Lloyd POV: You would think portal-travel wouldn't make you feel as if your insides were trying to claw its way out of you. I slammed into the ground when I made it through and just laid there.

"Never again." I moaned.

"Then how are you getting out?" Mercy said, leaning over me.

"I'll walk." still not getting up.

"Good luck with that." she said.

I pulled myself up into a sitting position and looked around. We were in an empty, blank hallway. Kai was closing the portal behind us.

"Where are we?" I asked, standing up.

"Home sweet home." Kai said.

So this is where they live. It's not what I expected, but it is better than them being in on the streets.

They took me down the hallway. There were several empty rooms here and there that have nothing in them. Not much of an actual home.

"Where do you guys sleep?" I asked

"Nowhere in particular. Don't get much of that these days." Mercy said. I thought they might have slight bags under their eyes.

"Why not?" I asked, hoping that they wouldn't say because of Discord.

She opened her mouth to say something before, "Mercy! Kai!" It sounded like a little girl.

I was right. A girl with short blonde pigtails and bright brown eyes come running towards us. She was wearing a yellow t-shirt and white shorts with some flip-flops. Mercy squatted and picked her up when she ran into her arms.

"Well look who it is. How was your day?" she asked. She sounded relaxed.

"Good. Did you get dinner?" the girl asked.

"Not yet sweetheart." she said, not telling her about what happened.

She saw me and asked, "Who is that?"

"A friend that's visiting." Kai said.

"Oh, okay."

Mercy set her down and said, "Listen, we need to talk alone. Do you think you can keep your brother in the other room?"

"So I'm in charge?" she asked with a big smile.

"Yes. Can I count you?"

"Of course!" then she went off, squealing in delight.

As soon as she was out of view I punched Kai in the arm.

"What?" he said, rubbing the spot where I hit him.

"You have kids here? Why didn't you tell us?!" I was completely shocked, but at the same time not. Kai was always the protective type and Mercy, by the way she was acting, was similar.

"They aren't ours. They're the grandchildren of the elder that helped us, and we promised to take care of them when they attacked." he said, not looking at me.

"Helped you? You mean with your injuries?" I asked.

"... and more." he said that so quietly that I almost didn't hear him.

"More?"

Neither one of them answered.

"Okay. What is this place?"

"He gave us enough of his power to create a space where we could keep them safe." Mercy said, crossing her arms.

"Like the other place. But if it's made with the same power then why didn't this place disappear too?"

"It didn't because it wasn't tied directly to him. And he gave the power to us before he had to give up the rest." she continued.

"That's not possible. Elemental masters can't do something like that."

"He wasn't an elemental master. He just had a unique energy that he could control and create with." Kai said.

"Oh, that makes more sense. So he had two grandkids?"

"Yep. Lucy, who you just met, and Anthony. They're special kids." Mercy said.

"Meaning?"

They looked at each other and she said, "They also have unique powers that aren't elemental."

"Seriously? What are they?"

"Lucy can sense other people's sadness and grief while Anthony can sense pain and anger." Kai said, leaning against the wall.

"Those are unique powers." I took a deep breath. Suddenly realising how tired I was, but I'm not done asking questions. I continued, "What does Discord want?"

They looked at each other and nodded. Then Kai went over and opened a door to yet another room. Inside was a high-tech room with several screens.

"As far as we know they want to create artificial powers to manufacture and sell on the black market. They don't care what it is as long as it is strong enough to handle… the extraction process." Mercy said, pulling up several security feeds.

They showed several labs with people in lab coats, most likely other Discord members. There were human sized tubes that had many smaller tubes that did not look friendly.

"The extraction process? That totally sounds fun." but it also makes sense. A lot of people are interested in our powers and how they work. If Screak and Howl actually figure out how to reproduce them they could get a lot of money. But at the same time the wrong people could do a lot of damage with them.

"What's your plan to stop them?" I asked.

"Destroy their infrastructure before they perfect their tools. And/or get their hands on a strong enough power." Kai said, standing beside me.

"Not much of a plan." Good to know that some things stay the same.

"We're working out the details." Mercy said, turning back to us.

"But did it ever occur to you guys that if they could get into the last place, which was created directly by him then maybe they could easily get in here."

"We're extra careful. We have one portal open at a time and they are extremely hidden." she said.

"You're still exposed. It's just the two of you and you have no back-up. This is no place to live and it's clear that you guys haven't slept in a long time. How long has it been exactly seen you guys went to sleep?"

They glanced at each other then didn't face me.

"Exactly. You need help and we are more than willing to give it to you. Just let us." I was talking more to Kai than Mercy. I'm hoping that our friendship will help me get through to him.

Neither one of them said anything. I suppressed a groan and walked out. I continued down the hall. Do they really think they can take down an organization this big by themselves? Or do they want to die?

I groan and hit the wall, hard. It hurt, but at least it calmed me down.

"You shouldn't do that." someone said.

I turned fast and saw… a little boy? He had chopped blonde hair and black eyes. He was wearing a black t-shirt and red shorts. Right, they did say there was a little boy around here. I think his name is… Anthony?

"Yeah, just lost it for a second. Nothing to worry about." I said. His face said that he didn't believe me.

"You're mad at them, aren't you?" He asked.

"Huh?" Oh right. They said he could sense anger and pain.

"Anty!" someone yelled. It was Lucy.

She came from around the coroner and said, "There you are! I was wondering…" she stopped when she saw me.

She stared at me for a few moments, some awkward moments, then started crying.

"Wow, are you okay?" Why did she start crying?

"I'm okay. I'm not the one who's sad." she said, wiping the tears away.

"Then, who is?" I asked, remembering what her powers are.

"You, of course." she said, catching me off guard.

Was I sad? Of course I was. I wanted to bring peace to my friend and now he wants me to back off. Even when this is over I don't think things will go back to the way they were. Is it wrong to even have that idea? Despite knowing that not true.

"I guess that I'm a little sad, but it's nothing." I leaned down.

"No! It's not nothing." she said and stomped.

I was taken back, again, and she said, "If you're sad then say so! Don't be like them, always keeping their feelings inside."

"Them?"

"Kai and Mercy. They want to stop fighting and go home, but they don't because of Discord." she said. This kid knows how to take my breath away.

They do want to come back.

"Lloyd!" it was Kai. He was probably looking for me.

"Yeah, over here." I said, standing up.

He came over and saw who was with me. He said, "I thought we told you two to stay in the other room.

"I got bored." Anthony said. This kid is blunt.

Kai sighed. Guessing this isn't the first time that Anthony was blunt like this. Kai then looked at me and said, "Lloyd, I…"

"You don't have to say anything. I get it." he looked surprised.

"You do?"

"Not the lone wolves part, but I get the 'have to finish once and for all' part. But I'm serious about us wanting to help. ...Nya really misses you, as do the rest of us."

He looked away and, after a minute or two, he said, "I miss her and the guys too."

"Then we're going with him." Lucy said, with a big smile.

"Um.. well, uh. If Mercy is okay with it. Then maybe." he said. He was also taken back by her. Her carefree attitude is a power in of itself.

"I'll convince her." she said, then took off.

Kai and Anthony tried to stop her, but she was too fast. How is a little girl already faster than a highly trained ninja?

After a long time of her saying please to Mercy over and over and over… and over again she relented and agreed.

Have to hand it to Lucy. She is much better at getting them to agree to things than even Nya. Making a mental note of that for later.