Firstly, I read an awesome guest review that said ":I want to see fanart of kai in the blue/silver samurai X suit." (for some reason I can't see it on the website, but I got an email) Well, since I love drawing and posting my stuff online, I drew the blue/silver samurai X mech and posted it on my instagram. If you want to see that, my instagram is 'my_art_junkyard'. I plan to post more art of this story on there too.

Secondly, I want to thank everyone yet again for their lovely reviews. Keep it up guys!

ELEMENT SWITCH AU: CHAPTER 6: GOLD OR GREEN?

Kai listened. He listened to his unsteady breathing. He listened to the crowd's excited cheering and whooping at the famed ninja's capture. He listened to the clang of the metal chains that had been wrapped around the arms of the blue mech he now sat inside. He listened to the deafening voice that erupted from the serpentine's purple leader.

"You say you wanted a battle, and I give you one! I give you…ninja vs Samurai!"

He listened to the screeching of the metal doors in front of him opening.

And the fight began. Kai rushed towards his former roommates, drawing back his mech's right arm, and swinging it sideways in a perfect arc, right were the ninja had been standing a moment before. Of course, they had dodged the predictable attack. Kai was ok with that. He had a plan (what do you mean "you're surprised" Kai obviously always has a plan pssshh). He'd worked out that he needed to keep the fight going long enough for the serpentine guards to become distracted and let their guards down. Then, he would grab the kid from his cage and get the heck outta there. As usual, it was only part of a plan, there were still a few chunks missing - such as where Kai would take the kid, and what to do if his mech shut down or blew up - it was given to him by the enemy after all.

Nevertheless, Kai forged forward in his pretend fight with the ninja, who, by the looks of it, had no clue that this mysterious Samurai wasn't fighting them for real. They dodged all of his attacks, while attempting to land some devastating blows - which were easily swatted away by Kai's massive mech hand. He wasn't really paying much attention to the ninja, he kept glancing over to where the kid and the golden weapons were placed, right next to Pythor. That is, until Zane suggested in his oddly calm voice:

"Tornado of Creation?" Welp, that got his attention. He whipped his head around to see Zane, Cole, Nya and Jay collectively nod to each other. Then they twisted their bodies into spinjitzu and combined their mini twisters into one, giant wind immediately picked up, as the funnel began to suck everything that wasn't bolted to the floor into it's centre, including Kai's mech. He dug the suit's claws into the ground, ultimately keeping him tethered, but it didn't stop loose pieces that probably weren't important from being torn away. Kai squeezed his eyes shut in the effort of keeping himself and the mech from being turned into a moving part of whatever it was the ninja were building in there.

After what seemed like forever, the wind died down. Kai looked up to check if the kid was alright, and although he looked rather shaken, Kai noticed how distracted the guards were. Now was his chance. Not bothering to see what the ninja had designed, Kai bolted towards the kid's cage underneath the massive snake statue. Which turned out to be a pretty bad idea, as the ninja had made an oversized catapult that shot him square in the back, knocking him off course and sending him crashing into a wall. The serpentine spectators cheered louder at the hard blow, causing Kai to shake his head to get the ringing out of his ears as he tried to steady the mech. Just as he had gotten it back on it's feet, the ground tilted sickeningly and wooden stakes sprang up out of nowhere.

Of course, it had been the ninja's fault. They'd rushed to their weapons that happened to be next to Pythor, who'd decided that the fight wasn't 'entertaining enough'. Ugh. And now they were all sliding into a seemingly bottomless pit. Double ugh. But Kai wasn't about to waste any more time on charades. Flicking his voice distorter on, he called out to the oblivious ninja who were also hanging on to the almost vertical floor for dear life.

"We have already sold it. Hold on to my exo-suit."

"Wait, we're not fighting for real?" Kai rolled his eyes from inside his helmet.

"Just do it, blueberry."

After some initial huffing from Jay 'blueberry' Walker, the ninja climbed on to the suit, leaving the rest of the job to Kai, who punched the jetpack on and opened the escape hatch. Jumping out caused the suit to rocket up and off, carrying the screaming teenagers. Maybe it was Kai's imagination, but he could have sworn he heard a faint yell of "I hate that samurai!". Shaking the thought out of his head, Kai turned his head to stare down Pythor over his shoulder, who grabbed the golden weapons and backed away. Kai fully spun around and sprinted right for that stupid snake that had put a child in a cage like a pet. As he ran, he realised that if he grabbed the kid, the snakes would be in possession of the most powerful weapons in the 16 realms. The ninja might be almost powerless. The thought almost made him slow down, change course. But he didn't. For right at that moment, he caught the eye of the skinny, blonde boy, and saw nothing but fear. Nothing but himself. Kai sped up, determination and parental protectiveness fuelling his movements. He neared the cage, pulled out a small but surprisingly lethal dagger he had concealed in his boot's sole, and drove it into both ends of the lock's shackle, the box of the lock falling uselessly against the ground. He held his arms out to the kid, who jumped into them and clutched on to Kai for dear life. Kai felt him shaking, but couldn't do much in the moment. Instead he hoped against all hope that the smaller jetpack that he had built into his suit could sustain that weight of two people.

It couldn't. Well, it could - for about 45 seconds. It was just lucky that they had gotten far enough away from snake central. At least they had a somewhat soft landing. Now Kai sat on his knees, shaking the sand out of his helmet while the kid sat a few feet away, staring at him.

"Kid, you're freaking me out." Kai smiled awkwardly, his severe lack of social skills catching up to him.

"Sorry." The kid mumbled back, his cheeks reddening as he looked down at his ruined shoes. 'Mmmm… maybe to get proper response, I should ask him something?' Kai racked his brain for something not stupid to say, and settled on:

"It's Lloyd, right?" 'fantastic,' Kai's inner monologue scoffed. 'I'm sure he doesn't know his own name.'

"uh…yeah." Well, a stupid question gets a stupid answer. After a couple more minutes of silence, the kid murmured "You look a lot more normal than I thought you would."

"Um…thanks, I guess." More awkward silence.

"So… why'd you save me?" Kai looked up from checking his helmet for damage.

"What do you mean? Was I supposed to just leave you there?"

"Well, no, but…" he trailed off and looked down frustratedly at the sand. Kai sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Listen, Lloyd. I know that you've probably had a rough few hours. But that doesn't mean that absolutely no-one cares about you. And, I heard you talking to Pythor about the ninja. Do you live with them?" Lloyd nodded his head. "Then I know where you're coming from."

"What do you mean? Did you live with them?" Kai shrugged, and Lloyd's eyes widened. He jumped to his feet and yelled "You're Kai! You're Nya's brother!" Kai shrugged again.

"I guess they told you about me, huh?" Kai sighed. "How's Nya?"

"She's worried sick! But you could come back with me! Imagine how happy they'd be and how much more they'd like me! It'll be so great!" Kai's face turned solemn.

"I like you a lot, kid. But you won't say a thing to anyone about me, alright? Not a word."

"But-"

"Not. A. Word." Now it was Lloyd's turn to sigh.

"Okay." Kai ruffled the kid's hair.

"Alright kid, let's get you back to the ninja." He looked around for any signs of where the mech had landed, when he locked eyes with someone he knew very well.

"Kai!"

Wooo! Another chapter. Who else now knows Kai's identity? Cliffhangers are a gift and a curse, people. Also, I know I haven't really mentioned Kai's water powers in a while, but don't you worry, I haven't forgotten! Remember to review!