me borthday is 2morrow

so uhh... definitely no update on this tomorrow. I'm thinking about writing a ottwcd oneshot for my birthday (for those who read that), but not this.

Review replies:

Arianna: Sounds about right.

Ebony: I'm glad you enjoyed it haha. I spent a lot of time on that...

Entity: She totally had it coming. And they will both appreciate cookies!

Aurro: Yearly? I've never even had someone get married before!

MNM: It sucks. :( There's so much more they could have done with Morro, this story is proof of that.

KitKat: HAHA SAME

Lloyd stared.

"You've got to be joking."

"No, no." Kai 2 shook his head. "I told her everything. A-and even if I didn't, she can read my mind, so, when I got close…" The red ninja pressed his face into Cole 2's shoulder. "I'm s-sorry…" Lloyd blew out a frustrated breath.

"It's okay. It's fine. You were tricked." Kai shook his head.

"I w-was reckless, a-and acted on my emotions, and-"

"You thought everyone hated you! I can't blame you for acting like you did." Granted, his first reaction would not have been to run off and join the Preeminent. But Kai was… not him. "It's not the end of the world. We just have to come up with a new plan. Quickly." Kai shook his head, distraught.

"She's n-never gonna get close, not n-now."

"Then what's that?" Morro 2 spoke up, and Lloyd looked up to see the Preeminent resuming her journey towards them.

"That's… odd." The blond frowned as Kai lifted his head in shock. "She's… not close enough to spring the trap, she'll probably stop before she hits it. Regardless, Coles, Nyas, go. Get in position." Cole looked up at him, then back down at Kai. "Bring him back to the base first. And Gray, take Reena there. Make sure she doesn't escape, and that includes killing her." Gray gave him a curt nod, then started walking off, Reena dragged behind him on the ground. Cole, however, hesitated.

"I don't wanna leave him alone, he's… a bit unstable."

"'A bit'." Kai muttered bitterly. Lloyd frowned.

"Well… Kai, do you wanna go with them to their position?" The brunette's head popped up in surprise.

"You… trust me?"

"Why not? You're my brother." Lloyd gestured to him with both hands. "You practically raised me. Well, not you, but… you know what I mean. Of course I trust you. I trust basically everyone, which some would say is a character flaw." He shot a glance at Morro 1, who ignored him in favor of Indigo. "I'm rambling, but my point is yes, I trust you. You've obviously realized that you were used, and you came back." Kai sniffled.

"I-I… then… yeah, I wanna go."

"Okay. All of you, hurry. We have no idea what the Preeminent's going to do next." Cole helped Kai to his feet, then they ran off to join the others. "Everyone else, just… wait. I don't know… what to expect."

"I'm gonna go check on the others." Morro 1 announced. "Indigo, c'mon." They grinned at each other, then ran off. Something weird was going on with them.

For some reason, it made him think of Jessica, and he turned to scan the group for her. It took him a moment, but he finally spotted her on the other side, watching the Preeminent in the distance. Lloyd felt a pang of guilt. He'd made far too little time for her over the past weeks. He'd been busy, but that wasn't an excuse.

Since there was really nothing to do but wait, Lloyd made his way over to talk to her.

"Jessica?" He tried to catch her attention as he got close, and she jumped.

"Oh. Lloyd!" She smiled up at him. "Nice to, um, talk to you."

"Is that a subtle way of saying 'Lloyd spend some more time with me you degenerate boyfriend'?" Jessica snorted.

"Well, I wouldn't use the word 'degenerate'. But I have missed you."

"I'm sorry. I've been… really busy. But I've still had plenty of time that I could have spent with you, and I… didn't. So… sorry."

"It's okay." The daredevil patted his arm. "You're… kinda taking over Sensei's job at this point. So you're understandably busy." Lloyd frowned.

"I have, haven't I?"

"Except the being-cryptic-and-confusing part. You're… always really honest." Jessica smiled, slipping her hand into his. "I've always liked that about you." Lloyd grinned.

"True. Even when I'm a lousy boyfriend and don't acknowledge your existence for weeks at a time, at least I'm honest!" His girlfriend rolled her eyes.

"You're trying to save the universe. And a few of the bad guys along the way." Lloyd blinked.

"A few?"

"Morro 2, Soul Archer 2, Nicole, technically, sort of, your own double, Gray, Kai 2, you just brought him back…" Jessica let go of him to tick them off her fingers.

"Oh. I'd completely forgotten about Soul Archer, to be honest. Where's he been?"

"He and Bansha have been mostly hanging out together. I guess she misses her Soul Archer."

"I guess. What about Tori? Haven't seen her around much either."

"She's out a lot. Not sure what she's doing. The time she spends at the base she typically spends with Lloyd 2, 'cause… they were friends as kids." Lloyd sighed.

"I wish my Tori was like that."

"Me too. Then I wouldn't have to be constantly keeping an eye out for impending kidnappings." She grimaced, and Lloyd chuckled.

"It was just one time."

"Two."

"You sure? Oh, wait, you're right." Lloyd sat down on the bridge, and Jessica followed him down. "Do you know why Indigo and Morro are acting kinda funny? Kinda giddy." Jessica grinned.

"Well, I'm not sure about anything, but I think I saw a ring on her finger…" The brunette lifted her left hand and wiggled her fingers. It took Lloyd a few moments to realize what she meant, then his eyes widened.

"They're engaged?"

"That's the implication, yep!"

"That's so weird." Lloyd said with a laugh. "I still think of Indigo as a kid, and Morro's… my best friend. The thought of him getting married is just… whoa."

"'Still'? Isn't she like 20?" Jessica raised an eyebrow.

"She told us she was 15 when we first met her, I guess to try to keep us from giving her a hard time about her size." He shrugged. "I dunno. After she died, she didn't see any point in hiding her real age, so…" He trailed off. "Oh, Jessica, that reminds me, I need to ask you something." She gave him a funny look.

"If you're going to propose to me, I think we're still a bit young." Lloyd huffed.

"I was just going to ask if 'Danger' was your real last name, but then you had to go and make it awkward." Jessica let out a bark of laughter.

"Sorry. It's Williams, actually."

"Williams." Lloyd tested out the word. "Jessica Williams."

"Doesn't have quite the same ring to it as 'Jessica Danger', eh?"

"Personally, I'm partial to 'Jessica Garmadon'." Lloyd winked at her, and she gave him another funny look.

"Are you proposing now?"

"No! I'm teasing you! Geez!" Lloyd threw his hands up in the air. "I promise, I won't propose to you until I'm at least sixteen."

"How old are you now?"

"Um… thirteen through fifteen. Let me think." He frowned, cupping his chin in his hand as he stared out over the water. "About fourteen at this point, I think."

"What year were you born?"

"I have no idea. Ask my dad."

"Mmm." Apparently not really having an answer for that, Jessica joined him in staring morosely over the ocean. "Does she… look like she's moving faster?"

"Huh?" She… did, kinda. "That's a bad sign." Lloyd scrambled back to his feet. "Stay safe, okay? I gotta get back to my day job." Jessica blew him a kiss.

"I will. Go do your thing." Lloyd made a show of 'catching' the kiss and pressing it to his heart, making her giggle, before running off to relay the information to the others.

Break time was over.

The plan was to have the final battle be in three chapters, but I couldn't smush all that information into one more chapter, so here's some filler featuring my favorite daredevil who was unfortunately temporarily lost in the void.

~FFF

P.S. the best present y'all can give me is reviews. y'all readers who don't really review, please say hi :C