Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a bright morning, as the crisp wind swept through the monastery. The gang was in various states of readiness, as Lloyd made his daily walk to the courtyard with his cup of tea. He drank it slowly as he approached Master Wu's portrait. He sat down on the rug, as he poured the remaining tea into the cup sitting by the tea pot. “I hope you would be proud, Master,” Lloyd said, as he looked into the portraits' eyes. “Ninjago has been at peace for the past 20 years, ever since….” Lloyd trailed off, as his brain recalled the painful memories. “We‘ve searched for him in all the merged realms, but we couldn’t find him, or you,” Lloyd trailed off, as he forced tears to stay in his eyes.

“Well at least you found me,” Pixel stated, as she walked past the open door, and stepped into the courtyard. She was followed by Zane, and their daughter Violet.

“Lloyd, everyone is awake,” Zane said, and he handed Lloyd a waffle, “and yes, I cooked this morning.” Lloyd let out an audible sigh, as he stood up from the rug.

“What are we learning today, Master Lloyd?” Violet asked enthusiastically, as she skipped over to the grownup.

“You’ll have to wait and see,” Lloyd said teasingly, as he followed the family inside. The dining room table was more canonic than a zoo with no fences. All the children were fighting, as their parents tried to stop them.

Nya and Jay tried to keep their children from destroying each other over cinnamon rolls, and Kai and Skylor kept their children from knocking over the stack of waffles in the middle of the tables. Off to the side sat Sorra, Frak, and Euphrasia, talking about the chaos around them.

“Quiet,” Lloyd gently yelled, as Zane’s family took their place at the table. The rest of the family calmed down, as they settled into their chairs. “Today, we celebrate 20 years of peace in ninjago, and the happiness that comes with that.” The parents all looked at their children, as Lloyd said this, before turning their eyes back to Lloyd. “And this time has allowed us to train the next generation, to hopefully prevent any terror from taking root in ninjago. Cheer,” Lloyd yelled, as everyone raised their glasses, and Cheered along with him. The children quickly returned to fighting over their food, as the parents sat back, and watched.

“I can’t believe it’s been 20 years!” Nya said, as she reached for a waffle, “Caleb, give your sister back her breakfast!” Nya yelled, as her son let go of his sister's plate.

“Man, 18 years,” Kai said, as he brushed the hair out of Skylors eyes. Skylor chuckled slightly, as she leaned into Kai's hand. “Best 18 years of my life,” Skylor said as she looked into Kai’s eyes. “Ewww, get a room,” Blake, their oldest, said, as he shoved waffles into his mouth. “Blake, be nice,” his sister Destiny said, as she quickly grabbed a waffle before he could devour them all.

“Would you all chill?” Lloyd asked, as he took a sip of his tea.

On the other side of the table, Iris scooted closer to Destiny, “Hey, guess what I dreamed about last night?” Her voice dropped in volume, and she took a drink of water, waiting for Destiny's answer.

“Was it the lightning dream again?” Destiny asked, as she grabbed an apple from the table

“Yes!!!!!” Iris responded excitedly, drawing the eyes of her parents.

“Keep your voice down,” Destiny snarled, as Nya gave her daughter a look and began approaching them. Both girls froze their brains scrambling to come up with a plan.
“I can't believe how good Uncle Zane is at cooking,” Destiny said as Nya stopped before reaching them, and grabbed a glass of water, before returning to her seat.

“Yeah,” Iris said, as she snapped out of her daze. “I wonder if he would teach us?”

“Of course I would,” Zane said flatly, as he looked to his daughter, “I give Violet lessons every Wednesday, you girls can join us next week.”

“Uncle Zane,” A quiet voice said, “Can I join as well?”

“Of course Chase, you're welcome to join us,” Zane said, as Pixel grabbed onto his arm.

“He’s been dying to teach someone else, Violet’s almost too advanced for him.”

Violets cheeks flushed red, as Kai looked at Blake, “You should join them, it’ll be fun”

“No thanks, I have more important things to do,” Blake responded as if the idea of cooking for himself was an insult. He proceeded to shove yet another waffle into his mouth.

“You should learn how to cook,” Kai said parentally

“You never did,” Skylor said jokingly, as she gave her husband a look of haughty derision.

“Why would I need to learn to cook, when you literally run a noodle house?” Kai responded defensively.

“Looks like your son is just like you,” Nya said, as she chuckled slightly.

“You should have named him after you like Cole did,” Jay said, as the table erupted in laughter.

“Hey, Cole is a perfectly good name,” Cole retorted defensively, as reached for the pancakes. “And we call him CJ, you know Cole Junior.

“Speaking of which, when is CJ set to arrive?” Jay asked, as he quickly grabbed one of the pancakes.

“He should be here around 9 am,” Cole answered, as he side eyed Jay, before pouring syrup on his pancakes. “Riyu has already left, so he can make it to Shintaro in time.”

“Don’t you think you should have gone with him, I mean CJ is only 6 years old,” Kai said.

“When did you become the responsible one?” Nya asked, as she set down to have her breakfast.

“I don't know, I guess it just happened,” Kai said, as he watched the children.

The conversation fizzled out as everyone went back to their previous conversation.

“Good save,” Iris said, as she lowered her voice 2 decibels. “We have to be careful, I don't want my parents finding out about this.”

“Are you sure?” Destiny asked, as she scanned the room, “I mean, your dad is the Master of Lightning, maybe this has something to do with that.”

“No, I can't go to my parents,” Iris scolded, “Are you crazy, my parents would never let me out of their sight again.”

“You're right,” Destiny responded, as she brushed her hair away from her eyes. “Remember that time you scraped your knee on the rocks in the creek.”

“They didn’t let me out of the monastery for a week,” Iris responded, “I felt like a chicken in a cage.”

“Right,” Destiny said. “They are so overprotective for no reason.”

“Hey,” Iris said, and she glanced around the table, “what if we sneak out tonight?”

“Are you crazy?” Destiny whispered. “There is supposed to be a storm tonight.”

“Yeah, I thought you were too scared,” Iris said condescendingly, as she turned away.

“I never said I wasn’t in,” Destiny said. “What time?”

—meanwhile—

“Hey Caleb,” Blake said, as he grabbed a waffle off his plate, “I heard there is going to be a huge storm tonight.”

“You know what that means,” Caleb responded, as he drank his orange juice quickly. “Epic camping trip?”

“Epic camping trip,” Blake confermined.

“Co… could I join you?” Chase asked timidly.

“Of course bro,” Blake said, “nothing like camping with my little brother and best friend.”

“Who’s going camping?” Jay asked, as he leaned closer to the boys.

“The ... the soldiers, you know, in our LEGO sets,” Caleb responded quickly.

“Sounds like fun,” Jay said suspiciously, before returning to his seat.

“Dude, your dad is way overprotective,” Blake said, as he scooted slightly farther away.

“I know but he does it out of love, and I just kind of accept it,” Caleb said nonchalantly, before changing the subject.

—meanwhile—

“Psst,” Iris signaled Violet.

“What, Violet whispered

“Meet at the creek, at 10 pm tonight,” Iris said, before she straightened herself up.

Violet was baffled. Why would Iris want her to sneak out?

Violet looked at her father. “Well, one time won’t hurt,” she thought to herself. Plus the other girls were finally inviting her to something, she had to go.

—meanwhile—

“You know, I remember when we was that young,” Euphrasia said, as she watched the children talking excitedly

“Yeah, I feel like it was just yesterday that…” Sora said, as she trailed off, looking down at her plate.

“We all miss him,” Frak said

“I know,” Sora responded. “It's just the last time I saw him, we were their age. It seems like so long ago, yet like it was yesterday.”

“Time has a way of getting away from the best of us,” Euphrasia said as she finished her water.

“Clean up,” Lloyd shouted to the table, as the gang began to clear the dishes, before placing them in the sink.

They filed out into the courtyard, lining up in front of Lloyd. “Today, we will be learning about motivation,” Lloyd announced to the group, as he raised the training platform.

“Jay, Go,” Lloyd shouted once the platform was raised. Jay followed the command, and he raced through the course.

When he finished, Lloyd turned back to the group. “Cole, race Jay is this time, ready, go.”

Cole and Jay both raced through the course, and finished the maze in half the time.

“You see,” Lloyd lectured, “motivation can cause people to do insane things. Jay went twice as fast when Cole was racing him, than when he was doing it himself. Each of you has a motive, when you want to do something. Every bad guy you will ever face will always have a motive. “No matter how crazy,” he whispered to himself. “Your job as future ninja is to figure out their motive, and learn the reason for their actions. I want you to split into groups and figure out what motivates each other.”

“I chose Jay,” Cole said quickly, as he grabbed Jay's shoulder.

“I,” Lloyd retorted sternly, “will choose teams.”

“Let’s see,” Lloyd said as he sized up the gangs.

“Nya with Violet, and let's do, Caleb with Jay, Iris with Zane, and…. Blake with Kai,” Lloyd said, as the adults moved towards their partners.

“Yeah father and son forever,” Blake said, and he high-fived Kai. Chase looked back at them, as a frown crept onto his face for a second, before he pushed it away.

“Ok, Destiny with Sora, and Chase with Cole, and Frak and Pixal together, and Euphrasia and Skylor.”

The groups split up, moving away from each other.
____________________

“Ok, so what motivates you?” Destiny asked Sora, as they sat down to the left of the gate.

“Well, I guess it would be the hope of finding Arin again,” Sora said, as her eyes fell. “I mean, he just up and left, and I haven’t seen him for 20 years. We were best friends for more than 2 years. It was when the merge happened. I know he was upset, because the merge took everything from him, but, the merge wasn't all bad. It gave me everything.

“That must have been hard,” Destiny said, as she grabbed Sorras hand.

“The worst part,” Sora said, “is that he had no reason to go. He was doing better in training than I was, and I have no clue why he left.”

Tears formed in Sora's eyes, as she recalled the memories.

“What was his elemental power?” Destiny asked.

“He didn’t have one,” Sora said, “but he worked harder than all of us. He always felt like he had to prove himself.”

“That's weird,” Destiny said, trying to make sense of it all.

“Well, enough about me, what motivates you?” Sora asked Destiny, as Destiny thought.

“I don’t know, I guess I’m just expected to do the work, and I hate how my brother has such connections with my parents, because Blake is like an exact copy of dad, and Chase is like mom, and I’m just kind of here.” Destiny looked down at her feet, waiting for Sora to say something.

“Hey, you don’t have to prove anything to anyone, except yourself,” Sora said, as she laid a hand on Destiny's shoulder.

—meanwhile—

“So, what motivates you to keep being a ninja?” Iris asked Zane.

“Well… I think it’s the comradery of it all, plus, I was built to protect others, it’s in my code,” Zane explained flatly, as they sat to the right of the gate.

“Do you ever get mad that you're a robot?” Iris asked, “or does it make your life simpler?”

“Well, it definitely helps that I don’t have to eat, but I also feel like I’m stuck sometimes, because I physically can’t change, unless I replace my parts. But enough about me. “What about you, what motivates you to do things?”

“I don’t know,” Iris said, as she looked around, “I guess I just go along with the rest of them.”

“Well that’s ok,” Zane said, “you’ll find your motivation.

—meanwhile—

“Well Violet,” Nya asked calmly. “What motivates you?”

“I… I guess it would be necessary to keep up with everyone.” Violet responded

“What do you mean?” Nya asked

“Well, I’m not Zane and Pixels' actual daughter. They found me next to the creek when I was a baby, and just took me in,” Violet said, as her eyes glanced downward.

“Violet,” Nya said, pulling her close, and into a hug. When she released her she looked into her eyes. “That doesn't make you any less of a ninja than any of us. Me and Kai were left as children to be raised by our aunt, who left when we were 12, saying we were old enough to take care of ourselves. Lloyd was an orphan for most of his life, and he helped unleash the great devourer. Jay was adopted by his parents, and they loved him. Your past doesn't make you any less worthy of becoming a ninja.”

“Thanks Aunt Nya,” Violet said, “That’s… really helpful.”

“Of course,” Nya said, “and if you ever need encouragement, just ask.”

“Thanks,” Violet said, as she smiled. “So what motivates you?”

“Probably the idea of failure,” Nya said, “I mean for the longest time I was the only girl, so I just made up for it.”

“That sounds rough,” Violet said

“It was,” Nya responded, “but it got me where I am now, so it worked out in the end.”

“Hey Cole,” Lloyd said, as he pulled everyone from their conversation, isn’t CJ and Riyu supposed to be here now?”

Cole turned his head to the clock. The clock was at 5 past 10. “He should be here now, " Cole said, as a worried look came over his face. Everyone stood up, and started looking for any shape in the sky that would resemble a dragon. They looked for 15 minutes, before they headed to the stables.

“We should use Zanth,” Sora said, as she grabbed onto her back, and Zanth lifted Sora onto their back.

“I'll go with you,” Euphrasia said, as she blasted wind from her hands.

“Walker family,” Lloyd said authoritatively, as he directed them out of the monastery, “Search near the creek. Smiths, head towards town and see if anyone has heard anything. Frak and Robert'sfamily, use the bounty, and head to the mountains. See if they got caught up with the other dragons. Cole and I will head to Shintaro, to see if they have issues on their end. Everyone, meet back here before dark, and keep your watches on vibrate.”

Half of the adults reached down to their right wrist, and flipped a tiny switch on the watch. Everyone headed out of the monastery, and Cole looked at Lloyd. “I hope he is OK,” Cole said sadly, as he and Lloyed headed down to the dragon stables.

“I’m sure he is alright,” Lloyd assured, as he pet Jiro before climbing onto his back

“I should never have let him do this himself,” Cole said, as the dragon took for the skies
______________________________________

The Walkers walked the length of the creek, looking for clues. “I can’t believe Cole would let CJ fly down on his own,” Nya said as she examined the water. “I mean, he's only six!”

“Right, but Riyu has been super reliable,” Iris said, and she followed her mothers example.

“Still, I would never have let one of you do that,” Jay responded, “and I'm the adventurous one.” Iris and Calb both rolled their eyes at this.

“What are you looking for dad?” Calab asked, as he followed his fathers eyes.

“I’m trying to see if any of the trees are broken or misshapen, to see if Riyu crashed into any of them,” Jay answered, as his eyes fell onto his son. “So far though, nothing.”

“Well, the water is a little high for this time of year,” Nya said, “especially since the spring has been super cold, but it's probably just a coincidence.”

–meanwhile–

“Why do we have to walk down all these stairs?” Blake whined, as his family headed towards town.

“Because it's good for you,” Skylor said, as she skipped a few steps.

“Want to make it interesting?” Kai said, as he stopped for a second. The others watched as he smiled. “Race you.” Kai took off down the stairs, as his two oldest children raced after him. Skylor rolled her eyes, before she looked behind her and noticed her youngest son hanging behind, and not running after the others.

“Don't you want to race, Chase?” Skylor asked, as she waited on the stairs for him.

“No, I’m good.” Chase responded, as he took his mothers hand, and walked down the stairs with him.

–

“I win,” Blaze said, as he ran across the bridge into town.

“No fair!!!” Destiny whined, as she stamped her foot.

The siblings fought with each other, bantering and calling each other names for several minutes.

“Children,” Skylor said, as she and Chase walked into the village. “Would you stop fighting?”

“Besides” Kai said, coming up to the family from the village, “None of you won.”

Blaze looked astonished that his father had beat him, while Destiny looked excited.

“Don't worry buddy,” Kai said, as he patted Blaze's shoulder, “You'll win when I'm dead.”

Skylor rolled her eyes, as she let go of Chase’s hand. “Lets split up, if you see anything that looks like a dragon, or CJ, tell me or your father. However, do not disturb anyone in the village.”

The children spit up, looking around the village. Destiny wandered through the market, asking the vendors if they had seen any dragon activity.

Blaze walked around with his head held high, confident that he would find Riyu. He looked around the town, never bothering to talk to people “If they know anything, they'll tell me” He thought, as he strolled through town.

Chase looked around the surrounding area. The mountains were tall, and the peaks were covered in thick layers of snow. Chase pulled out a pair of binoculars, which he always carried, to get a closer look at the mountain.

“Hey Mom,” he said, as he looked closer. “Why are there orange specks in the snow?” Skylor was confused at first, before she noticed the snow. She grabbed the binoculars from her son, before pulling them to her eyes. “I don’t know,” She answered, as she handed the binoculars back to Chase. “They definitely look weird, but I'm sure they’re nothing honey.” Chase went back to hunting, while Skylor brought her watch to her mouth.

–meanwhile–

“Wwww-hy are the mmmm- mountains ssssssssso ccc-old” Frak asked, as he trembled in the freezing mountain air.

“Well,” Zane began, as Violet rolled her eyes, "as elevation rises, air molecules spread apart due to decreased atmospheric pressure, leading to a temperature decrease. You are also a cold blooded animal, meaning you have a greater reaction to the cold than a warm blooded creature, like Violet, and since Pixel and I are robots, we can not feel the cold air, leading to no physical changes.”

“I’m sssssorry I asked,” Frak said to himself.

The bounty was settled on a ledge, before a dragon call was played, and it resounded through the mountains. The group waited for a sign. After 5 minutes, huge wings appeared in front of them. Zane felt her voice in his head before he heard it.

“Why have you summoned me?” The Matriarch asked

“We were wondering if you have seen Riyu. He has gone missing, alone with one of our children,” Zane asked, as Frak gave him a strange look.

“Why is he talking out loud, she didn't say anything?” Frak asked Violet

“Because the Matriarch talks telepathically,” Pixel answered

“I saw Riyu fly towards that golden city,” The matriarch, “but he never returned.”

“Thank you, Matriarch,” Zane said, as he bowed respectfully, and his family followed. The Matriarch flew off, leaving the family with worried looks on their faces.

“Ccccan wwwwe hhhead ddddown ttthe mmmmounttttain nnnnnow?” Frak shivered

Violet laughed at his shivering, as the bounty descended from the mountain.

–meanwhile–

“Hey, Sora,” Skylor said into her watch, “Can you check out the top of the mountain west of the village? There seems to be some weird colors up there.”

“Sure, we’ll check it out,” Sora said, as she jested for Euphrasia to follow her.

“Where are we headed?” Euphrasia asked, as she followed Sora.

“To the top of some mountain Skylor said is looks suspicious,” Sora said

“Is it that one?” Euphriasa asked as she pointed at the orange tinted mountain side.

“Probably,” Sora responded, “Zanth, land over there”

The girl landed on the mountain, and was astonished by how many orange rocks were scattered around the mountain.

“What are these?” Euphraisa asked, as she reached for one. “OUCH!!! Ok do NOT touch those”

Sora looked over at Euphrasia as she held her hands close to her chest. “Are you sure you're ok?”

“I’ll be fine,” Euphrasia said, as she looked past Sora. “Look.”

Sora looked behind her, and saw a giant hole in the mountain. The girls walked towards it. Inside, there was a giant chasm, full of the orange rocks. The rocks seemed to be calling to the girls, as they glowed when they came closer.

“We should grab some of these to bring back to the monastery,” Sora said, as she reached towards them.

The rock glowed brighter the closure her hand got, before Eupriashia grabbed her wrist.
“Don’t touch them,” Euphriasa said, as she reached to the bottom hem of her skirt and tore a piece off. The girls walked out of the cave, and grabbed a rock off the ground. Sora climbed onto Zanth, as Euphrasia picked up one of the rocks

“You should take this,” Euphrasia said, as she handed the rock wrapped in fabric to Sora. Euphrasia backed away from Zanth, as he took to the skies. Euphoria tried to blast air out of her hand; however, failed, as her feet stayed glued to the ground, and no air was produced.

“You coming?” Sora asked, as she turned back. Euphrasia tried to produce air again. Sora watched, confused about why she was not following her.

“Why aren't you coming?” Sora asked

“I can't,” Euphrasia said, as she tried to push air out of hands. Sora turned back around, as Euphrasia climbed onto Zanths back.

“What do you mean you can’t?” Sora questioned, as they made their way back to the monastery.

“I mean,” Euphrasia explained, “that when I tried to produce wind, my hands felt hot, and my heart was pounding in my ears, and the blood in my body felt like a knife piercing my veins. And with all that, not a single stream of wind was produced.”

“Woah,” Sora said, as she looked at the rock in her hand with unease. “Do you think… they could have stripped your powers?”

“I mean it's possible,” Euphrasia said as she looked at the rock with fear. “There are types of stone that can stop, or inhibit elemental powers.”

“We have to tell Lloyd,” Sora said urgently when they landed in the stables.

Euphrasia and Sora rushed up to the monastery, where the Walkers, Smiths, and Roberts (plus Frak) were all standing around the table.

“The Matriarch saw Riyu on his way to Shintaro,” Zane informed the gang. “However, she never saw him fly back through the area.”

“There was no sign of him at the creek,” Jay said,as Nya handed a glass to her husband. She then handed a glass to the other adults around the table.

“Sora, your back,” Nya said as she looked curiously at the fabric in her hands.

“Yeah, well we have some interesting news,” Sora said, as she gently placed the coved rock on the table. “Where are the kids?”

“There in the courtyard,” Skylor said. “Why?”

“I don’t want them getting close to this,” Sora said as she uncovered the rock.

—meanwhile—

“Ok, we have to be careful tonight,” Iris said, as her and her friends passed the ball between them, each pass gaining speed. “Our parents are already on edge, so they are going to be extra alert tonight.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea,” Violet asked, as she caught an especially fast pass from Destiny.

“Come on Violet,” Destiny groaned dramatically. “Have some fun.”

“I have robots for parents,” Violet answered, as she passed the ball to Iris. “Fun isn’t in their vocabulary.”

“At least your parents don’t make out in front of you,” Iris said, throwing the ball past Destiny, and hitting Blake in the back of the head.

“HEY,” Blake cried, as he rubbed where the ball hit him. “WHO WAS THAT?

“Opps, sorry,” Iris said sarcastically, as she picked up the ball that had rolled back to her feet.

“You did that on purpose!” Blake accused, as Caleb and Chase came up behind him.

“Why would she do that?” Destiny responded.

“I don’t know,” Blake answered. “Maybe she was trying to get me to lose brain cells.”

“If you lost any more brain cells,” Iris said, “you would be a leaf.”

“I… I,” He stammered, “How insulting! I'm telling your parents!”

“You can try,” Iris said stubbornly, “But I got my attitude from my mother, looks like you got yours from your father.” She ran her eyes over him judgingly, as Destiny and Violet snickered.

“Tonight, midnight,” Blake said, as he stuck his face in hers. “Meet me at the creek, and we’ll see which family is better!”

The boys turned and walked to the other side of the courtyard. Chase shot Violet a little “opps, I should have stopped him” look before turning away.

“Well, tonight just went from awesome to epic,” Destiny said excitedly as the girls resumed playing catch.

Iris kept imagining the scene of her taking down that arrogant jerk. Yes, tonight would be epic.

Chapter Text

“Okay, let me get this straight,” Jay said, his voice higher than usual. “These rocks are in a huge cave in the mountains above the village contain crystals that not only hurt you when you touch them, but also strip elemental powers and cause pain when we try to use them!!???”

“Based on what we know, yes,” Sora said, as she recovered the rock.

“Euphrasia,” Nya asked, “Are you doing okay after touching it?”

“Yeah,” Euphrasia responded. “It only hurt when I touched it, and when I tried to use my powers.”

“If you don't mind,” Zane said, “would you try to use your powers?”

“Zane you can’t do that,” Skylor said, as she stood up to stand by Euphrasias' side. “It hurts her to use them. What if trying to use them hurts her more.”

“Well unless you have another way to learn about this, it's our only option,” Kai said, as he looked at his wife's eyes.

“I was only asking,” Zane said, as he looked at Euphrasia. “It is up to you, Euphrasia.”

Euphrasia looked around the table. She then looked up, before pushing all of her energy into her hands, trying to push air out of them. She felt all of her blood in her body rush to her hands, as knives cut through her. She could hear her heart in her ears. The gang looked on in horror, as her body turned orange with her efforts. Euphraisha closed her eyes in concentration, as she held her breath. The room stood still, waiting to see if anything would happen. Euphrasia was so concentrated on her efforts, that she didn't realize she was falling, until the world went black.

Skylor caught her before she hit the ground.

“I told you that wasn't a smart idea,” Skylor retorted,as she checked Euphrasias' pulse. “Luckily she is still breathing, but it's an unsteady rhythm, and her body has an unnatural shade of orange.”

“I will help you transport her to the recovery room,” Pixel said, as she moved from behind the table. Nya and Sora followed them out, leaving only the men in the room.

“What just happened?” Kai asked

“I've never seen a human that shade of orange,” Frak said. “I mean snakes for sure, but for humans, it's terrifying.”

“How could you put her in danger like that?” Jay said angrily

“We needed to know what those rocks did,” Zane said, as he looked at Zane. “You agree with me, right Kai?”

“Well…” Kai began, before being cut off by Jay

“Right because we should ask the machine for advice on how much danger a human in, just like we do with hospitals, well news flash they aren't always right!” Jay was standing now, as he paced with his words.

“Jay this is different, she is going to survive,” Kai said as he stood up and tried to lay a hand on Jay's shoulder.

Jay backed away before retorting, “That's what everyone said. They said that she would be fine. Well, she wasn't because if she was she would be out in the courtyard, but instead she is in a hole in the ground because we trusted the wellbeing of a human to a machine.”

“It was not the machine's fault,” Zane said, as he stood up to protect his kind. “They did everything they could. Sometimes babies die, and it's no one's fault.”

“It is there fault, they said she would live and they lied to us. They wouldn't take her to see an actual doctor because ‘the machines are better than any doctor’ but the machines didn't save her, they let her die.” Jay was pacing faster now, as his volue rose with each word.

“They did everything they could,” Kai reasoned, but Jay was unconsolable.

“And you know what the worst thing is? They can't relate, because they can just buy another kid. Whereas we, humans, can't always just try again.” Jay sat down once he finished talking. He was breathing hard, and he was on the verge of tears.

“Jay,” Zane said, “You know they did everything they could. You also know that machines are just as human as you are. We have feelings too. Yes, we have hard drives and you have skin, but we aren’t heartless creatures. We are just logical.”

“Logics aren't substitutes for feelings,” Jay shouted as he leaned forwards with his words before leaning back.

“I agree,” Zane said.

“We asked her Jay,” Kai said as he steadied Jay with a hand on his shoulder. “It was her decision.”

“I know,” Jay said, as he began to calm down. “Zane, I’m sorry. I… I just still feel like there is more I could have done.”

“Jay, you did everything you could,” Kai said.

“I know,” Jay responded, as his breath slowed.

–Meanwhile–

“Do you think she is going to be okay,” Nya asked Pixel, as Pixel scanned over Euphrasia’s body.

“I think she will be okay,” Pixel said. “Her body just overheated. She just needs some time to cool down.” Pixel placed a cold rag on Euphrasia’s head, as she looked over at Nya. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, Yeah I'm fine,” Nya said, as she blinked away the tears forming in her eyes.

“Nya,” Pixel said, as she walked over to Nya, and pulled her into a hug. “She will be okay, it's not your fault.”

“I should have stopped her,” Nya said, as she hugged Pixel tighter.

“I have the extra water you needed,” Skylor said as she walked into the room. “Nya, you okay?” she asked after seeing Nya’s flushed face.

“Yeah,’ Nya said, as she pulled away from Pixel. Euphrasia stirred, as she heard the voices. “

“Sora??” Euphrasia said weakly.

“Right here,” Sora said, as she grabbed her friend's hand.

“Good, I was hoping you were safe,” Euphrasia said, as she opened her eyes slightly.

“You should be fine after some rest,” Pixel said, as she monitored Euphrasia vitals.

“Mom?” Iris said as she entered the room. Violet and Destiny followed behind her. “What's going on?”

“Nothing sweetie,” Nya said quickly, as she tried to push the kids out of the room.

“Why is she laying down?” Destiny asked, as she looked at her mother.

“She had an accident,” Skylor said. “I’ll explain later.”

“Come on,” Violet said. “Let's let them work.”

The girls backed out of the room, as they closed the door behind them.

“Something bad is going on,” Violet said.

“How do you know?” Iris asked.

“Because, that's the first time I've been in that room that my mom wasn't trying to explain how something works. And the screen was vitals of Euphrasia.” Violet said

All the girls' eyes grew to 5 times their size as they looked at each other.

“What is going on?” Destiny asked, as the girls headed to Iris's room.

–meanwhile—

“Hey dad,” Blake said nonchalantly.

“Hey, uh you can’t be in here right now,” Kai said, as he watched the other boy file into the room.

“Why?” Caleb said as he took a seat at the table.

“Because the adults need to discuss things,” Jay answered.

“What's that?” Chase asked, as he pointed to the rock on the table.

“Nothing,” Kai said lamely.

“Clearly it's not nothing,” Caleb said, watching as Jay stood up and walked over to him.

“Son,”Jay said, as he placed a hand on his shoulder. “I need you and your friends to go play somewhere else.”

“Fine,” Caleb said. “Let's go.”

Blake and Chase followed Caleb out of the room, as the adults made eye contact with each other.

“Let's hope they don’t look too far into this,” Frak said, as the door closed behind the boys.

________

“Ok, what was that?” Blake asked, as the friends looked at each other.

“I have no clue, but something is definitely going on,” Caleb responded.

“I wonder how Lloyd and Cole are doing,” Chase said.

“Yeah, they’ve been gone for a while,” Blake responded.

________________

“Hello Cole,” One of the guards said as they passed into the throne room.

“Hey,” Cole said sheepishly, as he cowered at the magnificence of the throne room.

“When was the last time you were here?” Lloyd asked, as he followed Cole.

“Not since the divorce,” Cole answered, as his back hunched lower.

“It's okay Cole,” Lloyd said, as he laid a hand on Cole's back.

“What are you doing here?” A voice boomed angrily from above.

Vania sat on her throne of marble, as she looked down at Cole with pure hatred.

“Hey Vania,” Cole said sheepishly.

Vania stood up from her throne, as she flew down to be eye level with Cole.

“You are not welcome here, Cole,” Vania spat aggressively at Cole. “And it's Queen Vania to you.” She moved past Cole, as she embraced Lloyd. “Lloyd it's so good to see you, what brings you here?”

Cole swallowed. This was not going to be a fun visit.

____________

“I’m fine, really,” Euphrasia reassured, as she stood to walk.

“You passed out,” Sora said, as she moved to steady her friend. “That's not fine.”

“You just need a little more rest,” Pixel said, as she looked over her vitals.

“And a good meal,” Skylor said, as she walked into the room carrying noodles for all the girls.

“Thanks Skylor,’ Nya said as she passed them out. Sora led Euphrasia back to the table, and helped her onto it.

“Really, I’m fine,” Euphrasia said, as she took the noodles from Nya. “Thanks.”

“Well until Lloyd gets back, you shouldn’t try to use your powers,” Nya said, “and I think we can all agree on that.”

“Fine,” Euphrasia said as she gobbled noodles.

“I'm going to go tell the boys that you're alright,” Nya said, walking out of the room.

The halls were weirdly empty, as Nya reflected over the last 24 hours. “Dang, 0 to 100 in no time,” she thought to herself. “Let's hope the children don't find out what's going on. They shouldn't have to worry about this.”

She stood in front of the dining room, collecting her thoughts.

“Hey,” She said when she entered the room. All of the boys looked at her hopefully, as she traversed the room.

“She's awake,” Nya said, as they all let out the breath they were unknowingly holding. “She seems to have no permanent damage.”

“Are her powers back?” Kai asked quickly.

“I don’t know Kia,” Nya spat aggressively. “She just woke up, I'm not going to ask her to try again, after all she could have gotten herself killed from trying.”

“Hey,” Jay consoled as he hugged Nya from behind. “Let's step out for a sec.” Jay led Nya out of the room. He led her to their room, as she fell apart.

“Jay,” Nya cried as Jay wrapped his arms around her. “What if they get hurt? We can’t let them get hurt, they are still so young.”

“I know,” Jay said, as he pressed a kiss to her hairline. He opened the door to their room, gentily guiding Nya in.

“I mean I couldn't save her, what makes me think I can save them,” Nya continued. “And they are older now, and they can hurt themselves. I'm such a bad mother, they’re going to get themselves killed.”

“Shshshsh,” Jay said, rubbing her back through the hug. He pulled back for a second, as he looked her in the eyes. “You are not a bad mother, you are doing everything you can. It was not your fault she died. You are doing great.”

Nya sniffied. “I guess,” she said. Jay scooted back onto the bed. Nya snuggled up next to him, laying her head on his chest.

“I know you wanted more,” Jay said, raking his hands through her hair, “But the universe has its reasons, and you are the best mother of 2 I have ever seen.”

“Thanks,” Nya said, as she looked up at Jay. “How come you're not crying? Out of the two of us, you usually cry more.”

“I kind of had a breakdown earlier, and may have said some things I regret,” Jay responded.

“Who'd you say them to?” Nya asked

“Kai,” Jay responded as they sat up.

“Oh, then you're fine,” Nya said, laughing alongside her husband. “Come on Skylor made noodles.”

“Yes, I love her noodles,” Jay said, as he and Nya headed back to the dining room.

_______

“Kids come in,” Skylor called out to the courtyard.

“Remember, act normal,” Destiny told her friends.

“Nothing happens,” Caleb said to his friends, as both groups headed to the dining room.

“I wonder what we are eating,” Chase said to Violet.

“I don't know,” Violet said as her face flushed. The children filed into their seats, as Skylor and Kai finished placing bowls of noodles on the table. Everyone looked to the head of the table, where Lloyd usually sat.

“Well, I guess just dig in,” Kai said.

“I hope they're doing well,” Sora said as she cast a glance at Euphrasia. Euphrasia had stopped eating, as was looking off into space.

“Lloyd please get here,” Sora said under her breath.

_________

“Oh so you sent a dragon to collect our son because you're too busy to do it yourself, and now you have come here because you think I didn't send him?” Vania yelled at Cole. They were in a private room now, decorated with elaborate paintings of the flying monks.

“With all due respect,” Lloyd interjected before Cole could say anything, “We wanted to see if Riyu had even made it to the mountain.”

“You sent a dragon you weren't sure would get here to collect your 6 year old son?” Vania retorted angrily.

“No, we just thought…” Cole began

“No you didnt think, “ Vania interjected. “He is 6, Cole, you don't just get to see him when it's convenient for you. You are his father, tragically, that means that you have to see him sometime.”

“What do you mean tragically? Cole said defensively.

“I mean that literally anyone else would realize that 6 YEAR OLDS SHOULDN'T”T TRAVEL ALONE,” Vaina yelled

“WELL I’M SORRY THAT I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE PERFECTLY FINE TO SEND RIYU, OUR MOST TRUSTWORTHY DRAGON, TO GET CJ. CJ SHOULD HAVE BEEN FINE.

“WELL HE CLEARLY ISN'T, COLE,” Vaina yelled as she turned on her heel and headed towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Lloyd asked when she grabbed the handle.

“I’m going to run my country,” Vania retorted. “General, please escort the ninja out, they have the information they need.” She cast a glance back at Cole, before walking out of the room.

“Of course my queen,” the general said, as he led the ninja to the palace stables.

“Thank you for taking care of Jiro,” Cole said quietly to the stable guards as he somberly climbed onto his back.

Lloyd joined him, as Jiro walked out of the stables, as took to the skies.

After an hour of flying, Lloyd looked over at Cole.

“Well, that was interesting,” he said, trying to sound happy about it.

“Yeah,” Cole said sadly, as he scanned the land below them. “You know that's the first time I’ve been back there since the divorce.

“Really,” Lloyds said, glancing back at Cole.

“Yeah,” Cole said, with a small, sad chuckle. “We were so happy, then, CJ was born. I thought it would bring us closer, but it only caused us to grow apart.”

“How so?” Lloyd asked

“Well, I was splitting my time between the monastery and Shintaro, since she took most of the ruling responsibility. I would try to bring CJ with me, but she said that he had to stay in Shintaro when he was little. Then as he got older, I would bring him down with me to the monastery, but she wanted him to stay there with her. However, she also wanted us to spend more time together.”

“Dang, even I’m confused,” Lloy siad, trying to lighten the mood.

“Yeah it's pretty confusing,’ Cole responded. “Anyways as he grew up I had to spend more time at the monastery to help train the others. And then I came back one day, and she just asked for divorce.”

“Seems like there's something she isn’t telling you,” Lloyd said, as the monastery came into view.

“I hope we can find him,” Cole said, scanning the ground below them.

“We will,” Lloyd responded. “I'm sure the others have news.”

Lloyd and Cole left Jiro in the stables as they headed to the dining room.

“Cole your back,” Frak said, grabbing the attention of the table.

Lloyd followed in behind him. Both had defeated looks on their face, and a somber mood fell over the room.

“We… We didn't find him, “Cole said sadly, sitting down next to Jay. Even the children stopped eating.

“What do we do now Lloyd?” Zane asked. Everyone's eyes fell onto Lloyd, as unease crept over his body.

“We eat dinner,” he responded as he sat down, and began eating his noodles. The adults looked uneasily at each other.

Dinner was tense, as the air grew with anxiety every second. Once everyone was done, Skylor looked at the children.

“Why don't you all go off and play,” Skylor said, as the kids slowly left one by one. Iris cast a suspicious look back, before heading after the other children.

“Lloyd, where is CJ?” Kai asked, once the door had closed.

“We didn’t find him,” Lloyd said as he looked at Cole. “However, we will not give up, we will find him.”

“How can we,” Cole shouted in grief. “We had no leads to where he went!”

“Well, we may have an idea,” Euphrasia said, as she looked at Nya. Nya left the room, and the room went silent.

“Where…” Lloyd asked, but Kai put his hand up.

“Just wait.”

Nya came back, carrying the rock still wrapped in the fragments of Euphrasia’s dress.

“Do not touch it,” Nya instructed, as she removed the cloth from the top.

The rock glowed an eerie orange as Lloyd and Cole took in the sight.

“What is it?” Cole asked, looking confused.

“We don't know,” Pixel interjected

“But it has the power to strip a person of their elemental powers,” Sora added.

“Wh…,” Lloyd begin

“It was me, okay,” Euphrasia said, “ I touched the rock thinking it was safe, and now I can't produce my wind.” Her voice was filled with anger, as Skylor looked at her with sympathy

“Well this sure is interesting,” Lloyd answers. “Until we figure out exactly what these rocks do, the children are on complete lockdown. They can’t go out of the monastery walls without one of you understanding?”

“But the rocks won't hurt them, they don't have elemental powers?” Skylor responded. “Plus being trapped in the monastery will make them go stir crazy.”

“I don't care, I want them to be safe,” Lloyd said, as he stood up. “This is not up for debate.”
Lloyd walked out of the dining room. The adults followed him into the courtyard. The children were standing in their groups, talking.

“Children,” Lloyd announced, "No one is to leave the monastery without my permission and an adult.”

Lloyd turned around heading back into the monastery.

“Lloyd?” Cole asked

“I need to meditate,” Lloyd said, as he rubbed his temples, and retreated into his room.

“Cole, you okay?” Nya asked, as she saw Cole slump off to his room.

“Yeah,” he said somberly reatreating into his room.

____________

The children were shocked by the news

“What the fuck,” Iris yelled as she watch the adult retreat into the monestary.

“Are you kidding me,” Blake yelled

“What is going on?” Destiny said

Violet and Chase watched their frineds reations.

Violet walked over to her friends.

“So,” she whispered, “are we still sneaking out tonight?’’

“Oh you better believe we are,” Destiny said.

“Who do they think they are?” Iris retorted angrily. “I mean they are our parents, but we are 16, that's the age when they joined the ninja by themselves.”

“It's like they don’t think we are people,” Destiny retorted.

–meanwhile–

“There is no way we have to stay here,” Caleb said as he looked at Blake for directions. “We’re still camping right?”

“Are you crazy?” Chase said, “We would get in so much trouble if we were caught.”

“Yeah, its makes it all the more fun,” Blake said maniacally

“Children, it's time for bed,” Pixel said coldly, as she walked into the courtyard.

“UGGGGG,” all the children groaned as they slumped out of the courtyard and into their rooms.

The girls room was across from the boys room, and the halfway was super crowded with all 6 of them making their way to bed.

“I'll wake you up at 9:30,” Iris told Violet and Destiny. “But you’ll have to find your own way to the creek. We can't risk getting caught in a group.”

Violet smiled as she fell asleep. The idea of sneaking out was so exhilarating.

Chapter Text

A light beeping sound woke Iris from her slumber. Her sleeping was lighter than a feather, as she tiptoed out of bed.

“Wake up,” Iris whispered in Destiny's ear, before tiptoeing over to Violet's bed, and whispered the same thing. Both girls stirred as Iris put on one of her jackets.

“What's going on?” Violet said, before the day's events flooded into her sleep filled brain.

“Be at the creek fort in 30 minutes,” Iris instructed, as she opened the window, and jumped out.

“What fort?” Violet asked, rubbing sleep out of her eyes

“I’ll show you,” Destiny said, yawning.

Violet and Destiny quickly woke up, and put on jackets.

“Are you sure we should do this?” Violet asked, as Destiny jumped out the window.

“You'll be fine,” Destiny responded, as she helped Violet out the window.

Once Violet was out of the window, Destiny quietly closed the window slowly, leaving a slight gap between the frame and the window.

“Let's go,” she whispered to Violet, as the girls rushed off down the stairs of the monastery.

________________

“Hey, the serpentine are coming,” Blake said into Caleb's ear.

“Bro, you have got to find a better way to wake me up for our adventures,” Caleb groaned as he rolled out of bed.

“What is going on?” Chase asked as he walked over to the others.

“Dang dude, do you listen to every conversation in your sleep?” Caleb asked

“No,” Chase replied. “Just a light sleeper.”

“I used to try to take him out of his crib when I was little,” Blake said to Caleb, as Caleb finally stood up. “He would wake up and scream. That's when our parents started keeping us in separate rooms.”

“Yeah,”Chase retorted, “Because you were trying to get rid of me!”

“Keep your voices down,” Caleb snapped quietly. “Are you two trying to get us caught?”

Both of the boys shut their mouths, as Caleb eased the door open. They listened for the sound of footsteps, and when none were heard, they stepped out of the door. They snuck through the halls. They were almost out of the courtyard, when they heard footsteps behind them.

“Hide,” Blake said, as the boys split up. Lloyd walked into the courtyard, carrying more tea.

“Master Wu?” Lloyd asked to the picture. “I don’t know what to do. Riyu is missing, and CJ. And the weird orange rocks have the potential to take all of our elemental powers.”

“What,” Blake instinctively shouted.

“Who’s there?” Lloyd retired as he turned around to face the seemingly empty courtyard. All three boys froze as Lloyd pulled a small dagger out from under his gi.

“You're messing with the wrong people!” Lloyd said, turning around the courtyard. The world stood still, and the boys froze, barely daring to breathe.

“Lloyd, what are you doing?” Nya asked as she walked out to the courtyard herself.

“I thought I heard someone,” Lloyd said, as he replaced his dagger in his holder.

He walked inside, as Nya followed him. Once the door to the mastery was shut, the boys let out sighs of relief.

“We better get out of here quickly,” Chase siad, as the boys quietly opened the gate, and slipped outside. As they ran down the monastery steps, fat raindrops began to fall.

“Wow,” Blake said, as the storm increased in intensity. “I didn't know the weather would be this bad.

They continued down the stairs, when they saw two figures also heading down the monastery steps.

“Hey!” Blake called out, as Destiny and Violet froze. “What are you doing here?”

“The same thing you are dumbass,” Destiny responded, as both girls turned around.

“Oh, uh sorry sis,” Blake said, as he rubbed behind his head. “I didn't recognize you in this rain.”

All of them were thoroughly soaked now, and the rain showed no sign of easing up.

“We better get to the fort,” Caleb said, as the group ran faster down the stairs.

By the time they got to the fort, hail had started beating down on their heads. They all ran into the fort, as they squeezed the rain water off their clothes and hair.

“Well, you all seemed to be caught in the rain,” Iris said.

“You ready to go,” Blake said angrily

“You bet I am rage boy,” Iris said

Iris stood up from the crate she was sitting on. Chase, Caleb, Violet and Destiny sat on the chest surrounding the middle of the fort while Iris and Blake circled around each other.

“You should have never challenged me,” Blake said, as he circled Iris.

“Yeah peabrain you shouldn’t have,” Iris said, her voice in a flat monotone

“Are they actually going to fight?” Violet asked Destiny as they watched the fighters.

“It depends on how stupid Blake decides to be,” Destiny responded.

“Hey, he isn't stupid,” Caleb said after hearing Destiny's comments.

“Right, he's only arrogant,” Destiny said sarcastically as she used finger quotes around arrogant

“Thank you,” Caleb said, as they looked back at the fighters.

“You really didn't learn after the last time?” Iris taunted as Blake finally ran at her. He threw a punch at her face, as she ducked and hit him behind the head. Blake turned around in fury, as he ran at Iris again. She stepped to the left, causing Blake to run into the wall.

“OW,” Blake yelled as he turned around, his eyes red with anger. “Why did you do that?”

“It's a fight Blake, there are no rules,” Iris said, as she watched Blake get ready to run at her again.

“Dude, I think you should let it go,” Caleb said as he watched Blake attack, and miss Iris again. “You've fought her once a week since we were six, and you have never won. I don't think you're going to.”

Blake turned around to look at Caleb, and that's when Iris pounced. SHe kicked him in the back, as he hit the wall. The then sat on top of him, while she held his neck to the floor.

“Do you yield?” She asked pointedly, as Blake struggled under her weight.

“I yield,” He said defeatedly, as Iris let him up.

Caleb extended a hand to help his friend; however Blake didn’t take it.

“I don’t need your help,” Blake snapped, and he pushed himself up.

“H…hey guys, we might want to head back,” Violet stuttered as she looked out at the creek bed.

“What are those?” Chase asked, as several large, orange rocks floated down the river.

“Hey, those look like the rock that the adults were looking at earlier,” Caleb said

“What rocks,” destiny asked, as the rest of the group came to the window. The river glowed a deep orange, as the rocks followed the currents.

“Let’s go check it out,” Blake said as he opened the door.

“Dude, it’s raining cats and dogs,” Caleb said, as he looked out the window. “I think she might have given you a concussion.”

“Are you kidding,” Blake defended. “This is our chance to have an actual adventure instead of being cooped up in the monastery.”

“All in favor,” Caleb asked as he turned around to look at the others.

Blake, Iris, Destiny, and Caleb all had their hands raised. Violet and Chase looked uneasy at each other.

“Let's go,” Blake said as he rushed out of the fort. The rain was coming down like hail now, and every drop that hit the group felt like hail pelting down on them.

“Geez, this rain is so hard it's going to leave bruises,” Destiny said as the group ducked under a tree for shelter.

The creek was higher than normal, and the rocks floating down it nearly reached the group. The glow from the rocks illuminated their faces, as the group balanced on the uneven ground of the creekbed.

“What are they?” Violet asked, as more began floating down the river.

“Rocks genius,” Blake said as they all stared in awe as the rocks started to pile up on the creek bed.

“Never mind,” Violet said as she reached out to bring her hand to the rocks.

“Wait, you might hurt yourself!” Chase said, as he grabbed her wrist.

“Well how else are we going to find out what these rocks do?” Violet asked as the rocks seemed to call to them.

“We could always ask our parents,” Destiny suggested.

“I hope they haven’t noticed we're gone yet,” Violet said as the gang constipated the rocks in front of them.

–meanwhile–

“Iris?” Nya said, as she peered into the girls room.

Each of their beds had pillows under the covers to look like sleeping children.

Nya walked closer to Iris’s bed, as she lowered her voice to a whisper.

“Look, I know you aren't happy about being cooped up, and I know you're asleep right now, but I just have to talk to you, even if you don't respond. This is for your own good. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you. I know you know about the miscarriage, and I’m sorry if I've been a little bit overprotective these last 9 years. However, I'm doing this so that you're safe, because I know how scary the world can be. Once you're old enough I can tell you so many stories about the adventures I had, but, you're still too young. Whether you like it or not, I'm your mother, and I have to protect you.”

She reached out her hand, and pulled the covers back slightly to gently brush her daughter's hair, but the only thing she saw was a pillow.

“Iris?” Nya question, as she pulled more of the comforter back, all of the pillows were exposed. Nya panicked, as she walked over to the other beds and removed their blankets too.

“JAY!” Nya yelled as she ran to the boys room across the hall. The boys hadn't even put pillows under their beds, they had just left them messy.

“Nya?” Jay said sleepily as he followed Nya into the boys room.

“Jay, they aren't here!” Nya responded, as she ran through the monastery.

“What?” Jay said, going from sleepy to alert in a minute.

“The children are gone,” Nya siad, shocking Jay.
“All of them, or just ours?” Jay asked trying to get a handle on the situation

“All of them Jay,” Nya said. “They're gone, they’re going to get themselves killed.”

“Hold on, I'm sure they’re just downstairs playing with the technology,” Jay reasoned. “But let's go get Kai, Skylor, Zane and Pixel just in case. Nya went to wake Zane and Pixel, and Jay went to wake Kai and Skylor

“Hey Kai,” Jay said, after he knocked and walked into Kai and Skylors room.

“Yeah,” Kai said, as he continued to brush his hair.

“Umm, so the kids aren't in their beds,” Jay said as he fiddled with his hands.

“What,” Skylor said, as she appeared from the closet. “Where are they?”

“We don’t know,” Jay responded, “But me and Nya thought it was a good idea to come find you two, since they are all missing.

“Yeah good call,” Kai said standing up. “Let's go find them.”

“Hey Zane,” Nya said calmly, as she walked into the living room, where Zane and Pixel were playing chess.

“Hey Nya,” Pixel siad, as she moved her knight to take one of Zanes' rooks.

“Darn,” Zane said as he surveyed the board. “What do you need Nya, I thought you were headed to bed?”

“Yeah well,” Nya stalled as she watched Zane move his pawn to take Pixels bishop.

“Wrong move,” She said, as she took his pawn with her queen.

“See, Violet isn’t in her bed, and all the other children are missing as well,” Nya said as Pixel and Zane both turned to face Nya.

“Violet is gone?” Zane asked, as he stood up from the table.

“Yes.” Nya said, as Pixel joined her husband.

“We must find her,” Zane said. His voice had turned from its usual cool monotone robot voice to a voice full of panic and worry.

Nya and Jay met up in the monastery porches around the courtyard with the rest of the group.
“Should we get Cole and Lloyd?” Skylor asked, as she looked at the rain pouring out of the sky.

“No we should let them sleep, they’ve had a hard day,” Nya said as she stood in front of the group. “Okay guys, we have got to find the children. We have no idea where they are or what they're doing, but we have to find them.

“Hang on, I'm sure they're just playing in the rain,” Pixel said, as she walked to the front of the group. “Why don't we let them play, I’m sure they will be home in the morning, we should let them play.”

“ARE YOU CRAZY!!!!” Nya asked as her eyes bugged out of her head. “Lloyd told us not to let them out of our sight, and we are letting them run wild.”

“I don't know sis,” Kai responded. “If Lloyd had told us that when we were their age we would have snuck out too.

“Yes but they aren’t us,” Nya retorted as she looked at Skylor. “You agree with me right?”

“I mean I see both sides,” Skylor said as she looked between brother and sister.

“Maybe we should let them come home,” Jay said to Nya as he grabbed her hand.

“But…., but….” Nya reasoned as she looked between the gang.

“They will be fine,” Jay said, as he pulled Nya into a hug. From the sky, a lightning bolt shook the monastery, and lit up the sky. Everyone's eyes turned to look at Jay.

“Don’t look at me, I didn’t do that,” Jay responded, as the lightning bolt left the sky.

________________________________________

“Why would you touch it!” Caleb screamed at Blake, as the lightning receded from the rocks. Blakes hand was burned.

“I don’t know, Blake said.

“You're an idiot.” Iris said unironically.

Before the group could back away from the rocks, more lightning struck them. This time, the lightning jumped to the children. Each of the children rose into the air as they were struck by lightning.

Blake felt the lightning light up his veins as his entire body felt the heat of 1000s fires. His breathing became more noticeable, as his entire body burst into flames.

Iris felt the lightning coerced through her veins as her hair stood on end. Lightning shot from her fingertips, as the air around her became electrified.

Caleb felt more of his body than he ever had. The water in each of his cells suddenly became known to him, as the water from the creek stopped flowing. He was aware of the current, as each and every molecule of water in the air froze around him, forming a ball of water around him.

Violet felt cold. Colder than she had ever felt before. Ice began to run through her veins, as the hail around her formed a snowflake above her head.

Chase could feel all the powers around him, as the overwhelming sense of togetherness flooded his brain. The trees around him seemed to bend where they were open, and the sap fell out and hardened.

Destiny watched her friends in horror, as they rose above the ground.

Blake was the first to fall, as the fire around his body disappeared, and he fell to the ground. He was quickly joined by the others as they all fell back to the ground. They all stumbled up to their feet.

“What happened?” Violet asked as she rubbed her eyes.

“I… I don't know,” Destiny said, as she rushed over to help iris out of the bush she had fallen into.

As Destiny reached her hand out, a small electric shock transferred from Iris’s hand to Destiny’s.

“Ouch!” Destiny exclaimed as she recoiled from the shock. Iris looked at her hand, as she then pulled it back from her friend.

“Did you just, create electricity?” Caleb asked as he watched his sister. “You know dad can do that.”

“Wait,” Destiny said, as she looked around at her friends. “Fire,” She pointed at Blake. “Water,” She pointed at Caleb. “Ice,” She pointed at Violet. “Amber,” She pointed at Chase. “And electricity,” She said, pointing at Iris.

“What are you saying?” Blake asked as he, and the rest of the gang, looked at their hands.

“I think she is saying that we inherited our parents' elemental powers!” Chase said as he looked around at his friends. Several eyes met his, as all of them looked at each other.

“What about you?” Violet asked Destiny.

“I don't know,” She said as her friends looked at her.

“WELL LET'S TEST THIS OUT!” Blake shouted as he turned towards a tree. He laid his hands out in front of him, and pushed all of his breath out into his hands. From his hand spouted flames that attacked the tree in front of him.

“BLAKE!” Destiny yelled as the trees around them began to burn.

“Yeah I did it,” Blake said arrogantly, as he turned around to see the horrified faces on his friends faces. “Why do you all look so terrified?”

“BECAUSE YOU’RE GOING TO BURN DOWN THE ENTIRE FOREST,” Violet said as the fire began to creep around the trees.

“What happened to the rain?” Blake said, as he looked towards the sky. Everyone else looked up with him. In the excitement of the evening, everyone hadn't noticed that the rain had stopped.

“WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?” Iris asked as the fire crept closer.

“Caleb, try to put it out,” Destiny said as Caleb looked at her.

“Are you insane, I can't do anything,” Caleb retorted.

“Yes you can,” Destiny responded. “If Blake is able to create fire, you should be able to control water.

“Fine, I’ll try,” Caleb said as he walked towards the fire. “But if I die, it will be on your head.”

Caleb stepped closer, as he reached for the now still water in the creek. He moved his hand to the front of the fire, and the water followed him. The water drenched the tree and him, as the fire was put out.

“Nice job,” Chase said, as he chuckled slightly at Caleb's newly drenched clothes.

“Ok now, no one does anything,” Violet said.

Iris finally stood up and she walked over to Blake.

“Why would you do this!!!” She spat at Blake as she stood on her tiptoes to be in his face. “You have gotten us all in trouble.” The air around the group became electric as the air tingled against everyone's faces.

“You never think about anybody but yourself, you're such a jerk!” Iris yelled. With her last words, lightning shot back from her hands, and hit Destiny right in the chest.

“Omp,” Destiny said as she grabbed her chest before falling to the ground.

“Destiny,” Violet called as she ran behind her to catch her from falling to the ground. Violet felt Destiny's pulse point as Iris looked on in horror.

“She's alive,” Violet confirmed, as she brushed Destiny's hair out of her face.

“I think we should head home,” Chase said as he looked down at Destiny.

Iris backed away from the group, as Violet and Chase helped Blake get Destiny on his back.

“Where are you going?” Caleb asked, as he saw his sister backing away.

“I’m just going to take a walk,” Iris said as she slowly turned around.

“You shouldn't go out on your own,” Caleb said as he walked closer to his sister. “Come home with us, besides if you don't, mom’s going to freak out.”

“I will be home, just give me a minute,” Iris responded. “Go back with the others, I'll be right behind you.”

“Ok, I’ll see you soon,” Caleb said as he turned around. “Wait up.” He hurried off to the others as Iris turned back to the creek. Iris watched as the water rushed past her. She settled down under a tree along the creek bed, and began to cry.

“M ... .Moms going to k…kill me,” She cried as images of her mother’s furious face appeared in her mind. She tucked her head to her knees, as tears fell from her eyes.

“Hello there,” said a voice from the creek. Iris looked up, as saw a stranger covered in an orange robe.

“W… who are y…you?” Iris asked as she tried to keep her voice from stuttering.

“A friend,” He said, as he extended a hand to help her stand up. As he reached out, lightning traced over Iris’s skin and shocked the stranger.

“I’m sorry,” Iris said as she pulled her hand away the second the lightning transferred from her hand and shocked the stranger.

“Fascinating,” he said as he looked at her differently. “Would you be interested in helping me with a project?”

“Sure,” Iris said as she stood up on her own. “But I should probably check with my mom first.”

“Oh don't worry, you mom and I are old friends,” the stranger said.

“Oh, okay,” Iris said, as she climbed onto the stranger's boat. The boat floated down the river, as Iris and the stranger.

“When do you think this will be done?” Iris asked. “I have to be home by sunrise.”

“I don’t think you’ll be going home ever,” The stranger said as he placed a rag over Iris' mouth.

Iris struggled, but he had gotten a firm hold of her wrist, and when she breathed in through the rag, the entire world became dark.

Chapter Text

“MOM,” Violet yelled when they had arrived back at the monastery. Skylor heard Violet first and came rushing toward the sound of the children. Mia showed up next, quickly followed by Jay.

“Violet, are you okay?” Pixel asked as she pushed past the other parents.

“Mom, Destiny's hurt,” Violet said, as Blake set Destiny down.

“Destiny,” Skylor cried, as she rushed forward to her daughter. Destiny moved slightly, as he mother kneedled lightly, as he took her into her arms.

“What happened?” Skylor asked, as she looked up at the other children.

“We better get Lloyd for this,” Caleb said, looking between the adults.

By the time all the adults had awoken from their slumber, Destiny was awake.

“What is going on?” Lloyd asked, as Frak finally settled into his seat.

“Well, we,” Blake began as the adults' eyes became wide with the news he spilled. “We kind of touched the glowing orange rocks in the river and they blasted us into the sky, and may have awoken our elemental power.”

“YOU TOUCHED THE ORANGE ROCKS!” Euphrasia said, as she looked horrified at the children.

“What do they do?” Caleb asked, as everyone turned to Euphrasia

“Well,” Euphrasia said uneasily, as she fidgeted under the table. “When I touched them, they took away my elemental power.”

“What, they gave us ares,” Chase said, as everyone turned to look at him like he was crazy.

“Ok, tell us exactly what you you saw,” Lloyd said

As the children explained, Nya and Jay both got more and more nervous.

“Hang on,” Nay interrupted, as the children internally groaned. “Where is Iris?”

All of the children looked around, looking for Iris. Caleb rubbed his left arm with his right hand.

“Umm, I think she, uhh ran away,” Caleb said.

“What do you mean she ran away?” Jay asked as he steaded Nya by placing a hand on her shoulder.
“She headed into the forest, and I tried to stop her, but she ran off anyway,” Caleb said, as she leaned back from his mom.

“WHAT?” Nya yelled as she stood up. “HOW COULD YOU LET HER RUN AWAY?”

“Mom, there is nothing I could do,” Caleb rescinded, as Jay grabbed Nya by her wrist.

“Ok, we have to spread out,” Jay said, as Sora yawned.

“She couldn't have gotten far,” Nya said as she stood up and took charge of the table. “She was just in the creek less than an hour ago.”

“Nya,” Skylor said, as she looked at the rest of the people at the table. “We are all tired, and… I don’t think that she wants to be found.”

“What are you talking about, of course she wants to be found!” Nya spat, as she looked around the table.

“She ran into the woods, she isn’t being kidnapped, she is just a teenager,” Skyolr said, as she walked closer to Nya.

“So she ran away from me?” Nya said.

“No, she just needs time,” Skylor said as she laid her hand on Nyas other shoulder.

“If she isn't back by tomorrow, we will add her to our search for CJ,” Lloyd said, as he turned back to look at the children. “Now, you said you all now have elemental powers?”

“Yeah,” Violet said sheepishly.

“Ok, so who has what?” Lloyd asked, as all the children went silent. After several minutes of no one saying anything Lloyd sighed. “Could you all go stand by whose power you inherited?”

The children made their way to the adults.

“Ok, So Violet has ice, Caleb has water, Blake has fire, and Chase has amber,” Lloyd said, as he pointed to each group. “What about you, Destiny?”

“I, I didn’t get one,” Destiny siad, as everyone bowed their heads.

“Well uhh,” Lloyd said as awkwardness fell over the room.

“Oh, Iris got lightning,” Destiny said, as the awkwardness disappeared from the room.

“Well, I think that is enough excitement for today,” Lloyd said as he stood up. “Off to bed all of you.”

Everyone headed to bed, and quickly fell asleep after the sudden excitement of the day.

“Well today sure was interesting,” Lloyd said to his houseplant as he tucked himself. “I hope we can find both of them.”

___________

“Wake up,” a voice said from the darkness.

Iris stirred, as she suddenly remembered her last moments of conscience, and sat up with a sudden jolt.

“I’m sorry I scared you yesterday,” the stranger said as he handed a bowl of soup to Iris.

“Where are we?” Iris said as she looked around the dark home.

“You are in my home,” the stranger said, as he panned his hands around the house.

“It looks like, stone,” Iris said as she took a drink of soup.

“Yes, it is carved into a mountain,” the stranger responded. “By the way, did I see you using lighting at the creek?”

“Um yeah, you could say that,” Iris said, as she took a long slurp of soup, before she pulled the noodles into her mouth.

“Interesting,” the stranger said. “Do you know how to use your powers?”

“Well no, and I don’t want to,” Iris said as she finished off her bowl of soup.

“Why not?” He asked, as he extended his hand with bread

“Because all I’m going to do is hurt people. I mean, I hit my best friend because my emotions got in the way,” Iris took bread from Him, as she nibbled on it.

“If you learn to control it, you can learn to harness your power to help yourself, can't you?” The stranger inquires.

Iris contemplated the thought as she finished off the bread.

“I mean sure, but I can’t go back home. My parents would kill me if they found out I took food from a stranger,” Iris said. “In fact, they are Probably searching for me right now. Ugh I hate how overprotective they are.

“Come child, I can help teach you how to control your powers,” the stranger said. He was standing now, and his hand was extended to Iris as she took it.

“By the way, what’s your name?” She asked

“You can call me, Master Andrew,” he said, as they walked deeper into the cave to begin her teaching.

_______

“IRIS,” Nya cried out, as the team scoured the creek for any sign of where Iris might have gone.

The morning sun was barely creeping over the horizon, as the ninja headed out to the creek.

“IRIS,” Violet called as she analyzed the area around the fort.

“So, is this where the rocks were?” Zane asked as he and Pixel followed Violet down the creek.

“Yeah, they were sitting right here last night. Thousands of them.” Violet answered.

“So where did they go?” Pixel asked as she scanned the outline of the creekbed.

“No clue,” Zane said.

“Caleb, where did you say your sister went?” Jay asked Caleb as he watched Nya become more impatient by the minute.

“She ran off that way,” Caleb said, pointing to where Nya was standing.

“WELL THERE IS NOTHING HERE!” Nya screamed.

“Nya it's Okay,” Skylor said as she walked over to Nya and placed her hand on her shoulder.

“No it's not. My daughter is missing, my son and his friends have powers, and her best friend is hurt because of her. And you're telling me to calm down!” Nya yelled.

“Let's keep searching,” Lloyd said, as Skylor backed away from Nya.

“I know her child is missing,” Kai said to Skylor, “but so is Cole’s and he isn’t freaking out about it. She really needs to chill.”

“Kai people experience emotions differently, you can’t compare them,” Skylor said, as she put her hands into the water.

“What are you doing?” Kai asked as he kneeled down next to her.

“Well when I touched Nyas shoulder, something was different,” Skylor said, as the water flowed past her hands.

“What's different,” Kai asked, as he watched the water. “It just looks like water to me.”

“I don't know, there just wasn’t any flow,” Skylor said as she removed her hands from the water. “Usually I feel a flow of power, but this time nothing.”

“It's probably nothing, just forget about it,” Kai said, as looked around at the group as he stood up. “I still can't believe Euphrasia lost her powers.”

“I know, it's crazy,”Skylor responded, as Kai grabbed her hands to help her up.

“It's not crazy honey,” Kai said, as he placed a kiss on Skylors forehead.

“Would you stop showing PDA!!” Blake yelled, as Skylor and Kai turned around to look at their son. Everyone chuckles at Blake, as they return to their work.

“Dang I wish they would just stop!” Blake said, as the children looked around their fort.

“At least they show emotion to each other,” Violet said as she walked into the fort. “Hey look, it's where you hit your head!”

“Ok that was unnecessary,” Blake responded. “And your parents are robots, they aren't supposed to show emotions.”

“It's still hard,” Violet said as she moved boxes away from the corner.

“Wait,” Destiny asked, as she looked Violet over. “If your parents are robots, what are you?”

“Are you a robot?” Chase asked, as the group headed out of the fort.

“No, I was found in the forest when I was a baby,” Violet said nonchalantly. “Since Nya and SKylor had just had their first child, Zane and Pixel decided to take me in.”

“Wait, you're adopted?” Destiny asked as they all walked down to the tree they had stood under the night before.

“No, I'm a robot who was born from a robot,” Violet said sarcastically, “Of course I’m adopted.”

“Everyone, let's head back to the monastery,” Lloyd said, as everyone made their way to the stairs.

“We can't give up!” Nya yelled, as she stood by the creek.

“Nya, there is nothing we can do,” Lloyd said as he started up the stairs.

“What do you mean nothing?” Nya asked, as she looked into the eyes of the team members

“Nya, CJ is also missing, the children have elemental powers, and we have to figure out what to do about the orange rocks. We have a lot to do. We can't focus all of our energy on one small thing.”

“ARE YOU CRAZY!!” Nya screamed. “MY DAUGHTER BEING LOST IS JUST A SMALL THING TO YOU.”

“No, but we have a lot of things to focus on,” Lloyd said, as he turned around and walked up the stairs.

The other team mates walked past Nya, as she looked at them in horror.

“We’ll find her,” Skylor said, as she passed Nya.

“Honey,” Jay said, as he looked at Nyas face.

“I'm fine,” Nya said, as she pushed a button on her wrist. A mech came towards them, as Jay sent a knowing look at his wife.

“You can’t just run away,” Jay said, as he tried to lay a hand on Nya’s shoulder, but she brushed him off.

“Watch me,” Nya said, as she jumped into the mech.

“Does Pixel know you're borrowing her mech?” Jay asked

“She won’t mind,” Nya said, as she turned on the rocket boosters. “Plus, it was mine first.”

Jay watched as Nya took off, and flew off.

“She always flies off doesn't she?” Cole said, scaring Jay.

“Dang Cole, why did you sneak up on me?” Jay asked as he caught his breath.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to,” Cole said, as he and Jay looked to the sky. “She has taken this really hard hasn’t she?”

“Yeah, I thought she would be ok, but she has taken it really hard,” Jay responded. “After losing the little one 9 years ago, she has been a completely different person.”

“Yeah, I've seen that over the past couple of years,” Cole said as he watched Jay’s face.

“She’s become really controlling of the children especially,” Jay said, as he turned away from the sky. “She has kind of turned into her mother.”

“It happens sometime,” Cole said, as he looked at Jay. “I have to make sure I’m not critical like my father was to me. But sometimes, I catch myself saying things that scare me. It's a struggle.”

“I know,” Jay said, as he started to walk up the stairs with Cole behind him. “I just hate seeing her become so stressed about simple things the children do. I just want her to be happy. And I know that she and Iris dont have the best relationship but she never would want anything to happen to her.”

“Yeah,” Cole said, as he raced up the stairs to stand next to Jay.

“By the way, how are you doing with the whole ‘CJ missing thing?’” Jay asked, as Cole stopped walking up the stairs.

“I… I wish I had gone with Riyu to Shintaro.” Cole said as he started walking again. “I can see what everyone was saying. I haven’t been the best parent.”

“Cole, it's ok to not feel like you're the best parent,” Jay responded.

“That's the thing. I should have been a better parent. I could have just put in like 10% more effort, and I would have been such a better dad,” Cole said, as the monastery came into view at the top of the hill.

“You still have a chance,” Jay said. “We will find him.”

“Yeah,” Cole said with a chuckle. “Let's hope so.”

They walked the rest of the way in silence as the weight of the conversation weighed on both of them.

“I hope they are both ok,” Cole said as they walked into the monastery

“Yeah, hopefully,” Jay said hopefully.

__________

“To harness your powers, you have to go against the universe.” Master Andrew said, as he had Iris move through motions and stances. “Many people will try to teach you to harmonize your body with the universe.”

“Isn’t it better to have peace than an internal war?” Iris asked as she pushed her hands away from her body before pulling them back in and pushing to the other side.

“Internal war helps fuel your powers, just like your emotions,” Master Andrew said. “To grow your power, you have to use your emotions, and your brain is the source of your power. As long as you believe you have the power, you can achieve it.”

“Any power I believe I have?” Iris said, his face growing into a grin.

“If you believe in yourself, you can achieve it with motivation,” Master Andrew said. “As long as you push against harmony. Your powers come from the displacement of energy that arises from conflict.”

Iris closed her eyes, as she imagined herself pushing lightning out of her fingertips. She could feel the power inside of her grow, as she thought of how stressful it was these past few years with her mother. Out of her right hand shot lighting. It shot 6 feet from her hand, keeping a steady stream for a solid 5 seconds, before receding back into her hand.

“I did it!!” Iris said excitedly.

“Yes child, you did wonderfully,” Master Andrew praised.

Iris did it again, as the lightning reached farther this time.

“You got this child,” Master Andrew said as he went behind her, adjusting her arms. As he did, the lightning became brighter, and the sound became louder. “You have to keep your arms strong, to allow the energy to run out of your body.”

Iris pulled her arms tighter, as the lightning grew stronger.

“Yes child,” Master Andrew said. “Feel the power course through you. Feel the conflict of your emotions resolving. Feel the power of the universe, and push against it.”

Iris bared her teeth as she pushed all of her power out of her body, pushing against the air around her.

The air became thick with electricity, as both their heads of hair began to stand on end.

“Yes child, you are doing well,” Master Andrew. “But you must rest.”

Iris stopped pushing the power out of her hands. The lightning stopped, as the air settled.

“Rest my child,” Master Andrew said, leading Iris to her own room in the cave. “Tomorrow we will learn spinjitzu.”

“Really!?!” Iris asked. “I’ve always wanted to learn spinjitzu. My mother always said it was ‘to dangerous.’”

“Yes child, you will learn spinjitzu,” Master Andrew said, as he walked out of the room.

“Stuipid child,” he said when he closed the door. “Just like putty in my hands.” He smiled as he walked down the caves

_______________

“Hey Euphrasia?” Sora asked as she passed her in the hall.

“Yeah, what's up?” Euphrasia asked as she turned to face Sora.

“I feel like something was off about that creek,” Sora said, as she started walking towards their room.

“Yeah me too,” Euphrasia responded as she followed Sora to their room.

“I mean the rocks were just gone,” Sora said, as she picked up a small gadget setting on her night stand.

“I know, and they were so powerful,” Euphrasia said, as she sat down on her bed.

“Right,” Sora responded. “Speaking of which, how are you feeling?”

“I don't know,” Euphrasia said as she looked down at her hands. “Maybe if I?”

“Euphrasia don’t,” Sora said, but it was too late.

Euphrasia had begun pushing energy into her hands. She concentrated on the air within her body, waiting for it to come out. After a few seconds, air suddenly shot out of her hands. Her body was pushed against the wall, as the air was all released at once.

“What just happened?” Euphrasia asked as she stopped the air flow.

“Your powers, they have returned,” Sora said in amazement, as she looked at Euphrasia.

“Yeah, I guess they have,” Euphrasia said.

“You're thinking what I'm thinking,” Sora said, as she used her elemental power to adjust the gadget in her hands.

“That we need to sneak out and look into the rocks?” Euphrasia answered.

“Exactly,” Sora said, as the gadget settled on the table. “And this should help figure out what's in the rocks.”

“So what does it do,” Euphrasia asked

“It can look at the molecular material of the rock and can tell us what they are made of,” Sora explained.

“Oh, interesting,” Euphrasia said as she looked at the gadget with a nervous look.

“You want to leave now, or tonight?” Sora asked, as she grabbed another gadget off her desk.

“Let's go now, before it gets dark,” Euphrasia said, as she stood up.

Sora stood up, and followed Euphrasia out of the bedroom. They crept out of the moastary, careful to avoid the others.

“Where are you going?” Pixel asked the girls as they turned around slowly.

“Umm, just to get some fresh air,” Sora said with a smile, as Pixel looked between them.

“I can clearly tell your lying based on your elevated heart rates, and the distressed looks on your face. If you're going to lie, don't do it to a nindroid,” Pixel said, as both of the girls looked at each other.

“Fine, we are sneaking out to look at the rocks,” Sora said as she looked at Euphrasia.

“Lloyd will not like that,” Pixel said, “but as a parent, I think you should go.”

“Thank you, Pixel,” Euphraisa said.

The girls made their way out of the monastery and down the stairs.

“You know we looked around the river but we never followed the river,” Euphrasia said.

“That's a good idea,” Sora said, as they followed the bends of the river.

The sun had set by now, and they were using one of Sora's inventions to light their way, along with the moon light.

The river continued, leading into the mountains.

“Are those?” Sora asked as her lights

“Yeah, the rocks,” Euphrasia said

They followed the rocks down the creek until they came to a large pile of the rocks.

“What's that?” Sora said, as she spotted a weird lump next to the pile of orange rocks.

They walked closer to the lump, as the light shone down on it.

“CJ?” Euphrasia said as she knelt down. She brushed his hair out of his eyes to relieve his face.

CJ, was ice cold to the touch, as Euphrasia picked him up and carried him back to the monastery.

Chapter Text

“COLE,” Sora yelled when they made it back to the monastery.

It was close to midnight when the girls and CJ got back, and the lights in the monastery were dark.

“COLE,” Sora called out again as Euphrasia laid CJ on the sofa in the living room.

Sora walked down the hall to Cole's room as she knocked on the door.

“Cole?” Sora said as she pushed open the door. Cole was awake on his bed, as he looked at a picture of CJ he kept on his nightstand.

“Oh, hey Sora,” Cole said as he set the picture aside. “Whatcha need?”

“Well,” Sora began as she struggled for words. “Me and Euphrasia kind of found CJ.”

“Really?!” Cole said as he stood up from his bed. “Show me.”

Sora and Cole walked down the hallway. They walked into the living room, where Euphrasia was trying to wake CJ

“CJ!” Cole called as he ran to his lifeless form.

“Sora, go grab Pixel so she can get a vital reading,” Euphrasia said as she pushed on CJs pulse point.

Sora ran off to grab Pixel, as Cole sat down next to Euphrasia.

“Do you think he is going to be okay?” Cole asked as Euphrasia removed her hand from CJ’s neck.

“I…I don’t know,” Euphrasia said, as Sora and Pixel entered the room.

Pixel stood in front of CJ, as Cole and Euphraisia moved out of the way. A purple light fell over CJ as Pixel scanned his body. When the light reached CJ’s feet, it disappeared, as Pixel finished her scan.

“Well Pix?” Cole asked as Pixel stepped away from CJ.

“I am sorry Cole,” Pixel said, as a sad look took over her face.

“What? He's going to be okay right?” Cole asked as he looked between all their faces.

“Cole, he is dead,” Pixel stated.
“No he can't be,” Cole said as he sat back down by CJ, and grabbed his hand.

“I’m sorry Cole,” Sora said as she and Euphrasia backed away to give him space.

“What did he die of?” Euphrasia whispered to Pixel as they watched Cole holding CJ’s hand.

“I can’t tell for sure without a complete autopsy,” Pixel said, “but I think it was from suffocation.”

“How can you tell?” Sora asked.

“His neck is slightly out of place, and his chest is flat, meaning that his lungs lost air naturally and not quickly,” Pixel responded.

“Sora, get Lloyd please,” Cole said as he tore his eyes away from his son.

Sora walked away, as Euphrasia and Pixel walked closer to Cole.

“Cole?” Lloyd asked as he turned into the living room. Lloyd saw CJs lifeless body, as saw Cole sitting on the ground next to him

“It's all my fault,” Cole said, as Lloyd walked behind him.

“You can’t beat yourself up Cole,” Lloyd said, as he placed a hand on Cole's right shoulder.

“He was my son, and I'm the reason he died,” Cole said, as tears formed in his eyes.

“Cole, it's going to be okay,” Lloyd said, as he watched Cole let go of CJ’s hand before standing up.

“We have got to find him,” Cole said as his hands formed into fists.

“Find who?” Euphrasia asked as she watched Cole walk out of the living room.

“Find whoever did this,” Cole responded. “We can not let anyone else be harmed by them.”

___________

“Rise and shine my student,” Master Andrew said, as he opened the door to Iris' room.

Iris yawned as she rubbed her eyes.

“Breakfast is in 30 minutes. Oh, and I placed your new training outfit on the chair over there.” Master Andrew walked out of her room as he shut the door behind him. Iris slowly made her way out of her bed, as she walked over to her new gi.
The gi was orange with a blue outline, and had slightly lighter blue streaks in the middle of the blue outlines.

Iris slipped it on, and walked out of her room. She followed the long rock halfway down to a room, where a fire sat in the middle. Over the fire was a pot, containing a bronze liquid.

“I hope you like lightning chicken,” Mast Andrew said as he handed Iris a bowl of the liquid. In the soup sat pieces of chicken surrounded by green vegetables.

Iris took a sip of the soup, being pleasantly surprised by the intense flavor of the chicken.

“What kind of chicken did you say this is?” Iris asked as he took another sip.

“Lightning chicken,” Master Andrew said. “They are indigenous to these forests. They produce lightning when they are scared. The key is to lure them in with poisoned pies.”

“But how does that not poison us?” Iris asked as she looked at the soup suspiciously.

“I use green potatoes which are harmful to chicken but not to use,” Master Andrew said, as he took a long sip of his soup.

“Interesting,” Iris said, as she resumed sipping on her soup. When both of them finished their soup, Master Andrew took the bowls to a stream that was running through the cave, and he washed them out.

“Follow me, my student,” Master Andrew said after he placed the bowls by the now extinguished fire. “Today I will be teaching you the art of spinjitzu

“Really, already?” Iris said excitedly as she hopped up to follow Master Andrew.

“Yes child, you showed true power yesterday, and you take instruction incredibly quickly,” Master Andrew said as they turned a corner. “You should be able to learn spinjitzu quickly, especially from an expert like me.”

“You're a master of spinjitzu!?” Iris said in awe.

“Yes, it took me a long time to learn spinjitzu,” Master Andrew said with a sad smile. “Of course I have a terrible master who didn’t teach me well. Then I switched masters
and he helped me unlock my true potential.”

“Interesting, who was your first Master?” Iris asked as they walked into a room filled with different weapons and training equipment.

“Oh, it doesn't matter,” Master Andrew brushed off. He led Iris to the middle of the room, where a circle of space was cleared out. “Now to achieve spinjitzu, you have to push all of your energy out of your fingertips.”

Iris stood still, with her arms at her side, as she started to push all of her energy to her fingertips. Lightning started to creep out of her fingers as Master Andrews' eyes grew huge.

“Stop,” Master Andrew said as Iris stopped her energy. “You must use your arms to create momentum, as you start to spin on your feet. Then push your energy out of your fingers, using it to help your momentum.”

Iris pushed the energy out of her fingertips, as she pushed off of her feet, causing her body to spin. A light blue glow surrounded her, as lightning flew around her. She spun uncontrollably, as half of the normal spinjitzu light. Iris ran into one of the hanging punching bags, before collapsing on the floor.

“How did I do?” Iris asked as she pushed herself to a sitting position.

“Good, good,” Master Andrew said as he extended his hand to help Iris up.

“What did I do wrong?” Iris asked as she grabbed his hand. She stood up as she rubbed the back of her head where it had hit the floor.

“I hadn’t finished my instruction yet,” Mater Andrew said. “But I admire your ambition. To achieve a full spinjitzu form, you must push against the air, and gain momentum from the extra push you get. This allows you to fully create the spinjitzu circle. Watch.”

Master Andrew spun in place, as his spinjitzu circle formed around him. A bright yellow orange glow came from around him, as he came towards Iris. Iris backed up, as the orange cloud came closer to her.

“That's how it's done,” Master Andrew.

“Ok, I think I got it,” Iris said, as Master Andrew backed away, allowing for several feet of space between them.

Iris pushed all of her energy out of her hands, as she pushed off the ground, as she started to spin, she felt the air around her, and pushed against it to get an extra boost. Around her forms a circle of blue lighting, as she spun in place.

“I did it,” Iris cheered as as came out of the circle

“Yes, you did,” Master Andrew said with a smile on his face.

“What else can you teach me?” Iris asked, as she turned into another spinjitzu circle.

“Follow me child,” Master Andrew said. “I have something you can do with your powers.

_____________

“We are gathered here today, to pay our respects to a young ninja who never got the chance to train,” Lloyd said solemnly, as he stood in front of the ninja. CJ was laid in a casket at the bottom of the monastery stairs.

“CJ was the beloved son to ninja Cole, and Queen Vania of Shintaro,” Lloyd continued. “He would have been a great ninja, if he were only given a chance. Today, we dedicate ourselves to remembering how even the youngest ninja bear the responsibility we all share.”

Everyone bowed their heads as Lloyd stepped off of the stairs. Each person walked forward, placing a white flower on CJs body. Cole was the last to place his flower on CJs body. After he placed his flower, Lloyd closed the lid.

“How are you doing?” Jay asked, as he saw Cole shakily walking away from the coffin.

“I’m fine,” Cole said, as he watched Frak, Euphrasia, Sora and Kai lift the coffin and it outside the monastery gate. “You know they are going to bury him under the cherry tree?”

“That’s a nice jester,” Jay said as Nya walked over to them.

“Cole, I am so sorry for your loss,” Nya said, as she pulled him into a hug.

“Nya, I am sorry that Iris hasn’t been found,” Cole said, as Nya released him from the hug.

“I know we will,” Nya said, as she grabbed Jay's hand.

“Mom, Dad?” Caleb said, as he walked over to his parents. “Do you think Iris will end up like CJ?”

“Of course not,” Jay said, as he placed a hand on Caleb's back “We will find her.”

The group continued to mingle until the sun went down.

“Hey Jay?” Nya asked later, as Jay grabbed some cheese out of the fridge.

“What's up honey?” Jay asked as he took a bite of the cheese.

“Do you want to go find our daughter tonight?” Nya asked, as she moved to stand beside Jay.

“That sounds fun!” Caleb said as he entered the kitchen. “I’m coming with you all.”

“Of course son,” Jay said, as he split the cheese in half and gave half of it to his son.

“Thanks,” Caleb said as he took a bite of the cheese.

“We should probably grab another person so we can split into pairs,” Nya said, as footsteps came closer to the kitchen. Everyone's eyes turned to see Frak enter the kitchen.

“Hey, what's up?” Frak asked as he walked to the fridge and pulled out a ham sandwich.

“Frak?” Nya asked as she watched frak take a huge bite of his sandwich. “Are you up for an adventure?”

“Yeah sure,” Frak said, as he took another bite of his sandwich.

“Great, because we are going to go look for our daughter,” Nya said as she walked out of the kitchen.

“Well, I guess we follow her,” Caleb said as he followed his mother out of the kitchen. He just caught sight of her turning right, as he hurried after her. Jay and Frak were right on Caleb's tail, as he finally caught up with his mother.

They continued to follow Nya out of the monastery and down the steps till they reached the forest below.

“Mom, do you have any idea where we should look?” Caleb asked.

“Um, I might have an idea,” Frak said, as the family turned to look at him.

“Where,” Jay asked, as he finished off the last of his cheese.

“Um well, I overheard Sora and Euphrasia talking about the place they found CJ,” Frak said, as he looked between their faces. “They said they followed the river, and it led them to a wall of the orange rocks.”

“That sounds like a perfect place to start,” Jay said, as the crew found the creek, and followed the currents leading deeper into the mountain.

“How long have we been walking?!” Caleb asked.

“Only 10 minutes,” Jay said, as he looked at his son.

“There it is!” Frak said, as the glow of the orange rocks peaked through the trees.

The wall of orange rocks was sticking out of a mountain. It was 15 feet tall, and stood flush to the mountain . The stream of water continued past the rocks, and into the mountain.

“Where is the stream going?” Caleb asked as his eyes followed the water.

“It looks like it is heading into the mountain,” Nya said, as the group stopped in front of the rock wall.

“Well then how can we get into the mountain?” Jay asked.

“I don’t know, because we can’t touch the rocks, they’ll hurt any of us who touch them,” Nya said as everyone looked for a way into the mountain.

“Too bad be can’t just move the rock,” Caleb said to himself, as he looked at the wall.

“Hmmm,” Frak said as he looked at the wall himself. He knelt down to feel the ground. He could feel the pull of the rocks, as he started to pull them himself.

“FRAK WHAT ARE YOU DOING!” Jay yelled as the ground shook underneath them. The rocks rattled against the mountain side, as pieces began to break off.

The entire wall of orange rocks can down, falling into the creek and running into the mountain.

“Frak you’re a genius!” Caleb exclaimed as he hugged him.

“How did you do that without getting hurt?” Jay asked as he looked at Frak with amazement.

“I just created a quake with the rocks under the orange ones,” he responded. He seemed equally as shocked as the others that it had worked.

“Well? What are you all waiting for, let's get in there,” Caleb said as he raced into the cave. The rest of them raced after him, careful to avoid the rocks that were littered around the cave entrance.

______________

“Woah,” Iris said as the entire cave shook.

You could see the entire mountain shaking, as the stalactites and stalagmite looked like trees blowing in the wind. The earth settled as quickly as it had been awakened.

“Stay here child,” Master Andrew said as he stopped in the middle of the hallway. The walls of the cave release pounds of dust into the air, and it was hard to see.

Iris watched as Master Andrew’s silhouette disappeared.

Several minutes passed as the dust settled on the floor of the cave. Master Andrew was gone, and Iris was alone. In the distance, a small finger appeared.

“Master?” Iris called him orange.

“Yes child,” Master Andrew said as he came into focus. His hair was covered in dust, and his clothes were the color of mud.

“What happened?” Iris asked as she watched him wipe off his clothes.

“Well there was a wall of the mountain that came down, but it's nothing. I was just a rock slide,” Master Andew said. “Nothing to worry about, child.”

“Okay that's good to hear,” Iris said with relief

“Come, let me teach you something,” Master Andrew said, as he led Iris to a door on the side of the cave wall.

“What are we going to learn?” Iris asked as she followed him into the small room. The room was the size of a small closet. On one side was an old electric box that had long been out of use, and the other was a small chair, covered in lush velvet.

“I wanted to show you this,” Master Andrew said as he pointed to the electric box. “This used to use electricity to power a part of the cave.”

Iris instantly stepped forward, as she created lighting out of her hands. She reached for the box, and when she touched the box, lights came on in the closet.

“You did it!” Master Andrew said.

“I… I did,” Iris said in shock as Master Andrew led her out of the closet.

“Do you hear that,” Iris said, as footsteps began to echo through the cave.

“Yes. Hide child, I do not want you to get hurt. Go to the closet, and keep the electricity flowing through the system,” Master Andrew said.

“Yes Master,” Iris said as she bowed before rushing back into the closet.

“I wonder who those footsteps belong to?” Iris said to herself as she sent another lightning strike into the electrical box.

________

“Quiet!” Jay whispered as Frak hit a regular rock and stumbled loudly.

“Sorry,” Frak responded as he caught his balance.

They walked swiftly and quietly through the cave, as the lights overhead flickered from bright to dim.

“The lights are freaking me out,” Caleb said to Frak

“Yeah me too,” Frak responded as they turned the corner of the stone hallway.

They entered a circular room with several doors. In the center of the room was a burned out fire, with wooden bowls set next to it. There was a stream running through the room on the left, and on the right were 3 doors.

“Which one do you think we should go through?” Jay asked as he looked at Nya.

“Let's split up,” Nya instructed. “Frak and Caleb, you go through the farthest left door, Jay and I will go through the farthest right door.

“What about the middle door?” Frak asked.

“Well come back in 30 minutes and if we didn’t find anything in the other doors we’ll all go through the middle door,” Nya responded as she and Jya headed towards the right door.

“Open on 3?” Jay said as he looked over at Caleb.

“One two three!” Caleb called, as they both opened the heavy wood door.

“Riyu?” Nya said as she caught a glimpse of the dragon hanging upside down from the ceiling.

She rushed into the room, but was shocked by an electrical current between the door frame.

“NYA!” Jay yelled as he raced after her, suffering a similar fate.

Caleb heard the cries of his parents and came rushing over. He tried to reach them, but he also fell to the electrical field.

Frak ran over after Caleb, and was able to catch his wrist as he went down, which pulled him into the lightning field.

“Nighty night,” said a voice from above, as frak was able to make out an orange shape in his last few minutes of consciousness .

Chapter Text

Iris came out of the closet when she heard Master Andrew’s voice.

“Master Andrew, did you find out what was making the noise?” Iris asked as she walked closer to Master Andrew. He was standing over 4 bodies.

“Iris, help me. We must tie them up before they wake up,” He said, as he handed her some rope.

Iris looked down at the bodies.

“Wait, those are my parents,” Iris said as she looked up at Master Andrew.

“Yes child, they were here, and they were trying to take you back to your home,” He said, as he grabbed Fraks hands and started to tie them.

“Start with her,” Iris said as she pointed to Nya. “She’s the most dangerous.”

“Good to know,” Mater Andrew said, as he switched to tying up Nya.

“Why are they being bad here?” Iris asked as she grabbed a rope and handed it to Master Andrew as he started to tie up Caleb.

“Because, child, they are trying to manipulate you to come home. They don’t want you to reach your true potential,” Master Anderw responded. “They just want to codel you, and keep you safe, so that you never get to do anything yourself.”

Iris was filled with so much rage at her parents when she looked at them. She took the rope in her and began tying it around her fathers hands. They both made quick work of the captives. Once all of their hands were tied, Master Andrew and Iris dragged them over to a pole next to Riyu.

“Riyu?” Iris asked when she finally recognized the tied up dragon.

“Hmmm,” Riyu groaned as he looked at Iris.

“Master Andrew, where did you get this dragon?” Iris asked as she helped Master Andrew tie her family to the pole.

“I found him in the woods” Master Andrew said as he finished the knots in the rope.

“Why is he tied up?” Iris asked as she looked back at Riyu, as Master Andrew led her away from the captives.

“He is healing from some injuries,” Master Andrew said, as he walked over teh pet Riyu.
“When will he be better?” Iris asked as she walked closer to Riyu.

“Soon child,” Master Andrew said as he removed his hand from Riyu.

_______

“Where is Nya,” Skylor asked as she joined the lunch table. “I’ve been looking for her all morning.”

“Yeah, and I haven't seen Jay all morning,” Cole said, as he shoved a sandwich into his mouth.

“Yeah and Caleb wasn't in his bed this morning,” Blake said, as he grabbed some hot cheetos.

“Has anyone seen Frak?” Euphrasia asked as she looked at the empty seat next to her.

“I haven’t seen him since yesterday when he went to go get a sandwich while we were playing video games,” Kai said. “I won, beating out Chase.”

“That's because you’ve had more practice,” Chase whined.

“Back to the point,” Lloyd said, pulling all the attention to himself. “Has anyone seen the Walker family or Frak?”

Lloyd looked around the table as everyone looked down at their plates.

“So no one has seen them?” Lloyd asked.

“No, we haven't” Sora said as she exchanged a worried look with Lloyd

“That is troubling news,” Lloyd said as he looked between the families.

“We’ll go look for them,” Sora said as she put her arm around Euphrasia's shoulder.

“Great,” Lloyd said as he looked over at Cole. “You should go tell Vania today.”

“Why can’t I just send her a letter?” Cole groaned

“Because you need to talk to her,” Skylor said.

“Fine,” Cole said as he rolled his eyes.

“You know,” Kai said. “You never told us what happened.”

“Honestly I don’t even know myself,” Cole said.
“That's rough dude,” Kai said as he looked at Skylor. “You would never do that to me, right Sky?”

“Of course not,” Skylor said sweetly. “I’d just kill you in your sleep.”

“Why?” Blake said as he continued to stuff his mouth.

“So he couldn’t get revenge,” Sklor said, as she looked at Kai.

“I love you, but you scare me,” Kai said as he placed his hand on hers.

“That was the plan babe,” Skylor said as she leaned in and kissed Kai on the lips.

“Ewww,” Blake said.

“Okay well we better get going,” Sora said as she and Euphraisia stood up and headed out of the dining room.

“Where should we look?” Euphrasia asked as she and Sora headed out of the monastery.

“Probably where we found CJ,” Sora said as they began descending the stairs.

“That's smart,” Euphraisia said. She pushed air out of her hands, and started to fly above the stairs.

“No fair,” Sora called as Euphraisia did a couple of flips. “How does it feel to have your powers back?”

“Yeah it feels amazing,” Euphrasia said as she landed next to Sora on the stairs.

“I hope Cole is able to tell Vania in a calm way,” Euphraisia said.

“Yeah me too,” Sora said. “He isn't the best with words.”

______

Two hours later Cole arrived at Shintaro.

“Cole, what are you doing here?” One of the generals said.

“I have important news I have to tell Vania,’ Cole said as he dismounted Jiro.

“You aren't supposed to be here,” the general said.

“It's very important,” Cole responded. “It’s about CJ.”

“Please follow me,” the general said, as his eyes grew wide.

The general opened the doors to the throne as Cole followed him.

“Queen Vania,” The general said. “Master Cole is here.”

“What is he doing here?” Vania spat.

“He has news of your son,” the general said.

Vania stood up, and flew down from her throne.

“Well, Cole,” She retorted as she looked at Cole's somber face. “What news have you brought me?”

“Um we may want to step into a different room,” Cole asi as he looked at the guards around the room. “And you may want to sit down.”

“Cole just told me,” Vania said as she rolled her eyes at Cole.

“Fine,” Cole said as he took a deep breath. “CJ is dead.”

Vania’s eyes grew wide as she stumbled back. “What?”

“He is dead. We found him by the creek,” Cole said sadly, as he looked down at his shoes.

Vania caught herself from stumbling, as she looked back at Cole.

“So you're telling me that your little mistake caused our son to be killed,” Vania said as she regained her composure.

Lloyd stepped in front of Cole, as Cole struggled to answer the question.

“I’m so sorry, Vania,” Lloyd said as he watched her eyes fill with tears.

“You two are dismissed,” Vania said as she took flight again.
“If you need me, I'll be in my chamber,” Vania said to her assistant.

Cole and Lloyd watched as she flew out of the throne room.

“Let's go,” Cole said somberly as he turned around.

“I’ll get your dragon,” the general said as he walked out of the throne room.

“You did a good job,” Lloyd said as he placed a hand on Cole's shoulder.

“I still wish I could have done more,” Cole said, “or that I had made better decisions.”

“You can’t change the past,” Lloyd responded. “But you can affect the future.”

Cole stood up taller than he had in 24 hours.

“I'm going to go talk to her,” Cole said as he walked towards Vanias assistant.”Excuse me, I need to talk to my ex wife.”

“The queen doesn't want to see anyone at this moment,” the assistant said.

“Well I need to see her, and I'm not leaving until I do,” Cole responded

“Fine, I will make an exception, only because you were a good king, way better than the last one,” the assistant said, as she motioned for the guards at the door. They opened the door as Cole walked through. Lloyd walked forward but the guards stopped him.

“You will wait in here,” the assistant said as Cole watched as the huge doors closed behind him.

Cole's anxiety rose as he walked down the long hallway. The hallway seemed to get longer as Cole approached Vanias room.

“Vania?” Cole said as he knocked lightly on her door.

“Just a second,” Vania said as a crash came from the room.

“Vania?” Cole said as he pushed the door open.

Vania was standing next to a broken vase that had fallen off of her makeup table. Her closet door was open, and Cole could see her dresses handing out.

“Why is your closet open?” Cole asked as Vania set the vase back onto her makeup table.

“I forgot to close it this morning,” Vania responded as she brushed her hair out of her face. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to make sure you were doing alright with… the news,” Cole said. “Why is their broken glass on the floor?”

“I knocked over one of my mirrors,” Vania said as she stepped over the broken glass. “And I'm fine cole, you didn’t have to check on me.

“Ok I'm no expert, but you are acting really weird,” Cole said as he stepped farther into the room. “Downstairs you looked like you were about to cry, but now you're fine. You never leave your closet open because your maids would close it, and in all our years of marriage, I’ve never seen you break a single thing, except a condom.”

“A: you the one that broke the condom,” Vania said as she crossed her arms over her chest. “And B it's been several years since you’ve been here, you don’t know what has happened. You were too busy for our family.”

A sneeze came from the closet.

“What was that?” Cole said as he walked towards the closet. “Last I checked, Closets don't sneeze.”

“Cole it's nothing,” Vania said quickly as she slowly followed Cole to the closet. Cole made it to the closet, as pushed the dresses aside to reveal a guy standing in the closet.

“WHO IS THIS?” Cole yelled as he backed away from the closet. They guy walked out of the closet. He was taller than Cole, and was built like a boxer.

“He’s… my new boyfriend,” Vania said shamefully as she rubbed her arm.

“Oh, and how long have you been seeing…” Cole said as he pointed at her new boyfriend.

“I’m David,” the boyfriends said as he backed away from Cole.

“We’ve been dating for the last 3 and a half years,” Vania said quietly.

“Oh, I see,” Cole said coldly. “I guess I'll leave you to your endeavors.” Cole walked out of the room as he closed the door behind him.

Cole took a deep breath before walking back down the hall. He pushed the doors to the side as he walked back into the throne room.

“Lets go,” he said to Lloyd as he continued his path outside of the palace.

Cole hopped on to Jiro as the guard watched Lloyd follow him.

“Thank you,” Lloyd said as Jrio ascended. “So what happened?”

“Nothing,” Cole said as he looked away from Lloyd.

“Cole obviously something happened, please tell me,” Lloyd said as he tentatively placed a hand on Cole's shoulder.

Cole shrugged it off as he looked back at Lloyd. “It's nothing good.”

“Whatever it is Cole, you can tell me,” Cole said.

“She, she is dating someone else,” Cole said sas he tried to hold in the tears. “And she's been dating him for 3 and a half years.”

“Didn;t you guys divorce like a year ago?” Lloyd asked.

“Yeah, which means she was seeing him when she was with me,” Cole said.

“Cole, I’m so sorry,” Lloyd said.

“There's nothing I can do now,” Cole said as he wiped tears away from his eyes.

They continued to ride back to the monastery in silence as the weight of the news.

________

“Hey Euphrasia?” Sora said as she turned around to look at Euphrasia

“Yeah?” Euphrasia responded as she looked away from her book.

“I think we should go look for Nya’s family,” Sora said as she grabbed a screwdriver off her desk to tighten a screw on the gadget she was working on.

“That's a good idea, but do you remember what happened the last time we snuck out to look for clues,” Euphraisia said as she placed a bookmark into the book.

“Yeah we found CJ,” Sora said as she put the screwdriver down and picked up a wrench.

“Yeah, I just want to make sure you're ready for everything to go wrong,” Euphriasia said as she rotated out of her bed to stand up.

“That's pretty much our entire lives,” Sora said as she placed her gadget on the desk.

“Yeah pretty much,” Euphrasia responded. “Hey why do you always handbuild things instead of using your powers?”

“I guess I just got used to building things since I never knew about my powers. Plus it's more satisfying.” Sora responded as she stood up from the desk.

“Ready?” Euphrasia asked as she watched Sora look around the room.

“I don’t know, I just feel like I’m missing something,” Sora said.

“Do you have your mask?” Euphraisa asked as Sora grabbed around her neck.

“OMG, I can’t believe I almost forgot my mask,” Sora said as she grabbed it from under her bed.

“Why do you leave it under your bed?” Euphsaisa asked her and Sora started down the stairs for another rescue mission.

________________________

Nya awoke to a rough sensation around her wrists. Her head was pounding as she tried to open her eyes. The space around her was black as she tried to untie her wrists.

“I wouldn’t try that if I were you,” a voice said from the void of blackness. A harsh grip was forced onto her shoulder as she struggled against it.

“You have no way of escaping Nya,” the voice said as Nya froze at the sound of her name.

“Who are you?” She asked as fabric was placed over her mouth. She started to scream against the fabric but barely any sound escaped.

“Don't worry, water ninja,” the voice said. “Or should I say, ex water ninja.” He laughed as he backed away from Nya.

“Nya,” Jay said groggily, as Nya could feel his wrists rubbing against her own.

“Mmmhum,” Nya tried to say as she struggled against the ropes.

“Shush, he’s going to hear you,” Frak said as he rubbed his wrist together.

“Frak, that you?” Caleb whispered.

“Yeah, but we have to be quiet or he's going to gag us like he did Nya,” Frak said.

“I mean you do talk a lot,” Jay said jokingly. “But not as much as me!”

A footsteps echoed through the cave.

“What was that?” A female voice said.

“I'll go check. You stay here.” the first voice said as footsteps walked away from the hostages.

“Thank god,” Caleb said, “hopefully she is calmer.”

Silence rang through the room, as the footsteps walked farther away.

___________

“What happened to the wall of orange rocks,” Euphrasia said as she looked around the mountainside.

“No clue,” Sora said. “But they are scattered everywhere.” The ground was littered in the rocks, and the girls had to be careful to avoid the rocks.

“Well at least now we can follow the river farther,” Sora said as she and Euphrasia crossed the threshold of the cave's entrance.

Their footsteps echoed off the wall as they walked through the cave.

“Well,” Sora said as they continued deeper into the cave. “Whoever is at the end of this cave is going to have a clear warning that we are coming.”

“Yeah I have,” An ominous voice said from behind the girls. The girls turned around as an orange flash came from behind them. The person came at the girls as he threw punches at the girls. The girls backed up as they formed a triangle with the stranger.

“Who the heck do you think you are?” Sora said as she and Euphrasia made eye contact.

“You could say I'm an old friend,” the stranger said.

Sora’s eyes grew wide as she looked over the stranger.

“Roar,” Riyu roared from the other room.

Sora girls ran towards the sound as the stranger raced towards her. Euphrasia kicked him back.

“I’ll hold him off,” Euphrasia said as Sora raced towards the sound of the roar. Sora burst through the door, and horrors met her eyes. Riyu was tied upside down to the ceiling. Nya, Jay, Caleb, and Frak were tied to a pole in the middle of the room.

“What are you doing here?” Iris said as she looked at Sora. She assumed a fighting stance as Sora came closer

“I could ask you the same question,” Sora said as she walked towards Iris.

“Iris?” Jay said as he listened to the voices.

Sora walked closer to the hostages.

“Don’t touch them,” Iris said as she advanced on Sora.

“What are you talking about?” Sora said as she continued to walk closer to the hostages.

“I said don’t you fucking touch them,” Iris said as she ran to step infront of Sora.

“What?” Sora said as she reached for Nyas blindfold.

Iris blocked her hand as she kicked Sora in the stomach forcing her backwards.

Sora groaned as her back hit the stone wall. Iris looked on in horror as Sora stood back up.

“WHAT THE HELL!” Sora yelled as she looked at Iris.

“What's happening?” Caleb said as he tried to look through the blindfold.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Iris said as she watched Sora. Sora approached Iris carefully, as Iris held her ground.

“No, you shouldn’t be here,” Sora said. “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING KIDNAPPING YOUR PARENT.”

“None of your business,” Iris said as she shot lightning towards Sora. Sora ducked out of the way as she rolled on the ground.

“What has gotten into you?” Sora said as she dodged another bolt of lightning.

“I’m fulfilling my Destiny,” Iris said as she shot another bolt of lightning.

“You're crazy,” Sora said.

“No, you're just trying to keep me away from my potential,” Iris said as she threw another lightning bolt at Sora.

____________

“Who are you?” Euphrasia said as she dodged the punches from the stranger.

The stranger spun into a gold spinjitzu spiral. He hit Euphrasia in the stomach. Euphraisia flew backward before regaining her focus and blasting air out of her hands to stop her backwards momentum.

“I don’t know who you think you are, but you are going down,” Euphrasia shouted.

“I don’t think so,” the stranger said as he spun into another spinjitzu spiral. Euphrasia pushed the air out of her hand as she flew towards the spiral. Euphrasia collided with the spiral as she was forced back and hit the stone wall. Euphrasia collapsed to the floor as her body went limp.

The stranger stopped his spiral as he watched Euphrasia's chest rise and fall.

“Not dead, still alive, sadly,” the stranger said as he ran into the room Sora and Iris were fighting in.

“You shouldn’t abandon your family,” Sora said as she dodged lightning bolts.

“They hurt me,” Iris said as she continued to assault Sora with lightning bolts.

“That doesn't mean I should hurt them,” Sora said, as she ducked under a table to avoid the lightning.

Sora made her way behind Riyu. Iris held the lightning in her hands, as she refused to shoot Riyu.

“We’ll get you out of here buddy,” Sora said to Riyu as she rubbed his tethered wings.

“I see you’ve met my little friends,” Master Andrew said as he walked closer to Iris. “As well as my star pupil.”

“Who are you and what do you want?” Sora screamed at the stranger.

“Don't you remember?” the stranger said mockingly as they reached for their mask. “I was once your best friend.”

The stranger removed their mask, as Sora's mouth dropped in horror.

“Arin?”

Chapter Text

“It was a warm spring evening, a Tuesday to be precise. Lord Ras had been teaching me how to harness my emotions and my anger to power my spinjitzu tornado. He left me alone while he tended to his master, but I got a little lost. My tornado was so powerful that I could easily get lost in a short amount of time. I found myself in a peaceful meadow filled with beautiful flowers. They were poppy my moms favorite.She had planted some in our gardens shortly before the merge, and I remember the excitement I felt when I saw them bloom for the first time. I followed the flowers and they bowed the wind forming small paths in between the rows. The flowers lead me to a house that had been reclaimed by the forest. The house's wood was rotting, and the beam to the poach was falling apart beneath me as I stepped across them to enter the house. Light streamed through the broken window, as animals scurried off the worn down couch. I saw the fabric was a deep red, almost like the one he grew up with. I walked farther into the battered house. Plants were sprouting from every corner as sunlight crept in from the holey roof. I lifted his face as I let the rays warm my skin. I walked into what seemed to be a bedroom. The iron frame of the bed was the only recognizable thing, as the rest of the room had been torn apart by nature. I walked back out of the room, unable to make heads or tails of the mess inside. I walked farther into the house, as I opened a door leading back to the poppy fields. The back of the house was falling apart, and rubble was strewn over the vast field.I could see a dip in the poppies as I walked the field, and walked up to it. There, laying in the field of poppies, were my parents.”

“Why are you telling us this?” Sora said as she lowered her fighting stance to look at Arin.
Iris was frantically looking between the two. She couldn’t decide whether to attack or to wait.

“Shush,” Arin said as he continued his story. “poppies were growing out of their eyes, and vines were tangled around their limbs. I looked at the body’s, unrecognizable from the plants growing around them. That’s when I noticed a bracelet on my mothers wrist. The bright pink band brought back memories I thought were long gone. The doctor's appointment, the diagnosis, it all came back.

I fell into the poppies as tears left my eyes.

After all the tears had fallen, anger began coursing through my veins. How could the ninja let this happen? They said we would find them. Lloyd told me that he would find them. And now they are dead. The anger consumed me. It made me feel powerful.

I returned to the training ground. My fellow students were gathered around Ras, as he demonstrated the power of shader spin.

“You see, by shattering your soul, you can gain unimaginable power,” he said as he banged the gong. Cinder's face appeared from behind the wolf mask as he shook violently. A red spiral formed around him as his eyes glowed red.

“You see students, you have to be fueled solely by the power of your body, and the power you have to achieve high levels of shatter spin. This took cinder years to master and gain control of.”

I watched as Cinder removed the now invisible mask, and the red spiral vanished into thin air.

“Arin, since you joined us so late, why don’t you try,” Ras said as he handed me a wolf mask. I shakily stood up, as I grabbed the mask and waited. The gong was hit, and the sound rang through my ears. I could feel a part of myself snap, and my blood boiled under my skin. All the anger I had about my parents raced through my brain as their memories flooded my senses.

Who would let them die? Why would the ninja stop helping people just because of the merge? They have done nothing for us but give us someone to look up to who can’t save you even when you need them too.

My brain went foggy as the room around me was filled with red dust. Everyone backed away from me, except for Fritz who had fallen into a deep slumber. His body was hit with a strong blast, as his eyes opened and rolled back into his head. I could only watch through hazy eyes as my body slumped to the ground. Everyone looked on in horror, as Ras stood up. Spitz slowly walked over to where Fritz’s body laid, still as a rock.

“Good job, my student,” Ras said as he came up behind me. He laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder as I carefully stood up.

“But he’s not breathing,” Spitzs said as he placed his hand on Fritz’s unmoving chest.

“Yes, but Arin used nothing but power to kill him. He has shown a true taking to my lessons,” Ras said heartlessly.

“You’re a monster!!” Spitz yelled as he grabbed Fritz’s lifeless body. Tears began to slip from his eyes, as he felt the heat and life drain from his body.

“I’m not a monster, I’m just showing you how you have to be to survive this new, cruel world. The world isn’t going to give you any mercy, and neither WILL I,” Ras’s voice rose with each word until his voice filled the room.

“I’M DONE!” Spitz said as he let go of his friend and stood. He quickly ran out of the room, and away from Ras and his student.

“You see class, death is needed to rule out the weak from the strong,” Ras said as he waved for Cinder to remove Fritz’s body. “And make sure to dispose of the… evidence,” Ras said.

“What the fuck!?” Frak asked from the middle of the room. Aron’s gaze was taken away from Sora, as he noticed Nya standing up. She quickly yanked off her blindfold and gag, as she stared daggers at Arin. The rest of her family was quick to follow, as they stood behind her.

Sora took the moment Arin’s eyes were off her, and ran at him. She threw a punch at his head, but he caught it with his right hand.

“Silly of you to think you can beat me, Sora,” Arin said as he pushed her hand off of his. The momentum caused Sora to fall backwards, as Caleb caught her seconds before hitting the ground.

“Jay, Frak, Sora, you take Arin,” Nya directed as she made eye contact with her daughter. Iris' eyes grew wide as she backed up. “Caleb, you come with me to talk some sense into your sister.”

“Wait?” Sora asked as she looked around, “where’s Euphrasia?”

“Oh I don’t think she will be Bothering us,” Arin said, as Sora, Jay, and Frak surrounded him.

“Iris what on earth do you think you are doing?” Nya asked as she walked closer to her daughter.

“Don’t come any closer,” Iris said as she extended her hands away from her. Her scared voice hurt her mother's heart as she lowered her fighting stance, but continued to approach her daughter. Call watch his mother, scared of what his sister would do.

“Iris, we just want to help you, you’re obviously confused,” Nya said as she walked within arm's length of her daughter's arms.

“I said don’t come any closer!!” Iris shouted as she felt her emotions boil over. All of her anger seemed to come crashing down on her, as her blood electrified. Purple lightning shot out of her hand. It made contact with Nyas' now outstretched hand, as it coursed through her body.

Her body fell to the floor, as Iris watched with tearful eyes. Caleb backed away from her, with fear filling every inch of his face.

“Don’t come any closer,” he said as he backed away from Iris. Iris could feel the lingering lightning on her fingertips. She looked down to see the purple bolts dancing over her hands.

Iris looked at her brother, as anger consumed her. All the times he had teased her raced through her mind.

“You have caused me too much pain,” she said as her hand rose from her sides. The remaining bolts shot towards her brother. Caleb ducked, as a wave of water formed above him. He closed his eyes, waiting for his sister to strike again. He sat there, but nothing happened.

When Caleb opened his eyes, his sister had vanished.

Caleb stood up as he looked over at the others.

“Arin this isn’t you,” Sora said as she ducked. Arin threw another kick at her and Jay tried to sneak up behind him. Arin punched Jay in the stomach. He doubled over and Arin hit him in the head causing him to crumble to the ground.

“How would you know who I am,” Arin said as he threw a kick at Frak.

“Because we’re best friends,” Sora said as she threw a punch at Arin.

“You know nothing about me…. Friend,” Arin said as sarcasm dripped off the word friend.

“We lived together for several years Arin, how can you say that I don’t know you!” Sora said, as he dodged Sora's punch. “How can I know nothing about you!”

“I’ve changed Sora,” Arin said as one of his punches made contact with her shoulder. Sora grabbed her shoulder as she retreated.

“Clearly,” Frak said as he ran at Arin. Arin stepped to the side as Frak ran past him. Arin pushed Frak’s back, causing him to run head first into the cave wall.

“Sora,” a weak voice said. Sora looked down to see Jay grabbing his stomach.

“What?” Sora asked as she looked up to see Arin charging towards her.

“We have to get out of here,” Jay said as he managed to pull himself into an upright position, “Nyas hurt.”

“Frak go grab Nya,” Sora said as she blocked a punch from Arin. “Caleb, help your dad. I’ll grab Euphrasia. Let's get the hell out of here.”

“What about Iris? Caleb asked as he looked around the cave, trying to spot his sister.

“Leave her, she's not going to come with us,” Sora said as she activated her technology powers. Suddenly, little gears began to fly out of her pocket as they reassembled. The gear floated around Arin. Sora shifted her hands as the gears were joined with screws. The gears suddenly attached themselves to Arins wrists, and he was pulled backways.

“What are you doing?” Arin yelled as he tried to move his hands. Gears moved from around his wrist to his ankles, as they pinned his legs to the stone.

“This should hold you for a while,” Sora said as she turned to survey Caleb and Frak helping the others.

“You’ll regret this,” Arin said as he struggled against the gears.

“No Arin, you’ll regret everything,” Sora said as she turned her back on Arin.

“Not as much as I’ll regret meeting you,” Arin said as Sora, Frak, and Jay all staggered out of the room.

Sora slammed the door behind her, as Jay, Caleb and Frak all looked at her. Frak laid Nya on the floor, as Sora walked over the Euphrasia.

“She's breathing,” Sora said with a sigh of relief.

“What has gotten into him?” Frak said as he looked down at Nya. Her body was covered in purple lines, all resembling lightning.

“I don’t know,” Jay said as he kneeled down to brush his wife's hair. “And I had no idea that lightning was that powerful.”

“Dad?” Caleb said shakily, “what are we going to do.”

“I don’t know son,” Jay said as he picked up Nya bridal style.

“Issss your stomach better?” Frak asked as he watched Jay.

“Sorta,” Jay said, “But we have to get these two back to the monastery, before they end up more hurt.”

“We better get moving,” Sora said as she carefully picked up Euphrasia.

“What's going on?” Euphrasia muttered as her eyes abruptly opened.

“Don’t worry babe I got you,” Sora said as she lifted Euphrasia off the ground.

“Wait what?” Frak said as he looked between the two girls.

Sora looked down at Euphrasia as Euphrasia snuggled against her chest.

“Nothing Frak,” Sora said as she began to walk out of the cave.

Frak looked at Caleb, as Caleb shrugged his shoulders.

Jay followed the boys as they followed Sora out of the cave.
_______________

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!” Iris screamed as she looked at her hands. They still felt tingly as she wiggled her fingers.

“I'm making you stronger, child,” Arin said as he walked over to Iris. She was hiding behind a stalagmite.

“You're making me hurt people!” Iris said as she pointed at Arin.

“I can help you,” Arin said as he walked closer to Iris.

“How,” Iris said as she looked at him skeptically.

“Follow me child,” Arin said as he backed away from Iris.

Iris tentatively walked out from the stalagmite as she followed Arin. Arin walked out of the room as Iris followed him at a distance. Arin led her to a room full of different sized orange rocks.

“W… What are these?” Iris asked as she looked around the crowded room.

“These will help you control your powers,” Arin said as he handed Iris a small orange rock.

“Hold this my child, this will save you,” He said as Iris put her hands out.

The rock fell into her hands as it began to glow a bright orange glow.

“What happened,” Iris said as she felt energy being drained from her body.

“Keep holding it my child,” Arin said as his eyes grew wider the brighter the rocks grew.

Small bolts of lightning started to creep over the rock. Iris' eyes started to grow, as she watched the lightning creep over the rock grow darker and brighter.

The lightning suddenly disappeared from the rock, as the light disappeared. Arin took the rock out of Iris’ hands and he looked at it like it was a newborn baby.

Iris suddenly slumped to the floor, as her breathing became heavy.

“What happened?” She asked as she tried to catch her breath.

“You no longer have to worry about hurting people with your powers,” Arin said as he set the now purple rock on a high, empty shelf.

“What have you done to me?” Iris asked as she looked down at her hands. Tears started to prick her eyes. She looked up at Arin, as he extended a hand out to her. She took it as she struggled to stand up.

“I’ve taken your lightning away, so that you never have to hurt those you love again,” Arin said. Iris removed her hand from his as she staggered backwards. Her back hit a stone wall as she used it to gain her balance.

“You… you can’t,” Iris said as she put her hands out in front of her. She tried to push energy out of her hands. Nothing happened.

“I did this for your own good child,” Arin said as he walked away from Iris.

“You’re a monster,” Iris said as she pulled her hands back, wiping her eyes to hide her tears.

“Of course I am, child,” Arin said as he walked out of the room. “No regular person can handle the kind of power I will hold.”

Iris stared at the doorway. Iris stood up, and walked to the doorway. She watched as Arin walked deeper into the cave.

Iris looked back at the purple rock, before heading out of the doorway. She walked away from Arin, scared of his cold hearted demeanor.

The night sky above her filler her vision as the stars danced across her vision

“How long was I down there,” she asked herself as she looked up at the crescent moon.

Iris walked along the creek in the dim moon. She made her way to the tree house. She carefully walked closer, as the burned trees reminded her of the day her powers had changed her life forever.

“Three days and I've already lost my powers,” Iris said as she opened the door to the empty tree house. “I’m a terrible ninja.”

______

“Lloyd,” Caleb called when he reached the monastery gates.

Caleb helped Jay carry Nya into the monastery as they laid her down on the stone floor of the courtyard. Sora laid Euphrasia down next to her, as Frak closed the heavy monastery gates.

“What is it now?” Lloyd asked as he rubbed his eyes, while walking out into the courtyard. His eyes fell to the long faces of the group before looking down to see Nya and Euphrasia on the ground.

“Well, Mom was hit with a lightning strike from Iris,” Caleb said as he looked at his mom’s strained face. “And we don’t exactly know what happened to Euphrasia, but she was awake for a couple of minutes, before passing back out.”

Sora took a knee, as she brushed the hair out of Euphrasia's face, before tucking the strand behind her ear.

“I hope they're okay,” Sora said as she stood up.

“Also we have some more bad news,” Jay said as he awkwardly chuckled.

“But we have ssssome good news,” Frak said.

“Tell me the bad news,” Lloyd said as he rubbed his chin wisely.

“Well, it seems that the…” Jay said as he lowered his voice, “we no longer can use our powers.”

“What?” Lloyd said as he moved closer to Jay.

“Uh, it seems that the original ninja may not be able to use their elemental powers,” Jay said louder this time.

“What, you can’t use your powers?” Lloyd said as he looked at Jay. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, I tried to use them against Arin, and nothing happened,” Jay responded.

“Wait?” Lloyd said as he rubbed his forehead. “Did you say Arin?”

“Yes Lloyd,” Sora said as she stepped forward. “He’s back, and I’ve never seen anyone so angry at the world.”

“I think my father and ex-girlfriend could give him a run for his money,” Lloyd said, as he tried to lighten the mood. “Ok, so Arin…” Lloyd said as he looked between them.

“Arin is angry because his parents are dead, and we did nothing to help him. Also, he has somehow gotten Iris to fight for him, and has captured Riyu.” Caleb said, before anyone could say anything else.”

“Hey,” Frak said as he side-eyed Caleb. “You stole my good news.”
“Which part of that was good news?” Sora asked as she looked quizzically at Frak.

“We found Riyu!” Frak said excitedly

“Right but how are we going to save him, let alone Iris?” Sora said as they all looked at Lloyd.

“I think I have someone that could help us,” Lloyd said as he walked back into the monastery.”

Chapter Text

“Hmmm,” Riyu purred as Arin stroked his forehead.

“Hello my friend,” Airn said as he brought the glowing purple rock under Riyus eyes. “I’m going to need your help.”

Riyu struggled against the chains that now held him to the floor. His paws were all chains so hard that he could barely move.

“Don’t worry my friend, I don't need you to do anything hard,” Arin said as he ran his hand over Riyus' chained left wing. The chains were so heavy, they prevented Riyu from moving his wings even an inch.

“You know that, Spark, you used to give Sora?” Arin said as he watched Rius head tilt. “You need to give it to me, or you will never get out of here.” Arin said as he pulled the rock back from Riyus' face.

“Hmmm,” Riyu said as she looked at Arin with a tired look.

Riyus’ eyes began to glow a lavender purple as a beam of light connected to Arins heart. The rock in Arins hand began to glow a brighter, lighter purple. Arins eyes lit up as his mouth opened, forcing light out of it. The rock's light connected with the light from Riyu, and made its way into Arins heart. Arin floated off the ground as the light shone brighter. He stood still in the air for 3 seconds, before falling back to the ground. Riyus' head lulled against the ground as Arin fell gracefully to the ground. He landed on both of his feet, as he stood straight up, as his eyes changed from jet black to a deep blue.

“Finally,” Arin said as he looked down at his hands. “I have POWER!” Arin lifted his hands to the sky as he pushed his energy to his fingertips. His blood boiled, as lightning shot out of his hands. The lightning was purple, with orange streaks running through it.

“I have waited decades for this,” Arin said as he stopped the lightning.

“Hmmm” Riyu said.

“Oh don’t worry,” Arin said as he looked back at Riyu. “This is just the beginning.”

________

“Who did you have in mind?” Sora asked Lloyd, as she carried Euphraisa into the monastery.

“It's an.. old friend of mine,” Lloyd said, dodging the question.

“Who’s an old friend of yours?” Kai asked as he turned the corner. “Nya!”

“Kai uh, hey,” Jay said as he looked at Kai’s intense gaze.

“What happened?” He asked as he walked over to sister.

“Um, she got hit with a bolt of lightning,” Jay said as he held Nya a little closer.

“YOU HIT MY SISTER!” Kai said as looked at Jay with a look that would smite a dragon.

“IT WASN’T ME,” Jay said as he looked down at Nyas face. “I would never do that to my yang.”

“THEN WHO DID?” Kai asked as he threw his arms into the air.

“It was Iris, Uncle Kai,” Caleb said as he stepped between his father and his uncle.

“Iris?” Kai said as he looked down at Caleb.

“We have a lot to catch up on,” Lloyd said as he looked at Kai. “Gather the others in the living room.”

Kai walked out of the hall, as Lloyd looked at Sora.

“You wouldn’t mind if we put Nya on your bed, right?” Lloyd asked Sora.

“Not at all,” Sora said as Frak opened the door to Sora and Euphrasia’s room.

Sora laid Euphrasia on her bed, while Jay laid Nya on Sora's bed.

“Do you think they will be okay?” Caleb asked Jay.

“I hope so buddy,” Jay said as he looked at Nyas closed eyes.

“Let's head to the living room,” Lloyd said as he walked out of the room.

Everyone filed out of the room as Sora looked back at Euphrasia.

“She’ll be okay,” Frak said as he looked at Sora.

“I know,” Sora said as she closed the door behind her. “It’s just so hard to see her hurt.

“I know Sora,” Frak said as he followed Sora through the halls into the living room.

Kai, Skylor, Chase, Blake, and Destiny were sitting on the couch. Pixel and Zane sat on the arm chairs, and Violet sat in front of them. Jay and Caleb sat in the other arm chairs, as Cole stood behind them.

Sora and Frak took up a spot behind Zane’s family, as Lloyd stood in front of the TV.

“Ok everyone settle down,” Lloyd said as he raised his hands to silence the room.

The group stopped talking slowly, as they all turned their attention to Lloyd.

“So as some of you may know, Nya and Euphrasia have been hurt by a new enemy,” Lloyd said as he lowered his hand.

“Who is our new enemy?” Zane asked as he looked at Lloyd.

“Arin,” Sora said as she instantly responded to Zane's question.

“Arin, the guy who left over 2 decades ago to be with that Ras guy?” Zane asked.

“Yeah whatever happened to him?” Kai questioned.

“Well after Frak helped rescue me from Ras’s brain washing, we lost track of the guy,” Jay said. “We tried to get Arin to come with us, but he didn’t want to.”

“Yeah he was weirdly adamant about staying with Ras,” Frak said.

“And we haven't heard anything since,” Jay responded

“Well, I did receive a letter about 17 years ago from one of his students,” Frak said as all the eyes in the room turned to him.

“WHAT,” Sora yelled as Frak jumped at the sudden loud noise. “WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL US?”

“I didn’t think it was a big deal,” Frak responded sheepishly.

“What did he write about?” Lloyd questioned as he looked at Frak.

“He was talking about how his friend was killed during one of their lessons, by shatter spin, by one of the new students,” Frak answered.

“Who’s your friend who has connections with this, Ras?” Skylor asked.

“His name was Spitz, butI haven’t seen him since the merge. He just put my name on an envelope, and his pigeon found me,” Frak explained.

“His pigeon?” Pixel said skeptical.

“We used to use it right after the merge. We lived down the street from each other, and we would write letters. One year, his parents gave him a pigeon for his birthday, and we trained it to track us,” Frak responded.

“Wait, did you say, Spitz?” Cole asked.

“Yeah why?” Frak asked.

“Um, well after the merge I ended up in a junkyard with two kids, one of which was named Spitz,” Cole said. “Was his friend's name, Fritz, by any chance?”

“Um, yeah it was,” Frak responded as his brow furrowed. “Anyway, he was talking about how he left Ras, because his teaching was becoming too inhumane, and all he cared about was power.”

“Your friend, are you still in contact with him?” Lloyd asked as he looked at Frak.

“Um, we haven't written in a while, mostly because he just got married, but I think I should be able to contact him,” Frak said.

“Perfect,” Lloyd said as he looked around the living room. “Anyone else have friends they could contact, this might be our biggest enemy we’ve faced yet.”

“I can contact Geo,” Cole said as he took a bite of a cupcake.

“How long have you had that?” Jay asked as the crumbs fell onto his head.

“The entire time we’ve been here,” Cole said matter of factly.

“Cupcakes aside,” Kai said as he looked back at Lloyd. “I could try to get in touch with Wyldfire.”

“Yeah whatever happened to her?” Pixel asked. “I like having her around. Even though she had a tendency to break things.”

“She didn’t feel like life was ‘exciting enough’ so she went back to the wildness,” Kai informed the others.

“Sounds like her,” Cole said as he finished off the cupcake.

“Ok, who else,” Lloyd said as he looked around.

“What about your genius?” Cole asked as he licked the frosting off of his fingers.

“I’ll have you know that I have plans to contact someone as soon as we finish this conversation,” Lloyd said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Sure Mr. Big shot,” Kai teased.

Blake raised his hand.

“Yes Blake?” Lloyd said, glad to get the attention off of himself.

“Um, so where do we all play into this?” Blake said as he looked between his fellow teens.

“You guys are our future,” Lloyd said as he looked between the kids. “The powers of the original ninja have been given to you, and now you hold them.”

“Mine and Nya's too,” Skylor said as she looked at lloyd. She turned to look at Kai while saying, “I told you the energy wasn’t there.”

“You were right Sky,” Kai said as he squeezed her hand.

“Wait, so you're saying that we are, the new ninja?” Violet said.

“Not exactly,” Lloyd said. Cole, Kai, Jay and LLoyd all shot looks at each other.

“We’ll call you the… future ninja, yeah future ninja,” Kai said.

“Why not ‘new ninja’?” Destiny asked.

“There were these imposters trying to be us for about 30 years and they called themselves the new ninja,” Cole said angrily. “They were just a bunch of posers.”

“Okay, didn’t mean to strike a nerve,” Destiny said as she flexed her eyes.

“Anywho, you all must train to become, the Future Ninja!” Lloyd said as he panned his arms around the room.

Chase raised his hand.

“What Chase?” Skylor asked with a sigh.

“What about Iris?” he asked.

“Um, she’s not going to be joining us,” Jay said as he looked down at the ground.

“What happened to her?” Destiny asked.

“She ummm,” Lloyd said as he struggled for the right words.

“She will not be joining us,” Sora said, brushing off the question.

“Why?” Blake asked

“Don’t worry about it,” Frak said.

“What’s going on?” Euphrasia said as she stumbled out of the hallway.

“Euphrasia!” Sora said as she rushed to her friend's side. “What are you doing out of bed?”

“I… ugh… heard you all talking and thought… Ugh… that I should come out and hear what you all were… talking about,” Euphrasia said as Sora helped lead her to an armchair. Pixel stood up to push it closer, as Euphraisa struggled to walk straight.

“Sit,” Pixel said as Sora helped EUphrasia lower into the chair.

“We were just talking about Arin,” Lloyd said, as he handed Euphraisia a cup of water.

“He’s stronger now, that's for sure,” She said as she gingerly brought the cup to her lips.

“What did he do to you?” Zane queried.

“He used his spinjitzu to throw me against the wall. Euphraisa said as she slowly lowered the cup from her lips.

“And then?” Jay said as everyone leaned forward to listen to Euphrasia.

“That was it, I passed out from the impact,” She responded, as everyone deflated into their seats.

“Ok, so let me get this straight,” Cole said as he looked over the group. “Arin has returned, and is using Iris to hurt people, and the older ninja don’t have their powers because they were passed on to the youngins.”

“Sounds like you got it,” Lloyd said.

“This is crazy,” Kai said as he looked at his children. “They can’t become ninja. They’re too young!”

“They're the same age we were when we started to train,” Lloyd said as he looked at the children. “In fact they are older than we were.”

“But… the world is different now, there's more danger,” Kai said, as he eyes fell on blake.

“Kai, we don’t have a choice,” Skylor said, as she looked at Kai's face.

“But.. I don't want them to get hurt,” He responded.

“When you were their age, would you have listened to people trying to stop you?” Skylor asked

“No,” Kai said as his voice deflated. “Fine, Lloyd, what do we need to do to stop Arin?”

__________

Sora knew she shouldn’t be sneaking out. It was dangerous and crazy, but she just had to do it. She carefully made her way out of the monastery, closing the gates silently.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she began her journey down the stairs.

“I shouldn't be doing this,” SHe thought to herself as each of her footsteps sent an uneasy sensation through her.

The journey to the bottom of the mountain took 10 minutes, and the moon shone dimly overhead, barely illuminating her path.

“Should have waited for a full moon,” Sora whispered to herself as she followed the steam.

The cave appeared quickly. The sight made Sora shutter, as the painful memories flooded her senses.

“It's okay Sora,” she said to herself as she tried to calm her nerves. “He’s your best friend, you're going to be fine.” She stepped over the threshold of the cave. Her footsteps echoed off of the walls, as she continued her path into the cave.

She walked towards the doors. The 2rd door was open and Sora took a deep breath.

“You’ll be fine,” she said to herself. “He is still your best friend.”

She walked into the room, as her footsteps echoed off the walls

“Well well well, who do we have here?” Arin said as he slowly turned around.

“Arin,” Sora said as Arin looked her over.

“It's been forever,” Arin said as a smile came over his face. “I’ve missed you friend.”

“I’ve missed you too,” Sora said as Arin enveloped her into a huge hug.

“Please, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Arin said as he went back to the oven.

“Um, I wanted to talk to you after this morning,” Sora said. “In fact, you're really confusing me right now.”

“Why's that?” Arin asked as he pulled something out of the oven. “Pie?”

“Sure,” Sora said as Arin set the pie down. He grabbed a pie slicer, and put her slice on a plate.
“So, what's on your mind?” Arin said as he handed Sora a fork.

“I don’t know?” Sora said as she took a bite of her pie. “You were so hostels earlier, I figured that you would attack me when I showed up.”

“Well, I had to show Iris how we deal with intruders,” Arin said as he watched Sora finish off the slice of pie. “More pie?”

“Sure,” Sora said as Arin stood up and took her plate. “You make the best pie.”

“I haven't had the chance to make it for anyone in… a long while,” Arin responded as he handed her 2nd slice to Sora.

“Speaking of which,” Sora said as she took another bite. “Whatever happened to Ras.” Sora let out a yawn as she continued to munch on the pie.

“Oh, uh, he died a couple of years back,” Arin siad uneasily.

“Really?” Sora said as she finished the pie slice. “Why.”

“Old age, I think,” Arin said as he retrieved something out of Sora’s field of visions

“Too bad,” Sora said, as she set the plate down.

“Here, hold this Arin said as he sat a cloth in her hands.

“What is it?” Sora said as the weight pressed down her hands. “It's so heavy.”

Arin removed the cloth, as he grabbed Sora’s wrist. The orange rock in her hands glowed brightly, and Sora cried out with pain. The rock glowed a bright pink, as Sora crumpled to his knees. Arins eyes grew big with hunger, as tears leaked out of Sora's eyes.

The rock stopped its glowing, as a settlement to a vibrant pink color. Arin quickly grabbed it out of Sora's hands as she lay on the ground, struggling for breath.

“Wh… what are you doing,” Sora gasped as Arin walked away from her.

“I’m taking control of my destiny,” Arin said coldly, his body turned away from her. “The world wouldn’t let me have power, so I will take one for myself!” His voice echoed off the walls of the cave.

He shot lightning at Sora, as the lightning hit her body. Purple streaked marked her skin, as the lightning caused her to lose her breath. When Arin stopped his assault, Sora was barely breathing.

“Get out of here Sora,” Arin said as he walked closer to her.

“A… Arin,” Sora mumbled as she grabbed at her chest.

“Get out of here Sora,” Arin said as he looked away from her.

Sora stumbled as she stood on shaky legs. She carefully walked towards the entrance of the cave.

“And we were never friends,” Arin retorted, as Sora shamefully stumbled out of the cave

______

Sora crawled back up the stairs of the monastery. When she reached the gates, she pulled on the sting of the doorbell.

“Hmmm, who could that be at this hour?” Skylor said to herself, she sat down her cup of coffee.

Skylor walked to the gate, and pushed it open. “Hello”

“Sk…. Skylor,” Sora gasped as she managed to pull herself into a seated position.

“Sora?” Skylor said as she knelt down next to Sora.

“He’s not my best friend,” Sora coughed. “He’s a monster.” Sora’s eyes rolled back into her head, and she promptly passed out.

Chapter Text

Skylor carried Sora into the monastery.

“What's going on?” Lloyd asked as he walked out into the living room, rubbing his eyes.

“Sora,” Skylor siad somberly as she laid Sora on the sofa.

The words instantly woke Lloyd up as he followed Skylor over to the Sofa.

“I thought she was asleep,” Lloyd said as he stared at her pained expression.

“Well she is now,” Skylor responded. She pulled a blanket over Sora’s torso and legs.

“What even happened to her?” Lloyd asked

“No clue,” Skylor responded. “But whatever it is it's not good”

Their eyes fell on Sora as she stirred slightly.

“We should let her sleep,” Skylor said as she stood up.

“Too many people,” Lloyd said as he looked back at Soea before fully walking out of the room.

______________

“Hmm, hello Riyu,” Arin said as he strode into the room. Scales littered the floor around Riyu. Arin carefully stepped around them as he walked up to Riyu.

“Just like last time buddy. You do your job, and you don't get hurt,” Arin held up the pink rock, and brought it up to Riyu’s face.

“Hmmm,” Riyu groaned as the light from the rock hit his eyes. Riyus' eyes ignited, as weak light steam moved towards the rock. It slowly crossed the divide, as Riyus eyes grew brighter. When the weak light hit the rock, it suddenly became very powerful. The light quickly connected to Arin as he was lifted a few inches off the ground. His eyes lit up, as pink light filled the cave.

Arin descended as the light faded. The rock returned to its original orange color.

“At last,” Arin said as he lifted his hands to the junk pile in the corner. Several old gears and screws rose from the junk as they rearranged themselves. Arin lowered his hand, as he allowed the gadget to fall back into the junk pile.

Arin looked back at Riyu. The tired Dragon was laying on the floor and breathing heavily.

“Don’t worry my friend,” Arin said as he made his way out of the room. “Our next power shall be very bountiful.

____________

Euphasia groaned as she woke up. She grabbed her side as she reached for the pain med she kept by her bed. She grabbed her head as the world spun around her when she tried to sit up.

She carefully sat up and took the medicine, as she set the water bottle back down on her nightstand.

“Sora?” Euphrasia said as she looked at the ceiling. The light from the window made interesting shadows. “I’ve been thinking, what if Arin doesn't want to be friends anymore. What if he’s… angry at you. I wouldn’t put it past him to hurt you, just because he can.”

There was no response.

“Sora?” Euphrasia sat straight up as she looked through her dizzy vision at Sora bed. When her vision steadied, she stood up. On Sora's bed was a small pink post-it note.

“Be back soon?” Euphasia said as she read the note out loud.

A knock resounded through the room, as Skylor pushed the door open.

“Hey Euphrasia you're up,” Skylor said as she stepped into the room.

“Yeah,” Euphasia responded as she slowly turned away from Sora’s bed.”Have you seen Sora, she isn;t here, and all she left was this indistinct note.”

“Ummm… actually I do,” Skylor said as she walked up to Euphasia. Skylor grabbed Euphasia gently by the hands, as she led her out of the bedroom.

“Skylor what…” Euphasia said as Skylor dragged her into the living room.

All color drained from Euphasias face when her eyes laid on Sora.

“Is she…?” Euphasia began as tears formed in her eyes.

“No, but she’s badly hurt,” Skylor said as she placed her hand on Euphaisas back

“Arin did this, didn’t he?” Euphrasia said as she looked into Skylors sad eyes.

“We think so,” Skylor said as Euphrasia looked back at Sora.

“Meeting in the courtyard,” Nya said over the loudspeaker, as the sun began to stream in through the windows.

“Are you going to be okay?” Skylor said as she noticed Euphraisa distant look

“Yeah… I’ll be ok,” Euphasia said as she turned to face Skylor.

The girls walked out of the living room and headed towards the courtyard.

“Sky over here,” Kai said as he waved at his wife.

Skylor looked back at Euphasia before making her way to her husband.

“You weren’t in bed this morning,” Kai said, wrapping his hand around her waist. He dipped her slightly as he planted a kiss on her lips.

“Get a room,” Blake said.

_______________

“Where's Sora? Frak asked as Euphasia joined him at the back of the courtyard.

“She… won't be coming,” Euphasias said as she rubbed her left arm with her right.

“Oh, why?” Frak asked.

“Don’t know,” Euphaisa said as her eyes shifted.

“Oh, I would have thought you would since you two are… you know,” Frak said as he looked at Euphasia.

“Everyone one quiet down,” Llolyd said as he stood in front of the group. All eyes turned to him, as silence fell.

“We have a crisis upon us,” Lloyd stated. “We have lost Iris and CJ already, several others have been hurt by our new threat. Arin has shown himself to be a worthy opponent, and it will take all of us fighting him to stop him from gaining more power.”

“But what is his goal?” Kai asked as everyone looked more intensely at Lloyd.

“We don’t know but it can’t be anything good,” Lloyd said as he looked at the crowd. “Sora tried to confront him last night. She’s fine, but she will take a couple of days to recover.”

“But Lloyd, we don't have our powers,” Jay said as he laid his hand on Nya’s shaking shoulder.

“That is why we will train the next generation,” Lloyd said. “This is not our fight, this is the fight for future ninja. We must pass on our robes to them.”

“But what if they get hurt?” Nya asks.

“It's a price we all must pay for justice,” Lloyd said somberly as he looked over the crowd.

“Ring”

“Who’s that?” Frak asked

Destiny walked to the gate, as she pushed it open.

“Hello there,” said a sheepish voice.

“Come in,” Destiny said as the young woman walked past her.

Her platinum blond hair was shoulder length. Her purple jumpsuit hit just at her ankles as her red tennis shoes peeked out from under the fabric.

“What is she doing here!?” Kai asked as he jumped in front of Skylor.

“Relax Kai, I invited her,” Lloyd said as the girl walked up to the front.

“Why would you invite HARUMI HERE?” Kai yelled.

“Because she can help us see this from a villain's point of view,” lloyd said matter of factly

“Don't worry, hot head, I'm not going to hurt you,” Harumi said as she put her hands on her hips.

All of the original ninja had assumed fighting stances.

“How do we know you're not lying,” Kai said through his teeth.

“Guys, be nice,” Lloyd said as he stepped in front of Harumi. “She is here as our guest. SHe is going to help find out how to stop Arin.

“Fine, but I’m keeping an eye on her,” Kai said as all of the adults lowered their arms.

“Why don’t we head inside,” Lloyd said as he opened the door for Harumi

“I thinks Lloyds gone crazy,” Jay whispered to Cole as they all walked into the living room

Sora still lay on the couch, and everyone stopped when they saw her.

“Uhhh, oops,” Lloyd said sheepishly as he looked down at Sora.

“I got her,” Euphasia said as she grabbed Sora. Sora’s body pulled against hers as Euphraisa carefully carried her into their room. She laid Sora on her bed

“Please be okay Sora,” Euphasia said as she stroked Sora’s hair. Sora stirred slightly, as Emphasis brushed a piece out of her face.

“Eupharais?” A voice said behind her.

Euphasia turned around to see Frak standing in the doorway.

“What Frak,” Euphasia asked

“Umm… Lloyd wanted me to get you so that you would be able to hear Harumi,” Frak responded as he walked closer to Euphraisa.

Euphasia carefully stood up and walked over to Frak.

“Fine, let's go see what you tell she may or may not have on Arin,” Euphasia said as she followed Frak out of the room.

Euphraisa followed Frak into the living room where everyone was sitting in a circle facing Harumi.

“Thank you Lloyd,” Harum said as he handed her some tea. “Let's see, where do I start?”

“Maybe after you tried to kill us for the second time,” Cole said not so under his breath.

“Ok fine,” Harumi snapped as she took a long sip of her tea before starting. “After I realized it wasn't you I should be fighting because all you had tried to do was stop the Great Devourer, and the overlord was the entire reason he existed…”

“Shocker,”Jay said sarcastically.

“Cool it lights the brain,” Harumi said as she resumed her story. “I realized I should be helping you guys take him down.”

“Which is when you started it to help us in the battle,” Zane stated.

“Precisely,” Harumi commented. “After The battle was finished, I had my fair share of crime to pay for.”

“Nominally trying to destroy all of ninjago, rasling the overlord, and killing thousands of innocent people,” Skylor said.

Harmuis faces went as bright as the red makeup she used to wear. “We all make mistakes, amber girl,” Harumi retorted. “Thankfully, Lloyd helped me stay out of jail as I rebuilt the life I used to have.”

“Was it with the rubble of the palace you destroyed?” Kai mutters to himself. Skylor snicked silently, as Harumi sent them a glare that would have killed an Oni.

“As I was saying, I managed to stay out of jail, and rebuild my life. I met a really nice guy who helped me see that revenge isn’t always the answer, and that sometimes we need someone to take care of, so that we can better ourselves for them,” Harumi said before taking another sip of tea.

“Who's the unlucky guy?” Cole asked as he munched on a bag of chips.

The team snickered slightly as Harmis eyes darkened. She took a calming breath before responding.

“His name is Vinnie. He used to work at MJTV news, before the merge that is,” Harumi said as he eyes looked far into the distance

“Wait, are you telling me you were dating the camera guy for Gale Gossip?” Jay asked.

“Yes, and we were more than dating, we got married a couple years ago!” Harumi said as she tried to keep her voice level. “He helped me see that I don’t need revenge or to hunt you all. He taught me that the best way to move on from something, is to work through it. He showed me how to take care of things. We even had a small dog called Garmadon. He was the most adorable black lab.”

“Woah Haurmi, I never thought I’d say this, but you have really changed,” Lloyd said, as he took a sip of his own tea.

“We were so happy, that was, until the merge,” Harumi said as she lowered her head with grief.

“What happened after the merge?” Euphasia asked. For her the merge had allowed her to be herself, but she knew not everyone was as lucky as her.
16 years ago, a merge quake opened above our house. A huge metal rod fell into the living room. Vinnie was watching TV, criticizing how the new cameraman was filming the disaster that was unfolding. VInnie had been given the day off, so that the new guy could have a shot at running the camera with Gale. I heard a scream from the living room and I rushed in. By the time I got into the living room, it was too late. He had been crushed by the beam.”

“Aww, I always liked that guy,” Cole said as he finished off the bag of chips he had been snacking on.

“What was even worse was that more debris was flying all around. Thankfully I was able to grab Violet before anything fell on us, but our house was destroyed,” Harumi continued.

“Wait, like me Violet?” Violet asked. All the adults jumped as they forgot the kids had been sitting there with them.

Harumi's eyes widened as they fell on the girl in front of her. Her platinum blond hair and light purple eyes were almost an exact reflection of Harumis on own characteristics.

“Violet?” Harumi said softly as tears came to her eyes. “Is that you?”

Violet's eyes grew wide as she recognized her features in Harumi. Violet looked at her parents who were looking back at her.

“Mom, Dad, what's going on?” Violet asked. Her parents looked just as confused as she was. Lloyds had an uneasy expression on his face as he took a step forward

“Look, there's been something I've been meaning to tell you guys,” Lloyd said as all the eyes in the room looked at him with confused expressions.

“Look guy, he’s officially turned into Master Wu,” Jay joked as everyone silently groaned.

“Umm… So Zane and Pixel remember how I told you that I found Violet abandoned in the woods?”

“Yes Lloyd I remember it precisely,” Pixel said as Zane grabbed her hand.

“Yeah, well, I lied. Harumi came to me and said that she was unable to take care of her child, because her husband had died and she needed me to find the child a home,” Lloyd said as Harumi looked at him with disdain.

“I ment with someone in the village or someone in Ninjago, not your friends,” HaurmI said under her breath.

“Anyway,” Lloyd continued, “I thought since you two would never be able to have a child of your own, you could raise her as your own.”

“But why?” Violet asked as she looked back at Harumi. “Look I don’t know what you’ve done in the past, but clearly you still have several mistakes you need to make up for.

Violet stood up, and ran out of the living room. Everyone stared at her retreating form as they all turned back to Harumi.

“I deserve that,” Harumi said as she took the final sip of her tea

“Yeah you do,” Kai said aggressively. “Now tell us the information so you can leave as soon as possible.”

Lloyd shot Kai a dirty look as Harumi drew in a big breath.

“Very well, I guess I should get to the point now that I have caused disruption.” Harumi responded as she handed her mug back to Lloyd.

“This Arin sounds a lot like me when I was against you all. He’s angry. You all promised to help him find his parents, and yet he found them dead. He feels inferior to you all, and he thinks the only way to create a better world is to get rid of you all.”

“It's that Ras that's gotten to him, he’s the one that's all about power,” Frak said.

“Power or not, he’s angry,” Harumi stated.

“So how do we stop him?” Cole asked

“You have to show him that you aren't the problem. That all you do is help, and that this Ras he follows is not the savior he needs. You have to show him that hate is not the answer,” Harumi said calmly.

“Who are you and whose brain did you steal?” Jay asked jokingly.

“Don’t worry, it wasn’t anyone important,” Harumi said sarcastically.

“I'll show you your room,” Lloyd said as he led Harumi out of the living room.

The team sent concerned glances at one another, as they all stood up.

“I think that's enough excitement for now,” Skylor said as she looked at the children. “Why don’t we all get some lunch?”

—

“Here's your room,” Lloyd said as he opened a door to the last room. The room had a green bed sheet on the bed, and a plant in the corner with a red flower.

“Thank Lloyd,” Harumi said as she sat on the bed, surveying the room. “Thanks for being so trusting.”

“Of course, people can change,” Lloyd said as he avoided her eyes. “Even evil people.”

“Lloyd,” Harumi said as she stood up. She placed a hand on his shoulder as he avoided her eyes. She placed her hand under his chin and guided his eyes up to hers. “You know I would never do anything to hurt you. I’ve changed.”

“I know,” Lloyd said as he gave her a weak smile. “I just have an issue trusting people.”

“I know, Lloyd, but we can get through this, I can help you,” Harumi said as she lowered her hands. She slipped her hands into lloyds, as she took a careful step towards him.

“Your part of the problem,” Lloyd said calmly as he stepped away from Harumi.

“Lloyd, wait,” Harumi said as Lloyd opened the door.

“What Harumi, what could you possibly say that could possibly make up for your actions. You sent Ninjago into a season of terror and killed thousands of people. What could you do now!” Lloyd tried to keep his voice level, but it wavered slightly as he finished his rant.

“Lloyd, I am sorry, I never meant to cause so much pain, I thought it would help me feel better, and it would be better than you all trying to save people from monsters, but… I came to be the person I wished to eliminate.” Harumi's eyes were wet with tears. She brushed her hand against her eyes to stop the tears from falling. Her light mascara was smeared over her eyelids.

“You messed up your makeup,” Lloyd said quietly, as he walked towards her. The door clicked closed.

“My lifes a mess,” Harumi said as she sat on the bed.

“You’ll get back on your feet, you always find a way,” Lloyd responded. A silence fell over the room, as Harumi regained her composure.

“Why don’t we get you some food?” Lloyd asked as he stood up.

“That sounds good,” Harumi said as she grabbed Lloyds hand to help her stand up.

____

“Violet?” Pixel asked as she opened the door to the new Samurai X cave. Vehicles in varian states of readiness were placed around the cave sporadically.

“Hey mom,” Violet said as her head popped up from behind a car. The paint was a vibrant purple, at least half of it was.

“What are you doing honey?” Pixel asked as she walked up to her daughter.

“Well, I was going to paint this purple, but after, well you know, I didn;t think it was the best idea.” Violet said as she looked at the car. “But then I remembered that I wanted to work on the engine, because I wanted it to be a stealth vehicle, so I started working on that.”

“Violet, come here,” Pixel said. Violet took off her apron, which was covered in grease. She set it to the side, before walking over to her mother.

“Are you doing okay?” Pixel asked as they sat down on the blue floor.

“Of course why wouldn’t I be?” Violet answered as she bruised off the question.

“Because you just learned that your biological mother is not who you thought she was,” Pixel said.

“How would you know anything about emotions?” Violet said as she turned away from Pixel.

“Honey, just because I am a robot doesn't mean that I can’t feel things,” Pixel said as she wrapped her mechanical arms around Violets.

“I know, it's just different,” Violet said as she returned the hug. Violet silently noted that the mechanical arms were cold against her warm skin.

“Now, tell me why you don’t want to paint it purple? UYou were so excited to paint it a couple days ago,” Pixel asked as she stood up. Violet grabbed her mothers arms as Pixel lifted her off the ground.

“Because Harumi likes purple, it was like her whole thing when she was the quiet one,” Violet said.

“A: good job in your history lessons,” Pixel said as she started walking towards the door. “B: You can choose who you are, your DNA doesn't make you who you are. You can choose your path in life.”

“I know, but seeing and hearing what she has done, makes me think that I'm capable of that too,” Violet said.

“You are capable of that, " Pixel responded, not sugarcoating the truth. “But you are also capable of great good. It all depends on you.”

“Thank Mom,” Violet said with a smile.

Pixel and Violet walked into the living room.

All of the couches were overturned, and the room was in shambles.

“What happened?” Violet asked as she looked at the mess.

“Um well,” Kai said as he walked into the room. “Chase is missing