Guess who's back! Back again!

Sorry.

But yes, I am back everyone! Here's the twenty-first chapter of "Help Her!"! Enjoy!

Chapter 21

Skylor leads the team back up the monastery. They chat noisily behind her. Kai quickly approaches her and gently reaches out to take her hand, but she flinches and rapidly looks over her shoulder. Kai recoils slightly until she relaxes and wraps her hand in his. Kai's curiosity and worry rise at Skylor's behaviour - he's never seen her so jumpy, and it only started after Steven's identity had been revealed. It doesn't take a genius to realise the correlations.

The team get back to the top of the mountain staircase after about twenty minutes, most of them panting and shouting. Somehow.

Of course Jay had to make it a race, and of course Kai had to take him up on it, so of course the whole team had to go hurtling up the staircase, barely avoiding the lethal fall to their lefts, and resulting in six very sweaty people and two unfazed nindroids. Naturally, Zane and Pixal reach the top first, followed closely by Jay and Skylor. Kai and Nya pant heavily behind them, and Lloyd just manages to keep up. Cole soon overtakes him, and Lloyd puts on a final burst of speed to beat him by an inch. Laughing and joking, the team enter the courtyard and stand around for a few minutes before someone turns the conversation to the events back in the Traitors' hideout.

"So does anyone know what actually caused that massive collapse? We could hear the crash from our positions on the other side of the pit!" Nya exclaims, nudging Jay's arm, and the rest of the team nod in agreement, save for Kai and Skylor. Zane soon speaks up.

"Yes, we could hear it too. What really happened down there?"

"Kai, Skylor, you two know anything?"

Kai bites his lip before Skylor launches into her explanation, gaining mutters of 'ohhh' and gasps from the rest of the team when Chamille is mentioned.

"The Master of Form from the Tournament of Elements?" Nya asks, and Skylor nods grimly.

"I knew she had joined some enemy team, but I didn't know she had joined my damn adopted sister!" She growls, fists clenched at her sides. Silence fills the courtyard for a few seconds until Kai asks if someone should go check that Claire is still in her confinement. Skylor and Lloyd nominate themselves almost immediately. Skylor lets Lloyd go, and the Green Ninja enters the monastery without a glance backwards. The rest of the team remain in the courtyard. Lloyd grins to himself. Fools.

Lloyd enters every room he passes on his way to find Claire's cell, and finally, after twenty minutes, he does.

She leans against the back wall of her cell, her body facing the vengestone bars that hold her in. Her left leg is extended but sits at a slightly awkward angle, while her right is curled beneath her, needing the extra body heat to avoid practically freezing to the cold, hard surface of more vengestone on the floor. Her eyes are closed until Lloyd makes a noise on a particularly creaky floorboard. Claire opens one eyes and stares at Lloyd with hatred on her face, fury and lust for revenge in her cold blue eyes. She rests her weight on her right arm, her hand planted firmly on the solid, freezing floor. Lloyd's face remains blank, devoid of emotion or reaction. Claire drapes her left hand over her left knee, and raises an eyebrow at him cockily.

"Back for more fruitless interrogation?" she asks, a light laugh in her voice. "You're still not going to break me! Try all you want!"

When Lloyd smiles without a word in response, she snarls. The legendary Green Saviour shakes his head and chuckles slightly. He takes one more step towards her. As his left foot lands on the wooden floor of the rest of the room outside her cell, a purple glow shines and starts to slide up his leg. It spreads across his body, down his other leg, up his chest and along his arms. His green gi changes as the violet ripple passes over it, revealing a purple outfit with a gold trim. Claire's eyes snap up to Lloyd's head, only for the purple light to envelop it, replacing it with the familiar face of Chamille. The two Traitors grin in silence for a second before Chamille breaks the silence, still smiling maliciously.

"Where do they keep the key to your cell?" she asks, sweeping her gaze around the room, searching every visible surface for a key of any shape or size. She doesn't find one.

"Zane keeps it in his system." Claire replies, gaining an alarmed and disgusted look from the Master of Form. Claire bursts out laughing at the shock on her ally's face before continuing. "He's a robot remember!" Chamille's cheeks turn a light shade of pink before she turns her head, determined to hide her embarrassment from the other female.

"I knew that." Claire only laughs harder, the sound of it echoing around the room and travelling down the corridor, past the slightly-ajar door. It rings in Chamille's ears.

"I'll be back." Chamille shoots over her shoulder to her teammate and leader even as she pushes past the door, shifting back into Lloyd and smirking with an evil spark in her eyes.


Lloyd shakes from fear and fury, pain tearing up his right leg. He holds back tears even as they spring to his eyes. Steven grins cruelly down at his vibrating form. He throws the boy back down, and he lands awkwardly on his injured ankle, sending him toppling to the ground. Hard. His gi is no longer green all over, some places stained red by leaking blood from a few shallow cuts on his arms and legs, little reminders of all of the abuse he's already endured. Not that he wants to, though. Who would? But Lloyd knows that, in order for his team to find him and defeat the Traitors before they can conquer Ninjago, he needs to stay strong and power through any pain caused by the man who towers over him. That includes the short blade being dragged across his skin, cutting through the flesh on his hands, arms and legs, leaving the several cuts that remain there. The cuts that may remain there forever, adding to his ever-growing collection of scars from battles.

"We only require information about your plans." Steven growls, his eyes flashing. Lloyd snarls like an animal, his lip curling over his top teeth. Steven stands straight again, no longer leaning over Lloyd's body. He sniffs as if to say 'suit yourself'.

"Well, if you're not going to give up that information, I'll just have to pry it out of you. Like taking candy from a baby." he smirks, and Lloyd's eyes narrow angrily.

"Good luck with that. I think you'll find that I'm even less likely to give you any information than Claire, and she hasn't given us any yet. But that's fine, because now we're even. We both know the locations each other's hideouts and some of those on their side. I'd say that's fair. So let me go and we'll let Claire go." he bites his lip as Steven seems to contemplate the deal. He soon turns around again to face the Green Ninja, laughing quietly to himself.

"I don't think so, short-ass."

Lloyd snaps. He pushes himself to his feet. Well, foot. Limping forward, he fixes Steven with the coldest glare he's given anyone for a while. "Then you best prepare to kill me, because you won't be getting any information from me in a hundred years!"

"Fine by me. While you may not live that long, I've got all the time in the world." Steven grins wider, his teeth seeming to glow in the shadows of the room. Lloyd's eyebrows shoot up his forehead, his jaw dropping at the implications of Steven's statement.

Is he immortal?!

Well, we may find out next chapter!

That's right, that's the end of the twenty-first chapter!

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and if you have any feedback or questions, feel free to leave them in the reviews! I always love to hear from you all, and constructive criticism is always greatly appreciated!

See you all soon!

-LunaPikazard