Lloyd stared after the retreating backs of the Defectors, lips pressed tightly into a line. This was bad, the right thing to do, but bad. His eyes flickered back to Skylor, the red headed woman standing with her gun limp at her side, entirely uncertain.

On the one hand, one look at the data would prove that Skylor and Lloyd had just betrayed Garmadon's orders. Skylor had opted to follow her heart rather than the cold formal training that had dictated every action for as long as she could remember. Lloyd's punishment might be less severe, but not by much.

Even if Garmadon didn't check the recordings, their failure was something to be frowned on. But what Lloyd also had trouble comprehending was what had urged Skylor to change her mind. As their quiet pants filled the tunnel, Skylor's shoulders sagged. "Come on. We might as well as well start walking." She nods towards deeper into the dark abyss, and Lloyd puts up no fight.

Their silence is punctuated by heavy boots thumping metal, periodic gasps, scraping. Far in the distance, they hear the clamor of the Defector bodies trying to get out; but Lloyd and Skylor had no intention on keeping up with them.

"We're screwed." Skylor finally mumbled, shaking her head in defeat.

"Keep hope, Skylor." Lloyd replies curtly, green gaze scanning their route. "I'm certain something good will come of this."

"Hope! You talk about hope like it's right there! Well news flash! It's not!" She hissed back, folding her arms. "I don't know what world you came from where hope is found on a silver platter, but we are in so much trouble that-"

"I know! Okay! But I refuse to face defeat lying down." Lloyd vehemently shot back. It was now more than ever he hoped Ronin was behind the bracelet audio... now more than ever that he hoped his green destiny would keep him alive... and Skylor too.

The master of Amber said nothing, gnawing on her lip and walking in silence.

{SLUMS/12:30}

Karlof's fist lest a sharp divot in the floor where Maya once stood. She'd moved, fast. "Hello, Karlof dear." She greeted, ducking another fist while Wu and Garmadon traded blows not far off. "You've grown up."

"Shuddup!" He sneered, swinging. Maya lept out of the way, flipping gracefully, hands perching on his helmet, elbows bending and springing. She finished the flip behind him, foot flying out and catching him mid back. He grunted, falling forward, using his metal mitts to stop him from falling face first. With a thunderous growl, he spun around. "You'll pay for that!"

"Will I?" She asked softly. "Come now, Dear. You used to be so much kinder than this." Another blow, another dodge. She glanced over her shoulder. She was getting to close to the wall.

"You don't know me!" Karlof hissed back, next blow clipping her shoulder. She gasped, dropping slightly with a hand to the appendage. Her helmet flashed up.

"No sweet heart... You just don't remember!" Maya lunged, rolling sideways, vision whiting as her damaged shoulder touched the floor. "Wu! We have to go!"

The old master's sword slammed into Garmadon's sparks flying. They'd fought in silence, all verbal blows traded far too many times to warrant it yet again. At Maya's cry, Wu's gaze snapped sideways.

"You're going nowhere, Brother!" Garmadon hissed, but Wu was already dropping a small bag from his grip. Smoke flew into the air, choking Garmadon. Wu felt a metal hand grip his wrist, jerking him away, not the size of Karlof's but of Maya's. As Karlof and Garmadon hacked on the smoke filling the small space, the two resistance fighters fled.

{KAI'S GARAGE 2:20}

Garmadon paced irritably, feet hitting the clods of cement as he moved back and forth, utter fury radiating off of him in tangible ways. Nya was too stressed out to continue training, something Garmadon neither noticed nor cared about.

Cole had his arms folded thoughtfully, eyes trained on the dark lord. He was grumbling. Karlof was sitting on a rock, saying not a word. "They should have been back!" Garmadon all but exploded. He was kicking himself. Maya and Wu had given him quite the chase, but in the end, slipped through the cracks in one of the sewer ducts. They'd searched for hours, scouring every inch of the tepid sewers to no avail.

They'd come back, but Lloyd and Skylor had yet to appear. It was driving Garmadon batty.

"I'm sure they're uh... fine." Karlof said, waving his hand for emphasis. "Skylor is smart, no?" Garmadon grumbled beneath his breath, pacing still more.

"Gar- Sir. What if they were captured?" Cole opts in. Perhaps provoking him was ill advised, but the master of earth was curious just how buried the man's heart had been by evil. Garmadon whirls on him, eyes narrowing.

"Then I'll hunt those pathetic renegades down like dogs and kill them." He spits, clenching a fist before returning to his pacing. Cole, properly intimidated, slunk back against the wall, eyes flickering to Nya. "Why are you all just... standing around? Go make yourselves useful!" He snaps, all four arms folding behind his back, shoulders ramrod straight.

"Yes sir!" Zane response automatically, clutching his rifle and heading towards the window. As he perched in an old stool, eyes scanning the surroundings, Cole took his boots off and started scrubbing them. His bandana flopped out. With one quick motion, he snatched it mid air, stuffing it back in. Kai wrinkled his nose, rolling his eyes as he moved to cover the door. The sound of quiet scraping signalled Cole's attempts to scrub the caked dirt from his black combat boots.

{KAI'S GARAGE/2:33}

"And just what are you doing?" Garmadon asked, voice laced with tension. His eyes flickered over Nya, who sitting with a bucket. It was empty. "Are you sick?"

"No." She replied simply, shrinking back a bit. "I'm... I'm uh..."

"I've been trying to teach her to master her element." Cole interjects, looking him from his semi-polished shoe. "Figured since we had some spare time and all." The brush scrapes some more dirt off.

"Well get back to it." Garmadon grumbles, walking away.

{SLUM CITY SEWERS/4:21}

"Just where are we going, Skylor?" Lloyd asked, finally getting sick of the noxious fumes and the oppressive darkness. He was used to tight and dark, but he hated spending too much time in any sewer. A few of Wu's early bases had been accessed via sewer, but that was back before Lloyd had sprung Pythor and the Serpentine.

To Wu, it had been a test. To see if the 'supposed Green Ninja' could unite two formerly warring races. Garner more allies when the humans didn't want to stick up for themselves. Lloyd had spent a lot of time crawling through the muck, deciphering clues, evading elites set to guard the tombs. Of course Garmadon and Harumi had immediately sought the oppression of the Serpentine once the tombs were cracked, and the alliance between them and the SOGs had been largely forced out of need for survival.

"Towards the garage... I think." Skylor replied breathlessly, wiping a red strand of hair aside with a grit covered were both a bundle of nerves, both antsy with worry. What happened when they got back? Just what would Garmadon do? Would they meet the fate of the poor master of wind who now lurked behind them?

"You think?" Lloyd pressed. "I thought you knew your way around these tunnels!"

Skylor stopped, shoulders slumping. "I studied the layout! We must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, I don't know!" She snaps, throwing both arms up.

Lloyd frowned, tilting his ear and turning in the dark.

Skylor wrinkled her nose. "Maybe if we find street access-"

"Shh." Lloyd hushed her, finger coming to hover just above his lips, eyes casting furtive glances. In the distance, beyond the plinking of drips and scurry of rat's feet. There was a scuffle from a tunnel to their left. Lloyd turned, recognizing the heavy weight of a body with combat boots moving along jagged cement.

A plink as a small orb was cast from the darkness, rolling along the ground and hitting the side of Skylor's foot. She took one look and shouted- "Dive for cover!"

But it was too late. The world went white for both of them, electricity arching along the damp ground and coiling around the two soldiers. Lloyd heard screaming, both his own and Skylor's mixed together. Then the world went dark.

-AUTHOR'S NOTE-

Eight months. It's been eight months since you all got a proper update. Well where to start? Life got utterly hectic. I won't go into details. But this chapter is long over due. I'm sorry for leaving you all hanging. Yesterday, I decided it was time to pick up where I left off. I re read the story from start to finish, picking up little details I'd utterly forgotten about -agonizing over grammatical errors, and now I've got what I need to continue the story.

My style's changed a little. I hope not too much, and I'm probably going to go edit out some of the glaring errors of the earlier chapters before long. My writing mood comes and goes these days. So I can't promise how frequent updates will be, but this cliff hanger I've left has my mind whirring with ideas, so it's just as much to your benefit as mine.

Thanks for all the reviews you guys have left. Now aknowledgements!

-Watcher321: Thank you! I really appreciate that!

-Guest: I'm sorry I've been away for so long. Here's your update :D

-GreenNinja429: Ah yes, my dreaded cliff hangers. I'm rather notorious for those as you can see. Thank you for the compliment. That means a lot! As for the language, I don't personally cuss (beyond what you've seen and of course made up stuff like Kriff -star wars stuff only- or Holy Spinjitzu Master or whatever). It's just not my style! I'm glad someone appreciates it though!

-ItsYoGreenGirl: Not my intention, but hey, could be a distant relative XD

-Alirxi: Thank you! I shall certainly try!

-ProfessorYeti: Let me just start off by saying that I love this comment. It always makes my day when people try to pick out nuances or tiny details in other people's stories. Your theory about Morro is correct. For starters, he wants Skylor on his side. He realizes there will be division and Skylor was close to him. Secondly, the Defectors have a greater chance of actually bringing Harumi and Garmadon down.

Ah yes, there WILL be troubles ahead. I shan't say how or how severe, just that the poor kiddos ARE in trouble.

I'm not one for fight scenes, but I'm pretty proud of that little snipit. In movies they always delay and drag out, when an exit is indeed available. I didn't feel the need for that here.

-Nothern Goshawk: Thank you! Sky's tipped into dangerous water. Her redemption is here! She and Morro WERE close, very close indeed.

-Steampunk Wilson: Cole as you said is probably the wisest. He's a skilled fighter, perhaps not to the same level as Lloyd, but definitely skilled. Then there's his level headed wisdom. Lloyd's still trying to get his own life figured out, and Cole's already done that. So while he's not 'leader' he's also... leader.

-CheezPretzel: Thank you! That means a whole lot to me!