Chapter 20
Show Ninjago
Cole didn't know whether to laugh or start banging his head against the broom he was supposed to be using at the scene before him.
It was more than clear that despite the distraction of everything that had happened on the Other Ninjago, Jay was still steadfast in his freak-out about Nya dumping him, and absolutely none of Cyan Nya's advice had sunk in.
Jay was determined to lead this one-man (well, two-man, since Cole was along for the ride) witch hunt to the bitter end. He was going to find who Nya's perfect match was, and whoever that guy was would rue the day he ever even so much as glanced at the girl.
And Cole was willing to support him in that. He was fine with him searching for the guy, he was even fine with helping Jay beat him up if he turned out to be a jerk, he just wished Jay would stop badgering every single guy they came across to find out if it was him.
As it was, the poor customer standing in their shop looked close to passing out as Jay continued to interrogate him.
"WHO ARE YOU?" Jay was demanding. "HOW DID YOU RIG THAT MACHINE! WHY DID YOU STEAL MY GIRLFRIEND?!"
The poor teenage boy who'd made the mistake of coming to Steep Wisdom to buy his tea just gave the angry guy with sparking hands a look of complete fear and confusion. "I don't know what you're talking about!"
"A likely story," Jay practically hissed. "What do you want with Nya?"
"Who?" the customer squeaked fearfully, but a glare from Jay had him adding. "I don't want anything with her! I don't even know her!"
"Yeah right!" Jay snapped. "Then why are you here?"
"I just wanted to get some nice tea to impress Emi and get her to like me!" the boy wailed, looking one more shout away from bursting into tears.
Cole was just about to step in and save him, but Jay froze at his confession.
"... Emi?" Jay asked finally. "Who's Emi?"
"T-This girl in my calculus class," the customer admitted hesitantly, his face turning slightly red. "She's really smart and nice. She loves trying different teas, and I thought this place might have some cool kinds she hasn't had before."
Jay was silent for a long moment, studying the boy's face for honesty.
Then, like a switch was flipped, he smiled brightly and instantly had a more friendly disposition. "Well, why didn't you just say so!" he said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Let's get you the girl of your dreams, buddy. What's your name again?"
"My name is Lee," the boy sputtered.
"Well, Lee, love is in your future (just so long as you stay away from Nya). Come on, I'll find the best tea she'll ever have," Jay volunteered eagerly.
Lee blinked at him, still looking terrified but also seemed to be relieved he was no longer getting yelled at. He and Cole could only watch as Jay suddenly turned into the perfect tea seller, asking friendly questions about what kind of flavors Emi liked, and helped him pick out the best tea to impress her.
"Is he okay?" Lee asked Cole softly as Jay bustled around the shop to complete his order.
"He just got dumped by his dream girl," Cole whispered back in reply as he slowly began sweeping the shop again.
"Oooooh," said Lee. "That makes sense. Someone stole her, then?"
"Yeah, sorry about all this," said Cole with a sympathetic wince. "I promise he's usually marginally more sane than this."
Lee looked bemused, as despite the shouting he'd endured at the beginning, the incredible service he was now getting sort of made up for it… maybe… it was definitely an improvement, and Emi was sure to like this tea. "Well, whoever stole his girl, I'd sure hate to be him," Lee said finally.
"You and me both," agreed Cole.
Just then Jay came over to them all smiles. "Here you go, as ordered," he said, handing Lee the bag. "I also threw in some heart-shaped tea cakes that go great with this blend, on the house. Now go win that girl over with the power of tea and love!"
"Wow, uh, thanks," said Lee, still too intimidated by Jay to say much, and was already edging towards the door with the bag in his hands.
Just then, the door to the tea shop burst open, and they all turned to stare at Pixal standing in the doorway looking desperately at them.
Sensing the chance to beat a hasty retreat, Lee threw some money at them and darted out the door past her with a shout of, "Good luck on your manhunt!"
Pixal stepped aside for him to pass, and shouted after him, "Do not return to Ninjago City, it is too dangerous!"
"Wait, what?" asked Cole in surprise.
Then, Zane came in with a bright smile on his face. "Pixal, you came to visit," he said. But his smile quickly faded at the sight of her appearance. Her silver hair was windswept, and her tunic had multiple tears and bits of glass clinging to it. "What has happened to you?"
Pixal turned to look at them, her expression serious. "The Nindroids are coming."
It didn't take long for them all to gather in the monastery, and Pixal to explain what had happened.
"Pythor," Cole growled. "Thought for sure we'd seen the last of him."
"Seeing him swallowed whole by the Great Devourer did leave that impression," agreed Zane, his face grim.
"Guess even the Great Devourer has better taste than that," Jay said sarcastically. "Creepy jerk probably gave him a stomach ache."
"From his complaints about the state of his scales, that is entirely possible," Pixal admitted. Her expression then turned desperate, "Please, you will help save my father, won't you?"
They all blinked at the different way she referred to him as her father now as opposed to before but shrugged it off. "Of course we will," Nya promised.
"My thanks," said Pixal gratefully.
"Still, if Pythor is back, then I'm glad Lloyd's out of the line of fire," said Kai with a dark look, and glad their youngest member was in the other Ninjago. "He still can't stand volcanos thanks to the last time Pythor got ahold of him."
"Indeed," agreed Sensei Garmadon, gripping his staff tightly. "And if I had not sworn to pacifism, then I'd be tempted to give that treacherous snake what's coming to him." Despite saying that, he looked tempted to break his vow and do so anyway.
"I'd be happy to do that in your stead," said Misako with a sweet smile that did not match the level of malice that was oozing off her. Having heard what her son had gone through thanks to her poor choices, the guilt tended to cause the normally demure archeologist to be more than happy to air her grievances at those who mistreated him in her absence.
"We all would be willing to aid in that endeavor," agreed Sensei Wu.
Pixal, meanwhile, looked alarmed. "What do you mean, 'out of the line of fire'?" she asked.
They all exchanged a glance, unsure about how to explain the other world to her.
"Lloyd is spending the night with some extended family of ours," Wu finally explained without really explaining. "They live quite far away, so far, in fact, that we normally must use the Ultra Dragon to reach them."
Pixal's expression turned distraught. "Oh no!" she said. "You must call him back at once."
They all exchanged a glance of surprise at that. "What? Why?" asked Zane.
"My son is a child, would it not be better he is somewhere safe?" asked Sensei Garmadon.
Pixal shook her head. "Under normal circumstances, yes," she replied. "However, in this case, he is the key to our victory."
"Aw man, is this another Green Ninja thing?" asked Cole.
"But he's still in training," Nya protested.
"Yeah, take it easy on the little guy," Jay agreed, shooting Nya a look hoping for her approval, which she did her best to ignore.
"It is his energy powers we need. They are vital," Pixal explained. "Pythor demanded my father and I use Zane's blueprints to construct him an army. However, I instead used my own blueprints with some minor aesthetic modifications."
"Still not seeing what that has to with Lloyd," said Kai.
"Because there is a weakness in my design that Dr. Julien's designs do not have. Do you not recall what his power did when he was visiting Borg Tower?" asked Pixal.
Understanding flooded the teenagers' faces, but the adults still looked confused.
"What? What happened?" asked Misako in concern.
"He used his powers in the lobby almost everything shorted out. If he hadn't stopped, every electronic in the room would have fried," explained Nya.
"Including myself," agreed Pixal.
"Then we could use Lloyd's power to take out Pythor's new army all at once!" said Jay, his face lighting up. "Easiest fight ever! We just take care of that, and get back to doing our own thing."
Cole sighed, knowing 'doing his own thing' for Jay meant badgering more potential love rivals.
However, Zane's face fell as something occurred to him. "I'm afraid it is not so simple," he replied. "Pep was just here visiting me, and he took the Ultra Dragon to return right before Pixal arrived. Until the Ultra Dragon returns or Meowthra happens by for a visit, we have no way of following him and retrieving Lloyd."
There was a beat of silence as that sank in.
"Meowthra?" Pixal couldn't help but ask in confusion.
"Our friend's giant pet demon cat," said Cole, waving the question off. "You might have heard about sightings of her."
"That… explains the reported sightings of a massive feline," said Pixal slowly. She then shook her head to get back on track. "Is there no way you could call him back?"
"No, nothing," said Nya. "We've been working on a way to call, but it didn't seem that important compared to everything else, and not even Dr. Gary has come up with a phone that can reach that far."
"Not unless the, uh, doorway is open on their side," added Jay. "But they weren't scheduled to test anything today to let that happen."
They fell silent as it sank in for them.
They could only hope the Ultra Dragon returned soon.
A/N Kudos to those who guessed that Pixal's plan was for Lloyd to use his powers to short out the Nindroids, and good guess for everyone who thought it had to do with the energy source. Lloyd did say he'd save it for a robot apocalypse. They're not quite at that level yet, but better to cut it off before it gets too much. The only problem is, Ultra is currently in Movie Ninjago, and so is Meowthra, and until one of them goes to the Show world, they have no way of getting Lil'Loyd back or contacting their counterparts, so... yeah, for the moment they're kinda stuck.
As ever, a huge thanks to Kay Hau who helped plan a lot of this out. Jay flipping out at every guy he meets is partially her idea, and she was a huge help in plotting out this chapter.
Next Time: The Ninja Force finishes their planning for now, and Zane gets a chance to talk to Penny about his discovery.
Don't forget to check your PM folder for Review Replies.
