The morning brought gray clouds and an increase in temperature, which unfortunately also meant a cold drizzle instead of snowfall. Nya wrinkled her nose and shivered when she glanced out of the window. Jay wrapped his arms around her from behind.
"Come on, that's your element," he said in an attempt to cheer her up. "You don't mind the rain, do you?"
She turned half around, and he immediately noticed her reddened eyes. It made him regret what he'd said before she could even open her mouth to reply.
"Sorry," he muttered, hugging her tighter and resting his chin on her shoulder. "No, I don't think that was funny. I don't really have a reason to be funny."
She sighed and leaned against him. "I heard Cole getting up like two hours ago. He went to the training room. Let's make breakfast."
Jay nodded. "I'll go find him."
He went down the hallway, deep in thought. A brief check of the computer had revealed that Nya's updated search program had covered a considerable radius around Ninjago City during the night. It had picked up countless signals from various types of artificial intelligence, and then automatically double-checked them all. But none of them reacted to specific code words like the AIs of Zane and Pixal should have, and thus the radius had been expanded further and further.
Jay had no clear idea of the options of a bodiless AI. After Zane's sacrifice to defeat the Overlord, he had been as stunned as everyone when he'd learned that their friend had somehow managed to materialize again from the digital network of Borg Tower. It should have surprised him a little less, therefore, when Pixal transferred herself from Zane's system into the network of the Samurai cave, built a new body, and went on missions as Samurai X while showing almost continuous presence in the Bounty's main computer at the same time. But this, too, had felt like a miracle to Jay. He knew a lot about droids, but the most important thing was probably that AIs as advanced as those of Zane and Pixal were amazingly powerful and would surprise him again and again. Whoever had droidnapped them (Jay really liked the word) would be well advised not to underestimate the abilities of the two nindroids! And this led him to think ...
What if their friends had long managed to escape the influence of their droidnapper? Was there a slight chance that they could make it back into one of the ninja's computer systems by themselves?
It was something he would have to discuss with Nya over breakfast. Jay quickened his steps and opened the front door to make his way to the training room across the courtyard.
The morning, it appeared, had not only brought a change in the weather, but also another surprise.
"Hey!" Jay almost bumped into something that blocked the passage, something large and scaly, scaly like ... dragon hide. He stumbled backwards, prepared for a fall and a side roll, and felt a large paw in his back steadying him. A paw that did not belong to the dragon, because the dragon sat in front of him.
Jay turned round and found himself standing right under the beak of a griffin.
"First Master!" he exclaimed as soon as he had caught his breath. "You're freaking me out, you two! Not enough that you already tried to scare me to death individually, several times if I recall correctly, no, you've joined up now and turn up in front of our door together and ..."
The torrent of words with which Jay gave vent to his feelings prompted Nya to appear behind him, while Cole curiously approached from the other side of the courtyard.
"Wow," the Master of Earth said simply and exchanged a glance with Nya.
She nodded. "Yeah. Weird."
Jay, out of breath after his tirade, looked at them. "What?"
"Jay," Nya put a hand on his arm. "I know you're upset because they frightened you. Again. But don't you think it's strange, after everything we've seen so far, that they suddenly don't mind each other's presence at all?"
Jay glanced at the two large animals, who had retreated a few steps and lay now side by side on the wet cobblestones of the courtyard. Nya was right. Over night, the two beasts who had previously fought each other with teeth and claws, seemed to have miraculously become best friends. Huddled up against each other, they gazed at the three humans standing in the doorway, while the rain ran down the neck of the dragon and slowly soaked the griffin's fur. It was obvious why they had chosen the spot under the porch roof before: not to scare the first ninja who happened to poke his head out, but to seek shelter from the nasty weather.
Cole seemed to think along the same lines. "Come here," he motioned to the two animals.
With Cole, Jay and Nya pressed against the wall, there was just enough room for all of them under the porch. Nya ended up closest to the griffin, and when the large animal looked down at her with curious, but not unfriendly eyes, she plucked up courage and patted the griffin's side. The griffin hooted softly.
"You like that?" Nya asked quietly. "You know, we wanted to have a look at that injury the other day, but now I can't find it ..."
Jay watched the two attentively. It was true: the large, blackened patch on the griffin's side had gone. The fur was no longer matted with blood; could the rain have cleaned it? It seemed rather unlikely.
Encouraged by the griffin's friendly attitude, Nya continued to run her hand along the side of the animal until it suddenly flinched. Nya stepped back immediately, but the griffin only looked at her and gave her a little nod.
"I think she doesn't mind if you have a closer look," Cole said in a low voice.
Jay startled. And while Nya returned her attention to the griffin, a dozen thoughts tumbled through his mind at once.
The pronoun Cole had used without thinking twice.
Those eyes. Those large, electric green eyes.
His own musings about the nindroids being able to relocate their minds if required.
In his excitement, Jay felt a surge of his elemental power and reached out to touch the griffin, bracing himself for the same peculiar feeling that had startled him when he held Lloyd's cat – which was, come to think of it, very similar to that sensation when he accidentally used his powers on Zane during training, causing them both to jump and chuckle at the light shock. So when Jay put his hand on the griffin's leg, he fully expected the fur to spray sparks.
And it did.
"Nya," he cried out.
"Jay! Cole!" Nya exclaimed at the same time, because she had eventually found the wound in the griffin's side and stared at the circuitry underneath in utter amazement.
"She's a robot," they said simultaneously.
Their eyes automatically wandered to the dragon, who watched them with bright, blue eyes, and Nya gasped. "What if ..."
Jay nodded vigorously, but for once, Cole beat him to it.
"That's a robotic dragon, too!" he blurted out. "But hang on, if they're both ..."
Nya stared into the griffin's eyes incredulously. "Pix?" she asked softly. "Pixal, is that you?"
The griffin gently nudged her with her paw and hooted. It sounded happy, there was no mistaking it.
"Pixal!" Nya cried and reached up as high as she could in an attempt to throw her arms around the neck of the griffin, laughing with tears of joy in her eyes.
"Zane?" Cole asked the dragon. He began to grin from ear to ear and excitedly patted the dragon's neck. "Zane, buddy, you gave us such a fright! We had no idea!"
The dragon puffed and playfully blew a few large snowflakes into his friend's face.
Jay, completely overwhelmed by the events of the past few minutes and undecided which of the animals he should hug first, stood rooted to the spot in the middle.
"I called it," he stated, looking back and forth between them. "I totally called it!"
"Did not!" Cole turned round, raising his eyebrows. "You were screaming bloody murder just minutes ago. It made me think you were ..."
"No, but after that," Jay insisted, slightly embarrassed. "When I looked into her eyes. I knew it."
Cole opened his mouth as if to reply, but then only gave a good-humored grin. "Doesn't matter. I'm just glad we all know now."
"And we can transfer them back into their android bodies," Nya chimed in excitedly. "Zane, Pix, I'm absolutely clueless as to what happened to you, and why it happened, and it's a shame you can't talk to us right now. But we found your bodies! They've remained undamaged, and I think Jay and I can attempt to reinstall your CPUs and power cores."
The dragon and the griffin both looked up, visibly excited.
"Yeah," Jay confirmed and nodded, almost bursting with joy and excitement himself. "I've taken a look at the wiring and already had some ideas how to pause and restart your cores with minimal hassle for you."
He started to search his pockets for the notes he had jotted down on a piece of paper the night before.
Meanwhile, Nya and Cole explained in all brevity where they had discovered the bodies of the nindroids and what they had found out – or rather, guessed – about the plot involving the dragon gem. Listening attentively, Pixal several times blinked in surprise. Zane only nodded gravely. He seemed to sense her confusion and reassuringly put his wing around her, unable to communicate in any other way, and she absently put her paw on his.
'They're holding hands,' flashed through Jay's mind. He smirked and was about to nudge Cole and make a quip about this unusual display of affection between the two awe-inspiring creatures, when Pixal's worried look made him pause. She and Zane must have been separated before they had been able to share the results of their investigation with each other, and until very recently, they had not even known that the other had been transferred into an animal as well.
'We really shouldn't make them wait any longer,' Jay thought. He swallowed the joke and opened his mouth to ask them all to come to the hangar instead, but was cut short by the large front gate of the monastery bursting open with a bang.
The griffin and the dragon jumped at the sound and turned round, hissing menacingly, which made the two ninja who came running through the gate freeze in their steps.
"Whoa!" Kai exclaimed.
Lloyd held out his hands, conjuring up a powerful green orb of Energy, and prepared himself to hurl it towards the animals in front of him. "Not again!"
"Stop it, Lloyd!" Cole yelled, while the dragon and the griffin backed off and observed their friends warily.
"No powers!" Nya seconded. "Zane and Pixal are in those bodies. You could harm them!"
"What?" Lloyd let his hands sink.
"What?" Kai echoed.
"Yeah," Nya shrugged, "I know it sounds weird. I'm burning to hear their explanation, too, but they can't talk. We only found out a few minutes ago."
"That's ... that's awesome!" Kai took a deep breath, trying to recover from his shock. "They're back, then." He watched as the two droids slowly approached the ninja again and began to relax.
"I can hardly believe it. I'm so glad you were able to come home." He gave them a smile. "At least ... one of our problems is solved."
As sincere as his words were, Kai couldn't hide that there was still something weighing heavily on his mind.
Lloyd incredulously patted the dragon on the back and ruffled through the griffin's fur. "Welcome back!" he said quietly. He too looked relieved, but not unlike Kai, he seemed preoccupied. The happiness on his face was strangely mingled with concern.
Nya, realizing that something must be wrong, frowned at her brother. "What are you two doing here, anyway, and what was this dramatic entrance about? Weren't you supposed to stay at the museum until midday?"
"I don't think it's necessary any more." Lloyd's voice was strained. "There are more pressing issues now. Didn't you listen to the news this morning?"
Jay, Cole and Nya shook their heads. They had been busy with other pressing issues.
"There have been sightings of dragons in the border region of Ninjago and Shintaro. Lots of dragons, white ones, very large. And aggressive, it seems." He gave the others a telling look. "They are taking a straight course towards our part of the country."
"That's impossible!" Jay exclaimed. The fourth piece of the dragon gem had been closely watched by Kai and Lloyd since its arrival at the museum. It couldn't have disappeared from there, could it?
Kai turned to him. "Yeah, that's what you'd think. The news took us completely by surprise. The casket was right under our nose when we heard the broadcast, and the stone on the lid had not moved one inch," he confirmed. "Someone must have managed to restore the power of the gem even though they only had three pieces. And the dragons reacted just as Cole predicted!"
"Nya was right, too, unfortunately," Lloyd chimed in. "The minister of foreign affairs immediately made an appearance and promised to do everything in her power to defend our country against the duplicitous sky folk of Shintaro, who have deceived our people for years only to launch a vicious surprise attack against Ninjago today. Her words," he added quickly with a look at Cole, who was about to flare up with rage at these insinuations.
"I know, Cole. We all know. Neither Vania nor Hailmar set those Ridgebacks off. But this doesn't change the fact that we are under attack – and we must find out how the dragons were summoned and where the signal originates."
There wasn't much time to think this mission through, and Kai resolutely took the lead.
"Sis, can you and Jay quickly reinstall the drives of the two nindroids in their bodies?"
Jay looked up and regretfully shook his head. "No way."
"Such an operation takes much longer than we have now," Nya seconded.
"Hmm." Kai pulled a face, momentarily irritated by their reply. "That's unfortunate."
Lloyd looked unhappy. "I'd really prefer to have a complete team."
"Me too," Kai admitted. "But ..." he gave the dragon and the griffin a glance, and his face lightened up. "Who says our team isn't complete? Perhaps it's not a bad idea to confront those Ridgebacks with the support of two large, strong, flying animals. What do you think?"
Zane nodded, but Pixal hung her head.
"You don't feel strong enough because of your injury?" Nya asked, understanding immediately.
Avoiding the gaze of her friends, Pixal hesitantly gave a nod.
"Oh, don't worry," Jay exclaimed and reached up to pat her shoulder. "I'll fix that for you while the others go on ahead. It won't be perfect, but we'll get you up in the air again."
"I don't think we should all head north anyway," Cole agreed. "I'll go, and Zane. And we need Nya to pilot the Bounty. But the only way to really stop the Ridgebacks is to destroy the dragon gem again. It must be here in this area, and someone has to find it."
"You're right." Lloyd nodded. "We're needed here, Kai."
While Cole and Nya made their way to the hangar and Zane left to wait for them in front of the gate, Lloyd furrowed his brow.
"Do you think the fourth piece of the gem could somehow have been replaced?" he mused. "If only we knew where to look for the first three pieces of that stone – they would lead us directly to the madman who causes this whole mess to happen. But nobody knows where they were brought!"
Jay, who had waited for Pixal to follow him, noticed her tail twitching excitedly and looked up at her.
"You know, don't you?" he asked in sudden realization and slapped his forehead. "Of course you do!"
She nodded, and her eyes showed her despair at not being able to share this crucial piece of information.
Jay glanced at her thoughtfully, pursed his lips and suddenly snapped his fingers. "That's it!"
There might be a way ... It would have been great to have Nya's help, because she had a little more experience with this particular piece of hardware, but he mustn't detain her now that she was already preparing the Bounty for take-off. Besides, he had repaired a nindroid before! Granted, he'd sometimes used his abilities to prank Zane – that pirate voice had been too funny ... But Jay definitely knew a lot about the wiring of droids, and a robotic animal couldn't be that different.
He excitedly motioned Pixal to come closer and whispered into one of her lynx ears. She clicked her beak approvingly, and as she turned to lead the way to the hangar, Jay could have sworn he saw her owl face flash a smile.
When Jay returned to the living room some time later – alone, because Pixal was too large for the elevator and had opted to stay downstairs – he whistled contently. The air of self-satisfaction on his face stood in stark contrast to Kai's gloomy looks. While Lloyd was on a call with his mother, who affirmed for the umpteenth time that the casket with the fourth gem was still safe under shatterproof glass at the museum, the Master of Fire stared out of the window. The rain had ceased and a few rays of sunlight pierced through the clouds, but they had no effect on Kai's mood. He turned to look at Jay and scowled.
"What's up? There's no need to look so cheerful. While the others get to kick the butts of those dragons, we're stuck here. With no clue as to where to look for the stone that controls them. And it's a total mystery how it works at all, since it isn't even complete. Once again, this isn't funny," he hissed when Jay refused to let his smile fade.
"Oh, but we will go and kick some butts, too," Jay retorted smugly. "Lloyd can end his call right now, because we should be on our way."
"What do you mean? Our way where?"
"To where the first two – or probably three – pieces of the stone were brought: the wildlife sanctuary on the other side of Ninjago City. You know, the one on the peninsula, close to the junkyard where we found Zane's and Pixal's bodies."
"How do you know the gems are there?" Lloyd demanded to know as he put away his phone.
"Pixal," Jay replied matter-of-factly. "She showed me an aerial view of the whole estate and pointed out all important buildings including the spots where she thinks the surveillance cameras and alarm systems are located. The dagger and the necklace were hidden in one of the workshops. The third stone was only stolen after she left that place, but we can assume that it was brought there, too."
"Whoa, hold on," Lloyd interjected. "Pixal can't talk. She ..."
"Nope." Jay's smile became even wider. "But I found a plug that fits exactly into the griffin's circuits and allows her to use the animal's eyes to project things from her memory drive for others to see. Just like she and Zane do it with their android eyes."
"Brilliant!" Kai jumped up. "What are we waiting for?"
"Jay, that was awesome," Lloyd agreed. "Kai, can I get a ride in your jet?" he shouted after the Master of Fire, who had already stormed out of the room. "And Jay, too?"
"Oh, I'll be ok," Jay replied when they followed Kai to the hangar. "Pixal agreed to take me. Kicking butts with the help of a flying griffin should be at least as fun as riding a dragon!"
Pixal already awaited them, eager to leave. Lloyd beamed at her.
"You're amazing, Pix. Come on, this is the hour of the griffin!" he declared excitedly.
She crouched down to let Jay mount onto her back, and the Master of Lightning did so with a wide grin.
"Super cool," he yelled when Pixal flapped her wings and took off alongside the jet. "Kai, Lloyd, look at this!" He threw both arms up in the air. "No hands!"
"Uh-oh." Kai glanced over his shoulder with a concerned look on his face. "I dimly remember that you flying hands-free isn't always ..."
The rest of his words was swallowed by Jay's scream when Pixal suddenly dove down head first, prompting him to instantly hold onto her thick fur again. She'd caught him off guard, and Jay was pretty sure she'd done it deliberately.
"Bad griffin!" he scolded jokingly.
She clicked her beak, and it sounded like a giggle. Then, she suddenly pulled up and raced after the jet.
"Hey!" Jay held onto her fur for dear life. "When I said you owe me one for repairing you, I didn't mean I wanted a ride on a rollercoaster!"
She briefly turned her head and gave him a glance that clearly said "but you always enjoyed Monster Amusement Park!"
Ok, yeah ... She'd seen through him. Perhaps this was exactly the kind of ride Jay had hoped for. The only thing that surprised him was that Pixal went along with it. She must have picked up some of Zane's unpredictable humor!
Jay was slightly out of breath from the excitement when they caught up with the jet.
"You're still ok over there?" Lloyd called worriedly. "That looked scary. Is her body fully functional again?"
"Oh, yeah," Jay retorted. "What do you think? It was me who fixed her. We're just having a bit of f-... ahhhh ..."
Pixal plummeted in mid-air, obviously enjoying herself, and when she had made sure that Jay held on securely, looped the loop around the jet.
Coming up at the same level as Lloyd again, Jay grinned at him.
"... fun," he completed his sentence. "I told you. It's something between riding a dragon and piloting a mech. Just better. Samurai X is an excellent flyer."
Lloyd grinned back, the griffin hooted cheerfully, and the remainder of the flight to the peninsula passed without further incidents.
