A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…

Chapter Thirty-Three: A Ninja Doesn't Get Side Tracked...

"Kai! Kai! Kai!" Lloyd came barreling into the room where Kai was sharpening his sword.

Kai arched one eyebrow upwards as he eyed the younger boy. "What is it, little boss?"

Lloyd jumped onto Kai's bed, clutching a flyer in his hand. "There's a carnival in town today! Isn't that AWESOME!? Can we go! Please please please please please please!"

"Uh... how about no." Kai frowned, not liking that idea at all. Before the kid could protest to him about that being unfair, he raised his hand up for silence. "Look, it'll be way to easy for us to lose you in that kind of crowd. There's nothing we can do about it. Besides... there's plenty of things to do on board the Destiny's Bounty... its a flying pirate ship for crying out loud!"

"Fine..." Lloyd sighed as he slinked away from the teen.

Kai went back to sharpening his sword, freezing suddenly as a thought accord to him. Kid what are you up to..? (Kai)

Silence... then: Why isn't Lloyd answering you Kai? (Neuro)

Keep the ship going! I'm gonna go track him down! (Kai)

Garmadon kept a tight grip on his son's hand as they approached the Ferris Wheel. "Are you absolutely sure that Kai and the others are fine with our being here?"

"Yep! Positive! Come on Dad! They have cotton candy!" Lloyd ignored Kai's mentally pestering him for a location. As they got into line for the ride, Lloyd glanced back in time to see Kai come tearing across the pavement towards them. "But just to be sure... how about we hurry things along... FREE ICE CREAM AT JONAH'S ICE CREAM PARLOR!" There was an instant stampede, leaving the two the only ones standing in line. Lloyd dragged his father into the cart, almost glaring at the startled attendant. "Go! Go! Go! Go!"

Confused, the attendant started the ride up, sending them slowly rising to the top of the tall Ferris Wheel. Lloyd! You are in MAJOR trouble once I get my ha... ooh what's that? (Kai) Kai snapped his eyes away from where Lloyd was making his escape and towards a group of snake charmers that were putting on a show nearby. Walking over to them, he watched fascinated as the one in the middle, a man with a thin beard, goatee, and a mustache, an odd combination really, with a dark maroon turban covering the rest of his hair. Kai stared at him, the same feeling he got with the others resurfacing. When the crowd dispersed after the show, and the snakes were placed back in their respective baskets, Kai approached the mysterious snake charmer. "Excuse me... can I have a word with you?"

"Yeah sure." He turned to face him, quickly straightening up. "My name's Gravis just so you know."

"Kai... um... I actually was wondering if we could take a walk together kind of talk. It's sort of not something that people should overhear." Kai hoped he was doing a good job at this. If not... oh well. Hopefully Gravis would understand after he was recruited not kidnapped.

"Sure thing." Gravis turned to face the only female amongst the charmers. "LuLee? Can you watch Maria for me?"

"Yep! Don't worry cuz, I've got my eye on her!" She flashed a smile in his direction, before going back to what she was doing.

Gravis waited until they had left the carnival, before he spoke up. "So what did you want to tell me?"

Kai took a deep breath, before opening his mouth. "Well... you see here... "

Garmadon chuckled as he watched as Lloyd shoveled the carb packed carnival treat that he had insisted on getting. The young boy hadn't seen Kai or any of the others really, for several hours now... and was starting to relax a little bit more than what he already was. "Thanks for bringing me here Dad... today was the best!"

"Glad you thought that." Garmadon glanced down at his watch, a frown quickly forming. "Though we probably should get back now. The others are probably wondering where you disappeared off to."

"Right..." Lloyd dragged the word out, almost sinking low in his seat. Kai was going to be furious with him!

Garmadon paused, eyeing his son suddenly. "You did have permission from Kai to come here... right?"

"Um... yes?" Lloyd almost smacked himself. That wasn't supposed to come out as a question!

"Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon!" Garmadon blurted out, suddenly realizing that his son may have tricked him into bringing him here.

"Kai said it was too dangerous..." Lloyd mumbled, not liking being in trouble at all.

"That's it! We have to get back now, before they send a search party out for us!"

~Wu's Turn!~
Wu blinked slowly as he reread the report one more time... "Yeah... this makes no sense whatsoever. I mean, Garmadon and Lloyd must have escaped from Kai and his gang, since they were spotted trying to hide from Kai at a carnival of all places... and then Kai gets distracted of all things by snake charmers!" He thrusted the report across his desk towards Misako.

Misako raised one eyebrow upwards as she scanned the report herself. "I wonder if there is any rhyme or reason behind who they take?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"The fact that it says right here that Gravis Gravition, one of the snake charmers, has not been seen since Kai asked to speak with him in private."

There was a loud thud as Wu banged his head against his desk.

"We're back!" Lloyd bounced into the dining hall, and immediately froze upon noticing a random guy floating above the table. "Uh... who are you?"

"Gravis. I'm one of your backup Guardians." Gravis introduced himself, before flipping right side up, yes he was floating upside down, "Also I can control gravity."

Garmadon blinked slowly, before turning to glare at Kai who was catching a bowl of marshmallows on fire nearby. Kai didn't look up as he responded to their presence. "Yeah apparently it was a good thing that you ran off to see that carnival. Never would have found Gravis if you hadn't."

Ray, who was watching this entire exchange with amusement, finally spoke up. "Kai... how many times do I have to tell you? Ninjas don't get sidetracked while on missions!" He sniggered as he spoke, clearly finding this entire exchange hilarious.

Garmadon looked longingly at the wall, wondering how much attention anyone would give him if he started banging his head against it.

A/N: Done! Okay... so I was having a hard time thinking of how they'll meet Gravis, or what he did for a living... and then Angel suggested this! Thank you sis! Kai got distracted from protecting Lloyd but obviously nothing bad happened.

Reviews:

Kifo Entiegon: Garmadon's reactions to everything actually is very fun to write... love to hear that your enjoying them! Yeah... too bad Misako is wrong on why they 'kidnapped' Neuro. Here's a few virtual cookies for correctly guessing who the villains are! I tried to make it as obvious as possible and I think your the only one to comment on them. None. Absolutely none. They don't have spies everywhere to get to the elemental masters first. Will do!

CopperHillsGrizzly2010: No he doesn't... Um... unless my plans change, he doesn't find out until they're saving ***** spoilers in case I do end up doing that. Sorry.

Hoppy854: Dareth will come in later... not yet. And no. That isn't what he's gonna end up doing. Okay trying to copy them and majorly failing he will be doing a lot of. Garmadon and well, everyone, will be raising their eyebrows at him and wondering if they had missed something when he comes along. And no I'm not going to explain that... spoilers.

Toxicthecat4836: Why thank you!

Review!

Almost forgot! Guardians so Far!

Kai- Activated, Fire, Janitor

Nya- Activated, Water, Janitor

Cole- Activated, Earth, Janitor

Zane- Activated, Ice, Janitor

Jay- Activated, Lightning, Janitor

Griffin Turner- Activated, Speed, Ninja

Karlof- Activated, Metal, Rocket Scientist

Paleman- Activated, Light, Ninja

Skylor Chen- Dormant, Amber (Doesn't know this yet), Waitress at popular pizza parlor

Ash- Activated (barely), Smoke, Thief

Neuro- Activated (barely), Mind, Psychologist

Gravis- Activated (barely), Gravity, Snake Charmer

SkyTalon