There is a semi-gory surgery-while-awake type thing going on in the first P.O.V, but it's super short, like 46 words short, but I'll mark where it starts, and where it ends. Don't worry, it's real obvious.

Chapter 13: Motive

Jay P.O.V., 2 days, 17 hours, 10 minutes following "Human Nature": 12:10 P.M.

"Is the blue ninja ready for his prosthetic?"

"Yes, General, we are now only awaiting your order to attach it."

So they really made a prosthetic? Huh, I wonder what they did to it. "Hey, guys? Could I get a little info on the new hand you guys made me?"

"No!" Cryptor yelled.

A merc spoke up. "So, should we begin with the process?"

Cryptor sighed. "Yes, yes. Please, begin the grafting process."

The contractor nodded. "Yes, sir!"

A medic approached, holding sleek, glove-like hand. I chuckled nervously. "Hey now, buddy. Why don't we just walk away? You can leave me alone, and I can just walk away and I can grab Nya and go find my brothers."

The corpsman grinned. "How about, no?"

WARNING WARNING WARNING!

He injected me with what I hoped was an anesthetic, and began to slice open the center of the stump. The weird thing was, I couldn't feel it! I guess it was an anesthetic, maybe propofol, or whatever Zane used to knock us out. . .

IT'S OVER NOW, YOU CAN START READING AGAIN.

Cole P.O.V., 2 days, 17 hours, 20 minutes following, "Human Nature": 12:20 P.M.

Sleep. Sleep what was everyone needed. Well, at least it was what Zane and I really needed. Kai's been sleeping twenty-four seven, and Robo-Jay doesn't feel like sleeping. Probably because he doesn't need it. But more than anyone else, Zane needed rest the most. His voice box had begun glitching about half and hour ago, probably from the exhaustion of constantly checking Kai's vitals, making sure he was still alive. Since the living room was closer to the infirmary than the bedroom, he decided to crash on the couch. Unfortunately, since Zane was so tall, 5 feet 11 inches tall, to be exact, he ended up taking up the whole couch, leaving me to sleep on the oldest piece of furniture in the entire Destiny's Bounty, the recliner. Not surprisingly, I found myself unable to fall asleep. I had considered eating some cake, but knowing that Zane was a very light sleeper, I restrained myself. I was just getting settled in when the soft beeping from the infirmary became faster, making a beep beep beep, instead of its usual, beep. . . beep. . .

Beep.

Something's wrong.

"Zane! Kai's beeping thing is going faster!" I whisper-shouted into his ear.

Zane's voice box started glitching, as it always did if he was awoken unnaturally. "WhAt? Is soMethiNg wrOng?"

"C'mon! Kai's heart rate thing is going nuts!" I replied.

Zane shot up at the mention of his heart rate monitor thing, and we both raced down the hallway(A/N, just imagine that the infirmary is at the end of the hallway), only to see Robo-Jay strangling Kai, then throwing him out the room. As a result, Kai flew down the hallway, landing with a bone sickening crunch. Zane quickly knelt down to check Kai's vitals and such, while I continued to charge down the hall. Finally, I grabbed Robo-Jay by the neck, lifting him up and pushing him against the wall.

"What's your motive now, huh? Were you built to kill Kai? Is that why you tried to poison him? Is that why you just tried to strangle him?! Yeah, well I've a good friend I want you to meet. Fist, meet traitorous scum."

Twelve well placed punches later, we had a dead Nindroid imposter, a worried Nindroid, a severely injured brother, and three very tired ninja.

"So is Kai okay?"

"Well, apart from a fractured wrist and a sprained ankle, Kai is in about the same state as this morning."

"Oh. Well, I guess we should put Kai back, and get some rest."

"Yes, we should," Zane sighed, clearly exhausted.

On that note, we stumbled back over to the living room, and crashed.

No P.O.V., 3 days, 6 hours, 30 minutes following, "Human Nature": 6:30 A.M.

The remaining crew of the Destiny's Bounty were battered to say the least. Still recovering from all that has unfolded in the last week, and what they have lost, many of the remaining ninja have resorted to sleep as a means to leave reality behind. However, one ninja is wide awake, oblivious as to what has happened in the last four days. Said ninja is Lloyd, who is flying home, away from the paparazzi and glamour of being the golden ninja, but rather, to his home, where his family is. But there is no family that awaits him. Only tragedy, despair, and grief.

Upon landing, Lloyd jumped off his dragon, and proceeded to walk into the living room. On instinct, he hung up his coat and hat, calling out to his brothers. "Hey, guys. I'm home!" Lloyd chuckled when he received no response, assuming it was all a part of an elaborate prank. Entering the living room, he walked around the couch, to see two bodies, seemingly lifeless. One was on the couch, face down, a blanket draped over their entire body, except for their feet, who had seemed to have fallen onto the couch, while the other had their face buried in the carpet.

His next discovery horrified him. Flipping over the body on the ground, he realized that it was Cole. Desperate to keep Cole alive, Lloyd began performing CPR, attempting to resuscitate his brother. At last, Cole's eyes shot open, gasping for breath. Cole regarded Lloyd with a tired but curious look. "Why are you on top of me? And are you trying to perform CPR on me?"

"Uh, well I walked in, and I thought you guys were dead. Speaking of which, who are you hiding under all those blankets?"

Cole quietly chuckled. "Heh, go check for yourself."

Lloyd walked over to the couch, pulling the blankets back to reveal a certain ninja of ice, which seemed to both amuse, and surprise Lloyd.

"Alright, I'll bite. What are you guys doing here, and why is Zane not responding to me?" Lloyd spoke as he snapped his fingers next to Zane's ears.

In an instant, Cole's face became solemn and tired. "So after we sent you away, Zane drugged and took us to the Overlord's base camp. He forced us into some horrible torture stuff, but we survived somehow, which could be an honest mistake, or someone was helping us out. Speaking of which, you might wanna go see Kai; he's in pretty bad shape. Anyways, after I freed myself, I broke out Jay and rebooted Zane, so he's good again. Oh, and the Jay we brought home is actually a fake that tried to kill us! The real Jay is still on the Overlord's base, stuck on his own, except for Nya, probably being tortured, and stuff. Zane probably just shut himself down to get his energy back quicker, so you might wanna just leave him alone."

Lloyd's face matched that of his brother. Anger, pain, and sadness washed over him, and he vented in the only way he knew how; he started yelling.

While Lloyd was having his temper tantrum, Cole snuck over to Zane's still body, opened his control panel, and began his start-up phase, essentially "waking" him up.

Three minutes later, Zane was up once more, and Lloyd had calmed down, somewhat.

Half an hour later, the remaining ninja were prepared to fight their way into the Overlord's compound.