Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Things were going perfectly fine until Lloyd got electrocuted.

It was a pretty strange situation already. Dragons were being attacked by strange rock monsters, so Lloyd and his new students were trying to take down the rock monsters.

That was before he heard someone yell out, “Get away from them!”

And he’d been knocked down.

After Sora helped him up, he turned around and saw that the fighter had Arin at sword point. Arin was struggling to break free.

Lloyd almost reached for his sword, before he realised who the fighter was.

Tattered blue and yellow gi with a lightning pattern. Freckles and brown curls peeking out around his light brown eyes. And he apparently had lightning powers as well.

It wasn’t possible. Of all the places.

He made eye contact with the fighter, who’s eyes went wide. Sora was sitting in her mech, waiting for instructions. Arin was still trying to break free.

“Jay?” Lloyd murmured, lowering his sword.

The sword fell to the ground. Arin was released and quickly ran away. And the fighter lifted his hood.

“Lloyd?”

Jay hadn’t changed much. The same gi he’d been wearing when they flew into the storm, with his yin/yang pendant on a chain around his neck. His curls were longer. He had new scars and more freckles.

But other than that, it was the same kid who Lloyd had spent most of his life with. And who he hadn’t seen in years.

“What are you doing?” Jay asked, his face furious, running forward and picking up his sword. “Why are you helping the enemy?”

“What? I’m not helping the enemy! You are!”

A moment of silence, then Lloyd found himself running into his arms.

Behind him, he could hear Arin and Sora talking, but he ignored them, feeling Jay hug him back tightly.

“First Master, I thought you were dead!”

“Same here, dude. Oh my gosh…”

They released each other and turned to Lloyd’s pupils, who were staring in confusion.

“Sorry about the confusion.” Jay said, waving. “I’m Jay, Master of Lightning. And I’ve known Lloyd here since he was like eight.”

Arin looked like he was about to explode out of excitement (clearly the ninja fan inside of him hadn’t faded yet). Sora still looked confused.

“Shut up.” Lloyd muttered, elbowing Jay, who chuckled. He looked back up at the kids. “Ah, introductions. Jay, these are my students. Arin taught himself a version of Spinijitzu, and Sora has an Elemental Power.” Arin waved, and Sora nodded. Riyu growled from beside the mech, and Lloyd added, “Oh, and Riyu.”

“Nice.” Jay said. “Sounds like I missed a lot. Any chance you’ve found any of the others? Cole or Zane or…”

He trailed off, his smile fading, and Lloyd felt his stomach drop.

Of course. Jay was missing his love.

“They’re all out there somewhere, I promise. We’re gonna find her and the others.” He assured his teammate. “I did find Kai, though.”

His stomach twisted again as he remembered the face of his fiery brother, who he hadn’t seen since he left to find the others not long before Arin and Sora came into his life.

Lloyd hoped he was safe. When he’d found Kai, he’d looked awful – his eyes bloodshot, covered in untreated wounds, barely able to walk. Lloyd had done his best to help him, but the stupid hot head was determined to find the others. He’d left about a day after returning to the monastery, and Lloyd hadn’t heard from him since.

“Yeah, I’ve seen him too.” Jay told him.

“You have?” Lloyd asked.

“Follow me. We need to update the Cragling King.”

Chapter Text

“Would you CUT IT OUT?!”

Kai stopped kicking the pod, glaring at Jay. 

“What do you want me to do? I’m bored! I’m not good at engineering stuff like you!” He whined.

Jay sighed and continued to work on opening the pod.

“Look, I need you to stop kicking the pod. I’m almost done.”

Kai huffed and mumbled, “Sure, sure.”

It had been a strange couple of weeks (though he supposed after the Merge, everything was new and strange).

After coming across Lloyd and his students in the Realm of Madness and finding Kai, they’d travelled to the Cloud Kingdom, where Jay had offered to stay behind and track down any information about Mergequakes and their missing friends.

Unfortunately, those scrolls had no information on what caused the Merge, or how to find people lost in it. Jay thought he was going crazy, so when a glowing golden ghost had appeared and led him underground to Kai for some reason, Jay hadn’t even blinked.

The two had argued for a few minutes, before the same ghost appeared and led the pair to a strange containment pod.

“Should we even be opening this?” Kai asked, his eyes scanning the pod. ‘What if there’s a monster or something inside? Maybe we should leave it alone.”

“Shut up and let me focus.” Jay snapped, inspecting the machine.

“You sound like Nya.” Kai muttered, turning around and inspecting the room.

Jay’s stomach twisted. He didn’t need the reminder that somewhere out there, his yang was missing. Maybe hurt. Perhaps even…

No. He refused to even consider that. He’d lost her three times. He couldn’t lose her again.

And he knew in his gut that the rest of his team was safe. Cole, Zane, PIXAL, Master Wu… they were all out there somewhere.

As he pressed several buttons, his hand went to his yang pendant, one of the only pieces left of his life before the Merge. The cold metal soothed him as he fiddled with the chain.

“You almost done?”

Damnit, he was going to strangle Kai.

“Yes. I just need some welding.” Jay said, releasing the chain and pointing to three spots. "Could you use your fire?"

Kai rolled his eyes but lit his hand on fire and pressed it against the spots. "There... there... and there. We done now?”

Once Jay was sure the pod was operational, he and Kai went down to the control panel.

“Just saying, if that thing kills us, I’m blaming you.” Kai said, as Jay pressed several buttons on the board.

“First Master, you’re a pain.” Jay muttered. He entered several bits of code, pressed a green button and waited.

Nothing happened for a moment, then the pod began to whir.

It lit up, creaked and opened right down the middle, revealing…

Zane.

There was no way. But here he was, in all his titanium glory, jumping down from the platform, his face full of shock and confusion.

“ZANE!” Kai yelled, pulling the nindroid into a hug. Zane took it, his eyes locking with Jay.

“Kai, Jay… where am I? What happened? Last I recall, we were flying into that flickering storm.” Zane said, his glowing blue eyes darting around the room.

“Zane, buddy, that was years ago.” Jay said, hugging the nindroid as well. “Dude, you’ve missed so much! And we…”

Then the walls began to shake.

All three ninja looked up at the ceiling.

“We will need to have a long discussion later about this.” Zane said, turning to face the control panel. “But right now, we need to help our friends.”

Zane pulled a cord from the back of his head and plugged it into one of the outlets, muttering to himself as his hands flew over the controls.

Jay glanced at Kai, who shrugged.

“Zane, what do you mean our friends need help?” Jay asked. Kai had mentioned something about Lloyd taking his new students to the kingdom that Sora was from, but how could Zane possibly know that?

He was used to Zane pulling cords out of nowhere and pressing random buttons, but… something felt off.

The walls continued to shake, and then so did the floors.

Jay could barely keep his balance as Zane said, “It is time for the Imperium Monastery to rise.”

Well, what the First Master did that mean?

Chapter Text

“MANAGER! WE’VE GOT A SITUATION!”

First Master, she hated this job. Whiny employees, boring paperwork and now another situation?

Ugh, she wanted to destroy something.

Agent Smith sighed as she stood up, tightened her ponytail and straightened her suit. Might as well get this over with.

She pushed open the door, looking up at the control platform. What did these idiots want now?

“What do you want, Sub-Agent Pretence?” She called, frowning.

No destruction. No lost people who were making a fuss about being sent to the wrong Realm. No burnt pizza. Just a bunch of agents standing around, looking confused.

“Agent Smith, a strange kid was just in here asking weird questions. He just ran off!” One of the agents called down, pointing to the exit.

Agent Smith rolled her eyes. Really? This was what she’d been disturbed for? Some random kid?

Children weren’t uncommon in this department – plenty of children had been scattered across the Realms, separated from their families and sent away from their homes. But normally, these idiots could handle a few teary or upset kids.

“Did this kid need Realm reassignment?” She demanded, crossing her arms.

The agents glanced at each other, then back at her. “No?” One called down.

“Then why should this be our department’s problem?” She asked.

“But…”

Agent Smith held up a hand to silence him.

“If the kid’s causing trouble, the other employees can stop him. You lot, get back to work. Don’t bother me again unless it’s important.” She told them, turning back to her office door.

As she took her seat and looked over the mountain of paperwork she had yet to finish, the curiosity overtook her again.

After what’d she just done, they shouldn’t bother her for a while. Perhaps she could practice again?

Her eyes fell on the glass of water beside her. She glanced toward the door – locked up. No one could find out.

Taking a deep breath, she lifted her hand and focused.

The water began to bubble, and several drops began to levitate.

Agent Smith moved her hand slightly to the left, and the water drops followed her command.

She still had no idea how she had this power. Then again, she had no memory of anything before the Administration, of her real home or family. Maybe more people with powers like hers.

A knock at her door startled her, and the drops landed on her desk.

She groaned as the door opened.

“What do you want?” She snapped.

Another agent walked in, carrying about three feet of paperwork.

“Got more work for you, Agent Smith. Also be careful – some weird ninja are running around, causing havoc. They’re not filling out the correct paperwork.” He mumbled, dropping the paper on her desk.

He glanced briefly at her, nodded, then walked out.

She hated this job.

Chapter Text

Jay had thought this day couldn’t get any weirder. First he’d run into a Djinn of all creatures (that had triggered some awful memories), then he and Sora had been attacked by weird spirit ghost things, and then they’d woken up in some weird place full of strange objects and creatures, with still no sign of the Dragon Core they were after.

He’d been to lots of strange places – he’d grown up in a junkyard, visited dozens of mysterious realms and mystical kingdoms alongside his friends, and after the Merge, had seen all kinds of weird places and people over the years.

A giant rock monster trying to crush him alive? That was new.

It was twice his size, covered in hard rock and had glowing golden eyes. Their weapons had no effect on it. He and Sora dodged his blows.

“What do we do?” Sora cried, her headphones close to slipping off as she jumped back up. The kid looked panicked – Jay had to make sure she didn’t get hurt.

Jay leapt into Spinjitzu, trying to see if he could knock over the creature, but no luck. All it seemed to do was mildly confuse the creature, who paused its attacks and glanced at Jay as he landed back on the ground.

“Spinjitzu?” It asked.

Wait. That voice. Jay hadn’t heard it in years, but he’d recognise it anywhere.

It couldn’t be possible.

“Cole? Is that you?” He called.

“Wait, Cole?” Sora said, as she hurried over to him, fixing her gi. “As in the missing Earth Ninja? Your old friend? Hero of Shintaro?”

“Shintaro?”

The creature stopped glowing, and the rocks crumbled. Out of the pile, a black-haired figure climbed out and jumped down to greet them.

It was him. Jay wanted to cry.

He laughed as he ran to hug the dazed Earth Ninja, who grinned as he hugged him back.

Cole hadn’t changed much. Slightly longer hair, his various scars still visible and his strength still obvious as he gripped Jay tightly, almost crushing him.

When Jay released him, Cole glanced at Sora. “Heh. Someone’s done her homework on me.”

Sora rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “My best friend’s a huge ninja fan.”

“How the… why the… what are you doing here?” Jay cried, almost giddy with excitement.

“Long story. I woke up here after the Merge, in the Land of Lost Things.” Cole explained. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Looking for something called a Dragon Core, but that’s not important.” Jay waved his hands impatiently. “We have so much to catch up on! We’ve found almost the whole team now – Lloyd and Kai and Zane and now you!”

“Dragon Core?” Cole asked, raising an eyebrow. “Kai and Lloyd? And who’s this kid?” He pointed at Sora.

“I’m Sora, one of the ninjas in training.” She said, offering her metal arm to shake (Jay still hadn’t figured out whether it was amour or a prosthetic limb, and she’d refused to confirm).

“New ninja? Awesome.” Cole answered, shaking her hand. “Sounds like I missed a lot. Anyways, let me show you around. You have to meet the Finders.”

Chapter Text

Jay was beginning to get frustrated. Where the heck was he?

He remembered being pulled into some weird cave by a massive tentacle, before waking up in some kind of dark void. Nothing and no one for miles.

No sign of his friends. But there was something else.

Long black hair. A familiar blue gi.

What?

Nya?

He couldn’t believe it. There was no way.

“NYA!” He called, running up to her.

She turned at the sound of his voice. She looked the exact same as she had when they’d flown into the Merge – barely aged a day. But her face – it wasn’t excitement or happiness, it was confusion.

“What? Who are you?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

He chuckled. “Nice one. I thought I was the jokester.” He wrapped his arms around her, but she shoved him away as though he was a disease.

“Get away from me! Stop acting like you know me!” She cried.

He’d never seen her so angry – not when Kai decided to fill her pillowcase with whipped cream for a prank, not when Lloyd had accidentally ruined her newest mech while training with Zane, not even when he had spilled coffee all over her favourite book.

This wasn’t anger… it was pure hate.

“Nya, what are you talking about?” He asked, feeling as though he was on the verge of throwing up.

“Go away, weirdo! You don’t know me!”

He wouldn’t deny that her words stung. Was this real?

No. Nya loved him. They’d been together for so long. She could never forget her yin.

This wasn’t real. This wasn’t real.

He shut his eyes, silently begging the First Master to get him out of this nightmare. Was the FSM even still around after the Merge? Who knew?

When he opened them again, a whole new terrifying situation greeted him.

Some strange creature with green lightning tentacles… had him and his friends in their grasp. His friends were still breathing, but their faces…

Jay quickly pulled himself free and shot a bolt of lightning at the creature. It roared in pain as the tentacles disappeared and his friends fell to the ground. They all cried out in shock.

Once Jay was sure the creature was gone, he helped up Lloyd. The Green Ninja looked on the verge of throwing up (heh, the Green Ninja turning green).

“What… was that?” Sora asked, pushing her headphones back over her ears and helping up Arin, who was breathing quickly.

“Did you guys see… weird things too?” Jay asked.

“Jay, what…” Kai murmured, his face pale and horrified.

“I think that creature must have shown us visions of what we fear most.” Jay realized, pain in his voice. “Nya… she was there, but she didn’t recognize me. I know my yang could never forget me, not after everything we’ve been through.”

Lloyd looked down at the ground. “I saw Ras… and Master Wu. They said awful things, reminded me of my insecurities.” He said quietly. “But you’re right. It couldn’t have been real.”

Jay went over to Kai, who was still lying on the ground.

“You alright, Kai?” Jay whispered, offering a hand.

The Fire Ninja shook his head quickly as he let Jay help him up. “The monsters… the bugs…”

Jay looked over at the rest of his friends, who seemed to be calmer now. They each gathered up their supplies and made their way through the cave, each ninja lost in their own thoughts.

A part of Jay was curious what his friends had seen, but part of him was also scared of what he’d seen.

He’d loved Nya ever since he’d first laid eyes on her. They’d faced cruel villains, gigantic monsters and so many different adventures together. There was no way she would ever forget him.

Right?

Chapter Text

Despite what they’d gone through to get up there, Jay had to admit, the City of Temples was beautiful.

He’d seen lots of amazing places – his own city, Shintaro, the Cloud Kingdom, Imperium. But this city was absolutely amazing.

After that Roby dude had sorted out that they were supposed to be there, the ninja had dropped their things in their room and then set off to explore the city.

“This is insane.” Sora murmured, her eyes darting over the different buildings and murals.

“Wow…” Lloyd said, smiling.

“Holy First Master…” Cole said quietly.

As they walked through the streets, Jay felt his gut twisting.

He wished Kai and Nya were here. They’d love this place.

Nya’s disappearance he had slowly adjusted to (though it still hurt to think about her), but Kai had abruptly been taken from them, knocked out by Ras and trapped in the Nether Space. Jay missed the Fire Ninja – his energy, his determination, his fire power, they’d be really useful in a tournament like this.

“Alright team, stay focused.” Lloyd said, turning to face everyone. “Remember, we’re not only here to win – we’re here to figure out who killed the Matriarch. We’ll meet back in about an hour, got it?”

The others all nodded, before setting off. Cole pulled Zane over to the food table (no surprise there, the Earth Ninja couldn’t resist cake when he saw it), Arin and Sora ran off and down an alleyway, Wyldfyre muttered something about going to talk to Roby (Jay guessed it might have something to do with the fact she’d been practically drooling when he’d first appeared) and Jay… didn’t know what to do.

That was until he saw a familiar face in the crowd. Everything froze – she was right there, walking down the street.

“Nya?” He said quietly, as he ran to follow her, ignoring Lloyd’s voice.

He made his way through the crowd, not taking his eyes off her.

It couldn’t be possible. There was no way. How could she…

“Nya!” He called out, grabbing her arm.

She turned around to reveal…

Some kind of Serpentine thing with long black hair. Not Nya.

But he could’ve sworn he’d seen her face…

Jay hurriedly apologised and ran back over to Lloyd, wanting more than anything to get out of this place. His teammate was admiring a stunning mural of a bunch of dragons but turned at the sound of Jay’s footsteps.

“Lloyd, I think I’m losing my mind.” Jay muttered, grabbing his teammate by the shoulders. “I swear I just saw Nya!”

“What?” Lloyd asked, frowning and shaking his head. “No. No, you’re kidding. Jay, this isn’t the time for jokes.”

“No, I’m not kidding!” Jay could feel his heart pounding as he shook Lloyd. “I saw her! She’s here somewhere!”

“Jay…”

“Why would I joke about this?! Please, you gotta believe me!”

A bell began to toll in the distance, and both ninja looked up.

Lloyd sighed and released himself. “We’ll have to discuss this later. Right now, looks like the tournament’s starting. Come on.”

-----------------------------------

“Okay, Zane’s defeat was harsh, but surely we still stand a chance, right?” Cole asked, glancing at Lloyd, the question prominent in his eyes.

They’d just witnessed their teammate get taken down in the very first match of the tournament. Zane had taken it in good stride, but Jay was furious, and the smirk that asshole Cinder was giving him wasn’t helping matters.

Lloyd looked lost as he murmured, “I don’t know. We’ll just have to move on. Besides, we’re not only here to win.”

Jay was seriously fighting the urge to run over and strangle Cinder. And that weird Imperium girl was giving him some smug looks too, as though she knew something he didn’t.

Seriously, how many people were on Ras’ team? Ras himself, Cinder, the girl and about half a dozen people in Wolf Masks. Those things seriously creeped him out.

“Who do you think’s fighting next?” Arin asked, glancing up at Roby, who was flying around on that damn hoverboard, making faces at his selfie stick.

“Who’s ready for the next battle? This one’s gonna be electrifying!” Roby called out, cupping his hand to his ear as the crowd screamed in excitement.

Jay leaned over to whisper to Cole, “Never thought I’d say this, but he’s even more annoying than Master Chen.”

Cole snorted, folding his arms over his chest. “At least Chen made good noodles. So far, Stang-zoot over here hasn’t got any redeeming qualities.”

That comment earned him a sharp elbow from Wyldfyre, who was gazing at Roby as though he was an almighty god.

“First up, his zappin’ will get you in a trappin’! We’ve got Jay Walker! Master of Lightning!”

Jay felt his stomach drop. Of course it was him.

His teammates called out encouragements as he walked down the stairs, breathing slowly.

He could feel his power under his skin, the lightning that had protected him and destroyed so many enemies.

He got this. He’d fought against enemies for years. A lot of it had been in various tournaments or games. There was no way he could lose.

The people on Ras’ side had all huddled around something, talking quietly.

“I’m guessing you’re facing someone on Ras’ side, bud.” Lloyd told him, as Jay began to stretch.

Jay scoffed. “I got this. I can take on anyone.” He called out, cracking his knuckles.

The huddle dispersed and someone under a black hood stepped out.

The hood fell, revealing…

No. No.

This had to be a nightmare. This couldn’t be real. Another fear vision.

Because no way was the love of his life, the first and only girl he’d ever loved, standing beside Lord Ras, wearing his uniform and a scowl on her face.

Behind him, his friends were crying out in shock too. So, it was real.

He could taste blood – he was biting the inside of his cheek. His heart was pounding, hands shaking, ears buzzing.

Jay could barely hear the sound of Roby’s voice over the buzzing in his ears.

“And his opponent, she’s slick, quick and good with her fists! Nya Smith, Master of Water!”

Ras had a smug look on his face.

He knew. It had been common knowledge before the Merge that the Elemental Masters of Water and Lightning were dating. Somehow, he’d tracked down Nya. Tricked her into believing his lies.

Now Jay had to beat her in a fight.

Nya raised her fist, and a bubble of water appeared. She locked eyes with Jay – hateful, determined eyes. Her fist clenched, and the water bubble exploded. She began to make her way down the stairs.

Jay desperately prayed this was a nightmare. And it was one he wanted to wake up from before he had to fight her.

Chapter Text

This wasn’t real. This wasn’t real.

Jay could barely hear Roby now. He was saying something about how this fight was supposed to work, and he could hear machinery whirring. All he could do was stare at her.

“Lloyd! I… I can’t fight her!” Jay cried, looking back at Lloyd, who had gone as pale as a ghost.

How could he hurt her?

“I don’t think you have a choice, Jay.” Lloyd said, shaking his head in disbelief.

Cole and Zane looked equally horrified. Arin, Sora and Wyldfyre looked confused mostly.

He and Nya were standing at arm’s length now. Her expression had changed – the hatred had been replaced with determination.

Did he even stand a chance against her? Before the Merge, Nya had the highest record of wins in the teams’ sparring matches – there’d even been several rounds where she’d fought all five of her teammates and won without even breaking a sweat. And that was when she chose not to use her powers.

Now, she was on Ras’ team. If Cinder and that Imperium girl were anything to go by, his training was brutal, powerful and based around strength.

She wasn’t going to hold back her punches.

“First one to get the dagger wins!” Roby called as the crowd cheered.

Jay looked up at the tower in the middle of the arena. Sure enough, a shiny dagger was sitting at the top.

He looked back at Nya, who smirked and bowed. Jay bowed back, feeling his insides continue to twist themselves into more knots.

The crowd began to cheer. He knew all eyes were on him, especially his friends. He couldn’t let them down.

The bell rang, and Jay barely had time to raise his fists before she tackled him.

Holy First Master, had she always been that strong? Jay couldn’t remember the last time he’d had all the wind knocked out of him like that. It hurt like heck.

“Nya!” He cried, jumping back up and grabbing her arm. “Wait! It’s me, Jay!”

“That supposed to mean something to me?” Nya demanded, ducking down and kicking his ankles, knocking him onto the ground once more.

“Please! You need to listen to me!” He said as he did a flip away from her. “Something’s wrong with you! You need to remember!”

“No way! I’m here for one thing – to win this tournament! And I intend to do that! I’ve never met you before now!” A ball of water appeared, and she shot it at his chest. He slid across the ground, trying to keep his balance.

Every word stung like a sharp blade pressing against his skin.

Oh wait, he was bleeding too. There were several cuts and bruises on his arms. Maybe going sleeveless wasn’t the best idea.

He leapt into Spinjitzu, trying to knock her over. All she did was dodge his moves.

“Nya, where have you been?” He asked, running up and grabbing her wrist.

It was as though someone had taken the image he had of his yang and destroyed it. She fought the same way she always had, but with more rage and strength. Her face had fresh scars he’d never seen before – what had happened to her after the Merge?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” She screamed, snatching away her wrist and punching him in the jaw. “Ras told me the truth! You ninja are liars and cheats!”

Jay glanced at Ras, who was smugly watching, clearly pleased with the manipulative trick he’d pulled.

Nya shot another blast of water at him. Shit, shit, shit. He was losing.

“Jay! Use your lightning!” One of his friends called.

Part of him wanted to, but he didn’t want to hurt her. His power could literally kill people.

“What did Ras tell you? He can’t be trusted! Why would you listen to him?” Jay cried, jumping into a flying kick.

Nya grabbed his ankle before he could land it and threw him against the tower.

Okay, that was hard.

He grunted in pain, raising his fists.

Maybe one shot wouldn’t hurt.

“Jay!” Cole cried.

Looking at his panicked teammate, Jay was reminded of the time he’d been forced to fight Cole in the Tournament of Elements.

Only difference was, both he and Cole had known who the real enemy was, and they’d worked together to win. And Cole hadn’t been corrupted by the villain who wanted him and his friends out of the tournament.

Come on, Jay, he thought to himself. Win the fight. You have to.

But how?

He felt his power crackling as Nya approached him, her hair a mess, breathing heavily.

Looking at her, at what she’d become, made him want to break down and run.

“I was once a great warrior, before I was trapped in an awful, complicated place called the Administration.” She hissed, brushing several locks of hair out of her face.

Could he dampen his power slightly, so it was just enough to knock her down?

“Then my master found me, trained me, reminded me of what I was capable of.” She picked him up by the throat, lifted him high and ran her nails down his cheek.

He cried in pain as the blood flowed down his cheek. The hand gripping his neck was pinching tightly.

She threw him far, as though he was nothing but a rag doll.

Shit.

His body ached, but he forced himself to stand back up. His breathing was fast.

He wriggled his fingers, using one hand to wipe the blood off his face and the other to summon his powers again.

“I owe it to Ras to win this tournament and take you and your pathetic friends down.” She reached into her cloak and pulled out…

No. No, no, no, no.

A Wolf Mask.

“Whatever it takes.” She hissed, locking eyes with him.

He could hear Lloyd yelling at him, begging him not to let her use it. In the corner of his eye, Ras had pulled out the Gong of Shattering.

Shit. She may not remember him, but he couldn’t let her shatter her goodness.

Jay finally caught his breath and sent a lightning bolt at her chest.

She cried out in pain as the Mask went flying, landing right beside the tower.

All the sounds faded for a minute – the cheering, his friends, Roby’s commentary. All he saw was Nya laying on the ground, her hands pressed against her chest, her eyes shut tight.

A white wedding dress. The sound of a gun being fired. The poison stain.

What had he done? He felt sick.

His friends were calling out to him.

“Come on, Jay!”

“Get the dagger!”

“You’re so close!”

Roby’s annoying voice was somewhere above them. He called out to the audience, “Ooh, tough moment, folks!”

He glanced up. The dagger was right there. But then he looked back at her.

Jay ran over. Oh, please be okay, please be okay, he begged silently.

She didn’t move. He crouched down, looking at her face, which was still scrunched up in pain. He didn’t see her leg move until it was too late.

It was like she’d combined all her hatred, all her anger, all her pain, into one kick. He went flying across the arena, landing painfully on his back.

He had never been in so much pain.

Wait. Shit. Where did the Mask land? He had to keep her from getting to it.

There it was, about five feet away from her. She ran over to it, slowly lifted it and locked eyes with him.

A sinister grin spread across her face.

By the time he’d gotten up, it was too late.

The sound of the gong echoed in his ears as the Mask melted into her face and her eyes began to glow red.

Nya stomped twice, and a fiery tornado of Shatterspin formed around her.

“Jay! Use your Rising Dragon!” Lloyd called.

Oh yeah. He forgot he could do that.

Deep breath.

Jay focused his remaining energy. His Rising Dragon appeared, lifting him into the air, flying into her Shatterspin and breaking it. Both ninja were knocked down.

When Jay opened his eyes, Nya was halfway up the tower.

He’d barely had time to process what he’d just witnessed. She’d done the most unimaginable thing he could think of.

Shit. Focus. Get the dagger.

He did a flip onto the tower, going as high as he could. With one hand he grabbed a pole, and with the other, he grabbed her ankle.

She looked down, trying to kick him in the face.

“Let go of me, you bastard!” She cried, pulling herself higher.

Jay didn’t let go. He pulled harder, slowing her down and letting him get higher. If he could drag her down, then he could get to the dagger.

Just as his fingertips were on the edge of the top, he felt her nails digging into his legs. Damnit!

He cried out at the pain and kicked at her face, not knowing or caring what happened, just wanting the pain to stop and the fight to end.

He hurriedly pulled himself up and grabbed the dagger off its glowing pedestal.

“And Jay is the winner!” Roby called, flying around on that stupid hoverboard. The crowd cheered and whooped.

Jay glanced down. Nya was standing at the bottom of the tower, her eyes still glowing red, blood dripping from her nose, glaring at him.

He felt sick. What had he done?

Roby pulled out the Elemental Trophy as Jay leapt down to the ground.

His face and body were aching, but he felt as though his heart was in the most pain, as he watched her.

“Alright, Nya, you know the drill.” Roby announced, as the trophy began to glow, removing her power from her body and transferring it to him.

He felt a sudden surge of energy flow through his body as the two elements merged. Wow.

“Now Jay is the Master of Lightning and Water!” Roby called, looking down at him with a grin. “Wanna give us a demonstration, Jay?”

Jay felt his stomach turn as he raised his fist and a ball of water appeared, flowing and spinning.

His friends were calling to him, but he needed to talk to Nya before she ran off. He hurried after her as she approached Ras, anger and guilt on her face.

Ras growled, “I brought you here for one purpose. You were supposed to be one of my greatest fighters, and you failed me. Pathetic.”

Nya’s eyes were on the floor as she muttered, “Yes, Lord Ras. I understand.”

Chapter Text

How had she lost to him?

She’d been training for weeks. She knew every move, every trick and every secret there was to learn under Lord Ras.

Her master had even pulled her aside before the fight, to warn her about what was coming.

“Jay Walker will try to play mind games with you; tell you lies about your past. Do not listen to him. Remember what I’ve taught you about those ninja. His fighting is weak compared to yours. Do not fail me.”

Her teammates also had some words of warning.

Nokt reminded her to win at any cost, and that failure would mean eviction from the Wolf Clan. She couldn't risk that.

Jordana had said that while Jay Walker was a strong fighter, just like the other ninja, he was mentally weak. She had been advised to use that to her advantage.

And Cinder had advised her to try Shatterspin, reminding her that one Wolf Mask could mean the difference between defeat and victory.

As she had trained, Ras’ words echoed in her mind – Do not fail me.

That was something you learned on day one when Ras was your teacher – do not fail. Smith had seen firsthand what happened to those who did.

She had fought so well. She’d been winning too. That stupid ninja… how had he even wounded her, let alone defeated her?

Her amour was dented. Her face and hands covered in blood. Her nose bleeding a lot - had that little prick broken it?

And everyone was looking at her with disappointment. The knot in her stomach seemed to tighten.

Ras was glaring at her. “We will discuss this later, Smith. For now, you are dismissed.” He turned away, hissing something at her teammates, who all hurried to follow him back to their quarters.

Great. Now what?

Maybe it had something to do with the fact she’d shattered her goodness or whatever, but now everything around her seemed way too loud and annoying.

The crowd in the stands were dispersing, excitedly chatting. Across the arena, the ninja team were still staring at her, eyes wide with shock. That weird Roby guy was flying around on his hoverboard, posing at the camera.

And her pathetic excuse for an opponent?

He was running over, his eyes full of tears, half-soaked in blood.

“NYA! WAIT!” He cried, hurrying over.

She scoffed. Wow, he was pathetic.

“What do you want?” She demanded, taking a step back as he approached. “You already won. Just leave me alone.”

“Please, just…” He moved closer but hesitated when she moved away again. Tears were falling from his eyes.

Did personal space not exist in this guy’s life?

“You need to know the truth.”

Smith rolled her eyes. “My master told me the truth. Why should I trust you?”

“Nya, I…”

“And stop calling me Nya! You won! You have my powers! Just go away already!”

She turned to leave but froze when his hand grabbed her shoulder.

Maybe it had something to do with him being the Master of Lightning, but his touch seemed to send an electrical shock through her body.

“Just listen to me, please.”

Ugh. Fine.

She turned around, feeling more and more disgusted with every second.

“I understand you’ve… lost your memories or something.” He said, wiping the blood from his cheek. “The Merge seriously messed you up. But we can fix it. Just… come back to us, please.”

“To you?” The idea of going anywhere with him was ludicrous. “And why would I do that?”

His eyes widened. Big brown eyes that reminded her of a whiny child’s.

“Because… because I love you.” He murmured, lifting his hand to her face. “I will always love you, til the day I die.”

Love? Was that the emotion he’d been feeling when he’d broken her nose, thrown her across the arena and taken her powers?

There was only one emotion she was feeling right now, and that was hatred. She hated that he’d beaten her. She hated how he was looking at her, as though she’d just kicked his dog. And she hated those stupid fucking ninja.

She shoved off his hand, locked eyes with him and hissed, “And I will always hate you.”

Then she hurried off before he could try any more mind games.

--------------------------

Several hours had passed since Jay and Nya’s fateful fight, and things… were not going well.

Sora knew that they’d been dating before the Merge (Arin had mentioned something about a yin and yang situation), and Jay definitely wasn’t handling himself well.

After the fight, he’d ran off to their quarters and locked himself in the bathroom. Cole and Zane had tried to reason with him, but nothing. He hadn’t come out for dinner either, and Sora was becoming worried.

After joining the team, Sora had grown to really like Jay. He was like the older brother she’d never had – funny, smart, great with tech (they’d had lots of chats and worked together on a bunch of projects) and just all-around a great guy. She could see how Nya had fallen for him.

Sora had also seen what Jay had done after the fight – he’d tried confronting his former yang, telling her he loved her, and her response had been brutal.

She hated seeing him in so much pain. Maybe she could try…

No. No way. If his best friends couldn’t get him to talk, there was no way she could.

But it was worth a shot.

Everyone else was settling down for bed – Wyldfyre in the shower (her singing could break mirrors), Arin playing a card game with Riyu (Sora had no idea why – everyone on the team knew that dragon was notorious for cheating) and Lloyd talking quietly with Cole and Zane.

The noises from the bathroom had quietened. There’d been rustling and crying earlier, but now there was nothing.

She raised her fist to the door but paused.

Should she knock? He’d probably want some warning, right? Her stomach felt uneasy.

Get it together, Sora, she told herself. You need to be strong for Jay.

Three quiet knocks.

“Jay?” She said. “It’s Sora. Just wanted to come and check on you.”

Silence.

“Okay, uhhh… clap three times if you don’t want me to come in.”

More silence. That wasn’t a no.

Her hand fell to the door handle, turning it slowly.

The door creaked as she pushed it open. And what she found inside made her sick.

Jay clearly hadn’t dealt with his wounds, because his arms and face were soaked in blood, with several drops of it on the floor. He was curled up in a ball, his eyes wide and glassy, tears streaming down his face.

Sora couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped her mouth as she hurriedly closed the door. She'd never seen him look so messed up - not when Kai had gone missing, or when he'd met Arrakore for the first time.

“Holy moly…”

Should she do something about the wounds? Or talk to him? Maybe she should get Lloyd – he was way better at this stuff then she was.

She took a step forward and knelt down.

“Jay? Can you talk to me?” She asked quietly.

No response. He didn’t even blink.

“Okay, I’m going to try and deal with your wounds. Is that okay?”

Jay finally looked up, meeting her eyes. He slowly nodded, and his lips parted slightly.

“Sora…”

“Hey buddy.” She said, trying to put on a smile. “What’s going on?”

“I… I messed up.”

Sora felt around in her belt for some of her spare bandages (between ninja hijinks and accidents with her tech, she’d learnt the hard way it was best to keep clean bandages on her person just in case). “No, you didn’t. You couldn’t have known that was going to happen.”

“I won. So… why does it feel like I lost?” He asked, watching her as she began to unroll a bandage.

“It’ll be okay.” She told him. “Hold still.”

Jay winced as the bandages were applied.

“She shattered her goodness, Sora.” He whispered, his eyes drifting to the floor. “The Nya I knew is gone. All I have left is her power and my memories of her.”

He lifted one hand, flicked his wrist and a bubble of water appeared.

It felt so wrong, seeing Jay control water. He was fast-moving, quick-talking and powerful when he struck – that was probably why he’d been chosen to be the Master of Lightning.

He closed his fist, and the bubble disappeared.

“This is all my fault.”

Sora took a breath in. “I know it looks bad, Jay.” She said, using a piece of bandage cloth to wipe the blood off his face. “But if anyone can bring her back, it’s you.”

“How?”

She felt her heart crumble with that last word.

“Ninja never quit, right? From what Arin’s told me; this isn’t the first time one of you has turned evil.” She said, wiping off the last bit of blood and throwing out the now-bloody piece of cloth.

Ugh, that was not reassuring at all. The last thing he needed right now was a reminder of his old life.

A little smile crept onto Jay’s face. “Yeah. I suppose you’re right.” He looked back up at her and wiped his tears. “Thanks, Sora.”

She couldn’t stop a little smile creeping in herself. “Anytime, Zaptrap. You need anything?”

He thought for a minute. “Any chance of some food? Heard Arin made pie.”

Sora laughed as she stood up. “I’ll bring you a piece.”

“Thank you.” He said hoarsely.

As she went to open the door, she heard him say, “You know, I think she’d have really liked you. In another universe.”

She turned back around to see him slowly standing up, his smile returning.

“Really?” She asked. From what she’d heard from the others, Nya was strong, powerful and super intelligent. She’d also just beaten the shit out of Jay, so…

That wasn’t her fault. Sora told herself. She lost her memories and Ras corrupted her. The real Nya wouldn’t do that.

“Yeah.” Jay said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You’re both super smart, great with tech and she doubted her powers in the beginning too.”

Sora rolled her eyes as she went to open the door. She already had Lloyd teasing her about how she’d used to insist she didn’t have a power in the beginning.

“You’d have really gotten along with her.”

“Hey, Arin. Any chance you’ve got some leftover pie?”

Her best friend looked up from where he sat on his bed, reading a brochure about the Tournament of Sources. Riyu was currently annoying a freshly showered Wyldfyre, who had at least half a shampoo bottle’s worth of soap bubbles still in her hair.

“Yeah, there’s a bunch in a container beside Riyu’s bed. Don’t know if it’s still there, though.” He explained. “He’s been nibbling at it all night. Why?”

Sora glanced over at Lloyd and the other two, who were still quietly talking in a huddle.

“I was just talking with Jay.” She said quietly, walking over to Riyu’s bed.

“Oh wow. How’s he doing?” Arin asked, grimacing and chucking the brochure onto his bed.

“Really bad.” She murmured. “I helped with his wounds and tried to talk to him, but… I don’t know. You know I suck at comforting people.”

“You’re fine at it, Sora.” Arin assured her, smiling and coming over to her. “At least you helped. Besides, it has been scientifically proven that my pies can cheer up anyone.”

“Scientifically proven, huh?” Sora smiled as she picked up the container, which still had a massive slice of pie inside.

“Yeah! Pies are the solution to everything!”

Sora felt her heart crumble again as she took the container back down to the bathroom.

Everything, huh? She thought.

I’m sorry Arin, but I don’t think pies can fix shattered goodness or broken hearts.

Chapter Text

“How big do you reckon this place is?” Kai asked.

It felt as though he and Bonzle had been wandering this place for ages. Every step ached. Every staircase seemed to go on forever.

“Who knows?” Bonzle shrugged (could skeletons shrug?). “We could wander this place forever and never find an exit.”

Kai sighed. He knew that, but it was still frustrating to think about.

This place was uncomfortably reminding him of the Land of Monsters. Scary things around every corner, darkness, endless fear and pain and not knowing what was happening with his friends on the outside.

But at least he had Bonzle. Sarcastic and kind of gloomy, yes, but at least a familiar face in this darkness – sort of. He knew vaguely she was one of Cole’s new friends from the Land of Lost Things, and they’d become close in the time he’d been trapped in here.

She’d explained the whole thing with her being a super-powerful spell that had originally been the reason the Forbidden Five had been trapped, and how she’d briefly befriended Master Wu in her travels. Kai was just relieved to know he wasn’t alone in this place of horrors.

How long had it been? Days? Months? Maybe even years. Were his friends still alive, still fighting?

If he eventually got out of here, would the world even be the same?

He’d never gotten to actually say goodbye. To tell his brothers how much he appreciated them. To remind Wyldfyre and the other new ninja to stay strong and brave.

He still hadn’t found most of his family either – PIXAL, Master Wu, his parents…

Nya.

Was his sister out there somewhere? She had to be. If he knew her, she would never give up on them.

“Kai!”

Wait a minute.

Kai felt his stomach drop at the sound of that voice. It sounded so panicked, so real.

His head shot around, and he saw an unbelievable sight.

Lloyd, his little brother, his leader, his teammate, standing in one of the doorways, his face overcome with relief.

It wasn’t the same Lloyd he’d left at the ritual. He wore a sleeveless gi, had bandages all over his arms and his eyes were glowing purple, for some reason.

“What?” Kai muttered. He took a step back as Lloyd hurried over, smiling wide.

This couldn’t be real. Lloyd couldn’t be here. It was…

An illusion.

Just like the lake.

The voices of his friends, telling him it was safe and he could finally join them. The fire mech’s faint voice, warning him of the danger. The freezing cold water.

The roar of the beast. An explosion. The dragon screaming at him to finish this…

Shit, shit, shit.

His heartbeat was loud in his ears. He grabbed Bonzle’s wrist.

“Kai, it’s me! Hurry, we need to get out of here!” Lloyd cried, gesturing frantically to the doorway he’d come through.

“No…” Kai whispered, feeling sick. This place was awful enough – now it was taunting him with hope in the form of his brother. “This isn’t real…”

“What do you mean, a way out?” Bonzle asked, stepping forward. “That shouldn’t be possible.”

“Riyu gave me a spark – it helped me reach the Nether Space, but we only have a few minutes.” Lloyd explained, his glowing eyes wide. “We need to go! Ras is trying to release the rest of the Forbidden Five!”

Kai could taste the vomit in the back of his throat.

“You’re not Lloyd…” He shook his head desperately. “You can’t be here…”

“Kai, please…” Lloyd said. “We’re running out of time. I promise you, I’m real.”

A part of Kai wanted to believe that. He’d seen what Riyu’s power could do to Sora and Lloyd’s powers, and the fear in his brother’s eyes looked so real.

“Bonzle?” He asked, turning to the skeleton.

She frowned. “He’s real. I don’t understand how he got here, but that is the Green Ninja. Maybe he’s right.”

Kai turned back to Lloyd, who had his hand held out in offering.

“If you’re the real Lloyd…” Kai said, taking a step forward, still holding Bonzle’s wrist. “… tell me something no one else knows.”

Lloyd raised an eyebrow, thought for a second, then replied, “You have a scar on your back that I gave you back when Morro possessed me. It’s shaped like a sword, and you nicknamed it Swordy.”

Oh First Master, it was him.

Kai wanted to cry as he threw himself into Lloyd’s arms. He was getting out. He wasn’t going to die here.

He released him, laughing. “It is you!”

“Yeah, it’s me! Now come on!” Lloyd cried, grabbing his arm and pulling him through the doorway, which had begun to glow a bright white.

The next few minutes were a blur. He remembered running through the doorway and landing in some kind of temple.

Nokt was there – that asshole. His hands were glowing about four different colours. And so were his friends – all wearing the same sleeveless gis as Lloyd, and all lighting up when they saw him and Bonzle run in.

“Kai!”

“Bonzle!”

“Yes!”

As he looked around the room, he saw Riyu, his eyes glowing white and roaring in excitement.

He made a mental note to thank that dragon later. Maybe give him some scritches and hugs.

One problem at a time. He turned his attention to Nokt as he lit his hands on fire and leapt into the air.

“Hey, asshole!”

------------------------------------------------------

“So…. I see I didn’t miss anything important while I was gone?”

He’d barely gotten the words before most of his team had tackled him in a giant hug. A laugh escaped from his throat.

“Yeah, yeah, I missed you all too! Alright, easy, easy.”

After they all got off him, he barely had time to blink before Wyldfyre had jumped onto his back, rambling all kinds of nonsense.

“I can’t believe you’re alive oh my gosh you’ve missed so much we entered a tournament and there was this really cute boy oh and Ras was there and he was annoying but I fought a buncha people and I won a bunch of fights and-”

He chuckled and turned his head to face his student. She had clearly also changed while he had been gone – her hair was in a different style and she wore a new gi – but she was still the same chaotic fiery kid he’d grown attached to. Her shit-eating grin, her fiery red eyes, her various scars – they all were still the exact same.

“Ha-ha, I missed you too, kiddo. You’ll have to explain it all later.” He told her.

She jumped off his back and hugged him quickly, before hurrying over to a black-haired boy in a weird red and purple gi who was clutching a trophy.

A minute ago, that trophy had (presumably) returned all the Elemental Powers to their rightful owners. Kai had seen the way his friends had each entered the battle with a new determination once their powers were back.

He turned to look at the rest of his friends – Cole, Zane, Lloyd, Sora and Jay. They all started talking at once.

“Dude, how the hell are you still alive?”

“We found a Dragon Matriarch dead-”

“It is good to see you, brother.”

“… and then we entered another tournament…”

“We need to catch you up on everything-”

He laughed again. He was alive. He was back in the real world.

He looked around and saw Bonzle standing to the side, looking uncertain. He broke out of the huddle his friends had formed around him and made his way to her.

“Thanks…” He said quietly. “… for helping me.”

She gave him a small smile, before proceeding to almost get knocked over by a tight hug from Cole, who was laughing.

He sighed.

It had been several hours since Kai and Bonzle had followed Lloyd through that strange doorway, and it turned out, yes, a lot of important stuff had happened while they’d been gone.

After the Matriarch of Riyu’s tribe had died, the ninja had been advised by one of the Source Dragons themselves to enter something called the Tournament of the Sources, in order to find the killer and get some answers.

A lot had happened at this tournament, including Ras and his team competing, Arin going missing when the tournament ended and a variety of competitors showing up, such as Euphrasia, Geo and Empress Beatrix’s sister, apparently.

This tournament was similar to the Tournament of Elements they’d participated in several years ago, this time with the twist that when a fighter lost, their powers were transferred to the victorious fighter. There was the similarity that the person in charge was also behind a whole bunch of evil tricks and sabotage, so…

Kai felt like he was spinning in circles as Cole and Lloyd explained it all to him after Sora had accepted her medal. Zane was off somewhere with the aforementioned tournament champ and Riyu, Wyldfyre was chatting with the Roby guy and Jay was sitting on the steps, looking lost in thought.

Actually now that he thought about it, Jay had been rather quiet for the last few hours. Obviously, he’d been excited to see Kai again, but once all the excitement was over, he’d gone completely silent, which was rather unusual for the Lightning Ninja.

“Is Jay alright?” He asked, looking at Cole and Lloyd, who shared a glance.

“Not really. He had… some trouble during the Tournament.” Cole said quietly, his brow furrowed.

“What happened? Did someone hurt him?” Kai knew from experience that Jay only shut down like this when he was badly hurt or upset.

“You could say that.” Lloyd said, frowning.

Kai turned and walked over to Jay, who had tears in the corners of his brown eyes.

“You alright, Zaptrap?” Kai asked, crouching down and sitting beside his brother.

Jay stared off into space and said quietly, “There’s… something I need to tell you.”

Oh great. That phrase never meant anything good.

“Are you dying?” Kai asked.

“NO!”

“Are you pregnant?”

“Am I what? NO!”

“Did you kill someone?”

“Dude, this is serious!”

“Okay, okay, I’m just joking with you.” He raised his hands in defense, chuckling.

“It’s about Nya.”

That got the Fire Ninja’s attention. “What?” His hands dropped and he shuffled closer.

“I… saw her, at the Tournament. But she wasn’t herself.”

How had they seen Nya and she wasn’t here right now? He’d chatted with most of the other Tournament competitors, but his sister hadn’t been among them. Surely, if they’d found her, she’d have rejoined the team.

“What do you mean?”

Wasn’t herself? What did that mean?

“Kai… she was on Lord Ras’ team. I think she must have lost her memories or something, because she didn’t recognise any of us.”

No…

Ras’ team? Lost memories? This didn’t make any sense.

“Jay, are you being serious?” He asked, hoping that Jay was about to laugh and explain he was joking. His stomach was twisting.

But he couldn’t be. He’d never seen Jay look so serious, and tears were slowly making their way down his cheeks.

“I had to fight her, Kai. It was terrifying. I’ve never seen her so angry. In the middle of it, she pulled out a Wolf Mask and…”

“Performed Shatterspin.”

Kai remembered what they’d learnt about the technique of Shatterspin – it shattered every bit of goodness in your soul and corrupted you. And Nya had done it.

It felt as though spiders were crawling all over his skin with every word. He was aware that Cole and Lloyd were watching him, their faces sympathetic.

Jay finally looked at him, his eyes watery.

“Kai, I’m sorry, I tried to stop her but… she was vicious. She called me a liar; told me Ras was her master now and then tried to kill me.”

Now it felt like the spiders were biting. Everything ached. His insides were twisting.

Nya, his little sister, the kid he’d raised, the reason he’d become a ninja, the smartest and most determined girl he’d ever seen… had shattered her goodness and almost killed Jay.

It couldn’t be real.

“Jay, where is she now?” Kai asked, fighting to keep his voice calm. Jay was already on the verge of a breakdown – he couldn’t lose it too.

“I don’t know.” Jay whimpered. “She left the Tournament after I won the fight. She could be halfway across the Merged Lands by now.”

Kai was shaking.

“Before she left, she told me she hated me. That she would always hate me. I… I’m sorry.”

Jay began to sob, and Kai, not knowing what else he could do, lifted his aching arms and wrapped them around his sobbing brother.

They sat like that for a few minutes, before they both looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps.

It was Cole, his arms crossed.

“Hey, uhhh, sorry to bother you guys, but Jay, Lloyd needs to talk to you.”

Kai released him and watched as he hurried over to Lloyd. Cole said nothing as he sat beside him.

“Cole, please tell me he was joking.” Kai said quietly. Jay had a knack for lying and bad jokes, but Cole was the most honest person Kai knew. If this had actually happened…

“Kai, I…”

“Tell me that he was lying. Tell me that Nya did not shatter her goodness and fight for Ras’ team. Please.”

He felt sicker than he’d ever felt before – as though someone was continuously punching him in the stomach. As though someone was stabbing blades into every part of his body.

“I’m sorry, dude. I saw it with my own eyes. You know Jay wouldn’t joke about something like this.”

His heartbeat was ringing loudly in his ears. He wanted to go back to two minutes ago, when he’d been happy and relieved to be free. When he’d been unaware of what had happened to his sister.

He’d finally gotten the answer. An answer he didn’t want.

If he’d been there, maybe he could have stopped her, convinced her to listen to reason. Shit.

He could faintly feel Cole’s strong arms wrapping around him and pulling him into a hug. The feeling was faint compared to the ringing in his ears and the pain in his heart.

She was gone.

Why couldn't he cry, why wasn't he crying, what was wrong with him, he was so damn stupid...

“It’s okay.” Cole muttered. “We’re gonna find her.”

That snapped him out of his thoughts.

“How?” Kai demanded, looking up at his teammate. “Jay said she’d left in the middle of the Tournament. And if she’s really lost her memories, she’s not going to want to go anywhere with us.”

Cole shrugged. “Well, if anyone can bring her back, it’s you and Jay. She can’t have gone far. Beside, ninja never quit.”

Chapter Text

Mornings sucked.

As she rolled out of bed (if you could call a crappy mattress on a dirty floor a bed), she was hit with a flash of pain when she stood.

Old wounds… though she couldn’t tell which one was bothering her this morning. Was it the gash on her back? Or the bruises she’d gained during her training sessions with Ras?

Pulling off her singlet, she saw it.

The enormous burn mark on her stomach.

The one that stupid Lighting ninja had given her, when he’d suddenly remembered he had powers.

She scowled as his face flashed through her mind and she dug through her pile of clothes.

Where was that bastard now? Had he made it much further in the Tournament, or been eliminated? What about the rest of those ninja?

Smith pulled on her usual outfit – a silver and blue armoured gi with various ocean and weapon designs embroidered onto it (thanks to a Serpentine seamstress who lived above a weapons store – it had cost Smith about a week of earnings, but it was absolutely worth it), the mask that came with it and her black combat boots.

That stupid wound continued to ache as Smith opened the blinds, her thoughts refusing to drop the subject of Jay Walker.

He may have been the most pathetic of the ninja, but he could really pack in a lightning bolt. It still ached even after months.

On a body covered in wounds and scars, that one stuck out to her. At least she knew where that scar came from – most of them were a mystery.

Some kind of faint poison stain on her chest. Various gashes and cuts all over her arms and legs. Burns on her hands. Little marks on her fingers.

Smith shook her head, trying to shove those thoughts out of her mind. She had work to do.

While pulling her hair into its usual tight bun, her eyes glanced over the bulletin board, a massive wooden board she’d found hidden in a cupboard.

The original owner of this place must have left it behind, and Smith had pinned a variety of things to it – blueprints for machines she planned to create, a poster for the upcoming Mech Master 5000, newspaper clippings and images of the people she wanted dead.

The ninja were on there, of course. With their reputation, they were all in the papers, so pictures of them weren’t hard to find. But the others…

Her former teammates. Cinder, Jordana, Nokt and Lord Ras. These had been found through security footage and private files (private? Please, it was easy to hack – her time in the Administration had finally been useful for something).

They needed to suffer. She’d never liked them to begin with, but after her embarrassing defeat, all they’d done was laugh and mock.

It was their fault she’d ended up here. She could have been the greatest Elemental Master of all time, all-powerful and stronger than everyone around her.

But that stupid Jay Walker had gone and fucked it all up. And that was why his picture had a dagger sticking out of the middle of it – because she wanted him dead the most.

Not everything had turned sour yet. After being eliminated and sent away, Smith had been lucky to find an empty building in some place called the Crossroads, which was filled to the brim with hundreds of different species and weird things.

And she’d found a use for her skills.

Making her way downstairs to her shop, her eyes glanced over all her equipment and tech, all adorned with her symbol – a sword with an ocean wave wrapped around it.

Every artist needs a symbol, after all.

Turns out, people in the Crossroads were willing to pay a lot for good vehicles and machines, so Smith had found a way to earn money and lay low while coming up with her next move.

As she went around, tidying the shelves and fixing up the displays, her thoughts drifted back to that.

What was her next move?

She’d barely been able to find anything on the Tournament of Sources or on the current status of the ninja team (except from videos from someone called Intelligent George, who rambled on about a dead Matriarch and something about the return of the Fire Ninja), so they clearly weren’t an option.

And no one had heard anything about the others. As if they'd all disappeared.

She rolled up the metal door and went into her workshop out back, which currently housed a mech suit she’d been working on.

The process seemed… familiar. Connecting wires, welding metal, painting wave designs… as though her body had made this kind of thing before.

But that couldn’t make sense, Smith thought as she picked up a welding torch. I’m from the Administration, and not even the Unauthorised Technology or Weaponry Department. None of this makes any sense.

Yet it couldn’t be denied – her designs were brilliant.

As though she'd been making these sorts of things for years.

Over the next few hours, she continued working on her mech in-between serving customers – pieces of amour to an angry Hypnobrai, a fire-powered motorbike to a wealthy businessman and returning a car she’d been repairing to its owner, some woman wearing a fancy ballgown.

Around midday, after the paint on her mech had dried, Smith realised she was running low on metal scraps – and food. She hadn’t eaten a proper meal in days – too busy with her shop and her planning.

She could use a walk anyways.

Smith ensured her shop was locked and bolted, before making her way to the centre of the Crossroads, where all the food trucks and various market stalls were set up, with dozens of signs advertising different things.

A Underworld stall selling bone soup… a Shintaro booth with some kind of fancy pie… the weird Labbo guy holding a sign that said something about an arcade…

Call her picky, but Smith preferred human food. That was one thing she disliked about the Crossroads – all the food was wacky and gross. Give her noodles or ramen any day.

After about five minutes of wandering around, she finally found something resembling a normal looking food place.

A noodle cart with the sign CHEN’S NOODLES above it.

Seemed simple enough: just a little cart with a wok and containers of food. The cart looked like it had been through a few battles itself – various dents and signs of damage, a poster of different dishes and prices stained with sauce and creaky wheels.

The owner – a red-haired girl with a white apron over a red and gold jumpsuit – smiled as she handed out food to a mother and her little girl.

Something itched in the back of her mind. This girl seemed familiar.

No. Couldn’t be.

But the way she stirred the noodles… the way her red hair swung around in its ponytail… the faint orange glow in her eyes…

Smith joined the line behind four people to get food from the cart. It was the only food that had actually piqued her interest, and it smelled delicious.

As the line moved up, Smith pulled out several coins from her pocket. Only five – she’d forgotten to grab more before she left. Damnit.

Seemed like the only thing she could afford was the small fried rice, which sounded good. Maybe she could try and steal a dumpling – the owner surely wouldn’t notice.

Once she’d reached the front of the line, Smith pulled down her mask and looked up to suddenly make eye contact with the owner, who dropped her wooden spoon in the wok and froze.

“Nya?” She said, her jaw practically on the floor.

Smith frowned at that. How could this girl know her real name? The few people in the Crossroads who knew her by name called her Smith, or maybe “OI! YOU!” if they were pissed at her.

The owner girl laughed and ran around the front of the cart, her arms outstretched.

But Smith knew that trick. She kicked the girl roughly in the leg, causing her to halt.

“Do I know you, noodle girl?” Smith asked, as the girl winced in pain.

“Nya, it’s me! Skylor! Your friend!”

Smith scoffed. “Never seen you before in my life.”

“What are you doing here?” Skylor asked, rubbing her leg.

“I live here.”

“In the Crossroads? Why aren’t you at the Monastery?”

“Why would I live in a monastery? I’m not a monk.” This conversation was going downhill fast. Smith needed to get her food and get going.

“Look, can I just get a small fried rice, please?” Smith asked, holding out her five coins.

The Skylor girl looked like she wanted to say more, but just sighed and walked back around her cart, pulling out a bag of rice.

Several minutes later, Smith had a steaming bowl of fried rice in one hand and a fork in the other. She went to hand over her coins, but Skylor just shook her head.

“It’s on me, Nya.”

“Don’t call me that.” Smith snapped. “Take the damn coins.”

Hesitantly, Skylor held out her hand. After Smith handed her the coins, she walked off, ignoring the fact that she knew Skylor’s eyes were still following her as she walked around the corner back to her shop.

-----------------------------------------------------

Out of all the places she’d visited during the Merge, the Crossroads were definitely Skylor’s favourite.

After the Merge had torn her world apart and destroyed her restaurant, Skylor had been relieved to realise her trusty noodle cart had made it through, and had been wandering the Realms for years, making her family’s recipes and feeding thousands of different people every day.

The Crossroads were the best though. The people were friendly, the sights were gorgeous, and her cart was keeping her in business with all the different kinds of people living there. 

Skylor had settled into a routine, and everything had seemed normal, until Nya appeared out of nowhere.

She looked nothing like how Skylor remembered. Her long black hair was pulled back in a bun, she wore a fancy gi with even fancier armour and she had a scowl on her face like she was constantly smelling something bad.

The interaction hadn’t gone well. Skylor had tried hugging her and talking to her, but Nya seemed like a whole different person.

Something wasn’t right.

After she left, taking a small bowl of fried rice (her usual, of course), Skylor started thinking.

She’d heard the rumors that the ninja were back, but between travelling and all the chaos of the Merge, she’d had no time to try and locate the Monastery to see if any of them were still there.

But there might be another way.

After putting up her BACK IN 30 MINS sign, she walked down the street and found a quiet street corner, before pulling out her phone and scrolling through her contacts.

It took her a minute to find the one she was looking for.

Lloyd G

Chapter Text

Kai had been sleeping peacefully for once.

First Master, he hadn’t slept this well in ages. He’d always had trouble sleeping before the Merge, and then the Land of Monsters and the Nether Space hadn’t exactly been peaceful places to nap. How long had it been since he could sleep without being swallowed by darkness, or feeling blood on his hands?

It felt as though he was floating on a cloud.

Until a scream cut through the peaceful night air.

In an instant, he shot up in his sleeping bag, gasping. He looked around, expecting to see an attacker, or something worse.

Instead, he only saw Wyldfyre sleeping like a rock (nothing could wake that girl) and Jay also sitting up in his sleeping bag, his arms wrapped around himself, tears falling down his cheeks.

Kai took a breath and pulled himself fully out of his bag, using his power to relight their long since gone-out campfire.

He could see Jay better now in the light. His body was soaked in sweat, and he was shaking hard.

“Jay?” Kai asked, careful to keep his voice low.

The Lightning Ninja finally looked up as tears dripped onto his shirt. Kai crossed his legs and sat next to his teammate.

“What happened? Another nightmare?”

Nightmares had been a common occurrence with the ninja team for years, and Kai had done his best to help his friends whenever they happened – Nya with her time as the sea, Lloyd recovering from Morro’s possession, Cole thinking he was falling into darkness or Zane fearing he had died once more.

Jay had them too, from his time with Nadakhan, to being trapped in Prime Empire, to thinking he had lost Nya again and from his years in the Realm of Madness. But Kai hadn’t seen him have an episode this bad in ages.

Slowly, Jay nodded, wrapping his arms tighter.

“It… it was her.”

Kai felt his stomach drop into his feet.

“It was… the fight… a-at the Tournament… but this time…” Jay said through sniffs and sobs. “I… I killed her. And… she died… without knowing… the tru-th.”

It had been about two weeks since the Tournament of Sources had ended and Kai and Bonzle had come back from the Nether Space (one of the worst places he’d ever visited by the way. 0/10). After realising that his sister had been turned evil and left the Tournament, Kai had promised to help Jay search for Nya.

They’d spent two days resting at the Monastery (turns out, the Nether Space makes a guy really hungry and exhausted), before packing their stuff and setting off with Wyldfyre (who wanted to continue her fire training with Kai) to search the Realms.

“Kai… what if she’s already dead?” Jay asked, wiping his tears and gazing into the fire. “What if I’m dragging you and Wyldfyre around for nothing?”

Kai sighed, shuffling closer to his friend. “We’ll find her, Jay. We can’t give up hope yet. What do we always say?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

No response.

“Come on, you know it.” Kai poked him in the side as hard as he could, receiving a yelp and a slap. “Ow! Come on! Three words! It’s one of our catch phrases?”

“… Ninja never quit?”

“That’s right. If I know my sister, she’s out there, planning something. She’s too smart and too tough to get taken down that easy. We just gotta keep looking.”

“But we’ve got nothing.” Jay said, sniffing and playing with the zip on his sleeping bag. “No leads, no information about where she’s gone. It’ll take a miracle to figure out where she is.”

A loud ringtone cut through Kai’s next word.

JUMP UP, KICK BACK, WHIP AROUND AND SPIN!

Kai and Jay both jumped at the sound, and Wyldfyre leapt out of her sleeping bag and looked around, her hands on fire.

AND THEN WE JUMP BACK, DO IT AGAIN!

“WHAT IS IT? WHO’S ATTACKING US?! I’LL BURN THEM ALIVE!”

Jay covered his ears as Kai crawled over to his backpack and pulled out his ringing phone.

NINJA-GO! NINJA-GO!

“My bad!” Kai cried. “I forgot my phone wasn’t on silent.”

“Seriously?!” Jay yelled. “You still have the same ringtone after all these years?! And why is it so loud?!”

“Hey! This song is iconic, okay? Now shut up!”

Wyldfyre’s hands went back to normal. She sighed, rubbed her eyes and sat back down as Kai looked at the caller ID. He frowned.

Green Bean :D

Kai clicked the accept button and put the phone to his ear, feeling a stab of anxiety. Lloyd had promised to only call if something happened…

“Lloyd? It’s the middle of the night. Is something wrong?” Kai asked. Jay and Wyldfyre watched him.

“Sorry to wake you, Kai, but you’re never going to believe who just arrived at the Monastery…”

Chapter Text

First Master, that had been a long walk.

Skylor didn’t remember there being that many steps to the Monastery. She’d started walking up them in the early morning, and now the sun had long since set.

Damnit, she wished she’d brought her phone. What time was it?

After taking a minute to catch her breath, she gazed up at the gates. As massive and imposing as she remembered. The place really was incredible.

Faintly, voices and clashing could be heard inside. Skylor wondered who was at home – Lloyd had mentioned new ninja, and that some of them were out on missions.

Three loud knocks.

“Coming!” Came an unfamiliar voice from inside.

Hurried footsteps, then a loud creak, and the door opened to reveal a pink-haired girl half-covered in purple goo.

Wait. She knew this kid. Metal arm, white/blue/pink clothes, cat headphones…

“Hey, I know you.” Skylor told her. “Sora, right?”

The girl frowned. “Yeah?”

“You used to live on the Crossroads? You and that pie making kid?”

Sora’s face fell at her last three words, and Skylor realised she’d crossed a line.

She remembered how Sora and her friend would always order the same thing the few times they bought food – four dumplings, a small spicy noodles bowl and a large plain noodles bowl.

They hardly ever had money though, so either the boy would bring her pie or Skylor would let them have it free.

The kids had seemed close, never going anywhere without the other. To see Sora by herself was strange.

“Sorry. Uh, why are you covered in goo?” She asked.

Sora sighed, wiping a chunk of it off her gi. “Pie making. Don’t ask.”

Skylor chuckled. “I know the feeling. If I had a dollar for all the times that I’ve spilled broth or noodles on myself…”

“Oh, don’t even get me started on noodles. They’re so hard to make.” Sora complained, shaking her head. “Anyways, can I help you?”

“Oh, I’m an old friend of the ninja. I called Lloyd earlier?”

“You’re the one who nearly gave Lloyd a heart attack?”

“What?”

“Oh, he got a phone call earlier, and when he saw who it was, he nearly passed out. Though that could’ve just been because he’s exhausted. That was you who did that?”

“Sora, who’s at the door?” A voice called.

“It’s the person who called Lloyd earlier!” Sora yelled back, before turning to Skylor. “Come on, Lloyd and the others are inside.”

Skylor followed the young girl through the courtyard, which had a new dragon statue in the centre. The Monastery looked so different and yet so much the same.

“So, I’m guessing you’re a new ninja?” Skylor asked conversationally.

Sora nodded. “I’m an Elemental Master, apparently.”

“Oh, sick. What element?”

“Technology.”

“Awesome. I’m Master of Amber myself.”

“Yeah, Lloyd mentioned that. You can like, absorb other people’s powers?”

“Pretty much.” Skylor agreed, as Sora led her inside and into the kitchen, revealing an orange Serpentine teenage boy, also covered in purple goo and trying to scrape goo out of an oven with a wooden spoon.

“Hey Sora, do you know where…” The orange snake stopped mid-sentence as he turned around and saw Skylor.

“Hiya.” Skylor said, following Sora over to the boy. “I’m assuming you’re another new ninja?”

The snake nodded. “I’m Frak, Master of Quake.”

Skylor took a mental note to try and absorb both these kids’ powers ASAP. Tech and Quake… interesting.

“Skylor Chen.” She offered a hand to shake. “So, where’s everyone else?”

Frak shook it, and Skylor felt the little shiver that meant she’d absorbed his ability.

How long had it been since she’d seen an Elemental Master?

“Jay, Kai and his student Wyldfyre are out on a mission. Cole’s at the Land of Lost Things with his Finder friends, and Lloyd, Zane and Mr Frohicky are downstairs.” Frak explained, wiping a chunk of goo off his chin.

“Someone said my name?”

Skylor turned at the sound of that familiar voice, grinning.

“Hey, Greenie.”

Lloyd looked so different and yet so similar to the last time she’d seen him. The same bright smile, the tired but determined look in his bright green eyes, various scars all over his body. The only real differences were that he’d clearly gotten several years older, he wore a fancy new gi and he was clutching a small pot plant.

“Skylor!” He cried, running to hug her, almost spilling soil all over the floor.

“I’d almost thought I’d imagined the call from you! What… how are you here? Where have you been all these years?”

“Skylor?”

She looked up to see Zane in the doorway, who was holding a broomstick and wore a look of surprise on his face.

“Holy First Master.” He said quietly.

The ninja brought Skylor down to their underground base, which had clearly gotten a fancy upgrade after the Merge. She was also introduced to Mr Frohicky, a friendly frog man who helped keep the Monastery in shape and was only mildly annoyed she’d forgotten to take off her muddy shoes at the door.

Oh, and she was introduced to Riyu, AKA the cutest dragon she’d ever met. Sora explained how she and her friend Arin (oh Arin. That was the pie making boy) had saved him from a bunch of dragon-stealing thugs, which led them to meet Lloyd.

“He loves scritches under the chin.” Sora whispered, giving the dragon several little scritches, receiving a quiet purr.

“He wont bite me, will he?” Skylor asked, raising her hand.

“Nah, he’s friendly.” Frak assured her.

Riyu’s skin was scaly and smooth. It was strangely reassuring, and he purred loudly at the affection. Skylor chuckled as they walked.

“Sick.” Skylor said quietly, looking at all the buttons and screens as she followed everyone to a table covered in maps and notes.

“We’ve been attempting to make an enormous map of the Merged Lands.” Zane explained, pointing at different areas and symbols. “It is rather difficult however, because the Realms are all highly unpredictable and strange.”

“Every time we think we’ve figured out the basic look, something happens, or we come across a new place.” Lloyd added, shrugging. “It’s a real pain.”

The next ten minutes were explanations and stories – the ninja explained what happened to them after the Merge and Skylor talked about her travels across the Realms with her cart. There were some crazy stories.

“Sorry, Source what now?”

“It’s these Dragons that are connected to all Elemental Powers. Kinda like gods.”

“First Master, Kai’s gonna lose his mind when he realises you’re here. Speaking of which, I’d better call him.”

“There was another tournament?! Where the heck was my invite?”

“Well, we didn’t get invites either. Besides, it wasn’t exactly fun.”

“Wow, this Lord Ras guy sounds like a prick.”

“You have no idea.”

Once all that had been processed, Skylor remembered why she'd come.

“Okay, I didn’t just come here to see you guys again. I need an explanation.”

All the smiles instantly faded.

“The other day at the Crossroads, I ran into Nya, but she… wasn’t Nya. Whole new look, way more pissed off than usual and she didn’t know who I was.”

Sora and Frak looked at the ground, Zane sighed, and Lloyd took a deep breath.

“What happened exactly?”

“It’s a long story, but to summarize, after the Merge, we believe she ended up at a place called the Administration.” Zane explained. “She seems to have also become amnesiac and had no memories of her previous life before the Merge.”

“At some point, she was also taken in by the Lord Ras we were telling you about.” Lloyd continued, scowling. “We ran into her at the Tournament of Source, and she… fought Jay.”

The Lightning Ninja’s face appeared in Skylor’s mind. Jay and Nya loved each other so much – how were they supposed to fight each other?

“Shit.” Skylor murmured, feeling her insides twisting. “That’s awful.”

“It gets worse.” Sora said, looking up as she fidgeted with a strap on her gi. “Ras had this thing called the Gong of Shattering. If you put on a special Wolf Mask and they rung the gong, you would shatter your goodness and achieve Shatterspin.”

“And let me guess.” Skylor said, making eye contact with Lloyd. “She put on the mask.”

How could Nya do that? The Water Ninja was one of the strongest and kindest people Skylor knew. Shattering goodness… that didn’t sound like something that could be easily fixed.

Lloyd nodded, his expression pained. “But she lost the fight, so Ras sent her away. We haven’t heard anything about her since then, but you’re saying you saw her?”

Skylor nodded, feeling sick. “At the Crossroads. She said she lived there.”

An awkward silence, while everyone digested the conversation. Skylor fiddled with the embroidered letters on her clothes.

“Where are Jay and Kai, anyways?” Skylor asked. Sora had mentioned something about a mission.

“They’re actually out looking for Nya, along with Wyldfyre. I called Kai before and told him you’d come to visit, but I think he stopped listening after I said your name.”

Skylor resisted the urge to smirk. The Fire Ninja was still a dumbass after all.

“We can go meet up with them tomorrow and tell them what we’ve learnt.” Frak suggested.

“Hold on, what about Arin?” Sora asked, frowning as she tightened her ponytail. “I thought we were going to search for him tomorrow, with the clue Zane found.”

“Yes, but…” Lloyd started.

“Lloyd, I can’t leave him again. Can’t Nya wait a day or two?”

“Sora, we can find Arin later. This is more important.”

“Oh, so your former teammate is more important than my best friend?”

“No, I didn’t say that.”

“Sora, he’s just trying-”

“Frak, shut up, please!”

“Okay, let’s calm down a bit.” Skylor said, raising her hands. “I’ve got a better idea. I’ll try and meet Kai and Jay at the Crossroads, while you guys go find your missing friend.”

“Are you sure?” Lloyd asked, glancing at her.

“Yeah. I’m staying at the Crossroads with my noodle cart anyways. I’ll meet up with them tomorrow.”

A little while later, after Lloyd had called Kai again and told him about the plan, Skylor was getting ready to leave when Mr Frohicky stopped her at the door.

“Would you like to stay the night, Miss Skylor? We have plenty of spare rooms.”

The offer was tempting. She was currently renting a room at the Crossroads, which was nice, but definitely left a lot to be desired. Besides, she hadn’t stayed at the Monastery in ages, and she definitely didn’t have the energy to walk down that massive hill and all the way back to the Crossroads this late at night.

“Would that be too much trouble?” She asked, tucking a lock of her red hair behind her ear.

“No, not at all! I’ve only got one favour to ask.” The frog dropped his voice and said quietly, “I hear you are one of the best noodle chefs in Ninjago.”

Skylor laughed. “Is that what Lloyd told you?”

Well, it was the truth. Everyone knew Chen’s Noodles made the best food in Ninjago.

“In exchange for staying here tonight, would you mind making some of your fabulous noodle dishes for dinner? The last few nights have been either takeout or Sora and Frak’s attempts at cooking, which… certainly could be improved.”

“Of course. I can show you some of my simpler recipes, if you like.”

“Excellent! Well, I believe you know where the kitchen is. I’ll prepare one of our guest rooms for you.”

------------------------------------------------

“What’d he say?” Jay asked, sitting cross-legged on his sleeping bag.

Kai frowned as he turned his phone off and shoved it in his bag. “Well, Skylor’s got information on where Nya is. Apparently, we’re meeting her at the Crossroads tomorrow morning.”

“She knows where Nya is?” Jay cried, at the same time Wyldfyre asked sleepily, “Who’s Skylor?”

The three ninja hadn’t been able to sleep since Lloyd’s first phone call. Jay had finally calmed down after his nightmare and now looked excited.

Wyldfyre claimed she was perfectly awake, but her constant yawns and sleepy voice weren’t helping. Kai had no idea what to do with that kid.

“Skylor’s an old friend of ours.” Kai explained, lying on his sleeping bag and staring at the campfire's flickering lights. “She’s also an Elemental Master – her power is Amber.”

“Is she nice?” Wyldfyre asked.

“She’s really nice, and great at cooking noodles.” Kai answered. Oh, wow. He missed her noodle recipes. She always made the best stuff.

“She’s also Kai’s girlfriend.” Jay said under his breath, laughing. “Except he was too much of a coward to make any actual moves, so we never actually knew whether they were dating or not.”

Kai glared at his teammate. “Like you can talk. You had to ask me for advice on how to ask Nya to be your yang!”

“Hey, it wasn’t an easy task, dude!”

“And then you proposed in the middle of our battle against the Oni!”

“I didn’t know when the right time was!”

“You proposed in the middle of a battle?” Wyldfyre asked, laughing. “That’s so cute! I should do that with Roby! He’ll love it!”

Kai sighed. “Look, can we just all agree that relationships are hard?”

A nod from Jay and a grunt from Wyldfyre confirmed their agreement.

Chapter Text

“The Crossroads are massive.” Jay complained. “How are we meant to find Skylor in all this?”

Crowds were definitely not Jay’s thing. He’d never been good with them before the Merge, and now he wanted to throw up.

You’re gonna find Skylor, he reminded himself. And she has information about Nya.

He was so close to his yang he could cry. Under his gi, his yin pendant pressed against his chest, almost like a medal. He couldn’t give up now.

If the roles were reversed, and she was the one searching for him, she wouldn’t give up on him. The universe may refuse to let them be together, but Jay wasn’t always very good at doing what he was told.

“Shame we don’t have Arin or Sora with us.” Kai sighed, his head turning side to side as they walked. “They’re the Crossroads experts on the team.”

I’d rather be with Sora right now, Jay thought, rolling his eyes internally. At least she doesn’t set things on fire and get surprised when it burns.

He’d woken up that morning to find Wyldfyre had “accidentally” set his duffel bag on fire because of her excitement that Roby had sent her another scroll. She’d claimed to have no idea how it happened, but her massive shit-eating grin said otherwise.

First Master, he was going to strangle that kid one of these days. She was basically a younger, more feral version of Kai, who wasn’t helping either.

“Bahh! We don’t need them!” Wyldfyre announced, dismissively waving her hand at him. “We can find this Tyler girl easily.”

“Her name is Skylor.” Kai corrected, rolling his eyes. “And Lloyd said we were meeting her in the food district, because she’s got a noodle cart there.”

“Course she does.” Jay muttered, resisting the urge to cover his ears with all the noise. Kai and Wyldfyre’s annoying voices weren’t helping matters. “No surprise there. You reckon she’ll give us some food? I haven’t eaten since we left the clearing.”

The trio made their way through the bustling Crossroads, keeping an eye out for the flaming red hair.

All the clashing smells and voices were getting irritating, and every single person looked completely different.

How the heck did Arin and Sora live here? This place is so messy and disorganized. We’re never going to find Skylor.

After ten minutes, Jay was ready to give up, until he spotted a familiar looking noodle cart, with its owner standing just beside it, her eyes scanning the crowd.

“SKYLOR!” He yelled, running over.

The red-head turned, a grin on her face as Jay hugged her tightly.

“Good to see you, Zaptrap! Been a minute, hasn’t it?” She laughed.

“Oh my gosh, you have no idea.”

“Has your hair gotten longer? Smells great, too.”

“Yeah, I’ve been using this new shampoo. I’ll tell you the secret later.”

“Haha, I can’t wait. I’ve missed swapping beauty tips with you.”

Kai followed Wyldfyre over, blushing slightly. Wyldfyre scowled as she stared at Skylor, and Jay suspected she wasn’t sure what to make of the Master of Amber yet.

“I take it you’re Wyldfyre?” Skylor asked as she released Jay and spotted the others. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“What have you heard?” Wyldfyre raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms.

“You’re the Master of Heat. You were raised by dragons. You’re one of the new ninja, and quite a powerful fighter.”

Wyldfyre’s eyes went wide. “How do you know all that?”

“Lloyd told me last night. I didn’t know Kai had a student too.”

Kai’s face went even more red as he came over. Skylor smirked as she went to hug him.

“Good to see you too, Hotshot.”

The only other time Jay had seen Kai this flustered was when he and Cole had accidentally walked in on him singing the Weekend Whip at the top of his lungs in the shower (that was an image Jay would give anything to forget).

He stuttered and stammered, going almost as red as his gi.

“I’ll get you guys some food, then we can talk about what I know.” Skylor said as she released Kai and went back to her noodle cart.

As she pulled out containers of her handmade noodles and ramen, Jay elbowed Kai in the side.

“Dude, you look like a kettle about to explode.” He hissed.

He wasn’t wrong. The Fire Ninja’s ears looked on the verge of blowing out hot steam. It was honestly kind of funny.

Kai hurriedly shook his head and glanced at Wyldfyre, who looked less suspicious now and more hungry as she watched Skylor work.

“The usual, I presume?” Skylor asked as she began to stir the noodles.

“How do you still remember our order?” Kai asked, his face going back to his regular skin tone as he raised an eyebrow.

“You guys came in a lot, and you six always ordered the same thing.” Skylor joked. “Jay, you ordered the same ramen dish, and Kai always ordered the spicy explosion. What did you want, Wyldfyre?”

“I dunno.” Wyldfyre shrugged. “I like all foods.”

“How about the classic noodles, then?” Skylor continued to cook, humming to herself.

Jay smiled at the memory of what Skylor was talking about. The team always preferred to go to Chen’s Noodles after a mission or a hard day, and they did always order the same thing.

They always sat in the same booth at the back – the other staff at the restaurant had even dubbed it the Ninja Booth.

Jay would typically sit on the left side, in between Cole and Nya. Often, Skylor would already have the dishes out, hot and steaming, before they’d even arrived.

That booth had seen many jokes, deep discussions, mission planning sessions, stupid debates, date nights (typically between him and Nya or Zane and PIXAL), snack breaks and cringey lines.

Laughter echoed in Jay’s head for a second, before he realized how long it had been since he’d been with all five of his teammates in one place.

Happy and loud, just the way they used to be.

The Merge might have brought the Realms together, but it had torn Jay’s family apart.

Ten minutes later, the four of them were sitting on the curb next to the cart, eating their foods.

“So Skylor…” Jay said, swallowing a bite of ramen and turning to her. “Lloyd said you had information on Nya’s whereabouts?”

Skylor nodded. “I saw her around here at the Crossroads the other day. When she didn’t recognise me, I knew something was up.”

“I’m assuming Lloyd and the others also explained the whole shattered goodness and memories thing?” Kai asked, his voice low, glaring at his noodles.

Skylor turned to face Kai, gently placing her hand on his shoulder. “Yeah, he did. I’m so sorry about that. But I think I know where we might find her now.”

“How?” Jay wanted to know. “The Crossroads are huge. We could spend a week here and never see her.”

“Well, Nya’s into mechanical stuff, right?”

“Yeah. It was one of her best skills.”

“And Kai, your family name is Smith.”

“So?”

“Recently, a new mechanical shop opened up down the street titled SMITH’S SAMURAI. I have a suspicion that it’s hers, but I wanted to wait until you got here before I checked it out.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Jay demanded, swallowing the last of his ramen and passing the empty bowl to Skylor.

Jay had never seen a less-trashed place.

They’d found the shop, but it looked like a crime scene.

“What the hell?” Kai muttered, gazing at the broken furniture and scattered tools.

“What happened here?” Wyldfyre asked, picking up a broken sword.

The store looked as though it used to sell weapons and machinery. Several ripped posters decorated the walls, and a rusty opened cash register sat on the only still-standing desk, revealing an empty drawer.

“Check this out.” Skylor said, picking up what must have once been some kind of spear. “The symbol on it – that looks like something Nya would use. And I’ve seen people around the Crossroads using stuff with this symbol.”

Jay felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. Was she here? She had to be.

As he walked through the store, he picked up a bent bronze sword, spotting the symbol Skylor was talking about – a long, deadly sword wrapped in an ocean wave.

“Just like how our dad used to mark all his work with his own symbol.” Kai whispered, peering at the sword over Jay’s shoulder.

Jay had only been to Kai and Nya’s family blacksmith shop a few times, but compared to this awful mess, the Four Weapons seemed way more cozier than this.

“It makes sense she would do something involving weapons or tech.” Kai said, pulling down a half-ripped poster that showed the prices for different items.

A door at the back led to dirt-encrusted stairs. Jay led the others upstairs, hearing them quietly point out different things they saw.

The stairs led to a room that looked as if it belonged to a squatter. A ripped mattress was in the center of the room, with piles of books and clothes scattered throughout.

No sign of her.

“I don’t know much about this Nya person…” Wyldfyre poked one of the clothes piles with the broken sword. “… but is she the kind of person who would be fine with living like this?”

“No.” Kai said quietly, standing in the doorway, his brow furrowed. “The Nya I knew wouldn’t be like this.”

“Well, the Nya you knew wouldn’t have lost her memories and shattered her goodness.” Skylor pointed out.

This doesn’t make any sense, Jay thought, feeling as though his insides were being slowly ripped out. Skylor said she saw Nya only a day or two ago. Was she attacked? Did someone come after her?

The four of them continued to hunt around, until Jay found something that made his heart stop.

“Guys, what is this?”

A massive wooden board, covered with all sorts of weird things. There were empty spaces on the board, as though something large had been torn off it, but the remaining pictures weren’t anything good.

Half-ripped newspaper clippings that read things like NINJA SAVE THE DAY and STRANGE “BLOOD MOON” CAUSES CASTROPHES ACROSS REALMS.

A poster for the Mech-Master 5000, the annual mech race that Arin and Sora had saved Riyu at, nearly two years ago now.

And… pictures.

Blurry security camera shots of Ras and his allies. Around a dozen images of him and his friends that looked straight out of magazines and newspaper articles.

And a clear headshot of him, with a dagger sticking right out of the center.

A warm hand on his shoulder. A gasp from Skylor.

Jay felt his knees buckle as he stared at it. The dagger was buried so deeply in the board…

And I will always hate you.

“Jay? What’s wrong?”

He hadn’t realized he had fallen to his knees. Or that his vision was blurring up and now tears were landing on the dusty wooden floor.

What was the point anymore? She was gone, and so was any evidence of her. Even if they did find her, she’d stab them before she’d embrace them.

She might even be dead already.

His face fell in his hands, and his shoulders began to shake. He could taste vomit in the back of his throat.

Shit, shit, shit.

-------------------------------------------------------

Wyldfyre didn’t want to say it out loud, but she was getting kind of bored.

This was all very sad and everything, but she didn’t get why everyone was still standing here in this junkheap. Surely, there was more important things to do?

The Nya girl could be realms away by now.

Jay was freaking out again, because he’d found a picture of him with a knife sticking out of it. Kai and the Skylor girl were trying to comfort him, and Wyldfyre was getting antsy.

Ugh. How much longer was this going to take?

As she gazed around the room, she heard a familiar chirp at the window.

“Roby!” Wyldfyre cried, ignoring the yelps of surprise from the others when she spotted the glowing baby dragon, which was clutching a scroll in its talons.

Her boyfriend had sent another scroll! Maybe it was another selfie, or some happy rawrs!

“Who’s Roby?” She heard Skylor ask as Wyldfyre hurried over to grab the scroll. The baby dragon purred happily, accepting several scritches before flying away.

“Her boyfriend. They met at the Tournament of Sources. Long story.” Kai replied.

Wyldfyre could barely contain her giddiness as she unrolled the scroll. But as her eyes read over the words, her giddiness turned to horror.

The words were written in printed ink, not Roby’s gorgeous cursive. And they said… they said…

“What is it, Wyldfyre?” Jay asked quietly, hurriedly wiping his eyes and looking at her with concern.

“Is Roby breaking up with you?” Kai demanded, flames appearing in his fists. “He better not be! I’ll burn him alive if he does!”

Wyldfyre could barely string words together. Her hands were shaking, and for a minute, she was worried her heat powers would burn up this awful scroll.

Nothing mattered anymore. Roby was hurt.

“Wyldfyre?” Skylor asked gently, placing one of her hands on Wyldfyre’s shoulder and taking the scroll with the other. Jay stood up and Kai shook his hands, making the fire disappear.

For a minute, there was silence as Skylor read the scroll, with Jay and Kai looking over her shoulder, before the three of them looked up in horror at Wyldfyre.

“Roby’s in trouble.” She said quietly, feeling sick.

Ten minutes later, the four of them were back at the noodle cart, arguing about what to do.

Well, Kai and Wyldfyre were arguing. Jay had gone non-verbal, staring off into space, and Skylor was standing between the two, trying to break up the fight.

“My boyfriend’s in trouble! I can’t just leave him!”

“But we’re supposed to be finding Nya!”

“We don’t even know where she is right now! She could be miles away!”

“Look, can both you hotheads take a breath for a minute so we can make an actual plan?”

“Your boyfriend’s at a hospital in the City of Temples! He can survive a few hours without you!”

“And your precious little sister can’t make it alone without you?”

“Hey, watch how you speak about her!”

“Shut it, noodle girl!”

“ENOUGH!”

Wyldfyre’s hands flew to her ears at the unexpected shout from Jay, who’s face was furious.

“Sorry.” He muttered, as Kai breathed deeply and Skylor crossed her arms. “Look, tensions are a little high right now. But we need to keep our cool, otherwise we might as well kiss both Nya and Roby goodbye.”

He made eye contact with Wyldfyre. “Look, new plan. All four of us can go to the City of Temples, find out what’s wrong with Roby, and then contact the others and make an actual plan.”

“Okay, that works.” Wyldfyre muttered. “As long as we go check on my Roby.”

Deep breath in… deep breath out… just like Kai had taught her.

“Sorry, Wyld.” Kai said quietly, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I’m just worried about Nya. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that.”

Wyldfire forced a grin and said, “Let’s get going.”

Chapter Text

Smith had been running for what felt like hours. Her body couldn’t take much more of this. She darted around a corner, panting heavily as she glanced behind her, checking no one was following.

Her left hand was tightly pressing against her shoulder, which was still dripping blood. All her months of training under a certain tiger lord, gone right out the window when her shop was attacked.

She hadn’t even gotten a good look at them. There’d been a crash, she’d ran downstairs with a dagger to see a bunch of criminals wearing black and gold stealing her stuff, a fight had ensued and before she knew it, there was a sword in her shoulder.

Smith had barely processed this before the thieves (what did they call themselves? Freeloaders? Freebooters? Something free) had run off cackling, with almost all her weapons and tech.

She’d fallen to the floor in pain, trying to pull out the sword, listening as their footsteps and laughter got fainter and fainter.

They’d stolen everything she’d built – all the weapons, all her tech, the money she’d made, even the tinned food she’d had in storage. She had nothing left.

The only things left were a couple of broken weapons, her med kit and her planning board. Oh, and the mech she’d been working on, which she’d managed to build with the ability to transform into a handheld device and had been hidden under a floorboard.

By that point, people on the street had begun waking up at all the noise, and Smith knew she couldn’t stay. They’d ask questions, or try and help, or…

They’d take her back to the Administration.

Smith winced in pain as she darted around a corner, making her way further into the woods. Every time her feet hit the ground, her shoulder’s pain seemed to double.

She’d sworn on her life she would never go back to that controlling, monotonous prison. She’d slit her throat or cut off a limb before she went there willingly.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, she’d never been in so much pain in her life. She needed to do something about this damn wound. If someone found her in this condition, they could easily finish her off.

What if one of those ninja finds me? Or Ras? Or one of his minions?

Just as she was about to collapse, she came upon an enormous tree next to a flowing river. That would work – hidden and next to a water source.

Letting out a sigh, she let her body collapse against the tree, feeling another stab of pain as her shoulder bumped against the tree.

She took in a deep breath, letting her lungs fill up with air. In… and out. In… and out.

No immediate threats around. The silence was so loud.

Okay. Now to deal with this wound.

Before she’d run off, she’d shoved all her remaining things into a duffel bag – her blueprints, a few of her remaining unbroken weapons, the mech device and some medical supplies. No food.

Her stomach growled loudly as she dug through her bag. Damnit, she was almost craving the rice that red-haired girl had made. Her last few meals had been scarce or rather plain, and now she had no food of any kind.

One problem at a time.

Wincing in pain, she pulled out a roll of bandages, hissing as a shudder of pain made its way across her body.

This was ten times worse than the pain of the lightning bolt. Smith let out a gasp as she removed her blood-soaked hand from the wound and felt more blood drip into her lap. Her hand looked like it had been dipped in dark red paint.

After unwrapping her belt and pulling off the top half of her gi, leaving her sports bra on, she glanced briefly at the wound, which looked deep, bloody and painful. Almost as though someone had ripped out a hand-sized chunk of her flesh.

Smith hurriedly began to tightly wrap the bandage around it, hissing in pain. She gritted her teeth in determination – she would NOT allow a stupid stabbing wound to get in the way of her plans.

She leaned forward as she continued wrapping, going under her elbow and across her chest. She knew the basics of dealing with wounds thanks to both her years at the Administration and her time training under Ras, and until she could find someone to properly deal with the wound, this was gonna have to do.

The wound was in her left shoulder, and Smith worked quickly to ensure that the wound was properly bandaged and tied off, before allowing herself to lean back into the tree, her right arm resting gently on her duffel bag, which sat just beside her.

The only sounds were her heavy breathing and the rush of the river. Smith was tempted to drift off into sleep, but she knew she couldn’t. She needed to keep her guard up – she no longer had the security of four strong walls and an alarm system. If anyone came around here…

Hang on, where IS here? Smith thought, ignoring another shudder of pain as she glanced all around her.

How far had she run? She didn’t recognise this area at all. Some kind of large, sandy desert – possibly a former Realm. A low sun shone brightly in the distance, with shades of orange and yellow beginning to mix in with the purples and blues of nighttime. Faintly, roars of distant creatures could be heard.

One thing was for sure – she was nowhere near the Crossroads.

The life she’d made for herself, all her belongings, a familiar setting… gone in less than an hour.

It wasn’t exactly cozy, but it had been stable.

Her mech had a GPS built into it, but between the aching from her shoulder and the exhaustion taking over her body, Smith didn’t have the energy to get up and try to open up the mech.

“That’s a problem for tomorrow.” She said quietly, surprised at how low and raspy her voice sounded.

Okay, maybe a few hours of sleep wouldn’t hurt. She’d been unexpectedly rudely awakened, after all, and if she wanted to figure out her plan, she needed rest. There was nothing around, and she was a pretty light sleeper.

Taking a deep sigh, Smith allowed her eyes to drift shut, as the darkness gently embraced her like an old friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Smith had completely forgotten that with sleep, came nightmares.

They’d haunted her for years, ever since her first night. At first, she had no clue what they were – just strange pictures that seemed to haunt her whenever she closed her eyes. But after several months of restless nights, she’d realized what they must have been.

Her memories of her life before the Merge. They were blurry and dark, as if whoever had stolen her memories was determined to keep them hidden from her.

But she could see little glimpses of strange things.

A little girl with a black bob, with her small hand clutched in a slightly older little brunette boy’s hand, running around a yard, giggling.

Flashes of crayon drawings of bikes and weapons, all drawn in either red or blue.

A shadow with glowing red eyes, laughing darkly.

Cups of warm tea and people laughing warmly at some long-forgotten joke.

A photo frame, with scratched out faces and blood-stained glass.

Lightning striking, lighting up the sky.

A pirate ship… in the sky?

The quickest glimpse of what looked like a family portrait. A woman and man, clutching two small children in their arms, smiles wide and eyes bright.

A heavily scarred and bloody arm, wielding a sword.

Ocean waves, rushing and flowing, their salty smell lingering in the air.

And the same menacing grin in the darkness, never fading, never frowning, no matter what Smith did.

As if it was toying with her.

Holding her memories just out of reach.

As Smith’s head whipped around, trying to find a way out, there was suddenly a scream.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Smith jolted awake, feeling another stab of pain as she tried to control her panicked breaths.

“Stupid memories.” She muttered, rubbing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

Though they confused her and kind of scared her, Smith could admit she had a sort of morbid curiosity about them.

Did she have a family out there? Parents? Siblings? Friends? Someone who cared about her?

She had to have come from somewhere. Her water powers couldn’t have just appeared. Right?

As she thought about this, she looked at her hands and focused, creating a bubble of water, allowing her to see just how dirty and exhausted she looked.

Shit, she looked like she’d been through war and back. When had she last even bathed?

When she’d woken up after the Merge, her mind had been completely blank. Years later, and all Smith had learnt was these strange flashes of weird images.

Through her time at the Administration, she’d learnt that what she had was an Elemental power, and those kinds of powers were passed down through family members. But when she’d tried to learn about her water power specifically, the computer brought up nothing.

The system could give her information on nearly every Elemental Master across the Merged Realms – Fire, Ice, Time, Wind, etc. But Water? The only response she’d gotten was that the Master of Water had apparently vanished during the Merge, believed to be dead.

She crushed the bubble of water in her hands, feeling a stab of anger. Why the fuck was she worried about this? Her family could already be dead, and maybe even the person who took her memories. She could worry about this once she had dealt with everyone else on the hit list.

As she yawned, rubbed her droopy eyes and gazed around the empty area, she forced out these thoughts and focused on her next move.

It looked like dusk had arrived. How long had she been asleep?

She was next to a river, which would be helpful for drinking, bathing and washing her stuff (her blood-stained gi was lying in a crumple next to her – she definitely needed to do something about that).

She had her mech and some daggers, so she could defend herself if someone or something tried to attack her.

Food was her biggest problem. Her stomach was growling painfully. When had she even last eaten?

Smith picked up her bag and slid down towards the river, mentally making a list as she uncrumpled the top half of her gi.

Clean and organise my stuff. Find food and other supplies. Use mech to track down all the people on my hit list.

The water was so cool and soothing to her hands, and she took a slow breath. Clear water turned red as Smith’s stained hands placed her top into the water, washing out the heavy stains of blood.

Once she was satisfied that it was as clean as she could get it, Smith laid it out on the ground and placed her hand on it.

She couldn’t be bothered waiting for it to dry, so she focused on all the water droplets and stains and slowly, using as much concentration as she could to draw the water out and flick it into the air. She did this several times until the top was as dry as she could get it.

Alright. One task down.

Her shoulder was still aching, and Smith knew that she’d need to change the bandages at some point, but that was a later problem.

As she shook her top, she noticed the hole in the left shoulder where they’d stabbed her. It wasn’t massive – just a hand-sized slit in the fabric, but the bandages in her shoulder were still visible after she pulled the top back on.

Brilliant. Add sewing to her list of things to do.

Once Smith was re-dressed and satisfied with how her things were organised, she slowly stood up, pulling out her mech device.

There had to be a village or some houses around here, right?

--------------------------------------------

Turns out, there was not.

After about two hours of searching the area with her mech, she had barely come across any creatures, let alone human beings.

She was at least glad her mech was working properly. It was so satisfying when a project came together, and it was working perfectly.

Smith felt like she was about to collapse when she came across the house.

A simple, well-lit, one-storey house. She could faintly hear voices and laughter inside, and felt a sly grin spread across her face.

Perfect.

Chapter Text

Arin thought he’d seen some scary stuff.

He’d witnessed the Merge firsthand, watching as it had torn apart his neighborhood and snatched his parents from him. He’d fought alongside the ninja, battling Mergequakes, crazy villains and nearly dying multiple times. Heck, he’d seen his worst fear in that cave.

But none of that compared to the horror show he’d just walked into.

He’d been dragging Ras around for weeks, honing his training and trying to push down the ball of guilt he’d been carrying. After about an hour of harsh training, Ras had ordered Arin to track down some food, finally giving Arin a chance to breathe.

Lloyd and the other ninja had never been this harsh with him. Maybe that was the reason his Spinjitzu had never worked.

He just needed to keep Ras alive long enough to find his parents. Then he could find Sora, find a new home and leave all this craziness behind him.

When he’d come across a peaceful little house, he’d thought he could find some help. Maybe some kind souls who could offer some food or just give him a break from Ras’ constant nagging.

He wasn’t expecting to walk in on one person dead, and another about to be murdered.

Arin let out a yelp at the scene.

A man with grey hair and a beard laid dead on the floor already, blood leaking out of his neck and eyes wide in shock. A black-haired woman who must’ve been his wife was screaming in horror, pinned to the wall by some kind of… mercenary? Burglar? Whoever they were, they didn’t look friendly, and they had a long, bloody dagger to the woman’s throat.

“HEY!” Arin screamed, getting into a fighting stance.

The attacker turned at the sound of Arin’s voice. He couldn’t tell whether it was a man or a woman, but what he could see was that they wore some kind of fancy gi embroidered with ocean and weapon designs. The gi also had armor and a weird mask that covered their whole face, except for a little around their eyes.

The woman that the attacker was threatening stopped screaming, her eyes lighting up with relief as tears poured down her cheeks.

They narrowed their eyes at the sight of Arin, muttering with a raspy voice, “Beat it, kid. This doesn’t concern you.”

“You’re hurting innocent people.” Arin shot back, unsheathing his sword. “Why are you doing this?”

“I just need supplies, kid. Not my fault these people got in the way.” The attacker hissed, lifting her dagger higher as the woman continued to struggle in her grip.

“Please…” She pleaded, her eyes watching as the dagger moved closer to her throat. “We’ll give you whatever you want. Money, food, whatever… just let me go.”

Arin kept his fists raised, moving as slowly as he could. If he could just catch the attacker off guard, maybe the woman could escape. His training had been getting better – surely, he could keep them distracted just long enough.

“I already have what I need.” The attacker gestured to a duffel bag on the other side of the room, which was filled with food and other random supplies. “But I’m not letting you out of this alive, bitch.”

“I-I won’t tell anyone, I swear! Please, just let me go, don’t hurt me, please…”

Just as the attacker raised the dagger to her neck, Arin let out a yell and jumped on her back, clinging on like a child receiving a piggyback.

In their shock, the attacker screamed and dropped the woman, before trying desperately to pull him off. Arin tightened his grip as the pair swung around, wrestling and fighting.

“Get off me, you BRAT!” They screamed, pulling at his arms. All Arin did was wrap his legs around too, gritting his teeth.

Come on, come on, come on…

In the corner of his eye, Arin could see the woman hurriedly crawling away, making her way through the crowded living room, her face full of fear.

Just keep them distracted. Let her get away.

He knew Ras would kill him if he did the right thing, but right now, he had a bigger problem.

After about three turns, the attacker froze, tried a fruitless attempt to claw him off and raised the dagger, before running it across Arin’s cheek.

Arin yelled out in pain, releasing them in his shock. He collapsed onto the floor, his hand flying to the cut. He felt tears well up and his face sting.

Damnit.

It wasn’t the worst wound he’d ever received in his nearly fourteen years of living, but it felt like at least six blades had been stabbed into his cheek.

Then he heard a scream, before looking up just in time to see the attacker lift the woman into the air, raise the dagger high and stab it into her chest.

He let out a shuddering gasp. Her scream echoed in Arin’s ears as the attacker dropped the twitching body, grabbed the duffel bag and ran out the door.

For a millisecond, he debated going after them, but he knew that they were definitely fitter and faster than he was, and he couldn’t leave this poor woman to bleed out next to her dead husband.

Still clutching his aching cheek, Arin stood up and hurried over to the woman, grabbing a blanket from the couch.

“It’s… it’s okay.” He murmured fearfully, kneeling down and pressing the blanket to her bleeding chest. She whimpered in pain as she looked down at the wound.

“Who was that person?” Arin asked, desperately wiping his cut.

“I don’t know…” The woman wiped her tears. “We-we were just preparing d-dinner, and then we heard a-a window break. Before I knew it, m-my husband was dead, and they were about to kill me…”

Arin felt vomit rising up in his throat. Why would anyone do this? Yeah, he’d stolen stuff, but he never hurt anyone if he could avoid it, let alone kill them.

He wished Sora was here. She was smarter than him, better at helping people. What was he good at? Just making pies and messing things up.

Her breathing got more panicked as her tearful eyes met Arin’s.

“Upstairs…” She whispered. “He’s upstairs…”

“Who’s upstairs?” Arin asked, pressing down as hard as he could. The ninja had given him basic first aid training, but he knew that he couldn’t do much to help. There was too much blood and not enough time.

“Our son… when they broke in, I told him to run and hide…” Her voice got fainter with every word, her eyes slowly closing. “Please… f-find him… get him to safety… protect him… tell him I’m sorry…”

Arin thought about how much the woman reminded him of his own mother. The same gentle eyes, the same passionate energy…

The same look of fear he’d seen on her face right before the Merge took her and his father away.

“Your son?” He said quietly, feeling his heart beat faster.

There was a kid in this house somewhere. A kid who’d just lost his parents.

She nodded, half-raising a hand to cup his cheek. “Please… help him… I don’t want him to be alone…”

The woman’s breathing stopped after her last words, her hand dropped to her chest and her eyes went glassy.

Arin’s hand flew to his mouth as he choked down a sob, feeling the blood from his cheek make its way into his mouth. He released the blanket and quickly stood up, wiping his bloody hands on his gi.

He looked over at the man’s dead body; his hand wrapped around a cell phone, and his body crumpled in the corner of the room.

Holy shit…

He couldn’t stay in this living room. There was a scared little kid upstairs, and he felt like he would throw up if he spent one more second looking at their bodies.

Ras would kill him if he took much longer, but he couldn’t just leave this kid alone.

It didn’t take long to find the kid. The house was dead silent, everywhere except the closet in what definitely looked like a kid’s bedroom.

The bedroom reminded Arin of his own from his life before the Merge. The walls and shelves were covered in ninja merchandize – posters, figurines, messy crayon drawings. A pile of clothes dumped on the floor, dirty sneakers by the door and a photo frame of a little boy with the now-dead parents he’d seen downstairs.

Arin felt as though a rock was stuck in his throat, looking at the posters of Lloyd and Kai and Jay and all the others, the heroes he’d once idolized. First Master, if pre-Merge Arin could see him now, if he knew that he’d one day get to work with the heroes of the city…

He shook his head. Focus, Arin.

The sobs were loud and panicked. Arin fixed up his scarf as he slowly opened the door.

“No, no, no!”

Arin felt his heart sink at the sight awaiting him inside.

Little boy, probably barely older than ten or eleven, hiding in the back of his closet, clutching some kind of toy to his chest, tears streaming down his face.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay…” Arin said quietly, raising his palms up to show the kid he wasn’t a threat. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you…”

The boy quickly wiped his eyes, his grip around the toy tightening.

Wait. Not just any toy.

A Green Ninja plushie.

Of all the damn toys.

--------------------------------------------------

He had no idea how it happened. It quite literally happened in the blink of an eye.

One minute, Jay was arguing with Kai in the City of Temples, the next, he was suddenly standing in… Dijinjago?

“What the…” He cried, before looking to his left and seeing…

“Sora?! Riyu? What are you guys doing here?” He yelled, upon seeing the familiar pink hair and blue dragon scales.

“I don’t know!” Sora cried, shrugging and shaking her head, as Riyu roared in surprise beside her. “I was with Lloyd and Frak, then I blinked, and suddenly-”

“NINJA!”

The yell snapped Jay’s attention. His head whipped around in time to see Arrakore, who looked like he was being attacked by someone.

No, not just anyone.

Rox. One of the Forbidden Five.

“A LITTLE HELP, PLEASE!” Arrakore screamed, hiding behind a pillar.

Jay felt his lightning crackle under his skin. Dijinn or not, Arrakore had never hurt anyone, and if Rox was here, then something wasn’t right.

He leapt over to where the fight was, yelling out, “Hey, Rox!”

“I left you and Jay alone for three minutes. What do you MEAN he disappeared?!” Skylor demanded, running down the stairs.

“I mean he DISAPPEARED!” Kai yelled, turning around and gesturing to where he’d last seen Jay. “We were talking about Roby’s issue, then I turned around to look at one of the books, and when I turned around, he was gone!”

“How do you lose the loudest person in all the Sixteen Realms?” Skylor asked, crossing her arms and moving closer.

“Trust me, it’s happened before.” Kai muttered, shaking his head and turning back to the table, which had about half a dozen books opened on top. “Look, I don’t know what to tell you. I didn’t see anyone come around here, Jay would have made a sound if someone tried to attack or kidnap him and as far as I know, he hasn’t yet achieved teleportation.”

“Well, with all the weird powers you guys have managed to unlock, I wouldn’t be surprised.” Skylor chuckled (her laugh seemed to sparkle a little bit, and Kai could feel his cheeks heat up). “He’ll turn up eventually. Hopefully. Did you guys find anything that might help with whatever’s happening to Roby?”

“We’ve been trying, but neither of us were very good with books, you know that. It was always more Zane and Nya’s thing.” Kai felt his stomach twist a little at the mention of his sister – the image of the destroyed shop still lingered in his mind.

How many more people was he going to lose before the First Spinijitzu Master was satisfied?

He was worried about Roby, sure, but at least Roby was still breathing. Nya could already be dead, or dying, or being tortured… and whatever shattered goodness did, it couldn't be anything good...

Stop thinking about that. Focus on what’s happening right now. Nya will be fine.

“How’s Wyldfyre doing?” He asked.

“Oh, she’s freaking out. Won’t leave Roby’s side. Nearly ripped a med-bot in half when they tried to calm her down.” Skylor shook her head. “Honestly, all her toughness faded away the moment she saw her boyfriend in trouble. She reminds me a lot of you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Fire powers, demon-like behaviour, hot-headedness, but turns into a completely different person when it comes to the people you love.” When Kai gave her a dirty look, she laughed again and asked, “Am I wrong? That was one thing I always admired about you and the other ninja – how much you were willing to sacrifice yourselves for each other, for the city.”

Kai felt himself laugh. “You jealous?”

“Maybe a little.” Skylor’s smile faded. “You guys were a family, always there for each other. After my mother died and the whole thing with my father, I never really had anyone but you guys and my noodle shop. And the Merge took away both of those.”

Kai rested his hand on her shoulder. “The Merge took away a lot of things. My parents, my sister, my brothers… and you. But just like with everything else, we’ll get through it together. Ninja never quit."

She chuckled. "You guys really never quit."

Skylor made eye contact with him, her amber eyes bright and Kai felt his heart beat a little faster. First Master, she was pretty…

BANG!

Kai didn’t even have time to blink before he was suddenly pushed onto the ground by…

“JAY?!”

Chapter Text

Every time Arin closed his eyes, he could still see the bodies.

He was going crazy, surely. It had been weeks since what happened at that house. He hadn’t even told Ras about it, knowing his teacher would scoff at the story or scold him.

But still… he could have done more. If he’d arrived earlier, or tried to stop the attacker, maybe they’d still be alive. Maybe that little boy wouldn’t be left alone in a terrifying, chaotic Merged world.

The knowledge that his parents had died hadn’t helped his emotions either. Ugh, he was so useless.

It was too late now. He needed to move on and stay focused.

Ras has been healed thanks to some healing elixir from the Departed Realm (and some help from that ghostly ninja he’d encountered), the little boy had been taken in by his relatives in the Crossroads, and now he was riding in the back of Ras’ jet, lost in thought.

The weird blade they’d discovered pressed against his back, feeling cold against his body heat. It was so strange – almost like someone had left the blade in the freezer for hours and then strapped it to his back.

“Something on your mind, Arin?” Ras asked from the front seat.

He swallowed a breath as he glanced out the window. “Nothing.”

“You know that distractions are deadly. If you wish to bring your parents back, you must keep your mind on the task at hand. Now, are you absolutely certain you remember the exact location of the Temple of the Dragon Cores?”

“Yeah, we’re not too far from it. If you just keep going in this direction, then-”

Ras’ next words were cut off when there was a loud bang that caused the jet to shake. Arin nearly fell out of his seat as he lurched forward.

Ras grunted in front of him, before growling, “What was that?”

“I don’t know.” Arin replied, fixing up his seatbelt. What the heck? He thought to himself.

Arin quickly straightened himself out, whipping his head around. Relatively clear sky. No birds, planes or anything else around the jet.

He then checked the wings.

Left wing seemed fine, but the right wing had a huge dent in it that definitely hadn’t been there, and it was making strange noises.

What could make a dent like that?

“Ras, I think something hit the wing.” Arin said, poking his teacher’s shoulder. “Maybe we should land?”

“Is the jet still working?” His teacher snapped.

“Well, yeah, but…”

“No buts. You want to find your parents again, correct?”

“… Of course I do.”

Arin couldn’t believe he would say such a thing. He had given up everything and left behind his friends to find his mom and dad.

If only that ball of guilt in his stomach would stop growing every time he thought about it.

“Then we must keep flying. We won’t get anywhere if we land for every bird that bangs against the jet.”

“But I don’t think that was a-”

Another hard BUMP. This one was aimed at the back of the jet, and this time, Arin nearly flew through the windscreen, yelping in fear.

“What on earth?!” Ras yelled, as the bumps got heavier and harder, and Arin could barely stay in his seat.

The jet began to shake harder, and Arin gripped the edges of his seat with white knuckles. He could feel vomit rising in his throat as Ras tried to steer away.

It felt as though he was trapped in a wooden box that was being flung around. He could barely see straight. Everything had gone fuzzy, and his ears were ringing.

The last thing he saw before everything went black was something bright blue on the windscreen.

----------------------------------------

Smith couldn’t believe her luck. One of the worst people on her hitlist, and she’d just managed to bring his jet down.

Finally, the First Spinjitzu Master was blessing her.

It wasn’t too difficult. Once her mech’s GPS had tracked him down, all she’d needed to do was follow them, aim a couple blasts of water at the wings and thrusters, and it was down faster than a housefly.

Her mech sprinted towards where it had crash-landed, and Smith could barely contain her pleasure once she found the jet in the middle of a dusty clearing in the woods.

Ras had been the one who sent her away, who’d ridiculed and rejected her because of one mistake. Weeks of rigorous training, all to be thrown out after less than two days in the Tournament.

But he had been the one who had saved her from the Administration…

She felt a shudder go down her spine as she leapt out of her seat and landed firmly on the dusty ground. Flashes of black suits and fluorescent lighting appeared in her mind as she pulled on her mask.

Don’t think about that awful place. Don’t think about the mountains of paperwork, or all the rules and regulations, or the sinister smiles, or the feeling that she was constantly being watched by someone she couldn’t see…

FOCUS.

Ras needed to pay for what he’d done. She’d show him just how powerful she was.

Once she’d shrunken down the mech and hidden behind a tree, she inspected the damage.

The jet had remained mostly intact, but for the wings and the rear end. The opened cockpit and front end were semi-buried in the sand. Inside, she could see Ras’ slumped form in the front seat, and…

Wait.

That brat. The one in the yellow hoodie who’d nearly killed her at the house. One of those ninja freaks who’d watched at the Tournament of Sources as Jay Walker humiliated and frustrated her.

He was with Ras.

The kid hadn’t spotted her yet. He looked like he’d just crawled out of the cockpit and had a bleeding gash on his forehead. He was kneeling on the front of the jet, desperately tugging at Ras’ seatbelt, trying to stir him.

So, the kid wasn’t with the ninja anymore. That meant they didn’t know about her yet.

But then, why was he hanging around Ras? He didn’t really seem like the kind to do that. And who knew what kind of things Ras had told him?

Whoever he was, whatever he was doing, he stood in the way of her eliminating her former teacher, and she still had a score to settle with him besides.

Smith began to weave through the dark trees, watching as the brat continued trying to wake Ras. The darkness seemed to also be in her favour at the moment, concealing her perfectly as she moved through the shadows.

Once she was directly behind the boy, she reached for the dagger up her sleeve. As it slipped out, she raised it high above her head, prepared to stab.

That was when he turned around.

----------------------------------------------

Arin didn’t know how long they’d been standing there. All he knew was that they’d crashed the jet in some unfamiliar place, he’d been trying to wake Ras and then he’d turned around to see a knife held above his head.

His training kicked in instantly, kicking the weapon-holder in the stomach. They let out a yell of pain and fell backwards off the jet.

As Arin wiped blood off his cheek, he felt vomit begin to rise in his throat. He recognized this attacker.

It was them.

The attacker from the house.

It was the same gi, the same dagger, the same body figure.

The bodies flashed in his mind again.

Dead. Just like his parents. And all their deaths were because of him, of his stupidity, because he couldn’t do anything right.

No, no, no…

“Who are you?” Arin cried, pulling out his grapple gun.

“Really?” They scoffed, standing up and twirling their dagger between their fingers. “A grappling gun? You think that’ll stop me, you little brat?”

Their voice sounded raspy and pained, and Arin fought down the shakiness in his hands.

He glanced at Ras, who still hadn’t moved. He couldn’t be dead. Ras was now his only hope at bringing back his family.

He just needed to keep them away from his teacher.

“You killed those people.” He said quietly, not taking their eyes off them as he jumped down onto the ground.

The attacker chuckled, tightening their grip around their weapon. “They got in my way, kid. They wouldn’t have gotten hurt if they had just let me take what I needed without a fight.”

“But they didn’t need to die!”

“The only one who’s dying today is your teacher. Now move, or I slit your throat.” They hissed.

Arin felt his heartbeat double, and his finger pressed against the trigger at their last word.

The rope quickly shot out of the gun, catching the attacker off guard as they leapt out of the way. Before they could catch their bearings, Arin chucked the gun aside, threw himself at them, knocking the dagger away and tugging at their mask.

“T-tell me… who you are!” He yelled, as the attacker began to wrestle with him, grunting in pain.

“Get off me, you little fucker!” They screeched, crying out when he grabbed their left shoulder. The pair rolled around in the dirt, wrestling and scuffling.

Arin could feel his body using both his practiced ninja fighting style combined with Ras’ teachings – his movements were fast and familiar, but he channeled all the rage and fear he’d felt over the past few months into every punch.

They punched him in the jaw, but though he cried out in pain, he didn’t release his grip.

“Why… do you…” They grunted, digging their claws into his arms. “…defend Lord Ras? He’s a… monster! He cares for… no one but himself!”

Arin tried desperately to push them off. “Because I need him… and because I’m not going to let you hurt anyone else!”

He’d let them get away before. He wouldn’t let it happen again.

They wrapped their hands around his neck, pressing hard. Arin gagged, kneeing them in the stomach.

“It’s cute you think you stand a chance against me.” The attacker hissed.

Even though Arin felt like his entire body was on fire, he kept fighting, tasting blood as he kept his grip as tight as he could.

Just as he got a grip on the bottom of their mask, they let out a yell and threw him onto the ground.

Arin yelped in pain. He felt as though he’d been chucked against a brick wall. He pushed himself up onto his elbows and quickly grabbed the dagger beside him.

The attacker, breathing heavily, glared down at him.

“You think that’s my only weapon, kid?” They muttered, as their fists began to glow bright blue.

“What?” Arin murmured, raising the dagger to protect himself.

He watched as what looked like giant blue blobs appeared in the attacker’s hands, forming into balls the size of cannonballs.

Wait. Not blobs.

Water.

Before he could process what he was seeing, one of the balls of water was flying at him, and he was rolling away as fast as he could.

Where was his gun, damnit?

There it was, just by the jet. Maybe he could try and tie them up? Or at least grapple himself and Ras to safety once his teacher woke up?

Avoiding another blast of water, he quickly jumped up, watching the attacker, who was watching him with furious eyes, fists still glowing blue.

Wait.

Of course.

Why hadn’t he connected the dots before? Water powers? Trained in martials arts? Ocean and weapons designs on their gi? Rageful and murderous?

“You’re Nya Smith.” He realized aloud, dropping the dagger. Upon hearing her name, Nya froze, the water blasts in her hands evaporating. “The Master of Water and one of the original ninja.”

The missing Water Ninja, who no one had seen or heard from since the Tournament of Sources, where she’d fought Jay, shattered her goodness and gotten eliminated by Ras after losing her fight.

It all made sense. Of course she’d want revenge on Ras, and with her shattered goodness, she’d have no problem with murdering people.

While Lloyd and Zane had been his favourite ninja when he was younger, Arin remembered how cool and powerful Nya had seemed to him.

Watching her fly around the city in her Samurai X suit, protecting citizens from the crazy Serpentine.

Seeing the announcement that she was to join the ninja team as the sixth ninja, watching the news report with his parents.

Witnessing her over the years, fighting different villains and saving the city alongside her teammates.

Crying at her memorial, feeling sad knowing that she’d sacrificed herself for the good of the city.

Feeling ecstatic as she and the rest of the ninja helped him and countless others escape the storm.

Looking at photos of her and the other ninja around the Monastery and pretending not to notice the heartbroken expression on Jay or Kai’s faces whenever they looked at them.

Watching in shock and confusion as she beat the shit out of Jay, who was hesitant to hurt his former love.

Nya glared at him, her fingers twitching, her dark blue eyes murderous.

“How do you… you know what, I don’t care.” She hissed, summoning another burst of water in her right hand. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t just kill you and Ras right now.”

Arin slowly moved into a fighting stance, balling up his fists in preparation. “Because you’ll have to get past me first.”

She scoffed, the burst of water weaving around her arm like a snake. “I only want the tiger, kid. I don’t care if I need to kill you too.”

A loud groan startled them both.

“… Arin?”

Ras slowly sat up, rubbing his head and blinking in confusion.

Before Arin could do anything, Nya had already sent the burst of water at his back, knocking him onto the ground.

Ugh, that felt like a dozen brick walls that time.

He was starting to miss the chaotic early morning training at the Monastery.

Dust filled his bloody mouth as he looked up to watch her grab Ras by the neck, forcefully pulling him out of the jet.

Arin tried to pull himself off the ground but felt a wave of pain every time he tried.

Shoot, shoot. What could he do?

“Who are you?!” Ras demanded, struggling against Nya’s grip.

“Your biggest mistake.” Nya murmured, as she pulled out a dagger from her belt.

His gun was too far away. He’d already tried fighting her physically, and he definitely didn’t stand much of a chance. How the heck could he stop her?

“Let me go, you bastard!” Ras yelled, fruitlessly reaching for his fallen hammer.

Wait. The blade…

Arin quickly felt an idea forming in his mind, but he only had seconds to try it. He slowly pulled the blade out of the sheath on his back.

“Say goodbye, Lord Ras.”

Arin focused as hard as he could, making sure his aim was perfect. Object Spinjitzu had never failed him in the past, and as he threw it at Nya, he couldn’t resist a smirk as it knocked her over and made her drop his teacher.

Nya fell behind the jet, her dagger clattering into the dust.

With Nya distracted, Arin gritted his teeth, pulled himself up and hurried over to Ras.

“Who was that?” Ras asked, sliding down off the jet and rubbing his neck.

“It’s a long story.” Arin said. “Let’s get out of here. The Temple isn’t too far from here.”

Chapter Text

1. DANCING IN THE RAIN

Rainy days at the Monastery were never fun.

It meant no training or going outside. It meant listening to Kai’s whining all day. It meant power outages, periods of boredom and crankiness and their stuff getting soaked.

The ninja team’s experiences with storms and water hadn’t exactly been wonderful, either. Kai had never been a big fan of water, the wind and noise brought Lloyd uncomfortable flashbacks of Morro, Cole wasn’t good with rain after his experience being a ghost and Zane couldn’t trust that he wouldn’t get electrocuted or soaked if he stepped outside.

And of course, there’d been the whole thing where Nya had been a part of the ocean for a whole year…

To summarise, bad weather was frustrating for everyone.

Well, everyone except Nya and Jay.

Cole thought it was adorable that they were pretty much the only team members who actually liked rainy days and thunderstorms. He supposed it made sense, because storms were basically just a natural combination of the pair’s two elements.

Whenever rainy days happened, Jay and Nya could often be spotted sitting beside a window or on the veranda, admiring the rain or giggling to each other. They didn’t seem to be afraid of getting soaked, swept away or struck by lightning.

On this particular rainy day though, they were nowhere to be found.

The storm outside had been going for three days straight. Power had been fuzzy, and the heater had broken on the first day, so moods weren’t super high right now.

Zane and PIXAL were preparing lunch in the kitchen. Kai and Lloyd were watching a movie in the living room, wrapped in a bunch of blankets, providing stupid commentary on every scene. Master Wu was meditating in his bedroom.

No sign of the lovebirds though. Cole had checked every room in the Monastery – all the bedrooms, the living room, the bathroom, the dojo and the kitchen. He supposed there was a possibility they could have gone down to the vehicle hangar, but they would’ve gone through the living room if that was true.

“Still no luck finding Jay or Nya?” Kai called from his spot on the couch, glancing over at Cole, who’d just finished his second lap of the Monastery halls.

“Nope. It’s like they’ve vanished into thin air.” Cole shook his head. “I swear I’ve checked everywhere. Maybe I’m going crazy.”

“Have you looked outside?” Lloyd suggested. “Don’t they both like going out there sometimes when it rains?”

“In this weather? They’ll both freeze to death.” Cole replied. “Surely they’re not that stupid.”

“They’re that stupid.”

Cole didn’t know what he had been expecting when he and the others opened the wide doors to the courtyard, but this wasn’t it.

Jay and Nya were DANCING. In the middle of the courtyard, twirling and splashing, laughing their heads off, to silent music that only they could hear. They were both completely soaked but looked the happiest Cole had ever seen either of them.

The pair hadn’t noticed their audience yet, continuing to spin and waltz through the enormous puddles forming under their feet.

“That’s honestly kind of adorable.” Lloyd laughed, still wrapped in one of the blankets from the couch.

“Adorable? They’re both going to catch pneumonia out there!” Zane cried, his iconic pink apron half covered in flour.

“Lighten up, Zane. Let ‘em have some fun.” Kai said, though he had his signature “big brother look” on his face as he watched his sister.

“I agree with Zane.” PIXAL frowned. “This is a very risky move on their part.”

Cole had never seen two dance partners so in sync with each other, moving and twisting as though it was natural for them. He recognised some of the moves they’d performed when they’d taken place in the dance contest in Prime Empire.

After a few minutes, when Jay smoothly dipped Nya in his arms, the couple finally noticed their audience and completely froze.

“Hey guys!” Jay called, casually lifting his yang back up and twirling her around to face the others. “What’s up?”

“Are you both insane?!” Zane called over the pouring rain. “Do you want to get sick?!”

“We wanted to dance!” Nya shrugged. “And dancing inside was boring. Besides, we’re the Masters of Lightning and Water! This doesn’t affect us!”

“Alright sis, gonna quote you on that when you start sneezing everywhere.” Kai joked, smirking.

Nya’s response to that was to send a massive burst of water at Kai.

2. STORM INCOMING

That day had started out pretty normal - well, as normal as it can be for six powerful ninja.

Jay was particularly excited, because today marked the four-year anniversary since he had asked Nya to be his yang, and he had plans to do something extra special to celebrate.

Maybe dinner? No, that wasn't special enough. He'd taken her out for dinner before.

He wanted it to be special, but not incredibly fancy or expensive. He had very few options.

He was trying to think of something new that morning.

The morning everything changed forever.

Lloyd was inside somewhere with Master Wu, Kai was sparring in the courtyard with Cole and Zane and Jay was sitting on the steps, Nya next to him.

"Do you think things will ever change?" Nya asked, as she wiped dirt off her spear, her head resting against Jay’s side.

"What do you mean?"

"Like... every time we've settled down, or things seem calm in Ninjago, something comes along to ruin it. Giant snakes, evil monsters, power-hungry villains..."

It had been a while since anything serious had happened. Well, there were the usual thugs and wanna-be bad guys causing trouble, but normally they could be dealt with pretty quickly. Everything seemed perfect - the quiet, the breeze and the laughter coming from his teammates.

"Come on, what could go wrong?" Jay asked, wrapping an arm around his yang and squeezing. "All the villains have been defeated or put back in jail. Ninjago's at peace. And the six of us are all together and thriving."

Nya smiled, though Jay could still see the worry in her eyes. "I guess. But what if..."

She barely managed to get the words out before the ground began to shake.

It was as though the world was tilting.

Jay grabbed Nya's arm with one hand and a pillar with the other, trying to keep his balance. Nya’s spear fell to the ground, the thud barely able to be heard over the rumbling.

"Cole, are you doing this?" Jay cried, as Cole and the others hurried over from where they'd been sparring a moment before.

Cole shook his head fearfully, nearly landing on his face. "No! What is this?"

The five ninja looked up at the sky as it went from blue and cloudless to...

"What is that?!" Kai yelled, shielding his eyes with a raised hand.

"The sky appears to be cracking!" Zane shouted, grabbing Cole before he could fall.

Zane was right. Giant, colourful cracks were appearing in the sky, and screams could be heard from a distance.

The colours of the sky began to change, going from a clear, crystal blue to a bright neon explosion of so many different colours.

It would have been gorgeous if it wasn’t so terrifying.

Jay turned at the sound of footsteps to see Lloyd and Master Wu running outside, fear in their faces.

"What's happening?" Lloyd demanded, as the ground shook more, nearly knocking all seven of them to the ground.

"The people are in trouble!" Nya cried, pointing towards the city, where objects and people were flying around in the vicious wind.

"Get to the Bounty!" Master Wu yelled.

3. DUSTY ARCHIVES

“Ughh, I feel like I’ve been searching for years.” Jay groaned quietly, as he chucked another scroll behind him.

None of these stupid scrolls had any information on stopping Mergequakes, or what caused the Merge in the first place, or how to find people lost in the Merge. He couldn’t help but shoot dirty looks at the weirdass worms – some help they were. It had taken ages to get the webs out of his hair and gi.

Jay could feel the dust underneath his fingernails, and it was bugging him like hell. Did they never clean this place?

“You’d think a place so fancy and organised and focused on the future would be a little more cleaner.” He said quietly.

As he pulled out the next scroll, his thoughts wandered to his friends. He wondered what Kai and Lloyd were up to, and how those new students were doing.

He missed the Monastery. Jay hadn’t slept in a proper bed for ages – the Realm of Madness had led to some of the most uncomfortable nights of sleep he’d ever experienced. He really badly wanted to take a nap in his old bed.

“Focus, Jay.” He muttered. His eyes scanned over the scroll, before he tossed it over his shoulder.

He felt himself yawn. Man, all those thoughts about sleeping were making him sleepy. It was so tempting to just lie down right here…

“Jay…”

What?

His drooping eyes shot open, as his head whipped around.

He was alone. The only sounds he could hear was a faint breeze and the chatter of the Writers outside.

Had he imagined the voice?

“Jay…”

Nope. Definitely not.

The voice was raspy and quiet, but Jay could hear it as clearly as if the speaker stood directly beside him. He felt as though a cold hand was stroking his spine.

He moved away from the shelf he’d been looking through, looking around for any movement. The silence was eerie; Jay could hear his heartbeat in his ears.

He heard a rustle in the next aisle and hurried to see it, nearly slipping over on the fuzzy carpet.

The aisle he’d found looked exactly like every single aisle he’d looked through – full of scrolls, dust and weird symbols. Jay’s eyes scanned the shelves.

“Okay, I’m imagining things.” He muttered, shaking his head. “I’ve been cooped up in here for way too long.”

As Jay turned his back on the aisle, the cold feeling returned, and he turned back around. The whispers were getting louder…

“Okay, whoever’s there, this isn’t funny!” Jay called out, summoning some lightning in his raised fist. “I’m a ninja! You don’t want to mess with me!”

There was a loud THUMP! No movement for a second, then Jay blinked, and suddenly he was looking at… a door?

“Okay, that definitely wasn’t there before.” Jay frowned, keeping his lightning fist raised, offering him some light in the dark aisle as he approached the door.

He glanced back at the brightly lit shelves and piles of scrolls, checking that someone hadn’t appeared behind him, then turned back to study the door.

“If this kills me…” Jay said, getting rid of the lightning around his fist as he slowly moved closer. “… or leads me to some terrifying monster or something, let the record show that I did not want to do this.”

He could feel his hand shaking as he placed it on the doorknob.

4. FORGOTTEN WISHES

“You got a staring problem, boy?”

Jay still couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It was… a Djinn.

The teapot. The sword. The ship.

Four arms. A misty lower half. Fancy robes.

No. That was impossible. He hadn’t met a Djinn since…

It couldn’t be possible. That monster had been sent back to the teapot years ago. And Djinjago had been destroyed along with it.

Jay rapidly shook his head, fighting down the rising wave of nausea. “No. Sorry. I wasn’t… aware there were any Djinn left alive. I thought they were all gone.”

“Well, you’re correct about the latter half of that.” The Djinn sighed, shrugging. “I am the last Djinn.” He glanced down at the dirty, littered floor and mumbled, “I’d have cleaned up if I’d known I was going to have company, but…” The rest of his mumblings were undiscernible.

“Sorry, but what is a Djinn exactly?” Sora asked, glancing at Jay. “You were kind of vague before when we found that temple, Jay.”

“They were a mythical race of beings that could wield wish magic. It’s a long story.” Jay explained, looking down at the ground and ignoring the taste of vomit in his throat. “But how are you here? I thought Djinjago was destroyed years ago.”

“It was. However, I was on a long quest in another realm when this destruction took place. When I returned, there was nothing left of my homeland, except a singular grain of sand.” He gestured to the locket around his neck, which looked like a small perfume bottle with a tiny glowing dot in the centre.

Sora brushed several pink locks out of her face as she patted Sora – wait no, Zanth, that was the dragon’s name. “So, you have wish magic? Like a genie?” She looked up at the Djinn. “Can you grant wishes?”

YOUR WISH IS YOURS TO KEEP.

MAKE YOUR FINAL WISH.

ITS ADORABLE THAT YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN RESIST ME.

WOULDN’T YOU LIKE IT ALL TO END? IT IS SUCH A SIMPLE THING TO DO.

GO ON, SCREAM, CRY, YELL.

WHO’S NEXT FOR SCRAP AND TAP?

I WAS UNAWARE A MORTAL COULD BLEED THIS MUCH. WHAT OTHER MESSAGES COULD WE CARVE INTO YOUR SKIN?

Jay forced the memories out. This wasn’t the time or the place. That monster and any trace of him was long gone.

“No, kid. A Djinn’s wish magic comes from Djinjago’s energy. No Djinjago, no wish magic. Simple logic.”

“Aww, no fair. Having wish magic would be so cool.” Sora sighed.

“I don’t know about that one.” Jay murmured. He could feel Sora’s side eye as he moved through the cave, examining everything.

“What’s your name?”

“The name’s Arrakore.” The Djinn explained, his fingers fiddling with his locket. “What brings you strangers to my humble abode?”

5. A NEW MASTER

Agent Smith tried to ignore the loud knocking at her office door, but when it got too annoying, she rolled her eyes, chucked her pen down and opened the door.

“Sub-Agent Pretence, I swear, if this is another-”

Her words were cut off when she realized it wasn’t one of her co-workers at her door.

“Who the heck are you?” She demanded.

Smith had met quite a few strange animal-human hybrids in her line of work, but this black and pink tiger warrior was… a new look. He wore golden armor, carried a massive bone hammer and scowled like everything personally offended him.

She looked over his shoulder and saw her co-workers all crumpled on the floor.

“You knocked out the other agents.” She commented, frowning. “Did they offend you or something? Don’t get me wrong, they’re all stuck-up and annoying, but…”

“Are you Nya Smith?” He asked.

Smith felt her insides twist.

How could this guy… know her name?

Play it cool.

“Who’s asking?” She questioned, trying to keep her expression neutral.

“My name is Lord Ras. I’ve been looking for you.”

“And why’s that?” Smith adjusted her tie.

“I have an offer for you. You are the Elemental Master of Water, correct?”

Okay, this was getting creepy. She’d kept that secret for months. How could this random tiger dude know her name, let alone her power?

“Look, I don’t know who you are, or how you know that stuff about me, but if you don’t get out of the Administration right now, I will drown you in your own blood.” Smith hissed, feeling the pulse of her power under her skin. She’d refused to use her powers in front of people, but this guy had such a punchable face, and he was threatening her.

“And risk everyone here discovering your true identity?” Lord Ras snarled, pointing his hammer at her. “With how detailed and knowledgeable the Administration is, I’m surprised they haven’t discovered it already.”

She glared at him. She’d worked hard to scrub the records about the elemental power of Water, ensuring that there was no visible connection to her.

“What do you want from me?” Smith tapped her fingers against the door.

“I can help you achieve many things, Nya. Great strength, unimaginable power… even tell you the truth about your past.”

That got her attention. Smith knew next to nothing about her past or where she came from, and the Administration’s story had a lot of holes.

Well, it was a place built on lying, after all. And she hated to admit it, but she was desperate for even a smidge of truth about who she was.

“My past?”

“Ahh, that got your attention. Yes, I know things about where you come from.”

She looked back at her desk, covered in paperwork, then back at Ras.

At last, she asked, “What do I need to do?”

6. SHATTERED HOPE

Smith couldn’t believe this was happening.

“You’re BANISHING ME?!” She demanded.

“You had one simple task, Smith.” Ras snarled, glaring down at her from the top of the stairs, where he and her teammates stood. “Win fights and prove that I wasn’t wasting my time training you. And you failed.”

“It’s not my fault!” She protested, feeling the anger boil inside her like a roaring ocean. “It’s that stupid Jay Walker! He got in my head, he cheated! If it weren’t for him…”

“If it were not for him, you would still have your elemental ability.” Ras reminded her, taking several steps down. “You were warned multiple times that the ninja could not be trusted and that they would play mind games with you.”

Smith could feel the missing sensation of her water powers. Without them, she felt so… weak. So normal.

She could also feel the dozen or so people on her team staring down at her, sneering. Her senses felt more heightened than before.

“You can’t banish me!” Smith cried, balling up her fists. “I’m one of the strongest fighters you have!”

She couldn’t believe this. She’d shattered her goodness, gotten beat up for months and suffered so much just to leave after the second round.

“There’s no point in partaking in an Elemental Tournament if you have no element to fight with.” Cinder laughed, smirking down at her. “Besides, Nokt and I fill the Elemental Master slot just fine. We don’t need you.”

Nokt’s cold blue eyes stared down at her. She’d been part of the Wolf Clan for longer than that weird Forbidden Five dude, but he got to stay?

Jordana’s smile was so smug and perfect. She’d been fighting to be the teacher’s pet, and in light of Smith’s failure, she could weasel her way back into Ras’ good books again. It sickened her.

“Ras, you can’t do this!” She yelled, as he walked down the stairs towards her, stopping one step above her. “I’ve been training for this tournament for months! You can’t banish me because of one mistake!”

“You are pathetic, Nya Smith.” Ras growled, raising his hand above his hand.

She braced herself for it, but even as he slapped her to the ground, she couldn’t help but let out a gasp as pain exploded across her cheek and her body collapsed into the gravel.

She winced, feeling old wounds and bruises all over her body ache in pain. Pulling herself up and grunting, she looked up at her master.

“How weak are you that you couldn’t win one fight? I freed you from the Administration for nothing.” He continued, bending down and grabbing her by her collar.

As he lifted her into the air, she forced down the taste of vomit and gave him the angriest glare she could muster. She could faintly hear the taunting laughter of her teammates through the buzzing in her ears.

“I want you gone before morning, and if you ever approach the Wolf Clan again, I won’t be so merciful.” Ras hissed, before tossing her onto the ground as though she was nothing more than a ragdoll.

Chapter Text

Once Jay was sure that Lloyd was okay and still had his full soul, he felt his stomach twist as he remembered who he’d been fighting alongside him before.

Was it really her? Or was he so desperate that he was imagining things?

It had to be. Water powers… skills in martial arts… crazy cool tech… all of that combined couldn’t be a coincidence.

Ignoring Kai and Zane’s yells, he hurried over to the pile of debris, which he could faintly see a pair of unmoving feet sticking out of.

Is she dead? She couldn’t be dead, not when he was so close to her…

A loud groan. The feet twitched.

Jay sent a silent thank-you to the First Spinjitzu Master, letting out a hurried sigh of relief as he pressed his bloody fingers against the pile, shoving off the chunks of wood to reveal a massive rock.

Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay…

Ignoring the stabs of pain in his body, he pushed the heavy rock off, surprised at his own strength. Wow, Cole would be proud.

Nya.

It was really her.

Her fancy gi was stained with dust and blood, torn in several places, revealing dirty bandages and old scars all over her body. Chunks of choppy black hair fell around her closed eyes. Faded markings from her time merged with the ocean.

He heard the footsteps and voices of the others approaching behind him as he knelt beside her when she began to stir.

“Is that…”

“What the…”

“Jay, what are you doing?”

As she sat up, Jay noticed the puddle of blood surrounding her lower half, and his eyes fell upon a long, deep gash in her leg. Before he could say or do anything about it, she noticed who was kneeling in front of her. Her eyes went wide, she took in a sharp breath, and she hurriedly crawled back, reaching for her dropped dagger.

“Get the fuck away from me.” She hissed, grasping desperately for the dagger. As Jay took her arm and helped her up, her dirty fingers found the weapon and brandished it at him again.

Jay instinctively took a step back, crying out, “It’s okay! I’m not going to hurt you!”

Shit. What had he expected? A hug? Or a kiss? Last time they’d seen each other, they’d been forced to fight each other, Nya had shattered her goodness and told him she’d always hate him, and Jay had taken her power and gotten her eliminated.

She kept the dagger raised, eyes wide and panicked as though he was holding a loaded gun to her head. More blood leaked out of the gash in her leg, dripping onto her scuffed boots. She hissed in pain through gritted teeth.

“You need to get that wound on your leg dealt with.” Jay said, pointing down at her leg. “If you come with us back to the monastery…”

“And why would I go anywhere with you?” Nya demanded, her voice slightly muffled under the mask, wincing in pain as her injured leg wobbled slightly under her body weight.

Despite everything, Jay couldn’t help but smile. “I know who you are, dude. It’s super obvious.”

Her brow furrowed, keeping the dagger raised as she spoke in a voice dripping with disbelief. “No, you don’t. You’ve never seen me before.”

“Jay, what are you doing?” Lloyd asked, coming up behind him.

“Elemental water?” Jay asked, thinking of the way she’d taken down over a dozen Dragonians with a bunch of water blobs.

“So? Lots of people probably have water powers!” She protested, glaring at him.

“That is incorrect.” Zane chimed in, standing behind the others due to his newfound size.

Keeping her weapon raised, Nya sighed and lifted her mask, revealing…

Jay wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but he couldn’t help himself from letting out a gasp at what was under her mask.

Her once-long black locks had been cut into a messy bob around her ears, which clearly hadn’t been washed or brushed in some time. There were several painful-looking scars on her face, obscuring the ocean markings and mole Jay was so familiar with. Her dark blue eyes, once so full of brightness and energy, now were empty and hateful.

“NYA!”

“What?!”

“Oh my gosh!”

“How are you here?”

As the others moved closer, Nya took another step backwards, looking like a wounded animal as she pointed her dagger at each of them.

“GET BACK!” She shrieked, causing everyone but Jay to hurriedly move back. “Any of you even touch me, and I will kill you!”

Jay turned around and saw Kai, who had gone pale white at the sight of his little sister. He realized this would have been the first time Kai had even seen Nya since the Merge happened – everyone else had either seen her fight at the Tournament or (in Skylor’s case) ran into her at the Crossroads. Kai looked ready to run and bolt for the mountains.

“Nya, it’s okay.” Jay said gently, turning back to look at his yang and keeping his hands raised. “We just want to help you.”

Breathing heavily, her eyes darting around, Nya slowly lowered her weapon, keeping a tight grip on it.

“Why would I go anywhere with the people who got me eliminated, humiliated and attacked?” She asked. “And to a monastery, of all places? Who lives in a monastery?”

Jay glanced at Lloyd, who, despite looking super nauseous, managed a smile and replied, “Because if you don’t, you’re gonna bleed out in the middle of this massive desert.”

Nya considered this, not taking her eyes off Jay, before sheathing her dagger and saying, “Fine. But if any of you touch me, talk to me, or approach me, then I’m going to-” She paused mid-sentence upon spotting someone, her eyes narrowing.

Jay looked behind to see Arin had locked eyes with her, panic in his eyes. He murmured, “I knew it.”

Sora, who was standing just beside Arin, frowned and asked, “Arin, what are you talking about?”

“What’s he talking about?” Nya scoffed, crossing her arms. “How about the fact that kid has tried to fight me twice? He gave me this!” She gestured to a long scratch above her eye.

 “You’ve killed people!” Arin cried, fear being replaced with anger. “You tried to kill me twice!”

“Like I told you, little brat, not my fault you got in the way!” Nya yelled back.

“Arin, what do you mean?” Skylor asked, frowning as she re-tied her red hair into a ponytail.

“It’s a long story, but…” Arin started.

“Arin!”

Everyone turned around at the sound of Ras’ voice, where he stood, his giant golden hammer by his side, his foot impatiently tapping against the ground.

Arin hesitated, glancing at everyone, his eyes watering up.

“I-I’m sorry, everyone. My parents…” He said quietly, hanging his head and slowly making his way over to Ras.

Jay couldn’t believe it. After all this, Arin was just going to go running back to Ras? How did he even know his parents were dead?

He could practically hear Lloyd’s heart break from over here.

“Time to go! We must hurry if we’re going to…” Ras trailed off when he spotted Nya.

“Smith.” He snarled disapprovingly.

Nya’s hand went to her dagger again, her eyes full of anger like a furious storm. “If I wasn’t wounded right now, I would put this knife right through that tiger’s neck.”

Jay noticed Sora looked like she was hesitating too, her dark eyes following her best friend.

“Lloyd…” She murmured, turning to face her teacher. “I’m sorry too. I can’t leave him again.”

All Jay and the others could do was watch as Arin and Sora went off with Ras.

----------------------------------------------

These assholes were so lucky she was in pain.

Smith was literally surrounded by the enemy. Sure, they were smiling, and laughing, and eating, but they all hated her.

She just needed to bide her time, wait for her pain to ease, then she could continue to cross names off her hitlist. That was all that mattered.

The ninja. Ras. Cinder. Nokt. Jordana. Whatever spirit or person was holding her memories captive. They all needed to die, and she was going to make sure of it.

After they’d patched up her leg, everyone had made their way back to the Monastery and started… partying? Right there in the courtyard?

She’d had at least three people come up to her and try to hug her, then been surprised when she’d nearly scratched their faces off. After snatching a plate of pie, she’d retreated to the stairs, trying not to think about the fact that everyone was staring, everyone was judging, they were all so loud…

And they kept calling her Nya.

It felt so wrong. She hated that name. 

But she couldn't go by Smith forever. She needed a new name.

Great. Now she could add come up with an alias name to her already long-ass list of things she needed to do.

Her leg was still killing her, her shoulder was acting up again and she was actively fighting off the urge to rip off her face. At least then they’d all leave her alone.

The pie was alright at least, some kind of berry flavour. Her plate balanced on her good leg as she picked off chunks of pastry, the berry juice staining her fingers.

These ninja made no sense. They’d just defeated a giant Chaos dragon only a few hours ago, and they were partying? The green one had literally had his soul sucked out.

Ras was still out there, digging his claws into those kids, and they were just standing around?

She knew more than anyone how cruel and manipulative Ras could be. She had no love for those two kids, especially not the yellow hoodie-wearing one (who seemed familiar now that she thought about it), but… they were still kids. She’d barely survived what that asshole had done to her, and she was an adult fully trained fighter – they stood no chance.

Berating her as Cinder knocked her to the ground… the things he’d carved into her back… the stories he’d tell her about her past… merely watching as they all backed her into a corner, laughing… ringing the gong and watching as the Wolf Mask melted into her face and her body screamed in pain… tossing her out of the Tournament…

Smith felt her body shudder and took a slow breath.

Don’t think about the past. Think about right now.

That pie slice had made her super thirsty. There was a punch bowl beside the plates of pie and cake and the bowls of noodles and rice.

Making sure no one was watching, she slowly got up and made her way to the table, feeling a stab of pain every time her injured leg moved.

Jay and the other ninja were standing in a huddle, deep in conversation. Jay noticed her and smiled, which made her nearly trip as she felt vomit rising in her throat.

Once she was healed, he was the first one she was going to kill. And she was going to make it long and painful.

Maybe cut off a few of his limbs and leave him to bleed out… or slip a slow-acting poison into his drink… or just beat him black and blue… so many options…

As she grabbed a cup and poured herself punch, she caught a few words of what the green one was saying.

“…now that Arin thinks his parents are dead…”

What?

“Dead?” She said, sipping her punch as they all turned at the sound of her voice. “You mean that hoodie kid? His parents aren’t dead – just lost.”

Now she realized where she’d recognized that kid from. Before she’d been promoted to manager, she’d been one of the main agents working to reassign people to the correct Realms.

And one particular couple had always stuck out to her…

“What?”

“Huh?”

“Nya, what are you talking about?”

She rolled her eyes as she drowned the punch and tossed her cup to the side. “Are you stupid? I used to work at the Administration, you idiots, in the Realm Reassignment department. I know where that kid’s parents were sent.”

“So, this Lord Ras guy is lying to them?” The red-haired girl asked, crossing her arms.

“That’s not much of a shock.” Smith scoffed, turning her back on the others as she grabbed a bowl of rice. “Ras is a master liar and manipulator. Those kids aren’t going to last very long by his side.”

Chapter Text

“Are we sure this is a good idea, Lloyd?” Jay asked, his hand resting on the doorknob.

Lloyd sighed, his eyes still red and puffy from Egalt’s funeral earlier that day as he crossed his arms. “We don’t have many other options. If we want to try and find Arin’s parents, we need someone who knows the layout and can help us get our students back.”

“But how are we supposed to convince her?” Jay replied. “She’s barely talked to anyone except Skylor and PIXAL, and we still don’t know how to help fix her shattered goodness.”

After they’d returned from the battle against Thunderfang, Nya had locked herself in her room, refusing to talk to most of the team, get her wounds properly checked or join them for mealtimes or training. Jay had tried talking with her through the door, but it was like talking to a brick wall – never a reply.

Kai had tried too, but his attempts had been met with either dead silence or muttered curses, so he’d kept his distance, focusing on helping to train Frak with Cole (who’d come to visit for a few days) and Skylor (who’d moved her noodle cart and her few belongings permanently into the Monastery). Jay could have sworn he’d heard muffled sobs coming from Kai’s bedroom the last few nights.

When Lloyd had first suggested his idea, Jay wasn’t sure if it would work. They knew next to nothing about the way the Administration worked, and at first, he’d tried to get Lloyd to come up with a new plan.

But with Arin and Sora running around with Ras, PIXAL and Zane gone off on a mission and most of Master Wu’s notes on the Realms destroyed, Lloyd had concluded they needed a way to break into the Administration to find the information they needed, and Nya was the best chance they had.

“Fine.” Jay said. “But there’s no way she’ll help us. She hates all of us, and me the most. You saw how she first reacted to us after we found her.”

The image of his yang pointing a knife at him had joined his nightmare rotation. Sure, the old Nya had anger issues, but underneath her stubborn exterior, she cared deeply for her friends and family. This version of her was a mystery, and one that hated them all, didn’t remember who she was and had apparently killed innocent people.

“We’ll come up with something. Offer her money, maybe.” Lloyd shrugged.

Jay sighed as he turned the doorknob, hearing the familiar click of the lock as he pushed the door open.

Nya’s room hadn’t changed much since the Merge – photos of her with the team, her spear and throwing stars on display, random piles of clothes scattered, and a handful of watercolour paintings and artworks made by fans decorating her walls. The major differences were the thick layer of dust covering everything, the steaming bowl of noodles sitting on the bedside table and the black-haired ninja on the bed.

Nya was sitting on her neatly made bed; her injured leg wrapped in bandages and propped up on a pillow. She’d changed out of her gi and found some of her old clothes, which consisted of a sports bra and tracksuit pants. She had summoned several blobs of water and was making them float around her head, almost like a halo.

Without her gi, more of her injuries and scars were visible around her arms and chest, obscuring her faded ocean markings, and Jay didn’t recognise most of them – burns up and down her arms, gashes across her stomach, dirty bandages around her left shoulder.

She looked up at them, rolled her eyes and the water blobs evaporated. Her hands fell to her lap as her empty blue eyes watched them.

“Ninja. Delightful.” She muttered, as Jay sat on the end of her bed and Lloyd remained standing.

As Lloyd opened his mouth, she held up her hand. “Don’t say it. I heard what you were saying at the door. For ninja, you guys aren’t very quiet or sneaky. You need my help with something involving that Arin kid and his little pink-haired buddy.”

Lloyd’s mouth closed, and Jay jumped in.

“Yeah. You said you knew where Arin’s parents had been sent. And we want to get Arin and Sora away from Ras.” He explained, fidgeting with the ends of his sleeves.

Nya scoffed. “I’d be surprised if those kids are still alive now that they’re running around with my former master. They didn’t seem super capable when I last saw them fight.”

“Of course.” Lloyd realised, frowning. “You’d know more then anyone how bad of an influence Ras is. He’s convinced Arin that we’re holding him back, and that his parents are dead.”

Nya summoned another blob of water in her palm, examining it as she spoke again. “I remember when his parents ended up in my department. They were all tearful, begging us to try and find their son, to send them to wherever he was.”

“But you didn’t send them to Arin.” Lloyd murmured.

“No. My fellow agents didn’t care for their whining and sent them away to this place called the Land of Lee. But I always knew it wasn’t right. Nothing about the Administration was.”

“Then why did you stay there?” Lloyd asked.

“I didn’t have a choice. Between knowing nothing about my old life and the place being a gigantic prison, I didn’t have any chance at escape. I only left once or twice, and that was on missions to locate Administration property.” She sighed. “So, what precisely is your plan here? Break into a super-secure building, find the info you need and then get out without getting imprisoned, fined or stuck with a shit-ton of paperwork?”

Jay glanced at Lloyd, then back at her. “Yeah, that’s about it. The thing is, we know next to nothing about the Administration, so… we were wondering if you could help us out?”

He knew as soon as he’d said that last part that it was a bad idea.

Nya’s expression changed from boredom to shock, as she formed a fist around the blob of water, making it explode.

“You want me to go with you?” She asked, a sarcastic chuckle hidden beneath her disbelief. She leaned forward and grabbed Jay’s collar, pulling him close.

Lloyd reached for a sword that wasn’t there, but Jay went completely still, watching her. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were empty and hateful, her chest was heaving… but she still looked as beautiful as the day he’d first met her.

“Are you INSANE? I spent years trying to escape that crazy place, and you want me to go back there?” She demanded, shaking her head.

She shoved him back, moving back to where she’d sat before.

“Why should I agree to this?”

Jay adjusted his gi as he looked at Lloyd, who bit his lip.

“Well… we can offer you money, or artifacts, or something.” Lloyd suggested.

She scoffed again, folding her arms. “You think I have any interest in that stuff? If you want me to go back to that place, you’ll need to give me something better than that.”

At least she was willing to help them? Jay thought to himself. While he was concerned about how she’d reacted to their idea, if she was willing to help them get into the Administration, it meant they were one step closer to freeing Arin and Sora from Ras’ clutches.

“What do you want, then?” Jay questioned.

Nya glanced down at her light blue bedspread, her fingers tracing the patterns. After a moment, she said quietly, “I want to leave.”

What?

“What do you mean by that?” Lloyd asked, frowning.

“I feel like a prisoner here.” She explained. “You all look at me like I’m a broken mess or like I’m a disappointment.”

So, she had noticed the way everyone had looked at her. Didn’t she realize it was because they knew the real Nya was buried somewhere in there, and they just wanted to find her?

“So, once I help you find this kid’s parents and kill Ras with my bare hands, I’m leaving.”

“But you’re our friend. You’re the Water Ninja, the former Samurai X, one of the smartest and toughest people I’ve ever met.” Jay told her. “You have a room here, and there’s pictures of you everywhere. Why wouldn’t you believe us?”

“Here’s the thing, Walker.” She snapped, glaring at him. “I’ve been told a lot of different stories by a lot of different people, and with no memories of who I really am, I don’t know who to believe – you ninja, Lord Ras, the Administration. I’d like to find out for myself, and I can’t do that if I’m stuck in this monastery.”

Jay felt nauseous. She wanted to leave him. After everything.

And he hated to admit it, but he could see the truth in her words.

“Alright.” Lloyd muttered.

“Wait, what?” Jay said, turning to face Lloyd. “You’re allowing this?”

Lloyd shook his head; his eyes focused on Nya. “If that is what you want from us, and if it means you’ll help us, then once the mission is complete, you’re free to leave. And if we can get Arin and Sora away from Ras, you can do whatever you want with him.”

Jay’s jaw dropped. How were they supposed to help her if she left them behind? And why was Lloyd okay with this?

Nya nodded. “Good. One more thing – I can only get three of you into the Administration. Anyone else and it’s likely we’ll all get captured.”

“Who do we bring, then?” Jay asked, feeling as though his stomach was full of squiggling snakes. This was really happening.

Nya thought for a moment, before curtly replying, “Not the fire one. He looks at me weird. Or the noodle girl. Or the rock-head. Or Frak. Or that frog guy. I can put up with you two, but not any of them.”

“Well, that only leaves Wyldfyre.” Lloyd said. “Don’t know how much help she’d be, but she’s the only one that you haven’t just listed.”

“Which one is ‘Wyldfyre’?” She frowned. “Is she the crazy fire demon kid?”

Jay and Lloyd nodded in unison.

She did a slight shrug. “That works. Worst comes to worst, she could blow something up as a distraction.”

Lloyd chuckled. “Wyldfyre does enjoy blowing stuff up. Sounds good. We’ll head off tomorrow.”

Jay looked at Lloyd in disbelief. Did he not see how terrible Nya looked right now? With her injuries, she could barely walk the halls of the monastery, let alone run around the Administration building or fight off agents.

“Fine by me.”

Jay slowly got to his feet.

“Meet us in the courtyard tomorrow morning.” Lloyd said, following Jay into the hallway.

Once the pair had left Nya’s room, Jay grabbed Lloyd’s arm, stopping him in his tracks.

“What was that?” Jay demanded. “Why did you tell her she could leave us?”

“I didn’t have a choice, Jay.” Lloyd protested, tugging himself free and continuing to walk down the hallway. “I had to promise her something to make her agree to help us.”

“But how are we supposed to help her get her memories back or fix her goodness if she isn’t with us?” Jay cried. “Don’t you want her back?”

“Of course I do!” Lloyd said, keeping his back to Jay and balling his fists at his side. “But we have no way of knowing how to get her back!”

“We won’t know that unless we try!” Jay yelled, following his teammate around a corner. “We can’t just give up on her!”

“If you have a solution, I’d love to hear it!” Lloyd snapped, his fingertips seeming to flicker with green sparks.

Then a thought hit Jay.

“You just want Arin and Sora back, don’t you?!” He shrieked. “You don’t care about Nya, or me, or anyone else except your beloved students! And they clearly can’t handle themselves without the Green Ninja there to protect them!”

Lloyd froze in his tracks, the sparks disappeared and Jay immediately regretted his venomous words.

“Is that really what you think?” Lloyd said under his breath. “That I don’t care about all of you?”

Jay decided that the best move right now would be to shut his mouth, because Lloyd’s emotions seemed to be on the tipping point.

“Of course I care.” Lloyd continued. “I care so deeply. Do you think it’s been easy watching our team crumble? Watching the image I had of my older sister shatter like glass right in front of my eyes? Seeing how heartbroken you and Kai are about it? Losing the kids I’ve tried so hard to teach and protect?”

As Lloyd turned to face him, Jay realized his friend’s bright green eyes were full of tears. He hadn’t seen Lloyd cry in months.

“I’m supposed to be the leader, the monastery keeper, the legendary Green Ninja. What good am I if I can’t play my part?! If I can’t keep my family safe?!”

Jay felt a lump form in his throat as Lloyd’s voice grew louder.

“So maybe I want to get my students back! What’s wrong with that?! Would you rather they continue running around with Lord Ras?! The same person who caused Nya to shatter her goodness?! The same person who sent Kai to the Nether Space?! The same person planning something evil and malicious?! I know what I’d prefer!”

“Lloyd, I…”

“Of course I want to help Nya! But what can I do about it? The only memories she has of us are you beating her up! We know nothing about how to help her, so in the meantime, I’d like to focus on the problems we can solve!”

Before Jay could say or do anything, Lloyd turned around and stormed off.

Jay took a shaky breath, before hearing a low whistle behind him and whipping around.

“Kai?”

The Fire Ninja was leaning against a doorway, arms crossed and looking concerned.

“I haven’t seen Lloyd get that angry in years.” He commented. “Very impressive, Zap-trap.”

“So, you heard that whole thing, huh?” Jay awkwardly murmured, staring down at the carpet, Lloyd’s angry words echoing in his ears.

“Heard it from the courtyard. They probably would have heard it over at the Crossroads. You guys weren’t exactly trying to be quiet.”

When Jay didn’t say anything, Kai sighed and walked over to him, placing a warm hand on his shoulder.

“Hey. You’re okay. Lloyd’s just worried about the kids. It’s not your fault.”

Jay let Kai pull him into a hug, taking in shuddering breaths.

“So, you’re going to this Administration.”

“Yeah.” Jay muttered. “Me, Lloyd, Wyldfire and… Nya.”

The pause felt as heavy as a mountain. His little sister had been a sensitive topic for Kai the last few days, and when Jay said her name, he felt Kai’s body tense.

“You gonna be alright with them?” Kai asked, releasing Jay and placing a hand on his hip. “Wyldfyre’s difficult to control, and Lloyd’s mind is all over the place at the moment, and Nya…”

“It’ll be fine.” Jay insisted. “It’s just… can I be honest about something?”

“Sure.”

“I… I don’t know what’s worse. Not knowing if the girl I love is safe, or knowing where she is, except she hates my guts.”

------------------------------------------------

Smith couldn’t believe she’d agreed to this.

Returning to that monstrous place, to find a pair of lost parents, so the ninja could be reunited with two kids that were roaming the lands with a tyrannical tiger lord. Now that she'd actually processed the thought, it sounded even more ridiculous when she thought about it.

But they’d agreed she could be free once they were done, and that was all that mattered.

She felt so trapped here, surrounded by pictures and memories of someone who looked exactly like her, except more… perfect. More happy. More proud of everything she’d done.

She was everything Smith wasn’t.

Maybe these ninja were telling the truth. Maybe she did use to be one of them, and they’d been separated by the Merge. But Smith didn’t want to be a ninja, not after everything she’d been through, all the evil stuff she’d done. She wasn't the Nya they knew, and no matter how hard she tried, she could never be like the girl in the pictures.

It had been several hours since the Lightning and Green Ninjas had come to speak to her, and she’d been trying to sleep for at least two of those. Between the pain in her leg and shoulder and her mind feeling as jumbled as a jigsaw puzzle, sleep seemed as far away as her memories right now.

With a huff, she sat up and dragged her aching leg off the edge of the bed, pulling herself up to her full height. She hissed through gritted teeth as her foot hit the ground, sending a burst of pain up her hurt leg.

She needed exercise on this thing, and she wanted to get off that damn bed. A quick glance at the clock on the wall read 11:09pm. Moonlight was creeping in through her curtains and she could faintly hear snoring from the rooms down the hall.

She hadn’t left her bed in nearly two days and was surprised at how stiff her limbs felt as she made her way to the dresser, making eye contact with her reflection.

Wow, she looked like shit.

Then her eyes fell upon a framed photo sitting on the dresser of what looked like her old self, posing in a selfie with the other five ninja. They all were dressed in colorful matching pyjamas, each ninja wearing their signature colours. The six of them laughed and pulled silly faces, making peace signs and hearts with their fingers. They looked like any ordinary group of teens, just hanging out and having fun.

The image made something inside her flutter, but that feeling was shut down by a rush of anger.

They wanted her to be someone else, the old Nya, one who hadn’t lost her memories, shattered her goodness or killed innocent people.

Smith felt her hands shaking as she looked down at them, covered in grime, old blood and various scratches and burns.

She was never going to be good enough. She wasn’t good enough for the agents at the Administration, or for Ras and his Wolf Clan Warriors, or for the ninja. She was nothing but a failure.

She felt her chest heave as she dug her nails into her palms, feeling blood dripping through her fingertips. Her breathing sped up, the sound of it piercing the quiet night.

Voices filled her head, as she felt her heartbeat slamming in her chest.

Your only purpose is to work here.

How dare you show emotion? You don’t have a permit for that.

Do you know how much potential you have, Smith?

Wow. I’d have thought you would put up more of a fight than that, water girl.

Do not fail me.

Because I love you. I will always love you.

Why can’t you do this?

Please don’t hurt me!

The loudest voice was one that sounded exactly like her, but raspier and angrier. It only repeated one word over and over:

FAILURE, FAILURE, FAILURE, FAILURE, FAILURE, FAILURE, FAILURE, FAILURE, FAILURE, FAILURE, FAILURE, FAILURE, FAILURE, FAILURE, FAILURE, FAILURE

She couldn’t take it anymore. Smith cried out in anger, raised a fist and slammed it into the mirror, leaving cracks and a fist-shaped hole in the mirror.

As she pulled her hand away, she let out a sob as she stared at the damage she’d created. Shards of the mirror were embedded in her knuckles. The cracks made a web-like design around the hole. There was blood everywhere.

Well, now her reflection looked exactly how she felt on the inside – bloodstained, shattered and imperfect.

Chapter Text

“HEY! YOU THERE!”

Damnit. They were doing so well.

Jay’s eyes were blinded by the fluorescent lights above him as he and the others turned at the sound of the voice. He blinked a few times to bring his vison back into focus.

“Stay calm. Don’t move. They can sense fear.” Nya hissed, a scowl on her face as her hand went for the knife hidden in her sleeve. Her short black hair was up in a half-up/half-down style, she wore the same gi she’d worn at the battle against Thunderfang and her left hand was wrapped in bandages. She looked so awesome, but so… not her.

Jay was glad she was back, but with how different she was, was it even worth it?

Lloyd put on a nervous smile, while Wyldfyre’s fists immediately clenched in anger.

Two Administration agents stood several feet away – one looking like some kind of purple Hypnobrai, the other a black-haired human. Their uniform looked strangely casual compared to the formality of the Administration – black turtleneck, brown cardigan and long grey pants. The pair took several steps forward, their eyes scanning over the group before landing on Nya.

“Agent Nya Smith.” The Hypnobrai hissed. “Where have you been?”

Nya rolled her eyes. “Since when do you care what I do, Agent Underwood? You never gave me more than a passing glance when I was here.”

“The Department of Realm Reassignment has been in chaos since you left, Smith.” The male agent replied. “No paperwork has been filed, no lost people sent to the correct location, the pizza oven’s broken again – it’s anarchy in there.”

Jay glanced at Lloyd, who shared the same confused frown.

This place is so weird. What kind of office building has a pizza oven, and why did Nya get to use it and not me?

“What a dilemma.” Nya scoffed, crossing her arms.

“Nice to see your attitude hasn’t changed. You have a lot of work to catch up on, Smith.”

“Bold of you to assume I’m here to work, Agent Allen.” She snapped. “I have other business to attend to.”

“What business?” Allen questioned, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

“And who are these… ninjas with you?” Agent Underwood demanded, her beady eyes examining Wyldfyre, as though waiting for a chance to lock her up and fine her for incorrect use of heat powers.

“Well, uhhh…”

Shit. They’d hadn’t discussed what excuse they’d use if they were questioned.

Nya looked like she was panicking, and Lloyd and Wyldfyre didn’t seem to have any clue either.

Jay had a brilliant idea, and stepped forward, cutting her off.

“Oh! Haven’t you heard? Today’s ‘Bring Your Ninja Warrior Friends to Work’ Day! We were told there was snacks, and games?”

He was a master at stalling. This place was so freaky, surely this was a real thing?

“Our dear friend Agent Smith here…” He slung his arm over Nya’s shoulders, feeling her freeze under his touch. “…invited us along! So, if you don’t mind, we’ll just be along now.”

He put on the biggest grin he could muster, silently begging, please buy it, please buy it, please buy it…

The two agents considered this, and Nya pushed him off her, shooting him a hard glare.

“You nincompoop.” She muttered. “How the hell did you survive this long with such idiocy?”

He shrugged. “Spite and jokes. Always works.”

Just as Jay thought his idea had actually worked, suddenly the agents reached into their jackets and pulled out some kind of gun.

“Nice try, ninja!” Agent Underwood cried, raising her gun and pointing it directly at his head. “Bring Your Ninja Warrior Friends To Work Day was last week!”

“What?! That’s a real thing?!” Jay yelled. “I was kidding!”

“Looks like we’ll have to take you four in for questioning!”

Lloyd shook his head in defeat. “Worth a try.”

Nya face palmed, shaking her head. “I thought you ninja were all about not quitting. You’re just gonna give up?”

“They have weapons, Nya.” Lloyd replied, hands already raised in surrender. “If we fight, it’ll just cause more trouble.”

“You really are a pathetic bunch.” She raised her hand, palm facing the two agents as it began to glow blue.

Only, it didn’t summon any water. There was a second where Jay wasn’t sure what she was trying to do, then it became clearer.

The Hypnobrai agent began to choke, letting out loud and painful coughs. Her partner did the same, both coughing and gagging as though they were drowning in something.

“What…” Lloyd trailed off, staring at Nya, who didn’t drop her hand, furrowing her brow in concentration. Her eyes began to glow as well, but not her usual bright blue – it was a grim, threatening shade of red.

The same shade of red they’d been when she’d shattered her goodness and achieved Shatterspin.

“What… is this… sorcery?” Agent Underwood coughed, doubling over. “What are… you... doing?"

“Whoa…” Wyldfyre murmured, watching with something almost like… admiration? Jealousy?

Is she… doing something? Making them choke on water? Jay thought, watching the pair as they both fell to their knees, coughing up a mountain of bile and saliva. Whatever she’s doing, it looks painful.

Nya’s glowing blue hand suddenly turned red. She grunted and twisted her wrist slightly, keeping her eyes trained on the two agents.

Jay nearly felt his heart stop when the bile they were coughing up turned bloody red. Blood began to pour from their mouths, their eyes, their ears. It was terrifying.

The human one let out a pitiful cry as blood dripped down his cardigan.

She was killing them.

The agents finally gave in, collapsing onto the ground in a puddle of their own blood, guns slipping free from their grasp. The Hypnobrai one gave one last gasp, before her eyes turned glassy.

Though they weren’t moving, blood still poured from their bodies, dribbling down almost like tears.

What the fuck?

A moment of horrified silence. Nya lowered her hand, and her eyes turned back to dark blue. She brushed several loose strands of hair out of her eyes before glancing at each of them.

“Come on. We haven’t got all day.” She reminded them, walking forward and stepping over the bodies.

Lloyd was the first to move. He gave a slight shake of his head and said quietly, “What did you just do?”

Nya stopped mid-step, giving a slight shrug. “I’m the Master of Water. I can control most liquids. Blood is a liquid. And they were threatening us.”

Jay felt his stomach turn. She knew exactly what she’d done, and she didn’t care. She was acting as if she’d just completed a chore.

Those agents were rude and annoying, but they didn’t deserve to die, especially in such a painful way.

Before he’d left, Arin had mentioned something about her killing people, and that she’d also tried to kill him. What had she been doing while Jay and the others were searching for her?

“That was sick…” Wyldfyre muttered. “Can you teach me that? I wanna learn to kill people!”

“That’s gonna be a no, kid.” Nya replied, motioning for them to follow her. “You control Heat, not Water. I don’t know, maybe you could manipulate a person’s body heat or control the sun or something. I don’t know how your element works.”

“Awesome…”

Jay knew that Kai would murder him if he let Wyldfyre learn how to achieve anything like that. He made a mental note to talk with Nya later about not encouraging this.

He made eye contact with Lloyd, who looked as horrified as he felt. Lloyd mouthed, we need to talk about this later.

Jay nodded in response.

“Oh, quit looking like someone’s kicked your dog, Walker.” Nya scoffed, noticing his facial expression. “You’ve never tried doing more with your element? I’ve seen how you fight with your lightning bolts. It’s never occurred to you that you could manipulate it to do something else? Lightning’s a dangerous power – you could mess with powerlines, control people’s nerves systems, summon storms.”

“No, that’s never occurred to me.” Jay muttered.

That was a lie. He’d thought about it before. A lot of Master Wu’s lessons had focused on how the ninja could use their elements in different ways, and sometimes Jay had wondered how else his lightning could be used as a weapon or a tool. But he’d never considered using it to kill someone.

“Jay, you coming?” Lloyd called.

He gave the bodies one last look, pushing down the nausea that was steadily rising in his throat, before following the others down another long hallway.

The old Nya would never have done that. Right?

Then Jay thought back on some of her craziest feats in the past. Drowning an entire realm of ghosts… which then caused a whole other kingdom to collapse… and she never exactly stopped to politely ask villains or criminals to get out of her way… he’d had to hold her back from committing violent acts multiple times…

Maybe this is the real Nya… violent, scary and murderous… and we were just holding her back… but now with no goodness and no memories…

How are we supposed to bring her back?

-------------------------------------------------------

“Do we have to wear these?” Wyldfyre complained, pulling at her fluffy blue sweater. “It’s so ugly and scratchy! Blue is not my colour!”

“Deal with it.” Nya snapped, her hands flying across the keyboard. “We can’t walk into the Land of Lee wearing ninja gis. And that sweater was the only decent thing they had in your size in the lost property. Unless you want to wear the frilly pink dress?”

Wyldfyre huffed but didn’t say anything more. The Master of Heat hated many things, and the colour pink was one of them.

“That’s what I thought, kid. Now shut it. I need to concentrate.”

Jay knew he didn’t look much better. He felt like a divorced middle-aged man in his tight tie, suspenders and old-man clothes. The only other thing remotely close to his size was grey slacks and a comfy gold and orange sweater, which Lloyd had already nabbed.

He felt envious of Nya. She’d actually found an outfit that looked good – green cardigan, white singlet and black jeans. He’d never seen her in green before, but it suited her.

“So, we just walk through the portal?” Jay asked, staring down at the gate beside the platform.

“Pretty much. It doesn’t hurt and will get us there safely. Once we’re in, we find this kid’s parents, and then we get out before anything bad can happen.” Nya replied, her eyes not leaving the screen.

“What bad stuff could happen?” Lloyd asked, his brow furrowed.

“Who knows? But it never hurts to be cautious. I’ve never been to the Land of Lee, but from what other agents have said, the place is ruled with an iron fist by the leader Lee.” Nya explained, turning to talk to Lloyd. “He’s got some weird powers apparently, and he seems friendly, but he’s got a dark side and doesn’t like trouble in his kingdom.”

A whole realm named after one dude… how important was this Lee guy?

“Noted.” Lloyd said, giving her a nervous smile.

“One more thing.” Nya added, her hands once again flying across the keys. “Whenever we were assigning people to their original realm, they’d always be in pairs. Siblings, couples, all that. So, we need some kind of cover story.”

“Alright then. Wyld, you and I are brother and sister.” Lloyd said, wrapping an arm around the Heat Ninja’s shoulders, receiving an eyeroll and a gagging motion.

Normally, the sight would make Jay giggle, but after what he’d seen Nya do to those agents, it made him feel sick.

But what Lloyd said next made him feel even worse.

“And Jay and Nya are married.”

Nya scowled at that, but shrugged and muttered, “Fine. That works.”

She clicked one last button, and the machine began to whir.

Chapter Text

“When Lloyd said we should ‘do an activity and get to know our neighbours’…” Smith murmured, attaching her name tag to her cardigan, struggling with her bandaged hand. “… neighbourhood tango class was not what I had in mind.”

She couldn’t remember if she’d ever danced. The idea seemed ridiculous when you thought about everything she’d done over the last few years since the Merge. What was all the hype over dancing anyway?

But if they wanted to find Jenny and Barry Nived, they needed intel on how this Land of Lee place worked. And if they wanted intel, they had to embrace their undercover roles and do some ‘mingling’, as Lloyd had put it.

So, he’d dragged Wyldfyre to some crochet class, leaving her alone with Jay, who’d thought it would be a brilliant idea to join a tango class.

She was beginning to regret letting any of these guys live.

Once Smith was satisfied her tag was attached, she went to follow him down the hall to the dance hall.

The Ninjargon letters on her tag read Ocean McCoolGuy. Jay had come up with the last name on the spot when they were asked (calling himself Strong McCoolGuy – man this guy sucked at naming things), and she’d jumped in before he could come up with a stupid first name too.

Yes, she saw the irony – Master of Water nicknaming herself Ocean. But her element was one of the only things Smith could depend on anymore. It protected her, calmed her and hadn’t betrayed her, lied to her or hurt her.

Unlike everything and everyone else.

And Ocean was definitely a million times better than whatever Jay would have come up with. Ugh, he was stupid.

“Come on, it’ll be fun!” Jay grinned, his own name tag proudly attached to one of his goofy suspender straps, a clipped rose in his hand. “I’m a dancing pro! We’re gonna set that dance floor on fire!”

She snorted, smirking at him. “Sure, sure, McCoolGuy. Don’t forget why we’re here.”

He was annoying, sure, but maybe he wasn’t completely terrible. She’d definitely met worse guys over the years.

If this was apparently who she’d been engaged to before the Merge… well, she could’ve done worse. From the info she’d gathered, the only other options were apparently her brother, some blonde overpowered green ninja, a nindroid who was already in a relationship and a rockhead.

Yeah. She could’ve done WAY worse.

She thought of the yin-yang pendant on a chain under her top, one of the only possessions she’d found on herself after the Merge, and the only one she’d held onto all this time. A symbol of love and unity. Dented and scratched as though it’d seen many battles. For years, she’d had no idea where its other half was, until she’d noticed the pendant around Jay’s neck several nights ago and nearly thrown up.

It was true. Their stories were real.

So, these ninja weren’t complete liars. Maybe she could trust what they were saying. Maybe she really was the Nya in the pictures.

But if they were truly her family, if they loved and cared for her, where were they when she’d woken up alone in the Realm of Madness, with no memories, no home and no idea who she was? Where were they when she’d been trapped in the Administration for years? When the Wolf Clan had taken her in? When she’d put on that mask…

She couldn’t allow herself to get distracted. She went over her revised mental list – find this kid’s parents, get them and the ninja out of this realm alive and get away from these pathetic ninja forever. Before she got hurt again.

She was better off alone. Nothing holding her back. No one forcing labels onto her or trying to fit her into a neat little box.

She made a mental note to get rid of the pendant as soon as she could. It was chaining her to them, keeping her connected with Jay.

He deserved better than her. She was an awful person, and awful people don’t deserve love.

The two of them made their way into the dance room, where at least three other pairs had already begun dancing. Small lanterns dangling from the ceiling lit up the room, bathing it in a golden glow. Tango music blared from the speakers, and a dance instructor stood to the side, counting to the beat and calling out feedback.

They found a spot in the middle of the floor, and Jay lifted his hands in offering.

“You ready?” He asked, giving her a goofy grin as he put the rose between his teeth.

She sighed, taking one of his hands in hers. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Smith felt her skin frizzle a little at his touch, almost making her hair stand up at the feeling. She couldn’t tell if it was because of his lightning powers, or because she just wasn’t used to being touched so gently. The Administration agents weren’t big on physical touch, and Ras and his cronies only touched her whenever they’d fought or when they’d punished her.

Her other hand rested on his shoulder, and he placed his other hand on her waist. With a short violin note, they began to dance.

One, two, three, one, two, three…

Though she’d had her doubts in the beginning, she felt the steps came clearly to her, matching Jay’s exactly. Her body moved before her mind could, as though she’d done this dance a hundred times before.

She stopped mentally counting the steps, trusting her body. Instead, she let the music fill her ears – a rich, melodious tune that sounded like it belonged at a wedding, or a formal dance. Smith had never heard a tune so lovely.

This kind of scenario felt so out of place in her world. A few weeks ago, her main concern had been whether she’d make any sales at her shop and what materials she’d need to complete her mech. Now, she was dancing, with the man she’d hated for so long, in a realm ruled by a crazy guy who could clone himself.

Smith hoped whichever Cloud Kingdom monk that was writing her story was having a good laugh at all her problems.

She felt the tenseness in her muscles fade as she moved with him. Maybe this wasn’t that hard. Jay twirled her around, laughing.

Smith couldn’t help it. His energy was too infectious. She felt a smile cross her lips too, as the music began to crescendo and they continued to twirl across the floor.

The people around her disappeared – all she knew was the gentle tune of the violin, the feeling of her feet against the wooden floor and the man she was dancing with.

Jay’s curls bounced on top of his head as he watched her with glee, the rose in his mouth clenched tightly between his teeth. As the music rose, he lifted her arm high, twirling her around in a big, graceful spin.

At the last turn, as the music reached its peak, he grabbed her waist at the last second, casually lowering her into a dip. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, so close to his face their noses touched, she could count every freckle on his cheeks, their lips might meet-

“Holy First Master…”

Smith nearly fell over when she realised that the dance instructor had been watching them from across the room. Jay quickly lifted her back up into a standing position as they turned to look at him.

“You two don’t need any lessons!” He cried, his eyes wide, staring at them both as though he’d never seen such an incredible sight. “You’re in perfect sync!”

What? No. That wasn’t…

Jay met her eyes, carefully pulling out the rose and grinning at her. “Hear that? Perfect sync, baby!”

She felt her insides twist. The image of her broken, bloody mirror flashed through her mind. This couldn’t be happening.

Smith quickly pulled herself free from Jay’s grasp, muttering, “Nope, nope, nope…” And hurrying out of the room before Jay could say anything.

Shit, shit, shit. How could she have let this happen? What was wrong with her?

Jay Walker was on top of her hit list. He’d been the reason so much had gone wrong in her life. And what was she doing? Dancing around, laughing as though they were…

In love.

No. She didn’t love him. She couldn’t. It… it wasn’t right. After everything she’d done, all the people she’d hurt, all the things she’d suffered, she didn’t deserve love.

You’re a monster. You killed people because they stood in your way. You’re only helping these ninja for your own benefits. You are the last person who deserves any kind of love or connection.

Whatever. She didn’t need them.

Find the parents. Get them and the ninja out safely. Leave before they could try any more mind games.

“Better off alone.” She reminded herself, clenching her unwrapped hand into a fist.

If this stupid Merge had taught her anything, it was that she couldn’t allow herself to let her guard down. Nothing and no-one were safe. Every smile was a mask. Every ‘friend’ hid a knife ready to stab. She had to protect herself and herself alone.

And yet, why was Jay’s touch the safest thing she’d felt in years?

Chapter Text

“How exactly does earth scream?” Kai asked, dismounting his bike. “Does earth have lungs or something? Is it like a living entity?”

As Frak climbed out of his jet, he responded, “We still don’t know. But this area definitely is super loud with it. It’s like a thousand screams at once, all echoing in my head.”

“And this is where Wu led me.” Cole pondered, leaping off his bike and pulling off his hood. “He wouldn’t show me this place unless it was important.”

As she climbed off her own bike, Skylor glanced around the desert terrain. She could feel what Cole and Frak meant. With the power of both Earth and Quake at her fingertips, she could faintly hear the screams too, though they were weak, like she was hearing them from a distance.

And she was getting that weird head pain again. Like someone had taken a giant hammer to her skull. Every step she took, the pain seemed to strengthen. But it didn’t feel like one of her regular headaches.

Something definitely wasn’t right.

“You think this is the source of all the screaming?” She asked, turning to Cole.

The Earth Ninja nodded, brow furrowed. “This is where the Master Wu ghost led me. You can feel it, right? There’s something wrong here. Like the Earth itself is crying out.”

“Yeah…” She said, brushing her ponytail over her shoulder, staring down at the dirt as though hoping it would give her an answer. “It’s like… there’s something trapped under the ground, something that’s in a lot of pain. I can only faintly feel it, but it's really strong.”

Frak knelt down, touching the ground with a glowing gold hand. He winced in pain as he stood back up. “It feels… wrong. And painful. I think you’re right, Skylor, there must be something unusual here.”

“Something like that must be pretty powerful if you all can feel it.” Kai pulled out another wafer from the bag he’d gotten from Geo, unwrapping it as he watched the others.

“With Earth, Quake and Amber working together, I’m sure we can find out whatever is causing all this screaming and chaos.” Skylor rolled up the sleeves of her gi, wriggling her fingers in preparation.

“Well, hope it works.” Kai grinned, shoving another wafer in his mouth before adding, “Unless whatever you’re pulling up is evil, in which case I hope you fail.”

“Thanks for the support, Hotshot.” Skylor smirked, enjoying the way Kai’s cheeks flushed as she turned to face Frak and Cole.

Damnit, he was such a nerd.

“Well, your Master Wu wouldn’t lead you to dig up something evil, right?” Frak asked, glancing at Kai, who hurriedly spat out the wafer and shook his head.

“Ugh, those seriously don’t get any better. As for your question, Master Wu apparently caused the Merge for some reason, so who knows?”

Wu did always strike Skylor as a strong secret keeper. She’d never known the strange old man as well as the ninja did, but he hadn’t seemed like the ‘combine the realms and practically destroy the universe’ kind of guy to her.

Then again, who knew what was real and what wasn’t after the Merge?

“Why do you keep eating Geo’s wafers if you hate the taste?” Cole asked, raising an eyebrow at the Fire Ninja, who shrugged.

“I keep hoping they’ll eventually taste good.”

Cole rolled his eyes, before turning back to face Skylor and Frak.

“Ready?” At both their nods, he banged his fists together, his lava arms lighting up as he knelt to the ground, pressing his glowing fists to the earth. Beneath the Earth Ninja’s fists, the earth began to shake, chunks of debris vibrating.

“Skylor, Frak, mind lending me a hand here?” He grunted, shutting his eyes.

They both knelt on the ground either side of him. The scales on Frak’s arms began to glow as he pressed his hands to the ground, making it shake twice as hard.

Meanwhile, Skylor raised her hands, focusing on two of the powers inside her.

Each elemental power she’d ever replicated felt different to her. Kai’s fire burnt inside her heart like an everlasting candle, Nya’s water flowed through her blood like a rushing river, Zane’s ice crackled in her mind like a snowflake. No matter how powerful or unique the element, she could still feel each one separately as though they were her own power.

It had been a while since she’d used her powers though. You don’t really need Amber powers to cook noodles or travel Realms, and until she’d found the ninja, she hadn’t met any new Elemental Masters or fought in any battles.

She could do this. Her power was still there. She was going to help Frak and Cole figure this out.

She felt for Earth and Quake. Cole’s power typically resided in her gut, steady and strong, while Frak’s Quake ability felt like a powerful shudder, constantly moving and breaking. She focused on the way the two elements moved, calling upon them in her mind.

She remembered years ago how she’d been able to combine two different Elements to hide her and other members of the Resistance. She’d merged Smoke and Light together to create a sort of force field, hiding them from Emperor Garmadon.

Skylor wanted to achieve that again this time, melding the Earth and Quake together and pressing her glowing palms to the vibrating ground.

The screaming doubled in volume, and she gasped, feeling the head pain kick in again.

Focus.

Skylor bit her tongue, instantly tasting blood as she tried to keep her hands in one place.

Through the pain and the shaking, she could feel something below the surface. Something enormous… and powerful. She hadn’t felt power like this since…

Since she’d replicated Garmadon’s Darkness power and controlled the Colossus.

“You guys feel that?” Cole asked, pushing deeper into the ground. “Something huge is down there.”

Skylor tried to push down the pain, focusing on the ground beneath her feet. She could sense what Cole was talking about. Like a huge bubble of power.

Frak gasped, his glowing hands shaking as he said, “It’s hard to sense anything over all the screaming-”

The screams were getting louder. Skylor felt like dozens of voices were screaming directly in her ears, begging for mercy, for help, for the pain to end.

“Wait, is that…” Frak cried, shutting his eyes tight in concentration.

What? How big was this thing?

She shut her eyes tight, pushing as much of the two powers out as she could, combining them together.

Bigger than a house… then a building… nearly the size of a city… what WAS this thing?

“I feel both of your powers! Keep pushing!” Cole urged.

Skylor let a scream escape as she pressed her palms deeper into the ground, dirt and sand getting under her nails and between her fingers as she kept pushing.

Come on, come on, come on…

The ground began to shake harder. The screams got louder. She heard Frak murmur, “Oh, it’s massive…”

“What IS this thing?” Skylor cried, her arms shaking and her head aching. She opened her eyes to see Cole and Frak were both wearing similar expressions of pain and concentration.

“I can’t tell! There’s too much screaming!” Frak yelled back, wincing in pain.

“There’s only one way to find out! PULL!” Cole screamed, leaping to his feet and raising his glowing arms high.

Frak quickly copied the motion. Skylor had to force herself up, gritting her teeth and forcing out more power. The pain was getting unbearable, as though she was being stabbed in about a dozen different places.

You can do it, she told herself, pushing like she’d never pushed before. A huge crack appeared in the ground at the group’s feet, making Kai jump to the side and nearly drop his wafers bag in his panic.

You’ve suffered worse pain.

The echo of the rumbling ground joined the chorus of noises yelling in her mind. The crack continued to break open, until an enormous rock formation on Skylor’s left side began to rumble.

“That must be where it’s coming from!” Frak screamed, his scales glowing brighter and brighter as the ground shook harder and harder.

“Keep… pulling!” Cole instructed, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead as he turned his attention to the pile of rocks.

Skylor let out another scream, forcing every last drop of Quake and Earth power to pour out, feeling closer to collapse with every second.

The rocks began to rise high, towering hundreds of meters over all their heads.

“It’s…working!” Cole grunted, his lava arms their main source of light.

“What… is that thing?!” Skylor grunted, feeling her head begin to throb in pain.

“Is it a jet?” Frak called, his voice barely audible over the screams and rumbling. “A-a building?”

There’s no way that’s a building.

The rock formation rose higher and higher until it became clear it wasn’t just rocks. It was a…

A loud scream pierced Skylor’s ears, and she collapsed to her knees just as Frak and Cole let out their own screams of pain.

Every instance of pain Skylor had ever felt burst into her mind.

Being held down while her father marked her with the Anacondrai tattoo… falling to her knees as her power was sucked into the staff of Elements… feeling darkness seeping into every inch of her body as Garmadon’s power took over… being forcibly thrown back against a brick wall as the Monastery exploded… waking up under a heavy pile of debris after the Merge storm… fighting those crazy Dragonian guys…

All that pain combined was nowhere near as close as to how much this hurt.

“Shit!” She cursed, barely able to breathe over the pain, the ground still shaking below her as she held her aching head in her still-glowing hands.

“SKYLOR!” Kai yelled, before hurried footsteps got louder and she felt his warm hands lifting her head. His dark eyes were wide and panicked.

“Are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt?”

“Kai!” Cole called, sweat pouring down his face as one of his knees buckled and he too fell to his knees. “I don’t… know how… long… we can… do this!”

The screams continued to echo, now sounding desperate for freedom, for escape. Whatever was trapped under those rocks wanted to get out.

Skylor turned her head to see Frak was still barely standing, his entire body shaking as he tried to continue breaking apart the rocks.

What is happening?

As the three of them began to feel the strain, the rock formation began to crumble, slowly collapsing back into the ground.

“I got this!” Kai cried, turning around and standing up, lighting both his hands on fire, shooting a dozen fireballs at the formation.

With every rock broken, the screaming slowly got quieter, and Skylor felt ebbs of pain trickling away.

“Maybe we can do this after all!” Cole realized, grunting loudly and getting back on his feet.

“Let’s do it!” Frak agreed, planting his feet firmly on the shaking ground as he lifted his glowing arms to the formation, which was slowly crumbling and cracking into many pieces.

Don’t give up now.

Skylor forced herself to kneel, pushing her glowing palms into the dirt once more.

“Come…on… powers!” She cried, channeling every drop of Elemental energy she had into this last push.

She hadn’t fought through so much just to quit now.

The rock formation began to melt from Kai’s flames, revealing… bones?

“One… last… push…” Cole brought himself to his full height, his lava arms nearly lighting up the entire terrain.

Just as the last of the rocks had fallen away, Skylor felt what remained of her energy sapped away.

The last thing she saw before everything went black was Kai’s exhausted, worried expression gazing down at her.

----------------------------------------------------

“Who knew those clones knew how to fight?” Nya mused, peering through the blinds at the group of Lee clones gathered outside. “And where’d they even get weapons?”

“Thanks for helping us.” Jay said, turning to Jenny and Barry. “And for giving us a place to hide. We probably would’ve been destroyed if you hadn’t given us a hand.”

The Niveds looked so much like their son it was heartbreaking. Jay could see Arin’s friendly smile, his curious eyes, his determination echoed in both his mother and father. They both seemed like lovely, decent people.

It made him think of his own kooky parents. Where had they ended up after the Merge? Some new Realm? The Crossroads? Or were they still in the junkyard, his childhood home, waiting for him to come back?

First Master, he missed them.

Wait. Focus. Bigger issues right now.

Barry smiled wide as he said, “Of course. You’re the ninja, after all.”

“We grew up in the suburbs of Ninjago City.” Jenny explained, fiddling with the gold wedding ring on her finger. “You and the other ninja have probably saved our lives more times than we can count. Our son, he loved you all, wanted to be a ninja when he grew up.”

Nya came over at that point, pulling her cardigan off and wrapping it around her waist as she listened to the conversation.

“How did you ninja survive the obliteration of the Merge? We thought the world was destroyed.” Barry frowned.

“But there was no obliteration.” Jay told them. “Lee’s a liar.”

The couple shared a glance, before Jenny said, “Hmm. We’d begun to suspect that, to be honest.”

“Always knew we couldn’t trust that guy.” Barry shook his head. “Too happy and odd, way too insistent that the world above was gone.”

“So, the outside world wasn’t destroyed?” Jenny asked, taking one of Jay’s hands in hers. “The Merge didn’t obliterate everything?”

“No.” Jay assured her, giving a small smile. “All the Realms were brought together, actually. It was this whole cool thing. There are all these new cities and places, and…”

“Get to the point, Jay.” Nya snapped, crossing her arms.

“Alright, alright!” Jay shook his head, before turning back to Jenny. “Your home, Ninjago, it survived. And so did someone else…”

He trailed off, taking a moment to build the suspense.

“Your son’s alive.” Nya interrupted, moving to stand next to him.

Jay glared at her. He was hoping to do the big reveal.

Jenny gasped, releasing Jay in her shock as Barry grabbed her arm to keep from falling over. “Arin’s… alive?”

The Niveds both watched him and Nya for a moment, waiting for confirmation, still clearly in disbelief. When Jay gave a strong nod, they both embraced each other, tears falling.

Jay grinned. At least one thing had gone right today. He glanced at Nya, who was smiling a little at the sight of the joyful parents, but immediately resumed her annoyed glare when she realized that he was staring.

“You have to tell us everything!” Jenny said, turning back to him.

“How do you know him?” Barry asked. “Is he hurt? Is he safe? What’s happened to him?”

“Okay, okay, we’ll explain everything.” Jay assured them, taking a seat on one of the couches behind him. He gestured to Nya to join him, but she shook her head and resumed her lookout post at the window while the Niveds joined Jay on his couch.

“So this is how it went down. Arin’s been searching for you both ever since the Merge started. While he was doing so, us ninja took him in, gave him some training, all that jazz.”

“Where is he now?” Jenny questioned. “Is he here, in the Land of Lee?”

Jay hesitated. They still had no clue on Arin and Sora’s whereabouts.

He had to remind himself that the kids could protect themselves, and by now, they’d hopefully pulled themselves free from Ras’ clutches.

“Your son’s investigation led him down a different path.” Nya explained, glancing over her shoulder at the three of them on the couch. “But he’s a tough kid. He can take care of himself.”

Huh. She’s changed her tune. A few weeks ago, she was convinced those kids were doomed.

Maybe a scrap of the old Nya was still in there.

“Once we can get out of this cursed place…” Nya continued, looking back through the window. “… we can track down your kid.”

Jenny and Barry shared a relieved look. Jay could imagine how they were feeling – after years of not knowing where their loved one was, even just a scrap of information was golden, and now they were so much closer to finding them.

Only difference is, Arin hasn’t shattered his goodness or lost his memories, Jay thought. And he’ll probably be ecstatic to see his parents again, unlike how Nya first reacted to me at the end of the Thunderfang battle…

Damnit Jay, stop making everything about you. Focus on right now.

“Yeah. One problem.” Jay crossed his legs, adjusting his suspender straps. “We’ve got an entire army of angry clones out there hunting us down, and Lloyd and Wyldfyre are still missing. There’s also the whole thing about mind control and lying this place has got going on.”

“This doesn’t make any sense…” Nya murmured, coming back to the group, shaking her head and thinking. “If Lee’s using mind control to keep this place in check, the Administration would’ve picked it up by now.”

“But you said the Administration only picks it up on a wide-scale level – like a city or whole villages’ worth of people.” Jay reminded her, fidgeting with a random cushion. “If Lee’s only doing it to say, barely a dozen people, they wouldn’t pick it up, right?”

“I guess…” Nya shrugged. “Both places are plenty shifty either way.”

“What’s an Administration?” Barry asked.

“Long story.” Jay chucked the cushion aside as he stood up. “Alright. What information do we have so far?”

Chapter Text

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a minute.” Jay said, stepping in front of her, blocking her path to one of the Monastery gates. “You’re leaving?!”

This couldn’t be happening. He thought he was starting to see fragments of her old self again. That she was beginning to remember who she was. And she was going away?

Nya glared at him, a weird device in her hands, stamped with her sword and ocean wave symbol. “Jay, the deal was, I get you, the other two and Arin’s parents out of the Land of Lee alive and back home. Mission accomplished. Now you need to hold up your part of the deal.”

Jay felt his stomach turn. He’d nearly forgotten about the deal Lloyd had made.

“Nya, hold on.” Lloyd stepped forward, sheathing his sword. “The Realms are falling apart, and we still have to complete the mission. We need your help.”

“Yeah, he’s right.” Arin added, pulling down his hood and watching Nya nervously. “We need to work together to stop Thunderfang and save everyone. And that means we’ll need everyone to help.”

“I don’t take orders from any of you.” Nya waved her hand dismissively at Lloyd and Arin, not dropping her glare. “We had a deal. If the world’s ending, I’d rather not spend my last few hours trying to summon some mythical dragon that probably won’t even help. Now, if you’ll excuse me-”

When she tried to step to the side, Jay copied, remaining in front of her, staring into her angry eyes.

“I thought you were remembering stuff.” He said quietly, holding her gaze. “That you were remembering me. That you were starting to come back.”

He noticed her eyebrows raise slightly, registering what he’d said. Then she resumed her glare, but instead of anger, her expression was more upset.

“I can’t do this anymore.” She hissed, shaking her head. “You all want the old Nya back, the one that hasn’t shattered her goodness and lost her memories. Perfect Nya, smart Nya, beautiful Nya. Well, she’s gone.”

Jay felt a part of him break when she said that. She spoke about her past self as if they were two different people – the good and the evil. The past and the present. The darkness and the light.

For a moment, Jay saw Nya’s perspective. Waking up with no memories, spending years alone and confused, being imprisoned by the Administration and humiliated by Ras. Surrounded on all sides by people who claimed to know her, that told her stories and showed her things they thought she knew. But she had no clue what any of it meant. No wonder she had been so angry and closed off.

No wonder she hated him.

“No, Nya, that’s not true. You’re right here.” Jay insisted. They were barely a foot away from each other. So close but so far.

She took in a shuddering breath as she brushed a chunk of black hair out of her face, continuing to hold her gaze with him.

“I can’t keep playing this game.” She whispered. “I feel like I’m trapped in a body, wearing a mask, pretending to be someone I’m not. I’m sick of everyone trying to force me to be what they want me to be. I’m going to make my own choices. No one else choosing my destiny.”

Something about what she was saying felt… oddly familiar to Jay. Like he’d had this conversation with her before.

All I want is to be able to choose my own destiny.

Well then, what do you want to be?

I… I don’t know. But just having the ability to choose would be enough.

A dusty lighthouse. A deep conversation about relationships and destiny. It had taken place so many years ago, but he could remember it as though it was yesterday.

He realized with a pang that he was the only person alive with even a scrap of a memory of that… experience. The only one who remembered the wishes, and the flying pirate ship, and… him.

Godamnit, for once in your life, focus on what’s in front of you, Jay.

He couldn’t let her go. Not after everything. Even if she wasn’t the same, he thought he’d gained her trust by now. And he couldn’t let her go off by herself as the world was breaking.

“Nya, please, it’s not safe out there.” Jay raised his hands high in defense. “If we can’t summon the Arc Dragon of Focus and stop Thunderfang, then everything and everyone is doomed.”

“You ninja better get going then.” Nya forcibly shoved past him, making her way up the stairs. Jay hurriedly went to follow her, determined to try and convince her of the truth. Just delay, stall, keep her distracted.

“So you’re just gonna leave?!” Wyldfyre demanded, crossing her arms from where she stood with the others. “My boyfriend’s in trouble, and a bunch of other people! We gotta save them!”

“Your boyfriend was annoying, loud and deserved to have his soul sucked out.” Nya jibed, glancing at Wyldfyre, who growled, uncrossed her arms and summoned a heat burst. “If he dies, so be it.”

“Don’t talk about my Roby like that.” Wyldfyre snarled. “He’s way kinder and funner then you, you mean jerk-face.”

“Wow, what a nice comeback.” Nya rolled her eyes. “I’m shaking in my boots.”

“Where are you even going to go?” Sora asked, placing a hand on Wyldfyre’s shoulder to calm her down. Jay thought he heard the Heat Ninja mumble something about “Stupid bully isn’t even wearing stupid boots, stupid-face…”

Nya paused mid-step, thinking about Sora’s question.

Did she have anywhere to go? Her shop at the Crossroads was gone, and there was no way she’d go back to Ras or the Administration. She was alone.

No, she’s not. Jay thought desperately. She has us. We’re her family, her home. We can’t give up on her.

“I’ll figure it out.” She concluded, shaking her head. “But I’m not going on this suicide mission.”

“The world’s ending, and you’re only thinking about yourself?” Jay nearly fell over his feet trying to catch up to her.

She stopped at the top step, looking down at Jay with a pained glare. “Why should I save the world when it’s done nothing for me except cause me pain and anger?”

It would have hurt less if she’d just stabbed him. Sure, the world isn’t perfect, but he couldn’t live without it. He couldn’t live without her.

“I can’t trust anyone anymore. Everyone lies to me, uses me, thinks I’m someone I’m not. And I can’t take it anymore. Have fun dying, ninja.” She snapped, raising her device.

Before he could stop himself, he grabbed her wrist, pulling her back.

“Nya, please-”

She stiffened in fear, nearly dropping the device, as she quickly pulled herself free and turned to face him, eyes glowing red.

“Touch me again and I will make you choke on your own blood until you’re begging for death.”

Jay took a step back, fighting a wave of nausea, staring at the broken image of his yang in front of him.

Even after she’d just threatened him, a part of him still wanted to reach out and touch her. A cheek stroke, a hand squeeze, just something to assure him that she was still here and hadn’t left yet.

In a blink, her eyes were their normal shade of blue, several tears building up. She took several shaky breaths, her chest heaving, staring at the ground.

“Please…” She said quietly, turning her back on him, clenching her bandaged hand into a fist. “… just forget about me. I can never be the Nya you once loved, so what’s the point in trying?”

Before Jay could even blink, she’d run through the open Gate.

“Wait no-” He reached out, as her blue and silver form disappeared into the waiting darkness.

A loud bang echoed through the room as the gate slammed shut and the light above it glowed.

Jay didn’t know which Realm it had sent her to. And right now, he didn’t care.

Normally, his chatter and jokes were enough to distract people, to keep villains talking or to amuse his friends in times of peril. But now his voice had been useless.

His hand flew to his mouth. He nearly slipped down the stairs when he stepped backwards, feeling the nausea rising up his throat.

-----------------------------------

“So she just… left? Just like that?” Kai asked.

Jay nodded, shivering a little. The cave was chilly, and his gi wasn’t a good layer against it, making goosebumps raise all over his body. His lightning power was no help – all it did was make him feel jittery and fidgety.

As the Master of Fire, Kai always radiated a wave of heat, and Jay was resisting the urge to hug his teammate to warm himself up.

After helping Jay to defeat the weird Cyclops guy, Kai had gone with him into the Cave of Bells. While walking, they’d exchanged stories – Kai explained how they’d found a dead Source Dragon, that Cole and the Finders got hollowed and Skylor’s powers had been going haywire, while Jay explained how they’d found Arin’s parents, fought off an army of crazy clones and barely escaped their own spectral attack.

The pair were also accompanied by a coconut currently riding on Jay’s head, which apparently was possessed by the sorceress lady that created Bonzle. She’d been pretty chatty for most of the walk, but at the moment, she seemed to be humming to herself, ignoring the boys’ conversation.

“I… I tried to stop her. But she was so angry. She said that she felt like everyone was lying to her or using her, and she couldn’t take it anymore.” Jay explained. “I don’t even know where she’s gone.”

He felt a pang of guilt as Kai’s brow furrowed in worry. They both knew full well that Nya could take care of herself, but the thought of an angry, memory-less Nya by herself in the Merged Realms…

Then again, he and the others had only found where she was a few months ago. All those years prior, when they’d been fighting Beatrix and Ras, and trying to figure out the Mergequakes and Dragon Cores… he hadn’t found her.

He was the worst yang in the history of all yin-yang promises.

“We’ll find her.” Kai murmured, shaking his head, clearly trying to convince himself. “She’ll listen to me. I know she will.”

“Kai…” Jay tried.

“We can’t just give up on her. She wouldn’t give up on us. I can reason with her.”

“Kai, there’s no use.” Jay interrupted, stopping mid-step. His entire body went cold as he continued, “She threatened to kill me, to hurt me. And you know she would if we continued to chase her. Nya doesn’t remember us.”

“So, you’re saying we, what, just quit on her?” Kai demanded, glaring at him. “No way. I know my sister. She just needs some time to cool off. So we’ll give her that, then we’ll track her down, and come up with a new strategy.”

“What new strategy?!” Jay yelled. “We’ve tried everything! Talking to her, showing her photos, trying to convince her of the truth! There’s nothing left of her! She doesn’t love me anymore!”

All the colour drained from Kai’s face as he took a shaky breath. Jay took a step back, highly aware of the coconut bobbing on his head.

She doesn’t love me anymore.

Jay felt a lump grow in his throat. Part of him didn’t want to believe it, to hope there was still a scrap of his yang left in there somewhere. She would never give up on him, and he couldn’t do the same.

But after all this time, after everything we went through, she still chose to leave me.

“Look…” Kai murmured, stepping forward and placing a hand on Jay’s shoulder. “I’m sorry I yelled. Let’s get this dragon awakened or whatever it is Lloyd told you to do. Then we’ll figure out what to do about my cranky sister.”

Jay nodded, trying to swallow the lump. Deep breath in, deep breath out.

“Okay. Let’s do this.” He nodded, taking the coconut off his head. It grinned at him.

“Girl trouble, huh?” It asked cheekily.

“You have no idea.” Jay groaned. “Now, what’s next?”

As Kai and Jay descended further into the cave, following the coconut’s instructions, neither of them noticed the masked figure following them through the shadows.

Chapter Text

What was she doing?

That was the question echoing through Smith’s mind as she walked across the land, ignoring the aching from her leg and shoulder wounds.

She didn’t know where she’d ended up, and right now, she didn’t care. There was no one around. Alone with her thoughts at last.

And her thoughts, as usual, were incredibly loud.

Where was she supposed to go from here?

She had no shop. No money, food or supplies. Nothing but her mech, which she hadn’t activated. She was wandering a random Realm that she didn’t recognise, and the world was ending as she took every step. A bitter taste stuck to her tongue, making it difficult to concentrate.

She briefly considered continuing to chase the people on her hitlist, but then she realised there was no point. Cinder was imprisoned in the City of Temples, rotting in a dungeon. Jordana hadn’t been seen in months. Nokt was dead, likely being used as Thunderfang’s puppet alongside the rest of the Forbidden Five. Ras had apparently been left in the Underworld according to the Arin kid.

And right now, Jay was on his way to Mysterium, to awaken one half of the Arc Dragon of Focus. A suicide mission. With how stupid he was, there was no way he’d survive.

She didn’t care. She’d wanted him dead for months.

Are you sure?

That little voice in the back of her mind seemed to disagree.

Yes, she was sure! He’d lied to her just as much as everyone else! He’d beaten and humiliated her at the Tournament of Sources! He was stupid, and annoying, and…

But had he really lied?

Smith thought back.

If she hadn’t gotten eliminated, she wouldn’t have escaped Ras’ clutches. She’d be another masked warrior locked up in the City of Temples. In a weird way, Jay had given her… freedom.

She thought of their time in the Land of Lee. Dancing together, moving fluidly as though they’d done the same dance a thousand times. Talking to each other during late nights. Protecting each other against the clones and working together to get Barry and Jenny out.

Jay had gained her trust in a world full of untrustworthy people. His smile was comforting. She’d felt safe around him.

Ever since the Merge, safety had felt like a fantasy, something out of her grasp. Safety, honesty, happiness… all feelings she’d never felt until she’d been around him.

The Administation told her she was an agent, a manager in the Department of Realm Reassignment. Ras claimed she was his student, a fierce warrior that deserved power and victory. Jay said she was a ninja, a sister, a friend, a… yang partner.

She reached under her gi and pulled out her yang pendant, still dangling from its chain despite all the chaos of the last few weeks. The black and gold half shimmered in the moonlight.

He’d never lied. Every story, every photo, everything he’d told her… he was the only one who was telling her the truth.

So what? That little voice whispered. I thought you didn’t care about him.

She didn’t. Did she?

Nya, wait! It’s me! Jay!

I love you. I will always love you.

I know who you are, dude.

We can do this.

Tango class!

Hear that? Perfect sync, baby!

You look way prettier with your hair down.

Be careful in there.

Haha, nice one Nya!

You’re leaving?!

No. No.

She felt as though she would throw up right there, freezing in her tracks. Her lungs felt like they were being slowly crushed as she took hurried breaths, feeling her insides twist and turn into a million knots.

Oh fuck.

The person at the top of her hitlist… the person she’d blamed for most of her problems… the person who’d managed to make her feel safe for the first time in years…

You love him, don’t you?

Panic stabbed her. How had this happened? How had she…

His goofy smile. His bouncy cloud curls. The scatterings of freckles across his body, almost like sprinkles on a cake. The way he constantly fidgeted or moved around, like he couldn’t sit still for a second or he’d explode. The cringy jokes he dropped when the conversation got too quiet. His lightning powers, fast and unpredictable just like him. The way he acted all goofy and stupid around most of the team but could get really smart and empathetic when there was no one else around, like his comedy mask was breaking.

Smith felt her ears begin to buzz. This couldn’t be possible. How could someone with shattered goodness even feel love?

They don’t care about you. No one does. You hurt everyone you try and get near.

She thought of the innocent couple she’d murdered. Of the agents she’d forced to choke on their own blood. She was a monster.

Even if she used to be a ninja, there was no way she could be one now. Ninja didn’t kill people or destroy places.

The ninja were a family. They all loved and cared for each other. Everyone had a place in the loud, chaotic Monastery. Where did she, with her broken soul and violent actions, fit in?

The kids seemed afraid of her. Most of the older ninja looked at her as if she was a disappointment, failing to be the Nya they knew. But Jay… whenever he looked at her… it was like he fell in love with her every time he looked in her direction.

He didn’t think she was evil.

As she tucked the pendant back under her top, she felt her heartbeat pounding through her chest. Every beat felt like a ticking clock.

Jay was doomed. There was no way he could make it to that cave and back without being killed. Thunderfang had probably already sent reinforcements to stop him and the group headed to Djinjago.

She couldn’t let that happen.

No one knew what the cure for fixing shattered goodness was. But maybe… doing acts of kindness… protecting those you love… using your powers to save people… little things like that could help.

And she already knew she could never be the Nya that the ninja knew and loved. But she could try to be her own person. Make new memories, relearn what she knew and use her powers to protect people.

Besides, it was a better plan than wandering a Realm by herself with nothing but a mech and her thoughts.

She took a slow breath, trying to calm her nauseous stomach as her grip tightened on her mech device. Now she understood what people meant when they said they had butterflies. It felt as though a whole swarm of them were chasing each other through her insides.

Now she had a plan.

Find Jay. Apologise for leaving and for hurting him. Tell him that he made her want to be a better person.

And that she had somehow, unbelievably, miraculously caught feelings for him.

Smith pressed the button in the centre of her device, tossing it to the ground and stepping back as it unfolded, the pieces whirring and clicking as they came to life, connecting like puzzle pieces.

She felt another rush of pride at how magnificent her creation was. Months of hard work, of late nights in her workshop, of all the money and resources she’d put in it. Every little bit worth it.

Once the mech was fully unloaded and activated, she leapt onto it, jumping from the hand to the shoulder to the cockpit. She pressed the light blue button, activating the GPS as the rest of the mech’s systems came online.

Turns out she was in some place called Ignacia, a little town of farmers and blacksmiths. A town in the middle of nowhere, with a population of barely 100 people.

What she needed was a Monastery gate. If she could access one, she could head to Mysterium and track down Jay.

If he wasn’t already dead yet.

--------------------------------------------

“Noodles?” Skylor asked, offering the bowl to a frustrated Geo, who was hopelessly staring at Cole. Beside them, Frohicky was trying in vain to feed some more broth to Spitz, frowning as the green goo dribbled out of the young Serpentine’s mouth.

When Geo raised an eyebrow at her, she shrugged. “You look like you haven’t eaten in a while, and noodles are a good comfort snack.”

Though she could memorize anyone’s noodle order, Skylor had no idea what noodles the hybrid liked, so she’d gone with the classic recipe, needing something to take her mind off everything.

The dead Source Dragon that was somehow connected to her powers acting up… Thunderfang and the Forbidden Five returning… the ninja running around trying to awaken a fallen Arc dragon… her head still aching in pain…

Man, she missed when her biggest problem was running an entire business by herself.

Geo sighed as he took the bowl. “I’ve barely eaten since they all got… hollowed.” His eyes glanced over the other Finders, all different shades of blue and completely blank-faced. “I should’ve protected them. I promised I’d look after them all.”

The sight of the Finders like this made Skylor feel sick. Fritz and Spitz were such sweet kids, and Bonzle was a kind soul. They didn’t deserve this.

And if she’d done more to stop Cole going after Nokt…

No. If there was one thing she’d learnt since escaping her father, it was that you couldn’t blame yourself for every single mistake you made. And this wasn’t her fault – it was Thunderfang and his spectral cronies.

“You did everything you could. It wasn’t your fault.” Skylor promised, squeezing his shoulder. “Unfortunately, all we can do is wait. Eat up. Your family wouldn’t want you to starve.”

Skylor felt like she couldn’t do much at the moment between her failing powers and the way she’d failed to stop Cole from getting hollowed, but her cooking skills hadn’t let her down yet. And Geo looked like he needed a distraction.

Geo looked down at the noodle bowl, and a small smile crept across his face. “I’m sure this will be better than whatever that broth was.”

Skylor grimaced at the thought. She knew Mr Frohicky was just trying to help, but that broth had smelled like swamp water mixed with sewage. She was surprised Cole and the Finders hadn’t been resurrected just by the smell.

“I promise these are actually edible.” She said as he lifted the chopsticks.

“I haven’t had noodles in ages. And according to Cole, your old restaurant did the best recipe in Ninjago.”

Skylor chuckled. “He’s not wrong.”

As Geo lifted a mouthful of noodles to his mouth, a whirring sound echoed through the huge chamber. Skylor recognised the sound – a Monastery gate opening.

Sure enough, the main Gate at the end of the room whirred, with the circle above glowing a bright blue as banging could be heard.

“The ninja? Are they back already?” Frohicky asked, coming over to her and Geo, frowning.

It couldn’t be the ninja. They wouldn’t have completed their mission already, not without a notable difference across the Realms. But if it wasn’t them, who? No one else outside the team and their allies knew about the Gates.

“They wouldn’t be back this early.” Geo replied, his noodles dropping back into the bowl. “And Cole and the others are still hollowed.”

“But then who?” Frohicky tightened his grip on the bowl of broth as the trio watched the Gate.

Skylor felt a familiar stab of pain in her forehead. The same pain she’d felt when they’d pulled up the dead Source Dragon. She gasped in pain, pressing a hand to her temples as one of the gates slowly opened, revealing pitch darkness.

“Skylor, what is it?” Geo asked.

“Something’s wrong.” She hissed, hearing her heartbeat echo in her ears. “That’s not the ninja.”

A figure stepped out of the darkness. Clad in white bone armour and wielding two enormous weapons. A tiger lord with black and red fur. A villain Skylor hadn’t personally met but had heard plenty of tales about from the others.

Lord Ras.

She heard Geo gasp in horror and Frohicky murmur, “No! No! How can he be here?!”

Her heartbeat doubled in speed as her mind processed what was in front of her. This couldn’t be happening.

Ras glared down at them as he slowly made his way down the stairs, his eyes glancing over the Finders and the trio below, who slowly backed away as he got closer.

Whatever he wanted, Skylor knew it couldn’t be anything good. The weapons on his back radiated pure power, and the armour he wore looked too real, as though carved from real skeletons.

She stepped forward, shielding Geo and Frohicky as she called out, “Don’t get any closer, Ras!”

Ras scoffed. “The ninja are scattered across the Merged Lands. Save yourself the pain and suffering. Submit.”

Scattered across the Merged Lands? What had Ras done?

Kai, Jay and the others… what had happened to them?

Skylor didn’t know, but she knew she couldn’t let Ras past them. If he had come here, it must have been for a reason. And she couldn’t quit on her friends now.

“Not a chance.” She remarked.

“Never.” Geo hissed, his voice shaking slightly. “You can’t intimidate us! Ninja never quit!”

“You are not ninja.” Ras snarled, a taunting undertone in his voice. “You are nothing but a frog man, a hybrid freak and a pitiful human.”

Pitiful? If this asshole knew what she was capable of…

“We’re ninja adjacent!” Frohicky protested, clutching his broth bowl as if prepared to throw it. “And ninja adjacent don’t quit either!”

“Yeah! What he said!” Geo added, fists raised as if prepared to fight off the tiger.

Skylor raised her hands as well. She had fought off worse than this guy. With enough power, surely, she could hold him off.

“So be it.” Ras growled, stepping forward, a murderous look in his eyes.

Before any of them could react, Frohicky yelled, “EAT THIS!” and threw his broth bowl at the tiger, catching him by surprise as the bowl hit him square in the face.

While he was caught off guard, Skylor flipped into the air, kicking Ras to the ground as he tried to wipe the broth off his face. The tiger let out a roar of anger as he fell, pulling the bowl off his face and jumping back to his feet.

“GO!” She yelled, turning back to a horrified Geo and Frohicky. “Get the Finders upstairs and hide! I’ll hold him back!”

For how long?

Frohicky grabbed Spitz and Bonzle’s arms, pulling them towards the elevator, but Geo hesitated.

“I can’t leave you with that monster!”

“Geo, get Cole and Fritz upstairs! I got this!” She summoned a ball of fire, calling on Kai’s power to help her and ignoring how much more her head was aching with every second. Ras snarled as he watched her, his eyes and fur patches beginning to glow a threatening shade of red.

“GO!”

Geo nodded, quickly grabbing Fritz and Cole and following Frohicky to the elevator. Skylor turned back to Ras, who scoffed.

“And what are you going to do against me?”

“This.” Skylor threw the fireball, enjoying how it made him nearly fall as she summoned a lightning bolt.

“What?!” Ras demanded, straightening his form as he leapt at her.

She quickly dodged his attack, aiming the lightning bolt at his head and summoning Nya’s water in her other hand.

“Impossible!” Ras pulled his hammer free from the sheath on his back as he shook off the bolt attack. “You wield multiple Elemental powers?! How?”

“I’m not just any pitiful human.” Skylor grinned, making the bursts of water around her fists grow. “I’m the Elemental Master of Amber, asshole.”

Chapter Text

The Elemental Master of Amber… Ras didn’t recognise that one. He’d learnt about a variety of Elemental Masters when he had first begun forming the Wolf Clan, but Amber had never appeared in his research. And multiple elemental abilities? It made no sense.

But whatever her abilities were, this red-haired girl was only one more obstacle between him and his plans. And he would not allow the ninja or their allies to continue to ruin his plans.

Who even was she? She knew the frog man was some kind of Monastery servant, and the Munce-Geckle freak was an Elemental Master that was close with the Earth Ninja, but he didn’t recognise this girl. Long red hair pulled back in a ponytail, tanned skin scattered with scars, an orange outfit different to those the ninja wore…

He barely dodged her next attack, several bursts of water, as he watched how she fought, trying to find a weakness of some kind. Once you knew your opponent’s weakness, it didn’t take much to make them crumble.

She was clearly a very capable fighter, despite not being a ninja herself. Her feet barely touched the ground as she combined her various elemental attacks with her quick combat moves. She fought with a fiery determination, never halting or hesitating as she flipped away from his attacks. No two attacks were the same and she managed to knock him back several times as he attempted to land a blow with his hammer Icon.

“Why won’t you submit?!” Ras demanded, sliding away as she aimed a flying kick at him.

The girl panted heavily as she landed behind him and ice formed on her fingertips. “Because I’ve faced worse than you.”

She believed she was stronger than him? That anyone was stronger than him? How dare she even consider that.

As for her weaknesses…

She was clearly in some kind of pain as she moved, often wincing or gasping as though she was wounded. Though it wasn’t obvious what was causing this, a wounded opponent was better than a strong opponent. And if he could just knock her out long enough, he could get upstairs and locate the information he needed.

A chunk of ice froze him to the floor, forcing him to halt and take his hammer to it as the ice encased his left leg. Or he tried, before she sent a Heat blast at his hand and knocked the hammer free.

He grunted in anger but then remembered his newest weapon and pulled the sword free, raising it above his head.

The girl immediately stopped attacking, the chunk of Earth she’d summoned crumbling to dust as she grabbed her head, crying in pain.

He’d never seen a reaction like that before. The Source Dragons Icons were powerful and deadly, but they’d never caused anyone to act like they were in some kind of mental pain.

Was her power connected to Balance, just as this Icon was? With their recent death, the Elemental Masters connected to that dragon would be suffering. And that would explain why she was in pain as she’d fought him.

“No! Shit!” She cried.

After freeing himself, Ras lifted his hammer and sent it flying at her back, knocking her to the ground. She yelled in anguish as she collapsed, her face scrunched up in pain as he stepped over her.

“Pathetic.” He hissed, shaking off the last flakes of ice and scowling down at her. “So much power at your fingertips, and you still cannot defeat me. I expected more of a fight.”

He made his way to the elevator; confident she would not follow. That was the last he’d seen of the Master of Amber.

--------------------------------------

Okay, left at the weird lumpy bushes, then another left at the glowing clump of trees, and a 180-degree turn towards the… gigantic floating jellyfish?

Smith felt the urge to scream. How did anyone get anywhere in this wacky Realm? Mysterium was more chaotic and crazier than the Administration, and at least that place had a whole online organizational system.

Her GPS had a lock on Jay’s location, along with a heat signature she recognized as Kai, the Fire Ninja and her apparent older brother. Looks like the hothead had tagged along on Jay’s mission, and they’d both made it successfully to the Cave of Bells. But with how messy and strange this place was, Smith was beginning to get annoyed.

She paused, taking a breath, feeling another stab in her shoulder. Maybe she should’ve asked those people back in Ignacia for supplies. She was low on bandages, and she hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday.

Though considering what happened last time she’d gone inside a house in a strange Realm to find supplies…

Smith suddenly felt a wave of guilt for what she’d done that day. The blood all over her hands, the lifeless bodies at her feet, the Arin kid trying desperately to fight her off…

Maybe she could’ve tried talking, instead of immediately attacking like a wild animal.

That’s all you are. A wild animal who lashes out and hurts everyone.

No. She was trying to be better. She was going to be better. She just needed to try and heal herself properly, instead of leaving the wounds to get worse.

You can do this. You can find him.

But what if he doesn’t want you to?

Smith felt her stomach turn. She’d seen how Jay had looked at her right before she’d ran off. He still cared about her, still wanted her to stay. Right?

Or what if he didn’t? What if this last act had finally changed his mind about her? What if he hated her now, as she had hated him? What if he told her to go away and leave her alone, that she could never be the Nya he’d loved?

No. Jay cared about her. He’d been there for her when so many others had used or abused her. He’d definitely be overjoyed to see her. Do that goofy grin, laugh like a little kid, his eyes lighting up.

Ugh, being in love is weird. Do most people think about their other half like this?

Stay on task, Smith.

Even in her head, addressing herself by her last name, a name that she also shared with Kai, was starting to feel weird. She’d gotten used to be addressed as Agent Smith by her fellow agents or Smith by Ras and the other Wolf Clan warriors.

She didn’t want to immediately start calling herself Nya either. That name belonged to the real Water Ninja, the woman that had a yang, friends, family and a whole life waiting for her. Not some broken, angry reflection of her.

The name was a later issue. Now was it 180 degrees? Or 360 degrees? No, 360 was a circle, damnit.

As she steered her mech down a rocky path of gemstones, an alarm began to ring on her screen. Boogeys were approaching the Cave of Bells, and fast.

A member of the Forbidden Five. Her tech couldn’t detect which one, but they were powerful, and they had brought at least a dozen friends with them.

She needed to find Jay and Kai NOW.

---------------------------------------

If the Amber girl was a pathetic fighter, the frog and the hybrid were even worse.

The frog that called himself Frohicky had gone down after one hit from his hammer, lying on the ground moaning. The hybrid had lasted slightly longer, using his Fusion powers and managing to land a few hits. But Ras had won in the end of course.

He lifted the dazed creature by his throat, snarling, “You are just as lost as those children you failed to protect!”

The hybrid didn’t move or fight back, his eyes rolling back into his head as his body went limp.

What to do with this thing? Break his bones? Get his blade and slit his throat? Throw him around more? Leave his beaten body for the Earth Ninja and the others to break down over?

No. He was just another obstacle in his path. His priority was Wu’s study.

As Ras went to throw him and land a fatal blow, he felt his body get knocked down by a heavy blow, yelling out in shock. He dropped the hybrid as he fell to the ground, noticing a giant chunk of earth rolling beside him.

He growled as he got back to his feet, turning to see where the attack had come from.

The Amber girl stood on the steps of the Monastery, a glowing orange hand raised. Her lip was bleeding, a bruise was prominent on her forehead, and she still appeared to be in pain, but she now looked furious.

“You.” He growled. “I thought I dealt with you already!”

“You thought wrong, Ras.” She smirked as she took a step down the stairs, her hand beginning to glow gold and the ground began to shake.

Quake. The power of that irritating Serpentine boy. Ras could barely stay on his feet as the girl scrunched up her face in concentration.

So, she had the powers of each of the ninja, and who knew how many others. But if he could get a hold of his sword Icon again, then he could knock her down again, and this time, keep her down.

The sword laid only a few feet away, but with the ground shaking, it continued to get further and further, and Ras nearly fell over again as he tried to move towards it. Using the training course, the girl leapt across the courtyard, jumping from wooden pole to metal hoop, getting closer and closer as the ground shook harder.

Just as the Quake began to fade, the girl summoned another lightning bolt, shooting it directly at him as he expertly dodged it. She landed on the ground, wiping blood from her chin as she summoned a green energy burst, the power of the Green Ninja.

“You continue to try and best me?” Ras asked, reaching for his sword as her eyes took in her fallen allies and her eyes widened. “I am the strongest warrior across all Sixteen Realms! I have captured a Source Dragon and destroyed entire cities? And you think I fear you because you wield more than one power?”

“Blah, blah. You talk a lot.” Skylor groaned, rolling her eyes.

Before she could throw the green burst, Ras’ fingers finally found the sword handle, and he thrust it at her.

She froze, wincing in pain as her hands flew to her head.

“Your elemental strength is no match for my Source Dragon Icons, Master of Amber.” Ras taunted, turning to pick up his fallen hammer as the girl stepped backwards, clutching her head tightly in her hands.

He lifted a leg and kicked her across the courtyard. She collided with a pole before she landed several feet away from the moaning frog, who murmured fearfully, “Skylor, are you alright?”

Her response was a shuddering breath as she tried to pull herself up, her arms giving out before she could. With one hand, she summoned several feeble colourful sparks, grunting quietly.

Skylor. So that was the girl’s name. Even with nearly a dozen different Elemental abilities in her grasp, she still couldn’t defeat him. Now she laid on the ground like a discarded ragdoll, trying desperately to summon one last burst of power.

“You truly are pitiful.” Ras poked her side with the blade as she hissed in pain, clearly not enjoying the blade’s close contact to her skin. He pressed a foot against her back, holding her down.

“Fuck you.” She cursed, angrily glaring up at him, her amber eyes (appropriate considering her element) blazing.

Ras growled. How dare she. With his other arm, he raised his hammer above his head, before bringing it down on her left arm, hearing a loud CRACK!

Her scream irritated Ras’ ears. As he lifted his hammer and slid it back into its sheath, he noticed bone protruding from her skin. She sobbed quietly, tears pouring down her cheeks. Pathetic.

He considered breaking her other arm too, before his eyes landed on the horrified frog man, and he remembered why he had come.

“Do not bother to try and fight me again, or I will break your other arm.” He threatened, removing his foot from her back and grabbing her unbroken arm.

She kicked and yelled, but he ignored her feeble attempts at a final attack, dragging her onto the training course, only a few feet from where the hybrid laid unmoving and glassy-eyed. He dropped her onto the wooden floor, ignoring her cry as she landed on her broken arm.

The frog watched in silent horror as he pressed down on one of the tiles, whirring loudly as the training course deactivated and slid down beneath the ground, trapping both the hybrid and the Amber girl below it. Two seemingly powerful obstacles, eliminated in mere minutes. No wonder the ninja had left them behind.

As the last pieces of the training course disappeared, Ras made his way to the frog, who looked pale with shock.

“Now you will take me to Wu’s study.” Ras ordered, grabbing the frog by his collar. He looked frightened for a second, before something above caught his eye and a grin crossed his green features.

“What is so amusing?” Ras snapped.

“There’s something coming in from the east.” Frohicky replied.

Ras barely had time to drop the frog before he suddenly felt himself get knocked across half the yard as a dragon descended from the roof.

-------------------------------------------

She’d finally located the cave. And it was hidden behind… an upside-down waterfall.

Why was she not surprised?

After deactivating her mech, she stood behind a tree just near the waterfall, mentally formulating a plan.

Nearby, a gigantic blue Cyclops was gathering fallen gems, muttering to himself about coconuts and BFFs and silly ninja.

So Jay and Kai had definitely been here already. But how had they gotten past the waterfall? Was there a spell? A ninja move?

Damnit, she should have gone with them to start with.

Even from here, she could sense the great magic weaved into the water. As though someone had threaded strands of magic through every stream of water with great care and skill. So powerful but so beautiful.

Maybe…

Moving as quietly as she could as to not alert the Cyclops, she walked towards the waterfall, lifting her hand slowly.

Could she manipulate the water? A quick flick of her wrist confirmed she couldn’t. What then?

Just as she was beginning to consider diving through, the water began to glow at her touch.

Chapter Text

“Jay! Hang on!”

Jay could barely hear Kai’s yells over his screams as Zarkt sent another burst of power at him. It made his blood boil and bones shake as he felt it pushing him back against the crystals.

Through the tears in his eyes, he could just make out Kai, fighting off the spectral beings with his new blade, blood pouring from a gash on his forehead. There was too many around him – he’d never make it to Jay.

And he couldn’t do much to help anyway.

Another burst hit him and he bit down on his tongue, tasting more blood as he tried to force himself to move. He couldn’t die here.

Not when his friends were depending on him.

Not when the world was falling apart.

Not when Nya was still out there.

But she was gone. Gone for good. Jay was never going to see her again. To see any of his friends again.

“Say goodbye, Lightning Ninja.” Zarkt taunted, red lightning crackling around him as he flew closer.

Jay shut his eyes tight, raising his hands in a pathetic attempt to shield himself, determined to not watch his own death take place.

“LEAVE HIM ALONE!” A familiar voice screamed. A loud thud.

No way.

His eyes flew open.

Zarkt was a flying blur as he shot across the cave, crashing into the floor. An enormous silver and blue mech decorated with ocean waves and phoenix wings stood before him, wielding an enormous metal spear. And in its cockpit was…

“NYA!” Kai yelled from wherever he was. “Nice timing!”

Jay felt a rush of joy fill his stomach despite how much pain he was in.

It really was her. Her face was furious as she glared at Zarkt, who’d regained himself and now flew higher to meet her.

“You’re now top of my hitlist, Zarkt.” She snarled, hitting a button on her dashboard, making the mechanical hand lift the spear into an offensive position.

Zarkt growled, getting back up and flying at her, summoning another bolt of red lightning.

Nya’s back. Nya’s back. She’s back and she’s helping us.

He needed to move, but his body screamed in protest. All he could do was watch as Nya’s blade went head-to-head with Zarkt’s power and she knocked back each of his blows, a fury in her eyes like he’d never seen before.

“You won’t…” Nya grunted, leaping from the mech’s cockpit and into the air, her hands glowing bright blue. “… touch him…” Mid-air, she flipped and aimed a water blast at Zarkt, knocking the spectral down. “… ever again!”

Zarkt slid across the floor, unmoving, Nya’s blast knocking him out. Nya landed a few feet away, pulling down her mask and spotting him. Her fury turned to fear as she ran over, her eyes taking in his appearance.

She’s back. She’s really back. She doesn’t hate me or want me dead. She just saved my life.

“Goddamnit, I leave you alone for not even three hours and this happens to you?” Nya muttered, kneeling down beside him, her hands shaking slightly as she took in the sight of him. “You idiot. What made you think you could take on Zarkt by yourself?”

Jay chuckled, making her frown. She sounded like her usual exasperated self from before the Merge. The familiarity made his heart ache.

“What’s so funny?” She demanded.

“I knew you’d come back.” He murmured, wanting to reach out and take her hand. “I knew you wouldn’t give up on us.”

Her eyes widened. “What? No! I just…” She hesitated, thinking. “I just happened to be in the area, okay?”

“You just happened to be really deep in a cave that was hidden behind an upside-down waterfall?” Jay asked teasingly, vaguely gesturing to the cave around them. “Seems pretty coincidental to me.”

“Maybe I was! You don’t know! I could be really into caves!” Nya protested, not meeting his eyes.

She’s hiding something. And Jay thought he knew what.

“Or?” He prompted.

Nya sighed, annoyed, wrapping her arms around herself. “Or maybe… you got me thinking.”

Well, now his curiosity had peaked. “About what?”

“It’s just… ever since the Merge, I’ve felt like I couldn’t trust anyone. Like everyone was lying to me, using me, trying to make me what they wanted. And because I had no memories, I didn’t know who a friend or a foe was. I felt alone, unwanted, useless. And then I found you. And you made me feel… safe. Like maybe I could learn to love again. Like… I wasn’t just some broken mess that hurt anyone who threatened me.”

Jay felt his heart beat faster as she finally met his eyes, her dark blue eyes nervous and wide, her hands tightening around her arms.

“You never lied to me, Jay. You don’t treat me like a slave or a punching bag. You made me… not want to be the awful person I’ve become. To try and let myself heal instead of hurting myself more.”

Jay felt his smile grow as she offered him a hand, pulling him up as she stood up. Just as she released him, he threw her arms around her, ignoring how every part of him screamed in pain, hugging her as though the world would end if he let go.

She’s okay. She doesn’t want to hurt you. And she’s back in your arms.

Though she momentarily stiffened at his touch, she slowly lifted her arms to hug him back, resting her head on his shoulder, her grip tight as if he was the only thing left in the world.

For a moment, they stood like that, wrapped in their hug. Jay was so glad she was alive, that she was here, that in that moment nothing else mattered.

He felt his shoulder shake and released her to see tears in her eyes.

Worry stabbed him. “Shit. Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need-”

“No, no, it’s not that.” She insisted, hurriedly wiping her eyes. “I… I don’t remember the last time anyone ever hugged me.”

Now he was crying again. Of course. She wouldn’t have met many affectionate people over the last few years. Was he the first touch of someone who actually cared about her?

“Well, we’ll have to fix that.” He pulled her back in, and she complied for a few seconds before pushing him back.

“Alright. Moment’s over.” She smirked at him, making him blush.

Jay heard footsteps, and then seconds later, Kai appeared, sheathing his blade, having finally defeated the last Dragonian.

“Nya!” He cried, throwing an arm around her shoulders, grinning wide despite the fact that half his face was covered in blood. “That was amazing! Have I ever told you that you’re the coolest person ever?”

Nya rolled her eyes, shoving her brother off and saying, “We better get going.”

“What? No hug for me?” Kai demanded. Nya jumped back into her mech, ignoring him as he muttered, “Raised her since childhood and this is the thanks I get. Being a big brother stinks.”

Jay giggled, then regretted it as a shudder of pain made its way across his body. Fuck, everything hurt.

“You feel up to moving?” Nya asked, looking down at him. “Zarkt really did a number on you. I’m surprised you’re still alive.” She glared at where the unconscious guy laid, as though preparing to launch another attack.

“I’m fine.” Jay nodded, ignoring how his ribs ached every time he breathed. “I’ll be better after a long nap at the Monastery.”

“Are you coming back with us?” Kai questioned, raising an eyebrow at his sister.

Jay didn’t want to get his hopes up, but… was she really?

Nya shrugged. “I don’t know how welcome I’ll be, but it’s better than running off by myself. I’ve learned I don’t really enjoy flying solo.”

Yes!

Kai grinned. “Well, it’ll be nice to finally have you part of the team again.”

Nya’s only response was, “Jump on.”

Kai quickly leapt onto the left shoulder of the mech, but a thought struck Jay.

“Wait! The coconut!” He cried, his eyes darting around the cave, searching for the furry little ball.

“Coconut?” Nya asked.

“Don’t ask.” Kai replied.

------------------------------------

Jay knew something was wrong the second they walked through that gate.

He knew his home. He knew the Monastery. And this was NOT it.

“What?” Nya murmured, pressing buttons with a furrowed brow. “What is this place?”

Kai leapt down from the mech, his eyes scanning the Realm before them, his face pale.

They stood in what clearly used to be a Monastery just like theirs, but the walls had crumbled to ash and rubble, revealing the world outside.

The unknown Realm was huge, in some areas completely barren and empty, while bushy and full of trees in other areas. It was as though colour had been drained from the world, leaving only smudges of grey and white. It seemed to stretch on forever, no end in sight. But what was truly unnerving was the sounds – distant roars, snarls and screams that made Jay’s blood run cold.

“Where are we?” Jay asked, jumping down from the mech’s shoulder and turning back to the Gate.

Every single inch of this Realm screamed DANGER! DANGER! RUN NOW! SAVE YOURSELF!

“No clue.” Nya replied, the light of her mech lighting up the ground in front of her.

A loud whir. The three of them looked up to see the light above the shut Gate glow an ominous red as the whirring quietened.

“I don’t know much about these Gates, but I don’t think they’re supposed to do that, right?” The mech’s hand reached for the door handle, tugging hard but yielding no result.

“We’re trapped here.” Jay realised, feeling his head throb as he looked up at Nya, who gave up on trying to open the door. “How could this happen? Who would do this?”

“I don’t know.” Nya gulped, turning her mech back to face him. “We’ve all got plenty of enemies, and if this is connected to that weird head feeling back in Mysterium…”

“If we don’t get home soon, who knows what will happen?” Jay’s thoughts were filled with horrific images. Lloyd bleeding out on the ground… Sora screaming as she fell into darkness… Cole’s lifeless body lying on the steps…

They needed to get home NOW.

“Well, we can’t get home if we don’t know where to go.” Nya pressed a button on her dash, bringing up a hologram screen covered in symbols. “If I can use my GPS to figure out what Realm we’re in, then maybe I can-”

“No need.” Kai said hoarsely.

Jay looked up and realized Kai was shaking. He hurried to his teammate and was shocked to see that Kai had gone pale, his breathing quick and heavy as he stared into the distance.

“I know exactly what Realm we’re in. But it can’t be possible.”

“What Realm?” Jay asked.

“The…the Land of Monsters.” Kai muttered.

Chapter Text

He wanted to believe it wasn’t true. That it couldn’t be real. That fate hadn’t dealt him this cruel hand and thrown him back in this nightmare realm.

But it was. Oh, it was. Everything felt distorted, cold. The blood in his mouth tasted sour. His heartbeat pounded in his mind.

Waking up in a pile of dirt, his head pounding after the strange storm. A distant roar forcing him to run. Wrapping himself in the fabrics of corpses to protect himself. Wielding a fiery blade.

Jay was shaking him, trying to make him move, yelling at him.

“Land of Monsters? What the fuck is a Land of Monsters? Kai, talk to me!”

“Stop it.” Nya snapped somewhere behind him, the whirring of her mech fading as she shut it down. “He’s in shock. He’s not going to talk.”

Kai wanted to talk, to tell them they needed to run, to escape this horror-infested land before it tried to destroy them. But when he opened his mouth, nothing came out but his panicked breaths.

The attacks… the blood pouring from his face… the fight for survival… the insects that crawled all over his skin…

“Well, he can’t just drop some shit like that and go silent! I need to know where we are!” Jay cried as he released Kai.

“I’ve heard of this place.” Nya came to stand on Kai’s other side, standing at the horizon before her. “When I was at the Administration, I heard stories from other agents about the mysterious ‘Land of Monsters’. It was one of the few locations that all agents were forbidden to go, because the only agents who ever went there never returned. I heard it was so deadly and terrifying that you would die within hours of arriving. Even all the power and technology of the Administration couldn’t control this place.”

The screams that no one could hear… the monsters that followed him… the cries from the lake…

“What do you mean, ‘never returned’?” Jay demanded. “And how does Kai know what this place is?”

“Because I’ve been here before.” Kai murmured, feeling as though his lungs were filling with icy water.

His voice felt strange coming from his throat. Like an animal.

“Before?” Jay asked. “When? We’ve never come here.”

“You haven’t.” Kai shook his head. “Neither of you ever have. But I did.”

He turned to look at them both, the horror of their situation fully settling in.

Jay, his freckled cheeks pale with fear, his curls soaked with sweat. Nya, her expression terrified but hardened, her dark blue eyes watching him nervously. Two of the people he cared about most, trapped in the Land of Monsters with him.

Of course. Of fucking course. Because he hadn’t suffered enough.

He’d been alone last time. Now the First Spinjitzu Master had brought him, his sister and one of his best friends to this hell, so they could see the suffering he’d endured all those years.

Would this be the place where he watched them die?

“You’ve been here before?” Nya furrowed her brow, an unfamiliar scar above her eyebrow wrinkling as she did so. “So you know what this place is like?”

Kai nodded, his body shaking as he tried to explain. “I… landed here after the Merge. I spent months here, fighting to get back home, trying… to not lose myself.”

“It’s impossible to survive in the Land of Monsters, without becoming a monster yourself.”

Daidan. The dragon he’d befriended. The creature he’d stopped from killing an innocent child, and who'd saved him twice in return. The one who’d told him those exact words.

She and the fire mech had been his only allies here all those years ago. The mech had been destroyed when they fought the lake monster, but was Daidan still around?

“Months?!” Jay shrieked. “You mean we could be stuck here for months?!”

“We’re not going to let that happen.” Nya grabbed Jay’s shoulder. “We’ll find a way out. I’m not going to lose you again.”

She turned her glance on Kai. “You said you escaped from here before. You must have found another Gate, or some kind of portal.”

Why not a portal to my home in a lake?

“Yeah. Yeah.” Jay nodded. “How’d you get out last time if you’d been here before?”

Kai forced himself to think back, to dredge through the terrifying flashes of his memories to his eventual escape.

“I… I don’t remember exactly. I think I just… wandered for a long time. It took me ages to find any trace of civilization.”

“Well, that’s good to know.” Jay muttered nervously, looking back down at the land below them. “Good to know we’re the only humans for miles and miles.”

Kai fought down the nausea rising up his throat.

“But you found something eventually, right?” Nya questioned, releasing Jay as she met his eyes. “A town, or some other people.”

Kai shut his eyes for a minute, thinking deeper, tasting vomit as he muttered, “Yes. I found… an abandoned town, and the Bounty was parked there. I drove it back to the Monastery, where I found Lloyd.”

“The Bounty?” Nya frowned.

“The Destiny’s Bounty. One of our ships.” Jay explained, before looking at Kai. “Then you came to the Land of Madness and met me, remember?”

Kai knew they were trying to help, to remind him that he’d escaped once before, but all he could see was the darkness waiting below.

“So, there is a way out.” Nya tapped her chin in thought, looking around. “And we have to walk there?”

In the distance, something roared. The sound chilled Kai’s blood. His mind filled with images of what awaited them at the bottom of the cliff.

On either side of him, Nya and Jay were still talking.

“What supplies do we have?”

“Not much. My mech, a few weapons and some bandages. And if my powers work, we should have access to water.”

“What are we supposed to do about food?”

“That’s a later issue. But I think we need to get off this cliff before Kai has a heart attack.”

Someone was shaking him again.

“Kai?”

“I can’t do this.” He realized, shoving off the hands and taking a step back. “I can’t do this again. What if this place tries to turn me? Tries to make me into a monster?”

What if they get hurt? What if one of the beasts recognizes me and comes back for revenge? What if I truly lose myself this time?

“Kai, listen to me.”

Nya took his hand, stubbornness in her eyes as she met his.

“You were alone last time. But this time you have us. Believe me when I say I know a thing or two about corruption, and I’m not going to let you fall down that path. We gotta look out for each other until we can find out why we’re here.”

“She’s right.” Jay took both Nya and Kai’s hands in his. “We’re a team. We’ve faced terrifying things before. A couple of monsters don’t got nothing on us.”

The taste of vomit was getting stronger, but Kai forced himself to nod as if he understood what they were saying.

“Let’s do this.” Jay took in a shaky breath, turning to face the cliff’s edge. “I’m sure it won’t be that bad.”

Chapter Text

1. SAFE

"Stop fighting me, Green Ninja..."

No... no... please make it stop...

"How pathetic, truly..."

No stop....

"The power will be mine!"

Lloyd woke up screaming.

He could still feel Morro's ghostly hands around his throat as he struggled to breathe. He was wrapped in the cold cloth, pinning him inside his own body. Tears poured down his face as he tried to find a weapon, something to stop him...

He could faintly hear muffled voices somewhere.

"...oyd! Hey!"

"What... ing?"

"...other nightmare!"

No. Morro was going to hurt them. To kill them. And then he'd pull out his knife, and make Lloyd run it across his own wrist, unable to stop his own body, taunting him about his mistakes...

"No, no, get away!" He shrieked, his arms flailing around. He could feel the icy nails digging into his skin, the blood dripping down his arms, the bone-chilling winds surrounding him…

"...thing wrong?"

"Lloyd... okay!"

He didn't stop screaming and fighting until he felt droplets of water fall on his face.

Water. Water. He was safe. Morro couldn't touch him if he was wet. He was...

He was in bed. His bottom bunk on the Bounty. He could feel his thick blanket wrapped around his legs, his pillow warm with sweat behind him. When he opened his eyes, he found a familiar sight.

Nya was kneeling beside his bed, her hand raised above his face and water droplets spinning around her fingers, her eyes wide with worry. She looked as though she'd rolled right out of bed, her black locks knotted and messy and the bags under her eyes deep.

"Lloyd?" She murmured. "You okay?"

Behind her, he could see the rest of the ninja: Kai looking terrified, a disgruntled Jay wrapped in a blanket, Zane silently watching and...

A flash of transparent green. It was him. He was here.

The blood, the pain...

"No, no, no!"

More water droplets. Hands running through his hair. Safe. Safe.

Nya had pulled his blankets off and climbed into bed beside him. Several more water droplets fell onto his face as he shut his eyes.

"Breathe, Lloyd." She murmured as he snuggled closer to her, gripping onto her pyjama shirt tightly.

He was safe. He was home. No one could hurt him.

As his breathing began to slow down, he realised the flash of green he'd mistaken for Morro was Cole, who was watching the scene nervously. He still wasn't used to seeing the Earth Ninja so... transparent, so un-solid.

"Was it another nightmare?" Zane asked quietly.

Lloyd nodded, wiping his tears. "I-I thought he was back, and that he would hurt me again. I..."

He tried to say more, but more tears began to fall, and he buried his face in Nya's shoulder.

It had been a week since Morro and his ghost army were defeated. And every day, Lloyd had to remind himself that he was safe, that his body was his own, that he wasn't going to be hurt anymore.

"That's it." Nya assured him. "In... and out..."

Lloyd took a shaky breath as Kai knelt down and placed a warm hand on Lloyd's shoulder, the heat helping warm Lloyd in the cool night air.

"You're safe, kiddo." Kai gave him a small smile. "Morro's all gone. And if any evil ghosts dare try to show their faces here again..." He glanced up at Nya, who was still gently running her fingers through Lloyd's hair, several drops of water above. "... we've got the brand-new Water Ninja here to keep you safe."

Lloyd looked up at Nya.

"I didn't know how to help you stop panicking, so I thought some water might calm you down." She explained, giving him a sleepy smile.

"Thank you." He murmured, resting his head in her lap. "For helping me."

She gave a soft chuckle. "I'll always help you, Lloyd. No matter what."

2. LOVE

Lloyd had been trying to sleep for hours, but it still eluded him no matter what he tried. So he gave up, throwing the blanket off and pulling himself out of bed.

The clock above his door read 2:07. He'd need to be up in six hours for training and breakfast. If he could just FALL ASLEEP.

Maybe a snack would help. Zane had brought him some new minty candies a few days ago.

The hallway floor creaked loudly as he stepped outside. Nearby, he could hear snoring. His friends had miraculously managed to fall asleep themselves.

But maybe he should check just in case. He was having trouble believing that Cole was still alive, that he hadn't fallen into the cloud merely days ago.

Nya and Kai's rooms were on either side of his. Nya was safely bundled up in about four blankets snoring quietly, and Kai was sprawled across his bed looking dead to the world.

Down the hall, Cole and Zane were also fast asleep, and there was a lump of blankets beside Zane that Lloyd suspected was PIXAL. She often sought Zane for comfort whenever she had her own nightmares.

Jay's bed was empty.

This in itself wasn't unusual. Jay had nightmares as often as the rest of them, and he often snuck into Nya's room or went to have a midnight snack or late-night gaming session. When Lloyd walked into the kitchen, his guess was correct. Jay was sitting cross-legged on the counter, a plate of leftover pizza rolls in front of him.

Jay was quietly nibbling on one when he looked up and saw Lloyd, a cheeky grin on his face.

"Come here often, Greenie?" He teased quietly.

"Couldn't sleep either, huh?" Lloyd walked to the pantry, yawning as he opened the door and searched for his stash of candy.

"I got hungry."

"Aren't those Cole's?"

"Nah, the only thing in the fridge that's his is the chocolate cake. These are Kai's. Don't tell him."

"Fair enough." Lloyd pulled out a bunch of chewy mints and came back to stand beside Jay.

Several moments passed before Lloyd remembered something he'd been meaning to ask earlier that day.

"Hey, Jay?"

"Yeah?"

"How... did you know that you loved Nya?"

Jay's face immediately went red, just as it always did when talking about the girl he loved, especially considering only days ago he'd apparently proposed to her. The pair had been joined at the hip ever since, and it was adorable, but it only reminded Lloyd of his own relationship drama.

"Uh, why do you ask?"

Harumi flashed through his mind, and Lloyd shook his head, trying to think of a way to ask his question without seeming weird.

"Uh, just curious."

Jay chuckled. "I don't know. She's so awesome, and strong, and smart. She always makes me blush, always makes me get butterflies. I love being around her and getting to know her. And now we're engaged of all things. It's so exciting."

Jay raised an eyebrow as he took another bite of his roll. "Any reason why you're asking?"

Lloyd sighed. "I was thinking about... Harumi."

Jay frowned. "Yeah, Nya mentioned what happened to her. But what's that got to do with me and her?"

"Because... I've been wondering if I ever really loved her. I mean, I know she was manipulating me, and using me, but... even before that, I don't think my feelings for her were real."

"Well, romance is a tricky thing." Jay reminded him. "My relationship with Nya wasn't exactly a straight shot. We went through lots of chaos and drama. Kai isn't a good example either, I don't think he's called Skylor in months. Zane and PIX arguably have the best one, and she was in his head for nearly two years."

“So what are you saying?”

“I’m saying, love and romance are complicated. You gotta make sure you find a love that makes both of you happy. You can both trust each other with your hearts and your backs.”

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Lloyd put another candy in his mouth. "Man, love is hard."

"True." Jay giggled. "But if you can find it, someone who loves you and appreciates you just for being you, then you've won in life. Doesn't even need to be a partner or lover, just someone who's there for you."

"What if they hurt you?"

"Then you have a whole team here who will draw and quarter them for daring to hurt you."

Lloyd laughed quietly.

3. HOME

It couldn't be possible. It had to be another vision from the lake. A magical illusion that had dug into the deepest trenches of his mind.

Kai was staring at his childhood home.

He'd been walking for days, trying to find an end to the endless Land of Monsters. Every part of him was sore, dirty and tired. His hands were soaked in blood - whether his or another's he couldn't remember. When he'd seen some kind of village in the distance, he'd picked up the pace, desperate for some kind of human interaction.

Then he recognised the sign above the door, the drawings on the walls, the weapons on the table, the nearby rice farms outside.

He stood in the doorway of the Four Weapons Blacksmith.

Though he hadn't stepped foot inside this place in years, he knew it like the back of his hand.

The path where he'd fought skeletons and watched them take his sister away... the now-cold and dusty forge that he'd formed armour and weapons in... the photos of him and Nya as children posing with their parents...

His parents! Were they here? Was he finally home? He hurried inside, searching the rooms.

"Mom! Dad!" He winced, a stitch in his side stinging. "Anyone? Is someone here?"

Every surface was covered in a thick layer of dust. It looked like nothing had been disturbed for years.

Where were his parents? They'd moved back here after being rescued from the Time Twins. And yet the place was dead silent.

He ran through both stories of the house, convinced they would appear if he just kept searching and calling out...

But just as that hadn't worked when he was a child when they'd first disappeared, it didn't work now. The house echoed with silence.

He found himself in the cold, undisturbed living room, several tears falling, wanting his parents, wanting his friends, wanting Nya...

He needed to see someone, anyone he knew, so that he knew he was free, that this wasn't another nightmare and he wouldn't wake up in that awful place.

Nothing.

For a moment, Kai let himself sit down on an old armchair - the same one he used to squish into with Nya to read stories to her. Home was safe. Home was warm.

Home was empty.

Were his mother and father dead? Missing? Lost somewhere in that crazy powerful storm along with the rest of his family?

He hoped they were alright. He could still hear his father’s booming laugh and remember his mother’s smile.

Kai forgot about the outside world for a moment, letting himself look around the living room, where every inch held a lost memory.

The kitchen where he'd learnt to cook... the table where he'd done budgets and Nya had done homework... the wall with countless old photos and drawings... the kitchen floor where Nya used to play while he made breakfast... the stairs he'd chased her up and down countless times...

First Master, he missed her. He needed her right now.

His side stung again as he leaned against the chair's arm, and he let himself breathe.

After a few moments, he couldn't ignore the stinging any longer, and when he felt wetness that came away red, he got up to search for the first aid kit.

Once he'd showered, changed into an old gi he'd left here and bandaged a whole bunch of his wounds, he began to search the house again, but more slowly this time, taking in everything he saw and unlocking memories he didn't even realise he had.

The doorway where they'd measured heights as they'd grown taller... his parents' room where he used to climb into their bed after a nightmare... the hallway that had seen so many tag games and arguments... Nya's bedroom, still filled with assorted engineering projects she'd left behind... his bedroom, covered in sticky notes and photos...

Man, how long had it been since he’d been here? After joining the ninja, he’d come back a few times for various reasons (to gather supplies for moving, while time-travelling, to visit his parents), but not for a good couple of years.

And yet, destiny had brought him here. As if it had known what he needed. Something familiar. Somewhere safe and warm.

Somewhere that no monsters lingered in the shadows, ready to attack.

As he admired one of Nya’s baby photos, a warm feeling in his chest, he heard a loud whirring outside.

He knew that sound.

The light shining through the windows disappeared, overtaken by some kind of shadow. He shot down the stairs and ran outside, finding another incredible sight.

The Destiny’s Bounty.

Ignoring the pain in his sides, Kai climbed up the chain. On this ship had been the last time he’d seen any of his friends. Cole using his super strength to lift people to safety, Lloyd leaping around to grab people, Nya and Zane combining their powers to get people onto the ship, Jay flying around in a huge mech…

But just as with his home, no one was onboard. He searched every level, wanting to hear a cringy joke from Jay, or a sarcastic jab from Cole, or a monotone comment from Zane, or Nya and Lloyd’s laughter, or just some indication that he wasn’t still alone.

He couldn’t give up yet. Now that he had the ship, he could find the Monastery. That would’ve been where most of them would try and go.

If his home was still there.

4. FEAR

Alright, the endless void was getting annoying.

Kai was beginning to think this was all some practical joke, that Lloyd had really lost his mind and led them to some random Realm that stretched on forever.

But if that were true, why was he alone? He’d been right next to Jay and behind Sora a minute ago, but there was no sign of pink hair or a blue gi anywhere. Where were the others?

Just as he grumbled to himself, he heard a sound that made his heart stop.

Crying. And he knew the voice behind it.

“Nya?” He murmured.

He’d heard his sister cry dozens of times. He knew that sound anywhere. But where was she?

“Nya!” He yelled.

The crying got louder as he started running, heart burning, until he finally found a bit of colour in the darkness.

Nya. Kneeling on the ground, her back to him and her head in her hands, sobbing hard. Dressed in the same blue and grey gi she’d worn the day he lost her.

Relief shot through Kai’s chest. She was alive. Maybe this was what led Lloyd to this strange place – the knowledge that Nya was here.

But why was she crying?

“Nya!” He cried, hurrying closer. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

In the back of his mind, he knew something was off. Nya never cried like this, not if she could help it. But in the moment, he was just glad to see her. He could finally hug her again.

As he got closer, Nya sniffed and said, “Where were you, Kai?”

That made him stop about five feet away from her. Those words sent a chill down his spine.

“What? I-I’ve been at the Monastery!” He said. “Looking for you!”

He didn’t understand. Why wasn’t she glad to see him?

“Why didn’t you help me?” She asked. “You were supposed to protect me!”

Kai felt his heart pound. Nya’s voice was so panicked, so fearful, but so… not her.

Something was wrong.

“Sis, what are you talking about?” He asked, taking a step forward, reaching a hand out to help her as she began to stand, shakily pulling herself up.

She kept her back to him as she cried, “Why didn’t you save me? Why, Kai?” She turned around, her voice distorting as she shrieked, “WHY DIDN’T YOU SAVE ME?!”

Kai felt his heart stop. His scream never reached his mouth.

Both Nya’s eyes were missing and had two enormous centipedes crawling out from the dark voids in her face. They crawled around her face almost like a twisted crown, wrapped around tightly like vines. Her mouth was full of blood, dripping down her chin as if she was a vampire. Her skin was pale and ice cold, almost corpse-like.

Kai fell to the ground, unable to take his eyes off her. Her bones cracked and twisted in different directions as she walked towards him, stiff and terrifying. Like a corpse brought back to life, half-mutilated by bugs.

Monster. Beast. Bugs.

He’d never left the Land of Monsters.

All of this – his friends, the Monastery, the Merge – it was all a hallucination. He’d never left that place of terrors, merely believed it enough that the realm had let him live in his fantasy. And now he was trapped, facing a monstrous version of his baby sister.

“You didn’t save me.” Nya hissed in that awful, distorted voice, more centipedes crawling over her shoulders and across her torso. “You weren’t there for me. And now I’m just like you – a MONSTER.”

Kai couldn’t make himself move. His brain was screaming at him to run, to save her, to find help or get away. But his body didn’t respond, trapping him on the ground as Nya stood over him, her blood dripping onto his climbing gi.

Had he done this to her?

“She’s right.”

Green. The person that stepped forward wore green.

Lloyd.

But just like Nya, it was a twisted, monstrous version of his little brother. He was taller than he normally was, his limbs abnormally stretched out like toffee. Lloyd’s eyes were empty and black; his large mouth filled with jagged teeth. His blonde locks had been ripped out in clumps, and his fingers had been replaced with claws.

“You promised to protect me.” Lloyd hissed. “To look out for me. But you weren’t there.”

They had broken his siblings. Torn them apart. And it was all his fault.

“No, Lloyd, that’s not true!” Kai protested, shuffling backwards, nearly breaking his fingers. He’d seen Lloyd only minutes ago. Had that all been a trick? “I’ve always tried to protect you!”

They hated him. They were dying because of him. He wasn’t enough.

“You failed.”

Blue. Jay stepped out of the darkness. But it wasn’t Jay. This Jay was soaked in blood, his shirt torn open to show his opened chest, his broken ribcage and beating heart. As though someone had taken a knife to every part of him but left his heart beating. Jay’s face was blank, devoid of his usual cheeky grin, staring at Kai intently.

“You weren’t strong enough to save us.”

Cole emerged from the shadows. His body was infected with something dark reddish-pink, his skin pulsing and throbbing and… were those EYES? Eyeballs on his arms and chest?

Every single pupil was focused on him. Staring at him. Watching him tremble at his family’s feet.

“Please…” Kai begged, looking at them all, at what they’d become, tasting vomit in his mouth. “… I didn’t mean to hurt you…”

“And yet, that’s what happened.”

Zane appeared. Parts of his metal body had been torn apart or smashed, leaving only exposed wires or flashing lights. Sparks flew from his face. He walked crookedly, one leg completely twisted and destroyed. But he joined the others, forming a huddle around Kai.

“You weren’t enough.” Zane clipped, his one glowing eye staring at Kai with hatred.

“You didn’t save us.” Cole shook his head, his skin swelling and throbbing as the eyeballs across his body watched him cower.

“You’re useless.” Jay whispered, his heartbeat echoing through the void.

“You killed us. We’re dead because of YOU.” Lloyd snapped, tilting his head.

“You must die too.” Nya grinned, her teeth bloody and the centipedes in her eyes twitching and shaking. “You must die too.”

The others picked up her chant as Kai felt his heartbeat screaming in his ears.

“You must die too… you must die too… you must die too…”

He shut his eyes, pressing his hands to his ears, silently begging the First Master to make it stop, to turn his family back, to make it all end and get him OUT.

“…die too… die too…”

Their blood soaked his hands. The monsters in the shadows cackled at him. His worst fears finally realised.

“No, no, no, please…” Kai begged, feeling cold and sharp hands grabbing at him, trying to rip him apart, to turn him too…

Their voices all blended into one distorted scream, words fading until all he could hear was yelling and cracking and breaking and the world was spinning and nothing was real everything hurt this was his fault they were all dead he should be dead too WHY WAS HE STILL HERE-

“What… was that?”

He was dead. He was dead. So why could he still hear his heartbeat pounding against his chest? Why could he still feel his lungs fill with air?

He was still on the ground, but this ground was warm and squishy, not cold and smooth like the ground in the void. He could see Riyu’s claws and Arin’s boots. His gi was muddy but not a single drop of blood.

He looked up.

Jay was standing above him, pale, all his organs inside his body. Dressed in his climber gi. Above Jay, some kind of tentacle was sliding back into the shadows, a distant screech echoing.

But he’d been dead. They all were.

It still felt as though the world was spinning. What had happened?

“… see weird things too?”

Jay’s voice sounded funny as he helped a nauseous Lloyd stand up.

Lloyd was alive. And he was himself. Not a monster that wanted him dead. And Jay wasn’t breaking. How?

“Jay, what…”

Kai quickly closed his mouth, trying to not let the bile on his tongue spill out. He didn’t hear the muffled words of the others until Jay said a familiar name.

“Nya… she was there, but she didn’t recognize me.”

The image of his sister with those centipedes in her eye sockets filled his vision, and he bit down on his tongue, tasting blood mixing with vomit.

He forced himself to swallow the liquids, pushing the horrific image from his mind as he focused on Lloyd, murmuring something quietly to Jay, which Kai only caught the last few words of.

“… couldn’t have been real.”

Real. Real. None of it was real. Another vision.

But the pain felt so real…

What was real anymore? Were his friends real? Was he still alive? What could he trust anymore?

“You alright, Kai?” Jay was kneeling beside him, offering him a hand up.

Kai took Jay’s hand, muttering to himself, “The monsters… the bugs…”

They had used the image of his friends, just like at the lake. Used Kai’s worst fear against him. And none of it had been real.

But Kai could still hear them screaming at him in the back of his mind.

Telling him to die too.

5. MEET

Skylor had just finished setting up her cart when she heard familiar voices.

“Are you sure we can actually beat Kreel? She made us lose last year! And she can actually afford good mech parts!”

“Well, we aren’t bullies who cheat their way to victory. Besides, your pies are getting us some good coin. Hopefully by next week I’ll be done with the modifications.”

She looked up just in time to see Arin and Sora round the corner, walking down the street.

Good kids. Arin was a pie baker and huge ninja fan, who carried around a mask he claimed was the Green Ninja’s and wore proudly everywhere. Meanwhile, Sora was an inventor, a cat-loving nerd who didn’t understand her bestie’s fandom but supported him nonetheless.

Like many who lived in the Crossroads, they’d been lost after the Merge, far from home, but they were resilient and friendly, always up for a chat whenever Skylor brought her cart to the Crossroads. And while they didn’t pay as much as her regular customers, Arin was always good at bringing her an extra pie on his rounds.

“Skylor!” Arin called, spotting her and running over, Sora’s pink-haired form not far behind. “Did you hear the Mech Master 5000 is on this weekend?”

“I did hear.” She chuckled, watching the fire below her wok light up. “I assume you two will be competing again?”

“Of course!” Arin grinned, pumping his fists into the air. “It’s gonna be so awesome!”

“Yeah, if Kreel doesn’t beat us for the second year in a row.” Sora rolled her eyes.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll do awesome.” Skylor reassured them. “You guys want your usual? Four Gyoza dumplings, small spicy noodles and large plain noodles?”

“Yes please!” They chorused in unison.

“I still find it insane that you can memorise any order just by hearing it once.” Sora laughed. “Some people have elemental magic, and that’s your magic.”

If only she knew. But Skylor had made a promise long ago she wouldn’t use her powers unless danger demanded it. She needed a break from having to help save the world all the time, so most people just knew her as a noodle-cart owner.

She had made a whole stack of noodles yesterday, so she began to let those cook in the water, the familiar sound of sizzling filling her ears as she stirred.

While she cooked, Sora pulled some kind of techy fidget toy from her pocket, while Arin adjusted his mask.

Skylor had recognised the mask the first time she’d met the kids. Lloyd and the others had visited her restaurant many times before the Merge, proudly showing off their new elemental gis. The green fabric and careful embroidery – only Lloyd would wear that. Arin loved to show it off, proud to own a real-life ninja mask.

It made Skylor miss them. Kai, Nya, Lloyd, all the others. No one had heard anything about the famous ninja in the two years since the Merge had occurred.

But they were surely okay. Ninja never quit, or whatever their phrase was. She’d been there for some of their toughest battles, and they always came out on top.

She turned her thoughts back to the food in front of her, adding spices to the wok of noodles as she pulled out her dumpling ingredients.

“Still don’t understand why you wear that everywhere.” Sora frowned, twisting a part of her tech, her words directed at Arin.

“Because it was the Green Ninja’s! Lloyd Garmadon wore this very mask! I got it from him when-”

“When you first met your heroes in the storm, I know.” Sora chuckled. “I’ve heard that story a dozen times. You don’t even wash that thing.”

“How do you even wash these things?” Arin frowned, scratching his head.

“Heck if I know. You’ll have to ask the Green Ninja if you ever meet him.”

“Do you think that’s possible? That Lloyd Garmadon will ever notice me? Just some weird kid who bakes pies and does ninja moves?”

“I’m sure he’d love you.” Skylor chuckled, folding dumplings carefully and placing them in a plastic container. “Lloyd was always a weird kid at heart.”

“Was he really?” Arin’s grin widened. When Skylor nodded, he gave a whoop, nearly knocking the fidget from Sora’s hands.

“Hey!”

“And that’s your food ready.” Skylor handed them the steaming bowls as Sora picked up her fidget and Arin hurriedly apologised. “Fifteen coins, please.”

Sora and Arin grimaced as they took the food.

Skylor smirked. “Still broke?”

They nodded sheepishly.

“We spent our last coins on mech parts.” Sora admitted, sliding her fidget into her pocket as she nibbled on a dumpling.

“I know we haven’t paid for the last like four things we ordered, and I swear we will once we win the Mech-Master 5000!” Arin insisted.

“Arin, it’s fine.” Skylor laughed. “Your daily pies are payment enough. Just make sure to stop by my cart on your rounds next time, okay?”

“I’ll definitely bring you double tomorrow! Thanks, Skylor!”

“See ya!”

As the kids wandered off, Skylor felt her stomach turn.

First Master, she hoped nothing bad happened to those kids.

6. HELP

“Nya?” A quiet knock. PIXAL hesitated, before glancing at Skylor.

“Nothing. Do you think she’s asleep?”

Skylor knocked, being careful not to spill the bowl of noodles as she did so.

It had been a few hours since the celebration ended. Everyone was either in bed or wandering around, except for Nya. After dropping crucial information on the location of Arin’s parents, she’d gone inside, holing up in her old bedroom. Whether because someone told her to or because she chose it, Skylor didn’t know. But she’d been worried about her old friend.

“Nya, I know you can hear us. We just wanted to check on you, patch up your wounds.” She called. “It’s just me and Pix. No one else.”

No reply.

“Kai told me he and Jay already tried talking to her, but they didn’t get anything out of her either.” Skylor murmured. “It’s the first time Kai’s even seen his sister in nearly five years, and she hasn’t said a word to him.”

“I understand she’s upset with all of us and needs some space, but many of her wounds looked worrying.” PIXAL murmured, staring at the closed door. “And self-isolation isn’t healthy for someone with a mental state like hers.”

“Yeah.” Skylor agreed. “From what I’ve heard, she’s had a few pretty rough years after the Merge. Memory loss, imprisonment in the Administration, abuse in the Wolf Clan, humiliation at the Tournament of Sources…”

“Zane filled me in not long after the battle against Thunderfang. It sounds awful.” PIXAL sighed. “I do not enjoy watching my friends suffering. We must help her.”

And with that, PIXAL turned the doorknob.

Skylor had been in Nya’s room once or twice before the Merge, and it really hadn’t changed. But it was cold and undisturbed - the dust was thicker than a hardcover novel except for a couple of muddy footprints on the carpet that led to a black-haired form.

Nya was sitting on the floor, leaning against her bed, arms wrapped around her injured leg. Her breathing was quiet and broken by the occasional sniffle. She was still dressed in the same bloody, dusty gi from before, which looked as though it had been torn apart and stitched back together multiple times.

“Nya?” Skylor tried, making sure to keep her distance. She’d seen how Nya had threatened Jay after the battle. Who knew if she was hiding extra knives somewhere?

Her head jerked around, her face panicked before seeing them and frowning.

“Go away.” She muttered, turning back around as PIXAL and Skylor walked over.

She was definitely a sight. Skylor recognised her ocean markings and a few freckles, but other than that, Nya looked barely recognizable. Her black locks were choppy and short, clearly hastily and messily cut by Nya herself. Her arms and face were covered in bruises and gashes, and several parts of her body were sloppily bandaged and stained with old blood. She’d also lost a lot of muscle and skin in the last few years, her body bony and thin.

It was a startling image when compared with the buff, confident ninja Skylor had known. She felt sick at the sight.

“We just… wanted to come and check on you.” Skylor said, sitting on the bed just behind Nya’s head.

“I don’t need to be looked after. I’m fine.” Nya muttered, wrapping her arms tighter around herself.

“I made noodles.” Skylor offered her the bowl. “I know you prefer rice, but as long as you get some food in your stomach…”

“Not hungry.” Nya turned away from her.

“Nya, when was the last time you ate anything?” PIXAL asked.

“What does it matter? I don’t deserve food right now.”

Skylor felt her insides curl up as Nya’s stomach growled.

What did she mean by that? What had that Ras guy and the Administration done to her?

“Are you sure about that?”

“Not hungry.” Nya repeated.

“Then let us help you with your wounds.” PIXAL prompted, moving to stand next to Nya. “My systems are telling me that you have several stab wounds, broken ribs, a twisted ankle and multiple other wounds. I can help you properly stitch and bandage them, if you’d like.”

She bent down beside Nya, reaching out to take her arm, before Nya noticed and shuffled away.

“Don’t TOUCH me.” She hissed, her tone dripping with venom as she pressed herself against the wall, eyes furious and panicked.

PIXAL quickly withdrew her hand, standing back up and meeting Skylor’s eyes.

“Nya, we’re your friends. We’re here to help you.” Skylor reassured, placing the noodles onto the dusty doona blanket beside her.

“I don’t want help.” Nya snarled, pushing back against the wall as though hoping it would swallow her. “You aren’t my friends. Leave me alone. I’m not falling for any more lies!”

She was like a wounded animal – pained, angry and defensive. But Skylor wasn’t one to give up after one try. Even if Nya didn’t want their help, they couldn’t just leave her like this.

“None of us are lying, Nya.” PIXAL straightened her posture, glancing over all the dusty surfaces in the room, her lips pursing in concern. “Every word we’ve told you is the truth.”

“I don’t care.” Nya muttered, breathing heavily. “Every word I’ve heard is a lie. Every hand that’s ever touched me held a knife ready to stab. Every person I’ve ever met has hurt me or betrayed me. So why should I trust you two?”

PIXAL and Skylor met eyes once more.

They both understood what she meant. She had no reason to trust anyone right now, not when the First Master had dealt her such a cruel hand. But they both knew their old friend, and Skylor had struggled with the darkness herself. After everything the ninja had done to help her, she couldn’t let Nya down.

“We don’t want to hurt you.” PIXAL said quietly. “But we cannot leave you like this when you are malnourished, wounded and angry. We want to help.”

“What if we get you the first aid kit?” Skylor suggested. “Then you can deal with your own wounds, and we can help where needed.”

“But we won’t touch or hurt you.” PIXAL promised. “We just worry that in your current state, you will not heal properly.”

Nya considered the idea, furrowing her brow in thought. She looked up at them both. “Where are the showers around here?”

“Down the hall, around the corner, first on the right.” PIXAL supplied.

“I’ll make you a deal. Let me bathe and get dressed, then you,” She pointed at PIXAL. “Can help me with the major wounds. You look like you know what you’re doing.”

Skylor snorted. “And I don’t?”

Nya ignored her. “I’ll do the smaller stuff. Only help me if I ask for it. But make one wrong move, try anything malicious, and I will break your arm off.” She told PIXAL, who nodded. “And when you’re done, you leave me alone. All of you. No one disturbs me or talks to me.”

“What about noodles?” Skylor pressed, slowly sliding the bowl towards her. “You look like you haven’t had a good meal in a while.”

Nya stared at the bowl, as if expecting it to pull out a knife and attack her. When it didn’t, she reached a shaky hand out and took it, the steam enveloping her face.

“I can make you rice or something else another time if you want.” Skylor said, standing up. “I just don’t want you going hungry right now.”

Nya silently stared down at the bowl.

“I’ll go find the first aid kit.” PIXAL nodded, turning around and walking out. “Skylor, could you find her some clean clothes?”

Skylor nodded, getting off the bed and walking to the drawer. For a moment, all was quiet as Skylor found a sports bra and tracksuit pants for her to wear. They smelt like saltwater and laundry detergent.

When Skylor turned around to hand her the clothes, Nya was still staring at the noodles.

“Are you gonna eat those?” Skylor asked. “They’re no good cold.”

“Why are you all doing this?”

Skylor sat down on the bed, brushing dust off and laying the clothes down. “What do you mean?”

“Why are you helping me? Why are you letting me stay?” Nya shook her head in disbelief. “You all say that you know me, that I should remember you. But I’ve never known about most of you until a few months ago. Where were you all the last few years?”

Skylor sighed. “Look, I can’t speak for everyone else, but I’ve been mostly on the move since the Merge. I wanted to find you, to find all the ninja, but no one had any clue where you all were. And Jay… I know he’s been searching for you since he woke up. He never gave up on you.”

Nya’s nose scrunched up when Skylor mentioned Jay. “He’s the reason I’m like this. He’s a jerk and a liar.”

The words stung. Pre-Merge, Skylor had barely seen Jay and Nya apart. The pair were practically joined at the hip, eternally connected by a strong red string of fate that seemed unbreakable. Across Realms and through storms and battle, they always found their way back to each other.

Until now.

The silence was finally broken when PIXAL re-entered the room, carrying a large white first aid kit. As the door shut behind the nindroid, Skylor noticed a head of curls and dark blue eyes peering through the crack in the door before it slammed shut.

About ten minutes later, Nya was cleaner and calmer, dressed in the clothes laid on the bed for her and leaning against a pile of pillows. Skylor had managed to coax her into eating several mouthfuls of noodles while PIXAL unwrapped, cleaned and rebandaged various wounds across her body.

Though she flinched or grumbled several times, Nya sat still and patiently, staring determinedly at a spot on the ceiling as several parts of her were stitched back together.

She was more damaged than PIXAL or Skylor had thought. Though her body had numerous ninja scars that had faded with time, there were several that looked more recent and more painful. A vicious burn across her stomach. A fucking STAB WOUND in the shoulder (how the FSM had she survived that?). Dozens of bruises and cuts. The nasty gash in her leg of course.

But what really unnerved Skylor was the one she’d seen briefly on Nya’s back when she’d been wrapped in a towel moments before.

At first glance, it looked like a dark red tattoo of a wolf head, but when she’d dared to look closer, Skylor had realised it had been fucking CARVED into Nya’s back. And not roughly or accidentally either, but precisely and carefully, the lines neat and sharp but cutting deep.

The Anacondrai tattoo on her arm tingled slightly as she’d looked away.

Her father had used to say that you could tell a lot about someone by the secrets they held closest to their chest. And Skylor wondered what secrets this scarred, angry heart had buried below the surface.

“What are you going to do with my gi?” She asked at one point, glancing to where the bloody, dirt-covered gi had been carefully placed on a chair by the door.

“I will see if I can arrange to have it washed.” PIXAL murmured, her careful fingers tightly wrapping gauze around Nya’s leg wound. “But I may need to speak with Lloyd about it because Zane and I leave for our trip tomorrow.”

“I’d forgotten about that.” Skylor chuckled. “You’re both headed off on your romantic voyage. Just you, the Realms and all the chaos they have to offer.”

“It will certainly be an experience.” PIXAL chuckled, pulling a pillow from off the floor and carefully sliding it under Nya’s leg, propping it up. “There you are. Now your leg can properly begin healing.”

Nya stared at her bandaged leg with an unreadable expression, before her stormy blue eyes looked up. Her lips parted, then closed again.

“We’ll leave you be for now.” Skylor promised, grabbing the barely-touched bowl beside her. “But we’re just down the hall if you need anything.”