Happy Friday! This chapter is pretty filler and I'm exhausted from writing it.

Chapter Eleven: Regrouping

Blinding light disoriented him for a brief moment.

As the seconds ticked on, his vision began to adjust accordingly; the dulling colors of the room around him and a few faces that seemed relieved. "We are back at the apartment?" the nindroid asked slowly, pushing himself up into a sitting position. The hinged door to his chest panel squeaked in protest to the movement and he watched Jay frown before leaving to go rummage through a cabinet in the corner of the room. Still confused, Zane glanced around, drumming his fingers on the wooden table he had been lying on. He felt okay; nothing immediately caught his attention as being damaged. "Where is everyone else? Did we manage to defeat the Serpentine? How is the girl?"

"Whoa, calm down, Frosty," the Ninja of Earth remarked, his amber irises locked on his brother. Zane's expression almost seemed to be one of anguish. "Relax for just a second, alright? Everything is fine." Jay returned as suddenly as he had left, a small can of oil clutched tightly in a gloved hand. Gently, he used the spout to direct the oil on to the squeaky hinges and gave a small chuckle when the hatch closed silently, shrouding the nindroid's inner mechanisms from sight. "Jay checked you over, found nothing wrong, got a second opinion from Nya, and now you're awake. You feel okay, right Zane?"

His dark blue eyes scanned around the room once more before he answered. "I feel fine, brother," Zane smiled innocently, pushing himself off of the table completely and walking around the room. Balance and motor functions seemed to be operating effectively. Blinking purposefully, the white ninja let out a sigh of relief when he connected with his falcon, seeing the sprawling view of the city from the bird's perspective. Turning off his falcon vision for the moment, Zane just gave a curt nod. "Yes, I am fine."

"Good, because when you got zapped, it looked like it hurt you pretty bad," the blue ninja replied, leaning back against the table and crossing his arms. "I was pretty sure you were fine, kind of checking through your systems and stuff, but I'm just happy to know that I was actually right." He gave a small chuckle and averted his gaze to the floor. If something had been wrong with Zane after he had continuously been telling everyone that the nindroid was fine, he would have never forgiven himself. "Glad you're finally up though because it's been really quiet with just me and Cole."

The black ninja rolled his eyes slightly. "Nothing is ever quiet when you're here, Jay," he laughed slightly under his breath. Ever since they had brought Zane back from the Auto Body Shop, Jay had been pacing around nervously and babbling. So, I said he was okay and now Nya said he's okay. You think he's okay too, right Cole? He'll be fine right? I mean, Lloyd is the green ninja and he's got all of his elemental powers. We don't. You don't think he could have damaged him, do you? Laughing again, Cole pushed Jay's ramblings to the back of his mind. "Yeah, it's been pretty quiet. Nya should be coming home soon and Sensei has been at the dojo for the past two hours or so," he sighed, shooting the nindroid a tired look. "Other than that, we're just waiting for Kai to get back with the Half-Pint."

Zane's body seemingly tensed up, his neutral expression now one of deep concern. "Lloyd is not at the dojo with Kai and Sensei?" he inquired urgently. His brothers only shook their heads in response to his question. "I do not understand. If Kai is out looking for Lloyd, then where are they? What happened after I shut down?"

Ready to recall the story, Cole opened his mouth, but Jay waved him aside. The glint in his hazel eyes was bright. "I'll give you the long story short: Lloyd ran off to try and find the Hypnobrai anti-venom because the Serpentine fled from the fight and Kai went after him." His eyebrows furrowed in sudden realization. "You know what, that wasn't really too long of a story to begin with anyways. Huh…who knew." The Ninja of Ice still seemed to be processing the story. "Don't worry too much. Kai took Lloyd's sister with him. He'll find Lloyd, they'll give her the anti-venom and be back lickity-split."

"Lloyd's sister?" Well this was news to him. He felt the young boy was extremely lucky to have so many relatives that always seemed to be coming into his life. Heaviness weighed down upon his heart and he was wondering if wires within his chest had become crossed or something. Opening up his chest, the nindroid glanced around briefly before sighing and concealing his inner workings once more. No, there was nothing wrong. It was just a pang of sadness. He missed his father. "Why could Lloyd not wait until I regained consciousness? I have a recording of the Sacred Flute still saved on my hard drive. He should have been aware of that." Cole rubbed his head tiredly and Zane nodded. "I see. You attempted to explain it to him, but he was impatient. It seems Lloyd has hopped over the bullet in this scenario."

A strangled laugh came from across the room as the Ninja of Lightning tried to compose himself. "It's 'jumped the gun', Zane," Jay wheezed, feeling his knees almost weaken from the bought of laughter. "He just wanted to help his sister out as quickly as possible. I can't say it was the smartest thing to do, but he did it anyways. You should have seen him too! He just snuck away when we weren't really looking." Stealthy skills he no doubt picked up from someone else they knew. "Lloyd was there and then 'poof' he was gone."

Shaking his head solemnly, Zane only frowned. "It was still unwise of him to be so impulsive." His mind whirled as he was taking everything in, the gears literally turning. So the mysterious girl they had found was actually Lloyd's sister. Why would she suddenly just turn up out of nowhere? Now Lloyd was gone and Kai along with him. "You said that Kai had decided to follow Lloyd and bring him back. How long have they been gone?"

Feeling a sudden cold almost engulf him, the black ninja took a few seconds to really think about it. "It's been hours," he replied softly, focus bouncing between both of his brothers. Ouroboros was not so far out in the desert that it would take this long for Kai to be back with both of the Garmadon kids. It was almost early morning now. The sun would be rising fairly soon. Something must have happened. "I don't like what Zane might be thinking, but he's probably right. Kai and Lloyd have been gone way too long. They should have been back by now."

The door to the apartment opened suddenly, causing Jay to jump while the other ninja immediately positioned themselves to attack if needed. Sensei Wu entered the room and gave a deep sigh. "Zane is finally up and moving again I see," the elderly man said with a smile. The nindroid scrutinized his master, feeling as if something was off. Something was wrong. "Kai has not returned with my nephew and niece yet?" This time, Wu's tone was very dismal and his grey eyes seemed to fall as his students supplied him with an answer he did not want. "It is as I feared then. While mediating with the Spirit Smoke I saw images of a struggle at Ouroboros. I was hoping that these were visions of a past event that had occurred, but everyone had made it back to the apartment safely."

"Are you saying Kai and Lloyd are in serious trouble?" Cole breathed, immediately spinning into his uniform. He should have been assertive when Kai said he was going to try and do this on his own. He should have just gone with him to be on the safe side. "We need to head out now then so we can help them!" The adrenaline was already coursing through his body, making him feel a little jumpy. "Who knows what the Serpentine will do to them!"

Before anyone else could say another word, the door to the apartment opened once more. Nya poked her head around the corner of the door frame, her chocolate eyes full of worry. "Jay, can you help me, please?" she stressed, her voice wavering on the edge of tears. Without hesitating, the blue ninja bounded over to the samurai, following her closely. There was a small gasp followed by incoherent whispering as the two appeared in the doorway, carrying someone between them.

Kai gave a weak smile.

"Brother!" Zane and Cole rushed their friend as he was lead further into the apartment. His breathing was labored and there was the slight shadow of bruising along his left jaw line. "You are injured, Kai. What happened to you?" The nindroid listened as Kai still tried to catch his breath and gestured for them to move towards the table. Nya nodded her head and carefully brought her brother towards a chair with Jay's help. "Please, tell us what happened. Why have you not returned with Lloyd and his sister?"

"I barely made it out of Ouroboros myself," the Ninja of Fire huffed, slumping down in the wooden chair and exhaling deeply. He had run almost the entire way back to the city and he was now starting to realize how tired he felt. "Laurie and I were in the desert and she attacked me. Skales brought me to Ouroboros and I found Lloyd, tried to help him escape with Laurie while I fended off the Serpentine." Every eye in the room was trained solely on him as he continued on. "I saw Fangtom though, he had Lloyd and I…I think he bit him. It all happened so quickly, but I knew I needed help."

Sensei Wu banged his staff on the floor, catching his students' attention. "Troubling times are upon us," he stated sadly. Kai was glancing up at him with apologetic eyes, but the elderly man just gave the ninja a reassuring smile, resting a hand lightly on his shoulder. "Not everything always goes according to plan. This is a prime example of that. However, you must go back to Ouroboros and save my nephew. If he truly has been bitten by a Fangpyre, time is of the essence."

A hard cough racked his body as he opened his eyes. The absolute darkness of the desert was beginning to lighten steadily. Lloyd groaned, noticing a dull ache accompanying every small movement he made. Rolling over on to his side, the young boy saw his sister resting beside him. The ominous bars of their prison were painstakingly obvious in the fading torchlight. "Laurie…" the green ninja moaned, watching the girl drift in and out of focus. Blinking hard, Lloyd managed to clear his vision. She had attacked him when he was trying to help Kai. "Sis, can you hear me?"

Her silence was answer enough and Lloyd flipped himself on to his back, staring up at the night sky and sighing deeply. It had failed. Kai's plan had failed and they were still stuck here. Maybe they could have gotten away if Laurie had not stopped him. It was all her fault. Trying to reserve the blame from falling on his sister, the green ninja blinked away the stinging sensation of tears. He was feeling extremely sick, almost nauseous. There was a slight burning sensation on the right side of his neck and, without thinking too much about it, Lloyd rolled over on his left side, facing away from Laurie. The hard, metal floor of his cage was colder than he remembered it and he shivered slightly, teeth clattering together for a few seconds. Lloyd's tired eyes scanned the areas in front of him, mostly focused on where Kai had been tied up. He was not there though. Had Kai abandoned them in Ouroboros? Sniffing, Lloyd wiped his forearm across his face, feeling a few tears absorb into the material of his gi.

I'll get us out of this, Lloyd. You don't have to worry about it.

It was obvious that Kai was no longer here though. Everything seemed to become less hopeful as the seconds ticked by. Feeling a new wave of nausea overwhelm him, the young boy closed his eyes tightly and just breathed, focusing on the sound of the torches around him, steadily burning down. Eventually, after what felt like hours, Lloyd fell back into unconsciousness.

It's so late as I'm writing this now. If you spot any grammar/spelling mess-ups please let me know. I have final exams last week, so no update next week. Next update will be May 2nd. Sorry.

Thanks for reading! :)