I just realized now that not only have I not updated this story in forever, I haven't written anything about what happened to Lloyd. A friend reminded me of that *cough couch bigtimerdreamer101 AGAIN cough cough*

Oh, and there's (bloody) violence and a bit of swearing in this chapter. Sorry.

Anyways, let's cut right to the chase.

Chapter Five: Just One Fight After Another

(Nya's POV)

I watch in horror as Jay and Cole spring at each other, their blades crossed. Their eyes are filled with anger and jealousy. Jay's blade slips from Cole's, hitting his cheek. Shick! The Blue Ninja's blade makes a small cut on Cole's right cheek. Three tiny pools of blood appear on his skin. Cole roars in anger, forgetting his blade and punching Jay straight in face. The Lightning Ninja reels back, falling to the ground. When his back slams into the rough surface, he yelps in pain. His eyes glaze over in pain.

Cole springs on him, punching him again in the face. Jay tries to wrestle free, only to find that he cannot escape. Cole repeatedly punches and kicks Jay as hard as he can. A tear drips down Jay's cheek as he lets out another shout of pain.

"STOP!" I scream. I can't take any more of this. Cole and Jay freeze. They both look at me, stunned.

"He deserved it," Cole says angrily. "He attacked me!"

"You . . . you took . . ." Jay spits out blood, coughing.

"She made an advance on me!" Cole shouts. "I did nothing!"

"You're . . ." Jay spits out more blood. "the team . . . leader . . . and you're beating up . . . your own teammates . . . and letting them . . . down . . ." Cole looks at Jay, his eyes wide. I think he's finally seeing the terrible wounds on Jay's face, arms, legs, and chest.

"Oh gosh, Jay . . . you're right. I'm a terrible leader," he whispers. He then turns to me. "Nya . . ."

"Cole . . ." I whisper. "You hurt Jay really bad. Look at him . . ." Cole glances down at Jay. He's crying harder now, tears dripping down his bloody face.

"Oh, Jay, I'm sorry," Cole says, leaning down next to him. Jay looks up at him with an expression of pure hatred.

"Leave me fucking alone." Jay spoke so harshly that Cole jumped back. Cole swallowed and slowly backed away. I watch the whole scene, still shocked that either one of these boys could be so brutal.

I approach Jay very slowly. "Jay . . ." He looks up at me. "Do you want some help up?" Jay blinks, looking up at me with tears still flowing down his cheeks.

"I can . . . do it . . . myself." I can already tell that he's trying to prove that he's stronger than he looks.

"Hey . . ." I whisper to him. "It's okay. There's no need to act tough."

"I just want to be left alone," he coughs. I nod and slowly walk away.

"Sis?" Kai comes up from behind me. "You okay?" I shake my head.

"I don't even know what to think, how to feel, who to choose . . ."

"Who to choose? What are you talking about?" Kai furrows his brow.

"I don't want to talk about it," I say softly. Suddenly, my shoulders shake as tears drip from my cheeks.

"Oh Sis, I'm so sorry . . ." He pulls me into his arms. "I'm so sorry . . . I don't know what's going on, but I'm so, so sorry . . ."

It's in this moment that I realize just how much I need Kai. Having lost my parents, now suffering through the possible loss of Zane, and Jay and Cole fighting . . .

I don't know what I should do. All I know is that whatever happens, I have to stay strong.

Just like I always have.

(Lloyd's POV)

The dragon collapses to the ground, it's metal head crashing on the hard earth with a loud bang. Father and I breathe a huge sigh of relief. That dragon was really going to cause some problems. I clamber out of the gun chair just as Father climbs from the pilot seat.

"Well," I say, "that was easier than I expected."

"Don't let your guard down just yet, Lloyd," Father replies. "You must always be aware of your surroundings, and anticipate any further attack."

"Yeah, yeah." I wave off his comment. "It's out of power now. It's not like it's just gonna jump up and start dancing." Father turns pale, his eyes looking behind me. "What?"

"Lloyd . . . get back in the car, now."

"Why?!" I demand. "What's wrong?"

"It's waking up! Now run!" Father shouts, pushing me towards the car.

"But-but how!?" I scream, stumbling. "The Ninja shut the power down!"

"Perhaps they didn't!" Father yells back, climbing into the pilot seat. "It could have been a brief malfunction in the dragon! Or just a clever trick to lure us into a false sense of security!"

"Well, whatever it was, it sure is keeping us on our toes!" I reply, jumping into the gun chair. "Go, Father, go!" The car spurts into motion, jerking me forward, and I nearly fall out of the chair. The dragon lets out a mighty roar and begins to pursue us, it's giant silver fangs glistening in the light.

"Go faster, Father!" I scream. "It's gaining!" Any second now it'd be right upon us. A tear drips down from my violet eyes in sudden fear. For some reason, I know it's impossible to escape this terrible creature.

"Father, stop!" I suddenly shout.

"What?!"

"I said, STOP!" Father jerks his head around to face me.

"What are you talking about, Son?! If we stop, it'd kill us!"

"STOP!" Father obeys, pulling back on the emergency brake. The tires screech against the ground beneath us. It's an ear-splitting noise, almost as bad as nails on a chalkboard. No Lloyd, don't think about that, that'll remind you of Darkely's. I shiver at that thought.

The car finally stops. Father holds his breath in fear, not knowing what I have planned. The dragon wasn't expecting us to stop, and it kept flying forward.

"GET OUT, Father, QUICK!" I yelp, jumping out of the gun chair. Father listens, quickly exiting the car. I run towards the nearby river and jump in. The water is freezing, and instantly I'm cold. Father follows me into the water, trusting whatever plan I have.

We hold our breath and watch as the dragon turns around and flies above the car. It hovers there, expecting us to come out. It thinks we're trapped. Father looks at me uncertainly. I'd explain the plan to him, but it's kind of hard when you're underwater.

My lungs are beginning to burn, and my eyes hurt a little bit from staining to see through the water. The dragon still hovers above the car, it's red eyes watching it evilly. My vision's beginning to get hazy. Oh gosh, why hasn't it happened yet!?

Just as that thought crossed my mind, the gun fires a huge missile at the the dragon. I watch in triumph as the missile hits the dragon right in the chest. Fire explodes in the air.

Suddenly I remember that I'm underwater. I feel like something's holding me down. I can't resurface, my lungs are burning, and my vision is getting worse. I take one last look at Father, and then . . . I fall into an abyss of black.

Wow . . . I wrote that really fast. This fic is (probably) halfway over. I planned it to be 10 chapters so . . . yeah, we're at the halfway mark!

Next chapter we'll go see how Ed and Edna are doing at fixing up Pixal. And possibly go see what's up with Zane.

Please review! I live for reviews! They're my food! :D (Okay, that was a little creepy . . . XD)

~ForeverDreamer12