On their way back to the alliance's headquarters, Kai and Skylor swung by to pick up Zane from where he'd had his accident. However, they were surprised to find that the pit was empty when they got there. The wrecked truck was nearby, but there was no sign of Zane.

Kai stood next to the hole and gazed around the jungle, scratching the back of his head. "Huh. I guess he already went back."

"I'm sure he's fine," Skylor said. "We might even catch up with him on the way."

Kai hoped she was right. The last thing they needed was for another one of their friends to go missing.

Kai and Skylor arrived back at the palace close to sunset. Kai followed as Skylor stepped through the front gate at the top of the steps leading to the dock. From the looks of it, Kai and Skylor were some of the last to return from the search party. Garmadon, Seliel, Nya, and Neuro had already made it back and were gathered at the bottom of the stairs. As Kai and Skylor came through the gate, Skylor waved and shouted, "You miss me?"

Seliel and Nya gasped, running up to meet her with shouts of joy and warm hugs.

"No more remote island vacations," Seliel said, squeezing her tight. "I've had enough jungle to last me a lifetime."

Skylor laughed. "Alright. Next time you can pick the location"

"Let's just agree to never split up again," Nya suggested. "And maybe don't enter any more underground fight tournaments."

"Sounds like a great idea to me."

It warmed Kai's heart to see Skylor reunited with her friends. He could see how happy and relaxed she already was just by being with them. His attention shifted when Jay and Cole approached.

"Where's Zane?" he asked, surprised to not see him with them.

Cole frowned. "They said you were going to pick him up."

"I was, but –"

"I'm here," came a quiet voice from behind.

Kai turned, relieved to see Zane approaching. He was cradling his injured arm, followed at a distance by Pixal.

"You okay?" Kai asked him.

"Yes."

Kai eyed his wounded arm. His sleeve was ripped above the elbow, exposing a bandage that was stained with blood. "Are you sure? That looks –"

"I'm fine," Zane snapped. He stalked away, brushing past Cole and Jay.

Kai was shocked. It was rare to see Zane act so brusquely. He rounded on Pixal. "What happened?"

Pixal didn't flinch. "He was injured, but I cleaned the wound and led him back here."

"And?"

"You saw him fall."

"I mean why is he –"

"Hey, leave her alone!" Nya jumped between them. Kai was startled at the sight of his sister. He had almost gotten used to her ignoring him.

Seliel appeared beside her. "She said she doesn't know anything about it, so back off!"

Skylor came between both sides now, putting one hand on Kai's shoulder and another on Seliel's. "Let's not let this truce fall apart as soon as we're all together again. We still need to find my father and put an end to his plans once and for all."

Kai took a step back. He was certain that Pixal was hiding something. Zane wouldn't act like that simply because he was hurt.

"I'm sure that if it was important, she would tell you," Skylor said firmly. Kai hesitated, still not satisfied, but he finally backed away and rejoined Cole and Jay, who had watched the argument in tense silence.

"Do you want to start a fight with the whole alliance?" Jay said.

"There's something going on with Zane, and she knows about it," Kai insisted.

Cole threw a glance in Zane's direction. "Let's just think first before we shuffle our alliances again. Maybe he'll want to talk about it later."

Kai knew that Cole was right. Zane would probably tell them when he was ready. And they had to stay on good terms with Garmadon and his ninja for now. Kai just wasn't used to seeing Zane so upset, and it worried him. Especially after everything they had been through on this stinking island.

Not for the first time, Kai wished that Master Wu was there so he could help them out. He always knew what to do. But he had disappeared during the tournament without a word. The way things were going, the alliance would come to an end soon, and Kai had to wonder what they would do if Master Wu didn't return by then.

The sky was dimming as everyone went their separate ways, now that the near-quarrel had been diffused. Jay took the opportunity to catch up with Zane bythe water's edge. "Hey buddy –"

"I wish to be alone," Zane said abruptly.

"I'm not going to ask questions," Jay promised. "As a matter of fact, you don't even have to speak. But the three of us are worried. Usually you're so open and . . . well, I just wanted to remind you that we're here for you, whatever's going on. I guess you don't have to tell us, but we would like to know. So . . . yeah. I hope you figure it out, though."

Jay was about to walk away when Zane stopped him. "Jay?'

"Yeah?"

Zane hesitated, as if he wasn't sure whether he wanted to speak or not. He held his injured arm close, and curiosity flickered in Jay, but he made himself be patient. Finally Zane said, "You all say you love me even though I'm different."

Jay shrugged. "You're not that different. Everyone seems a little weird at times. But we all have our quirks, y'know?"

Zane frowned. "But what if I was very different? Much more than you thought. What if I –" He seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Like different how?" Jay wondered, trying to imagine what Zane might implying. But he realized too late that this was the wrong thing to say.

"Never mind. Just forget it," Zane said, dropping his arm to turn away again.

"Wait, Zane –" Jay reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "Look, it doesn't matter how weird you think you are or even how weird you really are. You're our brother, no matter what. Of course we'd still love you."

Zane nodded once. "Thank you, Jay."

Jay watched him go, still trying to understand how Zane could possibly be so 'different' that he thought they wouldn't like him anymore. He shrugged to himself. For as long as he had known Zane, he had always been self-conscious about standing out. Whatever it was probably wasn't nearly as bad as he thought.

As he turned to give Zane his space, Jay looked over to the girls, who were still crowding excitedly around Skylor. Now that she was back, half their mission was done. The only thing left was to find Chen. But night would come soon, and they wouldn't be able to pursue him again until tomorrow. Chen was just one man with next to nothing, and they were an elemental army. Surely if they could just get through one more day, then it would all be over.

Little did any of them know, it was far from being over.

Little did any of them know that, just a short distance away, two figures crouched on the cliffs surrounding the palace. Their bone headpieces and purple snake tattoos denoted them as a couple of Chen's followers. They crouched on a precipice, giggling to themselves as they watched the activity in the makeshift base below. The majority of Chen's followers were being guarded under the watchful eye of a couple Elemental Masters. And although most of the boats had been sunk, a handful of flight-capable vehicles that were still operational sat idly off to one side.

"This is perfect!" said one. "Won't Master Chen be pleased to hear what we've found out about their headquarters?"

"He'll probably make us generals on the spot!"

"Generals Kapau and Chope! I like the sound of that!"

"Oh yeah!" The two high-fived before they realized what a racket they were making and had to duck back down out of sight. But they were too far away to be heard by the Alliance below, and soon they snuck off to report back to their master.