A/N: This has been floating around in my head for a while, and recently I started writing it down in my notebook. I'm almost done writing ch. 3, and I have a general idea for ch. 4-5, but there will probably be about 6-7 chapters total. Anyway, enjoy ch. 1 of The Return!

Lloyd turned around to make sure Kai was still following him. They were in an abandoned construction yard, and there were lots of twists and turns, so they could easily lose each other.

The day before, an unknown group had broken into Borg Industries and stolen the Realm Crystal. Samurai X had tried to stop them, but was unable to catch them. PIXAL had, however, managed to place a tracker on one of the renegade's vehicles. Knowing that recovering the Crystal would require stealth, not force, she contacted Lloyd and sent him the coordinates. Lloyd in turn called Kai, on a separate mission with Nya, to come in.

Now the two of them were sneaking into the yard to locate the Crystal. As Lloyd turned, Kai caught up with him. "Where do you think it is?" he said in a low voice.

The Green Ninja shrugged. "I don't know yet. But I don't like it. It's too easy. If you had just stolen the most powerful and dangerous thing in all of Ninjago, wouldn't you guard it more carefully?"

Kai nodded, conceding the point. Then, at a sudden sound, both ninja whirled around, Kai drawing his sword and Lloyd his two katanas. And stopped short, as they took in who had snuck up on them. The all-too-familiar red and orange bodies encased in gray armor, the ssssss of their forked tongues, the glowing eyes that showed the hive mind all were connected to. Kai whistled softly, taking a deep breath before speaking to convince himself it was real.

"Vermillion." Lloyd muttered something unintelligible under his breath. He tightened his grip on his katanas, moving forward to intercept the snake warriors. The reptiles advanced in turn, spreading out to surround the outnumbered ninja.

Kai moved his sword to his right hand while his left burst into flame. "Think they can take the heat?" he said, glancing at Lloyd. Lloyd shook his head and swung his katanas at the nearest Vermillion, and the fight began.

Strangely enough, the Vermillion seemed less powerful and strong than before, and it wasn't long before the ninja began to push them back easily. Lloyd frowned. Something was off. This was too easy. Kai, on the other hand, whooped in celebration. "They remember last time, when we kicked their butts!"

"Don't get cocky, Kai," Lloyd said. "They're leading us on. You don't—LOOK OUT!" The shout was torn from him as he shoved the master of fire several feet to the left. Kai grunted as he hit the ground. Then he looked up in horror as a giant pile of junk landed where he had been just a few seconds before. Where Lloyd stood.

"LLOYD!" he screamed, but before he could move, something struck him from behind and the world went black.

Lloyd couldn't move. Every breath was a painful struggle. Through the pain, he heard Kai's agonizing cry, then a groan. Fighting off the blackness threatening to overtake him, he listened hard, trying to glean some kind of clue. Seemingly from far away, he heard a voice.

"Do we take the green one?" A second voice answered, "Nah. He's done for. We've got who we came for. Now all we have to do is wait for the girl."

The first voice replied, but Lloyd didn't hear it. His hazy brain was racing. The Vermillion had been sent to capture Kai. They also wanted Nya. Then he remembered who controlled the Vermillion. With that thought, he summoned all his remaining strength and moved his right arm to the comm link in his ear. He clicked it on and sent a desperate plea to his teammates, hoping that someone, somewhere, was listening. "Help…" was all he could say before the light faded from his eyes and his hand let go of the comm, falling limp.

A/N: So there's ch. 1! Poor Lloyd, hopefully someone heard him. Did anyone catch my Star Wars reference?