After the ninja got back from the temple, I learned about the kidnapping of the people. At that point, the actions that the snakes went through made no sense. Those that were kidnapped know that the Time Twins were building something, but we had no clue at the time. With the confusion as to who exactly was taken, it was hard to figure out a pattern between the victims. It wasn't until we later actually found the headquarters that the Vermillion that we figured out they were all people that worked in construction and craftsmanship. The most important thing, though, was figuring out how we were going to find them.

The pushback the team started to give me about being the leader, however, started then. Master Wu was still in bed, and that meant that we didn't have a Master to fall back on. With this in mind,I told the team that since I was technically training to be a Master (even if Wu wasn't really doing anything for me) then logically I would be the one that would take control of the group. Looking back on it, I sort of went about doing that in a very selfish-sounding way.

The others weren't exactly happy about that, and immediately they tried to take me down a peg by making sure to refer to me as "Temporary Master Lloyd In-Training." I get why they were upset, but it just felt kinda… insulting. I understand the 'temporary' part since I was just filling in until Master Wu was up again, but taking on that last bit of 'in-training' was just unnecessary. And it didn't help that they didn't want to listen to me at all either.

Since we didn't know hardly anything about the Twins, my first goal was to figure out where they took the people. I went as far as to make this whole presentation about places they could be, and my goal was to try and get the others to chime in and we'd work together. I know that some places do that, and I wasn't sure so I wanted a second opinion. The entire time I was doing it, Jay was working to mess with me over and over again. I couldn't get through one sentence without him squeaking a chair or slurping on something or just doing something to throw me off.

I get that on some level, it's hard to accept me as a leader like that. I more or less just volunteered myself for the role, so I didn't start off on the best foot. But I was just as much a ninja as they were. I didn't want to play a card like "I went and defeated the ultimate evil!" or something like that, since that would just be abusing my accomplishments. But the way that they just seemed to brush me aside like that just felt, wrong. It felt like they were intentionally trying to make me angry! I wanted to be a good leader, but that was hard to do when it felt like they were ignoring everything I said.

During this, the Vermillion started up their plan to start stealing scrap metal. We'd anchored the temple nearby Ninjago City so we could be close to where everything was happening, and Ronin came to warn us about what was happening. Apparently, both him and Dareth had been attacked. The idea of them stealing metal, however, didn't make sense. This was literally a day after they'd been kidnapping people, so showing themselves again and now stealing something else just didn't make sense. Because of this, I told the ninja that we needed to stay and figure out their plan instead of blindly rushing in.

The others didn't like that. They just ignored me. They all stood up and went to leave. When I told them that staying here was an order, Kai just told me that he was disobeying that order. Ronin left too, leaving me alone. Having them just throw back my order like that was enough that I felt genuinely angry for the first time in a long time.

I didn't want to try to throw around my power as a Master like that. I didn't want them to think that my entire goal with them was to just order them around, but at that moment I was confused. I know that it's their thing to rush in and figure out what's going on later, but everything that happened had been so confusing that I wanted to know more before we went in. We didn't even know what the Vermillion were called. All we knew was they were working with the Twins -one of whom we only just discovered was still alive- and that they'd kidnapped people. Now they wanted metal!

I was so angry with them that I didn't follow them. If I went with them, I'd just be proving them right. So, while the ninja went and tried to stop them, which didn't work, I was left to go back to watching over Master Wu. I knew I couldn't do anything for him, and it was at that point I realized that I didn't even have to since mom was there to take care of him. But I wanted to do something, otherwise I'd feel like I was just… just nothing. After getting Zane hurt and knowing it was partially my fault, I didn't want to make any mistakes again. I didn't want to keep messing up.

I knew I should have left, but I didn't. I didn't want to prove the others right. I was so upset that I ended up just staring off at the city while it was being attacked. That just made me feel guilty on top of feeling angry. I kept having to tell myself the others were out there, but then that meant that I wasn't even there to help them, which made it worse. I didn't know why something so simple as just, wanting them to stay behind for a little bit had rattled me so much.

I think part of it was because Master Wu was sick. Knowing that he wasn't there to help me put pressure on me to want to be someone the others could look up to. I wanted them to see me as a Master. Since this was also around the time that I was trying to push Wu to help make me a Master and not getting anything to show for it, I felt like I then had to also make my own path. I had to do something to make myself a Master, and figuring out this weird plan and everything that came with it just felt like a natural part of it!

While I was there with Master Wu, earlier Wu had been lucid enough to say that he wished that 'you' had been there when he fought Acronix. To me, that made me feel even more guilty. I was watching the city when my mom asked me if I was worried, and I of course lied and said I was worried about Master Wu. When she pushed me on me being worried about the others, I tried saying that I felt like leaving Master Wu's side would be a bad thing to do, since he'd said that he wished that I was there when he fought Acronix. Wu became lucid enough again to tell me that he had meant the team, all of us, and that I hadn't disappointed him.

After all that time stewing in my own feelings, I told Wu about how I felt upset that the first time I'd tried to be a Master, I'd messed up. I felt like I'd made a mistake and I wanted to know what to do. Of course, that had to be the exact moment that he fell back asleep, leaving my mom to come and actually give me advice for the first time in… way too long. She told me that every master makes mistakes, and that Wu even made some of his own.

Hearing that more or less was enough to make me get over myself, I think. I was still angry at them for not hearing me out, but right now wasn't the time for me to be sulking. I wanted to go out and help them, and that happened to be the exact moment that the power substation was turned off. That was enough to give me an idea of where to go, so I decided I'd go and fix my mistake now by helping the team when I didn't before. I raced off to go help them.

I know it sounds like I turned around quickly, but I knew that I had to go and help them. The more I waited around, the worse that everything would get. I had to do something, and I told myself that a true Master would know when he made a mistake. I knew that I hadn't introduced myself as a Master in the smartest way, so I needed to prove myself. If I went and helped them, then maybe they wouldn't' treat me like I was just being silly.

I was there before the rest of them, and that was when I apologized to them. I figured that I needed them to know that I was in the wrong. I was a little shocked to hear Kai apologizing for being rude to me earlier like that. I knew that it would take time for me to be a Master. If I would have to work to prove myself to them, then so be it. Part of my Master training that I think I'm still going through today is growing up and learning when I can be a better leader. Just because what I say is right, doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.

Now, at this point Zane was actually partially reactivated. Nya had gotten him partially online, which meant that he was more or less aware of everything but gibbering nonsense. When we got into the substation, I got to see the powers of the Vermillion firsthand. The snakes had cobbled together bodies out of office supplies and bits of the substation itself, meaning that fighting them was about as easy as fighting a giant pile of toys that rush out of a stuffed closet.

The true strength of the Vermillion isn't really their ability to regenerate, since there are ways to block them. I think what made them so tough was how powerful they were when it came to adapting. Since they were just small snakes, they could do whatever they wanted. If we beat one form of them, we'd just be attacked by another weird thing of parts and snakes. Their ability to regenerate is just there to make you tired. You can learn how to beat each form of Vermillion, but the more that they grow and adapt to your fighting style, the harder it gets. They're made to overwhelm you, not beat you.

We managed to defeat them and turn the substation back on by using Zane and a turbine to create a magnet and suck all the armor away from the snakes. The shock of this was actually enough to unscramble Zane's crazy circuits. Once you take away the armor the snakes have, then they're easy to deal with. The snakes aren't made to fight like that, so they normally retreat. But, as long as they have something they can crawl into and fight you with, then they're a threat.

It was just after we'd finished turning the power back on that we heard about Mega Monster Amusement Park being attacked. That was enough to tell us that something had gone wrong, or more so that we'd been played. The power being turned off was just a distraction to take us way from the action. We raced over as quickly as we could. We still didn't get why they wanted scrap metal, but that wasn't important. Jay told us later he realized that if they were after metal than his parent's junkyard was in danger and left.

I know that the footage that the news got of us at the park wasn't exactly the best. Part of what happened was the Vermillion split into two teams, one focused on pinning us and the other focused on getting the metal. Since there were so many people around, we had to worry about them first. The majority of the battle was so hectic we didn't even realize Jay wasn't there until a lot later in the battle.

When we got to the park, I started giving orders as to how to fight. This was when I noticed that none of them had issues with them. I think that, since we were fighting together and I was giving them the plan to go in and just fight, it was easier to give orders. I guess part of being a leader is making sure to make plans that play to your group's strengths. With how well the battle at the substation went as a team, I was feeling good about this one.

Since the Vermillion just kept coming at us and we had to keep saving people, we were fighting for hours. By the time that we realized that they were gone, we'd already been exhausted. I remember at one point I saved a kid named Johnny that knew my name, that felt kinda nice. That was really the only specific thing I remember before it happened.

In the span of a few seconds, the entire course of the battle changed. The second Time Blade, the slow blade, landed. From what I get, after the first Time Blade landed, Krux's plan had changed from simply conquering Ninjago with the Vermillion to getting the Time Blades for his big plan. The Vermillion that were at the park were immediately called away to go and get the slow blade, leaving us to deal with feeling time slow down for a few seconds after the blade first landed. While we were all picking ourselves up, Zane detected the location of the blade.

Okay, now this is something I have to point out. Borg not only put all sorts of weird stuff in the Borg watch, but he also put a temporal anomaly scanner. He literally put a scanner inside of his watch that scanned for disturbances in time. Scanning for issues in traffic, sure. Health, maybe. But… but why time? I wouldn't care so much, but the reason the Vermillion were able to hear right there was because Acronix's stolen watch picked up the blade's location! It's such a random thing to have in there… I don't even know why he had it! Sometimes I think that Borg is just a few steps away from becoming a villain with how many evil plots he'd wrapped up in.

We all got on our vehicles and left the park. By the time we caught up to the Vermillion, they were almost at the blade. We were close to stopping them, but one of the generals used snakes to literally clog up our engines and crash up. I was in the Raider Jet myself, and the snakes started attacking me from inside the console and I was forced to bail. While the snakes themselves aren't usually able to do much, they were versatile like I said.

Now, the Vermillion generals got the blade first and used it to demonstrate to us the power of the slow blade. We rushed in as quickly as we could while they were figuring out how to use it, and we were about to perform a team Spinjitzu attack when the orange general figured out how to trap us in a bubble of time. When it happened, it felt like the world around us was moving in slow motion. In reality, we were, but everything around us looked like it was happening like you stretched out a video. It was enough to throw us off, and we were quickly surrounded. The Vermillion were just waiting for us to tire out to finally take us out.

This was when Jay arrived. From what I understand, Jay had fended off the Vermillion but they'd captured his mom and then drove off with vehicles from the scrapyard and the park. Jay and his dad used an early birthday gift to Jay to make a bike they used to catch up to us and help rescue his mother. I was so focused on the blade I didn't notice Ms. Walker was actually captured until Nya pointed it out to me. In order to stop Jay, the general just let the blade hit the ground and make a giant bubble around everything to slow us all down. So long as the Vermillion could see him coming, they could make a plan to stop him.

This was when Jay used a little trick that made the bike somewhat cool. By charging it up with his lightning powers, he was able to somewhat bypass the effects of the blade, knock the blade out of the general's hands, and save his mother. In doing so he had to let his father off the bike (I don't get why he brought his dad in the first place to be honest), but he let us have a chance. We were able to reclaim the blade and, after making the others stop playing keep-away, able to to grab Mr. Walker and run. Jay couldn't slow down and went speeding off into the distance.

Thankfully, the jet that I crashed wasn't damaged enough not to work. I got my first taste of using the Time Blade to slow down the Vermillion coming at us. Using it worked like using my powers; you think of what you want it to do, and then the blade will do it. By slowing them down, we took the blade and managed to escape just as they came out of the effects of the blade. We sped off into the distance with both Jay's dad and the balde in tow.

We still had no idea what the plan was, and we'd failed to stop the Vermillion from stealing metal, but we'd managed to both secure a Time Blade and rescue the people that were under attack. For now, we had a victory on our hands. I'd managed to prove to my friends I could be a Master and leader, and they seemed to agree. After all that'd gone wrong, I felt pretty good.

If I'd known that it was just a slow start to our biggest fall, I wouldn't have felt so proud of myself.

"Was that truly how they reacted to you?" Zane asked as Lloyd finished up.

"To me declaring myself the Master?" Lloyd asked, "Erm… kinda, yeah. I mean, like I said it was kinda my fault. I came off as someone that wanted the position but was acting like I didn't."

"I see," Zane paused, "You managed to learn a great deal from such a setback, Lloyd. I do not condone the way that the others reacted, but I believe you handled the situation well."

"I kinda… didn't, though," Lloyd pointed out, "I went and left everyone to go and get upset."

"That does not mean that you handled it poorly," Zane nodded, "You were able to recognize a flaw in yourself and act on it. By apologizing to them, you were able to see that you were at fault. Many would simply put the blame on them, yet you rose up to see your own part to play and corrected it."

"Erm… I mean, I guess you're right," Lloyd coughed nervously, "I just told then what I felt…"

"If you continue to make judgements like that, then you will be a fine Master," Zane smiled.

Lloyd felt a little bit of relief and embarrassment go through him. Zane, seeing them, went quiet to let Lloyd process everything he was hearing. When Lloyd finished blushing, Zane sat up to start leaving.

"Oh, Zane!" Lloyd stood up, "There's actually something I wanted to ask you. Well, two things. Mind if I do?"

"You do not need to ask permission first with me, Lloyd," Zane chuckled, "I trust that you would only ask things that you wish to know."

"Yeah," Lloyd paused, "So… do you remember anything from all that time you were all, you know, messed up?"

Zane suddenly gained a bit of an embarrassed look on his face, "I do not. My memory circuits were not functioning at the time. It was the shock of the turbine that brought them back into alignment."

"Really?" Lloyd paused, "Do you ever get upset knowing that you can get messed up like that?"

"It is part of the body that I have," Zane shook his head at Lloyd, "I am no more upset about it as you would be at getting sick with a cold. It is something that I must deal with."

"Right, right," Lloyd nodded, "Second thing, do you want me to mention anything about Pixal?"

"You will likely talk about Samurai X next chapter, then?" Zane paused, "I do not think so. Say whatever thoughts you have about it."

"Really?" Lloyd paused, "I mean, they aren't bad thoughts, I just wanted to check since, you know, you were worried about all of that at the time."

"It is your book, Lloyd," Zane smiled, waving his hand to leave, "Write it how you want. I will listen to all your thoughts, good or bad."

Lloyd nodded, feeling some relief go through him at that. With that said, he left the room, gathering his thoughts for what would be the next part of this particular part of his book.