so for some reason I managed to acquire 3 jobs, hence... less than frequent updates.

my birthday is coming up! It's june 23, and I have an amazon wish list with pretty cheap items that I could try to link if anyone would like to buy your local sad fanfiction writer something.

Review replies:

KitKat: They're chill. They're used to it.

Aurro: It's good. platonic relationships are good. And I'm glad you enjoy my writing! :D

Ebony: Yeah. This one will be far longer than the last book's final battle.

Marblebird: oh thanks a lot fanfiction. and that kai and lloyd conversation was fun to write :D

Ms. Cipher: Heck, I didn't know she was based on Bill. xD

Plumcicle: WHOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

If you check the reviews for the last chapter, Nicole's owner, Ms. Cipher16, has added some details about Nicole if anyone is interested!

The Preeminent was huge.

Lloyd stared out the window at the huge creature, watching with a mixture of fear and… almost awe as she floated steadily towards them. She already overshadowed the city, the moon behind her causing an eerie glow to shine around her huge body. Even from this far away, Lloyd could feel her… presence. Both Morros had told him that she was a telepath, which didn't really shock him – how else could she communicate with her subjects? – but he didn't expect to be able to… feel her like this. Kind of like hearing a song from really far away, barely more than an echo, but still audible.

Despite what he'd said to Kai, Lloyd had ended up taking a couple hours of the night watch. He wasn't actually so selfish that he would make the others stay up while he slept. Besides, it gave him some time to think. A lot had happened in the past week.

Amazingly enough, Morro and Lloyd 2 appeared to have made up. Lloyd had seen them actually talking, and Morro had started eating with the rest of them at meals again. Nicole had also shown some changes, acting less flippant and a bit more…caring? Less pushy, too.

Mira was out of jail, too. She swore Lila had forced her to betray them by calling in a favor she owed her, and she had no choice but to comply with her demands. Harry had deemed that she was telling the truth, and, well… he was a telepath, so they really couldn't doubt him, even if he was jerky and cranky sometimes.

Charlie, on the other hand, was still locked up, and Lloyd could swear she was enjoying every minute of it. She goaded and mocked them every time they checked on her, and would not shut up about "the Preeminent's undeniable victory over them". Morro 2 had suggested that she may be trying to prove to him that she was 'more loyal' to the Preeminent than he, because he had apparently failed miserably in that area. Or she was just being a troll.

"Anything out of the ordinary?" Lloyd startled at the voice behind him, and turned to see Kai 2 coming up behind him.

"Nothing." The blond shook his head. "She just keeps coming."

"I wonder how close she'll get before she stops." The ghost mused, leaning on the windowsill. "Maybe we can kill her pretty early on."

"I hope so. If she gets into position, we'll set it off."

"Mmm." Kai nodded, and for a few moments they were silent.

"Kai?" Lloyd asked after a bit. "How do you… feel, about the Preeminent?"

"I hate her." Kai replied automatically. "She's a horrible, ghastly creature who's been nothing but trouble to Ninjago. Why would I think otherwise?"

"I dunno." Lloyd turned back to the window. "I guess I was just wondering if you becoming a ghost made you… I don't know, hate her less."

"Oh. Well, no. I still hate her guts."

"That's good to hear." Kai smiled a bit, but didn't look at him, leaning against the wall with a sigh.

"I'm kind of nervous, you know? This is a pretty risky plan, really."

"Yeah. It's gonna take a lot of luck for us to be able to pull this off. Really, we have to trust in your sister…s, and your mom." Kai smiled fondly.

"Well, I'm sure they can pull it off. They're awesome."

"Then we won't have any trouble." Lloyd grinned, and the ghost returned it. "I'm a bit worried about Reena, though. We haven't seen her in a while. I don't really know what to expect."

"With Reena, who knows?" The fire ninja shrugged. "She's an illusionist. Catching people off guard is gonna be her specialty."

"Yeah." Quiet for a moment. "But what is she gonna… do? I mean, yeah, she can make illusions, but short of like, making the army look bigger than it is or something, I don't know." Kai pondered this for a few moments.

"Well... she could physically fight us by making us think she was doing one thing and then doing another for example. But could she couldn't fight a lot of us at once. I don't know, maybe she's just gonna kind of attack us from afar and try to confuse us." Lloyd frowned, then nodded.

"Yeah." The room was quiet again, and Lloyd noted the hundreds of ghosts swarming around the Preeminent's huge form.

"The reason I'm here is actually to take over on watch." The red ninja spoke up at last. "So, you can go sleep."

"Oh. Thanks." Lloyd smiled up at him, which was answered with a thumbs-up from the ghost, before heading off towards his room. Both Morros were asleep, Morro 1 in his own bed and Morro 2 in Lloyd's. As quietly as he could, Lloyd slipped into bed next to him, pillowed his head on his shoulder, and quickly fell asleep.

Out at his post, Kai stared out the window for a long time, then finally glanced over his shoulder to make sure Lloyd was gone.

"Sorry, Lloyd." He said aloud, then vaulted over the windowsill, landing on the bridge, and headed off towards the Preeminent.

This was supposed to be a filler chapter. It really was.

Also, if you look on my dA, which is FirstFandomFangirl, I drew the scene from the very first part of this chapter! I'm proud of it. Go look at it.

~FFF