Everyone slowly came back into the Temple, after the loud explosion. Dash was on her hands and knees, a rounded by a ring of ash. As everyone else looked around at the damage, Nya and Zack ran to Dash.

"He's gone," she was mumbling. "He's gone, he's gone, he's gone."

"Dash, What happened?" Nya asked.

"Cole," she said softly, tears in her eyes that were threatening to fall. "He got Cole."

"Nya, I need your help!" Zane called from upstairs.

Zack pulled Dash up as Nya ran to Zane. She ran into the room, and saw him pulling debris off the bed. Then it hit Nya; Ali was on that bed and no one moved her. She pulled several pieces off, and then the bed was clear, but no one laid in it.

"Where did she go?" Zane asked.

June walked to the bed, and found the necklace on it. She lifted her head, hearing a voice in her head.

"Ali's gone to the Secret Realm," June said quietly. "There, she can let herself heal here and still live a normal life."

"I see," Zane said.

"We have the necklace, though," Nya pointed out.

"Necklace needs to stay in the realm with a Royal Master," Zane said.

"Lloyd is still in the realm, isn't he?" Nya asked.

"As long as he hasn't been taken," Zane sighed. "Dash, tell us what happened."

"When I told you all to get out of the Temple, Cole must have been in shock because he never left," Dash muttered. "Then he took Cole. I don't know where they went. My magic is too spent from the fight and any traces of him would be long gone by now."

Everyone fell silent, already having lost Jay in another recent battle. Kai, gone. Cole, gone. Lloyd, gone. Jay, gone. The only original ninjas left were Nya and Zane, and both were speechless. Both were exhausted. Both were ready to give up after constant fighting.

"There has to be something," Mai spoke up.

Everyone turned to her, seeing the confidence on her face.

"Anything at all that we can do," Mai insisted.

"Not until my powers are stable," Dash sighed. "It could completely turn me."

"Never a good thing," Nicki shook her head.

"Alright, plan B?" Mai asked.

"All I have is we hunt across ninjago, and who knows where they would be," Roy sighed. "Plus, it would take way too long."

"Zane," June turned to the white nindroid. "Do you think Cole might have his communicator on him?"

Zane's face lit up. He bolted out of the room, everyone running after him. Mai was the only one to stay behind in the infirmary, to try and clean it up a little bit.

"Nya, scan Ninjago for a signal, I'll search for the communicators," Zane called over his shoulder.

Nya nodded, running downstairs to the computer room. She started typing rapidly, Nicki, Roy, Dash, Zack, Tylor, Stan and June with her. Zane ran in moments later.

"I found mine and yours, Nya," Zane said, out of breath. "Also managed to dig out the extras. Everyone take one."
Everyone took a communicator, sliding it onto their wrists.

"Got it!" Nya cheered.

Everyone looked up at the screen, seeing a red blinking dot on the screen.

"It's not a stable enough signal to be able to trace it anywhere," June sighed.

"No, but it gives us a start," Zane told her.
"What's the plan?" Roy asked.

"June and Nya, go to the direct location," Zane said. "Tylor, Stan, search from the last known point out until the ocean. I will copy from the Temple if we get any new coordinates."

They all nodded, running off in their groups.

"Um….Zane?" Dash spoke up.

Zane turned to the group of four left with him.

"What are we doing?" Nicki asked.

"I need you to go and check in with Jay's parents," Zane said. "I know it's out of the action, but it's crucial that they are still OK."

"We understand," Roy nodded.

As they turned to leave, Dash hesitated, then followed.
"Dash, you're staying with me," Zane said.

"What?" Dash blurted out. "Why?"

"You need to rest up," Zane said calmly. "Regain your energy and stable your powers."

Dash lowered her head, nodding.

"Dash, will you be alright?" Zack asked.

"Yeah," Dash smiled at the young boy. "Go with the others. I will be waiting for your safe return."

Zack smiled, then ran off with Nicki and Roy. Dash watched Zane typing away for a little while. Then she spoke up.

"There's another reason you kept me here, isn't there," Dash said quietly.

"Yes," Zane said softly. "I have to ask you something."

"What?" Dash asked.

Zane turned to her.

"You knew Kai was here," he said. "Yet, I felt no elemental presence. Not in him, nor from the necklace. How is this possible?"
Dash sighed. She knew someone would eventually ask. She didn't think it would be this soon.

"His powers left him, but never returned to the necklace," Dash said. "They wouldn't. Lloyd has Kai's stone, the gemstone of Fire. Either it has returned to the stone and we wouldn't know, or it's being held in something else that can hold powers. I haven't heard of a source in Ninjago that can hold the elemental powers, other than the Master and the gemstones."

"What are the gemstones made of?" Zane asked.

"I think Ali called it elemenite, (l-e-men-tight)" Dash said. "But it's extremely rare and nearly impossible to find."

"Yes," Zane agreed. "But a similar stone could be used in its place. One we have encountered before."

"We have?" Dash asked.

"Not you guys, Kai, Cole, Jay, Lloyd and I," Zane explained. "During the tournament of elements. It was used to steal and hold our powers. Very similar to elemenite, a crystal called Pentite (pent-tight) that is not found on Ninjago, but a small island off the coast."

"Ok," Dash said.

"Don't you see, that's got to have something," Zane said.

"Tell one of the teams to go to that location," Dash said.

"First, one other thing," Zane said. "You never said how you sensed Kai's presence."

Dash sighed.

"I hoped you'd forgotten," Dash said quietly. "He's got the Dark magic in his veins. It's corrupted him, and now allows him to control it."

"Really?" Zane asked.

"It is very dangerous in the hands of someone who doesn't know what they are doing," Dash continued. "We have to do something to stop him."

"I understand," Zane told her. "We will."

Dash smiled at Zane, feeling comfortable around him and trustworthy telling him certain things. Some things, though, are always best kept as secrets.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's bringing everything back together. The Hands of Time Alternate Ending will be coming out about mid-June, so watch for that. I'm excited for it and hope everyone else is too.