Okay, 'tis official: updates every Thursday. If an update doesn't happen, please do what the Dragons do to Jay in this Chapter... heheh no please don't.

Enjoy!

Lloyd paced back and forth the deck of the Bounty, hands clasped behind his back. His hair was a mess. His gi was singed. His face was covered with grime and soot. He didn't care one bit. All he felt was guilt. Consuming, flaming, guilt. Night had fallen, and P.I.X.A.L had turned the ship back towards Ninjago City to find Kai and Cole, who had been breaking into Ninjago General to find their location. But P.I.X.A.L and Dad and Sensei came for us anyway, without waiting. And look where it got us.

The Green Ninja was burning with shame. His hands were shaking, clenched into fists. He should have insisted that they go back, insisted that P.I.X.A.L was wrong, that she didn't understand, that Zane would have wanted to go back, pull whatever card out that would force her to turn the Destiny's Bounty around to get Jay back from the Dragons. He didn't care that they were keeping him alive; they were probably doing something terrible to him just the same.

Jay would come back to save me. He has come back to save me; all of the Ninja have. And when he needed us the most – we screwed up. Well, he couldn't blame himself entirely. Wu and P.I.X.A.L had agreed that Nya's condition was worse.

Nya would want to go back! He wanted to scream. He had wanted to avoid the whole love-machine thing, and he'd been pretty good at that. But he did know that Jay was head-over-heels in love with Nya, and she was as well. She was just better at concealing her feelings that the Lightning Ninja. The Samurai would want to turn around and rescue him. Even if she had gone with Cole, she still would have.

Finally, after nearly fifteen minutes of remorseful reflection, he decided it would be best to go check up on Nya, who had been placed in the small medical cabin that they'd built in when the Bounty had been rebuilt. Lloyd headed belowdecks, his arms crossed.

The medical bay was next to the Ninja's room, one of the biggest cabins on board. There were three medical droids stationed inside, plus six beds for patients to sleep on. Nya had been set on the one farthest from the door, and a doctor droid had immediately hooked her up to an artificial breathing system; the smoke had been very, very bad, he had said. Now the doc was up against a wall, its eyes dim as it recharged, ready to jump into action at a seconds notice.

Lloyd sat down on the bed next to Nya's, dejectedly. Besides the transparent breathing mask hooked up by two long cords to a giant white machine in the corner of the room that was attached to her face, the girl looked as if she was peacefully sleeping, curled up near the front of the bed. The Green Ninja sighed as he watched the mask get foggy as she exhaled, then clear up a little as she inhaled. Every so often, small wisps of black were released as she breathed out, then were sucked into one of the two cords.

After a few minutes, Lloyd spoke. "I'm sorry we didn't get Jay back," he murmured softly, half-hoping that she would hear him. "I'm sorry our entire rescue mission... failed." The crash. That nurse dying. The captain dying. Us nearly dying. That was all for nothing, he thought, closing his eyes. Their mission had been to find Jay and get him out of whatever predicament he was in, and finally when they'd come so close, they'd botched their chances. Jay was far away now, and the next time they got a chance would be... not for a while.

When the Dragons had cut the ropes that were holding Jay to the stretcher and walked him away from his cell, he'd been excited. Elated. He had lost track of the time while he'd been imprisoned, but it had felt like eternity. He thought they were letting him go, letting him walk around, something decent.

And then... Jay could barely think through the pain. The whip cracked on his bare back, sending excruciating shock through his entire body. They had taken him to the lower levels of the ship, ripped off the top of his gi, and strung him up on some rack thing, which held him uncomfortably in leather shackles by the wrists and ankles. And then they started whipping him. He didn't know why; all he knew was that whatever whip they were using was – what was the word that Sensei Garmadon had once said that one time? Negating, yeah, negating his power. He had tried breaking free, or shocking his torturer by shooting lightning from his fingers. The Dragon had just laughed at his attempts to stop him, and slapped the cord across his hands. Then he'd spun the rack around and began hitting his bare back over and over and over again.

The whip was scary. After a blow landed (as if the pain from just the hit wasn't enough) it left an electrical shock that sent pain everywhere for a few seconds, overwhelming his nervous system. Usually he would be able to take a shock in stride, being the Ninja of Lightning, but because it stopped his power, he couldn't. He realized that he was experiencing electricity like a normal human. Or even one of the other Ninja. This was agony. He suddenly felt bad for every single enemy he'd ever used electricity against.
"Feel that, graag nül?" the Dragon taunted, striking his shoulder-blades. Jay gasped with the pain and instinctively tried to move away. He couldn't. His torturer cackled and hit him again, this time in his lower back. "You know why we're doin' this?"

"Nuh... no," Jay said, his voice barely above a whisper. The whip struck again.

"It was a rhetorical question!" the torturer snapped, cracking the whip. "But I s'pose you'll get an answer anyway." Jay groaned. He didn't care why they were doing this to him; he just wanted it to be over already. How... how long have I been here? He thought, closing his eyes. When are they coming to rescue me? He hoped that Nya and Lloyd and Kai and Sensei got to him soon. He didn't think he'd last long if they didn't. Well, Cole excluded. He'd be annoyed if it was his rival who -

"'Cause your friends came and attacked our ship!" the Dragon roared, beginning a relentless attack. Jay let out a screamed, then clamped his jaw shut. He started breathing harder, tears flowing because of all the pain. He thought he could feel blood start to ooze from one of the wounds, but he couldn't be sure. One of the blows curled around to the front of his torso, hitting his ribcage. His old wounds began acting up, adding to the onslaught of torment. "And they got away."

"What?" he yelled aloud, earning another few strikes. The dragon laughed.

"They abandoned you, graag nül," he hissed. "They got your other friends, the green one and the girl, and left."

They wouldn't, he thought, more tears rolling down his cheeks, not just from the pain now. They dropped to the floor quietly, unheard. They – they would come for me! Was that all the commotion on deck a few hours ago? Lloyd and Nya fighting? Then escaping? Leaving him behind to a terrible fate.

"You're lucky that my superiors want you alive!" the torturer laughed. "Or this is where you'd die."

Jay lowered his head, gasping for breath. The agony was overwhelming. I can't believe it... no, he's lying, he has to be lying... Then he closed his eyes, the Dragon still whipping him, laughing, and dropped into unconsciousness.

Where do they get all these Dragons from? Kai wondered, running across the rooftop of a parking garage, Cole keeping up beside him. They leaped in unison onto the roof of an apartment complex, always keeping at least a building's distance away from the squadron of Dragons following them. They'd killed or incapacitated a good number of the enemies while in the lobby, but almost fifteen were following them now. They'd come out of nowhere.

After finding out where they'd Jay, Nya, and Lloyd had fallen, they had tried to be stealthy about sneaking out. That had been a bust. So now they were trying to run back to the Temple of Fortitude to contact Sensei and catch a ride on the Bounty. Why he wasn't standing by like he said he was, was beyond Kai; he didn't care much either.

"We're making good time!" Cole said as they leaped the gap between two buildings.

"Yeah!" Kai said, running out of breath. He inhaled before continuing, not breaking his run. "The Temple is just maybe twenty minutes away!"

"We could be deep-fried meat by then," Cole warned as they jumped again.

"Broiled meat. They aren't cooking us in oil."

"Then it's roasting, not broiling," Cole corrected. "Get your cooking terms right."

"At least I can cook. You just know the words."

"At least I know something, Fire Dork."

Kai scowled. As they jumped and landed on the roof of some noodle shop, he shoved Cole to the left, making the Earth Ninja stumble before resuming his run, behind Kai. "Last one to the Temple's a rotten Ninja!"

"Oh, you are on!" Cole said, sprinting faster.

Kai's estimate of time had been wrong. Twenty-six minutes and thirty seven seconds later, Cole jumped ahead of him from the ledge of a mechanic's shop, landed in a crouch on the lawn of the Temple, ran to the entrance, and dashed up the stairs. Kai grimaced as he followed. "I guess I'm a rotten Ninja, then," he muttered.

The Temple of Fortitude had been definitely changed since they'd fought the Overlord. The inside had been converted into a large command center, a ten-meter wide half-circle of control panels, computers, and communication arrays. As soon as the two Ninja entered, they each ran to a different command console and began trying to raise the Destiny's Bounty on the comlink channel.

"P.I.X.A.L, please come in! P.I.X.A.L, respond!" Cole said into a camera on his computer.

"Sensei, we need you here now! Repeat, we need you here at the Temple now!" Kai yelled frantically. Static crackled on both of the lines. Cole and Kai glanced at each other, shaking their heads. If we don't reach them now, we're dead, Kai thought. "Try the long-range comlink," he suggested. The Earth Ninja nodded and ran to the back of the large open room, where a giant comlink system had been set up for emergencies. There wasn't any security guarding the calls made from it, so if someone was listening, the signal could be traced back to the Temple. It was for only dire situations, but Kai was sure that this little problem was rather dire.

"I'll call them. If the Dragons get in, just hold them off until I make contact, okay!" Cole said as he knelt down to start activating the transmitter. Kai nodded, then glanced at one of the monitors hanging from the ceiling. They displayed the area around the Temple, and one of them was showing something not good: the squadron of Dragons was approaching, and they seemed to have reinforcements.

"Uh, hurry this up, Cole! They're coming!"

"This'll take a few minutes, Kai! Just hold them back!"

Biting his lower lip, Kai ran to the doors and locked them, then did the same with any windows. He pulled the shades. Activated the automatic defense systems. Opened up the secure comlink to the Bounty, just in case they responded. Then he got ready to fight.

"Open up! Open up!" came the loud, raspy roar a few minutes later. Kai, who was sitting in a swivel chair, his feet up on the console drinking some of Sensei's herbal tea with a shaking hand, jumped to his feet, dropping the cup to the ground. Oh, no. They're here. He turned around to face Cole.

"Have you reached them yet!" he demanded. Cole didn't look up.

"This takes a little while to set up if it hasn't been used for a while. Just hold on for a few more minutes. Buy me as much time as you can!"

"Ugh, fine," Kai grumbled as he got jumped over the semi-circle of computers to stand several feet away from the doors in a simple battle stance; his feet apart, his arms hanging at his sides, fists flaming. He scowled as they banged on the door once more.

"Open this up! Now!" the voice said again. Kai didn't answer it. Then he heard, "Bust open this door!" A few sickening seconds later, the sound of several large bodies slamming against the doors echoed around the room, and probably around the surrounding buildings.

It was a minute later before anything happened. The bulky shoulder plate of a warrior bust through the door, sending splinters everywhere. Kai gulped. The door was soon covered in holes, from very angry dragons. Snouts were poking in, and he could see the gleaming of several eyes. Clenching his teeth, Kai shot his first bursts of fire at the Dragons, forcing them all back with yips and snarls...

Aaaaaaaand he realized what a big mistake that was. The fire struck some Dragons, yes, but it also caught the wooden door on fire. The wooden door. Timber began falling to the ground, opening up the doorway. A minute or so later, the door was ablaze, falling apart before Kai's eyes.

"I'm an idiot. A big, stupid, Overlord-cursed, idiot," he said to himself.

"What are you doing?" Cole yelled from across the room. "You're supposed to be keep them out, not let them in!"

"I know, I know!" he snapped in reply. "I – I know what I'm doing! Have you got a hold of them yet?"

"In a few seconds..." Kai glanced back at Cole; the Earth Ninja plugged in a set of headphones into the machine and pulled the speakers over his ears. Ten seconds. Fifteen seconds. Twenty seconds...

"Got it!"

Kai sighed with relief, then turned back to his own problems: the approaching dragons. Apparently they weren't as afraid of fire as he thought. They were pushing against the remains of the flaming door, shoving the wooden beams over.

The door finally fell apart under the strain, and the first two dragons jumped in, snarling. Before Kai could react, they opened their mouths and spewed fire. He yelped, and instead of standing to fight, he ran to the left, the flames in his fist extinguishing.

"What am I doing?" he muttered aloud, then stood up and shot at the dragons from the side. His flames seemed to be absorbed by his armor. They glanced at him, and fired again. He ran to the left, allowing the corner of the Temple to start flaming. Oh no. He had to stop their fire, not just run from it. Otherwise, they'd probably have the building collapsing around them in a few minutes. He shot more flames.

"Cole! What are they saying?" he asked nervously. He turned back to the Dragon vanguard attacking him. They were average height, but dressed in heavy steel armor. Both of them were carrying short swords. And they were advancing towards him, quickly. He raised his fists. My fire isn't affecting them! Their scales must be resistant! Or, at least their armor. One of the enemies laughed.

"Fire Ninja. The most useless of all of 'em," it sneered before raising the sword clamped in its right fist to come down with a strong downwards blow. Grunting, Kai punched him in its protruding jaw, sending it a few steps back. It snarled, then punched him all the way back into the right wall. His head banged against the wood. Kai groaned. There would be a bruise there soon.

"This one's got a little fight," the other Dragon huffed, then stopped and turned around. "Burn this place to the grou – " Cole jumped in from nowhere, drop-kicking the dragon to the ground. It writhed in pain for a second, then stilled, completely out. Then he rammed his fist into the stomach plate of the other Dragon, who had turned and stared in shock at the Ninja. It crumpled, completely winded. Kai stood up in a daze.

"Wha... where are they?"

Cole scowed. "They went looking for them without us. There's no time to explain, just follow me. The Bounty's a few blocks away. Borg is locking down the city, so the fighting is just over here. We need to go, now." Nodding, Kai stood up, staring bleakly at the crowd of Dragons swarming the command center. They were too distracted by the task of burning everything down to really notice them.

"How do we get to the door?" the Fire Ninja asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "There are too many of 'em over there."

The scowl on Cole's face turned to a smile. He raised his fist. "We don't need a door." Kai backed away, eyes widening. Then Cole punched through the wall, opening up a person-sized hole in the wall. "Come on!" He jumped through, Kai following. They ran across the grass, over the sidewalk, and into the darkened city, turning down a few streets before the Temple was out of sight. Cole stopped and glanced around. Kai did as well; they were on Sakura Avenue.

"Where'd they say the Bounty was waiting?" he asked the Earth Ninja.

"They said that they were on Cyrus Street... There they are!" Cole pointed upwards, excitement evident in his voice for the first time in a while. Kai followed his friend's finger to where it was pointing, and almost started jumping around, screaming for joy. Almost.

It was the Destiny's Bounty, holding position a little way down the wide, empty street. It's anchor was down, probably only a few inches above the ground. In an instant, the two companions started running. No racing, no competition, just pure relief.

This time, Kai reached their destination first. He jumped onto the giant anchor, then began climbing up the chain. Cole follow. "Hey, guys! We're here!" he called up to the deck. "Guys?" He reached the top and flipped onto the level wooden surface. He scanned the area, and grinned when he saw the Green Ninja standing in the middle of the deck, arms crossed. His face was covered with dirt, as well as his pale hair. He was grinning, almost ruefully. Kai didn't take much notice of it; he just threw his arms around his friend, sighing. "Hey, kid," he said, eventually releasing his green-clad friend. Lloyd smiled.

"Hey. Cole!" he said, sharing a fist-bump with the Earth Ninja. He then stood a little behind Kai.

"It's been almost a day since we last saw you," Kai said "Boy, you have no idea what we just had to..." His voice trailed away. After greeting his friends, Lloyd's face had gone from a big grin to a serious frown. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, uh, you'll find out," he replied. "Come on, let's just get you to our quarters. You guys look like you could do with some rest."

"Yeah," Cole said as Lloyd led them belowdecks in silence. Something is seriously wrong, Kai thought, frowning as he walked down the short flight of stairs. Despite growing up and facing almost two years of combat alongside the Ninja, Lloyd still had a little boyishness in him; he usually greeted his friends with the same enthusiasm as the little punk who'd tried to rescue them from the Serpentine tomb, when they'd been trying to steal three of the Fang Blades. This time, he was completely stoic.

Lloyd opened the door to their room, and the two Ninja pushed their way in with a drowsy 'thanks' to the Green Ninja. Kai fell onto his bunk, closing his eyes. He didn't even bother to change into anything else. Whatever was wrong, he was home.

Troubles could wait until morning.

Torture. Fun to write, maybe fun to read, certainly terrible to go through.

I'm beginning to hate writing from Kai's POV. I can't do it. Lloyd's is fun, though.

Please review! Favorite! Follow! Mostly review. I love seeing what you guys say.