{5:32 AM}

Wu sat in his meditation room. It was the only time he could clear his head and regather his mental fortitude. Rarely would a day go by when this time was not interrupted by some new tumultuous event.

Today, that happened to be a woman throwing open the partition and standing before him, arms crossed.

"Hello Misako"

Garmadon finished tucking the provisions for a long trip in his bag. Skylor, her own pack shouldered, stood behind with a frown on her face.

"Master Garmadon, let me to gather Grav, Neuro, Karlof, Tox, and Griffin. The new recruits are nowhere near ready for ground work."

Garmadon shook his head, turning to face the seasoned elite with a look of finality.

"The new recruits are going. It'll be a... field trip... so to speak.'

"Yes, Master." Skylor paused. "Are the outer lands in rebellion again?"

"No... this time I go to defend the ungrateful trolls. They're under attack from gangs beyond the eastern mountains."

"I'll get the recruits ready."

"First get Ronin. He's coming too."

"Yes Master."

"Have a seat, Misako. What brings you back after all these years?"

"I have news regarding the prophecy. Is my son here?"

Wu hesitated for a moment... No, not at the moment."

"Did you tell him about the prophecy?"

"It was a mistake. He does not want to be the green ninja."

"Well I found proof that he might just not be." Misako unraveled a scroll. "There's nothing really alluding to identity of the green ninja; but the writer of the scroll, your father, did include a list of requirements."

"Is that so?" Wu was silently hoping that Lloyd did indeed meet all of the requirements. He had foolishly planned on Lloyd being the green ninja, and if the boy wasn't... years would be wasted.

"Lloyd fit many of the requirements, all except one. According to the scroll, the green ninja would willingly help the dark lord for a time. Lloyd hates what his father's doing... I mean, according to your letters, Garmadon currently has no greater enemy... Lloyd is fighting valiantly against him."

"Misako, your son... along with the other previously uncaptured elementals were taken days ago."

Misako gasped, dropping scroll. "What?"

"It's a long story... but I believe that Lloyd may still be the green ninja..."

"Recruits! Gather your gear." Skylor had entered the pit personally this morning. The wary recruits filed out of the pit behind her, gear on their shoulders, exhaustion weighing into their steps.

"Where are we going?" Jay asked sleepily.

"The outer lands. Master Garmadon was called to deal with a troublesome gang of bandits."

Instead of the cargo bay, Skylor led them somewhere else...

"Welcome to the armory. Hand over your pea shooters. It's time for an upgrade."

Their bracelet activators were replaced for rifles.

"These will only fire when Master Garmadon permits, and have no affect on anyone wearing the bracelets." Skylor explained. "So no worries about friendly fire. They pack a far greater punch than the ones you just swapped out. So be careful."

Kai studied his rifle before swinging it onto his back. He watched Skylor talk. She was beautiful, an angel, if he ever saw one, her voice like silk. Jay thumped his shoulder, causing him to startle. The master of lighting made an obvious point to roll his eyes.

Skylor pointed to the door.

"Alright. Let's move out. You don't want to see what happens when you're late."

They sat in the back of a covered truck. The sun was bearing down heat on Ninjago City, and their heavy black armor wasn't very helpful in regards to staying cool.

Kai looked out the open back. The civilians, well dressed and relatively well fed, kept far away from the heavy trucks barrelling down the pristine roads. All of them wore faces of muted terror, or resigned haggardness. Kai had seen life in the eyes of his scum neighbors, but these people looked positively dead.

Only he and the other recruits were in the back. Garmadon, Skylor, and Ronin were being treated to an air conditioned cab with a radio.

Lloyd, Zane, and Nya were keeping their distance towards the cab end of the truck bed, talking quietly amongst themselves.

Nya's words from the night before had been solidly engrained in his mind, a constant reminder that he had gone way too far, been angry for all the wrong reasons.

From the looks on Jay and Cole's faces, they were weighing much the same in their minds.

First steps... right?

"It wasn't your fault." It pained Kai to admit defeat, to stab his pride in the gut... but Lloyd deserved it. "Your Uncle wronged us... not you. I still think you should have told us... but I can also understand why you didn't." Kai sighed. "Protecting family is important."

"I didn't do it to protect him." Lloyd replied. "I was just enjoying having friends. People always blame me for what my family does, and I thought... no I knew that if I told you, the same thing would happen. And it did."

"I'm sorry." Kai admitted.

"Me too." Cole nodded. Jay looked away, but everyone was staring at him.

Finally, he closed his eyes, letting his anger go... whether it be peer pressure or not, no one would ever know... But he did it and muttered. "Yeah... I'm sorry too."

Lloyd smiled slightly. "I Forgive you... All of you."

"So... we can-"

"Go back to being friends? I really think we have a choice. Not if we want to operate as a team..."

And the gang's back together again! I hoped you all enjoyed this chapter. As always, stay tuned for more!
AangxiousKittyCornNerd: I ramble all the time, so no worries... But yes, Lloyd had two people on his side... now he has even more!
LunaPikazard12: I'm glad you like the premise of this fanfic. I always try to find things no one's ever done before. As for what you said regarding Nya, yes, she and Zane were the voices of reason... but she was the louder voice of reason.
Bookkeeper2004: Nope :) Though I'm not surprised at all that you thought it was Garmadon based off the title. I probably would have assumed the same.
FireWriter316: Yup. Had a very busy day. I couldn't get a post out.
Northern Goshawk: Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you're enjoying it, and yes... Kai definitely needed to get his pride under control.
Guest: Thank you very much! I hope the chapter lived up to expectations!