Meanwhile back in the hidden realm of Ninjago, one whole week had passed since Jay's disappearance.

Kai was becoming restless after Cole had told them of Jay's departure a few days after the event...and now, his best man was missing, the bachelor party was meant to be tomorrow and he was getting married the day after.

He had at one point confided in Zane about having a spare best man since Jay had vanished off the radar, but no sooner had he mentioned the idea he quickly recoiled it as a mistake and chided himself for even thinking it. But yet he kept thinking of him….not one person had seen him and it was as if he had just simply vanished.

Cole however wasn't bothered enough to send out for a search party considering the fact that Jay had acted so recklessly by putting himself in needless danger.

It all escalated when Cole had received a telephone call from Dareth on the same day Jay had accosted him. The brown ninja was ecstatic at having been asked to help find suitable venues for said bachelor party and he phoned Cole to gather total numbers being as he couldn't find Jay nor call him.

Yet Cole had expressly forbid Jay from leaving,; let alone gallivanting around when he had only just woken up from his severe illness.

According to the brown ninja, Cole now knew where Jay was and the name of the motel. He knew what Jay was doing but not what but not what he was about to do. He hadn't bothered to go and get him but instead he went behind Jay's back and contacted Loki on his behalf and he had shouted at the God in anger, which only created more tension.

Of course, Loki wasn't best pleased at being sent on an errand to retrieve his protector from trouble, but it was quickly becoming the normal situation he would find himself in. If the god was unable to do it then he would send his team of warriors namely, the ninja.

This time it was different than a standard rescue operation. Loki was trying to drive that wedge between them all. And it was working well...

Jay often and frequently got himself into more scrapes now more than ever due to his popularity as being the bad boy in the majority of realms he had visited, although to be fair he had been caught and tortured for crimes that Loki had him do on his behalf and his reluctance to give up Loki's location ended him in further hot water.

He was fast becoming a troublemaker in more ways than one, his reckless behaviour at believing he could do it all himself was now pitting him against strong adversaries. And this one had over powered him.

Yet unease resided freely in Nya's penthouse, Cole had left to spend the week with Seliel on the coast and even there he was being his usual stoic self. Seliel had phoned Nya on more than one occasion to ask if everything was okay but Nya just responded nonchalantly each time with a resounding but slightly unsure 'yes.' Inside she was worried sick about Jay's sudden disappearance but no one knew any-more than she did and if they did no one was talking about it.

Kai had thought that Jay, and the subject of him was now a sore topic that no one dared mention. Each time someone brought his name up, Cole would snap at them to stop worrying. And so, the subject of 'Jay' fast became the white elephant in the room. After a few days, they stopped talking about him in front of Cole, that was, until he left for some r & r.

Zane had decided to spend some time at the new training school they had bought almost a year ago, offering his services as a sensei to those who wished to learn the morals and logical tactics of a ninja. Cole's temper and attitude had fast become an issue for Zane's normally logical systems but yet something wasn't computing with him because with each reason Zane would offer; Cole would argue needlessly, his anger showing itself violently as he lashed out at any and all who dared to try and talk him about the sore subject namely Jay and his whereabouts.

It was almost as if Jay had angered him somehow or said something, but Zane nor Kai could figure out what it was troubling the earth ninja. What was even more bizarre was the fact that Jay had only just woken up from being poisoned by none other than Cole who at first was just playing a game of who was strongest until it hideously backfired. The rest of the time he had spent at Jay's bedside feeling guilt and remorse for his actions. Yet once Jay had woken he had gone straight back to his angry self with no explanation or reason.

So after the first few days Cole decided to go away for a break...just a short one and he would be back and hopefully better by the weekend, he had confirmed that much he was sure of...a break would be good for everyone.

Zane's offer of Sensei was taken up immediately and he was given a temporary job until he needed it. Before he had left he mentioned to Kai that he would be back in plenty of time for the celebratory last night of Kai's freedom and the wedding celebrations the following day. After that he would undoubtedly go back to the dojo until his services would be required or when his vacation time came to an end either way he had just under three months, which to a nindroid was ample time to do anything he pleased.

Kai who should have been the happiest of all of his ninja brothers was unsure; he felt uneasy with a sickening feeling. Something didn't seem right, Cole was incredibly blasé about Jay not coming back when he had promised and even chose the most inopportune moment to say he was going away for a week. Kai was gobsmacked at his brother's attitude, stunned would have been a better choice of words. Cole had literally stormed out without a word after that and hadn't even phoned during the week, save for his girlfriend calling to let everyone know he was okay.

Lloyd was feeling the same as Kai, he wanted to go out for a few hours for a breath of fresh air…three months seemed like a long time to do nothing but wait. He was the one who made the suggestion to Kai about both of them going out to get suited and booted for the bachelor party as well as getting the wedding bands and a bouquet of flowers for Skylor.

Kai was secretly impressed at Lloyd for being so smart whilst keeping his cool at the same time.

"Lloyd, do ya think we can check in on Jay's motel before we go shopping?"

"Yeah sure….why?"

"I just have a feeling….that's all, but I just know something's wrong. Call it brother's intuition or a sixth sense. Remember, he said he needed to go back there, to get his stuff. So maybe he was too tired to bring it back, he might have dozed off or something else." Kai shivered at the thought of the 'something else.'

Lloyd was quick to notice Kai's grim expression, "You're worried, aren't ya?"

Kai nodded, "I just don't like that he's just vanished. He said he was coming right back and it's been almost a week with not a hide nor hair of him and I swear that Cole's hiding something."

"Hmmm, I think Cole is hiding something but what can we do he's not here either. My mother always said that running away from your problems won't solve them." Lloyd stated and grinned and Kai smiled knowing what he was about to say.

"Actually that is kind of funny because they both ran away from their problems leaving little ol' me at Darkley's….so just ignore what I said." Lloyd ruffled his hair sheepishly.

"Ha yeah….pot calling the kettle black I think Lloyd….can't believe she said that to you, I mean it is funny because she contradicted herself…but still she had a point."

"Besides, I think you're right he is hiding something...Well on Saturday when Cole gets back we'll get the truth out of him one way or another, I just hope we can find Jay before then."

"We will Kai, he can't be that far away surely…. So motel first then shopping?"

"Yeah, I promise as soon as we're done we can go shopping, need to keep on top of this checklist Skylor has given me."

"What! why have you got a checklist dude?"

"I offered to do my fair share considering she's carrying our child and I didn't want to stress her out any more than she already is. Ya know planning a wedding is stressful enough let alone being pregnant and having to deal with that too."

"Aww you big softie Kai, didn't know you had a soft side….all I've ever seen is the overprotective side of you when it came down to Nya."

"Well she's pretty much invincible now like us right? I've cut her some slack…especially when it comes to Jay or Cole or whoever, I mean I've explained she needs to be careful and all that." Kai blushed.

"Hmm okay, tmi Kai…too much information I can see where you're coming from without the explanation bro haha."

"So dragons or taxi?" Lloyd asked changing the topic of conversation to one less embarrassing.

"Like you even have to ask…Dragons of course." Kai's face lit up with a cheeky smile, Lloyd reciprocated the smile and they both headed to the roof access after advising Nya where they were going.

"You ready Kai?...do ya know where this motel is?"

"I will once I'm in the air, this penthouse is almost central but I have a feeling Jay's motel was near the outskirts of the city; after all the taxi dropped us of first and then took Jay onwards."

"Hang on…didn't you go and get him on our first night back."

"Yeah I did but it was night time; everything looked different."

"It was a little scary actually, never told you that part Lloyd."

"What was scary….the motel?" Lloyd looked at Kai with a puzzled expression. His dragon materialised in front of him, looking every bit as precious as an emerald as its golden claws scraped the roof.

"Nooooo…Jay was scary and the motel just made it worse…I'm just saying it was like a scene from a horror movie and I felt like the first victim, well you'll see when ya get there."

"Well now you've said that I'm having second thoughts, can't you elaborate a little? I mean what was wrong and why didn't you mention it earlier?" Lloyd questioned.

"Because I personally don't feel it bears any importance to what we're doing now…I think it was just a one off." Kai replied quickly, honestly.

"Oh come on, you can't tempt me with that small nugget without giving me more. I need details, need to know what we might encounter Kai, come on, spill it."

"Fine-" Kai huffed, "-from the minute I got there the lift wasn't working he was up on the eighth floor so I had to use the stairs." The firestarter shook his head and jumped onto his impressive dragon, never having seen it before.

"Aww so you're telling me you were scared of eight flights of stairs!" Lloyd teased.

"Haha NO, let me finish…I got to his room , he was completely out of it, apparently he had run into Clouse a few hours earlier."

"W-was Jay ok, I mean after Clouse? The ghost didn't try to hurt him right?"

Kai grimaced at the vague recollection of how ill Jay looked, "I think Clouse might have tried to possess him but it didn't work…Jay said he just felt uncomfortable and exhausted afterwards….honestly he kept falling back to sleep when I talked to him."

"Haha you sure he hadn't had any alcohol before ya got there?"

"No, I couldn't smell any on him, he was fast asleep and completely unresponsive."

"So what happened next?" Lloyd asked as his dragon flapped its large golden green wings.

"I got him up and we left the room but we didn't fancy walking down the stairs because he looked like he was going to pass out at any moment."

"But he didn't right or you wouldn't have bought him out for the night?"

"No of course not, he didn't pass out but he looked like he was about too. Anyway we got to the lift shaft and he told me to stand back….he then pulled the doors open like they were made of paper….I'm telling you he left visible finger dents in the metal doors." Kai shook his head as he remembered the events which felt like they only happened yesterday.

"Where has he got that power from? I thought it was just the two elements he had….ya think he is channelling it from somewhere?"

"Uh I don't know…maybe."

"Ooh I wonder if it is anything to do with his female side hehe like a hidden element or something hehehe." Lloyd chuckled to himself and Kai smirked.

"Well anyway Lloyd, once he left finger imprints he leaned into the lift shaft completely unaware of the danger below him before he grabbed the main power cable leading to the roof and then he somehow restarted the engine to the lift." Kai shuddered.

"Yeah then what?" Lloyd was getting bored.

"He looked at me and his eyes turned jet black as he grabbed the cable, he kept his arm in that lift shaft and removed it just in time….like a millisecond before the lift would have mangled it."

"His eyes went black?" Lloyd gasped in shock "Wh-why didn't you tell me?"

"Err well he seemed fine other than that really….I guess and we kind of agreed not to mention it unless it happened again."

"Okay fine carry on…Kai, sorry."

"Lloyd, Jay almost resembled a fair haired Loki, except for his eyes….his eyes made him look like a fucking demon. Not only that but when we got in the lift the journey down was painfully slow and I'm not kidding every song that came on was carrying the same type of topic."

"Oh god….what types of song were they?" Lloyd laughed nervously not really wanting to know the answer.

"Mostly songs about blood, death, lying and betrayal….not the typical lift music you tend to get except maybe for Halloween."

"Urgh creepy….so then what happened…..ya know this would make an excellent camp fire story Kai."

"Yeah but the fact it was true makes it all the more horrid. Let me continue, the wallpaper was peeling as we were standing in the lift and there was a god awful smell of rotting cabbage like something had died in there at some point. Once we got out of the lift Jay was a different person again, he seemed more relaxed although his eyes were still black."

"I mentioned to him that his eyes were black and he somehow managed to change them back to blue oddly enough then he also managed to completely hide his weapons from everyone including me…..like dark magic almost. I only realised it was dark magic when everything reappeared at the bar when he had been poisoned. Then and even now I ask myself where he has the ability to do dark magic….where is he getting that power from?"

"Ooh spooky. Haa, I don't know Kai, but he's another one who's hiding something from us, and believe me, on this bachelor party of yours we're gonna get em both drunk then they can spill the beans on what secrets they're keeping from us."

"Yeah, it'll be a night to remember hehehe that's for sure." Kai laughed, he pointed downwards motioning to the nearby motel, "That's the one Lloyd, gahh even during the day it looks horrid, what was Jay thinking?"

Both Ninja approached the roof space and simultaneously jumped off their dragons landing effortlessly on the roof.

"Right I'll go down to his room and you stay up here, you got your phone right…Lloyd?"

"Yeah, yeah….of course never leave home without it." He smirked and flashed his trusty new phone at Kai mockingly.

"Hey, is that a new phone?"

"Yeah of course, Skylor bought it for me."

"Gahh, she buys you loads of cool stuff….I think I need myself a girlfriend too."

"Ya, you do, mind you that girl in Asgard was sweet on you, you saw her a few times right?"

"Heh, that's none of your business Kai, but yeah she's a keeper…don't think she'd give up her life on Asgard for this place though."

"Well how will ya know unless you ask her?"

"Okay fine, next time we're there I'll ask her, right!….can we redirect our attention now to more pressing matters?"

"Hehehe, I'm going, I'm going."

"Just go I'll scour the roof access for clues…not that I'm expecting much."

Fine I'll not be long, I'm guessing he's either here or not and at least if he's not then this is one location we can tick off." Kai stated as he walked towards the only door on the roof.

Kai swiftly left the roof access disappearing behind the boarded up door leaving Lloyd to turn his nose up at his surroundings. Although the roof wasn't littered as such apart from one piece of paper the whole place seemed run down, it was surprising to Lloyd that this place was still standing…considering the buildings surrounding it were all immaculate and new.

He walked around the roof space looking down ominously at the ground below seeing nothing but the odd person walking past, they resembled ants from this height, almost how Loki felt when he was talking about taking over Earth or Midgard as he called it.

The same solitary piece of paper flew around the roof access being stopped only by the raised lip surrounding the edges of the roof, but eventually a gust of wind whipped it up into the air and pushed it in Lloyd's direction.

The crumpled piece of paper was almost about to fly over the ledge when Lloyd grabbed it with his finger and thumb. The paper looked to be a letter of some sort and Lloyd was apprehensive about reading something that could be so very personal.

He looked at the ball of paper in his hand and slowly unravelled it, corner by corner until he saw delicate handwriting in an ominous green ink. The odd thing about the letter was it wasn't signed by anyone except an overly decorative 'C' on a golden red background with a wax seal which revealed nothing untoward to Lloyd.

The content of the letter was incredibly dark in nature and extremely threatening to whomever was the intended recipient, the letter was ridden with pure evil and blackmail laced throughout it. It was undoubtedly written by an irate unhappy person who was hell bent on revenge on this person judging by the tone they chose. The first time Lloyd speed read it and it made no sense but then he stopped and read it properly taking it each word as if it was spoken rather than written. His eyes widened in an instant, he recognised the name Jay….how many Jay's could there be, staying in this motel?

"Maybe Zane would recognise this….it looks vaguely familiar but I can't place it."

Lloyd grabbed his phone and took a photo of the letter, the intricate large letter 'C' and the wax seal, before sending a quick message to Zane and attaching the message as an additional link.

After a few minutes of scouring the roof access Lloyd became bored and sat down near an air conditioning unit, typically one that wasn't working and blasting out heat….Like everything else in this motel nothing really worked but this was a welcome break; no heat emanating from it meant he could lean against it without fear of melting or being electrocuted.

Within five minutes Lloyds phone began to vibrate madly, he retrieved it from his pocket and stared at the screen for a millisecond seeing his nindroid brothers face appear followed by his name. He was expecting a text back not a phone call as he knew Zane was quite busy with the school, but he answered it regardless.

"Zane!...how are you….get my message I presume?"

"Hello Lloyd, where are you? it sounds rather atmospheric yet I sense no traffic noise as such."

"On a roof actually, so you were almost there….wasn't expecting such a swift reply Zane as I know you're really busy but we really had no choice in the matter."

"As you know Kai gets m-married this weekend and in one day is his bachelor party and afterwards is the actual day…..and we still don't know w-where Jay is."

"Where is Kai, is he nearby?

"No he's checking out Jay's motel room a couple of floors down to see if he's sleeping in there, but I-I think it's highly unlikely; I mean who s-sleeps for almost a week?"

"Hmm okay…I guess no harm could come of that besides it is one location to tick off."

"So anyway Zane what did y-you think to the letter, do you know who it's from?"

"The letter is really interesting Lloyd but how did you come by that wax seal or the letter….where did you find it?"

"Well I found it, err it was on the roof access of the motel Jay was at." Lloyd answered and offered a fake smile as he saw Kai reappear from the roof door with his hands upturned signalling no luck. Lloyd was quick to wave the letter at him hoping to have made some progress in finding Jay. The wave he performed hid his apparent nerves at seeing the content of the letter…hoping it wasn't meant for who he thought it was. Lloyds' heart sank when Zane spoke, he knew at that point who the letter was aimed at…..not just any Jay but Jay Walker.

"I knew I recognised that handwriting somewhere and that seal too…having seen it in previous years….bear with me Lloyd I need to check my archive folders…" Zane paused, his tone slow as if he was trying desperately to remember.

"Ahh yes, that wax seal belongs to Clouse, I vaguely remember seeing something similar on Chen's Island; the handwriting, everything about that letter even the capitalised 'C,' It was almost exactly the same as was seen in his cherished spell book."

Zane quietened his tone slightly "C-can you read the letter to me please…Lloyd?"

He whispered before speaking clearly again to the people surrounding him.

"Recess children, five minutes until we resume." Zane said as he walked to find a quieter area away from the younger children he was teaching whilst putting the phone on speaker.

"I'm going to write down key parts maybe this letter will hold clues…in your own time Lloyd."

"Okay Zane, just for you I'll read it…Kai you might wanna listen in to this too, as so far it's the only thing we've got…" Lloyd smiled in sympathy realising this might be difficult for Kai to hear.

Kai's face turned to a concerned stare, but he duly did as he was told and sat next to Lloyd who held the screwed up letter in his shaking hands. The wind was quite strong up here but the shakes were from Lloyd, he had already read the letter…thrice, each time he had read the letter it had created a sense of despair for the recipient.

"You okay Lloyd….you're shaking, can't be that bad surely?" Kai looked into Lloyds widened eyes and saw a look of fear etched onto his pale young features

"Okay I'll s-start the letter is addressed to Jay, and it says and I quote:

Jay,

I refuse to use formalities in this letter, due to your blatant lack of respect for our previous agreement…therefore this letter I have penned will be as blunt as I can make it.

Because you didn't keep to my agreement I have had no choice but to implicate two rather unsuspecting individuals into our little game…As you and I recall, you offered your services to help me last week but alas you were no-where to be found when I needed you. Dare I say it, but you had tried to escape no less, how pathetic of you!

I expected so much more from you Jay, but it seems you were just as ignorant as Lloyd was. Believing yourself, above that of everyone else.

Still I must admit I did enjoy doing this and if you had only followed through with our agreement you wouldn't have to endure what you will be enduring shortly….It may be painful for you or not…physically and almost definitely emotionally…I hope you're ready!

These irritating overly talkative individuals speak highly of you yet they didn't know your dirty little secret either…the apple didn't fall far from the tree did it?

If you don't come before sunset on the first weekend of February I will kill them….both of them and you can find them all for yourself..

HOWEVER if you want them to live then you should meet me where they reside…you have a small window to save them Jay…if you fail they will die and if you succeed they may die too…unless you can stop me….'C'

Kai was the first to talk after the pained silence that followed Lloyd's reading, even Zane was speechless momentarily. Lloyd was still staring at the letter in shock and worry at what had happened and the reason that Jay nor Close were nowhere to be found.

"Uhh I don't like the sound of that at all, he means Jay's parents right? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree?...Clouse didn't know he was ill either!" Kai frowned and shook his head.

"It was a ploy to get Jay separated from us as a team…we all know he can withstand tremendous physical punishment now….well to a certain extent I mean he can still be harmed but what about his mental state…has Loki even worked on that yet?"

"Whoa how do you know that? Like lightning fast logic right there! Seriously though Zane how do you know?" Kai questioned in amazement.

"It is the only logical explanation."

"What are you getting at Zane? what about his mental state" Lloyd quizzed.

"If this was a ploy; which sounds highly likely, it would seem that Clouse was trying to break down Jay's mental psyche in an effect to weaken him. Kai didn't you mention his dual elements prevented Clouse from being able to possess him almost two weeks ago?"

"Y-yes I did….but again why does that even matter?"

"Because one of his elements is linked to his emotions…his shield element the one gifted to him by the Aesir himself…by Loki, its Jay's most powerful weapon and the one that solely destroyed the Hydra office and base in Iceland…remember?. If Clouse bypassed that he would have gotten hold of Jay in an instant."

"Yeah I remember that! Great so Clouse could be walking the streets of Ninjago in a meat bag we affectionately refer to as Jay? Oh god, we can't fight him again, we're a few men down what with Cole away and Nya losing all hope."

"No hopefully it won't have come to that, but I fear Cole is hiding something that may be beneficial to Jay's whereabouts."

"I suggest the Sea of Sand, if you are up for the journey and I will meet you there…I believe that location will hold some clues, at least recent ones."

"Are you going to be okay considering you are teaching today?"

"I'll be fine, the tutors are very appreciative of my input and I am a valued member of staff here with exceptional knowledge and data banks capable of working out many scenarios….I'm basically an asset to them so I really don't think they will mind me leaving for a few hours." Zane smiled before switching the phone off.

Kai looked at Lloyd and shook his head, he took the letter off Lloyd and read it himself, feeling the intimidating threat within its poisonous words. How Jay must have felt when he read it was what was pulling at Kai, how much pain and torment had his lightning brother already been through over the space of one year?

How much more could he endure…what else was in store for their team as a whole? All these questions made Kai question his life's own direction as he read the letter again, the tone of threat apparent, the unnecessary hatred within it made Kai's blood run cold. The letter looked like it had been screwed up and cast aside in anger by Jay and left to float around on the roof for days before anyone knew of its existence.

"I'm so glad we have Zane, don't know what we'd do without him to be honest Kai….you coming then? If Jay isn't there then we visit Cole and make him talk."

"Yeah okay Lloyd….fine." Kai looked crestfallen, his well laid plans were all falling apart at the seams, his plan to give Skylor a beautiful wedding day was going up in smoke.

The flight to the sea of sand was quite arduous but Kai and Lloyd spent the majority of it racing their dragons at various altitudes to see if the atmospheric pressure would hamper or help their speeds.

After a few near misses and complete black outs the two young ninja decided to stay at the lower altitude to avoid injuring themselves. They then spent the next few minutes joking with each other until they spotted a blackened but sparkling dragon landing on the sand ahead of them.

"Must be Zane...right?"

"He got here fast?"

"Maybe he was closer..." Kai replied.

"Or he might have put some upgrades on himself.." Lloyd teased whilst raising his eyebrows.

Both ninja swooped down to ground level before jumping off their elemental dragons to join Zane.

All three ninja walked through the eerily quiet junk yard looking for signs of life expecting to see Ed and Edna running out to welcome them all in with open arms.

Zane was the first to notice and he made his way to where he wanted to investigate, some thing looked familiar.

"Brothers it would seem that there is a large amount of melted glass in a circular position...here."

"Yeah and?" Kai grew inpatient with knocking on the door of the trailer to no response.

"Just come and look...please!"

Kai and Lloyd reluctantly walked the short distance to Zane and on the way Lloyd noticed a charred but very familiar book belonging to none other that Clouse. He picked it up and walked across to Zane.

"What is it...what have you found...I mean what is so important about melted glass?"

Zane looked sideways it Kai and replied with in an exasperated tone "Melted glass on sand happens to signify extremes of heat...such as lightning or...I don't know a Bifrost."

"Oh...Bifrost so Loki was here then?" Kai added positively.

"Yes it would appear so...but why?" Zane answered.

"Uhm guys...I found this." Lloyd interrupted and passed Zane the large thick spell book he found.

The page was saved by a simple but small slip of paper within the old grimoire which Zane opened and looked at with confusion.

"I-I can't read it...but this looks to be the spell he used judging by the depiction of it anyway."

"Did you manage to rouse anyone? is anyone here?"

"No, Zane there's no answer, Kai's been knocking, shouting and everything in between...I don't think they're here."

"Fine...I'll do it myself then...please step aside." Zane said and walked by Kai and Lloyd who watched after him as he walked on by. Zane stopped and stood outside the door, his finger pointed at the key hole. Out of the end of his index finger came a lock picking device which he gently put into the key hole before twisting it gently and feeling for each lock mechanism to open in synchronisation.

"It's open...brothers."

Zane opened the door and switched on the light and immediately wished he hadn't.

"NO, DO NOT COME IN. STAY OUT THERE!" Zane hissed at Kai and Lloyd's shocked faces.

"Why? what's wrong? Zane...Zane!"

"Just...just stay out there pl-please. I-I promise I will explain, just give me some time."

Zane shut the door behind him and locked it before looking upon the carnage in the room, everything inside was destroyed by something powerful and everything human or otherwise resembled the same thing...everything was...dead...destroyed.

There was a distinct smell in the air but it wasn't pungent it was a mixture of chemicals, toxins, fabric, wood, body and dust. Zane scanned the room for signs of life but frowned when he could only pick up three signs; himself and his two brothers.

Zane left the trailer switched the light of and locked the door behind him before sitting on the lowest step, he lowered his head into his hands before speaking.

"Clouse killed them, there is nothing left. It was not possible to see their bodily remains because everything resembled carnage." Zane sighed.

"I did not want you to see that...it was not pleasant."

"But where's Jay gone?..." Kai asked as Lloyd walked around a little more before stopping around the side of the trailer gawping stock still at something.

"If he was here, I am guessing Loki took him to Asgard after whatever transpired..."

"Err g-guys you might wanna come and see this..."

Both Zane and Kai looked up and turned their heads to where Lloyd's voice was coming from. They both swiftly got up and walked to where he was before pulling back in shock. In front of them was the rotting remains of Clouse...a human version of Clouse.

"Whoa, he became human...but how?"

"The spell! He looks like he managed to get Jay to perform the spell." he looked at Kai for clarification. "He was evidently successful in possessing Jay, and I am deducing that he ruthlessly utilised Jay's parents to lure him here." Zane replied. "And, before you ask, I think Loki killed him but it is difficult to assess judging by the amount of skin damage after being out on the open for a week."

"Killed him!...why?" Kai asked whilst looking at Lloyd in concern.

Lloyd still remembered losing his father because of Clouse and his spell had ultimately cost him his life, Sensei Garmadon was taken into the cursed realm with all of Chen's minions and Clouse too.

"Well, revenge at a guess, he killed Jay's parents. There is nothing left in there, it is all gone."

"So what do we do now?" Lloyd inquired.

"We wait...we go back to Nya's apartment and we wait for news." Zane replied.

"We WAIT? we can't wait...I'm getting married in two days...I can't wait Zane."

"Kai, choose someone else for the Gods sake. This is more important than a wedding." Lloyd growled. "Sorry...but it is, Jay's parents are dead!"

Begrudingly he agreed, Lloyd was right. "Fine, we'll go back and wait. Besides, there's nothing we can do here is there considering we got all the evidence we need with, this, that and that." Kai said pointing around himself at the various things they had found.

"Let's go then...I'll secure the gates and when I get back to the dojo I will inform the authorities...please call me when you get back." Zane said with a sad smile.

"Be careful...oh and see you tomorrow Kai." Zane added.

A few hours had passed and both young ninja had made it back to the city, they were headed to the apartment before Lloyd interjected, snapping Kai from his downward spiral of misery.

"Kai we need to get the things from the list because you won't be able to tomorrow...and we still have a few hours to burn." Lloyd asked gently.

"Are you up for it...I can help you and err if Jay isn't back in time I can do the best man duties too."

Kai ears pricked up, " Of course why didn't I think of that I should have had more than one best man to start with considering you're all my brothers."

"Then lets go...Nya's home anyway so she'll hold the fort."

"Let's do this Lloyd...oh we need to tell Zane or else he'll worry, oh whatever we'll do it when we get there...we've gotta get this things and I've still got to deliver her flowers for her."

"Kai you worry too much, relax bro...everything will be alright...I'm sure of it."