I really have nothing else to say, except... ALL OF MY ORIGINAL REVIEWERS LEFT ME! :/ Nah, jk. I just choose the wrong day to upload, heh. Everybody's usually busy on Easter. :)

Review Replies:

Jens: You will absolutely hate Zane by the end of this book. Definitely. But the ending's a long ways away, I'm sure. And yes, O'Neil still does. And tell Glacier that I'm working on his request. It's in the works, but still not finished yet. And thank you! I'm now another year older! Hooray... Not really. The other day I forgot I had even aged at all. :P

TheAmberShadow: There may be a few hints about her scattered throughout this chapter, but nothing solid. And thank you! (Check my profile. I added it at the end, but only for a limited time, obviously for quite understandable reasons.) :P

Rosa: Aw, now don't feel like that! Your story's good! If you checked I did review, but I was just a little busy so I couldn't straightaway. And I'm sorry you feel like this. The most important thing is to not get discouraged. That just causes writer's block. :/

S3: Yep. Pretty much my reaction after writing this. Except I'd probably smack him with a clipboard, as well as Rosa. ;)

NinjagoMLP77: Unfortunately, that might not be the case. But the Overlord does have a severe case of the crazies, that's for sure. ;}

Vixen: Yep. Totally. ;)

Guys, again, I appreciate all of the support. It really means a lot to me. Keep it up. :)

Here the green ninja stood, banging his fists against the thick, reinforced glass with all his might, but to no prevail did it give way the slightest. Helpless pleas, heard by his enemies, unheard by his friends. Where were they? Did they even realize he was gone? Lloyd hated himself for it, but he was starting to develop doubts, doubts that were so far-fetched he was starting to believe them. And he wasn't even sure he could trust his "father" anymore, depending if he was actually who he seemed to be. The green ninja felt like a useless pawn, everybody pushing and throwing him around like an old, worn rag doll. To take his mind off these despairing speculations, he instead prepared to land a kick against the glass, but fell short when Ashlynn stuck her head in the doorway. She glanced around the room, eyes traveling to the master of ice leaning against the left wall, before meeting the green ninja's gaze. Somehow, she relayed Lloyd a message, a shocking one at that, and he was somehow able to hear it... in his head...

'I know about the memory elixir you consumed... I can read your thoughts...'

'Wait, you can?'

Ashlynn nodded from her position at the doorway. 'Yes. I am the mistress of telepathy. I see all, know all. Or I read all, know all. Whatever one you prefer. And have you been having strange dreams? That's one of the only things I can't affect or access with my powers. Sure, I could be the cause of a nightmare, but not intentionally. Those are the limits of my powers.'

The master of energy was unsure if he could trust her, resuming in his barrage against the glass in order to remain indifferent. Zane couldn't know he was communicating with another ally of darkness. Wait, why was she talking to him? A favor of Jade's?

'Hello? You gonna answer me? We don't have all day if you can't tell. The Overlord will be here soon, and if he senses my powers in action...' Her impatient sapphire eyes were bloodshot and wild, giving her a sort of psychotic appearance. A fitting look.

Biting his lip, Lloyd swung another his fist at the tank wall, perspiration beginning to drip from his brow. 'Yes... Nightmares every night. And a memory elixir? I have no recollection of-' Suddenly, the green ninja froze, a realization forcing the air from his lungs. My father... That tea I drank... H-He put something in it! No wonder it tasted different!

'You're just realizing this? Really? And yes, the dreams do have meaning to them. Name the latest one you've had. I want to know what you're experiencing.' Ashlynn demanded, eyes still possessing the same crazed look.

The blonde had to ponder that for a moment. 'Well, for starters, it was on the Dark Island.'

'Go on,' she urged, waving her hand.

'It was of the first battle between good and evil. I saw O'Neil chasing after the First Spinjitzu Master, who was carrying a child. But I tripped and lost them, running into a woman with a child named Morro, or something like that.' Lloyd explained, surprised by how vividly he remembered the dream.

'Interesting... Also, do you know that wherever you've had a dream, you've already been before in some timeline? And the people in them. Haven't you ever heard that anyone you see in a dream you've seen before in real life? Why else would they all be on the Dark Island?'

Lloyd stopped punching the glass once more, but only to pull his hand back with a hiss. Perhaps trying to escape this way wasn't the best idea. 'Wait, how did you know they were all on the Dark Island?'

'Lucky guess,' Ashlynn answered without missing a beat. All of a sudden, she fell silent, peering over her shoulder at the hallway beyond. Seeing that nobody was behind her, she began, voice... hesitant. 'Um, well... I don't know how else to explain this, so here it goes: I'm O'Neil's daughter, and I once took the memory elixir to see what would happen to me. Turns out, it just made me hate him even more.'

The blonde teenager nodded, processing her confession. When it finally clicked in his brain, his eyes grew round.

'What? Do you think I'm your sister or something? Even if I was it wouldn't be fully.'

'W-What do you mean?'

'If you know of Pazan, she is that child's mother, whoever they may be, but not my mother. My father murdered my mother in cold blood,' Her eyes shook with an inimitable intensity. 'One day, he lost control of his body while they were in an argument, and by the time he finally came to his senses, he was covered in her blood. I witnessed the whole damn thing, but I couldn't do anything to stop it because I was just a weak, pathetic child. I was scared of what he might do to me if I intervened, so I just stood from the sidelines, watching, but not doing a single thing.' The mistress of telepathy spoke frankly, as if she was talking about a meal she ate for breakfast. 'And yes, I am implying that I'm immortal. Big shocker.' The mistress of telepathy rolled her eyes.

Deluged with questions, Lloyd randomly picked one to ask. 'So O'Neil was in a relationship with a another woman before Pazan?'

'Yes, if you'd even call it that. He sure didn't act like he loved my mother. His heart always belonged to Pazan, ever since the beginning. The child he had with her is the only one he actually cares about.'

'Oh...' Awkwardly, the green ninja scuffed his feet against the tank floor, unable to come up with a better response.

'It's fine.' Ashlynn reassured, casually propping herself against the doorframe with an elbow. 'But would it be that crazy to assume that you're the missing son? I think it's plausible.' With that final remark, she pivoted around, vanishing into the hallway.

Lloyd could only stare at where she was just standing in disbelief. Am I the missing son? Or is Ashlynn just trying to fool me? But the blonde didn't have time to ponder that, for a familiar, bone-chilling voice infiltrated his ears:

"Now who's ready to get their power drained?"

NinjaChief547

"Hello ninja! It is so nice to finally see you again!" The head of Borg Industries greeted the four teenagers, rolling his wheelchair through the sliding doors that were being held open by factory personnel.

"Hi Cyrus!" The blue ninja exclaimed, flying up the steps to his idol's side.

Nya rolled her eyes, before eventually joining Jay at the top of the cement stairs after Kai and Cole.

"Hey Borg. Sorry we didn't notify you of our meeting sooner. We had no cellular service." The red ninja explained, stepping forward. "But I don't trust anywhere in this city anymore, so I think we should head inside before we discuss further matters."

Slowly, Borg nodded, as if coming to terms with the brunette's words, before wheeling out of the doorway and ushering the four in. "Come in then. Quickly, quickly. If it's as urgent as you said over the line, then I suggest we head to my private meeting room. That's one of the only rooms there aren't any surveillance."

Once all the ninja were inside the building, Borg beckoned for his workers to close the doors, before sending them off to do other labor. After that was dealt with, he led the ninja into his lower floor office, having Cole bolt the door shut.

"So we came here to-"

"Shh!" The inventor shushed, an index finger held to his lips. "I still feel unsafe, even in this office. And this office doesn't even have any cameras. Luckily, for more privacy, I had another elevator installed in order to reach the lower floors."

"Lower floors?" The Samurai asked, an eyebrow arched.

"Yes. Now let me think of that darn code I used to access it." Borg glided over to a cluttered desktop, sifting through a stack of papers.

"Wait, you still use paper?" Jay spoke up, receiving a glare from Nya, who also gave him a "zip-the-lips" gesture. Borg could be scatter-brained at times, and he didn't need another distraction from the lightning master.

"Of course. Blueprints, the confidential forms for this building, bills, other important things that aren't issued online... There's always a need for paper. And about those no-service troubles Kai mentioned, I need to deal with that ASAP. Everyone in Ninjago should be provided with cellular service..." he mused, tongue poking out in concentration.

"You're still searching for the code, right?" Cole exchanged glances with his teammates, before looking back to Borg for his input.

"Yes. And... here it is!" Cyrus raised a tiny slip of paper, waving it above his head. "Now we can head to the true ground floor." He cruised over to the middle of the back wall, first taking down a picture of him and his first robot creation, P.I.X.A.L. Underneath was a standardized hand scanner, one of which the inventor placed his left hand against. While scanning his palm the scanner emanated a soft blue glow, first traveling from the bottom of his hand to his finger tips, then back down. After the scanner finished its job, the blue light dimmed, a mechanism activated behind the wall. The clanking of metal and gears whirring could be heard as the wall parted, revealing yet another doorway with a panel of digits in the center. Next, Borg typed in the code he had found with lightning-fast precision, hitting the 'enter' key once done entering the numerical pattern. With more sounds of steel grating against steel, the door opened, unveiling the same secret elevator Cyrus had spoken so highly of.

"Whoa..." The earth master whistled, hands on his hips. "Nifty."

"I'd say so." Nya agreed with him, but Jay didn't seem to notice, as he was in the process of hurtling toward the contraption.

"That's so Cool!"

"Quiet!" The inventor snapped. "Nobody can know of this, understood?" Borg looked to each of the ninja, who each nodded their understanding. "Good. Now we head down. But please, leave your cell phones here. I'm a bit paranoid in that sense."

"How so?" Kai questioned, gazing suspiciously at the disabled man.

"I'll tell you as soon as we arrive down there." Cyrus implied. "The sooner you go, the sooner you find out."

Gradually, the brunette's head bobbed up and down. "Alright then. Let's go team."

NinjaChief547

"Where are we going?" The little girl piped up as the trio snuck around an abandoned tunnel of the dark lord's hidden base, wispy, blonde hair floating behind her.

The mistress of moon cringed at her six-year-old sister's shrill voice, freezing in place. If someone had heard them, they were for sure dead. No questions asked.

After a moment of tense silence and no further noise, Jade gave a resigned sigh, now focusing her attention on the task of keeping her sister quiet. Crouching down in front of the minor, she placed a hand on her shoulder. "Shh, Ana... We're playing hide and seek right now. Nobody can find or hear us."

"Why?" Ana asked, features creasing in confusion.

"Because she said to." Their brother Ess interjected, passing by them from the back of the pack. Halting in front of them, he glanced over his shoulder at the pair. "We don't want the Overlord to overhear us. That'd mean bad news, and possibly death. And I happen to like life, so I'm going to shut up now. If you had a brain, you'd do the same, pee-wee."

Anger flashed in Ana's green eyes. "Hey! I-I'm not a pee-wee!" Her bottom lip quivered, expression wavering somewhere between irate and hurt.

"Guys, quit it!" Jade snapped, standing up. She proceeded to nail her sixteen-year-old brother in the shin, ignoring his objections. "Do you want to get caught?"

Ess snorted. "Don't you mean found? This situation has to be child-friendly you know."

"I'm not a child!" The blonde protested, only to be shushed by her older sister.

"Shut it, smart-aleck." She hissed at her brother, who simply shrugged and continued along down the tunnel.

"Your discipline is only gonna get us caught, Jade!" The redhead called over his shoulder, voice mocking her. "So I'm gonna find my own way outta here! See ya!"

She could only gape at her younger brother, throwing her hands in the air. "Really? You're acting like this now?"

"Your loss." Ess remarked, before finally disappearing around a curve in the tunnel ahead.

Growling, her hand was impulsively drawn to the dagger on her right hip, until Ana swatted it away.

"You said we're not allowed to use weapons on each other!" The little girl folded her arms over her chest, tapping her foot indignantly.

Forcing a fake smile, the mistress of moon placed her hand on her hip instead. "I was only splurging, honey. Nobody can always be faithful."

"What does 'splurging' mean?"

"How about I explain it later. I've got a friend to save. He's been found already, so we're gonna help him find a better hiding spot." Jade explained, taking Ana by a wrist and starting after her brother.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Ana taunted, slowing down the parade as she broke into a fit of giggles. The mistress of moon scowled.

"No. He's a boy that's a friend." She quickly set straight, picking up the pace. "Haven't you had one of those by now? You're like, a little kid. All kids are basically friends."

Ana didn't pay her explanation any heed. "Jade and a boy sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a-"

"Stop!" Jade abruptly spun around, clapping a hand over her little sister's mouth before she could sing the next few lyrics of the rhyme. Lowering herself to the child's eye-level, she spoke evenly, "You are to stay quiet until I say so, understand? Because if you don't, no chocolate for a month." The child's green eyes widened in at this comment, and she nodded vigorously. "Good." The mistress of moon removed her hand from Ana's mouth, standing once again. "Now we move."

And next chapter... *takes deep breath* We move on to Lloyd! Yay! :D And Zane. Boo... :( I don't think anyone honestly cares what happens to evil Zane at this point. Except maybe Pixal does... ;} But we'll just have to wait and see. ;} Until then, NinjaChief547...

OUT!