nuckal and Kruncha this time!" The eyepatched skeleton says.

"Just... Just the two of you?" The Voice asks.

"Yeah, just us!" The skeleton turns to the ninja and winks at them. They give each other a worries look.

A few moments pass before the Voice speaks again. "Okay... You can enter. The door ia open now." The group enters the house.

"Wait. Something's wrong here." Nya quickly speaks as she notices that the room they entered is engulfed by darkness.

"NGAAAAAHH!" The voice comes from behind them, knocking Kruncha and Nuckal off with a broom.

"Not again!" Nuckal yelps, losing his head.

"I'm going to show you!" The man whose the voice belonged to yelled. "I won't let any of you hurt my family!" 

"Great. What can we do now?" Nya jumps, dodging one blind attack coming from their opponent.

"Sir, please listen to me." Zane tries to pacifically argue. "We are not skeletons, so I'm sure we can talk over this."

"Being a skeleton or not, you came here with a pair of them!" The man snarks, managing to hit Zane and knock him away.

"I guess talking isn't going to solve our problems a second time today. Sorry, sir." The girl says, annoyed. "Ninja, Go!" She yells, using Spinjitzu against him and knocking him over a shelf.

"Are you okay, Zane?" Nya turns to him, helping get up. 

"Yes, I'm fine. I was just surprised, that's all." He nods, looking around him. The boy finally finds what he's looking for in the wall, turning the lights on. The group was inside on what was before a cozy living room, now a mess from their fight.

"I wasn't expecting that this craftsman would come up with a fight." Nya sighs. "Hope this doesn't make us lose our chance to make the order."

"I agree. Master Wu will be really dissapointed at us if this happens." The blonde comments.

"Wait." The man groans, suddenly getting up from the floor. "Did you said 'Master Wu'? Are you talking THE Master Wu, the legendary hero?"

The pair faces each other, surprised. "If your Master Wu can do Spinjitzu and is the son of the First Spinjitzu Master, then I'd say so." Nya says.

"Yes, Wu is a good friend of my family. My grandfather was always doing his best to aid him whenever he needed." The man gives a warm smile.

"So I guess these two really helped us find the right place." The red ninja looks at the skeletons, trying to put themselves back together. "So... Thanks for your help."

"Yeah, yeah." Kruncha grunts. "This means we defeated you, right?"

The man named Knitty gives a weird look at them. "I have to say, I never thought I would see the day when Wu's friends would get along with a couple of Skulkin."

"That's a really complicated story, to be honest..." Nya comments.

"Mr. Knitty?" Zane speaks.

"Yes, what is it?" He answers. The white ninja pulls a scroll from his jacket.

"Master Wu asked us to give you this." He places the scroll on Knitty's hands. "He said is really urgent."

The man unrolled the paper, reading its content with attention. After a few moments, he turns to the pair, with a worries expression. "Are you two really his students?" 

Both of them nodded in response. "So young... But Father always said Wu knew what to do." Knitty mumbles to himself. "Anyway... Your master gave to me a important task to be done." 

"Do you need our assistance for anything?" Zane asks. 

The man laughs. "Don't worry. That will take at least a few days, but tell Wu that the Knitty Family won't fail him." 

"Then I think we should take our way, right?" Nya looks at her friend. "We still have a lot of things to do."

"We sure do. Thanks for having us, Mr. Knitty." Zane bows his head.

"Yeah, and sorry for all the mess we made, too." The girl gives a embarrassed expression at the living room.

"Believe me, somedays are even messier." Knitty laughs. "Just... Don't forget to take them with you." He points at the Skulkin pair.

"What? Are we going already?" Nuckal says, sad, finally putting one of his hands in the right place.

"Yes, we are. Keep going." Nya says, pushing them in the direction of the door. "Oh, and don't worry too much about the Skulkin anymore, Mr. Knitty." She turns back at him. "Since Samukai died, these are only knocking their heads at each other lately."

"What?!" Knitty shouts, shocked. "What do you mean Samukai's dead?" 

But the group had already leave the Knitty Family house, leaving the man completely flabbergasted.

"Now we just need to buy our groceries and find that tea shop Master Wu asked, right?" The red ninja comments.

"Yes. I hope we still have time to do everything." Zane says. "We already wasted some time..."

                                              ***

Cole gives a final punch in his dummy, yawning after that. "Cole, you shouldn't be training your moves with something that can't fight back." The boy says to himself aloud.

"Well, nothing to be done, I guess." He shrugs, still talking alone. The door for the deck opens, and he watches as Kai gets out.

"Oh, you're still here." The hotheated boy says. "Did you just stand there all the time?"

"Good to see you too, sunshine." Cole comments, a little annoyed from the way the brunnete was talking to him. "Want to spar or something?"

Kai gave him a blank expression. "Nah, I'm good." The black shrugs it off, deciding to go back to his activity. However, he felt Kai's eyes on him the whole time.

"Did something happen? You seem a little... worked up."

"Actually yeah, you're right." Kai crosses his arms. "Y'know, I overheard you and Jay's conversation earlier."

"Was there a problem with that?" Cole says, feeling this conversation wasn't going to end well.

"You shouldn't be trying to help Jay with whatever is on his mind." The boy bluntly says. "And maybe you should not talk about my sister's life like that."

"Uh, like what, for example?" The black ninja turns to him. 

"Like you were deciding her life for her. You should have more respect." Kai's voice goes louder.

"What are talking about? I have a lot of respect for her." Cole got offended. "Why do you think I talked with Jay about his feelings?" He sighed.

"Look, I know him for some time now." The black ninja continues. "Every time he is fixated on something, he always ends up overcomplicating things. He's my best friend, but he need to work on himself better." Cole turns at Kai, who has a bored expression on his face.

"Besides, we are all a team. Jay and Nya work great together. I don't want their feelings to cause problems between us, not now of all times."

"Wow! Congratulations, Cole! Leader of the years!" The brunette gives a sarcastic smile. "Except that you're not, of course." 

"I'm going to ignore that. I don't want to fight." Cole sighs, frustraded. He approaches the other boy. "Look, I know that something is bothering you. You should talk about it instead of lashing out like that."

"Don't talk like you know me or anything!" Kai shouts. "You can act high and mighty all of you want, but you're not that special!"

"I'm not saying any of that!" Cole loses his patience with the other boy. "I just saying I understand this feeling of responsability, to take everything by yourself!"

"Yeah, right." Kai simply rolls his eyes, giving him a cold gaze. 

"Listen, I know changes can be... scary." The black ninja keeps trying to reason. "But you're guys are not alone anymore."

"Haha." The brunette laughs. "Hahahah... Of course Nya's not alone anymore!" He explodes. "Because she has you guys now! You're all so special, that no one cares about a nobody like me!"

"Kai, wait..." Cole mumbles.

"DON'T TRY TO DENY IT!" Kai snaps at him. "Or you think I forgot what YOU said to me the day we lost the Monastery?! Because shame on you, I still remember."

"I didn't mean..." The black ninja tries to talk back, regretful.

"But you know what's so funny?" Kai gives him a sinister grim. "We had to save your butts two times in a row, because you guys are nothing more than a mess!"

"Seriously, stop that!" Cole shouts, angry.

"Why? Because I'm telling the truth?" Kai points his finger at the other boy's chest in a aggressive manner. "The truth about how much of a failure this 'amazing' team is? Especially you, of all people."

Cole strongly grabs Kai's wrist, his patience on his limit. "You shouldn't be saying that. It's not you who is outside, dealing with everything. Don't talk like you're better than everyone here." He coldly says. 

"Hahah. So I'M not better?" Kai laughs. One second his fist hits the taller boy's face, making him lose his grip on Kai.

"How about that, huh?" Kai smirks. "Just one punch and you're already on the floor." He claps his hands. "Truly amazing, coming from someone like me, right?"

You... Really want a fight, huh?" Cole gets up, finally done with holding back.

"Wasn't you who wanted someone to sparr?" Kai jokes. 

Cole jumps at Kai, making both boys fall on the floor. They roll around, hitting each other any time one has the chance. Their fight keeps going they suddenly feel some kind of small shock trough their bodies. 

They quickly release each other, susprised. Both boys breathe heavily for a few moments before lifting their heads. In front of them were Jay and Lloyd, looking really shocked as the blue ninja was holding his nunchucks. Master Wu was with them, with a disapproval look on his face.

"Can any of you explain what is the meaning of this?" The old man says.

Chapter Text

"Phew! We're almost there." Nya comments as she, Zane and the the Skulkin pair leave the market. "Now we just need to find Mistaké's Teashop."

The girl waits for any additional comentary from Zane, but the boy keeps quiet after giving her a quick glance.

"Uh, is everything alright?" She asked. "You look distracted."

"Oh, sorry." The blonde fastly speaks, embarrassed. "I just noticed that your shirt is very familiar to me. I'm sure I saw it somewhere."

"Oh, it's Jay's." Nya nods. "He let me borrow it. Blue is actually my favorite color, so he offered for me to wear it today."

"That's strange." Nuckal meddles in their conversation. "I never saw you wearing blue. It was always red before."

"Uh... Sure." Nya doesn't know how to respond. "That's because Kai was the one to always buy us clothes, so maybe he really likes red and never really asked for my opinion..."

"I see. You never told us about that." Zane ponders.

"Never saw a reason to talk about it." She shrugs. "I don't like to remember those days. They are a little too much."

They walk in silence for some time before Zane starts talking again. "Sorry for asking, but did something happened before we left the Bounty? I wanted to ask earlier but you seemed really worked up."

Nya sighs. "I guess you're right. Kai and I had an argument, that's all."

"Was there any reason for that?" Her friend gently asks.

"He probably have a lot of reasons." The red ninja grunts. "Apparently Kai doesn't want to see Jay too close with me or something like that."

"Oh." It's all the blonde says, figuring out what happened. "Does Kai noticed the way Jay is acting towards you lately?"

Nya looked at him with wide eyes before she starts giggling. "Zane, do you think before talking?" She comments. "But you got it right again."

"Well, Jay isn't the most subtle person around." Zane rolls his eyes. "What about you then? How do you feel about any of that?"

"Oh, uh..." Nya was caught off with the last question. "I actually don't know. It's not that I don't like Jay. He is cool, and funny, but..." She pauses.

"But?" Zane asks, hoping to sound supportive.

The girl sighs. She didn't expect to talk about this with anyone, and there she was, opening her heart to Zane, no less. "But maybe this isn't that bad." She thought. "Of everyone, Zane is the best listener. I know I can talk with him about it."

"It's just... I don't know. I feel like everything is going so fast." She mumbles. "I grew attached to Kai my whole life. Of course I'm not complaining!" The red ninja adds.

"Don't worry, I understand what you mean." Her friend nods with a gentle smile.

"Thanks." Nya says. "But now I feel like I can finally make my own path, be my own person." She lowers her head. "And I don't want to throw that away just to be attached to someone else again." The girl glances at the shirt she is wearing.

"So you want to be on your own for now, right?" Zane says, comprehensive. Nya nods at him in silence. "As your friend, I say there is nothing wrong with that. You should validate your feelings before anything else."

"Thanks, Zane." Nya shyly smiles. "To be honest, I thought about that after everything in the Bounty today. I felt like I was in the middle of a round of tug-o-war..."

"Oh, look, it's the tea shop!" Zane points to a store at the other side of the road. Kruncha and Nuckal were waving at the pair in the front of the place.

"I didn't even noticed that they walked away from us." Nya comments. "I hope they don't cause more trouble."

"I agree." Zane sighed by her side.

"Do you guys always talk that much when you're on a mission?" Kruncha comments as the teenagers walk towards them. They decide to ignore him.

As they enter the shop, the group see shelves and more shelves filled with varied types of tea in a great number of colors and smells.

"Wow..." Is all that comes from Nya's mouth. An old lady in the cashier notice their presence.

"Would you look at that!" She exclaims. "Two kids walking around with a pair of Skulkin. That's something we don't see everyday." The old lady gives a small laugh.

"Um, hello, madam." Nya spoke. "We are looking for some tea."

"Oh, goodness." The woman shook her head. "You are going to be more specifical than that, my dear. We have lots of tea in here." She waves her hand at the shelves.

"Ugh..." Nya sighed, forgetful. "Let me try to remember."

"If I'm not mistaken, the name was 'sereni-tea'." Zane decides to speak. The old lady gentle smile fails after hearing that.

"Hmph! Never heard of it." She looks away from them. "Besides, this kind of tea is too powerful. I would recommend a cup only for the one really troubled at the heart." She walks away.

"That's inconvenient." Zane turns to Nya. "What do we do now?"

"Beats me." The girl sighs. "But if what she said is true, Master Wu may really be needing this tea..."

"Oh." The old lady returns, with a curious expression. "So it's about Wu we are talking about? I see..."

"Do you know him?" Zane asks.

"He's a really old friend of mine." The lady gives a weak laugh. "I'm going to get his tea. Wait a moment." She walks away.

"Looks like Master Wu is quite famous." Nya comments to Zane. "His name feels like a magic word."

Soon the old woman reappears, carrying a small package with her.

"There we are." The lady says. The white ninja gives her some coins. She looks at her hand and nods, satisfied.

"Thank you." The boy smiles. "Now I think it's finally time for us to make our way home." He turns at Nya.

"Yeah, good call." She agrees.

"Hey! What about us?" Nuckal meddles in. "Are you just going to leave us like that."

"What are we supposed to do?" Zane curiously asks, completely lost.

"Maybe helping us find something we can do around the city, since we helped you all say?" Kruncha rolls his eyesockets.

Nya and Zane sighed, defeated. They were exhausted from the day, and now they needed to deal with the pair as well?

"If it's work they are looking for, I wouldn't mind to have them here." The old lady meddles in their conversation.

"Wait, are you serious?" Nya asked, shocked.

"Why not? Skulkin are only warriors who died in disgrace looking for a new purpose." The old lady laughs. "And these two seem to be quite eager to do something."

"Ooh!" Nuckal cries, hugging his partner. "See, Kruncha? See? I told you we would be useful to someone!"

"Let go of me, you knucklehead!" Kruncha grunts.

"You seem to know a lot about the Skulkin..." Zane looks at her.

"Like I said, Wu is a really old friend." The old lady smiles. As the pair of teenagers walks towards the door, she opens her mouth a last time. "Tell him that Mistaké said 'hi'!"

"And with that, we gathered everything." Zane says outside. "Now we just have to return to the Bounty."

"At least we have our vehicles. Imagine carrying all those things to the Bounty." Nya lifts some of their groceries.

                                             ***

"I'm waiting for a answer." Wu says, in the same dissapointed tone. Cole and Kai are looking away from everyone, still on the floor.

"Uh, Master Wu?" Jay shyly asked. "Maybe they were just having a friendly fight?"

"Is that so?" Wu turns at his student. "Then they may tell us that." He looks at the pair again.

"It... was my fault." Cole speaks, ashamed. "Me and Kai were arguing, and I lost my patience with him. Again."

"Hm. I see." The old man slowly nods. "Can I know what exactly motivated this?" He faces them with disapproval.

"Does it matter that much?" Kai grunts. "It's not going to change anything."

"If something is causing tension among my pupils, is my responsability to resolve the conflict." Wu patiently explains.

"So now I am your pupil? That's funny." The hotheated boy gave him a cold stare. "Sorry, but you don't have to pretend to care about what happens to me."

Kai quickly gets up and ran away to inside the deck, leaving everyone behind. The wise man pleads for him to stay, but he is ignored.

"I'm sorry, Master." Cole mumbles, still on the floor. "I shouldn't have-"

"Don't push all the blame on yourself, Cole." Wu spoke. "Whatever it was, both of you made a mistake today." He turns his attention to Jay. "Can you handle things around here?"

"S-sure, no problem!" The blue ninja nervously nods. The old man then makes his way, following Kai. Lloyd looks at both sides, deciding to follow his uncle.

"Wow, what a mess..." Jay comments after they leave. He gives a hand to Cole. "Are you okay?"

"I guess so..." The black ninja responds, talking the other boy's hand and getting up. "My face is hurting a lot, though."

" Hold on, let me see." The ginger puts his hands on Cole's shoulders, moving his face left and right. "Phew! He made a work on your face. A cut on your lips, a black eye... Hey, that eye can match your gi now!" Jay points out.

"Jay, not now, please." Cole sighed, feeling exhausted.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." The blue ninja gives him a nervous smile. "Let's go patch you up. I'm no Zane, but I know how to fix a bruise or two."

Cole nods as both ninjas enter the deck, walking trough the hall. "You know, I didn't know Kai was that kind of a jerk, going against you like that." Jay comments. The black ninja gives him a dissapointed look. "What? I know you aren't the kind of person who makes the first hit."

"That's not it." The older boy shook his head. " I told him some pretty bad things myself." He sighs. "I'm just the worst..."

"Hey, now." Jay frowns. "Everyone makes mistakes here and there."

"I make too many mistakes though. You saw Wu's face." Cole looks away. "How good of a leader I can be if I keep dissapointing everyone?"

"You don't dissapointed me..." Jay scratches his head, giving him a nervous smile.

"What about that time the Hipnobrai hipnotized me?" Cole gives him a sad look. "Or when we all lost control of our vehicles in the Fangpyre attack?"

"Uh..." Jay gasps. "But everything ended well in the end, right?" He says, but his friend don't keep the conversation going.

                                        ***

Wu opens the door from Kai's room, seeing the boy lying in the best with his face on the pillow. The boy quickly lifts his head after hearing the door creaking.

"We should put a lock on these doors." He grunts, hiding his face again. The old man looks at the door behind him.

"Yes. I think we should." Wu sits on the bed. "Can I stay here?"

"Whatever." Kai pauses for a second. "What do you want?"

"I want to see how you are." The old man simply says. "Can you look at me?"

The boy slowly lifts his head, revealing a bruise on his jaw. Wu gave a sigh of relief.

"Good. At least Cole contained himself." He spoke. Kai was soon filled with anger after hearing that.

"Wow, I should thank him for going easy on me then, right?" He snarks.

"No, Kai." The master shook his head. "Cole is the stronger of the team, he could've easily hurt you more than that."

"Yeah, I guess I'm lucky like that." The boy continues to snark. They stayed in silence for a few minutes.

"Your attitude reminds me of a few people from my past." Wu finally spoke. "Like my brother, for example."

"I remind you of your evil brother?" Kai looks at him, confused. "Wow, thanks." He rolls his eyes.

"He wasn't always evil." Wu spoke, a hint of sadness in his voice. "During our younger age, he was reckless, suspicious of everyone, hot-heated, and was always ready to be part of the action." He smiled a little. "But as we grew up, he became more mature with experience."

"Are you calling me immature?" The boy asked, annoyed.

"No, I'm saying you still have room to improve." Wu gently said.

"Easy for you to say. I don't have powers like everyone else here." Kai lowers in his head, insecure. Wu reflects for a moment, then shake his head.

"Not every hero has powers, Kai. I met a lot of people along the way that didn't need that to make a difference." The old man finally spoke.

"Is that so?" Kai asks, more calm now. "And how can I do that?"

"I know you can figure it out." Wu gets up, giving him a warm smile. "But I suggest that you should be more open with us, to begin with."

"Easy for you to say..." The boy frowns. The old man open the door of the room, just for Lloyd to fall on the floor. "What the-?"

"Looks like someone was eavesdropping." Wu chuckles. "Are you okay, my nephew?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Lloyd blushes, embarrassed. "Sorry, Uncle Wu."

"It's okay." The old man said. "Now, if you excuse me, I have to go back to meditating." He leaves the two boys.

"So, what do you want?" Kai asks, suspicious.

"Me? Nothing." Lloyd looks away. "I just... Didn't wanted to be with the other two, that's all." He gets up. "I'm leaving, anyway."

As soon as the kid goes one step forward to the door, both boys hear a rumbling sound.

"Was that your stomach?" Kai asked, confused.

"No, I'm not!" Lloyd exclaims, flustered. A second rumbling betrays him.

Kai sighs. "Are you hungry? Is that why you were after Master Wu?" A few seconds pass before the blonde slowly nods. Kai thinks for a moment.

"C'mon, let's find you something to eat." He gets up from his bed, taking the kids hand.

"R-really?" Lloyd shyly asked.

Yeah, really." Kai nods. "Do you have something that you want?"

"Oh, maybe something sweet? I love sweets!" Lloyd grims.

"Uh, I guess we could make some cookies..." Kai ponders.

"Seriously?" Lloyd smiles. "That would be awesome!" Kai follows the kid's lead, deciding to put his feelings aside for now.

Chapter Text

"Where is it? It has to be here!" She said, desperate as she keeps looking for whatever she lost.

A whistling comes for the door, making the girl turn her attention to the new sound. It was Lloyd, peeking from the door.

"Ugh, great." The red ninja grunts. "What do you want, Lloyd?"

"Oh, uh. Nothing." The boy mumbles. "I'm looking for Kai. I wanted to show him a drawing I made." He was holding a piece of paper.

"Why do you want to show him a drawing?" She asked, stopping her search.

"None of your business." The boy punts, annoyed.

"Well, you're not going to find him here." She said. "His room is on the other side of the ship."

"I know that!" Lloyd said. "But I knocked in his door and he didn't answered. And I couldn't enter too, since he put that lock on his door."

"Oh, yeah. That stupid lock." Nya thought. It was just one of the recent mysteries at the Bounty from the last few days. When Nya and Zane came back from their groceries, they found Jay and Wu in a mess, a reclusive Cole with a black eye, and Kai, more quiet than never. The duo tried to understand whatever happened during their absence, but no side said a word.

"What happened here, anyway?" Lloyd's question made Nya come back from her thoughts. She looked at the mess she made.

"Oh. I'm looking for my folder's projects." The girl paused, asking herself why she told the boy that. It's wasn't like he saw it before.

"Uh, it was like a light-blue thingie?" The blonde scratched his head. Nya's eyes wided.

"Yeah, that's it!" She exclaimed, relieved. "Where did you saw it?"

"Uh... I saw Cole taking a look on it yesterday." For some reason, the boy seemed nervous. "He laughed after looking at some of the papers, then... he put it on one of the opened windows."

"WHAT?!" Nya's face had become as red as her gi. "No, no, no, no! If must have fallen trought the window during our flight, then! Uuuhg! COLE!" She stormed away for her room.

"I think I saw him on the bridge!" Lloyd shouted, with a mischief smile on his face.

In the kitchen, Cole is preparing some dish on a big pan. "You know what, Cole? Zane was right." He spoke to himself as he keep stirr the content with a wooden spoon. "Cooking can be relaxing, too."

The black ninja suddendly hear someone entering the kitchen. He quickly looks and find Lloyd, looking around.

"Hm. Kai's not here either..." The kid mumbles. He notices Cole staring at him. "Hey, Cole. Have you seen Kai?"

"Huh? Uh, no." Cole looks away. The boy didn't had a chance to talk with Kai again since their fight. They didn't looked at each other in the eyes since them.

"What is this?" Lloyd curiously asked, looking at the smoke coming from the pan. "It's our lunch?"

"Mm-mmh!" Cole nods. "Violet Berry Soup, my newest culinary achievement. Now I wanna see someone say I can't cook for my life." He picks a small portion with the spoon. "If the recipe is not followed exactly..." The older boy tries a bit, only to quickly spit it out.

"What the- That wasn't supposed to... That's awful!" He exclaimed.

"Maybe you're not that good of a cook after all." Lloyd shrugs off. "Or maybe it was the spices that Jay put up earlier..."

"Jay did what?" Cole asked, shocked.

"He put some spices in the pan. I told him not to, but he said your cooking could use it." The kid said as he began to walk away. "I think I saw him going to the bridge after that."

"JAY!" The black ninja shouted, making his away.

                                                ***

On the training room, Jay put his kendo gear on as he prepares for his routine with a sparring bot that he created it.

"Let's ease our way into this." The blue ninja pull his nunchucks. "How about... level 2, shall we?"

Before he had to chance to turn the bot on, he looks at Lloyd, who suddendly appeared.

"Have you seen Kai? I can't find him..." The kid said, frustraded.

"Nope! And hopefully he won't get near me so soon. I don't want to be his next target." The ginger snarked. In Jay's opinion, Kai had finally showed his true colors. He thought the other boy was nice before, but the truth was that he was just another cocky guy with anger issues who would lash out at anyone.

"Anyway... Sorry, but I have some training to do." Jay turns the sparring bot on, but the machine soon starts shaking and making weird sounds. "Hey! What's going on?"

"Oh, yeah. Zane tried to repair the sparring bot earlier. I thought it was strange, because aren't you the expertise on this?" Lloyd grimmed. "Later, Big Brain. I'll be on the bridge with Zane, if we need us." He said as he leaves.

"Wait! What?" The blue ninja tries to turn the sparring bot off, but it laughs as it starts hitting him. "Ow! No! NO!! ZANE!!!!"                              

                                                    ***

In the upper deck, Zane, in his pajamas is about to hang his laundry when Lloyd walks towards him.

"Hello, Lloyd." The white ninja gave the kid a gentle smile. "What brings you up here this fine morning?"

"I'm looking for Kai, but he doesn't seem to be here..." Lloyd comments.

"I didn't saw him either." Zane said. "But if I find him, I'll tell him you were looking for him."

"Oh, thanks." The boy said, looking at the laundry on the ninja's hands. "Hey, did you finished this?"

"Yes, why do you ask?" Zane gave him a confused look.

"Nya wanted me to pick up her ninja suit." Lloyd said, looking for the robes. "She said she threw it in with your whites." The kid finally finds it, grinning after doing so. "Here it is. Thanks. I need to give this to her at the bridge." Lloyd said as he leaves.

Completely lost, Zane picks out one of his gis and discovers it is now pink. "What is the meaning of this?" He exclaims, frustraded.

At the bridge, the four ninjas are arguing, furious at one another, each one for their own reasons.

"Did you really had to do that?!" Nya shouted at Cole. "Is that because I found out about your drawings or what?"

"Do you know how long it took me to create the right taste to that soup?" The black ignored her, as he snapped at Jay. "Three days. Three days!"

"It's an unsaid law, okay?" The blue ninja was occupied arguing with Zane. "You don't touch another person's creation without asking for permission!"

"How am I supposed to identify myself as the Ninja of Ice with this?" The white ninja is showing Nya his ruined gi. "Pink has nothing to do with Ice OR snow!"

As they kept arguing, Wu enters and observes them for a few seconds. The old man then sighs, dissapointed. He finally hit the floor with his staff with a good amount of force, catching the attention of his students.

"LLOYD!" The four ninjas shout together, surprising the kid.

"You have to be kidding me!" Nya exclaimed, angry.

"Of course it was the little snake!" Jay whined.

"Guys, I getting first dibs on him." Cole said, cracking his knuckles. Lloyd gulps before he tries to run away.

"Oh, no! No you don't!" The red ninja shouted, going after him.

"What's up with all that noise?" Kai finally appeared at the door, with a annoyed expression.

"Kai! Help me!" Lloyd quickly clinged at the hotheated boy, whining.

"What's going on here?" Kai asked, going from annoyed to confused.

"What happened is that brat thought it was a good idea to pull pranks on us!" Jay shouted, angry.

"In my opinion, this is going farther then a prank!" Zane said, still looking at his ruined gi.

"So what? Are you going to punish him just because he played a trick on you?" Kai gave them a little laugh.

"Easy for you to say." Nya said. "And don't think you're going to get away with this!" She turned her attention at Lloyd.

"It wasn't my fault!" The younger boy said. "Uncle Wu asked for me to do it!"

"Yeah, sure." Cole rolled his eyes. "Like Master Wu would-"

"It is true." The old man nodded, caughting everyone off-guard. "I put him up to this for today's lesson." He explained. "I wanted to show you the destructive power of rumors and that jumping to conclusions can only lead to trouble." The wise man gave them a dissaproval look. "Did you ever think to find out if the accusations were true?"

Cole sighed. "Uh, no offense, Master, but let me jump to this conclusion: today's lesson is lame." He bluntly spoke, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, why can't you just teach us to paralyze your enemy with one finger, or find out if a man is lying by the twitch of his nose?" Jay asked.

"Because not all lessons are about fighting." Wu looked away from them, offended. "And I misplaced my lesson book." He said after some awkward pause.

Lloyd then blew a raspberry at everyone, victorious. As he did that, Kai noticed something sticking out of the kid's back pocket.

"You mean this lesson book?" The brunette said, snatching the object. Surprised, Wu gave his nephew a amused look.

"Aww! It was the perfect prank!" The blonde whined.

"Hey, come on." Kai said, putting a hand on Lloyd's shoulder. "As much as I found it funny, you shouldn't had done this to your uncle. Are you sure you want to hurt his feelings?"

Lloyd didn't said anything for some time until he finally sighed. "Okay. Sorry, Uncle Wu."

"It's okay, Lloyd." Wu nodded, satisfied. "Just not repeat that again."

"Well, that's all fine and all." Nya spoke, slightly annoyed. "But I want my folder back." She looked at Lloyd.

"I didn't took it." Lloyd said. "I don't know where it is."

"Is that so?" Nya didn't sounded too happy with that. "So who took it, then?"

"If he said he didn't took, then he didn't took." Kai defended the boy, much for his sister's shock.

"Why are you believing so easily in him?" She asked.

"I don't know. I just think he doesn't have any more reason to lie." Her brother shruged it off.

"Yeah, right." The red ninja rolled her eyes. "Well, this ain't over yet."

"Uh, I hate to be the one stopping the bickering..." Cole cuts their argument. "But I think we fooled around enough for today. We do still have a snake problem to deal it."

"I agree." Zane decides to push his gi's problem aside for now. "We didn't hear nor saw any movements from the Serpentine in quite some time.

"Yeah, last we heard of Pythor, he stole the map for the tombs from Lloyd right under our noses." Jay grunted.

"Ugh. Don't remind me of that." Lloyd looked remorseful.

"But that's really strange." Nya said, curious. "You'll think he would already released them by now."

"But those tombs could be anywhere." Jay pointed at the map on their wall. "We might as well just throw darts at a map, maybe we can find them this way, if we are lucky."

"The Ninjago's symbol for serpent." Wu said. "The answer is there."

"What do you mean by that?" Cole asked. The teenagers wait for a few moments, but their master didn't gave them any answer.

"According to Lloyd, yes." Zane nodded.

"And this is Pythor's tomb." The red ninja places another dart on the map, picking a marker from the table. "Now, if you draw the serpent symbol in these locations..." She draws as she speaks. "...all three Will be in line with the serpent!"

"Ooooh, I get it!" Jay said, picking two more darts. "So the last two tombs must be..." He throws them, completing the drawing. "...here and here. Right?" The girl proudly nods. "Ah, you are so smart." The blue ninja compliments her.

"Hah, was there ever any doubt?" She said, with a faint sign of blush on her cheeks.

"Sorry for asking, Master, but how did you know that was the key to find the tombs?" Zane asked, curious.

"Because I was part of the group that sealed them to begin with." Wu said with a somber tone.

"WHAT?!" Everyone screamed.

"But how is that possible?" Cole asked, shocked.

"Believe it or not, a long time ago serpents and humans lived together in peace." Wu spoke, a hint of regret on his voice.

"Well, that's hard to believe." Jay shruged. "With the way these guys hate out guts..."

"Indeed." Wu nodded. "At some point, the Serpentine decided that they were the most honorable species, and decides to take over. We fought a hardship war, but the humans prevailed in the end."

"And so you guys then sealed them snakes in their tombs?" Cole asked.

"Yes. Together, they were stronger. But they couldn't just decide who should be in command in the end." The old man sighed. "But now, there's too little time to stop them." He said, determined. "Nya and Jay, you head to the Venomari Tomb." The pair nods. "Cole and Zane, you take the Constrictai Tomb. And take this." The old man gives Cole his fluet. "You might need it if you run into Pythor. Good luck, ninja."

"What about us?" Kai asked, finally opening his mouth.

"Yeah, what are we gonna do?" Lloyd joins him.

"Kai, I need you here to make sure Lloyd doesn't get into any more trouble. I hope you understand." Wu gently said.

"Oh, yeah." Kai slowly nodded. "Sure, I guess."

"Ugh! That's not fair!" Lloyd whined.

"Don't worry, buddy." The brunette looked at him. "I'm sure we can do something to distract ourselves. I could show you some moves!" He smirked, cocky.

"Yeah! That would be cool!" The kid got excited. "If I learn how to fight, maybe I can with them, too!"

Hahah. Yeah, sure thing." Kai laughed as they walk away.

"Okay, let's go, guys." Cole finally said. "We got some snakes to club."

Wu sighs as his pupils run away from the bridge. "Where are you, Pythor? What are you up to?" He said, looking at the map in front of him.

Chapter Text

"I have a favor to ask." She whispered at him, pulling him away from the others. "Can you help me out?"

"I would be glad to help." Zane said, gentle. "What do you need?"

"Okay. Since we are going in different missions, could you try and ask Cole about what happened here these last few days?" Nya gave her friend a uncertain look.

"Are you sure that is a good idea?" The now pink ninja asked. "We are in the middle of a serious mission."

"That's the reason!" Nya rolled her eyes. "Maybe that can make them give up their game more easily!"

"How is that a game for them?" The blonde asked, confused.

"Hey! What's taking you guys so long?" Cole called for the pair. "We're short in time here!"

"Going!" Nya replied. "Let's go, Zane." They joined the other pair of ninjas. "You guys remember the location of the tombs, right?" Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Okay, then." Cole said. "Good luck, guys." He turned to Jay and Nya. "And be careful."

"Easy for you to say." The blue ninja sighed. "At least you guys have the flute."

"Come on, Jay." Nya smirks at him. "I'm sure we can deal with a pack of snakes or two."

"Uh, yeah, I hope so..." He said, nervous.

The group jumped from the deck, creating their vehicles using the Golden Weapons. Cole and Zane going to the east as Nya and Jay go to the west.

                                             ***

It didn't took much time for Zane and Cole to arrive at their destination, the Mountain of a Million Steps. The pair stopped at the base of the mountain.

"Well, our vehicles won't traverse the steps." Cole said to his partner, who agreed and jumped from his snowmobile. "We go the rest of the way on foot." Both of their vehicles turn back to being weapons.

"But this is the Mountain of a Million Steps." Zane pointed out. "Aren't we pressed for time?"

"Then we'll take a shortcut." Cole smirked at him.

"What kind of shortcut are we talking about?" The pink ninja asked. Instead of replying, the black ninja got in his knees.

"I'll carry you, what else?" Cole said like it was something obvious. Zane seemed hesitant. "Don't worry, climbing mountains is my thing, remember?"

"I guess so..." The blonde said, still uncertain. "Okay, then." He jumps on his comrade's back.

Cole then starts climbing his way into the mountain, giving precise jumps while still having the might to carry Zane.

"Am I holding on too tight?" The pink ninja asked after some time.

"Light as a feather, Pinky." Cole joked, keeping his dedication. Zane ponders if this is the right moment to inquire to his friend.

"Do you mind if I asked you something?" Zane spoke.

"Actually, I would mind." Cole stopped for a second, then kept going. "But I don't see any harm on it."

"I know we already asked you before, but whatever happened between you all?" Zane asked, worried.

"This again?" Cole sighed. "I bet Nya insisted for you to ask that, huh?" The pink ninja kept quiet. "Your silence speaks for yourself."

"I suppose she doesn't like to have a open thread like that." The blonde pondered. "This is really troubling her mind."

"Look, this is nothing to do with you two." Cole said. "There's just... Something I have to take care of, and I didn't found the right moment yet."

"But even so, as a team..." Zane started.

"Shh!" Cole shushed him. "We're almost there." They finally reach the entrance of the tomb, a hole at the top of the mountain, noticing that it's already opened.

"Looks like Pythor was already here." Zane pointed out. "Still, I sense we should investigate. We might find something clues to their next step."

"Yeah... right..." Cole panted, exhausted from his climbing carrying Zane. Just... Give me a... second." The black ninja sits on a closer rock. "Phew. Go on and... start without me."

Zane nods, jumping straight into the hole, falling on a center area. The little clarity inside is caused by the rays of Sun coming from the ceiling.

The pink ninja looks around him, noticing scribbles and drawings on the wall of the tomb. "What exactly this all means?" The ninja thinks, analyzing said walls.

Soon Cole is joining him, falling from the entrance and giving a quick look around.

"Huh. Didn't momma snake ever tell them not to draw on the walls?" The black ninja tries to light the mood.

"I think these images describe some kind of legend." Zane said, concentrated. "Something about the tive tribes uniting themselves?"

"Master Wu said those snakes had been at war with each other for ages." Cole shruged off. "I don't know if they can work together that easily."

"Wait, I think I found something more legible..." The pink stopped at an drawing of four blades revolving a giant snake. "I think it says... once they unite, the path to the Four Silver Fangblades will be revealed."

"I don't like where this is going..." Cole said, looking at the drawings.

"Then the blades will unleash the Great Devourer, an evil that will consume all of the land, turning day into night." Zane ended his reading, shocked.

"This gives me deep concern." The blonde faces his friend. "If Pythor's not here and unites all the tribes together before Nya and Jay find him-"

"Hey, Zane. Keep it cool." Cole put his hands on the other's shoulders. "We don't even know if that is true. Maybe it's just a story! If anything, we've got-" The black ninja suddendly stopped talking, alarmed. "Did you feel that?"

"Feel what?" His friend asked, confused.

"There's something in the ground." Cole said, feeling a small number of weak quakes below them. "Don't move."

The black ninja barely finished his sentence before a black serpent with orange skales came above the ground, grabbing Zane with his tail.

"I've been waiting for you." Their enemy said. "Pythor sends his regards."

"Did you stay behind just to tell us that?" The pink looked at him, perplexed. "Pathetic."

"Look who's calling who pathetic, Pinky." The snake snapped at him, gripping the ninja with more strenght.

"Only I call him Pinky!" Cole yells, coming for Zane's aid. The black ninja kicks the serpent's face, making the villain lose his gripe on the blonde.

"Ugh! Hitting Skalidor, the general of the Constrictai like that? You'll see..." Skalidor said, digging trough the ground.

"Zane, go for the rope." Cole shouted at his comrade as he tries to locate Skalidor. The pink ninja does as he was told, giving a quick glance at his friend before the snake appeared from behind the black ninja, wrapping his tail around him.

"Don't... worry!" Cole panted heavily as Skalidor cackles. "I've... got this!" He starts playing the flute, but Skalidor, annoyed, starts to choke him.

"I don't think I like your kind of music, young boy!" The snake hissed.

Noticing that his friend in his danger, Zane jump from the rope. "Ninja, go!" He quickly takes the flute from Cole's hands and starts playing it.

"Uuugh!" Skalidor lost his grip on the black ninja. "This annoying sound doesn't stop!"

"How about you wrap your head around this?" Cole asked, punching the serpent's face. Hissing, Skalidor runs away trough the ground, not coming back this time.

"Ah. Good one." Zane comments, understanding the joke.

"Thanks." The black ninja sighed. "But if he was expecting us, I think Jay and Nya are walking into a trap. Come on. Let's get out of here."

                                               ***

At the Bounty, Lloyd watches Kai delivering some punches and kicks at the training dummies.

"Oh, that's easy." Kai stopped. "It's all about starting with a good fight stance-"

"No, not that." Lloyd shook his head. "I mean... How can you be so fine being left behind like that? I wanted to go with them." The kid frowns.

"Oh. I get it." Kai leave his training behind. "Let's just say it's something you just... have to accept around here." The older boy said. "If you're not part of the Ninja Club, you just help when they lost all hope." He tried to joke.

"But..." Lloyd hesitaded. "Isn't that why you and Cole fought that day?" He asked. "About being left behind? Why are you so okay now?"

"But I want to worry!" The blonde looked at the older boy. "Because I freed the snakes to begin with! It's my fault that Uncle Wu is having so much troubled now, and don't even blame me for all that happened!" Lloyd began to cry.

"He's... He's just treating me so nicely. He's one of the few people I know that don't treat me like garbage." He sobbed. "I just... I just want to help fix the mess that I made it."

Kai stood in silence, just observing him talking, feeling a weight in his chest. "This kid really have gone trough a lot..." He thinks.

"Sorry." Lloyd said. "Sorry about that. I don't want to talk about this with Uncle Wu..." The kid tries to whipe his tears. "You're probably think I'm really stupid or weak right now..."

"What?! No!" Kai quickly gave him a hug. "I'll never think that! You're just a kid! You shouldn't be putting so much pressure on yourself." He said. "You just... Reminded me of someone I know."

"Someone like me." He thought to himself. He felt the kid slowly hugging back, sighing.

"Even so..." Lloyd slowly said. "Sorry. I guess you're just... one more of the few people who had been nice to me."

"Believe me, I know the feeling." Kai agreed. "From what I heard from the others, you were all by yourself by some time now, right?"

"Yeah, right." Lloyd said. "I can't even remember my parents faces all too well."

"Well, I know that's not much, but..." Kai hesitated. "You can count on me from now on, too. Okay?"

"You... really mean it?" Lloyd shyly said. Kai nods, giving him a gentle smile. The kid embraced him more firmly. "Okay for me."

They slowly cut their hug after that.The older boy ends up noticing a piece of paper coming from Lloyd's pocket. "And what is that? Another plan for your pranks?" He joked, pointing at it.

"Oh?" The kid looked, curious. "Uh, it's just a drawing I was making..."

"Can I see it?" Kai asked, interested. Lloyd quickly shook his head.

"N-no! I didn't finished it yet." The kid said. "I think I have to put some more things into it."

"Okay, then..." Kai decided to give the kid his space, remembering how much that was an important thing for Nya when they were little. "But I'm always here if you need it." Lloyd nodded, satisfied.

Meanwhile, Nya and Jay arrived in the Toxic Bogs using Nya's Fire Bike. Jay jet wasn't useful to their full traverse.

"Ew!" Jay covered his nose. "This place smells worse than Cole's food. Don't you agree, Nya?" He joked, looking at her.

"Really, Jay? It's that all you have to say to me?" She asked, walking away.

"Huh?" He looked confused. "Uh, did I did something wrong?"

"Well..." The red ninja turned at him. "You could've told me what happened at the Bounty while I was gone!" She gave him a dissapointed look.

"Uh, well..." The blue ninja looked away from her. "It's not that I don't WANT to-"

"Save your speech." She cuts him off. "It hurt a little, but at least Kai decided to be honest with me."

"WHAT?!" The boy looked at her, shocked, soon becoming annoyed. "What exactly he told you? I bet he didn't said that HE was the one who punched Cole first!"

"A-ha!" Nya smirked at him. "So Kai and Cole argued, then my brother punched him? Good to know."

"W-wait a sec!" Jay whimpers. "Aaugh! You tricked me, haven't you?"

"Sorry about that." Nya said, a little remorseful by using him like that. "But it was the more easy way to do it."

"Ugh! Cole is going to kill me!" The ginger frowned. "Please, Nya. Don't tell him I told you."

"Okay, but you have to explain everything to me." She said.

"Fine..." Jay sighed. "But Cole didn't explained too much to me." The pair began walking, making by foot the rest of the way to the tomb.

"Gosh, I wish Kai talked to me about it." Nya said after hearing all that Jay knew. "Sometimes I feel like he's so far away from me."

"Why do you think that?" Jay asked.

"Uh, I'm his sister?" She gave him a sarcastic expression. "We always shared our problems." She pondered for a moment. "Or maybe the minor of them at least."

Kai never really shared anything big with her in the past. Normally Nya would catch what was going on after noticing his behavior.

"Maybe I didn't noticed enough this time." The red ninja thought. "You know what? After finishing all of this, I'm going to talk with him. He never got physical like that before." She looked at Jay. "It doesn't fit him at all."

"If you say so..." Jay shruged off. "Oh, look!" He pointed at a enormous tree with something that appeared to be a boulder blocking a hole in the old roots. "That must be the place!"

The pair quickly reaches the place, managing to remove the boulder. A dark and large entrance greeted them.

"Pee-yew!" Jay shouts at the tunnel.

"Pee-yew!" The tunnel echoes at them, making the blue ninja chuckle.

"Doesn't look that someone's in there." Nya comments, giving a quick look inside.

"We must've just missed them." Jay shook his head, unsure. "Hey, check this out." He grinned. "They say you're the Green Ninja, but I say I am."

"I am. I am." The echo returns.

"Haha. Very funny." Nya gave him a playful look. "But seriously now, we should look for some clues outside."

"Okay, sure." Jay followed her. They looked around, getting closer to the bogs.

"Ugh! I really hate that smell!" Jay covers his nose again, getting closer to the border. "Can't we just go home already?" He turns at the red ninja.

"I guess there's not much to-" Nya stop, seeing a green snake emerging from the bog from behind Jay. "JAY! WATCH OUT!" She shouted.

"Huh?" He turns around just in time for the serpent spits some kind of venom on his eyes. "Ugh!" He scratches his eyes, seeing everything spin around him. "Nya? NYA!"

"Don't worry, I'm right here!" She grabs his hand, taking him away from them. More Venomari Soldiers appear, ambushing them.

"Uh, Jay?" Nya pulls up her sword, looking at him. "I think I'll need a little help here!"

The blue ninja don't appeared to have listened her, as he suddendly got on his knees. "No, stop! Stop!" He cried.

"Jay, listen!" Nya kneels by his side. "I don't know what you're seeing, but this is no time to lose yourself. I need you here right now!"

"I can't fight, I can't fight them!" He kept yelling, ignoring what is happening around them. Nya gives up and starts fighting back, but soon is outnumbered.

"There's too many of them!" She yelled.

"Then let's add more numbers on our side!" She heard a familiar voice. Zane and Cole manage to came to them in time.

"Better yet, let's make some music for the entertainment!" Cole throws Zane the flute, grabbing his scyhte and hitting the ground with it, knocking some of the snakes.

Zane tries to play the flute, but some invisible force takes the instrument from his hands.

"No, let's not let music ruin things, hmm?" Soon Pythor materializes in front of him.

"Quick, to that log!" Nya points at a log on the bog, grabbing Jay's hand and talking him along. The other two ninja follow her, jumping into the log, which slowly drifts away. Unfortunately, their weight is too much for the wood, making their safe spot slowly sink on the bog.

"Hm-hm-hm." Pythor gives them a cold laugh. "I've got a sinking feeling this may be the last I see of you four."

"That's it." I used to hate dragons, but now I officially hate snakes." Cole grunted, looking everywhere to see what they can do.

"Wait, wait." For a moment, Jay seemed to be back to his senses, but his next words proved that was a wrong assumption. "Look, guys. There's a magic floating rope over there. We can climb to safety." He steps forward, with his arms opened.

Nya quickly pulled back before he falls in the bog. "Boy, that venom they used on you is really messing you up." She looks at him, worried. The Serpentine laugh as the Ninja are almost without something to step on.

Zane sighed. "For whatever it is worth, it was an honor to fight beside you all, my friends." He said.

"Me too." The black ninja nods.

"Wish we had more of a honourful ending, but I agree." Nya joined them.

Suddendly, a rope dangles in front of them.

"Wait, what?" Cole looked shocked.

"Ha. See?" Jay gave them a strange smile. "It's the magic rope!"

"Hurry, guys! Let's go!" Nya shouts. One by one, they grab the rope, just in time for the log to finally submerge.

"What is happening here?!" Pythor yells. A snake screams, pointing at something at the top of a tree.

A strange person is on top of one of the branches. The person wears a complete armor with a helmet and mask completely hiding their face. Their armor also is colored in a dark, crimson red, black and with small glimpses of green, too. The person is also carrying a pair of swords on their back.

"Serpentine targets confirmed." The mysterious warrior had a muffled voice. "Time to bag and tag." He jumps, pulling his two swords and starts fighting the Serpentine, blocking their attacks and and countering them.

Some snakes try to run away, but the warrior uses some kind of gadget that launches a net, capturing them. The person also throws some kind of granades out of his pockets, hitting the serpents and putting them to sleep with the gas that was inside of it.

The warrior turns his attention to Pythor, completely flabbergasted.

"Oh, dear." The purple snake gulped, quickly turning invisible, running away.

The Ninja, finally saved, jump from their rope, landing on safe ground again.

"Who are you?" Nya asked, confused. Something about that fight was clearly affected her mind, and she didn't had any idea why.

"I'm not sure who he is, but I can say he's a allie." Cole nodded.

"Hey, mom!" Jay smiled, still affected by the venom.

"Thank you, mysterious warrior." Zane gave a step forward, offering his hand. "I owe you my life for saving-" The person throwed a granade at him, liberaring that same sleeping gas.

"Ugh!" Zane groans, soon losing his consciousness.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Cole shouted.

The warrior does the same for the rest of the ninja, leaving them behind.

A few minutes later, the Bounty flies overhead the group, ready to pick them up.

Chapter Text

"So then, just when it looked it was the end of the line for us, that warrior or soldier-" Nya said, anxious.

"By his looks, I believe it was a samurai." Zane cut her off, pondering more than himself than the others.

"A Sama-what?" Lloyd asked, confused.

"Samurai." Wu turned at his nephew looking at him with patience. "The highest level of warrior class. They would protect nobility and serve with honor on the battlefield."

"Pfft! Nobility, sure." Nya mocked, annoyed.

"Whoa. What was that?" Kai looked at her.

"I don't know!" The red ninja exclaimed. "It's just... Something's feel fishy about that guy. Something I'm not sure yet..."

"He was a hundred feet high, with weapons coming out every part of him!" Jay shouted, almost falling from his chair. Cole helps him regain his balance.
"Whooa... Cole, look at Master's beard. It's moving like snakes." He tried to whisper, but his voice came out loud anyway. Everyone sighed.

"When is this Venomari spit supposed to wear off?" Nya looks at the blue ninja, annoyed. "This is starting to get on my nerves."

"Okay, let's not let this Samurai... or Jay distract us from what really matters." Cole crossed his arms. "All the Serpentine are out, and if Pythor can unite them, apparently some 'Great Devourer' is gonna consume the all the land and-"

"You said 'Great Devourer'?!" Wu became more pale than his beard, and began stroking it nervously.

"'Great Devourer'? I never heard about that before." Kai said, with uncertain in his eyes.

"Whatever it is, it's a can of worms I don't wanna see open." The black ninja shook his head.

"Unh, it's all my fault." Lloyd looked away from the others, troubled. "If I hadn't opened the first hatch, none of this would've happened."

"Hey, take it easy." Kai put a hand on the kid's shoulder. "Remember what we talked we talked before? Don't put that pressure on yourself."

"Kai is right." Wu nodded. "We cannot change the past, but we can affect the future." He looked at his pupils. "As long  we have the Sacred Flute in our possession, we can-"

"About that..." Nya said, remorseful. "We're sorry for bringing you more bad news, Master, but..."

"Pythor... sort of stole it." Zane finished her sentence, guilt filled in his eyes. "I wish I could have done more to stop him."

"The last Sacred Flute, gone?" Wu said, shocked. He kept quiet for a few seconds before sighing. "I suppose you four are Ninjago's last hope now."

"We promise not to dissapoint you again, Master Wu." Cole said, nodding in a respect manner.

"I sure hope so." Wu said, worried. "Our threats are just getting bigger and bigger." He sighed. "But for now, we should all rest. Until we manage to localize the snakes, we have to pray that they not unite that soon."

He leaves the table quite fast, retiring to his room.

"That was a little harsh." Nya commented, with a suspicious look.

"Does Master seemed troubled to anyone?" Zane asked. "I sense that he heard something that he really wasn't expecting to hear."

"I don't know, maybe the eminent destruction of all of Ninjago can be a big deal." Cole snarked.

Lloyd sighed. "I guess I'm going to bed, then. Good night, everyone." He got up from the table.

"Wait, Lloyd." Kai got up too. "Do you want to take you to your room? Master Wu always tell you a story, right?"

That...would be nice." The kid gave him a shy smile. 'If you're fine with it, I mean."

"Not at all." The older boy smiled warmly. "Let's go, little buddy."

"Wait, Kai!" Nya stopped her brother. "Before we go, I need to talk with you."

"Uh, can this wait a little?" Kai asked. "It won't take long, I promise."

"But this is important." The red ninja said, impatient. "Lloyd can wait for his bedtime story, or can't he?"

"If it's that important, you won't mind waiting a little so we can talk without anything to interrupt us, right?" Kai tried to sound patient.

"But-" The girl started.

"Come on, Lloyd. Let's go." Kai grabbed the kid's hand and got out of the room. Nya deeply sighed, annoyed.

"Kai is right, Nya." Cole said. "Just wait a little, and then you can guys can talk alone later."

"Oh, please!" The red ninja exclaimed. "First, you guys got into a fight, and now you're going to defend him?"

Everyone stayed in silence for a few seconds.

"Oh." Zane broke the silence.

"W-what?!" Cole said, shocked. "How did you found out about that." He gave a quick glance at Jay.

"It doesn't matter." Nya shrugs off. "What matters is that we need to get over this."

"I don't think this is the right-" Cole started, but got interrupted by the alarm.

"Ooh, are we having a party?" Jay asked, as the light kept flashing in and out.

"I sense we're going to have trouble." Zane talks loud, trying to ignore the alarm.

"Let's go, guys." Cole said. "And Nya..." He faced the red ninja. "We can talk about this later, okay?"

"Fine, I guess..." She said, joining them.

                                                  ***

"What's going on now?" Kai asked, getting up. The alarm had interrupted his story for Lloyd. He walked towards the door.

"Kai? Where are you going?" Lloyd said, getting up too.

"Oh, I, uh..." The older boy looked at him, uncertain. "There's definitely something happened."

"And what does that matter to us?" Lloyd frowns. "They're not going to let us help, anyway..."

Kai ponders for a moment, frustraded. Lloyd was technically right about that. However...

"Ugh! I wish I could do something!" Lloyd exclaimed. "I wish I could ignore this feeling of useleness, like you." The alarm finally stops.

Kai sighed, feeling remorse. He wished it was easy like Lloyd said. He turns to the blonde, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, wanna see something cool?" He asked, smiling at the kid.

"Huh? Uh, sure!" Lloyd said, curious.

"Okay, but you have to promise me you're going to keep it a secret." The older boy winks at him.

                                                ***

Nya turned the alarm off, now messing with their computer, concentrated. The other three ninja are around her.

"So, what do we have?" Cole asked.

"Our Cold Scanner caught something underground." The red ninja said, glad that she and Jay managed to upgrade the system fast enough. "That means the Serpentine are near."

"Oh, no!" The black ninja gasped, looking at the map. "In Ninjago City?"

"How many are there?" Jay asked, with his voice still a little vague, but by what it looked like, he was slowly coming back to his senses.

"By the numbers, looks like all of them." Nya looked at the multiple red markers on the map, worried.

"Pythor must be trying to unite them." Zane said aloud, more to himself.

"That's our cue, then." Cole said, determined. "We can't let the five tribes unite."

"Ninja, go!" The group does a high-five, running to the deck outside.

The Ninja run to the ship's deck, giving a good look at the city underneath them.

"Everything looks fine from here." Nya points out.

Zane sighed. "I wish I could have done something about this before we go." Zane looks at his gi, still pink.

"Sorry, Pinky. We have to go now." Cole shook his head. "It's now or never." He turns to Jay. "Are you cool to go, Jay?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah!" The blue ninja nodded. "I guess I'm a bit better now."

"Let's go, then!" Nya pulls her sword, while everyone does the same to their weapons.

The team skydive and manifest their weapons into their vehicles to land on the ground. They cheer, having funny feelings on the bottom of their stomachs from the fall.

"Ah. I love the smell of land hurtling towards you in the middle of the night." Cole said as he jumped out of his truck, manifesting his scythe yet again. The remaining ninja do the same, as the four of them regroup on a dark alley.

"Whoooa." The group say together, giving a look at Ninjago City's neon signs troughout the streets.

"Ninjago City...is even more beautiful at night!" Nya whispered, impressed.

"Truly amazing." Zane agreed.

"That's what being the biggest city in all of Ninjago means." Jay commented, looking a lot better now.

"It's really something else." Cole nodded. "But should I remind you guys about the snakes? Where are they?"

"Oh, yeah!" Jay looked at him. The ginger almost forgot about the Serpentine. "According to our scanner, we should be standing in the middle of a massive Serpentine gathering right now..." He looks around him.

"I think I know where they might be." Nya smirks, pointing at a manhole on the middle of the street.

"Ugh, I hate snakes." Cole grunts. The group makes their way to the manhole, opening up and slowly descending trough the sewers.

                                                    ***

After some minutes walking in silent, the Ninja hear a couple of voices coming from the end of their way. Cole signs at the others, asking for them to double their caution. Ahead of the them, the Serpentine chatter while Pythor is getting ready.

"You'll have to use more than words to bring the Serpentine together." Skales, the general of the Hypnobrai said, a certain level of disdain in his voice. If the blue snake had to be honest, he didn't want to be there.

"Hm." Pythor rolled his eyes. "All I have to do is show them the way."

"They're ready for you, Pythor." A green snake with two pair of eyes, the general of the Venomari Tribe, called for him.

"Ah. Showtime." The purple serpent smiled. "Thanks you, Acidicus." He made his way trough a platform where he could be seen by everyone. "Friends, enemies, and enemies who pretend to be friends." He said with confidence, making the other Serpentine laugh. "I welcome you."

"Phew!" Cole whistled lowly. The Ninja are observing everything from a catwalk above the Serpentine. "That's a lot of snakes."

"What are we gonna do?" Jay asked, nervous. "We can't fight all of these guys. We don't stand a chance!"

"But we have to find a way to seperate them." Zane pointed out.

Meanwhile, Nya just watches as Pythor makes some jokes about their race, with a lot of elegance in his mannerisms.

"And what is with the Constrictai and their vice-like grip?" The purple snake waves his hand. "Let it go already." Everyone keeps laughing.

"It's funny because it's so true!" A Fangpyre comments to one a Hypnobrai.

"That's it!" Nya whispered, having a moment of clarity in her mind. "Guys, I have an idea. Follow my lead." She said to them, going down and sneaking in the floor. Confused, the others follow her.

"Heh, but in all seriousness, now." Pythor smiled, with a satisfied look. "The reason why I called this gathering is because..." His mouth contorts in a disgusted manner. "The good people of Ninjago imprisoned us in those insidious tombs, and I want to return them the favor." He lifts his arms up, like he's inviting every snake to cheer with him, and that's what they do, excited.

"That sounds like a great plan, but you know the Hypnobrai will screw it up." Nya comments from the floor, trying her best to sound like a snake.

"Who said that?" A Hypnobrai turned around, disliking what he heard.

The ninja, understanding what their friend is trying to do, quickly start doing the same.

"Hah, those buck teeth can bite my rear end." Jay snarked, annoying some Fangpyres that heard him.

"I bet they're drinking their own venom." Cole said from the shadows, making the Venomari look around the others snakes, offended.

"I'm sure all that digging must have given them dirt for brains." Zane whispered at the Constrictai, who began asking what's was happening.

"What's going on?" Pythor looked at the Serpentine, horrified as they begin to fight with each other. "Why am I losing them?" He turns to Skales.

The general gives a long look with Pythor at the scene. He manages to see a glimpse of something that wasn't a snake down there, and he knew exactly what it was. "The Ninja!" He pointed out.

"Those annoying verms again?!" Pythor growled, impatient.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Skalidor slithers forward, grinning. He calls some Constrictai, and all of them dissapear below the ground.

Reunited at the other side of the tunnel, the ninja silently cheer their victory.

"Do you guys think this is enough?" Jay asked, grinning.

"I hope so." Nya said. "There's nothing much we can do for now anyway."

"Okay, guys." Cole shakes his head. "Let's get out of here, before we-" a hole in made below the black ninja, making him fall. "Woah!" It's all he yells before dissapearing.

"Cole!" The red ninja shouts. A similar hole makes her dissapear too.

"The Constrictai!" Zane exclaimed.

"RUN!" Jay shouts, running as fast as he can he can. The pair of ninjas runs away trough the tunnel, but a group of snakes jump from ground and grabs Jay.

"Oh, no! Jay!" Zane turns away, prepared to go back.

"What are you doing, Zane? Run!" The blue ninja yelled as more Constrictai started appearing.

Zane runs into another tunnel, trying to mislead his attackers, but ends up coming across a dead end. Hearing the aloud slithers of his enemies, all the pink ninja can do is look for a place to hide.

Noticing a poster of a famous band on the wall, Zane also notices that the poster has the same pink color of his gi.

"If I have to pray for a miracle, I hope it happens now." The blonde thinks, standing right in front of the poster. The Constrictai finally enter the dead end, looking around them, completely lost.

Deciding that somehow they lost their pray, the group of attackers retreat back to the reunion. Zane sighs, relieved.

"Now, time to save the others!"

                                                ***

"Did you take care of them?" Pythor looks  at Skalidor, tensed up. The other there ninja are in the middle of the crowd of serpents, tied up.

"Well, uh...all but one..." The general scratches his head, ashamed.

"Search every nook and cranny." The purple snake rispidly said, at the limit of his patience. "If he's a ninja, you'll never find him in plain sight."

"Look, a pink ninja!" A Serpentine in the crowd yells. Zane swings across them all using a hook and rope.

"Go, Pink Ninja, go!" His comrades shout, as he lands right before them and cut their ties.

"What are you all doing?!" Pythor yells. "Stop them!"

The Serpentine, too confused at Zane's sudden appearence, finally start to react, but the pink ninja is faster. Using his Shurikens of Ice, he freezes the entire area of the sewer, manifesting his vehicle right after.

"Wohoo! You're killing it, Zane!" Nya cheers.

"Thank you. Now let's get out of here." The blonde says, tapping his bike in a way that the others understand he's calling them to departure with him. "Let us blow this popsicle stand. Ninja, go!"

"Popsicle stand. Haha, I like it!" Jay laughs as they use the snowmobile to escape trough the freezed tunnel. All the snakes are able to do is slip and fall on the floor. Pythor grunts, falling too.

"You'll...have to do better than that to...unite the tribes." Skales snarks at the purple serpent, helping him get up.

"AAARGH!" Pythor pushes the Hypnobrai general away. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!!!"

                                                   ***

The next day, at the Bounty, the Ninja are telling the others about their last night's misadventures.

"So, from what I'm taking..." Wu smiles, stroking his beard. "Is that my lesson about rumors had some worthy, after all."

"I guess so." Cole nods, proud. "Whether it was in a lesson book or not, we used the destructive power of rumors to our advantage."

"And now the Serpentine are further away than ever from getting their act together." Nya grims, glad that at least they made a good move.

"To be honest, I don't think we would've gotten out of there if it hadn't been for Zane." Jay sighed, looking at the blonde boy.

"Oh, don't thank me." Zane shook his head. "We should be thanking Lloyd. If it hadn't been for his 'laundry skills', we all would've been found."

Everyone laughs and Lloyd comes in right at that moment, carrying a wooden bucket with him.

"What is so funny?" The kid asked, curious.

"Oh, nothing much." Jay said. "Zane just liked the changes you made on his gi, that's all."

"Well, I'm sorry to know that, because it took me twenty loads, but your suit's no longer pink." The boy grabs one of the clothes, showing that it was white again.

The Ninja look at the kid, surprised with his actions.

"Oh, thank you." Zane said, happy. "I never imagined you would make that much for any of us."

"Oh, uh..." Lloyd looks away, blushing a little. "It was Kai's idea. We talked, and we agreed that I should show you a better side of me."

"Speaking of Kai, where is he?" Nya asked. "I wanted to talk with him yesterday, but I couldn't."

"Did you tried his room?" Zane asked.

"What do you think?" The red ninja groaned.

"Maybe he's just isn't home?" Lloyd said, with a strange tone in his voice.

"Why are you saying that?" Nya turned to him. "Did you saw him going out?"

"No. That was just my opinion." Lloyd grinned. "But who knows? Maybe I'm right." He runs away, giggling at himself.

"What the heck he meant by that?" The girl looked at her teammates, confused.

"I sense that this is another mystery for us to comprehend in the future." Zane gives a small chuckle.

"Perphaps, but not I say it's time for some training." Wu strokes his beard. "Now that all tribes are free, we must double our efforts to stop them for good."

Their master walks towards the door, with his pupils following him and grunting about not having a good night of sleep.

Chapter Text

"We're wasting our time, Pythor." Skales said to the purple snake, who was desperately digging trough the sand with a shovel. "There's nothing here but sand and dust."

"No...no...no!" Pythor grunts, frustraded. "We have to keep digging. Tell Skalidor to send his troops further underground. According to the Serpentine documents at the Venomari Tomb, The Lost City of Ouroboros is  right under us. I know it."

"Oh, please." Skales rolls his eyes, unfazed. "Just face it, your first attempt to unite the tribes failed, and now that you have lost your flock, you've become desperate." He waved his hand.

"Oh, I am desperate, my disloyal number two." Pythor looked at him with a impatient look in his eyes. "But only to bring our kind together so that we can unleash the Great Devourer."

"Oh, yes, the 'Great Devourer'." The Hypnobrai shook his head. "You put too much faith in legends. Besides, all the Serpentine know is to be at war with one another. You're are lucky that all of us agreed to try and find this miraculous city."

Pythor groans, going back to his digging. He soon bumps at something. Surprised, he digged deeper, found a handle on the ground that resembled a snake going upwards.

"Hm-hm-hm-hahahah!" He laughs. "I guess I AM lucky after all." He pulls the handle down like it was a lever.

Suddendly, the ground below them starts shaking violently. Some snakes even begin running away, astonished. The Constrictais that were underground quickly came back to the surface, yelping.

Around them, pillars and houses start emerging from the sand, and a space that resembled a arena was right in the middle of that place, with a statue of a big snake made of rock right in front of it.

"Serpentine!" Pythor shouted in the wind. "I present to you...the city formerly known as the Lost City of Ouroboros!" The few snakes that were around started cheering the serpent, impressed. Skales, in the ground, simply sighed.

Jay gave a deep breath, feeling the wind on his face at the deck of the Destiny's Bounty.

"Aaah... Looks like it's another beautiful day for us." He smiles.

"I couldn't agree more." Zane nods by his side. "We are lucky we had only but good days to fly around the sky."

"Yeah, no kidding." The blue ninja have chills just by thinking about the possibility. "Where are Nya and Cole, anyway? I thought he wanted to train some moves with everyone." The ginger looks around, noticing they are the only ones here.

"About that..." Zane scratches his head. "I'm almost certain that Nya is still trying to talk with Kai about that whole incident."

Jay groans. "Again? I'm surprised she's not put his door down at this point."

"That's precisely why Cole is with her." The white ninja pointed out. "He wants to talk this trough calmly."

"Maybe we should talk with her?" Jay asked, unsure. "I'm worried about her. All of this drama doesn't seem to be helping her."

"Nya isn't the type of person to listen to what others have to say, though." The white ninja ponders. "She usually does whatever she wants."

"I can't deny that." The ginger smiles nervously. "She even frightens me sometimes...but I can't help but admire her for that."

"Is that so?" The blonde asked, curious. He felt the same for his team equally, but Jay seemed to see Nya on a whole greater light.

"Yeah, like...she knows who she is and what she wants to do, you know?" Jay propped him, sighing. "Like... sometimes we feel like we aren't good enough, right? I think she never felt that way before."

"And..." The blue ninja kept going. "I just think she is so cool, and...Cole said I should just be myself, but what if myself isn't enough?" His voice was quickly sounding more desperate. "What if she doesn't like me?"

"Uh..." Is all that comes from Zane's mouth. He remembered of his talk with Nya about her feelings. That seemed like a private conversation that the girl wouldn't like to be shared.

"But... What if the problem isn't you?" The white ninja gently asked. "What if there's something else?"

"Uh, how it couldn't BE me?" Jay frowned. "Maybe...maybe I should ask her out!" He said, nervous. "I could show her how cool I am...yeah! We could have a date!" He turns to his friend. "What do you think?"

"Uh... I think..." Zane started saying, but a huge metal sound below them cut him off. Alarmed by this, the pair takes a look on the lower part of the boat.

"What was that?" Jay asked, looking around.

"There's someone on our anchor." The white ninja pointed out.

That was true. A man with purple clothes  was stuck in their anchor, with a bicycle with some kind of improvisei wings stuck there.

"Oh, it's just the postman." Jay sighed, relieved.

"Could you take your letters and packages, quick?!" The man yelled from the anchor. "Since you guys started living in this thing, my work hasn't been easy, you know?!"

"Do you need some help to get out?" Jay shouted.

"No, I'll be fine..." The postman looked away, resigned. "I'll find a way to go down. I always find."

"Okay then, bye!" Jay turns to Zane, who recovered the bucket. "What do we have today?"

"The same letters from your families." The white ninja quickly inspected said letters. "And a package for Master Wu."

"Ooooh, what do you think it's inside?" Jay asked, curious.

"Whatever it is, we should first deliver to him." Zane bluntly said. "It's not right to open something that doesn't belong to you."

"I know that." Jay frowned. "I was just curious. Aren't YOU a liiitle curious?" The  boy mocked.

"I am, but I can hold this thought." The blonde stoically said. "Now let's go. We shall meet Master and deliver this to him."

"..." Nya was staring at Cole, who was right in front of Kai's door. They were facing each other for a few minutes.

"I can be here all day, you know that?" The black ninja asked her.

"If you can, then what about you enter the room?" Nya crossed her. "In case you forgot, the three of us have to talk."

Cole sighed. "You can't force him to talk about what happened." He noticed she opened her mouth. "Neither force him to apologize for what happened."

"But this isn't right!" Nya exclaimed. "We can't keep arguing like that! And going physical won't help either."

"But it's not his fault." Cole shook his head. "It was mine. I tried to talk with him, but I just made him feel embarrassed."

"Not everything here is your fault, Cole." The red ninja sighed. "I know my brother pretty well. He's not a saint. I'm sure he's feeling bad about what happened too."

"Then if he is, let him come around, or let me go after him, okay?" Cole put a hand on her shoulder. "We all need to have patience."

"But..." The girl frowned. "I want to know what exactly happened. Kai isn't the type of person to just go and hurt someone like that. I know there's something troubling him, but he doesn't talk to me about it!"

Cole wided his eyes, surprised to see Nya opening up about that.

"I can't help but feel like I done something wrong..." She said. "So I want all of us to come clean, that's all."

"I know, but we have to be patient." Cole said. "Every person take their time. I'm sure you and Kai can talk things trough. Just like I have to do the same for him." He smiled.

"Ugh!" Nya grunts. "But then why he keeps ignoring me?!" She suddenly moves the black ninja out of the way, starting to give hard knocks on the door.

"Kai! Open this door right now!" The red ninja shouts. "I know there's something troubling you!"

"There's something troubling me, too." A voice in the hallway said from behind the pair. "Can you guys get out of the way?" It was Lloyd, carrying a bucket of clean laundry.

"Are those Kai's clothes?" Cole looked at the kid, curious.

"Yeah. I offered to pick them for him when they dried." The blonde nodded, with a proud smile on his face.

"Well, sorry to bring you the bad news, but he's not answering anyone right now." Nya rolled her eyes, impatient.

"Oh, then that means he's not inside." The boy shruged off.

"And how are you so sure of that?" The red ninja asked, suspicious.

"You just said he's not answering." Lloyd snorted. "And I didn't saw him outside his room today."

The girl groaned. "Great! Now what?"

"Now we can go meet Jay and Zane." Cole patiently said. "I'm sure they're wondering why we're not training yet."

Both ninjas started walking their way out, when a click on the door right behind them caught their attention.

Lloyd just had used a key to open the door and pushed the bucket of laundry inside the room, closing and locking the door again.

"Wha... Why... What the..." Nya gasped, perplexed. "You had the key to his room?"

"Oh, this?" The boy showed the key to their faces. "Kai gave me some days ago. He said that I maybe need it if he wasn't home."

"That doesn't make any sense..." Cole said. "Since when you guys started getting along like that?"

"Eh, what can I say?" Lloyd started spinning the key in his finger. "We have a lot of free time to spend while you guys are training or fighting snakes."

"Fine then!" Nya snapped, angry. "Be best friends if you really want to, see if I care!"

"Come on, guys..." Cole sighed. "This isn't-"

"Uh, testing. Testing! Is this on?" Jay's voice came from a megaphone in one of the walls. Another one of his and Nya's projects. "Hey, guys! Master Wu wants us to meet at the bridge." A small laugh came after that. "That's all, I guess. Over and out!"

"Classic Jay..." Cole snorted, giving a small laugh.

"I guess we should check what Master wants..." Nya sighed. "Let's go." She said, walking away with Cole right behind her.

"Hey, wait for me!" Lloyd quickly joined them.

At the bridge, Jay and Zane are talking at the table as they wait the others arrive, with Master Wu and his mysterious package right beside them.

"I'm telling you, the best way to stop these snakes is finding a way to stun them." Jay was blabbering about some strategy.

"And how are you supposed to do that when the snakes can either hipnotize, squeeze, or use their venom on us?" Zane asked, curious. The ginger kept quiet for a few instants.

"Okay, fine. You got me." Jay shrugged it off, defeated.

"Hey guys. We're here." Cole announced, entering with Nya and Lloyd. "What happened?" He noticed Jay's frown.

"We were discussing the best way to defeat the Serpentine before they can attack us." The white ninja. "But we didn't get anywhere."

The old man sighed. "Sadly, it was the Sacred Flute you four carelessly lost." He said, a hint of dissapointment in his voice.

"Hey, no, no, no, we didn't lose it." Jay whimpered, annoyed. "Pythor stole it."

"It's doesn't matter how it happened." Cole shook his head. "What matters is that we don't have the flute anymore." He bows his head to Wu. "We are really sorry, Master."

"We can't change the past now." The wise man strokes his beard. "Whatever the case, without it I fear we have nothing as useful to combat their powers." The old man lowered his head, worried. "We may have prevented them from uniting in the past, but they will try again, and one day they will be stronger."

"Don't worry, Wu." Jay waved his hand. "I've almost reached my Full Potential anyway, so when I become the mighty Green Ninja, we're not gonna need any magic flute." The blue ninja grinned.

"Hah, that's gold." Cole smirked, crossing his arms. "You're gonna be the Green Ninja? Did you saw how many snakes I clobbered already?"

"I thought it was decided that I was destined to become the Green Ninja." Zane pondered, pensative.

"Yeah, sure!" Nya rolled her eyes. "The only thing we decided about you, Zane, is that you're the better cook out of everyone here."

The four ninja began to argue again, ignoring Wu and Lloyd, who simply sighed, resigned.

"How these guys are supposed to stop the snakes and save Ninjago if the only thing they talk about is this Green Ninja thing?" Lloyd groaned, turning to his uncle. "What's in the package, Uncle Wu?"

"Their new uniforms. If they really mind about that." The wise man said. The mention of new uniforms make the teenagers stop their bickering, as they gasp in awe.

"New uniforms?" Jay asked, excited.

"Let me see! Let me see!" Nya exclaimed, trying to get a hold on the package.

Cole took the lead and ripped the paper around, revealing a black box with a sooth appearence. A seal was on one of the sides, with the words "Knitty Clan" written over it.

"Oh, so that was the task you gave for Mr. Knitty back then." Zane commented, interested.

"Yes." The old man nodded. "They are a antique family, but no one can best them on creating the appropriate type of clothes necessary for a warrior."

"But there is any reason for getting us this?" Nya asked, curious.

"Like I said..." Wu started. "Our enemies are becoming stronger." He smiled. "But so do we. In order to fulfill your True Potential, you must also have full control of your movements. And a bit more of armor against the snake bites."

"Whoa!" Jay was looking at his gi, almost not listening anything his master said. "They've got, like, armor. Look at one of my sleeves!" He showed a a sleeve completely coated in silver.

"Mine have those gold highlights." Nya showed him her gi, smiling. "It's amazing! And look at these pockets!"

"These battle claws are pretty neat too!" Cole said, excited.

"I can sense the material is really light and breathable." Zane looked satisfied.

"Uh, there's anything for me?" Lloyd gently tugged at Wu's clothes, apprensive.

"Oh!" His uncle looked flustered by his question. "Um, you can get, uh, the box." He gives The blonde the box, who looks at the item with a bit sadness on his face.

As the Ninja kept admiring their new uniforms, the alarm turns on, quickly putting everyone on edge. Nya and Jay quickly made their way to the computer.

"What do we have, guys?" Cole asked, crossing his arms.

"Just a small faction of our slithering friends stirring up trouble at Mega Monster Amusement Park. Nothing much." Nya said, viewing the screen.

"Woah!" Lloyd gasped, excited. "An amusement park? Can I go? Can I go with you, please?" He started doing hops. "Let me make things up. I can help."

"I'm sorry, nephew." Wu put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You need to stay here, where it's safe."

"Hmpf!" The younger kid pouted. "Of course ninja get all the fun..."

The four ninja does a high-five together, then runs to change their gis for their uniforms.

A quick time later, the Destiny's Bounty is right above Mega Monster Amusement Park. All of the Ninja are on the catwalk, admiring their new gis.

"These things are really something else." Nya looked at herself as much as she could, admired. "I can't wait to see how much we can do better with them."

"I know, right?" Jay smiled at her. "So what do you say, guys?" He faced everyone. "Time to try out the new merchandise?"

"You got it." Cole nodded. "This new stuff feels like it'll really protect us."

"Yet, provides more mobility." Zane gave his opinion.

"Okay, you wanna strut your stuff on the catwalk, or get down to that amusement park so we can go on some rides?" Jay looked below them, thinking about how much cool it would be to take the chance and ride something with Nya.

"All these attraction looks cool." Nya said, pulling her sword. "But I prefer much more this!" She jumps, manisfesting her motorcycle. The other ninja quickly follow her, landing with their vehicles at the Park's entrance.

Turning the vehicles back as weapons, the team enters the amusement park, ready for action. They see a crown of people screaming at the distance.

"I sense we know exactly where our enemies are." Zane looked at his comrades.

"Yeah, the screams of fear are making me 'sense' it, too." Nya joked, as they run towards the crowd.

"Don't worry, everyone!" Jay shouted, trying to sound heroic. "The Ninja have arrived!"

But everything that was in the middle of the crowd was a bunch of Serpentine, tied up.

"Uh, wait. What just happened?" Nya asked, confused.

"I think the screamings we heard weren't from fear. They were screamings of cheer." Zane pointed out.

"Really, Zane?" Jay rolled his eyes. "I didn't even noticed." He snarked.

"Hey, look!" Cole pointed at someone coming out of the group of people. "Isn't that..."

"Is that Samurai again!" Nya said, annoyed. Something still wasn't right for her about him. "Hey! You!" She runs towards the warrior, who quickly notices her coming.

The Samurai then quickly turns away, making his escape. Nya jumps, managing to grab his wrist.

"Hah! I got you this time!" The red ninja exclaimed, triunphant. The Samurai soon turns the table against her as grabs her arm and throws her on the ground in a quick move.

"Oh, no! Nya!" Jay yelped, running to help the red ninja. The Samurai took the chance and ran away, not noticing that Nya managed to get a gadget that was in his wrist.

"Are you okay?" The ginger asked, helping Nya getting up.

"I'm fine." She sighed, cleaning the dirt from her gi. "He don't actually tried to hurt me." She looked at the gadget in her hands, with a uneasy feeling.

"So, what happened here?" Cole decided to inquire some people from the crowd, who was slowly returning to their normal activities.

"Oh, you guys totally missed it." A  blonde girl waved her hand. "There were like, those icky snakes, and then this mysterious Samurai came in and like, saved everyone!"

"He was, like, gorgeous." Another girl besides her added, sighing passionately.

"Did you manage to see his face?" Zane asked, curious.

"No," The blonde girl answered, giggling. "but we could, like, totally tell he was." The pair started giggling together, as Cole and Zane simply looked at each other with a confused expression.

"I KNEW IT!" Nya's voice came from behind them, making the pair turn their back to face her. The red ninja had a furious look on her eyes.

"What happened?" Cole asked, alarmed.

"What happened? What happened?" Nya groaned. "What happened is that that Samurai is a copycat, that's what!"

"How does someone can copy a cat?" Zane gave her a confused look.

"She means he's a imitator." The black ninja explained to him. "But what did he imitated?" He looked at Nya.

"My projects, that's what he copied!" She showed them the gadget she snatched from the mysterious warrior. "I know this design! I know because I made it!"

"So I guess your folder really fell from the window those days ago." Jay said, nervous.

"And that means this guy is robbing my work!" Nya said, angry. "And he's also doing a terrible job. Look at this thing!" She shaked the gadget. "One more use or two, and this is going to be busted."

They walked to the park's entrance again, with Nya still fuming about her discovery. As they walked by, the group heard a lot of people praising the new hero.

"I don't wanna be a ninja. I wanna be a Samurai." A boy cried to his parents.

"The Samurai is my new hero." A man said, happy.

"It's good to know we can count on someone to deal with those snakes that appeared." Another guy said.

"Ugh!" Nya groaned. "He's just a petty little thief, that what he is."

"I wonder what his identity is anyway." Zane pondered to his friends.

"Whoever he is, he's stealing our thunder." Cole waved his shoulders. "And getting us in a bad picture."

"Just when we got these cool new ninja suits, too." Jay frowned. "Argh! I'm gonna say it: I hate that Samurai!" The ginger started his tantrum.

"You know you guys can be heard, right?" A voice came from behind them. When they turned around, there was Kai, smirking at them.

"Kai!" Cole exclaimed. "Don't surprise us like that."

"Aren't ninjas supposed to have nerves of steel?" Kai joked, joining them in their march towards the Bounty. "What happened, anyway?"

"That Samurai happened." Nya crossed her arms, still annoyed. "He just came, did OUR work and now he's the new local hero."

"Where were you this morning?" Jay decided to cut the red ninja's little rant. "No one saw you at the Bounty, and Nya and Cole were looking for you."

Cole gave the blue ninja a blank stare, signalizing that he had said too much.

"Uh, I mean..." The ginger tried to fix what he told, but Kai interrupted him.

"I was just... Giving a stroll at the city. Looking for some place to take Lloyd some of these days." The boy said. "That kid stays too much time on the Bounty for his own good."

"Wow, you guys are really getting along, huh?" Nya snarked. "First, he can enter your room without permission, and now you're looking for places to go together." She showed her brother a forced smile. "Remember to invite me sometime, too."

"Hey, what gives?" The brunette asked. "Did I did something to you?"

"Ugh!" The girl grunted. "Forget it! I'm done with you, I'm done with Lloyd, and I'm done with this stupid Samurai!" She stormed off on her own.

"What happened to her?" Kai asked more to himself.

"I sense she's going on too much stress." Zane ponders.

"I would be too if I found out that some random guy is stealing my work." Jay sighed, as they finally catch on Nya, who was waiting for them at the anchor. "That Samurai is the worst."

"Do I hear a hint of jealousy?" Wu asked, sitting on a stone beside the anchor. "Maybe this can be a lesson for you."

"Oh no!" Jay groaned. "Not another lesson. I can't understand when you talk in riddles."

"The lesson is iron sharpens iron." The old man said, ignoring his pupil complaints.

"I do not follow, Master." Zane gave him a look of sincere confusion.

"Healthy competition can help you reach your True Potential faster." Their master said, getting up. "Do not be jealous of this Samurai, let it inspire you." He goes for a walk, leaving the rest of the team and Kai alone.

"Haha. Inspire?" Nya laughed. "Like what, how to steal other people's work?"

"Wait a minute..." Jay said, pensative. "Maybe the old man's right." He grinned after saying that.

"You want us to compete with the Samurai?" Cole didn't look to like the idea. "He's got all the cool gadgets, we don't stand a chance."

"I have to agree with Cole this time." Kai waved his hand. "From what I heard, he's leagues away from you guys."

"Oh, I can oversmart him next time, just wait." Nya grunted.

"No, not with him." Jay rolls his eyes. "I mean with us. I say we turn this into our own competition." He puts his hands in his wrist. "Whichever of us is skilled enough to catch this mysterious Samurai is probably the best of the bunch."

"So whoever learns the identity of this Samurai is the one that's probably good enough to become the destined Green Ninja." Zane ponders, finding this idea interesting. "That sounds like a good idea. I agree."

"Count me in." The red ninja nodded. "I don't even need to prove I'm the Green Ninja. This got personal for me."

Cole shook his head, but was still smiling, showing that he was being accepting of the idea. "Then it's a bet. May the Green Ninja win."

Chapter Text

"Okay." Nya puts her palms on the table at the bridge. "Let's begin 'Operation: Stop That Samurai!"

"What exactly we should discuss?" Zane asked, curious.

"Since this is a competition for us, I don't think we should discuss what exactly we're going to do." Cole looked at his friend with a patient look.

"Heh, I'm not too worried." Jay shrugged it off, confident. "There's no way you guys will do the same thing as I am."

"Oh, yeah?" The red ninja gave him a playful look. "What are you planning to do then, Blue Boy?"

"Well..." Jay's ears became red. He wasn't expecting to really be questioned. Suddendly a light bulb turned on in his head. "Oh, I got it!" He smiled. "We just have to think outside the box."

"Care to explain?" Cole raised an eyebrow.

"Since he's the new local hero, the best way to get closer to him is by standing in the middle of the action."

"As ninjas, I'm sure we can pull that of." Zane pondered. "We just have to be subtle and don't be found by him."

"Hahahahah!" A chuckle from the door informed the ninja that their talk was heard. And there was Kai, leaning against the door frame.

"I heard it right?" He smirked, playful. "Your great plan is surprise him first?"

"It sounds like a good idea." Nya said. "It's not like he'll be expecting, and who knows how we are going to ambush him."

"Yeah, sure." Kai rolled his eyes. The alarm on the ship suddenly turned on, leaving everyone on guard.

"Multiple snake sightings!" Nya yelled, after quickly analyzing their scanner. "They're everywhere!"

"We don't have time to lose." Cole looked determined. "And keep an eye around for that Samurai."

                                                                                       ***

Their first stop was at a snowy mountain,  where some Hypnobrai were trying to create an avalanche that would fall on a closer village.

"Ninja, go!" Zane rushes into the fight, using his shurikens to freeze the snakes feet, making easier to knock them out.

"That's it!" Cole cheered on, countering some snakes with swords his scythe. "Keep going like that, Zane!"

"Thank you, Cole." Zane smiled trough his hood, grateful for the compliment.

"Why there's so many of them?" Jay whines, electrocuting some of their enemies with his nunchucks. A Hypnobrai was making his way behind the blue ninja's back, but Nya soon came for his rescue. "Woah! Thanks, Nya!"

Suddendly a cloud of smoke appeared in the battlefield and from there came the Samurai, wielding two swords and helping the ninja fight the Serpentine.

"Now's my chance!" Zane thought, throwing one of his shurikens at the warriors foot, freezing him there. "Nice seeing you here." The white ninja smiled.

"Heheh, 'nice'..." Jay chuckled. The ninja started to get closer to their rival. Unfazed, the Samurai pulled what looked like a can of spray and a lighter, using both of them to improve a flamethrower.

"What the-" Cole yelped, jumping behind himself.

"Look out!" Nya jumped away. Taking the chance, the Samurai used the flames to melt the ice on his foot, making his escape as soon as he was free.

"Ugh! I can't believe he escaped!" Nya groaned.

"It doesn't matter right now." Cole said, tying up the knocked off Hypnobrais. "We'll have another chance."

"Let's keep going, guys!" Jay said, running towards the Bounty.

                                                                                       ***

In Jamanakai Village, the Constrictai are dugging trough the ground, making a mess of the place. The Ninja once again are fighting them, stopping their enemies as much as they can.

The Samurai too makes a new appearance. As the fight keeps going, the mysterious warrior throws a snake inside the fountain.

Taking the opportunity, Cole jumps in the other guy's back, gripping him from behind.

"Ha! I got you!" He yelled, triunphant. Alarmed, the Samurai turned his back to the fountain, launching himself and the black ninja on the border of the fountain.

"Nghh!" Cole bumps his back on the border, feeling a pain on the hurted area, but not letting the warrior go.

"We're coming, Cole!" Jay shouted, only to be taken aback as the Samurai threw shurikens at the other ninja.

Determined, the Samurai launched himself against the border again and again, trying to make Cole let him go.

"Nghhh!" Cole groaned, feeling more pain, but still holding on. A few more bumps, however, and the black ninja couldn't take it anymore, losing his grip on the other warrior. "Gahh!" He Fell on the ground, wincing in pain. The Samurai had escaped them once again.

"Are you okay, Cole?" Zane asked, helping his friend get up on his feet.

"Y-yeah..." The black ninja spoke, panting. "I'll...be fine..."

                                                                                       ***

This time, some Venomari are attacking Mega Monster Amusement Park again, and this time only three ninja are on the battlefield.

"I never thought I would say that..." Nya groaned, evade the snakes spit on her left while blasting a fire ball with her sword to the right. "...but these guys are becoming a pain in the neck already!"

"Where is Jay, anyway?" Cole looked around him. "He should be fighting along us here."

"I didn't saw him coming down with us, though." Zane said, a worried expression on his face as he froze an Venomari's feet. Without him noticing, a snake came from behind and struck the white ninja.

"Zane!" Cole yelled, trying to reach his friend. However, the exhaustion of the battles troughout the day were finally caughting up the black ninja, who collapsed from all the snakes attacking him.

"Okay, things are looking really bad now." Nya groaned, trying to deal with the Serpentine and reach where Cole is.

Suddendly, a smoke bomb fall on the snakes, exploding and making them sleep.

"What the-" Nya looks around and finds the Samurai making another entrance. He starts throwing more sleep bombs, managing to stop the Venomari.

Seeing that there was no more danger, some people come out and started cheering and applauding the new hero.

The Samurai bowed his head in acceptance of their gratitude, but suddenly collapsed on the ground. Surprised, he looks around and finds himself wrapped in a net.

"Aha!" Nya's voice shouted, with her left hand on her right wrist. The Samurai's lost gadget was on her pulse. "I bet you were not expecting this, huh?"

He tried reaching for one of his swords trough one of the nets roles, but Nya kicked the weapons away from him. The people around gasped, astonished.

"Don't even try that." The red ninja said, walking towards the warrior. "There's no way for you to escape now."

"Are you sure about that?" A muffled voice came from the person's mask, as he reached for his boots. Caught off guard, Nya watched as the Samurai took two hidden kunais from there and cut the net, getting up and preparing to run again.

"Oh, no! You don't!" The girl quickly recovered herself, preparing to do Spinjitzu. "Ninja, go!" Her tornado moved towards him, but the masked warrior throw her own net at her, making the red ninja tangle herself in the web and fall on the ground. "Ngh!"

People started applauding the Samurai again, and even a blond girl got closer to him, hugging and giggling.

"Wow, you're so amazing!" The girl said. "Like, you're totally a better hero than those guys!"

The Samurai gave the girl a strange look before quickly punching her on her stomach, making her fall on the ground too.

"Ugh!" The blonde gasped, as her sudden fall made the wig on her head fall, revealing a patch of short, gingerish hair.

"JAY?!" Nya exclaimed, shocked. "Is that you?"

"Gah!" The boy gasped, trying to get up. "Stupid...Samurai!"

The mysterious warrior, bowing his head to the crowd once more, made his escape again.

                                                                                       ***

"Uugh!" Nya punched the table, furious. "What are doing wrong?!" She looks at her comrades, all of them looking terrible.

"I sense this might be a game we'll never win." Zane shook his head, looking paler than normal.

"This guy is always one step ahead of us." Cole agreed, massaging his own sore back.

"Honestly, I'm done it!" Jay exclaimed. "Whoever wants to take the Green Ninja spot, it's all yours."

"Come on, guys. We can't give up like that!" The red ninja spoke, frustraded.

As the group kept arguing, Wu and Lloyd entered the bridge, with the younger kid talking with his uncle, looking excited.

"Ha!" The blond kid yelled, moving his fist ownard. "What do you think of these moves, Uncle Wu?" He kicked the Air with his right foot, almost falling on his butt in the process.

"That is quite amusing, my nephew." Wu smiled. "Are you learning this by yourself?"

Lloyd shook his head. "No, Kai is teaching me some moves!" He grinned. "I'm not good like him, but he doesn't mind teaching me slowly."

"A-ham!" Nya cleared her throat, making everyone silent. The girl turned to Wu with a sour look on her eyes. "Do you need us for something, Master Wu? Or did you just brought Lloyd here to show his moves?"

The other ninja looked away, noticing some hostility in the girl's voice.

"Actually..." Their master began, ignoring the red ninja's tone. "As you know by now, I need one of you to take care of Lloyd today. I have some matters to resolve outside."

"Aw, come on!" Jay grunted. "Can't Kai do that? These two are all buddy-buddy with each other anyway."

Cole sighed. "And that's why we need to take care of the kid. We have to create a better bond between us."

"You have to talk about me like I wasn't on the room?" Lloyd asked, rollling his eyes. "Kai needs to rest a little today anyway..." The kid mumbled.

"We are sorry, Lloyd." Zane said. "Taking care of you won't be a problem at all."

"Thanks you, Zane." Wu smiled. "In that case, I'm leaving you all for now." The old man said, leaving the room.

"Okay, what are going to do now?" Cole asked, giving a quick glance at Lloyd, who sitted on the table and was staring silent.

"Don't look at me, I looked after him yesterday." Jay shook his head.

"I believe he was under my care the day before Jay's." Zane pondered.

"Okay, then..." Cole sighed, knowing what was going to happen next. "Could you take care of him, Nya?"

"What? Me?" The girl looked at their leader, surprised. "Are you serious?"

Their scanner's alarm went off again before Cole could say anything else. Jay quicly ran to the computer.

"Phew." He sighed, relieved. "Just a small group this time. I think the three of us can knock them out."

"Right." The black ninja nodded, turning to Nya."Now, about you two-"

"Yeah, yeah. I got it." The girl sighed, irritaded. She got up from the table and faced the younger kid who was still sitting. "Let's go, Lloyd."

"Okay." The boy followed her outside.

                                                                                       ***

Nya's motorcycle flies troughout Ninjago City's streets, soon stopping in front a building where lots of children happy screams were coming from. The sign "Kiddie Arcade" was in front of the place.

"Woah! Really?" Lloyd looked at Nya from the passanger seat, amused. "We're going to play in an arcade? That's so cool!" The kid jumped from his seat, excited. "How many games do you know how to play?"

The red ninja sighed. "Listen, Lloyd. I know I'm supposed to keep an eye on you, but just stay here and play some games until I come back, okay?"

The boy's smile quickly turned into a frown. "What? Why?" He asked.

"Because I really need to track down this Samurai." Nya rolled her eyes, impatient.

"This Samurai thing again..." Lloyd crossed his arms, annoyed. "It's not like you guys are going to catch him anyway."

"Who knows? Maybe next time will finally be it." The red ninja picked a bag of coins from one of her pockets.

"Yeah, like you guys could do something like that." Lloyd give her a mischievious smile. "Just face it. That guy is way better than any of you, and that's never going to change."

"We'll see." Nya said coldly. She wasn't in the mood for Lloyd's childish behavior right now.

"I don't know~" The blonde laughed. "I think he's doing better in cleaning the mess you guys have been making."

That. That was the boiling point for Nya. The last few days were a disaster. Kai was acting aloof with her, she didn't have a proper moment to talk with him and see how he was. She was fighting snakes day and night, and now a guy that couldn't be original enough to make his own gadgets was using the things she designed and was being praised by everyone. All of that was because of the snakes.

And how did the snakes got out in the first place?

"We've been making a mess?" She snapped at him. "We are trying to clean the mess that YOU created!" She tossed the money in the ground  by the kid's foot. "Don't you see it? All of this started because YOU wanted to play the bad guy. But this isn't child's play. This is real life!"

Lloyd just heard all of that, trembling with watered eyes. "Fi...FINE THEM!" He suddenly shouted. "Blame me for your problems if that's easy for you!" He entered the arcade with the bag of money, his eyes filled with tears.

Nya groaned, bumping her head on the front of her cycle. "You know what?" She said to herself. "Forget it. He deserved to hear a little of that." She turned her motorcycle on and drove away.

                                                                                       ***

Lloyd is playing a game in one of the arcade cabinets. He loses it, but he's not paying much attention to that. The words that came from Nya were still echoing in his head.

"Hmpf!" He grunted. "Who cares about that, anyway?" He walked to the cashier to buy more tokens to keep distracting himself.

The boy entered the line, ignoring the other kids yelling and cheering, deciding to instead distract himself with the streets outside. He could se an alleway from where he was.

Suddendly, a manhole was moves from the ground on that area. Shocked, Lloyd gave more attention to it, slowly walking towards the window of the arcade.

A small, but still generous group of snakes had gotten out of the manhole. Alarmed, Lloyd decided to run outside and take cover behind a trash can near the street corner.

The Serpentine were whispering, apparently in a middle of a conversation.

"Is this the right place?" A Fangpyre with two heads asked.

"Yes, I'm sure of it." A Hypnobrai said. If Lloyd's memory wasn't failing him, that guy's name was Mezmo. "Soon the bus will come to catch us."

"I heard that Pythor guy found it." A Constrictai commented to a Venomari. "And everyone is gathering again."

"Impossible." The green snake shook its head. By their voice, Lloyd supposed it was a girl. "The Lost City does not exist."

"Well, it isn't lost anymore. Haha." Mezmo meddled in their conversation. "And I heard there's gonna be a fight. A good one, at that." He smiled wickedly.

"Ooh, a fight, you say?" One of the Fangpyre's head looked interested. "Count me in."

"So Pythor and the other snakes have a new headquarters now!" He looked around. "And no one of the others is around to help now. What do I do?" The kid asked himself, nervous.

"We are trying to clean the mess that YOU created!" The words echoed in Lloyd's head again. Maybe this was finally his chance to make up for his mistakes!

The boy slowly looked around, noticing a costume shop right around the other corner of the road. Decided, he ran to the place, entering and buying some thing that could resemble a snake and a pair of rattles.

Hiding the instruments inside his sweater and praying they would make a good substitute for the snakes slythering sound, Lloyd entered the alleway, hoping to not catch too much attention.

"Oh, look. Another one comes to join us." A Fangpyre, this time with only one Head said. "Welcome, friend."

"Uh, n-nice seeing everyone here." Lloyd trembled a litte, nervous. "So I am in the right place?"

As soon as he spoke that, a bus stopped by. Mezmo opened the door, revealing a group inside, talking energically.

"All aboard." A Venomari with only one eye on his face was driving the bus. "Next stop, Ouroboros." As the line of snakes embarks the vehicle, Lloyd is the last one to enter. The boy gives a step forward, looking for a seat when the driver grabbed his hand.

"Hey, you, hold it there." The Venomari said with a weird look in his eye.

"H-huh?" Lloyd gasped. Was his disguise too easy to be uncovered?

"Last one in closes the door." The snake points at the door, still open.

"Uh, yeah!" Lloyd nodded, sighing in relief internally. "Sure thing." After that, the boy found himself a seat and faced the bus window as the vehicle drove away.

"That's great!" Lloyd thought to himself. "Now I'm going to find out their hideout and their plans! Uncle Wu and the others will be so proud!"

                                                                                       ***

The other three ninja are reunited at the bridge, taking that free time to relax a little.

"I find this really strange." Zane, however, pointed out. "There was a big movement from their part lately, and now they suddenly stopped."

"Come ooon, Zane." Jay laughs lazily. "We kicked these guys butts so much they decided to back off for now, that's all."

"Honestly, I'm thankful they gave some time to-" Cole started, until A phone rang in the bridge out of nowhere. The three boys looked at a telephone stuck on the wall.

"Huh." Cole said, getting up and walking towards it. "Looks like that telefone you installed is really working, Jay." The blue ninja puched the air, whispering a "yes" out of happiness.

"Hello?" The black ninja answered the phone, curious.

"Cole?" He recognized the voice coming from the other side of the line. "It's me, Nya." The girl was using a public phone that she found on one of the streets.

"Oh, hey." Cole said, confused. "Did something happened?"

"I dropped Lloyd at Kiddie Arcade." She said quickly. "We kind of had a fight, and I'm not in the mood to be around him right now. Can you guys pick him later?"

"What?" The black ninja was shocked. "What do you mean-"

"Please, just don't tell Master Wu or Kai." The red ninja added.

"Wait, Nya-" Cole tried to say, but she ended the call right after that.

Sighing, the girl jumped to her motorcycle once again. "Okay, now let's see if this Samurai is around..." She droved away, still thinking about the mysterious warrior.

                                                                                       ***

It was already night when Lloyd got in Ouroboros. The boy decided to follow the other snakes, who were making their way towards the arena at the center of the city.

Three of the Serpentine Generals were on the center, in front of a statue of a big snake, waiting for Pythor and Skales, who didn't came out yet.

"What is going to happen here?" Lloyd asked himself, finally finding a seat for him in the bleachers.

                                                                                       ***

Behind a pillar of the arena, Pythor gave Skales two balls of cotton.

"What is that supposed to be?" The blue snake asked, a little suspicious of his comrade.

Pythor showed him a wicked smile. "Put into your earholes, and if you  just do as I've said, I promise you will be my second-in-command." His smiles grows bigger. "Forever."

Still a bit unsure, Skales accepted the material, putting the material in his earholes. After that, both of them joined the other generals.

"My fellow Serpentine!" Pythor greeted the crowd, waving his arms. "I bring you together to the Lost City of Ouroboros, before the statue of our very own Great Devourer, to speak of unity!"

"Where are the fights?" A Fangpyre with fangs shouted from his seat.

"Where is the big show?" The one-eyed Venomari screamed.

"Slither Pit! Slither Pit! Slither Pit! Slither Pit!" All the serpents at their seats started to wave their arms, with Lloyd quietly joining them.

"Just as I predicted." Pythor thought, triunphant. Suddenly, he starting making a scene. "Argh! You want a show?" He growled. "You want to see a fight? I ask for your allegiance but you will not give it." He turned his face to the other generals. "So I will take it."

"Huh?!" Fangton looked at him, flabbergasted. "What are you saying?!"

"I challenge the four tribe Generals for their staffs and their allegiance." Pythor pointed Aet his now enemies "At once!"

"So that's what we are going to do now..." Skales mumbled to himself. He didn't liked the idea of giving all the power to Pythor, but if all of this failed, but it wouldn't be so bad for Skales.

"I fought hard for this staff and will not give it up easily." Acidicus said, determined.

"Hah!" Skalidor didn't looked fazed by the threat. "There's no way he can defeat the four of us at once."

"Is that so?" Pythor gave them a wicked look. In a scene that Lloyd promised himself to never bring up again, the purple snake regurgitated something from his stomach. The Sacred Flute that until a few days ago belonged to Wu.

"Is that..." Fangton gasped.

"What is he planning to do?" Acidicus looked at the others, completely lost.

"Hm-hm-hm-hm-hm... Let's see how much you can take it before giving up." Pythor said, starting to play the instrument. The music echoed in the arena, irritating everyone around.

"No way." Lloyd whispered. "He's using the Sacred Flute against his own people."

"My ears!" Skalidor yelled, trying to block the sound by covering his earholes. "Not this horrible sound again!"

"It... it hurts!" Acidicus screamed in agony. "Seize this!"

Skales, faking his suffering, throwed his staff at Pythor's tail. The purple serpent gave him a satisfied look before he kept playing the flute.

"Enough! Enough of this!" Skalidor gave up, throwing his staff too.

Pythor got closer to the two remaining generals, who were grunting from the sound.

"I will keep playing this as long as you don't back down." Pythor stopped for a moment. "Or, I can simply take it from you until your heads can't take it this beautiful sound anymore."

"Ple...please!" Fangton shouted. "No...no more. The Fangpyre General also three his staff, defeated.

"So, what about you, Acidicus?" Pythor turned his attention to the last general. "What it will be?"

"I...I said I fought hardly for this staff!" The green snake yelled. "I can't give up now!"

The Venomari screamed, throwing himself at Pythor. However, he didn't noticed how weakened the flute's sound made him, so with a simple move of his tail, Pythor stopped his movements.

"Are you still going to try?" Pythor asked, returning to playing the instrument.

"ARGH!" Acidicus yelled. "I...I can't take it anymore!" He lost his grip on his staff, which fell in the floor.

"Thank you for your kindness." Pythor smirked, grabbing all the other staffs from the floor and throwing them in front of the crowd.

"Bow to your master..." The purple snake slowly said, savoring his victory. "Bow to your master, Serpentine!" He yelled, triunphant. All the snakes, some with disbelief in their eyes and others with profound respect, bowed their heads at their new leader.

Lloyd decided that it would be the best to the same, bowing his head, too. However, in trying to do so, the rattles the boy was carrying with him had fell from his sweater, making a sound that echoed troughout all the arena.

Slowly, all the snakes around him turned their attention to the boy. He quickly got up and tried to run away, but a Hypnobrai grabbed his arm.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tense, Lloyd noticed that the voice belonged to Slithraa, the prior Hypnobrai General.

The others snakes got around them, soon removing Lloyd's disguise.

"Wait, I recognize that kid." A Fangpyre said.

"Yeah, he's really familiar to me." A Hypnobrai agreed. The serpents turned Lloyd to face the Serpentine Generals down in the arena.

"Lloyd?" Pythor gasped, surprised.

Lloyd gulped, anxious. Maybe, just maybe, infiltrating himself at the heart of the snakes city was NOT a smart idea after all.

Chapter Text

At that same night, the Destiny's Bounty make its flight trough the sky.

Inside, Nya sits alone on the table of the bridge, sighing deeply. It's clear that she was exhausted from all her lookout troughout the day.

"Uh, hey." A voice comes from the door. It was Jay, smiling awkwardly at her. "Soo, how's it going?" He walks, sitting on the table too.

"Ugh... Just a waste of time." The girl shrugged. "I looked everywhere, but it doesn't seem like that guy comes from the city."

"You know, maybe you're stressing too much over all of this Samurai stuff..." Jay stroked his hair. "Like... Even I hate his guts, but looking for him was the only thing you did today."

"Easy for you to say." The girl pounted. "It wasn't your hard work that was stolen from you!"

Jay got a little taken aback by her burst, a hint of hurt in his eyes.

"Sorry about that." Nya said. "It's just...I feel like there is so much happening lately! The snakes, Lloyd is testing my nerves, and Kai keeps avoiding everyone!" She waves her hands at the ceiling.

"Oh, uh..." Jay doesn't really know what to say, but he agreed that the red ninja's plate was more than full. "Who cares about Lloyd or Kai anyway? They are just being their normal whiny-"

"I care about Kai." Nya looked at him, displeased. "He is being distant from us since we moved out to the Bounty, I know that." She said, desperate. "I want to understand what is going on. I can't seen to have time to check on him, and I don't even know how much he has been ea-" She pauses, nervous. "You know what? Never mind."

"Yeah, maybe we are overworking ourselves lately..." Jay starts, hoping to don't say anything that could make Nya annoyed again. He thinks for a moment. "Oh, I know we can do!" He grinned at the red ninja. "Since looks like the snakes are chilling down for now, maybe we could...I don't know, take a day off too!"

"What, like take a day to chill out?" The girl gave him a strange look.

"Yeah!" He nodded. "This way we could relax a little, work around whatever is happening between everyone..." He nervously moved his hand a little closer to hers. "...and...maybe we could-"

"Please, settle down, Kai." A voice came from the bridge's entrance, cutting off the pair's conversation. Soon Wu and Kai entered the room. Kai looked really disturbed, while Wu seemed to have a small hint of worry on his face.

"Uh, what happened?" Nya slowly asked, feeling that they were going to have bad news soon.

"Have any of you guys seem Lloyd?" Kai cutted to the chase. "I can't see to find him anywhere!"

"Oh, that..." Nya sighed. She knew there was no good way to talk about this, so she decided to be straight. "We kind of had a fight, so I dropped him in an Arcade at Ninjago City."

"You what?" Both of them said, shocked.

"He-he-hey!" Jay meddled in. "But don't worry, right after that she called Cole and asked for him to go after the pipsqueak!"

"Oh, yeah?" Kai gave them a suspicious look. "Then why aren't any of them here yet?"

"Maybe...they found something to do outside?" Jay nervously said.

"Excuse me." Zane said, suddendly entering the bridge. "Can someone please drop the anchor? I saw Cole's Bug on the ground below us."

"Leave it to me." Nya said, quickly going towards the lever and pulling it down.

"See? Just like I told you." Jay smirked awkwardly.

"I don't have that much confidence." Wu spoke, tense. "Cole is the type of person that attends to others requests fully."

Soon the black ninja was at the bridge with the rest of them. Completely alone.

"Where is Lloyd?" Kai asked, impatient.

"I... I don't know." Cole scratched his head, nervous. "Nya, are you sure you dropped him at Kiddie Arcade?"

"Of course I am." The girl answered. "I was mad at him, but I remember clearly the place's sign."

"I sense that something terrible is afoot." Zane gives his friends a concerned look.

"I agree." Wu nodded. "We need to move, quickly. We must find my nephew."

"O-on it!" Jay said, taking control of the steer-wheel, changing their course.

"Ugh!" Kai groaned, leaning on the wall and crossing his arms. "Why did you left him alone like that?" He looked at his sister. "Couldn't you take care of him for a single day?"

"Well, usually you're the one taking care of him." She said, tensed up. "What didn't you did this today too?"

"I don't know, maybe because Wu wants you guys to get along with him?" Her brother rolled his eyes, sighing. "Besides, I wasn't feeling that good today..."

"Huh?" Nya faced him, nervous. "What do you mean? Did something happened?"

Kai sighed. "I'm...fine." He looked away, walking towards the bridge's door. "I think I just need some time alone right now."

"Hey." Nya tried to reach for him, a hint of sadness in her voice. "If something's bothering you, or if you're kinda sick..."

"I'm not in the mood right now, sis." Kai shook his head. "Sorry." He said, walking away, leaving his sister sighing in defeat.

"Is everything all right, Nya?" Zane approached her, noticing she seemed nervous.

"I wish it was, Zane." The red ninja lowered her head, not saying anything more.

                                                                                                                                                             ***

Kai entered Lloyd's room, trying to keep his distance from the others. He didn't had the patience to deal with them right now. So he thought he could go to the least likely place.

Lloyd's room wasn't exactly a bedroom, per se. It was just a vacant Room where they improvised a bed, a wardrobe and a small table. Jay's parents helped them gather everything.

"Where are you, buddy?" He sat on the bed. Kai couldn't shake the feeling that something bad had happened, but he wanted to think that Lloyd was going to be okay. Kai didn't wanted to admit, but he got really fond of the kid from the past few days. Maybe it was the fact that he could relate to the child struggles, or the fact that they both were abandoned by their parents.

Kai noticed something under the bed's pillow. It seemed to be a piece of paper. Curious, he lifted the pillow and picked the paper, noticing that was some kind of drawing on it. That made him remember that Lloyd was talking about a drawing one of these days, but Kai couldn't make the kid show it to him. Could that be that drawing?

Deciding to inspect the art, Kai was suddenly caught up with a heavy feeling on his chest. It was a drawing of Lloyd and Wu, with the old man holding the kid's left hand. Both of them were smiling. But that wasn't what made Kai feel like that.

Someone else was added to the drawing, and he could notice that was a recent change, too. The colors on the added drawing were a lot more bright than the rest. Holding Lloyd's right hand, there was a person that clearly was supposed to be Kai, with that spiky hair.

Alone in the room, Kai couldn't help his watered eyes. Some tears slipped from his face. Thankfully, he didn't need to hold It back there. Kai felt confort in knowing that he was so special to Lloyd as much as the little kid was for him.

"Please, be safe." Kai mumbled to himself.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

They finally reached the street of Kiddie Arcade, and were now inspecting every corner of the place, looking for clues. Unfortunately, they couldn't find any trace of Lloyd.

"Y'know, it would be easier if we could ask people around." Jay groaned, after their search.

"It's too late already, we can't be knocking on people's doors like that." Cole sighed. "If only three was something, anything..."

"I can see something that can be useful to us." Zane bluntly said, facing everyone.

"Really? Where?" Kai asked, desperate. The white ninja simply pointed out at a camera that was facing the entire street from a building.

"Is that a surveillance camera?" Cole asked, crossing his arms.

"I'm pretty sure it is." Nya nodded. "If we could access its flashdrive, we could get some information from what happened here."

"So it is possible?" Zane asked, determined.

"Maybe." Jay shrugged it off. "But we still have to wait until tomorrow if we want to ask for-" A crashing sound interrupted him. Everyone look around, alarmed, just to see Zane picking up the camera and one of his Shurikens from the floor.

"Z-Zane!" Cole whispered aloud. "Did you just...why do you...was that really necessary?!"

"This is an urgent matter. We cannot wait until tomorrow." The white ninja said, with a confused look in his eyes. "I'm sure the owner will understand our reasons."

"You know what?" Kai smirked for the first since all of the this began. "You have nerves of steel for that."

The white ninja pondered for a moment, wondering if he could have gone too far. "Should I leave a note explaining why we took it?" He asked.

"Ugh." Nya sighed. "Forget it. Just hand it over and let's see what we can do."

The group returned to to bridge as fast as they could.

"So? Did you find any trace of him?" Wu asked, having been waiting for their return in there.

"No. Sorry, Master." Jay said. "But Nya may find us a clue about what happened there." He quickly added as the girl connected the camera and their computer with a cable.

"Great!" She said after some quick typing. "Luckily for us, Zane didn't broke the entire thing. We can still access the data."

"I'm sorry about that." The blonde said, feeling ashamed.

"Let's see..." Nya said after a few minutes. "Here, today's recordings." She pointed out. "This is me dropping Lloyd in the Arcade."

"Wow, you sure doesn't look happy." Jay commented.

"Not now, Jay." The red ninja sighed. They watched the scene play out. After a few minutes, the group finally saw what they were looking for. The same things Lloyd experienced by himself.

"So the snakes were right around the block." Cole spoke, worried.

"If only I had stayed a little more..." Nya shook her head, frustraded.

"Look! Isn't that the pipsqueak?" Jay asked, pointing at the screen. They saw Lloyd's infamous disguise, soon joining the Serpentine and entering in the bus with them.

"So Lloyd followed them to wherever they could be right now." Zane look at his friends, worried.

"No kidding!" Kai rolled his eyes. "What gave you such amazing idea?" The boy snarked.

"Oh, I just looked at the-" Zane started, but Wu's voice interrupted him.

"...the Sea of Sand." Came from the old man's mouth.

"Excuse me?" Cole looked at him, confused.

"It has been in my mind since you told me about the Great Devourer." The wise man explained. "If the Serpentine wish to unleash this terrible creature, they must find the Lost City of Ouroboros."

"The what now? What is this place?" Jay asked, curious.

"It was the center of all Serpentine's common life, in the Sea of Sand." Zane explained. "Before they divide, all snakes lived in that city, living peacefully with their families and organizing events and sportive fights. Even people would sometimes visit the place out of curiosity, and they were well received by the Serpentine."

Everyone gave the white ninja weird look. Some surprised, some shocked.

"I've been studying Master's scrolls about the Serpentine since we found that prophecy on the Constrictai Tomb. It is a interesting study." The blonde boy explained.

"Okay, so that's the snake utopia or whatever." Kai groaned. "Let's go to that city already."

"That's impossible." Zane shook his head. "According to the documents, the city was sealed away after the Serpentine were defeated in the war."

"Maybe the snakes unsealed it, like they did to themselves." Nya pondered.

"I agree." Cole nodded, taking control of the steer-wheel. "We must as well check it."

Soon the Destiny's Bounty reached the desert, but they didn't need to get much close. The city was visible a few kilometers away.

"Is that the place?" Nya asked, looking at it from the deck.

"You bet it is." Cole said, tense.

"I know we ruined their last get-together, but that's no reason to not get an invitation." Jay joked.

"So this is it then?" Kai asked behind them. "We can go and save Lloyd now, right?"

"Perphaps it would be better if we wait." Wu put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"What?" Kai faced him, perplexed. "How can you say that?"

"All of you did too much today." Wu pointed out. "Too much fight, too much stress. It is not wise to face a battle when your body is sore."

"You have to be kidding me!" Kai exploded. "They are right there! We just enter the city, look for-"

"I think Master Wu is right." Zane said. "This is something we can't fail. We should rest and decide on what to do tomorrow."

"But-" Kai tried to say, but Nya grabbed his hand.

"Kai, it's no use..." She said, not looking directly in his eyes. "There's nothing we can do right now."

"EASY FOR YOU TO SAY!" He yelled, pushing her away and running inside the ship. "If only you took care of him like you should, he wouldn't be there!"

"Kai, wait-" She tries to go after him, but Cole stopped her.

"Maybe this isn't the right time to talk with him." The boy said. "You guys are only going to hurt each other more."

All Nya could do was sigh. "I guess I'll just go to bed then." She mumbled, walking away.

                                                                                                                                                          ***

Kai locks the door behind, grunting. He looks at everything he has in his room. "Fine, then." He mumbles. "You guys do your way, and I'll do mine."

The boy walks towards his table, taking a look on a blueprint sitting on top of it. He take in his hands, feeling uneasy.

"It's not totally ready yet." He thinks. "But it's the only thing I can use now."

                                                                                                                                                       ***

As the day finally begins, the Ninja slowly make their way trough the City of Ouroboros, hiding in the shadows. However, they notice something strange.

"Where is everyone?" Jay whispered to the others, looking at the streets from an alleway. "This place looks more dead than a ghost town."

"Does such place exist?" Zane asked, confused.

"Shh!" Cole whispered. "It doesn't matter if we can see them or not. We have to move carefully."

As they move closer and closer to the center, the group finally started to hear something. Whatever was happening at Ouroboros, it made all the Serpentine reunite at the arena at the center of the city.

The Ninja decides to stay at the entrance of the arena, hiding in the shadows. It wasn't the safest place, but they needed to have a good grasp on what was happening.

"Whoa." Jay said, with a lower voice, seeing the giant snake statue of a snake at the other side of the arena. "That's a really nasty statue. Do you guys think-"

"... that's the Great Devourer?" Cole finished the blue ninja's sentence. "You bet it is."

"Huh!" Nya gasped, quickly trying to recover herself. "Guys, I found Lloyd!" She pointed at the snake statue, with had a cage hanging from a pillar. Inside it was Lloyd, crounched inside.

"He's too much in the open, though." Zane said. "We need to find a way to get close- Aah!" The boy was cut off by a sudden shove that come from behind him, being launched to the inside of the arena.

"Zane, what are you- Woah!" Nya said, soon being the next target. Cole and Jay quickly turned around, facing a good amount of Constrictais who came underground from behind the team. The pair was pushed away, too.

The entrance for the arena closed it's gate, locking the Ninja inside. The snakes in the seats started to cheer, excited.

"Great." Cole grunted, looking at them. "You have to be kidding me!"

"It's okay, man." Jay helped him get up. "We just need to use our Golden-" he started, going for his nunchucks. "Huh?" However, they weren't on his back. "What happened to our weapons?" Jay asked, nervous.

"I sense the Constrictai did more to us than push us inside." Zane pointed out.

"Hm-hm-hm." Someone chuckled from the Great Devourer statue. It was Pythor, with a wicked look in his eyes. "Well, well, well. Looks like we've caught the main event." He started to laugh.

"Main event? W-what do you think he meant by 'main event?'" Jay starting the sweat, tense.

"I guess they prepared a welcoming gift for us." Nya looked at him, getting ready for anything that might come up.

"A parting gift, I would say." Cole added.

"I don't see why they would do any of those things." Zane furrowed his eyebrows.

"Guys! Help!" Lloyd finally screamed from his cage.

"Don't worry, Lloyd! You won't be in there for too long!" Cole yelled at him.

"Attention, Serpentine!" Pythor cut the Ninja off. "You say you wanted a battle, and I give you one. I give you..." He smiled. "...ninja versus Samurai!"

"Wait, what?!" All the ninjas said together.

One of the gates from the arena opened, revealing a mech colored in red and black, tied in chains. The masked figure of the Samurai was inside the suit.

"What? We have to fight the Samurai again?" Jay was getting desperate. "But we don't even have our Golden Weapons and he has that hulking thing of armor. It's not fair." The blue ninja whined.

"That suit..." Nya mumbled, getting angry again. "Uuugh! That's my design again!" She yelled, pointing at it.

"I don't think that's the part we should be focusing right now." Cole shook his head, preparing himself to fight if that was needed.

"I want to see once and for all who is the greatest hero!" Pythor announced to the crowd as some Constrictai brought him the Golden Weapons. "Is it Samurai, or ninja?" He looked at both sides. "Only the victor will be allowed to leave... And live." He laughed.

"Stay together." Cole said, getting closer to the others. "We don't know what might happen."

"Perhaps he can join our team to fight our way out?" Zane suggested. "After all, he hates the Serpentine too." As he just finished his thought, the mech tried to tackle the group, making the first move.

"Forget it!" Nya yelled after each one dodged for one direction. "That guy is not  in our team!"

The next second, the mech moved to Zane, trying to hit him with his big arm. Cole jumped towards his friend, moving him out of the way, almost getting hit himself.

"If we want a chance against this guy, we need to take that thing down first!" The black ninja exclaimed, thinking fast. "Nya, you said it was your design, right? Can you find some weak point."

"That's easy enough." The girl said, unfazed. "It's my design, but the built is clearly amateur. But maybe I'll need some help."

"Count me in!" Jay said, getting ready. "Just tell me what to do."

"We need to keep him distracted." Nya explained as the mech launched towards her. Fortunaly for, that thing wasn't too fast.

"Got it!" The blue ninja winked at her. "Heeey, dumbface! Come get me!" The Samurai turned to him, striking viciously.

"Haha, missed me!" Jay dodged, but that one was really close.

As both Nya and Jay run around the mech, the red ninja finally manage to find something.

"Okay, I got it!" She mumbled. "Hey, big guu! Over here!" The girl yelled, catching the Samurai attention. His mech come for her, but Nya jumped and performed Spinjitzu in the air, targeting and hitting the mech's left arm shoulder knot.

With the hit, the arm fell off on the ground, leaving the mech less one limb.

"I need some Spinjitzu in his right leg!" Nya turned at Zane and Cole.

"Leave it to us." Zane nodded. Both of them go, spinning and hitting the leg around the waist.

With this last attack, the leg also fell off, making the mech unable to keep its balance, falling on the ground.

The snakes cheered from their seats, loving the spectacule.

"Is that it?" Jay sighed. "We did it?"

Unfortunately for them, the Samurai didn't lost time, jumping from the suit carrying two kunais with him, going directly at Cole. The black ninja quickly parred the attack with his hands.

"You don't waste your time, huh?" Cole said, breathing heavily.

"Shut up!" The masked guu said. "We must make they keep thinking that this fight is real."

"What?" Cole looked at him, confused.

"Zane tried to attack him from behind, but the Samurai quickly turned around and stopped the ninja, letting go of his weapons.

Taking the chance, Cole jumped at his back, taking the other guy's advice.

"What do you mean by that?" The black ninja whispered.

"We need to find a way out of here." The Samurai explained. "And quickly."

"Oh, so you are on our side after all." Zane gave them a small smile. "If we need to escape, I think I have a solution."

"Tornado of Creation?" Cole asked, a bit nervous. They didn't try to do that since the last time at the Underworld. It was a risky technique, after all.

"Exactly." The white ninja nodded.

"Good." The Samurai nodded too. He noticed that Nya and Jay were coming for him. "Whatever this is, tell the others." He said before spinning Zane in the same place and throwing him at the pair.

Zane quickly explained the situation for them, who accepted as well. Cole let the Samurai go as he prepared himself.

"Earth!" He shouted.

"Fire!" Said Nya.

"Ice!" Zane joined them.

"Lightning!" Jay was the last one, as the group get around with their tornados as they made the Tornado of Creation once more, going towards what was left of the mech.

Soon, the Tornado dissapears as what became of the mech were four sets of jetpacks.

"Phew!" Jay sighed. "We barely manage to made this babies."

"But what about the-" Cole turned at the Samurai, worried.

"Go without me." The masked figure said. "I have one of my own, but I have to take care of Pythor."

Each ninja picked one, preparing to activate them.

"Wait, what are they doing?" The purple snake growled, slowly understanding what was really happening. "Stop them!"

"Ninja, go!" The group shouted, flying away from the City of Ouroboros.

"No, no, no!" Pythor yelled, furious. Quickly turning his attention to the Samurai, he yelled again. "Get him!"

Before any Serpentine could do anything, the Samurai jumped to where Pythor was with Lloyd and the Golden Weapons.

Quicly enveloping them in a tarp which was in the floor, the Samurai took all of them in his arms.

"Oh, no, you don't-" Pythor got ready to strike, but something behind him was holding him off. Lloyd had grabbed the serpents tail from his cage, holding him back as much as the poor kid could.

Ta...take the...weapons!" Lloyd grunted, desperate. "Run...away! Quick!"

"Let go of me, your shrimp!" Pythor turned at the cage, trying to get his hands on the younger boy.

"But, Lloyd, I can't-" The Samurai started, desperate.

"I'll be fine!" Lloyd yelled. "I know you guys will save me, I know I...can count on you! Now...go!!!"

Regretful, the Samurai lowered his head as he activated his own jetpack, flying away with the Golden Weapons.

"NOOOOO!!!" Pythor shouted, filled with rage.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

The Ninja are flying trough the sky with their jetpacks, getting as far as possible from the serpent's city.

"Uh, guys?" Jay asked, nervous. "Just to know... Did we remembered to create a way to stop those things if needed?"

"That's actually a good question." Zane pondered, turning his face to Cole. "Did we?"

"Don't look at me, I'm not the engineer here." The black ninja furrowed his eyebrows.

"There wasn't too much material to begin with." Nya said. "So we cou-" A rattling sound came from her jetpack. "Uh, guys?"

Something was wrong with her jetpack, and the others noticed too as the red ninja was slowly desceding to the ground, away from them.

"Nya!" Jay shouted her name as him and the others kept flying away. Soon the girl crashed on the sand, alone in the desert.

"Ugh. Great." She cleaned a bit of the sand on her gi. "Now what?" The ninja decided to keep moving on, towards she saw her friends for the last. However, she barely gave a few steps before hearing a distant, mechanical sound.

"What's that?" Nya thought to herself, looking for the origins of the sound. On the sky, a lot of meters away from her, the girl saw a reddened figure flying, carrying something.

"The Samurai!" She exclaimed, following him as suddenly the guy's jetpack also started to fail, making him crash in the sand, too.

"Aaand his amateurism keeps showing off." Nya thought, hiding away from him behind a dune. "Now, who are you?" The girl thought as the Samurai started coughing.

"Ugh..." She heard he groan as he took away his mask and helmet. "I should've know that Jay's work would be trash, too."

Wait.

Nya recognized that voice. All too well. But it couldn't be, could it?

The red ninja slowly leave her hiding spot, getting closer to the boy who's back was facing her.

That brown hair... That spiked hairstyle...

"Kai?" The girl's voice came weaker as she thought it would be. Shocked, the boy turned around, facing her now.

It was Kai.

"Ah!" It's all he said, looking everywhere around. "No, no, no!"' The boy yelled, hiding his face with his hands.

"I...I don't understand." Nya said. That was a blunt lie. She understood very well. Her missing folder. Him being distant and secretive. The lock on his door. Lloyd being proactive of the Samurai. Kai needing to rest. "Why?" She asked.

Kai looked at her, tense. "Why?" He have her a cynical laugh. "Maybe because it was a ninjas-only club? Maybe because I was always told to stay put? Or maybe because everyone kept looking down on me?" He looked away, with sadness in his eyes. Nya never saw her brother so hurt before.

"Heh." She looked away too. "So that's how you saw it, huh? I can't blame you for that." He faced her again, confused.

"I... can't say for the others." Nya have a step forward. "But... I would never look down on you, Kai. You're my brother, my family, you were the only person I had for as long as I can remember." The girl looked at him, with watered eyes. "I really, really admire you."

Her brother sighed. "Doesn't seem like it. It's not like you need me anymore. You barely talk with me lately." He furrowed his eyebrows. "Except when I get into trouble with the others."

"I miss you." The ninja quickly said. "I wanted to talk to you, but so much was going on, and then you started picking on Jay, then you and Cole fought, and I..." She couldn't stop talking now. "I just...was feeling overwhelmed by all of this, I guess." She crossed her arms. "And then you and Lloyd started to get along, and I...I..."

"Felt jealous?" Kai smirked, lifting a eyebrow.

"Y-yeah, we can put It like that." Nya blushed a little by admitting that. "Look, I just thought..." She put a hand on his shoulder. "...you could have a break from... everything."

"Everything?" The boy repeated, lost.

"Yeah, because you..." Nya closed her eyes, trying not to cry now. "...you were always the one to get in trouble, to get hurt, you did everything for us!" She lowered her head, tears starting to roll from her eyes. "I just...I Just wanted to repay the favor. So you could do anything else, look for new things, I don't want to always being a weight for you!"

"No! Never!" Kai said, lifting her head with his hand. "Sis, you never was a weight for me. I want to be by your side, I want to fight the same fights as you." He  rolled his right sleeve, and then rolled her left sleeve, showing both of their bracelets in the bright sun. "We ARE a team, remember?"

Nya gave him a shy smile. "Yeah, I'm sure we are." She moved herself from him, flustered. "We should go back."

"I think you're going to need those." Kai gave to her the Golden Weapons, still enrolled by the tarp.

The red ninja looked at the jetpack on the sand, getting on her knees and tinkering a bit with the machine. "I think it's going to work properly now." She said.

"Huh?" Kai looked at her, confused.

"What? If you want to go back fast, you need to use that, right?" Nya smiled at him. Noticing that Kai still looked lost, she sighed. "If you want to fight and be your own hero, there's no way I'm stopping, big bro." She gave him a light punch is his arm. "I won't tell the others about it."

"You...you won't?" Kai said, a bit surprised.

"Do you want me to?" The red ninja lifted a eyebrow, playful.

"Hah. You got me." Her brother laughed. "Thanks, sis."

"You don't need to thank me." She smiles, only to drown right after that. "And... Sorry about Lloyd. I know it was my fault, but... I promise we'll rescue him!" She said, determined.

"I'm sure of that." He nodded, giving her the same determined look.

"Just... Whatever that happens..." Nya looks away, concerned. "Promise me you'll be careful, okay? I'll always got your back If you need it."

"Sure thing." He answers, putting the jetpack.

"Nyyyaaaaa!" A shrieking Voice came from far away. Both siblings knew exactly who's the voice belonged to.

"You should go before the others get here." Nya said, starting to walk away.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine." Kai winks, pushing a button and starting his flight.

"Hey, guys!" The girl said, getting from behind the dune. "I'm here!"

"Nya!" The other three ninja exclaimed together, relieved.

"What- wait!" Jay looked at the sky. "Was that the Samurai?"

"Come on, guys." Nya said, sweating a little. "We can talk about everything at home." She said, giving them their weapons.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

The group is reunited at the bridge once again. Everyone was on their pajamas, since was nighttime already.

"He was all mysterious." Nya was telling them that for the fourth time already. "Never said a word. Then he handed me the Golden Weapons right before you guys appeared."

"I still think this is all too crazy." Cole shook his head. "That guy had the most powerful weapons of all of Ninjago in his hands, and he simply gives them back to you?"

"Who knows?" Nya shrugged it off. Maybe that guy is not so bad after all."

"I for once like the idea of having an allie in our fight against the snakes." Zane smiled, satisfied. "He helped us a lot of times."

"I'm taking this means our bet is off, then?" Jay asked, frowning. "Great."

"More importantly than the Samurai or your bets..." Wu cut them off with a concerned expression. "...My nephew has found his way into the den of all snakes. I fear there may be no way of rescuing him now."

"What do you mean, Master? There's always a way." Regretful by his childish attitude in face of their reality, Jay tried to sound more positive.

"And don't worry. We'll find it." Cole nodded. "I promise."

"We are getting stronger, after all." Zane agreed.

"Iron sharpens iron, just like you told us." Nya said, getting up. "But for now..." She yawned. "...I really need to sleep. Good night, guys."

"Night." They said together.

As Nya walked over the hallway, she noticed Kai, leaning in the wall with his arms crossed.

"Iron sharpens iron, huh?" He smiles at her.

Once again, the girl gave him a light punch. "And sibling sharpens sibling."

Kai laughed. "Speaking about siblings..." He said, giving something to her. "I think mine's need this back."

It was Nya's folder, with all of her blueprints.

"You're okay with this?" She asked, nervous.

"I can't keep copying your work forever, can I?" The boy said, walking away to his room. "I have to find my own way to do things, too."

Nya smiled as Kai entered his room. She was relieved to see a bit of his spirit back again. Maybe that was a sign that things would work in the end.

"Even so," An incovenient voice said in her head. "You shouldn't had left Lloyd alone. You told him he created a mess, but look at what YOU did now."

Nya shooked her head, anxious. "Everything is going to be okay..." She thought to herself. "Everything is going to be okay..."

Chapter Text

"Who are you?" A familiar voice asked.

"I am...Zane." The boy answered.

"The elemental power... It is inside us!" Snow was flying around him.

"Permission to scan?" A beautiful pair of green eyes appeared.

"Are we... compatible now?" The sound of machines working surrounded him.

"Sorry, Mr. Tin Man!" Someone mocked him.

"Didn't you told me you fixed his voice...?" That voice... Belonged to Nya.

"I can't see to be able to contact him..." A voice hesitated.

"Pixal...?" The voice hesitated again.

"Are you the Quiet One?!" Motorcycles were raging.

"WITH YOU STILL AROUND, WHAT PURPOSE DO I HAVE?" Someone yelled. He felt that voice was so full of anger...

"That's not a normal baby..."

"Obviously you understand, you are programmed to be logical." That voice... That voice belonged to Garmadon.

Suddendly a pair of red glowing eyes appeared in front of him. He didn't recognized the voice that came out.

"Where is the Treacherous Deceiver?"

"AAAAH!!!" Zane yelled, shaking so much that he fell from his bed. Thankfully the boy slept at the lower bed from the bunk he divided with Nya, or else he would've got seriously hurt.

That didn't stopped him from walking everyone up, however.

"Whoa! What?!" Jay yelped, scared.

"What happened?" Nya asked, still a bit dazzy.

"Uh oh. Zane!" Cole said, getting down from his bed. However, Nya got to the blonde first.

"Is everything alright?" She asked, helping him get up.

"I...suppose so." Zane replied, massaging his head. "I think I had a really bad dream."

"Please tell me this won't happen every time you have a bad dream..." Jay grunted.

"Look who's talking, the guy that needs a plushie to sleep with him every time je has a nightmare." Cole joked at him.

"Hey, leave Mr. Cuddlywomp out of this." The ginger hugged the plushy that was besides his bed.

"What time is it, anyway?" Nya asked, looking at their clock. The hands were marking 7:30. "Huh? That's strange..." She faced the others. "Normally Master Wu wakes us up before that."

"Maybe he's giving us a break after everything we've been trough." Jay yawned.

Zane slowly blinked. "I sense...sorrow." He said. "He may not show us, but Master Wu is gravely concerned about Lloyd's situation.

It has been two days since Lloyd got kidnapped by the Serpentine, and the Ninja didn't managed to make a move to save the boy.

Nya sighed, remorseful. She never felt like that before, aside from when she lived with Kai. She knew that it was because of her that the snakes had their hands on Lloyd now. If she wasn't so focused on finding the Samurai, maybe nothing of this would have happened.

The Samurai... She still couldn't believe that he was Kai all along. Not that Nya didn't believed in her brother's strenght, but she never thought he could possibly think that she saw him on a lower level.

Kai seemed to be really worried about Lloyd's situation, just as Wu. The small spark of good mood they had together when they got back home two days ago didn't last long. Now everything he wanted to talk about was when they were going to try and rescue the kid again.

"Look at what you did." That small voice in the back of her head had come back again. "Not only you dissapointed everyone, but your brother mind end up getting hurt because of your actions. Are you happy now?"

Nya's palms began to sweat. She noticed that her arms were trembling. The girl could hear a distant voice calling her name.

"Nya, are you okay?" Jay repeated his question.

"Huh? What?" She quickly shook her head, nervous. "What happened?"

"Uh..." Cole scratched his head. "You were really quiet, and you weren't answering us...?"

"Oh, hahah, sorry about that." The girl gave them a yellow smile. "I was just... thinking about breakfast, that's all."

"Breakfast...?" Zane slowly asked, confused.

"Yeah, since we are up, we can get a bit easy today, right?" She waved her hand. "We are all too tense."

"I can agree with that." Cole nodded. "Feeling like trash won't help us to get Lloyd back. We have to be at peace if we want a chance."

"I'll be honest, I very much prefer eating before training, so I'm down for it." Jay grinned. "As long Cole isn't the one making the food."

"Haha. Very funny, Sparky." The older boy rolled his eyes. "I'll remember that."

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   ***

They decided that Zane would be the best for doing breakfast today, and the blonde didn't saw a problem with that. Soon everyone was at the kitchen, chatting about strategies and ways of fighting.

"Oh. It's good to see you all in a better mood today." Wu said, entering the room. He looked a bit more pale that morning, but aside for that, he seemed to be alright.

"Good morning, Master." The group greeted the old man together.

"Is there anything special that you want, Master Wu?" Zane asked, preparing a plate for him. "I made some eggs, bacon and toast for everyone, but if you require something else..."

"It's okay, Zane. Don't worry about me." The wise man replied, sitting at the table with them.

"Gee, thanks for inviting me, too." Kai also appeared, yawning a bit. With the exception of his hair, he didn't look quite well.

"Oh, hey Kai!" Nya quickly said, getting up. "Come sit with us." She didn't waited for his answer, and put her brother on her side. "Here, I prepared your plate earlier." The red ninja put a plate with a generous amount of food. "You should eat, it's still warm. And delicious." She grinned.

"Uh, thanks..." Kai said, picking a fork and slowly putting a bit of food on his mouth.

This little interaction between the siblings created an awkward silence in the room.

"Anyway..." Cole said, a bit nervous. "Did something happened, Master? I mean..." He looked away. "You didn't woke us for training today."

"I'm sorry about that, Cole." Wu sighed. "You could say I was...indisposed today." Everyone averted their eyes to any other place than Wu. "The situation we have on our hands is quite...ominous."

"You don't say..." Kai grunted, putting his fork aside.

"Actually, there is something I need to do today." Wu rapidly said. "The Spiritual Smoke pointed me a place I have to go. A place to reflect on the last few circunstances lately." He finished his meal, getting up. "So, while I am away, I would like to be clear and ask that no one here decides to take matters on their own hands." He suspiciously gave a look at Kai after saying that. "More than a team, we are also a family, and I don't to see anyone else putting their life on risk without a plan of some sort." He faces each one of his students. "Was I clear?"

"Yes, Master." The four ninja replied, with their lowered.

"Clear like water." Kai sighed.

"Good. Then I'll be having my way for now." Their master nodded, satisfied. "In my absence, please take care of yourselves, and if the duty calls, be careful." He left them in the table.

A few minutes passed before Kai decided to leave too. "Well, that was nice, but I'm going for now." The boy said.

"Wait, Kai!" Nya got up right after him. "You barely touched your food, though." In the plate, the only thing that was half of a toast. Nothing else was touched.

Kai sighed, picking the plate and his fork. "I'll finish it on my room. Is that okay to you?" He lifted a eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah..." She hesitated, looking away. "I guess so." He left as she replied, not saying anything else. Nya sighed, frustraded.

"Uh, okay, soo..." Cole said after being sure that Kai had really left. The tone in his voice clearly showed concern. "Nya, can we talk about this?"

"Talk about what?" The girl asked, a bit confused. The older boy sighed, not really wanting to be the one talking about that.

"Listen, I can totally understand if you don't want to talk about it. It's fine. But we kinda noticed that...well..."

"Kai hasn't been eating properly lately." Zane said, on his blunt way like always.

"Wait, he isn't?" Jay faced the others, surprised. "I didn't noticed anything."

"Are you telling me you didn't noticed how he's always leaving the table first, with almost all of his meal still untouched?" Cole faced his best friend, flabbergasted.

"Well, I don't usually stare at other people's food." The ginger shrugged it off.

"Anyway..." Zane cut their little bickering, turning at Nya again. "We thought that since you are his sister, you would know more about this than us."

But Nya was looking away from them, clearly on edge. She started to feel anxious again.

"They noticed. They noticed. They noticed they noticed they noticed theynoticedtheynoticedtheynoticedthey-"

"Why did you tell them?!" She could hear Kai's dissapointed voice in her head. "You know how I feel about this! Why do you have to get me in more problems?!"

"Nya?" Jay asked, nervous, putting a hand on the the girl's shoulder.

"Uh, I... Sorry, sorry." Nya quickly said, tense. "It's just... Please promise me that..." She sighed, trying to calm down. "If I explain to you guys about it, don't go asking him about it. Please." The red ninja added.

The other three looked at each other, visibly uncertain about that. In the end, Cole took the decision for the team, like always.

"Don't worry, Nya. We don't want to cause any more trouble between us." The older boy said, trying to sound as much reassuring as he could.

"Thanks." Nya replied, sitting on the table again. "I wouldn't mind talking about on my own, but...Kai is really sensitive about himself. He only wants that people know whatever he thinks they should know."

"Yeah, we kinda get the picture." Jay gave her a nervous smile. "The guy's not exactly a open book."

"I think we should let Nya explain their situation." Zane cutted to the chase. "While we have the time to do so." Jay quickly nodded, excusing himself.

"Well..." Nya began, not exactly sure on how she should start this. "You guys already know that our parents dissapeared a long time ago, right?"

"Yeah, you guys told us that after we started living together." Cole nodded, giving Nya the incentive to keep going.

"Sure. But we never told you guys how young we were when that happened. I think I was 4 or 5..." She heard the others gasp with that information.

"I... didn't know it was that much." Jay said, scratching his head. "That's... wow..."

"The people of our hometown took care of us, of course." Nya quickly added. She didn't want to make things sound worse than that they already were. "But it got to a point where Kai decides that he should be the one taking care of both of us."

"You mean..." Zane pondered. "He started to take care of everything himself? Your shop and everything else?"

"How much old you guys were back then?" Cole asked, concerned.

"I was..." Nya stopped to think for a moment. "Yeah, I was 10." That was received with another shocked expression from the other ninja.

"Anyway..." She kept going. "Yeah, he stopped going to school, he never interacted with any kid of his age, and put our father's old blacksmith apron, and started to take care of the shop. And the bills."

"And..." Her hands started sweating again. "I know it wasn't easy. I know that. Because I saw him. I saw him dealing with all of that, and I saw how little money we had, and I saw him sometimes not eating anything, fearing that we're not going to be able to trough another paycheck, and I know how much that was stressful to him, to his health..." She started to breathe heavily now. It was almost like there was something making pressure on her chest.

The other ninja jumped from their seats, really worried about Nya's condition right now.

"Hey, Nya, it's okay..." Jay said, nervous.

"Please, you need to calm down." Zane joined him.

"I can't calm down!" Nya said aloud. Her eyes were watered by tears, but she wasn't able to cry right now. Not in front of the others. "I tried to talk with Kai about that in the past, but he just said that I shouldn't worry about him!"

"But I can't stop worrying about him!" Her whole body started shaking now, as her breathing became more heavy. "I couldn't help him in the past, and I can't manage to help him even now! I know that something's really bothering him, he always stops eating when he's on edge, and I can't help but feel like I'm the reason for that again! I'm always the cause of his problems!"

Cole put his hands firmly in Nya's shoulders, trying to make her stay put. "Nya, listen to me." He said, serious. "It's not your fault, not the way you think. I don't know that much about how you guys deal with things, but..." He sighed. "I know you guys care a lot about each other. I know that you guys don't want to see each other suffering. But.." The boy's voice carried a lot more of weight after that. "Sometimes we don't have a choice except to take matters in our own hands."

"B-but..." Nya said. "I never wanted..."

"I'm not saying I agree with the choices Kai made." The black ninja shook his head as he let go of her. "I just think that you shouldn't be beating yourself over the past. Kai loves you, everyone knows that. You shouldn't be seeing yourself as a deadweight he had to carry."

Nya slowly started to recompose herself, looking away from the others.

"Sorry, I... don't know what came to me right now." She shook her head, agitated. "Just... Really, don't talk with Kai about this, okay? I don't him to-"

"Don't worry, we understand." Zane said. "It worries me, but I already saw how defensive Kai can be. I won't press him about this."

"Pinky promise." Jay nods, trying to sound as positive as he could.

"Unless it gets worse." Cole added. "As much I respect your opinion, Nya, we can't let Kai to this to himself to a point where..." He closed his mouth, not finishing his sentence. "You know..." The boy looked away.

"No, that's cool. I get it." Nya waved her hands, then turned away from them. "I just... need to be alone right now." She gave them a weak smile. "See you guys later."

Now there was only the other ninja on the room. Jay gave a long sigh.

"Okay, that was a lot..." The ginger said.

"I can't help but feel like something still is bothering her, though." Zane pondered, worried.

"Really? What gave you that idea?" The blue ninja snarked at him.

"Didn't you noticed her expression?" The blonde faces his comrade, confused. "She looked really shaken."

"Zane, what I was trying... Ugh. Never mind." Jay rolled his eyes. "But still, you heard Nya. If neither she or Kai wants to talk, there's nothing much we can do." Suddenly, he came into a realization. "Oooh, wait! Or we could go to some fun place to lift her spirits a bit!" His eyes were shining with excitement. "What do you think, Cole?" He looked at the older boy, who looked lost in his thoughts. "Cole?"

"Uh, sorry." The black ninja answered, quickly recovering. "I was thinking about Kai."

"What about Kai?" Jay asked, with furrowed eyebrows.

"I didn't knew he had gone trough so much." Cole explained. "I mean, compared to what I... Uhn, anyway." He shut off, nervous. "Since it's likely we're having the day off, I think I'll be drawing. You guys don't mind it?"

"Fine by me." Jay shrugged it off. "I have some highscores to beat on our videogame!" He grinned.

"This seems like a good day to meditate." Zane spoke. "Maybe I can find something enlightning that can help us out on Lloyd's situation."

"Yeah, right..." Cole nodded.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   ***

At the Sea of Sand, a great amount of buggys are riding trough the sand, making their way towards the City of Ouroboros.

"By Jove!" An old man with a big mustache and a monocle exclaimed, mesmerized. "Look, Smythe! It really is here!"

"My goodness, you are right, Shippelton!" The man named Smythe exclaimed as well. "It was not simple rumors, after all! Just wait until Cecil hears about that!" He laughed. Both of them were wearing a explorer fit, and the same could be said about the other people in the buggys.

"Huh? What is that?" An Hypnobrai guard asked, pointing at the vehicles that were approaching the entrance of the city.

"I don't know, but we need to stop these people. Call everyone else!" His Venomari partner said, running towards the buggys.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   ***

Meanwhile, Pythor and the other generals were on the library, clearly trying to look for something.

"'Why you shouldn't rip out a Fangpyre's fangs'... No, that's not it, too!" Pythor looked at the scroll and growled, impatient.

"I already told you. We brought everything from our library to the city, and neither our documents or the ones we have here mentions anything about the Silver Fangblades location." Acidicus shook his head, displeased with the mess.

"But they exist." Pythor snapped at him. "The documents we found on the Venomari Tomb mention a map that can point at the blades location. It has to be around here!"

"Generals! Generals!" A Constrictai entered the room, panting heavily. "There's humans outside!"

"The Ninja again?" Skales slythered his tongue, suspicious.

"No, but they are really strange guys." The black snake said. "We have captured them, but they don't see to be afraid of-"

"Alright, alright!" Pythor yelled. "Let's take care of this situation so we can go back to what really matters."

Soon they were facing the weird pair of old mans and all of their assistants. Both of them looked were looking around, whispering to each other.

"What is this?" Skales looked at them, confused.

"Oh my!" The man in the monocle exclaimed. "Good afternoon, my good snakes. My name is Percy Shippelton, and this is my comrade, Smythe." The other man bowed his head.

"We are both members of the famous Explorer's Club." Smythe took the lead from there, giving a small card to Fangton.

"Famous Explorer's Club?" Both of Fangton's head looked at each other. "Who are these guys?"

"Oh, please, do not fret." Smyhte waved his hands. "We simply heard it some days ago that somehow the mysterious Lost City of Ouroboros had reappeared."

"So, as the brave explorers we are..." Shippelton said. "...we decided it would be a good place to explore, of course, and see what treasures could be hiding in here."

"Is that serious?!" Skales commented, rolling his eyes.

"Oh yes, completely." Smyhte nodded. "However, we did not expect to encounter real, alive members of the Serpentine here, as well."

"Indeed, that was extremely amusing." Shippelton nodded in agreement. "Could you, perphaps, give us a small tour around? Or really show us something we could take with us? Our club does not have the biggest estate in Serpentine items."

"Ugh. I had enough of this!" Pythor turned away, furious. "Get rid of these people, we have more important things to do!"

"Oh yes." Skales sighed. "Our fruitless efforts to find the map of the Fangblades."

After hearing that, both man started laughing.

"Oh, Heavens! That was a good one, was it not?" Smyhte said with tears on his eyes.

"Those poor gentleman... How much we wish the Map for the Silver Fangblades was here as well..." Shippelton spoke after stopping laughing.

"Oh?" Pythor said, turning his attention to the pair. "Are you saying you know where it is?"

"You are quite right, my friend." Shippelton nodded. "Why, some explorer, who was not in our club," he said with sour in his voice. "excavated some Serpentine ruins a long time and donated everything to Ninjago City's Museum of History, if I am not mistaken."

"Soo..." Pythor said, with gentle mannerisms now. "Are you, my good friend, telling me that..."

"The Map of the Silver Fangblades was amongst the item, yes." Smyhte spoke. "Such a loss, being guarded in such a undeserving place." The man shook his head.

"Well, well, well." Pythor turned away from them, barely containing his excitement. "Would you look at that... I think we actually can show you some places around here, after all."

"Goodness me!" Shippelton clapped his hands, satisfied. "Do you see it, my friends?" He turned to their assistants. "Sometimes a good talk between gentlemans can solve the most complicated problems!"

The other people acompanying the pair of explorers faced each other, each one more pale than the other. Pythor grinned at their sight.

"Come now, nothing bad is going to happen." The snake waved his hands. "Now, if you can please follow us..."

"Oho! Such a gentle snake!" Smyhte smiled, content.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    ***

"Oh, for Pete's sake." Smythe sighed. Everyone was trapped down in the dungeons by the Serpentine, completely in a loss.

"I sure hope we can make our escape from here before the club revoke our memberships." Shippelton shook the grades, unable to do anything.

"Uh, will I be paid for that?" Someone in the group asked.

Chapter Text

Kai looked at the plate in front of him. He was trying to keep his mind out of it by polishing his helmet, but that clearly wasn't working for him.

The boy put his things aside, picking the meal and the fork. Looking at it, he gulped, feeling something turn in his stomach at the sight of it.

"Come on, Kai. You can do it." He thought to himself, picking a whole piece of bacon and putting it in his mouth. He slowly muched the food, feeling a sour taste at the bottom of his throat.

He gulped, and then took another piece, trying to eat. As he munched, a part of his mind flashed to Lloyd, trapped in that cage and pleading for Kai to run away, and that made his mind go even far to the past, seeing a bunch of bills in the table at his home, some of them already expired.

"Kai, I'm hungry..." He heard his sister from the sofa.

Kai's stomach couldn't take it anymore. Nauseous, the boy ran towards the window of his room, throwing up the little he had eaten that day. Slowly, he leaned himself on the wall, sitting.

"Should've expected that..." He thought to himself, rubbing his face. The boy slowly got up, looking at the small mirror he hás put in his room.

Damn, he was hopeless. His reflection looked at him, completely exhausted.

"How can you think about eating in a time like this?" He heard his own voice inside of his head. "Lloyd is counting on you, you know that. And still you do nothing. Do you think you deserve some peace?"

Kai quickly turned away his head, not wanting to look at the patetic reflection in front of him. Instead, he just got back to his plate and throwed everything away by the window. After that, he sat on his bed and began to polish his things again.

"Hang in there, buddy." He sighed.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Wu had walked a long way by himself. It had took him the whole morning and even a bit of the noon, but he was finally there, the place to where the Spiritual Smoke pointed him. The Dragon Stone Shrine.

It was a beautiful place, almost like a garden. It had a waterfall on the center, bringing water to every corner of the place. The old man didn't knew exactly what were the trees of that place, but their leaves had a beautiful tone of fuchsia, or could it be magenta? He wasn't sure.

"I wonder why I am needed here." He ponders, walking towards some kind of sculpture of a dragon head. He decided that the best way to figure it out would be doing what he could do best. Meditate. Finding a spot he thought was good enough to do this, the wise man lit up a candle and sat on the grass, giving a deep sigh.

Slowly, he felt his conscience flying away, lost in a mist of sounds and smells. It was almost like Wu himself was floating in the ether. He felt so relaxed, and yet, so concerned.

Then, it started. Wu open his eyes, seeing ach one of his students wearing the green robes of the Green ninja. He heard Pythor cackling in the distance.

Then, a spiral. Lloyd engulfed by flames, the shadow of an enormous snake, Garmadon yelling in desperation...

And Garmadon reaching for his hand in a strange, dark place.

"...Wu! Master Wu!" Someone was shaking him. The old man quickly opened his eyes, breathing heavily.

"Wha... What in the world?" Wu shook his head violently, looking around. There was someone behind him.

He turned around, seeing a boy with green eyes. The boy had a messy ginger hair and a long, big scar on the right side of his cheek. He was wearing a ninja gi in the fuchsia color.

"Oh, it's just you, Tory. Thanks goodness." Wu sighed, relieved.

Tory was a boy that Wu met not long time ago, on what the old man thinks it was his darkest hour. That boy lifted his spirits when he needed the most by becoming the second pupil he had in his life.

"You surprised me." Wu said, getting up from the ground.

"Yeah, heh, y'know, that's kinda of what I do." Tory joked. He looked at where Wu was previously, noticing the candle. "Oooh, you were meditating again... that explains why you didn't answered me when I called you." The boy pondered.

"Indeed." The old man nodded. "I was trying to find a solution to our most recent problems."

"Oh yeah, the kid's situation." Tory sighed. "Were you trying to have those visions again? Like with those dragons or something like it?"

"Yes." Wu agreed. "And honestly, I think I may have found a clue that can help us." He faced the boy with concern in his eyes. "How things are going with Lloyd?"

"Not so good." The ginger looked away. "The Serpentine are not playing around this time. The place is super secured. There's no way for me or anyone to enter without being noticed by them." He played with his hair.

"Huh. Even for you, you say?" Wu lifted an eyebrow, with a faint smile on his lips.

"I know. Sounds impossible." Tory gave a faint laugh. "But don't worry, Master. I'll keep on eye on those snakes. There must be a blindspot."

"I don't think that will be necessary anymore." The wise man shook his head. "By the looks of it, it does not seem like we are going to make any progress."

"Then... What are we going to do now?" The boy frowned, confused.

"Well..." Wu stroked his beard. "If wouldn't be too much trouble for you...I have a new task that demands your abilities."

Tory stretched his arms, ready. "Okay, let's hear what ya need me to find this time."

"It is not exactly a thing." Wu said, ominous. "There's a person that-" suddendly, the old man felt a new presence around them. Slowly turning around, he asked: "Who's there?"

Something that they couldn't quite figure it out appeared. It was some kind of a pale blue orb, floating in the air.

"I'm sorry..." A faint voice came from it. "I'll go away." The orb moved on its own, floating away from.

"What...is that?" Tory mumbled to himself, completely lost.

"Oh!" Wu got curious with the strange occurance. If this was what he thought it was... Why, it was simply incredible!

The old man jumped quickly towards the orb before it could get away. "Please, excuse my harshness, little one." The old man said. "You moved liked a whisper."

"Gotta say, you caught us off guard." Tory accompanied his master with curiosity in his eyes.

"Yeah, I guess I have this going on for me..." The orb said.

"Tell me..." Wu gently asked. "Are you, perphaps, an unchained spell?"

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Aaaw, come on!" Jay whined, losing the match for the fifth time in a row. He dropped his controller in the sofa. "Stupid game with stupid NPCs..."

The boy sighed, leaning in the couch. He started thinking about Nya again. She clearly looked shaken up by all of that conversation. Jay wanted to check on her, but before they all parted ways Cole gave him one look of his eyes.

And that wasn't anything kind of look. Jay was sure of that. It was the kind of look that spoke "you're going too far again".

"Ugh." The boy groaned. "How can I make her to fall for me if I can't have a chance to show her how cool I am?"

"Not that I have that much going for me anyway." He thought to himself.

And then there was Kai. Jay didn't liked the other boy's grumpy attitude at all, but still. His situation was sad. It made Jay feel glad that he had his parents by his side during all his life. But he felt a bit bad for the other boy. Maybe he should try and invite him to play videogames with him sometime?

He picked the TV remote, deciding to watch something to help the time pass. He and Nya had repaired an antenma that came with the television his parents found for them. They hadn't too much time to work on it, though. The only channel they had access to was a basic one.

"Hello, Ninjago City!" A woman in a pink suit smiled at the screen. "I'm Gayle Gossip, talking with you today here, on Ninjago's Museum of History, where we have some new pieces of art being stored today."

Jay yawned. "That's the most interesting thing they had for show?" Still, it was better than just silence.

"So now we are going to enter the museum." The reporter said. "Luckily we'll have the curator to show us the magnificence of the new pie-" As she spoke and entered, a scream of terror cut her off.

"Run, run away!" Someone yelled.

"Huh?" Jay got up. That certainly caught his attention.

"W-what is going on here?" The reporter asked, confused.

"Oooh! It's horrible! Terrible!" An old man with a long beard and a even longer mustache ran, desperate. "Someone call the police!"

"Ah, it's the curator of the museum!" Gayle exclaimed, running towards him. "Excuse me, sir. What is going on here?"

"Here...!" The old man said, panicking. "They are here! They want to get me!"

"What are you talking about?" Gayle spoke, impatient. "Who are they?"

"Oh my, what do we have here?" A voice far from the screen was heard. Whoever was the cameraman turned their attention to the voice, showing nothing less than Pythor and a handful of snakes walking around. "It really is a shame to say that, but we don't like being filmed without our consent."

"Oh...oh no!" Was all the reporter yelped before the transmission was cut.

Jay stood there, flabbergasted for a few seconds. Then it finally clicked on his mind.

"Oh gosh! Oh dang it!" He ran from their rec room, panicking. "Everyone... Where is everyone? What do I do? What do I do?"

He remembered a conversation he had with Cole once. Jay asked how could he be calm and in control of the situation, especially acting as the team's leader. His friend just asked awkwardly.

"You really think so?" He lifted a eyebrow. "I don't know. Sometimes I just remind myself that panicking will just cloud my vision, and THEN I won't be able to see how simple things can be."

Yeah, that's right. Thinking about, he didn't need to find anyone. He just had to run to the bridge and use the communicator that he and Nya installed.

"Duh, why I am so stupid some times?" The ginger facepalmed himself, running towards his destination.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Kai dropped his binoculars after watching them distant city for at least he thought was about two hours. Thankfully the airship didn't leave the desert, so the boy got to keep an eye on the Serpentine's city. He wish he could do more than just watch though.

Suddenly, he heard a knock in his door.

"Kai?" It was Nya's voice. "Are you in there?"

He didn't asnwered immediatly. He honestly didn't wanted to see anyone right now. But he noticed by her tone that she sounded... conflicted.

"Yeah." He walked towards the door and opened it. She was facing him, clearly a little nervous.

"Uh..." It's all Nya said. Honestly, she wasn't truly expecting him to open the door for her. She sighed. "Can I come in?"

Kai kept in silence for a few moments, but decided that wouldn't be a problem. She already know his secret after all.

"Yeah, come in." He said, opening the door fully to let her in, quickly closing It again.

Nya gave a quick glance at everything. She thought it would be messier, but everything looked alright to her. She also saw weapons. A lot of them.

"Nice, uh, room." The girl spoke, noticing how that was the first time she was there. "Where did you got all of that?" She pointed at the weapons.

"Some I picked from what we had in the shop, and the rest I kinda did myself." Her brother shrugged it off.

Nya picked a dagger that she noticed under the bed. "Well, I'd say you're really making progress. This one isn't curved at a strange angle."

"Heh." Kai chuckled, remembering how things once were. "Maybe you're right."

"Did you needed It all of that though?" The ninja asked. "I mean, one day you might end up getting hurt."

Kai shook his head. "Lloyd told me the same thing before. But I know where everything is."

At the mention of the kid, both siblings felt the atmosphere getting heavier. Nya looked away, tense.

"Uh, right." The girl said. "So Lloyd knew about all that was happening. I kinda of figured out."

"Sorry about that." Kai scratched his head. "I didn't really think trough it when I told him. I was just... angry with you all and then it happened."

"No no, it's alright." Nya gave him a forced okay. Actually, no. It wasn't okay for her. But she felt like she deserved that a little. "I just... wished you were honest with me, that's all. But I can't exactly complain about this."

"You still reacted better than I thought." Kai said. "I thought you were going to tell the others or... I don't know, try to stop me from being a hero."

"Is that how you saw me?" Nya asked, crossing her arms. She couldn't deny, that hurt a little.

"It's how you all have been acting around me." Kai said. "What else could I have expected?"

"Okay, okay." His sister shook her head. "I didn't came here to argue about that. I just wanted to see if you were okay."

"Well, here I am. Fine as always." Her brother waved his arms. "See?"

"Actually, no I don't." Nya lifted an eyebrow. "You look horrible. The only thing normal about you right now is your hair."

"We know that's something I can't give up on." Kai winked at her, laughing weakly. "But I'll be fine, don't worry about me."

"Give me one reason to, then." Nya spoke, anxious. "Like, did you even-" She looked at the plate that she gave him earlier. It had nothing on it. "Oh. You...you actually ate the food?"

"Huh?" Kai looked confused for a moment. "Oh, yeah! Of course! Why wouldn't I?"

"I...I just thought..." Nya sighed, a bit relieved. "I didn't saw you eating a lot lately. I... Didn't forgot about the last time."

"Come on, sis." Kai sighed. "I just wasn't feeling good that day."

"Kai, we both know you have any eating disorder, don't try to deny it and make it seem like I didn't heard the doctor." Her sister said, worried.

"Even so, I-" Kai started to refute her, until the ship suddenly took a sharp turn, making both of the siblings fell on the floor. "What the-"

Right after that, a creeking sound came from the megaphone on the hallway outside. "Uh, sorry for the turbulence, guys!" Jay's voice came out. "It's just, ugh... We have problems. Snake problems! Come quick!"

"Guess this is your cue then." Kai looked at his sister. She didn't looked too happy with that.

"We won't take long." Nya said. "Can you keep an eye on the Bounty for us?"

"Yeah, of course." The boy gave her a little pat on her shoulder. "Kick their butts, sis."

"Kai, I'm serious." Nya faced him, still unsure. "Don't try to do anything stupid, okay?"

"When did I ever did that?" Kai rolled his eyes, averting looking directly at Nya. Sighing, the girl quickly ran outside.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"My, my. What a beautiful, impecable piece." Acidicus said, looking at an sarcophagus with a snake face inprinted in it. "I wonder how many years this one has."

"Sorry to cut your little tour, my friend." Skales looked at him. "But we already have what we came to get."

"I know that." Acidicus rolled his eyes. "But still, as a passionate follower of History, I can't keep my curiosity."

"Ooooh, a fellow appreaciator of this branch of life!" Said the curator, who was tied with the reporter, the cameraman and some more people. "I really love the historical artefacts we have in here!"

"Ugh. I can't believe I losing this amazing scoop!" The reporter, Gayle, groaned.

"I think having something to report is the tiniest of our problems right now." Her cameraman said, nervous.

"Vinny, listen. We reporters have to be ready to always delivery the news, no matter what happens to us. So stop complaining and find a way to get us out of this!" She gave him a annoyed look.

"Alright!" Pythor came out of a room grinning. "We have got all the Serpentine documents from their archives." A couple of Venomari was carrying a big amount of scrolls.

"Oh...please tell me you at least put the rest of them in their original place." The curator said, sweating. "It's a lot of trouble to someone from my age."

"I'm sorry, mister, but that is not our problem anymore." Pythor waved his hand. "However, I thank you for keeping all of this safe to us." He bowed his head. "Now, what about the police?" Pythor turned to Skales.

"The few that entered the place are both infected by venom or hipnotized, so they won't be a problem." Skales said, proud.

"Good. Then I guess it's our time to leave." Pythor laughed. "Let's go back to the tunnel.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"What are we going to do now? No one's coming out." A police officer said to the rest of the force present, tense.

"H-how should I know? I wasn't trained to fight against snakes." Another one said.

"Should we try and use our guns against them? Would it work on their skin?" A policewoman asked.

"Even if it worked, they got hostages with them. We already risked everything by sending a small group." Said another officer.

A curious crowd was at the entrance of the museum, eagerly waiting for something to happen. Then, their prayers were heard when, behind them, a roar of vehicles catched their attention.

A motorcycle, a snow-mobile, a jet, and a buggy. Just as quickly these four vehicles appeared, they dissapeared in a golden light. Now there was 4 ninjas standing in front of them: a red, a blue, a white and a black one.

"Let's go, guys!" The black ninja yelled, leading the way as the rest of the group followed him.

"Wait! You can't-" An officer tried to stop them, but the four ninja dodged him easily, continuing to move forward.

"Sorry! We have some snakes to stop!" The blue ninja said from the distance.

"Who are these guys?" Someone asked.

"I think I heard about them from a friend..." Another person said.

"Weren't they on that amusement park one of those days?"

"Oh yeah! And fighting snakes, too!"

"Really? I thought it was some flashy show from the staff!"

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Kai sighed, back in the Sea of Sand again. Thank Heavens he could trust on Nya's engineer skills. The jetpack was better than never.

Maybe that wasn't a good idea, but he needed to take a shot. If the snakes were doing something shady on Ninjago City, maybe he could manage to rescue Lloyd.

As soon as the others left behind, as always, Kai prepared his gear and flied to the City of Ouroboros. He found some rocks to hide himself, keeping an eye at the entrance of the city.

"Not too much snakes around it. Good." He thought to himself. For now, everything was going smoothly.

Suddenly, one of the guards turned his head towards his location. Panicking, Kai quickly got to hide again.

"I think I saw something." The guard, a Constrictai said.

"What are you talking about, Bytar?" An Fangpyre faces him. "There's nothing anywhere for hours."

"But I'm telling you, Snappa!" Bytar groaned. "I swear I saw something around those rocks."

"Please don't come, please don't come, please don't come-" Kai was sweating bullets.

"I'm not moving all the way trough there." Snappa shook his head. "The Sun is too hot."

"Uh..." Bytar seemed to be reconsidering this now. "That part is true. Maybe I didn't saw anything..."

"Thanks goodness." The spiky-haired boy sighed with relief. He decided to wait a few seconds before spying them again.

When Kai did that though, no one was around the entrance. Huh? Where did they go?" He was uncertain about what to do now. Giving a better look, no one seemed to be around. "Are they having a lunch break or something?"

The boy waited a few more minutes and nothing. Getting impatient, he slowly made his away to the entrance, trying to be stealthy as possible.

Feeling lucky, Kai made his away to the arena, where he was sure Lloyd was being kept. It didn't took enough for him to get to the kid.

"Pssh! Lloyd!" Kai whispered, poking the cage, since Lloyd looked to be asleep. Or that was Kai was hoping for at least. "Hey, Lloyd!"

The little child slowly moved his body, brushing his eyes. "Huh? Who...!" He looked at the older boy, shocked. "Kai!"

"Shh!" Kai spoke behind his mask. "Keep it down. We don't want to bring attention to us."

"Uh, right." Lloyd nodded, whispering now. "Where are the others? What about the snakes?"

"I came alone." Kai said, fidgeting the lock with a hair clip. "I don't know what happened to the snakes, but they aren't here." The brunette managed to pick the lock, opening the cage.

"How did you did this?" Lloyd asked, getting out of his prison.

"I learned one thing or two in life." Kai grabbed his hand, leading the way. "Let's go out before they-"

The gates of the arena closed off with a a huge sliding sound, trapping both boys inside.

"Oh no!" Lloyd gasped.

"Stay behind me, buddy!" Kai said, pulling his swords.

A big hole was made in the ground in front of the gate, and from there Fangton and Skalidor came out, along with a bunch of other Serpentine.

"Would you look at that." Fangton slithered his tongue. "Looks like Pythor's plan worked out after all."

"Heheheh. You're not going anywhere, boys." Skalidor grinned wickedly.

Chapter Text

The Ninja ran inside the museum, trying to find out where Pythor and the rest of the Serpentine were.

"I still can't believe it." Cole shook his head. "What the snakes could possibly be looking for in the museum?"

"There is a lot of things, actually." Zane gave him a meaningful look. "Ancient documents, rare artefacts. Maybe even one of the Silver Fangblades."

"You know, I was going to say that you didn't need to answer that, but you may be right about that last part." The Black ninja sighed. "Either way, we need to be careful."

"Oh! Over there!" Jay stopped, pointing out to a room to his left side. "I think I saw something!"

The group retraced their steps, but didn't saw nothing out of the ordinary. There was no one in the hallway to the room, and the door was closed.

"Are you sure?" Cole asked. "I mean, I can't even hear anything."

"We should check anyway, just to be sure." Nya shrugged it off.

"Yeah. Let's go, guys!" Jay led the way, running trough the hallway. However, the blue ninja didn't had the chance to open the door. The reason for that was because a police officer just got out of the room.

"Oh, the Ninja!" He grinned. "It's really good to see that you came to help us!" The man gave Jay a little tap on the shoulder. "But don't worry, we already took care of the Serpentine."

"Uh, what?" Jay turned to his friends, confused. "I...huh. Good, I guess."

"Is that for real?" Cole sighed, crossing his arms. "Who are all those people outside then?"

"Oh, just a bunch of curious people, don't worry." The officer waved his hand. "You can go now."

"That's fine and all." Nya lift a eyebrow. "But how do you know who we are, exactly? We're not very known by other people."

"I...uh...you see..." The man started to sweat nervously.

"Oh! Oh!" A female voice came from inside the room the officer had come out. "I can hear voices! Someone, quick! Help us!"

"Wait...I heard that voice before." Jay pondered.

"I apologize, mister." Zane spoke, determined. "But I sense that something is clearly wrong here. You have to let us inside."

The officer stood quiet for a second. Then without saying anything, he opened the door. The Ninja quicly made their way, founding themselves in a room filled with old artefacts from Ninjago's past.

In the center of the room, there was a old man, a small woman in a pink suit, tense, and a man wearing a blue hat tied together. Besides them, a whole group of other people was tied up as well.

"Okay, what is going on here?" Nya asked, confused. Suddenly the door closed behind them, as more officers appeared, looked like they were in a daze.

"We have to stop the Ninja!" One of them said, with an angry look in his face. The police jumped to grab a hold on the Ninja, but the younger group was faster and dodged.

"Okay, I know the police can be ruthless, but this is a bit too much!" Jay yelped as a pair of them ran towards him to knock him off on the ground. "Ouch! Give me a break!"

"I sense... that same furious daze, just like when Cole was hipnotized." Zane said, dodging an officer that tried to take him from behind. "I think we shouldn't hurt them. They are not being themselves."

"Easy for you to say!" Cole throwed himself at one of them, hitting the man's abdomen and making him fell on his knees. "These guys are not playing around!" Just as the black ninja said that, a vase flew close to his face, almost hitting him. "Woah!" The vase hit the wall, shattering the object.

"Ooooh no, no, no, no!" The old man tied up winced. "That one was a very antique one, this is bad, really bad!"

"Okay, new plan." Nya jumped away from another pair of cops. "If we can't hurt these people, let's use Spinjitzu to throw them off. They won't hurt anyone if they're dizzy enough."

"I like the sound of that." Cole nodded, smiling behind his hood. "Let's go, guys!" He prepared himself. "Ninja, go!" He performed Spinjitzu, knocking a few officers out and bumping them together.

Nya and Zane followed his steps right after, knocking out a group that was almost dogpiling Jay. At the end, all they still had to do was free the hostages. That was an easy for the red and black ninjas.

"And there you go." Nya said, slashing the last rope. "You guys can go now." She smiled behind her hood. The people freed ran away without second thought, nervous.

Meanwhile, Zane and Jay were examining the now unconcious cops. "Just as I felt." Zane spoke, concerned. "Their eyes show clearly signs of hypnosis."

"Uh, yeah. Right." Whatever Zane was seeing, Jay wasn't catching on. "I mean, I told you guys that there were snakes in here."

"Right." Cole nodded, joining them. "That means we have to find out exactly what they were looking for." The older boy turned his attention to the curator, who was in his knees where the pieces of his vase were.

"Oh, this is truly hopeless." The old man sighed, shooking his head. "People nowadays don't have any respect for their elders history..."

Uh, excuse me, sir?" Cole approached him. "The snakes that appeared here... Do you know if they took anything with them?"

"Oh? Oh my, where are my manners!" The curator quickly shifted his humor, like a flip of a switch. "You all just saved me, the museum and everyone else in here." The old man bowed his head. "I really appreciate that. Thank you!"

"Uh, heheh." The black ninja laughed, a bit awkward. "It was just part of a ninja's job, mister... uh..."

"Saunders. Dr. Saunders." The curator took Cole's hand and shook it vividly. "Curator of this museum. The pleasure IS all mine!"

"Okay, this guy sure love his job..." Nya commented, looking for something that the snakes could have took. Her eyes stopped on a skeleton of a Serpentine. "Wow, that's pretty cool." She approached and touched the thing. "Are these like, real, real bones?"

Oh, no! Oh, nonono!" Saunders quickly got her away from the skeleton. "Don't touch this thing. Fangpyre skeletons still have the power of making you a snake If you touch the wrong place, don't ya know?"

Nya stopped, amused. "Wait, are you serious?!" She said, excited. "This is amazing!" The girl turned at her friends. "Guys, we should being that thing home with us!"

"I sense that this isn't exactly a safe decision." Zane faced her with caution.

"I agree with Zane." Jay nodded. "I'm getting goosebumps just looking at it." He trembled a bit.

"But guys, think!" Nya exclaimed. "If this thing has some Fangpyre venom on it, we could to study it and find a way to cure anyone who's affected by the Serpentine's abilities without needing their staff to do!"

The red ninja turned at Dr. Saunders, with speaks in her eyes. "Can we please take it with us? I promise I'll bring It back safe and sound!"

"Oh, uhn..." The curator seemed uncertain for a moment. "I mean, you all saved the museum, that's for sure." He pondered for a few moments. "Ya know what? Okay! Why not? You all look capable enough. I'm sure that nothing bad could come out of this."

"Yes!" Nya hopped, excited. Then, feeling a bit dumb for that, she stopped, awkwardly. "Ahem. Uh, sorry for that."

"Eh. There's no way I can say 'no' for you." Jay sighed, blushing a bit. "Wait! I mean-"

"Anyway..." Cole caught their attention. "Could you tell us about whatever the snakes took?" He faced Saunders.

"Hmm... I think we would have to take a look on the archives, I'm not completely sure about it." The curator shooked his head.

"I'm sure we can find soon enough." Zane said, positive.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Wu and Tory were leaving the temple behind after everything they had experienced that day.

"Well, that was not how I was expecting my day to end." Tory said with a tender expression on his face. "That girl sure looked happy, didn't she?"

"Yes." Wu agreed with his student. "I sincerely hope that she soon finds the happiness and family she is looking for."

The old man was glad to be able to help that poor soul. He couldn't keep himself from wondering if that was the reason he was pointed to come here today, to guide someone to a greater future.

"So?" Tory took Wu put of his own thoughts. "Did those 'Core Dragons' or whatever they're called helped you find what you were looking for?"

Wu laughed a bit from the misspelling before replying. "Frankly, yes. I think I have found a solution to our situation."

"Indeed." The old man thought to himself. "Sometimes,  family is the key."

"Uhn..." Tory scratched his head. "Also... All those things you said about your students, and your brother...?"

"Yes." Wu nodded. "Also all true. They all are very important to me." He put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Just as you are."

And to think that meeting this boy took Wu out of his miserable situation. At the end, both of them helped each other when they needed the most.

"I wish you could live more normally with us." The wise man sighed. "I'm sure the others would like you very much."

"Don't worry, Master. I already told you it's not a problem to me." Tory waved his hand. "And that would mean stopping sleeping under Jay's bed. It's so funny hearing him thinking it's a spider or something." The boy laughed.

"Besides, I think you were about to give me another mission?" The ginger looked at him, curious.

"You are right once again." Wu nodded for a third time. "I need to locate someone. Someone very important."

"Oh? Who is it?" Tory asked, interested by the fact that his master looked really shaken.

"I need you to find Misako. Lloyd's mother." He added after the boy gave him a confused look. "She is out there, somewhere. I need to understand what exactly made her leave Lloyd behind."

"Huh. Yeah, good question." Tory pondered. "Got any clues about where she could be?"

"She is an archeologist." Wu answered. "I never saw her or Lloyd again after banning my brother to the Underworld, so I don't have the clearest idea of where she might be now." The old man shook his head, lost.

"Fine." Tory gave him a confident smile. "That means I don't have time to lose then." The boy put a hand on Wu's shoulder. "Leave it to me, Master Wu. I'll find Misako in no time."

"That's what I hope." The wise man nodded. "But you have to be careful, Tory. Who knows what you might in your way."

"Yeah, sure." Tory grinned, walking away. "Don't worry, there's nothing that a Master of Surprise can't deal with." He winked, running at the distance.

"That's what I'm praying for." Wu thought to himself.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"I have to admit, Pythor is a really smart guy." Both of Fangton's heads nodded at each other. "He was sure that at some point someone would be stupid enough to come back for Lloyd again, and here we are."

Kai and Lloyd were cornered inside the arena. To be more precise, Lloyd was gripping Kai's back, shaking in fear.

"Well, I say it's time for you guys to go back to your cage." Skalidor grinned. "Unless you think you can stop every snake here."

"I really like this idea!" Kai defied, trying to sound confident. "Do you mind if I try?"

"Hahahahah!" Skalidor laughed. "I like this guy, he has spirit." His grin got bigger. "But spirit alone won't save you, y'know?"

Kai gulped. "Yeah, they aren't going to take that too seriously." The boy thought. He felt Lloyd whimper from behind him. "Stay close to me, Lloyd."

"I'm not g-going anywhere." The kid shook his head. Kai looked at the seats behind distant from them. Maybe, if only maybe, he could help Lloyd get up, they might have a chance.

"Okay, be ready to run." Kai whispered to him. "We only have one chance."

"Hey, what are you whispering over there?!" Skalidor growled, annoyed. "Will you surrender or not?!"

"Since you gave us the option..." Kai mocked him, turning around. "We'll take our leave!" He started running, and Lloyd quickly followed him.

"What?!" Fangton left head gasped. "Get them!" The one from the right yelled. A bit lost in action, the Serpentine soon ran towards the two boys, who stopped in front of the wall.

"Here, I'll give you a hand!" Kai prepared himself, getting on his knees. Lloyd silently nodded, putting his feet on the older boy's hands. With a strong impulse, Kai threw the child up, hoping that Lloyd would grasp the ledge of the wall to pull himself up.

"I...I got it!" The blonde yelled from the seats. Kai sighed, relieved. He didn't had much time to breath, though, as the Serpentine were right behind.

"Please tell me I didn't forgot to bring it..." Kai groaned, trying to find something on his pockets. "Aha! There it is!" It was one of his last sleeping bombs he did before giving Nya her folder back. "Good sleep, guys!" He tossed the bomb towards the group of snakes, that soon fell asleep as soon as the item exploded.

That didn't stopped the other snakes that were behind their comrades, though.

"Danm it!" Kai thought, quickly nailing one of his swords in the fragile soil below his foot. Jumping at the top of the sword's handle, he was high enough to call for Lloyd's aid.

"I'm going to jump, so I need you to help me get up!" He yelled, receiving an nervous "okay" from Lloyd.

Kai's part was very easy for him, but Lloyd struggled to help his friend at the other hand.

"You're... too heavy...!" The blonde groaned, panicking.

"Give me your other hand!" The older boy plead, tense. Maybe he didn't should have come with the armor after all. "Come on, you can do it!"

He saw one of the trying to get a hold of his leg, so he kicked him, almost falling with Lloyd. Putting his foot on the wall, Kai tried to give himself another impulse upwards to help Lloyd.

"Nnnnnghh!!!" Lloyd was slowly managing to lift him up, and soon they both together on the higher seats.

"We...we did it..." The little spoke, panting heavily. "We really d-dit it..."

"You're doing great, buddy." Kai nodded, trying his most to sound joyful. "Just keep going." They both made their way to the higher part of the seats area, now taking a look on the fall they had to take.

"Are we...going to make it?" Lloyd asked, nervous. It sure didn't looked like things were going to end well.

"There! Don't let them escape!" A snake shouted, as the crowd started to take the stairs to the expectator's seats.

Kai had to think fast. He started by getting off of his armor, passing it to Lloyd. "Here, put it on yourself." He said.

"What? Why?" Lloyd asked, tense. "What are you going to do?"

"Don't worry, buddy." Kai winked at him and grinned. "This is just to be sure you won't be hurting yourself when you jump."

"But..." Lloyd still hesitated. "What about you? Isn't dangerous for you to jump then?"

"Nah, I'll be fine." The older boy said. "I did that a lot with Nya when we were little." He noticed the snakes coming closer. "Okay, see that rock over there?" He pointed at an enormous rock close to the city. "Go hide there. I'm right behind you. And don't listen what I'll say next."

The kid just nodded, leaving all his faith in Kai's plan, whatever it was.

"Okay, go!" Lloyd jumped with the armor that was too big to his little body, and soon he fell in the sand, as most safe as he could be.

"Good work, Lloyd!" Kai yelled as loud as he could. "Just run to the other side of the city now! The others are waiting!"

"Ha! Stupid! We can hear you!" Skalidor snapped at him from the stairs.

"Shut up and move away!" Fangton yelped. "Serpentine, go to the entrance! We can't let them escape!"

Kai sighed. "Great. They bit it." Now all that Kai needed to do was jump after Lloyd. He looked at the fall before him. If the kid managed to do it, he could too, right?

The brunette prepared himself, and leapt  to the ground, with the fall ending sooner as he thought. However...

A sharp pain in his right ankle made the boy notice that things didn't had gone well for him. Kai quickly winced in pain, feeling himself lightheaded.

"Kai!" He heard Lloyd yelps as the blonde leaves the rock and comes to his aid. As soon as the little boy gets to him, he notices how bad things are going. "Oh no! Y-your foot... it's-"

"It's... it's fine!" Kai groaned. "I just sprained it a bit, that's all." He panted. "Can you help me get up? We... have to get moving."

"Y-yeah! Sure!" Lloyd helped him stay on his foot, gasping a little with the older boy's weight under his shoulder. "We have to go back to the rock, right?"

"You got it..." Kai sighed, trying his best to ignore the pain. "We just have to take the jetpack and then we're out." It was easier said than done. Their movements became quite slow after Kai's injury.

And that was about to bite them off.

The pair was almost at the rock when they heard screams coming from behind.

"They are here! We can still stop them!" A snake yelled.

"Arrows! Where are the arrows?" One do them shouted, and soon after that, arrows started to fly closely to the pair of boys.

"O-oh no!" Lloyd looked behind his shoulder, terrified.

"Keep going! Don't stop!" Kai shouted. "And don't look back, too."

They finally made it to the jetpack, but the arrows were not stopping going by. One of them flied closer to Lloyd's face.

"Shoot!" Kai groaned. "Just pick the pack and we can go!" Lloyd nodded, nervous, running towards their only way out. However...

A last arrow flew by the air, finally grazing the left side of Kai's abdomen.

"Nhgaaaahh!" Kai yelled, falling on his ground. Blood started to come out of his wound, standing his shirt in red.

"KAI!" Lloyd screamed in terror, coming back with the jetpack. The boy quickly got on his knees. "Nonononono... You're hurt! What- what d-do we do now?!" Tears began to fall from the blonde's eyes.

"I'll... I'll be okay!" Kai gasped, trying to contain his bleeding. "Grab the...the jetpack and run! You have to escape!"

"I can't leave you like that!" Lloyd whined. "You can't fight these guys a-anymore and-"

"Who cares?!" Kai yelled. "I promised to rescue you, and I am doing that!" The older boy winced at his wound. "Just...just go!"

Lloyd couldn't move right now. He didn't know what to do. All he know was that the snakes were getting closer, and they wouldn't be nicer to Kai, especially if Lloyd escaped. He wanted to help Kai, do something to save his situation.

And Lloyd could see only one way to be sure that Kai would be okay.

The boy picked the jetpack, but instead of putting on himself, he started to strap it on Kai's back.

"L-Lloyd?" Kai grunted. "Ngh...what are you doing?"

"I'm... I'm r-really sorry, Kai. Please don't be mad!" Lloyd sobbed. "I just...I-I can't let you get m-more hurt because of me!"

"Lloyd!" Kai tried to move his arm, but the pain on his wounded flesh just got worse by doing that. "Ahh- don't you... don't you dare..."

"I'm sorry Kai!" Lloyd yelped, pushing what he hoped was the button to ignore the machine.

"N-NO! LLOYD!" Kai yelled before the engine started and he was soon flying away. "LLOOOYD-!"

"Please, please get home okay..." Lloyd brushed his eyes, still crying. It didn't take too long for the snakes to have him on their grasp again.

"Ugh...finally." Skalidor panted, exhausted. "Pythor will be pleased to know we didn't let the boy escape."

"Actually, I think it's a better idea not to tell him about all of this." Fangton sighed.

"What?! Why though?" Skalidor growled as they make their way back home, with Lloyd quietly following them. "The kid is right here, right? Why he wouldn't be pleased with that?"

One of Fangton's heads turned to face Skalidor. "Do you want to tell him about the other guy we let get away, then? Because I'm sure he would love to hear about that too." The red snake waved both of his heads. "No. I prefer to relieve myself of this headache."

"Huh." Skalidor pondered. Pythor sure was annoying when things didn't go as he wanted. "Y'know what? Fair point."

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Aha! There it is!" Saunders exclaimed, with a list on his hand. "According to the inventory, aside from some ancient documents, the Serpentine only took what was rumoured to be a map to the famous Silver Fangblades. But honestly, what we had here was just a blank piece of paper, so I doubt it was the real real." The old man started to laugh.

"That's...great to hear, Dr. Saunders." Cole sighed, frustraded. "I just wish you remenbered about that list of yours before we organized every document from the archives."

"At least now every single document is organized in their proper chronological order of events." Zane said, sounding a little too pleased with himself as he put a last roll of paper in the shelf.

"Sorry to burst you bubble, Snowy, but that wasn't exactly our priority here." Cole rolled his eyes. "And where are Jay and Nya anyway?" He asked, noticing that he didn't heard anything from them the entire time.

"Sorry guys!" Nya entered in the room right at that moment, carrying a box with her. "Me and Jay were dismantling the skeleton." She grinned.

"Which was also not our priori- Ugh. Forget it." Cole was too exhausted to argue.

"I don't see Jay with you, though." Zane commented.

"Yeah..." Nya sighed. About that... Let's say someone had their eyes on us the entire time."

"What do you-" The blonde was interrupted by Jay entering the room, getting followed by Gayle Gossip and her cameraman.

"Can we leave, please?!" The blue ninja was covering his ears. "I can't take much from this gal anymore."

"Please!" The reporter begged, excited. "Just a few questions, it's all that I ask! I'm sure we can make this work!"

"Listen." Jay sighed, impatient. "I would love to talk about all our adventures, but Master Wu is always talking about how fame and stardom can tarnish a hero's legacy or whatever, so-"

"Aha!" Gayle yelled, victorious. "A name! Who is this Master Wu person?"

"Oh, you don't know Master Wu, one of the legendary Spinjitzu Brothers?" Saunders moved the Ninja out of the way. "Well, he's a great man that fought inumerous battles in the past..."

Both of them started to talk about the latest revelation, while the Ninja quietly made their way to the exit, thanking the heavens for that chance.

"Uuugh. That woman was driving me crazy!" Nya grunted. "She couldn't shut up about us being her biggest scoop."

"Honestly, I wouldn't have minded." Jay said shyly. "Imagine how much people would be cheering for us!"

"I'm not sure. The last thing we need right now is draw attention to ourselves." Said Cole, manifesting his buggy.

"Uh, yeah. Sure..." Jay glanced at the vehicle that just appeared.

"As for me, I just can't wait to go home and have some rest." Nya sighed. "We don't need more twists for today."

                                                                                                                                                      ***

Nya wished that from the bottom of her heart now.

When the group got back to the Bounty, there was a clear smell of fresh blood in the air. That was the first bad sign. The second was Kai's white shirt stained in pink drying outside.

"Wha... What happened here?" Jay asked, but Nya was already running inside the deck.

"Kai? KAI!" The girl yelled, desperate. The others were quickly following her steps.

"I have...a bad feeling about this." Zane spoke, paler than normal. "Actually, I'm not... feeling well myself."

As soon as they got to the hallway, someone walked from Wu's room. It was the old man himself.

"Ninja!" He said, concerned. "Where were all of you?!"

"Where is Kai?" Nya ignored him, trembling. "Where is my brother?!"

"On my room-" The wise man barely said anything and the red ninja was already entering the room. Kai was on the bed, looking worse than never. He was shirtless, with all the region of his abdomen being covered by bandages.

"What happened?" Nya asked. "Why are you like this? Who done this to you?!"

"Nya..." Her brother said in a weakened voice that didn't seen to belong to him. "Can you calm down, please? I'm fine."

"What is going on her- oh." Cole entered with the others, and soon got quiet. "I see."

"Are you all right, Kai?" Zane asked, worried.

"Really? What do you think?" Jay looked at the blonde with a tense look.

"I'm...fine." Kai repeated. "I just..." He sighed. "I just wish I could have done more." His eyes got watered, and he lowered his head so the others couldn't see him.

"Done more?" The blue ninja asked, confused. "Wait, you didn't...no, you're kidding, right?"

"Yeah, I'm just fooling around!" Kai exploded. "I really thought it would be funny to welcome you guys like this!"

"Hey, that's not what I-" Cole put a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head. It wasn't the moment for any sort of bickering.

"Did you perphaps tried to go after Lloyd by your own?" Zane was blunt once again. Kai simply sighed.

"Yeah, good job I guess." He braced himself, frustraded. "Ugh! If only I was faster! If I was strong enough."

Nya wanted to scold him. Tell him he shouldn't have done that. That he was trying too hard. But she couldn't do that, especially not right now. Not when her brother was in such a low point. Instead, she hugged him. She hugged him like never before.

"Don't ever say that again, Kai!" She said, at the verge of tears too. "You are one of the strongest people I know."

"But I failed, Nya!" Kai started sobbing. "I failed to save him again! He was the one that had to save me! How can I be so worthless?!"

"It's not your fault Kai! Don't push the blame to himself." Nya said, still trying to sound calm. "It's not Lloyd's fault either."

"It was my fault." That persistent voice echoed in her head. "All of this is because I didn't take care of him as I should." The girl felt a lump in her throat, a feeling she found nauseant for some reason.

"I'm by your side, okay? We'll save him, I promise." The red ninja reassured her brother, trying her best to confort him. "But for now, what if we just laid back and rest?"

"Good thing." Wu said in a patient tone. "Kai has gone trough a lot today. I ask for all you three at least to let him rest."

"Uh, y-yeah. Sure thing." Jay nodded. "I guess we kinda have to explain where we were all the noon too..."

"I can also start dinner soon enough." Zane nodded. "I sense something lighter for Kai would be appropriate, too."

"You don't have to treat me like I was sick." Kai sighed, still a bit shaken. "I don't need that much pity."

"I'm sorry, Kai." The white ninja shook his head. "But in my opinion you should eat food that is more easy to digest, especially at your current situation. At least for now. I sense that you lost... A lot of blood."

Kai looked away, unfazed. "Fine. Do whatever you want."

"I'm sure I can make something of your taste." Zane gave him a gentle smile. "The others consider me the best cook after all."

"Okay, I think that's enough for now." Cole sighed. "We're leaving. And you two." He pointed at the siblings. "Stay safe. I know that is hard, but we have to be patient."

As soon as they got out, both teenagers sighed. Nya gave Kai a nervous look before deciding to ask. "It's just your stomach? Or-"

"I twisted my ankle too." Kai looked away. "I guess that's what I get from jumping from a super high wall."

He waited for a few moments, wondering when his sister would begin to call out on him for being stupid, reckless or anything else. But the speech didn't came.

"You can argue with me now." He finally said. "I doubt the others would care if you had said something earlier."

"Actually, Cole would've said something." Nya gave a weak laugh. "He always says I'm pulling your leg too much." She sighed. "Maybe he's right."

"Huh." It's all that came from Kai's mouth. "That's good to know, I guess. So nothing about me being stupid today?" He asked.

"You're always stupid." Nya hugged him closer. "That's why I love you." She heard him give a small chuckle at that. "But no, I'm just glad  you're okay. You scared me a lot."

"I'll try not next time." Kai said, trying to sound playful.

"Don't be silly." The red ninja faces him. "Next time, we'll do this together. With everyone else." She added.

"Yeah, maybe..." Kai replied. "We can see about that some other time." For now, everything Kai needed was to have a good rest.

Chapter Text

"Ow!" He yelps. "What the heck guys?" The ginger turned his head away. "Can't you see I'm trying to have a good and deserved rest here?"

"It lasted long enough." Cole's voice came from his side. "Master Wu didn't woke us up for training again."

"Wait, seriously?" The boy asked, looking at their clock. The hands were pointing at 8:30. "Huh. That's two days in a row now. Did something happen?"

"Well, I don't know." Cole rolled his eyes as he took off his shirt. "Maybe the reason could be that his nephew is a prisioner and one of us is injured?"

"I do wonder if everything's going to be okay." Zane joined the conversation, finishing getting dressed. "I sense a lot of distress in our group."

"Yeah, no joking..." Jay sighed, changing his pants. He picked his gi and walked to mirror, looking at himself.

Noticing that, Cole approached him. "Uh, Sorry about that time, now that I think about it. Zane's waking everyone up kind of made us confused. I mean..." The older boy scratched his head, sweating a little. "Do you want us to turn around or get out?"

"Huh? No, it's... it's okay." Jay said, nervous. "I mean, I kinda have to grow some spine, right? We're all guys here. Heheh." The boy started to get his shirt off, revealing a binder around his chest. "It's just still strange to me sometimes. Like you guys never making a ruckus, I mean." He blushes, a bit nervous.

"Come on, you know we would never do that." Cole smiled. "You're our friend, and nothing would change the way we view you. Just like your parents didn't stopped loving you for who you are."

"Yeah, I kind of have to learn this everyday so I can't forget." The ginger snorted, facing himself at the mirror again. "Do...do you think I should tell Nya? And I guess Kai too?"

"I already told you this." Cole shook his head. "This is a decision that you have to make by yourself." The older boy paused for a second. "But if you asked me, I don't think any of them would have a problem with who you are."

"But...but..." Jay gasped, tense. "What if Nya doesn't see me as a real guy? What if she hates me for keeping this for so long? I don't want that to happen!"

"Uh..." Zane intervined once again. "Are you guys having this conversation with Nya still inside the bathroom?" He pointed at the door. A small silence between the boys occured after that.

"Oh. Oh no. AAAAGHH!" Jay yelled. "This is bad. This is really bad. What I am going to do?!" He ran to the door. "Nya! Nya! Listen, I'm so, so sorry-"

"Hey, calm down." Cole stopped his friend's struggle. "She's not even there." The black ninja opened the door, revealing a empty room. "See?"

"Oh." Jay's ears got red from his embarrassment. "Ha. Haha. Hahaha!" The boy started laughing. "Oh, thanks goodness! We're lucky she got up early, didn't we?"

"I sense this isn't the case." Zane pondered, more to himself. "I didn't saw her coming to bed yesterday, and her bed was the same way as soon as I woke up."

"Wait, seriously?" Jay asked, finishing dressing himself. "Huh. That's...strange."

"My bet is that she is with Kai." Cole shook his shoulders. "It makes sense, right?"

"Uh...yeah. Yeah, pretty much." Jay nodded. "We should give them the time to...bond over or something. So!" The blue ninja clapped his hands. "What we should do today?"

Zane seemed lost in thought for a moment. "I have the feeling that Master won't be giving us any train for today as well." He said. "So after some breakfast, I was looking forward to revise my breath-holding record." He turned to his friends. "Do you guys mind?" The blonde shyly asked.

"Sounds good to me." Cole nodded. "Then I guess we should move forward to the Endless Sea. Thankfully we're not too away from it."

"Yeah, let's do this!" Jay nodded. "We can check on Nya and Kai after setting the course!"

                                                                                                                                                       ***

In the end, they found Nya sooner than they thought. The girl was actually sleeping on the bridge's table, surrounded by blueprints and the Fangpyre skeleton by the other side of the table. The trio faced each other, unsure of what to do.

"Uuh...Nya?" Jay poked her head, deciding for everyone. Meanwhile, Cole reached for the steer. "Hey, Nya? Nya~"

"Wah...huh...? What?" The girl slowly opened her eyes, looking around her with a confused look on her eyes. "Oh, hey guys." The ninja said, brushing her eyes. "What time is it?"

"It's already morning." Zane said. "Did you slept here all night?"

"What? Morning?" Nya's got wide, surprised. "Oh gosh, I didn't mean it to." The red ninja said as she picked her things. "Sorry about that, guys."

"It's okay, really." Jay waved his hands. "We just got a bit worried about you. We thought you were with Kai."

"I was." She nodded. "It's just that after he slept, I got out and tried to figure out something to do about all of... that." The girl waved her arms at the table where her things were.

"So... You just worked all night?" Jay spoke, concerned. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'll... be fine." Nya said as she yawned. "I just have to sleep earlier today. Anyway, what about training? Did Master Wu said something or...?"

"Don't worry, nothing came from him either." Jay shook his shoulders. "Cole thinks he's trying to find out a solution to everything."

"Well, if you excuse me..." Zane said. "I'll be making the breakfast today again. I sense that no one is in their right state of mind to take care of that today."

"You're not got me complaining." Nya said. "Besides, I think you are the best one to make something to Kai too. He ate all of your light food today. And Kai hates food with weak taste. He always says he isn't sick to eat that kind of food."

"That's sounds like Kai alright." Zane smiled. "I'm glad to know he liked my food. He has to eat well if he wants to recover fast."

"No kidding, every food you cook is the best in the world!" Jay said before the white ninja left. "What's your secret, Zane? You could teach your ways to Cole, he's been needing."

"I can hear you, you know that, right?" The black ninja said from the steer.

"Come on now, I'm just being honest like you always tell we should be!" Jay pouted at his best friend.

"Huh. I actually don't know what to say to you." Zane pondered before answering. "It just feels natural for me." He looked at his hands. "More of my fogged past, I suppose." His voice sounded somber.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to..." The blue ninja said, scratching his head.

"It's okay." The blonde shook his head. "Anyway, I should be going to the kitchen. I still have that record to break later."

"What was that about a record?" Nya asked after the white ninja left the room.

"Oh yeah, Zane's trying to break his own record of breath-holding, we should totally check it out!" Jay said, excited.

And thus, the pair kept talking together about the team's anchievements.

Meanwhile, in the City of Ouroboros, Pythor and the Serpentine Generals are reunited at the library once more, analyzing the documents they had stolen from the museum.

"Y'know, We've looking at this blank map for hours now, but nothing it's happening." Skalidor said, holding the supposed map to the Silver Fangblades on his hands.

"This can't be possible!" Pythor growled, revising the rolls of paper once again, desperate. "Nothing here tell us anything about where the four Fangblades are hidden." He threw a pile of them away as Acidicus moved himself to save the documents. "Have our ancestors left us nothing? Where are they?" He turned to the Venomari, who simply sighed, resigned.

"No matter how many times you ask me this..." The Green snake took one of the documents, reading it. "...we don't have any more clues except this passage right here: 'when the five fangs unite as one, and the pointer is found out, the path towards the Devourer has begun.'

"Yes, yes." Skales rolled his eyes, impassible. "This again. Well, we already have done all this charade, and what did we got? Nothing. All of this is completely useless." The blue serpent grunted.

"And we already short in time, too." Fangton's heads looked behind his back. "If we don't make any big move soon, the others will begin to ask questions. Then this is going to make they start to think we don't know what we are doing."

"Who's said 'we'?" Skalidor lifted his eyebrows. "For me, I would attack the most closest human village. But Pythor here is the one calling the shots." He pointed at his leader. "Do you even know what are you doing?"

"I know exactly what I'm doing, you fools!" Pythor snapped at the other snakes. "I'm trying to unleash the Great Devourer, the only being that will really bring terror and anguish for the ones that trapped us for all this years!" He snatched the map from Skalidor hands and put it in the table. "So instead of complain, how about you shut your mouths and help me figure something out?!"

"So this is what I get after dealing with that little brat...? Goodness." Skales shook his head, tired. "You heard the man, let's keep thinking."

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Nya, Cole and Jay are on the deck, watching the bottom of the sea. The red ninja is holding a timer, looking at it with a shocked expression.

"So? So?" Jay snucked behind her. "How much time already?" The red ninja slowly turned her head to face him.

"Ten minutes... Ten freaking minutes!" She exclaimed. Cole and Jay looked at each other, shocked as well.

"You can't be serious, right?" Jay laughed nervously. As Nya's expression didn't change, his eyes got wider. "Wait, is that for real?"

"He just broke his own record." Cole said, gazing at the sea below them. "Is that guy even human?" As soon as the black ninja said that, Zane's face finally resurfaced. The ninja started cheering for him.

"Amazing!" Cole grinned, throwing a rope to help the white ninja get up the ship again.

"We're not worthy." Jay bowed his head playfully, but still respectful.

"How was I?" The blonde asked with an anxious smile. "Did I broke the record?"

"You didn't just broke it." Nya grinned at him. "You absolutely destroyed it! Ten whole minutes!"

"Really?" The white ninja said, surprised with his own ability. "Did I managed to do that much?" He soon grinned with the others. "That's great to hear!"

"Okay, okay." Jay said with sparks in his eyes. "Maybe I'm being a little crazy, but hear me out." Everyone looked at him with curious eyes. "We've been training for so long, I don't think we can get any better. Just think about all we've accomplished. Am I wrong?"

"You really think so?" Nya pondered. By one, it was true that she was getting better, especially dealing with fiery situations, but she wasn't so sure about it.

"Well, I feel like I got a lot more stronger." Cole crossed his arms. "Remember how much weight I lifted one of these days? I'm pretty sure it was more than all of our weights combined!"

Zane pondered for a moment. "I think the question deserves to be raised." The blonde nodded. "Perhaps we did have reached our Full Potential. Master Wu never told us about how that would change us, though."

"I vote for asking him, then!" Jay lifted his hand. "I mean, I'm sure everyone here is curious to know."

The group nodded, walking inside the ship and taking a detour to the kitchen to bring Kai's breakfast with them.

"So, explain to me why Kai is still in Master's room again?" The blue ninja asked, curious. "Doesn't he have his own room?"

"Because..." Nya hesitated. "Since his room got that lock, Master thought it would be safer this way."

"I see." Zane nodded. "If we somehow lost that key, entering his room would be complicated."

Nya sighed. Of course that wasn't the whole truth. Wu explained to her last night that Kai told him everything, so for the sake of keeping things as they are, that would be the best course of action. Not that Nya liked to boldly lie to the others, but she didn't had much choice in the matter. It was Kai's secret, not hers.

"We shouldn't even be questioning that." Cole shook his head, his voice taking the red ninja out of her own head. "Master Wu knows what he is doing." The older boy took the lead and opened the door to Wu's room.

"Hey, Master, what does True Potential look like if-" The boy stopped on his speech when he noticed that Wu was putting away a few stained bandages in a bucket. A bit startled, the old man turned to face them.

"Oh, it's just you, my pupils." He nodded.

"Morning." Kai said said from the bed, semmingly being awake for a while. Apparently Wu was just finishing changing his bandages. The boy was also holding a cup of tea in his hands.

"Our apologies, both of you." Zane said politely. "I sense we've interrupted you."

"It's okay." The wise man spoke, cleaning his hands with a towel. "I just finished with Kai. He just needs some good cup of this special tea."

"How are you feeling, Kai?" Nya approached her brother, patting his shoulder.

"I've been worse, I guess." He shooked his shoulders. "But I'm feeling better than yesterday." The girl simply nodded in relief. "But anyway, did you have something to ask Wu?"

"Did they now?" The old man scratched his beard, furrowing his eyebrows. "I'm sorry. I did not paid attention to nothing around me."

"Are you feeling alright, Master?" Cole asked, noticing the man was acting a bit aloof. His master only reply at first was sigh.

"I'm sorry if I've been distant lately." Said the old man, finally. "My mind has been elsewhere since Lloyd has gone missing, along with everything else. And no, Kai, you are not being a problem at all." He glanced at the boy in the bed, who just sighed heavily. "But anyway... What can I help you with?"

"Master," said Cole. "we were wondering... what if we've done enough training?" He asked, determined. "What if we've reached our True Potential? What if we're ready? Is there...any way to know?"

"Hm." It's all Wu said, looking at each one of his pupils faces. "Even if you might have reached peak physical condition, only that isn't enough." He bumped his staff on the floor. "Each one of you have yet to reach your inner potential."

"Inner potential?" Jay cut him off, confused. "Like those psychics we see on TV?"

Wu sighed. "No, Jay." The old man lifted his staff, pointing at each ninja as he spoke. "In each and every one of us, there are obstacles that hold us back."

"Only when you conquer that fear, that only thing that does not give peace to your mind, will your heart be free." Their master kept going with authority. "Then, and only then will you reach your True Potential. Only then will we have a fighting chance to stop the Serpentine from releasing..." His expression became more concerned. "...the Great Devourer."

"I sense..." said Zane, unsure. "...that there is more to the Great Devourer than you have led on, isn't there, Master?"

"Yeah." Nya agreed. "You always look more... unconfortable when we mention it, especially lately."

"Yes." Wu gave an tired sigh. "Just like you all, I too have obstacles within my own heart." He pondered for a moment. "Please, make yourself confortable." He finally spoke. "There is a story I've never told you."

As they sat around the room, the old man closed his eyes, almost able to relive that fateful events. "Long ago, when I was a young boy, Garmadon and I were more than brothers." He started. "We were the best of friends." Wu gave a nostalgic smile.

"Wait a minute." Jay interrupted him once again. "Now, I know you two were brothers, but... really?" He questioned. "Are you saying Lord Garmadon, The King of Cruelty, the Doer of Destruction, the Captain of Chaos-"

"Okay, okay, we got it, Jay." Cole patted his friend's shoulder. "He's evil." The older boy turned to Wu. "So, you two were friends?"

"Like I said, we were the best to each other." Wu continued, getting up and taking box from his wardrobe. "You see, he did not always have a wicked heart. One day, I lost this very katana." He said as he took said katana out of the box.

"Wow!" Kai gasped. "That's a really well made one right here. Also looks really old..." He added.

"Thank you, Kai." The wise man smiled. "My father always made each one of the weapons that belonged to him, and this one was a special gift for me."

"That's why I knew our father would be mad once he found out what happened." Once again, Wu could see this day clearly on his mind. "My brother told me to go retrieve it, but I refused. He told me not to put off what can be done today and went to get it himself."

"Wait, that last part..." Zane interrupted his master. "Isn't this what you always tell us when we are slacking off?"

"True. That's something I learned from him." The old man sighed. "I know you might see me as great man, but I was just like you when I had your age."

"But let's continue." He kept going. I don't know what had happened outside, but my brother wasn't coming back. I had no choice but to go for our father's help."

"When my father found him, he seemed to be very ill, and only later we would learn that Garmadon was bitten by a soon to be legendary snake that would grow forever as long as it consumes."

Everyone gasped, shocked with the revelation. No one was able to say anything. Wu simply closed his eyes once more, seeing even now his father treating an ill and feverish young Garmadon on his bed.

"A great evil had found its way into my brother's heart, for the snake's venom could turn the purest of things wicked, without a chance of salvation.

"Leave it... Leave me alone!" He could still hear his older brother's voice from that day. "I don't need you. I hate you!"

"The snake is the same one the Serpentine want to reawaken today." Said the present old man, with grief in his voice.

"Aah! It hurts!" That same pair of eyes, that always looked at him with friendship and care, were now filled with only hate. "It's all Wu's fault!"

"It is the snake that took my brother away from me." He lowers his head, clearly finishing his story. He didn't face his students after that.

"So the Great Devourer was the reason your brother turned to the evil and became the Dark Lord?" Nya quietly asked.

"No, I was." Wu shook his head, still not facing them. "It was all my fault. Maybe, if I hadn't stopped this katana, things would have turned out differently."

"Don't...say that, Master." Cole said, feeling bad for him. "There's no way you could've know what would-" Wu lifted his hand, signing that he didn't want to keep the conversation going.

"The past is the past." The old man said. "And the future... is the future. As for you four..." He got up. "You have finished your necessary training. You must now focus on stopping Pythor from collecting the Fangblades." The four ninja, and Kai, nodded.

"But never lose focus on the obstacles that lie within each of your hearts that holds you back from true greatness." He pointed at each one of them. "Unlock your True Potential."

"But... how are we supposed to do that, Master?" Zane confronted him. "I don't feel like we are closer to that than before."

"It is up to each of you to discover." Was the old man's reply. "Now, as for me, I must go on a personal journey of my own." He said as he picked a backpack that everyone in the room failed to notice before.

"Woah. Woah woah woah. What?!" Jay yelped, confused. "You're leaving again? Where are you going this time?"

"Yes, again." Wu nodded. "And also again, to a place you unfortunately cannot follow."

"You aren't going after Lloyd, are you?" Cole asked, hesitant. "The City of Ouroboros is filled with hundreds of Serpentine. Probably even more now after they almost let him escape."

"I agree with Cole." Nya joined him. "You'll never do it alone. That's pratically suicide by this point."

"That is precisely why I am going to find someone who can be of aid." Wu said like that was the simplest and obvious answer. "The Serpentine have united and grown stronger, and we will need all the help we can get." As he said that, the old man walked away from his room.

That is, until Nya ran back to give Kai his breakfast, since she left in the table, away from the bed where the boy was.

Chapter Text

Soon, the Bounty made a halt by a number of mountains, as Jay and Zane glanced at the their stopping point.

"Are you sure you want to stop here?" The blue ninja turned to Wu as he, Nya and Cole walked through the deck. "We can leave you closer to the city, y'know?"

"Honestly, I think an flying airship would catch too much attention." The white ninja said. "This isn't a very common sight after all."

"You are right to think that, Zane." Wu nodded, looking satisfied with his student point. Jay, in turn, looked a little bummed out. "Thankfully, I don't mind long walks." The old man sighed. "But now let's see if you still remember everything I told you. Don't try to-"

"-Try to save Lloyd on our own, yeah." Cole nodded. "Don't worry, Master. I won't let that happen again."

"I know you won't, Cole." Wu smiled proudly at him. "And, as for Kai?"

"Help him with the bathroom if he needs it and help him with his bath." Nya nodded. "And change his bandages at least once per day."

"Good." The wise man nodded again. "I know you will take good care of him. But don't forget to do this on pairs, just to be sure that nothing bad happens." He added, a bit concerned to leave them like that. However, his mission needed to be done as fast as possible.

"Since we need to do it like that..." Jay commented, approaching Nya. "Uh, Nya... Do you mind if we share our turn? I mean-" He blushed a little. "Your brother isn't much of a fan of me and all..."

"Oh. Sorry, Jay." The red ninja frowned. "I already asked Cole to pair with me." She scratched her hair, feeling awkward. "You and I are the shortest of the team, so I'm not sure if we could both help Kai get up that easily."

"Oh." The ginger boy frowned a bit. "Oh, it's... it's okay!" He did his best to smile. "That's not a problem at all." He turned to Zane. "I guess it's you and me then." The other boy simply nodded in agreement.

Wu coughed a bit, catching their attention back to him. "I'm sorry to leave you all like that." The old man started. "It's really hard to me to do this, but I fear we are running out of time." Seeing them frowing made the old man feel bad for them, but he knew he couldn't lie about that. "Just do as I told. Find your inner strenght, discover what's pushing you back, and most importantly..." He sighed. "Be careful."

"Master, be honest with us." Cole said with a concerned look on his face. "Do you think we can do it? We can still win a big fight like that?"

Wu simply shook his head. "My students, please remember this." He stomped his staff on the floor. "It's not the size of a ninja in a fight, it's the size of the fight in the ninja." The old man smiled warmly to them. "I have faith in you. As long as you keep fighting, I know everything can be possible."

"If you think like that, then why are you going after more help?" Nya asked looking at his suspiciously.

"This is simple." Said Wu. "With more ninjas, we have more fight. And some times..." He sighed. "We can't fully understand what destiny plans for us."

"What destiny plans for us..." Zane repeated to himself. Flashes of the recent dreams he was having flew through his mind. He quickly shut that thought off as Wu said his goodbyes to everyone and partes away.

Then, there was only the four teenagers on the deck.

"Sooo, what exactly do we do for now?" Jay asked, anxious. "Like, there's snakes, those blades they want, Lloyd, our Full Potential... Where should we start?"

"I tell you what are we going to do." Cole crossed his arms, smirking. "We'll find these Fangblades before the Serpentine."

"Count me in." Nya nodded at that thought. "These guys are probably looking for them right now, so we should be on our toes now, more than ever."

"I'm inclined to agree." Zane joined in. "We can't simply stay put and let the Serpentine do whatever they want."

Jay crossed his arms, leaning in the wall. "But didn't Dr. Saunders said that there's no way to find them without a map? Where he could even start looking if that's the case?"

"Actually, he said that a map did exist at some point, but it was probably lost trough time nowadays." Said the white ninja, pensative.

"What do we do then?" The ginger boy asked, anxious. "Hang up some posters trough all Ninjago asking for information about the Fangblades?" He frowned. "We don't even know how they look like."

"That's not totally true." Cole said, with an idea forming in his head. "Me and Zane saw some drawings on the Constrictai Tomb talking about the Great Devourer and the blades, didn't we?"

"Yes. I believe so." The blonde nodded. "I'm not sure of how faithful they are, but they seem like a good clue."

"Okay, I think you guys know what comes next, right?" Nya grinned. "We just need a image of that drawing, and then we have something to start!"

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea at all..." Jay interjected. "But wouldn't we be risking too much? Even if every snake is in Ouroboros, what if find someone there?"

"Okay, you got me there." The red ninja frowned. "I'm pretty sure they don't know that we know about the Silver Fangblades, and even if they know, we should be careful to not cross paths with them."

"Sounds about right." Cole nodded, glad to see everyone giving their own piece of insight in the matter. "So we need another way to make this work."

The group took some time under the sky, trying to found a solution. Jay pondered a few longer than the others, with a clear sign of sparks in his eyes.

"Okay, so listen up." He smiled, liking what is going trough his head. "We just need to know how they look like, right?"

"Yeah, so what?" Cole lifted an eyebrow, suspicious.

"Do you think you and Zane remember the drawings well? Could you replicate it?" The blue ninja asked with curiosity, approaching the black ninja.

"Yeah, I think so." The older boy nodded.

"Then our problem is solved!" Jay grinned, pating his best friend's back. "We just need to make some flyers asking for them! Your drawings are really good, so I'm sure you can pull it off!"

"Wait. What?" Cole asked, flustered. "I mean, I'm not that good. Besides, I'm not sure how accurate it would be, y'know?"

"Don't worry, the image is very clear in head." Zane gave him a gentle smile. "Whatever mistake you do, I'll be fine in correcting you."

"That's not exactly the issue, here." Cole sighed, defeated. "But fine, I guess. But I won't be doing this on my own." He pointed at Jay. "Making this things one by one will take a lot of time."

"Don't worry about that." Nya smiled warmly. "Of course we won't let you do things by your own. Right, Jay?" She turned at the ginger boy.

"Uh... Yeah!" The blue ninja nodded vigorously. "Though I'm not the best in drawing things I didn't saw."

"Pfft!" Nya snorted, amused by the other ninja oblivious side. "We're not drawing, silly." Said the girl, leaning in the boy's shoulder. "I'm talking about putting our information, number to call, things like that."

"Oooh, yeah!" Jay's eyes widened in realization. "I didn't thought about it."

"Okay..." Cole rolled his eyes, walking towards the door to the insides of the ship. "If we're really doing that, we should start soon. Let's go, guys."

                                                                                                                                                       ***

After some hours of walking, Wu is finally stooding in front of a big teapot sign in Ninjago City: Mystake's Tea Shop. A couple of people open the door, leaving the shop as the old man entered right after that. Inside the shop, Wu see two familiar faces, or skulls, organizing a shelf full of tea flavours. Kruncha and Nuckal.

Oh, weren't that people so nice?" Nuckal said to his friend. "Look, Kruncha! They even gave me a tip for helping them!" The skeleton grinned.

"Yeah, yeah. I saw it already!" Kruncha grunted, turning away from the shelf to take more boxes of tea, facing the old man that was waiting there.

"A-Aaahh!!!" He yelled, jumping and almost falling backwards. "It's Master Wu!" He pointed at the wise man, who didn't expressed anything from his reaction.

"Hello there." Was all that Wu said. "I see that what my students told me is true then." Said the old man, amused. "So you two are now living in this realm? And with Mystake, no less."

"So?" The once before general looked at him, annoyed. "Do you have a problem with that? We can defeat you if we want it, just so you know." The skeleton grinned.

"Yeah! Just like we did to the girl and the blondie!" Nuckal said, standing by his comrade side.

"Hm." Wu stroked his beard, deciding to play along with the pair. "Yes, I do believe they told me something along these lines."

"Hahah! Yes!" Kruncha punched the air, ecstasic. "See, Nuckal? Who needs tips when we can be know by our legends?"

"Uh... Yeah!" His partners looked confused for a moment, but decided to just join him. "We're awesome!"

"Ahem." Wu coughed, both to catch their attention and to stop himself from chuckling. "Is Mystake in the shop? I wanted some tea from her."

"Why won't you just ask us?" Kruncha smirked. "Too scared to even ask for our help?"

"Oooh, I'm pretty sure he wants some of her special kinds of tea!" Nuckal interrupted the other skeleton.

"Yes, you're quite right." Wu nodded, relieved to have things going along. "I would like to purchase some Traveler's Tea."

"Okay, just a sec!" Nuckal ran towards the cassier, where a door was blocking the inside of the room. "Ms. Mystake! There someone here ordering for Traveler's Tea!!!"

"Traveler's Tea?" The old woman got out of the room, looking really grumpy. I've never heard of it." She said, giving the room a suspicious look before noticing who was her client. "Oh, Wu! It's you!"

"Long time no see, Mystake." The old man bowed his head in respect. "Unfortunately, it seems like I'm already leaving, though. What a pity." He gave her a playful smile.

The old lady sighed, defeated. "Gee, the years pass, but I feel like you haven't grow up a bit... Fine. If it's you who is in need of it, I guess I have some with me." She said, walking to a shelf and putting some leaves in a small bag.

"Thank you, Mystake." Said the old man, grateful. "It really means a lot to me."

"I'm not so sure." Mystake shook her head. "Some people say that those who make use of this tea never return. What is your problem, my boy?"

"I need... assistance." Wu simply said. "There's a great evil coming in the future, and I feel like we'll need every ally we can get."

"Oh, yes, yes." The old lady said, putting the bag of tea in the counter. "I heard from the two skeletons." She pointed at Kruncha and Nuckal, who were quietly watching their conversation unfold. "So now you made yourself some students, is that it?"

"Indeed." Wu nodded. "They have fought a great number of enemies for quite some time."

"It's your brother again?" She asked, looking concerned. "Oh, poor Garmadon. I am really sorry for his situation. He had such a brilliant future!"

"Well..." Wu put some coins on the table. "Some part of what's coming is connected to him, but it's something even more terrible than my older brother." That was all he said before turning. "I hope I see you again, Mystake."

"So do I, Wu." The old lady nodded. "Take care, wherever you're going."

Now, there was only the old lady and the skeletons inside the tea shop.

"Huh, now that I think about it..." Nuckal slowly turned back to the shelf of teas. "What does this Traveler's Tea does anyway?"

"Oh, it's just a way for people to travel between realms, that's all." Mystake said from the counter.

"It's a WHAT NOW??!" They heard Kruncha shout behind them.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"I'm telling you, I can walk just fine." Kai mumbled, as Cole helped him walk trough the hallways of the Bounty. The hot-heated boy was leaning one of his arms by the black ninja's shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm sure of that." Cole rolled his eyes. He was a little worried of telling Nya to go ahead and warm up the water for Kai's bath, but the other boy wasn't that heavy for him to be carried.

Cole glanced at Kai's slender figure, wondering how much of his body was natural and how much was a consequence of his lack of food. Then his eyes got on the bandages, and he sighed internally.

"What are you looking at?" Kai suddendly asked. "It's not that bad, you know? I'm almost better already."

"Oh, uhn... Sorry." The black ninja quickly answered. "I was just..." He hesitated. "Listen, I'm sorry, okay?"

"Yeah, you already said that." Kai lifted his eyebrows, unamused.

"No, I mean, for saying all those things to you before." Cole quickly added. "If I didn't have said you were not risking yourself like us, maybe you-"

"Ha. You thought I was trying to show off?" Kai rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. You know I would've try to rescue Lloyd anyway, right? My life doesn't revolve around what you guys do."

"Ow." The black ninja mumbled, taken aback by the other boy's reaction. "That's a fair point, I guess. Sorry for giving you this idea," he added. "I just-"

"You don't have to apologize." Kai sighed. "Not everything is in your control. I did what I did for my own reasons, not because of you."

"Huh." It's was all Cole said. "You got me again." He said as them finally made it to the bathroom. Knocking the door, Nya quickly opened for them.

"Finally!" The girl exclaimed. "I had to put my sword to warm the water again." She said as she pulled the Sword of Fire out of the bathtub.

"Ugh." Kai grunted. "Is that really necessary?" He asked, annoyed.

"Since we're going out after this and I don't know when we're coming back... Yes, is it." The red ninja said, patting the bathtub. "Relax, Kai. We're not going to wash you over, we're just here to help you after everything's done."

"Yeah, okay, fine." Her brother said, blushing a little. "So what now?"

"Hmm..." Nya seemed lost in thought for a moment. Just... Keep the bandages, we'll change them after the bath." She paused for a moment. "And I guess take the pants out, too. It's easier this way." The girl added, awkwardly. "Keep your underwater though!"

"I'm not stupid, y'know?" Kai looked at her annoyed as he took his pants off. "Are we done yet?"

"Uh... You want me to get out?" Cole slowly asked. "It's okay if you don't want me around. Maybe Jay and Zane still needs some help with writing the posters..."

"It's not your fault." Nya rolled her eyes. "Kai is always like that."

"Excuse me?" Her brother didn't liked the comment. "Would you like to take a bath in front of other people?"

"Okay, okay. Sorry." The girl quickly said. "But we still need Cole with us in case of anything. And..." She pointed at the bathtub. "This is the time. Help me out, Cole."

Both of them slowly helped Kai get inside the tub. The whole ordeal kept going with everyone on a awkward silence. A silence that only stopped when Kai had to wash his hair.

"Okay, I think I'll need some help with that." Kai mumbled, flustered. Nya got up and helped him lower his body on the water. Cole just watched them, curious about why Kai would need help to do that. Then, the black ninja noticed how the brunette's breath became a bit more harshier when his body submerged.

"Shh..." Nya whispered. "It's okay, I'm here. Just have deep breaths..." She said as she helped her brother wash the soap from his hair.

After that, they slowly got back to usual, and the way Nya met his eyes told Cole that was one more thing he shouldn't question the siblings about.

Instead, the black ninja resigned himself to look at Kai, and how he looked completely different with his hair wet and down like that. It was almost the same length as Nya's, although a bit more longer than hers.

"Oh, so that's how you hair really looks like." Cole chuckled. "Jay was betting your hair was always crazy like that."

"Don't you dare say a word about any of this to Jay." Kai grunted, trying to get up by himself.

"You do know we are splitting your care, right?" Nya asked, bringing a towel and helping her brother slowly get up. Cole quickly joined her. "He'll see your hair like that one day or another."

"Can't you guys make it different, then?" The brunette asked as they helped him. "I don't know, just you two help me with bad and Zane and Jay took care of my bandages?"

"Oh, uhn..." Nya was surprised with this offer. Being more open to his sister? Sure. Made sense with Kai. But with Cole, too? Apparently the boy would take the black ninja over the blue one. "If it's okay with you, Cole?" She faced, unsure.

"I don't mind." He shook his shoulders. "If it makes things easier for everyone..."

Right after that they heard a a lot of knocks in the door. "Heeey! Are you guys done yet?" Jay's voice came from the other side. "Zane and I were done for ages now, we're just waiting for you!"

Nya and Cole simply before laughing a bit, while Kai looked really displeased.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Who takes that much time on a bath, anyway?" Jay whined as he and the other ninjas walked around a hilly village. "You still were inside that bathroom for at least fivteen minutes!"

"What can I say?" Nya giggled by his side. "Beauty takes time, I guess."

"Ooh, that makes sense then." Jay chuckled. "Your brother needs it."

"Jay!" The girl yelled, but couldn't stop herself for laughing from that. "Then you keep asking me why he doesn't like you."

The group has been around a lot of places in the meantime. Right now, Zane was putting another flyer of the Fangblades in a wall. Meanwhile, Cole kept looking at the drawing he had made.

"Hm..." Zane mumbled. "Yes." He turned to his friends with a honest look in his eyes. "I won't lie to you, I feel this is silly."

"Well, no one offered anything better." Jay said, rolling his eyes. "But Cole's drawings really nailed it!" He grinned. "Right, Cole?" His friend didn't answered, still occupied with the poster in his hands. "Cole?" The freckled boy called him again.

"Huh? What?" The black ninja looked at him, confused. "Sorry, I was just... Thinking about something."

"Something like what?" Nya asked, curious. "I mean, okay, your drawings are really good, but aside from that?"

"I don't know..." Cole faced them, puzzled. "Maybe it's because I drew a lot of the same picture non-stop, but... I can't help but feel like I've seen this blades before..."

"That's curious." Zane pondered, looking at the sky. "As for myself, I never saw anything closer to that since that day." The white ninja saw some birds flying. Suddenly, a bigger one caught his attention.

"Maybe your brain is playing tricks on you?" Jay asked Cole. "I mean, you did draw the same things over and over again, so maybe that's some type of déjà vu?"

"How should I know?" Cole asked, confused. Maybe it would be for the better if he changed the subject. "Hey, who's help do you guys think Master Wu is going after?"

"That's a easy one!" The blue ninja chuckled. "It hurts a bit, but is clearly the Samurai."

"T-the Samurai?" Nya faced him, a bit anxious. "Well, I'm not so sure about that."

"Wow, that was fast." Cole laughed. "Is there any particular reason why you think that?" He asked, curious.

"Hmmm..." Nya looked away. "You could say it's what my gut feeling is telling me."

"Heheh." Jay grinned. "I think someone's trying to take your role of "senser", Zane." He turned to face the blonde, but only saw a bunch of flyers in the ground. "Huh?" The boy looked confused. "Where did he go?"

"Quickly, follow the trail of paper!" Cole pointed out. It didn't took too much for them to find the white ninja, who stopped in front of a shop, looking at sky like had lost something. A man with a straw hat appeared from the front door, looking really annoyed by the scene.

"Hey, weirdo." He poked Zane with a broom, but the blonde didn't seemed fazed by that. "You're making a mess of my store front." Still no answer. "Yoo-hoo! You got a problem?" The Man asked, at the limit of his patience. Suddenly, Zane dropped the rest of the flyers and started to walk away. "Where are you going?!" He ran towards the white ninja and stood in his way. "Maybe I should teach you a lesson on manners."

"Waiiit!" Nya yelled, caughting up to them. "I'm sorry, sir. Sometimes our friend is in another world." She said, trying to calm the man down.

"And that's a excuse for him littering all over the place?" He didn't seemed pleased with the explanation.

"Don't worry, we'll pick it up." Cole joined the red ninja, trying to evade a conflict. "We are so, so sorry."

"We promise!" Jay forced a smile, looking at Zane, who still looked lost in thought. "Come on, dude! What's the deal?"

Instead of answering, the white ninja pointed at the sky, where a familiar bird was flying around the trees.

"Ah! It's the Falcon!" Jay yelped, excited. "Look guys! It's Zane's bird again!"

"Wait, for real?" Cole stopped, quickly looking if the owner of the shop had gone inside the shop again. "Where is it?"

"Oh, my gosh! You're right!" Nya joined them with a spark of curiosity on her eyes, pointing at the sky. "Should we follow it again?"

"Every time we follow it, it leads us to good fortune!" Jay said. "Like the Tree House, the Bounty..."

"Okay then. New plan." Cole smirked. "We're gonna follow the bird. If we're lucky enough, it could lead us to the first Fangblade." Nya and Jay nodded, excited with this new chance. "Right, Zane?"

The white ninja, however, was already taking the lead and was following the falcon with a fiercy determination. The other three didn't lost any more time and quickly followed their friend.

Chapter Text

"Huff... Huff... I guess... good fortune is... really... really far away..." Jay panted, as the Ninja kept following the Falcon to wherever he was flying to. At the moment, the group was climbing a mountain. Zane was still leading the way, being followed easily by Cole while Nya and Jay were struggling to keep up.

"No kidding..." Nya sighed, stopping for a moment in a plainer area. "Where is that bird taking us?"

"Come on, guys!" Cole yelled up ahead. "We can't stop now!"

"Not everyone was blessed like you, you know?" Nya complained, going back to climbing again. "I'm starting to feel sore already..."

"What about you, Jay?" Cole asked, seeing that the freckled boy didn't moved from his position.

"Huff... Just... keep going." The blue ninja gasped. "I'll... I'll catch up with you guys later..." He said, pale.

"Are you sure?" Nya asked, looking with worry at him. The boy simply nodded, asking them to keep moving. "Fine, but... Watch out, okay?" Jay gave her a faint smile, which seemed enough to the red ninja.

Soon Cole was helping her get up from the cliff, as Zane kept moving and ignoring them, concerned with the fact he could lose the falcon if they stalled too much. A few kilometers away, Nya had to make a stop, too.

"So..." The girl sat on a tree trunk, exhausted. "Remember when Master Wu told us about our physical condition? Well, I need a break..."

"You're going to be okay?" Cole stopped for a moment, facing her from behind.

"Yeah..." She nodded. "Don't worry, I just need a breather, I'll be fine." The black ninja nodded, keeping following Zane and the falcon.

After some time of more running without a stop, the landscape had changed to a more snowy area. It wasn't that cold for Zane and Cole, since they were wearing their gis.

"Gosh, that bird just... keeps going and going, huh?" Cole panted, feeling that if this keeps up, maybe they'll have to call it a day.

The older boy stopped for a moment after glancing a sign attached in the snow. It was written "Beware of Treehorns in the forest!" in Ninjargon.
"Wait, hold on." Cole called for Zane, who stopped after that. The white ninja had a quick peek at the falcon, who just stopped by a branch. Sighing, he walked to where Cole was.

"What do you make of this?" The black ninja pointed at the sign, and Zane read the words on it.

"Hm." The blonde pondered for a moment. "That's curious. I am not familiar with a Treehorn." He shook his head. "And I don't remember reading anything about it on Master's scrolls."

"Then I guess it's not something we should be careful then...?" Cole said, a bit dubious. He looked to the Falcon, and the path behind their paths, trying to decide on what to do. "Okay, listen. You stay here with your bird, and I'll go back to fetch Jay and Nya. I don't like we going further in there without them."

"Seems right to me." Zane nodded. "I'll wait here for you then." Cole also nodded, sprinting away trough the path they had followed.

However, as soon as Cole had gone, the falcon decided that was a good moment to fly away, getting its wings ready and leaving Zane behind.

"Oh!" The white ninja exclaimed, conflicted. Should he follow the falcon to not lose its track, or he should stay put, just like he said he was going to?

"No, I came too far to stop right when I'm so close." The blonde shook his head, feeling a bit guilty for going against what was asked from him. "I'm sorry, everyone."

Zane had gone back to his pursuit, don't averting his eyes from the Falcon, who got pretty Far during his moment of doubt. "Where are we going, my mysterious friend?" The white ninja couldn't help but mumble to himself. He wasn't sure why, but something about this place felt... ominous to him.

Suddenly, the falcon started to fumble in the air, as like it was having a seizure or something like that. Zane's eyes got wider as he saw the bird quickly fall, twitching on a pile of snow.

"Oh no!" The blonde got around the animal fast. "Did you fly for too long, my friend?" He tried to touch the falcon, but gasped in surprised after feeling some kind of small eletric shock rush from his fingers. Looking closer, the boy saw sparks coming from the falcon's wings, and the bird's twitches kept happening.

"You're a...a mechanical creation?" Zane looked at the animal, who slowly ceased his movements completely. "I don't...I don't understand... What's happening here?" He picked the bird, trying to look for something that could give him a clue.

He had to admit, that bird really tricked him. Aside from the exterior, made from what Zane supposed to be real feathers and some thin substance that resembled flesh, there was clearly a metallic coating camuflaged by everything.

Having a closer look, Zane found some kind of symbol in the metal. It looked like the faint draw of two gears meeting each other.

Confused, and suddendly feeling exhausted, the white ninja put the falcon next to a tree, as he felt himself becomes dizzy. He didn't had any idea why, but the symbol he just saw didn't looked strange to him.

"However, I've never saw it before today..." The boy thought to himself. "What does this all mean?"

"Intruder! Intruder!" A voice came from the woods out of nowhere, surprising the Ninja of Ice. A tall figure, also made of metal appeared. It moved slowly, pushing the trees away. Zane noticed that the robot looked really old. "Prepare to be terminated!" Announced the voice.

"Who... Are you?" Zane asked, but instrad of a reply, what he received was a tackle from the tall figure, which launched itself at the blonde and clouted its sharp fingers on the tree the ninja was mere moments before.

"That was easy enough!" Thanks to the machine slow movements, Zane was able to dodge the incoming attack. "I surely wouldn't like this thing having its hands on me." Noticing that the robot seemed to have its claws stuck on the wood, the white ninja noticed what seemed to be a box in the robot's back.

"Could this be his energy source?" Zane thought, but as soon he gave one step forward, the machine managed to crush the rest of the tree, facing the boy once again.

"Let's try this again then." Zane gave a fast look at his surroundings, noticing a pile of snow he could use as a ramp. "Over here, big guy!" The boy waved his arms, making the robot follow him.

"Intruder! Intruder!" The metallic creation repeated. "Prepare to be terminated!" The robot launched himself again, getting his claws stuck on a new tree.

"Ninja, go!" Zane didn't lose time, performing Spinjitzu and using the ramp of snow to jump high enough to reach the back of the robot. Pulling his shurikens, the white ninja crushed the energy pack of the robot. A small explosion made the white ninja fall from the robot's back into the snow, as the machine slowly stopped its movements after having a seizure.

"Thank goodness." Zane sighed, relieved. Approaching the robot to try and find some new clue, the boy found the same symbol he found on the falcon on the robotic creature.

"The same symbol again." Zane turned around, picking the falcon from the tree. Thankfully the bird didn't seemed more damaged. "Where have you brought me, my Falcon friend?" He asked, looking at the poor figure.

Then, a sudden thought crossed Zane's mind. Slowly looking at every tree, he found what his eyes were looking for. The same symbol, this time on a tree. Approaching it, the ninja gave a few knocks on the wood, noticing that the sound it made seemed different to him.

"It's hollow inside..." He then looks at the symbol again, and notice a small knob in the stylized design. Grabbing it, the boy pulled the handle, revealing to him a door inside the tree. "Just as I thought." Zane looked on the inside, finding a long stairway downwards. Deciding to leave the door open, in case of his friends appeared, the white ninja slowly made his way trough the stairs.

"So, this is your home, my mysterious friend." The blonde commented, looking at the lifeless bird he's still carrying. "You brought me here, but why?"

After finally making trough the end of the staircase, Zane finds himself in a small, but cozy place. Whoever lived here didn't seemed like a careful person. The place was a mess, and clearly covered in dust.

"When was the last time someone entered this place?" Zane mumbled to himself. Putting a bit of order in the chaos, the ninja saw a small backroom with a huge working table and some blueprints. Curious, the boy approached the table and picked one of the blueprints.

It was a complex schematic. But aside from all the notes on the paper, the white ninja clearly recognized his feathered friend. Quickly going after the falcon, Zane put it on the table, trying to follow the blueprints to find out what was wrong with the bird.

"There we go." He said, after scrambling with a few wires. The Falcon suddenly opened his eyes again and began flying around the ceiling. Zane thought he could see happiness in his friend's eyes.

"Good to see you're doing okay." Zane smiled. "Although I still can't understand what exactly do you want from me."

As if it was expecting him to say that, the bird then flew by the table again, this time poking its beak on one of the drawers.

"Oh, is there something inside you need it?" The blonde asked, opening one of the drawers. Inside there was just another blueprint. Curious, Zane picked to see whatever it would be.

He glanced trough the paper for a few seconds before his face became sickly pale. "W-what...? What is..." His eyes didn't stopped moving trough the piece of paper. The boy felt his legs weaken below him. Dizzy, he stumbled, knocking some chairs.

"No... No, no no no nonononono..." Tears, or whatever they were started to flow trough his face as Zane hands starting brushing his face, as well as the rest of his body. Too much. This was too much. Unable to keep standing, he feel on the floor, desperate. "No! It can't be! No! NOOOOOO!!!!!!"

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Zaaaane!" Nya cried out trough the woods. "Where are yooou?"

"Maybe we should stay quiet..." Jay mumbled, nervous. "Who knows what might've happened?"

"I just don't understand." Cole shook his head, leading the way. "I told him to wait for us."

"Maybe It was whatever those Treehorns are?" Jay started to sweat. "What if they got him?"

"I think we would have noticed any signs of a struggle." Nya pondered. Everything seemed fine on the trail."

"Uh..." Cole stopped, tense. "How about those signs of a struggle?" He said, pointing ahead of him. There was the remainings of the robot Zane destroyed.

Jay swallowed dry. "M-maybe Zane f-fought with that t-thing?" His face became pale. "Like, that's p-possible, right?"

"How should I know?" The black ninja looked at his friend, worried.

"Hey, guys! Over here!" Nya called for them. She was inspecting the door to the secret workshop that Zane had found. "What do you think of that?"

Giving a quick peek inside, Cole crossed his arms. "I think we should go. Maybe Zane is down there somewhere." He lead the way once again, with Nya following him behind.

"Of all the places, why the mysterious underground hideout?" Jay sighed, quick following them.

"Wow, this place is huge compared to outside." Nya pointed out. "Everything seems pretty rusty too."

Soon, they got to the lower level, finally founding Zane, who was lying down on the bed. The falcon was holding itself on a chair besides the bed, like It was guarding the boy.

"Zane! There you are, buddy!" Jay smiled nervously, and the smile quickly fased when the blonde slowly turned his head to face them.

Zane was really, really pale, and his eyes were completely red, the faint sign of tears still on his face.

"Zane? What happened?" Nya asked, shocked with his appearence. "Are you alright?"

"Did something happen?" Cole tried to approach him, but that seemed to disturb the falcon, who shaked its wings. "Hey, are you hurt?"

Zane simply sighed, getting up. The upper part of his gi was undone, so the others could see his pale chest. Nothing seemed abnormal to them. The blonde picked the blueprint he had with him, handing it to the others.

"What is that?" Cole looked at the piece of paper, confused.

"Some kind of project, obviously." Nya said. "Move it, I can't see well. It's all too faint. How old is this?"

"I think it looks like a person, doesn't it?" Jay pointed out. "I'm not sure tho-" A clicking sound catched the three ninjas attention, making they look at their friend again.

Then all of them screamed in shock at the same time, as Zane was standing in front of them. However, his bare chest wasn't bare anymore. Actually, in it's place was a whole control panel, with lots of wires and gears inside his body.

"Wait, wait wait wait wait!" Nya stumbled, dizzy. "Wait just a sec! You're... You're a robot?" She pointed at Zane, confused. "Like, a real, real robot?!"

"I... Uhn... Y-yes." The blonde braced himself, nervous. "All this time, and... and I never knew."

"Uh... Huh, heh. I guess this explains why you're always acting so weird, hahah. R-right?" Jay tried to break the ice in his own fashioned way.

Zane looked away, can't helping himself but feel a bit ashamed. "The reason I never had a sense of humor was because my funny switch wasn't on." He said, opening a panel on his arm and flipping a switch. Suddendly his sad expression dissapeared and he got up, starting to dance and sing in a really old fashioned way.

"Hello, my baby. Hello, my honey. Hello, my ragtime gaaal." He sang, smoothly drifting between his confused friends. "Send me a kiss by wiiire." He did some more moves before flipping the switch, back to his depressing state.

"See?" Was all he said.

"Or maybe..." Cole scratched his head. "You're just being too direct with this line of thought? Everyone's different."

"I'm not... everyone, though." Zane sighed, looking at his own hands. "I'm not even a person."

"Hey now." Jay said, frowning. "Just because you're not exactly what you thought you were before doesn't mean you are not who you are now!" He paused, a bit confused. "Uh, I mean..."

"What Jay means," Nya said, Rolling her eyes. "is that just makes you more special." She smiled. "You're still the same Zane we all love. Just more, uh, gears." She shrugged her shoulders.

"That's right." Cole nodded. "No matter what happens to you or what you're made of, you're our brother." He gave Zane a little pad on his shoulder. "Nothing can change that."

"You... really mean it?" Zane slowly asked, shy. "I mean... I don't even know who am I supposed to be anymore."

"Hey, don't let this go trough your head." Jay said. "I know rediscovering yourself seems... scary." He mumbled. "But you're not alone, you have us! You're still a amazing guy and a amazing ninja!" The freckled boy smiled, wishing to cheer the white ninja.

"In fact, I bet it even makes you an even better ninja." Cole added. "Like, you're unstoppable!"

"Yeah, you're going to be the perfect balance between ninjas and androids." Nya said, excited. "Just imagine all the cool things you can do!"

"Oooh, I have a better name!" Jay clapped his hands, getting excited as well. "He's a Nindroid!"

"A... Nindroid?" Zane asked, but couldn't help himself from smiling. "I can see this name working." Of course the others would try their best to cheer him on. But most importantly, everything they were saying was sincere. They didn't hated him for being what he was.

"Let's go, bird watcher." Cole offered his hand to Zane, giving him a warm smile. "Pythor is still out there looking for the first Fangblade, and we need you."

"Thanks, guys." Zane gave them a faint smile. "However, maybe you'll should go on without me." The other three frowned at that part. "I just... don't feel right with myself right now." He added.

The others sighed. "It's okay, Zane. We understand." Jay nodded, walking to the stairs first.

"We'll be waiting for you outside." Nya added as she and Cole followed the ginger.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Wow. Just...wow!" Jay snapped after they got away enough from Zane. "All this time, a robot!"

"I know, right?" Nya joined him. "How did he never noticed?" She started to think. "Oh, maybe was something on his programing that stopped him from thinking too much about it?"

"I hope you guys don't start making those types of questions to Zane." Cole shook his head in disapproval. "He definitely would be better without them."

"What? No, of course not!" The red ninja excused herself. "I didn't mean it like that. Zane's our friend!"

"Yeah, it was just curiosity." The blue ninja defended Nya nervously. "We won't talk about it unless Zane wants to."

"Good." The older boy nodded, satisfied. "Sorry if I sound too much aggressive about it." He added.

"No, it's alright." Jay nodded, getting out of the tree. "You're right, we should be careful about what we say."

"Speaking of careful..." Nya started, following him. "You were really sweet back there." She smiled.

"B-back what?" The freckled boy asked, turning around.

"When you talked with Zane." The girl giggled. "That was really nice of you. I feel that was exactly what he needed to hear that moment."

"O-oh!" Jay's ears were getting red. "You think so?" He smiled shyly. "Was I really that good?"

"Yep!" She nodded. "You spoke like you were going trough that yourself."

"Uhn. Well, I-" He startedz but Cole ended up cutting their conversation.

"Okay, are you going to move from the door, or I need to wait for your kiss first?" The black ninja asked, impatient.

"Really, Cole?" Nya blushed, flustered, as she gave him space to head out. "Can't I just compliment Jay one single time?"

"Fine, fine. My bad." He chuckled a bit. "Sorry for that."

"Well, I'm not forgetting that one so easily." Jay looked at him annoyed, but grateful for the sudden end of the conversation. "Now, uh..." He said, looking around. "How the heck do we get out of this place?"

"What do you mean?" Cole furrowed his eyebrows. "We'll just take the path we followed."

"Yeah, I know, but..." Jay kept looking. "Something around here seems...off."

"Huh." Nya was also looking, confused. "I see what you mean. Were those trees..." She pointed at the direction she thought they had came. "...always there?"

"Wait, hold on-" Cole said, but a brief creeking sound of what felt like a bunch of branches strechting and breaking shut his mouth. "Uh, what was that?"

"I-it sure didn't sounded like cute tiny birds...!" Jay whined, getting more closer to his friends.

"It's just me, or there is something moving around the trees?" Nya asked nervous, pulling her sword.

"I-I don't know!" Jay was starting to panick. "I didn't saw anything."

Suddenly said trees started getting out of the ground, moving in the direction of the ninjas.

"It's not around, the trees are literally moving!" Cole shouted, picking his scythe.

"What the heck is that?!" Jay yelped, pointing at something above the trunks.

Cole and Nya thought he had the right reaction. Without they noticing, the group was being surrounded by four-legged creatures that camuflaged themselves with the trees around them. Their heads resembled ants, and they were watching the trio with red glowing eyes.

"I guess...these guys are the Treehorns...!" Cole mumbled, nervous. "Stay focused, guys!"

"They...they are huge!" Nya started to sweat. "Can we do it?"

"Nothing we can't handle!" The black ninja replied, preparing himself. "Ninja, g-ugh!" He tried to perform Spinjitzu against one of the creatures, but he was quickly kicked by its feet. "Ow! Ugh... They are strong."

"Let's try to run and dodge them!" Jay announced, trying his plan. Unfortunately for him, the Treehorns blocked his away, also knocking him to where Nya and Cole were. "Okay, bad...idea..."

"Dang it! There's too many of them!" Nya exclaimed as the animals came in closer.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Zane was examining himself trough one of the mirrors of the workshop, trying to collect his thoughts.

"So, this is truly me." He thought, looking at his reflection. "Then, what comes next? I still can't remember anything clearly, and..." He looked at the Falcon, who seemed somewhat asleep.

He sighed, confused. "What I am supposed to do? Am I a person? A simple machine who grew a conscience? Was I made as a war machine?" He sat on the chair again, catching the falcon's attention.

"What if... I am a result of someone who wanted to bring evil to this land? Does this change the life I had until now? Does this makes me...a bad person?" The boy couldn't stop his thoughts from coming out.

"Show them your might. Show them what happens to those who defy the Emperor." A crispy voice said in his head.

"Ugh!" Zane grunted, uneasy. "I just...want to understand! What exactly I am?" He yelled, exhausted.

The others were so nice to him. All he wanted was to not betray them. They were all the family he had. Everything he was asking for was some sort of closure. Was that too much to ask?

The falcon flew to the boy's shoulder, having Zane's blueprint on its beak. Confused, the blonde picked it and glanced.

"What is it now, my friend?" He asked. "Did I still miss some piece of this puzzle?" The blonde decides to examine the paper again, looking for something he could've missed before.

"What is this?" He suddenly mumbled, reading a really faint line of words. "Memory switch?" He opened his chest panel, looking for the switch pointed in the blueprint. Finally founding it, Zane pressed yet anxiously.

His eyes got visibly wider as a sudden flash of memories started to flow trough his mind.

"Hello, Zane." A man wearing a white coat and glasses was facing him. He seemed to be on his late fifties or so. Zane turned around, seeing himself in a mirror as the man helped him walk. "Easy now, boy." The man said. "You're just woke just now."

"Who...are you?" Zane asked, curious.

"I'm Dr. Julien, your creator." The man smiled at him. "I mean, you don't have to treat me as such, that wasn't why I made you, after all."

"Then what was I was built for?" Zane asked, confused. "What do I have to do?"

Julien shook his head. "You don't have to do anything, my son." He smiled. "You just need to be yourself." He patted the boy's shoulder.

"Now, as for your former question..." The man said. "You were built to protect those who cannot protect themselves. To be a guardian, to put it more simply."

"Protect others..." Zane repeated.

His memory advanced forward, to a stormy night outside of the workshop.

"Father." Zane said, looking at Julien. He grew accostumed to call his creator like that, and aside from the first occurence , he didn't seen to mind.

"Yes, my son?" Julien replied , working on some new trinket .

"How can I know when I have to protect people?" He asked. "What kind of people need protection?"

"Hm." The scientist pondered. "It's hard to say, really. Sometimes even strong people need protection, I'd say."

"I think it's something that you'll feel naturally." The man added. "When you desire to help the ones you love the most, being them friends, family, or whatever more, at any cost, you'll know."

Zane didn't understood much, but he believed in his father's words. "Then that means I'll always protect you, right?" He smiled, walking to Julien. "Oh, what are you working at?"

"This?" The man smiled gently. " Ohoho . Remember when we were reading that book about birds and really liked the falcon pictures?"

"Yes, I remember." The blonde nodded. "Why?"

"You'll see soon enough, my son."

More memories kept flashing.

"Is that...?" Zane exclaimed, surprised. His father had a falcon in his right arm.

" Heheheh . Yes, it sure is!" Julien smiled warmly. "We don't find much of these around, but I figured I could find a way.

The falcon flew to Zane's shoulder, with a sign of curiosity and interest in its eyes.

"It's... it's amazing!" Zane cheered .

More memories now... Julien teaching Zane how to cook, and surprised about how quickly the boy learned to cook even the hardest dishes... The three of them talking a picture together... Some old man visiting them...

Now Zane was sitting on the chair besides his father's bed. It wasn't fair. It simply wasn't fair. Julien had given Zane so much good moments, so many love and care, and still...

"Father... I wish I could do more for you." He cried, distraught. "I wish...I wish I could've anything more!"

"It's okay, my son." Julien hold his hand. So many years had passed. His hair was Gray already, and he clearly was on his deathbed . "Believe me... when I tell you did everything and more for me... trough our whole life together."

"I just... don't understand!" Zane kept crying, lowering his head. "Why I can't save you? Why anything I do works?!"

"That's how life goes, Zane." Julien said, breathing heavily as he hold his son's face.
"I just want...to say...y ou were always the son I never had." He weakly smiled to the boy.

"But now it's time you begin your next stage in life." He added, touching the boy's chest, looking for his panel.

"Next...stage?" Zane asked, confused. "What do you mean? Please don't say that, it sounds...awful!"

"I know, but..." The old man opened Zane's panel, looking for a switch. "My son, the only reason I'm about... to do this... is because I love you. I don't want to see you suffering. Just... Have a great life, Zane." He put a piece of paper on the boy's hand. Julien took his glasses, finally flipping the switch.

Then everything went dark. A long time in the darkness...

When Zane opened his eyes again, he was inside a place he never saw before. In front of him was a bed, but he didn't know why it looked so messy. He stumbled trough the staircase, trying to find a way out. Only outside he notices he was caring a piece of paper with him. What was written on it.

"Zane..." He spoke. "Is that...my name?"

Zane finally came back to reality, only now noticing the tears falling trough his eyes.

"F-Father..." He slowly spoke. "All this time... Why did you did that?" The boy she his tears, sighing.

"No, what matters the most..." He thought. "Is that I know the truth now. Everything. Even if things aren't quite in place for now, what matters is who I am from now, and the family I made to myself."

"Family..." The blonde repeated aloud. "Yeah, that's it!" He smiled, wearing his gi and running to the staircase.

"As long as I'm with them, I'll be okay! They will be by my side, and I'll be there for them!" He started to cry again. "They are the ones I choose to protect!"

"Hey, guys. Wait up!" Zane said, getting out. His smile quickly dissapears as he sees the other three ninjas being attacked by Treehorns.

"Let me...let me try Spinjitzu again." Cole grunted, exhausted.

"Like I said, we have to find a way to stop them from moving if we want to attack their legs!" Nya yelled, tense.

"But our weapons don't do anything against them! Their skin is too sense!" Jay whined, whipping his nunchucks to shoot more lightning bolts at the creatures, who didn't seemed to care.

"No!" They suddendly heard Zane's voice coming from behind. "Leave my friends alone!" He quickly jumped in action, throwing his shurikens and freezing the feet of two Treehorns in front of the group. "Ninja, go!" He performed Spinjitzu, knocking out both as they lost their balance thanks to their frozen legs.

"Woah! Zane!" Jay exclaimed shocked. "Zane's back guys!"

"You... don't say." Cole grunted. "What's gotten into him?"

"I don't know, but look!" Nya pointed at the Treehorns. "He's getting them stuck. That's our chance!"

The other boys nodded at her, and soon they were helping Zane disrupts the creatures balance. Soon, the Treehorns started to shriek and move away, as the group reunites.

"Is this it? Are they done?" Jay asked, nervous.

"No, I sense something worse is coming." Zane spoke, concerned. "Watch out."

From the woods, a bigger Treehorn appeared. It had a larger face and three pair of eyes, with a mouth full of fangs. The creature roared trough the sky, and all the remaining Treehorns bowed their heads to it.

"Oh no. Oh no no no, I don't like this!" Jay whined. "What is that thing?" He pointed out, sweating.

"It's...their queen." Zane said, determined. The queen stepped forward, roaring again.

"Stop right there!" Zane shouted, stepping forward, standing between the others and the creature. "You will not hurt my friends!" The boy pulled out the Shurikens of Ice, spinning them in his hands. "You will not hurt my family!" He felt like a huge cold storm was going trough his body. "There is nothing that will hold me back! I know where I belong!" His whole body began shining in a light blue tone, astonishing the other ninja. "I...know...who... I am!"

"What is this?!" Nya shouted. A snowstorm started around the area out of nowhere. "Did Zane activated some safety protocol?!"

"How does a robot is able to do that?!" Jay yelped. "Or Nindroid, or whatever!"

"No, that's not it!" Cole gasped. "I think... Zane did it! He's unlocked his True Potential!"

"Now leave us alone!" They heard Zane shout, and as he said that, the blonded blasted ice from both his hands and his chest, covering the Treehorn Queen in a wall of ice. Alarmed, the other Treehorns started to run away as fast as their legs could taken them.

"Ughn!" Zane almost colapsed, but his friends quickly ran to catch him. His body was not glowing anymore, and the snowstorm had stopped.

"Zane! Are you okay?" Nya asked, worried. "Please say you're okay!"

"I...I think I'm fine." Zane panted heavily. "Ugh... What happened?"

"What happened? What happened?" Jay was shaking with excitement. "You just did one of the coolest things, no pun intended," the boy added "that I have seen in my life!"

"It was really something else." Cole chuckled, smiling. "You should've seen yourself."

"What?" Zane shooked his head, feeling confused.

"Come on, dummy." Nya laughed. "You just unlocked your True Potential! Or at least that's what we think that was." She pointed at the frozen wall in front of them.

"Oh, yeah." Zane nodded, relieved. "I guess I really did." He smiled at his family.

"How'd you made it? You have to teach us!" Jay was doing small jumps, full of energy.

" I feel like..." Zane pondered for a moment. "...this must be what Master meant by unlocking our hearts."

"But how that happened?" Nya asked, curious. "What made you realize what was holding you back?"

"I just...remember everything." Zane said, with a faint smile. "I remember my father and how he cared for me." The others looked at him, surprised. "I remember where I came from. I remember what I am for myself. And I feel stronger for knowing." He gave his family the most genuine smile he's ever did. "Thanks for sticking with me, guys."

"Okay, I'm a little lost now..." Cole scratched his head. "But is good to see you're doing better." He smiled.

"Should we get going now, or is there anything else you need to do here?" Nya asked. "Something from your old home that you need?"

"Well..." Zane spoke, but was interrupted by the falcon, who came out of the tree and landed on his shoulder, holding his family photo in its beak. The blonde picked the photo, looking at it before facing his friends again. His family. "No. I have everything I need right here with me." He smiled, and the others couldn't help but smile with him.

'Yeah, that's the spirit!" Jay cheered. "Watch out, Serpentine! We're coming for you!"

                                                                                                                                                       ***

And, speaking of them...

"So?" Pythor growled, impatient. Smythe and Shippelton were analyzing the blank paper the Serpentine took from the museum.

"Yes, it is a really old paper." Shippelton said.

"But we couldn't say if it's the so called Map for the Four Silver Fangblades." Smythe added. "What a pity."

"Ugh, what a waste of time." Skales sighed, exhausted.

"Like they would be able to know if it's the real deal or not." Acidicus rolled his eyes, displeased.

"My good sir, we have proud in our work, thank you very much." Smythe said, spiteful.

"You have to be kidding me!" Pythor snapped, filled with anger. "Can't any of you do something better than complain?"

"I can!" Skalidor said, angry. "I'm done with this charade, give me my staff back." He moved to where their staffs were, picking his own so fast it dropped the others on the floor, spilling the antivenom that were inside them.

"Now look at what you did, you insufferable moroon!" Acidicus yelped.

"Who are you calling a moroon, huh?" Skalidor growled at him.

"Great, more bickering." Skales snarked. "What are you, children?"

"Stop!" Pythor yelled at all of them.

"No, I'm not stopping!" Skalidor snapped. "I'm sick of all of this stalling, and-"

"Shut your mouth, fool! Look!" Pythor pointed at the staffs on the floor, where their antivenom were mixing together. The líquid seemed to be speaking.

"What's this, now?" Fangton's heads watched, curious.

"That's it... that's it!" Pythor yelled, triumphant as he picked the staffs and positioned them at the table in a way it would make their liquids drop together.
"The answer has been right in front of us all this time." He snatched the paper from Smythe's hands. "When the five fangs unite as one, and the pointer is found out, the path towards the Devourer has begun.'" The purple serpent slided the map under the mixture on the table. "It's not speaking of the five tribes, it's the antivenom in the five staffs!" He explained as drawings began to appear in the paper. 

"Hm-hm-hm-hm... Hahahahah!" Pythor laughed wickedly, picking the paper that now had a map of Ninjago with small dots in it. "Behold, the locations of the four Silver Fangblades!" He lifted the map like it was some kind of trophy, and Everyone started cheering him, even the explorers.

"Soon, the Great Devourer will be unleashed and Ninjago will be ours!" Pythor smiled evilly, with fire in his eyes.

Chapter Text

In a distant mountain, right at the dawn of the day, Wu is warming himself up in front of a campfire, or at least that's what any normal people would think. The old man was repeating his fathers words in his head.

"The Traveler's Tea it's not the most safe way to travel between Realms," he explained to his kids. "but it's the one people know of most."

"How wouldn't be safe, Father?" Wu had asked. "It seems easy enough to me. All we have to do is make the tea and use it to create the portal to where we want to go, no?"

"This isn't the hard part." Garmadon sighed to his brother. "The problem is figuring out where you're going to appear next."

"Garmadon is right." The First Spinjitzu Master nodded. "It's not easy to control your destination. That's why people created a method that might help when you use it."

"What method is that, Father?" Both boys had asked him, curious. The man gave them a mysterious smile before answering that question.

"You have to focus your mind on who will be waiting for you on the other side."

"Let's see how this goes for me." Wu thought in the present. He took the team he had prepared and spilled on the fire, extinguishing the fire. The smoke had liberated a blue mist, and soon in place of the campfire a portal was open.

"Until now, everything seems alright." Wu mumbled to himself, amused. Picking his baggage, the old man jumped troughout the portal, now standing on a new mountain.

"Hmm." The wise man looked around him. The scenary wasn't that much different from where he was before, except that the sky was covered by dark clouds, with a faint Shrine of light blue coming from the moon.

Noticing that he was standing closer to a cliff, Wu backed out, turning away to find a cave in front of him. "Now, where could this place be?" He thought. As he was trying to figure out an answer to this question, a voice caught him off guard.

"My, my..." The voice came from the cave. Wu tried to look inside, but he couldn't see much. "Look at who decided to appear?" The owner of the voice clearly was coming closer, and Wu could even see a pair of red eyes facing him.

And then there he was. He seemed taller, and with a new set of armor to protect himself, but everything was still there. The red eyes, the dark skin, the helmet crossed with a bone from the Underworld...

Lord Garmadon himself, once again.

"Hello, brother." The wicked man smiled, tauntly. "What took you so long?" He asked before starting to laugh madly.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Ow!" Kai gritted his teeth in Wu's bed. Jay and Zane are changing his bandages after another bath session with Nya and Cole. "Watch it!"

"Okay, okay, sorry!" Jay sighed, removing the bandages and checking the other boy's injury. "It would help if you stop squirming, y'know? I know what I'm doing."

"Do you?" Kai lifted a eyebrow. "I remember you trying to smother my stomach with the bandages last time."

"Hey, better safe than not, right?" Jay smiled nervously. "Let's see..." He checked Kai's injury. "It's...better than yesterday. I feel like the blood it's almost clotted...?"

"You...feel like it?" Kai sighed, rolling his eyes. "Wow, that helps a lot."

"With the diet Kai has been having, It should be healing in a good place." Zane pointed out at the other side of the bed. "Master Wu's 'Invigora-tea' must be helping, too."

"Couldn't you check on me, Zane?" Kai asked, desperate. "I feel safer in your hands than Jay's."

"Gee, thanks." The freckled boy snarked at him.

"I wouldn't mind, I swear." The blonde said, nervous. "But...I don't want to repeat what happened last time."

"Come on, you were just not feeling well, yourself said." Kai groaned as Jay had started to change his bandages.

"Nuh-uh." Jay shook his head. "I'm not hearing from Cole and Nya again about Zane maybe having bloodphobia or whatever, we're done with this."

"No way." Kai gritted his teeth again after Jay's sloppy job. "Zane is the more health compass among you guys, him having fear of blood is just stupid."

"I don't really see the connection." Zane pondered his head. "But again, I don't want to cause you to get worse because of my disconfort. I can still help, though."

"If only I could treat myself..." Kai sighed. "That would be easier."

"Unfortunately for you, you can't do everything on your own." Jay spoke as he finished his work. "How is that?"

Kai breathed in and out for a few seconds. At least he wasn't feeling out of breath this time. "Better than last time, I suppose." He shrugged his shoulders.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Jay smirked, confident. "You won't have anything to comply to Nya this time." He winked at Nya's brother, satisfied.

"You're not making points neither with me or her by taking care of me, you know?" Kai rolled his eyes, fed up. "So don't even try to bother yourself."

"Well, it's not exactly like that..." Jay mumbled, blushing. "And even so, I feel like I would have a pretty good chance with her if I wanted, anyway." He tried to sound defiant.

"Hah." Kai gave a dry laugh. "Oh, yeah? And how would you do that?"

"W-what do you mean?" The blue ninja asked, nervous.

"Well, let's see." Kai maked a really forced curious expression. "You're annoying, whiny, is always hiding beyond others, can't do anything by yourself, and is always following my sister like you were her lap dog." He listed, counting his fingers. "Oh, and let's not forget you're a coward, and my sister wouldn't date one of the first guys she met, she's not like that."

"O-oh." Jay trembled in his words. "I...uhn... Yeah, when y-you put like that... I..."

"I think...we should go for now." Zane got up, tense. "Since Kai has already been take care of, we've got nothing to do here."

"Yeah, I guess so." Kai grunted, turning his face away from them, ignoring the concerned expression Zane made to him.

As they walked away from the room trough the hallway, the white ninja noticed that his friend became visibly quieter.

"You... shouldn't listen to what Kai said." Zane said. "He's just-"

"I know, I know." Jay cut him off, his voice a little higher than normal. "He's just being him grumpy self, he just wants to protect Nya, yada yada yada... But that hurts anyway." He sniffled. "Just because he's Nya's brother doesn't mean he can say whatever he wants about me!"

"Yes, I agree." The blonde nodded. "That's why I think you should just ignore it. I'm sure one day he'll warm up to you. He seems to be warming up to the rest of us."

"So what? I just accept whatever he says until then?" Jay snapped. "Besides, maybe he is right. Just look at me, what reason Nya would have to like me? I don't have anything going for me!" He started sobbing. "I'm not even half of what you guys-"

"Heeey, guys!" Nya's excited voice came from the speakers. "Would everyone mind to come to the bridge? I made some interesting discoveries about that Fangpyre skeleton from the museum! Over and out!"

"Hm... As you were you saying...?" Zane turned around to Jay, but the boy had already left. "Oh." He sighed, making his way to the bridge.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Back on the mountain in some distant land, Garmadon gave a long look at his younger brother.

"Say, brother. What is this that you have here?" He asked, pointing at Wu's baggage, but especifically at the case on the wise man's hand. "Perphaps a new weapon to banish me once more?"

"No, I wouldn't do that again." Wu calmly replied, opening the case and taking the katana from it. "I didn't came to fight, but I will if it's needed." He added.

"Hah! That katana brings some memories..." Garmadon lift his eyebrows. "Funny how many years ago you didn't had the courage to cross the temple wall, and yet..." His voice became colder. "...you have the courage to come after me."

"That's what experiencie to do us." Wu's stare didn't hesitated. "Now, could you enlight me and say where are we, exactly?"

His older brother smirked darkly. "The Realm of Madness. A place as wicked as me, where I could get closer to my true self and became the being I am. Something the Golden Weapons didn't did quite right."

"I should have know." Wu mumbled. "I think I never apologized for any of my misdeeds, did I?"

"I don't need your pity, you fool!" Garmadon growled. "Thanks to the Golden Weapons and the dark magic of this place, I'm stronger now! Stronger than ever before!" He cackled, triumphant. "And what once was impossible... is now possible." He said as he revealed a second set of arms around his torso.

"Oh, my goodness!" Wu stance finally faltered as he faced his brother, horrified. "What did you do to yourself?"

"This?" Garmadon waved his four arms. "This is just a nice gift from half of our bloodline, brother. A gift a coward like you will never receive! And now..." His smile grew wider. "There's nothing that can stop me from possessing the Weapons of Spinjitzu!"

"You came here...just for that reason?" Wu asked, dissapointed. "Only to tarnish our father's legacy?"

"See it the way you want, Wu." Garmadon lift his arms and summoned four purple blades out of nowhere. "But be aware: I refuse to allow you or your petty ninja to stop me or my plans!!!"

The dark lord launched himself to his brother. With quick reflexes, Wu parried the attack, but the struck was so poweful that sent him flying below the cliff they were. Thankfully, the old man apparently was saved by a huge pit of mud.

Wu was about to thank the heavens, until the mud start to move around him. Soon, creatures made of said mud emerged, slowly surrounding him. The wise man tried to push them back with his katana, but the weapon simply cut the mud without affecting the creatures.

"What do you think of that?" Garmadon had jumped into the pit, with a prideful smile on his face. "This time, not even shadows can stop those guys."

"I see. Another one of your 'gifts', I presume." Wu panted, tired. "But we don't have time for such foolery, brother." The master dropped his katana. "Like I said before, I've not come here to-"

"I don't care for the reasons that brought you here today!" Garmadon snapped at him. "Do you really think I would let this chance slip trough my fingers?" The lord's tone became lower and colder. "You will pay for your visit."

"Mud monsters, converge!" Garmadon yelled, and the creatures quickly launched themselves at Wu, making the old man slowly bem consumed by the mud.

"N-no...!" Wu gasped, without strenght enough to fight back. "Listen to me...!"

"No, you listen to me." Garmadon spoke, venom dripping for each word. "You don't belong here, old fool." The older brother mocked the younger one. "You should've known better than to try to stop me. Goodbye, brother." He turned away and began walking away.

"Please..." Wu struggled to get his face out of the mud mess. "You have to listen to me...!" He was almost completely lost in there, gasping for freedom. "I didn't come to stop you... I came to warn you! To tell you..." The old man couldn't fight back anymore. "Y-your son's in danger! Aagh!" Then in dissapeared in the mud.

"Lloyd?" Garmadon turned away, the simple mention of his son's name changing his demeanor completely. Dismissing the mud monsters as quickly as he summoned them, the dark lord ran to hold his younger brother, who was panting heavily.

"What has Lloyd gotten himself into?" Garmadon asked, anxious. "Is my son okay?"

"Unfortunately... he has opened a... can of worms... I fear... I will never be able... to close." Wu gasped, still finding hard to stand up.

"I think you mean we will never be able to close." Garmadon brought Wu out of the mud pit, helping his younger brother sit on a sturdy rock around. "Have some rest. You can tell me more later."

As much as that was easier said than done, Garmadon couldn't help himself.
"How did you find me?" He asked, trying to break the awkward mood.

"...Traveler's Tea." Wu slowly answered.

"I should've know you would try the desperate way." The older brother shook his head.

"I found you, didn't I?" Wu smiled. "However, I used it all and now we have no way back." He lowered his head, concerned.

"Don't give up that easily." The dark lord rolled his eyes. "There is another way to return to Ninjago." He pointed at the road ahead. "If we follow this path, we can get access to it. We just have to get across some Craglings village." Garmadon explained. "The problem is, they're not too fond of outsiders. We'll have a long and dangerous path ahead of us."

"I see." Wu nodded, getting up. "Good. I wouldn't have it any other way. Just like old times, right?'

"Hah." Garmadon couldn't stop himself. "If you're already okay, we should leave now. Before it really gets dark." His brother nodded, as both siblings started this new journey together.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

At the Bounty, Zane was walking a towards their shared bedroom. When he got to the bridge, only Nya and Cole were there. He would've asked what happened to Jay, but the red ninja insisted that he brought something to take notes on her explanation, so here he was. As he was getting closer to the door, he could hear someone's voice inside.

"Ugh, no, that's not good either!" He heard the person inside groans. Slowly opening the door, he saw Jay, trying to fix his hair in front of the mirror.

"Is something the matter, Jay?" The blonde asked. His friend looked really frustraded.

"Huh? Oh. Hey, Zane." The freckled boy answered, frowning. "Shouldn't you been on the bridge already?" He said, going back to his activity.

"I was, but Nya seemed really adamant about how important her discovery is, só I came for my notebook. " Zane explained as he began looking for it. Founding the item, he turned his attention to the blue ninja. "What about you? What are you doing?"

"Hmm. Yeah, that gives a good vibe. Doesn't it?" Jay wasn't even listening to him. His hairstyle now was mimicking the hair of these rich spoiled boys Zane saw in movies with the others

"Uhn, what exactly are you doing?" The blonde asked, confused.

"What? This?" Jay pointed at his hair nervously. "I don't know, I was getting bored of my old same look, so I thought about changing some things a bit. Do I look cool?" He faced Zane with hopeful eyes.

"Is this... related to what Kai told you earlier today?" The white ninja spoke.

"Huh? Uh..." Jay's ears got red. "Pff. Of course not! Why would it? Like you said, I shouldn't listen to whatever Kai has to say, right?" The freckled boy picked a small bottle from one of the drawers, spraying himself with it. "Let's go, we don't want to leave Nya waiting, right?" He picked a pen and a small notebook and sprinted away from the room.

"I sense complicate situations coming from this..." Zane sighed to himself, following his friend.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

As Jay and Zane finally get to the bridge, Nya welcomed them with sparks in her eyes. The Fangpyre skeleton was on the table, giving the scene an ominous feeling. Meanwhile Cole was busy drawing something in his notebook.

"Gosh, why did you guys took so long?" The red ninja exclaimed, impatient. "This is really important, you know?"

"Sorry, sorry." Jay laughed a bit. "We didn't mean to." He said, sitting on the table besides Cole.

"Hey, Jay- woah." The black ninja greeted his friend, getting surprised right after. "What's up with your hair today?"

"Cool, right?" The freckled boy grinned. "I was just thinking about going about a more...catching style today."

"You're definetely catching up something today..." Cole rolled his eyes, going back to his drawing.

"Okay, Jay's style aside..." Nya started, barely containing herself. "Take a look at this!" She pointed at the skeleton in front of them.

"Yes. We are." Zane lift his eyebrows, confused. Meanwhile, Cole and Jay muffled a giggle.

"Hahah." Nya snarked at them. "Let's see if you're still going to find this funny. You're better start taking notes of the next few minutes." She smirked while saying that.

"So, according to Dr. Saunders, this guy here predates the Golden Age of Ninjago, and must be hundreds of years old." The girl explained. "However, the most interesting part is about the venom in it."

"But didn't Dr. Saunders already told us about the fact that Fangpyre skeletons still preserved their venom in their bones?" Zane gently asked, genuinely curious.

"That's the neat part!" Nya pointed at him, more excited than ever. "He did told us that, buuuut... I analyzed a bit, and the venom in that thing works just as some kinds of poison work."

A silence came after that.

"Which means...?" Cole cautiosly asked.

"Ugh." Nya sighed. "Okay. When a poison expires, it kinda loses a lot of its effiency, right?"

"...Yeah! Totally!" Jay nodded.

"The same thing goes for this Fangpyre here." Nya grinned. "Thanks to its age, even if someone gets prickled by it, the venom will work reeeally slow trough their cells."

"I see. This is good to know." Zane agreed, taking notes. "Anything else?"

"Well..." Nya slowly spoke, nervous. "I think I might've find a way to stop the effects of the Venom without the Fangpyre staff."

"Ooh, that sounds cool!" Jay grinned. "How'd you do it?"

"It's...not that good, actually." Nya frowned. "It's really, really risky. I'm trying to find a alternative solution to that, but..."

"Come on, it can't be that bad." Cole said. "How you do it?"

"Fine." The red ninja sighed. "I didn't tested it, of course, but... A high voltage shock or some really intense burn could do the trick." The others expressions became worried by that.

"How much intensity are we talking about?" Zane asked, afraid of the answer.

"Well, high enough to kill the cells..." Nya turned her face away. "Something really close to killing the person, I think..."

"W-well, that doesn't sounds good." Jay laughed nervously.

"Sorry, guys." Nya sighed. "I'm really trying, but I feel like I'm not going anywhere with this." She started blushing heavily.

"Hey, it's okay." Cole said. "At least you're trying."

"And I certainly learned something new today." Zane nodded.

"Yeah, you don't need to get worked up about this." Jay joined them.

"Flustered...?" Nya slowly said, confused. Her face was still deeply red. "But I'm not- wait." She started sniffing the air, tense. "Uh, is someone wearing perfume I'm severely allergic to perfume." The girl added, nervous.

"W-what?" Jay blushed, nervous. "Oh, crap! I didn't knew that! He walked away from the table. "Gosh, Nya. I'm so, so sorry!"

"Oh, it's...it's okay, really." Nya tried to calm him down. "I never told you guys about it. I should just go far away from here, before the perfume toxins enter my bloodstream and I go into shock." She said, a bit panicked. "Can you guys put the skeleton back in the box for me, please?" She asked from the door. "Thanks, guys!"

"Wow, that went well." Cole sighed. "What was all that?" He asked the other two.

"I think Jay is trying to impress Nya." Zane bluntly spoke. "I sense that Kai really made him feel bad about himself, so he's trying to be more...stylish?"

"Zane!" Jay whined, frustraded. "You shouldn't go telling everyone about this!"

"Great." Cole sighed. "Listen, I know you like Nya, but I think you're taking the wrong approach again." He crossed his arms.

"What do you mean?" Jay blushed.

"Didn't you noticed how you guys act way better with each other when you are more casual?" The black ninja said. "Don't act like you want something more from her when she's around. Just follow the flow."

"And how I should do that?" Jay crossed his arms, looking away. "I'm not good at this."

"Okay. What was your next step after...all that?" Cole rolled his eyes. Jay could be really difficult to deal with sometimes.

"Uh..." The blue ninja pondered. "Taking her to a really fancy restaurant? I think she would like that." He said.

"Nope, wrong." Cole chuckled. "It's too much formal, for both of you. Why don't you start with something more casual, with everyone else?"

"Hmm... Oh!" Jay clapped his hands, an idea brewing in his mind. "Maybe Mega Monster Amusement Park?" He said. "She told me she never had much time to have fun on those places when she and Kai lived alone."

"That sounds fun." Zane agreed. "I'm sure Nya would appreciate that."

"Yeah...yeah!" Jay grinned. "That sounds good! Okay!" He looked nervous lly at his friends. "Can we go...today? Pleease?"

"Okay..." Cole sighed. " I guess we can take a day to lay off..."

"Yes!!!" Jay cheered, hugging Cole. "Thanks, dude!" He looked at the table. "And don't you worry, I can put the skeleton on the box for you guys."

"Are you sure?" Zane asked, concerned.

"Yeah, don't worry. I can take care of that." The freckled boy smiled at them.

"Well, don't mind if I do." Cole walked away. "See you later, then." He said, getting out, with Zane getting out right after him.

"Okay, now how do we do that...?" Jay looked at the thing in the table. After a few minutes, he was getting the hang of it. "Huh, seems easy enoug- ow!" As soon as the boy said that, he prickled himself on one of the skeleton's spikes. "Aw, man. Come on!" He sighed, sucking his injured finger. "Too soon, I guess."

Annoyed, he finished packing the object in the box, umaware of the small dripplet of blood turning green on floor.

Chapter Text

Kai was trying to take a nap on Wu's room. It wasn't what he wanted to do right now, but there's nothing much he could do anyway. He was slowly losing his conscience before being disturbed by a knock on the door.

"Ugh." He grunted. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Zane." The blonde's voice came from the other side. "And Nya, too." He added. "Can we go in?"

"Sure." The spiky-haired boy replied, sighing. As soon as he answered, the two entered the room. "Not normal for you guys to ask for it." The boy said when his sister sat on the bed.

"You know Zane." Nya chuckled. "Always showing manners. We also brought you something to eat." She added, taking a plate from the blonde's hands.

"It's nothing much, just some cooked rice and some fine herbs." The boy blushed a little. "We brought your tea, too."

"Thanks." Kai gave a soft smile. "But honestly, I can't wait to stop eating this light food. I feel like I'm sick or something." He sighed.

"Well, you're kinda around there." Nya spoke, feeling bad in seeing him like that. "How's your ankle?" She asked.

"Just a day or two and I'll be walking just fine, I'm sure of it." Kai smirked, eating slowly.

"I wouldn't recommend that." Zane said, worried. "Although you do seem to be recovering weirdly fast, I don't think you should go making hard moves on yourself. You should let your body heal."

"Yeah, yeah... Thanks, doc." Kai sighed. "So, anything to add or you just came to see me for real?"

"Well, you make me feel bad speaking like that." The red ninja looked away, flustered. "But... You're half right."

"Jay, Cole and I were talking about having a day to lift our spirits for once." Zane explained. "Then Jay had the idea of going to the amusement park." The white ninja repeated exactly what Cole told him to do.

"That means you guys won't be home again, then." Kai sighed deeply. "That's it?"

"Are you going to be okay?" Nya slowly asked him, nervous. "I'm not sure to go if there's any problem to you."

"Don't worry, sis." Her brother smiled faintly. "It's not like I could away from bed anyway. You guys can have your fun." He left his meal for a moment to get more confortable in bed. "Actually, I don't remember the last time we go to one of those places."

"A really, really long time, I'm sure of it." The red ninja returned the same kind of smile to him. "I wish you could go with us..." "She sighed. "But I know we'll have another chance eventually. And maybe we can bring Lloyd, too!"

"Yeah, that would be cool." Kai nodded. "I'm sure he would love that."

"Yeah..." The girl looked away, with a small smile. "Well, since you're going to be fine, I should look for something to wear, then. Can't enjoy a day off with my gi, right?" Nya said after a moment, walking away. "Love you, big bro!" She waved at Kai from the door, walking away.

"Alright." Kai sighed after his sister left. "Now, what about you?" He asked, facing Zane.

"Oh, I just want to be sure you will finish your meal." Zane slowly said. "Like I said earlier your body has to heal properly." He paused. "However..."

"Here it comes..." Kai sighed, knowing that Zane had something more to say.

"I don't think I should be involving myself in your life, but I sense there is something troubling you." The blonde explained. "Do you want to talk about it...?"

"If I wanted to I would, wouldn't I?" Kai lift a eyebrow, unfazed. "I don't know why are you giving yourself the trouble to ask. I don't like nozy people."

"Oh, it's okay." The white ninja quickly said, taking aback for a second by Kai's sudden harsh attitude. "There's no need to get defensive. I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

"I don't recall asking for any of that, but thanks, I guess." Kai sighed. "Can I eat in peace now?"

"If it will get you more confortable, then I can't say no." Zane politely nodded, walking towards the door. "But remember Kai, we all care for each other, and you're no different."

"Yeah, right." Kai thought to himself. "Like the only reason I'm board wasn't because of my sister." He felt a bad turn in his stomach after this thought. Great. He looked at his plate, feeling sick. Choosing to get rid of the rest of the meal by throwing it in the garbage, he turned to the wall of the room, trying to fall asleep.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Saaay, Nya. Uh..." Jay was looking himself at the mirror, checking his attire. Cole said he should choose something more casual to wear, so the boy tried to follow his friend's advice. He opted for a simple jeans with a white, baggy shirt and his good old blue jacket. Nya said she liked blue, so maybe he could some points with that?

"Ugh. What should I say to her?" He grunted. "Come on! Sound confident! Sound cool! Don't sound like..."

"She's such a weirdo..." A voice said in the back of his head. Jay quickly shook his head, nervous.

"Heh, you know what, Nya?" He smirked nervously at the mirror. "I hope we find some snakes today. I've been waiting to show you guys some of my new moves." He tried to make some smooth moves in front of the mirror. "Like my Spinjitzu kick. Ha!" He span and picked the air. "Or my new karate double chop! Hyah!" He launched his hands in front of the mirror.

"Yeah, that's more like it." He grinned, seeing himself in the mirror. "Just- huh?" He noticed something strange as he looked at himself. His left hand, more precisely. "What the-" the boy looked at it closer, noticing that some kind of greenish scales had appeared there.

Suddenly, something clicked on his mind. What exactly had Nya told them earlier...?

"...even if someone gets prickled by it, the venom will work reeeally slow trough their cells." Her sweet voice echoed in his head.

"No!" Jay yelped, desperate. "No, no, no nono... The prick from the Fangpyre skeleton!" He tried to scratch his hand, but felt a sting of pain by doing it.

"Ow! No, not good. Not good!" He tried again, feeling one of scales peel off of his skin. "Ngh!" He wimpered, as now in place of the scale was a small injury bleeding.

"You have to be joking!" The freckled boy grunted. "This isn't happening. This can't be happening!" He started to panick. "What do I say to everyone? What will they think?"

"What is Jamie doing?"

"Short hair doesn't go well with her at all."

"You can't play with the boys, dummie ."

"No. No no no no!" Jay shook his head. "I'm fine. Everything's fine. Yeah." He looked at his hand again. "This... Is nothing. Yep! It's a rash. It'll probably just go away." The boy laughed nervously. "You're gonna do great, Jay." He said as he looked at himself again. "This is your chance to shine."

"Someone's needs a little boost?" Cole said, entering the room. Jay shrieked before putting his hands on his pockets. "Hey, dude. Everything's okay...?"

"Yeah, everything's a-okay!" Jay forced a smile. "I'm just...a bit nervous, that's all." He looked at his friends clothes. Cole was wearing a dark blue shirt, while also wearing a orange jacket. He was also wearing a pair of black jeans. "Gosh. I feel pathetic looking at you." He mumbled.

"What? Why?" Cole gave him a concerned look. "You're doing fine, I promise you." He smiled. "Besides, you're not trying to impress anyone. This is just a day off, okay?" The older boy patted Jay's shoulder.

"Yeah. I know." Jay smiled weakly. "I just... Don't want to fumble everything. I don't know what to say, what to do-"

"Okay, chill down for a sec." Cole sighed. "Listen, the more you think about, the more you'll just panick about how things will go. Just breathe in and...take one step of a time."

"One step...okay, one step." Jay sighed, still feeling anxious. "I'll try."

"Good. Let's go then. Nya and Zane are waiting for us in the deck. You're the only one who's not ready yet." The black ninja said, smiling.

"You can go ahead, I just need to fix my hair a bit." Jay quickly looked away from Cole. He knew his best friend would caught his lie if they faces each other.

"I'm telling you, this hairstyle is not a good idea." Cole rolled his eyes. "But do what you want, I guess."

"We'll see, we'll see." Jay chuckled as the older boy left the room.

Now alone again, the freckled boy quickly tried to find a solution to his recent problem.

"Come on, we don't want they freaking out from a rash." Jay thought. "What if they find gross?"

" Eeeww ! She really wants to be a boy!"

"Go away! My parents don't like you being around me!"

"Let's just...hide it for now, and then we deal with later!" Jay thought, sweating. He began looking for a pair of gloves he could use in his drawer, finding a pair of dark blue ones. Thinking that may be look suspicious, he also picked an purple scarf and put it on his neck.

"Yeah. That should do the trick." He nodded at the mirror, feeling a bit better now. As he walked away from the bedroom, he looked at his nunchucks that he left on his bed.

"A high voltage shock or some really intense burn could do the trick." Nya's voice echoed in his head again.

"Maybe I...should bring it with me." Jay suddenly thought. "Just in case this isn't a rash and...Nya knows what to do."

                                                                                                                                                       ***

When Jay finally got to the deck, he quickly glanced at the trio waiting for them. Zane was wearing a simple white hoodie, and from what Jay could tell, a light blue shirt underneath it, along with beige pants.

Now, Nya... She was wearing a sweater in various shades of blue, and a black t-shirt underneath it, accompanied by a dark blue jeans. The girl was also wearing a pair of golden toned sandals.

Nya smiled shyly at him, and her voice brought Jay back to land. "So, what do you guys think?" She asked.

"You're... you're gorgeous..." Jay said slowly. "Wait! I mean pretty! No, actually, I-" He mumbled, nervous.

"I think Jay's trying to say you're looking great." Zane said, trying to help.

"Hm-hm." Nya couldn't stop herself from blushing and giggling a bit. "Thanks, guys. Everyone's great, too." She smiled.

"Okay, I think we're ready to go, then." Cole nodded. "I just... Don't know how, exactly. We can't take the Bounty all the way down there."

"Oh, I have an idea!" Jay exclaimed.

"First, let's just remember to filter these ideas, okay?" Nya spoke, remembering the last time Jay had an idea to get out of the ship.

"Heh. Don't worry, guys." Jay blushed. "This one is really safe. We just have to use my Storm Rider!" He said, pulling his nunchucks out.

"How using your jet will draw less attention, exactly?" Zane asked, amused.

"Well, uh..." Dang it, Jay didn't thought that trough. "First of all, it's faster, and...I can make it dissapear. Yeah. No one will see us!"

"We just have to find a safe place to land." Cole pondered. "It's not like we have much of a choice."

"Fine then." Nya waved her shoulder. "We're on your hands, Jay." She said to him.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Thankfully for them, everything ended up being okay. The amusement park was stationed on the outside of Ninjago City, so the group found a small forest area where they could land.

Now inside the big crowded place, Nya, Jay and Cole couldn't contain their excitement, while Zane was looking everywhere with a curious expression.

"Wow, look at all this attractions!" Nya exclaimed. "Where do we go first?"

"Everytime my parents bring me to the amusement park, we always go to the rollercoaster first! 'It's the best thing in the world to make your blood start pumpin'!'" Jay said, in an awkward impression of his dad. "Uh, heheh... Sorry."

"As for me, I always liked the ferris wheel. Something about the peace you can feel all the way up there..." Cole said, a feeling of nostalgia on his voice. "But I guess it's too much boring to start."

"Maybe we can start by the bumper cars?" Nya said. "I always loved those! Kai always left with an headache."

"Any of these options sounds fun." Zane smiled. "Since I've never had been in an amusement park, I'm fine with anything you choose." The other three just looked at him as the blonde smiled.

"You've never...ever go an amusement park?" Cole gently asked.

"I lived in a really distant village, and had no actually family to take me, too. But I always heard stories about it." Zane said, looking at all the rides. "I must say... Everything seems really pretty."

"You say that because you never saw this place at night." Jay gave a dry laugh. "Say, uh... do you wanna chose first? It's like... Your first time in a place like this..."

"Are...you guys sure?" asked, shyly.

"It's okay." Nya smiled at him. "We have all day, so there's no problem about it."

"Where do you want to go first?" Cole asked.

"Hmm." Zane looked at all the places, with his eyes stopping on a ride full of arms. On the ends of each of those arms were clusters of individual cars, each on a smaller arm of its own. "What is that?" He pointed out, curious.

"Oh, the scrambler!" Jay grinned. "That's a really good one. It just spins and spins and go up and down non stop!"

"But... Where's the fun in that?" The white ninja looked at the freckled boy, confused.

"Oh, you have to feel to understand." Nya said. "It's really, really cool."

"I guess...we could try that?" Zane asked, with a little smile. The other two nodded in agreement and began running to it, until Cole reminded them to buy tickets first.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Meanwhile in the Realm of Madness, Wu and Garmadon are still making their way to huge path in front of them.

"So Lloyd reopened the Serpentine tombs." The evil lord pondered after Wu explained the situation to him. "After all the trouble we had to seal them away."

"Yes." Wu agreed. "And now they are united, looking for the a way to unleash the Great Devourer in the world once again."

"The same snake that turned me evil, no less." Garmadon laughed dryly. "It's almost cruel irony..." He sighed. "Oh, Lloyd. Why would he do that?"

"For a lot of reasons." Wu looked at his older brother. "To be recognized... To anchieve something by his own... But personally..." The old man gave them dark lord a meaningful look. "...I feel all he wanted was to be like you."

"Bah. I never wanted him to follow this path." Garmadon sighed, feeling a dizzy feeling in his chest. "I suppose it wasn't easy to take care of him all these years."

"As much as I wish to say that's what happened, I can't." Wu shook his head. "Lloyd was found only a few weeks ago by my students." Garmadon turned at him with a shocked expression. "Apparently he was a runaway from Darkley's."

"You mean that stupid school that praises the arts of darkness?" The evil lord asked. "No, more importantly- what do you mean Lloyd was a runaway? What happened to Misako?"

"I...I don't know." Wu said, lowering his head. "I cannot manage to make contact with her. She simply... dissapeared."

"What do you mean 'disappeared'?" Garmadon growled. "Where were you while all of this was happening? Couldn't you had take care of them in my place?"

"You're right. That's what I should have done." Wu nodded, emotionless. "After losing you right after Morro, the burden was...too much to bear." He sighed. "I couldn't face Misako or Lloyd in the eyes, after what I did to you. I cut contact with everyone and exilated myself."

Garmadon sighed, speechless. "You were always the more emotive of us in the end." He finally said. "Still, you took Lloyd under your wing as soon as you could." The lord gave his brother a awkward stare. "And I have to thank you for that."

"It was the bare minimum I should do." Wu spoke weakly. "As for Misako, I promise you she will be find. I put a special student to follow any sign of her."

"Special student..." Garmadon repeated the words. "So the young Morro returned in the end?"

"No." His younger brother answered. "I've never heard or found anything from him anymore." He sighed. "Maybe that's for the best. I put too much pressure on him." The wise man began walking again. "And that is a mistake I'll never be able to undo."

"If that's what you think, so be it." Garmadon shrugged it off, following right behind Wu. "But I thank you again for at least trying to fix things from the past again."

"You're my brother before you are my enemy." Wu shook his head. "We may be in opposite sides, but I know you love your family more than anything." He turned his face to his older brother. "And no matter how you look, they are going to love you for who you are, no matter what."

That last remark led Garmadon to be completely silent for the next few hours.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Can we all agree this was the weakest haunted house ever?" Cole sighed as the group left the attraction, surrounded by people of the same opinion.

"Yeah, I think I've saw trashy movies with better made effects." Jay chuckled.

"I never saw any horror movies about trash, but I'm inclined to agree." Zane nodded. "It was a...underwhelming experience."

"I don't know, Jay..." Nya gave the freckled boy a playful look. "You're looking a bit sick for me." She laughed a bit. "Almost a little green."

"W-what?" He turned his face away. "I-I mean... As if!" He laughed awkwardly. "I'm just...still recovering from the bumper cars, that's all!"

"Well, it was your choice to go with me." The girl rolled her eyes. "I told you I always bump at everyone."

"Anyway..." Zane intervined. "Where could we go next?" He asked. "We already ride almost every attraction."

"I have a idea." Cole spoke with a mysterious look. "How about...we get something to eat?" He grinned. "I'm starving!"

"But...I don't need to eat." Zane sighed. "Wouldn't that be...strange, for you guys?"

"What do you mean?" Nya asked. "You always ate with us before."

"Yes, but..." The blonde scratched his head. "Since I found about...my situation, I'm not sure about what I should do anymore."

"Well, that's easy." Jay said, putting a gloved hand on Zane's shoulder. "Do you like to eat?"

"I do...?" Was the nindroid's reply.

"Then just eat." The blue ninja waved his shoulders. "As long as everything you eat get away from...somewhere..." He started before feeling disguted by the thought. "You know what, forget that part." The boy shook his head. "Just eat until your belly explodes!"

"I don't want that to happen!" Zane said nervously. The other three couldn't help but laugh at his confusion.

"We might, actually." Nya spoke as her laugh died. "I heard from some people around that the portions here are really big."

"Hah. We'll see." Cole grinned. "I'm so hungry I could eat the double of that."

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Yeah, okay, nevermind." The black ninja grunted, only finishing a third of a comically hamburger with a lot of aditional food in it. "This is too much."

"Like I said, it would've been best if we had split the meal between all four of us." Zane pointed at, halfway done with the meal he was sharing with Nya and Jay.

"You can't complain, you saw how much It was before ordering." Nya shook her head in disapproval.

"Tsk tsk, Cole." Jay chuckled. "You shouldn't bite off more than you can chew."

"Thanks for the validation, guys. Really appreciating this here." Their leader. "It's a lot, but I can take." He said as he took another bite. "Or at least I hope so..."

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Outside the amusement park, a enormous hole suddenly was dug out from the soil. From there, a Constrictai put his head out, looking at his surroundings.

"We made it!" He yelled inside the tunnel made. Soon, a bunch of snakes came out from there, with Skales and Skalidor coming out last.

"Well, here we are, Pythor." Skales said, offering his hand to help the purple snake get out of the tunnel.

"Oh, great." Pythor sighed, looking at the park in front of them. "A crowded place. Are you sure this is the right place?"

"That's where the map led my man." Skalidor waved his shoulders. "The first Fangblade has to be here somewhere.

"If I can offer some advice..." Skales started, slithering his tongue at Pythor. 'I think It would be better to wait until dark, so we don't attract any unwanted attention from the ninja or Samurai."

"Why wait?" Pythor gave a cold laugh. "We are already came all the way here, didn't we? My tail hurts." He looked at the park's entrance. "Besides, I have a feeling we'll fit right in." He said, making his way.

"As you wish..." Skales rolled his eyes, impatient.

They had barely reached the entrance before they got spotted by a couple with their kids.

"Oh, mister! Excuse me." The man poked Pythor from behind, who turned away to face him. "Would you mind if my family takes a picture with you?"

"A picture...?" Pythor repeated, unfazed.

"Yes! Your costume is so, so authentic." The woman comprimented.

Pythor grinned at that. "Of course. Welcome to...to, uh..." Skales quickly pointed at the a sign inside the park. "Mega... Monster... Amusement Park!" He smiled, cheerful.

One of the kids throwed the camera at Skalidor, who picked awkwardly, not understanding what to do.

"What funny little thing is this?" The Constrictai General asked, confused.

"Here, mister." The kid began explaining him how to take a picture with it. Meanwhile, Pythor gave a quickly look at Skales.

"Find the Fangblade so we can get out of this place, and fast!" Was written all over the purple serpent's face. Skales simply nodded, making his way.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Cole still hadn't finished his meal, groaning slowly. "I...can do...this..."

"I sense you're going to pass out if you keep going." Zane spoke, expressing concern. Meanwhile, Jay and Nya were absorbed in a conversation about their next big project.

"I really think an exo-suit would really help us against the snakes in the future." Nya said. "I just don't know what kind of suit we should try to create."

"Yeah, I'm more of a mobility guy, but I feel like facing just two or there Constrictai would end our case." Jay sighed. "We don't have the best material to work with, too..."

"Still, is really sweet of your parents to help us like that every now and then." The girl smiled. "I bet they feel glad to be able to help you like that."

"I like to think I'm making them proud." The freckled boy confessed, blushing.

"I'm sure you know the answer to that." The girl said with a soft smile, sighing right after. "I wish I knew what my parents would think." She looked away.

"Oh, yeah." Jay frowned. "Kai raised you on his own. Sorry."

"Don't worry, it's fine." The red ninja shook her head. "It's not something that really bothers me. It's hard to miss something you never really had in the first place."

"Unh, yeah, I guess that's true." The boy looked away, regretful. "At least you...you and Kai have uss now."

"Yeah." She nodded. "And I'm glad to have that." She smiled at him. "Thanks, Jay."

"Aw, sshucks." The boy said with red ears. "I-It'ss alright, ssserious-" he gasped, noticing something odd.

"You okay?" Nya asked, as he had stopped in the middle of his phrase.

"Y-yeah!" Jay quickly got up from the table, startling Cole and Zane who were still lost in the their meal problem. "I j-jusst...have to use the resstroom!" He said, quickly walking away.

"What happened?" Cole asked, after gulping his food.

"Beats me." Was Nya's confused reply.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Inside the restroom, Jay quickly ran to the mirror on the sink, facing himself. Nya had mentioned his face looked green earlier... he was hoping it was the rides they had been going to, but now...

His face got a lot more greenier, and his ears were feeling...off, and he was sure there was scales now growing on the bridge of his nose.

"Scales...!" The boy quickly reminded himself of his own hand earlier that day, and after tooking off his glove, saw that the scales had grew all over It during the day.

Nervously biting his own lips, he felt something different inside his mouth. After inspecting his own mouth on the mirror, the boy saw that his they teeth turned into more proeminent fangs.

"Oh, gosh...!" Jay began panicking. "It has to be a nightmare...or anything else! I can't...I don't want to become a snake!" He gasped, running to one of the cabinets and locking himself in.

Chapter Text

This couldn't been happening. This shouldn't been happening. Jay just wanted a day without problems, just to relax and show Nya how much cool he is...

And now he's locked in a restroom cabinet in the amusement park, trying to deal with the fact he was slowly becoming a snake.

Suddenly the boy sensed someone trying to open the door from his cabinet. "I'm bussy, dude!" Jay whined, annoyed. "Can't you see it's taken?" Thankfully the person gave up and left the place.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Jay mumbled to himself. "I can't go out there looking like this." He looked at his hands. One was clearly worse, but both of them had more scales than before. "Look at that! I'm...I'm..."

"...a weirdo, that's what she is." Some girl said behind his back.

"I know, right? She's always smeling like oil and dust." Another girl agreed.

"And she's always wearing that stupid jumpsuit. She'll end up all alone like that."

"I'm sure it's because of her family. Didn't she came from a junkyard?"

"Eeew! Gross. I didn't knew that. She's not going to my birthday party next week."

Jay shook his head, unconfortable. "I just wish today was perfect for everyone." He sighed deeply. Pulling his nunchucks, he pondered about his next action. "I-I can fix this. Yeah. Nya said just a shock could do the trick..." The boy quickly sweeped his weapon and striked his more affected hand. He felt a sharp shock go across his body. "Ow!" He yelped, grinding his teeth.

Jay breathed heavily for a few seconds before gazing at his hand again. It was still covered by scales. Nothing changed. "Ugh. Great." He bumped his head on the wall. "Worst. Day. Ever!"

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Meanwhile, in the haunted house attraction, a group of visitor is walking around, unfazed by the actors attempts of being scary.

"Why did we came here again?" A girl asked to a boy besides her. "This place never changes, it's so lame."

"Come on, it's good to have some laughs at those losers." The boy said. He looked away, noticing a group of dressed up snakes digging the ground. "Heh, like those guys over there." He pointed out. "Hey!" The boy shouted. "You are laaameee!" He started laughing.

"What is going on here?" Skalidor's face appeared from the ground. "Who is lame?" Noticing the people laughing at him and the rest of the snakes with him, he growled. "Hm. Let's see who's laugh in the end." He snapped his fingers. "Venomari, show them what you got!"

The group of Venomari who were there nodded, spraying their venom on the crowd. Soon, the annoying laughters became shrieks of terror as the venom affected the people inside, running away and pleading for help.

"Hm. That'll teach them." Skalidor grinned. "Now boys, keep going!" He said to his comrades.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Think... Think..." Jay mumbled to himself, still on the bathroom. "There has to be something more I can do. I can't keep the others waiting!" He sighed. "What's wrong with me?"

"There's nothing wrong with you, sweetie." Edna said to him. "You're perfect the way you are."

"But the other girls keep picking on me." Jay said. "And one of the boys gave me a weird look when I said I wish I had his haircut."

"It's alright, hon." Ed patted his kid's head. "Compliment others doesn't make you weird. That boy should be grateful, actually."

"But what about the girls?" Jay asked. "What I did wrong with them?"

"Maybe... They don't like your hairstyle, sweetie." Edna gave him a patient smile. "But we had to cut  your hair to get rid of those lices."

"How long are you going to be in there?" Someone was knocking the cabinet's door. Jay recognized Cole's voice.

"C-cole?" Jay mumbled, nervous.

"Finally!" The black ninja sighed. "I thought you died in there." He chuckled. "But seriously now, the workers said we have to leave the table, there's more people to eat." The older boy chuckled. "Soo, if you're still going to be there, she'll be waiting for you outside, kay?"

"Ssure, f-fine." Jay replied. "I'm... I'm almost done, don't worry. See ya outside!"

"Okay..." Cole couldn't help but feel like something was amiss. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, more than okay!" The blue ninja laughed nervously. "I'm just...taking my time."

After hearing a "okay then" from his best friend, the freckled boy sighed, sweating. "I should've told him..." Jay spoke to himself, getting out of the cabinet. Looking at himself at the mirror again, the boy noticed that his skin was completely green, with more scales making their way trough his face, and his eyes now were in a shade of yellow.  "How am I going to go out like this?" He began to scratch his scales, panicking. He felt disgust with his image. He was horrible, shameful...

...gross, ugly. This wasn't who he was. That's what was going trough Jay's mind as he touched his longer hair in front of his bedroom's mirror. It grew a lot since he cut it. But... He liked his hair the way it was before. Shorter. And he liked wearing more boyish clothes. The girly ones annoyed him every single day.

"I hate this." He said, his voice trembling. "I hate this, I hate this, I hate this I hAtE tHiS...!" His voice got louder as he began to pull his hair out of his head. The boy didn't know what he was doing, but he knew he liked more than being himself. "I HATE YOU!" He sobbed at the mirror. "WHY CAN'T I BE SOMEONE ELSE?!"

"Jamie? Sweetie?" Edna entered his room. "What is- oh no!" She yelled as she caught Jay harming himself.

"Is something wrong, Jay?" Ed appeared right after, going speechless too.

"I don't to live in this body anymore!" Jay sobbed. "I hate my body, I hate my life, I hate being a girl!"

"It's okay, sugar plumps. We are here with you." He could his father's words. "But you need to calm down first, please!"

"B-but..." Jay gasped. "I don't want you to hate me! I don't want to be a freak!"

"You're not a freak, hon." His father shook his head. "You would never be." He added as they hugged their child more firmly .

"I'm... I'm not a freak." Jay repeated to himself in front of the mirror. "I'm... I'll be okay. I hope..." As soon as he said that, he felt something poking his butt and ripping off his pants. Slowly turning around, the boy gasped as he saw a small tip of green coming from the rip.

"A tail? Seriously?" He cried, distraught. "Are you kidding me?!"

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"So?" Nya asked, outside the dinner. "How was Jay?"

"Taking his sweet time." Cole shrugged. "He said he'll meet us here."

"I hope he doesn't take much time." The girl sighed. "I feel like there's something troubling him all d-"

"I wanna go home!" A sudden scream cut her out.

"That's too much!" Another scream followed the first.

"Somebody help me!"

"What was that...?" Nya looked behind her, confused. A crowd seemily terrified was running around, desperate.

"Whatever it happened, really scared those people." Cole lifted his eyebrows, suspicious.

"That doesn't make sense." Zane shook his head. "The only attraction made to be scary does not do that, according to what you guys told."

"Something's fishy here." Nya agreed.

"I never want to see any kind of snake in my life again!" A man shrieked in the crowd, running towards the exit.

"Snakes...?" Cole caught the most obvious point. "Do you guys think..."

"Venomari, to be precise." Zane nodded. "That means they must be here."

"But why here, of all places?" The red ninja interjected. "What could they possibly want from a amusement park?"

"I think this calls for a investigation." The ninja leader crossed his arms. "Even without our weapons, it's our duty to stop the Serpentine."

"Oh, you guys didn't brought your weapons?" Zane asked, taking his shurikens out of his pockets. The red and black ninja faced him, surprised.

"Why did you brought yours?" Cole asked, genuinely lost. "I thought we would just take the day to relax."

"I sensed... some kind of need to have my weapons with me today. Like something big was supposed to happen." Zane slowly explained.

"Well, good for you." The older boy sighed. "At least one of us can fight aside from Jay."

"I'm not so sure." Nya poked him, pointing at a pile of maintenance parts not far away from them. "I think both of us can find something to fight with there." She didn't even waited for a response, going forward to find something.

"Ugh, great." Cole grunted. "Though I guess we don't have much of a choice here... I just hope Jay can find us." He decided to join the girl, as Zane accompanied them.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Okay, deep breathss..." Jay told to himself. "Try not to think about your face... Or your hands. Or your butt." He sighed,  nervous. "Just ignore every ssingle people out there until you find the others." He faced himself again in the mirror. "I...I can do that!" The boy nodded, turning his body towards the restroom door.

At that same moment, an impatient man entered the room, accompanied by a waiter of the dinner.

"And this guy just locked himself in for all this time! This is inexcusable!" The man grunted.

"I'll see what I can, si-" The waiter was replying the client when the pair stopped in the entrance, facing Jay.

"Uhn... Hi...?" The snake-boy waved his hands slowly, smiling nervously.

"W-wha-wha-what..." Was all that came from the waiter's mouth, who's face was quickly become pale.

"What the heck is this thing?!" The Man yelled, shocked. Surprised, Jay tried to make his way to the door, but the pair quickly ran outside in fear.

"Help! Somebody!" The waiter shouted. "There's a... an... a creature invading the dinner! Someone help!!"

As soon as the blue ninja gave a few steps outside the restroom, people began to join the panic of the situation.

"This isn't a costume!"

"What is that freak?"

"Is that one of those snake-people that everyone was talking about?!"

"N-no no no!" Jay waved his hands, tense. "It's nothing like that, e-everyone! This is just a m-missunderst-tanding!"

"Misunderstand this, you monster!" Someone yelled, throwing a chair at the boy, who quickly evaded it with his skills.

"Ss-stop that!" Jay yelled. " You don't understand! I'm... I'm not a..."

"Everyone, get this thing!" Another people screamed. "We have to stop this creature before it can make any moves!"

"Yeah! That's right!"

"Move away!"

"No, please stop!" Jay stepped back, overwhelmed. "I didn't...I didn't do anything wrong!" But the people were asking him anything. They were scared, they wanted protection, and there was nothing Jay felt he could about that.

Why? Why people had to treat him like that? Like, like...

Like he was a freak of nature? Why did his parents mentioned his transition in that reunion at school? Why did they needed to ruin his chance to be around others kids who wouldn't treat him like that?

"What's the matter, 'big boy'?" A boy from his class laughed at him in the floor. "Didn't you know? Real man don't cry."

"Like she was any boy to begin it." He heard a girl mock.

"What a joke. Who she's trying to fool?"

"Hey, if she wants so much to be a guy, let's fight! Guys love getting in fights, isn't it, 'Jay'?" The boy said, pushing Jay as soon as he tried to stand up again.

"No, no no nonono!" The freckled boy felt on his knees, hopeless. "Please, leave me alone..." He muttered to himself as people kept shouting and throwing things at him.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Meanwhile, in the haunted house, Pythor had finally made his way into the activities, just in time as Skalidor come out of the hole dugged up with a shining blade in his hands.

"Heheheh. See that, boys?" The black serpent waved the blade so everyone could see. "You know what this is, right?"

"Give me that, you insufferable buffoon!" Pythor hissed, snatching the treasure from the other general's hands. "Did you forget what I said about not drawing attention."

"Hey, I made us some progress, right?" Skalidor grunted. "Besides, we needed a clear area to work."

"Ugh." The purple snake rolled his eyes. "No matter." His mouth soon revealed a grin. "At least, the first Fangblade is in our hands!" He laughed, triumphant.

Until a rock came flying off and hit his head.

"Ow! What the- what is this?" Pythor hissed, furious.

"Sorry coming out of nowhere." A voice said behind the snakes. "But do you mind to pipe down?"

Turning around, the group of snakes saw the three teenagers. Both Cole and Nya were holding pipes, with Zane right beside them.

"Seriously? 'Pipe' down?" Nya sighed, eyes siding Cole. "Did you really had to do that?"

"It sounded better in my head." The older boy confessed. "Look, it's hard to lead the way and try to sound cool, okay?"

"I sense this isn't helping our case in any way." Zane spoke, confused.

"Who...are those kids?" Pythor sighed, annoyed. "You know what? Never mind. Just get rid of them, please."

"Hey, who do you think you're talking to?" Nya faced the snakes, taken back by their dismissal.

"I don't think they ever saw our faces." Zane offered his words. "That would explain their confusion."

"Wait..." Skales hissed, tasting the air with his tongue. "I recognize that scent... I've got no doubt about it...!" His bright red eyes got wide. "It's those ninjas who keep getting in our way!"

"Wait, these kids?!" Skalidor looked from Skales to the group back and forth, flabbergasted. "Is this serious?!"

" I don't care if they are kids, adults or elders!" Pythor shouted. "If you think you can stop me and my comrades..." The villain hissed. "Oho, you are very wrong."

"Well-" Cole began, but got stopped by Zane, who gave a step forward.

"We'll see about that." The blonde said, with shurikens in hand. His eyes were shining, just like when he anchieved his True Potential. "Please, watch and learn, friends."

"Be careful, Zane. You only did this once." Nya said worried as the air got colder around them.

"W-what is this?" Skales hesitated, looking at the small snowstorm that was getting formed in the area.

"Don't worry, I've got all-" Zane looked determined for a brief moment, but this quickly changed as the ground rumbled below his feet. "Huh?!" The boy gasped, losing his focus.

"Zane! Watcho-" Cole screamed as the ground below the trio colapsed, and after a big flash of white combined with a cloud of dust, a enormous hole was in front of Pythor.

Slowly, the snake gave a peek inside, finding the three teenagers trapped below, circled by a group of Constrictai. The three ninja were all partially frozed up, to their despair.

"What do you know? I just saved our bacon." Skalidor laughed behind Pythor. "What do you think about that?"

"Great. Definetely great." Pythor smiled wickedly.

"Ugh..." Nya's left side, aside from her face, was trapped in a block of ice. "Zane, what was that?"

"I don't think he can answer us right now." Cole spoke. His lower half was completely frozen as well. As for Zane, the nindroid had his body completely trapped in a block of ice, unresponsive.

"Now, bring our good friends up here." Pythor exclaimed for up the hole. "We don't want them to end their fun day in a bad note, right?"

                                                                                                                                                       ***

In the dinner, Jay is still getting harassed by the crowd. He's so lost he didn't even noticed the tears falling from his cheeks.

"Please, I'm sorry!" He snapped. "Just stop, I'm begging you!"

"Now the snake wants to apologize!" A woman exclaimed.

"Like we could forget every sort of damage those creatures are making to us!" A man shouted.

"You're disgusting!"

"A shame!"

"Stop crying, little baby!"

"ENOUGH!" Jay shouted, making way trough the people and running inside the restroom once more. Inside, he quickly put everything he could find to block the door, hoping that the people outside would just leave him alone.

"I didn't asked for this!" He cried to himself. "I didn't asked to be born like that!"

He hated himself. He hated being born a girl. He hated that he just couldn't be his true self without freaking people out. And now that was happening to him again. Once again, no one cared for him or his feelings. Jay didn't had anyone. No one to stay by his side and accept him for who he is.

"There's nothing wrong with you, sweetie . You're perfect the way you are."

"You're not a freak, hon. You would never be."

His parents. His parents didn't hate him. By the contrary. His parents supported him, every step on the way. Even if they made any kind of mistakes, they didn't wanted to see Jay sad.

But they were not here now. The only people outside that room were mad, aggressive and tense people, who were just waiting him come out to hurt him.

"Come on, you know we would never do that." Cole smiled. "You're our friend, and nothing would change the way we view you."

"No matter what happens to you or what you're made of, you're our brother." Cole's voice from the past few days echoed. "Nothing can change that."

"When you talked with Zane." Nya giggled . "That was really nice of you. I feel that was exactly what he needed to hear that moment."

"So what exactly I need to hear right now?" Jay sobbed. "Even if there's people who love me, I can't even reach them..." He looked at the door. "How can go past that crowd over-" as he said that, he notices that the shouting had stopped. Gulping, he slowly moved his barricade away, slowly opening the door.

The crowd had left the place, and in a big hurry, since everything seemed stomped in the floor.

"What is going on here?" Jay thought to himself, going outside. All the areas in  amusement park were abandoned, with no soul anywhere.

Well, almost anywhere.

"I see that that almost everyone escaped." A Hypnobrai, accompanied by a group of Venomari was walking around. Jay didn't lose time and quickly hid himself behind a trashcan.

"What a shame." One of the green snakes said. "But at least we have the entire park all for ourselves!"

"Right? No lines, no waiting. That's paradise." Another one agreed.

"I really want to try one of those rides." One of them, with four sighed. "But before that, we have to see the last voyage of those ninja."

"Just what I needed. Snakes." Jay sighed, lost. And looks like they have the others too..."

"What do I do now?" He mumbled to himself. "I can't stop them by myself." The boy began to unconciously scratch his bitten hand. "I'm not like Cole, or Zane or Nya." Shooking his head, he got reminded of Kai's words.

"You're annoying, whiny, is always hiding beyond others, can't do anything by yourself..."

"Yeah, that's everything I am." Tears had began to appear in his eyes again. "I'm just worthless..."

"Listen, the more you think about, the more you'll just panick about how things will go. Just breathe in and...take one step of a time." Suddenly, Cole's advice came to Jay's mind.

Slowly breathing in and out, at his own pace, Jay's mind was getting a bit less foggy. Cole was right, he shouldn't let panic took control over him, especially now, that his friends only hope remained in him being able to save them.

"Deep breaths... Come on." Jay sighed. "Yeah. I can't be moping around right now." As he said that, he wrapped his scarf on his face, hiding it. "At least I have  to try."

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Quietly following the group of snakes from earlier, Jay managed to find where Pythor and the rest of the Serpentine were. The purple snake was looking at the rollercoaster, amused.

"I really hope you like the few additions we made to this ride." He laughed, turning at the other Ninja. "I'm sure you're going to... fly away in an amazing spectacle."

"Ugh... You're not getting away with this!" Nya grunted from her seat, still trapped in the ice. "We will stop you!"

"Now, now. That's too much of a cliché." Pythor patted her head. "I'm sure you're dying to get out of this and fight, but we have places to go now."

"W-wait!" Jay shouted, finally taking a step forward to do something. "Don't think y-you're getting away that easily." The boy began spinning his nunchucks. "You still have to go trough me first, Pythor."

"Jay! You're okay!" Cole exclaimed, relieved.

"Sorry not coming early, guys!" The freckled boy shouted. "I was in...a situation."

"Ahem." Pythor coughed, annoyed. "Listen, boy, as much as I am really, really tempted to deal with you..." He sighed to Skales, who was in the control panel of the rollercoaster. "I have places to go. And I believe your friends have a ride to take." As soon as he said that, the coaster slowly began to move.

"Oh, great." Nya grunted. "This doesn't feel good."

"Hm-hm-hm-hm. Later, alligator." Pythor waved, slithering away. "Let's go, my dear comrades. We are leaving now."

"No, wait!" He tried to run after them, but had to stop to cover his eyes to the Venomari spraying their venom again. "Ugh. Not this again..."

As soon as he thought the air was clear, so was the area. The snakes managed to escape onde again.

"Jay!" Cole screamed from the rollercoaster. "Forget the snakes! Help us!"

"Huh?" Facing the ride, Jay noticed the coaster was gaining speed fast. "Oh, right!" Running to the controls, however, didn't made a difference. The crane used to begin the motion was broken, so the ride couldn't be stopped. "No no no... Why are those guys so slimy?" Jay grunted.

Deciding to change his plans, Jay ran to the coaster and managed to enter the ride, where Nya, Cole and a frozen Zane were trapped in ice.

"Sorry, I know this isn't the best moment, but what the heck happened with you guys?!" The freckled boy asked, panicked.

"Us?" Nya lift an eyebrow. "What happened to you? Why are you covering your face?"

"Nothing much..." Was the blue ninja's reply. "Just...things." He shook his head. "Anyway, the panel is rigged, I don't know what to do!"

"Hold on!" Cole exclaimed.

"Oh yeah, Cole!" Jay nodded. "I knew you would come up with something. What's the plan?"

"No, literally hold on!" The black ninja yelled.

"What-?" Jay turned just to be fell inside the ride as the coaster was going trough a slope. As everyone yelled, the freckled boy put his head, joining them as they kept going non-stop.

The ride was going so fast at this point that even Jay's scarf flew off his face, uncovering the scales that had grew even more.

"Jay!" Nya shouted, shocked.

"What? What happened?" As soon as the boy said that, he noticed the wind passing trough his face. "Oh crap! Ugh! D-don't look at me." He covered his face with his hands, nervous.

"Did the snakes bit you?" Cole asked, tense. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Not exactly the snakes, but... That skeletons did." Jay whined, trying to look away from his friends.

"You spent the whole day dealing with this?" Nya's eyes got wide. "Oh, Jay... Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"Because...because..."'Jay trembled in his words. "Today was supposed to be perfect! Everyone was having so much fun, and I didn't..." He sobbed. "I didn't wanted to take that from you."

"That's... that's really sweet of you, Jay." Nya shook her head. "But you shouldn't have hide this from us!"

"Yeah, you're more important to us than a stupid day at an amusement park." Cole nodded in agreement.

"Guys..." Jay sniffed, embarassed. "I...thanks. And hang on, I'll find a way to-"

"Look! One of those snakes is still around!" Someone screamed. The people were slowly coming back, now that the danger seemed to be over.

"Oh no! They are holding these kids hostage!" A woman pointed out. Soon they were booing and pleading for Jay to let the other three go.

"Not again..." Jay mumbled, tense.

"What is those people's deal?" Nya questioned. "Can't they see you're trying to help?"

"I think the snakes are creating a really bad name for anything different." Cole sighed. "But hey, don't listen to them." He added.

"I... I..." Jay looked away, seeing something unnerving. "Aah! We're running out of track!" He pointed out the railway, which was broken a few meters away.

"Let them go, you freak!"

"Please don't do this!"

"Have you no shame?"

"You monster!"

"Ugh..." Jay couldn't help but feel the panick coming back. It was just like the past, and he felt like he was weirdly going in and out, from the past to the present... He couldn't concentrate as he felt a humming sound in his ears.

"Jay! Focus!" Cole's voice broke the chaos. "Don't listen to them! You're not a monster. You know that."

"Even if you are like that now, remember what you told Zane these days!" Nya joined him. "This doesn't change who you truly are! Don't let those people paint you as something you're not! Don't let them get inside your head."

"Hey, don't let this go trough your head." Jay said. "I know rediscovering yourself seems... scary." He mumbled. "But you're not alone, you have us! You're still a amazing guy and a amazing ninja!"

"Yeah..." Jay thought. "I'm still me, I'm still Jay Walker, and I'm still a ninja, and I'm still a boy!" Somehow, he felt himself lighter after reassuring that. Then suddendly, his eyes began shining blue.

"That's right!" He nodded. "It's me who has to decide what person I am, and I want..." Jay felt like one thousand of volts were running trough his body, and it felt strangely...nice for him. "I WANT TO BE THE BEST VERSION OF MYSELF I CAN BE!"

"JAY!" The boy heard his friends exclaim his name again.

"You... You did!" Cole shouted.

"I...what?" Jay looked at him own hands. Instead of the green he was expecting, he saw blue. A shocking, vibrant blue. "Woah!" He was shocked, without a doubt. Actually, he felt like his own self was pure energy at this moment.

"Is that...?" Nya spoke, out of breath.

"My True Potential..." Jay slowly said. He did. He found what was blocking his mind.

But he could think about that later. Shooking his head, the blue ninja lifted from the air, for the surprise of Cole and Nya.

"We have to get out!" He said, determined. Picking both of his friends hands, he swiftly lifted them, breathing heavily as he had to carry the frozen blocks with him. Bringing them to the ground, he made a second to rapidly save Zane, too. As soon as Jay secured the white ninja, he flew in direction of the control panel of the rollercoaster.

"I hope this works..." He said, running his hands. Quickly putting them on the panel, he let go of a immense burst of eletricity, causing a big flash to go trough all the amusement park.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Ow... My eyes..." Cole mumbled. What happened...?"

"Oh, uh. Sorry about that." Jay said. From the looks of it, Jay had summoned his jet. "I had to find a way to distract everyone as we ran away, so... I kinda needed to cause a big flash in there." The boy scratched his head. "I hope the people that work on that place doesn't get too much mad. I'm almooost sure I overcharged the park."

"So... Are we going home, I guess?" Nya spoke, rubbing her eyes with her free arm. "We still have this icy problem to solve..."

"Yeah, I figured..." The blue ninja sighed. "Sorry for not being able to do much, guys." He said. "I shouldn't let the snakes escape."

"It's alright, Jay." Cole shook his head. "You were on your own, and there was too much of them."

"But...but they got away with the Fangblade!" The freckled boy grunted. "At least, I think it was..."

"It doesn't matter right now." Nya said, giving him a supportive smile. "What matters it that you saved us." Jay blushed, shyly smiling back at her.

"Jay..." The red ninja said his name in a surprised tone for the third time that day.

"W-what?" He asked, nervous. "It's...it's my face too strange to look at right now? I-I-"

"No! That's not it!" She shooked her head. "Look!" She pointed at his reflex on the glass of his jet.

Looking at it, he finally noticed. He had become a normal human again. Some things were still different, however. His fangs were still a bit proeminent, he had something green that resembled scales on his face and neck, his eyeballs were slightly yellowish, and his pupils were vertical instead of round. His ears were also distorted in a strange way, but aside from that...

"I got...back to being a human again." He said, slowly. "Hahahah, I'm human!" He repeated, happy.

"Wait, seriously?" Cole exclaimed, still a bit dizzy. "How?"

"Well, Nya did said something about being hit by a shock or heat, right?" Jay reminded, grinning.

"Yes, but... I also said it that it had to be enough to kill a person..." She said, confused. "But still, you seemed like true energy back them..."

"Oh yeah! You did it!" Cole also grinned. "You found your True Potential!" He patted his best friend in the back. "Congrats, dude! I'm proud of you!"

"Oh yeah! That was amazing!" The red ninja nodded. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Heh, t-thanks, guys." The freckled boy blushed deeply. "I wouldn't have madecit without you by my side, to be honest."

"Come on, it was your victory today." The black ninja disagreed. "I don't how you did, but this was all on you."

"Yeah." Nya nodded. "You were great today. Not just about saving us, I mean." She blushed a little. "You were really, really stupid for hiding what was happening from us." Her mouth made a small pount. "But...of course that was something you would do for us. You were...really sweet."

"Uhn, that was nothi-" Jay began, but got silent as Nya gave him a small peck on his cheek.

Well, if his face was already red before, it was even more now, that's for sure.

"But..." She moved her hand to his face, also blushing. "Never... And I mean never..." He felt a light pain as the girl tugged at his ear. "...never ever do this again." The red ninja spoke, annoyed. "Gosh, do you know how much worried I was with you?"

"Ow ow ow! Okay, okay! I get it!" The blue ninja whined as Cole couldn't help but laugh at that small scene.

"Heheh... Come on, guys!" The black ninja laughed. "What would Master Wu would think of us right now?"

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"What my students would think of me right now?" Wu thought, sighing. Both he and Garmadon were trapped in cell, in one of the villages his older brother mentioned.

"You just had to refuse to fight those cretins, isn't?" Garmadon grunted, punching a wall. "Typical Wu!"

"Well, I didn't saw a reason to raid a Village for food since we could ask nicely." The younger brother rolled his eyes.

"Yes, yes." Garmadon gave him a forced smile. "We could already be at the top of the mountain by now, that's the reason. Now we are just wasting the little time we have!"

"Good. I don't know exactly what this means, but any of your suffering is enough for us as your punishment." A voice said from the other side of the cell. In front of the brothers was supposedly the leader of the Craglings faction of that village.

"Now, bearded being." The creature turned its face to Wu. "I believe you requested an audience with me?

Chapter Text

"Good. He seems reasonable. This might work." Wu thought to himself, relieved. "Indeed, that was my request." He spoke. "So I take you are the leader of this village?"

"Village?" The Cragling laughed. "I don't know where you came from, but I wouldn't call this place a village. The entire Realm is our home. This is just a meeting place for our race."

"Being lectured by a bunch of rocks. Please." Garmadon gritted his teeth, annoyed.

"Hold you tongue, four armed creature." The Cragling pointed at the evil lord. "You already caused problems enough to us. If you don't want to be executed, stop talking."

"Hah!" Garmadon shook the bars of their cell. "Nice threat, Boulder brain!" He smiled wickedly. "Would you dare to try that, though?"

"Garmadon, please." Wu sighed, enerved. "Don't complicate our situation even more." He turned his attention to the Cragling. "Now, I'm sorry for asking you this, sir...?"

"Crag-Tunk. Head of my legion. You can see me as a king, if you want, but I do not care all that power over my people. I'm just an figure of authority." The Boulder creature said.

"I see. It's a honor to have you attend our request." Wu bowed his head in respect. "Now, sorry for the inquiry, but as you can see, I barely made into the Realm of Madness recently, looking for this man." He pointed at Garmadon, who simply crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "And, looking at our current situation, I can see he caused some sort of commotion to your people. Would you care to tell me what happened?"

"Oh, I'll explain." Crag-Tunk nodded. "This lowly scum has been raiding our food, and not only that, he's been disrespecting our sacred grounds to do it!"

"Oh, please." Garmadon snickered. "How I should get more poweful without that kind of high quality-"

"You were warned the first time, fiend!" The Cragling grunted. "And yet, you still dare and wander off that place! This is blasfemy!"

"I see." Wu nodded, hoping to get a good result. "I take you will be glad to know that I made into this Realm to bring this man home." The old man explained. "He does not belong here, and I promised myself to bring him home, care him liking or not."

"I understand your point." Crag-Tunk nodded accordingly. "You mean that, if we let you go, you both return to your land and never come back. Is that it?" He asked. "That's sounds good, but can we trust that guy is not coming back?"

"Believe me, I came to this place out of necessity, not because it was my desire." Garmadon grunted. "You just happened to have what I need to become stronger."

"I personally promise that he'll never come back here to cause any more trouble." Wu ignored his brother's last remark, hoping that Crag-Tunk would do the same. "You have the word of one of the sons of the First Spinjitzu Master."

"Oho, the First Spinjitzu Master, you say?" The leader of the Craglings scratched his chin. "My people heard stories about him. He was a traveler of the Realms, always looking for bringing order and peace to the lands he visited." The Cragling pondered for a moment.

"Hm. Very well, then." Crag-Tunk nodded. "You are free to go. Leave, and bring this fiend with you. I hope you keep your promise, son of the First Spinjitzu Master." He said, ordering the guards to open the cell.

"Thanks you for your benevolance, Mr. Crag-Tunk." Wu smiled warmly. "Now, Garmadon, shall we go?" His brother only reply was a impatient grunt.

While the pair of brother left what was believed to be the Cragling Village, the older brother finally spoke again.

"Always the sweet talker, huh?" He looked at Wu. "People who see you today would never believe you were the most troublemaker of us when we were younger."

"I like to say I had more... passion for adventure." Wu spoke, unsure.

"Yes, yes." Garmadon nodded. "Sugarcoat as much as you do, brother. Although..." His next words clearly carried venom in them. "...this so called 'passion for adventure' didn't helped any of us when a certain snake bit me, 'son of the First Spinjitzu Master'." He said, walking more distant from his brother.

In the Realm of Ninjago, the Serpentine are investigating a pyramid located in the Sea of Sand, looking for the second Silver Fangblade. Pythor, who of course was leading the way, suddenly stopped slithering.

"I know that, believe me." Pythor said with his face cordiality. "But all of this is easy. Too much easy." As he said that, he stomped his staff in the floor, making a small crumble colapse.

"I don't trust this." The purple serpent shook his head. "What good is unleashing the Great Devourer into the human peasents if we're not around to see it happen?"

"So...what else do you sugest?" Skales asked, curious.

"Get those three here." Pythor smiled. "The elders might have some knoledge, and the boy certainly is a baggage we won't miss if something happens."

"You heard it!" The Hypnobrai General yelled to the lines behind. "Bring the elders and the kid!"

Soon, Lloyd was in the frontline, along with Shippelton and Smythe. The boy had seen better days. Sure, when he was a runaway, he got used to starve during his worst days, but he always managed to scrap something to himself. And the few days he had at the Bounty gave him some confort on how much he could eat. Now, however, he missed having any crumbles to eat. Pythor was not making things easier for him.

"Y-you're letting me go?" The blonde asked, with a weak voice.

"I think the boy meant us, not only he." Smythe grunted, tired.

"Heh, perphaps. Who could say?" Pythor grinned. "More importantly, I recomend you to step lightly." The snake said, leading them to the ledge of the hole made not only ago.

"W-what are you planning to do?" Lloyd mumbled, nervous.

"Relax, now." Pythor smiled evilly. "All you have to do is go forth and bring me the Fangblade, while the Nice gentleman guide you." He pointed at the explorers, who didn't seemed fond of the idea.

"Poppycock!" Shippelton shook his head. "Do you seriously think a child could make it?"

"You better pray he do." The snake hissed. "If you all do exactly what I want, you can probably go after that."

"Well, then..." Smythe coughed nervously. "What are you waiting for, boy? This is our chance!"

"Oh." Was all of the blonde's response. "So I'm really doing this, huh?" Slowly, the boy made his way, praying to whatever god he could think.

"Watch out for that pit!"

"Wait, I think you may be closer to step on a arrow launcher, be careful."

Listening to their advice as best as he could, miraculously Lloyd managed to make his way to the other side. Finding a pedestal in front of him, the boy noticed It was emptied. If the Fangblade was really here, it was long gone now.

"Hmm. Uh, it's gone!" Lloyd shouted, hoping they would listen to him.

"Gone?!" Pythor hissed, annoyed. "What do you mean it's gone!?"

"Oh, goodness." Shippelton shook his head. "All this work for naught."

"Where could've the blade be gone...?" Skales sighed, annoyed.

"Who cares about that?" Smyhte spoke, anxious. "Since we all did our duty, we are free to go, isn't?"

"Ugh! Of course not!" Pythor yelled. "You better bring the boy back, we can't lose any more time!"                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Say 'aah'." Nya said, with a stick on her hand. The group was reunited at the bridge, and a few days have already passed.

"Aah?" Jay mimicked, blushing a bit. The girl gave a good look at his throat, poking his teeth and his tongue with the stick.

Meanwhile, Zane was fidgeting with a cable, trying to found a place where he could put it on himself, with his falcon watching him by his side. As for Cole, he was looking for something at some sort of book.

"Uhum. Yeah." The red ninja ended her inspection, sighing. "It has been days, and the after effects are still there. I think you're stuck like this, Jay." The girl pointed out.

"Yeah, I figured." The blue ninja said. "I mean, at least I'm still human, right?" He brushed some of the scales of his neck. "Or something closer to it."

"I think you're fine the way you are." Nya said, feeling he needed some confort. "It doesn't make you less you." She smiled at him.

"Thanks, Nya." Jay said, relaxing a bit. "You know what? You're right! I should try to find ways to make this work on my favor!" He said, pumped up.

"Okay... Too much energy in there." The girl laughed a bit, turning her attention to Zane and helping him sort the cable out. "But at least you've got the spirit!"

"Aaand...there." She added, managing to insert the cable on a small open panel he had Just found in his arm. The sudden connection made the white ninja jump a bit, surprised. "Oh, did that hurt...? Sorry!" She quickly said.

"It's okay." The white ninja quickly spoke. "It just some sort of...new feeling." He explained. "But at least that helps me connect with out main computer."

Closing his eyes, the blonde sighed, concentrating his mind on the their last meet with Pythor. Suddenly, a vivid picture of the Anacondrai, triumphantly waving the Silver Fangblade appeared on the screen.

"Woah! Hot stuff!" Jay open his mouth, shocked. "Is that you doing that, Zane?" He said, excited. "How are you doing that?"

"One of the things my father and I always did in Birchwood was watch the birds." Zane explained. "I always found their freedom fascinating." He smiled, gently carressing the Falcon. "So father made a way for me to take pictures with my own memories."

"That sounds... complicated." Jay looked confused. "Couldn't you guys have used a camera, like everyone else?"

"Well...my father always made things on a whim, I have to admit." Zane tried to laugh it off.

"Yeah, sure..." The blue ninja turned away at Nya, who had sit on the table and seemed to be drawing something.

"What do you think about that, Nya?" He asked, trying to engage her in their conversation. "Nya?" The boy asked again after receiveing no reply.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, Jay." The red ninja quickly spoke, shooking her head. "I wasn't listening."

"I can tell." He sit by her side. "What happened?"

"I'm trying to think about something, anything that can give us some advantage." Nya explained. "But I don't know... We don't have enough material or time to work on something, even though I have this really cool schematic for a raider..." She sighed. "Then there's Kai, who is losing his patience about staying still, and who knows what he might do next." The girl sighed.

"And," she kept going. "without Master Wu here, I don't think any of us can stop Kai if he tries something again, and that wouldn't be happening if I just... Had kept my eye on Lloyd like I should have."

"Hey, don't bash yourself too much about that." Jay waved his hands, nervous. "It's not like you wanted that to happen." He paused. "Is Kai being rude to you or anything...?"

"No, and that's what makes me feel worse." Nya snapped. "He knows it's my fault. Why isn't he mad me? What more can I do wrong?" She sniffed, holding upcoming tears. "I can't help him, or Lloyd, or even myself! Heck, I didn't even have a clue about how I can anchieve my True Potential."

"I sensed this would eventually come." Zane sighed. "Honestly, I don't know what I can say to help you, but...maybe all of your problems are one and the same." He offered.

"What does that mean?" Jay asked, confused.

"I noticed a pattern." The white ninja spoke. "For both me and Jay, the only reason we unlocked our True Potential was because we figured something that was making doubt in our minds." Both the red and blue ninja nodded. "So, maybe your True Potential has something to do with all your ordeal with Kai and Lloyd."

"Wow, thanks, Zane. That really helped." Nya grunted. "Good to know that until I figured out one or the other, I won't be going forward. And we have to put our hands on one of the Fangblades, to top it all of."

"Hey, now..." Jay laughed nervously. "It's not that bad..."

"Not that bad?" The red ninja repeated. "Not that bad? Pythor has the first Fangblade, which means he managed to found the map for them, while we aren't making any progress!" She groaned. "We don't have any clue where to start!"

"Aha!" Cole finally spoke after all this time. "I knew I wasn't going crazy."

"What now?" Nya turned at him, impatient.

"Okay." The black ninja slowly nodded, looking unsure of himself. "Listen, remember when I said I had the feeling that Fangblade looked familiar?"

"Yeah, so what?" Jay asked.

"I finally figured out where I saw it before." The older boy explained. "I have a picture of it." He said, finally showing the content from his book. It was a simple photo album.

In truth, one of the photos was of one the Fangblades. However, the blade seemed to be attached to some kind of cup.

"Hmm." Jay pondered, looking from the photo to the screen of their computer. "Yeah, I guess there's no doubt about it."

"How did you manage to have a photo of it, Cole?" Zane asked, umplugging the cable from his arm. The black ninja sighed, resentful.

"Okay, guess I can't run from that." Cole mumbled. "So, back where I grew up, there's this pretty big competition every year." He explained. "The winner always receive the Blade Cup as a symbol of their victory. This cup." The boy said, pointing at the Photo in the album. "My dad...won it multiple times."

"I see." Zane nodded, giving him a tender smile. "You never told us your father was an accomplished athlete."

"What do you mean? He never tell us anything from his family in general." Jay shook his head. "His life is a closed book."

"Really? I thought I was in the dark because I never asked anything." Nya joined, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Aham." Cole coughed, bringing them back to the point.

"Oh, eheh." The blue ninja scratched his nose. "Anywaaays... What kind of an athlete is he?"

"Huh? Who?" The black ninja asked, aloof.

"Your dad, dummie." Nya couldn't help but laugh. "I mean, you're pretty good on a lot of physical things, so I guess you had to have learned from someone..."

"Oh, about that..." Cole mumbled, nervous. "My dad is... uhn... h-he's a, uh...a blacksmith." He splurted out, being followed by an awkward silence.

"Sooo?" The red ninja slowly asked. "Nothing wrong with that. My parents were blacksmiths, too." She paused. "But I've never heard of a competition fo-"

"That's because he's not a literal blacksmith." Cole said fast, blushing. "He's a...ugh...Royal Blacksmith..."

"A what now?" Jay asked as his friend turned a page of his album to show them a picture of a man with a well putted hair and a carefully brushed moustache. He was wearing a black tuxedo, grinning with satisfaction.

"That's your dad?" Nya asked, surprised. "He seems... well, a lot different from what I thought he would like."

"Yeah...quite a shocker, huh?" Cole snickered, clearly bitter. "Don't worry, he is exactly like he looks." He sighed. "Anyway, the cup is passed on to each year's winner."

"Ooh, so maybe the trophy is with him right now?" Jay spoke, excited.

"I don't know. I could send him a letter to ask, I guess." The older ninja shrugged his shoulders.

"I sense that going directly at him would be more productive, thought." Zane sent his two cents. "I mean, if it is, he's in serious danger."

"No way! Cole immediately cut the white ninja put. "We can't do that!" He looked deadly serious at them. "He thinks I'm in Ninjago City training at the Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts." The black ninja explained, groaning.

"Uh...what exactly is this Marty Oppenheimer School?" Nya asked, feeling a bit lost.

"It's just..." Cole started, but shut off, trying to find the right words. "It's one of the most renamed performing schools of Ninjago, okay?" The boy sighed, desolated. "My dad wanted me to follow in his footsteps. But when I couldn't sing or dance the way people expected..." Cole lowered his head, ashamed. "Well, I...I ran away." The group's leader sat on their table, completely lost in his own troubles. "If we meet him and he sees I can't dance to save my life, he'll know I've been lying in all the letters I've been sending him."

"Wait, wait wait." Jay stopped him. "You mean all those letter you receive from him... You lie in all of them?"

"So...he doesn't even know you're a ninja?" Zane asked, curious.

"Of course not." Cole shook his head. "All that matters to him is singing and dancing." He sounded resentful. "It's all that matters to him..."

"Then, I think we have to get our own act in tune." Zane bluntly spoke. "Wheter you like it or not, this is our best chance to get our hands on the Fangblade before the Serpentine. We have to try."

"I guess I don't have much of a choice in this." The black ninja sighed. "Fine then, just...let me get some things done before first." He ran to the door. "I have to call someone before we go."

"Uh, before that..." Nya spoke, shyly. "Since we're leaving the Bounty again, and this is a no danger mission... Can I ask for something?" The other three gave her a curious expression.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Hey, Kai!" Nya said, entering Wu's room. "You don't believe what news I have for-" The girl paused, as her brother was clumsily standing in his own foot, with a look of someone who was just been caught doing something wrong.

"Oh. Uh. Hey, sis." Kai waved a hand, awkwardly. "What were you talking about?"

"Seriously?" Nya asked, unsurprised. "Are you really trying to move on your own already?"

"Hey, come on." The boy looked away. "My ankle is mostly good, I just have to take it easy. As for my injury- gh!" He winced a bit.

"As for your injury?" The red ninja asked, furrowing her eyebrows. Sighing, she made him sit again. "Listen, big bro. Can't you just take it easy? Just a little more?"

"I told you, I'm fine." He shook his head. "Besides, I'm not doing any better just standing around here."

"Then you'll like what I have to say." Nya said, awkward. "So, we may have find one of the Fangblades, so we have to leave again."

"Which means, more alone time for myself at the Bounty." Kai sighed, bitter. "Yi-pe. Just what I was looking for."

"Very funny." His sister rolled her eyes. "But. I talked with the others, and since you look to be better, they agreed with my idea."

"About what...?" Kai asked, hesitant.

"This is supposed to be a non action mission." Nya spoke. "I think the others won't have a problem if...you came along."

"Are you serious?" Kai asked, a bit hopeful. "Do you guys want me to go too?"

"Like I said, it's kinda of a safe environment." The girl nodded. "I know it's lame to always be stuck in the same room every day, so I figured we could go all together." She smiled shyly. "If you want to, of course."

"Are you kidding?" Kai grinned. "Who cares what kinda of mission it is? I'm só sick of this room that I can go with anything, seriously." He grunted in a happy mood. "I'm all for it." He brushed his sister's hair affectionly. "Thanks, sis."

"No problem." Nya laughed. "Just...try to get along with everyone, okay? I know you're not the social butterfly with them, but they want to see you doing good, too."

"Well, we can see about that." Kai scratched his head.

The girl laughed again. "Yeah, yeah. Come on, we have to go get ready. I need to explain a lot to you about everything, too..."

"Explain what?" Kai asked, slowly getting up and following the red ninja to outside.

Chapter Text

A few hours later, with everything explained, the group was all reunited at the deck, looking for a good point to go down. Everyone is wearing their casual clothes, obviously.

"I sense this is a good place." Zane pointed at a small forest close to the village. "We can't get much closer than that, and we can use our vehicles to help our landing. Except..." He turned to Kai. "What we can do for Kai?"

"What? Can't I just go with Nya and we're fine?" The boy asked, defensive.

"I'm afraid not. It's too much open space for your condition. We can't risk putting you in more pain." The white ninja shooked his head, decisely.

"Yeah, uh. I can't say Zane is wrong." Nya sighed. "My motorcycle is too open for the both of us."

"Great." Kai grunted. "What are my options, then?"

"Well..." The red ninja turned at Jay and Cole. "You guys are the only ones with closed up vehicles..."

"I pick Cole!" Kai quickly said. "Don't need to think that much."

"You're not getting me complaining." Jay crossed his arms, annoyed. "Actually, this is for the best."

"Uh..." Cole scratched his head, feeling the awkward and tension in the air. "I guess...we can go, then?" As he said that, he picked an instrument case he brought to the deck.

"Are we ready?" Nya asked, and the other boys nodded, determined. "Then..." She pulled her sword, jumping from the deck. "Let's gooo!" The others quickly followed her in their free fall.

"Woo-hoo!" Jay exclaimed, excited. "This feeling never gets old!"

"Careful, everyone." Zane said. "We can't be too close."

"Don't worry, we got this." Cole smiled, preparing his scythe. Kai, without much of a choice, was gripping the taller boy's shoulders.

"Just do it already!" He shouted. Attending the spiky-haired boy's demand, the group manisfested their vehicles and land safely.

"Ugh!" Nya jumped off her motorcycle, strechting herself. "Okay, that was not the perfect plan." She sighed. "I'm definetely feeling sore tomorrow..."

"I think this is one of moments where I'm happy to being a robot." Zane grunted. "Fortunely I don't have any bones to break."

"I'm pretty sure you can still break something." The red ninja eye-sided him. "Don't take your life so lightly."

"Oh. Sorry." Zane mumbled. "I didn't want to sound so disregardful."

Meanwhile, Jay, Cole and Kai had an easy time for them.

"You're fine there?" Cole asked to Kai, gently. "Nothing wrong?"

"I'm fine. It's not like I'm made of glass." The hot-heated boy rolled his eyes. "You guys are worrying too much."

"Okay, so what now?" Jay asked as he turned his jet into his nunchucks again. "Which path we follow?"

"Before that..." Cole spoke, opening the case he had brought. "If you guys don't mind...?" He said, putting his scythe inside.

"Right. No weapons." Nya nodded, adding her sword inside. "No ninja training and nothing. We can't forget that."

"Watch out, big guy." Jay laughed. "No mortal shall possess all four." He said, in a funny imitation of Wu's tone.

"Hahah. Very funny." The black ninja snarked at his friend. After Zane put his shurikens inside, the boy closed the case. "So, can someone keep an eye on them?" He asked.

"Why won't you do it?" Jay asked, confused.

"Because if it's me carrying it, my dad definetely going to peek inside." Cole sighed. "And I don't feel like explaining what I am doing carrying a scythe everywhere."

"I'll do it." Kai sighed. "Seems easy enough, and I have to repay the favor of you helping me earlier."

"Are you sure you can do it?" Zane asked, with the spiky-haired asnwer being a nod.

"Then... thanks, Kai. Let's go then, guys." Cole nodded, leading the way.

After a few minutes of walking, the group finally managed to get to the entrance of Cole's hometown.

"Well, this is it, everyone." Their leader sighed. "Welcome to Nom, I guess."

"It's definetely bigger than Ignacia." Nya pointed out as they walked trough the street of dirt. It was a simplier town, but was pretty big nonetheless.

"Feels really cozy." Jay added, smiling as he saw everything around them. "We could explore some more after we get things done."

"Hold on, guys." Cole turned at them. "Let's not take more time than necessary. Just follow the plan: we find out if my dad has the Fangblade trophy or whoever has it, find a way to snatch it and we get the heck out of town."

"Hmpf. Buzzkill." Jay whined. "Were you always like that, or am I only noticing this now?"

"Oh, he was always like that, trust me." A female voice said in front of them. In a bench across the street was a girl. She had long, curly reddish hair with a blue streak. As for her clothes, she was wearing a blue jacket of the same tone of her hair-streak with a pair of dark blue jeans.

"Sel, you came!" Cole grinned, running to give the newcomer a hug. When she got up, the group noticed that she was just a few inches smaller than the black ninja.

"Of course I did, silly." She laughed, hugging him back. "By the way you were speaking, you really need some help today."

"A-ham." Nya coughed. "Sooo, Cole..." She lifted an eyebrow. "Are you going to introduce us, or...?"

"Yeah, right." The older boy laughed. "Sorry, guys. This is Seliel." She waved. "She's a senior from my performing school."

"Oh, yeah, yeah!" Jay quickly nodded. "We love Open Martyr!"

"Uh, Jay, you mispoke our school's name." Zane mumbled, trying to fix the situation. "Sorry about our friend, he meant-"

"Relax, guys." Seliel smiled. "You don't need to fake anything in front of me. I know who you guys are." She put her hands on her waist. "Though in second thought, I should've play along... That was a horrible start." The girl sighed.

"Is that so?" Kai joined the talk. "I thought Nya said Cole didn't talk about his life with anyone."

"It's a long story." Cole said. "I met Seliel when I just started the lessons." He explained. "And since I wasn't the best, they put Seliel to keep an eye on me."

"Come on, you were good." Seliel shook her head. "They just wanted me around you because of my personality."

"Personality?" Zane asked.

"Yeah, I'm not the easiest people around." Seliel looked away. "They don't like my attitude too much in Marty's... But I'm good in everything else, so they can't complain much." She laughed.

"While Cole here." She gave him a friendly punch in his arm. "Was really closed off. So they thought it could be a good idea for him to have someone more... spontaneous, to break his shell."

"Yeah, sure." The black ninja rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say to make you happy."

"Anyway..." Nya interrupted the banter. "I guess it's our time to introduce ourselves, right?"

"Don't sweat it, I think I have you guys all figured out by now." Seliel dismissed her, pensative. "You're obviously Nya, of course." She turned at Jay. "The hiperactive one is Jay, the quiet one is Zane..." She looked at Kai. "And by your face, I take you're Kai?"

"Uh, yeah?" The boy replied, awkward. This was going too fast for him.

"Cole tells me a lot about you guys." Seliel said, putting her hands on her pockets. "On his letters, I mean. Honestly, I never seem him so happy." She grinned. "So thanks for being around him."

"I'm right here." Cole sighed, faintly blushing. "And don't bother with her, she's just exaggerating again."

"I never exaggerate." Seliel furrowed her eyebrows. "If you can't take the truth, then don't share your thoughts with me."

"I think I'm seeing her attitude problem now." Jay whispered to Nya, who giggled silently.

"I still have one question, though." Zane pondered. "Why did you know about us, exactly?"

"What, Cole didn't told you about him running away?" Seliel asked, confused.

"He told us." Zane nodded. "Uh, today, to be exactly." He added. Seliel eye-sided the black ninja.

"Seriously?" The girl sighed. "You didn't lost that habit of yours, huh?" She frowned. "Always keeping everything to yourself until you burst out."

"Can we not talk about that now?" Cole looked away, making his friend sigh in frustration.

"Fine. Whatever." She said. "Going back to the topic... I was the one that helped him run away from Marty's." She told to the group.

"And no one at your school cared about a student running away?" Nya lifted her eyebrows. "Wow."

"Hah, lots of people ran away after enough frustration." Seliel shooked her head. "If you tell them they ran away home, they don't go after them. Gonners don't deserve their attention."

"That place sounds harsh." Kai whistled. "Is every school nowadays like that?"

"No, just Marty's." Cole sighed. "Then, since I'm with you guys, Sel and have been trading letters."

"Ooh, what kinda of things you talk about...?" Jay asked, with a curious smile.

"You know, ninja stuff." Seliel waved her hand. "Saving the world, traveling to other worlds, fighting snakes...the usual."

"While she sends me a report of what has been happening on school." Cole laughed. "That way, I just copy everything, send back to her, and she sends to my father. That way..." He frowned. "He still thinks I'm in there."

"That sounds...really complicated." Zane pondered, exhausted.

"Believe me, it's better this way." Cole said. "Anyway, we're done with the chit-chat, right?" He starting to move. "We can go now."

As the group walked along, everyone started chatting together about any thing that came to their mind.

"So, Seliel!" Jay spoke. "Are you and Cole just friends, or...?"

"Pfft!" The girl snorted. "Yeah, like Cole would have something with...me." She quickly laughed as he turned his head at her.

"Come on, you're not bad." Nya smiled. "To be honest, I think you're really pretty." She complimented Seliel. "And your hair streak is pretty awesome, too."

"Thanks." The older girl grinned. "Now convince Cole to do it too and we're going to be best friends."

"I can hear you guys." Cole sighed, but still smiled. "Can I not be to point of the talk for five minutes?"

"Fine, geez." The red ninja grunted. "Then maybe I could do one, what do you guys think?"

Their walk kept going warm and filled with occasional laughs.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Okay..." Cole sighed deeply. "We're...here." He pointed at a two feet house, which had and elegant appearence.

"Phew!" Jay wishtled. "Faaancyy!"

"My dad likes to call it the Brookstone Manor." The Black ninja said. "Even though is not. Standing right in front of the door now, the older boy began having second thoughts. "You know, maybe we should-"

"Maybe you should knock the door and face your father." Seliel cut him off. The rest of the group gave a surprised look, even Cole. "What? Don't look at me like that. You asked me to come to be sure you wouldn't back down, right? Well I'm not letting that happen." She crossed her arms. "Now, do it."

"Come on, you can do it, Cole." Jay smiled at him.

Cole gulped dryly. "Yeah, okay. Fine." He mumbled, finally knocking. After a few seconds, a asnwer came from the other side.

"Just a second!" The voice spoke. "I just need my cane!"

"Thanks, guys." Cole quickly turned around at them. "And, uh. Thanks again, Sel. I know it's hard to find a excuse to get out of school."

"Oh, no problem." She waved her hand. "We're in recess for a few weeks right now, so I'm not losing anything."

"Wait, what?" The black ninja asked before the door in front of him finally opened.

"I swear, it's never where I thought I put it..." The Man in front of them mumbled to himself, before giving his attention to the group. "Oh."

Cole's father was there, not much different from the photo the boy showed his friends early that morning. For a moment he seemed surprised, but his face quickly became stern.

"Uh..." Cole spoke, nervous. "Hey, dad." The boy smiled awkwardly. "How long's it been?"

"What?" Cole's father ignored his son's greeting. "You're too good for the doorbell?!" He quickly slammed the door on them, leaving everyone shocked.

"What the...?" Nya and Kai said together, perplexed.

"Ugh..." Cole grunted, frowning.

"Use the bell, son." His father's voice came from the other side, seemingly more friendly. Sighing, Cole did as he told.

"♪Welcome!♪" The group of teenagers heard a singing melody coming from the doorbell. After that, the door opened again, this time with a much more happier man.

"Haha. Come on in, son." The older ninja's father said, hugging his kid. "It's been forever!"

"Ugh. Hey, dad." Cole mumbled in the hug.

"What did you bring for today?" The man smiled, looking at the group at the door. "Let's see, let's see... one, two, three...A sextet?" He wided his eyes. "Not bad, not bad!" He clapped his hands. "Oh, the name's Lou, by the way! But I'm sure you already knew that."

"Uh..." Zane spoke, unsure of what to say.

"Come in, come in." He invited, letting the others shyly enter the house. "I've got a kettle of lemon honey tea on the stove right now."

"Lemon honey tea." Seliel shook her head, smiling. "That's a classic around here."

"Oh, Seliel!" Lou grinned, like he just noticed her presence. "I'm so sorry!" He spoke, hugging her too. "How is your father?"

"Eh, you know." The girl shrugged. "Doing burocratic stuff like always."

"Well, someone has to lead the town, after all." Lou nodded. "I'm sure he's really busy as mayor. Especially with what is coming." He brushed his hands, excited.

"Wait, your dad is the mayor?" Jay asked, confused.

"Oh yeah. I didn't told you guys, right?" Seliel looked at him. "Yeah, that's my old man."

Yeah, things were going smoothly by now.

As the group sat around the living room, they couldn't stop but notice how everything looked so taken care of. As they waited for Lou to come back, an awkward silence filled the room, especially around Cole, who looked incredible unconfortable.

Meanwhile, an old gramophone was playing some background music. Lou then finally appeared with a tray filled with a kettle and cups of tea.

"So, son." Lou spoke in a gentle tone. "What made you take so- oh!" He almost tripped out, but managed to save his balance. Seeing everyone in the room get up, tense, the man laughed. "Hohoh. Don't worry, kids." He put the tray on the a small table in the middle. "It's just my stupid ol' foot again."

"Is you foot injured?" Zane said, sympathetic. "I apologize, I would've helped if I knew..."

"It's okay, it's okay." Lou shook his head. "Everyone makes a bigger problem than it is." He sighed. "But, did my son not tell you I broke my foot?" The man sat, picking a cup and pouring some tea for himself. Slowly, the others followed him.
"It was the cha-cha, but I swear the percussionist had it in for me."

"Well, uh..." Nya mumbled.

"No, dad." Cole groaned. "I didn't tell them about your silly stories about your silly contests."

"What stories now?" Lou said, furrowing his eyebrows. "Sorry, the tea is really good today." His son simply grunted in disbelief.

"Oh, what he, uh, said was...we would love to hear more about your sweet stories!" Jay quickly tried to fix the situation. "We hear a lot of those back in Martha Oppenhigher!"

Comically, the gramophone decided to stop right at this. Confused, Lou turned his attention to Jay.

"Martha...?" He lifted an eyebrow, suspicious.

"Come on." Kai sighed. "Sorry about that, uh...Mr. Lou." The boy spoke. "Is just that everyone is feeling kinda nervous, y'know...being around one of the Royal Blacksmiths. And Jay already trips in his words normally."

"Hey!" Jay grunted, displeased.

"Yes, he is bad with names sometimes, especially long ones like Marty Oppenheimer's." Zane added.

"Oho." Lou laughed. "I see. That happens sometimes. Just be careful to not do that on stage." He sipped more of his tea.

"Anyway, what was I talking about before?" Cole's father asked, more to himself. "Oh, right." He nodded. "What took you so long to make me a visit, huh, Cole?" He faced the older boy.

"We, uh... got kinda busy during recess." Cole mumbled. "We have been training a lot. ...But it's not like coming home would make that much of a difference, anyway." He added, bitter.

"Now, son." Lou said, hurt. "You know it's not like that. "I missed you a lot when you were at school."

"Oh yeah?" Cole's voice got a bit higher. "You have a funny way of showing how much you care."

"Cole." Seliel spoke from her seat, in a daring tone. The boy simply grunted once more.

"Sorry, I..." The boy sighed. "Forget it."

"Uhn, it's okay, son." Lou looked away. "I'm...just happy to know you made friends to yourself." The man smiled gently. "You never mentioned any of them in your letters, so I was worried about you feeling lonely with just Seliel as a friend."

"Oh, Cole is awesome!" Jay grinned awkwardly after all that back and forth. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but he's my best friend!" He patted Cole's shoulder.

"It's always a pleasure being around him." Zane nodded with honesty.

"Yeah!" Nya agreed. "So, uh, anyway... About your stories as a performer." She began going towards their real objective. "Cole told us about how your group won the Blade Cup sometimes."

"Oh! The Blade Cup!" Cole's father smiled widely. "So he talks about the good stuff!" Cole groaned silently at that.

"Does that mean you have the trophy with you right now?" Kai asked, curious.

"Oh, can we see it?" Jay joined. "That would be awesome."

"Normally, yes." Lou nodded. "Every year we win, we keep the trophy at that shelf." The man pointed at a shelf full of trophies. "My friends insisted on that." He laughed. "You could say this is not only the Brookstone household, but the Royal Blacksmith's as well."

"However, it isn't in here today." Lou shook his head, causing the group to frown at his answer.

"So where is it right now?" Seliel cutted to the chase. "Is there any way for us to get our hands on it?"

"Hm-hm-hm-hm." Lou laughed to himself. "Alright, I see where this is going."

"What?" Nya wided her eyes, sweating. "What do you mean?"

"Come on, kids." The man waved his hand. "You're talking about getting your hands on the Blade Cup?" He got up from his seat in a dramatic way. "The most prized... and heavily guarded award... in all of Ninjago?"

"Oh, there he goes again." Annoyed, Cole his face in his hands.

"Are you all talking about the symbol of excellence in harmony and grace?" Lou tapped his chest, full of would the group would think it was pride. "You can't just get it, kids. No, no no... you have to earn it. You have to exhibit style. Perfect pitch. Push the boundaries of artistic license and..." He gave everyone a look of complete passion. "...win this year's Nom's Talent Show!"

A cold silence filled the room after that.

"Um, perhaps there's an easier way?" Zane slowly asked, tense. "I mean, just to have a glimpse of it?"

"Don't worry, kids. I know now why you all came here today." Lou walked to Cole, who seemed desperate to be anywhere else. "Since Cole here knew I was injured and my quartet decided we shan't go on because of this..." He turned at everyone else in the room. "...you all have come to take our place!" He grinned.

"Haha, ingenious, very ingenious!" Lou patted Cole in the back. "My son, bringing forth the next generation of the Royal Blacksmiths!"

"W-wait, dad." The black ninja stuttered. "It's not-"

"Wow, h-he really got us, didn't he, guys?" Nya cutted him off, smiling awkwardly.

"Huh?" Jay turned at her, who sign to him with her eyes. "Um, yeah! Totally! Hah. Hahah. Hah."

"I...sense misfortune." Zane sighed.

"Now, now." Lou waved one of his hands. "It's alright! I would love to help the next incarnation of the our dear group carva their path!" He brushed his hands. "Now, let me hear the sweet, sweet sound of harmony." He offered his ears, anxiously.

Nervous, and a bit confused. Nya, Jay, Zane and a reluctant Kai stood up, with confused expressions.

"Harmony..." Jay began, and eventually the other three followed him. Lou winced as their simultaneous tone was far away from being harmonius.

"Goodness gracious!" The elegant man winced. "That was... something." Meanwhile, Cole was biting his own lips as Seliel tried to calm him down.

"Look, dad." The black ninja then spoke. "We just need the trop-"

"Like I said, everyone is feeling a bit...overwhelmed around you." Kai spoke fast. "We wanna bring the gold home, and you're the only one that we can count on."

For a moment, Lou looked unable to say anything, but soon he pulled a handkerchief from his coat's pocket, then wiped his watered eyes.

"I've... never been more proud." He sniffed, emotional. "It would be a honor to help you." Just...just excuse me for a moment, I need to write a song about this feelings." Smiling, the elegant man left the rest of the teenagers in the living room.

"Okay..." Seliel put a hand on her chin. "I guess that's a way to make things work. You guys are bold."

"What do you mean?" Cole snapped, nervous. "Nothing is working!" He turned at the other ninja. "Guys, what the heck was that? We can't take part on a contest!"

"Listen, I know that's going against the plan..." Nya began. "But if the Blade Cup is not here, that's our best shot at getting it."

"Unfortunately, I have to agree." Zane sighed. "It the most logical way of solving this. I'm really sorry, Cole."

"Besides, even if we lose, we can just find a way to snatch it before anyone notices." Jay added.

"But seriously, how hard can it be?" Kai asked. "Come on, all we have to do is sing and dance, right?"

"Not you." Zane intervened, pointing at the spiky-haired boy. "You're still healing from your wound and your ankle. Dancing in a stage is out of question."

"Uh, I'm not asking to do it." Kai lifted an eyebrow. "I'm not too fond of this idea anyway."

"Count me out, too." Seliel lifted her hand. "I'm not a fan of being with a large group. I'm only staying because if I don't..." She faced Cole. "...someone might say the wrong thing and blow all this up."

"It's not easy, okay?" The black ninja grunted, looking away. "Listen, I'll... I'll take a breath outside." He said, walking away from the group, leaving the rest of them confused.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Into the cell. Now." An Hypnobrai opened the cell to Lloyd after Pythor's excursion.

"Fine." Lloyd mumbled, tired. Inside, the kid just made what he always did in the last few days. Lie in the cold jail and wait for something to eat.

Meanwhile, the purple snake was ordering the explorers to be escorted as well.

"I'm getting enough of you people." Pythor groaned at the pair. "You are utterly useless."

"Useless?" Shippelton repeated, annoyed. "My good sir, it's not our fault if someone got inside that tomb first."

"Yes." Smyhte nodded. "You say we are useless, but look how much information you got from us until this point!" Pythor gave them a disgusted look, but that didn't stop their rambling. "If you had got your hands in anyone else, you would be doomed by now."

"I agree completely." Shippelton added. "By Jove, imagine if he had that arrogant Clutch with him. Just because he sometimes find some interesting relycs, he thinks he is above us!"

"Agreed." The other explorer spoke. "I mean, please. Who cares for a little stupid blade, after all?"

"I care!" Pythor yelled, furious. "Guards! Get them out of my sight!" The snakes quickly came to take them out.

"Of course!" Smythe rolled his eyes. "It's always like that with you people. When you don't hear what you like, we always okay the price. You and Clutch are one and the same."

"Agreed." Shippelton crossed his arms. "I don't care if he found some old Serpentine blade in some random temple. He won't have more tea just because of that."

"Wait, hold on a moment!" Pythor cutted them off, with wide eyes. "What are you talking about?!"

"Oh, Clutch Powers." Smyhte said like It was nothing. "Just a simpleton who thinks he has more value than he really has. One of these days-"

"I don't want to hear about your little club activities!" Furious, the purple snake shooked the old man violently. "You said this guy found a Serpentine blade! What was it?"

"Oh, goodness me." Smyhte tried to save his friend. "Now that I think about it...can I see that Fangblade again?"

"Bring the blade!" Pythor announced, livid. Soon, the blade was in his hands.

"So? You better remember right. Did the blade looked like this?" The snake asked, coldly.

After looking at it for a few seconds, Smyhte finally nodded.

"The blade he brought to the club did not had that color, but..." He pondered. "Yes. It is, undoubtedly, the same one."

"Good." Pythor tone was sickly gentle, but not in a good way. "I hope this means both of you have more to say about where could it be?"

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Okay, you four." Lou, from his piano, clapped his hands firmly at Nya, Cole, Zane and Jay. The man had brought the group to a room where could they enact their performance. Meanwhile, Kai and Seliel were sitting on bench. "From the top, now. Five, six, seven, eight." After saying that, he plays some keys on his instrument.

"Bop till you drop~" Nya sang, awkwardly waving her hands.

"Shake it till you break it~" Jay sang next, shaking his hips.

"Move it till you lose it~" It was Zane's turn, who did a small piroutte and Fell in one knee.

"Spin it till you win it..." Cole was the last, spinning in place with not much effort.

"Stop, stop!" Lou yelled, getting out of his piano. "Ugh. If my ears weren't attached to my head, they'd be running away!" Both Kai and Seliel quietly snickered at that. "Now, let's see." The man walked to the quartet with his cane in hand.

"Nya, love the energy, although you're putting too much on to it. If you follow the flow more, your movement will be less stiff." He said, adjusting her posture. The girl only grunted at that.

"Jay, you're giving a lot, but I need more! Less stage fright and more confidence!" He faced the blue ninja, who sighed.

"Zane, you're like a machine. In a good and bad way. Let yourself feel the flow too, you don't need to go so hard. "As for the rest..." Lou patted the blonde's shoulder. "...don't change anything." Zane smirked, pleasured.

"And Cole," Cole's father finally stood in front of him. "Can you please try to act like you wanna be here?" The boy only looked away, grunting something unaudible.

"He's worse than Master Wu!" Jay whispered to Nya, which had to hold a giggle.

"I hope you are all taking this seriously." Lou said in an higher tone. "I really think that you have what it to dominate the stage, but a there's a lot to do and we have too little time." He shooked his head. "Honestly, you should have come sooner, with the show being tonight."

"T-tonight?!" Jay gasped, nervous. "Wait-"

"Ooh yeah." Seliel pondered, tense. "Y'know, time really flew by, isn't it?" The ninja understood the girl's attempt to cover this, and soon got quiet. "You praticed all that much just to come for Mr. Brookstone in the last second."

"And honestly, I think I can't stay any longer." She added. "I have some...really important things to take care of, or else the world is doomed." Cole winked at her, a sign he got what the girl meant. "Soo...bye, guys." Seliel waved her hand at the door. "See you guys tonight!"

"Okay, putting things aside and moving forward..." Lou started them, going back to the rehearsal. "Let's take a look at the big show-stopping climax. After all, we can't have history repeating itself." He paused. "Right, Cole?"

"Ugh!" Cole grunted audibly. "Dad, it was the Triple Tiger Sashay." He waved his hands at his father. "And I was seven."

"What's this Triple Tiger Sashay thing?" Kai asked, confused. Not that the other ninja aren't as well.

"Oh, nothing much." Cole rolled his eyes. "Only one of the most difficult dance moves ever created."

"Please." Lou looked away. " It's not that much." He turned to the teenagers the explain. "Many professionals have dare tried, but only a few were able to do it. All people of our family, of course." He smiled, proudful.

"Hence, my father thought a seven year-old could!" Cole snapped, annoyed with how nonchalant his father was being. "But I ended up falling on my face, humiliating myself, and letting my quartet down."

"Son, it's okay to fail sometimes, as long as you keep aiming big." Lou sighed. "As a Brookstone, you-"

"Being a Brookstone doesn't mean I'm going to be good performer!" The black ninja yelled. "Why don't you understand that?"

"This again?" The elegant man sighed, frustraded. "And I thought sending you to Marty's helped you deal with these ideas..." He picked his handkerchief and brushed his forehead. "I guess I was wrong."

"Not very shocking, to say the least." Cole grunted, crossing his arms.

"That's enough." Lou finally said, losing his patience, pointing his cane at his son. "Cole, neither I, not Lily raised you to act like that in front of other people."

The room got silently cold.

"... Lily?" Zane slowly asked. Lou turned his attention at Cole, who in response lowered his head.

"My...my mom." The older boy spoke with a muffled voice.

"Oh, yeah!" Jay nodded. "Y-your mom! Would we be able to meet her before the show? I'm dying to know her!" He said, trying to ease the tension.

Once again, Lou turned his attention to his son. "Are you telling me..." He spoke slowly. "...you didn't told them even that...?!"

"Oh yeah!" Cole snarked, angry. "That's totally something worth mentioning, right?" He faced the group with a forced smile. "Sorry, guys, for not telling you my mom is dead right off the bat! I should be like my father, who only brings her up to make me feel guilty about myself!"

"Cole!" Lou shout, defensive. "How dar-"

"But don't worry, guys." Cole kept going. "My dad raised me good by always going back home late, leaving everything to me to take care of!" He turned around, walking towards the door. "Ugh! Coming back was a mistake!" Said the boy, leaving the room fast.

"Cole, wait!" Jay got up to go after him, but Lou stopped him with his cane.

"No, leave him be." The man said. "If you go now, you'll only make things worse."

"But he's my best friend!" The freckled boy spoke, frustraded. "I can't just let him go whatever he wants, he's not okay!"

"Fine, then." Lou sighed. "But, before you do that, listen to what I have to say first." Not liking that much, Jay crossed his arms. "Don't look at me like that. Cole is...not completely wrong." Spoke the man. "But I feel like you need the complete picture instead of...that little spectacle my son did."

"So, please, have a seat." Lou said as he picked the bench from his piano. "This isn't a long story, but a very hurtful one, either way."

Chapter Text

"If my memory doesn't fail me, it has been two years already." Lou began sharing his story. "Cole's mom had fallen ill and no doctor could find the cause to it. The only thing they were certain of it was it was terminal, and there's nothing we could do to save her."

"Woah." Jay was shocked in hear that. "Cole never told us any of that... He, um, never talked much about himself..."

"Of course he wouldn't." Lou sighed. "His entire life was devoted to Lily. Her death was too much for the poor boy. He was always the first person to jump into her arms whenever she came home after some of her, uh, excursions." He explained. "He was always sharing his time with her and listening to her stories, and saying how much cool everything she lived was."

"Obviously, my son took the recent news really badly." The man sighed with watered eyes. "It hurt a lot to explain her situation to him, and even more when he constantly asked for us to visit her on the hospital. But..." He pulled his handkerchief once more. "Nothing prepared me for her death, and I believe it was the same for Cole."

"I won't lie, at the time, I didn't made the best choices. It was too much for me to deal with everything, so I tried to put my mind in anything that could distract me from how much I was missing my wife." The elegant man brushed his watered eyes. "If I performed before, now this was everything I done."

"But...what about Cole?" Zane gently asked. "How does he fit in all of this?"

"Simple." Lou sighed. "He didn't. Every time I came back home, the dinner was ready, the house was clean. Everything was in order. At first, I thought that was Cole's way of dealing with his loss. Giving everything he got on everything. But..." He looked away.

"I felt how closed off he became. He never spoke unless it was necessary, and he never shared anything with me. So I thought..."

"You thought...?" Kai asked, with furrowed eyebrows.

"Maybe... This wasn't doing him any good." Lou shooked his head. "He needed friends of his age, be more active. And I couldn't provide any of this for him."

"So... That's why you sent him to study on Marty's?" Nya asked, confused.

"Exactly." Lou nodded. "At first, he didn't seemed fond of the idea, but after seeing his letters..." He smiled sweetly. "He was so happy in them. I'm glad he was doing way better. Maybe living here was not helping him after all. And look at you!" The man added. "He made such good friends! I'm happy to see my son is doing well lately."

Zane, Nya and Jay looked at each other, unsure of what to say. Sure, Cole looked to be in a better place, but his father didn't had any idea of why.

"Have you finished?" Kai asked, getting up.

"Yes." Lou nodded. "I'm sorry you all had to listen to that."

"Yeah, I am sorry." Kai walked to the door. "I'm sorry that Cole had to deal with a poor excuse of a father." He added, coldly.

"Excuse me?" Lou asked, surprised.

"Kai..." Nya spoke, nervous.

"What? I just saying the truth." Nya's brother said, annoyed. "I think you didn't understood your son at all." He looked at the elegant man. "Maybe if you did, you would have noticed how unconfortable he was all day. Parents shouldn't leave their kids behind." He put an end to their conversation by lefting the room.

"Ugh. Way to go, Kai." Jay sighed.

"I... I'm sorry, but I agree with him." Said Nya, leaving Lou more surprised. "Maybe I shouldn't be saying this, but you should have thought about Cole's feelings, Mr. Lou."

"Do you think I didn't?" The man spoke, seemingly hurt by that. "Why do you think I did what was best for him?"

"You might think that, but did you asked him that?" The red ninja retorted. "When he most needed you, he was pushed aside like he was nothing."

"My girl, this isn't true at a-" Cole's father began.

"But that's how it feels!" Nya stopped him. "I've never met my parents, but I know how it feels to lose someone important to you. Because I saw my brother every day. I saw how much he missed them, and how much he felt Lost without him."

Lou just kept himself in silence, unable to say anything.

"Don't you think..." Nya looked away. "...that maybe the only thing Cole wanted was for his father to stay and be there to him?"

"I...think Nya said everything." Jay sighed. "Sorry, but...she and Kai are kinda right."

"I think..." Lou stood up, pale. "I'm the one who needs a breather right now." He spoke. "Sorry for the incovenience, kids." The man said, walking away out of the room.

"Man, what a mess." The blue ninja sighed. "I didn't knew Cole's family was that messed up."

"Now I know why he didn't want to come." The red ninja sat again, feeling tired.

"Do you think we still going to take part on the talent show?" The blue ninja asked, nervous. "It's our only chance."

"I hope so, but I'm not so sure anymore." The girl sighed. "Any opinions, Zane?" She asked the white ninja, who was in silence during all of this.

"Um, I'm sorry. My mind was in...other things." The boy explained, aloof.

"Other things? What other things?" Nya asked, confused.

"Just... The way you and Kai spoke about all of this." Zane explained. "About parents leaving their childs behind, and how lonely one can feel. Maybe...that's what Kai saw in Lloyd. Maybe that's what brought them closer in the first place..." He pondered.

Surprised with that line of thought, Nya looked at the wall, lost in her own mind. "Could it really be like that?"

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Stupid! Stupid!" Cole was on his old bedroom, slaming a pillow. "Why do you have to be like that, Cole? Why can't you be the bigger person?" Sighing, the boy began tried to calm himself.

"I don't know what's wrong with me." He mumbled. "I wish I could just suck it up until all of this was finished."

"That...would be hard, I won't lie to you." A familiar voice came from his door, and when Cole sat up to face the visitor, he met Kai, who seemed tired.

"Did you got on the second floor all by yourself?" The black ninja asked, concerned.

"Yeah, bad foot and all." The other boy nodded, trying to put that out of the way. "Anyway, I see you talk with yourself a lot."

"Hm." Was all Cole's said to that. "So, do you need something? I'm not going down so soon, if that's what the others want."

"Nah, no one's in the mood." Kai walked slowly into the bed. Without words, Cole let him sit on it. "Your dad kinda told everything about your family."

"Of course." The black ninja sighed, annoyed. "How much drama did he made of it?"

"Enough, I guess." The spiky-haired boy shrugged. Both of they didn't said anything for a few seconds.

"We shouldn't have come here." Cole sighed. "I knew this was going to happen..."

"But what's the problem?" Kai asked. "I don't think that changes any-"

"That changes everything." The black ninja cut him off. "This is was supposed to be something easy to do, and now I just screwed everything over again. I can't keep failing with everyone like this..."

"Everyone?" Kai asked, confused. "Who, the others?"

"Not just the others." Cole sighed, frustraded. "I can't keep dissapointing Master Wu, or the rest of the team. They're counting on me, and I just keep making things worse. I still have nightmares from when I got hypnotized." The boy confessed. "Who knows what I might have done if you and Wu didn't show up?" "And..." He looked away. "I keep failing with everyone else."

"Listen," Said Kai, after a few seconds. "from someone that grew carrying everything in his shoulders to another." Cole faces him. "You don't need to do that, you know? At least you have everyone by your side. I don't know about Zane or Jay, but I know my sister isn't expecting a unbreakable wall from you, or a person that always keeps their cool and never snaps. Don't put yourself in that position."

"Well..." The black ninja slowly spoke. "Of  course I know that, but... that's how things always were for me." He sighed. "Being the responsable one is what I do best. Not like that mattered to my dad..." The boy spoke, clearly bitter. "And maybe..." He snickered at the spiky-haired boy. "You should follow your own advice too."

"Yeah, maybe..." Kai looked away. "I guess you weren't lying when you said you knew how I felt back at that day, huh?"

"Oh." Cole looked away. That day still filled with shame. "Yeah, I'm...still sorry about that."

"Don't be." Kai shook his head. "It's not like I was totally right either way. We can say we both messed up." He laughed faintly. "But, um, seriously, I should've apologized before."

"It's fine." Cole smiled. "I deserved that punch after what I said. It wasn't right."

"Fair." Kai spoke. "But... I said some bad things too. You're not a total waste of a leader."

"Gee, thanks." Cole snickered. Both boys laughed at that.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Trough the roads of Nom, a manhole in a alley is quickly moved out. From there, Skales and Fangton got out.

"I hope that explorers aren't mistaken." Fangton pointed out. "If that Clutch guy really donated the Fangblade to this town..."

"Then we'll have more trouble getting it." Skales sighed. "And that's without mentioning the possibility of those Ninja appearing out of nowhere."

"Is everything okay, Skales?" The Fangpyre asked. "You seem...troubled with something." The Hypnobrai gave his friend a strange look.

"I was just wondering if Pythor really knows what he's doing." He explained. "I don't know if you noticed, but he seems madder by each day it passes."

"Well, I'm not too fond of that guy, that's for sure." The red general shrugged. "But what do you think?"

"I think..." Skales pondered. "That he's going to bit his own tail if he keeps going."  The blue snake spoke. "How is he so sure we will be able to control the Great Devourer? What if this revenge backfires on us?"

"Hm. That is a good argument." Fangton nodded. "But what do you propose then?"

"What can I propose?" Skales laughed. "Honestly, I'm more inclined to just ignore all this revenge plan and live by my own, but we can't just back down now."

"That's true..." Fangton's heads nodded. Looking at a pole on the corner of the street, he noticed a poster strapped on it. "Hey, look! Isn't that the blade?" He asked, picking the paper and showing it to Skales.

"Hm... Yes. Those old man were right after all." He red the text on the panflet. "A contest...? Great. More incoveniences to us." He sighed. "I bet Pythor will love hearing about this. Let's go."

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Back at the Realm of Madness, both Wu and Garmadon had finally made their way towards the top of the mountain.

"Well..." Wu breathed, exhausted from the long walk. "We're here. How do we make back to Ninjago?"

"Use your eyes, brother." Garmadon, in a strange calmer demeanor, pointed at a buff in the Peak of the mountain. As they got to look inside, a vortex was spinning inside. The colors of it reminded Wu of the portal created by Traveler's Tea.

"I heard people say that who fells there never comes back." The dark lord added. "Obviously, I mean. There's no way for them to find a way back." He moved out of the way. "Please, you first."

"Thank you." Wu nodded, pleased. "Though we live in two different worlds, I still feel good in your heart, Garmadon." The old man spoke, giving another step to the bound of the buff.

"Yes. The battle between our worlds is inevitable." His brother spoke from behind him. "And that's why you shouldn't put that much trust in me." Suddenly, the evil lord pushed Wu down the vortex. The old man almost falls down, but manages to hold on into one of the ledges.

"Garmadon...what is this?" Wu asked, tense. "Is this a trap? Did you lead me here to destroy me?!"

Garmadon simply laughed at his younger brother's despair. "Hm-hm-hm. Hahahahahah!" He stopped, smiling at the old man. "Who could say...? See you on the other side, dear brother." He finally pushed Wu down while the man screamed. Coming back to his laughter, Garmadon jumped in after him.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Beyond~

The ordinary, we're extraordinary

Gonna dream big, find out what we're made of

Imagination is gonna take us

Beyond~"

"Hear this, everyone!" A familiar reporter spoke in front of the cameraman, inside of Nom's Concert Hall. "Talented people from all around Ninjago are trying their best to show everything they got in Nom tonight!" She smiled forcedly. "And you count with NGTV News to cover the event!"

"Aaand...cut!" The man spoke as the reporter finally grunted. "Is everything all right, Gayle?" He asked. "You look...angry."

"Hm. Of course I'm angry, Vinny." The woman spoke. "I promise the higher ups the best story in ages, make all those interviews with that curator, and they barely give me anything. Who cares about a stupid talent show?!"

"Um, everyone here?" He looked around. "Look, I know this ninja mystery seems cool, but..."

"It's not just 'cool'!" Gayle grunted. "Is a journalist's job to deliver the truth! Who are those ninjas? Where they come from? And-"

"And the singer seems to be finishing her number." Vinny pointed out at the stage. "Should I start recording again?"

"Yeah, yeah. Fine." Gayle said, unfazed.

"Gotta be brave, have faith

Let the Dream World take you beyond~

Together we are gonna fly

Beyond~

Beyond~"

"And that was Olivia, everybody!" The announcer proclaimed as the crowd cheered and applauded the woman on stage. "Performing with Beyond, and playing the guitar herself." The woman called Olivia bowed her head. "Now, let's see her score!"

In the table of judges, the first two ones gave the woman a '7' and '8', but the third one, a large man wearing a big coat, showed a sign with a '3' on it.

"Seriously? Another low score?" One of the judges faced the third one.

"Hm-hm-hm. What can I say?" The judge spoke. "I have a very...specific taste." He smiled. "And that is making sure the Serpentine win." He thought to himself.

"Good grief." From another seat, disguised as a person, was Skales. "Why does Pythor needs to make things like this?"

Meanwhile, in the backstage area of the concert hall, the Ninja are waiting for their turn to perform. The quartet is wearing matching tuxedos.

"Ugh." Kai spied a bit trough the curtain directly besides the stage. "I don't know much about dancing and all, but those guys seem hard to impress."

"Don't worry, I know you guys can do it." Lou spoke, a bit awkward. Things weren't going Very well since the argument earlier that day. No one could focus enough on training their performance, so Cole's father was doing his best to do some last minute preparations. "Now, from the beginning again."

"Okay..." Cole sighed. "Come on, guys. We kick ball change, barrel roll, barrel turn, and we all do the double wings..." He moved, accompanied by the other three until Jay and Nya bumped into each other.

"Ow!" The blue ninja yelped. "Sorry, sorry, Nya!"

"That's okay." The girl said, massaging her head. "Just watch out, you're two beats off."

"Actually, 2.72 off the beat, to be precise." Zane pointed out, helping both of them get up.

"Calm down, kids. Calm down." Lou sighed. "You're all just nervous. I know what, um, can help. More lemon honey tea, that's always the right call before a performance. Wait here. I left some on my car." He said, getting out of the room.

"Ugh." Nya grunted. "This should be easier than fighting snakes. Why I am so nervous about it?"

"Maybe it's stage fright? Some people have that." Jay pondered. "I won't lie, I'm kinda excited." He added. "I always had that dream of being a super rock star when I grow up..."

"Yeah, everyone wants the spotlight at some point." A familiar voice came from the door. When they turned, there was Seliel, smirking at them.

"Hey, Sel." Cole smiled and waved his hand. "How you're doing?"

"How you guys are doing?" She turned the question around. "You seem pretty nervous, if you ask me."

"I...have butterflies in my stomach." Zane slowly spoke.

"I'm pretty sure that's also common before an performance." Jay pointed out.
"It's just your nerves acting up."

"No, I literally have butterflies in my stomach." The white ninja explained, pulling his vest up to open his panel, from where three butterflies flew away.

"Okay..." Seliel spoke with wide eyes. "So the blonde guy is a...robot. I'm glad we talked about this before."

"Oh, I'm really sorry." Zane quickly closed his panel. "I'm...still get used to that fact myself."

"Um, suure." The girl nodded, turning her attention to Cole. "And how about you? How we're doing?"

"Not very good." The black ninja sighed. "At least it's almost over. We just have to keep up the charade until the trophy's revealed." He punched a fist on his hand.  "Once we steal the Blade Cup, we can forget about everything that happened here."

"Are you really fine with that?" Jay slowly asked. "I mean, I know it's not easy to you, but...maybe we can do this. Or maybe your dad-"

"Or maybe we should let Cole decide, since it's his problem." Kai sighed, annoyed. "We shouldn't force him to go and dance just because you want to be a star or whatever."

"I'm trying to talk things trough because just like my friends helped me with my family, I want to help them as well." Jay gritted his teeth. "I know you normally solve things using your fists or being rude, but-"

"Want to say that again?" Kai asked, angry.

"Shut up! Both of you!" Nya exclaimed, annoyed. "Acting like that isn't helping at all."

"I agree." Zane nodded. "Cole should be the one to decide whatever we dance or not."

"That's an easy one." The black ninja sighed, crossing his arms. " The only dance I wanna perform is called 'Get me out of this nuthouse and let's burn these memories from my head'."

"Is that so?" Another familiar voice came from the door. This time, Lou was there, holding a kettle.

"D-Dad...?!" Cole mumbled, tense.

"Oh crap." Jay winced.

"Tell me more, Cole." The elegant man spoke, putting the kettle on a table. "Please explain exactly why my son was planning to steal the Blade Cup."

"Cole..." Seliel looked at the boy, nervous.

Cole sighed and stood quiet, with his head down. Then, he finally spoke. "Dad, I... I didn't mean for you to hear that, but...but I'm glad you did." He said, determined. "There's something I need to tell you. Maybe this isn't the best moment, but... all this time, I haven't been training to be a singer or a dancer in Marty's."

"What?" Lou wided his eyes, shocked. "But, your letters..."

"Sorry, Mr. Lou." Seliel sighed. "That was my doing..."

"But don't get mad at her. It's not her fault." Cole quickly added. "I was the one who decided to lie to you. The truth is... I found something new that I'm really good at. Dad..." He sighed deeply. There was no turning back now. "I'm a ninja."

"A-a ninja?" Lou looked at him, confused. "What...what does this mean...?"

"It means I fight bad people." Cole said. "I'm out there, saving the world from anything that can cause harm to other people. I protect everyone from the...the cruel and unjust."

"Lily..." Lou mumbled to himself, looking away.

"Dad, listen." Cole reached for his father's hand. "If we don't steal that Fangblade, or Blade Cup, or whatever... there's other people that will. Bad people. Serpentine." The boy sighed once again, hoping to reach his dad. "And we need it to save the world. I know how ridiculous this sounds, but I'm proud of who I am, and I want you to be proud of me, too."

"I..." Lou mumbled. "I never had a problem with your mom's way of living her life. She could go out and do whatever was needed to keep things okay." He sighed, parting his hand from Cole's. "But this? You want me to be proud of a son that justifies stealing?" His voice got higher as he got angrier. "A son who uses his mom wishes as an excuse, that prefers to lie to his father and mock both sides of his families legacies?"

"Dad, I-I-" The black ninja stuttered, nervous.

"I'm sorry for not being there for you when you needed, Cole." Lou cut him off. "But this doesn't mean you could just lie to my face. I'm your father, you could have been honest with me!" The man turned, with a sniffle clearly able to be heard. "So I'm not gonna wait around to watch you dig your hole deeper. Do whatever you want." He said, getting out.

"Hey!" Kai yelled, angry. "You're just going to say that and walk away?! Come back here, you-"

"Stop!" Cole shouted, throwing himself into a chair. "Just...please, stop, Kai."

A few minutes passed, with only Cole's deep breaths filling the silence.

"I'm... sure he... didn't mean all of that." Jay mumbled. "It was probably too much information to him, I guess..."

"Yeah, maybe he'll come back and...apologize to you." Nya added, feeling lost.

"No, it's-it's okay." Cole gulped dryly. "I didn't expect him to have a good reaction either way. It wasn't the best way, but...maybe not lying to him is the best outcome."

"And now it's time fooor... The Treble Makes!" The group heard the announcer of the show proclaim. As soon as he said that, a group of poorly disguised Serpentine walked out from one of the rooms.

"Is this a joke?" Nya asked, looking directly at them as they passed by.

"How did they find about the competition?" Jay asked, nervous.

"I think we could ask the same thing to one of the judges." Zane spoke, after peeking trough the curtain. As the others joined him, they saw the third, clearly Pythor in disguise.

"I can't help it if I offend anyone. My only job will be to tell the truth." The purple snake told to the other judges, who gave them a weird look. "I'm just happy to have the opportunity to judge this prestigious competition."

"Those guys are really trying to get their hands on the Fangblade by winning the competition?" Kai asked, amused.

"That makes some sense." Zane said. "They're not the only ones after it, and the less attention they draw to themselves, the better. Just like us."

"Okay, forget anything about the dance, then." Nya shook her head. "We lost our chance with the map and we lost the first Fangblade." She said, impatient. "We can't risk losing out again."

"So we're back to stealing it then?" Jay asked. "Okay, I'm fine with that."

"No." Cole said behind them.

"Huh?" They all turned at him, confused.

"Maybe I have some problems with my dad, but he was right about one thing." The black ninja spoke. "I can't use my role as an excuse to do whatever I want. If the Serpentine are going that low to win this, we're not better than them for trying to steal the cup."

"But, is the Fangblade!" Nya exclaimed. "Do we really want to risk that?"

"It's not a risk, I know we can do it." The black ninja said. "And I know we are better than that. We gonna win this, but in our way." He sighed. "The right way." The boy mumbled to himself.

"Well, whatever you want to do, count me in." Jay nodded, decided. "I trust you, Cole."

"I see." Zane nodded as well, walking towards the instrument case they brought up all the way to the room they were. "In that case, it's good I brought our gis to fight."

"You did what?" Jay asked, confused. "Why did you do that?"

"I sensed...danger coming towards us today." The white ninja spoke. "This morning, I mean. Like...something was crumbling right beneath us."

"Okay, so, what's the plan, exactly?" Nya sighed, ignoring that last comment. "Are we going to fight the snakes now?"

"No." Cole shook his head, picking his uniform. "We're going to dance. Not to make anyone proud but ourselves."

"Let's do this. For Cole!" Jay agreed, picking his own.

"Together, I know we have a chance." Zane added.

Nya sighed, but smiled. "Okay. Let's wreck the competition, guys!"

"I'm glad to have you guys." Cole smiled. "Let's do this!"

"I'm not dancing, but you guys can count on me too." Kai crossed his arms.

"I like how this is going. Count me in." Seliel nodded. "And I guess you guys need a new groove for your performance, too, so leave it to me." She winked, walking fast outside.

Meanwhile, on the stage, the Serpentine were giving...their best on their singing.

"My poison lies over the ocean,

my poison lies over the sea

My poison lies over the ocean,

so bring back my poison to me~!"

The Serpentine on the seats cheered them on as they finished,while everyone else booed them, annoyed.

"Okay, those were, um, the Treble Makers, everyone." The announcer said, awkward. No one clapped, except Pythor and the rest of his goons. "Now, as for their points..."

Pythor, with a devilish smile, lifts a sign  holding an '10', but the remaining judges lift up an '6'. The purple serpent quickly gives them a intimidating look, causing them to flip their score signs to a '9' instead.

"Wow, that's our highhest score of the night!" The announcer exclaimed, impressed. "The next presentation will have to so something big to surpass that."

"Unlikely, if you ask me." Pythor smiled as he said that.

"All right, everyone!" The announcer spoke to everyone. "Now, at last but not least... Huh?" Someone poked the man from behind the curtain, giving a piece of paper to him. "Oh. Okay." He nodded. "Everyone, we had a change of plans." He announced. "Unfortunately, The Royal Blacksmiths won't be performing tonight."

A lot of people in their seats complained audibly. Pythor snickered.

"Well, then I suppose the trophy must go to our winners, then." Pythor clapped his hands, pleased.

"Uh-uh-uh. Not so fast, mister." The announcer spoke, to the snake's surprise. "Instead, I want everyone here to get ready, cuz in their place, we will be having... Spiiin Haarmonyyy!"

"What?!" Pythor gasped, having a terrible feeling inside of his mind.

"Ugh. We didn't prepared anything." Nya grunted from the curtain.

"Just follow my lead." Cole said. "Don't mind the people in the seats. We're here to give our best." Everyone nodded at his words. "Let's do this, guys!"

A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

A-W-E-S-O-M-E !

"Ugh. Just one more and we can put a end to this..." Gayle sighed, exhausted. "Then, we can go back to the real deal."

"Um, Gayle?" Vinny spoke, nervous. "At the stage, aren't those...?" Curious, she looked at it, just in time to see the four ninja running into the stage, one by one.

"Aah!" She gasped. "It's them!!!" In her suprise, the reporter fell from her seat. "Vinny, record everything! And I mean every single frame of it!"

"O-okay, okay." The man said, sweating.

We got the energy

and we're ready to go~

(we're all pumped and ready to go)

The four of them spinned in the same place, with then each pair giving a high five to each other. Cole took the lead, and the others followed him.

The beat′s got us all revvep up

we're gonna put on a show

( puttin ' on a show tonight)

"Oh, no. No, you don't." Pythor growled, glancing at Skales in the crowd. The blue snake nodded, understanding what to do. With a snap of his fingers, the Serpentine got out of their seats and marched towards the stage.

"Oh, no! Snakes are here!" Someone from the crowd yelled.

"Looks like we have some company!" Nya said, preparing herself.

"Let's show them what we got, then!" Cole smirked, confident.

When we get together

we can take on anything

I got a feeling like we′re all connected

And so, the group did they best. Zane, doing his own version of the robot, easily knocked the snakes away. Nya and Jay, surrounded, gave at each a fiercy look and nodded together, as the girl grabbed the boy's hands and jumped, while he spirled around, helping her kick the snakes and sent them flying.

We got the energy

we′re gonna let it go

(we're gonna let it go)

But no one was doing better then Cole. The black ninja was doing an amazing combination of dance moves and incorporating them into his fight, caughting the attention of the remaining Serpentine.

"Catch him!" One of them shouted.

We′ re young!

Let's Have Fun!

"I'll show you, dad. I'll show you can still be proud of who I am."

Determined, Cole ran towards his enemies, smoothly dodging the first enemy, then swirling and kicking from behind. Mimicking the same move, this time the black ninja knocked the next one on his head, finally grabbing the last one's hands and spinning with him, throwing him away from the stage and with a quick last swirl, the boy elegantly stood in his knees, breathing heavily.

Frozen for a second, the people who weren't panicking from the snakes appearence began cheering and clapping their hands, impressed. Even the ninjas on the stage looked at Cole, perplexed.

"Okay, Cole knows how to deliver the goods." Jay exclaimed, impressed. "Way to go, Cole!!"

"Wow." Kai mumbled from his seat. "That was-"

"Oh my First Spinjitzu Master! He did it! He actually did it!" Seliel yelled, excited. "He did the Triple Tiger Sashay!"

A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

♪♪♪

"Amazing spectacle from Spin Harmony, everyone!!!" The announcer was clapping his hands as well. "Now, what our judges have to say about it?"

The first two judges lifted a '10' in the air, smiling. Pythor, annoyed, quickly began looking for his '0' sign until suddendly, someone kicked his chair, making the serpent fall on the floor with his signs.

"No, no no! Where is it?" Pythor growled, furious.

"Number 3, your score, please?" He heard the announcer ask.

"On a minute!" He yelled back, tense.

"Here, mister." Someone gave him one of the signs. Seeing the zero he was looking for, Pythor grasped at it and quickly lifted it up.

"It's a perfect score!" Said the announcer, as everyone cheered on. "Spin Harmony wins the Blade Cup!"

"What?" Pythor gasped, looking at his sign. It had the number '10' on it. "Wait. I picked the wrong one!"

"Oh, that's a shame." A female voice said behind him. When the snake looked behind, there was Seliel and Kai, on the seat directly behind his.

"I'm sorry for that, 'mister'." Kai snickered, as both him and Seliel gave themselves a high five.

"Ggrrrhh!" Pythor gnawrled, livid. "This is a travesty of epic proportions! I demand for there to be a recount!" He yelled, but no one was paying attention to him.

In the stage, as the Ninja bowed their heads and received the trophy, Cole searched the audience one last time, hoping to find his dad somewhere, anywhere. "I did the right thing. Are you proud of me now?" were the black ninja's thoughts.

He wouldn't say it aloud. But seeing no sign of his father...hurt. He knows he should be mad at him, hate him for his negligence, but there's was a part of him  that wished that this time, maybe this time... His father could have show him he cares. That he's proud of Cole for being the person he is, without pushing him aside for not doing good enough.

But of course was not that easy.

Soon enough, the group made their way back to the backstage, excited with their victory.

"Okay, I'm never doing this again so soon." Nya laughed nervously.

"Aw, come on! We were amazing!" Jay shouted. "Everyone loved us!"

"I'm inclined to agree." Zane smiled 'I've never felt more alive."

"You guys were amazing out there!" Seliel exclaimed, entering the backstage. "I can't believe you did it!"

"I...admit, that was pretty awesome." Kai followed right after her. "Good job, guys."

"Thanks." Cole nodded, glad. Still, he couldn't stop from frowning after that. "I just wish... I don't know, feel like it wasn't enough. My dad didn't even saw us..."

"But I saw, son. I saw it all." Suddenly, another person appeared on the frame. Lou was there, showing the group a tender smile.

"Dad...?" Cole mumbled, surprised. "Y-you saw me dance?"

"More than that, Cole." The man walked towards the black ninja. "I saw you truly shining out there. Not as a dancer, nor a singer, nor a ninja." He put a hand on his kid's shoulder. "But as yourself. I've...never saw you with such fire in your eyes. Such determination, such..." He sniffled. "Such alive!"

"But...the dance...the-" Cole mumbled, confused.

"Who cares about dance now, Cole?" His father brought him in a big hug, with watered eyes. "Those snakes were up to no good, trying to steal the show, and I saw you stand up for what is right. That's all that matters to me. I'm so, so sorry for failing you, son."

"But...but I thought dancing was all that mattered to you." Cole spoke, still lost in everything. "Wasn't that the reason you sent me away, to do better for you?"

"Well, I was wrong." Lou sighed, letting his son go. "I shouldn't have pushed you so hard to follow in my footsteps, especially when you were needing me the most." He brushed the tears coming out of his eyes. "I...I only did that because I felt that's what you wanted. Your letters were...so, so happy, that I thought I did the right thing all this time. That I wasn't a failure of a father in the end."

"But, I was." The elegant man added. "I hope you can forgive me for being this blind with you all this time."

"So...does that mean you're not mad? At all?" Cole asked, gently.

"Why should I? You're the one who should be mad at me." He patted his kid's shoulder. "For not being the father you deserve. For not seeing how much of a special talent you have. And not for dancing, for doing things right."

"So, please, let me try to be a good father and-" The man got cut off for his own son, who hugged him firmly.

"T-thanks. Thanks, dad." Cole spoke. "That really means a lot. Knowing you like me, you want to be there for me..." They both hugged together, hoping that things could go better for them now.

"Oh, wow. Such a sweet family time." A voice said from the stage, surprising everyone. "But, unfortunately, the show demands more drama than this." As everyone looked, there was Pythor once more.

"Give up, Pythor!" Nya exclaimed. "You lost today! You don't stand a chance even if you try to fight us!"

"Oh, is that so?" The serpent snickered. "Then, I sorry to say, but... It's time for your curtain call." He clapped, and suddenly the entire building began shaking.

"W-woo-aah-hh!" Jay trembled, panicking. "What is going ooon?!"

"Constrictai!" Zane shouted. "I sense a evil presence coming from beneath us. They're trying to colapse the entire building."

"We have to get out of here!" Kai yelled, lumping to the stage. "Come on, guys!" The Ninja picked their Golden Weapons and followed him.

As they got from the stage to the seats, a lot of the public had ran away already. It didn't took them much time for them to come to the entrance hall.

"Oh no, wait!" Alarmed, Nya turned back. "We forgot the Fangblade!"

"Forget the Fangblade, this place isn't going to hold on for long!" Just as Kai yelled that, a piece of the roof fell before them.

"I sense this place is about to colapse!" Zane added, concerned. "We have to keep moving."

"But...but..." Nya mumbled, nervous.

"Nya, we have to go." Jay hold her hand, tense. "We can't die here now." Frustraded, the red ninja nodded.

The group made out to the entrance, where a lot of people were watching, panicking.

"Is everyone alright?" Cole asked.

"I'll survive, I guess." Seliel panted besides him.

"We are all here, I think." Zane looked around the area.

"Wait, where is my-" The black ninja asked before hearing a voice from inside the hall.

"Cole!" Lou screamed, lying in the floor. A ruble fell close to him.

"Dad!" Without thinking, Cole jumped inside, after his father.

"Cole! Wait!" Jay tried to go after him, but another piece of the roof fell, blocking the way. "Oh no. No no no!"

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Cole quickly got to his father, using all his strenght to push some of the ruble away. "Dad! Are you okay?"

"Yes, don't worry." Lou breathed heavily. "My stupid leg just failed with me." He sighed. "You shouldn't had come, son."

"No way!" The black ninja helped his father get up. "I'm not leaving you behind. I'm done with that!"

Without a word, Lou just nodded in acknowledgement.

"Come on, let's find a way out." Cole said. As they got to the entrance again, their way out was completely blocked. "Great..." Fast, the boy began moving everything he could away, with Lou helping him.

After a few tries, the ramblings in the building got worse, making the pair tensier.

"Come on, Cole! Do something!" Cole screamed, panicking. Pulling his scythe, he began attacking the debris in front of him blindly. "Just...do...something! Anything! Just..." He collapsed on the floor. "Just...stop being an dissapointment to everyone..."

"Cole..." Lou kneeled in front of him, saddened.

"Dad, I'm sorry, I..." The black ninja sobbed, unable to stay calm anymore. "I can't do it... I don't know what do, what I can do! I'm-I'm a failure...!"

"Noz you're not." Lou said. "If there's anything that I'm more proud of my career, is having you, my son." He smiled, once again with watered eyes. "You did your best, and no matter what happens..." He hugged his son, crying. "...I'm really, really proud of you, and I know your mother is proud of you, too."

Cole sobbed again. As they heard the roof crumble above them, he felt...finally at peace. It's strange to think that, but that's how he felt.

The Scythe of Quakes began to glow in Cole's back.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Outside, the concert hall finally collapsed, lifting a cloud of dust.

"*cough* cough*!" Jay coughed, trying to blow the dirt away. "Cole! Coole!" He yelled. "Are you in there?!"

"You have to be kidding me!" Nya mumbled, shaking. "No...not Cole!"

"Sis, come on, we have to calm down." Kai took her in his arms, nervous. Meanwhile, Seliel only looked away, hiding her face, and Zane stood in silence.

"COOOLE!" Jay yelled, with tears falling from his face.

They all fell in silent. Not a single sound came from the debris, and maybe nothing would.

Until suddenly, a light came from inside, and a arm appeared, glowing in a bronzeish color. Shocked, the group faced it.

"Is that...?" Nya asked with wide eyes.

"Cole!" Jay yelled, running to it and trying to remove something out of the way. Soon everyone joined him. Everyone except Zane.

"He... found his True Potential." The white ninja spoke with a tender smile. "Maybe what holds Cole back was his broken family..."

"Hey, Blondie!" Seliel yelled at him. "Less talking, more acting here!" He nodded, joining them as well.

Though that was not much necessary. With a grunt, Cole came out lifting every piece and throwing them away.

"Woah!" Everyone gasped together.

With his father on his back, Cole finally came out, collapsing outside the debris.

"Cole!" Lou spoke, getting out of his kid. "Son, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm...fine." Cole nodded, winded. Soon, the glow dissapeared, leaving only the ninja with his scythe. "Is...is everyone okay?"

"No I'm not! You jerk!" Jay punched his arm. "I thought you were dead!" He hugged his friend.

"Hahah. Ow!" The black ninja said. "Come on, I'm not dying that easily."

"No, you aren't." Lou nodded, joining their hug, being followed by Nya and Zane. Even Seliel and Kai joined in too, after a moment.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

The next day, back at Lou's house, the ninja, Kai and Seliel are  are drinking tea early in the morning, chatting happily. Everyone except Nya.

"So I guess the Serpentine escaped in the middle of the confusion. "The red ninja grunted. "With the Fangblade, too."

"Yeah, I guess so..." Jay frowned, but quickly regained his good mood. "But still, we're making progress!"

"What progress?" Nya asked, tense. "Didn't you heard me? The he scorecard now reads Pythor-two Fangblades, ninja-zero." "I'm not making any progress by myself, either." That annoying voice spoke on her mind.

"Still, we only need one." Zane pointed out. "There are still two left to find, I believe we can safeguard them."

"Aaand... There ya go." They heard Lou speaking from his trophy shelf. Curious, the group get there to what was happening. In the shelf, where the Blade Cup was supposed to be, there was a framed picture of the Ninja, holding it in glee.

"All right." Seliel smiled. "Now that's something cool to look at."

"Yeah, that's...awesome." Cole smiled shyly.

"I'm glad to hear that." The elegant man nodded. "It may not be the trophy, but it's something even more treasured than that. A photo of my family."

"Family...?" Zane said, curious.

"Of course!" Lou smiled widely. "As far as I'm concerned, you're all part of my family now." He patted Cole's shoulder.

"Nice." Jay chuckled.

"That means a lot." Nya smiled, flustered.

"Yeah..." Kai pondered, with a tiny smile in the corner of his mouth. "Thanks."

Cole looked at them, at both sides of his family. He never thought he would have this any time, and yet there they were, together. The boy smiled at that, blushing a little.

"Love you, guys."

Chapter Text

"Taaake that!" Someone cried in the middle of daybreak. The person attacked a strange figure in the backyard of some house.

"Ngh! Hah!" Said person kept their attack with a swirl of puches and kicks, making the figure spin around in the same place.

"I'm not done with you yet!" They finally said, pulling their sword and begin to blindly slash the figure. "Now let's see if you like that!" The person snapped, jumping backwards and launching a fire ball from their blade.

"What's happeni- oh, not again." Cole opened the window from his room, trying to find out what was the commotion in his family's backyard. "Nya, can you please stop attacking my mom's training dummy?"

"Why?" The girl grunted, sweating. "We need to get stronger, we can't quit training every single day."

The boy sighed. "Can we do that at the Bounty? Y'know, where people can't see us openly?"

"Um, maybe Cole is right." Jay said, just getting out of the door to the backyard. "I mean, that reporter lady was still around until yesterday." The blue ninja groaned. "Seriously, how did she sleuth us all the way back here?"

"Perphaps she has a stronger sixth sense than mine." Zane also popped out, bringing a plate with breakfast to the red ninja.

"Thanks, Zane." Nya sighed, accepting the food. "I just can't wait to go back home and get back in action. We wasted too much time in here."

"Um..." Jay hesitated. "That was just two days, I wouldn't call it a waste. We had to let the dust settles after the Concert Hall collapsed."

"Indeed. A lot of dust had lifted from all that destruction." Zane nodded, taking the blue ninja's comment too seriously once more, which made the boy side-eye him.

"Well, while we are here taking our sweet time, Pythor probably found another one of the Fangblades." Nya said. "If this keeps going, he's bringing the Great Devourer back, and then we're screwed." She grunted. "So we can't fail next time."

"I doubt they can go that fast." Jay shrugged it. "Sometimes it feels they are more lucky than anything."

"Where's our luck then?!" The red ninja exclaimed, frustraded. "Even when we have the upper hand, they always manage to steal our chance right under our nose!" She sat on the grass, exhausted. "I'm tired of this. I'm tired of getting behind them every single time!"

"Hm. Well..." Jay mumbled, quickly glancing at Cole's window, but the black ninja was not there anymore. Great. Pep talks were not Jay's strong point.

"I sense...turmoil." Zane suddendly spoke, expressing concern. "Is something bothering you, Nya?" He asked. "Something more than being defeated by the Serpentine over and over again?"

"What?!" Nya quickly got up, feeling rudely exposed now. "What do you mean by that? I'm fine!"

"Wait. Wait wait wait." Jay interrupted, suspicious. "This... isn't because you still didn't anchieved your True Potential yet, is it?"

"O-of course not!" Nya yelled, with a faint hint of red on her cheeks. "What does that have to do with anything?" She grunted. "Besides, I'm almost there. I can feel it."

"I'm...not sure if that's this works." Zane pondered, worried.

"Yeah, Zane's right." Jay avidly nodded. "That's not something you can force to come out whenever you want." The boy smiled nervously. "You just...have to be ready."

"Oh, so now I'm not ready?" The red ninja furrowed her eyebrows.

"Wait, no!" The blue ninja notices his mistake. "What I mean is...um, you have to give all of your heart in it."

"B-but I'm giving everything I have!" Nya exclaimed, frustraded. "It's not enough then? I can do more!"

"I'm think it would be wiser if we focus on preparing ourselves to return home." Zane said, hoping that would stop his friend's outburst.

"You know what? Great!" Nya stood up fast. "The faster we go home, the faster we go after the next Fangblade, and the faster I'll manage to find out my True Potential!" She bursted, entering home and leaving the other two ninjas sighing.

***

"Ugh." Cole grunted at the table of the dining room. "What's gotten into Nya recently? She just can't catch a break."

"This happens sometimes." Kai mumbled, sipping some tea from a cup. "I think my sister isn't liking being the only one without unlocking her powers yet." He sighed. "Believe me, Nya can be really stubborn when she's feeling challenged."

"Okay, but wishing to do more than she can will not help her at all." Cole argued. "The only thing she's accomplishing with that is overwhelming herself with no end."

Kai sighed, unsure. "If makes you feel better, I can try and talk with her. But." He made a serious face. "Don't come crying to me if her outbursts get worse. If there's one thing that annoys her more than being excluded, is being doubted about."

"Oh yeah, like you once said, 'the cherry doesn't fall far from its blossom', huh?" The black ninja chuckled.

Kai faced him without speaking for a moment, leaving Cole feeling awkward, until suddenly the other boy's expression changed to one of understandment.

"Heh. I guess you're right about that..." Kai looked away, with a resemblence of a smile. Cole sighed, relieved. For a moment, he thought he had gone too far.

"Well, there we have it." Lou suddenly jumped in the conversation, entering the room with a small box covered in dust.

"Um, dad? What is this?" Cole asked, curious. The elegant man smiled gently.

"Just some...old pictures I kept away. The major ones being ones with your mother in it." Lou explained. "It...still hurts a lot seeing some of them, but I thought you might like to take one with you at your, um, flying ship." The Man smiled awkwardly.

Cole picked one of them. It was the three of them, with Cole and his mother cheering on Lou after a competition. The boy smiled at it.

"It would be awesome." The black ninja said, hugging his father. "Thanks, dad."

"This is not enough, but I hope it can make things better." The man nodded. "For both of us." Then, like he only noticed Kai was there, Lou turned his attention to the boy.

"What about you, Kai?" He asked. "Is the tea good enough to you?"

"Yeah, it's good, I guess." The spiky-haired boy replied. "I'm just getting sick of drinking tea every morning." He got up from the table. "But at least I'm fully healed."

"Good, good." The elegant man nodded. "I always say my good lemon honey tea is good for everything."

"I think it's more the special tea he's been drinking, but you do you, dad." Cole snickered. At that point, the doorbell its melodious 'welcome' as always.

"Oh, it must be Seliel." Lou smiled. "When she heard you guys were going away today, she said something about trying extra hard to wake up early. I'll open the door for her." He said, walking away.

"Did I heard it right? We're ready to go?" Nya spoke, entering the dining room with her breakfast.

"I don't know." Kai shrugged. "After everything is done, I guess."

"Well, I'm ready to go already." The red ninja said, sitting with them at the table.

"No you're not." Cole sighed. "You have to finish your breakfast first."

"Yeah, yeah." Nya grunted, biting a piece of bread agressively. "I'm covering that already."

"Hey, guys." Seliel finally appeared, with a sleepy face. "Glad I caught you all still around."

"Hey Seliel!" Jay appeared as well, being followed by Zane. "How you're doing?"

"Horrible." She answered, turning her attention at Cole. "You're lucky I like you guys, you know I hate getting up early."

"You would hate Master Wu then." The black ninja laughed. "He likes waking up as early as the sun."

And so, the rest of the breakfast kept going without anymore problem.

After all that, Lou and Seliel accompanied the group of heroes all the way to the entrance of the town.

"Goodbye, son." The elegant man hugged Cole. "Good luck with this quest of yours. If there's someone who can those no good snakes, is you and your friends." He smiled proudly. "Just don't forget to come by every now and then."

"I won't." Cole smiled. "Thanks for having us, dad." He left of his father, turning to Seliel. "And thanks for everything too, Seliel."

"Yeah, yeah." The girl waved her hand. "Like Mr. Lou said, stop by more often." She gave a shy smile. "I'll miss you, knucklehead." The boy laughed at that. "And you guys too, I guess."

"The feeling is mutual." Zane nodded. "I think I speak for everyone when I say it was a pleasure meeting you both."

"Yeah. Right." Nya quickly nodded as well. "Thanks for all, really." The ninja added. "But we really have to go now."

"Nya." Kai gave her an annoyed look, which made her look away, grunting.

Soon enough, the group made their way, leaving Nom, with Lou and Seliel behind.

"So, do you think your jet can take everyone?" Cole asked to Jay.

"Um, last time we were kinda clustered inside." The blue ninja pondered. "But there was also all that ice, so...maybe?" He said, unsure. "We'll have to see."

Thankfully, it had enough space for the five of them. They were pratically smothering themselves inside, but aside from that, they made it to the Bounty once again.

"Never thought I would say that in my life, but I kinda missed this place." Kai said, stretching himself after everyone got free in the deck. "It's good to come back."

"You can say that again." Nya sighed, quickly coming to Jay's side. "Can you lend me one of your training bots today? I'm really needing it."

"Um, yeah. Sure." The blue ninja blushed a bit. "I've been kinda working on some higher levels of difficult for them thought, so-"

"Even better." The red ninja nodded. "I can test those for you. Anything to get more results for my hard work."

"Ugh. I miss Master Wu." Cole sighed. "If he was here, at least we would have some more coordinated training." He turned to Nya. "Listen, I know you are anxious about not finding your True Potential yet, but-"

"I'm getting there!" Nya quickly said, annoyed. "Just wait. I'm just...not training enough, that's it." She looked away. "Or maybe it's something else I didn't tried yet. I barely had anything to work with these last few days!"

"Still, if Master Wu was here-" Cole tried to argue still, but a familiar voice interrupted the black ninja. A voice they didn't heard in quite some time.

"Goodness! You are back!" Wu himself spoke, coming from inside the deck. He looked terribly concerned. "I was so worried!"

"Master Wu!" The group exclaimed together. Cole, Jay and Zane quickly ran towards the old man to give him a hug, being followed by Nya. Meanwhile, Kai approached, awkward. But he didn't joined them.

"It's so good to see you again!" Cole exclaimed, grinning. "We kept wondering wherever you are."

"I, well..." Wu gasped, flustered by all that attention. "I should say the same about you all. I came back to find the Bounty completely abandoned, without a single soul inside." He sighed. "And without even Kai around, I feared you all took a grave decision."

"We are really sorry for that, Master." Zane bowed his head. "It's just we didn't expect to you see you soon, so it didn't occur to us to leave some kind of message behind."

"It's okay. I didn't expect my journey so many days, even less that I would miraculously reappear right at home." Wu spoke. "Makes me wonder if that portal works the same way as the Traveler's Tea." The old man thought to himself.

"You sure were away for long." Jay cut off his thoughts. "A lot of things happened since you left, you have no idea!" He exclaimed. "Like Zane being a nindroid, Cole being a dancer..."

"Zane is a...what?" This time, the old man interrupted the blue ninja. "And, now that I have a better look, what happened with you, Jay?" He asked, noticing the subtle changed appearence of the freckled boy.

"Um, one of the things you, uh, missed." The boy mumbled, flustered.

"Still, we can talk more about this later." Zane spoke. "Master, I'm happy to inform you most of us have also anchieved our True Potential." At the mention of that, Nya backed out, looking away.

"Is that so?" Wu wided his eyes, impressed. "That's good to hear."

"Don't get too much hopeful, though." Cole crossed his arms. "We only made it happen once, and never again."

"Still, progress is progress. No matter how little it is." Their master scratched his beard. "I'm glad to know you were still doing your best as I was away."

"Well, everything is good and all..." Kai coughed, awkward. "And I guess I can say I'm fine as well, thanks for asking?"

"Good to see you better, Kai." Wu nodded, relieved. "What about Nya, though? She didn't spoke much."

"Huh?" The girl looked at him, nervous. "Um, I'm okay too. Just have a lot of work to do today." And, thinking she should get this out of the way, she added. "Also yeah, I didn't found my True Potential yet, but I'm close to it, don't worry!"

"I see... I couldn't help but notice your silence after that was mentioned." Wu said, pensative. Then, the old man gave the girl a curious look, which for her looked something like 'we will discuss about this later'. The red ninja was about to answer that look when she noticed something coming from behind her master. A shadowy figure with red eyes. It was almost familiar.

"Aah! Master Wu! Behind you!" She pointed out, the group looked at where she was pointing, and Lord Garmadon's face appeared on the frame.

"Why, they decided to finally appear at last." He grinned evilly. Startled, the four ninjas pulled their Golden Weapons at him.

"Lord Garmadon." Cole spoke with a fiercy look in his eyes.

"Yes, yes." The evil lord came out to the deck, a hint of laughter in his voice. "We meet again once more, after all those weeks..." He clapped at them with his arms.

"Um, did he had four arms?!" Jay pointed out nervously. "I swear he didn't had an extra pair before! And um, he looks taller, too...?"'

"No matter." Zane said, decided. "I don't know how did you get here, but we won't back down to stop you." He said as he faced Garmadon.

"Yeah, I didn't forget everything you did for me and and my brother." Nya added, angry.

"All of you, stop!" Wu yelled with authority. The Ninja turned at him, confused. "Listen to me." The old man sighed. "He is the reason I left. I came to him for his aid."

"Wait, what?" Cole spoke, shocked.

"And," their master kept going. "For so long as Pythor has Lloyd, he will be our guest."

"Wait. Hold on." Nya spoke, without lowering her guard. "You mean you want us to live peacefully with the guy that ordered a army of skeletons against us?"

"Hahah. Yeah, and um, even worse." Jay laughed nervously. "Let's not forget it's the same guy that wants the Golden Weapons to himself."

"Forget the weapons." Garmadon finally spoke again, dismissive. "This isn't about them." He looked away. "It's about Lloyd."

"Are you telling me he only came here for Lloyd?" Kai asked, sceptic. "Now, of all times?" He crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right."

The dark lord turned his attention to him, and the boy felt a chill down his spine. He didn't backed out, though.

"My brother told me how much you did for Lloyd during my absence." Garmadon spoke. "It's not much, but you have my most gratitude for everything you've done." He bowed his head in respect.

Confused, Kai backed out this time, unsure of what to say. "I...okay?" He mumbled.

Jay grunted. "Okay, so Kai have a good name with this guy, who cares?" He turned to Wu. "Master, are you seriously about this? Again, we're talking about one of the greastest menaces to the Golden Weapons! And...and..." The boy was desperately trying his best to find any more reasons. "And one of us is the Green Ninja, what if he tries something against us?!"

An awkward silence came after that.

"The Green Ninja... It was a long time ago since I heard that title." Garmadon spoke, coldly. "And one of your dear students is the one, huh? Interesting how you want me around, brother."

Wu's hand trembled on his staff, and the color had vanished from his face.

"Why are you still pursuing this matter?" The old man asked, visibly shaken.

"Um, what is this about, anyway?" Kai asked, curious. "No one ever took the time to fill me in about this 'green ninja' story. Who are they?"

"Heh. Only the most poweful ninja among them all." The evil lord laughed coldly. "A ninja that has such amazing skills, he's going to be able against the 'dark lord'. Me."

"That's ENOUGH!" Wu yelled, with a look of anger in his eyes. "Time and time again I told you to stop thinking about that prophecy, and still you all keep inquiring the matter further!"

"We...we're sorry, Master Wu." Cole spoke, tense. "We didn't want to make you mad."

"Y-yeah." Jay nodded, nervous. "We just...wanted to know, that's all. But-"

"Very well, then." The old man said. "That's something easy to do. Put your weapons on the floor, all of you." Lost, the ninjas obeyed their master.

"Now. Each one of you who anchieved your True Potential, stay in front of them Golden Weapons. One person at a time." Wu spoke, impatient.

In silence, Jay, Cole and Zane stood in front of the weapons. If something was supposed to, it didn't happen.

"See?" Wu sighed. "Despite everything, none of you has what is needed to be the Green Ninja yet."

"I can't follow, Master." Zane spoke, confused.

"Only the Golden Weapons will show the true Green Ninja." The old man explained. "They will react to their presence when the right time calls for it." He turned his back at them. "No more, no less. Anchieving your True Potential can be only a step closer to your destiny, in the end."

"Can I try, then?" Nya asked, decided. "If True Potential it's not a factor, maybe I can be the Green Ninja, right?" A lot of new thoughts began to fly trough her head. "Maybe that's the reason I didn't managed to find mine!"

As the red ninja spoke, she give a few steps forward, until Wu suddendly beat his staff on the floor with might, startling the whole group.

"I suppose I wasn't clear enough." Wu spoke, quickly spacing the weapons out. "We are done with this Green Ninja conversation until I said the contrary." Each one picked their weapons again, nervous. "I don't want to see any of you trying to pursue this anymore, and this includes making this same test over and over again. Was I clear now?"

"Yes, Master." The four ninjas said, reluctantly.

"Good. And from here on out, I hope everyone here can show respect to each other, even if you someone." He glanced at Garmadon. "And I mean everyone."

"Yes, yes. I won't forget that." The evil lord spoke, unfazed.

"Then I suppose we can finally continue things from where we left off." The old man nodded. "Let's go to the bridge. We must put our attention to more pressing matters." He entered the door, being followed by Garmadon.

"Right." Cole quickly agreed. "Let's go, guys." The others followed after him as soon as he spoke.

On the bridge, Nya and Jay turned their attention to their computer, trying to pick any new information.

"So, where are we at with the four Fangblades?" Wu asked, with a tone much more calmer than earlier.

"I hate to say that, but Pythor's managed to put his hands on the first two." Cole explained with everyone sitted on the table. "We think he may have found some way to locate them after his attack on Ninjago City's museum a few days ago." He sighed, dissapointed in himself. "But we only need one in order to prevent him from unleashing the Great Devourer, so we may still have a chance."

"I agree." The old master nodded. "Had you any luck finding their whereabouts?"

"No, unfortunately." Zane shook his head. "But the Falcon is programmed to keep an eye on the Serpentine and alert us if he sees any suspicious activity."

"What about Lloyd?" Garmadon asked, impatient.

"He's being captive in the City of Ouroboros." Zane explained. "We can't offer more information about this, because he didn't reported back to us today." Garmadon's nodded silently.

"Still, we can't stood still waiting until the Serpentine to act." Wu pondered, turning his attention to the others. "Let's see... Kai and Nya, could you prepare the deck and recover the anchor? We need to be ready when we first get word of activity."

"Yeah, okay." Kai nodded, getting up.

"Um, but I...I was checking the scanner to see if we could find anything about the Serpentine..." Nya hesitated.

"Don't sweat it." Jay grinned. "I can take of that, promise! I know how to get myself with this."

"F-fine, then." The red ninja sighed. "Let's go, Kai." Her brother nodded, and both of them got out.

"Well, now that we got this out of the way..." Wu sighed. "Um, Zane? Could you explain to me what exactly to you mean about your falcon being...programmed?"

"Oh, yeah!" The white ninja exclaimed. "A lot of things happened with us since we parted ways."

"It's all a long story, to be honest." Cole admitted. "So you better stay on your chair, it's a doozy."

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Ugh. I can't believe Master Wu didn't even let me try!" Nya grunted, as she and Kai cranked the wheel of the anchor's chain.

"You're talking about that thing about the weapons revealing the Green Ninja?" Kai asked, honestly curious.

"Um, duh?" The girl spoke, annoyed. "What else could it be?" Nya sighed, frustraded. "He let everyone else try, why I'm the only exception?"

"He didn't let 'everyone'." Kai said. "I didn't had a chance either." He sighed. "Could've been nice to try."

"Why would you want that? You don't need to be a ninja. You're a samurai already!" Nya pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess. But..." Kai hesitated. "All of this about a green ninja...maybe...that's why I don't have any powers? Maybe I could be the chosen one or whatever."

"Nice guess." Nya shrugged it. "But the prophecy mentioned a ninja outclassing all the others." She began reminding herself of that long ago moment. "And if I'm not mistaken, there was a drawing of the four of us, with the green one in the middle."

"Maybe that's just symbolical." Kai replied. "Maybe that means he's part of the team in a way. Or the other four are like his guardsman, I don't know."

"Okay, now you're just projecting." The red ninja rolled her eyes. "I know you want to feel included, but you don't need to be a ninja or have powers to do that."

"If that's true, why are you so needy of proving yourself?" The boy asked as they finally finished pulling the anchor.

"I'm not doing that!" Nya replied, getting annoyed at her brother. "I just...don't want to be the only odd one out." She looked at her hands. "I don't know what is missing, but I know I can do it."

"At least you get how I feel around you guys." Kai crossed his arms. "I wish I could do something more to help."

"Okay, fair enough." Nya sighed. "But...if you're thinking about Lloyd when you say that, I don't think that would solve everything about his situation."

"Who can say?" Kai sighed, walking away. "I mean, I wouldn't mind having some kind of special power to help save him. Or to be anything else but just the sideline."

"Well..." Nya spoke, unsure of what actually she should say. "You don't need to worry, okay?" Her tone felt slightly desperate. "We're going to save Lloyd, and get one of the Fangblades. Then everything will be fine again."

"If you say so..." Kai shrugged.

"Hey, you're not...thinking about doing anything sudden again, are you?" Nya asked, nervous. "I just said, you can leave to us, now."

"I heard it already." Her brother spoke, bothered. "But...I wish you could include me on that." Nya gave him a faulty look. "Don't look at me like that. I know that I'm not coming with you guys unless it's something safe."

"Even if that's true..." The red ninja spoke. "This isn't because they don't trust you. That's just because we don't want you to get harmed. There's no need to cause more injuries to you..."

"What you mean is that I would get in the way, right?" Kai sighed, annoyed. "That's what I thought."

"No, it's just...you seem really attached to Lloyd, and...I don't want you to do something reckless, that's all!" His sister exclaimed, becoming slightly annoyed.

"But you wouldn't be saying that if I was the Green Ninja or whatever, right?" Kai rolled his eyes. "Sometimes I feel like no one takes me seriously here." He said, leaving the room.

Nya stood on the room, gripping her left arm. "He doesn't trust us... He doesn't trust me to do it." She sighed. "Ugh! I can do this! I'll talk with everyone, convince them to take Kai with us, do something!" The red ninja shooked her head. "I can fix everything. I know I can."

"I have to." The girl thought to herself as she left the anchor room as well.

Chapter Text

At the intern training hall, Nya punched her dummy again and again, without stopping. Using the poor object to relieve the red ninja's frustration always helped to calm her down, but that didn't seem to be working this time.

"Stupid. Stupid, stupid stupid!" She thought to herself. "Why is everyone acting so stupid?"

Master Wu brought Lord Garmadon to the Bounty, knowing very well how much of a menace that guy is. Jay had to mention the Green Ninja, only to pick Kai's interest and make him think he can be something more that he already is.

And in the end, a lot of that was Nya's fault.

If she took care of Lloyd like she should, the boy wouldn't be a hostage of Pythor, which means Kai wouldn't be so adamant on being the hero, and Garmadon wouldn't be here now.

And, putting all of that aside, Nya still didn't managed to find a way to unlock her True Potential. Everyone did it, why she couldn't?

"What am I doing wrong?" The red ninja thought, giving a few more punches and kicks at the dummy. "I'm just like the others, so why I can't figure out the answer?" She groaned. "It's just...not fair!" She delivered another punch, this time hitting the dummy so hard it broke one of its arms.

"Dang it!" Nya grunted, holding her fist closer to her chest. Okay, that last one hurt a bit.

"Hey, is everything alright?" She heard Cole's voice behind her. When she turned at him, he looked concerned.

"Um, yeah." Nya said, hiding her hand. "Doing completely fine alright."

"Wow. Almost deceived me." Cole snarked, crossing his arms. "Seriously now, is something wrong?" He asked.

"Aside from our biggest enemy going trough the day? Nothing much." The red ninja rolled her eyes.

"I noticed you and Kai were Very quiet during lunch." Cole insisted. "Did something happened between you guys?"

"No, it's just..." Nya sighed, sitting on the floor. "We kind of...disagreed in some things. That's all."

"And now you feeling like trash, right?" The black ninja sit by her side, with a small chuckle. "I know that feeling sometimes."

"I wish he could understand he doesn't need to risk himself that much." Nya confessed. "He keeps trying to get himself in danger when we are more fit for the action." She sighed.

"I can't say for sure since, um, we just have started to talk normally to each other, but..." Cole spoke. "...Kai seems to be able to take care of himself, at least from what I can see."

"That's not the problem." Nya replied. "I know that very well. He basically raised me all by himself." She sighed once more. "That's why...I just wish he could finally some time to live his life a little. To not have some stupid burden to carry for all of his life."

Cole looked at her in silence. "You know, when I met Master Wu for the first time, he told me something." The black ninja spoke. "He said everyone has a way to go trough life."

"So?" Nya look at him confused. "What does that have to do with it?"

"Maybe that's how Kai does things." Cole pointed out. "I feel like he has that sense of duty, y'know?" He smiled. "Especially towards you and Lloyd."

"But I'm not a kid anymore. I don't need anyone to protect me or take me away from the danger." The red ninja grunted, annoyed. "I know exactly where I'm stepping in. I know it's not an easy path."

"You say that, but it's like I said earlier." Cole shooked his head. "Sometimes, our nature speaks louder than us. And maybe Kai thinks just like you in that matter. He knows what he's messing with, Just like us."

"Hm." Nya hugged her legs. "Maybe you have a point..." She reluctantly agreed. "But does he, really?" The girl asked. "I wish I can say he trust us, but he's always doing anything he wants behind our backs."

"Like the Samurai. Like trying to rescue Lloyd by his own." Nya thought to herself. "What would've happen if he didn't came back last time? Why he can't trust I can help him?"

"Ugh!" The red ninja grunted, shaking her head. "What should I do about Kai?" She asked, looking at Cole.

"I...don't think I'm the right person you should ask that." The black ninja looked away, awkward. "Do I need to remind you I thought lying to my father was better than facing him outright?"

"I'm not asking...!" Nya retorted, flustered. "I just...trying to find a answer, that's all. I know I can do it. I always knew, and I'll always know."

Cole sighed. "Whatever you say. Just...don't overthink it, okay? We're all on this together, so if anything's too much..."

"Yeah, don't worry. I know my limits." Nya quickly nodded. "And, talking about limits..." She decided It would be best if they changed the subject. The girl really didn't need more people saying what she was capable to do or not. "How it was with Garmadon after we left you guys?" Nya asked.

Cole lifted an eyebrow, silently expressing he did catch her change of demeanor, though he decided he wouldn't go any further with her anyway.

"Not gonna lie, it's really strange, having the most evil guy around like it's nothing." The older boy confessed. "He's not doing anything either, he's just quiet, and keep staring at us. But whenever Wu mentioned Lloyd, he looked more interested in taking part of the conversation."

"Then...we can really trust him?" Nya pondered. "I don't want to doubt Master Wu, it's his brother despite everything else, but still..."

"Well, I fully trust Master Wu." Cole nodded. "If he says we can trust Garmadon, at least for now, then there's nothing we should fear."

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Meanwhile, Zane was tooking the time to meditate at the upper parts of the deck. He really likes how the breeze goes trough him. For some reason, he felt it was kind of terapeutic in a way.

As the white ninja relaxed, he felt a funny sensation. The temperature around him was clearly getting chillier, but he didn't seemed to mind. The cold felt almost... conforting.

Zane closed his eyes, trying to focus on that pleasant sensation...

Now he was in Birchwood Forest, chopping some wood he and his father needed for the winter. Though, he had to admit that the cold wasn't bothering him that much lately.

"There he is." He heard Julien's voice behind him. When Zane turned around, he saw his father accompanied by a man he never saw before. The man had blonde hair and was carrying a staff.

"Hello there, Zane." The man smiled gently.

"Curses! No wonder is so cold up here!" Zane quickly snapped out of his trance. Garmadon was there, with a annoyed look on his face.

Slowly, said cold began to dissapear, Zane noticed.

"Uh, if this was somehow my doing, I apologize for that." The white ninja got up, awkward. Garmadon simply rolled his eyes.

"Sometimes I wonder how much you all know about yourselves." The dark lord mumbled, impatient as he leaned in the border of the deck.

"I ask myself that same question a lot sometimes." Zane admitted. "I just learned more from myself only recently, and there's still a lot I can't really grasp." He turned his attention to the man of darkness. "But...what about you?"

"What about me?" Garmadon asked, disliking the fact the nindroid was trying to talk with him so casually.

"I sense turmoil coming from you." The boy said, hesitant. "Something is troubling you, and you don't know how to deal with your situation."

"Hm." Garmadon look away, into the sky. "Maybe you have a sharp mind after all."

"From what I learned from Master and the others, that's a sign of wisdow, right?" Zane asked, leaning at the border as well. Garmadon didn't answered, instead choosing to keep contemplating the area.

"I spent so much time banned from this Realm... Sometimes I forget how beautiful those lands are." Mumbled the man. "It truly is a place of peace."

"If you think that, why do you want to destroy it that much?" Zane asked, genuinely confused. "Master Wu always say we can't let you have things your way, but I don't sense any kind of harmful intentions coming from you."

"Not right now, of course." Garmadon said, distant. "But as I much as a minor part of me admires this little world we live on, the bigger part will crave for shadows, for destruction. That's what the Devourer's venom did to me all those years ago." He sighed, frustraded. "I mean, look at me. What else anyone could expect?"

"I'm not sure if I can agree." Zane said, leaving the evil lord confused. "I learned something from my family the same day I found the truth about myself." He smiled to himself. "No matter where you came from, or what you're made of... What matters is what you desire to be."

"When my father made me, he said I was created to protect the ones that cannot protect themselves." The white ninja kept going. "I accepted that, even if I couldn't fully understand what he meant by that. But meeting the others...made me see the true meaning of that. That I am the one to decide that."

"Hm." Was Garmadon's reply as the dark lord moved away. "Don't compare our situation like we have some kind of similar connection. Unlike you, my destiny is already in set. Facing one of you and be the victorious one...or die trying."

"How can we be so sure?" Zane asked. "That prophecy is really vague. Who knows what it truly means?" The white ninja said that with a bit more of conviction than he expected. Still, that didn't stop him from keep going with his line of thought. "Maybe defeating the dark lord can have any other meaning."

"What other meaning could exist in that context?" Garmadon furrowed his eyebrows, annoyed. "You should go back to your meditating." He was on the door now. "While I should look for my brother. If I can't have some peace, might as well inquire him about our next step."

Zane stood there, wondering what exactly was this moment he had with Garmadon. For some reason, he couldn't help but feel that, deep in his heart, he knew everything was going to work out in the end.

"Sometimes I wish I could understand this sixth sense of mine." The white ninja thought to himself.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

The Falcon was following the Serpentine closely from the sky, observing their movement after spending so much days without a sight of the Ninja's enemies.

From what the bird could see, Pythor was leading the match, being followed closely by a resigned Skales and a confident Skalidor. Following them were mixed groups of all the Serpentine Tribes. In the middle of the march was Lloyd, trapped in a cage being carried around. Awkwardly, two old man were following by the cage side as well.

"Is bringing all of them really necessary?" Skales complained, pointing at the humans among them.

"Don't be stupid. Of course it is." Pythor replied, impatient. "We have met the Ninja two times in a row as we looked for the Fangblades." He grunted. "If this happens a third time, I want to have some assurance in our sucess."

As they kept moving forward to their next objective, the Falcon kept itself on their trail, silently following them.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Nya was walking around the Bounty's corridors, after being scolded by Cole at the end of their conversation. He told her to take a little more easy for now, or else she wouldn't have energy to spend in the real battle.

"Yeah, like that would happen." She thought to herself. "It's just a little training. Just because I broke a dummy doesn't mean I'm too stressed. I'm totally fine!"

The red ninja sighed. She felt like she's repeating a lot of that to herself lately. But what else could she do? Everyone was trying so hard to confort her and she didn't even know why. Was she showing some sign of weakness? Or was because they were not making much progress in their mission?

Nya remembers very well when Kai was the only person she had in her life. He was always doing his best for both of them, but Nya couldn't help but feel a lot smaller every time she asked if she could do something or help him at all, and his only response was 'there's no reason for worry, sis!'

But she knew there was. She saw how much Kai struggled to do everything they needed, how there's a lot of things he found too much complicated for them to deal with, even with their neighbors help.

That's why she decided to best her brother in anything he had difficult with, to learn faster than he could. That way she wouldn't feel so small, so useless...

She remember the first time she proved herself to him. Kai was struggling with their toaster, which appeared to have broke during their breakfast, and she was able to figure its problem after he gave up. Her brother got really impressed with how easy was to her.

And now she was back at that position again. Everyone seemed to be improving themselves by some capacity. Zane and Jay were coming to terms with who they are. Cole had closure with his father. Even Kai and Lloyd were getting closer. Meanwhile, what did Nya accomplished?

"What if I can't find my True Potential?" The red ninja asked to herself. "What if I always stay behind, and can't keep up with the others? If I keep failing with everyone, then...then I..."

"Then you have no use here." Great, that insistent voice in her head again. "And you know that. Why would you be trying so much if not?"

"No... I'm f-fine." Nya mumbled to herself. "I know how capable I am... I'm just having bad luck, that's all. Yeah." She sighed, anxious. "The others wouldn't think I'm worthless...of course not. Right?"

"How much times I have to repeat myself?!" Nya suddendly heard Wu's angry voice coming from their armory. "I'm done with this, Kai!"

"Kai?" The red ninja thought. What Kai was doing to get Wu on his nerves so badly?

As she walked to the room where her master's voice was coming, she stood in front of the door, nervous.

"Should I open it? I don't want to look like I'm getting in their way." Nya thought. She and Kai already had their bad blood for the day, she sure didn't want any more of that. But still...

"Master Wu, please!" The red ninja heard her brother's voice now. "If I'm the Green Ninja, I deserve to know!"

Now Nya dropped all pretentions. She put her ear close to the door, trying to catch all of their conversation. Could Kai really be the Green Ninja?

"But you're not, Kai!" Wu spoke. "You don't have anything to do with this, so stop asking already!"

"How can you say that when you didn't even let me try?" Nya's brother argued back. "If you're so sure I'm not, let's just check, to be sure!"

"And what do you pretend to do IF this turns out to be the truth?!" The old man snapped back. "If nothing happens, what is going to change for you, huh?"

Nothing. Kai didn't said any other word.

"Listen to me, Kai." Wu's tone was more soft. "You are doing a really good job as yourself right now, you don't need-"

"What are you doing out here?" A crispy voice spoke from behind Nya.

"Eeek!" The girl yelped, astonished by the sudden appearance of Garmadon. "What are you doing out here?" She replied back, annoyed by his presence.

"Heh. Don't you know? Evil never sleeps." The dark lord mocked her with a dark smile.

"Yeah, well, just so you know, good never rests as well." The red ninja snapped back.

"Impertinant." Garmadon rolled his eyes. "Maybe we should take care of this right now."

"Take care of what?" Nya asked confused, but still annoyed. "I have nothing to do with you. If you want to punch something, there's a lot of dummies in the training hall or deck to choose."

"Hm. Where is all your fire, Fire Ninja?" He smiled mischievously. "Or are you that scared of facing me without the rest of your friends?"

"Scared? Who said I'm scared?" Nya replied, letting her anger get the better of her.

"I say." Garmadon grinned. "I can see the fear in your eyes. Fear that a puny child like you should have right now."

"Oh, that's it!" Nya pushed him. "I'll show you who should be scared, you-"

"What is going on here?" Wu had opened the door, shocked by the scene in front of him. "What do you two think you're doing?"

"Hmpf." Garmadon looked away. "I was looking for you. When I saw her..." He quickly glanced at Nya. "I lost my calm for a moment."

"Lost your calm? Lost your calm?!" The red ninja repeated, annoyed. "You just came here and-"

"As for Ms. Snoopy Pants here, however, I can only assume she hoped to get some information of you." The dark lord added.

"What?" Kai asked, having been unnoticed all this time. "Nya, were you spying on us...?"

"Uh, no! No, of course not!" The girl quickly said, panicking. "I was just passing by and...and..."

"You heard us." Wu finished the thought for her, sighing. "I blame myself from that. I wasn't being subtle."

"Oh, so then is okay if the others are snooping around." Kai snarked.

"Um..." Nya didn't know how to get out of this situation. "So, about the Green Ninja... Did you-"

"Don't even bother." Kai shook his head. "Master Wu refuse to let me try and see."

"Oh." The red ninja couldn't stop her sigh of relief. Kai really didn't needed more encouragement for his bold actions, at least in her opinion. "I mean, who cares about that, right? What matters is that you're here, helping us."

"And how much I can help, exactly?" Kai inquired, annoyed. "It's always 'ninja stuff' this, 'ninja stuff' that... I barely did anything all this time! I've always been pushed aside, no one ask if I want to take part on anything!"

"B-but you don't need to be a ninja!" Nya exclaimed, nervous. "You created the Samurai, didn't you?"

"And being the Samurai isn't enough to protect the ones I care about!" Kai shouted. "Can't you understand, Nya?! It's not about how worthy I am, it's about how much I can do! I can't do anything!"

"But...you don't have to do this by your own!" Nya replied. "You have me, you have everyone else!"

"Oh, great! You guys!" Her brother exclaimed, storming off the room. "A bunch of people who always look down on me, no matter how much I try!" He stopped for a moment at the door frame. "At least Lloyd looked up for me."

Nya stood silent as he left, only mumbling something with a weak voice.

"But...I always look up to you..."

"Just...give your brother a moment." Wu said, doing his best to confort the red ninja. "Fights like that always happen when you're family."

"Agreed." Garmadon nodded. "Me and Wu are a great example of that, as you can see." Nya gave him a hatred look. "Don't even. Whatever is happening here, is your own fault."

"Garmadon." Wu faced his brother with authority. "I guess it's time for us to take our leave, please."

As the pair of siblings left, Nya leaned in the wall, breathing heavily. She descended a bit, feeling awfully weak at the moment.

At least, alone on the armory, she could let some of her tears to run down her face.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

A few hours later, at the bridge, Jay was fidgeting with a small train model as he waited for something to appear on their scanner.

"EF66 27..." The boy admired the small thing in his hand. "Blue and fast as lightning. Heheh." He grinned. "How can some people throw little treasures like that away?" He asked himself. "At least Dad and Ma can send me things like that every now and then..."

As he kept playing with the little train, a sudden swarm of feathers suprised him for a moment.

"What the-?" As the blue ninja looked at the ceiling, he saw the Falcon, who seemed really agitaded. "Oh, finally decided to appear, huh?"

The bird's only response was shrilling, setting itself in front of the computer, fervously flapping its wings.

"Woah. Okay, okay! I think you found something." Jay said, hesitating. "Fine, let me just...get this..." He picked a cable, looking for a way he could connect the object to the robot bird. As he worked on that, he activated the intercom.

"Hey, guys!" The blue ninja's voice echoed trough the soundboxes across the ship. "The Falcon got some info for us! Come see! Off and out!" He added.

Soon the remaining ninjas, Garmadon and Wu were there, watching what appeared to be a recording of Pythor with his group of Serpentine entering a familiar temple.

"Great. The Temple of Fire again." Nya sighed. "As if we didn't mess around there enough."

"Are you talking about that one time you, Kai and Flame encountered a group of Skulkin?" Zane asked, curious. The red ninja nodded.

"Yeah, last time wasn't really pretty." She admitted. "I hope things aren't worse this time."

"Worse or not, if Pythor is there, it has to mean there's a Fangblade in there." Cole crossed his arms, decided.

"And Lloyd as well, hopefully." Garmadon mimicked the black ninja. "He has to be."

"Okay. We're going to the same place where we and Lord Garmadon first faced off. But now as allies." Jay laughed awkwardly. "That's not bizarre at all."

"It wasn't a face off." Nya lifted an eyebrow. "This cheater just sent a bunch of shadows against us."

"And you weren't even there, Jay." Cole couldn't help but chuckle.

"Call it cheat of you want." Garmadon got in their small talk. "But I remember that you're all done if you Master didn't appeared to save the day."

"Guys! I can sense animosity coming from this conversation." Zane spoke, stoic. "For the sake of the Fangblade and Lloyd, I suggests you all stop with that."

"Well said, Zane." Wu nodded. "We have to make our way. We don't know how many time has passed since the Falcon got this recording. "We must prepare ourselves."

"Oh, I'll go and pick our weapons." Nya offered herself. Wu gave her a suspicious look. "Don't worry, Master. I don't want to check anything about the Green Ninja." She quickly added. "There's...something else I need to check, actually."

"I see." The old man gave the ninja a understanding look. "Very well, then." As Nya left, the other three ninja looked at each other, confused.

Nya made her way. Not to the armory, at least for now, but for the front of her brother's room. The lock was there, which was already a wrench in Nya's plans.

"Hey, Kai?" The red ninja gently knocked the door. "Are you in there?"

No answer. Nya sighed, an awful feeling at the bottom of her stomach.

"Um, we found where the Serpentine is. Maybe Lloyd is with them." She added, hoping to have a reaction. Still nothing. "If...if you want to go with us, you should say something."

Once again, no answer. Not even a grunt.

"Well... If you're here..." Nya mumbled. "Just...hang in there, okay?" She asked. "A-and... don't try anything stupid, alright?"

The red ninja sighed again, moving away from the door and going towards the armory. Somehow, the lack of an answer felt worse than Kai yelling at her.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

What Nya didn't expected, however, is that Kai was doing something stupid.

"Barely any snakes this time." Kai pondered trough his binoculars. There was the City of Ouroboros in front of him once again. "Good." He sighed, determined. "This time, I got you, buddy."

Chapter Text

You could call Kai a lot of things. Stubborn, hot-head, stupid, and the list goes on... However, he cares for people who are important to him. So of course he wouldn't give up on Lloyd so easily. And since some cool new power was going to present itself to him, then he should do things the old way.

So maybe that's the reason he's trying to save his buddy again after the last fail.

This time, however, there was fewer snakes around Ouroboros. If there was some reason for it or it was just another trap being set up for him, the boy had to risk it. That's how he always lived his life with Nya.

"Okay, maybe I should try the other way around this time." Kai thought to himself. "Instead of going inside, maybe there's a way to enter around it."

With his next step decided, the boy in samurai vest sneaked troughout the rocks, until he found a small window after a few minutes.

"I can hear voices..." Kai whispered to himself. "So there's more people around besides Lloyd?" Slowly, he peeked trough the bars, seeing a group of people wearing similar explorer uniforms.

"How many days will we be trapped in here?" A man grunted. "I-I don't wanna die!"

"Don't b-b-bee ridiculous!" A woman gasped. "They have us trapped in here all this time. They wouldn't...right?"

"Hey!" Kai tries to catch their attention, hoping that those people don't cause more problem to him.

"Huh! Woah! Guys!" One of them noticed the samurai on the window. As everyone looks as well, their desperation for freedom increases.

"Oh my First Master! A normal person!" Someone gasped in awe.

"Sir! Please help us!" Another one jumped to the grades, shaking them off.

"Sshh!" Kai tries to shush them down. He really didn't need attention brought to himself. "I may help you guys, but first I need to know." He said, grateful that at least they were tooking him seriously. "Is there a little boy here with you?"

The explorers looked at each other. No, they had not. But what if that made their possible saviour leave them like that? Should they lie or be honest?

"No, we didn't." Said a man, leaning in one of the walls. He looked visibly pale. "But...I heard. I heard Mr. Shippelton and Smythe talking... talking about both of them having to do a lot of dirty work with the help of a boy... Yes...today as well..."

Kai gritted his teeth in anger. So not only Lloyd wasn't even there, Pythor was forcing him to put himself in danger's way?

"Do any of you know where did they go?" The samurai ask, desperate. "Any clue at all?" The explorers turned their attention at their comrade, hopeful. However, he only shooked his head, unresposive.

Kai sighs, knowing he didn't made much progress. And if Lloyd wasn't there...

"Fine." He finally spoke, looking for something under his armor. From there, he gets a lime, that he tosses to one of the explorers inside. "Use this. I think you can escape if you're careful."

"Oh! Thank you! Thank you!" The man closer to the window picked the tool, with teared eyes.

"That's nothing." Kai looks away. At least someone is having a good ending today. "Again, just be careful and good luck." He walks away after that, trying to think about what to do next.

He does not go far, as the hot-heated boy knocks into someone as he walked away. "What the-"

"Be careful..." A voice spoke. "Yes. It's always good to be careful." As the samurai looks who he met with, he gulps. Fangton is right there in front of him, with both heads grinning. "You should follow your own advice."

"Damn it!" Kai gasps, quickly getting up and pulling both his swords in quick reflex. "How did you-"

"We don't have ears, but we can hear the soil very well." Fangton spoke in a stoic manner. "But more importantly, put your weapons down, samurai. I'm not looking for a fight."

"Yeah, sure. Like I'm ever doing that." Kai wouldn't drop his guard so easily. If that general was stupid enough to think that.

Fangton simply sighed at that. "Very well, then." Both of his heads sighed, already defeated. "You better be right about that, Skales..." The Fangpyre mumbles under his breath.

"Listen. By the fact you and the Ninja are never too apart from each other... Can I suppose you have a way to contact him?" Fangton spoke, trying to sound the most respectable as possible. At least, he could brag himself about that. He knew how to be honestly polite if needed.

"What if I do? Is there a problem with that?" The samurai replies, still not lowering his guard.

"Geez. You're a hard cookie to crack." Fangton sighs, enerved. "But...no. Actually, you might be a good asset for us."

"...Asset?" Kai was confused. Why would the snakes think he would help them?

"Yes." Fangton nodded. If this samurai was much slower, they sure were going to have problems. "Listen. You want to stop Pythor, right?" The samurai gave him a suspicious look. "Well, as much as we don't like your type at all... My friend Skales thinks he's going too far with his agenda."

"So what? You guys are having second thoughts now? Kind of late for that." Kai mocked the Fangpyre.

"Not exactly that." Fangton shooks his heads. At least the Samurai seems more interested to hear now. "Skales didn't had much faith in the story of the Great Devourer, but now..." The snake had a dark look in his eyes. "With our objective closer than before... Who can say if the that beast can really be controlled? And by Pythor, of all snakes?"

"Are you trying to offer a truce? Is this serious?" Kai slowly dropped his guard. If the Serpentine didn't want to unleash the Great Devourer as well...

"Again, something like that." Fangton nods. "However, such a larger part of us is still on board with this plan." Both heads sighed. "Maybe the only way to stop this is by a...outside interference, if you catch my drift." The serpent grinned. "And Skales thinks you're the guys for the job."

"I'm listening." The boy decides to give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he could take more information as well. "What I should do?"

"If all goes well today." Fangton explains, clearly satisfied. "Pythor will go after the last Fangblade as soon as he can." Kai faced him, expecting the rest of the plan. "Then, this leaves an opportunity for someone to casually get their hands on the rest of them."

"So..." Kai ponders, slightly confused. "You want me or the others to just rob them back right under all of your noses?" That seemed a bit too much, Kai has to admit do himself.

"No. The rest of the blades are not here." Fangton shooks his heads. "Since your last appearence, Pythor doesn't trust Ouroboros as a good place to secure them, and unfortunately the only thing Skales and I know about their hiding spot...is that the Constrictai know something about it."

"Fine." The samurai sighs, still a bit unsure. But if this was a change they have to fix things... And that could teach the others a thing or two about how things should be done.

"But about Lloyd?" Kai added, still unsatisfied. He come all the way there for the little guy, and he's not going out without him. "Where is he?"

"That, I can answer." Fangton nods with both his heads. "Though, I don't think you're going to like to hear it."

"What do you mean by that?" A chill goes trough Kai's spine.

"Pythor took him to the next blade's location...the Fire Temple." Fangton said, grim.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Nya kept typing on the bridges's computer, a expression of worry in her face. Right besides her, Jay has a similar expression.

"This looks really bad." The blue ninja whines, watching some red signals on the screen.

"Yeah." Nya nods without removing her eyes of the screen. "Since the last time we've been there, it looks like the volcano has grown unstable."

"I see." Wu joins them with a similar worried look. "This really seems to be a big problem."

"Not just a big problem." The red ninja grunts, tense. "The place is a powder keg just waiting to blow up. This will be a highly combustible environment." She got out of the computer, sitting on the table. "We'll have to be lucky to get out of there safe."

"Great." Jay groans, sweating. "Fighting armed and deadly snakes in a highly combustible environment about to blow up. Just how I like it!"

"No matter our situation, we are the only ones who have a chance to stop Pythor from getting what he wants." Wu argue, stoic. "We will do what we must."

"Then..." Nya quickly gets up, determined. "I'm going to Kai. Try to get him out again. Maybe this time he'll listen to me."

"Um, sure." Jay says, unsure of he agrees with this decision. "Good luck with...that."

Meanwhile, at deck outside, Cole, Zane and Garmadon are observing the Fire Temple getting bigger on the horizon.

"The Fire Temple..." Cole ponders. He sure would like if they didn't need to return to that especific place. "What do your intuition has to say about this place this time?" He turns his attention to Zane.

"Hm..." The white ninja ponders, nervous. "I sense...resolution. Like something is going to be finished here today. As well as...something deadly right in the same way."

The black ninja sighed. "So basically nothing much different from the usual, I guess." Garmadon just gives them a void look, remaining in silence.

In a few more minutes, the Destiny's Bounty finally drops its anchor in front of the Fire Temple.

"Okay, everyone." Jay announces to everyone present. Almost every single one of the people involved are reunited at the deck, except for Nya and Kai. "Just a few reminders from what Nya and I got." He explains, strangely serious for a first. "We have to take a lot of care when we enter inside. No kidding, this place is like a tick tocking bomb. Any wrong move and we're toast."

"Then, if that's the case, we must not use our weapons." Wu nods, decisive. "We can't compromise this mission." His students nod all together, putting their golden weapons away. Garmadon nods as well.

"Hey guys!" Nya appears after them soon after that. "Sorry for keep you waiting." As she spoke, everyone noticed how distraughted the red ninja looked.

"That's no problem." Cole says, concerned. "But...did something happened?"

"Kai." Was the red ninja's response. "He still don't answer me. I'm getting really worried about him." Did she really hurt him that much?

"Don't worry." Jay winked at Nya. "Knowing your brother, he's just being a jerk for the sake of it." He laughed nervously. "As soon as we get Lloyd back, he'll be fine as always."

"It's not like that!" Nya snapped at the blue ninja, who jumped out in suprise. "I know you and Kai don't really get along, but... he's not that simple minded."

"Enough of this." Garmadon interrupted the pair, annoyed. "We don't have time to go bantering like that. We have to rescue my son."

Everyone kept shut after that. Deciding It would be better to them to just make haste, Wu led the way down towards the entrance of the temple, being followed closely by the rest of the group.

"I don't see any Serpentine around." Zane whispered, as they explored the first areas."I have the feeling we'll be safe for now."

"If they didn't found anything on the surface, they must be inside the inner core by now." Wu agrees with his wisest student. "From here on out, we must travel by shadows." The other teenagers nodded at their master, doing their best to kept themselves hidden.

"Hm." Garmadon quietly snickered. "Now you are all acting more as ninjas." The group rushes down the tunnel to the base of the volcano, with Jay sprinting stealthly to the end of a tunnel, where he finds the Serpentine digging on a area full of pillars and platforms, with a river of lava flowing in the base.

As being the first one to get there, the blue ninja gave a quick scan trough the area.

"Aha!" He mumbled. "Guys, there's Lloyd." The freckled boy pointed at the cage where the young boy was being held. He seemed fine, except the fact he look painfully sick. "There's other two old man there, though..."

"Son." Garmadon gasped, gripping a piece of the rock from where the team were spying. The rock cracked at the force of his grip.

"Shh." Wu sushered, asking for silence. "We must be careful." All of them nodded, keeping watch.

In the area where the Serpentine were, some of them were showing deep concern of their surroundings, praying that their mission would be over soon.

"This is getting out of hand." Shippelton mumbles, waving his own hat at his face, trying to relieve a bit of the heat in the air.

"Indeed it is." Smyhte nods, taking Shippelton's hat out of his hands, for his companion's offended look. "Why do you need us even here?"

"If you are so tired of being around us, you're all free to jump into the lava." Pythor growled, the heat clearly making him more aggressive.

"By Jove!" Both of the explorers gasped as one.

"In some way, I have to agree with them." Skales sighs, turning at Pythor. "Isn't this place a bit too dangerous for so much of us to be inside? What if we-"

"How many times to I have to explain this to your little brain?" The purple snake glared darkly at him. "We are too close to let anything get in your way." Pythor sighed, annoyed. "If I knew how much of a coward you were, I would've looked for a more suitable right-man." Skalidor, who was closer to the other two, snickered at that.

"Um, generals?" A Constrictai comes out from one of the holes the Serpentine were making. He has a reddish blade in his hands. "I think we found what you are looking for."

"Oh? Pythor Approaches, eager. "Give me that, fool!" He pratically snatches the blade from the other snake, making him trip and fall into the hole he just came out.

"Hm-hm-hm-hm. Hahahah!" Pythor laughs, waving the Fangblade in his hands. "Behold, everyone! The third Fangblade is ours, at last!" A big number of Serpentine cheer after that, both to be a step closer to their goals and for thankfully leaving the active volcano soon.

"Darn it." Cole mumbles from the Ninja's hidespot. "I hoped we could have some more time so we could save Lloyd."

"We just have to move fast." Nya shakes her head, unsheathing her sword. "Let's-" Suddendly, the volcano rumbled violently, catching both heroes and villains off guard.

"What was that?" Pythor yelled, frightened. Skales and Skalidor began looking at their surroundings, suspicious.

"Nya!" Zane gasped, tense. "You brought the Sword of Fire with you!" The bad feeling the white ninja had been feeling since they entered the temple suddenly intensified.

"Huh? What? What's the matter?" The red ninja express her confusion. Did she missed something?

By the look everyone else has, she did.

"I said that you should all leave the Golden Weapons behind." Wu sighed, nervous. "And now, with the Sword of Fire here of all weapons, our situation becomes more dire."

"Oh." Nya's eyes wide. "I...I'm sorry, I d-didn't know..." Great. Did she just messed up even more?

"Who's there?!" Pythor yelled at the distance. "I know there's some...uninvited guests here somewhere!" He grins evilly. "And...if by some reason these guests like to wear like ninjas, then..." He turns the Fangblade at Lloyd's cage. "...my good old chum can get a surprise today."

"No! Lloyd!" Garmadon acts on impulsive, outing them to the enemy. "Don't you dare touch a hair of my son!"

"Dad...?" Lloyd mumbles with a weak voice from his cage.

"What the-?" Pythor is taken back. He was certainly not expecting...whatever that creature was. "Who the heck are you?!" The snake hesitated.

"Someone you should not have messed with." Garmadon growls, conjuring the same purple blades he created when the lord fought Wu in the Realm of Madness. In a fit of satisfying rage, he jumped into action.

"Garmadon! Wait!" His younger brother shout, desperate. Seeing there was nothing else he can do, Wu turned his attention to his pupils.

"The volcano is unstable. Remember, be light as a leaf." The four of them nodded at their master. "But attack like there is no tomorrow." He announced, jumping into the fight as well.

Though they were trying their best, fighting a bunch of weaponized snakes wasn't an easy task for the teenagers.

"Woah!" Jay easily dodged one of their attacks, managing to land on a lower platform. "This guys aren't going easy on us!"

"Wow, seriously, Jay?!" Cole grunts, parring a sword with his palms. "Where did you got that idea of?" The Serpentine hissed at the black ninja, but Zane came from behind, jumping into the enemy so Cole have a chance to fight back.

"I...have the feeling we should've brought at least basic weapons with us." The white ninja points out as Cole knocks the enemy out. "Master Wu and Lord Garmadon are fighting with weapons of their own."

Realizing that, the black ninja facepalmed himself. "That didn't even crossed my mind!" An Hypnobrai sneakers behind the pair, but their attack is stopped by a purple blade cutting their shoulder. The serpent yelled, getting on the ground.

"Stop blabbering about your weapons!" Garmadon yells, annoyed. He was the one doing most of the fight, dropping snake after snake in the ground. "Just use your powers!"

"Oh, we would love to do that!" Cole snaps back at the evil lord, rolling his eyes. "But that's the problem. Our weapons aren't here!"

"You don't- ugh! Forget it." The lord of darkness grunts, dismissive. Did Wu seriously didn't tell anything about them?

However, someone was thinking about what Garmadon just said. A ninja that was still carrying her sword with her.

Nya couldn't lie to herself. She was having a bad time against the snakes. They were a lot taller than her, and she wasn't in her best mind right now. They needed to put a end in this, and quickly.

And so, the red ninja pulled her sword off, pointing it defiant at the Serpentine. A new quake indicated that the volcano was reaction to the power of the weapon.

"Nya! What are you doing?" Wu shouts, stopping his own fight against at least six serpents. "Didn't you heard me earlier?"

"I...I can control this!" The girl speaks, not so sure herself. "You guys can leave it to me!"

"No, no you don't!" The old man replies, desperate. "If this keeps going-" Another rumble caused everyone to lose their balance, creating a lot of panic.

"That's enough of this!" Skales yells, finally snapping himself. "Serpentine! Retreat, now!" As he said that, the serpent began slithering away.

"Who decided you call the shots here?!" Pythor shouts at him, offended. "We only leave when I-"

"Look around you, Pythor!" The Hypnobrai turned at him, angry. "If we keep this going, we're toast as well!"

The purple serpent hissed, heavily disliking the tone his apparent comrade was using with him.

"Very well. But this isn't over, Skales. Mark my words." Pythor pointed at the general aggressively. "Serpentine! It's time to take our leave from this frying pot!" As he says that, he also starts to make his way to a tunnel made by the Constrictai.

Nya turned at that, desperate. They couldn't be losing another Fangblade! Not when was this close to them. If Nya could do something, anything. If she could get Pythor to drop his guard, or distract him somehow... She just wanted to found a way to make it up for all her slip-ups. Slip-ups she shouldn't have made in the first place.

The volcano trembled more violently by the second. Nya couldn't focus with that much happening around her. It was almost like the place itself was reacting to that bubble of anxiety she was feeling on her chest, making hard for her to breath.

"O-oohoo, no! I really don't like this!" Nya heard Jay yelp, tense. "Why we always end up in dangerous places like that?! Serious-" another violent tremble happens, making the blue ninja, who was already too close to the edge of the platform, lose his balance and fall from it.

"JAY!" Cole launched himself as fast, miraculously managing to hold his friend by the ankles. Zane quickly joined him, as he knew as much strong Cole was, he couldn't pull himself and Jay up by himself.

"COLE!" Jay shrieks as his hood falls into the lava. "For the First Master's sake, don't you dare let me go!!!" The boy cried, desperate.

Nya dropped her sword, paralyzed. Her mind blanked. "No... What did I..." The red ninja mumbles under breath.

"No, no!" Her thoughts caught up to her. "It wasn't my fault... The volcano is unstable. We already predicted that before coming here!"

"Yeah, but who's carrying the weapon that is literally making this place worse?" That annoying voice inside the red ninja's head asked. "You really outdone yourself this time, huh?"

"No!" Nya dropped on her knees, covering her face in a desperate attempt to deny her surroundings. "No! No! No no no! It's not my fault! It's...it's not my fault! This isn't me! I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!" She cried to the ceiling. "I'm supposed to be in control here!" She fell to her knees, sobbing.

"What is going on with Nya?" Cole grunted, doing his best to push Jay back up. He was almost there, until a sudden push almost makes him lose his balance.

"Out of the way, for goodness sake!" The pair of explorers who were in the middle passed flying by the black ninja.

"Can't you see this wretched place is going to blow at any minute now?" One of them adds, running towards the way the Ninja had made their entrance.

"I...have to agree with those two man." Zane sighed, feeling overwhelmed by the heat. "We have to grab Nya and Lloyd and get out of here."

"Leave Lloyd to me!" Garmadon yelled, jumping into action. Some Serpentine tried to stay in his way, but the evil lord throwed them out of his way into the lava with no mercy.

"Oh dear!" Pythor yelped, finally realizing the mistake he made by having Lloyd as bait. "Quickly, drop the boy, now!" The serpents carrying Lloyd nodded, simply tossing the boy inside the cage.

"Dad!" Lloyd sobbed, frightened. For the boy's luck, the cage got stuck between two rocks. However, his luck could only take the blonde that far, as the lava was slowly bottling up the volcano. "Help!" He cried, as the floor of the cage was already getting too hot for to stand in.

"I'm coming Lloyd!" Garmadon shouts, leaving the fight behind for what truly matters to him. Jumping into the cage, the evil man uses all his might to bend the metal bars of the cage, just in time to take his kid out as the bottom of the trap began to melt.

"Dad...!" Lloyd sobs, relieved. "Dad, you're here, you...you..." His father hugged him firmly, carrying the kid away as fast as he could.

"Shh. It's okay, son." Garmadon spoke in a conforting tone. "I'm here now. Everything is going to be okay."

Meanwhile, the other three ninja were pratically dragging Nya to the exit as the girl kept gasping excuses.

"I know what I'm doing... I know... I-I'm good enough..." She was mumbling to herself.

"Come on, Nya. Snap out of it." Cole says, worried. "Is okay now, we're getting out."

"Y-yeah!" Jay tried his best to sound reassuring. "You don't have to worry, sword or not, it's not your fault!"

Nya's eyes suddenly got wide after hearing that. "My sword!" She freed from her friends, trying to find where her weapon was.

"Nya! Can you-" Cole tried to calm the red ninja down, but clearly she wasn't listening.

"My sword!" Nya gasped, nervous. "Where is the Sword of Fire?!" The others looked at each other, too stunned to speak up. How did they forgot the sword of all things?

"There!" Zane pointed out, exactly to the area where Nya was having her breakdown. The sword was lying in the rocks, distant from everyone.

"I have to get it back!" Nya ran away, directly to the platform. "If I manage to lose it, what kind of ninja...what kind of person I am?!"

"Nya, don't!" Wu yelled from the exit. "It's too dangerous, you don't need to-"

"Yes I need!" The girl snaps as she ran. "I'm supposed to protect the Golden Weapon with my life, aren't I?" The ninja sniffled. "I...I can't fail with you guys again...!"

"Nya, please!" Jay plead, desperate. "It isn't worthy, come back before this place blow up on us!" However, the red ninja ignored them all, blinded by only the perspective of how much problems she caused to everyone the girl cares about.

She was almost there now. She just had to be quick...

Until another violent rumble made all the rocks inside the temple fall into the lava, including the somewhat platforms Nya and the sword were gambling their existences. Even the others in the exit stumble backwards, startled.

Amidst all that, Lloyd was the one to try to go closer to the edge of their platform, trying to help everyone for all this mess he got himself into.

"Nya, please!" The younger boy cried, dangerously closer to the border. "Think about Kai! H-he's waiting for you, isn't he?"

Nya paused. Was he waiting for her? Did she made anything that made him want her around?

"No." The annoying voice replied for her. "All you did for Kai was being his forever luggage. He dropped school to take care of you, he took everything under his hands, even though your neighbors wanted to help. But you were his responsability. You took everything from him, and that didn't make you a better person from it. All you've done since you left your home was getting behind everyone and getting them in trouble for acting like you know more than them."

The volcano shooked even more aggressively, and suddendly, the border where Lloyd was, where his father was just a few minutes earlier, finally cracked and fell with the younger boy in there.

"A-AAAH!" Lloyd gasps, shocked by that course of events. "What is- Dad!" He cried.

"NOO! LLOYD!" Garmadon tried to reach for his son, but it was too late. Lloyd had fell under the lower area. The evil lord desperately tries to go after the boy, but a big gust of hot air made him flinch, and right after that...

"Look out!" Cole warned as the ceiling began collapsing above them. "This place is going down!"

"No! We can't leave without my son!" Garmadon turns at them and yells, ferocious.

"With this boulders in the way now..." Zane mumbles, conflicted. "Even if we move them, the pressure being kept inside will implode everything in one second."

"Which means we have to get out of here, or else none of us will get out!" Wu announced with a dark expression in his face. "We...can't risk everyone's lives...even if we wanted to."

"But my son!" Garmadon growled.

"And Nya, too!" Jay cried. "Are you telling us to leave them to die?!"

"There's nothing that can be done." Zane shooks his head, defeated. "We...lost."

Cole turned his face away, hurt. "If...if only we-" another rumble, which makes some heavy gas escape trough some of the rumbles behind them.

"We must leave, now!" Wu announced, running towards the exit of the temple. Defeated, the others forced themselves to follow him.

As soon as the group got out, the explorers who escaped were waiting for them outside.

"Oho, thanks goodness you all came okay!" Shippelton congratulates them with relief. "Smythe was already saying his prayers, my good fellows!"

"Please, Shippelton. Not now." Smythe rolls his eyes. "Let's just be thankfull tha-"

Unexpectely, out of the blue, the mysterious Samurai came flying trough his jetpack out of nowhere, surprising every single person present on the exit.

"You! Here!" The warrior gasped, anxious. After facing each one quickly, his eyes got wide. "Nya! Lloyd! Where?!" He asked, out of breath.

"W-we couldn't..." Wu mumbles, taken by surprise. "They're still inside the temple, but-" The Samurai didn't wait for anything else, and using his jetpack, he flew towards the top of the volcano.

"Don't- Kai! Wait!" Wu yelled. Why everything was going so wrong? What was he supposed to do?

"Wait..." Cole says besides Wu, unsure of himself. "Master, did you say...?" The other two pupils also turned their attention at him with anguish.

The old man sighed, defeated. And now there was another complicated turn of events caused by him. Behind them, Garmadon had completely shut off, unable to say anything.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Inside the volcano, Nya was crawling slowly as she sees the lava slowly getting around the rocks. Sweating, she removes her mask, feeling overwhelmed by everything around. Her sword was so close now, but the hot air and the mixture of the gas around were making hard for her to breath.

"I'm close, so close... I just need the sword back!"

Then a new sound caught the red ninja's attention.

"N-nyyyaa!" Lloyd's voice could be heard from behind the girl. But...that wasn't possible! Why was Lloyd there, and not with the others?

"Lloyd? Lloyd, where are you?" She asked, tense. The red ninja slowly makes her way towards the younger boy, who is stuck in one of the rocks in the flooding lava.

"Nya? Nya!" The blonde looked less terrified by seeing her, and tried to reach for the red ninja. Nya was able to caught him as he jumped towards her location.

"Lloyd, w-what are you doing here?" Nya asked, nervous. "Why didn't you left? Is dangerous here!" She looks around, looking for a exit, but all she can see are rocks around them. "Where's the exit?" She asks Lloyd, already afraid of his answer.

"I-I can't leave!" Lloyd cries, frightened. "I fell when we were trying to bring you back, and now there's no way to come back!"

Nya looked to where the group had entered earlier, and that was true. From what she could tell, a bunch of rocks fell, blocking the way.

What...was she supposed to do now? There's no escape for her, no way to save the Sword of Fire, and now... Lloyd was trapped in there as well?

"No, no, no no no nonono!" Nya repeated in her mind. "I can't possibly be giving the worst kind of trouble to someone again, I can't!" She looked at Lloyd, and the boy faced her with worry. "And not for him of all people. He made mistaken, sure, but that is nothing compared to how much I screwed up with him, with Kai...with everyone else!"

"W-what are we going to do now?" Lloyd asks her, hoping that Nya will know what to do. From what he hears from Kai, Nya always seems to know what she's doing.

"I...I'm going to find a way out for you first, okay?" Nya says, trying her best to sound reassuring. First Master, how Kai was always able to make her feel safe when things were rough? "Let's go, we-" But before the red ninja could finish her sentence, a loud *thud* closer by caught the pair's attention.

"W-what was that?" Lloyd asked, hiding behind Nya.

"I don't know, but...stay close!" Replied the girl, tense. What else could be happening to make their situation worse?

Well, the voice she heard clearly was not going to help Nya at all.

"Nya! Lloyd!" Her brother's voice said, coughing. "Where are you?!"

"Kai?!" Nya yelled, shocked. "No, not Kai too, now!" She thought. "Where are you? Why are you here?!" Soon Kai's figure appeared in front of them, and his face never seemed so relieved.

"Oh, First Master!" He says, throwing himself at the pair and hugging them. "Thank goodness you're okay!"

"Not for much long." The anxious voice in Nya's head spoke. She tries to shook that off. Now's not the time for this.

"Kai, quick." The red ninja says, letting go of him. "You have to get out of here. Take Lloyd with you, then-"

"Well, about that..." Kai brushed his hair, nervous. "I didn't land the way I wanted to... I guess the pack got busted...?" He tooks it out of his back, giving it to Nya. "But I know you can fix it."

"What? I..." Anxious, Nya quickly glanced at every point of the jetpack. It definetely seemed that it had anchieved the limit of its usefulness, however. Whatever trip Kai made, it was too much for the poor machine.

"No...no I can't!" The girl mumbles, feeling lightheaded. It felt like each second everything got worse and worse. "That's...too much, I...I can't, Kai!"

"Wait, what?" Kai sweats, the fear slowly crawling back to him. "Oh, okay. Uh... We can find another way though, no worries." He begins looking around them. "...Right?"

"No, we can't!" Nya yelled, desperate. "There's no exit, no hope, and no way to stop the volcano!" She sobbed. "And now...now you guys are stuck with me, and it's all my fault!"

"Hey! Hey now!" Kai quickly put his hands on her shoulders. "Me being here is not your fault, okay? Besides, okay, things happened, but-"

"There's no but, Kai!" Nya shooks her head. "I hate this! I hate how I failed that much! I'm not supposed to be so stupid! So useless! I shouldn't make stupid mistakes!"

"Hey, Nya, sis. Calm down." Kai says, with saddened eyes. "That's not true. Mistakes happen all the time. Just look at me. I always do mistakes." He smiled at her awkwardly. "You're really smart, sis. You're one of the most amazing people I know." The boy sighed. "But that doesn't make you immune to failure. Do you get that?"

With the rumblings and the lava rising, most of the rocks around the three kids had submerged.

"But...I s-shouldn't be like that." Nya sighed, trying to calm herself despite the situation. "I should be at my best, I'm always like that...but since I become a ninja, I-"

"Come on, not even Zane tries to be perfect like that." Her brother cut her off. "So what if you're not the best ninja yet? You have a lot to learn, no one borns knowing everything!"

Nya faced Kai with watered eyes. How could her brother be like that? Despite how harsh she can be with him, despite how much they fight, and how much she takes from him... He still doesn't give her up. Even in the grasp of death.

If someone as great as him can love her, despite all her flaws and errors, maybe she should try to love herself a bit more...

The red ninja jumped herself into hugging her brother, for his surprise.

"Thanks, Kai." Nya sniffled. "I don't know what would be of me without you sometimes."

"Um..." Lloyd finally speaks after all of this. "I...have to say sorry, too." He looked at them shyly. "All of this was kinda my fault, wasn't it? I got in your way a lot..."

As she listens to the younger boy, Nya is reminded of something Zane told her just a few days ago.

"About parents leaving their childs behind, and how lonely one can feel. Maybe...that's what Kai saw in Lloyd. Maybe that's what brought them closer in the first place..."

Yeah, Nya could see what the white ninja meant by that.

"No, it's not your fault, Lloyd." Nya smiled gently at him. "Okay, maybe you made some bad choices, but..." She looked at Kai. "We all do that sometimes." The red ninja's brother nods his head. "We just have to do it better next time."

Nya sighed deeply. "Yeah. It's never really over, no matter how awful you feel. You can always make things better in the future." She looked around, more determined now. There's no exit anymore, their only salvation at the moment was the floating rock the trio was in.

"I need my sword." Nya finally speak, decided. "If using it made the volcano actually worse, maybe I can make the reverse work as well..."

"It's...here!" Lloyd mumbles, with the sword by his feet. "While you guys were talking, I tried to get it back, but..." He picked the sword, and the weapon begins glowing. "The sword was floating and came to me by itself. I don't know if that's normal or not..." Suddenly, the gilded light became green in Lloyd's hands. The three looked at it surprised. Especially Nya and Kai.

"Um... Is that normal?" The blonde kid asks, confused by the look in the other two faces.

"Lloyd... You-" Nya begins, but this time a new violent shake break the conversation, and the lava almost clips the rock is in.

"Woah!" Kai yelps, with Lloyd throwing himself at his arms, scared. Nya picks her sword where the blonde left, and sees her own reflection on the blade.

"You better hold tight, things are going to get shaky!" She faces Kai and Lloyd, bracing her.

"What? W-what do you mean?" Kai asked, genuinely lost. "Nya, what are you-"

"Trust me!" Nya yelled, closing her eyes.

"That's it. It doesn't matter if I can do or not, if I'm better or not. I have to try something, anything, for the sake of the people who matter to me! Because they'll believe in me, even when I don't!"

A red flash of light blinded everyone inside the volcano, as the ticking bomb finally erupts.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Come on, come on!" Jay was shaking on the Bounty's deck. The whole team returned as fast as they could to the ship, trying to make their way to the head of the volcano. Maybe, just maybe, they could still have a chance to save the others.

"Can't this thing go any faster?!!" Garmadon yelled besides the blue ninja, who's only reply was a whimper of cowardice. "My son is in trouble! We need to make it faster!"

Suddenly, the volcano finally exploded, with ash, smoke, rocks and lava jumping from the hole on the top, much to the pair's dismay. A few seconds after, Cole comes out of the entrance to the corridors, with a sick look on his face.

"Guys, we can't get more closer anymore!" He says, sweating. "Zane said that the Bounty could fall with all the things getting expelled." The boy adds, approaching Jay, who fell on his knees.

"I-I... I k-know that." Jay says with watered. "But... Nya... Nya was still there!" He sobbed, hugging Cole. "I... I should've been there, t-there with her!"

"Are you stupid?" The black ninja gasped. "Did you want to die as well?!"

"No, I don't!" Jay cried. "But...but Kai, or the Samurai, or the heck he even was...!" He sobbed. "He did go after her! Maybe we...I...maybe we should have...!"

"We can't let ourselves get dragged on by our hesitation." Wu speaks, joining them accompanied by Zane. "We cannot unmake the past or the mistakes we made, especially concerning other people." He sighs, with sorrow in his eyes. "Nya and Kai made their choice, and so...did we."

"It's really easy for you to say, isn't brother?" Garmadon growled at him. "No one here is connected to you by blood."

"You know that's not like Garmadon." The old man speaks with resent. "I just...have to accept whatever outcom-"

"Hold on a moment!" Zane, who was observing the volcano in silence, finally exclaimed. "There's something strange happening!" As the others looked to the volcano as well, they all saw one the fireballs and rocks being expelled from it.

Except one of them was coming directly towards the Bounty, like it was being attracted to it.

"What the heck?!" Cole is shocked by that, stepping backwards. "This isn't normal, is it?"

"Take cover!" Wu yelled as the fireball was coming faster to their direction. When the object finally reached the deck with a heavy 'thump', they all noticed something strange with it.

"This... Isn't a fireball." Zane pointed out, curious. "It looks more like... a barrier." As he says that, said barrier dissapears, revealing a shining, red Nya, with Kai and Lloyd behind them, with all on top of a rock. Both boys had lose their conscience.

"Hey...Guys..." Nya coughed with a weak voice. "I... d-dit it..." Were her final words before collapsing.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

When Nya open her eyes again, she appears to be in the room the four ninjas share at night. When everyone noticed her, Jay and Cole came for big hug.

"Nyyya!" Jay cried. "Oh my gosh you woke upthankgoodness!!!"

"You dumbass! Did you wanted to scare us or what?" Cole chuckled, brushing her hair.

"Um, I would like to give Nya some hug, too." Zane smiles. "But, maybe we should give her some space. She just woke up, and she breathed a lot of dangerous gas earlier..."

"It's okay, Zane." Nya smiles as well, thankful. "I can take it." She giggled, relieved. "What about Kai and Lloyd?" The girl quickly asks, soon feeling worry.

Zane pointed at the other beds. Kai was already awake, drinking another one of Wu's teas with a disguted look.

"Oh, hey, sis." Kai smiles warmly at her. "I knew you could do it."

"Yes, I'm relieved to see that all is well as it ends well." Wu nods in agreement, but quickly bonks Kai head with his staff. "However, I may ask for you to refrain to take actions like today. There's so much we can handle at times."

"Ow! Why the heck am I being punished for?" Kai complains, massaging his head. "I was just after Nya and Lloyd."

"Speaking of Lloyd..." The red ninja begins, but a crispy voice stops her.

"He's here." Garmadon speaks, sitting next to an unconcious Lloyd on one one of the beds. "And he's going to be okay, don't worry. It's just that breathing all that smoke didn't did him any good." The evil lord sighed, standing up.

At the sudden move, both Cole and Jay got in their guards, but Zane made a motion with his hand, asking them to wait and see.

"Two times now my son was saved by you." Lord Garmadon spoke in a gentlier manner. "So, I would want to thank you all for all your efforts on keeping Lloyd safe. I am in debt with all of you." He finished, bowing his head.

Most of them looked at each other, awkward, while Zane reciprocated the bow.

"Uh, anyway..." Cole turns his attention back to Nya, trying to break the awkward mood. "About your... fire barrier or something... Was that your True Potential?" He asks with honest curiosity.

The girl nods. She can't lie, she feels proud of herself. But this time, is for the right reasons. "Yeah, I guess I did..."

"That was sooo cool by the way!" Jay grinned at the red ninja with sparks in his eyes. "Though...how did you found the key?" The freckled boy asks with an nervous look. "I mean...you were kinda touchy about it lately."

Nya blushed. Gosh, she was a really a pain during this days... "I guess... It didn't never occured to me that I was trying so much for the wrong reasons."

"What do you mean by that?" Zane ponders, slightly confused.

"I was trying so much to be the best..." She turns her attention to Kai, Wu and Garmadon, all looking if Lloyd is okay. "...that I never realized what I should've been doing all this time is do my best. I want to do my best." The girl nods, determined. "For everyone's sake."

"Hm..." Suddenly, they all heard Lloyd's voice, as the boy finally regained conscience again. "Kai...? Nya? Did w-we made it?" He slowly lifts his own body on the bed.

"Lloyd!" Garmadon yells, relieved. He goes for the biggest hug Lloyd ever received, surprising the kid. "Thank Father! It's so good to see you okay, son!"

"Dad?" The blonde mumbles, a bit confused, but accepting of that sudden gesture of care. "I-Is it really you?"

"Yes. Yes it is, son." Garmadon nods, hugging the boy even more with his both pair of arms.

"Wait, uh... why do you have four arms?" Lloyd asks, genuinely concerned now.

"I take that as he's gonna be okay." Cole chuckles, while the others join him.

As Nya observed the father and son duo, she couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. "Must be cool to having a parente that cares that much about you..."

And then, something flashed on her mind. Lloyd carrying the Sword of Fire... The weapon emitting a bright green light...

Should she open her mouth and destroy this nice moment?

"I sense that something is still troubling you, Nya." Zane stood by her side with a expression of worry. "If there's something you think should be added to our affairs, you should say so."

"Well..." The red ninja pondered, facing Kai for an answer on that to do. Taking back, the boy looks away, seemingly saying something amongst "is your decision to make" line.

In that case, hiding this wouldn't be fair to anyone.

"Master Wu." Nya begins. "Did you said that the Golden Weapons point the way to the Green Ninja, wasn't it?"

At the mention of that title, Wu sighs deeply. "Yes, Nya. But I like I said before-"

"Do they shine or float in the air? With green lights all around it?" She insists.

"Well..." The old man gave the red ninja a strange look. "Why are you asking that?"

Without asking, Nya just got off her bed and grabbed her sword, putting It by Lloyd's side. The weapon suddendly has been given life, exhibiting the same green light from before, to everyone's surprise.

"...What?" Lloyd asks, confused. "What is everybody looking at me for?" He blushes a bit, flustered. Is he going to be scolded?

"Then..." Is all Cole says before he put his scythe closer to Lloyd, followed quickly by Jay and Zane. All weapons then levitate and emit the same green light.

"Seriously, why is everyone looking at me like that?" Lloyd asks, getting a bit annoyed by their ignorance to his question.

"Lloyd." Wu finally speaks, getting closer to his nephew. "You are the Green Ninja."

"I...what?" The blonde mumbles, completely flabbergasted. "The Green Ninja...? You mean the Green Ninja?!"

The old man simply nods, turning his attention at his pupils. "All this time, I had thought it would be one of my students, but it was Lloyd the whole time." He said as something finally clicked on his mind. "It all makes sense... Four Golden Weapons... four guardians of the power of creation itself..." The master nods again, determined. "Not only have you four been chosen to protect the Golden Weapons, but also to protect the Chosen One." The four ninjas face each other, suprised by this change of events.

"Then... That means..." Garmadon speaks with a broken, distant voice as the weight of this all comes down at once at him.

"The battle lines have been drawn, brother." Wu says to him, clearly displeased by this outcome. Destiny could be cruel sometimes. "Sadly, our family has only become more divided than never." He looked at both Garmadon and Lloyd as he spoke. "Brother versus brother, and now, son versus father."

Everyone falls in silence, unable to think about anything to change the subject or to brush this all off. It's impossible. The cold and harsh reality was open to all to see.

And still, Jay decided to open his mouth.

"Okay, um, this is really heavy and all, but..." He ponders. "I hate being the one to bring that out, but whatever happened to the Fangblade?"

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Ah, it's so beautiful." Pythor gently caress the blade of the third blade the Serpentine managed to conquer. "Keep it well guarded, boys." The Constrictai soldiers nod together. Hm-hm-hm-hm... One more... We've only got one more to go... And then all this land will learn to respect the Serpentine as a whole!" The serpent laughs evilly, triumphant.

Chapter Text

"Hm... Okay, let's connect all the info we have now, one more time..." Gayle Gossip says to herself on her table at Ninjago News Station. She's biting her nails, recollecting everything she learned about the recent events around Ninjago.

"Four mysterious ninja warriors that appeared out of nowhere, not long after those snakes begin showing up here and there..." The woman ponders. "According to the museum's curator, they use an antique technique that exists since the first periods of History, and it was created by the First Spinjitzu Master, who apparently isn't just legend from the old folks."

"And this mythological figure had two sons, who... lived all this centuries?" She gets up, walking left and right, feeling like she's going to have a migraine. "What all of this means?" Gayle asks to herself. "Then, those same four people appear at the talent contest at Nom. Could this have been the real ones? Or just some kids copying them?" The woman looks at the clock, seeing it's finally her lunch time.

"Ugh...what a puzzle." Gayle thinks to herself as she picks all her notes and folders and walks towards the elevator. "Still, I'm not backing down this mystery."

"Hello there, Gayle." A man says inside, with a playful look on his eyes. Gayle grunts. Now that she entered, she can't back down now. Though she wasn't eager to meet Fred Finely, her rival in career, despite what other people said.

"What a nice day, isn't?" He asks, with that same playful look.

"Yes, yes. Amazing." The woman rolls her eyes. She's just waiting for him to drop his pretencious camaraderie.

"Well you don't look like you having a good day." He laughed. "Is this because the higherups are not buying your story about ninjas riding vehicles that dissapear in mid air?"

Gayle lets another groan escape her mouth. Okay, maybe she shouldn't have mentioned that detail when she talked about her investigation. Now she was becoming the laughing stock of the entire building for pursuing this nonsense.

"Come on, don't be like that." Fred spoke, confident. "A frown never suits a competent journalist. Neither unlikely stories." The man added, stroking his moustache.

Thankfully for both of them, the elevator's door opened right after that. Gayle sighs, relieved to get away from her comrade. "Just a little more and he would see my competence." She thought.

As the reporter walked trough the enormous ground floor, she notices the amount of people asking everywhere to talk with some journalist about some bombastic news, as people that worked there just sigh in resign, trying to explain that no, some blurry photo wasn't that special.

Gayle rolled her eyes. And still, few people come to talk about anything involving the recent apparition of the Serpentine. For some, they were just some crazy people using costumes. But Gayle and anyone who saw them up close know that wasn't true.

She passed by a pair of man loudly talking with one of the sattendants, when she heard something that caught her attention.

"...Inside an active volcano! Then those ninja appeared out of nowhere! Isn't that right, Smyhte?" A man in a explorer atire spoke.

"Yes, yes." The man besides the first guy agrees. "And let's not forget there was that big monster with four arms with them!"

Thinking quickly, Gayle hides behind a plant, latching on every word spoke by the pair.

"I'm sorry, but if that's all really true..." The people attending them sighed. "Do you have something that proves the fact?"

"By Jove! Our word does not have any value?" Shippelton asks, offended. "We're renowned explorers, for Pete's sake!"

"Exactly my feelings." Smythe nods in agreement. "Do you know how badly we were treated by those despicable snakes? It was horrible! We should be promoting a anti-snake rally for all their abuse!"

"Okay, right." The attentend rolled his eyes. "If that's all you had to say, then I believe we're done here. Please, leave."

"What a joke!" Smythe shooks his head, dissapointed. "So this is how we, brave heroes are treated." Both he and Shippelton turned away to the entrance.

"Very well then." The one with a hat said. "But mark my words, you're not getting anything from us ever again. No names, no clues, nothing! And you bet we have a lot of those!"

As the both got away, Gayle finally left her hiding spot, with a flaming curiosity on her eyes. The woman turned her attention to the secretary, who was feeling very relieved to get rid of the pair.

"Excuse me, who are those?" The reporter asks eagerly. The man in front of her sighs, resigned.

"Mr. Smythe and Mr. Shippelton, members of the... Explorers Club of Ninjago, I think?" He answered, thoughtful. "As for today, they're just more people looking for all those snakes and ninjas big front or whatever. So-" he kept going, but Gayle had already left. She got everything she needed.

As she got out of the building, she quickly picked her phone and began dialing the numbers for her call. It didn't long for the person she was calling for to answer.

"...hello?" A tired male voice answered, confused.

"Vinny!" Gayle exclaimed with awe. "You're not gonna believe this! I found a new tip for my mysterious ninjas story!"

"Um, that's...great." Vinny says from the other side of the line, trying to sound as happy as he could. "Was...that it?"

"Of course not." Gayle laughed, victorious as she walked trough the street. "I need you to meet me at the coffee shop in the next ten minutes, and quickly! We have to go after this scoop!"

"Wait, what?" Vinny replies, lost. "But Gayle, today was supposed to be my day off..." The man groans, defeated. "Can't this wait until tomorrow?"

"No, no we can't!" The woman rolls her eyes. "We can't lose that chance! We're close, I can feel it!" She almost bumped at someone that passed by her. "Hmpf. And if you don't come, I'll just go and work on that by myself."

Vinny sighed, knowing that if no one keeps an eye on Gayle, no one can say what she will do. "Fine, fine." He finally answered. "Just give me some minutes, okay? I was taking my nap..."

After he ends the call, Gayle smiled at herself. Maybe things are finally starting to turn around for her after all.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

At the Destiny's Bounty, almost everyone is reunited at the bridge. Zane is sitting closer to the computer, while is messing around the back of his head.

"Uh... Are you sure you want to do that, Zane?" The blue ninja asked, nervous. "I mean... I feel like we shouldn't be dealing with anything around your head." He managed to remove a small clasp of his friend's back of his hear, revealing a couple of wires. "Isn't this part really sensitive?"

"It's okay. I trust you guys." Zane smiles, gently. "Besides, if we have access to what my Falcon see quick, we have more time to enter in action."

"It's okay to think like that," said Nya, who was doing the same work on the Falcon on the table. "Just tell us if you feel something wrong." The white ninja nodded at that.

"It's good to see all of you in a better mindset." Wu spoke, content. "It feels like you're more of a team, now."

"That's good to hear." Cole nods, determined. "That means we can give our all this time around." He sighs. "I hate to be the one to say it, but we have only one last shot to stop the Serpentine."

"That is indeed true." Garmadon says, brushing Lloyd's hair as he watched Nya and Jay work, curious. "Time is running out, and if any of us do something, there is nothing much that will be saved."

"Then...what will happen if we can't stop them?" Lloyd asks, snapping out of his trance. "Won't people be in danger? Shouldn't them be hiding, or... shouldn't we be warning them?"

"As much as that's the best thing we could do..." Nya pointed out. "I don't know how much people will believe us if we just go and tell them about it."

"That actually might not be too hard." Kai, who was absent until now, finally entered the bridge. He had a resigned look on his face.

"Whatever you mean by that, Kai?" Wu brushes his beard, curious. After everything that happened the former day, the boy asked to be left, something that Nya agreed and insisted on.

"Since I can't help much with anything..." Kai says, sighing deeply. "I was just chilling out, waiting for the meeting with everyone to begin or whatever, and I was watching the TV. And, well..." He rolls his eyes. "I think you guys want to see that."

Curious, everyone except for Zane and Garmadon, followed the spiky-haired boy to the rec room.

"What the heck?" Nya gasps surprised at the images on the TV.

"You have to be kidding me." Jay grunts, defeated.

"Wait, isn't that-?" Cole asks, confused.

"And there you have it, everyone!" Gayle Gossip was screaming at the camera, radiant. "Those stories about ninjas and snakes are true in the end!"

"Indeed." Smythe nods aggressively. "As first-hand victims of those heartless beings, I can assure you those snakes are evil trough each one of their scales."

"Yes!" Shippelton adds. "If those ninjas haven't saved us in that volcano, we would be toast! Toast, I say!"

"So those ninjas are working at best to stop the snakes from doing whatever they're trying to do. Is that it?" Gayle asks with a sly look.

"Yes, yes!" Shippelton agrees, full of energy. "If anyone out there don't know how brave and heroic they are, then we shall be the ones to say: these ninjas are heroes!"

"Definetely!" Smythe keeps nodding. "If it wasn't for... um... What were their names again...?" He asked, with a confused look. Gayle observed the pair with wide eyes, like she was expecting something.

"I don't recall asking them, now that I think about it." Shippelton ponders, and clearly Gayle didn't liked to hear that. "But! I have the feeling of one of them calling the name...um... May? Uh, no, that was not it..."

"Oh, the blue one?" Smythe also stops to ponder with his friend. "No, it wasn't that... I'm pretty sure it was... uh... oh!" His face suddenly clear off. "I know it! It's... Clay! Yes, Clay!"

"What?!" Jay yelled is disbelief.

"Oh, yes, yes!" The other explorer clapped his hands in satisfaction. "That's absolutely right! Clay! I could never forget that name, nor that face!"

"Oooh, so you even saw that Clay's face? Interesting!" The reporter grinned, ecstasic. "What could you tell us about him?"

"Hm. Let me see..." Shippelton mumbles. "Red, short hair. I'm sure of it!" He nods, confident. "Oh, and-" the rest of the interview was cut by Jay, who turned the television off.

"Okay, that's enough even for a joke!" The blue ninja yelped, more red than Nya's gi. "My hair isn't even red!"

"Come on, Clay. Don't be so blue now." Cole chuckled, having fun as Jay punched his arms screaming how that wasn't funny.

"Hm. That's not good." Wu brushes his beard, worried. "Even if they're barking at the wrong tree for now, this could become a serious problem."

"Yeah..." Nya nods. "Details apart, they figured it all pretty well." Seeing as Jay frowned, she felt bad for him. "But that isn't too big of a problem, right?" The red ninja asked.

"Yeah... Yeah!" Jay nods, with his ears still painfully red. "We live in a flying boat, for crying out loud! One day people would notice us."

"Which is why we always fly close by the clouds and never come too close to civilization." Wu shooks his head.

"Why do you guys can't have people knowing who you are, anyway?" Lloyd asks with a curious look. "It's not like the Serpentine don't know who we are already."

"Still, learn this lesson, my nephew." His uncle gave him a gentle look. "The reason our family and friends were able to do so much for everyone's sake in Ninjago is because we didn't had the spotlight drawn out to us."

"And that's why you make sure you're hiding your face when you're doing the vigilant hero thing, unlike Jay." Kai pointed out.

"Excuse me?" The blue ninja wide his eyebrows. "My mask fell in the lava, what was I supposed to do?!"

"Relax a little, I'm not saying you did it on purpose." The hot-heated boy rolled his eyes. Did Jay always reacted to everything the same way? "Why do you have to be so touchy?"

"Oh, you did not said that to me!" Jay grunts, annoyed. "You're the one that has tantrums every time things don't go as you want!"

"Oh yeah?" Kai lift an eyebrow. So Jay was playing that kind of game now. "At least I have some spine and get my act together. That's more than you can do."

"Only hiding yourself from us, though." The freckled boy laughed bitterly. "Ooh, look at me, being this super cool guy without anyone knowing who I am!"

"Okay, that's enough, both of you." Nya spoke, annoyed. "You're just being jerks to each other now."

"Kai was always one, to be fair." Jay crossed his arms, defiant. "He just hides it well sometimes."

"Try to say that again." Kai cracked his knuckles. "If you want me to put you in your place, fine by me."

"Guys, like Nya said, that's enough already." Cole faced them. "This is ridiculous."

"Um, can anyone hear me?" Zane's voice suddendly came out of the speaker. "I don't know if you're all done yet or not, but could Nya and Jay come back, at least? I'm in... a delicate position right now." The white ninja mumbled.

"Perfect timing as always, Zane." Nya sighs, relieved. "Let's go, Jay. We can figure things later." She adds, holding his hand to guide him.

"Um, yeah, sure." He nods, blushing and following her lead, leaving everyone else behind.

"Those two are weird sometimes." Lloyd pointed out, shaking his head.

"You can say that again." Kai nods in agreement. "I don't know what my sister sees in him."

Meanwhile, Wu and Cole simply sighed.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"So you all heard it!" Gayle exclaims with enthusiasm in front of the camera. "We're all going to show those snakes what we all think of them two days forward, in the Central Jade Park!"

"We hope to see you all there with us for our exciting Anti-snakes Rally!" Smyhte brushed his moustache. "We promise you It will be everything you can expect, and more!"

"And...cut." Vinny says, defeated. As he finished the transmission, Gayle keeps her conversation with the pair of explorers.

"We are really grateful for you kindness, sweet lady." Shippelton bowed his hat in front of the reporter. "Knowing that someone gave their own time to hear us is truly admirable."

"Oh, don't mean it." Gayle giggled like a child. "I was just doing my job, like a good journalist should, after all."

"I promise you we'll have the best entertainment out there to give everyone a day they'll never forget." Smyhte nods, satisfied. "It's the least we can do." He smiled. "Now, If you excuse us, we have reports to write and calls to make."

"We hope to see you there for the rally." Shippelton waved his hand as the pair entered their club's building.

"Just doing your job, huh?" Vinny spoke to her with a jaded expression, as the woman kept giggling to herself.

"What?" She smiled. "I'm not lying. I'm just doing my job as any journalist should."

"Yeah, yeah." The camera man rolled his eyes as he began to organize the equipment. "Totally not trying to rub in our superior's faces how right you are."

"What if I am?" Gayle asks, determined. "They have to know this is not just a silly tale anymore. This is real."

"Okay, but..." He grunted, finishing putting everything on the studio's van. "You know they're going to question about using the studio's name like that, right?"

"Hmpf." The reporter frowned. "They should be grateful about it. We're bringing good stories to them, and..." She pats her partner's back. "They won't complain if we offer ourselves to cover the Anti-snake Rally."

"I don't see how that solves anything." He gave her a confused look. "Anyway, do you think all of that was true?" A bead of sweat formed in his forehead. "Like, okay, the ninjas and snakes are common to hear by now, but what about that part about some big, dark mosnter?"

"Real or not, that could be something else to look into, that's all I can say." Gayle pondered, interested. "But forget about that for now. We have a bigger fish to fry!"

"What...?" Vinny hesitates, unsure of what is coming next. "We're not done yet?"

"Of course not!" Gossip smiled at him. "We just got a clue for one of the ninja's identities! We have to look every nook and cranny for that Clay guy!"

"You... do know that's a pretty common name, right?" Vinny says, feeling tired already. "Ugh... There it goes my day off..."

"Relax, Vinny." Gayle rolled her eyes, a bit annoyed by his complaints. "We can have dinner on Chen's Noodle House later, promise. On my treat."

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"With Pythor having three of the Four Fangblades, is imperative that we collect the last one, whatever the cost." Wu ponders with worry.

"We just have one problem." Nya pointed out. "Even if we manage to locate the last one that quickly, I'm almost sure Pythor is almost at it already. It's obvious he knows where they are."

"Yeah, he found a map that pointed out the way to them." Lloyd nods. "I remember seeing him looking at everytime he goes trough his travelings."

"Oh, come on." Jay groans, anxious."There has to be something that we can do, we just didn't thought about it yet!" He tried his best to sound hopeful, but the looks everyone gave the freckled boy clearly showed that he didn't get what he wished for.

"Maybe we're thinking trough this the wrong way." Kai finally spoke. "All we are talking about is how we can't get to the last blade, but we can do the opposite."

"What do you mean by that?" Cole asks, interested on what the boy has to say.

"What if we take back the other three?" Kai asks nonchalantly. "I know Pythor wouldn't risk having them all on him, risking to have them taken away. The guy is not stupid."

"That's a good point." Garmadon, who was in silence until now, finally spoke. "He probably hid the other three somewhere while he goes for the fourth."

"Yeah, that sounds like something that Pythor would do." Nya agreed. "Which also means it can't be that easy."

"Easy feels like a light way to put it." Zane shooks his head. "I sense that taking the other three would be far more dangerous." He explained his point. "Pythor would undoubtedly have them protected by his top generals."

"That means we don't have to hold back anymore." Cole shrugged with confidence. "We have to give our all."

"But... Even if you could steal the other three, we don't even know where they are now." Lloyd says, trying his best to contribute to the conversation.

"Actually..." Kai mumbles, unsure. In a way, sharing that information was a victory for him, but on the other side... He felt like he could lose another chance to prove himself.

"I might know something." He finally said. "When I tried to save Lloyd back in Ouroboros yesterday, I...was caught." He heard Jay huffs in disregard. "Asshole." The spiky-haired boy thought to himself.

"Wait, and they just let you go like that?" Cole asked, amused. "Dude, that was really lucky."

"Is not that much." Kai says, feeling a bit more welcome to the situation. "To be honest, from what I heard, it feels like the Serpentine are just as scared of the Great Devourer as we are."

"That's smart from them." Garmadon spoke. "If they really think they can have any kind of control over that beast, they're delusional."

"So, what did you got from them?" Wu asks, interested to know what Kai got to say.

"Well..." Kai pondered to himself. "They don't know much, from what I heard. Pythor isn't relying much on them." He sighs. "But what one of them had to say was that the Constrictai were helping him keeping it hidden."

"Makes sense." Zane nods. "From the times we met them, Skales and the Constrictai General are always with Pythor. It sound to think he would trust any of them."

"Hm... Maybe that's where we should start." Jay says, moving around to their computer. "Let's try using the scanner to find something." After a few minutes, the blue ninja frowned. "No results."

"But." He adds. "If we try using the our sonar sweep..." After a few more minutes, he sighed. "There's some snakes around in Ouroboros, and a small number of them underground... Though nothing suspicious about that."

"Even so..." Nya approached the freckled boy. "Kai said that the Constrictai are with Pythor, so it might not be that easy to find them." She thinks for a moment. "Let's try a deeper scan." The red ninja began typing some more information on the computer.

"Let's say..." Nya says with a sly look on her face. "Thirty feet below surface?" As she put the new information, a few seconds of waiting gave the group the answer they were looking for.

A more prominent of red markers appeared on the screen, much for everyone's surprise.

"There they are." Cole speaks, with furrowed eyebrows. "Those guys are smart."

"Wait, hold on." Jay plead, looking at the screen. "If we put the scale down, and then put the map on that position..." He mumbles while his hands work rapidly on the keyboard.

"Well, wouldn't you say." Zane pondered with a hand on his cheek after the blue ninja finishes his work. The screen show the entire map of Ninjago, especifically the points where the Serpentine Tribe tombs were located, with each one now showing a trail of red markers.

"Oh, I see." Wu nods, amused. "Quite insightful of them."

"Well I didn't saw anything." Kai complains, annoyed. "Can someone explain?"

"All the tombs have been interconnected." Cole turned at him to explain. "Probably to make something like one massive underground fortress."

"All this time, right under our noses." Jay sat on his chair again with a dumbfounded expression.

"Or rather feet, would be appropriable for this situation." Zane quickly corrected his friend, whose look quickly became one of pity.

"There, that's the most protected area." Nya suddendly says, after taking Jay's place on the keyboard. The map is now pointing at the Constrictai Tribe's location, where a large number of red marks are. "The Fangblades must be held there, if we follow Kai's informant."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Garmadon, who once again kept silent until now, nodded fervously. "Set the course."

"Already on it." The red ninja spoke, clearly showing by her expression that she didn't liked the evil lord's demanding tone. "We'll be there by sundown." Everyone nodded, lefting their seats to prepare themselves.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Soon Wu was reunited with the main team, as they are warming up for their decisive confrontation in the deck.

"There is no room for error." The old man says, brushing his beard. "The Serpentine have shown that they have great powers," He kept going, walking around. "and to combat them, you must turn their greatest strengths into their greatest weaknesses."

"Nya, how will you defeat the Hypnobrai?" The master asked at the red ninja. Testing the group's knowledge seemed like a good way to know if they are ready.

"That's an easy one." The girl smiled, confident. "Their powers can't do anything against an opponent that can fight without seeing." She said, closing her eyes and striking the air with her sword.

"Good." Wu nods in approval. "Now, Jay, the Fangpyre is fast and their bite sharp."

"But if they can't bite through your skin," the blue ninja taps the armor on his arm proudly. "they can't turn you into one of them."

"Oh, yeah!" The freckled boy added, taking his gloves off and a small bottle out of his pockets. "And don't forget a good measure of body oil, so maybe they can lose your skin as well!" Says him, greasing himself with it.

"...Quite." The old man nods with a bead of sweat forming in his forehead. At least the boy had atitude. "Now." He turned at Cole this time. "Cole, the Constrictai General is strong." With visible strenght, the master throws a net at the black ninja, trapping him within it. "And he will not let go."

"But instead of fighting back, one must try to loosen up." Cole simply sighed deeply, relaxing his body. That makes the net quickly lose its grip on him. "And a little soft shoe doesn't hurt." The boy adds, patting one of his feet in the floor.

"Great." Wu nods, proud. "Zane, the venom of the Venomari can make you see things." He says, pointing at his own eyes. "Cloud your perception."

"Then I have the perfect tool to dismiss this." Zane smiles proudly. "I'll use my new Falcon Vision." "To prove his point, his blue eyes suddenly shine, while the Falcon, which was flying around, also had its eyes shining.

"Okay, that is awesome." Cole smiles, a bit envy of his friend. "So that's what you guys were working around earlier."

"Yes." Zane nods while he deactivates his feature. "I wish we could've done something more to counter each tribe, but I believe that will do for now."

"And you are right, Zane." Wu nods. "You're all a team, so even when you can't do something, you can count on someone that is able to." He smiled at the group of teenagers he had in front of him. Despite a few bumps in the road, everything seemed to be going well between all of them.

"I have trained you well." The old man finally says. "You are all ready." He brushes his beard, full of proud.

"What about you, Master?" Jay asks, with a curious spark on his eyes. "Will you join us tonight? We're in good shape, but we can always use some extra help." The boy winks in his playful manner.

Wu gave them a small laugh. "What type of master I would be if I didn't?" He playfully bumps his staff on Jay's head, who winces in disconfort. "I may be a old sack of bones, but even a dull sword can regain its sharp with the right blacksmith."

"Um, this means it's on?" And speaking of blacksmiths, Kai's voice came out of the intercom. "Okay, uh..." He mumbles at first. "Just so everyone knows, we're arriving at the Mountain of a Million Steps. You might want to know."

"Oooh!" Jay runs away to the border. He was curious to see the place. "Heh, look at all those piles of dirt."

"Jay, despite the appearences, we shouldn't make fun of Ninjago's past." Zane added, sighing.

"I wonder what those snakes are up to down there." Nya mumbles, ignoring the other two.

"Huff... huff..." Lloyd breathed heavily behind them, coming out outside on the deck. Kai was following him close, with a tensed look in his eyes. "Wait for me, guys! Ow!" The younger boy tripped on a staff double his height, which he was carrying with him.

"Are you okay, buddy?" Nya asked him, helping the boy getting up. Jay and Cole looked at that confused, while Zane smiled to himself and Kai looked away.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Lloyd mumbles, blushing a bit. "I tried looking for something that I could use to help... I don't know how to use any of the weapons you guys use."

"Lloyd, listen." Wu put a hand on his nephew's shoulder. "I know that you want to help, but this fight isn't yours." The old man explained.

"But...but it is." Lloyd mumbles. "I'm the one who got the Serpentine out..."

"Even so," the old man says. "the Green Ninja is too important for the future to come. You shall stay behind."

"You heard it, buddy." Kai pats Lloyd's back. "We have to sit this one out." He did his best to smile.

"Wait, what?" Now It was Nya's turn to be confused. "You're not coming with us?" The girl asks, hesitant.

"Yeah..." Kai sighs. "I'm not feeling it right now." He shruggs. "But I'm sure you can make it without me."

"Are you sure, Kai?" Nya insisted, trying to not be so forceful. She was really trying to work things differently. "We don't mind, y'know?"

"It's fine." Kai gave another forced smile again. "Honestly, you can guys will do better without us around. Nya was about to add more to that, but soon Garmadon appeared behind Kai and Lloyd.

"I will stay with them as well." The lord says. "I know it's unlike me to say, but being subtle doesn't fit my way of dealing with things." The team nods at him, understanding his feelings. "I don't enjoy saying this but...good luck, Ninja."

"Let's make our way, then." Wu says, jumping out of the ship. The rest of his pupils soon follow him, with Nya giving Kai a last look before following her friends.

Chapter Text

Seliel walked around her family's house without thinking much. Seeing the Ninja mentioned on the news was nothing new, but seeing one of them being mentioned so directly was jarring, to say the least.

"Cole and his friends sure are something else." She thought. She was glad to know that her friend found his place in the ninja team, but she also had an idea about how dangerous their life was. "Skeletons, snakes, falling building, now a volcano. One day it might be too much."

Okay, maybe she shouldn't care that much, but Cole was one of the few people who understands her. That's why they help each other so much. Heck, they were the lonely pair of wolfs in Marty's. But with Cole gone, all she could was cheer him on in the distance. And she's fine with that. She just doesn't want him risking his neck so much.

Suddenly, a ringing phone bring the girl out of her thoughts. For her content, the voice she hears is a familiar and friendly one.

"Good day, Seliel!" Lou's voice sounds happy from the other side.

"Hey Mr. Lou. What gives today?" She asks, unable to help herself from smiling. Having Cole's old man around was always good, considering how both of her parents were never too present on her life.

"Ohohoh, just the best, my girl. Just the best!" Lou laughs. "I was trying to talk to your father, but apparently he was too occupied to listen to me once again."

"Let me guess. He's still mad about the whole Concert Hall falling out like a card castle?" She rolls her eyes. Everything her father knew about the event is that Lou had to be saved by the Ninja, and that made he blame his old friend somehow.

"Yes, well. You know how Mark is by now." The man in the call tried to play it off. "I was trying to invite your family to Ninjago City in two days!"

"Ninjago City-?" She ponders. "Sure, why not? Kinda of a strange invita- wait." Something clicks on her head. "This isn't about that anti-snake parade thing, is it?"

"Oh. Cat's out of the bag." She hears him sigh on the other side of the line. "Believe me, I just received a call from the people who were on TV a while ago, and they asked for the Royal Blacksmiths to make a show in the middle of the park where the event is happening! Isn't that amazing?"

"Yeah, sure." Seliel replies, dubious. "Totally not suspicious at all that they asked for your group to be there." She brushes her eyes. Her head is already hurting. "That journalist is on it, I just know it."

"Either way, that's amazing news for us!" Lou speaks. "I may have a bad leg, but I can still sing as an angel. Besides, it's the least I can do for a cause that dislikes the snake as much as my son do." He laughs. "So, can I see your family there tomorrow?"

"Fine." She sighs and laughs as well. "You know I can't say no to you, Mr Lou."

"That's my girl!" Lou laughs again. "See you soon, Seliel." The calls ends there.

Seliel shooks her head. Only Cole and his father could make her take part on something like this.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

At the Mountain of a Million Steps, a rope falls directly from the open entrance where the Constrictai Tomb was located. Slowly, Nya, Jay, Cole, Zane and Wu climb down.

"Wow, it's really dark in here." Nya mumbles when she gets to the ground. "I can barely see my hands."

"Really?" Jay looked at her confused. "Are you saying you're not seeing this snake drawing right there?" He points at what is for Nya another random side of the darkness. "Oh, or that funny rock to that side."

"What are you talking about?" Cole ask, helping Wu get down from the rope as well. "I don't remember any funny rocks in here."

This one, right here!" The blue ninja dissapears, soon reappearing carrying something in his hands. "See this thing, it looks almost like a sku- wait a sec." His eyes got wide with surprise. "Ew! That's a skull!" The boy whines, throwing the old bone away.

"Skulls aside, I'm surprised you're able to walk normally here." Nya shruggs. "I'm not feeling safe if I can't see where I'm going."

"Wait, are you saying you can't see nothing at all? For real?" Jay asks, lost. "Huh, that's strange. I swear it's not that dark in here."

"Maybe you just have that good of a eyesight." Cole offers his opinion, warming himself up while doing it.

"Nuh-uh." Jay shakes his head. "Zane's the hawk, not me. I'm more of... A free-styler."

Nya laughed to herself. "And do you even know what that means?" The blue ninja blushes at that.

"Um, you know, I'm..." Jay mumbles, with his ears becoming red as Nya's gi.

"Now is time to concetrate." Wu cuts their back and forth dryly. "We are in our enemy's territory, and we're unable to know what will come."

"You're right." Zane nods his head, as his Falcon flies closer to him. "We're sorry, Master Wu." The others quickly joined him in their apologies. The group then start to look for any clue about where the Serpentine could be, since the entrance to the Tomb was completely quiet.

"That's weird." Cole whispered loudly. "Isn't this the more guarded place on the map? Where is everyone?"

"I sense their presence, but I cannot say how we can reach them." Zane agrees, inspecting one of the walls.

"Ugh. You have to be kidding me." They hear Jay complain again. "Look at this." He calls for his friends.

"Look at what?" Nya asks, curious.

"I guess you have to come closer." The blue ninja says. "But here, right above the ground." The group watched closer, finally seeing what got Jay worked up. Ir was a badly draw figure of a group of ninjas, all of them with googly eyes.

"Wow, really mature of them." Nya rolls her eyes, unfazed. "Was that it?"

"Strange... I don't recall seeing this drawing last time I was here." Zane mumbles, confused. "I'm sure of it."

"If that is true, then maybe this could be our light to guide us trough this darkness." Wu says wisely.

"This little scribble?" Cole mocks it, pressing his hand on the drawing. "C'mon, isn't that-" just as he said that, his fingers pressed further into the carve, and a rumbling sound echoed trough all the cave as the wall besides the black ninja suddendly moved away, revealing a passage.

"Uuhh... Never mind." Cole quickly moves his hand away. "I guess they would do something like that."

"Like I said, light in darkness." Wu nods his head. "Now, let's make haste. In silence." He adds, taking the lead and entering in.

Inside, the group found a imense area with a fountain containing acid possibly courtesy from the Toxic Bogs.

Down there, the other four Serpentine Generals were waiting, with Skales and Fangton having a distateful look in their eyes. Meanwhile, Acidicus appeared to have a curious expression, while Skalidor was showing confidence.

"Things are starting to finally look better for our futures." Skalidor spoke, giving a sly look to Skales.

"You're only saying that because Pythor put you on Skales place." Fangtom gave him a suspicious look with both of his heads.

"What can I say? The big head knows when someone should be trusted around here." The Constrictai General shrugged. "You don't need to feel so blue. Skales isn't. Right, Skales?" He mocks his companion.

"I can't do much for someone as shortsighted as you, I'm afraid." Skales rolls his eyes, impatient. "Time will say who's the right person."

"So, what happens when the Great Devourer is unleashed?" Acidicus asks, completely ignoring their conversation. "Will it really consume everything?"

"I hope so." Skalidor adds, indulgent. "If only to teach the surface dwellers a lesson for locking us underground for so many years."

"Pythor is not here now." Fangtom grunts. "You don't need to lick his tail like that."

"Who knows if the legend is even true?" Acidicus kept going, still ignoring the bickering. "I for one am curious to see what happens next."

Skales sighs. "Cease this, all of you." The others turned at him with varied expressions. "Pythor should be back soon, so let's not make things worse to us."

Meanwhile, the Ninja kept traveling by the shadows.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Back on the Bounty, Lloyd is trying to train with the staff he brought earlier. He wish he could be doing that with Kai's help, but the older boy had simply vanished. And despite also having his father around, the kid felt Garmadon a bit distant after the revelations about Lloyd's destiny.

"Maybe... Maybe Dad can change." Lloyd thought to himself. "He came back for me, didn't he? So maybe me being the Green Ninja is making him think about what He truly wants to do with his life!" He decides that maybe he should check his father, only to at least move this doubt away. Because, if his father could change his ways to help his son, he could be a good person deep inside.

Who cares if he was not anywhere near Lloyd trough all those years? Wu said something about him being trapped in a place he couldn't return, so of course he couldn't come back to his family.

But still, an insistent thought also crossed his mind. "Dad decided to train somewhere else instead of checking on me."

Shaking his head to get rid of those ideas, Lloyd wondered where Garmadon is. He is almost sure he saw his father going inside the bridge a few minutes earlier. Walking towards there, soon he can his father's voice cursing trough the other side of the bridge's door.

"Stupid machine! How can't I find any useful information to use against the Ninja?!" Exclaims Garmadon's voice from inside.

Lloyd freezes. Was his father... Backstabbing the Ninja right behind their backs? Just like that, so easily? Lloyd had to see it with his own. He loudly opens the door, catching the evil lord's attention.

"Lloyd-" Garmadon says, with a faulty look on his eyes. Lloyd sees the computer on and things he doesn't understand on the screen. But that's not the first thing in his mind right now.

"You're... stealing?!" The boy gasps. Garmadon looks away, not even confirming what was obvious. "Are you serious?" Lloyd explodes, frustrated. "Dad, Uncle Wu and the Ninja are risking their lives to save Ninjago, and you go behind their backs to gain an advantage?!"

"I'm sorry, son." Garmadon shakes his head. "I...I wish you didn't have to see that, but I can't help it." He looks into his own arms, as if he was disgusted with himself. "I know you can't understand it, but ever since the Devourer bit me, there's this feeling that just don't let me rest." He sighs. "A dark and devious feeling that demands harm to be done, to bring chaos and ruin to this land."

"And what?" Lloyd's hands are trembling. "Is that the same feeling that made you left me all this time?" The boy shakes his head, trying to hold his tears. He doesn't want to cry. He's a big boy. He shouldn't cry so easily. "Then what made you go after me? Didn't you fight back?"

"I may have, but those were different circunstances." Garmadon cross all of his arms, desolated. "I... can't always fight back." He sighs. "And...being alone in the dark place I was wasn't exactly... any help."

"You... didn't need to be alone." Lloyd mumbles, giving a step forward. "You could've take me with you. Y-you still can!" He adds, nervous. "I just... Really miss having a parent around. Uncle Wu is great, but..."

Garmadon laughed softly. "Yes. Yes he is. And that's why you need to stay with him." He pats Lloyd's shoulder as the boy lowers his head. "Listen, Lloyd. Every boy has a choice to grow up to be whoever they want to be."

Now, Garmadon hand goes to brush his kid's hair. "But I... never had that choice. Because I was bitten, evil runs through my veins." The evil lord looks at his own other hands. "It's always demanding hurt, harm and discord. It's always trying to turn me against others, including my loved ones."

"But you... You still have a choice." Garmadon keeps going with his explanation. "You don't need to be like me, Lloyd." This time, two of his arms make way to his son's shoulders. "Your uncle has a plan for you, and even though it may be to stop me one day..." The dark lord sighs. "We have to follow our own destiny."

"But..." Lloyd mumbles, hurt. "I never asked for this destiny. It's not fair. I just want you to be by my side."

"I'm sorry, Lloyd." Garmadon shakes his head. "Sometimes, there's nothing we can do. But don't worry," he adds "after I help the Ninja stop Pythor, I'll be leaving again."

"Then..." Lloyd mumbles once more, and Garmadon is ready to explain his ways all over again. But the lord is not ready for his child's reaction. "WHY DON'T YOU JUST LEAVE NOW?!" Lloyd yells, filled with anger.

"Lloyd!" Garmadon exclaims, surprised by the young boy's outburst.

"No, really!" Lloyd ignores him, pushing his hands away from himself. "Go back to whatever dark evil place you came from. It's where you like to be anyway!" And Lloyd thought his father cares. How stupid he was.

Suddenly, a voice came from the computer, cutting the fight off.

"Kai? Kai!" It was Nya's voice. "Okay, listen, Operation Stealth was a total bust." The pair can hear the noise of weapons hitting each other in the distance. "We're gonna need reinforcements." No one answered. "Anyone there?" The girl's voice asks again. Garmadon reaches for the computer but Lloyd gets in his away, with an angry look.

"We don't want your help, and we don't need you here." The boy sobbed, not looking his father on the eyes. "Maybe it would've been better if you hadn't come at all."

For a moment, all that Garmadon can do is watch his son with the same shocked expression from earlier. But then, he sighs, accepting his own defeat on the matter. "If...if that's the way you feel." He says, leaving the kid behind and walking away from the room.

Lloyd then goes for the keyboard, desperately pressing a lot of buttons. "I'm trying to help, Nya. Just hold on." He says, sweating.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

In the underground fortress, the ninja are surrounded by snakes by all of their sides. Each of them is already ready with their golden weapons.

"Lloyd?" Nya asks, trying to keep contact with the Bounty. "Lloyd, can you hear me?" Only garbage noise comes trough her ear. "Ugh, I'm not getting anything."

"We should've tested if those communicators we made would work below the surface." Jay winces, spinning his nunchucks.

"No matter. If we can't make contact with Kai and Garmadon, we need to fight back." Wu says, shaking his head. "Ninja, show them what you've learned."

"Serpentine, beat them to a pulp!" Skalidor announces, and the fight really begins now. It doesn't take too much for the Constrictai General to envelop the white ninja with his tail. "Got you now, Not Pinky!"

Zane grunts, feeling supressed. Cole seizes an Hypnobrai and notices his friend struggling against the general.

"Zane, remember! Don't fight, loose up!" He shouts. Zane nods, giving deep and slow breaths, leaving Skalidor confused.

"And what are you doing now?" Skalidor growls, annoyed.

"This." The white ninja simply says, getting rid of the serpent's grip and punchs the Constrictai in the face.

"Ugh! Why you little-" Skalidor yells, but Zane is nowhere near him now.

Meanwhile, Cole is surrounded by snakes, but in a calm and relaxed manner, the black ninja dunks half of them with another go of his Triple Tiger Sashay.

"Hah. And that's how you do it." He says, spinning his scythe. However, turning around leaves him face to face with Mezmo, one of the Hypnobrai.

"You did a very good job for us in the past." The blue snake says. "How about you help us one more time...?"

Cole sweats. He really doesn't want to remember the time he got hipnotized. And definetely doesn't want a second round of that.

"Don't worry, Cole! You know what to do!" Jay yells, bringing Cole back from any insecure thoughts.

"Don't need to say it twice." The black ninja nods, turning his attention to Mezmo. "Hey, how about some good round of... Spinjitzu!" He says, spinning in his tornado and knocking the Hypnobrai out.

"Get him!" One of the Venomari shouts at Jay, and a group of them spits their venom at the blue ninja.

"Woah!" The freckled boy jumped to the ground, hiding his face. "You're not doing this again, guys!"

"Go for it, Jay!" Nya cheered on him, knocking a snake with her sword. Suddendly, though, a Fangpyre came from behind her and tries to bite her shoulder. However...

"Eaouch!" The red snake yelped, feeling pain in their teeth. "What was that?"

"What's wrong?" Nya asks, defiant. "Didn't you like the taste of a good and effective armor?" She says, striking her enemy with her elbow. Another Fangpyre comes and bites the red ninja on her arm, but its unable to bite too further.

"And that's what a thick gi does, by the way." She adds, stomping that snake's foot and striking him away.

"Hey~" Jay says, now really close to where Nya is fighting her part of the enemies. "You're looking good."

"Thanks. You too." The red ninja winks at him, making the boy blush deeply.

"Come now." Wu says, kicking a snake away that was coming for Jay. "Less flirt, we need to get the Fangblades."

"Leave it to us!" Jay nods, with Nya quickly following after him. The blades are located in a pedestal right in the middle of the fountain of acid. Cole, Zane and Wu were slowly right behind them.

"Okay, we're here." Nya says, breathing heavily. "So, will you do the honors?" She turns at Jay.

"Oh, no. Please, after you." He smiles behind his mask. "I insist."

"Just go, any of you!" Cole yells, out of patience. Nya goes for it, but as soon as she picks one of the blades, a bunch of grades come off from the floor, trapping the group inside of a mysterious cage.

"Crap! It's a trap!" Nya yells, grasping at the cage.

"We...do see that." Zane says, tense.

As if things couldn't get any worse, from a distant side of the tunnels, Pythor appears with his scouting part and the last Fangblades in his hands.

"My, my!" The purple snake laughed. "Looks like I came back at the best part!" He smiles wickedly. "Seriously, they fell right into this old Ouroboros trap! Can this day get any better?"

"Oh, yes!" The Anacondrai says. "It actually could!" He turns to the Constrictai General. "Skalidor, make so those annoying kids give our precious blades from inside the cage. Strangle them if you need it."

"My pleasure." The black snake says, brushing his hands. At least four of the heroes gulped at that.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Back to the Bounty, Lloyd was looking anywhere for something he could use to fight aside from his staff. The thing didn't seemed good enough to hurt the Serpentine, and Lloyd was not exceptionally harmful either.

If he could only find Kai as well... The older boy was good at fighting, he would know what to do better than Lloyd.

"Wait, Kai's room!" The blonde facepalms himself. "The others didn't let me go inside the armory, but Kai always has something in his room." He nods, running towards there. Kai wasn't even around his room, so he wouldn't notice.

However, this time the spiky-haired boy was back to his room, but something was wrong. The place was a lot more tidy than Lloyd ever saw, and something more alarming was in Kai's bed. A bag, and it seemed like a lot of the older boy's belongings was inside.

"Kai?" Lloyd mumbles, confused. The boy turned at him, alarmed. Then, he sighs, as it's just Lloyd.

"Hey, buddy." Kai nods. "Do you need anything?" He hopes Lloyd go away soon. He wants to make his exit with little dignity he has left.

"What...are you doing?" The young boy asks, pointing at the bag at Kai's bed.

"Oh." Of course Lloyd would have noticed. Of course. "I... Listen, it's clear that I'm not being useful here, so..."

"What are you talking about?" Lloyd asks, confused. He's already feeling distressed. "We need you right no-"

"It's okay, Lloyd." Kai cuts the boy off. "I know how things are right now. You don't need to pity me." He sighs. "I don't have a place in here."

"What is this about?" Lloyd yells. "First my Dad, now you, too? Are you all just abandoning me for no reason?" He breaths heavily, feeling smaller than he is. Why are Garmadon and Kai doing this to him? It's not fair.

"What? What do you mean Garmadon-" Kai asks, genuinely confused about what's happening right now. He needed some time alone out of this place. What did he missed?

"My Dad was trying to get information on everyone!" Lloyd explodes. "So I told him to go away! And he didn't even look behind!" Tears begin to come out of the boy's eyes. "And now you decide to go away like that! What happened?!"

"Lloyd." Kai sighs. He really didn't want to have this conversation. "It's just...I finally see that this isn't where I'm supposed to be. That's all."

"But you're my..." Lloyd gasps. "You're Nya's brother! Aren't you worried with her?"

"She can take care of herself." Kai says, looking away. "She doesn't need me around. And you're doing fine by yourself as well."

"Fine?!" Lloyd yells again. "That's not true! I'm only here because you guys gave your best to save me! If wasn't for everyone-"

"Not 'you guys'." Kai says coldly. "I didn't do anything. I just got in their way." He grunts. "It's not like I could've done anything either. I'm not like you."

"Of course you are!" Lloyd yells back at him. "Come on, you're the Samurai! You're the best fighter here! No one is better than you!"

"No, I'm not!" Kai finally snaps. "I'm not better than anyone here!" He yells to the younger boy. "Nya doesn't need me! Master Wu doesn't need me! Not even you, the Green Ninja, needs me! Not anymore!"

Lloyd looks at him with his fists trembling. "Fine, then!" The blonde yells, turning around. "You're right! I'm the Green Ninja! The Green Ninja can do anything he wants! So I'll save everyone by myself! I don't need anyone to help me!"

"Good!" Kai shouts back as Lloyd leaves the room without looking back. "Goodbye for you, too! Hope you don't miss me!"

As Lloyd turned around in the direction of the armory, he didn't notice a shadowy figure that observed everything transpire.

Chapter Text

Kai huffed annoyed in his room as he finishes packing everything in his bag. He was not going to cry, he couldn't let himself do that. No one there deserved any single teardrop from him.

Still, a part of him wish he had gone after Lloyd. Being the Green Ninja wasn't the boy's fault. He didn't made that choice.

"But he's already eager to prove how amazing and powerful he is." Kai thought. Just a small fight, and Lloyd was already ready to discard Kai as a piece of trash. Great.

"Who needs them, anyway?" The boy mumbles to himself. "It's not like they need me as well. We're better like that."

"Is that so?" A voice asks behind him, and that voice don't belong to Lloyd. Kai turned away, surprised to see Garmadon standing there.

"What do you want?" Kai asks, annoyed already. "If you're looking for your kid, he's not here anymore."

"I noticed that." Garmadon looks away. "As well that you plan to leave your family behind."

"So what?" The boy retorts. "Don't tell me you want to give me a moral lesson or anything, you are no better than anyone."

"That's right." The evil lord agrees. "I belong to the darkness. I have no place in lecturing anyone."

"Still." He keeps talking. "You're a dear person to Lloyd. The few time we had together here, you were always something he liked to talk about."

"So?" Kai asks nonchalantly. "What does this change?" He crossed his arms.

"You mean a lot to Lloyd, that is." Garmadon shooks his head. "And I have to respect you for being a brother figure to him."

"Well too bad." The boy answers. "I'm leaving today, so Lloyd has to find a new brother to play with."

"Is that so?" Garmadon feigns surprise in a mocking way. "Are you telling me you're leaving your family behind now, of all times? They need your help."

"First of all, there's no 'them', just Nya." Kai stops the dark lord. "And what do you mean they need help?"

"We received a message from the Ninja." Garmadon explains, crossing his arms. "They got caught, and you and Lloyd are the only ones that can save them now."

"What?" Kai says, shocked with the information. "What about you then?"

"This is no concern of mine." The evil lord shakes his head. "Lloyd made that clear earlier."

"That doesn't make sense!" Kai adds. "You're telling me that you came here to help, but now you're not helping us anymore?"

"At least I have an excuse." Garmadon retorts, annoyed. "Part of me want to see them fail, to not make trough all of this. What's yours, boy?"

Kai sighs. Garmadon got him cornered in that. He was no better. "You're right." The boy nods. "It's not my problem as well."

Then, to Garmadon's genuine surprise, Kai start to unpack some of the armors and weapons he has, wearing them.

"But there's one thing I learned from life, and that's something I carry with me always." He moves Garmadon out of the way as he moves to the door. "You never leave someone important to you behind. No matter how hard things can be."

As Kai left the room by himself, Garmadon stood behind, reflecting on the words he just heard.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

It took a few minutes of looking around Wu's room, but Lloyd managed to find the Green Ninja gi. Despite the fact the clothes were bigger than the boys short arms and legs, he quickly solved the problem by rolling up his sleeves and pants.

"Now that's more like it." The young boy says to himself in front of the mirror in his uncle's room. "The Green Ninja is going to save the day!"

Leaving the room and rushing towards the bridge again, Lloyd begins pressing some buttons, trying to find a way to comunicate with the Ninja down there.

Luckily for the boy, though, they were able to contact him first.

"L-Lloyd? Kai?" Nya's voice came from the computer. Lloyd wasn't smart as Nya or Jay, but he noticed that the quality of her voice is coming awful from her end. "Lord Garmadon, then? Is anyone there?" She asks, clearly tense.

"I'm here." The blonde replies. But thinking fast, that's was not the best way to reply. "Uh, I mean- this is Lloyd." He corrected himself. "As for my dad..." Lloyd sighs. "My dad left. How are you guys holding on?" More static goes out the speakers. "Nya? Hello?"

"Sorry. Sorry." Nya finally speaks. "The connection down here is awful. We have to work on that later..." She mumbles. "Anyway. We're fine, but we're a little held up at the moment." The red ninja explains. "Our weapons have been taken, and we're locked in a big cage."

"Not only that." Cole's voice now could be heard as well. "Pythor's returned with the fourth Fangblade. Which means we don't have much time left."

"I'm sorry to ask, but..." Now it was Zane's voice coming out, clearly concerned. "Lloyd, what happened to your father? And what about Kai?"

"I-I told dad to leave." Lloyd mumbles, worried with their reaction. "He was trying to steal secrets from us. And..." The boy gulped. "Kai doesn't want to help anymore."

"Oh. Figures." Jay's voice spoke from the speakers. "The moment we turn our backs, one of them backstabs us and the other shows his true colors. Amazing!" He whines. "What are we gonna do now?!"

"Maybe my dad's going back to where he came from..." Lloyd says, feeling himself grow some courage. "But don't worry, I'm still here, I'll save you."

"No!" This time his uncle's voice came around, deeply worried. "You're not ready, Lloyd. Your destiny is too great to risk."

"But-" Lloyd start replying, but someone behind him cuts any chance of argument.

"Maybe you're right, Master Wu." Kai says, joining the conversation. "But right now Lloyd and I are the only ones that can take you out before Pythor unleashes the Great Devourer." He says, clearly determined. " If we don't do anything, I think this will be the end of all our destinies."

"Kai!" Nya exclaims in awe.

"Uh... Yeah, what Kai said." Lloyd agrees, feeling confused. "You guys need our help."

A small pause goes until Wu speaks again. "Very well." Says the old man. "I recognize that we need your help. Just...be careful out there."

"Leave it to us." Kai answers. "We're getting you out in a sec. Try not to forget that, Jay." He adds. The comunication is then cut off.

"I thought you were leaving." Lloyd mumbles, clearly annoyed. Deep down, however, he's in hope that he's big... friend changed his mind.

"I can't leave you to do thAAings by yourself." Kai sighs. "You're just a kid and that's not right."

"I'm not 'just a kid'." Annoyed from the reason, Lloyd corrects him. "I'm the mighty Green Ninja now, remember?"

"Yeah, kinda hard to forget." Kai rolls his eyes. "If I'm get in your way, I hope you can forgive me.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Serpentine!" Pythor announced to everyone reunited at the underground fortress. "Together, we have taken back the four Fangblades." He lifts one of them as the crowd cheers his name. "When we return them to the City of Ouroboros, together we will unleash the Great Devourer!" The cheers get louder. "Now, to the City of Ouroboros!" The serpent turns.

"Wait a sec, sir!" A short Constrictai yelled, much to Pythor's annoyance. "Can our part ask something?"

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait until we make our way." The purple snake fakes his best smile possible. "We have a job to do now."

"B-but that's exactly it!" Another Constrictai yelled. "We spent so much time digging this underground fortress, it'd be a shame not to use it a little bit more..."

"I must say, that is true." Acidicus ponders in agreement. "At least let us celebrate in capturing the ninja."

"Yeah, Boss!" Skalidor nodded enthusiastically. "Just give us this little gift, and I promise you we'll return the blades to Ouroboros tomorrow morning!"

Pythor grunted. In one way, he knew he had to do that to appease those stupid snakes needs, but in the other... that would mean letting his plan at risk of being stopped by the Ninja up there.

"Fine." The purple snake finally decide. He needs to have those no brainers in good humor after all. "But listen well." He points a finger at Skalidor's chest. "I don't want anyone here to let down their guard, you hear me?"

"Don't worry sir, everything will be just fine!" Skalidor vividly nods.

"Then, in that case..." Pythor's voice increase in volume. "Tonight, we celebrate with a Slither Pit!" The crowd cheers at him once more.

"Hm. What do you guys think that is?" Zane asks to his friends inside the cage they're trapped in.

"As long as it's good enough of a distraction, it can be anything." Cole shrugs, incapable of doing much. Something about that cage was making him sick.

"I know we agreed to wait for Kai and Lloyd to come help us." Nya pondered as she grippes the cage's bars. "But to be honest I wish we could do something on our own."

"Patience." Wu simply says, sitting in a corner of the cage. "Both of them will figure something out. I'm sure of it."

"I know that, but still..." Nya sighs, trying to reach one of her arms to where their Golden Weapons are tied in chains. "Our weapons are right there! Maybe if we try hard enough, we can use our powers again!"

"That's impossible." Wu shakes his head. "You were only able to reach your powers once. Being able to use them whenever you like takes a lot of training that you didn't had yet."

"Then what?" Nya grunts. "That means we should just sit down and wait?"

"Exactly." Wu nods with a little smile behind his beard. "Patience."

"Or..." Jay smiles. A idea just popped off his mind. "We can try to escape using something other than our weapons or powers."

"Which is?" Cole asks, not buying much of his friend's talk.

"Ta-daa!" The blue ninja takes the bottle of body oil he had earlier out of his vest. "Am I a genius or not?"

"I fail to see how greasing ourselves will help us out." Zane moves his head, confused.

"Never say that again, please." Cole side eyes the white ninja, weirded out.

"Ahem." Jay coughs. "Anyway, we're not going to use that on us." He says, opening the cap and walking to the bars. "We just need to be a bit... ingenious." As he said that, he greased the bars with oil.

"Ooh, I think I know where are you getting at." Nya grims as well.

"Great!" Jay smiles. "Cause now all that I need is..." He forces his head to between the slick bars, trying to make way. "...a bit..." With good effort, his head gets out, and soon he manages to get the rest of his body out as well. "...push!"

"He made it!" Nya gasps in admiration.

"Look at that." Zane wides his eyes.

"All right, slickster." Cole smiles, gripping the bars of the cage. "What's the next step now?"

"Um, now we..." He faces where the Golden Weapons are located. "...quietly do a little ball and chain." He says as he climbs down a chain linked to the cage.

Meanwhile, the Serpentine down there were occupied with their quick rounds of Slither Pit. So occupied that they didn't noticed the blue ninja slowly swinging back and forth.

"It's working! Keep going, Jay!" Nya points put, noticing that the cage was getting to swing as well.

"Come on, everyone." Cole ran to the opposite side from where Jay was. "Let's see if we can throw our weight around." With that, the group still trapped start running across the cage, helping Jay catch momentum.

"Come on... more speed..." The blue ninja grunts, almost able to reach one of the chained weapons. "I've got in the next swing!"

"You heard him. We need a little last push." Wu says as the group did exactly that. Then, trough that last swing, Jay jumps, latching himself into the Scythe of Quakes.

"H-hey!" Jay gasped. "I-I did guys! I got it!" The others cheer on him while the boy laughed at his anchievement.

That is, until something hit the freckled boy's head hard.

"Ow!" Jay gasped, almost falling to his death. "What the-"

"Nuh-uh-uh." Skalidor grinned from one of the dangerously suspended rocks. "Trying to escape is something I cannot allow it, blue boy."

"Uh. Hahah." Jay laughs, from nervous now. "This doesn't look good for me, does it?"

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Darn it." Jay grunts. Now, not only is he back to the cage, but now everyone is chained by their wrist on the bars.

"Hey, at least you tried to do something." Nya tries to make him feel better. "It's the intention that counts, right?"

"Now our only true hope is Lloyd and Kai." Wu pondered, brushing his beard with his free hand.

"Don't worry, Master." Zane speaks, putting his free hand on the old man's shoulder. "I have faith in them."

"I do as well, Zane." The master nods. "I do as well."

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Meanwhile, said hope was grasping to hold their coordination well. Thanks to the Bounty's anchor, they didn't need to climb up the entire mountain, meaning their only obstacle was a small path before the tomb's entrance.

Lloyd, however, was not making the short walk easy.

"Whoosh. Ninja roll." The young boy whispers as he rolls in the dirt. As for Kai, he's doing his best not to laugh at whatever Lloyd is doing.

And he's trying to be quiet as possible as well.

"Flying Drag- whoa!" The blonde now tries to move forward with a spin and a kick, tripping in the process. "Ninja recover!" He quickly adds, acting like nothing happened.

"What are you doing?" Kai whispers, unable to hold a snicker. Gosh, bad feelings or not Lloyd was able to break his composure.

"I'm being a ninja, duh." Lloyd replies. "As the Green Ninja, I have to show my ninja moves." He quickly punches the air, rapidly growing out of air.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure." Kai rolls his eyes. "Try no to sell us out, buddy."

"I don't need to be careful, I'm strong!" The green ninja argues as they finally get to the entrance of the tomb.

"Fine. But let's be serious now. We have to be quiet." The samurai puts a finger in front of his mouth, begging for silence. Lloyd nods, careful now.

The pair climb down the rope the team before used, ignoring the drawings on the walls in their way to the secret entrance, which was still open.

"This place...is scary." Lloyd mumbles, afraid.

"Hey, if you need to hold my hand, I don't mind." Kai says, respectfully.

"I-it's scary, but I can take it." Lloyd quickly adds.

Now inside the fortress, the pair slowly makes their way downstairs, while hearing the yells and cheer from the snakes, who were too much occupied watching a fight between a Hypnobrai and a Venomari.

"Hey!" Nya, who was closer to the edge of the cage, whispered to the rest of the group. "Kai and Lloyd! I see them!"

"What's their plan, exactly?" Jay questions, but no answers him.

"Come on, Lloyd." The blonde mumbles to himself, trying to father courage. The pair is already halfway trough the staircase. "You're the Green Ninja. You can do this."

"Don't worry, we just have to find a way to take the others down, then-" Kai explains to the younger boy, but is cut short when notice Lloyd trip again. "Lloyd, watch-"

"You don't need to remind me, I-" Lloyd bursts, but he trips on his pants, which were unrolling already. "Ops!"

In a scene that would be comical if it wasn't dreadful, Lloyd slowly trips and falls all the way down the stairs, catching the attention of the serpents who were more distant from the pit.

"Ugh!" Lloyd massages one of his legs, feeling grateful that he didn't hurt anything. "I really gotta grow into this thing..." He just then noticed the position he's in. Quickly looking for Kai, Lloyd see that the older boy is nowhere to be seen. At that, the green ninja gulps.

"Who is that?" A Fangpyre asks.

"I don't know, but he's shorty." A Venomari shrugs. "He won't give us much trouble. "

"Out of the way! Out of the way, I said!" Pythor's voice bursted, coming closer to Lloyd's location. "What's this about?"

The purple snake finally appears, looking at Lloyd up and down. "Why, and what do we have here? Another ninja?"

"N-not just 'another ninja', Pythor!" Lloyd speaks bravely. If he's in bad waters, he will show courage like his father and uncle would. He takes his mask off, revealing his face to the snakes, which some of them gasp in surprise.

"Lloyd." Pythor almost spits the boy name from his mouth, with a clear look of distaste in his eyes.

"Ye-yeah!" Lloyd nods violently. "So, if we don't meet again, Pythor." He points a finger at the long necked snake. "Now unhand the ninja, or suffer humiliation against the Green Ninja!"

A faint silence. Then every single snake around turns out to laughing at the young boy before them.

"W-why are you laughing?!" Lloyd squeaks. He's so nervous he can feel the tears coming already. Why is he always the laughing stock? "Don't laugh at me! I can crush you with my bare hands!" He yelps, punching the air and almost falling again.

"Oh, dear me." Pythor mocks with a devious smile. "What could we possibly do?" He snickers. "Don't make me laugh, boy. What could you possibly do?"

"Maybe he can't alone, but I can help!" A shout catches everyone's attention. When they all look to the direction the voice came, they all see the Samurai, holding on a chain on top of a rock.

"What-" Is all Pythor is able to say before Kai swings down at him with the chain, kicking the purple snake in his guts.

"Lloyd! Take cover!" The hot-heated boy quickly yells, unsheating his twin swords and quickly enganging in combat. This time, he's fighting with every thing he got. This time is to harm, even kill if it's necessary.

"Kai!" Lloyd yelps. "Not a chance! I'm done hiding and running away! I wanna help!"

"Don't be stupid! What else can you do?!" Kai yells. "You're just a kid! You're just getting in the way!"

Lloyd feels hurt from that. Why is everyone trampling on his feelings lately? All he wants is to help the people who gave him a chance...

"Get the boy!" Pythor gasps, getting up. "Get both of them, now!"

A bunch of snakes come closer to Lloyd, and not even Kai can help him now. On his side, the Serpentine are quickly overwhelming him.

"Don't you dare-" Kai huffs before receiving a blow in his back. Luckily it didn't hurt him that much, but was still a sting to deal with.

"That's enough!" A roar suddenly comes from a lot in top from the stairs, and a shadowy figure jumps in the battlefield.

"Who-" Someone looks at the figure, confused.

"Wait, I heard about this guy!" Another snake gasps.

"Oh no! Is that...!"

"Dad!" Lloyd gasps in shock. What is his father doing there? Wasn't he supposed to be gone already?

"Lloyd." Garmadon nods at his kid. "Listen, me and Kai will clear the way! You go and help the Ninja escape, quickly!" Lloyd quickly nods, thankful. It doesn't take long for the evil lord to join Kai's side, once again manisfesting his purple daggers.

"So!" Kai breaths heavily with a defiant smirk as he cuts a Fangpyre's arm with his sword. "You decided to join us in the end?"

"Thanks to you." Garmadon simply says, dodging a tackle from a Constrictai. "You are right. My loved ones need me now, and I'll fight for them, even if we're on opposite sides in the end."

"Good to know." Kai nods. "Now let's do this!" Kai is not strong enough to cause enough harm, but Garmadon is able to do both of their work. The evil lord throws one of his blades, stabbing a Serpentine in the back, who howls in pain.

"This is getting out of hand quickly." Fangtom says, from the more distant side, closer to the fountain of toxic goo below the ninja's cage.

"This isn't good..." Acidicus agrees, shaking his head. "I wonder what we should do."

"Let me tell you what we should do!" Skalidor growls. "If those pesky guys want their ninja so badly, let's send them down their way!" He exclaims, pulling a lever that makes the cage slowly descend.

"Hey, we're moving." Jay points out. The others are too distracted with the fight to comment anything.

"Yeah, but are we going the right way?" Cole finally asks, concerned.

"I'm not sure! The vat of venom looks closer!" Nya yells, tense.

"I sense despair in our way." Zane tells the group. "But I'm also sense... a glimmer of hope."

Meanwhile, in the battlefield, Pythor made his way away from the fight, slythering to a vault where he knows he put the Silver Fangblades.

"Not good. Not good at all!" He mumbles to himself.

As Garmadon and Kai were able to make their way towards the remaining generals, Skalidor finally decided.

"It's time for us to take action! We can't watch anymore!" He turned at the others. "Let's go, you all!"

"Do we really have to?" Skales argue. "Our so called leader is probably looking for a way out already."

"This isn't just about Pythor!" Skalidor growls. "This is about our Serpentine pride as well!"

"I have no pride in working for a motive that can be the end of me!" Skales replies. "If you want to follow this path that much, suit yourself. I'm outta here." He slythers away, with Fangtom quickly following his friend.

"Things are going trough a interesting direction." Acidicus finally speaks.

"Oh you shut and come with me!" Skalidor yells, annoyed. They leave the mechanisms of levers behind them.

"They left us." Wu points out. "If only we could reach the controls..." The group is almost getting into the vat of venom, and the toxic goo is already corroding the floor of the cage.

"I suggest for us to climb the bars." Zane says, noticing that soon they won't have a floor to stand on.

"Maybe we don't need it!" Nya points at the distance. "Here comes Lloyd!"

And that was true. Dodging every snake coming in his way in a aloof way, with Garmadon and Kai right behind him acting as a powerful distraction, the boy finally made it to the controls of the cage.

"Phew!" He gasped. "Okay, let's see... This one?" The green ninja pulls a lever, which brings everyone's weapons down. "Well, that was not it."

"Lloyd, a little faster, please?" Cole asks, watching the venom getting closer.

"Hey, don't stress me out here!" Lloyd whines, pulling another random Lever that unlocks their chains. "One step forward I guess..." A few more tries and the boy manages to free the ninja, who run out as fast as they can.

"Heh. Told you we'd save you." Lloyd grims, proud of himself.

"You sure did, little guy!" Nya smile back at him, with her sword in hands.

"Okay guys, I'd say now it's payback time." Cole smirks, with his scythe prepared.

"Yeah! Let's wreck this joint!" Jay yells as the others nod in agreement.

"Go, Ninja, go!" Everyone perform Spinjitzu, attacking and knocking every Serpentine in their way. It was almost like having Garmadon, Kai and Lloyd there gave them more strenght to fight back.

"Serpentine! Ignore those foolish peasants and run!" Pythor yells from the bottom of the staircase, holding desperately onto the Fangblades.

"There is Pythor with the blades!" Zane point, using his shurikens to freeze the path, confusing the enemies nearby.

"He's not going anywhere! Not with those things!" Nya prepares herself, sucessfully shooting a fire ball out of her sword. The projectile flies in Pythor's direction, who gets knocked out by the attack.

"Gah! No no nonono! The Fangblades!" The purple snake yells, both in fury and pain of the intense heat. The attack made him lose his hold on the scepter the blades were together, and as soon as he tried to get his hands back on them...

Out of nowhere, the Falcon appears, latching his feet into the thing as he take flight.

"NOOOOOO!" Pythor howls, more furious than ever. "The BIRD! Get that stupid bird!!!" He tries to move, but it's stopped by Garmadon.

"We have a score to settle, Pythor." The dark lord says, defiant as he points his blades at his adversary.

"Grr." Pythor growls. "Maybe so, but today's not the day we'll settle it." The snake says, soon becoming invisible. "So long, sucker."

"Where did he go?" Garmadon snaps, full of anger. "Show yourself, Pythor!"

"Forget him, brother!" Wu says, standing by his side. "We have the Fangblades. Grab Lloyd and let's get out of here." Garmadon nods, quickly catching his son up and running with the others.

"Cole! You know what to do!" Wu turns his attention to the black ninja.

"Leave it to me, Master!" Cole nods, lifting his scythe and striking the ground with it. A strong earthquake emerges from the strike, keeping the Serpentine occupied while the Ninja make their escape.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

A few hours later back to the bounty, with everyone safe and sound, Lord Garmadon is in the deck, getting ready to leave the airship.

"You're really leaving?" Lloyd asks his father, clearly sad with how the things are going.

"Yes." Garmadon nods. "Now that you are safe, and the ninja have the Fangblades, there is nothing else I am needed for."

"That's not true!" Lloyd shakes his head and hugs his father. "I need you."

"I understand, son." The evil lord pats his kid's head. "But now, you're not alone anymore. You have a new and better family that will take care of you better than I could ever dream."

Lloyd sighs, knowing there's not much he can say to make his father stay. "I know you have to leave," the boy speaks. "but know this: when we meet again, I'm gonna do everything in my power to defeat you, okay?"

Garmadon laughs weakly. "And I wouldn't have it any other way." He let go of Lloyd, but brushes his hair one last time. "Lloyd, you're a good boy. Soon, you'll be a great man." The dark Man smiles at the boy. Although we're now on opposite sides, I want you to know... I'm very proud of you." They walk apart from each other, until Lloyd remembers something.

"Wait, I can get you one of Jay's gliders." The boy says. "You probably don't need it, but it might-" When Lloyd turns around, his father is nowhere to be seen. The blonde sighs. This time, he doesn't feel that bad about his father leaving him. Because he knows that, if his father could have a choice, Lloyd would always be his top priority. "So long, Dad."

"He left, didn't he?" Nya's voice comes from behind the green ninja. She gives him a gentle smile. Lloyd nods at her question. "Master Wu thought so. Are you feeling okay to celebrate our victory?"

"Yeah, I guess so..." Lloyd replies. "Did you guys start everything up already?"

"Cole made a Snogfruit Punch that doesn't taste that bad, and Zane finished some snacks, so we're ready to go." Nya laughs to herself as Lloyd followed her inside the ship.

"I asked for Jay to bring Kai so we can all party together. Those two need to talk like normal people." The red ninja adds. "So everything is pretty set- huh?" As they entered the bridge, the pair sees the rest of the group with awkward faces. Kai is not with them.

"What happened?" Nya asks. "Where's Kai? Did he seriously-"

"Sooo, um, Nya." Jay stutters. "About Kai..."

"Settle it, Jay." Cole sighs. "Nya, listen. Kai is... gone."

Nya froze. Lloyd looked away. He thought maybe Kai has given up on that after his amazing rescue today...

"What...what do you mean?" The red ninja asks. "What do you mean he's gone?"

"Well, his room was almost all empty, and I found this by the bed." Jay gives her a piece of paper. She looks at the note, which the only words written on it were:

"This group ain't for me. Sorry sis. Have a good time with everyone. You deserve it. Give a hug to Lloyd for me.

- Kai

"I...I don't understand." Nya mumbles, confused. "What happened?"

"It's all my fault." Wu suddenly says. "I pushed him too much. Maybe if I was more open with him, with anyone..."

"It wasn't all your fault, Master." Zane shakes his head and puts a hand on his mentor's shoulder. "I sense we all failed with Kai in a way or another."

"Okay, but," Jay mumbles, nervous. "It's Kai we're talking about. He just...needs to cool his head off, that's all."

"But what if he doesn't come back?" Nya snaps. "What if this time was too much? What if I'm-"

"Hey, let's calm down." Cole puts both hands on the girl's shoulders. "Zane's right. It doesn't matter what happened."
He sighs. "What matters is that we need to trust in Kai. If he was not feeling well with us, maybe it's good for him to stay away for a while." Zane nods at that.

"Yeah. I agree." Lloyd says, picking a cup of fruit punch. "Let's make a toast, for my Dad and Kai, for being the true heroes today!"

The others nod together, picking each one a cup and toasting. "Hear, hear!"

"To Kai!" Nya agrees, holding off her tears.

"Tomorrow at midday, we arrive at Torchfire Mountain to destroy these Fangblades once and for all." Wu declares. "And it couldn't have been done without Kai or my brother. I'm going to miss both of them." Everyone cheers.

However, while the Ninja are occupied celebrating, they didn't notice a pair of spiteful eyes looking at them trough a window.

"Yes... Enjoy your little friendly party, Ninja." Pythor snarks. "This is the last good thing you'll have after I get through with you. The purple snake laughs quietly to himself.

Chapter Text

Kruncha closed the door of Mystake's tea shop, grunting to himself.

"Why is so complicated to just go and buy some stupid groceries..." He actually knows why. Being a Skulkin around the Realm of Ninjago was a problem in itself. Of course people noticed whenever him or Nuckal walk around.

Speaking of his friend, Kruncha looks around, noticing that Nuckal and Mystake aren't anywhere around.

"Where did those two go?" The skeleton thinks. He always need to tell Nuckal how much he hates this games  of hide and seek. What was his friend thinking?

"But, Ms. Mystake!" Nuckal's voice finally came from behind the counter, and Kruncha's doubts were cleared. Both of them were in one of the backrooms hiding behind the counter.

"I'm still not sure, honey." Mystake spoke as she got out of the room. "It feels like we are agreeing with their thoughts."

"What happened?" Kruncha asks, putting the groceries in a near table.

"Kruncha, you have to help me!" Nuckal got out as well, looking distressed. "We have to go to that Anti-snake Rally tomorrow?"

"That stupid reunion that people keep talking about?" Kruncha asks, unfazed. "Why?"

"I wanna see how it's like!" Nuckal says. "How it is to not be the hated party, I mean."

"Huh, that's true." The ex-general ponders. "People hate snakes more than they hate us."

"This is all a bad idea." Mystake shakes her head, picking the groceries Kruncha left. "If the city really do that, then they're justifing the Serpentine's hatred towards us."

"Aren't they the ones who started thought?" Kruncha asks. "They just came out of nowhere and started to mess with peoples lifes."

"I'm not saying they're all saints." The old lady sighs. "But I'm sure that some of them want to leave peacefully once more."

"Oooh, I get it!" Kruncha blinks and start nodding. "Yeah, that would be bad for the peaceful snakes out there."

"I just don't get it." Nuckal speaks. "How did everyone end up hating each other if all they want is live in peace?"

"Well," Mystake ponders to herself for a moment. "People always tend to be afraid of things they don't understand, so both humans and Serpentine are to fault for that." The old lady sighs. "Though the Serpentine didn't help themselves by seeing themselves as a superior race."

"Just like our case, I guess." Kruncha mutters. "People judge me and Nuckal for being Skulkin when we didn't do nothing wrong."

"I keep telling you, Kruncha." The eye-patched skeleton shakes his head. "You need to smile more, otherwise you scare people."

"Oh yeah?" His friend grunts. "What's your excuse then, bonehead?"

As they bicker, Mystake laughs to herself, catching their attention.

"What's so funny? I wanna laugh too." Nuckal questions, confused.

"Nothing, dear." The old lady hold onto her laughs. "It's just that... you're both so lovely... Sometimes I can't understand how there is people to jump and judge us."

Both Skulkin look at each other with confusion stamped in their faces.

"Uh, 'us'?" Kruncha asks. "Why you, too?"

"Yeah!" Nuckal nods. "You're the sweet tea granny, everyone around loves you!" He smiles as he says that.

"Perphaps so." Mystake smiles back. "But who knows what I might have done in the past, hm?" She pauses for a moment. "Fine. If it's only to have a look, I guess we could go to that rally and see what is going on."

"We can?!" Nuckal exclaims excited. "You're the best, Mystake!" He hugs the old lady like a kid.

"Why do you to go see that anyway?" Kruncha sighs.

"I heard there will be a group of singers! I like to hear live music!" The eye-patched skeleton grims.

"Of course..." His friend rolls his eyes, with a small smile on his face.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

The Destiny's Bounty is flying through a area of storm, in the middle of the voyage to Torchfire Mountain. In Wu's cabin, the old man is in the middle of one of his meditation sections with his spiritual smoke, trying to access another one of his famous visions.

"Wish that could be easier." He says mentally. "Each day feels like is more difficult to see something." He sighs, then mutters something to himself. "Source Dragons, please enlight me..."

Then, like they were waiting for his prayers, something finally comes to him. In a flash of colors and sounds, he's able to see. He sees his students, surrounded by the Serpentine, then the image shifts to Pythor laughing maniacally, and then...

A pair of eyes. Enormous purple eyes facing him. Then, a mouth that launches itself against Wu, and then darkness. Complete, void darkness.

Wu gasps, sweating bullets. What was that he just saw? Is this truly how it all ends? Trembling, he gets up and faces the sky trough his window, trying to grasp what to do next.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

At the bridge, Nya, Jay and Zane are reunited on the table, watching over the four silver Fangblades. The blue ninja is occupied with a sandwich.

"Torchfire Mountain..." Jay ponders, munching his food. "Why do we have to go all the way there to destroy those things?" He points at the blades. "Couldn't we take them to the Temple of Fire?"

"According to Master Wu, the Fangblades are made from the original teeth of the Devourer." Zane explains. "They're so strong they can only break down in the extraordinary heat of Torchfire Mountain at midday, precisely."

"Oh yeah, something about being really hot, right?" Jay nods, trying to engage.

"No, not just that." Nya sighs, impatient. "We have to get there precisely because that's the boiling point of the mountain, the moment that getting rid of them won't fail." She turns at the blue ninja. "Were you even listening when Master Wu told us that?"

"Sorry, sorry." He replies, a bit hurt. "I was listening, it's just that-"

"No, you know what?" Nya got up. "I shouldn't snap at you of all people." She walked to the doorframe. "I'm just not in a good mood today, that's all."

"Nya sure is off today." Jay comments as soon as she leaves the room. "I guess losing Kai really weighed a lot..."

"I can't blame her." The white ninja shakes his head. "He's her brother, of course she misses him." He sighs. "And... I sense she's blaming herself for his departure."

"Ugh, true." Jay grunts. "What was Kai thinking? From what we know, their parents just abandoned them, and then he thinks it's fine for him to do the same thing?"

"I don't think we should judge Kai's actions." Zane ponders. "There's clearly more to him than leaving Nya behind."

"What's more to think about?" The blue ninja shruggs. "He saw us in action, got his big ego hurt and then tried to act like a super hero."

"I'm not sure he's the one with the hurt ego though." Zane smiles awkwardly. At that moment, Cole appeared, groaning and massaging his stomach.

"Ugh... What are you two talking about now?" He asks. "I just saw Nya and she didn't looked good."

"Oh." Jay sighs. "She's... thinking about Kai." The boy mutters.

"Of course..." Cole looks away. "I wish I could've done more for him."

"Why though?" The blue ninja looks at him, confused. "He's not even part of the team. He left because he wanted so."

"Maybe so, but..." The black ninja sighs. "I can't help but feel like this whole ordeal is the first time we met Nya all over again." He sits on the table. "Remember the time we were looking for the Scythe of Quakes? We left Nya behind for being a newcomer, and we did the same to Kai now."

"Wait, hold the phone." Jay shakes his hands desperately. "That's two different things. Nya was supposed to be part of team. Kai was here because he's Nya's brother. That's all."

"But we should've included him more." Cole argues. "He wants to join the action, so maybe we should have let him help more."

"I have to agree." Zane nods. "Kai made moves behind our back for a reason."

"Moves that were going totally against we were told to do, may I add." The blue ninja snaps back. "Master Wu told us again and again to not confront the snakes on our own, and Kai did exactly that."

"And if were not from that, we wouldn't have the Fangblades with us today." Cole adds.

"I'm seeing this is a argument I'm not winning so soon." Jay grunts. "In the end, we can't change how things are."

The trio got silent after that. There was nothing more to be said, after all. But Cole decides to break the small silence.

"Has any of you see Lloyd?" He asks. "With how much everyone is just leaving like that... I didn't saw him in my way here."

"He said he wants to train some 'ninja moves' by himself." Zane explains. "He seems eager to prove his worth in the group."

"That's fair." Jay shruggs. "It's not just his gi that's green, the brat is a total greenhorn." He snorts at his own pun. "Who would've thought he was the Green Ninja all along?"

"C'mon, no one even thought about Lloyd." Cole rolls his eyes. "But I'm glad to see he's ready to take the title."

"I'm inclined to agree." Zane lowers his head, a bit uncertain of what this could bring to the future. "Though the fact he has to face his own father... I feel sorry for him."

"Unfortunately that's how the prophecy goes." Jay shakes his head. "But yeah, I see what you mean. Having to face your parent like that must hurt a lot."

"I hope he's strong enough to do that." Cole sighs.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

In the training room inside the ship, Lloyd is doing exactly what he told he would do. Training.

"Serpentine, it's time I Spinjitzu you back into the filthy holes you came from." The young boy says in a western drawl, preparing his body to fight a dummy. "Ninja kick! Hah!" He barely manages to deliver it, striking the south side of the training dummy.

"Tiger claw!" The poor attempt didn't stop him though, and the boy begin a move by moving hands in a scrachting motion. "Ninja, go!" He finally yells, spinning in a attempt to perform Spinjitzu, failing horribly.

Lloyd sighs. He feels like he's not well at all. "But... that's because I just started, right?" He mutters. "I'm going to be the strongest ninja out there soon. Yeah."

"Hm-hm-hm." A mockly laugh cut the room like a knife. Lloyd eyes got wide. He recognizes that laugh anywhere. "The strongest ninja? What a joke." Pythor suddenly became visible to the boy. "You were always a boy who chased stupid dreams."

"P-Pythor!" The green ninja stuttered, backing off to a wall. "How did you get aboard?!" He looked at the door and tries to run for it, but the purple snake grabs his arm firmly.

"Please." Pythor says as he picks a rope from the ground with his free hand. "You think I would allow the ninja to steal the Fangblades from me?" He tied the boys hands as he spoke.

"Ugh!" Lloyd grunts, unable to fight back due his small stature. "You'll never get away with- with i-" His words are muted by a piece of cloth that the evil Serpentine puts in his mouth.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, old chum." Pythor smiles evilly. I still have everything on my favor, and as they say, out of sight, out of mind. (He laughs one last time and dissapears, leaving the young boy behind with no means to warn the others.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Faster! We need to move faster!" Skalidor yells from a platform connected to one of the Serpentine's Rattlecopter. A few of them are following the Bounty from some distance.

"Patience, Skalidor. If we get any closer they're going to notice us." Acidicus says by his side. "I presume that would be bad for our plans. Especially now that Skales and Fangtom deserted the operation."

"Those cowards." The Constrictai growls with rage. "Them and everyone who followed them underground. Like the Devourer is something to be feared."

"Don't forget Pythor as well." The Venomari shrugs. "Since last battle, he's gone. Now all depends on us."

"Yeah. At least we've got some brave ones still." Skalidor smiles. "We make a good team."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not here for vengeance." Acidicus laughs to himself. "I just want to see how all of this goes trough the end. It's really... Interesting."

"Yeah, yeah. Sure." Skalidor rolls his eyes. "Since you're the brains here, what is our next step?"

"Hmm." The green snake ponders. "I would say we need a way to travel back to Ouroboros. A faster way than those helicopters."

"Then you go find a way that we can use." Skalidor nods. "Leave the rescue of the blades for me. Take some guys with you too."

"Very well." Acidicus agrees. "In the end, I suppose we do make a good team." Skalidor smiles to himself from that.

"We're getting there." The black snake mutters. "We're getting there."

Chapter Text

Kai walks under the scorching sun all by himself, following the road. He groans, tired. Maybe he should have waited until the Bounty was closer to at least Ninjago City before dropping out like he did.

Not that he's going to admit that out loud, of course.

Still, a part of him hate leaving like that. Especially with how badly everyone would react... Wu give his best to take care of them, and even treated Kai's injuries. Lloyd was like a little brother to him, and Nya was HIS sister. It hurt leaving her behind. Even Cole, who was at least trying to form a genuine friendship with him, would probably be blaming himself for it, as usual...

"Too late, too bad." He thought to himself. "They're too good for me to be around them anyway. It's not like I have any value anywhere..."

Kai was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't noticed a truck coming right behind him. The only thing that caught his attention in time was the driver pressing the horn and breaking forcefully. At that, the boy jumped out of the road, alarmed. A couple of cars that were behind the truck had to break as well.

"Next time be aware of where you are, dumbass!" The driver yells, angry. "Kids these days..."

Kai gritts his teeth. "How should I know someone would appear out of nowhere, gramps?!"

"Whatever is happening out there?" A Man asks, getting out of one of the cars. "We can't lose- OH!" He gasped.

"Kai! Is that you, my boy?" Lou walked as fast as he could in the boy's direction, helping him get up. "Fancy seeing you here!"

"Um, hi..." Kai answers, awkwardly. He accepts the help, and soon Lou is giving him a big hug, much for the boy's dismay. "What are you doing here?"

"Hoho. What are YOU doing here all by yourself, I should ask." The man shakes his head, clearly in a good mood. "Is that one of those ninja missions you guys are always doing?"

"I'm... kinda doing my own-" Kai begins to explain, but shuts himself off. How can he explain that, and to someone who doesn't have anything to do about it, no less?

"Lou, what is happening here?" A well-suited man had come of one of the cars, with a annoyed expression. A familiar girl was by his side. "We have to keep going, we don't have all day."

"Wait..." Seliel says with her eyes wide. "Is that Kai?" She walks in the boy's direction. "How's it going?"

"I'm fine..." The boy mumbles, feeling overwhelmed. "Just... going to the city."

"Is that so?" Lou grims, giving small taps at Kai's shoulders. "Then why don't you come with us? We're going to Ninjago City as well! Tomorrow's a big day for my group, after all."

"Now wait just a moment, Lou." The suited man speaks louder, visibly annoyed with all that is happening. "I don't think we should be taking people with us like that."

"C'mon, Dad. Kai's a friend." Seliel sighs, rolling her eyes. "Aren't you the one who's always saying we need to give a hand for friends in need and all that?"

"Well, um, that's..." Her father mumbles, unable to talk back much.

"There you have it, Will." Lou claps his hands, putting a end in their conversation. "After all, Kai is more than a friend. He's family. Right, boy?" He grims at said boy.

"Um... Sure, yeah." Kai slowly nods, having mixed feelings on all this exchange. "If it means having a way of getting to the big city faster."

"Good, good!" Lou smiles proudly. "Then let's keep going. It's too hot in here for having chity-chat like that, am I right?"

                                                                                                                                                       ***

At another point of those vast lands, a tour bus with multiple wagons pass in a light pace close to a mountain. A enormous cloud of smoke is piping out of the top, clouding any chance of seeing anything from there. This is Torchfire Mountain.

"Thanks, folks, for choosing the Ninjago Tour Company to see our land's most scenic destinations." A guider inside the bus announces with a microphone in his hand, clearly having a blast with his job. "And if you look to your left," the passengers follow his commands in awe. "you'll find Ninjago's very own Torchfire Mountain, where the core of the natural volcano can reach up to three bajillion degrees!" People gasp as they heard that.

"Not only that," the announcer adds. "but some people say that exactly at midday, the temperature can even be the triple of that!" More tourists gasped before they start to take pictures.

A boy who was dragged to that little adventure by his parents looks at the sky trough the window. Not that surprising of a view, considering they were in front of a volcano. He was ready to go back and look at something more interesting (not that he had something like that inside) when a big, red object caught his eyes.

It looks like a boat, but he never saw a boat like that. The thing was flying several foots from the ground, so that certainly was off-putting.

"Look, Mommy!" The boy tugged at his mothers shirt, completely amused. "That's a flying ship! See?"

"Oh, don't be silly, honey." The woman laughs to herself, brushing his kid's hair. "Everyone knows that ships don't fly."

The boy tried to argue that, but when he looked again, the boat had dissapeared. He sighs, looking everywhere for any hint of the boat again. Then he sees it.

Something else was flying in the air. Something that looked like a helicopter, lots of them, actually. It felt like something out of a action movie. Though something seemed different about those helicopters.

They were green, with bright, red lights. Or the boy thought it was lights. Whatever those things are, they seemed to get closer to the ground.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Nya leans in the edge of the deck, biting her cheeks. Maybe she was doing a good job as the Ninja of Fire... She keeps burning bridges whenever he feels like everything's alright.

Why did Kai left like that? She thought everything came back to normal by now. They talked, they were honest to each other, they forgave each other, so what did she missed? Or did she do something else that hurt Kai without noticing?

The girl sighs, looking around anxiously. "Is that... how it felt to Kai, all those years?" She thinks to herself, tapping her feet in the floor. "Is that how he felt when our parents dissapeared? Did he made those types of questions everyday?"

"Then... is it really my fault?" She mutters to herself. "Or that's something that Kai planned from the beggining...? Could I have changed that?"

"That's a thought that always persist in our minds." A familiar voice spoke behind her. She felt surprised, but the girl didn't jumped at Master Wu's appearance.

"Is that so, Master?" Nya asks, going back to facing the clouds of heavy smoke.

"Indeed. I've been thinking the same thing as yourself since yesterday." The old man nods, brushing his beard. "As everyone's mentor, the task of keep an eye on how things go falls on me, and I failed that." Wu gets closer. "No one is to blame but me. If I had done something sooner, if I spoke sooner, then maybe Kai wouldn't feel like a outsider. I failed him."

"Just like I failed everyone else." He thinks to himself. "Now I can only pray that Kai finds something better to himself, just like him surely did."

"I don't think anything you could have said would bring Kai closer to us." Nya laughs weakly. "He just wanted to be the hero anyway."

"Well... What if..." Wu slowly says. Maybe he should finally tell the truth. Maybe, if he didn't got so caught up with the past, things could have turned differently. By trying to prevent the worst outcome, he led someone to a distant path once again. This time, could he fix things up before it's too late?

"Ahem! Ahem!" Jay's voice comes out of the audio-boxes, cutting Nya and Wu's brief conversation. "Will everyone please look at your left trough the window? Oh, and tray table in the full upright and locked position, please." It was clear that the boy was having fun with his pompous act. "We have reached our destination: Torchfire Mountain, and early as expected!" He laughs. "Give it a minute while we settle into position."

"Heh. Classic Jay." Nya laughs at that, while Wu keep his silence. Maybe that was not the best moment to tell her after all. They have a mission to complete.

It's not long before Cole and Zane appear, coming out of the door. Each of them is holding two of the Fangblades. Their faces, however, are not pleased.

"Woah." Cole sighs, sweat clearly is on his forehead by now. "It's roasting out here, and not in a good way."

"Although I agree, I fail to see how something can be roasting in a good way." Zane shakes his head, somehow sweating as well.

"What do you mean?" The black ninja replies, with a look of offense in his eyes. "There's roasted chicken, roasted rice..." He counts with a dreamy look.

"Anything besides food, thought?" The white ninja smiles to himself, making Cole grunt in defeat, mumbling something about Zane being snappier.

"You know what they say." Snickering, Nya joins their banter. "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

"Why are you adding flavor to the food talk?" Zane laughs a bit, amused by that. Cole wheezes at the unitentional pun made.

"Well, it's hard to stay down with you guys around. Right, Master Wu?" Nya grims, nudging where Wu is standing, though the old man is not by her side anymore.

"Hey, where did he...?" As the red ninja looks around, she finds Wu leaning towards the edge of the balcony, just like she was a few moments before.

"Actually, what's with Master Wu?" Cole whispers to his friends. "He's been distant all morning."

"That I do not know." Zane shakes his head, in a loss. "But I sense turmoil eating his mind away."

"Do you guys think it has something to do with Kai leaving?" Nya whispers back. "I think he was going to tell me something-"

"Ah, it is beautiful, is it not?" Wu suddenly speaks aloud, much to the three teenagers surprise. What exactly was beautiful from that view?

"Master," Zane decides to speak his mind, with a hint of worry in his face. "we are ready for the destruction of the Fangblades, yet you seem disinterested."

"What is the problem with that?" Wu turns at them, with a complex gaze. "I may be your Master, but you do not need my approval to finish the task."

"Uh, but Master-" Nya mutters, confused.

"No more buts. Butts are for sitting." The old man announces with energy. "And besides," he turns his head to the cloud of heat and smoke once again. "there will come a time when you will have to go on without me."

"But Master Wu, that's crazy." Nya shakes her head. "You've been alive for forever now!" Cole gives her a disapproving look. "Oh."

"What she is trying to say," Zane speaks again, determined to understand what is going trough his Master's head. "is you are like the sunrise. We cannot begin a day without you."

"Perphaps so." Wu brushes his beard thoughtfully. "But remember, even the sun must go down so a new day begins."

"Okay, enough of this, I don't like metaphors." Cole grunts, taking a step forward to Wu. "What are you trying to say? Are you leaving us again?"

The old man didn't answer. Instead, he keeps playing with his beard. Finally he slowly speaks. "In meditation, my visions trough the Spirit Smile have come to an end, and tomorrow, I cannot see." Wu sighs. He doesn't want to add the part where the Great Devourer comes for him. That would worry his students too much. "This worries me."

"But, but..." Nya ponders, trying to find a way out of this. "That could be a good sign as well, you know."  It's a silly thought, but she prefers to believe in that than any sudden danger. "We destroy the Fangblades, then everything's gravy."

Wu gives his back to then, clearly not desiring to engage on their conversation. "Let's just get rid of them, for good." Says the old man. As soon as he speaks, the airship suddendly shakes violently, much to the group's shock.

"Woah! What the heck was that?!" Cole yells in the floor.

"It came from below us, I'm almost sure of it!" Zane speaks, quickly getting up and helping the black ninja do the same.

"Hold on!" Nya, who was closer to the edge, gives a peek to see what is happening. Below, a Rattlecopter is lauching itself at the Bounty. "Guys! We have company!"

"The Serpentine!" Cole exclaims in shock. "Did they follow us all the way here?!"

"Apparently so!" Zane gasps as another hit strikes the airship.

"Aaaah!" Nya yells as she falls trough the edge, only to be catched right on time by Wu, who holds her firmly with one of his arms.

"Brace yourselves! This is going to get ugly." Wu proclains, with a face of purê determination.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

If the chaos outside wasn't enough, problems were soon finding their way inside as well. In the generator room, Pythor appears, carrying a hammer with him.

"So those dirtbrains decided to act, after all." The purple serpent thought to himself. "Perfect. This aligns perfectly for my escape." Then, he begins to attack one of the machines, dismantling it into pieces. "Let's see how things go now, Ninja." He laughs, turning invisible.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

Whatever Pythor destroyed, it surely compromised the status of the Bounty. The ship quickly becomes unstable, moving around without balance.

"This can't be happening..." Cole mutters. "This has to be a joke."

Meanwhile, Wu, with fierce might, throws Nya safely back with a loud 'thud'. However, as he was about to return, the Bounty shook violently, making the old man lose his grip and fall.

"No!!!" Cole yells, desperate, trying to go after him.

"Master Wu!" Zane joins, with the same look on his face.

It was all like a slow motion scene in a movie. Without much else to do, the only action Wu was able to perform was close his eyes. Maybe, just maybe, that could make things less worse.

Until he feels a pair of hands holding his ankles forcefully. As he looks up, his eyes meet Nya's, as the girl tries her best to keep leaning on the balcony.

"Ngh! N-not this time, old man!" She forces the words to come out as the red ninja tries her best to smile. However, that much effort makes her lose her balance. "W-woaah!"

"I got you!" Zane shouts, gripping on Nya's wait firmly before he starts to be dragged down for their weight.

"And I got you all!" Cole shouts, gripping firmly on Zane as he tries to pull everyone back in. "Nngh! Jay!" The black ninja turns his face to the bridge. "What's going on?"

Not that Jay can hear any of them from where he is. At the moment, the boy is desperately fighting against the ship's control.

"No, no, no no no no!" The blue ninja mutters to himself. "I checked everything as soon as we woke up, I know I did!" He rambles as he presses some buttons. "Someone or something must overrid the system. But how?!"

                                                                                                                                                       ***

In the training room, Lloyd, who was fighting with the rope tying his hands finally manages to free one of them, and he quickly is able to untie the rest of the rope and remove the piece of cloth from his mouth.

"Hah. Not so smart after all, Pythor." He thinks to himself before suddenly noticing that he should make haste and warn everyone. The young boy reaches for one of the newly installed intercoms of the ship and press the button.

"Pythor's on board!" He yells desperately. "Repeating..."

                                                                                                                                                       ***

"Pythor's on board!" The boy's voice echoes over the Bounty. Cole's face becomes pale from hearing that.

"Oh, crap!" He shoots. "The Fangblades!" He turn his head, but it's already too late. The Anacondrai is waving at him as he picks the blades one by one.

"Sorry if I don't lend a hand, but I'm really in a rush." He gives a smile full of spite. "Got this whole Devourer thing going on." He chuckles. "Toodaloo." As soon as the serpent turns away, he finds Lloyd staring right back at him with a Bo staff.

"And where do you think you're going?" Lloyd asks aggressively, determined to do better this time.

"Ah." Pythor sighs, unamused. "A little cliché, don't you think?" He waves his hand dramatically.

"Uh, c-cli...ché?" The green ninja stutters for a moment. Was he supposed to understand that word?

"Hmpf." The snake rolls his eyes. "I wouldn't expect a child to understand that." He turns to the other side, ready to make his escape.

"Hey, just so you know, I've grown up a lot!" Lloyd snaps, running towards Pythor with fire in his eyes.

"Oh, did you now?" Pythor turns his head and smiles evilly. Lloyd tries to attack, but the purple snake easily dodges his attack.

"Hm, puny strength, no fundamentals, sloppy footwork." Pythor adds all of that while still dodging the green ninja's sloppy attacks, rotating his placement. "Yeah, I don't think so. You really think you can defeat me?" He chuckles, amused.

"Who's saying I'm trying to defeat you?" Lloyd smiles behind his mask. "I'm just trying to keep you busy until the cavalry arrives."

"Cavalr- AGH!" Pythor mumbles when he feels a powerful shock hitting him from behind. Jay just came out of the door right behind the snake, swirling his nunchucks mumbling his usual fighting sounds. At the same time, Lloyd finally manages to hit the purple serpent on his tail. "Nngh!"

"Hahah, I hit him!" Lloyd cheers on his anchievement, turning at where Cole is fighting to maintain his balance. "I hit him, guys!"

"Lloyd, watch out!" Jay pushes the young boy out of the way as Pythor strikes with one of Fangblades, stabbing the blue ninja's back. "Ggh!"

"Oh, opsie-daisie." The serpent chuckles once again, removing the blade. "Well, it's your fault for getting in the way." He turns around, to the other side of the balcony. "You know, as much as I would like to play with you overgrown childs, I have a ride to catch. So long, suckers!" He jumps directly towards the Rattlercopter below him.

"Keep hitting them!" Skalidor howls. "We're going to get this ship down, even if it costs- UNF!" He grunts as Pythor Falls on top of the Constrictai in the platform. "B-boss?" The black snake stutters. "When did you-"

"Less talk, more action, moron!" Pythor growls, getting up. "I have the Fangblades, we need to move, now!" Skalidor quickly nods commanding the piloto to turn around.

While that happens, Lloyd is losing his mind as Jay winces in pain and Cole struggles to lift everyone up.

"Cole!" The green ninja yelps, turning at the older boy. "Things are really bad! Let me help y-"

"Don't... Worry about... me!" The black ninja grunts. He can do this. He knows he can. He has the strenght for it. "Let... me... handle this!"

"But- but Jay, he's... And the others-!" Lloyd snaps, freaking out.

"Gh! I said-" both Cole's eyes and hands shine in a bright orange light. "Let me handle... THIS!" With a unusual might, the black ninja is able to pull everyone back with a firm move.

"Ugh. What was that?" Zane speaks, dizzy from the sudden move.

"Is everyone okay?" Wu asks, worried.

"Jay!" Nya points at the blue ninja, who is curled like a ball in the floor, with the back of his blue covered in blood.

"What happened here?" Cole asks, falling on his to give Jay somewhere to put his head.

"It's my fault!" Lloyd sobbed. "Pythor tried to attack me and Jay got me out of the way."

"H-hey, it's fine, guys." The ginger boy smiles wryly. "My gi took most of the damage, so it's not that deep of a cut, I think..."

"We'll see about that." Cole sighs deeply. Once again he fails to keep everyone okay. "Zane, help me out check on him, alright?"

"S-sure thing." The white ninja nods. "I'm not able to deal with something more deep than that, but I'll do my best."

"What about me?" Nya asks, nervous. "What should I do?"

"You have something important to do as well, Nya." Wu says by her side. "You're the only one that can fix whatever damage Pythor did to the Bounty. We need our ship full recovered to be able to go after him."

Nya nods, determined. "Leave it to me." She turns around, passing trough the door to the insides of the ship.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

The Rattlercopter pierced trough the sky, though not fast enough for Pythor's liking.

"The City of Ouroboros is miles away." Pythor growls, annoyed. "This Rattlercopter will never get us there in time." He turned his head around, in the direction of the Destiny's Bounty. "They'll catch up to us at this rate."

"Don't worry, Boss." Skalidor chuckled. "We thought about everything. Preparations have already been made."

"...What preparations?" Pythor asks, suspicious. He does not think that Skalidor is much of a thinker, much less a planner. However, when he looks down the road below them, he locates a tour bus being taken by the Serpentine. Pythor smiles at that.

"By your smile, I take it you're pleased?" Skalidor brushes his hands together, clearly proud of the result of their actions.

"Very." Pythor's smile grows wider. "Very pleased, Skalidor. That's why you're number two." Skalidor laughs at that.

As they get out of the platform, Pythor makes his way trough the snakes and people, slythering towards the driver's seat.

"See, mommy? I told you! Snakes are kicking people off the bus." A boy spoke in the crowd.

"Ssshhh!" A woman said. "Don't look, sweetie."

"Very well!" Pythor announces from the driver's seat to every snake outside. "Let's go, Serpentine! Next stop: Ouroboros!" The serpents cheer their leader on, embarking on the bus.

                                                                                                                                                       ***

In the Bounty's bridge, Lloyd awaits patiently with all four Golden Weapons on the table. Their golden material his worried face. Was everyone going to be okay? Could they still stop Pythor and his goons? If the Devourer is awakened, that will be all thanks to Lloyd's actions. If he didn't was so stubborn, if he had come for his uncle sooner... Maybe things wouldn't be going that badly.

Lloyd wipes his tears as he hear footsteps coming from outside, and soon Nya enters, sighing deeply.

"Oh. Hey, Lloyd." She says, taking a seat by his side. "Is everything alright?"

Uh, y-yeah, sure!" The boy quickly says. "I'm just... worried about everything. About what might happen." He added.

"Yeah, it's not being easy for us." Nya nods, defeated. She doesn't want to tell the boy, but she feels hopeless, especially after finding out one of the boosters was busted. Now there was no way for them to pursue Pythor.

"I'm sorry, Nya." Lloyd said. "You were right. It's all my fault. All I did was make things worse for everyone, and now I can't even help fix this mess." He gulped, his hands were trembling.

The red ninja flinched. She didn't expect for Lloyd to bring that discussion again. But thinking about, she let herself be too harsh too him.

"Hey, c'mon." Nya puts her hand on the boy's back. Gosh, she is in a strange position now. Normally she was the one getting into a spiral with Kai coming for her rescue. What he would do if he was here?

"Listen, I won't say you're wrong." She decides to just be honest and let her heart out. "You did a lot of mistakes in the past." Lloyd gave her a small sob. "But, nothing was fair for you. You're just a little kid, and you didn't had anyone." She sighs. "I know it's hard to be abandoned. It's not easy to take care of yourself, live by yourself." She brushes the boy's hair. "So don't beat yourself about it. What's done is done, and all that we can do now is fix our own mistakes." Nya smiles.

"You have us now, you're not alone, okay?" Lloyd slowly nods. "You're not the only one making mistakes, so let's all find a way to be better people together, alright?"

"Sure." Lloyd says, leaning his head on Nya. "Thanks, Nya." Nya smiles tenderly. Honestly, she could get used to that.

More footsteps can be heard after that, and soon Cole and Zane are entering the bridge, acompanied by Wu.

"Oh, guys!" Nya gets up, flustered. "How's Jay?"

"Well... He's..." Zane mumbles.

"I'm fine, geez!" The blue ninja appears, completing the line. "It's just like I said, my gi took most of the impact."

"And we still had to patch you up." Cole gritted his teeth. "And you didn't stop complaining the whole time."

"Is not my fault you have heavy hands." Jay snaps. "You need to be more gentle."

Nya sighs. If Jay is in high spirits, then things should be fine. "Just to know you're okay it's enough for me." She pouted. "I- we were worried about you. Right, Lloyd?"

"Y-yeah!" Lloyd nods. "Sorry about that, Jay..."

"Eh, I'll be fine." Jay winks at them. "Besides, I'll look cool with a scar on my back."

"I would prefer if we stop at that." Zane sighs. "You might think is cool, but scars are signals of deep wounds."

"I have to agree with Zane." Wu nods. "We need to be more careful, especially Lloyd." He brushes his beard. "Now, changing matters... How is the engine, Nya? You think we can go after Pythor?"

"Negative." Nya shakes her head. "The left booster was completely torned apart." She explains. "We can still fly with it, but no way we can reach them without full speed."

"Aw, man. Seriously?" Jay moans. "Can't we go there and fix it?"

"It's not unfixable, of course." Nya sighs. "But it would take too much time, time that we don't have right now."

"Great." Cole grunts. "What are que supposed to do now? What options we have?"

"I can think about one." Zane calmly says, walking to the table and picking his shurikens. "Our vehicles. They are our only chance to do something."

"Goshdarnit, you're right, Zane!" Jay exclaims, excited. "We totally forgot about that!"

"Hey, I didn't forgot!" The black ninja says, flustered. "It's just... Can we really do that?" He asks. "I don't know if my heart is at the right balance or whatever."

"We have to at least try." Nya nods decisively. "It won't hurt us, and like Zane said, is our only chance."

"I know you all can do it." Wu nods as well. "You've come far since we all start this fight together. Whatever happens, I have faith in you."

"But..." Cole mourned. "How can you still have faith in us after we have failed time and time again? I don't even know how much of a fight we can put this time!"

"Listen well, Cole." Says the old man, putting a hand in his student's shoulder. "I know you see all of you as small, but remember it well: it's not the size of a ninja in a fight, it's the size of the fight in the ninja. As long as you have fire in there to keep fighting, you will find the better ending. Do you understand?"

Cole sighs. Maybe he's putting too much on his head again. Maybe Wu is right. "Okay, fine. Let's do this, guys. Let's make Master Wu proud!" He punches the air, determined.

"Now THAT'S more like it!" Jay nods. "Let's do this!"

"Okay, I'm in." Nya cheers. "Now, let's see..." She picks her sword. "Master Wu, would you mind coming with me on my motorcycle?"

"Not at all, Nya. I think it will be better this way." The master nods.

"Aw, I was hoping I would go in the motorcycle." Lloyd pouts. "Then what about it now? Who I'm going with?" He asks, excited.

"Well..." Nya ponders. The others, however, glance at each other awkwardly.

"Actually, it would be better if you stay behind with the Bounty, Lloyd." Zane slowly speaks, trying his best to sound considerate.

"What?! Why?!" The young boy shouts, shocked by that.

"Hey, listen we were thinking and, y'know, since you're one of us now, you should learn how to drive the Bounty and-" Jay starts rambling an excuse.

"Cut it, Jay. That's worse." Cole sighs. "Listen, Lloyd, you're too important to go and risk yourself like that. If wasn't for Jay earlier, you would've..." He gasps. Why trying to be mature is so hard.

"That was an accident!" Lloyd exclaims. "Did you see me kick Pythor in the face? I'm an asset. I kick butt. And face." The boy keeps his outburst going. "I'm the Green Ninja! Nya! Uncle Wu!" He turns at them. "Please!"

"Gosh, is that how it was with me?" Nya thinks, nervous. She didn't like the idea of leaving Lloyd behind like a luggage, but the others reasoning were pretty sound.

"Patience, my child." Wu mutters, brushing his beard.

"Listen, like you said, you're a asset." Nya turns at Lloyd. "We need you as backup in case things go wrong like last time, okay? That's what the Green Ninja is for, alright?" She brushes the boy's bangs. "You think you can do that for us, o mighty Green Ninja?" She laughs.

"Hmpf." Lloyd pouts again. "Fine. Whatever. But I'm going to be right behind you, just you wait!" He storms outside as the others sigh in relief.

"Good damage control right now." Cole grims. "I think Kai would be proud of that."

Nya smiles gently, blushing. "Do you really think so?"

"Yeah, probably." Jay shruggs, picking his nunchucks. "Now, what do you say we play a little catch-up?"

"Heh. It's my favorite game." Nya grims at that.

"Ninja, go!" The team joins each other in a group hug, now with renewed determination. It's time for the final chase against the Serpentine.