~~ Ch36:Tue3, Not our friend, Giggles ~~

"You stole my son," growled Garmadon, standing facing his brother. Wu stood on the Destiny's Bounty, clearly waiting for him, staff at the ready.

"I did no such thing."

"For your stupid games. To turn him into a weapon to be used against me."

"I did not."

Garmadon lifted an arm and gestured at the Bounty. "Search it for my son!" he ordered, and all the generals and troops with him immediately began climbing onto the ship to do just that. Wu made no move to stop them, not able to afford the distraction from his brother.

"As for you, brother," spat Garmadon. "Prepare to die, you meddling coward!" He charged.

~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~

Apparently Wu was keeping secrets too, as an opalescent white shimmered around his arms and torso as he battled his brother, flashing brilliantly each time it clashed against Garmadon's purple flares. It seemed to nullify them, which was probably for the best, as otherwise the Destiny's Bounty would surely be destroyed by now. It was already somewhat tattered and beaten, having apparently been the target of several of Garmadon's golf balls two days ago. (How he had managed to hit the Bounty multiple times but struggled to aim in the direction of the green, even after understanding the basics of the game, was unknown.)

How much did Koko not know about her own family? This was evidence, right before her eyes, that Garmadon and Wu truly were the sons of the First Spinjitzu Master. For all her talent and skill, she understood why Wu had so completely refused any help from her. For the first time in her life, watching this clash of titans, she felt completely inadequate. Any human would be crushed.

Just what had happened to her friends when they tried to stop Garmadon on that night none of them would talk about?

The flashes and flares reminded her of something. Sparks and swirls. A small child laughing and giggling, surrounded by green-colored energy. True, no one had believed her, but had she overreacted? She'd seen it as evidence of a prophecy fulfilled, and it probably was, but could part of it be counted to her son not being entirely...

Koko swallowed dryly, cutting off that thought. A thought she'd believed, before today, that she was completely at peace with.

Wu had said he was counting on her to reach Garmadon, to pull him out of this blind rage. But how, when she couldn't get anywhere near them?

Wu had also said the first few hours were the worst. Would she really have to wait that long? Longer?

Have to watch the man she loved behave like the monster the world treated him as?

~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~

"We have to go!" shouted Nya angrily at her belligerent father blocking the door. Kai held her hand, and the twins had never been so determined. Or so confused by their parents.

"Absolutely not," replied their mother, from where she stood behind her children, blocking any alternate exits.

"It's a fight against Garmadon!" exclaimed Kai. "We're Ninja! This is kind of the whole point!"

"We've fought him before! We've won before!" added Nya, equally frustrated.

"You are ninja-in-training," growled their father. "And even if you were full Ninja, I would not let you past me unless you could take out Master Wu himself."

"It's Garmadon!" Kai repeated himself.

"It's not the Garmadon you know," interrupted their mom. "This one will kill you. This one nearly killed us."

Kai and Nya froze at the tremble in her voice. And suddenly realized what she was talking about.

"He would've killed us," continued their father. "It was only luck that he started to regain some sense of self and shift to ranting and accusing instead of murder. If he had not recognized Maya when he tore her mask off, had not suddenly remembered who we were, I fully believe we would both be dead. Even then... he wasn't himself. He still would've killed us, had we been any less on our toes."

"That Garmadon," and their mom gestured angrily at the tv, showing a rerun of the man in question stalking down the street, purple flares around his arms and in his wake, the very ground trembling and buckling with every step, "is not our old friend."

Ray's stance relaxed when he saw his children's body language finally acquiesce. "This is not forever, Nya, Kai. Just until the worst passes and Garmadon regains his senses. Then we can begin working together to search for Lloyd in earnest."

~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~

Jay rapped nervously on Cole's bedroom window. After a minute, his best friend flicked open his blinds. Completely unsurprised, Cole unlocked the window and slid it open. He lowered his headphones as Jay climbed through.

"What is it with you and heights?" teased Cole lightly, glancing down at the sheer drop of about thirty feet below the window. "You do remember we have a perfectly good front door, and in lieu of that, a decent fire escape around the other corner?"

"You've got a nice wide window sill, and I didn't want your mom to see me. Have you heard from the others?"

"Kai and Nya can't get out, and Zane's got a theory but won't let me in on it. He warned he'll be out of range but not to worry."

"So it's just us?" Jay wrung his hands nervously, wishing he had his scarf. But if they were going to be out there right now they needed to be Ninja, not teenagers.

"It's not like we'll be fighting," commented Cole calmly, securing the belt of his gi. "Your parents know we're spying? My mom's fine as long as we keep our distance from Garmadon in psycho mode."

"They didn't want me to come, but said they wouldn't stop me and to please be safe. Ready?"

"Is that Jay?" called out Cole's mom's voice through the closed door. "Remind him we have a perfectly good front door, as well as a fire escape. Don't draw Garmadon's attention, and if he sees you, run like hell. Bye, boys."

"Bye, mom."

"Bye, Mrs. B!"

~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~

Zane knelt to examine the puddle inside of Lloyd's shark mech. His eyes glowed as he ran scans on the composition. Mineral, not purified. Even now, at a substantially lower temperature than the the floor and air in the mech.

No footprints, but a distinct trail his scanners could follow, if not his eyes. Whoever had been frozen and melted had a tail, but not feet. Serpentine, and a high leveled one at that.

Gerald. His master, teacher, predecessor. The pieces all fit together. Pythor has attacked Lloyd, though there hadn't been any fighting. Gerald has intervened, and hadn't bothered to hide his tracks. The tracks he had specifically trained Zane to analyze and follow.

His teacher had taken Lloyd. And wanted Zane to come after them.

They were on the island. Zane hated that island. Just because, as a nindroid, he 'could' learn skills that took other people decades in a few days didn't mean he wanted to.

The only time he had ever been angry with his father. When Dr. Julien all but gave Zane to the old master. It had been a terribly confusing time. And painful.

Zane shook off the memories. Gerald's ice submarine mech was rather slow, designed for stealth not speed. He would take Jay's Lightning Jet, cut the travel time in half. Lloyd could be back by early tomorrow morning. It would have to do.

~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~

"First things first," sternly began Ice, or Gerald rather, standing across from me in full lecture mode. Arms crossed. Eyebrows furrowed. Mouth frowning. "You have to stop giggling."

Which of course made me giggle more. He just looked so serious! With such silly advice, even if he had a point. I tried to muffle it, covering my mouth and trying to take deep breaths. Green sparks and swirls danced around me, glowing brighter at my giddy mood, which only gave me more of a buzz.

"Lloyd."

Heeheehee! "Ok! Ok, give me a moment!" I managed to get out, closing my eyes and focusing on breathing, just breathing. Letting Green calm down from a buzz to a sort of background hum.

"That's better," said Gerald.

I opened my eyes and examined my hands. Less sparks, more glow.

"You really have to get that under control. We do not yet know the affects it could have on other people."

It was hard to think of Green as something destructive or harmful, but he definitely had a point. I really didn't know, so better safe than sorry.

"Ready?" asked Gerald. "Calm?"

I nodded.

"Alright, then. Let's get started." He frowned as he examined the glow and flickers still dancing around me, though now at a much more sedate pace. "I've long since suspected that the reason Green was to be so crucial did not lie in how powerful it was, nor in being some secret weakness of the great evil, but in something else entirely.

According to the First Spinjitzu Master's teachings, energy exists within all things, and modern science has since backed that up on an atomic level. Scientifically, by controlling the energy within an element, you could potentially even change one element into another, let alone manipulate it, reinforce it, or disperse it.

The FSM taught, not just that Green was within all elements or could control all elements, but that it itself was made of all elements - or at least the primary five. Thus you should be able to add heat like Fire, or take it away like Ice. A connection to land like Earth, sky like Lightning, and sea like Water. Control of an object's state, whether solid, gas, liquid, or anything in between. Make or break chemical bonds on a micro level, and control our very reality on the macro.

I believe this combination explains Green's unique ability to heal. Are you with me thus far?"

Wow. That was, um, a lot to take in. But I think so. I nodded.

"Good. Then let's start with the basics. You can already summon Green on command, and obviously have a strong connection to it already, able to sense and manipulate it - those are usually the first steps an elemental master must learn. So I'd like to jump to control of other elements, namely Ice. Keep in mind that there has never been a Master of Green before, so my conjecture in how it works and why is largely hypothetical."

He smirked and froze my feet to the floor, which sent me into another round of giggles. Right back to where we were yesterday!

"This might take a while," he began haughtily. "The control of elements involves a unique understanding of their very nature and-"

"I dunno about that," I interrupted teasingly, leaning down and setting my glowing hands over the ice. It melted.

Ice stared, but quickly recovered. "No, no, I didn't mean just escaping but actually manipulating-"

I giggled, and didn't even have to think as I gestured and the water, glowing green and flickering with sparks, reformed into ice and then into a dragon sculpture.

"This may be harder than I thought."

I found that absolutely hysterical, doubling over in full-bellied laughter at the stunned look on his face!

It took him, and me, a couple minutes to recover.

"Let's backtrack a bit," sighed Ice. I mean, Gerald. "Let it go for a bit."

I blinked at him, uncomprehending.

"Release it, dismiss it, turn it off," he continued impatiently.

Uh... I stared at my glowing hands and the swirling and dancing sparks around them. How do you...?

"SERIOUSLY?!" exploded Gerald, and this time I bit back the giggle, understanding quite how serious this problem was. I couldn't exactly walk around the city like this.

Although, if they looked half as funny as Gerald right now... Heehee!

Nope, no, time to be serious!

I tried to put on a serious face and again raised my hands to stare at my power. "Uh, go away."

Gerald threw up his hands in disbelief. Well, maybe that had been a little weak. I tried again.

"Time to, uh, sleep? Seriously, I kinda need you to-"

If anything, Green totally rebelled, swirling around me brighter and faster and warmer, all the more determined to play play play! Now that it had been released, it had, I had?, no intention of being put away!

I gave Gerald my best pleading look. He just stared at me for a long moment, as if in complete disbelief over what was in front of him.

And this time HE fell over laughing.

~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~

Author's Notes: So what did you guys think? A bit of what's going on in the city, plus some craziness with Green! I loved the idea that Green is actually a little backwards from other elemental abilities - it just seemed such a Lloyd problem to have!

Next chapter is about 60% complete. I should have it done in two or three weeks. As always, check my profile for my progress!

Special thanks to Sunny Lighter for all the feedback on characters and plot! Especially a certain Zane backstory we've got coming up that was hinted at in this chapter, as well as how to introduce Meowthra!