Hey guys! XD I don't really have a ton to say, except that this chapter has a lot of dialogue. In addition to the tech stuff which I am in love with, and then there's the end part... ',:) Anyway I hope you love it! And one last thing-I got some pretty awesome reviews on the last chapter; just wanted to say thanks-they totally brighten my day!

"Which way?" Kai asked. The shadows enveloping the room made it impossible to determine its size; it seemed to stretch on forever. Even with the flashlight, seeing more than three feet in any direction was a challenge.

"Choose the right!" Lindsey suggested with a small smile.

Kai nodded compliantly. "Whatever you say." Shining the flashlight along the floor, he detected a thin rail following the direction of each sign.

"'Kay, let's go." Lindsey started following the rail, with Kai right behind her. "You know what HQ means, right?"

The red ninja snorted. "Headquarters. Who doesn't?" She laughed softly. "Funny. What I meant is, what could we find? It's their home base."

Kai shrugged nonchalantly. "Some guards, probably, but nothing we can't handle. Hopefully some plans to help us figure out what, exactly, is going on. Other than that, I have absolutely no idea."

"That's comforting."

Kai sensed the sarcasm in her voice but said nothing—they both feared what might lay ahead, and were both trying to mask their worry.

They continued in the dark for awhile. Presently Kai remarked, "I wonder what time it is. The others should be gathering soon." Lindsey stifled a huge yawn as she squinted at her wristwatch and reported, "Just after 1:00."

Kai noticed she was dragging her feet. "How about we break for a bit," he suggested, seeing through her robust face to the hidden fatigue. She yawned again as she nodded in agreement and collapsed to the ground thankfully. "But not for long," she continued, finding a spark of duty amid her exhaustion, "We've gotta get there soon." With a weary sigh, she unconsciously leaned her head on Kai's shoulder and fell asleep, mumbling, "Just for a minute…"

Letting her doze for a few moments, he enjoyed the look of sweet innocence on her face before remembering that they were pressed for time. He gently picked her up; no sense in waking her now. It had been over forty-eight hours since she gained much, if any, sleep, and if anyone deserved it, she did. His expression was unreadable as she unconsciously snuggled into the warmth of his arms. He continued down the tunnel in silence, the only sound being the sleeping girl's slow, even breathing.

He had been walking along for ten minutes or so when suddenly, she stiffened and cried out. "Mom!", likely in the midst of a vivid dream. He tensed, waiting for any additional outbursts, but then she relaxed and he continued onward.

Her exclamation had roused other memories, however, memories he both loved and hated—his last recollections of his parents. Though the memories were painful, he constantly savored every glimpse of them he could get: his mother tucking him in at night, his father helping him forge his first weapon. But mostly of the last night he saw them. The night before they disappeared.

It was his night for dish duty. Nya, who was twelve at the time, had gone to bed, so he was rinsing plates alone in the kitchen above the 4 Weapons shop when the visitor came.

"Father, someone's here for you," he called, without bothering to see who was knocking. No one had ever called without wanting to see is father, and tonight was no exception.

"It's good to see you, my friend," he greeted, "But… what are you doing here?"

Kai heard a sigh. "I would not have come back, but I believe you have been found." Kai's father's head jerked up. "No!" The speaker's voice was laced with worry for his friend. They spoke in low tones for a moment before the visitor warned, "It could be days, or it could be years, but he knows you are here. He knows what you guard. And he will not fail to make his move."

"We can't let them get it," Kai heard his father say resolutely, then hesitate. "But the children—" "Will be safer this way. It is your choice, but you know the consequences of either course of action. Your oldest is quickly approaching the age of fourteen, is he not?"

Both Kai, listening at the top of the stairs, and his father, knew the implication the visitor was pointing out. Once a boy reached the age of fourteen, he could legally manage a simple shop such as 4 Weapons without supervision. "Though he lacks the patience needed for a career in smithery, I have seen much raw talent in him and have begun teaching him what I know," his father considered begrudgingly, "I suppose I could leave Nya and the shop with him for a month."

"You will, then?"

"I will. But for no longer than a month."

"Agreed. We must leave tonight."

"Tonight?!" Kai's father was shocked. "I must have time to make preparations! To tell my family!" "Bring your wife. She has a resilient spirit. She will understand," the stranger placated, then paused. "And there is no reason to tell Kai and Nya. The less they know, the safer they are. Just tell them you and your wife are going on a prolonged vacation and will be back soon."

"Nya is already asleep, but perhaps Kai would understand. He knows the ropes here."

"Do, then, and meet me when the moon is ripe." It was then that Kai had slunk to bed and feigned sleep, a feeling of dread coiling in the pit of his stomach. "Only a month," was the last think he heard his father say, "No more than a month."

It had been four years since that day.

(~&&&~)

He paused, certain there must be another piece to the puzzle. What was it that was important enough to make his parents up and leave without telling him? Sighing, he hefted Lindsey in his arms and continued onward. It was a question he had asked himself many, many times, but had never found an answer to. When he awoke the morning after, his parents were gone. It was as simple as that, and yet entirely not so. Everything about their disappearance was a confusing mystery.

Kai cleared his mind as he saw a faint light approaching in the distance, countering the beam of the flashlight.

Lindsey stirred, and he set her down quickly. "Where am I?" she murmured sleepily, then sat up. "Oh, yeah. Wait—did I fall asleep?" Kai nodded.

She grinned dryly. "Oops. How did we get here, then?" The red ninja felt his face turn the color of his suit, and was glad it was mostly dark as he replied, "I, uh, carried you." "Thanks," she smiled, then pointed at the light up ahead. "What's that?"

Kai shrugged. "Shall we find out?"

As they got closer, they could tell that the light emanated from the small window of an iron door. Thick silver bolts were screwed around the doorframe, and a keypad with glowing green numbers was situated atop the doorknob. "Drat!" Kai scowled, "We need a password!"

Lindsey smirked. "Let me handle that." Whipping her ever-present laptop, she entered something into the web browser and started punching in different codes. After five unresponsive codes, she entered in 372466 and grinned as the LED flashed green and the door clicked open.

"How did you do that?" Kai asked in droll acquiescence. Lindsey showed him the window she had pulled up: an article titled The Life and Work of Julian Renala. "Sometimes people make passwords named after their first pet, their elementary school, or something along those lines. Turns out I guessed right."

Kai grinned and quoted back to her, "It's all simple logic, really."

She laughed and punched him in the arm. "It's actually just common knowledge."

He shrugged. "Eh, I still say it's genius.

She snickered and stepped inside. "Woah! Kai, I think we just found what we're looking for." As the red ninja entered, he gasped as well.

Words could do no justice. In front of them lay technological masterpieces average citizens could only dream of. "Wow," Lindsey breathed in awe.

Kai darted to the 'main attraction,' a silver metal base with a holographic blue screen extending from it, towards the ceiling. "It looks like this is the database for all their tactics and stuff," he reported excitedly.

"This technology surpasses anything I've ever seen," muttered Lindsey, running her hand along the side of another machine that employed similar, but smaller, screens.

"See if you can get in," Kai urged, "We don't know how soon—" "Relax," Lindsey said nonchalantly, "We still have almost a half an hour. " Still, she glanced over the buttons on the control panel before entering a series of numbers that Kai could make neither head nor tail of. Pushing a large green button in the center, her grin disappeared momentarily when a notice popped up, Fingerprint necessary, please touch the center screen for recognition.

"Kai, can you check in that closet for a latex glove?" The ninja of fire nodded, and sure enough, amid janitorial mops and brooms, he found the desired object in the closet on the far wall and delivered it to Lindsey. "Thanks." She slipped it on and began scrutinizing the handle on the door they had just come through.

"What are you looking for?"

"A fingerprint," she replied, "And here one is." She carefully pressed the first finger of the glove, first against the faint print, then against the azure screen. Biting her lip hopefully, they both sighed in relief as the server recognized the transferred fingerprint. A woman's voice greeted, "Print verified. Welcome, Julian Renala."

Lindsey selected 'Overview' from the list that popped up, and the voice came on again. "Please proceed to the main screen."

As they complied, words and images started to flash onto the giant monitor. It began by displaying a three-dimensional model of a monsterbot, with blurbs of informational text placed strategically around it, explaining different functions of the robot. Lindsey scanned over it quickly, memorizing the information for a later time, then waved a hand through the intangible image, causing it to ripple and fade and a new image to take its place. Both pairs of eyes widened in shock.

The new display was a moving picture, showing first Dagoramn Enterprises, then moving down slowly to show the earth below the building—but it wasn't just earth. Dominating the supposedly nonexistent basement was an immense room labeled, 'MB storage.' "That was the place in the other direction," Kai realized, "But what does MB stand for?"

"Master Builders, no… Microbarograph?" Lindsey trailed off. "You're probably the only person I know who would know what that is," Kai remarked teasingly, before buckling down to think for a moment.

Then it dawned on him: "Monsterbots!"

Her face lit up. "Yeah! But why would they be—" she stopped as the picture zoomed in. A photograph appeared in the top right corner, presumably of the inside of the storage room. Kai was right: it harbored hundreds—no, thousands—of monsterbots.

"The big Kahuna," he said gravely. "But the only thing that would need that many reinforcements is—"

"An invasion party?" Lindsey suggested, cutting him off.

"Why would you say that?"

She pointed wordlessly at the screen. Now, instead of the previous picture, it had two finely detailed three-dimensional maps. One was of Earth. And the other was of Ninjago.

(~&&&~)

"We've gotta get out of here," Lindsey muttered in agitation.

"Load it all onto your laptop," suggested Kai, "We might need it. No, I take that back. We will definitely need it."

She nodded and began trying to connect her laptop and the machine. After a few minutes, the voice announced, "Transferring files." She grinned and got to her feet.

"Lindsey," Kai beckoned from across the room.

"Hang on…"

"Lindsey! Come here!" he repeated. "What?" she retorted brusquely, with a meaningful glance at her work. "I found something." "And what would that be?" she raised an eyebrow. "A door." "I can see that!"

Kai rolled his eyes, seeing through the projected disinterest to the curiosity that his discovery had piqued. "Can you open it?"

She nodded and picked up her laptop. As she got closer, she eyed the door with visible apprehension. "Kai, we should really go. I don't feel good about this."

"Just this one door!"

She shook her head. "There is something off about that door."

"How do you know?"

"Trust me! I've got a gut feeling about this."

"One door," he urged, "Then we're outta here." She hesitated, then reluctantly entered the same code as last time: 372466. Unsurprisingly, it worked.

As they walked inside the dark room, Lindsey hung back slightly. "Something's not right about this place. Please, Kai, let's go!"

"Hold on," he placated, "This place is a gold mine! Look at this stuff!" He fingered a small-scale replica of a monsterbot. "This is almost as cool as out there!"

"It's two o'clock," she mumbled warningly. He looked back to see sincere worry in her eyes, and relented, with a sigh, "Okay, we can go." Relieved, Lindsey darted for the door, then skidded to a stop. "Did you hear that?"

"What?"

There it was again—a faint noise coming from the far end of the room. "That!" She stepped cautiously towards the sound.

Kai grabbed her shoulder. "Let me go first," he warned. They both listened apprehensively, but no additional resonance was heard. The farther they got, the darker it got, and Kai flicked on the flashlight, the small beam glimmering bravely in the shadowy room. At the end of the space was an enormous window, framing the dark, moonless sky. An antediluvian desk rested in front of it.

All of a sudden, the flashlight flickered and died, leaving them predominately blind. Lightning flashed, and Lindsey jumped, not only because of the abrupt luminosity, but also because of what it illuminated: someone besides her and Kai were in the room.

"H-hello?" she ventured nervously, before Kai could stop her. Another burst of light showed a woman standing at the desk, with her back to them.

Her dark wavy hair rippled down her back like a sinuous chestnut waterfall, and she wore a long scarlet dress with a ravishing black sash and gold lace along the bottom. When she spoke, her voice commanded power; her smooth, unplacable accent only heightened the effect. Though only two words, it filled them with an awful sense of foreboding.

"Hello, ninja."

Hey hoped you liked the chapter! If you want to tell me what you think, you know where to go, right? Ptyl!