Nicki's Story

46

"There they are!" Jay cried, pointing at the two dragons which were still waiting in the place where they had dropped the ninja off the day before. The Earth dragon landed with a thud. Cole looked over and frowned.

"Wait…Zane, where's your dragon?"

The other three ninja all looked at each other.

"Actually…I have yet to discover my dragon."

Cole groaned. He had known it wouldn't take long before everything fell apart.

"The Dragon at Dragon Haven knew where the fire one was, but not the ice or the earth dragon." Jay explained. "But I'm sure Zane will find his eventually…"

The final battle has begun…we must return to Dragon Haven. The dragons spoke simultaneously.

"But we have to find Zane's dragon first…" Jay complained to his.

"We don't even know where to start." Kai pointed out. "We better just go back and regroup."

Cole looked over at Zane, who seemed to be studying the three dragons, lost in thought.

"Hey, Zane…we could really use some of your killer nindroid reasoning just about now." He said quietly. Zane winced and Cole was confused until he realized what his wording implied.

"Look, I didn't mean…"

"I am picking up on the dragon's elemental frequencies." Zane cut him off. "Each seems part of a full wavelength…doing some light processing I believe I have discovered what the missing frequency is.

Jay and Kai looked over blankly.

"So that means…"Kai prompted.

"I can use the missing frequency to trace the final dragon." Zane said. The ninja looked at each other.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Cole said. "But one of us will have to go with you since you don't have your own dragon."

Zane wouldn't look at him, and Kai still looked irritated. Jay took one look at his three friends and raised his hand.

"Hey, I can take Zane! Haha…why not?"

"Then Cole and I will head back to Dragon Haven." Kai added. He looked over at Cole. "Are you going to be able to ride your dragon on your own?"

Cole rolled his eyes. "Please…I was always the best dragon rider and you know it." His friends took comfort in the fact that he could still joke.

Zane boarded Jay's dragon and started his scanner, already searching out the missing frequency. He didn't turn with Jay to wave goodbye to the other ninja.

Keyda

Keyda refused to sit any longer. Something was going on and she couldn't just sit in self-pity; she had to get out of here. She studied her prison, looking for any weak points. But the glass remained as strong as ever and she pounded the nearby wall with raw hands. A wisp of purple left them again, and she stopped pounding. She didn't want to give the Baron any more power than she already had. She found herself watching the wisp and suddenly noticed that as it went into the tube, a bit of it leaked out the side into the outside room. Her heart started beating faster as she realized that the tube must have been jarred during that explosion; it must not be attached that securely. But how would she get up there?

She looked down at her hands, and willed the orbs to form. As they did, she looked up at the tube and positioned herself. She crouched, took a deep breath, and then blasted the power downward while leaping into the air. It actually gave her more of a boost she wanted and she slammed into the tube, barely able to throw her feet out in the small neck where tube met chamber. It stopped her fall and she glanced down, glad she wasn't right back to where she had started. She grunted as she pushed on the metal tube. With a little added force from her purple power, she managed to disconnect it from the chamber and slip out. She hit the ground and nearly fell over but managed to right herself. She tore out of the room and began running down the hall.

The whole fortress seemed deserted. She paused as she noticed a huge hole in the wall. That was certainly new. She figured it was connected to the earlier explosion, but what on earth had happened?

"...ON to VICTORY!..." She looked out the hole and saw the entire Oni army marching; the speedier Dragon Riders were already leagues away while the foot-soldiers were marching at a more even pace. They were headed to Dragon Haven… to war.

She considered escaping now, running off somewhere to live alone, safe from the Baron. But she knew that she would never truly be safe until he was dead. Her eyes and fists pulsated purple as she came to a decision.

Survivors

"It's good to be back…it's been so long since I've been here," Nya said, looking around the Samauri-X cave. All the vehicles she had left seemed to still be here…in fact, there were a few that she didn't recognize. She turned to Ronin. "Though…it's hardly a secret lair when everybody seems to know about it now…"

"Let's just hope that Harumi isn't included in that," Lloyd added. He felt a weird pang of nostalgia being here…the last time he had been here had been with his father. Back when he had been good. It felt so long ago.

"So, what's the plan?" Skylor said, arms folded. She didn't really feel like spending any more time sitting around.

"I told Misako where to meet us. She has the masks." Nya said. She looked down at her communicator. "She should be here soon."

"But we could still come up with a plan in the meantime," Skylor pressed, taking a seat on the hood of a nearby vehicle. Nya frowned at the red-head's persistence.

"She's got a point there," Lloyd said, thinking. "Let's say my Mom gets here fine with the masks. What's our next step?"

"Oooo…" Dareth said, raising his hand like an eager student. "What if we destroy them? That'll put a damper on 'her majesty's' plans…" Ronin turned and walked away to remove himself from the situation and thus spare Dareth getting smacked on the back of the head.

"We were already planning on it, Dareth…" Nya replied, trying to hide her amused smile. "But the question is how?"

"There is nothing in my database on how to destroy the Oni masks," P.I.X.A.L walked over to join the other musing teens. "But considering what Misako said about Dragon and Oni power, it will take a large amount of Dragon-power to destroy the masks."

"Are we sure we want to destroy them?" It was Skylor who spoke up, and the others turned to her in surprise. "I mean, from what you guys have said about these things, they're pretty powerful. Are we sure we don't want to use them? That could give us a much needed advantage over Harumi,"

"Not a chance," Nya cut in, a little snappily. "These things are evil… we need to destroy them." Skylor blinked at the water ninja's moody reply.

"Ok…it was just an idea…"

"I see where you're coming from, Skylor," Lloyd cut in. He wasn't really sure what was going on but they didn't really have time to be getting on each other's nerves. "But my mom said that the only way for us to get the balance back into place was to destroy the masks. So that's really our best course of action."

"Lloyd…" P.I.X.A.L frowned, remembering something. "What was it that Borg said to you in the tower?" her voice caught a little at the mention of her creator.

Lloyd tried to remember.

"That's right…he mentioned something about how to destroy them. Something about a "Golden Hope" that was hidden away,"

"Golden hope? Like…like your golden powers?" Nya asked. It made sense to her. Lloyd frowned. From the story that Mistake had told him about the Dragon and the Oni, it seemed logical that his Golden powers were dragon related. After all, he could form a Golden Dragon when he used to have them.

"I guess…maybe. And they certainly do seem to be hidden away at the moment…"

"But how do we get those back?" Skylor asked. Something stirred deep down; if there was a way to get elemental power back, she would sure like to know what it was.

"I am not sure Borg was talking about your powers, Lloyd," P.I.X.A.L cut in. "In fact, I am not actually sure he is aware that your powers are even missing. Is there something else that he could be referring to?"

Lloyd thought for a few minutes more. Something nagged at the back of his mind; some distant memory about something golden and Borg…

All at once it hit him. "The Golden Armor!" he said suddenly, and the others looked at him in surprise.

"The Armor the Overlord used?" Nya asked, and the Green Ninja nodded emphatically.

"That must be what Borg was talking about; it's made out of the Elemental Weapons, which have a direct tie to the First Spinjitzu Master. He probably used Dragon Power to make them…I'm sure he didn't use Oni power at least. Borg was the one who hid them; besides him, Wu and I are the only ones that know where it is."

"Which is where, exactly?" Dareth asked.

Lloyd faced the team.

"It's in Hiroshi's labyrinth. Once my mom gets here…that's where we're going."

Wu

The Elder Dragon roared his final instructions while Wu watched from the side. The ninja still had not returned, and we was beginning to feel more than a little anxious. The dragon turned his attention to the child.

The time has come; it is time to leave and protect our home.

Wu looked up at him with a determined expression.

"I will wait here for my companions. Then we shall join you."

The dragon shook its head, and then reached for the child. Wu scampered away.

You will be coming with us.

Wu darted away as he struck out once again.

"No…I must wait for them to return…" He suddenly found himself flying through the air, the result of a blast the dragon had sent at him. The Elder Dragon caught him soundly in one claw, its talons ensnaring the child like the bars of a cage.

"Let me go!" Wu said, using his most commanding voice. The Dragon only chuckled.

We have waited too long for the return of the child…we will be needing your help to win this war.

With that, the dragons spread their wings and launched out of the cavern.

47

"So…find anything yet?" Jay asked for the tenth time. Zane sighed. He was starting to wish he had a different travelling companion after all. He was opening his mouth to tell Jay to stop talking so he could concentrate when an alarm sounded from his scanner.

"Actually…yes…" Zane said, surprised.

"Finally." Jay muttered. He had been starting to wish he hadn't volunteered for this assignment. They had been flying for nearly 3 hours and he had become both bored and anxious. It didn't help that Zane was obviously not in a talking mood.

Jay flew his dragon where Zane directed, and they landed in an open area. Jay looked around, confused.

"I would have thought there would be some kind of rock formation around…where do you think he's hiding?"

"I am not sure…according to my scanner the frequency is coming from right here…" Zane said, just as puzzled.

Ah…welcome, Master of Ice. I have been expecting you.

Zane whirled around, trying to find where the voice was coming from. Jay noticed his reaction.

"Do you hear it? Where is…"

Jay didn't get a chance to finish his thought because the ground dissolved beneath them and they both fell into the darkness below. They hit ice and slid down, further into the gloom. Zane tried to get his flashlight to work while Jay screamed hysterically next to him. Then suddenly they were free-falling once again.

Zane hit the icy ground with a grimace. He had to shut down his scanner , which was going crazy.

"Jay?" He looked around for his friend, turning on his flashlight capabilities. "Are you alright?"

He couldn't locate his friend. He frowned; surely he should at least be able to hear him…

Welcome.

Zane looked around again. Through all the ice he could make out something moving…but the dragon blended well and the light reflected off of everything and made it hard to actually pin point where the movement had come from.

"Where is my friend?"

This is the puzzle you have been expecting, is it not? You've waited all this time to figure out our little secrets. Are you ready to begin?

"Begin what? I need to know where Jay is." Something moved behind him, and he turned to find only ice.

In due time Master of Ice. First I have some riddles…some questions you can answer for me…

Zane frowned. "I already know that you guardians target our weaknesses."

Oh?

"It was not hard to figure out; Jay hates being alone almost as much as cryptic messages, and Kai struggles both with accepting help and backing down from a fight…"

Very good…so what are your weaknesses? Have you already figured it out?

Something above him scraped, and bits of Ice rained down. Once again, there was no dragon that he could see.

"You will try to ensnare me with logic…" Zane wished that they could get through with this part of the test. He needed to find Jay and get back to help his friends.

Perhaps in a way…are you ready for our game of wits, then?

"If I must," Zane gave up searching and sat on the ground. "What is your first question?"

Is Ice strong…or is it weak?

Zane frowned. What kind of question was that?

"It depends on the situation."

Meaning?

"Thin Ice covering a pool can be viewed as weak, as it is easily broken with pressure. But Ice can also split trees, roads, and even concrete as it freezes in cracks and fissures. So it can logically be argued that ice is both strong and weak, depending on the circumstances."

Indeed.

"Was that it then?"

No…next question: Why did you hurt your friend?

"Wha…what?" Zane stuttered, blindsided.

Your friend, yesterday. You allowed yourself to be controlled and he was forced to face the consequence of your actions.

"That…that was not…"

You have capabilities that others do not. Why didn't these capabilities save your friend? Why did you allow yourself to be controlled?

"I did not…I do not know…" He had stood again, trying in vain to find the source of the haunting voice.

If you were faced with a situation, and it was between saving yourself or finding the harness-which could save everyone else-which would you choose?

"The harness." Zane said, more sure of this answer.

I assumed as much…but what if it was between saving your friend and finding the harness?

Light suddenly flooded the cavern and Zane stepped back in surprise. The Dragon was attached to the wall of ice with its claws, with its neck swiveled to look at Zane. Trapped in one of its clawed feet was an unconscious figure in blue.

"Let him go!" Zane said immediately, his hands crackling with ice. But the Dragon shook its head.

We are not finished with our little game of riddles, Master of Ice. You must answer the question. Would you choose to save this single friend, or collect the one thing that stands in the way of the destruction of the rest of your companions?

"I…I cannot…"

Come now…your friend does not have all day…

Zane watched in horror as Jay appeared to slowly be freezing; ice was travelling up his legs.

"Stop!" he fired his ice, but the dragon merely swiped his tail through the beam, breaking the blast into millions of frozen particles.

You are a reasonable nindroid, Zane. Can you not solve the problem with logic?

"I am done with this game…let him go!"

You do not get to finish the game early…you must first answer the question. What is the right answer?

The ice had reached Jay's torso.

"Your question is unanswerable…and this is between you and me. Why will you not leave him out of it?" Zane's voice had taken on a tone of desperation.

Surely you can see which option will do more good…why is it so hard for you to choose the logical answer?

Ice crept up Jay's neck, reaching his face.

"THERE IS NO RIGHT ANSWER." Zane closed his eyes, his yell echoing in the cavern. He collapsed to his knees. "There is no right answer…."

Correct.

Zane looked up to see the Dragon seated calmly in front of him. Jay was lying on the ice nearby, thoroughly thawed and snoring softly.

"I…I do not understand…"

Master of Ice…you have all the reasoning powers of the best machines. Yet, there is a deeper level to you. Unlike many robots, you possess feelings and emotions. But just as ice is both strong and weak, these traits can make you stronger or more vulnerable. They make it hard to think in cold logic at all times, but they also give you the determination to fight for what is right.

You have always been willing to make risky choices when it is only yourself on the line. It is no secret you would be willing to die for your friends. But part of fighting for what is right is fighting on a team, and there will be times when sacrifices will be required of others. You cannot hold yourself to an impossible standard because you possess different strengths than your companions, for you also possess weaknesses. Though in the past your decisions and even mistakes have mainly only affected you, there are times when others will bear the penalties. Indeed…even the right decisions made with correct assumptions will have unexpected consequences.

Zane looked at the ground.

"I think I understand." he said quietly.

Now is not the time to get stuck in your head. The final battle has begun, and it is time to usher in the reign of the true Dragon Master. So Master of Ice…are you willing to pay the price?

Zane didn't speak up right away. After a moment he looked the dragon in the eye.

"Are you?"

The Dragon tilted its head, confused.

"Why bind us to an unknown promise? Are you and all of Dragon kind prepared to pay the price if we do not agree to your terms? Why not just give us the harness; it is obvious that the fate of your kind rests on it."

It is not that simple…we are bound by an ancient promise.

"What promise? Why not tell me the price?"

I cannot. It is true that if you refuse to agree to the price, we are all doomed. Yet the harness will not be revealed without it.

Zane sat, processing that information. Jay let out a louder snore and rolled over. The nindroid sighed.

"Well…then I am willing to pay the price."

48

The team waited anxiously for Misako to arrive. Nya tried not to think about what would happen if the S.O.G caught onto the historian's tail and followed her here. On that train of thought, she went over to the computer system and looked into the cave's defense systems. Everything seemed to be up and running if they needed it…

"Where's the faith? That's one of the first things I fixed up when I moved into this joint."

Nya shot Ronin a withering look, but the thief was reclining with his hat pulled over his face, pretending to be napping. She walked over, arms folded.

"So…are you going to actually tell me what the heck you've been up to this last week?"

Ronin grunted under his hat. "I don't want to talk about it…remember?"

She snatched the hat off his face and he looked up with raised eyebrows. "Well someone's in a bad mood…" he muttered.

"I am not!" she snapped. "And you're one to talk about bad moods. I just want you to catch me up on some things. Like where you got that circus bus and why on earth you were in Jamaniki village!"

Ronin sighed, annoyed. "Look, it wasn't my hair-brained idea to dress up and put on little performances all over Ninjago…" Nya blinked in surprise as he continued. "So if you wanna talk to someone about it, he's your guy," He pointed a thumb over his shoulder at Lou, who was busy talking to Ed and Edna about something. The thief grabbed his hat back and resumed his previous position.

Nya looked over at Lou, feeling a little awkward. The last time she had talked to him she had been a little…aggressive, and might have accused him of not caring about his recently departed son. Suddenly, Ronin tilted his hat back and looked at her slyly.

"But as long as we're asking the hard questions…what's your deal with the redhead?"

Nya flushed. "Deal? There's no deal…"

"Uh huh…sure. I know you better than that Nya." he smirked. "She's quite the strong, independent woman…are you annoyed that she's stealing your image or something?"

Nya rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous, Ronin."

"Hmmm…" He studied her closely and she resisted the urge to punch him. "Maybe it has something to do with your brother…"

"Nope." She smacked his hat back down over his eyes. "There's really nothing going on, Ronin. Though I'm beginning to see why you're always in trouble; you stick your nose where it doesn't belong and read too much into what isn't really there."

Ronin put his hands up in defeat, hat still covering his face. "Alright, fine. You don't want to talk about it, then don't talk about it…"

She stormed away, too irritated to even notice him chuckling under his hat. Which was just as well; if she had heard him she probably would have hurt him.

"Misako is approaching!" P.I.X.A.L called from the computer system. The teens and Dareth gathered around the system.

"Is she alone?" Nya asked, looking at the screen.

"It appears so…" the droid answered, and everyone found themselves watching the entrance anxiously. After a few minutes it opened and someone rode in on an S.O.G bike with a sack over her back.

"You made it!" Lloyd said, going over to give his mother a hug.

"Were you followed?" Nya asked quickly. The historian shook her head.

"No…I don't think so. And I have the masks." She took off her sack and pulled out the three different colored masks. Everyone grew quiet as they studied them; even Ronin pulled up his hat to get a better look from a few yards away.

"Well…at least we know where to go with them…" Lloyd said, and his mother looked up quizzically. They filled her in on the plan and she found herself nodding.

"Who all is going, then?" she asked, causing Lloyd and Nya to look at each other.

"Errr…the smaller the group, the less likely we'll be noticed." Lloyd finally said.

"Yeah…" Nya said, feeling a little awkward as she saw Ed and Edna's faces fall a little.

"So I take it just you four?" Misako said with a knowing smile.

"Woah now…you can't say that you're leaving the Brown Ninja behind!" Dareth said, cutting in.

"Dareth…" Nya said, trying to decide how to best tell him that he was definitely not coming on their covert mission of utmost importance. "What we really need is for you to stay behind and be our eyes here on the ground, per say…" the look of disappointment in his eyes caused her to wince.

"Oh…yeah, whatever you need, Nya…"

"It's just that we need someone we can trust to be in charge here…" she blurted, and everyone looked over at her in surprise. Dareth perked up.

"In charge you say…."

"Oh, you did not just say that…" Ronin groaned from his spot. As if Dareth wasn't insufferable enough.

"Errr…yeah…" Nya said, and then turned to change the subject. "Meanwhile, Lloyd, Pix, Skylor, and I will take those to Haroshi's labyrinth and track down where Borg is keeping the armor."

"I thought you said you knew where it was," Misako turned to Lloyd, who smiled sheepishly.

"Well…I basically know where it is…I can get us close. From there Pix should be able to guide us; she was created by Borg and will hopefully be able to pinpoint the location once we get there."

P.I.X.A.L looked down at the mention of Borg, and Skylor put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Sounds like a lot of work…and a lot of 'hopefully's," Ronin had gotten up to join the circle. "Seeing the masks in person…I have to admit I agree with the redhead. Why not just use them ourselves?"

"The redhead?" Skylor asked dryly, raising an eyebrow. Nya whirled on Ronin.

"Don't you even start…" she hissed.

"Destroying the masks really is the only option," Misako cut in. She looked at the four teens in front of her with a sudden pang. Why was it that the younger generation always had to be in charge of fixing all the world's mistakes? She turned to Lloyd.

"Promise me you'll be careful…"

The Green Ninja smiled tightly.

"When am I not?"

Cole

Cole grit his teeth and focused on staying seated on his dragon. Despite his cocky answer to Kai, he was still feeling pretty miserable and had never wished more for a comfortable bed. He kept almost drifting off to sleep and had to keep shaking himself to stay awake. It worked because each shake reminded him of all the places in his body that hurt. He grimaced. He would have liked to have some conversation to help pass the time and keep him from going comatose, but the silence between him and Kai was tense.

"So…" he tried, and looked over at Kai. The red ninja pulled back on his dragon so that they were flying near each other.

"So what?"

Great…that's literally all I got, Cole thought, irritated.

"Um…I guess maybe you could fill me in…"

"Ah, right." Kai looked uncomfortable. "Well, where should I start?"

Cole thought for a moment. "Right after I jumped off the dragon."

Kai nodded. "Well…Jay nearly said some choice words…" they shared a laugh, and the tension seemed to ease. "We all wanted to go back…but we knew we might not make it to Dragon Haven otherwise…"

"I'm glad you kept going." Cole said quickly. Kai awkwardly shrugged and continued.

"Yeah…well, we get there, and it's like this big underground bunker where all the Dragons are hiding out…"

"Why are they hiding out?"

"No idea. Didn't really get to that, actually. Anyways, there was this huge old dragon and he told us that we would find the fire dragon there but he wasn't sure where the ice and earth dragon were. Looking back its probably because the earth one was hidden under the Oni fortress. How did that even happen, anyways? You should ask him about it."

Cole looked down, listening to his dragon. Then he looked back at Kai.

"He doesn't want to talk about it."

"Ah…alrighty then. Wait, another thing, how come it didn't talk to you when we were in the fortress the first time?"

Cole looked down again. His dragon was getting irritated with Kai.

"Apparently I was never close enough. Or something. Plus it was all chained up when I woke up down there; it couldn't ever escape without ushering in the final battle." Cole answered.

Kai shrugged. "Makes sense, I guess. Anyways, we go to find the fire dragon…"

Cole shook his head and smiled as his friend retold the tale. He didn't find it that surprising that Kai's stubbornness almost got him burned to a crisp. Kai continued his retelling, talking about how they had reached the fortress. When he got to the part about Keyda betraying them, he noticed that Cole got very quiet.

"Hey…um…we don't have to talk about it if you don't want…"

"She said she had just escaped?"

"Yeah."

That had been right after she had left, then. Cole didn't remember much after that…he was pretty sure he had passed out pretty quick into his second round of enraging treatment. So had it all been a set up? The Baron and Keyda working together from the get-go to manipulate him? It would explain why it was so easy to convince him to let her go. Or had she honestly wanted to help his friends rescue him? He hated not knowing…and he hated thinking about it. He tried to push it from his mind.

"Yeah…Ok. Then what?"

Kai went quiet. After a few moments, he said "We…um…we woke up in the arena, and you were…" he trailed off. Even knowing that Cole was ok, he really didn't like thinking about it.

"Yeah." Cole swallowed. It wasn't exactly his favorite memory either.

"And Keyda was there…"

"What?"

Kai frowned, not exactly sure what to tell his friend. Zane had said that she had destroyed the Baron's staff, and she seemed upset at Cole's supposed death. But she had also betrayed them and possessed the same dark magic as Lord Garmadon; there was no way that she was on the good team.

"Yeah...it…got pretty chaotic. Not sure what part she really had to play. These Oni were everywhere and they grabbed her and grabbed us and…"

"Wait, they took her? Where?"

Kai shook his head, baffled. "I don't know, Cole. But I don't think she's one of the good guys…"

He was interrupted by the sound of horns echoing across the terrain. Cole groaned.

"Not again. I guess the Baron isn't wasting any time. How much further is Dragon Haven?" he asked Kai.

"Uh…"

A few more hours at least. But the Elder Dragon has sounded the call and our kind are already on their way to battle.

"Ok… So do we keep flying until we catch up with them? Or should we start the butt-whooping early?" Kai asked.

Cole turned and could see dust rising on the horizon.

"How on earth are those land-scurriers faster than our flying dragons?" He asked angrily. "I think they may just catch up with us eventually anyways…might as well do what we can to hold them off till the cavalry arrives."

Kai grinned, excited to be getting some action. His grin faded as he looked over at his friend.

"You're still in pretty bad shape, Cole. I think you should sit this one out."

"I don't think any of us are going to have the option to sit this thing out, Kai…"

"I'm serious. You can't fight…you can barely sit upright on your dragon."

Cole grimaced; his stubborn friend wasn't wrong. "So, what, I just keep my distance and let everyone else fight the battle?"

Kai knew his friend well enough to know he wasn't going to be willing to do that. He sighed.

"Just…just stay on your dragon, ok? Promise me you won't come within 100 feet of the ground. Deal?"

"Kai…"

"Deal?!"

Cole hated being useless. "Fine, Deal. Whatever."

49

Zane shook Jay again, and the blue ninja snorted and finally opened his eyes.

"Eh…whatzit…Zane?" He sat up and looked around. They were in the clearing again, a few yards away from a massive hole in the ground.

"Whoa…what happened? Last I remember we were plummeting to our doom…" he trailed off as he caught sight of the Ice dragon, its harness pale blue apart from its golden pull-bar chain. "WHAT?! When did that happen?" He stood up, feeling annoyed. "I missed it?" he kicked the ground in frustration. He hated being left out of things.

Zane smiled and shook his head. Jay had played more of a part than he knew…but that was probably a story best saved for another time.

"Right now we need to get back to our friends, Jay. It's time that we summon the Dragon Master."

Jay nodded and headed for his dragon. A minute later they were in the air.

Kai

"WOOO! Ah man, I've missed this!" Kai yelled, as his Dragon did another flaming dive. Oni yelled and jumped out of the way, shooting crossbows at the Dragon and its rider. He looked over and saw Cole's Dragon shooting earth blasts from a safe distance. Cole didn't look too happy about staying away from the fray, but Kai figured he would just have to get over that. A crossbow bolt flew past his face and Kai turned back to the task at hand.

"Eat FIRE, Oni scum!" He yelled again, and the Crossbow archers ducked for cover. Suddenly, two Oni on his right side aimed some sort of mechanism and fired. A net came flying towards him. Kai's Dragon pulled off a tumbling dodge and Kai was barely able to hang on. They flew up out of firing range.

"Whoa…not cool, forgot they could do that." He said. He had a sudden realization; if they fired one of those at Cole, he was not going to be able to hang on if his dragon pulled off some fancy maneuvering. He turned and could see his friend in the distance, not within 100 feet of the ground but still within firing range.

"I better go tell him to pull up…" Kai muttered. He knew Cole wasn't going to be happy about it, but they didn't really have much of a choice. Suddenly, Kai's dragon did a nosedive as it dodged another net.

"What the…" Kai yelled, unsure how the Oni had reached them way up here. He looked over to see some net-shooters on a nearby rock Formation. What he didn't notice were the net-shooters on the rock-formation behind him. His Dragon roared in panic as a net wrapped around its wings; it wouldn't be able to pull out of its nose dive. Kai tried not to freak out as he burned through the net fibers, but he wasn't fast enough. The Dragon hit the ground hard and Kai went flying across the terrain, bouncing once or twice before coming to a rest.

He groaned as he sat up. He hadn't hit the ground as hard as his dragon, but he still felt like he had been punched in the gut, not to mention the headache forming. He shakily got to his feet and ran back towards his dragon; Oni were surrounding them now with crossbows and more nets. He flamed up his hands, backing up slowly to his dragon.

"Ok dragon, we got to get out of here…" he called back, but his dragon didn't reply. He glanced behind him and clenched his jaw; it appeared his dragon was unconscious.

"Guess it's just down to me, huh?" Kai muttered as the Oni took aim. Suddenly, a voice called out from the crowd.

"LEAVE HIM!"

The Oni looked confused and turned to make a path for the speaker. Kai narrowed his eyes as he saw Keyda, hands and eyes burning with hatred, staring him down.

"This one's mine…"

Survivors

"I thought I was really clear when I said that it would be only us." Nya said in annoyance. They were busy flying towards Haroshi's Labrinth in Rex, piloted by a smug Ronin. He turned.

"And maybe I would have listened…but all bets were off when you put Dareth in charge." he said. Nya huffed and Lloyd put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's ok, Nya. He's just gonna take us to the labyrinth itself. It will be a lot faster if we have a pilot on standby to come pick us up after we find the stronghold."

"I guess…" she muttered.

P.I.X.A.L was in the back of the ship with a monitor, making sure that they weren't being tracked or followed by S.O.G.

"Any problems?" Skylor asked, sitting close by. The droid shook her head.

"So far it seems we are undetected…let's hope it stays that way. I still do not understand why we had to come by flight; it makes it a lot harder to be covert."

"From what Lloyd said, it would take days to get there by car or foot," Skylor pointed out. "And time isn't really in our favor."

Nya came over to join them. "Hey, Pix, everything ok?"

"Everything is fine." P.I.X.A.L snapped, causing Nya to blink in surprise. Pix had never talked to her like that before. She glanced at her robot friend, and then over at Skylor and back.

"Well, good." she said briskly and then walked away. From the front of the ship Lloyd sighed.

"I don't envy you, kid…." Ronin told him, and the Green Ninja looked over.

"What do you mean?"

The thief gave a humorless laugh. "Your whole team is made of headstrong women…that alone should warn you that there's gonna be nothing but trouble from here on out."

Lloyd frowned. "Shows what you know…" he replied, but he looked back at the three girls. Seeing all of their expressions, he couldn't help but feel that maybe Ronin wasn't as wrong as he thought.

Cole

Cole's dragon fired another shot and then swooped up to avoid another rain of crossbow bolts. Cole tightened his grip and managed to stay seated. He hated that Kai had been right…he really was struggling to even stay upright. Suddenly he heard the echo of roars and turned to see dragons flying in the distance.

"Looks like the cavalry's finally arrived!" He called out, and turned to find Kai. He frowned when he couldn't see the Red dragon anywhere…where had he gone? He flew over the Oni army, dodging the bolts that came his way. There, in the back…he saw a glint of red. He flew over to get a closer look. It looked like the Oni in that area had circled up to watch something…

His heart dropped when he made out what it was.

Kai

"Should have known it would come down to this…" Kai yelled. If she wanted a fight, he was more than happy to give her one! She fired a purple blast and he dodged out of the way.

"I'm going to enjoy putting you in your place…" she glowered back. She had been looking for the Baron…but she had unfinished business with this cocky outsider. She dodged the fire blast that came her way.

"Everything you ever said to us was a lie…" Kai yelled, running at her. She screamed in joined his charge. Soon they were embroiled in hand to hand combat.

"I never once lied to you!" she spat. "But you outsiders, on the other hand…"

"Oh yeah? So betraying us was just a friendly gesture then?" He blocked her attack and went for a punch, only to have her grab his arm and use his momentum to throw him behind her. He had to admit…she was pretty strong.

"You have NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!" Her fists swirled with purple, and Kai tried not to swallow hard. Maybe he was a little in over his head…but his anger kept him from backing down. He charged her again and his flame hit her shoulder, causing her to gasp in pain. He took confidence from the hit and began spinjitzuing toward her. She focused both hands and hit him with a double purple beam, sending him flying out of his spin. He hit a large boulder hard and gasped as the breath left his lungs. Suddenly she was there, pinning him up against the rock by his neck with one hand while the other glowed dangerously.

"You think you know everything…" she said, her voice suddenly calm and deadly. It reminded him of how the Baron spoke. "But you don't…and you don't even deserve to know the truth…" she held her hand up for the final blow and Kai struggled in her grip.

"KEYDA, STOP."

Her hand froze as the voice called out from behind her. It couldn't be…

She turned slowly; there stood the Idiot, in the flesh. He was about 20 yards away with a determined expression…but he looked like we was about to collapse at any moment. She stood down and Kai dropped to the ground, gasping for breath. He looked up and yelled at his friend.

"Get out of here, Cole! Get back on your dragon!"

Keyda turned back and hit him with another purple blast, sending the red ninja flying backwards into a crowd of Oni.

Cole wasn't going anywhere.

"That's enough…leave him alone…" He had to hope that Kai would be able to get himself out of that mess; he could barely stand as it was.

Keyda turned back to him. Her insides were a boiling vat of emotions and she hated that. She hated him. She began walking towards him, fists still pulsating. The Dragon behind him roared in warning.

Let me destroy her…

"No." Cole replied softly. He looked at the crowd of Oni that had stopped to watch; several were aiming their net-firers. "But you should get out of here."

A net exploded towards them and the dragon blocked it with its tail, which the net wrapped around.

She will destroy you Master of Earth…what are you thinking?

"Just keeping a promise to my Mom." he said, watching as Keyda drew nearer. A few more Oni cocked their nets and Cole's dragon growled in frustration before shooting into the air. The force of the liftoff caused Cole to stumble forward but he managed to stay on his feet.

Keyda shook her head as she watched the Dragon abandon the Idiot.

"You really are the stupidest person I have ever met!" She yelled, drawing closer.

He met her eye. "Look…I know you don't like me…"

"No…I HATE you!" she screamed, and charged him.

50

The dragons had reached the battle. The Elder Dragon flew up to get a good view of the situation, roaring orders as dragons flew down into the fray. Wu clung to the dragon's talons, searching desperately for any sign of his students.

Survivors

Lloyd picked his way through the jungle, the rest of his team close behind. He turned to smile at them over the bag of masks on his back.

"You know…there's a really beautiful oasis somewhere around here…my Dad and I found it the last time I was here…" his voice trailed off as he thought about that trip.

"That sounds really cool, Lloyd," Skylor chimed up. She was trying her hardest to feel like a natural part of the team, but something had definitely felt off in the group ever since they had left Borg Tower.

"Maybe we can see it some other time…we need to focus on the task at hand," Nya interjected. "Is the stronghold somewhere around here, Lloyd?"

"Um…" he paused, looking around before checking the coordinates on a device Ronin had given him. "We are definitely close…I was hoping that P.I.X.A.L would be able to locate it if we were within range of it,"

Nya looked at the robot walking next to her. "So, Pix, find anything?"

"I'm still looking." P.I.X.A.L said coolly, and then began walking faster as she caught up with Lloyd. Nya watched her go, her mouth open in disbelief. Suddenly she turned to Skylor.

"What is up with her…did you say something?"

Skylor frowned at Nya's accusatory tone and stopped walking.

"Excuse me?"

"P.I.X.A.L." Nya said, pointing at the robot in irritation. "There's something up with her…"

"Yeah…I GET that, but why would you think that it has something to do with me?"

Nya didn't really know what to say, so she just stood there staring at Skylor with her hands on her hips. The former restaurant owner folded her arms.

"You do realize that P.I.X.A.L just lost someone close to her, right?"

Nya flushed. Of course she realized that…though she realized with a start that she hadn't actually talked to P.I.X.A.L about it yet.

From up ahead, Lloyd heard the arguing. He turned around with a sinking feeling that only grew worse when he saw his two teammates.

"Aw, man…" he said, turning quickly to get back to them. He had spent his life on a team of moody guys…but moody girls? He realized that he was way out of his league here.

"Hey, guys!" he said, keeping his tone light as if nothing was going wrong. "I think that just up ahead, there's…um…"

"Not now, Lloyd," Skylor snapped, turning more fully on Nya. "What's your problem been lately, Nya?"

"Problem? I don't have a problem!" Nya spat back. "Pix is the one upset…"

"No, there's no point in putting this off any more," Skylor took a few steps towards the Water Ninja. "I really don't know what happened, but ever since we got out of Borg Tower you've been acting weird around me. Is it because my cover got blown? Am I no longer a meaningful part of the team now that I have nothing to offer you?"

Nya stood her ground. "NOW you're just being ridiculous Skylor!"

"Am I?" Skylor glowered while Lloyd stood with his arms out, glancing awkwardly between the two sudden rivals. The redhead continued. "So then why is it every time I try to make a suggestion you shut me down?"

"Because of what it is you're suggesting!" Nya spat back. Her temper was rising and she wasn't being as careful with what she said. "How am I supposed to trust you when you want to use evil Oni masks for yourself?!"

Skylor looked like she had been slapped. "THAT'S what this is about?! You don't think you can trust me?!"

"Ooookaaaay…" Lloyd tried intervening again, but they were definitely past the point of no return now. Nya bit her lip, she hadn't meant to go there…but she couldn't take it back now. Besides, she was angry enough that she wasn't about to back down.

"Well…what am I supposed to think, Skylor?!" she spat back. "I mean, sure, you helped defeat Chen but then you disappeared to start up a restaurant of all things…"

"Why does my restaurant bother you so much?!"

"…and you supposedly cared about Kai but you never even visited…."

Suddenly everything went quiet. Skylor raised an eybrow.

"So it's also about your brother, then…"

Nya flushed darker. "Of course not!"

"I get it, Nya, you're protective of your big brother, but I would have thought that my actions on my father's island would have spoken for themselves!"

"This is not about Kai!" Nya yelled, fists clenched. Skylor didn't look convinced and even Lloyd was raising his eyebrows. The water ninja finally sighed.

"Well…not a lot. It's just that Kai's liked lots of girls before…I swear flirting was his favorite hobby,"

"I get it." Skylor said, coolly.

"You know what he was like," Nya said defensively. "He was such a flirt but it also meant that he bounced back pretty easily from rejection. But then he met you, and there was something different…"

"And that's a bad thing." Skylor said flatly.

Nya groaned in frustration. "No…yes…ugh. The thing is, you're really hard to read Skylor! None of us…not even Kai, knew if you actually had feelings for him or not. And he wasn't moving on from you very well after you kept your distance and running your restaurant. He even hung your picture up in the bounty!"

Skylor suddenly looked a little flattered. "He…did?"

"It was kinda disgusting…"

Skylor's face fell again. "Wow…ok…"

"I didn't mean…ugh." Nya had calmed down, but still found herself irritated as she tried to articulate something that had been bothering her in the back of her mind for the last few years. "It's just I never saw my brother as hooked on someone as he was on you…I guess I was just really scared that at the end of the day you were going to break his heart. And I wasn't sure how well he was going to be able to bounce back from that."

Skylor just shook her head. "I get it, Nya. I mean, for the longest time you were the only girl in your brother's life. You're protective of him…but I still don't get why that made you hate me so much. Did you ever consider the possibility that I DO…well…did…like your brother?"

Nya looked uncomfortable. "Well…yeah; but after everything that happened, I wasn't so sure."

"Everything? What are you talking about?"

"When they all died!" Nya was suddenly yelling again. "That whole event gutted me…it left me broken. And it still does. But then looking at you through the whole thing…you were just so nonchalant. It was like you didn't even care…."

Skylor's eyes flashed angrily. "Did it ever occur to you that I've spent the better part of my life hiding what I really felt inside? I had a monster for a father!"

Nya ran her hands through her hair in frustration. "But even before all of that went down, you never came to visit! You never even came to see Kai or anyone ever…so how on earth was I supposed to know that you cared about him or wanted anything to do with this team!?"

Skylor's eyes were hard as flint as her voice grew soft.

"I know it may be hard for you to understand because you've been with them all from the beginning…but your little ninja club was-and is-pretty exclusive. Sure, I wanted to help more, to come around more, maybe even be part of the team… but you all clearly knew what you needed for each of your little missions and a noodle-slinging, former Elemental Master wasn't ever on your list." She turned and marched away, leaving a stewing Nya and a bewildered Lloyd behind. The Green Ninja had saved the world several times…but give him two angry women and he had no idea what to do. He glanced over at Nya but one look at her expression and he knew better than to open his mouth.

Suddenly P.I.X.A.L's voice cut in from somewhere ahead.

"I believe I've located Borg's stronghold."

25