My palms were sweaty, and I could feel the heat on my back. However, all I could think about was how my only protection was slowly fading, and it'd eventually leave me to roast in the fire. I felt helpless with my legs locked up like this, and I hated it with all my heart. A ninja wouldn't die like this! Think, Cole, think.

Okay, only your legs are immobile, I told myself. I turned my head around as much as I could to try and see what was doing this, but the only thing in sight was the metallic silver door and the flames making shadows dance across the already eerie-looking walls.

At this point I was past worrying about how stupid I might look to someone else at the moment, so my next thought was, where are the others? But I already knew the answer to that: Kai convinced Skylor to go somewhere with Jay, Nya, and himself; Lloyd and Zane- he'd be really useful right now!- went to stop some robbery. I would've gone as well, but Lloyd insisted I stay aboard the Bounty because I had a cold. Just a little cold! If I'd gone with them none of this would be happening. I wouldn't have even had the chance to follow a little boy screaming my full name (middle name and all) halfway across the city. Even if they noticed I was gone they wouldn't know where to search.

"I would've expected more from one of 'Ninjago's greatest heroes'!" a voice said over the crackling flames, stopping me before I dove too deep into my memories. The fire suddenly disappeared, drastically darkening the room. I was both glad and confused at the change.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"Who am I? Shouldn't you be asking more important questions? Perhaps, 'Why can't I move my legs?' Or 'Who was that little boy?' But, no, you wish to know my name, of all things. It starts with A, are you happy?"

"Of course not! I can't-"

"Move your legs, yes, I know. Just a little precaution to make sure you'd stick around. And fire wasn't the best idea, sorry. Now you're covered in soot. Then again, your hair and clothes were already black, weren't they? So they can't tell unless they look at your face. Oh, and before I forget, tell Kai he's next, but also that he shouldn't get cocky because he won't be tested with fire like you were. Oops, that was a waste of breath. I forget I'm letting them watch."

"Letting who watch?" I asked, slightly embarrassed at the prospect of someone seeing me, the leader of the ninja, nearly burn to death.

"Your friends, of course. Who else? Hopefully they'll be better prepared than you...Quit it! I wouldn't have let you die!"

"I didn't say anything..."

"Not you, dear. Elo."

"Who?"

"Elo's only here because you are. Shadows can be real bothersome at times; they repeat their master's thoughts 10 minutes too late. I guess I can't complain, seeing as I'm a shadow as well. Lucky for me, I'm disconnected for the time being, though I'm not sure why. You know, I bet Enez- I mean Zane, sorry- he'd do better at this. Sense my presence or the like!"

"What are you talking about? Are you insane?"

"No, just happy. The portal opened a while back and Enez, Elo, Ike, and of course me went through. We had to leave Doyle and Yaj- boy, I'll miss his sense of humor!"

"What kind of name is Yaj?"

"Jay reversed, obviously. Ande and Dee couldn't think of any names close enough, so they left it that way. Personally I feel a little bad for Enez, he has the oddest name if you ask me, but whatcha gonna do- they had to work with 'Enaz'. I'm Ann with a y, just so you know. Enez is Zane's shadow, Doyle is Lloyd's, and Ike- that arrogant jerk's been so full of himself since he became disconnected!- was at one point Kai's shadow."

"Hey!" A new voice shouted, but both 'Ayn' and I ignored it.

"What do you mean, 'at one point'? Kai has a shadow. Okay, it's official; I'm talking to a lunatic."

"My sis isn't as crazy as you think!" the other voice exclaimed, "Garmadon disconnected me and made a million copies, and I just made sure a copy was reconnected and -BAM!- I'm free."

"Don't forget, there's the possibility you're just a copy," Ayn giggled.

"Disconnected? I'm curious about all this, but do we have to talk in here? It looks like a cave and I can barely see."

"Shiz, man, are you that uncomfortable in here?" Kai's shadow asked.

"You know what I find funny? My master has always liked Jay, but I love Elo. Hehe, even his name sounds perfect. E-"

"Ayn! Could you focus for once and maybe not be so dang random all the time?!"

"Is she the opposite of Nya?" I suggested.

"What gave you that idea?"

"Hmm, let's see," I replied sarcastically, "Maybe the fact that Nya would never act like that."

"Well, Ayn's only her shadow. Her current love-struck daze is because you're right there, and that means Elo has to stay close by, even if it's too dark for a shadow. Shadow's personalities are as random as rolling a dice, nothing to do with the masters. Would you say I'm the opposite of Kai?"

I shrugged before remembering they probably couldn't see me. "I don't know, I barely know you. It's Ike, right?"

"Don't wear it out."

"What's your sister's point in... 'testing' me, I think she said?"

"1) Elo, 2) so she can show off, and probably a third reason I haven't guessed yet. Also, while the personalities usually aren't opposite- Dang, this is hard to explain. Alright, your Nya doesn't have any powers- I mean element-wise, she's a million times better than my si-"

"J-E-R-K!"

I could practically see him glare at his sister before continuing. "What I'm getting at is, Ayn has powers similar to Lloyd. I'm ice, Enez is fire, Elo has lightning, Yaj is earth, and Doyle has nothing at all. Don't ask me why our elements are all switched up compared to yours; that's just how it is."

"I know why," Ayn announced in a sing-song voice.

"You do?! Tell me why, please, sis!"

"Because."

"Because why?" Ike asked, sounding flustered but hopeful.

"Reasons."

"Why you little- Sorry. You're annoying, that's all I'll say."

"Am I a space cadet?"

"I guess so. Who called you that? Earth? Fire? Lightn-"

"Elo would not do that! It was Yaj, for DP's sake!"

"Of course it was him. The evil-"

"Evil?! Pulling pranks does not make you evil! Are you picking my friends now? Cause I only hang with him because Nya hangs with Jay!"

As the shadows began to do something very common for siblings, aka argue, I was able to simply walk out.

[a/n: I've never heard Elo as a name, but it sounded more like one than Eloc. I pronounce it ee-low instead of it rhyming with Jello. Yaj is pronounced in a way that rhymes with badge. Enez is ee-nez, pretty much how it looks. Doyle and Ike don't need explaining, do they? Okay, done.]