Lloyd mentally prepared himself for the mission looming in his future. He knew that statistically, his chances of dying were incredibly high; but that seemed miniscule in comparison to his responsibilities. The city and his friends came before his own life, and he had no problem putting everything on line for their survival.

As Dareth rushed off towards a computer to enact the plan he and Lloyd had brainstormed up, Lloyd finally acknowledged his ghost.

"I thought you were bound to 'Lord' Garmadon."

"I should be... but..." Sensei Garmadon closed his eyes. "But I believe you and he are still linked. Meaning I'm bound to you too."

Lloyd nodded thoughtfully. He patted the cot next to him, casting a wary glance at Dareth. Thankfully the brown ninja was so absorbed in his task that he didn't notice Lloyd talking to himself. Sensei Garmadon knelt down next to Lloyd and closed his eyes. Lloyd knew his father's facial expressions well enough to understand that Garmadon was fighting back panic. His eyes opened and narrowed at Lloyd.

He didn't claim to be anything more than a hallucination, but even he could be torn apart by grief. When he first showed up, these feelings were muted by his long dormancy; but every second spent around his son made them stronger. He could feel happiness, contentment, love... and terror. It didn't take a mental link to know what his son was thinking; it didn't take a brain to know that his son was about to risk it all.

He had just gotten his son back for the first time in years, and know he was about to lose him forever.

"There's something on your mind." Lloyd pointed out, despite this being painfully obvious. He could read his father incredibly well, perhaps because his own expressions mirrored his father's.

"I..." Garmadon looked away pensively. "I can't lose you." He whispered, his voice breaking a little at the admission. "Please... Don't do this."

Lloyd's heart shattered a little at that. His father was begging him not to go on this suicidal mission, and that in and of itself destroyed a little bit of the green ninja's resolve. But it didn't even come close to shattering it. Garmadon knew it was pointless to ask this of his son, but that wouldn't stop him from trying.

"I'm sorry, Father. But my friends are in trouble, and ninja never quit. I will try everything in my power to get through this, but I refuse to stand idly by while Chen hurts my brothers and sisters."

Garmadon sighed. "This is why you are Ninjago's greatest defender."

"Well I'm never alone."

"Nevertheless... I'm proud of the young man you've become."

"Okay, Lloyd... it's done." Dareth quickly informed the green ninja. "Well... whatever you had me do."

Lloyd smirked slightly. "Good. Help me up."

{Two Hours Ago}

"This was a bad plan!" Shade shouted as Killow's punch passed right through him.

Skylor ran towards the goon, vaulting off a car and kicking him in the back of the head. She bounced graciously off with a back flip, landing at ready.

Killow rubbed the back of his neck, but in comparison, her kick rivaled a mosquito bite in terms of annoyance.

Skylor cursed as the brute turned on her.

"Master Chen mentioned you." Killow grunted, cracking his neck and pounding his fists together hard enough to shoot out a concussive force that rustled the amber master's hair.

"Ah , daddy still thinks about me? Can't say I'm flattered!"

"Skylor, they have Tox!" Neuro growled into their shared comm link. Skylor glanced across the city hall plaza and saw Ultra violet's bike tearing away with an unconscious green haired master thrown across the back.

The distraction allowed Killow to get the upper hand. His massive foot slammed into her gut, and Skylor swore she felt ribs snapping. Her vision went red as she felt her back scrape against the pavement.

"Skylor!" Shade shouted, jumping off a parked school bus with a salvaged trashcan lid in hand. Killow collapsed as the master of shadow brought it down against the back of his spinal cord.

Skylor crawled just far enough out of the way to avoid being crushed.

Never before had Shade been so grateful for the pop of gunfire and the hiss of tear gas cannisters. Police cars tore down the streets, forming a shield shaped barricade between the oncoming forces and the entrance to city hall alongside the seriously out numbered elemental masters.

Soon police were using the cars as shields, peaking over and releasing rounds of rubber bullets into the crowds.

"Elementals!" A voice called. Shade looked up, eyeing the commissioner as he ducked and ran towards their position.

"Commissioner." Shade greeted, helping Skylor to her feet.

"Things have gone south real quick." The head of Ninjago City's police declared. First the green ninja had gone missing, and now every villain from Kryptarium was loose on the streets.

"I know- Look out!" Shade shoved the commissioner away as a heavy rock landed directly where the blue clad officer had been standing.

"Beware the wrath of Fugi-Dove!" Came a cry from above.

"Darn it all!" Shade snarled. "How the heck do the ninja do this?"

Skylor closed her eyes and held her hands close together. A green orb sparked between her finger tips, growing until she threw an outstretched fist in fugi-dove's direction.

Shade whirled on her. "You absorbed Lloyd's powers?"

"Not enough for him to notice." Skylor replied with a shrug, watching as Dove fell through the air shouting all the while.

"Jay's no longer the worst!" Came his final cry as he vanished beyond the rooftops and crashed somewhere to the west.

Skylor cast a look at Neuro, who shrugged. No one knew what that was about... and no one really cared either. Not now, when so much hung in the balance.

Chen sat lazily on his throne, aka the warden's chair in Kryptarium prison. Soon he'd have a silver one... perhaps even gold once the bank fell to his scores of criminals.

Thankfully news choppers were doing a terrific job of canvassing the chaos unfolding across Ninjago, meaning Chen got a to witness it at their expense.

Propping his feet on the desk, he snapped his fingers. "Yes Master Chen." An SOG lackey muttered, bowing low. Earning their obedience had been easy enough, though Chen seriously needed to talk about their names. Sons of Garmadons? Ha! He was barely even criminal anymore. Maybe they would agree to SOC, Sons of Chen? No... there were girls in there too. Children of Chen? Nah...too lame.

"What's going on at City Hall?" He asked, waving a finger lazily in the direction of that monitor.

"A few elemental masters and the police have barricaded it, sir."

Chen dropped his feet to lean forward with a hand to his chin.

"Is that so? Well that'll never do."

"They'll be overwhelmed with time. We already got one of them. UV's bringing her back right now."

"Is my daughter down there?"

"Yes sir."

"Well then... Let's give her a little motive to surrender, shall we? Bring me Kai, master of fire... and get me hooked up to the city monitors."

Skylor's ribs ached something fierce, but that wasn't going to stop her. She, Shade, and Neuro were outside of the barricade doing their best to help the police from getting overwhelmed.

Seconds ticked into minutes, minutes turning to an hour. Neuro ducked behind the barricade and sagged against a cop car. He was older, a bit more out of shape than the others.

Then, like a switch had been flipped, Cryptor and his team of assailants pulled away.

Every screen in Ninjago flashed to life, revealing Chen's ugly mug on the other end of the camera.

"Ninjago City! Feeling a bit nostalgic? Unfortunately we don't have any more green ninja to kill on screen, and I'd hate to steal that honor from Lord Garmadon; but I do have a message for my lovely little girl."

The commissioner straightened his cap.

"So if you're listening, Skylor, here's the deal! ." He stepped back and yanked Kai onto the screen. The fire ninja looked furious... but he had chains on his wrists, and ankles... not to mention a dagger pressed into his back. Moving wasn't an option.

"No!" Skylor shouted.

"You and the elementals surrender or-"

Chen stomped down on Kai's knee, causing the battered red clad ninja to howl in agony before dropping like a ton of bricks. The snap was loud enough to faintly be heard on the mike recording Chen's voice. Kai groaned and cradled his knee as best as possible.

"I break more than just his knee!"

The screen died, returning to blank black emptiness as Skylor cupped her mouth in horror.

"That was your father?" The commissioner demanded from behind his car.

Skylor's mouth moved, but no words came out. She turned a hopeless glance at Neuro, but the master of mind refused to meet her eyes.

Shade was murmuring quietly to the police commissioner. Whatever the exchange was, Shade clearly walked away satisfied before turning to Cryptor and voicing the response they all wished to deliver.

"We surrender."

{Present}

Chen checked his watch as he paced around the center of the main prison complex. Kai was chained to the bottom of the guard tower in the center of the prison, and his very irate friends stood angrily in their vengestone lined cells.

Kai had a dazed look on his face, almost like he had mentally checked out. Chen stopped pacing and stooped at the waist so he was eye level with Kai.

"My daughter doesn't seem to care about you."

He watched clarity return to Kai's vision as the fire ninja forced a scowl.

"So tell me. What should a break next? Maybe an arm this time? Or your fingers. Ankles and Shoulders work well too. There's a whole lotta bones to break! So I guess in the end it doesn't matter."

"Leave him alone!" Cole shouted.

"Maybe I'll go with your nose." Chen continued, ignoring the master of earth's livid snarl. "Then perhaps my daughter'll find you a little less attractive."

"Betrayal runs in the family."

Chen whipped around to see Garmadon standing in the doorway casually.

"What's to say your daughter even plans on coming for him anyway?"

"Ah, Lord Garmadon. I was hoping you'd finally join the party." Chen left Kai and strolled over to the dark lord. He chuckled madly and waved his hand. "Like my palace?"

"It's drafty." Garmadon replied dryly, giving the place a once over.

"Well it sure beats the humid jungle... or the cursed realm for that matter."

Garmadon's shoulders shrugged slightly as he observed the area. His conscience had finally decided to give him some peace, meaning he could finally think things through.

"I didn't-" Garmadon was cut off by the doors being thrown open violently. Skylor, bound with her wrists behind her back led the other two weary masters into the prison. Chen noticed a slight wobble to her steps, the way she hunched slightly, eyes dull with exhaustion and pain.

Kai noticed too. "Skylor!" He called. "You shouldn't have come here!"

"I'm sorry, Kai... I couldn't let him hurt you... And were our situations reversed, you'd do the same."

Kai closed his mouth, looking away guiltily. First Lloyd and now Skylor. How many people were going to get hurt because of him? He had a crap ton of questions, including what had happened to Lloyd...

"Lloyd?"

Crud had Kai said that out loud?

Chen shot Kai a confused glance, and them turned to his daughter. Garmadon looked unsurprised.

"Oh I killed him days ago." Garmadon stated dryly Then he forced a sneer into his voice, glaring at Skylor. "So breaking into my hide out was rather pointless wasn't it?"

The master of Amber's Jaw hardened as her eyes went wide in shock. Kai looked at her, begging it all to be a big hoax, but the broken look in Skylor's eyes dashed his hopes to smithereens.

"Well daughter? Is the green ninja dead?" Chen looked at her face, studying it for a reaction. Garmadon had no reason to lie about such things, but Skylor's admitting it would serve to crush the ninja just a little more.

Skylor muttered something under her breath.

Cupping his ear, Chen leaned close enough for Skylor to smell his rancid breath. "I didn't hear that."

Skylor glared at Garmadon, meeting his gaze darkly. Then she raised her voice. "Yes."

"No!" Kai cried angrily, heart breaking all over again as he began jerking on his chains. His leg got jostled, but the red he was seeing made the pain minute. He could hear the other Ninja's gasps of horror and despair as he turned his eyes to Lloyd's father.

"You're a monster!" Kai shouted. "Your son never gave up hope in you, gave you chance after chance; and this is how you repay him?" Garmadon crossed his arms in disinterest.

"Sentiment is a weakness." Garmadon replied, but his heart wasn't entirely behind it anymore.

Neuro and Shade shared a look as they were shoved in their cells. It didn't take a genius to know that they were royally screwed.

Chen had succeeded in taking Ninjago by sheer force, Lloyd was too injured to help, and Dareth was the equivalent to useless.

Neuro took note of the fact that Skylor had not been shoved in a cell alongside the rest of them. No, she had been kept out.

"Daughter... have you grown an inch or two?"

Skylor glared daggers at her father, anger lurking in her hazel eyes.

'Oh come now, don't be like that! I know we've had our disagreements in the past, but we can put it all behind us!"

"You think I'm just going to forgive you? After all you've done!?"

Garmadon observed silently. For once, he could look onto the conflict between parent and child from the outside. Yet unlike Lloyd, Skylor utterly hated her father... And Garmadon could see the pain that caused in Chen's eyes.

"You see how lucky we are? At least Lloyd cares." And yay. His conscience was back. Garmadon rolled his eyes.

"I thought I was finally rid of you." Lord of the two muttered under his breath so Chen wouldn't hear.

"Fate decided to use super glue when it brought me into existence."

A huff of laughter burst from Garmadon's lips before he could really stop it.

"Something funny?" Chen snapped.

Before Garmadon could reply, he felt a strong tug at the mental level, could feel the connection between himself and his son getting stronger.

"I haven't decided yet." Garmadon moved about eight feet to the right... just in time for a massive fist to tear through the wall, pulling a hug chunk away with it.

Pixal gasped as the Samurai X mech burst through the wall.

Someone was in the cockpit, and wearing her armor.

"Sorry, Pix." Lloyd's mechanically warbled voice came through the mech's speakers.

"There's a new Samurai X in town."

Okay Folks! This is probably the longest chapter so far... I think. I hope you all enjoyed Lloyd's grand entrance. Stay tuned to see what happens next!

Watcher321: Yes. He'd a poor injured idiot... but a determined one at that.